The Irken Armada was no more. Broken pieces of ships were floating in the cold void of space and a large royal escape pod was hidden somewhere between them. The purple, magenta ship was desperately looking for a place to land. Two weak signals of lifeforms inside of it were shown by the sensors. On a surgical table lied an irken with a shattered purple robe and broken armor. His breath was faint and desperate as he slowly bled out from many wounds in his body. His legs were almost falling off and his torso looked like it was used for target practice.

On the other table rested a little less injured irken wearing a red skirt. He was missing his left arm and left eye. He moaned in pain as the ship's computer was trying to fix him. More of his transparent pinkish blood spilled out onto the cold metal floor as Red's wounds were being cleaned and sealed. Meanwhile, Purple's breath grew weaker and weaker, then it stopped completely and his PAK turned off. The AI didn't wait and quickly calculated the probabilities. It soon released a set of metal hands and began harvesting Purples undamaged organs then gave them to Red. The whole procedure took about five hours and Red's life was saved. He was recovering fast. All the wounds were sealed and his scars were expected to disappear in three weeks at the most.

Red regained consciousness two days later. The pod was still nowhere close to a half-decent landing ground. The fallen Tallest woke up feeling horrible pain. His sight was blurry, so he tried to rub his eyes with his hand. It hurt to move it, but he forced himself to do it. Red groaned and waited a few seconds until he could see normally. Then he saw it. He wanted to scream but his throat was too sore. "Purple?" He whispered in a raspy voice. "How did he die? Why is his body so mutilated?!" he cried loudly.

"Tallest Purple died from squeedly-spooch failure, I used his good organs to replace yours," Computer answered with an emotionless voice.

Red put his hand to his lips to stop himself from vomiting, only then he noticed that the hand wasn't his at all. He never felt this sick in his life. His breath was short. Then when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he saw his reflection on the shiny metal floor; one of his eye was violet. Red was hysterical by this point. His claws pierced through his skin, more transparent blood dripped on the floor.

"What did you do?! What did you do?! What did you do?! What did you do?! What did you do?! What did you do?!"

Computer finally took charge and put him unconscious. He placed Red in a separate, clean room on a comfortable bed. Tallest Purple's body was covered in a white cloth and moved to a small cooled coffin to preserve his body. Sealing it away would probably help to avoid further attacks of hysteria.

Red woke up with dried tears on his face and large dark bags under his eyes. His breath was still unstable. He ripped off part of his skirt and made it into a makeshift eyepatch to cover up the unwanted memorial of his now dead partner. It didn't seem that the computer would bother him anytime soon. Red was glad about that. He sneaked onto the bridge. Still no reaction from that wretched computer. Was he some kind of a sick experiment now? He clicked a few buttons then opened the manual control panel and shut the AI off. The lack of resistance was very suspicious but Red just shrugged it off, having more important issues in mind.

Red found his way into the temporary tomb of his co-Tallest. He stared at the corpse of his life-long partner, tears forming in his eyes, he removed the cloth from his face and placed a finger on his still soft, cold lips.

" Purple," he whispered. "Purple, I'm sorry. I know I didn't treat you well enough... I'm sorry. It should have been me!" He began weeping pitifully.

Red released a wire from his PAK and connected it to the other. He almost threw up at the sensation. They did it before, but this just felt so wrong. So... empty. He forced a response from the deceased irken's PAK. It made him even more sick not only in the squeedly-spooch but also his mind. He downloaded anything that remained from his partner and it weakened him with every second. His mind began to fade away and soon he fainted. The always-awake computer curiously observed this scene without any empathy like he was some kind of sick experiment. He didn't have to intervene as long as his patient's life wasn't in danger.

~.~

Hundreds of years ago in a royal nursery somewhere on planet Irk.

~.~

Two really cute and tiny versions of Red and Purple were sitting on a small bench and eating snacks without a care in the world. They were both wearing identical blue uniforms.

"Hey, Red?" asked the purple-eyed irken while digging in his pink frosted doughnut.

" Yes, Pur?" answered the other one, sipping on a caramel flavored soda.

"Do you like me?"

"If I didn't like you, would I spend some much time with you?"

Purple smiled widely at him, a pieces of his doughnut stuck in his teeth. He looked adorable.

"Red?"

"Hmmm?"

"Will we always be together?" he asked, still munching, fixating his big purple eyes onto him, a little frosting stayed on his cheek.

Red licked the sweet strawberry-flavored spot out and whispered, "Always."

~.~

The AI shocked the Irken back to life worrying that his patient was falling into a coma. His eye patch fell off during the "electrocution". Two large bicolored eyes looked up in confusion. He blinked trying to remind himself of something important. Then he noticed a corpse in front of him. "Wha?!" he shouted. "Computer what is this body doing here?! And who is this guy anyway?"

The AI calculated that it would be for the best not to trigger any more of this attacks.

"He is the fallen ruler of the Irken Empire. I'm preserving his body."

He stared at the lifeless body for a little longer, noticing how beautiful he was, even so... incomplete. He had a strong urge to kiss him, but that would have been too gross. For now, a different issue was occupying his mind.

"And who am I in all of this? Shouldn't we prepare a funeral or something? I-I... I can't remember my name..." He said with a trembling voice.

"It's okay. Confusion is a normal side effect. You should remember soon. For the good of the treatment, I can't give away more information. It's for the best if you take it slow, and try to treat it as a mind exercise," said the cold robot voice.

"I guess that makes sense... " he agreed. "But we should think of some name to address me, for now... hmm"

He looked at his reflection. His face was bruised and covered in fresh scars, two different colored orbs staring back at him. He liked them, especially the one colored in a deep shade of purple.

"Heterochromia..." said the confused irken. "Hete...ro... Heto... Computer! Let's just go with Heto for now!" Though something deep in his head told him that that's a stupid name.

"Very well, master. I suggest you go and refresh yourself. I'll prepare you a new set of clothes."

Heto noticed that his robe was all bloody and shattered and that he really needed a bathe. He agreed instantly and came back to his room after receiving some directions from the AI. The irken noticed that there was no crew on the ship. He shared his worries with the computer.

"It's because it's not a ship. It's a royal escape pod," he answered in the same monotonous voice.

"It feels so cold... I may have amnesia, but I remember that I hate being alone... Shouldn't there be someone else with me?"

" Yes... you got... separated during the escape" said the computer, deciding that this information could trigger some curious reactions from his patient. Giving him a purpose would be good for his health. Event if it's a fake purpose.

"I see." His eyes brightened. " Then we will have to find him!" Heto exclaimed. So it worked, though the AI.

Heto undressed himself, completely noticing how badly injured his body must have been. What the hell happened? Was he wounded while protecting the Tallest? He went into the shower. He felt like the warm gel-like substance was washing some of his worries away. It felt so good, he didn't want to leave. But he had a mission now. He had to find his... friend? lover? sibling? It didn't matter. The knowledge that there was someone waiting for him was giving him strength.

He stepped out and got himself dressed. The new clothes were lying nicely folded on the metal locker. The outfit consisted of gray pants with knee-high standard boots, a light green shirt and a brown leather-like jacket with some markings on the back. They were supposed to be Irken insignia, but it was too dangerous to use them now. Instead it was a combined signature marks of Tallest Red and Purple. They were used in very private situations so the signs wouldn't be recognized.

Heto went to the bridge feeling much better. He really wanted to eat some doughnuts, or rather share them with someone. He tried to remember this person's face or a name but it was no use. He sat down behind the controls.

"Computer, do you mind if I take charge for now? Let's speed up this baby!" he said. Somehow, this sounded so... right. Was he a pilot? He'll surely find out now.

"I don't think you're in the right condition yet, master."

"Whoops! Too late!" he exclaimed in a playful tone.

And the ship went in to the hyperspace.

~.~

Logbooks - Heto

Entry #1

Um... Hi?... Computer said that recording these journals will help me with my... amnesia problem. So, let's get this over with! My name is Heto, at least for now... I can't remember my real name. Um... I woke up two days ago with no memory of who I am...or what happened. I'm now on a royal escape pod, but it's really more like a ship. There is no crew, just me... and computer... Oh! And we have a corpse of Tallest Purple abroad... in a cooler, he keeps me company... i-in a way.

Let's see we have enough food and fuel to last a year, so no worries... I guess. I-I try to keep myself busy, repairing some stuff... Yeah... there is always something to fix.

We went into hyperspace yesterday and we haven't picked any signs of life since then. There wasn't a single inhabited planet or even a space station. Nothing! We need to find a place to land or I'll go crazy! Or maybe I already am. It's really weird, you know... we flew past to planet Boodie Nen and it looked like it was burned to the ground. From Space! It's a giant ball of coal now! There's nothing there! They are all dead! It's... terrifying... what if something like that happend to my people... what kind of creatures are out there... with such power. Are they the reason Tallest Purple died? What if... what if... I am the last one alive... I-I gotta go now. Computer is calling me. Probably another repair to do... good.

End of entry #1

~.~

The escape pod finally bumped in to an old Irken facility after what seemed like an eternity. It was at least a hundred (irken) year-old fuel station and a trading spot. In older times of its glory, there would be up to two thousand visitors daily. Now, its only a pitiful ruin that looked like it was about to collapse on itself, forever floating without a purpose, somewhere in this cold void. Much like how Heto felt right now.

"We should take this opportunity and refuel now," suggested Heto.

"I agree," said the AI. "But it looks like the station was devastated during the asteroid shower. Most of the equipment is damaged. You will need to connect the pipes manually."

The Irken smiled at this. Finally something exciting to do. He began putting on his standard issue purple space suit. He attached some laser pistols to his legs just in case. He ran out to the hatch and barely activated the transparent helmet in time. Heto turned on his rocket boots and flew into the station. It was like something from a post-apocalyptic movie. The station was built as a mini-city with a population of over two thousand of various species, mainly vortians and irkens. It was functioning during Miyuki's regime, though Heto wasn't sure how he knew that.

He was having a hard time finding a building that wasn't completely wrecked. All of them has lost colours and initial shapes. Suddenly, something cracked underneath him and he fell down into the hole, or since there was no gravity it might as well been up. Heto quickly regained his balanced and landed safely only to stand face-to-face with a creepy, bleached skeleton. He or she use to be a vortian and the now, rotten clothes suggested that this person use to be an explorer or neo-archeologist. One part of the dead vortian's outfit was kept in an almost perfect shape. He took it and watched it closely. It was a very nice hat, almost no scratches on it despite the fact it was lying there for Irk knows what. He decided to keep it and it was probably the best decision he made since the awakening. The bicolored-eyed irken slowly made his way out from the tomb. He wandered around the platform holding the hat in his hand. He wondered if the computer would think it's a contamination and throw it away from the airlock. Heto wouldn't let this happen. It was his lucky charm from now on.

~.~

Two teenage irkens were running around the facility. They were about to take the entry test to get into elite training.

"Catch me, you woose!" shouted the violet-eyed young man. It was probably the last day when their smeetliness could be forgiven. They were going to be considered adults starting tomorrow, so they used every moment they still had.

"Purple! Watch out!" exclaimed Red right before they bumped into the wall. They both ended up on the floor, their antennae tangled, deep green blushes on their faces.

Red immediately jumped out of the other, shaking off his gray uniform. He then offered a hand to Purple, helping him do the same.

"Sorry for that," said the guilty one.

"Nah, It's ok... I-I got something for you," Red said, still blushing and pulled out a small, nicely wrapped, red package. Purple gasped and immediately opened it up. It was a necklace, shaped as a doughnut made out of vortian silver and hanged on red ribbon. Purple's eyes sparkled.

"Red... this is.. this is so cute! I've known you since day one and you still know how to surprise me. I love it," he said with a smile.

"It's for good luck," Red muttered, still blushing.

Purple immediately put it on and hid it behind his shirt so it wouldn't be taken away and kissed the crimson-eyed irken on the cheek.

~.~

Heto finally managed to find the fuel tank. It was half empty but it should be enough. He took the huge pipe into his hands. Although Heto was strengthened by the armor, the pipe was still very heavy for him. His hat was safely attached to his belt. He dragged the pipe for what seemed like hours. The irken was sweating underneath his spacesuit. He finally connected the pipe with the ship's fuel container. He leaned against the wall to take few heavy breaths. Then a plasma shot came out of nowhere. It hit his leg but the armor protected him. Heto immediately pulled out his laser pistols in both hands and carefully eyed the surroundings searching for the enemy. Something shiny was in a dark alley behind him. It moved. It looked like a solid sized crystal; could it be a crystalline? He never saw one in real life. At least, he didn't remember ever seeing one. How do you even fight a crystal person? He had to act fast, so he did the first thing that came into his mind. He shot it in the eye. The crystalline fell back down, hand on its eye and screamed in pain. Heto quickly ran towards it and placed his heavy armored boot on its chest. The crystalline was blue colored, shades changing depending on the light.

"Who are you?! And why did you attack me?!" he demanded.

The crystal said nothing, still occupied with its injured eye. It was cracked.

"Irken scum! You're all the same!" it finally shouted. The tone of its voice seemed feminine, but he knew that crystallines didn't have biological genders for obvious reasons.

"You were the one who made the first shot! I shot you in self defence!" Heto shouted back.

"I needed your ship! You deserve to be stuck here, not me!" the crystalline cried out.

"Perhaps I would let you in if you asked nicely."

It laughed cynically. "An Irken showing kindness?! Give me a break!"

"First of all, you don't know me! Secondly, not all irkens are the same!" The crystalline frowned at this and spat at him, but since this species didn't produce actual saliva, few tiny crystals were thrown at the air, or the lack of it because there was no atmosphere. That pissed Heto off and he aimed a laser pistol at its forehead.

"Common! Kill me! Prove your point, irken! Do it!"

"Damn you!" He cursed putting the pistol down and withdrew his leg from its chest. He stepped away from the crystalline and place his guns back into the gunholsters on his belts. The sentient crystal instead of being grateful shouted angrily.

"What's your deal, Irken?! Are you going to put me in chains and make me your slave!?"

"What?! No! What's wrong with you?!" Heto shouted back. "Fuck it! I'm going back to ship!"

" No! Wait! ... Please... Don't leave me here alone!" it cried out. It amazed him how quickly the creature could change its moods.

"Oh? Now you want my help?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Yes! I'll do anything."

Heto looked at this pile of misery and wondered if he would eventually end up like this. Being lonely for too long can make you really crazy. He rolled his bicolored eyes and sighed.

"Anything?... Hand me your weapons."

The crystalline hesitated and calculated every other possibility. It looked at Heto as he just kill and raped all of its familly, which might have actually happened in some indirect way. The crystal finally submitted to the irken and gave him its old plasma blaster and about six cracked knives.

"Is that all?" he asked and the crystalline only nodded its head in defeat.

"If I take you with me, will you behave?" he asked, knowing that he would take the passenger anyway. After all, Heto hated being alone and he could always lock it in the prison cage. Why did this ship even have one of those? Wasn't it suppose to be an escape pod, or a royal escape pod in this case? Was irken royalty just as paranoid? Was it in case of the passengers turning on one another for drifting in space for too long? Heto was shaken back into reality.

"Yes," it said with a trembling voice and tiny crystal tears appeared in its eyes. Heto helped it get up.

"So... what's your name?" He asked, trying to be nice, but there was a hint of irritation in his voice.

The crystal answered with what sounded like two stones rubbed against each other.

"What was that?" Heto said confused.

"My name, you idiot!" The crystalline replied rudely.

"Do you have an easier version?" he asked, wondering why his pak wasn't translating it. There should be some stone languages on his pak memory disk, if not crystal, then at least the rock one. Maybe it malfunctioned. He will have to look at it later.

" Hmmm... when I was on Vort, they called me Ion," said the irritated crystal person.

" Yeah, we can go with that. My name is Heto." The irken finally introduced himself to his former assaulter.

Heto disconnected the pipe from the ship and secured its entrance. A little of fuel was spilled during this action. He walked into the escape pod and used the code for a new passenger to inform the computer. The AI was a bit suspicious to say the least but agreed that some company would be good for its patient. Though it kept a close eye on the newcomer. The irken invited Ion to the deck. The crystalline wanted to say some snotty comment but managed to stop itself for its own good. Heto showed his new companion around the ship, leaving out Purple's temporary tomb. It didn't need to know about this. They stopped at the crystal's new quarters.

"It seems kind of cold," Ion commented. "But I ain't complaining, just you know... It feels kinda... sad." Ion sat on its new bed. Heto was still standing in the entrance, not wanting to invade its privacy.

"I know what you mean..." he whispered, looking at the purple walls decorated with endless amount of wires. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get some rest now."

Ion noded and Heto left closing the door behind him. He did what he was told and lied down on the pink bed, slowly drifting to sleep. At least something happened today and he was looking forward to the future. Heto then fell asleep with a smile on his face.

~.~

Purple was studying late again. He was sitting half naked on the bed with a tablet in his hands, wearing only his black skin tight pants. His chest was well formed due to the elite training. He looked more mature now and somewhat handsome, not as much as Red of course. Lucky bastard also gotten taller. Speaking of the devil, something suddenly flew through Purple's window. This something was one crimson-eyed irken with a stupid grin on his face. Idiot.

"What the hell are you doing here at this hour?!" the violet-eyed irken asked angrily. "Do you want for us to get expelled?"

Red joined Purple in bed lying down next to him on the soft scarlet sheets. "Shhh," he said placing a finger on Purple's lips and whispered, "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." the official resident of the room whispered back, hugging his guest. "Even if you're so stupid." They both chuckled.

"You want to hear something really stupid?" Red asked, playing with the other's antenna.

"Hmm?" Purple purred curiously while being pleasured by his companion.

"I love you."

His purple eyes widened with shock. He looked at Red to see if he was just joking but however was met with a serious expression. It was so much like him to make this type of confession so casually. Purple fought with his thoughts, but a few second later he began to place kisses on Red's neck.

"I think... I love you to." He grabbed the visitor's antenna too and began stroking it.

They connected their hands together and lay cuddled to each other until early morning, talking about nonsense and enjoying their time together. A quiet chuckle was released from time-to-time, accompanied by some kisses. Their breaths were meeting in half-way, but their lips stayed apart. The intruder had to leave before his absence could be noticed. It was forbidden to leave your room after a certain hour. It keeps the distractions away.

"Will you come this evening, too?" Purple asked in a soft, sleepy voice. Red simply answered with a smile.