{Earth}

Lynn evicted herself from the tension upstairs. Originally, she sought Pablo in his apartment, but he left for work already. Too bad. She liked the way he drooled at her in this suit. Instead, she headed down to Med Lab 2. Her mind formulated a plan, and it involved further research before she pitched it to the others.

The detainee pods glowed from their perimeter lighting as Lynn wandered the corridors. Icarean warriors who volunteered for this fate to avoid Gait. Here they served medicine. At the Arsenal, she and the scientists tested biological and chemical weapons on them. Only on volunteers. Facing a new war, she wondered if there was some way—

“Chief Lynn,” Twenty-One called from the first pod in the hall.

He saved her life only last week. It took nothing for her to spare him a few minutes of conversation. “Yes?”

“I wouldn’t do what you’re thinking.”

Lynn rushed to his cell and stared up at the massive Icarus. Almost as tall as Nox and similarly built. “Why’s that?”

Twenty-One smiled kindly down at her. His disposition radiated respect and appreciation. “You’ve fed and sheltered us. That engenders some gratitude. It certainly does from me. But we’re old, Chief. Some require more time than others. And most aren’t ready, yet. Give it… another hundred or so years?”

She closed her eyes and processed his logic. They couldn’t afford to wait that long. The Ionas needed a militia to defend it. And she came down here to consider them as volunteers for it. But Twenty-One made sense. Was it too soon to expect former enemies to side with them? Against a threat capable of freeing them from the Shadow? But was it fair to ask all those free Icari and humans of Earth to face war once again after only recently settling into reconstruction?

The human woman sat cross-legged on the floor and speared fingers in her hair, frustrated. Across from her, with glass between them, Twenty-One mirrored her. Only he looked serene. The quiet stretched between them. Not awkward or stressful. More like companionable.

When the massive Icarus broke it, she snapped to him. “After testing the disabler on me, what was your next step in the experiment?”

“What do you mean?” It’s true, they wanted to test the integrity of the perfect defense virus against the nacre disabler’s design on him. But that was it.

Twenty-One ran a hand over his black buzzed cut hair and fidgeted with his nails nervously. “Well, let’s say you test it on me, and the virus proved resistant to your new toy. What happened to me next? Or let me put it another way. What would the enemy do next in your place?”

Lynn hugged one knee to her chest as she considered. “The ecology planned further testing for the virus if it proved resistant. Would it allow upgrades? If not, they’d consider the nacre cold and outside manipulation. Not necessarily a good thing. Pablo—Dr. Suarez—would start over at square one to create a less resilient virus.”

That was the surface. But as she thought deeper and let Twenty-One’s words sink in, more ideas became clear. Not all of them good. “Likewise, the Arsenal—I—would have to design a more effective disabler.” She crawled closer to him and frowned. “You’d become the sole test subject, and your nacre… If it fails the disabler, then we’ve inadvertently frozen you out of the upgrade cycles. Twenty-One, you’ll never progress from this point if we can’t find a way to hack your operating system.” This bothered Lynn.

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“I’m aware.”

The door to the detainee hall opened, and Pablo stepped through. He looked slightly ashamed of himself. “Sorry. I couldn’t help but overhear the last part. We told him of the side effects at the start.”

“But…” It bothered her. She gazed back into the cell of this pleasant Icarus and considered the rest of his existence. No upgrades. Logic, healing, fighting—Frozen forever. “No. We have to do something. And we have to stop advancing the disabler. It’s already powerful enough. Make the virus strong enough to resist hacking, but not so strong that it shields against intended advancement.”

“Hey.” Pablo sat down and took her hand. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. But Twenty-One, I think you’re holding back on us. Tell me what else is on your mind.” Together, they both gazed at the Icarus for answers.

The giant leaned forward and spoke quietly until they barely heard him. “What would it take to recreate the Weapon?” Proper noun.

Rayne.

Lynn recoiled, stunned. No. No one wanted that. Except… Her husband kept his gaze down without facing either her or Twenty-One. “Pablo?”

He swallowed hard and licked his lips before answering, “Pax’s blood opened up some possibilities.”

“Twenty-One, can you please excuse us?” She forced her husband to his feet and dragged him to an empty lab. “Okay. I want you to tell me everything. Right now.”

He held up his hands in defeat. “I planned to tell Tameka before I even considered telling Tumu, but Pax has Tritan genes in his DNA. It’s faint, but—”

No.

“It opens up possibilities for upgrade research. Including what makes Rayne the way she is—”

“Stop.”

Pablo did. His warm brown eyes darted around the room, avoiding hers.

Lynn crossed the room and took his face in her hands. He finally met her eyes. Firmly, she said, “We tell Tameka. The very next chance we get. Put aside any thoughts of testing on him for now. Let her decide that. And forget the Weapon, do you hear me?” She kissed this brilliant man before reiterating, “Forget it. ‘Can’ and ‘should’ are not the same. This is our line. No one should live with a planet-destroying bomb in their chest.”

He pulled her to him and held on so tight. “You’re right. You’re so damned right. I’m sorry.”

A few heartbeats passed as they calmed down. Eventually, she asked with her voice muffled against his chest, “This may sound silly, but should we apologize to Twenty-One?”

Her husband’s rich laughter soothed any residual anxiety as they stepped back into the main lab.

And froze.

Kyle stood in front of Twenty-One’s detainment pod. The Icarus stood at attention like the proper soldier he was. Meanwhile, Story Taker, in all his recent weirdness, grew more agitated with the conversation. To the point of slamming his fist on the glass.

They both rushed into the hall. When Kyle faced them, Lynn recoiled. Atramentous. A rich green with a brown pupil. But why such strong emotions?

“Is this about Silence?” Pablo asked, looking between the two.

Huh? Oh. Was Story Taker into her? Twenty-One looked more bothered than if this were a conversation about a woman. In fact, his eyes kept darting to Lynn’s. Like he was trying to tell her something. What the fuck was going on?

“Yea. A little healthy competition never hurt anyone, right, T.O.?” Kyle stepped away from the glass and headed for the exit. “Are you two ready for tonight? The last hit. After this, we can let Enki take over with Imminent.”

Lynn didn’t like this. She opened her mouth to say so when Andrew and Smith came down the stairs. “Hey, I’ve been looking all over for you. Lynn, we’d like to upgrade the rifles with the disablers. Can we do that? And Pablo, Silence is waiting for you in the exam room off Med Lab 1. She’s running a fever.”

“I’ll check out the weapons.” Duty calls. Lynn countered, “What about Lucas? Any word?”

Smith smiled at her with all that heavy eyeliner accenting the good-natured sparkle in his brown eyes. “The Brethren will give their address at the agreed upon time. Now, come on. Let’s go beef up some guns.”

Amid their family, Lynn kissed Pablo goodbye as they went about their separate duties. This last job didn’t worry her. They all knew their parts. No. What bothered her was what happens after. Could they face their greatest trial, yet? Risk everything?

Well, in a few hours, they’d find out. Lynn just hoped she heard from the Arsenal by then.