all I ever was. That’s all I’ll ever be. And if you think I have some grand delusions about being some sun-fucked savior, well, you don’t know me very well. I want out. That’s it. I want one last chance to tell my soulmate I’m sorry for not figuring out how to save her, and then I want out.”
“Out?” Serpint asks. “Out of what?”
“This.” I say, panning my arms wide.
“You want to leave Harem?” Serpint asks.
“You left Harem.” I point to Jimmy, then Luck, and then Valor. “All of you left Harem. I have been stuck here on this station for twenty-one years. I might not get a soulmate out of this war, but I deserve more than just being everyone’s sun-fucked responsible party. If we win, I’m leaving. And I’ll be back when I get back.”
“You can’t go out there alone,” Luck says. “For fuck’s sake, you sound like Nyleena now.”
“You’re missing the point!” Valor exclaims. He takes the comics from my hand and thrusts them in my face. “We’re the heroes, Crux.” Then he goes all serious and narrows his eyes at me. “It has been written.”
“It’s a cartoon,” I say, laughing. “Some Mighty Minions fantasy bullshit.”
“Then how do you explain this?” Valor asks. “How do you explain that these Cygnians had legends about us?”
“It’s… I don’t know. Some bleed-through from other time loops? Other lives lived?”
“I really wish Tray was here,” Serpint says. “He’d have the answers. He always has the answers.”
“Excuse me,” Baby says. “I don’t mean to interrupt. But while you were all talking the time freeze ended. Everyone is awake.”
“That’s great. And Tray isn’t here.” I sigh. “No one is coming to help us, you guys. No one. We’re on our own. We’ve got a whole station filled with millions of outlaws locked up inside their quarters, not to mention the ones walking around free.” I look at Valor. “You should’ve locked them all up. They’re just gonna turn on us again. There’s probably a mob outside right now, just waiting for us to come out of here so they can turn us around and lock us up.”
“Yeah.” Valor sighs. “I guess we didn’t think that through.”
“Not so fast,” Baby says. “Everyone who was placed in their job station instead of their quarters seems to be going about their business.”
“What business?” Luck asks.
“People are just… doing their normal. Most of them are drinking in the bars. A few thousand are in the shooting galleries. Several hundred are actually shopping. We took away all the weapons. No one is fighting.”
“Hmm,” I say. “Score one for us, I guess.”
“What about the ones locked in their quarters?” Luck asks.
“Yeah,” Baby says. “They’re not too happy. Most of them are screaming at me. I printed up some goodies and sent them all gift baskets through the autoshopper.”
“You’re so dumb,” I say.
“It was very smart. They each got a handwritten note from you, Crux, telling them that everything will be OK and to enjoy a day off with pay.”
“Oh, did they?” I laugh. But the laugh is real. I feel a sense of relief knowing that everyone is being cared for by the Baby. And that both pisses me off and makes me feel good at the same time.
I do not want to run this station anymore.
I do not want to be responsible for these people.
I do not want to blow up my brothers’ soulmates.
I don’t want to do any of it. I just want…
“I just want to go see Corla, you guys. One last time. I won’t stay long. I promise. I just feel like… well, you owe me.”
I look at them. Specifically, at Luck. Waiting for him to tell me he doesn’t owe me shit.
But he turns away and won’t meet my gaze.
“OK,” Serpint says. “OK. I agree. We owe you. Don’t we?” He looks at Valor, then Jimmy, and finally, his gaze lands on Luck. “Don’t we?” he asks again.
“Whatever,” Luck says. “Go then. Do it.”
“We’ll go with you,” Valor says. “We’re gonna stick together now, you guys. That’s all we have left. Just… each other.”
He’s looking at Luck when he says this. We’re all looking at Luck when he says this. Because I can’t do this without Luck. I can’t spin up the node on my own. I need him to do that for me.
“Fine,” Luck sighs. “We’ll all go together.”
We all fall into line and start making our way towards the exit. Jimmy sidles up next to me. “So you went to Earth? What