When the storm that had been brewing on the horizon reached those claimed by Naeric, it was a destructive force that ripped the illusion from their eyes, and took the ground underneath their feet.

The sky’s golden glow faded into its natural hues as the world around them lost the ethereal luminescence and beauty. The wind, once whispering the sweetest words of encouragement, now wordlessly rustled through the trees, cold and uncaring.

A collective shudder rippled through the populace. They woke from a long trance, a wonderful dream that had tasted like reality, their voices breaking mid-conversation. A strange stillness settled over the land, until the tension released in a collective exhale.

“What happened?”

Jonathan Keller, who had been tending to the crops, was the first who spoke, a desperate attempt to fill the silence that was the only thing left when Naeric’s constant mental presence had dissipated.

Next to him, Neeya Velix collapsed in exhaustion, released from an unseen burden but unable to stand on her own feet just yet. Jonathan rushed toward her, and even when memories started flooding back and he remembered who he had been, they didn’t replace the connection he had formed over the past days.

“He’s gone…”, Neeya whispered, but there was no relief in her voice. “Why is he gone?”

When the memories returned, Arys squeezed her eyes shut. The ship, the Borg, the things she had done – she could remember it all with a brutal clarity that left her gasping for air.

How? Why now?

Panic rose in her chest, an ache she thought had been cured. She had been told that her sins were forgiven, and that she was allowed to leave them behind. She had been told that it wasn’t her fault, that none of it mattered any more. And she had believed it.

Around her, the people she had conversed with just moments ago, glanced at her with suspicion, and disgust, but were too occupied with their own feelings now that they were … free.

For the first time in months, tears filled her eyes. She had trusted Naeric enough to leave the mental place that had been prison and protection. She had taken his hand as he encouraged her to connect, speak about what she had lived through, and to heal.

And now? Could she still heal when no one gave her permission to do so?

Ceix had been in a tender conversation with Shivni, making plans for a future that would never come. As the veil was lifted from his eyes, his mind struggled to catch up with what had happened, the recovery of those memories painfully slow and unsteady, like limbs regaining circulation.

It changed everything, and nothing at all.

“Shivni, I…”, he started, but didn’t get to finish his confession.

“I understand. You have to get back to the Callisto.”, Shivni nodded, giving his hand one last squeeze before turning away from him and finding the members of her own ship.

“Yes.”, Ceix said, trying to ignore the overwhelming sensation of disappointment and loss. “I should.”

Even if it was duty, not desire.

“Alcyone!”

It was the first word Eshrevi said, and the only thing on her mind, as the realization of what she had done came crashing down on her like an avalanche that threatened to bury her underneath the guilt she had not been feeling until now.

“What is it?”, asked Nichelle, who had tended to the livestock with her, and struggled to understand how Eshrevi wasn’t basking in their new found freedom. “Brennan is back on the Callisto, isn’t she?”

“No…”, Eshrevi shook her head, eyes wide in panic. “No, she-… I … I left her there!”,

It was an unusual display of emotion from the Andorian. Nichelle frowned and took a step back. “What do you mean with ‘you left her there’?”

“Naeric… he told me to.”, Eshrevi responded, hastily looking for something – anything – that could help alleviate her guilt. “He said she’d be fine. On that island. I left her!”

“We’ll… find her.”, Nichelle tried to reassure, even though she herself was uncertain what to do with this information.

“She… she won’t forgive me.”

“She will. It wasn’t your fault.”