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SALVAGE

Phase 3

By Cole Kordus

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Hawking System // 2105 // DATE: 7, aug. // TIME: 2340 [GST] . . .

Erasmo suddenly knew what it might have been like to be the commander of the Lazarus:

Helpless. Unable to stop anyone from dying or being injured. Unable to stop your world collapse

in front of you. Just as Erasmo had been unable to stop Val from leaving. To stop her from

maiming Darwin. To stop the woman from attacking him. He suddenly rocketed back to the

driver’s seat, staggering back as the reality of what was happening physically struck him.

Darwin was disturbingly silent.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before Erasmo broke it. “Darwin… I- I am sorry.”

Another eternity. “Not your fault.”

“Is… Is there anything I can do?”

“No…” Darwin leaned up. His torso had almost been completely severed, and he had lost

control of his legs. He only had one, noodle-like arm to use. “But… I still need to save your

life.”

“Sorry?”

“The ah…” Darwin paused, seemingly collecting his thoughts. “The zombie suit doesn’t

fix anything. If you had open injuries or ruptured organs, they are still bleeding. You just don’t

feel it. Soldiers could be considered clinically dead, but still have the ability to carry on. Hence,

the name.”

Erasmo swayed, feeling light-headed. “Sh-she mentioned that…”

“Right.” The AI sounded as if he had the world on his shoulders. “W-We need to get

moving. I detect a… a place where I can fix you.”

“Alright… What should I do about you?”

“First… you need to get rid of my legs. They’re dead weight.”

Erasmo nodded, and grasped the small ‘waist’ of Darwin’s body. He looked up and saw

that Darwin had wrapped his arm around a chair that was bolted to the floor. The robot flashed a

thumbs up and Erasmo yanked back. With a rip and shower of sparks, the legs and half of the

torso ripped away from what was left of Darwin. Erasmo winced. It wasn’t as if he had just

yanked off the legs of an actual person- but in a way, he had. To his alarm, Darwin’s face

remained blank, displaying only a thin line of static.

“Darwin?” He paused. “Darwin!”

There was a strange noise, and then Darwin flickered back on. “Sorry. System overload.

I’m good to go now.”

“Whew,” Erasmo breathed.

“Yes… Okay. Pick me up.” Darwin extended his arm.

Erasmo hoisted him up and onto his back. Darwin snaked his arm under Erasmo’s armpit

and up over his opposite shoulder. His body was surprisingly heavy, but then again, it was a

metal robot’s body. Erasmo might not have been able to hold him for very long, but his suit was

not only numbing his entire body, but also enhancing his strength. He turned his head back and

looked at Darwin.

“Where to?”

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“Straight ahead.”

And so, the AI and boy headed down a hall. As they walked, both became deep in

thought, a profound silence overcoming them. Darwin was struggling to… well to understand

what was happening to him. He was fully aware of what he was; a very long and complicated

string of code. But he was thinking and feeling. And right now, he was feeling heartbreak. He

had not known it until he had said the words to her, but Darwin now realized that he had loved

Valkyrie. Romantically. It should not have been possible. And the ramifications it held were…

troubling. Even to him. This had all occurred to him within a tenth of a second. But then Val had

snapped his body, and left him in the presence of a teenage boy who had a very finite amount of

time left to live.

Erasmo was thinking about what Val had done. They had boarded Pixius Station with the

intent of having everyone benefit from the adventure. Now, 53 people were dead. Val had

murdered all of them- although murder was the wrong word. Slaughter was more accurate. But

the worst, was that she hadn’t murdered all of them. Erasmo had killed someone. A woman. No

older than thirty. Her expression of dumb shock was etched into his mind. She couldn’t believe

that she was going to die. Erasmo let out a shuddering breath. He didn’t even know her name.

And if he now thought Val was a monster because of what she had done, what did that make

him?

So, they walked in silence, both feeling like the most depressed person in the galaxy.

⍝

Val felt like the angriest person in the galaxy. She had just found out that her best friend

had killed every single person she had cared about just to extend her own lifespan. Every. Single.

One. Not only that, but Darwin had done this because he loved her. The more Val thought about

it, the more confused and angry she got. Which was not a good thing for anyone. A genetically-

enhanced, 250 pound, armored killing machine should generally, not be upset.

Valkyrie stopped in a large circular room. Lifeless control consoles surrounded the area,

and a large cylindrical device squatted in the center of the room. She had no idea what anything

was for. But she also didn’t care. Darwin came back into her mind and she let out a hiss of anger,

punching a nearby computer terminal as hard as she could. Her fist went straight through it. She

withdrew it and stared at her skin. It was unscathed, aside from some white marks.

One of the many benefits of having a genetically augmented body was the ability to

punch things with impunity. Val realized that some of her injures had not fully healed, and she

still had a hole in her cheek that was leaking blood. She touched it for a moment, then glanced

down at her stomach, which had been stabbed several times. She knew from experience that

most of the damage would have been taken care of by her body- but Val also knew she would

still need actual meds.

Life had been hard for her. For everyone in the STORM program. Over the course of a

year, her body had matured into that of a 13 year old’s. Her mind had also grown at an

accelerated rate, but not quite as fast. And so it was, that Val’s body had stopped the accelerated

growth at the age of 26, while her mind remained that of an 18 year old’s. Now, she was 21-

mentally. And the military life was all she had known.

You protect your squad, your allies, and you finish your missions, at all costs. You

reported to command when you were done, got your next mission, and stopped by the infirmary

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if needed. But Val no longer had a squad. Or allies. They had all been killed by Darwin- who by

all rights, should have been an enemy, but she could not think of him that way. Val had no

command, no mission, no… anything. And so, she did the only thing she could think to do: head

towards an infirmary.

But even that, did not stop her mind from wandering. All she could think about was what

had happened with Darwin. She felt a deep hurt, but all of the wounds on her body were

inconsequential. So why was she hurting? Why? And slowly, Val’s anger faded into a deep,

cold, emptiness that filled up her entire body. And while she could not describe her feelings,

Valkyrie felt like the most depressed person in the galaxy.

⍝

Erasmo looked around the room in awe. More technology was contained in here than

every other place he had been combined. A large circular thing hung down from the ceiling with

a myriad of devices coming off from it. Soft blue lights winked everywhere. Erasmo forced

himself to stop admiring what was around him. A minute ago, he had become aware that the

inside of his boot was soaked with blood as it started to squelch.

“What now?”

“Set me down… by that terminal.”

Erasmo set Darwin down. “Now?”

“I need you to open the back of my head.”

“Are you sure?” Erasmo blinked. “Isn’t that where… you are?”

“Correct!” Darwin flashed a thumbs up. “You can do it.”

Erasmo crouched down behind Darwin- who had propped himself up- and popped open a

large hatch on the back of his head. He was met with a vast array of wires, circuitry, and buttons.

This might have fazed most people. Especially if they should clinically be dead and had just

killed someone. But Erasmo was not most people. He was a technical genius.

“Now?”

“I won’t be able to talk once you do this, so listen bloody carefully. Disconnect all the

yellow wires and then press the two red buttons at the same time. This should reveal me. I will

be glowing green. Erasmo, this is my proverbial heart. If it becomes damaged…”

“Nothing will happen.” Erasmo nodded. “Alright, I’m starting.”

The yellow wires ended in large plugs- someone had designed the robot with this in

mind. Erasmo removed all the yellow wires, and then held down the two red buttons. A hatch

popped open and a green glow appeared. He carefully reached in with two fingers and pulled the

AI core out. Erasmo inspected it for a moment, turning it over in his hand. It was the size of one

of his movie cases with smooth chrome edges and glowing green LEDs that pulsed gently.

Moving with as much care as he could, Erasmo set it down on a computer.

He then ducked under the console and activated his plasma blade. Very carefully, Erasmo

cut a hole in the side of it. Inside, he could see the actual computer. He meddled with it for

several minutes, clearing connections, pulling apart wires, and disconnecting the odd part. After

he had set something up, he nestled the AI core in the rigged housing, using some final

components from Darwin’s robot body to secure it in place and connect it to the computer.

There was a pause, then the lights flickered and multiple machines began moving.

Erasmo stood and smiled. He noticed a light winking at him from a terminal mounted on the wall

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and walked towards it, noticing how all of the mechanized instruments seemed to track his

movement. He tapped the icon and turned around.

“CONNECTION ERROR. FUNCTIONS. DISTORDED. KILLKILLKILL-”

“Very funny, Darwin.” Erasmo said, crossing his arms.

“Alright fine- but seriously how the hell did you hook me up? And by how, I mean, why

did you jerry-rig me into the system like this?”

“Well sorry!” Erasmo rolled his eyes. “I suppose I could have just pushed you into some

slot, right?”

“Yes!” Darwin said, exasperated. “There is literally an AI slot two inches from my

body.”

Erasmo looked over and flushed slightly. “Oh. Right.”

“Oh right indeed.”

⍝

“Now, lay down on the table.”

“Should I take off my sui-”

“Nope! No need for that! Just… lie down.” Darwin illuminated the medical pad. Erasmo

walked towards it and laid down. here

“Okay. Now what?”

“All you have to do, is close your eyes.”

Erasmo did this, and Darwin manipulated the suit’s life support to send him into a coma.

He then spent several seconds exploring his new body (which was pretty much the room), testing

all of his functions, reading up on the medical protocol here, and making sure that they would

not be interrupted by sealing the blast door. He did this in the space of one second. Darwin

returned his attention to the poor kid. He scanned his body and took in all of the damage with

mounting relief that he had gotten Erasmo here quickly.

His injured leg had two snapped bones, and a crushed artery. His shin bone had broken

through the skin, and there was severe muscle trauma at his hip. His right arm was an even worse

mess, with pinched nerves, torn ligaments, a shattered hand, and a pulverized rotator cuff. It was

a miracle that the MICSM 9 had managed to pin his arm back into place and move it around.

And that was without the internal damage. Several ruptured organs, two broken ribs, and it

appeared as if Erasmo’s heart had stopped several minutes ago.

Once again, the MICSM had done a technological miracle and kept him alive and

functioning by sending electrical impulses through his brain and feeding him oxygen directly. It

was a good thing that Erasmo had never taken off his helmet. If Darwin had fingers, he would

have cracked them at this point. He was about to go to work and save Erasmo’s life.

“I have fixed worse,” he said to no one, before he began peeling off Erasmo’s armor.

⍝

Val flexed and stretched, having just used several medical kits to seal up all her wounds.

She had dug out all three bullets, sped up her healing process, slapped Self-Stitchers on her cuts,

and swallowed an IHP- just in case. The hole in her face was now, also gone. She stood up and

checked her weapons. She only had one mag left for her Snub, but had two left for Thunder-

which would double as an excellent club once the ammo was gone. Not to mention she always

had her insane strength and blades that were built onto her body.

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But… who would I be using it on? Val had reflected on her memories of her rampage and

had been surprised to find that she had been about to kill a whole group of women and children

before Darwin intervened. She felt no guilt about this, but had no logical reason to go back and

finish the fight. He had always told me to avoid civilian- Valkyrie shook her head and growled.

No! That damn robot! He… I can’t believe he… She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She

needed to leave. She couldn’t stand being aboard the same station as… as him.

Val strode over to a terminal and pounded in several rapid commands. A map of the

station pulled up and quickly found the quickest way to the main hangar. She was leaving this

damn place, taking one of the ships here, and going wherever the hell she wanted to. Val moved

towards the exit and cracked her knuckles.

“Please,” She muttered to the air. “Just try and fucking stop me.”

⍝

Darwin finished ordering procedures and movements and “sat back,” watching the

instruments continue on their own with the operation. He began to expand his consciousness,

probing for a way to influence the station. I know Val. And I know what she’s going to do now.

Darwin found a wireless network and activated it. If he possessed hands, he would have been

rubbing them together with glee. He every rapidly began to expand throughout the station-

making sure to keep some of his consciousness with Erasmo.

Darwin darted through various systems before finally managing to locate the security hub

of the entire station. He downloaded a portion of himself onto the main server’s database and

took command. Some primitive defense mechanisms were in place, but Darwin overwhelmed

them and parceled them away in a distant corner of the system. He quickly did a scan of the

entire station’s systems. He turned his attention to the Hangar just in time to see the last shuttle

full of people leave. He did a quick scan and detected four living people aboard the station.

Good. I don’t need to worry about two scavengers. Now… where are you Val? Darwin

quickly found her and analyzed her path. She’s heading to the main hangar. Not good… there

are still ships she could take… Darwin momentarily entertained the idea of activating the turrets

inside the station to scuttle the remaining ships, but dismissed it. He had no intention of staying

aboard this station. So he would just have to do the next best thing.

⍝

Val was halfway to her destination when she became aware of the buzzing. She whirled

around in time to see a horde of drones flying towards her. The air was teeming with them. She

unslung her rifle and fired off five successive shots. Multiple explosions shook the hallway and

she ejected mag in Thunder and slapped in a new one, backing up rapidly. She fired off another

three shots, watching the drones spark and crash, quickly realizing that it was pointless. There

was a seemingly infinite amount of the drones.

She sprinted down the hallway, quickly reaching a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. Val

took a sharp right, built up her speed again, activated her shield, and rammed through a wall. She

burst into the room and dashed through it, setting several things on fire as she passed. Val burst

through another wall, then deactivated her shield and quickly took stock of where she was. The

elevator to the hangar was just around the corner. The buzzing behind her intensified. Val

growled and took off. She sprinted down the hall, smacked against the opposite wall in a T

junction, and sighted the elevator to the hangar.

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She ran towards it, but skidded to a stop as turrets descended from the ceiling and aimed

at her. Val whipped out her rifle and shot the both of them, sending chunks of shrapnel flying.

One struck her in the arm and remained imbedded there. She ignored it, dropped Thunder and

sprinted towards the elevator. Thirty meters. Twenty. Ten!

Val was tripped and fell flat on her face. She rolled onto her back and saw that several of

the drones had combined into a large one, and was shooting a tractor beam at her- which had

ensnared her leg. Val roared and whipped out her Snub, setting it to explosive rounds. She

emptied the entire clip, shredding through the machines like paper. But it wasn’t enough. The

drones swarmed around her, shooting out tractor beams and preventing her from doing anything

more than thrashing about. She tried to activate her invulnerability shield, but she had already

used up all of its juice for the day.

“DARWIIIIIIIIN!” She roared.

And that was when the drones shot her full of electricity, knocking her out.

⍝

Erasmo woke up groggy and in pain. He groaned and rubbed at his head. Cold. He froze.

And then, very slowly, opened his eyes and looked at his hand. It was metal. He sat bolt upright,

his eyes wide, and his chest heaving. His arm was metal. It was made from a strange material

and looked as if it had been made from bronze. He flexed it experimentally and paused, studying

it. It had a smooth and elegant design to it, with the bronze plates resting on top of a matte black

material covering the interior workings of the arm. Erasmo looked down and saw that the same

treatment had been given to his legs. He flexed his mechanical toes and then fell back heavily,

letting out a breath.

“Sorry.” Darwin’s voice came on over the intercom. “Your arm and leg… it was either

this, or put you through a month of very painful healing procedures. And I know they look a bit

tacky… but these were the only non-military models I could find.” He paused. “Erasmo? Are

you okay?”

Erasmo paused for a long moment, then slid off the table, stumbling before catching

himself on a railing. He flexed his new limbs. “This… this is…” He turned and looked up at the

medical instruments. “This is awesome!” A grin appeared on his face. “I had heard stories and

read things about stuff like this but oh man, actually having bionic limbs! OH! Oh! I can put

augments on these! I can add stuff to them or maybe- Darwin! Is it possible to add on

functions?”

“Ye-yes…” Darwin said, taken by surprise.

“Awesome!” Erasmo pumped his mechanical fist in victory, before quickly sobering.

“What else was wrong?”

“You’re better off not knowing.”

“No, Darwin.” Erasmo looked at the floor. “I’m not stupid. I know the crash was bad and

a lot must have gone wrong. What else did you fix?”

A hologram appeared in front of Erasmo. “Sorry for this.” It began to show him all the

parts Darwin had replaced. “I had to replace your heart- which had burst- a lung, your spleen,

give you several bone enhancements and patches, and several fake arteries and veins. The good

news is that now you will never have any problems with your femoral artery or your pulmonary

arteries. And you’ll never crack your lower ribs again.”

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Erasmo paused for a moment, letting it all sink in. “Thank… thank you Darwin. For

saving my life.” He flexed his mechanical hand. “If it weren’t for you… I…”

“Don’t worry about it. Saving lives is what I do. Oh, and don’t worry about having to

maintenance your artificial organs. They come with a lifetime guarantee.”

“That’s nice.”

Erasmo began to walk around, getting used to the way his new limbs moved and

functioned. Aside from a small limp, he was soon able to get around easily. He tested this by

throwing a few punches and doing a kick- things he had never done before. Erasmo chuckled and

then looked around. It was somewhat disconcerting, talking to an empty room; he wasn’t sure

where to look. As if hearing his thoughts, a hologram of Darwin appeared in front of him.

“Darwin, did you fix my brain?”

“Bollocks! I forgot about that.”

Erasmo stared at him incredulously.

Darwin flashed a grin. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Yes, I fixed your psychosis. It was a rare

genetic disease, but all it required was a few chemicals, some nanobots, and some rewiring. I

don’t think that problem is ever going to bother you again. But, there is a sliiight side effect.”

“What?”

“Nothing much really. There’s just a .002% chance that you might just wander off into a

stupor randomly. And even then, it should only last a minute or so.”

Erasmo narrowed his eyes. “Are you joking again?”

Darwin paused for a long time. “Yes!” He finally said, his hologram waving an arm.

“Why would I make that up?! That’s like saying: Boy, Erasmo, I sure hope you don’t leave this

room because I’m currently re-wiring Val’s brain and that might be awkward for you to see!”

Erasmo stared at the hologram, which flickered.

“Bollocks.”

“Darwin are you okay?”

“I suppose that my mind begins to wander and do some Freudian slips when I stretch

myself thin. You know, I simply cannot believe that no one learns about Freud anymore!

Absolutely mental, but still, he was the first-”

“Where is Val?” Erasmo asked, cutting off the robot. “Come on Darwin.”

“Erasmo, you should stay here. Bionic limbs take more few minutes to adjust to the

wearer.”

“Darwin.” Erasmo looked at the hologram. “You can’t just… re-write her brain.”

“Why not?” Darwin suddenly vanished and his tone became defensive. “You’ve seen

what she is- what she can do. We can’t just… just let her loose on society! She’s programmed to

kill and we don’t need killers anymore. We need to rebuild. Which is hard to do when you have a

walking weapon who can’t… who can’t even…”

Erasmo paused, looking around the room. “Darwin…? Darwin. I know… that what

happened between you two must have been rough… but… you can’t… force her to love you. I

agree about the whole weapon business! And if that is all you are doing, fine; I’m okay with that.

I can’t really judge Val for what she did, especially considering what she is. And I am sure that

you know what you are doing when it comes to that part of her. But… I doubt even you know

what you’re doing when it comes to love. I know I have no clue!” This was an attempt to lighten

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the mood. But judging from the very long, palpable silence, Darwin was not amused. Erasmo

rubbed his new arm nervously. “Darwin?”

“You’re right.” A wash of static came in over the radio. “You’re right. I’m… I am

ceasing my work on her.” Another pause. “Done. I’ve already made some alterations, but…

nothing to do with how she… how she feels. A-about me.”

“You did the right thing Darwin.” Erasmo paused. “Send some sort of medical droid my

way please.”

“Got it.”

Erasmo waited a few minutes before a set of doors hissed open. Another service bot. This

one was more humanoid. It had a vaguely face-like set of features and very human arms and

legs. It was a crisp white color with red lights blinking on it. It walked over to Erasmo smoothly

and gave a bleep. Erasmo smiled at it, then walked around it to the computer terminal where

Darwin was.

“I’m going to pull you out, and put you in that body, okay?”

“Why?”

Erasmo went down on one knee, feeling sore, as he craned his neck and looked into the

hole he had cut. “I think an entire space station is a bit too much responsibility, don’t you?”

“I suppose so.” There was a pause. “Very well. I’m all back here.”

Erasmo pulled out the AI core gently, cradling it in the crook of his arm. It was at this

moment he realized that he was almost naked. A thin set of bandages covered his waist, and that

was it. He snickered- something that stopped immediately when he saw his reflection in a mirror.

He hadn’t noticed it before. Erasmo walked up to it, blinking. He was thin. Very thin. His metal

arm and leg looked beefy in comparison to his real ones. He had a shorter, angled face. But the

angularness was due to his lack of sustenance. He had green eyes, and a shock of spikey black

hair.

“So… that’s what I look like.” Erasmo nodded to himself, noticing the parts of his body

where the metal seemed to dive in and fuse with his skin. He shook his head and looked away.

“Don’t want to make myself sick.”

He walked over to a computer and tapped it. He spent several minutes scanning the

system. After that, he was sure that Darwin hadn’t left a copy of himself somewhere. Erasmo

walked over to the droid, who was standing still obediently, and studied it. He quickly saw that

the hatch was in this one’s chest. He popped it open, found the AI slot, and pushed Darwin into

it. The droid shivered for a moment, then took a step forward and flexed.

“Now this is what I’m talking about!” Darwin exclaimed, his voice sounding slightly

different. “No more scrawny, repairbot body!”

“Glad you like it!” Erasmo said, looking up at Darwin’s face. “Let’s go see Val.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They walked out into the hallway.

“So what did you change in Val?”

“First thing I did was take away that awful killing incentive. Seriously, they engineered it

to where she was mentally rewarded for killing! Bloody terrible. Next, I stripped away a lot of

that military mentality; reporting to command, missions, toughness, all that rot. Finally, I opened

up more of her pathways. She should be able to feel, think, and… well be more human. I also

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took away some of her more… violent memories, so she may be a bit… confused at first.”

Darwin turned and faced Erasmo, a smile on his face. “Thank you, Erasmo.”

“For what?” Erasmo raised a non-existent eyebrow.

“For stopping me from trying to make her love me…” Darwin got a distant look on his

new face. “It was wrong. And I didn’t exactly know what I was doing. But now!” He squared his

shoulders and smiled. “I have a chance to show her the real me, and she has the chance to be

normal.”

Erasmo smiled.

And then Darwin’s head exploded. Erasmo fell over from shock and stared in disbelief.

Darwin’s body jittered about, malfunctioning. Two more loud blasts, and it was tossed into a

corner, torn to shreds. Erasmo numbly felt blood coming from somewhere on his face. Two men

strode into view, once cradling a very large gun. The man with the gun was blood spattered, and

he had a hollow, distant look to him. His associate continued forward, and then with a pistol, put

several more shots into Darwin.

“No!” Erasmo screamed, struggling to his feet.

“Shut the fuck up!” The man with the big gun ordered, shoving the end of it into

Erasmo’s stomach and knocking the wind out of him. He paused. “Gordon. Make sure we’re not

sneaked up on.”

“Got it.”

The man who was not Gordon dropped to one knee and looked into Erasmo’s eyes.

Erasmo leaned back: the man above him looked dead. “Now. You. Are going to tell me where

that she-devil is. And then, I’m going to fucking kill her.”

“I-I don’t-”

“Don’t. Lie.” The man said this in a voice that was too calm, and Erasmo saw in his eyes

that he was very, very mad- almost insanely so. “You people landed on our space station, and

then she slaughtered… everyone. My brother… his son…”

“B-but you-you fired at us fi-first-!” Erasmo squeaked.

“An accident,” the man breathed, eye twitching. “We was experimenting with the power

systems…” Erasmo’s eyes flicked to the left and noticed a small, jagged piece of scrap metal.

“Now kid.” The man pressed the barrel of the gun against Erasmo’s human foot. “You’re gonna

tell me where that fucking bitch is, or you lose a foot.”

Erasmo’s fist closed around the shrapnel. “A-alright…”

⍝

Valkyrie woke up with a blinding headache. She groaned and sat up slowly. She took a

look around and put her feet on the cool floor. She felt… different. No… Better. Shakily, she

stood up, looking at herself in the mirror. Val didn’t remember why she looked the way she did-

Not very womanly, am I? She turned sideways, noticing to her mild disappointment that she

wasn’t very curvy. But why does that matter? It never did before… She rubbed her shaved head

and sighed.

“I don’t suppose there’s anyone around… No… actually I know there isn’t…” She turned

to the door slowly. “Pixiu. That’s… that’s where I am.”

Val wandered around the room, pulling a patient’s robe from the wall and slipping it on.

It barely contained her muscled body. She glanced to her right and noticed a series of angular

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metal plates laying on the ground. Curious, she walked over to them, noticing the metal ridges on

her body as well. These things… are mine. Come. She blinked in surprise as the metal plates flew

over to her body, snapping into place.

They felt good to have- but at the same time, she didn’t quite like it. So Val settled on

taking off the one that had attached to her head. I definitely don’t need this one. She tossed it to

one side and took another look in the mirror. She was strong; intimidating. But not scary. Good.

Val wandered out of the room, pausing in the hallway. No, there was definitely very little going

on in this space station.

She paused, her keen ears picking up on some sort of noise. Moving slower than she had

in years, Val shuffled down the hallway towards the noise, taking in her surroundings with

curiosity. Lots of windows looking out into space, lots of plants, and lots of clean doors, walls,

and hallways. This is a hospital. Yes it is! Not sure why… why I came here. Val came around the

bend and paused, soaking in the scene before her.

A man was slumped over a chair, a huge hole right under his arm, and his blood slowly

forming a puddle in the plastic seat. Another man lay face-down in another pool of blood, and a

skinny, almost-naked kid was hunched over what looked like a pile of scrap. Val looked away

from the dead bodies. They were unsettling. She very slowly stepped towards the kid- a teenager

by the looks of him- she somehow knew he wasn’t a threat.

He looked up at her. “They killed him, Val.” He sniffed, and rubbed at his face with a

mechanical hand. “They… they shot him… they were going to shoot me…”

“Shot him?” Val glanced around once more, but closed her eyes after seeing the

gruesome hole in the one man. “Wh-what did you do?”

“I stabbed him in the neck,” the kid touched his own throat with bloody fingers, “picked

up the gun, and shot Gordon.” The teen said this blandly, as if reporting the weather. “That

makes… that makes three.”

“Three?”

The boy nodded slowly, shoulders sagging. “Yeah.”

Val frowned. “I’m sorry, but… you look familiar.”

The teen frowned. “What?”

“Do I know you?” Val cocked her head. “You’re… another patient? You’re not related to

me, are you?” She shook her head as soon as she said it. “No, that can’t be it. We’re different.”

The kid stood up slowly. “I’m… Erasmo.” He extended his hand. It was shaking.

“Nice… nice to meet you.”

“Valkyrie.” She gave an embarrassed smile. “Stupid name, I know.”

“No. It’s a good name.” He looked back down at the pile of scrap, his eyes watering.

“You said that… that they killed someone… who?” Val glanced around. “I don’t see

anyone else…”

“They killed D- killed him.” Erasmo pointed at the scrap.

Val looked at it and realized it was the remains of a robot. “That’s… that’s not a person,

Erasmo.”

“No. He was a person.”

And that was all he would say on the matter.

12

Hawking System // 2105 // DATE: 25 aug. // TIME: 0730 [GST] . . .

Val set down the last crate and looked over at Erasmo. He was looking out into the

hangar bay, spaced out once more. She smiled and walked over to him, touching his shoulder. He

jumped slightly, then looked up at her and smiled.

“I was gone again, right?”

“Mhm.” Val paused. “We’re all loaded up.”

“Good… good.” Erasmo looked back out at the hangar bay one last time, then hit the

control panel. With a pneumatic hiss, the landing ramp raised up and sealed.

Over the past few weeks, Erasmo and Val had taken one of the fighter ships in the hangar

bay and upgraded it. Val had asked why they needed the bomber plane, but Erasmo had simply

said that it couldn’t hurt. They had stripped out the insides, replacing the bombs with an

expanded cargo bay and lots of food and water. Life support systems had been installed for long

trips, a water recycler, food processor, and other necessities had been installed as well. They had

added several engines, boosted the shielding unit, and Erasmo had bolted on several more turrets

to the ship. And now, after a very long time, they were ready to leave Pixiu Station. Val was

impressed with the amount of knowledge and technical know-how Erasmo had.

Erasmo turned towards the ladder that lead to the cockpit. “Come on, Val! Time to

skedattle!” He said this with a degree of forced joviality.

“Erasmo… I ah… I remembered a bit more today.”

He paused. “Yeah?”

“I was involved with the military, wasn’t I?” Val paused. “It would explain why I’m

all… roided-out and ugly.”

Erasmo turned around and looked at her, looking much better than he had when she had

first met him- he was not as skinny, and wearing a flashy pilot’s outfit. “You’re not ugly, Val.”

He gave a small smile. “You’re just a special kind of awesome. And yeah, you used to be in the

military. But we’re not now.”

“Why?”

“The war’s over. We don’t need fighters anymore.”

“Says the kid about to take a bomber plane.” Val teased.

Erasmo’s face tightened slightly. “It looks cool, alright?”

She knew he was lying, but didn’t push. They walked across the cargo bay and climbed

up into the cockpit. The upper level of the bomber had five rooms: the cockpit, two living

quarters equipped with bunk beds, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Erasmo ducked into the cockpit

and sat down in one of the two chairs. He strapped in and began pressing buttons and flipping

switches. Valkyrie waited a moment, then settled down next to him.

“Hey… I just want to thank you,” she said awkwardly.

“For what?” Erasmo looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

“For putting up with me.” Val smiled self-consciously. “It’s obvious you used to know

me, and I you. So thanks for putting up with my amnesia or whatever. And for being my friend.”

13

Erasmo froze for a moment, blinking rapidly. A sad smile appeared on his face. “Friends.

Friend.” He shook his head and looked at her. “Val, I will never stop being your friend, and I

will always be there for you if you need me.”

Val felt her heart do something strange. “Mean it?”

“Of course.” An actual smile came onto his face- which was refreshing. Erasmo tended to

look sad. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

The bomber lifted off, with a dull hum and slowly moved out through the airlock, and

into space. Erasmo expertly maneuvered the ship around several asteroids that had drifted close

and spun the ship in a slow circle. Val watched in wonder as the space station slowly shrank into

the distance, vanishing into a cloud of nebulous blue light.

She cleared her throat after a moment. “So what now?”

“I… I don’t know.” Erasmo sounded surprised at himself.

“Well what did you do before?”

“I ah… looked for salvage.” Erasmo met her eyes. “Looked for scrapped ships.

Abandoned space stations. That sorta thing. But… I don’t feel like looking for scraps anymore.

Seems…” He trailed off.

“Well then…” Val paused, her fingers drumming against the armrest. “Why don’t we

look for cool stuff?”

“Cool stuff?”

“Yes. People, cities, planets with life… that sort of thing.” Val looked at him nervously-

though she wasn’t sure why.

Erasmo gave her a genuine smile. “That sounds… bloody awesome.”

Val smiled. “I do my best.”

Erasmo patted her arm with his mechanical one. He seemed as if he was about to say

something, but then he didn’t.

“Alright!” He finally said after a moment. “Where to?”

“How about… the Iscus system?” Val ran a hand through her short hair, studying the

hologram. “It looks promising.”

“The Iscus system it is!” Erasmo gripped a strange shifter thing. “Hang on!”

“Wh-” Val was cut off by sudden acceleration.

And with that, the newly christened Darwin took off into space, rocketing into the unknown.