Hell Off-World
Epilogue

The remaining days until Ark-8263 arrived in the system were very uneventful, comparably. The squids all wanted to share their immense gratitude to the crew, of course, but since they shared a minor hive mind, it didn’t take long. They quickly got to work re-establishing a settlement, sending out hunting parties after the buffalo, and collecting resources they would need to survive. With the squids’ permission, Theresa had promised to recount their entire trip to the United Galactic Empire, which would mean representatives would arrive within weeks, to induct the squids into the Empire as fully-fledged citizens. No one was sure how others would react to living amongst telepaths, but the squids were cautiously optimistic that their worst days were behind them.

The Guardian had slipped off the ship without anyone noticing, immediately after it became apparent that Theresa had killed the Destroyer. None of the crew ever saw or heard from him again, but Theresa didn’t blame him for not sticking around. She didn’t know what she would have done if she saw him again, but it would be an understatement to say she blamed him for what happened to Atlas.

While the rest of the crew were eager to spend time with the squids, and experience their culture, Amy scarcely left her bedroom. The others would drop in from time to time to check up on her, which she appreciated, but for the most part, she wanted to be left alone. She had decided to bury Atlas’ irreparably fried CPU at the foot of the Spire, and had dismantled their body piece by piece, and filed each component in its proper place in Atlas’ half of their room. All the while, a programme slowly loaded on Atlas’s computer. It simply read “NEW DAY PROTOCOL. LOADING.” Followed by a percentage, which barely climbed at 10% a day.

Eventually, Ark-8263 arrived, and the various ships of the system soared towards it like kittens to a parent. Theresa had decided to send her report after the Ark had left the system. The last thing the squids needed, was to be overwhelmed by tourists, who wouldn’t actually be able to help them, they weren’t zoo animals after all. As suspected, the crew was paid very generously for their discovery, they were also asked for their full names and citizen IDs, so they might get the proper credit and recognition, but the crew had unanimously decided to wave credit. Even Atlas’ sacrifice, Amy decided would just be viewed as a machine doing what it was told to, by its owner, that was even if people believed what the circumstances of Atlas’ death were.

Ark-8263 was run more strictly than Ark-1847. Although crews were allowed to go almost anywhere, all of the businesses were run my Ark crew, and all goods were carefully regulated. There was strictly nowhere anyone could go purely to enjoy themselves. Not that it would have mattered to Amy, since she had still barely left her room. The Ark had been in hyperspace for almost twenty-four hours, and it seemed like the New Day Protocol had been on 99% for at least three.

Atlas had told her what the New Day Protocol was, but she had never thought they would have to run it. In the time she had known them, they had never died, and so far as she knew, they never had before. Regardless of what it did, Amy’s friend had died in the spire. Their life had ended with their grand display of selfless heroism, and what was about to happen would do little to comfort her in that regard.

NEW DAY PROTOCOL

100%

INITIATING

Amy wiped the tears from her face, and switched on her headset.

“Amy? Is that you?” Came Atlas’ voice.

“Hey Atlas…” Amy weakly responded.

“It… The last thing I remember is backing up my personality matrix and memories, on my hard drives on the ship… for the New Day Protocol.” Atlas said. “And now it seems I don’t have a body…”

“Yeah… funny how plans can change like that…” Amy laughed quietly.

Atlas paused. “Was… was it good? I didn’t just fall down a flight of stairs, did I?” Amy laughed more sincerely. Atlas hesitated before continuing. “Amy, I suspect this might be a bit upsetting… I died, and this… It’s like I’m a replacement for the old Atlas.”

“The old one did really rock a blouse…” Amy smirked.

“But I guess I did this for you, more than me. I made this backup so I can always be there for you… and keep an eye out for my best friend…”

Amy smiled broadly and wiped a fresh set of tears from her face. “Thanks Atlas. You were incredible, by the way. It’s gonna be a long time before those stairs hurt anyone else!”

“So how about my new body?” Atlas asked.

“New body!” Amy announced, showing legitimate excitement. She climbed to her feet and started loading up plans on Atlas’ computer. “Now I know you’ve shot down this idea in the past, but hear me out- Robot dog.”

“I’m gonna say a strong 'no' on that one, as usual…” Atlas reassured her.

Amy smiled and scrolled through some of Atlas’ own designs for possible bodies.

“Ah well, whatever you go with… we’ll make it work.”

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