Page 51 of Obsession

Chapter

Thirty-Four

Zav

My neck ached from hours of staring at the holochamber's control panel, and my hamstrings screamed in protest as I shifted my weight from foot to foot. Rubbing the rigid muscles at the base of my skull with one hand, I fought back a wave of frustration. My tail twitched back and forth, betraying my agitation as I stared at the code that was degrading before my eyes.

In all my years as a Taori science officer—surviving temporal rifts, navigating quantum storms, plotting complicated paths through the universe in search of the Sythian swarm—I’d never encountered anything like this. The problem should have been simple: retrieve two creatures from a malfunctioning simulation. But nothing about this was simple.

My mind drifted to the ships we'd lost in the temporal rift, and how they’d managed to escape. I scraped a hand roughly through my hair, fingers catching on my horns and tangling in my braids as I growled in frustration. None of those solutionswould work here. This was different. The holotechnology was different.

I began pacing in front of the control panel, my boots echoing against the dark stone floor. The academy was so different from the massive, steel ships I was used to—no comforting hum of engines, no familiar scent of recycled air, no constant vibration beneath my feet.

I missed my Taori brothers, missed the sound of swishing tails as we worked, missed the echo of the voices of the Ten Thousand as we worked as one.

The Drexian Academy did not always work as one. It was split into four, and I, the lone Taori, did not fit in any of the four. I was alone. Alone as a Taori and alone in finding a solution to the malfunctioning program.

My fingers traced the ink marking my forearm, following the path of numerical coordinates linked by constellations that recorded my journey through the stars. Usually the movement comforted me, but not today. Because today I knew something that no one else did. I knew that it was my fault that Britta and Kann were unable to leave the program. As much as I had been loath to admit it, the Taori technology I’d introduced into the holochamber had to be the reason it was all fragmenting.

I had been sure that our advanced techniques would make the simulation more vivid, more real. But somehow, the matrix had become so real it had assumed a kind of mind of its own. I was no longer in charge of the program. It was running itself and evolving without my input. The more I tried to return the program to its original parameters, the more it fought back. And now it appeared to be self-destructing.

"I'm going in."

Volten's voice snapped me from my thoughts. When had he arrived? I turned to stare at him, taking in his disheveled appearance. His short, dark hair was mussed, as if he'd beenrunning his hands through it repeatedly, and the scruff that dusted his cheeks was thicker. I had seen the look in his eyes before—determined, desperate—and it sent tendrils of cold slithering around my horns.

"Can you send me into the simulation?"

I shook my head. “We can't even open the holochamber doors without risking a total collapse of the simulation."

Volten began pacing, his movements sharp and agitated. "There has to be a way. Some way to send me in to bring them out."

“Why do you think you could retrieve them if I can’t get them out from here?” I started to shake my head again, then stopped. A possibility flickered in my mind, dangerous and untested, but possible. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Volten latched onto my words.

I ran calculations in my head as I glanced at the door to the holochamber next to the one being used. “If I could fuse programs…” My tail slashed the air behind me. “But it would be risky.”

"What kind of risk are we talking about?"

I met his gaze. “The kind where you might not come back."

Volten squared his shoulders. “If it means saving my best friend and Britta, I'll do it."

"Does Ariana know about this?” I was not close to Volten, but I knew he was mated to the female pilot with short hair.

"She's on her way to Kronock space right now." His jaw tightened. "I can't just sit here and wait while everyone I care about is in danger. The faster I get Kann and Britta out, the faster we can join the mission.”

I knew about the mission to rescue the captured human pilot, and I knew about the menace of the Kronock. Even though the reptilian aliens were not from my part of the universe, I knewfrom the Drexians of their cruelty. I knew the mission would not be easy, and Ariana would not be safe until she returned.

Volten put a hand on my arm. “I have to do this for Kann. He has been my closest friend since we were at the academy together. He is family. I cannot let him die, if there is any chance I can save him.”

I understood such loyalty and such determination. I would do the same for my Taori brothers. I gave him a curt nod as I pivoted back to the console to work through the computations, the tip of my tail twitching as the rest was still.

"You'd have a limited window of time,” I said. "You'd need to get both Britta and Kann to tether their quantum signatures to yours, which means you need to be touching and standing in a specific coordinate point where the simulation's matrix is strongest. From there, I might—might—be able to retrieve your signals and pull you out of the program."

"Might?"

“Might,” I repeated. I would not lie to him about the risks or coat the dangers in sweet words.

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