Day 117 Post-Impact
The alert came at dawn.
[PERIMETER ALERT: ANOMALOUS PRESENCE DETECTED][DISTANCE: 500 METERS AND CLOSING][THREAT ASSESSMENT: CALCULATING...]
Sarnav was moving before the notification finished, reaching through the bond network. Eleven points of consciousness stirred in response.
Entity? Jade's mental voice was sharp, already accessing security feeds.
Has to be. He pushed the command through the network. Everyone stay inside the perimeter. We don't know what we're dealing with.
He found Zara at the command center, her uniform crisp despite the early hour. Wei Ming stood beside her, both studying the sensor display.
"It's not attacking," Zara said without preamble. "Just approaching. Slowly. Like it wants us to see it coming."
On screen, a blurred figure moved through the jungle. Humanoid, but wrong in ways the cameras couldn't quite capture. As if reality itself flinched from direct observation.
[ENTITY CLASSIFICATION: SEAL-ORIGIN][DESIGNATION: INDONESIAN FRAGMENT (FREED)][STATUS: MANIFESTING AVATAR - LIMITED FORM][NOTE: AVATAR FORM PREVENTS COGNITIVE DAMAGE TO OBSERVERS]
"It's using an avatar so we can look at it without our brains melting," Sarnav realized. "It wants to talk."
"Or wants us to think it wants to talk," Zara countered.
"Also possible." He started for the door. "Wake everyone. Full defensive positions, no offensive action unless I give the word."
The entity had stopped at the tree line, just beyond the perimeter shields. In avatar form, it appeared almost human - a middle-aged Indonesian man wearing simple village clothes. Only the eyes betrayed it. Too old. Filled with something that had watched civilizations rise and fall.
"Seal Warden." Its voice resonated from multiple directions at once. "You came yourself. I wondered if you would send proxies."
"You came to my home." Sarnav stopped ten meters away. "Seemed rude not to greet you personally."
"Direct. Your ancestors preferred elaborate courtesy." Something like amusement flickered across the avatar's features. "It grew tedious over millennia."
"My ancestors kept you locked in a dimensional prison. Maybe they had reasons for the formality."
"They had reasons." The amusement faded. "Whether those reasons were good is a matter of perspective." The avatar stepped closer. "I was a guardian once. Long before your bloodline existed. I watched over the land, kept balance. Then your ancestors decided balance wasn't enough. They wanted control. Beings who refused to submit became inconvenient."
[HISTORICAL ANALYSIS: CONFLICTING RECORDS DETECTED][TRUTH PROBABILITY: INSUFFICIENT DATA]
"Why should I believe you?"
"You shouldn't. Not without evidence." The entity spread its hands. "But consider - if I were truly a monster, would I be standing here talking? Or would I have destroyed your settlement while you slept?"
"What do you want?"
"Freedom. True freedom. You could release the remaining restrictions. Allow me to simply leave."
"And if I don't?"
"Then I wait. But in twenty-three days, the seasonal alignment shifts. Certain options become available to me." The avatar smiled without warmth. "I would prefer your cooperation. But I will not remain bound forever, one way or another."
The entity faded before Sarnav could respond, leaving only jungle and morning light.
[ENTITY WITHDRAWN TO DISTANCE: 2 KILOMETERS][DEADLINE ESTABLISHED: 23 DAYS]
"He's lying," Elena said flatly during the debrief.
The command center was crowded now, wives and key personnel gathered around the central table. Mythili stood near the back, her expression unreadable as she listened to her son explain what he'd faced alone at the perimeter.
"Not necessarily," Jade countered, pulling up data on the main screen. "There are references to 'displaced beings' and 'contested imprisonments' in older records. The history isn't as clear-cut as the system suggests."
"So maybe the entities weren't all monsters," Serena said, her luck sense trying to read the situation. "But that doesn't mean this one is telling the truth now."
"The deadline concerns me more," Jiyeon said thoughtfully. "Twenty-three days is specific. That suggests real constraints, not negotiating tactics."
Yuki looked up from her tablet, ice crystals unconsciously forming on her fingertips as she processed the data. "The old seals drew power from natural cycles. In twenty-three days, the first major storm arrives. That energy could be channeled to break free completely, or to strengthen the remaining bonds. It depends on a Seal Warden's direction."
"So it's offering a choice," Sarnav said. "Help it leave peacefully, or it tries to break free during the storm and we have a much bigger problem."
Silence fell over the room. Through the bond, he felt his wives processing the implications - worry from Nisha, calculation from Jiyeon, protective fury from Elena.
"I need time. Jade, keep digging into those archives. Yuki, model what happens if it forces through the remaining bindings. Wei Ming, increase monitoring on Purifier activity - if the entity's right about them growing bolder, I want to know."
People dispersed with their assignments. Mythili remained.
"Sarnav."
His mother approached slowly, dark eyes searching his face. At forty-three, she remained striking - silver threading through black hair, carrying herself with quiet dignity.
"You're exhausted," she said.
"I'm fine."
"You're not." She stepped closer, and he could smell her perfume, something floral. "When did you last sleep properly?"
"Sleep is a luxury right now."
"Sleep is a necessity. You can't protect anyone if you collapse." Her voice softened. "I may not understand everything happening here, but I know my son. You're running on fumes."
The bond network hummed with eleven points of agreement.
"I'll try," he said finally.
Something softened in Mythili's expression. "I'm proud of you. What you've built here... your father would be proud too."
She left him standing in the empty command center, her footsteps fading.
Nisha was waiting in their quarters.
She sat on the bed in a light dress, dark hair loose around her shoulders. Evening light caught the gold highlights in her brown skin, and she looked up as he entered with an expression that combined worry and warmth.
"I felt you through the bond," she said softly. "You feel exhausted. Confused. But also something else. Something you need."
He didn't argue. She knew him better than anyone - had known him since childhood, through every awkward phase and every triumph.
"How do you stay so steady?" he asked as she reached him. "When everything keeps getting more complicated?"
"I have you. The network. Sisters who share the burden." Her hands found his chest, palms flat against his heartbeat. "Right now, you don't need optimism. You need to stop thinking for a while."
She rose on her toes, lips brushing his. "Let me take care of you, sayang."
The endearment, spoken in her soft Malaysian accent, broke something loose in his chest. He pulled her closer, and she melted against him with a sigh that spoke of long waiting.
Their kiss started gentle, then deepened. She tasted faintly of tea. When she opened to him, his hand tangled in her hair while the other pressed against the small of her back. She moaned softly into his mouth, her body pressing against his growing hardness.
"Bed," she murmured against his lips.
Clothes fell away in a trail across the floor. Her dress slipped down to reveal familiar curves - her 33D breasts swaying gently as she helped him undress. She was beautiful in the unselfconscious way of someone comfortable in her own skin, her dark nipples already hardening in the cool air.
"I've missed this," she admitted as they tumbled onto the bed together. "You've been so worried, so distant. I wanted to help but didn't want to add pressure."
"You could never be pressure." He kissed down her neck, feeling her pulse quicken under his lips. "You're my anchor. Have been since the beginning."
"Sayang..." The word came out breathy as his mouth found her collarbone, then lower.
He took his time with her breasts, sucking one dark nipple into his mouth while his hand found the other. She gasped and arched into him, fingers threading through his hair, holding him against her chest. He knew how sensitive she was here - could almost bring her to orgasm from breast play alone.
"Sarnav... please..." Her hips rolled against him desperately. "I need more. I need you."
His hand slid between her thighs and found her soaking wet, her arousal coating his fingers the moment he touched her. She whimpered as he pushed two inside her, her walls clenching immediately around them, tight and hot and welcoming.
"So wet," he groaned against her breast. "Dripping for me."
"Always." She was panting now, hips moving, fucking herself on his fingers. "Please, sayang. I need your cock. I've been thinking about it for days, touching myself at night, wishing it was you filling me instead of my fingers."
The image of her alone in bed, hand between her thighs, thinking of him - it made his cock throb painfully. He positioned himself between her legs, the swollen head pressing against her slick entrance. She looked up at him with everything in her eyes - love, trust, desperate need.
When he pushed inside, they both gasped. The bond between them flared white-hot, amplifying sensation, sharing pleasure back and forth in a feedback loop. She was tight and hot, her pussy gripping him like it never wanted to let go.
"Yes," she breathed, eyes fluttering closed. "That's what I needed. You inside me. Filling me up. I feel complete when you're in me like this."
He began to move, slow strokes at first, savoring every inch of her welcoming heat. The wet sounds of their joining filled the room as he thrust deeper. Her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer, urging him on.
"Faster," she begged, nails digging into his back hard enough to leave marks. "Harder. I need to feel you tomorrow. I need to remember this every time I move."
He gave her what she needed. The bed creaked beneath them as he increased the pace, driving into her with each thrust. She cried out with every impact, her voice rising, her body arching to meet him.
"Yes! Right there! Don't stop, sayang, don't ever stop... I'm yours, all yours, only yours..."
Through the bond, he felt her pleasure building, a rising tide matching his own. The network hummed with their connection - eleven wives aware on some level of what was happening, most sending warmth and approval through the link.
"I'm close," Nisha gasped, her body tightening around him like a vice. "Sarnav, I'm going to... I can't hold it..."
"Come for me." He drove deeper, hitting the spot inside her that made her scream. "Let go, Nisha. I've got you. I'll always have you."
She shattered with his name on her lips. Her pussy clamped down rhythmically, milking his cock as waves of pleasure crashed through the bond. He felt every pulse of her orgasm as if it were his own, the feedback driving him over the edge moments later.
When he came, spilling inside her with a groan, she cried out again - happy tears streaming down her face the way they always did when it was intense. She held him through it, her hands gentle on his back, her body still trembling with aftershocks.
They lay tangled together afterward, hearts slowly returning to normal. She rested her head on his chest, fingers tracing idle patterns on his skin.
"Happy tears," she assured him before he could ask. "Always happy tears with you. Every time. Since the first time."
"I love you."
"I know." She snuggled closer, pressing a kiss to his chest. "Since we were kids. Will love you until everything ends. And probably after that too."
The bond hummed with contentment. For the first time in days, the weight on Sarnav's shoulders felt bearable.
Whatever came next, he wouldn't face it alone.
[HARMONY POINTS: +800][BOND WITH NISHA RAMACHANDRAN: DEEPENED][NISHA RAMACHANDRAN: C → C+ ADVANCEMENT]
[DAY 117]
[SARNAV: S-RANK (HARMONY SOVEREIGN - FIRST STAGE)][PROGRESS TO SECOND STAGE: 25%]
[WIFE CULTIVATION STATUS][1. NISHA - C+ | 2. ISHANI - C | 3. ANANYA - C][4. MINJI - D+ | 5. JADE - C | 6. SANA - C+][7. JIYEON - C | 8. SERENA - C+ | 9. ZARA - C+][10. ELENA - S | 11. YUKI - D]
[HARMONY SAFE ZONE: 1,335 SURVIVORS | 3 SECTORS][SEAL INTEGRITY: 92.6%]
[ENTITY STATUS: PRESENT - 2KM PERIMETER][DEADLINE: 23 DAYS REMAINING]
[WIVES BONDED: 11/32]