The Reaper was taken by surprise when a feculent lifeform approached him from his blind spot. The lifeform tried to whisper something to him, but Bonechill grabbed the thing by its midsection and flung it on the ground, knocking the air from its lungs.

He raised his foot to crush the lifeform beneath his weight, but before he could snuff the thing from this existence, it held out its hands and wailed.

"Wait, stop!"

The Reaper hesitated, staring down at the lifeform at his feet. It wasn't one he was familiar with. It had an elongated torso, far too long to be proportioned well with the rest of its body. On either side of the torso were eight sets of arms, segmented in pairs of two. It didn't wear an exosuit, which meant that it was either adapted to the atmosphere of Juno IV, or it was like Bonechill and simply unaffected by an environment he isn't native to.

The lifeform scampered on its hind legs, brushing themselves off before standing tall and regarding Bonechill. It extended four of its many hands in his direction, expectedly.

"Morgan," The lifeform said, waving their hands back and forth a bit, further pressuring the handshake. "I heard you have some bad dreams my friend. Some visions o'mystere? Precognition sickness, yes?"

Bonechill knelt down so that he was on Morgan's eye level. He stared into the lifeform's singular, glassy eye, looking for any sign of recognition. Had he seen this lifeform before, back when he had skin, maybe? No, certainly not. He'd never seen a member of this species in all his travels throughout the Plastic Galaxy. And yet...

The lifeform rested its extended hands at their side, shaking its head, "Not much of a talker, are you?"

"Information carries a lot of weight," Bonechill replied.

"Ah, yeah, typical bounty hunter. Even when you work for SysCo, you all act like you're the cream of the universe. Look buddy, you've got something stuck on your... I guess your species would call it a brain? It's a parasite, kinda."

The Precog. Bonechill raised an eyebrow.

"Let me just, munch on your mindspace a little, make a nest on a memory here or there, and I'll take care of that parasite for you."

Bonechill rose to his feet, planting his hands on the weapons that hung from his hip.

Morgan, whether mocking him or reaching for a concealed weapon beneath their carapace, did the same.

"One immortal to another," Morgan began, moving their head slightly so they could see behind Bonechill, "mind parasites suck, and there's hardly a doctor left that intimately understands the biology of a nigh-extinct species."

Bonechill turned, following Morgan's gaze. Standing behind him with its arms outstretched in his direction, was the Precog. Firery, empty voids stared at him through the thing's eyeballs now. Its gnarled mouth was twisted into a sick, disgusting snarl.

"You'll eat a part of my mind?" Bonechill asked, not taking eyes off the Precog.

Morgan shrugged, "Only the bad parts. Like that guy there. Your guilt, any bad memories, stuff you wouldn't mind losing."

The lifeform chuckled to themselves. Bonechill did not.

"Look," Morgan began walking passed Bonechill, touching his shin while they did so, "I'll do you a freebie. That guy there? Basically a super parasite. Lots of grief, rage, desire for vengeance, however misguided it might be. You didn't like, make a Precog or anything like that, right?"

"No."

"Whatever. Don't ask, don't tell, right? Okay, watch this."

Bonechill wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen as Morgan approached the Precog. The whole act could have been a farse, something to lower his guard so the lifeform would have time to strike. Or maybe they were telling the truth, and whatever happened to him on Aegis II could actually be resolved. Working around the Precog's manifestations was starting to drive him mad, and finding a way around that would have taken time. Time he did not have much of.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was the rapid, summary annihilation of the Precog at Morgan's hand. The lifeform touched the Precog for no longer than a millisecond. Its form boiled, then evaporated. It screamed, a truly guttural thing, one that lingered in Bonechill's ears even after it finished.

Morgan dusted their hands off and turned to face Bonechill, a smug look on their face.

"So, how about it?"

"What did you do?"

"Ate him, what were you expecting, me to give him a hug and a kiss? He shouldn't bother you anymore. I can, literally, see inside your mind right now. You got a lot of stuff going on, something about a uh, woman? Some weird, tragic colony on a moon four hundred years ago that you can't get over?"

"Stop." Bonechill commanded.

"I could take that away from you, all of it. It's a pretty sweet deal, I think."

"What's in it for you?"

The lifeform shrugged, "I just need a ride."

"Where?"

"Earth Beta."

If he had facial features, Bonechill wouldn't have been able to hide his surprise. What business did this lifeform have in the Core?

As if Morgan was reading his mind, they continued, "I've been disconnected from Morg-Prime. I, uh, stretched myself a bit too far. Conservation efforts, heh."

Morgan rubbed the back of their head, breaking eye contact for the first time. They stared at the ground for some time, as if waiting for Bonechill to break the silence.

"Conservation efforts," They repeated, waving many hands over their body, "But, you know, Etruscans found the homeworld of this species, and then it was over for them. Except this one, but their lifespans aren't exactly what mine is."

"What kind of lifeform are you?"

"Human, mostly. I'm uh, well the System Collective classified me as an 'Anomaly' but I'm not a huge fan of the word. What, you're telling me you're going to class a member of an endangered species something special? Call 'em a weirdo just cause I accidentally turned myself into an immortal hive mind? Talk about dickish."

Morgan kicked the dirt.

"I was waiting for another human to make their way out here. This species isn't exactly adept at space travel. Bodies are very frail. I needed a better host, one capable of protecting this creature while I snagged a starskipper and bolted to the Core. Then you came along. But you're all," Morgan traced circles around their head, "all sorts of fucked in the head.

"So, um, sorry. Just trying to be honest. But that's the deal, I'll just eat some of your memories, keep that super fucked mind parasite away from you. You do you, and drop me off on Earth Beta. I won't question you, you don't question me."

"Ask no question and I can tell you no lie," Bonechill muttered, half to himself, half to Morgan.

The lifeform didn't acknowledge him, simply nodding instead.

"Sounds like we have an accord," Morgan said, "So, shall we?"

Bonechill shook his head, "I have work to do, here."

"Welp," Morgan said, "Lead the way."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the Elysium, Bonechill undid his visor. He ran his hand across the top of his skull, then sagged his shoulders a bit. Old habits die hard.

Morgan scuttled around the main cabin of the starskipper, examining every nook and cranny they could squeeze themselves into. Bonechilll could hear them rummaging through the walls of the starskipper, making an awful lot of noise. Despite that, none of the internal sensors that indicated some kind of damage went off. Either they Morgan disabled them, or, more likely, they too withered away over the centuries.

The small lifeform emerged beneath the chair of the co-pilot's seat, just to the left of the helm and captain's chair. They were covered in dust, with smaller bits of detritus sticking to their carapace like an adhesive. A second passed, and those pierces of refuse were absorbed into Morgan's exoskeleton.

They shook their head for a moment, and sat in the co-pilot's chair.

"This is your starskipper?" Morgan asked incredulously.

Pythia answered him, her voice projecting through the ship's interior speakers, "It is, yes."

Morgan turned in their seat, so that their chin was resting on the arm of the chair, "AI too? SysCo gave you a sick ride and you let it go to shit."

"I assure you, I am fully functional," Pythia noted, a hint of malice in her voice, "Quite functional. Just say the word and I'll jettison this thing into orbit."

Bonechill shook his head, "I need to re-establish remote access to the ship, Pythia. Gonna need your help."

The holoprojectors just behind Bonechill whirred to life, drawing a huge expense of power from the rest of the ship. Lights flickered on and off, the engine sputtered and then stopped. The launch thrusters powered on for the briefest of instances before shutting down again.

Then, Pythia stood in her physical form, brought to life by the hardlight projectors.

She regarded Bonechill, and smiled as she looked him up and down, "New exosuit?" She asked.

"Pythia," Bonechill said, trying to keep her on track, "Remote access?"

"Just nice to finally see you taking care of yourself," She said, morphing her hand into a multitool before working on the access panel sealed behind a wall.

It took her no more than a few seconds before the panel was unsealed and opened for the first time in an age. Bonechill blew the dust off the keyboard, and began typing in commands on both his exosuit and the Elysium.

When it was done, the access panel and the small holographic display on his wrist glowed a faint blue.

"The target is a Junovian," Bonechill spoke, this time to Morgan, "He's got a Sigil of the Damned, System Collective employed. Know anything about him?"

Morgan smiled the closest thing their host could smile, "Sure do."

"Good," Bonechill said. Then, to Pythia, "I'll be back soon."

"Should I give Admiral H'ythu an update on your party?" She asked.

Bonechill shrugged, "I'll leave it up to you."

Together, the Reaper and Morgan disembarked from the Elysium, making their way to the Nestcluster of Juno IV.