((Sorry, Ryo! I love having you back and all, but we're just too far into an arc right now to incorporate you with ease. We'll keep you in mind for the next arc. Sorry for your trouble.))

((IT's alive! IT's alive! *stops being a dork*))

~Glitch~

"Dude, it's been two days. We need to find something that will knock 'em out, for real!" Haru said, his feet up on the table, gnawing on a protein bar. He and Glitch were sitting alone in the galley, finding respite from Abby and Tsuki's insomniatic behavior for a few hours. Luckily Glitch's tranquilizers worked for a good while or else both he and Haru would be having some sleeping issues too, since neither of them could rest with Abby and Tsuki pacing the halls of the ship in frustration.

Glitch - having lost his appetite since he saw Abby vomit on her bed only moments after saying that she was convinced that Glitch had a fuzzy purple monkey sitting atop his head - sat solemnly with his arms folded tightly across his chest. He stared with intent at the floor, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He paused in his habit to say, "Give it time... Maybe it has to kick in..."

"We don't have time, that's my point!" Haru said, swinging his legs off the table. "If we don't get them some serious medical attention, they will die. Do you hear me, Glitch?"

"Yeah, I know," Glitch groaned, exasperatedly putting his head down on the table. "Ugh, Haru.... I am the biggest ass I have ever met."

Haru paused and then snickered. "Ehe... Explain, please."

Glitch looked up, the imprint of the table's design adorning his forehead, and moped, "Back there in the tunnels. I was--" he trailed off. Circling his hands on the table, almost trying to gather his ideas, he continued, "I might've been better off walking around with a big "Hello, My Name Is... Dick Head" on my shirt."

"What are you talking about?" Haru asked, clearly confused. "You're making no sense."

"When I fought with Abby the entire time we were looking for the ship! It was so stupid, I feel guilty even when I think about it. So now, that's all I can think about. It's just... now that I see her lying there, I feel obliged to help... like it's my responsibility to make sure that she gets out of this alive."

"Okay, now you're just being an idiot."

Glitch raised an eyebrow.

"You don't have to have me tell you to talk to her about it! I mean, Jesus, Glitch! You're coming to me for advice about how to apologize to women? Dude, I spend my entire life avoiding the ones that I don't ever want to see face to face again. For the sappiest guy I know, you'd think that he'd be the easiest person to emote his feelings to women at the drop of a hat."

"I'll ignore that last part..." Glitch said, straightening up.

"Listen," Haru said, entirely serious. "The best way for you to apologize to Abby is to do the best that you can for her, and that means that we have to help her in any way possible. And by the looks of things right now, we have royally screwed up and are beating down the wrong path."

"Well then what do you suggest? We're in the middle of nowhere. The nearest occupied territory is days away and home is even further. The closest planet is the one we just left and to me that seems like a dead end. Unless you've got some crazy wizard magic up your sleeve, I'm not seeing very many options..."

Unless you've got some crazy wizard magic up your sleeve, I'm not seeing very many options..."

"I pressed it," came a voice from the doorway. Tsuki was leaning on the frame for support with one hand, and her other hand was clenched in a fist. She seemed to be holding something, since a jewelry chain was hanging limply from her fist. "They're coming."

The two boys glanced at each other in confusion. Haru frowned and asked, "Tsuki, what the hell are you talk--"

Without any warning, Tsukiko collapsed. The boys dived, just barely catching her before she hit the floor. The tranquilizers were still in effect, but that didn't appear to be stopping her from her mission. Her fisted hand relaxed, revealing the necklace.

"Tsuki, who is coming?" Glitch asked carefully, not taking his eyes off the pendant.

She closed her eyes and whispered, "Help."

((Jane, everything was great but I made a few changes. They're in the Osiris doc, at the very top. Am I safe in assuming you read at least part of the outline? Whaddya think?))

Haru

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, confused. "Who's coming?"

"That's the necklace he sent you," Glitch asked Tsuki without really asking. "It has a tracker, doesn't it?" She nodded slightly. He sighed. "What's the red light for?"

"Means they're coming," she whispered. "Changes as they get closer."

"How long before he gets here?" Glitch asked.

"Dunno."

"What is going on?!" I cried, not comprehending a word of the conversation. "Who sent her the necklace?"

"That guy she met on Goidelia," Glitch answered impatiently. "He sent her a few packages."

"You said they were from Calli," I accused. Glitch shrugged and ignored me.

"Tsuki, why didn't you tell us that it had a tracker?" Glitch asked her softly, trying to stay calm without blowing up at the semi-conscious girl. "You should have told us."

"You wouldn't have let me bring it," she answered simply. Glitch didn't argue with that.

"When you say 'they,' how many people do you mean?" I asked, suddenly getting nervous.

"Dunno."

"Are you even sure they can help?" I asked incredulously. Didn't this girl have a clue what she was getting her into?

"No," she murmured. The necklace bleeped and the red light turned orange. Glitch picked her up and carried her back to the infirmary, where Abby was resting. I grabbed the necklace off the floor and inspected it, wondering why I hadn't known about this.

--------

[five hours later]

It had been about twenty minutes since the necklace bleeped and the light turned from yellow to green. Everyone, including Abby and Tsuki, was up on the bridge, eyes on the radar as a large ship approached quickly. Within a few seconds the video communicator crackled to life, static nearly obscuring the male on the screen

"Thirteen, this is Six. What's the deal?"

Tsuki stood in front of the camera and said weakly, "Six. I need help."

"You look like shit, Thirteen. Get over here and we'll fix you up pronto, promise."

Furious at the casual, friendly way this guy was talking to her, I stepped into the camera's view. "We're coming with her," I growled.

A slight pause. "That's fine," he answered after a moment. "If Thirteen trusts you, I trust you. But the same can't be said for my comrades, so I suggest you come unarmed," he said easily. I got the underlying hint. Then he grinned at Tsuki and said cheerily, "We'll see you soon, Thirteen. Over and out."

Fleur stared at the screen, slightly cranky, but mostly confused. She frowned, her face pinching in as her nostrils flared. "All right, can anyone tell me what the hell is going on here? I mean, I don't mean to make this about me, because Lord Favari knows it isn't, but I am sick of being in the dark about everything that happens on this ship. I mean, we are a team. As a team then, shouldn't we tell each other everything that happens lest it end up involving all of us in the end? These people could kill us. We don't know who they are! I didn't sign my life up for this."

"Actually, Fleur, you kinda did," David said, quietly, running his hand through his hair exasperatedly. "You did sign up to attend Ad Astra, and you also agreed to go on this mission. On a side note, who is Lord Favari?"

"The leader of Risconi," Fleur said giving him an incredulous look. "Didn't you pay attention in Study of Our Modern Universe at all?"

David looked at her a moment and then turned his head away, rubbing his hand through his hair as he mumbled, "No, not really." Fleur glared at him, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Look, Fleur," Glitch said, stepping between the red-head and the blond that was grinning at her sheepishly from behind his bangs. "We didn't know this was going to happen either, or believe me, we would have told you. Tsuki's necklace had a tracking device in it. Maybe she realized what she was doing, maybe she didn't, but if they can save her and Abby, I think we should give them a chance."

"And comply with their threats-slash-demands," David supplied. "I agree with Glitch. And Fleur, I promise, next time Professor Grubs starts droning on about Risconi and its seventeen moons, I'll listen."

Fleur glared at him a moment longer but then closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She held her breath in for a minute before letting it out gustily through her mouth. "You're right. This is a very serious matter. I'm sorry I'm so cranky, I'm just tired, though I know I don't have much of an excuse compared to Tsuki and Abby. And I guess if it'll help, I'll disarm with everyone else." Without missing a beat, she reached down her shirt and removed two switch blades and a vial of airborne poison.

David stared at her, mouth slightly open. "What in Lord Favari's name are you doing?"

"Disarming," she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"And you keep your weapons in there?"

"My backups. You can never be too careful, David," she chided. She reached down her shirt again, patted herself a moment, and before allowing her hand to resurface clutching a gold key.

"And what does that do? Blow entire buildings up with a press of a button?"

Fleur stopped rooting around in her shirt and stared at him like he was crazy. "No." He returned her stare, waiting for her to answer his question. After a pause she replied, "This is my room key." One more pat and she lay back, sighing, "That's everything."

David was silent for a minute, pondering quietly, before snapping his fingers suddenly, "Oh I get it. This is why your boobs look so big. You're bra is filled with weapons." Fleur stopped drumming on her bare leg and turned around, glaring at him. He was grinning at her deviously.

"Weapons or not, David, I can still break your neck in 56 different ways. And that's just with my fingers."

((Good to have you back, Loren! And David, you silly boy... And honestly, this post isn't that long, it's just a lot of dialogue!))

Tsukiko

I couldn't help holding my breath as the airtight door slowly swooshed open. I was tired--no, exhausted beyond all belief--but there was no chance of me falling asleep now. After four years of ignorance, I was getting my chance to finally find out the truth. But before my eyes could adjust to the light, I was tackled in a giant hug.

"Thirteen! Man, it's great to have you back. Eight down, three to go!" Six crowed. He grabbed my wrists and pulled up my sleeves, showing my tattoos to his companions. "See guys? I told you it was her!"

There were seven of them in all. Six was with me, his black hair messy and his dark eyes excited. The rest stood a few meters away with varied expressions on their faces. A girl with shoulder-length brown hair was smiling at me, apparently glad to see me. Next to her was a girl with a bleach-white bob, smiling congenially but not genuinely. A boy and girl stood apart from the two girls, whispering to each other. The girl had very short--almost boyish--straw-blonde hair and didn't look particularly happy at the moment. In fact, she looked downright [censored]ed. The tall blonde boy at her side was much calmer, almost trying to calm her down. A dark-haired boy stood behind the group, apparently not taking any interest in me or my teammates.

"Just 'cuz she's got the marks doesn't mean it's her," the short-haired girl argued. "They could've washed. She could still be working for them."

Six frowned. "She's here, she needs our help, and she's one of us. Three, take her to the infirmary, fix 'er up." I wondered briefly if Six was actually in charge or if the others were too unsure to dissent.

"My teammate is sick too," I said, motioning to Abby. Six hesitated only slightly before nodding to the smiling brunette--I assumed she was Three--who led us both out of the receiving bay to the infirmary. She sat us down on adjacent beds and drew blood from both of us before beginning the interrogation. Between Abby and myself, I figured she got all the important details--right up until Six came rushing in.

"What the hell were you doing on Osiris?!" He demanded loudly.

I looked at Abby, who shrugged. "Mission."

"Osiris?" Three repeated, stunned. "Oh, that changes everything."

"Why didn't you turn down the mission?" Six seemed angry, and I had no idea why. This wasn't looking good.

I took a breath and chanced, "Why would I?"

The look Six gave me made me cringe. I could tell he was doubting that I was really Thirteen--whoever that was to him.

"How can you not remember Osiris?!" Definitely furious now. I figured the jig was up.

"I don't remember anything."

There. I'd done it. I'd dropped the bomb.

Six opened his mouth, closed it, then asked very slowly, "What do you mean, you don't remember anything?"

"I can't remember anything that happened before four years ago." Abby was looking nervously at me, and I didn't blame her. I had as good as told them that I was a complete stranger. Six pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay," he sighed. "Three, just fix her up. We'll deal with this when she's better." Sighing again, he exited the infirmary.

Three took a deep breath to collect herself and smiled. "Don't worry, we have the best medical technology available. And since we know you were on Osiris, that narrows things down a bit." She hummed to herself and tapped a few keys. I didn't miss the fact that she was only talking to me; Abby was ignored. "Aha, got it. You've got some nanites in your bloodstream. Not a problem." She used a dropper to put a drop of blood on a slide and placed it under a microscope. An image appeared on the screen, mostly blood cells and tiny dots, but Three zoomed in on one of the tiny dots until it became a fully-visible nanomachine. It had a minuscule barcode on the side followed by the letters 'TRP.BLOCK' in tiny black ink. "Oh, it's a tryptophan block. This explains everything."

"It does?" Abby asked, glancing at me. I shrugged; I didn't have a clue either.

"Tryptophan is an amino acid," Three explained. "Your body uses it to make serotonin, which is a really important neurotransmitter. You need it for concentrating, relaxing, sleeping, that sort of stuff. Usually your body makes it but sometimes you can get it from foods like milk and turkey--the real stuff, not synthomeat. When you get it from food a molecule called a tee-are-pee block actually blocks your cells from making tryptophan. This nanite mimics the trp block twenty-four/seven, and since you don't get a lot of tryptophan in space, you're not producing any serotonin. Which is why you aren't sleeping," she concluded cheerfully. "Get it?"

"Uh-huh," Abby and I lied together.

"Oh, so to make you all better," Three added as an afterthought, "all I have to do is hit you with an electromagnetic pulse to knock out the nanites! I know we've got an EMP gun around here somewhere..." She rummaged through a few drawers before pulling out something that looked like a cross between a mini-satellite and a ray gun. "Here it is! Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." Without any warning whatsoever, she pointed the gun at my head and pulled the trigger. I didn't feel a thing as she 'shot' me from head to toe.

"...was that it?" I asked after a few seconds. She nodded happily. "What about Abby?"

"Oh, yeah!" She sounded like she had forgotten all about Abby. Immediately she repeated the procedure, somehow taking less time for Abby than for me.

"So we're both fixed? That's it?" I clarified again. It sounded too good to be true.

"Yep!" Three threw the blood samples in a disposal bin, and I could hear them incinerated after she closed the lid. "Now, let's join the others. I'm sure everyone has lots of questions for you, Thirteen! It really is good to have you back." She gave me a shoulder-hug and led me out--ignoring Abby again. We exchanged glances and I shrugged; I had no idea why everyone seemed to be ignoring her. But at least we were healthy again, or going to be soon.

- - - - -
(Back in the receiving bay...)

Haru

"I told you already, I can't tell you what we were doing on Osiris," I repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. "Secret mission and all that jazz."

The tension in the air was so thick you could've cut it with a knife. I knew I wasn't the only one feeling extremely uncomfortable, either. Glitch was fidgeting nervously, and Fleur and David were huddled together, whispering to each other.

"How did Thirteen lose her memory?" Again with the demands. He was more or less interrogating me, and I wasn't having any of it.

"First of all, her name is Tsukiko, not 'thirteen.' Didn't anybody ever teach you the difference between names and numbers?" I asked bitingly. "And anyway, here she is now, so why don't you ask her yourself?"

"I will," he replied, glaring at me. When he turned to face Tsuki, though, he was all smiles. He grasped her hand gently and said, "Thirteen, I think it's time you and I had a little chat. I can't wait to hear what you've been up to since the escape."

Immediately I stepped in front of Tsuki, forcing Six to let go of her hand and back away. "She's not going anywhere until she's had some sleep," I growled. I was only an inch taller than the guy, but now it made all the difference.

Instead of snarling back a reply, he smiled graciously and said, "Of course, you're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking."

"And you can come to our ship this time. And I don't give a rat's ass if Tsuki trusts you, so you sure as hell better come unarmed," I warned. "We'll contact you when she's ready." With that, I grabbed her by the wrist and all but dragged her back into the transport boat. "C'mon guys, we're leaving." Nobody argued, and by the time we were back on our own ship both Tsuki and Abby had passed out.

~Abby~

As Haru led Tsuki away, Abby followed after them but not without giving this number Six guy a once-over. His gaze seemed to be resonating in the air, a feeling of immense distrust. She furrowed her brow and continued on into her own ship's receiving bay. Tough crowd, she thought, her mind beginning to feel the onset of drowsiness sweep over itself.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Get up," a voice said firmly. Abby kept her eyes closed, she knew that the voice wasn't speaking to her, so why should she listen. Her mind was still lingering in the whispers of dreams when she heard the voice again saying, this time to her, "Get up now."

Abby rolled over and covered her head with her arms. "Do I have ten for shears in the tree...?" she asked, the words making sense in her mind, but absolutely worthless in retrospect.

Something shifted in the distance and Abby's mind drifted again, as she journeyed far into the land of candy canes and lollipops. Another voice interrupted, muffled but definite. It was Tsuki. "Let her sleep, Haru. She hasn't slept in days."

"But he'll be here soon!"

"So what? He's here to see me, not her. Are you afraid you can't handle him if he tries anything, so you need Abby to protect you?"

"Hell no!"

"Then let her sleep."

Abby heard the two of them leave and that's when she started drifting once more. Her eyes felt like there was a heavy pressure keeping them closed. She was so comfortable laying there. Before she may have said that the beds were a little stiff, but she was too tired to even care. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open as she had just realized what the conversation between Haru and Tsuki was about. She was very much awake now.

She sat up suddenly and looked at the closed door. How long ago had they been here? Minutes? Hours? She didn't know. She threw the covers off her body and charged to the door, peaking her head out. The halls were empty. She crept out, closing the door quietly behind her. She looked down both halls again, and chose to turn left, having no idea where she was going anyway. She just wanted to find Tsuki, and if she found Tsuki she'd find Six, and if she found Six, she'd figure out what kind of facility would develop nanites that could put her through that kind of torture.

She heard snatches of voices floating around the metal ship, but it was difficult to decipher where they were coming from. She bare feet padded down the steps to the kitchen and found that it was empty. The voices seemed to be getting further away, so she turned around and backtracked. As she walked down the hall, she looked over her shoulder, wondering if they were in the recieving bay when the door in front of her opened.

She and Glitch collided and he instinctively grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Whoa," he grinned. "You're up. How're you feeling?"

Abby looked down at Glitch's large hands that gently held her. Her stomach went ice cold and she picked them up and dropped them back to his sides. "Fine." Clair's face popped into the back of her mind, making her feel as if she were doing something wrong just by even the slightest touch. She continued down the hall, her cheeks flushing.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To find Tsuki and Haru," she said, without turning.

"Yeah, from the sound of it, Haru doesn't seem to be too happy with Six."

She stopped. "You know where they are?"

"Sure, they're in the rec room."

"Thanks."

"What are you going to do?" Glitch called to Abby's back.

"I want answers," she said.

Glitch jogged after her and said, "I mean, I know that you're mad about all of this, but can't you just wait for Tsuki to tell you? I have a feeling this is kind of personal."

"Who says they even have to know we're there?"

"I dunno, Abby. I don't think it's right to listen to other people's conversations..."

"Suit yourself," Abby sighed, staring intently ahead, leaving Glitch behind to wallow in indecision. He let out an exasperated groan and followed her.

Abby reached the rec room to find the door closed and a figure peeking through the port hole. "Haru?" Abby hissed, quietly approaching.

Haru jumped. "What?!" he hissed back furious at being startled.

"Move over," Abby nudged him and took his place at the window. She saw Tsuki and Six sitting alone in the rec room, opposite each other at the table.

"Got kicked out or something?" Abby asked Haru, ducking a little in case either of them decided to look her way.

Haru remained silent, but Abby got the idea. He was really mad about it.

Glitch leaned on the wall further back from them with a disapproving demeanor but Abby noticed that he was still there nevertheless.

Haru laid himself down on the floor and pressed his ear against the cold metal and tried to peek through the illuminated gap between the door and the floor. "What are they doing? I can't see anything," Haru asked, with a bitter tone.

"Just talking... Nothing much really," Abby relayed, straining to listen. With a small smirk, Abby filed through all of the consequences and benefits to what she was about to do, and found that the pros greatly outweighed the cons.

Abby gasped, "Wait a minute... There's something... What are they--" Abby's face looked absolutely disgusted, "Ew. That totally has to be illegal in at least sixty different ways."

Haru leaped to his feet and tried to shove Abby out of the way, "Spread out."

At this point, Glitch was already there too, craning his neck to see above their heads.

"Ow! Get off my foot!" "Quit shoving!" "Stop!"

But as Haru and Glitch looked into the window, they saw that the scene hadn't changed at all, and there was no kind of act of underage passion between the two at all. They were still just sitting and talking. Both of the boys glared at Abby and she just smiled. "Game. Set. Match."

Abby - 1; Haru and Glitch - 0

"Men," Abby chuckled to herself, taking her spot at the window once again, this time Glitch had also remained at the window.

Though Abby could see, she still couldn't hear; and Haru had already begrudgingly taken his post at the floor and could listen easily. "What are they saying?" Abby asked. "And how long have they been in there?"

"About an hour," Haru replied crankily. Abby had a feeling he had been here eavesdropping the entire time. "And I haven't heard a thing."

"Isn't the point of eavesdropping to listen in on the conversation?" Abby pointed out. Haru glared at her, then refocused he attention on the other side of the porthole.

((Jane, Loren, took over your charries briefly. If ya don't like it, I can change it no sweat. Or even if you have minor changes to make it sound more like them, no problem. We're finally wrapping up this arc!))

(Two hours later...)

Haru

"Three hours," I hissed to nobody. "They've been in there for three freaking hours. How much longer?!" Abby and Glitch had already left, bored by the lack of action on the other side of the door. Fleur and David had come briefly, but left after about ten minutes--they'd decided that eavesdropping was wrong only after they figured out that they couldn't hear anything. I'd been able to hear mumbling, vague and unclear, by pressing my ears against the metallic wall--and now there was no noise.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath as I scrambled away from the door and hid behind the nearest corner. Just in time, too, since I heard the door open only milliseconds after I was safe. They were still talking quietly as they walked the other way towards the receiving bay. Silencing my footsteps, I followed them, trying to catch snippets of the conversation and failing miserably. We passed the galley, where the rest of the cell was eating, and I motioned silently to them. By the time we all got to the receiving bay we had almost missed Six's departure.

"Take care of yourself, Thirteen," Six was saying, his hands on Tsuki's shoulders. She was smiling at him--not a big smile with teeth or anything, but still a smile. They hugged briefly before he stepped into his vessel and the airtight door whooshed shut. Tsuki still stood there, watching his boat leave.

"Ahem!"

- - -
Tsukiko

"Ahem!" I heard from behind me. Unsurprisingly, the rest of my cell was staring at me. Not accusingly, but curiously. And in Haru's case, impatiently. "Well?"

"Well what?" I asked with false naiveté, knowing full well what he meant.

"Well, spill!" Haru exclaimed. The rest of the cell said nothing, but I could tell they were just as curious as he was.

"Spill what?" I questioned, almost just to make him angry. I knew he'd been eavesdropping. With a few long strides he was in my face, grabbing my wrist and all but dragging me past the cell and back up to the kitchen. He pushed me into a chair by my shoulders and stared down at me intensely.

"I want you to tell me everything," he demanded. "Everything you talked about from the moment he got here until the moment he left."

I met his gaze unblinkingly. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because Haru's totally jealous that Six could help you and he couldn't," Abby laughed. For a second I honestly thought Haru was going to strangle her. I waited for him to argue that he wasn't jealous, but he only glared at Abby. "But really, we're all curious."

"Well, if you guys really wanna know, I suggest you sit down. It's a long story."

Everyone simultaneously took a seat at the galley table, and I began.

"Osiris was run by the Center for Engineering and Research of Enhanced Soldiers, called Ceres for short. They were researching human-animal hybrids even after the Treaty of Scientific Research. I don't know who funds Ceres or when it was started, but Osiris was a Ceres test site over twenty years ago. I guess something went wrong and they destroyed everything there. Ad Astra wanted their data, but something happened to whoever tried to get it the first time."

"But why would Ad Astra want data on human-animal hybrids?" Fleur asked nervously.

"'Enhanced Soldiers,' right?" Haru repeated. "Humans are one of the most abundant creatures in the galaxy, and have one of the shortest gestation periods around. Plus we're more adaptable than most races. Ceres was creating super-soldiers, and now Ad Astra wants them too."

"And they sent us to go find out what happened to the last team?" Fleur clarified.

"I guess they wanted it pretty badly," Glitch reasoned. "And who wouldn't? There was some seriously messed up stuff on that disk, but in the wrong hands it could be the blueprints for an army."

"Okay, so we get what happened on Osiris, but how does it relate to you?" Haru asked. I cursed silently; I had been hoping he wouldn't ask.

For a moment I considered telling them that it was none of their business, but I had put their lives in danger by arranging a meeting with an unknown group of mercenaries. Besides, it couldn't hurt. I took a deep breath and said, "Ceres created me." Nobody gasped or fainted, but there were a few raised eyebrows. "They created me and all the people on Six's ship. There were fifteen of us, all raised and controlled by Ceres as child soldiers. We had no names, just numbers. Mine was Thirteen. They treated us badly, did a lot of tests, sent us on missions Ad Astra wouldn't even touch. We were around twelve years old when we decided to escape."

I paused before continuing, waiting for a response. Everyone stared at me blankly, waiting for me to go on.

"Not everyone wanted to escape, though. The leader, One, wanted to stay. Seven and Eleven wanted to stay too, which hit Six pretty hard, since him and Seven were partners. After One, everyone had a partner, in numerical order. During the escape Two and Eight were killed--I think they were shot. Four, Five, Nine, Twelve, and myself were all separated from the rest of the escape group. They found Nine last year--he's the one that didn't say anything, they think he's damaged from losing his partner. They just found me, so that leaves three more missing."

"Who was your partner?" David asked quietly.

"Twelve," I answered.

"He's missing," David reiterated. "I bet they were expecting him to be with you." I nodded. David considered this fact and continued, "How did they take the amnesia?"

"Six took it well, he still thinks I'm me. The others think that I could be a Ceres plant, though. I guess Ceres is still looking for us." I shrugged. "I can't tell them about Ad Astra, so I couldn't convince them. They're glad to have found me, but they don't want me with them."

"If they had wanted you to come with them, would you?" Haru asked challengingly.

"No," I replied immediately. "I have an obligation to Ad Astra. Besides, I still don't remember anything."

This seemed to surprise them. "You still don't remember anything?" Glitch asked. "I thought for sure this would bring back your memories."

I shook my head. "Nothing. At least now I know about my past, even if I don't remember it."

"Okay, that all makes sense, but there's two things I'm confused about," Haru stated. "First, since Ceres... created you, does that mean you have animal genes in you?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. I had no idea what my genetic makeup was.

"Fine," he acquiesced. "Second question. If you escaped when you were twelve, you're about seventeen now, and you were about fourteen when you were found, that leaves a two-year gap in your story."

"Actually, it's almost exactly a year and a half, since Ad Astra guessed my age," I pointed out. "But you're right."

"So you have eighteen months of your life unaccounted for?" He seemed stunned.

"Better than fourteen years," I countered. He shrugged, unable to find an argument. "Any other questions?" Nobody answered, so I stood. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when dinner's ready."

Fleur paused and looked up from her holoscreen. Her throat prickled. She could feel the cough swelling in her throat. She swallowed roughly several times and tried to focus her attention on their paper she was trying to finish. Ever since they’d returned from Osiris a month ago, the red head had been feeling more than a little under the weather. The blood had long since drained from her face, leaving it ghastly pale.

She coughed again and turned in her chair, catching sight of herself in the mirror. She studied her face carefully. Any color she might have had was completely drowned out by her hair. She looked like a ghost. Her mouth was crinkled into a watery frown, as if she felt she were about to puke. Her lips were pallid, almost disappearing into the rest of her face. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she turned back to face the computer. “Come on, Fleur. You’re so far behind in school. You’ve got to get this done.” She glanced forlornly at the stack of schoolwork she still had to complete. All because of her untimely visit to the hospital.



Three weeks after returning to Ad Astra, Fleur found herself staring into an empty fridge. Quietly, she closed the refrigerator door and turned so that she faced the sitting area of their dorm. “Goodness, Abby,” she coughed, mumbling quietly to herself. “I know you’ve been busy, but could you have spared a bit of time to go to the store?” She coughed again as she put on her coat, grabbed her wallet and room key, and headed out the door, locking it behind her since Abby was already out.

The sky was overcast as Fleur hurried from the building towards the nearest grocery store. It took her just under an hour to pick up all the items on her mental list, pay, and start the trek back to her room, loaded with several bags of sustenance. Her head was throbbing with a dull pain. She would have to take some aspirin and lie down when she got home. The sky flashed ominously, threatening the inevitable precipitation a lot faster than Fleur had hoped. She sped up.

The world, however, became increasingly unsteady with each step. She wasn’t sure which direction was the right one to take to get her to her room. The ground kept wobbling from side to side. Her breathing was ragged, coming in short, uneven, spurts. She paused to catch her breath and steady her vision, but she took one look at the ground and found herself falling straight for it, blacking out just before impact.



She awoke from her coma seven days later. After that, she’d stayed in the hospital for another four days to “regain her strength” and was finally released a few days prior. She spent her first day back in her normal life getting all her homework, everyday past that had been spent completing assignments while keeping up with daily coursework.

“I wonder what Abby wrote abo…”



The next thing she saw was her stack of textbooks. Frowning, she straightened and shook her head. Occasionally, she had these memory lapses when she seemed to blank out for five minutes and always found herself in different positions than she last remembered. She was sure it was fainting—she remembered no darkness—perhaps just her strength giving out from time to time? Sighing heavily, she returned to looking at the screen trying to process what she should say next. “I hate writing essays for History of the Universe.”