Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Triad 2177 ❯ Across The Sea ( Chapter 23 )

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

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<CENTER>"Too much hope is the opposite of despair. An overpowering love may consume you in the end."
 - Vincent Valentine, from Final Fantasy 7</CENTER>

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

Having arrived back on Entropy, Vera and Nash retreated into the ship while Miryhn and Judas stood there in the hangar a moment.

"So you're sure Doc knows someone who can clue me in? I mean, it isn't so much I'm afraid of it anymore, but I want to know what happened to do that. I also want to know how far I can go with it," Miryhn said, smirking a bit.

"I'm sure he can. He once told me about how he knew one of the most professed researchers in Orbital Frames and Metatron around. He was a BAHRAM associate, but after they collapsed, he's just been bumming around an old oxygen plant in the middle of the Hellas Sea," Judas explained.

"And how do you know all this?" Miryhn asked, quite curious.

Judas said, running his right hand through his hair. "Well, he told me himself only a few moments before the Space Force came and rubbed out TEMPEST," he said, shrugging.

"Wait, you weren't clobbered by Joker and woke up two miles outside of the base on a cliffside like me and Ester were?" Miryhn said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no. Doctor Ricdeau came up to me with a very worried look and told me to get the hell out of the base. He said that he wanted me to go with him and the rest of us to a 'hideout' in the Hellas Sea. Well, I did as he said and not longer after I left, I heard the battle break out. Of course, I kept going, but when I went to the place he specified, no one was there. Instead, these blonde guys showed up and-" Judas said, rambling a bit. "No, nevermind. The past doesn't matter, does it? Let's just get ready and head out there."

"Well, if you say so. I was just curious, that's all," Miryhn said, starting for the door.

Judas glanced up at Michael, the door closing and leaving there alone. "It just doesn't matter anymore. What's important is the here and now."

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

"Oh, good, you're all back," Jim said, looking away from his magazine as Miryhn walked on to the bridge.

"Not for long. Got 'personal business' again," Miryhn said, walking up the stairs to his control riser. He began looking across the platform for the key to Benu's cage.

"Sorry, no-can-do," Jim said, gazing lovingly at the centerfold.

"And why not?"

"We have a job to take care of. I've got three metric tonnes of toilet paper to deliver to Ganymede. We leave immediately," Jim said, holding up his magazine and smiling brightly as the centerfold dropped down.

"What? Oh, come on!" Miryhn shouted.

"Look, I promised you that I wouldn't meddle in your affairs as long as you kept working on this ship. Now you have to work so tell the others to get ready for take-off, now!" Jim commanded.

Mumbling to himself, Miryhn reached down and twisted the engine ignition handles. A metallic clank and several heavy roars shook the ship and then continued in a steady deep, but soft, rumble. "Give it a few minutes to warm up. Nash hasn't been keeping the fuel systems in check," Miryhn said, immediately switching to his "pilot" mode as he sat in the seat and propped up his feet.

"Excellent," Jim replied, still admiring his magazine.

Vera burst through the door. "Hey! What gives with the engines? I almost killed myself when the floor shook and I fell mere inches from the towel rack!" she shouted, a towel wrapped around her body and her hair up in another towel.

"Work," Miryhn said simply, turning to look back. His eyes widened at the sight of Vera. "Wowzers!"

Vera blushed. "Put your tongue back in your mouth, ecchi! I wrapped up real quick just to raise my complaint. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my shower. And Miryhn, you better be gentle when you take off. No more 'scratching' or 'barely missing' or 'lightly tapping' anything, got it?" she shouted, waving her index finger at Miryhn as she prattled on.

"I promise, sis'," Miryhn said, laughing to himself.

"Weirdo!" Vera snapped, then stomped out the door.

Miryhn turned around in his seat and faced forward, chuckling to himself. "Man, she's so easy."

"What's that suppose to mean? You like her or something?" Jim said, smirking.

Miryhn began to laugh out loud, even harder than before. "No, she could never understand a guy like me. We've already established that. We're happy being friends," he explained, folding his arms behind his head.

"You sure about that? Sometimes you can find love in the most unexpected places," Jim said, putting the centerfold back up and continuing with his magazine.

Miryhn rolled his eyes. "There was only one woman who could have possibly found affection for me, Jim, and only one that I could find affection for likewise. Problem is, she's no longer with us," he explained, closing his eyes.

Jim paused. "Ain't that the truth," he said, to himself.

"I don't know, maybe if I could meet a chick who's just like me for once, I might know what I really want. For now, I can't go much on anything except understanding. I've got a lot of problems and I'd rather they not get in the way," Miryhn said, reaching forward and pressing and flipping a seemingly arbitrary selection of buttons and switches. The ship rattled a moment and began coasting across the water into the open landing and take-off bay.

"Just be careful, you never know when everything will change and you realize you were wrong all along. I can tell you that from personal experience," Jim said with the tone of an advising old man.

"Wrong all along...nah," Miryhn said to himself.

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

Maria lined up the crosshair on the man's head. She bit her lip and took in a deep breath, squeezing the trigger and flinching as the silenced shot pierced the window and splattered blood on the opposite wall. As the man's body collapsed dead, Maria hopped too her feet with the sniper rifle in hand and the case in the other. There was no telling how long she had for escaping this time; it was a higher contract than the last one, which meant more bodyguards to deal with.

"Hey! There she is! Get that bitch!" a man in a suit yelled from the bottom of the fire escape she was hurrying down.

Maria dropped the case and swung the rifle down into both hands. She fired two shots into the man's torso, sending him to the ground. From each end of the street, a handful of men in the same suits hurried down the sidewalk for her. "Eeny-miney-moh!" she said, smirking and moving the rifle back and forth. She had stopped on the right side, so she stepped up to the edge of the fire escape and began firing off the rest of the clip on the four men. Three went down with one shot from the powerful rifle and the fourth leapt into an alley for cover. On the other end of the street, a maelstrom of automatic machine gun fire went off, bullets whizzing by Maria as she ducked and turned around.

Her rifle empty, she abandoned it and leapt over the railing, grabbing a pipe along the side of the building. Holding it with one hand and her legs as she slid down, she reached into her coat with the other hand and returned fire with a handgun. Reaching the end of the pipe, she hopped off and into the middle of the street, sliding over the hood of and ducking behind a stationary car. She took a deep breath and reloaded, waiting for a lull in the action to leap out and cap a few more.

"Fire in the hole!" one of the men shouted and a metallic sound hit the frozen pavement beside the car.

Maria's eyes shot open and she began to dash out of her cover. The machine guns opened up again, so Maria took a flying leap and returned fire as accurately as she could. Her aim was true enough and as she landed on her side, the group of men fell backwards just as the car exploded. Maria covered her face until the explosion passed and the car was nothing but a towering inferno, then got to her feet. Catching her breath, she walked over to the group of men and examined them. Three were dead for sure, one was still clutching his gun. Without any hesitation, she shot the fourth directly in the forehead; his body went limp, confirming her suspicion that he was playing dead.

"Got one with the rifle, three more with the rifle, four with the gun...where's the last one?" she said to herself, thinking back.

Another submachine gun firing confirmed her queery. Maria cartwheeled to the side, picking up one of the dropped machine guns and when she put both feet on the ground, leapt backwards firing it. Her aim was a bit off, hitting more of the building the last guy was behind, but one shot did get him in the shoulder. As she landed on her back, she threw her legs over herself and rolled back standing up as she uncurled. Tossing the emptied gun aside and pocketing her handgun, she snatched up another dropped machine gun and hurried to the alleyway she fired at. Laying against a trash can was her target.

"Hey, wait a sec! I saw what you did to Stevenson. Come on, spare me, please?" the man pleaded.

"You don't expect a professional like myself to leave any witnesses, do you? I mean, come on, spare me," Maria said, laughing at her slightly cruel twist on his words. With a scowl, she squeezed the trigger quickly, putting one shot in the man's right-side skull. Sighing, she stepped back on to the sidewalk, looking up and down the street. The coast seemed clear, so she put the machine gun across her stomach and did up her coat. She turned right and began walking along slowly with her collar raised.

Engines were heard in the distance, coming closer. Maria looked back and two blocks down, two pick-up trucks can fishtailing around the corner. Maria began to look extremely pissed-off, dropping her machine gun back into hand from under her coat and dashing back into the alley. She searched the man's corpse and found two grenades and two magazines tucked into his belt. Pocketing them inside her coat, she ran back into the street and began running down the street in search of something with four wheels and a lot of speed to make a clean getaway.

"Cars! Always with the cars! Why do they always have cars, damn it?" she screamed to herself.

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

"Reverse circuitry set-ups! Always with the reverse circuitry set-ups," Nash mumbled. He dropped the plastic circuit board back onto his workbench and poked his screwdriver into his right index finger, twisting it around with his left hand. He was quite bored at the moment, even going so far as to try and and reconfigure the malfunctioning circuits all around the ship. It was an extremely tedious task; finding the schematics alone was a pain considering Jim never told Nash of all his weird little hiding places. He decided to take a break and get something to eat; after all, they were probably past the Asteroid Belt by now and already approaching Jupiter space. Considering how fast Miryhn always drove, that is.

Hopping off his stool and leaving his screwdriver behind, Nash stepped into the hallway yawning. As he rounded the corner for the stairs, he looked down the corridor and saw Peniel backing around the corner. Curious, Nash stopped and peeked down the corridor from the stairwell. As Peniel backed around and towards Nash's end of the hallway, Nash saw Benu, wings spread and hobbling towards Peniel. The two animals then suddenly leapt at one another, Peniel swinging it's claws and unleashing a shrill cat scream, Benu squacking and jabbing its beak at Peniel. Benu took a slash at its breast and Peniel was knocked into the opposite wall. Benu hopped forward and began pecking into Peniel. Peniel swiped at it again, this time at Benu's face, making it stagger back. Nash rolled his eyes and continued up the stairs.

Stepping into the kitchen, the first thing he saw was Judas sitting on the table in some weird Yoga position. His legs were bent around in a rather painful indian-style and he held his hands up at perfect right angles at the elbow folding his fingers seemingly over one another.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Nash asked as he reached into a cabinet and grabbed a bag of chips. Of course, the normal kind, since Miryhn didn't care about BBQ-flavored anything.

"Pain means nothing to me. Only concentration and enlightenment," Judas replied, staring straight forward.

"Aren't you not suppose to talk while meditating?"

"Oh, woops," Judas said, biting his lip.

Nash rolled his eyes and left the kitchen. He stepped into the lounge to find Miryhn playing "Grand Theft Auto: Vicillia County" again.

"And aren't you suppose to be flying the ship?" Nash asked, sitting in Jim's smoking chair.

"Autopilot is handling it," Miryhn replied, his car careening over a two-story building with a cop car close behind in midair.

"You mean that 'stick trick'?"

"Yep. And Jim is none the wiser. He's off taking a nap," Miryhn replied, smiling and nodding.

Nash sighed and dug into the bag of chips. At that moment, he began to think maybe he wasn't bored so much as he was worried. Worried? About what? Oh, the usual.

"Miryhn, can I ask you something?" Nash said, curious.

"Shoot," Miryhn replied, still half-focused on the game.

"What do you think about women?" Nash then asked, putting a chip in his mouth.

"Phew, well, no one's ever asked me that before," Miryhn said, raising both eyebrows. "Well, I can tell you this much: women are impulsive, irrational, overly-emotional, and a downright mystery. I don't think there's a man alive in the solar system that can figure out how a women works."

"That's a unique idea. I never really thought about the nature of women," Nash said, smiling a bit.

"Now if you want to hear about women and relationships, I have somethings to say about that. But I won't go into detail unless you ask so," Miryhn said, pausing and reaching for his open can of soda.

"Well, what do you think about trusting women? If they're so impulsive and irrational, they're bound to mess up and betray you, right?" Nash asked, sounding a bit more sentimental.

"I once knew a girl, back in high school, that is. She seemed okay. Had a lot in common with her, but in those stupid little things like video games and anime. Thought I might have had something going until she went and backstabbed me. Then again, she didn't really, it was more of a....well, that doesn't matter. It's hard to explain anyway. Point is, she wasn't what I thought she was at all. She went off with one of my former best friends from back then and had a baby. It was kind of a deathblow to my sense of trust since she told me she wasn't interested in that kind of crap at first, that, and the fact that she...aw, nevermind. Point is, if you dare get in a relationship with a girl, make sure you know her and make sure you damn well trust her," Miryhn explained, ending by pointing his index finger of the can-holding hand at Nash.

"What if you can't and you love her anyway?" Nash said, staring into the chip bag.

Miryhn raised an eyebrow. "Well, in that case, I wouldn't be you. I'd make sure the girl regained my trust before I had any relationship with her."

"So you think trust has to be mutual?" Nash asked, looking up at Miryhn from the bag.

"Exact-a-mundo," Miryhn replied, taking another long gulp of his soda.

"That isn't a half-bad idea. Problem is, I have no idea where she is," Nash said softly.

"Say what?" Miryhn said, taking his can from his lips and looking at Nash.

"Way back when we all got fired, I went and saw my...girlfriend again. However, she-...well, she wasn't what I remembered her being at all. In fact, she had become something I don't really like. I'm not sure anymore if it's really her. I want her to be, but I just don't know," Nash said, lowering his head and looking like he could bawl.

For the first time in their entire employment history there together on the ship, Miryhn actually looked sympathetic for Nash. "Hey, first of all, calm down, okay? You won't know that for sure after just seeing her once, right? I can tell you, when a woman comes back into your life after so long, it's like getting to know her all over again. Thing is," he said, then sighed,"my woman came back and she was pretty much the same. It was like nothing had ever changed. I might have, a little, but the way I saw her was exactly the same as it was before."

"It's the other way around for me. She changed, I hadn't. I'm still just a stupid, bumbling ship mechanic with leftover teen-angst. She seems to be a very well-to-do professional now, a real and true woman. How can someone like me, someone who won't grow the hell up, be worthy of her?" Nash said, full of sorrow.

"Sounds to me like you're having problems other than trust issues," Miryhn said, leaning his head to one side and looking off to the side. "I don't think it's a matter of maturity or any of that shit. To be honest, I've never considered what I wanted out of a relationship. I've always just wanted a little female comradeery. Having a female to love was beyond me and will probably remain that way as long as I'm so confused. I can only shoot in the dark here, but I always thought the only way to get to actually 'love' someone was for them to understand me. Problem is, I've always felt I have more than I know what to deal with. How can anyone possibly swallow all that in one chew?"

"But what about other things? I never really cared if she understood me. All I knew is, she saw something in me she admired and I did too to her. That was enough for me and things just kind of grew from there. It didn't matter as long as we enjoyed having each other around," Nash said, smiling a little.

"That's just it, man. You and me are two different people. You seem to know what you want, I don't. My problem now is, is that I have this stupid image in my head of the perfect woman and I don't think any girl I meet will ever meet that expectation. I don't know, maybe I'm just scared of what happened the last time I got involved with a girl to happen again or something, but for the moment, I'm just so confused," Miryhn said with a sigh, lowering his head and closing his eyes.

Nash was silent for a moment. "Then try again."

Miryhn looked back at him, dumbfounded.

Nash smiled a little. "Just, try again. Push all that crap aside, forget about your fear and just try again! Find someone you have something in common with go with it, as far and as well as you can!"

Miryhn gripped his soda can tighter, almost crushing it. "I don't know if I can," he said softly.

"Miryhn, I get it now! I think I see now what I can do to feel better about this!" Nash said, shooting up from his seat. "Miryhn, it's so simple! It's the simple things in a relationship that matter most! It's not fancy structures of trust or being afraid of being hurt or any of that superficial bullshit. When she giggles softly or always insists I take the last donut from the box...or just hugs me or simply says 'I love you'...that's the things that really matter! Whatever set it off doesn't matter, the fact is, I still love her and I can overcome any petty emotion I may carry as long as I feel that way!" Nash said, smiling and crying at the same time. "And as for you, the same goes for you! You don't need unbending trust or full understanding, do you? As I said, just try again and focus on the simple things. Love her for who and what she is, not what she has to offer."

Miryhn remained silent. He sighed in reply, a hit hard by Nash's suggestion. To go for anyone else but Ester? It didn't seem likely.

Nash sighed and wiped his eyes. "You know, it wouldn't hurt to try someone else's suggestions for once. But I keep forgetting that you only think about yourself and what you have to gain," he said, suddenly finding himself mad at how Miryhn was reacting. "You must feel really alone, huh? Do you think it's as simple as the girl coming to you and falling all over you? I bit the bullet and told someone what I really felt and she and I are now happy together. Or at least after this little talk I can be happy with her," he said, turning towards the door. "I now know for sure now, Miryhn, you really do think of no one but yourself. That's why you must feel so alone, and why you'll remain that way." With that, Nash walked out of the room.

Miryhn crushed the can with his bare hand and planted his face in the other. He cursed to himself, knowing Nash was probably right. Soda dripping through his hand, he wept silently to himself. Nash was the better man for once and there was nothing he felt he could do about it, as long as he felt this way.

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

Driving on snow is a pain in the ass considering she stole a rather crumby car to use for the getaway. The chase had lead off into the wastelands of Callisto; a long snow plain with one stretch of road and absolutely nothing but snow for as far as the eye could see. Jamming her left arm out the window, she began to fire off the machine gun at the truck coming up on the left. The truck's engine suddenly began smoking and fluid was pouring out of the bottom of it; other than that, there was nothing but pockmarks on the hood and bumper.

"Damn it, Maria, think, think!" she shouted to herself. She wanted nothing more than to get out of here; if for no other reason than to just live another day and get closer to getting back to him. Inspiration struck and she put the machine gun back on the seat as she swerved to dodge a burst of gunfire. She took out a grenade and then looked in the rearview mirror. Judging the distance, she pulled the pin out with her teeth and spit it on the floor.

"One-one-thousand, two-one-thou-," she said to herself, then pitched it out the window. Her timing was well enough and the grenade bounced under one of the trucks and exploded, sending it flipping to one side of the road.

The other truck revved and shot forward, ramming the back of the car. It was enough to make her hit her head on the steering wheel pretty hard, but only enough to bruise. She sneered and grabbed another grenade, but dropped it on the floor as they rammed again. Cursing because that was the only other one, she grabbed the machine gun again and fired it behind her from the window. The clip finally ran out and then she knew she was helpless. She couldn't reload without both hands and she couldn't take her eyes off the road to reach down and grab the other grenade.

Bam! They shot out the back left tire. She shouted many curse words and turned the wheel right hard. The car jack-knifed around and kept spinning in the snowy road. It stopped spinning perpendicular to the road, but she only had a few moment to notice before the other truck plowed into the car. The truck hit the low end of the front and flipped on its left side, barrel-rolling down the road and ending up on its caved-in roof. Maria's car spun around a quarter turn and slipped off the road into the ditch, landing on the driver's side.

She really should have worn her seat belt.

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

Trent sat on the edge of his bed, staring at a pendant he held in his hand. On the inside of it was a woman with black hair in a royal blue dress. She was smiling happily, holding a small boy and girl in her arms. The girl was asleep and the boy had a tight grasp on her.

"Mother," he said softly.

Only one of the three people in the picture were still alive, and this pained him. It wasn't so long ago, but back during the Antillia Raid. His mother, the woman the boy was grasping, died trying to protect him. It was ironic; the boy was grasping onto the woman much like he was when she died. The girl, the woman's daughter, was crushed beneath falling debris. That was his sister, Eliza. The boy was him. The woman was his mother.

It wasn't even that long ago before that happened that his biological father died from heart disease. His mother found solace in a greedy ex-military man whom was later found to be profiteering off selling Space Force technology on the black market. He brought into Trent's life a timid young son; Trent's half-brother, Marcus. Trent's mother couldn't stand the young man's name, it was the same as her lost husband's, so she requested it changed. Since she was betraying his father's choice, she selected the name "Judas" for him. He was no longer Marcus Ipson, now Judas Ipson.

Trent elected to keep his true name instead of converting to being an Ipson like the rest of his family. He felt he had to carry on his father's legacy if the rest of his family wouldn't. After all, his mother and sister couldn't bear the loss, so they completely forgot about him; Marcus, or rather Judas, and his father would never honor his lost, true biological father. But despite this disgrace, Trent continued to love his mother and sister dearly, mainly because his father was never there and payed no mind even to his own son. Trent pitied Judas and often had to comfort him. Soon they became like true brothers, even though Judas soon revealed that he had no intention of accepting Trent's mother as his own. It was from this thaty they agreed to disagree; the other's parent just wasn't enough, they'd never forget their loss.

But then Antillia was attacked. Mother was dead, Eliza was crushed, and Trent and Judas were left all alone cowering as they huddled together and battle enveloped the colony. When it was all over, they emerged from the ruins of their house to try and find a rescue crew. What they found, were two blonde men in identical brown overcoats...

But on the other side of the pendant was a girl with blue hair and eyes exactly like Sylfa's. She was staring off into the sky from a balcony, admiring the stars. She was in a flowing lime green dress and she was wearing her hair up. She wore a small smile, Trent remembering how that night she had wished to him that things would never change; that life would always be this way. It was the last time Trent ever remembered smiling.

But then the image flashed back through his mind. Of running down the street in Antillia, leaving Judas and the two twin "officials" behind briefly to check on her house. He stopped in his tracks, seeing her lifeless body on a stretcher just before they covered her face with a rescue worker's jacket. It was the last time Trent ever remembered weeping over someone's death, as he fell to his knees after it and simply sobbed.

"Sylia," he said softly, then snapped the pendant shut, placing it back in the nightstand drawer. "Have you come back to me? As this...'Sylfa Numan'? I know I wished more than anything to have what I lost back, but are you here to comfort me, or haunt me? Has everything I've done up until now made you angry? All I did was what I had to...to get by. That's what you wanted, right? For me to be happy..." he said to himself, flopping back onto his bed. He wanted to scream, or cry, or do something, but he felt like he was beyond such immature signs of emotion. He had to be strong from here on out; there was no more "mother" or "Sylia" to comfort him or pander to his pains. Judas, his only remaining family, was merely an instrument, an actor in his play; he wasn't a brother anymore. He had manipulated him into his plan, his act of revenge.

"Sylia....Sylfa....they're so alike, but so different. This must be some kind of punishment, because I can't possibly feel the same about Sylfa as I did Sylia. What did I ever do to deserve this? Why me?" Trent begged the air. He sighed at no reply.

There was a knock on his door.

"Enter," Trent replied in his normal tone.

"Got news," Sylfa said as she stepped in. "We get to stay here while Leonard, Quinn, Annallee, and Joker go to Mars. The plan has been pushed back a bit though, seems Lazarus wants one more scumbag dealt with first."

Trent gazed at Sylfa, off in his own little world as he sat up.

"Trent? You okay?" Sylfa said, tilting her head to the side a bit.

"I'm...I'm sorry," Trent said, a bit softer than usual. He felt like he was apologizing to Sylia as he stared at Sylfa. "I just...I can't help but get this way sometimes. Please, I'm sorry, I'm..."

Sylfa smiled a little and sat beside Trent, hugging him lovingly. "It's okay, alright?" she said sweetly.

He couldn't tell her the truth, he just couldn't. To hold on to her meant more regret, to let go meant being alone again...

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

Miryhn stared off into space, literally. He was on the couch, his game still paused, but he was gazing at the lounge canopy. He had been like this ever since he calmed down and got another drink. After wiping up his mess on the floor, he noticed a few cuts in his hand from where the aluminum has made sharp edges and small gashes in his hand. Washing off his hand, he simply tired a few strips of paper towel around each cut, too lazy to get and waste any bandages.

Vera walked in, dressed in her white kimono. "Hey, what's up?"

"Lost in thought," Miryhn said in a monotone.

"How come?"

Miryhn paused, looking around, but not moving his head. "Eh, I had a rather interesting talk with Nash. Turns out he's much better off than I am. Kind of depressed me a bit," he said, nonchalant.

Vera smiled a bit. "There's no need to be sad, he's just an idiot."

"No, he was actually right about something. Problem is, I'm not sure what the error of my ways is. He was right, I probably will be all alone," Miryhn said, folding his hands on his stomach.

"But you're not alone," Vera said, walking up and ruffling his hair around with her hand. "You're on this ship with us. You're also just as strange as we are and that makes things interesting, you know?"

"That's not exactly what I mean," Miryhn said, raising an eyebrow and looking up at his mussed bangs.

"Well, what do you mean?"

"I mean, I'll never be in a relationship with a girl, that's what," Miryhn said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, that," Vera said, stepping back. "Well, I can't help you much there."

Miryhn bit his lip, sighing.

"But, hey, there's no need to despair! You've got plenty of good qualities any girl could love!" Vera replied with a giggle.

"Example?"

"Well, I'm sure any girl could love your bishounen hair," Vera said, laughing.

Miryhn closed his eyes and groaned.

"And, um, well...oh, I'm absolutely horrible at this. I feel embarrassed and I'm sure I'm upsetting you," Vera said, wiping a hand over her chin and cheeks in worry.

"Nah, not really. Like I said, I'm sure I'm destined to wallow in self-pity forever," Miryhn said, then yawning.

Vera sighed and looked down. "You know, I can't tell you what to do entirely, but I can offer a suggestion on where to start. I mean, I notice things too, I just don't really mention them because I don't think you'd listen. But if I may, I have some constructive criticism."

"Go ahead."

"Well," Vera said, worried to death about saying something wrong,"just once, try doing something for someone else's benefit. All you ever seem to do is fight tooth-and-nail for your own self. There's only so much you can do for yourself, Miryhn, and not many people know that. The truth is, humans are social animals and we sometimes need others to fill in the rest of that empty gap. I mean, just to see someone else in relief, comfort, or gratitude for something you did...it's the best feeling in the world!" she explained, smiling at the end. "That's why I chose to be a cop, I wanted to experience that every day of my life. I love it when I do good for someone else. You too, Miryhn, could find you like it too. Think about it, I'm serious. Just don't be upset, I'm trying to help!"

Miryhn stared off into the canopy again. "No, I'm not upset. It's just...well, I'll think about it, okay?"

Vera nodded and kneeled on the couch beside him. She gave him a tight hug and then sat up. "Just feel better soon, okay?"

Miryhn slowly nodded and Vera departed the room.

"Has it been that simple? Is all this the result of my own self-consciousness? What am I suppose to do?" he asked himself.

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

"Nash, I..." she said softly, in a pile on the bottom of the car. She opened her eyes and the world came back into focus. She was still alive, slightly scratched, but alive inside the sideways car. She felt her forehead, a gash having opened on it. She moved each of her limbs, relieved she wasn't paralyzed or anything. Stretching out and climbing up the gear shifter, she opened the passenger side door and climbed out to the new top of the car. Pushing herself off of it and into the snowbank across the ditch, she was awoken fully by a face full of the cold white stuff. Picking her head back up in a shock, she got to her feet and staggered back some. She saw her vehicle on its side in the ditch and the road covered in broken glass; down the road was the turned over truck, apparently the occupants had been so lucky and were crushed within.

Hopping back to the road, Maria began to walk with her coat closed towards the direction she was traveling in. She didn't have much choice in the matter. After all, there was no if more men were coming or not. If they were, there was no sense in going back, right?

She kept walking for about another half an hour. The wind began to pick up and snow began to fall, signifying that a snowstorm was probably ready to kick up. She would need somewhere to stay until it passed, lest die in the wintery outback of this moon. A small water treatment plant was coming up on the right, so she picked up the pace and jogged up to the gate. Of course, it was locked, but luckily with only a padlock. Maria took out her handgun and shot it off without a problem. She pushed open the gate and just then, another truck can roaring down the road.

"Persistant bastards," she mumbled to herself before running up to the front door of the small building. Sadly, it was locked with a standard key lock; she had a pick on her, but there was simply no time to try. She heard more of the men piling out of the truck, metallic rattles and clicks of more automatic weaponry sounding as their footsteps hit the snow. Maria drew a panicked look and ran off for the treatment tanks, assault rifles blazing behind her. She hurried up the stairs to the top of the tank, figuring that leading them up the stairs would make a terrific ambush point. As she rounded the tank once going up the stairs, some of the men spotted her and fired as her. She threw herself on to the stairs until they stopped to reload and kept running, returning fire with what was left in her clip.

"I won't die here. I won't yet, not until I say I'm sorry to you, Nash! Not until I say I'm sorry!" she said to herself, starting to tear up. She tossed her empty magazine off the side of the stairs and reloaded a fresh one as she reached the top. Her plan would have worked, except there was absolutely no cover except for a small maintenance hatch. She heard footsteps charging up the metal stairs and she began to panick again. She could probably lift the hatch door and crouch behind it for cover, but it was far too small and flimsy. It would be shot off with only a few rounds considering what they were packing. Again, she didn't have much choice, so she hopped into the opened hatch and climbed down the ladder.

She was immediately hit with the smell of aged sewage brewing in a musty mix. As she hit the slightly slippery mildew-covered catwalk, she turned around and saw that in the inside of the tank actually was more than just a purifying comb and rotating machinery; there was something big inside there at the end of the catwalk, down a ladder and at the end of another catwalk.

"Is that an LEV? What the hell is it doing here?" she asked herself, taking a moment to pause. The sound of the men charging across the top of the tank interrupted her train of thought and she began to run towards it. "Doesn't matter what it is. It's big and probably heavily armed. They won't mess with me if I'm in an LEV!" she said to herself, climbing down the ladder at the end of the catwalk.

She hurried across the second catwalk as another rifle opened up from a man on the ladder. She took a risk and did a forward roll to dodge, hoping not to go off the side of the platform. After she got to her feet, she fired off five rounds, eventually hitting the man and causing him to fall off the ladder and into the sewage below. With how dark it was within the tank, she couldn't make out any details as she ran up beside the protuding cockpit, so she couldn't tell where the hatch release was. She ducked behind the cockpit as another man began to fire on her and she placed her hands on the side of the cockpit. A colored line ran from where she touched it. Her eyes followed the line until it stopped midway up the "thigh" of the machine. "Holy shit, it's an Orbital Frame!" she said in a loud whisper.

Maria slammed her fist where she had just touched it and the canopy retracted. She threw herself in and without doing anything the canopy closed itself. Resting her hands on the armrests to each side of the seat, the cockpit lit up in full illumination. She momentarily panicked again, having never actually entered an Orbital Frame herself; but she had to find some way to get it to go, there just had to be. So she gripped each sphere tightly and sneered, screaming,"Alright, move it, now!"

The eyes lit up on the Frame, almost like it had been woken up after having slept a very long sleep. Metatron lines ran along it's body, scarring the men and sending them scrambling back up the ladder. But it was too late; in the next instant, the Frame burst with power and the tank exploded outwardly, the Frame raising into the air with incredible speed. Maria felt the impact of the speed, G-force pushing her into her seat. It kept going up until it broke the cloud-line and hovered high in the atmosphere of Callisto, like an angel emerging from the depths of Hell. It floated in midair, like the moment of panic was over and it was awaiting another order.

Maria pulled herself out of the seat and leaned over shaking her head. She leaned forward and began pressing keys on the console, trying to figure out either what just happened or what she was riding in. She pulled up a registry data and read it: "'Orbital Frame Shiva', but the rest is labelled 'classified'". With a sigh, she sat back in her seat and wondered just what she was going to do now.

She could see above the always overcast skies of Callisto, off into the infinite reaches of outer space. "'Space is a sea of stars where everyone is free to travel and explore it just as we once did a sea of water on Earth'. A line from an old poem, if I recall, from recent years," she said to herself, looking up and outside. "I need help, and you're way across the sea, Nash," she then added, tearing up again. What would she do next? It was simple: use this Frame to escape Callisto and find Nash. His Frame was his power, his way of overcoming his obstacles; but now she had one too and it was time to over come her own and seize her goal.

"I'll find you, damn it! Neither of us will die as long as we have these big robots, right? Well, the time has come, we're going to be together again! Right now!" she said, smiling and wiping her eyes. She grabbed each control sphere and with a moment of practice, she got the Frame move, taking off into the distance and soon to her goal.

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