Zoran’s Chosen: Epilogue Read online

  My eyes narrow as my shoulders square up. “I can,” I say. “I will.”

  “Good luck, baby. I love you, no matter what. You know that, right?”

  “I do, Ri, I do. Let’s do it.”

  Our energies mingle, and the next moment I feel time slow down to a crawl. I close my eyes and focus on the person in front of me, I try to reach out and feel their thoughts, looking for a connection with the mountain of technology in front of me.

  And then, I’m in.

  I race through the wires, my mind just an electron making its way through the many winding circuits… heading straight towards the mainframe where Siya Onyx stores her consciousness. She notices my intrusion, and turns all of her terrible attention to me.

  “YOU.”

  “Yes, me,” I say. “Nice to finally meet you.”

  “YOU WILL DIE.”

  “No,” I answer defiantly. “You have pushed us long enough. You have poured every credit you have into taking us all down. And for what? Why do you hate us so?”

  “YOU STAND IN MY WAY.”

  The face that I see in cyberspace is horrible, a mangled, twisted figure.

  “Show me the real you,” I say. “The Siya you once were. Not this twisted monstrosity.”

  “ENOUGH!”

  Siya assaults every one of my senses. I drop to my knees, the pain overwhelming me. Horrible images are sent straight to my brain.

  “SEE! YOUR FRIENDS ARE DYING. YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST. SURRENDER.”

  I see it all.

  Anaya and Theros, riddled with bullets. Leah and Davor, ripped apart by the very animals they tried to control. Caia and Leto, smothered by the clones that swarmed them.

  And then I see Rinor, tentacles perforating his body, blood dripping down onto the floor, his face contorted in pain and anguish.

  No.

  It’s an illusion!

  She’s just trying to trick me, to drive me insane. Instead, I focus on happy thoughts, on the pure things that I have seen. I remember waking up next to Rinor, how we made breakfast together, the smell of waffles, the taste of coffee on his lips, the feel of his arms snaking around my body and keeping me warm. I remember the fun we had on the ship, despite the importance of our mission. I remember chatting with the girls, laughing at Caia’s jokes, admiring Leah’s cooking, being wowed by Anaya’s dancing skills. I remember the men playing cards, their low laughs making my belly flutter.

  It all fills me with energy, with love, with hope, and I use that to drive the bad thoughts away. I’m Takara King, Warrior Princess! Grand Champion of the Titan Games! It takes more than a few nightmares to stop me.

  A blast of pure, concentrated love forces the bad images to fade away into nothingness. When I open my eyes again, the room has turned white. And where the horrible, evil face of Siya stood, there is now a little girl. I must have penetrated deep into Siya Onyx’s mind, bypassing all of her defenses.

  “Hello,” she says. “Do you know where daddy is?”

  “I don’t, little girl,” I answer. “Are you Siya by any chance?”

  She nods. “My brother calls me Si.”

  I kneel down next to her, and just looking at this innocent little angel tugs at my heartstrings. How can that evil monster contain this little girl?

  “Well, Si, do you know what’s going on outside?” I ask.

  The girl bites her bottom lip. “I think I’ve been bad.”

  “And why do you think that is?”

  A tear rolls down her cheek. “I just wanted to make daddy proud. He’s always working, always away, I just wanted him to notice me, so I did all I could, I even got the surgeries he insisted on, the chips, the wires, the… they hurt… they… changed…”

  I grab the girl and hug her tightly. Even though she’s the mastermind behind all we’ve fought against, even though it’s my job to take her down, the little girl inside of her still deserves a hug.

  “I’m very happy to see there’s still a nugget of humanity left in you, deep inside,” I say, as I poke her tummy. “I still think you can do the right thing. It’s not too late.”

  Her eyes sparkle. “It’s not? What do I do?”

  “You just have to concentrate really hard, and push back against the darkness and the wires.”

  “It’s so hard though,” she says. “The darkness, it’s… strong.”

  “I know. I didn’t say it was going to be easy. But I’m absolutely sure you’ve got what it takes. How about this: I hold your hand and we fight the darkness together. Sounds good?”

  She grabs my hand and nods. “Yes. Let’s do it, miss!”

  “Please, call me Takara,” I say with a wink. “Let’s go!”

  The little girl frowns as hard as she can, as the darkness approaches with the intensity of a coming freight train. There’s wires and mechanical tentacles in the thick, dark clouds, and I brace myself.

  “I’m scared!” She cries.

  “I am too,” I answer. “But we can do this! We can do this! We can—”

  The darkness takes me and knocks me off my feet.

  When I open my eyes again, I see Rinor. The real Rinor. Alive and breathing.

  “Are you okay?” he asks as he strokes my cheek. “You were out for a long time.”

  “I think I’m fine.” I prop myself up and look up at Siya Onyx. My stomach is up in knots as I wait for something, anything to happen. Did I succeed… or did I fail? If I didn’t get through to her, if that little girl wasn’t able to resist the dark clouds… then all is lost. All the Chosen will surely die. The nightmares I’ve seen will become a reality.

  The mangled body in the tank jerks and moves, its head turning to me. My heart flutters, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I grab hold of Rinor, my palms sweaty.

  “TH…ANK… Y…OU… TA…KA…RA…”

  Her head falls to the side, slack. A silence fills the room. The machines are no longer whirring, their disks no longer spinning, their fans no longer cooling.

  “What happened?!” Rinor says. “Did it, did it work?!”

  “I think… it did,” I say, cautiously optimistic. “I think it did! I met Siya, the real Siya, before life turned her into… whatever that is. And together we pulled it off. Somehow.”

  Rinor shakes his gorgeous head. “Hard to believe that there is still a person locked in there. Or was.”

  “Nobody is born like that,” I say. “Something transformed her. Corrupted her. It might have been her own ambition, her longing, her upbringing — a mixture of all, probably. In the end, that little girl resisted, and won. That’s all that matters to me.”

  Rinor helps me to my feet and kisses me deeply. I answer his kiss, letting all of my stress fade away. Ever since we joined the Chosen, I’ve barely been able to live, to plan a future together. This suicide mission created a fog, a darkness that we couldn’t see past.

  And now it’s been lifted. We’ve survived.

  And the rest of our life awaits.

  Epilogue

  Rinor

  “Champagne for everyone!”

  Anaya is in the best mood I’ve ever seen as she pours us all a glass.

  “Not for me,” Leah says, pointing at her tummy. Anaya slaps her own forehead. “Of course!”

  We did it. Against all odds, us four couples managed to defy SINTRA itself, the most powerful megacorps in the universe, and save New Exon. Anaya and Theros, Leah and Davor, Caia and Leto — they’re all unharmed. A few scrapes and bruises, sure, but nothing more. The moment Takara convinced Siya to shut down her operations, the entirety of SINTRA Corp. shut down. All their soldiers simply froze.

  And now, it’s time for a celebration.

  “I’m so damn proud of you,” Theros says, the cuhla making him slur his words. Us Zorans already dipped into our celebratory-booze stash a little bit. “You’re the best damn crew I’ve ever served with.”

  “It was all on you,” I say. “Without your leadership, none of us would have been here.”

  �
��Oh, shut up, Rinor,” he says, slapping me on the shoulder. “Give me a hug, you red giant.”

  We party throughout the night, as the ship starjumps towards New Exon. With the SINTRA threat eradicated, we no longer have to fly in stealth mode.

  And once we arrive, we’re in for another, breathtaking surprise.

  “Would you look at that,” Takara says as she grabs my hand. “Is that…”

  “The Rift,” I say, with a nod. “It has stabilized.”

  The colorful vortex is hanging still in the dark sky above our Zoran planet. Through the portal, countless galaxies and planets can be seen. The last few times I’ve been blessed with this sight, the image was blurry, the portal unstable. Now, it’s as still as can be, an open invitation to a new world.

  “The Mating Star,” Davor gasps, pointing at one exceptionally bright star, just beyond the Rift. “It’s here!”

  We lock arms, four couples with an unbreakable bond as we watch the amazing colors up in the sky.

  There’s a whole new universe for our people to explore…

  The end! I hope you liked this extended epilogue. :)

  Warmest regards,

  Luna

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