Chapter 19: A Departed Friend?

Artifice, one of Waitstate's oldest friends walked up to him on the bridge of the ship. "What happened back there?"

Waitstate seemed to ignore him as he stood up. "We need to start collecting all the information we can on what each one of us experienced back there. It seems the group that called themselves Spectral Death are quite unlike anything we've run into before."

Ruse chucked while he listened outside of the bridge. "Yeah right, except for that cult."

Artifice grabbed Waitstate as he started to walk away.

Waitstate glared at him. "Damn it Artifice, a lot happened back there. I sure as hell don't know why, but Dark Star sacrificed himself back there, for all of us. All of this has gotten my head spinning and until I clear my thoughts I'm going to retire to my quarters."

Artifice then let Waitstate go.

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The next day, after the crew was fully recharged and repaired, they tried to relax in the bar. They had already been informed about what happened to Dark Star, and were having a toast in his honor.

Artifice sat across the table from Skysiren. "You know Sky, the strangest thing about that dream was Gravix. I mean, aside from him and whoever was playing my creator, everyone else seemed like a ghost. And, if he was supposed to be one of these Spectral Death guys in disguise, why did he help me out?"

Skysiren smiled. "Dreams can be a strange thing, especially to Cybertronians. We're not supposed to have them."

Waitstate sat behind the bar serving drinks. He hoped it would help him concentrate on more pressing matters such as finding the next space station.

[Comm to Waitstate] Stardrive here with Junky. The control panel is fixed. We thought it best to wait for you before we began clearing his things out.

Waitstate turned to Artifice. "Thank for chatting with me Artifice. If you need me, I'll be clearing out Dark Star's quarters."

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Standing at the door of what used to be Dark Star's quarters, Junky and Stardrive were waiting for Waitstate to arrive. Soon, Waitstate joined them and entered to code to open the door. The door slowly rolled away, revealing the quarters to be empty.

"Junky, did anyone else clear out his quarters? Ruse or Scamp perhaps?" Waitstate asked.

Junky shook his head and spouted out television jargon.

"What did he say Stardrive?" Waitstate asked.

Stardrive looked to Waitstate. "No possible way anyone could've cleared this place out. That door has been sealed since Dark Star left his quarters to for the space station."

Waitstate whispered to himself. "I hope you can still find a way to put a close on the past."