Chapter 10: I Hate When the Queen Does ‘Controlled’ Experiments

The elevator to the lower palace labs hummed like a living thing.
Hana leaned against the wall, arms crossed, Aetherblades magnetized to her gauntlets. The others were still talking about the bazaar. Loudly.

“Hey, for the record,” Kotaro said, half-grinning, “I did save your ass when that drone tried to turn your head into a fireworks show.”

Hana didn’t even look up. “You saved my hair. And only because you were in the way.”

“Hair’s part of the head,” he muttered. “Technically I’m still the hero.”

Chinami smirked. “Yeah, hero of running his mouth.”

Itsuki snorted. “Give him credit. That’s a high-level passive skill.”

The doors slid open before Kotaro could retaliate. The scent of sterilized metal hit them first—then the faint ozone tang of stored energy.

The Queen’s Science Division occupied the entire sub-floor, a labyrinth of glass walls and humming reactors. Every screen glowed with data from the Corrupted Core Shard they’d brought back. The thing floated in a containment capsule, pulsing slow and dark like a mechanical heartbeat.

Queen Emica stood at the far console, lab coat thrown over her armor. “You took your time,” she said without turning around.

“Had to stop for a snack,” Kotaro said. “Hana said no, but democracy won.”

Emica sighed. “If democracy ever touches my lab again, I’ll have you all demoted to janitorial duty.”

Itsuki raised a hand. “Question—do janitors get hazard pay?”

Chinami elbowed him. “Shut up before she tests the shard on you.”

Emica gestured toward the capsule. “You’re looking at the reason Neptune’s soldiers disintegrated. This fragment amplifies Protocol output beyond sustainable thresholds. It forces a Sync overdrive.”

She keyed a control. The lights dimmed as readings scrolled across the display.

[Core Fragment Analysis: Black-Type Energy 68% Pure]
[Resonance Potential: Extreme]
[Warning: Protocol Interference Detected]

Itsuki whistled. “That’s the same code signature as the relay. Malice is basically handing people nukes with legs.”

“Pretty accurate,” Emica said. “So we’re going to run a controlled test.”

Kotaro blinked. “Define ‘controlled.’”

“Means if it goes wrong,” Chinami said, “we only lose half the building.”

“See?” Emica smiled thinly. “Someone reads the safety briefings.”

They moved into the observation chamber. A reinforced glass wall separated them from the main lab. Inside stood a training android—humanoid, armored, glowing faint blue.

Emica inserted the shard into the android’s chest cavity. The lights flickered. The hum rose an octave.

[Sync initializing …]
[Core Link Established – Black-Type Prototype]
[Level 1 → 30]
[Warning: Corruption Spread 3%]

The android straightened, head jerking once. Its eyes flared red.

“Looks friendly,” Itsuki muttered.

Then it moved.

The android slammed a fist into the containment wall. Cracks spider-webbed through reinforced glass. Energy howled around its limbs, black lightning crawling like veins.

[Power Surge Detected – Unsafe Sync 128%]

“Kill the link!” Emica ordered.

“Working on it!” Itsuki tapped frantically at the console. “It’s overriding my interface—”

The android roared. Sound became force. The glass exploded outward.

“Get down!” Hana shoved Chinami aside as shards flew. A sliver cut across her cheek, warm blood streaking down her jaw.

Kotaro drew his Stormfangs, lightning racing between their edges. “Permission to slice and dice, Your Majesty?”

“Granted!” Emica shouted.

Hana’s Aetherblades unfolded with a hiss of plasma. She dashed forward, magenta trails burning through the smoke.

The android swung, its arm transforming into a jagged spear. Hana ducked under the strike, countering with a cross-slash.

[Skill Chain Activated: Phase Slip → Radiant Slash]
[Sync 91% → 96%]

The blow tore through the android’s torso, molten fluid splattering the floor. It didn’t fall—it regenerated, metal reforming around the wound like flesh knitting.

Chinami thrust her Graviton Lance into the ground. “Gravity field: 40%!”

The android staggered, movement slowed as invisible weight crushed the floor around it.

Kotaro leapt over Hana’s shoulder, swords spinning. “Storm Fang Barrage!”

The air screamed. Electric arcs carved through steel; the android’s head flew off in a spray of sparks and black fluid that splattered across the glass. It hit the floor and burst into smoke.

Then silence.

The only sound was Hana’s breathing and the hiss of cooling metal.

Itsuki peeked out from behind a console. “Please tell me that was part of the test.”

Emica exhaled. “Yes. And no.”

Kotaro wiped blood from his chin. “It was the ‘no’ part, wasn’t it?”

Emica ignored him, studying Hana. “Your Sync spiked beyond expected range. The shard’s pulse responded to you.”

Hana frowned. “Meaning?”

“Meaning the corruption recognizes something in your Protocol. Possibly Venusian code—maybe even familial resonance.”

The word hit harder than any punch. “Kata,” Hana said quietly.

Emica nodded. “It’s possible your sister’s energy signature exists inside this fragment. Which means she either designed the core—or someone built it from her data.”

Chinami rested her lance on her shoulder. “So basically, your evil sister might be mass-producing cosmic steroids.”

Kotaro smirked. “Family reunions are gonna suck.”

“Shut up,” Hana said, but there was no heat—just exhaustion.

[System Log Updated – Hidden Quest: Blood Resonance]

Itsuki read the feed. “Hey, that’s new. Hidden Quest? When did we start getting side quests?”

Hana dismissed the prompt. “When things got complicated.”

Cleanup teams arrived minutes later. The lab floor looked like a crime scene, blood, ash, molten alloy. One android arm still twitched before the technicians shorted it out.

Emica stood by the window, hands clasped behind her back. “I’ll have containment doubled. Hana, you and your team will rest. Tomorrow we begin analysis of your Protocol data.”

“Rest?” Kotaro laughed. “You mean mandatory paperwork.”

Emica shot him a look sharp enough to kill small gods. “Yes. And if you submit it late, I’ll let the next test unit chase you around the palace.”

Itsuki grinned. “Hell yeah, new training method.”

Chinami groaned. “You’re all idiots.”

Hana smiled faintly, a small crack in the ice. “Takes one to lead them.”

Kotaro threw an arm around her shoulder. “That was almost a joke, Hana. I’m proud.”

She shoved him off. “Touch me again and I’ll show you a new skill called decapitation chain.”

Chinami chuckled. “Finally, something I want to watch.”

Later, alone in the observation room, Hana stared at the shattered containment capsule. The shard’s residue still glowed faintly on the floor.

Her HUD flickered.

[Resonance Detected - Unknown Source]
[Core Link Attempting Sync …]
[Sync Aborted - Error Code: Venus-01]

She touched the glass, blood from her earlier cut smearing across it.

“Kata,” she whispered. “What the hell are you building?”

Far above, in Neptune’s stormlight, Rin watched through her surveillance feed. The Shadow Core-Gem pulsed beneath her armor like a second heart.

[Corruption Progress 14%]

Rin smiled. “Let’s see how much her little sister can handle.”