"Be careful!" The centurion warned as the soldiers slowly carried the Pandorica up out of the cave through an intricate system of pulleys. Wheels were placed beneath it and the large box was strapped to a chariot and carried off back to Rome. Rory rode alongside a young soldier who had remained rather silent for most of the journey. It wasn't until they arrived at the site they meant to house the Pandorica in that the man finally spoke.

"Sir, if I may ask, what is this thing?" The young soldier stood in front of it, examining it. "Is it a weapon? I've heard the stories, flying chariots in the sky over Stonehenge. It must be a dangerous weapon indeed. I don't know if I believe the stories but..."

"I was there that day." Rory replied. "It's all true, visitors from the stars."

"Sir, that was decades ago. How were you there? You'd have to be well over 60 years old. I must say, you look good for a man your age, not a day over 20!" The soldier exclaimed.

"Oh, thanks. That's really kind of you." Rory smiled. "How old are you, soldier?"

"I'm 16, sir." He replied.

"Name?" Rory asked.

"Aemilius, sir." The soldier saluted. "At your service."

"I like that name, Aemilius." Rory chuckled. "That old box, I've been guarding that box since before your parents were even born. And you're right, I've not aged a day over 20 since I started watching it. I look human and act human and this body function like a human body should but it isn't actually human. It's just an excellent copy."

"Not human?! Did you come down from the heavens in one of those sky chariots?" Aemilius' eyes widened in wonder. "Or was it some magic within the Pandorica that gave you the gift of immortality? What's inside the Pandorica, sir?"

"The most important thing in the universe." Rory whispered. He looked back at Aemilius with a smile. "Now enough with all the questions, soldier. Back to work."

"Yes, sir." The young man saluted and went on his way. He came by often to speak with Rory after their first meeting. We visited weekly for almost a year. He started bringing an old Latrunculi board along with him to pass the time. It was a military strategy game a bit like chess, Rory was quite good at it. He didn't remember being gifted at chess before he woke up a Roman. But thanks to his programing, his head was all full of new information. It was his software talking, call it a Centurion upgrade package. "Sir, do you ever leave this building?" The soldier asked on one of his visits.

"No, I can't." Rory replied moving his piece in the boardgame forward.

"But why can't you?" Aemilius asked.

"I made a promise to protect her. I won't let her out of my sight until I know she's safe." Rory looked at the box.

"The box is a she?" The young soldier looked at the Pandorica with a puzzled look on his face.

"Not exactly... It's a long story, Aemilius." Rory sighed.

"I've got time." He smiled. "It's just the two of us in this room all alone playing this silly game."

"It's your move next, by the way." Rory looked down at the boardgame between them as they sat on the floor playing. In that moment he was suddenly surprised by a kiss from Aemilius, a strong and passionate kiss.

"Whoa, wait!" Rory was taken aback. "First of all, not the next move I was expecting. Second, you know it's against the rules for soldiers to fraternize with each other that way."

"It was just a kiss." Aemilius chuckled. "Don't you get lonely in here? You've been guarding this box for over 60 years now. How long has it been since you've been properly kissed?

"Over 60 years now.." Rory looked down at the ground shyly. "Aemilius, I'm not... I'm not interested in you that way. You're a good friend and I've really enjoyed your company but... I can't..." Rory stopped for a moment when he looked up and noticed a small bump on Aemilius' neck. "Does that itch at all."

"It's been bothering me a bit." The young man shrugged.

"Have you felt like you've been running a fever lately, a general malaise?" Rory asked, placing his hand over Aemilius' forehead to check his temperature.

"Are you a doctor now?" The soldier replied.

"A nurse." Rory checked his friend's pulse on his neck and noticed another bump appearing. "I don't mean to alarm you but I think you're getting sick."

"I've been getting headaches lately, had a dizzy spell earlier today but I didn't think much of it." The man looked up at Rory. "Should I see a doctor?"

Rory shook his head yes and gave his friend a hug and a kiss, on the cheek this time. "Go on, I'll see you next week, same as usual. Sun's about to set." Rory lied. He knew what was happening, his dear friend would be bedridden with smallpox by next week. Turned out to be just the beginning, the epidemic lasted two years. Thousands in Rome died from the outbreak. Rory felt the price of living too long for the first time in that moment. Everyone around him would grow old and die while he stayed the same. He didn't want to close himself off from ever getting close to anyone again, but maybe isolation was the only way for him to survive. He remained alone inside the walls housing the Pandorica for nearly 300 years, until the Franks showed up.

Rory allowed them to move the Pandorica under the condition that he remain it's guardian. The Lone Centurion warned "The day the Pandorica is opened is the day the world as you know it will cease to exist." Noticing him to be hundreds of years old, due to his old Roman Centurion uniform, they obeyed. They figured he must be a demigod, an ageless messenger from the heavens. If any man disobeyed the Lone Centurion's orders, they would face the wrath of God himself.