and see Corla that first time we met.”
“You’re thinking about getting laid at a time like this?” Jimmy asks.
“No. Yes. No. You guys, I saw several versions of Corla inside that node. She was a freak. She was a fucking prostitute in one! I was supposed to pay her for sex!”
Jimmy laughs. “Poetic justice, my friend.”
“And one she was old and… ugh. Yuk. Evil. In fact, in all of them, but the one on Earth—”
“You went to Earth?” Jimmy asks.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t me, it was some other guy. That Corla, she was nice. I almost wish…” But I trail off, unwilling to state that wish out loud. “My point is, I don’t know Corla. I never had a chance to know her. And I’m more certain than ever that the queen frozen inside that cryopod on the security beacon isn’t my Corla. That’s how I could keep her in there, you guys. That’s how I could send her away. She’s not my soulmate. She’s not that girl I met on Wayward Station twenty-one years ago. So I made a deal with ALCOR Prime to get one chance to see my real Corla. I just wanted that chance. But I was hoping, ya know, that I’d… figure something out before the end.”
Just as the last word leaves my mouth, Valor comes rushing through the door again. He’s holding a large yellow envelope, which he thrusts at me once I’m within reach.
“What’s this?” I ask, taking the envelope.
“Comics. And we’re the heroes.” He pauses. “Well, kinda.”
I pull out a stack of paper books. The covers are aged and have ragged edges. But the colors are still fairly bright. The top book has a picture of a man and a sexbot who looks suspiciously like Xyla. “What is this?” I ask again.
“Hold it up for me,” Luck says. “I can’t fucking see through the plasma bars.”
I hold it up for Luck, but look at Valor for an explanation.
Jimmy takes a step forward towards the edge of the cell. “Is that Xyla?”
“Yeah,” Valor says. “Yeah. Like, it actually is Xyla. And that’s you.”
“Bot Boy?” Jimmy asks.
“Well, it kinda fits, right? These are actual Cygnian comics, you guys. They belong to Veila. Apparently, we’re famous over there. But here’s the weird thing—we’ve been famous for longer than we’ve been alive. These comics are older than us.”
“What?” I say.
“Look,” Valor says, taking the stack from my hands. He shuffled through them and puts another one on top. “There.” He taps the cover. “That’s actual Jimmy.”
I squint at it.
“That’s not me! Look at my hair.”
“It kinda does look like Jimmy,” Serpint says.
“Before we came to ALCOR Station the comics were generic. The Bot Boy on the cover of that first one. But after, they made the comics about us. Veila told me that we’re like… legends over there on their side of things.”
“Myths,” I say, remembering my first meeting with Corla in the dining room. “That’s what she called me. She wanted to know if I was a myth.”
“Yeah,” Serpint says. “Yeah. Lyra talked about this a little too. Not the comics, but… the whole legend of fated mates.”
I rub a hand down my face. “But what does it mean?”
“It doesn’t mean shit,” Luck says. “Just a bunch of dumb comics.”
“No,” I say. I get to my feet and look up at the ceiling. “Baby? Turn the plasma fence off.”
“Are you sure?” Baby replies.
I look at Luck. “I’m sure. He’s not going to do anything. And you know why he’s not going to do anything?”
“I’m going to assume that’s rhetorical?” Baby answers.
“Because he knows we’re on the same side.”
Valor points to Luck. “Do not. Fucking. Touch him.”
Luck puts up both his hands. “Fine. But if you go near Nyleena, Crux, I take it back.”
“I’m not going to do anything to any of the girls. We’re in this together, you guys. I’m not in charge of the ending. We’re equals, OK? And if there’s more than one way out of this, then…” I shrug. “I guess we’ll take a vote.”
“And what if there’s not?” Luck asks. “What if we can’t come up with anything other than the plan ALCOR gave you?”
“You want to be in charge, Luck? Fine. Be the fucking boss. Make all the decisions that will decide our fates. Then you can be responsible for the ending, not me. I never asked for this. I never asked to be your leader. I was just the oldest kid on the ship when we landed here. That’s