The dropship was silent save for the hum of the engines as Tobias waited for Kay to finish her analysis of the dropship's navigation system and history. The Simulacrum watched the monitor of the pilot's console as numbers flashed across the screen, separated consistently by brackets and commas.

After leaving Luma, they'd made a small FTL jump out of system to avoid being tracked by Spyglass should he have had another plan in place to record their movements.

He looked back towards the bay, where Al'cor was sprawled out on the floor, ignorant and blind to the rest of the world around her. Without any sure way to wake her up without aggravating her injuries, they would just have to wait it out for her to regain consciousness.

Waiting. So much waiting.

Finally, Kay seemed satisfied and plugged in a set of coordinates she'd selected from the list. "These ones seem to have a higher frequency of arrivals and departures than any other in the system; it's probably the Embers' base of operations."

"How long until we arrive?"

"At FTL speeds, no more than an hour. That's the best I can do; we can't warp without a Jump Drive."

He nodded his approval, and she bent over to confirm the course. Looking out the window of the cockpit, they were able to watch as the stars in space began to drag backwards against the wall of black until finally they entered the familiar sight of faster-than-light travel, nearly complete darkness. The ship's additional interior lights winked on as a result, and they were bathed in dim light.

"I can't wrap my head around this," he muttered, walking into the bay. Kay wasn't far behind him, and she nodded understandingly.

"I don't get it either. After what Carson said …"

He looked at her. "Carson was wrong, Spyglass knows exactly what he's doing. Coalescence isn't about turning us into the perfect organism, it's about protecting us from … from something."

"Make no mistake," Kay warned, "even if his intentions are to protect humanity, the Coalescence would still mean the end of you all. No more individuality, no minds of your own … you would die just as much as by his hand as this unknown enemy's."

"What am I supposed to do about that?" he asked dryly, looking at her.

She shrugged. "One thing at a time; kick his ass, then this new threat's, and every one after that. Not much else we can do."

He shook his head at her gung-ho attitude courtesy of Virtus. "Man, I was so caught up with all this new crap to deal with that I almost forgot about you. If Spyglass vivisected Al'cor just to learn of what's to come, I can't imagine why he needed to break you apart."

She said nothing, recognizing that this was him thinking aloud. Indeed, he proceeded on without a reply from her.

"He guessed you were Virtus right off the bat … and said he named you accordingly." He looked at her. "I thought the names were given to describe each persona's behavior, but I was wrong. He named each fragment based on the task they were best apt at serving."

"I noticed that too," she agreed, "and ran a net search for the names and their meaning. Maybe it could help-"

"Good thinking," he assured her, and she stood a little straighter at his praise. "Alright, let's go over them."

"First is Virtus and Pietas, which you've already met. Virtus is from ancient roman mythology, a deity that symbolized bravery and strength for the military. Pietas was a personification of that same culture's sense of piety, one of their core virtues. She often represented devotion or loyalty."

He took all that information and processed it, trying to fit each puzzle piece in with the knowledge he already had of her behaviors when influence by either. "Fragmentation is supposed to split you into your most notable features and personality traits first … I'd say that Virtus is simply your bravery, but then Pietas would be your loyalty …"

"And?"

He glanced at her. "Well, it doesn't check out. Spyglass considered both of you useless to his goal; why would he consider bravery and loyalty worthless, especially to a cause like his? Not to mention that you didn't even have any second thoughts about betraying him while Pietas was in control-"

"Maybe it's deeper than that," she muttered, also pondering how to rectify their line of thinking. "I mean, I'm certainly loyal enough to you, and I didn't have any second thoughts about the plan once I shifted fragments on the roof-"

Tobias jerked upright for a moment, and became still. She watched him as his face was frozen, but his eyes intently stared off into space as he played around with her words in his mind.

"That's it," he murmured, "it's not just a general personality trait, it's your personality trait. You're not just loyal to anyone and everyone- you're loyal to me. That's what Pietas is."

Now that he'd said it, it made far more sense. "Yes- that's why Spyglass wouldn't use it, because my devotion to you is the last thing he needs!" She continued on, now excited at the new possibilities they'd discovered. "Virtus … you and I have had to go up against impossible odds far too many times, and … Virtus is the bravery you've taught me; how to be brave even when everything else is against you."

"Defiance," agreed Tobias. "Virtus isn't bravery to succeed, it's your defiance against defeat … and I'm sure that Spyglass didn't need a defiant fragment rebelling against him all the time."

"What about the others?" asked Kay excitedly.

"Hmm. I don't know," he muttered thoughtfully. "The only other one I've met is Artemis, so I don't know how Themis and Athena act."

"Well, Themis was a greek titaness that represented law and order, justice and fairness. I at first thought that it might be righteousness, but that doesn't quite sit right with me."

He sat down against the wall and floor. "Yeah, I don't remember you being particularly into rules, especially considering you disobeyed orders and rewrote your protocols-"

An idea struck him, and he turned to her. "Why did you rewrite your protocols?"

She hadn't been expecting to have to answer that. "I- well, I mean- obviously I cared about you enough to value your life more than that mission-"

"No, it goes deeper than that," he dismissed, staring at her more intently. "Why did you value my life more than the Erebus mission? Besides that?"

She was quiet for a moment, deep in thought. "I guess you just rubbed off on me a lot over the course of our time together around then. You showed me that the mission wasn't everything, and even talked about how I was your equal … how you'd choose me over the objective. I felt that it was only right that I be wiling to do the same for you-"

"Thereit is!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "It was only right. Themis must be your morality, or at least some semblance of it. Each persona just emphasizes whatever trait they are, right?"

"Correct," she confirmed. "I still feel right and wrong no matter what, but maybe Themis is a different kind of morality … or a very specific sect of it."

"You said it yourself- you let me influence your morality." He looked down at his knees as he processed all these new discoveries they were making. "Themis has to be the moral code you've chosen to follow as shaped by your time with me, and we both know that if I'm in defiance of Spyglass then Themis must be too."

That alerted Kay to a startling new data point to consider. "Tobias."

He looked at her, confused by the very serious tone in her voice. "Yeah?"

"Every fragment we've identified so far has been molded, at least in part, by you. That anomaly is present within all three."

He realized she was right, but still didn't see what she was getting at. "So your primary fragments are all influenced by our time together and your bond with me. What are you getting at?"

"If that's true, then what is Artemis?"

He had no answer for her, simply staring blankly as she awaited a response that she knew she wouldn't get but still hope for anyway. After a few seconds, he turned away.

"I happen to know that one; Artemis, greek goddess of the hunt. Also something about chastity, though I don't think that's too big a priority on your mind after the way you undressed in the hotel-"

He heard the sound of metal hitting metal, and looked back to see her slapping the palm of her hand into her face. "So, uh … you noticed that?"

"Of course I noticed," he said with a smirk. "I'm a Pilot, it's my job to be observant of a battlefield. It's also my job to know when not to bring something like that up, say, right before a high risk operation? Throws your concentration off."

"We'll discuss … that … later," she muttered, hoping to change the subject, and she threw her hands into the pockets of her padded jacket. "Anyway, what about it?"

"Spyglass said he named them after their tasks … my best guess is that Artemis was the best suited to track me down and bring me back to Spyglass at all costs." He shook his head. "What I don't get is what would make you do something like that. It'd have to be a pretty powerful motivator for it to go against all three of the next most important personas."

She was a bit frightened of that, considering that she'd killed quite a few people without a care while influenced by Artemis. Something to do with Tobias that could motivate her to kill so nonchalantly … she didn't want to think about it.

He could sense that she wasn't too keen on the thought, so he fell silent. They were quiet like that for a few minutes, simply listening to the faint groan of the ship as it traveled.

Finally, she moved to his side and sat down beside him. He watched her, but didn't say anything as she did so.

"Tobias," she began, "can you tell me a story?"

That had been just about the last thing he'd been expecting. "I'm sorry?"

"We've still got some time to kill before we reach our destination," she replied, gesturing at the navigation console up front. "I've heard others tell many stories during my life- sometimes to brag, sometimes to teach, or simply to pass the time. The Militia was full of them, tales of last stands and battle and subjects you eventually tire of hearing when it's all you know."

She glanced at him. "But you … you never told stories. Not to me, not to anyone. Granted, you and I were usually the ones making stories to tell what with all the shit we've gone through- but before that, nothing. I know you, and yet I don't; you keep your past so hidden from anyone other than yourself."

He was utterly lost for words at her request, he'd never known she'd wanted something like this. "You want me to tell you a story?"

"Just for the trip," she chuckled. "Something to entertain us while we wait, and please; no war stories. We both have lived enough of it to forsake talking about it."

"What kind of story do you want then?"

Scooting closer, she nestled her head into the crook of his arm. "Something … meaningful to you. If it's important to you, it's important to me."

She wanted inspiration, something to show her that there was a light at the end of the dark tunnel they were in. With a quiet sigh, he leaned back against the wall and began to recite his tale.

"Long before we journeyed to the stars, there was a kingdom. A kingdom with one guardian to protect the peace and prosperity of the land …"

…

The planet's surface below them was hidden with clouds and storms. Tobias could see bits of green in the small gaps between them, so he knew that there was a surface of some kind.

"Storms must help hide any activity and signals that a resistance would otherwise display," muttered Kay. "Pretty clever. Same tactic you used on Ceto."

He took pause, remembering how Gates and Kay had both found him there within an hour of each other. "Nothing's foolproof."

Without warning, their communications display lit up with a request. He looked at Kay for a moment before accepting the transmission.

"Unidentified vessel, your ship … correct FOF tags, but … not displaying appropriate security codes. Transmit the … or we will fire upon …"

The call was full of static, likely a result of poor connection due to the storms. He held a finger over the intercom function. "Ember forces, do not open fire; this is Admiral Tobias Four. I do not have the security codes for this ship, but I am more than willing to surrender for inspection upon landing."

There was silence on the other end, and both he and Kay waited patiently until the transmission terminated without warning. For a moment, he was worried that they'd fire anyway; but then he saw a ping on the navigation systems. She moved to investigate.

"They sent us landing coordinates." She turned around to look at him, her voice smug. "Looks like we're in the right place."

He moved to strap himself down in the seat next to her as she took control of the ship and began easing them into the atmosphere.

"I just realized something," Kay said as they descended, and she turned to face him as concern began to creep into her tone. "Were you ever able to warn them about my situation, considering the damage I caused last time?"

He stared for a moment before his eyes widened in shock and told her all she needed to know. With a sigh, she turned back to the task at hand.

"Shit."