I know what you're thinking.

  Where was Boom while you were getting pummeled by @bronzelion?

  That's what I was thinking, and I had all the time I wanted to think as I acclimated to life in a recovery pod, with my body encased in a glass caterpillar cocoon and my head sticking out. I still couldn't feel anything below my neck.

  On the plus side, for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel any pain from my ARM or any other injuries. It was a properly weird sensation. As for my severely broken face, they put a nanobot-based mask on me, not too dissimilar to the tech used in Infiltrator armor. The mask soothed and healed the injury, so instead of walking around with a bruised and swollen face, I would just need to wear this mask over my face for five weeks.

  @sundial told me the mask made it look like I had dipped my face in a pool of liquid metal. I thought it made me look more like a robot. Either way, it was comfortable, and that was really all I cared about.

  And it looked cool as hell.

  I wanted to keep it so I could cosplay as Metal Mask, an alter ego I was creating in my head to keep myself occupied.

  Hey, can you help me grind this coffee?

  Metal Mask can do anything!

  And then I'd smash my face against the coffee beans repeatedly until they were finely ground, later enjoying a lovely cup of coffee as my reward.

  I digress.

  Fucking, Boom!

  kittyboy: "Where were you?"

  Boom hovered somewhere to my right, slowly coming into view, its metallic face shining like a dark version of my awesome silver mask.

  Boom: "@horus instructed me to stay on Oblivion to prevent Solar Union attempts to steal the ship."

  I groaned.

  kittyboy: "Oblivion can't be stolen. I thought I was pretty clear about that."

  The black robot stood silently. I couldn't blame it. Boom was just doing what it was told.

  kittyboy: "I thought you were supposed to guard me."

  Boom: "You did not die."

  Ugh!

  kittyboy: "No, but I was horribly beaten."

  Boom: "You did not die, and I did not kill you. My actions are compliant."

  kittyboy: "I'm not saying they aren't. I would just like some peace of mind, knowing I don't have to worry about getting my ass kicked."

  Boom: "You did not want me to follow you around everywhere you went. Would you like me to follow you around everywhere you go?"

  Boom had me there. At the moment, Boom was stationed to stand guard while my body healed. I wasn't keen on being escorted around with a bodyguard, but it could come in handy. Another option would be to have it follow me around everywhere except when I'm on Oblivion. Did I want that?

  I couldn't decide.

  kittyboy: "Never mind. Thank you for protecting me."

  Boom: "You are welcome. Would you like me to give you tips on how you can prevent getting your ass kicked?"

  kittyboy: "No."

  I dismissed Boom and went back to staring at the ceiling and thinking about our new enemies.

  Unfortunately, due to quarantine protocols, no one from incoming or docked ships was allowed on Umbilicus without a critical need and leadership approval. I was excited that @stardvark was back, but he hadn't come to visit, either because it wasn't approved or he hadn't tried. I was dying to talk to him, or anyone from my old crew, but there wasn't any news and there weren't any visitors.

  I felt very lonely.

  To make matters worse, I wasn't allowed to plink anyone yet. The committee was still working through my testimony and all the events that had just happened. I could only message within my recovery room.

  Making small talk with Boom was okay, but I wanted to screw around with their programming, see if I could manage a personality upgrade.

  Lucky me, though, @sundial was on Umbilicus. She was busy with her Infiltrator promotion and working through the details of her first mission, none of which she could tell me. I knew that meant she wouldn't be able to join me on Oblivion. I had every intention of being on Oblivion myself, and I just hoped @spaceglider and everyone else in charge would understand that they didn't have much of a choice about that.

  Despite the chaos of activity, @sundial had been a dear, stopping in every morning on her way to do Infiltrator things. She had already visited me today. I was pleasantly surprised when she peered into my room to check in on me, all decked out in a fancy dark blue armor set.

  "How are you doing?" @sundial asked.

  Her entrance always made my face flush. It was the one thing I looked forward to. So far, my only other visitors had been medical staff. As she entered, she transformed her armor into one of her sundresses. This one was new to me. It was yellow and off-white, the yellow coming from a cascade of little suns that littered the dress like stars in the Milky Way.

  "Hungry," I mumbled through the mask. "I demand a new body and chicken waffles."

  It hurt to talk. I felt a sharp pain below my ears at the hinges of my jaw. But it felt natural to talk like this with @sundial, more personal.

  @sundial paused, crossing her arms under her chest. "Are you asking me to kill you?"

  "Maybe," I said, pouting.

  She walked over to my pod, tapping it with her fingers, staring at my healing body in its glass tube. She made a noise of frustration and then slid back the glass. She reached in, tucking the blankets around me so that I would be snug and comfortable, even though I couldn't feel any of it.

  "They should put that ARM thing on you now, while you don't have any feeling," she remarked, sliding the glass back into place, reminding herself of my situation. "You still can't feel that, can you?"

  "Nope. Just my face," I muttered. "Breathing feels so weird."

  @sundial watched me silently, a puzzled look on her face.

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  "I could ask about the ARM," I added, "but I'd rather do it myself, honestly. I'm worried they'll take it or mess with it."

  "Fair enough," she said, smiling.

  But she seemed somber today. She looked at my liquid metal mask, leaning over the pod, resting her chin on one arm. She gestured toward my body under the glass. "How many more days?"

  "Two, I think."

  @sundial nodded. Her ponytail wagged back and forth.

  "How is it looking out there? Plans coming together?" I nudged. "I haven't heard anything at all."

  She shrugged. "Yes and no."

  I was pretty sure at that point why she had stopped in.

  "You're heading out, aren't you?" I guessed.

  She pursed her lips, nodding slowly. "Yeah."

  Be strong, @kittyboy, I told myself. You were expecting this.

  "I was hoping to be out of here before we had to say goodbye," I said, my indirect way of saying what we both had known all along. Parting was inevitable. "But here I am. Stuck in this tube. Can't even hug you."

  @sundial sighed. "I know."

  She tapped the tube again and abruptly walked over to the entrance of my room. She peered out into the hall, then closed the door again, fidgeting with her long ponytail.

  "I know you need to leave," I said, trying to sound positive. "I was expecting it. You don't have to be nervous. It's just me."

  "I do," she said, walking back over to my side. She was extra pale and looked like she was going to vomit.

  "Go ahead, what's bothering you? Is it the mission?"

  I could sense her heart beating faster. Her normally smooth movements were erratic as she shifted in place.

  "No. The mission is fine."

  Well, that was good. I hated most of my missions. I could only imagine what they were sending her off to do.

  "Where are you headed?"

  @sundial frowned. It was still cute on her. "You know I can't tell you that."

  I chuckled, realizing I was tense. Laughing helped, but I was getting nervous myself. She was going to say something I didn't like, and I dreaded it, but I knew before she opened her mouth.

  "I need to go," she began.

  Then she huffed at herself and spun away, her hair and dress twirling. She walked over to the far side of my pod. "This is harder with that stupid mask on your face. I can't even see your eyes."

  "I can take it off," I said, "for a second."

  I wasn't exactly going to take it off. The physician's assistant had reluctantly given me the code to open the nanomask. I was only supposed to do that when they wanted me to eat solid food. They were slowly trying to work solids back into my diet as my body healed.

  I issued the command, and the mask slid outward. The nanobots retreated up to my forehead, around the sides, and down below my chin, freeing my nose, mouth, and eyes.

  "Oh my!" @sundial sputtered. She rushed over to me, holding a hand out toward my face, her mouth agape.

  "You're not supposed to touch it," I said quickly. "Risk of infection or something like that." I gulped. "I haven't seen it. How bad is it?"

  She stared at me, her eyes darting about at different parts of my face. "@bronzelion did this to you?"

  "Yeah, but at least he didn't bash my face until I was dead." I smiled, trying to make light of it. "Can I see? Can you project it for me?"

  "No," she replied, shaking her head rapidly. "You don't want to see."

  Now I really wanted to see. It was in the process of healing, so I wasn't surprised if it was a bit nasty to look at. It was probably worse in my mind, new and old skin, a bit of oozy flesh and swelling.

  "I'm sorry they couldn't give you a clone body and reanimate you," @sundial said softly.

  "It's fine. Part of the new world, eh? We all have to try to stay alive now. The Outer System Alliance hasn't put a stop on reanimations of infected, but I think it's only a matter of time."

  She didn't respond, just half-nodded. We stared at each other in silence. It's okay, I thought. Get on with it.

  "We should stop seeing each other." @sundial rushed to get the words out so she couldn't take it back.

  I closed my eyes.

  "Done. I can't see you anymore."

  I heard her chortle a laugh.

  "You're an idiot. I'm being serious."

  "I know," I said, opening my eyes again.

  Her left cheek was wet. She wiped her face with her left hand, a little smile left over from my joking. If nothing else, that little tear made me feel better. It was worth it, our undefined relationship, even if it was brief.

  "You're taking this better than I thought you would." Her voice was soft, slightly strained.

  "Why? Because I'm so dramatic." I tried to grin. It did hurt, both my face and her breaking up with me. "If it makes you feel any better, I can feel it in my heart, even if I can't feel my heart."

  She dropped her hand from her face, scrunching the sides of her pink lips while she tilted her head. Then her hands flew about around her as she talked. "It's just that I have to go, and you'll have to go, and I'll be gone a long time, and with the war and the virus and our missions."

  "You don't have to explain," I interrupted.

  Why I said that, when I knew I felt differently, confused me. I did want to know why. Why couldn't we make it work? But she had made up her mind, and the more I thought about it, the more those thoughts led me to the same conclusion. If our roles were reversed and I was about to head off to a mission, I would feel the same way. This was for the best.

  "I still care about you, you know," she whispered.

  "I do too." I gulped, and my face made a weird noise as I swallowed a bit of air and drool. "If you ever need anything out there, if you need help." I stopped myself. I would want to fly in to help her, but I knew, just as she did, I might not be able to. We each had our jobs to do.

  "You're on my list," she said, winking.

  "I know you can take care of yourself," I added, reassuring myself. "How you got off Dactyl without dying is still beyond me."

  "It wasn't so much getting off Dactyl, actually," she laughed. "The hard part was getting off Ida. Zombies are easier to deal with than solar authorities."

  It was nice to see her laugh, but we were both seemingly out of words. It's hard to make small talk after breaking up. I noticed she was fidgeting with her dress, grabbing it in bunches.

  "You don't have to stay," I said, giving her permission to make her exit before it got too uncomfortable.

  She released the bundle of her sundress and tried smoothing it out, but she had crinkled it. For sake of authenticity, I figured, she didn't command the nanobots to simply reform the shape. "You want me to go?"

  I chuckled. "Of course I don't, but … I have Vanquishing to do. I still haven't conquered this room, let alone this pod." I looked up at her brown eyes. "And I'm sure you wouldn't be here if you didn't have to deploy soon."

  @sundial nodded. "I'll send you the signature for my K5. Just so Oblivion doesn't accidentally blow me up if we run into each other out there."

  She studied my face, and then, making up her mind, she kissed her fingers and extended them out, touching the top of my head. I could feel her warm hand press against my head, the gentle pressure of it.

  "I'll always remember you," she chimed.

  That last bit was what mattered the most.

  "It's the memories that matter," I replied. "I'll remember you too."

  There are all kinds of awkward silences in the world. There's the silence after someone farts during a movie (and I'm not saying it was @bitchfrog, but I'm pretty sure it was @bitchfrog). There's the silence of staring at the person across from you after a first date, wondering how to say goodbye. There's the silence of death and mourning. And there's the silence of breaking up.

  She waited there, gazing at me for I don't know how long. Then she moved close, so close that I could feel her breath on my face. Her eyes were big and brown.

  "Do you think?" she murmured, pursing her lips.

  "That my face smells foul after days under that mask," I responded. "Yeah, I kind of do."

  @sundial rolled her eyes at me. "I was going to kiss you goodbye."

  One last kiss, I thought to myself. She wasn't satisfied with just her kissed fingers pressed against my head, and I agreed. It was tender and special, but it didn't seem like closure.

  "Yes," I said, sending her a tender smile. "If I can survive this, one kiss certainly won't kill me."

  @sundial leaned further down and gave me a quick peck on the lips, just a sweet little goodbye, soft, firm, and intentional.

  Her face was still just inches away. I watched her eyes bat and enjoyed the warmth of her breathing. "Be safe out there," I said.

  "I won't be," she laughed, casual and quirky, "but I will."

  "Badass," I mumbled.

  The hard part was over, and I could sense her anxiety diminishing, her mood improving. She stepped away from the pod, smoothing her dress again, and gestured to her lips.

  "Did that hurt?" she asked, referring to our kiss.

  "No," I said. "Only the breaking up part."

  Her shoulders drooped.

  "Sorry," I sputtered. I'm such an idiot. "You know me. I cope with humor."

  "It wouldn't be the end of the world if you saved it for after I left," she groaned. "Not right after I kiss you goodbye."

  "I'm sorry," I repeated. "You're right. I'm … I'm just going to miss you."

  She slowly bobbed her head. "I'll miss you too."

  We didn't have anything more to say. Just more time to share awkwardly, appreciating our time together, acknowledging the memories.

  When it seemed appropriate, I triggered the nanobots to cover my face again and resume the healing process. @sundial was now staring at a distorted reflection of herself, and that was that. Putting my mask back up was, intended or not, the end of the conversation.

  She stood tall, gathering herself, confident and lovely. "I'll see you around."

  "Not if I poke your eyes out," I replied.

  She shook her head at me, turning from former lover into current Infiltrator. Her face was stoic and strong. Her sundress shifted as she walked away, blurring her figure until the dark armor appeared. Badass. Then she was gone.

  I stared at the ceiling. Alone again, I thought. It's better this way. I have to figure out a way save the solar system. No. Not the solar system. I can't save the solar system, but I can save my friends.

  "I will save my friends," I vowed, instilling myself with confidence. "Metal Mask can do anything."