First

Preposterous. Lore had a feeling that the others wouldn’t react well to Emm’s plan but they weren’t expecting it to go down as poorly as it did. “Lead balloons have fallen slower on Jupiter” The Hologram shook its head. “I presented our idea, explained it perfectly and… Well, you can see for yourself what happened. They’ve gotten so used to their Cycles that anything that significantly deviates from it, is abhorrent.”
“But I exist.” Lore patted themselves down.
“We were very persuasive and we had a little help from a friend.” The Hologram waved its hand and the meeting room and its racket became the surface of Johned; the silence was golden. They revelled in it for a moment before the next memory began. Emm was walking the perimeter of the base, toeing the line between the outer surface and the atmospheric bubble; their pace was slow and measured but they were pounding the ground hard enough to leave clear footprints in the gravel. “After leaving the meeting, I walked the limits of the base, hoping for a way to convince them.” The Hologram jogged ahead of its former self. “I came to a stop here, my shoes had filled with gravel and that’s when I saw… It.”
The androgynous form from Quatarr appeared before them, it took a seat in the air opposite them. “Emm.” It paused and smiled. “It’s been a while.”
“We’ve never met.” Emm leant forward on the block. “You’re time aren’t you?”
“You’re just not thinking fourth Dimensionally, but yes, I suppose, from your point of view, we’ve never met. You’re doing so well; its hard to believe how close you finally are.” Time got comfortable.
“The others rejected my idea, said it was inelegant and wasteful.” Emm started to ramble; their voice faded out and was replaced by The Holograms.
“I must have ranted to Time for at least an hour and, in the entire time, it never spoke, it just listened. Listened as I explained the cloning process and the procedures that would allow us to theoretically use Quatarrian cloning techniques to make a mostly human Lore and a Mostly Quatarrian Char. But the same problem kept coming up.” Lore looked to the hologram confused and with questions galore on their lips. “The Twenty seven Lore problem. The idea that creating a new Cycle with the clones, would yield too many Lores. Apparently there’s a limit of twenty six and we’re already close.
Time nodded. “You’re close. You can’t give up just yet. You won’t.” Time vanished. Lore and The Hologram followed it.

“It’s been a while.” Time repeated itself. “Seems you’re having a little crisis.”
“It’s you again.” The First stood faster than they had for a while. “It has. Why are you here, and why now?”
Time leant against nothing. “The Twenty seven Lore problem.”
“Ah. The clones.” The First nodded. “I must admit, I think it’s a genius plan but the others seem to see it as them being replaced, made redundant by replications of ourselves… Well, the other Lores.”
“You think otherwise.” Time moved over to them. “Do you have the strength to do what is needed?”
The First sighed. “When you first asked me that, I honestly wasn’t sure. The modifications I made to my Breacher were brand new and the theories were difficult to quantify at first. Now I know I do.”
“Allow the creation of the clones. Only Emm and their team may work on them, they get final say. You will know when the time comes.” Time vanished.

Replacing it, Quatarr. Twenty five figures stood on Quatarr’s scarred surface; before them, a Tether towered. The device activated, glowing blue then white before firing a beam of energy into space. The light terminated reasonably close to the planet, as if it had hit something; a spark like ricochet lit the space above them before their energy beam started cutting. Soon, a gateway into nothingness had formed. The light terminated and the gateway drew closer. All fifty Lores and Chars vanished, finding themselves in a similar situation but on the Quatarr of the past. A Tether loomed before them and only became more imposing as it was activated. White golden light poured from its tip and into space. Similarly, it stopped and cut into reality itself. A second hole formed and the tunnel was created. The planet’s orbit brought it through; as it did, Emm tapped their Breacher. It flashed twice.
“Clones are in place sir.” Emm nodded.
“Let’s hope then, we have the strength.” The First began their walk to Tarrquu. The others followed behind. “Ensure your Breachers are synchronised with mine.” They all tapped their wrists and copied their settings.
They stood on a hill, The corpse of the ship they used to get to Quatarr lie in the sands, copper blue fires burnt around it and sunlight poured into its internal structure for the first time since its creation. The Lores and Chars stood on the hill and waited for Crait. Words were exchanged but Lore couldn’t hear them; they knew where they were, when they were and what was about to happen. They watched again as, one by one, the pairs dwindled until there was only The First and their Char remaining.
“Please let me be strong.” The First’s thoughts echoed across the dead surface. In a final flash of white, they were gone.

The others were waiting for them. They were in a familiar side alley on Rigel. The First nodded to the others to remain in hiding while they and their Char went to find the Cycle’s Lore and Char. Before they split, The First and their Char shared an embrace and a tear. The Lore was exactly on time and, once they were out of the road, The First carefully approached them.
“Hello.” They could see themselves ready to run. “It’s been a while.” They paused before whispering. “Please let me be strong” They rested their hand on the Lore’s shoulder. A shock like static and they were alone. Context.