Fake hearts, Real stakes
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Story transcript
Commander: The Ark's social committee is investigating my 'inappropriate relationships' with Nikkes.
Commander: They need to see me in a committed, public relationship.
Noir: So you want one of us... to pretend to be your girlfriend?
Bay: I'll do it. But I want double rations and first pick of missions.
Rouge: How adorable. She's already negotiating like a real girlfriend.
Rouge: But Commander, what happens when fake feelings become... inconveniently real?
Noir: (Why does my chest feel tight watching Bay volunteer?)
Commander: Command just received an anonymous tip... about my 'fake relationship' being exposed tomorrow.
Bay: (The bet was supposed to be secret... who betrayed us?)
Rouge: Well then... shall we make this fake relationship... very, very real?
Commander: (Rouge's words echo in my mind... make it real?)
Commander: (But Bay's already agreed, and the committee arrives in minutes...)
Rouge: Choose quickly, Commander. My offer expires when those doors open.
Noir: WAIT!
Noir: The Commander doesn't need to pretend with anyone... because I'm already his girlfriend.
Bay: (Noir... you traitor! We had a deal!)
Commander: (Noir's hand... covering mine... the link is active...)
Commander: (The committee will see everything...)
Noir: Your pulse is racing, Commander. I can feel it through the link.
Noir: Is it because you're worried about the committee... or because of me?
Rouge: How delightfully messy. The Commander's 'real' girlfriend... whose heart rate just synced with his.
Commander: (The committee... they're here... and Noir's hand won't let go...)
Commander: (But why does my heart feel like it's not pretending anymore?)
Rouge: Seventeen seconds before they reach us, Commander.
Rouge: Your girlfriend's hand is still trembling. How... authentic.
Noir: Just follow my lead, Commander.
Noir: The sync rate is real—I've been hiding my feelings for months.
Bay: This is a setup! Noir hacked her sync data!
Bay: I have proof she's been manipulating the Commander's heart rate logs!
Commander: (Bay's holding a data pad... those are my private medical records...)
Commander: (But why does Noir's sync feel so... natural?)
Noir: You would expose his medical data just to win a bet, Bay?
Noir: Who's really manipulating whom here?
Commander: Enough. Stop fighting everybody
Commander: The committee will hear the truth... all of it.
Rouge: Oh, but Commander...
Rouge: The committee just received an encrypted file... containing your real romantic history.
Commander: (The screen shows... all of them? Every Nikke I've ever...)
Commander: (And at the top... Noir's name, timestamped three months ago...)
Commander: (Every wall... her handwriting... three months of nightly confessions?)
Bay: The sync data... it matches these timestamps exactly.
Bay: Every night she wrote poetry... while linked to your heartbeat.
Noir: (I couldn't stop... every night I synced just to feel close to you...)
Rouge: Look up, everyone! The AI has something to say!
Commander: (The passcode... it's my heartbeat pattern...)
Bay: The armory's locked with biometric encryption!
Bay: Only someone with the Commander's exact heartbeat could—
Noir: Every poem I wrote... your heartbeat was my muse.
Noir: The armory code? It's the rhythm of when you first smiled at me.
Commander: (Three months... she loved me before the committee... before the bet...)