Hi, everyone.

Apologies for the long delay in getting this chapter done - life has been a bit hectic since I last posted, and I haven't had the time or inclination to continue. But the whole COVID-19 isolation has given me a chance to stretch my creative muscles again, so we'll see how far I can take it.

So - without further ado...


Explanation

For the second time in as many days, Shildy found herself aimlessly wandering the corridors of the Valkyrie, her thoughts a conflicted jumble. Her interrogation of the alien prisoner had not gone the way she had expected, and she once again experienced the hesitation and doubt that had gnawed at her after their initial encounter.

Monsters, it called us, she recalled. Monsters who thought nothing of destroying a star. She thought back to the rest of the conversation.

Two and a half million dead...

Acceptable and necessary losses, the strategist within her countered. The battle was won – there is no shame in victory.

And yet...

She recalled the pain she had observed in the creature's eyes. She remembered feeling the same way - the first time she had seen the aftermath of a battle. Over the years, she had learned to numb herself to that grim reality of war. And now, that... that... thing!... was causing her to relive experiences she had shoved aside and buried for years. How was it doing that?

Lost in thought, Shildy didn't notice the door she was approaching slide open until a lavender-haired girl stepped through the opening and collided with her – causing her to stumble while the other girl lost her footing and fell to the deck. Steadying herself quickly, she looked down at the girl she had run into. "Sorry, Catty," she said as she stuck out her hand, "I didn't see you there. Are you all right?"

Catty smiled as she took Shildy's hand and pulled herself back to her feet. "That's okay – no harm done." She paused for a moment, looking at Shildy's face. "Are you all right? You seem... distant."

Shildy sighed quietly. "It's a long story..." she said.

"Well, I was just on my way to the Mess for a meal – why don't you join me and we can talk about it?" Catty suggested. "If you want to, that is..."

Shildy saw the concern in Catty's golden-yellow eyes. "Sure, why not?" she replied. Perhaps a meal will help me regain my focus, she thought...

Since the Mess Hall was only a short walk away, it wasn't long before they sat facing each other with food trays before them. "So," Catty began as she stuck a fork into the lumpy white mass she had selected, "what is it that has you so distracted that you find yourself colliding with random Techs in the corridors?" she asked with a grin.

Shildy gazed into the bottom of her drink for a moment before answering. "You know that we came into this system looking for survivors and salvage after our system-destroyer ended the battle, right?" After Catty answered with a nod, she continued. "Well, we found one."

"That's incredible," Catty muttered in awe. "Is she recovering?"

"That's just it," Shildy admitted, "it's not a Solnoid. At least, it's not one that I've ever heard of. DNA scans say that it's not a Paranoid, either. It looks so much like a Solnoid that it's hard to tell from a distance that it's not."

"Really...?" Catty whispered, trying to avoid interrupting.

"I tried interrogating it to get some answers – maybe figure out what manner of thing it is... but it actually got upset when it found out about the War. It was almost as though it wasn't even aware that we're in a fight for our very survival! I don't know what to make of it, and it bothers me."

"Hmm..." Catty mumbled in response as she swallowed a mouthful of her meal. "I have to admit, that is rather odd behaviour. I really don't know what to tell you – other than I think that the answers will eventually come to light."

Shildy looked at her with a grin. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just have to keep at it, and not let it get to me."

Catty grinned back as she pushed her chair back to stand. "You'll have to excuse me now, though – my break is over, and I should get back to my station. If I may...?" she asked of her superior officer. Shildy dismissed her with a nod, and Catty gave her a final wave as she walked through the doorway and into the corridor.

Hidden from Shildy's sight, Catty glanced around herself before turning a corner and heading towards the Medical section...


Marcus sat on the deck near the oddly-placed floor-to-ceiling window of his room-slash-prison, looking at nothing. Eyes closed, his legs folded in front of him with his wrists touching his knees – he strove to control his breathing as he worked to calm himself after his latest encounter. The realization that he was now in the hands of the very people he was trying to avoid weighed heavily upon him, he needed to push that away so he could focus...

A tingle at his left temple caused him to wince slightly at the unexpected interruption. His eyes still closed, he concentrated on the new sensation.

Status update, echoed a voice he heard only in his head, ship condition available. Main power and primary systems at full capacity – Neural Link temporarily restricted to audio communications only. Nullifier healing. Completion estimated at two hours.

Not now, he thought in response, this signal could be traced.

Unlikely, given the unsophisticated nature of the technology present at your current location, came the reply.

Nevertheless, it is not a risk I am willing to take at this time. As pilot, my decision is that contact silence will be maintained. You will continue regeneration, but maintain the illusion of a derelict. I will contact you when I think it reasonable to do so.

Acknowledged, whispered the voice before Marcus' thoughts once again became his own. He took a deep breath...

The sound of a door sliding open broke his peace. Her again? He wondered. Before he could say anything, he realized that the person who had entered the room was not who he had expected. "Come closer," he remarked, "I won't hurt you." He heard footsteps growing closer as the door once again slid closed.

"What are you doing?" the voice asked softly.

"Listening to the universe," Marcus answered.

"I... I don't understand," the voice replied unsteadily.

"I know," Marcus replied with a sigh. He slowly uncurled himself and opened his eyes to look at the purple-haired youth standing beside him. She seemed to be slightly taller than the girl he had heard addressed as 'Amy' earlier, so he guessed that this girl would be roughly sixteen years old. She wore an outfit identical to the one he was wearing, and her yellow-gold eyes regarded him curiously. "So," he said as he stood, "why is it that you've come to me?"

"To be honest, I don't really know," she admitted. "I just heard about you, and had to come and see for myself." She circled him slowly, examining his entire body by eye. "You look so much like us," she muttered under her breath, "it's uncanny. I didn't realize that our form would be dominant in the process."

I'm aboard a ship of the insane, Marcus thought as he considered what his visitor had just said. "Hold on a moment," he said, "maybe we should start with introductions? What's your name?"

"C-Catty..." she answered warily.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Catty," he replied with a smile. "I'm Marcus."

Catty gasped in surprise. "You... you know your NAME? How is that possible? The process was supposed to block all memories! You shouldn't remember anything about your past!"

Marcus waved his hand in front of himself to regain her attention. "Perhaps you could tell me what 'process' you're referring to? But whatever it is, I'm pretty sure that I'm not part of it. Here..." he added as he pulled a chair from the nearby console and placed it between them. "Have a seat, and tell me everything."

As Marcus leaned against the console, Catty circled to the front of the chair and sat down heavily. Unable to look him in the eyes, she stared at the deck as she spoke. "The Solnoid have been at war for centuries. It's reached the point where we've been converting our wounded into cyborg-soldiers so that they can keep fighting... they make up almost three-quarters of our front-line combat forces. Our enemy, the Paranoid, face the same problem – they use semi-sentient combat Drones for most battles."

Marcus silently absorbed the information as Catty managed to look up at him to continue. "Some time ago, a few on both sides realized what we faced – so they came up with the Species Unification Plan. It was supposed to combine the best qualities of both our races into a new being – one that would either convince both sides to put an end to this war, or continue in our place after we're gone. But after almost twenty years and thousands of attempts, there has only been one successful fusion... and that one is now lost to us. When I heard about you, I started to hope that you might be the result of a second fusion... but I realize now that I was mistaken."

Marcus shook his head as he considered what he had just been told. "That plan was doomed from the start," he stated flatly. "You would need thousands of hybrids in order to create a viable society. Even if every fusion had been successful, they would have been so scattered that they would be unable to do anything to stop your war. What's worse – considering how I've been treated, your people don't deal very well with outsiders... any member of this new species that emerged would either be imprisoned or killed the moment they were discovered - they wouldn't be given the chance to do any of the things you wanted."

"But what else could we do?" Catty pleaded, her voice cracking, "Every other option we tried ended in failure, too!" Marcus noticed a faint glimmer in the corners of her eyes as tears began to grow. She buried her face in her hands, her words coming between sobs. "This... this was our last hope. If this fails... if the project is abandoned... we'll have nothing... nothing left." She raised her eyes to meet his, tears streaming down her face. "Can you help us?" she begged...

Marcus stared at her for a moment, considering her question. "Assuming, for a moment, that I were willing to help the people who recently murdered millions of mine – it would take an enormous display of power to convince both sides to sit down and talk. I'm just a transport pilot, I don't see how I could be of any help to you alone."

Catty wiped her eyes with her arm, sniffling into her elbow. "You're right," she whispered. "We don't deserve to be saved. Maybe it would be for the best if both our races were to vanish." She slowly stood and turned towards the door. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. I'll leave you alone now."

Brilliant move, Marcus silently berated himself. Disappoint the first person here who's shown any form of kindness towards you. Hope you're happy with yourself. "Wait a moment" he said after another moment of thought. Catty paused her steps and turned back towards him. "I can't make any promises on this," he admitted, "but I can try to convince my people to help your two peoples to come to a peaceful settlement." Catty's eyes lit with hope again as she heard him make the suggestion. "We have a long history of being able to resolve conflicts" he continued, "but it might be difficult to get them to reveal themselves, since your actions have destroyed a great many of our population... still, I can try."

Catty's hands shot to her mouth, as she fought back the tears that were threatening to flow again. She jumped at him, her arms wrapping around him as she sobbed into his chest. "Oh, thank you, THANK YOU!" she cried, her words barely audible through the fabric of his tunic. "If you can do anything to help, I'm sure that all of my people would be grateful. You would guarantee the survival of two entire races, and would be remembered by both of them for centuries."

Marcus smiled as he took her in his arms, absently rubbing her back with one hand. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves" he warned. "I can't do anything as long as I'm a prisoner here – I need to get to my ship, and formulate a plan from there. Can you get me to a shuttle without raising any alarms?"

"I... I think so" she admitted. The main launch bay isn't far from here. I can disable the monitoring systems so we can..."

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

The bellow took them both by surprise, causing them to separate with a jump. They looked towards the source of the cry – to find Shildy, Amy, and Spea standing in the door staring at them. Amy and Spea had looks of puzzlement on their faces, the tray Amy carried rattling as her shaking reflected her unease. Shildy also shook, but her red-tinged face and balled fists told them that her shaking was due to rage rather than fright.

"Are you actually CONSORTING with an ENEMY SPY?" Shildy yelled, causing Catty to take a step back in terror. "That's a CAPITAL offense, you know – death by spacing! You'd better have a DAMN good explanation for what's going on here, or I'm turning you over to Security!"

Marcus stepped forward, shielding Catty with an arm as she cowered behind him. "Hold on a minute," he said calmly, "we were only having an innocent conversation – there's nothing to..."

"And YOU!" Shildy shrieked, "It's bad enough that you're plotting escape, but to enlist one of our own to help you? I should shoot you RIGHT NOW!" To emphasize her threat, she pulled out her pistol and pointed it right between his eyes.

Marcus closed his eyes with a sigh. "I suppose the time has come for total honesty," he said. "If you would be good enough to put your weapon away and sit down, I will tell you everything you want to know."

Shildy's face scrunched to one side, her skepticism fighting with her curiosity. Finally, she returned her pistol to its holster and motioned the others to find some seats. Remaining standing, she barred the door and, with arms crossed, stared at him.

"All right – what?"

Marcus took a moment to study the looks of curiosity from the other three, then looked up to meet Shildy's cold gaze before he started.

"My name is Marcus, and I'm not one of you..."