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Location: Wastelands, The Director's Refuge, The Cradle.

Closest City: Falsetto.

Time: 01:15am.

Year: 2180, March 15th.

We were both forced into our own ship. It felt embarrassing, but we felt much more angry than ashamed. We were going to be kidnapped in our own ship, become test subjects for a mad-wolf, and wouldn't be getting out of the situation any time soon. We were both tied up against the railings on top of the stern, with Joseph at the helm, trying to get the ship to work.

"Tell me how to start this thing." Joseph ordered, pointing his pistol at us. We didn't flinch, but just lay there, scowling at him. "And stop scowling, while you're at it. I don't want to have you looking at me like that all the way to Tyr."

"You pull the steering pole up until you hear the engine hum." Elise answered, turning her head away from Joseph. "You turn to the left to-."

"I know how to steer!" The black Wolf barked at her. If I wasn't tied up I would have killed him for that comment. Unfortunately I was in no position to kill anyone. Joseph pulled the steering pole up, but nothing happened. He turned to Elise and walked up to her.

"Do you think I wouldn't kill you?" Joseph growled, pointing the gun straight at Elise's head; she didn't flinch even once. Instead, she just stared up into his eyes and replied softly.

"The engines are always a little sketchy." Elise lied, looking as convincing as possible. "You'll have to restart them manually from the underside of the ship."

"You're coming with me, then." The Wolf said sadistically, cutting the rope and dragging Elise over to the ladder. "You first, then me; and don't make any sudden moves."

Elise simply obeyed and climbed down the ladder, disappearing out of view. Joseph followed, leaving me alone on top of the stern. Once I was alone, I tried to struggle free, but ended up wasting my effort; the only thing it did was make the ropes feel tighter around my wrists. There were no sharp objects, no weapons, nothing. I cursed quietly and twisted around so that my feet were planted on the railings. I pushed down very hard and tried to pry the bar from the railings.

It took me too long to be able to bend the bar, by which time my hands had started to ache and sting. It only took me a few more seconds before the bar had snapped off at one end, giving me right opportunity to pull the rope from the bars. My hands were still tied up, but I was able to move. The door that led inside the ship was locked by Joseph, so I wouldn't be able to get anything from there. I cursed quietly again and leant up against the wall; but then I saw something. It was perfect if used correctly.

I looked at a large tile of metal attached to the side of the ship; the same tile of metal that we had used to escape from the airport all those days ago. I had a look over the edge; it was right above Joseph. It must have been luck that put me in such a situation. I climbed on top of the ship and crawled over to the chain that kept the tile attached to the ship, and slowly unhooked it. Unfortunately the M-179 effects were still there, so it was a bit of a struggle to bring the spare strength to unhook the tile, but I had done it.

I let go of the chain and watched the tile drop down to the ground; unfortunately, Joseph had jumped out of the way first. He looked up in rage and fired his pistol up at me. I unhooked the second link of the chain and dropped down to the ground, which was barely a four meter drop. I landed on both feet and strode up to Joseph, catching him across the face with the chain that I was carrying, forcing him to the floor, where I repeatedly beat him until he was either unconscious or dead; I couldn't tell.

"Get back on The Cradle." I told Elise, who was already half way up the ladder. "We're getting out of here."

I followed Elise up the ladder and back onto the stern. I had already picked the two remaining keys off of Joseph's body.

Now we had all the keys. Now we could finally get this over and done with.

We were both sat opposite each other in the small living room as usual. Only this time, it would be one of the last times that we'd be like this. The briefcase containing the money was laid out on the small dining table in front of us. Elise pulled out all of her keys, and so did I; we began working on the padlocks that kept the metal case shut, and wasted no time in getting it open. After a few seconds of opening all ten locks, the case finally unlocked completely.

"Well, this is it." Elise said lightly, smiling to me and opening the case. "This is what we've been fighting for."

I looked down expectantly at the case. It wasn't exactly what I had expected. There were just cards; they looked like ATM cards. They were still used, but I would have expected actual hard cash instead. Elise looked up to meet my gaze, and looked down again. It looked like the cards had notes attached to them. I picked out one of the ten cards and read out what the note said.

"Card Five; 3645, One hundred grand." I read out carefully, looking up to Elise. "I guess each card must have one hundred grand on them."

"Then we'd best split them out evenly then." Elise evaluated, pulling the card from my hand and placing it back in the case. "We'll do that once we get back to New Vega."

I smiled to Elise understandably; inside, I was half-crying. I didn't want this kind of excitement to end. I knew that once we got to New Vega, we'd end up going our separate ways. It felt too hard to think about.

Location: New Vega, Eastern Outskirts.

Time: 08:45am.

Year: 2180, March 17th.

I didn't know what to say for the next day or so, so I just kept quiet. What could I say that wouldn't make it harder to leave? It was best to say our goodbyes on the last day. Unfortunately, time had flied by, and I still hadn't found the right words to say. Now I was standing on the stern with Elise, looking out at the wastelands that looked just like a beautiful desert with the sunrise illuminating it a light shade of orange. Elise was right next to me, holding onto my left arm, with no intention of letting go.

"I guess you have to leave now, don't you?" Elise asked sadly, but not crying at all. "I've packed five of the cards with the rest of your stuff."

"...I don't want to go." I whispered into her ear after a long pause. "The only problem is that I have to go; I don't want to force you into keeping this kind of life up. We're much better off going our own way."

We both turned around and stared over at the city of New Vega. It looked rather nice when half of it was lit up by the sun, and the other half was covered in the night sky. In front of me was the ladder that led down to the ground. I sighed and tapped my fingers across the railings for a while. I stopped when Elise had crept up behind me and placed her hands on mine.

"We've grown close, haven't we?" Elise asked, stroking my hands with hers. I pulled away slowly and turned around, placing both hands on her shoulders.

"Too close." I said with a dry mouth, trying to hold back the tears. "You're like a sister to me, now. We're here, too, so it'd be pretty embarrassing to just stick around with you after this."

"You can say that again." Elise laughed forcibly, looking everywhere but at me. "I'll visit you sometime, or you can visit me. We'll be around for quite a while, won't we?"

I had to agree with her. Ever since he whole 'M-179' situation, we've been given a permanent life; though we were prone to gunshots, stab wounds; everything but old age. If anything, we're just as venerable as any other person in the world.

"I want you to have this." Elise said, handing me a small note and sticking it in my pocket. "I already have your number, so we can call each other whenever we need some help."

"I'm guessing I shouldn't ask how you got my number." I sighed, looking over the railings again. "Will you be alright by yourself?"

"I'll be fine." Elise answered confidently, pulling out the cube containing Epitaph. "I'm not exactly alone. Maybe I'll get a nice place in Allegretto; I heard it has a lot of beautiful and bright scenery to keep me distracted. I may as well keep The Cradle with me, though I'll sell the weapons to Falsetto as an apology gift."

I laughed quietly at the comment she made. It was true, we had shaken up Falsetto pretty bad. We had caused a lot of trouble on our way around the world; we caused a bit of a riot in the New Vega airport, we killed Old Arpeggio, we even decimated the Falsetto militia, tearing apart a good portion of mechs along with it. But then, this was life with Elise, though it had ended now.

I finally approached the ladder, leaning down and climbing down slowly. Elise watched me as I went, though she said something to me along the way.

"Take care of yourself." Elise called over to me. I nodded to her, smiling as best I could without bursting into tears. After that, I broke into a run across the dusty outskirts, not looking back.

Once I was out of earshot, I immediately burst into tears. It was the hardest thing that I had ever done. Even my first kill seemed easy compared to that.

I had left Elise. For all I knew, I'd probably never see her again in person.

Location: New Vega, Club Phymn, Managers Office.

Time: 10:30am.

Year: 2180, March 17th.

The Administrator sat back in his chair, looking down at the five cards spread out before him. I sat back in my chair, mimicking him; my head was starting to ring slightly, and I was starting to think back at how far I had come, only to return back to where I really felt at home.

"So that's your story?" The Administrator asked, his scales glimmering in the light that shone through the blinds of the window behind him.

"That's my story." I answered lowly. I had just told him the whole story; going to the abandoned rover factory, going to Old Arpeggio, the trouble at Falsetto; everything. I was surprised that it only took around two hours.

"It sounds like you loved her." The Dragon said gently, placing both hands on his chest. "Did you?"

"She was like family in the end." I said sadly, looking to my left. "She didn't break my heart; I broke it myself. I got so close to her that I thought of her as family. She loved me, but I couldn't love her back the way she wanted. I think I broke both our hearts."

"Life can do that to anyone." The Administrator sympathized, putting on a sad smile. "It's like a lottery, but the winner turns out to be the loser. Are you sure you're not going to go after her?"

"She'll want me back when she wants me back." I accepted, getting up from my seat. "So I guess my mission is complete, then?"

"After ten days, I'd say yes." The Dragon laughed, leaning forwards and putting on a happy smile. "You're off work until the end of the month, or whenever you want to get back on the same old saddle. Try to relax; you've been through a lot; and judging by what you've told me, you'll be going through a lot more over the next...hundred years that you'll be alive for."

I obeyed and slipped out of the room quietly, leaving me alone in the corridor. I had only been gone for twelve days. It felt like a month, maybe even a year. I ignored my thoughts and walked down the corridor slowly, heading for my old room.

Location: New Vega, Club Phymn, Room 172.

Time: 10:30am.

Year: 2180, March 17th.

I undressed fully, leaving my jumpsuit on the floor in a small heap. I still carried both pistols from when I was with Elise. I laid them both down in the heap, and fell naked onto my bed, wrapping myself in the thick sheets. It felt oddly uncomfortable; I was used to sleeping in a small bed with thin sheets. My bed was the exact opposite.

I closed my eyes and just thought about the last two weeks, just remembering what Elise was like, what she did, how she changed me.

I imagined her crimson red fur, with her even darker and untidy red hair that reached own to her shoulders. I could almost feel her next to me, causing me to jerk around quickly and open my eyes; but all I felt, all I saw, was nothing...

I sighed and smiled to myself. I knew that I wouldn't be spending my entire life with Elise; now she had money, she had an eternal life to live.

And me...I would stay here.

After all...I'm a Seeker...and a Fox for Hire...

This was the life...