[Avia]

Tilting my head toward the kitchen, I said, "I'll go help Lael with dinner." Then I looked upon the little girl with a smile. "Nyx, would you like to come help, too?" She returned a blank nod and took my hand when I offered it.

Damon eyed me suspiciously, but I didn't give him a chance to object.

The long central aisle of the narrow kitchen was barely wide enough for two people, as if retrofitted from a passageway, but it was well equipped with an induction stove, twin ovens, wash station, and rows of cabinets. Various pots and utensils hung above the gray counter that spanned the length. At the far end, two tall chillers flanked a stocked pantry. A stewpot simmered, spreading an enticing aroma across the kitchen, while Lael flipped golden pancakes on a flat griddle. As Lael noticed our entry, her eyes drifted down to Nyx. A warm smile crossed Lael's lips and her green eyes sparkled. This was the most emotion I had seen from her since we arrived. Apparently, she cared much for the little girl.

"Nyx and I came to help," I announced. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I can do it," Lael answered curtly. "Damon wanted me to fix dinner."

"We don't mind, do we, Nyx?" Holding my hand, the little girl nodded. "There must be something?"

"Umm, okay. Would you serve up the stew? The bowls are in the lower cabinet."

I kneeled down and unlatched the transparent cabinet door and handed a stack of white bowls to Nyx. "Here, put these on the counter by the stove, please." With a small lip upturn, the little girl did so, reaching up high to place the bowls in a neat row. "Very good," I said, returning the smile.

Then I scooped steaming ladles from the pot into each bowl — a thick, savory stew, likely containing produce from the gardens.

Lael stacked pancakes on a platter and stepped toward the galley. But I grabbed her arm, stopping her. When she turned to me, I narrowed my eyes and said, "Lael, what's going on?"

Her mouth dropped and eyes widened, almost as if in terror. "Damon is waiting--"

"This is not you, Lael. You've changed, and so had Damon." I held firm to her arm, not letting her go. "And Nyx is cyber enhanced. What is going on?"

"It's for the best. Damon said so." A lone tear traced her cheek, but otherwise, emotion disappeared from her face.

Something was terribly wrong, and somehow, Damon was behind it.

I shifted to a com-band, connecting my cybernetics to Lael's. "What did Damon do to you?"

"Damon knows what is best. He said so," Lael replied, her face expressionless.

"Link with me, diagnostic mode."

"I don't think I should..."

"Link with me!" I said, with the com equivalent of yelling.

"Okay," Lael replied meekly.

In diagnostic mode, one cyber-enhanced person could check that the cybernetics of another were working properly. But it was purely diagnostic — I couldn't fix any problems in Lael's cybernetics, nor make any changes at all. But I needed to know what was happening.

Lael stood passively as I fast-scanned through the organic quantum computer in her head, starting first with the core processors, then moving on to core memory, code references, and brain integration. It all flashed across my inner vision within a few seconds. Nyx shifted eyes between Lael and me, making me wonder if she eavesdropped on the link.

Other than a few minor memory reference issues, there was nothing wrong with Lael's cybernetics.

But there was something else, a faint network communicating over a little used low-frequency band, and somehow interacting with her cybernetics. I looked closer. It definitely originated outside of Lael's cybernetics, but within her body and brain. And it linked through Damon's cybernetics.

A chill seized me as I recognized the network structure.

Omni-Corp nano-bots.

Chill became boiling anger. "Did Damon infect you with the nano-bots?" I seethed, clenching a fist. "Is he controlling you?"

Lael trembled. "Damon said it for was best."

"You keep saying that. But it's not!"

With a squeak and shudder, Nyx's eyes widened. She shuffled over and hugged Lael legs. Direct cybernetic communications were encrypted and private, but somehow, this little girl listened in, or at least picked up on the tone.

Hiding away my anger, I kneeled down before her. "I'm sorry, Nyx," I said in a gentle voice. "I would like to be your friend. Would that be okay?"

Expressionless and holding tight to Lael, Nyx nodded.

Looking up, I asked Lael, "Is Nyx infected?"

"No. Damon was waiting for you."

"Is he now?" I spat.

When I reentered the galley, I let the anger burst out, clenching fists and yelling, "What the hell have you done, Damon?"

All three men, standing in awkward silence, dropped jaws and lifted eyebrows at the outburst.

"What do you mean?" Damon responded. But by the way he tightened lips and lowered dark eyebrows, he knew exactly what I meant.

I stepped closer and glared up into dark eyes. "You infected Lael with the nano-bots, and Nyx is cybernetically enhanced. Why?"

Damon took a step back and raised his hands. "You're being irrational, Avia. Calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down," I hissed. My voice increased in volume. "What have you done?"

Zach looked on, wide-eyed, not sure what to do, but Flint sensed potential conflict, narrowing his eyes and taking two steps closer to Damon's side.

Letting out a breath, Damon backed up to a cabinet and leaned against it. "I thought you, of all people, would understand, Avia." As Lael came to the doorway, Nyx holding her hand, Damon moved his finger in a circle. "Did you know that we three are the only original cyber-enhanced still free? All the others are dead or deactivated." He smiled, walking over to the little girl and rubbing her head. "Oh, but there's Nyx, too. She is the first of the next generation enhanced."

"That's barbaric. No child should never have to endure that."

"We did," Damon rationalized. "And then we won the war. Nyx was alone and forgotten, and I gave her new purpose."

"How many died?"

"What?"

"How many other children died?"

Damon shrugged. "Sacrifices come with every revolutionary change."

Heat flashed to my cheeks as I shouted, "Sacrifices? Who are you to decide?"

"Hear me out, Avia," Damon said, extending his hands as if to make an important point. "You just don't see the big picture yet."

With hands on my hips, I gawked. Had he seriously thought I would approve? But I stood silent, awaiting explanation.

Damon put on a wide smile that reminded me of a shifty used starship agent. "Nyx was named after the ancient Greek primordial goddess of darkness. Even Zeus, king of the gods, feared her power. And so shall it be darkness for the Sol Federation leadership that betrayed us. The cybernetics have improved since ours, and not just in sheer processing speed. Nyx can sense and manipulate remote electrical fields. That means she could override closed warship AIs from a distance and not have to board them like we did. And there's more. The human brain works by electrical impulses, and with training, she might manipulate those. Can you imagine the possibilities?"

My imagination horrified me, making hairs stand out on my neck. So much power to abuse. "And all under your direction, I presume?"

"Children need guidance."

"And why the nano-bots?" I feared I already knew the answer.

"That's the best part," Damon replied, proudly lifting his chest. "Mankind needs guidance, too. For too long, humanity has suffered from self-imposed wickedness — false pride, selfish ambition, petty greed, and destructive wrath. Do you not recall that we were victims of that? But with the nano-bots, we can create a more perfect order and new prosperity."

"Whose version of perfect order?" I countered. "Yours?"

"Ours, Avia. Together." Damon held out a hand, but I didn't take it. I glanced quickly at Zach, who frowned and shook his head. There was no way I would support this insane scheme.

"What about Lael? Why did you infect her?" I asked.

Damon sighed. "It was necessary. Lael wouldn't understand and became non-compliant." He cupped her cheek with a hand. "But it is better now, isn't it, dear?"

"Yes, Damon," Lael replied in a monotone voice. Her lower lip shuddered. It was a small tell — she wasn't completely lost.

"If you have such a perfect plan, why do you need me?" I asked.

"The bot's mind control functionality is still lacking, and Omni-Corp's research was coming along well..." Damon glared at me through narrowed eyes. "Until you interfered, Avia. But I'm willing to forgive if you give me back the data."

So, that's what he wanted. I folded my arms and glared back. "Go to hell, Damon."

My stomach turned hard as five shiny androids closed in on us from all sides, no doubt from Damon's direction. Flint caught my eye with a small head tilt — he noticed it, too.

Damon let out a long sigh. "Disappointing, Avia." He walked to a gray wall cabinet and opened a drawer, pulling out a loaded pneumatic syringe shaped like a small pistol. "But I was prepared for this possibility. Don't worry, in the end, you shall willingly provide what I want."

Gasping, I took two steps back, but found my way blocked by an android. "Don't do this, Damon," I said in an airy voice.

Zach yelped when an android grabbed his arms and held firm. Before another could restrain Flint, he leaped forward. A hard right cross connected to Damon's jaw, sending him reeling back against the cabinet, and the syringe clattering to the deck.

Passively, Lael watched without expression while Nyx hugged her leg.

Before Flint could continue, an android snapped up an arm, and from a hidden wrist gun, shot a silvery stun bolt, which struck Flint in the upper back. His body spasmed, and with eyes rolled up, he collapsed into a heap.

"You always were a military stooge, Flint," Damon spat, rubbing his jaw.

With Damon's nod, bright blue arcs shot from the android's hands that held Zach, encompassing him. With a hollow grunt, he stiffened, shaking violently, then slumped to the deck.

"Zach, no..." I burbled. I tried to go to him, but the android behind me snatched up my arms and held firm. I could not yank away.

My eyes watered, blurring my vision of Zach and Flint. "What... What happens to them?" I asked, choking on my words.

"Unfortunately, my current nano-bot production rate is limited. They will have to wait for the next batch." A chilling grin came to Damon's face as he bent down to snatch up the syringe. "But I have enough for you."

The syringe hissed, and my left upper arm stung. After that, I felt nothing but a rapid breath and pounding heartbeat. The android released me.

"It takes a few minutes for the nano-bots to take effect," Damon explained, "but they will. I have a theory that cybernetics actually accelerates their action."

Rubbing my arm as if I could brush the bots away, I made an appeal to my friend. "Lael, please..."

"Lael is with me," Damon said, then turned to her. "Aren't you, dear?"

"Yes, Damon," she replied with a blank expression.

Now freed from the android's grasp, I rushed over to Zach. Going to my knees, I cradled his unconscious body in my arms.

Damon huffed and shook his head. "I don't know what you see in that Elite. He's even the nephew of Darius Welde. Did you know that?"

"He is a better man than you will ever be," I sobbed as tears fell onto Zach's cheek. "I'm so sorry, Zach," I whispered into his ear.

Damon grinned. "Oh, I think you will come to enjoy my company." He turned again toward Lael. "You would like to have Avia share our bed, wouldn't you, dear?"

"Yes, Damon."

Putrid revulsion rose from my gut, and I hissed, "Don't you ever touch me--"

Then it started. A cold tremble shook me, and I gasped as a dark mental fog extended around my mind, shrouding my thoughts and dulling my intellect. A swirling abyss opened, tugging at my free will and everything that was me. My body tensed, and a silent scream formed on my lips.

"It is inevitable, Avia," Damon said, as if from far away. "Just accept it, and it will be easier for you."

I'll be damned if I just accept it.

Inside my cybernetics, I executed the anti-bot code. Through the low-frequency com band, the code reached out to the network, attempting to sever the links at the bot level.

Nothing. The abyss swirled, growing stronger. Soon, it would be too late.

The code didn't work. It should have disrupted the nano-bot network, rendering the bots useless. What had I missed? Then I realized I hadn't considered the interactions with my cybernetics. Also, there was something new to the original network design — some sort of self-correction feature that thwarted my attack.

"Nice try, Avia," Damon said with a grin, apparently sensing my resistance. "Do you like the improvements I made to the bot control code?"

I grabbed at life anchors in vain attempt to resist the abyss pull — sweet childhood memories of laughter with Lael and Damon, fatherly protection by Flint, Zach's loving embrace, anything meaningful. But the pull was too strong, dragging my self down. Icy terror gripped my very soul.

'Think, Avia, think!' I internally yelled to myself in the growing darkness, but rational self-directed thought was becoming more and more difficult. 'How can I kill the network?'

Kill...

That's it. To kill the nano-bots, I must first kill myself.

The kill code. When the Sol Federation originally installed our cybernetics, they also installed a kill code to deactivate them in case we went rogue. Remotely triggered, the code would shutdown our cybernetics. But it was laughably easy for us to find and disable. I kept an inactivated copy for reference.

The timing had to be right, when the bot network was fully functional and my cybernetics were not. But how could I activate the kill while under the nano-bot's influence?

My ring.

My ID ring contained more than personal identification information, that I sometimes hacked to change identity, or e-credits to buy things. It also held an emergency reboot code in case of total cybernetics failure, which fortunately never occurred. Every one of us had this code loaded on some device — I chose my ring.

As my freewill continued to fade away and my rational mind dulled, I downloaded the activated kill code and the anti-bot code into the ring. Finally, out of Damon's sight, I slipped the ring into Zach's pocket. Again, I placed my life in his hands.

With tears tracing my cheeks, I placed a gentle kiss on Zach's forehead and whispered, "I love you, Zach. Always remember that."

Then, the abyss took me.