Lloyd struggled against his captor, trying every trick in the book to break free, but every effort proved to be an exercise in futility. The strange device they held in one of their four hands, the other keeping Lloyd tied to their side, made his stomach churn at the thought of what possible use they could put it to.

"Let me go! Why are you doing this?!" Lloyd asked, his voice breaking as he tried desperately not to cry out in panic.

"I'm just following orders.

"Whose?"

"Those of which you cannot see. Or comprehend. Just know that it's not my intention to harm you. I simply have to do my job to bring about his will. How will anyone ever be free of this dreadful reality if I don't? Let me complete what I need to complete and I'll have my reward. And so will you."

"Who is this person?

"Who indeed."

With that, the masked figure abruptly ended their speech and turned toward the crowd of onlookers. "If any of you take a single step or move slightly, then I will be forced to bring this to a swift and painful conclusion. What I have in my hands is a dark matter emitter. It has the ability to destroy an entire station's sector. And mine isn't even that powerful. But it'll still blow your precious little Lloyd to smithereens, should I decide to do so. So, I suggest you stand back down if you know what's good for you."

Lloyd glared at them. "You're bluffing. This isn't some kind of hostage scenario, you're going to blow me up anyway. You can't fool me."

"I'm not here to fool you. I said that I have no intentions to harm you. What will soon follow is what must be done for our destinies to actualize themselves. I'm taking you down, Nebulon. While you may die today, your death will be for his benefit. Without you in the way, he'll be able to reshape what has been corrupted."

"Who-"

"LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE, YOU CREEP!"

Before Lloyd could process who was speaking, Eddie barrelled into the two, throwing several punches at the assailant. The figure reacted in surprise, loosening their grip on Lloyd and sending them both to the ground. Kurt was quick to run in, scooping Lloyd up and absconding the scene as Eddie continued to wail at the stranger.

"Kurt! Let me go!"

"But that bad guy could hurt you! He's really mean! I don't know what a dark matty-thing is, but I don't want you getting blown up, Lloyd!"

"But Eddie's back there! He could get blown up instead!"

"Oh."

Kurt stopped in his tracks, looking back to where he left his friend behind. Not even a second later, an explosion ricocheted down the hallway, sending the two crashing onto the floor. Lloyd squeezed his way out from under Kurt, heart beating erratically in his chest. Not waiting for anyone to respond, he took off down the hall, calling for his best friend.

"Eddie! EDDIE!"

As he ran, Lloyd felt his sense of gravity tighten, every step seeming to take longer than it ever should. He began to feel as if he was slowing down as if the air was getting heavier and harder to breathe. Pausing, dread filled his stomach as he continued to be pulled along the corridor, further and further away from where he began. He furrowed his brows and continued running down the path, using every last ounce of his strength to push through the invisible force that was impeding his progress.

This was very likely a suicide mission of some kind, but that didn't matter. Not when Eddie was in danger and he had the power to save him. Not when-

He found himself being lifted off the ground by a mysterious force. Looking back around, Lloyd glared at the person responsible. "Let me go, Kurt."

"No."

He struggled against Kurt's firm grip, but it was hopeless. "What do you mean no?! Eddie's back there and he could be hurt! We're wasting time, we need to go and save him!"

"I'm not going to die! Now let me go! If you're so worried about me, then worry about Eddie! He's the one you need to worry about! Because he could be hurt, so I'm going to find him and help him get better. That's what friends do!"

"You want to know what friends do?! They don't let other friends die, OKAY?! Especially not after one of their friends has already died and they just stood by and watched it happen!"

Lloyd's eyes widened before they narrowed and turned into sharp daggers. He turned his gaze away from Kurt and said only one thing in response, "Eddie is not dead. What do you know about... about..."

"I don't know a whole lot but I know when something's pointless and is just going to get you hurt," Kurt responded, "And this? This is pointless. You're just going to get yourself hurt or worse, killed. And for what? For some friend who you don't even know is alive or not?"

"He's alive," Lloyd said with conviction, "I know he is."

"How?"

Lloyd didn't respond. Unable to ignore the emotional turmoil that was bubbling under the surface, he held tightly onto Kurt's body as tears began to form in his eyes, ready to spill over at any moment. "Because... Because we're friends, Kurt! We're kids! Kids aren't supposed to lose their best friends! We aren't supposed to lose our best friend! Please, let me go. I have to know that he'll be okay."

"You're right, I don't want to lose another best friend! But I don't think we can help Eddie."

"Yeah, but that's because you NEVER think, Kurt! We can't lose Eddie, we can't! It can't already be too late, we haven't even gotten to say goodbye or anything! This… This wasn't supposed to happen."

With that, Lloyd buried his face into Kurt's shirt, sobbing uncontrollably as he felt his heart breaking apart. This wasn't supposed to happen, not in a million lightyears, but... it did. No matter what, it still happened and his best friend paid the ultimate price for it.

"Do you still want me to let you go?" Kurt asked.

"No, please don't. I don't want to be alone, not now, not ever."

"You're lying," Frank said, gripping his hat, "There's no way my son's dead! There's no way! Where is he?! You must have him confused for someone else because there's no way in SHRACK that my son was killed by that-"

"I understand that this must be hard for you to hear," Dunkirque responded, inspecting the shoddy 'repair-work' the worker drones had done to the damaged part of the station. All in all, it was nothing more than a force-field put in place to keep anyone or anything from being sucked out into deep space, "But the evidence we've gathered suggests that the victim was, in fact, your son. I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Horton."

"It's... not... true..." Frank muttered with a cracked voice. He fell to his knees, holding onto his hat as if it were one of his only possessions left in the universe, "He... he's not... dead... He... he... he's not... he can't be..."

Lloyd took a deep breath, unable to get the image of his best friend, unable to breathe and vainly struggling to stay alive in the inhospitable void of space, away from his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Horton. That guy..."

"Don't be, Lloyd," Dunkirque said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "It's not your fault. In fact, you're lucky to have made it out alive. If it weren't for your dear friend's brave heroics, however suicidal they may have been, then-"

The second-in-command was interrupted by a fist connecting with his snout. Coughing up dark blue blood, he turned to see Frank standing up, his left hand quivering in anger.

"Listen here, you despicable excuse for a first officer, I don't ever want to hear you even IMPLY that it's better that my son died instead of Lloyd EVER again. If you think for one second that I'm going to just stand here and listen to you passive-aggressively tell me that it's in my son's best interest to die instead of the Commander's precious child, then there's a lot more where that came from."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Edward didn't suffer. While whatever remained of his body may have been flung out into space, I doubt he was even alive to feel it. Most of his body was probably nigh-instantaneously vaporized following-"

"I'M GOING TO THROW YOU OUT INTO THE DEPTHS OF SPACE AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT, YOU OVERSIZED, MUTANT ANTEATER!"

Nora broke out of her stupor and stepped in front of Frank. "Wait! I know you're upset, stars know what I would do if... if Lloyd... all I'm saying is that if that you can't start beating people up over it! Or start making insensitive comments regarding the history of their species' genetic lineage."

"I'm actually only around ten percent related to anteaters. As an Earthling, my species is more genetically related to an ancient species of Earth horse than it is-"

"Dunkirque, please stop trying to make this worse for yourself."

"Fair enough."

"I'm really scared, Dougie! I've never seen Eddie's dad punch out someone like that before! Oh! And now I'll never see Eddie again!"

Douglas looked up at Kurt, strangely calm, "It is quite an unfortunate turn of events. But, and take this with a grain of metaphorical sodium chloride, I believe I might be able to reverse the damage that has been done."

"Like time travel?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Kurt. There are far too many conflicting factors in play to make time travel even a slightly feasible possibility. We're trying to minimize casualties, not potentially create more! So, we should instead try to reverse the only causality. Well, the only causality that matters to us. If only I could just..."

Douglas' eyes widened as he spotted a piece of white fabric lying on the ground near the arguing trio. He ran towards it and snatched it up. "EUREKA!"

"Eureka?" Frank asked, his rage momentarily forgotten as he looked at the object Douglas had retrieved. "Wait, is... is that..."

"A piece of Edward's vest? I believe so. But his vest isn't what's important. It's what's on the vest that's important! You see, all I need is a single piece of Edward's DNA in order to facilitate my plan to bring him back to life!"

"With all due respect, I don't think tampering with the process of death is a good idea. After all, death must happen for a reason, who are we to question the universe's-"

"I think I should be the one to decide that," Frank said, shooting Dunkirque a withering look of contempt before turning back to Douglas, "Well, go on. How exactly does this work?"

"I've been studying the pseudo-science of spirituality and the idea of existence after death for some time now. From there, I've uncovered a hypothetical process that could allow what one might call a 'ghost' to be able to return to the realm of the living via a vessel. Now, this is all just a theory, and... AHA! There it is, a piece of Edward's hair! Now, all I need is the Commander's permission to not only perform such an endeavor but her permission to use her daughter as well."

"What do you need Francine for?" Nora asked.

"You're not putting Eddie's ghost inside my sister's body! Huh, never thought I'd be saying that sentence."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Lloyd. In truth, I don't even think it'd be possible. During my research, every mention of this entirely theoretical process of 'rebirth' seemed to indicate that the vessel in question must not be organic to allow the soul to possess it. And for the Commander's question, in order to open a pathway to this entirely theoretical medium, a numerous amount of psychic energy would need to be channeled. Francine is the only person I can think of who would be able to pull it off. But if you're worried about her getting hurt, there's nothing about this so-called ritual that would pose any risk to her."

"Well, I do feel ashamed of myself for not being able to stop this from happening, but I still feel that it should be up to Frank to decide if he wants to go through with it. Eddie's his child, after all. Not mine."

"Is there anything else I should know about this thing?" Frank asked.

"Yes, actually. From what I've read, it appears that the process binds the soul of the deceased to said vessel. Once bound, nothing can be done to separate them. This means that in the short term, Edward will be stuck in whatever vessel we put him in for however long he lives in this state. But once again, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you want to go through with this. After all, it might not even work."

"I guess it's worth a shot. Anything to see my boy again."

"Then it's settled. But first things first, we need to figure out a proper vessel to place him in. And it can't be a cheaply made robotic duplicate of our dear friend, either. For this to work, we need a type of vessel with an artificial intelligence so advanced that it practically dances the fine line between sapience and artificial intelligence. But where would we find something like that?"

Station popped out of the wall and came over to the group. "Commander! I finished running an analysis of the explosion and it appears that- Douglas, might I ask why you're staring at me like that? It's starting to give me the creeps."

"Oh, it's nothing. Nothing at all."

"Can you tell me why I agreed to this again?"

"Because you're a good sister who I love dearly," Lloyd said, "A good sister who I also promised I'd pay ten whole crontars to if she helped me out with this. You don't want to back out of that now, do you?"

"Oh, yeah! Wait. I'm six, what am I going to do with ten crontars?"

"You'll figure it out when the time comes, okay? So, are you going to help us or not?!"

"Fine," Francine responded before turning her attention to Douglas, who was fiddling with a strange device, "What exactly do you want me to do with my powers anyway?"

"Whatever you want. You see, whenever you activate your psychic powers, you unlock a pathway to the medium beyond our regular, mundane universe. With this device I've invented, already calibrated with Edward's DNA, I will be able to temporarily gain access to that medium and be able to pull his spirit out and imbue it into one of Station's empty bodies!"

"Huh?"

"Just use your telepathy on someone."

"Okay..."

Francine focused, her forehead glowing blue as she began leaching into the thoughts of everyone in the hallway. Despite the different thoughts, they all shared a similar train of thought; Eddie. The sorrow and grief each of them felt were unmistakable. Unstoppable. It was only natural that she would be drawn to it; after all, her noisy six-year-old self had fed on the misery of her brother and his friends for years now, their interpersonal lives and drama far too addicting for her to quit.

But this was different.

This was no ire directed towards teachers or the unfairness of the galaxy. It felt as if someone had taken Rosie from her and ripped the doll up right in front of her, taunting her with what she once had. Only... a thousand, no, a MILLION times worse than that.

Lloyd...

Reading his guilt-laced and tormented thoughts was almost too much for her to bear. Did he honestly believe that Eddie blamed him for what happened when in reality, his friend knew exactly what he was getting himself into?

As Douglas pressed what she presumed was the trigger button on the machine, she paused her reading and honed in on her brother, hoping to send a message out instead of receiving them.

'It's going to be okay.'

Where was this place?

Eddie pushed his way through the pastel pink void that surrounded him, struggling to make sense of the disorienting vibrations that seemed to pulse through every fiber in his body. Did he even have a body anymore? The last thing he remembered was that creep holding Lloyd hostage, him getting involved, whatever bomb-thing they were holding going off, a searing pain, and then...

Well, he was here. And a hundred percent dead.

"Heh, go figure," he said to no one in particular, "I decide to do the right thing for the first time in my life and I end up getting completely vaporized! Sorry, dad! Guess I'm not going to be a cop after all. I'd probably be a pretty lousy cop anyway. I mean, I'm so inattentive to my surroundings that..."

He let out a bitter chuckle, his mind still trying to grapple with the fact that he was no longer alive. And he knew that it wasn't just some weird near-death experience either. Upon 'waking up', he noticed that the creep was also down there with him. But before he could chew them out for killing him or continue his beat down, they disappeared in a flash of light, leaving him alone... wherever he was.

And wherever this somewhere happened to be, something seemed off about it. Yes, he was dead and yes, it wasn't a pleasant experience. But there was something more going on here; an energy that felt almost... alive.

As he swam further into the unknown realm sprawled out before him, he felt himself becoming more and more drawn to it, his sense of curiosity building with each step. Was it the end of the line for him? Would he be stuck here forever, roaming this strange place with nothing but himself for company?

Or was there something more waiting for him just around the corner? A new adventure to be had, a new life to start?

A bright light he hadn't noticed before appeared in the distance, and Eddie found himself drawn to it like a moth to a flame. And at that moment, he knew that his old life was gone forever and that there was nothing left for him but to move forward into the unknown. The light expanded, engulfing him in its warmth.

"What the du-"

"Eddie?"

He blinked, the light dying down. In place of the pastel void had suddenly appeared a familiar hallway, filled with the faces of his friends and family. Each of them appeared apprehensive as if they were expecting the worst and 'hoping' for the best. But still, there was a strange paralysis set over his body and his arms and legs felt like they weren't there at all. Also, why did it feel like he was staring at them from the wall?

"Lloyd? What's going-"

He paused, the somewhat-British accent he was using not sounding like his own by a long shot. In fact, it sounded a lot like...

"Okay, where am I, why do I feel weird all over, and WHY do I suddenly sound like Station?!"

"EDDIE! You're alive!"

"NO, I'M NOT, LLOYD!" Eddie shrieked, realizing he had moved a bit from his 'starting position'. All... All without walking or even USING legs. Against his better judgment he looked behind him, feeling his heart, if he even HAD one anymore, dropping into his possibly just as non-existent stomach at the sight of a Station port, "I KNOW I died! Nobody could survive THAT! Why... What did you DO to me?!"

Douglas meekly raised his hand, "Before you start blaming Lloyd for something that he had nothing to do with, I have to admit that this was all my idea. You're right, you did indeed die. But thanks to a bit of ingenious thinking and psychic powers, we were able to bring you back to life. Of course, we had to make do with whatever 'vessel' we had on hand. Which happened to be Station."

"Oh. Then just put me in another body, duh! I'm not going to spend the rest of my life stuck inside this tin-can robot!"

"That's the thing. The process involved binding your soul to Station. I'm dreadfully sorry, but once bound, there's nothing anyone can do to separate you from his body. You're going to be stuck like this forever, I'm afraid."

Eddie paused, staring at the group as he slowly blinked. Then, he loudly and audibly chuckled, inwardly wincing as he realized that even his laughter now sounded like Station's. "You're joking, aren't you? I mean, yeah, it's a meanspirited joke to pull on someone, but I know it's just a joke. See? I'm laughing! Because it's a JOKE!"

But Douglas did not laugh. Instead, he gave Eddie a somber look and held out his hand to him. "We're all here for you, Edwa- I mean, Eddie."

"You almost never call me Eddie..."

"Son..."

Eddie glanced up, singular eye meeting his father's as the man walked over and placed a comforting hand on his head. He jerked away from the touch, his pupil darting erratically back and forth as he backed up into the wall.

"You can't do this to ME! This... This isn't funny anymore! It's just a dream, a nightmare! Yeah! All of this is just one big horrible nightmare that I'll wake up from and have a chuckle or two over because it's just so HORRIBLE to imagine happening to a guy!"

With that, he pulled himself back into the wall entirely, singular eye closing as the port deactivated.

"Eddie! Wait!"

Lloyd ran up to the deactivated port and pressed the 'call' button several times, but what responded wasn't Eddie. Rather, it was the one and only...

"Station? Is that you?"

"In the mechanical flesh. I take it that your plan to 'transfer' Edward to one of my spare bodies did not go exactly as planned. Why else would he have gone off to a restricted area of the station if not to mope around and be left alone?"

"That's where he went? You can check that stuff?"

"Indeed I can, Lloyd."

"Mom, I know Station said that it's restricted, but can I..."

Nora gave a swift nod before speaking, "But before you go walking around down there, I think we should give Eddie some alone time. Poor guy, I can't even begin to imagine how he feels right now..."

Meanwhile, down in Sector 9, Section B, a blue-eyed Station had curled in on itself, muttering the same sentence nonsensically.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream..."