Lights painfully glared into my eyes as I tried to move my hands towards them to no avail. Sensation, aside from pain, slowly begun to return to my body, numerous pricks and pinches along my arms and chest; strange looking creatures waving around metal instruments that were… Oh god, I saw them pushing the instruments into my body, the numbness very slowly fading away as the same tools that were put in me, came back out bloodied. Were they… Dissecting me alive? Fear washed over me, my body shaking rapidly as I attempted to struggle, one of them finally noticing I was awake, yelling strange sounds at the others as dozens of needles were procured, all of them being slammed inside of me, the same cool sensation that I had felt earlier numbing my body once more at an incredibly rapid rate. 

    My eyes fluttered, eyelids blinking, vision blurring. 

    Must… Not… Sleep…

    …

    …

    …

    I awoke once more, gasping, my body shaking as I saw a metallic roof and a single window outlooking a road and a lively world outside. Jumping out of bed, I felt great, no soreness, no pinching, no numbness. Looking around me, everything seemed… Normal? Looking out the window, I noticed I was several stories high, my body instinctively opening the window.

    Birds chirping, wind blowing, the faint sound of honking off in the distance. It seemed… Normal? Was I home? The dreaded voyage over, never to have begun in the first place? All that had happened a mere nightmare?

    Smiling a little bit, I sighed. “A normal… life..." I spoke under my breath, watching a small group of kids ride their bikes away from what I only could imagine was a school of some sort. Resting against the windowsill, I leaned forward, my head against the glass, my eyes closing as I tried to recall exactly what had happened in… My nightmare? A chill shot down my spine suddenly.

    Turning around almost in fear, I noticed that I was finally in a hospital room. “Why… What…?" I asked myself, grabbing my head as the door abruptly opened, a stunning woman and two young children running inwards at me, their arms wrapping around my legs.

    “It's so good to see you so well, honey, we were all so worried!" the woman exclaimed, walking up and placing a cold kiss against my cheek, her arms wrapping around my torso. “I missed you daddy!" the little girl exclaimed, one of the two children. “I missed you more!" the little boy retorted, attempting to out-do his sister. “Nuh-uh!" she plainly retorted, the argument following for several moments.

    I… Who were these people? They plainly seem to know me, yet they do not exist in my memory. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember, bringing a hand to my forehead to attempt to make sense of my situation. “Oh dear, are you getting another migraine honey? I'll go fetch some medication for you, kids, come along." She spoke, the young children following her out the door as she spoke to someone outside.

    I couldn't hear the voices beyond the door, but as I sat down, something deep in the pit of my stomach stirred. This… Wasn't right. I never married, never had kids. What was going on here? Lifting my arms up, I looked at my hands, a white bracelet along my right wrist, saying, 'Nicholas Valentine.' No patient identifier code, no date of birth, no contact information, no allergy listing, blood type, not even a reason I was here. Just… My name.

    Grabbing my head as I leaned back, it throbbed violently as I let off a scream in pain, the sensation mirroring what I imagined a hammer to the forehead felt like. Falling to my side, then off the bed, the pounding not stopping, I knew something wasn't right. Uneasily, I slowly attempted to stand up, using the wall to support me as my legs struggled to press on towards the door to my room. 

    Looking at it, I saw a reflection of myself in the one-way glass that they had installed; several veins across my skull flared up and popping out visibly, my teeth nearly gritting as my shaky hands turned towards the door, grabbing onto the handle, my eyes closing as I swung it open, yelling loudly, the air around me turning frigid for several moments before I inhaled once more, my body violently shivering all over.

    …

    …

    …

    I woke up again, pain scattered around my body as various metal fixtures laced in with my skin, three strange creatures staring at me, wearing a variety of suits, speaking a strange language to each other as I stared at them, my vision getting less and less blurred as I became increasingly more disgusted with my current situation.

    Small metal bits sticking from my skin, markings in what appeared to be pen and sutures all over me. I screamed as I tried to sit up, a piercing pain pressing against my skull; the sensation knocking me back to my laying down position. They approached me, holding their multiple hands out to try and prevent me from moving too much as they spoke in their odd, foreign tongue.

    The leftmost one held up a needle with a glowing green fluid trapped inside of the syringe. My eyes shot alert, and my hands shook as I quickly raised them, knocking it out of their hands against what seemed like a metal wall. I let off an exhale and a grunt as I sat up in pain once more, watching them as they took a step back, seemingly afraid of me. 

    One of them ran out of the room, exclaiming something that made no sense to me. Painfully, I attempted to swing my legs out of the bed, onto the floor with the broken syringe and needle; the green pasted littered on the floor of… Wherever I was. Whoever… Whatever… These things were, I didn't want them sticking more of whatever in me, no, I couldn't take it, I wouldn't.

    As I fell to the side of the bed, glass now embedded in my legs, blood against the floor, I realized that several tubes were attached to my body, my right arm grabbing it and painfully ripping them out of me. I didn't know what they wanted, but they weren't going to take it from me. Not if I could do anything, break anyone…

    Standing up uneasily, my whole body shook, the two left in the room holding their hands out, trying to seem like they were calming me down. Grunting once more, I uneasily stepped towards them, my body feeling dozens of kilos heavier than when I last moved freely. Off in the distance, I heard an alarm ring off, the duo that remained moving out of the room at a quick rate. Looking around me, I saw dozens of lights, notes, scans of my body, blood over the floor, tools and samples of what was in or on me.

    Stepping forward, I cared not about the glass that had embedded itself within me, getting out and… Away from whatever was happening seemed like the best idea. If I stayed any longer, they might do something worse than they already have… Stepping towards the door, I saw the same gold and purple helmeted creature that had me near its ship. I… Didn't get any information about them.

    Bearing my teeth like some sort of rapid pup, I spoke plainly, “Get. Out. Of. My. Way." It was the deepest and most intimidating tone that I could muster up at the time, though it sounded most likely the furthest thing from. Whatever the creature was, it took off black gloves from all four of its hands, blue skin underneath with turquoise scales scattered about. The hands appeared humanoid, though it glowed a gentle green as she walked towards me; the creature pushing me gently with it.

    Such a gentle… Gentle touch… Perhaps… I could trust whatever this was…? No, no, I can't… It's too dangerous to trust anyone, anything where I was. I had to find a way back to Barakov. It was the only familiarity I would have wherever the hell I was.

    Their second hand glowed a similar color, gently grabbing my arms, rubbing them slowly before moving to my shoulders, my body easing up, tension failing as I felt incredibly more fatigued.

    They… Seemed to be in an understanding mood… They're not… Prodding me with pipes… Can it be trusted…? No, no! Focus Valentine, focus! You need to… You need…

    Their hands reached along my neck, one gently caressing my cheek as I felt my head instinctively lay against it… It felt… Warm… Comforting… Almost like a mother's embrace on her young one; protective, secure, promising, reinforcing.

    I… I can't… I…

    I collapsed, my body fading from consciousness as the cold ground below me met my torso.

    …

    …

    …

    I awoke once more, my eyes fluttering as I felt no metal objects protruding from my skin, no pipes attached to me, no other strange creatures in the room; save for the gold and purple helmeted humanoid, their four arms playing around with something round. A few words foreign to me were spoken as they stood up, pulling out a metal figure that seemed familiar. A head of an android…?

    Tapping the top of it, the eyes lit up red as it beeped incoherently before tuning to an actual voice. By now, my vision had returned to me. It appeared to be one of Barakov's, severed from its torso. Moments passed as its eyes turned dim and flashed red once more, announcing, “L-153, successfully booted up. Judging coordinates… Unconfirmed." Its eyes peered about the room before it looked to me. “Ah, Mister Valentine! A pleasure to meet you again, though under such circumstances like this, it certainly makes a few circuits run short of embarrassment, I should say. My apologies about confusing you with the Admiral; an update on software with a second human in existence has been documented as our Mainframe dictates." It spoke.

    Staring at it for several moments, I nodded, speaking up, “Uh… Hey again… Good to see a somewhat familiar face… Any idea what that is?" I pointed weakly to the figure who had sat back down, their arms and legs crossed, observing me. As its red eyes ran across the room to view the gold and purple helmeted creature, it responded simply, “Species: Wue-Zhae. Gender: Female. Identity: unknown. Occupation: unknown. Would you like for me to initiate translation protocols?"

    Staring at the helmet, I sat up uneasily, pain scorching throughout my body as I nodded, saying, “Yes, and begin by asking… Her… What the hell happened." Pausing for a few moments, the droid responded to me, “Not the friendliest of introductions, but perhaps more humans are like that." Turning its head towards her, it spoke a foreign tongue to her, prompting a quick response from them in an angered tone.

    “Oh dear… She says that you're considered a war criminal for genociding countless species, starting the AI rebellion, murdering innocents, and declaring war against the galaxy and her people to start." It told me, my eyes opening in sheer bewilderment as it added, “…And killing her… What roughly translates to fiancée. She seems rather irritated on that as well." I paused for a few moments, feeling guilty that the person I shot was most likely her fiancée. Stopping for a few more moments, I then looked back up at the robot, asking, “I understand the issue with her lover, but… Does she… Mistake me for Admiral Barakov?" I asked, looking at the robot. After a few moments, it told me, “It appears so, Mister Valentine. I'm not sure how you should word this out to her."

    Exhaling slowly, I rubbed my face, feeling a headache coming on as I looked back at my hands. Nothing abnormal, thankfully. At least for the moment. “Translate exactly this: I am sorry about your fiancée. If he was the one who attacked me in the bay, you have my apologies, though I had to defend myself. However, you have the wrong person, it seems." I spoke, the robot's eyes turning towards the female, speaking the odd tongue before she stood up, pressing a dozen buttons against her helmet, pressurized air releasing as she took it off, stepping forward to me, grabbing me by what remnants of clothing I had on with all four of her hands, shaking and yelling at me in her language.

    “She says that if she's so mistaken, why the skins seem so alike, why the hostility to her comrades, why all the senseless violence and she insults you for being alive, calling you a mass-murderer once again. It appears she does confuse you with the Admiral in her point of view." The cyborg spoke.

    By now, I took in a few moments of her face. It was a smooth, light blue across her face, her nose humanoid, only a few scales across her face, directly under her eye in a pattern that appeared to vaguely be an olive branch. Her eyes shimmered gold, tears welling from them as they were filled with anger, regret, sadness, loneliness… I looked down to her hands, all glowing colors rapidly. My headache grew more and more as I sighed softly, very gently lifting a hand up to her face; the creature not moving as I gently and shakily brushed it against her left eye, wiping off a tear.

    Her grip released itself from me as she pushed me back into the bed, the overflow of emotions running through my body finally ceasing, her back turning towards me, long deep purple hair swirling around with her body as she covered her eyes, wiping them and wrapping her arms around her body. “Tell her that I do apologize about her lover. My intention was, and is to stay alive and return home. Home is not… And repeat this so she understands it, NOT, with the admiral. I am not him. I am one of his kind, but I am not him." I spoke half-hastily. The robot nodded, conveying the words as she sniffled lightly, her body turning towards him.

    She spoke something quietly, which was quickly translated as, “Prove it to me then, before I declare your intentions to the galaxy and to the court that will try you." Rubbing my forehead, I looked at the droid's head, then to her once more. “If everything you said were true; that it was my mass-genocide, my murdering, my starting of a rebellion, my violent tendencies… You have all the right, power and authority to end me now. I see the gun on your side." I spoke, pointing at her pistol.

    Before it was translated, she held her hand out to the robot, un-holstering her gun before pointing it at me. Speaking a few words, L-153 translated them as, “Your proof is my trust in you?" Sighing softly, I nodded to her, closing my eyes as I laid back, saying, “Yes."

    “Sir, are you sure you want to go—“ L-153 begun, before I repeated, “Yes." Letting out a metallic sigh, it conveyed my already obvious answer as I sealed my eyes shut, asking for mercy for whatever deity was being so cruel to me.I inhaled slowly as I felt the barrel of the gun against my head. My heart pounded rapidly, adrenaline pumped into my system, and I did my best to not flinch or retaliate, though fear was spreading rapidly through my body as I felt a hand on my chest.

    *Click*

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