Entrapta paced back and forth along the length of her cell, her hair standing on end, wondering whether Horde Prime had found out about Hordak and reset his memory again. With his galactic conquests, surely Prime had other things on his mind other than what she and Hordak were doing. He could not be watching them all the time. But if the last few times were anything to go by, it was more likely than not Hordak would return with no memory of her.
She knew it did no good to worry, but she couldn't help it. There was nothing else to do in this sterile white room.
"I'll just have to start over," she said to herself. "As many times as it takes." Then she remembered Prime's last words to her and shivered. "Or maybe it's best not to say anything..."
There was still a chance Hordak would be able to bring her tools to her. If he could do that, then Entrapta would be able to see if there was anything to be done about his failing body, or another way to restore his memories.
Now that Entrapta had more time to think, she came to realize the terminal might be the key to everything. She had seen Prime use it to disable Hordak when they first arrived on this ship. Perhaps this was what she needed to bring Hordak's memories back. If she could repair his body and his memory, perhaps they could still escape together.
The thought filled her with hopeful excitement, but an uncharacteristic thorn of doubt kept her pacing restlessly. There was also the chance her meddling would lead to disaster. She might reset his memory again by accident, or worse, disable him entirely. If that terminal was as important as Entrapta believed it was, she would have to take extreme care.
Entrapta was still pacing when the field outside her cell dropped. She looked to the entryway only for her heart to sink. Every time Hordak remembered her, he brought her tiny food. This time, the only thing on the tray was a big lumpy bar.
She slipped her hand into her pocket and felt the edges of Hordak's crystal, ready to jog his memory, then she froze. Another clone was watching her from the hallway. His eyes glittered as he stared at her. Prime.
Entrapta looked away, jamming both hands into her pockets. She was not going to say anything to Hordak in front of Horde Prime, not after what happened last time.
Hordak had walked right past her and set the tray on the bed, something he had never done before, then left without a word. As he did so, the clone that was Prime stepped forward. Entrapta's eyes shifted nervously to Hordak, but the barrier fell down between them, cutting him from sight.
She jumped back with a sharp jolt as she felt Prime's hand brush the top of her head. Entrapta glared at him, wide-eyed, hair bristling. He chuckled, watching her with an amused smile. Her heart was hammering wildly. Why had he touched her like that?
"An intriguing substance, your hair," said Prime. "I have not encountered its like before. So delicate and yet so durable. It appears to renew itself when attached to the roots, if slowly."
He reached for her again, and Entrapta flinched away. "Stop!"
"So defensive. There is no need to fret. Your hair has hardly grown since my last collection. It will be some time before I can take another."
Entrapta looked down, shivering.
"Not very talkative today, I see." He leaned down, tilting his head. "Are you missing your friend? Would you like to see him again?"
Don't say anything, she told herself. Don't look at him. Don't say anything. Gripping Hordak's crystal more tightly in her pocket, Entrapta stubbornly kept her eyes to the ground. She was not going to let Prime hurt Hordak because of her.
"Perhaps you are capable of reform after all." Entrapta screwed her eyes shut as he placed his hand over her head, but this time she stood stiffly and did not move. "Do not fear," he went on. "This pain will be temporary. In time, you will forget your... preoccupation."
Entrapta stood stock still as Prime moved away. She did not look back up until the barrier had returned, leaving her alone in the room. As soon as he was out of her sight, Entrapta ruffled her hair vigorously in an attempt to banish the feeling of his hand on her head. She had never hated anyone before, but Horde Prime was becoming close to the first.
There was no way for Entrapta to know how much Prime knew about her plan. All she could do was wait and hope that next time Hordak visited her, he would be alone.
Entrapta sat down on the bed beside her tray of food and picked at it halfheartedly. She was not hungry enough to eat it, but the motion eased some of her pent up anxiety. After a few moments of aimless chipping, her fingernail hit something hard. She peered more closely at the food and noticed a hard corner of what appeared to be metal poking out into the open. How odd!
After a moment, she recognized the color of the metal and gasped. This was the corner of her tool tin. Hordak had stuffed it into her food.
She whipped her head up as the barrier disappeared again in a flash of light. Entrapta jumped to her feet, her body blocking the tin from sight. "What do you want?" she asked rapidly, her heart pounding.
The clone held up his hand. "Do not worry, Entrapta. Prime should not disturb us any longer."
Entrapta was giddy with relief. "Hordak!"
"I thought your food would be an adequate disguise," he said. "It seems to have worked well."
"That was genius," she replied enthusiastically. "I would have never thought of it!"
"It is still perfectly edible," he explained as he pulled out a folded cloth from his pocket. "However, if it is not to your taste, I do have these."
Entrapta unfolded the cloth to reveal tiny orange cubes of food. "You remembered!" she squeaked.
He nodded with a smile.
Hordak came back! He came back, and he remembers me! Lost in the joy of the moment, Entrapta rushed forward and threw her arms around him in a sudden fierce hug.
This was far from what the clone had been expecting. At first he was uncomfortable, but then he smiled and held her back for a brief moment before she pulled away. It was strange to feel so close to someone he knew very little about. Between the moments of confusion and frustration, being with Entrapta made him happy. It was not a peaceful happiness, but it was better than the emptiness of his life outside this small room. The inner peace of Prime's soldiers was the peace of oblivion. No choices, no uncertainty, no thought.
The idea that he had a life outside of this existence seemed absurd, and yet the evidence was before him. Entrapta had the answers about who he had been before. All he had to do was ask.
"You have been... helpful in answering my questions," he faltered. "I would be grateful if you could tell me more."
"Of course," she replied. "What do you want to know?"
"Can you... tell me about Hordak? What was... he... like?"
She tilted her head. "Well, when we worked together, you--- ah, he, looked different than now. Red eyes, for one thing, and dark hair. He kept to himself a lot and didn't say much when we worked, but he was very helpful. Hordak was great with tech when he wasn't being impatient. Sometimes he'd get mad at me and chase me off, but I always came back."
"Your description is not very flattering," he remarked.
"Oh, did I do a bad job?" Entrapta looked away with a worried frown. "I didn't mean it that way. I'm not very good at... people."
What an odd thing to say, he thought. "You said you would not give up, even if --"
He stopped himself. He had almost said 'even if I don't remember you.' It was difficult now to meet her eyes. He felt embarrassed and unsure. "I want to know who Hordak is to you," he said finally. "What is it that's so important?"
"We were lab partners," she said brightly. "I helped him with the portal that..." Entrapta paused and looked down, her hands clasped in her lap. "Hordak was my friend. He was the one that told me other planets existed. I never had a lab partner before, but when I worked with him, I was happy. I..."
The silence was tense as he waited for what else she might say. Nothing could have prepared him for what came next.
"I wanted to see the stars with you."
Those words struck like a shock of electricity. Entrapta was looking at him with such hope, such bright kindness, he could not help but be touched by it. Before he could think to say anything, she reached out and her fingers brushed his hand. It was a brief, shy touch that lasted only a moment.
"It's alright if that never happens," she said. "I'm happy to be friends with you, Hordak."
This time he did not resist. Instead, he mirrored her gesture and placed his hand over hers. Entrapta's gaze faltered for a moment, but her smile widened, and her hair swayed up at the ends. Hordak smiled back, embracing the name that was once his.
~~~
"Okay! Let's see what we have to work with."
Hordak was sitting on the edge of the bed, and Entrapta knelt behind him, the instruments from her toolkit spread over the blanket beside her. She fidgeted with the tools in her hands, both excited and nervous to start.
This was the first time she would be attempting something so delicate without the use of her hair. The tools felt clumsy and awkward in her hands, but this was what she had to work with. It would have to do.
"Ready?" she asked.
Hordak had not moved since sitting down, remaining still as a statue. "Yes."
"Here we go!" Entrapta selected her instruments and took her first look inside.
The interior of the socket was fascinatingly intricate. Entrapta fought down the impulse to fidget with everything in sight to see what would happen. She had to keep her focus if she wanted to help her friend.
The sides were lined with countless tiny wires and connections tightly wound together. It was very difficult to prise them apart with what limited space she had to work with. "Nothing seems to be missing or disconnected," she mused aloud. "But maybe if I..."
Hordak flinched with a growl of pain. Entrapta froze. "Sorry!"
"I'm fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Have you found the problem?"
"No, I think I just pushed the wrong spot," she replied. "Things are a bit tangled up over here. How does it feel when I press this?"
"I feel nothing."
"How about here?"
Hordak turned his head sharply. "I cannot see anything!"
"Oops! Let me fix that, hold on. Is that better?"
"Yes..."
"Sorry," she said again. "Everything is so packed together, it's hard to see what I'm -- aha!"
There was a node at the very end, right where the metal and wires met the organic tissue of his nervous system. When Prime manually reset Hordak, he was interfacing with this point, Entrapta was sure of it.
"What is it? What do you see?"
"The node at the center is what connects you to Horde Prime, isn't it?"
"It is quite possible, but what does that have to do with..." He trailed off, starting to catch on.
"If I'm right, and this is the connection point, I could disconnect you from Horde Prime." Entrapta was breathless with excitement. "That, or it's just the manual reset point. Even if it does disconnect you, there's still a large chance you'll lose all your memories again." She drew back, looking down at the thin probe in her hand. "Maybe I shouldn't touch it..."
Hordak's eyes widened and he felt a shiver down his spine. Every illogical thought, every confusion, every strange feeling of the past few weeks flooded through him at once. It was no longer an impossible dream. He could be free, right now.
The realization was both exciting and terrifying. Hordak might never fully remember his former life, and here he had a purpose as one of the Horde. He owed his very existence to Horde Prime. To elevate himself above that existence was blasphemy.
There was also the risk Hordak would lose all of what he had managed to reconstruct of himself in the time he spent with Entrapta. "How certain are you that this will work?" he asked.
"I'd say we have a sixty percent chance of success," she said.
"And if it fails, what will you do?"
"Start over, I guess. I'm not going to leave you behind." Entrapta paused. "Do you want me to try it?"
Hordak closed his eyes, weighing his options. If he chose to do this, it would be a step into the unknown with no turning back. The Hivemind would be gone, and he would be alone.
"Hordak?"
The sound of her voice steadied him. He took a long slow breath. I am not alone. Entrapta is with me.
They would take this step together.
"Do it."