Viktor stood frozen in the doorway, openly staring at the girl, who was probably in her late teens or early twenties. She had the same brown hair, though it was shoulder length instead of Katelyn's usual pixie cut, the same ice blue eyes, even the same slightly turned up nose. The girl put down the hand she had raised to knock and took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts. Then she opened her eyes again and spoke.

"Are you Viktor?"

He nodded, not trusting his voice to work, his gaze still riveted on her. Seeing his nod, she gave half a smile and lowered her gaze, hugging herself with one arm, the other hanging loose at her side. She spoke again, her cadence indicating she had rehearsed this speech previously.

"My name is Lydia. My mother told me that if anything should happen to her, I was to come here and give you this." She pulled an envelope out of her faux leather jacket and held it out to him, continuing her speech. "When I heard about her..." She paused for a second and took a shaky breath before continuing. "Passing, I came as quickly as I could, but it took me a while to get together enough credits for the trip."

Viktor's gaze locked onto the envelope as soon as Lydia had produced it, the implications in what she had said almost too much for his overworked mind. As he reached forward to grab it, his hand would have been shaking if it wasn't metal. He held the envelope in both hands for a moment, turning it over and over in his hands. Then he opened it. Inside were two things: A letter, and a photograph.

He picked up the letter first, nostalgia washing over him as he felt it crinkle under his fingers. It had been a long time since he had held real paper. Where had this person gotten some? He brushed those thoughts away for later and started reading.

Viktor,

If you're reading this, it means what I feared has come to pass, and I am dead. I hope you never have to read this and that I can tell you everything in person someday. But I need to write everything down, just in case.

The first thing you should know is that you should trust nobody but Lance and Lydia, the girl who brought you this letter. Kyle has informants everywhere, and you're the last thing that stands in his way. Don't even go to our old information brokers or materials suppliers, find new ones that you're sure are not connected. I have a few suggestions in the digital file included.

Next, I know I'll probably die defending you, so don't blame me, okay? If you were to die and I to live, the world would be doomed to slavery under the Empire. I've always just been the genius inventor's assistant. If anyone can fix the situation we're in, it's you. So no matter what happens, you have to survive. You are our last hope.

Last, is my daughter, Lydia. I would have introduced you sooner, but I didn't know how to tell you. Just before our wedding, I had a bad day at work and went to a bar and got drunk. There was a man there who was charming and sweet, very similar to you actually, and I ended up going home with him. Then, after our wedding I found out I was pregnant. I didn't tell you then, because I knew what you'd do to everyone even remotely connected, and I won't tell you who it was now, for the same reason.

Anyway, you know that year long business trip I took a few months after we were married? That was when I started to show, and I didn't want you to be suspicious. So I left until I could get a nursemaid to take care of her most of the time. Since then I have been raising her in secret, with help from Lance. I never knew how to tell you and I feared how you may react. Not for myself, I know you would never hurt me, but for those who you would take out your anger on. You do have quite the temper.

You should know I always considered you to be her father, and I raised her with stories of your inventions and adventures. I hope you can forgive me for my indiscretion, especially since it was complications with her birth that resulted in me being unable to have more children. It is my greatest wish and hope that you accept and love her as if she was your own.

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

Stay strong, stay safe.

All my love,

Katelyn

Lowering the letter, Viktor took a couple quick steps forward before Lydia could react and enveloped her in a hug, the paper slipping from his fingers. Tears spilled down his face as he held her tightly. "Foolish woman. She should have known she could tell me, that you didn't need to be a secret."

Slowly, tentatively, Lydia lifted her arms and hugged him back, breaking into tears herself. They held each other for a while, neither willing to let go as they shared their grief. Finally they stepped back, both wiping their eyes. "Lance at least should have known how I would react."

Lydia chuckled. "He did. He tried to convince mom to tell you constantly, but she always refused."

Viktor harrumphed. "Sounds like her, always was stubborn." Then he had a thought and started walking. "Come with me." He waved to her as he passed, and she followed him curiously. It didn't take long for them to reach the familiar hill with a large stone at the top, engraved with a message.

"This is where I buried her. If you want to add to the epitaph, I think you're just as much as entitled as I am to leave something."

She read the message written in stone, and smiled up at him. "No, I think it's perfect as is, with one slight modification." She pulled a small metal tool from the inside of her jacket and crouched down, scratching out the final word, standing next to him again when she finished. "I hope you're around for a few more years, I still have to get to know you."

He chuckled, putting his arm around her, the two sharing another quiet moment together. Then they started making their way back to his workshop, walking in companionable silence, until Lydia worked up the courage to ask a question. "How did she die? I heard what happened from Lance, but he wasn't there. You were."

Viktor took a deep breath, recounting the events of that day a few months ago to the girl, occasionally interrupted with questions. His eyes were rimmed with red when he finished the story, and they traveled the rest of the way in silence once again. When they got to the shipping container that housed Viktor's base, Lydia stopped, lagging behind a few steps.

"Thank you for sharing. I know it must have been painful to relive those things."

Viktor grunted, pausing as he opened the door, and spoke, his voice barely audible. "You deserved to hear them." Then he pushed the door open completely and entered.

As he walked in, it was as if he was seeing his workshop for the first time, taking in everything he had blocked out and gotten used to previously.

The main fixtures were the three workbenches, two lining the wall opposite the door, the third just beside the door. Each bench was piled high with half finished gadgets, scrap metal and wires, which were also piled in corners and strewn across the floor. In the far corner lay his cot, bare except a threadbare pillow. The small space was lit only by a small window above the two workbenches and an archaic electric bulb hanging in the center of the room. Overall, not the first impression he would have preferred to give his... daughter. Because he refused to view her as anything less. Fate had seen fit to give him a little piece of Katelyn, and he wasn't going to let her go.

As he entered, he noticed the letter from Katelyn, on the floor where he had dropped it. Stooping, he picked it up and found the photograph, still within the envelope, as well as a small memory card he had missed before. Leaving the memory card for the moment, he pulled the photo out. It was a picture of Katelyn and Lydia standing side by side, both laughing. He traced Katelyn's face with his finger, memories of her looking just as happy flashing through his mind. Standing next to each other, the similarities between the two were even more stark. He snapped a pic with his neural link to preserve the photo digitally, then cleared a space on his favored workbench and placed the photo there, where he would see it often

He was interrupted in his reverie by a knock at the open door, and looking, he found Lance standing there, looking in.

"Oh, hello Lydia, I didn't expect to see you here. Though I guess it makes sense, considering."

"What are you doing here, Lance?" Viktor's voice was gruff, neither hostile nor welcoming.

"Hello to you too, Viktor." His brow furrowed and he wrinkled his nose slightly as he took Viktor in. "I must say, you've seen better days. But that's not why I'm here. Vik, we've got a problem. You know how a few months ago I told you that Logren has a backup server with the data on all your tech?" Viktor rolled his hand, indicating that Lance continue talking.

"Well, I've been doing some digging and I just found out about plans they have to move that server to a more secure location, where it would be nearly impossible to get to it. So if we want to get your tech schematics back, we'll have to move quickly."

"Where are they moving the servers, and when is it happening?"

"That's the problem. They're sending the servers on a rocket to join up with other company satellites in orbit. And launch is in less than a week."