It had been years since she designed that grid. Ariadne’s muscles twitched, but she still remembered just how to duck and flip, how the laser grid moved. Even if the Oracle changed the order and configuration, Ariadne’s reflexes were sharp. It was a perfect puzzle. A game for a little girl who had no one to play with but death and an AI who claimed to love her but didn’t know the meaning of the word.

Nyx gave something like a cough. “Sorry, I just had a horrible waking nightmare where you told us to infiltrate the Empire we just escaped from. Come again?”

Kyla kept that reptilian smile as she reached into her pocket and brought out three Pathos. Ariadne and her friends stared at those small, needle-like brain implants like they were weapons. “You’ll be needing these.”

Ariadne reached for them. Nyx smacked her hand aside. “Don’t even think about it. We’re not going. We only just broke free.”

Rhea nodded. “We gave you more than enough to deserve being sent somewhere safe.” Her voice was as polite as usual, but there was an edge to it. A blade hidden beneath the silk and finery. “That was our bargain. Information. Not this.”

Kyla’s smile disappeared, replaced with steely annoyance. “I don’t recall bargaining with any of you. And I thought you wanted to help the resistance topple the Empire. You came to us. This is how you resist.”

“It has to be a choice.” Nyx glowered. “Otherwise, you use people just like the Empire does. We’re nothing but tools.”

Something flickered in Kyla’s gaze. “If you complete this mission, you’ll get your new identities. I’ll send you somewhere safe. Call it what you want, but that’s my offer.”

“That’s not an offer,” Eris snapped. “And you know it.”

Clo made some placating motion. “Aside from the issues Nyx pointed out, I’ve never even been near the Three Sisters. I’ve never had an Oracle implant—”

“We don’t have a choice,” Kyla snapped. “This cargo showed up just as the Archon declared a peace summit? Then we need to know if Damocles is planning to overthrow him, and I can’t do that when my best fucking spies have been compromised.” Her voice softened a fraction. “I am offering you three a choice; I never said it was a good one. I know it’s a risk. You have to decide whether it’s worth it.”

Eris’s face was back to stone. Ariadne was deadly curious. What had made Eris join the resistance? What had she fled on those cursed three planets?

“And if we decide to leave, we’ll be caught at the nearest checkpoint,” Nyx said flatly. “Great service you’re offering here to refugees. And here I thought the Novantae were dedicated to ending tyranny and promoting peace and love or some bullshit.”