The third day in Astra-Khal began with an alarm.
Not a blaring siren, but a deep vibration that reverberated through the walls of the
K-7 complex like an artificial heartbeat. Elián sat bolt upright in bed, his heart
racing, still caught between sleep and wakefulness.
For a second, he thought he heard a deep breath next to him.It wasn't
possible.
She activated the communicator on her wrist just as Commander Hale's voice came
through.He broke into the internal channel.
—Incident in the secondary containment sector. All civilians remain intheir assigned
areas.
Civilians.
That's what they called him now.
Elián ran a hand over his face and stood up quickly. He didn't know what had
happened, but an uneasy certainty pressed against his chest from within, as if his
body had reacted before his mind.
Kael.
She dressed hurriedly and went out into the corridor. The complex was busier than
usual.soldiers running, doors closing, lights changing to alert tones.
"Dr. Rowe," a technician stopped him. "Return to your room."
"What happened?" Elián asked.
"A Kha'Reth has become agitated," he replied. "Nothing to worry about."
Nothing.
Elian pressed his lips together.
Nothing was a dangerous word in that place.He ignored the order and continued forward, blending in with the staff until he
reached the roomfrom advanced observation. From there, the secondary sector
could be seen through reinforced glass.
And then he saw it.
Kael was on his knees.
Not chained… forced.
Two energy fields pressed against him from the sides, forcing him to keep his head
down. His breathing was faster than normal, his chest rising and falling with
obvious tension.
Elián felt a sharp blow to his stomach.
"What did they do to you?" he demanded, approaching the
control panel. Commander Hale appeared beside him.
"It was a behavioral response test," he said. "Kael showed resistance."
—Resistance to what?
"To obedience," she replied bluntly. Elián
looked at her in disbelief.
"That's not science," he said. "It's
punishment." Hale didn't flinch.
—It's control.
Kael raised his head at that moment.
Her golden eyes met Elián's through the glass.And
something changed.
The tension in her body didn't disappear… but it transformed. Her breathing became
slower, deeper, as if it had found an anchor point.Elian felt the
immediate effect.
His own pulse synchronized without him being able to prevent it."Stop this," he ordered. "Now."
"He has no authority," Hale replied.
—But I have eyes—Elián replied. —And what I see is a conscious being under
extreme stress.
There was a tense silence.
Kael closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, his gaze was no longer
heavy.
not from rage... but from something more dangerous.
Trust.
"Release him," Elián repeated. "If you want to see a real response, let me in."Hale
looked at him as if he had just lost his mind.
"Are you willing to put yourself in danger for a beast?"
Elian didn't hesitate.
—I am prepared to prove that it is not.
The commander held his gaze for several long seconds. Finally, she gestured.brief to
the technician.
"Five minutes," he said. "A minimal field. One more aggressive move and we'll pull
him out."
Elián nodded, aware that he had just crossed a line that could not be reversed.The
barrier opened with a low whir.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Elián took a step into the confined space. The proximity was overwhelming. Kael
was much closer than he had imagined. He could feel the heat emanating from his
body, the deep rhythm of his breathing, the contained vibration of a power that
wasn't being used.
Kael slowly raised his head.
"You shouldn't be here," he said quietly."You shouldn't be like this either," Elián replied, keeping his voice firm even
thoughHis body reacted with an intensity that was hard to ignore.
Kael watched him with absolute attention.
"My pulse... calmed down when you came in," he murmured. "Did
you know that?" Elián felt a shiver run down his spine.
—Mine too —he admitted.
Kael took a deep breath, as if processing that information with profound seriousness.
"That's no coincidence," he said. "We Kha'Reth call that vital attunement."
"What does it mean?" Elian asked.
—That two bodies recognize the same rhythm—Kael replied—. That doesn't happen
with just anyone.
Elián moved a little closer, ignoring the silent warning from the soldiers on the
other side of the glass.
"Why did you react like that during the test?" he asked.
Kael clenched his jaw.
"They asked me to attack a projection," he said. "A human
figure."Elián felt a knot in his stomach.
—And you didn't do it?
"I did it," Kael replied. "Until I smelled something."
-That?
Kael raised his gaze, fixing it intensely on Elián.
"Your scent," he said. "It had stayed with
me." The silence that followed was heavy,
electric.
Elián took another step without thinking. He was so close he could make out the
tiny irregularities in Kael's skin, the living, real texture.
"Kael…" he murmured.The Kha'Reth tensed, not from threat, but from restraint.
"Don't say my name like that," she warned. "My body reacts before my
reason." Elián felt the warning like an invisible touch.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently. "I don't want to use
you." Kael closed his eyes for a moment, fighting something
inside.
"That's what scares me," he confessed. "That you don't want to use me."
Elián raised his hand slowly, showing each movement. He brought it closer until it
wasinches from Kael's chest, without touching him.
"May I?" he asked.Kael
opened his eyes.
The gold in her eyes burned with a contained intensity.
"Yes," he replied. "But if you do it... you won't be able to pretend you didn't feel
anything."
Elian placed his hand on the table.
The contact was
immediate.It wasn't
electricity.
It was synchronicity.
Kael's pulse was deep, powerful, but now… aligned with his own. Elián felthow his
own breathing adjusted, how something inside him settled into a place that had
always been empty.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"That's how it feels," he murmured. "When I'm not alone."
Elián swallowed, his eyes moistening, not fully understanding why.
"You shouldn't be," he said. "No one should." A
soft alarm began to sound.
"Time," announced the system's voice.Elián carefully withdrew his hand. Kael watched him go, as if the loss were physical.
"You will return," Kael said with
certainty.It wasn't a question.
—Yes —Elián replied—. I will return.
When the field was closed again and Elián left the room, he felt the tremor reach
him.Late. Her hands were slightly unsteady, her body still vibrating from the
contact.
Hale was expecting it.
"He has made a serious mistake," he
said.Elian looked at her calmly.
"No," he replied. "I've confirmed something."
-What thing?
Elián thought about the shared pulse, the synchronized breathing, the way in
whichHis body had understood before his mind.
—This —he said—. Is no longer just an observation.
That night, Kael stayed awake, his hand resting on the spot where Elián had placed
it.had played.
And for the first time in years, his pulse didn't sound like a
cage.It sounded like a promise.