THE SHADOWVERSE

Forgotten Memories

"You would resort to suicide rather than transmit a simple bit of information?" Titan tilted his head, amused yet impressed at Ta-Vir's devotion to his family. Truthfully, he had always respected Ta-Vir as one of the very few brutally honest and ingenuous politicians out there. Nevertheless, if Ta-Vir changed, he would be prepared to do what was necessary, even if it meant death. The only thing Titan could rely on anymore was his own pureness, for it remained ever unchanged.

"For my family, anything," Ta-Vir said. Solis held Kira back as she struggled. Titan shot a glare at her.

"What a beautiful wife you have, Ta-Vir. It would be a tragedy if she were killed, would it not?" Titan sneered. "What did you say again? Family? Yes, it is your weakness."

Ta-Vir held fast from speaking. The situation became a game of silence. Titan grew impatient. "Typical. I have to do everything myself. Solis, step aside."

"Yes, my lord," Solis said, his voice a garble thanks to his suit's technology.

"What I said I would," Titan elaborated. He turned to Ta-Vir. "Information, or she dies."

"Don't listen to him!" Kira screamed.

"I love you Kira, do you understand me?" Ta-Vir cried. "I will always love you!"

Titan groaned. "So be it." There was an ear-piercing, dreadful snap. The next thing Ta-Vir saw was his wife, falling in slow motion to the ground. Her lifeless body crashed to the floor.

"No! Kira!" he screamed in agony. He attempted to run to her body, but Titan held him in his place with merely a thought.

"What happened to you?" Titan mused. "The rules were straightforward, Ta-Vir. It would have been so simple, but you instead chose the arduous route."

Ta-Vir ignored him. "Someone will come along like how he and his Shadows did. To follow in their footsteps . . . someone powerful. In that day, think of me, Titan. I will be there to send you off to your grave, once again. Your name will be forgotten and mocked."

"No Ta-Vir, it is you who will be mocked. Your daughter will never remember the sacrifice you made for her. She will not remember any of it, but I will help her. With my aid, she will relive every snap of your wife's neck. She cannot escape destiny, just like how you cannot escape your fate today."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Ta-Vir countered.

"Oh, I should be afraid," Titan retorted, amused. "I will do it myself." He approached Ta-Vir and picked him up by the neck. The crimson eyes of Titan bore into him. Ta-Vir sensed his mind slipping away. "Sometimes the original method is the best," Titan rumbled.

But out of nowhere, Solis's automated blaster turned on. It focused right on Ta-Vir, held high by Titan's massive arm. "Titan, may I remind you? You just ambushed the house of a multifaceted man. Yes, I am a politician. But you know what else I am? A hacker."

Upstairs, a friend of Ta-Vir—Qora—used his system, comprised of four holographic monitors, to hack the blaster. His fingers contacted the screens in a flurry. "That," Qora said, "and that. Done!" He quickly abandoned the house, rushing through a secret exit only he and Ta-Vir knew.

"Say hello to Sonovan for me," Ta-Vir retorted triumphantly, taking one last look at Kira's fallen form. "If I have to die, it won't be on your terms. It'll be on mine."

Titan looked behind him. As he did, the blaster fired, killing Ta-Vir instantly. "No!" Titan roared. "No!"

* * *

Ta-Vir's ship crashed in the Sahara Desert, someone already waiting there for it. This someone rescued something from the wreckage. He made his way through the fiery inferno, thankful that her capsule was unaffected by the crash.