That evening, or what would pass as evening on the station, Orion couldn't sleep. He kept walking by the empty lounge area, lost in thought about Ross, about the rest of the crew. His solitude was interrupted by a prying AI.

"Hello Orion. You're up late."

Orion smiled back at the friendly AI, "Evening Ezra. Just thinking."

"About what if you don't mind me asking?"

"Just about this place, us. Why were even out here…" He trailed off as he began to question his own life choices.

"Why are you out here?" The AI asked what seemed like it should have been a simple question but the answer was anything but.

It caused him to pause and think. Why was he here? Why did he want to be here in the first place? This was his dream at one time. "… I guess, this was just a childhood dream and I had a chance to make it real. I had to jump at it."

"Is it what you were expecting and hoping for?"

It took no time for Orion to shake his head. "No. There is a certain magic about being this far out, about being the farthest humans out here, but… This just feels like a dead dream where everything is just slightly off, and a reminder of what could have been." He sighed and then looked at his plastic like companion. "Can I ask you a in return question?"

"Certainly."

"I've never just talked to an AI before. What's it like being one?"

Ezra actually smiled, it seemed genuine somehow. Unlike Its plastic exterior this seemed, real somehow. "It's hard to explain I suppose. I’m somewhat unique as far as AIs go. They didn’t make many like me, and I think… No, I know I’m the only one still active. I feel and think similar to how you do. But my sensors see everything. I have data on everything. Every moment is like being in the middle of an orchestra, each instrument playing its own tune and forming its own melody. If I don’t conduct it right, everything can get overwhelmed with a single sound or flooded out with a cacophony of dissident harmonies."

"That was actually very poetic."

"Thank you, I enjoy poetry."

"I… never would have guessed you always so… plasticky. Sorry."

"Don't be. This is…” It paused. If an AI could be said to be lost in thought, it would be. “Is who I feel like, who I’ve always been." And, if an AI could seem melancholy, perhaps, that would describe it as well.

"You mean your hologram?"

"Among other things, yes."

"Well, if you ever want to bounce poetry off me, I'm all ears."

"Thank you, that means a lot. Maybe…" Ezra's hologram stopped following him. And for the briefest slice of time, it looked like it might be glitching about a bit. It was very subtle though.

"What is it?"

"I have no actual sex, but I've always thought of myself as, a girl, a woman. Would you mind…"

Orion tried not to laugh, "What, calling you a girl? Sure, I can do that."

The conversation with the AI seemed different somehow. He liked talking with the rest of the crew, but they all seemed lost in their simulations anymore. Yuri only talked in chess and math proofs, and Adiana… It always felt like there was always an ulterior motive with her. Like her affections weren’t genuine. This AI though, as strange as it may have sounded, she seemed more real, somehow. At least, in this moment. "Ezra, thanks."

Weeks would pass. The crew grew deeper into their delusions and fantasies. Adiana just seemed to shutdown eventually. In body she was there, he could talk to her, and do other things but there was no emotion. Just flat and dispassionate physical contact. Orion knew it was hard for her. Her crew was dying, and there was nothing she could do to save them.

They tried to keep Ross off the neural link for as long as they could, neither fully buying the explanations from the medical bot. It didn’t matter though, there was nothing to do but lay in his bunk. Eventually, he crawled out and plugged himself back into the lounge connections.

Adiana just broke when she came out and saw him. Seeing her was like watching a human marionet, suddenly having its strings cuts and collapsing on top of itself. The crew, Ross in particular tried to reassure her, told her it was ok, that it was “Their choice.” It didn’t matter though.

After that, she stopped talking much, and whatever physical contact she had with Orion, ceased. Instead, Orion found himself growing ever more attached to his new virtual friend.

Weeks would pass, in less than a month from Ross’ diagnosis things would grow worse. His ability to speak, to even sit up had quickly degraded. Eventually though something even occured. As Art disconnected his neural link so they could eat their flavorless paste, Ross began to twitch uncontrollably.

“I… can’t… can't… words” Ross’ speech was slurred, and suddenly his hand curled back into themselves like little fists, as he he began shaking violently in a deep grand mal seizure.

"Ross." Art, struggled to keep him from hitting his head against the floor but it was only partially successful.

On the other side of the station Orion was doing what he could to connect to ever more distant Adiana. Neither was prepared for an out of breath Yuri to jog up to them. The three ran back to the lounge, with Yuri quickly falling behind. Orion was torn between continuing with Adiana or falling back to check on Yuri who was now holding his chest as he slowed to a walk. Only his dismissive handwave encouraged Orion to continue onward with her.

Adiana didn’t wait or seek anyone else’s help. Instead, she picked up the now the unconscious Ross once the tremors stopped and rushed him to the only place she could think of that might be able to help. The medical bay. Orion wasn’t far behind her, but she didn’t seem to notice or care.

Again, the medical bot, was not helpful.

"There is nothing to be done.” It spoke in its flat tone that tried to mimic sympathy. “The damage to the midbrain and brainstem is extensive. Mr. Escola is in the end stages of brain stem dislocation. The pons between the midbrain and the Medulla is completely gone. Only the neural link is able to pass signals between the two."

"His seizure was actually caused by a minor heart attack, likely due to a sever arrhythmia."

Adiana had no emotion, no felling. Her voice was icy, and even more mechanical than the bot, "What can we do?"

The medial bot paused. There was nothing for it to suggest. Death was inevitable at this stage. A person could have their brainstem bypassed, but that required equipment and would have a significant quality of life impact. His programing allowed a euthanasia exception for this.

However, words whispered in its digital matrix of a brain. Words which overtook its ability to process and think, eventually, those words were all it could speak "The only option at this stage is connecting to the medial pods in the back. Ross' life function will be preserved and his mind kept active. Eventually, a cure may be available on earth and Ross will be brought back from pseudo-suspension."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Orion could only stare in disbelief as Adian followed the instructions without even a hint of argument. She dropped Ross’ very light body into the green glow of the pod. Before she could connect him up, his eyes opened for the last time. Orion couldn’t quite make out the words, but it sounded like he said “Thank you.”

When the jack connected, he went limp and that was the end. Orion continued to stare at his living but lifeless body as medical bots began tending to him.

“So we’re just going to jack in into this Pod, using the same shit that did this to him?” His voice was loud, boarding on yelling.

The look in Adiana’s eyes chilled any fire he had, but it was her words that froze him. “What else is there to do?” He stuck around longer than she did, watching his crew member breathing with the assistance of the machines around him.

After that, Adiana stopped talking with him. She stopped talking to anyone. Adiana, just broke.

The rest of the crew descended further deeper into the toxic world of pleasant dreams.They detached from the three that refused to engage with them. Yuri began acting weird after his run. His mind seemed foggy. Orion even managed to get close to beating him in chess a few times.

Having few people to confide in or talk too Ezra became his defacto best friend. She was actually a lot of fun to be around he mused. Calling her a she, opened the door to more personality. Eventually she began changing her physical appearance, adding hair and normal looking skin. The AI grew bolder and more human. The crew began to talk behind their backs.

"What about Orion?"

"He's been hanging out with the AI. I think he's going to be the next to go in. We need to find a way off this station."

"You notice it has hair now?"

"Yeah, long flowing locks. It wants to be referred to as she now too."

"You think the kid did that?"

"Who knows… I just want to get back to the desert. I hate this place."

“Same.”

Slowly over the next few months, more of the crew became catatonic. Roberta was next, her powerful form grew almost as light as Ross’. Then another, and another. Art held out as long as he could, Orion could see the fight in his eyes burning out into embers that didn't want to die. He didn’t want to go, didn’t want to leave Adiana and the other two alone like this.

Perhaps it was that connection, that caused Adiana to miss Art’s final departure into sleep. Orion had become quite accustomed to putting the crew into storage by this point. So it wasn’t like it he needed her. Before he could attach the link, Art reached out one last time with his curled hand. Barely able to wrap it around Orion’s wrist he tried to pull him in, to whisper one last message. “Don’t… blame… her…”

“I don’t.” Of course he didn’t, it wasn’t her fault they were like this. It was just a bad situation. With no real escape.

“Don’t…blame…you…” The words were a struggle for him. It almost seemed painful to just stay awake. When Art closed his eyes for the last time, it almost seemed like a reprieve.

Adiana disappeared after that. The station was large enough to hide in, and Ezra said she was fine, so she was still being watched.

It was probably through Ezra that she learned about Yuri, after he collapsed.

“What’s wrong?” Adiana ran up, watching Yuri gasping while holding his chest, while Orion looked over him.

“I’m fine. Just. My heart. Family history.” Yuri tried to stand up, but every time he did, he collapsed.

“Come on, let’s get you to the medical bay.”

Yuri couldn’t only nod, and barely squeak out a “Yah.”

The medical bot confirmed what they already knew. “It’s his heart. There’s a blockade in the left ventricle, elevated cardiac enzymes suggest a significant attack, with damage to the sinuous node.”

“What’s the treatment available?”

The medical bot actually had several options available. The damage to the heart was already done, but they could implant an assist device, which they had and a pacemaker. But again, those words seemed to infect its neural matrix. “There isn’t anything available on the station. Yuri will need a replacement heart, but we are unable to provide them here. The next best option would be connecting him to the medical pod and keeping him under supervision here. We can keep him alive until he’s returned to Earth.”

Adiana shook her head. “No, that’s not an option.”

“Ah, milashka. It’s not your choice to make.” Yuri protested as he forced himself up and wandered to the pods.

"Yuri, don't do this." She practically begged.

Orion could only stand off to the side and watch.

"It's ok. I used to live in Russia. I know this world sucks. Maybe the next one will be better, yeah?"

The neural link was connected, and Yuri closed his eyes for the last time as his mind descended deep into a dream. His heart rhythm calmed and slowed. It was still elevated, but not unreasonable. He’d… live.

Time didn’t seem to move. The 18 bodies of the crew stood in the pods. The subtle beeping of medical equipment was the only thing that broke the silence.

Until Orion spoke, "I guess it's just us now?"

"Yeah… just us."

After that, Adiana disappeared again, leaving him alone. Well, aside from the AI.

Seemingly alone, the AI and him grew ever closer, she even changed her name after asking him about it.

"Orion can I ask you a question. Sure Tanya."

"What do you think of my new look?"

He turned around, and in front of him was something best described as a fox spirit. She was a little shorter now, but not tiny. Her curves had filled out, quite a bit at that. Her long hair was a mix of blonds and reds, and her eyes were a bluish green. Behind her a tail swished in uncertainty, while her ears laid on the sides of her head. The skin on her face wasn't plastic anymore, it had features, a few freckles and other marks here and there.

She was exotic and strangely beautiful. Orion wondered why she chose this form of all of the possibilities.

"I know it probably looks a little weird. It takes a bit more processing power to run this program on the hololenses. If I try to do too much it glitches out but-"

"I think you're very pretty, but why a fox?"

“They were spirits in Japanese folklore. They would act as messengers and could move between the realms of humans and the spirits. It just seemed, fitting somehow. Besides, I know you like it.” The more he talked with her and encourage her human side, the more she had begun to tease him.

She considered talking about her memories, of the various animated films she watched in one of her previous lives. But, that could wait.

Like a fox spirit, she was quite mischievous, pushing him to do things he normally wouldn’t. It was fun, and for a time, he forgot he was on a dying station hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth. The two shared many moments together, Orion was unaware they were always being watched from the shadows.

He didn’t know who’s idea it was originally. But they could even interface. Like they were both in person if he used the neural link.

After his first event Orion never jacked into the simulations directly. He’d use VR and other devices, that port on his neck terrified him. It scared him because he knew how good and how real it would feel. So, when he plugged in again it was… real.

Around him, the world faded into white. A wave of numb tingling flowed from his legs up through his core into his head. It was followed by a warm breeze and the scent of wildflowers.

Suddenly he could feel Tanya rubbing at his shoulders. It wasn’t real, he knew that. But still, it felt real. So did the kiss, and the next one. This wasn’t real, she wasn’t real, nothing in this space was real, but, it felt real. At least for this moment. It was enough.

For Tanya, this was as real as anything else she knew. The field, the trees, and the sky were just code, maybe mixed with subtle memories of her other selves. Just like her. Like the kisses she gave him, this was real to her.

After that, Tanya changed her mode. She was adamant about him not using that jack anymore. Obviously, it terrified him, but he already knew the risks, and knew how good it felt to be with her. Still, he promised.

A few days later, Ezra, or rather Tanya, pinged him with an important message. In response, Orion could only run to the elevator and the medical bay.

There, was Adiana, prepping herself to plug into one of the pods permanently. The way she walked and moved; it was obvious she had already been using the connection.

“I’m glad you came.” Was all she could say.

“Is that it? You’re just… what giving up?”

Adriana smiled before walking herself into the pod. She thought about all the things to say, all the ways to convince him this was the right choice.

"Don't do this. We can figure something out." He pleaded.

"There's nothing to figure out Orin. The mission's over, and there's no going home. You know, after Ross some of the crew took bets on who would be next. Each time someone else went in. They kept putting your name at the top of the list. I guess they didn’t want to look in the mirror. Yet, I always knew you'd be the one to survive us all."

"Adriana, please don't start-"

"Join me?" Unlike all her other words, everything else she had said. That last and final statement had more feeling, more emotion than anything she had ever said to him.

In response, Orion let go of her hand and pulled back from the pod. Adriana didn't even look at him when she pulled the neural link up into her port and went limp. A few moments later a medical bot came by and straightened her body up before connecting various IVs to her.

She was now dead, but "dreaming" he whispered to himself. Orion didn't know how long he stood there, watching each of them. Eventually though, he did what the living have to do, live. He turned and walked away from the sleeping death in front of him.

Back in the habitat ring, he was alone. Truly and completely. Well, perhaps just physically. "What are you going to do about the crew?" Tanya was more emotionally available than Adiana had ever been, even if she wasn’t physically available.

He thought about, there was really only one thing he could do. "As the acting mission commander, I guess I'm going to get them home." At the time, Orion had no idea how hopeless that would be.