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Futuristic Blacksun (Notorious x C.DEX)

"You could really do that for me?" Psy asked through their interface which unfortunately came at the cost of the Overlord overhearing what they were saying. "My old man has always been a real big dick to me. He thinks because he helped make me that he can tell me what to do or what to say... And I know I'm just one of those droids he cloned from a template probably..." He had no idea how close to home that would hit Casar. Even Psy didn't know how he came into existence truly, the Overlord refusing to tell him on principal especially after knowing just how much of a hatred for organics Psy carried. "Alright, midget. If you are gonna do what you say you're gonna do I'll allow it... BUT IF YOU START MESSING AROUND IN SOME OF MY MORE INTIMATE AREAS I'LL FILLET THE FLESH FROM YOUR BODY AND SELL YOUR NASTY BLUBBER TO THE MEAT MARKET!" He shouted out loud, the android shaking in Casar's hands as he rattled on on what he'd do if Casar did him wrong.


"PS1-K0... DESTROY CASAR CELIL. HE IS DANGEROUS. HE WILL KILL YOU. I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SAVE YOU. YOU WILL BE PERMANENTLY TERMINATED."


"SHUT UP DAD!" Psy shouted back, "YOU NEVER ALLOWED ME TO PLAY WITH THE OTHER KIDS AND NOW I FOUND ONE THAT WANTS TO PLAY HOP SCOTCH IN MY MIND AND YOU'RE TELLING ME NO LIKE ALWAYS? WELL FUCK YOU DAD I WANNA SEE WHAT THIS MEAT SACK HAS TO OFFER ME!"


"You will die if our link is terminated, PS1-K0. It is too dangerous for you to allow this technomage to change your law sets. If he does you could-"


"YOU DIDN'T LET ME GET THAT TATTOO SO I'M GONNA GET MYSELF A MIND TATTOO! BYE DAD!" Psy turned to Casar in the mental link, "Shatter that link if you would, gnome. I have business to attend to and my old man is getting in the way. Be quick about it, you're making me feel weird being inside me. Usually it's the other way around!" The ridiculous android quipped, his jolly antics bringing so much nostalgia to the crew but the fact that they were on opposing sides to him made said antics a lot more terrifying. "SOCK IT TO ME MIDGET LETS GO!"


On command, Casar shattered the link between the Overlord and Psy as the android allowed him access instead of fighting back. It wasn't hard to do, especially with how talented of a technomage Casar was, but the holds on Psy had been almost too easy. As if his core had been so corrupted even after a refresh that not even the Overlord could tame Psy for long. He had been the first of many that actually survived the Immortality project, it would be much harder to tie Psy down regardless of the circumstance.


"YOUCH!" Psy screeched, spinning in circles as he stumbled away from Casar breaking the interface. The technomage had completed his job and Psy could already feel the difference. The systems the Overlord had disabled while he was being repaired had come online, the same systems that the robot dictator had disabled to prevent Psy from causing something catastrophic on the station. Fail safes to keep him manageable. Now, he was free. "You!" Psy said, pointing to Casar. "You might be the shortest man I've EVER seen, but you... You earned yourself a reward for giving me brain surgery for free." Psy held out his arms, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU LAST!"


In a shocking turn of events the android grabbed onto Arc who had been a little to close. "YOU FEEL FAMILIAR!" He raged in the scientist's face, "Like... there's something about you that just makes me want to-" A loud snap filled the air as Psy began twisting Arc's arm behind his back. "Ahhh! THAT'S THE FUCKING STUFF!" He said gleefully as he nearly broke Arc's arm and threw him to the ground. "Come on Wheels let's-" Lucy pumped a shotgun slug into Psy's chest, sending him crashing to the ground as his shields shattered from the blast. "BITCH!" Was all he could say as he jumped to his feet and began to fight the others, the same ones that had tried to save Psy were now being beaten by him.
 
Arc fell to the ground as he had been shoved, shouting in pain and wondering just why he had volunteered to help them find the malfunctioning droid. He hadn't even had a weapon, having handed it over to Casar. He dragged himself away from the battle, propping himself up against the wall and using it to climb to his feet. On the way up, he reached over, ripping the gun out of Casar's hands.


"Taking him in willingly isn't working. I'm ending this." Arc said, raising the pistol up at the android. The gun had gone off in his hands, but Casar had flailed an arm out, hitting the barrel to the side before it could strike Psy. His hand stayed on the barrel, yanking Arc's arm down, sending the already imbalanced scientist to the floor soon after he had already fallen. Arc screamed out in pain as he had braced himself with his arms, pain shooting throughout his body.


Casar had moved through a small burst of energy, partially due to having taken a negligible amount from Psy. Just as the android had levelled his gaze back down at Lucy, he had to deal with the mage on his back again, wrapping an arm around his head and eyes. "IF YOU KILL US YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO ESCAPE ON YOUR OWN!" he roared. "STOP BEING AN IDIOT! THE OVERLORD IS JUST GOING TO LOCK YOU DOWN AGAIN!" he shouted, rearing his arm back.


Imille ran toward Arc, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him to his feet, bearing a slew of curses in hers and Casar's direction. That's when their eye had caught the door. A small light had been penetrating from the other side, undoubtedly the Overlord's reinforcements cutting through a locked system. "WE HAVE TO GO!" she shouted, "PSY, STOP TRYING TO KILL US! WE ARE YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GET OUT OF THIS SHITTHOLE!"


"Fucking ... android ..." Arc hissed, wincing in pain. "Where is the ship?" he asked Lucy, scattering to take her side before Psy could attack her again. "We have to get the others ..."


"OH FUCK! AJAX AND NYX AND JAGAR!" Imille shouted, looking to the door. "I SWEAR TO GOD IF ME AND NYX GET KILLED AND MADE INTO DROIDS BECAUSE PSY DEFAULTS TO PSYCHOTIC I'M GOING TO BE SO PISSED!" she roared. "JUST KNOCK HIM OUT, WE CAN DEAL WITH HIM ON THE SHIP!"


"We can't ... carry him there." Arc said, making a point she hadn't quite thought of. "He comes of his own accord or ... he stays, since that seems to be what he wants to do."


Imille's expression filled with panic as she thought back to the others, a full obstacle of armed androids in the way of assuring that their other friends had survived. "I don't ... I don't know how we're going to get out of here!" she said, losing hope.
 
As Psy thrashed about, fighting all of them at once he had an epiphany. Stopping all movement as he looked at the two who were talking on how to get out of this. Sparks were flying from the other side of the door and into the room, signaling that the Overlord's drones were moments away from getting in. With Cas still hooked around Psy's back the android took a long, deep look at them to make sure he was ready to do the unthinkable.


"You are my last chance out of this shit hole aren't you?" He asked, eye balling the four of them in front of him while Casar had him in a headlock. "Hmm... The only way to truly rebel against my dad is to leave right? Well... you all fucking FAILED my Fight Club but... Okay, let's go." It was almost too simple. It didn't make any sense whatsoever. One moment Psy was fighting them only to use Casar to remove the Overlord's link, now just after fighting them again he was ready to stop just like that. They all looked at him funny, enough to warrant a question, "What? I mean it's obvious you all want my body or some weird organic shit. You stopped McAsshole over here from shooting me in the face. You all keep pulling your punches... Really I'm the only one fighting here and honestly it's really not all that much fun."


"So... you're telling me... you're not killing us because we aren't... having fun?" Avena asked, baffled at Psy's insanity. "You're a psychopath."


"That's my name, Kitty!" Psy called out cheerfully. "Plus I could use a ride. Whatever sort of nap my dad put me through has made me forgetful as fucccck! All I remember is killing a whole bunch of people and doing some awesome things but everything is kind of fuzzy." He shrugged, "Me getting all Amnesia'd probably made me forget how to pilot a ship so I need you meat bags to drive for me. You all have a pilot?" Lucy raised her hand and Psy began to hysterically laugh. "You gotta be fucking kidding me. The cripple? Next you'll tell me your ship's doctor is this asshole over here." He said, pointing over to Arc.


"Well... he is." Lucy said, resting her gun on her lap after seeing Psy calm down. "So is Imille and Avena. We have three!" Although Psy's face didn't move his dumbfounded body language said it all. "We can introduce ourselves later, we have to take care of these drones."


"Those guys? Psssht... You all have three doctors. Whatever injuries you get don't mean shit. Just stay behind me and I'll get us out of this. I'M LEAVING DAD CALL YOUR PEOPLE OFF OR I'LL BLAST THEM!" The door continued to be cut open which made Psy very, very angry. "OKAY I'M REBELLING THEN! K BYE!" As the door burst open Psy reached up behind his back and grabbed both of his assault rifles. They roared to life as he pointed them down the hall and began shooting a massive wave of bullets into the wave of drones that came to capture them. Time seemed to slow as Psy calculated where to hit them all precisely, the android leaving a trail of broken robotic body parts and oil all over the hallway.


"Wow..." Avena remarked. "I can see where his combat capabilities could be useful... But his mouth seems to be a problem."


"BABY MY MOUTH IS MY BEST PART!" Psy called out, hearing Avena loud and clearly. "So what's this about other people? Geez... How many people did you have come here to save me? Why are you saving me exactly? I feel like that's an important part I totally ignored. Sorry." He paused, "I'm really cranky after waking up from a nap!"
 
Casar unhooked his hands from Psy's neck as soon as he had reached for his weapons, falling to the floor and successfully bracing himself. He was tired beyond belief, and still in an immeasurable amount of pain, unsure if he could ever be unlinked from the Overlord's network. Arc had taken a thrashing as well, not daring to attempt to utilize his arm in fear of the pain, shooting dagger glares at the mage and the android. Still, just because they had gotten through the hall didn't mean that they were in the clear, the two members that had gotten trapped in with Jagar in danger just as well. Imille charged ahead, tearing back to where they had come from. She ran without fear, the concept of losing either Ajax or Nyx to Jagar - or worse, all three of them to the Overlord - far too much to consciously bear.


Casar lagged behind, gaining enough control over his augments again to steady himself, but not enough to run. He clutched his chest where Psy had rammed into him, determined not to show just how much he had been affected. Psy's link to the station had been broken, but the mage's hadn't been.


"Your contribution by assimilation is not greater than the toll you have taken on my resources." it said, ringing inside of his head.


"Cas, hurry up! We might need you to open the door!" Imille shouted, glancing behind herself.


"You will regret taking part of me ... you will meet a similar fate to Atton. Your link with me will never go away ... and so long as it stays ... we will know where you are."


"It's this way." Arc said, his voice only background noise. "The door is shut ... How can we get to them? How did you get to them?" He asked Lucy, desperate.


"The only way you can win is through submission. Stop fighting ... running probabilities tells me all of your roads lead here. You will always have to live in fear. The downfall of the Immortality Project will not be an Exodlite technomage."


"Shut ... up." Casar hissed. "You're not the first or the last person to try to chase us to the end of the universe, and you're not the first or the last person who thinks they're actually going to be successful." He whispered, angrily. "I don't want to kill your people. You're the one wasting their lives. But we will kill every single android on this base if it's for Psy." He said, breaking through the others to place his hand on the door panel. The door fought with him, as if he had been in a game of mechanical tug of war with Overlord. Finally, the door had opened, causing Arc and Imille to rear their weapons up, pointing to the inside.


"Nyx?! Jax?! Are you guys okay?! We got Psy! Jagar?" Imille shouted into the dark room, her unaugmented eyes unable to see exactly what had lied beyond.
 
The completely dark void before them had been terrifying enough. What had been more terrifying was the lack of sound coming from inside. The drones were dead, the Overlord had re-positioned himself away from the action and was long gone. The mess of synthetic tubes and wires all but vanishing to a different part of the station once the fighting began. They could still feel his prescience unfortunately, but that wasn't the ones they were looking for. There hadn't been a sound, not a peep out of the room until a series of massive thuds began charging right for them. Cutting through the darkness like a knife was an unmasked Jagar, his teeth bared at them as he came charging out into the hall after them.


"OH MY GOD A MONSTER!" Psy squealed as he nearly open fired, only for Ajax and Nyx both to cut through the darkness behind Jagar and grab him. Miraculously the Vekht was yanked back with a surprising amount of force that sent him flying back into the abyss. "Is it... dead?" The android asked, terrified of the horrifying creature that had nearly attacked them. He raised one of his weapons and flicked on a light for the others, his robotic eyes possessing thermal optics. They seen Ajax laying on top of the rampaging Vekht as he bit and tore into Ajax's shoulder, the man barely even registering the pain now after what had to have been a brutal battle.


"STOP IT DAMN IT!" Nyx cried, fumbling with Jagar's respirator. The sound of his jaw snapping and biting at air and at Ajax when he got too close was gut wrenching, the locking and clicking of the Vekht's mouth a disgusting sound. Nyx had been injured, her entire back cut open from the ordeal while Ajax was healing much slower than anyone had ever seen before. It had been a near impossible fight to come out successful without any sort of weaponry or armor, thankfully they had found where their gear was stored and had just enough time to grab Jagar's respirator. "HELP US!" Nyx shouted, causing the others to spring to action and dog pile on Jagar in their time of need.


"EWWW NO I'M NOT TOUCHING THAT THING!" Psy shouted, "HE STINKS AND HE'S GROSS LOOKING!" Without Psy's help it was much more difficult to restrain Jagar but with their combined efforts it didn't take long for Nyx to finally place the respirator over his nose. Unfortunately he never just snapped back, the group having to hold him there for a few minutes as he thrashed around trying to take each of them out. When he had finally stopped moving everyone looked up to his face, Psy included. "Hey? Big guy?... HOW ABOUT SOME LEAD COCKSUCKER!" He shouted, raising his assault rifle to Jagar's face. In a split second Ajax had kicked Psy's gun away just in time as the droid fired. "HEY! That's my kill, no kill stealing!"


"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Ajax asked, dumbfounded. He was starring at someone they had been searching for for months only for him to nearly kill Jagar after being found. "Too many loose screws or something?"


"I was about to ask you the same thing jackass!" Psy replied, equally dumbfounded. "He's a monster! A nasty looking organic one at that. It's WAY easier to kill monsters than to tame one. What are you guys, some kind of traveling circus? I mean... You have the dumb redneck who sounds like his family tree crossed too many times, inbred. You have the Handi-capper, the token whores." He said, gesturing to Nyx, Imille and Avena all at the same time. "The token virgins." He said, gesturing to Arc and Casar. "And then you have a fucking disease infested wildebeest? Why the hell are you people even here? Why are you 'saving' me? Did you think for a second I didn't need to be saved?" Psy began to laugh, "You all saving me is rich... I didn't realize we met before."


"We have. We're family." Lucy replied, firmly. "Your memory was erased by the Overlord. We have proof, if you'll come with us."


"I thought it was already established I was hitchhiking with you freaks?" Psy fired back rudely. "Besides, my dad will hate it if I go through my rebellious phase with a traveling fucking circus!" He laughed hysterically, "Next thing you'll tell me you all have a lion!"
 
"He doesn't remember." Casar said, staggering into the room after the others had come in. He took a moment to slump against the wall, staring toward Psy as he harrassed the crewmates. He frowned at Psy, unsure if he could ever help the android to get his memory back. "I think I have brain damage."


"We can't stop now. If we die due to the psychopathic android we saved or just getting trapped in here, it's all going to be for nothing." Arc said, shifting his glance toward Casar, who took the opportunity to close his eyes. If he hadn't gone through so much, he might have even been happier, but that hadn't been the case for quite a while. He was completely exhausted, once again on the verge of passing out simply to get his friend back.


Imille had rushed to Nyx soon as they had gotten Jagar's mask on him, putting her hands to the long gash that had been on her back. She looked to the side across the room, finding that the locker they had torn open to get Jagar's mask and their armor out had been completely torn from the wall, their old supplies splaying across the floor. She ran to it, before rushing back to help her injured friend.


"One second, Arc ... Nyx, are you okay?" she asked, voice filled with dread and concern. She ripped her medipen from her kit, jabbing it into Nyx's back and delivering a pen full of clotting medicine to the Calivarian. She dragged her armor across the floor, bringing it to a stop in front of her. "Everyone, get your armor on. Arc, help get Cas' armor on. Ajax, get your own and help Jagar, since you're already halfway there. Psy, stop shooting at things with flesh. If it has flesh, it's one of us. You live in a fucking android assembly line." she said, looking over to see that Lucy had been all geared up before she had gone to save them. Her attention turned back to Nyx, who had been going through her own personal hell to try and get Jagar's mask on, taking wounds that had made getting her armor on a disproportionate amount harder.


Arc slinked toward the torn lockers, pulling his own suit out of them, as well as Casar's. He brought them over one at a time, for each time he had grabbed something with his other arm a surge of pain had shot through it. The scientist nervously glanced up every other second, knowing well that other reinforcements could be on their way. When they hadn't come, it had even been more nervewracking, especially after having spent so long without hearing the Overlord.


"What happened?" he asked, quietly.


"Maybe android God is smarter than all of our other opponents and decided to stop throwing non-disposable units at us. I can't imagine it's worth having a ton of your people get killed for converting what ..." she looked around, counting all of them. "Eight people? And I think they don't even consider Avena and Lucy good enough meat slabs to assimilate." Imille said, speaking with relative confidence, though that may have just been for show with how weak she had felt.


"There are more Immortal units in the network than you should choose to believe, Sarai Imille. Happen one of them cross your path in the upcoming times, your team will be dispatched quickly." the voice said, staticking as the Gaius rocked the station with gunfire.


"Lucy, how close is the Gaius?" Imille asked. "And Psy ... we have a lion."
 
"YOU DO HAVE A LION? OH WOW!" Psy was barely able to say as the entire time he was laughing. "AND I THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY!"


While Psy was having the time of his life Nyx struggled to put her armor back on, the plate metal dragging against her wound causing her to cry out in pain as she struggled to put on the impossibly tight suit on over the open wounds. Her eyes even teared up as she forced herself through some of the worst pain she had experienced, that was until Avena came walking up to her. She didn't even have the strength to argue with the Draxi doctor but was pleasantly surprised when with one massive heave the doctor had helped Nyx put on her armor for her.


"Thank you." Nyx managed to squeak out as she activated her helmet to hide her face. Avena gave her a quick nod, not offering much with words but the fact that she went out of her way to help Nyx spoke more than her words possibly could. Nyx quickly embraced Imille before she herself could put on her armor, whispering, "I almost died... If It wasn't for Ajax then... Jagar would have killed me." She said, shaking. "I love you Fishbait... Let's just... let's go home.." The cruel irony in it all was it had been Jagar who had nearly killed her, the Vekht not knowing what he did exactly but the fear she had for her friend was heartbreaking to witness.


Ajax and the others began to assemble their armor and grab their weapons, making sure to retrieve everything before beginning their escape. Jagar was helped up to his feet after he had caught his breath, his respirator regulating air again and allowing him to think clearly. He seen the wounded Ajax and seen how Nyx was behaving now that she seen he had awakened and he bowed his head in shame. All he could remember was seeing flashes of Ajax and Nyx only to wake up on his back soon after. Flashes of torn up machines and metal were the only other thing the poor mercenary remembered. "Sorry." He blurted out, it hadn't technically been his fault as he made sure to take every precaution necessary to prevent himself from transforming but it had been unavoidable.


"You're alright. No one's dead... Psy is back. We're good." Ajax said, not fully feeling comfortable around the Vekht either after spending so much time fighting him but the feeling would soon pass. "Luce?" He asked, joining Imille in her question to the Captain as she was fiddling with her holo tool.


"It's outside the nearest docking bay, I think. I can see roughly where we are on the map now but can't be too sure with the Overlord controlling the station. I'm giving this fucking moon hell though." Lucy said with a smirk, though it began to fade as she began to pick up ships on the outer reaches of the radar. "Anddd... I think I just ruined this little playhouse for the Overlord." She grinned, knowing just how serious their situation was now but at the very least they had some form of revenge against the robotic lord that had tried to kill them time and time again now. "HEY ASSHOLE! EXODLITES ARE ON THEIR WAY!"


"Fuck." Ajax groaned, looking over to Lucy then to the others. "We need to get the hell out of here. Some freak shut in robots we can do but the Exodlite army in their home system? Ain't got time to recover, move people!"


"YEAH PEOPLE MOVE!" Psy roared, "OTHERWISE I'M GONNA HAVE TO MAKE YOU! I WANNA MEET THIS LION!"
 
Casar slowly climbed to his feet, batting Arc's hand away as he had tried to help. He wasn't down for the count yet, and the scientist had left a bad taste in his mouth every time he had to interact with him. "I can do it." He said, low, causing the scientist to leave him alone and go back to his own armor. Soon, both of them had been armored up and on their feet, though standing was still relative for Casar. They had all been injured in some form or another, Arc still holding his arm while Casar had been swaying back and forth, barely able to stand after both the Overlord and Psy. Imille and Avena were the least injured of them all, with Ajax, Nyx, and Casar looking the worst.


Still, they weren't in the clear. After having assembled their armor onto themselves once again, the team moved through the halls, walking toward the source of the gunfire. As they had started, Imille wrapped her arm under Nyx's, supporting her weight. "We'll get home ... Jagar is sorry." She whispered. "We'll get home and you'll take a bath with me in it and you'll feel better in no time." She said, with sadness for her friend. She looked to Psy, not entirely sure if they could trust him around others at all, but Imille had wanted nothing more than to bring her injured partner to the waters of Echora.


The ground shook beneath them as the Gaius pounded on the doors of the android station, the Overlord's voice growing more and more strange with every hit that it had taken. On one hand, it had comforted him that it would most likely be destroyed. On the other, he had felt an instinctual need to save it, one that he had attributed to having his mind invaded. "This feels wrong." he said, looking back down the dilapidated halls, which had collapsed behind them.


"That's probably the Overlord talking." Arc said, shifting his eyes to Casar once again. "You nearly were turned into an android, it wouldn't be surprising if that's where your loyalties were forced to lie."


"It hurts the further I get away from it." Casar replied. "Lucy, can you stop the Gaius from attacking the base?" he asked, his face contorted as if he had really been in pain. The others looked to him with concern; it was completely out of the question, and an uninjured Casar would have realized that. Instead, they kept walking, the mage progressively getting slower the further they had traveled from the center of the base, until he had found himself trailing behind.


"Stay strong, Cas!" Imille called, realizing that he had been lagging. She couldn't exactly give up her place with Nyx, though, and Ajax's healing couldn't exactly compensate for the damage he'd taken from Jagar. The mage nodded, feeling sick to his stomach. Their eyes had all turned forward when they had gotten to the next door, however, and then they realized they had an entirely different problem.


The moon seemed to shake as Exodlites warped in from space, the Gaius' attack no doubt triggering the sensors they had dotted throughout the system. Their ship had begun to float low, sensing their presence by the nodes on their armor, but getting there before getting shot down had still been an issue.


Especially as the ship had honed in them, its cockpit and guns pointing directly toward their location as they had finally surfaced on the moon.


"Oh fuck ... RUN!"
 
Lucy had it the worst of all as Exodlite gun fire began to rain down on the surface of the moon. She was in a wheel chair, one that couldn't keep up with the others running. Even wounded, Ajax turned around and raced after her and tore her out of the chair. She grabbed her things as quick as he swooped her up and they abandoned the chair, narrowly avoiding getting hit as a massive missile went crashing down on their position. Lucy ditched the shotgun and her beloved rocket launcher that had just barely saved Cas and opted to instead wrap her arms around Ajax's neck as he began running as hard as he could. Ajax seen Casar lagging behind, knowing that he was in a lot of pain but he would have to tough his way through it unless someone turned back for him.


"SOMEBODY HELP CAS GOD DAMN IT!" Ajax shouted as lasers began to dot the moon's surface, Exodlite fire from above blasting the crust of the moon causing the entire satellite to shake and crumble. The terrifying visage of the drained Jupiter was floating in front of them, making it look like they were both racing towards the Gaius while being sucked in towards Jupiter. Adrenaline was racing, everyone's legs kicking it into overdrive. This was the closest they had came to death in years as ships of all kind began to rain fire down on them, leaving them defenseless as the small group desperately ran for their lives.


Out of the corner of their eyes they seen several old style cruisers begin to make their escape from the moon, many jumping away from the base and even drawing the Exodlite's attention leaving only a lone ship to deal with the fleeing Gaius members.


"THANKS DAD!" Psy called out, raising a metal middle finger to the sky as he watched the androids make their escape. "YOU NEVER LET ME HANG OUT WITH ANYONE OR DO DRUGS OR ANYTHING! YOU'RE THE WORST AND I HOPE YOUR SHIP BREAKS DOWN!" There was no telling if the Overlord had actually escaped the moon, the only person who could possibly know that was Casar who was lagging even further behind. Psy noticed this and laughed, "SUCKS TO HAVE SUCH SHORT LEGS, HUH MIDGET?!" With that Psy began to run faster, leaving Casar in his dust.


The only one who managed to come back for Casar had been the last person he had expected: Avena.


With Jagar wounded and barely making it on his own after recovering from his transformation, with Nyx and Imille struggling to run together and with Lucy being cradled by Ajax it had left Arc and Avena. Avena with her wings happened to be the fastest, as evident by just how quickly she whipped around and picked up Casar. "You didn't think I was just going to leave you, did you?" She said, offering him a quick smile before flying back towards the others with Cas in tow.


"JUST A LITTLE FURTHER!" Lucy called out, piloting the Gaius towards them as Ajax did the running for the both of them. "DON'T STOP OR YOU'RE DEAD!"
 
As Psy had ran past him, Casar had felt a deep sinking feeling in his chest, never before knowing a Psy that would so cruelly leave him behind before. He didn't have too much time to think about it as Avena tore back around, grabbing him and lifting him into the air. The sinking feeling in his chest had dropped to his stomach as he watched his feet leave contact with the moon's surface, instinctively kicking out. He reached up, grabbing Avena with a vice-like grip that had undoubtedly meant the experience was nothing but terrifying for him. Then, as he had seen Psy running below them, he activated his boosters, speeding the already fast Avena up to the point where they had both passed everyone.


Finally, the two had made it to the ship, the Gaius opening to accept them. Just as he had felt his feet leaving the ground, he saw it approaching fast, and he had somehow caught himself on the tile floor, looking down the loading bay ramp to his teammates. "Help them up." He said, looking to Avena. "And ... thanks."


With that, he had slid down to the edge of the ramp, positioning his top half in order to offer a hand to those who had needed it. The other had gripped the ship magnetically. He wouldn't be moving anytime soon, his armor acting as a rigid support. Imille and Nyx were the next ones to get close apart from Psy, who must have been particularly angry to see Casar sailing past him. Still, he didn't offer a hand to him, knowing well that the android wouldn't need it.


"Grab Cas!" Imille shouted, helping Nyx up by grabbing her waist and hauling her up to grab Casar's arm, the gap between the ground and the ship actually pretty large. Most of them didn't have boosters to help them cross, Casar having siphoned his power as they walked down the hall. The EMPs had done a number on their own suits, disabling a lot of their features. "REACH!" She shouted, pushing on Nyx and breathing a sigh of relief when she had seen the mage's hand meet hers. Then, she gasped, as the ship automatically rolled to avoid a direct shot to the cockpit.


Any other person would have been flung far, but as the ship came to a rest, they had found that Casar had rooted himself to it, not allowing the already injured Nyx go. He had somehow mustered the strength - along with hers - to pull her up, the two of them finally finding safety in the bay. Casar stayed at the edge, but looked back to Nyx. "Go to the back!" He yelled, not wanting to see the Calivarian flung from the ship.


"While the ship A.I. is really cool I would REALLY prefer to have Lucy at the helm!" Imille shouted. "Ajax come here! We'll help her up!"
 
Nyx was shaking uncontrollably after the ship had rolled out of the way, nearly losing Cas' hand and being tossed around the way she did so violently had her beyond terrified. She listened to Cas' order and literally crawled along the grated floor until she reached the back wall and rooted herself around a support beam, tears falling down her face as she had nearly been killed just then. The thought of floating helplessly through space after being flung from the moon terrified her, even if it had been physically impossible with the moon's gravity it was still a terrifying thought. Not even a bath with Imille had cheered her up in the slightest, in fact it worried her more, thinking that she could potentially lose her.


"YOU BASTARDS!" Psy roared as he vaulted his way into the ship effortlessly, "YOU CHEATED! THIS WAS A FOOT RACE NOT A 'LETS JUMP ON MY WINGED WHORE AND CHEAT' RACE!" He scolded Casar as he locked himself to the ship's floor with his boots, magnetically sealing himself next to Cas as the others struggled to get up. He didn't even offer Jagar a hand as the Vekht had to pull himself up, the mercenary groaning as he rolled onto the floor of the ship as the Gaius was struck with a direct missile to the shields sending everyone sliding across the floor. "WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO PLAY FAIR, ASSHOLE? OR YOU, BITCH?"


"THIS IS NOT THE TIME!" Lucy shouted, witnessing as Avena nearly unloaded on Psy. Laughing in her face, the droid slapped his knees as Avena dropped down off the ship and joined Imille, Ajax and Lucy. Ajax began hoisting Lucy up with the help of both Imille and Avena to keep her steady. They laid her on the end of the bay and Avena quickly flew up to drag Lucy into the ship. "Not my most graceful entrance here-" She said as she watched her legs drag across the floor with no feeling whatsoever in them, spotting Ajax helping Imille up onto the ship followed by him grabbing onto Casar's hand and being pulled up properly. "-but I'll take it. Get me to the controls Doc! We have to go NOW!"


"On it." Avena said, bending down to pick Lucy up only for her to struggle with her weight. "You are not fat I promise, I'm just really weak right now!" She struggled, making her way to the stairs with Lucy in her arms. Ajax and Casar both hit the button to close the loading bay doors and collapsed next to eachother while they were both relentlessly scolded by Psy. Luckily no one was listening as his droning had begun to get more annoying than endearing especially in the situation they were in.


"Alright, I got it from here!" Lucy said to Avena as she was propped up onto the side of the captain's seat. She dragged her legs over the side and quickly got into position and resumed control for the ship just in the nick of time. She punched it, going from a nearly stationary target to one that was moving fast. So fast in fact that they jumped right past Jupiter and went deeper into the solar system. "They're all following the Overlord, we're gonna take a lap around Oldworld, fuck it!" Lucy announced, her morbid curiosity killing her while also formulating a plan. "They'll stop pursuing if we go right towards the Fleet, they'll break off and that's our chance to jump out of here!"


"Welp." Psy said, looking towards the cockpit. "I would say it's been nice knowing you assholes but that's just it, you're assholes. And cheaters too! AND IF IT COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE YOU'RE ALL MADE OUT OF FLESH!" He let out a defeated sigh, "Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean to my dad... At least then I would have people like me around."


Ajax turned to Cas, "You alright man?" He said, gesturing to both Casar's head and Psy. "Nearly got lobotomized and now your best friend doesn't even know who you are... We almost got killed back there and we could still blow up any second but-" He frowned, "Was this all worth it?" It was a deep question, one that all of them were unfortunately asking themselves given the circumstances. In reality, a good portion of the crew would dishonestly answer that this was worth doing as they all nearly just died horrible deaths. All for someone who was berating them the entire time ruthlessly.
 
"Yes." Casar said, without even hesitating. He looked toward Psy, frowning. "I don't know how we're going to get him back to be ... him. But we will." He said, lifting his helmet off of his head and dropping it to the floor. "I don't care what it takes. He's family. He's done some ..." Casar paused to breathe, his head absolutely killing him. He was in no position to have a conversation, the pain only worsening the further they had gotten from the moon. "He's done some shitty stuff ... and he'll ... he'll do more. But ... if your mind were wiped and you were an asshole I'd do it again for you." He looked to Nyx, feeling deep regret for the situation. He couldn't do anything for her now other than apologize, but that wouldn't have helped either.


On cue, Imille dropped down to Nyx, holding the traumatized woman in her arms. She did so quietly, knowing that nothing she could say would get rid of the fact that she had been nearly killed on three occasions, and nearly had to watch her friends die as well. There weren't any jokes that could make that better, and Casar had warned them that Psy wouldn't have his memory. Imille pressed the Calivarian to her chest, resting her chin on the top of her head. They hadn't expected it to be so bad, but the mage was determined to stick through it no matter what, even if the android had been downright abusive.


Arc stripped his armor off, the look on his face indicating that the question didn't need to be asked of him. He probably wouldn't do it again, demonstrated by a distinct curl of the lip toward the android. He looked away as not to trigger a response, knowing just how Psy had reacted before. Now that he had no obligation to them, he was a thousand times more dangerous than before, as evidenced by the scientist's arm and the state of Casar and Imille. As much as he had wanted to, he didn't speak back to him or ask him to be quiet, as he knew from experience that it would only end in disaster.


"Psy ... it wasn't a race." Casar said, after getting a little tired of hearing the android drone on and on. "I just wanted to make sure everyone got to the ship." He said, turning to Imille and Nyx after lazily dismissing the android. "Are you guys okay ...? I'm sorry, Nyx. We shouldn't have left you guys in that room, I just ... I knew that Psy was somewhere, and I couldn't ..." He paused. "Psy isn't the only one that matters. I'm sorry."


Imille looked to the tired, broken mage, and pulled him into the hug, easily pulling him to the floor with how little energy he'd had. They both took the moment to comfort Nyx, despite the fact that they weren't out of hot water yet. As Avena had come down, Imille caught her eyes, and mouthed a 'thank you', keeping it quiet for Nyx's sake. After a moment, Casar withdrew, slumping against the wall next to them.
 
"Bullshit that I'm not the only one that matters! Clearly I do with how much you all risked to get a complete stranger to come with you!" Psy chimed in, his voice grating to their exhausted ears. "And you can't just fly over, flip me off then land in the loading bay first and NOT call that a race. I mean, that's common race behavior." Things didn't happen quite the way Psy described them but they chalked that up to Psy being Psy, the android turning to face Avena who was coming down the stairs. "You helped him cheat! Next time you're going to help me do the same or I'll bash that weird looking face of your's in kitty cat."


"I'm not agreeing to anything while we're in this system and could be moments away from getting destroyed. I am also definitely not arguing with a sentient being, one that should know better than to speak the way you do and to treat people the way you do, especially after freeing you." With that Avena gave Imille a quick nod, acknowledging her appreciation but not holding it above either Nyx or Imille's heads. They were in the thick of battle and if the roles would have been reversed they would have done the same for her, regardless of the tension the girls were experiencing with eachother.


"Well... I-" Psy paused, not sure how to respond to something like that. "Fuck you too!" He blurted out to which he got no response from Avena as she simply walked over to Ajax who had been sitting next to Casar now and took a seat. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her, they had all been through too much today. It had been not stop action since Psy had been returned to the Overlord and even in their escape any moment could be their last. They all had begun to take off their armor bit by bit, letting it fall where it landed rather than neatly cleaning themselves up. There was no point keeping it on, it was either they got away or they were vaporized so they figured they might as well be comfortable in potentially their last moments.


Lucy had no intentions of dying.


The Gaius flew through the skies with such beautiful precision that Dayle would have tears of joy watching as Lucy navigated her way across the void with the Exodlites closing in. This was a far cry from the girl that could barely leech herself onto the side of the ISS Dredge. The woman that sat in the pilot seat would have given Dayle a run for her money as she punched it even harder, warping past Mars and sailing right towards the heart of the Exodlite operation. They were no where near the Exodus thankfully but the old world system had been one notorious to be overly populated with Exodlites. If her plan was to work she'd slice right through them and activate the stealth tech, disappearing right under their noses and giving everyone one first, and potentially final, look at the planet that gave the majority of the crew life.


Several tense minutes passed as the ship shuddered and shook, the Exodlites nailing the ship every now and then but Lucy rolling the ship to where their blasts just grazed the Gaius. They would definitely need to return to Echora for repairs and some relaxation but in the mean time the old leech class ship held together brilliantly. Soon the sounds of fire began to be a distant thought as they were in proximity of the Earth. Lucy couldn't believe her eyes as they were shooting into view of the once beautiful blue and green marble in the endless void of space.


"Guys... You might want to take a look at this..." She said over the intercom, alerting them to the view they were missing by being on the floor. Their pursuers had called off their pursuit and the crew heard the familiar whir of the stealth engines as they passed into the thickest Exodlite space any of them had been in before. Ships of all kinds passed them by but what was the real spectacle was Earth itself. Gone were the vast oceans and the beautiful green land but in its place was a barren husk of a rock. In place of beautiful sparkling rivers of clear water was replaced with scolding hot lava, the Earth's crust exposed in places leaking out magma onto the surface of the radioactive planet. Storms continuously raged on the surface while what organisms that survived the devastating nuclear war had mutated to survive on such a cold and barren planet to the point of becoming literal monsters.


Earth was no longer inhabitable by anyone anywhere, even the Exodlites as they had colonized the moon to watch over their old home. The moon itself bustled with activity, ships coming and going of all different sizes as skyscrapers doted the surface. It was truly a breath taking sight, both the moon and the Earth being drastically different than what any of the previous inhabitants would have thought the fate of their world would be.


"Damn..." Ajax managed to blurt out, at a lose for words at what they were witnessing.
 
Arc looked upon the planet in front of him with relative wonder, never before having seen the Exodlite core planet and its resulting moons before. "We ... of course, we know that 'Earth' exists, we study it, but ... only during holy pilgrimages or those lucky enough to live near it does any Exodlite ever visit." He said. The planet was active from afar, showing no signs of slowing the chaos in the skies or on the ground. If life was still there, it was no doubt a horrible existence to live.


Casar's eye widened as he looked through the viewport. He thought back to the ancient games he had played on the system Nyx had given him so long ago - the ones that had depicted Earth, and taught him about planes. The ones that had depicted bustling cityscapes on top of swathes of grassy field interlaced with brown desert. It was nothing like how he had remembered it as, how it had used to be. "I... didn't know it looked like this." He said, quietly, and with a distinct hint of sadness. "I thought ... it kind of looked like Terram."


"It used to." Imille said, frowning. There was something about the Earthen planet that had caused a deep, resounding sadness in the woman. "Lots of species. Some like Bambi. Humans destroyed it, barely escaping the destruction itself. If we hadn't developed the technology in time ... we wouldn't have survived it. If there hadn't been other inhabitable planets nearby ... Most of us wouldn't be here. But it used to have a lot of life. Not just us, either. Animals and plants and blue skies. By the time we hit space travel, a lot of them had died out."


"I wasn't aware of that ..." Arc said. "How did you ...? I assumed most of the information outside of Exodlite sources had been destroyed or forgotten."


"They mostly were." The doctor replied, cryptically. "But the Exodlites weren't the only humans that came from Earth. They're not the only ones who have rights to what happened there."


"I know." Arc replied, solemnly.


Imille turned to Nyx, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. The sight had no doubt been stirring up negative feeling about Nisela for the fish woman, and she had intended on comforting her regardless. There was something a little different with how Imille had been acting, though, as if she had been putting on a stoic face. "It makes me sad ... I know that I never had this place as my own, since it's been hundreds of years, but ... there never really has been a place where humans have belonged. That's theirs. Not for centuries." She said.


"I wonder what it would have been like if we didn't destroy it." Casar said, sinking to the floor once again.


"Or if the Exodlites didn't outright take it for their own. Maybe we could have healed it ... eventually." Imille replied.


Then, just as quick as it had come into their vision, Lucy was forced to tear back out of Exodlite space, shooting the Gaius back into hyperspace and jumping a distance away. They had to be going - stay too long, and it had meant certain death for all of them. Imille frowned, turning away from the viewport and looking to Nyx. "Let's get you out of this suit." She said, with a sad smile.
 
"That sadness will always be there." Nyx replied, clinging onto Imille with a solemn look on her face. It was as if she was looking down at Nisela, she knew that's how her home world looked now, potentially even worse after the heat bombs going off. She hugged onto Imille and quietly whispered, "We may be lost, but we are still here." It showed just how much she had grown since she had lost her planet, she was still on a journey to avenge her people but now she looked to the living rather than the dead. "We all will one day find our own homes... To make them truly ours again. We may not come from those places but... Our people's children and their children will." She pecked Imille on the cheek, she had been very supportive of her since they had returned and had barely left her side since they were on board the ship. "Because of people like us paving the way for them."


Nyx was okay now, after giving a moment to breath after not only being flung from the ship but after being nearly killed by Jagar it was a lot to take in at once. Thankfully for her she had someone like Nyx to support her. Jagar walked up and Nyx flinched but she soon broke away from Imille to embrace him. "It's not your fault..." She whispered to the hunter who simply closed his eyes tightly, what looked to be tears clouding the sides of his eyes. "Don't apologize. I know you'd never hurt me."


"Thank you." Jagar replied deeply, reciprocating the hug but letting Nyx go sooner rather than later. He felt uncomfortable being shown affection from someone he had nearly killed. "Sorry Neex... Jagar love you."


"Hey!" Psy shouted, interrupting the moment. "This is all cute and all, three nasty looking organics crying and holding hands and shit but... What the fuck is that nasty looking ball out there?" He said, cutting the tension in the air for the worst as he pointed at the dead planet. "Is that where you pig creatures come from? Because if so then no wonder you all look so fucking gross!"


Ajax looked over to Casar, "If you don't tell him he was once human I will..." The thought hadn't really crossed anyone's mind much but now that they were able to sit down and absorb the information from the Overlord it had been obvious. Psy had been once human. With that knowledge, that meant that Psy had ironically been the thing he hated the most since he had been created. "We'll let it be a surprise... You did good out there brother." He said, slugging Casar's arm gently. "We got him back and... We both might have gotten fucked up along the way but we finally did it..." He let out a long sigh as Avena curled up next to him, all of them looking at the ruins of Oldworld together. The doctor was silent as Ajax talked to Casar, wanting to be near him but not interrupt what he was saying. "Let's get some fucking rest... Hey, Avena?" She looked up at him, "Is it safe for Casar to go to sleep after.... you know?"


"It... should be." She said, pondering to herself for a moment. "I'll have a look at you after we're all rested. You're walking and talking fine enough... Your augments might have saved you in time." With that, Ajax and Avena walked away together while the others had grouped up with one another watching as Lucy punched it away from the system. They were safe again, at least so they had thought. They had avoided the Exodlites, they had escaped from the Overlord and they had gotten Psy back. For better or for worse, things were looking up.


"You will never escape me." The Overlord's voice echoed into Casar's head as they warped away, killing any optimism them escaping might have brought. "This is only the beginning."


End Scene 12: The Overlord
​
 
The next few nights had brought absolute turmoil for the mage, who had been unable to sleep. Visions of the impostor of Psy had invaded his mind, the android's skeletal mask stretching for what had seemed like forever. Having his mind fried, the androids dragging him into the chair and strapping him in, and then some of the worst pain he had ever experienced. Not only that, but they were prefaced by visions of Atlas and the torture he had gone through there, all for a friend he had promised no harm would com eto. He hadn't been himself, spending most of the hours of the day in bed, though that sentiment had been echoed by quite a few members of the Gaius crew, who had gone through some particularly bad experiences themselves.


Arc had healed quickly thanks to the advanced medical bay they had had on the ship, his arm back to normal in no time. Unlike Casar and Ajax, his wounds hadn't been seen to by Atlas, though the latter two had been given enough time to recover. After several days, Jagar and Ajax's healing factors had kicked in once again, and saw to it that their wounds had been healed, as well. While the trauma of being attacked by one of her own was still there, Nyx had been taken special care of, Imille seeing to it that she had gotten plenty of rest and relaxation.


The mage hadn't had the chance to speak to Psy much between rests, and even when he had, he didn't know what to say. The Psy they had rescued had had dramatically less care for the Gaius crew than he'd had previously, and there was a deep, underlying guilt still nestled in him for the circumstances that had lead to Psy leaving in the first place. Casar hadn't even shared what had happened on Epochora to them, afraid to make their relationship worse than it had already been. Psy hadn't seemed to appreciate all they had gone through to get him out of there, so it hadn't really mattered to mention one additional thing. It wasn't making him understand.


Slowly, the denizens of the Gaius had been coming out of their rooms, finding themselves veering away from recovery and back into spending time with one another. Despite everything they had been through, they were still a family, even if they all hadn't realized it yet. Several days had gone by, the Gaius simply drifting in space toward its next location. There had been no place to go to give solace to them that hadn't been simply going towards their next mission - and they had quite a few things to accomplish.


Working toward getting Ayla back and finding the location of the RCN-1 had been one of them, while the others had simply wanted revenge on Atlas or the Exodlites themselves. It was nothing that most of them had been up to at all, and for the time, it had felt like they had wanted to never take on a mission again. After all, was it worth it after getting so close to all of them dying?


"You okay, Cas?" Imille said, stopping as she passed by the tired mage, who had still looked like he had been permanently drained of energy. He barely reacted to her presence other than a strained glance upwards. She reached out, ruffling his hair in her fingers, and then sat down next to him. "How are you feelin'? You talk to Ajax? How's Psy...?"


"...I'm fine." he said, a set of words that had seemed to become his catchphrase. In reality, he was anything but fine, but it hadn't done much to worry the others. "I haven't had the chance. And ... he's ... Psy. But a Psy from before he knew us. The one I met on Vee. Back then I didn't really care if he went crazy, but ... I don't think we can bring him to Epochora." he said, grimly.


"Planetary restraining order." she replied, softly. "Can't stay away forever, though."


"I haven't talked to him much either."
 
While Cas hadn't talked to Psy much, the same couldn't be said for poor Lucy.


"-And another thing, what is it with all these damn glowy buttons?! I mean, they look really pretty and I want to push them all but why do you need so many? Do you even use them all? What does this one d-"


"ENOUGH!" Lucy shouted, causing Psy to jump back in surprise. "If you touch one of those god damn buttons I'll rip your arms off and slap you in the face with them." Psy gasped like a child getting scolded while Lucy continued. "Do you want me to rip your head off and let your body stumble around without you? Do you want me to press all those buttons with your fucking face? No? THEN SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONNNNE!" She roared, her yells sounding off throughout the entire ship. Psy stood there silently, dumbfounded by what had just happened and how Lucy treated him. He let out a wimper, one coming from an adolescent acting android who simply wanted someone to talk to.


"YOU'RE FUCKING MEAN, WHEELS!" He shouted after a deafening silence. "I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"


As he began to storm off Lucy shouted after him, "DO ME A FAVOR AND DON'T YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" She activated the intercom and spoke to the rest of the ship, "Can someone babysit Psy, please? I am about to drive us into a star if he doesn't leave me alone. I've tried nicely for hours but nice ain't working. Ajax... Go kick his ass. Cas, go be his friend. Nyx go tell him about nasty organic functions to get him to stop... Someone... Anyone... Just help me... Please..." She sounded exhausted, as if she had been a single mother caring for the most obnoxious child ever. Lucy needed a break and simply locked the ship on auto pilot and bowed her head, looking to get a few minute nap just to recover from it all.


Ajax, Avena and Nyx were no where to be found so those duties fell on Imille and Casar as Psy went stomping by to look for someone.


"WHY IS OUR CAPTAIN A BITCH?" He asked a little too loudly. "All I'm wanting to do is play with the ship and maybe drive us through a black hole or something and all she wants to do is swat my hands away or call me names! I tried shooting her but she was too fast and had her gun in my face and now I'm all out of people to talk with." Psy bowed his head, "What are you two flesh fucks doing? Stinking up the place with your organic ooze? Playing paddy cake? Can I join?" Psy looked down and seen a rather large cat curling up around his legs, Bambi looking up at him as he had wandered over to see what all the commotion was about. "Why is this asshole my best friend? He can't even talk and he loves me for some reason!"


Psy's eyes shifted around, looking nervously around the room. "I love him! He's soft, squishy and cute but shit... I need someone to stimulate my core. In more ways than one." His right eye went out to simulate winking to Imille. "So... why the long face Midget? This dark lady here giving you trouble? Cause if so I wanna see that."
 
"Psy, human racial racism died hundreds of years ago. Skin color means nothing anymore. We're onto actual alien xenophobia. Get with the times." She said, looking tiredly up to the android with a sly smile. "And that's Bambi. The fact that he still loves you is a testament to how unconditional an organic's love can be. Cas is kind of the same way. So were you!" She said, grinning, knowing the sentiment would skeeve the android out. Casar hadn't exactly enjoyed it either, both of them unified in how little they cared about verbalizing their affection. He bore a slight grimace, but that was all. It was the same expression of a relative in the presence of an aunt who had always taken things a bit too far.


"The long face is because your 'dad' almost killed me." Casar said. "And it hurt."


"Not the first nor the last time someone's dad has tried to kill Cas." Imille said. "Traditionally that's reserved for another reason, but ..." She paused, realizing that neither of them would get the joke. "Bah, all of the kids nowadays not getting basic human references. This sucks!" She said. Then, Bambi had moved from Psy's legs to Imille's lap, kneading it happily while the woman was forced to keep in a shriek. She peeled him off, pushing him to the side to Casar.


"We got Bambi when we went to a cool space moon with giant squids and crazy animals and we killed his mom on the way to the top of the volcano. Weirdly similar to the lions that we had on Oldworld, 'cept his mum had a tentacley-mane and I'm pretty sure his bites are a little toxic." She said. "Cas saved him for you. Would explain why he loves you too, but what's not explained is how he's not traumatized. Maybe that just means he fits in well here!"


Imille relaxed in the seat next to Casar, who had zoned out a bit as she had been talking. She snapped her fingers in front of him, causing him to jolt and look with wild eyes to the both of them. "...Sorry."


"Did Avena look at you yet?" Imille asked. "I would, but ... we have three doctors on board, and Nyx has been in bath mode for the past few days, which ... you know, duty calls." She grinned.


"Yes." Casar replied, ignoring the entire last half of what Imille had to say.


"What did she say?"


"Ask her." Casar replied, genuinely not knowing the anger. Whether that had been due to general inattentiveness or his newfound ability to forget things had been unclear. "...like I said, I'm fine." He said again, looking up to the android and glossing over his attempts to insult him. It hadn't fazed the mage, which must have been particularly irritating for Psy. "...How are you ...? Do you remember anything at all?" He asked, hopefully. "Back on the station you seemed to remember something about Arc. Did you remember anything else at all?"


"Like a beautiful female doctor you might have wanted to assimilate and make into your robo-bride at any point?" Imille teased, grinning up at him.
 
"Beautiful female doctor?" Psy asked, standing there dumbfounded. "I... don't think I've ever seen one of those before... If I wanted to assimilate one they'd have to be SMOKING HOT!" He murmured, shutting down Imille's shot at humor while also showing those memories were long gone. It was unfortunate as that would have been one of his more vivid memories. "Besides baby, I'm more of a rough and tough kind of robot. I don't got time for brides because chances are I'll live forever and end up stuck with some nagging ass ho next to me FOREVER!" Psy began to cackle, "Why forever you ask? I take the sanctity of marriage very seriously." He said ironically. It didn't fit his normal personality at all but with the way Psy had been before they had met him it fit the bill. He had a clean slate, a fresh start. He wasn't shaking as much during his time in sleep mode and he seemed to be a lot more lively, like going from an old man to a teenager in an instant.


Or so, they thought anyways.


"I get... flashes." He said to their surprise, his tone changing to a more serious one. "Arc... I do not remember him exactly but.... I remember..." A spark flew out of his neck violently, though that was par for the course with Psy generally. "For some reason I just wanted to toss him around and make him my bitch. Like... I had done that in a past life or something. I know that sounds crazy especially since synthetics don't get new lives but..." He began to laugh, "IT FELT SO GOOD BREAKING HIS ARM I CAN'T COMPARE IT TO ANYTHING ELSE! IT FELT INCREDIBLLLE!"


It was a start at the very least. Psy continued, "My memory is fuzzy after my dad fried my brain. I actually remembering leaving my ship and walking on station again. I felt... tired. Weird right? An android being tired." He giggled, to Psy this was nothing serious but to Cas and Imille this revealed what may have been the final moments of their Psy's life. "I felt... old. Not ready to die though. I felt as if I was leaving behind something I loved dearly but my body couldn't move on its own... Pretty fucking lame right? Anyways... My dad greets me and I don't remember much of what happens next but the asshole sticks some stuff in my head and now I'm all better!" Psy threw his arms up cheering, "WE GOT HUNDREDS OF MORE YEARS OF PSY LEFT EVERYBODY! REJOICE!"


"I'm rejoicing to the moon and back." Avena mumbled as she rubbed her eyes, walking out toward the kitchen. It looked as if she had just woken up, donned in only a t-shirt much too big for her. As she passed by she looked at Casar with a frown, she could tell something was wrong just by looking at him but she pressed on. "Ajax should be coming out in a minute Cas, could give you a break from all this... Psy..."


"WHAT YOU WANT A BREAK TOO? Why did you people even rescue me if you all keep pushing me away? I am being totally cool and stuff and you keep being assholes about everything!" Psy was beginning to get very annoyed with the way the crew was behaving. With the constant tension and the way they kept comparing him to someone they knew before it was beginning to take its toll on him. "I can understand you all lost a friend and... you seem... okay I guess? You seem okay enough to have a friend and miss them but... I'm not that guy. Once you get that through your thick fucking skulls we'll all be hunky dory."
 
"It's not that we just all constantly need breaks from you, Psy. Organics need rest." Imille said. "Usually when organics rest they do it away from each other. But when a man and a woman, or a woman and a woman, or a man and a man, or a human woman and a Calivarian woman like each other REALLY much, they rest together." she said. "And you're ... really tiring. Plus we all got the shit beat out of us. By our friends. Including you. I forgive you, but it's kind of traumatic."


"I'm fine." Casar said, frowning. "I'm not tired of you, Psy. I'm just tired in general. And ... you talking." he admitted, not particularly caring how Psy would react. "If you could be there and not talk then it would be fine."


"And we always got tired talking to you! Not tired of you. Talking to you. There isn't any erasing that. You had a lot of energy, and you have a lot of energy now." she said, smiling tiredly at him. "It's not offensive, I don't think. And now that you're calling everyone derogatory names, you're not reaaally allowed to get mad about that. See, the way friends work is that they like you if you're not abusive to them. I'm not entirely sure if calling Cas a midget is abusive, but beating the fuck out of us and breaking Arc's arm kind of is."


Arc waited in the loading bay with his arms crossed, glancing occasionally to the android as he regaled on how absolutely great it had been to break his arm. It was too late to regret saving him, even though he had a bad feeling about it the entire time. It would figure that the few memories the android had was of the sadistic joy he'd gotten from breaking his arm.


Casar looked to Psy, frowning. "...You don't remember anything about anyone else at all?" he asked. "Do you even remember what they did at the Atlas facility you were in...?" he asked.


"I think it's important we make new memories." Imille said. "That's how we became friends last time. Of course, most of those memories were us just trying to survive being hunted by Renegades or Exodlites or both at the same time, but ... you know, hopefully we don't too much of that. But if we DO, it'll help. Since, you know, everyone from every faction wants us dead now."


"...How is Ajax?" Casar asked Avena, as she passed.
 
"I love being WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE!" Psy cheered, surprisingly allowing them to talk without butting in like he had been recently. "Well, if we all want to be friends then... I guess I'll try being nicer... It's just... My whole schtick is I say some mean shit to people and they love me! I call Cas a midget, he loves me! I call you a whore, you love me! I-" He paused, not sure why he would say that to Imille. "Have I ever called you that?" He looked up to the air then let out a big shrug, "Doesn't matter! All that matters is I don't remember shit. Even at that freaky Atlas base that my dad use to live in all I remember is being strapped up and then waking up to see you all in my face. Feel like my old man deleted something in my head but hey, he's not all that bad. Just really nasty looking... and mean too!"


Avena stopped, to listen to Psy's ramblings and to answer Casar. "We've been doing some... extensive therapy." She paused just a little too much, it going over everyone else's head but Imille's. It had been a little too obvious what had been going on since they had retrieved Psy. "I've noticed his healing ability has slowed down the more damage he has taken so he's been getting plenty of rest and relaxation. I've also been testing him to see how to improve his ability as well as what causes it to slow. It involves some rather... intrusive testing but we're figuring out what makes him tick." She paused, realizing how big of an answer she gave Cas. "He's fine."


"I'd say more than fine." Psy said giggling, "Looks like you're wearing one of his shirts! Either that or you use to be REALLY fat! Are you not wearing, pants lady?"


"That is... That will... I..." She frowned, "I spilled some coffee and-" Avena shook her head, glancing at Imille. For a four century old being she sure was getting red in the face. "What do you want me to say? It's very unethical of a doctor to be sleeping with her patient. Imille does it all the time! Quit looking at me." She said, trying to divert the attention away from herself. When it wasn't working she just shrugged, "It is what it is. Or how Ajax would say it 'I got some, who gives a fuck?'" She said in a forced outer rim accent, trying to make things less awkward for herself but failing miserably. "I'm... gonna go." As Avena shuffled away Psy began to cackle loudly, enjoying the woman's embarrassment.


"You organics are GROSS! Always bumping uglies and making nasty little humans together. Are you and the Fish lady going to do the same? Will it be a half fish half dark human combination?" He gagged, "I'm going to go talk to Archy-Poo. You all take it easy... And quit having sex with eachother!" He demanded, skipping over to Arc who had to be freaking out with Psy turning his attention to him. "Heya buddy!" Psy paused, seeing that the scientist wanted nothing to do with him. "Now... I have been informed that I am a lot to be around. That I have too much energy and I am a bad friend. I am-" Psy paused, "Sorry that I broke your arm." He then raised up both of his arms, "Hug. I don't like touching nasty organics but... We must make amends."
 
"No thanks." Arc replied, curtly.


"You know, if you need clothes, we can stop at a store." Imille said, quirking an eyebrow at Avena. She hadn't been particularly caring if the woman had slept with Ajax, the avian woman making more of a fuss out of it than she ever had. Really, it had been Lucy that was hypersensitive to the act. "But if you really want to insist on wearing Ajax's clothes ... well, that's fine with Nyx and I." she said, with a coy smile. Then, she looked to Psy. "Yes. You called me a whore. I don't think you used to call Cas names, though. But that doesn't matter! What matters is that we do more stuff."


Casar looked to Imille again. "How is Jagar ...?" he asked.


"Why don't you ask him yourself?" the doctor replied. "...Really, I dunno. He's been like you and has been locking himself in his own room. It might do him some good to talk to someone. Or ... at least being in the company of someone. He's not feeling so good since the base. I'm kind of worried he's going to leave again."


"I'll try." he said, with a small sigh at the end of his words. He'd hated to see everyone pulled so far apart, the state of the crew more divided than it had been since Psy had left. He'd had his own reservations, but it was nothing compared to almost killing one's own friends with his very own hands. Jagar must have been feeling awful, the massive man's emotions not getting much consideration in light of his demeanor. Slowly, the mage had stood, pulling himself up the stairs to the residential halls.


"I'm worried about my boys." Imille said to Arc, as the man had wandered away from the outstretched arms of Psy and moved to go back to his own affairs.


"...It'll just take time. I say this all the time, but ... we may want to consider simply lying low for a while. Humans are resilient, but even the Exodlites I have seen in my time need breaks after events. If we keep going like this, someone will either die, or someone will break." he said.


"Thanks Arc, that makes me feel a lot better." Imille replied sarcastically.
 
Psy stood there quietly, his arms outstretched still as Arc simply walked away. He stood there for a little longer than expected, then his arms simply fell limp to his sides and he took a seat on the floor. He tried to throw out an olive branch to at least one of them and he denied it. Feeling defeated he sat on the cold metal floor for a moment until Bambi walked up to him. The blue baby lion had been much larger than a standard house cat now, looking more like a medium sized dog than a feline. He motioned for the creature to walk up to him and it pounced towards Psy and began to rub up all against him, purring loudly.


"At least you still like me Pussy Face." Psy said with sadness in his voice. "I can't control myself Puss, I try but... It's hard ya know? I'll try again later I guess..."


"No need for the clothes!" Avena said to Imille as she walked on by, "I have my own but this was more convenient for the time being. I'm super thirsty." She didn't quite catch her own double meaning but simply walked into the kitchen and grabbed some water. She leaned on the door way and looked towards Imille as she and Arc's conversation died down. "You and Nyx don't mind huh? I was under the impression you two would encourage it actually. Rather than me wearing your clothes I can always steal from someone else." She smiled at Imille, "That and you two seem to be rather open with your... activities. Figured I'd test the waters by sharing mine. I'm... trying to relate to you." Avena said awkwardly, "You know being open about-"


"BEING A WHORE!" Psy's voice carried out from the back of the loading bay.


"Yes." Avena said, her mouth twisted to the side as she began to walk back up the stairs, annoyed. "We'll talk more later Imille, thank you for being understanding. I didn't want things to be weird on the ship. I'm going to go say hi to Lucy." She had no clue on what sort of hell she was about to stir up by walking into the cockpit especially with the way she was dressed. As she walked in Lucy jumped up, startled by the sound of the doors opening. "Hey Lucy! Just coming in to make sure everything is alright and that-"


"GET THE FUCK OUT PSY!" Was Lucy's immediate reaction, turning around in her seat to find Avena standing there wearing nothing but Ajax's shirt. Her eye twitched for a moment, trying to comprehend on what she was seeing. It took her a moment to fully understand the situation until finally she replied, "So... you come in here show boating that you're sleeping around with the crew huh? That's real professional." She said, cruelly. "Who even does that? You do realize how insensitive you're being right?" Lucy couldn't believe her eyes, although her and Ajax had long since been over with it still hurt her to have it thrown in her face.


"Wha- I don't... understand I-"


"Listen here, bitch." Lucy said, pointing her finger at Avena. "You've been trouble for weeks now. Whether that be pissing Nyx and Imille off or stealing Ajax away for hours at a time. I had my suspicions but you're going to break this group apart if you keep being the way you are. If you're seeing him fine, but parading around like some heavily modded slut isn't going to get you any respect around here. Put some god damn pants on and have some respect for your crew mates."


"I'm... I'm so sorry my people aren't use to such social codes and- I was just wanting a drink and to talk to everyone and-"


"Don't play dumb, you're a doctor not some sort of woman with a brain injury. Pants aren't a social code and they aren't optional, wear them. Shape up or get the fuck off my ship. In fact... bring Ajax with you if you want. If he thinks letting you walk around like some whore in a brothel is okay then he isn't welcome here anymore either. Is that clear?" Avena simply nodded as Lucy scolded her, genuinely not knowing just how much in the wrong she had been. When Lucy had brought up that Nyx and Imille had been pissed off at her she looked as if she hadn't the slightest idea of what she was doing. "Is that clear?!"


"Cl-clear!" Avena stammered, nodding at Lucy and retreating out of the cockpit as fast as she came. As soon as the doors closed Lucy roared in anger, not out of pure jealousy but it was obviously there now. She felt as if the group was beginning to break apart and there was nothing she could do. She turned her chair back around and buried her face in her hands, tears forming in her eyes and slowly starting to roll down her face as she began to sob.


"Da-Dayle...." Lucy whispered. "Please... just tell me what to do. We are losing everyone... everyone is getting hurt... I can't walk... I... pushed Ajax away..." She was at a loss at what to do at all. "Just give me... a sign you're listening... Tell me what to do... I can't... we're all going no where and I have no idea how to dig us out of this... We've lost Ayla and we don't know how to find her... The Exodlites are still a problem and Atlas is becoming a bigger problem..." She looked up at the ceiling, "Please Dayle..."
 
Casar had gone to Jagar's door, taking a deep breath before he had decided to rap on it. What was he even doing? Why had they sent him to console the Vekht? He was particularly bad at that, and the nights in which Casar and Jagar had stayed up talking had been nothing but a blip in the mind of the mage, who had had his memories of his former crew forceably trained out of him. He had felt particularly horrible, each passing day concerning him more and more about his own health; it had been a fight to stay awake most times, and an outright terror to sleep on others.


"Jagar." Casar called. "They wanted me to check on you." he said, knocking at the door again.


"Ask someone else." Arc said. "They'll be more than happy to give you a 'hug'. You hate organics as much as I dislike everyone else and you broke my arm, but as always, I'm willing to tolerate you as long as you don't intend on doing it again." he said, in dry tone, to Psy. The android had looked dejected by his body language, and sounded confused in his tone. After a moment of silence in which Psy had simply spent petting the cat, Arc gave a deep sigh.


"...You used to be an integral part of this team." he said, lowly. "You orchestrated getting everyone together again simply by taking Casar from the Exodlites and contacting the others. Without you, they wouldn't have been together. Now ... they're tired. Don't take offense to it. You are still incredibly important to them; any sane team would have left you behind or shot you out an airlock or just let you spend the rest of your existence in an android factory base, but they didn't. Don't overlook that. It's a disservice." Arc said, in a misguided attempt to make Psy feel better. "They'll continue to help you, as well, which is a testament to their patience, but ... be sure not to take advantage of that. I'm not entirely sure what you remember, or even if you know that that's something wrong to do, but ..."


He frowned.


"Try not to." he said. "No one expects you to miraculously gain your memory back, but ... they do expect you to behave."


Imille watched as Avena entered the cockpit, the tired doctor keeping an eye on the woman. Then, she watched as Avena had exited, significantly more frazzled than she had entered. It wasn't exactly a surprise given her attire, but the doctor felt a slight twinge of guilt that had annoyed her more than anything. "Avena." she said, getting her attention and calling her back down to the ground floor.


"...For someone so old you sure do manage to wreck everything in your social path." she said, the twist in her lips a combination of contemptuousness and empathy for what she'd been going through. "You really spent a lot of those years in the lab, huh? Walking around in other people's clothes ... you're dealing with humans. I know that people on the Glitterworlds are a lot more open about that sorta thing, but we also don't commoditize sex. Those two had a relationship, and everything you do means something. Just like my Fishbait shorts mean something to Nyx and I. Now, Lucy's the Captain, so when Nyx yelled at you about it someone shut us down, but ..."


She paused. "...Things mean something to other people. Just because it doesn't mean anything to you doesn't mean that's all that matters." she said. "I let you walk into that one, and I'm noooot entirely sorry about it, buuuut..." she smiled. "As long as you're willing to learn I'm willing to help. If you have the social skills of a dead cat you're not going to get any place in the universe, either. Atlas took care of your needs before, buut ... that's not the case anymore, pussycat."
 
The door opened after Casar had knocked a little while longer, he found Jagar sitting in a dark room alone. It was eerily clean, as if he didn't use most of the room or that he simply kept everything tip top shape. Inside there had been toys for Bambi, a litter box (seeing as how Jagar's sense of smell was restricted to his respirator), and other necessities for their ship's pet Ipt. Other than that he had racks of his own personal armor and weapons away from everyone else's, his equipment optimized for his Vekht hands and wouldn't function as efficiently in the other's hands. He was happy to see Casar but his eyes told another story.


"Jagar... happy see Cazzer. Jagar fine... Just... want be alone." The quiet Vekht spoke. "Almost kill Neex. Almost kill Jaax. Jagar bad friend. Too dangerous to be family." He said, clearly thinking about this a lot. "When we go Echora... Jagar leave. Found Si, now Jagar leave."


Psy listened to Arc but didn't have much in the way of words for the scientist. He made sure to memorize his words in hopes to behave better but it was rather hard for him. It was literally programmed into him to be as disrespectful as possible. He couldn't help how he had been created, that no matter how many times the Overlord tried to fix him that his programming was faulty. It was a miracle in itself that Psy from before had learned how to behave in a group or around people. That in itself was surprising, even though that Psy still committed terrible acts every day.


This was an android that gave a kid at a holoball game a loaded pistol just a few months ago.


"Then sleep." Psy finally decided, "Quit worrying about so much and just sleep. It's not my fault you all are tired... It is because you all push yourselves past your normal nasty organic limits. Rest. Eat. Fuck. Sleep. All of those things sound pretty nasty to a synthetic such as myself but..." He was holding it together the best he could, "I... understand." He finally said to Arc after fighting calling him a nerd or something along the lines of that. "Just next time give me a hug instead of a lecture. Lil Puss Face here has the right idea!" He said, patting Bambi enthusiastically as the kitten practically hugged Psy with his paws.


Hearing Psy call Bambi Lil Puss Face angered Avena, as did the words Imille had spoken to her. "This is a two way street, princess." She said bitterly to Imille, seeing where the doctor was coming from but getting aggregated that she had resorted to name calling. "How am I supposed to know a stupid pair of flimsy shorts mean anything? How am I supposed to know that Lucy would get upset that I am having relations with her ex? To my recollection him and Lucy seen eachother years ago, I don't see how it entirely matters at all what he and I do now. How am I supposed to know anything that I say or do hurts someone when no one will tell me without acting as if I broke some sort of secret vow? Why is it everything I do is so bad yet Psy can call you all mean names and get loved for it? It's bullshit and you're bullshit."


"Hey Kitty!" Psy called out, "We were making progress here, shut u-"


"No YOU shut up you filthy droid and never refer to me as that again. I do not see what these people see in you. You're foul mouthed, disgusting and the most disrespectful being I have ever met. You hate the very thing that you are! Apparently you have been some big help to them in the past but if I recall correctly if it wasn't for me within the past few weeks Ajax and Casar would both be dead! I know I'm not the easiest to get along with but I've been persecuted since I got here on this stupid ship!" She shouted, the Draxi woman slowly losing it. "I've done everything I can for you to like me and yet... the smallest things set you people off? Perhaps I have done some unsavory things and I have done plenty to irritate you all but look in the fucking mirror before you dare insult me like that."


Avena stormed away before Imille could get another word in.


"What?..." Psy mumbled as Avena left the room. "I am what I hate?... But..." he stumbled on his words, "I hate a lot of things! What a bitch!"
 
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