"Totally Recalled…"

Summary: Another acting exercise for new and somewhat baby-blued mom, Mrs. Penelope Hofstadter and her entourage. For the prequel of sorts, read "Sheldon Swifties LXXV: 'The Creation Fluctuation'…"

In the late 22nd century a young and supposedly happy housewife finds herself drawn to another existence on the Mars colony, currently under the crushing heel of a brutal dictator… ("And his vicious secret police chief girlfriend!" Bernadette hisses.

"supposedly happy"…Leonard sighs. Maybe this wasn't such a good…

"Guys." Howard sighs to group. "I don't know if I can do the Dictator. Mom came to me in a dream last night and started complaining, "Now, ya wanna be Hitler?"

"Fine. I'll be the Dictator." Bernadette notes. "You be the sidekick."

"Actually, that does somehow seem to fit…" Howard nods.

Disclaimer: They're all Chuck's. Except Penny Hauser.

Part LXI…

Conclusion…

"This is it?" Penny, in her suit, looked around the small cave room the hovercraft had emerged from solid rock into…

"It is. Just one side chamber far off the rest of the complex, apparently unimportant, doesn't even have a connection to the main air supply." Cooper noted over radio from his suit.

"Unless you're sensitive to telepathic emissions…" Leonard smiled at her through his face plate. "Which is why it took several generations before we could identify this place as crucial. For years it was a storage room for our equipment…Their equipment. But, if you are sensitive, as some of our ancestors born here on Mars became, it really sticks out like a sore thumb."

"But I don't see any…"

"You will…The controls are out of phase and partially a form of holography, though more advanced than our systems…" Leonard explained.

"I hear something…Background murmuring…I don't know." Penny noted.

"That's it…The system carries the neutral patterns of its designers, Martian of course, embedded in its programming. It's speaking to us…" Leonard smiled.

"Singing, I prefer to think…" Cooper noted. The bump that was Geraldine on the shoulder of his suit appearing to move a bit to said singing. "Geraldine is sure of it."

"Here." Leonard turned to Penny, handing her a grenade from his suit. "Pull the pin to activate it, but only if we're caught. There's one for me as well." He patted his suit pocket. She staring…

"We won't let Corversant get the system, if it comes to that." He noted. "And she can't without us." She nodded.

"Wait…I'll go first." Leonard moved to a wall…Feeling…

"We shouldn't do this…We shouldn't stay." Penny, nervously. "She'll find us, through me. Somehow."

"We're getting a signal from Sheila in Venusville, Leonard." Cooper noted from his suit's speaker. "Corversant's managed to assault the UNE fleet, it's retreated, and she's managed to destroy their landing forces at the capitol! Our people can't help them, it's too late." He shook head to Leonard's stare.

"Leonard?'' Penny stared.

"They can't hold out there in Venusville much longer, she says." Cooper eyed Leonard through his faceplate. "And much of central Vastitas is destroyed, with our people there."

"We've got to go ahead." Leonard insisted. "We'll get the reactor going and we can save Venusville. Have our people in the other cities go and hit what troops Corversant has left and contact the UNE. They'll sure to get more ships and troops out soon. There…" he felt… "I've got it." Placing hands on a spot in the wall which suddenly expanded to encircle them. A portal in the wall opening…

"Come on, lets…!"

"Leonard? I hear something…Else…" Penny, turning to see the prow of Benny's hover car burst through the cavern wall across from her, pushing itself through the wall until it cleared.

"Hurry, activate!" Cooper cried, moving to block them and the portal from the craft…

"Penny! Go!" Leonard pulled her as the main door of the hovercraft opened and Benny in suit emerged, firing…

"Don't hit the other two, for God's sake!" Bernadette's voice called as she followed Amy who fired at Cooper as well…He somehow deflecting the particle shots from Benny's gun.

But not the laser from Amy's…

"Go…Go…!" Cooper cried to Leonard and Penny, collapsing.

"Hold it, Hofstadter, Hauser! Hey, he was good…" Benny smirked at the fallen body on the ground. "I really thought we got him before…"

"Yeah, get this!" Leonard whipped gun from his suit side pocket and fired before Benny could dodge, striking him down…

"Keep going, Penny…I'm right behind you!" he called as she hurried into the portal.

"Hofstadter!" Amy cried, firing, while keeping within the shelter of the hovercraft, Bernadette beside her, her squad cautiously moving out at her signal. "Hauser, get back here! I will shoot him!" Slim now at the hatch with more guards, in their space suits…

"Penny!" Bernadette called. "Come back! I'll spare Hofstadter if you surrender…Penny!"

Two of the security squad collapsing as Leonard fired…He, falling back into the portal, hit on arm…

"Shoot him!" Amy ordered.

"NO!" Bernadette cried. "I want them alive!"

"I don't give a damn what you want, Corversant! This is over but I'm getting Hauser before we're done!" Amy, furiously. "Shoot!" she commanded, pointing gun herself.

"No one disobeys me!" Bernadette, pulling knife and stabbing Amy, right through her suit, in the chest. Her people stunned as she fell.

("Honey? You can take your hands away now." Amy patted the stricken Sheldon. "I'm dead." Grin.

"I did not like that scene." He noted, firmly.

"Well, you died twice." She noted.)

"The rest of you go back! Slim?! Take charge of what's left and defend the missile sites! I'll have the shield up in a few minutes! Go!" Corversant ordered, entering the portal. Which closed behind her as she hurried after Leonard.

"Dead, sir." One officer kneeling by Amy looked up at Slim who nodded.

"The opening's sealed, General." Another official feeling the wall where the portal had closed. The others staring…

"All right, we have our orders…" Slim noted on radio. "Everyone back into the hovercraft…You?" he eyed a guard who'd been seated with Benny at the controls. "Can you use this thing and get us back?"

"I think so, sir."

"Do it…Head for the garrison HQ at the missile site…And get contact established as soon as possible with our troops. Either we'll fight it out or we'll surrender. It's up to Corversant and Hauser, now." he sighed.

Well…He paused as he entered the craft. I wanted a chance to change my destiny. Now, either way it goes, I won't be a forgotten garrison commander.

…

"Good grief…" gasp…Penny eyeing the vast space… Glowing patches of what appeared to be tiles of red gel running along the corridor leading to a huge and quite open window stretching at least thirty feet along a wall, looking down into the vast valley below, a rock outcropping stretching just a few feet below it.

"Yeah…" Leonard, over suit, smiling. "Welcome to the reactor core…" he pointed to the large tiles…Thirty antimatter units sunk in and running down to the core of the planet, generating the equivalent of one hundred suns' worth of energy, at full power, by our estimate."

Penny paused before a space in the wall where a display had appeared with multicolored tiles and a view of the surface…

"Penny…" Leonard called to her.

"This is it…" she stared at him. "Isn't it?" an intense, fixed stare.

"Yes…The main control…"

There it is…My mission is done but for…She turned, a cool stare at him.

"Leonard? You're hurt!" she came out of her stare, blinking…He waving it off, even as he clutched his wounded arm.

We have more important things now…She pushed down the voice in her mind…A voice she knew well.

"The suit's resealed around it. I'll be…" he began.

"Get away from that control, Hofstadter! Hauser?! Penny?" Corversant, now emerged from behind them, eyeing her carefully, keeping gun trained on the pair. "I know you're still with me, in there. Kill this fool and take your place as my heir in a dynasty that will rule the solar system, the Galaxy!" Leonard slamming at his suit controls and a transparent sheet dropping down between Bernadette and them before she could move.

"It's bullet proof and somewhat laser proof, a last barrier we put up, just in case." He noted. As Corversant's shots rattled off the walls…

"Damn…Penny!? Kill him! Kill him now, daughter! All we need is his hand!" Bernadette, over suit radio to them.

"No…I won't let her." Penny insisted. "And even she loves him, in some way." Fond glance at Leonard who smiled wearily back, clutching his arm.

"What romantic bullcrap!" Corversant sneered, waving gun slightly. "You think that because she and I wanted you to. We put each and every thought in that silly head of yours, Quade…And for one reason, to help me defeat these idiots and bring a new dawn to Earth and her colonies. To wipe away this nonsense about democracy and human rights and bring order, prosperity, expansion. Expansion throughout the cosmos, crushing any who stand in our way without mercy, that's Humanity's destiny, Hofstadter. Not your ridiculous touchy-feely crap. Survival of the master race, that's what this is about! Penny?! You know you believe it! You're almost back with me, Rekal or no, my daughter!"

"Who would want to live in a world like yours, Corversant?" Leonard sighed. "A living nightmare, I'll take the chance for actually living. Penny?" he turned to her. "You believe with me? I've always known some part of you does."

She pressed his hand…

"The fantasy Hauser and I created does! Not you, Penny!" Corversant, pulling out and pointing laser pistol at the shield and firing repeatedly. The plastic chamber barrier showing burn spots now… "Come here! Don't make me kill you!"

"What do I do?" Penny turned to Leonard…Bernadette firing again, a small hole now appearing…

"Concentrate…They're already speaking to you…Let the system find the key in your mind."

"Hofstadter?! We have a common interest here! Help me activate the shield and I'll spare your friends in Venusville!" Corversant cried. "You don't want the UNE to take over any more than I do…" she fired yet again, slightly widening the hole.

"I hear them…I…Do it, Leonard!" Penny nodded to him. "Hurry!" He reached his glove to touch the activation control…Nothing.

They eyed each other…

"Look at that!" Corversant leered. "See, the reactor's useless. It was never to be reactivated, the aliens never planned to risk it. Your own ancestors determined that, Hofstadter, it's in the Earth archives! Only the shield can be activated and only I can show you how. Tell him to surrender, Penny. I'll spare him for your sake. You have five seconds!"

"She's lying…" Penny frowned.

"I know. The thing is I think I have to touch it with my physical hand…" Leonard noted. Penny staring at him as he looked her.

"No! You'll die if you remove the suit and yours is already damaged…" she insisted.

"I'll try to maintain a seal above my wrist but if the machine works I should be fine." He shook head. "And if it doesn't, we're all dead…You can't do it, Penny. It's gotta be me." As she moved to touch her suit controls. "It's what I was brought here for…Quartos and me…Our little bit of Martian DNA. Just as you were brought to Mars to provide the telepathic link."

Shots rang out, fired through the hole in the plastic barrier…One embedding next to Leonard in the wall.

"The chamber won't protect you. And I'm out of patience with you two!" Corversant called. "The next shot won't miss him, Penny!"

"Go ahead, Leonard…" Penny cried, moving to block him as Corversant fired, but missed. He unzipping off his suit glove, the air rushing as an alarm flashed silently from his suit, the air rushing out a moment, then slowing as he fought to seal off the rest of the suit, his left hand dangling as it shriveled.

"Warning…" A voice within the depressurizing suit called. "Critical air loss…Unable to emergency seal. Seek immediate repair and medical assistance!"

Penny struggling to help him seal his suit at the wrist, he forcing his hand on to the control panel which glowed at the touch of the nearly dead hand. Corversant trying to aim…A sudden tremor causing the complex floor to tremble.

"Stop, you fools!" Corversant shrieked to them. "Why do you think the aliens let the magnetosphere shut down and left Mars? They knew the reactor wouldn't work, it would cause a total meltdown, the planet was about to destroy itself! That's why they abandoned the planet, don't you see?! Have Hofstadter check their database, it's all there!"

"More lies…" Penny shook head. "Leonard?!" As he struggled to stay on his feet. The chamber rocking now…

"I didn't want to kill you, Penny!" she cried. Suddenly she was knocked off her feet as she tried to fire by a violent surging tremor splitting the floor before her. Her gun falling into the crevice opening up as she backed away.

"It's working…" He gasped, falling…As the control panel glowed.

"Leonard?!" she screamed, falling to her knees, trying to staunch the air flow, frantically reaching for the glove on the floor as the chamber and complex shook violently. The barrier plastic between them and Corversant shattering like glass…

Suddenly an enormous gust of air grabbed and carried them out of the chamber, through the huge open window, taking Corversant with them. All three now thrown up through to the large rock outcropping just below the window, outside, all screaming silently, lungs burning as their suits ruptured and lost air …Corversant looking down in terror at the outcropping platform which suddenly dropped open to release them, sliding down at an angle.

It's an exhaust port for the system, Penny thought as she, Leonard, and Corversant were then hurled off by a another blast of air. She vaguely making out hundreds of ports in the distance, all discharging at once.

It's worked, she thought. Oh, if only I could die now, before…

He might always believe…

…

Leonard groaning on the ground…His suit faceplate cracked, his badly injured hand inside the suit arm the glove rezipped but clearly leaking as was the faceplate.

"Warning…Severe air loss. Emergency repairs inadequate…Dangerous UV levels, external pressure intolerable, temperature intolerable. Unable to maintain survival levels." His suit display informed him the audio fading out as suit pressure dropped.

"Penny?" he gasped, looking to see her form on the ground next to him.

"Warning…Severe air loss. Emergency repairs inadequate. Dangerous UV levels, external pressure not within tolerable limits. Temperature below safe levels. Seek immediate shelter!" his display repeated on the cracked faceplate.

"Penny…" he struggled to rise.

"Warning…Severe air loss. Suit compromised. Emergency repairs inadequate. High tolerable UV levels, low external pressure, use caution. Low temperature. Seek immediate shelter."

"What?" he addressed suit. Forcing himself toward Penny.

"Warning…Suit compromised. Emergency repairs inadequate. External pressure within tolerable limits, suboptimal oxygen. Low temperature. Seek shelter."

"Penny…" he tried the radio. "It's working, Penny."

"Warning…Suit compromised. Emergency repairs inadequate. External pressure within tolerable limits, oxygen levels low. Temperature lower end of tolerable limits. Recommend seek repair service."

He forced himself to sit up…Staring. They were on a plateau about one hundred or so feet above flatter ground below them. The sky now a bright blue with some pink, the sun a bit weaker than on Earth but the air warming. He opened his facemask and breathed deeply, then struggled to his feet, walking to Penny.

"Penny…" He went to his knees, touching her suit. She moved slightly.

"Penny, we did it!" he called, in the open air. "Penny?"

She turned and eyed his face in the Martian sun. "Leonard?" on radio.

"You don't need the radio now… Though I think our voices are a bit high pitched in this atmosphere. Carefully, the pressure's about fifty-five percent Earth normal and I'm not sure yet about the oxygen level."

"It's cold…" she noted, sitting up and shielding eyes from the sun. He offering a hand to help her rise which she took slowly, rising. "Though sunny, I see."

"But warming fast." He smiled. "And look, down there...The ice is bubbling up as water, it's starting to refill the ancient lake bed." he pointed. "We did it, Penny. We've restored a planet, and saved thousands, maybe millions by stopping this war."

"Yeah, we were a great team, Leonard." she nodded, looking around carefully.

"What about Corversant? Is she dead?" she eyed him.

"I haven't seen a trace." he noted. "Thankfully, no one else, either. I'm trying to reach our people, my radio seems to be working."

"Good, good..."

"We should get back into the complex if we can...Until we can call someone and get transport." he noted. "The area's probably very unstable now. It's about a half mile that way." he pointed.

"Yes, it would be a pity to die just now." she agreed, looking out over the landscape.

"Leonard." she paused.

"You all right?" he eyed her. "Can I help you?"

"I wish you could..." she sighed. "Leonard, I love you. You believe that?"

"Of course..." he beamed. "Lets go, we've a whole new world to help build."

"You do." she smiled. "And you have to go now, and build it."

"What? We do..." he stared at her. She eyeing him sadly, shaking head.

"No. You have to leave me, now. And never look for me again...Forget about me..." she paused as he stared.

Penny...?

"No, don't forget me. Let me live in your dreams now." she smiled. "But go and don't ever look for me. Hopefully, you won't need to...But, if you ever do see me again..."

"What are you saying?" he stared. "I'm not leaving you here."

"No, I'm leaving you. Here." she nodded. "Because here is where Penny Quade died, after a brief and wonderful life." she smiled. "And if you loved her, and loved me, you have to go...Now. Before it's too late." hard stare.

"But...What are you saying? Penny?"

"Leonard? She fooled you once, you know that…Don't let her do it again." desperate look. "Go before..."

"No. No. That isn't you who are...Not really." He insisted, reaching for her. "You can come with me, it'll be all right. You're free of her, Corversant failed."

"Leonard, Hauser is me." Penny sighed. "The real me...And yes, Corversant didn't bring me right back , back there. The dream didn't end then. But it is, it had to. And the real me...Is waking up."

"Penny..." he gasped. "Don't say that...You're not..."

"Leonard, please!" she pleaded. "There's very little time...But the one thing I want you to know, to believe. Is that somewhere, buried in all her lies...Was me, call her Penny Quade, if you like, the woman who loved you. Some dream, some fantasy, some fragment of me wanted to be that woman. Not the monster I am." Steady look at his stricken face.

"And for a little while, I was." she beamed. "And God, I loved it. I loved you...Even in my lies to you I tried to believe, not just for the mission. But now the dream is ending, and the monster is coming back...And she will kill you, Leonard. She'll lie to you again, she'll use you to shield herself, she'll use you, and then she will kill you. Even if she does love you, some." firm stare, hand on his. "And you know why I know that. So, please...If you love me, go, run...Before it's too late."

"Penny..." he stared.

"Will you go, please?!" she begged.

"Touching, so very touching..." a grimly mocking voice. "But I knew my daughter would come back to me and leave this ridiculous fantasy in her dreams." They turned to see Corversant in her space suit, helmet off, facing them, gun in hand.

"Let him go, Bernadette!" Penny cried. "It's over!"

"Oh, is it?" Bernadette sneered. "I see my girl hasn't fully returned, she'd never be so lacking in vision. I actually owe the two of you, Hofstadter...You and your dream girl. It's true I thought I could control Mars better in its old form, but fate has intervened and forced me to become the Mother of a New and Better Age. Corversant to base..." she addressed her suit phone. "General?"

"Administrator?" an anxious voice. "Major Fredericks here...Major General Slim is dead, the rebels have driven us back to the outskirts of the city. The UN fleet is back and has demanded we surrender to the rebel leader and stand down at once. Ganymede and half the Jovian system has capitulated. Our people..."

"Nothing to worry about, Major. I'm with the rebel leader and Agent Hauser. We've come to an agreement." she smiled at Leonard. "Spread the word...Together we've restored old Mars and opened up a new world for Mankind. Send transport to these coordinates. Corversant, out." she shut off her transmitter.

"Suppose we maintain radio silence and just enjoy being the first humans to speak on Mars." Bernadette smiled. "Penny, you keep just a little bit further back, please?"

"You're insane..." Leonard stared. "You can't win now, you've lost." Trying not to notice that Penny had indeed stepped back.

"Have I?" Corversant grinned, holding gun. "I've still clearly got an army and a nuclear stockpile. The UNE fleet is coming to overthrow our independence, which will rally the people behind us. Throw in the magnetosphere shield, with adjustments to make it impenetrable to UN ships and missiles and we can still win this war."

"Free?" Leonard stared. "And...What...?...Us?" staring.

"A matter of relativity..." she shrugged. "But I think many will consider it a case of the Devil you know is preferable to the Devil you don't know. They'll fight the UNE if it must come to that. But it doesn't have to...Leonard.?" Coy smile.

"I can be reasonable and you need help to study the complex. And Mars needs both of us to put this new world into order. Lets come to an arrangement, you and I." smile. "We agree that I and some of my people may have exceeded their authority but my heart was in the right place. Tell your people we have a truce and I'll do all that's necessary to bring the real perpetrators of this evil to justice, namely my nefarious security chief and her husband and their surviving aides. We can do a lot together, Leonard. Build a glorious future for Humanity, spanning the stars, not just our System. Tell him, Penny!" she urged. "Leonard? You've proven that the mutations aren't a drawback but a possible road to a new and better Humanity. You're on the brink of learning the secrets of an ancient civilization, a million years ahead of us. Don't throw that and your family's life work away!"

"You tormented, murdered, and mentally enslaved people, you expect me to partner with you, now?" Leonard shook head. "You planned to kill us all!"

"Oh, please…Penny's 'final solution' tale? Would I kill the future of human evolution, come on." Bernadette grinned. "Hauser needed a noble struggle against a hideous evil that would convince anyone she'd changed. But to be honest, guess who actually believes we should eliminate at least the least useful of your kind? After all, remember who her father was…"

"Afraid that's so, Leonard…" Penny eyed him, smiling. "I saw no reason to keep the useless alive, a burden to us. But don't think I didn't plan to keep you alive, with me, as well as the more useful mutants. I'm not as foolish as my pathetic Nazi father…I abhor wasting resources." Sneer.

"There she is…There's my girl." Bernadette beamed.

"Penny…" Leonard stared.

"It wasn't just Rekal, Leonard…I had a back up, built in to bring me back when my mission was more or less done. And now, thanks to both of us…" Penny smiled.

"Though, given you've brought us…Mother and me…A whole world to use…As well as that damned shield." Penny shrugged at him as he stared. "I guess I could see my way to letting your friends live. Consider it my wedding present." Grin. "Mother? May I?"

"Absolutely, sweetheart…" Corversant smiled. "I'll order the Venusville troops to stand down. We have better use for them and his freak friends anyway."

"I won't…" he grimaced. "Penny…Please…"

"You will and you won't care…" she smiled. "It's over, Leonard. Be glad it really was true I got fond of you…Pray I don't get bored." Cool stare.

"Mother…" she turned to Corversant. "We'd best be going…"

"Transport's on the way, dear. Though I'll have to ask you to submit to another Recall probe when we get back home."

"Of course…I sure as hell don't want any of lil' Penny Quade clogging me up." Penny noted.

"But it doesn't mean I won't still love ya, Hofstadter." She beamed at his stricken face.

"You should be grateful, Dr. Hofstadter…You're going to father a dynasty." Corversant smiled.

"No…I won't." he said simply, reaching suddenly…

"Sorry, lover…I deactivated it." Penny pulled out the grenade in her suit side pocket before he could grab for it. "I came back a bit sooner than you realized and I thought…Whoa, this would end a beautiful relationship far too soon. It's crazy to die for nothing, Leonard. We'll forego the worst of the Recall process, if you agree to cooperate. Be my consort and who knows? You could still do a lot for your people. I like pleasing my lovers when it doesn't cost me too much." Lewd smile.

"Now that's dedication…" Corversant beamed. "I just hope what's left of Rekal's team can inspire it in you as to our cause, Leonard. Penny?" she stared as Penny suddenly pulled the grenade pin and hurled it at her.

"Run, Leonard!" Penny cried as Corversant desperately tried to dodge the explosion.

Just a bit too late…

…

"Penny! Penny!" Leonard raced to her…She waved him off…

"I'm all right. Go…" she cried.

"Not yet!" Bernadette, gown torn, face blackened with one side ripped away, an arm dangling to her blasted left, but her laser firmly in the other as she rose, swaying…

Whoa, Mom…Penny blinked. Now that is impressive…

"You're finished, Corversant." Leonard told her. "You can't shoot us, you can barely hold that gun…" concentrating.

"Don't try that mind crap on me, boy…" she glared, but swayed.

"It's too late, what are you gonna do? Kill your future? The only one you have…?" he glanced to Penny.

"I'm not…It's not…I've…won…" Corversant, gasping.

"Mother…" Penny breathed.

"I…Loved…You, Penny…My girl." Bernadette, collapsing, gasping briefly.

"She's gone, Penny." Leonard, shaking head as Penny approached the corpse.

"I…Killed her…for you…" she turned to look at him, coldly. "She…Made…Me…That bitch..." grabbing suddenly for the laser in Bernadette's dead hand. Pulling it up to aim at him.

"No, she didn't. You did." He told her. "Because some part of you really is her…Penny."

"I should have…Killed you." She growled out, gun trembling in her hand.

"Then, here I am." He noted, quietly.

She eyed him… "I actually…"

"I know…" he nodded.

"Go…Get out of here. Now!" she said, grimly.

"Penny? I'm willing…"

"I won't be that…Leonard. I am who I am." She insisted. "Don't fool yourself."

"I'm not." He eyed her. "I know who you are. Come with me, we'll find some place."

She sighed… "That's sweet. But Penelope Hauser doesn't run…Especially to be some nobody, hiding out forever. Take that as Penny Quade's last gift to you. That she stopped me from using you to get away. Go, now."

"They'll kill you, Penny." He noted.

"Not without a fight." Arch look. "Or, we'll see. Don't count me out, Doctor. One way or another, I'll get out of this."

"Not that way…Please." He eyed her.

"Such a Romantic you are…God, I can't believe there's a part of me that…" she eyed his sad face. Shaking head…

"She told you to just remember her. Do that, if you really love me. And get out of here." She frowned. "They'll be coming soon and you'll be in my way. Don't be."

"I love you, Penny." He told her. "And I won't believe…"

"No, you love her…Not me. Not the real Penny Hauser." She shook head. "But then…Only a fool or a monster would." Shrug. "Accept that she's gone, Leonard, the one you loved. She is. And she's not worth mourning, she was as much a fantasy as Quade…You never really knew her, only the fantasies and lies she created and told, and maybe, got a little too fond of. Keep the other if you like, Penny Quade…At least she never lied to you, except maybe a little while ago before she died." Wan smile. "Goodbye and enjoy your new world. Go…Now." stern look.

"I'll go. But I'll never believe…" he noted.

"Pathetic. But fine. So long as you go. Now, please…I have a mother to bury and a horde of folks to hack my way through."

He turned and headed off, descending to lower ground…She watching…Sighing.

"Fine. You win, bitch." She pulled a second grenade out. A tear running down cheek.

…