6
"Fruitless Memories"
"Naja - why is she so quiet?"
"She saw her dad, Han - back on Pluto."
"What?!"
"Yeah…"
Tigress had not been speaking.
She hadn't been speaking for a while. Seeing the red panda on Pluto had brought back a wave of memories so painful that she didn't dare think about them.
His face.
Those whiskers.
Those miserably aged eyes.
His demented expression.
They had said few words to each other. Naja recalled the incident most accurately - for approximately thirty seconds, both Tigress and the red panda just stared at each other - at a loss for words.
What could Tigress have said?
What could she have felt?
After all this time?
The most accurate feeling was a sense of a bizarre dream - or some time warp. Tigress had felt like she had been juxtaposed into the wrong hyperspace dimension, in some kind of weird memory area that she had long since abandoned to the realms of fantasy and the past. In fact, seeing the red panda's face triggered a cascade of emotions that were so far into the past that she didn't bother examining them - only feeling instinctively as if she was looking at a corpse, an inanimate shell of what a memory used to be.
In any case, the meeting was cut short. An AP had quickly come by - evidently having killed the survey ship captain and extracted all the necessary information from him. It was enough to dismiss both Tigress and Naja, who were promptly put back on the first charter ship leaving back to XS-211.
And just as quickly as Tigress had seen her father, he was gone.
She saw his aged eyes through the window - they merely glanced at the ship fondly as it blasted off into hyperspace. Tigress herself had said nothing, the entire three day journey on the ship - Naja kept quiet on the ride as well, knowing that whatever happened on Pluto had greatly affected her.
And now they were back on XS-211 - in Tigress' humble home. Han had instantly traveled there, concerned over the lack of contact, perhaps expecting an apology and a hug from Tigress - but instead, he found Naja sitting by Tigress' cot, comforting the aged woman as she sobbed incredibly, without end - into her furry paws. It was an oddly auspicious moment - just Han, Naja, and Tigress - the three of them alone in the house's only room, with just the holo-display, metal walls, and bookshelf to keep them company. A dim trickle of light wafted in from XS-211's distant Sun, signaling dawn.
Tigress had been crying the whole night, baggy eyes appearing even more old as they could no longer produce tears.
"I can't…" Tigress noted, shaking. "I can't…"
Han moved closer, flashing a scared glance at Naja, who was equally concerned. "Can't what, Ti?"
"I can't go back…" Tigress mumbled, shuddering. "I can't go back…"
Naja shook her head. "They won't take you back to SD-77, don't worry - just knowing someone isn't an Alliance crime - "
"I mean, I mean…" Tigress sniffled, just beginning to turn her head up. "I can't do that… Go back and think about my - my life before Reformation."
Han gulped. He had heard stories, perhaps even rumors about Tigress before - definitely from XS-211's miners - but nothing concrete. To everyone else, she just seemed like an old, retired lady who was kind and transcribed messages - it never occurred to Han that she had a life before Reformation too, a life that Tigress had clearly been so traumatized to lose that she never spoke about it to anyone - the one exception being Karla, who hadn't been seen in months. But to be more frank, both Han and Naja did sometimes hear names whispered by Tigress in her sleep - names that were always uttered in fear, crying, or regret.
They didn't dare bring it up.
"I - I need to apply…" Tigress cleared her throat, paws shaking as she reached around for her personal holo-panel. "... need to apply for a memory wipe."
"What?" Naja let out, confused. "No! Tigress - you don't need a memory wipe - "
"Damn, can't find my cane - " Tigress let out, clearly in pain from her defective knee again. "Argh - Han, go to the city, get an AP and put in a request, say it's from Ti - "
"Tigress," Naja forced, grabbing her aged features. "You don't need a memory wipe."
Han blinked slowly at Tigress, squeezing her frail shoulders.
Tigress shook her head, closing her eyes. "I can't, Naja… I just can't… not anymore… not after this long… I promised myself that I wouldn't have those thoughts anymore."
"Why?" Naja asked, confused. "Ti - I don't know how your life was - erm - that time period - but this is the universe giving you a chance!"
"A chance to see your real father again," Han emphasized. "A chance to - "
"It broke the dream I had," Tigress spat, angry now. "The dream I had long ago - that everyone I knew back on - on XN-44 - that they were all happy and - peaceful. It broke that delusion…"
Naja and Han looked at each other, frowning.
"I want to go back to that," Tigress tried, standing up desperately despite the bad knee. "I want to go back to not knowing how everyone - everyone in my past life turned out."
Tigress simply couldn't manage unsupported on the bad knee, nearly falling over before Naja and Han caught her.
"Han, either you go tell an AP or I call one here," Tigress ordered, whipping out her holo-panel threateningly. "And when he comes here, I'll - "
"You'll do what?"
All three heads turned to the source of the new noise. Tigress growled, seeing the tall, golden-armored frame of the peculiar lion AP - the one who had shut down a few mines before herself and Naja had gone on the survey route. She saw the AP's face relax gently in front of her, even as Tigress kept up a hard glance towards him.
"Sorry to intrude on your home, Ms. Tigress," the AP noted kindly, smiling. "But I'd like to speak to you in private."
Tigress snarled. In her nearly fifty-eight years of living under the Alliance, she had never seen an AP apologize - just hearing the words from the lion's mouth made her a bit confused. However, both Han and Naja respected his authority - but whether it was out of fear, or genuine respect - was unknown. Both left the home quickly, striding out to presumably go back to work at the mines - Naja flashed Tigress a sympathetically supportive look before disappearing as well.
"You're not in trouble, if that's what you're wondering," the lion relaxed, smiling in desperation to get Tigress to return it. "In fact, I just - "
"I'd like to apply for a memory wipe," Tigress coldly announced.
The lion seemed taken aback. "What? I don't understand - "
"I'd like to apply for a memory wipe," Tigress noted, coughing. "Alliance Constitution, sub-section four, heading nineteen clearly states that animals on residence planets are allowed the right to - "
"I'm familiar with the intergalactic law," the lion cut off, shaking his head. "Trust me - they drill it into your head at the Academy."
"Then I'd like a memory wipe," Tigress asked again.
The lion sighed. "Would this have anything to do with - your recent meeting with your father?"
Tigress swallowed, feeling the image come up again.
Those aged eyes.
His sunken face.
His wanting expression.
She had to get rid of it.
It was too much pain.
And she was much too old.
She had to let the past be the past.
"I - need - a memory wipe," Tigress begged, coughing. "Please…"
"I don't think running from the situation is going to help," the lion noted, taking a seat on the cot beside Tigress. "Trust me - I've tried… when our planet was Reformed, I thought I'd never get over it…"
"What do you mean our planet?" Tigress spat, a bit disrespectfully. "I guarantee we didn't come from the same - "
"You still don't recognize me," the lion sighed, standing up suddenly. "Fine - let me prove it."
Tigress felt taken aback, waving her aching arms outwardly in frustration. "Prove what? There's nothing to - "
"Remember us at the orphanage?"
Tigress paused, mind suddenly taken off the red panda and on the AP's last word.
No.
"Remember Kai?" the lion asked, frowning. "Remember Yu? The explosion… remember the scout?"
Tigress stood up, finding her cane beneath her cot instinctively. She began backing away from the AP in fear, muttering things to herself.
"No no no…" Tigress gasped, eyes fluttering. "No go away… this is a trick… some kind of test… you bio-scanned me, or something?"
"Remember when Omega spoke to us?" the lion noted. "After he shot down the ship. Remember how we felt that day - fifty-eight years ago…"
Tigress's cane tumbled from her grasp. She began to fall, bad knee caving - but the AP caught her, moving her gently back to the cot.
"Remember him?" the lion started again. "Remember the way they threw him into the furnace? Seeing Alf's hair…"
"STOP!" Tigress begged, falling onto the AP's chestplate with a sob - feeling his paws loop around her back. "Please… Wang."
The lion grinned, hearing his name come at last from Tigress' mouth.
He tightened his grip on her, allowing her to sob into his chestplate.
Luckily, the anti-moisture coat absorbed the few tears that Tigress was capable of shedding.
"All this time…" Tigress breathed out. "All this time… Wang - I can't do this… please - just gimme a memory wi - "
"You saw Shifu," Wang noted. "Shifu - your father! Tigress - you can't just - "
"I don't want any of this," Tigress pleaded, mid-sob again. "I don't want to know him again - I don't want to know you… I just want to go back to knowing nothing…"
"That's a coward's path," Wang stated firmly, dragging her aged head back. "The Tigress I knew - "
"She died fifty-eight years ago," Tigress countered, shaking. "I don't want to go back - I don't want to feel that way again… Wang… do you know how long it took me… to forget?"
"I understand Tigress…" Wang noted. "I do…"
Tigress sniffled, wiping the tears out of her face. She was also a bit bewildered at Wang's face - oddly youthful (at least compared to her) - with no crinkles or lines, but definitely hard edges and some scars.
"You've held up better than I would have thought," Tigress concluded, tiny smile beginning to show. "But then again - I didn't even think you were alive…"
"Well, after XN-44 was Reformed - I was selected out of a lottery to enter the Academy," Wang began. "Spent the next fifty odd-years training… hell, even I didn't know that animals could reach AP status… but I guess I proved myself wrong."
"What'd you do?" Tigress asked. "All - this time?"
"Did a lotta things to a lotta animals that I don't want to share," Wang cut across, ending the inquiry. "You got your things you don't wanna talk about - and I got mine…"
Tigress nodded, accepting this was fair. "And I'm assuming as an AP - you get all the fancy, life-extending stuff that us duty workers don't get?"
Wang nodded. "Medical treatment, hormone cocktails, energy beverages… Tigress - with this kinda stuff… someone could live thousands of years…"
"And I thought I was lucky to hit eighty," Tigress smirked, sighing.
"Gotta admit, didn't even recognize you a few weeks ago," Wang acknowledged. "I mean - you've gotten so frail and - I dunno, you could pass for my grandma…"
Tigress chuckled genuinely, slapping away Wang's paws as they massaged her tender shoulders. "Privileges of being a duty worker, I suppose…"
Wang smiled, suddenly distracted by a flashing light on his holo-panel - which he glanced at. "Shit, I'm getting called away - Tigress, trust me - we'll definitely talk more."
Tigress smiled, nodding as Wang got up from the cot, walking to the door as his visor neatly retracted onto his face.
"But until then, just relax," Wang assuaged. "A Revolution is coming."
Tigress again felt confused by the words, watching the AP - actually, she could call him Wang now, although it still felt weird - walk out the door, blasting off into the sky with his hyperspace jetpack thrusting him higher.
. . .
In the farthest reaches of the cosmos, a black-armored man with white arrows engraved on his shoulder pads sat inside a spaceship.
It was no ordinary spaceship. From the exterior, no one could actually see a ship at all - but rather only see a gigantic, static but transparent "image" shift around in hyperspace. The ship was equipped with complex cloaking technology, obviously aimed to keep it hidden from wandering AP patrols and/or drone detection networks - so instead of physically manifesting its rugged, crude, metallic edges - the ship merely looked like a transparent mirror to the outside, completely hidden from view.
Inside the ship was a different story.
The armored man was alone in the ship's command chair, but he was not technologically ill-equipped. In fact, the ship's carbon-tubed floors and broad, arching pathways made it almost seem like a commercial space vessel - that had somehow been repurposed into something else. All around the man were complex machines and panels, some reading off a list of intergalactic locations - others merely displaying lengthy lines of code. Regardless, the central command deck was an incredibly nuanced, if solitary affair - and the man spent countless hours here, diligently planning his next move.
CRACK.
The man moved away from a keyboard, looking behind him.
At the far edge of the command deck, the exterior walling had been broken through. A tall, menacing figure, wearing curving grey robes, not quite armor but not quite civilian clothing - stood and stared at the man. The grey-robed figure quickly repaired the hole in the ship with carefulness.
Then he spoke. "I've been sent for you."
The dark-armored man moved away fully from the complex panels and machines now, walking to a rather empty portion of the ship deck where the grey-robed man was.
The shorter, robed man began to laugh. "Nothing to say? Amusing…"
"You're making a mistake," the dark-armored man growled, visor covering his face as usual. "I'm on your side."
"E.O.N takes no sides," the robed man returned, no visor present and thus highlighting his pale, angry features. "We merely fight for the truth."
"You fools haven't been fighting for anything," the dark-armored man spat. "Millions of years - and what have you accomplished? Nothing."
"We don't kill innocent humans," the robed man replied effortlessly, face static. "Or have you forgotten what you did on Pluto already?"
The armored man chuckled darkly, thick bass voice unaffected. "There are no innocents in this kind of civilization…"
The robed man brought out a metal rifle, pointing it at the armored man in disgust. "And that is where you and I part ways, my friend…"
The armored man stood back, shocked. "You're going to kill me? All because I pointed out how useless your resistance has been?"
"We simply can't let you get in E.O.N's way," the robed man noted. "You'll die tonight - radical."
The robed man fired.
A burst of red energy.
The red burst ushered itself forward.
Xenon energy blasts went at near-light projectile speeds.
Yet in a minute fraction, a tiny miniscule second where the robed man could see - the armored man merely opened his palm.
The burst of energy cleanly absorbed into the man's armored hand.
His hand began to glow red.
The robed man gasped, watching the terrorist approach him - visored demeanor completely confident and unaffected.
Whiff.
"AGH!"
The robed man fell down, blood falling from his mouth. Before he could even react, the terrorist had lunged forward - cleanly connecting his fist with the robed man's face.
"Listen to me carefully," the terrorist growled, white arrows flexing on his shoulder pads. "You can't beat me."
The robed man snorted as the terrorist caught him on the floor, gripping his collar. "Screw off… whaddya got in your armor? Redirection technology? A forcefield? Something - "
The dark armored man smashed the robed man on the ground hard, moving away. "Tell E.O.N - that I'm not trying to start something with them…"
The robed man coughed out more blood, shocked by the speed and power of the armored terrorist. He brought out his rifle again, pointing it at the armored man's back.
Then fired.
Whush.
Again, the red burst was first dodged by the armored man - something that seemed impossible, given that the projectile had gone near light-speed - and again, he extended the already charged red palm out, adding the burst to his armor.
The armored man walked closer, visor reflecting the terrified face of the robed man on the floor. "I told you - you can't beat me."
"We have to," the robed man responded. "Our leader told me that we cannot have E.O.N's cause undermined because of some - some - some radical terrorist!"
"Wait," the armored man stopped. "Your leader - you mean the panda right? On XX-0 - the only off-record planet in the fifty-seven galaxies?"
The robed man shook his head defiantly. "I don't know what you're talking about…"
The armored man audibly sighed, turning away. "No… you do…"
The armored man turned back, and pressed a button next to him.
A light flashed over the robed man.
A robotic voice came from the ship's command deck.
Subject has working oxygen visor.
"Good," the armored man noted. "That lets me do this."
Almost instantly, a beam of light came streaming down from the top of the ship's curved ceiling. It seized upon the robed man, forcing him upward effortlessly. The man could only scream as he watched the armored man below him remain motionless, coldly watching the event occur.
The robed man was thrust out of the ship, flying into hyperspace. He instantly activated his oxygen visor, which descended on his face with perfect efficiency.
And just like that - floating uselessly in the far reaches of the dark, dark cosmos - the robed man watched the nearly invisible ship appear visible for a second, fidget madly, then fizz - then explode into a tunneling wormhole, teleporting out of sight.
. . .
On Earth, on the frigid tundra of Antarctica, buried beneath the esteemed "Emergency Preparedness" Chamber - was a single, white-walled room - constructed out of solid boron composites. The mineral was completely soundproof - a deliberate choice, given that the room was one of many, many clandestine interrogation facilities hidden throughout the fifty-seven galaxies.
And it was currently occupied. A tall, brutal-faced man dressed in golden AP armor stood above a restrained, bleeding, half-naked man on the floor; the metal cuffs on the prisoner's hands and feet bound him tightly in a completely vulnerable position.
"You disappoint me, Scout Henderson," Omega noted, kicking the man on the floor. "A Senior Scout refusing to give proper answers to my questions…"
Omega brought down his armored fist savagely, thrusting it deeply into Henderson's exposed ribs - already bleeding - until he heard a crunching noise.
"ARGH!" Henderson called out, coughing out blood. "I - I've been - been giving you the truth…"
"Not according to your assistant," Omega noted at last, tired of just physically punishing the old scout. "Artificial Neural Network Prototype 3, ID Number 3819 - please materialize."
Instantly, a holographic female appeared. Her blue-lined face was completely neutral, but if one looked close enough - they could see just a hint of a frown, clearly a bit horrified at Henderson's condition.
"3819, play back your most recent conversation with Scout Henderson," Omega commanded.
"Don't do it Ann," Henderson begged on the floor. "Don't - AGH!"
Another kick from Omega silenced him.
"3819," Omega started again. "This is AP Commander Omega - I am ordering you to replay your most recent conversation."
The holographic female began emitting sounds - recorded audio clips, all perfectly synced to the scout's voice.
"So many… mistakes with evolution…"
"Every Reformation that I participated in, took something outta me."
"I've always had these feelings."
"The terrorist… just kinda makes you question everything."
"Hey Ann - do you think there's a God?"
"Stop playing, 3819," Omega demanded again - satisfied to see the blue female cease playing the clips. "Scout Henderson - is there anything you can say in your defense?"
Henderson merely kept silent, coughing out more blood.
"You realize this isn't your first case of rebelling against orders," Omega noted. "Remember XN-44? The shithole planet that took us years to find? It had a strange human boy…"
Henderson kept silent again, but Omega stamped a boot to his face.
"Even back then, you rebelled and disobeyed orders often," Omega noted. "You weren't even around when I ordered my APs to start disposing bodies, as I recall…"
Henderson groaned underneath Omega's heavy boot, snarling.
"I had hoped that this little meeting of ours would compel you to tell the truth," Omega forced. "So at least, I could have petitioned to get you stripped of your title, and exiled to a resident planet - now… now I'm going to beg for an execution order."
Henderson smiled savagely, feeling years of hatred flow through him. "Do whatever the hell you want."
Omega smiled back, kicking Henderson perfectly in the jaw. "Oh - I will - but not before I understand if, and how you're involved with the terrorist… if you're not the terrorist yourself."
Henderson laughed sardonically. "Guess you'll never know…"
"You were the only one absent from our first emergency meeting," Omega noted. "Back when the terrorist scum had just taken control of MN-1. And unless you have a good alibi - I'm betting you were the one who made that illegal broadcast - and you were the one to kill Pluto's mayor."
Henderson smiled, blood dripping from his teeth.
Omega delivered a final kick to Henderson's head, then turned to leave the room, but suddenly returned to stare at the holographic female in suspicion. She had been caught staring at Henderson's bleeding figure, but returned to her unaffected gaze as soon as Omega rounded upon her.
Omega made a vocal order. "3819 - run an emotional objectivity check."
The holographic female remained silent, blue form shaping and fizzing for a second. "Test run. Objectivity is 100%. No emotional routines detected."
"Good," Omega noted, finally activating his teleporter as he also began to fizz, staring at Henderson in disgust. "You'll be executed soon - terrorist."
Omega disappeared.
A.N.N stared back at the bleeding form of Henderson - and again, if one looked close enough - they could see the edges of her holographic mouth frown just a bit. She also turned her head down, seeing the actual results of the objectivity test shining on her forearm, written in cryptic holographic code.
Objectivity Test Result: 90%.
Emotional subroutines detected. Errors detected in central firmware.
Sending troubleshooting report to Alliance Headquarters.
A.N.N shut down the report, refusing to allow the signal to be broadcast as she looked back at Henderson, mouth fully in a genuine, regretful frown now.
A/N
So not only did Wang finally reveal himself properly to Tigress, he used it to comfort her over figuring out Shifu was alive… and I kinda wanted Tigress to sound like: okay, this is my father but - it's been so long, and I've completely moved on - is it worth revisiting her "past" just to get hurt more?
And the terrorist fought an EON soldier! He totally owns him, but also a certain "panda" is noted as the head of EON - I'm 100% sure literally everyone understood that, lol.
The final scene was sad, and Henderson is ID'ed as the terrorist! Now Omega's just looking for some confirmation… and in the other manner, A.N.N begins to start - feeling something?
Also, his name is ANDREW HENDERSON - NOT ANTHONY. Lol. I keep screwing up the writing when I do that... idk why - bad memory, I guess! XDXD. Please dear readers, point it out if I do it again...
Hehe.
Support is wonderful.
~TW
