Chapter 129 Luna Speaks First

Chapter 129 Luna Speaks First

Donovan's POV

I was reviewing security reports when Luna's voice entered my mind.

It was not a sound or a whisper. It was just a sudden presence. And words were forming inside my thoughts like they'd always been there.

I can end this.

I dropped my tablet.

Luna was in her crib across the room. She was nine weeks old.

"Did you just..."

Yes. I am speaking directly to your consciousness. Aurora cannot do this. She feels too much to focus. But I can isolate neural pathways and communicate without vocalization.

I stood slowly and walked to the crib. Luna looked up at me. Her mouth wasn't moving. But the voice in my head continued.

You are afraid. Your heart rate elevated. You fear what I am.

"You're nine weeks old. You shouldn't be able to do this."

I am tri-hybrid. Age is irrelevant. Capability is what matters. And I am capable of ending the worship, the fear and the movements forming around us.

"How?"

I can make them stop, the same way I made the students kneel. But this time, it would be permanent. I can reach into their minds and remove their obsession and erase their need to worship or fear us.

I felt cold. "You're talking about mind control."

I am talking about solving a problem. The religious movements endanger this academy. They endanger you and Sierra. Logic dictates removing the threat.

"By violating people's minds."

By correcting faulty programming. Their worship is irrational and their fear is inefficient. I can fix both.

"Luna, you're a baby. You can't just decide to alter people's thoughts."

Why not? I have the capability. You have the need. The solution is obvious.

I sat down heavily. Having a debate with a nine-week-old was surreal. Having one with a telepathic nine-week-old was a nightmare fuel.

"Because it's wrong. People have a right to their own thoughts, even irrational ones."

That is inefficient morality. You prioritize abstract rights over practical solutions.

"Yes. Because that's what separates thinking beings from machines."

Luna blinked.

You value autonomy more than safety. Even when autonomy creates danger.

"Especially then. Freedom includes the freedom to be wrong, t be afraid, to worship if you choose."

But their choices threaten us. Removing those choices protects everyone.

"At the cost of free will. That's not protection. That's tyranny."

Tyranny implies malicious intent. I have no malice, only logic.

"That makes it worse. Malice can be reasoned with. Logic that ignores morality can't."

Luna was quiet for a moment. Then, the presence in my mind withdrew slightly.

You will not allow me to solve this problem?

"No, not that way."

Then how? The movements are growing stronger. The Purist Alliance is planning violence. Your council vote is tomorrow. The academy is fracturing. What is your solution?

I didn't have one. That was the problem.

"I don't know yet. But mind control isn't it."

You choose uncertainty over certainty, chaos over order. That is irrational.

"That's human."

I am NOT human.

"You're half human. And you live in a human world. You need to learn human values."

Why? My values are more efficient.

"Because efficiency isn't everything. Because how we solve problems matters as much as solving them." I struggled to explain. "If you solve this through force, you prove the Purist Alliance right. You prove that you're a threat."

Luna's eyes pulsed with dimensional energy.

They already believe I am a threat. So why not act?

"Because beliefs can change. Actions are permanent."

Beliefs rarely change. Humans are stubborn and they are driven by emotion rather than logic.

"Yes, we are. And you need to accept that."

Why should I accept inefficiency?

"Because you're going to spend your life surrounded by inefficient beings. You can either work with us or against us. One creates cooperation and the other creates conflict."

If I do not solve this, what happens?

"I don't know."

That answer is unacceptable.

"It's honest."

Honesty without utility is pointless.

"Honesty is the foundation of trust. And you're going to need people to trust you."

Why? I can make them obey.

"But you can't make them love you. You can't make them want to protect you. You can't make them choose you freely." I moved closer. "Luna, you can force people to do things. But force creates resentment. Cooperation creates loyalty. Which do you want?"

The one that ensures my survival.

"Both do. But one requires you to constantly enforce control. The other requires you to earn trust. One makes enemies. The other makes allies."

Luna studied me. I felt her consciousness touching mine again.

You are trying to teach me ethics.

"Yes."

Ethics are subjective and vary across cultures. There is no objective morality.

"True. But there are principles that work better for building societies. They're not perfect. But they're better than tyranny."

How do you know?

"Because tyrannies always collapse and cooperation survives."

That is historical observation, not logical proof.

"Sometimes observation is better than proof. Experience teaches what logic can't predict."

Luna withdrew from my mind completely and closed her eyes.

I thought the conversation was over.

Then her voice returned.

I do not understand humans. You choose difficulty over ease. Emotion over reason. Chaos over control. It is frustrating.

"Welcome to the human experience."

I am NOT human.

"You're half human and that half matters."

Does it? Aurora is half human too. But her human half dominates. She feels while I think. We are not balanced the same way.

"No. You're not. And that's okay. You don't have to be like Aurora. You just have to learn to exist with humans without controlling them."

That will be difficult.

"Most worthwhile things are."

I do not like difficulty.

I almost smiled. "That's the most human thing you've said yet."

Luna opened her eyes again.

I will not solve this problem through mind control. But I reserve the right to reconsider if the situation becomes critical.

"Fair enough."

This conversation stays between us. Sierra would be upset and Aurora would be confused.

"Agreed."

You are less inefficient than I expected.

"Is that a compliment?"

It is an observation. But you may interpret it as positive if it pleases you.

"Thank you, Luna."

You are welcome, Father.

The word Father echoed strangely in my mind.

Luna had chosen to call me that.

That meant something.

The presence withdrew completely. Luna closed her eyes. To anyone watching, she was just a baby sleeping.

But I knew better.

My nine-week-old daughter had just offered to solve our problems through mass mind control.

And I'd talked her out of it temporarily.

I picked up my tablet with shaking hands.