Page 29 of The Sovereign: Part One
I hesitated, the question settling deep beneath my skin.The truth wasn’t simply dangerous, it could cost me everything this close to my Court Date: my standing, my future, Maxim.But the answer I’d given Joss and the way I felt about Maxim, even before we’d met, placed me firmly at the point of no return.At this point, did it matter?
I exhaled slowly.“I need the truth.”
Lev leaned forward.“You have it, if you’d been paying attention.The news has been reporting on it for weeks.”
I frowned in confusion.
He continued, “There’s a group outside the walls called the Ruhat.A terrorist faction.Their leader is a man named Qadim.No one knows exactly where he came from.Some say his Sovereign parent was banished from Hyperion, others say he’s Vale-born, or even a descendant of the leaders of the revolt.But he’s real.And he’s a threat.”
A chill curled around my spine.“What is the Ruhat after?”
Lev’s gaze sharpened.“Are there whispers about an explosion at the Intrasect Hub near the wall?”
I blinked.“No.”
“They called it a minor systems irregularity on the feeds,” he said, tone dry.
“The one they sent Regs to investigate?I remember thinking that didn’t quite add up.An explosion?Are you saying it was planned?As in… a bomb?”
“It was the Ruhat,” he said.“As well as the incident at the Skybridge.They’ve been organizing for decades—maybe longer.Until recently, it was small disruptions.Tactical noise.But the explosion?It was an escalation.”
I stared at him.“To what end?”
“Not even The Citadel is certain,” he said.“But a phrase surfaced in decrypted transmissions pulled from the site.Something they keep repeating.The Great Deception.From the intel I’ve been able to access, the Ruhat believe Hyperion has replaced truth with illusion.That by engineering order and producing children in labs to be assigned to couples—one of whom isn’t even human—we’ve severed ourselves from what it means to be fully alive.To them, Hyperion isn’t just control, it’s spiritual extinction.Isara… I believe something far worse is coming.”
My breath stilled.“My papa once told me that Hyperion allows The Vale to exist only for the illusion of choice.”
Lev smiled.“Who do you think told your papa?”
Silence settled between us again, heavier this time.
“Have you heard of Blight?”he asked finally.
Dread pooled in my stomach.The word itself was taboo.“I’ve heard of it.Supposedly a condition where you mentally reject your Supplicant, leading to paranoia, depression, aggression… even violence.Murder.Suicide.But it’s a myth, right?It’s a myth?”
“I’m afraid it’s not,” Lev said.“At The Citadel, it’s referred to as Synthetic Affective Syndrome.Unbroken joy was never meant to be our constant state.The soul is tempered in the crucible of hardship, shaped by sorrow as much as by light.Struggle molds us.Without it, there is no growth.We can’t truly appreciate joy unless we’ve known sadness.We’ve engineered suffering out of Hyperion.And now, Sovereign are breaking.”
A sharp breath left me.“You’re saying Accordance is causing psychosis?”
“I’m saying for certain Sovereign, it’s inevitable,” Lev corrected.“And I’ve been researching ways to adjust the Supplicants, to prevent the psychological rejection that leads to Blight.”
I shook my head.“That’s… illegal, Lev.It’s a direct violation of The Eight.”
Written by the first Ethics Council, The Eight were immutable, Hyperion’s highest and most absolute laws, woven into the very foundation of our society.They dictated the ethical treatment of Supplicants and Hiven, the framework for integration, the boundaries of behavior and code.These laws weren’t just statutes, they were doctrine enforced with unyielding discipline.Not even the Vanguard were immune.The Eight ensured that Sovereign never overstepped, that the balance between human and synthetic remained intact.They governed the rights of Supplicants, ensuring they were neither exploited nor regarded as inferior.The Eight strictly set the parameters of Hiven autonomy, preventing deviations that could disrupt order, and they reinforced the fundamental belief that Hyperion was the pinnacle of civilization—its structure unshakable, its harmony unquestionable.To defy The Eight was to defy Hyperion itself.
Lev’s expression remained impassive.“The Sovereign who suffer from Blight aren’t seen again.We should be doing everything in our power to prevent it.Do you agree?”
I wasn’t sure what unsettled me more, that Lev had been researching how to circumvent The Eight, or that I wasn’t sure he was wrong.
“In theory, yes.But what does this have to do with Joss?Why the sudden interest in Vale-born?”
Lev exhaled.“Trust your intuition, Isara.What does it tell you?”
A cold certainty settled in my gut.“That it’s connected to the Ruhat somehow?”
Lev nodded.“You’re on the right track.”
I swallowed.“Do they think The Vale is plotting with the Ruhat?”
