Kellan and Lyra sped across Nova Prime toward the Rose Petal Florist. The anxiety in Kellan was a completely new, unwelcome sensation. His Optimal Insight (Level 4) calculated the threat, but his deeply human connection to his grandmother, Evelyn Thorne, was interfering with his perfect logic.
"The Primer is utilizing the Omega-7 protocol," Kellan stated, gripping the steering wheel. "It's targeting my grandmother's sub-optimal memories—her fears and regrets—to create a psychic entity. It wants to destroy my focus."
"I will transmute the entity, Kellan," Lyra affirmed, her voice perfectly calm. "My Energy Transmutation can turn psychic chaos into stable matter."
"No," Kellan countered instantly, his Apex Prediction showing the catastrophic sub-optimal action chain of a direct psychic attack. "If you attack the entity, you expose yourself to the Primer's mental attack. You are needed for the Primer itself. I have to protect her without force."
They arrived. The Rose Petal Florist was surrounded by Apex Defense Force (ADF) guards in their Nanoweave armor. Jax met them at the entrance, his face grim.
"Sir, the entity is inside," Jax reported. "It's a shimmering shadow, and the air around it feels like pure despair. We can't shoot it—it's not physical."
Kellan stepped inside. The air was heavy, freezing. In the center of the shop, hovering over his grandmother who was sitting silently in a chair, was a swirling, dark figure composed of shimmering shadows—the Primer's Psychic Manifestation.
[Target: Psychic Manifestation (P.M.). Threat Level: Extreme (Emotional Corruption). Sub-Optimal Point (Kellan): Emotional Connection to Evelyn Thorne.]
"Kellan," the shadow entity hissed, its voice echoing with the synthesized voice of Alistair Finch and Marcus Vance. "We found your flaw. Your love is sub-optimal. It limits your perfection."
Evelyn Thorne looked up at Kellan, her eyes wide, but she was trapped in a catatonic state.
Kellan deployed Lyra. "Lyra, use your AEC to create a perfect, localized shield around my grandmother. Maintain a 100% energy seal. Do not attack the entity; only protect the host."
Lyra immediately complied. A flawless, golden dome of controlled energy enveloped Evelyn, protecting her from the entity's psychic influence.
"You can shield her body, but you can't shield her mind!" the entity roared, launching a torrent of psychic images at Kellan—visions of Finch's betrayal, his own poverty, and his fear of losing his grandmother.
Kellan stood his ground, letting the psychic assault wash over him. His Optimal Insight (Level 4) was working overtime. He could not fight the entity with power, but he could fight it with logic.
[Apex Prediction (Level 4) Activated! Target: Psychic Manifestation. Sub-Optimal Action Chain: The P.M. is anchored to Evelyn Thorne's deepest regret—the memory of a long-lost, cherished photo. Attacking this memory will destabilize the P.M.]
Kellan realized the key wasn't in Evelyn's fear, but in her regret. The entity had latched onto a sub-optimal memory to establish its anchor.
Kellan looked at his grandmother's still figure. He knew the memory—a faded photo of her and her late husband, lost decades ago.
"You are sub-optimal, Primer!" Kellan shouted at the shadow. "You waste your power on a memory that is already sub-optimal!"
Kellan channeled his Optimization Energy into the Apex Scanner Rod he still held, aiming it directly at the spot on the wall where the entity was focused. He didn't fire an attack; he fired a Synthesized Projection—a perfect, high-resolution holographic image of the missing, lost photo.
The effect was instantaneous. The psychic entity shrieked in agony. The sub-optimal anchor it had created—the regret of the missing photo—was instantly rendered meaningless by the Optimal appearance of the synthesized image. Its foundation of control was gone.
The shadow entity violently pulled itself out of the flower shop, dissipating into the sky with a desperate, receding screech.
Evelyn Thorne blinked, her gaze clearing. "Kellan? Did I fall asleep? Oh, dear, you're tracking dirt onto the rug."
Kellan knelt beside her, a genuine, uncalculated smile on his face. "It's okay, Grandma. Everything is Optimal."
Lyra dropped the shield, her respect for Kellan's unique brand of warfare deepening. "You defeated a psychic entity with a perfectly timed photograph, Kellan. Your logic is terrifying."
"The Primer is learning," Kellan said, looking up at the sky. "It knows my weakness. Now it's time for us to apply my Level 4 Apex Prediction to its next move."