Allister McCullinay sat in a boardroom with a long wooden table as a centerpiece. It was, technically, her conference room, as she was again, technically, head of the lab team of Arrokoth, even if Itomi had taken over many duties while she recovered. She stared out the large window behind her, at the head of the table. The sun was a little light in a sea of them, distant and cold. She’d been cold a lot lately.

He would be here any minute, she knew. She’d called him from Makemake after hearing his name in a list of people who’d gone to MK2’s third QPF. At first, she’d overlooked him, not recognizing the name. But then it clicked.

So a strange feeling washed over her, again, and again in waves. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As much as this was about interviewing him about MK2, she had questions for the man that went beyond the strange occurrences at the factory. She squirmed a bit. She never did like confrontation.

Just then, a knock came at the door, so sudden that she and her heart both leapt. Righting herself in her seat, she turned around and pushed a button near a speaker set in the table, saying, “Come in.”

The doors hissed open, and in stepped a man in his mid to late twenties, with short cut black hair, olive skin, and pale green eyes that looked tired and heavy. He was dressed in his closely tailored green and black jumpsuit and black boots. He came in carefully, looking at her, then the table, then around at the plants and the display cases filled with scientific knicknacks.

As he neared the table, the doors shutting behind him, and took a seat to her right. Grunting, he sat back, and looked at her, and she looked at him. “Alright, so. Hi.”

Allister flattened her jumpsuit awkwardly and said, “Hello.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, before Shishone broke it, looking into Allister’s nervous eyes and saying, “You wanted to talk?”

“Yes, I did,” Allister said, pulling up her PDA and opening a notes file. In it, there were several questions, and so, feeling a lump in her throat, she started by saying, “I have some questions about your time spent on MK2, if that’s alright.”

“You mentioned,” he said, nodding.

“Well,” she said, looking down at her PDA, “I guess to start: Director Yu gave me a brief rundown on the findings. But you mentioned kicking up red dust. Describe that to me. If you wouldn’t mind. Please. Thank you.”

Shishone nodded, and leaned forward. “Well, it was everywhere on the inside of the facility. On the floors, on the desks, on the truck, in the truck bed, but they were thickest in the command center. Especially in the tower inside the control room.”

Allister typed as fast as she could to keep track of what he was saying. “And this dust, did it stick to you?”

“Somewhat.”

“Okay,” she said, jotting that down. “Moving on. The staff were deceased upon arrival, correct?”

He looked away. “They were.”

“But some had decayed? Tell me about that.”

“Well,” he said, straightening his jumpsuit, “in the control room, the dust was incredibly thick, and the bodies under the dust were decaying.”

“Fascinating. What of the other bodies?”

“Well, come to think of it, there wasn’t that much dust on many of them, even if it was everywhere. I’d say the most that actually landed on people was in the tower, where the hole was.”

Tapping away, Allister suddenly stopped and looked up sharply, staring into Shishone’s soul. He almost shrank. Almost.

“What,” she started carefully, “happened on Ceres?”

Shishone blinked, and then after a moment of shock, recoiled. “What?”

Allister felt a heat in her cheeks as she blushed. “Ah, I mean - I just mean, is it true? That you…”

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

He squeezed his eyes, and then rubbed them with his fingers, before saying, “I’m sorry, what does this have to do with MK2?”

Allister let her shoulders fall along with her gaze. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t just spring that on you.”

“You really shouldn’t,” Shishone said, frowning and crossing his arms.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why ask?”

Allister felt that lump in her throat rise. She squirmed for a moment, and then slouched, sighed, and said, “I was on Ceres, you know. That’s the real reason why I asked to speak to you. I didn’t know you were in the Kuiper Belt.”

“I’ve been out here for a little while now,” Shishone said, turning his head and slightly squinting. “But it’s no surprise we haven’t met.”

“Agreed.” Allister ran a hand through her hair and took a breath, blowing air out of her nose. “I’ve been busy. I always am, though.”

Then, sitting up straighter, she added, “I imagine you are as well.”

“Somewhat,” Shishone said. “It depends on the day at this point.”

Then, he faced her. “You were on Ceres.”

She nodded. “I was.”

“Where?”

She clasped her hands and fidgeted with her thumbs. “The south pole.”

Shishone’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Is it true?”

He let his gaze fall, but said nothing.

Allister’s eyes widened. “So you did.”

She sat back in silence, staring down at her PDA. It was true, then. The rumors about him were true. Quietly, she said, “Thank you.”

Shishone sat up and said, “You’re welcome.”

She looked at him grimly and nodded. She wasn’t sure what more to say. After a moment, she continued, “Back to these questions, I suppose.”

“Right, the questions,” Shishone said.

Still, neither spoke. After about a minute of awkward silence, Shishone chewed on his lip for a moment, and then said, “Did you lose anyone?”

“Pardon?” Allister said, shaking her head as if waking from a daze.

“Did you lose anyone on Ceres? The place is a graveyard, I’m sure you know. Did you lose someone?”

She frowned and looked down at her lap, thinking. Images of a young face floated through her mind, with round features and long red hair and a crooked toothed smile and an aura of joy. Then, she nodded, feeling her eyes begin to water. “My daughter.”

Shishone swallowed.

“Radiation sickness, from the bombardment,” she continued, wiping her eyes and sniffling. “We were lucky to be spared from the plasma. And, of course, the...”

She sniffled again, and sat back, clearly fighting serious tears. “Thanks to you, my husband and I had another chance.”

Shishone shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry.”

Allister shook her head and wiped her eyes, choking down her tears and composing herself. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Honestly, you have my gratitude.”

He nodded. “Yeah. No problem.”

“But it is, isn’t it. Surely you still think about that day.”

Shishone flinched, images of fire and debris flashed through his mind and he could faintly hear the chatter of a radio, before it was gone. “Sometimes,” was all he said.

She nodded slowly. “I do too.”

They shared a moment, before she said, “Can I hug you?”

He shrugged and stood, and so did she, before they embraced in a slightly awkward, slightly comforting hug. He patted her back, and she rubbed his, and for a moment, Shishone and Allister felt a bit of respite, a small moment of peace. But then, the embrace died, and they pulled back, sitting down once more.

“Commander Xiao said I’m going to MK2 in April, to scope it out, just like you did,” she said, clearing her throat. “So I need to know as much as you can tell me about the situation there.”

Shishone stared at her for a moment, and then began to speak, just like he did in the debriefing, running over every detail in depth for the sake of Allister’s research and expedition. When they were done, Shishone and Allister stood once more, and shook each others’ hands.

Allister, before seeing him off, said, “Ah, and corporal. Lieutenant, even. If you need anything that I can provide, Arrokoth has been here for millions of years and, I presume, will continue to be here tomorrow. So let me know if you need anything at all.”

He smiled and nodded, saying, “Thank you Ms…”

“Allister,” she said. “Just Allister.”

“Thank you, Allister.”

And with that, they parted.