Chapter 14 – The Weight of Selfishness
The artificial night of Morsil was never quiet. Even when the sky above the city remained dark, the streets glowed in strange colors, and Marl's tower pulsed with mechanical hums that made sleep impossible.
Ren sat at a console with his head lowered, staring at the projections of equations. The holographic blueprint of the A-Foster shimmered before him, lines of energy webbing outward like veins. His hands trembled, but not from exhaustion. He had been thinking about Sonya—only Sonya.
Behind him, the chamber door opened.
Miya stepped in, her blue hair catching the faint glow. She looked hesitant at first, but her voice carried sharpness.
"Ren," she said. "We need to talk."
Ren didn't look at her. His eyes stayed glued to the hologram. "If it's about Marl, I don't want to hear it."
Miya crossed the floor, her footsteps echoing. "It's not about Marl. It's about you. About what you're becoming."
That made him glance up, annoyed. "Becoming?"
"You're not thinking clearly," Miya pressed, her eyes narrowing. "You're so obsessed with Sonya that you can't see the danger. This ship, this place—it's not salvation. It's a cage. Marl is twisting you, using your grief to—"
"Stop!" Ren snapped, slamming his hand on the console. His voice cracked with raw emotion. "Don't talk about Sonya like that! You don't understand. You never could. If you had a family, if you lost them, you'd do the same."
Miya flinched at the sting of his words. Her heart ached—because she did understand. She loved him, quietly, painfully, but she knew he couldn't see it.
Before she could respond, another voice cut in.
"You're both wasting time."
Sissy stood in the doorway, her arms crossed. Her uniform was torn and dusty from their crash into Morsil, but her posture remained rigid, commanding. The aura of authority never left her.
Ren's eyes hardened. "What do you want?"
"To remind you of something," Sissy said coldly. She stepped closer, her sharp eyes never leaving him. "I am the Commander of the Sentients. I've spent years protecting the balance of the multiverse. Do you think I don't understand what it means to lose? To sacrifice? But you—" she pointed at Ren, her voice laced with disappointment—"you are ready to throw away countless worlds for one girl. That's not love. That's selfishness."
Ren clenched his fists. Her words dug deep, because he knew they were true. But he hated her for saying it.
Then Marl's laughter drifted through the chamber like oil poured into water. He stepped out from the shadows, his yellow shirt glowing faintly in the light.
"Oh, Sissy," Marl chuckled, wagging a finger. "You command armies, you keep the rules neat and tidy, and yet here you are, stranded, powerless. You're no savior—you're a prisoner like the rest of us."
His grin turned sly as he walked toward Ren. "But Ren? He's different. He's a creator. A genius. He knows what matters. Not endless laws. Not faceless worlds. What matters is the bond between him and his sister. Isn't that right, Ren?"
Ren looked away, shame battling with longing. His voice came out low. "…Yes."
Miya stepped forward quickly. "Ren, don't listen—"
But Marl silenced her with a wave of his hand, his tone deceptively calm. "He's already listening to his heart. That's something you'll never understand, Miya. You want him to sacrifice his one true bond for the sake of order. How cruel."
Miya's voice cracked. "I want him to live! To survive without breaking everything!"
Ren turned on her suddenly, his face twisted with grief and anger.
"Enough!" he shouted. The holograms flickered with the force of his outburst. He stepped closer to Miya, his eyes wet, his voice trembling. "You don't get it, Miya. You never will. I don't care about the Sentients. I don't care about balance. I don't care about anyone else."
Miya's breath caught in her throat.
Ren's voice dropped to a whisper, sharp as a blade. "All I care about… is Sonya."
Silence crashed through the chamber. Sissy's eyes narrowed, Miya's heart cracked, and Marl's grin widened like a predator who had just cornered his prey.
Then, without warning, alarms blared. The tower shuddered. Red lights pulsed across the walls. Screens filled with waves of static and incoming signals.
Sissy's head snapped toward the data feeds. Her eyes widened in shock.
"They found us," she whispered.
Outside the tower, the sky of Morsil split open. Rips of light cut through the darkness as Sentient warships descended, their hulls bristling with cannons, their symbols blazing like warnings from the heavens. The ground trembled with the force of their arrival.
Inside, the air grew colder. Ren stood frozen, his chest heaving, as Miya looked at him with despair.
The Sentients had arrived. And Ren had already chosen his side.
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