Tor pulled out his holo-terminal back at his cramped office, please Shreya, answer this time, he mumbled to himself. It had been over two weeks since he had heard from her. He straightened his shirt and brushed off some crumbs, ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, and called her.

A small translucent minifig of Shreya appeared above his terminal. Her normal skin color was replaced with a blue translucent 3D model from the chest up. As usual, she looked stunning and Tor gave her a half-smile and waved.

She looked busy and annoyed when she finally looked up at the holo terminal. “What do you want Tor?” She asked while handing papers to an unknown, Tor saw her waving people out of the office but he got the feeling Shreya had changed from the girl he had picked up from the streets of Derensay. He wasn’t sure he could trust this new Shreya.

“I just want to check on you and make sure you’re ok.” Tor furrowed his brow. "I mean, we did work together for the past nine, almost ten, years."

“Well, as you can see I’m doing just fine Tor. I don’t need you hovering over my shoulder." She seemed to sit down and started giving Tor her full attention. "In case you missed it, I’ve been given a new title of Air inquisitor, tasked with discovering the reason for the air shortage and resolving the issue if possible." She had a smug expression on her face as though she thought Tor was jealous of her new title.

“I can see you’re very important Shreya." Tor furrowed his brow, "I’ve read everything you’ve written. It's excellent.” Tor paused, the truth hurts sometimes-she needs to know. “Shreya, ---"

"I’m not your assistant anymore Tor. I have assistants to edit my findings.” Tor could see her suppress a smile, Who is this person?

Binard shuffled in the back door, carrying several boxes and shutting the door loudly with his foot. Binard had no subtlety.

"I think Varnusha has not been completely honest with you. I think he’s using you like a straw man. He’s setting you up and making all appearances seem as though you are in charge, but he’s withholding information so when you fail he will be able to blame the death of millions on you and he will be the hero who saves the remainders.” Shreya’s face turned to stone and her nostrils flared. “You need to know, I can help you get out of this, but you have to let me help you…”

“I can’t believe you Tor.” She cut him off and stood to her feet and leaned toward the holo-terminal to make sure he saw her eyes, “I have finally found a position that recognizes me for my full potential. My full abilities are being used, and you can’t stand it. I’m going to break open this story without your help and I may just take over your job too while I'm at it. What will you do then Tor? When the student becomes the teacher? When Henear turns its back on you and sees me as their new champion, perhaps I’ll let you be my assistant.” Her face filled the entire holo now. Tor didn't even recognize her anymore.

“Shreya, I never asked for this job. You can have it." Tor pushed away from the holo and put his hands up in surrender. "I just want Henear to be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, I thought you knew that. I thought we were in this together.” Tor hung his head and took a couple of deep breaths.

"We were never in this together Tor." Shreya pushed back from the holo now too, her face looked hurt. "You never let me in on your plans. In the whole nine and half years we worked together, you never once let me meet your confidants. You never once asked me to do anything to help break a story but make your coffee and clean your office. We've never been in this together." She spat the last sentence out and Tor couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Is that really what you think?" Tor asked her. "You were everything to me Shreya. I was only so effective because of you. I thought you knew that."

“I know exactly what I’m doing here Tor and exactly where I’m going. When I’ve fixed this problem there will be no doors closed to me. I will reshape Henear into something you only dreamed of. You always said Henear had more potential than the original colonists said. I will help Henear realize it. Now if that is all you wanted to say, I need to be going.” She said it seethingly through her teeth and Tor knew he had lost her.

What are we going to do now? Our whole plan rested on Shreya being a willing participant. I need to contact Zhara and Maks. “I hope you know what you’re doing Shreya.” Tor looked into her eyes, then dropped them to his desk. His holo-terminal went dark and Binard walked up behind him crunching on his cereal.

“Wow, what’s her problem?” He said between bites. “A bit big for her britches eh? If she’s as important as she says let’s just follow her and see where she goes.” He shrugged, and Tor could’ve kissed him. Instead, he got up and gave him a big hug.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Uhh, sir?" Binard said awkwardly while he held his cereal bowl above his head.

"You're stupidly brilliant Binard. C'mon, let's go. I have some friends I want you to meet." Tor determined he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. It was the end of the world unless something changed and Tor knew Binard would never willingly hurt Tor or his friends. He would have to risk it.

"You have friends sir?" Binard asked while setting his half-eaten bowl on the small counter in the kitchen.

"Not enough." He grabbed their air canisters and coats and they walked out into the rainy night.

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

When Andromeda woke up Carter and Zayd were sleeping by her bedside on chairs with their feet kicked up. Both men had aged well these past 25 years, better than she had, having been strapped and attached to the Pytheas.

Her real body was thin and fragile, so atrophied, it would never walk for her again. Her hair had fallen out long ago and only a few wispy strands remained. Her skin was grey and translucent. Her mother had convinced her as a young healthy girl this would only be temporary, and it would allow her to go places and experience life in a way she never could have back on Chronos.

In this moment, watching her friends care for her pathetic frail body made her so angry at her mother for letting this happen. Her own mother, who should have loved her best, used her and let her body go to waste so she could go off on her own mission.

She let her transmitters show she was awake to the men in the room. She kept her image as she remembered herself, young and strong. It was how she chose to present herself to the crew. While everyone knew who she was and how she had been integrated into the ship, only a few knew her as she truly was. Weak and pathetic.

"Carter, Zayd, you didn't need to sleep here." She spoke quietly to them and they both woke and stretched.

"We know Anj." Carter replied and stretched out his back. "We were worried about you. I had to drug you to sleep in order to stabilize the ship and I know you hate when that happens." Carter reached out and held her real hand, somewhere in the back of her mind she registered it feeling rough and warm. "I'm sorry Anj, I didn't know what else to do. The flickers are becoming more frequent." Carter looked up at her, his eyes and brows creased with worry.

Zayd was starting to come around, he always had a hard time waking up. "I was the one who ordered it Anj." He rested his head on his hand while he talked, "We can't keep this a secret from Keisha and Fiolas anymore. They want to help you, they care about you." He put his hand on her other real hand. "We all do Anj."

Andromeda gave them both a smile which quickly turned into a frown, "I'm sorry. I don't know why this is happening. I don't think I was supposed to be integrated into this ship for this long. Our mission was only supposed to last ten years, this has far exceeded that."

Carter let go of her hand, "Is there something more Anj? I know you were upset at seeing the fifth earlier, but these flickers have been happening since before then."

Andromeda let the silence answer for her. She had kept her secret of all the Andromeda's she was now responsible for. She wasn't about to tell anyone now. So she hadn't seen Andromeda Sr. for quite some time, that didn't mean she wasn't just fine wandering in what had now become a massive garden. There were a lot of places to get lost in.

Zayd noticed the worry on her face. "Anj, you know you can trust us right? We're your family. How can we help?"

She would have to give them something. "I'll talk to Keisha myself about the flickers. I promise." She had grown to love everyone on the ship in their own way, but Keisha was truly the only one Andromeda trusted completely. Maybe she could tell her most of the truth. Keisha was good at solving problems.

"I think I just need to rest and be alone for a little while." She tried to reassure the two men.

Zayd took the bait, "Ok Anj. I should probably get back to Grayson and Celeste." Zayd had always wanted a family and he had created a beautiful one here on the Pytheas. He had married a researcher from the robotics team within the first few years and had been the proud father of the first child born on the Pytheas.

Zayd patted her real hand and stroked her real face. The face that tormented Andromeda, but she craved the touch on her skin. She felt her image start to flicker and quashed it before it could get big enough for the men to notice. Zayd nodded goodbye to Carter and left.

Carter sat back down in the chair next to Andromeda's still body and rubbed her arm. Carter had never married. Andromeda had always wondered about that. He was a handsome man, strong and full of life. Everyone on board respected him and looked up to him. He could have chosen any of the women on board if he had wanted to.

Carter looked up at her, "You're not going to fool me as easily as Runslo." He kept rubbing her arm gently, like a father comforting a sick child. "The doc told me you've been refusing to sleep lately." He looked up at her, brows raised, expecting an answer.

"You can't keep the ship running without sleeping yourself." Carter didn't wait too long for an answer. "Your body may not need the sleep, but your mind does. If you keep making poor choices, we're going to have to step in and make you sleep again."

Andromeda looked anywhere but straight at him. Sleep was a respite for everyone but her. Her mind garden hadn't been a place of respite for a long time now. The only time she enjoyed it was when the man would come and wander around with her. But he wasn't real. That wasn't an option for someone like her. She had stopped sleeping to try and stop dreaming about him.

Finally, she looked at Carter. "I'll get some sleep. I promise. For now, I just want to be alone for a little while."

"You got it." He squeezed her arm one last time and got up. "I'll give you three days to talk to Keisha, then I'm telling her myself."

Andromeda nodded in acknowledgment and Carter finally left. Andromeda looked down at herself and saw tears falling from her eyes. She hadn't even realized she had been crying.