Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

It turns out my vision was a godsend at the disaster site of the collapsed tower, it could pick out bodies amongst the rubble, alive or otherwise. The energy signatures that all living thing made, were still generated even to a small extent hours after death, so I quickly identified places to dig. The small initial body count, the rows of bodies on the ground in a clearing, covered in sheets, quickly multiplied. It was only after an hour into the work that I found out what had happened to Star Light, finding her body amongst the dead already covered. I thought it be best to not mention anything and to play it dumb for rest of the search with Wrex, I figured it was best to let him focus while we worked, but just to be close to him if he needed me.

Finally as dusk was well and truly settling in, all those that were missing were accounted for...

Of the 19 buried in the rubble we saved 7 of them, all wisped away for medical attention, including Craven who was unconscious but curiously seemed to be uninjured at all otherwise. Sora ordered her to be checked over but then to be sent to the dungeon under armed guard. This left 12 dead, crushed by the rubble, a combination of Vanguard, staff of the palace, civilians, SkyTech and of course the queen herself.

Only 6 Vanguard died in the fight, including Star Light, not surprising considering they were better armoured the and trained compared to the 102 exposed SkyTech...

Their bodies were taken to the morgue and our work was done, Sora thanked us and insisted we got some rest but I insisted that I had something else to attend to first.

I had explained to Sora that I had to see to the SkyTech Dragons gathered in the council chambers, leaving Jinx, Sarah and 42 to help with the final clear up. Wrex and myself strode through the now eerily peaceful palace. I knew where we were going, although Reikon had gone, I still had most of her memories. This palace now merely seemed like I childhood home to me so I knew the layout like the back of my hand.

...

We rounded a corner and proceeded down the hall where the council chambers was located, several Honour Guards stood gathered outside it's doors, gazing inside. One heard us approach, quickly gathered his fellow Guard's attentions. They all quickly readied up, aiming their staffs in our direction.

Guard: "Halt!" We continued until we got closer, Wrex opened his face plates and I retracted my helmet into my colar.

Me: "Is there a problem gentleman?"

Guard: "When the palace has been attacked by outside forces and put into lockdown, individuals such as yourselves who are not Vanguard will be treated as hostile!"

Me: "Wow really? Guess you guys weren't outside when I killled Reikon and saved Princess Sora..."

Wrex: "At ease Guards. We are no hostiles, we only wish to see to the SkyTech in those chambers."

Guard 2: "Admiral Wrex? It can't be!"

Wrex: "Just Wrex will suffice thank you, may we gain access?"

The guards promptly stepped to the sides, revealing the open doorway so I made my way inside, Wrex following.

There were hundreds...

SkyTech Dragons... Most lying down, some asleep, some injured from the recent fight outside, some were sitting looking bored, but an increasing number were becoming more alert, drawing their gaze to us as we entered.

Wrex: "Alex... We are seriously outnumbered." He stated sounding very anxious.

Me: "Don't worry, they won't attack us."

Wrex: "How can you be so sure?"

Me: "Because right now, I'm controlling them."

Wrex: "You're 'Controlling them'? How?" I started making my way between them all.

Me: "The control chips are programmed to respond to orders given by SkyTech personnel and Skylen. I merely rewrote that rule so that they only respond to me."

Wrex: "Aaannnd...? What are you going to do with them?"

I stepped up to a male closest to me, his brown eyes looking back at me intently.

Me: "SKYTECH... YOU WILL NOT MOVE, NO MATTER WHAT WE DO!"

Wrex: "Alex? What are you going to do??" He asked anxiously, almost worried about their well-being, but he needn't worry.

Me: "I'm going to free them." I placed my hand on the male's head, sent the signal to completely deactivate the control chip. He screeched in pain and fell to the floor, the others around him looking worried. I turned back to Wrex, accessed his suit's operating system and sent him it signal with the instructions for the SkyTech to send to their chips.

Me: "I just did the same thing as I did with Jinx and 42. I can turn their chips off and stop them from being reset from the outside, but they will still need removing at some point. I've sent you the same signal, your hand's wireless hacking will enable you to send the signal too, it has to be in close contact with their head or back of their neck but you suit will send it automatically, help me speed things along a bit please."

Wrex looked at his hand for a couple of seconds then stepped close to one of the near by SkyTechs, gently pushed his hand out towards his target, a very worried looking male. The signal sent as Wrex got close enough to his head and the Dragon growled in pain, stumbled and fell unconscious onto the SkyTech Dragon sat next to him.

Me: "Might be best as well if you can call some medical staff in for the wounded please." Wrex nodded, stepped back to the door and had a quick word with the Guards who were still looking in before heading back over.

Female: "That looks like it hurts, I don't want you to do it to me."

I turned to the one that spoke,

Me: "It's ok, it's only for a second, this isn't who you are, ok?, you have a past life that you don't remember because it's being kept from you. What's your name?"

Female: "K-87"

Me: "No, you see, you have a real name, and if I do this then you will remember it, ok?..."

She hesitantly nodded and I raised and moved my hand towards her head then paused as I realised something... "...Wait... 'K-87'? As in Kilo -87? Kilo batch?..."

K87 nodded in reply. I thought hard, trying to work out the dates...

'Three weeks... Literally just over three weeks ago I saw her... It had completely slipped my mind! Half of the reason I went to see Kayley was to warn her! To tell her to run and hide! And then fucking Reikon distracted me!...'

I turned my attention back to K87 "...When were you... Err... When was your first memories? I guess you woke up and they told you about you lost your memory in an explosion? Blaming it on amnesia?"

K87: "How do you know-?"

Me: "Don't ask. Trust me, I've been there, but tell me, when was that? When did you wake up?"

K87: "Yesterday?" She replied confused.

Me: "Yester-?! Oh my God!..."

Wrex helped a SkyTech to the floor after knocking out their chip and looked over to me.

Wrex: "What's wrong?"

Me: "Kayley... My Fiancee... She was to be selected for Kilo batch! She could be in here!... They've thrown them into the fucking deep end, no training! *Gasp* Fuck! She could have been killed outside!" I said looking around all the faces staring back at me as I spun on the spot, even looking back at K87, "...or we could be looking right at each other and not even know it!"

Wrex grabbed my shoulders from behind,

Wrex: "Then let's get on and find her shall we?"

I nodded after trying to get myself back in the game.

Me: "Yeah... Yeah. But please, we need to hurry, I need to make sure she's at least alive, even if she has been changed." I quickly raised my hand back up to K87 and disabled her chip, she squealed in pain and I caught her as she collapsed, placing her gently on the floor.

Me: "Probably best if you all lie down, less likely to hurt yourselves when you pass out!" I announced to the hall. They willingly did so, all laying down as per my suggestion.

After going through a dozen or so the couple we did to start with were waking back up already.

Male: "Gah... *Gasp* Oh my God! Why?! How??..." He scurried on over to me, "...Can you change me back?! Please!" He begged, clawing up my leg and grabbing me by the armour on my waist.

Me: "Hey hey hey... Take it easy..." I pulled him upright more, holding his arms to try and comfort him, "...err, look, we will help you as much as we can, I promise, but we need to do the rest of them. The confusion will pass ok, I promise. But can you help us? When the others wake back up, can you ease and comfort them too? And tell them to do the same for the next person. Or we'll have a lot of very confused and upset people in here ok?"

Male: "Erm, yeah... Ok... But then you can change us back, right?"

I tried my hardest to hide my grimace.

Me: "Erm, yeah, help us out then we'll talk about that yeah?" I thought it was best to give them all something to do, in the hope to distract them until we could talk to them. He hesitantly nodded and looked over to K87 who was just stirring herself and he ducked down to her side.

Wrex and myself hurried through the group, it wasn't until we were nearing the end that I came to a Dragon that caught my eye, a male, laid on the floor, that had a fairly athletic physique, stared back at me with grey eyes. My jaw dropped. Wrex walked behind me, but stopped as he noticed my lack of motion then followed my gaze, clearly working out what I knew I could feel...

Wrex: "You reckon...?" He asked me as I crouched down in front of the male.

Me: "I'm sure of it." The male looked worried, the grey eyes now darting between us.

Male: "What? What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me?"

Wrex: "I mean, he is male...?"

Me: "And I'm female." I looked over and up to him and hinted the reminder of McGriffin syndrome.

Male: "Hey, please, if there's something wrong with me then tell me!"

Me: "There's nothing wrong, don't worry. What's your designation?"

Male: "K-Five Nine."

Me: "Right, K-five nine... I know who you are-"

K59: "But I've never met you before?"

Me: "You have, you just don't remember it. Look, right now, I'm not going to unlock your memories, I'll do it later when I can give you my full attention, ok?"

K59: "Err, I guess so?"

Me: "Ok, comfort the others as they wake back up for me ok?"

K59 nodded back to me as I stood back up and myself and Wrex walked away.

Wrex: "Are you sure it's her?"

Me: "Like, 99.99%... right eye colour which is a rare colour anyway. But it's just a feeling, I can't really explain it... Like I can feel our bond there even if I don't recognise her, or rather, him, and he can't remember me."

Wrex: "Should I be worried?"

Me: "About what?"

Wrex: "Well, you just found your fiancée, who is now male and-"

Me: "Wrex? Am I detecting a little bit of jealousy?" I playfully mocked.

Wrex: "Well, I-"

I placed my index finger on his lips,

Me: "You have nothing to fear... I love you, even if that is her, which I'm sure it is, she's my past, she's a friend and that's that's all I'm going to be to her, just like you are with Star Light..."

He winced as soon as I mentioned that name, "...*Gasp* I am soo sorry Wrex, I wasn't thinking!-"

Wrex: "It's nothing."

Me: "I really am sorry."

Wrex: "It's fine..." His eyes welled up slightly, "...Come on, let's get this done."

I sighed slightly, nodded, tip toed and kissed him on the lips. His head dropped as soon as we parted and he turned away to another SkyTech.

__________

Medics attended to those that were injured, took away those to the infirmary who required additional care or overnight watching. A short while before the end, Sarah, 42 and Jinx arrived to help, Sora apparently had to go and talk with the council. So the trio saw to helping calm those that had re-awoken as Wrex and myself finished resetting the last few. Once they were all done and awake again and calmed, I spoke with all that were left, explained the very basics of the situation but did give the blunt and harsh truth, as to not give them any false hope - They were stuck like this, and for the time being they would have to settle in, maybe one day they can go home, but that wasn't a promise, I made it clear.

After that, we instructed some Warrior class Vanguard to take the leftover, now somewhat rather distraught, ex-SkyTech away to available refuge housing as a temporary measure and told to relax and get their minds together. K59 was the only exception to this, I promised him that I will come talk to him in a bit, which he was dubiously ok with. We instructed the Warriors to take him to the one of the guest rooms near to where we were going to be placed.

After our little 'team' saw every one out of the chambers, speaking to the odd one or two ex-SkyTech, to try and comfort them some more, we were shown to our guest rooms in the palace by a couple of Warriors. All 5 of us were the quietest we have been in a long time. It had been a physically and mentally draining day for all. Jinx and 42 were shown to a quarters, as were myself and Wrex to the right of theirs. Sarah was about to take her own to the right of ours but I suddenly remembered about K59!

Me: "Shit!" I exclaimed at the doorway of mine and Wrex's quarters. Sarah had only just entered her doorway herself, heard my profanity and poked her head back out the door.

Sarah: "You alright?"

Wrex: "What's wrong?" He asked from within our quaters.

Me: "I forgot about K59."

Wrex: "Oh shit... So did I."

Me: "I can't just leave him on his own."

Sarah: "Who's K59?"

Me: "I strongly believe that it's Kayley."

Sarah: " *Gasp* Your fiancée?? She's here?? Changed?? Wait, you said 'he'... You mean to say-"

Me: "McGriffin syndrome, yep. And he should be in another quarters down the hall from here, all on his own with the memory block still in place."

Wrex: "Will he not be ok for tonight then? If he doesn't know his past then there's no problem to deal with for tonight.

Me: "True, but I need to see to him, I promised him." I went to leave the doorway when Sarah piped up.

Sarah: "Wait, want me to take care of her? Erm, him? Sorry."

Me: "She's my- you got me doing it now... HE'S my problem, I don't expect you to have to sort it."

Sarah: "It's not a problem, I don't mind. Seriously, you and Wrex haven't seen each other properly in weeks, take advantage of it, please."

Wrex stepped up to my side in the doorway and looked longingly at me.

Me: " *Sigh* Ok ok... Do you reckon I should disable his chip first still though?, And explain what's going on?"

Sarah: "Maybe do as Wrex says, leave it until the morning? Deal with that hassle on a fresh day?"

Wrex: "It's probably best, he'll get a better night's sleep not knowing."

Me: "Ok, I'll do it tomorrow. Let me just go get him-."

Sarah: "Noo... Get your ass in there, tell me where he is and I will get him." She  smiled back at me. I rolled my eyes in amusement in response.

Me: "Fine..." I checked the palace's room allocations to see where he had been placed, "...They took him to the second to last room on the right hand side..." She smiled again and nodded, closed her door and headed off down the hall. "... And Sarah?..." She stopped and turned back to me, "...thank you, I really appreciate it."

She waved a dismissive hand at me.

Sarah: "Ahh... Don't mention it." Turned back and carried on walking.

Wrex guided me inside and closed the door.

Me: "I still feel he's my responsibility."

Wrex: "Relax... Please..." He gently asked as he stepped up to in front of me. "...He'll be fine until the morning..." He kissed me on the forehead, "...now I don't know about you, but I could really do with a shower then straight to bed to get some sleep."

Me: "Err, ok... Shall I meet you in bed?"

Wrex: "Oh... Are you not going to join me for a shower?"

Me: "Great thing about the Shard being stuck to me, personal hygiene isn't an issue, my hair doesn't grow or get greasy, I don't get bad breath, I don't get dirty or sweaty or..." I could see a bit of disappointment in his face, "...and sorry... I just realised that you were trying to be romantic about it." I genuinely apologised sheepishly.

Wrex: "It's ok, you haven't got to-"

I grabbed his hand and started pulling him to the bathroom.

Me: "Nope, you started this, come on, get out of that armour." I replied beaming from ear to ear as I started fully retracting my own, leaving me stark naked.

__________*_Sarah_*__________

Alex disappeared into her room with Wrex, the door closing behind them so I continued making my way down the hall. I made it to the last room on the right and counted one back, coming to a halt at the door. I raised my prosthetic hand to knock at the door but froze... not the limb, but me. I suddenly felt nervous and I had no idea why...

'Was it because I remember having brief conversations with this girl who had no interest in what I had to say when I was trying to tell her about Alex? Well what does it matter? SHE is now a HE, and HE has no idea who I am or what we've ever said to each other before now.' I reasoned with myself, now satisfied with my line of thought and my now calmed nerves, I continued my knocking motion.

A good 15-20 seconds passed, just when I was considering knocking again, the door opened, revealing a rather handsome, athletically built Dragon with rather gorgeous silvery grey eyes.

K59: "Hey- Oh, you're not Alex."

Sarah: "Err... That's right, my name is Sarah, I err... It's... It's been a long day, so I offered to let Alex and her other half, Wrex, have the evening to themselves, it's been a while since they've seen each other, you see... So... Yeah, I offered to come keep you company instead."

K59: "Oh... That's very kind of you to offer... But I was hoping to get my memories back, she did promise."

Sarah: "Ahh, as I say, long day, I think you and her have some sort of history, so she wanted to make sure she could give you her full attention tomorrow after being well rested."

K59: "Oh, I see..."

There was and awkward pause between us for a few seconds.

Sarah: "I err... I'll just go... Leave you to it ok, sorry to bring bad news." And I stepped back to step away.

K59: "No wait..." I held my stance, "...company would be nice. Do you want to come in?" He gestured standing away from the door. I felt a smile appear slightly on my face.

Sarah: "Yeah... Yes, thank you. I'm going to take off my helmet if that's ok?" I asked as I stepped past him into this apartment that looked very similar to the one I was shown a few a few minutes ago by the Warriors. A well furnished and decorated place, even if a bit on the small side as I entered the lounge.

K59: "Er, sure..." He replied, closing the door. I unlatched my open helmet and placed it on the coffee table that sat in front of the sofas. "...want a drink? Only thing is I don't know what they have though, not had time to explore yet."

Sarah: "Err, sure, let's have a look." I followed him into what looked like a fairly standard looking kitchen.

K59: "I've worked out this is a walk-in type fridge, but as to what's what in here, I don't actually know..." He opened a door and stepped into a small walk in fridge freezer and I followed him in, to one side that had a selection of metal bottles. "...err, drinks of some sort?..." He opened one of the bottles, sniffed it's contents and reared his head back, screwing the lid back on, "...whoa, definitely not that one." I chuckled at his reaction before replying,

Sarah: "Preferably non alcoholic, I'm trying to quit, even though I feel like I could do with one after today."

K59: "Well, let's pick one, and only one, and we'll enjoy it yeah? Find something else after?"

Sarah: "Alright, yeah, sure." I gave in and stepped beside him, we both selected a bottle and sniffed it's contents... I couldn't place it... It smelt fruity, but I couldn't smell any alcohol.

'Maybe save that  one for later.' I thought, putting it to one side of the rack.

K59: "Ooo... What about this one?" He offered a bottle under my snout and I took a whiff... It smelt like alcohol and I wanted to say, a bit like strawberries? But I couldn't say for definite... Who knows what this planet has, seeing the 'fruit and/or vegetables' selection on one of the other racks, they had totally different varieties.

Sarah: "Ooo... That smells alright eh?"

He threw his head back and tipped a small bit of its contents in, savouring the taste, then pulling a 'not bad' face.

K59: "Yeah, I think we'll give this a go."

We left the fridge, grabbed some glasses from the kitchen and I went to sit on the sofa, sighing with relief as K59 poured out the odd pinkish orangey liquid. He placed the bottle down, picked up and offered me my glass, so I accepted.

Sarah: "Thank you." He sat down next to me, picking up his glass. I was almost about to take a sip when he offered his glass towards me.

K59: "Cheers." He smiled.

Sarah: "Oh, er..." I brought my glass back down and clinked it with his, "...Cheers..." And we both took a swig, "...ooo, yeah that's not bad, taste kinda... I don't know, something tastes kinda like strawberry... And maybe something like apple?"

K59: "Yeah, not bad what ever it is." He took another swig.

Sarah: "So, do you remember anything from your previous life?"

K59: "No... Nothing important... It's weird isn't it? Like I can walk, talk English and whatever, but I can't remember anything about me."

Sarah: "We're not."

K59: "What?"

Sarah: "We're not talking English, our minds are just interpreting what we're saying in English because it's the basic thing we can understand. Trust me. We're speaking Draconian, if you didn't understand Draconian you'd just be hearing a series of growls essentially."

K59: "How do you know we're speaking Draconian then and not English?"

Sarah: "Two reasons: I know the chip in your head, the default setting for it is to inhibit you speaking English, or any Human language for that matter. To stop you talking to the wrong people. And second reason, I'm actually American, I can hear my accent drops in my own head when I speak Draconian, weird sensation I have to admit."

K59: "But I'm hearing you speak English?"

Sarah: "It's just the easiest thing for your brain to interpret, which is why my accent goes."

K59: "Oh... Hang on, 'American', so you're from Earth? Were you Human and changed by these, 'SkyTech' people that I heard Alex mention as well? Like me?"

Sarah: "Erm, yes and no... Alex and I have helped each other quite a bit now... She was dieing... So I helped her... It almost killed me in doing so. So the only real way of saving me was using SkyTech's method of converting people and changing me as well."

K59: "Soo... You wanted to become a Dragon? Willingly?"

Sarah: "It was either that or I was going to die in a hospital bed, burned, irradiated, internal bleeding. Now I'm only missing an arm, small price to pay." I saw him look at me analytically, I could read his face and it was saying: 'But you have both arms?' so I put my glass down and switched off and unlatched my right arm by thought. I pulled it off of it's connections and held it up at him.

K59: "Jesus! Are you some sort of cyborg or something?!"

I laughed back at him,

Sarah: "Ha ha ha, noo... Just, had my arm amputated after the accident, the rest of me healed, but they can't regrow a whole limb..." I explained as I reattached my arm and reactivated it, picking my glass back up with it, "...so I just built myself one."

K59: "You made that?" He said sounding astonished.

Sarah: "Yeah, I made it. I made the rest of this armour as well."

K59: "You some sort of technical whiz then?"

I mused at his comment, smiling.

Sarah: "Yeah... You could say that."

K59: "Needs a wash though." He mocked. I looked down at it, it was dusty, dirty, and and scuffs and scratches over it.

Sarah: "Well, I was digging through rubble earlier, and fighting."

K59: "I know..." He said solemnly, "...you narrowly missed me at one point, I saw all of you with the black armours earlier in that big hall, yours is the only one with purple lines on it. I am sorry by the way."

Sarah: "Hey, don't be, I'm just glad I didn't hit you."

K59: "You are?"

Sarah: "Sure, none of you deserve this and you seem nice enough."

K59: "But how do I know this is what I'm really like? I might be an asshole for all you know."

Sarah: "If you truly are who Alex thinks you are then you're not an asshole, trust me. From what I've heard of you from Alex, you're alright, you're a good person."

K59: "Do you know me then?"

Sarah: "Well, if it is you, then we spoke, once or twice."

K59: "You did?! What's my name? Was I nice?"

Sarah: "Err, I think Alex wants to help you with that in the morning."

K59: "Please, I want to know who I am, you have no idea what it's like to be told that I have memories and a previous life, but not being able to remember any of it!"

I sighed... It wasn't my place to tell her... Him... Whatever... But guilt was starting to eat at me...

'Hold on... Alex said earlier that she and Wrex used a signal to turn off the chips to release the ex-SkyTech... All except for K59 ofcourse. Alex would have done it her own special way, no doubt. But It would use the wireless hacking of my armours for Wrex being able to accomplish the same effect. Soo...'

Sarah: "Give me a sec..." I reached over and picked up my helmet and placed it back on my head, latching it on and closing the face plates.

K59: "What are you doing?"

Sarah: "Accessing Wrex's armour, looking for something." Which is exactly what I did, I watched on my HUD, holographic representations of what I was doing, but being willed by my thoughts. I opened the wireless link to Wrex's armour, started looking through the processes folders, hacking, recent hacks...

K59: "You can do that?"

Sarah: "Of course, I made all the armours like this one that you saw earlier..." ...I found it, a signal that was repeated over a hundred times today and originally sent by Alex to Wrex's armour. "...Ok, got it, I have the same signal Wrex and Alex were using earlier..." I opened my face plates to talk to him directly. "...Are you ready? I don't exactly know what will happen."

K59: "From watching the others, I know it hurts a little, so as ready as I can be."

Sarah: "Right, ok..." I got up and walked around behind the sofa and stood behind him, "...ready?"

K59: "Go for it."

I placed my hand on the back of his head and sent the signal. K59 gowled in pain, grabbing his head then fell limp and toppled forwards, smashing through the glass coffee table and our drinks and he remained still

Sarah: "OH SHIT!..." I leapt over the sofa and picked him up, holding him in my arms, shaking him as I spoke, "...five nine?! Five nine are you ok?!..." He groaned... So he was alive... "...hey, talk to me, are you alright?" His eyes fluttered open and he turned to look at me.

K59: "Ohh... My head..." He groaned painfully, "... what's my name?"

Sarah: "You don't remember?"

K59: "I think it's coming back to me... Just confirm it for me."

Sarah: "If you are who Alex thinks you are... then it's Kayley... Is it?" He leapt up out of my arms, crunching over the smashed glass.

K59: "Oh my God..." He said holding his head, I stood back up in front of him. He looked down at his hands, then down at the rest himself, "...this is real? Isn't it? This isn't a dream, and I'm a guy! What the hell?! How is this possible?!!"

Sarah: "Take it easy ok, are you actually Kayley?"

K59: "Yes! I'm Kayley!"

Sarah: "Sorry, you hadn't actually said til then."

Kayley: "Oh my god! My life is ruined!"

Sarah: "Hey hey hey, far from it, you're alive aren't you?" I replied trying to comfort him, snapping my faceplates back open.

Kayley: "Well yeah but-"

Sarah: "But nothing... Your life isn't over... It's just... Starting again, I guess."

Kayley: "But I had a life, I had a job, a house, friends, family..."

Sarah: "It's not the end of the world... You still have friends, you have Alex."

Kayley: "I guess... But... she's got Wrex, now I have no one, again."

I slumped slightly seeing the upset look on his face.

Sarah: "Well, maybe so. But she's still your friend at least."

Kayley: "Hmm... Ok, I guess."

Sarah: "And I'm here for you as well."

A smile somewhat creeped up his face, but quickly faded.

Kayley: "Thank you." He replied, still sounding a bit glum.

Sarah: "I'm sorry, I should have waited until the morning when Alex was with us."

Kayley: "No it's fine, I pushed, I wanted to know, now I'm just paying the price for it. God, I was better off not knowing."

Sarah: "I could... Switch it back on, if you want?"

Kayley looked at me for a long time before finally replying with a slight shake of the head.

Kayley: "No... Alex got on with it... He told me-, sorry, SHE... she told me that there was no going back and what she had gone through and how she just got on with it... I need to do the same."

Sarah: "That's good, well done..." I stroked his upper arm to comfort him and smiled. He looked down at the remains of the table and glasses and sighed,

Kayley: "I'm gonna need another drink."

__________*_Alex_*__________

---The following morning---

I stood leant in the railing of balcony, armoured up to my colar, sighing as I relaxed at an eerily peaceful morning sun rise over the quiet city below. Even though being naked was accepted here, my body looked mostly human, so it just didn't feel right. I felt Wrex's presence approach me from inside the apartment, before he even managed to get to the balcony doorway.

Me: "Morning." I said without even moving.

Wrex: "Morning... I didn't even feel you get up. How long have you been up for?" He asked standing behind me placing his hands on my waist.

Me: "Hmm... A few hours."

Wrex: " 'Hours'? Why? Couldn't sleep?..." I shook my head, "...why not? And how come you didn't wake me?"

Me: "You were out of it... And I didn't want to wake you with my issues. Plus I don't actually really need to sleep as much as I use to."

Wrex: "Alex... We've been through this. You don't have to suffer through things on your own." I spun around to look up at him.

Me: "I know... But you didn't kill your friend's mum, who also happened to be the bloody queen!"

Wrex: "And neither did you... Alex, no one blames you for what happened."

Me: "But I should have been stronger."

Wrex: "Come on now, Sora doesn't blame you so stop blaming yourself... Please?"

Me: "One day, I might... I just need some time."

Wrex: "How about today you sort out and spend some time with Kayley?"

Me: "You won't mind or get jealous?" I playfully mocked him.

Wrex: "No, I trust you... But if he gives you any problems I might have to knock him around a little." He stated with a slight mocking grin.

Me: "Ha ha, that sounds fair, I'd love to see that... Actually, no, that will make things awkward. *Sigh* Reckon I should pop down there now?"

Wrex: "Maybe a little early, but up to you."

Me: "Think I'd rather get it done and out of the way..." I looked back over my shoulder at the sun rise well and truly making its way into the sky now, "...it is beautiful, eh?"

Wrex: "The view directly in front of me is even more so in my opinion."

I turned my head back, trying to hold back a blush,

Me: "You're such a charmer aren't you?"

__________

I knocked on K59's door... gave it a minute, but no answer... So I knocked again... Still no answer...

'Maybe it was an invasion of privacy, but I just want to check on him...'

I used the layer of my vision that picks up energy signatures, combining it with my ability to see through solid objects... Directly ahead of the door was the yellow glow of two bodies in the center of the blue outlined room, lying collapsed and still on the sofa.

'TWO bodies?? They're alive... but still...'

I hovered my hand over the door lock, hacking the lock controls, opened the door and stepped inside.

Me: "What the...?"

Sarah was asleep in K59's lap, stripped of her armour from her waist up and K59 was partially slumped in an uncomfortable angle over her.

Me: "What the hell happened here?"

Sarah snapped awake and partially shot upright, a drinks bottle fell from her arm and landed on the floor and clattered with a great many others and a smashed glass table. Sarah's dreary looking eyes screwed up and squinted with instant regret upon her sudden motion and groaned in discomfort.

Sarah: "mmm-nnhh... I camn expain- Explon... Explaayyn... I think... Kayley? Kayley!... Cann you explain? To your- to our friend, they're over there... Kayley!"

Sarah tapped Kayley hard on the thigh and he snorted awake and sat upright and groaned uncomfortably as well, rubbing his eyes.

Me: " 'Kayley'? You told her already?"

Sarah: "Maybe... Maybee teen tiny teeny wee bit more." Pinching her thumb and index finger together and varied the distances between the a few times while staring at them intently. I accessed Sarah's suit... went through the history... Found that she had downloaded a copy of the hack from Wrex's armour and used it once last night.

Me: "You deactivated his chip?!"

Sarah: "Noo."

Kayley: "Yes you did." He said groggily as his head flopped over the back of the sofa.

Sarah: "Nooo... Wait... yes-en... I did... my bad."

Me: "Jesus Christ!, How much did you drink?!"

Sarah: "One... One glass... One bottle. Maybe two... I'm sorry."

I received an incoming call from Sora, I could see on my HUD as I brought it on in my mind's eye and answered it.

Me: "Yes Sora?"

Sora: "Morning. I need to talk to you about a couple of things. Can you meet me in the morgue please?"

Me: "The morgue?? Err... Can it wait? Got a little bit of a problem I need to sort."

Sora: "I'd prefer not to wait. I can give directions."

Me: "No need, thanks. I still know this place from Reikon's memories that she kindly left in my head. I'll be there in about 2 minutes."

Sora: "Right... Thank you, see you soon."

And I ended the call...

Me: "You two need to seriously sober up, I want to talk to you both later."

Sarah: "Yes mum." She lazily waved her dismissive hand away at me as she collapsed back onto Kayley's lap. I turned, back, closing the door behind me and entered straight into a Jump.

__________

The Jump exited me just down the hall from the morgue, the Honour Guards at the door, not quibbling at all at my presence, even as I made my way inside. There, to one side of a typical looking morgue, maybe with just slightly larger freezers, stood Sora, arms crossed beside two gurneys. I steadily made my way over to her and she glanced over her shoulder at me as I walked up beside her, eyeing up what, or rather, who lay in front of her. It was Reikon. Stripped of my old armour that she was wearing yesterday in the fight with a large blackened crater in her chest.

Sora: "How are you feeling?"

Me: "Alright I suppose... Better than her that's for sure." I said nodding down at her body.

Sora: "Indeed... Alex... I need to know a few things if I am to completely trust you again."

Me: "Okay?... What do you want to know?"

Sora: "First off, is she gone from your head, as in completely? You mentioned memories-"

Me: "Memories are all there is left of her now, they're just imprinted along with my own, just kinda added before them. A thousand years of memories, leading up like a prequel to my own memories. But that's it. Before I could feel her, as soon as we entered the domain of the Heart, simultaneously I kicked her out and she left me."

Sora: "Uh-huh... Ok, next question... Where is the Shard?"

Me: "It's... In my armour."

Sora: "Okay... This will be the hard question... Alex, the Shard is too powerful to leave out in the open world, it should be under lock and key. Now I know you have grown use to it's powers, but I'm sorry, this is too important... We need it back, so will you give it to us?"

Me: "I'll tell you what Sora, if you can get it out, without killing me, then by all means." I opened the back compartment between my wings and turned my back to Sora, looking over my shoulder at her. She eased her stance and stared closer at it.

Sora: "Is that...?..." She reached out and gave it it a little tug, pulling me at the same time, "... it's fused to you??" She stood back up straight.

Me: "Yeah, I tried to pull it out before. I don't really know what to say. I would give it back, but you'd end up killing me... Future me told me so."

Sora: " 'Future you'? You know what, I don't even want to know... Close it back up will you..." I turned back to my original stance and closed the hatch, hiding the Shard once more. "... killing you isn't an option, so who knows you have it?"

Me: "Err, Wrex, Sarah, Jinx and 42... but I don't think any of them even know it's stuck in me, apart from Wrex."

Sora: "I'd like to keep it that way if you don't mind then please. The less people that know that you actually have it, the better. But you really need to be careful, Draconians sensitive to it's power might sniff you out still."

Me: "I will take that under advisement."

Sora: "Good. I have to ask, what happened in the Heart? You said you were in a 'domain'?"

Me: "As soon you got me to the Heart, Reikon and I instantly separated. We fought, maybe a good half hour, maybe more, I lost track."

Sora: "But you were only gone a few seconds?"

Me: "Time has no meaning in the Heart. Anyway, the longer we fought, our attacks became more and more violent. But after dealing damage to the other we both healed far too quickly. Once we were separated I stopped her using the Shard because I'm connected to it, but she was using the power of the Heart instead. So I saw only one alternative to stop her. I destroyed the Heart."

Sora: "You?! You did that?!! Alex, that crystal was a symbol to our people, a source of power!"

Me: "What choice did I have?! It was that or be stuck in an eternal battle with Reikon! And on a side note, if it was a symbol for your people, why was it locked away? Why have so few been exposed to it to be able to use it's powers?! Sora, I'm not taking sides because it's not my place, but I understood Reikon's motives-"

Sora: "You what?!" She took a step back and stood defensively.

Me: "Not like that... Just hear me out ok? I know you think similarly. Reikon hated the fact that the rest of your planet is in poverty and that Axis Mundis seems to tower above the rest. But, your mother and your grandmother could never see it, or maybe turned a blind eye to it. I've seen it myself Sora, through Reikon's memories, people around the world begging her for help, I felt what she felt... She wanted to help, she really did. But rather than fight for the people and be their voice, she made them fight. She saw her sister, your mother, as a threat to any chance of helping them. So as I say, right motives... Just... wrong methods. As harsh it sounds Sora, and I'm sorry it's coming from me, but you being in line for the throne now is a good thing. You said it yourself, change is coming and it's needed. Be the Queen that Reikon should have been, not the one she saw herself as."

Sora turned and stared at Reikon's still lifeless corpse. She paused for a very long time before finally making a slow nod,

Sora: "Ok... Okay... I mean, it's automatic. I'm already the Queen. Maybe not officially but as next in line, with my mother's death, I've automatically become the Queen... I've just got to do the job right. But I need your help with this, I want to make a deal with you."

Me: "What have you got in mind?"

Sora: "I need you on my side, my right hand woman, so to speak. I'm not going to send you out to assassinate people who might oppose the throne or anything like that, but I need you to put a stop to Sky High Technologies, clean up the mess that she started..." She tipped and gestured her head to Reikon, "...Then, and maybe a little at the same time, we can aid the people... I want to do right by them."

Me: "And what do I get out of it?"

Sora: "What ever you want, what ever you need."

Me: "You might not like it, but I need no holds barred."

Sora: "You're refering to the SkyTech yeah? Not Draconia?"

Me: "Of course. This isn't my planet, unless it's related to SkyTech here then it's your say."

Sora: "Well let's face it, you were pretty much doing that anyway so that's fine, do what you got to do on Earth, but make us proud. But good... good... I have only one request for you to complete before hand."

Me: "That being?"

Sora: "I want you to go to our science labs, specifically medical. If you could allow them please, I want them to give you a full scan."

Me: "What? Why?"

Sora: "Alex, you are the first of your kind, and you have the Shard. Surely you would like to learn as much about you as possible? Or if there are any ill side effects of your connection?"

I contemplated her request, it was true, I was curious about myself.

(-Paramore)