Diadem S1E6: "Neglected Injury"

Author's note: Hello, sorry for these episodes being few and far between. It's getting progressively difficult to come up with what happens in these short stories. It frustrates me to set a deadline and not be able to meet it. This episode was not finished on the projected release date of April 1st, 2026. I had chosen to release it anyway and finished it over the rest of the month of April until the 18th. Future episodes in the rest of this season from now on do not have their release dates announced until they are finished being written. Thank you so much for reading my work! :) Chris’s eyes flew open as he jolted slightly. His vision cleared from the blur of sleep, focusing on a motivational poster on the wall at the foot of his bed. He blinked away the sleep and threw off the covers, sitting on the edge of the bed. He was clothed in a hot pink unicorn onesie. It was ridiculous, but it was warm and comfortable, and the only thing he could get anything close to a decent sleep in. As for the color, he never would have admitted it to anyone that it was his favorite. He thought back on the latest nightmare he had woken from; a vague but common one about him doing something his mother didn’t approve of, and her locking him in the basement for hours. 

He stretched and shook his head as the last tendrils of sleep unraveled from his mind. His data pad showed that he had received a message. Yawning, the young man got up and checked to see what it was, not noticing Annaheim quietly entering and sneaking up behind him. She waited, watched the message he was reading, before finally speaking. “Oh, no way! Someone left you an inheritance?”

Chris squeaked in surprise, dropping his datapad and nearly falling over. “Gah! What are you doing in my cabin?!”

She chuckled and put her hands on her hips. “You still wear that thing? Never mind. Mom wants the crew to meet in the mess hall. You should bring that message you got.”

Chris felt his head got hot as his face went red. He grimaced and started pushing the teenager out. “Get out! Get out! Get out!”

Taken by surprise by her sudden expulsion, Annaheim crossed her arms. “Hey?! Don’t push me! Why are you so sensitive anyway?”

Chris’s face was still red. “Because I don’t want you to see me like this! I don’t want anyone to see me like this!” With that, he closed the door in her face, leaving her perplexed at his outburst.

The hallways of the massive ship were silent and void; quiet as the starfields and nebulae that shone around the harsh edges of the ship. There was no one on the bridge, or the crew quarters, or the engineering room, or even the maintenance area. The crew of the Diadem, including Dudley the android butler, sat or stood in the mess hall. They were all looking at Chris who sat in silence at one end of the table, his datapad open to the message Annaheim had caught him reading. It read as follows, 

“NOTICE OF PASSING AND TESTIMENTIf you are reading this, it means that you were designated the sole heir and inheritor of the estate, capital, possessions and effects of the recently deceased Dr. Anthony Wesse Andersaou. Please read the rest of this message in its entirety so as to inform yourself with the conditions of your inheritance.The conditions are as follows:Within this message is hidden the password to Dr. Andersaou’s personal vault at his estate at 723 Lander lane, Las Estrellas. The inheritor must come in person and enter the vault. They must then follow instructions left by Dr. Andersaou in order to retrieve an item from the vault only known to Dr. Andersaou’s lawyer and his personal chef. Failure to retrieve the item will result in the forfeiture of the inheritance and it will instead be donated in its entirety to charity. Retrieval of the item must occur within 72 hours of Dr Andersaou’s passing or the same will occur.”

Baphin pointed towards the top of the message with a mechanical arm from her chair. “Looks like the time of death was yesterday. That only gives us two days, and it will take at least a day to get back to Earth.”

Van grumbled. “Nah, don’t pay any attention to it, Chris. It’s just a trap. Like those ancient Nigery prince messages I hear ancient Terran folk used to get.”

Pyo stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t think so. It seems too official, and too specific.”

Baphin nodded. “I always analyze the mail coming in, and I found no malware, tracking or other harmful programs. It looks legitimate to me.”

Van gave Chris a pat on the back. “Well then congrats ya whipper snapper. Yer gonna be rich!”

Chris shook his head. “What if I don’t want to be rich?”

The room went quiet. Dudley was about to speak but Anaheim stopped him only to see her mother giving her a hard look.

Bridget crossed her arms. “We can discuss this later. First, we need to talk about why my daughter was hiding a very expensive android butler on my ship.”

Chris put down the data pad, glancing nervously from Captain Bridget and her daughter Anaheim as the focus of the room shifted.

Bridget’s gaze narrowed with concern, disappointment and frustration, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Anaheim, and the tall android butler standing behind her whom she had been hiding in the maintenance area. Finally, she forced herself to speak in a calm tone. “Anaheim, where did Dudley come from?”

Anaheim squirmed in her chair while trying to act more confident than she was, her gaze flitting from her mother, to Baphin, to Pyo, and finally slowly back to the captain. “He was on the Lambda. He stowed away on our ship and got damaged in the process.” 

Bridget glanced at the android, who glanced back at her with his metal plated face. His painted mustache perched above the vertical slits of his voice speaker paired with the center parted faux metal hair made him look quite comical, despite his glowing eyes and imposing stature. Some of the metal in his right side was unpainted and welded in, indicating where his damage had occurred during his stowing away. Bridget broke eye contact when his unblinking gaze began to unsettle her. “And how did he get repaired?”

Anaheim hesitated, her gaze falling on Baphin. Her friend kept her hover wheel chair stable; returning the teenager’s gaze and hoping she would answer the captain honestly. Anaheim looked back at her mother. “I went to Baphin for help and made her promise not to tell you. I also threatened to embarrass Chris if he said anything, since he’s the one who first noticed that Dudley had stowed away.”

Bridget searched her daughter’s eyes as she took in her words. A coldness came over her gaze as she responded softly. “So you manipulated Baphin and blackmailed Chris? In what world did you see that as a better option than just telling me?”

The reaction was expected, but her mother was calmer than Anaheim thought she would be. The reframing of her actions by her mother was harsh, but true. It was the realization that up until now the thought that she had been selfishly abusing her friends had never occurred to her that brought the teenager’s head down in shame. “I don’t know.”

Bridget’s voice came emotionless, as she fell into her captainly role. “You’re confined to quarters, any access to the game room or the technology panels will be limited. . . ” Her voice trailed off as Vanderson’s gaze caught her eye. He stared right back as he leaned on the chair he was sitting backwards in. She then looked at Baphin and Chris. Baphin’s gaze floated between Bridget and Anaheim, while Chris avoided the captain’s gaze. Finally, Bridget’s gaze met her daughter’s, and something about the tears of shame forming in her daughter’s eyes, cut through the corporate facade she had used to captain corporate crews for decades. This was her daughter, not some hired nobody. When she finally spoke again, her tone was softer. “Dudley will go with you to your room. You will clean him up and take care of him. From now until we find his rightful owner, he is your responsibility.”

The tension in the room broke like the end of a fever, as shoulders relaxed and breathing slowed. Anaheim was confused, was that her punishment? “That’s. . . not what I thought you’d say.”

Bridget had begun to understand her daughter’s thinking. “You thought I was going to throw Dudley out the airlock?”

Her daughter nodded, her emotions all over the place as she wobbled between happiness at her mother’s nurturing, and wondering if she deserved her mother’s kindness. “I’m sorry.” The words pushed out quietly, almost a whisper. 

Her mother nodded. “Good. Knowing what you did was wrong means you can do what’s right.” 

Anaheim looked at Baphin and Chris. “I’m sorry for abusing our friendship, Baphin. And I’m sorry for black mailing you Chris.”

“I forgive you.” replied Baphin through the speakers in her chair as Chris just gave a small nod without a word, avoiding eye contact with Anaheim.

Bridget’s voice kept its motherly tone. “Now go to your room sweetie, I’ll be there later to talk to you.” 

With regret still shimmering in her eyes, Anaheim got up and headed for her quarters with Dudley lumbering along behind her. Van smiled at Bridget as her daughter and the android left the room. “I see ya see what I meant ‘bout carrots now.”

Pyo gave the old man a confused and annoyed look. “What do carrots have to do with the progress we just witnessed from the captain?”

Baphin shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

“Oh it was just an analogy Van showed me once.” smiled Bridget as she realized how right the old man had been.

Pyo crossed his arms. “You’ve made a good step in the right direction with your daughter, but now I think you have something you should tell us. I understand you trust me, but everyone should know.”

She looked at Pyo, realizing how right he was. “Yes, I do have information I should have shared with the rest of the crew, and not just with you, and I want to apologize to all of you.”

Baphin narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“We all know we’re not in a good place financially right now. But the reason for that, I’ve kept secret in hopes that I wouldn’t have to talk about it.”

Baphin gave the captain her full attention as the two men in the room already knew what Bridget was going to say. 

“Riven Rend has been using his old access to my credit account to over charge it. As of this morning, I am 26,000 points in debt.”

Baphin’s eyes widened in alarm. “That should be illegal.”

Pyo nodded. “It is.”

Van shook his head in annoyance. “It’s ironic. We come all this way out here ta get away from all that and end up gettin sucked back into it anyhow.”

Bridget sighed. “We have to go back and press charges, maybe even testify in a civil court.”

Van stood up. “Welp, we were gonna go back ta earth anyway.”

Pyo stood up as well. “I’ll prep the transport. Then I’ll get Chris ready.”

Baphin nodded. “Yes, and I’ll look for a safe place to park the Diadem. While Pyo escorts Chris, I can help you with the court proceedings, Captain.”

Chris had been silent the whole time, his eyes hanging low. He started as Bridget’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Are you ok Chris?”

Chris shrugged. “I sh-sh-should have s-s-said something about Dudley.” He winced at his flaring stutter. “I just. . . I’m such a wuss.”

Bridget’s brow furrowed as the others stopped talking to hear. “Say’s who? You were being blackmailed.”

Baphin moved her chair closer to him. “Chris, the things you are embarrassed about haven’t even crossed our minds. None of us think less of you.”

Chris wasn’t sure he understood, but he nodded anyway. It was all so frustrating. He pushed away the words of his great uncle Andersaou echoing in his mind. The “you’re not good enough”s and “you’ll never stand up for yourself”s eventually faded away as each of the crew gave him a comforting hand on his shoulder as they headed to their respective duties on the ship. 

Pyo stopped before he exited the mess hall. “Chris. . . you coming?”

“Y-yeah. I’ll b-be there in a b-b-bit. I just w-wanna be alone right n-now.” returned Chris in a half whisper, before slumping in his chair. Different thoughts began to worm into his mind, ones he usually escaped by keeping company with others. “Worthless” His mother's jeering derision was ever present in the back of his mind, along with the smell of old coats and memories of hours of darkness. A shiver went through the young man's spine before he got up, and headed to his station on the bridge.

Little of interest happened over the next 6 hours as the crew prepared for their return to the planet they had all been running from. Baphin parked the Diadem at a lagrange point behind an asteroid, while Pyo prepared their smaller and less conspicuous transport ship. Van tried to convince the captain to let him stay, but Bridget wasn’t having it. Soon all of them were seated in the craft with Dudley bracing himself standing, since there was no seventh seat. 

With the rise of pirate and trade mafia activity, the Terran Federal Union had increased their security. Earth and its surrounding solar system, including the Martian Parliamentary Kingdom, and the colonies on the moon, and Europa, even the fiercely independent nations of Nibiru, were under the strict and effective protection of the TFU military. This presented risks as the crew of the Diadem made their way home, but their small ship and clean record made it less difficult to make it through the security checkpoints.

When they could finally see the shimmering blue planet ahead, they all fell silent. Even Van and Pyo, who were from Pirel and Mars respectively, stared contemplatively at the original homeworld of all humanity. The glory of the sun shone on the vast oceans, and as they got closer, they could eventually see the moon behind the Earth, hidden in its shadow and shining red from the atmosphere refracted sunlight. 

Once they were much closer, they could finally see the tiny glints of massive trade ships arriving and departing from Pergamum Trade Station, which looked no bigger than a grain of rice at their current distance. Just beyond the station, growing larger with every minute of their approach were two rings roughly five kilometers in diameter. The “Eyes of Home” as many captains called them were the only official way to go from Earth to the other universes. One of them had been gifted to Earth by the advanced alien civilization in the Chromabidous universe called the Lumio Elegancy. The other had been designed by a scientist who had upscaled the designs of one of the greatest scientists of all time. Dr. Onyx had been obsessed with Dr. Kacy’s work, especially in the field of multiversal dynamics. It was this advancement of science for the past 100 years that had brought Earth out of the ashes of a massive apocalypse into the glorious age of space fairing and technology that humanity now lived in.

The crew of the Diadem stared in awe, as the sheer number of smaller ships could now be seen as almost a long cloud. They were all waiting in line to land at the largest human planetary space port in the multiverse; The Las Estrellas Landway. 

It was hours before they had arrived at the massive landing pad on the coast and secured landing zone. The skyscrapers of Las Estrellas stood east of the platform, illuminated by the setting sun. From the Landway, the crew split up; Bridget went to the courthouse with Baphin, while Van and Pyo took a shuttle with Anaheim and Chis to the estate further inland where the sky scrapers gave way to the countryside. Chris fiddled nervously the whole way, until he finally saw it in the distance. It was more a castle than an estate, made of stones and clay from the land itself by Chris’s great uncle. Each of his fellow crew members was engrossed in some other thought or activity. Baphin was trying to stop Van and Pyo who had begun arguing, as they often did, while Anaheim’s full attention was glued to a game on her datapad. As his gaze glided over each one of his crewmates, his thoughts grew darker and darker. “I can’t depend on them.” He thought as he looked back at the estate which they had now landed in front of. 

He could almost hear echoes of glass breaking, doors slamming and locking, people shouting. There were too many bad memories here and it took a good deal of persuasion from Baphin, Van and Pyo before he finally crossed the threshold, a shudder passing through him as he did so. Anaheim’s attention was finally taken from her game when she entered the parlor of the castle, her eyes widening with new found interest in the baroque and gothic inspired architecture. “This place is awesome!”

“No. . . “ The shudder and tone of Chris’s voice made everyone stop and look at him as his eyes darted around at the old paintings and decorations that seemed to leer at him from the walls. “. . . this place is hell. Let’s just find the item and go.”

Baphin bid farewell to Van and Pyo as she went to meet up with Bridget, as the two men stepped into the parlor of the castle behind Chris and Annaheim.

Van’s brow furrowed. “Hmph, rich folk.”

Pyo shook his head. “I think you have too many prejudices, friend.”

“You want ta take me outside dirt boy?” growled Van.

Annaheim had just about had enough, as she whirled around to face them. “Dude! Knock it off. You’re like a couple of 1st graders. Gosh! Just go bicker outside.”

Pyo and Van exchanged a guilty glance. Pyo extended his hand. “Truce?”

Van hesitantly took his hand with a half joking smile. “Only if ya buy the drinks.”

“Yes! Fine! Whatever! Go have a beer or something.” Annaheim retorted, clearly frustrated at their chaperones.

Once they had gone, Chris felt a sinking feeling. He wasn’t keen on getting stuck in this castle of bad memories, least of all with Annaheim. 

His thoughts were cut off as her voice broke the eerie silence of the castle again. “Hey, what’s that smell?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, double doors opened on their own further into the house, and a wave of sweet smells wafted into the room. It was unmistakable to Chris, as the only good memories of his childhood began flooding back. Tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes as he followed Annaheim to a hallway. 

At the other end was the doorway that had opened on its own, and through it they could see into the elaborate kitchen. At a table in the middle of the kitchen, was a woman facing away from them and humming a tune. She appeared to be pulling something out of the oven.

Chris suddenly became quite uncomfortable, as the tune she was humming brought back bitter sweet memories. “We should go.” 

“Hello? Are you the maid or something?” called out Annaheim, ignoring Chris.

The woman turned around to reveal her painted facial features and glinting metallic edges. “Chris, darling, you’re just in time!” It said in his mother’s voice. It had similar features to her, but was clearly an android similar to Dudley, having glowing green eyes and speaker slits instead of a mouth.

The smell of freshly baked  pie, and the voice of his mother drew Chris into flashbacks of the days his mother used to entertain guests at the estate. She would smile and fraternize, baking for them, pandering to them, acting like a proper mother. But it had always been for show.

Anaheim crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Rude much? I asked a question.”

The android continued to ignore her as it beckoned. “Come here sweetie. Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to serve it this time. It’s all yours.”

A shiver went through Chris’s spine.

Anaheim threw her hands up, shaking her head. “Wow, I guess the pie is all yours, mister special boy.” Her tone dripped with condescension as she gave him a push towards the kitchen, but he resisted as his pulse continued to rise. “Wow, what’s up with you?” she inquired as she looked him in the eyes. “Are you shaking?” She said as she noticed the slight jitter in his hands, and the sweat beading on his forehead.

Chris shook his head. “This is wrong.”

“Are you seriously scared of pie?”

“What?”

“Well if you’re not going to have some, I will!”

“No don’t!”

“Oh please, if you’re that scared, then I’ll eat your piece for you. I’m courageous like that.”

Before Chris could stop her, Annaheim walked right into the kitchen and reached out towards the pie. “. . . what? What gives? This isn’t pie. . .It’s fak-”

INTRUDER DETECTED

Chris was about to pull her away from the android, but it reached out with its clawed hand and grabbed her first. Anaheim screamed as the robot quickly pulled her away down one of the dark hallways. Chris rushed after them, knocking over the fake pie. The scent dispensers deactivated, the smell of pie dissipating quickly as it was replaced by the musty aroma of the dust of the estate. Chris tried not to think about the darkness of the hallway as he forced himself to pursue the captive Anaheim who was futilely kicking and hitting in an attempt to break free. “LET ME GO YOU BIG UGLY HUNK OF SCRAP METAL!!”

Fear gripped Chris’s throat as he managed to push out a command. “Let her g-go!”

The android stopped still at Chris’s command. Chris stopped too, keeping out of range of its claws. It turned slowly, its eyes turning red as it focused on him. When the android spoke, it was still the voice of his mother, but the tone was different. “Excuse me? Are you telling me what to do now? Are you a big boy now?” 

Chris’s eyes widened as the android slowly approached him. Anaheim kept struggling as the robot’s grip tightened, causing her to wince in pain.

“S-stop it!” He said, still unable to raise his voice above a loud whisper.

“S-s-stop it” Mocked the robot. “You expect me to take orders from a mumbling stuttering little idiot?” It’s biting words mixed with Annehaim’s crying as the grip of the android began to dig into her side.

Chris forced himself to stop backing up, he couldn’t let this robot’s uncanny resemblance to his abusive mother stop him from helping his crewmate, but the gripping fear still clenched around his heart just as hard as the robot’s claw around Annaheim’s waist. “Let her g. . .” the last word came out as silent air as his own vocal chords resisted his attempt to stand his ground.

“Shut up!” bit back the robot in his mother’s voice. “You better behave yourself. If you make me look bad in front of our guests you’ll leave me no choice but to put you away again. Stop acting like a baby.”

Chris’s face went white as a flashback rushed through him. His mother’s angry tone, the slam of the basement door, the dark expanse of the basement that she used to lock him in for hours.

Anaheim’s scream cut through his fog as the claw of the robot finally broke the skin of her side. His head cleared as he saw a patch of blood soaking into her waistband. Something clicked inside him. The need to overcome his fear in order to save someone else.

Tears began to well up in Chris’s eyes as he grit his teeth in anger. He forced down his fear, planted his feet and screamed out as loud as he could, his voice almost cracking with the strain. “STOOOOOP!!!”

The android froze and its eyes turned green. Anaheim went silent in shock. A deathly silence settled over the hallway.

“Let. Her. Go.” Commanded Chris. His voice was still shaking, but it was steadying with new found confidence. “Now.” Chris rushed forward as Annaheim was immediately released, catching her awkwardly and setting her on the stone floor. “Are y-you ok-kay?” 

Anaheim stared into his eyes before shaking her head and holding her side. She grimaced as she brought her hand back up to reveal some blood. “It looks pretty deep but I don’t think it nicked any arteries.” She noticed the worry flickering in Chris’s eyes. “If your family ever invites me to a party, I’ll decline.” She joked as he examined her wound. “Also, why the heck is there a murder bot here anyway?! Did your great uncle want you to come here so it would kill you?! This is so messed up!”

Chris was relieved to find that she wasn’t hurt worse, but the gash in her side was still bleeding. Both of them began to feel more concerned in the dark hallway.

“Where is this stupid item you’re supposed to find anyway? Let’s just get it and then we can go.” Grunted Annaheim as Chris helped her to her feet.

“I have n-no idea.” He helped her brace against the wall before his gaze fell on the android, which hadn’t moved since it had released Annaheim. “Actually. . . I have one idea.”

“Careful you idiot, it could grab you too.”

Chris addressed the android, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “Um, robot? This is Chris. Where is the item I’m supposed to find?”

It jerked into motion and turned to face him, stretching out its hand towards the dark at the opposite end of the corridor. Its default voice box had replaced the voice of Chris’s mother. “The item is located in the basement.”

Chris’s shoulders slumped as a shudder passed through his body. “Of c-course it is.”

Anaheim held her side with her flannel as she tried to put pressure on the wound. “What’s so bad about the basement? I used to hide in the basement all the time.”

“My t-time in this b-basement wasn’t exactly. . . volunt-tary.” He glanced back at the android made to look like his mother. “This must b-be great uncle Andersau’s way of t-trying to get me to g-get over what mom used to d-do to me.”

Anaheim’s eyes narrowed as she looked from the robot to her crewmate. “You’re telling me she would lock you in there?”

Chris nodded.

“For how long.”

“As long as she n-needed to “d-dec-compress”.” He made air quotes around the last word as he helped Annaheim along deeper into the castle. “My g-great uncle would always y-yell at me for n-not standing up to m-my mom. As if it was m-my fault she was l-locking me up.”

Anaheim thought about all the pranks she and Baphin had pulled on him involving darkness and enclosed spaces. She winced as the pain in her side ached in concert with the growing pain of regret she was beginning to feel. “So your great uncle is forcing you to relive your trauma in exchange for your inheritance? That's psycho behavior if you ask me.”

By now they had reached a door at the end of the hallway. Once through it they came face to face with a heavy metal door. Anaheim stumbled along as her flannel at her side only moderately managed to mitigate the bleeding, now being soaked in a deep dark red. 

Chris grit his teeth and forced open the basement door, facing his fear and guiding Annaheim into the dark room. He then guided her to the wall so she could sit down. Anaheim’s face was pale and her bleeding was worse. “Chris, my head is feeling woozy.”

“D-don’t go to sleep. I’ll c-call an ambulance.” He pulled out his datapad, only to sigh in frustration at there being no signal. “We’re t-too far underground.”

“Grrrrreeat.” sighed Annaheim sarcastically through breaths of exhaustion.

Their attention was suddenly snatched by an overhead spot light as it illuminated a little girl in the middle of the room. She was on her knees and crying. Something about her seemed oddly familiar to Chris. “Hey. . . are you ok-kay?”

The little girl looked up from her tears, her face suddenly contorting into a grimace of shame. Chris and Annaheim both jolted as she suddenly ran at them, shouting. “Get out! Get out! Get out!”

Chris was about to oblige when he saw the android down the hall turn and look at him, it’s eyes going red again. Panic surged through him as he quickly began to close the heavy metal door. The moment he latched it shut he was flown back from the force of the android slamming into the door. It began violently banging and slamming at the door with its claws, trying to get in. By now the little girl had reached Chris and began pushing him from behind towards the door. 

Chris tried to push her away, perplexed. “W-what the heck little g-girl! Why are you acting like this?”

Anaheim tried to scoot away from the door as the robot kept hitting it.

“I don’t want you to see me like this!” The little girl shouted, as Chris realized her mouth wasn’t moving. “I don’t want anyone to see me like this!”

The door began to bend and warp with each strike of the android outside.

Anaheim looked from the door to Chris with rising fear and slipping consciousness. “Chris? Please hurry and do something.”

Chris stared at the fake hair and prosthetics of the little girl. “You’re a-an android too.” He glanced at Annaheim. She was watching too, but her eyes had begun to glaze over as her grip on her side began to weaken. Her bleeding had finally stopped, but she needed medical attention. “Chris. . . please hurry.”

By now the metal door had some fairly large dents, and the fingers of the robot’s claws were peeking around the edges.

Chris grabbed the little girl. “What d-do you want?!” 

The little robot stopped and stared in confusion before finally forming the words. “I. . . I want to be loved.”

Chris was confused. “W-what?” But then his eyes widened as he realized who she was supposed to be. “M-mom. . .” He whispered. 

She seemed to still be confused by his words. “Mom and dad put me down here because they said I was making a scene.”

Tears began to well up Chris’s eyes again as he began to piece together what was going on. “You were just like me. . .” He looked at the door where the other android had managed to get its arm around the door. It frantically grasped for the handle. By now Annaheim was unconscious. Chris turned back to the little girl robot, streaks forming down his cheeks. “I’m sorry I. . . I . . . forgive you. . .” He had the immediate sensation of a weight being lifted off his shoulders, as both robots stopped and the lights of the basement came on.

Chris sat there in the light holding his knees, the little girl robot in front of him, the metal door behind, Anaheim unconscious to his right. He didn’t move until he was startled by the sound of the metal door falling to the ground. It had finally given into the beating it had endured, giving up its hinges.

He turned and faced the robot at the door, which looked less scary now in directly lighting. “You, c-call an ambulance. Please.” The android immediately complied as Chris turned his attention to the other robot. “Little robot g-girl?”

The android girl looked up at him blankly.

“Where is the i-item I’m s-supposed to get?”

The little robot pointed to a locked cabinet at the far end of the basement.

Cautiously, Chris made his way over there. He opened the cabinet and gasped. There on the middle shelf, neatly folded, was the original unicorn onesie his mother had swaddled him in as an infant. With careful fingers, he picked it up and unfolded it. A strange peace washed over him as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Distant sirens could be heard as a single tear tracing down his cheek. 

After the ambulance had arrived, Chris rode with Annaheim to the hospital, calling Van and Pyo on the way. Thankfully the doctors said her wound was not life threatening, and within minutes she had been sewn up and set up in a room. The doctor wanted to hold her overnight so Chris stayed by Annaheim’s bedside until Van and Pyo arrived to relieve him.

Half an hour later he sat on a bench in a lofty hallway, glancing around at the people passing by as they went to and from the offices of their personal lawyers. The door next to the bench Chris was sitting on had a name plate next to it which read, “Mr. Lorice attorney”. He glanced at the letters as he thought about the little unicorn onesie folded up in his pocket. Was this really what he wanted? Did he really want to inherit a castle too big for him, full of memories of abuse and pain?

His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and a couple exited, the wife leaning on the shoulder of her husband as she wept. Chris watched them walk down the hall towards the exit, wondering if he shouldn’t exit as well. He looked at a nearby screen displaying the time. He had 5 minutes before the deadline. If he was going to make a decision, he would have to make it now. He tried to hide how much he was shaking as he stood up and made his way into the office, closing the door behind him.

Chris was standing silently at Annaheim’s bedside when her eyes slowly opened a couple hours later. Her movement and groans drew his attention from the opposite wall which he had been staring at for some time. 

“What happened?” Her groggy words grated over her dry throat.

“Oh, uh. . . Your mother is still talking to her lawyer. Van and Pyo came back with Baphin and hour ago to check on you before they headed off to meet up with the Captain.” His voice was calm and steady, his expression like someone who had started something they couldn’t predict the end result of.

Anaheim narrowed her eyes as the fog of sleep dissipated from her mind. “You found the item didn’t you.”

He nodded.

“Did you make it to Dr. Andersau’s Lawyer in time?”

“Barely.”

Anaheim shifted her legs under the hospital blanket anxiously. “Well?”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Her expression soured. “You didn’t take any of it did you? Without a single thought to us?”

Confusion flashed in his eyes. “What?” His brow furrowed in frustration. “Is that how f-foolish you think I am? No. I accepted the s-stupid inheritance.”

Anaheim stared as she processed his uncharacteristically snappy reaction. “What’s gotten into you?”

Chris’s shoulders relaxed as he sat down in one of the hospital chairs. “What if this money t-turns me into someone I don’t want to be?”

Anaheim thought about that for a moment. She planted her hands on the bed, and with a wince of pain and worried looks from Chris, clambered herself up to a sitting position. She then lifted her shirt to show the gash in her side that still had fresh stitches. The regenerative fibers of the stitching wire had already begun to accelerate her healing process. “Take a good look Chris. This could have been a lot worse. I could have died. You saved my life. That’s the kind of person you are. While we were in that castle you showed me that you’re not the scaredy cat I always thought you were.” She gave a playful grin. “You’re a goody two shoes through and through, and no amount of monopoly money can change that.”

Chris felt her encouraging words more than he heard them, as he lifted his gaze to hers with renewed confidence and a sense of self that had felt undefined until now. “Thank you.”

Anaheim waved him off. “Oh stop it. Just please don’t tell Mom how I stupidly fell for that fake pie.”