Page 36 of Alien Guardian's Vow
She ducked her head, but not before I caught the slight curve of her lips. "Good. Because we still have work to do."
This was no longer just about duty or survival. She had given me her name—her human self—and I would protect it, protect her, with everything I had.
Becca.I repeated it in my mind, filing it carefully away like a treasure. The name fit her perfectly—direct and strong, yet with a softness at its edges.
Through our shared bond, I felt her heart racing, the vulnerability of her offering and the relief at my acceptance. She hadn't been certain I would understand the significance, but she'd offered it anyway. Trust earned through fire and danger.
Another alarm sounded, this one more distant but no less urgent. Rivera—Becca—straightened, her focus returning to the task at hand.
"Ready for round two?" she asked.
I moved away from the console, ignoring the pain in my side. "Always."
RIVERA
Cold water swirled around my knees, seeping through my clothes and chilling me to the bone. The main control console flickered with warning lights, its displays showing cascading system failures throughout the ancient facility. My hands flew across the interface, desperately trying to channel power through the core regulator.
"It's not accepting the input," I muttered, frustration building as another warning klaxon joined the cacophony of alarms. "The stabilization sequence keeps aborting."
Varek stood beside me, his golden lifelines pulsing with effort as he channeled his energy into the secondary interface. His jaw tightened with concentration, sweat beading on his dark skin despite the cold.
"The system resists," he said, voice tight. "Something blocks the flow."
I slammed my palm against the console. "We're so close! The protocols are all in place. The system is ready for final stabilization, but it keeps rejecting our separate inputs."
The console sparked violently, sending a shower of white-hot embers across my hands. I jerked back with a hiss of pain, shaking my fingers in the cold water.
"Are you injured?" Varek's concern cut through his concentration.
"I'm fine. But we're running out of time."
A new alarm joined the others, this one deeper. The floor beneath us trembled, and somewhere in the distance, I heard the groan of failing metal.
"Hammond's drilling operation is accelerating the collapse," Varek said, his eyes scanning the readouts. "The containment fields are failing."
I turned my attention to a side panel that had begun displaying a complex diagram. The schematics showed energy flows between multiple points, with a central core regulator that looked eerily similar to the pattern of my markings. I traced the pathways with my finger, following the flow of energy through interconnected nodes.
My breath caught as understanding dawned. "Varek, look! This schematic... it shows a bio-energy loop... it needs full resonance! Our combined energy!"
His fingers followed the path of my markings like they were sacred text. My skin tingled—not from the energy—but from him. I didn’t flinch. I leaned in.
He furrowed his brows, studying the diagram. "A complete circuit."
"The system isn't designed to accept two separate inputs. It needs a single, unified energy signature." I pointed to the pulsing core in the center of the diagram. "See how the pathways mirror our markings and lifelines? It's designed for bonded pairs."
The realization hit me like a physical blow. Desperation surged through me as I understood what we needed to do. The system needed our combined energy, perfectly synchronized, flowing as one. Not two separate beings working in tandem, but a complete circuit, fully resonant.
It resists! We are so close!
My duty to both our peoples demanded success. Through our developing bond, I felt Varek's determination mirroring my own, along with an undercurrent of despair as he too realized what the system required.
The console sparked again, more violently this time. The lights flickered, plunging us momentarily into darkness before emergency lighting bathed everything in an eerie red glow.
Oh god. It needs... us. Together.
Fear twisted in my gut, mixing with the undeniable pull I felt toward Varek. Our bond hummed with potential energy, ready to be channeled if we only allowed it.
"The resonance," Varek said, his voice low. "It requires complete synchronization."
