Niam

NIAM

T ogether, we began to move.

Our first strikes were subtle. A door cycling open and closed at random. Environmental controls fluctuating just enough to distract the guards. Maintenance bots “malfunctioning” in ways that blocked key corridors. Each small disruption built on the others, creating patterns of chaos that looked random to the priests but served our purpose perfectly.

“Systems are showing irregularities,” Aronn muttered, his fingers dancing across controls. “Running diagnostic protocols.”

I felt him probe the network, searching for the source of the disturbances. But we were everywhere and nowhere, dozens of minds working in concert to hide our true activities. While he chased phantom errors, we began laying the groundwork for something much bigger.

Through the security feeds, I watched them holding Tharon in one of the original ship’s chambers - something they’d repurposed generations ago without understanding its true purpose. The priests had added their own cruel modifications, their cocktail of herbs and ancient medical technology suppressing his Valti.

As we worked, memories surfaced - tender, precious things I’d never known to want before him.

That first morning at the inn, how his eyes had changed when he caught me talking to the animals. “You have such gentleness in you,” he’d said, wonder in his voice. The mighty prince of Zashi, rendered speechless by a simple act of kindness.

“The beast’s reactions are unprecedented.” Aronn’s voice held the desperate curiosity of someone grasping at fragments of knowledge. “The way it interfaces with the human form... it might help us understand why some girls connect better to the systems than others.”

I forced down my rage, remembering instead how Tharon would bring me tea in the mornings, waiting until I took that first sip before smiling - as if my small pleasure was all he needed to start his day.

Show me how to help him, I thought to the networked minds.

Branna’s consciousness guided me deeper and together, we began redirecting power from his cell block. Subtle changes - a fraction less energy to the sonic weapons, slightly weaker restraint fields. Nothing obvious enough to alert the priests, but enough to give him a chance.

I thought of our first kiss - how carefully he’d touched me, as if I might shatter. The mighty Valti warrior, trembling as he cradled my face in his hands. “Tell me to stop,” he’d whispered, but I’d pulled him closer instead.

“The Oracle’s integration readings are stable,” Zarak said, studying my vitals. “Perhaps we should begin the next phase.”

“Not yet.” Aronn adjusted something that sent ice through my veins. “I want to be certain the next batch of sacrifices can’t run, ever again.”

Through security feeds, I glimpsed Tharon straining against his bonds, and remembered how he’d looked at me across crowded rooms, like I was the only person who existed. How his expression softened whenever I entered a room, no matter who else was present. The mighty warrior prince, brought low by love.

What I’d discovered in the pod was true - there was a way to trigger a complete shutdown. But it would require someone to guide it from inside the network. Someone to maintain the connection until the very end, channeling the destructive energy in a way that would free these trapped souls rather than simply destroying everything. Someone to sacrifice themselves so these girls could finally find peace.

The choice was already made. I just had to figure out how to implement it without anyone realizing what I planned - especially my fierce, protective mate who would tear himself apart trying to stop me.

I reached through the network to his cell, letting my voice emerge from hidden speakers. Just hours ago, he’d held me as I dozed by the fire, humming an old Shakai lullaby. The fearsome prince, singing his mate to sleep.

“Tharon?”

His head snapped up, fighting through their drugs to respond. “My queen,” he whispered, the words barely audible.

“I’m here,” I assured him. “Hold on.”

The other minds gathered close as I prepared the shutdown sequence. I thought of Tharon braiding flowers into my hair at dawn, his lethal hands so gentle as they worked. How he’d press his forehead to mine when words failed him, letting me feel everything he couldn’t say.

“You deserve the world,” he’d told me just yesterday, his voice rough with emotion. “Let me give it to you.”

But I couldn’t let him try. Not when other girls still suffered in this place. Not when I could end it, here and now.

Are you ready? Branna asked.

Yes , I answered. As we began the shutdown sequence, I remembered the way Tharon said my name - like a prayer, like a promise. The way he called me “my queen” in front of his people, proud to claim a Temple-broken girl as his mate.

I love you, I pushed through our bond as the world began to white out. I felt his desperate response, all his fear and rage and love crashing against the barriers between us. My last thought was of his eyes - how they softened just for me, the fearsome beast gentle only with his mate.

Then everything dissolved into light, and I prayed he would understand why I had to let him go.