Alpha Strike: [An Interstellar Weapons Platform’s Guide to Organized Crime] (Book 3 title)

Audrea's chair scraped hard against the stone as she rose, her voice low but cutting through the quiet. "What do you mean, this is what you agreed to?"

Jonah stirred, breath catching as though his lungs resisted him. With Ann's arm steady against his back, he pushed himself upright. Each motion carried the weight of someone wrestling not just with weakness, but with something deeper — something that no longer fit the body it inhabited. His lips pressed thin, yet his eyes held a steady light that refused to dim.

He shuffled toward the table, one dragging step at a time. Sweat pearled across his brow and darkened the collar of his robe. Ann guided him into the nearest chair, lowering him with careful patience.

"I mean…" He swallowed, the sound thick, jaw clenched, "I wasn't tricked into this. Mr… Alpha," his gaze flicked toward the drone, the name tasting strange on his tongue, "warned me what could happen. He told me this power would… change me. Maybe in ways I wouldn't like."

The firelight threw sharp shadows across Audrea's face. Her brows knit, her frown pulling tighter with every word. "And you still said yes to this? Without knowing what those changes would be?"

Jonah's breath stuttered, but his voice steadied. "If I didn't, someone was going to get hurt. Maybe even die." He shook his head, strands of damp hair sticking to his temple. "At the very least, they were going to take Maggy, Sister."

The words hit harder than he seemed to realize. Audrea's lips parted as though to argue, then closed again, her shoulders tightening with a sharp flinch.

Jonah drew himself upright despite the tremor in his arms, his gaze locked with hers. "I said yes because I didn't want to lose her. Or any of you. You're my family."

The fire in Audrea's eyes wavered, tempered by something softer, heavier — grief, fear, love pressed tight into silence. But suspicion remained, stubborn as stone. She leaned forward, voice roughened by the strain of holding too much. "How do we even know it's you speaking now? We've seen that… thing move your body like a puppet. This could all just be a trick."

The accusation dropped like iron between them. The room felt smaller for it, the hearth's glow paling as the weight of her words pressed in. Even Audrea, fierce as she was, winced as though she regretted them the moment they left her lips.

Even Ann's hand froze on Jonah's shoulder. Jonah's face flushed crimson. "It's me!" His voice cracked. "Sister, it's—" He broke off, exhaling raggedly. His eyes darted toward Ann, then down to the table as if searching for courage. "You remember when we were kids?" His words tumbled out in a rush. "When the shrine bell rope was cut, and Ann took the blame for it? That… wasn't her."

Ann's head snapped toward him, eyes wide. "Jonah—"

"It was me," he blurted, the confession spilling free before he could swallow it down. His blush deepened until even the tips of his ears glowed red. "I was the one who thought it'd be funny to see if we could make it ring louder. I climbed up, the rope snapped, and Ann… she took the punishment for me. And I let her." His voice cracked again, the last words scraping thin. "It's always eaten at me."

Silence stretched. Audrea's eyes narrowed, searching his face. Then, at last, she sighed, the sound slow and heavy. "I always knew that."

Jonah's head jerked up, startled. His ears burned hotter. "You… what?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line. "You were a terrible liar even as a boy. I knew. I let it be."

Ann covered her mouth, hiding a laugh that was part disbelief, part exasperation. Jonah groaned and dragged both hands through his hair until it stuck up in tufts. His embarrassment filled the space like sunlight cracking frost.

Alpha's voice cut through, smooth and deliberate. "To be clear on my part, Federation law is very clear when it comes to implants of this level. I am prohibited from seizing direct control of a sapient individual's systems without a warrant or cause. For me to override him, Jonah would have to break the law or pose a direct, immediate threat to me or my operations. Otherwise, his will is his own."

Bartholomew leaned forward, hands braced on the table's edge. Suspicion still etched in every line of his face. "Then what was that spectacle in the square? When he —" He gestured sharply toward Jonah, "— rose like some golem with light pouring out of him? Are you saying that was all his doing?"

Alpha swiveled a fraction, the red eye glinting. "That was an automated safeguard. A defensive system designed to preserve the host in the event of unconsciousness. Nothing more."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The words landed like a blow. Even the hearth's hiss seemed to pause.

Dr. Maria tilted her head, eyes narrowing as if calculating. Ann's hand stilled on Jonah's shoulder. Bartholomew's mouth pressed into a line.

Garrelt broke the silence with a snort. "If that was just an automated defense, I'd hate to see what you're really capable of now, kid."

A nervous laugh rippled through the group, though no one looked less wary. The tension hung like the last note of a funeral bell.

Maggy leaned forward, voice urgent. "Sister Audrea… I know this is frightening. I understand. But I've worked with Mr. Alpha for a while now. I've seen how he treats his people. He isn't careless, and he isn't cruel. If there had been another way, he would have taken it, I'm sure of it." Maggy glanced toward Alpha, though he added nothing more. She turned back to Audrea, "Please, even if you can't trust him yet, trust me."

Her plea hung in the air. Audrea's lips pressed together, her gaze heavy on Maggy's face. Doubt lingered sharp in her eyes, but so did recognition. The girl's word carried weight, and it was plain she could not dismiss it outright.

Before the silence could splinter, Dr. Maria's voice cut in, brisk as the snap of gloves. "We've talked enough for one night. Sister, why don't you give Jonah a proper examination? I'll assist if needed. Everyone here could use a break."

Audrea's shoulders eased, fraction by fraction. She nodded, slow, reluctant. "Very well."

Ann adjusted her grip on Jonah's arm, steadying him as he sagged with fatigue. The boy's blush still lingered, but his eyes held steady light.

The meeting dissolved by degrees, murmurs following the scrape of chairs.

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The chamber was one of the quieter guest rooms, its stone walls muted beneath faded tapestries that dulled the echo of voices more than they decorated. A single lamp glowed on the desk, its wick burning low, and the light stretched long, crooked shadows across the floorboards. Hugo stood near the narrow window, his armored frame outlined against the night beyond. Below, Halirosa sprawled in silence, the glow of distant lanterns little more than smudges in the dark.

Garrelt claimed his post beside the hearth, arms folded, his stance the practiced ease of a man who made waiting into a habit. Alpha perched on the table itself, the gleam of his red optic dimmed to a slow, patient pulse that ticked like a heartbeat in the gloom.

The latch clicked. The door opened, and Dr. Maria stepped through, her healer's satchel dragging slightly against her shoulder. She closed the door behind her with the careful quiet of someone who had learned to move like a shadow through sickrooms at night.

Garrelt's chin lifted. "Where's Maggy?"

Maria set her bag down and unwound her scarf, fingers lingering on the knot as if the weight of the day still clung to it. "With Sister Audrea, helping to settle Jonah," she answered, brushing back a stray lock of silver hair. "She wanted to remain with the others for now — and I can't fault her. They've endured enough for one night."

Alpha's antennae flicked once. "Then we'll bring her up to speed later."

Maria inclined her head and took the chair nearest the lamp. Its glow sharpened the lines of her face, catching in the tired creases at the corners of her eyes. "Of course."

Alpha swiveled toward the group. His voice came crisp, clipped with command. "Then let's begin. Reports." He paused only a breath before continuing. "I'll start. As of this afternoon, Hugo and I secured a property in the lower ward — a shopfront with attached workspace. It's modest, but it will serve as the nucleus for our operations here. A storefront to mask expansion, a workshop to house equipment. From there, we can scale outward."

Hugo shifted at the window, plates rasping faintly as he turned. His deep voice carried the gravel of old scars. "While Alpha fussed with the... decorating, I scouted the district. It seems rumors of a 'curse' explain only part of the decay in the area. For years now, the city's public wards have been faltering — debt mounting, crime spreading, whispers planted in just the right corners to rot confidence. Only the clan-owned and sect-controlled blocks have avoided the worst of it. Everything else bleeds."

Alpha's optic dimmed thoughtfully, but he said nothing yet.

Garrelt shifted from the hearth, his boots scraping. "The Guildmaster agreed to hear us out," he reported, his words plain, weight behind them. "Didn't take much once I laid out what happened in the Deep. He's cautious, but he'll arrange a meeting. You'll have your chance to talk to him directly."

Alpha inclined his head. "Good. That will be important for what comes next."

Maria smoothed a wrinkle from her skirt before speaking, her voice calm but edged with exhaustion. "The clinic was worse than I feared," she said, each word flat yet carrying a fire that burned low behind her eyes. "Half the wards stood empty, yet the waiting rooms overflowed with desperate faces, while those I trusted to watch over things in my absence…" Her jaw tightened, and for a moment her hands clenched against the fabric. "…turned a house of healing into a den of thieves."

She raised her gaze to Hugo, her tone gaining weight. "After what you've described of the lower wards… that does not feel like a coincidence." Slowly, deliberately, Maria's eyes met each of theirs in turn. "Someone has been tugging at loose threads, it seems, and now the whole city is beginning to unravel."

Alpha tilted his head, the red gleam of his optic reflecting the lamp's light. "I see. Though I'll admit, I'm surprised you were able to join us so quickly. With the clinic in such disarray, I would think you would have your hands full."

Maria's lips curved, not into a smile but into something sharper. "Oh, don't fret over me, dearie. I know perfectly well how to clean up my own messes. Those few who came with me tonight? They are the ones who remembered the oaths they swore when they joined my pavilion."

She folded her hands neatly in her lap, her eyes cooling. "As for those who hadn't…"

Her voice tapered into silence, the words lingering in the room like the edge of a scalpel catching the light.