Rear Admiral William Locke stood in his uniform, arms behind his back. The bridge was a hub of activity, though they all spoke in a hushed tone. All the systems were ready, tested on the test flight to Mars months ago when picking up any passengers from his home planet. Part of him wished he had been able to spend more time on the surface, as he knew for a fact he would never be returning to the Red Planet. Though he supposed those from Earth were having the same feeling around about now, this would be the last time they would see the cradle of humanity. He envied the Armani slightly, they had never really called a planet home instead they had ships and the Vitae was a hell of a ship. She had systems far more advanced than any ship ever had prior to the Genesis Project and her crew were all elite, the bridge crew alone probably had more commendations than the entire crew of any ship he had previously served on.

He walked up to the central console, where currently a hologram of Mars was playing. The Devastators had already arrived and were tearing through the hastily refit ships of the Martian Navy, weapons fire from the planet contributed to the battle but it was obviously a loosing fight. He thought back the tears, the urge to go and aid the battle. The last orders he would ever receive was to safeguard this Ark and her passengers, and that was what he would do. He tapped a series of keys on his console, as the image of Mars disappeared and the Vitae appeared. On both sides of the hologram squares appeared each of them denoting a key system, each turning green as the people responsible for those systems announced that they were active and ready to go. Pre-flight was a slow process, but to limit the chance of Devastator interference the Arks had been instructed to take off as late as possible to try and avoid detection.

"Admiral." William turned as the Comms officer spoke to him "Transmission coming in from Admiral Black aboard the Nirvana." William nodded as he turned back to the console on front of him, on the bottom of the console the torso and head of the Admiral appeared. He had been waiting for the call ever since they had lost contact with Constantines fleet.

"Locke-" The hologram stuttered slightly due to interference. "-We're approaching the Eye now, and still no sign that the Devastators have detected us, can you confirm?" Locke turned to another one of his officers, who simply nodded.

"I can Admiral, they still appear to be occupied with Mars. No sign that they've started to move on us yet, your window is clear." He had to fight the choke in his voice as he mentioned Mars, so many lives. It was against every instinct in his body to leave them all behind. "God speed Admiral, and good luck. Hopefully we'll meet again." He offered her a salute, and couldn't refrain from smiling a sad smile as she returned it.

"You too Locke, [i]Nirvana[i] out." With that the Hologram disappeared, turning his attention down the console before him he nodded as the Nirvana disappeared from his sensors. This meant that it was time for the Vitae to leave.

"Comms, give me ship wide." There was a low ringing tone over the intercom, alerting the ship to the announcement. "This is the Admiral. Genesis Protocol is now in effect-"

---

William looked at the name on the file and picked it up, looking at Admiral Roland Constantine with a raised eyebrow "Genesis Protocol, sir?" The Admiral nodded as William opened the file. He pulled at different pieces of paper as he tried to get the cliff notes, hyperspace travel and a collection of twelve Arks. Each ship capable of playing home to thousands of people, the best of humanity. "With all due respect sir, without all the paper what is it you're asking me to do?" The Admiral leaned forward in his chair, you could see the bags under his eyes. Burning the candle at both ends in being a high ranking military official at a time such as this, and being a national icon had obviously not been easy for the man.

"What I'm asking you to do is command one of those Arks." William looked back at the file and back up at the Admiral as he continued. "We're pouring a lot of funding into military advancements, but the truth is the egg-heads keep telling us it won't be enough. Not with the size of fleet that's coming for us. With Genesis protocol we're throwing traditional things like currency out of the window, twelve Arks the peak of human technology filled with the best minds we have to offer sent into the depths of space. We're facing extinction here Locke, not a lot of room for error." The look on the Admirals face was serious, you could see the pain that a protocol like this was causing the man. Career military, leave no man behind. That was a code William had lived for his entire life, now he was being asked to turn tail and run.

"Sir-" Constantine just raised his hand.

"I know what you're going to say, you're the sixth military man I've had to interview for this. You can do this, you need to do this. Our way of life, our history, hell even our species is at risk here. You're up for the task, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

There was nothing that could be said, there was no fighting it. You could see from the pain in the mans eyes that this was it, this was the last hope they had and it was tearing him apart. "Can I ask another question sir?"

"Go for it Locke."

"Why all different locations?" He opened the file to the page where it detailed the transit through something they were calling the Eye of Theia. "It says that each Ark will be sent to a completely different sector of space, is that not risky Sir? Surely there is safety in numbers."

"Safety. We don't know what you're jumping into, if we send all the Arks to the same locations as each other there's a chance we could loose them all in one go, but if they're all flying solo if we loose one, we just loose one. Now, about Exodus...

---

"-You're the best and brightest humanity has to offer, but know that this mission will not be easy. There will be hardships, and there will be sacrifice. Though if we stick together, work side by side with our fellow man we will pull through. The future of our species is in our hands, never forget that. Never forget that you were chosen to continue our species history, our legacy, as we leave others behind to a fate we do not even want to contemplate. I promise you now, that I will give you my best if you do the same and that together we will see our species survive, and thrive once again." He took a breath to let everything he had said so far. "I have faith, now. Action stations, all hands prepare for lift-off."

He nodded to Col.Theodore to begin bringing the main drive online, which likely wouldn't take very long given the fact that they had been sitting ready since the Devastators first entered the solar system days ago. The low buzzing of an alarm came on to announce the call to action stations and he nodded as he heard the different stations on the bridge erupt as everyone took to doing their jobs. He keyed the console as the hologram of the Vitae panned out, showing the landing strip. Eleven Arks raring to go, it panned out further and further until it showed the Eye of Theia, and then a green course lit up showing their plotted course.

William nodded as he let go a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Everything was ready, they would survive. "Well." He noticed several heads turned to face him, most likely wondering who he was speaking to. "There's no turning back now."

---

---

“Action stations, all hands prepare for lift-off.” They were the memorable words spoken by the rear admiral, sir William Locke. The man might not have realized, nor intended, but his words were perhaps the most inspiring of all words he could have said. Despite whatever the admiral might have been feeling, his words came across as if he knew exactly where they were headed, the exact coordinates where they'd appear, and the exact thing they'd see when they arrived there.

And perhaps the young man wished to believe that, too. But a voice in the back of his head made Min-jae question the decision he'd made. There were people on Mars, dying now to give them the chance to escape. And in a few hours there would no doubt be the same people on Earth, doing the exact same thing, clinging to life, knowing it is futile. Including his parents. No, despite the admirals words, Min-jae did not feel any better about the situation. They were abandoning their own people in a bid for their own lives. They were choosing the cowards way out.

“Min-jae, sergeant, sir. Staff-sergeant Morris asked me to give you these,” a voice spoke from behind Min-jae. The voice was younger than that of Min-jae, and he did not recognize it. Only when he turned around he realized he was looking at a corporal he'd seen earlier that day. The boy had introduced himself then, but Min-jae had already forgotten. “Ah, thank you corporal.” Min-jae politely said when he received a clipboard with some notes on it. It had several layers of paper on it, clipped tightly so the papers wouldn't get scrambled. They were neatly organized and numbered. In short - nothing could go wrong if you had these papers. On top of the papers the title of the documents revealed what they were. Patrol Routes Sector 1B; AA levels. That would be the simplified code for the Hub. Min-jae briefly rummaged through the papers, before looking up at the young corporal again. “Anything else, corporal?” The corporal understood the hint and saluted, after which he disappeared again.

For a moment Min-jae turned to the large window he was standing near to. Now that the 'prepare for liftoff' command had been given,t his was perhaps the last glance of Earth he would get. For a moment he thought back to those weeks prior to this event. When read admiral Constatine had given the order for all military units to prepare for combat. Not a single man had deserted it's position, that much he had heard. But it didn't feel that way. It felt as if he had abandoned his position.

---

---

His dufflebag made increasingly more noise the longer Min-jae shook it around, looking to see if he had packed a certain item. When he found it, he quickly stuffed it back into the dufflebag and ran towards a nearby closet, pulling out two green-grey shirt and then rushed back, pushing them into the dufflebag. It was full now, and he zipped it up, before pulling out a 2nd bag from under his bed. He was going to continue stuffing stuff in it, but while he was hunched over the dufflebag, he heard footsteps behind him, before an older voice spoke up.

“Sergeant Jeong, are you leaving?”

Min-jae's eyes looked back, and from the corner of his eye he made out the old figure that was the commanding officer in the small base of operations they maintained not far from the Vitae. The man deserved respect, as he was certainly a good officer. He was not ambitious enough to make it any further though, and seemed more concerned with the well being of his troops than the incoming threat. Perhaps because he knew these boys that were under his command were essentially just carrying the seed of humanity. They needed to be protected, it seemed. Silence controlled the room, holding the breath inside Min-jae's body hostage for a moment. A moment of courage took control back of Min-jae's body, and he quickly grabbed a nearby holster with a pistol in it and stuffed it into the empty dufflebag. “Yes. I'm going to travel North, find a unit that is staying on Earth. I'm going to help them defend Earth. What use is this ship if we can never return to our home. Admiral Constatine called on me to stay and fight and that is what I intend to do.” His answer was met with a soft chuckle. Not a friendly one, one that reeked of mockery. For a moment Min-jae felt as if the officer wasn't as nice as he seemed to be.

“Sergeant Jeong, what do you really know of project Genesis? Do you think admiral Constatine didn't know of project Genesis? He was the one that basically created it when he defended Mars against those things. He heads the entire operation. And now you're saying all servicemen should abandon their posts and go fight with him? That's not what he wants.”

Anger took a hold of Min-jae, or perhaps it was pride. Perhaps it was both, a vengeful cocktail of bottled up annoyance with the entire situation. The following words left his mouth in an angry slur of bitterness, revealing how Min-jae had been feeling for the past year. “I'm not saying anything like that. I am saying I am going to go north and fight for Earth. Because I am a soldier, and we do not run from battle.” His breathing became heavier as he stopped grabbing stuff and stuffing it into the dufflebag. The officer behind him remained silent. Once more silence grasped at the room, tearing at the walls, making the air thicker and heavier to breathe.

“You need a shield to cover this sorry ship while you cowards escape from this battle? Fine. I will be your shield. I've been a shield ever since I joined the military. Protected my superiors. It's what I am good at -- hell, it's why these bastards chose me to get on to the Vitae in the first place. It's what I know. If I am so good to be allowed on the Vitae, then surely I can make a difference on Earth.”

“Min-jae, you are 23 correct?”

A deep breath. A sigh from Min-jae. And then an answer. “Yes sir.”

“You weren't there the first time these creatures attacked us. Admiral Constatine was. Trust me, when he says it's over, it's over. Admiral Constatine's people chose you because you are the seed of humanity. Where ever that ship takes you, you can start over. And then, perhaps, one day you can take back earth. If that is what you want.”

“Yes sir,” Min-jae answered, his voice calming down as he listened to the officer. It was always a sore spot for Min-jae that he hadn't been there all those years ago. If he was old enough then, then perhaps.. It seemed the officer had convinced Min-jae. “.. the seed of humanity?”

“Yes, sergeant Jeong. There's a reason we're in the Cradle of Humanity, after all.”

---

---

Min-jae glanced at earth, one final time, before turning on his heels. Did he make the right call then? Perhaps not. But there was no time to worry about that. He had to organize the first patrol to ever take place on the Vitae. Best get to that right away. He proceeded on his way through a long hallway, headed for the transport hub. While he passed the doors that lead to some other areas, he mumbled to himself, “No turning back now.”

What was another liftoff?

This was the last one, you fool!

Nikita held a small ball in his hand--he had bought it before he had boarded; it was blue and green, with indiscriminate shapes running ragged across the sphere. It was the Earth. As he held the Earth in the palm of his hand, Nikita knew the Earth would disappear beneath him as the behemoth vessel lifted into the air, into space, into the cold blackness of oblivion. There were so many people in here... all of them cramming their faces onto the portholes to get one last glimpse of the world before its inevitable demise. Mars was gone--or at least soon to be gone--this world wouldn't be any different.

"The Last Russian," he laughed softly, looking at his pale fingers. It was strange to contemplate that this language that he spoke would be dead in a few days. To even think about that... 'twas strange. No Russian ever accomplished much... so what was the point in saving them? No, Nikita alone had shown that he was worth keeping. Now that he thought about it, not too many Europeans--the ones that were left anyways--had been selected for the Project. 'Twas an effect of The War, he supposed.

"...I have faith now. Action Stations. All hands prepare for lift-off."

Faith...?

Nikita looked up at the speaker through which the crackly voice spoke. It was a voice of authority, if nothing else could be said--the Rear Admiral certainly acted the part well if he was acting--but something in that dragging tone suggested the pain of the mission. They were, after all, running away with their tails between their legs. Off and off and by and by and bye! Fare thee well, you rapscallion Earth...

Nikita looked up into the clouds, watched the desperate cotton claws ready attempt to hold Vitae back. It was as if Earth herself could not bear to die like her people were about to do. Until the darkness of space reached him, the Russian could convince himself he was thoroughly safe. But as he thought, he grew cold. Funny thing about being in space, he thought to himself, was that the stars don't twinkle anymore. There's no atmosphere to distort their light. They're just millions of unblinking eyes billions of lightyears away, probably already dead, belonging to a different eon than the one the humans claimed.

This was the age of man! And we fled!

Nikita admired the Admiral for that, however. The bravery to leave, knowing that you're dooming the human existence on Earth, is not a decision that he could have made. It meant that the leadership was strong at its head. All that remained to be seen was whether it also possessed a conscience, or if this was just another machine that worked and slaved for no purpose other than the purpose for which it had been constructed. It was existence, but a callow existence at that.

When Nikita slipped away from the windows, he went unnoticed down the corridor, past rows of silent, awestruck, (frightened) people, all staring into the blackness, darkness that they were about to plunge into. A few of them were crying--quite a few--but Nikita was not. It was what was to happen. Such an outcome was a logical conclusion to a ten-thousand-year race. What was it to be replaced with? Another man? A hominid? Nikita did not know, but he did hypothesize that the psychological state of these "people" on board could not be sustainable. Such things require energy, and the lack of a source would only start to diminish the effectiveness of everything...

"We are headed for total collapse!"

Strangely, Nikita did not utter these words. Rather, it was some frantic fellow scraping at the glass like a caged ferret, screaming incoherently and more or less causing those around him to be quite disturbed. Nikita quietly stepped forward and procured a syringe from his satchel. Catching the man by the arm, he found a vein in no time at all--that wasn't hard anymore--and jabbed him. The man dribbled onto the ground instantly, blubbering as Nikita set him on one of the benches to lie down.

"Ssh, comrade. To scream would be to upset the mind of the ship itself, and that's what's keeping us alive," Nikita said in a gravel whisper. The man stared up at him with such distraught eyes that Nikita couldn't help but empathize with him. He clutched the man's hand and gave him a touch on the shoulder: "We're all together now. As a race. We couldn't more together, comrade. We are more than family. We are each other."

Nikita didn't know if that calmed him down or if the drug had been especially potent, but the man fell unconscious soon after. A small crowd watched him with grave stares, dead eyes not interesting themselves not so much in him but in their own greater situation. Nikita smiled and looked at one woman in particular, with eyes so bright and orange they could not be anything else but enhancements. Must've been born blind, he thought. Now, she must see.

He stood and walked through the crowd who lifelessly moved back to the windows, staring as their world, their home began to fall away from their pale feet.

---

---

Declan was nervous, as he was wont to be when he wasn’t needed. At the moment, no one was bleeding out, and no one was dying. Except, of course, for the poor bastards on Mars. He couldn’t help them, though. No one could.

He decided to abandon that train of thought. Things were grim enough without worrying about what he couldn’t do. It was high time he started to worry about the things he could do, which at the moment was a limited list. Still, at least there was a list.

He paced around his room. He had organized his books. He had memorized the ship’s map. When seemed as though he had exhausted the limits of what he could do in his quarters, he moved to the nearest medbay. It was an impressive space, with all the bells and whistles he expected of the Vitae. You couldn’t expect to preserve humanity with cheap medical supplies. He couldn’t fathom the cost of all of this, the medicines, the operation space, the tools, everything was top of the line. He supposed that, in the grand scheme of things, all the money in the world paled in comparison to the human race. Still, as one who had grown up without a lot of it, the amount of money required was dizzying to think about. He left the medbay and began to pace the hall outside of it. Before long, his mind began to drift.

---

It had happened so fast. He had been talking with one of the Serpentis’s other crewmembers, he remembered. An Ensign. She was the girlfriend of one of his friends, trying to get him to come out with them to a pub once they landed for leave.

“Come on!” She said fervently. “It’ll be fun! Besides, I need someone to keep Jack from getting too crazy.”

“No one can keep Jack from getting too crazy.” Declan laughed. “‘Too crazy’ is kind of his thing.”

“Please?”

“I can’t, I have shit to do.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Why don’t you go bother my sister, she’s your friend too, right?”

“I did and she said the exac-” She was cut off by a massive boom. The ship shook violently, and Declan lost his balance, hitting his head on the floor. This turned out to save his life, as a pipe super-heated and burst right next to where they had been talking. The air was filled with steam, and Declan noticed that his ears were ringing. Blood was dripping down his left ear. He wrenched open his eyes and noticed that she was on the ground too, but she had a large piece of shrapnel through her neck. Declan stood up as another explosion reverberated through the halls.

He stumbled numbly towards the Ensign. He checked her pulse through the wrist and it told him what he already knew. She was dead. He sprinted away from her body, towards where his sister was. He practically fell down a set of stairs and turned a corner. He watched as his sister and a group of engineers from the lower decks ran down the hall towards him. Another explosion, this time further down the hall. The fireball enveloped the engineers and a shockwave threw Declan a good twenty feet. He didn’t remember much else. Apparently, he had made his way to the upper decks and started treating some of the many, many wounded. He survived that day, somehow. He came out of it with a promotion, a medal, and a letter of cordial invitation aboard the Vitae.

---

He snapped back to reality. He needed to stop feeling sorry for himself, he decided. Twice, he had cheated death. Twice, he had lived while others had died. He had to do something with his life, right? He wasn’t so nihilistic as to believe that life was completely meaningless. There’d be people to help, eventually. Until then, there was nothing to do but wait.

Master Chief Petty Officer Kazuhira Okasaki stood with his hands behind his back as the admiral initiated lift off. He was watching out of his office window, a decent space, holding all that was needed for him to run the Engineering division. Kaz walked over to the command station in the far corner of his office, across the room from his desk. Half a dozen monitors adorned the wall, all flashing information and readouts. 400 Engineers stood by, awaiting orders. His personal assistant, Petty Officer Third Class Monica Lowish sat at the station, ready to relay orders to all units.

"Initiate Monitoring Procedures, man assigned stations. The launch must be a smooth one." Kaz said, pacing the office. The woman nodded, going to work on the station, typing commands and speaking over the intercom. "Make sure the engines are operating at a safe capacity, as well as the reactor." He added, walking to his desk and sitting down. He had three monitors set up, all controlled with a keyboard of his own design that allowed him to manipulate every aspect he wanted. He pulled up the cryogenic vault on a security camera and scrolled through the views until he found lane 07-B. He saw Akio's pod and the boy was safely in it, comfortably asleep. He wouldn't be surprised if the child hated him when he awoke. When ever that was. "All units report smooth functions across all systems so far, Chief." Lowish stated, in a formal tone. "Thank you Monica, please alert me if any serious developments occur." Kaz replied, rising from his desk and exiting the room.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"But why do we have to leave Mom!?" Akio demanded for the 12th time as they approached the ark. Kaz sighed, putting on his traditional black military cap, the rank of Master Chief adorned on it. "She's sick, Akio. They can't take anyone sick on the flight." His eyes were watery, he was an emotional boy. "Then why are we even going on this stupid flight? And why are you dressing like that?" Kaz didn't know how to make him understand, he was good with people, but no amount of charisma could make your child understand why he was abandoning the only family and home he had ever known. "Because we must, Akio, we have no choice. Now relax, we only have a few more hours before we get there." Akio huffed angrily and crossed his arms, looking out the window of the plane that was transporting them.

Kaz glanced at him sadly and leaned back, closing his eyes.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kaz walked the halls of the ark, watching his men and others hurry about with their duties. All information was being relayed on his PDA and trough an earpiece. Monica would let him know if something needed his attention. Finally, he felt the Ark rock slightly as they lifted off into the sky. Hundreds of thousands of people on this ship, to take humanity to a new future. One that wouldn't drive them to extinction. Only those who would remain, on Mars and Earth. And Kaz knew.

The men and women of science departments were in place as the signal to launch came from the admiral. They had no part in directing the ship, their job right now was to prep their stations for the many hours of research and work they were almost certain to be doing on the voyage. Some small talk was made as they all tried to alleviate the tension, there was always a chance that something could go terribly wrong. The ship could tear in half mid jump or they end up sucked into a black hole. It was best just not to go along with that line of thinking.

Several of the science team had broken away from their stations, they moved through a set of twin doors, then came to another which required a retinal scan. One of the members of the group obliged and that door too slid open. They found themselves in another room, it appeared to be just a simple cargo room. Once each of them had entered into this room the door shut behind them. Cases of supplies were stacked around, some labeled with warning stickers.

In the direct center was a long metal case, it resembled a grey coffin more than anything else. But there was not a dead corpse inside of it, something entirely different, the result of months of intense labor. Each of the scientists spread out around it, one had stepped forward in order to flick a switch on the side of the container. A computer screen flipped upwards as it displayed a password lock. The scientist entered in the ten digit code and the screen changed to display a question.

"Are you sure that you wish to activate unit MHSA276012?"

The scientist answered the inquiry with a press of the screen, then the monitor folded back into itself as the coffin-like container hissed. Gas escaped from it only to dissipate into the oxygen of the Vitae. Then the top part of it slid away to reveal what was inside. A synthetic being, one of the most advanced that humanity had created yet. Pale white skin, medium length brown hair, currently shut eyes of blue. He was utterly indistinguishable from a human being appearance wise. Michael was a very convincing creation.

Once the container opened completely one of the cables shimmered as it sent an electric shock right into the back of the android's head. It was time for him to wake up and face the day. Life flickered into him, at first it came in the form of code which moved far faster than any human could comprehend. Then his synthetic eyelids came open and he could see all that was around him. Due to his programming he recognized every single of one of the scientists in the room that were staring at him. They were his creators, he'd do as they required.

They had implanted many gifts inside of him, historical archives which stretched back thousands of years, scientific data accumulated from every known point in human history. His creators had left room for even more, if they wished then he could be programmed beyond current capacity. He had an interest in going through his archives in extreme depth after his diagnostics check, but that would wait.

His mouth opened as it displayed perfectly white teeth, teeth that he did not even need as he did not eat food. He then inhaled deeply, air in which he did not need to breath. Then the synthetic man moved each of his limbs, as he twirled his fingers he could feel the machinery hard at work underneath his false skin. Michael then brought brought both of his hands upwards as he gripped the sides of his container tightly. With another movement of his legs he pulled himself to sit upright. He made eye contact with several of the scientists as his head turned in a natural fashion.

"Greetings, I am Michael. I am eager to serve in whatever manner pleases my creators." The android said, his voice masculine and accent-less. The tone oozed politeness, he accompanied his words with a upwards smile. Then the machine man pulled himself out of his 'birthing chamber' and took his first steps. His creators watched with curiosity as he placed both feet on the floor, then stood tall, all six feet of him. Michael was awake.

They opened; gleaming yellow eyes, shining brightly within the darkening room of the CNC, their radiance carrying a demeanor of intimidation and beauty, expressing the essence of a billion dying people in a single stare. Dakota knew at this very moment that just like the event twenty years ago, people were being slaughtered by the beasts, many of them being the almost extinct remnants of the Armani who weren't important enough to be allowed on-board; it sickened her. The tension built up within her as Admiral Loke spoke his peace over the intercom, her eyes shifting over towards him from the other side of the room as the whizzing hydraulic sound of her robotic arm radiated from the sole action of clenching her fist, this clearly made several of the crew members and bridge personnel worry, especially the ones that sat directly beside her, looking up towards her with a blank expression of uncertainty and submission, after-all, who would want to get on the bad side of an angry looking, augmented Armani with white hair? - There was one notable rule that came to light after the destruction of the Citadel: - Don't piss of an Armani, and don't mention the Citadel. Dakota really wasn't one for all this rallied, up-lifting speech; mud-rats which she grew to call those that lived on planets were soft in her eyes, unable to focus on a task and get on with it without someone of higher rank telling them what to do, she just simply saw them as pawns that could be easily manipulated, she did however understand the concept of duty, but nothing could convince Dakota that taking the direct approach was a bad course of action.

Her eyes fired from the admiral towards the holographic display, letting out a direct huff of air from her nose as the tightly pressed pistons of her mechanical arm released, bringing it back to relaxed position. Swiftly with a direct act of walking, she'd maneuver towards the holo-terminal. With the flick of her index finger and the swift directional twist of her robotic arm an orange tinted display of the earth appeared before her, it would float over to the left side of the holographic table while another hologram would be generated beside it, this time of the eye. She'd clear her throat firmly, looking over towards the navigational officers and helmsman Theodore Anderson. She'd close her eyes slightly as an integration suit, seen lightly glowing under her black officers uniform would work in tandem with her thoughts to run calculations of planetary information such as earths atmospherics and tactical maneuverability data. Her eyes would re-open and with doing so, several strings of data would appear up directly next to the holograms she placed, as well as a navigational way-point line indicating the optimal and most cost effective route to the eye.

"Air pressure, one-zero-zero-four, Strong east bound crosswind speed of fourteen point nine meters per second, adjust navigational trim to twenty five degrees east to counteract; Atmospheric conditions are looking overcast; thirty-two percent chance of rain and a thirty-five percent chance of turbulence on projected optimal route, Vitae will be escorted on departure, recommended distance of four-hundred and fifty meters from escort craft to avoid wind-sheer and aerodynamic instability from engine thrust of the adjacent craft." She'd command firmly, bringing her hands behind her back, her yellow eyes radiating towards her holograms with a stern look on her face. It was clear that she wasn't only incredibly intelligent, but she meant business.

With the click of her heal she'd turn around, pacing towards Locke, bringing herself to a formal halt and extending her robotic arm to a salute, looks at him with a firm stare. "Admiral, navigational data and tactical analysis for departure has been initiated." She'd say firmly. Dakota didn't personally like the man, but she knew that you had to respect the rank, not the person. With the lowering of her arm she'd twirl her middle finger slightly. "I have sent all relevant tactical and atmospheric data to your personal logs Admiral, I have also prepared an evasive emergency procedure in case the enemy intercepts us on our earth orbit trajectory."

Dakota would then relax her posture, looking over towards the holo-display which was acting like a three dimensional GPS system that the pilot could follow, she was fairly proud of herself, after-all, she thought she was the smartest person in the entire room. Dakota at heart just wanted this thing to go smoothly, she may have appeared cold and robot like, but it was simply the way she was molded as a person, especially since the Armani spent most of their lives isolated in space, and her traumatic experiences didn't help her much either. Dakota knew people were scared of her, but she knew that fear and intimidation was a way to command people, and a way to get solid results, especially during an incredibly important mission such as this one, after-all, humanity was doomed if they didn't succeed and this was war-time after-all.

Gritting her teeth together she'd move her glowing pulsating eyes towards one of the screens above the table, there it showed the eye clearly in orbit, this was simply the first step in their mission, if the eye was destroyed they weren't going anywhere so getting to it as soon and as quickly as possible was all she cared about. The eye, as well as the Arks were a joint collaboration between all humans, even though Dakota saw herself and her fellow people as more than simple humans. None the less, she wasn't ready to watch another one of her peoples collaborated constructions being burned to the ground by the creatures that had already caused so much pain.

Although being someone that didn't appear to be effected by fear, deep down she was terrified, but there was no way she was going to let anybody see that side of her, the dread and uncertainty of the future sunk down deeply within her stomach and knowing that the possibility of literally being blown out the sky before even escaping earth was a grave possibility and that was before even leaving the solar system. They were travelling into unknown territory, a place that was of complete mystery and knowing that it was her duty and personal responsibility as a planetary scientist and tactical officer to find a new acceptable and also breathable planet for humanity to eventually live on terrified her even further; yet Dakota was incredibly determined in this task, and with a deep internal breath and using ever remaining resource of her strong will, she'd quickly pull herself out from this deep thought and back into reality with a stern look on her face. She knew that she had to look strong, not just for herself but for the rest of the crew.

Dakota for now was ready for what lay ahead, with the firm grip of her officers cap, she'd pull the skip down slightly to tighten into the strands of her angelic white hair, the war and the future for humanity has just begun.

And the fire in her eyes had ignited once again.
"Let the games begin.."

Jermija stood in his room with his stuff unpacked. His computer set up and encrypted to military protocol. His book's sorted in alphabetical order like he usually did in his military days. While his booze sorted by year it was distilled and aged. He adjusted his room to the way he had it on earth.A reminder for him that Earth still exists, no matter wherever they are in space nor how far away.

He placed on his usual military attire, beret and his cargo pants and boots. Grabbed his dog tags and armed himself with a Kingmaker IV, engraved with his name on it before venturing out. Jermija followed the ships layout towards a security room where a few other technical military officers were located. Some with the Federation insignia on their arms, other's with the Nagasaki Conglomerate's insignia. The secruity room was one of the most technological advanced rooms on the ship. Remote control to every function of the ship, even flying if the Admiral instructs it. To camera's watching every person.

"Report Technician R. Roberts" Jermija said to the nearest tech, as he saluted Jermija.

"Lt. Turov, pleasure to see you, systems online and running smoothly, diagnostic is ready to run.. after you?" Roberts said after pointing to the central console. Jermija moved towards the console and log in to the system, He then allowed the diagnostic to run. The camera screens cycled through every view, making sure it was online. While functions tests were simulated and not actually done. Every function and control was tested.

"Camera Diagnostic Complete, no errors" a voice said, the AI for the settings/diagnostic menu.
"Functions complete, everything is good to go" one of the other techs said.

Jermija nodded with approval, before looking left and right. He stood tall and changed the display of the center console/table to menu's of every department and began scrolling through everything to get a better understanding of it.

"So we'll be able to see the status of the engines, cyro pods and other stuff from here right?" asked Jermija.

"Yes sir, the display will give you an insight look at everything." a technician replied

"What if I want to view say a operation, there's a inmate that has been green lit to perform operations on here and I need to see everything"

"You'll be able to see that as well sir"

"Right, what about in a power outage. Let's say we hit a nebula or something?" asked Jermija, looking around

"The auxiliary power generator has a hard manual switch near to the entrance of the room, one that is activated a few displays open up and a light, blue in color is emitted. To activate the emergency power supply for the remainder of the ship, one can either turn on the aux power generators in this room or use the manual hard switch to activate the major rooms main generator" a technician said, busy typing away at something.

Jermija nodded and got more acquainted to the systems. Astonished at the amount of power the whole system had. If someone with a the wrong intent got a hold of it he'd be surprised at the massive damage they could cause, or see and learn of what is really going on..

"Right thanks for the briefing I'll come later tonight for more in depth protocol and read all the manuals later. I got to meet the inmate. See you all" Jermija stated before he departed out of the door, towards the meeting room.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Walls covered in drab greyscale tones, the dim lights on the ceiling highlighting the bare nature of the cell, he didn't feel like he had left anything. Jameson donned his crown, and sat atop his throne, a cot with an admittedly comfortable mattress to cradle him in his journey away from everything he had ever known as home. The king's scenic view of his kingdom, a dimly lit ceiling of bare metal and survaillance cameras, was all that he had to accompany him and his departure from Earth. He wondered who they had taken and who they had left behind. What influenced their choices? Would he be on the same ship as the families as his victims? Now that they were stuck on the same vessel, would there be an attempt on his life? What about reconciliation? Jameson smirked. That was a pipe dream.

The ship heaved, and the Admiral's speech over the intercom was interesting. Best and brightest, eh? At least someone thinks so. The realization hadn't really hit Jameson yet. The last 3 years on Earth, he had spent in a cell. Not much time outside, and the view from his old cell's window wasn't all that spectacular, anyways. His parents crossed his mind. His mother was a successful business woman, he wondered if that was enough to get the both of them on the ship. He hadn't seen much of them since the trial, either. I wonder how their holding up? They must be getting a bit stiff with age.

"Amanda, he's doing it again." Came a voice from outside his cell.

"Doing wha- Oh shit, I hate it when he does that." The female guard replied, her voice weaknening when she saw the king before her.

The smirk on Jameson's face quickly disappeared. When the guards talked as if he couldn't hear them, it always irritated him to no end.

"Hey, Doc. You feeling alright?" Said the male guard.

Jameson craned his neck upwards, giving himself an inverted view of his cell door and the apprehensive guards standing outside of them. They seemed a bit taken aback when he shifted his gaze to them, judging by the slightly disturbed looks he could see through their helmet visors.

"You wanna tell us why you put your headset on again?" The guard named Amanda said, in a rather condescending tone.

Jameson simply stared for a moment, and then returned his gaze to the ceiling. The headset was a sort of sedative for him. It calmed him, took him back to the operation room, where he was in his element. Hands on vital organs, robotic arms coming in, lifting flaps of flesh, helping him make incisions so small his couldn't see. Replacing entire organs and limbs, running nerve endings into artificial cybernetics. The rush that came when a complication arose. Hands, arms, aprons all covered in a crimson coat in the aftermath of a good procedure. The visions riveted Jameson to the core. Even if there were no vital signs of a patient reading on the display, or no power to the helmet to activate the optics, he still enjoyed the memories and images it conjured whenever he donned it.

"Uh, doc?"

One the guards buzzer beeped after viewing Jameson. The words "TUROV IS COMING" were written on the small interface

"Lt. is coming, fuck sakes, look professionial" stated the male, holding onto his M90 tightly.

Jermija was spotted walking down the hallway towards the room with another male, holding onto a M90. He held a cup of coffee while in the other hand a file, a thick file.

Both of the officers saluted with one hand, the other was occupied holding onto their gun.

"Sir!" The male and female said. Standing up tall. One finger wag instructed both to open the door. The female went inside of the room, and guarded the space near to the door, while the male and Jermija went inside, to view Jameson. Jermija sat himself at a coffee table, placing the file and a cup of coffee gently on it

"Join me, Jameson"

Jameson turned only his head to gaze at the man that had squeezed himself at the table before him. He was young, but the way the guards obeyed his orders, the way he carried himself, he had to be someone important. Jameson slowly sat up, and removed his Operation Headset from his head, setting it beside him on the bed. He took his glasses from his desk, and put them on, taking the few steps away from his cot to slide into a seat at the table, across from the important man.

Jermija opened the file which had various pages of important documents. He had a small sip of coffee before he began to speak with Jameson

"Federation doctor, moved sides... more money or?" Jermija asked, almost out of no where.

"Family." Jameson replied, with a low voice.

"Jermija nodded, seeming somewhat convinced. More flipping of papers was seen before various newspaper clippings relating with the case againist the surgeon

"Assisted suicide/dying with pride, you assisted in roughly 10-20 sucides over the course of a few years, correct?" Jermija asked again.

"Twelve of them." Jameson spoke. He scanned the news document clippings that sat before the man. Images of him being guided to and from courtrooms, dehumanized in his solid tone jumpsuit, hands bound in zipties. Intrusive camera lenses and flashes from every angle, as if Jameson were some sort of animal. The doctor felt his blood heat up, his heart beating faster.

Jermija closed the file and looked towards Jameson, he had a long sip of his coffee as he placed the cup down once more. Adjusting the military grade watch his eye' finally met Jameson's.

"Lt. Turov, I run the security for this vessel. I heard about your case and I sympathize with you. Although my opinions on the matter are in a grey zone." Jermija said, viewing Jameson.

Jameson's gaze met the man's eyes, and stayed there. None of the man's words rang completely genuine to him, but, at least someone was actually trying to speak to him. He gave a simple nod, keeping eye contact.

I bet he's got healthy organs. Young, healthy guy. Military. It would be an easy operations, little complications. He'll probably take some deep slashes. maybe blunt tramua and internal bleeding by the time his job is done. Nothing I couldn't handle. He wouldn't die on the table.

"Now, simply put" Jermija began as he presented two documents, one by the conglomerate the other by the Federation "You're a man with different perceptions" both documents were laid out in front of Jameson. One of the documents, by the Conglomerate, spoke harshly, referenced the case and the "cruel" methods that Jameson operates. The Federation one simply labelled him as a inmate, a outlaw and someone they need to keep a eye on.
"Your one of the best surgeons in the industry, that's a given, but this case has destroyed your reputation. So here's what I see fit for you" Jermija stated, presenting out a schedule from the file.

"One, you operate in the main surgery room, one guard armed with a assault rifle watching every move. If you do mess up or try to "end his misery" my men are on shoot first ask questions later protocol, do you understand"

Jameson nodded, but before the man could speak again, he chirped up, his voice lower than before "I'm good at my job. No matter how many guards, you wouldn't know what I'm doing until it's done. Big risk."

Jermija smirked. "That's why I enrolled you into therapeutic sessions, three times a week in the afternoon hours to attend to this "problem". Now two, your officially also gonna be our coroner. We got a dead body, alien carcass or something dead that needs examining you're the man to call got it?

Something flared in Jameson's mind. Cadavers? That wasn't something he had done much of. Exciting prospect for the doctor. He nodded.

"Three" Jermija said tapping on the schedule. "Your food, rest and free time is regulated. A simple request by the conglomerate, look at the schedule, guards will be with you 24/7 a day, expect in the therapeutic sessions."

The doctor leaned forward, eyeing the schedules. Not much deviation than from what he was used to, except now, he was given a bit more free time and the new 'therapy sessions.' Interesting."Limits on where I can go?"

"Archives are the only free room right now for you, everywhere else is restricted unless with good reason, oh and by the way at times the'll be a second medical professional assisting with your operations, so be prepared for that" Jermija stateed before standing up.

A library. Figures. They must know me better than I thought. Jameson watched as the man stood up, leaving the two schedules on the desk. He looked up, and gave the man a final nod as he prepared to leave.

Jermija grabbed his belongs and departed, one guard followed him while the female and the male stayed, The door was locked after the female left.

The man and guards left, leaving the cell feeling empty again. Jameson was silently seated at the coffee table, and sat for a moment, contemplating the conversation. Did he come off as mentally unstable? He was surprised the Head of Security, of all people, came to visit him. Pushing those thoughts aside, Jameson stood, took a few steps back to his bed, and removed his glasses. The king donned his crown once again, and laid back down, enjoying the majestic view of his kingdom once more.

"Reboot sequence complete. All systems nominal." The synthesized voice announced, as a myriad of orange lights flared up on Archimedes' main display, showing the Armani Corporation Systems logo for just a brief second before switching to a pair of dots, someone's comical attempt at simulating eyes.

"Alright. 4rch1M3d3Z, display user settings." The technitian requested, a noticeable irritability in his voice. His mood seemed to improved during the second of silence that followed his request. "Access denied. User lacks the required-" was what the machine had been spewing over and over again for the past couple days. After the boarding process for the ark had begun, Archimedes' administrator settings had been transfered to the Admiral, and now the poor technician to whom it had been assigned had been struggling to get it to respond to even the most basic of commands.

The technician sighed with frustration and left the uncooperative machine in its coffer, strapped and connected to the machines for its analysis and repair, making his way to a nearby chair to rest for a moment. As he picked up his cup of coffee, the admiral's voice came through the speakers, a ship-wide announcement.

"... I have faith, now. Action stations, all hands prepare for lift-off." The techician raised his sight to the speakers as the admirals final words were delivered, and then back to Archimedes' who'd sprung to life and was slowly floating out of the coffer. "Hey! 4rch1M3d3Z, stop!" he demanded, rushing in front of the AI, cables stretching out from the expensive machinery.

The syntheziser wirled and buzzed once more, patching the string of words: "Administrator recognized, Rear_Aldmiral_William_Locke. Activating activity protocols." as it lowered itself to meet the metallic flooring of the technician's room. "Does guest user, technician require immediate assistance?" The AI questioned as the man made the best of this time-waste to disconnect the machine. "Does guest user, technician require immediate assistance?" the question came in japanese this time, as was specified by one of the many administrators' user preferences.

"No. Now-" the techician was about to order Archimedes to deactivate when the AI interrupted. "Please stand aside." was what came out of the tiny speakers. "What?" the man asked, standing dumbfounded as the robot made its way around him, and out the private suite's door. "Proceeding with activity protocol zero. Begining maintainance sequences." was the answer the man got as he tried to follow the Ion Cannon-propelled machine, only to realized he'd left his credentials inside the room.

Hundreds of scematics for the Ark Vitae flashed past Archimedes visor simultaneously, as the quantum processor made short work of the pathing algorithm to get it to the Bridge. The route was traced through the HUB's airspace, calculating an average speed of 600km/h, full thruster capacity for the straight segments. A large hourglass symbol was diplayed instead of Archimedes's "face" as it flew across the HUB, and the QPU ran calculations on both the unit's flight and the Ark Vitae's status, with the limited information it could retrieve from Archimedes' restricted access to the ship's server.

As it finally reentered the hallways and was forced to slow down to prevent human injury, Archimedes' sensors picked up the ship's shift in momentum and visual contact was confirmed on the Head of the Engineering Division. The radiator on its chest heating up as new calculations were run and the simulation model updated, Archimedes aproached the man as the magnetic pull from its legs brought it to a stop. "Sub-Administrator identified. Maintainance protocols are in place. Please instruct." the machine urged him.

---

Humanity had once been a feeble seed slowly growing in the safe confines of Sol. slowly spreading it's roots outward. Becoming a strong tree. But now the tree was burning. It root's being burned, it's leaves ripped of. But It would not mean the end of the tree's life. It had small seeds that would spread towards new destination to once again grow strong and mighty. But how many of these seeds would even reach their destinations. Being snatched mid travel by whatever was out there. This and more Theodore pondered as he checked the controls of the ship. He had been extremely nervous this entire time. Rechecking again and again if everything was running smoothly which it of course did. He knew every part of his controls. To the smallest button to the biggest of screens. And yet he wondered if everything would go alright. If they would even survive the travel through the warp gate. So much questions and yet not a single answer could be given to any of them. He looked around the bridge everyone looking at there control panels with all the concentration they could muster. For a moment Theodore looked blankly across the bridge looking at the human machine that worked in perfect unity. That was until he felt a quick tap on his left shoulder. He looked to his left looking at navigator Leroy Jenkins who looked at him with curious eye's. Apparently Theodore had been starring around the bridge long enough that it started to look awkward. Theodore gave Leroy a reassuring look. Leroy simply gave a quick nod and went back to his work. Theodore was of course scarred as all hell considering he was charge of flying 600.000 towards a safe destination. If they would ever find one that is. But now he had to swallow his fear somewhere deep inside him. He would release it later in his quarters while drinking some of the last scotch that would ever be made. He had to make sure to only use the small shot glasses while using the actual drinking glasses for harder times. He then heard the voice of the admiral giving a speech towards the rest of the crew. It wasn't the best speech he had ever heard. but it would have to do. The rear admiral then looked at him nodding to start up the main drive.

---

---

It was night aboard the Vitae. And most of its occupants where asleep. Beside Theodore who couldn't even close his eyes. He decided to wander the halls a bit taking a small glass of Whiskey with him. Something to calm the nerves and to maybe make him a bit more tired. For an hour he walked the silent and lowly lit corridors of the ship seeing no one. He took a small sip from his drink the liquid warming up his belly and giving him a relaxed feeling. He had made sure not to pick up the entire bottle as that would have caused some problems if any of the crew members who could have seen him reported seeing the pilot walking around at night with a bottle of Whiskey.But the more he drank from the small glass the more he started to feel bad for himself. Why was he chosen to fly this ship? Why was he cursed by seeing the rest of humanity die? How could he enjoy his own life if the lives of so many others where about to end like millions of candles. He took a big sip only making the feeling worse. And slowly walked towards one of the observation platforms of the ship. He took a seat and looked at the planet in front of him. Pondering how chaotic it would have been down there. He had heard that a part of the population was heavily rioting. Theodore would have probably joined those rioters in all honestly. Or he would have drowned himself in beer. He most likely would have drowned himself in beer. He looked at the glass with a mix of longing and hatred. He Hated and yet loved the substance with a passion. He knew that with every drink he took he would only damage himself slowly. But at the other side of view it also kept back the horrible memories. In a fit of rage he threw the glass against the wall it contents flying everywhere and the glass shattering into pieces. He looked at it for a moment before standing up and walking away. He wondered if the AI had been looking at him the entire time. But in all honesty he couldn't care less.

---

Theodore nodded back towards the admiral and turned back to his controls. He started to type in the procedures that where needed and quickly all light went green as the drive spun to live and a low hum of the engine could be heard. His flight path had already been made available to him. He was i'm pressed by how tactically the layout was with exiting strategies and the like. Whoever made this flight path sure ass hell knew what he or she was doing. As he wondered this he could hear the icy voice of Dakota Lee roach informing the Admiral of her tactical report. He awaited till she was finished with her little tactical assessment before turning around and looked at the admiral.

"Main drives are online sir. Awaiting your command for liftoff." His voice sounded almost as emotionless and icy as the of Lee. But then again this was the military after all and it was to be expected to be as a cold and calculating as a machine. In all honesty he was more interested in the admirals eye patch that any thing. Any why he didn't put a normal eye in it like any normal person would. "But to each his own." He thought to himself as he turned around to his controls. To each his goddamn own."

Music played through the terminal sitting in front of her. It was an old song, really old but she had found it in the archives and had taken a shining too it. It was fitting at least for what they were going through, it wasn't happy but it wasn't quite sad either. It was a goodbye, as she browsed through images of Earth on her terminal she realized something. She had never known Earth, not the same as the Federation or Conglomerate had. Her home had always been the stars, and now she was trusted to looking after thousands of people on their journey to a foreign planet. Part of her wished she had spent more time on Earth while she had had the chance, now she never would. She sighed as she closed the pictures on Earth, she had a feeling that the movie theaters in the Hub that showed documentaries would be the most popular, this wasn't going to be an easy journey.

She scrolled through the status screens on the different cryo-trays, each holding a thousand people. A single error, or a single misstep could cost them thousands of lives that they could not spare. She thought back to her parents, being younger and fitter as well as engineers they were qualified for the project. They had refused out of stubborn pride, claiming that they wanted to help give their daughter the best chance they could at getting away from the Devastators. She slammed her fist down on the console, the screen flickered slightly as she did so. They had already lost everything, why couldn't they come? Why did they have to be so noble and stubborn? She stood up to take a walk around the vault. A couple of techs scurried around ignoring her, busy with their duties. It sometimes helped her to walk these giant halls when she got like this. All of this had been so trying ever since she was enlisted.

---

"What do you mean no? Don't you understand what this means? There's no survival, the Arks are the only way out of this. They're the only way to live." Loretta stood on front of the door, she wasn't letting her parents out of this easily. After all, with ships taking off all over the place there was no telling where they'd be in the next half hour as Armani engineers were in high demand these days since most of them were wiped out. "You're going, if you're not smart enough to make the decision for yourselves I'm going to make it for you. This is your last chance, I'm not going to leave you to die like the rest." By this point tears were beginning to well in her eyes.

Her dad just sighed and put his hands on her shoulders, her mum was beyond words at this point. "Loretta, no. We've had long full lives, we may be qualified to go on the ship but so are thousands of other people. We're proud of you, and if we die know that we'll die happy knowing that you're going to survive."

"But Dad-" He raised one of his hands to silence her.

"No, listen honey. We're proud of you, we couldn't be more proud of you if we tried. Though we can't leave, this is our home and we're going to fight for it. More importantly we're going to fight for you." He used his right hand to lift her chin so he could see her face. "We are so, so proud and we love you more than anything. Though your mother and I, we have to do this. Let us, for you."

"Oh Dad-"

---

She shook her head, this little re-enactment wasn't exactly doing much to settle her nerves. She sighed as she heard the engines beginning to power up, the low hum created tiny reverberations throughout the hull. To a planet-borne such a feeling would likely take some getting used to, but for someone who had spent the majority of her life on ships it was reassuring. It was the most like home she had felt ever since she had come aboard. She smiled a sad smile, at least her parents would die doing what they loved. Working with machines aboard a ship, machines were always so full of life despite them being constructs.

Resting her hand on one of the cryo-trays she realized that was why she was so invested in cryogenics, the perfect symbiosis of life and machinery. The only way to make it more perfect were if the occupant were able to interact with the machine though all tests people had performed in those fields had failed miserably. Closing her eyes she allowed one of her neural implants flood her mind with images from her past, her and her parents. Even the bad moments were cherished. The scoldings and the jokes, all signs that they loved her more than everything they had ever known. She would take those memories out into the void, further than her parents had ever been. Humanities survival would be her monument to them.

She would not fail.

He couldn't believe all of this was happening. Mars was under attack as he watched the Devastators bombing the capital city of the Red Planet from his desktop. Kevin Wilson Ford didn't want this day to come, where he was leaving behind Earth rather than staying with his family. They are currently in the White House in Washington DC, where the President offered shelter to the citizens before they came to Earth. His mother, father, one brother, and five sisters were together in the White House as the world was ending and that made Kevin cried. He had been in the White House before, working as an ambassador does often need to be in the White House, and it was one of the most beautiful buildings within the area.

Then, he realized that he still has a picture of them before they left from the Ark. He remembered the event as if it was yesterday and it was one of the funniest things he has ever done. The world ending can cause you to be thankful for certain things and remind you of them as well. After looking at the pictures of ten minutes, he put it down on the table as he watched the invasion in the safety of The Ark. He and his family were the lucky ones to be selected, but is it really luck to be one of the last humans left to save humanity? That question reminded him of his first reaction when he got the news.

---

It was in the afternoon time as Kevin had been called over to a secured meeting spot. He knew where it was, but he didn't know the place despite living in Washington D.C for most of his life. He thought that something was going wrong with the government, but this was a different type of meeting. The man on the other side of the table looked to his papers and then looked at Kevin as he sighed before speaking to him. "Listen, I have already done around eight other ambassadors. Do you want me to just say it or bullshit it until I say it?"

"Huh?" was the only the word that Kevin could say as he was confused by the question. The man breathed slowly as he pushed forward some papers and documents about the Genesis Protocol. He read for a while until he realized what this meeting was about, he had been selected to board one of them. Kevin couldn't believe it as he knew that he was able to live again with his family, but something wasn't right about this and he knew it. The documents said that only three other people can be taken, meaning that he had to leave behind his mother and father.

Words couldn't describe how Kevin was feeling at the moment and the man tapped the table to bring him back to reality. "Listen, you and three other people must leave in two months to head to Africa. That's where the Arks are located and your Ark is called The Vitae." the man said towards Kevin with an honest tone in his voice. He couldn't believe that he was selected to board one of these Arks and he didn't care why. Then, he has begun to ask questions about how he will tell his family and friends that he was leaving them behind for good. He began to think about his mother and father, thinking how they couldn't come and their last days on Earth.

He couldn't show that he was ungrateful for being selected, but it was almost impossible to hide it. The man knew that he was holding back and didn't say anything as the meeting kept going until Kevin left.

---

As he was watching the news, he heard Admiral William Locke's voice coming from the intercom in his room. The tiny speaker on the wall nearby the door. Kevin listened to the speech that the Admiral gave as he said that 'the future of our species is in our hands'. He already knew that since he was given the job to watch over The Archive, a room of wonders and information. This room was one of the important rooms in this ship as it contained all knowledge of humanity. It was going to be his job to watch over and check out The Archive until something happens to him.

He didn't know if anyone else was going to join him in the room, but he was happy to guard and protect The Archive. In return, the crew of The Vitae protected his family. There was a screen in his room that collected to the stasis cameras on his family. Brandon, Wyatt, and Julia were all safe and frozen in time as if they were just sleeping. Kevin hoped that he could visit them and they would be wide awake, but there wasn't enough supply to give out. The entire family knew that as well and agreed to the terms. He remembered their last moments before entering the ship.

---

They had been in Africa for a couple weeks as they traveled all over the land to see the animals for the last time. Kevin didn't know what was going to happen to them. Would they be left alone or will they die among with humans? He felt a light tap on his shoulder from his wife as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. They were nearby the Ark as they were astonished about the size of it. Brandon pointed and said, "That's where we are going?!"

Julia laughed and said to her son proudly, "Yes, that's our new home." She almost cried as she through of her own family back home in California. But, she had to keep it together from her family as Kevin gave her a hug. "This is where I am going to be working as well." he said as he pointed out the details on the ship to get Brandon excited. Wyatt had every right to be upset and angry at the fact that they were leaving behind everyone as he pointed out that. "I can't believe this crap! This ship could fit all of us from Aunt Malia to Grandfather. All of this isn't fair!" he said with such angry that it scared Brandon.

Kevin placed one hand on Wyatt's shoulder and said to him, "I know that it isn't fair that we can't bring everyone, but we are doing so they can live on. Your grandmother and grandfather would be so proud of you and Brandon." Wyatt hugged his father as he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Julia and Brandon joined in the hug as if it was the last hug they were giving. After the hug, Julia looked Kevin at his eyes and started to talk. "I know that you don't want to hear it, but I am truly proud of you. When I first met you, I knew that the world was ending and it was pointless to find love. However, I did find it and it was you Kevin Wilson Ford. I love you so much that If I knew that this was the outcome or we were going to die, then I would do it again and again."

He felt a soft, meaningful kiss as if it was the last kiss they would ever have. There was no need for goodbyes and 'I love you' because they already said that. And then, they began to walk towards the Ark.

---

A single tear fell from his eye as he looked at his sleeping family on screen. He did his job and it was to protect them, no matter the cost. The speech ended a while ago as he didn't care about it at all, despite how well the admiral sounded like he was the leader. But, he didn't want to be alone with his self. As he grabbed his desktop, he exited out of his room and headed towards where the rest of the crew was hanging out before the Ark left behind the Solar System.

Melanie Chamberlin

Water dripped onto her shoulders as she ran the comb through her short hair. Melanie's reflection in the mirror was that of a woman completely uninterested with the ship's departure. Not that it didn't pain her, but she chose to not let it get to her. Even though she was always helping people, talking them down from their misery, the hardest patient was always yourself. Satisfied with how she looked, she stepped out of the tiny bathroom and proceeded to fetch some clothes from the drawer. It was a comforting thought knowing that she didn't have any more appointments today, regardless of the fact that people were always seeking help, but what was one more day here, right? She slipped on a silky blouse saved only for social gatherings or for whenever she was not in the office. After putting on some beige pants and comfortable shoes, she grabbed a few more of her belongings and stepped out of her room.

She arrived at her favourite bar--the only one she'd been at since she settled in--not too long after leaving her room. Melanie greeted the bartender, Craig, who seemed to be more interested in work than witnessing the departure.

"The usual?" he asked, throwing a small towel over his shoulder and leaning forward on his hands. Melanie smiled with a nod, and looked around the empty floor. "Yeah, I guess it's just you and I for now," he added as he poured Melanie her drink. "But I bet you anything that the roof will blow off this place in about an hour or so."

"Why do you think I came now?" she replied.

The both laughed, Craig handing her the drink and dismissing her payment when she dropped it on his side of the counter. "On the house, trust me, no one will know," he said with a wink.

"Thank you," she said with another smile. As she took a sip of her drink, Melanie's mind drifted back to her favourite memory: that of her and her parents celebrating her 12th birthday. It was her favourite because it's the one she remembered best, back when their lives were much simpler. A sudden and unexpected wave of regret made Melanie's eyes swell with tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. Who knows what could have happened had she never left home? Would she too have been murdered, or would she have been able to save her parents? It's a thought that often haunted her, and today was no exception.

Masamune stood on one of the many viewing decks available to civilians outside of the Hub. He stared out the reinforced glass that separated him from the planet where he had been born. Earth. There really wasn't much to see. The Vitae hadn't been constructed with a view in mind, and the barren landscape surrounding her seemed almost as alien as the idea that after today he may never set eyes on it again. He thought that it might bother him, but having lived aboard this ship for the past three years already, he supposed it wouldn't make much difference post-launch. It already felt like home, and he had a real purpose here in a field where his coworkers respected him and superiors thought highly of him. Yes, living on a man-made continent like one of the Arks really was ideal for someone who preferred to work with intelligent machines rather than people. Machines didn't ask stupid questions, they did as they were told, and when they didn't a few quick adjustments could change their attitude. No, he wouldn't miss Earth.

"Masa," someone approached him from behind, the voice was familiar. "Daijōbudesuka?" Katsuyuki's usual concern for his well-being brought a smile to Masamune's thin lips. He turned away from the window and fixed his gaze on his twin brother. At one time they'd been impossible to tell apart, but now they could not have been more different in appearance and demeanor. While their height and build was still the same, Katsu's facial features had retained the soft child-like innocence of someone who had not endured much suffering. Or at least, someone who'd managed to not let it affect his nature. In this regard, Masamune thought Katsu must really be the stronger of the two.

"Daijōbu." Masamune said curtly. The word felt strange on his tongue. He'd gotten so used to speaking English, which had become Earth's common tongue, that his own native Japanese seemed foreign. He supposed there were plenty of others on this ship who spoke it and the other oriental languages from the Conglomerate, but somehow it made his conversation with Katsu seem much more intimate, as if they were the only people on this crowded walkway. Katsu stepped closer to peer out the window, continuing the conversation in their childhood tongue:

"All essential personnel must report to their stations soon, you know what that means." Masamune simply grunted, but gave no indication he really cared. "Don't you want to see that robot? It's finished now, looks like a real human being."

"I like them better when they look like the machines they are," Masamune said finally, "It's…"

An automated voice on the loudspeaker interrupted them.


"Let's go." Masamune said suddenly, switching back to English and abruptly beginning to march down the walkway in the direction of the robotics unit. Katsu followed closely on his heels, but spared one last glance out the window before it faded out of his sight.

---

"...It's weird." Masamune concluded, staring up and down at MHSA276012 A.K.A. "Michael" which had just introduced itself to him and the rest of the technicians in the room. Masamune didn't really see the point in creating a machine to pass for a human. The challenge of such a task, however, had been one of the robotics-enthusiast's most interesting endeavors. He hadn't personally designed Michael, that credit went to the handful of engineers who had begun the project long before the Isogai brothers were aware of the existence of the Genesis Protocol. In a sense they stood on the shoulders of giants in order to create what was possibly the most advanced android in human history, in both physiological design and artificial intelligence. It's these kinds of robots, Masamune thought, that try to take over the world in science fiction films. Even though he didn't show it, he was actually quite proud of his handiwork. The illusion of breathing doubled as a way to ventilate and cool the complex inner workings of the mechanical body. The subtle changes in expression, sensitivity of touch, the way the mechanical skeleton moved so naturally beneath the artificial skin, the way its pupils contracted and dilated according light and focus could all be attributed to Masamune's delicate but precise method of construction.

Although he had not been the one to apply Michael's human aesthetic. The skin, hair, eyelashes, fingernails, and other cosmetic additions had been applied last of all, and he wasn't needed for that. Plus the idea of it unnerved him. However proud he was of this creation, he still had his reservations about the morality of it all. When Michael made eye contact with him there was a sense of recognition in the synthetic face that sent a chill down Masamune's spine. He wondered if taking on this project had been a mistake after all.

Katsuyuki showed no sign of sharing his brother's reservations. In fact, his face lit up with excitement as Michael came to life before their eyes. Masamune had only worked on the body, but the core of what made Michael so special was its mind. Katsu was one of the foremost contributors in programming Michael to think, act, and respond like a human. This was the major separation between humans and A.I. You could make the most human-looking robot imaginable but without the right programming its own speech and actions would immediately give it away as being inhuman. Unlike most robotic voices, which were based off of recorded human voices, Michael's voice was 100% generated by a synthesized voicebox, which made it unique and gave him a much wider range of vocal expression. It also sounded very convincingly human.

"Good morning, Michael," Katsuyuki said, returning the robot's smile with one of his own. In his left hand he held a tablet which was running diagnostics on the A.I.'s brain activity. The device was connected to the "coffin" by a single Ethernet cable. Unlike most androids, Michael's system could not be accessed wirelessly, and in turn it lacked the capability to wirelessly access other systems. The coffin was the only exception, and had been designed specifically for this purpose. This self-containment would keep Michael from appearing on the A.I. Network which kept tabs on all A.I. units on the Vitae simultaneously. Not even the other robots would know that Michael was a robot.

"You remember me, don't you?" Katsu prompted, keeping an eye on the diagnostics code as it scrolled across his tablet screen. "Can you tell me where we are right now?"

Michael blinked at the two robotic experts, both of their identities had come to him the moment he had awoken. The android also knew that he was indeed onboard the Vitae, an impressive labor of human ingenuity. There were several other ships like it, each of the vessels were to launch off into different coordinates in an effort to preserve humanity. The layout of the map that had been implanted into his memory banks told him that he was in the science department of the ship.

"Of course I remember you, Katsuyuki Isogai. You and your twin brother, Masamune were instrumental in my creation. We are currently onboard the Vitae, which is captained by Rear Admiral Locke.” Michael stated as he locked eyes with Katsu. “Is there anything else that I can answer for you?” Michael asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“Not at the moment, thank you.” The tablet beeped a couple of times, alerting the technician that the initial scan was complete. Katsu turned his attention to the screen and studied the results for a minute or two. While he was occupied with this Masamune circled Michael, taking in the machine’s completed appearance and trying--unsuccessfully--to get used to it. However, the thought of possibly working with an android appealed to him, even one as human-like as this one. He was more an observer at this point, having done his part already, but if anything were to go severely wrong with Michael’s physical functions he was the man best-equipped to handle it.

“Everything seems to be running smoothly,” Katsuyuki continued, “All internal systems are functioning optimally, and it seems like your long nap has had no negative impact on your processors which was my only concern when we put you into storage, because you’re not designed to sit idly for extended periods of time…” he rattled off a few other things, more for the benefit of the other scientists than Michael himself. A couple of other programming techs were peering over Katsu’s shoulder to read the diagnostic report, but they couldn’t think of anything else to say and so simply nodded in agreement. Finally, Katsu wrapped up his evaluation of Michael’s condition, moving on to the matter at hand.
“As you may have guessed already, today is the launch-date for Project Genesis. The Vitae will be taking off later today and it is our hope that you’ll stand by as witness to the occasion. Afterwards you will be free to move about the ship with full civilian privileges until such a time as you are called on to assist the scientific division with whatever jobs they may have for you. I’ve uploaded the details of your assigned quarters to your primary database, you are encouraged to furnish your room as you please. Now,” Katsu checked his watch briefly, they were right on schedule, “do you have any questions for us before we move on?”

Michael listened closely to each word the creator said to him. As Masamune circled around him the android turned his head and followed his path, he was curious what the man was doing exactly. Perhaps just making sure that he had no imperfections on his figure. As the machine man was informed about the start of Project Genesis, within a second he had read the files stored in him about it. It was logical for his makers to awaken him on launch day.

“I would be delighted to witness the launch of the Vitae,” Michael stated first to Katsu with another smile and a nod. He continued, and the smile faded as a look of something like confusion appeared on his face. “My first inquiry is how to go about my status as an android in regards to the other crewman. I am not sure if they know, and if they don’t, is it the intention of my creators to keep it a secret? After scanning bits of pop culture, the presence of androids in science fiction is often met with confusion, fear or even outright hatred. I fear that I may be met with those feelings from those that do not know of my origin as a synthetic lifeform.”

His expression changed to one of uncertainty. Nothing in his programming had given him answers in regards to that. The last thing he wanted was to cause a disturbance if the other crew members did not know he was a synthetic lifeform, and not a convincing human being. That could interfere with the Vitae’s mission.

Katsuyuki offered Michael a reassuring smile. “For now only certain essential personnel are privy to the fact that you’re an android, including Rear Admiral William Locke, and head of security Lieutenant Jermija Turov, and of course those of us in this room. You should find their security clearance has already been installed, and I’ll update it and notify you if anything should change. I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you…”

Katsu was interrupted by a chuckle from Masamune. “It’s only worrying because you programmed it to,” he said, shaking his head. He then addressed Michael directly for the first time, “What my dear brother is trying to say is that your existence is a social experiment to integrate A.I. directly into human culture. I’m not really sure why, probably because scientists operate under the mantra of ‘if we can, we will’.”

Katsu gave Masamune a disapproving look. “As I was saying, don’t worry. If someone were to discover your true nature it wouldn’t be the end of the world. As it is, every human on this ship is surrounded by automatons and A.I. units. Like everything and everyone else, you have a purpose here, so just do your best to act like a human for now. If you have any concerns you may always contact any one of us,” he indicated the group of half-a-dozen scientists and technicians present, “and if you encounter any physical problems that you are unable to resolve on your own, see Masamune.”

“As you wish. I was designed in part by my creators to ‘act human’, I will do that to the best of my abilities. I am sure that if my status were discovered that no one would overreact, since robots are commonplace in modern life.” Michael replied, in part he was reassuring himself. His makers were very likely to be right. He did not intend to be discovered as a synthetic. “I also believe it would be logical for me to stop referring to this assembled group as my ‘creators’,” Michael said with a convincing laugh. “You are my superiors, friends, associates, there are many different nouns which describe your relationship to me. I will use those from this moment forward.”

“Very good.” Katsu nodded his approval. “Now, it’s almost time, we should be going, the Admiral is about to give his speech.”

---

They left the security of the little room and took a lift all the way to the top floor of the Vitae, to a private viewing platform which had been reserved for the occasion of the launch. On the way, the Admiral’s speech drifted to them over the speakers, and they all stood in silent reverence for the planet and people they were about to leave behind, and the uncertain future which lay before them. Now all that was left to do was wait for departure.

It’s been a week since Nick first boarded this ship, so now that he’d gotten acquainted with the ship and the people living in it, he felt it was about time to make the list. He’d been thinking about making it since he first came aboard, but now that he had a little time to himself he was going to fully commit.

Things That Made Me Pull a Stupid Face:
1. This ship is huge.
2. This ship is huge.
3. They thought I was serious when I said I wouldn’t go into space without my couch.
4. Or chair.
5. They thought it was a good idea to put a ship filled with geniuses under military control.
6. The Admiral is actually a very decent person.
7. The Planetologist isn’t.
8. This place has its own gym.
9. And bar.
10. Frozen people.
11. A convicted serial-killer as lead surgeon.
12. The library.
13. Androids.
14. This ship is huge.
15. Comfortable beds.

“Fifteen. A nice round number. That should be enough for now.”

“Excuse me sir… am I interrupting something?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I, uh, I had some important paperwork to finish. So tell me Jane, any news?”

Being the Chief of the investigatory branch he now had his own little desk behind a frosted glass wall. The lieutenant had come in for a status report, but Nick had been too busy to notice. Consumed by his work, some people called him.

“Yes sir. It seems that everybody is aboard and they are preparing the launch sequence sir. We should expect take-off in about an hour and a half.”

“And the crowds?”

“Emotional, but harmless. For now at least.”

“Are we expecting trouble?”

“It doesn’t look like it, but you never know with these geniuses sir. Who knows what’ll happen when they see their own species go extinct.”

“Yes, they can be unpredictable, but I doubt they’ll give us much cause for concern. What about the military personnel?”

“Best at what they do. That usually includes discipline. Perhaps some minor vandalism when the time comes, but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Very good. Well, I’ll go make a round just to be sure. Still have to get a bit of a feel of the place huh. Think you can hold the ropes for me here until I get back?”

“Of course sir, I’ll keep your seat warm.”

Nick got up and walked towards the door. Just before closing it behind him he peeked around the corner and added:

“Just don’t touch the crosswords, I’m really on a roll today.”

The corridor was more crowded than it was a few days ago. Everybody was here now and you officially couldn’t take two steps without bumping into some smart-ass with more degrees to their names than Nick had chocolate bars in his desk drawer. Darn. Jade’s gonna find those too.

So many smart people in one place, reminded him of family dinners with the in-laws. Any one of them with an IQ higher than that of his entire department combined, but needed him to unclog their toilet. He was glad he got to bring them, he owed them that much. Even if they weren't much more than over-educated popsicles now.

Speak of the devil. He just walked past the cryo-chambers when he heard an old familiar tune. He didn’t know anyone else listened to this crap. It was appropriate though. He slowed down his pace to listen for a few more seconds and was tempted to go inside for a chat, but quickly realised that the department head didn’t look like she was in a chatting mood, so he walked on. Had that bloody song stuck in his head now though.

Jade was right. People were obviously emotional, those that could be anyway, but not in an aggressive way. They were just gonna have to wait and see if that would last during the actual lift-off though. Probably best to get a hint of what the crew’s at. Only one person who knows that better than anybody.

“Good evening officer, can I get you anything?”

“Coffee, black. I’m on duty.”

“Right away.”

The bar was empty apart from one lady sitting in the corner. For a ship filled with smart people, she at least seemed to have some sense in her. Drink to remember, not to forget. If Nick was any judge of character she’d be gone before the rest of the crew came in here to drown away their sorrow. Another old song came to mind, but there was no piano here.

Craig returned with that signature smile on his face and the best coffee Nick had smelled in years. Even the bloody bartender was exceptional on this boat. Then again, he wasn’t exactly used to much.

“Anything else I can do for you?”

“Just want to get a sense of what the crew’s at. You seem like someone who knows.”

“I’m flattered. Anything particular you had in mind?”

“Nah, just the general idea. Unless you think there’s someone we should be keeping close eye on. The way I see it we’ve got a boat filled with emotionally handicapped people and bulky soldiers who are about to witness the end of everything they know. The main thing I wanna know is how bad you think it’s gonna get.”

“It’s hard to say. There are some individuals who feel very strongly about leaving the fight, and there certainly is enough anger and frustration to go around, but apart from the occasional drunken outburst I doubt anyone would cause any serious trouble. I’ll keep the alcohol percentage low, if that helps.”

“It will, thank you. Though I doubt these people will need alcohol to get drunk tonight. I’ll leave you to it then, I have to finish my round. Thanks for the coffee.”

“Any time.”

He had one last stop to make before returning to his post. A small status update with the Head of Security was probably in order. There were also some files he wanted access to concerning that ex-con doctor fellow. Meanwhile the Admiral’s speech sounded through the intercom. It was a comforting speech. The kind that actually helped defuse a situation instead of making it worse. I have faith. Well, at least that’s something.

Re-checking the status screens William nodded, everything was still in the green and all stations reported ready for take-off. Well, no time like the present. "Helm!" He keyed into his console returning the holographic view to that of the Vitae sitting on the pad. "Take us out, nice and easy." He turned his head and looked up a the second floor of consoles. "Weapons!" He hoped to hell that he wouldn't need to use them, though he'd rather be prepared than be caught off guard, every second counted in an engagement and if it came down to a fight he planned to be the first one to fire a shot. Hit them first, hit them hard and hit them fast.

"Sir?"

"Have all gun crews on standby for salvo-fire, I want the plasma cannons to fire their salvo approximately two seconds before the main battery. Understood?"

"Yes Sir!" The officer turned back around and began relaying the information back to his own crews, he just hope that the plasma worked as well against shields as theorized, it was always a risk employing a new tactic however the disadvantage in having the best technology humanity had to offer was that it was brand new and untested. He'd have to develop tactics and skills on the fly, and had spent a large amount of time doing so with the fact he was one of the first crew to board the ship. Since then it had been non-stop coming up plans, tactics and protocols for anything that could possibly happen on his ship. There was only one he was dreading, one he never wanted to use and it was the one that came with the territory. Concocted by high command itself, Exodus.

Shaking himself out of his reverie he felt the ship lurch slightly as it lifted off, however that was soon counteracted by the inertia dampeners. The rumbling through the ship could be felt if you just stopped to feel it, not that he had time for such luxuries. "Tactical-" He turned to Lt.Dakota. "-Return to your station, let me know the second any of those Devastator ships change course to intercept and have a full sensor suite, including probe, prepared so that the moment we're through the Eye we can get a detailed scan on our arrival point and the surrounding systems." He turned himself back to the hologram of the Vitae as it continued to rise above the clouds.

"She's a fine ship, Sir." William turned his head, nodding as he saw the face of his XO. Commander Joanne Carter. Ex-Federation, she had served aboard one of their most prestigious carriers during the Three-Day War, though a blemish on her record that had been locked away had halted any chance of advancement for her, while they had become close these past couple of years he had still not sought the strain the relationship by asking what it was.

"That she is Joanne. Once we're at altitude we'll be able to power the engines up to full and it won't be long until we've reached the eye, about twenty minutes at max speed. From there it's anyones guess, scientists still haven't quite figured out why in hyperspace time seems to act differently to real space. We could be in for minutes or weeks. Something to do with tachyons and some other scientific jargon." He shrugged his shoulders. "Once we're in we'll set up a standard rotation to make sure we always have someone fresh on the bridge." She nodded as she herself keyed something into the console, sending the command that all holographic screens in the ship would relay a view of Earth as they departed.

"Flip for whose on duty first?"

William shook his head. "No, I want my XO fresh and feeling as good as possible. Need to maintain those sharp vocal cords after all." He turned his head away and back to his console. "Noah."

The holographic face of the A.I. appeared on front of him. "Yes, Admiral?"

"Begin recording of our departure, no doubt our archives want some footage of us leaving. That'll be all." The floating head just nodded, before disappearing again. "You know, I'm never going to quite get used to how it does that-" a harsh alarm began to blare throughout the command center as red lights blared. "Status!" No-one replied to him, but everyone was frantically shouting through comms as they tried to find out what was going on. "Someone give me a god-damn status!" The face of Noah appeared again.

"We are detecting a gravitational disturbance to our port side, approximately ten kilometres away." The hologram in the center of the room moved itself panning over Earth until it reached an empty area of Earths orbit, though a faint shimmering could be seen as the sensors tried to make sense of something in the area. Then it appeared. Far larger than any Devastator ship ever seen, sensors initially put it at two kilometres long.

"Helm, give us max thrust now and veer away. Tactical, plot a new course keep us as far away as possible from that thing. Transmit the call for all non-essential personnel to report to the safe zones and have the engineering and medical crews put on alert. Have security move all civilians away from view ports and into the safe areas. Now." He turned to Joanne and pointed towards a couple of consoles. "You oversee Navigation, Helm and Tactical. I'll take Weapons and Comms." She nodded without a word as she sped over, the entire center was filled with voices, each calm but speaking as quickly as possible. Someone who wasn't trained would likely see this as chaos, but on a military ship it was standard in battle situations.

"Command all escorts to engage at will. Weapons, fire the second you get a firing solution on that target." He keyed a series of commands into his console, which switched all viewscreens of Earth to pre-recorded footage. "Noah." The face of the A.I appeared again. "Divert all non-essential power that you can spare to engines and shields and inform the eye that we're coming in hot." One of the worst things about the command center being placed in the middle of the ship was the silence in battle, not of other people. He could still hear them, but of weapons fire. Then the ship shook and the lights flickered as the first salvo hit them. "Status!"

"Shields took the brunt of the fire Sir, holding steady at 89%! Some minor electrical fires, engineering teams are en-route." 89%. It didn't sound like a lot was lost, but in all their trials and tests even all the weapons aboard an Ark could barely cause a 5% drop let alone an 11% drop. He brought the hologram out, encompassing both the Vitae and her escorts and the enemy ship. He could already see the cruisers and destroyers breaking off to engage, the question was whether or not the enemy ship would turn it's focus towards them or keep chasing the Vitae...

---

---

Min-jae had just boarded one of the logistical busses that transported people all over the ship. He looked around the cabin, noting that there were several people that weren't involved with military. Perhaps heading to the hub, or the quarters area. Regardless of which one of the two options it was, Min-jae just nodded at them shortly, received a nod in reply, and then joined the back of the bus, where some military-security personnel had gathered. They were looking out the back of the bus, looking at the large tunnels that riddled the gigantic spaceship they had boarded. Min-jae distanced himself from them, not wishing to disturb them or talk to them at all, but simply stood near them in case something happened.

The bus' engines revved up again, producing a soft humming tune as it slowly continued driving across the wide tunnel system. For a moment it was calm, chatter taking over the atmosphere of the bus. Some people seemed to be together on this trip and while those that stayed near the windows to watch the takeoff were considered to be emotional, the situation seemed less tense here. Perhaps these civilians were people that had been working on the Arks. Everything seemed peaceful, which was all Min-jae currently cared about. He slid his Tsar and Co. M90 slightly more to the front, as it hung from a three-point-sling on his neck, and under his armpit. Being more comfortable now, he sat himself down on one of the seats. The bus stopped, some people got on, and the bus went on it's merry way again.

Briefly Min-jae overheard some chatter on the AN/PRC 203 radio on his shoulder, but asides that, there wasn't much going on. For a moment, he closed his eyes, but then suddenly alarms started whizzing. Within two seconds, the radio chatter had gone from a friendly discussion about break-times to full blown battle chatter. Min-jae got up and looked to the military personnel in the back of the bus. “The fuck are you looking at. Did you think these fuckers would let us escape earth without trying to stop us?” The military personnel stared at Min-jae, not sure on how to respond. The bus itself seemed content to keep whizzing on, so Min-jae walked to the front of the bus where a control panel was. He opened the terminal and quickly inserted his login.

Username: Min-jae Jeong
Password: ************
Access level: 1B.

.... please wait ....

.... access granted. Welcome, Min-Jae Jeong ....

With a press of the button Min-jae ordered the vehicle to stop alongside the tunnel, and open the doors. It was a quick command, one that was available in the shape of an emergency button. This way if security teams needed to pass the bus in a hurry, it would not be in the way. “Security team, whichever fucking team you are, you're not under my command, but you're gonna take these civilians and escort them to the hub or their private quarters. Get on that shit now.” The team hesitated at first but once they noticed that Min-jae was looking furious at this point, they quickly complied. Min-jae himself exited the bus at the same time as the rest of the people in it, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. “This fucking ark was a mistake. Instead of having a fighting chance on the ground, we're now stuck on a massive runway, on a target that screams 'shoot me'.” he mumbled as he made his way through the tunnel, followed closely by a bunch of civies and some security guys.

“Actually, the Vitae is a state of the art spaceship, I'm sure it can withst-” one of the civilians said, but was cut off by Min-jae interjecting his little tirade.

“I don't give a shit.”

Well. At least he was honest? The group continued until a side-tunnel showed up, where Min-jae quickly accessed the terminal. It seemed like his access level wasn't high enough to open the doors. “Just keep moving along the tunnel and get to the civilian housing or the hub. Make sure these civilians get in their rooms and lock themselves in, or get somewhere fucking safe. Shit, where is it even safe on this damn ship.” Instructions from command center hadn't arrived yet and to be honest, it seemed like nobody even had a fucking clue what they were supposed to do. Regulations had been made, but there'd been basically no time to go over them yet in a briefing.

“Yes sir!” one of them answered before they hurried off, weapons drawn just in case. Speaking of.. what was the use even? Wasn't it mentioned that nobody had ever seen these creatures in action? So what was an assault rifle or a SMG going to do.. fucking useless.

Min-jae quickly radio'd to the security center that was closest to him, since he needed to pass through this small hub in order to reach the outside sector of the ship. “Sgt. Min-jae to security center 2B. I need you to override this sub-sector for me so I can get to the outer edge of the ship and get the civilians away from there. They're gonna get blasted into nothing if they stay there.” He received no answer, but the door unlocked right in front of him, to which he just gave a short “.. thank you.”

Passing through the hub rapidly, which seemed to be a maintenance sector, he reached the other end where the door unlocked for him. It seemed the security center was tracking him for a moment to ensure his safe arrival in the next sector. When Min-jae came out of the doorway, he appeared in a large open viewport where a bunch of civilians were plastered to the windows. They were watching the takeoff of some escorts that were headed towards the large ship. Bless their sacrifice, Min-jae thought to himself as he approached the window. For a moment he forgot his actual objective, simply staring at the massive hulking ship that was attacking them. “Damnit. I should be down there right now preparing to fight these fuckers.”

The sound of the ship creaking under the salvo they received from the enemy ship was enough to draw him back into his duties. As the ship shook, and the lights gently flickered for a moment, the civilians nearby screamed and were pushed back. Once it was clear nothing had happened, and the ships shields had taken the brunt of the damage, they rushed back to the window to look on.

“Step back!” Min-jae's voice roared, holding his M90 with one hand, gripping the grip and holding his finger off to the side, as to not shoot it by accident. The other hand was pointed at the people, while he moved closer to force them back if he needed to.

“What's the matter? We're just watching! You saw it yourself, the shields can take the damage. It's proof that the Vitae can withstand any attack they throw at us!” A man replied, his suit and tie being an indicator that he didn't have any knowledge on combat whatsoever.

“Yes, until they manage to overload the shields, or whatever they can do, and shoot a hole the size of earth in this hull. Do you want to be standing here when that happens?” Min-jae retorted, the anger returning to his face as he wasn't in the mood to deal with this man's idiocy. His free hand went to his shoulder, grabbing the radio and quickly radioing in for some backup. “Requesting a team near sector 2B, at the viewport. Civilians need to be escorted to the hub or the living quarters.” While he waited for the team -- or anyone else ready to assist -- to arrive, he kept trying to persuade people to back off. Some listened, and went back to their quarters, but a few remained as they tried to get a look at what was going on outside.

God damn it...

The alarms became somewhat penetrating as Nikita administered to yet another corybantic person, struggling underneath him as he gently placed the mask over the woman's face. She gradually stopped moving, her breathing slowed, and Nikita removed himself as the noise seemed to increase in volume. All around him were fallen bodies--the product of his drugs--that only seemed to exacerbate the problem rather than fix it. He knew it had to be done, however--these were the cases of people blind with fear. Their continued consciousness would only feed the great fear fire that was a-swirling in this claustrophobic atmosphere.

The psychiatrist looked around carefully, making sure the last of the frenetics had been dealt with before bolting to the nearest elevator--or lift, what have you--and mashing the button for the bridge only to realize that he was being coldly watched by several security guards. Right... no clearance... All right. These damn military types... they don't understand how the human psyche works. Not everyone will respond with cold, measured tranquility when they're about to be obliterated. Nikita ground his teeth as the door opened. Almost immediately he was shoved aside as various specialists crammed themselves into the lift and shot down to where-ever they were needed.

Setting his jaw, Nikita turned on a dime and bolted away from the lift, going down to the main deck--that is, the largest of them and the nucleus of human activity.

It was there that he saw the frenzy turn into a mob. Panic was a strange epidemic, striking through each heart so quickly that it spread mere seconds after it already corrupted the body with an inky smile. The Russian chewed his lip thoughtfully, looking around for a place to stand before deciding on a bench. A speaker...! Thank goodness... Reaching up, he pulled away the console cover and yanked out several wires. Now, which one was it? He was taught this at some point. Dear Lord... he wasn't a technician! Yammering softly to himself while the mass still huddled in numb terror, he finally decided on this orange and blue one (seemed right; 'twas the color of that Dakota's eyes). Splicing the wire with his scalpel--and getting a small shock in return--he pulled out the comm that everyone carried, wiring it into the now frayed PA system.

"Test. Test... Ah... Pravda, Pravda..." Nikita looked around with a proud smile as the group looked around in confusion.

"Up here, comrades. The bench." Nikita waved and once again looked inside the console. Yanking the yellow wire out and cutting it, he muted the alarm, allowing his voice to be the only thing these people would hear. A thousand or so eyes all bored into him; they expected a great speech. A stirring militaristic sort of thing; well, he wasn't about to give one of those, but he could soothe 'em some.

"Comrades, friends... 'tis our beautiful existence on the line..." A few squeals of panic threatened to boil over into hysteria, so he quickly followed: "No, comrades! We will not fail! We will not die... we are the greatest, a culmination of the most perfect genetics all crammed into one singular ship, all in one seven-kilometer brain, one body, one heart... comrades, we are in debt to one another by virtue of our shared desperation. Comrades, think not of yourself in these most dire moments..."

"These times try our souls, and were we lesser... were we a more fickle people, should we not deserve the annihilation that these monsters wish to thrust upon us? Comrades! We must fight! We will not all fight with weapons--indeed, I'm not very good at that myself, but I can make one hell of a sermon, hm?--but will we stand idly by, screaming isolated thoughts of woe while our destinies are stamped out by these... demons we don't even see? Comrades! Stand up, together, like brothers and sisters! Comrades, you will not die today, for now as we stand here-"

A racking vibration shook the area, causing Nikita to stumble, twisting his ankle in the process. Cursing in Russian, he glanced around at the crowd gathered before him. They too were as afraid as he was, but it was the fear that kept you alive (we were human, after all). He knew he was afraid: his voice was the strongest it had ever been. Raising the intercom to his lips, Nikita whispered, "Comrades... this is for something greater. This is our survival... comrades... we will not go gentle into the night... comrades... fight... and win."

There was no resounding cheer--they were far too rattled for that--but Nikita knew he had at least mesmerized them into a tranquil state of acceptance (at the least). In the forefront there stood a man with two pistols strapped to his leg. Looking up at Nikita, this man slowly raised a salute before bolting off through the crowd towards the stairs (stairs! That's... my God!). Nikita watched in dumbfounded amazement as this number started to increase. Mothers with their children (children...? how did they get on board? oh... robots... some people...) swarmed in a quite organized fashion to their respective rooms, some running off to help in any way they could. It wasn't until the last of them went away that Nikita fell to the ground, gasping in pain as he pulled off his boot to examine his ankle.

"That's the way of the doctors, damn it... we get injured--while there is a battle going on, no less!--by God-damn benches. Chert voz'mi..." It was a little purple globe, thankfully not bleeding too much, that Nikita quickly wrapped in compression bandages. He grit his teeth as the tightness of the wrappings came into effect, but at least now he could walk. Standing on unsure footing, he pulled the intercom out of the console and haphazardly jammed all the faulty wiring back inside before slamming the cover back on.

"Ah... someone else will fix that..." Nikita grinned to himself as he hobbled down to the lift to help out in any way he could. Somehow the largest of the blasts didn't come until he was fully underway, when a sprinting security guard sent him sprawling again. Moaning and picking himself up, he glanced around to find that security teams had been sent down to clear everyone into their rooms. They must've been confused to see no one here, because they paused robotically for a moment before resuming their tramp down the corridor. Down, down, down... to clear out that sludge...

Nikita saw one woman lying on the ground with a pretty sizable gash in her head. Putting his finger to her neck, he found that she did have a pulse. Someone had almost died. Probably because she was trampled on by all the mass hysteria. Regardless... this was humanity's last ditch effort for survival... and someone nearly died. Nikita ground his teeth and fought back a growl before dragging the lifeless form to the side so that it wouldn't be stepped on. Running--and ignoring the pain--the Russian made for the nearest nucleus of humanity. This was when he passed the bar, looking in to see three people... or something like that, at least. He rapped on the window and gestured for them to get out before running down to the next place--another bar--and doing the same. He continued this, periodically jumping down to assist someone in need of medical attention before security teams even came to clear out the place. Nikita grinned with self-satisfaction: "Doing better than you, Admiral..."

---

Theodore started to activate the main engine, the Vitaes engines roared like that of a wild dragons spitting flame and ash. He felt the ship moving up with the stabilizers activating in almost a second. His path had been drawn, his engines were glowing hot and they were ready for liftoff. He then moved his throttled the engines with more speed sending the ark forward towards the atmosphere. Through his interface he could see the desert plain of africa becoming smaller and smaller. It was a sight he would never see again and he knew that. Maybe one day his grand grand grand son would come back to the cradle of humanity to take back the home which their ancestors had fled all those ages before. But for all that he knew they would explode mid way because of a bolt being loose. He chuckled to himself a little as he imagines the entire ship exploding while a single bolt fell into the sea. It was a rather dark thought yes. But Theodore had always had some fucked up humor. His scanners showed the fleet that would escort them to the eye. It wasn’t the biggest or strongest fleet but they would soon all die anyway protecting those who would live to fight another day. He wondered how jealous they all must be watching the lucky one’s fly of with the golden ticket. But he still respected the fact how they all did their jobs anyway knowing full well that death would be inevitable. He looked at leroy for a moment who was staring into nothingness. He snapped his finger right beside his ear making the man almost jump.” Back from the dead?” Theodore asked laughing at Leroy’s misery.

Leroy looked at him and calmly replied back. “ Oh i’m doing fine Theo, I’m just contemplating my existence at the moment so if you would be so nice to let me continue that would be grand mate.” Theodore padded Leroy on the back chuckling to himself.

“ When this is all over you and me are going to have some fun down at the hub alright?”

Leroy rolled his eyes. “ I’m not dragging you back to your cabin like fucking last time. My shoes still reek of your puke must you know.”

“ Yes yes, it’s all very tragic. I shall write a poem about how tormented you were with the smell if that makes you feel better.”

“ Remind me why we're friends again?”

“ Because I pay for all your drinks.”

“ Good point Theo, very good point.”

Theodore was about to mention the fact that he still owed him a round of poker when the alarm started to go off. The entire bridge descended into chaos. The peaceful humming of the human machine was now a thing of the past as humanity's brightest were panicking like chickens without heads. Theodore was simply surprised and also a tad bit annoyed. His annoyance would quickly turn into stone cold fear as he looked at what had appeared ten kilometers to the left. A devastator ship at least two kilometers in length had appeared heading towards them. A moment later the ship fired its beams crashing against the shields which had taken most of the damage. He heard a scream towards him to go full throttle and get the heck out of doge. He had tried going full throttle before in the simulations. And that went perfectly. However in that instance the ship hadn't been hit by a ship never seen before. Theodore quickly put that thought at the back of his head and went full throttle steering the ship away from the enemy vessel and heading towards the eye that was still so far away.

"Theodore after we're done with this you're buying me a drink. Actually on second thought you're gonna give me a bottle to call it even."Theodore laughed and nodded." Hell if we survive this i'll give you two bottles . Leroy grinned already imagining the sweet sweet Whiskey bottle in his hands. He would have to take good care of it though considering the fact that bottles like those would quickly be extinct. Theodore quickly turned towards the admiral realizing he had forgotten to report. " We left dock and are heading for the eye sir !". After that he turned around and awaited further commands. As he looked at the scanners he saw the destroyers and other vessels that had engaged the Devastators ship. The silence always creeped him out. But he knew that nothing could really be done about it.

There hadn’t been much time to sight-see when they told Jameson he was to be brought onto the Vitae. They didn’t trust him to be outside of a cell, let alone on a multi-billion dollar ship built to contain and preserve an entire species. Returning to the doctor’s mind were images of the contorted faces of institutionalized men, peering from the opposite side of thick iron bars, clad in rust and chipping dark green paint. The entrance doors to the prison were open for hardly seconds before the guards handling Jameson’s shoved him in the back of a transportation vehicle. For the fleeting minutes that the sun touched his skin and eyes, it felt amazing. The sweet embrace of the sun’s heat and light was sadly fleeting, as the drive to the Air and Space Station was short lived. A few more seconds of the solar embrace greeted the doctor before he was rushed inside by a duo of people in armor, with rifles he hadn’t see before.

The trio of surgeon and guards walked past a gauntlet of various different people, all garbed in different outfits, from business suits, to lab coats, to military jumpsuits. People soon become blurs, white lights in the building turned into light blue fluorescents as the trio entered a large hallway leading to a loading area full of spacecraft Jameson could see from the windows. Humans of all different walks of life were all journeying down the loading hall, child and suitcases in arms. Families stuck together like clumped sugar, trying their damnedest to stay as close to each other as possible. A chatter that resembled white noise filled the hall, children crying, their parents trying in vain to comfort them, arguments between families, but one thing was common: They all marched forward with no hesitation or forethought.

These people weren’t prisoners. They were normal people, people with lives, jobs, clean jail records. They weren’t people of Jameson’s ilk. No. These were proud humans, and they all must have had some sort of special traits or qualities making them worthy of salvation upon the Ark. Except, he didn’t see any other criminals in jumpsuits like his.

So caught up in his thoughts, Jameson hadn’t noticed that he and his new friends had begun to worm their way through the crowd of people, squeezing through gaps and taking large strides whenever there was a space large enough to allow them. A rather out of shape Jameon got winded quickly, but the guards were intent on getting through the crowd, regardless if their surgeon friend could keep up or not.

Jameson’s eyes began to meet some of those of the crowd as his armed escort began to draw more and more attention. Some of the eyes widened immediately, with faces painted entirely in horror. Jameson could see a few groups of people gesture and point towards him as he passed, a mixture of fear, confusion, and disgust plastered across all their faces. He could hear a few voices cut through the crowd.

“Why does that murderer get to come on!?” Demanded one man,

A women elsewhere cried “I don’t want to get on any ship that he’s on!”

Comments similar to those could be heard echoing throughout the halls. Jameson’s eyes and gaze dropped, and he kept his face pointed downwards, as to avoid making eye contact with anyone else. Even without looking, Jameson could feel the angry, scornful scowls of the crowd before him as he walked. He could feel his own heart begin to beat, and his face warmed up. The animal was being paraded through the zoo to his next cage, except no one wanted to be near that exhibit. The painful scrutiny placed on Jameson burned his skin and weakened his joints.

Bare metal took back over Jameson’s vision, although blurred. He slowly slid his headset off, wiping his eyes and sniffing. Even in his last moments on Earth, Jameson was filled with hate and ire for everyone around him. He wasn’t allowed to enjoy the soft grass fields of his childhood, the bustling and invigorating city life of his adulthood. It had been at least three years since he had last been allowed to even enter an operating room. They hadn’t just taken his freedom and profession away, they took away his humanity. The thought of one day leaving prison had never been on his mind, he knew they had locked him away for good, but now, now there no chance of him even getting to walk on the rec field again. There would never be any sort of grass under his feet or blue sky above his head. Even in his time outside his cell, he’d be stuck in a massive metal cage, filled with people who treated him like less than themselves. A second-class citizen. An animal.

Something seized his arms, and he nearly threw his headset against the wall, but he paused. Something had broken his trance. Sitting up, Jameson wiped further tears from his eyes, allowing reality to take back its place in his mind. An alarm had been sounding, and he could hear footsteps, both soft and heavy, outside of his room. He slid off his bed, onto his feet, putting his glasses on, before going up to his door, his face level with the large viewing port. Civilians and Guards alike both stampeded in every direction, the shouted dialogue of them all being dulled over by the continuous siren radiating from the speakers around them. The male guard was standing near the center of the large hall, attempting in vain to get someone to explain what was going on, while Amanda still stood near the door, listening to various chatter on her radio.

“What’s happening?” Jameson said low.

Amanda didn’t react. She hadn’t heard him, and, to think of it, he hadn’t even heard himself. The noise from the hallway and the wailing siren were too loud for him to be heard. Luckily for Jameson, Amanda’s gaze shifted to the door for a second, and she was taken aback to see Jameson’s place face sticking in the view port. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow, sniffing from his still runny nose.

“Your guess is as good as mine!” Amanda said forcefully, as to be heard over all the noise, but not quite shouting. “The radio is going fucking crazy right now, I can’t make out anything!”

The male guard returned to the pair at the door, and spoke loudly so they both could hear.

“According to some of the engineers, a Devastator ship just popped up out of slipspace, and it's a big fuckin’ ship at that. They say the bridge is already shitti-” He was hushed by Amanda, whose gaze was pointed towards the ground as she listened intently to something on the radio. Her eyes darted for a few seconds, before she looked back up at the two men.

“They’re saying that all non-essentials need to get to the safe zones, and security needs to start moving the civilians to the safe zones as well. They say that the engineering and medical crews need to be on alert.” With the end of her last sentence, her gaze turned to Jameson, whose face was curtained with worriedness and uncertainty. The male security piped up.

“Does that mean we need to start helping these guys into the Archives? It’s the closest safe zone to us.”

“I don’t know, but what are we going to do about you?” Amanda said, looking at Jameson. Being addressed directly surprised him, and gave him a twinge of delight, even considering the situation they were in.

His surprised was doubled when he was thrown off his feet, landing against the wall of his cell, slamming into his shoulder, whipping his head back for a secondary hit. As he fell, he could hear the screams and yelps of the crowds outside, all being knocked over by the rocking of the ship. Curses and exclamations could be heard as some questioned the quake, and others sprang back to their feet, eager to make it to the safe zones. Jameson sat stunned for a few moments, gripping his throbbing head. There was no bleeding, just a solid thump to the cranium. His door flew open, and Amanda stepped in, weapon in one hand, the other gripping the door frame.

“Are you okay!?” She said, stepping all the way in, helping him up, all to the delightful surprise of the dizzy doctor. Once he was on his feet, the two moved towards the door, Jameson being nearly dragged by Amanda. They reached the door, and they could see the male guard helping some confused and dazed people on the floor, making sure they weren’t trampled, and moving some that were too flustered to walk away from the center of the hallway, against the walls. He turned back around to his partner, a look of surprise exploding on his face.

“Amanda, what the hell are you doing?! Put him back in his cell, we have shit to worry about here!” He said, pointing forcefully at Jameson, then motioning to the people on the floor around him.

“Look, Joseph, they want all non-essentials to the safe zones, and he’s just as human as we are, he doesn’t deserve to die in his cell! We’re going to the Archives, they were going to let him go there anyways, so we’re taking him, too!” Amanda commanded, her grip on Jameson’s arm tightening.

The guard named Joseph stood amongst the chaos for a moment, his stare never leaving the pair. He stepped forward, weaving through people, and grabbed Jameson’s wrists. “Fine, then. We’ll take him, but-” Joseph reached behind his back, and brought forward cuffs, securing the doctor’s thin wrists in them. “He’s staying cuffed the whole time. Got it?” He said, looking at Jameson, who returned only with an impatient, anxious expression.

Joseph returned to the center of the hallway, and began shouting to all the rushing people. “Everyone needs to get the safe zones on the ship. The closest one to us the Archives, just down the hallways. I need you all to start moving orderly in that direction!”

The people around him took note of his speech, and started scurrying towards the Archives as instructed. Of all the people passing by, Jameson could feel a glance or two come out of the crowd and hit him, as he stood cuffed, an arm being gripped by the guard, Amanda. As the crowds moved, Joseph motioned for the pair to follow him, as he returned his rifle to his hands, and walked in front of Amanda and Jameson, making sure there was a clear path to the Archives.The experience brought back images the trip the same trio took in the Air and Space Station a few days ago, but it was different now. Now, more was at stake. There were less stares and looks thrown at Jameson, as everyone was concerned with saving their own lives.

Jameson gulped as he save the Archive signs come into view over him. He couldn’t see over much of the crowd, but he knew the archives were drawing close. The thought of being herded in a room with hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, all waiting and praying that they live… it made Jameson nauseated.

Now’s a better time than ever to meet whoever it is that I’m living or dying with, I guess.