Chapter 7
TANYA
The ship's orbit-thrust hummed beneath my feet, a gentle vibration that should have been soothing but instead grated against my already frayed nerves.
I sprawled in the co-pilot's seat, one leg draped over the armrest in practiced nonchalance while I pretended not to notice Silvyr pacing the narrow bridge.
His silver form flickered with anxiety, code patterns racing up and down his arms as he made another loop.
Seven steps, turn, seven steps back. The pattern was driving me fucking insane, but I bit my tongue.
After nearly losing him to that system crash, I'd take his annoying pacing over the terrifying stillness of his damaged body any day.
"You're going to wear a groove in the deck plating," I finally said, unable to resist. "And your left knee servo is grinding. I can hear it from here."
He paused mid-step, his silver eyes fixing on me with that intense focus that always made my stomach do a little flip. "My diagnostic systems are preoccupied with urgent calculations."
"You mean you're worried."
"Concern is an inefficient emotional process."
I snorted. "Yeah, welcome to humanity, where inefficient emotional processes are our specialty."
Before he could counter with some emotionally-stunted comeback, the comm panel flared to life with an incoming transmission. Pixel zipped from its resting spot on my shoulder to hover over the controls, spinning excitedly as it projected a phone emoji into the air.
"Incoming transmission from the Mavtrosian vessel," Silvyr announced, as if I couldn't see the glowing display myself. He was still getting used to not having to explain everything.
I leaned forward, tapping the accept key. "Let's see what glowy and lava-face want."
The holoscreen crackled to life, and I found myself staring at the translucent features of Vylit, his bioluminescent skin pulsing with what I was learning to read as urgency.
Beside him stood Kazmyr, the massive Vortharian warrior whose obsidian skin cracked with lines of molten heat.
They looked like a walking special effects demo and a volcanic nightmare had decided to form a boy band.
"Connection established." Vylit's formal greeting never failed to make me smile. "We have developments of critical importance."
"Please tell me you found Asset P's server location," I said, sitting straighter.
"My android boyfriend here is running out of time.
" I ignored the startled flicker in Silvyr's pattern at the word 'boyfriend.
' Ruffling his circuits had become my favorite hobby.
Especially since we'd been sitting around on the Reality waiting for more details.
Kazmyr's ember marks flared along his arms. "Better. We've located its primary network integration point."
My pulse quickened. "Where?"
"The Intergalactic Matching Exhibition." Vylit's glow intensified, patterns shifting in what I'd come to recognize as excitement. "A gathering of matched pairs from across the galaxy, displayed to showcase the Agency's success rate."
"A parade of stolen mates," Kazmyr growled, heat rippling visibly from his shoulders. "Propaganda designed to mask trafficking operations."
I glanced at Silvyr, whose pacing had ceased completely. His form was unnaturally still, processing.
"So it's like a cosmic dating game success story pageant? Gross."
"Precisely." Vylit nodded. "And it is occurring now. This very cycle. The entire connected galaxy is witnessing the event."
Silvyr stepped closer to the transmission. "You've confirmed Asset P's presence?"
"Its network signature embeds throughout the exhibition's mainframe," Kazmyr confirmed. "The entity uses the event as both a showcase and a hunting ground."
My mind raced with possibilities. This was it, our shot at exposing the IDA's matching scam and finding proof of Asset P's involvement in human trafficking.
My hands curled into fists at my sides as I imagined finally taking down the bastards who'd destroyed so many lives, including my own sources who'd vanished after being "matched. "
"So we crash the love parade." The words burst from me before I'd fully formed the plan. "Get inside, hack into Asset P's network while everyone's distracted by the spectacle."
Silvyr's optics flickered uneasily. "Crash is an inauspicious metaphor given our history."
I rolled my eyes. "It's an expression. It means we show up uninvited."
"The exhibition has immaculate security protocols," Vylit warned. "Genetic scanners, emotion readers, compatibility verification—"
"Then we don't go uninvited," I interrupted, the pieces falling into place in my mind. "We go as exactly what they want to see… a matched pair. A success story."
Silvyr's entire form stuttered, light patterns freezing mid-pulse. "As what?"
I swiveled my chair to face him, enjoying his discomfort perhaps a bit too much. "A couple," I replied sweetly, leaning back in my chair. "A blissful, wildly compatible couple. Just what the IDA loves to parade around as proof their system works."
"Deception requires emotional composure," Silvyr said flatly, his patterns betraying the exact opposite of composure.
I smirked. "Guess you're screwed."
From the holoscreen, Kazmyr let out a rumbling laugh that sounded like rocks grinding together. "The chaos-bringer has a point. You two emit enough electromagnetic interference to scramble scanners three sectors away."
"That's not—" Silvyr began, but was interrupted by movement behind our alien contacts.
Three figures pushed into the transmission field, and I blinked in surprise. Shorter than Kazmyr but similarly built, their obsidian skin glowed with intricate lava patterns that shifted and swirled like living jewelry. Their eyes burned molten gold.
"Finally!" the middle one exclaimed, her voice crackling like a hearth fire. "We can style you!"
Vylit turned, his luminescence dimming slightly in what I was beginning to recognize as embarrassment. "The Lavastone Aunties insisted on joining when they heard our plan."
"We are artisans of attraction!" Another of the volcanic women stepped forward, peering at me through the transmission with critical appraisal. "Your current attire will never convince anyone of compatibility bonding. Too many loose wires. Not enough shine."
The third nodded vigorously. "The silver one needs structural enhancement. His shoulders say 'computational device' when they should scream 'desirable mate'!"
I bit back a laugh as Silvyr's form went rigid. "Who exactly are—"
"The most respected compatibility aestheticians in the quadrant," Kazmyr cut in, a hint of reverence in his voice. "They styled my warrior clan for three generations of bonding ceremonies."
Within hours, our ship had docked with Vylit and Kazmyr's vessels, and the Lavastone Aunties descended upon us like a wildfire through a dry forest. They swept into my quarters trailing fabrics that seemed to move of their own accord and bottles of something they called "pheromone enhancers" that smelled like a confused blend of cinnamon, ozone, and something musky I couldn't identify.
"Arms up!" the oldest Auntie commanded, her heat signature so intense I could feel it from three feet away. "The fabric needs to measure you."
I reluctantly raised my arms as what looked like liquid metal slithered from her hands to encircle my waist, stretching and shifting as if it were alive. "Is that stuff sentient?"
"Responsive, not sentient," she corrected, her molten eyes assessing every curve of my body without a trace of modesty. "It reads biochemical signatures and adjusts accordingly."
"Marvelous frame structure," another Auntie muttered, circling me like a predator. "Strong shoulders, excellent spinal alignment. The silver one will malfunction beautifully."
I frowned. "I don't want him to malfunction. We need his brain working."
All three Aunties exchanged knowing looks that made me want to crawl out of my skin. "Of course, dear," the first one said in a tone that suggested she didn't believe me for a second.
For the next hour, I endured what could only be described as the most invasive fashion consultation in history. The Aunties poked, prodded, measured, and debated every inch of me while I stood like a mannequin, occasionally protesting when their ideas veered into the absurd.
"Absolutely not," I said firmly when they suggested a dress that seemed to be made entirely of floating water droplets. "I need to be able to hack security systems without flashing the entire galaxy."
Finally, they settled on a creation that made my breath catch despite myself.
The gown was made of liquid crystal that flowed around my body like mercury, shifting between shades of blue and silver that reminded me of Silvyr's code patterns.
It responded to my body temperature, rippling with subtle color changes that followed my pulse and breath.
"It's reactive to emotional states," the youngest Auntie explained, adjusting the neckline which dipped lower than anything I'd worn since college. "Perfect for displaying compatibility responses."
"Meaning?"
She smiled wickedly. "When your silver one looks at you, the dress will register your mutual attraction. Very convincing."
Heat crept up my neck. "We don't have mutual anything. This is a mission."
All three Aunties laughed, the sound like rocks tumbling down a mountain. "Of course, ember-heart. Just a mission."
When they finally deemed me presentable, I barely recognized myself in the reflection panel.
The woman staring back at me looked dangerous and elegant, her short black hair styled with copper threads that caught the light, her eyes enhanced with some kind of mineral dust that made them appear wider, greener.
The dress clung in all the right places before flowing to the floor in crystalline ripples.
"Now," the eldest Auntie announced, "we reveal you."
Before I could protest, they ushered me onto the ship's main deck where Vylit, Kazmyr, and Silvyr waited. Pixel zoomed ahead of me, projecting a ridiculous drum emoji as if announcing my entrance.
The expressions on their faces would have been comical if I hadn't suddenly felt so exposed.
Vylit's bioluminescence brightened to near-blinding levels. Kazmyr's ember marks flared so hot I could feel the temperature in the room rise. Both of them had their human mates, Maya and Jenna, next to them who I’d met on various communications we’d had before our ships had met up.
The two women cooed with excitement and compliments, but it was Silvyr's reaction that stole my breath.
His entire system visibly glitched. The code patterns beneath his skin froze, then cascaded in a waterfall of silver-blue light that raced from his chest outward.
His eyes widened, pupils dilating as they fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin tingle.
Then, without warning, small compartments along his frame popped open, releasing a cloud of tiny maintenance drones that swirled around him in confused circles.
"System regulation required," he managed, his voice dropping to a deeper register that sent an unexpected shiver through me. "Core temperature exceeding normal parameters."
The dress responded instantly to whatever my body was doing, rippling with waves of gold that chased themselves across the fabric. The Aunties clapped their hands in delight.
"Perfect compatibility response!" the youngest crowed. "Better than we hoped!"
Pixel darted between us, flashing a hot face emoji that made me want to swat it out of the air. The little traitor was enjoying this far too much.
"It's just the dress," I said, trying to sound dismissive despite the heat rising in my cheeks. "It's programmed to do that."
"The dress responds to biometric shifts," the eldest Auntie corrected. "It cannot create what is not there."
Silvyr finally managed to recall his maintenance drones, the tiny machines reluctantly returning to their compartments. Except for Pixel, which returned to my shoulder.
"Diagnostic overheating," he muttered, adjusting the formal attire the Aunties had somehow convinced him to wear. A black bowtie, which was adorable by the way. "The new components are still calibrating."
"Sure they are," I said, tilting my head with a grin I couldn't suppress. "You're a natural at this whole fake relationship thing." I watched with satisfaction as his code scrolled faster at my teasing.
Vylit stepped forward, breaking the charged moment. "The exhibition transmits through the central star gate in one rotation. We must be prepared."
"The IDA security protocols will scan for compatibility markers," Kazmyr added. "Your performance must be convincing."
The word 'performance' hung in the air between Silvyr and me, loaded with implications neither of us was ready to address. His eyes met mine across the deck, silver depths reflecting questions I didn't have answers for.
By the time our ship entered orbit near the exhibition—a massive crystalline structure suspended in space like a glittering snowflake—we were fully dressed, paired, and equipped with enough hidden tech to hack a small planet.
I adjusted the translator at my ear, designed to decode Asset P's encrypted communications if we got close enough while also translating any alien languages.
"Ready to fake it, lover boy?" I whispered to Silvyr as we prepared to board the transport shuttle.
His code pulsed faintly, code patterns flowing in harmonious waves that betrayed far more than his carefully controlled expression. "I will attempt authenticity instead."
Pixel, hovering between us, flashed a single heart emoji that said everything we weren't ready to admit. The little drone had a point… somewhere between rebuilding his broken body and planning this insane mission, emotions had started to fall in place.
I swallowed hard, watching as the exhibition grew larger through the viewscreen, its crystalline spires gleaming like promises or threats.
We were about to walk into the heart of the organization that had abducted countless beings across the galaxy in the name of "perfect matching.
" My fingers instinctively sought Silvyr's, metal and flesh intertwining with a familiarity that should have been alarming but instead felt like the only stable thing in a universe spinning out of control.
His hand closed around mine, warm and secure. Not an act, not a performance.
Authentic.