by A. K. DuBoff
Unfortunately, Jack had no such personal ties. “This tech is so weird,” he commented for the third time while reviewing Kira’s medical logs on the other side of the lab.
“Unless you have something useful to say, could you try to keep your thoughts to yourself?” Leon requested.
“Oh, come on.” Jack swiveled around on his stool. “Aren’t you a little curious?”
“To look at your analysis of how nanites have transformed someone I care about against her will, and how she now has a computer intelligence in her brain to keep her from transforming? Yeah, I’m sure it’s weird and fascinating how all that tech is interacting, but I’m only interested in what will help her,” Leon shot back.
Jack spun back around with his hands raised in defense. “Whoa, touched a nerve.”
Leon took a steadying breath. That may have been an overreaction, but he didn’t care. His team needed to remember that there were people behind the science.
Just as he was getting back to work, an alert from Kira popped up on Leon’s workstation. He answered her call. “Hi, finished with the meeting?”
“Yeah. Are you still at your lab?”
“I am.”
“On my way.” Kira ended the call.
“That was very business-y and matter-of-fact,” Jack commented from across the lab.
“Not everyone is as lovey-dovey in public as you and Stacy,” Tess told him.
Leon glared over his shoulder at Jack. “You were the one talking about her like a lab specimen.”
Tess held up her finger. “A smart, pretty, capable lab specimen with thoughts and feelings, and we care about her well-being very much.”
Leon sighed. “Should I expect an ongoing analysis of every interaction I have in all aspects of my life?” he said, hoping to get them to mind their own business.
Instead, Tess shrugged. “Well, we’re scientists, and we also don’t get a lot of action down here in the lab, so… yeah, that’s a safe bet.”
I really need my own office. Leon pushed back from his workstation. “Why don’t you two head out for the day?” he offered pointedly.
“I’m in the middle of something,” Jack replied.
“It’s okay if you step out, though.” Tess looked over her shoulder at Leon. “We’ll hold down the fort until you get back.”
Admittedly, he could use a break. “I won’t be gone long.”
“Come on, don’t sell yourself short!” Jack called out.
It took Leon a moment to realize what he meant, and he decided to leave without dignifying the remark, confident in the knowledge that was one aspect of his relationship with Kira he didn’t need to worry about.
He waited in the hall for Kira to arrive. After two minutes, he saw her round the bend.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked. Her brow was tight with worry, and she had uncharacteristic dark circles under her eyes.
Leon walked forward to meet her halfway and pulled her in for a kiss without saying a word.
She kissed him back, the tension releasing from her shoulders.
“Let’s go somewhere we can talk alone,” he suggested. “My quarters aren’t far.”
Kira nodded.
He led the way. “Did something happen out there?”
“A lot of things,” she murmured.
Leon looked at her with concern.
“We’re all fine,” she assured him. “These aliens just have me on edge.”
“I know what you mean.”
He hated to see her so stressed. Maybe that was her normal state in the Guard, but something told him this was beyond normal. The Robus situation certainly couldn’t be helping matters.
I’m sick of feeling like I can’t do anything to make this easier on her. Well, maybe I can’t from a medical standpoint, but I can still offer love and support. That is within my control.
Leon grabbed her hand as they walked the final stretch to his quarters. She squeezed his back.
He palmed open his door and motioned her inside.
The room was slightly smaller than Kira’s, equipped with a double bed between two end tables, a built-in dresser, and a viewscreen on the wall. A door in the center of the right wall led to a compact washroom. He spent so little time in the space that he didn’t need anything more.
As soon as they were inside with the door closed, Kira wrapped her arms around his neck and led him toward the bed as her lips found his.
He eagerly kissed her back, having been days since he’d seen her, and going on two weeks since they’d been intimate—since before the discovery of her transformation.
They were just about to recline on the bed when Kira suddenly pulled back. “Hold on a sec.”
“What’s wrong?”
Kira got a distant look in her hazel eyes for a moment. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure how to handle this with an AI in my head. Jasmine and I had to come to an understanding.”
“Oh, I guess that would be a little weird, having someone watching,” Leon realized.
“Yeah, a mental running commentary about my increased dopamine levels was, shockingly, not enhancing the mood.” Kira drew him down to her. “But don’t worry, she won’t interrupt us again.”
Forgetting about the silent observer, Leon set about giving Kira a reprieve from her worries.
CHAPTER 13
Kira nestled against Leon’s bare chest. “Thank you. I needed that.”
He kissed her forehead. “You’ve been distancing yourself. I told you I would be here to help you through this, and I meant it.”
She knew she’d been holding back. As much as she wanted to open up to him, it wasn’t that easy.
Her family in the Guard was a support network that had proved itself time and time again. To add someone else into that mix was a scary prospect. If she let herself fall for Leon again—as an adult, with the maturity and understanding that came with that kind of relationship—the balance would shift. Though her existing network wouldn’t be any less important, there’d be someone else on equal footing, and she needed to know that leg wouldn’t be kicked out from under her.
“I’m sorry I never gave us a chance before,” she murmured.
Leon looked down at her. “What do you mean?”
“When I left to join the Guard.” Kira stared up at the ceiling. “I got scared that I was going to get trapped in a life—on a future path—before I really knew myself. So I ran away from everything I thought defined me. My world. My parents. You. By the time I’d wised up enough to realize that I could have talked to you about those concerns like a reasonable person, I figured you’d want nothing to do with me.”
“I always wondered if it was something I did,” he said.
“No.” She shook her head. “You were always there for me when I needed you, and in return I was selfish and only thought of myself.”
Leon stroked her shoulder. “Well, we have a chance to start over now.”
“We do. And to do it right, I know I need to let you in. But I’m not used to being vulnerable,” Kira admitted.
“Companionship can make us stronger. Just look at you with your team.”
She looked up at him. She saw the love in his eyes—his unwavering dedication to her, despite everything she’d been through in the last two weeks. If that wasn’t enough to scare him off, then nothing would.
“I want you to be a part of my team,” she told him. “I mean, be here with me.”
Leon shifted to his side to face her. “I love you, Kira.”
Her heart melted, just like when she had been a teenager hearing the words for the first time, and then a warm glow filled her. She wasn’t that girl anymore, and what was between them now spoke to a deeper bond between the selves they’d grown into over the years.
“I love you, too. I want to see things through this time, the way I wasn’t ready to before.”
Their lips met again, and Kira lost herself in the moment.
When they eventually parted, neither could keep
from grinning.
Kira sighed. “For what it’s worth, Jasmine approves,” she told Leon.
He chuckled. “Glad to hear I pass muster.”
Kira blocked out the AI as best she could to return her focus to Leon. “I can’t promise to always be the most attentive partner, but I’ll be honest and fair with you.”
He gave her another kiss. “I can’t ask for anything more.”
They lay together for a few minutes longer, and then Kira’s mind wandered to the unresolved tasks from earlier in the day. “Hey, did you talk with Doctor Elric about the medical data that Jasmine recorded while I was on the op?”
“Aaand the moment is over.” Leon sat up.
“Sorry, I’ll work on my transitions.” She ran her hand down his arm.
“Actually, I was just thinking about it, too.” He climbed out of bed and began dressing.
Kira did the same. “And?”
“I’m supposed to stop by Medical this afternoon to go over it with him. You’re welcome to come along, if you don’t mind us talking about your weird brain right in front of you.” He smiled.
She balled up a sock and threw it at him, then promptly realized that she needed it.
Leon deflected the fabric ball, and it landed at the foot of the mattress. “It’ll be helpful to have you around to answer questions.”
Kira dove across the bed to retrieve the wayward sock. “I can remain objective.”
“Good.”
Jasmine said in Kira’s mind.
Says the AI that does that all the time, Kira thought privately.
She gave a mental smile to the AI.
Kira gave a mental eyeroll at the AI’s wounded tone.
Jasmine retreated.
When Kira and Leon were dressed in their shipsuits, they headed to Medical.
Doctor Elric was with a patient when they arrived, and a nurse showed them to the doctor’s office in the back right of the infirmary. The desk was situated in the middle of the room facing the door, and a holodisplay behind it was covered with coded reminders about various patient check-ins. Kira spotted her name at the top of the list.
Kira and Leon seated themselves in the visitor chairs.
“I had gotten used to the check-ups after every op, but with these extra visits, I feel like I’m going to practically be living here,” Kira whispered.
“I hope not. I’d miss you overnight.”
She gave him a coy smile. “I think it’s still a little early to think about moving into shared quarters.”
He returned the smile. “I never said anything about that. Just, you know—”
“Oh, Kira, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Doctor Elric said, entering his office.
“I hope you don’t mind me sitting in on your discussion with Leon, Doctor,” Kira replied, swiveling around in her chair.
“You are the subject, after all. Of course you can be here.” The doctor sat down behind his desk.
“I would have taken a look before coming over here, but I didn’t receive your analysis,” Leon said.
Doctor Elric made entries on his desktop to bring up a file. “Because I never sent it. There were some components that I felt warranted discussion before we draw any conclusions.” He folded his hands on the desktop. “Physiologically, it appears that Jasmine was able to regulate neurochemical reactions to prevent the agitated state that has previously triggered an unwanted Robus transformation. However, there were some brainwave patterns that didn’t match up with that regulated state.”
Kira half-raised her hand. “I know I’m just supposed to be an observer here, but what kind of variance are we talking about?”
Jasmine ribbed in her mind.
“At four points during your time on the dwarf planet,” Elric continued, “there was a shift in the brainwave pattern—like it had entered a sympathetic resonance.”
“Similar to when Kaen and Jared were subverted?” Leon asked.
Elric shook his head. “No, this wasn’t a control signal. It was more like a sync.”
Kira frowned. “What does that mean in this context?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” the doctor replied. “I was hoping to get a record of the Raven’s sensor logs, as well as a copy of the environmental data gathered via your armor’s sensors, to get a better picture of what may have been going on.”
“I was tapped into the suit,” Jasmine interjected over the room’s comm system.
“Yes, and that was filtered and combined as part of Kira’s experience. I’d like to see how that compares to the raw logs,” Elric explained.
“Ah, and in that discrepancy may lie the solution,” Jasmine stated.
“Precisely.” Elric met Leon’s gaze. “The reason I wanted to meet with you, Leon, is I have a hunch that this resonance is related to Kira’s TR structure.”
“Again, not a neuroscientist,” Leon muttered under his breath.
Elric shrugged. “You’re as close to an expert as we have on this tech, all the same. This resonance may be a variation of the remote communications we’ve observed.”
Kira came to attention. “If that theory holds, I bet I know exactly which four times the resonance happened—when I entered the rock formation, when we saw the central nexus thing, when we came to the pit, and when we were trying to escape.”
Next to her, Leon’s expression turned to horror. “I really have no idea what you just said, but that sounds awful.”
“It was a fun day.” Kira patted his knee. “I can access the mission records on my account, if you want me to log in.”
“Please.” Elric motioned to the desktop.
Kira placed her hand on the surface to gain access and then navigated to the appropriate directory containing the logs.
“All right, so,” she went to the raw logs from her powered armor, “we entered the rock formation right around here.”
Using the combat video recorder as a guide, she cycled through the frames until the view matched her recollection. She played it forward for Leon and the doctor.
“Those rocks are so weird-looking,” Leon commented, tilting his head.
“Made of valteron,” Kira explained.
Leon crossed his arms. “Huh.”
Elric leaned forward to study the details. “Yes, that timestamp does align with the first resonance,” he confirmed.
“So far so good.” Kira advanced the record. “Now, the next…”
Kira selected the footage from when she approached the monolith in the cent
ral cavern with her team.
“Hmm, I’m not seeing a spike,” Elric observed.
“No, there has to be something here,” Kira insisted.
Leon looked at her. “What were you expecting?”
“This chamber,” Kira pointed to the image on the desktop, “is also composed of valteron. And there’s a lot of it. I’d expect this place to be a resonance hotspot.”
“Maybe it’s not that simple,” Leon mused. “Just because a material is present doesn’t mean that it has an active connection—there might be other factors.”
“That’s a valid point,” Elric agreed. “Maybe the valteron needs to have a signal running through it, or something of the sort.”
“Then why did the rocks on the surface cause such a strong reaction?” Kira asked.
“Well, it’s the perimeter of the facility. Perhaps there’s a trigger of some sort,” Leon suggested.
She tilted her head. “Like a security system?”
“Or proximity alarm,” Elric said. “You felt faint when you first stepped inside, yes?”
Kira nodded.
“I had to make some significant adjustments to compensate,” Jasmine chimed in.
“Not everyone would have an AI capable of cancelling out the effects,” Elric continued. “I can only speculate, but the information I’ve seen points to a net, designed to catch anyone with remotely compatible tech that would enable potential telepathic control.”
Kira decided to go with the line of reasoning. “And since I made it out of the net, and my team wasn’t susceptible, we were able to proceed. But that’s a really ineffective security system, if anyone else can just walk inside.”
“Except you didn’t find anything,” the doctor stated.
“We accessed the computer system and were loading a ton of data onto an external drive,” Kira pointed out.
“Yes, but you never got that off the planet. After the mission, you were essentially in the same place you began,” he countered.
“Are you suggesting that it allowed us through the facility?”
Elric shrugged. “I don’t have enough information to say. Let’s go through the rest of the mission recording to see if any patterns emerge.”
“Right.” Kira continued advancing the video.
