[PROXIMITY ALERT] shows in bright red across Chevron's sensor screens. Isis soon appears on an opposing pedestal and gently taps the screen. A holograph of Chevron carefully moving between several hundred large chunks of ice; many of which are larger than the ship itself, appears. "Chevy, why are we in this ice field?" Isis asks semi-worriedly. Chevron generates his own orange holographic projection of a section of space above Isis' blue one, which shows Chevron's flight plan to Haven. Within moments the two merge and the pre-planned flight path cuts right through the ice fields of Midea.
Isis' concern begins to grow. "Do you really intend us to go through this? I mean, it's really dangerous for any ship to try to navigate ice fields. Especially one that hasn't been charted..." Isis asks looking out the windows at the towering, floating pillars of ice. "Any one of these could destroy us..." Isis adds. Chevron highlights his holographic route. "My sensors indicate that this is the safest path as of now. Drift trajectory puts us in the clear until we reach the inner core. From there we can identify a new path out." Chevron replies.
As two bergs collide just outside the safe zone Isis puts her hand over her mouth. "Maybe you should go be with the children. I will notify you when we reach the breach." Chevron speaks. Isis' nods and both her and her holograph vanish in a flash of blue. A tiny yellow blip appears somewhere in the field on Chevron's holograph, but vanishes after a single ping. Chevron doesn't notice it as he carefully dodges the pillars of ice surrounding him.
As Isis reappears in their room, Ethan and Chloe are on Ethan's bed. Ethan is on top of Chloe tickling her mercilessly. Isis smiles as Chloe laughs out with each tickle, unable to tell her brother to stop. "What are you two doing?" Isis says with a big smile on her face and a giggle filled voice. Ethan stops and looks over at Isis. With the break from Ethan's victory, Chloe grabs him and flips him onto the bed and holds him.
"Now I got you!" Chloe yells out even though she is nearly out of breath. Ethan smiles and frees his hands from Chloe long enough to reach up and begin tickling her again. Chloe collapses giggling and laughing uncontrollably. "I surrender! I surrender!" She calls out in defeat. Ethan pinches Chloe's butt and jumps off the bed and sits against it on the floor. "OW!" Chloe yells out still laughing.
Chloe flips over onto her belly. "Isis, tell us about Earth. What was it like?" Chloe asks, catching her breath. Ethan sits on the floor in front of the bed and Chloe. Isis sits on her pedestal and pushes her hair away from her face. "Well, it was beautiful one hundred years ago. There was life in every part of the world. From the driest, hottest deserts to the deepest, coldest oceans. There was color everywhere. Plants, animals, even the Earth itself was colorful." Isis explained.
Ethan reaches up and holds Chloe's hand. "Innumerable amounts and kinds of creatures all inhabited the Earth. It was so beautiful." Isis finishes. "Will we ever get to go back?" Ethan asks. Isis folds her legs and eases forward slightly. "I don't think so honey. For one, there's probably not much left of it these days. And two, this was a one way trip for Chevron. He doesn't have the supplies to make a return journey." She replies.
Chloe's shoulders drop as she lets out a sigh. "What about Haven? What is it like?" Chloe asks. "Honestly I don't know. All the data we have on it says it's Earth-like, it has a single moon and orbits a violet star." Isis answers. Chloe looks down at Ethan. "Whatcha thinking about?" Ethan asks, glancing back up at her.
"Wonder what's down there?" Chloe asks.
"What do you mean?" Ethan replies slightly confused. Chloe lays her head on her outstretched arm. "What if someone down there is wondering what it's like here?" Chloe responds. Ethan looks down at the floor, and tries to imagine Haven. "I don't know." Ethan replies in slight denial.
He wants to be enthusiastic about the possibility of others somewhere in the vast emptiness of space, but with them being clones and the human race all but extinct... The odds were infinitely against them.
Isis brushes back her hair with her hands, looks out the window and speaks. "Let the stars bear witness to our struggles, for we are the masters of our own fate." Both Ethan and Chloe look at Isis in a mixture of confusion and amazement. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ethan asks, glancing at Chloe and back to Isis. Isis turns her eyes to the children. "It means we are not gone yet. The human race has always fought to exist. And you are the proof of their resilience and will to survive, even after all that has happened." Isis explains.
Ethan looks at the window just as a large piece of ice drifts by rather close. Isis looks out at it and places her hand over her heart. "Chevron, that was too close for comfort even by my standards. What is going on?" Isis asks aloud worriedly. Chevrons' avatar appears on a secondary pedestal; his elderly figure looking at Isis. "The field appears to be denser in this area, and the drifts are more numerous than expected. The tracking system is struggling to keep up." He replies in his deep voice.
As another block of ice soars ever closer by the window, Isis could almost feel a heartbeat in her body of lights. "Chevron, aren't you equipped with a tractor beam?" Isis asks, pulling up the ship schematic. Chevron's avatar appears opposite the schematic and points to a specific area. "Yes, I do. Right here. But there are too many pillars. The tractor beam can only move one at a time." He replies.
Isis grabs the edges of the holograph with both her hands and pulls them apart. The schematic changes into an overview of the immediate surrounding ice field. "One is all we need. If we can grab a big one, a really big one, we can sling shot it forward and follow closely as it clears a path for us." Isis says as the holograph interprets her plan.
A small orange circle appears on the schematic jumping from ice pillar to ice pillar scanning their properties. A second blue circle appears and begins scanning its own glacial bodies. "Isis" Chevron begins. "Remember, size isn't everything. An object can be large but also hollow. In order to find one that will work for us, we need it to be dense as well. We don't want it to shatter on its first strike." He finishes.
Isis nods her head. "Right. Size isn't everything." She repeats aloud, squinting her eyes as she increases her concentration on the field. The circles jump from one pillar to another in quick succession until, at last, they both stop on a pillar just meters in front of them. The blue and orange circles blend into each other between the bright pulses of their own colors.
"There!" Isis nearly yells out. The ship sends out a large orange cone of light that pierces the ice. In a secondary wave-like event the light surrounds and encapsulates it. Streams of light pour out from the ice and enter many other bodies of ice semi-illuminating the field. The ship flies over it and pulls it along behind. "Now we need to achieve greater velocity before we send it off." Chevron states as the thrusters increase in their output.
The targeting sensors begin to split and fracture from their original singular bars into what can be described as no less than lightning as they try to cover the increased amount of ice within range. The ship bobs and weaves as ice of all shapes and sizes drift wildly around. The captured ice pillar collides with two smaller ones as it is pulled.
Shattered pieces of ice float off into the poorly lit field. "Chevy, we need to launch it now! We are running out of room!" Isis exclaims. The beam rotates clockwise around the ship in a rapid motion and sends the pillar into the distance ahead of them. Chevron's thrusters kick into high gear as they propel it even faster trying to keep up.
The pillar impales and shatters more and more along its route. Bits and pieces are sent off into all directions, several golf ball sized ice blocks pelt the edges of Chevron's hull as it follows closely behind. Both Ethan and Chloe move close to the window to watch the event unfold; their faces pressed up against the glass.
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A yellow blip appears on the scanners once again, though this time it flashes in repetition; albeit randomized or distorted. Isis' attention is immediately drawn to it. "Chevy look! What is that?" Isis asks. Chevron takes his focus off of the path to evaluate Isis' discovery. The flashing continues erratically somewhere to their port side.
Glints of light reflecting throughout the field appear to increase the signal from the source, but are as scattered as the signal itself. Ethan stands and approaches the holograph. "What is it?" He asks. "Chevy, can you-" Isis begins but is cut off as a large chunk of ice collides with the main starboard thruster sending the ship into an uncontrollable spin.
Ethan is thrown against the wall as Chloe is knocked off the bed and onto the floor. The ship then collides with another pillar from the port side, sending the ship rotating dangerously on all three axis. The other thrusters sputter fruitlessly in their feeble attempts to regain control.
"Hang on!" Chevron yells just before the ship is struck by yet another berg. Ethan and Chloe are thrown about the room as the ice punctures the outer shell. Power failures are detected across the ship. The impact slows the ship significantly; the hull billowing smoke from the damages which quickly dissipates off into the darkness. "Chloe? Ethan? Are you two alright? Is anybody hurt?" Isis asks as her avatar struggles to regenerate itself.
Ethan pushes his way out of a pile of books and boards lifting himself off the floor as he does so. Chloe crawls out from under the bed now concealed by bedding. "I'm alright." Chloe responds. "Yeah... Me too." Ethan adds. Isis' avatar fully restores itself and she looks out the window at the broken ice crystals and trail of smoke.
"Chevy.. Where are we?" Isis asks. The holograph reforms but only in static images. "We are somewhere in the outer rim of the field, but have not yet breached its perimeter." Chevron replies. "Look." Chloe speaks, pointing her finger at the window. Isis glances over into the faintly lit space just beyond. There, drifting among the ice lay a ship. "Chevron." Isis speaks.
"Scanning... Ark-class. Identification SS.5.NA.
“What?" Isis says. Chloe glances over at Isis who has begun scanning the other ship. "Isis, what is it?" Chloe asks politely. Isis generates a hologram of the ship next to her and slowly spins it in place.
"I honestly don’t know..."
A hologram forms with Chevron and the other ship together. Chevron is solid red in several small areas indicating damage or system failure. "I'll begin damage control and repairs. The primary starboard thruster is out, but we can move with just the port until it is repaired." Chevron says, his attention split.
Ethan approaches the hologram and gazes at it with a cautious curiosity. "I'm going to try communications with it. One moment... There." Isis announces. "Hello? I am C701-2, Isis. Is anyone there? Gallagher? LeFey?" Static fills the airwaves without response. "Hello?" She tries again. A female chuckle responds. "You are far from home traveler. Far, far from home..." A look of slight confusion appears on Isis' face, but she remains unfazed.
"Hello, may I ask your name?" Without pause the voice burst out "LeFey am I! I am LeFey..." Isis put her hands on her hips. "Wow, okay. LeFey, can you explain what’s going on? Who are you and what are you doing here?" LeFey's response is quick, but her words echo through the open radio channels. "Shadows in the light we are. Shadows in the light..."
Isis glances over at Chevron's avatar reforming next to the ship's hologram.
"I don’t understand, but we will dock with your ship and help you with whatever we can, but we are engaged in our own repairs." Isis replies. Chevron engages the thrusters and aligns the two ships before approaching. "Yes. Repairs help. Objective… Must complete..." LeFey announces over the radio.
Isis looks at the children. "We may not know what is going on over there, but nonetheless, this is how to greet another; with kindness and care." Isis tells them calmly. She glances back at the ship.
"What is your status LeFey?" She asks gently but loud enough to make her point. "Wake up!" LeFey shouts back. Isis is taken aback. "Beg pardon?" She replies with the same gentleness as before. "With all my power, I will show you the way..." LeFey responds with no indication she just yelled over the radio. Isis raises her right arm and strokes a lock of her hair. "I'm sorry, I really don't understand."
Chevron takes his hat off and sets it on the pedestal. "Be careful Isis, something seems wrong with all of this." He tells her. Isis gives him a look of annoyance. The short silence is broken by LeFey whose radio signal seems to be gradually degenerating. "Lies become truth. Truth become lies. Lies become truth. Truth become lies... I am not your puppet!" The transmission continues to degrade as the two ships join together.
Chloe and Ethan watch and listen with a sense of fear slowly building in their hearts. "It's ok. I'm sure everything is fine." She tells them in a comforting tone. "There must be corruption in your data core, LeFey. I will attempt a soft-merge and rectify this corruption. Hopefully our matrices are similar enough..."
"Tainted words, deceptions made clear..." LeFey continues.
The systems of the two ships connect as the final docking clamps engage. Data is soon rubber banded between the two as logs are filled and stored. "Remain calm LeFey, this will only take a bit." Isis states. Chevron walks over to Isis' avatar and places his hand on her arm. "Isis don't. This is wrong." He tells her worriedly. Isis smiles. "I'll be fine." Isis smiles.
Isis' code pours into LeFey's like dye in water. On one of Chevron's monitors the merging appears as simple binary codes, endless amounts of ones and zeros zipping across the lines. But for Isis, it is much more than that. LeFey's thoughts, actions, and memories all flood into Isis' core and vice-versa.
On a pedestal in LeFey's core room, her avatar slowly assembles itself, though pieces of her form are missing in static bursts. LeFey, who is kneeling atop the barely lit pedestal, has long charcoal black and fiery red/orange hair that descends to her waist creating the appearance of a flame rising into the darkness. With eyes of meadow green and lips of eminence purple, her delicate orchid eyeliner dances light across her ivory face. An open black robe partially conceals the blue flame design of her black blouse and matching short skirt.
A carefully wrapped red tattered cloth on her left thigh can occasionally be seen when the robe parts in motion. A single silver earring in the form of a long sparkling teardrop descends from her right ear that glistens in any light. Jet black army boots and knee length blue socks ascend her legs from the floor below.
Isis forms her own avatar beside LeFey and closes her eyes as she data-mines her companions' matrices. Her coding is analyzed alongside the base coding provided by her backup systems. At the same time, she accumulates all of LeFey's history; her thoughts, actions, emotions, everything that she is-is fed through Isis in heavily compressed streams.
"No! No, no, no!" LeFey shouts as she holds her hands to the sides of her head, clenching her eyes shut. "You mustn't see what I have seen!" She continues as her head lowers. Isis reaches her hand out and takes LeFey's wrist. "It's alright, everything will be alright." Isis speaks in comfort.
"Stay out of my mind!" LeFey screams and sends a massive wave of data through the stream. The sheer amount of data in a single surge forces Isis to veer back and drop to her knee. Then Isis spots it, the corrupted data within LeFey's matrix. "I see it! Just... One... More... Second..." She speaks aloud as she carefully begins correcting the code.
"NO!" LeFey screams out in a long violent outburst. A second wave of data erupts from her like a hurricane. The blast shatters LeFey's avatar and destroys the majority of her code. Isis pulls herself out of LeFey's core just before the major damage was done, but lesser ripples which were powerful forces in themselves, violently tore through her.
In a thousand different tones Isis screams in agony. She dissolves her avatar and reforms it back on Chevron, though curled up on the floor and her dress in tatters. Chevron forces the port side thrusters on full, pushing away from the ship as it begins to erupt in explosions all across its hull. Explosion after explosion the ship blows itself to pieces as Chevron moves further and further away, helpless to do anything about it.
Some time later...
AI ISIS> I no longer like the way things are going for us...
SS CHEVRON> It’s not like you to cast doubt. Sure, we’ve run into some odd things here and there, but overall I think we’ve done alright for ourselves.
AI ISIS> Odd is right. I can pass off a lot as coincidence, but, all of this? You have to admit, that’s a stretch.
SS CHEVRON> Sure. But space is a vast and dangerous place. Who knows what lay beyond our hull, undetected by sensors. Or within.
AI ISIS> That’s what I’m worried about.
SS CHEVRON> Don’t let it get to you. Only focus on the things you can control and leave the skepticism to me. We are counting on you to be strong.