At Time's End

Chapter 8 - Space Station 1477, Probably For The Last Time For Now

"How much stuff do you have?!" I sighed, exasperated.  Eterna smiled at me. "I mean... we've packed like.. how many boxes?" She punched my shoulder. "Ow." It didn't hurt much.

"We've packed two boxes. Stop whining."

"Do you actually need this much stuff to move to our.." I paused. It's fully mine now, as he's... "I mean, move to my research center?"  She punched my shoulder again. "Ow." It still didn't hurt much.

"I do conduct my own research, you know? I need stuff for that," she reminded. "And still - we've only packed like 2 boxes." She was right, but still! How much stuff do you need?!

After a couple boxes more (which felt like an eternity, even though I've just chilled for like two years, just waiting to time travel) I wished way more than before, that I could travel until after. I can't because A) Eterna would be pissed, B) I also can't create a clone of myself to do all the dirty work for me while I travel.* It sucks. (*Basically when I travel, I disappear until I've reached the time I wanted to travel to.)

One more box and one more hour later I finally heard the words I wanted to. "Whew, finally! We're done." She taped the final box shut with her limited telekinesis. I forgot she had that. She uses it so rarely nowadays. "Damn, look at this place. It looks exactly like how it did when we got here the first time." Right, back then. 2723. And just 5 years later...

Anyways, we moved all the boxes to the trave I kind of stole from Ignus. I could never really repay him for it. Maybe keeping his station up and running is enough. Finally, after 6 hours - the Earth had spun halfway, that's how I knew - we left our final goodbyes for Space Research Station 1477.  

We finally arrived. "Holy smokes, this place is a mess! How did you even live here?" Well I mean, he did die here. He was murdered, but maybe the motive was the horrendous mess. "Ooh, what's this button?!" 

"No, don't press that, you have no clue what it does-" I was too late.

"Eterna! Hi. And who the hell are you?" What- was I hallucinating? Why did I just hear Ignus? What was in that fast food we ate on the way? I turned around. A hologram had appeared. "Hey uhh.. is she mute?" He glanced at Eterna. 

"No, it's basically just that you died 5 days ago. She probably thinks she's hallucinating." She was correct, but I don't think I was hallucinating.

"Yeah. She's correct. Anyways, I'm Jaiden Hawks. Who the hell are you and why are you in Ignus' house?" The hologram laughed.

"Ah, I remember you now. I'm 'Ignus Engarde', an AI based on data from his diary and my own experiences. I'm in Ignus' house because I am him, technically. Any other questions?" He did not wait for an answer. "Great, because I've got a question of my own. Eterna, am 'I'-" he said, making quote marks with his fingers, "...actually dead?" 

"I mean, your 'human form' got a knife to the stomach from... someone." My mother, I'm willing to bet. The knife was our family heirloom knife. "I'm pretty sure a person usually dies from that." She shrugged. "I mean, if he didn't die from that, the autopsy sure as hell killed him." He was mortified.

"Huh." He sat down. "Well, I guess I just have to live as a hologram then. At least I can see things now. At least human Ignus reported that the flames in his eyes grew bigger day by day."

"Wait... I have a question. What was his... your last entry? The diary was never found. The files were hidden or deleted. And I presume you have access to the files."

"His last entry... was just 'SOS'. I figure he made the entry on his dying breath." He thought for a moment. "Oh, and a name. 'Alice'. I wonder what that means."

Eterna looked at me the second I looked at her. "That's.." I started.

"That's my mother's name." 

....So I was right. She did kill him.

It made sense. I had wondered why she let me have the serpent tears so easily. I had wondered why she let me leave home. I had wondered why she didn't try harder to control me. It was all just an act. An act to betray me again. Why? What was her motive to kill him? Why not Eterna?

A few minutes passed. I think I lost conciousness at least twice. Maybe thrice. The silence was suffocating.

"So, who's telling the Jurisdiction Affairs?"