Kale opened his eyes to a sound somewhere in the room, he was groggy at first when he reached for his phone expecting to see the dog had jumped up on the bed. The screen on his phone lit up as he touched it reading 3 am. There were a couple messages from Miranda he didn't bother to open instead turning on the flashlight and shining it around the room. Kershala was standing in front of the windows that looked over his bed. Kale was startled at first but in the light from his flashlight he could see that Kershala was just looking out into the moonlit yard wearing only the underwear he had on when he found him. Kershala stayed quiet as he sat up.

"Kershala what are you doing?" he asked the sleep still present in his voice. He could hear him take a deep breath when he turned around. Kale pointed the light down at the bed, so he wouldn't shine it in Kershala's eyes, but he could still see that he was distraught. "Are you… okay?" Kale spoke slowly not sure what else to say.

"I … want you to … see," Kershala's voice was shaking as he spoke, and Kale was starting to think there may be something seriously wrong. He got out of the bed throwing the blankets to the side and moved to stand next to Kershala. He sat the phone on the window sill the light still shining on the ground.

"What do you want me to see?" he asked. Kershala looked down and took Kale's hand in his and brought it up to the side of his face.

"Do not be scared."

"I'm not." Kale felt the wet skin as Kershala moved his hand back to the implant. Kershala's face strained slightly as Kale's fingers grazed over the implant before he placed his head firmly against his hand. There was a strange buzzing sensation that seemed to travel up his arm like the feeling of when your arm falls asleep. Kale watched as the markings on Kershala's body began to glow faintly starting at his legs and slowly traveling up the length of his body. Markings on his neck seemed to lead right into the implant but had not been visible before. As the glow reached the implant there was a sudden ringing in Kale's ears followed by discomfort and eventually a great pain in his head. There was a flash in the darkness and suddenly the discomfort was gone. Kale had closed his eyes under the strain and felt as though he was floating in a void. There was a sudden rush of fear come over him though he didn't quite understand why.

"Kershala… you … hear me!" There was a voice Kale recognized as Kershala's Matriarch from the hologram.

"Karu… Can you… away… them." The voices were broken up and the sentences didn't seem to make sense although Kale could still get the overall picture from them. It was like listening to something from a bad radio signal.

"Son… match … for them… kill you… watch … children die." The voices seem to move closer and farther from him rapidly, making the broken sentences even harder to grasp. The fear intensified, and Kale could feel himself breathing heavily, he couldn't open his eyes or move himself. He likened the feeling to sleep paralysis something he hadn't felt in a long time. The darkness he had been floating in began to be replaced by actual surroundings, everything around him was blurry to the point he could barely make out where he was. He recognized it as Kershala's ship, he could see that they were in orbit of a planet and could almost make out several masses visible through the front window.

"Foolish…" This voice of a man, it seemed closer and Kales heart began racing at the sound of it. "Family… die too. Begged me for mercy… worthless bloodline!"

"Please," Kershala's voice came through clear and fully audible, "take me in their stead, are an old woman and a few children really a danger to you?" A feeling of hope rushed him pushing the anxiety aside. "Spare them and I will come willingly!"

"Kershala… have all of us… you too…" The Matriarchs voice again desperation in her plea.

"You … becomes clear…" the dreaded voice again, "… youngling patriarchs… some right to … failed my mission…" The hope had now been retaken by the fear and Kale's heart was sinking in his chest.

"Love you… my son… ultimately ours!"

"Karu, I…" Kale could see a glaring beam of light travel between two of the objects as the light engulfed the smaller object as it did Kale felt like he had been shot in the chest. He was suddenly filled with sorrow and feelings of regret, anger and loneliness. Kale could feel tears falling from his eyes but could not move to wipe them away.

"Kershala, we have to leave they are almost upon us." Anubis's voice was clear as well. Kale could feel a sudden pain in his side, he looked down to see violet blood flowing from it. Everything went black and there was tightness around his chest.

Everything went quiet and suddenly Kale was back in the bedroom with the moon shining in on him and Kershala. He was gazing into Kershala's eyes he could still feel the emotions flooding through him, the sorrow, fear and loneliness was like nothing he had ever experienced it was so intense. He felt tears flowing from his eyes, the glow from Kershala's body slowly fading, the light of the moon enough to see that Kershala's tears fell as well. Kale cried out feeling his legs go weak under him as he was taken over by the sorrow. Kershala held him and they sat on the bed together. Kale threw his arms around the other man's waist and cried into his chest. He had never experienced the feeling of sadness quite like this before. His chest was tight, and it was hard for him to breath anxiety seemed to grip him from somewhere he couldn't actually see. He felt Kershala's chest jumping with him as he undoubtedly experienced these emotions all over again. But Kale also felt his strong arms around him and a hand rubbing the back of his head. Kale didn't know how long they sat together like this when he finally had the strength to pull back from Kershala's encirclement. He beheld Kershala in the eyes and placed a hand on his cheek he brushed away the tears that were still wet before putting his arms around his neck.

"What was that?" he whispered in Kershala's ear.

"That was my heart," said Kershala, "and the day that it was broken."

"It was so real how could I feel everything?" asked Kale. "It wasn't like before, with Anubis. I could see everything but with this I… I felt everything." Kale sat back with his knees under him looking at Kershala who took his hands.

"The, Jadak'tora. It is a sharing of memories often used to show children memories of their passed loved ones. Emotional transference is a side effect sometimes, but it is usually not this strong with other Daora," Kershala explained. "You felt what I felt, as I felt it." The explanation made sense to Kale, the Daoran emotional spectrum was more intense and now he had experienced it firsthand.

"I'm sorry, Kershala. What a terrible thing to go through." They were both silent for a few seconds Kale looked down at their hands then back to Kershala's face. "Why could I only hear part of their words. I could hear everything you were saying like I was saying it myself?"

"Between the pain of my wound and translating my memories to your language some parts were lost. I could not reproduce the entirety of it. And… I have never hosted before."

"That man's voice. When he spoke I felt how scared you were? Who was he?" Kale could still feel the fear residing in his mind, though it had started to fade. Kershala began to look uncomfortable.

"That is," he paused. "the monster the Shironian Empire assigned to destroy my family line."

"We don't have to …"

"Baraketh," Kershala interrupted as if he had a hard time saying the word. His breathing sped up as they were silent Kershala turned to face the window. "He has done awful things to my family." There was clear panic in Kershala's voice as he spoke.

"It's okay, calm down." Kale touched the back of his hand to Kershala's face to bring his attention back to him. "He's galaxies away from here." Kershala's breathing calmed as Kale touched him.

"Do you," Kershala paused and looked away as if embarrassed he exhaled, "mind if I stay in here tonight. I do not wish to be alone." Kershala spoke softly Kale hesitated. "I can sleep on the floor." Kale's hesitation was rooted in his attraction for this man, he had no idea if the physical contact was just how the Daora were with each other or if the feeling was shared. Typical human masculinity would forbid this type of behavior between two men who were only friends. The culture he was brought up in was telling him that this was something people did if they were more than friends.

"It's okay, you can stay in here." Kale watched as Kershala crawled into bed on the opposite side from where he slept. A few seconds later he followed him crawling under the blankets. Kale laid his head on his pillow and it wasn't long after he felt Kershala shift toward him and put his arm around him.

"Thank you, Kale." Kale smiled to himself, he was never the little spoon.

"Okay big guy change it up." He sat up and turned to face Kershala who he could see was confused from his expression under the soft light of the moon. "I'm never the little spoon. Face the wall!" he jokingly ordered. Kershala caught the light heartedness in his tone and listened to him. "Good now bring it in." Kale laid back down behind him and tightly put an arm around Kershala's chest. They laid like this for a short few seconds before Kershala took his hand. He could tell he felt secure as it seemed within seconds Kershala had drifted to sleep. A sudden exhaustion triggered in Kale and he shortly joined him.

Kale opened his eyes and instantly felt a pain throbbing in his head. The sun was shining in on him through the window not making the pain any worse. He had the worse migraine he had ever had, he slowly sat up keeping his eyes squinted and felt as though the room was spinning. He felt sick to his stomach and quickly laid back down to hopefully dispel the feeling. He put the pillow over his head to block the light from the room and felt next to him for Kershala. He was still laying there, fast asleep.

"Kershala, wake up. Somethings wrong," he struggled between words to speak the pain becoming worse as he spoke. He grasped at Kershala's chest shaking him to waken him. "Kershala please wake up." Kale had never felt pain like this before and was starting to worry that something had gone wrong from last night. He could feel movement next to him as Kershala shifted, he could feel him sit up.

"Kale, what is wrong?" Kershala was still groggy from the sleep.

"I don't know, my head is hurting. I… ah." Kale cried out in agony. "My head is hurting, it's so bad." Kershala removed the pillow from Kale's face and he could feel Kershala's hand on his face. It calmed him that at least he wasn't alone but only slightly. "Block the light." Kershala jumped from the bed and through a black blanket over the window, blocking most of the light.

"The Jadak'tora, it must have done something. My inexperience it…" Kershala left the room and came back shortly.

"There's some pain killers in the bathroom cabinet can you bring them to me with some water? They're in a white and blue bottle." he asked. Kershala sat the AI core on the table across from the bed and left the room again.

"Kershala should not have performed the Jadak'tora I suspect this is a side effect from the neural invasion that takes place. A Daoran brain would have been fine, but a human, I am surprise it even worked across species," explained Anubis. Kershala came back in the room with a glass of water and the bottle in hand. He helped Kale sit up slowly and gave him the glass.

"I am sorry Kale, I did not know another way to convey my emotions," Kershala apologized.

"It's okay," Kale took a sip of the water as Kershala passed him two tablets from the bottle and sat it down. He took the pain killers with a mouthful of water.

"There may be permanent damage. I am going to scan your brain Kale. I need you to look at me and keep your eyes open. It will not take me long." Kale looked at Anubis and the lenses facing him began to shimmer. It was hard with his head aching to keep his eyes open, resisting the urge to look away. Narrow beams from the AI core came into contact with Kales eyes and swept back and forth several times. The beams dissipated, and Kale took a deep breath and leaned his head back feeling strained and still nauseous. "Your cerebrum is strained but nothing that should last beyond a few hours. It would seem you already slept a good deal of it away." Kale sighed in relief.

"Good so my brain's not broken."

"Kershala, this was very irresponsible of you. You could have done serious harm to him," the AI scolded. Kershala put his head down and looked at Kale from under his brow. "You should have come to me for guidance in performing the Jadak'tora. This can be found in my archive."

"Anubis, it's okay. I think he gets it. I'll be okay in a little while; the pain killers are already working a little bit." Kale lied slightly, he couldn't feel them working yet but with no permanent damage he couldn't help but think the discomfort was worth it if it brought him and Kershala closer. "I'll stay in bed for a bit and then we have to clean up. My grandmother is getting home tomorrow, and I'd like to be on the road before she gets here." Kale sighed thinking of everything that he wanted to get done before he left and was wondering that if he slept would he have time to do it. Dishes, laundry, some minor yard work cleaning the beds and the bathroom were all things he wanted to get done before he left. "Kershala can you pass me my phone?" Kershala got up and took the phone from the window sill where he sat it the night before and gave it to him. He quickly realized that he had forgotten to shut off the light and with it being on all night the battery had died. "Shit. Dead." He reached around behind his bed and grabbed the charge cord plugging it into the phone. He sat it on his counter. "Kershala can you wake me in two hours? I'd set my phone to wake me but it's dead."

"I will stay here with you. I would like to sleep some more. Anubis will wake us." Kershala crawled back into his place in the bed and Kale sank down in his position and closed his eyes.

Sure enough, Kale awoke to Kershala lightly nudging him and the timing was practically exact. He sat up slowly not sure what to expect and put his feet on the floor. Luckily, he was no longer in pain but, he didn't feel good, he likened the feeling to a hangover.

"How do you feel?" asked Kershala sitting next to him on the bed.

"Better, it doesn't hurt anymore at least," Kale drank what was left in the glass of water, "still feels like I had a hell of a night though." Kale stood up and felt dizzy but only for a moment.

"You should take it slow, we still don't know what other side-effects you may encounter," cautioned Anubis. Kale stepped out into the hallway.

"I'm okay. Just a little dizzy. I feel like I drank a gallon of whiskey last night though. Shit. Thinking a shower will make everything a little better." He walked into the bathroom and started the water running. He looked out the window, looked like another good day outside, likely a little warm. He went back to the bedroom and grabbed some clothing from his luggage and his phone from the end table unplugging it. He touched his finger to the print reader and it opened. He had several notifications from Miranda on his phone as well as a few Facebook notifications. He opened the text messages first. Some of them were from right after she dropped them off at the house others were some from throughout the late hours of the night and a few were from this morning. "Jesus women when do you sleep?" Kale walked back into the bathroom and Kershala laid back on the bed.

So, are you two a thing? It's been a really long time since you found a boy who caught your eye. Kale rolled his eyes. She was right, but he was choosing to ignore that line of questioning. Did you check Facebook tonight? People were taken pics of that fire and there's a really cute one of Kershala holding those kids. Kale opened his Facebook and scrolled through his timeline the notifications he had were of Shayla's sister posting pics of Kershala online and tagging Kale in them. This is our hero of the night ladies and gentlemen. We don't even know his name. The picture was captioned by Shayla's sister and had two hundred likes already. Kale smiled to himself. It was a cute picture, lucky enough the way the children were positioned as well as the photographer Kershala's markings weren't visible in the picture. He went back to the messages and continued through them. Did you see that pic of what they found at the meteor site this morning? Kale thought for a second not sure what would be left to find.

No, what'd they find? He answered her text then waited a few seconds.

Just gonna ignore the rest huh? Kale laughed to himself.

I got them, I'm just not going to respond to them. Send me that pic your talkin about.

Mhm. He waited for several seconds and when the picture didn't come through, he sat the phone down and got into the shower. The hot water hitting him really woke him up as he stepped under the shower head. He moved through his shower routine fairly quickly not wanting to lose any more of the day and got dressed. He picked his phone back up looked at Miranda's messages she had sent the picture. Someone had taken a live photo of a rock covered in silver and purple metals and Kale knew as soon as he saw it what it was.

"Kershala, take a look at this." He walked in and sat on the bed Kershala sat back up beside him. "Isn't that your armor." Kershala looked at the picture surprised.

"Yes, when the nanites lost power, they fell from my body. Some of them must have repaired themselves," Kershala explained.

"We must retrieve them, Kershala. They are our only defense should we be found again," said Anubis. "They're not connected to me, they may not have fully regenerated after complete shutdown. If you can bring me to them, I should be able to resync them with your implant." Kershala stood up quickly and grabbed the AI core off the table top.

"Are you coming?" he turned to Kale who was still not feeling great, but he had to see this.

"Of course." Kershala slid on the pants he wore from the night before and grabbed the hoodie Kale had given him. "We're going clothing shopping this afternoon." Kale laughed. The clothing fit but he couldn't wear the same thing forever. Even if it did hug him in all the right places. The two of them hurried down stairs and out into the woods towards the crash site.

Kershala ran on ahead of him, Kale found it hard to keep up, still feeling strange from the side effects of taking on the Daoran memories. He trudged the path through the woods to wear he remembered the crash from that first night. It had only been a few days but having so much happen in the last few days made it seem like a distant memory. It wasn't long before he walked into the clearing, Kershala and Anubis had already found the rock and Kale walked over to where they were standing. Sure enough it was the rock Kershala had been laying by when he found him.

"This is where I found you that night."

"Yes, this is where I was thrown out of the ship. The last bit of energy the nanites had was used to absorb the impact. It would have otherwise killed me," Kershala recalled.

"Attempting to resync the nanites with the implant remain still." Kale hadn't noticed that the AI core was sat on a stone nearby. Kershala sat still as the AI's lenses flared to life a pulse of light emanating from them and shimmering over the nanites that were enveloped around the rock. "They're in a state of repair, I do not understand where they found a power source."

"Could they have used the sun?" asked Kershala, "This planet is closer to it's star then most we spend time on." No sooner had Kershala finished his sentence when the helmet activated unannounced.

"It is hard to work through your speculation," the AI sounded irritated. Kershala stayed quiet and Kale bent down to look at the rock covered in the nanites. They didn't appear to be moving nor did they make a sound. It was strange to see them up close after seeing the armor in the hologram. They stayed silent while the AI core scanned the nanites, Kershala seemed to become a statue not moving or even appearing to breath. Kale looked around at their surroundings and started to feel uneasy about the quiet. A lot of people had been coming around the area in the last few days to get pictures. He just hoped that with school being in and people working they'd be safe to get done what they needed to get done. "It would appear as though the nanites of your suit consumed the biomatter left from both your blood and the ships disintegration field to power their core systems. This was enough for them to start the repair process." Anubis continued analyzing the nanites. "It will not be long now."

"How are they able to do that?" asked Kale.

"Daoran nanite technology was developed after the war started. It had to be durable and run for extended periods without maintenance," said Anubis, "They are programmed to resort to extreme measures in extenuating circumstances." Kale went quiet thinking of how these little machines would decide on what an extenuating circumstance was. "I have successfully rebooted the nanites, Kershala extend your arm to begin the reintegration process." The helmet retracted and Kershala did as the AI commanded, Kale watched as the nanites began to stir. Kershala removed his shirt and extended his hand as though waiting for someone to pass him something with his palm up. The nanites began to swirl and peel away from the rock swarming around Kershala's hand and traveling up his arm. It was creepy to see them literally crawling along his skin, though he couldn't see them individually it was like watching a swarm of bugs wrap around a tree. They crawled at a steady pace up his body from his hand to his forearm up his bicep and eventually across his chest and up his neck. He tilted his head back as the nanites crawled over his face and retreated into his implant.

"Quite the show," said Kale, "a little weird to watch though. That doesn't hurt does it?"

"No, it is almost like, hm, a buzzing feeling all over your skin." Kershala put his shirt back on. "When will the suit be fully repaired?"

"I currently have no estimate on full functionality. They will have to produce enough nanites to replicate the bracers and anklets to house the bulk of the suit. Now that they have reintegrated I sense that they are able to accomplish this but cannot tell you when."

"I am just glad we have them back. Shall we go back to the house?" Kershala looked in the direction of the house and started walking. Kale picked up the AI core as he walked by and they headed back to the house.

When they got back to the house Kale insisted on taking Kershala to get some of his own clothing. Kershala was reluctant to go back out into a public place. The previous experience was overwhelming enough, he was used to hiding in plain sight for the most part, but social integration could prove challenging for him. It was not often he would have to interact socially with beings other than his family and the AI, with them there was no fear of making a mistake.

"You can't wear the same cloths forever," said Kale as they climbed into the small black vehicle that had been sitting in the driveway. The vehicle pulled out of the yard and Kale took them back to the main stretch they had been on with the restaurant serving drinks. They drove down the main street and pulled into a parking lot of one of the larger buildings. There were lots of glass windows showcasing colorful sheets of papers with words and numbers on them. Kershala recognized them as advertisements even though they weren't what he was used to. Most of the worlds he had been to in the past and even the Daoran home world had evolved to holographic interfaces and projections. Kale got out of the vehicle and Kershala stepped out with him. "Don't stare at anyone for too long okay. I don't want to have to explain your eyes to everyone." Kershala acknowledged the statement with a nod and the two of them walked side by side into the building. The automatic doors were something Kershala was used to but they were uncomfortably loud.

"They need to fix their doors," he said quietly.

"Yup," Kale laughed. Kershala followed Kale's pace and as they walked he took in his surroundings. He could see a couple of younger women sitting at counters by the exit of the building, they both wore an overshirt that bore the same color scheme as the signs in the window. There otherwise didn't appear to be very many people there. His implant only detecting five other people in the building. The inside of the building was as big inside as it looked outside. The ceiling was high, and he could see what were steel supports running along the length of it in rows, there wasn't much color to speak of aside from the merchandise the walls and floors varying colors of off whites. The merchandise itself sat on a variety of shelves, racks, and other structures. The merchandise was a variety of different items, it didn't really seem to have an overall theme but a theme for each rack. Kershala's implant read several high glucose treats wrapped in packaging that would persist for years on one wrack. Small plastic figurines, some of which looked like humans, others resembled what Kershala would assume were animals local to the planet. Another appeared to have footwear on it then some had some kind of plastic containment units of all different sizes and shapes.

"This place is very confusing, there are so many items here." Kershala picked up one of the plastic figures and looked it over.

"Yeah it's a bit of a mix bag really. They are pretty much the only place here that sells stuff other than food so people get a lot of stuff from here." Kale stopped and looked at him.

"What is this thing? Why does it look human?" he asked.

"It's a toy, Kershala." Kershala shook his head and placed the "toy" back where he found it. A young woman came around the corner startling Kershala.

"Is there anything I can help you find?" she asked him. She looked at him briefly and her expression quickly changed from a smile to confusion as she looked up at him.

"Um, no… thank you," he stuttered and averted his eyes from her.

"We're fine thanks," said Kale. The girl seemed to move herself to follow Kershala's eyes.

"Why do your eyes look like that?" Kershala wasn't sure how to respond, he wasn't used to getting questioned based on his look he couldn't help but feel like the girl was being aggressive.

"It is a birth mark." No matter the direction Kershala looked she followed his eyes until he turned to face Kale.

"Can I take a picture?" Kale stepped passed Kershala placing himself between them.

"No you can't, do you know how rude you sound right now?" asked Kale clearly upset, "I know you're young, but what if he's really conscious of it or something." The girl didn't respond. "We told you, we don't need your help. We will come find you if we do. Leave us alone okay." The girl seem to lose all the color in her face and walked away from them quickly. Kershala could tell that Kale was upset.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Kale turned to him and smiled quickly cooling down.

"Forget it, really nothing, but that was really rude. Let's get some cloths for you and get out of here." They continued walking passed several racks of toys and food and ended up in a section with garments hanging from circular metal racking that lined the walls. "See anything you like?" Kale gestured toward some of the different garments hanging up. Kershala looked them over and picked up a blue colored shirt that seemed to flow long. He had never chosen a piece of clothing based purely on looks alone, his patriarch would likely call it foolish as it didn't appear to offer any real protection from the cold or any combat advantages. He felt slightly guilty for picking it. He always liked blue he could remember having a vest when he was young before he got his nanite suit that was a similar color to the item he held in his hand. "That's a nice color. Bright. Pick a couple."

"This is new to me," Kershala said shyly. "I have never picked clothing based only on appearance before."

"Live a little," Kale laughed. "Pick whatever you want buddy." Kershala looked through the clothing piece by piece there were lots of colors he hadn't seen in a long time. "Need a suggestion?"

"I do not really know what to pick. There are so many." Kershala was frustrated in himself, he was sure this decision didn't require this much thought, but he really didn't know what one to go with. He watched as Kale picked an item from the rack, it was a simple grey color with black thread seemingly etched through it.

"Do you like this one?"

"It is interesting." Kale walked over to him and held it up to his chest.

"Looks like a good fit. Should get some pants to go along with it." Kale passed him the item and walked over to another rack with pants hanging from it. "Get some shorts, and maybe just some decent jeans or something." Kale looked through a couple items on the racks rather quickly as Kershala stood beside him. "You and I seem to have the same waist size, so I'll use that as a basis."

"I will trust your judgement." Kershala felt better just letting Kale make the pick for him, for some reason it was a decision he wasn't comfortable making. Likely because he had never made it himself and he was insecure being in a strange society where he had to hide that he wasn't one of them. Kale held a pair of pants cut short to just below the knees, they were black in color.

"These and…" Kale passed him the item and returned his attention to the rack, "this one." Kershala didn't know initially what Kale meant by shorts or jeans but he was able to get the idea. "That should do it, did you wanna try it on first?"

"I am feeling a little overwhelmed by … this, may we leave?"

"Okay." Kale smiled at him and Kershala could tell he was trying to be reassuring in his actions. After the Jadak'tora Kershala could feel the bond between them had grown substantially, he had never met a member of another race that had been so compassionate to him. Along with his optimism it was refreshing. The two of them approached the counters at the entrance to the building, a young person standing at each of them, one of them the girl that had approached them earlier. Kale deliberately went to the other counter and sat the items in front of her. Kershala watched as the person used a light-based code scanner on each of the items and place them in a plastic bag.

"Did you guys find everything okay?" the attendant asked.

"Yes, thank you," Kale took a small leather packet out of his pocket and pulled out a plastic card.

"That'll be eighty-eight forty." Kale held up the card and nodded at her, she hit a few buttons on the machine in front of her then Kale put his card to the smaller machine to the side. There was a beep before the whole transaction was completed. Kershala was baffled at how many steps there were for such a simple interaction. He had been to market places on other planets with his patriarch before and the transactions were almost fully automated. Payment was made through their implants and almost no words were spoken. "Thank you. Have a good day." The attendant passed the bag to Kale and he gave it to Kershala, as they walked out he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Uh-oh, that's not good." Kale stopped just a few steps out the door to the building.

"What is wrong?" Kershala walked up behind him and tried to get a glimpse of what he saw on his phone. A couple of screens flashed as Kale flicked through the applications on his device. A video started to play and Kershala could see himself standing with the nanites swarming him. "What is that?"

"I knew it felt like someone was watching us," said Kale. "Someone uploaded a video of you in the woods earlier." Kershala thought back to when the nanites were syncing.

"My implant would have been tasked to capacity while syncing the nanites, it would not have been able to detect anything," he explained. Kale scrolled through words left by people on the video.

"People are recognizing you from the other night. This isn't gonna be good. They're even posting pictures of you in the comments. It's already been shared a hundred times." Kale started walking back to the vehicle, Kershala following close behind.

"I do not understand what this means, Kale." The two of them got into the vehicle.

"It means that people all over the place are seeing you reactivating those nanites," Kale put his phone down and started the vehicle, quickly pulling out of the parking lot. "And people on this planet have never really seen anything like that before."

"What do we do?" Kershala felt a sudden fear come over him, imagining that this could somehow mean the end to the peace he had been part of over the last short while.

"I already commented on the video and said that it was fake. That I was there. If I report it now I feel like it'll just look like we have something to hide." Kale seemed to be thinking out loud. "We're going to have to leave town tonight. We can clean up the house then get on the road."