"What is it?" Teeno asked straight, his features completely void of the revulsion he felt rolling in the pit of his stomach.

"Hyakan guts. You know the Hyakan, right? They're a drone colony similar to the Xani, but not so hideous. That's what she'd tried to put in me. She should have put me under. It got botched; didn't take so well. I'm still here, disobedient and kicking.

"But I have to say, I was pretty complacent for a while. I was an empty shell.

"By the way, did you know if you take off the breastplates of the Gilded, you'd find the same thing as me? I mean, far prettier. Grandel did a much better job when his subject wasn't awake and thrashing around.

"I can't tell you how long I wandered Olympi like a shadow.

"There was a little bit of my old self in me that was willing to make a small plan — to visit her and see if being in her arms would bring back something good and familiar.

"I stood by her door for so long, waiting for her to open it. Eventually, she did.

"At her side was a man. A beautiful man with dark skin and a large, thick beard. His hair fell in long curls down his back and his heavy whiskers went to the middle of his naked chest. He was beautiful. His chest was so broad and tight, I felt the first stirrings of an old emotion. Figures, the first thing I'd feel again would be lust.

"But watching them touch, her fingers on him and his flat palm on her, a new emotion came bursting through the fogginess like a solar flare: rabid jealousy.

"I needed to remind her who I was. That I was Juno's Moon and I needed to remind her what I'd done to make her happy.

"From somewhere in the most perverted depths of my broken mind, I remembered one of our first conversations.

"'I'll do it,' I said.

"She narrowed her eyes at me, confused.

"'I'll do it. I'll become a god for you,' I was serious. Dead serious.

"'You will?' she questioned, raising a finger to lift my chin to meet her eyes.

"'For you, Juno, I will.' I couldn't believe the words as they came out of my mouth, but there they were.

"She smiled at me again for the first time in so long. Warmth began to inch through my blood again, vessel by vessel. I needed more of this feeling. I needed to experience this again - I had to please her.

"This operation was beyond Grandel's capability. So we went to the source — to the disgusting orange bane of the universe. We went to Xanicut.

"I didn't know any specifics, but I knew what Juno had said before. This was a process to under-go if a desperate man wanted to become a god and he had nothing left to lose. My resume was perfect. I fit all the criteria.

"I hate the Xani and I will for the rest of my life. Their spindly six-legged crab-walk and their sour smell and the sight of their flaky skin, it's vile. The shapeless, orange form they take over their black mechanics, it's sickening. Those gelatinous blobs still come to me when my mind has nothing else to occupy it. I'm lucky I don't sleep anymore or I bet those shits would pop up in my dreams too.

"They put me under. For how long, I'm not sure, but I was there a while. Juno had left me in their care.

"From what I gather, they took out each bone in my body and replaced it with their mechanics. That whir you hear when I step up? That's what I've got going on underneath this vulgar patch-work quilt. That's what she did to me to make me a god. She made me half machine."

Teeno was desperately trying to hide his disgust. His stomach turned.

"Do I regret what I did? Every fucking day, Teeno. I regret it every day of my fucking life because now look at me. I'm a monster. I'm less Earthen and more science experiment. If you break it down, my biological make-up is disproportionately Xani.

"At any rate, when I returned from the procedure, she kept me at arm's length. In all honesty, I think she was repulsed by me. My scars were more pronounced than ever. When I move, you can hear my gears.

"So at that point, nothing was the same. I failed to prove my love, and I was stuck on the Olympi with a body that was rejecting itself.

"My first few clyks as this creature were rough. I could feel each of the different biologies inter-acting, vying for dominance.

"We had another bust coming. Juno said that this time, I would not embarrass her.

"I landed, powerful, feeling my new mechanics craving violent action. My skeleton sang war songs and I knew this time, I was going to win. I needed to prove to her that her trust in me was worth it. I was hers forever.

"The slavers had no idea we were coming. I stood among them and with my naked hands out and smoldering, I announced that we were there to take back the Earthen.

"Fear. They feared me. I could see it. For the first time in my life, power surged through me. I was invincible. I was a god.

"A massive Satyr guard came at me with his weapon out, pointing it tentatively at my direction.

"I was ready. My fists were clenched and my mind was blank. I let my new body take control.

"I crouched low to lunge at him, but suddenly, my legs wouldn't move. My arms stiffened."

"What!?" Teeno was leaning forward in his seat, his cup long forgotten on the counter.

"My entire body malfunctioned. Skin confused muscles that were trying to listen to skeleton, in which no one heeded brain. There were too many pilots in the cockpit.

"I dropped. My legs gave out, my arms bent in the most disgusting ways, and even I was afraid of my own movements. I had to avoid my hands so I wouldn't burn myself.

"The Satyr took advantage, beat me to a pulp, shot at me, left me for dead in the streets.

"But of course I wasn't dead. But I wished I was as I watched the Olympi take off.

"She left me. After everything, she left me there.

"I mean, I shouldn't have been surprised. We'd been drifting apart for a while." Moon chuckled as he tipped the bottle completely vertical and watched the last drop slowly ooze out.

"And here's the horrible thing: When I woke up in the dark, I longed for her. Still.

"I found a few Gilded who were also left behind and, surprisingly, a few of the Earthen who had managed to get out before anyone could find them. I needed the Gilded behind me because, like I said before, I was not a fighter. I decided to give up on that idea from that point on.

"The Gilded agreed to go with me. And since I still had a shred of humanity left somewhere, I'm still unsure where, I gave the Earthen a choice: go off and venture the universe alone, or join me.

"So there you have it. We've grown a bit since then and are thirty-six strong. We've gone from ship to ship, learning to drive and navigate the channels and I think we're ready for this."

Teeno considered the man before him and folded his hands in front of him. "Why is it you want the Valediction, again? In all of your babbling, I've yet to understand your need for my ship."

"Gold, my friend. Gold." Moon's gloved hand circled the glass as he looked around the counter to find the pretty little drink-keep who was avoiding him. Giving up his search, he turned his one eye, brown and bright, straight at Teeno who was still trying to get used to the unsightly guest. "I forgot this part of my story. In all that time I spent wandering the Olympi, I figured out why she kept busting those slave markets. The pretense of salvation, it's a powerful one. No one ever questioned her because she was their hero."

The silver-haired man raised his drink to his lips again and chuckled once into the cup.

"Juno had discovered the secrets of alchemy," Moon said, smirking openly.

Eyes bulging as he leaned in, Teeno looked left and right, checking for listeners, "You mean to tell me she learned how to make gold?"

"The Olympi was a running factory for it and she was using the Earthen as her cheap labor force. When they got old and died out, she would stop off and get fresh supplies of "free men". Genius, if you ask me. That's what I propose to you, Teeno. Skin in the game, so to speak."

"You mean make the Valediction a goldmine like the Olympi?"

"Exactly."

Teeno considered this. His hand went to his chin where he scratched at the silver stubble. "Where did you get that?" He pointed to the place where Moon's left eye used to be. In its place, there was a gold-filled crevice. A long band of the metallic substance went from his left socket and wrapped around his head, under his black hair, and ended at his right temple.

"Oh this?" he tapped the gold cavity, "lost it a while ago. I've had some work done on my own since leaving the Olympi. None of the technicians have been as good as Grandel, but they are willing to try. For a price. It's hard to stop transforming once you've started."

Teeno looked the man up and down and noted the different colored patches that made up the only exposed part of Moon. Covered in a long brown jacket with a tight brown shirt and thick black pants, all of which Teeno envied to be a very close match to Earth's leather, Moon turned back to his drink, exposing his neck again. Only bits of skin stretched out from above his collar, previewing the hash of diverse hides that belonged to the beings of the universe.

Moon extended his hand to the British gentleman. "I heard you Westerners did business with a firm shake of hands. Come, Teeno. Be rich with me. And we will rule the universe together."

Teeno reached out to make an agreement but hesitated momentarily retracting his hand. "What about Juno? Will we have to worry about her?"

Moon turned to the counter and picked up the empty glass again, studying it absently. "I'm stealing her secrets and creating a competitive market for gold — a mineral that is incredibly rare and infinitely desirable to the elite wealthy in the universe — a market in which she currently holds the monopoly." He looked deep into the cup with the grainy residue of the black drink swiveling around in a weak vortex. "Don't worry about her. I'll handle it."

Teeno, pausing only for a second, clasped a rigorous hand on the shoulder of the patchwork man beside him. "Drink-keep! Another draft for my friend here. We have a ship to celebrate."

The men watched as the petite green creature with silver flecks poured a clear liquid from a large bottle and smiled at Teeno, entirely ignoring the man with a gold plate where an eye should be.

"To the HMS Valediction and her new captain," Teeno raised his glass.

"To the HMS Valediction," Moon echoed.

"May the stars welcome our venture."

"And the galaxies fear our name."

"Amen."

The cups clinked and they drank, eyes closed, holding tight to the promises of a future lined in gold.