Cassandra’s hair, brown and shiny like the copper windings of a motor, was splayed around her head as the biosilicone drained from the medpod. Instead of her hospital gown, she was clad in a grey skin tight suit with pink silhouette lines that ended at her wrists, thighs, and neck. Closed eyes and the fluttering of long lashes show she was merely sleeping. Her breaths were shallow and her skin was a healthy pink, a far cry from the pallor that I'd found her in. It was time to awaken.

“Here—This is a hypodermic applicator.” Irina motioned, handing me an Epipen shaped gizmo. I squinted at the medical gadget—It had no needle whatsoever. Meanwhile, Irina shut down the medpod, satisfied that all her vitals were green.

“ Not sure what I am supposed to do with this. I’m not exactly a doctor ,” I said. I watched her move the respirator from Cassandra’s lips, dropping it into a partitioned container on a movable console table.

“ The applicator was created for that same reason,” Irina said. “ In the field, you won’t have that option to hesitate with someone's life on the line therefore it is designed for automatic delivery via a microjet injector system.”

“So a hypospray then?” I hummed recalling one of the sci-fi gizmos from a popular franchise.

“That is an apt name,” the AI smirked.

“ Fine, what’s it in any way?”

“ Medical stimulants,” Irina said. “ Apply here,” she indicated with a reticle. I grasped Cassandra’s upper arm as I followed their cue. Once I made contact, all I did was pull the trigger; a hiss emanated from the injector as I dosed her. The reaction was immediate; Cass started coughing as she tried to lever herself into a sitting position.

I noticed that even the neck bracer had also been eaten away by the symbionic nanites. As I helped her sit up with one of my arms behind her back, her eyes snapped open. They were glazed over as she looked at something past my shoulder. I knew that was what I might have looked like concentrating on my stat bars.

I had to give the girl credit, she had a will sturdier than mine as she blinked away at the stat bar. Lips trembling, she turned her awareness to me muttering, “ Ryan?”

I saw the dam beginning to break in her aquamarine gaze and let myself be pulled into something that would have been a bone crushing hug. The strength in her arms was palpable; was that what other people would feel if I interacted with them? I pictured what would have happened if I had decided to fight back. I blanched, in hindsight, that shoulder charge at the White Raven would have been enough to break someone’s bones.

“ I almost died, Ryan,” she whimpered, her body shuddering with every drawn breath. This was not exactly my forte, but I guess I had to start somewhere, so I drew circles on her back as she cried herself hoarse. It sounded like she’d been holding back more than the trauma from the accident, guilt perhaps? It might have had something to do with Lucas, but I didn’t want to pry. I noticed that only the two of us remained in the medbay.

“ We shan’t talk about this,right?” She mumbled into my chest.

“ What was that?” I said, teasing her. She squeezed my side and I yelped, pulling back from her. I was still a little sore from the exertions of the three previous days. As I soothed my side, she levered her body over the medpod while she took in the layout of the medbay with an inscrutable expression.

There wasn’t much in the pristine compartment apart from the linen patterned steel-ceramic composite of the bulkhead. The beansheaped console table with a cooler box shaped medkit, ambient lighting, and tesselated tiles. I’d gotten used to it, but for Cassandra, it was all new. She finally noticed that what she was wearing didn’t give her much in the way of modesty. Her cheeks burned as her hand balled into a fist―

“So... aliens?” Cassandra mumbled as she gorged herself on some of Ma Lucas’ casserole and some of the bread.

I nodded, tousling the hair at the nape of my neck. Thanks to my training regimen, I'd eaten a lot since my arrival in the Velastra. She was just about to polish off the remainder of what was left.

“ You’re taking this better than I did,” I pointed out as I scrolled on one of the holotabs I’d appropriated from my berth. I was still brushing up on Arcana—mostly history. As I could imagine, war was always mentioned somewhere.

“ I figured it out―,” Cassandra gave me a non-committal shrug as she piled the utensils and folded her arms across the table. Her eyes were still taking in every single inch of her surroundings. She would occasionally clench and unclench her hands and then zone out as she looked at her Gestalt Interface.

“Lucas?” I inquired, putting down the holo tab between us.

“ Hmm,” she nodded glumly. Guilt flitted across her features for a heartbeat; it was gone before she raised her eyes to finally meet mine across the table. Worrying her lips in contemplation, she finally managed to say what was on her mind. “ Lu isn’t exactly good at hiding things; we fought over it too. I think that was after you collapsed at the Kaufmann’s place.”

“ Ah,” I groaned. Of course,the reason Lucas had held out for as long as he did when I was in a coma was because he was scared shitless. “ I got your message too, you know―I mean through Lucas’ phone,”

“ Those conspiracy theory wannabes,” she growled as her eyes smouldered with indignant embers. “ They chased me all the way from Zurich—I don’t know how they knew about it but am half of a mind to sue them about it,”

“ Maybe some over-eager reporter was looking for a scoop,” I said, tracing whorls through my temples. “ I don’t think we have that luxury though,” I said, snapping her out of it. “ I am a fugitive, Cass, the Central Intelligence got me, grabbed me off the street and threatened me with my death certificate. I broke out of the hospital to get you here,”

“ Oh,” Cassandra said, realisation dawning on her. Both of us had crossed the point of no return; after this, our lives were not exactly going to be normal anymore. I let her stew on the ramifications of what I’d just done. “

“ Sorry,” I said, cradling my head in my hands.

“ What for?!” Cassandra blurted. “ It was not your fault that I got into an accident―If anything, I don’t mind whatever this new change is all about, so quit moping ,” she added, pinching at her own undersuit. Hers was a pinkish one with lime accent colours.

I let out an exhalation of relief. My mind had drawn up the worst case scenarios that the reveal would have gone from her hating me. Hating me for making a choice that altered her life in unchangeable ways, leading to awkward estrangement. It seemed I had to think better of my friends after all.

“ So, what next? Where are the aliens?” She said, breaching the cloud of funk that I’d carried from the medbay.

“ First, we’re going to call Lucas,” I said. She winced; they did not actually part on good terms.

“ Second, well... we’re going to get supplies and then get the hell out of Europe. I have a mission of sorts…”

Cassandra crossed her arms and huffed, “ Screw that―What about me?!”

“ Er―It's going to be dangerous, Cass,” I said, raising my hands to placate her and forestall another outburst.

“ I already forgave you for taking one choice away from me,” she sniffed, referring to being spirited away from the hospital. I felt a twinge of guilt at that, but she kicked me while I was down too, “ And I am not a glass figurine that needs protecting—you saved me twice; now let me take care of myself,”

“ Fine then,” I threw up my arms in defeat. When Cass got going, there was no stopping her so I’d have to rope her into this―

“ Irina, you heard the lady―you can show yourself now,” I said, speaking to theAI,I who I knew was listening in on the conversation through the common’s internal sensors.

“ Who’s Irina?” Cass said.

“ Alien elf,” I said, throwing my thumb towards Irina’s hologram as it coalesced in a twister of lights. They didn’t have to go through the whole light motes spinning reveal, but they were putting up a show for our bedazzled addition to the crew.

We walked to the bridge as Irina and Cassandra got acquainted with one another; which mostly involved Cassandra’s prodding, feeling, and peppering Irina with questions. I even caught snippets of Cassandra whispering whether she could get some cosmetic alterations to her ears, which the AI was quick to affirm. Expectedly, Cassandra’s enchantment also spilled over to the bridge as she goggled every which way, even going as far as to peer into the screen overlooking the bridge.

“ Are we underwater?!” she shrieked.

“Affirmative, Miss Cassandra; we are currently at a depth of 100 metres,” the humoured her.

“ Cass?” I cleared my throat. “We might want to get underway, though I'm not sure if Lucas is awake at this hour―”

“ Er, maybe we can do it tomorrow?” Cassandra said, twiddling her fingers.

“ I don’t think Lucas will stall your mother for much longer―”

That got her attention, “ Did you say my mother is in the country?” she squealed, her voice climbing an octave. “ You should have led with that―”

I failed to mention to her that her mother had sued me as I sat in the primary pilot’s seat on the right.

“ Irina, could you do the honours?―” I prompted.

“ Of course,” Irina replied. “ You might want to sit down for this, Miss Cassandra,” they added.

Cassandra nodded and likewise sat on the secondary pilot’s seat, jittery with nerves as she strapped in. As soon as they deemed us secure, Irina stood at the front of the bridge as their eyes glazed over.

“ Activating,” they said, their voice echoing all around us. Dials and gauges lit up like the LED tachometer, as more holoscreens sprung up on the console. A head up display flared on the main screen showing read outs in Nyvari, a cursive, almost flowing script that would have been something between Chinese and Greek font.

“ Main systems check complete—beginning lift off,” Irina said as the Velastra rumbled once. We didn't even feel it lurch as it moved, not even the gloam past the view screen could tell us we were in motion. The ship was flying dark.