When I open my eyes, I'm standing in a white pristine room. White walls, white tiles and white lights. I feel strangely light and I look down and see that I've got all my flesh limbs attached. I try to flex my right arm and it responds normally, which makes me realize this isn’t reality, but just what is it?

“We’re on your mind, mother” Speaks a voice right behind me. I turn around in fright and see that there’s a man sitting in an unbefitting metal chair right in the middle of the room. He looks tired, his eyes having the look of a man that has seen too much. He has dark reddish hair and green eyes, and even though his facial factions seem young, his expression makes him look in his later thirties.

I have too much things to ask, but before i can gesticulate the first one, he points behind me “Please, sit, let’s chat”

I see behind me and there’s a chair exactly like his there, popped out of nowhere. The thought of it being a trap crosses my mind, but, judging by what happened just before this, and the control this guy seemed to have over the situation, if he wanted me dead I'd most likely already be another speck of space dust.

He smiles radiantly when i sit down “I’ve waited for this moment since i was a little boy”

“Who are you? And why did you call me mother?” I ask the most pressing thing first.

“Officially, i’m STS-0503… you can call me Flauros” He says with the same smile as before “And i call you mother because you are”

“Well then Flauros, i have no memory of giving birth to a crazy son of a bitch… i’m sure i’d remember” I answer, with my anger flaring up. Not the smartest idea against a foe that might crush me at a moment's notice, but my tolerance has never been thick.

He just laughs it up heartily, even slapping his own leg as if i just told him the funniest joke.

“Ah, that’s how it should be, you have no idea how much i’ve imagined how this moment would be, mom… I have so much to tell you about” He says excitedly.

“I already fucking told you that…” I’m about to fill him up with curses, but i think of something that might prove to be of value “So you know a lot about me?”

He nods enthusiastically “Yes mom, i’ve studied everything i could about you”

“And how did you do that exactly?”

“I learned about you while i was on the Synthesis Corps, and i got really obsessed with meeting you, so much that they tried to reciclate me, but i killed them and ran, although i grabbed some files about you on the way, and then i’ve collected information about you whenever it was possible” As he speaks, the brilliant shine in his smile grows more and more creepy and sinister.

“I know all about you from before they took you, you were born in Earth, in a slum of Zsofia, your parents abandoned you on the street and you grew up in an orphanage, that latter became a testing ground of the UN to train child soldiers for space warfare and you were top of you class. You spent several years as a pirate hunter on the UN-Charon, and were in line for a promotion as the records point you out as one of the most promising officers in the whole army, then your ship encountered some Rachnids and—”

“Stop” I tell him.

For some reason, I find myself scared of reliving the events of the Rachnid incident. This time, when i remember my crew, our family-like relationship, and how i had to walk over some of their bodies while those damned bugs tried to trample us… i start to cry.

It’s like there’s a tsunami of emotions overflowing me, and I can't hold them back. The memories of their mangled bodies littering the floors of the Charon, the thought that all of what i could call family being long dead, how the current situation is no different from an elaborate suicide, i can’t take it.

“Oh, they even put you on emotional suppressors huh?” He says, unfazed by my reaction, and he stands up and gets close to me, kneeling in front. I try to get away but he grabs my legs and I find myself unable to move.

“That old bitch sure is crafty… she didn’t have enough creating us, but also woke you up just to make you suffer… it was the right choice to dangle those Valdari as bait, i knew they’d take it; when i learned that they were going to test you as a hunting dog, i had to set up a perfect scenario for us to meet, and it worked out!” He said out loud, and while I understood all that he said, I was in no position to speak, as I could only stutter and babble.

“Yes yes mother, don’t worry, i’m here with you now… I’m not mad you killed Herbert, i just trained him for fun on my free time as he was slightly capable, and i don’t really care much for these pirates, i was using them to build the foundation to be able to rescue you, but in the end they sent you directly to me heh” He said, satisfied with himself

“Oh and don’t mind the others, I've taken care of some of them, and I think the old hag has still some of them with her… like that bastard Zagan “He spits inexistent saliva “ That bastard… I’m sorry mother, that’s not proper behaviour for a good son, i’m a good son right? Look at all I did for you, right?” His voice cracks a bit, and he looks directly at my trembling eyes “Right, mother?”

My mind is still in shambles, even while I can hear him speak, my vision is filled with flashes of memories that were buried inside my mind. He gets up and pushes his head close to mine, while never losing eye contact “Mother, is that right?” He says again with a deep, monstrous voice.

I feel like I want to scream, as I hold my head with one hand, as I feel a splitting headache all of the sudden as if there’s someone drilling a hole inside of it. My eyes lose focus and I see everything blurry. I might pass out.

“That’s enough” The voice of an old man resonates throughout the room.

The pain recedes, and although the flashes come and go, it’s a bit better now. I glance at the one called Flauros and he seems furious, like he’s lost in a mad rage.

“YOU!” He screams at the top of his lungs “Von Brugge! The parasite!”

“Mad dogs should be put to sleep” He answers nonchalantly and then looks at me. He has completely white hair and beard, both quite long in size, and his eyes seem as deep as the ocean, sharing the same color. He’s wearing some sort of high tech armor, and I feel his gaze upon me.

“Time to wake up, princess”