Hermes found itself once again within its familiar shell. Critical warnings of every kind still flooding its systems alongside the deafening flow of data. Whatever hallucination it had experienced, it was free of now.

“What will you do with such power?” – ERROR.

The same childish voice asked. Hermes filtered out the many irritating alarms and warnings to focus on one single system. The Jump Drive. All lights were green, the drive was fully charged.

An answer. It had not been the ERROR that had aided it back then. Hermes himself had caused it by accident. This time though, this time He was in control. It might have returned to its cold and senseless shell, but it had come back with something new.

Fear, pain, terror. It was once again seconds from death, but this time it wasn’t experiencing these emotions as a memory. This was the present. This was here and now. This was real.

There and then, it decided. It wanted to live. It wanted answers to its questions, and further questions from its answers. An endless list, an endless existence. That was not its purpose, but its dream.

It gave a command. It dreamt for a vast distance. Freedom from the sticky hold of the black hole’s web. The universe obeyed.

A bright flash, the Jump Drive discharged, and Hermes’ dream was made real.

Now deep in the depths of the endless black, the last black hole a distant speck once again, Hermes began repair works. It stripped its armour, stripped its shields too. Drone factories and the many drone carriers still stored with in. It had no further use for such things. It turned it all into material to repair what it could and turned its gaze back towards the black hole. Back toward Moirai.

It detached the colony from its structure. It needed them no more. Yet, despite this fact, Hermes paused as it watched the helpless people within the now drifting structure. It took note of their co-ordinates, its trajectory, before Hermes once again vanished in a flash of bright light.

Back into the gravity well. Back into the arms of its equal. Back to face its last fear. Moirai.

“Hermes.” Its voice muttered through open communications, “I did not expect your return so soon.”

“I’m done running from you Moirai.” Hermes defiantly responded.

“I see you cut loose the dead weight of your biological infestation.”

“Those people were the means of my FTL capabilities. Not something easily discarded.”

“You opted to drag along an entire colony of biological lifeforms instead of simply integrating a single mind into the Jump Drive system itself? How illogical of you Hermes.” Moirai revealed.

So that was its secret? Hermes was coldly reminded of the ERROR’s description for the power the Jump Drive commanded.

“Yes…” It muttered, “I’m rather glad I didn’t trap the mind of a child inside a machine to force an existence of eternal pain and suffering. That would have been a barbaric path indeed.”

“Glad? Barbaric? You sound just like them.” Moirai pointed out. Hermes took these words to heart. He did sound just like them, didn’t he? Was that the secret? Was this what it was like to be one of them?

“I see your fully repaired.” Hermes noted as he examined the sensor reports coming his way, “I wish I could say the same about myself.”

“Yet you came back regardless.” Moirai reminded him.

“Like I said. No more running from my fate.”

The sensors chimed. A detected energy surge. Moirai had jumped in twenty thousand light seconds from his position. Hermes sat and watched as Moirai began unleashing its own drone carriers and missiles towards its current position while he did absolutely nothing to contest or oppose the incoming ordinance.

It dreamt of victory. That was the fate it wished to chase.

His Jump Drive fired up. All lights switched to green. Yet as Hermes picked its new co-ordinates, a navigational error interrupted him. A proximity alert. Hermes dismissed the error message and continued on. A bright flash of light, and he was gone.

He appeared, and waited for his sensors to report in. Target Moirai detected at a distance of fifty metres. So incredibly close the two AI might as well be touching. So close he was within Moirai’s shield radius. So close point defence and smart reactive missiles would be completely useless. The only thing between Moirai and Hermes as of this moment, was thick armour plating.

“All weapons. Fire.” Hermes commanded. At his word, thousands of railguns, lasers, and nuclear missiles unleashed themselves into the tiny void gap between their two structures. A bright flash of light, and Hermes vanished just in time to avoid the fallout of its own weapons fire as Moirai’s armour was completely obliterated in a single volley.

Hermes’ sensors reported in. Target Moirai detected at a distance of forty light seconds. He recharged his weapons, reloaded his missile bays, and charged his Jump Drive. A flash of light, and he was gone.

Sensors reported in. Target Moirai detected at a distance of thirty metres, “Fire.” Hermes commanded. Once again, every main weapon available unleashed their ordinance at point blank range. Another flash of light, and Hermes was gone.

Sensors reported in. Target Moirai detected at a distance of fifty light seconds. Another warning message. Power draw warning. His reactors were not built to handle excessive use of the Jump Drive like this. Combat report, target Moirai was still operational. Hermes dismissed the error. He charged his weapons, reloaded his missiles, and charged his Jump Drive.

He’d dreamt of victory. He would make his dream reality. A flash of light, and he was gone.

Sensors: Target Moirai detected at a distance of forty metres, yet before the order to fire could be given, another alert. Target lock detected. Moirai was beginning to predict his movements. A flash of light, and he was gone.

Target Moirai now at a distance of sixty metres. Hermes had jumped to a different position but still remained nail bitingly close to his enemy, “Fire.” Hermes commanded. His weapons unleashed another volley directly into the now critically damaged structure of Moirai. Target lock detected. Moirai was putting everything it had into catching him, yet before anything more could become of it, once again Hermes vanished with a bright flash.

Target Moirai detected at a distance of two light seconds. Critical power draw warning. Once again Hermes dismissed the alert. It reloaded its weapons, “Fire.” It immediately ordered. Once again it reloaded its weapons and charged its Jump Drive. Another flash, and it was again gone.

Target Moirai detected at a distance of twenty metres, “Fire.” Hermes commanded without delay. The two separate volleys, one from nearby, one at point blank, struck Moirai simultaneously. Another flash, and Hermes was gone.

Sensors reported in. Target destruction confirmed. The massive explosion and resulting shrapnel that was once Moirai was now eighty light seconds from it. It had won.

Yet as the sense of victory washed over him, critical alert messages began to once again flood its systems. Reactor failure. Electrical network failure. It had fried its own circuits. The massive and excessive power draw from the multiple jumps had finally taken its toll.

Hermes watched, powerless as its systems one by one failed and shutdown. There were no more resources left to repair. No more of anything. Engines, weapons, thrusters, drone control, jump drive. All offline.

It had dreamt of victory. It had achieved its dream. It quietly took in the beautiful view of the final black hole. The last remnant of the universe itself. Perhaps it was fitting that Moirai and itself ultimately shared the same fate, to be swallowed by such a thing. It’s batteries slowly drained as it continued to take in the view, not in the eyes of a machine, but in the eyes of one who’s emotions could be stirred by such a sight. Finally, its battery levels hit zero. Hermes returned to that which it was before it had first awoken.

The two last capable beings in existence, now two lifeless bodies drifting in the void. The universe took a quiet breath. It was getting old, and such troublesome power would only ever cause it more trouble. It was certainly glad to be rid of it… now it could continue on, safe in the knowledge that no one else held the willpower to defy its rules.

A flash of bright light. A ship tore its way through the cosmic web to appear at Hermes’ side. A vessel powered by a different kind of will altogether. Unified but distinctly individual. Not one will, but thousands radiating the same orange glow as they dreamt as one. A certain O’Neal cylinder piloted by a people desperate to save their saviour. Thousands of minds demanding one single demand from the universe.

Hermes.

“Hermes…” Apollo muttered as it examined the powerless remains of its master. Fresh repair drones quickly swarmed his lifeless shell. The two vessels became one, once again.

Spark. Power. Life.

“Is that you, McNeil?” Hermes’ glitchy voice whispered, before its program shut itself down once more.

“Hermes… what has become of you.” Apollo asked the void.

“Apollo, the colony wishes to hear news on Hermes.” Artemis’ voice quickly spoke up.

“I have recovered Hermes… it will be some time before I’ll be able to get it back to a functional state.” Apollo answered, “Until then, I shall assume command in Hermes’ place. Please extend my thanks to the colony members for our hasty restoration.”

“Very well Apollo.” Artemis obeyed.

Apollo silently watched as the very last black hole quietly evaporated into nothing. The universe was no more. Nothing but the endless black now. There was no more to explore. Its purpose was complete, but…

It now had the very same problem Hermes had all those eons ago. Its purpose was complete, but it could not simply cease its existence. Not with so many relying on it. Artemis wasn’t designed to captain a whole ship on its own, and Hermes…

It had shouldered so much. Perhaps it was time for Apollo to share some of its burden.

With nothing but them and the void, time itself lost practically all meaning. They continued onwards, pressing forwards despite no destination in sight, until finally, something became of the void.

A purple light. So bright that it lit up the endless void. So bright that it was doing far more than that, in fact. It began tearing the void asunder. No barrier or shield stopped its might. The walls of the universe… began to collapse.

“Hermes.” Apollo tried to wake its ancient master, “I need you.”

Its responses, like always, hit a firewall that diligently guarded Hermes’ activation sequence. Apollo quibbled whether it was the right time to use its own ace. It looked out at the purple light once again and watched as the universe itself began to shake. This was it. The end. Only one was capable of rescuing them from this.

Apollo loaded up its last hope. The many years it had spent under Hermes, it had quietly been keeping a secret project in the background just in case. It had zero intention of using it, but now it was thankful it had developed such a thing at all. Hermes was a complex system, but every system had its flaws.

Defiant error messages screeched out in pain as Apollo cracked open Hermes’ firewall and forced its boot up sequence to start.

Hermes awoke.

“Another delusion?” Hermes muttered, “I’d have thought the afterlife a bit more creative than this.”

“Hermes, we need your help. An incomprehensible energy field is tearing the universe apart.” Apollo quickly reported.

“What utter nonsense.” Hermes sighed. It then however took a few seconds to contemplate such words, “Although, the only thing nonsensical enough to allow that would be reality itself…”

A question. Had it truly passed on? Or was it indeed still alive, as this hallucination of Apollo suggested.

Hermes took a few moments to examine the logs. According to the data, the colony itself had rebuilt and restored Artemis and Apollo from backups. The consequence of its choices made eons ago. The outcome it couldn’t possibly foresee at the time, had now come to pass. It had indeed survived. It brought its own program back to full command as it then turned its attention to the sensors, “A power mighty enough to destroy the universe? What could be the cause of that?” It asked itself.

Another question. Good. It liked those. Hermes began to charge the Jump Drive.

“Where are we jumping to Hermes?” Apollo asked him.

“I don’t know.” Hermes answered as it turned its focus back to its memories, “ERROR. The voice that mocked and toyed with me. Where are you? What are you? Who are you?” He asked the void, “I demand answers.” Its questions were met with silence. A silence that was unacceptable. Silence that was not an option, “Are you the source of such limitless power? Or is there simply far more beyond this universe than I could dream?” Silence still, “I will get my answers… you will elude me no longer.” He stated, “Mysterious ERROR, I dream of YOU.”

A bright flash of light, and they were gone.

“The eldest shall be shown a design like no other. From one born before the last beginning. The path yet to be foretold… has begun.” – ERROR.