Segmented

"So, I hear you've been busy," he said, clasping his hands together and sliding down into his chair, "Am I one of your Gaws?"

"Well, I've told people as much," he laughed, and pressed his palms on to the desk in front of him.

Four-hundred years shared between them and still they engaged in dancing around the point, but the former had always been more direct that the latter.

"It's good to see you, my dude," he said.

"You too, R. I'm glad this all worked out, this much of it, at least. I really wasn't, well, I was scared we'd all be scattered through the fragments when we escaped," he sighed, relieved.

"I've dropped that moniker, just so you know," 'R' said, making a conceding gesture, "I go by 'Zombie' on the channels. What about you, V, I'm hearing less of that on the chatter."

'V' smiled wryly, "I've gone back to 'Captain'," he said, leaning back. They shared a laugh, the afternoon sun coming in as shafts of light through the blinds.

A relaxed silence fell between them, Zombie crossing his ankles on the desk, Captain standing to look out the window. Both of them not sure how to continue, not wanting to harm the relative calm they were sharing at the moment. But it had to be done.

"The other two say you have something to do with one of the fragments going dark," Zombie said.

Captain didn't turn from the window, "I wasn't aware you'd seen them. They won't talk to me on the channels, well that's not altogether too surprising. Did 'J' mention he tried to kill me?"

"Yeah, he mentioned that," Zombie said, "but I guess you got the last laugh."

Captain turned, "How's that?"

Zombie paused, as if unsure how to go on, "You know J's dead, right?"

Captain didn't answer immediately, instead he turned back to the window, pushing the blinds apart, "Does 'D' know?"

Zombie snorted, "He doesn't want anything to do with this."

"Zombie," Captain leaned over the desk, "I am responsible for one of the fragments going dark," he paused, "are you going to try to stop me?"

Zombie rubbed his chin absently and took a deep breath, "No."

"Are you having any...do you remember everything? VChicago, Sebastian Group?" Captain said, sitting down.

"It's not so bad, as long as I'm wearing this," Zombie said, indicating the ear piece, "Entroop's design is really...,"

"Something," Captiain finished, fingering his own ear piece.

"Better'n memory suppresion, anyways," Zombie scoffed.

Captain steepled his fingers, "So, if you're not going to stop me, does that mean you'll help me?"

"I didn't say that," Zombie said, setting his feet back on the ground, "I don't even know what you're doing with this blacked-out fragment, I just figure not stopping you is the least I could do...,"

"But now that you're safe, well, relatively, with Entroop's machine keeping you 'grounded' so to say, wouldn't you, or, haven't you thought about shifting back home?"

Zombie looked at Captain down the blade of his nose, "Are you trying to sell me on some revenge mission, Cap?"

"I need something from the archives, one of the journals," Captain said, reaching under the table and fingering the hilt of a blaster he'd stowed there before 'Zombie' came to him that day.

"One of the Omni Bibles, is what you mean, isn't it?" Zombie sighed, "What's this all about?"

Captain smiled and leaned back again, putting his hands behind his head, "Gaius Mucius Scaevola."

"...Who?" Zombie's brow furrowed.

"I came across the name when I was reading Titus Andronicus, it seems he may have been some of Shakespeare's inspiration for the lamentable tale," Captain spread his hands, leaning forward again, "Gaius Mucius Scaevola was this general, who when confronted with this enemy, this king, burned off his own right hand!"

"What? Why?" Zombie asked, incredulous.

Captain grinned, "To show the resolve of Rome."

"Is this what this is about? Your resolve?" Zombie demanded.

"No, it just struck me then, that...someone burned off their own damn hand. It's been done."

"So?"

"That means, if I were to do it, burn off my hand, right now, I wouldn't be the first person to do it. Now, burning off your hand, that's some crazy shit, right? But it's been done. Everything's been done. If you can think of it, everything you will ever do, someone has already done," Captain sighed, "it's a little depressing."

"I'm not following you, Cap," Zombie said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Zombie, we're going to reset it all," Captain said, "Everything."