I smile up at him, wishing I could know what a Titan smile looks like.
They must be capable.
I hate that they were put through so much hell only to live there forever. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s the ones who have risked everything to keep us alive and safe.
Brodin reaches into his closet beyond the bed and scans his forearm. A neon tattoo lights up in the dark, and a deeper door unlocks. He opens the chamber and pulls out a large black case, which he lays on the bed. “Steele, get the other case, please.”
Steele reaches in and stops when the same honeycomb tattoo lights up on his forearm. “What the fuck, Brodin? How did I not know I had this?”
“Gen-etech was developed originally on Earth as we learned to save our planet with the destructive breed of humans gone.” Brodin opens the case, exposing a suit of armor, an old book, a tablet, and various pieces of technology unfamiliar to me. “Everything revolves around them. Still does. Steele, you were given that identifier when you were born, just like Aera was given the code that lives in her blood.”
I exchange a look of utter confusion with Steele. “Uh, what?”
Brodin gives me a hesitant glance. “I am sworn to secrecy by the core of the resistance. It doesn’t have a name. Label something, and it becomes easy to classify, track, and manipulate. So the unnamed remains something that is not controlled by any single person or Solcrue but by the very essence of our ancestors. It listens in my blood, like it listens to Steele, and to you...and to Daken. But he already knows.”
Evo wraps an arm around me and grabs onto the door frame as we jump again. Steele and Brodin stagger but catch themselves. “Clarify.”
I look up at Evo as the ship steadies. His pale eyes trace my face with interest. I’m starting to like the way he’s so eager to touch me. He gives me a sense of safety I haven’t had since my family was whole, and we still had a little house on Earth Minor.
Brodin straightens. “Before we left Earth, those of us who did not believe the Solcrue Empire’s stories of this galaxy being our salvation coded all Creators and guards with respective threads of Gen-etech nanos so that if Solcrue turned on us, we couldactivate our backup weapons defense system and have a chance of escape. No one could take our power away. And no one could hack our system. But Xiphos is lost in the Deep Black with CyberGuard Star Base, sacrificed to a hiding place to protect it.”
Brodin lifts a hand toward Steele. “Descended of CyberTechs and Sentinels and Grays who all served or protected Creators and our people. That’s what I am, too.”
Steele sets the case on the bed. It contains similar items. A book, a tablet, a suit of armor, and pieces of other unfamiliar tech. “Why did you tell Daken?”
“He found this stuff.” Brodin rubs the spot between his brows like he has a headache. “We kept it from you because you were already doing so much. Isa and I were concerned that telling you that you were basically carrying the weight of your ancestors and your people was going to be more pressure than you needed.”
Steele runs a hand through his hair. “I’m guessing we can’t tell anyone.”
“No. When you’re in, you find out who is left.”
Brodin switches on a tablet and offers it to me. “Gen-etech knows when people die. Don’t ask me how it works. Creators from Earth built it. But because the list is still updating, I know Xiphos is still operating out there in space...somewhere. But it was designed to not be found. Except by a Creator’s descendant who held that chip.”
I look through the list. Isa is already listed as deceased.
Evo moves closer. I can feel his body heat against my back, and it’s wonderful in the chilled ship. We might be back online, but it takes time to heat up such a massive hunk of metal in space.
“I know these people.” Evo points to the screen. “Leah Krader is Savage’s mate.”
Brodin climbs into his suit of armor. “Did you say,mate?”
“Yes, sir,” Evo replies. “Most Titans are free because of Leah or Raven Shalvois, my twin’s mate. She is also on this list.”
Brodin slumps like he’s relieved and yet perplexed. “Never thought you were suchanimals.”
“Sefina, Esthielle... They are alive and mated to Titans as well.” Evo looks over at him. “We are machines. Many consider us monsters. We like to think, to the Solcrue, we are. I may not like the term, but it is accurate.”
Brodin waggles his head. “Well,theyare monsters. So I guess we have to become like them to beat them. It’s just a...primal term.”
“So this is why Leah’s blood activates the anti-Solcrue weapon? Because she is descended from original resistance fighters?” Evo asks.
Brodin nods. “But Aera is the last descendant of original resistanceCreators. We have had many join the program after we left Earth and the Sol system. But she carries thebloodof Earthen resistance. She is the only one left who can control Xiphos.”
“According to this tablet,” I say, not wanting to believe I’m the last. “Couldn’t it be wrong?”
Brodin sways between his feet. “It’s possible, but I doubt it.”
I pull the chip out of my pocket and study the light that brightens inside its cells. Evo wraps me in his arms and steadies me as we jump again. I’m getting used to it, the jump and his eagerness to touch me. “Then why does this light up with him?”
