Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Triad 2177 ❯ Learning To Fly ( Chapter 15 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The Triad leaves the little boat, hoping to find why they ever went where they were going together in the first place.

What they find, is only their pasts catching up to them.

Non Anime: Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Romance / Mecha / Comedy / Adventure / Action / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.06.2003 | Updated On: 12.07.2003 | Pages: 13 | Words: 21.5K | Visits: 227 | Status: Completed

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<CENTER>[There will now be a brief intermission in the performance]</CENTER>

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

<CENTER>"A soul in tension that's learning to fly. Condition grounded but determined to try" - Pink Floyd, from "Learning To Fly" </CENTER>

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

The priest reached out and gripped the doorway on the side of the train. A platform attendant glanced over and saw his large hand, wearing a white glove, gripping the doorway and then stepping down into full view from the inside of the train. He had on a plain black robe, probably of Catholic denomination, with two gloves on decorated with words and symbols. He had the starched collar and a gold chain necklace with a cross on it hanging low on his chest. His blonde hair swayed a bit in the cold breeze. He glanced over at her, smiling.

"Good day," the priest said, nodding to her.

The attendant snapped out of her stare and looked up to the priest's face. He was well over six feet tall and showed muscle under his robe. She was baffled as to why a priest would be so "buff". "Oh, good day, father," she replied politely.

"Tell me, just how cold will it get today?" the priest asked, pulling his gloves up further on his hands.

The attendant thought to herself a moment. "Not sure. Depends on if climatrol will let loose another Callisto-Clobberer today or not," the attendant replied, laughing at the old nickname for the massive blizzards Callisto had on occasion.

"Yes, yes, I see. Well then, just thought I'd ask. Mind telling me where the 669 train departs from?" the priest asked, glancing around.

"Yes, sure, but there's two trains on that platform. May I see your ticket so I can tell you which one to board?" the attendant said, holding out her hand.

"You people have a weird train system here," the priest said to himself, digging his ticket from his pocket. He handed it to the attendant with a smile.

"Yes, I see. Well, Father McArthur Anderson, it seems you'll want to get on at the CD platform. It's over there and down two rows to the right," the attendant said after reading the ticket and pointing the other way.

"Yep, weird train system indeed," the priest said to himself again, sighing. He took his ticket from the attendant and started on his way. "Thank you again. Have a blessed day," he said as he walked off.

"Have a nice day, father," the attendant replied with a wave. She turned back the other way to guide a group onto the train the priest had just got off of.

The priest walked over to a payphone and took a cash card from his pocket. He swiped it and closed the booth, picking up the reciever. He selected an audio-only conversation and waited as the other end rang.

"Operator," someone replied on the other end.

"Shut up. Look, it's only a matter of time now before Queen and King come for me. I'll handle them, you just standby for pick-up, alright?" the priest ordered.

"Good, every good to hear. But Joker, why do you keep referring to them by their old codenames?" the other end asked.

"Because that's all they'll ever be to me, my inferiors," Joker replied, admiring his necklace cross.

"Well, alright, whatever you say. But how are you so sure both will come?" the other end asked.

"King didn't recognize me from our encounter back on Antillia, so I had to find other means of drawing an Alpha carrier to us. Luckily, Queen has been pecking around trying to find me for a while. She submits my DNA to various bounty hunting forums and newsgroups hoping to track me down. Now that I finally threw her some bait, all I have to do is wait," Joker said, laughing at his rhyme.

"And what about Thana-...I mean, King? We need him more than her!" the other end pointed out.

"He'll come. I know she'll be too scared to come on her own. He's the only one she can call on since Ace has been missing for years and Jack is on our side," Joker said, scratching the back of his head.

"Lazarus is trusting you on this. You screw up and there will be hell to pay," the other end replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I know already. Just be ready for pick up outside the Blue Crow station. They'll pick up on me soon enough and come with guns blazing," Joker said with a smirk and a chuckle.

"Fine. Call in if anything changes," the other end said, then hung up.

Joker hung up the phone and stepped out of the booth. He put his hands together and began to pray, smiling. "Oh heavenly Father, bless this day for it is the day I, your most devout follower, will truly carry out thine will. Amen," he said, then let his hands down and laughed. He started off for CD platform.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Ester put a whole pot of coffee on the table beside her laptop. She groaned and lifted the lid to the laptop as she sat in the chair, ready to get swamped with requests for pathetically simple jobs somewhere off in Tempe County or something. She opened her browser and ran down her list of bookmarked sites, opening a bounty hunting forum from the list. She also picked up the whole pot of coffee and took a long drink from the spout on it.

"That's not very healthy, you know," Ricdeau's voice said from behind.

"I could care less, grandpa. I can't afford to sleep until I get news on Jacob Blanche's last seen location. He's worth thirty grand," Ester replied, putting the pot down beside her laptop.

Ricdeau laughed to himself. "You're quite the hard worker, I see. No wonder you and Miryhn get along so well, you're complete opposites. You're industrious and hard working, he cuts corners and slacks off," Ricdeau said, still smiling all the time no matter what.

Ester turned around in her chair and gave him a funny look. "What are you talking about?"

"It just seems odd to me that you two are running into each other more often now. You hadn't seen each other in almost two years and suddenly you run into him in a grocery store and convince him to help with a bounty hunt? Seems like fate to me," Ricdeau said, strolling around the quiet bedroom of Ryan Corporation's provided apartment for the two of them.

"Stop being weird. There's no such thing as 'fate' and 'destiny' and all that crap. It was just coincedence," Ester said, looking back at her computer.

"If that's what you believe, go ahead and believe it," Ricdeau replied with a shrug.

"And what was that suppose to mean?" Ester asked, a little irritated.

"Belief is subjective, there's no proof in belief. Otherwise it'd be fact, no?" Ricdeau said with a chuckle.

Ester rolled her eyes and clicked over to a different forum.

"I"ve been meaning to ask you, Ester," Ricdeau said, peering over Ester's shoulder,"just why you decided to be a bounty huntress."

Ester paused, then began typing like he had never asked the question.

"Oh, my, is my granddaughter loosing her hearing?" Ricdeau said, taking out his flashlight and looking her ear.

Ester groaned. "Grandpa, it's none of your business, alright?" she cried out.

"Diagnosis is selective hearing!" Ricdeau said with a laugh, pocketing his flashlight.

Ester soured her expression and continued on the computer.

"Oh, Ester dearest. You have to understand, I've been so worried about you. I never understood why after Miryhn left you took up this line of work," Ricdeau said, shaking his head and looking down at her. "Now there's a thought, did you pick up this occupation in order to track down Miryhn?"

"Grandpa! Stop it!" Ester said, almost to tears with frustration.

"Please, tell me why. Please?" Ricdeau said, continually smiling.

Ester sighed and rubbed her temples. She looked up at Ricdeau and bit her lip. "I'm doing exactly what you told me not to do. I've been trying to find Joker and the others. Mostly Joker, though, but if I could find Ace and Jack, that'd be helpful too," she explained.

Ricdeau arched his brow. "Ester, the Shuffle Squad is in the past now. You should really move on," Ricdeau said as if it were sage advice.

"I can't, I have to know why Joker saved us in the Terran Crusade. All he ever told me was 'Good Runners are rare these days, we have to look out for each other' and then the son of a bitch knocked me out cold. Next thing I know, I wake up two miles away from the TEMPEST base with some weird little note that he left me," Ester explained with a sigh.

"So that's what he said, hmm..." Ricdeau said, rubbing his chin and thinking.

"What do you mean?" Ester asked.

"Quite the cryptic individual, isn't he?" Ricdeau replied with a chuckle. "That's exactly why he's probably a dangerous fellow. As a matter of fact, I remember every single time King- I mean, Miryhn or Ace was sent to me after he roughed them up. He also openly defied orders on several occasions and killed many POWs just for looking him wrong," Ricdeau said, reminiscing. "He's unstable and dangerous, Ester, be glad he gave you your life and just move on."

"I don't want to fight him, I just want to ask him a few questions. That'll be the end of the matter, I assure you," Ester said, looking back at her computer.

"He may not see it that way. Joker was always thinking of people as either being useful allies or wastes of space that deserve death. I'd really hate to see what he would do to you if he thought of you as the latter," Ricdeau said, shaking his head.

"Grandpa, trust me. I'll be careful," Ester said, scrolling down a page. She laughed at one of the posts; it had one of those "Congratulations on your gay thread" pictures in it with two guys kissing. After that was a post of a picture of Henry G giving the finger and with the text "Fuck off!" below it. Ester laughed out loud.

"Tasteless individuals, aren't they?" Ricdeau said with a chuckle, looking over her shoulder.

"Actually, that was the wrong thread. I was trying to click on the one labelled 'To EsterBaby2091, found your guy' but this mouse is horrible," Ester said, jiggling the mouse back and forth and clicking on the thread link.

The page loaded and Ester's eyes widened. "Oh my dear God, someone finally found Joker," Ester said, leaning at the screen.

"That seems awfully convenient. Like some cosmic author got lazy and decided to make things easier for him to write," Ricdeau said, leaning back and putting a hand to his chin.

"Stop being weird, grandpa! You know that's silly, no one is controling our fates," Ester said, rolling her eyes just like the author wrote her to...

"How do they know its him?" Ricdeau asked, curious.

"I handed the note he left me to some friends in a high place. They took DNA samples and tested every single DNA print that passed official records in the past few years. It says here that he's currenlty a registered Catholic minister named McArthur Anderson," Ester said, reading the post carefully.

"That is his real name, actually," Ricdeau said, looking over her shoulder again.

"Whatever. It also says he was spotted on Callisto," Ester said, copy-pasting the information into a text file. She saved it and set it to print.

"And I suppose you're just going to go after him? What about if Contraus calls with more work lined up?" Ricdeau said as Ester got out of her chair and grabbed the printed out page.

"He can survive without me and Miryhn for a few days," Ester said, walking over to her bag.

"You and who?" Ricdeau said, curious.

"I know Miryhn would love to see him just as much as I do. He told me he has the same questions and even more in line. Miryhn, or at least the Miryhn I knew back when we were working for you after the TEMPEST dissolve, was obsessed with knowing just what Joker was talking about. The last time I saw him he didn't seem too concerned, but I guess that's because Miryhn was wiser than me. Me must have let it all go," Ester replied with a smile. She reached into her bag and pulled out two handguns and a handful of clips. "However, hearing that I found him, I'm sure he'd come running. Somethings just never die."

"I see, so your mind is set and your will defined, eh? Ester, my dearest granddaughter, you need not throw your life away for this man. For all you know, he could just kill you and never tell you anything," Ricdeau said, spreading his arms. "It's foolhardy, you're no match for him if he tries."

"Grandpa, I'm not going to run away from it anymore! I have to do this if I ever want to live life with inner peace!" Ester shouted, instantly upset. Wincing back tears, she slammed a clip into one of the handguns and aimed it at Ricdeau. "And you won't stop me. No one will!"

Ricdeau, always smiling, lifted his head and dropps his arms. He shook his head and sighed. "If my life is worth the cost of you getting answers...if the risk of your life is worth the cost of finding answers, then I'll step aside. Perhaps I'm just afraid of outliving my granddaughter?" he said, looking up at her.

"That's more like it. I'm a grown woman, grandpa, I have my own problems to deal with. You don't need to baby me," Ester said, putting the handguns and clips inside her coat. "Now, goodbye!" she said with more volume, brushing past Ricdeau and out the door.

Ricdeau turned his head and watched her leave down the hallway. He sighed and sat in her chair, resting his head against his arm on the chair's armrest. He took off his spectacles and squeezed his temples. "Oh, dear me, what have I done? Please, God, let Miryhn be my granddaughter's guardian angel. He's her only hope now."

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Miryhn cringed and woke up from his doze in the pilot's seat. He rolled off the chair and on to the floor, whining.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Vera asked, not looking away from doing the accounting on the "cash console". Peniel meowed from his perch upon her head.

"I think I ate too many of those leftover cookies. My stomach hurts," Miryhn replied, struggling to his feet. He gripped the railing and pulled himself up.

"Quit your belly-aching," Vera said, then laughed. "I always wanted to say that."

If this were an anime, Miryhn would have a large sweatdrop on the side of his head. "Weirdo," he said, limping down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Vera asked, not turning her attention away from the console.

"The bathroom. I think my bowels are about to explode," Miryhn said, opening the door to the hallway and stepping out.

Vera shrugged and continued working. Peniel leapt off her head and began to trot around, looking at chairs and pawing at them.

"What a strange creature you are. One minute you're fine and the next you're curious about stuff you've been over more than once," Vera said, smiling at the cat. "Or maybe you're just being weird," she added, sighing.

The door opened and Nash walked in. He walked to the row of consoles on the other side of the room from Vera and searched up and down it.

"What's up?" Vera asked as she turned back to her work.

"Looking for my 3/4ths wrench," Nash replied, checking under the consoles. "Where's Miryhn?"

"Purging a demon from his bowels or something," Vera replied, still working.

"Sounds like a damn good time," Nash said sarcastically. "By the way, look out for Jim. He hasn't gotten over his bad mood yet," he added, shaking his head at not being able to find his wrench.

"Why is he still mad? We're being nice, obedient employees," Vera said, turning her chair around to face Nash.

"I don't know. I guess us just taking off without notice was some sort of insult to his method of business or something," Nash said with a shrug.

"Lovely," Vera said, turning her chair around. "I bet we're goint to be worked like dogs from now on," she said, going back to her work.

"Depends. His mood might improve the minute he gets some more dough," Nash said, heading for the door. "Well, I have to get back to work. See 'ya," he said, heading out the door and closing it behind him.

"Bye," Vera replied. She sighed and continued working.

Meanwhile, Miryhn stepped out of the bathroom. He sighed over the sound of the toilet flushing and shut the door behind him. He turned right and began to walk back towards the bridge.

"What the hell are you doing back here? When will this thing be ready to depart back for Mars?" Jim shouted from behind.

Miryhn froze in midstep. He groaned and turned around. "I was using the bathroom, for your information, captain. And we'll be waiting hours in the queue for the Europa Urenbech Catapult." he explained.

"Well why didn't you try the Ganymede Catapult? Or better yet, the one they have right here in Antillia?" Jim asked, extremely irritated.

"Are you kidding me?" Miryhn asked in a shout. "Antillia's is backed up three times as long and by the time we free-fly to Ganymede, Europa's will have opened up by then!" he explained, responding with the same irritation.

"Fine! Whatever! Just get back to the bridge and be ready to go. I'm not paying you to dilly-dally," Jim replied with a little more volume.

Miryhn sneered and turned, walking back to the bridge with a scowl. "The joke's on him, I haven't done anything at all most of the morning and he's paying me for doing just that: slacking off," he said with a bitter laugh. He resumed scowling afterward.

Vera was leaned back in her seat, sipping at a can of soda as Miryhn entered the bridge. Without a word, he walked back up to the pilot's seat and sat in it, propping his feet up on the control console as he always did.

"Have a good one?" Vera asked with a smile.

Miryhn closed his eyes and sighed, trying to relax enough to once again doze. "Yeah, it was fine."

"Jim yell at you?" Vera asked, looking down into the open can of soda.

"Yeah, and I have to say, he's gone beyond annoyingly pissed off to just plain stupid pissed off. He honestly thought the Antillia Urenbech Catapult was open for this time of day. It's like he's dying to get back to Mars or something," Miryhn said, then yawning.

"I think he just wants to go kiss Contraus's ass some more. We do all the work and he gets most of the credit. Speaking of that, I haven't even gotten my cut from that mission. Did you?" Vera asked, turning her chair to face the back of the pilot's seat.

"Nope. Haven't seen a cent," Miryhn replied, slowly shaking his head.

"What is it with Jim lately anyway? It's like he doesn't care about us for us anymore. Doesn't it seem like that?" Vera asked as if it were a profound question.

"I have no idea, but him being a dick can't last forever. I never liked the guy much to begin with," Miryhn said, glancing at a blank screen. The screen had a reflection of the door to the hallway and he wanted to be sure not to talk like this if Jim unexpectedly walked in.

"He's alright, just greedy, I think," Vera replied, putting her soda down on the console and stretching out in the seat.

"You can say that again," Miryhn said with a slow nod.

Just then, the comlink began to ring.

Vera groaned and turned her seat around to the console. She pressed a key and the video screen came on. It was a young woman with neatly made brown hair and blue eyes.

"Good day. I'm looking for Nashville Wadsworth Harsborough," the woman said, glancing down as if she was reading the name off a piece of paper.

"'Nashville'?" Vera and Miryhn said in unison.

"Well, he was better known as just 'Nash'. Do you know where I can reach him?" the woman asked, a little embarrassed to be asking.

"Yeah, he lives here. Hang on, I'll put you through to him," Vera said, pressing a key to put her on hold. She got up from her seat and opened the bridge to the hallway. "Nash! Pick up the comlink!" she screamed as loud as she could.

"Don't yell too loud, Jim might think you're doing something unproductive," Miryhn said jokingly.

Vera rolled her eyes and shut the door. She sat back down in her seat and watched as the comlink message disappeared off her console.

"Good, he got it. Now, as I was saying-" Vera began to say just as the secondary comlink line began to ring, interrupting her.

Vera sighed and pressed the key. Ester's image appeared on the console.

"Yo, I have to talk to Miryhn. It's important," Ester said, serious in tone.

"That's some greeting. Hello to you too," Vera replied, a bit offended.

"Cut the crap and let me talk to Miryhn! This is a matter of life and death!" Ester said louder.

"Alright, alright, I'm up!" Miryhn said, climbing off the pilot's seat with a yawn. He walked down the stairs and looked over Vera's shoulder.

"I need to speak in private, alright?" Ester said, glaring at Vera.

Vera looked back at her angrily and stood up. "Fine! Be my guest!" she said, marching out the door.

"Don't mind her, there's a case of 'the bad mood' going around thanks to the boss," Miryhn said, sitting in Vera's seat.

"That's too bad. But I got something that might cheer you up. I finally found Joker," Ester said with a smile.

Miryhn blinked a few times. "Ester, Doc always told us not to-" he began to say.

"Screw what grandpa said! I dedicated two years to this and I'm going to go see him. Do you want to go?" Ester said, looking serious. "No, wait, perhaps I should say I want you to go. Grandpa told me there's no guarantee of my safety and that I might need back-up," she added, fibbing a little.

"The last time I played back-up I got a 12 gauge to the leg and a useless Orbital Frame, you know. I'm not too sure about this," Miryhn pointed out.

"That was different! This is Joker we're talking about! Haven't you always wanted to know why the Shuffle Squad were the ony ones to survive the Terran Crusade on TEMPEST? Or why Joker of all people was the one who saved us?" Ester pleaded.

"I use to ask those questions, but then I decided I might be better off not knowing. Military crap annoys the hell out of me and that nutcase annoyed me plenty back when I was in the Squad," Miryhn replied, sighing a bit.

"Miryhn, please?" Ester asked, desperate.

"I'm sorry, Ester, but that's all behind me now. I have enough to deal with as it is now," Miryhn said, shaking his head.

Ester paused. "But what about Manna?"

Miryhn's eyes widened. "Ester, that of all things is-" he began to say.

"Is your biggest problem, right? I know what happened to you back during that fight with the Tempest. Yours went off, didn't it? And quite badly too, right?" Ester interrupted.

Miryhn opened his mouth to comment, but stopped. He sighed and dropped his head a bit.

"The bloody tears, the flushed skin...I remember it all from that one time...that one time during our last days with TEMPEST. I saw the same red stains on your cheeks that day too," Ester said, lowering her voice a bit.

Miryhn shook his head, clearing away a few faint memories of that day. "And just what do you think Joker would know about that?"

"He was our commanding officer, right? He was bound to have known more about it than we did," Ester replied, a bit more confident.

Miryhn scratched the back of his head and drew out a long sigh. "Alright, I guess it couldn't hurt to try and ask. Where can I meet you?"

"Head for Callisto and meet me in The Green Gaia. It's a small town where Joker claims residence. I'll be at the Perdition Inn Tavern," Ester replied.

"Alright, I'll be there, even if it kills me!" Miryhn said with a smile. "We'll make a little journey to the past together."

"That's the spirit!" Ester said brightly. "I'm so lucky to have a friend like you, Miryhn. You should cheer up, after all, if not for you I would have died trying to catch Tarver Urenbach. Every girl should be as lucky as me to have such a great guardian angel as you," she said, smiling.

Miryhn laughed. "I'm no guardian angel, but I sure as hell can take a beating," he said, grinning stupidly.

Ester giggled. "Well, just meet me later on and we'll settle things once and for all. Alright?" she said happily.

"Alright, I'll see 'ya later then," Miryhn said, nodding and smiling.

"See 'ya!" Ester replied and cut off the comlink.

Miryhn stared at the blank screen a moment. He sighed and dropped his head to the ledge of the console, resting his forehead on top of it.

"Her guardian angel, huh? What a joke," he said, sneering.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Nash was just about to finally fix the "Puree" setting on the blender when Vera shouted for him to pick up the comlink. It startled him so badly, he missed the screw and tapped an important part out of place. Cursing to himself, Nash growled and pulled the piece out. "Great, ten more minutes of sottering," he grumbled to himself.

Nash got up and walked to his room, sitting down at the desk and placing the comlink in front of him. He activated it and turned off the hold status.

The woman's face appeared on the screen. She looked at Nash a moment and then smiled. "Nash? Is that really you? Don't you remember me?"

Nash glared at her. Something seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite see it. Then he glanced to the picture of the brown-haired woman on his desk.

"Wait, are you...are you Maria by some chance?" Nash asked, completely puzzled.

"Yes, Nash, it's me, Maria. I can't believe how long it's been. How are you doing?" Maria replied happily.

"Oh, I'm doing great! How are you?" Nash said with the same expression, now smiling.

"Nash, it's been so long! I'm so sorry I had to just take off one day like I did. I know your engineering school was going to graduate a month later, but it was just so important to my career!" Maria explained.

"It's fine, it's fine, don't worry about it. Let's not worry about back then, okay?" Nash said, shaking his head. "Do you want to get together sometime?"

"Nash, that would be so great! There's so much I have to tell you that I just can't over this stupid comlink. I'd be much better if I could see you in person," Maria replied, obviously quite anxious.

"Alright, that sounds good. I can't really talk to my boss right now about when I can get time off, but when are you free?" Nash asked, smiling again.

"Can you meet me tonight? I'll send you my address at Erigan and we'll get some dinner or something," Maria replied, entering something into the data transfer. She pressed a key and an address file was sent over the comlink.

"I'm sure we'll still be waiting for the Urenbech Catapult by then. The boss should have no problem with that," Nash said, saving the file to his console's address book.

"Good, I can't wait to see you again, Nash. I've missed the good old days more than you can imagine," Maria said, getting emotional.

"To tell you the truth, seeing you, I miss them too," Nash replied, a little sadder.

"Oh, well don't worry. Now that I finally got in touch with you, things can look up again," Maria said, smiling once again.

"Alright then, sounds good. I have to get back to work, though, so I'll see 'ya later on," Nash said, looking worried.

"Oh, you were busy? I'm sorry for interrupting you. But you're right, we can deal with that later. Get back to work and I'll see 'ya later," Maria said, waving. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!" Nash said with a wave. He sighed as Maria closed the link. "But Maria, why did you really leave me in the first place?" he said softly to himself, leaning back in the chair.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Miryhn jammed each of his old Walthiers into his belt, dropped his shirt over his waist, and grabbed his sword. In his other hand, he grabbed a thick hooded sweater and started out the door of his room. As he walked down the hall, he slipped the katana under his belt to his left hip and grabbed his sunglasses out of his shirt's breast pocket.

"Going out without asking me?" Jim said, doing his amazing appearing-out-of-nowhere trick; or, rather, sitting in a room off to the side of the hallway to the hangar watching for misbehaving employees.

"Actually I was trying to find you to ask about that. See, a very pressing matter has come up and I need to go to Callisto for a little while," Miryhn explained, stopping in the hallway as Jim stepped out from around a doorway. Miryhn casually slipped on his sunglasses and smiled.

"You're not going anywhere! God knows when a free spot will open in the queue and we can leave. Get your ass back to the bridge," Jim ordered strictly.

Miryhn sighed and shook his head. "Jim, you don't seem to understand my situation. See this is of personal importance and I mean a whole lof of personal importance," he said, looking back up at Jim.

"'Personal importance', eh? Like fucking hell. The last time you went out on one of those, you came back with a hospital bill that I had to pay! I don't care, Miryhn, get back to work!" Jim shouted.

Behind his sunglasses, Miryhn narrowed his eyes. "You lying little...you told me that as long as I payed for the damages and resources used up, I could handle whatever personal matters that I have with no questions asked!" he shouted back.

"That was then, this is now. Besides, you're probably just using it as an excuse to get off your lazy duff. You hardly do anything but steer this crate like a maniac and eat all the food!" Jim said angrily. "But you can improve my mood ten fold if you get back to work, right now!"

"I steer 'this crate' better than most people you'll find on the market, for your information. And I eat all the food because you make me do the shopping!" Miryhn said, replying with the same anger. He brushed past Jim and walked into the hangar.

"You aren't thinking of taking that Frame out, are you? That's company property, in case you forgot," Jim yelled from the doorway, hot with anger.

Miryhn stopped halfway between Masamune and the door. "Jim, let's not forget who pilots that thing and not only that, could get himself killed one day with it while you sit back and hold out on my workman's comp'!" he yelled back.

"Miryhn, I don't know what's gotten into you, but as long as that Frame is in my hangar it is company property. You have no right to steal it," Jim said strictly.

"I'm the Runner, not you, Jim. As far as I'm concerned, the Frame is mine and thus I'm providing my services with it to your business. It doesn't work the other way around," Miryhn said, teeth gritted. He then turned and walked up to Masamune's cockpit.

Jim growled angrily and punched a dent in the hallway wall. "You underhanded son of a bitch! I never trusted you to begin with! You look and act like a weirdo and you never did anything right! I just don't understand what the hell your problem is!" Jim roared, angry as hell. "If you take that Frame out, you better not come back because you'll be fired! There will not be a place for you here anymore!"

"That's your call, pal," Miryhn said, now indifferent. He hopped in Masamune's cockpit and shut the canopy.

"Then it's settled! You're fired, Troxel! Get the fuck out of my sight!" Jim yelled as Masamune sprung to life.

"Just forward all my effects to Dr. Ricdeau's Ganymede address then. If anything is missing, I'll just have to sue," Miryhn said with a smile, opening the canopy long enough to say so.

"Fine! Just go already! Get out of here!" Jim yelled, stepping back into the hallway and sealing the airlock on the door.

Miryhn sighed and activated Masamune's stealth. The hangar door opened and the Frame slowly stepped out the back, into space where Entropy was "parked" outside Antillia. Masamune switched to global flight mode and shot off towards Callisto.

"Don't worry, Jim, I'm with you on one thing. I don't entirely understand what my problem is either," Miryhn said to himself.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

"Good ridance. Never liked that guy much to begin with," Jim said as the hangar door shut and he opened the hallway door again. He stepped into the hangar and had a look around. Nash and Vera walked in, Nash carrying a plate of nachos with melted cheese on them.

"What was all that yelling about?" Vera asked, grabbing a nacho off the plate as Nash sat it on his workbench.

"Miryhn if officially off my payrole. You just missed saying goodbye to him once and for all," Jim replied, still spiteful.

"What?" Vera asked, shocked.

"He's gone, alright? I fired him for being such a dick. If he can't follow my orders, then he has no place in my busine-" Jim explained.

"What are you talking about? What was he doing wrong, exactly?" Vera interrupted, an angry look on her face.

"I told him to get back to work and he insisted on doing some 'personal business' or something. He refused to do what I said, so I just sent him off to do whatever the hell it is he does that nearly gets him killed every single time he comes crawling back," Jim said firmly, putting his hands on his hips.

"And that's a reason to fire him? Jim, we have ten hours until we even have a remote chance of leaving Antillia. I'm sure he'd be back in time," Vera said, in defense.

"That's not important. I told him to do something and he didn't do it. Plus he stole company property," Jim said, pointing to the spot where Masamune was.

Vera's jaw dropped. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she screamed, stomping her heel down.

Jim's furious look drew back on his face. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you morons? You keep running off in your little robots doing 'personal business' and then come back here like the shit I had lined up to do didn't matter. This ship isn't your home, this ship is your workplace and as such you need to be there when your boss needs you," he said, firmly and with anger.

"Did it ever occur to you that we have lives outside of this place? We're not like you, Jim, sitting in this flying tin can hiding from those you're endebted to and letting life pass us by. We have our own problems and we prefer to handle them instead of scampering around the solar system pulling shit-level jobs for pocket change!" Vera shouted, extremely bitter.

Jim's eyes widened and his chest drew in a deep breath, his face red with anger. In one moment, he drew back his arm and smacked Vera's face hard enough to send her to the ground. There was an uneasy silence among the three of them as Vera, speechless and paralyzed with shock, began to sob. Nash, frozen with fear, managed to break his trance and look down at Vera and then back at Jim. Jim looked at Nash with an expression of deep-felt anger, then looked back at Vera.

"When will you grow up? When will you just be a man for once, Jim? Why not just face your problems and get it over with instead of taking it out on us?" Vera said amongst her sobs. She crawled to her feet, a whole cheek red from Jim's attack.

"That's not your place, you little..." Jim began to say, but stopped himself. He realized he had been here before; raving with anger for a woman who didn't see on his level. He also saw that he was about to make yet another mistake that he might regret later if he kept talking. He stiffened his angry expression and looked away.

"Little what? I'm a little what? Come on, Jim, say what's on your mind! Tell me I'm worth throwing out too, come on! You obviously didn't hold back if you drove off Miryhn, why not tell me what you think of me too?" Vera said, crying.

Jim didn't move a muscle.

"Callow son of a bitch," Vera said bitterly in a whisper as she dashed past Jim and into the hallway. Within a moment, she was back with her staff, a coat, and Peniel.

"Vera, what are you doing?" Nash asked, finally confident to speak.

"I quit, I'm leaving. I can't work with this...monster anymore. Have my things sent to my mother on Ganymede, I'm out of here," Vera said, looking at Jim. She then hurried over to Freya.

"But Vera, come on! You don't have to-" Nash cried out.

"Yes, she can. She can go ahead and fucking quit if she wants. If she can't respect the man who gives her a roof over her head and a few credits in her pocket enough to work for him without questions asked, then she can just leave too. She can also take that cat with her, reminds me too much of 'that' pilot I use to have," Jim said, folding his arms.

"Respect you? I'm amazed I can keep my lunch down looking at you. You're a sick man, Jim, and you're a coward! I don't know if that ring you wear was a wife or a whore, but I can see now why she isn't here right now," Vera said, getting in Freya and shutting the cockpit.

Jim sneered, giving Freya the finger as it walked over to the hangar door. Nash and Jim stepped into the hallway and sealed the airlock, hearing Freya take off in a shot for a destination unknown. After she left, Jim looked at Nash and shrugged. "So you wanna just up and leave too?"

Nash sighed and lowered his head. "Jim, you had absolutely no right to strike her. You also had no basis for firing Miryhn if the way you did it is the way I think you did," Nash said, monotone.

Jim raised an eyebrow.

"Vera's right, you're hardly someone anyone can respect. You're even more pathetic than my own father. At least my father gave a damn about someone else's problems than his own. All you've done is push us around, step on our feelings, and then whine to us about how we're 'bad employees' just for being normal human beings," Nash explained, tearing up at mention of his father.

Jim groaned. "Fine, you're fired too. Get the fuck off my ship," he said, now calmer.

"With pleasure," Nash replied with spite. He set off for his room and came back a moment later carrying a bag and one of his ottomans. "Send my things to my brother Claude on Mars. Have a nice life, wilting away in this rust-bucket. Good luck too keeping it in one piece without me around," he said, then brushed past Jim to the hangar.

Jim watched as Nash hopped in Zeus, then he shut the airlock so the hangar door could open. He heard Zeus take off and then an eerie silence fell over the ship. He sighed and walked the other way. "What a bunch of weirdos. Good ridance to bad rubbish."

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

* In the years following the Aumaan crisis and the Terran Crusade, an attempt was made among Mars and Jupiter businesses to try and draw Earth businesses and residents from among the two planets back into a system of vigorous trade and tourism across the solar system. The Jupiter moons and satellites were the first to be targeted, considering the massive amounts of mineral deposits among the moons. What better way to attract business into the area than good old fashioned mineral rights?

Alongside Antillia, which orbits Europa collecting resources such as water from Callisto, the next moon to have a resource satellite constructed was the barren Titan; which recieved the latest Taurus-type resource satellite, Erigan. Unfortuneately, Erigan was a waste, collecting and distributing far below the standard set by Antillia. Titan was just far too lacking in resources to keep up, but many people had flocked to Erigan to live out their lives little realizing what the future held for them.

Mineral prices skyrocketed as demand increased with limited supply. Soon, all the businesses that invested in Erigan began to loose profit and they sold off their claims. Erigan began to decline into recession with thousands of people loosing their jobs by the week. Erigan began to attract the criminal element, the mafias of the solar system hoping to feast off all the wealthy investors left in the colony that could easily withstand Erigan's financial flop. Because of this, the SSI (Solar System Interpol, or, Solar System International Law Enforcement Group), fearing another Zarugasu-like** status from Erigan, were forced to place a lot of effort to keep corruption down in the colony. However, Erigan still orbits to this day, a broken down shanty town of haves and have-nots floating high above a moon of nothing but barren ground with little to offer. It is truly a hive of scum and villiany.

Meanwhile, as Erigan was being constructed, a few ambitious investors placed a lot of time into terraforming the moons themselves. After Ganymede was successfully terraformed and colonized early in the 2170's, the plans for the other moons was backed-up even more by several investors. Not long into 2176, Callisto had already established a climate control system, breathable atmosphere, and was set up with crude settlements and some remote headquarters for several big name businesses (including a Nereidium Universal Technologies Minerals Division and a Research and Development Center; also Ryan Corporation's own Mineral Division and a few small test centers). Titan, on the other hand, took until early 2177 to be terraformed and considering Erigan's state by that time, no one wanted to live on Titan. Even now, in 2177, the plans for Europa and Io are underway.

Callisto became spotted with several cities situated around the many corporate headquarters. Rarely was a town or city seen not too far away from a corporate highrise that lasted long on its own. The economy of Callisto thrived the same way Erigan did sooner or later; it became a state of haves and have-nots, the have-nots working day in and day out as corporate desk jockeys or as mindless mining employees. Fairly soon, all hope of getting up the corporate ladder on Callisto was gone; whenever a higher-up quit or died, someone from Earth or Mars replaced them. Callisto was seen as a joke; a quiet, cold hovel for the desperate and broken-down. There was little or no hope of ever living a happy life there; Callisto existed only to mock the humanity of those that came there. Mock, destroy, and erase one's humanity, that is. You are either a poor, lost soul with no hope of redemption, or a cold and unfeeling villian to those beneath you. The author Isaac Barrett (after finishing his line of self-help books and venturing into other forms of writing) once compared it to Dante's vision of Hell: an icy pit where the deeper you go into it, the worst it gets for those trapped in it. ***

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

"Some 'Green Gaia' this place is," Miryhn said, strolling down the street with his sweater on. Even with his hands in the pocket of his sweater, they were still shaking from the frosty chill of Callisto. He sighed, breathing out a swirling cloud with his breath and looked down the street. To each side were the occassional bundled-up passer-by, a bum quietly laying in the doorway to a house or apartment building, and large piles of snow from where the snow plows had cleared the roads only an hour ago. It was perfectly quiet except for the footsteps and the blowing wind. Miryhn brushed a few snowflakes from his hair and kept walking.

He passed by a junkyard where, for no apparent reason, a large muscular man was attacking something with a large sledgehammer. Curious, and also wanting directions, Miryhn turned and walked towards the man.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Miryhn asked, completely puzzled.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to get rid of Julia! She keeps harrassing me!" the man replied, pointing to an old Macintosh computer sitting on a rock.

Miryhn looked at the computer and then back at the man. "Julia?"

"You know her, don't you? Tell me where Julia is!" the man snapped.

"Look, I don't know any Julia," Miryhn said, taking a step back. "But can you tell me where the Perdition Inn Tavern is?"

"Only if you tell me where Julia is!" the man shouted.

Miryhn sighed. "Alright, tell me the directions and I'll tell you where Julia is, alright?"

"Deal. Go up the street towards the broken-down semi and turn left. Keep going and take a right. It should be in plain view, there's a cartoon devil's head on the sign outside the door," the man calmly explained. "Now, where's Julia?" he then suddenly shouted.

Miryhn sighed and looked around. He leaned over to the man. "I'm not suppose to tell you this, but she's hiding right in there," he said in a whisper, pointing to a rusty old car.

"You hear me Julia? This guy just sold you out! I'm coming for you! Say goodnight, Julia!" the man yelled with an insane laugh. He swung back his sledgehammer and ran towards the car, smashing the hood hard enough to set off the horn in a continuous beeping sound. He laughed some more and kept swinging at it, breaking windows and denting the frame.

"Julia, eh? That's a very common name," Miryhn said to himself as he turned and left for the street.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Nash stood at the gate, looking up at the stately house just up the walk. He was a little overwhelmed by the sight of it; he would have never imagined Maria would be so successful. Her house was palacial compared to the rest of the neighborhood there in Erigan; suspicious as it was, Nash wanted to finally see her again. So with a straightened back and a pushed out chest, Nash marched up the sidewalk and to the door. He rang the door bell and stood back, waiting for the door to open.

The door opened and Maria's face peeked through the crack in the door. "Oh, hi!" she greeted, opening the door in full. She was dressed in a very formal red dress and her hair was still pinned up from earlier. "You're early."

"I, um, had some problems with...someone earlier. I left because my boss was being a dick," Nash explained, laughing nervously.

"Oh, did anything really bad happend?" Maria said, concern on her face.

"Well, I got fir-" Nash began to say, but stopped on the word "fired". What would Maria think of him not only being a moderated wage slave on a salvaging ship, but a smelly engineer/repairman who just lost his job? Considering where she lived and how she was dressed, she probably wouldn't be too impressed, that's for sure. Nash's face drained of color and he broke into a slouch.

Maria cocked her head to the side and made that adorable high-pitched "Hmm?" sound that Nash loved to hear. Maria as a whole was adorable to him, in fact, and that seemed to make him feel better already.

"Nothing, nothing really. Did you need more time to get ready or are you already, judging by your attire?" Nash said, smiling slightly.

"Oh, this? I always wear this around the house. This dress doesn't even look that good on me, so I just sit around in it," Maria said, smiling sweetly.

Nash would have grabbed her and kissed her right then, covering over all the years he spent wondering why she had to leave him so suddenly. Instead, Nash just smiled wider and laughed. "That's awfully attractive, you know," he said softly.

"What?" Maria replied, laughing.

"I mean, that's awfully good rack- No, I mean-" Nash shouted, panicking.

Maria laughed, leaning on the doorway. "Oh, you're just as sweet as you were back then," she said, shaking her head and smiling. "Come on inside, I'll get you some tea or something," she added, waving her hand to come inside as she turned and walked away.

"Hey! Wait up!" Nash said aloud, jogging into the house. He followed along behind her until she stopped in a den and turned around. Nash stopped when she did and he had a good look around; just as he imagined, the inside of the house was just as palacial as the outside.

"Sit down already. You probably had a long walk here," Maria said, pointing to the red velvet sofa.

Nash sighed and sat on it, looking up at her. "Yeah, I had a bit of a trip here," he said, smiling.

"Well then set a spell and I'll get you a drink. Be right back!" Maria replied, smiling brightly. She turned and proceeded through a door, leaving Nash behind.

Nash ran his hand along the couch, feeling the soft velvet. The couch itself was soft and comfortable, but the room itself was a bit offensive in nature. The colors clashed and didn't seem to agree with him. He looked down at the couch, sinking into a little bit more and relaxing.

"Back!" Maria said, walking through the door and heading to the coffee table in front of Nash.

"Welcome back!" Nash replied, smiling.

"Thanks. I got you this great speacialty blend from Mars. This tea is my favorite from Solis," Maria said, placing a small tea cup on the table in front of him.

Nash leaned over and picked it up. He began to sip on it, looking up at Maria. "So Maria, I've been meaning to ask, where did you go all those years ago?"

Maria's smile dropped. She sat in a chair across from the table and folder her arms in her lap. "I...um, made a few mistakes. I ended up having to do something I deeply regret, Nash. I'd rather you not know about it, it's for both our benefit you don't," she said sadly.

"Oh, come on. We were practically an item back then, you can still trust me. What's so different about then and now?" Nash asked in between sips.

"Things change, Nash, and I changed," Maria said, shaking her head. "But let's not worry about it now, that's all in the past, right? We can just start new now, can't we?" she said with a smile.

Nash finished his tea in one gulp. "You're avoiding my question. Why won't you tell me exactly why?"

Maria sighed and her smile dropped again. "I can't tell you, that's why. I don't know what will happen if I tell," she said, lowering her head.

"What do you mean? Does this have to do with someone dangerous?" Nash asked, a bit more demanding. He blinked a few times; strange, he felt very drowzy. He hadn't been doing anything to make him sleepy, did he?

"No, some ones," Maria replied, looking back up at him.

Nash nodded a few times, loosing consciousness. He looked up at Maria and his vision blurred. "Maria? What's going on? What is.." he began to say, then collapsed on the floor.

"Nash, I'm so sorry. I really wanted to see you again, but...they wanted to see you even more," Maria said, her voice slowly droning out.

And that was the last thing Nash heard. The next thing he knew, he was out like a light.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Lynn was bored stiff. He was half asleep in his police cruiser, his head leaning against the window. He began to drift off to sleep.

Just then, a hard knock on the window jarred him awake. He shot back up in his seat and looked out the window, wide-eyed as Vera stood there smiling and waving.

"Officer! Officer! Someone stole my baby! You have to help me!" Vera yelled, giggling.

Lynn sighed and unlocked the doors. Vera walked around and climbed in the passenger side door. She sat in the passenger seat and shut the door, letting out a deep breath.

"So how have you been?" Lynn said, yawning.

"I'm unemployed at the moment, to tell you the truth. I'm considering re-joining the force," Vera replied, folding her arms.

"That's mighty noble of you, but I should tell you it is no better than it was when you quit," Lynn said, rolling his head to the side to look out the window.

"Still that bad, eh? I'm sorry to hear that. 'To protect and serve' my ass, more like to get protected and better serve your own self," Vera said, crossing her legs.

"Vera, you know, you might be happy to hear that thanks to the current corrupted state of the police, I caught something you might be interested in. Seems someone conveniently dropped your father's case file behind the filing cabinet back at HQ," Lynn said, rubbing his whisker covered face. "Curious as to why the case was dropped after he died, I had a look over it and it turns out there was one lead no one ever bothered to talk to. Your father was going to arrest and interrogate a seemingly random ock named Spencer Mays, a suspected entry-level thug in the Stein Crime Syndicate. However, after the sting your father was killed in, Spencer was erased from all records but this one after I ran a thorough case check on him. He has no criminal record on file at HQ except for what's in this folder," he explained, digging a manilla folder out from under his chair.

"Wait, let me get this straight. Dad was investigating a drug ring running between Ganymede and Erigan and then he supposedly died in a sting, right? What does that one guy have to do with it? Why was he covered up?" Vera asked, taking the folder from Lynn.

"That's what's bugging me. Vera, something tells me your father stumbled across something even bigger than that. Else, he was even more deeply involved and there's no telling what the repercussions were. Ultimately, I'm beginning to think he didn't die in that sting. I think that was just the story they told you and your mom," Lynn explained, laying his hands on the steering wheel.

"Why are you so interested in this?" Vera said, glancing through the folder's contents of various forms and collected evidence.

"Because I can't stand to see unfinished business go unfinished and the convicted get off without a hitch. Plus I thought you'd be dying to know the truth about your father seeing as everyone but him made it back alive from that particular sting and now there's reason to believe he was set up in something else," Lynn said, yawning again.

"Lynn, just what are you saying? That my dad was so far up shit creek that even the police force had to cover this up? That doesn't make any sense," Vera said, shutting the folder.

"It does when nine tenths of this organization if probably being strung along by everyone from Don Romero to Kramer Stein all the way back to Miguel Diaz," Lynn pointed out.

"I see what you mean," Vera replied, sighing.

"Look, Vera, it's no big deal. Going through with this won't bring him back. I just thought that considering how much you hate the syndicates, you'd be glad to take revenge for what is most likely their fault for your father's death. I honestly think he was set up," Lynn said, taking the file back from her. "And if you want to find the truth along with me, then I openly invite you. We'll take a journey into the past together and see what we can dig up."

"But wouldn't that require taking time off? I thought you'd be busy this time of year," Vera said, looking over at Lynn.

"Eh, they won't care if an old fossil like me goes missing for a while," Lynn said, slouching in his chair. "So what do you say? Interested? At least you can kill some time in between jobs."

Vera sighed and looked out the window. She had always thought that everything was so clear, but could it have all been a lie? Could her father have just been a pawn in something bigger, knocked out for knowing too much? Something was giving her a bad feeling about the whole thing, but it also grew curiosity in the back of her mind. Somewhere, deep down, she was dying to know now that there was reason to think so.

"Alright, I want to know too. Count me in," Vera said, slowly nodding.

"That's the spirit. Alright, come back in about half an hour and I'll drive us to Spencer's last known location. I'll see 'ya then, alright?" Lynn commanded, sitting up and starting his car.

"Alright, a half hour it is. Thanks again, Lynn," Vera said, stepping out of the car.

"Anytime," Lynn said before Vera shut the car door. Lynn's cruiser cut into gear and drove off down the road.

Vera bit her lip and turned the other way. "I'll find out what really happened. I promise, dad," she said to herself.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Miryhn stepped into the Perdition Inn Tavern, shutting the wintery storm out behind him as he closed the door. It was your standard shithole bar with three people playing poker (with potato chips, not money), at least two people passed out on the bar drunk, and poor lighting. The only addition to the scene was Ester, sitting at the far end of the bar eating peanuts from the dish. Miryhn smiled and walked towards her.

"It's about time," Ester said, mouth full of peanuts.

"I had a tiff with my boss. I lost my job over this, you know," Miryhn said, vigorously rubbing his hands together to warm them up in the room's heat.

"What?" Ester asked sharply.

"I don't know, he went into a hellacious rage over me wanting to come deal with this and the next thing I know, I'm fired," Miryhn said with a shrug.

"I knew you shouldn't have bothered being a pilot. You should have stuck with me, teaming up is nicer than going solo, after all," Ester said, grabbing another handful of peanuts.

"Ester, I told you already, that's what I wanted to do. It's not necessarily as thrilling as this, but I enjoy it. It's simple and gratifying work," Miryhn said, sitting down beside her.

"I may have lower job and personal security, but the pay is much better," Ester said with a small laugh.

Miryhn sighed in reply.

"Oh, don't let it get you down. You can hang out with me and grandpa for a while then. It's no big deal," Ester said, putting her free hand on Miryhn's shoulder.

Miryhn looked at her and then back down, sighing again.

"Look, let's just get this over with and you can deal with getting a new job later, alright?" Ester said, patting his shoulder and then dropping her hand.

"You're right, we'll deal with this first. So where'd you find him?" Miryhn asked, looking at Ester again.

"Not entirely sure. I was waiting for you before I went around asking anyone about a Catholic priest. You never know when that's code for something," Ester said, shoving more peanuts in her mouth.

"What? Oh for the love of..." Miryhn said, rolling his eyes in frustration. He hopped off his stool and looked around. After a good look at the room, he walked towards the three men in the back playing cards.

"It's because of old folk like us digging those ditches that young folk can live here today!" one of the old men shouted.

"Yep, we dug like there was no tommorrow," another replied in a more hoarse voice.

"What are you two talking about? We didn't dig anything, we were on the construction crew setting up the climate control center!" the third said.

"Yep, we set that thing up like there was no tommorrow," the hoarse one said.

"Shuttup!" the first one shouted.

"Eh, excuse me, gentlemen. I have a rather peculiar, but important question," Miryhn politely interrupted.

All three stared at him.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about a Catholic minister wandering around town, would you?" Miryhn asked, smiling.

All three scratched their heads.

"I don't think I recall seeing one," the first man replied.

"I think I was a minister once. I prayed like there was no tommorrow," the hoarse one said.

"You were never a minister! And of course there was a minister around town at one time. Problem is, he doesn't stay in one spot for very long. He always rides the train, going from station to station all across the surface of this here moon, rid'in people of sin and such," the third explained.

"Yeah, I remember him now. Some rather uncreative types call him 'The Train Man', but most just call him 'The Train Car Catholic'," the first man chimed in.

"Yep, I remember him now. Those folks were uncreative like there was no tommorrow," the hoarse one said.

"Would you shut up? You're getting more senile with every sentence you mutter!" the first one shouted.

"That's real nice, but which train does he ride? Am I suppose to just go stand around the train station until I see a Catholic minister walking around or something?" Miryhn asked, a bit disheartened.

"That's your own problem, sonny," the first one said, picking up his hand of cards.

"Yeah, you'll just have to search like there's no tommorrow," the hoarse one said, picking up his hand too.

"Good luck anyway," the third one said, snatching up his hand.

Miryhn frowned and walked back to Ester.

"Well?" Ester asked, chewing on peanuts.

"Good news is I know generally where to find him. Bad news is, I don't know where to specifically find him," he said, shrugging.

"Better than nothing. Where is he?" Ester asked, climbing off her stool.

"He rides a train all the time, suppposedly," Miryhn said, scratching his head.

Ester stared at him. "He what?"

"You heard me. We're going to the train station then," Miryhn said, turning around for the door.

"Miryhn, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why would he be doing that?" Ester said, catching up to him.

Miryhn looked at her and laughed. "Considering Joker, is that any surprise? He was always doing weird things like that back then," said, stepping out the door and sticking his hands back into his sweater pocket.

"I guess I can't argue with that logic," Ester said, rolling her eyes. She sighed and followed him out the door. "Miryhn, I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous" she said, staying in pace slightly behind Miryhn.

"I'm not. I have a feeling this will be no big deal," Miryhn replied, turning down a street to follow some railroad tracks laid in the road. A few blocks down the track, the platform to the train station was visible and the bell signifying the approach of a train was ringing. "For whom the bell tolls," Miryhn joked.

"Shut up," Ester said, groaning.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Nash woke up from his nap, groggy and lightheaded. He lifted his head with all his might and saw three blurry images; one red and the other two black.

"Nash? You there? Wake up!" Maria's voice said from the red blob.

"I'll get him up," one of the black blobs said. It approached with heavy footsteps and a hard smack landed across Nash's face.

Nash shook his head a few times and looked up again. His vision corrected and the red blob was indeed Maria. The two black blobs were men in black longcoats, decorated in a fashion Nash had seen before somewhere. His hands were also tied behind his back and he was in a chair inside the maintenance tunnels of Erigan.

"Nash, I'm so sorry, but this was the only way," Maria begged, about to cry.

"We'll take it from here. You did good, alright?" the man on the left said, pushing her behind them.

"We'll make this quick, Harsborough, where's Zeus?" the man on the right said, taking a black stick from his coat.

Nash raised an eyebrow and stared at each of the men, trying to remember.

"Talk, you sniveling piece of aristocratic shit," the left man commanded.

The one on the right smiled and tapped the stick in his opposite hand, a slight spark coming off of it.

"Wait just a second, I know who you guys are. You're thugs from the Stein Crime Syndicate, aren't you? I saw some of your guys get caught on the news a while back," Nash said, laughing. "Man, I never knew organized crime was so stupid."

The right man sneered and smacked Nash in the face with the stick, causing a violent shock to the contact point on his skin. Nash screamed in pain as the combined impact and electric shock burned his skin to the point of tears.

Maria looked in between the two men, worry on her face. She whined in fear for his safety.

"Look, it's simple. Edward Harsborough got a weird box from a secret admirer. He peeked inside and found an Orbital Frame. He tells his syndicate contacts about it and we prepare to pick it up a week after. Next thing we know, he signed it over to his son and not us, so we have him killed for it. Now we want the Frame because Stein seems to think Frames will give us an edge somewhere down the road," the left man explained. "Any more questions? Good, now where's the Frame?"

"So you guys ordered my dad's death, eh? Guess I should thank you," Nash said, chuckling.

The right thug groaned and smacked Nash twice, causing two more vicious burns on each side of his face. Nash screamed and began to fidget from the pain.

"You can thank us by telling us where your Orbital Frame is!" the left one commanded.

Nash bit his lip, whining in the excrutiating pain. For a brief moment, he wanted to blurt it out and get rid of the Frame for good. He didn't care about being the Runner, or so he thought. Looking back, Nash considered everything he had been through with it. He had fought against enemies, killed a man, and then was made a mockery of by the legendary Leo Stenbuck. He had also made a promise to himself that he'd make Miryhn eat his words; he'd see to it that Miryhn know that not all conflict is resolved by killing one another. There are ways to use a Frame for dominance and negotiation, not just mindless slaughter.

Besides, ADA was such a nice thing to converse with. It had chosen him to run it and considering Nash's ideals, it must truly believe he could accomplish what he wanted with Zeus.

Nash snorted and formed a loogie. He spat it at the left man.

The left man sighed and nodded to the right one. The right one swung back and smacked Nash in the side hard enough to knock him from the chair. Nash landed on the hard metal floor and curled up as the man continued to smack him with the stick repeatedly. His face was so badly burned that his cheeks were bleeding badly and several holes were burned in his clothes.

"You have one more chance, Harsborough. Where is the Frame?" the left man shouted at him.

"Go to hell," Nash muttered. His eyes widened at how gutsy he was being, but he also wished that he hadn't said that. He wasn't some ballsy action hero, he couldn't escape from this. The reality of it hit him hard the same way the right man did when he picked Nash up and thrown him against the wall. Nash pressed himself against the wall, grimacing in pain. He saw Maria in tears behind the men. She turned and ran away, making Nash suddenly loose the rest of his nerve.

"Look, I have no time for games, if you won't talk, I'll just have to kill you. We still have four other surviving relatives to talk to, right?" the left one said, pressing Nash's head against the wall with his right hand.

"You can go ahead and mess with them, the only one of them that's the least bit sane is Claude," Nash said, panting. "So what do you say? Just go bug them and leave me alone, doesn't that sound good?" he begged, realizing that made little sense.

The left man growled and tossed Nash against the other wall. He then grabbed Nash by the leg and drug him to a door, leaving a bloody trail.

"I've had enough of this shit. We'll just have to tear this satellite down looking for it without your cooperation. It's easy enough to find things here, if you know the right people," the left man said, opening the door and throwing Nash inside. He slammed the door and the door locked with a metallic click.

Nash painfully raised his head, looking up to see where they threw him. His eyes widened with panic; he was in an airlock.

Somehow, the next few moments seemed like a blur. The airlock opened and Nash, bloody, beaten, and powerless, was sucked into absolute zero. He let out his last literal breath and then tried to breathe in nothing. His lungs reacted, working even harder as the faint amounts of air around him were just enough to keep him conscious a few more seconds. His body then gave up, his oxygen deprived blood no longer sustaining his bodily functions. He closed his eyes; the last thing he would ever see is the closing airlock, he guessed. What happened next was something like an out-of-body experience; he felt like he wasn't there anymore, but instead, somewhere better.

But that's just speculation; it all doesn't matter when you're dead, right? And Nash was most certainly dead now.

Dead, gone, like he was never there.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Vera looked at the handgun she was holding. It was a fine Ganymede Valkyrie-20 (resembles the 20th century Smith and Wesson Mod 39), a police standard issue for the higher-ups. Lynn decided to lend her his while he stuck to his Ganymede Punisher-9 (resembles the 20th century Smith and Wesson Model 29 revolver). She took it into hand and pulled the top, a satisfying click of a round being loaded into the chamber sounding. She cut on the safety and put it into the inside pocket to her jacket. She looked out the window of the cruiser at the small house just up the sidewalk.

"He's in there, supposedly. I'm not entirely sure what he's up to, but this was his last known sighting," Lynn explained, leaning over in his seat to look out the window with her.

"You ready, old man?" Vera said, looking at him with a smile.

"Yeah, but just remember, I can't bail us out of this one. I'm not suppose to be here, after all," Lynn replied.

"I know, I'll be careful. Don't want another crisis like last time, do we?" she said, holding up her right hand to show the round scar.

Lynn sighed and put on his rimmed hat. "Vera...I..." he began to say, wanting to apologize again. He trailed off and didn't finish, knowing that there was no number of "I'm sorry"'s he could say to make her feel better. Or maybe, he wanted to say it again to make himself feel better.

"Lynn, I'm sorry. I know you felt bad for me then and still do now. But, it's fine, I've gotten over it!" Vera said, smiling.

"Yes, you're right, there's no need to worry about it anymore. Let's get going," Lynn said, smiling back.

Both got out of the car at the same time. Lynn walked around to the front and up the sidewalk first, Vera in tow. Lynn stepped onto the front stoop and knocked on the door loudly.

"Wait, how are you going to talk to him if this isn't official business?" Vera asked.

"Pretend it is!" Lynn replied with a loud whisper.

The door opened and a young man with a thin mop of brown hair looked at them both. He was in a red bathrobe and nothing else, it seemed. "Yes?" he asked, a worried look on his face.

"Ganymede P.D. We have reason to believe you were involved in an incident and we need to take you in for questioning," Lynn replied, flashing his badge from his wallet and then putting it back in his pocket.

"Cops? Hey, look, I didn't do anything wrong, alright? You got the wrong guy," the man said, shaking his head violently. He then began to shut the door quickly.

Lynn jammed his foot in the door, stopping it from shutting. He took a step back and kicked open the door with the other foot. Vera jumped back, reaching into her jacket for the gun.

"I think I do have the right guy! Sir, you are resisting arrest and for such, I'm going to have to use force," Lynn said, taking a step into the doorway while grabbing his revolver from his holster.

Vera couldn't see inside the doorway well, but she watched as Lynn stepped back and leapt away from the stoop. A flurry of automatic gunfire shots suddenly sounded from inside and the bullet spray either hit the door or flew outside. Vera took in a deep breath and raised her gun.

As Lynn rolled onto his back and threw himself around to get up, a man in a blue suit stepped outside onto the stoop with a submachine gun in hand. He had a thin mustache and neatly combed black hair. He saw Vera and raised his gun to her, completely unafraid of her firing.

"You're sitting on your couch, trying to take a hit and what happens? The cops bust in and ruin all your fun," the suited man shouted with sarcasm and anger, rubbing his nose with his free hand. "And what's this? Old man winter and a blonde bombshell? The P.D. must be getting desperate."

Lynn got to his feet and pointed his revolver at the suited man. "Alright, I don't have to say just how many charges you're stacking up right now, sir. Narcotics use, reckless endangerment, attempting the life of a police officer-" he began to say.

"Oh, shut the fuck up!" the suited man said, groaning. Without warning, he lowered his aim and began shooting at Lynn and Vera's feet. Vera leapt to the side, taking a nick to her leg. She landed near the sidewalk and while climbing back to her feet, she raised her gun and fired three shots. Two completely missed and the third landed in the suited man's free arm's shoulder. He cringed and stepped off the stoop, facing Vera with a murderous look on his face.

"Vera, shoot him! Shoot him now! That's Whitney Hagasman, a professional 'cleaner'. He's been wanted for months!" Lynn shouted from the ground. He had collapsed, having taken a shot to his left calf in Whitney's attack.

Vera blinked, looking at Lynn and then back at Whitney. Whitney raised his machine gun again to her and stared at her.

"Wait a minute. Did he just say Vera? Are you Vera Micheals?" Whitney asked, a little irritated.

Vera slowly nodded.

Whitney's face pinched. "Fuck! Son of a...grrr!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "I can't get any good help these days, can I? Those shitheads were suppose to kill you and they didn't, did they?" he said loudly, shaking his head.

Vera didn't totally understand what he meant for a moment, but then the scene played back in her head; the pull-over, the raunchy car passengers, and the shot through her hand. Vera shook her head a few times; that didn't make any sense, that was just a coincedence, wasn't it? But Vera thought again and was instantly puzzled; after all, that's the one and only time an attempt had been made at her life. But how? How could such an event have been planned out in advance?

It didn't matter now. Vera drew a serious look and straightened her grip on the gun. "I'm safe in assuming that you were the one who somehow set up those guys to kill me when they got pulled over by me, aren't I?"

"Give the lady a prize, she's smart. Too bad her brilliant mind is about to be all over the sidewalk," Whitney said, nodding and smiling.

"Vera! Run!" Lynn shouted, firing at Whitney. His arm was shaking from the pain in his leg and his aim was terrible. He missed Whitney with each shot until his revolver was empty.

Whitney rolled his eyes and dropped his aim. He walked over to Lynn and took his gun in both hands. "Look, I'm sick of this already. But my mood can be increased ten fold if you were dead, lady," Whitney said, drawing back and swinging the butt of his gun at Lynn. It hit Lynn in the head hard enough to send him rolling over once, unconscious. From the house, the brown haired man stepped outside holding a handgun. "Mays, take her out. I need to go lay down, that stuff just kicked in and I'm too pissed to enjoy it," Whitney said, walking up to the stoop.

"With pleasure," Spencer replied, raising his gun.

"Wait, were you the one who killed my father?" Vera shouted, too confused and overwhelmed by the situation to react any other way.

"Didn't I just say you were smart? Let's see, I want you dead and I hate cops in general. Go fig!" Whitney shouted with extreme sarcasm.

"Yes? You did?" Vera asked weakly.

"Give the bimbo a prize!" Whitney said aloud. He shook his head and stepped inside.

"I hope you enjoy your parting gifts, lady. Show's over," Spencer said. He then pulled the trigger.

Vera fell on her back, staring up at the sky. Somehow this didn't seem right; it was like a horrible cosmic joke, to open the door to all she ever wanted to know and then take her life away from her. Her eyes widened and the injury began to take effect. Vera didn't have much time to realize she was wounded the way she was; she was gone before she even knew her body had gone numb. Her head tilted to the side and her life was cut off before she got to know anything at all.

The worst part of the joke was that after this job, she planned to go see "him" again. Her own poor, lost cat, wandering around with no one to care for him. This is what made her feel worst about the whole situation, even more than not getting to know what really happened that involved her and her father.

Oh, and I wasn't talking about Peniel; I meant the other thing she cares most for. Go fig!

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Miryhn sighed, sitting on the bench of the train platform and chewing on a candy bar. Ester had left to check the other side of the train platform, heading over the large bridge that spanned over every track on the platform. He yawned and blinked a few times.

Ester came back and sat beside him. She looked at him and then back forward, staring at a group of people standing around a lighting pole.

"See anything?" Miryhn asked, chewing.

"Did you?" Ester replied.

"Nope."

"Me neither," she said, groaning. "You know, this seems like a waste of time. The whole ordeal seems like a big, fat waste of time. Looking back, I really think I have no reason to be here," she said, looking at Miryhn.

"Well that's nice to know, now that I'm unemployed and all," Miryhn said, rolling his eyes.

"Would you shut up? I'm having an epiphany here," Ester said, offended.

"Sheesh, sorry," Miryhn said, tossing the candy bar wrapper in a nearby trashcan.

"I think my grandpa was right, this is useless. All this time, I never really understood what that guy was thinking and I thought I could find out someday. But grandpa was right, he's just nuts and it's pointless to try. I should just get over it and go on with life," Ester said, shaking her head. "Man, was I stupid."

"I think you're just being lazy now. So what if Joker managed to tuck himself away in such a strange place? Just be patient and this will all be over with soon. After all, it's quite apparent you're just too hung up on this to give up yet," Miryhn said, stretching out.

"You think I'm just lying to myself so I can feel better about how fucking annoying it is looking for him?" Ester said, looking at Miryhn with a smirk.

"Yeah, exactly," Miryhn replied with the same smirk.

Ester shook her head and laughed. "Alright then, just a little longer. After all, we got this far."

Miryhn slowly nodded and glanced around. A train pulled into the platform one track away from the station and several passengers piled off.

"See? This could be the one already. Just have to be patient," Miryhn said, patting Ester on the back.

"Miryhn, I have to wonder, just what did I do to deserve a friend like you? Not only do you back me up in combat, but you back me up when I'm feeling down," Ester said, smiling at him.

"Could you keep the dramatics to a dull roar? I'm trying to look," Miryhn said, irritated.

Ester sighed. "Miryhn, thanks for putting up with this. Like you said, just be here a little longer and we can just move on, alright?"

Miryhn kept looking back and forth through the crowd. "Alright, I promise," he said in a normal tone.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot. I mean that," Ester said, smiling.

"Alright already, just look!" Miryhn said, irritated again.

Ester grumbled and looked at the train, not seeing a damn thing.

The problem was that there were many people in front of them between the train; their lines of sight were blocked several times. Miryhn slouched and scratched his head.

"Guess that wasn't it," Miryhn said, brow furrowed in frustration.

"Man, did you see that priest on that train? Some baggage attendant says he hasn't gotten off all day," a passer-by from the train said to another as they passed Miryhn and Ester.

"Yeah, I heard some folks calling him 'The Train Car Catholic'. What a weirdo!" the other replied as they finished passing by.

Miryhn and Ester looked at one another just as the bell rang for one train to depart and another to arrive. They both looked forward and Ester broke into a sprint. She hopped into the pit where the first train in the row was approaching and climbed out a few moments before the train pulled in. Miryhn took off a split second after her, but was stopped by the train pulling into the station and cutting off his dash. The doors opened and several people herded out the door, making it impossible for Miryhn to pass through the train in time. He groaned and shot off to the side, heading up the stairs to the bridge just as the next train in the row was departing. He ran until he was over it and jumped over the railing. He landed clumsily on the roof of the third to last car and began to be swept off by the train gaining speed almost immediately. He quickly drew his sword and jammed it into the roof, holding on to it as the train left the station and gained speed as it quickly left the town.

"This feels all too familiar," he said, rolling his eyes. The train turned a corner, making Miryhn slide to the left and towards the edge of the roof. Wincing in pain from his grip, Miryhn knew he couldn't hold on forever, the wind was too strong for him to try and walk on the roof. One slip and he'd be sent off the side of the roof, landing in the middle of the snow-bound wilderness of Callisto. He pulled himself towards the sword and switched hands, then he wrestled with his sweater. He managed to work one of his hands into the sweater, then he pulled it up over his head. Switching hands again, he pulled his sweater off his other arm by pulling it off with his feet. He grabbed the sweater from his feet and reached up to the handle of the sword, managing to get a sleeve around it. He carefully tied a granny knot on it and groaned as the sweater began to flap around in the swift breeze like a flag. Rolling his eyes, he reached up and grabbed the other sleeve, letting go of the handle. The wind sent him sliding across the icy roof until he reached the end of the sweater, his moving weight causing a split to form in a seem on one side of it.

This didn't stop his plan, though, since it held relatively steadily enough for him to go over the back of the car and put his feet against it. He held himself up in a repelling position, then faced forward. His hair blew back in his face, causing a moment of frustration as he pushed it back behind his head with one hand. He carefully walked along the back side of the car and then on to the side of it where, luckily, it wasn't icy along the surface. He heard the sweater tearing some more and he quickly struggled against the fierce breeze, moving along the side of the car. He managed to reach a window where, inside, a few passengers were minding their own business. Miryhn sighed and grabbed one of his handguns from his belt, aiming it at the window. He fired three shots before the window broke, but it only took two for the passengers to clear the car. With the window shattered, he carefully climbed inside.

Miryhn plopped down in the seat in front of the window and took a moment to catch his breath. He looked up and saw the blade of the katana sticking through the rooftop. Why this didn't cause a stir from the passengers was anyone's guess, but much to Miryhn's chagrin, the emergency roof exit was a mere foot away from where the sword was stuck in. If this were an anime, Miryhn would have hit the floor in a face fault, then stood up with a large sweatdrop on the side of his head. Grumbling, Miryhn stood up and walked to the other chair on the other side of the car. Standing on it, he reached up and opened the hatch. Pulling himself up into the hole, Miryhn reached over and pulled his sword out of the roof. The sweater was missing, though, apparently blown away. He dropped back into the train car and shut the hatch.

The trick now was finding the elusive priest. Miryhn wasn't sure how far ahead on the train he was, nor was he sure of what happened to Ester. He shrugged and took off in a dash for the front cars while slipping the katana back into the sheath. As he ran through the crowds of people, barging through the doorways between cars, Miryhn couldn't help but feel what he had been denying for so long: fear. The more anxious and the more worried he grew, the more furious he pushed his way through the people. What was he afraid of? That Joker might do something completely unpredictable? That Joker might kill him this time instead of save him? Or maybe it was just the thought of going up against someone so spontaneous and insane that he knew somewhere, in the back of his mind, that this wouldn't just be as easy as he pretended it would be.

He finally got to the very first passenger car and slowed to a walk. There were four people in the car: three in the seats in the middle, busying themselves, and a blonde man at the front. Miryhn took a good look at him and froze. The blonde man, stood up, showing his priestly garments, and took one look at Miryhn, laughing.

"It's been a while, King," the priest said.

"You!" Miryhn shouted, furious. He grabbed one of his handguns off his belt and drew it, aiming at the priest. "You couldn't be Joker. There's no way in hell you could be that same guy!" he shouted again. The face, the hair, the voice; the priest was, indeed, one in the same as the man Miryhn met on Antillia that forced him to use his Manna on him. It was the same Joker then as it was now, but Miryhn couldn't seem to bring himself to believe it. It felt like a trap now, a clever trap laid just for Miryhn and no one else.

"Not happy to see me, King? I knew it was you the minute you unfurled and knocked me for a loop across that rooftop," Joker said, smiling insanely.

"What's this all about? Did you use Ester to draw me here so you could fuck with my mind some more?" Miryhn said, sneering.

"Oh, Queen? Heh, she's been trying to find me for years. I watched all of her pathetic attempts on the internet to find me, so I sat back and waited for the right moment to take full advantage of that. Meeting you on Antillia was pure luck, or maybe divine intervention, but whatever the case, I knew God had lead you to me so I could fulfill his will. I was doubtful at first that it was really you, but you showed you still had Thanatos within you and I knew it was God's will from that moment on," Joker explained. "So knowing Queen only had you to depend on since Jack is on our side and Ace is most likely dead, I dropped her some bait on the internet for her to find and now the two of you have come right into my hands like moth to the flame," he continued, then laughed insanely.

"You sick fuck. What do you want from me?" Miryhn said, still staring angrily at Joker.

"What do I want? Hmm, now that is the question, isn't it?" Joker said, mockingly.

"Just tell me already!" Miryhn yelled, furious.

Joker laughed. "Oh, King, don't you know the real reason why you were given the powers you possess? Don't you know at all what greater purpose was in mind that the Earth army stood in the way of so long ago when they wiped out TEMPEST?"

"Of course not! And what makes you think of my curse as some kind of blessing? I haven't stopped loathing myself since the day they stuck me up with Manna," Miryhn said, gritting his teeth.

"Because it is a blessing!" Joker shouted, drawing Damnation from his robe in the blink of an eye. He swung it around and aimed it right back at Miryhn. "The very soul of a powerful, divine angel sleeps within you, King! It's a blessing so few can ever grow to appreciate! And what's best is that someday, if not for God mysteriously testing our patience by splitting us apart, one of us was meant to be the very vessel of his almighty wrath!" he said, grand and loudly.

Miryhn cringed and narrowed his eyes. He steadied his aim.

"Three years ago, God chose a few select people to bear the souls of angels. He picked us, the Shuffle Squad, and within each of us was bestowed the unending power and might of God's own angelic order in preparation for one of us to become God himself. Or, to put it more simply, to carry out his wrath by borrowing his mortal flesh, manifest in the form of an Orbital Frame to end all Orbital Frames. The almighty and everlasting Orbital Frame Deus!" Joker shouted, still in his grand tone.

"So what you're saying is that one of us was going to go on to be the Runner of this....Orbital Frame Deus?" Miryhn asked, not moving from his position or countenance.

"Exactly! The plan was called the 'Domineus ex Deus Project', using the false liberation group TEMPEST as a front for the project's operations. After placing the angels within us, they put us to conditioning and training tests, using the charade of us being fighters of Mars's freedom with TEMPEST. Little did we know it was God testing us, seeing which one of his glorious beings would be the one to shoulder his might later on down the road," Joker explained, lowering his voice to normal again.

"And what does this have to do with me? Was I suppose to be the Runner before the Terran Crusade put a stop to things? Are you trying to lure me back so I can fulfill your mad schemes?" Miryhn said, in the same position.

"That all depends. You see, you and Queen were given a slightly different soul than the rest of us. If things went right in your awakenings, you two would eventually surpass us. It was the 'Alpha' version, while myself, Ace, and Jack were given 'Omega'. I don't know what the difference is, but I had no choice but to make sure at least one of you was dead," Joker explained.

"Why just one of us?" Miryhn asked, trying to piece it together.

"Because one 'Alpha' depends on another to support the other. While 'Omega' is quicker to bring up, 'Alpha' yields greater results and even has passive properties that weren't included with 'Omega'. Plus, 'Alpha' carriers require slightly....different activation conditions. 'Omega' need nothing more than ambition, 'Alpha' need one another in order for both to reach full potential," Joker explained further.

"Wait a minute, are you saying that me and Ester were meant to bring out our Manna by some kind of...attachment? What'd they expect? Me and her to fall in love?" Miryhn shouted,

"That was the goal in mind. After all, if she didn't try to fall in love with you, she would have been killed," Joker said, smirking.

Miryhn's eyes widened. "You can't be serious! All that time was nothing but an experiment? I was just some...factor in an equation? That it didn't matter how she got to know me as long as we eventually got around to being in love, else she die and someone else replaces her that would better suit my tastes? What kind of...monsters would do that?" he screamed, infuriated.

"What are you talking about? Even now, King, you're still in the equation, but you're an X factor. While the Sages of Christ seek to balance the equation, I seek to unbalance it. And the first thing I have to do to unbalance it is to eliminate those pesky X factors. After all, you don't seem to know your Role at all," Joker said, laughing.

"My 'Role'? What?" Miryhn asked under his breath. "So what is this? Do you want to kill me now? Is your true goal to oppose those 'Sages of Christ' as you speak of?"

"That's why I liked you, King, you caught on fast. That's exactly what I seek to do. I want to see to it that those false prophets are eliminated for all the manipulation they place upon humanity on a day-to-day basis. God's will lies elsewhere, not in them," Joker said, smirking.

"I don't understand. You say that I was meant to fall in love with Ester, turn into some uber-soldier thanks to my unique Manna, then go pilot some mysterious Orbital Frame? That's insanity, that's the machinations of lunatics. I can't believe that, I won't believe that!" Miryhn said with an angry crescendo.

"King, why do you deny what you are? You're a very valuable piece in an elaborate game of forces you can't even begin to imagine. The Sages are so powerful, you could never begin to imagine how deeply they operate," Joker said, shaking his head. "But you'll never know what Role they have in mind for you, for you see, you're a piece in this game that's of no use to me. Without the 'Alpha' carriers to get in my way, I can find my way to Deus and overthrow the Sages myself. I'll be the one to unbalance the equation and finally free humanity from their ill-gained rule."

Miryhn had had enough. He began to fire on Joker angrily. The passengers, who had been frozen in terror the whole conversation, ducked into their seats. Joker blinked and his eyes changed to the gold color and with what seemed like no effort at all, stepped around each shot with inhuman speed. Miryhn cringed and leapt behind a seat, reloading his gun.

"King, it's pointless. You can't defeat me as long as you can't even tap your own power," Joker said with an insane laugh.

"I don't need any power to kill you! You're still human just like me!" Miryhn shouted angrily, popping up from behind the seat and shooting off another clip. Joker once again responded with several brilliant dodges.

"No, King, you're sadly mistaken. I'm not human. I let go of that folly long ago and see what the rewards were? Nothing can stop me!" Joker said, laughing his usual insane laugh.

"Miryhn! I stopped to use the bathroom. Did you find Joker yet?" Ester's voice shouted from the midsection between the current car and the last car.

"Ester, run! Don't come in here!" Miryhn pleaded.

"What do you mean? What's wro-" Ester began to say as she walked in the car.

She was interrupted by a shot from Damnation. In that instant, a splatter of blood landed on Miryhn as he crouched behind the seat. Ester, on the other hand, froze in her tracks, killed the instant the shot entered her forehead. She fell to her back, blood pooling on the floor.

"Ester!" Miryhn screamed, looking at her lifeless body. He stood up from his cover and looked at Joker.

Joker had a sly smirk on his face, the barrel of Damnation smoking as he maintained his aim.

Miryhn felt an awesome rage well up in him, the same he had felt every single time the demon within him felt the need to possess him. He really didn't mind, though, and the reason why was quite obvious.

"Oh? Are you going to unfurl on me now? I'd love to see you try to stand against me when you can't even control Thanatos," Joker said, his golden gaze cast toward Miryhn.

"Stop calling me that!" Miryhn screamed at the top of his lungs. "I'm not like you at all! I have my sanity and I have my humanity! Unlike you, I feel things and right now I feel like killing you!" he said, his vision turning to a slightly gold hue.

He emptied his clip at Joker, Joker responding with the same inhuman dodging ability as before. Joker responded by firing two shots at Miryhn, one took a sizable chunk of flesh off his left arm and the second nicking his right leg. Miryhn screamed and collapsed.

"Don't flatter yourself, King, of course you're not like me. You won't ever attain my power so long as you hold back Thanatos like that and leave him to unleash his wrath recklessly and wantonly," Joker said, putting Damnation back in his robe. He walked down the aisle and grabbed Miryhn by the neck, lifting him up and dragging him back to the front of the train car. He contiued to hold him up to eye level, smirking.

"You're wrong, I can, if I wanted. I could get as powerful as you, if I tried," Miryhn said weakly, his arm bleeding profusely.

Joker laughed. "You still don't understand, do you? You'll never be a true angel so long as you keep thinking like that. You'll only be a mere man, bursting with the almighty wrath whenever Thanatos feels like it. Only when you accept what you really are will you ever be anywhere near my level."

"I can, you're wrong. I will be an angel too, but...I'll stay who I am. I'll...show...you..." Miryhn said, even weaker than before. He was beginning to loose consciousness; his wounds were bleeding far too quickly.

"Oh? Is that right? You say you'll be an angel too? You must really want that power now that you've seen what I can do. I'm glad you want to, but it's impossible now. Queen is dead, remember?" Joker said, squeezing Miryhn's head.

"I'll do it...somehow..." Miryhn said, panting, his golden gaze meeting Joker's. "And then I'll kill you myself..." he added, the sound of his sword sliding out of the sheath after it. With the last ounce of his strength, Miryhn plunged the katana into Joker's side, going into his torso a few inches.

Joker looked down and laughed louder than before. "Oh, is that so?" he said, mockingly. He reached down and yanked out the katana as if it were a mere pin needle. He tossed it aside and held up Miryhn even higher. "Well, if you're an angel, let's see you fly!" Joker screamed.

Upon the last word of his sentence, Joker swung in one direction and back in the other, tossing Miryhn hard enough to send him careening through the window and into the open air. The train was passing over a deep ravine, leaving Miryhn enough time to watch the train grow smaller and smaller in his sight. The irony was, he couldn't fly; and now, he was going to die.

It didn't matter much, he had failed at everything that was important to him. Ester was dead, he lost his job, he left Vera and Nash behind, and he hadn't kept up with his family enough to care about dying on them. He couldn't top a guy in a Vic Viper with his Orbital Frame, he couldn't bring himself to kill Lazarus when he had the chance, and he lamented each and every person he had killed up until that point. The long and short of it was, Miryhn didn't have a reason to live and he didn't want to live anymore considering that fact. He was a failure to everyone, even himself. He just couldn't accept the reality of things, he was always lost in the fantasy of things; and upon doing so, he never really did anything for anyone but himself. He was a failure; he couldn't even control his own inlaid power, which was, in the end, a blessing in disguise. If he had only known sooner that there was a way to make himself a whole existence, he might have had hope in this moment; hope to at least hold on to and guide his and Thanatos's soul to heaven when he'd hit the ground and finally recieve the death he wanted for so long.

So he closed his eyes, smiled, and told himself inwardly for Thanatos to forgive his failures. He had tried as far as his limits would go, but it wasn't enough, and now he'd fail Thanatos as well; the angel he could have been, the last person he'd ever fail again.

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<CENTER>"There's no sensation to compare with this. Suspended animation, A state of bliss" - Pink Floyd, from "Learning To Fly" </CENTER>

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

* The information in this section is NOT Konami-official. Everything except Antillia is my idea within that area.

** Zarugasu is a gangster-infested satellite within the Asteroid Belt that James Links and co. visit in the ZOE: Dolores anime.

*** Isaac Barrett is the author of the self-help book "How To Be A Daddy"; the book that ultimately teaches James Links, main character of the ZOE: Dolores anime, how to be a respectable father to his family again. At this point in the story, I assumed he might go on to being a more dynamic author seeing as he made up with his son in the Dolores,i plotline and thus had no need to write about how to avoid the mistakes he made. Plus I just wanted to mention him for cameo purposes. ^_^

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