I pace up and down the cell. Well, as much as one can pace in a small, cramped space. I count down the seconds. Over two thousand, three hundred and forty five seconds have passed since Leto was escorted away by that creepy synth.

How much longer until my worry will turn into grief?

Don’t think like that, I tell myself. He’ll come back. He promised me that. And Leto is always true to his word.

Even though we just met, it feels like I’ve known him for a lifetime. It’s like the universe is pushing the both of us together.

I never believed in fairy tales, in love at first sight, or in any of that sappy stuff. I thought that was ‘beneath me’. Now I realize just how foolish and arrogant I’ve been all this time. Because my heart is aching, and every second that I spend without Leto by my side, my heart breaks a little bit more.

“Come back,” I whisper to the air. “Come back. I need you by my side. I can’t do this all alone.”

My heart jumps right into my throat when I hear the door groaning in the distance. I strain my neck to see through the bars, praying with every fiber of my being that I see that tall, purple mountain of a man lumbering through the hall.

Yes! A flash of purple in the distance makes my body light up, and despite the fact that we’re locked in a cell I feel happier than ever. When our eyes meet I see a small smile of relief on his chiseled face as well.

The synth unlocks our cell and pushes Leto back in, and I fling my arms around him as tightly as I can.

“I take it you missed me?” He says as he wraps his arms protectively around me.

“You can say that. Where’d you go?”

He rubs my back and kisses the top of my head. “I’d rather not say.”

I glance up at him. “Why? Are we in trouble?”

“More than you know.”

I take a step back and place my hands on my hips. “Whatever we’re in, I want to face this together. I’m not some helpless damsell, you know. I can hold my own. I’m a damn officer!”

His lips pull up into a smirk. “I know,” he says. “I know. I just want to protect you.”

“You’re more than welcome to, but there’s a difference between protecting me and keeping me in the dark like I’m some fragile flower.”

“You are correct.”

“So tell me.”

He sighs deeply and sits down on the ground.

“This ship, its owned by the Wellington Consortium… one branch of SINTRA Corp. The Zukari Flu thing, it’s a front. A fake. They are really interested in gathering essence, harvesting... people.”

“Harvesting people? What?”

He nods, a solemn look on his face that makes the dark pit in my stomach grow bigger and bigger.

“Yes, they are looking for... Rift-activated people... like you and me. Chosen, is what we are called on New Exon. And when they find them, they...”

“Kill them,” I whisper.

Leto nods. “They want to open the Rift, discover the world behind it, and conquer it.”

I shake my head, not believing what I’m hearing. “I thought we, as a species, were past this. Haven’t we learned anything from history?”

“Only we can stop them,” Leto says. “Are you with me?”

“One hundred percent,” I say furiously. “Do you have a plan?”

“They don’t know we have these powers yet, but Wellington drew my blood, so he’ll learn soon enough. We have to escape, and do it now.”

I nod, rubbing my palms together. “I’ll burn this entire ship down if I have to!“

“Allow me to summon my lion first,” he says, closing his eyes. “Luan can walk through walls, so he can help us scout the place.”

He extends his hands towards me, and I sit down in front of him and accept his invitation. I feel pure energy flow through us both, from my scalp right down to my toes.

A deep roar makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Luan saunters into the room, barely fitting in the small cell.

“Go, boy,” Leto says. “Show us the way.”

The shimmering, golden lion nods and turns, walking right through the metal bars and the wall on the other side of the hall. Leto’s eyes take on a golden glow, similar to the color of the lion’s mane.

“Are you seeing what he’s seeing?” I ask.

Leto nods. “He is showing me the way... this ship is absolutely massive.. which we can use to our advantage... Kariza!”

My heart jumps. “You see her?!”

His eyes turn back to sea-green, and they are filled with anguish.

“You must free us, now! Kariza’s about to be reprogrammed!”

I jump up and grab the bars, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I need to focus, I need to find my strength, my powers, and melt these iron bars... but the stress is getting to me.

“I can’t,” I say, panic making my voice jump. “I can’t concentrate!”

Leto is suddenly behind me, his big arms sliding around my waist.

“Calm down,” he whispers into my ear, his hot breath tickling me. “Calm down.”

I close my eyes and lean back into him. His massive frame envelops me, and I feel the stress leaving me. Our energy mingles, and for a brief moment, I can imagine us both safe and happy.

He takes a step to the side and gently turns my cheek towards him. I gaze longingly into those beautiful, sparkling eyes of his, as deep and mysterious as the sea.

And just like that, he leans in and kisses me.

Wow.

A rush of pure energy rushes through my body, starting from my lips and reaching every single inch of me. My feet feel like I’m floating, my heart is racing, and butterflies fill my stomach.

He places his hand on my neck, his thumb brushing against my skin lovingly as his tongue explores my mouth.

I surrender myself to him completely, savoring every single second of this. My hands are still gripping the metal bars, but they are no longer cold.

No, my hands are burning with a blinding intensity, the entire cell coated in a warm, red light. The heat envelops us both, like we’re sitting in front of a campfire.

“It’s working,” Leto says between kisses.

I open my eyes to see the metal starting to sag and twist, my palms so hot that it breaks down our cage.

“Yes!” I cry. “Yes!”

My victorious yelps are silenced by Leto planting his lips on mine once more. He nips my bottom lip, as he growls possessively, and that makes me weak at the knees. I’d like for nothing more than for this hunk of a Zoran to lift me up and take me without a care in the world, but a nagging little voice in the back of my head stops that from happening.

Kariza, the voice cries. Save Kariza!

My eyes fly open once more. I gather all of my strength and yank the bars to the side, opening up the way for us both.

“You did it!” Leto says, pumping his fist. “Follow me!”

We both slide through the opening, careful not to touch the glowing hot metal. I am giddy and happy, the kiss still making me feel like I’m floating.

The Zoran warrior leads the way down dark, winding corridors, before suddenly kicking down a door to our left. Inside, Kariza is strapped to a table, her chest opened. Her wires and circuits are exposed, and her face is as white as a sheet of paper. Two massive robotic arms loom over her, and my heart sinks.

What are they doing to my Kariza?!

Leto darts forwards and grabs one of the arms, yanking it to the side. I follow his lead and grab the other arm, using my burning hot fingertips to fry its circuits.

“Caia! You came for me?!” Kariza says. “Thank the stars!”

“We’ll get you out, I promise,” I say as I unfasten her straps as quickly as I can. She flings her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

“I’m so sorry I’ve been such a bother to you,” she says. “I feel so awful. You’ve taken me in, treated me like a friend, and all I’ve done to you is be a major pain in your butt.”

“It’s okay,” I say as I rub her back. “You did what you were programmed to do.”

“Programing schmogamming,” she sighs, squeezing me tightly.

“Well, you did kind of do your job?” I say. “I mean, you brought me and Leto together, in a way.”

I quickly glance in his direction. My heart hasn’t stopped racing since we shared that kiss.

Her clear eyes light up. “Really? Was it my makeup that did the trick?”

“Erhm, no I don’t think so, but it did get me in trouble at work.”

“Oh,” she replies, dejected.

“...which is why I had to work the Docks, where I ran into Leto, so in a way... you helped!”

“It doesn’t sound like it to me,” Kariza sighs. “It sounds like I’m a screw up. Look at me, my bits all showing.”

She closes her hatch, avoiding both of our gazes.

“I didn’t even hack into the SINTRA system well enough. I think I tripped some type of secret alarm or something, and that’s why they captured us... really, you would have been better off without me...”

“I’ve got good news for you, then,” Leto says. “You have a chance at redemption.”

“What do you mean?”

Leto gestures at the metal walls all around him. “This place is run entirely by algorithms, by synthetics, by computers. And if we are going to save everyone, including ourselves, we need your help.”

I explain the purpose of the ship, and Kariza turns even paler.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help,” she says. “I hate it when people use synths for their evil purposes!”

“You and me both,” Leto says. “Follow me.”

The Zoran shows us the way, guiding us to a room with direct access to the ship’s network.

“This ship is humongous,” he says. “The biggest I’ve ever seen. I think we’re on the flagship of the Wellington Consortium. They’re all about turning a profit. And seeing as staff is expensive, I’m quite certain Wellington got rid of all of them and replaced them all with synths and AIs. Which means that you, Kariza, can wrestle control from the entire ship away from Wellington.”

My synth friends nods decisively. “Sounds good… but what if I fail?”

“You won’t,” Leto says confidently.

Kariza stretches her fingers. “Okay, wish me luck guys… here it goes.”

Her fingers fly across the keypad at a rapid pace, her clear eyes lighting up as data flies across the screen faster than I can process it.

“Let’s start with some basic queries… we are on our way to Earth, estimated time of arrival is in two weeks… this is indeed the flagship of the Wellington Consortium, called the Leviathan… ah… hm…”

Kariza turns to me.

“I’ve got some good news, and I’ve got some bad news. Where should I start?”

“Lets hear the good new first,” I answer.

“If you take the stairs down two floors, you’ll end up on the family level, built to house the entire Wellington family. It’s completely deserted. In fact, the bottom five floors are completely abandoned.”

“Hm,” Leto muses. “I assume it wasn’t built by Casper Wellington, then?”

Kariza hums in agreement. “This ship was designed by his father, Magnus Wellington. A much more family oriented man, who liked to keep his entire extended family close at all times. Casper is more of a recluse.”

“That’s one way to put it. Batshit fucking crazy is another one,” Leto says. “Why is this good news?”

Kariza’s pale face turns pink. I didn’t know she could blush, but there it is.

“Well, I think it would be a more pleasant place for you two to spend the evening, rather than in these damp corridors.”

“Spend the evening?” I ask. “What are you talking about?”

“That brings us to the bad news,” Kariza says. “This system, it’s locked down tight. Not tight enough that I won’t find a hole, but I don’t want to set off any alarms. I’ll have to be careful. And that means it might take me a while.”

“We don’t have the luxury of time,” Leto growls. “That madman is killing people as we speak, turning them into ‘essence’ or whatever. We need to stop him as soon as possible!”

Kariza nods. “One step ahead of you, big L.”

Leto’s brow furrows. And damn it if doesn’t look hot.

“Big L?”

“Yeah, or Lizzle, L-dog, whatever you prefer.”

“I prefer Leto.”

“You could be more adventurous, you know.”

“And you could get to the point.”

“Ah, yes. Well, you know how this conversation is going nowhere? That’s what I’m doing to Wellington’s killing machine. I’m overloading his so-called ‘processing unit' with nonsensical requests, so that it can’t proceed with its main job... murder.”

Leto’s eyebrows raise. “Clever.”

“I’m a matchmaker bot, being clever is my job. Go and have fun, you two. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”