Inside the former lighthouse was what could be described as ordered chaos. The space was cramped, but well lived in, with no voids unfilled. Sophia looked around, taking in her surroundings. There were dozens of pictures on the walls of BP with various figures, shaking hands, kissing babies, receiving awards. It was obvious to her that she was a very well-liked figure in Eastend. “Come in, come in!” BP said in a voice that was best described as an avian croak. “Sit down over here. I was just about to start dinner – but that can wait.”

  They were in what appeared to be her office/dining room/kitchen. On one side of the room was a desk piled with papers and boxes full of papers. And on the other side was a small kitchen just as cluttered as the rest of the place. She led them both to a table set for three. BP quickly cleared the table, piling the dishes up beside the sink. “Sit! Come on now, don’t be shy, make yourselves at home,” BP said before pulling out a chair for herself. “The boys won’t be home for another hour, so we’ve got plenty of time. Tell me everything!”

  Piety and Sophia each took a seat at the table. Sliding her hands down her face, Piety leaned forward on her elbows and began to mull over the recent events. “God, where to begin,” Piety said softly.

  “Just start at the beginning,” BP answered. Piety nodded surely, saying, “As good of place as any. We were slumming the L.O.C. doing odd jobs when I got a approached for a job… Someone found a way onto that big ship crashed out in the Glass Plains.”

  Piety retold the last couple days and BP listened intently, absorbing every detail in silence. After Piety finished, BP let out a whistle with a few curt nods of her head. “You guys definitely had it rough, that’s for sure!” she said sympathetically. “And you can stay here as long as you need to... But it might not be such a good idea.”

  “Why? Do you know who’s after us?” Piety questioned.

  “No, but I have my suspicions,” BP answered honestly. She propped her muzzle up on knit fingers. “I can’t say for sure… but it sounds like you’ve run up against one of the We??hekw – or Qliphoth. Though, I don’t know which one.”

  “Who are the… whatever you said?” Piety asked. “And why do they want her so bad?”

  “The First-Seeds are special, and not just in the wholly human sense,” BP explained, her bulging eyes locked on Sophia. “They’re more than that, more than just human. They were the pinnacle of what humans could be: stronger, faster, smarter. Pretty much better in all aspects. They’re superhuman, Neo sapiens. They were supposed to inherit the Earth after that ship – the Tevat – wiped the slate clean, meaning us.”

  “No!” Sophia suddenly exclaimed, pushing back from the table. “The Tevat’s an ark – we would never hurt anyone!”

  BP stared unfazed. “You might not, but the Godhead would,” BP said flatly. Sophia staggered back as if the words had physically hit her, knocking over the chair. “You remember the Godhead, don’t you? The absolute pinnacle of your faith? It’s okay – you’re safe here. I know others like you. This is a safe space; she can’t reach you here.”

  “W-we were peaceful,” stammered Sophia, eyes wide, looking as if she were caught in some lie. “Our faith was based in kindness – purity!”

  “But what’s kind and pure is subjective, isn’t it?” BP pressed solemnly. “What we are, what humanity has become isn’t short of monstrous to you, isn’t it? It’d be a kindness to see the slate wiped clean – wouldn’t it?” BP raised her dwarfish hands. “You don’t have to answer. I already know what the Godhead thought. I know there were those who didn’t agree. You’re probably one of them. I’m not trying to damn you either way.”

  “Right,” Piety interjected, eyes darting between them. “We came to you for help…”

  “And help you shall have!” BP said with a clap of her hands. BP smiled a toothy smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe. This isn’t the first time I’ve delt with one of the We??hekw, or the First-Seeds for that matter, if you haven’t picked up on that.”

  “The We??hekw, what do you know about them?” Piety asked. “How do we keep off their radar?”

  BP knitted her fingers together and propped her toothy maw up on her fists. “That is the guy, isn’t it? The We??hekw are the elite of the elite, following a dead goddess. They pretty much stop for nothing. They don’t eat, they don’t sleep, they don’t rest until the job is done. They’re quite literally the ultimate predator – at least to my understanding. I’ve only ever delt with one before – a friend – but there are ten or twelve others out there.”

  “How do you know he’s one of them,” asked Piety, “and not just some rogue bought by the trade guild?”

  “I don’t know anyone else who can take a bullet to the head and get back up,” BP admitted with a shrug. “Pale white, tough as all shit… He fits the part. There aren’t a lot of people who know about the First-Seeds either, and they’re fiercely defendant of anything related to them. Like, murder all who heard tale of defendant.”

  “That fits the bill,” said Piety with a sigh. “He was going to kill me for just being there… or did rather.”

  “Did?” Asked BP with narrowed eyes.

  Some part of Piety hoped she hadn’t picked up on the distinction. “He… broke my neck,” Piety answered, struggling on the words for a breath. “But she saved me, healed me. Is that just something First-Seeds can do?”

  “Healed you? Like… Unkilled you?” BP asked in astonishment before saying with a sharp exhale, “That’s a first for me. The First-Seed, they’re superhuman but not miracle makers. That’s… fascinating. I don’t know what to say to that.”

  Piety looked down at the table for a moment before glancing back at Sophia standing in silence. “Any of this jogging your memory?” Piety asked softly. Sophia shook her head no before saying, “I don’t know what a We??hekw is or why they’d be after me. I don’t know what happened between us either, how I did what I did. I… I just don’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “Doesn’t really matter either way,” BP announced. “The boys would never forgive me if I didn’t offer you shelter. After all, they’re First-Seeds too – third Generation anyways.”

  “There are others like me here?” asked Sophia with raised brows.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Oh yeah, my boys.” BP answered proudly. “You’re not the first of the Godhead’s strays I’ve picked up. Four or so years ago we found a ruined colony across the lake. Two survivors. The whole colony had been kidnapped save them, by a We??hekw named Tehom. Never found them, but I still put my feelers out.”

  “You’ll have family here, at least,” Piety stated with a crooked smile.

  “Distant, but they should be back within the hour,” BP interjected. “Their faith is a bit… watered down than yours, I imagine. And after what happened with the Tevat… They share no love for the Godhead. Not to sugar coat it, my friend… but you’ve really stepped in it.”

  “I’m starting to realize that…” Piety admitted with a deep sigh. “What do I do now?”

  “Now? You rest,” BP offered with a nod of her head. “Head upstairs, pick a bed. I’ll let the boys know when they get here of the situation, my friend Vagari too. He’ll be especially interested in your story, I think.”

  “Are we safe here? Are you safe?” Piety asked BP genuinely. BP shrugged haplessly and then said, “Are we ever truly safe?” She laughed. “I was just thinking my life needed some more excitement lately. Get some rest. I’ll deal with whatever else shows up on my doorstep.”

  Piety couldn’t remember the last time she slept. She nodded surely, saying, “Okay, right… can’t do anything without rest. Thank you BP – you’re a life saver.” Piety stood and faced Sophia. She looked as lost as ever. Piety frowned. She reached out, taking her hand into hers. “Come on,” Piety said, tugging Sophia along, “let’s get some rest.”

  The bedroom was just as cramped as the rest of the place, with three beds pressed up against the walls and numerous boxes of everything imaginable between them. “Jeez, they need to hire a maid,” Piety commented idly as she led them into the room. “Beds are clean at least. I wonder what all this crap is?” From the nearest box she pulled out a piece of paper. It was a news article printed out of the Megacity’s CCN – the Central Communications Network. “Hidden colonies underground?” the title read “Untainted!”

  Piety flipped through the papers. Each and every was more of the same, conspiracies and mysteries involving the untainted. She glanced back at Sophia. Before today she would have laughed at the idea – but now… Now, maybe there are hidden cities in the mountains? Who knew for sure? Maybe there were whole countries out there living their lives like it was two-hundred years ago still.

  Piety neared one of the beds and sat down. She unplugged her goggles from the port in her neck and took them off, setting them to the side. Rubbing her eyes she sighed and laid back across the bed. After a moment of silence, she noticed Sophia staring at her from across the room. Right, she hadn’t seen her without her headset on – the mutant thing she really was.

  Piety didn’t look much different than her brother, them being twins after all. They were both skeletal in their features – deep set eyes, no nose, sallow skin. “Do I scare you?” Piety asked softly, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer. After a moment of what might’ve been deliberation, Sophia shook her head no. Piety couldn’t tell whether she was telling the truth or not, but she managed a weak smile anyways, saying “I’m glad.”

  “Do I scare you?” Sophia asked genuinely. “Do you believe what she said?”

  Piety thought about it for a moment. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure what to say. Some part of her was afraid – afraid of that strange hold Sophia had over her. Piety had just met her, but she was willing to die to save her. That scared her. Piety stared at the ceiling. She had a feeling Sophia already knew the answer. “Yes,” Piety said softly. “I’ve… I’ve always been out for myself, me and my brother. It’s how things had to be to survive.” She clicked her tongue and sighed. “But when I met you, something clicked… I put my life on the line and didn’t think twice about it. I knew I had to save you. That – that scares me.”

  Sophia sat down on one of the other beds and stared down at the floor. She couldn’t explain that feeling Piety had. She couldn’t explain any of it. Sophia didn’t know why the demon had held her hostage, or why the strange pale man was after her, or how she had brought Piety back to life. It scared her just as much as it scared Piety. So much of who she was was locked away, hidden behind a veil of fog that she just couldn’t pierce. Who was she? What was she?

  Sophia laid down and turned her back to her, unable to find the words to say. She was tired, but not sleepy – she had slept enough on the ship under the demon’s spell. Moments later she could hear Piety snoring softly behind her. Sophia sighed and sat up quietly. Their host knew things about her that not even she knew, about the Tevat, about the First-Seeds. She stood up and made her way to the door and the stairs leading below. She made sure not to wake Piety as she left.

  BP was in the kitchen stirring a pot of what smelled like heaven when she made it downstairs. At the top of a step ladder, she wobbled back and forth with each stir of the spoon. “I figured you might have some more questions.” BP said, not turning around. Sophia was a bit surprised; she thought she hadn’t made a sound. BP turned a bit to glance over her shoulder. “I’m a psychic,” she announced flatly. “There’s no sneaking up on me. Stew will be done in an hour or so, about when the boys get home.” BP stepped down from the ladder. “Sit, sit! I’ll answer anything I can.”

  Sophia nodded surely and sat down at the table. BP shuffled over and climbed up into a chair before saying, “So, what do you want to know?”

  “I… I don’t know who I am,” Sophia said softly. “My memory is fragmented. I remember doing things, living life aboard the Tevat, but it’s broken. Each memory feels like the memory of someone else, as if I’m outside looking in. I can’t put my face to them.”

  “I can see how that might be frustrating,” BP said with a few nods. “Well, I can’t tell you who you are, but maybe I can help jog your memory. What do you remember?”

  Sophia stared down at the tabletop, trying to sort through her memories. Every scene she brought to mind felt wrong, false, like she was just watching a movie play out before her. She remembered playing with the dogs as a child, but at the same time she remembered working at the kennels as their master. She remembered being both patient and doctor at the hospital. She remembered fleeing when the demons attacked, but also fighting back so others could escape. There was a duality to her memories that frightened and bewildered her. “I… I don’t know!” Sophia exclaimed, pressing the palms of her hands into her eyes. “Nothing seems right!”

  BP just watched her quietly, her bulbous eyes narrowed with sympathy and understanding. “It’s okay,” she’d say at last. “Don’t force it. It’ll all come back to you eventually.”

  “But what if I’m not… me when it does?” Sophia asked, tears welling up in her eyes. “What if I deserved to be trapped? What if that man is right about me?”

  “No one deserves to be imprisoned,” BP stated firmly, reaching out to put her hands over hers.

  “You said you were psychic,” Sophia uttered softly. “Is there anything you can do?”

  BP looked a bit uncomfortable at the request, but she would nod yes anyways. “I could… attempt an intrusion,” she told her. “But it would be just that, an intrusion. Your mind might not take it so kindly. There are walls built up around your psyche, mental blocks preventing you from remembering. I could attempt to take them down. But it’s dangerous – especially if you put them up to defend yourself.”

  “You think I might be keeping myself from remembering?” Sophia questioned. BP shrugged and then said, “It’s always a possibility. You might not want to remember, not on a base level.”

  “Please, help me,” Sophia urged, eyes wide. “I need to know.”

  BP gave her hand a squeeze and said, “Okay, okay! I’ll try… I just need you to know that this might not end up the way you want it to. Sometimes not remembering is for the better.”

  “I… I understand,” Sophia stated, squeezing her hand back. “I need to know who I am.” For a moment they sat in silence before Sophia broke it, saying, “What do I need to do?”

  “Nothing,” BP answered, shutting her eyes. “Sit still, clear your mind, and do nothing. I’ve already started.” Sophia stared across at her for a breath before shutting her eyes as well. She cleared her frantic mind the best she could and took a deep calming breath.

  Something flickered in the darkness of her thoughts, an image, a woman. She was tall, dark, with twists for hair, all wrapped up neatly behind her head. Something about the woman felt so familiar, so intimate. “Do… do you see her?” Sophia asked in a hushed voice.

  “Yes,” BP answered. “It’s you.”

  “Me?” Sophia uttered softly before saying with a widening smile, “It’s me.”