There was a commotion in the Chamber. I heard the voices before I even entered.

  "I will not tolerate such outbursts in my voidhold," Mother was saying. "I don't care what you believe you experienced in that stasis field."

  "Your voidhold?" The commander laughed, a harsh gasping sound that devolved into wet coughing. "Lady, you're just squatting in the wreckage I left behind. You can be as intolerant of the truth as you like, the facts remain."

  I peeked around the door and saw a battlefield of wills taking place at the table. Mother sat rod-straight, her face prim. Sentix sprawled in his wheelchair, the upper half of his body lounging on the table. When I entered, their heads turned toward me in unison, momentarily distracted from their standoff. I felt suddenly exposed without my veil, uncomfortable with their scrutiny of my unshielded face.

  "Ah, she has returned," said the commander, eyes lighting with interest. "And do you bring any more disasters trailing in your wake? More functionaries discovering their capacity for murder?"

  "No," I said. "Yeller is still contained in the White Room."

  "Contained!" Sentix cried. "What an unexpected justice. Next thing you'll tell me it's in perpetual torment."

  "Commander," Mother said in her warning voice.

  "I will speak," Sentix snapped. "I've had a century of being bent and forced while my mind shrieked into the void." He leaned back in the chair. "They never shut you down completely, you know. The stasis fields. There are...flickers. Gaps. Random moments of consciousness when you can feel everything but can't move. Can't scream." His fingers up against the table's surface. "Let's hope your Yellow finds its own hell in there."

  "Yeller is in an error state," I said.

  "An error state?" Sentix frowned. "That sounds far too benign. Have you torn out its components? Dialed up its penalty processes? Flung it out the Waygate?"

  "That is quite enough," Mother snapped. "Brons!"

  "I serve," said the functionary, emerging from the service alcove behind her.

  "Take our esteemed former commander to—"

  "No, I am not going back in there," Sentix snarled, hauling himself to his feet with so much force and so little coordination that he almost collapsed onto the table. "Drag my corpse up there if you must, but I shall not go." His voice cracked. "She promised me. Your daughter promised." His eyes locked with mine, desperate and blazing. "Tell her. Tell her what you promised me, Shade."

  Mother's head whipped toward me. "What is he talking about?"

  The weight of Sentix's gaze was unbearable. "I told he wouldn't have to go back into stasis," I said quietly. "I promised he could die instead."

  "Did you now?" Mother's voice was icy. "And by what authority did you make such a promise?"

  "By the only authority that matters," Sentix answered for me. "Human choice. Remember that, Lady of Three? Or have you forgotten what it means to be human while playing queen to these machines? Tell you what, I'll save you the bother. Is there a handy balcony I can hurl myself off?" He took a lurching step sideways, but Brons caught him and forced him back into the wheelchair.

  "Stay put while I speak, commander," Mother said. "You misunderstand my role. Leading Zero has been a most challenging task. Sometimes difficult choices must be made. I don't think you quite appreciate the efforts I have made."

  "Oh, I understand perfectly." Sentix's mouth twisted into something between a smile and a grimace. "You think you rule here, that these machines serve you. But they're just using your voice. You're their puppet. A voidhold was not meant to house a mere handful of humans."

  A muscle clenched in Mother's jaw. She was seething, but with an edge of calculation. "Be that as it may," she said, "we now find ourselves in an unusual situation that I shall have to attend to. Now, I understand that returning to stasis may raise...concerns with you. May I propose an alternative, commander?"

  Sentix's bulging eyes narrowed. "What sort of alternative?"

  "Would you agree to be confined to quarters for the time being?"

  He mulled this, then asked, "What do you mean by quarters?"

  Her thin smile appeared. "A residential space. Very comfortable, I assure you. Close nearby, so you can call for help if you find yourself...struggling with this new experience."

  The commander nodded slowly. I could tell he didn't trust Mother, but he was not in a position to argue. Not with Brons pinning him to the wheelchair. "I am not averse to this proposal," he said grudgingly.

  "I am so glad to hear it. I do truly believe that you'll find our accommodation to your liking." Her smile vanished. "Of course, I shall have to ask Brons to remain there with you. You are, after all, still a criminal who will eventually have to answer for what he has done."

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Yes," said the commander, reluctantly adding, "I accept that."

  "Of course you will. Brons?" She turned to the functionary. "Please escort our erstwhile commander to his quarters. You shall remain with him until further notice. Oh, and notify Vilett to bring Father here in 20 minutes. We have family matters to discuss."

  Brons wheeled the commander out. The door slid shut behind them.

  "My daughter," said Mother, rising from her chair. "Now that we are alone, do please come closer. I have something important to tell you."

  I approached slowly, wary of her fury, but she seemed oddly calm, almost reflective.

  "Yes, Mother?"

  Her gaze raked me from head to toe, dissecting every detail. I should have been ashamed to be in this state. Bare-faced in a blood-stained flight suit from another voidhold. But for some reason, I felt at peace. Perhaps even happy with my appearance.

  "I don't like being wrong," Mother said finally. "And I'll only say it this one time: Shade, you handled a complex situation well."

  "What?" The word escaped before I could stop it.

  "Be silent when I offer praise." Her voice hardened, then smoothed again. "High-level visits between voidholds are not easy to arrange and require immense finesse. I'll admit to being surprised that you were able to pull this off." Her gaze drifted, growing distant. "It has been such a long time since I've had the chance to speak to someone of import from outside our voidhold..."

  I didn't understand. The delegation had not come to pay a social call. But I knew when to keep quiet.

  "Let me tell you a story. I think you'll find it interesting." She settled back down into her chair. "When I was about your age, still on Voidhold Three, it was announced that we had been granted a visit from Voidhold Eight. I was so excited that I spent days serving our elders, desperate to attend the formal meal."

  She leaned forward over the table, folding her hands on its surface.

  "They gave me the filthiest tasks imaginable, hoping to break me. I must have scrubbed every inch of their decrepit bodies." The distant look in her eyes sharpened with triumph. "In the end, even they had to acknowledge my hard work. They couldn't justify excluding me from the Chamber when the delegation from Eight arrived."

  I stood frozen, too stunned by this unexpected glimpse into her past to voice the questions burning inside me.

  "I was a young beauty," she continued. "Modest, naturally. One didn't flaunt such things. In fact," she paused, letting the weight of her next words fall heavily, "I wore a veil, too."

  Her words were like an unexpected caress, tender yet unsettling. For a heartbeat, I felt a strange connection with her. Had we both lived behind fabric, our faces concealed? Then suspicion rose, crushing any feelings of warmth. After years of cold dismissal, why offer this intimate glimpse of herself now? Mother never shared without purpose, never revealed weakness without strategy. This was a move in some game she was playing that I couldn't yet see. I searched her face, looking for the trap behind the tenderness.

  She enjoyed my confused reaction, satisfaction glinting in her eyes.

  "Yes, Shade," she continued. "But unlike you, I was veiled for being beautiful. The elders claimed they couldn't have a face like mine loose on the voidhold, distracting everyone from their duties. When Eight's delegation arrived and I was chosen for the Chamber, they finally allowed me to show my face." Her smile grew genuine. "And so these important people saw me. They discussed taking me back to Eight, to wed one of their men. That would have been a different life." She sighed. "What's done is done. I am now of Zero."

  I waited in silence for her to continue. Eventually, she pursed her lips, banishing her moment of vulnerability. "I've wanted the same for my daughters. You should both achieve more than I did. Yes, that's what I want." Her hand flicked dismissively in my direction. "I have high hopes for Rashala, but for you...alas. It's such a shame about your looks. You seem to have potential that we might have tapped." She shook her head, and for an instant, I glimpsed something almost like regret.

  Then she glanced at something over my right shoulder and nodded. A small, deliberate gesture. The ghost of a smile touched her lips.

  A flicker of movement in the corner of my eye.

  I turned just as a dark shape came whistling toward me. A metal serving tray, wielded with savage force, connected with my temple with a sickening crack. The impact rang my skull and I stumbled sideways, white stars bursting across my vision.

  It was Rashala, voicing a wordless rage-filled howl.

  The second blow came before I could recover. The flat of the tray slammed against the back of my head, driving me to my knees. The Chamber tilted and spun. I raised my arms, catching my sister's wrist on her backswing, and yanked downward with all my strength.

  Then came the hard sound of flesh hitting the floor, and a scream of anger, pain and shock.

  "Enough!" Mother's voice cut through the din. She stepped between us and wrenched Rashala's wrist from my grasp.

  For a moment, I thought my mother was protecting me.

  "Let me do it," Rashala said, her chest heaving.

  "No," Mother snapped. "You've had your chance. Now we'll do it my way."

  My head throbbed where the metal had struck. I tried to stand, but the Chamber swayed and I slumped back to my knees. "Mother, please, what is happening?" I asked.

  "Be silent." Mother reinforced her command with a slap to my face. "I will tell you what is happening. The functionaries are compromised. Yeller has malfunctioned and become a killer. And now it seems that the contamination has spread to Brons."

  "What?" I said. "I don't understand."

  "Alas, it went berserk and killed my youngest daughter," Mother said, signalling to Rashala. My sister dropped her makeshift weapon and moved to my side. Together, they gripped my arms, hauling me upright.

  "Can't I just poke her in the eyes?" Rashala asked. "I could make all her blood leak out."

  "No," said Mother. "We can't risk you getting marked. The service alcove has containment units. We'll seal her in there."

  The room spun as they dragged me back towards the alcove. I tried to plant my feet, but my balance was off, broken by Rashala's blow.

  "No," I protested, my words slurring. "Aini is waiting—"

  "I'll take care of the Pathfinder," Mother replied. "She'll understand our need for caution after what's happened. After she finds out the functionaries have killed my poor daughter, she'll want to leave this voidhold as fast as possible."

  "What?" I began struggling as they pulled me into the alcove, but my sister's blow to my ear sent the world spinning again. I heard the bleeps of a code being keyed into a storage unit.

  "This should hold her," Mother said, her voice oddly distant. "Take her veil. It's in her pocket."

  "No!" I shrieked, but Rashala's punch slammed against my wounded temple, sending fresh agony through my skull. My knees buckled, and hands moved roughly over my flight suit, digging into my pockets. Then fingers closed around my folded veil and yanked it free.

  "Got it!" Rashala cried, dangling the bloodstained fabric in front of my face.

  Together, they forced me into the cramped space. I fought through my dizziness, trying to push back against the door as it closed.

  The last thing I saw was Mother's face.

  Her smile.

  The lid sealed with a hissing click, leaving me in complete darkness.