Interloper-360°: Expanded Version

Epilogue: A Story Ends, A New One Starts

My body feels warm, and my arm instinctively pulls a comforter closer to my neck. I crack my eyelids just enough to let some light in, and eventually, they open fully to take in my familiar surroundings.

I'm on a bed; my bed. The lights are set dimly and nobody is here. I slowly get out of bed and wobble to the space-view window next to my dresser. I can see Planet Thucara drifting in the distance. I'm back in our home galaxy.

My P.V.D isn't on my wrist. I look around and can't find it anywhere. My feet ache as they carry me to the door. I step out into the hall and peer around on both sides, not a soul.

I walk further towards the recreational room, and I begin to hear muffled voices seemingly celebrating behind it. The door swooshes open for me, and as I walk in, I'm greeted with a loud cheer coming from all of my teammates.

"Nev," Titan shouts, "you're awake! How does that hand feel?"

"I---whoa!" My hand, it's gone! I didn't even notice that the pain had subsided immensely. It looks like they trashed my original and swapped it out with a robotic prosthetic. I give my new metal fingers a test, making them touch my palm one at a time a few rounds.

"That's my...handy work," Cheq says, "sorry for the pun. It's grade-A metal with a neural link so that it basically controls like a real hand. You just won't feel the stress and pain."

I glance at Knight, his drink nearly overflowing with foam. "You didn't tell me I'd lose my hand when using the punch."

He turns to the crowd. "That's fifty credits for me, I knew he killed Deus with the Os Ruptor. I'm sorry for your sacrifice, Nev, but now we can be twins." He holds up his right hand and removes the glove to show a metal prosthetic underneath. It doesn't look like mine, maybe Cheq didn't make it for him.

I put my new hand to use and point at Titan. "You're just going to stand there without explaining how you survived?"

He finishes the last drops of his drink. "Don't you remember giving me a cooling gel before the doors fell? I just used the same trick, although it was a lot harder doing it in immense pain and one leg."

I see the leg that got the brunt of the landmine is wrapped up in an apparatus. "Is it real?"

"It's real. I got to keep it, unlike your hand. Once I blew the bulkhead open, the gas poured out. I got on the horn and alerted everyone about you being trapped in the control room with Deus. After they fished me out and slapped this brace on me, we all went back to try and get you out of there."

Cheq interrupts. "When we blasted the door open, Deus looked like he'd been cooked alive. We found you curled up by a console, your hand was a limp sack of skin and powdered bone. Every medic knew there was no saving it."

Knight finishes. "That's when Cheq got to work on making a unique prosthetic while Paxes supplied a standard one. You weren't even awake to try out that one, you've been asleep for a while."

Titan pours another glass and hands it to me. I use my new hand to grip it, it really controls like my real hand.

"When you killed Deus, all orders seemed to stop leaking through to the rest of the Angels. They got beat within thirty minutes with no strategies coming through. And Paxes... was all too generous with their compensation pay towards us."

I take a sip, feeling woozy immediately. "Compensation?"

His smile shines. "When you get the chance, check your bank account. I think you'll be happy with the numbers."

Knight puts a hand on Titan's shoulder. "Titan, are you ready to tell everyone?"

His smile is gone in an instant. He steps back to see us all and clears his throat. "My dear boys, I've got some exciting news and some... not so exciting news."