But the truth’s been clawing at my throat all night. I’ve held it back long enough. And after everything we've done... everything we've become again... I can't keep it from her.
Not now.
Not when it’s bigger than both of us.
“Kristi,” I murmur.
She tilts her chin up, her hair sweeping across my skin like silk spun from memory. “Mm?”
“There’s something. About the virus.”
Her eyes narrow. “What?”
I take a breath. Taste metal and guilt on my tongue.
“The strain they’re deploying… it doesn’t just kill.”
She props herself on her elbow. I feel her heartbeat speed up against my side.
“What do you mean?”
I stare at the ceiling. Watch the flickering blue light from the old status console dance across cracked plaster.
“It mutates. Once released, it bonds with ambient atmospheric particles. Spreads like spores. Even if someone survives the initial exposure... it starts rewriting their bio-code.”
Her fingers go still against my chest.
“How?”
“It attacks replication patterns in reproductive DNA. Not just respiratory systems or immune structures. It targets lineage. In some species, it sterilizes. In others... it just breaks the genetic chain entirely.”
She sits up fully now, sheet sliding off her back. Her skin’s marked with the shadows of our hunger, but her expression is pure fire.
“You’re telling me… it’s not just genocide.”
I nod. Slow. Hollow.
“It’s extinction.”
Kristi doesn't speak for a beat. Then two. Her jaw tightens so hard I see a muscle twitch near her temple.
“Those bastards,” she breathes.
I reach for her hand, but she’s already moving—climbing off the bed, pacing in tight circles. The old hotel floor creaks beneath her bare feet.
“I knew it was bad. Iknew.But this? This is erasure. Biological warfare with a signature they’ll pretend is ‘unintended consequence’ after the damage is done.”
She stops, turns on me. “How long have you known?”
“Couple weeks. Got the intel off a smuggler tech in the Rellian quarter. He didn’t even know what he had. Thought it was a failed prototype.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I couldn’t.” My voice roughens. “Not until I was sure. And not until I knew it wouldn’t break you.”
She stares. Something flickers in her eyes—hurt, yes. But beneath it... understanding.
Because we both know what it’s like to carry truth like a blade you can’t unsheathe until you’re ready to kill with it.
