Eternity's Conflict

Chapter One: A Glimse of Immortality

The Lylatian shuttle shot through the atmosphere, Wolf glancing at the coordinates that were flashing on one of his computer screens, part of the message that ROB had translated, a little smile sneaking to life as he did a barrel roll, taking the shuttle lower. Jesse was returning, and suddenly all of the bullcrap that was happening didn't matter as much.

He hadn't been surprised when he had woken up and Fox hadn't been there. It was just another reminder of how awkward his lifestyle could be sometimes, even when everyone accepted him. He wasn't going to be able to change his tastes, either, and wasn't looking forward to therapy at all. He had buried his past, and didn't want it brought to life. Old pain could still be agonizing, and he knew that well.

He circled and landed the shuttle gently. It was just on the edge of the destruction, on one side of the shuttle a desert stretched, rivers finding new banks slowly, and on the other side was a rich jungle. He opened the hatch and walked down it, looking around slowly, then walked to the edge of the jungle, looking for any sign of Jesse. The coordinates were right, he knew that much. Maybe Jesse just wasn't here yet…

As if to answer his question, a red and black form flew out of one of the trees and tackled him at waist-height, making him gasp for air as they rolled into the clay-rich dirt. After sneezing a few times, Wolf grinned up at Jesse, who was sitting on his stomach, tail whipping back and worth. "Miss me?"

"God, you have no idea." Jesse replied, hugging him tightly, eyes closed. Wolf sat up fully and returned the hug, rubbing Jesse's back absently. His smile faded, though, when he saw the vines, the Entity's mark, wrapped up one of Jesse's arms and across his collarbone, graceful tendrils seeming to throb and flicker with life. He pulled back, looking at Jesse uncertainly, looking at those green eyes and not seeing the same person. "What's wrong?"

"You're not… you." Wolf replied, running one of his fingers over the vines. "I can see the Entity in your eyes, looking back at me."

Jesse smiled sadly. "I won't be in the Entity forever, Wolf. I'm just helping it network itself a bit better. After I'm done, I'm leaving it."

"You are?"

"Yes." He pecked Wolf on the lips, tongue flicking out to brush Wolf's nose. "Come on, let's get back to the Great Fox. I need a shower and a decent meal."

Wolf chuckled and walked up the ramp arm-in-arm with his friend, the person he cared for so much, and was troubled. He didn't want to accuse Jesse of lying, but the younger mongoose seemed different, happy deep down. Sure, Jesse had been happy before, but Wolf had known an inner depression always troubled the young man, spawned from his unusual situation. And now, Jesse had found somewhere he was accepted and loved, a hive mind that could feed his stunning intellect all the information it wanted.

Even as he flew the shuttle back up to the Great Fox, the fingers of one of Jesse's hands intertwined with his mechanical ones, he had to wonder who exactly had kissed him.

When the shuttle exited the atmosphere, Wolf gaped. It seemed that in spite of what Fox had said, the High Command had sent support, and now three construction carriers were surrounding the Great Fox, putting up temporary scaffolds, removing ruined armor, rebuilding the wing. Wolf went around the robots and landed with some mild difficulty, maneuvering around the busy robots and touching down.

"Good god, Slippy. These people arrived fast." Wolf remarked, coming down the ramp. Slippy was standing in the center of the bay, looking at blueprints.

"Yes indeed."

"I didn't see Lylatian markings." Jesse remarked, and Wolf glanced around, realizing that it was true—none of these robots looked familiar in design.

"That's the interesting part. This support was sent from one of the other colonies, not the High Command. Not that it matters, we need it." The young mechanic grinned. "Busy times."

"No kidding." Peppy said, walking over. "Jirest is on the squawk with his former bosses, they're denying everything. I think Lylat arrived just in time for the collapse of the GalFed."

"I think we're the key factor, actually." Jesse said, twitching an ear that was wrapped in the Entity's vines. "We tipped the scales. Not it matters, it's natural, old governments collapse and new ones go up."

"Still in the Entity, eh Jesse?" Slippy frowned a bit.

"For the time being. Don't worry, I'm ok, it just needs my help."

"If you say so. Oh, someone missed you." He nodded at Legs, who was assisting in the overhaul. "Hey, Legs! Look who's here!"

The robot paused, eyes lighting up in the up-arrows representing happiness, and plowed over, knocking its owner down and hugging with four legs. Jesse laughed out loud, returning the hold, talking in code to his robot absently.

"One big happy family again." Peppy said.

"This happens a lot to us, it seems." Wolf said. "First Fara, now Jesse."

"Bad luck." Slippy said. "Got to have some bad to put the good in perspective… Uh, speaking of which…" He lowered his voice. "Don't talk to Fara or Fox about Hope right now. We don't really know what's going on yet, but apparently Hope didn't pass a few medical tests they had ROB do, and they're both really sad and scared about it."

"Oh, god. I hope it's nothing serious." He shook his head wearily.

Jesse paused, considering, remembering Hope's fascination with moving objects, her dislike of looking at people's faces except her mother's, dislike of being picked up. "Hope's autistic." He said without looking up, voice distant.

Everyone looked at him. "Why do you say that?"

"Classic signs. It's not severe, but I'm pretty sure she is." He pulled his hand down his face, standing. "I hope I'm not right, but that's my guess."

"Poor Fox and Fara." Slippy shook his head.

"No. Poor Hope." Peppy said, sighing. "Well, let's get on with the repairs. God knows we've got enough of them to do."

Drax ducked a support beam and hid in the kitchen, looking at Katt, who was also there, handing out coffee in disposable cups to some robots. "Uh…? Do I want to know?"

Visors went up, showing alien faces, and one remarked, "These are just work suits. We must trade with your people, this stuff is excellent."

"They've never had caffeine before." Katt explained. "Though I must admit, the idea of Vun on caffeine is a little scary…"

This brought a laugh from the work crew, and they clumped out, heading for the docking bay.

"Interesting times." Drax flopped in a chair and stretched.

"No kidding." Katt handed him a mug of coffee, shaking her head. "Fox spoke to the High Command. Apparently we're being tagged with the destruction of those cruisers, as suspected."

"So we're public enemy number one?"

"To the GalFed. The Rinaldi are praising us as heroes, as are most colonies."

"Can't please everyone."

"Pretty much, yeah."

Wolf came in, hauling Jesse piggyback. "Hi Drax, hi Katt."

"Hey Wolf. Welcome back Jesse." Katt said, Drax nodding, feeling obscurely jealous of this skinny mongoose who had claimed Wolf as his own.

"Heh, thanks Katt. Glad to be back believe me." Jesse got down, sitting down as Wolf went into the fridge and freezer, mumbling to himself about an early dinner.

"Are you…?"

"Yes, I'm still linked with the Entity." Jesse got a soda and sat, opening and slugging it down in two gulps. "Oh, thank god, I have been having caffeine withdrawl like you would not believe."

Drax chuckled softly. "Something the Entity can't cure, I take it?"

Jesse blinked. "The Entity doesn't 'cure' anything. It just is."

"Explain."

"It's like a worldwide web of minds, only it spans the galaxy. It's a trip, it really is." He chuckled lightly. "You think you're going nuts as voices echo in your mind, but you know you're not, because you're home, more so then ever before." His expression faded to a frown, and he shook his head wearily. "It… I don't think it's my home though. I mean, my home is here I think…"

"On the Great Fox?"

"Wherever Wolf happens to be…"

Wolf snorted, coming out of the freezer, arms loaded. "Flirt."

"Yes." He smiled. "Nothing could ever change that. Speaking of such, anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Don't think so. Well, besides what you know about, no." Katt said. "Fox wants to move away from this planet as fast as possible, now."

"Can't blame him, we're sitting ducks right now, excuse the expression." Wolf twirled a knife through the air, chopping up meat for a stew.

"Mm, speaking of him, better talk to him about things." Jesse bounced to his feet, tossing the empty can down the garbage chute and opening another one. "Where is the boss-man, Katt?"

"On the bridge. I'll come with you."

Drax sighed once they had gone, settling back, watching Wolf cook and trying to understand. Wolf did seem happier now, content in a quiet way, but that undercurrent of worry and trouble ran beneath it as always. Even on medication for being bipolar, Wolf was depressed, even if he hid it well. "Wolf?"

"Hmm?" Wolf glanced over at Drax, setting the meat aside and working on vegetables, tail twitching.

"… Are you happy?"

"That's an odd question." He blinked, hands fidgeting with the vegetable peeler. "I guess I am. I mean, I'm not allowed to fly for a while, but I'm in a place I'm loved and accepted. I've got people to protect who can protect me in return."

"I only asked because it doesn't seem like you are."

He sighed, continuing what he was doing, not reacting when Drax stood and joined him, getting another peeler and starting in on the potatoes. "I'm worried. I just didn't want to say anything."

"About Jesse?"

"About Jesse, about Hope, about everyone on board. The entire team is in a very dangerous spot right now…" Wolf huffed, shaking his head, chopping the newly peeled carrots and dumping them in water. "I don't want to loose anyone else, Drax."

"I can understand that."

There was a long silence, and Drax dipped his fingers in the water, tracing them over the tiled counter, making a design. Wolf glanced at as it slowly disappeared, the water drawing in on itself automatically, becoming randomly placed droplets. Still, though, he caught the design, and whimpered, shaking his head. Drax had chosen a glyph that wasn't explainable in modern terms, it meant a combination of things, friend, family, caring, desire. And it made Wolf sad in a way he didn't really understand as he rearranged the droplets into a solid 'friend' glyph.

"Sorry."

"No. No. Thank you, Drax. Thank you for understanding."

"What else am I supposed to do?"

Wolf didn't answer that.

"Hi, Jesse." Fox glanced up with a weary smile when Jesse skipped in, noticing the vines immediately.

"Hi Fox. Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." Fox gestured at one of the empty chairs, which Jesse hopped into, folding his legs under himself Indian-style. "What's up?"

"I'm sure you've noticed I'm currently within the Entity… Listen, I'm not sure, but there is a lot of things that the Entity knows. It remembers for so many millennia it's unbelievable." He rubbed his jaw. "Listen, it hasn't dug up the information on the planet-destroyers yet, but… It remembers when the Rekuva last tried to destroy it."

"Oh really? ROB, listen to this for me. Fire away, Jesse."

Jesse sat back, pressing his fingertips together, and reached out an ethereal hand, catching the threads of the Entity network and pulling it to him, pulling the memories around him and letting himself remember, sifting through until he found what he wanted in the memory of a long-dead, long-extinct alien named Prith.

"I won't bother with your standard 'once-upon-a-time's' or 'a long time ago's.'" Jesse said, allowing Prith to breathe through his lungs, speak through his voice, the gender-neutral personality overjoyed with his life, with being allowed to be so close to living again. "Who knows how long ago it was. The Rekuva weren't like they are now then, they were farging genocidal maniacs in pursuit of ultimate perfection, ignoring the fact perfection is, in the end, unreachable. All things wither and die, and that is what the Rekuva feared then, and now.

The Entity has been around since the first big bang. I don't know how it came to be, as far as it's concerned it just always was. It thinks it was made by the same thing that made the universe, but I think that's pushing it a bit. Anyways, the Entity has a lot of 'impossible' things at its proverbial fingertips that the Rekuva wanted. It had power, knowledge, technology, peace, and most importantly to them, immortality. Those most important people to the Entity, the central minds, never die and never age. But they are not themselves, never, they carry the weight of the network with them at all times. They become it, so to speak.

When the Rekuva first encountered The Entity in their expansion across the universe, they did not know what to think about it. They thought it was some sort of religious cult, all the better to sweep the followers out of the way. It wasn't until they met one of the central minds that they realized, just a little bit, what was going on. But they pushed that aside the minute they found out that being that spoke to them, seemingly quite mad, was approaching is nine thousandth birthday.

… He died, very horribly, at the hands of the Rekuva as they tried to find out what kept him so young so long. Because he was a central mind, his agony ripped apart the system for weeks as the Entity tried to shuffle the information elsewhere, but still much was lost and never regained. They never figured out how he had lived so long, and finally, after many more deaths, they faced a surprise. Perhaps this was something they could never control, never copy, never make obey them. And it scared them.

Thus, a mass genocide, sweeping many systems, wiping out many races, rushing to crush the Entity from the universe. Fearing death, the Entity drew into itself, preserving what few central minds it could, and only now is trying to return. But the Rekuva remembers, and if they are not stopped, that horrible wave of death will happen again."

Jesse shivered, releasing the Entity even as he felt the vines grow farther down the back of his neck, curling across his shoulders, wrapping him tighter into the network. It wasn't him, but it was becoming him. He brushed that thought away and looked at Fox, who was rubbing thoughtfully at his chin, staring at Jesse as if shocked.

"That… that wasn't you talking, was it?" Fox finally said very slowly, watching Jesse's green eyes. That beautiful color was a whirlpool, showing him all and sucking him in. He shook off sharply.

"Nope, that was a voice across the ages." Jesse replied, shrugging. "Someone who died many, many years ago who knew what had to be said."

"So I assume that's all true?"

"Yes. Every word."

"So you're serious about immortality… Jesus, what else does the Entity know, Jesse?"

"A lot which should not be told."

"Good enough for me. ROB, you got all that right?"

"Every word."

"Good. We'll probably have to play it back a few times for everyone else." He looked at Jesse, who hadn't moved, tail twitching just slightly. "You know we're in trouble with GalFed, right?"

"Yes, I know."

"Should I assume they'd pay out their noses to get their hands on you?"

"Most probably." He hugged himself. "I want to stay here. With you guys. With Wolf."

"Yeah, I know, and we'll do our damnedest to make sure that happens." Fox stood, passing the chair and patting Jesse's shoulder, deep in thought.

"Fox?"

"Hm?"

"Before you ask… the Entity has never encountered Autism before, and has no cure for it."

Fox leapt out of his skin, staring at Jesse, who had turned the chair to look at him. "How… how did you…"

"When Peppy remarked that you and Fara were acting strangely, the pieces fell into place. I was hoping I was wrong, but…" He sighed, shaking his head. "Babies, especially newborns, watch everyone's face. Hope rarely does. She's fascinated with fast movement: a precursor of self-stim, like autistics do. She doesn't like being picked up or touched."

"All true." Fox shook his head wearily. "Fara was worried at those little nuances and talked to me about it. We had ROB do a medical scan of her mental activity. He's said it's very, very mild, chances are she might even grow out of it or be no different then a normal child with some help, but…" He hugged himself, shoulders curving in, looking very scared for a second or two. "But it worries me, Jesse."

"No one is perfect, Fox. She'll turn out fine." Jesse stood gracefully, patting Fox's shoulder. "No one is perfect."

"I know." Fox watched Jesse walk past him and down the hallway, and shivered. "ROB?"

"Yes?"

"That kid seems like he's older then Peppy now."

"He is, Fox. In a way, he is." ROB said. "If I understand everything right, he's got a wealth of information across millions of years at his fingertips."

"You sound happy."

"Not really." The robot shook his head. "I like the old Jesse better."

"We'll get him back… hopefully…"

"Don't count on it."

The Great Fox thundered away from the now-abandoned Versyi. As soon as the construction crews had finished, evacuation crews had arrived, and all citizens of the planet, both natural and colonists, had willingly left. They knew the danger of staying. For a while the transports paced the Great Fox, then broke away, without words saying goodbye and pressing farther into the fringe of the explored universe, looking for a world they would not be bothered on.

Fara sat on her and Fox's bed, which to her delight was now Rekuva-style. She had suggested it, and Fox got a kick out of it, though he demanded they add normal blankets to the mix. The sight of her fiancé stretching and burrowing into the fluff like a pup always made her laugh.

Her own pup was asleep in her personal smaller nest, curled up contentidly, sucking on a pacifier. It still made her chest ache when she looked at her child, so beautiful and perfect, knowing she was in a way handicapped. She loved Hope all the same, but it hurt her now. Her poor child…

Fox came in and tumbled over the edge the bed, pulling her down and hugging her close. She laughed, burrowing into him. "What's up?"

"I just got one hell of a backstory from Jesse, that's all. We're going to fill everyone else in later, but it's still sort of disturbing."

"How is he?"

"… He's different."

"Different how?"

Fox sighed, nuzzling her forehead. "Just… different. Older. Wiser. You look at him and see a lot of people in his eyes. It's… kind of scary, but… almost reassuring." He stared into the distance, finally saying. "You look into his eyes and you see thousands of years. It's like… meeting God."

Fara blinked at him, wanting a better explanation, but he just shook his head and buried his face into her hair, snuggling close for comfort. She returned it, eyes fluttering closed. Everything was all right when she and Fox were like this, she was warm, loved, protected. She let herself sigh, enjoying the peace which she knew would not last.