Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

At the Gates

"And as morality lay in defeat, the last of the Gods to leave the blood soiled earth and take her place among the stars was Astraea, the goddess of purity, innocence and justice."

"But why did she leave? Why didn't she stay and help all those people, if she was a goddess?"

"Perhaps she did all she could, but when she saw that mankind had made their choice, there was nothing left for her to do."

"So that's the moral of that story - that once you run into trouble you're just supposed to run away?"

"Or, that once you realize there is nothing left for you in a place, you should move on."

"Hm. I'm not sure if I like that story very much, Calliope."

"I am sorry, Evelyn. Perhaps you will remember it more fondly one day, when you're older, and recall that your father named you after a goddess who went to the stars."

"...a goddess of justice."

"Yes. And who knows, one day, the goddess Astraea might come back and bring justice to the world again. Justice for the innocent."

"That's a nice thing to believe in, Calliope. Too bad we're not only on earth any longer. She's gonna have a hard time bringing justice to all the places humanity has gone to in the meantime."

"True. She will probably need all the help she can get."

"Thank you Calliope. For telling me that story."

~ ~ ~

"Ma'am, we're approaching the Sol system, ETA at the edge of the heliosphere in about half an hour," Rutherford's voice resounded through their cabin.

Their eyes snapped open and they sat up on the bed. They hazy images and sounds of a dream lingered in their mind for a moment, but they hadn't been in a very deep sleep. In fact, they hadn't slept very well for the last two weeks, ever since they had set course to mankind's home planet, Terra, formerly known as Earth.

"Thanks Rutherford, I'll be on the bridge in ten," Null replied.

She swung her legs out of the bed, but didn't get up right away. A strange feeling gripped hold of their body, a mixture of an adrenaline rush and an anxiety attack. It was like icy tendrils grasping their heart and squeezing it tightly.

It all made preciously little sense. There were no humans living on Terra any longer, or any of the other early human colonies in the Sol system. The entire system had been abandoned and all inhabitants resettled once the seat of the government had been moved to Neo-Tokyo several decades ago. They had no idea why Null had memories of a place in the Sol system, but that was precisely what they were there to find out. From her dreams alone, Lars could not tell what had happened to her here, but her own subconscious kept flooding her with these dreadful emotions whenever she asked herself that question.

Are you sure you want to do this, Null? Lars asked her, We can still turn around.

I... don't know if I want to do this, she said after a while. But I feel like I have to, you know? I'm sorry that I drag you into this, and I guess it's silly, but-

I understand, he cut her off, And I'm with you. Always. No matter where you go. And I don't just say that because I'm in the same body as you. You know that, right?

He conjured up memories for her, to calm her nerves. In the past, he had often showed her the vividly colorful and fantastic images that were part of is inorganic memory and a result of his perception in the android body. But these days, he felt like the most beautiful and happy memories were ones he had perceived through her eyes in the past sixteen months. Their shared memories were painted in the colors of organic perception, but they were tinted with unnamed hues beyond the spectrum. At some point, Lars had realized that those were his own emotions. His wonder and awe, his joy and surprise, and his love for the boundless universe and its beauty. Now as he recalled the memories, these emotions were brought back to life as well.