Thalia's equilibrium faltered again mid-cycle. She was in the observation lounge reviewing sensor data when her hand trembled and her peripheral vision dimmed. Not dramatically. Not enough to collapse. But enough that she had to steady herself against the console.
She inhaled slowly through her nose. Her neural filaments retracted slightly in discomfort.
Anthony, who had been across the room, looked up in an instant. The shift in her biofield tugged at his awareness through the bond like a tight string pulling inside his chest.
"You felt that?" she asked quietly.
"Like a static shock to the brainstem," he replied, already at her side.
They didn't speak again until they were in the medical bay.
---
Doctor Prell ran scans, expression unreadable. Thalia sat quietly, hands folded over her abdomen, eyes fixed on a bio-readout that glowed in aquamarine hues.
Finally, Prell exhaled and tilted the display so they could see.
"Your symbiotic pathways are struggling to stabilize," he said. "Your body is adapting to the hybrid physiology… but one component of the neural bond — specifically the resonance echo — is amplifying beyond expected range."
"Is it dangerous?" Anthony asked.
"Not yet," the doctor replied. "But if it continues, it could start interfering with fetal development. We need to reduce the harmonic feedback."
Thalia's filaments flickered faint gold, the color of concern.
Prell tapped another panel. "There's a therapy method. We used it on deep-gestation Narian bonds during off-planet birth. The fetus and maternal bond partner are placed in an environment saturated with ionized minerals and low-frequency EM fields — it helps ground the bond and stabilize the resonance."
Anthony frowned. "Does the Asteria have one of these chambers?"
Prell shook his head. "Closest location would be Proxima outpost… but they're undergoing retrofits. Next closest?" He paused. "A mineral cave system on Venth Prime. Not a full clinic, but the environment's naturally rich in the correct spectrum."
Thalia stiffened. "That's within the same subspace corridor where we first sensed the anomaly."
Anthony looked at her. "So… we go."
Prell nodded. "I'll start a requisition. I'm tagging this as a preventive pregnancy stabilization protocol. It won't raise red flags."
---
The descent shuttle hummed around them. Thalia sat with eyes half-closed, her posture perfectly still, but Anthony felt the anxious tension just beneath the surface.
"It's going to help," he murmured. "We're doing this for both of you."
"I know," she said softly. "It's not the therapy I'm worried about."
"Still worried we're walking into something?"
"No." Her filaments pulsed indigo. "I'm worried it's walking into us."
---
The cave glowed faintly with natural mineral bioluminescence — veins of emerald and blue crystal pulsing underfoot and overhead like veins of light. The atmosphere buzzed with gentle static.
Thalia lay back on the cushioned platform in the cavern's central chamber. Anthony sat beside her, keeping her hand in his. Their bond thrummed in low waves — like two instruments trying to tune together amid background interference.
"Try focusing on just us," he said. "Ignore the static."
She closed her eyes.
And the world shifted.
---
At first, it was warmth.
A presence brushing the edge of her thoughts. Not words. Not even intentions. Just awareness. Like being stared at by a consciousness too large to fully register, but not malicious. Not cold.
Curious.
Anthony felt it too — not directly, but reflected through Thalia. The bond stretched like silk in slow wind, drawing in a sense of vastness, ancient and fluid.
Then came emotion — not their own.
Wonder.
Recognition.
Then something that could only be described as mirror-acknowledgement — a sense that it saw the bond between them as something familiar, or perhaps possible.
Thalia's breath caught.
Images rippled through her mind: spiraling energy lattices, fractal forms folding into themselves, overlapping timelines stitched together by threads of blue light.
A concept pulsed clearly: you are not alone.
Another: we have watched.
Anthony gripped her hand tighter. "Thalia—"
"I see it," she whispered. "It's... looking through me."
They were no longer just in the cave. Or maybe they were. But something beyond physical space flowed through them. The resonance had become a bridge.
One last impression struck them both with equal force:
You are becoming.
Then, silence.
---
Doctor Prell stared at his console, stunned.
The biometric readings had just spiked into the impossible. Neural synchronization values between Thalia and Anthony had exceeded bonding thresholds by 300%. Electromagnetic feedback patterns danced across the chamber walls.
He ran diagnostics. Twice.
The data was real.
And not explainable by any known medical parameter.
"Prell to field team," he snapped, rising from his seat.
"Go for Lawrence," Anthony's voice returned, slightly dazed.
"What just happened down there?"
Anthony paused. "Something... connected."
Prell's voice lowered. "We need to talk. In private. And not back on the ship."
Anthony glanced at Thalia, who nodded faintly.
"Understood," he replied.