"Rose!" Her mom pulled her close, Rose's head against her heart. Tears flowed freely as she reunited with her daughter. While she'd gasped when she saw Rose had gained a new eye color—one which glowed like a cat's—it didn't matter. Her father joined the embrace, tears dripping down his thick rimmed spectacles. He smiled at her with open gratitude and pride.
"You son of a…" But Sophia was smiling, beaming as she joined the group hug. Danny came last, glad to have his sister back. He hugged her leg tight, not wanting to let go of his beloved older sister. He hadn't understood what had happened to her, but Danny had known she'd been hurt.
Emotion welled inside Rose, overcome with feeling. They'd all assumed they'd never see her again. How close had she been to death?
"Look at my girl," her mother said, as they finally released the hug. She moved a strand of hair with a finger that had been obscuring one eye. "Don't you dare scare me like that again."
"I promise." It was a ridiculous promise considering they needed her to fight alongside the Luyten V, but she swore she'd never make her mom cry like this again.
"So cool!" Danny said, laughing as he pointed at her red eye. "I want one!"
"What is that?" her dad asked. "I'm glad you've kept both eyes, but this is just insane."
"No clue." But that wasn't completely true—Rose had some inkling about what happened. When they'd joined, she'd left with a part of the Luyten V. After all, her robot wasn't totally mechanical. But what did that mean? Was she not completely human anymore?
"Your daughter seems stable, but we'll have to run some more tests," a scientist said, adjusting her glasses.
Before allowing her to rejoin her family, LUVOLT subjected her to quarantine measures and a thorough physical. Thankfully, she seemed clear of any Altair particles. It was a miracle.
"But she will be alright?" her father pressed.
"We believe so, yes," the scientist replied.
"Go ahead, take her home. There's been enough excitement for today?" Sandage said. After President Okona's near death, the attack of the LUVOLT facility, the alien visitors from another world, and Rose's unexpected recovery, calling that an understatement would be an understatement. They still didn't have a body count for the people hurt during the Altair attack on the LUVOLT facility.
But Rose furrowed her brow. "Still no sign of the Altair?"
"No. After the first Altair retreated, the others joined it. The final one attacking the Ectutai ship soon joined them, warned by their hive mind, I imagine," Sandage smirked at her. "You spooked them, Rose."
"Yeah, but they'll be back," Rose said, her tone souring. "Still—are the Ectutai okay?" The new word sounded odd on her lips. She could still hardly believe her eyes when she'd met their prince.
"They've suffered some serious damage to their ship, but not critically. It should be able to fly, though they're still parked to do some repairs," Sandage replied. "I'm guessing it wasn't a serious attack—more to test the Ectutai's capabilities."
"Has the world come to that? We're actually talking about aliens like they're real things," her father said, rubbing his thick mop of hair. Since Rose's coma, the usually bookish, trim man had let himself go, needing both a haircut and a shave. Rose felt guilty about making him worry so much.
"But they are allies, right?" Rose asked, eyebrow raised. She'd seen sci-fi movies. Aliens rarely had the purest motives, faking friendship so they could snack on unsuspecting humans. Part of her wondered if the Ectutai's cute appearance was an act to put them off their guard, like in the movie Galaxy Quest.
"You're not the only one to ask that," Sandage said with a laugh. The news had been a maelstrom since the Ectutai had appeared—probably the biggest story since the Altair's appearance. Her news app had been overflowing with new articles since she awoke. "But I think we can trust them."
"Really?" Rose said, surprised. She'd expected the ex-FBI agent to be more suspicious of their alien visitors.
"Call it a hunch." Sandage winked at her. "Now get going. After almost a week stuck here, I bet you want to get home."
It was still hard to believe she'd been in a coma that long. It was so unreal. "Are you sure? I'm a strange and unique specimen. Don't you want to dissect me first? It's what you government types do."
"Get going." But Rose heard the laugh behind the LUVOLT agent's voice.
While pleased to go home, part of Rose worried how others would treat her now. Would they consider her some sort of freaky weirdo now? Should she wear an eyepatch? That'd be kinda cool. And she put a hand over one eye as they drove home, trying it out.
But no, it didn't feel right to ruin her depth perception just because others might consider her odd. Or should she claim it was a fashion statement—that it was only a colored contact lens? Rose sighed, wondering what she should do about this.
"I think it's pretty cool," Sophia said, taking her hand and squeezing it. She was always good at reading Rose's mind.
"Really?"
"Sure. It's striking. Fierce."
"I don't want to be fierce," Rose replied with a pout.
"I agree with your sister," her father said from the driver's seat. "It's pretty cool."
"Now I know that it's not." But Rose was smiling, relieved her family accepted this odd change so readily. Her mom even mentioned some fashion choices to match the change. It felt good to be alive.
---
"Um, Tarazed," Denebokab said, his tone anxious.
Since their retreat from LUVOLT, the Altair general had kept quiet—not even speaking through the hive mind. Finally, after six hours, one of his minions had gathered the courage to speak. But Tarazed remained quiet, not bothering to address the unnecessary distraction.
The mission had failed. That wasn't the problem. Sometimes, circumstances were out of your control or some element appeared you couldn't have anticipated. But the Red Devil's victory was beyond anything Tarazed had ever expected. Somehow, Rose had defeated certain death. Never, in his vast experience as an Altair general across multiple planes of existence, had he encountered someone cured of their deadly touch. Some had survived by excising the infected tissue, but this wasn't what Rose of the Red Devil had done.
She was cured! Cured, curse it all! She'd done the impossible and risen stronger than ever. Through the hive mind, Tarazed had seen her take her Red Devil metal monstrosity and make an utter fool of Tseen Foo like it'd been nothing. She'd systematically torn him apart, the metal monstrosity moving with speed that shouldn't be possible of something of that size. Where? Where had she gotten this strength? Was this how she defeated Okab, too?
"We must recalculate," Tarazed said finally aloud, startling his two lackeys. So frustrated was he that he'd actually used his physical voice. That wouldn't do. He couldn't allow the Rose to unsettle him. The Altair counted on his clear thinking to win.
"How?" In his human disguise, Tseen Foo's mouth widened grotesquely, stretching beyond anything a real human face could allow. "Shall we burn the entire planet? Bombard it from orbit until it's leveled?"
"What?" Denebokab exclaimed, shocked. "But that would destroy most of the planet's bio-organisms. We can't feed or grow if they're all dead!"
"Who cares? These alien visitors have shown this universe has plenty of other, easier planets to subdue." Tseen Foo shrugged.
"No!" Denebokab shot back. "That's just senseless butchery!"
"No one is destroying any planets," Tarazed interrupted, breaking the argument. "Such wastefulness is counterproductive."
"Losing our fellow Altair is counterproductive," Tseen Foo muttered, but the general refused to entertain further debate.
"No. That is final. We must develop a counter-strategy against the Red Devil's new abilities."
"I see." Tseen Foo's voice remained neutral, but Tarazed sensed the seething rage beneath his calm tone.
How troublesome, Tarazed thought. Never mind. He'd direct that anger into something more productive. "We must learn more about the alien visitors. I severely damaged their spacecraft—not enough to prevent space travel, but enough to weaken them."
"Hey, I have an idea!" Denebokab piped up like an excitable hatchling. "I'll infiltrate their ship and learn what I can! And when they take off, I'll follow them to their home planet." With their hive-mind, light-years were no obstacle.
"That will suffice," Tarazed replied. It was a risky plan, but potentially rewarding. Even discovering the location of the aliens' homeworld would be worthwhile.
"And me?" a sullen cloud of thought wafted from Tseen Foo. "I just sit here while he does the interesting part?"
"No," Tarazed replied through the link, keeping his tone neutral, betraying nothing of his irritation with Tseen Foo's petulance. "We will deal with the Red Devil."
"Okay—how? Or did you miss how it humiliated me?" Tseen Foo snapped.
"It is powerful, yes. But we will be smarter. We will adapt our approach." The pilot was a fragile human—female, no less. They would exploit that. They would prey on her soft, sentimental weaknesses. And Tarazed knew how.
---
"And she'll be okay?" Vera asked, her casual tone belied by the worry behind her voice. "Oh, that's good. Huh, that soon?" She'd be back by Monday? After that infection, Vera had assumed it'd take months to recover. But apparently, Rose was right as rain?
"Thanks, Cecilia. Really, thanks for telling me." The taller girl had somewhat broken the rules by telling her. Rose's recovery was supposed to be top-secret until the doctors and scientists finished their examinations. Apparently, her recovery raised all sorts of questions.
Vera was grateful anyway. She'd been sick with worry ever since Rose fell ill, terrified she'd never see her again. What a weight off her shoulders! She should've known better—Rose had angels watching over her.
"This is the best news." Vera practically vibrated with excitement. Monday couldn't come soon enough. The whole class would be thrilled. And one boy in particular was sure to flip—well, inwardly, anyway. Hans was the strong, silent type. Still, this would undoubtedly get a reaction.
"I wonder if I could convince him to finally ask Rose out." It was so obvious how much he cared about her. And the two had a great rapport, always earning a smile from Vera on the sidelines. She sighed. If only they'd realize how perfect they were for each other.
"Though… poor Georges." He'd crushed on Rose for ages, but Vera doubted it would ever work out. Rose needed a mature and steady man, like Hans. And their kids would be cute as a button, no doubt. She could see the wedding already. Vera giggled to herself, imagining herself snatching the bouquet in midair.
"Everything okay up there, Vera?" her mom called from downstairs. "You're talking to yourself again!"
"Am I?" Vera winced. Stupid habit. It was like she couldn't think without speaking aloud. She poked her head out the door. "Everything's better than fine, Mom! Rose is better now! She's coming back to school Monday!"
"That's wonderful! I've been so worried about Carol and her family. Our Bible group's been praying for her non-stop. I can't wait to tell them!"
"Oh, shoot." Vera raced to the stairs. Her mom was already reaching for the phone from its perch on the couch, where a game show blared on TV. "Please don't. Nobody's supposed to know yet—it's top secret government stuff!"
"Oh." Her mom's smile faded into a disappointed frown. "I suppose the government has been orbiting Rose ever since that horrible robot showed up. Makes you wonder what experiments they ran to cure her."
"Okay, Mom, now you sound like Georges. I'm sure it's nothing shady. Just a final check-up or something." But Vera was burning with curiosity about the cure. Every prognosis she'd heard had been dire, giving her friend little chance for survival. But somehow, Rose had survived. She'd bombard the girl with questions the second she saw her.
"What time is it?" Vera yawned, glancing at her phone. She had an hour before bedtime, even on the weekend—she liked waking up early.
"Should I listen to some music?" She sighed—talking to herself again. A breeze brushed her cheek as she reentered her room.
"Huh?" Her brow furrowed. The window above her bed was wide open. She didn't remember opening it.
"Whatever." She shut it and flopped onto her bed, which was covered in a pink floral quilt, one sewed for Vera by her mother. Reaching for her headphones, she paused. Her heart jumped.
What was that? She looked around. Just her usual messy room, scatterbrained like its owner. Still, she could've sworn something moved…
Must be tired, she told herself.
Music forgotten, she got ready for bed, brushing her teeth in the adjoining bathroom. Mint exploded across her tongue as she hummed a little tune.
Then—creak. The bathroom door opened a sliver.
A black shape stood in the crack. Vera froze, her heart seizing in her chest.
The toothbrush clattered into the sink. Her mouth opened to scream—
A hand clamped over her face.
"None of that," the shadow hissed. Its eyes gleamed with cold malice in the mirror.
Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as she struggled, anything to slip free and scream for help. But the thing's grip was like iron, its touch slimy and vile like a wet toad. It smelled cloying sweet, like rotten fruit.
"You are Rose of the Red Devil's companion," it said, voice flat and mechanical. "I've seen you in photographs with her at the school. You will serve our purpose."
I've never helped you! Vera screamed in her head, unable to make a sound.
Then pain.
Something stabbed into her belly—fire erupted inside her, like her insides were melting. She gasped as something sticky and unnatural spread under her skin.
"You will become like us," the creature said, devoid of any emotion despite his heinous deed.
"You will help us destroy the Red Devil and her infernal machine. You belong to the Altair now… and forever. Welcome."