Joma and Yureth stood silently, overlooking the scarred surface of Venus. Dust storms danced in the distance, but their thoughts were locked on the sky, where Kyi raged against two strangers. A beast, unrecognizable from the girl they had once coddled.
Joma, with his tall, weathered frame and sharp yellow eyes, was one of the senior remaining Victinions. His tone was always measured, but behind that lay calculation. Yureth, smaller and softer in appearance with lilac skin and pale-green pupils, was known for her empathy — or at least the mask of it. The five remaining Victinions had long positioned themselves as Kyi's caretakers after the rest of their species perished. Now, the truth was unraveling.
"She's begun adapting faster than ever before," Yureth said, her voice trembling not with fear, but excitement.
Joma's lips curled. "Yes. The restraint is gone. Just as we planned."
Yureth smirked. "It's good that Syris died. He would've ruined everything."
At the mention of Syris, the room fell quiet. The one among them who had truly cared for Kyi — the gentle-hearted scientist who opposed her being used as a weapon. His loss had been tragic to some, but Joma and Yureth viewed it as an unfortunate necessity.
"Poor fool," Joma muttered. "Syris never understood her potential."
In the makeshift lab buried beneath the surface, data flickered across their screens — vital signs, adaptive rates, psychological stability metrics. Fifteen tanks lined the walls, each filled with amniotic fluid. Inside them floated the next generation: fifteen newborn Victinions, both male and female, bred from Kyi's genes.
Each embryo had been growing rapidly, their biology accelerated by Victinion adaptability. Their gestation was short — ten days — and already, the firstborn was showing early signs of cognitive development. These children were not meant to live as civilians. They were built to conquer.
"Adaptation through inheritance," Yureth whispered, running her hand across one of the tank casings. "With this... we can bring back our race. Not as survivors, but as rulers."
Joma turned to her. "Once she loses herself completely, we'll retrieve her. We'll tell her she saved us. That it was all necessary."
"And if she refuses?" Yureth asked.
"She won't. The guilt will make her obey. And if it doesn't..." He shrugged. "We have her code. We don't need the original."
The two exchanged a glance — not of fear, but of victory. They had waited patiently, hiding behind sympathy and compassion, ensuring Kyi never saw their true purpose. She was an anomaly: the only Victinion ever to adapt past her lifespan, to escape the one-year curse of their kind.
But she was more than that — she was a weapon. And weapons were meant to be wielded.
"What about the human and that disgusting lizard with wings?" Yureth asked, referring to Noir and Cloud Solslade.
Joma scoffed. "They'll either die or run. She'll chase them across this planet until she's exhausted. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that her instincts take over. The more she uses them, the stronger the next batch becomes."
Their plan had always relied on Kyi reaching her breaking point. Isolated in her chamber for a month, her mental state deteriorated quickly. Voices — planted through subtle conditioning and biochemical triggers — whispered lies of worthlessness and guilt into her psyche. The perfect storm of trauma and regret.
And when she awoke, she saw only enemies. As intended.
"We spent decades preparing for this," Joma said, voice firm. "We've sacrificed everything. And now... it's time to harvest."
Yureth nodded, smiling darkly. "The rebirth of the Victinions has begun."
The camera feeds showed Kyi hurtling through the air, adapting to flight in real time, furiously chasing Cloud and Noir. Her movements were erratic, her energy unstable. But her power? Beyond anything the planet had seen in ages.
Joma clasped his hands behind his back. "Let her run wild. Let her destroy. In the ruins, our empire will be born anew."
And so the truth emerged:
Joma, the cold tactician who had orchestrated every step.
Yureth, the manipulative scientist who had engineered the next generation.
Syris, the fallen rebel whose heart had once shielded Kyi.
And Kyi... the girl turned weapon, lost in her own mind, not knowing she was never meant to be free.
The storm of Venus raged on outside.
But inside the lab, the quiet hum of machines whispered of something far more dangerous — rebirth.