Part 89

Now with the files unlocked, I can see the fates of all the people Mastaba has operated on in his time here on Daedalus. I've got to be one of these people.



Strom, Nestor. This has to be me, the designation AP-127 is the same as mine, and the fact that he was put into cell 3 just clinches it.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting to find... but this isn't it. I never figured I was so... old.

Nestor Strom was the captain of the ship Ambassadoria, the ship that first found the dormant Phyxx ship floating through space. Dane was on that ship as well. It says that I was badly injured when the Phyxx attacked, and no doubt when the Mondites came to the "rescue", they figured I and the rest of the crew would be wonderful test subjects.

Dane and I were the only ones to live through the whole process, although since granting Dane's wish for death, I'm the only one left.



Poor Dane. I try to feel a little bit more of something for him, laying there, but though he might've served under me at one time back when I was Nestor Strom. I wish things had turned out differently, but wishing won't change anything.



I'm already pressing my luck. The reactor could go at any time. I'd better get myself back to the Icarus.



As I drag my battered frame to the Icarus hangar, it strikes me that this base is the only home I've ever known. Every single one of my memories is here. It hasn't even been a whole day, but for me, it's a lifetime.



Even so, I can't say I'm sad to leave at last.





The Icarus doesn't seem to have been molested at all, thankfully. I'll bet Mastaba didn't figure on me getting a battery powerful enough to run this thing. Otherwise he probably would've destroyed it to keep me here.



It's a good thing I left this battery here. It should have just enough charge to keep me going.





I hope Gen's battery has enough juice left in it to run this ship. Here goes nothing.



Finally something goes my way! The ship hums to life. Time to leave this place behind at last.







Hmm, there don't seem to be any controls to open the airlock.

I guess that's why there's a red button on the stick labelled 'CANNON'. I wonder what it does?





Whoops, I seem to have broken the door. I guess Mastaba can send me the repair bill later.



Free at last. Though the Icarus isn't capable of getting into orbit, if the Phyxx's gravity ring can get their strange blockships into orbit, it'll work for me as well.



The gravity ring grabs hold of the Icarus, speeding it up at a ridiculous rate. I think a normal human would be crushed under this kind of acceleration, and even I have a hard time staying conscious during the initial stage of acceleration.





Looks like Gen and his friends are here to send me off.

It's good to see that so many of them were still alive. There must be a hundred on each one of those ships.





As we speed away into space, I look back through the viewscreen. I can see the base's reactor going critical and tearing the moon apart.

So long, Daedalus. It's been realistic.

I settle back in the Icarus's cockpit, surrounded by the drone of the engines. I seem to remember how to fly a spacecraft, probably a holdover from my past life.

My repair systems are slowly doing their work, but it'll take me a while to fully heal up from all the bumps and bruises I've taken getting to this point.

Funny... this is the first time I've sat down since I woke up in my cell.

It's kinda nice, actually.



Epilogue:

I've been following the Phyxx for some time now. I don't have much of a choice in the matter, as the Icarus doesn't have the power for long range spaceflight on its own. Fortunately they have a way of transmitting power directly into the Icarus's battery as long as I stay close to them.

I'm not sure exactly where they're leading me, but it feels right for me to be with them. I've already saved their race, it would only make sense for me to see it through and be with them when they reestablish themselves on another planet in the distant reaches of the galaxy.

I still want to get back at Mastaba and the rest of the Mondites for what they've done, but it will have to wait for now. Some day, I'll come back, and won't Mastaba be surprised when he wakes up with the metal hands he gave me wrapped around his throat?

Wherever happens, the Phyxx will live on. I've fulfilled my promise to Escher.

Escher's final gift to me was the chance to find out who I really am. Now that I know, I can't really say it means that much. I'm not that person anymore, and I never will be again.

I'm as much Phyxx as I am human, and they even decided to give me a place amongst them. I doubt I'd get such a warm reception from humanity at this point.

I can't reclaim my past. But maybe I can make myself a new future.

- d2145-1142,
Leader/Soldier Lex