Chapter 2: Storm Warning—Mission Impossible

Until that day, when a thunderstorm rolled in and our parents weren’t home. I was curled up in bed with a paperback when a flat, mechanical voice suddenly echoed in my head.

[Congratulations, Host, PO System unlocked.]

I almost dropped my book. For a second, I wondered if I’d lost it—like a commercial had hijacked my brain. “Great. Now I’m hearing voices. Just what I needed.”

“He’ll never fall for me,” I shot back at the system, refusing on instinct.

He could fall for anyone, just not me.

[Host, you should try.]

The robotic voice buzzed in my mind, like a bad radio station I couldn’t tune out.

[In a PO—taboo romance—story, no sibling pairing keeps the moral line.]

I fumbled in the dark, heart pounding, and opened his bedroom door. Harrison actually looked surprised for once.

“What is it?”

I pressed my back to the wall, nerves jangling. “Harrison, Mom and Dad aren’t home tonight.”

“So?”

He shot me a wary look.

Lightning flashed, the storm making the air in the house thick and electric.

“I’m scared of thunder.”

He pressed his lips together, staring hard at me.

“Autumn Caldwell,” he said, using my full name—something he hardly ever did. “You were never afraid of thunder.”

He knew me better than anyone ever could.

“You’re right, I’m not,” I said, meeting his eyes. “So that was just an excuse, Harrison.”

Our eyes locked, and he understood exactly what I meant.

“Get out,” he said.

I reached back and closed the door behind me. A gust of rain blew in, soaking the sheets near the window. His face darkened even more as he got up, yanked the door open, and repeated, “Get out.”

“Harrison...”

“Autumn.” He grabbed my arm, his grip tight. “I’ll just pretend you’re not in your right mind tonight.”

He practically dragged me back to my own room. Left alone in the empty space, I drew a shaky breath.

The silence was so loud it made my ears ring. I pressed my forehead to the cold glass, watching the rain snake down the window. “See? I told you,” I muttered to the system.

[Host, you can try a few more times.]

“What if I refuse?”

[If you fail the mission, you’ll be replaced.]

The system’s voice echoed: [Someone will succeed eventually.]