Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis
Chapter 18

Inside of the underground shelter, Rikki is focusing on the live news broadcast on her touchscreen tablet. It seems that the vaccine is being administered ahead of schedule. Strange how the plan is being altered now given the tremendous risks involved. Oh, well...it isn’t her place to question her superiors. For some reason, she’s starting to think about her fond experiences with Gina and is hoping that she has not become infected.

Haruka sips on her tea as she watches people from all parts of the world getting vaccinated on her TV. Luckily, she, as well as her father, did not become infected. She gently places the cup on the saucer and says to herself, “Well. That was quick.”

Haruka’s cell phone begins to ring. She picks it up and sees that it is Ken. She answers the call by asking in Japanese, “Yes, my love?”

[J]“It is done. We have been given the vaccine.”[J]

[J]“Great news.”[J]

[J]“Yes. We will be arriving there shortly.”[J]

[J]“I understand. I’ll see you soon.”[J]

In the recreation room of Atlantis, Henry is playing pool with David. He prepares to hit the cue ball in order to sink the eight ball in the corner pocket. The tip of his stick hits the white ball which, in turn, hits the eight ball gently. Henry gets frustrated when he sees that the black ball will miss the side pocket by just a few inches. He notices that David is not looking at the table and decides to bend the rules a little bit. Henry becomes invisible at this point and makes his way toward the corner of the pool table. The eight ball changes direction and, just as it is about to go straight into the hole, David’s stick is seen blocking it from entering. David grins and says, “My turn, you goddamn cheater.”

Henry chuckles and materializes seconds later. He asks David, “You think we’ll ever go back?”

David firmly holds his stick with both hands and, while leaning on it, replies, “I don’t know, Henry. In the blink of an eye, our lives have changed. I hope so.”

Indrid flips to the next page of her Incredible Hulk comic book. She is sitting on her bed dressed in her black pajamas while remembering those simple times of her childhood. Those memories make her smile. Even though she was always inside that small bubble in the basement of the Frankenstein household, she found the meaning of the family bond. Indrid rests her head on the pillow and says to herself, “I’m sorry that you lost your home, Ludwig.”

Dr. Frankenstein strokes his goatee as he, along with Commander Derceto, views the televised broadcast of the Presidential news conference. Not surprisingly, Diana Garrison is seen standing right next to the President as he answers the myriad of questions.

“President Townsend. Many are speculating as to how the vaccine could’ve been created in such a short amount of time.”

“Yes, of course. I think I’ll let Miss Garrison explain.”

The President steps aside and Diana approaches the podium. She stares at the reporter and says, “Unfortunately, there were some corrupt elements within our organization.”

Dr. Frankenstein grins and whispers, “You don’t say.”

Suddenly, a female reporter covers her mouth as if to prevent herself from vomiting. Shortly afterwards, she begins salivating and looks up at the podium. Diana notices her and nods. The reporter then hisses and bites the neck of the person standing next to her.

Haruka and her father gasp at what they are witnessing on live television. Ryu asks in Japanese, “What is this?”

Haruka remains silent while she thinks about the bizarre event which just unfolded. She wastes no time and runs toward the living room to grab the katana sword hanging on the wall. Haruka then shouts, [J]”Stay where you are, father!”[J]

She hears a knock on the front door and immediately goes into her battle stance. Ken is heard asking, [J]”Haruka? Father? Are you both unharmed?”[J]

After an uncomfortable silence, Ryu replies by shouting, [J]”We are unharmed, my son! Open the door, Haruka.”

Even though she does have a bad feeling about this, she places the sword against the wall and respectfully bows her head at her father. Haruka cautiously walks toward the front door and prays that her assumption is proven wrong. The last thing she wants is to kill her father’s only son right before his eyes. She opens the door, greets her husband as he, along with his bodyguards, steps inside. They all appear to be fine but she remains wary as she shuts the door completely.

Ryu closely examines Ken to make certain that he does not exhibit any kind of the strange behavior that he observed earlier on the news. So far, he seems to be normal. He asks him, [J]”Did you watch the news on television, son?”[J]

[J]”Yes, father. Quite disturbing, to say the least.”[J]

Ryu glances over at Haruka and notices that the bodyguards seem to be behaving strangely. As if they are waiting for the order to kill her. Ken turns his head to look at them and shouts, [J]”Enough!”[J]

Upon seeing their unwillingness to obey, Ryu tosses the katana blade toward his daughter and yells, [J]”Haruka!”[J]

She pushes the guards aside and catches the sword with one hand. She then uses her katana to chop off four fingers of the guard in front of her and decapitates him seconds later. Haruka suddenly replaces herself surrounded and prepares to defend herself. She senses someone approaching to grab her from behind and performs a split. Haruka pulls out her handgun and fires a shot right into the man’s testicles making him scream in agony. She then swings her katana in a rapid motion and manages to sever off numerous feet from the other men’s ankles. Haruka uses her hands to push her body into the air and lands on her feet. One of the guards pulls out a gun and points it at her.

After a second passes, she uses the dull end of her sword to slap his wrist as soon as he pulls the trigger. The bullet hits the man next to her right in his throat which makes him grab his neck and fall to the floor. Her next two swings of the katana results in the slicing off of the guard’s hand followed by a decapitation. Haruka dodges an attack with a katana from behind and before she even has a chance to use her handgun, it gets kicked away from her hand. She avoids another attack with a back-flip and lands on top of a stool. After poking an eye out, Haruka jumps off of the stool, lands on the floor and rolls on the ground toward her father and husband.

Ken is astonished at how Haruka managed to decimate most of his men in such a short period of time. He truly underestimated her abilities. As he reaches for his gun, Haruka leg sweeps causing him to fall backwards and land directly one of her katanas. The blade exits his shoulder and he screams in agony.

Haruka tosses him aside, grabs her father’s hand and proceeds to run toward the front door. Moments later, she opens the driver’s side door of the limousine and quickly gets inside. Ryu enters the limo as well. After slamming the door shut, she turns on the engine and shifts the gear into drive. The vehicle’s tires screech loudly as it moves forward helping them escape from the dangerous scene.

Indrid is sitting down in her usual position on her bed while observing a whale pass by. She suddenly hears the voice of Haruka shouting in desperation, “Indrid Cold! My father and I need your help! Please!”

Indrid quickly stands up and thinks in response, “Haruka Miyazaki. I will come for you.”

Minutes later, Barbara notices Indrid walking toward the docking area at a brisk pace and asks her, “Indrid? What’s going on?”

As Indrid presses a button on her wrist, she explains to the approaching Barbara, “Haruka Miyazaki and her father are requesting assistance. They seem to have avoided infection.”

Barbara takes her hand without hesitation and says, “I’m coming with you.”

This takes Indrid by surprise. She is still trying to get accustomed to being part of a team, it would seem. They both get surrounded by the white light and disappear shortly afterwards.

Haruka hears a gunshot and immediately senses the car’s tire getting blown out. She does her very best to maintain control of the vehicle as Ryu yells in Japanese, “My daughter! If this is the end for us, know that I love you!”

[J]”I love you, father.”[J]

Haruka makes peace with herself and closes her eyes tightly. She would rather take her own life than to be eaten alive by the monstrosities waiting for them outside. Ryu sees her driving off the road and toward the edge of the cliff. He feels the sickening sensation of vertigo as the car tilts downward and begins falling at a high rate of speed. Haruka closes her eyes again and whispers, “Rikki...”

Barbara’s voice is heard shouting, “We got you, Haruka!”

She opens her eyes to replace that Indrid did in fact save them just before crashing into the rocks. Her father kisses her on the cheek and hugs her tightly while they both let out a teary eyed laughter. Haruka rises to her feet and embraces Barbara. She tells her, “Thank you, Barbara-san.”

Indrid says, “We will be taking the both of you to the city of Atlantis.”

Haruka gives Barbara a befuddled expression which makes her say in response, “Yeah, Haruka. Believe it.”

Haruka grins as she nods and asks Indrid, ”Ummm...Indrid? Can I ask for one other favor?”

Melanie is watching the news with Rikki and asks, “What the hell was that?”

Rikki is biting her fingernail at this point and replies in a low tone, “This isn’t supposed to happen.”

Adam steps closer to her and asks, “Did you just say this isn’t supposed to happen?”

Melanie becomes startled when she sees a white light begin to surround her body. She frightfully asks everyone, “Um, guys? Do you see what I’m seeing?”

Rikki fears that this may be coming from the city in the sky so she pulls out her shotgun while shouting, “All of you get behind me!”

Just as the group obeys her command, they all disappear from sight. Rikki replaces herself looking at a strange female creature with two hair colors and an older Asian man. This causes her to aim her gun directly at both of them. As they both raise their hands to surrender, a familiar voice is heard saying, “Stand down, soldier.”

Rikki’s eyes open wide and a tear rolls down her cheek. She whispers, “Gina?”

Her gun drops to the floor as she watches Gina walk toward her. Gina wipes the tear from her face and says softly while embracing her in her arms, “I came for you.”

Rikki hugs her tightly and begins to cry uncontrollably. They then kiss each other passionately while Terry, Adam and Melanie all watch in amazement. Terry leans over and says to Adam, “Whoa. Am I imagining this?”

Melanie elbows him in the ribs and tells him to shut up. After they finish kissing, Indrid arrives and greets her by saying, “Welcome, Rikki Hillman. I am Indrid Cold.”

Rikki cannot believe what is standing in front of her. She asks, “Where are we?”

Barbara explains, “On board a space ship and we’re on our way to Atlantis now.”

Rikki doesn’t know how to respond to this and instead looks at Gina. Haruka laughs and says, “True story. Oh, and my name is now Haruka Miyazaki. That’s my dad. Ryu Miyazaki.”

With a look of shock on her face, Melanie asks in a low voice, “A space ship?”

Soon afterwards, she faints and falls to the floor. Terry looks at an equally frightened Adam and says, “Come on! This is awesome!”

A beep is heard followed by Dr. Frankenstein asking, “Indrid? May I ask where the hell you are right now?”

Barbara whispers, “Uh, oh. We’re in trouble.”

Indrid replies, “My apologies, Ludwig. I have rescued several human survivors. I am returning to Atlantis.”

The doctor pauses for a moment and asks, “Did I just hear you correctly?”

Indrid turns off the ship’s communications and says to Barbara, “He really does need to calm down sometimes.”

The ship accelerates until it disappears and makes a sonic boom in the horizon.

Abaris opens the door of Diana’s bedroom and watches her getting dressed. She tells her softly while bowing her head, “I apologize for the intrusion, mon maître.”

“What is it, Abaris?”

“We have spotted their ship. Shall we terminate it?”

“No. Send one of the drones to follow it. I want to replace that fucking city and destroy it.”

Diana then looks at a very pale President Laird in shackles and tells him while laughing, “Wow. You look like shit, Mr. President.”

Indrid’s ship dives into the ocean followed shortly afterwards by a transparent sphere. Melanie is sitting down while holding a white ice pack on her head. Adam asks her, “Feeling better?”

She becomes angry and replies sarcastically, “Yeah. Thanks for catching me, by the way.”

Rikki and Haruka watch from the cockpit in disbelief as they approach the majestic underwater city of Atlantis. Indrid swipes her hand and rapidly types the security password into the keyboard. Rikki confesses, “I’ve seen secret documents about something out here...but I never expected this.”

Haruka tells her, “It all feels like a dream.”

Indrid grins and adds, “There is truth to many myths.”

An opening appears which resembles the formation of a whirlpool. As the ship slowly accelerates and begins to make its way inside, the transparent sphere behind it stops just in front of the entrance. It pulsates various times and begins transmitting coordinates.

Back in the secretive city beneath Denver’s Airport, one of the system analysts observes the coordinates and says to Diana, “25 North, 71 West.”

She slams her fist on the armrest of her chair and shouts, “Fire the main cannon at once! I want that city gone!”

As an opening appears nearby one of the airstrips, gears are heard and a large cannon can be seen exiting. It then begins to position itself and the tip glows as it prepares to fire.

Dr. Frankenstein watches Indrid’s ship arrive at the docking bay and says to himself, “You will be the end of me, Indrid.”

The crew appears directly in front of him while the whirlpool closes. Barbara says to him, “Before you flip out, doc. They asked Indrid for help.”

Melanie feels a few drops of water land on her head and she looks up to replace a somewhat transparent sphere hovering above them. She points at it and asking everyone loudly, “Excuse me. Is that part of Atlantis?”

Dr. Frankenstein takes a step back and replies, “No. How did this get in here?”

Indrid attempts to analyze it and becomes shocked to replace about twenty wendigos inside. She shouts, “We have intruders!”

Her body begins to get surrounded by a black mist when, suddenly, she gets shot in her neck by a long dart. Before she can pull it out, she screams as her body gets shocked by an incredible force that seems stronger than a bolt of lightning. As her body collapses to the floor, Dr. Frankenstein runs toward her while yelling, “Indrid!”

The sphere disappears and the wendigos are seen falling down. They land on their feet and the leader proclaims, “You are all dead!”

Barbara yells at Dr. Frankenstein, “Get them out of here!”

Haruka pulls out both of her katanas and shouts to Barbara, “You get out of here, too! If some thing’s heading this way, you all need to survive it. I’ll take care of them.”

Rikki screams, “No! You’ll die!”

Haruka briefly looks at her and says angrily, “I owe Indrid for saving my father’s life. I’ll gladly do this for all of you...now get moving!”

Dr. Frankenstein grabs Rikki by the wrist and says, “We don’t have much time.”

Terry picks up Indrid’s unconscious body from the floor. As they all run down the corridor, Dr. Frankenstein shouts into his wrist, “Commander! Collapse this corridor!”

Commander Derceto is heard asking, “Doctor? What is...”

He interrupts her by saying, “The city has been fired upon! Do as I say...now!”

While running, Melanie takes a quick glance behind her and watches in horror as the corridor’s field holding the ocean begins to collapse behind them. Dr. Frankenstein opens the door and orders, “Hurry! Everyone inside!”

Melanie trips and falls to the ground. Barbara hears her scream and turns back to rescue her. Just as Barbara takes her by the hand and lifts her up, the ocean swallows them up. The force of the water entering Atlantis is so strong, that it pushes Dr. Frankenstein several feet away. His head hits one of the pillars which renders him unconscious. Alexandria arrives and kneels next to him while shouting, “Dad!”

Adam points at the water entering the city and shouts, “Barbara’s still out there!”

Alexandria tells him, “Wait here.”

She runs as fast as she could and dives into the ocean. Her body instantly transforms and she begins frantically searching for Barbara. Alexandria finally spots her spinning out of control and quickly makes her way toward her.

Haruka’s face changes into that of a cold blooded killer as the wendigos surround her. Her grip on the katanas tighten and she tells them, “You will all die before I do.”

The leader laughs and asks, “Is that so? Lady...you need a math lesson.”

He quickly pulls out his gun and fires at her. Haruka successfully dodges the bullet and flings her knife which causes it to hit the leader right in the eye. His lifeless body falls to the floor. The remaining wendigos are shocked at this unexpected outcome and pull out their swords. Haruka pulls out her sword, cracks her neck and prepares for battle.

The wendigos scream like animals as they charge at Haruka. She jumps and does a back-flip avoiding a strike. She lands on the floor, blocks one strike from the front and ducks to dodge a jab from behind which slices a wendigo’s throat. Haruka chops his arm off but gets kicked in her face causing her to spin around. She blocks the strike from behind with her sword and jumps up landing on his shoulders. Haruka then screams as she buries her katana into his back and, quickly afterwards, performs a sideways flip.

Haruka lands on her hands and pushes herself into the air again. At this point, a wendigo’s blade barely scratches her head. She sticks her katana into one of the attacker’s eyes and throws him at another knocking him down. One of the wendigos leaps at her while swinging his sword at her head. She blocks it and rapidly ducks to avoid another strike. Blood splatters everywhere as the back of her foot breaks his nose. Haruka spins around like a ballet dancer dodging a strike from behind and chops his head off. She dodges and blocks a numerous amount of attacks. Haruka grabs the wrist of a wendigo soldier that has a gun pointed, twists it and kicks the gun away before it touches the floor. She then stabs him through his neck and kicks him toward the two soldiers in front of her effectively knocking them down.

Commander Derceto arrives and places her hand next to the doorway. She says loudly, “We need to close this door now!”

Adam yells, “No! Wait!”

All of sudden, Barbara and Melanie are seen as they are pushed inside by Alexandria. Just as Alexandria is about to enter, Rikki approaches her and shouts, “There’s still someone in the docking area! Did you see her?”

Alexandria shakes her head and replies, “No! I didn’t!”

Derceto tells her, “Get inside, princess. I’m closing this door and we’re leaving Earth now!”

Alexandria can’t help but feel Rikki’s pain. She says to Derceto, “Close this door behind me, commander.”

She leaves once again and Commander Derceto obeys her order. The door closes cutting off the stream of water that was entering. Derceto looks at everyone and says softly, “This is madness.”

Diana hears one of her engineers shout, “Cannon is fully charged!”

She grins in response to that wonderful news and orders loudly, “Fire!”

The tip of the cannon pulsates and fires a tremendous blast of red energy. Diana sits back and takes a sip of her blood in the wine glass. Afterwards, she says to herself, “Goodbye, Doctor. Without you, all of this wouldn’t have been possible.”

A wendigo shrieks as his leg gets chopped off by Haruka’s katana and he falls to the floor. Her back gets sliced making her shout in Japanese, “Shit!”

She dodges the next three strikes and grabs his wrist. Haruka jumps in the air while holding his wrist and flips him through the wall and into the ocean. She replaces this fascinating and loses her concentration. She screams in agony as the final wendigo chops her arm off. Haruka falls to her knees while holding her arm as blood gushes out. The wendigo places the tip of his gun on her forehead and says, “Holy shit, you’re one tough bitch. I will savor every inch of your flesh.”

Haruka closes her eyes and whispers, “I love you, father. I love you, Rikki.”

A gunshot is heard...but she is surprised to replace herself still alive. Haruka opens her eyes to replace a terrified young girl in front of her holding a smoking gun. She groans in pain as she rises to her feet and says, “Thank you...whoever you are.”

Alexandria replies, “No problem.”

They both become startled as they feel the entire docking bay shake violently. Alexandria drops the gun and says, “We need to get out of here.”

The ocean floor beneath Atlantis begins to shift as the city dislodges itself. It then proceeds to move toward its right. Queen Thessalonike is seated on her throne and holding on tightly to prepare for the impact of the incoming blast from above. Commander Derceto shouts, “Impact in five, four, three, two...”

The section of the city closest to the blast sustains so much damage, that it breaks completely off and explodes. The force makes the queen lose her grip and she falls down the marble steps. Derceto kneels next to her and says, “We’ve completely lost the southwestern section of Atlantis.”

As Thessalonike rises to her feet, she shouts, “We must avoid another strike! Full speed now!” She whispers, “May the gods protect you, my daughter.”

Indrid’s ship is tumbling out of control as a result of the powerful blast. Alexandria is trying her very best to regain control and a pale Haruka asks in a raspy voice, “You can fly this thing, right?”

“Uhhh...well. I’m sorta winging it here. But I got the basic idea.”

The ship eventually levels out and Alexandria begins to smile. She says, “Okay. I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

She looks ahead to see that Atlantis is accelerating at an alarmingly fast rate. Alexandria tells Haruka, “Uh, oh. This is bad. How do you make this thing go faster?”

She pushes on the controls but this results in the ship taking a dive. Alexandria says, “Oops...that’s not it.” and pulls to level it out.

She finally remembers to twist the right control clockwise and the left counterclockwise simultaneously. This causes the ship to instantly move forward at a blazingly fast speed and she shouts excitedly, “There we go!”

Atlantis exits the ocean and continues to fly upward. Indrid’s ship is seen exiting a minute afterwards. Indrid senses this and immediately tells the queen, “Alexandria and Haruka have survived! They are following the city, your highness!”

Queen Thessalonike grabs Commander Derceto’s arm and breathes a sigh of relief. She says with tears in her eyes, “She is alive.”

Derceto squeezes her hand and replies, “And extremely brave.”

Abaris clenches her fist and says to Diana while biting her lower lip in frustration, “Merde. They have escaped. We can still destroy them, mon maître.”

Diana bites on her fingernail for a few minutes and replies, “No. I have what I want. Queen Thessalonike is a pacifist. She’s more concerned with the welfare of her people...let them go.”

She stands up and, as she walks away, adds, “I’m still a bit angry, though. I’ll be in my room taking it out on our special guest. You’re in charge for now, Abaris.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein is laying down in a bed recovering from his concussion. He glances at the window to look at the blackness of space and says to himself, “We made it.”

The door of the room slides open and Alexandria runs inside. She takes his hand and asks, “Are you okay, dad?”

He grins and replies, “I’m fine, konfect. It’s just a mild concussion.” He quickly asks, “Haruka?”

Alexandria nods and tells him, “You won’t believe it...I actually went and saved her. I’m still amazed at myself.”

Dr. Frankenstein says proudly while patting her head, “You take after your uncle.”

She hesitates for a moment and tells him, “Haruka might need your help, dad. She lost her arm.”

“Well...I’m sure I can fix her up.”

Melanie looks down at both of them and says, “I’m glad you’re okay, Mr. Frankenstein.”

The doctor nods and tells him, “And I’m glad you’re here with us.”

Haruka slowly opens her eyes and turns her head to see Rikki sitting down next to her. Rikki starts crying and says, “Hey. Welcome back.”

Haruka asks in a gravelly voice, “Rikki...am I dying?”

Rikki touches her forehead and replies, “No, baby. You’re going to make it. Don’t you ever do that to me again.”

Haruka glances down to where her arm used to be. She asks, “Where is my father?”

Ryu’s voice is heard speaking a rough English saying, “I am here, Haruka.”

He appears on the other side of her bed and rests his hand on her shoulder. The pain medication in Haruka’s bloodstream makes her succumb to the urge of falling back to sleep.

Wolf is holding Phoebe’s hand as he gazes out of the window to look at the stars. She looks up at him and asks, “Aren’t the stars beautiful, Wolf?”

He grins and replies, “Stars. Pretty.”

Phoebe takes a moment to think and says, “I’m gonna miss Earth. I hope we can go back soon.”

Fluffy arrives and barks loudly. She seems him and, as soon as she tries to pick him up, he runs away. Phoebe’s hair turns red while she shouts, “Fluffy! Wait!” and runs after him.

Commander Derceto stands next to Queen Thessalonike and informs her, “We should be arriving to Meropis in five days, my queen.”

The queen does not reply right away. She thinks about the years that the people of Atlantis have lived on Earth and feels somewhat ashamed to have abandoned the planet. She finally asks Derceto, “Did I do the right thing? I sometimes ponder what Alexandria mentioned about fighting for what’s ours. She could have tried rescuing that boy...Joshua. But she did not.”

The commander replies confidently, “I stand by your decision. The day will come for us to reclaim Earth...and the princess will reunite with him. I am sure of it.”

Thessalonike smiles and, as she walks away, says, “Thank you, old friend. I will be with Ludwig if you need me for any reason, commander.”

Queen Thessalonike arrives at Dr. Frankenstein’s room to replace that he is no longer there. She says to herself, “I should have known.”

A small red box resting on his pillow captures her attention. The queen walks toward the bed and takes the box. She decides to open it and gasps when she replaces a ring with a glistening diamond. Dr. Frankenstein is heard saying, “You have always loved me, Thessa. Even though I was hardly here with you and our daughter.”

Thessalonike feels his arms wrap around her body from behind and begins to cry. He then asks her softly, “Will you marry me?”

She turns around to look him in the eyes and replies, “Of course, I’ll marry you.”

They both give each other a passionate kiss and begin to remove each other’s clothes. Alexandria spots them making love to each other and uses her hand to prevent Melanie and Adam from approaching. She closes the door right away and pushes her while laughingly saying, “Moving right along!”

Melanie utters in confusion, “Hey!”

Although Alexandria is laughing as she pulls on Melanie’s wrist, she feels a profound sense of envy toward her parents. As well as Melanie and Adam...Henry and Dawn...Rikki and Haruka. Everyone is enjoying the sensation of true love while she had to sacrifice it. It just doesn’t seem fair.

Barbara is in the training room of Atlantis preparing for target practice. She loads the magazine into her pistol and aims. Her target appears and she immediately begins firing. All of the bullets hit the center of the approaching target flawlessly. Barbara places her gun on the table and takes a moment to observe her handiwork. She sighs and says to herself, “Well, that’s not as challenging as it used to be.”

Henry says while approaching her, “Uh, yeah. With that eye of yours there’s really no point in doing this, Barbara.”

Barbara nods and says, “I know, Henry. It just makes me feel human.”

She asks Alexandria, “How’s your dad, Alex?”

Melanie holds back her laughter which makes the princess punch her shoulder. She replies with embarrassment, “Ummm...recovering quite well. Hey...we’re gonna get a bite to eat. Come with?”

Barbara replies, “Sure. Give me a few minutes.”

As she gathers her things, she can’t help but think about Frank Garrison and wonder if he managed to survive.

Several hours later, Dr. Frankenstein enters Haruka’s room and shakes Ryu Miyazaki’s hand. He looks down at her and asks, “How are we feeling? Isn’t that what doctors usually ask?”

Haruka grins slightly and replies, “I’m thinking about my new life as a lefty.”

The doctor asks, “Miss Miyazaki? Did you know that I gave Barbara her prosthetics? What if I said that I can do the same for you?”

Haruka takes a quick glance at Rikki and then looks at him again. She asks while feeling a bit apprehensive, “Really? Will it feel the same?”

Barbara answers her question by saying, “It feels slightly numb at first. But, eventually...Yes, it will.”

Dr. Frankenstein smiles and asks, “Shall we begin, Haruka?”

The following day, Dr. Frankenstein is assisting Haruka become accustomed to her new arm. He tells her, “Close and open your hand, Haruka.”

She does as he orders. The doctor analyzes the data on the computer screen and says with satisfaction, “Excellent.”

Afterwards, he takes a needle and says to her, “Open your hand. I’m going to be testing your nerve ending sensitivity.”

Haruka flinches as she feels the sting of the needle on each of her fingertips. Dr. Frankenstein places the needle back on the tray and says, “Everything is working fine and your body is not rejecting the prosthetic. Just remember that you’re going to feel a bit of tension as the muscle tissue falls into place.”

Rikki grins at him and says, “Thank you, doctor. We really appreciate it.”

He rises to his feet and replies, “You are very welcome. Make sure she gets some rest.”

Barbara is leaning on the doorway and nods at Dr. Frankenstein as he walks by. She smiles at Haruka and says, “Welcome to the freak show, Haruka. You should do the other arm, y’know.”

Haruka laughs and tells her, “Shut up.”

Barbara walks to the edge of her bed and says to Rikki, “I’ll take over. You need to get some sleep, Rikki.”

Rikki kisses Haruka’s forehead and tells her, “I’ll be back, baby.” She then says to Barbara, “Thanks.” and makes her way out of the room.

Haruka asks, “What’s it going to be like on this new planet?”

Barbara pauses for a moment and explains, “The good news is that there’s oxygen. The bad news is that the composition is so different that our bodies cannot process it correctly. We’re going to have to live in the ocean.”

Haruka thinks for a moment and says, “I guess we have no other choice.”

Barbara sits down on the chair and says, “Dr. Frankenstein is hoping for some kind of revolution back on Earth. He thinks that could give us the opportunity to overthrow Diana.”

Haruka looks at her and replies, “That may take a very long time.”

Barbara nods in agreement and begins to cope with the possibility of not ever going back to Earth. Is all hope really lost?