Suddenly, a rat scurried out from a ventilation duct, knocking over an empty tin can that was sitting on a shelf. The can crashed to the floor with a loud, metallic clang.
Cary flinched, his attention immediately diverted to the sound. He saw the rat disappear into a crack in the wall and his tense shoulders relaxed slightly. He turned back to Shane and shook his head. "Just a rat."
Janna seized the opportunity. She turned and fled up the stairs, moving on the balls of her feet, as silent as a ghost. She didn't stop until she was back in the empty, cold hallway of the second floor, her back pressed against the wall, gasping for air.
Back in the relative safety of her bedroom, Janna locked the door and slid down its smooth surface until she was sitting on the floor. She let out a long, shuddering breath, trying to calm the frantic beating of her heart. The image of Shane driving a knife into his own leg was seared into her mind.
She pushed herself up and went to the desk, activating the original owner's star-brain terminal. A holographic screen flickered to life, its cool blue light illuminating her grim face. Using the residual memories, she entered the password and pulled up the household financial statements. A massive, glaring red number-the total debt-dominated the screen.
[For your information,] the system chimed in, its tone almost smug. [The original host not only spent all her liquid assets but also mortgaged this property to a loan shark to purchase useless luxury goods.]
Janna's eyes scanned the transaction history. It was worse than she thought. The original Janna had been confiscating the meager military stipends of her beast husbands, plunging the entire household into absolute financial ruin.
Then, another memory surfaced, even more horrifying. To curry favor with her so-called high-society friends, the original Janna had used her legal authority to have the Gonzales twins, two of her other husbands, forcibly reassigned to a high-mortality danger zone on a remote alien planet.
Janna slammed her fist on the desk. "What an absolute idiot," she muttered under her breath. This wasn't just bankruptcy; it was a systematic destruction of every possible alliance.
A sharp, cramping pain in her stomach cut through her anger. Hunger. A raw, gnawing emptiness that reminded her this body hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours.
She shut down the terminal, clutching her stomach. First things first. She needed to find food.
Meanwhile, in the basement, Shane leaned against a cold support pillar, his wound freshly bandaged by Cary. Cary sat beside him on the cold floor, exhaustion etched on his face.
"She sent them to die," Shane growled, his voice low and bitter. "Dewitt and Federico. Reassigned to a high-mortality danger zone, just to impress her high-society friends."
Cary flinched, hugging his knees. "I know. I heard the orders. They had no choice."
"No choice," Shane repeated, a harsh, humorless laugh escaping him. "None of us ever had a choice with her. That woman upstairs is a monster. Two more months. Then we end this nightmare."
Cary was silent, but his fox ears pressed flat, his expression one of grim agreement.
She unlocked the door and walked through the opulent, empty living room, heading for the large kitchen on the first floor. The space was cold and sterile, showing no signs of ever being used.
Janna pulled open the doors of the huge, state-of-the-art smart refrigerator. It was completely empty, save for a few bottles of expensive glacial water. Not a single leaf of lettuce, not a scrap of food.
She searched the cabinets, her desperation growing. Finally, in the bottom drawer of the pantry, her fingers brushed against two cold, metallic tubes.
She pulled them out. They were the cheapest, lowest-grade nutrient packs available, the kind used by manual laborers. The tubes were scratched and dented, clearly saved and treasured by the beast husbands.
Her throat went dry. She stared at the two tubes, her survival instincts screaming at her to twist the cap and drink. Her body craved the calories, the energy.
But as she raised one to her lips, the image of Shane's bleeding thigh and Cary's pale, exhausted face flashed in her mind.
Her hand froze.
Reason, cold and sharp, cut through the fog of hunger. If she ate their last rations, any chance of building a truce, however fragile, would be gone forever. It would be a declaration of war.
A soft footstep sounded at the kitchen entrance. Janna quickly hid the nutrient packs behind her back and spun around.
Cary stood in the doorway. His already pale face went sheet-white when he saw her. His fox ears pressed back against his head in fear. He had just settled Shane down and, exhausted, had come looking for some water. He never expected to run into her.
His fearful eyes darted from Janna to the open refrigerator and the ransacked drawers. He immediately understood. She was looking for food. A look of pure disgust and terror crossed his features.
He bowed his head slightly, forcing a tone of subservient politeness. "Is there anything you require, ma'am?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. He just wanted this encounter to be over.
Janna looked at him, truly looked at him. He was swaying on his feet, his internal energy so depleted he was on the verge of collapse.
[Warning,] the system alerted her. [Cary Hopkins's energy levels are critically low. If he faints, he will be unable to suppress Shane Tucker's energy riot. The resulting explosion could destroy this entire villa.]
Janna took a slow, deliberate breath. She tried to soften the hard lines of her face. Slowly, she brought her hands out from behind her back.
She placed the two cheap nutrient packs on the marble kitchen island. The metallic clink of the tubes was unnaturally loud in the silent room.
Cary's eyes locked onto the nutrient packs. His pupils contracted. He looked up at Janna, his face a mask of utter disbelief. He couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Janna cleared her throat. Her voice was a little rough. "Take it," she said, her English accent crisp. "It's a misunderstanding. Just... take it."
Cary didn't move. He stared at the tubes as if they were venomous snakes. He was convinced this was a trick. They were poisoned, or this was some new, cruel psychological game designed to break him.
The air in the kitchen was thick with tension. Janna didn't offer any further explanation. She knew that against the mountain of the original Janna's cruelty, words were meaningless.
She turned, walking around the island. As she passed him, their shoulders almost brushed. She didn't look back. She just walked out of the kitchen, leaving Cary standing alone, staring at the two nutrient packs in stunned, terrified silence.
