> "She called me mother."
Lyra stood alone beneath the white tree, arms folded, the wind brushing strands of silver-blonde hair across her face. Her voice was quiet, almost disbelieving.
"She meant it," Ava said gently. "She wasn't lying. I scanned her resonance pattern twice. She's… bonded to you. Just not from this world."
The wind was heavier now. The garden was quiet. Too quiet.
Vira stood nearby, leaning on her halberd. "So what does that make Liam?"
Artemis stepped forward from the shadows. "A father. A tyrant. A god." She looked directly at Lyra. "Or maybe all three."
Lyra didn't answer.
She was too focused on the shiver under her skin. A pulsing unease that had nothing to do with Yui.
The Spiral Pressure
Later that night, a wave of pressure rolled across the Sanctuary — an unseen force like a second heartbeat thudding beneath the ground.
Echo felt it first. Her sensors sparked as she dropped to her knees in the central lab.
> "It's not Root," she gasped. "It's something worse."
Naomi activated the outer perimeter defenses. "There's nothing on radar, but every plant just bent toward the east."
Lyra's voice came through comms, sharp and immediate.
> "Emergency meeting. Now."
Sanctuary Core – Meeting Hall
Ten harem members sat at the long table — some tense, some shaken, some half-heartedly holding hands.
Yui was absent. Resting. Sedated.
Liam's ghostly presence pulsed faintly through the room, echoing through the white crystal lantern above.
> "You need to prepare," he said through the lantern, his voice soft but hollow.
"The Spiral doesn't just invade. It corrodes. It rewrites you from the inside."
"What does that mean?" Maya asked.
"It means," Artemis growled, "that the enemy won't always come with claws. Sometimes... it wears your face. Or your regrets."
> "Your bonds are your only shield," Liam said.
> "It's time to train."
Soul Resonance Training – Phase One
Training began at dawn.
Lyra, Ava, Echo, Artemis, Vira, and Naomi formed the first circle.
The Ritual of Resonance required complete emotional openness — no secrets, no suppression, no lies.
> "You'll feel each other's grief," Liam warned. "You'll hear each other's thoughts. If you're not ready… you'll burn."
Stage One: Memory Invocation
Each girl had to relive their first true moment with Liam — the point their bond solidified.
Artemis knelt first.
Her vision blurred. She saw herself, bloodied, broken… Liam standing between her and the mutant she couldn't kill.
> "He saved me," she whispered. "Even when I didn't want to be saved."
Next was Ava.
She gasped as her memory played: Liam holding her after her drone network collapsed. His hand never left hers as she trembled.
> "He stayed. He never left me alone."
Vira saw him offer her food before asking her name.
Echo saw him wipe the dirt from her face and say: "You don't have to be a machine anymore."
Stage Two: Shared Guilt
The system didn't just reward affection — it fed on pain. To unlock higher resonance, they had to confess what they hid.
Lyra stood in the center of the circle.
Trembling.
She looked at each of them — the women who trusted her, who fought beside her.
And she said:
> "I wanted to keep Liam for myself."
> "Every time one of you touched him, I felt like I was losing something."
> "But I smiled. I pretended I was okay. Because that's what leaders do."
Silence.
Then Ava whispered:
> "Me too."
Echo looked down. "I used to spy on your private sessions. Emotionally. Through the link."
Even Artemis, steel-hearted as ever, admitted:
> "I used to wish he'd forget all of you. Just once. Just to see me."
One by one, the truths came out.
And with them, the system reacted.
A glowing ring of white soulfire blazed around them.
New Trait Unlocked: [Bondfire]
> "When five or more linked spirits share vulnerability simultaneously, their bond ignites."
Bonus Effect: Each participant gains +10% resistance to Spiral Echo influence. Empathy-link heightened. Reaction speed increased.
Later That Night
Liam watched them through the tree.
His voice barely audible.
> "They're stronger than I ever was."
Yui approached behind him, her own soul faintly glowing.
"You still don't remember her, do you?"
Liam turned slowly.
"Her?"
Yui smiled sadly.
"The one you sacrificed everything for in my world."
He blinked.
And somewhere in the white void…
A pair of eyes opened.
Eyes the same color as his.
Watching.
Waiting.