Day 81 Post-Impact
The morning briefing felt different with eight connections humming through the network.
Sarnav sat at the head of the council table, Serena beside him, her analytical mind already cataloging information flows. The other wives had taken positions around the room. Not by rank, but by function. Jade at her terminal, monitoring data streams. Ishani near the door, combat-ready as always. Nisha coordinating supply reports. The others observing, contributing, being present.
Captain Zara Hassan stood at parade rest against the far wall, watching everything with those sharp military eyes. Three days since she'd arrived with the government delegation. Three days of observing how Harmony actually operated. Her professional mask was still in place, but Sarnav had noticed the cracks forming.
"Singapore situation," Chen Wei began, pulling up a tactical display. "We've confirmed Wei Ming's position. NUS campus, southeast quadrant. Approximately two hundred survivors, forty awakened. They've been holding against Ascendancy probes for three weeks."
"Holding how?" Zara's voice cut through. Professional. Skeptical. "Against Ascendancy forces? With forty awakened?"
"Serena's brother is B-rank," Jade answered without looking up. "Barrier specialist. He's been maintaining a defensive perimeter that the Ascendancy can't crack without committing significant resources."
"Resources they can't spare while we're pressing them from the north," Sarnav added. "The Herald's death disrupted their command structure. They're reorganizing."
"Which gives us a window." Serena's voice was steady, but through the network Sarnav felt her underlying anxiety. Her brother. Her only family before yesterday. "Forty-eight to seventy-two hours before they recover enough to make another serious push on the campus."
"Then we move in forty-eight." Sarnav looked around the room. "Strike team. Fast insertion, extract survivors, establish permanent Singapore presence."
Zara's eyes narrowed. "The Malaysian government hasn't authorized..."
"The Malaysian government," Jiyeon interrupted smoothly, "authorized Captain Hassan to observe and report. Not to command." Her smile was sharp. "Observe this: we're going to save two hundred people while your bureaucracy debates jurisdiction."
The captain's jaw tightened, but she didn't argue. Couldn't, really. They all knew she'd seen too much of how Harmony operated to pretend the government's slow-moving machinery could match it.
"Strike team composition?" Chen Wei asked, moving past the tension.
"Myself, obviously." Sarnav pulled up the roster. "Ishani for combat. Jade for tech and comms. Serena for probability and navigation. She knows Singapore, and her brother knows we're coming."
"Me," Zara said.
Everyone looked at her.
"I'm assigned to observe. You want me to observe from the compound while you mount an international rescue operation?" She shook her head. "I'm coming. Consider it... military liaison."
"And if your superiors disapprove?"
"Then they can court-martial me after we've saved two hundred lives." Something flickered in her eyes. Respect, maybe. Or the first crack in her professional armor. "I've spent three days watching your people operate. You're effective. I want to see how effective."
Sarnav felt the network pulse with his wives' reactions. Jade's analytical assessment. Ishani's competitive approval. Serena's cautious optimism.
"Departure tomorrow, 0600. Get some rest." He stood, ending the formal briefing. "We'll need it."
The afternoon found Sarnav in the training courtyard, watching Ananya practice.
She didn't know he was there. Not yet. She'd found a quiet corner, away from the main training areas, and had been working through a sequence that blended Bharatanatyam with something more modern. Her rhythm magic pulsed with each movement, creating visible waves in the air.
He'd been meaning to spend time with her. Between the Ascendancy conflicts, Serena's integration, and the constant demands of leadership, Ananya had gotten lost in the shuffle. Not forgotten, never forgotten, the network kept him connected to all his wives, but physically neglected.
Twenty-seven days since their last real intimate time together.
She spun, arms extending in a classical pose, and spotted him. Her rhythm stuttered for a half-beat before she smiled.
"Watching, ah?" Her Penang accent was stronger when she was caught off guard. "Should have said something lah."
"I like watching you move." He stepped into the courtyard, approaching slowly. "You're getting stronger."
"The magic helps." She demonstrated, pulling music from somewhere, her own ability creating a beat that existed only for her. Her body responded automatically, hips swaying, arms flowing through positions that would have taken normal dancers years to master. "Before, I could only affect audiences. Now I can affect reality."
"Show me."
Her eyes brightened. Ananya had always been the most eager to share, to connect, to be seen. She launched into a routine that left him breathless.
Her rhythm magic wasn't just about music. It was about timing. Pattern. The fundamental beat underlying all existence. When she moved, she moved in perfect synchronization with something deeper than sound. Each step landed exactly where it needed to be. Each gesture carved through air that seemed to bend around her.
The finale involved a leap that should have been impossible, a full rotation with her body horizontal, landing in a split that somehow flowed into a standing position. Her magic cushioned the impact, but the technique was all her.
"That was..."
"Wait, wait." She held up a hand, breathing hard, face flushed with exertion. "There's more. New thing I've been practicing."
She closed her eyes. The ambient rhythm she'd been projecting changed, deepened, became something more primal. A heartbeat. His heartbeat, he realized. She'd synchronized with him.
When she opened her eyes, they were glowing faintly with power.
"I can feel it now," she whispered. "The rhythm of everyone in the compound. Every heartbeat. Every breath. And I can..." She moved toward him, each step landing exactly between his heartbeats. "...match them."
She reached him exactly as his heart pounded once, hard.
"Ananya..."
"I've missed you." The theatrical confidence dropped, revealing the vulnerability underneath. "I know you've been busy. I know there's been fighting and politics and new wives and I'm not jealous, I'm really not, the network helps with that, but I..." She bit her lip. "I've missed being with you."
He pulled her close. Through the network, he felt her relief, her need, her love. Twenty-seven days of small touches and shared glances and sleeping in a pile with the other wives, but nothing just for her.
"I've missed you too."
"Then..." She looked up at him, dark eyes bright with hope. "Can we? Now? Before the mission tomorrow, can we just..."
He kissed her.
She melted into him with a soft moan, her dancer's body pressing close, finding the exact position that fit them together perfectly. Her rhythm magic pulsed between them, synchronizing their heartbeats, their breath, their rising desire.
"My room?" she breathed against his lips.
"Here."
"Here?" She looked around the courtyard, scandalized and thrilled in equal measure. "Someone might..."
"Then they'll see how beautiful you are."
The compliment hit her exactly right. Ananya had always been the performer, the one who craved an audience, who bloomed under attention. The idea of being watched, being seen in her most intimate moment...
Her rhythm magic surged.
They didn't make it to a bed.
Sarnav pressed her against the courtyard wall, her dancer's flexibility letting her wrap one leg around his waist while staying balanced on the other. She'd always been theatrical, and now she was performing for an audience of one.
"Like this," she breathed, rolling her hips in a wave that would have been impossible for anyone without her training. "You remember? You said you liked when I..."
"I remember everything."
He kissed down her neck, finding the spot that always made her gasp. Her traditional shyness warred with her modern openness, creating that delicious tension he loved. Half innocent, half knowing. Wanting to be corrupted and cherished in equal measure.
"Off," he commanded, tugging at her training clothes.
She complied with dancer's grace, stripping without awkwardness, each movement flowing into the next. Her body was lean and flexible, curves highlighted by the muscle beneath. Small breasts that fit perfectly in his hands. Flared hips that begged to be gripped.
"Beautiful," he told her, because she needed to hear it.
Her blush spread down her chest. "You always say that."
"Because it's always true."
He lifted her, really lifted her, A-rank strength making it effortless, and she responded by wrapping both legs around him, arms around his neck, trusting him completely. Her rhythm magic kept their movements synchronized, turning every shift into a dance.
"Please," she whispered. "I need..."
He gave her what she needed.
The first thrust made her cry out, theatrical and genuine at once. She was tight, she was always tight, her dancer's muscles gripping him in ways that defied explanation, and she used those muscles now, squeezing and releasing in a rhythm that matched her magic.
"Sarnav!" She threw her head back, exposing her throat. "Yes, yes, like that..."
He set a pace and she matched it instantly, her hips rolling to meet each thrust. Through the network, he felt the other wives react. Nisha's warm approval. Ishani's competitive interest. Jade pretending to ignore it while tracking every data point. Sana's sweet arousal. Jiyeon's calculating observation. Minji's playful attention.
And Serena, new to the network, experiencing for the first time what it meant to feel another wife's pleasure.
Oh, came her thought through the bond. That's... that's intense.
Ananya felt the attention and bloomed under it. Her performance intensified. She leaned back, trusting him to hold her, and arched her spine in a pose straight out of classical dance while he fucked her against the wall. One arm extended gracefully. The other gripped his shoulder for leverage.
"Watch me," she breathed. "All of you. Watch..."
Her first orgasm hit like a wave of music. Her rhythm magic exploded outward, carrying the pleasure through the network. Every wife felt a ghost of what Ananya felt. Serena gasped somewhere in the compound. Minji muttered "GG" under her breath. Even Jade acknowledged the data point.
But Sarnav wasn't done.
He carried her to the training mat, the padding would be kinder than the wall, and laid her down without pulling out. Her legs stayed wrapped around him, ankles crossed behind his back, pulling him deeper.
"Again," she begged. "I want... more..."
"Greedy."
"For you? Always."
He gave her more. Changed the angle to hit deeper. Used his thumb on her clit while maintaining the rhythm she craved. Her theatrical moans became real screams, echoing through the courtyard, announcing to anyone within earshot exactly what was happening.
Let them hear, came Ishani's thought through the bond. Let them know who she belongs to.
Ananya heard it. Her second orgasm crashed through her, triggered as much by the possessive sentiment as the physical sensation. She shattered around him, pussy clenching in waves, her rhythm magic creating a cascade that left everyone in the network breathless.
[DUAL CULTIVATION - IN PROGRESS][EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: EXCEPTIONAL][ESSENCE GENERATION: ACCELERATED]
"One more," Sarnav told her. "Give me one more."
"I can't..."
"You can."
He shifted her legs to his shoulders, her flexibility made it easy, and the new angle let him go deeper than before. She screamed, hands clawing at the mat, back arching off the ground.
"Too... too much..."
"Is that a stop?"
"No!" Her eyes snapped open, wild with pleasure. "Don't stop. Don't ever..."
He didn't.
The third orgasm built slower, her body almost too sensitive to process more pleasure. But he knew her rhythms now, knew exactly when to push and when to hold back. His own release was building, but he held it, waiting for her.
"Together," she gasped, somehow sensing it. Her rhythm magic synchronized them perfectly. "Together, sayang, please..."
She crested first by a fraction of a second, just enough for her clenching muscles to trigger his own release. He came inside her with a groan, and her magic carried the sensation through both of them, doubling and redoubling until neither knew whose pleasure they were feeling.
[DUAL CULTIVATION - COMPLETE][ESSENCE GAINED: +48,000][BOND DEEPENED: ANANYA][NETWORK HARMONY: ENHANCED]
Afterward, she lay sprawled on the training mat, her usual grace abandoned for boneless satisfaction.
"Twenty-seven days," she murmured. "Was worth the wait lah."
"Shouldn't have made you wait."
"Busy saving the world." She waved a hand dismissively. "I understand. Just..." She rolled over to face him, expression serious beneath the post-sex glow. "Don't forget us, ah? The first wives. We see how much attention the new ones need, and we try to be patient, but..."
"You matter. All of you." He pulled her close. "Equally."
"Not equally." Her smile was knowing. "Nisha will always be first. But that's okay. We all have our places." She snuggled into his chest. "I just like knowing mine is still there."
Through the network, he felt the other wives' agreement. They'd all worried about the same thing at some point. The fear of being replaced, of mattering less as the harem grew. The system's loyalty lock prevented jealousy from becoming destructive, but it couldn't eliminate the very human need to feel valued.
"Tomorrow," he said quietly. "Singapore. It's going to be dangerous."
"I know."
"I want you to stay here."
She was quiet for a moment. "Because I'm weakest?"
"Because you're valuable in other ways." He lifted her chin to meet her eyes. "Your rhythm magic is support-oriented. You're not built for the kind of combat we'll face. And someone needs to maintain morale here while the strike team is gone."
"You're asking me to dance while you fight?"
"I'm asking you to be yourself. To remind everyone what we're fighting for."
She considered it. Then nodded slowly. "Okay. But you come back to me, understand? All of you."
"We will."
He kissed her forehead, and through the network, felt seven other hearts echo the promise.
Evening found Captain Zara Hassan in the compound's observation deck, watching the sunset paint the ruins of KL in shades of gold and red.
She heard footsteps approaching but didn't turn. Military discipline. Never show that you were startled.
"Quite a view," Sarnav said, stopping beside her.
"I've seen better. Before." She gestured at the scarred skyline. "This used to be beautiful."
"It will be again."
"You believe that?"
"I have to."
Silence stretched between them. Comfortable, somehow. She'd spent three days avoiding him, maintaining professional distance, and it had gotten increasingly difficult. He was... not what she'd expected.
"I heard you earlier," she said finally. "In the courtyard."
He didn't seem embarrassed. "And?"
"And nothing." She kept her eyes on the horizon. "What you do with your wives is your business."
"But?"
"But..." She struggled to find words that didn't reveal too much. "The women in your network. They're not what I expected. Not... victims. Not manipulated. They're powerful. Capable. They could leave if they wanted."
"They could."
"But they don't."
"No."
"Why?" She turned to face him finally, needing to understand. "The system locks their loyalty, yes. I read the intelligence reports. But loyalty isn't happiness. They should be resentful. Trapped. Instead they're..." She shook her head. "I watched Ananya with you today. That wasn't performance. That was joy."
"Would you believe me if I told you the system enhances what's already there? That it creates bonds, yes, but bonds based on genuine connection?"
"I'd say that sounds like propaganda."
"Fair." He smiled slightly. "Then believe the evidence. You've watched us for three days. What do you see?"
She wanted to say she saw a cult. A harem of brainwashed women serving a powerful man's desires. That's what the intelligence briefings had implied. That's what she'd expected to find.
Instead she'd seen Nisha organizing medical supplies with genuine competence. Ishani training awakened soldiers who respected her. Jade maintaining communications networks that kept the entire region safe. Sana healing the wounded with tears in her eyes. Minji making refugees laugh when they'd forgotten how. Ananya dancing for children who'd lost everything.
And Sarnav, at the center of it all, not demanding but delegating. Not taking but giving. Building something that actually worked.
"I see..." She trailed off, unable to finish.
"Tomorrow you'll see more." He turned to leave, then paused. "You don't have to come, Captain. The offer was genuine. But if you do come, I need to know you'll follow orders when it matters."
"I'm military. Following orders is what I do."
"Not my point." He met her eyes. "I'm asking if you trust me enough to follow orders that might not make sense in the moment. Because Singapore is going to be messy, and I can't afford hesitation."
She held his gaze for a long moment. Three days of observation. Three days of having every assumption challenged. Three days of feeling something she'd been ignoring since the apocalypse began.
"I'll follow orders," she said finally. "Sir."
The title slipped out before she could stop it. Not military honorific. Something else. Something that made her cheeks burn.
He noticed. Of course he noticed. But he didn't comment.
"Get some sleep, Captain. 0600 comes early."
He left her alone with the sunset and the confusion and the first cracks in walls she'd spent a lifetime building.
[DAY 81]
[WIFE COUNT: 8/32]
[ESSENCE: 825,600 / 1,000,000]
[PROGRESS TO TRIBULATION: 82.6%]
[ANANYA: RECONNECTED, BOND DEEPENED][ANANYA'S CULTIVATION: D+ → C-RANK!][RHYTHM MAGIC: RESONANCE +18%]
[ESSENCE GAINED: +48,000]
[HARMONY SAFE ZONE STATUS][POPULATION: 935][NORTHERN EXPANSION: 22%]
[SINGAPORE OPERATION: T-MINUS 12 HOURS]
[NEXT: CROSSING]