They walked back to the mansion, now getting light outside, holding hands and smiling like they were a team again. They stepped into the kitchen and Silverback was smiling from ear to ear, sipping his coffee.

“Oh no. Looks like someone got over their little issue.” Silverback muttered.

“It’s not what you think.” Vinn smiled. “But it was enlightening.”

“Yea call it whatever sugar-coated thing you want. I know make up sex face when I see it"

“He finally gets me.” She blushed.

“We both get each other.” He said, ruffling her hair.

“Oh, it’s about time you guys finally started banging again. For like a week there we were all worried. Separate beds, the suspicious looks. I don’t know what you were fighting about, but I’m glad someone won and you people have some glow again. Marriage is tough, you fight, you protest, you both hold your ground. Not my business, but who broke first?”

“He made the first move. Finally manned up and said his peace, and I just couldn’t help but confess everything.”

“Well I drugged her and cuffed her to the couch.” He shrugged.

“You two little jokesters. Welcome back to the sunny side of the moon."

Jack sat at the edge of the ship’s deck, watching the sun rise, as hooves approached.

“You know…” Jack said, sipping his coffee. “They say humans can’t tell the difference between the hologram sky and a real one, but I’ve seen so many that I feel like I can tell. It’s nice to see the sun rise, an actual sun actually appearing on the lunar horizon, not an arc plasma ball on a track going over a dome.”

“You’re not exactly the mindless killing machine I heard about. Unless you’re actively trying to be. Just seems like every time we meet, you have to be.” Hyde yawned.

“Funny, I could say the same thing about you. I met Kraken a bunch of times, and he was a piece of shit every time. According to Vinn, that was historically accurate. You almost seem normal here in your little floating castle. And Nicole doesn’t look at you the same way, like some fascinating horror monster she hates and fears.”

“She’s different now, Jacky. Circumstances and evolution.”

“I mean the one you got hostage, not the one down there.” He corrected.

“Hostage…very upsetting word to use. Lot of ones you could have used instead you know. Guest, friend, mutual associate.”

“Well I don’t think she agreed to be here, those others usually involve consent and awareness.” Jack said finishing his cup and standing. Circling away from the edge a little bit.

“So are we about to fight it out over her? You do realize she is staying here now of her own free will, regardless of how she got here. She understands the situation.”

“Then make me understand it, because I’m missing some key pieces and you keep not providing them.”

“Jack it’s simple, Nicole down there is spending some time with her friends, they’re just as much hers as your Nicole’s. Your Nicole is only not allowed to leave because it blows the entire thing wide open, and she knows that. She’s staying to let the other one say goodbye, and we’re getting along, just like I would have guessed. They’re not that different.”

“I agree. I’ve been monitoring the conversations down there. I figured out your Nicole was hiding with them when Vinn figured it out. I had both houses bugged, activated that when I first got stuck up here. I understand their situation as much as any outsider can, and I think I understand why Vinn isn’t saying anything, and why My Nicole isn’t telling me it’s her. We don’t seem to be enemies after all, and our families don’t seem to conflict, so I’m not saying anything either. I’m letting it ride. I haven’t even told Gizzy.”

Why do I feel like there’s still one puzzle piece that doesn’t fit?" Hyde sighed.

“Well, that’s because you wanna kill my boss for reasons that don’t add up. She says she has a consent form signed by Kraken to be cloned, which really makes it HIS fault you’re here, all she did was break a cloning law that frankly is rooted in superstition you don’t seem to believe anymore. The second clone of Nicole that you freed was only active because Gandalf needed her to sell. Which means Gizzy fucked up and missed some unforeseen complications, but it’s hardly grounds for murder. And then there’s the matter of a dead counsel member you stabbed, which Gizzy is getting the blame for. I assume part of her planned downfall that you were happy to allow. But he was the one who was going to turn Nicole into a living lab rat. So the more evidence that is piling up seems to look like your real enemy is the guy you already killed, and I assume that’s the real reason you’re afraid to go down there.”

“Amazing how even stuck up here you seem to handle the situation. She got you cloned too running around doing missions under my snout?”

“Actually you can thank Special Agent Vinn for some of that. He’s the Jack on the ground for now. He figured out your little swap, he helped Gizzy track down the real buyer, everything is documented and filed for the council to see in her defense.”

“And you’re still sure she didn’t fabricate all of it?” Hyde asked.

“Why are you so sure she did? Hyde, you felt betrayed and wronged, and you were, by a lot of people. One of them was yourself. You can’t blame a dead you for it, there’s no vengeance to be had. Nicole’s had a lot of bad luck and circumstances, and you want a villain for her justice too. Gizzy just fits the mark. You’re still a Delmarian soldier on some level. What do you call it, stealing your kill? Taking the honor you claimed when you trained for a war she ended, and then here you are still wondering if you have a soul or not, and your culture takes that very personal. Gizzy offended your culture, changed a lot of your old ways, and she does have a certain villainous quality to her, I will admit. Don’t we all? What’s your kill count? How many of them were defending yourself and the innocent, and how many did Kraken kill for glory and the old ways?”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“Lot of twisted gray’s and things that may or may not count. Lot of emotions, Jacky."

The part I’m not okay with, is you starting a fight with Gizzy, not one based on vengeance. You really think you could take her down?”

“Not really. Dying in battle is an honor. If there’s a way to get a soul back, challenging a corrupted god and dying for it sounds like a good bet. What if the old legends are true and i can earn back my soul trying? You know I can’t win, so why get between us?” Hyde asked as tiny footsteps approached.

“Because he’s trying to save your life, you dumb fuzzball.” Nicole said eavesdropping. He sighed, annoyed that he didn’t hear her approach.

I keep forgetting you wear softer shoes than she does.” He said.

“And I would feel terrible if you went and died for some stupid honor contest. I didn’t want Vinn to get killed for it, and I don’t want you getting killed. You kept it from the other me because it would break her heart to lose you and have nobody. That’s why you swapped us. You wanted them to accept her, so when you got yourself killed for honor or your soul or whatever it is, they would take us both. But we can’t share Vinn and she can’t replace you. So what’s the point?”

“Because I have to prove I’m not him. To myself, to everyone down there that knew Kraken and the bastard he was. I have to prove I’m different, maybe that earns my soul back, maybe there is no such thing, and it just gets a little respect back to my name and my honor. You can’t understand. I have a lifetime of memories being raised for honor and glory. That’s all I know and have. It’s my heritage, my culture, my world. If I cower up here like a broken dog, then it just proves cloned Delmarians have no soul or honor, and it proves to me that I’m not better than he was. I need to know. I need to try.”

“Actually I agree.” Jack said. “He needs to do it. Gizzy approved the idea.”

“WHAT!? WHY? Nicole asked.

“Because Kraken volunteered to be cloned, and we have proof that the medical aspect works, but the soul is the problem. Delmarian cloning is illegal, and thousands die every day that could be saved if someone could show the council that clones still have a soul. If he comes back better than before, ready to forgive the man who killed him in the arena for honor, and he’s willing to fight Gizzy, who Kraken was afraid of…it may show that he’s got more honor and soul than before. True or not, if a few members on the opposing side of the council switch opinions on cloning, it might get the laws overturned. Right now he has no rights, no name, he doesn’t exist. He could be legally shot in the back on public streets by any of Kraken’s enemies, and nobody would touch them for it. He’s lost his home too, Nicole. He’s lost his Delmarian rights.

"So he has to die to prove he should live, or hide away in order to be dead inside. That’s not fair.” She barked.

“No it’s not.” Jack said, “This whole system is fucked and unfair, Gizzy’s just trying to unfuck it one technicality at a time. Progress takes steps, Nicole."

“So clone him again, go die for your stupid honor, and then come back.” she barked.

“That is the plan, but there are risks.” Jack reminded. He may not come back the same, he may not even come back at all. Delmarian cloning is brand-new science. Look how different he is after one copy. You’re different yourself, and you have 1 percent unknown DNA, he’s a whole uncharted creature. The body is one thing, but the Delmarian brain is unstudied, and THAT is why Gizzy recruited him for the tunnels. She was studying him the whole time, running scans and taking data for the clone. But Kraken was too arrogant to think he could be killed, especially by Vinn. Woopse.” Jack said.

“Kraken signed up for the money, and he died for it.” Hyde said. “And I suffer for his sins. So I either accomplish nothing and live like a nobody, and Nicole will follow me to nowhere and her life will be little at best. Or I die like man to prove to them that we CAN be cloned back with a soul, and Nicole can come home, see her friends. We roll the dice on whether or not I come back, and what comes back. Either way, she is better off and so is a broken legal system. I thought I was an accident, Jack. I’m no accident, I have a purpose, I see that now. To finally fight for something worth fighting for and dying for. And if the gods are merciful I will return as myself If there are no gods, then I have still died with honor rather than running away" Hyde proudly puffed up.

“Plus, he’s the Hydra now. If she cuts his head off, he’ll just come back stronger.” Jack snickered, Hyde also laughing at the morbid joke.

“That’s not funny.” Nicole said, pouting.

“Sorry, honey.” Hyde said, “It’s a soldier thing.”

“Well.” Jack yawned. “We need to train you up for this.”

“No offense, little guy, but I’m still a warrior. Cone or not.”

“No offense, big guy, but you got killed by a guy smaller than you that I trained up, and I had your ass beat the other day at a fraction your size. If anything, I’m pound for pound twice the warrior you are, and you add my skill to your frame size, you got a hell of a thing going on. Now you’re still fighting Gizzy, mind you.”

“Can he win? She’s way smaller, and you know her moves.” Nicole asked.

“Sure, he can win, and make a more impressive fight to the elders on the council.” Jack said. "Now run along, we have macho shit to do." Jack said.

“Fucking men.” Nicole said storming off.

"So now that she's gone, I don't have a chance of winning this do I, Jack?" Hyde asked.

“Oh, HELL no. Do you grasp how unfairly overpowered Osirians are? You may have easily 350 pounds of mass on her, reach advantage, height and horns, but there’s a reason that ancient humans called them gods. Even some of the Delmarians today consider them literal gods, that’s why 2 of them ended up on the council."

“So you’re gonna train me how to die, little soldier?”

“I’m gonna train you how to fight an Osirian. There’s a difference, just not much.”

Jack darted down the hall, guiding Nicole the other direction as she fought back her emotions.

“Follow me, I got something that should make you feel less sick." he said lightly pushing her to a metal chair.

“How?” she said. “I watched my husband almost get killed in stupid Delmar fights, and now when I finally understand Hyde, I get to see him die in one, and watch the other Nicole go through what I did again, except her “Vinn substitute” dies this time. Everything is just death, how can I stop feeling this way?”

“Easy," he said lightly grabbing her cheeks and lining up her head as she looked confused. “You see that weird metal cone above your head?” he asked.

“Jack, what is tha-” she blinked, looking back at Jack. “Jack, what we are doing in this room?”

“Damn, you gotta be more careful on those steps, that stone can be slippery. I don’t think you have a concussion.” He said taking down the memory wiper. “Yea, scans look clean. Just dazed yourself."

“Jack…have I hit my head before?” she asked.

“You have sex with Vinn in a cave, I’m sure concussions are unavoidable, you should get a bike helmet. I gotta go do something.” He hugged her and ran off.

“Was I just in an office building? Jack, is my makeup running?”

Jack sat in the same spot as earlier as Hyde drank his coffee.

“So we just don’t tell her?” Hyde asked.

“We don’t tell anyone. We head down there, give the speech, and nobody knows. But you need to start training as soon as possible.”