Day 79-80 Post-Impact
The morning after the convoy mission brought a different kind of victory.
Jade burst into the command center with an expression that Sarnav had rarely seen on her face: genuine excitement. Serena followed close behind, her usual composure replaced by something raw and hopeful. Dark circles under her eyes suggested she'd been working through the night.
"We did it," Jade announced. "Singapore is online."
The room went quiet. Everyone understood what that meant. Singapore wasn't just another survivor faction. It was a regional power that had been completely cut off since the impact. And for Serena, it was home. Her family.
"Show me," Sarnav said.
Jade pulled up the communication display, data streams flowing across the screen in complex patterns. "It took three days of collaborative encryption breaking, but we found a frequency that Singapore's emergency network is monitoring. Their military has maintained surprisingly robust infrastructure. I've established a secure channel with their command structure."
"Not just military," Serena added, her voice carefully controlled despite the tremor in her hands. "They have civilian registries. Survivor databases. Cross-referenced with NS records for military personnel." She paused, and when she spoke again, her professional tone cracked. "I found my brother."
The words hung in the air. Sarnav watched her face, saw the tension beneath the professional mask. She was fighting to keep her composure, and losing.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes." The single word cracked with emotion she couldn't hide. "He's alive. Wei Ming is alive lah." The Singlish slipped out, a sign of how shaken she truly was. "He's with a unit in Woodlands, near the causeway, and he's..." She stopped, took a breath, visibly forcing herself back into control. "He's trapped. The settlement is under siege from a rival faction. They have maybe two weeks of supplies."
"Singapore has rival factions?"
"Three major ones, apparently." Serena's hands trembled slightly as she pulled up the tactical data Jade had compiled. "The legitimate government remnants operating out of Changi, a corporate consortium that seized Marina Bay, and something calling itself the New Order based in Jurong. My brother's unit is loyal to the government, which puts them at odds with the other two. The siege started a week ago."
"Wah lau, the situation is jialat lah," Jade muttered, studying the data. "The New Order has them surrounded. Government forces are too spread thin to break through."
Sarnav processed the implications. Singapore across the causeway. Close enough to reach, far enough to be complicated. A rescue mission would require resources, planning, political capital they might not have.
"We need to discuss this in council," he said. "Get everyone together."
The council meeting was tense.
All seven wives attended, along with Serena and Captain Zara Hassan. The war room felt smaller with everyone present, the weight of the decision pressing down on the table.
Jiyeon laid out the strategic considerations with her usual precision. "A Singapore operation would require significant resources. We'd be extending our reach across the causeway into unknown territory, engaging with factions we know nothing about, all while leaving Harmony less defended. The risks are substantial."
"I understand the risks," Serena said. Her voice was steady now, the professional mask back in place, but Sarnav could see the strain beneath it. The way her fingers gripped the edge of the table. The tension in her shoulders. "I'm not asking for an immediate rescue mission. I'm asking for intelligence gathering. Communication. Maybe establishing contact that could benefit Harmony strategically in the long run."
"And if that intelligence reveals your brother needs immediate help?" Jiyeon pressed. "What then? Do we commit forces to a cross-border operation with incomplete information?"
Serena's jaw tightened. "Then I'll go alone lor. This is my family. I won't ask others to die for them."
"That's not how this works," Ishani said flatly. "You're part of Harmony now. Your family is our concern."
"Since when?"
"Since you started sleeping in our compound, eating our food, and providing invaluable strategic intelligence." Ishani's tone was matter-of-fact, not hostile. "You've become one of us, whether you planned for it or not."
Serena looked genuinely thrown by that. For someone who calculated every outcome, being accepted without negotiation seemed to short-circuit her thinking.
"No." The word came from Zara, surprisingly. The government captain had been silent through most of the meeting, but now she leaned forward, her expression thoughtful. "The Council has interests in Singapore as well. If Harmony is considering operations across the causeway, we should coordinate. Pooled resources, shared intelligence, mutual benefit."
"You'd help us rescue Singaporean soldiers?" Ishani asked skeptically.
"I'd help establish diplomatic contact with a regional power. The rescue would be..." Zara paused. "...an incidental benefit. But a welcome one."
It was politics, but it was also an olive branch. The government and Harmony working together for mutual benefit. Sarnav noted how Zara's eyes found his as she spoke, something more than professional calculation in her gaze.
"We'll need more information before committing to anything," Sarnav decided. "Serena, Jade, continue developing the Singapore channel. Get us everything you can about the situation on the ground. Force dispositions, supply situations, faction leadership. Zara, coordinate with your superiors about potential joint operations. Jiyeon, start drafting contingency plans for various scenarios. We'll reconvene in forty-eight hours."
"What about my brother?" Serena asked, her voice carefully controlled. "Two weeks of supplies lah. We don't have forty-eight hours to spare."
"We have time to plan properly. Rushing in gets people killed." Sarnav met her eyes. "We'll help him, Serena. But we do this right."
She held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded once. "Okay. I trust you."
The words seemed to surprise her as much as they surprised him.
The council dispersed, but Serena lingered, watching the others file out until only she and Sarnav remained.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "For not dismissing it. For not making me justify why my brother's life matters."
"Your brother is family. Family matters."
"That's..." She shook her head, a small laugh escaping her. "That's not how I expected you to respond. I had a whole proposal prepared leh. Cost-benefit analysis, strategic advantages of Singapore alliance, probability matrices for various outcomes. Three hours of work."
"Did you think I'd need convincing?"
"I thought everyone needs convincing. That's how the world works mah. You present a case, you negotiate, you compromise. Nobody does anything for free." She looked at him with something like confusion, her sharp mind struggling to categorize him. "You just said yes because my brother is family."
"Is that strange?"
"It's terrifying." The admission slipped out before she could stop it, and she immediately looked embarrassed. "I don't know how to process decisions that aren't based on calculation. Feelings are... inefficient."
"Are they?"
She was quiet for a long moment, her probability sense probably running calculations even now. When she spoke again, her voice was smaller. "I've been calculating outcomes my whole life. It's how I survived the corporate world, how I built my startup, how I kept my group alive after the impact. But lately..." She trailed off.
"Lately?"
"Lately I keep making calculations that don't make sense. I keep factoring you into equations where you shouldn't matter. I keep finding reasons to be near you that have nothing to do with strategy." She met his eyes. "I think something is wrong with my ability."
"Or something is right with your heart."
She laughed, but it was shaky. "Wah lau eh. That's the most sentimental thing anyone has ever said to me."
"Is it working?"
"...Maybe. I don't know. Let me calculate..." She caught herself, then laughed again, more genuine this time. "See? Can't stop."
"You don't have to stop. Just add some new variables."
He found her on the observation deck that evening.
She stood at the railing, staring south toward the distant glow of Singapore's surviving lights. On a clear night like this, you could almost imagine you could see the city across the strait. The causeway was out there somewhere, a bridge between two worlds that had once been connected by traffic and commerce and family visits, now separated by chaos and competing factions.
"You should be resting," he said, joining her at the railing. "Tomorrow will be busy."
"Can't sleep lah. Too many variables." She didn't look at him, her eyes still fixed on the southern horizon. "My brother. The siege. The faction politics. The logistics of a potential rescue. Whether we can trust the government forces." A pause. "You."
"I'm a variable?"
"The biggest one." She turned to face him, and in the dim light, her careful mask was gone. Without it, she looked younger. Vulnerable. Beautiful in a way that had nothing to do with calculation. "I've been trying to calculate us, you know. Run probability scenarios. Optimal strategies for... whatever this is between us."
"What did you find?"
"That every scenario ends the same way." Her voice dropped, intimate in the darkness. "With me wanting things I can't justify strategically. With me lying awake thinking about you when I should be planning. With me standing on a deck at night hoping you'd come find me."
She stepped closer. Close enough that he could smell her perfume, something expensive she'd somehow kept through the apocalypse. Close enough to see the pulse beating in her throat. Close enough to see the vulnerability she was fighting to hide.
"I don't know how to do this," she admitted. "Feelings. Romance. Whatever this is. I've always been the one in control. The one with the plan. The one who knows the optimal path forward. But around you, I can't think straight. The probabilities get fuzzy. The calculations don't work."
"Maybe that's the point."
"The point of what?"
"Feeling something real." He reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She shivered at the contact, her breath catching. "Not everything needs to be calculated, Serena. Some things just need to be felt."
"I don't know how to do that."
"Then let me show you."
He kissed her.
It was gentle at first, almost questioning. Giving her space to pull away if she needed to. But she didn't pull away. Instead, she melted into him with a soft sound of surrender, her hands coming up to grip his shirt, her mouth opening under his like she was drowning and he was air.
The kiss deepened. He tasted the tea she'd been drinking, felt the softness of her lips, heard the small sound she made when his hand found the curve of her waist. She kissed him like she was trying to solve a puzzle, and then, somewhere in the middle of it, stopped trying to solve anything at all. Just felt. Just wanted. Just needed.
His hand found the back of her neck, angling her head for better access. She gasped into his mouth, pressing closer, her body fitting against his like they'd been designed to match. Heat built between them, desire that had been simmering for days finally given permission to ignite.
When they finally broke apart, her eyes were dazed. Her lips were swollen. Her composure was completely shattered.
"Wah lau," she breathed. "That was... I don't have a word lah."
"Not in your probability calculations?"
"Nothing about you is in my probability calculations anymore." She was still gripping his shirt, like she was afraid he'd disappear if she let go. "I want... I want you to make me stop thinking. But I also want to do this right. Whatever 'right' means."
"What do you need?"
"Time." The word seemed to cost her something. Her body was still pressed against his, making it clear that time wasn't what she wanted. "Not much. Just... tonight. To process. To make sure I'm not making a decision based on emotional turmoil about my brother."
"You think that's what this is?"
"No." She shook her head. "I know it's not. I've wanted you since before Singapore, before the contact, before any of this. Since you looked at me like I was more than a strategic asset. Since you asked about my family like it mattered." She took a breath. "But I need to be sure that when I... when we..." She struggled to find the words. "I want to come to you with a clear head. I want to know this is a choice, not a reaction. I want to be certain, and I want you to be certain, and I want it to mean something."
He understood. For someone like Serena, who had built her whole identity around calculation and control, surrendering to emotion was terrifying. She needed to process it on her terms. Needed to convince herself that this was logical somehow, even though logic had nothing to do with it.
"Tomorrow," he said. "When you're ready. I'll be here."
She kissed him again, quick and fierce, a promise sealed with lips and tongue. Then she stepped back before she could change her mind.
"Tomorrow," she agreed. "Don't make any other plans lah. Clear your schedule."
The hint of command in her voice made him smile. Even falling into feelings she couldn't control, she was still trying to manage the situation. Still trying to maintain some semblance of efficiency.
He found it oddly endearing.
She walked away, and he watched her go, feeling something shift in his chest. Through the network, he felt his wives' awareness of the moment. Understanding. Acceptance. Even a hint of anticipation from some of them. Jade's possessive monitoring. Jiyeon's competitive curiosity. Nisha's gentle warmth.
They knew what was coming. And they approved.
Then the system notification pulsed across his vision:
[BONDING WINDOW DETECTED]
[SUBJECT: TAN WEI LING "SERENA"]
[COMPATIBILITY: 91%]
[RECOMMEND BONDING WITHIN 48 HOURS]
[ABILITY INTEGRATION: PROBABILITY MANIPULATION]
[NETWORK SLOT: 8/32 AVAILABLE]
Tomorrow, Serena would make her choice. And Sarnav already knew what she would decide.
Some probabilities didn't need calculation.
[DAY 80]
[WIFE COUNT: 7/32]
[ESSENCE: 759,100 / 1,000,000]
[HP: 12,847]
[HARMONY SAFE ZONE STATUS][POPULATION: 990][MYTHILI: REGIONAL COORDINATION]
[SINGAPORE: CONTACT ESTABLISHED]
[SERENA: BONDING IMMINENT]
[NEXT: WIFE #8]