Kershala had only barely made it to his ship to lift off after suffering defeat at the hands of his pursuers. His suit was badly damaged having barely protected him from the final energy assault they had unleashed on him as he bought time for his kin to escape. He thought about the look in his younger siblings faces as their matriarch pulled them away hoping to escape. His family had been running for years, the last of a line of royalty that threatened the right to the current regime in his former home system. A place that he was no longer welcome, and he would likely never see again. His patriarch had been killed just a day earlier and he hadn't even had time to grieve before another attack ensued. He sat down in the pilot's seat and the ships computer recognized its pilot everything around him whirring to life. "You are damaged," the ships computer spoke to him in a confident voice, the AI taking information from the nanites in his suit. "You must seek medical attention."

"We do not have time, we have to get off this planet." Kershala began tapping the console in front of him triggering the ships engines. As it began to lift off the whole ship jolted. "What was that?"

"It appears they have found us, Kershala. Severe damage detected to left engine." Kershala checked the read outs on several different panels, his ship had been in several battles and gone into disrepair. He had not had time between battles as they got more and more frequent.

"Have the others left orbit yet?"

"Sensors detect that they are powering engines in orbit. It will take them approximately one minicycle to initiate an untraceable jump." Kershala brought the ship about and began firing not waiting to see what it was. As the ship turned and between shots fired he could see several Shiron soldiers opening fire on his tiny ship. He piloted the ship in such a manner that its movements were erratic and hard to predict, making him harder to get a lock. One by one the soldiers fell but the final one managed to get a few quick shots on his ship causing damage to minor systems. Relieved, Kershala leaned back in his chair and found it harder to ignore his wounds. He had managed to take out several of their troops his armor taking the brunt of their weapons, but it could only take so much damage before losing integrity. In the end he took a blade weapon to his side forcing his retreat. "Kershala, the Shiron master ship is closing on..." Before the AI could finish it's sentence he snapped out of his brief thought triggered the engine to full power blasting toward his family as fast as his ship could take him.

"Kershala, can you hear me?" It was his matriarch over the heavily damaged communication system. Her message was broken but he could understand her.

"Yes, Karu, I hear you. Can you get away from them?"

"I do not think so; the engines charge cycle has been disrupted."

"I am coming Karu, please hold on!" Kershala could feel fear bubbling in his chest at what was beginning to unfold before him.

"No, son, you are no match for them." He could hear the desperation in the matriarch's voice, "If you come to us they will only kill you too. Do not make me watch all of my children die!" Kershala's vessel cleared the atmosphere and could see the massive ship moving in on his family. He immediately opened fire on the larger vessel hoping to draw them away, but he wasn't even in weapons range yet and he watched as the charged energy shots dissipated in open space.

"Foolish child!" A voice came over his communicator and echoed through the small ship. "Seeing your patriarch die wasn't enough? Come to watch the rest of your family die as well?" It was the Commander of the vessel the monster that had been torturing his family for all this time. "I personally squeezed the life from your patriarch as he begged me for mercy, do you truly think I won't do the same to you and your worthless bloodline!" Kershala watched as the main gun powered on the massive ship.

"Please, take me in their stead, are an old woman and a few children really a danger to you? Spare them and I will come willingly."

"Kershala do not do this, he will only have all of us if he takes you too," his matriarch pleaded.

"You see, Kershala, if I take you and let them live the problem becomes clear. There are two youngling patriarchs on that ship. Unless I do something now, they will grow up thinking that their worthless bloodline has some right to any of this. Then it may appear as though I've failed my mission," Kershala's heart sank in his chest as the monster spoke, his answer to the plea ever clear.

"Kershala, I love you, live my son do not let him keep from you what is ultimately ours."

"Karu, I..." The weapon fired on the small ship carrying his family and his communication with the ship was cut off. The small civilian ship they had been using, was defenseless, no weapons and minimal shielding. Kershala felt numb as his hands dropped from the console and he watched as everything that mattered in the galaxy to him was destroyed in a flash of burning light. They had been running for several cycles and in a matter of only hours his Patriarch, his Matriarch, and his two brothers and sisters had all been lost. His ship floated in the vacuum of space motionless as he stared blankly out through the viewport at the behemoth vessel heading toward him.

"Kershala, we have to leave they are almost upon us. They will be able to use the weapon again in only seconds." The AI warned. Kershala sat motionless having all but lost his will to fight. He felt the pang in his side from the blade wound and looked down at it. He was bleeding through his suit, the violet beginning to show through the nano-filaments. Without warning the safety straps activated on his chair as the AI took control of the ship. Kershala passed out in his seat as the tiny ship jumped into faster than light speeds.

Kershala was jerked awake as his ship hit the atmosphere of a blue planet. He quickly reached up for the console to check the ships sensors when the blade wound made him freeze in place. Alarms were bombarding him as were several warning lights. It didn't take him long to realize that he was crashing on an unfamiliar world. He couldn't see anything that would tell him where he was, it hurt just to turn his head to look around. He tapped his arm twice activating the nanites in his suit telling them to reform his helmet and as they covered his head in full they filtered out the flashing lights. "Where are we?" The AI didn't respond and Kershala forced himself to move his arms to the console, as he looked up he cried out in pain. He was unable to tell how long he had been out. He looked forward and braced himself as best he could as the ship hurtled toward what would inevitably be a rough landing. He could see forest below him and there were buildings of unfamiliar design scattered over a large area.

The ship hit the ground with a violent crash immediately breaking the clear viewport. Shrapnel filled the cabin of the ship as it lost all power. The alarms went quiet and the only thing Kershala could hear was the crashing of his vessel along the ground when he was suddenly flung from the pilot's seat through the large hole in his ship. Kershala tumbled a couple of times before hitting a low rock face his ship however kept going landing another twenty feet from him. The nanites in his suit had taken all they could having absorbed the better part of the shock from his landing. He laid there in the darkness feeling the majority of the nanites fall from his body as the ones forming his helmet retreated into his implant. Kershala laid still for several moments able to feel the blood dripping from his wound before rolling onto his back. He said a quiet prayer that the air was breathable and laid staring at the stars hoping to see something familiar that he could use to get his place in the galaxy. Unfortunately, nothing looked familiar he had no idea where he was. The best he could hope for was that the AI took him somewhere the Shiron wouldn't be able to find him. As he lay there staring at the stars he couldn't help but become filled with grief as he recalled his last moments of consciousness. Tears came quickly, and he was overcome with grief at the loss of his family. They were gone and only he was left. He recalled the desperation in his Karu's voice and began to sob to himself, not able to control himself as both rage and grief pushed through his body not unlike the Shiron blade had done. His feelings came to a head and he cried out into the darkness as loud as he could before be falling into a coma again.

Kale had been out taking his dog out for a final bathroom break before heading to bed when he saw it. A ball of light flashed brightly in the sky followed by a crashing sound only seconds later. It hadn't hit too far from his grandmother's house he was looking after for the weeks coming. He had taken the dog back inside and grabbed a hoodie from the coat rack. It wasn't strange for him to take late night walks when he was visiting. He headed toward where he was sure he'd find the meteor thinking it'd make a pretty cool decoration for his coffee table. As he walked toward it he couldn't help but notice how quiet the night had gotten. There wasn't even the usual crickets or frogs chirping. That was when he heard it. A guttural cry of something nearby, he wasn't sure if it was an animal at first but by the end of the sound he was sure it was a man. He hurried his pace regretting having left his cell phone on the counter by the door. Hoping he wasn't going to find someone seriously injured or even dead.

He stepped into a clearing, he could see the scuff marks from where the meteor had hit the earth and left a burn trail the whole length of the hundred-foot clearing. He could suddenly hear a faint noise, not sure if it was man or animal he pulled out his keychain light and shone it around the clearing. He kept walking toward the end of the scuff marks when he could see something laying in the grass. As he got closer he began to recognize it as a person, he ran closer desperately thinking back to his first aid training that he wasn't sure if he remembered, not having used it before. He came to the body propped partly up on a rock. It was a man, but something was off. The man was well built, probably standing six feet tall, he was African Canadian. Kale could see course black hair speckling his body, he had a small unkempt beard. As Kale got closer and shone the light on the man's body he could see that this person was seriously injured and all but naked, basically only wearing underwear. Kale knelt beside him and touched his face.

"Hey are you okay?! Can you hear me?" Kale spoke clearly and slowly trying to elicit a response when he noticed that his blood was purple. "Whoa." Kale, not sure what else to do other than to care for this person, took his hoodie off and did the best he could to wrap the wound on his stomach, trying to gently apply pressure. The man was breathing though Kale couldn't seem to get a response out of him. He lightly tapped the man's face trying to get something from him, there was nothing. He stood and repositioned himself closer to the man's face and held open his eyes. What he saw next was something he was not prepared for. "What the hell?" The man's eyes were human like, but his pupils were significantly larger than normal and they were purple in color. "What are you?" Kale touched the man's face and slowly touched him behind the ear, when his body jolted, and he opened his eyes. Kale jumped back, and the man looked at him in fear, but he could tell he was in pain. "Whoa buddy, it's okay I'm not gonna hurt you. Easy!" Kale looked at his immediate surroundings trying to find something to arm himself with in case the need arose. But the man just sat there starring at him. Kale was careful to stay out of arms reach but tried to give out a calming aura hoping the man wouldn't feel threatened. He was already injured and clearly distraught, he wasn't sure why, but he could just tell.

Kershala looked at the alien, it's light skin, yellowed hair and blue eyes were strange, but he did not feel threatened by its presence. If it was going to cause him harm it wouldn't have been touching his face before doing so. His defensive implant had been triggered, an upgrade he acquired that was designed to wake him up if someone were to sneak up on him while sleeping. Kershala looked down at his beaten body and realized this alien had attempted to cover his wound.

"Can you speak?" It asked. Kershala's implant was translating the language and soon he'd be able to speak it if he wished to. It took a step towards him with a hand out stretched. Kershala looked at the alien in confusion not wanting to speak to it or to anyone after the loss of his family.

"Karu," Kershala cried to himself quietly tears filling his eyes again.

"Karu, is that your name?" Kershala looked sharply at the alien at the mention of the word. He could feel his heart sink in his chest. Neither of them moved an inch as they sat there in silence. Another pang of pain in his wound, Kershala grunted and removed the cloth the alien had placed on it he looked down at the crusted wound. It would get infected if he didn't clean it up soon.

"Is it serious? It looks like quite the wound," Kale walked toward the man still not sure if he spoke English. As he got closer he could see that he didn't appear threatening. There was loud pop and a fire started where the presumed meteorite had landed. In the light from the fire Kale could see several strange markings on the man's sides that seem to run the length of his body. They seemed tattoo like but not quite as they appeared raised. They were like nothing he had ever seen before. The sound seemed to trigger the man to reposition himself, so he could see where it was coming from. He struggled to stand and seemingly couldn't. He looked at Kale, his eyes seemed to be those of someone who had been deeply hurt and not just in the way that Kale was starting to see in the light of the fires. He could see that aside from the wound on his side the man was severely battered and bruised. "Man, you must have had one hell of a night."

Kale reached out to him and helped him to his feet then stepped back from him still not sure that any of this was a good idea. He watched as the man started toward the fire but before he got a couple of feet from him he fell forward barely able to walk, letting out a cry in pain. "Oh man." He walked toward the person and helped him back to his feet. It was starting to become clearer that this was not human even though he could easily pass as one to someone who maybe didn't just see something crash from the sky. "I'm going to guess what you need is over there in that fire. Let's go get it." Kale put the man's arm around his neck and started toward the fire. He was surprised that he just accepted his help without question. It wasn't long before they reached the fire the man didn't say anything but when they reached it. He leaned on what was clearly some kind of travel vessel. The man pulled from his balance and seemed unbothered by the heat from the fire. He hit the side of the vessel that was clearly made of metal and there was a strange hissing sound. Shortly afterward steam shot out from underneath the vessel and drowned the fire leaving behind an odd smelling foam on the ground.

He watched as the man put his hand on a small handle and pulled at it with a grunt. The first few pulls were unsuccessful but then the man let out one last frustrated growl and yanked the door off its casing. Kale wasn't sure what this creature was, but he was pretty sure it was strong. His suspicion was confirmed when the door fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The man sat motionless leaning against the vessel, clearly spent from fighting the door off its hinge. He looked at Kale and pointed into the vessel like he wanted him to step into it. Kale was weary, he looked inside the small ship, the power seemed to be off, but he wasn't sure he was ready to step inside. The man grunted in frustration and stepped inside the vessel himself it was clear this was taking a considerable amount of effort as he braced himself on the wall once he was inside. He looked back at Kale who was standing in the doorway and sat down in the seat. The ship was dark only illuminated by the moonlight, but Kale could see the sterile white colors there were consoles lining both sides of the ship. He could tell the ship must have lodged itself into the ground the ceiling was higher than it looked from the outside and he had to step down into the ship. The seat the man had sat in turned around to face him and he pointed to a small compartment above them to the left, soon after grunting in pain and cupping his wound again. Kale reached up and pulled on what he assumed was the latch to release the hatch and with considerable effort on his part it opened. Several things crashed out of the compartment likely having been shaken free from the crash including two vials of a purple liquid one of them breaking on impact.

Kershala watched the alien pull open the compartment and as he did the medical supplies from it fell to the ground of the ship. He leapt from his seat at the sight of the vial breaking, one of them had survived the fall but it was damaged, and it was his only hope. He sat against the wall the alien helping him settle as he picked up the vial and loaded it into the injector. It was a vial of medical nanites specifically mixed with his blood to match to him and his family. He only hoped that the crash and the heat hadn't gotten to them. He lowered the injector to his wound and found a solid place at the edge of the puncture and plunged it into his raw flesh. He grunted as he activated the injector delivering the nanites to the wound, Kershala knew that they would only be powered long enough to heal the main wound. His aches and pains would likely remain after the wound was gone. He leaned his head back and remained still able to feel the wound already beginning to close on itself. His breathing became erratic from the pain of the flesh regenerating, this procedure was best done under anesthesia but that was not possible. Over the course of a almost a minute the wound was completely closed. He knew that the nanites would continue working to regenerate the muscle tissue underneath, but he was out of immediate danger.

"That was pretty crazy man. What are you?" The alien spoke but Kershala ignored him, he sat for a moment thinking about his family. He hadn't been able to stop long enough to process what had happened with everything that he had just been through. The alien was still looking at him as he sat there in his own mind, he could feel his heart breaking for his family. He had never felt so alone before today; his entire adult life had been spent running from torturers but now he would run alone. He thought about how scared his younger siblings must have felt listening to his exchange with his Matriarch as he attempted to bargain for their lives. The tears started to flow uncontrollably as he thought the fact that he never got to tell them he loved them, his only consolation was that they would have died quickly and not suffered. He suddenly cried out overcome with grief and the alien seemed to jump back from him. "Look dude you seem like you've had a pretty rough night and I don't know what I can do to make it better, but I can't stay here all night and I feel like I shouldn't leave you here either." Kershala understood but still didn't feel like speaking. "Okay, let's start over. I'm Kale." The alien stood up and extended its hand to him. "What's your name?" Kershala looked away and wiped at his eyes, he took a breath and gathered himself as the warrior he was supposed to be. He stood and went to the pilots console he had to check if his ship was able to fly. If it wasn't he would abandon it and destroy it. He entered several commands bringing it to life around him. "Whoa, what are you doing?" The alien took a step toward the door. A combination of weapons fire and the damage the emergency FTL jump caused before the crash had rendered engines useless to the point where it would require a full rebuild. The power source had been spent with no way to reignite it.

"System restart complete," the AI came to life pulling from the back up power supply. Kershala could feel the AI reading sensory data from his implant. "Kershala, I detect that the ship is eighty four percent none functional. Sensors offline, weapons offline, engines non-functional."

"What the hell is going on here?" asked the alien.

"We are on the only livable planet in the Sol System, the Shiron do not know of its existence the likelihood that they will find us here is negligible. Our scientists have been here before," The AI continued ignoring the alien. "Shall I scuttle the ship?"

"Yes," Kershala spoke quietly.

"Beginning preparation. I suggest you and our guest make leave of the crash site I will keep the terrain damage to a minimal. Will you be taking my AI core with you?" Kershala stayed quiet still clearly in distress. "Kershala, I understand what's happened, but I believe you will need my assistance to." Kershala grunted loudly and raised his hand interrupting the machine. "Very well, if you do not wish to preserve the knowledge of your people, then I will." The AI was the remains of a much larger intelligence that existed before his family had been pursued. Kershala's grand Matriarch had created it during the war with the Shiran to both look after their remaining people and preserve their history. This was how it was able to take control of his ship and take him where it wanted to.

Kale felt like he had fallen right into a science fiction movie, a ship crashed from the sky he found a man that is clearly not human and now he was sure he was hearing an artificial intelligence. He felt as though the voice may have said his name. He was intrigued by everything that had happened so far and was curious to see where they would go next or if the ship was about to take off. Kale took another step into the vessel and was right behind what he now recognized as the pilot's seat. The glass was broken from what he could tell so there likely wouldn't be any flying going on, but he could tell that the ship was doing something.

"Human," the AI spoke, and Kale almost jumped out of his skin he did not expect it to speak English.

"What are you?"

"I cannot answer your questions yet, Kershala is in mourning, I need you to help me."

"Kershala, huh?" Kale looked at the pilot who's back was to him now. "Okay, what do you need? If you're going to take off could you let me know."

"We are not going anywhere in this ship, it has taken too much damage and will not fly again. Our directive is to destroy the vessel."

"There are people near here you can't just blow the…"

"There will be no explosion, we are not here to harm anyone," the AI interrupted him, "I need your assistance in removing my AI core."

"What how the hell would I be able to…" Kale couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was starting to wonder if he was dreaming.

"I will tell you, proceed to the main console, Kershala will not stop you." Kale threw his hands up and walked to the console still not really sure any of this was even real. He looked over at Kershala who just sat in silence as Kale turned the console toward him. "I am going to light a sequence on the console for you to activate in the order it shows." Kale nodded that he was ready, and a light sequence started across the tunnel. "Repeat this twice." Kale followed the instructions that were remarkable simple for something that sounded so complicated. There was a sound behind him like something unlocking. He turned and watched a panel fall as something slid from the wall. Kale walked to the protrusion on the wall.

"Is this you?" he asked.

"Yes. This is the housing for my core. Press down on the center to release the core. Please be careful, human."

"You can call me, Kale." Kale did as he was told, and a small light blinked before the cover opened and a cylindrical item slid up beside Kale's hand. He took it from the casing and looked it over, it was surprisingly light for something so advanced. There were two small lenses on each side of the unit.

"Thank-you Kale." The voice now came from the item in his hand. "Kershala, preparations are now complete. Initiating destruction."

"What?!" Kale tried to run to the door but when his foot slammed to the ground it went right through the ships floor. There was a strange almost buzzing sound all around him and his skin felt weirdly electrified. He turned to Kershala who had risen out of his seat, the ship around them seemed to be deconstructing itself.

"Do not worry, Kale. They are nanites, they will eat the ship but will not harm flesh and then they will be dust." As the AI described what was happening it made sense the sound he heard was the nanites, the feeling, the energy they expelled. It wasn't long before the whole process was complete, and they were left standing in the middle of the clearing. The wind blew quietly, and Kale watched as what was left of the ship was whisked away in the breeze.

"Does he understand me?" asked Kale looking right at Kershala who stood staring at the ground.

"He does, but as I said he is in mourning. We are in mourning. Give him time. In the meantime, please show him kindness." Kale wanted to know what had happened before they got to earth that was so horrible. He could tell by Kershala's beaten body and seemingly broken spirit that it had to have been pretty terrible. Kale picked his hoodie up off the ground and walked over to Kershala.

"Here. Put this on, we can get you cleaned up back at the house." Kale passed him the hoodie then turned to start walking. "Come on, it's not far."

The AI was quiet as they walked. Kershala had slid on the garment that Kale had given him. They were walking through a woodland area with thick trees as far as he could see. He could hear distant sounds of what was likely animals but he had also heard other humans talking off and on. About the meteor they had seen. Kershala remembered back to his matriarch's teachings about solar systems and science. He had heard of the Sol System but only in mention, the archive contained in the AI had maps that led here explaining how it found it's way here. But it was relatively unremarkable. Mainly due to the fact that its inhabitants hadn't yet left their home planet in any capacity. It was strange for him to be around a member of another species. They hadn't discovered any peaceful people in his lifetime, they had stopped looking once the war started. This human's capacity for kindness was refreshing, he had never been able to just let his guard down.

"We're almost there, it's just through this clearing." They quickly came up on the edge of the forest. Kershala could see a building only a hundred feet out of the woods or so. Kale ran ahead and stopped at the doorway waiting for him to approach. "Easy boy, easy." Kershala thought at first Kale was speaking to him but it was quickly obvious that he was talking to the animal in the door way. "Don't mind the dog he's friendly he may want to sniff you though. His name's Rhodie." Kershala approached the door and Kale stepped in. The animal walked over to him and began to smell him. Kershala extended a hand to the animal and let it smell him. He hadn't had a pet in a very long time. The animal reminded him of that. The dog woofed quietly at him and Kale slowly shuffled him into another room. The building was dark inside at first and when Kale came back into the room he flicked the switch on the wall activating the buzzing overhead light. Kale froze as the light flickered on. He had not seen Kershala fully illuminated.

"I can't believe this is happening." Kale walked to the counter and sat the AI core down next to the sink. "You should get cleaned off. Do you want some water?" Kale turned on the tap and water began to pour from it. A light began to shimmer from the AI core as a beam flickered over the water and the rest of the kitchen.

"It is safe for consumption." Kale watched Kershala step inside slowly and put his hands under the water then brought them to his mouth. He took a glass from the cupboard and filled it before passing it to Kershala. He quickly downed the glass of water and sat it back to the counter. He gave him a thanking look.

"Okay, you should get cleaned up. Come up stairs." Kale grabbed the AI core from the countertop and walked down a hallway turning up a set of stairs, Kershala kept up with him. He took him upstairs to the large bathroom and once again sat the core on the counter top. Kale started a shower running a little warmer than luke-warm imagining that the hot water would feel good on a battered body. "Just wait a minute for the water to be warm before you get in. There's a bar of soap on the ledge in there. Does he need anything else?" Kershala took the hoodie off and dropped it to the floor. "Guess not." Kale took the hoodie realizing it was stained with the purple blood that also spattered his clothing. "I'm going to throw this stuff in the laundry let me know if you need anything. Er, well…" Kale looked at the AI, "Can you let me know if he needs anything? I guess. You know Kershala you could say thank you. Just sayin."

Kale walked out of the room and headed down stairs putting his clothing in the washing machine along with the hoodie Kershala had been wearing. He found himself thinking of how he was going to explain this random person showing up with him to his friends and family although he did have a few days to make up reasons. Then his mind wandered to Kershala, what could have happened to make a man lose the will to speak? What had he been through? Kale started the washing machine and headed back upstairs. He could hear the water still running when he walked into his room to grab a t-shirt and shorts to throw on in the meantime. He sat on his bed briefly wondering again what the next few days would bring.

Kershala stepped into the stream and let the warm water run over his aching body. He looked down at his feet and watched as the water poured over him rinsing away the dried violet from his skin. The heat from the water felt good on his skin, the aches seemingly dulled even if only for a short few seconds. He exhaled as he rotated letting the water wash over his whole body. The blood that now flowed to the porcelain base along with the water over his body became a dilute color stained on the floor. He tilted his head back and let the water run over his face. It had been a long time since he felt such a feeling. His people had long gone beyond using water for cleansing, but it was refreshing.

"Kershala, do not over indulge, you must rest your body if you're to recover properly," the AI advised. Kershala ignored it his eyes still closed as he ran the water through his hair. Kale walked through the open door with more garments in his hands, he had changed his clothing as well.

"I brought you something to wear tonight if you want. The house gets a little cold at night sometimes. You're a little bigger than I am but these should be pretty comfortable." Kershala stopped what he was doing and looked at Kale, who appeared to be staring at him. His sensory implant was detecting increased vascular activity in the human, the AI having fully analyzed his physiology. He was sure it was likely fear and excitement that was causing it. Kershala stepped out of the shower and Kale passed him a large cloth. "Dry off and put these on," Kale sighed, "Still waiting on that thank you, you know." Kershala quickly dried off and took the garments from the counter top and put them on. Kale looked at him and made a strange noise before cracking a smile. "It's on backwards." Kale stepped toward him. "Turn it around?" He reached out to Kershala who didn't really know what he expected, the garments were slightly uncomfortable. "Just um…" Kale trailed off and lifted the bottom of the shirt. Kershala took the cue and fitted the shirt the way he was suggesting. "There that's it." Kale looked him up and down and patted him on the chest. "Come on you can sleep in the spare room down the hall. It used to be my dad's." Kale turned to walk out.

"Thank you," Kershala spoke in a raspy tired voice. Kershala's voice was softer than Kale expected, he would even say he was timid. It seemed strange for a man of his stature to speak so softly. The accent wasn't something he couldn't place but it was somewhere between British and Swahili. He looked at him and smiled.

"Wasn't so bad eh?" Kershala's eyes diverted down and his brow cut with confusion before taking hold of the AI core. "Let's go." Kale patted him on his shoulder trying to offer reassurance and led him down the hall to the spare bedroom. "This should be good enough for now." They walked into the small room and Kale introduced the bed. "It's a little hard, it's pretty old but…"

"It will suffice," the AI spoke from Kershala's hand. Kale watched as he placed the core on the end table next to the bed and sat down.

"I'll be at the other end of the hall if you need me." He walked out of the room and down the hallway to the bedroom he used when he visited. His eyes were heavy and he was certainly ready for bed. He tapped his phone that was sitting on the armoire when he walked into the room. It was two thirty. He hadn't seen two thirty since his early twenties. He let out a sigh as he picked up his phone. He usually had it on him all the time but left it behind when he was only taking the dog out to the bathroom and then everything started happening. There were several notifications on the touch screen of text messages and social media. He scrolled through the social media first realizing it was just several replies to comments he had left on some posts earlier in the night. The text notifications however were from his friend, Miranda.

"Did you see that meteorite hit? It looks like it was pretty close to your grandma's house. Holy shit dude."

"Why aren't you responding you can't be in bed already?" Was the last message he got deciding she would already be in bed he didn't bother replying. He took his shirt off and laid down in the bed. He couldn't believe the night he had. It started with taking a dog out to pee and now there was literally an alien sleeping in the room down the hall with an artificial intelligence sitting on the headboard. Kale laid there briefly thinking if he was in danger or not but working in security gave him generally a good sense about this kind of thing and he trusted his gut. The other side of him was wrestling with whether he should alert the authorities. "You can't do that. That never ends well in the movies," he laughed to himself, thinking that his life had turned into a science fiction movie overnight. The other part of him was wondering what would Kershala do in the morning? Was he going to try to get back to wherever he came from, he couldn't stay with him forever could he? Taking him to the city when he was done house sitting would likely be the best for him. The fact that he seemed of African decent would make him stand out quite readily in town, let alone those beautifully strange eyes of his. Kale decided it would be best to speak with them in the morning and see what they could figure out, but for now he needed to sleep.

Kershala lay quietly in the darkness listening to the sound of the night around him. He could hear the animal moving occasionally downstairs as well as the sound of the old building shifting occasionally. He couldn't remember a time in his life where everything had been so quiet. He had always been with his family before this and even when it was quiet there were sounds to be heard. His youngest brothers talking as the lay in the bed next to him about things they found to be wonderous and grand. His Matriarch and Patriarch discussing emergency procedures should they have been captured or found. The quiet was lonely and Kershala wasn't used to it. The few times he had tried to close his eyes all he could see was the flash of light that destroyed his family or when his Patriarch fell in battle and he had to tell his Matriarch.

"Karu," he whispered in sorrow.

"Kershala, you must be strong, they are with the Zarai now," the AI spoke in an attempt to reassure him. Kershala took no comfort that his family were with gods that refused to protect them in their time of need. Nevertheless, he forced himself to close his eyes and ignore his heart so that he may fall into slumber.