The air around you is burnt. The first thing you realize is that is is much thicker than before. You open your eyes slowly to darkness. Your whole body aches. You sit up and you feel dizzy. You've woken up this way now three times since you came here to Sayar. It's starting to get really old. You move to stand up and see a speck of light in the distance. It moves closer and closer towards you as you take each step. You find yourself stopped at a door, once you open it up you see a group of people spread out around a bunker of some sort. Orbs of light are scattered around that pulsate slowly, giving light to the otherwise darkened room.

In the group of what looks to be ten or so people you find Jesse. He looks up and catches your gaze, walking over to you. The others look your way too as they hear the door open, you feel nervous now with all of this attention on you. You see Andrew, Sarkon, and Cardus amongst the other people whom you don't know. There seems to be two Breeton, a Garexian, a Fal' ZäAr, and three Illith.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jesse asks.

“I have a headache, but that seems to be the brunt of it. What happened?”

“Cross happened. Pandera, that being the city we were in was leveled. A fair amount of people managed to escape, but a fair amount didn't.”

“And where is this place? How did we get here, I thought we were dead, surely?”

“That's where we have to thank you, Alex,” Jesse motions towards the other members of the high council.

“Thank me? For what? And you're not calling me Mr. Duschand anymore?”

“I think it's better if you saw, come over here,” he says. “Cardus, fire up the projection.”

“Sure thing,” he says, typing something into a small device at his side. It's compact and square almost like a small computer.

Beams of light spray out from the machine onto the nearby wall showing heavily damaged video. “Cardus is accessing what's left of the memory banks of the storage from the council's chamber. Of course, it's been heavily damaged by the explosions, but there's enough there to show you,” Andrew says.

You look and you see the scene from before. The eleven council members sitting behind you and Jesse. On the other side walking closer and closer is Cross. The bomb in his hand glowing a bright white. You see yourself walk forward.

“You will not come any closer,” you make out of the crushed audio.

“You are something special, aren't you? It's too bad that has to be extinguished,” Cross raises his arm and lets the bomb fall to the ground. You see a crescent of energy release from the bomb and it stutters for a moment as you see the matter begin to explode. It covers Cross and you can see the metal body he resided in melt away with him laughing. The energy hits you a fraction of a second later, but it doesn't go past you. You're like a magnet to the blast, the crescent of energy entering your body like a gust of air.

You fall to the ground and the camera shorts out.

“You saved us from total annihilation. That gave us the opportunity to orderly relocate those who had survived the attack to underground bunkers like these. We're in the closest to Pandera mainly because we had to get somewhere to treat the wounded quickly and find a place for you to recover as well. That's the moment I knew for a fact that what you told me was true. I mean, I've never seen anybody suck in an explosion like that, so this other supernatural stuff you were talking about must have been true as well,” Jesse says.

“We agree on this front,” Sarkon says.

“Well, I'm happy you made it out all right, but where are the others? Entria and all them?”

“They took those that were better fit to walk greater distances to a bunker near the oceanside, further away from the damage and less chance the Dromedans find them.”

You feel your head pounding something fierce and take in a deep breath. “Okay, I'm sorry, but this all is still just so much to take in. Like, all of it. Everything seems to be happening at once and I just feel like my head is going to explode.”

“Here, take my seat,” you hear a familiar voice say.

It's Cardus.

“Yeah, bug-boy over here wanted to apologize to you, by the way,” Jesse says.

Cardus stands up, “You saved our lives, my life, after I very well may have doomed them. I let fear get the better of me and cloud my judgment. I apologize.”

You nod your head and sit down in his place. You look over to Andrew sitting beside you, “So, is this like a new feature of humanity? Being human vacuums for explosions?”

“No, not ever have I seen something like that happen. Well, I've actually seen stuff like it, but not since I was back on Earth,” Andrew says.

“Wait a second, you lived on Earth? So you're like me?”

“I don't believe so. I was there when it got destroyed. My trip here wasn't an instantaneous woke up one morning.”

“How old are you?” you ask.

“Much older than I should be, that much is for sure,” he says.

These substitute bodies can really withstand a lot, then. You turn back to Jesse, “Well, what do we do now? Just wait here for the rest of eternity?”

“We're here now to tend to the wounded and recuperate the lost. The latter being you and some other unkindly folks who got whipped pretty hard during the attack. If you want something to do why don't you follow me to check up on our medicine storage?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Is that a sure sure, or a whatever sure?”

“Does it really matter?” You asks.

“Fair point.”

You stand back up, your head is feeling a little better.

“Hey, Alex was it?”Andrew asks.

“Yeah?”

“When you get a free moment I'd actually like to talk to you about Earth, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. What I can remember at least.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Oh, right.”

“Well, things have been coming back to me bit by bit, so maybe then I'll be able to help you more?”

“I'll be looking forward to it,” he says with a smile. That's the first time you've seen him do so, he looks nice with it. You turn to follow Jesse out a hatch-protected door in the back. You enter beside him in a narrow hallway that stretches down into what you can imagine are the gates of hell. At the end you reach a closed door, locked probably. Turns out it isn't, but you wouldn't put it past this place to have some cordoned off top secret places lying about.

There's a sign above the door that's written in a strange language you cannot understand. It looks similar to the writing that was out on the statue out in front of the Capitol building.

“That reminds me, back before we went into the capitol building you mentioned that it wasn't just my language banks that needed to be updated. I know you updated me so that I could understand your speech, but I don't think I can understand your writing,” you say.

Jesse stops and follows your gaze up to the sign, “Oh, that is quite an issue. Well, I don't have any of those chips on me, I'm sure any I had were in my office. And well, I don't think I have much of an office anymore. I could translate when it becomes an issue for the moment if that'd help?”

“I think it would,” you say.

“Okay, well for starters that sign says 'medical storage.'”

“So we're going to go see the wounded? How many are there?”

“A few hundred here in this bunker. We're not going to go see them directly, too many in there are without proper healthcare and we pose the risk of contaminating them without the right equipment. You know, diseases and the like.”

“That's actually a good idea, I don't know if I'm exactly feeling 100%,” you say.

“You okay?”

“Something just feels off, moreso than normal, you know?”

“Can't say that I do, but I guess that doesn't help any, does it? Anyway come on. We're going to look at our reserves.”

“Going to see what we need to go fetch?”

“Exactamundo,” he says, pressing a button on the side of the door, walking through and taking a right.

“Huh, you know, there was this character on this old television show I used to watch that used to say that all the time.” You follow him and pass by a Pscarcian who has to scrunch up against the wall to let the both of you pass by him. You utter an apology as you pass and it nods it off.

“Really now? I have generic knowledge about television on Earth. The furthest it went was how it caused a generation of a nearly mind controlled population.”

You laugh, it feels good to laugh. “It wasn't ever that serious, at least, not that I can recall. I mean, we basically were slaves to the endless commercial break, but that's only in a figurative manner. Which reminds me also...”

“A lot of things seem to remind you, huh?”

“Oh, I do say that a lot, right? I'm sorry,” you trail off.

“No, I didn't mean it like that, I meant it like, it's good your memory is coming back. I'm bad at phrasing things.”

“That's okay, I knew someone dear to me who was like that,” you say.

“Oh? Do tell.”

“He was my best friend back on Earth, his name was Devon Campton. He was a very energetic kid. Looking back he probably had ADHD or something similar, but that didn't stop his never ending thirst for knowledge.”

“He sounds like a good kid,” Jesse says.

“He was, but unfortunately that thirst got him into some big trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“I...don't quite remember.”

“Oh, well, if you do I'd love to hear the story, if that's not too weird.”

“No, that's fine. I'm sure I will remember eventually. It's been coming back faster and faster now. Sometimes I'll see fragments of my life and associated memories will come back to me like that,” you snap your fingers.

“Well, then I guess it's good the story ends there, because we're here,” Jesse says, opening a set of double doors to a room that reminds you of a post office more than anything, stacks and stacks of mailbox-like shelves in the back all equal in size and shape. Each box has a small glass door with a tiny handle on it for easy access.

Jesse steps in and walks to a terminal on the right hand side of the room. “Here's where we keep the storage numbers for all of our equipment. Bandages, scalpels, teriats, et cetera.”

“What's a teriat?”

“Uh, if someone were to say lose an arm or whatever appendage would be proportionate a teriat is this little symbiote that digs its way into the skeleton of the patient and begins copying the skeletal DNA and branches outward, replacing the old skeleton completely until it fills out and even regrows the limb that had been removed.”

“That sounds like it hurts,” you say.

“Oh, it hurts extremely bad. I haven't had to use it myself, but I know people who have. Actually, Taylor has, now that I remember that you two met.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, before he got sent to work with me in Archives he used to be on the police force. Kid was excellent at it, I hear. He was transferred when a job went south and he lost a leg. I don't know the specifics of what happened, I never did ask. It seemed personal, you read me?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I do know he underwent the teriat and it sure hurt like a bitch.”

“Why would he need to if us humans are robots anyway? Like, couldn't they just build a bionic leg or something like that?”

“Something tells me you were a fan of science fiction back on Earth,” he smiles.

“What? Is something like that so far out?”

“It's a difficult process, preserving humanity. Especially when you are forced to leave your home, technology, and anything resembling any work you've done for the past two thousand or so years. Humans basically had to start from scratch learning how to try and emulate what they could do on Earth with what we have here on Sayar. Some things were a success like the data banks, but others like things on that scale have yet to find any suitable progress out here.”

“Yet we have the teriats here? That's unlike anything on Earth.”

“Precisely. Also, the teriat is of Messian origin, so I'm obviously going to gloat and take full credit,” he smiles.

“Well, while you're doing that you can also check and see what we need to pick up.”

“Right, let's check out, shall we?”

You both compose a list of what is running low. More than half of the items on the list you have no clue about what they are, and now that they're written down you can't remember which one would be which anyway.

“So, now that we have this where do we go?”

“First we'll get in contact with one of the other bunkers to see if we can trade supplies. If we find any that can we find a safe spot to make the trade. If not we have to make the trip to Jakkon, the closest city to us, which is primarily inhabited by Pscarcians who thrive in the swampy kind of environment.”

“Okay, let's go do that!” You say, mustering up all the excitement you can afford.

“You don't have to go on the trip if you aren't feeling well. I'd actually advise against it,” he says.

“I'm going to be fine,” you say.

“And your basis for knowing that is...?”

“Well, nothing, but that also means I don't really know when I'm not feeling fine as well!”

“Okay, okay, fine. But the first instant that you feel bad I'm taking you back, okay? Now let's go make that call.”

“Those calls,” you remind him.

“I know, I was trying to make it sound dramatic. That's primarily what filled your televisions, right? Drama?”

“Ugh, don't even get me started.” You walk out and go back into the hallway.

“Do you think I could at least see the wounded?” You ask.

“Why would you want to do that?” Jesse asks.

“I feel like if I can put some faces to the wounds I can sympathize better. Is that awful? That sounds awful.”

“It's not awful, it's quite all right. We can go look in the window if you would like, but I can't take you inside.”

“Of course, lead the way,” You say with your arm outstretched.

He nods his head and begins walking ahead of you. You follow right behind him and feel a sense of déjà vu. You feel a sort of warmth as you feel your eyes flashing back. Your head starts to pound again and all at once it changes.