Part II: Operation Planning
Kaelen highlighted specific points on the estate layout. "Xylia's private chambers are in the western wing, third floor. Security is lighter there than main entrances. If you can convince her to meet privately—claim you need to discuss Family politics away from surveillance—we can isolate her from guards long enough for extraction attempt."
Lucian studied the layout, clearly struggling with the tactical planning versus the moral implications. "She's sixteen. My age. We grew up in adjacent estates, attended the same theological instruction, shared tutors. She's not just a target. She's someone I know."
"Who's wearing fragments that belong to me. That she acquired through my infant mutilation. Her personal history doesn't change that transaction." Kaelen's tone was flat. "Do you want to help reclaim the stolen cores or not?"
"I do. I just—" Lucian stopped. Reconsidered. "You're right. The sentiment doesn't change necessity. If we're doing this, we commit fully."
The chamber door opened again. Artemis entered with Vespera, both looking like they'd been awake coordinating for hours. Probably had been.
"Final briefing before operation execution," Artemis said without preamble, moving to the tactical displays. "Xylia Umbral, House Umbral heir, target for fragment reclamation. Lucian makes initial contact, establishes meeting under pretense of requesting assistance. Kaelen infiltrates using consciousness projection to avoid physical detection. Extraction through blending-facilitated voluntary release or surgical intervention if necessary."
She pulled up timeline projections. "Operation window: eight hours. That's how long until Family security completes intelligence analysis and determines Lucian's meeting request is infiltration attempt. After eight hours, they mobilize extraction teams and the entire estate becomes hardened target we can't penetrate."
"Network support?" Kaelen asked.
"Minimal. Sera's team maintains overwatch from secured positions, but they can't provide direct assistance inside the estate without triggering Family military response." Artemis highlighted extraction routes. "You're operating independently once infiltration begins. Success or failure depends on your execution, not network backup."
Vespera stepped forward with medical equipment. "Pre-operation assessment. I need current corruption and neural readings."
Kaelen submitted to the familiar ritual. Scanners pressed against crystalline tissue, analyzing the divine matter that had consumed seventy-two point one percent of his biology.
"Neural preservation at sixty-eight percent," Vespera confirmed, her professional mask slipping slightly. "That's critical threshold, Kaelen. Once you drop below sixty-five percent, cognitive degradation accelerates exponentially. You'll lose capacity for complex reasoning, strategic planning, sustained concentration. The operation needs to succeed on first attempt because there won't be mental capacity for second try."
"Understood."
"I'm serious. This isn't just medical data—this is your last chance to accomplish anything requiring higher cognition. After today, you become simplified. Instinct-driven. Useful as weapon but not as person." Vespera's voice carried weight. "If there's anything you need to say, anyone you need to talk to, any decisions that require your actual conscious choice—do it now. Before the degradation makes choice impossible."
Kaelen processed this. Searched his degrading consciousness for things that felt important enough to address before cognitive failure.
Found tactical priorities, strategic objectives, fragment reclamation logistics. Nothing else registered as significant.
The humanity was almost entirely gone.
"I'm ready for the operation," he said.
Artemis pulled up final coordination protocols. "Lucian departs at 0800 hours for Umbral Estate. Travel time approximately ninety minutes through official channels using his Family credentials. Kaelen follows using smuggler routes, arriving by 1000 hours. Initial contact between Lucian and Xylia at 1030 hours. Consciousness blending attempt at 1100 hours. Extraction and emergency evacuation by 1400 hours regardless of success or failure."
"What if extraction fails and we need surgical approach?" Lucian asked.
"Then you restrain Xylia while Kaelen performs the procedure. Vespera provided surgical tools and technique instructions." Artemis's expression was grim. "It won't be clean. It won't be safe. But it's the fallback if consciousness blending doesn't work."
"Survival probability for surgical extraction?" Kaelen asked.
"Approximately thirty percent for Xylia. Eighty percent for you assuming you avoid Family security response during the procedure." Vespera pulled up medical projections. "The fragments are integrated into her hand's skeletal and nervous structure. Removing them surgically means severing nerve connections and breaking bone. She'll lose hand function even if she survives."
"Acceptable cost."
Lucian looked disturbed again but didn't object. He was learning to separate sentiment from necessity. The corruption helped with that.
The briefing continued for another thirty minutes—equipment checks, communication protocols, seventeen different contingency procedures for failure scenarios. Professional preparation that couldn't eliminate uncertainty but could at least organize it into manageable risk categories.
When it concluded, Kaelen had two hours before departure. Two hours to prepare for an operation that would either reclaim the first fragment or consume the last of his reliable cognition attempting it.
He returned to his sleeping alcove, not to rest but to organize his thoughts while organization remained possible. The neural tracker showed twenty-one hours, forty-three minutes of reliable consciousness remaining.
The countdown continued toward simplification.
But simplification wouldn't occur until after the operation completed.
The mathematics were brutal but clear.