An unconscious Jasper drifts aimlessly through a tunnel of vibrant, iridescent energy before being spit out. His body enters the real world and lands softly in the dirt before the fracture he passed through closes behind him. There is nothing but rocks and dust stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions. Jasper lies motionless on the ground as a light on the back of his collar blinks.
Jasper rests unconscious in a hospital bed, connected to multiple machines. A group of doctors surrounds him as they examine him with a variety of high-tech medical devices.
"Vitals are still normal", "Mind activity is off the charts", "Why won't he wake up?" the doctors mutter among themselves.
The room suddenly starts to vibrate as the doctors look around at each other, "She's here," one of them says.
A massive ship lands outside the waypoint. The agent Grand General, Rhea, steps out of the aircraft; her long, black, and blue hair now cut into a short bob. Dozens of agents exit the ship behind her and form a ring around Rhea as she enters the waypoint.
Rhea's party moves through the waypoint, and agents all around stop to salute her while she smiles and nods in acknowledgement.
After a few minutes, Rhea reaches the waypoint's infirmary. She walks inside and notices Sebastian sitting by the entrance. The two make eye contact, and Sebastian stands up to salute her.
Rhea smiles at him, "No need to be so formal Seb," she says as she signals for her chaperons to disperse.
Sebastian stops saluting, "I'm sure some people would beg to differ," he chuckles as he approaches Rhea.
"I suppose," she laughs, "So what's the situation?"
"Our newest squad disappeared on their last mission. When we went to investigate the scene, their ship was abandoned, and the fracture they were sent to seal was gone. There was no trace of the squad except for a distress signal originating a few miles from the site. We traced the signal and found one of the squad members unconscious in the middle of nowhere. Despite our attempts at waking him up, he remains in a comatose state, yet his mind is extremely active, and his vitals are stable. So we were hoping maybe you could do something." Sebastian explains while the two of them walk through the infirmary.
Rhea's smile fades, "I see," she says as they approach Jasper's room.
Sebastian turns to leave, "Good luck," he says.
Rhea stands in front of the closed door, taking a moment to regain her composure before putting on another smile. She reaches out and pushes a button next to the door. It slides open, and the doctors inside stop what they're doing to salute her. Rhea nods in acknowledgement as she steps into the room. She stops at the foot of Jasper's bed and looks at him curiously as the doctors watch.
"Please step out for a bit," she orders the doctors before they bow slightly and quickly exit the room.
As Rhea watches over Jasper, her smile fades again. She makes her way to Jasper's side before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Rhea reaches out to touch Jasper's forehead, but hesitates as iridescent sparks begin arcing between her hand and Jasper's head.
Rhea frowns, "I'm sorry..." she mutters to herself before pressing her hand onto Jasper's forehead.
As her hand makes contact with Jasper's head, he starts to seize. Rhea presses her other hand onto his chest in an attempt to keep him still. She closes her eyes, and a pulse of energy emits from her hand into Jasper's head. Jasper stops seizing as his eyes and mouth open, releasing streams of pearlescent light into the room. Rhea remains still as energy continues to pulse from her hand into Jasper's head.
After a few moments, the streams of light fade from Jasper's eyes and mouth, and he suddenly sits up, gasping for air and looking around the room. Rhea smiles and stands up as Jasper takes in his surroundings. Without a word, she turns toward the door and starts to walk away.
Jasper gradually calms down and notices Rhea leaving, "Wait! What's going on?!" he asks her.
Rhea ignores him and continues toward the door.
"Hey! Where are you going? Where am I?!" he asks again, but she doesn't respond.
Rhea makes it to the doorway and presses a button, opening the door and stepping into the hall. As she exits the room, she nods at the doctors before walking away.
The doctors rush back into the room and begin frantically examining a now conscious Jasper.
Jasper looks around at them, "What's going on? Where am I? What happened?" he asks desperately, but the doctors ignore him as they poke and prod him.
The doctors examine Jasper for a few minutes while completely ignoring his questions. As they are examining him, the door slides open again, and Sebastian enters the room.
Jasper is relieved to see a familiar face, "Sebastian, please, no one will tell me what's going on. What happened?" he begs Sebastian.
Sebastian signals for the doctors to leave once more. They quickly drop what they're doing and exit the room, leaving Sebastian and Jasper alone. Sebastian pulls a chair from a nearby desk over to Jasper's bed and sits down beside him.
"I was hoping you could tell me," Sebastian sighs.
Jasper looks at him with a confused look, "What do you mean? Where are the others?" he asks.
Sebastian looks at Jasper for a few moments before averting his gaze, "I don't know," he mutters nervously.
Jasper sits in shock, his mind races as he tries to remember what happened. As he scours his memories, bits of the incident flash through his mind, but before he can fully recall the events, a sharp pain resonates from deep within his head. Jasper leans forward into his hands as he writhes in pain. After a few moments, the memories fade and the pain slowly subsides.
"Don't push yourself. Your mind still hasn't fully stabilized," Sebastian says as he examines a monitor beside Jasper's bed.
Jasper collects himself and sits up, "They're dead, aren't they..." he mutters as he stares at his hands.
Sebastian sighs again, "We haven't been able to confirm anything, but... probably," he answers.
Jasper sinks into his bed and rolls away from Sebastian, "So what now?" he questions.
Sebastian looks at Jasper, "Well, we will keep looking for them, but until we get a better picture of what happened, there isn't much we can do. We haven't picked up any distress signals, and Latent Space isn't easy to search," he replies.
"There isn't much we can do..." Jasper mutters to himself as he remembers hearing those words before.
"What?" Sebastian asks as he struggles to make out Jasper's words.
Jasper sinks further into his bed and pulls the sheets over his head, "Nothing," he mutters.
Sebastian looks worriedly at Jasper, "Get some rest, we can go over things when you're feeling better," he says as he stands up to leave.
As Sebastian walks toward the door, Jasper peeks out from his sheets, "What's gonna happen to me?" he asks.
Sebastian freezes near the foot of Jasper's bed, "Once you're discharged from the infirmary, you'll be assigned to a new squad and start work again," he answers hesitantly without looking at Jasper.
Jasper sits up, his body trembles as he tries to speak, "What?! You mean I have to go back there?" he asks angrily.
"Unfortunately, yes, that's why we exist," Sebastian sighs as he continues to avert his gaze.
Jasper stares coldly at Sebastian, "and what if I refuse?" he questions.
Sebastian looks at Jasper concerningly, "Then you'll be decommissioned and your mind will be reworked... Cronus has no use for Agents that don't work," he says regrettably.
"Decommissioned?! Reworked?! You're acting like I'm just some tool!" Jasper yells furiously at Sebastian.
Sebastian averts his gaze once more, "Cause we are Jasper!... we are," he exclaims mournfully.
Jasper stares at Sebastian for a few moments in silence before sinking back into his bed and facing away from Sebastian. Sebastian looks at Jasper before turning toward the door and walking away.
He stops in the doorway, "I'm sorry Jasper, but this is just the way things are," he says before closing the door.
As Sebastian exits, the doctors waiting outside step up to enter the room again. "Let him rest," Sebastian orders, and the doctors step back and salute him before walking away.
Inside the room, Jasper contemplates everything that happened. Why was Rhea here ,and why did she ignore me? How could Cronus force such a cruel existence on us? Why would they create something that could think for itself but not act for itself? How is everyone else seemingly ok with it? He thinks to himself.
As he lies in bed questioning the nature of his existence, he slowly drifts to sleep.