As she spoke, a memory floated to the surface of Gus’ mind.
The whole family was sitting together, watching one of the Generations channels. They specialized in only playing movies, music and TV shows of a particular decade. Mom’s favorite was the 80’s. Grandpa was there sitting next to him on one side, then Mom with her arm around Gus. His father was on a nearby armchair, smiling and laughing with the rest of them. He seemed so different, as Gus watched his expressions. He was happy. Gus felt happy as well. His older brother Alan lay on the ground in front of the screen playing a portable gaming system. Mom started singing the theme song from some show as it started to play:
“I bet we been together for a million years,
And I bet we’ll be together for a million more.”
Gus remembered he really wished he would have that feeling for a million years. Grandpa reached over and squeezed his shoulder, and gave him a wink and turned back to the screen.
Life had been good. How did things get so screwed up?
“And then she—” Aurora started. “Are you okay?”
Gus looked over at her and noticed he had started to tear up.
“Gus, I’m sorry.” She leaned over and gave him a hug. If he wasn’t so emotional, he probably would have done something awkward, but he simply returned the hug numbly and held her as he thought of the past. Like a crack in the dam, with that memory, more came to the fore. He tried to choke back tears and not break down, but he was unsuccessful. Damn it. Way to keep it together, Gus. You must love the friend-zone, dude.
He remembered birthday parties, her reading him stories in bed, and how he would bargain and cajole her into reading just one more chapter, just so he could stay up a little later. Family trips, getting fixed up when he got hurt, and listening to him rave about something his favorite supers did. Memories rushed out as if angry they had been suppressed and longed for freedom. At last, he let go of the hug and swiped away some tears, trying to mask his face to maintain some semblance of dignity.
“Sorry about that, everything started coming back at once.” He tried not to look at her, embarrassed about his red eyes, and his now-runny nose. Even with the new memories, there was still a lot he didn’t know. But her face! He could remember her face again. The thought threatened to spill more tears and he took a deep breath, trying to tamp down the emotions.
“What happened to her?” Gus asked, unsure he wanted to hear the answer.
“No one really knows. She just disappeared one day. I think I had been in the academy for two or three years. The rumor was that she was on a mission, deep in cover. Her absence was a big transition for me. It hit me hard, and it made me realize how much I relied on her. As I said, she treated me like I was her daughter too. When you were on the station, I knew you were her son and wanted to let you know about what a difference that she had made in my life, but Graviton was kind of a jerk about ‘fraternizing with regs.’”
“And she died on that mission,” Gus finished.
“Oh no, I don’t think so. We handle that a lot differently when that happens in Purple Faction. No, your dad took some time off and came back after a couple weeks. He was different afterward. Harder, and sadder.”
That was the Tempest that Gus knew well. Maybe he had forgotten more than he thought he had. He had totally forgotten how his father had been happy when Mom was there.
The doors opened, and they stepped into the training arena.
Gus nodded. “Let’s put a pin in this for now and come back to it, I have so many questions,” he said.
Aurora nodded and they moved on.
As he entered, he found Jet was leaning against the wall of the arena, next to the sensor he always stood by to assess his skills. He could have sworn that he had left it up in his room. Running his finger along the engraved silver grip he thought about how he could use Jet in his fights with the supers in non-lethal ways. He would have to keep them alive to use Leech, so it wouldn’t do to kill them outright. He wasn’t against giving them a vicious cut, as long as he could still Leech them, but his fighting style would have to change. Remembering Aurora’s huge HP pool though, perhaps he wouldn’t have to pull as many punches as he thought.
He could do a lot of damage before incapacitating someone. Leech didn’t take that long to activate, so how much time did he need? Plus he could see his opponent’s HP bar, so he could hold back if he was doing too much damage. He felt more confident and wondered if it would be easier to subdue and Leech a weakened opponent.
“Why don’t you do one of your regular training sessions so I can see what you can do?”
Gus nodded and moved to the center of the ring to warm up.
He practiced some katas, getting the feel for Jet once again. He hadn’t had a chance to use the polearm in battle since he defeated Methiochos and it was almost comforting to go through the familiar routine. He began to modify his routines, using fewer headshots and more attacks designed to disable or maim an opponent.
Jet felt lighter, and the forms
