Part 24: One Year Later

Wow, this is a short game! We've gone on two (chosen) dates and it's already a whole year later!? I really wanted to have more dates with Isol, or some of the other romanceable characters...





At least it seems as if Ezra's relationship with Isol is stronger than it has ever been. Good on you them!



: It wasn't our idea. A lot of things about where Mom is resting wasn't our idea.

: But you can't be one of the Fantastic Four without getting a little sensational, I guess.



: *Pfft* Yeah, it's great.

: Every time I come here, I'm just waiting for the day that I find her tombstone knocked over or vandalized or something so that whoever did it would get their fifteen minutes of fame.



Hello there, pops. You didn't shave to come see your wife's grave? Well, maybe she loved that glorious beard.

: That's–

: ... Well, that's reassuring to hear, I guess.





: But I'm glad you did.

: Well, it's like I told you, Ezra.



: And I wouldn't dodge the chance to say hello to the doyenne that raised the Earthling I adore.

It's true love, ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary finery.

: That said, I can't see us reaching her all that regularly. Going on the railcar to journey three-and-one hours to Section One is a real... dedication.

: How regularly do you and your dad reach here?

: Dad and I try to visit her every month. This would be the first anniversary since her procession.



: She said those exact words in the message she had left me.

: Mine, too.



: To what? Like, once every other month?

: Maybe. If not later. The travelling is a bit expensive, too.

: I mean... I'm okay with that. I agree; Mom would be totally satisfied with us keeping her in her thoughts, rather than us visiting a too-big tombstone that she definitely wouldn't have wanted so often. I don't remember visiting her parents' tombs more than once a year.

: But I also think this is a discussion we should be having another time.



: ... Hnn.



: Well, I mean... Dad and I like to talk with her a little bit.

: We're well aware that it's a rock, but... I don't know. It feels a little better, saying the words rather than just thinking them, you know?

: Greater than you realize.



: What's up?

: We have a visitor.



: ... That's Gabriel Houston. He was Mom's commanding officer.

And he's all decked out in his military garb, too. He must be giving Eden a proper military visit.

: He was the one who told me and Dad that Mom had–

: When a man comes into your house and tells you that someone you loved died, you tend to... remember absolutely everything about that whole encounter.

: His words; his clothes; his face. I'd recognize him from a mile away.

: I probably shouldn't mention that he's the one that made the command for Mom to go on that suicide run... knowing Isol, she might take it as poorly as I did.



: ...



I don't think Gabriel was meant to "spawn in" just yet. Oops!

: You remember how he was that day. Ezra, he was crushed. And we were the second family out of four that he had to deliver the news to.

: Besides, that's my wife's grave. The devil himself couldn't keep me from visiting her.

: ... Yeah, you're right. I've had my time to heal.

: I'm sort of curious if Gabriel's had enough time, himself.



: ...



: ... I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met.



: It's quite rare to see a Ghian all the way out here in Galilei. Were you born here?





: A year and some months after the war had ended, we're still all trying to cope with it all. Earth is hardly a suitable place to live even now, and it won't be for some time yet.

: It's hard to see our Ghian allies and guests displaced so far not just from Ghi, but from what was meant to be their home-away-from-home.

: I know it's neither Ghi nor Earth, but I hope Galilei is at least providing you with whatever comforts it can.

: ...



: Each occasion I listened to or talked with one, it was on how I 'needed to do this' or 'stick with doing that'. That one occasion, with the android on the codex – once the war had ended, it said that 'restoring Earth was an Earthling issue'.



: So, it's a nice change to hear an Earthling with your authority actually treat a Ghian with a little worth.

: Well... as I said, we're all victims. Showing you empathy as I would my fellow Earthlings is the least I could do.

Looks like Isol watched that speech from Vance, too. Carla said, ages ago, that this was an attempt from the military to keep relevance, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe it political posturing from the Earth administration, trying to show strength against some opportunistic Ghian factions or even humans who were in other planets? Did Gabriel, if he was part of it, and the brass agree on the messaging beforehand? You'd think those who helped in the fighting would also want to assist in the rebuilding effort...

: That aside: relocating to Galilei wasn't all cruel.





Even Gabriel is touched by interspecies love.



: The same thing that brings you here, I imagine.

: We're here... to say hi to Mom. And plant some flowers at her grave.

: I, too, am here to pay my respects.



: Visiting the graves of the crew on the anniversaries of their burials is something that I plan on doing the rest of my life, frankly.

: With your permission, that is. She is your mother and wife before she is my soldier. I wouldn't want to make things awkward.

: Not at all; I'm sure Eden would be happy to know that she made such an impact on the people close to her.

: That's one way to put it. She and three other people on that ship saved two solar systems.

: That says that you're going to go to the other three sites later today, right?

: No; the soldiers' monuments are placed where they lived, and only Eden was from Titan, let alone Aerodrome Galilei. Visiting all of the graves is going to take me several weeks across the whole solar system.

: And I've already visited Bíblos' grave; I only have two more to visit after this one.

: Which I promise is a coincidence.

: It's... pretty fortunate that they were all buried within a short enough time frame that you could jump across the entire system and visit them on their anniversaries.

: That is not a coincidence, actually. It was deliberately planned this way so that families of the servicemen and women could visit them sequentially – although the timing may be a little tight.



: How are you two doing, by the way?



: Well, if you'd like to answer in general, I'd understand.



: But that's not to say it's been easy. I only stopped sleeping in the guest room a few months ago.



: That's explicitly what she told us to do, anyway.

: Yeah.

: It hasn't been easy. At the start, Dad and I were kinda... well... we were in a bad way. We got through the worst of it with each other's help.

: And I wouldn't have even thought to make that sort of progress if I didn't have Isol. In a way, it's thanks to her that we're in the shape we are, now.



: That's reassuring.

Lizard lover, she'll get a hold on you, believe it.

: ... How about you, though? You weren't exactly handling delivering the news all that well yourself at the time.

: Oh, I'm handling it about as well as you two. As with you, it gets easier day-to-day, one step at a time.

: My squadron may have been the heroes of two systems, but that doesn't change the fact that I had to... make that final order, myself. It had been a long while since I had gotten any decent sleep.

: I'm happy to say that I seem to be over that as well, though.

: Well, that's – I don't want to say that's good, that you're recovering from your sleeping issues, but it's good to hear that you're recovering like we are.

: Or, to use a word you used: it's reassuring. I'm sure Mom is glad that we're all getting on with our lives, even if we all miss her.

: ... Heh. Thanks. And well said.



: How is Kirby doing, Ezra?



Well, shit. Looks like the AI-copying jig is up.