[CW: suicide]

✴

Not there! You desperately try to redirect yourself&, but you& go there anyway.

Let’s see what you’re hiding from ourself! You& tear open a memory cluster. Headspace transforms again into a Lunar environment--concrete and glass walls and metal doors, another sterile hallway too bright to look at. You& close your& eyes. They’re rolling you& on a soft bed. The bright lights are red through your thin eyelids. Red, black, grey--Redshift Security. No escape. Fade to black.

You& wake up in a room. The door is slightly ajar, and the chaotic echoes of the hallway fill your& ears. You& wish they would turn the lights down. It’s not the lights, you& realize--the white Sun glares in through the east-facing window--nothing to do about that, the Sun shines every day.

“His vitals are stabilized. But we’d like to keep him overnight for observation.” You& hear the distant voice from just outside the open door.

“Any neurological damage?” Familiar voice.

“Thankfully not, since medics got to him as fast as they did.” Unfamiliar voice.

“Can we see him?” Another familiar voice.

“Yes, but keep it short, he needs rest above all.”

Bright. The door opens. It’s Yelena and Ælita. Ah, mothers, so loving and nurturing, you& think.

“Are you awake? Can you hear us?” Ælita says, clasping your hand so tight it hurts.

You open your eyes. Immediately Yelena makes contact with them with a piercing stare. “How could you do this to us? What were you thinking?! Do you have any idea how much you’re worth to us?!” Her voice raises in amplitude with each sentence.

“Stop! Can’t you see he’s not going to understand that right now?” Ælita glares back at her. “Whatever caused him to do this can be fixed, everything has a cure, he’ll be ok, right?”

“And right before the company progress inspection too...” Yelena says, staring out over the city, blocking the Sun with her hand.

“What made you do this? Why did you do this?!” Ælita says, with tears in her eyes.