Seconds stretched, became minutes… or hours.She couldn't tell anymore.Time had stopped meaning anything.
And then, just as quickly as it started, it was over.
The cold remained, but the pain faded to a dull, throbbing ache that pulsed in time with her heartbeat.She gasped, her lungs burning as she dragged in air.Sweat soaked her hair, plastered her shirt to her back.
Everything felt different.
Something hummed beneath her skin.A low, constant vibration that hadn't been there before.She looked down at her arms, and her breath caught.
Her veins were visible beneath her skin.Dark.Too dark.Like ink had been injected into her bloodstream, spreading and mapping her circulatory system in black lines.
Thraevan checked a readout on his interface.Nodded once.
"It is done."He stepped back from the table, his robes whispering across the floor."She is sanctified."
Korrait moved into her line of sight and looked down at her with something close to reverence."How do you feel?"
She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself.She wanted to scream.She wanted to spit in his face and claw his eyes out and make himhurtthe way she was hurting.
Instead, all she could do was whisper, "What did you do to me?"
He smiled.
"We saved our people."
Pulling a small stool from the side of the room, he sat beside the table.
"The serum is harmless," he began."To you, to humans, and even to most Lathar.You'll feel the cold for a while, and the discomfort will fade.In a few days, you won't even remember it was there."
She stared at him.
"But to anyone carrying K'Saan blood…" His expression shifted.Tightened."To the K'Saan bloodline, you are now lethal."
Her mind went blank.
"You don't need to touch them," he carried on."You just need to be near them.The serum reacts to their genetic markers, triggering failures at the cellular level.It's quick, irreversible, and incredibly painful."
She couldn't breathe.
"You're not a hostage, Emily."He leaned forward, his orange eyes bright with conviction."You werenevera hostage.You're a gift.The Lathar have been polluting themselves for generations, weakening the bloodline, and the K'Saan are the heart of that rot.Remove it, and the Empire can finally heal."
The restraints bit into her wrists as her hands curled into fists.
"We're going to send you home," Korrait said gently."Back to Devan Station.Back to your quarters.And when you walk through the door, and the Emperor welcomes you back…" He spread his hands."The problem solves itself."
"You're insane," she breathed."Absolutely, madder than a box of frogs, insane."
Then the facilityshuddered.
The ceiling cracked, and dust rained down over them in fine grey powder.The overhead lights flickered.Somewhere outside the room, an alarm shrieked in a high, piercing wail that set her teeth on edge.
Korrait's head snapped toward the door."Report," he snapped.
Thraevan's robes billowed as he crossed to a wall panel and pulled up a tactical display.
"They found us."His voice was still flat, but there was an edge to it now.
There was another explosion, closer this time.The table shook beneath her, and the restraints rattled.
