1:5:5 Forgotten (Part 4)

Back out in the ‘open’ air, they felt themselves decompress. The compound looked a lot different to how it had during their arrival; the light more palatable and the company much less tense. Lore looked to their travelling companion and wondered. A thousand thoughts ran rampant in their mind, a thousand sentences they wanted to start and a thousand questions they wanted to ask. Just as they thought they had the perfect one selected, their mouth would betray them, their voice deserted them. They tried and tried again, the potentials in their head dwindling until a single, underlying thought remained. It was the only one to leave their mouth.
“Take my hand.” Lore held out their left hand. Char grabbed it almost immediately. As her hand made contact with theirs, she felt herself being pulled towards them; the inhuman rate gave her cause for concern but the darkness that enveloped her was a step too far. She tried to separate herself from Lore but found it an impossibility, she flailed her arms and legs, tried to scream but, nothing. A light appeared at the end of the tunnel. She had not been expecting the destination. “Sorry it’s a bit sudden.” Lore stepped away from her. “I thought here would be a better place for us to talk than our bungalow.”
“You virtually kidnapped me to talk?” Char knew she should have felt more annoyed but, given her surroundings, she was finding it difficult. “Why here?”
A human like city sat just beyond the window; a variety of alien species all going about their days wandered past. A mint green sky completed the scene, not a cloud in the sky. Lore smiled at Char. “As I said, I thought you’d want to talk here more than on the compound…” They paused. “And because Crait got me thinking about my memories. While I don’t have too many of my own, one of the happiest was made here.”
“Was it before or after I forced you to live through a war and our creator’s greatest hits?” Char smirked.
“Before… And after.” Lore slowly moved over to the table, resting their hand on the back of one of the chairs. “This is where I sat down after escaping Crait. You went off into the kitchen to make tea.” They shook their head. “All I could think about was how much you looked like the woman of my dreams. I had literally dreamt about you just before we met. I didn’t know why, but I just felt safe around you. You felt warm and… I’m sorry if I was a bit dismissive.”
Char scoffed. “You, dismissive? You not reacting to that kiss was probably the best thing that could have happened. The Lores told me that it was supposed to be your ‘wake-up call’. They said it was supposed to remind you of the latent memories they had implanted in you. Apparently it didn’t work.” Char sighed. “Back then, I didn’t even know what I wanted. Looking back, I don’t think we’d have gotten on if it had.”
“Why not?” Lore bent over and retrieved a folded piece of paper from the floor. They slipped it into their shoe.
“If the memory recall had worked, you’d have been just like the others. I have memories of what it’s like to live with one of them. I don’t think I could do that… Not without killing someone or something.” Char moved away from the window and began towards the kitchen. “Tea?” Lore nodded.
Once they were sure she was out of sight, they bent down and removed the paper from their ankle. They unfolded it slowly, as if defusing a bomb.

It appeared to be a blank piece of paper; the only indication that someone had used it, with the exception of it being folded, was a three word sentence and a drawing of an arrow pointing to a circle. Lore turned it over in their hand, finding a comfortable way to hold the awkwardly proportioned page before reading the message. “Go for it?” They turned it over. The circle had aligned itself with the point just above their middle finger’s knuckle; it found itself highlighting their ring. They turned it back over and re-read the message. “Go for it?” They found themselves, still, equally confused. Char returned, tea in hand. Lore looked again at the back of the page. They then looked to Char. “Ah.” They understood. “Thanks.” They nodded. They quickly stuffed the sheet in their pocket. Their finger scraped exactly what they were looking for. “Char…” They removed their hand from their pocket. “I’m sorry again for kidnapping you…”
“I’m sensing a but…” She smirked. “There really shouldn’t be a but.”
“But I think we… we both needed this or at least a moment.” Lore thought about the best way to reveal the surprise. “I needed this.”
Char set down her tray. There was a gentle tinkle as the metal of the spoons collided against the porcelain saucers; the final chime rang to infinity. With time slowed, Lore rose from their chair and started pacing. They knew what they wanted to say but they weren’t sure of the words to use. They walked around her, mumbling to themselves. “What can I say? What do I want to say?” They paused. “What have I already said?” Their pace quickened both in their discussion and walking. “I love you? No. Erm… We work well together? No… Too formal… We might not have known each other too long but there’s obviously a connection between us?” They shrugged. “Not too bad. Is it too soon to think about this though? We’ve known each other a week… Unless the memory stuff counts… But that’s only on her side… I know I love being with her and I love the idea of that sort of commitment… I don’t want to rush her though and what if she isn’t ready for it…” They sat back on the chair. They removed Char’s ring from their pocket, setting the pouch on the bedside cabinet, and bounced their leg, waiting for time to resume. “Char, I love you and I want to spend whatever I have left of my life with you.”
“So do I.” With a soft smile on her face, Char gently turned Lore’s head to face her before kissing them. She slipped the ring onto her finger, still held between Lore’s index and thumb. “Marriage is a bit of a big step but I’ll take engagement.” She chuckled. “In a way, it’s only inevitable.” She took Lore’s hand into hers; as she did, the rings touched and sparked.

Their perspective shattered. Twenty-five points of view, twenty-five rings being held out in front of twenty-five Lores. Twenty-five disheartened Chars looked down at them; they all sighed in unison. Their next actions were not quite as co-ordinated but almost all resulted in the same conclusion: The offending ring getting lost somewhere in the bungalow. Some relished in their rejection, cursing and blinding their Lore while madly gesticulating; others had a calm rage about them, never raising their voices but two differed. In those two, both Chars accepted their ring but neither of them looked too happy about it. Lore and Char recognised the two pairs: The First and Charrlene and Tree and Charraig. The moment the Lores let go of the ring, the vision ended. Char looked to Lore, a smirk creeping across their face.
“Don’t…” She knew what was coming.
“Inevitable…” Lore chuckled. “Joking aside, I thought we, as a couple, would have had a higher success rate. Especially given that they all had a lot longer to get to know one another.” They paused. “Perhaps that’s the problem.”
Char nodded. “Given what I saw… Definitely. Most of the Chars find at least one thing to hate their Lore for… Not me though.”
“Smooth…” Lore patted her shoulder.
“I try my best.” She smiled. “Drink up. We’ve got a few planets to restore. Plus, the sooner we do, the sooner we can properly enjoy things.” She waggled her ring.
Lore held their hand over their mug, the steam just below the temperature to scald but the liquid still hot enough to burn; a light blue lightning formed in the clouds, striking the milky surface below. As it did, the ambient temperature decreased. Lore took the mug and drained it. As the fluid passed their lips, so too went their smile. A grimace formed as they choked their tea down.
“Cold. Too cold.” They winced before proudly setting the cup down. “Right then, time is of the essence.” They bounced to their feet. “Ready when you are.”
Char’s tea was still steaming hot but it didn’t bother her. She lifted the cup to her lips and emptied it as if pouring it down the sink. “Let’s go then.” Once Lore was out of sight, she removed her ring and returned it to its velvet pouch.

The two returned to The Razor. They marched towards the hangar with great urgency. The intense gravity of the hanger didn’t even bother them as they continued blazing their path towards The Destiny. Lore Breached ahead, unlocking the cargo bay door.
“Hey!” A voice shouted between breaths. “Where do you think you’re going without us?”
Lore ducked their head to see the commotion. Seven clones sped towards them. Char stopped in her tracks and turned around. She shook her head, a beaming grin across her face. “Bloody hel! Can’t we get five minutes without them?” Char laughed. “Come on, quickly. Before I change my mind.”
Lore ushered them all up the ramp before closing and locking it. They were about to ascend to the bridge when they found the way ahead had been similarly locked.
“Destiny?” Lore tapped on the door with their key. “You going to let us in?” They waited a respectable amount of time before inserting their key into the lock and turning. Apprehensively, they opened the door and continued up the stairs. A faint, speech like sound, accompanied by giggling could be heard but nothing discernable. The door to the bridge was outlined in red.
“What is going on?” Lore turned to the clones. “Hold on… There’s only seven of you.”

“And?” Aloe shrugged.
“Where’s Curve?” Ace pointed their way through the members of the unit present. The bridge door shuddered as something hit it from the inside. “Found her.”
They chose to wait in the cargo bay with Ace occasionally poking their head up the stairs to see if the door had unlocked. They didn’t have to wait long.
“We know you’re down there. Come on…” Destiny shouted down the stairs. “If you’d called ahead, we would have finished ages ago.” Her head appeared above the door, shaking disapprovingly. “So, what’s the mission?”
Char smirked. “Bit of a clean-up. Crait’s made a mess so we’re going to sort it out.”
“And hopefully, it’ll help the Quatarrian’s trust us a little more.” Lore shrugged.
“Where first then?” Destiny shouted from the bridge. “That sounds familiar.”
Lore Breached themselves and Char to the bridge. “Shoe’s on the other foot this time.” They started tapping away at the centre console. “Four planets…” They paused. “Didn’t know deja vu was contagious.” The targets appeared on the viewscreen. “Paraultis, Gressari, Toranq and Therissia. All minor members of the Quatarrian empire, all removed from history.”
“What’s the plan?” Ace and Aloe joined them.
“We’re going to jump to each planet, go back in time and make the necessary alterations then come back.” Lore pointed to the screen.
“Easy peasy.” Char smiled. “Shouldn’t take us more than a few minutes a planet. An hour tops.”
“Then there’s the aftercare…” Lore paused. “Actually, do you think they’ll need it?”
“If we do our jobs right, not really.” Char said.
Lore glanced over the scans of the four planets. They set a target point on Paraultis to return the marble to then started looking for similar points on the surfaces of the other planets to expose ore veins. Char joined them. The pair worked in silent synchronicity, dancing around each other and making notes on the other’s work. While the rest of the clones had gone and made themselves comfortable in the mess hall, Curve, Ace and Aloe had remained to watch them work.
“Going to clue us in?” Ace asked. “You’ve got eight trained soldiers at your disposal remember.”
Lore and Char looked up and at the three of them. “Ah.”
“Ah?” Aloe repeated.
“That would speed things up…” Lore looked disappointed in themselves. “Or would it? Can we get them back? Destiny, have we still got that knackered Breacher?”
“It’s somewhere on the ship…” She sounded sheepish. “It definitely doesn’t work though.”
“Okay…” Char narrowed her eyes. “Could you look for it?”
Curve moved her wrist behind her back, moving her other hand to join it, repositioning herself as though stood in a respectful manner.
“Haven’t a clue…” Destiny’s eyes darted about her monitor.
“Fine…” Lore sighed. “Once we get to Paraultis, we’ll use Char’s teleporter and you lot can take my Breacher.”
“You going to let us in on the plan?” Curve snarked.
Lore looked over their notes one last time before sharing them. “We’ll have to change them a bit depending on your weaponry.”
“Destiny, can you scan the clone’s firearms and give me a full run down of what they’re capable of?” Char brought up the scans of the other three planets. “While she’s doing that, best not to waste time.” She pointed to the planet’s images on the viewscreen. “The job should be easy. You set Destiny in orbit of each planet, Breach down to the given date and co-ordinates then expose the ore mass and return. Destiny’s hull and drive core provide enough shielding from the Temporal Shearing. The hardest part should be the exposing the ore bit… Depends on your weapons.”
“Scan’s ready.” Destiny’s face appeared in the top corner of the viewscreen. “Clone weaponry is capable of completing the mission as set by your parameters. While weaker and less suited for the mission than Char’s side-arm, together they should be more than capable.”
“Weaker?” Aloe turned to Ace who shared in her look of offence.
“Clarification.” Destiny blushed. “As Char’s side-arm is a repurposed mining drill, it is better suited for mining than your weapons which are, first and foremost, designed as weapons.”
The clones shook their heads. “What changes are we going to have to make then?”
“You’ll just have to overclock your rifles, widen the beams and tighten the range.” Char brought up the data for Gressari. “Once you land, you’ll have to go back to these co-ordinates, unearth the ore then return to the present and hope.” Char showed the other two planet’s surfaces. “It’s basically the same thing for the other two. Destiny already has the co-ordinates so it should be a nice, easy run.”
“Until we get to the aftercare.” Lore sighed.
“What aftercare? If we do the job right, it’ll be as if they were never gone.” Char patted their shoulder.
Lore circled a compound on the Gressari surface. “Until they suddenly have to share their planet with a group of random humans. Humans they can’t kill or otherwise remove.”
“Ah…” Char put her hand to her face and looked at the screen, pensively stroking her chin. After a moment, she clicked her fingers and smiled. “Shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve got access to time travel so we can just jump to the point when it becomes an issue and hopefully diffuse it before that issue becomes too big.”
“This diversion just keeps getting bigger…” Lore shook their head. “Let’s get started before it decides to grow again.” They laughed at their own joke before taking their seat in the command chair. Lore rolled up their sleeve, exposing their Breacher, then lowered it into the cradle. With a nod, Char and Destiny somehow knew exactly what needed to be done. Char set the spacial co-ordinates while Destiny prepared the K.A.D.S. for the jump; Lore wasn’t idle themselves, setting the correct temporal co-ordinates while cycling the ship’s standard engine system. “This is Lore to The Occam’s Razor. We’ll be departing shortly, please open the hangar bay doors.”
“Occam’s Razor to Destiny, the hangar bay doors will be open in just a moment. Safe flight.” Sam’s undeniable accent rang through the bridge.
“Thank you Sam. We shouldn’t be too long. See you when we get back.” Lore gave them a salute as they began running through their pre-flight checks and take off protocols. “Destiny, she’s all yours when you’re ready.”
There was a slight shudder as the landing magnets disengaged and The Destiny became airborne. Destiny was delicate as she reversed and turned to face the still opening doors. Orange lights flashed at each corner and a siren blared to clear the hangar. Eventually, the doors started to move.