Man or Machine

[thisDerius]

835 A.S. - New Tokyo - FMV-Bastion

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I can’t believe it…

Tonight, I returned to the Bastion, intending to move her to New Tokyo for some last-minute preparations before setting course for Ames Research Station. Just a simple supply run—one of many in this never-ending cycle of survival and planning. I thought it would be routine, just another stop along the way. But what I saw aboard the ship stopped me dead in my tracks.

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Z.

The Z.

The same Z who stood by my side during the darkest hours aboard The Alexandria. The man who, like me, fought tooth and nail against the Nomads when they came for us, tearing through our ranks, leaving nothing but death and echoes in their wake. We survived that nightmare together, watching friends and comrades fall one by one, and somehow, we made it out alive—separated by fate, by war, by the tides of this chaotic existence. I had long assumed he was dead. Just another name lost in the void, swallowed by the silence of space. And yet, here he was, standing before me. I should be overjoyed. And I am. But something feels… off.

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He’s my friend, my brother-in-arms, but the years change people. I’ve learned that lesson too many times, through betrayal, through deception, through the cold sting of knives in the back. I’ve been hunted by the very people I once trusted with my life. I’ve lost count of how many times I let my guard down, only for it to cost me everything. So as much as I want to believe that this is the same Z I once fought alongside, I can’t afford to let nostalgia blind me. Where has he been all this time? How did he survive? Why now, of all times, does he reappear? The universe doesn’t deal in coincidences.

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I’ll play it carefully. I’ll talk, I’ll listen, I’ll watch. Because as much as I want to embrace this reunion, I can’t ignore the feeling in my gut—the one that tells me I need to be cautious.

Z is my friend. But in this life, even friends can become enemies.

For now, I’ll keep him close. But my eyes will stay open.