“No. I refuse to kill any of the crew for this.” Nicole barked.

“I was considering it a willing offering. And I am hardly part of this crew. I am a source of problems that has now become the source of a solution. You need to collect artifacts, I have one inside of me spilling out its power rather than being locked away. I refuse to be imprisoned, and I already said I would rather die than be locked away. Now I am given the chance to prove that. If you remove the amulet and tattoo the rune on me, I would become its mark, not Victoria. A completed rune on a willing sacrifice should override a half completed rune on a struggling victim. I would be human, no longer resistant to it, and once the door is open, even a single normal bullet to the head would painlessly end my life long before my enslavement. The more expensive bullets would be free to use on the chaos god himself. No Victoria to restrain, no evolving monster to bottle bathed in radiation and threatening the mission, and with me gone and the amulet in containment, the further deterioration of her latter clones should be significantly slowed. Perhaps you could even confine her to the ship, keep her comfortable and herself for a long time before… starting fresh again.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.” Nicole sighed.

“You never did. Fate brought us the tools and tools sometimes break during use. I have lived a long life of both joy and regret, always hoping to atone for my mistakes, and what better way to do so than to die eliminating a chaos god and all its evil? And preventing further spread of my own mistakes. If you cannot allow that then I forfeit my place on the crew regardless, and will take a few of the bullets that I helped attain as payment for it, complete the rune myself as a sacrifice, potentially fail to open the door since I am currently under the power of a different chaos god, wasting a lot of effort for nothing, and if successful, do the job myself, with diminished chances of succeeding again and leaving behind an amulet too powerful to discard. With your mission, you would simply be returning anyway to the mass grave to retrieve it. So should I simply exercise my right to fuck off with my property to attempt a lone suicide mission with several tiers of potential failure to achieve the same thing you need, or would you like to assist me and solve multiple problems at a lesser cost with a higher chance of success?” Dimitri said, more telling her what would happen than asking her if he could. Nicole ran her hands frustratedly through her hair and paced in a circle, storming out of the room silently as Gizzy sat cross-armed and looked tired.

“That’s her way of saying fuck it, yolo without admitting that she agrees to killing crewmembers. If I’m wrong about that, I guess I’ll have to be punished for mutiny.”

“And you would go through with it?” he asked.

“Absolutely. I don’t like that everything has a cost, but the further into the void of evil you go, the higher the cost of everything, apparently. Expanding universe inflation prices I guess. Vicki doesn’t want to die, and Jack doesn’t want her to die. None of us want to lose 2 friends that want to live over one friend who wishes to die. It’s your life to throw away if you want, and as someone who’s lived longer than you have, I can see through that façade you carry with you. That cocky confident smile that says you enjoy immortality, rather then the sadness behind your eyes of an old entity exhausted and bored with life that’s just afraid of dying.”

“Well I guess you know me quite intimately. And you will simply let me go without a tear?”

“You and I both know the difference between a love and a lover, a fixation that is sad to see go, and the strange inability mortals have to do what’s necessary if it hurts too much. I don’t enjoy seeing you go, and I might miss you a little, but if you wanna do this and we’ve run out of better options, I’ll put the bullet in your head myself without hesitation and deal with that emotion when the mission is over. That’s how I do things. Set aside the emotions, do the mission, get the job done, and then when everyone is back and resting up, go break some things to feel better. I won’t claim it’s a healthy mechanism, but it’s my mechanism and it works. So, let’s clone some impostor blood and get you into surgery. You’re in good hands, I’ve done heart surgery a few times, once on myself. That’s why I don’t have one anymore.”

“Of course you do. It’s just hardened steel and mechanical. An armored heart is still a heart, it’s just stronger and slightly colder to the touch.” He smiled.

...

Dee handed tools over to Gizzy while the clank of metal on metal echoed in the room. Gizzy lifted up the hemostats from the pan of alcohol and admired the artifact, mainly its gold and silver details and the spiderlike claws bent back to release it.

“Damn.” Dee sighed, checking the IV. “The amount of sedative it takes to knock out a vampire is kind of insane.”

“Not anymore. He’s a human patient now. Lower the dose, add the healing serum to the bag, and let’s stitch him back together. He’s gonna be sore as hell when he wakes up... You need a break while I tattoo the rune?” Gizzy asked.

“Just feel like we’re killing him ourselves.”

“Think of it as euthanasia, an old terminal patient that no longer wants to fight for life, and we’re helping him finally find peace. It’s his decision, and the alternatives were all far worse.”

“I’d make a terrible doctor.”

“No, you’d make a great doctor. Because you care, and you empathize. You feel more than most humans and you still did the job focused and precisely. I’d make a terrible doctor. My bedside manner is absolute shit. I’d be a great tattoo artist though. In fact, I may consider adding some artwork to myself at some point.”

“We’re never going to be okay, are we?” Dee asked.

“Tricky question. We have the means to immortally copy ourselves till the mission is over, but the mental weight does get heavy and losing people adds up. With Vicki free of that tramp stamp from hell, and daily radiation shots, she might be okay, and eventually when she’s not, we can clone her fresh. We’re all gonna die at some point, over and over on this damned ship and crew, so what’s the difference? We may go through another me and 2 Jacks before we need to start her over. It gets slightly easier every time, but never gets easy. Half of us volunteered for this shit. I’m sorry you had the choice of this or eternal solitude. You know you are not a prisoner here. We can let you off anywhere you want and you can go have a full life.”

“Start over alone and lost, without you or my friends… sounds great, just toss me out at the next planet with a roll of money and a combat knife. I’d rather stay here than start over and have to learn who I can trust and who will break my heart and stab my back. As much as I’d love to find a world that feels like home and live a life there, I can't do it alone, and you guys need all the help you can get, and there’s not a lot of people you can trust to do that. So unless you wanna just copy us and drop them off somewhere, I’m here with all of you.” Dee said, leaning on her.

“Funny you suggest that. There’s actually another mission planned for the near future… well sort of. Technically a mission for the future that becomes a mission of the distant past, it’s complicated and I didn’t give myself all the details before I left for security reasons. But I do tend to listen to me when I have suggestions and there is a high likelihood I could get us both copied and transferred to the next mission. Let's just say it has to be infinitely more pleasant than this one turned out to be, and you would be an asset to the team that the other Gizzy back home couldn’t pass up. We’d still be stuck here in space-hell but another version of us can have a nice retirement on a more peaceful planet with no void and cosmic death gods. You won't ever hear from them, you wont really notice anything different on this side, but somewhere, a long time ago, there would be us, in way nicer conditions.”

“Sounds pointless and stupid, but also very heartwarming in a weird way.”

“Oh it’s far from pointless. I’m doing it anyway, had it planned before we left, but now that I know what it’s like to be a lone Gizzy with no hive mind and no family, I realize I need all the help I can get just staying sane, and adjusting the mission from 5 to 6 people wouldn’t be that difficult. I can’t stop until this is over and it may take a lifetime before we’re done or all die trying… but I can make sure one of you is somewhere safer and protected, and not stuck in the death void of chaos and drama… actually, no, there will be drama there too, just no space and death void of chaos. But you’re part original Dee so you thrive on drama."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“You really are just an absolute psycho playing god and a game of 4d chess with the universe. And I’m kind of turned on about that. Will you tell me stories about the other us and our life together? I know we can't even know for sure about any of it, and it’s just bullshit speculation but… can you bullshit speculate about what we’re possibly doing there and make it convincingly realistic and happy?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course. I could run some simulations, make some little videos and pick the nicest from a selection of possible likely outcomes. Spin a nice story that, theoretically, could be the true one out of numerous possible ones. We would never know if it was correct and I don’t have to tell you the odds.”

“I’d like that.”

“I’ll get started on it as soon as the predicted deadline happens. But right now we have a very sore human to wake up and I have to go on a mission. You’ll see me later.”

“If you don’t come back… just don’t tell me. Find me after you came out of the cloning tank and tell me the mission went well.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not going to go well for everyone no matter what. So say goodbye to Demitri. I’m coming back to the crew regardless, he won’t be.”

“Acceptable.” She said with a nod.

...

Gizzy and Demitri strutted confidently, armed to the teeth and in dramatic slow motion as they approached the surface entrance point.

“Made you a present.” Gizzy said.

“How sentimentally pointless of you on they day of my passing, and potentially both of ours.” He scoffed, looking deader than usual.

“Oh you’ll enjoy this. It’s a high concentration of Vicki’s original blood, a ton of drugs and steroids, some meth just for the hell of it, and Delmarian war testosterone.”

“And the point of this?” he asked.

“You have to die, and you have to be mortal to get in the door. Nobody said you have to die human. I figured you’d rather die more vampire than human and go down fighting. The shot itself will kill you, and the radiation right now is lethal anyway so no matter what we do, you’re a dead man walking. But at least you can be a dead vampire fighting before it’s over.”

“Interesting. A gift I shall appreciate greatly. Perhaps your mechanical heart has warmed up to the rest of your body temperature after all. Hard and armored but not as cold as steel.”

“Oh don’t make me feel shit before we go kill a chaos god. You’re fucked regardless and I don’t wanna get all emotional about it. Get your head in the game, Demitri. This is a Viking death march, your job is to hold the bridge and take down as many enemies as you can before the mushrooms wear off and the arrows hit something vital. It’s still death, it’s just honorable badass death. So you wanna do the sad thing or the metal as fuck thing?”

“Yes, do pass me the drugs and a sword. I will enter Valhalla as a pincushion with a proud smile.” He said taking it and keeping it handy.

“You want hype music or silence?”

“Silence is preferred.”

“Shame. I got a hell of a playlist for Viking death stands.”

...

They peered down a 4 foot wide hole in the soil as Gizzy dropped a rope ladder down.

“How far does it go?” he coughed.

“About 90 feet. Right into the room before the entrance. I’ll go first and clear the room, and hopefully the ship's weaponfire ran off the spiders. If not…” she shrugged

“Then I’ll be a human firing a shotgun immediately after heart surgery.” He sighed, following her down.

The bottom was clear, well lit by the blast hole, but the scuttering of spiders was still audible somewhere close by. Demitri rolled up his sleeve and pressed his arm to the door. The symbol glowed and the door began to open as hot, stale air rushed out. He stepped just inside, hearing the sound of Gizzy one-shotting something behind them.

“I summon the unnamed one,” he wheezed. “As a willing sacrifice, I awaken thee.” he finished. The searing heat of the tattoo started glowing dark red as the planet rumbled and the surface above them cracked open. Trees and debris fell from above as the giant cavern opened up, with white smoke pouring down and back up as material gave way and stone dust formed a rising cloud in the center, the dark shadow of something blurry appearing within it. They braced and steadied themselves as the harsh grinding sound of chains pulling upward tattled their ears. Gizzy stared into the bright white cloud chains. Ten chains protruded from the center with links larger than both of them. The dust gave way to a mighty roar as a skull with horns leaned outward, cobwebs and moss growing on it’s ancient petrified skin, shrunk to the bone and eyes back as hollow pits. Gizzy readied her rifle and the beast tightened the chains, rattling her too much to hold aim.

“Shit. I can't take the shot.” Gizzy said ducking down to regain her senses.

“I can.” Demitri said taking the gun and injecting himself with the syringe. He slung it on his back and hopped down 20 feet off the ledge onto the chain, climbing it upward with the rifle and 2 bullets. Gizzy grabbed his gun, pointing his direction and firing, peppering the chain and clearing it of the spiders trying to follow him. She braced for the next roar, sliding back and taking a knee as Demitri held onto the iron chain link and looked up with glowing eyes and gnashed teeth.

“You think I fear your breath, beast?” he taunted, climbing onward into certain death as Gizzy warded off spiders with buckshot, alternating between shooting the tunnel behind her and taking them out as they climbed the chain behind Demitri. She fired into an oncoming roar, the chain and gun going blurry and missing wildly, another reasojn they needed to be closer for a single round.

Demitri dodged tree roots and falling rock as he neared the halfway point and debated taking the shot. He kept climbing, making sure he couldn’t miss. Gizzy felt the impact of something hit her in the head, followed by clawing and wooden hands grabbing her gun. She drew her pistol, firing up and back to take down the spider that was defending its master. She quickly reloaded as one of them pulled her foot and drug her back through the entrance. She fired towards her feet to kill it before hobbling up and taking a few more down. She belatedly realized that she took some buckshot to the leg in the process. She ran back in and noticed the dozen spiders following Demitri up the chain.

“Of course.” She said, taking out her phone and tapping a command, setting it down and climbing the chain, before shooting them and drawing them back towards her. Demitri locked his arm in and steadied the rifle, closing his eyes and holding his breath as the row of stalactite teeth and molten lava breath shook him to the core. He waited till it stopped and then he opened his eyes, finger on the trigger and aiming for the glowing red seam at the sternum.

“Fuck it, yolo.” He sighed, pulling the trigger. The 50 caliber barrel burner round rocked his shoulder and tossed the gun into the void and it nearly took him with it. The impact of green flame striking the heart and rippled outward as the creature thrashed and broke chains petrified and turned into white marble from the hit. The shards cascaded to the tips of the horns as it silenced its scream and broke apart, taking the chain and both of them down with it. The dust cleared and silence fell on the cave, followed by the scuttering of angry spiders. Demitri pried himself from the debris, missing a leg and pulling countless broken bones and gashes as he made his way to Gizzy’s body, while she opened her eyes and realized she was pinned under a fallen rock.

“Really wish we had that playlist.” She chuckled as he grabbed her hand and held it.

“At least I never met my ultimate fear… dying alone in the dark.”

“And it won’t be a painful death.” Gizzy said, as her eyes glowed blue, the high pitch winding of energy from her chest.

“Anything you wanna say to me before we die?” he yelled, the spiders growling closer.

“Yeah… I hate bugs.”

Nicole watched the view screen with Vinn hugging her, the mushroom cloud rising from the hole in the planet, and the green glow of the artifact lock turning white.

“They did it. Just another day, another dead diety.” She sighed.

“Hey…” Vinn whispered. “Gizzy will be fine.”

...

Gizzy stood in the plastic shower enclosure near the cloning machine, quickly drying her hair and trying to look halfway normal. She got her wits back and the com turned on.

“Gizzy… welcome back. Mission successful.” Nicole said. Gizzy nodded, getting dressed and pouring a shot of vodka to calm her spinning head. Dee sat in her room as the door opened and Gizzy stepped inside.

“You’re back.” She said, trying to look like she wasn’t worried.

“Mission went as planned. Little on the rough side, but successful.”

“So that means Demitri is gone.” She said softly.

“Yeah, but he did a good job, went down a hero and the way he wanted… a vampire, high as hell on 8 different drugs, fighting a god to a badass Viking playlist.

“But you made it back?” She asked.

“I always will, even if things don’t go right. I made a promise. Vicki is being freshly cloned as we speak, back to… well, as healthy as she was when we started, however you count that. I went ahead and got a shower before coming here. You remember how filthy those tunnels were.”

“Just sit with me a moment.” Dee said solemnly. Afraid to even ask and not wanting to know if she spent the last hour without a Gizzy alive to protect her, just glad there was one now.

“Nicole is doing a little game night as a distraction. It’s optional; nobody will be upset if you don’t want to.

“No, that sounds nice.” Dee nodded. “Is everyone else going?”

“Vicki and Jack are staying behind. It’s just gonna be us 4.”

“Well, we started with 6, I guess that’s how many this ships wants to carry.” Dee said solemnly. “I’ll bring something to drink. I’ve been trying some new bartending recipes. Hopefully everyone likes them, and I doubt anyone will turn down the drink."

“I could use several, make mine large.”

“I always do.” She smiled. “That’s part of my original programming.”

“See, it’s not all bad. You got the only good parts of her and filled in the rest with yourself. Come on. Vinn and Nicole are waiting.” Gizzy said, putting her arm around Dee and heading out.