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"That's it?" asked Andrea.

"Yes," said Chanoch sighing deeply with hands behind his back, "that is the end of my report."

"Gotta admit, never heard you talk so much for so long."

"I dare say you would make a fine compere," said Haytham chuckling with a pat to his shoulder, "may I ask where James is?"

"He is resting," said the soldier.

"Understandable. I should talk with him further, I barely had the chance before he embraced me tightly and collapsed from exhaustion the poor thing."

"You can go see him now," said Dixon rubbing his arm, "I know you're worried, I'll deal with the Director now that we're all caught up."

"Thank you Andrea. Again I thank you sir Chanoch for rescuing us, tis good to see that your first year with the base has proven meritorious. I shall leave you to your tasks then."

He clicked his boots and bent down to kiss Dixon on the cheek, before she pulled him closer to give him a smooch on the lips. The scholar blushed with a spring in his step as he walked off back to the guest quarters amidst a myriad of creatures busily cleaning up the remnants of fluids and mysterious nanofabrics that had escaped during the security shutdown. Chanoch walked with Andrea past the glowing green gardens of the Pharmanch as members of staff crawled and slithered back and forth cleaning up debris with roombas and hoversweepers.

"So, how do we do this?" asked Dixon.

"Tell them what caused this," said Chanoch, "If they try to squirm out of it, I threaten them."

"That's not a bad idea buuuut, what if we also threw some bluffs in there?"

"Bluffs?" he raised his brow towards her.

"Little white lies just so we keep them on their toes," said Andrea patting him, "we can use this to our advantage, I mean considering I got kidnapped and you got dragged into a terrorist plot I feel we should have some compensation."

"I made a promise," he tightened his fist, "I will not break that."

"I'm not asking you to, I'm saying that WE also need stuff at the base and I need your help."

"Ah. Hmm." He slowed down his pace to almost stop. "I do not like lying."

"Then I'll lie for you," she said walking past to step in front of him, "You tell them what you want, then I add my stuff to it like a government bill but not completely shit and we doubleprong them to the wall."

"Alright. I am sorry about before Andrea."

"Oh it's fine things happen, you did your job and we're all okay aren't we? Come on let's go."

She waved him over as he followed down the curving hall to where HOX was waiting to escort them with a blue rubbery paste covering his leg up to the waist. His eye cast downwards at his feet, deep in thought to the point he hardly noticed their approach until their shadows cast over his view.

"Are you ready?" he asked them.

"Yes," said Chanoch, "we need to talk."

"I understand." The professor gave a deep sigh and walked alongside with a small limp. "How do you wish to proceed?"

"You're not gonna complain?" said Andrea leaning on her heels.

"Would you rather I did?"

"Just surprised is all, but alright, you have a big problem to contain or else your PR is going to rip you apart."

"I know. I will not interfere."

"I'm sorry about your friend," said Dixon, "Chanoch told me about everything."

"It is fine. Well, it is not but there is nothing I can do about it now."

Soon they reached the Director's office and were ushered in by the guards with MORHA announcing their presence as the chief supox leaned back in their bubble with tented leaves.

"[b]Welcome. Please accept our apologies for the incidents that have transgressed our lunar station.[/b]"

[i]"Firstly, I want to thank you mister Jarogniew for rescuing our chief immunologist and stopping the terrorists from escaping with our research. Thanks to you the Ilwrath colony have been returned safely to their sector with no harm come to them except for their unfortunate leader."[/i]

"May I ask what we plan to do with this leadership vacuum?" said HOX gently.

[i]"You gained their trust, they will follow you. I expect you to choose a better advocate."[/i]

"What of the reception staff, Shuffa's family?"

[i]"Due to the secretive nature of our research we have decided not to arrest them. Instead we shall terminate their contract swiftly with a severance package and quietly ask them never to return or else."[/i]

"Good good..." the professor rubbed his proboscis smoothly with a short tug, "right now the only thing I cannot fathom is how they even managed to hack our security."

[i]"We discovered that an unknown sample of human DNA was placed artificially at the communication room."[/i] The director brought up a screen of the forensic labs' DNA samples. [i]"Through biohacking, someone managed to compress a digital virus into a human's DNA structure so it would survive the transitional period."[/i]

"B-but, DNA sequencers use parallel processing, that would not trigger a virus!"

[i]"No, the virus upload cut off at forty-two percent. But within that was a worm that allowed access into our security system. Now let us move on," the Director turned back to the newcomers, "in compensation for your efforts I am willing to assist you with your original query, that is the exploration of your moon."[/i]

"Thank you Director," said Andrea nodding to Chanoch, "I appreciate that a lot."

[i]"You are welcome to stay as long as it takes for you to revert this wormhole back, after which we shall take your leave. Now, is there anything else?"[/i]

"Yes." Chanoch stepped forwards with a formal bow. "I want you to provide medicine and money for the town of Aurum and every other settlement suffering from Zero-D."

"Wh-...what?"

"Wh-what are you-" HOX sputtered aghast, "oh for VUX sake not you as well!"

"I do not agree with what they have done," said the lizardman crossing his arms, "but I also do not agree with what you did."

[i]"Well I am sorry to hear,"[/i] said the supox, [i]"but that does not the change the fact they were terrorists."[/i]

"Yes. Because of you."

[i]"Wha-exCUSE me?!"[/i]

"You did not reach out to those you infected. You let them suffer."

[i]"Do you realise how difficult it is to run an ENTIRE medical base?!"[/i]

"Just as difficult to infect thousands."

[i]"ENOUGH!"[/i] The Director thrust their glass bauble forwards with a sneering glower on their mandibles. [i]"I am grateful for your assistance, but my patience has its limits."[/i]

"I only ask you admit your mistakes."

[i]"There is no mistake! Legally-speaking that is and if you try to utter one word I will sue your entire planet into debt!"[/i]

"Oh really?"

Andrea pulled out the flash drive from Chanoch's satchel much to the professor's chagrin clasping his forehead.

"TH-that, you, y-y-you-MY RESEARCH!"

"Yanno this would be a shame to have leak out and send to every medical agency and news organisation out in the galaxy, wouldntcha think?"

[i]"Are you...blackmailing me?"[/i] gasped them with tightening leaves.

"Now that's an ugly phrase," said Andrea slipping her hands into her pockets, "I prefer the term 'protection racket', makes it sound so much more cool."

[i]"What is even the POINT of this, I am GIVING you what you want!"[/i]

"That is not the point! It's not about getting what I want, it's about being fair!"

[i]"You do not even KNOW these creatures!"[/i] ranted the Director slapping the side of her bubble. [i]"You will saunter off back to your little swamp and you will be none the wiser for what ever happens to them!"[/i]

"And that makes it alright?!" snorted Dixon leaning forth. "This isn't some plausible deniability shit, you owe it to these people and you got nothing to play against our hand."

[i]"Then I shall arrest you for theft of property and take BACK that research, then toss you out of my station to receive nothing!"[/i]

"Sure, you could try that. You can take the ONE copy I'm holding and that'll fix your problems for a while."

[i]"One...copy?"[/i]

"Yes." The doctor smirked cracking her knuckles. "You didn't think that the terrorists wouldn't make a copy, just in case something went wrong, there were two of them after all."

"I-i, I never saw that," muttered HOX.

"Well we have THIS one, and the other that we decided to keep in a secret location. Now here's my deal."

She slammed her palm on the desk before the Director.

"Firstly, everyone that received your tainted blood, you help with medical aid, or else all your research is going to make the head news for the next five months. Secondly, you help us venture to our moon and discover anomalies that could be present on it. Third, and lastly, you donate to us any spare technology you have to boost our communications at least to the point it can cover our entire planet."

[i]"And what will I do IF I refuse?!"[/i] they leaned forwards with looming orb against her face. [i]"If our reputation is dragged through the media, then no one shall ever receive medical help, not just the Zero-D patients but many others!"[/i]

"Yeah life's a bitch ain't it. But it's up to you if you think your reputation matters more than helping people."

"Exactly." Chanoch slammed his fist beside her. "Make your choice, Director."

Both of them stared the pale supox down as the wide sickly eyes pierced into their minds with fury unquenched. No one spoke for the next full minute as Hox nervously rubbed his tentacles waiting and watching.

[i]"...the problem is this,"[/i] said the Director at last, [i]"how do we go about assisting those without incriminating ourselves? If we start postulating on potential research of Zero-D, then others will want to know how we came upon it."[/i]

"That is true," said the VUX leaning against the wall, "we cannot afford to expose our Ilwrath colony, even the simplest bumpkin will put one-and-one together from the Ilwrath plasma."

"Start a foundation," said Dixon moving back, "set up a charity group devoted to Zero-D, one that does research separate from your station that works for good PR and devoting itself fully to a cure."

"But...but, the Ilwrath, how can we justify having subjects?"

"You have two subjects," said Chanoch standing up. "The ones you infected first."

"Wha-......ah. I see, yes...yes, I could, I could easily note that-"

[i]"What is it?"[/i] the Director asked turning to him.

"The terrorists, we took their bodies to be exhumed but they are themselves the perfect test subjects! Their bodies can be used for research at the front of the station, without any need to bring Ilwrath into it!"

[i]"...hm. That is a good idea."[/i]

"See?" Andrea said spreading her arms. "You got it, and no one'll be the wiser whilst you fix your mistakes."

"And their deaths are not in vain," said Chanoch nodding, "you can save lives with their bodies."

"They ARE your employees after all, no one else knows about the Angels of Aurum outside this room, you can just say that they died all of a sudden and you discovered their illness."

"YES exactly!" cried HOX clapping his limbs. "This is perfect, we can make this work, I can continue my research AND with our operation in public view we can actually hire more specialists to resolve a cure sooner!"

"So, what'll it be?"

The Director leaned back with fronds clasping against each other, rubbing them firmly with gears turning away behind their eyes as they projected long-reaching fiscal policies into their mental scape.

[i]"I like this. I like this very much, having a charity foundation would make good public relations and with the terrorists' bodies becoming a test subject front, it will make good use for all the trouble they caused us."[/i]

"So we're all agreed?" checked Andrea. "Two weeks to get this all sorted, should be enough time for you to give us communications stuff and our voyage to the moon."

[i]"That is acceptable-"[/i]

"WAIT!" HOX stepped forth with a tendril raised. "May I request something last?"

[i]"What?"[/i]

"I would...I would rather wish to name the foundation myself."

[i]"Of course, professor you can name it after yourself and have your glory-"[/i]

"No." He shook his head with a deep sniff. "I would like to request that we name the foundation after miss Sa-shi-ha."

[i]"Wh-...what?"[/i] The shock on the Director's face was palpable. [i]"Really, YOU...want to name this after-"[/i]

"She risked everything for me. Despite having barely acknowledged her feelings she did everything she could to keep me safe. I have to respect that, I must respect her memory and repent for what I had failed to do in reciprocating her. Please, Director."

[i]"I have no objections to what you name it, this foundation shall be your priority above everything if you so please."[/i]

"Thank you." He clicked his feet together and stepped back nodding to them.

[i]"So our business is concluded? I would clasp your hand and move it vertically in agreement but diseases exist in your species."[/i]

"And I'd just rather not touch you ever," said Andrea giving a wave, "so I think our business is done. Director, professor HOX, thank you, we shall await your team at the visitors' dome."

They walked out of the office as HOX and the Director looked to each other.

[i]"MORHA. Send a construction team to prepare for planetary descent, initiate project-type O-4-7."[/i]

"[b]Yes Director. I have also begun assembling an exploration team to investigate the nearest satellite.[/b]"

[i]"Thank you. Send Professor HOX the details for setting up the foundation with a one-dome schematic class three."[/i]

"[b]Yes Director.[/b]"

HOX felt his bracelet beep signalling the orders received as he made his exit. Alone in their room the Director sat, tapping into their desk to plan ahead with quarterly investments and a prepared statement for the inception of their new research base.

[i]"Never thought I would live to see him mention someone else's name...MORHA. Bring up Sa-shi-ha's details and remind me in twelve rotationals to notify her family."[/i]

"[b]Yes Director. Shall I announce her obituary?[/b]"

[i]"No. Bring me a record of those who have died in the past two periods, we shall announce them together."[/i]

"[b]As you wish.[/b]"

"You did pretty good," said Andrea patting Chanoch on the back, "I think we managed to get the best possible result."

"They could still refuse us," he muttered.

"They're not gonna refuse, they care too much about their face to take a chance with us, especially after you went rampaging through the base in a fucking gundam!"

"I did what I had to."

"Still holy shit you really went to town on them huh?!"

"There is no town here."

"Yeah bu-...hmhaha, never mind."

She smirked and swung her arms behind her head as they reached the guest quarters where they heard the sound of laughter and Haytham's voice.

"She then tripped-hhhohohoh, o-on her bloomers and came TUMBLING down, grabbing the infallible oaf that was absconding from her room-"

"Wh-WHAT?!" gasped James wheezing.

"He dashes out on the street on all fours like a mad beast and she cries 'STOP HIM, THAT MAN STOLE MY MOOGLE!' and the ENTIRE ca-HAHA-ampus came racing after in a sea of limbs!"

"AhahaHAHAHA, d-did they catch him?!"

"Well hold onto your britches now, they chased him all down to the riverbank a-and he, h-HHHHHAH! AHAHAHA!"

Haytham struggled to speak sitting beside James on his bed, slapping his knee as the student smirked with his infectious humour.

"Heeheeheeheehee jumped as far as he could t-towards a boat on the stream, the rower turned and THWACKED him like a fly out the air and went ploshing into the river!"

"HOHOHOHMY SAVIOUR!"

"And that buffoon, who ran all the way across campus to become soused and deloused in the river...was yours truly."

"WHAT!? YOUUUU!?" screeched James.

"Guilty as charged."

"Wh-WHY!? WH-WHAT DID YOU-BAHAHAHAHAA!" The lemming sputtered between cries of protest and uproarious glee. "What did you even DO that for?"

"I was a youth-driven harlequin," stated Haytham reluctantly, "and I had lost a bet to the alchemists' club for which I had to honour, or else I would be ridiculed throughout my peers when they dispense sulphates into my belongings so as to infect me with a malodorous substance and call me Fartham."

"PFFFFT! Th-that is AWFUL, b-but you still were humiliated in public!"

"Yes but only for a month as opposed to a year, I took the better way out. The moogle toy was fine thank goodness and I paid my debt to the monitor."

"I knew you were a bad boy," said Andrea leaning against the door beside Chanoch, "under all them smarts and books you're just a college boy."

"Ahhh welcome!" the scholar and the student turned towards them. "How doth the negotiations fair?"

"Went pretty damn well," she said walking in, "gonna get all we need and they're even starting a foundation for the Zero-D victims."

"Th-that is wonderful!" cried James. "So that means, everything is good now?"

"Yep we just have to wait now for their exploration crew to get started and we're off to the moon finally."

"Marvellous," Haytham clapped his hands together, "our mission is almost at an end and we return to the planet."

"Well we still got two weeks, I mean you can take your time and explore this place if you want-"

"N-no thank you," said James bashfully, "I would...rather like to leave as soon as possible."

"Are you sure of that James?" Durai leaned forwards. "We are about to undertake a lunar expedition and I could do with another pair of hands."

"I-i um...I...first, let me say something." He stood up to face both humans. "I wish to apologise for my previous behaviour."

"Oh pishposh it is nothing bu-"

"NO, please! I have to say this. I have been bullish and uncooperative since our arrival when all you have been doing is to try and find means to help the humans return home. I was so engrossed in my own world of magic that I became obsessed, and petulant even fearing that...that you were taking my master from me."

He rubbed his sleeve uncomfortably and turned more fully to look up at Andrea.

"I have treated you awfully, for no reason other than my own paranoid delusion and whilst I know that you are in no way obligated to forgive me, I still beg for your forgiveness."

"James..." she patted his head bending down slightly, "I think rescuing us makes things even but, thank you for being honest. Obviously I have no intention of taking Haytham away from you and, to be honest he still does his magic whilst we work just to make things gel with my science better."

"Really?" he asked.

"Well yeah you think THIS guy's gonna stop waving his fingers at me?!"

"Now I only did that twice," said Haytham pointing.

"The point is I appreciate you telling me this and well, thank you for everything. Both you and Chanoch for all you've done."

"So everything is alright?" asked the lemming.

"Yes. We're all good."

James sighed and sat back onto the bed feeling his legs almost collapse, shaking with a heavy sigh as he felt Haytham's hand on his shoulder.

"I think now would be a good time for us to acquire some victuals yes? I must admit I am quite famished from our exploits."

"Yeah they barely gave us any food," said Dixon rubbing her stomach, "I mean the guys that kidnapped us did gotta give them that but maybe that's the Stockholm syndrome talking so yeah let's get some food."

"Would you like to join us James?"

"Um...I-i am not hungry," he said laying back, "I am exhausted."

"Alright, we shall return soon and try not to get kidnapped again."

"Damn straight," Dixon grinded her fists together, "not gonna happen a second time I fucking guarantee."

They walked out of the quarters leaving James with Chanoch, the soldier sitting himself down beside the lemming as they felt the world outside rumble by with footsteps and sluggish limbs that crawled with suckling sounds. They said nothing for a while, feeling the silence comfort them like a blanket as James fell asleep for seven minutes. He woke up groaning with his hands on his face.

"Nnnnngh."

"You cannot sleep?"

"I want to...but every time I close my eyes I see Shuffa."

"Hmm. First time is always the worst. Could not sleep for two nights."

"What was it like for you?" he asked looking up to him.

"Frightening." The soldier looked at his hands. "I thought no one would forgive me for what I did. Not my mother, not father nor Elohim."

"How did...were you fighting an enemy?"

"The soldiers that ruined my city. I stood next to my father, defending the house. He died, protecting me."

"I...I-i am sorry," James placed his hand upon his, "you never spoke much on your family."

"Neither do you." Chanoch looked to him without turning his head. "That is your choice."

"R-right."

"I felt blood in my hand. I do not know whose it was, but the man that wounded my father tried to kill me next. I did not stop to think, my sword flew. Buried in his neck. I felt...like someone had robbed my heart from me."

"Like you...lost something inside of you?"

"Yes."

"Did...did your family survive?"

"Yes, my mother and sister. The contract I made, do you know why I signed it?"

"So you could protect them, of course."

"I made a deal." The knight placed his hands together in a prayer fashion. "I told them that I would sign their contract, if they took my family someplace safe."

"What?" James rubbed his snout agasp. "You...bartered with them?"

"Yes. Slogra and Gaibon, I told them I would only join them if they promised to take my family to the grand synagogue in Poznan. They did. I was too frightened to believe in myself, I felt after my first kill that...that I lost my heart, and I did not know what I had left but my family."

"What happened after? I admit I did wonder how the beginning of your transformation occurred."

"I do not remember much. My family screamed, watched me turn into this," he raised his hands on either side of his face, "my body turned more powerful than I thought it could be and I was...terrified of myself."

His breaths became short with shaking hands as he closed his eyes watching the fields of chaos.

"I felt...I had fallen into a nightmare. I gave in to madness, the first day I killed a man was the same day I killed my seventeenth. The demons watched me until I became weak, watched me part the sea of blood with the sword my father left me and only when I stopped did they take me to their castle."

"That sounds...h-horrible. I cannot even imagine tha-"

"You almost felt it." The lizardman turned to the lemming fully with silent tears. "The sorrow when you killed Shuffa, you felt your heart consume with something."

"I-i did." James clutched his chest. "I felt as if something primal surged through my blade a-and I could not control myself-"

"I will help you." He took James' hand and softly squeezed. "You helped me when I was wounded. Now, I will help you with your wounded heart."

"You...th-thank you." He moved in close to brush the tears off his cheeks. "I am truly thankful to have a friend as good as you, for all you have done and have stood by me so dilligently."

"Yes."

The knight suddenly leaned forwards. James could not believe what he felt in that moment to the point his mind tripped over itself and all he could do was give a blank stare. He felt scaled lips touched his own and there he sat like a doll breathlessly trying to register the movement he just did. Jarogniew pulled back with eyes misted over and the smallest bite of his teeth.

"...forgive me."

"Wh-...what?"

"I...I-i should not have done that."

"What did you-......are you..." James shook his head as the warmth flowed from his lips. "Did you just-"

"I should not have done that, forgive me, goodnight."

"W-wait!" He grabbed his arm before Chanoch could leave and pulled him back to his seat. "Please...d-do not leave me. I do not want to be alone, not with my thoughts."

"I am sorry, I should not have-"

"Do you actually feel that way about me?"

"...yes." He clutched his hands together like a punished schoolboy.

"But..why? Wh-what-I mean I know we are friends but I never expected you to feel like this."

"You are kind to me. You were the first to help me in this world. Your power as a mage is incredible. It frightens me...but also excites me."

"Really?" James pressed a hand to his lips. "You...you consider me that highly?"

"Yes. I like you James. Very much."

"W-well I uh...I-i...I admit I have never...w-well, I HAVE had at least one male friend but n-not in the same fashion as you, not this."

"I am sorry. Please forgive me."

"I-it is fine, really!" He clutched Chanoch's fists. "I do not mind, in fact I am honoured you see me with such regard it touches me dearly! I am just...not quite sure how to respond, especially when whilst I do appreciate your company greatly, I am...not certain if my feelings for you are the same as you to me."

"It is fine?" he asked softly gulping.

"Yes it is fine, absolutely fine, we are still friends and um...well...after everything we have been through it is only natural our feelings would grow."

"Hmm. Alright. What would you like to do?"

"I just want to sleep...and in truth you have helped me stave off the fears of my heart with your presence."

"I am glad I could help you James."

He tried to stand up but James pulled him back again, nervously biting his lip and clasping a thick scaled hand with both of his as he leaned himself against Jarogniew's shoulder. The soldier was surprised but let him be as he stroked his hair, gently basking in the other's warmth.

"Can I ask," began the mage, "you said if I ever needed help, you would help me."

"Yes."

"...could you...hold me?"

He looked down upon the lemming. Without a word he slowly pulled James onto his lap, then laid down on their side into the bed as the student sighed peacefully from the firm embrace of his friend. He was large and strangely warm, his heart's thickened beats pulsing against the lemming's ear as their chests swelled and sagged to a gentle unison. Chanoch slept beside him as his worries drifted off his mind feeling James softly untense his muscles, and fall into a gentler sleep together.

"I'm glad we all had fun," said Elaine, "now we get to go exploring!"

"We sure do," said Ted flicking his switches, "two days out of this ship and already I feel homesick."

"We LIVE here Ted," she revved up the engine with a lever pull, "what else would you feel?"

"Well you never feel comfortable in the base, I asked if we could get a room."

"I have all I need right here, never lived in a house that wasn't on wheels and now I'm just too wild to be indoors."

"You're not a dog Elaine come on."

"No that's you Ted, the way you eat out of a bowl-"

"I can't handle spoons I'm sorry, you know they taste wrong in my mouth."

"And I told you that you should get that checked that could be an allergy!"

"You all ready?" asked Andrea pulling herself through the door.

"Sure are, everyone on?"

"Yep, we got our escorts and they'll help us land, just follow the white ship there."

"You got it boss, here we go!"

The Petrie rumbled beneath their feet as it slowly lifted off the pad with waves of farewell from the visitor staff. Hovering above them was a pale ship that blinked softly with green lights, turning towards the Earth's moon as the Petrie followed dutifully. The silver sphere hung before them in the infinite space, trapped between light and darkness as two more ships joined them, dust scattering underneath their thrusters as they approached the virgin moon.

"[i]Zrog Petrie, come in,[/i]" said one of the ships, "[i]this is Alcunae, you have any idea what we're looking for over?[/i]"

"Petrie here," said Andrea leaning on the pilot's seat, "we're looking for some sort of mineral deposit, like a reactive material that triggers sensitive technology, over."

"[i]Affirmative zrog Petrie, should we be worried about our ship equipment, over?[/i]"

"Not unless you guys are running on third-energy, over."

The four ships made a careful search across the moonscape, scanning from one point and slowly diverging outwards into a cross-diagonal movement as their instruments tracked for anything out of place. Crates dotted the small planetoid as Haytham stepped forwards into the cockpit seeing the endless drifts.

"I expected the moon to be much more...luminous," murmured him.

"Like it was pure white?"

"Yes...despite knowing how its sheen performs I keep imagining it to be much more polished like some celestial mirror."

"Hmmmm...yanno, this is the first time I've ever been to the moon." She leaned back against the wall. "When I joined NASA I wanted to be one of those that could come up here. LIke yeah we explored all of it but it'd just be nice to say 'hey I went to the moon and it was awesome' and then you get to look back at the Earth and see that beautiful big blue planet and think 'god...I live on that, my whole life I lived on that, born and raised on that little speck of green just there on the left'."

"It does sound beautiful," he wrapped his arm round her, "but considering this is your world in the past that means THIS moon is yet unexplored."

"That's true but-"

"Imagine." He swept his hand out before her. "Andrea Dixon, first human on the moon."

"...hah...you know what you got a point, if we land on this that makes ME the first ever I mean like in terms of history."

"Exactly! Let us press forth into the new annals of history that we sculpt!"

"[i]Zrog Petrie come in this is Alcunae, we found something over.[/i]"

"Petrie here," said Elaine clacking the comms, "what did you find, over?"

"[i]Unknown site, some kind of building complex over.[/i]"

"...what?" Dixon grabbed the radio receiver almost ripping it from Elaine's hand. "W-wait, did you say a building?!"

"[i]Yeah, a settlement. Think it's human, over.[/i]"

"Oh my god, oh my god a-alright um, just, send us your location we'll get there now, is there anything dangerous out there over?"

"[i]Negative, looks abandoned, nothing's reacting to our presence over.[/i]"

"Fuck...wh-what do we do?"

"What do you mean 'what do we do' we check it out!" cried Ted throwing his hand. "You don't see a ruined base and decide 'hey let's NOT investigate this weird thing'."

"Unless it's haunted," said Elaine, "the moon IS haunted that we know."

"What no it's not!"

"They always say the moon is very haunting they must have a reason for saying that Ted!"

"Whatever the case," said Durai leaning forwards, "we are ready and prepared with our military squadron to engage any fiends be they spectral or otherwise."

"Yeah," demurred Andrea biting her fist, "not gonna lie I'm kinda worried without Chanoch."

"But you know that the rest of your guards are just as capable, if they had not been cut off at the visitors' dome they would surely have joined in equal efforts."

"Yeaaaaah...yeah you're right, he's done enough he earned his rest, let's check out that base."

Burning thrusters scattered space dust behind them as they followed to where Alcunae beeped its signal from. Below them on the surface they saw the strangest thing, something that shocked Andrea even more than she expected it. Both her pilots shared the same look as the two ships pointed their lights directly upon the structure. It was definitely human in design, a long rectangular installation that spread outwards in thick oblong points as they slowly circled round to find its entrance.

"This is...this..." Dixon gasped shaking her head, "this looks...almost like the T.E.A.R. base."

"Wh-what do you mean?" asked Durai.

"The layout is almost the same, I recognise the building and it just looks so...like how we built ours except smaller."

"[i]Zrog Petrie,[/i]" squawked the comms, "[i]you require assistance getting inside over?[/i]"

"Negative," said Andrea, "we can handle this but if you could just hang outside and give us support from the air we'd appreciate it over."

"Why do you not want them to come?" asked Haytham after she clicked off.

"Because if this base has any of our tech inside then I don't want them to know about our secrets."

"That seems rather suspicious."

"They had a colony of blood donors underneath their base, they do not get to talk shit back to me."

Landing before the entrance, the Petrie settled with a cloud of silver dust before Haytham and Andrea put on their space suits with four other soldiers accompanying. The doors to the building did not open for them on approach, until two of the badniks joining came to help with welding tools they had naturally built in to unseal its long-rusted joints.

"How old you think that is?" asked the doctor.

"I dunno," said the moletank heating up his drill, "I never studied chemistry, whaddayou think Chuck?"

"I'd say about fifty," said Chuck the monkey-bot beside him, "this whole thing's made of grade three-sixteen, but it's only gonna last so long before corrosion sets in."

"That means I'm safe right, cuz I don't wanna get any retractile dysfunction!"

"Nash the only dysfunction you ever gonna get is a mental one."

"Awww thanks buddy-h-HEY!"

"You said grade three-sxteen right?" asked Townsend readjusting her gun's grip."

"Yep," said Chuck still searing the doorframe open.

"That's definitely the same material we use for our doors, should we be expecting trouble?"

"Only one way to find out!"

The robots forced through the rusted lock and slowly pulled its doors apart with a screeching rumble they heard only from the vibrations of their feet. A dark hallway stood before them as they stepped inside with guns raised and their flashlights glowing across the walls of the long-decayed institution. Brown upon orange crept like ivy over the course of years as their steps echoed towards the darkness with soft whirring from the badniks' joints and wheeltreads. The entrance seemed similar enough to their own base that it disturbed them, checking around the security desk to find nothing but some strangely-advanced machinery still within the reaches of their imagination. A smaller cordless phone with touchscreen, currently inactive next to a lightpad for writing records and a long-abandoned seat. The room just beyond the desk had a wall of TVs and a storage cabinet with firearms inside.

"Definitely ours," said Townsend looking carefully, "it's kinda different but they definitely look like our military stuff."

"Should we relinquish them?" Haytham asked.

"No, not yet, don't wanna trip any security that might still be here, let's keep going."

Further within the halls started to turn thin to the point of claustrophobic, the walls encroaching upon them as the abyss stretched even further towards a black pinpoint, forcing them into single file as the soldiers went out first towards a junction where two paths diverged one way then the other. They bore left as the group followed, finding several recreational area of sports tables, dusted screens and digital media players but still not a soul could be found nor any bodies. There was never any dust, nor any debris or scenes of chaos that they expected to be.

"This is some Marie Celeste bullshit," said Dixon, "except weightless."

"Why is this place abandoned?" asked Haytham. "Nothing works, nothing switches on, no sense of automation."

"So why are there no bodies? Where can they go from here, we had no visitors from this base."

"Will your guns even work here without atmosphere?" asked Nash the moletank.

"We'll be fine," said Townsend keeping rifle up, "ammo comes with its own oxidiser nowadays so the lack of oxygen won't stop us."

"It certainly limits my magic," said Haytham rubbing his helmet, "no means to combust but I shall manage."

"You even able to keep using magic with those gloves?"

"This is my specially-designed suit," he demonstrated the surprisingly-thin fibre gloves with wiggling fingers, "allows the magic ether to breathe through my skin without intervention of the fabrique."

"Sort of an osmotic fabric," said Andrea rubbing his hand, "I'm testing it out for more hostile environments so this'll be a good test, you can still do water and shit."

"That is true, in fact were I to form a virtual gutturniform the moisture would combust of a sort into vapour before rendering to frost."

"Hah, nice."

With nothing to find they left the recreational rooms and headed down another path, finding the laboratories where experiments still sat out in the open in tubes and beakers but all of them had been turned off actively. Nothing was spilt, nothing was out of place and left perfectly preserved with some of the chemicals having long since congealed into decay. It was then that they finally found some progress.

"Ma'am!" One of the soldiers motioned them to another doorway. "Look at this."

The first bodies that they discovered were two human beings slumped behind one of the desks. Their bodies were frozen completely, a glassy ice pallour covering their clothes whilst their tongues had boiled up showing spots of moisture that became inflamed. The first thing Andrea noted however was the emblem upon the victims' clothes titled as "WAPP".

"I don't recognise this," she said, "anyone here know what this is?"

"Nope," said Townsend leaning down with her, "never heard o' WAPP, so we know it's not one of ours."

"I dunno the layout here is too close to ours. Also all the signs we passed were in English."

"Well then it's an organisation we don't know about, so let's keep going."

Leaving the laboratories they took the last and third path from the junction, finding that it eventually sloped downwards. Darkness weighed harder down upon them as more laboratories unveiled themselves on either side, turning less chemical and more mechanical in nature. Strange apparatuses now lifeless over their work, laser modules bereft and screen patternings nothing but a hollow visage of rectangular glass. But it was only when they reached the last room at the end they came upon a disturbing sight.

"...what, the fuck?"

Thirty-seven bodies spread out before them. The largest room in the base was lined to the walls with bodies, all of them in the same lab coats as the previous two victims. Some were in a foetal position clutching their throats. Others had tried to run towards the exit but had fallen splayed out towards the newcomers. Others still were collapsed against their consoles, several of which faced a large panoramic screen across a wall.

"I just figured something out," said Dixon walking towards the screen. "This place wasn't designed to be in space. None of these people have space suits, there's no airlocks around here and all of them just suffocated."

"Hold up," the monkeybot looked furtively round the human bodies to pull something loose, "someone scribbled something here."

In his metallic fingers was a notebook that read [i]MTHR BROKEN, DO NOT CONNECT.[/i]

"Mither?" Haytham mused. "What could that mean?"

"Another organisation?" asked Townsend. "Cuz if so calling it 'broken' is kinda weird."

"Any way we can start this up?" asked Nash gesturing a drill to the screen. "Nothing looks damaged so if we just find the right power button-"

"I'm on it!"

The monkeybot started scrabbling around the place, sniffing out traces of power lines and cables that ran to and fro underneath the floor. He managed to determine one major line and tracked its origin point upon one of the consoles underneath a body.

"Sorry bud," Chuck carefully pushed the corpse, "gotta get in on juicing this baby up."

He thunked the lever down hard which instantly lit up the room, waking the machines from their sleep as everything beeped and rumbled around their ears with an intense burning light. It was a sound Andrea had known for years that gave her a peaceful calm, the sounds of science that became a droning lullaby as she stared up to the screen. The Earth was central to it as two large circles showing the east and west split in half, as well as the logo of WAPP that burned itself into the upper-left corner of the screen.

"Okayyyy so," she walked over to one console and gently tapped in a few commands, "if this is the same design as the one we used back home then-"

"What are you doing?" asked the moletank.

"Trying to pull up the most recently-accessed files and see what they were working on."

"I'm still wondering what that MTHR thing's about, you don't think this is it do ya?"

"...shit, what if it is?" They stepped back all at once. "You don't think we just woke up an AI that's trying to kill humanity?"

"Naaah," said the monkey hopping over the panel, "the power this thing is running on is nowhere near enough for a sentient AI to work on, we're all good."

"I dunno, I once remembered an AI that could run on a potato."

"Well you've come this far and you turned it on so if it wanted to kill us it woulda done it already right? Besides me an' Nash are safe if all it can do is choke everyone to death."

"Yeah we're safe!" said Nash clapping his drills together. "We'll make sure your bodies get back at least!"

"Thanks."

Dixon snorted sardonic as she stepped back up to the console and continued her excavation to uncover the more recent files in the form of research notes.

[i][u]PROGRESS: Noah's Ark Plan (August 10th, 2070)[/u][/i]

[i]We have received some disturbing reports concerning MTHR's stability. Several landmarks in our current time period have gone missing, but they never reappear anywhere else and our physicists have estimated that they now occupy some hitherto-unknown nexus between space and time itself.[/i]

[i]The Statue of Liberty was the first one to be noticed, but having tried to access MTHR's records we realise that its AI processing has slowly begun to destabilise itself upon its own apparent agenda.[/i]

[i]Base Meridian-2 has now gone, leaving behind an empty hollowed crater in New Mexico and with no means to contact them across time itself we can only hope they return to us safely. Col. Morton has suggested that a third party be used, so today's experiment will be to try and find a suitable candidate, preferably someone whose time of death is almost imminent.[/i]

"So MTHR is an AI then," noted Dixon scratching her shoulder, "from the looks of this report it's not on this base at least."

"So why write down that it's broken?" asked Townsend holstering her gun. "Nobody else here to warn."

"This base wasn't meant to be here right? We've found our answer then why it's here, because this MTHR program malfunctioned and sent it off here where everybody died in space."

"How extraordinary," gasped Haytham trying to stroke his beard in reflex, "they had no clue as to where they had arrived but in their hopes ancillary one person wrote a prophecy."

"What's this part about?" Chuck pointed at the last sentence. "Someone whose time of death is almost imminent."

"I cannot begin to guess, perhaps a terminally-ill patient as a sacrificial subject."

"Lessee what the previous entries say."

[i][u]PROGRESS: Noah's Ark Plan (May 18, 2067)[/u][/i]

[i]South America is now clear of all distortions, and hopefully North America will follow soon thanks to the efforts of MTHR. We have returned home to our current time period, the life-support machines remain effective in keeping the organisms stable, and their mental conditioning has gone unchanged since MTHR's control over them. Once Asia and Africa have been cleared we can call the Noah's Ark Plan a success.[/i]

[i]One of the last problems present to us is that the pack-herded saurians require a template leader in their new environment, or else they will descend into chaos and end up killing each other. After discussing this with MTHR we have come to the conclusion that we augment a Troodon who will lead the pack-based saurians to our command by their increased intelligence, if only to satisfy their need for a social tribe element.[/i]

"Okay this is definitely the same as our group," said Andrea readjusting the videofeed recorder on her suit, "i'm glad I went for the four-day battery over the high-contrast version."

"Vitality over fidelity," said Haytham nodding, "I must admit I am not entirely clear on your base's prerogative."

"We were sent back in time to keep an eye on anomalies, apparently this period we're in had a LOT of stuff happen that could affect our future so we came here to make sure it was stopped."

"I see."

"But this...Noah's Ark plan, what is it and why is it so significant?"

"Well bring up the older report and let's see."

[i][u]PROGRESS: Noah's Ark Plan (December 9th, 2060)[/u][/i]

[i]We have managed to successfully displace the entirety of the Troodon and Carnotaurus species, despite the fact Troodons have always been a rather dubious species that are usually limited to North America. We shall have to contact Base Meridian-2 concerning any potential migrations hitherto unknown from the fossil record, in case of any strays left behind. We cannot afford to let a single one of the vulnerable species remain in the wild for the sake of our future.[/i]

"Fossil record?" asked Chuck scratching his steel scalp.

"It's the proof of evolution," said Townsend, "determines when creatures existed through carbon dating and stuff that gets buried and fossilised over millions of years beneath the earth, that's how we know where to go and also what creatures evolved into what."

"Huh neat, what's the next one say?"

[i][u]PROGRESS: Noah's Ark Plan (June 26th, 2057)[/u][/i]

[i]The WAPP committee has suggested we extract every single creature from the past, rather than that we were assigned to, but most of the bases have agreed that would be both impossible and recklessly genocidal. The debate raged on between factions but thankfully Col. Morton put an end to the matter with the phrase "if you're cutting out a tumour, you use a scalpel not a chainsaw".[/i]

[i]We have the fossil record for a reason, and this base believes in Col. Morton's mission after proof of the 2010 Criticality. It is absurd for anyone to think otherwise but that's committees for you, always demanding that every single thought they have is worth fielding even when it's just moronic.[/i]

"Wait, 2010?" The scientist and soldiers all looked at each other weird. "Nothing happened in 2010, what?"

"No wait, something did happen!" said Townsend. "There was Edward City, it disappeared remember?"

"Yeah...they never came back. No one did." Dixon walked in a slow circle shaking her head. "I mean there was a team that went out to try and find them but they never came back either. we tried to reach out to Edward City before but I've basically given up on the fact that maybe we're not in the same period at all."

"When we first came here, did the report on anomalies mention anything about Edward City?"

"No...I mean I dunno, we had no idea of knowing except it was like twelve years almost after it disappeared. We tried to reach out in case they were here but no they're not, actually a part of me was hoping that once we get the communication tech upgrade from the Director's peeps maybe we can contact them if they are even here."

"This Morton guy keeps popping up too," said Nash rolling his treads to the screen, "like who the heck is he?!"

"I have no idea, let's see what else they got."

Dixon returned back to the console and flicked the scroller onwards.

[i][u]PROGRESS: Noah's Ark Plan (April 17th, 2056)[/u][/i]

[i]Here is our first record concerning progress of the Noah's Ark plan. To those who find this from whatever circumstance happens upon us in this turbulent experiment, we were Base Meridian-5, situated once in Colombia around 72,400,001 BCE as part of the WAPP organisation. We were a base of 46 people at the time of this report, dedicated to the displacement of South American organisms to prevent the extinction of the human race through the Cenozoic Fracture.[/i]

[i]In 2051 we discovered cracks in the space-time continuum that, through a global experiment, revealed distortions in the fossil record of the Cretaceous Period which signalled the erasure of the human race. Palaeontologists and quantum physicists banded together to determine these findings and always they came back to the same conclusions, using Dr. Kirk's third-energy technology as a basis.[/i]

[i]Col. Dylan Morton initiated a plan with information he himself had obtained as a lieutenant in a previous mission. Whilst rescuing survivors from Edward City, a settlement that was thrown back into the Cretaceous period, he uncovered a future base where his future self initiated the Noah's Ark Plan as a means to prevent this future catastrophe. Having returned as one of only three survivors, he informed us of this future operation and so we began our current task, for a better future hopefully.[/i]

[i]To whoever finds these records, we hope that we were successful. We tried to save humanity from its own hubris and if you discover our research then please for all that is good of the human race, do better with it than we ever could.[/i]

"No..." she stepped back with legs shaken, "that doesn't make sense, th-that doesn't."

"What do you mean?" asked Haytham.

"We...we discovered those cracks in space-time back in 2018, there was nothing like this and no Dylan Morton ever came back with this plan!"

"So what does that mean?" asked Chuck leaning against the wall.

"This doesn't make sense, none of this!" she slapped the air stomping towards the screen. "THAT did not happen, nobody came back from Edward City!"

"But it mentions the city and doctor Kirk!" cried Townsend pointing at the wall.

"I KNOW THAT'S WHAT FUCKS ME UP!"

"Well maybe it's someone that came after us!"

"It talks about this Morton and this plan and IT NEVER HAPPENED because nobody came BACK from Edward City!"

"ANDREA!" Haytham rushed over to clutch her shaking body. "Please, we are scientists, let us not remit our wisdom with such furious vexation."

"G-god...this, this whole place is fucking me up," she clenched her fists to a darkened ash, "when all I wanted was just SOMETHING to come to us, just someone from our home telling us that we're doing good, we got feedback and we're not wasting our lives here for the next twenty fucking years!"

"What if they're not?"

The head soldier rubbed her arm with a strange glint in her expression.

"What if this base is not from our world?"

"The fuck you talkin' about Townsend?" scoffed Dixon.

"Think about it. Every other anomaly we've had is from some other place, that space station and the demon army, nothing's come from a world ever similar to the one we had. But this one is, it's got the same tech as us except that it's got a different history, it stops at 2070 when WE just got to 2042 according to our clock."

"Yanno that's true!" noted Nash raising a drill. "How come the records say 2070 here when last I checked you guys got your calendar on 2042?"

"I don't...I-i don't know." She sat down against the console's podium feeling her legs become weak. "Nothing...nothing is starting to make sense, like dimensions where aliens and demons exist sure that's not our home that's not where we're from but THIS place is. Yet it's not our home because the stuff they said doesn't make any sense."

"Which can only mean one thing," said Haytham grievously "They are not from your universe epoch, but an alternate realm mirroring yours where things have turned different."

"...god...d-dammit."

She punched the floor as her tears breached, hand clasping over her face as she stuttered with growing sobs that echoed across the room full of death. No one knew what to think, what to say as her mind became unravelled, her theories twisting and perforating within themselves as Haytham tried to comfort her before she shoved him away and marched to the screen.

"[i]FUUUCK! FUCK THIS! [b]FUUUUUUUUCK![/b][/i]"

She pulled out her gun and fired it at the wall of text, screaming above the flashing bang of oxidised bullets that pierced into the screen and cracked it into fractals resembling that of a spider's web. She emptied her entire clip as everyone backed off from her until she threw her gun at the wall to watch it bounce and clatter around the room almost weightless in its drift. Once Andrea fell to her knees gasping with hot tears down her helmet's rim, Haytham pulled her up back onto her feet and held her tightly to his chest until her breaths became softer.

"We will find a way. You can do this."

"I-i...h-have been trying to get back for the past twenty years and nothing WORKS!"

"But only because you are missing a piece of the puzzle yes? Then perhaps something further lurks here."

"I don't, KNOW what I'm missing!"

"Another room?!" asked Nash.

"Wh-what?!"

"There's another room here look!"

The mole pointed out a doorway towards a hall that angled sharply to the left as they approached carefully. The last of the 46 humans were found in the passage pressed against the walls trying to run from the end of it, forcing the newcomers to step over their bodies unceremoniously until they found something that shook Dixon to her very core.

"Wh-what...[i]what is this?[/i]"

"This...this is your laboratory."

An exact replica of the third energy gate, with six batteries before it like pews of a church. A closed observation room behind flexiglass was where they now stood directly from the hallway to witness the dark mirror of Andrea's sanctum, complete with two scientists laid bare against the consoles dead.

"What the FUCK IS THIS?!"

"Calm down," Townsend said patting her shoulder, "we already know it be an alternate-"

"HOW, HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW, WHY IS IT FUCKING EXACT TO MINE?!"

"Did you not once tell me that your laboratory was based on that of a previous physicist?"

"Y-yeah, so?!"

"Well surely this is the same process!" he gestured towards the gate. "If both of you were inspired from the same scientist then there came a divergence where in THIS realm you furthered their science whilst in their other realm they have their equivalent."

"I-i...I just...this is fucking me up so much."

"I know. I am sorry but let us investigate further, perhaps we can finally uncover the missing piece."

She nodded with a hard sniff as they looked over the panel. The layout was far different than that she was used to as they found nothing turned itself on, even with Chuck's help in finding the power button which refused to activate. It wasn't until they lifted up one of the bodies that something fell from one of its hands that Chuck grabbed.

"Ey look at this," he held up a small steel rectangle with a little screen and a square pad with symbols, "what's this doc?"

"...that's a, dictaphone?" She took it carefully in her hands and turned it over. "Shit, this could be it, maybe we can find a clue on this."

"Well play it already I wanna hear!"

"Thank god the symbols are the same but...no, no it's not turning on."

"I can charge it up for ya, badniks got power ports to juice each other up."

"Thank you."

The simian cyborg slipped his tail round to open its end and reveal a bewildering set of keyjacks that rotated to the right one. Plugging it in the dictaphone soon lit up with a picture of a battery charging as they waited for a short time in insufferable silence before it was ready enough to use.

"Can't you charge it any faster?" she muttered tapping her foot.

"I can't control the current," said Chuck keeping his tail still, "it'll be ready when it's ready."

"God, dammit I do not have time to sit around whilst we are in the presence of an alternate fucking Sliders-ass bullshit dimension that's not QUITE different from us but just enough to piss me off!"

"Alright alright it's got enough, here!"

He handed it back to her as she clicked back to the last recording made on it. A woman's voice with a French accent greeted her with the sound of an all-too familiar hum burning underneath.

"[i]This is doctor Marilyn Devereaux, we are about to engage in Project Lorelei on this date of August tenth, twenty-seventy A.D. This project will be a little unusual since this time we are displacing someone FROM a historical period to bring to us, where we shall then educate them in infiltrating MTHR and to hopefully shut her down before she causes further distortions. Colonel Morton has explained that it is far easier to redivert a lost casualty from history just before their fated death, to send directly to MTHR's base rather than send a team after her which she can defend against from knowing our technology.[/i]"

"Okay soooo rogue AI," muttered Andrea, "get someone from the past, they're already expendable I mean rather than risk all the staff it already knows."

"[i]Particle diffraction offset at thirty-one percent, Kirk-Roentgen frequency at two-hundred-and-twelve terahertz presicely. Third Energy stable resonance lowered to twenty-three. Activating now.[/i]"

The sounds of whirring increased on the recording, sounds that Andrea had become intimate with as her fingers tightened reflexive.

"[i]Gate is now receptive. Activate particle beam.[/i]"

The rumbling became a scream of the void that rose higher and higher to a deafening pitch.

"[i]Particle diffraction holding. Good, keep it steady, we are now approaching time-fracture six...five...four...three-[/i]"

"[i]D-DOCTOR, S-SOMETHING'S COMING![/i]"

"[i]Obviously that is the POINT![/i]"

"[i]NO, N-NO I MEAN THE FREQUENCY JUST JUMPED![/i]"

"[i]WHAT?! Wh-what is-HOW IS THA-[/i]"

"[i]B-beth sy'n digwydd?![/i]"

"[i]HOLD IT STEADY FOR GOD'S SAKE![/i]"

"[i]PWY YDYCH CHI?! O duw...o DUW, ACHUB FI![/i]"

"[i]Wh-what the, is that-[/i]" Andrea tried to parse the non-English voice. "[i]That sounded-[/i]"

"[i]Welsh?![/i]" cried Townsend leaning over. "[i]Th-that's totally Welsh, it sounds like-[/i]"

"[i]WE'RE LOSING HIM![/i]" screamed an assistant.

"[i]TURN IT DOWN![/i]" cried Marilyn. "[i]PARTICLE DIFF DOWN TWO PERCENT, NOW![/i]"

"[i]MAE'N DDRWG GEN I! MAE'N DDRWG GEN I AM YR HYN A DDYWEDAIS AMDANOCH CHI![/i]"

"[i]WHY IS THIS FRACTURE FIGHTING US?![/i]"

"[i]IT'S NOT THE FRACTURE, TH-THERE'S ANOTHER FORCE![/i]"

"[i]WHAT FORCE, WHO'S INTERFERING WITH OUR GATE?![/i]"

"[i]It...i-it's another gate.[/i]"

"[i]What?![/i]"

"[i]There's another...there's another gate trying to access the fracture![/i]"

"[i]STOP IT, SHUT IT DOWN IT'S TOO MUCH![/i]"

"[i]I CAN'T IT'S LOCKED ONTO US![/i]"

"[i]DUW ACHUB FI! DUW ACHUB FIIIIIIII![/i]"

"[b][i]NOOOOOOOOOOOOO![/i][/b]"

The audio sparked with a screeching howl as the gate burst its energies across the room for a solid thirty-seven seconds. What followed immediately after was even worse.

"[i]Wh-what...wh-HHGGRRRRRKH![/i]"

"[i]D-doctor, d-doct-HRRRRKH![/i]"

"[i]Th-the...the oxygen...h-hhrhrhkhgod-[/i]"

"[i]I-i can't see...I can't...[/i]"

The last twenty seconds of the bodies that lied before them could be heard in every excruciating detail of gasping suffocation. Lungs became frozen from the harsh abyss as the sounds of people falling could be heard one by one. Then there was silence. Two hours of silence left upon the recording until the machine found its limit. No one could speak, their voices turning weak as their fingers trembled against their helmets on instinct to their lips. Dixon carefully put the recorder in her pockets as she struggled to pull back all the tears she had left.

"We have to bury them."

"What?" muttered Townsend.

"We have...to bury them, it is the right thing to do."

"What has brought this on?" asked Haytham. "I do not...I mean as grim as it was I do not-"

"This was our fault."

"...h-how, how could it-"

"THAT voice, I know that voice, the one from the fracture, it was Jeremy!"

"Jeremy?! Your friend sir Holt?!"

"YES IT WAS HIM, IT WAS FUCKING HIM, IT ALL COMES BACK TO HIM!"

"A-alright alright PLEASE compose yourself!" he grabbed both her shoulders. "I am not as versed as you in all this, please tell me how you came to this conclusion."

"...Some years back, the first successful opening of a time fracture we made was to bring Jeremy through. We never planned it, but since then we never managed to open a fracture in time ever again. Because of this."

She spread her arms to the cold empty base.

"This...this is all because we crossed its time stream."

"I do not understand, what do you mean?"

"The third energy gate operates on controlling a stream of energy through time and finding a nexus point to open through. Once it does that, it covers a significant area of both regions with its energy mass and swaps them, displacing one area in time with another area completely."

"I...see so in order to reach one place you must take something FROM that place."

"Yes..." she pushed herself back against the wall and clutched herself. "This recording...they mentioned a force interfering with them well, we got Jeremy the same time they were trying to a-and that...that means we dragged these poor bastards out of their world and fucking killed them."

Haytham looked towards the defunct gate with a heavy sigh before he walked over to her.

"Can you use THIS gate?"

"Huh?"

"Perhaps, this gate as macabre as this might seem, could be the very thing that you require to return homewards."

"I don't...I don't know, I need time to think, j-just...let me think."

"Alright. We are here for you Andrea."

"I know. Whether we like it or not."

For the next several hours they would escort the deceased bodies back to the Earth with the help of the alien vessels. A brief explanation was given to a tragic state of affairs, mentioning nothing of the technology within as the T.E.A.R. group made arrangements to bury each and every one of the Meridian Base's staff with full respects upon the lonesome isle where Chanoch had once fled. Only the five soldiers, Haytham, Andrea and the two bots knew what dark secret that base now contained, but Dixon knew that she would have to make a new set of plans in the hope of a different voyage home.

"Jeremy." She stopped him after the mass funeral was finished. "Can you come with me for a moment?"

"Uhhh sure pet, whut's 'appenin'?"

"We need to talk. You, me and Thomas about something."

"Whut? Whut, whut've ah done?"

"Nothing, just come with me I'll explain when we get there."

"Alrigh' but ahm tellin' ya now ah don' fancy me chances with Thomas fer a date."

"Pffft-god no please don't put that image in my head-"

"Oh aye an' how you think ah feel thinkin' ahm gettin' matchmade 'ere?!"

She smiled if only for a moment. She hoped that Holt could do the same after this.