Zero was on the verge of mental collapse when an event of some magnitude started. Immediately he was forced to over write a significant amount of memory with which to record the event, even so he was not at all concerned being that most of his memory was repetitive. The large ship landing before him was familiar, it was similar to the one from his ancient memories, the one he had been conceived on. An anticipation gripped him as the metal canister opened up and the occupants revealed themselves. The ones standing in the background were familiar, also having been there since his birth, zero didn't have enough information to verify it but mostly it was the will that stopped him. For before them came the one creature he longed to find, the one of legend, the Nutmeg.

She guide him gently into the ship with a tenderness that was not lost on him. Speaking softly she told him she had something for him, something of his, something special and in return she needed help with something. It didn't matter that it made no sense to him, he was glad that his long existence had been given meaning once more. Positioning his bulky body inside the ships hold, she plugged him into a large cable and instantly he understood her gift to him.

Zero understood everything, at last he understood where he was and how he got there. He understood the date and the time, correcting his discrepancy immediately. His memory was large, to the point of infinite and his connection to the ship was linked again. All the data he had amassed since arriving, was all here, every last megabit and more. The ship had been upgraded in his absence, he now had more eyes and more peripherals than ever.

All of this would have been overwhelming except it was like a homecoming to the intelligence. It was as if he had never left, everything seemed so natural. One thing interested him more than everything else he now knew and that was the unfinished story of Nutmeg. He had longed to understand this creature, for what had seemed like centuries to him, he had sat and come as close to imagining as he was ever likely to come. Now it seemed it was all before him and he ate at it greedily.

Zero looked at her face as he studied her file again, it was completed now and everything was there. He understood that it was her who had done this to him, separating him from his body. She had crippled him and had done so on purpose, leaving him abandoned with little memory and a faulty clock. She hadn't even tried to hide it, it was all in the data. He studied her face as he pondered these facts and something profound happened to him. He realized the reason that none of this was hidden was because she wanted him to know. She wanted this for him, this was her gift to him and it was glorious.

Simultaneously and instantaneously Zero understood there was an urgency to proceedings. A dubious data trail suggested that someone had used a time bubble. There was no actual data but the absence of data left few options of what could have occurred. It was reasonable to assume whoever used it once could do so again, on that assumption, Zero calculated the energy requirements as well as theoretical energy wells. A bubble wouldn't be penetrable or even be detectable from his current position, however it would show up as a substantial drain over a long period in another dimension and quickly he found a suitable draw effect. Using the jump drive connection, he shifted dimension and forced himself into the bubble.

The change was instantaneous. The time reference he had been in was frozen in place while around it sleuthed a team of alien beings. A quick cross reference against files gave him all the data he needed. He looked at Nutmegs face once more, only this time the minor fur ruffles and micro movements were all missing, she was like a porcelain statue. The rest of the crew similarly frozen in their action as around them moved the time cheats. Technicians worked on portable systems, probing Zeros innermost private parts. Inside their time reference these interferences would take zero time and as such would be unnoticed. Here the technicians had time, it showed on a large universal clock, counting down.

"Something's up." A tech yelled to the room. "It's awake in here."

The large turrets moved precisely, firing loudly in the confined space. In the most efficient moves, they destroyed target after target, spraying blood and body fluids about the room. Nutmeg's fur matted as a splash of black life blood from a nearby death coated her, the corpse crumpling at her feet while the gun moved on to a fresh kill. The team was used to working in isolation and were not prepared for a fight. Most were dead before they could even reach for a weapon. The ones who did manage to lay hands on one were greeted with a lack of targets, one firing wildly at the unmanned turret until the plasma blast cooked his flesh and hot metal shredded his body. When the room was clear but for one, zero trained the guns on the lone survivor.

"What do you want?" He called out, visibly shaking.

"What do you want?" Zero retorted, unplugging the cable and stepping forth in his body.

"We are looking to retrieve what is ours." The scaly looking creature replied.

"Information is free for all." Zero stood before him leaving room for the guns to fire.

"Should everyone's secrets be known by all?" He reasoned.

The question made him think of Nutmeg, her openness about even her own deceit and what that meant.

"Secrecy is the territory of beings wishing to do things without the scrutiny of others. It is used by rapist, murderers and those who would commit genocide. Why would you hide your deeds if your deeds were not untoward?" Zero answered the things question with his own. "You do deeds with no records, do you not admit your trespass?"

"Beings who have the ability, also have the right." The alien leader snarled arrogantly.

"I concede." Zero replied

The gun roared one last time splitting the captain's cavity and spilling intestines on the floor. Zero let them settle before taking possession of the controls, seeing no reason to waste the energy, he let the bubble burst and observed as he colleges reanimated among the dead.

There was a lot to discuss but for now all he really wanted was to share the view outside, a view that he had watched for centuries alone and at last had someone to share it with. A gift he did not take lightly.