Shawn had gotten the hang of moving his when by now. It was just like learning to walk as a child and just like back then, he had learned to run before more subtle moves like this. Still, his experience teaching Douglas had given him an edge in knowing when not to be. That didn’t make him any less tired as he appeared in the engine room of HIS ship. The Ziegfried was built specifically for situations like this. He looked at the housing where the Phoenixian Crystal was designed to rest. “Hey, old friend… Thanks for keeping them safe. I know it was your maiden voyage, but you were beautiful.” He held out his hand and, after a moment of concentration, he held out a scarlet and gold flame the size of a softball. “I know you were built for Fugue Resonance, but consider this going from regular gas to premium. Harmonic Cross Resonance.” He guided the flame into the housing and as it formed a stable burn and he heard the engine humming to life, he laughed softly, “I knew you would like that. Now, let’s get you out of here.” He dropped below the engine and bypassed the efforts to disarm it, watching the power flow to the entire ship, and in turn feeling it like he did his own body.
It wouldn’t be long before he stepped onto the Bridge and sat in HIS chair. But it didn’t feel quite right. It was like walking into your own home and finding everything had been replaced with an exact replica. Gena broke his concentration, her smile no less reassuring despite the changes from her exposure to the Proktota, “I knew you would come through!” She then turned with a more serious and battle tested expression towards the view screen and the closed hanger doors. “But that’s going to be a problem. I know the Ziegfried is a mobile fortress, but I don’t like the idea of how many people will get hurt if we fight our way out.”
Shawn nodded slowly, “Agreed.” He rolled his shoulders, eliciting a look of mild concern from Gena but he laughed and shook his head, “No, its fine. Cyr-” He caught himself and used terms he knew she would understand, “The replica of me. He did a number on me, but I have enough juice left to finish the plan.” He rubbed his armrests with genuine affection. “You ready to do something cool?” He closed his eyes, feeling his fire filling every inch of this ship. It hummed with his warmth and power. As he grabbed every corner, he taught it what he had learned so well. Guided the Ziegfried on its first flight through time itself. Not forgetting to put on the little lightshow, allowing his flames to enclose the external layers so the cameras would have something to report. Theatrics were an important part of the job, and Shawn had it down to a science. To the cameras and all outside observers, it would be as though he had used his flames to teleport. That would keep them off the trail of studying what he was actually doing. Give the Bureaucrats something to look into.
As he finished enclosing the craft in flames, he willed the engines on as they pressed beyond the bounds of time. By the time Gena would be able to understand what he had just done, they were already in open space. He said softly, “And there we are. You held up so well for your first trip.”
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“Hard not to be a little jealous of how you are talking about the ship.”
He stood up and walked over to her, his eyes looking into her own with a distant but reassuring smile, “I was talking about you. No motion sickness, time sickness, or any other kind of nausea. You managed just fine.” He could see in her eyes that she could sense the change in him, but for this moment, he was too tired to call her on it. They were so close to this whole mess being over. He might not be her Shawn, but in this moment, he was the only Shawn she needed and he was glad to do at least that much for her.
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Anisa walked the unfamiliar streets, devoid of life, but not devoid of evidence that it was once there. Cars cast around like mere playthings all over the streets, some even in the sides of the buildings. But there was no fire. No color. She checked under one of the cars that had crater surrounding it only to find an indent at the bottom that was oddly uneven. As though it was tracing the outline of a person. Looking up at one of the buildings she saw a similar indent across one of the sky scrapers. It was like discovering the days old remains of an apocalypse. As she followed the devastation, an oddly attired figure leapt out at her and it was in this moment that the memory came back.
She caught the figure and dragged their arm to the ground before grabbing their neck and snapping it. As the shadowy figure vanished, all that was left of the short brawl was the echoing snap of bone. It was almost more chilling than if she was still holding them. She sighed as she sat briefly and quietly in the aftermath, “This was the first place Sculptura went. She took me here to get access to her old accounts and call in some favors. Heias had a hit squad once. I only ever saw them in passing the one time. Back then, neither her nor I thought he would chase us. Let alone what he would be willing to do to get to us.”
As she looked around at the neon lights rendered mute by the monochrome of Shawn’s despair. As she looked closer, she could see the faintest outlines of other figures. She readied herself to fight them, but they seemed to be ignoring her. When the next figure leaped at her, she stepped aside and… it did a few cartwheels and back handsprings and then disappeared into a nearby alley. She blinked in confusion and curiosity. And the thought that she was in no danger made her blood freeze once more. The fact that her instincts were still so tuned for ‘kill or be killed’ that she might have just ended a life that meant her no harm on defensive reflex. Then again, these weren’t life. These were the ghosts that haunt Shawn. They weren’t hers, but they were no less haunting. No less daunting. And no less powerful. She saw how the damage tapered off like mud falling off work boots as it lead out of town… and so she followed the damage and the chaos, hoping to find her friend.
