“This can’t be real,” I whisper.
He laughs softly to himself. “Real. Not real. What’s the fucking difference? I’ve been searching for the truth for decades now, and guess what? I’ve gotten nowhere.”
“So why are you submitting yourself to the machine? Why not live in the outside with your daughter?” I ask.
He sighs, appearing despondent but honest. No longer angry, he takes a knee. “Because devils run these Godless worlds, and I want no part in it,” he says.
“What about your immortality?” I ask.
He spits onto the sand. “Another ploy,” he says. “This is the end of the line, Kalxor. It was good to see you again. You played your role well, and I commend you for that. You’ll make my daughter very happy.”
My heart starts rocking, sending shivers across my arms. “You mean...”
I’ll get to see her again.
He winks. “Spend these moments with your family. They’ve missed you, dearly.”
A wave rolls over my shoulders. The smell of the sea wafts into my nose, and a sliver of a smile forms on my face. I remember my childhood. It doesn’t matter that I never lived it. I fucking remember it, and it will always be a part of me.
“Mother,” I whisper. “Mother, you’re alive. All of you… you are still here.”
My family runs into the sea. Their blue bodies are beautiful, scales just like mine. It’s been so long since I’ve seen an alien like myself, and the wave of nostalgia is almost too much to handle.
I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.
I meet my mother first, feeling her warm, familiar embrace. She kisses me, howling with joy, erasing the grief that pinned us down for ages.
I have missed them so much. More than they probably know.
Then again, they are built with the same memories. They must remember the moment they were taken from me.
The bombs fell. Earth Federation swept in and took us. They split us apart, and I was convinced I was the only one they let live.
But just as Ava thought her father was dead, my family stands before me.
“We’ve been waiting for you to come find us for so long, son,” she says, kissing the top of my forehead as she used to do when I was youngling.
“I thought they killed you,” I say.
My sister, the darling little one and favorite child, pulls on my arm. She’s grown now, at least twelve years old. When I was taken, she was still a baby.
“We’ve been here this whole time,” she says. “I knew you’d find us. That man promised me.”
I glance at Ava’s father, but he’s not looking at us anymore. He’s facing the sky, a worried look on his face. He knows this is the end, and I’m sure he has his doubts about where he’s headed. I can’t tell what future this place has, and quite frankly, I don’t care to know. But this is the path he laid out for himself. I know he’ll see it through.
My sister lowers her voice to a whisper. “He scares me.”
It’s been a while since I’ve laughed. “He made sure we’d be together,” I say. “He’s all right.”
I am under the firm belief that no man should play God. Not even the man who helped design this place. But he brought me back to them, so I have lifted my grudge.
My sister and my mother split apart, making room for my father. Tall, proud, and quiet, my father’s dark blue scales glow and ruffle outward. He extends his arm for a patriarchal handshake.
I take his wrist and bow, meeting my forehead against his. “Father,” I say. “I am sorry I couldn’t defend you. I have dishonored our people.”
He groans, low enough to rumble the sea. “Son,” he says, “you have done nothing but make me proud.”
My family joins our side and wraps their arms around me. I feel my scales start to glow alongside theirs. Together, our bond reforms, and my strength grows with their help.