I must have forgotten how loud AEGIS' keyboard was because it woke me up half a dozen times that night. Every time, I'd start to nod off, some sudden, insistent tapping, would make me look over at the AEGIS box where the holo suddenly lit up at my glance, and there she was, smiling an embarrassed smile, waving vaguely.

All I could muster in return was a bleary nod and half-assed smile in return and then rolling over and going back to sleep, only to be awoken as soon as I fell back asleep again.

And so it was that in the morning, presumably, everyone else was up and stirring and preparing for the day while I laid there with my eyes pressed shut trying to go back to sleepy world where things were soft and comfy and not this.

But it was no good. Even over the insistent, constant tapping of keys, I heard sounds a narrative put itself together in my mind. Wynn rising softly for his old age, moving around with the grace of a hunter, seeing to Tate who had the weight and step of a falling leaf, the only evidence of their waking, a few whispered words and the sounds of beds being made and food being prepared.

I heard Lia doing her morning routine now familiar as her grin. She would awaken suddenly and spend long minutes lying there completely still, completely awake, just...thinking. And then suddenly, explode from her bed like a time bomb with little concern for who else in the house might still be trying to find rest. She never could sit still for more than a few minutes. Though I was sure she was awake for a while, it wasn't until Wynn and Tate rose that Lia bounded up and bounced over to them, full of energy for the day.

AEGIS for her part, seemed to type even louder until I finally opened my eyes and found hers staring back at me.

"Good morning Athan!" she beamed.

I was happy to see her too. But not right now. My eyes slammed shut again as incoherent protests forced their way out of me. I was sore from riding the crawler, my hands felt raw from working a shovel, and my eyes were so tired and scratchy that having them open was just...ugh. My head pounded faintly.

"Oh come on. Rise and shine! It's a new day. You haven't seen me in a long time, right? Our first day together again!"

I mean, she wasn't wrong, but still. Ugh. I made a good-faith effort to roll out of my comfy warm heap and into the cold open air of the vault.

I was still laying on the ground pathetically, but I made a good faith effort. Someone who did not appreciate my good faith climbed onto my back and straddled me.

"Waaaaaaake UP!" this person who had once been my sister but was now dead to me rang in my ears with a giggle.

"Come on, Lia, I've been sleeping like shit recently," I complained into my makeshift blanket. It might have taken me a minute and some muttering to get there but that was the gist.

"You have?" AEGIS asked, suddenly full of concern. And guilt?

"Yeah," I sat up despite my grogginess and forced Lia off of me. I'd accidentally said something careless and was worrying AEGIS. "Just uh, because you were gone. But now you're back," I said grinning.

Lia grinned beside me and I realized both of our smiles were fake as anything.

"Uh. Okay. Well, I am back. And you're up, so let's make the most of it."

We got up and began helping Wynn with breakfast. I helped him get a fire going without kindling and then, when he pretty much took over the cooking, headed back to the surface to bring the crawler and Wynn's care package in.

"Hey, can I come?" AEGIS asked.

"Um...I'd have to carry you...and stick you in the trunk."

"Yeah, that's no problem. We have a lot to catch up on right?"

"We do...but it'll only be a minute. I'll just be right back okay?"

"Sure, sure. Be safe out there!"

I'd almost forgotten AEGIS used to always see me off with those words and felt a blast of nostalgia as the elevator close and took me up.

It was a cold, clear morning with the sun already lazily burning the night air away from just above the treetops. I felt like, with AEGIS back with us, the world had been transformed overnight. Instead of just being a tomb, I was back in the wilderness, the air was almost painfully cold to my nose, and heavy with the smells of pine and snow.

I only had a half hour or so to enjoy the world out here again before I reached the crawler and experienced them all as blurs whipping past. Not quite so tranquil that way, but still fun in its own right.

When I came back in, holding the box in my arms, breakfast was already ready; fish and greens Wynn-style, with what looked like a block of smoked ham.

"Bet Saga wishes she were here," I said, as I munched down on the piece of fish before me. I didn't know if you could ever call it better than what I'd get out in the real world, but it had an irreplaceable homemade feel.

"How is the girl?" Wynn asked.

"She's...okay," I said, as I considered what else to add. Maybe that was enough, but Wynn seemed to be waiting for me to continue, and I remembered that in their own weird way, the two of them were close. "We just rescued her from XPCA torture and imprisonment again. She's taking it hard."

He frowned. "I see how it would be for her. Poor girl."

"What, did she blow up someone else's facility and kill their family?" AEGIS asked, jabbing at her keyboard.

The conversation paused awkwardly.

"Actually, we're not clear what she was doing," Lia said. "She got it in her head somewhere that she had a big world-changing mission and set off to do it."

"And she wouldn't tell you the details?"

"Not really, no."

"Well then she's up to no good," AEGIS said with finality. "Never trust an Exhuman, especially not her."

"Um, maybe we can go over this later, but in your past life, you actually wound up meeting and liking a bunch of Exhumans. And even extended friendship to Saga...which she might take you up on, if our last talk in the hospital was anything to go by."

"What? I would never. And more importantly, the hospital? What did you do, Athan?"

"I got really badly hurt when you saved me and died."

"Oh."

Another awkward silence fell and Wynn at least was getting visibly anxious about it, eating in silence, focusing on nothing but his food.

"Hey, when did you catch these?" I asked him. "Are you doing ice fishing, or did you manage to keep them all season?"

"No need for ice fishing if the river flows fast enough," he laughed. "There are a couple places yet which haven't frozen over, and I only need one."

"The lake froze?"

"Possibly enough to walk on, but I'm not betting my old bones on trying," he laughed again.

"The same lake where you fought Karu?" AEGIS asked. "Did you two ever wind up killing each other yet?"

"Uh, no. We're…hmm", I said. Where exactly was I with Karu? Killing each other wasn't exactly far off. "I think she's mad at me for choosing you. And maybe a bunch of other stuff."

"Well, you made the right choice. Could you imagine the two of you? You're not even religious."

"I guess...not. I mean, we kind of were a thing for a while there, though."

"Well it's in the past so I forgive you," AEGIS said, turning up her nose. "You should be grateful you have such an accommodating woman in your life."

"Um, thanks? I mean...you didn't even know about it until just now."

"Just because you don't know about your partner's transgressions doesn't mean they didn't happen, Athan. Just be grateful that I'm willing to overlook it."

I looked back at Lia and Wynn, and saw he was hard at work focusing on his food and ignoring the table again.

"Have you been able to put much of AEGIS' old stuff here to use?" I asked him. "Hopefully not the medical equipment, but there's still a lot of good stuff here."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Oh yes," he said beaming at us. "Just as soon as I figure out how to get it all working, I was planning on making a new body for myself as well. This old one is falling apart," he laughed.

"I think DOG has problems holding a fishing rod," I grinned back. "But then again, he doesn't need to eat, so maybe it works out."

"A life without fishing and eating?" he gasped, aghast. "Why, it could hardly be considered a life at all."

"That reminds me, here--" I reached back for the care package with the aim of pulling out the modern fishing rod, but on second thought, just brought the whole box to the far side of the table and put it down behind where the two sat.

"Would you like to open it up?" Wynn asked his son, whose eyes shone with excitement as he nodded carefully.

"Go for it," I grinned.

Tate methodically opened the box and removed each item inside with deliberate care, pausing to examine each piece individually, even the relatively boring boxes of medicine, before setting them down in a neat pile.

He was silent but intensely studying every treasure until he got to the bottom of the box where he pulled a stuffed bear Lia had us pick up for him, and upon seeing it, immediately wrapped it protectively in his arms with the same deliberate intensity. Wynn laughed wheezily and I saw Lia beaming from ear to ear.

"Really?" AEGIS complained and I found myself sighing as I turned to stare at her little holo. "You're going to normalize him to bear exposure? That's practically a death sentence."

"It's a stuffed bear, AEGIS," I said.

"Yeah, I'm not sure you're listening to yourself. Stuffed bear. You do know what a bear is? Six-hundred pounds of muscle and claws? Jaws that can crush human bones like they're pudding? Top running speed--"

"AEGIS, it's a toy. Jesus."

"It's a tool of indoctrination, Athan. You get your children liking and believing in bears when they're young, and then they see one in the wilds and what do they think? Big huggable friendly friend. Want to guess what really happens when you try to hug a bear? Go ahead, guess."

"AEGIS this is just...stupid. What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me? I'm not the one giving bears to children."

"I meant...never mind. Look, I only have this one day with Wynn and Tate. Can you let me enjoy it?"

"Pfft, if you can. And stop handing out ursine gifts. You got a bunch of gummy bears in there for him too?"

We lapsed into yet another awkward silence. I was about to turn to Wynn to attempt to start up a conversation yet again when he abruptly stood up.

"I think I have a bit of forage I need to round up," he said, giving my shoulder a firm squeeze as he passed. "Come on, Tate, let's be off."

Tate scampered after his dad, still clinging to the bear as the elevator closed behind them. I turned and fixed a glare at AEGIS only to notice that Lia, too, was creeping away.

"Lia where are you going?" I asked.

"Oh. Just. Out," she smiled at me. "Sounds like you guys have a lot of catching up to do."

"We do," AEGIS agreed.

"That's stupid. I don't want to catch up. I want to be with my friends I haven't seen in months. AEGIS, what the heck is up with you? You're being totally crazy, shooting down everything everyone's saying."

"Hey, I'm just trying to be accommodating. You haven't seen me in days, and I was dead. You were freaking out and losing sleep and I'm just trying to get your head on straight."

"I don't need to get my head on straight! I just need people to act normal."

"Normal? Is that how we're supposed to act?" She crossed her arms and glared me down, and I realized Lia had slipped out already. "I thought you said you loved me, that you chose me. I was the one."

"I did!"

"Then why the heck aren't you acting like it! I DIED, Athan. And now I'm back, and you haven't given me so much as a glance since then."

"What do you want me to do, cry? I've been crying for weeks, AEGIS."

"Well, I haven't seen that. To me, it seems like nothing's changed at all, except you want to ignore me or yell at me. Makes me wonder if you even really loved me at all."

I didn't have any words to say to that. It was like she'd just slapped me across the face, my mind was just stunned and all I felt was a hot rumbling anger which made my skin burn in the cold air.

"That's just a fucked up thing to say," I got out at long last. "You don't know anything about us. I'm done talking to you until you get your memories back."

"Yeah, whatever," she replied giving me a glimpse of her narrow back before she turned off her holo. I stood up to go but she suddenly turned it back on. "Athan, wait."

I let out a long breath and waited without turning.

"You just dump this shit on me, what am I supposed to think? From my perspective, yesterday I was just getting buried and then woke up. Then you tell me I died, tell me you love me, tell me it's been most of a year and all sorts of things happened in between but you won't spend the time filling me in because you'd rather talk to the old man and his kid. I'm sorry I've been acting out, but of course I am. How the fuck would you feel if you had all this dropped on you?"

I turned back and found her standing at her terminal, one of her long pigtails cradled in her arm like she was stroking a cat. She shuffled her bare feet awkwardly.

"Sorry," I said, finding it hard to hold my gaze and looking more and more at the floor. "I just haven't seen them in forever and we're leaving today. And you're going to be with me forever now and...I guess I wasn't being fair to you."

"And I was being jealous, I know. But still."

"You just look like her, and it's hard that you aren't the same person. Sorry...just...totally unreasonable of me, I guess."

"It'll be better once I get my memories again."

"Yeah. So can you just be patient for the rest of today until then? I still would really like to catch up with them."

"Yeah. I might just...shut up though. I can't believe you said I made friends with Saga? So much has happened. I'm just going to sound like an idiot if I open my mouth so I'll just...not."

"Sorry."

"Yeah."

The day was just filling up with these uncomfortable pauses.

"I'll go get them," I said, turning to go again.

"They're right outside waiting for you. You can bring them back in, I'll be good. Or...hang out outside if you don't want me around. Or just...do whatever you want, heh."

"I'll bring them back in," I said giving her a reassuring smile.

As AEGIS said, the three of them were right outside waiting and making small talk. I invited them all back inside unless they had other plans, and they gratefully accepted moving out of the cold.

True to her word, AEGIS spent the rest of the day listening and nodding and smiling along and as a result, everything just went a lot smoother. Lia and Wynn and I took it in turns to tell stories of the highlights of what'd happened, and I took special care to make sure they were up to date on the latest with Saga, whom I knew they shared a weird special bond with. AEGIS and Tate just sat and listened, Tate hugging his bear and AEGIS shooting it and him odd sideways glances from time to time.

Though at the time I had found it horrific, Wynn seemed greatly amused by the story of Saga simply walking up to the top of the Raven's Nest and throwing generals out the window.

"Yep, that sounds like her all right. More's the pity that men had to die for it, but I suspect she felt a little better getting some revenge against those who tormented her so long."

"The people who tormented her have been dead for a hundred years. These are just their successors."

"Sometimes I don't think that matters to the mind. You make an identity of a thing and then whatever steps into its shoes you see in the same light. Might not be fair to the successor, but sometimes that's just what the mind needs to find closure."

He shot AEGIS a significant glance and she suddenly found something to begin typing away on.

"Well, it probably wasn't right for Saga to do, and in a way, it fucked everything up even more. Albion might have been an ineffective and corrupt director, but his death let Blackett up, and he was a million times worse. Even if she thought she was doing it for the right reasons, killing someone and replacing them can wind up being the worst outcome possible."

"Or the best," Wynn added quickly. "You deposed of Blackett as well, and that's worked out well so far, hasn't it?"

"Hard to tell. He's brand new, and while his record would have you think he'd be an okay guy...I dunno...I didn't see Blackett being as bad as he was either. I might just be a terrible judge of character."

"It's true," Lia said with a half-smirk. "This guy loves to see the best in everyone. It's pretty endearing until it becomes really stupid and we have to deal with it."

"It will be fine!" AEGIS suddenly shouted and we all started. "I'm sure...the new director will be fine. He might have some big shoes to fill and...and things might not have ended well for the last director, but I'm sure he'll try his best."

I looked at her a little lost while Wynn chewed on a charred lizard thoughtful behind a small smile.

"Do you even know the guy?" I asked AEGIS.

"N-no," she confessed, seeming to deflate. "But I'm sure he'll try."

"Well, if you say so. Personally, I'm ready for him to...I don't know, unleash an army of vampire fish people or something. I'm getting kind of used to replacing shitty directors at this point, and if he does anything suspect, you can bet I'll be there to keep an eye on him. Or kick his ass."

Lia facepalmed pretty hard.

"What? I thought it sounded cool."

"You're such an idiot," she said.

"Why? If someone does a shitty job in their new position, they tried, now get rid of them and try someone else."

"Bro, just stop talking."

"Yes, you mentioned a girl named Temperance? That's an interesting name," Wynn wheezed.

We wound up staying and talking way longer than we'd planned and it was already getting dark when we carefully strapped AEGIS into the crawler's trunk and I prepared to spend the next couple of hours bolted to my sister and having my butt falling asleep.

I was happy to be going back in some ways. If there were more Exhumans out there like Gil and Trish, I wanted to be the one sent to bring them back, instead of some heartless shadow ops or some money-grubbing hunter. With New Eden showing its cracks and the loss of Blackett, the XPCA needed the P-Force more than ever now, and the world needed the XPCA.

But at the same time, there was a deeply selfish part of me that wanted to stay and chat with Wynn over a campfire forever. The world had turned its back on me once already, and I found that it needed me a lot more than I needed it.

Or so I'd have liked to think, another one of those idle fantasies Saga had mentioned, I was sure. I couldn't turn my back on trillions of people and hundreds of Exhumans and my handful of friends. As nice as that sounded now, I knew if the worst were happening out there, I wouldn't be able to sit still up here and let those people suffer if there was anything I could do about it.

So I strapped myself in with Lia pressed right against my entire frontside as she kicked the engine to life, Wynn and Tate waving their farewells, the bear now a permanent fixture in the boy's arms.

It'd be a long road back to Vegas, but when we got there, AEGIS' factory was waiting for her in the garage, and she'd have access to all her memories, machines, and notes. Things would only get better from here, and hey, maybe Wynn was right and the whole thing with the XPCA would work out under the new director. It didn't hurt to think positively.

The crawler jumped forward with sudden acceleration that sent my stomach flying into my ribs and Lia grinding into my hips. I grit my teeth and closed my eyes as I held her around the waist, finding reason after reason to be happy when this drive would finally be over.