Disclaimer: Sigma Star Saga is not mine. It belongs to Namco. I just own a copy of the GBA game. I'm not making any money from this story- if I were, would I be posting it here?
Sigma Star Saga- New Game Plus
I'm drifting through a haze of blackness and pain. Occasional words and phrases pierce the fog, giving me the only glimpses I have of the world outside my mind.
"…flier crash. Ironic, since he's…"
"…other three were DOA…drunk…"
"…severe…emergency treatment…we're losing…"
Then, nothing but darkness. I am alone with my thoughts. Even the pain is gone. Am I dead? What happened? Even as the questions form in my mind, I remember. It was Remembrance Day, and Scarlett and Keith were visiting Psyme and me, the Heroes of the Cataclysm and Saviors of the Galaxy (as the newsies have called us for the past thirty-five years). There was some kind of party being thrown in town, and the kids managed to convince us to make an appearance. The last thing I remember was the other flier hurtling toward us at what must have been twice the speed limit. Had I been driving, I could have pulled out with at worst a scrape, but Keith's no fighter pilot.
Then it hits me. My family is dead, killed by a drunken idiot and a half-ton of bio-alloy. I'm probably dead, too, or I will be soon. Frankly, I don't see the point in continuing, even if I do pull through. What do I have left? No close friends- everyone's too blinded by my fame- no living family, nothing that would give life meaning. Just an endless procession of days filled with politics, empty ceremony, and a career that's little more than filling time. God, what I'd give to do it over, or even just to spend one last day with Psyme.
"YOU DESIRE A SECOND CHANCE, EARTHMAN?"
What the hell? There's something else here! I can't see it, but I can feel it now. And it feels familiar somehow, but strange at the same time.
"YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED US BEFORE, EARTHMAN, AND SPOKE WORDS OF WISDOM. WE ASK AGAIN, DO YOU DESIRE ANOTHER CHANCE?"
The voice sounds like an echo of a million people speaking in unison, but that's not what catches my attention. Despite the fact that I'm not sure I have a body at the moment, I speak.
"Another chance? You mean at life? Do you mean reincarnation?"
"NO. WE CAN SEND YOU BACK TO BEFORE, IN THE BODY YOU HAD THEN, BUT THE MIND YOU HAVE NOW. IN RETURN, YOU WILL DO US A SERVICE."
"You can do that? Have me wake up in my younger body? With my current memories? What kind of service do you want in exchange?"
"NOTHING YOU WILL FIND ONEROUS. YOU WOULD DO THE SAME WITHOUT OUR REQUEST. WE WILL CONTACT YOU IF NEEDED."
"Wait, before you send me, who are-" But oblivion claimed me before I could finish.
*DISCONTINUITY*
I awoke again to blackness- not awakening as usual, but a sudden burst, as if I had simply been switched on again. I felt a sense of something impending, and somehow knew that I was about to return to the land of the living.
My vision cleared, and I was confronted with a vision of beauty, one I had somehow not expected to see. A gorgeous purple-skinned woman with fanned ears, a Krill parasite, long reddish-brown hair, and an amazing figure. Psyme, my wife. However, keeping in mind that I was probably in the past, I couldn't react appropriately without more information. Unfortunately, the room we were in looked like an absolutely typical Krill skinning or operating room, giving no indication of where or when I was. Furthermore, there was nobody else in the room who might help me figure it out. I decided to simply say nothing until I knew where and when I was. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long.
"What, you've never seen someone get skinned before?"
I started. Those were the first words Psyme had ever said to me, and in a room exactly like this one. Had I been sent back to just before the Cataclysm? Could I prevent it? Is that what the entity that did this wanted me to do? But another thought struck me almost immediately. Psyme didn't remember me! I could have wept at the thought. Something of this must have shown in my face.
"You must be Recker, the new guy. Cheer up; working with me isn't so bad. My name's Psyme- it's easy to remember because it rhymes with rhyme." (Strangely, this is true in both Krill and English, though we were speaking Krill at the time)
I nodded mutely as Psyme continued walking around me, inspecting the new meat.
"Well, you're cute enough, and my parasite likes you…your parasite's obviously the runt of the litter, and you're no giant yourself, compared to most Krill males, so I guess you're well matched."
I was racking my brain trying to remember what she had said the first time around- I didn't think she called me cute the first time she saw me. I was also getting subtle vibes of 'wrongness' from her- when you've been married to someone for 35 Earth years, you learn to read them, and this was still Psyme, even if it wasn't myPsyme- and trying to figure out what it meant. Then she leaned in close and murmured something in my ear.
"This room isn't monitored, so as long as we're quiet, nobody will know what we're doing. Now, what's a crack human pilot like you doing joining the Krill armada? And don't lie to me, Sigma."
End Chapter One
A/N: I've updated my profile page. You can read more there, including the idea this story is based on.
