The sky over Sainan burned orange as dusk set in.
Lala floated through the window of her room, humming softly. Her feet landed silently on the floor.
Haruna's warmth still lingered across her nerves.
The bond was real. Not just emotional. Biological. Sensory.
Scourge is part of me now. And part of her too.
She touched her stomach absentmindedly. He wasn't moving. But she could feel him. The pulse of something watching. Waiting.
And… protecting?
Was that the right word?
They hadn't kissed. Not yet.
But when she imagined it—her fingers brushing over his skin, his arms wrapping around her new body—
It didn't feel wrong.
It felt like a beginning.
Her cheeks colored.
Is this really what I want?
And then she felt it—through the Hivemind.
Not from Scourge.
From Haruna.
A whisper of thought. A tremble of desire. A quiet, stunned—
"I hope he's thinking of me too…"
Lala gasped softly. Haruna hadn't meant to send that.
The connection was growing faster than expected.
But then—
A sound from the hall.
Mechanical. Clipped.
Peke.
Lala slid to the door, quiet as breath. She opened it a sliver—just enough to see.
Peke hovered in the darkened hallway, glowing faintly with internal comm-light. He didn't notice her.
He was speaking in rapid code.
"This is Peke, designation Mk.IV."
"Requesting emergency assistance."
"I believe Princess Lala has been compromised. The suit is sentient. Possibly parasitic."
"I repeat: it has taken root in her emotional core and now extends influence to a second host—Haruna Sairenji."
Lala's heart stopped.
Compromised?
A parasite?
"If protocol Zero-Four is approved, I will initiate pre-evacuation extraction and prepare to neutralize the entity."
He wants to… remove Scourge?
Lala stepped back, hand over her mouth.
Peke's voice grew quieter as he shifted to full encryption. But the damage was done.
He didn't trust her.
He didn't trust them.
Not anymore.
She backed into her room, shut the door, locked it.
Her hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From the realization:
I have to choose soon.
Because whatever Peke was planning…
He wasn't going to wait.
[Hivemind Alert – Emotional Spike: Host Lala]
[Scourge Passive Activation – Monitoring…]
[Mission Update Available – "Reinforce Trust"]
Objective: Ensure primary host Lala maintains loyalty.
Reward: +15 Lust Points, Emotional Immunity to External Interference (Tier I)
"He's not just inside me,"
Lala whispered into the dark,
"He's a part of what I'm becoming."
And somewhere in the house, Peke's signal reached its target.
The countdown had begun.