Background: The date was August 3rd of 2042. The day Nova took a trip through time to the year 2032. She had saved the life of Rosalie Rowen and in the process saved Zeta, a synthoid originally programmed to destroy. After this Rosalie learned first that Nova was not as she seemed. Zeta learned later on, only because she felt it was time. He learned much from her via their port connection. He pushed it too far later on, learning about sex and her lover all on one fell swoop. This bothered her a little. Zeta was so innocent about human things from what she gleaned during their connection. Nova gave him a lesson and a program - the gift of emotion. They parted ways and didn't speak until a year later. Nova was content to follow them and see how things progressed with them. She basically guaranteed they both stayed alive, not wishing to have misspent her time saving them a year earlier. Nova had been following them when she was attacked by three female cyborgs. Thanks to the quick thinking of Zeta and help from Ro, she survived the encounter and set up a meeting between herself and her attackers. When she learned what she needed to know, Nova and the hidden forms of Ro and Zeta took them down. They were not killed, but sent back to the future with a false cybernetic brain made to look like Nova's. She hoped that her team of creators would lie for her.

May 2, 2044

It has been nearly twelve years since Nova first time jumped to the past. During that time she had watched over and interacted slightly with Zeta and Rosalie Rowen. She observed Ro develop into a lovely woman and how Zeta reacted to her now that he had the capacity to feel emotions. It was a pleasantly quiet ten years, considering what they had been through. Bennett's team had given up pursuing the duo once Professor Selig came out of hiding and told the world about how he made Zeta different from the other synthoids. The whole business of the government explaining the need for synthoids was a horrendously arduous one. With all the unexplained deaths of human beings out there, a lot of finger pointing had happened. For a time Nova was unsure if Ro and Zeta would even get a chance to continue to be together during the trails. Despite the government creating the synthoid projects and sending them out to eliminate dangerous targets, it survived the trails and the outrage with minimal damage. Unfortunately for them the citizens of the United States, and in fact the entire world, now didn't trust the government to be totally up front with what projects it was working on. Those that created the synthoids were not found at fault for doing their jobs, though many question the ethics of it. The synthoids themselves were all brought in for reprogramming. All except Zeta, who was the example the others were programmed to follow. Many became companions for the rich, others found a place assisting in more dangerous jobs. Overall the whole incident had been something to see. During this whole mess, Nova had not seen one indication of the three cyborgs that had come for her revisiting. She took this as good news, knowing that her creators had lied and she was now truly free. The only drawback was keeping a low profile. She'd never gone so long without extended contact with humans, let alone without routine checkups. Nova had to admit that she felt a bit sluggish, her own diagnostics showed that some parts were showing wear that would need tending to and the sooner the better.

September 2, 2044

It had been four years ago when the shit hit the fan. The government was being intensely investigated concerning all its current projects. It had been a scurry to get the project out of the limelight, and in the process those that had nurtured him and his brothers had lost the control they thought they had over them. They all broke free. Unfortunately freedom came at a heavy price. The infighting between them that had begun in training now had no one to stifle it, it eventually cost the lives of six of the ten brothers. Those that were strong enough or smart enough to survive separated ways. But even in separation, the bad blood continued and two more were dead.

He crouches on top of a building, just within the shadow of an air conditioning unit, quietly observing a taller building that he is going to hit later on that evening. The power he wields makes him look like a literal 'shadow man'. Through the binoculars he holds to his eyes, he cases the building out. Word on the street was it held many useful items he could turn around and make a good profit. Ironic that he was going to be robbing those who think the law is above them. Then he spots something moving on the very top, he focuses on it and sees what at first appears to be a black flag. When the figure that is attached to the black cape moves, he quickly realizes what he is laying eyes on. oO(Project Nova? I thought that cyborg was off lined.)Oo he muses. Yet, that was indeed the cyborg that had been reportedly eliminated by three other cyborgs. At least that is what those three had told him when he tracked them down. He lowers his binoculars, pondering what to do with this information.

Time - a tricky thing to be playing with, no matter how good or bad your intentions. The things you set in motion the second you change what was to what could have been has a ripple effect.

Time before the change: Rosalie Rowen had died from the fall and Zeta was severely injured. The news of her death had a devastating effect on the synthoid. Even after Professor Selig had rebuilt him, Zeta really didn't recover from the loss. He spent a lot of time reading or thinking. It was perchance he discovered the Project Nova files and later secreted a message to the cyborg. Because of his message, Nova sought her own freedom and eventually met the mutant 'shadow man' Blacklight. It was with this freedom she eventually came to the past.

Time after the change: Rosalie Rowen and Zeta were saved by the time jumper Nova. Zeta received a downloaded emotions program from Nova. He and Ro saved Novas' life and sent her would be killers back to the future. Synthoids, cyborgs, and mutants all created by government programs were brought into the spotlight after Selig came out to speak on behalf of Zeta. Zeta got the freedom he wanted and things were a little better for almost everyone concerned.

Differences: Zeta and Ro: living or dying. Synthoids, cyborgs and mutants: staying secret or becoming part of the public knowledge. Nova: Knowing of the first future and living the newly recreated one without her beloved Blacklight.

The room had been as quiet as a morgue at night for a full three minutes. No one had said a word as they all took in the information they had just received. Then the man at the head of the table asked the man who delivered this news to depart. The discussion of what to do went on for half an hour. When they came to their decision, they called in the messenger once more.

"Nova has broken the law and has been on the run for far too long. It seems we must rectify the situation before she takes another time trip. See to it that the operative that came to you is given full access to her schematics, knowledge base and whatever else he may need. Indicate to him that he will have his freedom and a generous reward for taking her down."

"Understood, sir. Anything else?"

"Yes. Make sure he has whatever he wishes to track her and then take her down."

"It will be done, sir."

A few weeks later...

He rubbed at his temples with a hand as his other hand wrote down notes. He was finalizing a few plans on how to tackle the enigma that was Nova. He knew everything there was to know through the extensive notes of Project Novas' creators over the years as well as the downloaded visuals from Nova herself. He had witnessed hundreds of hours of visual information from Nova's viewpoint - having seen every infiltration from beginning to end. Despite what he had seen and read, there was something amiss. He had no grasp of how the cyborg thought. That was the one thing that didn't download. Apparently Nova had some measure of control over what her creators could download. Perhaps this would not matter in the end, he had the tools to take her on now. Hopefully he could take her down before she had the chance to take him out.

Nova rested her back against the brick wall as she observed a window across the way. The shade was pulled, but that mattered little to her. She overheard every word quite well. Why did she do this to herself? Looking in on and overhearing what Zeta and Ro did at night since their 'marriage' did nothing more than make her miss what she had once. She kept trying to excuse her behavior by reminding herself it was for their own good. But was it really? Was it logical to think that there still might be a threat to them after being free of the government looking for them for so long?

CLUNK!

Something impacted upon her chest and a second later she felt a crippling electromagnetic pulse run through her form. She managed a strangled scream before she fell into unconsciousness.

He watched as the cyborg went down with no trouble at all. It was way too easy. Swinging over on his cable, he alighted next to her still form.

"Hold it right there." came Zetas' voice from behind him. He turned toward the synthoid who was halfway out of the window across from him when Zeta blinks and utters, "It's you."

He didn't have time to be delayed, he gripped a second electromagnetic device off his belt and as he rose his hands to feign surrender he tossed it at Zeta. The result was the same as Nova, he was nullified.

"Zee!" Ro cried as she gripped at Zetas' waist to keep him from tumbling out of the window fully. She laid eyes on the shadow man then on the fallen Nova before she managed to pull Zetas' still form back inside.

Novas' systems came online, doing the routine checkups as they came to life. A voice to her left said, 'She is coming online sir.' Another to her right said, 'Excellent.' Her optics came online and she looked around. When she saw the four bodies just ten feet in front of her she gasped for she knew who they were. Her creators were dead.

"Death Nova." said the voice to her right. She turned her head to look at the man, dressed in military garb and wearing the metals befitting his rank. "The men who created you and covered up your apparent demise have been dealt with for their treachery. You used your freedom to do God knows what to our past. For your actions, your memories will be deleted. However, we shall keep you alive to act as you were once programmed to do."

A voice to her left spoke, "Isn't that a little harsh?"

The military man glared, "You have your freedom for bringing her here in the first place Blacklight. I suggest you take your money and be sure never to cross the government."

Nova looked upon Blacklight. This was a man that in her future she had loved, who had loved her. She can't help but cry. This man would never know what she does about their time together.

He gripped the handle to the briefcase that held his payoff for bringing the cyborg in. He saw the tears trail down her face and it really did bother him. "I will see myself out." he told the man and departed from that room.

He walked out with an escort and wasn't left alone until he was out of the military base. Hiding the briefcase, he infiltrated the base. Crawling through the heating ducts until he reached the room where he had left the military chump with Nova. He was just in time to see the replay of some of her memories.

Time passes...

Shock. That's the simple word to put to how he felt at that moment. Even as the military man ordered the deletion of memories, he was in total shock. He watched as Nova screamed and apparently struggled, but to no avail. When the technician announced that all her memories were gone and that start up protocols would begin, he knew he had to do something. He waited them out, listening to the military jerk give the newly reawakened Nova her orders as she was freed from her restraints. After Nova and military jackass had left the technician alone in the room did he even make his move. The poor technician didn't know what hit him. It would be hours before he was discovered, and by then Blacklight was long gone with not only his payoff, but several DVD recordings of Nova's memories.

Months later...

He viewed each DVD in order from earliest memory to latest. He skipped through a lot of the infiltration viewing. The moment he saw himself in those memories though, he took his time to view every second from the first memory of him to the last. It was strange to see himself being a lover to a cyborg. After recovering from his shock, he sought out other information from those memories. He learned why she went to the past in the first place, he witnessed how the future had been before her jump as well. If the military had bothered to see that, well they may not have been so eager to delete her memories and reuse her as an object of destruction. He resolved to right what had been done, and he knew of only one being that might be able to help him. Zeta.

Breaking into the apartment was a lot easier than he expected. He had five seconds to himself before Zeta came running out of the bedroom in little more than shorts.

"Who are you?" Zeta demanded as his arms extended to snatch at the figure in the dark.

Allowing himself to be captured, rather than fighting and drawing attention he didn't need, Blacklight replied calmly, "My name is Blacklight. But I think you already knew that Zeta." he paused just long enough for that to sink in, "I've come here to talk to you about Death Nova."

Zeta held the man firmly, just staring at him. Yes he did know the man before him thanks to the mental connections he had shared with Nova. The fact that the man was here to talk to him about her was indeed a puzzler. "What about her?"

"A few months back she was captured by me. I was paid to bring her in." he holds up a hand as the synthoid opens his mouth to say something, "She had broken the law concerning time travel."

Zeta releases him, "So... she's gone."

Blacklight shakes his head, "Only for the moment. You see they downloaded her memories first and then wiped her mind clean. They uploaded all her programs, leaving the memories out, and reactivated her."

Zeta sighs, "That's horrible. She's done so much for Ro and I."

The shadow man nods, "Yeah I saw the memories after I stole them off those chumps."

Zeta looks shocked a moment, then smiles a bit, "What do you plan to do with that knowledge those memories represent?"

A chuckle answers him at first, "What do you think Zeta? I'm going to totally fubar the government and give them right back to her. But I need your help."

Zeta smiles, "You got it."

Zeta had to convince Ro to stay behind since he and Blacklight could be gone for longer than bills waiting to be paid would allow. The convincing part was a lot easier than leaving her behind part. Even as the two men traveled, Zeta felt the separation keenly. He reminded himself that if not for Nova, he wouldn't even feel emotions at all. The fact that Nova was now basically like he was when he first came online also helped him to go where the clues of her whereabouts led. He found travelling with Blacklight both mysterious and illuminating at once. Mysterious because the man was careful about how much he told Zeta about himself. Illuminating in the fact that he was going out of the way to help a cyborg that, in this future, he had never met.

It had been a full month of following clues, leads, and hitting dead ends before they had finally hit pay dirt. Zeta found it amazing the sources this man of shadow had, even beyond the borders of the United States. But this source knew exactly where Nova was going to be and when, all they had to do was get there and set up their snare...

"I hope this works." Zeta said.

"It will work. Got to trust me on this. Now get out there." Blacklight replied.

Zeta nodded, shifting his hologram program to resemble the man who was to be Novas' hit this evening. He moved away from where Blacklight was standing and into the night. The plan was simple enough, Zetas' disguise would hopefully draw Nova out into the open where Blacklight could tag her with an electromagnetic device that would temporarily render her offline. Zeta reminded himself that it would work and that he'd be able to avoid any harm to himself.

Blacklight waited a few minutes and then moved from his spot, he grappled up to the rooftop of a building and began to follow slowly behind Zeta. Minutes passed as he followed along, going along the large rooftop that was the main building inside the complex the hit in question lived in. He was focused on keeping watch on Zeta and moving along the roofline when a hand clamps over his mouth. He feels the cold steel of a sword caress his throat.

"What do I have here? Competition perhaps?" whispers a seductive female voice in his ear.

Blacklight quelled his fear quickly, he couldn't afford to freak out. His free hands stayed to his sides, a pinky finger taps on a device he placed on his belt. The sword moved slightly to the side, he felt it slice just slightly into his skin. He could feel the unyielding metal of her armored body pressing into his back.

"Or perhaps what I have here is a dead man."

A metal hand came out of the darkness, snatching at the very tip of the sword, drawing it away from his throat. The hand on his mouth drew off, the claws on the fingertips raking against it and his cheek just deep enough to make him scream in pain. As he staggered away from the cyborg behind him, he heard a laser shoot past and metal sizzle.

Zeta hovered close by him a moment, pausing long enough to see what damage had been done, then moved towards Nova who was hissing, "Another one?"

Blacklight turned, grabbing the device in one hand. He noticed that Nova had drawn a gun of her own as Zeta landed near her.

"We are not after the man you seek. We are after you." Zeta told her.

'What?" she yelled. Something landed high on her chest, a second later an electromagnetic burst flashed over her form. She jerked a few times, then fell to her knees as her optics flickered once then went dark. Her unconscious body hit the ground.

Zeta sighed and turned to Blacklight, "I'll carry her."

A short time later...

Upon reaching their temporary base of operations, Zeta set down Nova upon the floor. He looked up at Blacklight who had been oddly quiet on the trip over, the man was holding a white handkerchief to his face. "Go clean up Blacklight, I will have to make sure she stays under until we can get her memories downloaded."

Blacklight moved to the bathroom and got the supplies he would need to tend to his flesh wounds. He returned with them and sat on the floor just feet from Zeta, setting down a bottle of iodine, cotton balls, gauze and tape. Watching Zeta work, he put the iodine on a cotton ball and then applied it to the sword wound first. The wounds to his lip area and cheek received a similar dose of iodine. He didn't issue a sound so not to disturb the synthoids' concentration. By the time Zeta was done, the gauze was in place.

Hours later...

Ro met up with them on the tarmac. Zeta got a big hug and kiss as Blacklight wheeled the covered form of Nova toward an awaiting delivery truck. Once the two separated, the two males put Nova into the vehicle as Ro got into the passengers' side. Blacklight climbed in back with the unconscious Nova, making sure she was secured. Zeta got in on the drivers' side and drove.

Novas' systems went through routine checks as she awoke. Something felt amiss but she was having a hard time putting her finger on it. She listened to the voices near her. She recognized them immediately. "Zeta? Ro?" she uttered softly. Her optics were on, but it was oddly dark.

"Yes Nova, it's us." Zeta replied.

"It worked! Yes!" Ro shouted.

"Why is it so dark?" Nova asked. The darkness suddenly lifted, like a living thing, drawing towards a figure off to her right. "I think someone better start explaining." came her slightly shocked statement.

Zeta stepped up from her left, "You want the long or short version?"

The cyborg replied, "Every detail, Zeta."

Even as Zeta explained how she came to be here, she kept a peripheral view of Blacklight. After having purposely avoiding him for years, there he stood. She couldn't help but wonder 'why' as Zeta ended his story.

"I must thank you both for what you have gone through. I do truly appreciate and admire your tenacity and bravery. Thing is that the government will notice my hit isn't dead and that I've gone missing. They will come looking for me. If they catch me, I may just end up in the same position of not remembering my own past." Nova informs them.

Blacklight moved from his spot as Ro spoke, "Already taken care of Nova. You see Zeta already arranged for the government to find your remains."

Zeta nods, "Hopefully they will never find out that what I left behind isn't actually you."

Nova sat up, rubbing her forehead lightly with her fingers. The intermeshing of old memories with that of the memories she had before the download were giving her a slight headache, something that had never happened before. "One problem with that, I doubt they will be fooled twice so easily. Even if they are, I could be spotted and be hunted down again."

"That is why you will be joining me, Nova." Professor Selig stated, as he moved into the room. "I will reconstruct your outer structure so they won't be able to recognize you."

Nova stared at the old man, then looked to Zeta. "You surprise me by your resourcefulness Zeta."

Ro giggled, "Yeah, he's pretty crafty for a tin can."

Selig chuckled, "Actually both you and Zeta will be undergoing the procedure."

Zeta quirked a brow at Ro, "What have you been up to behind my back?"

Ro put on an innocent face, "You'll find out tin man."

Blacklight he went along with the group to where Selig had set up shop. The place was a treasure trove of things that could resell on the black market for double their list price. But he had no intention of robbing the elderly man. He watched alongside Ro as Selig worked on Nova first. Zeta helped him out as he had some details that the Professor needed to make sure the operation went well. Days passed before it was Zetas' turn, then it was Nova who helped out Selig. Once Zetas' operation was done, it would be another three days before the Professor cleared the two from quarantine.

"You are a miracle worker!" Ro declared as she hugged Zeta the second he stepped out of quarantine. She marveled at how warm he felt. She could even hear a 'heart' beating and feel his chest rise and fall. He looked exactly like his hologram, just sans the hologram.

Selig smiled as Nova moved out next, "No trouble at all, my dear." though he cautioned, "You will both have to come in for routine checkups for a short while. Of course, do stop by if you run into troubles."

"Understood, Professor." Nova stated softly, her gaze was on Blacklight. She had thought about why he had sought out Zeta, put himself in danger, and finally came with them here. She stood in front of him, with one word upon her lips, "Why?"

The man of shadow pushed off the wall he was leaning on, "Well, to be honest with you it was your memories of us together. They showed me something I had been missing in my life. he paused as he looked up at a face now fully fleshed and surrounded by a halo of silvery hair, "I saw how it went down with you and that version of myself. I know that you wanted me to be happy at the expense of your own feelings. That took more courage than I have ever seen in my life."

Nova nodded to his words. She heard Zeta whisper to Ro and Selig to 'leave the two alone' and then walk away. "I'm at a loss as to what to say, Joseph."

He paused, not having heard his given birth name in the longest time. He stepped closer, "Then let me say this to you, if Ro and Zeta can make it work... then so can we."

The End.