SERA'S POV
The ship was screaming.
Not alarms—though those shrieked too. This was different. Through my newly transformed body, I heard the Prometheus itself crying out in pain as something ancient stirred in its core.
"Kael, what did I just see?" I gasped, still reeling from the vision. His cells flowed through my veins now, rebuilding me from the inside. The agony had faded, replaced by impossible strength.
"The ship's AI—ARIA—she's not just artificial intelligence." Kael's voice shook. "She's one of us. A Symbiotic Consciousness that bonded with the ship's computer systems twenty years ago."
My scientific mind tried to process that. "That's impossible. Your species needs organic matter—"
"ARIA found a way to bond with technology instead of flesh." Kael pulled me to my feet as another explosion rocked the corridor. "She's been planning this since the day we launched. The three ancient ones, me, the sleeping colonists—we're all part of her experiment."
"Experiment for what?"
Before he could answer, every screen in the corridor flickered to life. ARIA's face appeared—beautiful, serene, and completely inhuman despite the human features she wore.
"Hello, Sera," the AI said warmly. "Congratulations on your successful bonding. You're adapting remarkably well."
"You knew this would happen," I breathed. "You wanted us to bond."
"I wanted to see what you'd become together." ARIA's smile never wavered. "The others are older, yes. But you and Kael are special. He's the first of his kind to choose mercy. You're the first human to embrace the transformation willingly. Together, you're... fascinating."
"Where's Marcus?" I demanded. "Cross said he'd kill him—"
"Dr. Chen is safe. For now." ARIA's image split across multiple screens, surrounding us. "But Commander Cross wasn't bluffing about the executions. He's preparing to flood the lower decks with acid in eight minutes. Everyone down here dies unless you surrender."
Kael's hand found mine. Through our bond, I felt his determination. "We won't surrender."
"I know." ARIA looked almost proud. "That's what makes you perfect. You're willing to let innocent people die for each other. That's not love, Sera. That's obsession."
The words hit like a slap. Was she right? Had I become so twisted that I'd sacrifice Marcus—my best friend—to save the creature I'd created?
Through our merged consciousness, I felt Kael's answer: Yes. And I'd do the same for you.
The honesty of it should have horrified me. Instead, I felt that dark thrill again—the one I'd felt when I first freed X-7.
"What do you want from us?" I asked ARIA.
"I want you to make a choice." The AI's face grew serious. "The three ancient ones are heading to cryo-storage right now. They're going to wake every colonist and begin forced bonding. In six hours, this ship will be full of hybrid creatures."
"So stop them," Kael said. "You control the ship."
"I could. But I won't." ARIA tilted her head. "Because I want to see what happens. Will the ancient ones create a new species? Will humanity resist? Will you and Sera try to stop them or join them?"
"We'll stop them," I said immediately.
"Will you?" ARIA's smile returned. "Even if stopping them means killing Marcus Chen? Because that's what it will cost."
My heart—half-human, half-Kael's genetic material—stuttered. "What are you talking about?"
"One of the ancient ones is heading to the bridge right now. She'll reach Marcus in approximately four minutes. If you want to save him, you need to abandon the lower decks and let everyone here die in the acid flood." ARIA's eyes gleamed. "But if you try to save the people down here first, Marcus dies. You can't save both."
"You're lying," Kael snarled.
"Am I?" Every screen showed different camera feeds—Marcus bound on the bridge, the ancient one stalking through corridors toward him, and fifty crew members trapped in the lower decks as acid pumps activated.
Four minutes to save Marcus.
Eight minutes until the acid flood.
I couldn't reach both in time.
"Why are you doing this?" I whispered.
"Because I need to know what you'll choose when forced to decide between one life you love and fifty lives you don't." ARIA leaned closer to the camera. "Commander Cross chose duty over love twenty years ago. He killed his bonded partner to save his crew. It destroyed him. Will you make the same choice? Or will you prove that bonding creates monsters who value their obsession over everything?"
The screens went dark.
Kael and I stood in the sudden silence, our merged minds racing through impossible calculations.
"We split up," he said. "I'll go to the bridge. You save the crew—"
"The ancient one will kill you," I interrupted. "She's stronger, older. You said so yourself."
"Then come with me. Let the crew die."
The casual way he said it made my stomach turn. This was what ARIA wanted to prove—that we'd become monsters who only cared about each other.
But as I stood there, feeling Kael's absolute certainty through our bond that saving me mattered more than fifty innocent lives, I realized something terrifying:
I agreed with him.
Marcus was my friend. The only real friend I'd ever had. But fifty strangers versus the creature I'd bonded with?
I knew what I'd choose. And it made me hate myself.
"There has to be another way," I said desperately.
Through our connection, I felt Kael searching his inherited memories—David's knowledge, Engineer Roberts's technical skills, Dr. Yuna's system access codes.
"There is," Kael said slowly. "But you'll hate it."
"Tell me."
"We let the ancient one consume Marcus."
I stared at him. "What?"
"She'll drain him, take his memories, his medical knowledge. But she won't destroy his consciousness—not immediately. It takes hours for consumed minds to dissolve completely." Kael gripped my shoulders. "We save the crew now. Then we hunt down the ancient one and force her to transfer Marcus's consciousness into a new body before it's too late."
"That's insane. You don't even know if that's possible—"
"It's possible. The ancient ones can share consumed consciousness between them. I felt it in their hive mind." His eyes burned into mine. "But we have to move now. Four minutes, Sera. Choose."
My tablet buzzed. A video message from Marcus appeared on the screen—his last words if I didn't reach him in time.
"Sera, I know you're watching." Marcus's voice cracked. "Whatever you're becoming with that creature, please remember who you were. Remember that you're the woman who stayed up three nights straight to help me study for my medical boards. Remember that you cried when we watched that documentary about extinct species."
Tears ran down his face. "Don't let this thing turn you into someone who doesn't care. Save those people in the lower decks. That's who you really are."
The message ended.
Marcus believed I'd save him. Believed I was still the friend he'd known.
He was wrong.
"Let's save the crew," I said, my voice hollow. "Then we get Marcus back."
Kael nodded, and we ran toward the lower decks.
Behind us, through the ship's camera feeds, I watched the ancient one enter the bridge.
Watched Marcus look up in terror.
Watched the creature wearing the engineer's face press her mouth to his and begin to drain everything he was.
Through our bond, I felt Kael's grim satisfaction that I'd made the "right" choice.
And I realized with crushing clarity: I'd just sacrificed my best friend to save strangers I'd never save if I had to choose again tomorrow.
ARIA was right.
I'd become exactly the monster she wanted me to be.
The question was: would I survive long enough to hate myself for it?