John stood up and touched the mask. There was a bright flash, and then a holographic-like image of Stark appeared in the center of the room.
"John, if you see this message, then the Scorpius clone in your mind is dead. This means you are ready to know the truth. When your double died, he provided me with your memories. His neural clone died before he did. The memory of The Ancient Jack destroying the clone caused yours to die. You may now be ready to receive his memories...you may not. You must make the decision for yourself, and if necessary, reactivate the mask when you've made your choice."
"Touch the screen to continue..." he thought aloud as he placed his hand over the mask. There was another flash and John became froze again. Memories came to him: fighting with Aeryn on the budong, naming stars, making love, Pina Coladas, the mist, "Jack", Furlow, ScarrensChariddsloveAeryn- Death. And then it was over. His mind cleared. John now remembered everything that had happened on Talyn.
"Gotta tell Aeryn...gotta...sleep first..." he thought just as he fell on the floor in an ungraceful heap.
Aeryn awoke very suddenly in the middle of ship's night. She felt a warm, wet sensation around her midsection. She reached down inside the covers and felt liquid on her fingers. She pulled her hand out and saw blood.
"Frell." She had been off lately, which she had been blaming on the amount of stress she had been dealing with. Apparently not. She sighed heavily, then got up so she could clear off the bedding and go grab more from the ships storage. She hit the controls for the lights and pulled back the sheet- and that's when she realized something was wrong. It was too much blood. Too much tissue. Aeryn sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at the amount of blood and tissue there and became numb with shock. She started crying...before long the tears wouldn't stop. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs, and buried her face against her knees. She had just lost the last part of John she might ever have.
"John...I'm not strong enough to do this without you..."
"John, if you see this message, then the Scorpius clone in your mind is dead. This means you are ready to know the truth. When your double died, he provided me with your memories. His neural clone died before he did. The memory of The Ancient Jack destroying the clone caused yours to die. You may now be ready to receive his memories...you may not. You must make the decision for yourself, and if necessary, reactivate the mask when you've made your choice."
"Touch the screen to continue..." he thought aloud as he placed his hand over the mask. There was another flash and John became froze again. Memories came to him: fighting with Aeryn on the budong, naming stars, making love, Pina Coladas, the mist, "Jack", Furlow, ScarrensChariddsloveAeryn- Death. And then it was over. His mind cleared. John now remembered everything that had happened on Talyn.
"Gotta tell Aeryn...gotta...sleep first..." he thought just as he fell on the floor in an ungraceful heap.
Aeryn awoke very suddenly in the middle of ship's night. She felt a warm, wet sensation around her midsection. She reached down inside the covers and felt liquid on her fingers. She pulled her hand out and saw blood.
"Frell." She had been off lately, which she had been blaming on the amount of stress she had been dealing with. Apparently not. She sighed heavily, then got up so she could clear off the bedding and go grab more from the ships storage. She hit the controls for the lights and pulled back the sheet- and that's when she realized something was wrong. It was too much blood. Too much tissue. Aeryn sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at the amount of blood and tissue there and became numb with shock. She started crying...before long the tears wouldn't stop. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs, and buried her face against her knees. She had just lost the last part of John she might ever have.
"John...I'm not strong enough to do this without you..."