Steven stood in Londo’s office, arms crossed, looking calm, unbothered. Londo paced behind his desk, eyes burning into him.

“You vanished during a Category A threat,” Londo said, voice sharp but measured. “Where the hell were you?”

Steven raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly. “I was in the rear maintenance sector,” he said. “You know, the part of the ship that didn’t get smashed. Covering your asses. You’re welcome.”

Londo didn’t blink. “That section was sealed off during the strike.”

Steven shrugged. “Exactly. Sealed means secure. Someone had to hold the backline.”

“You were not authorized to be there,” Londo snapped. “And for that, I’ve docked your pay.”

Steven grinned faintly, then turned on his heel. “Cool. Bye.”

Before the door fully shut behind Steven, Londo pressed a button on his desk.

“Effective immediately,” he announced through the base-wide intercom, “all crew are to remain at headquarters. No one goes home. No exceptions.”

Voices exploded through the main atrium like a swarm of bees.

“What?!”

“He’s kidding, right?”

“Hell no, I’m going home, screw this!”

Lana stormed through the chaos, boots pounding, fists clenched.

“Enough!” she roared, her voice slicing through the noise like a knife. “You’re soldiers, not schoolkids. Sit down and shut your mouths.”

The room froze.

Behind her, Lasso leaned casually on a rail, watching it all unfold with a smirk.

“Geez,” he muttered, “remind me not to ask her out when she’s hangry.”

Meanwhile, in a shadow-lit corridor of the upper deck, Caitlyn pressed Leonardo against the wall with her body, heels clacking softly against the steel floor.

“You’re making this very unprofessional,” she purred.

He looked down at her, face tight, jaw clenched. Their lips were inches apart.

And then he stepped back.

She blinked, confused.

“We can’t do this,” he said. “You’re my second-in-command. We’re partners. It’s wrong.”

Caitlyn leaned against the wall, her black top stretched tight across her chest, her eyes smirking even if her lips didn’t.

“You feel something for me though,” she teased. “Right, baby?”

Leonardo ran a hand over his shaved scalp and sighed. “Yeah,” he said flatly. “I feel you getting on my nerves.”

She giggled, delighted, as if he’d complimented her. “God, I love when you’re grumpy.”

Back in the crew quarters, Kiara stretched lazily on her bed in nothing but her underwear and a neon green bra, feet up, headset resting over one ear.

Across the room, Anna sat at the window, arms folded, eyes cold.

“Are you still mad about the lockdown?” Kiara asked, poking her tongue out.

“No,” Anna said, though her tone betrayed her. “It’s Steven.”

“What about him?” Kiara smirked, flipping her hair.

“He’s changed,” Anna muttered. “He doesn’t speak. Doesn’t joke. Doesn’t even look at us. Something’s... off.”

Kiara rolled over onto her stomach. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “Are you falling for him?”

Anna turned sharply, her crimson eyes glowing.

“Don’t you dare say that!”

She smacked Kiara lightly across the arm.

“Touchy!” Kiara giggled. “I mean, you finally get a version of Steven who’s not a perv, and you miss the old one?”

“It’s not that,” Anna said. “I just feel like… something happened.”

Kiara sat up, reaching behind her back.

“Want to see something happen?” she winked, pretending to unclasp her bra.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Anna snapped.

“Fine, fine, chill,” Kiara laughed. “I’ll keep my underwear on, Mom.”

She blew her a kiss and skipped into the shower.

In the command room, Kimberly sat alone at the panel, blinking at the screen.

Her hand shook as she held the radio.

“A-Anna,” she said softly, “can you cover me for five minutes? I need to talk to you about Londo.”

No response.

Anna was still deep in thought.

Kiara snatched the radio from the table, towel-wrapped.

“Kimiiii,” she sang into it, “Anna’s brooding again. I’ll send her to you in a sec. But babe, I’m still in my underwear. Is that okay?”

Kimberly blinked fast, flushing. “Uh... better not. Londo might see you.”

“Pfft,” Kiara rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about him, but okay. I’ll play nice. Sending Anna now. Kiss kiss.”

She turned to Anna, now standing silently by the door.

“She’s crying,” Kiara whispered. “Go. And don’t yell at her like you did to me.”

Anna nodded and left.

She found Kimberly near tears, curled in her chair.

“I’m sorry I took so long,” Anna said quickly, hugging her tight. “I just—wasn’t near the comm.”

Kimberly buried her face in Anna’s shoulder.

“My mom,” she whispered. “She’s fading. If I don’t see her soon... she’ll die.”

Anna froze. Her breath hitched. “Then we’ll make it happen. I promise.”

Down the hallway, Taze sat alone in his quarters, staring at an old photo: his mother, father, and his older brother, Romo. All smiling.

The smile on his face was gone.

“They’re just pictures now,” he said quietly. “But I still feel them with me.”

His voice cracked.

“Steven’s slipping away. Kimberly’s drifting. Anna and Kiara… they don’t really get me. And Lana… hell, she barely sees me. Who do I even have left?”

Outside, Lasso paused.

He had come looking for Steven but caught every word.

He opened the door gently. “Get your shoes on,” he said.

Taze looked up.

“Come on,” Lasso said, voice softer now. “Let’s take a walk.”

They stepped out into the cool night, under London’s flickering streetlights.

Taze began talking, slowly at first, then with momentum.

“Ten years ago,” he said, “Uganda was starving. My family was hiding from raiders, from the army, from everything. My brother Romo—he was a soldier. Strong, brave. But he hated the government.”

Lasso nodded silently.

“He didn’t want me to join the army. Said I had a future. One night, he knocked me out with the butt of his rifle. My parents carried me, crying, to a truck bound for South Africa.”

Taze stopped walking.

“I woke up in a new country. No home. No family. I never heard from them again.”

Lasso placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“You wanna go find them?” he asked.

Taze didn’t answer.

Lasso gave his back a hard pat. “Then I’m going with you. Family first. Always.”

Far from the base, in the cold mist of an empty London alley, Steven stood still, staring up at the sky.

The light from the moon painted his skin silver.

“It’s time,” he said to no one. “They don’t deserve this world after what they did to mine.”

His body began to shift, ripple, morph.

Muscle stretched over bone, skin tightened, darkened, eyes blackened.

But just as he lunged toward a lone passerby—

ZAP.

A laser shot struck him square in the chest, sending him tumbling into a wall.

Smoke hissed from the impact.

From the darkness stepped a figure, heel tapping on concrete.

Long hair, split green and violet, shimmered in the moonlight.

Orange lipstick. Blood smeared across her jawline. A cybernetic arm crackled with faint electric current.

Her voice was smooth, cold, and mechanical.

“Seems like we have a slight technical issue,” she said.

She cocked her weapon.

“It’ll be handled shortly.”

To be continued