Rest of the story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ew1g89oxjEj5mZRFvv94Ht2Td6lVWkc-Lk7nwplUgg [b]Chapter 16[/b] Tivik paced around his chambers, fiddling with the ghost in his hand. He turned it, poked at it, and twisted its shell, but to no avail. “Noxis said there was a terrifying truth here. I see nothing but a trophy of mine!” He flung it to the ground, breaking the top segment of the shell off. A glint of metal caught Tivik’s eye. He reached down, scraped the shard off of the cold ground, and found an Eliksni data chip hiding inside. “Is it here?” Tivik carried the chip to a terminal. He tapped his claws as data began to load in. “Tivik, the crew has cleaned up after the burials. Where shall we head?” Dreliks asked, interrupting the Guardian Killer’s train of thought. “The Cabal outpost. Send a team to scout it out. We must resume our killing as soon as possible. Do we have sufficient amounts of poison?” “Our reserves have replenished. Worry not of the canisters you used earlier today.” “Good. I have personal matters to attend to tonight. Inform me of when everything is ready.” “You got it, boss! I knew you’d get a chick some day!” Spekris’ voice blasted his ears. “Tivik would never occupy himself with such trivial matters, imbecile!” Dreliks retorted. “Hey, just ‘cause you’re an assassin now, doesn’t mean you can act like you’re bigger than me!” “Enough, the two of you. I will see you later.” Tivik smiled and shut his comms off as he opened a file. “Tivik.” He read, as a sprawl of Eliksni characters appeared on his screen. “Do you remember? You were a guardian sympathizer. You were the lowest of the Eliksni. Now that I am sure I have your attention, listen carefully. There is a cybernetic ‘block’ in your memory. You put it there yourself.” Tivik shuddered, though not at the fault of the cold room. “If you wish to remove it, there are instructions attached to this file. If I bestowed this data onto you, then at this point, there is likely no risk linked to performing this action. Do not worry.” “What is going on?” Tivik asked himself, now realizing that he had noticeable gaps in his memory. “Noxis, what did you… what did I do?” - “Eltanin? Somebody? Anybody!” Crucius yelled, standing at the large wooden doors to a library. He shook his shell. “It’s no use… this is a kind of door I can’t open.” He knocked himself uselessly against the rich brown barriers and sighed. As he floated lower and lower, the doors suddenly opened. “Uhm, the doors should be unlocked…” Eltanin stood before Crucius, looking to her sides for a visitor, confused. She dropped her hand and brought it back to one of her crutches. “Huh.” “Eltanin! Down here!” Crucius floated up to her face. She immediately stumbled back and looked away, away from what she now lacked. “N-no...” Eltanin’s head dropped as the doors closed on them. “Hey, I know it may be hard for you to look at ghosts, especially me. Take your time.” Crucius slowly floated back. “It’s not that… I do miss my ghost, but sometimes I think… maybe I didn’t deserve her. Maybe she’d still be alive if-“ “Don’t say that. You were a great guardian.” “A great guardian? Maybe. A great person? I’m not so sure. After all, he stopped caring about me.” “Zahir?” “Yeah.” “What’s the reasoning behind that?” The sound of guests flipping through pages of wisdom beyond them filled the gap in their conversation. Eltanin’s face remained hidden from the ghost. “He was all Tivik this, Tivik that, and I thought… maybe he needed time away. I move in and he has to do all this extra cooking and stuff for me. I’m not a guardian anymore, so I can’t fight with him. My legs are broken, so I need his help to even get up in the morning. I feel like I’ve just been holding him back, and that’s why he stopped caring. I mean, he’s got the bare essentials, but everything special went away, one by one. Our pasta days, watching crucible and gambit matches, going out shopping. I think that’s why he did stuff like go to Phoros, because I don’t matter to him anymore. Hunting Tivik is more important, and rightfully so.” “Eltanin, he never stopped caring. Quite the opposite. He spent more and more time tackling Tivik’s case in your place because he didn’t want it riding on your mind. Though, you’re right. I think he’s gone too far. He dug himself too deep. Not trusting you entirely with intel was a mistake. Talking to Phoros was a mistake. I would have tried to talk to him, but he doesn’t seem to be doing too well right now.” “Is he mad at me for running?” “Haha. I envy you. You’re still able to pin the blame on someone, even if it’s yourself. Me? I don’t know what to think. I’m here to support the Traveler, and the light, but what do I do when things like this happen with my guardian?” Crucius looked up out of the skylight of the library, in the direction of his creator. “I’ve done my best for Zahir, but we all make mistakes, and I fear the both of us have done irreversible damage to the ones we trust. Take this away, though. He has no reason or right to be mad at you. If anything, you should be the one mad at him.” “Right… thanks, Crucius.” She let go of her crutches, scooped the ghost into her hand, and held him tight, depraved of contact with one of the Traveler’s drones for over a year. “So where is he? Let's give him an earful.” “Erm. That’s the problem. He kind of took the ship and left after you did. Lacer’s busy, and I can’t get in contact with Bronze.” “Where is he?” Eltanin shook the ghost on an impulse.” “Agh! Careful! He’s on Mars, but I can’t triangulate his exact location. He must be in the ice caves. If I can’t find him, he may be lost forever!” “Why didn’t you start with that? We’re leaving. Where’s Lacer? Ascella? Bronze?” “I talked to Lacer and Ascella before seeing you. They were… I’ll fill you in later. And, hold on. You’re coming?” “Like you said, I need to show Zahir that he can rely on me, right? Plus, what if the others don’t make him budge?” “True, but it’s too big of a risk, especially in your current condition.” “Not to worry, I have a plan that’ll keep me safe.” - Phoros tiredly looked over a sprawling wall of data. Images, files, and maps littered his eyes. A steady drip of water was the only ambience in the cave he had camped out in. He was illuminated by screens from the front and moonlight from the back. “Damn it. If I could only have gotten Vanguard reports from the titan…” he grabbed his ghost. “You still can’t access the VanNet?” “An exile is an exile. We’re on our own.” His companion stated, clearly annoyed at being manhandled. Phoros stood up and began to pace around. “The Vex teleporters take his targets to blights. It always ends at a blight. If wr could only find out-” “How he gets the guardian to the teleporter in the first place.” “Exactly.” He didn’t look at his ghost. “Oh, the things we can do when we just talk to each other.” “Enough of your lip!” Phoros curled his fists. “As far as I know, you’re only telling me what you want to.” “That’s nonsense. Maybe if you try harder, you can get cooperation from a guardian.” “Enough. Away. It took everything I had to try to reason with that titan. Now I know what they’re all like. They can’t see the bigger picture.” Phoros relaxed and continued his research. “I’ll track the Guardian Killer myself, because it seems these fools can’t do it on their own.”