Eris had noticed Rhea’s relief when she’d asked the other woman to remain aboard. It would be difficult to mask Rhea’s behavior from the Oracle. Ariadne was able to make their Pathos implants look like Oracle chips on the scan, but though Rhea might have changed her appearance, her graceful way of moving could never be concealed. She practically floated. It was too risky.

Nyx and Clo were decked out in dark bodyguard uniforms and looked equally pissed off about it.

By now, there would be projections of their images on every planet in the Empire, and the Oracle would be working to find them. Ariadne had finished programming their new features that morning. The effect from the shifters had to be enough to fool the scans but not so extreme that it roused suspicion.

Nyx’s face was softer, more delicate. Her lips were fuller, her cheekbones more prominent, and her jaw more rounded. Ariadne, by contrast, had puffed up her own features. Clo kept her hair the same but widened her nose and thinned her lips.

Zelus was hailed through the shield around Macella by one of the satellite security points.

“Here we go,” Clo said with a long exhale. “Say a prayer and hope we make it out alive, bermholes.”

They set down in the landing zone outside of the palace. As Zelus settled on the platform, they all gathered to look out the window. The Macellan palace towered above them, a goliath peppered with the bones of the Olos. Eris had seen renderings of the reptilian creatures, and she had thought their multicolored scales were beautiful.

Those scales had been used to make palace arches that glistened in the Macellan sun. They framed a manufactured lake with robotic birds.

Despite how lovely and calming the palace appeared, it was a fortress. The Oracle scanned every person who entered and left, mapped their foot traffic, their features, and their behavior. Humans were creatures of habit, easy to predict. If their behavior was inconsistent with the Oracle’s prediction, One flagged that person as suspicious. And One was never wrong.

Clo unbuckled herself from the flight chair and let out a breath. “We’re going to die,” she muttered to herself, standing.

Eris pushed her toward the door. “How about a little optimism?”

“I prefer realism. That way, I’m less disappointed.”

“Neither of you are making me feel confident,” Nyx said as they gathered near the door and waited for Rhea to lower the ramp from the comm center. “And I wasn’t exactly enthused about this before.”

“Clo is being dramatic. As always.”