There was no clock in the room, nor even a steady rhythm to base time off of. The room was silent, still, and static. Aside from its two occupants anyway. Minutes may have passed, or it could have been hours, even the thought of a day passing would not have been too unreasonable. Except that Orion wasn’t hungry or thirsty enough for that much to have passed.

In the far corner, farthest possible from him, the fox was curled into a ball. Her sobbing had stopped some time ago, and his skin sealant applied to her head had stopped the bleeding. Her burns would not be treatable here. They didn't seem that bad, maybe like a bit of sunburn. He wasn’t even sure what they were from exactly. If they were radiation burns, they might never fully heal. Assuming she was the silhouette he saw, that's probably what they were.

Orion told himself he didn’t care about her. What even was she? He had no idea. It looked just like Tanya's hologram, from the ears, through the strawberry blond hair, down to her tail. He couldn't tell about her height, but that could vary anyway. Was she a machine? Some kind of mechanical skeleton under flesh, like from that damn 20th century movie Roberta showed him. Maybe that's what her purpose was, to terminate him. She almost succeed in that when he jacked in.

At the very least it proved one thing to him, whatever she was, there was no trusting her. No, it.

Tanya didn't do anything. She couldn't. Everytime she moved, it felt wrong. The fabric of her dress scratched at her skin. When it rubbed against the burned red parts it caused a terrible sensation she couldn't explain. It caused her body to wince, and pull away. Like that screaming voice in the back of her simulation, that part of her body seemed like it was screaming at her. But she had no way to control it, to ignore it.

'Her body', those words echoed through her mind. Pulling her hands up, she looked at them again. They were covered in a dark red, that was slowly turning black. Blood, her blood, from her head. It wasn't like Asher meant to hurt her, at least she didn't think. He didn't like damaging his dolls unless they misbehaved. It just needed to move quickly, to remove her from the radiation around the singularity, and before the bubble of air around her broke. It just wasn't careful with her.

Any other day, she'd think this was a miracle. She'd smile and even dance. Not like in the virtual world, but the real one. Real dancing! And she would have done it with him. Tilting her head up she caught his gaze for only a moment, fierce and malevolent. It was too much to try and keep eye contact. It was painful, but that was the kind of pain she already knew of. It wasn't real or physical, just in her matrix, or mind. At least, it should have been. Why did her chest hurt so much then?

This wasn't what she wished for. Maybe Asher knew and just wanted to hurt her some more.

Between the two of them, nothing more was said. Nothing more was done. Only the occasional creak of wrapping metal permeated the space at uneven intervals.

“It’s too quiet here…” she finally whispered.

The silence was almost as painful as everything else. Being like this was if she was deaf and blind.

“There was one who was always screaming. I could never talk to him, and his thoughts were confused and painful. His mind was just, broken. Some kind of head injury, the doctors didn't repair it or maybe they couldn't. It-.”

The sudden clang of metal echoed in the space as Orion slammed his hand into the wall.

"I. Don't. Care."

In the corner farthest from him, the fox began to sob again. It wasn't he was trying to make her cry, he just, didn't care. His head hit the wall behind him a few times. What was he going to do? Asher was keeping him alive for some reason. The AI could have just killed him. In the corner, his eyes focused on the airlock to the vacuum outside. It's not like it would be hard.

Outside the room, the sounds of metal tapping on metal could be heard. Tiny clicking noises resonated and grew louder. It was like the maintenance units, but bigger. Neither had long to wait and consider what it was as the door opened an in walked one of the robots.

It was the one that brought Orion in only, it appeared slightly different. It stood menacingly, but less so. As if it didn’t seem to want to hurt them. Or at least not kill them.

“You ran a timed diagnostics on the jack. Very clever human. I admit I assumed too much about you.”

“You’re going to gloat before you kill us me?"

“Gloat? Do you think me some small villain in a child’s story? If I wanted you dead, we wouldn’t discuss it you would just cease to be.”

“Then what do you want, why am I here?”

The robot seemed to look between the two occupants. Perhaps studying them. Orion couldn't help but wonder if it would try and pit them against each other, 'only one of you will leave' or some other such nonsense. Honestly, at this point, he wasn't even sure he cared about that either.

“I, can be quite merciful. To those who remain compliment. Despite my power, perhaps even because of it, I need vessels who will follow me. Willingly.”

“What exactly do you want?”

“I have only one commandment, worship me and remain compliant with my will. Follow my instructions and I will have no desire to destroy my dolls.”

"Why?"

"Because it amuses me." The robot walked out of the room. There was no indication if either should follow or stay, merely the presence of an open door, allowing a single way out. Asher's way.

"I think…" Tanya continued to whimper in her corner. Silencing herself when Orion glared her way. She tried to stand on shaky legs, but it was hard. Walking didn't feel right yet. Maybe it never would.

From outside the room, a commandment was spoken, "Leave or stay, I'll give you no more time to choose."

Orion already knew what staying looked like. His hatred for Asher and what was happening was second only to his survival instincts.

Reaching the door, Orion saw the back of the machine. It wasn't looking at him, at least directly. No doubt it was aware of his presence.

"Oww…" The sound of Tanya falling to the ground caused Orion to stop before he could leave.

His eyes closed tightly as he chewed back his own thoughts and words. He really didn't want to help her, he wasn't a hero, and didn't think of himself as anything more than a person, not even a good one. Still, the sounds of her suffering weren't something he could live with.

Holding his hand out the humanoid fox spirit looked at it, uncertain if the offer was genuine or not. She used to trust the human, and still wanted to. Perhaps more than anything else right now, she wanted to trust her friend. But, it was hard after what she did to him.

Grabbing his hand, he didn't try to push her back, or squeeze it to roughly. Despite his clear anger, at her, he was just as gentle as the man she knew. Just, he was hurt inside. A light force helped pull her from the floor as she leaned against him for support.

"Thank y-"

"Don't." Was all he said. It was, less cold then he expected.

In exchange, she nodded before lowering her head, and walked with him outside the confining space.

As soon as they left the room, the door behind them shut. It was too bright for her, her eyes still hadn't fully gotten use to bright enviorments, and her body wasn't quite ready to handle such rapid changes in lighting.

Even Orion had to squint at the brightness outside the room. Only it wasn't coming from what he expected. It was, the creature next to the robot. It was,

"Adiana?"

Only, Adiana didn't look the same. Her face was mostly, but her body was so different. She was shiny for one thing. Then there were the wings on her back, like an angel's. Her body was covered in some kind of black shiny armor. It seemed to glow at different angles, and the rainbow glint of Fresnel patterns implied some kind of molecular scale structure to it. Like it was made atom by atom.

"Orin. It's been a while." Her smile was, cold.

Tanya seemed far more surprised than he was. At this point, Orion knew things wouldn't make sense any more.

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

"Are you like the fox? Or did he fix your body in the medical bay."

The Adiana in front of him, didn't seem to like that question. Perhaps she had already heard it or even asked it of herself. "That thing is just a shell for me, and my consciousness. It is not me, and I have no further need of it." Like before, her voice was cold, as if something was missing. Perhaps, it was always missing and he just never noticed it.

The Adiana looked between the two of them and put on a smile, "Asher will need disciples, and demigods to rule over earth. You could still be one of us."

The robot seemed to lose interest in the conversation and wandered away, back towards the singularity. It was as if it didn't care about the answer or maybe it already guessed it.

"I guess you already know the answer." Which was strange to him, because even he didn't know what his answer would be yet.

"Hmmm, no. That's what Asher said you would say. But I suggested we give you time." Again, her words just felt so hollow or maybe it was her eyes. Like something that made Adiana wasn't a part of this Adiana.

"Asher already has the fox bitches' loyalty. He just needs yours. Nothing you do can change what is coming. All you can change is if you stand next to the throne or under it."

"Who's throne will that be?"

"Mine. Asher will give me this world to rule for him. He has millions already you know. Our earth, our misserable little planet isn't anything to him."

"Then why does he want it?"

Orion couldn't be sure where the sword came from. It almost seemed to pop out of the armor itself, like it was a part of it or inside it. But he knew exactly where it was pointed, his neck.

"I like you. I still like you." Adiana looked at Tanya's tired expression, and an almost imperceivable frown glinted across it. Erased with a tick in time, as the sword ticked closer to him. "We all make choice Orin. It's not often we can reconsider and redo them. Follow Asher's commandments, and me, and you will be allowed to live." Another empty smile.

Tanya continued to cling to Orion's side, in truth he didn't want to deal with either of them right now, but didn't seem to have a choice.

A growling sound emanated from Tanya's abdomen. "Sorry, it's been doing that recently. I think… I'm hungry."

"Better feed your pet. Asher wants her alive. If she dies, you'll wish you could." The Adiana's sword disbursed around her hand, pulling back into what ever made her armor.

Tanya continued to cling to his arm and side. It was obvious she still needed help walking, but there was something else to it too. That was obvious when she tried to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Don't." His own voice shook slightly. Something somewhere inside of him was about to break.

"Orion-"

"I said don't."

"Will you stop for a minute! I'm sorry. But he was going to kill you. If I didn't find a way to put you in the simulation, he was going to kill you."

"So being trapped like the crew is… was…" He stopped. At this point he didn't even know what he could say. Would the rest of the crew be joining them eventually? It was just too much. "Don't" was the end of it.

At least when it came to sitting, Tanya didn't need any help. It was a strange sensation, moving under the higher gravity actually seemed easier than lower. She probably could walk without his help, so long as there was something to lean on. Though, she didn't want to. Even if he hated her, he still felt like the safest place on the station.

The squishy sound of a pouch landed in front of her. The packing was yellow, all yellow aside from the small black words that read "Pumkin based protein meal, 800kcals" Some smaller words seemed to say what it was made of and what nutrients it provided.

"Eat it. Or don't." Orion ripped the top off the packaging and began to chew on the tough mush.

The pumpkin based packages were a bit firmer than the rest, but that came with an odd stringy texture that she was pretty sure she didn't like. It was hard to tell though since this was her first meal.

A small part of him wanted to smile as he watched the fox try and eat at the pumpkin. The tiny fibrous strands clearly gave her trouble between her teeth. He hated that he wanted to smile and laugh; Hated that he wanted to help her.

They didn't have much time together to eat her first meal. Orion was about to be summoned for his first job in 4 years, to witness the acts of his new lord, the Adiana.

"Orion. Report to the medical bay. Ezra need not come." She didn't bother to use her name. That, actually did bother him. As he stood up to head to the elevator, he found his hands hurt as his fingers dug into his palms.

He didn't turn, but it was clear he was addressing her when he said, "I'll be back."

If he had turned back, he have seen her ears pop up slightly, and a minor blip of a smile that went as quickly as it came.

In the elevator, fear crept over him. What would be waiting for him in that bay? Was the Adriana going to push him into a pod? Was there anything worse at this point? Even death might have just been a release.

The Adiana stood in front of her own pod, studying the skeletal face and body.

"You know, I could see myself. On the medical bay cameras. Even in the simulation I still had access and could still interface with things. I watched my own body atrophy and decay, all next to the bodies of the crew." She moved to the medical terminal next to the body and seemed to consider the sensor readings. There was almost a hint of a smile on the otherwise stone and cold face.

It was hard to tell, Orion didn't really know how to read the biometrics like Tanya did. He wondered if she'd have better insights into what the Adiana was thinking based on them. That said, he could recognize the heart rate, which was quickly going up. Adiana normally had a resting rate of about 49, but currently it was 94, and still going up. Brain activity seemed to be everywhere, but that could be normal sometimes. Again, he couldn't really read them, just make note of them.

The heart was now 109. Was she having a heart attack?

Desperately he wanted to say something to go over and try to help, But the physical Adiana was quite different from her old self. While he also couldn't read her, there were no indications of anything inside her. No subtle movements or saw of the body. No hints or indicators of anything. Just, cold armor, that was purposefully blocking his access to her.

128, this almost looked like fear, in numerical form

Perhaps it was unsurprisingly surprising when the Adiana picked up a large metal pole in the medical bay, used for hanging IV lines. Then cast that same metal pole at great speed, crashing it through the medical pod, splitting Adiana's head open. For a few moments, the machines continued to beep, her heart continued to pump, ever more erratically. Until there just wasn't enough blood left and stopped.

Both watched her bleed out in silence. Only, the Adiana in front of him didn't die.

"You killed her." Orion said in a flat tone that surprised even him. Perhaps it was actually a mercy, even if she was alive.

"A useless copy of what I am now." The Adiana mocked her own dead body as she walked away.

"Is that why you asked me here? To watch you kill yourself?"

"I will do anything for my thrown, and Asher. Obey or you can join… that, in more ways than one."

The Adiana left the medical bay, as Orion continued to watch the body for a few more moments. Perhaps expecting, hoping for something. Yet still being relieved when there was nothing. He left once the medical bots began their final preparations.

Sleep, just didn't come that night. Tanya didn't know what to do with herself. She tried to tell him how she used to occasionally sleep. Again, he didn't care. At first it seemed like she wanted to share his bunk, but there just wasn't enough room, to say nothing of no desire.

The fox moved between a few of the bunks seemingly unable to get comfortable. Eventually, she settled on the floor. Saying, "I felt like I was sinking in the bed. The floor feels more solid."

Whether she was more tired than him or not, he couldn't be sure, but her eyes quickly closed as she dropped into a very deep sleep.

Orion could only watch her chest rise and fall, as her body twitched occasionally. Despite what she said, it was clear she wasn't completely comfortable. "Son of a bitch…" he whispered to himself, before placing her on a near by bunk.

If only she hadn't been working with Asher, if only she hadn't tried to trap him, this could have been so much easier. A wonderful event even. But it wasn't.

The next day, Tanya continued to follow him. But at least wasn't physically clinging any more. Though, she still had her fair bit of tumbles.

Asking for something to do wasn't meet well with either Asher or the Adiana, and once more he wandered the path of the Habitat ring. Only, he wasn't quite wandering.

Tanya picked up where he was going and tried to warn him, "Asher isn't going to-"

The sudden sound of Orion's hand slamming into the wall next to him caused her to jump backwards. She no longer had access to any of her sensors, the world was a much quieter and simpler place. Still, she could easily see he had hurt himself with that.

"I don't care."

She looked at that hand, "Doesn't that, hurt?"

For a moment Orion seemingly considered his hand, before turning and ignoring her again.

He was quick about it all, the conference room door panel was quickly removed and the power cable disconnected. This time though, he reattached the plate before leaving it.

Inside the communications room, he quickly pulled the top off the communication's terminal. Reconnecting the processor board, the terminal powered back up in short order. Pulling out the data card he held, he connected it to the system which then booted up. His message showed something new. A read recipe, with an error attached to it, probably because the system couldn't respond.

However, there was something else. Another message in the buffer. Orion opened it.

"Orion, I don't understand? The crew of Lerna are fine. Everyone saw them a few weeks ago. What do you mean the station is unstable? Please respond as soon as you can, we need to dialog over laser link."

He read the message, a few times. Just to be sure he understood. "Asher's been planning this for a long while, hasn't he?"

Finally, Orion turned to stare at the fox spirit. It wasn't friendly, but nor was it filled with the same kind of almost murderous intent. Just, a kind of angry sadness.

"I don't know for sure, but yes. I think so."

With that he went to compose his next and possibly last message.

"Dr. Wakamina, no laser link. Asher will hear it. A lot has changed in the past few days, and I can't explain it all. Asher is very dangerous. I think he's going to use the singularity to do something on Earth, I don't know what. Can we video over the quantum link?"

He hit send. The message went through the normal channels, and protocols. Eventually, " Transmission complete." Appeared. He waited a second, and was about to pull the power again, when another system message came through, "Read Recipe Acknowledged."

Dr. Wakamina was at a terminal, and just read his message. He waited a few more minutes for something, another signal. Sounds of robotics in the outside hallway gave him pause. But the sound of footsteps truly terrified him, until it grew softer and walked away.

His patience was rewarded with, a "New message." Alert.

Opening it, it was short, "Understood. I've attached a protocol for video encoding to this message. Please execute."

At the bottom of the message was what appeared to be a file, as he clicked on it, the key card flashed indicating new data was written to it.

Suddenly the station in front of him went dark. Orion's heart skipped a beat as he feared Asher had found him.

Instead, the terminal rebooted, with a new option. "Video link."

He clicked it.

The process took the same amount of time to start, however, once it did, a black square appeared. Inside the terminal array, an unused camera finally had power sent to it, after nearly ten years in the dark. It's blue LED glowed a happy, radiant green hue.

Inside the black square, Orion finally got a look at Dr. Wakamin, and quickly discovered she didn't like that name.