A seed ship. God, the Arcadia was a seed ship. Suddenly, so much made sense. Valkyrie's insistence on classified information. The small crew. Even the name of the damn ship and the little drawing in the crew's quarters. It must have been a sketch of the planet they were travelling to, where they hoped to deposit the embyros.

But with every bit of information that slotted into place, Leanne only thought of more questions. Could it truly be possible? Transporting embryos seemed a strange method for potential colonisation. And she knew of no habitable planet within knowledge that would fit the requirements for a new settlement. The BASE still viewed Mars as the crux of their work and had not looked beyond the solar system. They had no means to even escape the bounds of the sun. It still took months to reach Mars, hence why Helios had been built: a halfway point for astronauts.

But this ship, this Arcadia with its dreams of a new world, had achieved its hopes – or at least, it had tried. Whatever it had been attempting to fulfill, the ship had returned. Perhaps Ryan was right: they had not liked what they had found. Maybe the crew had put themselves back into cryo, setting their co-ordinates for home.

That must mean that the Arcadia left decades ago... And began her return journey— Leanne did not know. She could not wrap her mind around it.

And the idea of Valkyrie, suffering from some kind of amnesia, dark spots in her processors and memory... She had been tampered with and perhaps it had affected the mission.

As soon as Leanne and Ryan had left the centrifuge, they had decided to reveal the knowledge to the BASE and to Nerio. The incident had transcended political wrangling now and they both agreed they were out of their depth. This was a matter for the Director of the BASE back in Krasnoyarsk; only she would know the procedure of what to do next.

Perhaps the Director already knew of the Arcadia. There were webs within webs in the BASE, a labyrinth of secrets and classified information which Leanne had never questioned. She did not want to. But neither had she ever thought she would be wrapped up in the sticky threads. All she wanted now was to get out.

But, after informing a shell-shocked Jakande and Roth, she felt the tug inside of her again. The drive to know more. To follow this thing through to the end. To prove that she was not simply a cog to be thrust into position. She had started this mission, with Cliff at her side.

She would finish it.

So, as Ryan investigated the centrifuge and tried to fiddle around in Valkyrie's mind, Leanne attempted to access any ship's logs. She worked and worked until her eyes grew heavy and her head could no longer stay upright. Hours and days of exhaustion and adrenaline crested over her. The urge to rest itched at her but she had to keep going. Her next attempt could be the breakthrough. She could understand the Arcadia in a second if she could just stay awake. Ryan would help her and they would see and then the BASE wouldn't think she was so expendable and then...

She jerked awake what felt like hours later.

The soft blue light of the bridge glowed about her. She was still alone – at least she thought so until a footfall echoed behind her. Leanne sighed. Damn it all.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep, Ryan," she said. "Have you found anything else?"

Ryan did not reply. Thinking she must be connected to her data pad again, Leanne tried again, louder. Still nothing.

Leanne turned her seat. And gasped.

The woman from the cryopod stood before her. Fluid dripped from her shaking limbs as she swayed and tottered, gripping onto one of the console decks. Her cropped blonde hair was plastered to her green-tinged face where her expression twisted in bewilderment and ire. Her green eyes bore into Leanne through a haze of clammy liquid. In her quaking hand, she held a wrench, her fingers continually squeezing and adjusting her grip.

"Who the hell are you?!" she rasped. She had an Eastern Europe accent, Polish maybe. "What are you doing on my ship?"

Leanne held up her hands, swallowing her fright. "My name is Leanne Ziegler. I have been sent by the BASE to investigate the nature of this anomalous ship."

"Leanne Ziegler? The BASE? That's not possible. No, that's not possible."

"You are Commander Stefania Milanowska, aren't you? I found your quarters."

"Where are we? Why am I awake? Valkyrie... Valkyrie, what have you done with my Valkyrie?"

"I haven't done anything with her. She is here. She has been...malfunctioning or something, I don't know. This ship sent out a signal that killed my commander when we tried to enter. And since then, we have been hunted and obstructed."

"Hunted? Obstructed?" Stefania swayed. She caught herself on the edge of the deck. "Valkyrie, where are you? What happened?"

"I am here, Commander. Do not fear."

Valkyrie's soft voice seemed to relax some of the tension in Stefania's shoulders. She groaned, seeming about to collapse. But then her eyes caught the sight of black space beyond the forward shields. She grabbed the wrench with new energy, taking a step towards Leanne. Leanne leapt to her feet, hands still aloft.

"Where are we? This isn't Rhapsody!"

"Rhapsody?" Leanne attempted desperately to think through her fear. "Is that where you were trying to reach? We are in Martian orbit. Ten days ago, this ship appeared. I have been sent by the BASE to investigate it."

"Mars. The BASE..." Stefania's face fell. Leanne could not tell if the tracks on her cheeks were tears or the amniotic liquid she had been encased in. "They know what this ship is. God, I... I warned them this would happen. I warned them!"

"Warned them of what? What is this ship? We found embryos in the centrifuge. Were you transporting them to Rhapsody?"

"The embryos, oh my God..."

"They're not real, are they?"

Stefania lurched around at the new voice. Ryan had appeared at the door, boldly standing without hands raised. She calmly surveyed the scene before her and directed her gaze towards Stefania's shivering body.

"Who are you?" Stefania spat.

"My name is Ryan. I am a liaison from Nerio colony on Mars. Those things in the centrifuge... They aren't real embryos. They're genetically engineered."

"What are you talking about?" Leanne urged, daring to look away from Stefania for a moment. She had seen the embryos herself, floating in the cryogenic chamber.

"They're not human," Ryan said. "I've been studying them. They have been grown in a laboratory and engineered to resemble humans but they aren't. They've been edited and designed to have no disabilities, no diseases, nothing that has been deemed undesirable. Their skin colour, their eyes, their behaviours, their genders and orientations... They've all been chosen and programmed. This isn't transhumanism or natural. This is eugenics."

Leanne felt horror strike her. Ever since scientists realised they could adjust the genomes of certain creatures, the idea of genetically engineered offspring had been a possibility. But ethical and moral considerations had always won. Where did it stop? The notion of preventing incurable and life-threatening illnesses was one thing, but deeming that a child was 'better' if they were neurotypical, a certain sex, straight, entirely able-bodied... It was reprehensible.

Stefania had fallen silent. Ryan stepped into the room and Leanne saw anger in her eyes that she had not witnessed before.

"Who knew about this?" Ryan asked. "Who decided this?"

"Only I, Valkyrie and a number of people at the BASE. People far, far above my head. I warned them," Stefania spat. "I warned them things would go wrong if they did this."

"Were they ever to know? The children? What they were?"

Stefania subtly shook her head. "I was told that it was a necessity. They were only going to be the first wave before we sent the next colonists. They were an experiment to ensure Rhapsody was appropriate for the rest of us."

"An experiment," Leanne whispered. "How could it be a true experiment if they were designed for the job?"

"Because if they could not take it, then neither could the rest of us that would follow!"

"A colony ship full of genetically engineered children," Ryan hissed. "This is the peak of human behaviour. Playing with nature and thinking you can conquer it. Potentially ruining another planet without truly understanding it."

Stefania bore her anger. The strength seemed to have left her and she clung harder to the console deck. The wrench fell from her hand and clattered on the floor. Leanne hurried over as the commander's legs began to buckle. Ryan watched her without moving, but Leanne caught Stefania about her clammy, freezing arms before she could collapse entirely. Her whole, soaked weight fell onto Leanne. Her eyes rolled, her head swung in a dead faint.

Leanne looked between the comatose commander and Ryan's angry expression.

"You were...designed too," Leanne dared to say.

Ryan shook her head. "I always knew what I was. And I was not designed to be perfect. Not like those things in the centrifuge."

Word count: 1561
Overall: 25,163

The shoutout for this chapter goes to MelisandeScott and Dear Citlali, a beautiful ONC entry about grieving together and finding out long-hidden secrets.