A Dream Unrequited
All characters, settings, and locations are owned by Pioneer and Funimation, not the author
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"H-how can that be?" Tenchi asked with a slight chuckle. "I wiped out my Juraian blood when I was a God, didn't I?"
Washu nodded. "That's what we thought. Apparently, when you came back to us, you returned exactly as you remembered. Half-Juraian, your blood identical to that of the royal family…"
She stopped, hitting a few keys on her shadowy keyboard. "Here…this was a bit of a mystery to me as well." She made a gesture, causing her monitor to split down the middle and form an identical screen.
"Here is a graphical chart of the energy from a Choushin Event. " The screen showed a spiked line, peaking at an odd alpha-numeric- to-the-150,000th number. She tapped a few more keys, the image changing to show an overlay of another graph. "And here…here is a reading from when we tracked your rebirth…"
She turned the screen to Tenchi, showing him the readings the Hakubi women had taken during their retrieval of his biomass. The spiked line was still present, but completely overshadowed by another graph, this one plateauing across the top of the screen, the line easily triple the other.
"What does this mean Washu?" Tenchi scratched his head, tracing the line with a finger.
"Well, like I said, the first graph shows a reading from an event propagated by Lady Tokimi, a small sub-space anomaly she brewed up. Not the most powerful event, but a decent display of energy. The other graph shows the output of energy from when you were reborn in this universe. The difference is astronomical." She tapped her chin, brow furrowed. "I'd been wondering about it myself, but with your recovery I hadn't really had too much time to look into it. It seems that with your power and the Godspark that was grown inside of you, you were able to do what we could not."
She turned to look at Tenchi, shaking her head. "If my data is correct, it wasn't an act of the Choushin that resurrected you. You caused your own rebirth."
Ryoko sat at her desk, a shadow terminal hovering before her, the lines of data untouched and cursor blinking over the next row. She let out a sigh, leaning her head back and rubbing her eyes. Seven years she had worked with her mother, and four before that she spent grinding through the most gruelingly difficult school in the known universe all for one purpose. Tenchi… She shivered as she thought his name, wrapping her arms around herself.
She straightened up, gesturing for the terminal to shut down, causing it to fade away. Fifteen years he'd been gone from their life, and now he was back. She knew what she was doing when she started working with Washu, but now, she didn't know if it was what she wanted. He's back…and I helped make it happen.
She sighed, standing up and beginning to wander around her office, smoothing her hair back with both hands. When they located the snippets of his psyche swirling through sub-dimensional space and she heard his voice for the first time in a decade she remembered falling to her knees, distraught and overjoyed at the same instant. Here was the man who had her heart in his hand and squeezed.
Even when Washu pierced into his own personal prison, she volunteered to be the first one to infiltrate his mind. The sensation of being part of that world he had made for himself was overwhelming. From the moment she entered his dream state she felt how he felt, and was crushed under the weight of his guilt and his self-hatred.
His grey despair tainted the world he had created, a world she wanted to free him from. Even as she waited for him in the rail station, she begged in her mind, pleading forhim to step out onto the tracks. If not to bring him back to them, then to save them both from his pain.
She let out a deep breath, hugging her arms as she shook her head. Not back to them…back to me. She felt her eyes sting as her vision blurred, both with longing and fury. She had grown to hate herself for loving him so, and even still she felt her heart pound when she thought of him. She had opened herself to him completely and as such had no defense when it became apparent that he ultimately blamed her for everything that had happened to him.
She let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Heh…I am SO not getting any work done today." Rolling her eyes, she shrugged on her coat and left the lab, touching a series of buttons on the wall to shut down the lights and lock the exits. Today was a hot sake day, no two ways about it…
"So, wait, when I killed myself in my dream world…you didn't resurrect me?" Tenchi asked, rolling his sleeve back down over the dressing at the hollow of his elbow.
"No, I knew that Tokimi had set up the universe to accept your form when you returned, but Tsunami and I were the ones who were going to rebuild you." Washu shook her head, typing away at her keyboard. "Only the thing is, we never had the chance. As soon as your psyche spiked all of our sensors went wild and we detected your biomass contained in its own little pocket of atmosphere out in sector ΘΘ-74, now a dead-zone."
She pulled up a view of the section of space, showing him an image of an empty sphere of blackness amidst a stream of light, the spot where they found him. "The thing is, as you can see, you popped up right in the middle of a star-field." She traced around the edge of the dark sphere. "All through here were stars, millions of nuclear fusion reactors floating in space."
She shrugged some, shaking her head. "I'm not sure, but I think when you resurrected yourself you used the power of those stars as a buffer for your entrance into this dimension." She turned back to her terminal and tapped a few buttons, making a cap flip up onto Tenchi's head, the lights around it starting to blink.
"Oh, I remember this thing." He chuckled, looking up at the light bulbs as they blinked in unison.
"Nope, I upgraded it." She grinned, pushing a button. With a gasp, Tenchi felt as though a bolt of lightning had just ripped through his body, his vision shifting into sharp-edged hues. He gritted his teeth, feeling energy pulse through him, the cap on his head seeming to be trying to drill into his very core. As he gripped the arms of his seat he let out a cry, feeling his body reach its breaking point, stressed beyond the limit of return.
In a flash, it was over, and as if it had never happened. Blinking, he looked over at Washu, who was humming happily as she scrolled through the data. "W-what was that?"
"A spectrofisiocarpemetrometal scan." She looked knowingly over at him, quirking an eyebrow at his look of utter confusion. "Your soul, Tenchi."
He flushed, and then sputtered. "H-hey, that's sort of private, isn't it? I mean, you can't just go poking around inside of me…I mean, uh…" The mad scientist let out a bark of laughter as he talked himself into a corner.
"Trust me, no harm has been done. And if it makes you feel any better it's nothing to do with your spiritual soul, just your physical one."
"My…physical soul?"
"Of course, where do you think your powers come from? Or Ayeka's and Ryoko's for that matter?" She turned the screen to face him, gesturing to a column of data. "This is a full analytical spectrum of your physiological data concerning your energy." She pulled up a second screen. "You see, here is your old scan. This one took me almost a month to do last time, instead of just a few seconds for this new one."
"I think I would have preferred the old way…" He grumbled then pulled back from Washu's intense stare. "B-but this is much faster." He backpedaled.
"Humph. As I was saying, if you see here we have a clear reading of your Juraian energy, such as would be used to create Ayeka's force fields or your light-hawk wings." The chart showed a red column full of arcane numbers. "Now here is your new reading and as you can see the numbers are much higher, but the actual quantity of energy I've detected is far less."
"On the other hand, your massu-based energy has increased exponentially, a fairly reasonable assumption since you've merged with one of the gemstones. " She noted the difference in the blue column of data, showing a huge spike from the previous readings. "So your power is very similar to that of Ryoko's now, very interesting…"
Tenchi tilted his head, thoroughly confused. "So, let me get this right. I've got powers like Ryoko now? I thought that when I was reborn I wouldn't have all these weird special abilities?"
Washu shook her head. "Just because that's what Z said doesn't mean it was true. Remember, we groomed you to become something greater than the Choushin, and beyond that when you chose to return to us you had implanted yourself with one of Ryoko's gemstones."
She wagged a finger at him. "You didn't need to do that, you know. She actually sacrificed one of her gems to get that to you." She smiled at him as she tapped away at the keyboard. "You should remember to thank her….what?" The buxom scientist looked closely at the screen. "This is odd…you seem to have picked up some strange elements from your regeneration."
She pointed to a small, grey tinged column, quirking an eyebrow. "It seems that when those stars were destroyed, either to fuel your re-entry or because of it, you kept a portion of the matter inside of your body."
"I've got a star inside of me?" Tenchi asked, patting his torso, looking down.
"No, geez, you kept a little bit of the star matter inside of you. Helium, iron, argon, a bit of carbon and some spare neon, nothing to be really worried about. I'll keep an eye on you just in case, but you should be fine."
She tapped a few keys, logging the data for further analysis and closed down her terminal, standing up and dusting herself off. "Well, that should just about do it for today." She grinned lecherously down at him. "Unless you wanted to give me that sample after all…?"
"No, that's okay…" He chuckled nervously, trying to unstrap himself from the chair.
"Oh you're so mean." Washu squeaked, bopping him on the forehead with her knuckles. "Well then let's get going. I'm sure there's a lot you'd like to see." She chuckled as she helped him unstrap his arms and led him from the lab. "I almost forgot how much fun it was to tease you, Tenchi." She smiled then snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right! About you grabbing my breast in the dark?" She stepped slightly ahead and cupped his crotch as she moved along, giving him a solid squeeze through his trousers. "I think we're even now."
Washu entered the main living area of their top-floor townhome, a still furiously blushing Tenchi walking a few steps behind her and out of arms reach. "…So, while I sold a lot of my inventions, we kept having to fund our research, so we were almost constantly flat broke." She laughed nervously. "Thankfully The girls all have jobs and with Ryoko as my assistant we got more work done than ever before, so we made ends meet."
"Wow…sounds like things can get kind of rough around here." Tenchi sighed, smiling sadly. "I don't think I can say I'm sorry enough for what I've done. I put you all in such a terrible position."
Washu shrugged, looking back at him. "It's not so bad, when you do it for someone you love." She smiled sweetly, stretching her arms behind her head.
"Still, if I'm going to stay here, I'd like to contribute somehow." He chuckled, scratching his head. "I can't just grow carrots anymore."
"No, you can't. Speaking of which, it's time to go get Ryo-Ohki. Come on, you can come with. She doesn't know you're back yet." The scientist walked over to one of the walls and put a finger from both hands against it, drawing a glowing line out from the center. The line expanded into a column of light against the wall, shimmering for a moment before opening into a vehicle bay.
"This is so going to take some getting used to…" Tenchi groaned as he walked through the new door, rubbing the smooth sides.
"It's easy enough to figure out." Washu shrugged, walking over to a parked, well car was the best that Tenchi could come up with to describe it. The vehicle was shaped like a bullet, but flat on the bottom, with wing-like protrusions on either side. It spanned about twelve feet in length and a good five feet wide.
Washu opened a panel in the side, climbing into the pod and gesturing for Tenchi to do the same. Reluctantly, he climbed into the passenger side seat, buckling himself into the high-backed chair as Washu flipped a switch, causing the vehicle to hum to life and begin to hover a few inches off the ground. "So, how does this woooooooorrrrrkkkkkkk!"With a snicker of glee Washu took the controls and threw open the throttle, the pod shooting out over the city like a rocket, rushing past buildings and trailing bits of cloud.
After he managed to pry himself from the seat, Tenchi peered out the window, swallowing hard. "Wow…one of your inventions?" The scientist made a disgusted sound and waved a hand to dismiss the question.
"Please, as if I'd ever make something as base as this. Shuttles like these have been around for ages. This one is a Seniwan model." She shrugged, turning sharply towards the center of the city. "Good fuel efficiency, decent turn of speed. It'll get you around."
Tenchi just nodded, amazed by the changes to his home world. In such a short time it had become an alien place, full of technology far beyond mankind's greatest dreams. While he stared out the window Washu brought the shuttle down gently into a landing zone atop a tall building with a landscaped roof and a short spire on one side. The rooftop was populated with shrubbery and foliage, laid out around walking paths and exquisite fountains, the whole scene dominated by two large trees, very similar to the prayer tree back at the Masaki shrine.
"Hey, are those…old ships?" Tenchi asked, stepping out of the shuttle, walking towards the massive trees.
Washu nodded, smiling. "Good eye. This is a Juraian school that they build here in the city. The trees that can no-longer fly are set up in places where they can be well taken care of." As they exited the car a door in the spire opened and a lanky youth sprinted out, waving behind themselves.
When the youth grew nearer, Tenchi saw with slight surprise her tri-toned hair and dark complexion, letting out a laugh as he realized the super computer unit and terrifying pirate battleship was spending her days as a schoolgirl. The teen skipped towards them, humming to herself and swinging her backpack as she went.
"Ryo!" Washu called out, waving the girl over.
"Hi, Washu-Sempai!" She called back, a faint trace of her feline background tingeing her words.
"Washu-Sempai?" Tenchi asked with a chuckle, and got his ear tugged for his trouble.
"Only she gets to call me that. Grandma didn't work, and she sees Ryoko as more of a mother."
As she grew near, Ryo-ohki slowed, tilting her head as she regarded Tenchi. As she got close, she squinted and peered up at him, looking him over this way and that. "Do I know you?" She asked, stepping closer to Washu.
He smiled and nodded. "Yes, from a long time ago."
The girl took a step closer, sniffing the air around him, her amber eyes suddenly lighting up. "C-carrot man?" She asked tentatively.
Tenchi let out a groan then began to laugh, nodding. "Yeah, I grew all those carrots for you when you were just a little thing." He held his hands up, cupping them to show about how large she was as a cabbit.
Ryo-Ohki's eyes went wide as she let out a cry, leaping onto him and hugging Tenchi close. "OH AWESOME! I LOVE CARROT-MAN!" She let go of him, and started to hop in place. "Ohmigodohmigodohmigod! Carrots!"
Tenchi just stood there, confused and maybe a little insulted, but this was so far the second warmest welcome he'd had in this world and wasn't about to turn it away. Washu, on the other hand, was doing everything in her power to keep from laughing.
As the shuttle pulled back into the vehicle bay, Tenchi saw another two shuttles parked side by side. One appeared to be much more solidly built, colored jet black with the Juraian Enforcement emblem discreetly embossed on its side, while the other was simple and silver with a stripe of teal running from the nose to the rear. He guessed these to be Sasami and Ayeka's cars, and felt a shiver of dread run through his body.
Sasami had grown to be an intimidating woman in a position of power to be feared and respected. She had shown him a very tender side in her act as Kiyo, but now that he was back for real, it was hard to place her feelings towards him. It seemed she took after mother Misaki a bit more than Ayeka did. He stepped out of the vehicle as it settled to the floor and found himself being drug from the car towards the house, Ryo-Ohki tugging him along by his hand.
"SASAMI-ONEESAN!" She called as she pulled him through the phasing door.
"I'm in the kitchen, and please don't shout, Ryo."
"Come see Sasami-Oneesan, Carrot Man!" The furry teen giggled, grinning. "She'll be so happy!" He groaned slightly as he followed her into the kitchen. The lanky girl pushed Tenchi into the kitchen, hollering out "ONEESAN!" and making Sasami jump, and then sigh heavily.
"Ryo, what did I just say? Honestly, you pick up such bad habits at school." She turned, seeing Tenchi in front of Ryo-Ohki, the girl grinning like a fool from around his body and poking at him.
"See? See? I found Carrot-man!" She hopped, clapping her hands. "Isn't it great, Oneesan? Carrot-man is back!"
Sasami nodded, smiling faintly. "Yes, I see that. He's been cooped up with Washu for a while now, and he's just gotten better from being very sick." She nodded to Tenchi then turned back to her cooking. "Now Ryo, you go and get started on your homework, alright?"
The young cabbit-morph just stood there with her mouth open for a moment and then closed it, making a face and exhaling dramatically she dragged her feet and walked from the kitchen.
"Close the door please?" Sasami called over her shoulder as she continued chopping radish for supper. Tenchi moved to follow Ryo-Ohki, feeling rather awkward to be caught in the middle of that.
"Stay." Sasami intoned, not a statement that could have been considered a request by anyone. Flinching, Tenchi looked longingly at the kitchen door as it closed, feeling as though the slight click when it latched was as loud as a sarcophagus lid in an empty tomb.
He swallowed hard, looking back at Sasami, who calmly continued to cut vegetables for the stew. "So…" She began over the sound of an extremely sharp knife slicing through thick stems and tubers. "You're back and well again, hmm? Do you like our world, Tenchi?" She turned, sticking the knife point first into her chopping block where it wobbled, making a warped, metallic echo.
"I say our world because it could hardly be recognized as the one you left behind, can it?" She walked towards him, seeming to grow taller with each step. "I don't know why you left, or what made you go, but I remember what happened because of it. No one likes to talk about it very much, but I was there." She stepped in very close, her nose an inch away from his, and he froze, a trickle of sweat worming its way down his spine as he stood stock straight.
She walked around him slowly, looking him up and down with her hands clasped behind her back, letting out a sigh. "It happened about thirteen years ago. Some backwater planet on the edge of space had heard about the boy with the light hawk wings and came for you. They wanted to try to control you and make you a weapon. If you'd been here, you probably would have destroyed all of them." She stopped in front of him, facing to the side, her eyes cut to look at him. "But you weren't."
She continued her walk, the pot seething on the stove, forgotten. "So these mercenaries gathered their forces and attacked planet Jurai, thinking we were hiding you. We fought back, of course, and we won, but Ayeka and I were off world, attending a conference. On our return trip, our ship was hijacked and we were taken captive. You can imagine what a prize we were, the two royal princesses of family Jurai. Worth a fortune in ransom, more if we were returned to our family unspoiled."
She chuckled without humor. "I guess it wasn't enough."
"The pirates proceeded to take me and Ayeka to separate rooms. Three men, two held me down as the other started getting undressed. He tossed his belt to the side, and there, just within reach was his vibroblade." She swallowed, taking a steadying breath before continuing. "I killed them. I was just a girl, barely fourteen, and I had already stained my hands with blood. I took their weapons and found Ayeka. She wasn't as lucky as I was, but she was still intact, at least where it counted."
She turned, facing away from him and leaning on the counter as she continued. "We rallied the remaining crew and fought back, taking back our ship, but we all knew that nothing would be the same. I was just a girl, Tenchi…I felt them die on that blade and a…a part of me died too." He saw spots of water appear on the counter and saw her shoulders shake. "You weren't there, Tenchi…" She turned then, her eyes red and tears running down her cheeks. "You weren't there…Oniisan…"
All at once her hard exterior cracked and Sasami ran into Tenchi, burying her face against his chest as she cried. He folded his arms around her, resting his cheek on her hair. "Sasami…I'm so sorry…" Slowly they slipped to the ground, remaining there as she cried into his tunic with his arms around her.
Tenchi helped serve dinner that night, carrying out the big pot of stew while Sasami brought out the sides and garnished the plates, ladling out servings for everyone. Mihoshi immediately started spooning food into her face, mumbling around her utensil about how delicious it was. Noike rolled her eyes and thanked Sasami for the meal before eating.
Washu coughed, setting down her spoon for a moment. "Noike," The turquoise haired woman turned to her. "Tenchi was telling me about how he wanted to help out around the house, since he's going to be staying with us…"
"Carrots." Mumbled Ryo-Ohki
Washu pointedly ignored the comment. "So I was wondering if there are any openings in the GXP Special Security Division just now."
Noike swallowed her mouthful of food, nodding some. "Well, yes, but you would have to go through the regular training cycles as everyone else does." She flushed some, smiling. "Of course, with your skills I'm sure you would pass with flying colors, but it is regulation."
Tenchi chuckled and sipped his tea. "I don't know if that would be right for me anyways…I don't have a lot of experience in keeping the peace." He almost choked on his tea as Washu nuzzled against him.
"You can always be my guinea pig…" She chimed sweetly.
Ayeka flustered, slamming down her utensil. "M-miss Washu…!" She stopped short as Sasami raised a hand to stop her, the older princess sitting down with a huff.
"I think I'll look into the Galaxy police…thing." Tenchi smiled softly, pulling subtly away from Washu.
Mihoshi set down her spoon, sighing contently, then looked around the table, looking confused. "Hey…where's Ryoko?" She looked around the room as if expecting her to be on the ceiling or perhaps hiding.
"I got a wave from her earlier today saying she'd be busy this evening. I don't think we should worry." Washu said calmly, taking another drink of tea.
She's on the roof… Tenchi though, then caught himself, an odd look crossing his face. How do I know that?
'Because that's HER gem attached to you…' He heard Washu's voice echo in his head, making him shiver. He pushed his bowl away, standing up. "Thank you, Sasami, for such a lovely meal."
"You're welcome Tenchi. I hope you'll give me a hand with dinner tomorrow too." She smiled up at him, her eyes warm as they touched on his face.
Tenchi turned and walked upstairs, trying his hand at the walls until he found a doorway that opened onto a staircase leading up. He followed the stairs and pushed open a mechanical hatch at the top of the staircase, finding himself greeted by cool night air.
Ryoko sat on the sloped roof, her feet dangling off the edge, a cup of sake in her hand. She brought it to her mouth with a slight wobble, having depleted and replenished her sake-warmer's supply half a dozen times already. Her lips felt numb and her fingers tingled as she took a slow, long sip of the steaming wine.
What was it about this boy? Man now… This man who had been a part of her life for only a handful of years of her life. She had lived for more than a thousand years, and yet some child of only thirty three years drove her to drink herself into a stupor. She swallowed the fragrantly bitter wine, biting her lip and closing her eyes as she swallowed.
"Is there enough left for me?" A voice called out behind her, almost making her choke on her wine.
She turned sharply, ready to loose her sharp tongue on whoever was behind her, but her throat closed and her heart pounded as she saw Tenchi standing on the slanted roof, his hands in his pockets. She pursed her lips, making a face at him. "I thought you didn't drink."
"I only never drank because I was too much of a goody two shoes." He said, walking down towards her. "I knew I wasn't supposed to until I was old enough, so I never did." He shrugged, sitting down beside her and gently taking the cup from her hand. "I'm certainly old enough now…" He said taking a drink and handing it back to her. "It's like indirectly kissing, isn't it?" He smiled softly, looking back at her.
She slapped he cup from his hand, her face a mask of fury. "Don't you dare say that to me." She sneered at him, fighting against the blurring of her eyes.
He sighed, looking over at the bottle in the warmer, reaching for it. "I heard you helped find me…helped to find where I had hidden myself." He said, gesturing for her to give him the bottle. "I wanted to come up here to thank you…"
She pulled the warm bottle from the mechanical heater, offering it to him, feeling that it was too warm for a normal person to hold. He took the bottle without a second glance, pulling it to his lips and taking a long drink, swallowing hard. She felt her cheeks flush as she watched him drink, feeling her hand reach out to him despite herself, pulling back as he dropped the bottle from his lips.
"I saw you in the train station, you know…" He said, making her freeze. "You were smoking a cigarette and wearing a black hooded sweater. I saw your eyes." He took another long drink of the heated wine, letting out a sigh as he felt it settle hotly inside of him.
"Ryoko…I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I'm not asking you to love me again. I'm not even asking you to be my friend. I just want you to know that I miss you, and that I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me." He smiled softly, handing her back the warmed bottle.
She took the bottle, her eyes calm but her heart pounding beyond her control. "Y-you're welcome…" She managed to stammer out.
He stood, chuckling softly. "Don't worry. I won't bite…" he smiled as he moved closer to her. "I didn't know what you were after, but I'm glad I got to saw you in my dream." He held up his arm, rolling his sleeve down to show the bulge the gem created in his forearm. "…And thank you, for this. It made me realize this wasn't all about me, but that there were others outside, waiting for me."
She sat silently, taking a swig from the hot bottle, trying to ignore his words. He didn't have anything to say that she wanted to hear. As far as she knew, getting him back home was the last thing she had to do for him.
"Give me your hand…" He asked, offering her his, his eyes soft as he sat down beside her. She tentatively set her hand into his, and felt his strong fingers close over her hand. She felt a buzzing in her ears, like a mosquito swishing by. 'R…' she sat up straight, a pale sheen of sweat coating her forehead.
He squeezed his eyes closed, brow furrowed as he held her hand tightly, leaving her trembling and staring at him. 'Ryoko…' The words resonated in her head, echoing like a long lost dream. 'I lo…'
She snatched her hand away, pulling back and letting a sound blow explode against his face, her palm flat against his cheek, forcing him onto his back on the roof as she stood over him, seething. "Don't you DARE say that to me…Not after everything…everything you've done…" She felt her eyes water, blinking the pain away. "I don't want to hear those words come out of your mouth…and stay the FUCK out of my head."
He lay there, holding his cheek as she looked him in the eyes, fading away, he saw her right hand reach out to him before she faded from sight. He sighed, sitting up and shaking his head. With a soft grunt he pushed himself to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, pulling away a streak of scarlet. He let out another sigh and headed for the hatch in the roof, looking up to the stars up ahead. "I love you, Ryoko…"
That night, Tenchi dreamed of eating stars, popping them in his mouth like candy, savoring the sweet, spicy power of pure, stellar energy. He ate and ate and ate till his stomach distended and glowed with power. The power of a thousand planets and solar systems. The light of a billion worlds, possessed in him and him alone. Such glory was unimaginable, a desire built on lust and control, yet still, still he hungered….
"Sector 544327-94Θ reporting in, all systems and sensors nominal." The GXP officer called in over the radio, sighing as he sent the transmission, bored from another eventless night. He had joined the GXP for action and adventure, not galaxy patrol, hunting anomalies and odd occurrences.
He sighed again, settling back in his seat as he took a sip from his cold coffee mug, making a face. He activated the autopilot and leaned his head back, letting out a long breath.
The alarm from the autopilot woke him up, his pill-box hat falling from his head as he turned hastily to the controls. "Command, this is GXP unit 7745231, we have detected an anomaly at sector 544327-94Θ, please advise." He scanned his system report, his eyes growing wide. "Haru, activate front video feed!" He cried, hoping his sensors were malfunctioning.
As the screen developed, he saw star after star growing massive, and then fading into a tiny sphere before exploding into a deadly nova of radiation and light. The closest, seven parsecs away, began to expand. In a rush, he established a data link with GXP HQ and began feeding video and audio to the database.
The last thing they heard as the star engulfed him was screams, and static.
