Year 2516, April 11th.

—

Auto-generated mission report-

Redacted Squad launches at Space Station destination 13.

Boarding is successful.

Heavy Fire received after Tiger boarding. Modified Elunari plasma shields provided.

Modified plasma shields are effective. Increasing threshold recommended.

Redacted Squad eliminates five hostiles.

Redacted Squad begins assault.

Redacted Squad pings station for survivors. Ping is negative.

Recommended modification to life dedication systems through Elunari Construction Plastic. Awaiting approval.

Redacted Squad makes headway into the station. Enemy is spotted by AR881.

Immediate firefight begins.

Two hostiles eliminated. One wounded.

Hostile interrogated for information by AR881.

One hostile elimnated.

Redacted Squad continues assault.

Redacted Squad clears western portion of Station 13.

Redacted Squad moves towards command center of Station 13.

Redacted Squad encounters heavy resistance.

Hostiles dug in and erected defensive position. Stationary weapons being used.

New Slag Plasma grenades deployed.

Thirteen hostiles eliminated.

Extremely effective. No further testing required.

Command center successfully controlled.

Final ping sent.

No survivors.

Surveillance cameras tapped into.

Movement in the engine room.

Hostiles attempting manual sabotage of the gravity field.

Redacted Squad dispatched.

Resistance is minor.

Three hostiles eliminated.

Engine room is welded shut.

HP840 begins work on door.

Door is breached.

Redacted Squad comes under suppressive fire by an unidentified weapon.

HE309 suffers minor flesh wound.

Two hostiles eliminated.

AP810 suffers minor flesh wound.

HE309 suffers severe wound.

HP840 suffers severe wound.

One hostile eliminated.

HE309 suffers critical wound.

HE309 disabled unidentified weapon.

HE309 suffers critical wound.

Recommend salvaging/investigation of unknown Federation heavy weaponry.

Immediate medical attention administered to HE309.

All hostiles eliminated.

Final report-

Twenty-seven hostiles eliminated.

All six hundred and sixty-eight Station 13 staff deceased.

Station secured.

Mission successful.

—

Year 2516, June 21st. Aboard the Super Carrier COAR Remembrance

I let out a deep sigh as I tapped away on the datapad. I wasn’t sure how many times I’ve reread this stupid AI report, but I started to go stir crazy.

I’ve had nearly all of my internal organs replaced, and I’ve had enough sensors put into my mushy brain to turn it into a soup. Well… not really… but almost.

This stupid wound is taking forever to heal. I only lost an arm and lung. The recovery shouldn’t have been months. Whatever that weird gun was did a real number on me. I hadn’t been expecting a single round to blow my arm off.

“Maybe I should just retire…” I mumbled.

“That wouldn’t be ideal, sir,” a cold voice ran out.

“Shit!” I squeaked.

I glared up at my silent watcher. Va'cot was standing motionlessly in the doorway watching me with pink eyes.

Did I not hear her because I wasn’t paying attention? Or is she just that quiet? This is like… the fourth time… maybe she is just that quiet.

“Va'cot… can you announce your presence, please?” I half asked, half begged.

She is going to be the death of me. I always wanted to die in the embrace of a beautiful woman, but I would prefer if it weren’t via a heart attack.

The tall alien blinked at me slowly. “Ok.”

“You said that last time…” I mumbled.

“Ok.”

“Okay… what can I do for you?” I asked.

“I was told it was customary to visit injured comrades. So I have brought gifts,” Va'cot stated.

I let out a sad sigh and just chuckled to myself. I’m so glad he isn’t around anymore… these two would have been two peas in a pod.

“You said that last time you visited as well. Well, thank you, I appreciate it.”

“Of course.” Va'cot moved over to my bedside and gently placed the white box on the table. She was so careful it was almost like she was trying to defuse a bomb.

“What’s in the box?”I asked, worried.

Va'cot’s eyes darted from me to the box. “Poi—chocolate…” she said weakly.

Poison?!

Ah… wait, Elunari are violently allergic to chocolate. Forgot about that. Well, despite that one time, we dropped a— never mind.

“I see. Thank you.”

She was watching me intently, so I figured I could at least show her my thanks. I picked up the white box and undid the purple ribbon on top of it, carefully removed the cardboard lid and— pink hearts?

I looked up at her suspiciously, but Va'cot’s face was as blank as ever. Surely this was just a coincidence, right? There’s no way she means anything by this.

“Thank you… but uh… why the hearts?” I asked.

“Because it was on sale,” she stated.

“Sale? Why…”

“There was a holiday some time ago. These confections no longer meet the requirements for a holiday. Therefor—”

“Wait, wait! These are from Valentine’s day?” I squeaked.

“Yes?” Va'cot said with a small amount of confusion.

She really was trying to kill me…

“Va'cot… this holiday was over four months ago. So this chocolate is probably expired,” I said.

She didn’t even blink as she continued staring through my very soul. “Is it?” she asked, completely unfazed.

I gently put the cardboard cover back on and placed it back on my nightstand. Then, with the brightest smile I could muster, I turned to her. “Thank you, Va'cot. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

“Of course,” she stated.

I could only chuckle at her in response. Va'cot was odd, yes, but not any more than what I was used to. If anything, I was used to being around people who could go hours on end without speaking a single word.

Kronos wasn’t the only first-gen, after all. And they were all the same, dead silent and often only spoke when spoken to. Or if they were giving orders, that’s pretty much the extent of their speaking. Even a lot of the early second-gens, such as myself, were like that.

All the scrambling done to my brain probably made me into what I am today but then again… I think I’ve always been like this… so maybe I was just a freak before the drugs? Ah… it’s been so long.

The first batch of the second generation died pretty much the second they went through the changing process. There is no doubt that they were the test dummies as Octario tried to get the serum to perfection. I was fortunate enough to be in the latter half of the second batch and well… I turned out fine.

But I remembered all these things because I can see Va’cot isn’t acting the same. It was a hard thing to notice, the change in a quiet person’s attitude. If I didn’t have years of experience working with the Commander and some of my comrades, I might have never noticed the very subtle changes.

I smiled at the young girl until she finally met my eyes. “ Va'cot, is there something bothering you?”

She looked away nervously and started fidgeting with her hands. “Ah… no—”

“Va'cot…” I repeated.

She slowly looked up from her hands and I made sure to continue wearing my best smile. “I…I believe I may be sorrowful…”

Huh.

Although my smile was faltering just a little, I did my best to maintain it. I spoke slowly and softly like I was speaking to a young child, despite the woman in front of me being capable of ripping my head off my shoulders. “I don’t understand… perhaps… there is a better word?”

Va’cot stared blankly until she averted her eyes to the side. “Perhaps, depressed is a better adjective for my current state.”

Depressed?

Now it was my turn to stare blankly at her. At times like this, most people would probably feel a mixture of sadness or pity. Maybe they would even have a small amount of hope that they could help someone like her out of their situation. But, unfortunately for Va’cot, I’ve never once felt any of those emotions, which made empathizing with her very difficult.

Perhaps at times like this, I should be my usual self, make a joke to lighten the mood. Maybe take a jab at myself to get them to unfocus on their busy mind. But I had a feeling that none of that was going to work in this situation.

“The station… all those people were your family, right?” I asked.

Va’cot nodded her head.

“You must have been close to a lot of them.”

Va’cot nodded her head.

“You miss them?”

Va’cot nodded her head.

“I see… I guess I miss some people too…” I mumbled.

Va’cot had said that station was like her home. After the mission, we hadn’t managed to save a single crew member. It was a complete and utter massacre. We managed to save the data and stop them from nuking the place but… the report said the mission was a success… was it really?

I don’t know if just filling the air with words was helping her any. I feel like a small part of her came to me in hopes that I could do something for her, but the reality is she needs help from a professional. I’m a lot of things, but I’m definitely not a therapist. And I’m probably the last person she should be talking to about this kind of stuff… considering I’ve never really felt many emotions.

Most of those days are nothing but a foggy memory in the back of my head.

“Va’cot… have you talked to Suárez? She can probably help you…” I said.

She shook her long white hair and let out a sad sigh. “Lady Suárez is preoccupied with more important matters. I would prefer not to bother her…” Va’cot mumbled.

Not sure that’s how therapy works… then again, “Doctor” Suárez is becoming less of a doctor by the day.

The awkward silence permeated the room. I was at a loss for words and I felt that most of my tactics would be woefully underappreciated at the moment. So maybe I just defuse the situation by saying I need to go to sleep…

Or maybe I should just step up? Of course, I might not be able to understand what she is going through but… I can sort of imagine it, at least.

“I can’t say that I know what you are going through, Va’cot. The days when I felt any kind of emotions are so far removed from my current life, I can’t even be sure if they are real anymore. But you aren’t alone. You may have only been a part of this squad for a short time, but I assure you that you belong here. I was apprehensive at first… not really sure what to do or say to you. But I’m confident that we can work together through all your problems. Your actions and what you accomplished in the last mission… I’m certain that this is going to work.”

A faint smile crept up on her pale face, and she closed her hands. “Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it, kid. Now run along. Being sad is bad for your recovery and all that jazz,” I chuckled.

“All… that… jazz?” she asked herself.

I laughed again, and I felt the numb sensation roll through my chest, telling me I was overexerting myself. That feeling probably should have been a pain but… eh.

“Go look it up. It should be a fun little mission for you.”

“Okay, I will. I will see you around the block, Heimdall,” Va’cot said flatly.

Ah well… at least she is trying…

“Yeah, you too.”

The young alien left as quickly and silently as she had come. I flicked my internal implants to a view outside the ship. I stared into the black void of space and pondered.

Is what we are about to embark on the right path? Are we really doing this because it’s the right thing to do? Or is it because we want to do it? Is getting people like Va’cot involved a good idea?

Well… either way, I know what I want out of this.