The Story of Remnant II: Part II

Chapter 2.3

I heard ruffling from the sheets as Corey woke up. She wiped her eyes and sat up, greeting me.

"Morning..."

I waved my hand. Corey struggled out of the bed and walked to the bathroom.

I went up the steps and knocked on the door to... uh. My room.

"Go away, Sparty!"

I walked down the steps. There was no point trying to reason with Ben. We were both stubborn. It took a catastrophic event to get me out of the room. I found John sitting on the couch and playing with some sticks.

What are you making?

John turned around. "A castle."

Out of sticks?

"Yeah. Look I made a moat."

John began moving the sticks around and making over the top sound effects. Seeing him play with the sticks made me smile under my mask. I knelt next to him.

Where's the King and Queen?

"Oh, I haven't made a place for them. The King is called Ben and the Queen is called Corey."

I choked and began coughing, as John laughed out loud.

Why you little...

"Come on, Ben. I know you like her."

You shouldn't be talking about stuff like this at your age. You wouldn't understand.

"Ben's got a girlfriend! Ben's got a girlfriend!" John playfully sang, dancing around.

You keep chanting that I'm going to blow your castle up.

John quickly zipped it.

I put my hands on his shoulders. John, I want you to listen very carefully. Do not call me Ben when I'm around those two. They can't know who I am.

John frowned. "Why not? Wouldn't it be cool to show your face. I think it would be cool to have a future version of my friend protect me."

Look, kid. You wouldn't understand. Just... keep it a secret, ok? Just call me Sparty for now.

Corey returned changed and freshened up.

"I'm sooooo tired." She grumbled.

I held out Ben's phone. You aren't a morning person?

Corey laughed. "Hell no! I hate waking up early. I did it back in school because I wanted to get my exercise in. I personally don't like waking up so early. I end up sleeping in my classes."

I looked at John. Can you translate for me?

John grinned. "Sure thing, Ben!"

My eyes widened. There was silence, as John suddenly realized what he just did.

Corey stared at the two of us. "Your name... is Ben?"

DAMMIT JOHN!

John whimpered. "I'm sorry, Ben."

I facepalmed.

John held out his hand. "I'm Jonathan Ko. I'm Ben's brother! Nice to meet you!" Corey laughed and knelt down, shaking it.

"I'm Coraline Jensen. But call me Corey. So has Ben here been looking after you this whole time?"

"Yeah. But he got me to steal a bunch of clothes from a nearby Gap."

Corey glanced at me.

John...

"Yes?"

Please stop talking.

"Okay."

Corey stood up. "How do you guys communicate? Do you read his gestures or something?"

"No, we have a telepathic connection." John explained.

I gave John and Corey a rundown on the situation. Well, actually. I kind of just told John, who told Corey.

We're running low on supplies. I want to go and stock up. I'll leave you three here, and if you need anything, hide under this contraption here.

I pointed at the square on the building schematic I had made for John.

Corey raised an eyebrow. "That's a really detailed drawing, Ben! Are you like a drafter or something?"

Ummm, something like that.

"You know, our Ben is something of an artist himself. Your detail kind of reminds me of his."

Yeah. I'm sure it freaking did.

"But you know, you shouldn't have to make it so detailed. It's kind of hard to follow." Corey leaned in closer to me to make a more condensed sketch of the schematic, labelling just the facilities and the compartment. My heart rate went up as she leaned in even closer.

ASTRO lit up on my HUD. "Heart rate increasing to higher than normal levels. Advise caution."

Thanks ASTRO.

Ok, that's good enough. You all know where to go. I'll be back soon.

I went to the bike, and carried a larger satchel to carry supplies. I was hooking it up to the side of the bike when suddenly I found Corey standing there.

"Hey... Ben. I mean Sparty. Mind if I come with you?"

I shook my head. I knelt on the ground and wrote a message.

Too dangerous.

Corey knelt down in front of me. "It would be easier to let me help out. We could carry more stuff. Besides, I'm not entirely helpless. I've done a few running errands back in my day as well."

I knew that. She was a track and field athlete in high school. Probably one of the best. But being able to run fast and being able to prevent being blown up were too different things. Regardless, Corey strapped herself in and grabbed onto my waist. There was no prying her off.

I sighed as I slotted in my ASCENSION magazine into the bike, transforming it into the ASCENSION cycle.

"Initializing system. Precept code: TRANSPORT" ASTRO said, as STARBOARD uploaded into the cycle, interfacing with me. I revved the engine, as a protective windshield casing formed around both me and Corey.

"Wow... that's so cool." Corey exclaimed. I smiled under my mask as we sped off to find places to loot.

Chapter 2.4

"Hey... these guys don't look like those Iron Aliens..." Corey said, as we stopped by a shop. It was guarded by a bunch of guys who were armed.

They were aiming at us. I put the bike in stall as one of them shouted at us.

"Off the bike! Hands in the air. Or we will shoot."

"Don't shoot! We're friendly, we just want some supplies!" Corey shouted back.

We raised our hands into the air as I eyed the guards. ASTRO had already come up with multiple takedown methods.

Prioritize takedown methods: Coraline safety paramount.

"Restructuring takedown algorithms."

"We're sorry. But we don't have enough resources for everyone here. Leave and don't come back. As for your friend."

The guy aimed the barrel of his gun to my face.

"I don't know who the hell he is. Or what he is. But that tech you guys are using don't look human."

ASTRO continued computing, and analyzing. From our situation, by putting Corey's safety as a top priority, the number of potential takedown routes had decreased drastically.

"Look, we mean you no harm. We can have a trade. We'll offer our services for a task in exchange for some supplies." Corey reasoned.

The man walked up to her. "Services huh?" He smiled.

Corey began to sweat. "Umm..."

I clenched my fist.

I stepped in between the two of them, putting distance between the man and Corey.

"Hey, terminator. I wasn't asking you. Unless you want to die."

There was no negotiating with these perverts. The Iron Council's invasion had sent this world into early apocalypse. There was no more common sense left in these folk.

"SPARTAN, takedown route computed."

I glared at the man through my mask, as I put down my hand, and shoved him, launching him backwards. I followed the algorithm and grabbed Corey into my embrace, shielding all the bullets with my back. The bullets glanced off my metal endoskeleton.

"Sparty!" Corey screamed in the folds of my trench coat. I held her tighter as I took out my SPARTAN battle pistol, picking off the attackers one by one.

"Keep shooting that thing!"

"Our bullets aren't doing shit to him! He's one of those Iron Aliens!"

Iron Aliens. That was supposedly what the humans had called them when they first invaded the Earth in the future I was in. Humans were not a very creative bunch.

Corey was panting from within the folds of my jacket.

"Sparty... please. Don't hurt them. They're just looking after their own. Don't!"

No. This is how it is. In this world, it's kill or be killed. You humans never realized that, because you lived a life of peace and solace in your little civilization. Peace made you weak, and clouded your judgement with naive thoughts. This apocalypse was a clear sign of human nature. Selfish and greedy. To survive. Just as it always has been.

The last few gunmen were killed as I let go, Corey staring at me in disbelief.

"Sparty... you... you killed them!"

One more gunman was still alive, as he hid behind cover, thinking I couldn't see him. But STARBOARD showed his outline clearly.

I held out my gun, and fired right through the wall, hitting him square in the kneecap as the gunman screamed in agony. I slowly walked to him, as he began shooting at me. The bullets glancing off my body.

"Stay... Stay away!" He shouted.

I knelt down, and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him into the air. He began shooting at my mask, the bullets glancing off.

"Stop!" Corey shouted at me.

I sifted my hand through his pockets and took out his phone, and relayed my message to him.

Give me your supplies, and I will spare your life.

The man glared at me. "You ain't getting SHIT you damn freak!"

I tilted my head, and threw the phone to the side with so much force that it broke instantly, shattering to little pieces against the wall as Corey jumped.

I held the my gun to a point below his chin.

I began to squeeze the trigger, until the man began to whimper.

"OK OK! Just... under the compartment. Just leave me alone. Don't hurt me. Please."

I threw him at the wall, knocking him unconscious as I walked to the compartment, and ripped off the iron door.

I turned to Corey, holding out the satchel.

Corey was glaring at me. "Sparty... what you just did..."

I held her gaze, saying nothing.

"I just... never mind." She stepped into the compartment and began filling the bag up.

Corey was silent throughout most of the ride back to the house. She gripped my waist as she stared at the horizon.

"Sparty..." She muttered.

I turned my head.

"When you kill someone... do you ever... regret it?"

I nodded. It was true. I hate killing. But unlike most who say that, I understand how necessary it is.

Corey buried her face into my back.

"This world is fucked up." She muttered, sniffling and beginning to cry.

I wish I could have stopped the bike, and gave her a hug. Part of me wanted to put my arms around her and tell her everything was going to be okay. But this was the sad truth of this world. It was messed up. There was nothing you could do about it. You just had to continue living and playing your part. Maybe death was really the only option to stay pure.

Chapter 2.5

I found John playing with Corey.

John ran up to me, cheerfully. "Ben! Look! Look at what Corey and I made!"

I glanced at the stick structure. It looked like a...

"It's a slide!" John said. It was really well built. Structural trusses lined the whole structure and a leaf was neatly knitted onto the surface to provide a slide.

Which part of it was Corey's? All of it?

John pouted, and I playfully ruffled his hair.

I'm just messing with you, kid. Good work.

I sat next to Corey. John bounded to the stick structure.

"We're going to make the best kingdom ever! Then we can live here happily forever after!"

Corey laughed. "We'll be protected by our knights in shining armor!"

John put his hands to his mouth. "Oooh! How about a big border around the castle! To protect it from intruders!"

"That's a great idea, John!"

I smiled under my mask.

I'll leave you with Corey. I'm going to check up on Ben.

"Okay. Ben, I mean Sparty needs to go."

Corey smiled at me. "Okay. I'll help John with his castle."

I left Corey and John alone to play. It felt great that John was able to finally have a buddy to fool around with, that wasn't me. Corey was always great with kids. I guess I shouldn't have found that surprising.

I walked up the steps and knocked on Ben's door.

"The hell do you want?" Ben answered from inside.

I knocked on the door again, but this time, in Morse Code. I knew he knew.

Please let me in.

Silence, as I heard footsteps. Ben opened the door, his glare was as intimidating as ever.

I followed him and closed the door.

"What is it."

I pointed at the inside of his cupboard. I had noticed he had stolen something from Corey while she had been asleep. He thought I didn't notice, but my cybernetics gave me above average senses. It was pretty obvious that he was hiding it.

Ben's face paled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I went to the cupboard and he grabbed my wrist. "Stop! The hell are you doing? Don't touch my shit you piece of scrap metal!"

I continued opening the cupboard and opened it up, revealing an electronic device.

I tilted my head, picking it up.

Ben grumbled underneath his breath. "Asshole."

I glanced at the computer screen, and interfaced it with ASTRO, relaying my messages onto the screen.

This is Corey's. Give it back to her.

"Pfft. If I did, it would lose its function."

What do you mean?

Ben glared at me. "She made that for you, dipshit. She was just too embarrassed to give it to you. And even after what had happened with the supply run. You scare her."

My heart fell a hundred feet into the ground, but I kept objective.

Regardless, this is her property. You have no right to decide what to do with it. Return it to her immediately.

Ben shot to his feet. "Who the hell are you to tell me what to do, huh?"

I regarded him. I am your protector. If there is discord amongst the proxies, it will lead to harm. Which falls within my mission parameters.

Ben walked up to me and tried to push me, but I didn't budge.

"You stupid hunk of metal. Screw you! I don't need to take orders from you. I lived my life being everybody's bitch. First I was the least qualified in the group. I was picked on, and then I had my feelings played by Core-"

He stopped himself.

"It... doesn't matter. She's crushing on you anyway. Doesn't matter. Just leave me alone. I'd rather die."

Corey liked me. Well.... shit.

I need to keep you safe.

"Shut up! Isn't there any damn decency in you left? Or are you just a god damn machine? Can't you tell how I feel?"

Ben took a piece of metal. A hammer from within the bottom cupboard, and began bashing it at me. The sounds of clunking filled the air as Ben continued slamming the hammer at my face, my chest, and my head. I stood there and took the blows with no damage.

Ben swung at me again and I caught his wrist.

"Let me go!"

I yanked the hammer out of his hands. I took the electronic device with me as I left the room. Ben continued calling me names.

"Screw you! And screw Corey! She's just a bitch. She did all that for me, being kind to me, then chooses someone like you?!"

My temper flared, as I shot back, grabbing Ben's throat and slamming him against the wall.

I took the electronic component and held it to my throat, my voice emanating from it, deeply distorted and robotic, but still very much me.

"Do not call her that." I growled.

Ben retched, as he looked at me, then behind. I turned around, and Corey and John were standing at the doorframe. John ran up to me as Corey saw the device I was holding and had her hand over her mouth.

"Ben! Let... Ben go..." He frowned, realizing how weird his sentence was.

I looked back at Ben, pressing the device against my throat.

"I'm going to give it to you straight, Benjamin Fong. You, and Corey, are my mission objectives. All I care about is that you two survive, and continue your life, free from these Iron Council bastards. I don't care what you think of me. And quite frankly, I hate the shit out of you. You're annoying. Your jokes aren't funny. You're delusional and weak. But right now, I have a job to do."

I threw Ben on the ground, as he backed off.

"You can hate me all you want. But at the end of the day, you won't be seeing me again. So take that as you will. If you choose to run out on me, I will use force to bring you back here."

I took the hammer and crushed it in my grip. Ben stared at the broken remains of the stainless steel weapon he had used to attack me.

I leaned in closer to him. "And let's make it clear. You do not want to get on my bad side. Do you understand?"

Ben got to his feet, staring at the ground. "Yeah. Whatever. And I thought Will had a temper issue."

I left the room, and approached Corey, who was stuck in a trance of shock.

I spoke through the device. "This is yours, do what you want with it." I put the device into her hands as I went back to the living room to perform my routine maintenance.

Chapter 2.6

That night was awkward. Ben was cooped up in his room, as what I would expect. John fell asleep, because apparently while I was out, he decided to try out some of Corey's coffee in secret without my knowing, and the resulting coffee high made him crash early. I warned him that it wasn't good for kids his age, he didn't listen.

I spent the night cleaning out my guns.

Corey approached me.

"Hey... Sparty?" She asked, reluctantly.

I turned around, mid-servicing.

I couldn't see her face in the dark, but she was holding something in her hands. I narrowed my eyes and realized it was the voice device.

"I guess... Ben kind of spoiled the surprise. But I was working on this device to help get your voice back. I saw you were struggling and... I kind of decided to make this for you."

She handed me the device I used this morning. It had several alignment features to help strap onto my neck.

I put it to my throat, and tested it out.

"Fa... Family... Family?" My eyes widened. My voice was back! Well, sort of. I still sounded like a robot, like those distorted voices when you speak inside a can of Pringles. But it was better than texting on a screen, or having a text to speech thing on my throat.

Corey smiled and sat next to me. "It works!"

I looked down. "Thank you, Corey." I said.

She put her forearms on the table, glancing at the window. "Your first words... were family."

"Yes."

She turned to me. "Do you... have any parents?"

I thought about it. I didn't. Not that I knew of. In fact, everything that had happened felt like a blur. Like I couldn't even remember anything before my life in high school and uni. I only remembered the bad parts.

"No." I responded.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault. If I hadn't been so secretive with my project. I'm sorry if I couldn't get your voice completely back."

"It's fine. It's a lot better of a job than I ever can do."

Corey laughed. "Well, electronics are my specialty."

"I know."

I suddenly stopped myself. Corey raised an eyebrow. "Sparty... can I ask you a question?"

My heart began to beat faster. "What is it?"

"Do you... know me? From the past?"

"Sort of." I said.

She put her hand on my arm. "John mentioned your name was Ben. And the way you snapped at our Ben back then. The fact that you wanted to hide your face..."

"It's just mission protocol."

"Sparty..."

I stood up. "All that matters is your safety. You and Ben. Nothing else matters. You should not be attached to me-" My voice broke. I took a few deep breaths.

Corey stood up, and touched my mask. I instinctively put my hands on her wrists.

"Hey..." Corey said. "It's okay. Let me see your face."

She slowly took off my mask, as I stared at her face.

"Oh my god..." She muttered, putting her hand over her mouth. I looked down and turned away, but she put her hand on my face, stroking the scar on my eye.

"You've... been through so much."

I sighed as I sat down. "Corey, terrible things have happened in the future. I must ensure your survival. I must ensure our survival." I looked at the stairs to Ben's room.

"Your eyes..."

"It's from the cybernetic procedure. They grafted a metallic endoskeleton into my body, allowing me to possess heightened physical abilities and built in software."

"Did it hurt?"

"Uh... a little bit."

Corey looked at me. "I can hardly recognize you. You must have been through hell." She joked.

I scoffed. "Iron Council wasn't going to let us off easy for meddling with their plans."

Corey stared at the table. "Ben... will I ever see you again?"

"You have the Ben now."

"But..."

"I know he hurts you. I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry. I really am. It's just who I am. Even after all those years in the war, that part of me never changed. Because I am too stubborn to change it. Just know everything Ben says and does, it's because it's from internal pain. Don't let it get to you."

I put my hand on her head, and stroked her hair. "We can't be together. When you leave, you need to continue living your life. To grow and create our kind. It must be this way."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. I looked to my right and quickly grabbed my firearms, and shielding Corey before a massive explosion shattered our house, blowing the walls away.

Chapter 2.7

My frame of reference was borked. I managed to get my bearings straight, dragging Corey into some cover. All the while, a chilling, and haunting voice spoke behind me.

"MED113, SENTL 105, SCT 112, and SPART104..." The voice said.

My vision turned red. She was listing my old squad... the ones who looked after me and sacrificed themselves. I recognized the voice immediately.

I turned around, to see a woman in a black leather suit and two glowing gold whips. The Arachnid. One of the Iron Council's human champions. Just as I had chosen to join ASCENSION and become a soldier, there were some humans who chose the Iron Council, and become their champions.

Arachnid was one of them, and was one of the best. I stood no chance against her.

I scurried and took Corey to the back.

"Ben! John! Wake up! We're leaving!"

I held out my hand, ASTRO turning on the truck that was stashed inside the shack.

"Where do you think you're going?" Another voice appeared, and a fist smashed right through the wall. Corey yelped, as she hid behind me. Another man stepped through, his helmet resembling the patterns the Iron Council.

I held out my gun and began shooting at him, but the energy bolts glanced off of his armor in a shower of cyan sparks.

"Ben! Behind!"

I turned around and realized Arachnid was behind me, trailing, her whips scratching the ground, causing golden sparks. Both attackers looked at me menacingly.

"SPARTAN205. ASCENSION's dual ability super soldier. This is the best you guys could offer? Hm?" The man asked, as he approached me. I fired both guns at both attackers but the guy's body deflected my blasts, and Arachnid was deflecting everything with her whips.

ASTRO was freaking out, telling me I was in imminent danger, as if it wasn't already obvious.

I kicked the wall across from us looked at Corey.

"Go! Run!" I shouted. I ran forward and punched the man in the face. His head recoiled as I swung again. This time he ducked, and weaved to the right. I threw another punch, as it shattered the telephone box. I kept throwing punches as the guy took them head on, not taking any apparent damage.

"Damn." He muttered, as he caught my fist. "You're weak."

The man pushed me and sent me flying into the ceiling, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

"Ben!" Corey screamed.

I glared at her. "Get out of here! Take Ben and John and RUN!" The man brought his foot back and stomped on my head as my vision momentarily glitched. My head creating a crater on the ground, and cracking it.

The man grabbed me by the face and lifted me into the air.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Turbo. And I'm sure you already know Arachnid."

Arachnid approached me and kissed Turbo. "Disappointing, Ben. The fact you went back in time to find my mother? That's disgusting." She spat at me.

Turbo let go, and Arachnid swung her whip, which caught me in the midsection and I fell back, smashing through the walls and exiting the house.

I struggled to my feet, and saw some sparks hit the ground.

"Warning. Multiple armor fractures detected. System integrity critical in three subsystems."

Turbo chuckled. "Wow. I hit you a few times and you already end up like this. You look like shit!"

I glanced at the others, they were running to the truck. I needed to buy them time.

"Couldn't care less. You're supposed to be a superior model, and you're still have trouble putting me down. Not a good show to your girlfriend."

Turbo sneered at me. I was bullshitting. There was no way I could hold up against this guy. Everything about him was superior to my tech. His strength, his durability. Everything. I couldn't put a dent on him with my firearms. The most I could do was try to escape, but Arachnid had cornered us.

"You're not going anywhere, lovelies." Arachnid smiled at John, Ben, and Corey.

I summoned my grenades and threw them at Turbo. A smokescreen. I ran to Arachnid and threw a specter grenade, as my clone manifested, shooting at her repeatedly with its battle pistols. I joined the fray as Arachnid spun around, deflecting everything she could.

Suddenly, Turbo zipped forward, slamming my face against the truck, buckling the steel.

"Trying to single me out?"

He slammed me again, as I could feel the skin on my face scraping off. I grabbed Turbo and body slammed him on the ground, and stood on top of him, punching his face as hard as I could. Turbo smiled evilly as he caught each of my arms, overpowering me as he opened me up, and head butted me so hard I flew backwards. I got to my feet, and swung at him.

"Come on, Sparty. That all you got?"

I swung at him over and over, but to no effect. He was too durable. Turbo punched me in my midsection as I fell to my knees and groaned. Then he kicked me as I slammed into the side of the shack wall.

Arachnid went up to me, having easily dispatched my specter.

She didn't even say anything, as she took her whip and lashed me over and over again. I could feel my left arm buckle, as she lashed it so hard that the main servo connection to it severed.

"BEN!" John screamed and ran up to me, but Turbo grabbed him by the collar.

"The hell? Who is this kid?"

"John... I muttered."

Arachnid laughed. "Oh no. Don't tell me you got attached to another group of people. You know how that happened last time."

My vision turned red with rage.

I got to my feet, my left arm was mangled, the entire endoskeleton was exposed, but my right arm still worked. I stepped forward, and bodyslammed Turbo. I ran towards Arachnid, with everything I had as she began slicing at me with her whips. I pinned her to the ground as I brought my fist back and began pummeling her over and over again.

"Julia!" Turbo shouted, and ran after me, but I was in a blood frenzy. Nano-Power emanated from my body with every strike. I turned to him, and ripped my shirt open, revealing my core that had been exposed from her lashings. It glowed bright, as I launched a massive beam of energy at him, sending Turbo back and melting a major portion of his chest armor.

I lifted my fist in the air, when suddenly, Ben ran up to John to pick him up.

"Hey kid, you're close to Sparty, are you?"

"I... uhhh...."

"Imma take that as a yes."

Turbo punched Ben in the midsection, and suddenly, my midsection exploded in pain. I stumbled back, clutching my stomach.

Turbo raised his eyebrows. "Well would you look at that. It looks like we got ourselves a little past self mix up!"

Ben's eyes widened. "Past... self?"

Arachnid smiled evilly and wrapped her whip around Ben, as Corey screamed his name. I stumbled to my knees, as my body felt like it was being wrapped by an iron rod.

"AAAAughh!!" Both Ben and I screamed from the agony.

"Amazing... so if we want to hurt you... we just need to hurt him!" Turbo knocked him out, as I fell flat on my face.

Arachnid looked at Corey. "Till next time!"

She loaded Ben onto a spacecraft, as John stood before Turbo.

"Huh? You want smoke, kid?"

"Let Ben go." He said.

"No.... JOHN RUN!" I screamed, but Turbo punched Ben, and I fell to my knees once more. Corey ran up to me.

"JOHN! JOHHHN!" I yelled, as Turbo knocked John out and loaded him into the space craft as well. I fumbled, looking for my guns then began firing frantically at the spacecraft.

"GIVE THEM BACK!" I shouted, my voice distorting from the volume. For once... my shots all missed. Because I had lost my concentration. I just wanted them back.

I fell to my knees in defeat.

Chapter 2.8

I woke up, with Corey's face looking down at me.

"Oh god, thank goodness you're alive." She gasped.

I sat up and immediately grabbed my shotgun and my two pistols.

"Ben!" She shouted after me.

I took two steps and fell on my face. "You can't go back out there!"

I turned and tried to tell her to get off of me, but suddenly, no sound came out of my mouth.

Corey looked down. "The audio device I made for you was broken... it overloaded from your yelling."

I grabbed the nearby doorframe, crushing it in my grip as I struggled to get up, breathing hard.

"Ben... you can't. You're too hurt! And you saw how badly Turbo beat you up!" Corey ran by my side, but I pushed her out of the way and tried to head to the door. John. Ben. I let them both get taken. I was no guardian, no protector, no soldier.

I was no brother.

I lost my family once to Arachnid. And now she was going to kill the only family I had left. I had to save him. I had to.

I fell to the floor, and began dragging myself with my hands as Corey got back to her feet and clutched me from behind. "Ben..." She buried her face in my back.

"I can't lose you too."

I stopped resisting and looked at her. I never seen her cry. Well, maybe a few times, but not directly. I never seen her cry in front of me is the more correct saying. Seeing her like that made me feel terrible. She was always the optimist. Maybe sarcastic at times. But I had never seen her in such a vulnerable position.

"Ben... I've lost all my friends and family. I watched two of my best friends get slaughtered by those... things."

She clenched her teeth. "That group of people I've been with, they're the only people I can confirm are still alive. When I was traveling with Will, he told me that you were the strongest of the three soldiers that were sent back in time."

She looked at me. "The fact that even you couldn't fight them off, I feel like our chances of surviving are hopeless."

I stared at the floor.

Corey scooted closer to me. "But even after all that... you're still our only hope. You're still my hope."

I struggled to my feet, and climbed back onto the bed, sitting there as I watched my wounds self-repair. I never felt so useless in my life. Corey got up and took my hand, kneeling next to me.

"You tell me that you've been hurting me all this time. I couldn't disagree more. This whole time, I wasn't nice to you because I felt like it. I was nice to you because I saw someone who was hurting really bad inside, and I wanted to help you. But you kept pushing me away. And I just didn't know what to do."

I breathed heavily, and realized it was because I was crying inside.

"But it didn't mean you hurt me, Ben. You misunderstand." Corey put her arms around my neck, her face inches away from mine.

"To see you now, looking after me, and everybody. You made the initiative to push yourself. Just like you did those many years ago. You always pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone. And now... here you are, being my protector, our hero. The only thing that you've done so far that has hurt me..."

She leaned in closer, her breath smelled like minty.

"Was telling me I could never see you again." She whispered as she pulled me into a kiss.

I felt like my brain was melting in my head. My heart rate went up a millionfold.

I remembered what the guy told us back when we were about to be sent back in time.

Remember you knuckleheads. You're going back in time. Don't touch nothing. Don't change nothing. Once this is over, you wipe the memories of those damn brats. Understood? And above all else. I swear to god if you get romantically involved with someone in the past, this timeline is toast.

Sorry coach. I can't. This... This just feels right. No matter how much I try to cast Corey out of my life, seeing her again will always make me feel the same way. No matter what.

STARBOARD began freaking out, telling me I was going against mission objective.

ASTRO... abandon mission protocol.

"Are you sure, Spartan?"

I pulled Corey closer as I felt myself being pulled into something... different. It wasn't the same feeling as I had with John. Or with my allies in ASCENSION. This feeling felt warm. Kind.

I felt love. True love.

Yes, ASTRO. I'm sure.

I watched as STARBOARD began removing the mission parameters, keeping the major ones on top. I felt a part of me began to melt away. But it wasn't anything bad. I felt like I was being cleaned. The darkness washing off from me as I looked at life anew.

Chapter 3.0

I don't normally sleep. But when I do, I get dreams. And ever since I linked with John, these dreams made a lot more sense, and were much more interactive.

I was standing in a room. It was the operating table for my procedure. Numerous doctors were working on me, and it was kind of gruesome to see me being cut open so I looked away.

"Benjamin Fong." A voice spoke, I turned around and was greeted by Decen. It was still so weird seeing him, he looked almost exactly like me. The only difference was the long hair and the pink eyes.

"Look, I'll find the other Remnants. But my first objective is to rescue John. I'm sorry. I messed up."

Decen waved his hand, the same way I did.

"You do you. For now. But I sense... something different about you."

I said nothing, as Decen stepped closer to me.

"Romantic love, huh."

My ears turned pink. "Look, it's... complicated. Okay? I know, I went against mission protocol. But I've always felt this way. I can't just delete this from my memory even if I wanted to."

Decen shook his head. "There's nothing that can be done. But you know what's gonna happen when you fight Mogul with your brethren. You witnessed his power yourself, didn't you?"

I stared at the ground. I knew. I severely underestimated him, and nearly died. Because of Mogul, I couldn't speak.

Decen waved his hand, and the scene changed. To the shack. I turned around and saw Corey and I sleeping together in the bed, peacefully.

"You know... at some point I actually considered finding a girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But she betrayed me."

"Oh." I felt awkward. Decen knelt next to Corey, and I instinctively reached for my gun.

Decen chuckled. "Relax. I'm not gonna kill your girlfriend."

His magenta eyes analyzed her like an opponent. It never really dawned on me that this guy was my progenitor, and was so much stronger than me. I could see where my habits of analysis and detail came from, because the moment Decen looked at Corey, his facial muscles showed that he had already figured out her habits, her movements, everything.

"Hm."

"What?"

"Coraline Jensen, was it?"

"...yeah?"

Decen stood up. "Merrow's sister was named Coraline. Coraline Rivenlight."

"Merrow?"

Decen waved his hand, and a tall girl appeared. She looked like those emo Internet personalities, with the mascara, eyeliner or whatever. Green hair that looked dyed, and a cute face.

"Merrow Rivenlight is my Guardian. Well, she was. Until I died to Mogul. She's looking for your kind. You'll be finding her along with your brethren."

Decen shook his head. "Look. I'm not one to say this, since I've never been in a relationship before... shocking I know."

I laughed.

Decen continued. "But you know your path, your fate, is to battle Mogul once more in a final confrontation. She's going to bear with the thought of losing you over and over again. It's gonna be a path of a lot of pain for her. I don't know if you want to put her through this."

I looked back at Corey, as she shifted in the bed, burying her head under the asleep version of my chin, smiling.

"Decen... this isn't something I can control. It's my feelings."

Decen turned to me. "During one of my assassination contracts, I defeated a prophecy meta human. I gained her powers. Do you want a preview of what is to come?"

I stared at him. "Prophecy?"

Decen waved his hand, and the vision changed. I saw Corey and I getting older, as we grew up, in the years. Corey becoming pregnant, and the two of us raising a young girl together. We were happy, until suddenly... I disappeared.

Corey and her daughter continued living their life without me, and despair filled their hearts. At some point, Corey died from stress, and the daughter lived her life full of resentment for her father.

"What... what did I just see?" I gasped.

Decen regarded me. "Normally, I don't use foresight. Because it messes with fate. But because you're time displaced, that kind of shit doesn't apply to you. Meaning I can show you this kind of stuff."

He walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"You don't come back, Ben. You'll give your life battling Mogul and avenging my death with the other Remnants. That includes John."

Chapter 3.1

"Hey." Corey said, entering the room with a warm towel. I took it and wiped my face.

I was still bedridden. Whatever that Turbo guy did to me, I wasn't able to fully recover. My skin and human organic matter was not fully repaired, meaning my endoskeleton was exposed on my left shin, my right hand a mere collection of robotic components. My left eye had not recovered fully, leading to parts of my metallic skull still exposed.

I sighed, and got out of the bed.

"Easy Sparty."

I leaned against her. "You're so heavy." She muttered.

I took a few steps. Then managed to walk on my own.

"Progress!" Corey said.

I looked at my weapons. There was no way I was in any condition to use my ASCENSION mags. The sheer weight of my SPARTAN weapons would delay recovery even more. I had no choice but to use the guns I had as they were.

I strapped on my two handguns, and slung an assault rifle and a shotgun on one shoulder.

"Let's go." Corey said.

Corey and I drove to a nearby pit stop. We needed to get supplies. Corey needed supplies, since we were running low. I knew my main precept was to get Ben and John back, but as of now, I had no idea where they had gone. After we got our supplies, we would find Francine, and hopefully she could track the two down. As for why I couldn't just ask her to do it through my coms, they were busted. Meaning I couldn't do shit.