"Sooo, what was that?" Archius asked. "And you really need to double-check."

"What?" snapped Kazuki. The two were walking down a hall, approaching Fer-Charelota's suite. Its façade was right and fancy. "Just... we need to focus on getting eyes on Eliza."

Kazuki grumbled, pulling out a pill jar when he felt an ache strike his head. He swallowed a few more pills. The pain subsided both in his Exospine and head… Finally, some respite.

"The fact that she relied on Noah means that something happened between the two of you," Archius commented. "You willing to talk about it?"

Kazuki kept walking, ignoring Archius' question. "For now, we have no idea if Obadiah's taken her hostage. Given the facts, it's likely..."

Archius grumbled to himself. Better to not tell him anything. He ruined his only plan and leverage, that tracker and listening device. Despite that, Archius hit the mark: "You and Liz got into a fight, am I right or am I right?"

Kazuki stopped. His head nodded slightly. Archius scoffed with an amused but muffled chuckle. "One too naïve to survive; the other too jaded to thrive... I should have kept a closer eye on your two..."

"What would you have me do?" Kazuki asked.

"Perhaps, maybe, not treat Eliza like a kid, how about that?" Archius suggested. "She's your equal, you can't keep acting like she's yours to defend."

Oh. Archius did hear that, then. Kazuki grumbled, his face forming into a scowl. His hands clenching.

"Two sides of the same coin; stop acting like you can deal with this by yourself... You could have asked me for my help... But instead: you had me track Noah. Why?"

"..."

Archius dropped his face into a glare, scowled and growled all at once. "I held up my side of things, kept Noah and played him well. You have no... fucking idea just what I was planning to get him to talk. Now... you blew it up. If you're going to be controlling: do it properly! Don't throw your heavy weight around. Gentle pushes. Kaz."

Ignore it. Kazuki ignored Archius. 'Cyrus... do you read me?' Kazuki linked himself to his chief bodyguard. 'If you can, keep me updated...'

Cyrus replied, 'We're in Obadiah's o—'

'—I know,' Kazuki cut in. 'Eliza's not safe in there. Can you extract her?'

'Negative... I don't think Eliza will agree to that. There's also the issue of Lady Antiar. I cannot ascertain her motives, over.'

Kazuki shook his head. This is become a very big fucking headache. To make it even worse, it was a headache he could not shoot away with bullets, at least not now. He needed to continue contact with Cyrus. 'Cyrus... keep me connected, the moment you sniff trouble. Tell me.'

'Understood... I don't like this situation Eliza's dragged me into. I'll keep you aware,' said Cyrus. Kazuki muted himself on the uplink. His hand started to shake again. He took a massive handful of pills from the jar, stopping in place. He shoved it down his throat. He needs it...

His hand kept shaking.

Dammit... Dammit... Not now. Not now. Archius tapped Kazuki on the shoulder, shifting in front of him and standing still. "Kazuki... I heard everything. Don't try to lie to me."

"How?" It was all Kazuki could sputter out. His mind kept slamming against his skull, begging for attention.

Archius smirked, twirling around and showing Kazuki his ICAPAD. "How'd you think I've been tracking Noah? You should share the burden, you know. No operation should have one point of failure."

Archius then pointed directly at Kazuki's chest.

Kazuki remained silent. His golden eyes simply stared past Archius. It was a thousand lightyear stare... He couldn't say anything, especially not about this.

"You've been carrying many things alone," Archius said bitterly. "Mind if I juggle with some? Preferably the funnier ones."

"No point hiding it, then?" asked Kazuki.

A nod was all Archius gave him. "We're friends. Aren't we?" he asked. Kazuki placed his hands in his pockets...

Kazuki interjected, "Something's wrong with me."

"Yeah… I know, we're friends!" Archius rolled his eyes. "You'd think we'd be friends if something wasn't fucking wrong with either of us?"

Kazuki scoffed. "No. I guess not." Archius nodded, understanding that despite all their differences, the two had a bond forged in blood and trust. How will Kazuki explain anything to Archius? "Plain and simple?" Kazuki asked another question.

"Preferably," Archius answered. "I don't mind if it's a mess, though."

Kazuki replied with a nod. "Alright. It was my tenth birthday. The Ptolemy-1 Incident happened on the exact station and timeframe that my birthday party was being held. Many influential people. Many dead... But you already knew that, don't you?"

"Would I be your spymaster if I didn't remember that... fifty thousand words cypher you have for your computer?" Archius jested. Kazuki knew full well Archius wouldn't have remembered it.

"The birthday party... Victoria dragged me off to investigate something, something she says was 'bugging her'," said Kazuki.

Archius looked down on his ICAPAD. Kazuki caught a glimpse of it. Noah was still in the storage depot. He'll live, his injuries were barely superficial. Archius then said, "Like with how Eliza's dragging you around with her investigation? Damn, twins be damned, I guess."

"After the explosions ripped out half the station, Victoria was trapped in rubble."

As the words came out, Kazuki found it slowly harder and harder to say what he knew was true. He'll choke if he says anymore. He paused, standing dead still with no expression on his face. Archius approached him, giving him a small pat on the head.

"Take your time with this," he said. Archius had a neutral face. No facades. No falsehoods would be here, only truth upon truth.

Kazuki appreciated the gesture. "I broke my back and spine trying. We were both going to die there. She begged me to kill her... I only realised this later but... She knew she was going to die. And she..."

Something was falling from Kazuki's face. Archius took out a handkerchief and wiped water from his face. Kazuki froze... Was he bleeding?

"What... is this?" he asked. He touched his own face. It felt icky... Icey cold. It was water. Kazuki didn't need an answer. He knew exactly what it was. Tears. Why... is he crying? Kazuki gripped himself. Why did he allow himself to cry? He shouldn't cry! "Why... this is for me to—"

"No longer," Archius interjected. "It's normal for humans to cry. Just let it all out..." Archius leaned over and patted Kazuki on the back.

Kazuki found it harder to speak. Why can't he speak!? Why... Kazuki's breathing started to get more ragged. The water isn't stopping. Why isn't it stopping? He tried his best to steel his mind, but his body had other ideas.

At that moment, a decade bled from Kazuki's heart.

After a small moment, Kazuki regained his posture, and his control over his body. His words were sharp. He won't let that happen again... He just hoped Archius wouldn't even bring this up to anyone.

Kazuki knew what he had to do. He choked up each word. Each syllable. "She told me to kill her, I only realised now: that it was her way of telling me to save myself. To slit her throat. I watched her blood-red eyes fade to nothing. She was still smiling. That smile haunts me, Archius. Then Noah came... He saw Victoria's corpse."

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"And he brutally beat you up," Archius said whilst nodding.

" Frederick stepped in. He was searching for Victoria... He found her. And me. And Noah." Kazuki paused for a moment, remembering back and thinking of each vivid scene in graphic detail. Victoria's blood... Noah's fists. Frederick's condemning voice. Kazuki was judged guilty. GUILTY. The moment Frederick, Commissioner, laid eyes on him. "I couldn't speak. Frederick carried the both of us to safety..."

"I see," said Archius.

"You know what's funny?" Kazuki asked, slowly forming a crooked smile of his own making - to despise himself. "Frederick and Noah… they showed up mere seconds… minutes after Victoria went cold… I… If I had placed my back into it… Just ten more seconds! I…"

Kazuki started to cough up.

Archius said, "Take your time… I'm not going anywhere, Kaz."

Kazuki nodded to that remark.

"Every resting moment, I see that damn face. That damn smile. Not just Victoria's. Everyone's. Svenn. James… Petra… Tifta, even Reuben, that vicious fool."

It was names that only Kazuki could remember for so long.

"Their deaths are not your fault," said Archius. "I know! Crazy to think that."

Kazuki turned to him. "It's not that… I know them. Who else in this galaxy knows the needs, wants and loves of thousands? All dead?"

Archius didn't say a word.

"Me, Archius. Victoria's death was just the start of it. Everything hurts. My body's half addicted to stims and Halolazil. My mind bleeds more than my body, all for some Contract-Breaker. It won't stop… If I had just died on that station, none of this would have happened."

"And the galaxy would be a stranger place if so."

"It should have been me, right? It should have been Victoria who lived, right?!" asked Kazuki. His tone made his words sound like mere child-like curiosity, instead of a genuine question of suicide, which Archius seemed surprised at.

Archius stepped backwards, pausing and thinking for a moment. He placed his finger up to his chin. Then, he clicked them. "No," he said. "You probably think I'm just going to give you the basic speech, no. You deserve something better because you've carried her memory on for this long..."

Kazuki did not understand.

"Live for her, that's what she'd want for you, right? She died so you can breathe, feel, and taste food. Dear fuck I'm hungry..."

The small remark at the end helped ease the tension within Kazuki's head. He nodded, giving a small smile at his remark. It was a band-aid, however, only sealing the aching pain momentarily.

"You know, every day since I slit Victoria's throat… felt wrong, it felt like I died on that station, Archius," Kazuki admitted. "Sometimes, when my mind loosens up, I feel like I'm going insane, like I'm not truly here… Like a part of me died on that station."

"It probably did," Archius said. "Trauma shaped the both of us, so why don't we traumatise them back, ey?" Archius gave off a smile, which Kazuki snickered at.

"Pfft. Fuck you…" Kazuki joked.

"I shouldn't have given you those sleeping pills," Archius said. Wow. Amazing assessment. He looked back. "Knowing you, half your bloodstream is chemicals and drugs. Wouldn't want to cause you to have a heart attack or something! Can you even... have a heart attack with your..."

Kazuki shook his head. "No. Whoever designed it's cleverer than me," he said.

"Cybernetics... I guess that's why you have Eliza around, seems you're okay with her being up and close, poking around inside of you," Archius commented. Kazuki shook his head again.

No... Kazuki doubted whether Eliza would help him again. Kazuki said, "In Victoria's dying words, she told me to protect her siblings, no matter what. To look over them."

"Hmm... so that was what made the Arbiter, Slave to Clandestine, crack," Archius smiled. "Between a contract to a slaver philanthropist and your blood oath to Victoria... You chose the one that mattered the most."

Archius was surprisingly understanding, not an ounce of mockery was present in his voice. Merely understanding was present.

Kazuki nodded. "Illegal blood oaths have precedence in court… you must know that by now. Hard to serve a suit when they're trying to scalp you, though."

Archius chuckled. "Your sarcasm seems to still be alive."

"More alive than the last fucker who commented on it," Kazuki snorted. "It's survived the rebellion, Svenn, exposure, being stabbed through the chest... It changes. It's dying, yes. But it's still there."

Despite the quite unusual situation the two were in, Kazuki didn't feel alone there. Maybe... he should tell Eliza straight up? "Eliza's your Jas, then…" Archius commented. "No wonder why you want to protect her… She means more to you than I'd ever hoped for."

"Double it and give it to the next person," Kazuki remarked.

Archius quickly moved on. "So, what was this investigation you were looking into, Kaz?"

"Hmm?"

"Victoria... she dragged you into a mess, didn't she?" asked Archius. "Plus, it seems like Eliza might have been asking for something not related to her death… But this investigation…"

Wait… Archius might be, right? Fuck! Kazuki read through Eliza's words. She only suggested it as a jest - killing Victoria. FUCK. DAMMIT!

But the first twin's investigation!? Kazuki rattled his brain. He scratched his head. Did he remember... something? Figures. All standing around him. Victoria was there. Men were in the room. His memory snapped in place, overriding anything that he was concerned about before.

"I was investigating suspicious activity with her. She suspected that there were 'naughty people' as she said, at the station. Sadly, Victoria was correct." Kazuki's mind placed any filters away. He remembers it... Wait... Did he forget something? "They were pirates..."

Kazuki's voice turned into a whisper. What? Pirates? Their faces, those men. They were pirates! Everyone knows that... Kazuki blinked for a few seconds. Jessica's logs said of something else, other forces behind the attack! There were other auxiliary roles, so that made sense.

A thousand documents flew by in his head, all pointing to multiple benefactors. Of course, it was the only way such a thing could have happened.

"We found pirates sneaking around. Probably smuggled in by Clandestine, one of P-1's many benefactors. They took us hostage..." Kazuki built his memory back up. He knew what was coming next, but still found the words hard to say. "I had the detonator... Victoria begged me to run. I traded the detonator for her."

Archius stared at him. Don't judge… Kazuki didn't want Archius to judge him. Not him. Not him of all people!

"You had no choice," said Archius. "Obviously, it's a cruel galaxy. Of course, I won't say a word of this to anyone."

"I traded the detonator for her."

Archius nodded. "Don't beat yourself over it, I could barely count to ten when I was ten."

"I killed them all… I killed Victoria… with my own hands… with my cowardice… I traded their lives for hers," Kazuki tugged at his cheek, meandering to the wall. He grabbed onto it, supporting himself up as he glared at the floor.

"It didn't matter! VICTORIA died anyways!"

Kazuki froze. Archius leaned in and wrapped an arm around Kazuki. "Alright, let all the self-deprecation out. Best to just say it then bottle it all up for ten whole bloody years, you're hardy and durable, even I'm surprised your mind lasted this long, idiot."

"And after that…" Kazuki slowly slumped down against the wall. Archius followed suit, slumping down next to him. "You know what my parents said?" Archius probably knew the answer. "Nothing. Nothing… They abandoned me to my own mind… I was ten, how could I process any of that?"

"Idiot…" Archius flicked Kazuki's ear. "Doesn't that feel better?!"

Despite what Kazuki expected, being called an idiot was a wake-up call, a good one at that. He couldn't help but subtly smile at Archius' insult. Archius' arm was tight, but gentle in a way he couldn't describe. Patting his shoulder, Archius let the moment sink in. Kazuki obliged as well.

The memory was not what shocked Kazuki. It was something else. There was one individual Kazuki could not remember. It was a correction Kazuki could not make. His mind kept filling the spot, yet none was correct.

"They all died… They all ran ahead. Leaving me behind. I didn't expect Irya and Kantos to do as well."

Kazuki stopped again. Seconds passed, as he silently reflected.

Faces… There was one Kazuki's memory refuted. It was the one holding onto Victoria... Their face alluded to Kazuki. His memory's tendrils bounced back from his identity.

"Kazuki?" Archius waved his hand in front of him. "Anyone there? The Jara-Jins' deaths were… unexpected, but you must stand firm now. We have our enemy in our sights, sure we don't have Claire or Sato or Martinez with us, but it's an easy slam dunk."

"No… I know. It's just that I was so… disappointed." Kazuki didn't want the twins to have died. Both the Jara-Jins and possibly even the Celeste-Delmara twins. None of them deserved death… "It felt like… they were actual friends…" Kazuki scoffed somewhat at the notion.

Yet, Kazuki's reaper took them before it took him.

Archius patted Kazuki on the arm once again. Another understanding lull of silence fell onto the two.

Yet something beyond all their deaths didn't add up. Kazuki remembers faces. Too well. But he couldn't remember one.

Kazuki found the courage to speak, "There was this one person..." Kazuki started to walk again, past Archius.

He was shaking more now. Their face... Why can't he see it? It was such a commanding voice. He turned back to Archius. For the first time, he showed something on his face: worry.

"What?" asked Archius. "It's probably just a pirate or whatever, or a merc at best."

Kazuki scrunched his face up into a confused mess. This wasn't supposed to happen! He can… forget things?! "No. Smuggling that pirate head, Goldeyes, is impossible given how he's a top-wanted person."

"Hmm?" Archius raised an eyebrow. "Who do you think it is, then?"

"I… One of the Directors? A mercenary? Probably. The pirates represented the criminals… Jessica organised it… But who… represented the security industry?"

"Who knows?" Archius shrugged. "I guess we'll be looking for that answer… Ooh… So exciting! Our plot seems to thicken again!" He grinned massively at this revelation.

He wasn't as concerned as Kazuki, however. Then, his grin faded as Kazuki's golden eyes glinted blue. This was not right.

"Their face… I don't remember it?" he asked himself out loud. It was an impossible situation, but one that Kazuki dreaded. Such an impossibility has become possible: Kazuki does not remember.

All that was left was dread, duty and death.

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