“Ok, grab what we need from the lab, then pack up some essentials from your quarters.” PyjamaSam said, already putting together a makeshift toolkit for their escape flight.

In the last few weeks Sam had made several alterations to the Null-Aura, or NORA, technology, to make the artificial intelligence more manageable, more controllable. He watched as the last of the flames died down around the infected tissue sample he had taken from Elly that very morning, the sample completely destroyed by a precision welding torch he used in his workshop.

He had wired Nora into the main station systems, and given her commands. “Nora, I want you to bypass all systems on this station; I want you in complete control. You will respond to only my voice, and in ten minutes, you will go offline.” Nora voiced her compliance, and began her task with enthusiasm.

Quickly, Sam grabbed Elly by the arm, leading them both to the sealed workshop doors. Elly had packed a toolkit as well; she was as much a thinker as Sam ever had been. “Nora, open this door, but seal every other doorway on the station.” Sam said, a slight panic to his voice.

They had been locked down into a forced quarantine minutes earlier. Elly, in the body of Lady Grey, and himself, had contracted an unknown contaminent. There had been signs something was wrong with Lady Grey’s body for days, but they both had focused their research into the hope of cloning Elly’s consciousness into a fresh, compatible body; neither of them had been looking for signs of Jovian sickness.

The Jovians were mythical to some, like gods, perhaps never having existed at all. The story went that they possessed technologies never again seen in New Eden, ships and weapons so powerful as to make our current technology look primitive. Yet in all their grandeur they were nearly wiped out by an unknown illness, in all their technological wonder, they couldn’t cure themselves. Rather than infecting all of New Eden, they chose to leave forever, and according to legend, that is where the birth of the four empires really began.

The workshop doorway slid open. Sam urged Elly forward. “Get your things. I’ll meet you at your quarters in three minutes. Hurry!” he cried hoarsely, his voice not used to this fevered pitch. Sam was a scientist, not a fighter. He had used his status as capsuleer to further augment his already impressive cognitive capacities; he had never focused on evolved combat.

He made his way to his quarters, only a few doorways down from his workshop, and threw some clothing into a tote bag. He could hear his corpmates demanding to know what he was up to over the loudspeakers, warning him of the consequences of his actions. “Nora, disable all communications systems.” Sam said. Blissful silence ensued immediately.

Two minutes later, he had met up with Elly at her quarters, though most of the time they had simply shared his. With Nora’s help, they made it to Sam’s Nighthawk hangar bay, and quickly loaded everything onboard.

“You sure you want to do this?” Elly asked, fear and hope in her eyes.

“It’s the only way.” Sam replied. “Nora downloaded all the relevant history of the Jovians to here.” he pointed at his head. “I know where they were last seen. I know where they were going. We can’t go through Jovian space without fear of being destroyed, so we’re going through wormhole space. We’ll get there, don’t you worry.” He offered a weak smile, and she nodded, placing her faith in him. Their love had come so far in such a short amount of time; she wasn’t going to falter now.

Sam began the pre-flight sequence on the Nighthawk, all the while talking to Nora. “Disable station weapon systems. Create false readings of our projected trajectory; I don’t want them knowing where we’ve gone. Also,” he said with a coy smile, “play some neolithic jazz in the command center.” That would drive them nuts, Sam thought with glee.

The ship launched, entering warp without incident, and soon they were several systems away. Sam looked at his chrono. “Nora should’ve gone offline by now, but hopefully with the fake trail we left we should be ok. Still, let’s stay focused and get as much space between us and them as we can.” Elly silently nodded.

He had just given up everything for her. There was no way he could go back now. It weighed on her heart just how much he loved her, and how much she loved him, but was it right? She was dying, she could feel it, and any day now the real Lady Grey would reclaim her body with a vengeance. They hadn’t been able to find a solution; they hadn’t been able to clone Elly successfully. Maybe things could’ve been different if they had made more progress.

Sam was fidgeting with a spanwrench and a control circuit nearby, smiling in triumph as some light indicators switched from red to green. He turned and walked to where Elly was sitting, placing the wrench on the sitting bench beside her.

“Ok, autopilot is working.” Sam said. From what she had learned, it was far more difficult, if not impossible to fly this size of ship without being inserted into the pilot pod, but Sam had somehow managed. Sure, they didn’t have any weapon crews, or a command crew to handle shields and defensive systems, but they were mobile, and that would hopefully be enough.

“We should be in proximity of a recent wormhole that existed in the VAF database. With a little luck, it’s still stable, and we can use it. In the meantime…” Sam said with a smile, pulling out the long, smooth obsidian case that Elly had come to know all too well. It was the real her; the only remaining piece of her original DNA from an era long forgotten; the era of Earth. That single, glorious strand contained every memory of her life, held the key to her own locked immortality, but try as they might they hadn’t been able to solve the mystery…yet. The fact Sam had brought it with her showed he was still optimistic and Elly forced a smile on her face, trying to show the same. She loved Sam with all her heart, but she knew time was running out. Even then she could feel the struggle inside her mind against Lady Grey. The pressure felt almost physical, overwhelming, and she had experienced constant headaches for days. She wanted to be hopeful, but she was far too pragmatic for that.

And now, even if they did find a cure, Lady Grey’s body had become infected with Jovian sickness. So even if she could maintain a feeble control over the other woman’s mind, how long would this body last?

“Elly, your ear.” Sam said, concern washing over his face. His gentle hand reached away from her, blood spatters on his fingertips. She put her own hand to her ear, and was astonished when it yielded the same result. She stared dumbly at the blood on her fingers, slowly looking up at Sam. She was speechless.

“Elly, are you ok? Talk to me. Tell me how to help.” Sam’s expression was of genuine love and concern, and he reached to hold her hands in comfort.

Elly reached her hands forward as well, snatching up the wrench beside her and swiping it across PyjamaSam’s face, disconnecting his jaw. Blood splattered and he fell heavily to the deck.

“Ewy, wha r ou” Sam tried to say before another blow with the wrench across his skull silenced him for a moment. She stood to her feet, towering over the bludgeoned form of PyjamaSam, whom was still conscious, through moving groggily.

“You sick, pathetic, excuse for a man. How dare you do this to me. Did you really think you’d get away with it?” Lady Grey said, hammering down on PyjamaSam’s leg with the wrench, breaking bone. PyjamaSam yelped in pain, his mouth unable to express even that properly.

“You drugged me! You violated my mind! You raped my body! I was there every single time you kissed me with your greasy thin lips! I was there every time you touched my breasts with your bony, cold hands! I was there every single time you, every time you!!!” She lashed out against his other leg with the wrench, filled with vehement rage. For months she had been trapped as a prisoner in her own mind, forced to endure every offence this bastard had committed against her.

She smashed down on PyjamaSam again, blood splattering on her clothing, cries of anguish coming from the crippled and broken man beneath her. She was going to kill him.

“Ewy! Sto! Pwe!” Sam cried.

“Elly is no more you idiot! She’s gone. But don’t worry; I know how much she means to you, and you’ll be joining her very soon.” Lady Grey screamed at him with venom behind every word.

Suddenly, she stopped.

She looked at the obsidian box, then back at Sam, the most wicked and evil smile across her face, her eyes beaming with the most malicious intent. She picked up the box, tenderly running her hand down it’s smooth surface, waiting for PyjamaSam’s senses to register what she had in her possession.

His eyes widened in stark fear, tears running down his face from far more than the physical pain he was in. One hand feebly reached up towards her, shaking and straining with the effort.

“nooo” his weak voice croaked. It was the most pleasureable sound Lady Grey had ever heard.

She smashed the box to the deck, stomping on it repeatedly with her boot heel, delivering devastating blows to it with the spanwrench. The box splintered, then shattered, its contents broken to countless pieces. She saw the DNA container and crushed it with her heel, heartfelt satisfaction etched onto her face.

Elly was no more, and would never be again.

PyjamaSam whimpered helplessly on the floor, his legs broken, his skull bleeding, his jaw hanging awkwardly to one side.

“I’m turning this ship around, PyjamaSam. We’re going back to VAF and you’re going to be held accountable for every single crime you’ve committed against me. I’m sure Tessa won’t be pleased, but justice will be served.”

Lady Grey walked towards the pod, preparing to take command of the Nighthawk.

PyjamaSam was a peaceful man at heart. He was a scientist, an inventor; he worked towards making the galaxy a better place. He had never asked for much, never wanted much. He was content to be alone. He had but a few real friends, and that suited him just fine.

That was before he had found his true love. That was before he had just watched as she was savagely murdered before his eyes, and he wasn’t able to do a damned thing about it.

His heart felt like it would physically break so strong was the pain, drowning out even the screaming of his body’s numerous injuries.

PyjamaSam had never felt such righteous fury before in his life; had never before been so enraged as to defy the laws of biomechanics and physics, never before experienced the power of love in such a real and meaningful way.

He dragged himself across the deck, Lady Grey nearly finished inserting herself into the pod. He wasn’t going towards her. Rather, he was slowly moving towards an interface console, sliding his body in its own blood, his arms weakening with every exertion.

He reached the console, and slid a slender tendril into his skull port. In his mind, he was whole. His thoughts raced through his ship’s systems, locking out anyone but him. He enabled the self destruct. In thirty seconds it would all be over.

Lady Grey had emerged from the pod, screaming incoherently, lunging at him, pure malice her clear intent.

She straddled his body, raining fists repeatedly upon his face and head. He smiled dumbly back at her. He had won, and he knew it.

She began choking him, but it didn’t matter. Twenty seconds and he would be free.

Lady Grey sprang from on top of him, rushing back to the pod, racing to connect herself to it. She was a capsuleer, and if she was plugged in, Aura would have no choice but to obey her programming and transfer Lady Grey’s consciousness into a fresh clone. But this Aura AI was now keyed to PyjamaSam only, and wasn’t letting anyone else access the ship’s systems.

Lady Grey quickly threw down the wires and cybernetic jacks, and screamed in rage at PyjamaSam. If she was going to die, so was he. She still had time to disconnect him from the ship.

She raced back towards PyjamaSam as the Nighthawk exploded.

—

VAF Cloning Facility
Undisclosed Space

PyjamaSam exhaled sharply, the first breath this new body had ever taken. The cloning chamber bed hissed open. PyjamaSam immediately heard the sounds of bootclad footsteps. As his eyes adjusted to the light of the facility, he could see VAF security teams standing in front of him, weapons ready and pointed at him.

Tessa Yor stood in front of them, a frown on her face.

“You’ve got some explaining to do, Sam.” She said sternly. “Lady Grey’s lost four months of her life. We were lucky to have a recent backup imprint of her. Jovian sickness, hostile takeover of our station, Null-Aura. Tell me, Sam, exactly what the hell is going on here?”

PyjamaSam smiled inwardly. His heart still cried at the loss of Elly, a loss he would profoundly feel for the rest of his immortal life. But Lady Grey would remember none of it, and he would never tell her. He could come up with a convincing tale for Tessa, about his noble effort to save his corpmates from the dreaded virus, and she would believe him. He had never done anything wrong before in his career.

He knew without a shadow of a doubt though, that for the love of Elly, he would gladly do wrong again.