Day 41 Post-Awakening
Ethan Cross - Sovereign-State Hybrid Entity
Life Essence: 3,200/10,000 (Recovering)
Active Primordials: 5
Location: FORT WASHINGTON - DETENTION WING
I'd created Primordial-05 six days ago. Nearly killed myself again. Dr. Sato had made good on her threat and designed a LE buffer system—a crystalline array that stored excess Network energy like a battery. It bought me an extra 200 LE per creation.
Not much. But enough.
Five Primordials. Thorn. Ember. Whisper. Renewal. And Glacier—a frost-touched sentinel made of ice-veined wood and frozen sap, born to counter Ember's fire, to bring balance.
Seven to go.
55 days remaining.
But today wasn't about creation.
Today was about consequences.
The detention wing smelled like concrete and regret.
I followed Mira through sterile hallways, bark-plated feet echoing on polished floors. She'd been quiet since picking me up from the greenhouse—not her usual tactical silence, but something heavier. Troubled.
"You don't have to do this," she said without turning around. Her ponytail swayed with each step, black hair catching fluorescent light. "Thorne can handle the interrogation. You should be resting."
"I need to hear it from her," I said through the translator. "If Helix has a plant inside Fort Washington, I need to know why."
Mira stopped at a security door, swiped her keycard. "Ethan... she's not what you think."
"What does that mean?"
The door hissed open.
Mira's dark eyes met mine—conflict written in every line of her face. "It means be careful. Not of her. Of yourself."
[FORESHADOWING: Mira knows something about the prisoner, sets up emotional complexity]
The interrogation room was small. Windowless. Lit by a single overhead panel that made everything look washed-out and pale.
And sitting at the metal table, wrists cuffed to a bolt in the center, was the most dangerous-looking woman I'd ever seen.
Kiera Navarro.
[BEAUTY DESCRIPTION - DETAILED]
She was tall—even sitting down, I could tell she'd tower over Dr. Sato, match Mira's height. Mid-twenties, maybe, with the kind of body that came from years of combat training: lean, muscular, scars crisscrossing her forearms like a roadmap of violence. Olive skin. Sharp cheekbones. A jaw that could cut glass.
But it was her eyes that stopped me cold.
Amber. Not brown, not hazel—amber, like honey backlit by fire, like a predator's gaze in the dark. Framed by thick black lashes and set beneath strong brows that gave her resting expression an edge of perpetual challenge.
Her hair was a wild cascade of dark auburn, almost black in the dim light but catching red highlights when she moved—chopped short on one side, long on the other, falling across her face in a way that was either stylish or practical. Probably both.
She wore a grey detention jumpsuit that should've been shapeless but somehow still emphasized the toned muscles of her shoulders, the curve of her collarbones. A tattoo peeked out from under the collar—some kind of serpent or dragon, coiled around her throat like a living necklace.
Three piercings in her left ear. Split eyebrow on the right (scar, not intentional). Full lips pressed into a thin line that suggested she was deciding whether to spit at me or laugh.
She looked like war and wildfire stuffed into a human shape.
And she was staring at me like I was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen.
[BEAUTY ESTABLISHED: Kiera as "dangerous beauty," warrior woman, visual contrast to Sato (delicate), Mira (controlled), Vivienne (elegant)]
"So," Kiera said, voice rough like gravel and smoke, accented—Eastern European? Russian? Hard to place. "You're the tree-man."
"Ethan Cross," I corrected, lowering myself into the chair across from her. The metal creaked under my weight. "You're Kiera Navarro. Former Helix Dynamics contractor. Arrested three days ago trying to infiltrate the Primordial labs."
She grinned—sharp, feral, beautiful in the way a knife is beautiful. "Got caught on purpose, derevo. Needed to talk to you."
Mira tensed behind me. "You said you had intel on Helix's cloning program. That was the deal—cooperation in exchange for reduced sentencing."
"Da, da," Kiera waved a cuffed hand dismissively. "I have intel. Best intel. But first..." Those amber eyes locked onto mine. "I need to know: are you going to save the world, Ethan Cross? Or just watch it burn slower?"
[HOOK: Kiera challenges Ethan immediately, establishes her as ideological wildcard]
Commander Thorne's voice crackled through the intercom speaker. "Cut the philosophy, Navarro. You've got ten minutes to deliver actionable intelligence or you're going back to holding."
Kiera leaned back, chains clinking. "Your commander is suka. No vision."
"Answer the question," I said quietly. "Why did you turn on Helix?"
Her grin faded. Something darker flickered across her face—old pain, buried deep.
"Because they lied," she said simply. "Told me we were building defense systems. Super-soldiers to fight Verdant incursions. Save humanity, yes? Noble work." She spat the last words like venom.
"But?"
"But I saw the labs. The real labs, not tourist-friendly bullshit. Rows and rows of tanks. Children. Cloned, modified, grown like crops. Some with plant tissue grafted into their spines. Some with fungal infections eating them from inside while scientists took notes."
Her voice cracked. Just for a second. Then the armor slammed back down.
"They were screaming, derevo. In the tanks. Drowning in nutrient fluid and screaming."
[EMOTIONAL REVEAL: Kiera's motivation—witnessed atrocity, broke contract, became fugitive]
Dr. Sato's voice came through my earpiece (she was monitoring from the observation room): "Ethan, her biometrics show she's telling the truth. Heart rate elevated but consistent with genuine emotional distress, not deception."
I believed her anyway. You can't fake that kind of haunted look.
"So you stole data," I said. "Sabotaged the program. Went rogue."
"Went human," Kiera corrected. "For first time in ten years."
"And now you're here because...?"
She leaned forward, chains taut, amber eyes burning. "Because you are making the same mistake, derevo. Creating life to fight war. Using children—yes, I know your Primordials think, feel, love you—as weapons."
"They're not weapons—"
"EVERYTHING IS WEAPON!" She slammed her cuffed hands on the table. The sound echoed like a gunshot. "You think Helix created clones for peace? You think your government funds you for charity? No. They want army. Controllable, expendable, effective."
Mira's hand went to her sidearm. "That's enough."
But I raised a hand. "Let her finish."
Kiera's breathing was ragged. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter. Broken.
"I had sister. Younger. Died in Moscow incursion, swallowed by Verdant bloom. I couldn't save her." She looked down at her scarred hands. "So I became soldier. Mercenary. Told myself: next time, I'll be strong enough. Fast enough. Enough."
A bitter laugh.
"But there is never enough, derevo. Only more death. More weapons. More children screaming in tanks."
[BACKSTORY: Establishes Kiera as tragic warrior, parallels Ethan's self-sacrifice]
Vivienne Hale entered the room.
I hadn't even heard the door open. The ethicist moved quietly, grey eyes sweeping the space, landing on Kiera with that same analytical intensity.
"Ms. Navarro," Vivienne said, voice calm, "you're arguing that Mr. Cross should stop creating Primordials because they'll inevitably be weaponized."
"Da."
"But if he stops, Helix Dynamics continues unchecked. Hostile nations continue developing Verdant bioweapons. The crisis escalates." Vivienne sat in the chair beside me, hands folded. "So what's your alternative?"
Kiera stared at her. Then at me. Then she smiled—not a grin this time, but something genuine. Sad.
"No alternative, professor. Only choosing which tragedy you can live with."
Vivienne didn't flinch. "Then why tell us this? Why risk imprisonment to deliver a warning you know we can't act on?"
"Because," Kiera said, looking directly at me, "he deserves to know the cost. Before he pays it."
[PHILOSOPHY CLASH: Kiera (fatalistic warrior) vs. Vivienne (ethical realist), both care about Ethan]
I stood. The translator crackled as I spoke.
"You're right. They'll weaponize the Primordials. They'll use me until I'm dead, then try to control what I leave behind." I placed both bark-plated hands on the table, leaned close enough to see the flecks of gold in her amber eyes. "But if I don't create them, millions die. Cities fall. The Verdant Tide doesn't negotiate."
"So you choose slow tragedy over fast one," Kiera said softly. "Martyr's math."
"No. I choose hope that someone will prove you wrong."
Her eyes widened. Just a fraction.
"Mira," I said without turning. "Unlock her cuffs."
"What?" Mira and Thorne spoke in unison (him through the intercom).
"She came here to warn me. To give us Helix intel. She's not a threat—she's an asset." I held Kiera's gaze. "And she's going to help me make sure the Primordials don't become what she fears."
Commander Thorne was yelling through the speaker, but I ignored him.
Mira hesitated. Then sighed. "You're going to get me court-martialed."
"Probably."
She unlocked the cuffs.
Kiera rubbed her wrists, staring at me like I'd just sprouted a second head (wouldn't be the weirdest thing about me). "You are insane, derevo."
"Frequently," I agreed. "Now tell me everything about Helix's cloning program. And then..." I extended a wooden hand. "Help me build something better."
She looked at my hand. At Vivienne (who was watching with fascination). At Mira (who looked resigned). At the observation window where Dr. Sato was probably panicking.
Then Kiera Navarro, mercenary, killer, broken warrior, took my hand.
Her grip was iron.
"Okay, tree-man. I help. But if you become monster..." She squeezed harder. "I put you down myself. Deal?"
"Deal."
[RECRUITMENT: Kiera joins team, brings combat expertise + moral compass, becomes Ethan's "dark mirror"]
Dr. Sato's voice in my earpiece: "Ethan, what the hell are you doing?"
Gambling, I thought. Again.
Vivienne stood, offered Kiera a small smile. "Welcome to the ethics nightmare, Ms. Navarro. I'll get you a notebook."
Kiera barked a laugh—rough, surprised, real. "I like you, professor."
Mira holstered her weapon, shook her head. "I'm putting in for hazard pay."
As we left the detention wing, Kiera walked beside me, now wearing a visitor badge instead of cuffs. She moved like a panther—all coiled grace and barely restrained violence.
"Question, derevo," she said casually. "Your... Primordials. They know you're dying for them?"
"Yes."
"And they let you?"
"They don't have a choice. I do."
She was quiet for a long moment. Then: "You remind me of my sister. Stubborn idealist. Got her killed."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Be alive." She stopped walking, turned to face me. Up close, she smelled like gun oil and something floral—wildflowers, maybe. A contradiction. "You have people who care if you live. Use that. Let them help."
Her amber eyes flicked to Mira (who'd gone ahead to clear our path). "Especially that one. She'd burn world for you."
"We're not—"
"Not yet," Kiera said, grinning that sharp grin. "But war makes strange lovers, da?"
[SHIPPING TEASE: Kiera as relationship catalyst, notices Mira's feelings before Ethan does]
Back in the greenhouse, the five Primordials gathered around Kiera like curious hounds.
Thorn loomed protectively. Ember flickered with cautious interest. Whisper hid in the shadows, observing. Renewal's four heads swayed hypnotically. Glacier radiated cold suspicion.
Kiera froze. "Blyat... they're beautiful."
Father? Thorn's thought-voice rumbled. This human smells of gunpowder and old grief. Friend or threat?
Friend, I sent. She's going to help us.
Kiera knelt slowly, extended a hand. Ember crept forward, sniffed, then nuzzled her palm. The mercenary's eyes glistened.
"My sister would have loved this," she whispered. Then louder, voice steady: "Okay, derevo. Show me how you make miracles. I'll make sure they survive what comes next."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
NEW ALLY ACQUIRED: KIERA NAVARRO
STATS:
Role: Combat Specialist / Infiltration Expert / Ethical CounterweightSkills: CQC (Master), Weapons (Expert), Tactical Analysis (Advanced), Guilt Management (Poor)Loyalty: Conditional (will betray if Ethan becomes threat)Personality: Cynical, protective, haunted by past, secretly hopeful
RELATIONSHIP UPDATES:
Ethan Cross: Wary Respect → Unlikely Alliance (Trust Lv.2)Mira Chen: Professional Rivalry Detected (Both protective of Ethan)Vivienne Hale: Philosophical Kinship (Both question the work while supporting it)Dr. Sato: Medical Concern (Kiera's PTSD noted)
INTEL UNLOCKED:
Helix Cloning Program: 47 viable clones created, 12 survived integrationEnemy Primordial Estimates: 3-5 hostile entities confirmed in Chinese/Russian programsTimeline: Helix plans major offensive in 60 days
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:"Strange Bedfellows"
BONUS: +150 LE (Kiera's combat knowledge improves Network defense efficiency)
WARNING: Kiera's presence may attract Helix retaliation. Recommend increased security protocols.