Chapter 93: Cassian’s Dream
The aftermath of the Pythia Initiative broadcast had sent tremors through the galactic aristocracy. Every major power house was still scrambling to make sense of the Reyes-Zey'ran alliance's declaration, but Cassian Reyes had already moved on to the next phase of his agenda.
A private chamber within the Reyes stronghold had been repurposed into a war room. Projectors displayed streams of applications, genetic compatibility assessments, and classified reports—all related to the upcoming Pythia trials. Orion stood at the side, watching as his father scrutinized the names flashing across the screens.
Beside Cassian, Kaiser worked with surgical precision, sorting through the registrants with silent efficiency. Then, without hesitation, he removed entire factions from the list. Entire noble houses, entire bloodlines—erased with a simple command.
Orion frowned, his arms crossing over his chest as he glanced at the shifting names on the screen. His voice was measured, but there was an edge beneath it. "Who just got cut?" he asked, his gaze flicking toward his father.
Cassian barely spared him a glance, his fingers tapping against the console in an unhurried rhythm. "The Erythians, the Virean Collective, the Kahirnate—and, of course, anyone with even the slightest affiliation to Codex Chrysalis," he said, his tone cool, decisive, as if he were simply stating a universal truth.
"The Codex agents make sense," he said carefully. "But the Erythians? The Kahirnate? You're barring entire factions over old conflicts?"
Cassian finally looked at him, expression unreadable. "No, Orion. These were deliberate betrayals."
A flick of his fingers, and a new projection appeared—a list of those who had opposed the Reyes family in the past decade. The names weren't just enemies of war. Some had once been allies, or at least neutral.
But neutrality, Orion realized, was not a shield against Cassian's retribution.
"Every name here represents an individual or a house that sought to undermine us, to weaken us when we needed strength the most." Cassian's voice was calm, methodical, yet there was an unmistakable sharpness underneath. "The Erythians thought they could sanction us, pressure us into conceding against Codex Chrysalis. The Kahirnate sheltered Chrysalis defectors while demanding access to our trade routes."
Orion folded his arms. "And now, because of those actions, their entire bloodlines are cut off from Pythia?"