For once, I saw the hurt clear on Glen’s expression, as if Hayden punched him in heart. He grew silent, composing himself behind a fragile barrier Hayden could easily poke through.

Hayden simply turned his face away, hiding his guilt with his own, much stronger, fortress.

Only the sound of our footsteps continued on our way to Ren who was already waiting at the end.

The door was too wooden to belong here, belonging to a fantasy novel than someplace so barren of life.

Words were carved crudely within the swirled design, ending at where the knob should be on a regular door. It looked to be easy to axe down if one out their heart into reenacting a movie scene. But Ren acted as if it held much more power than that.

Hayden looked as bewildered as I was. He would gladly weld that axe. Shifting me over to Glen, he moved to touch it.

“Don’t,” Ren hissed at him, like a father with an unruly child, “only the human is allowed. You’ll only damage what’s inside.”

“How do you know?” Glen had his eyes on Ren.

“Do we really want to risk it?”

“We don’t know what’s inside...right?”

Ren matched Glen, slowly nodding, “Of course.”

Hayden stepped back, letting me see what the words were. With the help of Glen, I was close enough to trace my fingers over the carving. I knew what it was--French.

It was some form a question, “What is…”

The peanut gallery behind me jumped in.

“The most common planet in the Capital’s ring?”

“The perfect time to seize your enemy and declare your dominance as victor?” Hayden in his natural form.

I snorted, shaking my head, “There’s not enough words for that. I need a second.”

Hayden:

It had to be him.

The man of many colors...I just need to hear his voice. I did feel guilty for hurting Glen, but he doesn’t understand. Morgan is a threat.

I’m frustrated that I don’t know who I am to them. If I am an elite, why was I on a rebellion ship? Is that why the Captain attacked?

For me?

Cut them out… Cut them out or you will die… I trace my fingers along my stomach, feeling no scars there. I haven’t carried yet. What world do we live in?

“What is the blue bird?” Kohl said in the background. The answer dances on my tongue before I even realize.

“Blue Bird,” I say, their eyes looking over to me. I closed my eyes as fragments of memory began to surface. I saw it before, I know I have. "It's a human allied ship. A symbol--"

"Of the Rebellion," Glen finished for me, “it makes sense.”

Kohl nodded slowly, his hand extended to me, “May I have your knife?”

I unhooked it from my side, placing it into his open palm. With a soft nod and intentional finger touching, he placed the tip to the wooden door and began to carve.

There was a click once the tip left the wood for good.

Kohl:

Something unlocked.

I gave the knife back to Hayden, pushing on the door until it gave way, falling straight with a loud crash. What we saw on the other side wasn’t what I imagined.

Beyond the door were only stairs that were haloed from heavenly light above. Surrounding it was nothing but darkness.

From the opening where the light shone through, the sound of songbirds chirped in an echo.

Hayden cocked his head. “Do you hear that?”

There were birds. Where there shouldn’t be. I furrowed my brow, entering the space to solve this mystery. They all follow, Hayden wrapping my arm around his shoulders to help me walk.

“They should really update their security questions,'' I commented, touching the railing, and got a glimpse of green in return. The glass of the dome also made an appearance.

Hayden reached out, piercing the light with his wiggling fingers. He looked over his shoulder at Ren who looked older than I ever thought possible. As if a burden was lifted from his shoulders, leaving a wisp behind.

“Go on, Emol,” He says to Hayden who nodded and walked with me into the light. Glen kept his guard up at the end of the party.

Everything that was colorful grew here in an untamed garden built for a world of Oz in the middle of nowhere. Vines grew on the swirling stone paths as a major trip hazard if one wishes to see where it ended. The birds we heard had perched themselves along the branches of towering trees, close to the dome’s ceiling in order to conduct their observations. They were just as colorful, some even more so. The icy wasteland raged on outside of the warm summery atmosphere in thanks to the dome’s embrace. There was a platform that gave the garden a second level, small steps leading to it where orbs above pedicals on either side to give a glowing effect to everything around it. In the back was something close to a nest with its own dome covering it.

Ren moved passed us, racing those steps and to that nest, where the air that was withheld within for decades released with a joyful smile. He slowly lifted the small dome for a closer look. There in the nest held...eggs?

Hayden and I got their last, Glen beating us with his gleam of delight, standing at the edge.

They were the size of an ostrich’s, pure white with dots fading in and out like a breath in sleep mode. Five in all. I felt the heat of the pad they rested in from where I stood. Hayden was frozen next to me, letting go of my arm.

“Are they…?” I began to ask. Ren nodded.

“Madu eggs,” He tells me, “they’re kids.”

Hayden reached out, touching one in awe. The egg responded by glowing brighter until he lifted his hand away. For a moment, nothing could peel his eyes away. Ren smile grew wider, speaking when Hayden escaped his trance.

“This is clear proof of who you are, Hayden. You are drawn to the future, the need to protect them runs strong. Like any emol.”

“Emol?” I arched a brow.

“They are those who carry the kids. The eggs.” Glen explained. “They are valuable because they are so rare. Merely hurting one will lead to a death sentence.”

“But Hayden’s a guy…”

“So?” he scoffed as if that fact was irrelevant, “just because he can’t carry as long as a female, doesn’t mean his contribution isn’t worthy.”

“How do they...you know?”

“By cutting them out.”

I thought back to Morgan and where his thumb moved. So he’s one too. I saw no scars on Hayden’s stomach from our act. Though to be fair I wasn’t really looking.

Hayden:

Ren looked like a man who never felt relief in years. When his eyes fell upon the eggs, nothing in his world mattered anymore.

I felt that draw to them, aching to be close. I wanted to hold each and every one of them and never let go.

I can never bring myself to hand them over to Morgan. It was as if doing so would result into something I repulse. Something I fought against…

“Give them a chance to live. Not to be caged. Emols are not tools for the Empire...they belong…”

“There’s only one reason they let us live. They need us. Perhaps not fully there in the head, but our bodies. It is easier to control someone who doesn’t nothing but lay there…”

"Remember me, Hayden...don’t let the Stranger take you away from me!”

I curled my fingers into a fist, my dots flaring. I do remember his face. I remember his name. I remember he was to me.

And gods, I remember that anger…

“They are Emols, like you,” Ren tells me, “Saved by those who dare to shape their paths as if they were the gods themselves.”

Glen reached for his radio, but I beat him to it, snatching it from his hands and pressing the button before he could protest.

I know Morgan was on the other there as I drew the silence, thinking of everything I wanted to say to him. He felt my presence, waiting patiently for the words of hatred from someone he was meant to love. Of all the things this universe had to toss out...

“I don’t care if I get to see you or not,” I spat, “Because I remember you. I remember what you did to me! You sick piece of sh*t!” Then I heard a chuckle and the words he dares to say. It came as dread that almost drown me right then and there. He sold me. I ran away. And he dares to say those words...

“My son.”