The waygate's machinery captured our craft, drawing us into Voidhold Zero. As Larkin popped the hatch, familiar sensations flooded in. The sharp, sterile air that had filled my lungs since childhood was very different from Two's organic richness, and the fast clicks of functionary communication came flooding in. It was a sound I hadn't realized I'd missed.

  "Delivered, as promised," Larkin announced flatly. "I'll be here, ready to leave as soon as you're done."

  "You're coming with us," Aini replied, her tone brooking no argument.

  "Now wait a minute—"

  But I barely registered their exchange. Words were coming through the receiver in my ear, fragments of and and , but then dulled into silence. Something deeper was pulling at me, like an overpowered gravity pad. Without conscious thought, I unsnapped my harness and rose, drawn toward the open hatch.

  "Where do you think you're going?" Lidaros snarled.

  The bracelets suddenly pulsed and snapped together, locking my hands in front of me. A firm grip yanked me back into my seat.

  "This is an unknown environment," Aini said, releasing my shoulder. "We are not going to rush into it." Her eyes locked onto Larkin. "That means everyone. I'll take point. Lidaros handles our guest. Fron and Larkin bring up the rear once the ship is secured."

  Lidaros' fingers dug into my arm as we disembarked. I tried to focus past him, to see my home through fresh eyes. It looked still and quiet, almost abandoned. I thought back to Larkin's arrival and the difference struck me immediately. He had been greeted by a wall of functionaries, with me hovering behind as human-present, but today the vast chamber stood empty save for a single figure at the waygate's center.

  Yeller, its single eye a strange pale blue.

  Aini swore under her breath. Lidaros' hand dropped to his weapon. Behind us, Fron gasped and Larkin muttered, "Stars above, not one."

  The sight of Yeller must have been jarring to those who only knew functionaries as scattered components. With its massive cyclopean head, long, serpentine arms, and industrial-grade limbs on its lower chassis it looked like a mockery of a living being. Fron's datapad trembled in his hands as he fumbled to capture every detail. His eyes darted between Yeller's imposing form and the notes he was frantically recording, torn between fascination and fear. Even Lidaros took an unconscious step backwards, pulling me with him.

  "That's quite the beast," Aini muttered.

  I wondered what Yeller was thinking beneath its unreadable shell, and then I noticed the rest of the waygate behind it. I stifled a little gasp. Gone was the sterile, hermetically controlled environment that Larkin had entered. The walls now gaped with torn-out sensors and dangling cables. The integrated medical functionary that had probed Larkin was dormant, its diagnostic arrays dark, its processing core exposed like an open wound. The chamber felt violated, as if something had torn through in mindless rage.

  "Right," said Aini, stepping forward. "Let's get this over with. You there!"

  Yeller remained motionless.

  "We are here to speak to Commander Zae Sentix," she declared into the silence.

  Yeller's eye stayed fixed on our group, unwavering and unresponsive.

  "I said, take us to the commander," said Aini. "Respond!"

  "Is it even switched on?" Lidaros growled, his hand tightening around my arm.

  Aini started to move past Yeller. Its arm whipped up, blocking her path. She stared at the limb.

  "Is it touching you?" Fron asked, his voice tight.

  "No." She raised a hand as if to touch it herself, then let it fall back. "How do we get it to let us through?"

  "Wait!" Larkin pushed past me. His movements were stiff and hurried as he positioned himself before Yeller and sank into a deep bow. "I submit to your protocols," he said. "I accept your authority." The words seemed to choke him.

  "That's not how you handle these things," Lidaros sneered. "Just deactivate it."

  "Forget that," Larkin said, straightening. "Does that satisfy you?" he asked Yeller. "Can we proceed now?"

  But Yeller had still not responded. If it had been a human, it would have been staring.

  At me.

  This functionary had disciplined me since childhood, had destroyed PQ9 to protect me. Yet now it seemed lost, unable to process my return with these strangers in tow.

  "Hello Yeller," I whispered beneath my veil. "You may speak to me. I give my consent."

  Its eye flickered.

  "My status is compromised," I said softly, hoping my earpiece would catch my words. "I wish to serve Rashala. I bring guests for her entertainment."

  The lie felt strange on my tongue. Cedar would have called me out on it right away, but Yeller's eye turned green.

  "You may enter," it announced.

  "Finally," said Aini. "We'll just--"

  "You may enter once your temporary protocols have been established." Yeller's head swiveled to face her. "Your movement is limited to designated areas. You will remain under escort. You will relinquish your weapon."'

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  "Oh yeah? Well, why don't you come and take it," said Lidaros.

  "I wouldn't start that fight," said Larkin, pointing to Yeller's arm. "It's got a concealed energy discharger that outmatches anything you carry."

  "They're armed?" Fron squawked in alarm. "But they can't harm humans!"

  "Really?" Larkin let out a wry chuckle, his shoulders tensing. "Is that what you think?"

  "Yes!" Fron shook his head in disbelief. "It is one of the basic laws of--"

  "What of those marks on the walls of Two?"

  "That was...a malfunction," said Fron. "Damaged units going haywire. Lidaros, you were there. Tell him."

  Lidaros shifted uncomfortably behind me. "Sure, they can't hurt us. Though I'm not betting my life on these Zero machines following standard rules. I'll be keeping my gun right here with me."

  Through their argument, I heard little tickles of static in my ear as half-formed words and thoughts tried to break through.

  .

  "Yes," I said. "I am eager to continue my protocol."

  "Listen, Voidhold Four trash." Lidaros' breath was hot against my ear. "What's it going to do? Poke me with it? It can't touch humans. End of story."

  "You know nothing," Larkin spat.

  "Shut up, the pair of you," Aini cut in. "Lidaros, either put the damn thing down or wait here in the waygate. I want to get this over with." She nodded to Yeller. "We accept your temporary protocols. Escort us to Commander Sentix."

  The green of its eye darkened to murky depths. "Commander Sentix does not receive guests. He is not to be entertained."

  "What?" Frustration raised Aini's tone. "We're not here to entertain...good grief, what is this? We are just here to take his statement as a character witness for Shade of Voidhold Zero, nothing else. The voidhold serve, might I add, so you'd better start serving. If you would kindly let us through, we can do this quickly and you can go back to standing around or.....whatever it is you do."

  The green eye was almost brown now. Soon it would flip to red and then Yeller would be angry.

  "Yeller," I whispered. "I have returned with strangers and my sister's husband. Take us to the thren. Rashala will want to be with her husband and hear their stories."

  Yeller's eye flickered through shades of dirty green as it considered this, finally settling on a deep emerald. "I serve. You will follow me."

  ?

  It felt strange to be walking through the familiar corridors in the grip of a human. Lidaros had a jerky gait that was difficult to match, and his constant scanning of side passages made our progress awkward. Though we walked at the front behind Yeller, I could sense the others' unease. Unlike on Two, our viewports were uncovered, showing the dramatic skies outside. I heard murmurs and gasps each time we passed one.

  Inside, everything gleamed, not a speck of dust anywhere. Not a sign of humans. In stark contrast to the ravaged waygate, the corridors were in optimal condition, although red warning lights flickered on the panels, systems crying out for human authorization.

  My authorization.

  Had none of my family stepped in during my absence?

  I tried to imagine Rashala patiently following Magent. Mother allowing her hand to be held by it. Father focusing for long enough to remember which words were required.

  Of course not.

  "This place..." Fron's voice echoed off the spotless walls. "It's vast."

  "This is nothing," Larkin muttered. "You should see the upper levels, they still have a-" He cut himself off abruptly.

  "A what?" Fron pressed.

  "Nothing," said Larkin.

  I smiled behind my veil, thinking of our hidden Stillness. Some secrets were better kept.

  The thren doors loomed ahead.

  "Is this where they're keeping Commander Sentix?" Aini asked doubtfully.

  "Ha!" Larkin's laugh held no warmth. "You thought it would follow your orders?" He hung back from our group, twitching with poorly concealed anxiety. He looked ready to run away. "Sorry, council member. On Zero, you face the head of operations first. Right, Yeller?"

  "You will now meet Mother and Rashala," said Yeller. "Father is confined to quarters. He has been subjected to heavy stabilizer usage during Shade's absence. However, Vilett will present him upon request."

  The color drained from the Two delegates' faces. Larkin smiled.

  "Oh, don't worry," he said. "This isn't the worst part. Wait until you see how they've set up their white room."

  "That will be at Mother's discretion," Yeller said as the thren door slid open.

  The thren stretched above us, vast and hollow. Where Two celebrated humanity with its vibrant mural, Zero's ceiling vanished into shadow, like a void within a void. Everything stood exactly as I'd left it, though that felt like a lifetime ago. The meal table waited at the center like an altar, and there sat my family: Mother and Rashala, their faces frozen in shock as they beheld us. Brons hovered behind them, a forgotten tray in its metallic hands.

  The sight of them hit me with unexpected force. Mother's fingers were curled around the cup containing her liquid meal, as if she hadn't moved since I had left her. There was a new brittleness about her, in the way she raised her chin. Rashala sprawled in her chair like a coiled spring, radiating fury from dark, shadowed eyes. I think that without me there to absorb her rages and deflect her moods, she had turned her anger inward.

  My throat tightened. They looked both the same and fundamentally different, like a reflection in warped glass: beautiful yet terrible, trapped in an inescapable pattern. I was thankful for my veil, for its hiding of whatever emotions were marring my face.

  Yeller glided in ahead. Lidaros shoved me forward. Our footsteps shattered the artificial silence, echoing like accusations. Mother rose, her chair scraping against the floor. For the first time in my memory, words failed her perfect composure. Rashala remained seated, but her eyes were sharp and dangerous. We approached the table, Aini muscling forward to match my pace. The distance seemed to stretch forever, yet ended too soon.

  "Greetings-" Aini began.

  Rashala moved like a snapping cable, there one moment, exploding forward the next. Her hand cracked across my face with the force of hatred. The slap knocked my head sideways. The sound of the slap hung in the air. No one moved. No one breathed.

  "You took him," Rashala spat.

  She got ready for another strike, and I raised my bound hands to ward off another attack. Lidaros yanked me backward as Aini stepped between us, saying, "That's enough."

  "Enough?" Rashala's laugh held a hysterical edge. "You have no idea what she's done. She stole my husband!"

  "Your husband stands right there," Mother said, cutting through Rashala's rage. "Though I see he returns without proper respect for our hospitality."

  Larkin stiffened. "I-"

  "No." Mother's gaze swept over our group. "Speak not of yourself. Explain to me who these people are and why they are bringing my wayward daughter home in restraints."

  "These people are from Voidhold Two," Larkin said, each word uttered with reluctance. "Your daughter tried to destroy their navigation systems."

  "Did she?" Mother's eyebrows lifted in elegant disbelief. "Our Shade?"

  "It's true," Aini stepped forward. "We found her behind our bridge controls during a critical-"

  "Fascinating." Mother cut her off with a wave. "And now you've brought her home for...what? Punishment? Salvation?" Her lips curved. "Or perhaps you seek something else entirely."

  "We want to speak with Commander Sentix."

  The temperature in the thren seemed to drop. Mother's face went still.

  "Speak with him?" she asked softly. "What nonsense is this?" She turned to me. "What have you been telling them, my dear?"

  I felt the weight of every stare. Mother's calculating gaze, Rashala's simmering rage, Larkin's barely hidden fear. Yeller's eye was brightening into orange.

  "I requested the Commander as my character witness," I said. "As is my right under Voidhold Two's laws."

  "Laws?" Mother's laugh was a harsh rasp. "Their rebel laws mean nothing here. But never mind. Let it not be said that Voidhold Zero cannot show hospitality to unexpected guests." She gestured to Brons. "Prepare refreshments. I think we shall have much to discuss."