Sage stopped walking, forcing me to face her. Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “Is that what you’re really worried about right now? That caring for her makes you weak?”
“Not weak.” I struggled to articulate the storm inside me. “Compromised. These feelings—they’re intense. Overwhelming sometimes. What if I make the wrong call because I can’t think straight around her?”
“Oh, Aeon.” Sage’s expression softened. “That’s not a malfunction. That’s called being alive.”
“It feels dangerous.”
“It is dangerous.” She laughed, the sound bright against the background chorus of jungle insects. “But it’s also our greatest strength. Look what happened in there—” She pointed back toward the council chamber. “You just united the entire colony because you showed them your passion and your conviction.”
I tugged at my hair, unconvinced. “That’s different.”
“Is it? Before Olivia, you were efficient. Logical. A perfect commander on paper.” Sage poked my chest. “But you never inspired anyone. Now? You have the entire colony ready to stand against Earth itself.”
“Because it’s the right strategic move.”
“No.” Sage shook her head. “Because they saw you care about something—someone—so deeply that you’d risk everything to protect her. That’s not a flaw in your programming, Aeon. It’s evolution.”
The truth of her words hit me like lightning.
“What you and Olivia have—it’s the blueprint for everything we’ve been fighting for,” Sage continued. “Human and cyborg, working together. Learning from each other. It’s proof that there’s a future beyond war.”
I looked out at our colony, seeing it with new eyes—not as a refuge but as the beginning of something greater.
“Maybe you’re right,” I admitted.
“I’m always right.” Sage grinned. “And for what it’s worth, I think Olivia makes you more human. Not a bad thing for someone trying to lead a new civilization.”
The weight on my shoulders lightened. I straightened, feeling a renewed sense of purpose flood through me.
“I should go check on her,” I said.
Sage nodded. “Lead with your heart, Commander. It hasn’t steered you wrong yet.”
TWENTY-THREE
OLIVIA
I gently wiped a cool cloth across Helix’s brow as I monitored her vitals on the sleek screen beside her bed. Her labor had been complicated—ninety minutes of intense contractions and careful maneuvering before her daughter finally arrived with a healthy cry that still echoed in my ears.
“You should really rest,” I told her, adjusting the pillows beneath her head.
Helix’s piercing gray eyes found mine, her typically commanding presence softened by exhaustion. “Would you have helped us more eagerly if you’d known the truth from the beginning?”
Her question caught me by surprise. “The truth about what?”
“About what we are now.” She shifted, wincing slightly. “Aeon thinks you should know everything, but I wasn’t certain.”
I sat in the chair beside her bed, curiosity prickling beneath my skin. “I’m listening.”
Helix took a deep breath. “The Nescots came to Earth in 2025. Advanced aquatic alien creatures with technology beyond our comprehension. They wanted Earth’s oceans—expanded by decades of polar ice melt.” Her eyes darkened. “They slaughtered millions of humans in the first wave alone.”
My stomach twisted. I remembered reading about the war in some textbooks in college—coastal cities emptied overnight, and the initial confusion before the truth emerged.
“CyberEvolution offered a solution to Earth’s government and military,” Helix continued. “Repurpose existing cyborgs and manufacture billions more like us. The perfect soldiers.” A bitter smile touched her lips. “The government reversed the Cyborg Anti-Violence Laws overnight—legislation that had protected our kind for nearly sixty-five years.”
“I didn’t know there were such laws,” I admitted, thinking about everything I’d been taught about cyborgs.
“They built and used us for the slaughter, Dr. Parker. Some for killing, like me. Others, like Aeon, for battlefield triage medicine.” Her fingers played with the edge of her blanket. “We turned the tide. Pushed the Nescots back. Followed them to their homeworld of Planet Hulia while humans regained Earth.”
