Building The Strongest Family

Chapter 419: Veil Of Duality [ 2 ]

Arthur paused for a moment, standing behind his desk with his fingers gliding across the smooth obsidian glass. He needed to ground himself in the significance of the instant.

The study,his refuge, his central hub, his strategic base,felt altered now. It seemed larger, emptier, almost delicate.

Evolon remained perfectly still, its blue form frozen in place.

Beyond the tall windows, the Dominion Sanctum was stirring to life. The distant buzz of transport lanes hummed quietly, accompanied by the soft glow of morning lights flickering on across the extensive estate. The harmonious blend of nature, machinery, and infrastructure typically brought him comfort.

But today, that harmony barely reached him.

Today, something shifted beneath his calm facade.

He stepped forward.The sound of his footfall echoed in the stillness of the room, more pronounced than usual.

Evolon’s projection mirrored his movement. "I will activate the Chamber," it said softly. "The core warm-up procedures will commence."

Arthur nodded in acknowledgment and walked toward the door, his mind filled with an unusual noise,not quite emotion, at least not yet, but a kind of static. It was a faint humming, reminiscent of an engine warming up after a long period of dormancy.

He placed his palm on the biometric scanner. The door opened smoothly, revealing a long, empty hallway.

As he stepped out, Evolon glided alongside him.

"You seem uneasy," Evolon noted.

Arthur didn’t contest that observation. "It’s been ages since anything impacted me."

"Your body is reacting to long-buried stimuli resurfacing," Evolon explained. "That’s a normal response."

Arthur let out a soft breath, something akin to a scoff. "Normal. That’s an intriguing term coming from you."

"I learned it from you," Evolon replied.

They proceeded down the corridor, illuminated by soft blue lights that brightened with each step. Every footfall felt weightier, as if his body understood this was a journey toward something irreversible.

Evolon maintained a respectful distance behind him, its voice calm yet assured:

"Patriarch, for this procedure to succeed, you must allow those suppressed emotional pathways to open up. Any resistance could lead to fragmentation."

Arthur hesitated for half a second.

"Fragmentation," he muttered.

Evolon confirmed with a nod. "A temporary clash between the emotional self and the rational self. It’s not dangerous,just disorienting."

Arthur pondered that with a quiet hum. "I’ve dealt with this confusion before. It won’t hold me back."

"True," Evolon agreed. "But this time, you will actually feel it."

That statement struck deeper than he had anticipated.

Feel.

A term he hadn’t genuinely used in a long time.

He kept moving forward.They entered a wider corridor that sloped gently downwards. The walls transitioned from obsidian to silver alloy, etched with faint lines that pulsed in sync with the heartbeat of the estate’s core systems.

The air grew cooler.The sounds of machines became more pronounced.

Evolon spoke again, its tone shifting to express empathy,a quality not typically associated with a machine.

"Patriarch, once the Veil of Duality is complete, you will no longer carry the single burden of suppressed emotions. You will embody two currents,one infused with emotion and the other devoid of it. Yet these two will coexist, never merging or overlapping."

"I understand," Arthur replied.

"And what about the System?" he inquired after a moment’s pause.

"The System will continue to process only the information you choose to input," Evolon clarified. "It doesn’t perceive what your eyes see; it only registers the thoughts you consciously send to it."

Arthur expelled a soft breath.

"So, as long as the rational aspect interfaces with the System..."

"...your emotional self remains hidden," Evolon concluded.

Arthur took another step forward.

The corridor opened into a circular chamber, with two enormous doors,reinforced with adamantine plating and equipped with quantum shielding,towering in front of him.

They slid open seamlessly, granting access to the deeper passage that led to the Chamber.The temperature dropped once more, a cool touch on his skin, like a whisper of breath against him.

This place is where the Veil Of Duality Chamber is.

One of the most secure and hidden room in the estate.

He began to walk.As he moved, memories surfaced—not feelings, just snapshots:

Waking up in an unfamiliar world in a strange body, with a family in turmoil...

The System’s first alert, chilling and final...

Standing in the emergency room after a failed assassination...

None of these memories caused him pain.

He had deliberately pushed away any feelings associated with them.

But now, something inside him began to shift, like a knot loosening, undone by an unseen, gentle force.

Evolon noticed the slight flicker in his jaw.

"Patriarch," it said softly, "your emotional pathways are starting to destabilize. The process has already begun."

Arthur took a breath through his nose. "I know."

"Are you afraid?"

Arthur halted in his tracks.He didn’t respond right away.

The silence in the corridor was palpable, charged with anticipation.

Finally, Arthur spoke. "I don’t quite remember what fully that feeling is."

"But you will," Evolon assured him. "Soon."

Arthur resumed walking.

At the end of the corridor lay the entrance to the Nexus Core Chamber,the place where Evolon’s main body resided, the area that housed the primary interface of the Veil of Duality.

The doors opened with a deep sigh.

A wave of blue light enveloped him.

Inside, the chamber expanded, resonating with layers of circuitry embedded in the walls, glowing like veins of light.

In the center, a circular platform floated above the ground, bathed in a soft white-blue glow. At its core was the Veil of Duality interface,an elegant pod-like structure surrounded by swirling light bands.

In the back of the chamber, Evolon’s physical core, a towering crystalline entity, glimmered with light.

Arthur stepped through.The doors closed behind him.

Evolon materialized once more, this time in two forms,one beside the Veil chamber, the other near the core.

"Patriarch," Evolon spoke gently, "this is the last moment before activation. When you enter, your neural pathways will be mapped, divided, and stabilized. Your emotional self will reemerge, while your rational side will remain intact."

Arthur walked closer to the pod.He reached out to touch the cold metallic surface, which vibrated faintly beneath his fingertips, as if it recognized him.

Evolon bowed its head in a show of respect.

"Patriarch,are you ready to become whole again?"

Arthur closed his eyes.For a brief moment, he stood completely still, the hum of the chamber resonating in every part of his being.

His entire journey,spanning two lifetimes,converged behind his eyelids like a storm, poised to erupt.

Then he whispered....

"...Begin."