Anamnesis

[Leo]

They arrived at his small cabin a few kilometers away after the star had set over the horizon. Leo had never had anyone else here. This was his oasis, his home. As they slowed when reaching the porch, he half-turned to face the two. The boy's eyes were starting to drift closed. His mother, Ashlynn, was beginning to look very sleepy as well. No doubt the adrenaline was beginning to wear off and the two were beginning to crash.

He sighed and cleaned up the mess he had made when leaving his home and entered the house. The woman and boy followed quietly behind.

"You live here all alone?" she asked looking around. "Why?"

"No visitors for one." he said looking pointedly at her before turning on the faucet to quickly rinse out the bowl with his captured rain water. "Secondly, it's quiet and peaceful. Much more so than my previous life." He sat the bowl on the drying rack. "I'll gather some of the food from my garden in the morning for you to take with you. You'll need to retrieve some water from the lake on the way to the beach as my water supplies are limited during the dry season. Like I said, it's fresh water so you shouldn't need to filter it unless you want to. I'll send some materials along with you to naturally filter the water if you do."

"T-thank you." she said, her voice quieter than before. "I just can't believe we crashed."

"Better than exploding in orbit or deep space. What the hell were you doing out here anyway?"

"Heading to Rheinland from Kusari. My son's father lives there. I...I was taking him home to Rheinland."

"Sigma-13 is safer than 21."

"There are pirates in Sigma-13."

"Oh, yeah, you're doing so much better out here."

She snorted looking to her son. He'd sat down in one of the chairs near the door to the cabin and had dozed off sometime during their conversation.

"I'm just happy we survived."

Leo nodded. The two stood in silence for a few moments before Leo spoke up.

"There are some blankets near the chair near your boy. They're small as it's normally just for me when I fall asleep out on the porch but it should suffice for the two of you. If you need anything, I'll be in the back room taking a nap." Before she could respond, Leo turned and entered his room, closing the door gently behind him. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, thinking back.

Ten years ago, he'd crashed on the surface of Saigon. The first few years had been difficult. He'd learned how to live off the land without the need for rations or technology. His implants had sustained him for long enough to adapt to his new diet and life. The implants that had remained dormant for years. The implants that made him less than human...that had made him into some kind of freak.

His mother had become infected with a Nomad incubus shortly after he was conceived. The Nomad cells had invaded her womb and her unborn child, those cells fusing to the biology of the fetus and creating something akin to a hybrid. He wasn't under the thrall of the alien, but the cells that had invaded the unborn child gave him certain abilities related to technology. Any implant that became apart of his biomass was adapted and shaped by the Nomad cells to serve other purposes over time. It happened so slowly that he never noticed until much later in his life. 15 years ago, he'd lost his memory during an attack. As he regained his memories, the implants that his cells had changed began to come fully online, turning him into something close to a true Nomad/Human hybrid.

His processing speed was enhanced by applying enhanced neurotransmitters which aided his neurons. His muscles were enhanced by nano-fiber utilized by breaking down certain implants and fusing the technology to the muscle fibers. His eyes were enhanced by the Nomad cells giving them an eerie blue, almost silver, hue--these cells were able to become excited, allowing Leo to see in dark as if standing in starlight. The powered armor ports that ran along his arms, legs, and spine had been further enhanced by the cells as well, enabling powered armor to function as a second skin. The list went on...but he did his best to not use those implants. They reminded him that he wasn't completely human. That he was a freak of nature...something that should be killed and not studied or allowed to thrive.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself." he said to the air. "You might not be completely human, but that doesn't mean you can't be a decent person." He glanced over his shoulder to the door. "I'll help them get off the planet and then I'll return to my quiet life. Hopefully no other ships will come crashing down."

With that, he got ready for bed. He washed himself with rain water and herbs before laying down in his makeshift bed of plant fibers. As he drifted off to sleep, his dreams were filled with the nightmares of his previous life.

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You fear oblivion. Yet you forget. The universe remembers every atom of your being. Even dust hums your name in the dark.

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Starlight Research Consortium | The Banished Legion | Astral
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