61. NewAnomaly
NewAnomaly
Playlist: Godlike – KMFDM
Lyra
Ember is in the corner with the other cybernetics, prepping them for their last test sessions before being released to Vikktor for whatever bastardizing he will do with them.
Just looking at them fills me with contempt.
They have to be the most toxic predictor of humanity losing its autonomy.
I don’t want to even think about how many lives they’ll take in the name of “law enforcement.”
I’m pacing frantically, my holo-form flickering faintly against the storm of my emotions. I’m pretty much glitching every piece of tech around me with nervous energy.
“Lyra...please.” Kael’s voice is rough, worn down by exhaustion.
He doesn’t even look up at me; his wayward strands of dark hair fall across his eyes, a shield between him and the feelings he’s trying to repress.
The glow from the console paints his skin in cold blue, tracing the sharp lines of his jaw, the veins threading pale neon orange just beneath.
He’s using his power to lace together the last pieces of this puzzle before we run out of time.
For once, the city outside is silent, like it’s holding its breath in anticipation of what moronic thing humanity will do next.
Outside the glass wall, the skyscrapers continue to pulse with advertisements and motion, all consumed with images of the coming eclipse and the festivities surrounding it.
I pace behind him, unable to keep still, my bare feet tapping on the sterile lab floor. Another sigh erupts.
“Lyra.” His voice cuts this time, a warning.
I turn fast, pacing too close to him, and before I can step away, his hand shoots out, reflexive, precise, as usual. His fingers catch my arm just above the elbow. Not hard. Just enough to still me.
His touch paralyzes me. His palm is warm and grounding. My pulse stumbles under his grip, heat threading up my skin where his thumb presses. His eyes finally lift to me, black, molten, and unreadable.
“You can’t keep pacing like that,” he says quietly. “It’s distracting.”
“Distracting?” My laugh is razor-sharp. “You’re about to rewrite the laws of creation and I’m distracting you?”
He exhales, letting go slowly, his hand dragging down my arm before retreating. The absence hurts worse than the contact.
“I need to focus,” he grumbles, voice lower now, as if he’s softening his hard shell. “If I get this wrong, if I misalign even one sequence, you could be trapped between worlds. I can’t risk that.”
I swallow hard. There are about a thousand things I want to say, but really all I want is to feel his hands on me again.
So, instead I mutter, “Then don’t fuck this up.” It’s defiant and a little bit playful, meant to melt the tension in the air.
He gives me that arrogant smirk, a tinge of arousal. Possessive. Holy.
“I won’t,” he says. “I like it when you say that word.” A very devilish grin spreads.
I wince. “What word?”
His face is absolutely sinful. “Fuck.”
The room seems to shrink around us, the hum of the servers dimming and matching his magic flaring underneath. My breath catches. His fingers twitch once, like he’s fighting himself to stay put. He gives in and steps closer, invading my space until the air between us is suffocated.
“Say it again.” His whisper crawls over my skin.
I swallow, trying to keep my expression neutral, but his gaze entraps me. Delicious, magnetic—that look drives me insane.
“You’re ridiculous. Always one thing on your mind. A typical man,” I manage, though it comes out breathier than intended.
Kael’s smirk curves deeper, like a predator. “Maybe.” He leans in until I can feel his heat on my face. “But the way you say that word, Taiyō...it makes me think about all the other ways I could make you say it.”
I take a shaky step back, but he follows, like a cat stalking prey. “You’re insufferable,” I whisper, half-laughing now, trying to regain my composure.
“You like me insufferable,” he counters. “You like me to take control. Admit it.”
I decide I like playful Kael; it’s a lot better than grumpy Kael.
He’s too close. I can smell the faint warmth of him, that mix of ozone from the lab and spice but darker. I want to shove him away, but my fingers twitch toward him instead.
Kael’s smirk doesn’t fade; it widens. The air between us thickens, so heavy with want. His fingers graze my neck, the contact feather-light, yet it ignites every cell in me aflame.
“You have no idea what you do to me, do you?” His tone is sensual.
Ember’s right there, stealing glances, curious to see where this will end up. I should say something clever, something to break the tension. But all that comes out is a snarky comment. “I’m distracting, remember?”
“Yes, you sure are,” he says simply.
Ember grins, but I can tell by the tightening of her lips that she’s trying to hold it in.
“Don’t test me!” I say, the words hovering somewhere between threat and invitation.
It’s the only defense I have against him.
A man with this type of charm is a very dangerous thing.
He doesn’t need to say a word, doesn’t need to touch me.
All he has to do is look at me long enough with those ruinous eyes, and I’ll begin rewriting all the rules in his name.
Kael’s smile is wicked and knowing. He lowers his voice so only I can hear him, breath hot in my ear.
“Too late. You can lie to yourself all you want, Little Taiyō, but I know that deep down, you don’t just want to be tested by me.
You want to be owned and fucked by me. Hard and rough and brutal.
You yearn for my hand around your throat as you scream my name like you’re worshipping your god, your maker. ”
The space turns cold, like a vacuum, as he abruptly turns back to the console. “And right now I am your maker.”
Outside, lightning forks through the black sky. The same storm that he’s just stirred inside me with that one single statement.
Oh, he knows what he’s done. My magic flares on the screens, images of wild waves in gold and pink. A beating heart ripples and melts, the monitors pulsing in rhythm with my racing heartbeat, betraying me violently. I say nothing.
Kael turns slowly, the calm in his eyes replaced by something sinister.
His own magic is pushed out faintly under his skin, resonating with mine, feeding the current between us.
It’s setting a fire between my thighs, a feeling like he’s gliding his fingers through me.
I almost feel myself climax without any touch.
What just happened? When did he figure this out?
“You do realize,” he says quietly, “that you’re lighting up half the city grid right now with those images. Sex on every holo-ad. Naughty girl, Taiyō.”
I try to pull it back, to breathe, to dampen it, but the harder I fight, the brighter it shines. The glow in my veins crawls up my spine, blooming along my tattoo in visible threads of amber light.
I look at him mesmerized. “You’re not supposed to be able to do that.” My breath is a pant. “How did you do that?”
“Maybe I’m your conduit.”
The screens stutter, lines of code twisting into shapes that almost look like us, two figures made of light, pulsing together in perfect sync.
“You’re forcing me to merge my powers with yours and then you’re channeling it to amplify your own.” My throat goes dry. “That’s not fair. How?”
“I read stuff.” He cuts me off softly. “Magic doesn’t lie. Yours wants to warp itself around mine. You can’t deny that.” The lights flicker, heat crawling through the room as my magic and his continue to fuse.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
The lights flash crimson. The wall screens fracture into a thousand mirrored shards. Alarms are triggering all over the lab. Kael curses under his breath, and spins toward the console.
“What did you do?” I gasp.
“Nothing.” He growls. “That’s the problem. Lyra, I’m an anomaly now. Just like you. I’m going to have to figure out how to hide it when I’m in the lab.”
A distorted voice floods the room. LINK’s voice, metallic, warped, and almost human.
ANOMALY DETECTED
CORRUPTION SOURCE: UNKNOWN
Kael moves back toward me, like he’s approaching a ball of fire. “Breathe,” he orders softly. “Don’t fight it. Help me guide it.”
His hand lifts, hovering an inch from my chest before settling lightly against the glow that’s spreading beneath my skin. The contact sends a shock through both of us. The light flares bright gold, then ripples into orange, dancing between his fingers.
“That’s it, you’re not burning hot, and neither am I. You’re balancing. Feel me. Sync with me like we did in DreamNet.”
I don’t mean to obey; my body just does. My pulse syncs to his; the wild edges of my magic begin to smooth under his touch, reshaping around his steady rhythm.
The screens behind us are slower, steadier. Code untangles, light flows like ocean waves. Kael’s eyes lift to meet mine, and for a moment, I forget how to exist. He’s devastating.
“You’re doing it. You’re holding the current.” He winks at me. “Good girl, Taiyō.”
Oh my stars. Only he can use my confessions against me as a weapon. A tiny part of me still melts inside, turned on by his praise.
My light wraps around his hand, up his arm, binding us together in a spiral of gold and orange. The glow reaches his throat, his jaw, his eyes. “Kael...” I gasp, feeling it crest inside me. “You’re amplifying my emotions.” A rush of pleasure flows through me. I release the tiniest moan.
“I know.” His thumb brushes my collarbone, slow and grounding. “But if you lose control here, you’ll crash the system. Focus on me. Eyes right here.”
The light dims, then steadies, our breathing becoming one harmonious pattern. His hand falls away, but I’m physically unable to break his eye contact.
Kael studies me, and the architect takes over. “This is exactly what you’ll have to do during extraction.”
“Wha-what?” I snap out of whatever trance it felt like he had me in.
Asshole! He just taught me what I need to do to save myself, and he almost made me come while doing it.
“Next time,” he says quietly, “we’ll have to find a better way to manage that.”
I laugh, shaky and breathless. “You mean a way that doesn’t set off every alarm in the whole building?”
He grins. “Exactly.”
Then softer, almost tender, he says, “You’re the most dangerous thing I’ve ever built.” His eyes glint. “You know, Little Taiyō, if you keep hacking up my grid like that every time you’re horny, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”
I cross my arms. “Funny, I thought you liked a little danger.”
“Only if it’s worth the risk,” he replies smoothly. “And trust me, you are.”