Chapter 5

Aria’s pov

Panels dropped from the ceiling, as cables sparked, emergency lights bathed the chamber in bright red.

I might have been the best in my time but things had gotten really difficult.

Back then, we were just asked oral questions and given small tasks.

Now, we’re jumping panels and drifting in mid-air.

I moved as fast as I could, climbing up to the upper console while Adrian worked below.

Or tried to.

He was watching me more than his tablet screen.

“Focus on your own task,” I snapped.

“You’re doing it incorrectly,” he countered.

“No, I’m just doing it differently.”

“Differently doesn’t mean effectively….”

I shut him up by throwing the emergency tool at him.

It bounced against his chest plate.

He stared at it….then at me.

I arched my brow. “You either do the lower valves or get out of my way.”

He stood there for a few seconds, eyeing me like he was trying to eat my soul.

Then….

He moved.

He actually listened.

I scoffed in disbelief.

We worked…well-ish, fought our way through the next three failures.

I corrected three of his inputs along the way.

He corrected only one of mine.

We didn’t say thank you.

We didn’t need to.

We finally made it through the simulation, but barely.

Just then the system announced:

*“Evaluation complete. Candidate compatibility …..sco…score: 87%*”

Adrain froze.

I tried not to smirk.

Tried. But I failed.

“Eighty-seven?” He repeated, sounding offended.

I stepped past him, closer than necessary, brushing his shoulder.

“Seems like we work well together….sir.”

His jaw clenched.

Hard.

For the first time since I met him last night, he had no comeback.

And God, that was better than any simulation victory.

He let out a breath of a laugh.

“What’s so good about this? Huh?”

My smile faded.

“Eighty-seven percent?” He scoffed.

“Do you know how many candidates come back successful with an eighty-seven percent compatibility score?”

I was quiet, because I honestly didn’t know.

“Exactly!” He yelled. “None!”

“Eighty-seven percent is above the requirement for mission success," I countered.

“Eighty-seven percent is….”

“Not a hundred,” he interrupted me. “it’s not even a ninety.” He shook his head in disappointment.

“I didn’t even need to do much to prove you’re not fit for this.”

He walked over to the comms. “Jonah,” he called out.

“This isn’t what I was promised, I was promised the best, and eighty-seven perfect is fucking ridiculous.” He spat.

He turned to stare at me then, “I’m not working with someone who isn’t compatible with me. I mean Jerry and I were ninety-three percent compatible. And even that wasn’t enough for me.”

“Adrian, she’s the best…” Jonah tried to defend me.

“I don’t care!” He cut Jonah off harshly.

“She’s old, slow, doesn’t follow rules, emotional, and unfortunately for her, a woman. Bring Jerry back.”

My eyes went wide.

So, this was it? This was how close I got to the stars again?

So all the decisions I made were for nothing?

My blood began to boil.

“No!” I yelled.

He didn’t even flinch or lift his head from the tablet he was staring at.

“You don’t get to decide my life, you don’t get to choose if I’m compatible with you or not! We work by rules and systems, and if the system says we’re compatible. Then we fucking are!”

“What do you know about rules and systems?” He began, but he still didn’t look up.

“You disappeared when you were at the peak of your career, you abandoned tasks and goals ... .just like that. And now you reappear talking about rules and systems?” He scoffs.

“Save the bullshit for the rejection aisle.”

My jaw clenched.

I’m tired of men trying to fit me in a box, of them trying to measure my worth and use me at their convenience.

I let a man decide my life before….but I won’t do that again.

I stepped forward.

I wanted to hit him, like actually hit him.

I lifted my hand before I even realized I’d done it, ready to smack that irritating confidence off his face.

But he moved faster.

He grabbed my wrist mid-air, fingers wrapping around my skin with startling precision.

And then he pulled….just enough to throw me off balance.

I stumbled forward and suddenly we were chest to chest, breaths mingling.

I could feel how fast both our heartbeats were, like a voltage line.

His voice dropped lower.

“If you’re going to hit me,” he murmured, “aim properly next time.”

Jonah spoke through the intercom, breaking the tension.

“There was a system malfunction, apparently someone damaged an override switch.”

I winced, remembering how I had smashed the machine.

“The evaluation candidate compatibility score was incorrect…..”

I stopped breathing.

“It’s a ninety-eight percent, not an eighty-seven.”

I gasped.

“Congratulations Dr. Adrian Carter, you’re set for ‘mission Alohas’, see you at the briefing.”

The intercom went static and so did the anger in me.

It was only then did I realize I was still in Adrian’s arms.

I should have pushed him away immediately.

But instead, I froze.

His grip tightened, not painfully though, just firmly enough to remind me he was stronger than he looked.

He stared straight into my eyes, looking at me like he had just seen a ghost.

I didn’t care, and I didn’t want to be in the same space as him anymore.

I swallowed. “Let go.”

He did…but slowly. His fingers left my skin, leaving static lines on them.

I stepped back, pulse racing aggressively.

I brushed off invincible dust from my clothes.

“See you at the briefing…Adrian Vega.”

And with that I walked past him without much of a second glance.

For some reason, the spot where his hands had just held my skin kept on burning no matter how much I rubbed on it.

This man was going to ruin my life.

But I wasn’t going to give another man an opportunity to try.