I woke at first light. The wings were still there, still real. I could feel them, move them experimentally. They were part of me now, as much as my arms or legs.
Drav was already awake, watching me. "The portal opens in an hour."
"I know."
"You should go. Should see it. Stand at the threshold. Make the choice consciously even though your body already made it."
"Why?"
"Because you need closure. Need to see what you're turning away from. Need to choose with your eyes open." He sat up carefully. "You need to know exactly what you're giving up."
He was right.
I stood, and the wings shifted with my movement. Balance was different now, would take time to adjust to. I'd have to relearn how to move properly.
"Can I fly?" I asked.
"Barely. The wings are too small yet for real flight. But they'll grow. Another few weeks and you'll be fully flight-capable."
I spread them experimentally, testing. Felt air catch against the membranes. Not enough lift yet. But the potential was there, dormant.
"Show me how."
He taught me the basics patiently over the next half hour. How to spread them for maximum surface area. How to angle them for lift. How to use my body weight to control direction.
When I jumped from the entrance ledge, I didn't fall. Didn't quite fly either. But glided clumsily, awkwardly, staying airborne for precious seconds.
Drav flew beside me the entire time, guiding and supporting.
We reached the high cave where the portal would open, the same one closest to the old arrival point.
The portal shimmered into existence at dawn exactly as promised.
Through it I could see the Consortium facility. Sterile white walls. Medical equipment gleaming. People in uniforms waiting.
"Hallie Reeves. You have one hour to return. After that, the portal closes permanently. Your contractual obligations have been fulfilled. Debt clearance confirmed. You are free to return."
I sat at the edge, wings spread behind me. Pregnant belly visible. Bond mark burning copper on my shoulder. Copper patterns spreading across my spine in visible lines.
Looked at what I was turning away from.
Through the portal: Earth. Familiar. The sectors I'd escaped. Nothing waiting for me there except cleared debt and starting over alone.
Then I looked down at myself properly.
Wings. Small but growing. I'd never be able to hide them on Earth.
Pregnant belly. Full of eggs. Three alien offspring. I'd never be able to explain them.
Bond mark. Permanent. Visible. Proof I'd been claimed by something not human.
Copper skin. Spreading. Marking me as changed, as other, as not-human anymore.
I wasn't human anymore. Wasn't even close to human.
And more importantly: I didn't want to be.
What was I going back to? Sector 23? Manual labor? Suspicion? Medical detention when they saw what I'd become?
