"Kyan, it's time for breakfast!"

"Coming!"

Kyan stood in front of the full length mirror and adjusted the sleeveless, black over shirt which lay loosely as intended upon the white, slogan T-shirt. He wore a black watch upon his wrist, that happened to have black three crystals imbedded in it's white face. Orion happened to have it commissioned for his birthday after Kyan described it to him once.

It had been a long year, his rehabilitation had taken up most of his time after the surgery as his brain had to learn to communicate with his body once more. Actually, the doctors had been quite surprised how quickly he relearned this, usually it could take up to five years for a full recovery considering the length of time his body had been out of touch with his mind. Kyan wondered if this didn't have something to do with his time in the Archive, after all, his mind had been actively commanding virtual bodies in there, it was just his body that needed to relearn.

He'd taken to studying while rehabilitating, refining his already able mind to understanding knowledge for this day and age, but within six months, he had taken and passed his first selection of exams for Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and had then taken on the challenge of other courses. They had called him a prodigy, a genius, but in truth, most of his knowledge was an amalgamation of almost a hundred lives learnings, some useful, some not.

And now he was enrolled into university and had taken on a double major. He'd chosen Advanced Technological Sciences, not hating this subject and wishing to help Orion when he graduated and Astronomy for his own reasons.

He glanced up at the small, two dimensional image stuck to the corner of his mirror and smiled sadly at it, as he did every morning. "See you, Dominic. I'll be leaving first."

He bounded down the stairs and grinned as he saw his two dads sitting impatiently at the table. No matter how busy the two men were, Orion with his Electronics business and Damien with his new security firm, they always made time to share breakfast with him. This morning it was pancakes. These were not as good as what his lover used to make, but they were still good.

"We'll have to import flour again," Orion was complaining as he tucked into the fluffy cakes, drizzled with maple syrup. Since being out of the Archive, none of them could stand replicated food anymore, which meant going out of their way to reach out to traditional and farming planets, mostly found within the Empire. Only the settlers and natives upon them knew how to grow good foods rather than rely on mass produced alternatives that were supposed to 'taste as good as the real thing.' However, importing was not cheap, even if it was generally en masse. Real meat was even more difficult to find due to restrictions in animal farming, hunting and imports.

"I will contact Chelsea," Damien said, as he cleared his plate. Chelsea was one of the survivors, one of the final five to leave the Archive in fact. She also now found the replicated food unpalatable, so had started up a fresh produce business that Orion had helped invest in. It was not strange to find that the survivors who Kyan had helped rescue were now her core customers.

Most of the 'survivors' had kept silent about the matter of the Archive, though not all.  One of the first to escape was rather over dramatic about the whole thing, but seeing as no one would confirm or deny what he claimed happened to him inside the Archive, only the tabloids and cheap magazines would publish his story upon their sites.  Apparently his words began an initial frenzy of questioning and protests, making the people, who were trying to keep the whole thing on the down low, job harder.  It blew over in a couple of weeks due to some celebrity scandal or other.

Of the last eleven to leave, not including Kyan, only three did not keep in touch.  One was Juanita Olivios, who had only vague memories and wished to forget everything that occurred.  The others were the married couple Destiny Canterbury and her husband,
Dominic Monticello.  Yes, Kyan's virtual lover, capturer of his heart and soul was already spoken for.  It was painful to find this out, but not as much as what Orion had discovered; Dominic did not remember him at all.

Burying the grief back inside his heart, he finished his breakfast and handed his plate to one of the house bots.  He shared a hug with Orion and Damien ruffled his hair in passing and plastered a smile on his face.  "I better get to class.  I'll see you again at breakfast if not sooner!"

"Stay safe, my dear," Orion bid him goodbye.  The two dads watched their adopted son leave the apartment, before turning to each other with a heavy sigh.

"He misses him," Damien said, quietly.

"Yes, but he doesn't want to meet him now and upset his life," Orion replied, feeling an ache for the child who had been both his friend and his child through several lifetimes.  "Were it me who was in his shoes and you in Dominic's, nothing would stop me coming for you."

"Impossible," Damien responded, bluntly, his arms crossed about his broad chest.  "I would never forget you."

"I never thought Dominic would forget Kyan either," Orion muttered and ran his hands through his dark curls.  "They were always so inseparable."  He flickered through his communication device over several news stories, before pausing.  "Do you really think he is as happy as she claims?" He asked as he read over the interview that the Supermodel gave the other day, where she stated her marriage was a very fulfilling and happy one.

"Who knows," Damien shrugged.  "Doubtful.  If she is anything like her incarnations, he will not be a happy man."

*****

Dominic was not a happy man. 

In fact at that moment, he was both angry and irritated.  How on Andromeda had they found him again?

Dominic let the camera swing about the strap on his neck.  It was an old fashioned digital device rather than a remote pod, but he had found satisfaction in not only taking the pictures manually while he was behind the viewfinder, but in seeing what he had captured also displayed in reality in front of him. He'd even sold one of his prints to the wife of one of his father's partners, who'd expressed interest when he accidentally left them at his office next to his brother's at the company.  It was a nominal office, it didn't really mean much more than an invitation for him to work under his brother's instruction, but he had been using it to stash his gear, away from that woman.

Their relationship had crumbled further, it couldn't do much else in the circumstances, but Destiny refused to face the fact that he was not interested in her. She had given interviews stating that their marriage was a like a 'beautiful dance between two participatants', 'their love a ribbon binding them' and like a 'happy dream one doesn't wish to wake up from.' In other words complete and utter bullshit. That was when he'd fled in search of somewhere he could relax and just be alone for a bit. He'd randomly booked a flight on a cruiser to a tropical resort, surrounded by lush vegetation and just a bit of wildness.

As he had walked into the tropical overgrowth, along the winding path set out and seen the mists gathering in the dawn light he had paused and captured the image on his quickly switched on communication device. Of course, that impulsive decision had seen his holiday cut short, the device having a tracker upon it. Destiny had told his family that he was suffering from some sort of depression, naturally they would hunt him down and take him back to watch over him. Like he was going to kill himself or something!  They didn't accept his reassurances that he was in his right mind.  He had been acting different since the incident, subdued, awkward at times and on top of it disappearing without word.  Why would they listen to him?

But staring at the beautiful scenery Dominic had captured in three dimensions that morning had stirred something deep within him, as if he had seen something a little similar, somewhere. He had wanted to capture the image again. He had discovered about old fashioned digital photography a little while later.

Even though the images produced were two dimensional and unmoving, somehow that gave them their own sense of life. Like traditional painting. He tried hard to find something to photograph upon the secure, urban planet in which he lived, but nothing stirred his heart. So he had taken off again and as he glanced out of the space station that he had arrived upon mid transport, his heart began to thud and he had reached for the camera to snap several star studded shots.

They found him that time almost two weeks later on a busy, highly developed planet, as he took pictures of the sunset painted sky, it's fiery colours painting nearby skyscrapers. These were not the only pictures he took. People's faces had begun to fascinate him, no, not their faces, but their eyes. As if their eyes told a thousand unspoken words, a true tale of their lives rather than the amicable look upon their faces.

So fascinated, he had convinced Destiny to let him take pictures of her and her model friends as the directors captured time-shots of them wearing fashionable garments for advertisements and magazines. However, though the pictures were not bad, they missed whatever it was he sought from them. Destiny had been happy that day, circling her arm about his as she showed off her husband to her friends. He had scrubbed off her lingering scent in the shower and rejected her advances once more that evening.

And just a few days ago, his Great Grandfather questioned why Destiny was not yet with child. Destiny had been to one to field his comments, saying she was still young and at the peak of her career. That Dominic and herself wished to be selfish a while longer and enjoy each other's company more. And when they had returned home, Destiny had suggested that they produce a child in an artificial womb. Using her egg and his sperm, it was what she had always planned to do eventually. Stretch marks and getting fat for nine months was not on her agenda. He had refused bluntly.

"Do you wish others to know about your impotency?" She had threatened. "Seeing as you refuse to lie with me, it's not as if we have any other choice."

"I will not bring a child into this farce of a relationship!" He had yelled back.

"Well whose fault is that!" She screamed, tears forming in her angry eyes. "I love you, but you deny me at every turn! It's all the fault of that...! Forget it! You are mine, you can only be mine!" She had returned to her room and thrown whatever was to hand against the wall.

He had felt a little guilty, as he often did, but more freaked out by her growing obsessive behaviour. If he could apply for divorce, he'd do so in a heartbeat, but he knew she would not make it easy for him.  And then there was the heavy expectation of their families.  Packing up a bag, he had headed for a small desert world, that couldn't even be considered a tourist destination. And as the heat beat down upon his neck and the wind captured and teased the sands, a ship had landed not too far from where he stood taking pictures of the dunes. He took one last shot of that ship against the backdrop of the desert and went to face his fate.