Scribe’s Note: The following event occurs during a sequence of events that predate Rise and Fall. Mortac, finally found by myself, agreed to share what he knew of past events. This scene was recounted to me during that interview.

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She lay on her back, a white cloth pulled up over her chest and tucked under her arms. The table upon which she lay stood in the center of an empty room. Off to one side stood a chair, and in it I sat. I couldn’t bear to look, instead hiding my head in my hands, elbows on my knees, as I rocked back and forth. A single repeating beep echoed in the silence, emanating from a screen opposite where the man sat.

The still form of my wife moved, taking in a deep breath. I looked up at the sound, standing up just a bit, eyes locked on the woman. When she remained still, I flopped back down, leaning back and knocking my head against the wall over and over.

"What is it going to take? What do I have to do?"

I closed my eyes, letting out a long breath, and remained there motionless for several moments. She murmured, a small sound that barely escaped her lips. I looked over at her, stood up, and moved to stand next to the bed. I stared down at her face, my soul twisted in pain.

"My sweet Cel, I don’t know what to do anymore." I leaned over her face. "I’ve tried everything. We all have. This thing, this disease, it’s just too fast. It adapts faster than we can work." I looked toward the only door into the room. "I don’t see any other way to help you."

The door hissed open and Vincent, my best friend and counterpart in this search, entered.

"Morris," he said by way of greeting.

"Vincent."

"How is Cel?"

I looked back at her.

"Unchanged. And the machine?"

Vincent nodded. "It’s ready. As ready as we can make it. We’ve run every test we can think of but there is still so much we don’t know about it."

"Have you tested the connectivity?"

"Yes, we connected to every citadel node across the globe. No delays that we can connect."

"And the library?" Morris asked.

"Uploading now. We’ll keep the back-ups in place just in case, but I doubt we’ll need them." Vincent stepped closer. "You’ll never believe this, but we aren’t even using an infinitesimal of a fraction of the capacity. The storage space is so large we can’t calculate it."

I nodded, taking my wife’s hand in my own.

"All that and we still don’t know if it can do what we need it to."

My friend stepped close to the bed opposite me.

"Power is our primary setback, you know that. As amazing as the Gate device is, it still doesn’t have a stable enough power source."

I felt my torso sag. Vincent, seeing the effect his words had, waved a hand at me.

"We’ll find one. You know we will. To start, we can use it in spurts. Right now, for the data upload. Later-" he looked down at the still form of my wife "-later, we can do more."

I looked up. "How long until the upload is complete?"

Vincent shook his head.

"If we push the upload window to the maximum…" He frowned, pursing his lips. "I don’t know. I’ll go look."

He looked down at Cel.

"I know how much she means to you, but you need a break."

"I’m not doing anything. Just sitting here."

"Exactly. You need exercise. A decent meal. Some sunlight."

I shook my head.

"I’m staying here."

Vincent nodded and stepped near the door.

"Just think about it, okay Morris?"

I glared at him.

"I’m not leaving my wife. I’ve lost too much time already."

At that moment, she stirred, drawing my attention. I hovered over my wife, one hand still holding hers.

"Come on, Cel," I whispered. "Just hold on. We’re almost there."

My voice seemed to stir her from the grip of slumber. Her head rolled to one side, her mouth falling open as a quiet murmur escaped past her lips. I released her hand and cupped the side of her face, shifting it back upright. As I did, her eyes fluttered open.

"Mor-"

She broke into a fit of coughing, struggling to speak between gasps for air.

"Mor-, Morris. Are yo-, you there?"

"I’m here, sweetheart. I’m here."

I leaned farther over her, my head casting a shadow onto her face. She blinked, eyes focusing on my face. A small smile tugged at her lip.

"I had the most pleasant dream," she whispered. "We were far from here. In the mountains. You remember our last time there?"

I nodded, touching a hand to her cheek and looking up at Vincent. He was gone.

"It was a good trip, but I seem to recall someone complaining about the cold the whole time."

She frowned at me.

"It was winter, of course it was cold. And you know I’m practically cold-blooded."

I chuckled. "It did make you more snugly."

She laughed, then broke into a fit of coughing. I moved up beside her, wrapping one arm under her as she coughed off to the side. After a moment, the fit passed and she lay there, head resting on my arm, one hand clinging to mine.

"I’m not getting any better."

"Don’t say that," I whispered, holding her close. "We’ll find a way."

"You’ve said that before."

"We’re so close. The machine is almost finished."

She shook her head.

"And what will that do? What will that change?"

"It could change everything," I whispered.

"Or destroy it."

The pair fell silent. I reached a hand up to brush her hair and Cel moved to push up against my touch.

"I miss this," she said. "I miss you."

A tear slipped down my cheek.

"Can we please leave this place?" she asked. "Away from all this. I just want to be alone with you."

I clutched her shoulders.

"You wouldn’t survive a trip."

"I’m not going to survive anything," she said. "At least let me pass somewhere I’ll be happy."

Another fit of coughs ripped through her body. I held her cradled in my arms as she gasped for air. A soft beep emitted into the air, a sharp sound that cut into the room like an intruder.

"What’s that?" she sputtered.

My eyes were locked on the screen. I didn’t move, didn’t respond. I simply closed my eyes and lowered my head.

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

Cel shifted and her hand touched my face. I opened my eyes to look at her.

"I knew it was wrong. I knew your body couldn’t handle such things," I went on.

Cel craned her neck to look at the screen and her mouth fell open.

"Computer, blank the screen!" she cried out.

Cel turned back to look up at me.

"I was just as surprised as you," she whispered, taking my hand and placing it on her belly.

Another tear rolled down my face.

"You...you," I began, then paused, closing my eyes. "You won’t survive that."

She reached a hand up to touch my face once more.

"Morris, I don’t care. I can give you this much. A ray of hope in this stark, gloomy prison you’ve locked yourself in." She pulled my face closer to hers and place a small kiss on his lips. "They can save her. I know they can."

I looked down and shook my head.

"I can’t do it. I can’t do that without you."

Cel coughed once, pulling me down and pressing her face against mine.

"Yes, you can."

Her voice became faint.

"Promise me, Morris," she whispered. "Promise me you’ll live. You’ll go on."

I shook my head.

"I can’t make promises I can’t keep."

"Promise me," she said, her eyes opening and locking on mine.

I stared back and a small smile tugged at one lip.

"I promise."

She smiled.

"And promise you will get her out. Get her into an artificial womb."

I nodded at her.

"I promise that as well."

Her eyes closed as another, more insistent beep began to fill the room.

"And don’t put me...in..."

She broke into another fit of coughs.

"Into that..."

She fell back down, her eyes fluttering. Her face glistened with sweat as she collapsed down onto his arm. A trickle of blood seeped out of one side of her mouth.

"Cel?"

I shifted, laying her down and looking up at the screen. I brushed a hand across her bright, red hair and a piece came loose, falling to the floor at my feet.

"No, no, not yet." I looked at her belly. "It’s too soon!"

I ran a hand through my hair. Cel remained still as the beeping accelerated. I looked at the screen, then at her, then the screen again. The next moment, I made my choice and began to move.

Scooping her up, I fled the room.