Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

2. Nameless but not Aimless

Ten months wasn't quite enough to turn a former slave into an elite soldier, but having a military grade AI in one's head certainly facilitated things.

She was a fast learner, and soaked up every bit of information with a vigor that bordered on desperation. It was as if she was trying to use it to patch up the holes that she believed the brain injury had ripped into her mind.

He knew that she felt incomplete. Hollow despite them occupying the same space, alone despite him residing within her innermost. She was looking for something, and it saddened him that up until this point, neither of them had been able to find it. He wanted nothing more than to make her feel whole again.

The tides of time had changed the both of them – weathered and seasoned them into something not old, but new. But even after spending months together, that feeling of incompleteness had never quite left her. Still, who they were today had little in common with the shell that had escaped from Riga's clutches. They were no longer on the run. They were on their way to a mission – the most important one yet.

As their vessel cruised towards their destination, he conjured up a memory of a day ten months ago, and watched the events of the past unfold in his imagination to pass the time.

"Ground control to unidentified vessel. Please identify yourself and all passengers aboard, and state your purpose in this space," a voice resounded from the comm interface.

"Amy Larsson," she answered, "This is carrier shuttle A549 Avidity headed towards Degran. We have an invitation from the chancellor."

It was an invitation he had hacked into existence out of nothing, and for a split second they shared the same worried thought about whether it would all work out. They waited in anticipation for a few moments of silence.

"You are cleared for passage to Degran," ground control stated, and she breathed a quiet a sigh of relief.

"Who are your passengers?"

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"You said 'we have an invitation' but I only have your name on the list."

He could feel their heart beat accelerate. She tightened her grip on the shuttle controls until their knuckles turned white.

"Oh. My mistake, apologies," she said, "I am the only passenger."

Relax, he whispered, as if the person on the other end of the line could hear him if he spoke too loud. It will be fine.

After another brief moment of silence, ground control answered. "Very well. Please proceed to shuttle bay fifteen. We will take care of your vessel until your return to the dock. Enjoy your stay."

She exhaled another long overdue breath and sank back into the pilot seat.

That was stupid, she scolded herself.

It was just a blunder, don't be so hard on yourself.

She shook her head, burying her face in her hands. This isn't supposed to happen. I need to be better than this when I'm in control –

He interrupted her by showing her a memory of an image he had always found to be very soothing. It was a nebula in the Hortec cluster that had appeared to him in shades of blue and red and countless other, nameless colors, back when he had seen the world through non-human eyes. He was careful about showing her these images, fearing that her human mind would have difficulty processing the information in them. But just like he was learning to cope with most of the input of her body's innumerable subtle sensations, she was learning surprisingly fast to understand and delineate the information encoded in some of his most complex memories. At the same time, he had become better than ever at understanding the complexity of the spectrum of human emotions. Now, just as he had hoped, she relaxed at least a little bit.