I didn't know things could get worse from there, but they did. Instead of waking up in a panic like I had done for what I was sure was the past month or so, I awoke in a continuously ill state with no memory of having any nightmares. Day after day, it was the same symptoms. It was horrible. I was always weak, nauseous, and tired, so tired. I almost preferred the nightmares to this. At least I felt like I had regained some energy when I inevitably woke myself up.

I now spent most of my time in bed, slumped against the wall in a perpetual fog, feeling too tired to move much but too afraid to fall back asleep in fear of refreshing whatever ailed me. The flu-like symptoms I felt would gradually fade over the course of the day, but it didn't matter since they would seemingly "reset" the next time I passed out. I didn't eat nearly as much now on account of my constant queasiness and slept even less. It was like I was suspended in a hellish limbo.

I did my best to carry on with my routine to keep myself awake, steeped with a new, desperate vigor. And as this torture carried on, it brought more side effects with it. Some very painful side effects.

"Be strong for both your father and me. We know you're capable of it..."

I heard Mom's last request over and over. And I no longer heard it in my mind. I swore she was right next to me, repeating this.

Frighteningly, one time I thought I did see her, standing over me and smiling down at me comfortingly. Joy overwhelmed how awful I felt, and I didn't care that what I was seeing was impossible. I tried to reach out to her, and the instant I did, she vanished before my eyes.

I stared at the empty air in shock, tears gradually filling my eyes. I began crying, and it didn't take long before it escalated into hysterical sobs. I buried my face in the sheets of the bed, muffling my cries for her until I cried myself to sleep.

After that, I kept seeing her. Whenever I wasn't sleeping or struggling to keep my mind clear I'd see her serene smile, her sky blue eyes that I was fortunate enough to have been blessed with. She was everywhere, almost like she was mocking me, proving that I wasn't strong, that I was letting her down. Every time I saw her it scared me more, fed another vein of dread into my bloodstream. Every time I thought of her, my grip on the invisible lifeline slipped further.

I almost never spoke to Meteor now. His and Orbit's presences were overbearing, filling my mind to the point where I could barely think straight. But I didn't want them to leave. I knew if they left, I'd fully lose it. I needed them. My mind was right. I depended on others too much. And I let it have the satisfaction of ridiculing me, then I would be able to hear a voice that didn't belong to Meteor or myself. It surely wasn't my own voice, that one wasn't as shaky or weak.

In the back of my mind, I knew I was sliding down a rather dangerous slope, picking up momentum the more time passed. This wasn't normal, this wasn't natural! My mind was deteriorating and I knew it but I couldn't stop it! What was my purpose now? Was I a person anymore? Was I just some expensive doll to be put on display and admired? Was I even living?

The scattered memories of my building madness churned in my mind, reminding me of how fast and far I was falling. Mom was wrong, I wasn't strong at all. I was weak, completely and utterly weak. I couldn't take it anymore! I was so tired of all of this... I was tired of being tired, I was sick of feeling sick! Why wasn't this all over yet? I wanted it to be over! I wanted to feel like myself again! I wanted Mom, I wanted Dad, I wanted to see Meteor, my friends, and other teammates. And most of all I wanted out, I wanted out of this hell!

   I clutched at my aching head, pushing down so hard it felt like I would fracture my skull. At this point, I didn't care if I did. Please, please let me leave!! I screamed, my plea trapped inside my exhaustion-riddled, scrambled, warped thoughts. Please..!

—~*~—

"Still nothing, huh?"

Liam shook his head. "No, and stop asking. You've been doing this for weeks now!"

Andrew smirked, crossing his arms. "I just wanted to make sure you aren't screwing anything up. You seem a lot more scatterbrained recently. Is everything okay?" Though the question he asked was one usually associated with concern, the way he asked it showed no signs of this.

"Yes, everything is fine," Liam growled.

"Anyways, Lady Valerie wants to see us."

Liam arched an eyebrow, frowning. "So soon? I thought our next meeting was in three days."

"It's urgent." Andrew grabbed Liam's arm, pulling him to a stop. The blonde looked at Andrew, automatically frowning. "And considering your new track record with her, you should probably stay quiet most of the time today," Andrew said, jabbing a finger in Liam's face. "Take it as advice from your elder."

Liam pushed the other admin's hand away. "Thank you for admitting that you're older than me," he said with a smirk, briskly walking away so he wouldn't have to walk beside Andrew. The taller man glared at his younger associate before following after him.

"I have searched through the archives of the Malie and Canalave libraries three times over, as well as a good majority of the Sootopolis mythology records, and nothing has come of it," Valerie sighed. "Please tell me something of substance has occurred on your side of things," she addressed Liam in exasperation.

"No, my Lady Valerie. It's still the repeated images and screams of the dying." Liam answered, wincing at his choice of words.

"This has been going on for too long with no results, and I'm beginning to grow impatient. We need some answers now," Valerie hissed, her dark eyes narrowing into a frustrated glare that Liam had never seen on her before. But then she smiled a little. "That is why we have our back-up plan."

"Lady Valerie, you haven't yet told us how you would go about forcing a premonition," Andrew said.

"The more severe the physical or mental stress, the more severe or important the contents of the vision will be," Valerie said thoughtfully. "I purposefully isolated my nephew like this in hopes of a buildup of stress or anxiety would trigger something. But nothing has come from it..."

"You're not going to... hurt him, are you?" Liam asked cautiously, unease welling within him. He had a horrible feeling of where this could be going.

"No! I can't believe you would even assume that!" Valerie gasped, appalled. "But just because I don't want to hurt him doesn't mean I won't hurt something else. Why do you think I've been keeping Joseph and my nephew's Pokémon alive?" She grinned. "Liam dear, retrieve my nephew and take him to testing room A1. Andrew dear, go get one of his Pokémon. Specifically, his Metagross."

—~*~—

I was jolted out of a doze by the main cell door opening. The haze in my vision instantly cleared when I saw it was Liam. He didn't have anything with him, save for the keys he used to unlock the door. I didn't say anything, just glared at him.

"My Lady Valerie would like to see you," Liam said.

"Do I have a choice?" I muttered, my voice as weak as I felt.

Liam shook his head. "My Lady Valerie was kind enough to let me leave you unrestrained, but that will change if you don't comply."

Stifling a sigh, I slid over to the edge of the bed, bracing myself to stand. I somehow managed to stand without using the wall as a crutch, only to stumble and fall as soon as I took a step, everything spinning around me. Liam grabbed my arm, awkwardly holding me up. I sloppily regained my footing and snatched my arm from his grasp. "I can stand on my own!" I snapped with a surprising amount of hostility.

"I was simply trying to assist you," Liam said. I frowned, did I sense sympathy from him? "I now know to let you fall next time." He let me exit the cell on my own and we began the first real walk I had in ages.

"What does Valerie need from me now?" I asked as we made our way down the never-ending maze of halls, stopping on occasion so I could recover from a stumble. I hated how weak I was then, I could hardly put one foot in front of the other without my legs threatening to give out or tripping over my own feet.

"I'm not sure myself," Liam answered, which surprised me. "She told me to bring you to one of our labs with no further instruction."

I didn't like the sound of that. Were they going to do something to me? I thought Valerie wanted to keep me alive. What was she planning? Even trying to think made my headache worsen, and I massaged my temples, trying in vain to relieve it.

"Does your head hurt?" I heard Liam ask.

"Yes, but why do you care?" I answered. Planning on giving me more 'life advice?'

"No reason," he said, going silent afterwards and staying that way for the rest of our "journey."

After taking an elevator to what appeared to be the first out of three basement levels in the building, we arrived at our destination.

While Liam knocked on a steel door and waited for it to be answered, I leaned against the plastic-like material the walls were made of, appreciating the coldness of it against my slightly flushed skin. I hadn't walked that far in so long, and my combined exhaustion and weakness made it difficult to remain upright. I found myself beginning to fall asleep standing up, and I would have fully passed out if it weren't for the clanking of the metal door opening startling me awake.

The room beyond the door wasn't what I expected it to be. For what Liam said was a lab there were none of the test tubes or equation-filled whiteboards I thought would be present. It was a small, carpeted room with a large window taking up the majority of the wall across from the door. The view outside the window was completely black. But what, or rather who caught my eye first made fear and spite simultaneously strike me. Valerie and Andrew stood before the window.

"Steven dearie!" Valerie greeted me with her sickeningly cloying nickname for me. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend very much time with you. Are you enjoying your stay here?"

I refused to speak, shaking my head and avoiding eye contact, feeling sick to my core.

"That's a terrible shame, I'm heartbroken!" she said, fake-pouting. "But I think I know of a way I can cheer you up. You've been missing your Pokémon, haven't you?"

That got me to talk. "What have you done to them?" I asked.

"Nothing! They're perfectly safe. But I was thinking you'd like to see them." As she said this, white light flooded the window. On the other side of it was a white room devoid of furniture.

Two Insurgents then entered the room from a side door, one pushing a rolling cart containing a standard Poké Ball and four large collars that had blue lights on them instead of green. Each collar was open in a way that reminded me of Meteor's brace before the Metagrossite had been closed around it. The male member sent out a team of six Manetric while the second, female member had a team of four Gardevoir. I watched this transpire in confusion. What was going on?

"We're ready, Lady Valerie," the female Insurgent spoke loudly, her voice coming out tinny-sounding through a wall-mounted speaker. Valerie nodded and activated an earpiece she had hidden beneath her hair.

"Splendid. Commence the conversion," she replied. When she moved her hair to get to her earpiece, I noticed the glint of a familiar-looking gemstone set into one of the earrings she was wearing. Before I could see too much of it she turned to the window, gesturing for me to join her.

I refused to move, and I didn't until someone—most likely Andrew—pushed me. I tripped forwards a step, bracing my hands against the window so I wouldn't impact it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Valerie smile and put her arm around my shoulders, a motion that automatically made me stiffen.

In the white room the female Insurgent took the Poké Ball from the rolling tray. She activated it, sending out another Pokémon. But who that Pokémon was made my breathing hitch.

"Meteor?" I gasped both aloud and in my mind, shock and panic hitting me.

Steven? My partner glanced around the white room in bafflement, his eyes widening when they caught sight of the horde of Pokémon surrounding him. What's going on here?

"Manetric, Thunderbolt and Thunder Wave," the male Insurgent ordered.

My heart dropped. "What? No!" My cry was ignored as the Manetric horde unleased a singular Electric attack on Meteor. The Thunderbolts injured him while the Thunder Waves paralyzed him. I heard him fighting back screams as he tried to move against the electric onslaught. Use Meteor Mash on the ground! Knock them all over! I cried frantically. He slowly raised up his front legs to follow my order but collapsed on the tiles, his legs folding under him.

I-I can't move! he gasped, panic-stricken.

"Ready the bangles," Valerie said into her earpiece. The Gardevoir reached out to the rolling tray. Each of the bangles were shrouded in a purple aura and were pulled into the Psychic-Fairy-types' hands, being suspended above them. I then realized what they were planning on doing, and my stomach turned over with dread.

"No, what are you doing? Stop this! Let Meteor go, he's done nothing wrong!" I yelled at Valerie, twisting out of her grip and backing away from her in horror.

Make it stop, make it stop! Meteor cried. Steven what's happening why are they doing this? he exclaimed in an unbroken sentence filled with agony.

"Gardevoir, Psychic."

I watched, petrified, in unbridled horror as the bangles were forced onto Meteor's legs by the Gardevoir. The loudest, most agonized scream I'd ever heard from Meteor exploded in my mind, tearing it to shreds. I cried out as well, collapsing to my knees and grabbing my head.

The pain I had felt from the puppet Psychic-types at Meteor Falls returned tenfold. It felt like my very brain was being ripped from my skull, fraying and shredding every nerve ending. It was absolutely excruciating. I screamed, and Meteor screamed, a pair of wails performing a chthonic duet as a fragile yet strongly intertwined psychic connection was forcefully torn apart.

And then Meteor's cries ceased.

The pain ebbing, I looked up, dreading what I would see.

Meteor still lay on the ground in the white room, his eyes closed. His legs were now shackled with the blue-lighted bangles whose glows were slowly pulsing. I dimly noted that one bangle was slightly up higher because of his brace's placement. He then opened his eyes.

I let out a choked gag of a cry when I saw the horrible shade of purple my partner's previously red eyes had taken on. Fearing the worst, I called out to him quietly in my mind, receiving a jumbled mess of robotic syllables and static in return, and the worst was realized.

"The conversion was a success," the male Insurgent said.

"Thank you. Recall the Metagross and leave its ball on my desk, if you please," Valerie commanded. The order was followed, and I watched with teary eyes as my closest partner was taken away. I numbly clambered to my feet, leaning against the window. It felt as if my heart had been crudely cleaved in two.

"Wh-why... why did you do that..?" I questioned, not looking at Valerie. "He... h-he did nothing to you. But you st-still... still..."

"It was done for your benefit, Steven dearie. It's so I could protect you," Valerie responded casually. "I suppose I can understand your sadness, but you can take solace in knowing that your Metagross will be an excellent addition to my team. It's been ruined to hell and back by how you've raised it, yet I think it can be somewhat salvaged."

It was strange. Where I thought I'd be descending into panic at the lack of Meteor's presence, I felt none of that. What I was now experiencing was completely the opposite. "He's not an it," I said quietly, a burning sensation building in my chest.

"Excuse me?" Valerie asked, confused.

"I said, my partner is not an it." I raised my head to glare at her. Anger was rising in me, fueled by Valerie's words, and I made no effort to shove it down. "And I didn't 'ruin' him. What you just did ruined him," I spoke through clenched teeth.

She frowned. "That is a very rude thing to say, Steven dearie."

Don't call me that... "I don't care..." I muttered.

Valerie squinted in distaste. "Did I hear correctly?" she asked, her toxically irked voice seeping venom. "What did you just say to me?"

I smirked when I saw that I was making her angry. In her presence, I had never felt brave. I was always a scared little child fearing what she would do next. But I didn't care anymore. I was done being toyed with! "I know you heard me, but I'll repeat myself," I said, matching her tone perfectly. "I. Don't. Care!" I repeated. Something in me had snapped. Whatever it was held everything I wanted to express back, and I was glad it was now broken.

"That is no way to speak to an adult, especially your aunt!" she said sternly.

"I don't give a damn whether you're my aunt or not!" I yelled forcefully, anger surging through me. "You killed my mom! You're holding me and my dad against our wills! You turned my closest friend into one of your horrific puppets! In my eyes you are not my aunt! And even if you truly are, you don't deserve to be related to me, you psychotic bitch!" I spat, my words as corrosive as acid.

Seeing the look of shock on Valerie's face was so satisfying. But the shock wasn't good enough for me. I clenched my fists in frustration. She deserved more than hurtful words, much more. A vile idea sprang to my mind, and I welcomed it. She was going to pay for what she did to my family, Meteor, and myself! I pulled back my fist and with all the strength I could muster, I swung at her.

My closed hand came into contact with the side of Valerie's nose, smashing into it and breaking the delicate cartilage making up its structure. I aimed where I had for a reason. I knew I was weak, so it would be logical that I'd hit her where I knew I'd actually cause some damage.

The scream she emitted was a high-pitched blend of outrage and pain, letting me know that I wasn't imagining her nose breaking. I tried to hit her again but someone roughly grabbed my arm along with my hair and yanked me back. I cried out in rage and struggled against whoever was holding me. Valerie stumbled back, her hand flying up to cover her nose.

"Take him back to his cell and wait, I'll be there shortly," she snarled, crimson leaking out from behind her fingers and running down her gaunt face.

"Yes, Lady Valerie," Andrew said from behind me. He literally dragged me from the room, all while I was thrashing and screaming at him to let me go. I overheard Andrew telling me to shut up multiple times, but I carried on, putting whatever little energy I had to what my fury-crazed mind thought was good use. Strings of colorful obscenities that would have gotten me slapped five times over by my parents spilled from me, making me sound nothing like myself.

When we got back to the dreaded cell, I was shoved inside. I fell to the ground, landing on my hands and knees. I wasn't about to give up and got to my feet, slowly regaining my footing. My rage may have blotted out the feelings of sickness and weakness, but they still had a hold on my body.

I finally got back up, whirling around in time to see Valerie enter the room with her Gallade at her side. The blood under her nose had been callously wiped away with the back of her hand and her sleeve. She glared at me, absolutely livid.

"You're going to pay for doing that!" she yelled, her voice slightly nasally from the blood congealing within it.

I let out a laugh at how ridiculous she looked and sounded. "What are you going to do? Kill me?! I thought you wanted to protect me!" I taunted.

"Yes, I do," she replied, sneering. "But that doesn't spare you from any punishments. This is the one time I wish I didn't have to say this, but you're just like your father!" she spat. "Gallade, Mach Punch!"

My heart didn't have enough time to drop before Gallade lunged at me, his own fist pulled back. I felt the shattering blow Gallade dealt to my torso, heard the splintering and cracking of bone that rang piercingly loud in my ears. The cry I tried to emit was flattened out of me when I hit the wall, my head impacting its surface with an equally as noticeable crack. Instantly dizzied and stunned, I slid to the floor and fell over painfully onto my side.

I almost couldn't breathe, my lungs could barely take in air before they were jabbed with the shards of my surely broken ribs. The room spun in nauseating spirals, the back of my head pounding in time with my frenzied heart rate. My body sang with adrenaline, but I couldn't move. My sight focused enough to see Gallade standing over me.

"Gallade, Psychic!"

And then it felt as if every one of my cells were set aflame. My muscles, tendons, nerves, everything that was capable of communicating impulses to my brain writhed in agony. I felt my body and limbs contorting from my unconscious attempts to escape the torture as I wailed in anguish.

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot those like you are more susceptible to Psychic-based assaults!" Valerie remarked. "So sorry, but it's too late now!" she said, laughing.

This hell continued for what seemed like hours. Pain was all I felt, and I was sure I was going to lose the rest of my mind to it. Then I finally heard Valerie tell Gallade to stop. The all-encompassing suffering dissipated, and I was left a shuddering husk of fractured thoughts and broken bones. But I didn't regret what I had done to "deserve" this, not one bit.

"I think you've had enough now," Valerie said smugly with no hints of regret or remorse. She crouched down beside me, smiling. "I just want to keep you safe, but you need to know there are limits to my kindness." She lightly caressed my cheek in a mockery of affection. "Now you know what happens when you disrespect me. I hope you've learned your lesson." She, Gallade, and Andrew left, none of them caring about the severity of the condition I was in.

I lay slumped on my side for minute after agony-filled minute. My right arm was trapped beneath me, but I didn't make an effort to move to relieve the resulting ache in my shoulder. The pain I felt there paled massively in comparison to the state the rest of me was in. It was like I could feel every fracture and break in my body, and I wanted to vomit at the mental images of what the insides of my chest and head looked like. Bile did sear my throat when I thought of the possibility that I was bleeding internally.

The dizziness caused by what was surely a concussion soon returned, bringing with it a dark tide that began to eat away at my sight. In those minutes I wanted nothing more than for unconsciousness to take me and separate me from the pain. I didn't care that I would wake up sick like I had done so many times, I just wanted the pain to stop!

S-Steven... don't. Don't... d-don't fall unconscious!

The voice I heard in my mind startled me. How was I hearing this? Meteor couldn't have spoken to me, he was a puppet. But it couldn't have been him in the first place. This new voice, while male in tone, was far weaker and stumbled over almost every word it spoke.

If y-you do, th-then I don't know wh... what could h-happen to you. I think s-someone is on their way to h-help you. I-I don't know th-though... Every over-enunciated word stabbed shards of pain into my aching head.

Stop it..! I tried to cry. Who are you? How are you speaking to me?

I-it's Orbit.

My heart skipped a beat, utter confusion flooding over me. Orbit..? So many questions wanted to leave me, but they couldn't. I could no longer find my voice. But one thing did leave me: my conciousness. The pain was too much to bear, and I mentally fled from it, spiraling away into blackness.

—~*~—

"Come on, don't do this to me. Please don't do this, wake up!"

My eyes fluttered open, a cloud of haze blurring everything into unidentifiable shapes. I had no idea what was going on, my thoughts and memories hadn't yet caught up with my now-awake mind.

"Oh thank Arceus!" a familiar voice sighed in relief.

I groggily gazed up in the direction of whoever was speaking to me, and a sharp pain shot through my chest when I took in a breath. I gasped and instinctively tried to wrap my arms around my chest. Only my left arm would move, and more pain erupted where my arm made contact. Whoever was in front of me grabbed my arm and held it away from me. My vision instantaneously clearing, I saw who it was. It was Liam. Panic flared, and I tried to free myself, causing even more pain.

"Stop agitating it. You'll make it worse," Liam snapped sternly but not meanly.

It's o-okay, Steven. H-he wants to h-help you, Orbit's trembling voice said comfortingly. I had no choice but to trust him, I had no strength now. I nodded weakly and let myself relax. Everything was coming back to me now. Valerie's Gallade had hurt me after I attacked her, and I had attacked her because of...

"M-Meteor..." I whimpered, tears welling in my eyes.

"I know. I'm so sorry about your Metagross, I didn't know that was what Valerie was planning on doing," Liam apologized. "I'll try to figure out a way to get it back but your health is more important at the moment."

"He's not an it!" I suddenly cried. "Stop calling him an it! He has an identity, he has a voice!" I broke down into sobs, which was difficult to do with broken ribs.

"O-okay, I'm sorry!" Liam said. "I'm going to help you, but it might hurt. I promise you'll be better when it's over. You need to trust me, okay?"

I didn't need Orbit's persuasion this time. I was so desperate to escape the pain that it didn't matter to me how that was accomplished. "I will, I'll trust you! Just make it stop, please!" Liam nodded and sent out a Gardevoir.

"Where were you hit the hardest?" he asked. I told him and he nodded again. "I'll try to fix your head first in case of a concussion. Okay, let's try this. Gardevoir, use Heal Pulse."

His Pokémon gently placed one of their hands on my forehead and the other on the spot where my head cracked against the wall. A sensation not unlike that of being wrapped in a warm blanket emanated from Gardevoir's hands, instantly calming me and relieving the agonizing pain in my head. Several minutes of this commenced, and when it was over I felt little to no pain other than the slight ache of a headache.

"I-I thought you said it would hurt," I said, somewhat letting my guard down

"I never said it wouldn't," Liam said piteously. "Gardevoir, Heal Pulse again."

The Psychic-type's hands moved down to my chest, and the move was used. It was almost nothing like it had been the first time. I felt the heat, but it was more fiery, burning the hottest in the spots where I was positive my ribs had been broken.

I then felt the disgusting sensation of my bones knitting themselves back together, and I bit back the urge to scream, clenching my fists and biting the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. It seemed to take twice as long, the pain not reducing until Gardevoir ceased their healing.

Liam waited a minute before he slowly pulled me to my feet, which could barely support me as my knees threatened to give out on me. He helped me walk over to the bed and I sat down, grateful to be off the floor.

"Your head should be fine minus a slight headache, and your ribs will be quite sore and fragile for the next few days, so don't do anything strenuous," the admin cautioned me.

"Thank you..." I said, looking down at the floor and taking a minute to calm down. "But... why did you help me? I thought you despised my family," I then asked.

   Liam crossed his arms, appearing to think over his response like he was afraid of sharing it. "Because I wanted to," he spoke quietly. "I know what it feels like to lose someone so close to you. We've already caused you and your father enough anguish. And yes, while I do hate your family, I never wanted to kill any of them."

I glanced up at him, confused.

   "As you can tell, I'm too young to have been part of the original Insurgents. I joined on my own terms for my own reasons." He closed his eyes, taking a shuddering breath before continuing. "I was heartbroken and desperate to avenge one's life I had lost but not forfeit any others in exchange for it. When I apologized to you when you were first imprisoned here, I truly meant it. I'm sorry."

"I see..." I didn't know how to respond to this. His words didn't seem preplanned or his actions and reactions well-practiced, they sounded surprisingly genuine. The Insurgents were all good actors and liars. With the amount of emotional pain Liam displayed, he either was the greatest actor out of the whole lot of them, or he was telling the truth. I had to decide on one. After taking enough time as my exhausted mind and body would allow, I chose. "I... I accept your apology," I said.

Liam smiled. Not a sneer or a smirk, a real smile. A smile of relief, thankfulness, and slight levity. "Thank you, Steven," he said wholeheartedly. "I'll see to it that you leave this hellhole, I promise."

"You will?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes. I owe you so much more than a simple apology, and I hope this will be the start of it." He took something out of his pocket. He held a black leather cord in his hand, my Lunar Wing hanging from it. "If Valerie really wanted to protect you, then she would have given this back to you a long time ago." I took it from him and he left, giving me a comforting smile before closing the door.

Without hesitation I slipped the cord of the Lunar Wing around my neck, feeling instant reassurance when it rested against my chest. I had it back, I finally had it back.

Y-you sh-should get some s-sleep, Orbit suggested.

I'll try to, but first... Orbit, how are you able to speak? I thought you were mute.

N-no, I never w-was, Orbit explained. I made m-myself out to... to be mute. But I'm not. V-Valerie treated m-me like a tool, like I didn't have f-feelings. Tools d-don't t-talk, so I didn't. A-after I st-started, I could n-never get out of it. B-but then you found me... help... helped me. I wanted t-to talk, tried to, but no. Until now. N-now that Meteor's gone, I want to st-step up. I want t-to help you until he c-comes back! he said, putting as much confidence into his trembling voice as he could muster.

Thank you. But you have always been a great help, even when you didn't talk, I said, smiling.

His presence brightened for the first time in weeks. You don't k-know how h-happy hearing that makes m-me feel.