Page 2 of The Sovereign: Part One
“…brief signal disruption overnight prompted a temporary lockdown protocol near Hyperion Proper’s Eastern Perimeter.Officials from Hyperion Perimeter Oversight have confirmed the anomaly was purely environmental and unrelated to external interference.Citadel Command assures all citizens that containment protocols functioned precisely as designed, and that there is no cause for concern.As a reminder, verified Hyperion sources remain the only trusted channels for updates.Report unlicensed streams immediately.Harmony begins with trust.”
Bellam’s gaze didn’t shift toward the interface, but her brow twitched ever so slightly.
I took another sip, eyes fixed on nothing, and then glanced at Bellam.“Do you ever think they’ll listen to me about identical Hiven?Hive mind, all the men look the same, all the women, too.The only difference, their uniforms.It’s unsettling.”
“Honestly?No.”Bellam’s abrupt answer lingered.“You’ve been working on the IRDAA bill for two years.I think,” she said carefully, “that’s the point.They say the standardization is to decipher Hiven from Supplicants, which makes sense.The goal is to make us forget our Supplicant partners aren’t human.How do you achieve that when Hiven—essentially service Supplicants—exist?”
“I’ve seen the memo.All of them,” I said with a sigh.I’d been promoted to Senior Advisor for Social Integration Strategies the year before.My superiors said it was because of my work on the Individuality Recognition and Design Autonomy Act, and yet, it was the only pending legislation proposed to The Forum that consistently fell on deaf ears, despite my efforts to bring the topic to the highest committees.
“That they worry about deciphering at all shows that the rumors of Bligh—”
“Don’t,” I said, turning to her.My eyes flitted to each camera in the room.I shook my head, watching as Bellam covered her mouth, nodding in gratitude.
We waited.When no one came, when our comms didn’t buzz with a summons from The Citadel, we both sighed in relief.
“Holy Aioli, I can’t believe that just happened,” she said, her shoulders falling.
I tried to reset, staring into the depths of my cresk, the dark liquid reflecting the sterile light of the Dominion’s breakroom.My pulse quickened, though I wasn’t sure if it was from the caffeine or the close call.We weren’t allowed to mention Blight, the rumored psychosis affecting a small number of Sovereign after prolonged habitation with a Supplicant.It was a myth.A calculated campaign Hyperion’s closest competitor, Icarus, began once we left their technology in the dust.It was forbidden to acknowledge, particularly by Hyperion employees.
It would be just my luck to be issued an infraction for one of Bellam’s flippant remarks just one week before the final phases of my Veritas.Suddenly, its completion—and every choice I’d made over the past year—felt unbearably delicate, like a sliver of light poised on the edge of a blade.
“Youarenervous.”Bellam’s voice held a rare softness, one that caught me off guard.She leaned against the counter, the steam from her tea curling around her face.Bellam rarely showed concern, which made her discovery sting more.
“I think it would be weird if I weren’t,” I said, aiming for lighthearted but failing.“I mean, I understand asking if I tend to gravitate toward inebriated sons of the Vanguard… I don’t see the point in knowing what time I first urinate in the morning.”
Bellam spat out her tea.She looked around.“And you sayI’ma bad influence.”
I checked the time, then dumped and rinsed my cresk.“I have to be at the Enclave building in twenty-four minutes.”
“Take the Skith.The blue line is quicker than the Sky Walk.”
“Not my first day,” I called back to her.
“No, but you insist on doubling your daily step count, so you need a reminder!”she yelled after me.
The Skith was nearly empty, which wasn’t unusual at that hour.Most government employees preferred private transit, their Supplicants or assigned Hiven shuttling them from one destination to the next.But I liked the anonymity of the Skith and the way it gave me space to think without the constant fantasies of Maxim’s presence guiding my thoughts before I even had them.
I leaned against the transpane barrier, watching the vast landscape blur past in a stream of light and motion.Hyperion Proper always felt more artificial when viewed at speed.Towers of white steel stretched toward a skyline unmarred by imperfection.My reflection wavered against the window, half-there, half-vanished into the city behind me.
When the Skith slowed to a stop at the Enclave’s port, I pulled my coat tighter and stepped onto the arrival tier.The structure loomed ahead, its neoclassical influence mellowed by Hyperion’s signature sleekness.It didn’t clamor for attention.There was a tenor of technology and the undercurrent of knowledge, conditioning, and belief woven so deeply into its foundation that no one ever thought to question them.
The Chief Technology Officer and Chief Architect, Leviticus Phineas Navon, stood just inside with his arms crossed, a familiar smirk tugging at his mouth.As the brilliant mind behind the city’s technological foundation—and the third most powerful figure in Hyperion—he moved through its most exclusive corridors, ones that required multiple clearances and left even high-ranking officials waiting at sealed thresholds.
But to me, he was just Lev.
Stout in stature, he wore his years with ease, with warm brown eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that spoke of wisdom and well-placed humor.A thick, white beard framed his full cheeks, his softness in contrast with the sharp mind responsible for sculpting the future of technology.
“Senior Advisor Isara Poeima, gracing the halls of the Enclave.Are you finally admitting that tech and education are more interesting than cultural affairs?”
I rolled my eyes, stepping into the warmth of the atrium.“No, Lev, I’ll leave deciphering the language of progress to you.”
“My darling!You’ve always had a way with words!”Lev’s laugh was an easy thing, bright against the almost inaudible buzz of the Enclave’s core systems.He was an old friend of my family, one of the few Sovereign within The Citadel whom Papa truly trusted.Before he retired, my papa was the esteemed Velkyn Poeima, Chief Liaison of Technological Affairs.He had been admired and respected, yet rarely understood.Lev, however, was the exception.As LTA, Papa had worked closely with him, forging a path through the volatile rift separating Hyperion’s governance from its advancing tech.Lev’s skill in balancing innovation with policy earned him countless accolades, yet I often sensed that what he witnessed in that role had left him disillusioned.He never spoke of it outright, but I could see it, the burden of knowledge he chose not to share.
“What brings you here?”I asked.“Did you relocate your lab?”
“My old office is in this building.I revisit it from time to time.”
“That’s right,” I said, memories surfacing from the corners of my mind.“That was eons ago; I remember playing on that floor while you and Papa debated the integration of personalization of tone and accent into the AI interfaces.”
