The Boy from the Bunker - Season 8

Episode Five, Part 4:

Episode Five, Part 4:
Oikogénia

I told you, love, if you could see it through my eyes, 
You'd understand my fear of everything in sight. 

Xander was being delicate in the process of removing Chessca's implant, clearly able to see how greatly the people mattered to Kodiak, for whatever reason he couldn't figure out. He had to make sure he did a good job at protecting them; at earning Kodiak's trust so he knew he could trust him in return.

Eventually, Sol wandered over to where Kodiak was standing when she was confident that Xander was taking care of Chessca, trying to wrap her mind around everything she had learned in the past hour.

It still felt impossible that Kodiak was right in front of her, but at the same time, it felt as if no time had passed at all and she instinctively fell at his side, their shoulders brushing against each other as they found a deep breath - their world seeming to realign at each other's presence.

"If the implants are stopping the trials from working on them, isn't that a good thing?" Sol asked, struggling to understand everything. "I mean, you said they were called 'pain trials'. That doesn't exactly sound like something I'd want to put Wynn through."

"Believe me, I don't either," Kodiak sighed, unable to manage a smile as Dreea found her way over to them, leaving Wynn to take her place at Chessca's side.

"One of us will take his place," Dreea said without hesitation, failing to realise that Wynn wasn't facing the trials without a choice: it was something he had wanted to do to not only help Kodiak but to help Chessca.

"Athena's already interested in him and she won't quit until she figures out why the trials didn't work. She was about to put Elara through them to see if it was something genetic when we passed them in the hall. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I wasn't there."

"Do you think the implants would be dangerous to them if they were left in?" Dreea asked.

Kodiak nodded, keeping his voice quiet even though he knew Xander was too far away and too focused on Chessca to listen in to what they were saying. "Knowing Athena, she'd try and reactivate them. I'm just glad Bas and I removed ours when they picked us up. We didn't know what was waiting for us here; it was just an instinct. We also decided to say we didn't know each other - that we weren't from the same clan. I didn't know if they'd try and use us against each other, and since we were the only person the other had, I didn't want to lose him, too."

"Is he okay?" Dreea searched, longing for the day she'd get to see her friend again.

"He's had a rough time here," Kodiak admitted. "Neptunum put us both through the trials. The only difference is they recruited me as a guard whereas Bas has been kept as their prisoner this entire time. I visit him every few days as he's kept in isolation most of the week; Athena says the trials are very effective on him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he comes out of this place worse off than ever."

"What are the trials like?" Sol asked. "You said they were like The Alteration, only worse?" Her voice weakened as she mentioned it again, knowing it was the only downside to having had her memories restored: she didn't just remember what they stole away from her, she remembered the entire process they put her through.

"The trials are designed to bring you as close to death as possible," he breathed out, suddenly feeling too exhausted to stand. He pushed himself up onto the counter behind him, allowing both Dreea and Sol to easily face him. "And they've figured out that there's actually an emotional aspect to staying alive, which is what they use against us," he informed them.