A month had passed since Artemis was first presented with Avatus. During her first encounter, Alithea explained she would not be able to connect with it until it was completed, during that time Pytheas was appointed as her personal guardian. Pytheas took enjoyment from caring for the child, it was a breath of fresh air to have someone so young running around in the midst of his old age.

They sat together at the breakfast table, Artemis had no use for eating but enjoyed their morning routine together. She would sit and listen to the adventures Pytheas had endured with the vanguards on Acheron's surface.

He chugged from a glass of water before exhaling a deep manly sigh "Yep, We were lucky to have made it out alive that day. One of my scouts nearly lost her leg if I recall correctly."

Artemis sat with her chin resting in her hand "So there were that many animals on Acheron? Even before the terraforming process?"

Pytheas scooped up a large spoonful of manufactured wheat goop "Yep! A lot more than we have today. Life always finds a way to grow in any world Artemis, it can be large or small, intelligent or just plain stupid." He shoved the spoon into his mouth and swallowed the tasteless slop quickly, his face grew disgusted for a moment as he quickly chugged more water.

Artemis stared at him concerned "As soon as Avatus is done I promise, you will have real food to eat."

Pytheas gave the child a humble smile "At least we have some sort of food, even if its less than pleasant." He stood and retrieved his uniform jacket from a nearby coat rack, sliding either arm inside the sleeves "C'mon now, I have had the armory working on a special surprise for you."

Artemis leaped to her feet "What kind of surprise?" Her eyes gleamed with curiosity.

Pytheas opened the door stepping out into Acheron "Well if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" Artemis ran after him "Can't I have a hint?"

He laughed in response "No! You will just need to wait until we get there."

The two of them boarded Pytheas's personal ship and began flying to the military district of Acheron. It was a small section south of Anicetus that hadn't been fully implemented into the main network yet because there hadn't been much of a need for weapons or defenses, until recently.

Empyrean over the past month had progressed quickly, cities were visible in the distance covering most of the surface of the planet. The Erebus bridge was running smoothly collecting power for both planets and despite their seemingly close distance to each other, Acheron hadn't received any transmissions from Empyrean.

Pytheas landed his ship near the entrance of a large building and climbed out "Here we are." Artemis followed behind him "Please tell me, I'm so curious!" she begged as he held her hand guiding them both inside

"You know, they say curiosity killed the cat. Learn patience Artemis." He turned towards a guard "Please bring out our project." The guard saluted "Yes Sir!" and turned towards a large metal storage unit recessed into the wall. Opening a drawer the guard retrieved a small black case.

Artemis approached a nearby examining table and tapped her hands on its surface jittering around trying to contain her excitement.

Pytheas was handed the case "Guns are a powerful weapon, you need to be completely sure you are ready to fire before pulling the trigger. That kind of decision should never be given to a child."

He placed the case on the table and opened it, the lid hid its contents from Artemis's view. "We want you to be able to protect yourself Artemis, once your Titan is complete you will be living alone for most of your days. We created this so you can protect yourself but still also make the decision between taking a life or not."

He pulled up out a metallic bow, its sides were lined with small screens. In place of the normal tension string was a straight metal pole. A small dial was just above where one would place their hand to hold it.

"Innocent enough for a child to hold, but deadly enough to protect you also. This is what we are calling the "Plasma Bow" a device capable of creating and shooting a condensed energy beam, what makes it unique is you are able to set the intensity level of the beam. It can be set to stun, injure, or kill."

Artemis reach up "Wow! this is just for me?" Pytheas handed her the bow "yes, you should be able to connect with it at whim using your Titan Born syncing. Use it wisely-"

Artemis immediately lifted the bow, a small spiral of light formed in its center and shifted into the shape of an arrow consisting of plasma energy. She held her hand back as if pulling the tension on the bow, as she did this an intensity bar on it side lit up showing the word "Max". Her hand was closed, she aimed the arrow at a wall before releasing the arrow which shot full speed into the wall melting the metal.

"Cool!" she announced.

Pytheas laughed nervously "I-If you're going to fire it inside, at least set it to stun."

Artemis jumped up and hugged Pytheas "Thank you so much!"

Pytheas caught Artemis holding her up with one arm "You are very welcome Artemis, but please be careful."

Artemis smiled at him "I will!"

Pytheas set Artemis down and began equipping her with a holster for the bow, the magnetic attachment was placed onto her back to allow for easy removal.

While doing this a voice came over Artemis's internal intercom system "Artemis, do you copy?" Artemis tapped her wrist and a holographic intercom system popped up "Go ahead, Alithea."

"It's time." She responded.

Artemis gasped happily "Really? Are you sure?" Alithea chuckled "Yes Artemis, we are sure. I will send Pytheas the coordinate for the landing site."

Pytheas held up his wrist viewing an intercom watch "I received it Alithea, we are on our way" Artemis shut off her intercom and rushed towards the exit "Hurry! Let's go!" Pytheas watched her dart towards the door and was met with the sudden feeling of sadness. As he watched Artemis run he felt like each footstep she took carried a goodbye in it, it felt like only yesterday they had spent their first day together exploring Acheron. Here he stood moments away from letting go of the child he had grown to call his own.

"Come on Pytheas! We can't miss this!" Artemis called from the entry of his ship.

"Coming!" he responded and forced himself to travel forward to his ship.

The two of them took their seats at the main controls and began traveling over Acheron towards a large western portion of land sectioned off from the other larger continents. Pytheas stopped the ship high above the ground and set it to a mid-air idle, as he did this Alitheas ship descended from the clouds idling next to them.

Artemis looked out the side window and waved, the smile on her face radiated a youthful happiness. Alithea waved and pressed her intercom system on her wrist "We should be safe from this distance. I already informed the coastal city we are doing this however, they should be far enough away to be safe."

Artemis leaned forward against the ships dash staring anxiously at the sky. Amyntas came over the ship's intercom "Daedalus and Avatus are entering orbit now. Stand by."

The sky began to slowly grow dark, a large object shrouded the sun bringing in a massive storm which rumbled the galaxy above and the land below. Slowly the metal tips of Daedalus's legs breached the surface of the clouds carrying Avatus in its arms. In the distant city of Anicetus, civilians stood mesmerized by the site of a Titan falling from the sky, like a whale leaping from the sea. Artemis felt her heartbeat grow faster with anticipation as she pressed a hand against the glass.

"Preparing for Avatus planetary decent, counting down. 10...9...8...7-" As Amyntas counted Avatus grew closer to the ground. Acheron reached its arms up in the form of dust clouds readying itself to receive its new Titan.

"Detaching Daedalus, prepare for impact." The arms of Daedalus released from Avatus and it disappeared back into the sky. Avatus gently used small turbine engines to guide itself softly onto the surface of the planet, the impact was followed by a loud boom which shook the seas around the continent and the sky above them. Acheron's hands surrounded Avatus engulfing it into a thick dust cloud. Pytheas's ship shook from the strength of the dust cloud that traveled upwards towards them, while he struggled to remain still in his seat Artemis stood motionless with her eyes locked on her Titan.

Alithea spoke through the intercom "Contact made, good job Amyntas." he responded "I try"

Clamps extended from the sides of Avatus and burrowed their way into Acheron's surface, the glass dome reflected against the suns light began collecting solar energy

"System Starting." echoed its default AI voice "Powering On."

The two towers on either side of the dome faintly radiated a blue light, the exterior ring attached to the dome and towers used the clamps to pull itself tighter against Acheron surface creating a suctioned seal.

As the dust began to settle Artemis squealed with joy "It's done!" she jumped in front of Pytheas grabbing the ships controls "Cmon lets go!"

Pytheas reached forward to retake the controls "Now hold on a second Arte-"

She pushed forward on the joysticks sending his ship into a descending nose dive towards Avatus. Alithea chuckled and her ship followed behind.

Pytheas held onto his seat "Wow! slow down! I only just started teaching you to fly last week!"

The ship grew closer to the ground, Artemis yanked the controls upward and pressed a button to engage the landing process. The ship became submerged by the remaining dust as it met the ground. Leaping to her feet, Artemis darted to the door of the ship and pulled it open. Air rushed inside from the sudden change in pressure blowing her back, her foot stepped back to catch herself and she placed her hand in front of her face for protection.

Artemis lowered her hand and The final clouds of dust dissipated, the figure of Avatus revealed itself in front of Artemis, towering over her.

A strong electric pulse surrounded her body, the feeling was overwhelming. She had never felt so synched with a device in her entire time as a Titan Born. She yearned to feel tears of joy stream down her face and clasped her hands together over her heart "Oh my god."

Pytheas stood behind her "Amazing isn't it, like watching a new life enter the world."

Artemis stepped off the ship and slowly approached Avatus, their connection both pushed and grabbed her closer. Gazing up she was unable to see where the dome curved, the peak reached into the upper stratosphere of Acheron like a towering mountain. Every wire inside of her body was working at full potential from her excitement. Gently pressing a hand against its exterior, Artemis closed her eyes and listened closely to its mechanical heartbeat whisper "Hello." to her.

The world around her melted away, placing a hand on her heart the pulsing of Avatus machine began to sync with her heartbeat "Hello." she whispered to it, enjoying the cold feeling of the metal on her palm.

Alithea's voice came from behind "How do you like it?"

Artemis smiled but did not open her eyes in fear that she would lose this peaceful moment "It's wonderful...just...wonderful."

Alithea began to walk towards a double door on the side of Avatus "Come, we need to connect you so it can begin its process." Artemis opened her eyes breaking her zen state of mind and turned to follow Alithea. She stepped close to Avatus running her hand along its sleek new metal exterior, refusing to let it leave the surface.

They stepped inside the ring which revealed windows all around the interior portion looking directly out onto the ground that was trapped inside the dome, the terrain traveled farther than the human eye could see.

Pytheas followed beside Artemis and placed a hand on her shoulder, Alithea began to lead the 3 of them down the metal hallway. They soon approached a door, Alithea placed her hand on a scanner beside it."Biometrics identified, welcome Titan Born." spoke the systems AI and the door swung open.

Pytheas stepped back and smiled to Artemis "Good luck, I will see you when you are done."

Alithea stepped inside and Artemis followed waving back at Pytheas "Thank you."

The room was barren except for a large computer bay and a cryo-chamber. Alithea stepped forward towards the computer which then lit up with a holographic control screen.

Artemis stepped back staring that the chamber nervously"I-I thought I would kind of just...synch with it...you know."

Alithea shook her head "Controlling a Titan takes massive amounts of power and concentration, it's important that a hard first-time sync is performed to ensure you can access all of its controls. On top of that, this is your chance to embed whatever personality you would like your Titan to take on."

"Personality? How so?" Asked Artemis.

The door to the chamber opened and steam draped out of its base "Alone, these AI systems are pretty dumb. Our link with the Titan gives them a sentient like behaviour which allows them to think critically and make more efficient decisions. We embed our emotions, feelings, thoughts, and memories into their software and virtually create their personalities."

Alithea turned to Artemis and motioned for her to approach the chamber "Artemis, this is the beginning of your journey. Connect with Avatus and find your purpose here on Acheron."

Artemis said nothing and slowly approached Alithea who began attaching wires to the nodules on her back and to the small glowing nodules on her arms. Flashbacks to being hooked up on Enyo's table ran through her mind, her body shook with fear at the familiar feeling of her system hooking up to a computer.

Alithea noticed her shaking and placed a hand on her shoulder attempting to calm the child "Hey, it'll be ok. It takes about two days for the process to complete but I promise I won't leave until it is done."

Artemis drew a deep breath for courage, with every step she drew upon the strength she had earned enduring all the pain of her past. She stepped inside of the Cryochamber and slowly laid onto her back, fixing her eyes on a single spec of dust on the otherwise clean ceiling.

"Ready?" Asked Alithea.

Artemis nodded "Yes...lets to do this." She pressed a button which triggered the automatic door to begin closing as it exhaled a burst of air from its hydraulics.

the door slowly set over Artemis and the bright blue internal lights of the chamber silhouetted her body against its dark metal interior. A mask dropped down attaching itself to her mouth as she began to breathe deeply, calming herself to this familiar situation.

"Biometrics stabilizing" oxygen began to enter the mask "Preparing Titan Connection" spoke the AI system.

Artemis felt her head grow heavy "System Shutting Down" announced from inside her body.

She closed her eyes, sound vanished from around her. Opening her eyes she was met with the familiar darkness of the void.