00:00Rain always falls when I go out to carry out a mission.
00:03As if the sky knows I am going to kill.
00:07After this, I'm free.
00:10That's what they told me.
00:12The objective is simple.
00:15Kill the alien queen.
00:17Steal the core she carries.
00:20Return.
00:23Simple.
00:24But when I reach the deck,
00:26there are already screams.
00:30There is already blood on the wet wood.
00:32The bipedal monsters got here before me.
00:35They are slaughtering the guards.
00:38They are here for the same thing I am.
00:41For the core.
00:43It doesn't matter.
00:45I draw my twin blades and move forward.
01:15The corridors are full of smoke and fog.
01:17fire. I step over the bodies of fallen guards. Some of them are still moving. Not my problem.
01:26I keep going. I reach the central corridor. The last guards are defending a door. Five,
01:35maybe six. They are wounded, but still holding. The guards see me. They raise their weapons.
01:43They do not let me pass. I don't have time for this.
02:24I don't know.
02:25I don't know.
02:52The last thing I see before I lose consciousness
02:55is the ship sinking in flames
02:57and the rain
02:59always the rain
03:02I wake with a sharp pain in my side
03:05I open my eyes
03:06grey sky
03:08sand under my back
03:10I lift my head
03:13she is kneeling beside me
03:15her hands glow faintly over the wound
03:19she is healing me
03:21she sees me wake up
03:23she immediately pulls back
03:25she puts distance between us
03:28we look at each other in silence
03:31she is exhausted
03:32I can see it in the way she trembles
03:35then her eyes close
03:38she falls to one side
03:39unconscious on the sand
03:42I force myself to my feet
03:44the pain protests
03:46but I ignore it
03:48I've had worse wounds
03:49I walk toward her
03:51she is unconscious
03:53completely vulnerable
03:57I draw one of my blades
03:58the metal shines under the grey light
04:02it's simple
04:03I finish the mission here
04:06I take the core
04:07I return to the master
04:10simple
04:11I raise the weapon
04:13but something stops me
04:15it isn't compassion
04:17I don't know what it is
04:19I only know that my hand does not move
04:22the blade stays in the air
04:25motionless
04:25she saved me
04:27when she could have left me to die on the beach
04:30she saved me
04:31why?
04:33it makes no sense
04:37I look around
04:38small island
04:40dense vegetation
04:42narrow beach
04:43no sign of civilization
04:45I move away from her
04:48and explore
05:12no sign ofhistoire
05:16I move away from her
05:38Faces appear in the dark, all the ones I have killed over the years, hundreds, maybe thousands.
05:45I do not keep count, the master always said counting is weakness.
06:11I have lived my whole life in the dark, but tonight, for the first time, I feel something
06:19like a faint light.
06:21I don't know what it is.
06:23I only know it makes me uncomfortable.
06:26The next few days pass slowly.
06:54The next few days pass slowly.
06:57That night, I stare at the fire and understand something unsettling.
07:02I no longer want to finish this mission.
07:06Something is changing inside me, and I do not know if I can stop it.
07:29I do not know it.
07:39I don't know.
08:20I don't know.
08:46I don't know.
09:15I don't know.
09:48I don't know.
09:54I don't know.
10:07I don't know.
10:32I don't know.
10:34I don't know.
10:38I don't know.
10:43I don't know.
10:46I don't know.
10:52I don't know.
11:08I don't know.
11:13I don't know.
11:15I don't know.
11:18I don't know.
11:20I don't know.
11:32I don't know.
11:38I don't know.
11:40I don't know.
11:41I don't know.
11:49I don't know.
11:50I don't know.
11:51I don't know.
12:07I don't know.
12:09I don't know.
12:11I don't know.
12:26I don't know.
12:52I wake.
12:53The core is no longer in her hands.
12:56It is inside me.
12:58I feel it beating beside my heart.
13:02Strange.
13:04Alive.
13:05Powerful.
13:07She is there.
13:09Exhausted.
13:11Looking at me with eyes that no longer cry, but still carry the full weight of her dead world.
13:17I do not cry.
13:18I was never taught how, but I slowly raise my hand.
13:23It takes time to obey.
13:27Trembling, I gently touch her cheek.
13:30It is the first time I have ever touched someone with tenderness.
13:34I did not know I knew how.
13:36She closes her eyes.
13:39A tear falls.
13:40We say nothing.
13:43The boat keeps floating on the calm sea.
13:46The rain has stopped.
13:50We reach another shore at dawn.
13:53She is sleeping, exhausted, at the bottom of the boat.
13:57I do not wake her.
13:58I anchor the boat and go out to explore.
14:02Rocky coast.
14:03Sparse vegetation.
14:05Fresh water about a hundred meters inland.
14:08Enough.
14:10I catch a fish among the rocks.
14:12It is not big, but it will do.
14:16I start a fire.
14:18I cook it in silence while the sun rises.
14:22A voice behind me.
14:24Cook another one.
14:27I do not flinch.
14:29I would know that voice anywhere.
14:32The master is there.
14:35Sitting on a rock as if nothing is wrong.
14:37As if he had not crossed half the ocean to find me.
14:42He does not ask what happened.
14:44He does not ask about the mission.
14:47He only watches.
14:48I sit down.
14:51I prepare another fish.
14:53I place it over the fire.
14:55We eat in silence.
14:57The master never speaks without reason.
15:00I wait.
15:02Finally.
15:03I can feel the core.
15:05It is inside you.
15:08I nod.
15:09You completed half the mission.
15:12He tilts his head toward the boat.
15:15Toward where she is sleeping.
15:16Now kill the queen.
15:19Extract the core.
15:21Come back with me.
15:23I shake my head.
15:25No.
15:27The word comes out firm.
15:29Without doubt.
15:30The master watches me for a long time.
15:34Not with surprise.
15:35With something more complex.
15:38I get to my feet.
15:39I draw my blades.
15:41I point them at him.
15:43For the first time in my life.
15:46I aim my weapons at the master.
15:49He does not move.
15:50I see disappointment in his eyes.
15:53But also something strange.
15:55Something that could be satisfaction.
15:58He rises slowly.
16:00He draws his own weapons.
16:03Then this is a real fight.
16:06He says.
16:08We fight.
16:09We fight.
16:10We fight.
16:11We fight.
16:22We fight.
16:24We fight.
16:28We fight.
16:30We fight.
16:32We fight.
16:33We fight.
16:34We fight.
16:35We fight.
16:36We fight.
16:37We fight.
16:37We fight.
16:37We fight.
16:38We fight.
16:38he stops. He lowers his weapon. He looks at me. When I pulled you out of that pool of blood,
16:47your eyes were empty. He steps closer. Now I see light. Another step.
16:57Even if I'm not the one who gave it to you. He puts away his weapons. He turns around.
17:04He walks toward the shadows between the rocks. Before he disappears completely, he says without
17:12looking back, in three days, they will come. He leaves. I do not stop him. She wakes shortly
17:21after. She heard everything. Or at least enough. She walks over slowly. She looks at me. Do you
17:31regret it? Her voice is soft. Careful. I look at her. No. She stands. She looks toward the horizon.
17:44Then I have to return to the ruins. I have to gather my people. What is left of them?
17:55I nod. I understand what she does not say. The spiritual remains of her people are still
18:02waiting. Let's go, I say. We prepare the boat. We set sail for the ruins, toward the place where she
18:12lost everything. We sail back for a day and a night. The water darkens as we get closer.
18:23It is not dirt. It is something deeper, as if the sea itself were morning.
18:32In the distance, I see the ruins. What used to be a floating settlement is now a field of broken
18:39structures. Some still float, half sunken. Others are completely destroyed. We arrive.
18:48I anchor the boat at what remains of a dock. I step ashore first. My boots touch rotten wood. It
18:56creaks, but it holds. The silence is heavy. Oppressive. There are no birds. No wind. Only silence.
19:07I walk among the remains. Dry blood on the walls still standing. Deep claw marks carved into the stone.
19:17So deep the monsters must have attacked with absolute fury.
19:23Bones among the wreckage. Some large. Others small. She walks past me. She does not look at the bones.
19:32She does not look at the blood. She walks straight toward the center of the ruins. There is a platform
19:40there.
19:40Half sunken, but still stable. It must have been important once. Maybe a gathering place. Maybe something sacred.
19:51She kneels. She kneels. She places her hands on the shattered ground. She closes her eyes.
19:58She begins to make a low sound. It is not song. It is not language. It is something older. A
20:08call.
20:08In her soul. Faint lights begin to appear around us. First one. Then another. Translucent figures.
20:18Barely visible against the gray sky. They are the spiritual remains of her people. Slowly,
20:26one by one, the spiritual remains gather in her palm. In her outstretched hand.
20:35faint lights floating over her skin like stars trapped there the core inside my chest beats
20:42harder I can feel it as if it recognizes its own as if it wants to join them
20:53she opens her eyes she looks at me with a handful of lights they're here now her voice
21:02is soft but firm I look toward the horizon the sky darkens it is not night it is something else
21:12like a shadow moving closer the others are coming too she nods she says nothing else
21:22she doesn't need to I draw my blades I wait
21:37so
21:47so
21:49I don't know.
22:45I don't know.
22:49I don't know.
23:19I don't know.
23:49I don't know.
23:51I don't know.
23:52I don't know.
23:55I don't know.
23:58I don't know.
24:03I don't know.
24:16I don't know.
24:48I don't know.
24:51I don't know.
25:02I don't know.
25:39I don't know.
26:03I don't know.
26:13I don't know.
26:16I don't know.
26:28I don't know.
26:57I don't know.
27:26I don't know.
28:01I don't know.
28:24I don't know.
28:27I don't know.
28:32I don't know.
28:33I don't know.
28:39I don't know.
29:09I don't know.
29:28I don't know.
29:57I don't know.
30:00I don't know.
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