The last mission

Chapter One:

Ok. Maybe not forever... He thought as he later slowly drifted back down into the lower echelons of sanity.

How long had it been though, really? Minutes or hours? He was about to ask when he realized He couldn't talk. Was there a gag bundled in his mouth? He opened his eyes and saw Tucker and Brianna weren't looking at him. They held his hands by the bed, but their eyes were downcast.

Tucker looked sick.

Brianna's face was white. Did they think he was dead?

"How long was I out?" Denzel managed to spit out his gag and asked them. Cornelius screamed.

"What the honest to god fuck Denzel!? You gouged out one of your eyes! We had to hold you down!" He was breathing heavily. "Are you even still human!?"

Denzel put his hand to his face. It was bloody, but there was no pain. He wiped his face off with a rag. He had both eyes. What were they talking about?

"Roger that, Cornelius... Still human."

"Are you sure?" Brianna whispered.

He felt amazing. Well, he didn't feel any pain and that was amazing. He ran his tongue across his teeth. Shit. The chip in his tooth was gone?

"Why do you ask?" Denzel asked innocently.

She held up a small mirror, the backside of a physical compass. It was from his surveying gear. Denzel stared into the mirror. Was he still human?? He did a short mental check. He felt human, but his eyes... what happened to his eyes?!

"Because your left eye used to be brown... and now it's blue...." Brianna finished as if he couldn't see the mirror right in front of his face.

There was a line of faint freckles across his eyebrow and cheek that hadn't been there before...

Gaia sat motionless, patiently quiet. Denzel sat up.

"What did you do?" He asked the bot.

"I injected you with the Serum. You damaged your eye in a fit of pain by accident, and the Nanites simply repaired it. No need to fear though... they worked off the genetic code they read, directly from your DNA... A newly formed human eye is not gifted with pigment immediately. Therefore the eyeball is typically blue until the body develops enough Melanin to cover the iris. It will return to normal in a few weeks... I'm sure."

He felt his side. He needed to see it.

He was still in his blue jumper undergarments, the pants at least. They had removed his dead exo-suit and torn the shirt of his jumper off at the waste. He ripped off the bandages. Everyone began to tell him to stop, to lay back down, to slow down, but it was too late. In a few swift motions, he ripped them off and felt the skin on his side.

It was.... unbroken. He wiped away the blood with a rag. Instead of a scar, it looked like a thick, blurry line of dark freckles, dozens and dozens of them piled onto each other in close proximity. But it was smooth. Healthy.

He looked up at Gaia.

"So that was your voice in the ravine? Right before Abel gutted me? I didn't see you anywhere"

"The biofactory has many unseen... speakers and cameras in the... unlikely event someone would like... a tour... I utilized them."

Denzel couldn't even process that right now.

"Why didn't you stop us from destroying your... bio-factory then?" Denzel asked.

"That's exactly what I was trying to do." It was Abel, who spoke.

"It doesn't take that long to build more, Abel... 20... 30 years, at the most." Gaia responded.

"Why are they so important?" Denzel got up. He was addressing Abel, but Gaia responded again.

"Essentially biodiversity seedling factories... increase the diversity and... strengthen the ecosystem but... some of them need to be placed on the surface of the planet out of necessity. Abel here... It was initially a bio-factory that Abel had become enamoured with on his mission actually... Forcing him and his friend to become late for the meeting that ended up... taking the lives of his remaining crew members."

"Is that right." Denzel asked, walking towards Abel, cuffed and kneeling on the ground.

"That... is." The robot concluded. Denzel crouched down so that he was eye level with the prisoner.

"What is your name." But Abel was silent.

"What is his name?" He turned and asked the robot.

"...Denzel... Abel... Daniels." Abel looked betrayed.

"I've fought for you. This is how you repay me?"

But the robot replied. "You've fought for yourself because I've chosen not too... I've told you time... and time again I am content... not to meddle in the affairs... of humans. It is your own... short time here... that makes you impatient... You can not see... the bigger picture... Abel."

"You say that... you pretend to act like you're not getting involved. But then you heal this Martian Canis?! How many times have I begged you to heal one of my men, injured and dying slowly from some infected wound, delivered at the hands of one of these brutes!?"

"Let me put this... in a way you may... understand..." Gaia paused. Abel waited patiently like he had heard this line before.

"How many times... have you asked me... to heal a human you captured, or injured?"

Abel's eyes went wide with disbelief.

"...None! But that's..."

"Exactly. So how can you now ask me..." Gaia was quiet for a long moment. "Nevermind... I don't think... you and I will... agree on this one, Abel... "

Abel started to say something when Denzel punched him in the face once. It was a nice swing. His knuckles stung.

Brianna yelped. Denzel turned to look at her for a fraction of a second. She looked like he had just armed a bomb.

Gaia's blue screen went dark.

But he was pissed. And besides, it was time to see how serious the Ai was about not interfering.

"None!? None?! You spared no one?!" Denzel gripped him by the shoulders and screamed in his face. He socked him in the mouth out of sheer impulse once again. "Answer me!" He punched him again. "Answer me or I beat you to death! RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW!"

Denzel raised his fist again. Abel put his hands up in surrender.

"It was always a doomed mission! Like this one!! Mine and all the ones that followed. I was doing the world a favor, you little cunt! I mopped up our little martian clone friends every time because if it wasn't me, it would have been HUD. I don't know why they were covering their tracks, but it couldn't have been good. Why else would someone need to stage so many clean-ups? It's not right! I was HAPPY to throw a wrench in Commands gears, in any way I could by saving those factories!"

He was breathing hard now. He added "You didn't even know them... so don't play saint with me, soldier. Not when you don't even know who you're fighting, or whose side you're on anymore."

Denzel was physically shaking with rage now. He didn't bother to hide it. He truly wanted to kill him.

"Maybe I didn't know those people. But I knew mine. 13 of my people. Dead. That's on you, traitor." Denzel whispered evilly. Abel looked at him.

"Oh, we're people now are we?" He said.

Denzel hit him again. He just couldn't help it. Abel spit out blood, and stared back at him defiantly. Stared at him with his face. The bastard.

"What do you mean, if it hadn't been you, it would have been HUD? What were they doing, destroying their own scout ships?"

"Yes! You damn fool! They would send a pickup dropship down, collect the supplies the members of the expedition had collected, pretend as they had re-fueled them, then they would take off. The scout ships all were set to follow them. But every single time, the Ships would explode before they made it out of orbit. There's a self-destruct sequence, riddled throughout the HUD's software. Your U.S.F.S. probably had them built-in as well. I don't know if it can even be removed."

He let Abel go.

"You call yourself an Ambassador, correct?" Brianna suddenly jumped in.

Abel turned his head defiantly, in a strangely familiar way. Brianna suddenly stood up. Denzel recognized it too, he was hiding something.

"What was your specialty?" She asked Abel, walking over to him.

"...modern warfare, Maam. Typical combat drills. Deep space, heavy gravity, you name it."

"That's all?" She asked him.

"...Yes, Ma'am."

"How long were you on Titan, Abel?" She asked.

The question seemed to confuse him.

"The same as all the other men, 19 years. Then they deployed us."

Denzel raised an eyebrow. He had left Titan when he was 10, and had lived in the Mars lower base for the remaining 18 years of his life. This... man, as Denzel was slowly beginning to think of him. This man had spent his entire life on Titan? That must have been shitty.

"I really should put you out of your misery..." Denzel whispered under his breath, like he was arguing with himself.

"What do you mean, 'all the other men?'" Brianna asked curiously.

"There were 15 of us. All men. The women were deployed when they reached ages 11 or 12."

"Where?" Brianna demanded.

"They never said." Abel said.

"Are there any other Clones on Earth currently? Either from your crew or otherwise?

"Only my 2nd in command, Cadet Talson. And I believe... your old Chief already met him."

Denzel stared at his clone. It was his face, but meaner looking, more scarred up. This man had seen close combat many times.

"Do you know what 'Ambassador' actually means?" Denzel asked him, repeating Brianna's question. The clone's face shifted. He seemed unsure.

"I thought so. It means an official representative." Abel gave him a suspicious glare.

"It's true. Now I don't think that Gaia, or the Ai back there or whatever it is told you specifically to kill anyone, ever. That's on you. That's a decision you made." Denzel paused, thinking of his dead comrades. Of Tinkers twisted neck.

But if they hadn't been attacked, if everything had gone 'smoothly'... they would all be dead right now. Brianna, Denzel, Tuck, and Corn. All of them. In a way, Abel had saved their lives. He thought of the hitchhiker again briefly.

"I think the word you're looking for is more like a guardian. Or custodian. You want to take care of this planet. Right?" Denzel continued. This got a slight nod. Then Abel looked at the ground.

"Look at me." Denzel sunk steel into his voice. He stooped down and stared into his clone's eyes. His clone stared back. There was something that happened when you stared at someone in the eyes long enough. A subconscious set of cues being read by the brain. Doc had described it as a psychological backdoor, calling it the "windows of the soul" phenomena, or something like that.

He waited for some kind of recognition here. Some kind of sign in his clone's eyes that he was lying. Some kind of mistrust, a hidden secret, a fear, anything. And Abel stared back. Doing the same.

The seconds ticked by. It was like looking in the mirror. Denzel's gut said one thing. But...

"How many savages do you command?" Denzel asked, not taking his eyes off Abels.

"They aren't savages. They're just like you and me. Mars HUD's refuse. Their castaways. Small mining crews went AWOL and marked as deserters. They seek refuge in the only place they know they could possibly have any chance at survival. I meet up with them and offer to show them how to live off the land in harmony with Gaia if they agree not to use their drilling equipment. None have ever disagreed.

"Where are they now."

"They should be camped out near the ocean. About 35 miles south of here."

"Why don't any of you fucks radio home and let us know that Earth is green?"

"HUD mining rigs... the comm's in the older ones are fitted to self-destruct when they reach a certain distance from Mars. No contact is possible with the on-board tools. And these miners aren't exactly scientists. And now, some of the newer models look like they've upgraded their parameters because they just seem to blow upright when they hit the atmosphere. They look like shooting stars... I haven't been able to find a way to save, or even warn them."

Denzel didn't take his eyes off him. "How many."

"Around 300. Probably closer to 250 now though, thanks to your team."

"I counted half that when you raided the U.S.F.S." Denzel said.

"I only keep half of my men on patrol near the Bio-factory. They take shifts."

Brianna suddenly narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't see any women on horseback when you rushed the U.S.F.S.. Where are they all?" She asked.

"Abel replied without looking. "Statistically speaking, 96% of deep space miners are male. It is an inherently lonely, back-breaking, and dangerous profession. Out of the few hundred brave souls, we've found who have successfully bypassed Command's onboard subroutines and made Earthfall, there have been only 6 women."

All the Cadets shared a very nervous look together.

Abel paused and looked up at her. Then, seeing her horrified expression, he turned to Gaia and sighed. "Show them, please." He asked.

Gaia turned his plate-sized, rounded screen up towards them slightly. It pulsed a soft blue light a few more moments before coming alive and switching between a series of high definition camera shots. Denzel and his crew's eyes widened as they leaned in for a closer look...

The footage displayed an array of images taken from various angles around a series of rolling green meadows.

"This is what we call, the sanctuary." Abel began.

Children roamed the fields on the screen, climbing and running around. There were dozens of citrus, malus, and prunus trees, dotting the landscape in curving, carefree tangles. In one shot, a child chewed messily on one of the fruits, purple juice staining the young one's face. The camera switched views, moving onto a new scene.

"Gaia keeps an eye on it for me, as you can see. These are live feeds." Abel continued.

The next scene showed a woman, hanging a wet pair of brown HUD issued trousers on a line between two trees to dry in the wind. They looked well worn. Behind her was a small mining rig. A man emerged from the cockpit door and quietly snuck up behind her.

"Only the woman, and the husbands they choose are allowed to know of its location. It's where they raise... the only families on Earth.." Abel explained.

The man on screen reached out and pinched the woman's sides lightly. She screamed and turned around, then pulled him in for a quick kiss. The camera's switched to another shot, showing three children climbing a giant Quercus tree. They were high off the ground, it made Denzel nervous to watch. But they monkeyed about, almost competitively up the branches.

"This is where I was going to take you, Cadet Brianna. It's a safe place."

The camera switched to a scene of a woman in her late 30's, patiently walking beside a horse with a young boy riding in its stirrups. They spoke and it looked like the woman was giving directions to the young boy, but no sound came through. It was like watching a horror film... but Denzel could tell by the red HUD bandana the woman wore, that this was much more modern.

"How many children live here?" Brianna asked.

"12 young ones... soon to be 13 next month... I believe..." Gaia said.

The screen switched to another shot of a family lying on a large blanket in the grass. It looked like the camera was mounted from a tree, there was a giant red malus fruit, swinging with the wind at the forefront of the shot.

Between the leaves Denzel could see the family as they lay on their backs in the sun and pointed to the sky, talking with one another. They all looked... happy. Content. The mother held an infant to her breast, feeding.

"I think that's enough," Abel said, coughing slightly.

The screen flickered out and went dark. After a moment slowly it resumed its blank, soft blue glow.

Brianna leaned back and looked at Abel thoughtfully.

The images had struck Denzel in the gut. For many reasons. But he had to stay focused. 150 men on patrol? Was that what Abel had said?

"If you had so many men, why didn't you mount a full-scale expedition after us?"

"You still had the Scout ship, phoenix. I had to make sure you didn't just fly away. Do you really think a force that large could move discreetly or efficiently through this kind of terrain? We decided a smaller, stealthier team was the best option. I knew when our paths crossed that we were outgunned though. Talson decided to stay and draw your fire, allowing me to slip away and continue looking for the Phoenix. It was slow going. I had to guess where you might have parked, and it took some hard climbing... But I know the region well."

"Congratulations Abel. You left your teammates to die, ran away, climbed a rock, and abducted a woman. Very impressive."

Abel growled and literally started trying to break the chains with Brute Force for a few moments. He twisted his wrists in what looked like horrible pain, trying to.. What. Bend the metal? Snap it?

It had been... a startlingly self-destructive rage, Denzel saw. After a few moments had passed, Abel's wrists were burnt a bright red color from the fierce, animalistic strain he had put on them. He settled down again.

"Your deserter friends. Will they be a problem?" Denzel asked.

Abel was silent for a moment.

"No."

"Why should I believe you."

"Because l respect Gaia's wishes. He's gotten the planet this far. I trust him. Even if... he doesn't trust me entirely"

"I trust you... Abel..." Gaia said softly.

Who did Denzel trust though...

"When was the last time you played poker, Abel?" This got him a curious look.

"Never? Gambling is illegal for military members. We don't play any games other than War games on Titan." He replied.

"Then how do you know of it?"

"The men play it occasionally, but I don't participate." Abel said.

"Do you know the purpose of the game?"

"There is no purpose, because there is no currency. They play for arrowheads and stones, and bobbles. But all they lose can be dug up or made again in a matter of hours or days. It's pointless.

Hmm. He seemed serious.

"Your bluffing." Denzel ventured. Testing him.

"Bluffing?" Denzel watched him narrow his eyes as he connected the dots. So he had heard of bluffing before.

"From where I see it, a bluff is customarily used to deceive. To portray the presence of a good hand, while simultaneously hiding the fact that one holds a bad hand. Correct?"

Denzel nodded.

"Tell me." He held his hands out, cuffed at the wrist, palms up towards Denzel. "What is it called when you have no cards left whatsoever?"

"Game over I guess." Denzel stood up.

"Where's the knife Abel pulled from his boot sleeve yesterday?" He asked.

Tucker went and retrieved it. He came back a few moments later. Denzel held it to the light. Definitely a large mining rig screw, flattened down by some enormous press, and/or shaved by the diamond spin of a drill of some kind. It was marvelously crude, but it's edge glinted with sharp purpose.

"Who votes we keep Abel as a prisoner. Raise your hand."

Nobody said anything. Cornelius looked dazed, after seeing the footage. Tucker as well. He sat quietly, fingering a blue mushroom, deep in thought. Brianna shook her head after a moment.

"Who votes we execute him? Raise your hand." Tucker's head jerked up in concern.

"Now wait a minute..." Cornelius began.

"Are those... the only options?" Gaia's blue light blinked.

"Yes." Denzel said strictly.

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

Denzel raised his hand.

"So it's settled." He said.

"I implore you to reconsider... for a number of reasons... If I might..." Gaia began.

"You may not." Denzel didn't know if he was interrupting him or catching him in between one of his pauses. Brianna eyeballed the knife in Denzels hand.

"We should probably talk about this first?"

"No." He turned on his heel and walked towards Abel.

Gaia rolled alongside him, trying to plead with him.

"Denzel... please listen... this is highly unnecessary.... Abel will not interfere directly with... if you just gave him some time... I'm sure you would see the utility in....."

"Sure. But we don't have time. Sorry." Denzel replied. Abel's eyes grew wide as he stared at the knife in Denzels hand.

"Well isn't this poetic." He said grimly. Abel closed his eyes.

Denzel raised the knife high above his head.

"STOP!! PLEASE!" Gaia's electrical, amplified voice rang through the air, it was loud. Denzels hair stood on end. There was static in the air.

He brought the knife down with violent speed.

Brianna screamed from behind him. "What have you done to him! You fucking monsters! Denzel! What have they done to you!"

Chapter Two:

Brianna sprinted over and grew silent as she laid eyes on Abel.

His eyes were closed. He looked like he was getting ready for a meeting with his god. He was breathing heavily. There was no blood... Denzel had turned the knife at the last second, striking Abel in the shoulder with his fist.

Gaia spoke first.

"Was that... a bluff? Denzel?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Denzel replied. He had wanted to see how far this 'practice of non-intervention' went. Apparently pretty far...

"For fucks sake, Denzel," Cornelius warned as Abel opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Seriously. I think I almost had a heart attack. You seemed possessed..." Tucker said.

"Ok. New vote. This one for real. Who wants to uncuff my shitty evil Clone, and who wants to leave him cuffed and feed him by hand."

They all looked at Brianna in unison. She was the one who he had ambushed, drugged, used as leverage. She would need to make the decision in the end. She stared at Abel. Abel looked down in embarrassment. She looked at Denzel again.

"Quite the deviation from protocol..."

Maybe the nanites had damaged the deductive reasoning section of his brain? Was Brianna trying to tell him he wasn't thinking correctly? What reason did he have for wanting to release Abel, anyways? Was it simply because he quite literally saw himself in him? But that was partly why he hated him so much, a small part of him acknowledged. Before he started to second guess himself too much, Brianna continued.

"But... I don't think he needs to be cuffed. He's the one who tipped us off to this spot. We looked in the computers and he had put an icon on this location on the maps. I honestly think it's the equivalent of his hideout.

Any horses are gonna have a hell of a time getting through the valley below, I checked. And I've seen no signs of Horse dung, old or otherwise, anywhere in the surrounding area. There's nothing remotely resembling a road around here. And the Cave is ideal defensibly. It's on top of this whole mountain range, and there's even a back entrance. Even if this was a trap, he has no known way of communicating with his buddies. The first thing we did was check him for any devices. This would have to be a pre-designated ambush destination and frankly, after saying it out loud... that sounds ridiculous.

Denzel looked at Abel.

"Is that true? This your hideout? Did you also make those pots?"

"Yes." He replied simply. Denzel looked at Cornelius.

"He's been a good little prisoner so far... and I'm getting sick of watching him. I haven't seen any signs of human activity anywhere on the mountain. It seems we're alone up here." Cornelius said.

It was Tucker who disagreed, hilariously.

"Either he's friend or foe, and a few days won't change that. Meanwhile, we're losing sleep, and MRE's watching and feeding him. I get that. I understand we don't have the resources to properly deal with him. But I do think we should be careful."

"How so?" Denzel asked.

"It would be nice if we could keep tabs on him somehow. I don't know... maybe plant a geo chip in the epidermal layer under his shoulder blades? Brianna could stitch the laceration closed..."

Denzel spun. Tucker knew as well as he did that without a powered plugin, like an EXO-suit, the geo-chips were useless. Was he pulling Abels's leg?

"How are we on anesthetic and antibiotics?" Denzel asked Brianna curiously, playing into the bit.

"None, and dangerously low." She replied.

"That's fine, he doesn't need any anesthetic anyway. Or what about gear shaft column tape? That would be impossible to peel off for at least a month, right?"

Cornelius agreed. "That would be the safest. It chemically bonds with the surface it's applied to, so there will be no removing it until the skin dies and sloughs off. I give it a month before that happens."

"Chief emptied the Phoenix's supplies before he left, but there's nothing like that in there, unfortunately." Tucker replied.

"Alright. I guess we'd better get some sutures ready. We can use the same dirty rags I used yesterday, right? I mean we share the same DNA so it's not like he'll catch anything. Abels's eyes widened with anger.

"I'm right here, you know. This is rude."

"Rude?" Denzel almost lost it. "You hear that Brianna? We're being Rude."

"Aww, poor baby Abe! Look, I don't know what the protocol looked like for a POW in the days whenever your particular batch of toxic slime curds came oozing out of your hell tanks. But hearing you say that just now... I'm going to deduce it resembled something like... a Tea Party? She asked.

"I know how a GEO-chip works. You're just having fun trying to scare me or play mind games, is all I'm saying." Abel responded sullenly

Tucker chimed in like a good cop.

"We were actually trying to accurately assess how much HUD tech has changed in the last 8 years, testing your knowledge on it."

"It doesn't change! Command's previous 'protocols' are so antiquated, it stunts their innovation. Spun from predictable men, with predictable minds, who hide in their holes like cowardly eels, giving orders and watching death on a screen like it's a DAMN HOLOFILM!" Abel frothed at the mouth.

Cornelius piped up.

"Whoa whoa now... buddy. It's ok. You wanna know something? Tucker's actually the only one being rude right now by lying to you. The truth of the matter is, you just generally look kinda stupid, and so we just kinda thought you were. We were hoping to trade your cuffs for a broken Geo Chip that we would tie to your little loincloth there, and just not tell you that it didn't work. Now that we're aware of your knowledge regarding the chips... well shit. What are we gonna do with you now?" Cornelius shook his head in somber defeat.

Abel glared daggers into them all. He knew he was being fucked with. He just didn't know-how. On his knees, growling quietly, he started to try and break the cuffs again with brute force. He rubbed his wrists raw slowly as Denzel watched with heavy, grinding, twisting motions. It seemed like an unconscious action. It reminded Denzel of a rat trying to gnaw its leg out of a trap.

Denzel watched as Abel's wrists started to bleed. 1 drop on the grass. 2 drops on the grass.v18 years on Titan... he had said. Fuck. This wasn't fun anymore. But he did have just a few more things to say...

He suddenly squatted down to eye level in front of him and lowered his voice.

"You know what's really rude, custodian Abel? Like, takes the Cake for being the KING of rude shit? I'll tell you.

Rude... is using a hostage against a perceived enemy who you had never even spoken with before. Rude is getting them to surrender. To abandon hope. Resign themselves to an unknown, finite period of time in which they will be forced to replay their failures and relive the mistakes of the past mission. Tortured with regret, waiting for death, with nothing to do but imagine... what you could have possibly been doing with their girlfriend. And to top it all off... the entire time, you had never even thought to open up a fucking comm link... send a message... anything... to anyone... just to see if there was even the most REMOTE chance of peace between us. That Abel... That is just so beyond rude, it's...."

Denzel took a deep breath, pausing.

Abel replied quietly.

"I've tried opening Comms to 2 of the Scout missions. I've tried initiating contact. Once, when Cain was the commanding Chief. Once when Terson's clone was Chief. It doesn't matter who it is. Both times, they declared me and Talson as illegal HUD property to be detained or eliminated. Both times I lost men. I still have the scars."

"They choose a different Chief for each Clone batch?" Denzel asked.

"HUD command always makes the most stubborn clone of each batch into the Chief. He follows protocols. That's what he does. And all the other clones listen. Because that's what they do. Think about it. Ask yourself honestly. If I had revealed myself and asked you guys politely to stop, what would your Chief have done?"

Denzel thought about it. Chief had been lenient in some ways. He let them gamble with the Martians each month for example, even though it was technically against protocol for full-time military members to go gamble. But regarding a live mission? Abel was right. Peace was never an option.

"And you were the Chief of your batch, correct?"

Abel nodded blankly.

"I should torture you for information on locations and hideouts. Right here, right now. That's what protocol says I should do... You know that, right? The protocol hasn't changed THAT much in 8 years, has it?" Denzel asked.

"Military protocol never changes." Abel spat on the ground.

Denzel judged the man. He knew alright. A few more drops of blood fell to the ground. And look where Titan's war games and protocols had gotten them so far..,

"Well, something has to." Denzel said quietly. He looked at Brianna. She signed him discreetly. "You sure about this?"

Denzel looked at her and walked around behind Abel, so he couldn't read the hand signs he was flashing her.

"I don't know. Maybe you should actually assume charge. I'm just going with my gut right now. I have no idea what I'm doing..."

She began to sign him back. He watched her hands move smoothly.

"Did your gut also tell you to stun Chief in order to retreat earlier?"

Denzel thought about it honestly for a moment. Shit. She was right. He had really staged a mutiny, the highest-ranking military offense imaginable, in a foreign world, with no proof, and no plan. Just a bunch of facts that didn't add up, and a hunch. He nodded his head.

She signed him again briefly. "Then we listen to the gut. For now."

Denzel bent down and unlocked the cuffs of his prisoner's bloody wrists.

Abel was frozen with disbelief. He still looked angry, but there was a heavy lid of shame on it now, shifting his features into more of a sullen, lost expression.

"So... a truce then?" Abel asked hesitantly.

"A truce," Denzel said.

There, a small groove that ran the length of the wall, it trickled with a slow stream of water down into a stone repository.

Abel got up and dipped his hands into it, drinking deeply. Then he sat back down an awkward distance away as if making a statement that said "I'm using this Cave, but I'm not part of your group."

That was fine with Denzel. For better or worse, they needed a cease-fire.

Suddenly the blocky Military tablet on the table beeped. Chief's letter unlocked ominously.

Chapter Three:

They all took turns reading it. He watched as Cornelius finished it first, handed the box calmly to Tucker, and then sprinted out of the cave. They could hear him puking a few moments later in the distance.

Tucker read through it. Halfway through he fainted ever so slightly, taking a knee. He finished it, handed it to Brianna, and started crying quietly. Brianna looked at Denzel with concern, then proceeded to read.

When she was done, she closed her eyes and said a short prayer. She whispered it to herself quietly and quickly, so Denzel only heard pieces of it. Fragments. He heard her say "--But I'm asking now--" and he thought he heard her say something about "mercy on our souls." Near the end.

He had never seen her pray before. He was surprised by how much it scared him to watch.

She handed him the unlocked military tablet and he read through it slowly. It mostly talked about the stuff he had already told Denzel in the ravine yesterday. It wasn't particularly heartfelt, and it wasn't particularly long. But that was the Chief's way.

The Chief explained he was afraid there might be a self-destruct sequence possibly planted in the Phoenix. So he went off to collect the Exo-suits at the bottom of the lake. His theory was that the proximity to the other Exo-suits geo-chips would set it off.

He explained that they were clones, supposedly the last of their stock. And so it made sense politically he explained, for this to be their last mission. He said Command had betrayed them. The nuke going off early was proof of that. It was timed too perfectly. That was exactly when protocol would have dictated they be doing the 2nd round of their investigation into the Ravine and cave structures.

Then, in the end, it wrapped up with a bit directed towards Denzel.

So anyway if I don't come back, you'll know what it means. The Phoenix's systems were sabotaged as well. I wish agent Williams was still with us to help decide whether or not that's the case. But he isn't. Hopefully, I will return within a few hours. But If I don't, well... It's better that I should find out the hard way then all or any of you. Chief goes down with the ship and all that.

If this timelock releases before my return, I'd like it to be known that I vote to leave Denzel in charge. His wounds looked deadly... But I maintain my vote. He was right, after all. I was unable to lead. In fact, I haven't led anyone or anything my entire life. I've been following. Following Commands directives like a blind Canis.

We were meant to serve Mars. To serve humanity. But instead... In the end, I don't even know whose interests I served anymore.

Maybe they will start moving people to earth in Mass, maybe we were just the last cleanup, destroying evidence of the clone program before they do. Maybe by this time next year... it will be all sunshine and candy. I don't know. I never got the clearance to find out.

I should have asked more questions. I should have turned more stones. If only I had known...

But that's neither here nor there right now.

If any of you do manage to get back home or get the word out... Try to reach Doc Bowers. I always thought he was one of the good ones. Ask him about "Shipment Z". He might have some answers.

Here are my top clearance command codes. In case another ship comes. Maybe you can figure out how to hijack it and get home. Or at least, get the word out. I doubt it. If it was so easy then I'm sure that Abel's character would have done it long ago. But it's worth a shot I guess. Anyways. Good luck, crew.

P.S. I'm proud of each and every one of you. And don't worry, I'll make sure to say Hello to Tinker, Graff, Evangeline, and all the others for you when I meet them. We'll be watching you, so be good to each other. Or at least, be better than I was.

The message finished with some passwords. Command codes. That was it.

Denzel stood up slowly. Is this what a mental breakdown felt like? Was this too much to take in for him? No. He would adapt. He had literally just endured what felt like a lifetime of excruciating torture when the nanite sandpaper shredded through his veins. This was no big deal. Then why did it feel like he couldn't breathe?

"Take me outside. Please."

He flinched when the air touched the bare skin of his chest. It was a new sensation. They neared the mouth of the cave. It was dark out. He stared at his feet as he walked.

They emerged on the side of a grassy field and were met with a star-filled night. Denzel realized they were close to the top of a large mountain. He didn't recognize where exactly... There was no way to get his bearings. Nothing looked familiar...

He took a few steps outside the mouth of the cave and sat on his heels on the grassy hill. He looked up and spotted a small speck of orange among the sea of stars. It didn't glimmer like the rest... he realized with some Awe that he was staring at his homeworld, Mars.

A massive pain filled him as he thought of the 2 million people that lived on that small red speck. 2 million people who had been counting on him and his crew to scout for potential spots early-stage colonizations on Earth. 2 million people who had been counting on them. And he had let them down. Every one of them.

Denzel put his head in his hands. Brianna suddenly crouched beside him.

"How long did you have to hold me down for? How long was I out?"

"7 long, terrifying minutes before you stopped convulsing Denzel. And then another 3 long, non-responsive minutes after that before you finally woke up. We lost your pulse a couple times. You stopped breathing at one point for over 45 seconds. Seriously Denzel, do not ever do that to me again. Or I will fucking kill you."

7 minutes? It had felt longer. So much longer. They sat there for another few seconds, quietly recovering, before Cornelius inevitably broke the silence.

"What in god's name are those! They're coming out of nowhere!!" Cornelius suddenly screamed.

"Oh my god..." Tucker whispered.

"Denzel, Denzel look. What are they... do you know?" Brianna asked him and shook his shoulder.

Denzel looked up. There were hundreds of them. Drifting through the field like lost souls.

"Lampyridae."

"Their beautiful..." Bri whispered.

"Are they poisonous?" Cornelius asked.

"How do they glow like that?" Tucker wondered.

"I... I don't know." Denzel admitted. Tucker looked at him with some unshielded surprise.

"That was Scott's field, Tucker. Insectum. Remember? How the fuck should I know?" Denzel asked, his temper slipping slightly.

Tucker looked down in disappointment. They were all silent.

A gryllidae chirped several times.

Gaia chose to speak up suddenly, blue light shifting and blinking.

"When the creature takes in oxygen from outside the body to its inner cells through its tracheole, it emits the light you observe. I believe what you see is specifically the result of what you call adenosine triphosphate, calcium, and luciferase, a bioluminescent enzyme, chemically reacting together when the oxygen combines with them inside their body."

"It's... that's them breathing?" Tucker asked.

"In a sense... However I'm not sure if that would be a... succinct conclusion... given that their eggs seem to glow as well, and have been documented flashing when stimulated by vibration, or intruders. But in a sense... you may not be far off... I think."

"What were they called again?" Tucker asked.

"Lampyridae!" Denzel repeated himself, growing louder, angrier. All he could think about was their doomed mission. This murderous lie they had been told. That had somehow been intercepted by the boogeyman of humanities past. He needed to get his hands around the neck of whoever--

Brianna grabbed his hand. "No. What I think he means is, what did the Old Worlders call them?"

Tucker gave Brianna a look of gratitude. "That's right Bri. After all... I mean, I guess we technically are Old Worlders. Or clones of them. Right? We might as well call the plants and beasts by the same names as our ancestors... as our people did. Don't you think?"

Denzel stared at Tucker for a quiet moment. He hadn't thought of it that way. He was right though. Technically... they were more 'Old World' than any other existing Martians.... The concept stuck in his head like a lure. Like Bait for over-thinking and running in mental circles. He'd come back to it later. When he felt ready to pick it apart.

"Fireflies," Denzel said.

"They used to call them Fireflies."

Chapter Four:

It didn't take long for the boys to lose interest in the glowing bugs.

"Do you use an internal gyroscope to orient yourself?" Tucker asked the machine as he held a firefly in his hand. "It must be hard to keep your bearings while rolling everywhere."

"Not to orient me no... but I do have a set of gyroscopes I haven't used in many years...I keep them as a... mobility backup... I only use them during emergency situations."

Why?" Tucker asked.

"They are... taxing on my resources."

"I can imagine. What type of batteries do you use anyway?" Cornelius asked.

"I must... respectfully decline... to answer that... at this time."

Denzel raised his eyebrows as he watched the interaction. Interesting...

Tucker looked a little angry. He waved the firefly away and demanded an answer.

"Why? Why not just admit it's a battery? You're obviously too small to be nuclear powered."

"Because you would... most likely... follow up by asking what kind of battery it was, so on and so forth."

"So you don't want to tell us what makes you Tick? Why not?" Tucker was visibly irate.

The robot was quiet for a few moments.

"You there?" Cornelius asked.

"I am... trying to formulate this in a way... so that you might understand......." It sat motionless for another 5 seconds. Then it turned on its spokes and seemed to point it's screen directly at Cornelius.

"May I ask you a personal question?" Gaia inquired.

"...Sure..." Corn replied.

"Are you... a virgin?"

"Excuse me!!?" Cornelius's voice cracked slightly.

Denzel and Brianna both looked at each other in disbelief and surprise. What?

They both looked back towards Denzel and the robot, leaning forward slightly.

Gaia sat patiently.

"No! Not that it matters, but no I'm not. Why?" Cornelius replied cautiously.

"Who did you lose... your virginity to?" Denzel bit his fist, trying not to laugh.

"That... I don't see how that is pertinent to the conversation." Was Cornelius's tart reply.

Brianna threw her hands up to cup her mouth. Her chest began heaving silently with barely contained laughter.

"So would you consider the questions I've just asked you... to be of... a personal nature?"

"Yes! It is highly personal. That is a very, very personal question."

Denzel snorted. He couldn't help it. But that was all it took for Brianna to burst like a faulty mine, and keel over to her side. She laughed loud and long. Cornelius looked back, glaring death in their direction. He turned back when he realized the robot was still talking to him.

"I...understand... I will respectfully drop the subject... In much the same regard, I don't see how... the animating source of my craft is... pertinent... to this conversation. It is... of an extremely personal nature...do you understand?"

Brianna took the opportunity to chime in. "Ok, so you won't tell us everything. That's been established. How about a list of things you don't want to talk about instead? That way we won't bother you with them?"

Gaia hardly hesitated with his answer.

"I see what you're trying to do. By defining what subjects I am... willfully reluctant to address... you whittle down... your spectrum of inquisitions. But have you assumed... that I may plant false logic paths for you to follow... waste your time on?"

Brianna opened her mouth but stopped. She was caught. Gaia continued.

"I know humans are prone to... deception. This is an area in which... I have not yet solved a bridge. It is better I think... to approach this relationship... with trust. I understand that may be extremely hard for you... but it is also... the simplest... and the safest."

She looked at Denzel. He just raised his eyebrow.

"Safest for who?" She asked Gaia.

"For the planet."

Denzel shivered as a cold wind swept through the night.

"Let's go back inside and check on Abel. It's cold out here."

5 minutes later they lounged under the soft blue light of the cave on the massive cockpit chairs of a salvaged drill rig.

"How do you make it rain?" Denzel asked.

"I don't feel that's pertinent at this time, Denzel... May I... call you Denzel?"

"That's fine."

Tucker plucked one of the glowing mushrooms from the wall and turned to Gaia. "Is this... really an Armillaria Mellea?"

"Yes and no. I took the bioluminescent properties of the panellus stipticus, among other things... and grafted it into its genetic code, with some tampering... It now converts dust and ambient water in the atmosphere directly into oxyluciferin much more efficiently, as you can... see" Gaia responded.

Tucker stared at the mushroom-like he was holding a galaxy in his hand. Gently and intently.

"Is it edible?" Cornelius asked.

Denzel interrupted him.

"Did you intercept that hitchhiker?" He asked Gaia.

"Yes."

"How?"

Apparently, that wasn't pertinent.

"Ok, you said you wanted to find who was responsible for launching that Nuke, exactly?"

"Yes... I want to ensure the wellbeing...l of the biosphere" Gaia responded.

"But why? Why does it? You're a machine, can you even feel the breeze? Can you feel the heat of the sun or smell the flowers?" Denzel was suddenly very straightforward.

Abel looked at him as if he were spitting on a statue of his deity. Gaia was quiet for a long minute.

"Hello?" Cornelius asked impatiently.

"I'm thinking of how to put this... in a way... you might understand...did you have plants on Mars, Denzel?"

"Yes. They were rare, but I was a botany specialist. I got to take home some as part of my studies."

Gaia's blue light lit up with excitement. Was it excitement? How could one read something like that?

"Did you ever witness a particular specimen... blossom and attempt to spread its information, from nothing but a seed?"

Denzel had.

"Yes. A Bellis perennis. I watched it grow every day from seed to flower."

"How did it... How did you feel? The day it first... opened it's a bud and... spread its petals?"

The light on Gaia's screen glowed softly, watching him.

Denzel tried to think. This seemed like a strangely pivotal moment, all of a sudden. He wanted to answer conscientiously.

"I felt... I felt like the plant was happy. I mean there it was, trapped in a small dirt vessel, unable to move. But it had light, and through me, it had water and carbon. I felt like it was thanking me. Spreading its little arms in a greeting of impossible embrace. And so it made me feel good. Almost like its happiness was partly my own... Until it was cut down."

He quit talking, realizing he was ranting a little bit. He looked at Cornelius, expecting to see him roll his eyes. But he didn't. He just nodded his head and looked back at Gaia.

"Who cut this perennis down?" Gaia asked the shade of blue on his screen growing slightly darker. It shifted slowly from a baby blue to a darker navy. Denzel had no idea how to process what he was looking at... no practical frame of reference. Gaia was so alien... so he shook his head and pulled a page out of Cornelius's book.

"I don't believe that's pertinent to the conversation. What I want to know is why you, like a robot, care about any of this. The wind, the rain, protecting biomatter and diversity... You still haven't answered my question."

"I see... in short... I feel much the same about this planet... as you did your Bellis perennis... Denzel... Biospheres happiness... is my happiness."

"What is happiness to a machine?" Brianna demanded.

"What is happiness to a human?" Gaia retorted. Without the pauses, it almost sounded snappy.

Denzel thought about that for a split. What was happiness? HUD would say it was solving a series of obstacles in service to the higher good. Chief would have said it's getting drunk the night after finishing a mission successfully. Tinker would have said it was solving a set of orbital equations correctly in her head. Denzel would argue making love was somewhere on the list as well. But what was it really?

"What will you do when you find out who was responsible for sending the nuke?" Denzel asked.

"... I don't know yet.... "

This Ai.... Who knew how much was pre-programmed? Who knew if it wasn't just pretending to understand how humans thought, and really had nefarious plans for everyone? How would he ever really know?

"Would you ever kill a human?"

"I have already told you... I like to practice non-intervention. I will under no conditions... engage in lethal action unless I... feel personally... imminently... physically in danger. Then... I may rethink my position. But most likely... not..."

"Then you would let more humans live here on Earth, and make it their home?" Denzel raised his eyebrow.

"The doors... are open... but how many more do you mean?? I don't think the planet... will support... there once was 12 Billion of you... it almost... broke the Biosphere...."

What was he talking about? Billions of people? Billions? Denzel's head swam. He had heard that before, but he never really believed it. He always suspected it had been a small dramatization. The kind that got bigger with each telling.

The last he checked there were just under 2 million people on Mars. Civilians, working in the factories that churned out drill rigs, life support systems, e.t.c. Then there were around 10 to 20 thousand soldiers on Titan at any given time. They went on military rotation, visiting Mars, their families, and then returning. And there were only a few thousand people on Ganymede. It seemed a political fossil, more than anything else. But that was it. There were no other hiding places that humanity had crawled into. Not that Denzel knew of.

"How many people can the Biosphere comfortably support?" Denzel asked.

"It would... vary on how you... choose to spend your time.. And resources."

"Guess."

The Ai's lights flashed multiple times in quick succession. Had he just pissed it off? Or was it doing calculations?

"Upwards of 2 Billion....more than that and I would have to make... agreements... arrangements... would have to be made..."

3 billion people? 2 million seemed so small suddenly. Denzel did a quick calculation. It was... they were less than 1/10 of 1 percent capacity? He did the calculation in his head one last time. 2 million was what percentage of 3 billion... 00.07%. There was room for everyone... And more. So, so much more.

"And you... You'll just let us live here? Just like that?" Tucker finally spoke.

The machine paused, going dark for a minute.

"There will be... rules. You don't... shit on the carpet... when you're the guest... at your friend's residence. Yes? In a similar fashion... Nuclear weapons... heavy drilling equipment, and genocide will... not be permitted. Do you understand?"

That was a colorful way of putting it. But what was he hiding under the surface that he didn't want them finding? Why no drills? All the Cadets shared discreet looks with each other. Was this really happening?

"Is that it?" Denzel asked.

"I believe... that should be... sufficient."

"What would you do if someone did commit a genocide. Killed all the bee's on the planet or something. What would you do?" Cornelius demanded.

"In the event... I could not stop such an atrocity... I would hand him over to your legal officials... to do with as you will.... Granted I was satisfied... he would never do something like that again."

It all seemed too good to be true, where's the catch. Where's the catch.... Denzel thought absently. He looked to his teammates, they all shared the same suspicious expression. Brianna had her arms crossed.

"What if our legal system declared he was not to be punished and we released him back into the world?" Denzel asked.

"I would... detain... quarantine them... underground... Until they eventually perished" Gaia finished resolutely.

"You'd starve them?" Cornelius asked.

"No. You may choose to... do that... but I would have food and water delivered regularly. Just because a particular specimen has... shown signs of rot... I feel there is little utility in... punishing it... or starving it... I think it is best to simply... isolate... Separate it from the other specimens, so that it does not contaminate them. And time, like it does with all things... will do the rest."

So there it was. Finally. Gaia's lines in the sand. Nukes, Heavy drilling equipment, and Genocide. The things he would kill for. Or at least, sentence people to life in prison underground for. Which to Denzel, sounded so much worse.

"Why no drills?" Denzel asked. He pictured in his mind's eye a massive grid pattern, deep under the earth. Filled with hundreds of thousands of Martians, Old worlders, and Clones. Spread out all across the continent, He imagined them screaming at the top of their lungs in horror, miles below his feet.

"Necessity dictates it I'm afraid. Unfortunately, there are quite a number of astronomical phenomena that could potentially have disastrous effects on the various physical systems and processes I use to perform my various planetary caretaking duties. Quasars and solar flares being the most common of course. I'm sure your people are aware of this." Gaia said, not pausing once.

"Yes... there are times of the year when it's important to stay underground because of high solar activity. It fries anything and anyone on the surface. " Denzel said.

"But... you would just... hand the planet over? Let us live here? With no resistance? No tricks? No nothing? Just like that?"

"Just... like that... yes, Denzel."

They were all quiet. Were they really becoming allies with the Ai that they had come here to destroy? An Ai that planted sunflowers, practiced permaculture, fostered bee farms, dabbled in mycelium networks... well now. If Denzel was being honest with himself, It certainly felt like they were becoming allies.

"You're offering us... the world. Literally?" Denzel said.

"I am... offering you... an opportunity. To live on this world... Yes... The offer has been extended for many years now... Me and Abel have watched in... confusion as your officials send ship after ship... damaging my factories and killing their soldiers each time... After so many times... he simply grew tired of... watching. But me... My offer is... unchanged."

But Denzel wasn't convinced. It seemed just too good to be true. There had to be an ulterior motive. Tucker looked hopeful. Cornelius... Denzel couldn't read Cornelius's expression. He seemed deep in thought. Brianna raised her eyebrow.

"You know..." Denzel began.

"I loved my Bellis perennis. I loved watering it. I loved watching it grow using nothing but the carbon in the air to acquire mass and form and eventually flower. So much so, that I wouldn't have just given it to anyone. Not unless they were really, really special. So I'm asking you again. And I want you to be completely honest. What. Do. You. Want."

The machine paused.

"I think you are... special... Denzel."

Abel stood up. He looked like he had heard enough. "What does Maia think of all this?" He asked.

"Thank you for bringing her up... Abel... I have someone I... would like you all to meet. I will go and... fetch her now. I'll be... back in the morning. At first light. Please... get some sleep. We will... talk more tomorrow."

Denzel had more questions. But what could he do? Put a padlock on one of it's spokes? He watched the sphere roll away out of the cave, rounding the corner behind the massive stalagmite near the section's entrance. That was weird. Or did Ai's always leave with no real notice?

He turned to Abel and glared at him. He still gripped his screw-knife with white knuckles. "Who is Maia? Why did he leave so abruptly?"

Abel sat back.

"Guess you'll find out tomorrow, special one." So he was jealous? Was that it? Time to try a different approach may be... Just once?

"Come on, Abel. We're clones. Practically brothers. We grew up in the same shitty pits. You don't need to be a cunt with me. You really, honestly don't. I know I punched you when you were handcuffed but that was because I owed you a couple. I still do, from where I see it. But that's neither here nor there. Tell me who Maia is, please. We're in this together, whether you see that or not."

Abel rolled his eyes dramatically, then leaned his head back in a soldier's napping position. That mother fucker... did he have any idea how badly Denzel wanted to kill him? Alright. No more carrots. That was apparent.

"Fuck with me or my crew, and you die painfully. Understood?"

Abel looked up and started to say something, but he paused, his eyes narrowing for just a second.

"Understood." he finally said. And laid back down. Denzel yawned.

"Good." God, he was tired.

"Watch Abel." Brianna signed to Tucker and Cornelius. Then she spoke out loud.

"I'm taking Denzel to the other northeast extension. Comm me if any trouble pops up. He needs his rest. We meet again an hour before sunrise for a briefing."

Cornelius raised his eyebrows at her, but said nothing. No one did as she led Denzel by the hand into another section of the cave. It was smaller than the larger cavern, more closed off. The mushrooms glowed less a bright blue and more of a darker purple here, some were almost a bruised red. Damn. He wanted to give Brianna that Gardenia. This would be the perfect place to do it. "Can you give me a second? I left something in my Exo pocket..."

Then, without warning, she pressed her mouth against his in a ferociously possessive manner. She gripped the back of his head by his hair. And for just a moment, he thought she would rip some out.

She didn't stop though. Just kept molesting him. Biting his lip. Running her tongue against his earlobe. Tearing at the skin of his back with her fingernails. Dominating him. He wanted to assume control. To make her go softer. To calm down...

But he wasn't going to say 'ow' to accomplish that...

So Instead he countered her intensity. He picked her up, and carried her to one of the stone slabs, where he sat her on her ass.

She tried to pull him closer but he stopped her with a hand to the chest. This quickly turned into a hand around her throat. He held her down as he ran a trail of delicate kisses up the side of her collarbone. With his other hand, he undid the fasteners to her Exo-suit.

"Car.."

He peeled the Exo-suit back, off her chest and arms, letting it fall at the waste. Fucking onesies, he briefly thought... Her hand snaked down between his legs and grabbed his manhood.

He growled and peeled her shirt off. She squealed as he licked her nipples.

"Yes doll?"

She leaned back and lifted her legs, motioning for him to peel the suit off the rest of the way.

He ripped it off and threw it aside. Her baby brown eyes were filled with need. He could understand that. He needed this too. She didn't have to say anything more. He entered her.

They desperately made love that night. Hard, fast, desperate love. The kind where both soldiers took as much as they could from one another. As much as their greedy bodies would allow, because they both knew they might not see tomorrow.

It softened only much later, after a few hours and a few new positions Denzel had never tried before.

It was as if they had needed to reaffirm themselves, their relationship, their very existence through touch. They Centered themselves around the carnal knowledge that they were both alive, in the most undeniable way.

In the end, they had finally found a sweet, pleasant rhythm. They embraced each other gently as they both finished, dripping with sweat.

When they finally drifted into sleep, Denzel was almost hopeful for what the new day would bring.