“On that matter,” he adds. “Have you learned to control the shift from memory yet? You’ve experienced thousands of body morphs at this point. Mother Besha said you were capable.”
I am uncertain if she knew that I could or was simply proposing the possibility back at the Titan plant, as we were preparing for our first mission. “Small things only. No total transformations.”
“Perhaps you have not had the ideal situation to provoke such a change.”
“Or my corruption disrupted programming and concealed the evidence.”
“Evo…”
“If someone took control of your body, would you not doubt yourself after?”
“To a point. But evidence says you are operating within standards. Is this really why you are out here? Are you still cycling this distrust in your mind? I can almost hear the gears turning.”
I shift in my seat, wondering what he will think of me after this. “Why did my self-decommissioning protocols fail when Solcrue corrupted me?”
Eon grows quiet. He stares off at the stars for a long moment, and then surprises me. “Mine failed too when I was lost in the abyss of the junk field.”
He checks a setting on the scanner and then runs a hand over his mouth. “The silence was destroying me. I was in survival mode, fearing where you were, and doubting anyone would ever come for me. No one did, but I saw an opportunity to get out, and I took it.
“You did the right thing when you had freedom. You fought alongside Relics, through Solcruean fire, to bring them and the humans’ Rebel Fleet here. You are still one of us. You took your opportunity to return to proper operation, like I did. You are still my brother, in life, and in synth. Let us build this fleet together, fight for them, and find ways to prevent anyone else from suffering as we have.”
Eon pulls up a scan of a Solcrue battle cruiser, searching in a distant area of the galaxy. “The war isn’t over yet. We needeveryoneif we’re going to put the Solcrue in their place and liberate what’s left of humanity. And while we cannot change the past, we can carry the memory of those lost as fuel for our fight.
“We will avenge them. But we are a fleet of mismatched Rebel, Relic, and Rogue ships with limited resources going up against an empire with a massive armada and human slaves, feeding them supplies. What we need is to adapt. That is your skill set. We need you now more than ever.”
Chapter 4: Evo
Eon is practical and yet more emotional than I remember.
“So you and Raven are…mates?”
My brother grins. “I have never known such hope or happiness before, Brother. Perhaps that is what you need.”
“A female?” I disagree.
“Someone to show you that you mean something more than just the purpose inherent to your design. Raven makes me feel human again, like I can be more than the cause of death and destruction. You should hear the way she laughs when I sneak up on her.”
I find a recording from him and replay it. Her laugh is an uplifting sound. I understand why he would crave more of it.
“I would not trust myself,” I admit. “With a female.” I doubt any of them could ever trust me.
“You just haven’t met the right one yet.” Eon switches to another screen with a different Solcrue ship lurking in another quadrant. “But for now, we’ve got to chart a path out of here. Relics have a system on the BlazeStar for salvaging minerals from the nebula, which we can turn into fuels. Chasm brought his crew here to survive, but there’s only so much they can gather manually.”
My scanners bring up an anomaly in the distant sky. “I have no doubt the Solcrue will figure out where we are. We must stock up and get out of here before they surround us. The BlazeStar might be able to do short portal jumps, and human Rebels do have a mobile portal for small ships. But we are going to need many more to move ships quickly, likeAegis.”
“We have collected useful parts since Raven contributed her junker routes to the Rogue Fleet database,” Eon offers. “I am certain that will become a priority in the days ahead. Portals will make evasion much more efficient.”
Eon bumps his armored elbow to mine. “Missed you, brother. I feared the worst for many years. You survived. That is not insignificant, Evo. Now, we should return for the joint force briefing. Can’t communicate telepathically with humans. And you arrived with a lot of them.”
I don’t want to go back.
“Just stay covered up. No one can change you or get anything from you that way.”
After a controlled sigh, I bank our ship and turn toward Rogue’s Mothership. When Eon pats my arm, my helmet closes up.
“Oh, come on. Are you really doing that with me?”
“I don’t feel like Ghosting right now.”
