Chapter 4

A month later, I could finally get out of bed and walk, though just barely.

Eve had sent me the best neural repair fluid available. Without it, I'd still be stuck in bed.

Sienna visited me only once, on the first day. After that, she said Ryan needed counseling and never came back.

Then one day, she finally showed up with two marriage registration forms.

"Let's go, Kane. I said I'd make it up to you."

City Hall stood at the highest point on the base, atop a long flight of stairs.

I made my way up slowly. Each step sent pain shooting through my damaged nerves.

Sienna kept looking back at me impatiently. "Can you hurry up? Ryan's waiting for me to run simulations with him."

I said nothing and kept climbing.

By the time we finally reached the doors, I was exhausted.

Just as we were about to go inside, Sienna's military comm started shrieking.

Ryan's panicked voice came through. "Sienna! Help! My mecha's cockpit is on fire! Save me!"

Sienna went pale. She shoved the forms into my arms so hard that I nearly lost my balance on the steps.

"Something's happened to Ryan. I have to go!"

She turned and ran off without even apologizing.

I stayed where I was, the forms fluttering in the wind.

That was her last chance.

Captain, my debt to you is paid.

A hand reached over and took the forms from me.

I turned. It was Eve.

She looked them over, scoffed, and tossed them into a trash can.

"Cockpit fire?" Eve pulled out her personal terminal and brought up a virtual screen.

Ryan was sitting in the training area's break room with an iced drink in one hand and a miniature smoke generator in the other. He was screaming for help into his comm.

"He never even got inside a mecha. How could there be a cockpit fire?" Eve closed the screen and looked at me. "Kane, how much longer are you going to let them make a fool of you?"

"I'm done."

Eve's eyes lit up. She pulled out another registration form. Her signature was already at the bottom.

"Sign this, and you'll be married to the governor of Base Seven." She held out a pen and looked straight at me.

I took it and signed without hesitation.

"Good." Eve folded the registration document and put it away, looking satisfied. "I've already had your belongings moved from the barracks to the governor's residence. From now on, you and Sienna have nothing to do with each other."

I nodded and left in Eve's hover car.

As we drove away, I spotted Sienna's adjutant rushing toward City Hall.

She was probably looking for me.

It didn't matter anymore.

Three days after I moved into the governor's residence, preparations were underway for the base's annual commendation ceremony.

Eve had assigned the best medical team to oversee my recovery. I was healing far faster than expected.

"Your neural net is unusual. It rebuilt itself after the damage and is now even stronger than before." The chief medical officer stared at my results in amazement.

I sat by the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows in the residence, watching the workers outside.

They were preparing for a wedding.

Eve never did anything halfway. She planned to announce our marriage to the entire base during the ceremony and hold the grandest wedding the base had ever seen—all on the same day.

My terminal buzzed.

A message from Sienna.

"Kane, I'm sorry about that day. Ryan just missed me and played a prank. I already told him off."

"I heard you moved out of the barracks. You're preparing for our wedding, aren't you? You don't have to go to all this trouble. Just having you there is enough for me."

"Come to the ceremony tomorrow. I have a surprise for you."

I read the messages and realized I couldn't even bring myself to be angry.

Sienna had always been like this. All she had to do was beckon, and she expected me to come running back like a dog begging for scraps.

I turned off the terminal without replying.