Selene woke up not long after her dream vision.

  She was relieved and excited to finally be rested and ready. The few weeks or so had been a sickly blur.

  "Finally." she said to herself. Picking herself up out of the glowing white pond in her caasiok. The chamber was simpler than the one Evo kept, it only had the pool within. No tables of chitin or hanging entrails. First thing she checked was if that connection she sensed before was still there.

  It was probably how the Protectorate tracked her. But it was gone. Which was a relief... Though she couldn't get rid of the feeling that it was still a problem. Maybe it was an 'on and off' thing, or had some other nuance to how it worked. What could it mean? What did they know because of it? She'd have to talk with Dr. Bryant and Aboleth about it.

  But for now it was gone so she'd take that win and try to relax.

  She reached out with her abilities and was overwhelmed with the psionic presences around her. Connecting to the Zykra she's created was easier than anything else. Intuitive. Thousands of independent wills surrounded her. All capable of being influenced or ordered.

  Scantids, munlocs, and vespaxyn filled the caasiok. As well as new variants.

  A psyphera—a jellyfish-shaped creature was suspended from the ceiling using it's many tendrils that hardened over time. It had many flaps parallel like a mushrooms undercarriage. A soft purple glow emanated from their depths like an organic chandelier. White and purple ambient light filled the room.

  'Where were they'? Selene thought.

  And tiny motes of understanding from each of her many telepathic connections conveyed their locations. By instinct. The caasiok itself had a very potent awareness regarding it's position. As it should. It was a crucial part of it's travelling capabilities. Capabilities like seeing and remembering planets and stars millions of light years away.

  It remembered them like a 3 dimensional map in it's mind. Where biomass was. Where it wasn't. Dangerous things like blackholes. Currently they were near Endelon 2, very near. Parked in space.

  Selene could only wonder what this variant was before becoming Zykra... Some kind of space-whale?

  Selene sifted through the eyes of each Zykra in the ship like security cameras. Scantids scurried along the halls transporting biomass, munlocs positioned around as guards. Vespaxyn readied themselves for flight.

  Zephyr was in the ship. And so was Aboleth. They were sparring. Raymond was waiting his turn a distance away. They were surrounded by the movement of Zykra moving through the ship on their various tasks.

  Selene headed there right away.

  The chamber was just like the one she and Ku'senai had fought in. But drained of whatever acid there was then, leaving empty canals around the room. With a central platform with very flat carapace. A psyphera shown it's lavender light down into the fleshy gymnasium of sorts. It was ordered to emit more light by Aboleth.

  Raymond let out a relieved breath when he saw Selene.

  "You're up. It's good to see you! Feels like ages!"

  He raised his arms to hug as he approached her. Selene made a 'oh, okay.' expression and allowed him his hug. Antennas lowering slightly.

  "It's good to be back." she said, pulling away and patting his arm in a explicitly platonic way. "So you're training to fight?"

  "Yeah, figured being a fighter is the best way for me to contribute I think. Not good at much else, less we need to fix harvester equipment."

  There was a resounding thud as Zephyr was flipped onto the ground. Aboleth helped her back up.

  "Noooo... You're good at other stuff..." Selene said.

  He gave her a bemused expression; "Like what?"

  She tucked her clawed hands into her pits.

  'You made that soup that was pretty good.' she winced as she thought about saying it. Realizing how bad it would sound.

  "Lots of stuff. Don't worry about it. There's more to a persons value than what they contribute all the time. I keep you around 'cause you're my friend... Yep." she gave him another platonic shoulder pat.

  Raymond just stood there with a perplexed expression.

  "Don't over think it. How have you been lately? How's the Zykra-adjacent life treating you?"

  He let out a breath—relieving some of the tension from the awkward moment. "Well, they aren't mauling me. I've gotten used to them, mostly."

  Selene tilted her head at him inquisitively.

  "No critiques about how we handled the sand planet? Pro-Selene so far?"

  "Not really." he shrugged. Then wiped the top of his head as if Zykra dust was falling from the ceiling. The air was kind of thick inside the caasiok. Tiny particles floated about.

  "The whole mess with Aboleth was tough on everyone. Glad that's over. She's even less of a hard ass now. But the whole 'turning Danny into a Zykra' thing is kind of strange. Aboleth's posturing as if it's not even his choice."

  Selene winced a bit as she remembered that whole ordeal.

  She was unsure of what to say. But Raymond gave her a knowing, sympathetic glance. Likely already understanding her position on it and dropping it.

  "That's enough for today. Unless you want another round, Raymond?" Aboleth asked as she walked over alongside Zephyr. The armor Zephyr wore evaporated into bright blue mist, leaving her regular outfit behind in it's place.

  "I'm good... So Selene's up." Raymond pointed a thumb to the insectoid woman next to him.

  They shared an awkward silence for a moment, exchanging looks with each other.

  Back to being the boss she supposed. She looked Aboleth up and down. Taking in all the changes. Imagining the old Aboleth next to her. The difference was staggering.

  "Thanks for looking after me." Selene told them. Unable to feel anything but gratitude in the moment.

  They shifted around in contemplation with nervous gestures. Zephyr put her hands on her elbows gently; "I was happy to do it. After everything I feel like I owe you still. I'm still sorry, but Aboleth will hit me if I say it again."

  "We all changed a lot lately. Nice color change by the way." Aboleth told her.

  Selene scoffed; "I actually preferred orange and purple. But green and blue works too. So, this is my caasiok then?" she said while looking up at Aboleth nervously. Unsure of what their new relationship was. It was like meeting a stranger. A really big and strong stranger. That was pretty.

  "Yes. I got everything setup while you were asleep. Making that healing compound took longer than we wanted. But we made more Zykra at the same time. Honestly... We're ready to do some pretty bold stuff Selene. And the resistance wants a meeting, but Preston and your dad want to talk with you first. But I'm guessing you want to relax a bit first."

  "Yeah.. I need some 'me' time on the colony. Then I wanna see Camden, make sure he's getting used to the new colony. And my mom she's probably worried about me. I know you're probably getting tired of being the defacto queen. I just want you to know—in my eyes—this 'thing', or whatever we're doing here- I think it belongs to all of us. And I want you guys to feel safe complaining or being honest with me. I-"

  She had so much to say that she hasn't been able to say for awhile.

  Raymond shoved her shoulder playfully with one hand. "We get it... Stop it. You're giving me second hand embarrassment."

  "I'm only doing my job." Aboleth interjected. "Leading an army is like second nature to me at this point. Besides, I think I know a good way you could pay me back."

  "H-how?" Selene asked. It seemed like a monumental task. There was no reasonable way to ask a person to do all the things Aboleth did for her. How could she possibly make it worth her while? Aboleth had a glint of greed in her eyes.

  "It's no big deal, we're heading that direction one way or another regardless... We'll cover it in the war room when we meet with Dr. Bryant. For now we'll drop you off at the colony so you can have your break."

  Zephyr raised a hand and leaned in a bit. Drawing their attention.

  "Also, you said that you want us to check you on things Selene but that's a two-way street. Keep an eye on Aboleth and make sure she's doing the right stuff."

  Aboleth gave her a irritated eye-roll. "Like you would know, you wouldn't even have any power if it weren't for that alien device."

  "It's about checks and balances. Every government has them. Why shouldn't ours? Knowing about war strategy doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to veto your callous war mongering decisions."

  "That's a good point." Raymond said as he tucked his thumbs into his pockets; "Do I get a vote? I say we don't invade worlds. We can turn them to our side using the media. Selene could do interviews and run for empress or something."

  "Stupid ideas like that is why a veto system would be terrible." Aboleth said.

  "Better than killing billions of innocents." he retorted, seemingly satisfied with the campaign trail idea.

  This was exactly what Selene needed a break from. "I'm going to draw and pet my scantid until we're back on Endelon 2."

  She turned around and walked out of the chamber. Towards the 'hanger/mouth' of the caasiok where the Sequester was parked.

  Her 'government' continued arguing a second later.

  Selene tried to relax. To escape the stress of the past week or so, and all the stuff before that. It had a way of compiling on top of each other. One stressful event after the next. She needed to follow her dads advice and unplug from this entire command thing for awhile.

  She changed into a cream colored blazer with short sleeves over a tank-top with pants of a similar color. A good enough outfit for a stroll through the colony. Not what she'd usually wear but this was what she considered her 'public attire'.

  The sun was high in the sky, fluffy white clouds, not too hot, not too cold. Just a nice late-summer day. The towering evergreen trees had receded some. Creating more space for the growing colony.

  Voices of people could be heard now. Both distant and nearby. Metal box trailers were all over the place. On the far end of the colony the real construction was happening. Larger machines were moving structs into place, creating well insulated buildings of all kinds.

  Selene wanted this colony to retain the nature around and not outright replace it. At least a bit. Not every colony needed a giant dome over it to contain certain environmental conditions and this was one of them. There was no season too extreme or anything like that here.

  There was a bench along the dirt path that she sat at. She took in the colony around her.

  How would she govern them? It was a question they were asking more and more often as their forces grew and their goal of taking everything over became more tangible. More real.

  The Zykra only gave her the power to take over. It didn't give her mystical ruling abilities. Regular humans wouldn't just do whatever she said. Not unless she constantly gave them direct orders—micromanaging them. She wasn't even sure if Aboleth would now that she has her emotions back.

  Not that she regretted it. If anything it's a good thing that the people she assimilates can somewhat retain their independence.

  A bird was chirping close to her, a cute little bird that was cerulean blue with black stripes that came down the length of it's body from it's eyes, with a tail that curled like a pigs-tail but fluffy. It's beak was shiny black and small. It picked at the metal nest that popped up almost overnight curiously.

  "Come here." she said, holding out a finger for it to land on.

  And it did so. It fluttered down from it's metal perch and landed on her index finger, chirping and examining her by moving it's head at different angles and hopping along her finger.

  "How did you do that? Are you a princess or something?" a teenager asked. A girl with bulbous glasses that made her eyes bigger. She also had braces. Jeans and long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

  It was weird trend in movies that princesses were always good with animals. Where did that trope even come from?

  "Or something." Selene teased. "It's not so hard. Here, hold your finger out." she offered the bird on her hand.

  The girl did so and to her surprise the bird fluttered over. It chirped happily. Birds were friendly once they knew you weren't dangerous, and thanks to Selene's psionic communication with it—it knew they weren't.

  The teenager looked to Selene and smiled, then back down towards the bird. She went to stroke the top of it's head and the bird leaned into it adorably.

  "Looks like you're a princess." Selene said, giving a half smile and leaning back onto the bench she sat. Putting her arms up on the backrest.

  "What's your name?" she asked after a moment.

  The girl held her hand up high into the air and the bird fluttered off.

  "Hailey." she offered to shake Selene's hand. How formal.

  "Selene. You'll probably see me around. I'm the colony administrator actually."

  The girl seemed skeptical. "Really? But you're like... A couple years older than me."

  She shrugged. "It's been a long year. Can't choose what you're good at. If it were up to me I'd just sit around and draw all day..."

  Hailey was going to say something else but Selene stopped her by speaking quickly first. Standing up from the bench and stretching.

  "It'd be nice to sit and chat with you Hailey but I have a lot to do. People waiting on me to decide things, so annoying. But like I said, I'll be around every now and then. Nice meeting you."

  Hailey only showed slight disappointment as they parted ways.

  "Nice meeting you too."

  From there Selene went to different places in town she was curious about. She went to the construction workers and asked for their 'head builder' or whatever. They humored her and pointed her to their project manager.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The grizzled man and her had conversations about maintaining the nature around more as they expand the colony.

  "It's not very feasible to build around an acre of nature. Underground root systems grow into pipes and other things." they said.

  "Figure it out." Selene said.

  "On whose authority?" they said.

  Which Selene didn't have a good answer for. So she just pointed two fingers at her own eyes then back at them as if to say; 'I'm watching you' and left.

  She went to the clothing shop she bought her latest outfits from and found the owner. Whom she asked about all the nuances of running a shop on a colony. It was boring, as expected. Spreadsheets of costs and profits. Wages. Product. And as she went shop to shop like this she quickly realized something.

  It was never the people who actually liked fashion, or cooking, or theater, or any of this—that ran the shops themselves. It was always the same kind of person. The paper pusher who handled the logistics. The metrics they decided how the shop ran and would run in the future was based on profit margins.

  The system didn't exactly incentivize taking risks—calculated or otherwise. It stifled innovation to make creative decisions regarding the businesses future, leaving those kinds of decisions solely up to those who handled marketing. Instead of giving up and coming producers or creatives a chance, they consistently relied on established products with a proven track record... Making everything progressively more bland.

  But it wasn't her place to change that. It likely worked the way it did for a reason. She would definitely ask her 'cabinet' what they thought later. Maybe create a 'monopoly oversight committee' or something. A free market with some regulations might be best, just in the areas where profits were the sole focus. For the sake of innovation and to present more opportunity to citizens.

  By the time she finished touring the different businesses the sun had begun to set and her first day off was coming to a close. It was over already, and she still had so much she wanted to do. Even though to some people this could be considered 'work'. To her it was relaxing and productive. She wanted to know what her citizens felt about things, it was comforting.

  It seemed all the killing would pay off in some ways. Keeping herself alive, taking out threats to her regime. It was morally justifiable. For sure.

  She made her way towards the Sequester which was parked on a flattened hill outside the colony. Then jumped on top of it in one graceful leap.

  Lots of leaders weren't like her. That she was confident about. Their excuses sucked. All the stories her dad told her about puck and her own research seemed to prove it. The core worlds had a massive imbalance. The measurements they used focused on capital gains excessively. The metrics they used to decide whether a society was successful or not sucked.

  Selene wanted a new metric.

  One that valued general human well being as well. Those profit margins usually measure the success of a minority of elites. And increasing those profit margins only broadens that divide. It's not even a meritocracy.

  It bothered her a lot. The idea that there was some kid out there, going hungry so that some elite could have a gold plated toilet. Working hard and having more because of it was fine. But oppressing people for the sake of greed was another thing entirely.

  She considered many things like this as she watched the colony from the top of the ship as the sun set. She wanted better for Camden and her family. For his kids someday. And their kids after that.

  The Zykra wanted a queen, but humanity really needed one.

  She produced a tablet from the holster beneath her blazer and called general Adler.

  It only rung a few times before he answered.

  "Selene, I've been hoping to hear from you. You were unavailable for weeks and your team was vague as to the reasons why."

  Weeks huh... She hadn't thought about how long it's been.

  "I'll explain everything during the meeting. No more secrets. I have a lot of Zykra now, Aboleth says it's enough to actually do something. When do you think you and the other resistance commanders can get down here?"

  Their was a quiet moment of ponderance on Adler's side. Then he spoke.

  "How does the day after tomorrow sound to you?"

  That was sooner than she expected. Really soon.

  "Sounds great. I hope you guys are ready to have your minds blown."

  Adler chortled; "I look forward to it."

  Selene slid down from the ship and back onto the soft soil around. Ending the call.

  "Selene." a voice called near the ship. A dark shadow was being casted by the orange light of the sunset, Zephyr stepped out from beneath it.

  "Zephyr. Hey?"

  She wore a brown sleeveless puffer jacket zipped closed over black shorts and running shoes. Her hair was styled in the usual way in a ponytail with strands of her bangs breaking free in a crescent loops.

  "Want to get a coffee, talk about things?"

  Selene glanced towards the sunset. "At this hour?"

  "Doesn't have to be caffeinated. Coffee isn't just a morning drink you know."

  She considered it for a moment. The air was growing colder as night came closer, reminding her that the day was coming to it's end. It was a bit late to go and see her family. But she kind of wanted to hang out with Raymond. She'd be up for a few more hours at least though, she hated the idea of sleep now. After spending weeks doing little else.

  "I don't feel like coffee, but we could talk right here." Selene gestured to a fallen log near the treeline a distance aways from the Sequester.

  "Okay then..."

  They went over to the mossy log. Zephyr picked at it, checking for bugs before sitting.

  "What's on your mind?" Selene asked.

  "It's a lot."

  "What isn't these days." she said rhetorically with a sigh.

  "Did you talk to your mom today?"

  "No. I'm still too tired for that. That'll be a whole day thing. Tomorrow probably. Today I mostly lazed around town asking people stuff."

  Zephyr smirked; "Trying to figure your new citizens out huh?"

  Selene nodded. "Yep. They're boring."

  "I envy them if I'm being honest. Just spending some time working each day, then going home and relaxing. So basic. Without the constant worry someone's going to take your head off or something."

  Selene gave a slight chuckle at that.

  "True."

  They watched the sunset for a moment after that. Then Selene started to turn pink in the face. Was this a date? Was that why she asked her out for coffee? This was weirdly romantic all of the sudden.

  "I spoke to your mom the other day, told her what happened."

  That caused Selene to relax a bit. Zephyr probably just wanted to catch up on things that happened while she was unconcious.

  "I assumed someone did. It wouldn't be long until my dad or uncle came to the ship asking."

  Zephyr nodded; "Aboleth talked to them about it. But I felt like someone talking to your mom might be good too."

  "Thanks. What'd she say?"

  "She... Wants you to come see her. And you probably already know, but she doesn't like how dangerous your job is. And the fact that you kill people."

  Selene shrugged. "Someone has to. ...That's why we can never have lives like them. Our head space is just different. Not that I don't love her, of course I do. She's just so innocent. We need to protect people like that and give them a space to be. I wish I knew somehow to make her feel better about it. That it's okay. I'm fine. Like, unkillable."

  "That's a healthy mentality." Zephyr said sarcastically.

  "Healthy is overrated."

  Zephyr picked at the hem of her shorts then. Seemingly nervous about the next thing she was about to say. Which in turn, made Selene nervous.

  "Do you... I don't want to badger you with this but, how are we doing?"

  Selene tapped into the sterner side of herself and tried to calm down. To take her question seriously and give her a serious answer. Time to set some boundaries.

  "You haven't messed up yet. But keep in mind people with habits like yours can change quickly the moment they achieve forgiveness. So watch out for that. Even if I start treating you better, and leaving myself more vulnerable around you—don't take that as an opportunity to start up again. If I decide someone is an ally—they're an ally. End of story. If you have a problem with them, come to me. Don't just take it into your own hands."

  "Got it. Totally. I trust your judgement."

  "Okay. Good."

  "Is it okay that I ask every now and then?"

  Selene scoffed; "Why do you care so much? It's not like I can fire you. Not with that alien device attached to you."

  Zephyr was the one nervous and stammering then.

  "Is it a bad thing that I like you, and want you to forgive me? I want us to be closer just because I like being close to the people I like?"

  Selene searched the air above them, trying to put together the logic of what she just said.

  "I... Think I get what you mean..? Why do you like me though?" she asked, genuinely curious. And as a means to catch her in a lie.

  "I can tell you exactly why. I thought about it a lot. You have this cute way of pretending to be serious and saying the right thing even though you want to be petty or selfish. It's like you put your own feelings second to this list of principles you have or something. But you're so bad at acting."

  Zephyr seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh as she probably remembered instances of Selene doing things reluctantly. Like giving her the drawing.

  Selene had complicated feelings after this confession. On one hand, it was very true. Selene always tried to be selfless. But at the same time that was another thing high-level liars could probably do. Seed a bit of truth in their lies. But being called cute was nice too.

  'Hmm...', Selene thought.

  "Okay... You can ask whenever, but I'll give you an honest answer. Right now for example, I don't feel safe being vulnerable around you. And I'm worried that when I do, you'll take advantage."

  "Can you give me anything?" Zephry asked. Frustrated. "For the promise at least?"

  Selene understood that Zephyr was being unfairly entitled for asking. But for some reason she felt like being generous.

  "Fine." she leaned across the log and hugged Zephyr. "I'm glad you like me and want to do better. Good job."

  Zephyr had a confused look over Selene's shoulder.

  "This is nice but.. I was hoping you'd let Danny stay human or something." she said flatly.

  "Nope. Hugs. Danny gonna be a Zykra." Selene leaned away, hands on Zephyr's shoulders still. "This is all the payback you get until you have a line of credit built up. I call it; 'emotional support'."

  Selene stood up and brushed off her backside from sitting on the log.

  "I'd ask if there was anything else you want to talk about but it's getting really late. Night Zephyr."

  She left Zephyr sitting in the dark on the log. The sun had just set completely.

  "Night..."

  Selene went to find Aboleth within the Sequester next.

  She was conferring with the psyphera in the pantry. Her body was turning light green and dark veins were beginning to spread throughout her arms and the sides of her face. And tiny scales were forming.

  A partial transformation to make giving orders more easy.

  "Making more Zykra? What'd we end up calling the one that makes larvae anyway?" Selene asked as she entered.

  Aboleth kept holding a hand towards the pulsating mass on the pantry wall that was a psyphera without turning towards Selene she started reciting a mock conversation;

  "'Hello Aboleth', 'oh hi Selene', 'So how was your day Aboleth', 'Oh, I don't know, just making sure our hundred thousand Zykra are doing Zykra things, no big deal.', 'Jeez, thanks for all the hardwork you do Aboleth.'"

  Selene chuckled; "Yeah, all that. Thanks Aboleth—really. You're the best!" she gave two thumbs up and a half-authentic smile as she stepped alongside her in the biomass coated room.

  "In fact that's what I wanted to talk about. You said you wanted something? Something I could help you with?"

  Aboleth sighed and lowered her hand. "Yes. I suppose we could speak about that. In the war room."

  "War... Room?" Selene said slowly.

  "Yes, war. Room. A room where we plan for war. For now it's just the pilots cabin. Dr. Bryant and I want to have a long talk with you about our plans moving forward."

  It was already such a long day, they could do that tomorrow.

  "Aboleth come on, I don't want to have a long talk about war tactics tonight. Just tell me or I'll die of curiosity. What do you want so I can go hang out with Raymond for a bit."

  Aboleth turned away from the psyphera and her body fully changed back into her human form. Her clothes falling more loosely on her body in the process. She had the plain unbothered expression she usually had.

  "Fine. It's a bit personal anyways... Since I changed into a praetorian I've had feelings. Urges. Human ones."

  Selene folded her arms; "Yeah, that's my fault. I asked Evo to include them. Some evolutionist moth Zykra. Is it a problem? Is your request to remove them?" Selene asked, worriedly.

  "No. Of course not. I'm glad you did, thanks."

  Selene breathed a sigh of relief.

  "But now that I have them, stuff about my old life is suddenly relevant again. Like my family."

  "I didn't know you had a family."

  "You never checked Selene. When you convert people to Zykra a basic background check could be useful, you know. Just going forward."

  Selene shuffled awkwardly. "Okay... So you want us to go get them. I get it. Fine. We'll do it. Right after the meeting with the resistance."

  Aboleth had a surprised look at that.

  "Meeting with the resistance? You called them?"

  "Yep. Day after tomorrow we'll have resistance commanders all over the place."

  The well-toned woman in loose fitting clothing put a hand over the top of her face.

  "You really should've told us about that Selene. That's the kind of thing we meet in the war room before."

  "Sowwy." Selene said not at all seeming that sorry.

  "..It's fine. Just, we'll talk about it tomorrow. We have so much to get ready for. Are you sure we can't just host a war room right now?"

  "Yep. War room tomorrow. I'm actually glad to hear you have a family though Aboleth, should I call you Masuka? What was your first name again?"

  "Sora. And no. In my old culture it was a bit too informal to call people by their first name anyways. But this is what I am now. When I'm here—with you at least. My family on the other hand... Well, we'll have to see how they react first."

  Selene felt sorry for her, genuinely. Her Zykra side hasn't changed her human form—at least yet anyway. But Aboleth was twice her height and built like a professional in combat sports.

  "Maybe we could get an evolutionist of our own and change your form again." Selene suggested.

  Aboleth shrugged. "I only assume it's because my Zykra form is so large. Which is useful. Size does matter, after all."

  Selene felt she could argue that. Her Zykra form was likely more powerful than Aboleth's, but then again she was a queen.

  "Anything else you want? Besides your family?"

  Aboleth shifted uneasily at that.

  "The Protectorate. There's good aspects about it."

  Selene sighed. That made sense. She was a major in their army.

  "Yeah, that is probably best saved for the war room. I'll think about it though. I don't plan on replacing the good stuff. It's mostly about getting rid of the bad things they do. Like supporting monopolies."

  Aboleth nodded. "Power consolidation is a problem in the current government. What Zephyr said earlier today about checks and balances in government is a part of the solution to that."

  "Well, good talk. I can't wait to meet your family, you'll have way more power Aboleth when it comes to the life they have going forward. That's something puck would never give you."

  Aboleth smirked; "You don't have to sell me Selene, I know. Go hangout with your boyfriend."

  "It's called friends, Aboleth. They exist you know.." she grumbled as she left.

  Raymond was the only normal one at this point. He contributed more than he knew just by being normal. Maybe she should tell him that.

  She thought about talking with Aboleth about the telepathic connection thing that was probably tracking them, but decided against that. She really would be force to have like a hour long meeting then. Best to save it for tomorrow.

  Selene stopped herself before she pressed the doorbell outside Raymond's bunkroom door. Then slowly turned around and glanced at Danny's door.

  She pouted.

  Then went over to his door instead and rang the doorbell.

  The narrow door swished open—disappearing into the wall. A blonde man with a narrow chin and nose looked at her. He wore a white tank top with jeans and running shoes. He was in decent shape actually, now that Selene was looking at him as Zykra material.

  "Hey." Selene said.

  "...Hey?" he said confusedly.

  "We haven't talked much."

  "I haven't noticed."

  There was an awkward silence after that. Selene pushed past him into the room. It had been retrofitted. Many of the bunks were removed, leaving two on either side, with furniture in the place of others. A desk, swivel chair, and a guitar was leaned up against the wall. Posters and stuff were put up. Homely.

  "Love what you've done with the place."

  "What are you, my landlord?" he joked.

  "Yeah? I guess? I'm going to be your queen too, soon. I guess. How do you feel about that?"

  He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. And shrugged.

  "What's that mean?" Selene asked.

  "I don't know... It's just, I thought about it. Not aging, being stronger, all that is good. And now we can shift back to being human. Which is huge. But, what's being part Zykra like?"

  Selene didn't have to think about it long, she's already spent so much time thinking about it.

  "It's like having a shadowy part of yourself. A blind spot. It gives suggestions and feelings every now and then. It's like a subconscious thing mostly. I still feel like me. Only.. There's more. And it's up to you how much you accept the rest of it. At least in mine or Aboleth's experience it seems."

  He slumped down onto one of the bunks. Selene leaned back against one of the bunks supporting beams attached to the roof and folded her arms behind her back.

  "Is it necessary?" Danny asked after a second.

  "Aboleth seems to think so... After everything that happened with Zephyr, and now she has the device. It could go a long way in ensuring stuff. If it were up to me I'd let you decide."

  "It is!" Danny found himself practically shouting all of the sudden. Selene wasn't shocked by it, and waited for him to continue.

  He took a breath and calmed down.

  "Up to you.. It is up to you. Aboleth would do whatever you said. And in the end it's your Zykra that would do it."

  "Not to me. That's not the Zykra you're joining Danny."

  "No, this Zykra just forces people to make changes against their will for political reasons. How's that different from what puck does?"

  Selene sat down on the bunk she had leaned on and hung her arms on the one above.

  "You have a point." she shrugged. "I want this to be your choice. Zephyr would be a huge help. But without you, we can't trust her going on missions by herself or anything. It kind of ties our hands, the gravity of this decision can't be left up to something as flimsy as free will."

  "Sounds like the same excuse puck would make."

  This guy was really beginning to annoy Selene.

  "Fine. I'll leave the choice up to you. But you should know what saying either yes or no to it means. Yes, you won't age, you'll be stronger, and you'll be a huge asset to our arsenal. You'll have real power. No, and you'll be putting your sister at risk. And relying on her. Aboleth won't be able to trust Zephyr as much and that'll affect how she makes plans. It just makes no sense to me why'd you say no."

  "Maybe because you're already a Zykra—you don't have a choice now. But this kind of change is horrifying for someone who hasn't already been through it. To have... Antenna's growing out of you. Bug exoskeletons... Bleh. Fucking gross. Not to mention all that subconscious shit you talked about."

  He got up as he spoke and went to the swivel chair and sat down. He picked up the guitar and started plucking seemingly random strings.

  Then Selene got an idea.

  "Wait here." she said and left the room. She came back a minute later with her art book.

  "See-" she opened it up to a page of a flower smoking a cigar.

  Danny raised an eyebrow at that. "So?"

  Selene flipped through the pages until it showed a squirrel with wide eyes hanging from one of the trees on Endelon 2.

  "And? What?" Danny asked.

  "What's changed? I'm still me, doing what I did before. Only now I have the power to stop puck from being such assholes. I drew the flower before, and the squirrel like a month ago."

  "The squirrel is a bit better."

  "Artists always get better over time—that's how it works. But my point is the same. Being a Zykra is what you make it out to be, that's how my Zykra will work. At some point I'm going need to start convincing other humans to make that plunge. And you could be the first. A example to whoever comes after."

  He gave her a skeptical look.

  "The first to do it willingly at least. Listen—I wouldn't be here if I didn't care if it was consensual. It just makes sense Dan. Tell me it doesn't. We could use you."

  He plucked a few sad chords on his guitar while he thought.

  "You don't have to tell me now. The process won't be the same as it was with Aboleth. I want it to be like how it happened to me, but it'll take a special kind of Zykra that's harder to make than usual. Until then, think about it. It's not so bad."

  She said that, though she remembered how traumatic it was when she had first turned on Alexandria. But overall it was fine.

  He nodded. "Okay."

  "Okay." Selene said. She got up and left the room.

  "One more thing." Danny said, stopping her. She half turned around, a hand on the frame of the door.

  "That outfit makes you look like a school principle."

  There was the Danny she avoided talking to.

  "Screw you." Selene said and left. The outfit was only a first attempt at something 'official' seeming, but everyone was always a critic whenever you tried out new things.

  She spent the rest of the night hanging out with Raymond. They finally got around to trying out some of those military simulations. She's done them before—it's how she learned to shoot straight. But now Raymond was learning the same. He had some catching up to do.

  And after that, late into the night she finally settled down to sleep. Uncomfortably that is.

  Tomorrow she'd have to see her family and prepare for the resistance meeting with Dr. Bryant and Aboleth. So fun.

  She could sleep when she was dead. She decided. Then popped back up and opened up her artbook before sketching a rough outline of the view of the city from the top of the Sequester from memory.

  Behind the chapter...