The soft click of the suite door still echoed in the silence. Dana Alaric checked the tactile watch on her wrist: fifty-two minutes remaining. She had barely begun to reconstruct Ethan's history, naming the memories Vivian had tried to erase, when the door slid open again.
It wasn't Vivian, but an impeccable service android.
"Doctor Dubois requests the subject's presence, immediately. On the upper levels."
Dana felt a chill of rage. It was a classic Vivian move: she wasn't just tempting him with words, she would use technological superiority and opulence to make Dana's offer seem ridiculous.
"Come on, Ethan," Dana said urgently, grabbing his arm. "Let's go see the price she's offering for your soul."
The transparent glass elevator ascended the central axis of Epsilon at breakneck speed, revealing a breathtaking panorama. They left the security levels behind and arrived at the upper dome, the personal sanctuary of Vivian Dubois and her closest associates.
This level was a biological jewel suspended in the void. Ethan and Dana stepped out into an immense biodome garden, where artificially filtered sunlight created a permanent golden twilight. The air smelled of fresh earth and pine, an impossible scent in deep space.
Vivian Dubois waited for them in the center, dressed in an ivory suit that reflected the light with subtle flashes. Behind her, a real waterfall cascaded into a pond populated by bioluminescent fish.
"Welcome back, Dana," Vivian said without looking at her, concentrating all her attention on Ethan. "This is what money can buy, darling. Nature, at our service."
They walked along a marble path that wound between ancient trees (grown from rare and genetically modified seeds). Dana clenched her jaw, but Ethan, under the effects of his 'stability regimen,' felt a strange calm in the face of the place's perfection.
"Your friend offers you 'adventure' and 'truth'," Vivian continued, her voice soft as the artificial breeze. "Words without substance. Danger, misery, instability. I offer you permanence."
They arrived at a lounge with views of the curvature of the Earth. The massive window was not a simple pane, but a high-resolution interactive screen displaying the planet in real-time. On the table, a banquet waited: exotic dishes, fruits that only grew in closed ecosystems, and the most expensive red wine in the galaxy, distilled on a moon of Jupiter.
"Eat, Ethan. Try this. This synth-deer meat is the only legal way to consume an extinct species," Vivian ordered him with a smile.
Ethan took a bite. The flavor was indescribably complex and delicious. Dana, standing behind him, watched him with desperation.
"Ethan, this is an illusion. The millions of people who maintain this station, who work in the Ganymede mines, will never see this. They are in the lower levels, Dana, aren't they? They live in steel cages, not pine gardens," Dana snapped.
Vivian sighed, like a patient mother dealing with a spoiled child.
"Inequality is a cosmological principle, Dana, not a moral failure. Do you really believe the existence of misery negates the beauty of this?" Vivian made a sweeping gesture toward the window showing Earth. "Look at it, Ethan. Down there is chaos. Faction wars, scarcity, noise. Up here, there is only order and control. Here, your needs are not just met; they are anticipated."
Vivian leaned in, her breath caressing his ear.
"She offers you memories of a past you cannot retrieve. I offer you the ability to create a future where you decide the rules. Look at my life, Ethan. This is not just wealth. It is influence, it is absolute security. You will never have to fight for a roof, for food, for oxygen again. You will never feel fear again."
She took his hand, the smooth texture of her synth-snake skin gloves contrasting with his own.
"And besides, Dana needs you to be the 'renegade hero.' I just need you to be my partner, my companion, the only man interesting enough to share this pinnacle of existence with me," she whispered. "Stop being a pawn. Become a king."
Dana's voice came like cold thunder.
"Don't be fooled, Ethan! She's lying to you. She kidnapped you from your life! She erased your memories!"
Ethan stood up, his expression a mixture of confusion and frustration. Dana's voice resonated with passion, but Vivian's arguments echoed with undeniable logic: security, order, power. His mind, still clouded by the chemicals, leaned toward stability.
"Dana, I... I understand what you're saying," Ethan mumbled, looking at the polished marble floor. "But... there is no pain here. There is no uncertainty. Why fight for the truth if the truth is suffering? What's wrong with choosing peace?"
Vivian smiled triumphantly, her cold eyes meeting Dana's tear-filled ones. Dana's watch displayed twenty minutes remaining. Vivian had ensured she won the mental battle.
"There you have it, Dana," Vivian said, crossing her arms. "He has chosen reality. It's time for you to return to your 'adventures' without him."