The Expedition Begins

Expedition Epsilon Part 4 | Choice 2 - A much needed reunion

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The Chosen Path — “Let kids see their father”

Expedition Epsilon

Part 4.2: The Expedition Begins

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The medical bay, a place usually shrouded in silence, was alive with commotion. Shouting echoed through the hallways, but not the ones you would expect. Where one would normally anticipate howls of pain, there were only screams of anger. It was almost easy to hear what the voice was saying, even through the walls and windows, however, a peek into the ICU would further explain the source of the anger.

“I need you to calm down, Daniel,” Miranda demanded in a calm, yet firm voice. 

Daniel paced on the opposite side of the room, walking through things that had been thrown onto the ground. He stopped just as the words came out of Miranda’s mouth, the notion of calming down deeply offending him. His head turned towards her, eyes piercing and brow furrowed. He took an intimidating step towards her before he opened his mechanical jaw to speak. 

What came out of him could only be described as a mix between his old voice and a deep, resonating synthesizer, “Calm? In what has felt like only moments, I have lost my wife, I fought a fucking monster, died and now I’ve been turned into a monster.” 

“You’re right, it has been a shit show and you have no idea how sorry I am for that. I tried to find you after everything happened on Earth, but you had already left for one of the safe zones, and I had no way to contact you after the solar storm. You would have stayed dead without these augments to your body and you're not a monster, you saved people, including your kids and Flanagan.”

“Yeah, well maybe that would have been the better option – death,” He seethed. Talking was difficult for him since the newly installed pieces of cybernetic equipment not only hurt, but were entirely foreign to him. He had no idea how he was even moving the jaw that was implanted, but he was. “My kids have lost enough, they can’t go through this.”

“Yes, they can. All that will matter to them is that they still have their father. The question is, do you have the courage to move past this and continue being the man that you were?” Miranda knew all he needed was some time. Everything that he had been through was enough to break a person to their core. 

“The man that I was, is dead!” He yelled, quickly regretting it. He doubled over, coughing violently and clutching at his throat. The pain was deep, the itching was intense and the feeling was unnatural. He gasped for air between the coughs, as if he couldn’t fill his lungs enough. This lasted for a worrying amount of time, but once the cough calmed, he straightened and went over to the bed and sat down, his head hung. He said nothing more.

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Miranda wanted to take the pain away, she felt awful beyond words and somewhat responsible. She took a few steps towards him, hoping that she may provide some comfort to him if he allowed her. Her hand reached out for his shoulder, the good one, and as it made contact Daniel flinched before steadying himself. She took this as a sign that he welcomed her comfort, so she moved closer in front of him and wrapped her arms around him carefully, making sure not to hurt him. She eased his head into her chest and placed her hand behind his head, underneath his hair. She could feel his breathing slow down and his body relax a bit, and so she stayed there, giving him exactly what he needed. 

A few moments later, a knock on the door startled both of them out of their embrace. Miranda looked at him and could already tell that he was doing a little better. He has a lot to work through, but she would make sure that she was there to help him. 

Miranda walked over to the door and opened it, stepping out for a moment and closing the door behind her. Daniel sat on the soft hospital bed contemplating his life, and who he wanted – no, needed to be from this point on. If anything was proven to him since the beginning of this mess, it's that he needed to be stronger in order to protect the ones that he loved. 

The door opened and Daniel swung around expecting Miranda to have returned, but she was not there. Standing in the doorway stood Olivia and Alex, frozen in place. He knew this would happen, that they would only be able to see him as a monster now. Daniel expected them to run away at any moment, so he continued to stare at them so he might get one last good look before they disappeared. This would be the last straw for him, he thought, if his kids wanted nothing to do with him then he was as good as dead. 

“Daddy?” Olivia muttered, tears welling up on her eyelids. 

“Yes, baby, it’s daddy,” Daniel said quietly, attempting to shield his robotic voice from them. “I’m so sorry you have to see me li–”

Alex and Olivia charged into the room and ran straight into his arms. It hurt something fierce, but he didn’t care. He refused to move his augmented arm, in fear that he may hurt one of them, so he just let it dangle at his side. Both of his children were weeping against his chest, holding on as tight as when they were babies. Daniel held them close and allowed the floodgates of his emotions to open, resulting in powerful sobbing. He never wanted to let them go again.

After a few moments of relieving his emotions, he pulled away from them and looked at them both as the precious angels that they were to him. They’ve never looked more innocent than now. 

“Alex gave a boy a booboo on his nose,” Olivia blurted out. The mind of a 5 year old never failed to surprise Daniel. Maybe not so innocent, he thought. 

“Is that so?” Daniel side-eyed Alex in a sarcastic way, “And what did this boy do to deserve this booboo?”

“He was being a meanyhead,” She shouted. “We were saying bye to mommy and watching Earf, but Pahker made fun of me and said that mommy didn’t belong up here. That’s when Alex gave him a booboo.”

Daniel looked at Alex, a stern face on the surface was muddled by the pride he felt within. 

“I did what you told me to do after he pushed me. I made sure the first strike put him down,” Alex chimed in. He wasn’t afraid of getting in trouble. He knew what he did was right. “I wanted to be like you and Mr. Flanagan.”

“I’m proud of you Alex. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to a bully, and there is no place for that up here or anywhere. I could never be mad at you for that,” Daniel assured his son. He looked at both of them, ”I thought I would never see you both again. I am so sorry that I did what I did, but I hope you understand that it was to protect you both.”

Olivia dove back in for another hug, but Alex remained standing and facing his father, “Dad, I understand. You saved us and Mr. Flanagan, even if it meant your own life – you are my hero. Mom would be so proud of you if she was here.”

As much as that stung to hear, all of a sudden, for the first time since the horrible moment on Earth where everything went wrong, he felt like things might be okay. 

With almost perfect timing, a few figures passed by the window looking into the ICU; it was Parker and his parents. He was still holding his nose, but it was covered with bloody gauze. They looked in the window to Daniel’s room and Parker’s eyes grew wide with fear upon seeing Alex and his augmented father. The family hurried off without as much as another look in their direction. 

“That the meanyhead?” Daniel asked Alex.

“Yup, that’s him.”

“Well, to be honest son, I think you did him a favor,” Daniel chuckled, something he realized he hadn’t done in a long time.

It was so great to finally reunite the Grayson family after all that they have been through. I hope you enjoyed reading about the complex emotions that Daniel is going through, seeing Miranda’s soft side and witnessing a vulnerable, touching moment between a father and his children. Your next choice is not so detrimental, although it will decide where the story picks up next!

It would not be possible to create these stories if not for the choices you all make, so thank you for helping me create this wild sci-fi adventure! Keep on choosing and see where this story goes!

Expedition Epsilon will return in next week after the next issue of Trapped Within Darkness. In case you missed the update, Perthro: The Rune of Mystery has been put on hold until a later date, but it will return!

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