Fracture - Book One of the Glass Galaxy Trilogy

Chapter 24: Return

May 3rd
9:51 PM

I slumped down in my chair, watching my milkshake slowly melt. Aria sipped hers, while Abaddon and Reaper had already finished their own. Sarinna had declined to have one. We sat around a table in the center of the crew quarters in smothering silence, my question hanging in the air as if I'd just threatened to shoot them.

"Why don't you tell us what you saw first," Reaper shot back harshly, having been in a foul mood ever since being put through Cioase's test.

"Kaeya," I snapped. "I saw Kaeya, and I let her put her hand clean through my chest, nearly killing me. I couldn't even consider killing her to protect myself, even once I'd realized it wasn't really her."

Reaper whistled, "I suppose that's not surprising."

I glared at her, "Oh yeah? What about you? Did you pass the test?"

She grimaced, the test clearly an unpleasant memory for her. "Yeah," she answered, "I did. I tore apart Leo's chest before I even realized who it was I was firing at, and then I got to spend four minutes talking to him as he died." She raised her voice angrily, "So yeah, I passed that test with flying fucking colours!"

Abaddon put his hand on hers and she grabbed it tightly, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths.

"I read his mind. He had genuine thoughts, as if he really was Leo. He was worried about how I was doing, and wanted to know if I was happier now. He was wondering how his old crew was doing, and wanted to tell me how proud of me he is." She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with one hand. "That wasn't a test," she growled, "that was torture."

She rose from her chair a walked over to the milkshake machine in the corner of the room, pouring herself another one.

"I saw my mother," Aria said quietly. "I was lucky enough to realize that it wasn't really her, though, since my mother never went anywhere without her rifle. I still can't get the sound of her exoskeleton shattering out of my head..." She looked at me, her face twisted in disgusted confusion, "Why did they put us through such a thing?"

I sat back in my seat, taking a sip of my milkshake as I thought about what Cioase had told me in our conversation. "She told me that they were testing people to see if they could kill the person they loved the most," I answered, "when that person was a danger to them."

Abaddon frowned, staring at his empty cup. "That's an awfully specific trait to test for," he said, puzzled.

I nodded in agreement, "It is, but she refused to tell me why they were testing for it. Who did you see?"

He stared at Reaper -who was still at the milkshake machine- for a long moment. "I saw my mother," he answered finally, "and I just couldn't bring myself to shoot her. I ran from her instead."

I looked between him and Reaper, and decided that he was lying. I didn't see any reason to press him, though.

I looked at Sarinna, "What abou-"

"My brother," she spat, interrupting me. "I could feel the psychic energy of the creature that was imitating him though, so I was under no illusion as to who I was really looking at."

"So you passed your test?" I asked as gently as I could.

"No," she responded sharply. "I immobilized the creature with my powers and then just... Enjoyed having my brother beside me, even if I did know that it was just a fake copy."