Chapter Seventy-One

Things were moving along quickly. The flagship ark’s hangar repair was almost complete, and the other arks’ construction was well underway, likely to finish within two months. But Rosa and Evata had not failed to realize the many threats that hung over their daughter’s life, and they intended to know what they were up against.

They had both paid Aura a visit to press her about what exactly happened on that fateful day, as she now lived and worked with the family. They had requested a private audience with her, and she accepted.

“Aura, can you tell us what happened? We need to hear from you what went on. You know that Vik’s life was in danger from your involvement with the Argosys group. We have reason to believe she still may be in danger.”

She took a deep breath; she had expected this day would come when she would have to talk about the choices she had made, how one mistake had ruined everything in her life. It had almost cost her the life of one of the few people she cherished most in the world.

“I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused,” she explained, and they nodded.

But Rosa simply said, “The past cannot be changed, and we know your decisions are something you will have to live with forever, as well as make amends for. So, you may start now by explaining as much as you can to us.”

His words, while not harsh, were the undeniable truth.

He could not simply forget how she had used all of them to gather information, only to feed them to terrorists. And even though she had not known of Azid’s plan to destroy TITAN, which was the only reason he could forgive her, he couldn't simply forget what had happened to his girl.

He could not look at Aura’s face and not relive their broken daughter running into their home with CLEFF’s mainboard, begging to go down to their lab, crying for them to fix him—having barely escaped with her life from the visit to Aunt Aura’s.

She exhaled deeply and looked at the ceiling. She did not expect them to forgive her. Honestly, she had not expected even any of the rights and privileges they gave her back, the Collective access and good standing in their ranks. Even though there were still those who looked at her with disdain, she could not condemn them for their thoughts. They were all justified.

“An anonymous source contacted the Argosys leader, offering one ZENnCoin for the destruction of TITAN. The source claimed they were relying on him to destroy TITAN to save humanity and that it was causing more harm than good. After their initial contact, it became clear in the news reports that it was true—that it was to blame for the planet now freezing us all to death. This secret new directive became the Argosys’ leader’s obsession, which he kept hidden from us. He deleted all the original TITAN repair algorithms we developed, leaving only his destructive code behind on his own tablet. I did what I did for the good of our planet and our children. We were told and believed that our group was on a mission to correct TITAN’s output. That’s it. I never thought that Vik would show up at our location. I never, ever meant to put Vik in harm’s way.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She sucked in a deep breath as the horrible memories of that day replayed in her head. That she thought Viktoriya would surely die.

“I know my involvement was a dreadful, harmful mistake now, and I’m so sorry for the hurt and pain I’ve caused everyone. We were all so gullible to believe in a man who was so far gone. He came to us, asking for our help and skills to save the world. But in the end, he only had one love, the love of power.”

“What happened to Argosys’ leader? Who is he?” Rosa cut in.

“None of us know exactly who he is. But based on his files and logs, he hacked a trace that tracked deep into the Antarctic, where the ZENnCoin offer transmission initialized. We now know this as the alien mothership location. No one has heard from him since. He only called himself by his codename, Azid.”

“So, he could still be out there, on the loose, then?” Eva asked, knowing she’d likely regret the answer. Aura confirmed her fears with a simple nod, sending her friend plunging down a hole, a terrible one, where her thoughts echoed all the scenarios which could play out.

“Are you saying that the alien on the mothership hired Argosys to destroy TITAN?” Rosa asked. He was probably running the threat analysis in his head, same as his wife.

“Crazy, huh? Yeah, that is how it looks. Or at least someone from that location. My guess is that their ship was somehow disabled and couldn’t make the attack on TITAN itself. So, somehow, they convinced Azid to do it for them.”

Rosa swallowed, trying to take it in. They had inadvertently unleashed the number one threat on their daughter’s life, and now, two more had tried to destroy the ark they had spent years building.

Who knew how many more were out there? And if anyone had told him his daughter would stand over an impenetrable, alien ship, with a glowing hand breaking through their defenses, he would have been certain they had gone completely mad. But there they were, living with this very reality—a reality with no other option except to survive and accept the impossible as normal.

“Aura. Why did you show up at the site when Vik and CLEFF were attacking the alien mothership?” Rosa asked.

She twirled her fingers against each other with a deep sigh, then bit her lower lip before looking up at the ceiling again.

“So, this is gonna sound strange, but I sensed Vik was there. And was desperate for someone to believe in her, and… And that she needed help—like she was searching for some connection and validation. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Lost in her thoughts, Eva leaned against the wall, recalling the distant pull she felt that day, beckoning her to Viktoriya’s location

Aura searched Rosa’s eyes for any hint that he believed her. But he displayed nothing other than an unrecognizable gaze, severely pondering on what he had heard.

Aura did not know what he made of it.

Would he think she was lying and discard whatever she said?

“No, I think we understand,” he said. “Not fully,” he then added after a moment, “but as you have seen, it appears Vik is going through something that we just can’t get our heads around. It sounds far-fetched, but we think it has something to do with her connection between the quantum plasma web and her autism. The Spectrum, she calls it. But we’re not sure exactly how or why.”

He brushed his chin with his thumb, raising his head to meet Aura, his gaze softer than it was earlier. Perhaps one day, when all this was over, they would have a fresh start at life, if he could somehow put it all behind.

“We are glad you are back, Aura,” he said as a sort of goodbye, making a tug toward his wife. He held her gently by the shoulder, guiding her out.

Aura stood there for a few moments after they left. She could still remember everything like it was yesterday. Some alien tricked Azid into sabotaging our own safety.

And she was a part of his plan.

She exhaled, trying hard to evade the daunting thoughts even though she knew it was nothing more than a fruitless attempt.

No matter how much time passed or how much we may better ourselves as we leave the past behind, our old acquaintance Shame comes digging through our trash for things long thrown away, bringing them back on a tray to serve them up fresh to us again.