String Theory by Doomtree

My eyes slowly opened, bright facility white filling my vision. My throat was dry. I looked around for the water I always kept beside my bed. I was in the infirmary. Private room. That means I've been here a while. Die-Hardman came into the room. In person.

"You're awake," he smiled. He wasn't wearing his mask. I couldn't feel him like I normally do.

"Sam was successful, he stopped Amelie." He sounded sad.

"Where is he?"

"We haven't found him yet."

"No, he told me he was coming back. He promised me."

"It's not that simple. He's stuck. Fragile, Deadman, and Heartman are all looking for him. Tomorrow will have been a month."

"And this is why I didn't want you to tell her," Mama said, standing at the doorway. "They're almost done for the day. We're not going to stop until we find him."

Mama sat on the bed and hugged me. "I'll have the Doctor come check you out to make sure everything's okay."

"Forget that. Get me Fragile." She looked at me. "I can find him. Get me Fragile." I started getting up myself. She pushed me back down.

"Okay, I'll go get her."

"Make sure she brings her umbrella!"

About twenty minutes later, Fragile and Mama entered the room. I motioned Fragile over to me. "I can find him. I just need you to get me there. Unhook me." Mama pulled the sensors off of me. Fragile held my hands. I cleared my mind, focusing as hard as I could on Sam.

"Focus," Fragile said softly. "You love him. You. Love. Him. There!"

I felt the familiar sensation of travelling through the beach. I was in the water. The Seam. Someone was getting into the water. It was Sam. He looked all out of sorts. I propelled myself forward, reaching for his foot. Got it. I yanked him down into the water with me. Fragile pulled us out.

We fell onto the infirmary floor.

"She found him!" Mama called into her cufflink. "You can stop looking! She's got him."

And then the world went black again.

I woke up to someone stroking my hair. "Welcome back," Sam said softly.

"Aren't I supposed to be telling you that?" I asked groggily.

"You were a little short on blood. That's why you passed out. I didn't know you were anemic."

"I'm not," I replied. "I guess my body was struggling to compensate for a part that hasn't been there for a while." I sat up, leaning against him for support. "Amelie fixed me."

"She fixed you?"

"Higgs was why I couldn't have a child." I hesitated before telling him what I found out and why Higgs had kidnapped me and kept me on Amelie's beach. I told him about how Amelie said she undid what he did but I didn't believe it. In turn, he told me about Amelie's sacrifice to save the world. How she was also President Strand and neither of them at the same time. Her closing herself and the beach off to us largely eradicated DOOMS. BTs aren't outside any more. The rain is just rain now. It was hard to believe.

Sam and I cleaned up and headed to the inauguration room. We watched Die-Hardman be sworn in as the next president of the United Cities of America. He promised to do his best with honor and integrity. And he said that those who were unnamed in the building of the UCA were still needed. Sam and I left during that part. I think he needs a break. And I'm definitely not staying in one of the main cities. Maybe we can build a shelter of our own together. We haven't discussed it yet.

Deadman called after us before we got further than halfway down the hallway. "I found those files you wanted on Die-Hardman. The two of you, Mama, and I are the only ones with access. The same for the files on Clifford Unger and his wife, Lisa." He leaned in, whispering. "Listen, I still don't trust Die-Hardman. But if working with him is what it takes to rebuild the UCA completely, I'll do it. Because I believe in this."

Out of nowhere, Sam hugged him. I smiled. With his DOOMS gone, it seems like Sam is okay with contact from people other than me. I was happy for him and proud of him. Just then, Die-Hardman came out into the hallway, asking for a moment with Sam.

Sam nodded at me. I linked arms with Deadman, leading him away to give them some privacy. "There is one more thing," Deadman said sadly. "Lou hasn't been able to connect with a bridge mother since the network went down in Edge Knot City." My heart sank. "We have his pod waiting for Sam. I figured he would want to do the honors."

I nodded. "Yes. There's no possible way that Lou can be saved?"

Deadman looked around to be sure we weren't being watched before disconnecting our cufflinks. "There is, but it's a direct breach of protocol. Die-Hardman put in the order to have Lou destroyed himself." I stopped walking with him, standing up taller, anger crossing my face. "You could try opening the pod. It might bring little Lou back. But it also might not. It's worth a shot."

I turned on the heel of my boot, going back to where Die-Hardman and Sam were. Sam was walking away from a teary Die-Hardman. Though he was bigger than me, and stronger than me, I punched him right in the nose. Bridges Security immediately pulled rifles on me.

"Taylor, what the hell?" Sam questioned, surprised.

"You are an asshole," I said, pointing my finger in Die-Hardman's face as he waved down security. I pointed back at Sam. "Everything that that man has sacrificed and lost for this fucking country and you want to take more away?"

"I-"

"Oh no, I'm not done. We're going to take BB-28. And we're going to save Lou. I'm opening the pod if Sam won't. You aren't going to stop me. He has sacrificed enough." One of the lights by Die-Hardman exploded into sparks, raining glass on the ground. "Cancel the order. Now."

Die-Hardman said nothing, pulling up his cufflink and cancelling it.

"We'll let you know when or if we're interested in working with Bridges again." I grabbed Sam by the arm, pulling him away.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"Lou hasn't connected with a bridge mother in over a month. Die-Hardman gave the order to destroy him. I made him overturn it," I said. "Deadman thinks opening the pod might help."

Sam's face was hard to read.

"If Lou doesn't come back on his own, I think Amelie will send him back. She offered to send Katharine back if you and I were to have a child. So she can. I didn't understand any of it until you told me that she is the Beach."

"Alright, let's go." I nodded. We took the elevator out of the facility. Deadman was waiting with Lou's pod at the top. Fragile was also there. She was wearing an upgraded uniform with both Fragile Express and Bridges on it. So they finally extended the porter network.

"Let's take him a little further from town. Just in case I'm wrong."

Sam looked down at Lou's lifeless form and nodded. He carried Lou's pod as we began hiking out to the incinerator. We stopped about halfway there. He handed Lou's pod to me. I unlocked it and handed it back. He pulled Lou's tiny body out of the pod. Lou's a girl. She remained still.

"C'mon Lou, come back to me," Sam pleaded, rubbing some warmth into her. I watched silently, trying to reach Amelie like I had reached Sam from across the beach.

God, please.

Just as Sam began crying, Lou began to cry in return. He held her against him as it began to rain. Lou looked mildly disgruntled, reaching out one of her tiny hands to me. She grasped my finger as Sam pulled me against him.

Thank you, Amelie.