Mkay

Professor Sycamore was paranoid.

He was absolutely terrified that Targent would find him, rip the family that he had worked so hard to make and keep.

His solution? Move around a lot. So much, in fact, that he had spent a small fortune on building the Bostonius, to keep him and his family mobile in the comforts of home. Everything had been thought out.

That was when Targent found him.

The letters started as an invitation to join them. When those messages went unheeded, they decided to start sending more and more malicious ones, until one letter in particular told Desmond that if he didn't join them, consequences beyond his imagination would happen to him.

That was when he built the first version of the Detragan. He wanted to preserve their memories, all of their memories, in the event that something happened to them.

The uploading of their memories went without any trouble. That's when Desmond noticed his flaw. The Detragan, as advanced as it was, couldn't hold memories forever. It had lost his memories, and his wife's memories, all in a single night.

That's when his wife and daughter got killed.

Desmond, of course, set out to find a girl exactly like his daughter. He couldn't let her memories, his daughter, fade, he just couldn't. Even if he couldn't find an exact match, he had to find one. His daughter was the only person left that he could, theoretically, bring back from the dead.

Her memories were fading fast. He needed a girl, now.

A candidate finally showed up, and Desmond was desperate to get some semblance of his daughter, his only daughter, back. The Detragan was only a few minutes away from losing her memories. If he wanted to do it, he needed to do it now.

He hooked the girl up to the machine, placing the helment over her head. Her blonde curls swished down her back in gentle waves and dips, her blue eyes wide in fear.

"It will be alright, dear. Just relax." His voice was surprisingly gentle, even for him. The girl gave a soft whimper, but nodded, and her tense body relaxed some.

Desmond walked over to the machine, turning the large key in its hatch and reaching for the lever with a shaky hand.

"Papa!" His head shot to the side, and his daughter stood there, looking at him with a wide grin, her smile littered with small gaps from when she had lost her baby teeth. Her hair was bunched and wavy, auburn so much like his, and her ruby red eyes sparkled with curiousity.

"What're you doing, Papa?" She asked. Desmond rubbed his eyes with his hand, losing his composure. What was he doing?

"I can't lose you," he choked out as an answer. "I need to save you."

"Papa, but I'm right here! I'll never leave you." His fingers slowly slipped from the lever.

"It'll be alright, Papa! I'll always be with you," his daughter whispered as he collapsed to the floor, hands covering his eyes as he gave a soft, keening sob. His daughter's bright smile fell into a sadder one.

"I love you, Papa."

"…I love you too, my little flower."

And in that moment, the last light went out.