Weightless Rose

Episode 1

Evelyn is the Federation's top singer, and Kelvin handpicks her for a goodwill tour to a frontier colony—right after she's been dragged across the internet and onto the trending charts. It should be a simple performance for stationed soldiers. Instead, her vessel suffers a propulsion failure mid-course and goes down hard.

On waste planet K-17, Carlisle orders the wreck checked. When someone suggests reporting it to House Wayne, he refuses—House Wayne exiled him here, so whatever falls from the sky is none of their concern. Then a necklace recognizes its owner, and the insects follow the ship down. The survivors find no one alive. What they do find is valuable trouble: a woman from the core world.

Episode 2

Weapons up—nobody lets the woman from the core world fall into the wrong hands. Carlisle sees an opportunity: if she's important enough, she might be his ticket off this forsaken planet.

The swarm closes in, and standard rounds can't pierce their shells. The defenders improvise, waiting for the creatures to open their mouths before firing, refusing to let a single one escape. Intact shells will buy fuel; the venom sacks go to the underground labs.

As for the insect corpses piling up, nobody asks too many questions. They all fell out of the sky, didn't they? The fight is brutal, but it's also a payday—and a warning of what's hunting the crash survivor.

Episode 3

Carlisle makes his authority clear: this territory answers to him, not to House Wayne. Evelyn pushes back—she's from the core world, and she expects the comforts that come with it. He reminds her this is a colony, not her precious core planet, and no one's walking home just to keep her comfortable.

She finds room anyway, squeezing in and refusing to get off. Then comes the shock: she's an omega. Impossible, she insists—she took a long-acting suppressive before she left, so her pheromone barrier shouldn't be failing.

But Carlisle can suddenly smell an omega's pheromones for the first time in his life. He has to wonder: is his genetic rejection disorder gone?

Episode 4

Gray Ring settlement is just ahead, but getting home is another matter. Evelyn points out that Carlisle has already saved her twice—why not finish the good deed and send her back to the core worlds? He can only promise to help once they find a way to contact them.

Gray Ring's transmitter was destroyed in the fighting. The crimson scales have another one, but they hate House Wayne, and Carlisle is the only one who can get inside. So he gives Evelyn his clothes to wear, hiding her identity and carrying his scent.

She teases him about moving fast—but first, she wants a shower. He really is hopelessly unromantic.

Episode 5

The tension sharpens: Evelyn is an omega, Carlisle is an alpha, and she needs to keep her pheromones under control. She insists her suppressor hasn't worn off, so nothing should be leaking—yet he can still smell her. After more than twenty years, his dormant senses have suddenly bloomed, and this is the first omega pheromone he's ever encountered. He shouldn't be reacting like this.

Then a small disaster: she walks out mid-shower, and he's stuck tangled beneath her. He twisted his left wrist when she fell, and his right hand is trapped under her. She suggests he could slowly slide out from under her—and admits she likes that option.

Episode 6

Warning: swarm activity is detected near the colony, expected in about a day. This isn't a passing migration—the insects are coming straight for them. Carlisle puts everyone on high alert and orders the settlement entrances sealed.

He tells Evelyn to stay in her room and lock the door, no matter what happens outside. Then the assault begins. Squads hold the eastern breach, others protect the energy tower, and heavy weapons target the lead insect to conserve ammunition. The eastern swarm enters range and opens fire.

But the southern residential area is breached. Carlisle takes the southern sector himself. When Evelyn comes to, dazed and painless, she wonders if she's in heaven—and why he's still haunting her even there.

Episode 7

Carlisle is furious when he finds her in the fighting. She says she wasn't trying to die—she just couldn't stand by and watch a child die in front of her. He snaps that this is a battlefield, not a place to prove herself. She fires back that she isn't an ornament to be locked away for her own protection.

Then the real revelation lands: the insects didn't come to attack Gray Ring. They came for her. Why would they want to capture her?

The swarm hasn't retreated—it's regrouping. Once it reaches the civilian flight lanes, every nearby colony is in danger. They need to warn the core worlds immediately. But the crimson scales have always rejected anyone from House Wayne.

Episode 8

The crimson scales' grudge is with House Wayne, not with Evelyn—so she volunteers to go. Carlisle hesitates, worried about her after she barely survived the insect attack, but she insists the warning has to get through.

He agrees, with conditions: no wandering off, and a tracker on her location. Ten minutes—if he doesn't hear from her, he's coming in after her. She teases him about not being able to bear being without her.

At the settlement, a girl has inhaled too much crimson flame dust, and it's corroding her organs. She needs a specialized Crystal dust neutralizer from the old mines' emergency medical station. The tunnels collapsed, the automated defenses went rogue, and two teams never came back. Evelyn makes a deal: she'll retrieve the neutralizer in exchange for the long-range transmitter.

Episode 9

Carlisle's people are skeptical about sending Evelyn into the mines alone—until he reminds them she mowed down insects by herself, hitting every shot. One of them notes she's the first woman he's ever praised. He insists he's only stating a fact.

Inside the mine, they reach the emergency medical station, but the explosion cracked the underground power line, and flammable gas is still leaking into the tunnel. Digging now could spark a second explosion. They leave the passage and search for another exit.

Carlisle tells her to stay where he can reach her. She asks if that's a survival rule or a personal preference. Both. First insects, now a mine collapse—sticking with her has been quite the adventure.

Episode 10

The mine once belonged to House Wayne. Evelyn thinks that means he should know the place, but Carlisle admits his family abandoned plenty of mines, and he never felt the need to tour every one.

Then the automated defenses wake up. Unauthorized personnel detected—defense protocol activated. Wayne energy, private property: intruders will be eliminated. His own family built these things to last, and now they're turning on him.

He shouts for Evelyn to get inside as the turrets fire. She dives through, and he follows. The alternative was staying out there and getting shot. Ahead, more turrets wait—and he can already see them.