Kira's POV
I locked myself in my tiny bedroom and threw up.
Three hours and forty-two minutes. That's all I had left before the transport came. Before I became property.
My hands shook as I pulled out the communicator Lysa gave me. Press it twice and she'd come. She'd try to save me. But what could she do? Storm the Integration Complex with her resistance friends? Get herself killed?
I couldn't do that to her.
The door crashed open. I hadn't heard footsteps.
Mei stood there, her face twisted with annoyance. "Stop being dramatic. Thousands of girls would kill for this opportunity."
"Opportunity?" I stared at her. "You sold me to an alien who's going to—"
"Going to take care of you for a month," she interrupted. "You'll live in luxury. Eat expensive food. Sleep in a real bed instead of this closet. And when you come back, the family will finally have enough money to move to the mid-levels."
"I don't want luxury. I want my freedom."
Mei's expression hardened. "Your mother filled your head with stupid dreams. Freedom. Love. Fairy tales." She spat the words like poison. "This is the real world, Kira. The aliens won. We're the inferiors now. The only way to survive is to be useful to them."
"Mom would never—"
"Your mother was a fool who died poor," Mei said coldly. "I'm making sure this family doesn't follow her."
She left, slamming the door behind her.
I sat on my bed, clutching the white dress, feeling like I was drowning. Mom's face swam in my memory—her gentle smile, her warm hugs, her stories about how love conquered everything.
She'd been wrong. Love didn't conquer anything. Power did. Money did. And I had neither.
A soft knock interrupted my spiral.
"Kira?" It was my father's voice. Quiet. Almost gentle.
I didn't answer.
He opened the door anyway and stepped inside. For a moment, he just looked at me. Really looked at me, like he used to before Mom died. Before Mei. Before everything changed.
"I know you're angry," he said.
"Angry?" My voice cracked. "You sold me, Dad. Your own daughter."
"I'm protecting this family." He sat down on the edge of my bed, suddenly looking old. "You don't understand how hard it is. The bills. The debts. Your mother's medical treatments drained everything, and she died anyway. We were going to lose the apartment. End up in the labor camps."
"So you traded me instead."
"I made a choice," he said. "A hard choice. One month of discomfort for you means survival for all of us. That's what families do. We sacrifice."
"No," I whispered. "You sacrificed me. That's not the same thing."
Dad stood up, and the brief softness in his face disappeared. "You're twenty-four years old. Still living here. Still jobless. This is your chance to contribute. To finally be worth something."
The words punched through my chest.
"Did you ever love me?" I asked. "Or was I always just... worth something to you?"
He didn't answer. Just walked to the door.
"The transport comes at noon," he said without looking back. "Be ready. And Kira?" He paused. "Don't embarrass us more than you already have."
The door closed.
I was alone again.
At 11:45, I put on the white dress.
It felt like wrapping myself in a burial shroud. The fabric was thin enough to see through. The collar had a metal ring—probably for a leash. My stomach turned.
I braided my hair the way Mom used to do it. If I was walking into hell, I'd do it looking like her daughter. Not theirs.
Aria appeared in my doorway, holding a makeup kit. "Let me help."
"I don't want your help."
"Too bad." She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the bathroom. Started applying makeup with rough hands—too much, making me look like a doll. "You know why I really did this?"
"You already told me. Jealousy."
"That's part of it." She met my eyes in the mirror. "But mostly? Because I could. Because for once, I had the power and you didn't. Do you know how that feels? To finally be the one in control?"
I stayed silent.
"Commander Vex'thor has a reputation," Aria continued, painting my lips blood red. "He's gone through twelve offerings in two years. None lasted the full month. They all broke. Begged to be released early, even though it means losing the payment."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want you to know what's coming." She finished the makeup and stepped back, admiring her work. "I want you to spend every second of the next three hours imagining what he's going to do to you. I want you to be terrified."
The doorbell rang.
We both froze.
"They're early," Aria breathed, checking her watch. "It's only 11:52."
My heart hammered against my ribs. This was it. This was real.
Mei's voice echoed from downstairs. "Kira! Your transport is here!"
Aria grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. "Remember this moment. Remember that I did this to you. And when he breaks you—when you're crying and begging and destroyed—remember that I'm the one who put you there."
She shoved me toward the stairs.
My legs barely worked. Each step down felt like walking to an execution. Dad and Mei waited at the bottom, both dressed nicely, like this was a celebration.
Through the window, I saw the transport vehicle. Black. Military. Official Integration symbols on the sides.
And standing next to it, a Xylaran officer in full uniform.
He was massive—almost seven feet tall, with blue-tinted skin and silver circuitry running up his arms. Not Vex'thor. Just a transport officer. But still terrifying.
"Miss Kira Chen?" he called through the door.
Mei opened it, smiling. "Yes, she's ready. Please, come in."
The officer stepped inside, and the room suddenly felt smaller. His eyes—solid black, no whites—scanned me from head to toe. I felt naked even though I was dressed.
"Sign here." He thrust a digital pad at my father. "Final confirmation of transfer."
Dad signed without hesitation.
"And the offering's signature," the officer said, turning to me.
My hand shook as I reached for the pad. This was my last chance. I could refuse. Force them to drag me. Make a scene.
But then what? Prison for the family? Labor camps? Aria had made sure everyone would blame me.
I signed my name.
The officer checked the signature and nodded. "Transfer complete. Miss Chen, you are now the legal property of Commander Zair Vex'thor for thirty days. All rights and freedoms are suspended until contract completion. Do you understand?"
Property. The word echoed in my skull.
"I understand," I whispered.
"Good." He produced metal cuffs. "Hold out your wrists."
"What? No—the contract didn't say—"
"Standard transport protocol for all offerings." His voice was flat. Bored. "You're not a prisoner, but you're not free either. The cuffs come off when we reach the Commander's quarters."
I looked at my father. At Mei. At Aria smirking in the background.
None of them protested.
I held out my wrists.
The metal clicked shut, cold and heavy. Real.
"Let's go," the officer said.
I took one step toward the door. Then another. My family watched me leave like I was furniture being moved.
Outside, the morning sun was too bright. The transport vehicle's door stood open, dark inside. Waiting.
"Get in," the officer ordered.
I climbed inside. The door started to close.
"Kira!"
I turned. Lysa was running down the street, her cybernetic arm gleaming. She must have been watching. Waiting.
"Wait!" she screamed. "Please, wait!"
The officer blocked her path. "Civilian, step back. This is an official transport."
"She's my friend! Let me say goodbye!"
"No contact with offerings during transport. Security protocol."
Lysa tried to push past him. He grabbed her, easily three times her strength.
"Kira!" Tears streamed down her face. "Fight! Don't let them—"
The door slammed shut, cutting off her voice.
I was alone in the dark transport. Alone with my cuffed hands and my white dress and my absolute terror.
The vehicle started moving.
Through the small window, I watched my street disappear. Watched Lysa still fighting the officer, screaming my name. Watched Aria waving goodbye with that poisonous smile.
Then we turned a corner, and it was all gone.
The transport officer's voice crackled through a speaker. "Estimated arrival: fourteen minutes. Commander Vex'thor is waiting."
Fourteen minutes.
I had fourteen minutes left of being human.
Then I'd belong to a monster.
My hands found the communicator hidden in my bra—the only thing I'd managed to keep. Should I press it now? Call Lysa? Start a rescue that would probably get us both killed?
Or should I wait? Survive? Hope I could last thirty days?
The transport hummed beneath me, carrying me toward my fate.
And in the darkness, I made a decision.
I pressed the communicator once. Not the emergency signal. Just once.
A message to Lysa: I'm alive. I'm going. Wait for me.
Then I tucked it away and closed my eyes.
Whatever was coming, I'd face it.
Because thirty days from now, I was going to walk out of Commander Vex'thor's quarters alive.
And then I was going to destroy everyone who put me there.
The transport accelerated, and my future rushed forward to meet me.