The Murdos solar system was considered to be a Tier 3 system despite it not being as developed as the other systems within the Andrasta Galaxy. The reason for this was because of the abundant wildlife that existed within the system. The designation was made to help protect the natural resources of the system and protect the wildlife. As Kaid looked out of the cabin window on the Helsar, he was greeted to a breathtaking sight. A Capling migration was taking place.
Caplings were one of the many docile creatures that lived in space, surviving purely of the energy emanating from the sun. They highly resembled the aquatic jellyfish except for their size and brilliant incandescent forms.
Although the spacecraft wasn't small by any measure, standing at a length of 500 meters and a height of 150 meters, the Caplings still towered over it. Their figures shone with brilliant colors that would slowly fade and change from one to the other. A migration of this size, although not rare, was still breathtaking to see as the colors merged together to form their own small galaxy.
As Kaid watched the migration, his eyes entranced by the scene outside, he came to understand why the Gragarion empire would choose to grant the solar system the Tier 3 designation. Scenes like these needed to be preserved for future generations. Among the many worlds within the Andrasta galaxy, it was extremely rare to find systems where Fosphilic creatures flourished so much. This was one of the reasons the Murdos solar system was a source of pride for the empire, and why Kaid had initially moved here.
Now that he had to leave it he was starting to feel a bit of reluctance. Of course, it was only a small tinge in his heart as he had never fully fallen for the solar systems charms. He'd lived the past 3 years in the underbelly of the of the system, his perceptions of the it becoming forever tainted, so even though he was being presented by this captivating scene he was still unmoved in his decision to leave.
The intercom in the room briefly turned on as the captain gave a few quick announcements to the passengers aboard with his calm, soothing, commanding, voice.
"Good afternoon folks, if you haven't already noticed by now we're currently passing by a Capling migration. Those on the starboard side of the ship should have a front row seat to the migration from their windows. As for the rest of us, we should be able to watch the migration live through the monitors on the ship. The monitors in your rooms should also be able to access the live feed. We'll be slowly moving through the migration for the next 15 minutes before we get back on track to our destination.
"For those of you that are just waking up now, breakfast is still being served so please help yourselves to some of the best food on this side of the galaxy."
With that final announcement the intercom turned off and that silky-smooth voice was no more.
Kaid stayed at the window for a few minutes before finally leaving his cabin and headed for the dining area on the ship. Because Kaid was a Violet UII card holder he was able to obtain one of the higher end cabins within the ship. Furnished with some of the finest furniture, bedding, and accessible accessories, his room was radiated wealth. This wasn't the best finest rooms aboard the ship, but it was certainly one of the best. If he'd wanted to he could have called for in-house delivery of his food and he would of had it within five minutes. But Kaid decided to make the 10-minute walk to the dining area, getting his breakfast himself.
As he walked through the halls of the ship, he took in the lavishing decor of the upper-class section of the ship. It was truly lavishing, worthy of the high status of the guest in the area, but this was nothing in comparison to the Artieus.
Kaid reminisced about his time working on the Artieus, remembering how dumbfounded he was by its size and the beauty of its interiors. Even the commons area of the ship could put the decor he was looking at to shame. It still surprised Kaid to this day how he was able to get a job aboard that ship. He really didn't know what was going through the Captain's head at the time when he offered him a job aboard the ship, but one thing that he knew was that most of his best memories were made on that now destroyed ship.
As he kept reminiscing of that time long lost, he found himself reliving all his memories aboard the Artieus. He remembered the brutal first few days aboard the ship, the hectic shifts, crazy workloads, and nonstop bombardment of orders by his seniors under the guise of training. Despite the hardship Kaid easily persevered because at that time he was still numb to everything around him.
He was able to maintain a high level of performance at his job despite the pressures of it making him standout among his peers who had long been broken by the workload. The crew of the Artieus prided themselves on perfecting everything they did, meaning all the work had to be maliciously done, because of this Kaid was able to strive in that environment earning himself a very lofty position among the service crew.
Before he could repress the memories of that fateful day, Kaid started to taste the smoke in the air from that day. His nose twitched as he was brought back to that day aboard the Artieus when everything went to hell. He could clearly remember the series of explosions that bombarded the whole ship. He remembered there being one close to the sleeping to quarters of the crew which instantly killed 200 and left many more injured. Kaid had managed to escape the brunt of it, only managing to suffer a concussion from the shockwave. He remembered the smell of charred and mutilated bodies mixing in with the thick smoke. He could barely hold himself together at the time, trying his best to reorient himself as the ship began its decent to the surface. All he could remember before the ship crashed was the strong suffocating smells and the deafening screams of his crewmates as the pain from their mutilated bodies hit them at full force.
[5th memory block destroyed.]
[Mental state unstable.]
[Beginning memory wipe.]
[Error.]
[Requesting permission for memory wipe from God candidate.]
At this point Kaid was on the floor leaning against a wall, tightly clutching his chest as he tried to hold back the screams in his head. He was battling to regain his composure as the memories flooded his very being forcing him to relive the entire ordeal over again.
[Requesting permission for memory wipe.]
[Requesting permission for memory wipe.]
[Overwriting permissions.]
[Error.]
[Overwriting permissions.]
[Error.]
[Mental state rapidly deteriorating.]
[Further deterioration will lead to crazed God state.]
[Requesting permission for memory wipe.]
Kaid was oblivious to the series of notifications being blasted in front of him. Right now, in his head he was still on the Artieus standing there motionless as he watched his crew-mates begging for his help, their remaining strength quickly fading as the wreckage of the ship crushed their bodies. Whenever Kaid previously relieved this day he never felt anything because he'd buried his feelings so deep it took a terrifying beast eating him alive to force those them back to the surface. Now he was dealing with the full force of those neglected traumas.
"Hey!! Are you okay?!?!"
Kaid didn't even register the voice as he was too far gone at this point.
"Hey, can you hear me?? If you can hear me say something!" At this point the stranger was trying to jolt Kaid to his senses by shaking his shoulders. Unfortunately, this was unfruitful.
As they continued to watch Kaid in his distraught state, the stranger seemed to be preparing to do something. They placed their hand on Kaid's head and started to channel their energy through it. They seemed to be saying a few short phrases before their hand started glowing with a dim golden light.
At the height of his panic attack Kaid started to feel his nerves calm down and his composure starting to return. He took in a few deep breaths and started to feel a sense of calm. After catching his breath, he finally noticed the hand on his head and the stranger it belonged to.
"Feeling better now?"
Kaid took a second to make sure he wasn't hallucinating the stranger before him. The stranger was a beautiful girl likely in her 17th or 18th year of age, with brilliant golden hair, a smooth face with neither a blemish in site, and piercing silver eyes that gave off a welcoming aura. Her outfit on the other hand was quite plain neither seeming to complement her figure or hide it. The contrast might have been jarring if it had been anyone else, but for some reason this stranger was somehow able to pull it off.
"Sorry, I had to take a second to make sure you were real," said Kaid still earnestly looking at her with a sly smile now creeping onto his face.
The stranger seemed flustered by the bold statement for a second before regaining her composure as well and replying, "Well aren't you the charmer. If you can make jokes it probably means you're doing okay right now. By the way what happened to you? I can take you the medic aboard to get an examination if you'd like."
Kaid Got back onto his feet, brushing his clothes off before replying, "That's okay. I just had a bit of an accident. I should be fine now. Thank you for your help."
The stranger looked at Kaid unconvinced by his assurance.
"I still say that you should get looked at by the medical staff just in case."
"Thanks, I'll take that into consideration. But first I need to go grab some breakfast."
"Oh, how about I join you then?"
Kaid was taken aback by this offer at first but found no reason to turn her down. Actually, the thought of her company sounded quite enticing to him right about now.
"I'd be a pleasure miss?"
"Faye. Feel free to just call me Faye," she said with a beautiful smile on her face.
"Then you can just call me Kaid as well."
"Alright then Kaid, shall we go grab breakfast?"
----------------------------------
To say the two of them attracted attention would be an understatement. The two of them caused many heads to turn as people tried to get a look at the beautiful couple making their way through the dining area. Many wondered if they were celebrities or from noble households.
Kaid and Faye were of course completely oblivious to the attention they were getting as they were now completely engrossed in their conversation with each other. Faye had been living with her grandfather on the third planet in the Murdos solar system for the past 6 months. She'd been recounting all the difficulties that came with having to get used to, and living, the countryside lifestyle. Kaid would share stories of his early years on his family's farm as well captivating her with all the strange and reckless adventures his sister and his friends got into. They continued their conversations as they grabbed breakfast and found a great spot by the stellar observatory to eat.
It was hours later before their interaction had finally come to an end with Kaid being dragged to the medical bay for an examination before they parted ways.
Now back in his room Kaid sat on his bead, his hands resting on his head, before he started examining the day's events. Kaid was extremely troubled by his mental breakdown finding it very problematic considering how close he was to loosing himself.
'System, do you have a solution for my issue?" asked Kaid.
[Fastest solution would be memory wipe.]
Kaid frowned at the suggestion, 'I'm not going to erase my memories just because there are things in my past I can't deal with right now. Is there any way for me to deal with it in a healthy way?'
[Analyzing...]
[Solution found.]
[Utilize new functions of Artemis program to create an area within the Candidate's mind to allow for safe integration of memories.]
'So basically, introspection but at a higher level?'
[Essentially.]
[Normal use of function is for combat assessment, but function is useful for such tactics.]
'Alright then, let's do this then. Begin the procedure.'
Kaid sat up on his bed, got comfortable, and closed his eyes.
[Artemis program online.]
[Beginning domain construction.]
[Initiating...]
Kaid felt his awareness of his surrounding slowly fade until he couldn't sense anything at all. He was now inside a small mental space in his mind. It felt strange but also natural at the same time being inside the space. Even though this was his first time entering the space Kaid knew exactly what to do.
He quickly brought up his memories of the Artemis and prepared himself to relive these memories countless times. There were things he'd never gotten over, or come to terms with, and it was now necessary for him to relive the experiences in order to find the closure he needed.
He braced himself as the memories flooded him and he was brought back to the day he come aboard the Artieus.