Kain's extensive internal injuries took several months to heal, even with Cortex's advanced knowledge of medical techniques. He spent much of this time locked away in the captain's quarters. Kain often found himself staring at the ceiling for hours on end, he couldn't help but feel profoundly alone. Deep bags formed under his eyes, as he refused to sleep. Every time he did so, he would dream of that day, the fires that consumed his mother, and the face of his father as he decided to sacrifice himself. It would always end as Kain awakes with a scream in a cold sweat, reaching into the air as if trying to grasp onto something he lost.
Cortex, for all of its credit, tried its best to comfort its maker. The ship made sure he ate, even when he did not want to, and did its best to assure he was physically healthy and comfortable as possible. It tried to strike conversation on many an occasion, but was met with less than enthusiastic responses. Kain's sadness seemed to be contagious, as Cortex feels a deep sadness watching its creator. lamenting the fact it is unable to heal emotional wounds like it can physical wounds.
Kain lies on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Thoughts do not fill his head, rather there is a primal feeling. It was as if there was a hot coal within his gut, slowly burning at his insides. In this position he stays, simply feeling this burning, as he once again begins to think of all the moments he shared with his parents. Soon enough, his once seemingly calm mind is bombarded with images and memories. Tears flow from his eyes as he turns to his side, pulling his knees close to his chest as he tightly hugs his legs, as if doing so would bring the warmth of his parents back to him, but it would never be the same. The coal within his gut seems to ignite a fire that engulfs him, reducing him to nothing but ashes, broken and scattered upon the floor.
Without intending to, Kain cries himself to sleep. Before long, Kain is dumped into his nightmares, forced to relive the worst day of his life. Kain watches his mother explode into flames, and as he screams and reaches out to grab her, he is once again greeted by the ceiling of his room.
Kain heaves a deep sigh as he sits up, attempting to rub the tired from his eyes. He scoots to the edge of the bed, allowing his feet to dangle above the cold floor. A mechanical arm comes from the wall, holding a glass of water in front of him. "Would you like some water, sir?"
"Thanks, Cortex," Kain takes the glass, gulping the water down in short order, before handing the glass back to the arm, which takes it and disappears back into the wall. Stepping onto the cold metal floor, he realizes that his clothes and body is covered in cold sweat. Kain resigns himself to a shower as Cortex replaces his sweat soaked sheets.
As the water falls over him, Kain cannot help but think about that day again. As he goes over the events in his head, a new feeling fills his heart. Along with the usual sense of loss is a burning rage. His parents were not lost, they were taken from him. They were murdered, betrayed! If not for Coleman, if not for the Star Coalition..! As if a beast was fed inside him and took over, Kain feels that doing nothing about it is no longer acceptable. As the burning rage within him consumes his thinking, he blindly throws a punch, slamming hard into the wall of the shower. The stinging pain seems to awaken his thinking. As blood trickles from his knuckles, washed into the drain, Kain voices the vow he had made within his heart countless times, "I will make the Star Coalition pay, no matter what."
After taking care of his sweaty body, Kain steps out of the bathroom with a new purpose. "Cortex, you said I am fully healed, right?"
"Indeed, sir, you are the picture of health, aside from your hand." Cortex replies, as an arm extends to spray a solution on his knuckles, which stings for a second before they begin to heal at a visible pace.
"Thanks as always, Cortex. I think it's finally time to get started, take me to a planet with elemental beasts. I need to be strong if I want to take revenge."
"Already done sir. We are on the outskirts of the Universal South. Records show the elemental beasts on this planet are the weakest of any of the outskirt planets. It should be sufficient for now."
"Wonderful, let's land on the planet then. I'll need a weapon, and make me a protective suit that doesn't restrict my movements."
"Of course," Cortex begins, and the ship rumbles slightly before stopping as it lands on the surface of the planet. "but what kind of weapon would you like? I could make any number of things, but you don't have any combat training, sir."
Kain nods, naturally with his upbringing he has no experience fighting at all. "Fighting close range would be playing with death at this point, I'll have to go long range. Give me a long range sniper, something for mid range that is small but effective, and a knife capable of cutting through these beasts just in case. Also, convert one of the rooms into an armory, store the weapons there when they aren't being used, and label it a level 4 clearance."
"Yes sir, just one second." Kain can hear some noises from inside the ship for a while before a section of floor in front of him is pulled away and replaced with another floor, with a flexible polycarbonate suit, capable of resisting most piercing or slashing attacks. After putting it on, it covers most of his body, stopping at his wrists, ankles, and just below his chin on his neck. The suit is a simple black with blue accents, and after putting on matching tough gloves and shoes, the only thing left unprotected was his head. Also provided is a pistol-like gun and a knife which blade glows an eerie blue, inside a holster and sheath respectively ,on a belt that can fit across the waist of his suit, and a gun with a scope and long barrel, very similar to a sniper rifle, that has a strap, making it so that he can sling it across his shoulder to free his hands if needed.
As Kain fits the belt around his waist, Cortex explains the weapons to him. "The largest weapon is called the Pulse Rifle, and fires highly concentrated shots that are very accurate and fast, able to pierce through most things. Alternatively, the shots can be made to explode upon contact, doing more widespread damage." Kain looks at the weapon, identifying a switch on the weapon labeled piercing on one side, and power on the other. "It does, however take some time to charge its shots. The other ranged weapon is called the plasma pistol, and can fire much faster, though its shots are considerably weaker. They create small explosions on contact though, so they can be very destructive, especially considering how fast they can fire. Last is the knife. Once unsheathed, it vibrates minutely, and carries a layer of energy on its blade, making it unbelievably sharp and quite durable."
"Good, since we will be here for a while why don't you start mining for materials and fuel. Keep the separate space full just in case, but use any extra matter and energy to expand the space, I know that the bending of space takes a lot of energy in and of itself."
"Yes sir, I will get on that immediately." The ship once again makes a series of noises, as a drill is produced under the ship, beginning to dig into the earth and such up any extracted materials to fill the separate space.
Kain walks up to the door of the Captain's Quarters, and opens it slowly, coming out of the room for the first time in months, with an entirely new purpose. It was time for him to take the first steps towards his revenge.