020

Morning comes and neither of us have slept. It's silent as dawn breaks. Eerie and still, so still that I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I feel Ken's arms tighten around me.

Today's the day. We dress, freshening up in the bathroom like any other morning. 
 

AIRCE promised a press-free Augmentation, and that's exactly what we get. The walk to the Augmentation division of Skypeak is peaceful without the constant swarm of reporters. The two of us are hand in hand, and each staccato footstep closer to the operating room sends a different pang of emotion through me. 

Pride. Guilt. Anger. Sorrow.

My mind feels foggy as I grip tighter onto his arm. I don't feel all there. This can't be real.

N looks so solemn wearing his lab coat and ushers us inside. I see Rebecca and Ravi standing behind the glass window that separates them from the room. They both look distraught and equally as exhausted. I wonder what it's like for Rebecca to be back here again.

Ken exchanges a look with N, muttering something to him that's inaudible to my ears. N smiles weakly and nods before clasping him on the shoulder.

Ken walks over to the window and places his hand against it. Rebecca reaches up and does the same, Ravi putting his palm over hers, an arm around her shoulders as she starts to cry and suddenly it hits me.
Farewell.

"I'll miss you, so so ing much," Rebecca's voice is muffled but still audible, "you've helped us through so much, I remember when you were standing here with me when Ravi was the one in that metal cradle." 

She laughs softly with a shake of her head.

"Thank you for staying with Ravi and I through all these years, through everything. You've been there for him from the start. Thank you."

He cracks her a soft smile. 

"Of course," he murmurs back.

He then turns to me and before I know it he's tilting my chin up to fit my mouth against his. His hands flutter over me like he can't get close enough. The kiss is gentle and tender, much like our first. He pulls away just enough to bring his lips to my ear.

"See you again," 

It's suddenly hard to breathe and I bury my face into his chest. We hold each other tight like we're the only two in the room, in the world. 
But the longer we stay like this, I know the harder it will be to let him go. 

I don't care.
 

He and N finally exchange nods and he's led into the metal cradle. N goes to work booting up the monitors, fingers dancing over the keyboard.
Ken takes a shaky breath as the whirring sound of the machines starting up has him gripping my hand.

"Stay with me. Right here." he breathes. I squeeze his hand back.

"Right here," I echo with a nod. His eyes search my face, his lips spreading thinly into a smile.

"This is it." N says softly, "initiating protoplasm ."

A needlepoint emerges from the frame supporting Ken's neck and plunges itself into his skin. He cries out, crushing my fingers in his grasp. His irises flash electric blue, mouth falling open as another scream rips from his throat. He releases me, his hands clenched into shaking fists at his sides. My whole body feels like it's on fire. My mind can't process what's happening, that Ken is dying right in front of me. The needle recedes back into its compartment and Ken's head lolls to the side. He starts shaking suddenly, his eyes darting around the room.

"Oh, god. I can't see, I can't see anything," he murmurs in panic. 

The sensory reboot.

His eyes flare azure again, stronger this time. He looks up at me, but to him I'm no longer there.

"I'm right here. Listen to my voice," I say as calmly as I can, cupping his face in my hands.

He lets out a sigh of relief, his features relaxing slightly. His breathing is labored and I notice the sweat on his brow.

"Talk to me." he says.

So I do. I tell him about how much I miss my dad. How Hyuk and Rebecca had thrown me that party and Leo had worn that stupid hat. How bad liver tastes. How I almost failed Astrology.

The fleeting smile falls off his lips and he looks up in my direction, lost. His head swivels from side to side like he's searching for something and that's when I realize he can't hear me.

A sob escapes me and I bring a hand to his cheek, kissing him with everything left in me.

I pull back in time to see his features slacken completely. I brush my fingers against his lips. He doesn't respond to my touch.  And just like that, it's over.

"Launching memory extraction," N murmurs in a thick voice, but to me it's just a distant buzz.

The image of Ravi in a high school uniform flashes across the monitor, followed by a voice that's clearly Ken's, laced with amusement.

"Dude, we're totally gonna get expelled if we follow through with this bottle rocket idea of yours." 

Ravi's bell-like laughter and then the image fades away. Unfamiliar faces flicker across the screen until I recognize a few.

Leo. Ravi. Miyoko. N. Rebecca. Misa. Hyuk. Hongbin. Myself. 

His memories continue to materialize and I'm able to piece it all together. 

The night a stranger had put his hands on me and he and Rebecca had taken me home on the last train. When I was so nervous about being in the same room as him that I fell asleep on his shoulder and he had carried me to bed. The instant that deafening crack of thunder killed the power. The sound of my laughter as he clicked on the flashlight with our little homemade observatory. The cloudy afternoon when I had chased him in the bookstore. Our first kiss. N collapsing. The moment he told me he had been chosen as Subject Zero. The detonation that jolted through all of Skypeak and killed my father. A discarded sweater on the floor and breathless kisses. The sleepless nights he spent by my hospital bed, fingers ghosting over bullet wounds. The cracking open of a bathroom door as I stood there with a sweater stuck over my head.  The day we met Eos. Our conversation in the hallway when he cried he wanted out. Hongbin choking on his champagne at the banquet. Everything from our first starry sky to our last moonlit night.

And then N presses a few keys and it all disappears. 

"Subject Zero memory extraction complete," the crisp computer-generated voice of a woman says, "Host preparations complete. Imprinting Canidate cognitive makeup."

Ken stirs. He raises his head, his glowing eyes now half closed and he merely looks asleep. I can see him uncurling his fingers, tapping them experimentally against his palm.

"Ken?"

He looks up and his gaze shivers across my face. Something settles inside the pit of my stomach as my words hang in the air and he continues to study me.

"No," he says, voice soft and fragile, "I'm sorry."

Moisture slips down my cheeks. I nod once, stepping forward to brush the hair out of his eyes and press a kiss to his forehead.

"Welcome, Eos." I whisper.