The morning after, Alexandra arrived at the subterranean hall set up as a wide, open ring.
Zha stood at the opposite side holding a heavy wooden training saber.
He looked completely relaxed, his posture rooted, his dark eyes calmly measuring Alexandra as she stepped onto the canvas holding her wooden practice katana.
“No gene-lock releases, no raw strength stomps,” Alexandra said, rolling her shoulders.
“Pure technical execution.”
Zha gave a small, approving nod.
“Good. Relying on raw attributes makes a fighter lazy.”
He didn’t wait for a signal.
In a fraction of a second, Zha closed the distance, his footwork quiet and explosive.
The wooden saber whistled through the air, coming down in a sharp, blinding vertical strike aimed directly for her forehead.
He’s too solid to meet head-on, she thought.
Blocking him straight on turns into a contest of who can hit harder.
She stepped off the centerline at a forty-five-degree angle, her left foot pivoting as her wooden katana swept up in a rising diagonal deflect.
CRACK.
The weapons collided.
Alexandra felt the heavy vibration run down her arm, but her angle carried Zha’s momentum off to the side, causing his saber to strike empty air.
She immediately snapped her hips back, driving her hilt toward his throat in a short, brutal thrust.
Zha’s eyes flared slightly.
He pulled his rear foot back, slipping his chin past her hilt by less than an inch, and brought the butt of his saber swinging around toward her ribs.
Alexandra pulled her elbows in, dropping her weight into a low guard to catch the blow.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
The sound of wooden weapons striking each other echoed rapidly through the massive hall.
Alexandra pushed her limits, weaving the quick-draw geometry and clean angle-cuts she’d drilled over the last three days into her footwork.
Whenever Zha came at her with heavy military saber strikes, she kept letting her blade do the work instead of trying to muscle every hit aside.
Whenever she tried to slip past his guard with a rapid draw-cut, Zha’s years of practical experience allowed him to read her shoulders and shift his weight just enough to negate her opening.
They traded strikes for twenty minutes straight, both of them breathing heavily, sweat dripping onto the canvas floor.
Alexandra lunged in with a low horizontal slash; Zha dropped his tip to intercept, locking their weapons together at the hilt.
They stood pressed chest-to-chest, the wooden blades groaning under the mutual pressure, neither of them able to push the other off balance without breaking technical form.
Zha let out a short, quiet breath and backed off, lowering his weapon.
“Stalemate.”
Alexandra lowered her wooden sword and rolled her aching wrist.
Her arms felt like they had been worked over with a hammer, but she couldn’t stop grinning.
Three days ago, she hadn’t known how to hold a sword properly.
Now she’d just fought Zha to a draw.
Okay.
That felt pretty damn good.
Zha gave her a brief nod as he stepped away from the ring.
“You adapted quickly.”
Alexandra smiled.
“I’ll take that.”
She took a long drink of water, wiped the sweat from her face, and looked down at the wooden katana in her hand.
The download had given her the knowledge.
The last three days had finally started making that knowledge feel like something she could actually use.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
Alexandra stepped back, wiping sweat from her eyes with her sleeve, her chest heaving.
A wide, genuine grin spread across her face.
Under the rules they’d agreed on, she had stood toe-to-toe with a hardened, experienced fighter using nothing but discipline, leverage, and footwork—and she had held the line.
The afternoon session shattered that confidence in about forty-five seconds.
Caprica Six stepped into the center of the ring in her standard, crisp slate-gray uniform.
She didn’t carry a wooden sword or even drop into a combat stance, simply standing there with her hands resting loosely at her sides, looking at Alexandra with calm, amused expectation.
Fresh off her draw with Zha, Alexandra rolled her practice katana in her hand and smirked.
“You sure you don’t want a weapon, Six?”
Six’s lips curved faintly.
“I was under the impression you preferred your opponents unarmed.”
“Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Alexandra stepped in, launching straight into a rapid, multi-angle flurry—a blinding diagonal draw-cut intended to force Six to take a step back, followed immediately by a horizontal sweep to catch her mid-pivot.
Six didn’t step back.
The moment Alexandra’s right hand twitched toward her hilt, Six moved with blinding precision.
Before the blade could clear the scabbard, Six slid inside the katana’s dead zone, her left hand shooting out like an iron vise to pin Alexandra’s right wrist in mid-draw.
Before Alexandra could adjust her footing, Six drove her palm into Alexandra’s chest.
She shifted her weight, clipped Alexandra’s lead heel, and drove her straight into the floor.
THUD.
Alexandra slammed back-first onto the hard canvas, the impact rattling her teeth as the wooden katana clattered across the floor.
Six stood directly over her.
“Your right shoulder gave you away,” Six said softly, bending down slightly in that smooth, intimate register that made Alexandra’s skin prickle.
“You really should stop announcing your attacks.”
Alexandra pushed herself up onto her elbows, gritting her teeth.
“I didn’t announce anything.”
Six offered a slow smile.
“You did to me.”
“Again.”
She retrieved her sword, reset her stance, and tried a feint to the left—shifting her weight early to draw Six’s eye, then dropping into a low vertical split.
Six didn’t bite.
She read the weight shift instantly, stepping directly onto the inside line before Alexandra’s cut reached halfway down, catching the sword’s wooden spine with one hand while sweeping Alexandra’s lead leg out from beneath her.
CRASH.
Alexandra hit the dirt.
She picked herself up, reset, and came in low.
Six side-stepped, hooked Alexandra’s elbow, and sent her spinning into the canvas for a third time.
Again.
A fourth fall.
Six caught her mid-slash and dumped her hard.
Again.
A fifth.
Six swept her legs before she even finished her step.
Alexandra rolled onto her side and sucked in a breath.
Okay.
That hurt.
She pushed herself back onto her feet, retrieved the wooden sword, and shook out her arms.
Six hadn’t even moved more than a few steps.
“Give me a second,” Alexandra muttered.
“Of course.”
Alexandra reset her grip.
A sixth fall followed two minutes later—a sharp trip that rattled her ribs.
And then a seventh, right as she tried a desperate overhead clearing cut that Six simply caught by the blade’s flat, using Alexandra’s own downward momentum to drive her straight back into the dirt.
She’s reading me.
The realization was obvious now.
Every time Alexandra changed something, Six was already there waiting for it.
A different angle.
A different rhythm.
A different opening.
Fine.
Then she’d have to stop making the same mistakes.
She stepped forward for another exchange.
“Your stance shifted too early,” Six murmured, stepping directly into her space.
“You committed your balance before confirming my response.”
Alexandra spat out a mouthful of dust, pushing herself up.
Her muscles burned and her pride was taking a beating, but picking up her sword for yet another round, she felt a sharp, clear focus.
If I can fool Six, she thought, I can probably fool anything else God decides to throw at me.
“Again,” Alexandra said, rolling her sore shoulder.
Six offered a subtle, almost fond smile.
“As you wish.”
By nightfall, the brutal bruises from the training range were forgotten as Alexandra stepped out into her newly overhauled private quarters.
She had spent a chunk of the previous evening configuring the space through God’s interface.
She already had her loft.
She liked her loft.
But she’d always wanted a treehouse.
I’ve always wanted one.
And now I can literally build one by thinking about it.
So why the hell wouldn’t I?
The concrete room was completely gone.
Now, an expansive open lawn of green grass stretched out under a clear, simulated twilight sky.
In the center of the clearing stood a fifty-meter-wide ancient hardwood tree.
Its moss-covered trunk dominated the landscape, and its hollow core had been converted into a multi-story rustic treehouse built from untreated timber.
Warm yellow light glowed invitingly from the hand-carved glass windows built into the upper branches.
Tucked away directly behind the massive trunk, nestled among smooth river stones and wild ferns, was an open-air hot spring.
Thick clouds of white steam rose lazily into the cool night air from the dark, mineral-rich water.
Six stepped onto the wooden veranda of the treehouse, her slate-gray uniform pristine, her eyes calmly sweeping over the massive fifty-meter trunk, the suspended upper rooms, and the open-air hot spring below.
She turned her gaze to Alexandra, who was leaning against the railing with a cup of coffee.
“You already have a loft,” Six noted, glancing around the clearing.
“Why a treehouse?”
Alexandra choked slightly on her coffee, coughing as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Of course she checked the inventory data, Alexandra thought, glaring at her.
She’s a walking operating system.
“Because I wanted a treehouse, Six,” Alexandra said defensively, crossing her arms.
“People are allowed to have more than one thing.”
Six tilted her head.
“I didn’t realize you were concerned about redundancy.”
“And I am also the person paying the bills around here,” Alexandra shot back, though a reluctant grin tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“Besides, the loft is for brooding. This is for actual relaxation. Go find a tree branch to sit on if you’re going to judge my interior design choices.”
Six’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smile.
“As you wish. Though I suspect you will find the structural maintenance of a fifty-meter hardwood entirely unnecessary given that it is simulated code.”
Alexandra stripped off her dust-covered training clothes and slid into the hot spring, letting out a long, shuddering sigh of pure relief as the scalding water enveloped her up to her shoulders.
Her sore muscles practically sang as the heat sank deep into her back and legs.
Alexandra let her head fall back against the smooth rock and looked up through the branches.
The fake twilight sky was ridiculous.
The treehouse was ridiculous.
The hot spring was definitely ridiculous.
She smiled anyway.
Yeah.
Okay.
This was a fucking great idea.
A second later, the water rippled.
Six glided into the pool without a sound, her long, pale legs cutting through the steaming water as she submerged herself shoulder-deep a few feet away.
Alexandra leaned her head back against the smooth river rock, her eyes drifting over.
Even knowing what Six was under the skin, Alexandra’s brain couldn’t help reacting to the sheer visual impact of her.
The water beaded off Six’s pale, perfectly sculpted shoulders, her wet golden hair clinging slightly to the curve of her neck.
God damn, Alexandra thought, her internal voice completely blunt and unfiltered.
I don’t care if she’s a walking murder robot.
She is absurdly hot.
Zero regrets on those points.
Six rested her arms on the rock ledge, turning her clear, calm gaze toward Alexandra.
“It should help with the soreness.”
Alexandra stared at her, blinking slowly.
“You really know how to ruin a mood.”
Six’s mouth curved slightly, her eyes lingering on Alexandra’s bare shoulders.
“I wasn’t aware you were attempting to create one.”
Alexandra felt her throat go dry, quickly clearing it and shifting in the water.
“Hey. Six.”
“Yes?”
“For the next drop… the Alien scenario.” Alexandra turned her body toward her.
“You’re sitting it out.”
Six’s brow furrowed slightly.
“I’m your bodyguard. You know I’m more capable of protecting you than the rest of the team.”
“Not when you’re made of expensive metal and they’re made of disposable human beings,” Alexandra cut in, her voice dropping the lighthearted tone entirely.
“Listen to me. You could probably tear through those things. That’s not the problem. The problem is that every time you kill one, it sprays acid everywhere. You’re not flesh, Six. You’re a machine. Acid eating through your chassis isn’t something you can just sleep off, and I don’t know what God charges to fix a custom asset or if you can even be repaired out here.”
She looked directly into Six’s eyes, her jaw set.
“The rest of the squad… Jie, Xiao Yi, Zha… in the opening stages of a film, they’re effectively meat shields. I know how the system works. People get picked off. But you? If you go down there and get half-dissolved because a drone blew its load all over your chest in a cramped venting shaft, this place is going to get real quiet, real fast.” Alexandra swallowed hard, letting out a short, blunt breath.
“You’re staying right here in the treehouse.”
Six watched her for a moment.
The corner of her mouth lifted.
“You’re very protective of me,” Six murmured gently.
Alexandra looked away instantly, splashing a hand through the water.
“You’re expensive.”
Six’s faint smile widened just a fraction.
“Understood. I will remain in the personal quarters during the deployment.”
“Good,” Alexandra said, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
She leaned back against the river rock, a familiar, cocky smirk slowly creeping back onto her face as the heavy tension melted away.
She looked at Six, sitting there so calm, so composed, so completely dominant during their afternoon sparring session.
I took seven hard falls onto concrete today, Alexandra thought.
I need to get at least a little bit of my dignity back.
Alexandra leaned closer, putting on a soft, vulnerable expression.
“Hey… Six? Come here for a second.”
Six tilted her head slightly, stepping closer through the water until she was within arm’s reach.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah,” Alexandra murmured.
“This.”
Without warning, Alexandra lunged forward in the water, her arms wrapping around Six’s waist in a surprise grappling tackle, intending to drag the blonde under and pin her against the shallow riverbed.
Six leaned into Alexandra’s momentum, slipped her left arm beneath Alexandra’s chest, and hooked her right leg around Alexandra’s knee.
With a fluid sweep, she turned Alexandra’s own rush against her.
SPLASH!
Water erupted everywhere as Alexandra was flipped completely around.
Before she could figure out which way was up, Six pinned her face-down against the smooth, shallow river rocks at the edge of the spring, trapping both of Alexandra’s wrists behind her back in an iron-clad lock.
Alexandra tried to wrench one wrist free.
Nothing.
She shifted her hips and tried to roll her shoulder under the hold.
Still nothing.
Oh, come on.
I can’t move her.
Okay.
She really has me.
That was when she became painfully aware of exactly how close Six was.
“I attempted to warn you,” Six’s voice purred softly right against the shell of Alexandra’s ear.
“Fuck!” Alexandra spluttered, coughing up a mouthful of warm mineral water.
“Okay! Okay, fine! You win! Jesus!”
She tried to twist her shoulders to slip the hold, but the movement brought her back flushing directly against Six’s front in the scalding water.
Her upgraded nervous system immediately short-circuited.
Oh.
Oh, holy shit.
Why is my body doing this?!
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
This is humiliating.
I am face-down in a fucking hot spring, pinned by the hottest woman I’ve ever seen, and apparently my upgraded nervous system has decided this is a great time to completely betray me.
She tried to squirm, but moving only made her back brush harder against Six, sending another chaotic wave of heat flying straight up her spine.
Six paused, feeling the sudden, violent tension in Alexandra’s body and the sharp spike in her heart rate.
Her breath brushed warm against Alexandra’s wet neck as she leaned down slightly.
“Alexandra?” Six asked softly, a quiet trace of amusement in her voice.
“Are you quite certain you’re injured?”
“No!” Alexandra choked out, her voice an embarrassed, breathless squeak.
Six smiled against Alexandra’s shoulder.
She released Alexandra’s wrists smoothly and backed off.
Alexandra scrambled backward through the water until her back hit the smooth rocks at the far edge of the spring.
She sat there, chest heaving, water dripping from her blonde hair, staring across the pool at Six with wide, horrified, stubbornly indignant eyes.
Six sat calmly in the deep end, resting her chin on her hand, watching her with open amusement.
Alexandra wiped her face with a trembling hand, trying desperately to pull the shattered pieces of her dignity back together.
Note to self, she thought, her internal voice desperately trying to sound cool while her heart hammered against her ribs.
Never, under any circumstances, try to ambush my own companion in a hot spring ever again.