{Earth}

No. More.

Kyle resisted every step, every look, every opening of his mouth. With every failure to do so, he betrayed his family. He wanted to die.

In a dark recess of his mind, he pressed his head to the floor and wept. Again.

“You’ll come to appreciate our designs.” Celindria repeated her promise. She occupied the space with him. She occupied all the spaces of his control. At the wheel, the sociopath put on a good deep fake. With all his memories and thoughts at her disposal, she’d make a terrible arch nemesis if she didn’t.

This hurt. Kyle ached with mental exhaustion. It rode him down. On more than one occasion, he resisted until he slipped out of consciousness. Lost a day or two. No. He couldn’t afford that again. The entire reason he agreed, never minding the threats and blackmail, was so he could glean some Imminent secrets. To help the Shadow once they retrieved him.

But now he understood how truly impossible that was. The only way to break the Tenements of Volition was the same way he agreed to them. The words came out of the mouth of the willed upon. Andrius’ stolen ability—the power of suggestion—amplified Elden’s old labor agreement. But it required the initial agreement of the participant for the suggestion to take hold. To end it required the body to protest.

The words must come from Kyle’s mouth. And be damned if he wasn’t trying.

Celindria turned a stony expression on him. All of her expressions were some variation of icy or hard. He’d like to think every time she glanced at him that way, it meant he almost pushed through. Almost broke down her control. Maybe a tic appeared to the person she was talking to. Something to let them know it wasn’t him inside. Elden knew he tried screaming and begging for help without a single outward response.

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“Your body reacts most to Silence,” the psychotic bitch observed.

Kyle expected her to gloat and bait him. Live up to her cruelty. But the puppet master reined him with an icy control while physically hidden safely in her grotto hideaway. It was the same for T.a.o. The first Seamswalker agreed under threat of harm to her brothers. She’d get no blame from him.

“That girl, Lynn, she’s relieved you didn’t die on her watch. But I catch her glaring at you. Is she still sore from the original betrayal?” After a pause, Celindria turned and faced the figment of Kyle in his conscience. “You dislike that. The reminder of it. That it led to Nox assaulting Rayne.”

Please let the banter start. Anything to change the subject.

“I was there.”

Well, that was a turn of events. He held up his head only long enough to meet her gaze.

Celindria turned back to the view from his eyes. Softly, she said, “We both know the truth, do we not?”

Fuck, Celindria made for terrible company.

“Okay. So this is the best location to hit Imminent first. Is that right, Story Taker?” Lynn approached with a tablet of plans.

Celindria spoke the words that left Kyle’s mouth. “That’s right. We’ll strike there first. A little payback.”

He cringed so hard.

Pablo added, “T.a.o. will have to work for transport. Sagan isn’t available at that time. Something’s keeping her busy on Gait.”

“I wonder what that ‘something’ could be?” Celindria as Kyle quipped with emphasis on the sarcasm.

Kyle’s skin shriveled and tried to run away.

But there.

Lynn and Pablo exchanged the barest of glances. Unnerved. Did they suspect—

No. He didn’t imagine it.

Beyond them, Silence stepped into a pair of detainee coveralls wearing only a bikini. Rather than slipping into the top half, she tied the sleeves in a knot around her hips. Pablo walked to her and handed her some forms to sign on a tablet. She smiled at him. A thousand-watt beam. They were taking her in. Adding her to the family. And she trusted them because he told her to.

Kyle wept. Again.

“Are you okay? You’re crying,” Lynn whispered beside him.

A shift in the current. A turn in the tide. Kyle looked up to find Celindria staring at him. Astonished. Dismayed. Maybe even a little… scared.

Quickly, she addressed the Chief, “I’m fine. After all this stress, I’m missing my usual fix.”

There was a way. A weakness she missed. An emotion she couldn’t account for in her calculations.

And Kyle knew it.

Won’t be long now.