Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, the characters, world and general storyline are property of Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria.

Coheed and Cambria is a concept band. Their songs detail an epic science fiction story. This fanfiction is an interpretation of the story contained in their songs and comics, it isn't a fanfiction about the band, and thus does not violate any of TOS. It is also important to note that Claudio Kilgannon is not the same person as Claudio Sanchez. C. Sanchez, the lead singer and brain of the band has publicly admitted that he giving the lead character in his story his name.

Coheed stood with his mouth slightly ajar. He knew that he looked like a bovine idiot, but he couldn't think of a more suitable, or dignified reaction. As the man approached him, Coheed mentally ran over the things he had done recently, searching desperately for something that might've made the Army put a warrant out for his arrest. Josephine had been written up a handful of times for curfew violations. Last week Cambria had bought some wine from sector 9, did she get it on the black market? Coheed was so consumed with his internal quest to determine what he was guilty of, that he was completely ignorant of the fact that his arrester wasn't entirely human. The man looked Coheed over carefully, had he the eyes of a human one might've seen a glimmer of admiration. After determining that Coheed was unarmed he ordered gruffly, "Get into the car."

At this point Coheed made the realization that the man was a robot. There were plenty of robots of various degrees of sophistication in the factor he worked at, and it was uncommon to find that the pretty girl serving coffee at the local café was plugged in and recharged every night, but to his knowledge, the Army had not integrated robots into its service. He could remember some sort of controversy about how getting robots involved in the war would dehumanize the whole thing, and make killing too easy. For a few fleeting seconds he considered refusing. He knew that getting into the car would put him in a completely helpless position. The man had showed him no proof of his identity. Growing slightly bolder Coheed shook his head, "It's in my rights to ask why I'm being arrested."

"You are in no position to argue with me."

The tone of the other man sent chills down Coheed's spine, but he stood his ground, "Yes I am. I want to see your identification papers. I want to know how the hell you know my name, and I want to know what I did to get arrested without any warnings."

With something like a smile the man reached into his pocket. Coheed winced, believing that a gun was about to be pulled on him. Although he tried to keep his face impassive, Coheed was terrified. He had heard stories of men being picked off of the streets by the army, never to be heard of again. Cambria didn't work: she had the twins to take care of. If he vanished his family would find themselves starving in the streets. However, before his mind could leap to any real conclusion, a card which identified the man as Mayo Deftinwolf of the Red Army was produced and brandished in Coheed's general direction. He slid the card back into his pocket, "The Red Army has been following you and your wife for decades. You're being charged with terrorism. It is well in my power to kill you here and now. I suggest you keep mindful of that."

Coheed tried to stammer that he was an innocent man, but the words wouldn't spill out of his mouth in the order that he willed them. The man's card had looked official. But the concept of being charged with terrorism would've been laughable if it didn't have a death sentence nailed to it. Coheed weighed his options and got into the back seat of the car. He was surprised that Mayo had made no gestures to restrain him, or even prove his identity. He had quietly and tried to keep his wits about him. Mayo closed the door behind him and took his place in the driver's seat, "You and I are about to discuss highly confidential material. You and your wife are also about to disappear."

At this Coheed snapped, "I haven't done anything though! Hail Wilhelm and may his regime last a thousand years. I've done nothing!"

"Not that you remember."

These four words sent Coheed reeling. He stretched his brain and tried vainly to recall what had happened when he was younger, before he and Cambria had appeared in sector 11. Nothing came to him. From the front seat he heard mechanical sounding laughter, "No…not that I remember. I've," He once again tried to plea his piece, but his words fell short.

"You were a member of a three-person organization known as the KBI. I'm sure you've wondered all of these years why you can't remember anything of your life before you were twenty?"

Their was a certain tone of cold malice in Mayo's voice that made Coheed's stomach turn. Possible answers to an enigma that he had long wondered were frothing in his mind. His imagination leapt from one impossibility to another, with the knowledge that perhaps the impossibilities were not as impossible as he had initially assumed. Finally, after some time of playing with his tongue and his teeth he found what he was trying to say, "Dear God…Please sir. Tell me."

"I'm far from God, but I've been sent here by my own master to tell you what your past holds," Mayo spoke with a triumph, "My men and I discovered you and your team before you ever had a chance to be an active force against Wilhelm. Had previous measures not been taken you would've been dead and gone long ago. However, your creators had planned ahead."

"Creators…what the hell, who…?"

"I assume that you're familiar with Antillarea?"

Coheed nodded his head. Antillarea was the whole reason behind every law-abiding citizen's angst. She had allegedly based herself out of sector 11. Nobody was happy with the fact that a terrorist was nestled in their midst, "Of course sir."

"Your creator was a man named Dr. Leonard Hohenberger. We believe that he was one of Antillarea's followers. Coheed Kilgannon, you're a robot."

Coheed felt something like a giggle burst forth from his throat. First he was accused of terrorism, not he was being told that he was a robot, "I'm sorry sir, but my wife and I…we've had children. Four children. Robot's can't…"

"You and your wife happen to be some of the most advanced pieces of technology in the Keywork. Not only in your verisimilitude, but in, certain safety precautions installed into your systems. This is why we are addressing you now."

At this point, Coheed noticed that they were slowly driving in the general direction of his home. His heart was suddenly in his throat, Cambria was involved with this too…his world seemed to be slowly spinning apart. Mayo continued to speak, "You see, your creators invested a good deal of money and time in your creation, they naturally wanted to safeguard their work. However, Antillerea, having no sense of moral responsibly violated every possible code placed down by man, mage, prise and God. You are infected with a sophisticated computer virus known simply as the MONSTAR. If activated, it will destroy the Star of Sirius closest to you."

"What?"

"Coheed Kilgannon, you are programmed to destroy the world."

Coheed was rendered speechless. Not only were Mayo's words becoming more and more fat fetched (He was a simple factory worker…destroying the Star's of Sirius…it couldn't be…) but faint memories of a previous age were flickering back to him. He used to have a name other than Coheed. The beast? He shook the images from his head and gathered himself, he gruffly responded, "I guess you'll have to kill me."

"I'm afraid I won't have that privilege. You see, matters get more complicated. You have four children?
"Correct."

"Well, when the Red Army discovered the KBI, Antillerea threatened to activate the MONSTAR virus. We couldn't risk something like that, so we compromised. You and your wife would be permitted to live, if your memories were wiped. We saw no harm in letting a good strong back contribute to the work force. We figured that with you're memory gone there would be no danger from the MONSTAR."

Coheed nodded, "You are merciful. Wilhelm is the best thing that's happened to the government since…"

He let his voice trail, unable to come up with a conclusion. He could tell that the world was about to fall on his shoulders, and he just wanted to get it over with. Mayo languidly continued, "We were sadly mistaken. At their conception, your children were infected with a mutation of the MONSTAR virus. Our scientists have dubbed it the SINSTAR. It possesses nearly all of the traits of the MONSTAR, with one vital exception. The MONSTAR can only be activated under very particular circumstances, and it can be deactivated. However, the SINSTAR will activated automatically when the child turns 23--"

Coheed blurted out, "Josephine's birthday is next week."

"Which is why the time has come for the Red Army to remove you and your family from civilian life. I'm afraid that your children are going to have to die. They cannot be saved. It's been determined that it is best if they all die now, although Josephine's virus is the only one in immediate danger of activation. You and your wife are going to be taken under the custody of the Red Army."

"I…"

"I'm doing you a favor. You are to ensure that all of your children are dead by 21:13 tonight. We have prepared a poison for you to give them, it is odorless and flavorless. They will die quickly and painlessly. My men will come to pick you up, and finish the deeds that have been left undone. Mr. Kilgannon, you shouldn't look at me like that. We all have flaws. Yours just happens to be an issue of national security."

Coheed said flatly, "You're asking me to murder my children."

"Now when did I say murder? I'm merely asking you to help be," Mayo added caustically, "Besides, you should see it as a privilege, every father should hope to spare their children a painful death. 21:13 tonight. Don't try to run."

At that point the car slowly rolled to a stop in front of Coheed's home. A case of poison was exchanged between the two men, and Mayo drove away. Coheed slowly walked up his driveway, his mind reeling with the information he had just been fed. He knew that it was true. It had to be true. There were so many blank spaces in his life that needed to be filled. They had been filled with news he could barely comprehend.

Cambria was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him. Her delicate legs were crossed and she held herself tightly, as if she was afraid of falling apart. She didn't look up when Coheed wearily entered the room, she just said like a sigh, "You've heard."

Coheed nodded. He suddenly felt impossibly old. Cambria began to fiddle with a few strands of her dark hair. She slowly pulled the strands apart and stared as if they contained all of the answers to the ills of the world, "They called me today. Told me. Coheed. They've told you…didn't they? They told me you'd bring…"

She found herself unable to continue speaking. She was fighting frantic tears and losing. Coheed fought the urge to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. Instead he just looked at the briefcase on the table and slowly proclaimed, "We have to do it my dear…"

She nodded, "I know but…I…it doesn't feel right."

"I don't know what else to do."

She searched frantically for other options, things that would remove them from the terrible deed they needed to commit, "I can't. I can't kill them."

"You don't need do. I will do it"

"No, Coheed—I."

"We don't have a choice. Where are they."

"The twins are in their room."

Coheed felt his heart leap up into his throat and fought nausea. His two youngest children, they would never get a chance to live. They could never understand the situation, at least with Josephine and Claudio he could explain…he could beg them for forgiveness. He slowly opened the briefcase, inside, as he expected was a small vial filled with clear liquid, and a note which read simply, "21:13" Wincing Coheed took the bottle in his hands, "There is only one thing we can do. The Red Army obviously wants us dead. We will poison the children and then take our own lives."

Cambria said absently, "Josephine's not home. Claudio isn't going to be home until late, he's with his girlfriend…Coheed. I don't want to see my son die."

Coheed was silent. He stood slowly and found himself mixing a bottle at the kitchen sink. It was almost funny, it was a ritual he had done thousands of times before. Come home as tired as an old dog to meet with his wife. They would sit at the kitchen table and talk while the twins were down for their naps. He would ask where their two older children were, she would tell him that they were out…he would make the twins a bottle and wake them up. Only this time, this time they wouldn't be awake for long.

He added the poison to the bottle. Everything around him seemed to be moving impossibly slowly. His world had narrowed down to the thing he was about to do. As he walked upstairs he thought that he could hear Cambria's sobs, but he couldn't be sure, nothing really could be heard over the pounding of his own heart in his head. He slowly opened his children's door. They weren't asleep, they never were. Cambria insisted that they take a nap in the afternoon. They sprung awake at the sight of their father's form in the door. Coheed tried to keep his voice calm, and plastered a fake smile over his face. There was no reason to scare them, "Maria! My star…oh Matthew…you've grown since this morning haven't you?"

The young boy smiled sheepishly and nodded in the manor of young children. Coheed patted him on the head and passed him a bottle, "I brought you something to tide you over before supper. Mommy's tired tonight so it will probably be late."

He found himself talking to keep himself from sobbing. Maria and Matthew took the bottles and began to suckle at once. Slowly, Coheed noticed subtle changes overcome them. Their movements became less controlled, something glassy appeared in their eyes. Matthew dropped his bottle and staggered drunkenly towards Coheed. Coheed picked his son up and held him close before putting him back in bed, "Goodnight Matthew."

Maria had fallen to the ground. Coheed stared at the bodies of his two children, unable to process what had just happened. He found himself affixed to the spot. From behind him he heard a wailing, "No! You killed them!"

Coheed spun around to see Cambria standing in the threshold of the door, tears and snot ran freely down her chin, "You killed them."

"They died painlessly. We're the only ones who hurt."

"You killed them!"

"But the only pain involved was ours."

"When we stopped feeling their pulse! You killed my babies!"

Her voice was a shrill wail that seemed otherworldly. She stumbled into the room and Coheed found her fists pummeling his chest as she cried out. Coheed grabbed her shoulders firmly and tried to get her to look at him. They locked eyes and this seemed to calm her, "We had no choice. The Army was going to kill them anyway."

Faintly, Cambria said, "It's a trap. You know that. You know that the law will never forgive us for this. This forces us to ally ourselves with the Army."

"Did we have a choice. If we didn't we'd be killed for treason. At least, at least, by God's will we're still alive."

Cambria wrenched herself from her husband's hands. She was trembling and inside of her head she was cursing the name of God. She could never forgive him for putting her into this life, for taking away her choices. A transformation seemed to overcome her. Something like a grim smile crossed her face as she thought, Dear God. You're the one who will never be forgiven. This seemed to make her feel better, although she wasn't sure exactly why. Something inside of her could tell that God was listening to the words that she spoke, and that he was seething in his own sort of anger. She turned to her husband, "Claudio and Josephine are not going to be home by 21:13. We must bide our time until the Army comes and explain this to them."

"Dear God. Consume me."