Part 2

This wasn't the warmth of blood, however. This was more like....

Fur?

"AAIIIIEEEE!!!" Susan scrambled backwards from the F'Val. The F'Val himself was awakened by Susan's scream.

"You total idiot..." the F'Val seethed. "You totally ruined it!"

Susan endured his rants for a while longer, before cutting him off. "Look, I know I'm probably the one who got us into this mess, but that doesn't change anything. We're here, now, and we have to decide what we are going to do about it."

The F'Val grudgingly accepted the logic of her decision. "I.... suppose so."

"Good. Now." Susan looked around. "We appear to be inside one of the Rachallian tunnels. From the looks of it, it's abandoned." She turned around. "The entrance to the surface seems to be blocked, so we have to find an alternate route out."

"Much as I hate to admit it, User, your logic is sound."

"Don't call me User. I have a name. It's Susan."

The F'Val said her name, as if testing it for palatability. "Mine is Gan. That's all you need to know."

"Okay, Gan. There's only one way to go. Shall we?"

The two of them began silently walking. Susan noticed that Gan kept his distance from her.

Ah, well. It was a start.

It began with some muttering from Gan about interfering Users. Susan retorted that she was trying to keep him away from the xenophobic foreman. Gan replied that he didn't need her lousy help anyway, and Susan slapped him.

They were about to start fighting when Susan's headache became severe enough for her to gasp in pain. She collapsed to her knees, and tried to resist screaming.

Surprisingly, Gan was at her side. "Are you okay?"

Susan couldn't nod. If she did, her head would've fallen off. Instead, she whimpered.

"Damn your eyes...." Gan muttered. He made her lie down, and got a water bottle from somewhere. "Here, this'll make you feel better."

Susan smiled wanly up at him, the migraine already receding. "Thank you."

Gan looked away. "It was nothing. I need you to get out of here, anyway."

For some reason, Susan didn't think that it was the only reason. In any case, she was well enough to proceed.

"Thank you," she said again. Gan merely grunted, although Susan could see the hint of a smile forming on his lips.

The two continued in silence.

"You sure?" Crysta said incredulously.

"I'm sure. I'm not infallible, you know."

"Oh, now you admit it," Kathy said.

Nick grinned at her.

"Now what?" Kavi asked.

"We send someone down to look for her," Peter said. "I'm going."

"Me too," Crysta added.

"No," Peter told her. "It's too dangerous. You never know when the tunnel might collapse."

"Which is why I'm going, you fool," Crysta said. "After all, if you get caught in a tunnel collapse down there, you need someone to save you, right?"

Peter looked a bit dubious at her reasoning, but agreed to her request.

"Left," she said.

"No, right."

"Left."

"Right."

"Left. Trust me, I've been here before."

"I say right. I've been here before too."

Susan felt her temper rising, but held it in check. "Fine. You go left and I'll go right. When I get out, I'll send someone down for you."

Gan walked into the tunnel on the right without saying a word.

Susan walked into the tunnel on the left. Damn Gan, and damn that bomb, and damn these damn Rachallian tunnels that seem to go every damn way....

She bumped into someone.

"Ow!" came Gan's voice. "Watch it!"

Susan looked back incredulously. It appeared that BOTH tunnels lead to the same place, converging to become one tunnel again.

Gan smiled weakly. "I guess I owe you an apology."

"Me too. I'm sorry for that."

The two of them walked in silence for a while. Finally, Susan asked, "Why do you hate humans so much?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Simply to pass the time."

Gan sighed. "My home was destroyed by humans. The entire system, gone in a day. I was happy there, but after the humans came...... I couldn't forgive them for destroying my home. When i heard of this group that worked against such injustices, I joined them. I've never regretted doing so."

Susan was speechless. That was exactly the same reason why she joined the Guardians. She and Gan had more in common than she thought.

"Tell me," Susan said. "What was your home like before the humans destroyed it?"

Gan looked dreamy for a while. "It was beautiful. Green grass, flowers, a forest where we used to have picnics in....." He shook his head. "No use dwelling in the past now."

Susan digested this information. After a few more minutes of walking, she asked him, "Why did you help me back then?"

He stopped. "What?"

"Why did you help me when I collapsed back then? I mean, we were just about to come to blows, but....."

Gan sighed. "I'm not too sure myself. I think it's because..... you reminded me of her."

"Who?"

"My sister. She was killed in the humans' attack....... she was a bit like you. Always wanting to help people. Kind, compassionate..... why are you crying?"

"Nothing," Susan mumbled. She had never thought of herself as kind and compassionate, and she remembered with guilt the negative feelings she had harboured for this F'Val, this damn F'Val who had somehow managed to make her cry.....

"Hell," Gan muttered. "If I knew this would be the outcome of my mission, I would never have volunteered."

"What?" Susan looked at him suddenly.

"Nothing."

Realization began to dawn. "You planted that bomb, didn't you?"

Gan was silent.

"You did plant that bomb," Susan said with growing anger. "You DID plant that bomb, you bastard! I lost my parents and my home to anti-human bastards like you! You and your terrorist bombs, you killed my entire village! People like you! You're the Apocalypse, aren't you?"

"What about it?" For the first time, Gan noticed her keytool. "Ah, shit..... you're a damn Guardian!"

"Damn you!" Susan slapped him across the face. Gan aimed a spin kick at her head, which she dodged. She came up with an uppercut, which Gan avoided easily, while diving for her legs at the same time. The two of them went down scuffling.

Gan had the advantage of experience in hand-to-hand fighting, but Susan was aided by pure rage. The two of them fought for while, neither able to gain the upper hand, and neither able to inflict major damage on the other.

Then there was a flash of blinding white light.

STOP THIS AT ONCE!

Gan looked dazed. Susan cried out in pain as that telepathic message caused her headache to come back in full force.

Gan shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs. "Damn Zeds...." he groaned. "Nearly burned out my mind..... oh no, not again."

Susan was curled up in a fetal ball, crying. She held her head in her hands, but it was apparent that the true hurt was not in her head, but in her heart.

Gan crawled over to her, but she aimed a weak kick at him. "Stay away from me, you bastard," she snarled.

"Ten years ago, is that it? The mission to Freymarind, to destroy the human colony here..... is that the one which took away your parents? Is that the one which destroyed your home?"

When Susan didn't answer, Gan slowly and painfully got up. "I just want you to know, that I was against the idea from the very beginning. The thought of attacking a defenseless village was not appealing to me at all. But the Triad wouldn't listen." He looked at her. "I'll tell the others where to find you. Goodbye." He started walking.

Susan continued crying, her sobs echoing down the empty tunnel.

"Crysta Xandi? Is that you?"

Crysta blinked. That voice..... she hadn't heard that voice in a long time..... it could only be....

"Commander?"

Gan walked out of the gloom. "Long time no see, Crysta."

Peter looked at Crysta. "Who is this guy?"

"Remember my stint in the Apocalypse?" Crysta said numbly.

Peter blinked. "I see."

Gan shook his head wearily. "I'm sorry," he said simply. He held out his hands, and made no protest when Peter put the restraints on him.

The rest of the group came down. "Nice work, Crysta," Nick said.

"Oh yeah," Gan said. "Your friend's still in there. Said something about a headache."

Ril paled. "Headache? Oh, my....." She ran into the tunnel.

"What did you do to her, Commander?" Crysta said with a dangerous tone in her voice.

Gan sighed. "I did nothing. The Zed is the one to blame. And so is the past."

Leaving the others perplexed, the former commander of the Apocalypse let Peter lead him away.

Do not worry. You will find out in time.