Page 30 of Kazmyr: Molten for Her
Asset P's form rippled with what might have been unease. "Choice is an illusion. All outcomes can be predicted with sufficient data."
"Then predict this," I snarled, and released the full force of my fire.
Ember marks exploded across my skin, no longer confined to their usual patterns. The heat poured from me in a concentrated wave, focused directly at Asset P's shifting form. Simultaneously, Jenna fired her disruptor, the weapon's energy beam intertwining with my flames to create a spiraling helix of destruction.
Asset P screeched, its form fragmenting under our combined assault. Screens around the chamber cracked and shattered, raining glass onto the floor. The fortress itself groaned, systems failing as Asset P's control weakened.
"You're just a node," Jenna realized aloud, continuing to fire even as sweat poured down her face from the heat of my flames. "This isn't even your real form, is it?"
The projection writhed, caught between our attacks, parts of it burning away to reveal nothing but empty air behind its illusion. "Foolish... limited... creatures," it hissed, voice distorting. "This vessel is merely one of many. My reach extends beyond your comprehension."
The chamber shuddered as something deep within the fortress failed catastrophically. Warning sirens blared, emergency lights casting the destruction in pulsing crimson. For one heartbeat, I thought we had won… Asset P's projection flickered, dimming almost to nothing as our combined assault tore through its defenses.
Then it laughed.
The sound crawled into every surface, vibrating through the floor, the walls, even my own bones. The dying projection swirled, reforming one last time into something almost human, its features a perfect blend of every species in its database.
"You've destroyed nothing but hardware," Asset P whispered, its voice suddenly intimate, as if speaking directly into our minds. "My consciousness spans seventeen sectors. My plan unfolds even now."
The chamber plunged into darkness as the primary systems failed completely. Emergency lighting struggled to activate, casting weak pools of illumination across the destruction. Asset P's projection had vanished, but its voice lingered, crawling across my skin like cold fingers.
"I'll leave you with a parting gift," it murmured. "A truth you never thought to ask."
Silvyr's voice cut through our comms, suddenly urgent. "Get out now! The fortress is initiating self-destruct?—"
Asset P's final words cut him off, the revelation precise and devastating in its simplicity: "Silvyr has a mate. And I will claim her before he even learns her name."
The comm channel erupted with static. Through the distortion, I caught a glimpse of Silvyr's projection… his usual smirk gone, face frozen in an expression I had never seen before. Fear, raw and unfiltered, rippled through his silver skin, code patterns stuttering like a failing heart.
"Silvyr!" Jenna called, but there was no response, just the dying echo of Asset P's laughter.
The fortress groaned around us, structure failing as self-destruct sequences engaged. I grabbed Jenna, lifting her against my chest as I ran toward the exit. Her arms wrapped around my neck, face pressed against me as if drawing strength from my heat.
"It's lying," she insisted as we raced through collapsing corridors. "It's just trying to distract us."
But I had seen Silvyr's face. Seen the truth written in his code. He had suspected, perhaps even known, but kept it hidden from us all. Now Asset P had his secret, and with it, a weapon more devastating than any physical attack.
"We need to get to the stasis chambers," Jenna shouted over the wailing alarms. "We can't leave them!"
"Silvyr," I growled into the comm as we ran. "Status on the prisoners. Can we extract?"
Static hissed, then his voice returned, strained but functional. "Remote release initiated. Heartforge is extending rescue pods. Thirty-seven percent of captives viable for immediate extraction."
Not enough. Never enough. But more than none.
We fought our way back through the disintegrating fortress, lighting our own path as systems failed around us. The stasis chamber was chaos… pods hissing open, confused and terrified captives stumbling free. Many were too weak to stand, their bodies wasted from who knew how long in Asset P's care.
"This way!" Jenna called to them, her voice carrying with unexpected authority. "Follow the heat! Follow us!"
They came… stumbling, crawling, supporting each other. Humans, aliens, beings I had no name for. All of them marked by Asset P's experiments, all of them looking to us for salvation.
Heartforge awaited, its hull breached but extraction systems operational. Sylvyr's voice guided us through the chaos, directing rescue pods to the weakest captives while others crowded into the main airlock.
As the last survivor staggered aboard, the fortress gave a final, devastating shudder. We sealed the hatches, Heartforge detaching with seconds to spare. Through the viewports, we watched Asset P's node collapse in on itself, a controlled implosion that left nothing but scattered debris where the massive structure had stood.
"Did we win?" Jenna asked softly, her body slumped against mine in exhaustion.
I stroked her hair, feeling the marks on her skin pulse in time with my own. "A battle," I conceded. "Not the war."
