"What... wait- what?"

Hawkes was utterly dumb-founded. His theory on how the resurrections were conducted was thrown at the wall. He had initially believed that a large gathering of humans were needed to lay the foundation for the ritual, followed by the utilization of religious practices, and ignited by someone with a strong connection to the person, using the activation word,"God".

But the ceremony was disrupted. The crewmates had stopped praying to watch the spectacle. The damn preacher was punched in the face! And yet, all it took was Curly to bring her back?!

Captain Hawkes was put on edge; all the scientific data about Revivification that he'd combed through had correlated a necessity for ritual and practices, of a large gathering of humans in prayer, and for a preacher who would deliver a life synopsis of the target body.

But all it took here... was someone close to the person... and he supposed... enough yearning and conviction?

It was time to go back to the drawing board. Was this divine event connected to a particular faith, or was it independent of organized religion? Was it a separate, distinct ethereal deity of some kind, or maybe a phenomenon that broke the barrier between the material and otherworldly planes of existence?

What a marvelous, yet terrifying mystery.

Hawkes noticed that Curly, Swansea and Daisuke were still head-bashing the ground in prayer, failing to notice that Anya was already raising herself up from the table and gazing around groggily. He decided to give them a nudge.

"Hey, Anya!"

Anya turned her head towards Hawkes' voice in confusion.

"H-Huh? Who is that?"

Immediately, Curly, Swansea and Daisuke raised their heads in disbelief. Curly was the first to react.

"GHK!"

Anya was tackled off the altar, both her and Curly tumbling down the steps to the floor below. She groaned in slight pain, the action of being tackled evoking greater coherency in her mind. She began to panic as she looked around, shouting in distress.

"Wh-Where am I? Who are you people?! What-!"

"ANYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Anya was silenced into total shock as Curly's wailing voice pierced her ears. Robotically, she craned her head down to see who was smothering her, only to spot that long-ago familiar golden hair and bristly beard.

"No way... No.. way..." She sputtered, her eyes immediately reddening with tears. She closed her eyes, unable to stop the flow of tears down her cheeks. "I can't breathe... I think I'm gonna die... I can't breathe!"

"ANYA!"

"Anyaaaaa!"

She felt herself dogpiled by a weeping Swansea and grieving Daisuke, which only added to her stress and bewilderment.

"I don't understand what-! Did we die...?"

"There's my cue," Hawkes interrupted in his usual abrasive manner. "Yes, you died, but you were resurrected. Praise God!"

"Wh-Wha-What?"

"Ignore that idiot, Anya." Swansea blubbered with a tear-stricken face. "We're alive. That's all that matters. We escape that prison. We escaped..."

It was then that Anya's memories came flooding back into her mind; momentarily stopped by the shock of her current situation, but now invading her psyche like a metaphysical virus.

What abhorrent memories-

Anya immediately doubled over and vomited onto the floor; she felt as if her organs were failing, and her mind was plunging into the dark abyss. She swayed in and out of consciousness, and every orifice on her face felt like it was burning hot. Curly was beside himself, panicking wildly over the incident.

"Before you go apeshit!" Hawkes lectured Curly. "This isn't irregular. She's experiencing phantom pains from her previous death. It's happened with every crew member except- well, Swansea apparently, but that's unimportant. Give her a few minutes to work past them, and she'll be just fine soon enough."

Curly was left cradling an incapacitated Anya, but he couldn't have seemed happier in that moment. His teardrops fell onto her face and neck, unending yet changing from grief to relief. He briefly looked back up at Hawkes, a newfound awe and veneration sparkling in his eyes.

"Are you sure... we haven't died?"

"No- I mean, yes, I'm sure, I just- I-I just told you that, like, a minute ago or something."

"This isn't some sick dream to give us false hope?"

"Nope. Though it sure feels like it, don't it?"

Curly was silent as he coddled Anya in contemplation.

"Is there a catch?"

"You know what the catch is? The catch is, get out of my Divinity Chamber and go make amends with your crewmates in the terrarium. I got in enough prayer today to consecrate the whole ship."

"I-I can't move, she's... she's still shaking."

Hawkes sighed as he watched Curly cradle her as if she were his heart. It gave him deep heartache. He, too, was incredibly lonely. But it gave himsolaceto know that he had done something phenomenal today.

He found a long-lost freighter and recovered its crew and captain.

He reformed a crippled amputee back to his original state.

He solved the mystery behind the freighter's crash, and isolated the culprit.

He managed to achieve the resurrection of every single innocent crewmate and reunite them with one another.

In other words...

It was time to indulge excessively for a celebration. But first thing was first-

He needed to get them in a room together. It was time to get them acquainted with the new world, before any merrymaking could take place.


The Interrogation room was too tight of a fit for all five of them plus Caz and Ramirez, so Hawkes decided to relocate them to his private quarters. The four of them sat across from him with wildly different dispositions.

Curly was sitting the furthest from the group, his chair nearly rivaling the wall. He was constantly glancing over at the crew, especially Anya, but seemed to be in unbearable shame to even approach them. Hawkes couldn't be bothered to interpret the rollercoaster he'd just been through, so he let him stew in his head for a bit.

Swansea was glaring with complete disdain at Curly, his neck veins visibly bulging as if he were barely restraining himself from getting into a deadly brawl with his former Captain. When he glanced to Daisuke, his expression softened considerably, relief flooding his face. Glancing over Hawkes, he held a great skepticism in his eyes, but also a newfound respect and admiration. After all, the outlandish claims Hawkes had made about revival had, in fact, come true before his very eyes.

Anya was slumped back in the chair, giving the wooden desk in front of her the thousand-yard stare. Since she'd only recently been resurrected, the disillusion with reality and disconnect from her environment was expected, as it was with everyone else.

Daisuke was-

"Mister Daisuke, can you please sit down?"

Daisuke was dancing passionately in Captain Hawkes' lounge room, bopping it to vinyl records from the ancient 1950s. Hawkes rubbed the bridge of his nose in a very slight irritation mixed with affection; the kid gave him the feeling of wanting to bop him upside the head, then give him a big hug afterwards.

"Alright, well-" Hawkes started, clearing his throat. "We'll start without Daisuke for now. So, let's lay the groundwork- oh, okay."

Swansea had gotten up from his chair and joined Daisuke in dancing. He also felt it was his right to pilfer Hawkes' whiskey bottle and pour himself and Daisuke a round of shots.

"Heh!" Hawkes chuckled, in surprise to himself, as he watched these once-doomed crewmates act in such a carefree manner. He wasn't angry. His rank, nor protocol, nor anything else really mattered right now. This was the first time he'd seen someone come back to the living. To life.

He couldn't get it out of his head. Was it madness, or a stressful enlightenment? He couldn't say. What was the point of the last 3 decades? Were they all to be raptured soon? Hawkes had combed through every interpretation of the Bible, the Qu'ran, the Torah that he could get his hands on since that fateful day. He had been burning inside for more knowledge, more understanding of the universe around him. He wanted to make sense of this. Hehadto.

All three of the cited scriptures had made mention of or perceived the possibility of resurrection. However, the Bible was the closest, in terms of this divine event, that matched closest with what was occurring.

He recalled Matthews 27:50, which proclaimed that the bodies of saints had risen from the dead, and that the Roman soldiers among them had proclaimed it the work of the Son of God.

However, there was another glaring issue. Where was he? Where was the Son? Why was it humans being granted the gift of revival? Was the Son of God embodied in all of us?

"I'm glad I became an admiral instead of a priest." He joked cynically to himself. Perhaps this wasn't an organized religion, or adhered to any of them. Perhaps it was a separate, but still equal faith. A creator. Whichever way it went, there was an irrefutable fact that he needed to embrace, and one he needed to get across to every one of these returned lives.

That they were living in an era unlike any other in human history. If he didn't get that point across well enough, he'd risk them losing their minds to delusion, or fanaticism, or any other number of mental ailments to try and cope with this new reality.

He had to convince them that, no matter how divine events came about, this was still reality. It was still life, with all its ups and downs. They needed to come to grips with that distinction, as soon as possible. Having to be a war veteran dealing with this was difficult enough, the magnitude was likely way worse for crew of Tulpar.

Hawkes decided he'd take them on one by one, so there'd be fewer interruptions. He started with Curly, who was quietly sobbing in the corner.

"Curly."

Curly's tired eyes glanced up to meet Hawkes'.

"It's hard to empathize with you, being honest. I can't relate to dying once and living twice. But I can relate to a human being. And I know you're grappling with some crazy fuckin' shit in that mind of yours. I get it. But before you can console yourself, you need to make amends with your crew."

Curly latched out and gripped him by his collar, staring him down with the cold, brutal eyes of a man who died while living.

"You have a lot of opinions about people you just met."

Hawkes put his hands up in a gesture of peace.

"Believe me, the last thing I want to do is play therapist. But would you say you're mentally well right now? Any of you?"

Curly glanced between Anya, Swansea and Daisuke. Begrudgingly, he grumbled a few curses before letting go of Hawkes' collar. Hawkes dusted himself down and straightened his uniform before speaking again.

"I'll stop being condescending. Let's talk."

Curly released a shaky exhale, straightening his back and leveling his eyes with Hawkes.

"Talk, then."

"Be honest with me, Curly. You love your crew."

Curly grit his teeth, an expression of constant pain and guilt shadowing his face like a veil. He couldn't bring himself to answer out of sheer shame.

"If you don't, just say so."

"OfcourseI love them!"

Curly's voice echoed across the quarters, drawing the attention of Swansea and Daisuke, and the gaze of a still-addled Anya. He quickly ducked back into his seat, ashamed to feel their gazes on him.

"So if you love them, then confront them about what you did, and anything they did to you. Did you get a second chance at life to be scared of those you traveled with for years?"

Curly gazed at Hawkes, a deep regret and longing on his face. He drew a deep breath, and stood up from his chair, walking over shakily to Swansea and Daisuke. Hawkes watched as Curly stood in front of them, receiving a grimace from Swansea, and skepticism from Daisuke.

"..."

Curly felt his words stuck in his throat. Having to see Swansea and Daisuke again, having to see Anya again, after the horror they had suffered...

Crack!

Curly staggered to the side as Swansea punched him across the cheek. He regained his footing and stood up straight, to see a broiling Swansea stepping up in his face.

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"A fuckin' apology ain't worthshit,Curly. You fucked us. Wediedbecause you couldn't see the ocean of red flags on your fuckin'friend!"

Crack.

Swansea careened backwards as Curly duffed him across the face, boiling with stress and fury.

"YOU THINK I WASN'T HAUNTED BY THOSE THOUGHTS FOR THE EIGHT FUCKING MONTHS I WAS WRITHING IN AGONY?! I WANTED TO DIE SO MANY TIMES! I WANTED TO DIEEE!I CAN STILL FEEL THE MEMORY OF MY SKIN BURNING HOT EVERY SECOND, THE UNBEARABLE ITCHES ALL OVER MY BODY, THE DRYNESS OF MY SCORCHED THROAT! EIGHT FUCKING MONTHS! NOTHING- NOTHING HURT MORE THAN KNOWING I DOOMED YOU ALL!"

Him and Swansea got into a brawl, cursing at each other with the rage of boiling stars.

"You brought it on yourself, you son of a BITCH! Your carelessness KILLED US, YOU SELFISH BASTARD!"

"I'LL DIP YOU IN A BOILING POT OF OIL, YOU FAT FUCK, AND WE'LL SEE IF YOU KEEP SPEWING HORSESHIT!"

"Stop! Stop, please!" Daisuke cried out, trying to separate them. At such a random time, Hawkes glimpsed the tears streaming down Daisuke's face. Caz and Ramirez were about to move in to intercept the brawl, but Hawkes waved them away.

He studied the situation pragmatically, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Group therapy really is effective, huh?" He commented in an aggravating manner. "Alright, well, if I delay the celebration any longer my crew is gonna mutiny. So let's get moving to the terrarium and move ourselves away from these negative thoughts, eh?"

Curly suddenly released Swansea's shirt and stormed over to Hawkes, whispering in his ear.

"Tell me where Jimmy is."

"Curly, let's have some fun and enjoy your second life first. We'll have plenty of time to-"

"I'm not delaying this, Hawkes." Curly hissed, brimming with murderous intent. "Bring me to ."

"Are you not satisfied, Curly?"

Curly looked around the room, clearly trying to spot something sharp to stick in Hawkes' throat.

"Don't sidestep my demand, bastard."

"I'm not sidestepping you, Curly. Was being reformed, reunited with your lost loved ones and getting a nice, safe environment not good enough? Do you have to quench your revenge right now, at this moment? You can't enjoy what you have in front of you for a while before we get to the retribution?"

"That's not what I'm saying-"

"It sure looks like it."

Curly was silent, and for a moment Hawkes was preparing to dodge an incoming punch. However, Curly turned his eyes away and leaned down next to Anya, utterly entranced.

"Anya. Anya, do you want to come?"

"Wh...what?"

"We're going to have some food and drink. Do you want to come with?"

"O-Oh... Uh... yeah... yeah, ok..."

Curly nodded silently, helping Anya onto her feet and supporting her arm over his shoulder as they proceeded out the door, accompanied by Caz and Ramirez to lead them. Swansea and Daisuke were left in the room. Swansea was silently fuming, and Daisuke was... dancing again. Could anything get this kid's spirit down?

"You guys doing okay?" Hawkes asked them genuinely. Swansea looked up from his brooding, then spaced out again.

"Yeah." He responded half-heartedly. "Just... thinking."

"I couldn't be doing any better than right now!" Daisuke shouted, whooping and hollering. "I'm alive! I'm alive, man!"

Swansea gave a tired smile, seeing Daisuke more upbeat than he'd ever been before.

"I gotta agree with the kid. I'm feeling awesome."

Hawkes smiled at them.

"Well, before I let you two go to the terrarium, I'd like to make sure we're on the same eye level."

Swansea waited for him to continue talking, and for once Daisuke was listening to the conversation.

"I wanna know your thoughts on Curly."

Swansea grimaced again, Daisuke rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I... don't know why he crashed the ship, I guess." Daisuke admitted. There was more than a hint of resentment in that statement; if not outright hostility.

"Swansea, why wouldn't you tell him?" Hawkes inquired. Swansea huffed loathsomely.

"Does it change the outcome? That bastard gave the keys to a psycho, he may as well have crashed the ship himself."

"Wait, wh-what?" Daisuke stuttered. "What are you talking about?"

"Jimmy was the one who crashed the ship, Daisuke." Hawkes stated. "Curly apparently trusted him to divert the meteor. He ended up turning off the autopilot and letting the ship crash."

Daisuke's face paled, looking between Swansea and Hawkes.

"So... Curly wasn't the one who screwed us?"

"HE WAS THE ONE WHO SCREWED US, DAISUKE!" Swansea exploded, his face turning cherry-red. "THAT STUPID, CARELESS, APATHETIC BASTARD WAS THE CAUSE OF EVERY MISERY WE'VE SUFFERED! Did you know, Daisuke, that Jimmy raped Anya, as well, and Curly didn't do JACK SHIT to deal with it?!"

Daisuke clutched his head in distress; Hawkes could tell he was trying to avoid the past by keeping an upbeat attitude, and it was sorrowful to realize.

"Wh-What? What the hell, dude?"

Hawkes stepped up and glared down at Swansea, displeased.

"Does it please you to make light of her?""

Swansea spit on the ground, returning the glare.

"The truth is a bitch. Don't act like you know Anya better than me."

Hawkes sneered in pure loathing, but ultimately backed off. Swansea was right; Hawkes had little area to butt into this drama, no matter how asinine it was.

"Well, regardless of all that," Hawkes continued. "Cut him some slack."

"I'm not cutting him shit."

"Then why don't you try empathizing for a moment?"

Swansea narrowed his eyes.

"Empathize with what?"

"He found out his friend had set the ship on a crash course. Judging from the burns, he went to the cockpit to try and correct the error. He was partially successful, when you look at the angle of the damage we first sighted when we pulled up on the Tulpar. He then suffered burns all the way down to the bone, lost every one of his hands and feet, lost one of his eyes, his hair, his lips, and lost the ability to swallow food and water on his own."

"Now he is sitting on a stranded ship with no way out, knowing he had trusted the wrong person to steer the ship, and is forced to witness as each of his beloved crewmates is slowly picked off by a psychopath he once considered his best friend. I can't imagine what other horrors took place inside the Tulpar. With that said, you can't find a single thing to empathize with...?"

Swansea was silent, an expression of stubborn refusal on his face. Daisuke seemed utterly depressed after hearing what Hawkes had recounted as if he had revisited the memories in every word said.

"Fine, then, Swansea. Don't empathize. But at the very least, don't antagonize him. He may be an idiot and a terrible decision-maker, but he's human. Even I can tell he's suffering every second now as much as he was in that horribly burnt state. So cut him some slack, let him enjoy some time in peace, and do the same for yourself and Daisuke. Mmk? You're on my ship, revived in my chamber, so you're under my house rules."

Swansea exhaled deeply through his nose, and nodded in reluctant understanding.

"Being lectured by a superior was surprisingly helpful in steadying me." Swansea conceded. He turned to Daisuke, who glanced back at him. "Come on, kid. Let's go see what they got at this 'terrarium' or whatever the hell."

"Plenty of food and booze, so enjoy yourselves!" Hawkes proclaimed as they exited the quarters. "Uuugghhh..."

Hawkes slumped over his desk, insanely exhausted by the ordeal. Finally, they were all back. And most of them were somewhat sane again. Mission... Accomplished?

Although he really didn't get the chance to answer their questions about the last year's events. That kinda sucked. He supposed it would have to be at the terrarium where he could catch them up to speed.

His radio buzzed.

"Captain, Annie here. You comin' for the celebration?"

Hawkes clicked his radio on, hesitating for a moment to speak.

I should interrogate Jimmy.

Then he smiled.

No... that could wait. He was exhausted. It was time to have cut loose and have some fun.

"Hell yeah. Get me a hoppy IPA, I need to punish these taste buds."