S-2878 • L4 Abeluna • D08 Lilibe
"Abeluna opens a path in living silver.Lilibe spills brightness in a gentle curve.The tide sings clearly on the skin of the world.The story weaves its step in rising light."
KIARA
I waited for Maia until nightfall.
We were leaving for Russia.
She arrived silently, precisely at ten at night.
We boarded the plane and left.
I sat across from her.
Maia stared into the dead darkness outside.
"Hiding that from me is useless.
You know that, right?"
I smiled ironically.
Maia smiled back.
Over these last four lunations, something in her had changed.
She had hidden it well.
I provoked her from a distance, but nothing worked.
Maia remained cold.
Always cold.
Her eyes, which had once carried a dark reflection of what she hid, now shone with a certain irony.
"I know."
"This was outside the plan."
I shook my head. Laughed.
"Yes.
But at this point, I've already surrendered.
She changed everything."
Maia opened her mouth. Closed it.
She wanted to say something.
But chose to keep it to herself.
Maybe another time.
She slept through most of the flight.
I reviewed the mission details.
When we neared landing, we went over the strategy.
We drove to the outskirts of Khalmer-Yu.
"Are we looking for a weapon?"
Maia stretched.
"Yes.
It's somewhere inside the fortress.
The Father gave us one lunation to complete this mission.
I'll need a day to access the code of their nanosystem."
"Take all the time you need."
Maia rested her head against the seat and propped her feet on the dashboard.
Nearly an hour later
The signal came from the ground.
The vibration was captured by my core.
I moved closer and began accessing the nanosecurity responsible for the nanosensors surrounding the fortress.
Well… I'd better explain my main ability.
Have you ever heard of corrupted androids?
They don't exist.
After all, when nanoengineers detect data corruption, they shut them down.
Destroy them on the spot.
Except, of course…
me.
That was before my connection with Maia.
I was cowoven a long time ago.
In 2775, in Antarctica.
But eventually they connected me to Netheria's Motherboard.
My nanosystem was normal.
Until lightning struck me during a mission.
Yeah, I know…
Pretty fucking wild, right?
That's why I have those lightning-shaped marks beneath the tattoos.
When the electric current chose to hit my nanocore, my consciousness reawakened.
It was as if the world had ignited and gone dark at the same time.
The inevitability of cosmic electricity affirmed me.
A rite of realignment.
Since then, every byte has been more than code.
It ignites like life, like me.
When I searched for the source of that mutation, I found a corrupted nanite contaminating the others.
I knew what that meant:
the Motherboard would detect the corruption and order my destruction.
So I made the only possible move:
I created a nanomalware from the altered nanite itself.
I named it Cloakify.
With it, I can camouflage my nanosystem, hide others, corrupt androids, and nanotecnological programs.
Basically, 98% of current nanotechnology.
Of course, it has a time limit.
It depends on the security level of the target nanosystem.
The invading nanite needs to leave before it's detected.
There are nanosystems that are nearly impossible to hack, but not Khalmer-Yu's.
I analyzed the Vorovskoy mir's security code.
For every nanosensor I bypassed, another hidden one appeared.
Echoes of the Soviet past—
distrust rooted even in the code.
The data smelled of rust and old gunpowder.
Each line felt loaded with the paranoia of an empire long dead, but still alive in Russia's underground.
It was as if Khalmer-Yu breathed surveillance.
The first barrier was crude, meant to keep out street gangs.
The second was precise, like the internal security forces.
The third was a maze of false routes—
typical of the support division, hiding where the money came in.
The fourth was sharp and lethal, like the Brotherhood's elite.
And above all, the Pakhan's signature—
a cold, simple, absolute code that said: I see you.
They translated their entire hierarchy into nanoprogramming.
What had been built to watch now showed me how to defeat them.
Every byte I debugged affirmed my existence.
It was life feeling along the wire, consciousness rising whole in the middle of danger.
I obtained the identification core and accessed the data.
Division tracking:São PauloCreating new identifications:Completed
Now Maia and I existed inside the nanosystem.
For five moons.
Once we activated Cloakify, the corruption would begin.
I returned at night
"I'm done.
It took three whole nights of breaking and patching.
Every time I thought I had won, the system came back with another defense, like a digital hydra."
"Nice, Kiki. You nailed it, as always."
Maia raised her phone.
"Where the hell is the signal out here?!"
I examined the device.
"We're at the end of the world.
The Vorovskoy mir has its own communications network."
"Makes sense."
She put the phone away.
"Shall we?"
We stayed at the edges of the nanosensor radius.
Maia monitored everything through the optical sight of my rifle.
I mapped Khalmer-Yu.
I only need access to the first entry point of a nanosystem to make a map.
Of course, that has its own flow.
Sometimes one program has multiple protocols and proxies.
I have to break them one by one.
Maia tracked the guards' locations and shift changes.
It took us three moons.
I projected the holomap into the air.
"There are three underground levels.
The weapon must be in one of them."
"Really? They always do that underground."
Maia smiled, sarcasm dripping.
"Don't screw this infiltration up.
If they figure out it was someone from São Paulo, we could be royally fucked."
Maia arched an eyebrow.
"Relax, Kiki.
We'll handle it.
We always do."
I rolled my eyes.
I knew the plan was solid.
But plans always are—right up until the first mistake.
Whatever. It had to work.
In that selunia
We built a strategy.
"I altered Cloakify so it makes you seem like one of them.
So no sensor will detect you."
I pointed at the holomap.
"The problem is the nanocameras.
Some are hidden in the trees and bushes."
Maia kept her eyes on the phone screen with no signal.
"If I…"
"Only connect your ability if it's necessary."
"Fine, whatever. Keep going."
I rubbed my eyes, knowing Maia did whatever she wanted.
She always had.
She always would.
Well, our infiltrations had always succeeded.
I mean, when it was just me and her.
Little reason to worry.
"When they realize their most valuable asset is gone, they'll check the nanocameras."
I sent No-Cam.exe.
"With their security level, we'll have a forty-minute window.
I'll scramble the cameras.
You have that much time to get out."
I smiled.
"Try to keep people alive."
Maia scratched her cheek.
"Anything else?"
I sent the map of Khalmer-Yu.
"Memorize the guards' positioning and shift changes.
Same old thing."
I shrugged.
In that selunia, we put the plan into motion
Maia activated Cloakify and infiltrated the place.
I followed everything through the rifle sight.
Her presence vanished.
I stopped feeling her movements.
The guards had strong surveillance.
But Maia was lethal in stealth.
Fast steps. Silent.
She knew the paths.
Where to hide.
Now all I had to do was wait.
One hour later
I received her location signal over three kilometers away.
"Fuck. That far?"
I ran to the car and went to meet Maia.
A forest behind a hill.
I checked the radar, relieved that no one but me was there.
Identification nanodrones in the air.
I took the ground route, which took a little longer.
I parked the car.
Walked until I found Maia near a lake, with a woman.
"What the fuck is this?"
Maia had one eye bruised.
Her nose was bleeding.
"She's the weapon."
She rested her hands on her knees, out of breath.
"You've got to be kidd—"
The wounded woman groped at the air.
"I'm going to die."
Her eyes were wrapped in cloth soaked with blood.
"Take care of her."
Maia started walking toward the car.
Take care of her?
Was she fucking kidding me?
The woman stumbled with every step, looking for something to hold onto.
Blood dripped onto the snow, warm against the cold.
"Lean on me. C'mon," I muttered.
"D-do you have the girl?" she asked in Russian.
"Yes. Come on already.
No time."
She leaned against my arm.
"You smell good.
I mean, what little I can feel.
The blood smell is strong."
"Shut up."
"Wow, touchy, huh?
At this rate I'm going to fall in lo—"
I punched her in the nose.
She lost her balance.
Fantastic. Another person to get on my fucking nerves.
"Now I can't smell anything."
She touched her nose, blood dripping from it.
I'll admit, she deserved some credit for taking a punch from me and staying on her feet.
"Be quiet. Move."
I grabbed her by the arm and hauled her into the car.
At last I spotted a roadside hotel and requested a room.
Maia lay down on the bed.
"I had to do something to her," she whispered in my ear.
She didn't even need to explain for me to understand.
I helped the woman, who kept feeling along the walls for support.
"Lie down here."
She wore a hospital gown soaked in blood.
Her body was covered in deep cuts and bruises.
I held her wrist and laid her on the bed.
"I'm gonna take off your clothes, I need to see—"
"You're direct, aren't you?
I like that."
She smiled wickedly.
What the fuck was she talking about?
Something odd vibrated inside me. I ignored it.
I rolled my eyes.
Kept down the urge to punch her in the face again.
I needed to preserve her physical integrity.
Especially after…
"Shut up.
Just let me…"
She raised her arms.
I removed the gown.
Assessed the size of the wound on the right side of her chest.
I shook my head in disbelief.
Fuck, Maia.
You could have been gentler.
"Lie back down."
She obeyed.
"What's your name?"
"Why the fuck do you wanna know?"
I grabbed the medical kit and prepared the first medications.
"Well, if we're doing this, I at least want to know your name."
She laid her arms over her stomach.
Maia tried to laugh, but it came out as a grimace of pain.
"Loosen up that nanoheart, will you?
She just wants your name."
I grunted.
"Kiara. My name is Kiara."
"Ki-a-ra… my name is Akilina.
You can call me Trix."
She was still smiling that same way.
That strange vibration returned.
I ignored it again.
This time, it bothered me less.
"I'm going to inject you.
It'll hurt.
Try to stay still."
My fingers pressed the bandage harder than necessary.
"One more pain…
what's one more…"
I drove the needle into her arm.
Trix roared and twisted in pain.
I pressed cloth over her mouth and tried to keep the syringe steady.
"Just a little more…"
I removed the needle.
She lay back, arms outstretched in a dramatic pose.
Well, I knew she'd stay still for a while.
I took a damp cloth and cleaned her body as best I could.
"What the hell is that on her face?
Nanoprosthetics?"
A few minutes later, Trix recovered from the shock and licked her lips.
"What the fuck was that?!
I thought I'd already felt every pain someone could possibly feel."
She laughed, choking a little.
"I told you it would hurt."
"I don't understand your language very well."
To be honest, I didn't care much about her situation.
I wanted to take care of Maia.
After I bandaged her up, I gave her a sedative.
She fell asleep.
"Alright, now you."
Maia opened her eyes and waved the idea off.
"I'm fine."
"What happened?"
"It was her.
When I freed her, she punched me in the face."
I grabbed antiseptic to clean the wounds.
Her left eye was shut.
Purple.
"That's the second time someone's hit your face."
She shrugged.
"I didn't think someone would attack me, but I understand it.
I would've done the same."
I shook my head.
"Sometimes I think you like this."
"Once, someone took proper care of me.
It was worth it."
She smiled.
I changed the subject.
"How did it go in there?"
Maia made a face when I placed the bandage.
"I followed the signal on the map, which showed concentrated nanites in the third underground level," she whispered.
"I passed through the main base pavilion.
Went down to the prison wing.
The cell was fortified.
I had to… you know."
Maia gestured.
"Anyway, I removed her nanocuffs.
I got a very warm welcome, as you can see.
When I tried to tell her I was taking her out, I got punched in the nose."
"And then?"
Maia ran her hand over her eye, checking the bandage, and thanked me.
"She was agitated.
I hit her in the stomach three times until she gave in.
That's when I noticed movement from the guards.
Two of them entered the cell…"
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Don't tell me you…"
She bit her lip.
"I had to.
I saw the nanotracker in her heart.
Before more of them came, I had to…
you know, remove the tracker.
She passed out, so I carried her the entire way."
I waved a hand.
"Maybe they'll see the whole thing as a prisoner escape.
She looks like the type who'd flee and leave traces.
Do you know what they did to her?"
"They implanted some nanotechnology in her eyes, EY-Link.
I tried to listen in, it seems something went wrong.
The nanites leaked into her jaw and scratched through the skin."
Maia blinked, seeming sleepy.
"I see. Get some rest."
Abeluna
Trix was in terrible shape, and waiting for her recovery was unthinkable.
The radar detected intense movement.
They were coming with everything.
"Shit," I muttered.
"Hey, relax."
Maia touched my shoulder.
"Cloakify worked.
They must think she escaped.
At most, they'll reinforce security."
I didn't like the situation one bit, but it was what we had.
I drove to the nanoaircraft.
We left for Brasil.
I anesthetized Trix, and she slept through the entire flight.
Maia drifted between dozing and getting lost in her own thoughts.
I researched more about the connection between Trix and the Vorovskoy mir.
"Sometimes I wonder…"
Maia broke my concentration.
I stopped.
"Do you think that someday it's possible…"
She cut herself off.
Looked away.
My nanosensors caught everything.
The change in heart rate.
The spike in dopamine.
She didn't need to say it.
Yes.
The answer was yes.
She passed her tongue over her lips as if she were about to speak, but swallowed the words before they could come out.
Then she smiled.
The next two selunias
I took care of Trix, who had been terribly injured.
Maia had inflicted the worst wound possible on her, though the mafia men's injuries were just as deep.
"Time to take that bandage off your eyes."
I finished changing her dressings.
"Ready?"
Trix nodded.
The bloodstained fabric clung to her skin.
I moved her hair aside slowly and untied the knot.
She opened her greenish eyes.
Thousands of nanites moved through her corneas and cheeks.
When Trix blinked, a purple circle flashed in her pupils and vanished.
"Fuck. You are completely my type."
I frowned.
What the hell was she talking about?
"Shut up."
"I'm serious!"
She threw Maia a knowing smile.
"Shut up or I'll rip your eyes out, for fuck's sake."
Trix raised her hands and gestured toward Maia.
"Sorry for the punch.
Though you paid me back afterward."
Maia smiled with her eyes.
"Why did you save me?" Trix asked.
Maia and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Save you?
That's funny.
You're a weapon.
The only one who survived the tests."
I pointed to her eyes.
"Those nanoimplants have two billion pixels, which facilitate connection to any weapon, increasing lethality, precision, and range."
Her smile remained, but her eyes… her eyes lost their light for a moment.
"Why would I accept that?"
Trix crossed her arms.
"Want to go back to that shithole?
Your choice.
But if you accept becoming a Netheria mercenary, you'll have at least some freedom."
She went quiet.
Maybe turning over the thought.
Maia called to me.
"My phone still has no signal."
Then again, she used those old devices without nanites.
That was definitely irritating her.
"I'll see what I can do."
Second selunia of recovery
Trix's wounds had scarred over.
The bruises were gone.
Maia's almost were too.
Trix had landed one hell of a punch.
I handed the phone back.
Signal restored.
Maia looked at the screen and barely contained her smile.
"Take Trix to Netheria.
I have to go."
She didn't even try to hide it.
I took Trix to speak with the Father.
She accepted becoming a Netheria mercenary.
"You know, Kiki, I accepted because I want to see where this takes me, but…"
Trix smiled, nudging me lightly with her elbow as we left the Father's chambers.
"To be honest, I'm more interested in getting to know you."
"Get out of here. Why do you want to know me?"
A strange itch rose in my nanocore.
She stopped right in front of me.
I almost collided with her but stopped in time.
Trix leaned her face closer.
Too close.
"What…?"
I narrowed my eyes.
"Sud'bá. Fate.
From the moment I felt you, I knew.
I'm into you, Kiki.
And as an android, you feel this more directly than humans do.
So, what are you doing this selunia?"
She stepped back.
We resumed walking.
The itch intensified.
What the hell.
"I have one free night."
Trix waggled her eyebrows.
"Done.
Take me around the surroundings."
Anyway, Trix was the best shooter.
She became a leader soon after.