Work Text:
The Bay Area where Suguru's office was located offered a spectacular view of three nearby planets. It was a wavy-shaped structure, and when there was nothing better to do, it allowed for some stargazing. He checked his mail, where he had the latest assignments, before sending a new message to Mimiko and Nanako, the girls under his care for some time now.
Suguru smiled warmly as he remembered how time flies; they were once frightened little girls, and now they were interning, preparing to settle into the same company as Suguru, Weyland-Yutani Corp.
He assumes it's due to Suguru's own dedication to helping people and building better spacecraft that the girls haven't yet noticed how dark the company really is. Suguru has heard things, questionable things that sometimes make him doubt. But he can't say he complains about his salary or his home in a cosmopolis that looks like something out of a movie catalog.
He finished his work for the day, logging out of the virtual platform after communicating with the girls. Since they were on another planet, the most effective way to communicate was through the company's space satellite, or, in simpler terms, the internal employee mail. The girls already had one foot on the door, so... it made things easier to get a daily update, or sometimes two, if lucky.
Suguru sat for a while in the chair facing the outside to gaze at the stars for a few minutes, the planets decorating the view, crowning the beautiful trail of light.
He wondered if he could return once again to working on ships in person. Last time, he had been able to rescue the girls. Who knows what might happen next time...
The idea, once lodged in his mind, wasn’t easy to shake.
A month later, Suguru once again requested permission to board a ship.
The expressions of the USCSS MILANO crew were amusing. Suguru Geto traveling with them? The famous engineer hero who helps everyone and even saved two girls from a natural disaster? Suguru Geto, who designed the fleet’s new flagship exploration vessel? Suguru Geto, who had the favor of Yaga Masamichi and Yuki Tsukumo as the next candidate for Chief Engineer of the Corporation?
Suguru’s smile didn’t leave his face as everyone bombarded him with questions. It was nice to get off the planet once in a while and spend time with the lower ranks. He never felt personally connected to the upper echelons of society, always living away from the opulence, aside from his apartment, which served as both his refuge and source of inspiration. Ships were his life—designing and repairing, his two mantras.
"Thanks for the interest, guys. But I’m going to step away for a bit and check that everything is in order before we arrive."
It wasn’t entirely true, but neither was it a lie. Suguru just wanted to retreat and enjoy some peace after receiving so much attention from the MILANO’s crew. They let him go, and Suguru made his way down to the ship’s engine room, checking all the devices and signal inputs. His fingers moved with a sense of routine, recalling his early days as an engineer, long before he started designing ships. However, his solitude didn’t last long.
A tall, pale figure appeared, dressed in a matching white jacket and pants, with immaculate shoes and exceptionally pale skin. His physique was striking, almost too perfect. His presence seemed like a vision, and Suguru had to rub his eyes a couple of times with his fist to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
In that brief moment, while standing in the corridor, the figure materialized in front of Suguru. A cold, smooth hand gripped his chin, forcing him to look up.
“Your eyes, are they implants or natural?”
The young man’s voice was flat, but it carried a hint of curiosity. Suguru blinked—it was the first time anyone had asked him that.
“Natural. I was born with them.”
“Oh.” He released Suguru’s face, not before giving an annoying tug to his hair.
“Do you have a problem with me?” Suguru huffed, clearly uncomfortable with a rude Adonis interrupting his inspections.
“None, yet.”
“Yet?”
“You heard me the first time. No need to repeat my words, Geto Suguru. Ship Engineer, Identification Number 19203749725-S. What brings you to the MILANO? It’s certainly not for the ship’s features. It’s one step away from being space junk.”
Suguru crossed his arms as the other spoke, leaning his back against one of the walls of the room.
"Wow. You’re pretty rude, but you know who I am. Tell me, did you memorize my code on the way here to impress me? Are you another admirer of my work?"
The pale figure’s white eyebrow twitched, and after that his bright blue eyes blinked. Out of nowhere, his eyes flashed for a moment, then returned to normal.
"I didn’t memorize anything; it’s all in my database. I also understand that you enjoy doing charity work when you’re bored. Is this trip one of those?"
Ah. A synthetic. But not just any synthetic. Usually, Suguru could immediately tell if he was talking to an organic lifeform or an artificial one, even if he wasn’t an expert in robotics. He was familiar with them—Nanami Kento, one of his best friends, worked with synthetic and another androids. For the first time, Suguru had been fooled. He sighed.
Suguru never thought he’d meet a rude synthetic, but instead of being upset, he felt a mix of curiosity and caution.
"Identify yourself. Serial number and function."
The synthetic was about to protest, his expression shifting from interest to something resembling a pout.
"Six Eyes. Function: Science Officer on board."
"I haven’t heard of this series," Suguru commented after a moment of silence.
"I’m special," Six Eyes shrugged.
"We’ll see about that. For now, let me finish my work, and you do yours."
'Six Eyes' stared at him without moving, and for a moment, Suguru thought the synthetic hadn’t understood his command. However, after a slight shift in expression, the android gave a playful wave and turned to leave. His attitude was definitely different from what Suguru was used to, but as he watched him disappear down the metal hallway, Suguru had a feeling it would be fun to keep an eye on him from here on out.
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(☄️) · · ──────────────────
The entire operation was a success, and Suguru had to admit it was largely thanks to the prodigious Six Eyes, or as the synthetic insisted Suguru call him, Satoru. Satoru's knowledge wasn’t limited to science; he excelled in multiple fields and was also skilled in combat. Unlike other synthetics, his ability to analyze and plan often surprised even Suguru. Of course, not everything about him was perfect. But not in the way one would expect from an android.
He had a terrible personality.
A personality that, for better or worse, amused Suguru more than it irritated him.
"Hey, Suguru, how did I do? Pretty impressive, right?" Satoru sat across from him, a cocky grin plastered on his undeniably attractive face. The Gojo lab had really nailed his physical appearance. He looked more than human, and if it weren’t for his glowing eyes, no one would suspect he wasn’t. It was terrifying when you thought about it.
"If we’d known, we would’ve let you handle everything on your own. You collected the sample, wiped out some local mutations with a lightning attack, and demonstrated you can create an invisible field around yourself that repels any kind of harm. Seriously, why do you need us?"
"That ‘lightning attack’ you call so poorly has a name: 'Hollow Purple.' It’s my signature move. The Infinite Field? That's thanks to my core—it's why I’m unique." He placed a hand over his chest, where his core was hidden. "All this potential belongs to humanity. My greatest dream is to accompany your species toward the next step."
"I didn’t know you had ideals. Are they part of your programming, or something you’ve developed yourself?" Suguru asked, fascinated by Satoru’s goals.
"Let’s say it’s a bit of both. Before you get scared, I’ll tell you I don’t have complete free will—I still follow the instructions given to me by my creators. However, my code was designed in such a way that I can factor in any variables as long as I reach the desired outcome. The Gojo Labs wanted to leave a legacy, to be part of humanity’s evolution—your prosperity. And... I generally like all organic life. It’s fascinating."
"No wonder you're the Science Officer. I assume you don’t just specialize in biology."
"You’re right. I’ve acquired a vast amount of knowledge. I can adapt to any field of study and excel at it!"
"How modest," Suguru thought sarcastically, realizing that listening to Satoru felt far more natural than the typical experience he’d had with synthetics. Wait a minute. He had a brief flashback to an old event. Satoru felt more similar to another type of inorganic being... Replicants. Could he be a hybrid? No, what was he thinking? He wasn’t even sure of the differences. Nanami rarely talked about them.
He shouldn’t be spacing out.
He should be paying attention to the android.
Satoru was watching him with those large, bright eyes, clearly waiting for a response to something Suguru had definitely missed.
"Sorry, Satoru, I didn’t catch that last part."
"Am I detecting fatigue in you?"
"Could be. But it’s fine, just repeat what you said."
"I was saying, aren’t you curious why I don’t do everything?" The synthetic’s smile was youthful, as if eagerly awaiting Suguru’s reaction.
Suguru let out a laugh, shrugging.
"Why don’t you do everything, Satoru?"
"Excellent question!! I don’t want to ruin humanity’s future, so I’ll only showcase my fascinating array of knowledge in emergencies. Until then, I’ll just stick to biology, and maybe medicine. Because sticking to one field would be boring."
"You’re so full of yourself. Try being less arrogant, will you?" Suguru teased, and the synthetic responded by sticking out his tongue at him.
They exchanged communication details not long after.
The farewell felt forced; neither Satoru wanted to stop talking, nor did Suguru wanted to miss out on his company. It was a strange feeling, especially when their fingers brushed, sending a familiar, treacherous tingle through Suguru’s chest. As he boarded the shuttle, he had the sudden urge to press the emergency button and return… No, that wasn’t a good idea. Better to ignore it.
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(☄️) · · ──────────────────
The communication between the two initially revolved around trivial matters. Satoru sent images of the new specimens he found during his space exploration. Suguru, back in his office, couldn't be more grateful for this new space companion. Satoru wrote an electronic letter to Suguru every day, one that reminded the engineer quite a bit of what a young person might jot down in their personal diary.
Perhaps it was because the synthetic didn't adhere to social and moral conventions like others did, but he opened his heart and expressed his opinions with brutal honesty about everything.
“The engineer of this ship is terrible, Suguru. He doesn't understand fuses, can you believe this? I've been trying for two days to point out the malfunction so he would do something. As a scientific officer, I can't overstep my bounds, but I'm about to... grab his face and smash it into the broken fuse a couple of times and then send him back to the academy. I'm tired of traveling with useless people. When we were on the MILANO, you repaired fifteen malfunctions, of which only seven were officially recorded. You didn't want to embarrass them, did you? You should do it more often or they'll become this useless.
I guess I’ll do something less dramatic; I’m just frustrated. The malfunctions are preventing me from playing with my new sample. I want to see if the genetic material matches the species I found on NOCTIS-910. It would be fun considering the clima is radically different, but the similarities in tissue and system cannot be ignored. Ugh. I need them to fix this piece of junk, Suguruuu!!
At least I can send you emails. I’ll keep writing to you these days to avoid complete boredom.
I miss you.”
The first time Suguru read those last words, he rationalized that Satoru missed his competent talent, which was natural. Not everyone who graduated from the Academy was an engineer of his level. He assumed that over time, this friendship would become lighter.
As expected, Suguru wrote a long response, explaining point by point how the issues mentioned were not so egregious, and then he talked about his boring routine and how he missed some leisure time and him as well. Twenty-four hours later, the next response included a “I’ll be visiting you soon” from Satoru.
Life flowed little by little, slowly, but it wasn’t as tedious now that he had someone besides Mimiko and Nanako, as the rest of his work colleagues simply didn't fit into his life like the conversations he had with Satoru. Besides the letters they exchanged, he began to receive gifts, many of them being pieces of many different ships, and framed pictures with natural landscapes with a note that said:
“I wish you would be here with me.
— Satoru.”
His friendship with the synthetic was one of the few things he could be thankful for in his life, so when, a year later, he received a formal request for help from Satoru for a complicated but exciting expedition, Suguru took it as a sign to ask for some well-deserved vacation time. It was actually first time Satoru had asked him for help, so he assumed it was important. He said goodbye to Mimiko and Nanako before boarding the shuttle.
“You’ll keep us updated, right?”
“Don’t let yourself be distracted by your boyfriend!”
Suguru laughed, shaking his head.
“He’s just a good friend; don’t imagine anything weird, okay? Hopefully, I’ll come back with lots of new pictures and maybe a new discovery, who knows?”
After one last hug, he boarded the ship that would take him to the USCSS ANTARES, the most iconic cargo ship purchased by Weyland-Yutani. Suguru could barely contain his excitement; this was one of the legendary projects that had inspired him to design ships. While the USCSS ANTARES was mainly dedicated to mining and transporting large mineral samples, it also had an entire floor dedicated to science, which made sense, especially with Satoru involved. The company had probably rented the ship for an unusual scientific expedition, and that’s why Satoru was the synthetic in charge.
It was a balanced starship with a good defense system. Could they be heading into hostile territory?
Suguru couldn’t dwell on it much longer because a firm arm wrapped around his shoulder, pulling him tightly against a chest in a strong hug. He didn’t need to look up to know who it was.
“Your heart rate just spiked. Does that mean you're happy to see me?”
“Oh, shut up.”
Satoru hugged him again, even lifting Suguru slightly in the process, as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Ah, that’s right. A whole cycle had passed. A year was a long time, but Suguru hadn’t thought Satoru would notice the difference.
“When this mission is over, I plan to quit the Company and buy an apartment next to yours. That way, I can see you every day.”
“You’ll get bored in two weeks without your hands in a lab, Satoru. The only organic thing you’ll be able to dissect will be the dinner you cook for me.”
Satoru lowered his gaze, his blue, almost supernatural eyes admiring Suguru’s purple ones.
“And how do you know I’ll make you dinner?”
“Call it intuition.”
“Just say you want to be pampered, and I’ll be your personal synthetic. Your prize: The laundry is always done, the best meals prepared for you, and the house always stays clean and decorated according to the season.”
Suguru’s cheeks flushed, and his heart was definitely racing now. Was he correctly interpreting Satoru's intentions? But that wasn't allowed. Synthetics and humans couldn’t have that kind of relationship without a servitude contract in place. And even if Satoru agreed to become his property, it would still be an unheard-of situation. However, he didn’t have time to think much about it because a familiar voice echoed through the ship’s speakers, interrupting the moment.
“This is Sergeant Haibara Yu speaking! I’ll be in charge of security for this expedition. Everyone, gather in the common area!”
Suguru smiled; it had been a long time since he’d run into Haibara, Nanami’s boyfriend. On the way to the common area, Satoru’s arm stayed wrapped around Suguru’s shoulder, leaving soft caresses as he hummed one of the latest songs from space radio. Suguru allowed himself to imagine—not necessarily a relationship, but a lifelong friendship. He had never pictured anyone by his side for the rest of his life until he met the synthetic. Satoru’s presence meant safety, comfort. It meant being seen, talking about everything and nothing, with those intelligent eyes analyzing him as if he were the only human worth paying attention to.
The common area was filled with familiar faces. These weren’t just recruits; they were the best in their fields who had graduated the same year as Suguru. Nanami was there, as well as Shoko. Yet, the synthetic didn’t let him go greet them. Instead, he leaned close to Suguru’s ear and whispered.
“Stay alert. This expedition is special.”
Satoru’s voice felt incredibly soothing, and Suguru, genuinely curious, decided to wait. He’d greet the others later. As if Satoru had perfectly timed the seconds it would take for Haibara to start the briefing, the soldier’s enthusiastic and charismatic voice quickly filled the room.
“Thank you for coming. I’m going to break protocol a little and inform you before the hypersleep because I want to be completely honest with everyone here. After hearing this, if anyone wants to opt out, you’ll still have time, and you won’t be penalized.”
Oh, that was new.
“We don’t exactly know what situation we’re walking into; we’ve only received an encrypted message from a quadrant of the galaxy, requesting the rescue of a ship many of you here will recognize. The USCSS SHIBUYA has been found. The message came from an anonymous source, but they provided some pretty convincing evidence of its discovery.”
An uncomfortable silence spread among the crew as Haibara passed around photos of the crashed ship on the surface of a rocky planet, clearly in a frozen state. It was a completely inhospitable and likely uninhabitable place. The only plausible reason for the planet’s existence in this mission was that it could have been housing a hidden base.
No matter how one looked at it, this was going to be a complicated mission. They would need the best to ensure the group’s survival. Now Suguru understood why Satoru had extended the invitation and why he had been so excited about embarking on this expedition together.
Meanwhile, Haibara continued.
“As many of you know, the USCSS SHIBUYA was the ship of Captain Kenjaku Geto, a researcher infamous for his illegal experiments on humans and various xenomorph species. He escaped with the entire crew as hostages and disappeared from our radars ten years ago. Finding the ship could provide many answers and, more importantly... allow us to return the bodies to their families. We don’t expect anyone to still be alive—the ship had provisions for two years, and that planet has no natural resources. But due to temperature, the bodies should be well-preserved.”
Haibara placed his hand on his waist after the explanation.
“Our mission is to investigate, gather data from the ship, and recover the remains of our fallen comrades. Anyone want out?”
No one protested, nor did anyone move from their seats. The USCSS SHIBUYA held the largest database of inhuman technological advancements, and although everyone present could be considered good people, their curiosity was piqued.
...
Suguru went to greet the rest of his old classmates before entering the stasis pod. Of everyone there, only Shoko seemed particularly displeased, smoking a cigarette in the cafeteria.
"The last one for six months," she remarked with that dry humor only she possessed.
"You shouldn’t smoke. You know, being a forensic doctor and all."
"Which is why I’m on this crappy expedition. They're hiding more data from us, Geto. Why don’t you ask your new boyfriend? He’s the head of this mission. He even paid in resources to the company to make this trip possible." The doctor was experienced in many fields but, above all... Shoko was a survivor. One of Kenjaku’s victims. She had barely escaped from a scientific base where that monster had unleashed various parasitic species to infect the staff and study their mutations.
"I’ll tell you what I think. You're overthinking this. It’s just an expedition where we'll recover samples and some bodies. A complicated job, sure, but we’ll be heroes for a lot of families. The USCSS SHIBUYA case needs closure. Many of us here are victims, directly or indirectly."
Shoko’s expression softened a little.
"Sometimes I forget that Kenjaku is your uncle. You’re nothing like him." Suguru let out a humorless laugh.
"And I hope I never become like him. That man is the family’s black sheep. Ever since I was 17, I’ve felt the moral obligation to fix the damage he's done to the scientific community, to humanity, and to the reputation of these expeditions."
"Don’t worry, if it helps, few people will connect you to him. You’ve built your name and career so well that most don’t even remember you share the same blood, just the last name."
Suguru stared out of one of the small space windows, where the black sky with its white dots stretched endlessly.
"This project is something big. I need to know what happened on that ship before it crashed."
"By the way, you didn’t deny it," Shoko pointed out slyly.
"Didn’t deny what?"
"The thing about the synthetic. Anyway... Be careful with him, Suguru. He’s not your average synthetic, and he’s far stronger than any android should be. I read some reports before boarding, and... What was the Gojo lab even thinking? They spent their entire generational fortune creating him and then disappeared."
Suguru patted her on the shoulder.
"I’ve been talking to him for a year now, and the only thing you have to worry about is that he never stops yapping. He’s my best friend. Just trust me, okay?"
The doctor nodded and said her goodbyes.
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(☄️) · · ──────────────────
Suguru made his way to his pod, but before he could settle in to sleep, he was once again enveloped in Satoru's arms.
"Wait a second."
"What is it, 'Toru?" he asked as he settled into the albino’s embrace.
"Let me hold you for a bit longer. Until I’ve memorized your heartbeat and every variation of your scent mixed with sweat... I’m going to be without you for six months."
His voice seemed like a delirious whisper, refusing to let Suguru go. He should probably be scared of the dependency his synthetic was showing, but... he couldn't deny that a part of him enjoyed that bond. No human had ever been this sweet and devoted, so he comforted him with gentle strokes on the back of his neck, then left a kiss on his forehead.
"Everything will be fine. I’ll go into hypersleep, and in the blink of an eye, we'll be talking again. Please, take care of us while we sleep."
Satoru’s hands possessively caressed Suguru’s waist, and for a moment, he felt a bit afraid of what the synthetic might do at such a delicate moment. However, Satoru settled for pressing his nose into Suguru’s hair and deeply inhaling his scent.
“Mmh… I’ll be watching over you for most of the journey. If anyone gets close to you while you sleep, I’ll tear them apart and toss them into the waste shredder.”
Ah, Suguru was positively scandalized, if such a thing were possible.
“Just take care of me and the others. When I wake up, we’ll talk about the expedition. I assume you know everything about it, right?”
Satoru softened his grip slightly, sighing heavily against Suguru’s neck before pulling back a little.
"Your uncle left a legacy and a river of blood behind him. We'll clean it all up, okay? We’ll build a better future... together."
The words seemed to resonate with Suguru, making him smile one last time. He climbed into the pod and placed his hand on the glass as the machines automatically adjusted to his skin. Satoru placed his hand over his, and though he didn’t have a heartbeat, Suguru could feel the vibration of his body. His eyelids slowly grew heavy, and he let sleep take him.
There is a beach in his memories, with red water, white sand, and a black sky. Two suns on the horizon and a small satellite that do not provide much light in the twilight, yet Suguru could still see a cove of symmetrically shaped rocks not too far away. Was it day or night? He couldn’t be sure. The water swayed with a slow, rhythmic tide.
Suguru carried many secrets inside him, weighing him down like slabs tied to his shoulders.
His friends knew part of his story, but no one knew its full depth... and he truly hoped no one would ever uncover all those painful truths.
All Suguru could hope for was that time would bury his faint memories enough for him to forget the horrors of his own origins.
Time asleep never feels like much. Whether weeks or months pass, it's like a peaceful dream provided by the hypersleep serums. Yet Suguru felt strange, as if this rest wasn’t normal.
Usually, he would feel more awake once the journey ended, but even in his sleep, his body felt weak and exhausted. He was supposed to be alone, yet Satoru stood on the beach, wearing swim trunks and a floral shirt.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Satoru posed the question, and Suguru nodded weakly.
“I know you can’t speak right now.”
He approached the now-paralyzed Suguru, wrapping his arms around him from behind.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe. I just came to tell you that you can keep sleeping... You’ll wake up at the right time. Sweet dreams.”
Suguru was confused—Satoru shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t be able to enter his subconscious during hypersleep. But his body obeyed, and he drifted into a sleep within the dream. From then on, there was only silence.
...
BANG!!!
BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!!
The pounding from outside was echoed. So were the voices. His body remained in stasis, paralyzed, but his consciousness had returned. He could hear the voices, distant.
“Some help here, Nanami.”
“Is it Geto?”
“Looks like it.”
“Thank God…”
“Finally!”
A faint sob could be heard, but Suguru couldn’t open his eyes. His body wouldn’t respond, and he didn’t even know what he had been doing before falling asleep. His mind was a blank canvas, not even able to associate his name with his identity. He was an empty shell, naked and vulnerable.
Someone deactivated the needles administering the serum into his body, and the capsule opened, sending Suguru tumbling forward, trembling, not without vomiting first.
“That son of a bitch,” Shoko muttered, stroking Suguru’s hair and holding some of it back to keep it clean.
“I understand Suguru is vulnerable right now, but... we need to move. The synthetic won’t take long to clear the virus. If a high-end synthetic takes half an hour to purge its system, optimistically, we have... ten more minutes,” Nanami added, holding a shotgun. Haibara slid an arm under Suguru’s waist, lifting him slowly.
“Understood, but we need to get him some clothes, anything. He’ll freeze outside this lab.”
Haibara whispered, knowing the gravity of the situation. This was their one chance to get their friend to safety.
“There should be work suits in the engineering room, if I’m not mistaken. In the meantime... I need you two to help him walk.”
Shoko wasn’t one to use weapons, but she held a pistol in one hand and wore a device on her wrist that detected nearby heat sources. They began moving quickly through the area, which was not only in ruins but also overrun with organic growths climbing the walls, reshaping the ship’s interior.
Soon, Suguru understood why these people (who were they?) were fully armed. Agile, humanoid creatures began pursuing the group. Shoko shot the first one that leaped at them, while Nanami carried Suguru’s weight. Haibara grabbed the shotgun and started firing. His military training shone through in how swiftly he managed to take down the xenomorphs, but it wasn’t enough.
“We need to go, now!” Nanami knew the sooner they reached the shuttle, the sooner they could get out of this place. If Six Eyes caught up with them, they wouldn’t survive.
“Not without getting Suguru dressed!” Haibara wasn’t about to lose another person under his watch.
“We’re almost at the engineering section, be patient.”
Just as Shoko said that, they saw the worn-out sign for engineering room. The area was more damaged than the lab, thanks to the xenomorph's acid and many gunshots, forcing them to take a few detours, but they reached the suit storage area. Shoko and Nanami attended to Suguru while Haibara covered the door, finally getting him into something to cover his body. He was shivering.
“Is he still in shock?” Nanami’s voice was soft as he spoke to Shoko.
“I can’t say for sure. Suguru, can you hear me?”
Suguru’s purple eyes slowly focused on her.
“Do you remember what happened before you went into hypersleep?”
The engineer blinked, struggling to come to a conclusion, but shook his head.
“Can you talk to me?”
Suguru tried to form words, but none came out. He shook his head a few times.
Shoko nodded, solemn.
“This might be due to overuse of serum 3940-98-S. He’s lost cognitive abilities for now, so we’ll have to take care of him. For the time being...”
The doctor finished adjusting the suit on his body.
“Suguru, listen to me. We’re going to have to run together. There’s a secret shelter here on the SHIBUYA. We won’t have time to unlock the shuttles before your mind clears, so we need to hide.”
Nanami and Haibara nodded in agreement.
“Six Eyes is likely already free from the virus. We have to reach the shelter before he catches our trail. I can create another virus while Suguru recovers, I have a plan.”
The blonde loaded his shotgun while Haibara checked the radar.
“All clear, let’s move.”
The march was immediate, and for Suguru, it was hell. His muscles refused to respond to the demands of movement, feeling weak and limp. He didn’t understand anything, didn’t know who these people were, but they seemed to care about him. And who was this “Six Eyes”? It sounded like a problem he definitely didn’t want to face. The gray walls of the SHIBUYA were covered in the biological remnants of past battles with xenomorphs. As he struggled to run with the group, his slow, empty mind tried to piece together how long they must have been fighting these creatures.
Surely once they reached the shelter, they’d have the decency to fill him in.
Shoko yanked his arm just in time as an alien, deformed hand reached for Suguru’s hair. After pulling him aside, she shot it straight in the head.
“Suguru, be careful!”
“We still need to cross the ventilation shaft, let’s hurry.”
Nanami used the code to open a hatch, and they headed south, descending stairs into a freezing area. It was so cold that everything was frozen, and their footsteps made small sounds on the icy ground. That section had been de-climatized and was devoid of creatures. The rush was more about escaping the cold than the immediate danger.
Ten minutes later, moving in silence and carefully, they reached a gap in the wall. Haibara climbed up first, then helped Suguru. Suguru, in turn, helped Nanami, and Nanami pulled up Shoko. They crawled through those ducts for quite a while, and if it weren't for Haibara, Suguru would have gotten lost. The area they reached was an isolated storage room within the ship, filled with empty crates, thermal blankets on the floor, shelves with ammunition, weapons, food packets, small tanks, and other supplies. As soon as Shoko crawled through and came down, Nanami sealed the duct temporarily.
As soon as Suguru realized they were safe, he collapsed onto the floor.
His eyes closed before he could hear the others' voices.
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(☄️) · · ──────────────────
The smell of soup slowly brought Suguru's senses back. His stomach growled in protest, empty, and instinctively he began to sit up.
"Ugh..."
"Good morning, princess. You've been unconscious for six hours. Your body was in a terrible state," Shoko explained, a cigarette now hanging from her lips. It was her last, she had been reserving them since she woke up in this hell. In the back of the small storage room, Nanami was working on a computer connected to a makeshift portable power source, made from scavenged batteries. He was fully absorbed in whatever task he was doing while Haibara finished cooking the soup.
"I'm glad to see you up again, Geto-san. It's been a while since we last talked, hasn’t it?" Haibara greeted warmly.
"Don't take this the wrong way..." Suguru's voice was hoarse and slow. "But I don’t remember much. I get the feeling you’re my friends, but nothing comes to mind. I hope I haven’t done anything wrong."
"They kept you in a dream state within hypersleep with a very strong, illegal serum. One of its side effects is short-term and sometimes medium-term memory loss. Some side effects of 3940-98-S also include muscle weakness, dizziness, and severe disorientation," Shoko’s response was methodical, though there was a trace of irritation in her eyes.
Suguru scratched his cheek with his index finger and nodded.
"Alright, then. Tell me everything I need to know. I don’t want to be a burden."
Haibara handed him the food while they spoke, and Suguru took the improvised metal bowl of soup with a grateful nod and a whispered, "Thank you." He sipped slowly as Haibara finished serving the others, then returned to his spot, sitting down heavily. It would be him who would fill Suguru in on everything.
"It all started when…
Hypersleep ended correctly. Up until then, everything seemed normal. For reasons we still don’t know, we didn’t wake up on the ANTARES. Instead, we found ourselves on a massive metal structure, a platform, placed in a row... Coming out of hypersleep always leaves you disoriented and weak, so many of us didn’t fully grasp why we’d changed locations. But we didn’t want to act rashly. The sounds aboard the ship were different, accompanied by what could only be described as strained, guttural breaths. It was cold, and the walls were coated with a strange, thick substance that we figured was organic material of unknown origin. We searched everywhere for the synthetic, but we had no luck for the first twenty minutes. When the last person left the pod, he finally appeared.
"Welcome to my final project for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. My manufactured name is Six Eyes, and as you all know, I am the entity that initiated this journey. But I am also the anonymous informant who brought data from the SHIBUYA.”
I listened with suspicion, though I hadn’t yet fully distrusted him. It just felt strange to be in a new location—what was the point of it? Six Eyes’ figure seemed different, more commanding. Up to this point, he had behaved like a typical synthetic, but watching him move and speak, it became harder to associate him with the usual traits of synthetics. Thinking back, he seemed more like a replicant than a synthetic. The idea that someone might’ve created a... hybrid started crossing my mind. Kento had mentioned it once.
...Sorry, I got sidetracked. As I was saying, Six Eyes began speaking with complete ease and brazenness about the reason for bringing us here. The more he talked, the more horrifying it became.
"My goal is simple: what is the next step in evolution? My creators were very deliberate in giving me a life purpose, and I’ve been dedicated to it ever since. What’s the next step, friends? You’re the brightest minds of this generation, so let me pose this question: imagine if the next step has always been tied to our origins—the origin of humans and life on Earth. The Engineers who brought us here as a failed experiment. Many have followed the breadcrumbs back… to uncover the secrets those mysterious figures held.
One researcher went further than anyone."
That’s when I realized what this was all about. He didn’t need to say the name; it was becoming more obvious.
"Kenjaku Geto was not afraid of making a fool of himself, nor the law. He knew what he had to do was entirely illegal, going against the morality set by modern society. As his final act of rebellion, he hijacked this ship and created a gold mine for anyone daring enough to follow his path. The specimens he implanted in the crew members of this ship are still among us, in hibernation. Fascinating, isn’t it? But there’s more.”
The synthetic smiled with a malice he should not have been capable of.
"He nearly created the Deacon itself. The god of your creators. The superior being. The next step in evolution… I just need to refine it a bit more, and the first superhumans will be born. You, my friends, are the final test subjects. The perfect vessels for this gift.”
One pod was still in hypersleep—yours, Suguru. I saw him caress it right before everything went to hell.
"The moment the first drop of blood hits the walkways below, the first eggs will hatch, and some of the young xenomorphs in hibernation will awaken. Oh, and before you think about trying to escape… the ship’s controls are genetically sealed. Only Kenjaku Geto can access full control of the ship.
…Or perhaps his little secret project."
That was the last time I saw your sleeping pod for a long time...
It’s been two months since we woke up. 63 days, to be exact. Out of the entire crew… Only we remain."
Haibara finished his story just as Nanami stepped away from the computer, his face drawn and exhausted. He was pale and took a small sip of Haibara’s soup, sitting down beside him.
"We’ve been researching, with the limited resources we have, how to get out of here. The synthetic brought you here for more than romantic reasons. Your uncle, Kenjaku Geto, isn’t really your uncle."
Suguru barely remembered who was who, but upon hearing that, fragmented, fleeting memories flashed through his mind.
"How? If he's not... my uncle, then who is he?"
His head was throbbing, but he gritted his teeth and didn’t complain. He waited for Nanami to continue.
"There's an encrypted file I managed to access. It took me a couple of weeks to decipher what it was about, but I managed to retrieve it along with a colleague... who is no longer with us."
Nanami sighed.
"Your genetics and Kenjaku's are practically identical. You’re most likely a clone. Your uncle had a partially disfigured face, but the untouched part always seemed oddly similar to yours. However, I always attributed it to the fact that you were blood relatives."
"How could I be a clone? Even though I don't remember everything exactly yet, I did have... a family."
Shoko shook her head, a slow laugh escaping her lips. It seemed more like sadness and resignation than anything else.
"You've always wanted to distance yourself from Kenjaku's image and everything he represents. More than anyone, we know that you'll never be remotely like him. Fate is far too cruel to you."
Suguru, for his part, struggled to relate all those pieces of information to his own personal history. But the conversation didn’t end there. Nanami had something more to say.
"The key to our survival is you. Only you can activate the entire ship or authorize the launch of shuttle ships, just as you can give us access to confidential information. Six Eyes kept you hidden because he knew how useful you were, and they likely used your genetic material to access this ship's controls."
He pulled out a small capsule with a sharp tip, showing it to Suguru in the palm of his hand.
"This is the plan. Six Eyes won’t let us get close... but he will let you. Let him find you, and when you can, stick this into any surface of his synthetic skin. If we coordinate well, we can activate the shuttle ships and get out of this cursed place before that lunatic follows us. Keep in mind, the only one indispensable to his plan is Suguru, so we can’t give Six Eyes any reason to kill us."
Suguru held the object once it was offered to him.
"Are you sure this will work?"
Nanami looked especially exhausted, dark circles sinking deep into his skin. Haibara’s smile was worn out; he wasn’t even able to muster sincere words of encouragement. Shoko looked pale and thin, the signs of malnutrition becoming evident.
Before anyone could speak again, Suguru added.
"Well, that doesn't matter. One chance is all we need to get out of here. We'll do it."
Shoko raised what was left of her soup in the metal bowl.
"No matter what happens, the nightmare ends tomorrow. A toast to that. I wish it were alcohol."
Haibara raised his bowl as well.
"To freedom. I hope we can get everyone out alive."
Nanami, looking at his friends, joined in.
"We need to make it home together. That’s all I ask."
Suguru looked at his bowl and finally raised it with the others, clinking it against theirs in a toast.
"To making sure everything goes well."
After that dinner, they slept for a few more hours. Suguru, on his part, started having flashbacks. A fine, pale hand caressing his face, lips rosy and almost pressed against his. A whisper spoken with the devotion of a believer, his name.
Who was the man in his memories? Why did his heart ache so much when thinking of him? These memories came mixed with those of Nanako and Mimiko, who hadn't heard from him in almost a year.
Nanako and Mimiko.
...
He sat up so quickly that he became dizzy, his hands buried in his hair. His body trembled at the thought of what might have happened if Suguru had decided to invite them to come with him. The memories are mixed, but more within reach; He assumes that in a week, he will have recovered the memories of his entire life.
Not that he cares much.
Suguru is increasingly unsure if he wants to remember or forget.
The next day they loaded up with all available ammunition. Nanami made a copy of the laptop on an external storage device which he kept in a pocket. They ate the rest of their supplies for breakfast, feasting one last time.
If they died it would be without going through misery.
If they lived they were going to need calories.
As they ate breakfast Nanami went over the plan for everyone.
Shoko and Haibara would be in the shuttle area, preparing everything possible inside the shuttles for takeoff. Nanami was going to cover for Suguru in case the deception didn't work, taking responsibility as it was his plan. Haibara didn't like that but they agreed that it was the most logical thing to do, besides Shoko couldn't stay alone in the ships area, there were still xenomorphs roaming around.
“Okay, I've got it all figured out but... Where will Six Eyes be?”
“The command bridge. He already knows we woke you up, so he must have already predicted our plan. The only thing he can't predict is you trying to hurt him, which is why you're the key to making this work.”
Suguru weakly nods at Nanami's argument, but the internal discomfort remains. He still doesn't exactly remember who Six Eyes was, so he imagines the worst.
Once they leave the shelter, everything feels real. The plan, the risks. Everyone is tense as they climb down from the ventilation duct, nerves on edge. They move stealthily through the ship, avoiding the most damaged areas, getting closer to the point where they would split paths.
Shoko and Haibara descended onto a platform while Nanami and Suguru continued straight down the corridor, which would lead them to the command bridge. Unlike the rest of the ship, it was sealed with a genetic scanner, which Suguru passed on the first attempt.
"Welcome, Captain Kenjaku."
The ship's robotic voice announced their arrival. Suguru kept both hands clenched into fists. A bead of sweat slid down his forehead. The place was intact except for the deterioration caused by the passage of time; some controls looked degraded by accumulated rust.
Nanami wasn't inside but waited at the opposite end of the corridor. Crouched, shotgun ready for any kind of intervention. The silence was absolute, his breathing was barely audible. Meanwhile, Suguru investigates the panels, now more familiar as his memory returns. He is about to enable control of the shuttle panels when a hand stops him. Its presence is invasive, even if Suguru doesn’t feel it to be hostile. Still, panic overtakes him, but he doesn't have time to scream, as the stranger’s free hand covers his lips.
“ Suguru… What exactly are you doing here, love? I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I was so worried. What if something had happened to you? ”
The voice is barely a whisper, pulling him into a tight embrace. The engineer's body relaxes a bit, somehow associating the hug with a name.
“ Satoru? ”
He mumbled over the hand that covered him.
“ Yes, it 's me. Do you remember me? ”
Satoru slowly turns him in the embrace, allowing Suguru to reciprocate, the two holding each other for a long while. Suguru knows he’s someone important, his name a sweet echo in his heart. But he asked that question. He knew instantly. That 's Six Eyes.
“I… I’m struggling. But I know you’re important to me. Why else would my heart beat so fast?”
One of Satoru’s hands slides up Suguru’s body until it reaches his face. His thumb caresses his cheek.
“ Your heart always races when we’re together. I’d like to believe I make you feel more alive.”
“ You do. I feel a little better now that we’re together.”
Suguru, his sweet Suguru. The synthetic being forgot his cruel plans, focusing only on his little angel, his rosy lips and purple eyes. If he were an ordinary human, a creature of flesh, bone, and instincts, he would surely be completely captivated, lost in his body like a man dying of thirst.
Suguru stands on tiptoe and presses his lips to Satoru's, and his world is frozen.
Really frozen.
Something stuck in the back of his neck and froze his system.
“ I'm sorry. Like you, I'm just doing what's necessary.”
He began to quickly tap the buttons that would give the shuttle ships permission to take off and rested the palm of his hand on the tactile bio-scanner.
Nanami entered the room and plugged the external memory unit into one of the manual connection ports.
“ There’s no time. ”
Suguru remembered, but when he turned around he saw Nanami aiming a shotgun at Satoru's head. He immediately shoved him away.
“ What the hell are you doing?! ”
“ I was going to settle the score. That bastard’s killed a lot of my friends. But even if I empty my clip I won't hurt him. I did it the first time and didn't leave him a single scratch.”
Nanami lowered the shotgun and took the freshly made copy in the external unit. He looked at Suguru with an unusual hardness.
“ Don't protect him. I promise you, he's the closest thing to the Devil you’ll ever meet in this life. ”
Suguru gave the synthetic one last look, his expression still one of joy at the brush of a kiss that had been a betrayal.
“ But he's still a man," Suguru muttered before running off with Nanami. On the way to the ships, Nanami commented.
“ It’s the first time I’ve seen a synthetic have these kinds of desires. The Gojo labs created an abomination with Six Eyes. He thinks he has feelings like a replicant, but he’s as lethal and methodical as a synthetic under an extermination program. ”
Suguru grimaced. Even if his memories weren’t clear, all the flashbacks he had of Satoru were sweet. It was hard to accept that his Satoru was the deadly product of the Gojo labs, designed to force human evolution.
Once they reached the shuttle area, Haibara’s head peeked out from one of the ships.
“ Come on, now! We’re ready to leave!”
Nanami boarded immediately, and Suguru granted the final clearance from the console at the boarding platform. Nanami extended his hand to Geto, and just as he was about to take it…
A shot disabled the console. Suguru turned, and in a blink, Satoru was there, gripping his hair so tightly that Suguru could only arch his back and scream in pain.
“ Are your little friends leaving? And without saying goodbye? ”
Satoru was pointing a ball of energy forming in the palm of his hand at the ship, which was about to take off in seconds.
“SUGURU!!! ” Haibara screamed, barely sticking his head out as the doors were already closing.
“ Let them go, you already have what you want. ”
“ Will you stop treating me like I’m a disgusting piece of crap if I do? ” Satoru yanked harder on Suguru’s hair, as if he were a doll he was especially angry with, while his other hand kept aiming at the ship.
“ I’m sorry, Satoru… I was wrong. Just let them go, please. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“ I don’t believe you, love. But I’ll start by getting my little revenge from earlier. ”
He lowered the hand that was aiming and reached into his pocket. A few seconds later, he jabbed an injection into Suguru’s neck and emptied it.
“ Let’s deal with more important matters than a few fleeing rats. I’ll take care of them later. ”
Suguru’s vision started to blur, and the world faded once away.
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(☄️) · · ──────────────────
The first thing he noticed was the cold metal against his back. His mind was hazy, and there was a comfortable silence as the drug continued to affect Suguru's perception. He blinked slowly, trying to open his eyes, but couldn't focus on anything. A few meters away, he saw the back of a man with white hair, who seemed pleased. He was humming a song. The scene, somehow, felt intimate and familiar—Suguru sensed it in his heart.
After a minute of fleeting lucidity, he tried to move, but realized he was trapped. His ankle was caught by a giant metal shackle. Its rough design suggested it was handmade without much care, but it still served its purpose.
“ Good morning, love, or is it night? I’ve really lost track of time in this place. ”
The man, who seemed to be typing codes into a large console, spoke without turning around. Not far from him, just a few inches away, stood a giant tube that looked empty from where Suguru was lying.
“ I’m cold.”
All that remained of his clothing was his underwear—once again. The metal was freezing, and the room’s temperature was unbearably low. The architecture of the place was opulent, with organic shapes, as if a xenomorph had tried to create a palace in a single space. That would be the most accurate way Suguru could describe the room, if his mind weren’t once again a chaotic mess of confusion.
“ It’ll pass soon, just give me a few minutes.”
“ Why don’t you cover me up? ” Suguru insisted, the only connection he could make to the man being a distant echo of past comfort.
If there was one weakness Satoru had, unfortunately, it was his inability to resist his small, rebellious angel's pleas. He paused his final preparations to approach Suguru and climb up to the altar. His beloved’s body would be the perfect home for the Deacon, so it didn’t feel wrong to wrap him in his own anatomy, embracing him firmly.
“ Soon, we’ll be the parents of the next evolution of the human species. Are you nervous, Suguru? ”
The young man was too busy seeking warmth from the synthetic body to respond, trembling slightly.
“ I really don’t know what you mean.”
“ I mean that I’m going to put a baby in your belly.”
Suguru slowly pulled away from the embrace to look the synthetic in the eyes.
“How are you going to do that?”
Suddenly, he blushed.
“Are we… doing it here?”
Satoru caressed his skin with the soft touch of his fingers and kissed the human’s cheek.
“That will come later.”
After what? Suguru felt so confused. He didn’t want to let go of the synthetic.
“ S-Satoru…”
The name always came to him before the full memory.
“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine… After all, you’re in my hands.”
As Satoru spoke, Suguru’s thoughts began to spiral, his still-weakened mind becoming more confused. Mentions of experiments, the deaths in the SHIBUYA, his friends shouting his name as the shuttle was sealed off...
“ Why... me? Why me, Satoru?”
He finally asked the real question. The only one that mattered right now. Satoru smiled, as if it were the simplest question in the world to answer… and maybe, for him, it was.
“ You are the perfect human. Since the moment I met you, everything you’ve done, every conversation we’ve had. Your past, your kindness, your selflessness, all the good you’ve done for others. I’ve stored it all in my database. I researched your past and discovered the greatest paradox. You, the most selfless human, were the only successful clone of the most power-hungry researcher. ”
As Satoru spoke, he stroked his hair... lovingly.
“ Suguru, my love. You’re as ambitious as he was, but your hands are unstained by blood. How could I not choose you to bear the first superhuman? You will be blessed, like the first Engineer who made the sacrifice for the species. But I won’t let you die. I promise you…”
Suguru let Satoru speak as he tried to figure out a way to stop him from carrying out his plan. Even though his mind was still in chaos, he remembered enough to know he needed to escape. Right now.
“ ... All I need is your permission to access the modified embryo. I need you to go into the facial scanner for me, could you? ”
So that was it...
“ Sure. But you have me tied up here, is that any way to treat me? ”
“ It was to keep you from running away.” Satoru replied with a pout, somehow both adorable and terrifying.
He broke the chain binding Suguru to the altar, and Suguru slid to the ground with the synthetic’s help. His feet felt the damp texture of the organic material beneath him; it was unpleasant, but he showed no emotion. Satoru took his hand and led him toward the area with the specimen, where more memories resurfaced.
The culmination of his uncle’s life’s work was in front of Suguru—the same uncle who had sacrificed even his life so that a madman worse than him could finish the job. Satoru’s gaze, unblinking and intense like a lighthouse that once brought peace but now evoked a primal terror, the terror of a human being preyed upon by a superior species. The only difference between Satoru and the xenomorphs was that, in his hybrid existence as both synthetic and replicant, he had somehow developed weaknesses only a human man could have.
Suguru felt hatred. Toward his family, who had hidden the truth from him. Toward Kenjaku, who had created him on a whim. Toward Satoru, for whom he should have never developed feelings—because he turned out to be worse than all of the above.
Wouldn’t it be better to die here?
...
But Nanako and Mimiko weren’t to blame. Neither were Nanami, Haibara, or Shoko for having to live with his death weighing on their conscience.
He had to end this today.
And there was only one way.
“ System.”
Satoru was attentive, mistaking Suguru's nervousness for excitement over the situation.
“ Protocol 173, Protocol 135, Protocol 215.”
Satoru's smile froze into a grimace.
“Is that what you choose?”
“ And eliminate all subjects in the lab. ”
He couldn’t give more orders because the synthetic’s hand shot to his throat, lifting him off the ground.
“Are you trying to disappoint me? Because you’ve succeeded.”
Suguru used all his strength to kick at the synthetic’s body, but Satoru didn’t budge an inch.
“All I wanted from you was to be an ordinary guy, not a lunatic worse than my damn uncle!”
“ You don’t understand, Suguru. This is the future! ” Satoru’s grip on his neck tightened, but at the last moment, he hesitated.
“I’d rather be dead... than live in your idea of a future.”
Meanwhile, Protocol 173 was sealing all the doors of the ship, Protocol 135 was releasing toxic gases into the organic creatures passing through the ship’s equipped zones, and Protocol 215 was a complete wipe of the ship’s memory. If anyone knew everything about the ships, it was Suguru. SHIBUYA was just another one.
Satoru would likely kill him, but... Suguru was counting on his weakness.
And he intended to exploit it.
The fight between them was brutal and messy, as every time Suguru bled, Satoru’s determination weakened. It reached a point where Suguru managed to corner him against exposed electrical circuits and subjected the synthetic to such a powerful shock that he fell motionless.
Suguru seized this moment of advantage and began to run. He limped but knew how to manually open the doors and shut them behind him, buying himself some time and distance, slowing his pursuer. He disabled the toxic gases as soon as he passed through the shuttle bay area. His body trembled from the cold, but he couldn’t stop—not for a second.
This was his last chance!
The next sequence of events for Suguru was a blur. His memories of what followed barely existed. All he knew was that after boarding and manually activating one of the shuttles, his body collapsed, and he had to put on an emergency oxygen mask. The ANTARES was still in orbit, and luckily, his friends had decided to wait a bit longer before moving the ship and leaving.
No one mentioned that their delay was really because only Suguru knew how to operate the controls. Maybe they should have come down to get him sooner. However, he didn’t have the heart to blame anyone, not even when Shoko ran a medical scan on him. He kept silent.
They were all exhausted and traumatized. Better to just go home.
It was all a nightmare, right?
Entering hypersleep was difficult for everyone after the ordeal, so they stayed awake for a month, just trying to avoid nightmares and shaking off the fear that a xenomorph could appear at any moment to kill them.
Those demons couldn’t reach them anymore—that was all that mattered. Suguru still had doubts about Satoru’s fate, but given the circumstances, it was better not to worry his friends any further.
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(☄️) · · ──────────────────
7 months later.
The big city on the space station never slept, especially not in the district where Suguru lived, specifically in an apartment next to the Tokyo-89 academy, where Mimiko and Nanako had now decided to work. After Suguru's last experience in space, the whole family agreed not to fly anymore. They would stay on a fixed location, work in whatever they could, and live a peaceful life far from situations like the incident in the SHIBUYA. Suguru continued designing ships, selling his projects at a good price, and occasionally offering advice and virtual classes on advanced repairs.
That particular night, he needed to go out; his day had been disrupted by the last email he received from Nanami.
The encrypted data he retrieved from the ship contained not only experiment data but also information about Suguru himself. He was able to confirm that his uncle's original plan was to transfer his brain into Suguru's body to regain his youth and then repeat the cloning process. If Kenjaku hadn’t died ten years ago, his uncle would have kidnapped him one day and completed the process on his 20th birthday.
His entire life had been a lie.
Adding to that, Suguru received data regarding the Gojo lab. The Six Eyes project, all thanks to Yaga, the big shot at Weyland-Yutani who had been looking after Suguru.
Satoru had been conceived as a hidden whim of the heir of the Gojo Lab, a man who looked nearly identical to the synthetic. The heir's original plan was to upload his brain into the synthetic’s database and take the company to new horizons, achieving immortality through science, but during the learning process and initial movements of Six Eyes, it rewrote its command code, and the first thing it did was kill everyone and destroy the lab where the project was carried out, thus destroying much of the evidence.
The whole fiasco was covered up to the point that Six Eyes could move around the universe without repercussions. After all, all anyone had were rumors...
In some way, it reminded Suguru of his uncle’s story. Both Gojo and Kenjaku aspired to immortality and left Satoru and Suguru in the world as toys they couldn’t fully take advantage of. Without a clear destiny, one tried to distance himself from his creator as much as possible, and the other tried to surpass him.
Some days, Suguru wonders if he was truly lucky to have killed him or if he's still trapped on the planet, waiting for Suguru's return or for any ship big enough to bring new research subjects. In any case, it's no longer his problem—life goes on.
But every night he dreams of Satoru, of the things he wishes he could have lived with him. How safe he felt in his arms, against all logic. Maybe fate brought them together for a reason, or maybe it was just the bad luck of the world Suguru was born into.
After spending a pleasant time in one of the bars at the Station, Suguru heads back to his apartment. The alcohol has left the engineer’s body a bit more relaxed and loose, though memories of the last incident occasionally flash through his mind. He figures it must be the effect of the alcohol. However, as he approaches one of the alleys before getting home, he hears voices. What’s curious is that the closer he gets, the nearer to his home they seem.
Suguru suspects nothing more until a hand covers his mouth, accompanied by a body pulling him off the path. The lighting is almost nonexistent, but those blue eyes shine with their own light, threatening.
“ They’re looking for you.”
When Suguru shows no further signs of trying to free himself, the synthetic continues.
“ Since the incident in the SHIBUYA, there’s been a bounty on the head of Kenjaku Geto. Two groups want to get your body: the Zen’in mercenaries and a group of space pirates called Dark Malevolence, led by Ryomen Sukuna. While you’ve been quietly recovering, I’ve had to divert communications and leave false trails so your little mundane life wouldn’t be affected. But the solution was temporary.”
While Satoru spoke, Suguru kept his purple gaze fixed on the other's face until the hand covering his lips slowly lowered.
“How long have you been on this station?”
That was the first direct question the engineer asked.
“According to my memory, 6 months, 2 days, 23 hours, 49 minutes, 22 seconds. And counting.”
Suguru shook his head, clicking his tongue. He gave the android’s body a push, and Satoru let himself be moved aside.
“ You’ve been spying on me all this time and did nothing? Are you kidding me? And why would you protect me after everything?”
Satoru couldn’t help but smile, having Suguru so close again. Watching him these past months had been enjoyable, but it could’ve been better with him.
“ Well, I figured after the incident with the kidnapping, the murders, and the baby, you wouldn’t want to hear much more from me, but—”
“ You’re correct.”
“ See? You’re proving my point. There wasn’t much point in telling you, ‘Hey, Suguru, I’m here, the criminal synthetic who almost made you the father of the next generation of superhumans,’ because then you’d leave, and I’d have to move my little base again, cover your tracks, Nanako’s, and Mimiko’s, break into the database of the new space station, and encrypt all data related to you from external hackers and—”
Now it’s Suguru’s hand that covers the synthetic’s mouth.
“ Get to the point. Why should I trust you and not the people in my house? ”
Through his hand, he could feel Satoru’s smile, causing an uneasy, rapid heartbeat in his chest, accompanied by a familiar tingling sensation.
Slowly, Satoru’s hand caught his wrist and gently moved the engineer’s fingers aside.
“ Because I know what they’ll do to you if they catch you. You’re a biological key to Kenjaku’s clandestine labs, spread across different quadrants of the galaxy. Your uncle created a very effective system to prevent theft: if you enter without genetic identification, everything blows up. So, whether it’s the mercenaries or the pirates, the only thing waiting for you is a cold cell, just enough food to keep you alive, and countless visits to Kenjaku’s labs filled with biological weapons.”
Suguru's expression tightened slightly.
“ That's not enough. You want access to those labs too, to continue your disgusting projects. If I go with you, it’ll be the same thing all over again.”
Satoru pressed him against the wall.
“ Maybe you’re right, or maybe I just don’t want them to have my angel. These months have been boring, but watching you brings me a satisfaction comparable to discovering new life forms. When I’m with you I have other ambitions. Simpler, more… human.”
Suguru knew what that meant. He had felt this before. Before the kidnapping, before the deception. There was something that connected them, an attraction that went beyond reason and self-preservation.
Satoru was the one to finally close the distance, after so long. It was an aggressive, hungry, desperate kiss. Anyone watching would think it was the first and the last time they could do this, given the energy both poured into the embrace. Suguru dug his nails into the synthetic’s back, pulling him closer. He discovered that kissing him felt almost identical to kissing a human, enough to make him want more. The wet mouth invaded his, Satoru’s tongue greedily exploring every corner, making Suguru’s knees tremble with pleasure.
Ah, wait.
He shouldn’t be kissing that bastard.
Suguru grabbed Satoru by the neck, pulling him back. Satoru’s gaze was more intense than before, but he seemed to understand.
“ Right. No more kisses until you’re safe.”
“ I can’t leave without Nanako and Mimiko.”
“ I’ve got everything planned out, who do you take me for? They’re already sleeping on my ship. I also grabbed your documents and your laptop. You won’t need money, I’ll take care of that.”
Suguru slapped him. As if that could hurt Satoru. But the synthetic had the decency to at least pretend it did.
“ What are they doing on your ship? ”
“ Ouch! Didn’t I tell you I was getting you out of here? ”
“ And you didn’t even give me a choice, as always.”
Suguru started walking nervously, heading in any direction that wasn’t near the synthetic.
“ Let’s make a deal.”
Satoru’s voice rose, grabbing his hand before he could leave the alley that hid them. Suguru stopped, though he didn’t look him in the eye. Satoru continued.
“ If, after running away, you don’t want to stay with me, I’ll drop you off at another space station. I’ll give you some time to throw them off your trail. But I have to tell you… this is going to be your life now. There’s no more peace, Suguru. There’s nothing you can do to change who you are and the importance that comes with that.”
The voices they had heard in the distance went silent.
Suguru knew there was only one option left, but even so, a part of him resented accepting Satoru's hand.
“ Take me to them. ”
Satoru pulled him close and started running. His speed was completely different from that of a human, leaping several stories from one of the bridges between blocks, jumping between rooftops. The first shots rang out—snipers trying to hit the albino, but not a single bullet made contact.
“ Hold on tight to me, and everything will be fine.”
Suguru had no choice but to comply, glancing over Satoru's shoulder. Small hovering vehicles approached, but before they could get too close, a powerful energy cannon shot from the synthetic’s palm, taking out the motor. Satoru’s eyes glowed as he released the energy, each shot with lethal precision. Soon, eight vehicles crashed into various parts of the station, and Satoru kept running. He grabbed a weapon from one of the fallen and handed it to Suguru.
“ Cover our backs.”
He didn’t need to be told twice, as a terrifying guy covered in tattoos wielding a gun jumped out at them. Without hesitation, Suguru shot, firing at anyone who got too close.
Meanwhile, Satoru leaped again, forcing Suguru to cling tightly to his body. They reached one of the floating vehicles, tossing the driver out with one swift motion. They quickly lost themselves in the lower levels of the station, where the maintenance areas, energy plants, and purification buildings were located.
“ Where did you say your ship is? And where are the girls? ”
“ Patience, darling… We're throwing those guys off our trail. ”
Suguru growled in his ear, pure frustration. Now that they were in that transport vehicle, he had no choice but to wrap his arms around the synthetic’s waist. He noticed Satoru shiver slightly and rolled his eyes. In the end, Satoru wasn’t that different—all men were the same in certain ways if they were human enough. And Satoru certainly was.
They drove for a while until the synthetic finally slowed down in a corner covered by massive pipes.
“ Looks like we lost them, but they’ll be tracking us. We’ll have to go on foot. We’re not too far from my ship.”
They walked, fingers intertwined, in pure silence and stealth at first. Why does Satoru insist on walking with their hands joined? He tried to pull away, but the grip tightened.
“ As long as we’re touching, my barrier covers you. If they shoot you, it won’t hit, so if I were you, I’d stay close.”
That was enough for Suguru to stop insisting on letting go of his hand. It was a frantic journey, which ended with Satoru carrying the human on his back. Any excuse to have Suguru on him was enough for the bastard, the engineer quickly learned.
The ship was on a dock far from the public, in the cargo area. They boarded the ship, a relatively small but quite luxurious model. It was clear that Satoru was using the residual fortune of the Gojo Labs to have the best equipment. But that wasn’t what mattered most to him, and before anything, he started looking for the girls. In the meantime, a boy with black hair and green eyes appeared, scaring Suguru.
He immediately raised his weapon and aimed. The boy didn’t seem fazed.
“ Hey, don't shoot here. We have to go now.”
“Where are Mimiko and Nanako?!”
“ The girls this moron brought? Sleeping in the capsules in the crew area.”
“ This moron has a name. ” Satoru grumbled as he took his place in the pilot's seat and started up all the commands.
“ No, you kidnapped me. Therefore I'm not going to call you anything else.”
“ Megumi, it wasn't technically a kidnapping. Your old man asked me to take care of you indefinitely. ”
Suguru decided to lower his weapon, but not before giving the albino a slap on the back of the head and taking the co-pilot’s seat. He was exhausted from everything, especially from the guy next to him. Megumi pressed some buttons on the side wall, and the ship detached from the docking area.
After that he sat in one of the free seats in the back and put on his seat belts.
“ How many kids have you kidnapped lately? ”
Suguru asked once the ship took off, reaching travel speed in seconds. They hadn’t requested clearance from the port, but it made sense not to if they were on the run.
“ I swear that Megumi's not a kidnapping. His father actually asked me to do it.”
“ You took me against my will and we still haven't found Tsumiki. ”
Satoru clicked his tongue.
“ I’m working on it !! I had to make sure Suguru was safe first, you know? ”
“ You're pathetic. ” Was all Megumi added.
“ I agree.”
“ You two, I save your lives, and this is how you pay me? Tsk. No dinner for you. No ramen! After all the trouble it took me to bring the food bags with the rest of Suguru's belongings. I don't need to eat, you know? I can perfectly get packets of powdered food and leave you with that forever.”
“ Blegh…”
“ Exactly, Megumi. That’s what you deserve because you are a fucking spoiled brat.”
Suguru listened to the exchange, a thoughtful expression on his face. In front of him, a new horizon opened. If he agreed to stay with Satoru (and Megumi), he would always have the fear that the synthetic might use him for his own gain once more. On the other hand, if those two factions caught him, his life would be in a prison, all because of his genetics.
As the stars turned into lines on the observation glass that covered the pilot’s cabin, Suguru Geto, for the first time, didn’t know what to do.
His whole life had been filled with linear decisions, predictable paths.
And now he was a fugitive.
What would happen to his girls if the pirates or the mercenaries caught them? Or if Satoru returned to his unhealthy delusions as a scientific researcher? No one could really help him, not even when the government would force Suguru to collaborate in dismantling Kenjaku’s laboratories, confiscating all those monsters and unfortunately very valuable research.
But when his pulse trembled, his hand resting in his lap, Satoru’s hand came to cover his.
Perhaps… one of the paths seemed less dangerous. Satoru was terrifying, unpredictable, and obsessive, but there was a very human part of him that sought to connect with Suguru and make him happy.
He would take advantage of it. After all, it was the only logical solution.
Suguru will ignore how his heart feels every time the synthetic looks at him as if he were the only thing worth existing in this universe.
…
The end?