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| - Felix stopped and looked over the house he was standing in front of. It wasn't particularly an old house, but it was certainly modest. It looked just like every other one lining the street. Quiet retirement. I should have guessed. He suddenly felt nervous, something that didn't happen even in the midst of a heavy-fire battle. But this was different. He wasn't afraid...no, he was afraid. Afraid of what he might see. What he might not see. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and deciding not to drag it out, briskly approached the door and rang the doorbell. Barely ten seconds later, it was opened by a young woman who was about a head shorter than him. Still, her height was impressive, and there was something else about her. A certain sharpness that was rare even in most Marines or Navy officers. And she had a very strong resemblance to— "Can I help you?" she asked. "Is this the home of Gillian Buckler?" he asked quietly, feeling his nervousness suddenly return. This young woman couldn't have been much older than twenty, but her voice sounded so familiar. He was almost certain of who she was. "Who is it, Jan?" called another voice. This time he recognized it at once. Another woman appeared at the door, and Felix gave a sharp, audible inhale. It was her, no doubt. Older, perhaps, but the very same Gillian Buckler he had known and served alongside sixty years ago. She still had that same sharpness he remembered in her, and was mirrored in the young woman beside her. But something about her was more...faded. "Gilly," he whispered. She looked straight in his eyes and froze. Her mouth was silently forming words, but she didn't say anything. "Mom," Jan said. "Who is he?" Finally, Gilly spoke. "I know you..." "It's me, Felix," he said, in that same quiet voice. He felt like he would break the spell if he spoke too loud, that if he wasn't careful, the memories of their past would be lost forever. "Felix," she repeated. "That name...it's so familiar..." "Mom, who is he?" Jan asked again, this time a bit forcefully. She looked at Felix again, and a tension crept into her expression. Something has happened to her, he thought. Something connected to Gilly. He was about to answer her, when Gilly beat him to it. "Felix Martel. Project ORION." She looked down with something like resignation. "He's like me. He's one of us." Not anymore. Not after what those Forerunners did to me. Surely she could tell that he was different now? And there was also... Gilly frowned, and in that instance some of her lost perceptiveness seemed to return to her. "You disappeared. Sixty years ago, during Operation...Operation: CHARLEMAGNE." He nodded. "And yet you don't look a day older since then," she continued, meeting his eyes again. "But how? Not even cryo freeze..." "It's a very long story." "Well, come in. I've got time. And I've been waiting for something like this for a long time." Gilly led him into the house, followed by Jan, who closed the door behind them. I hope she remembers. I need her to remember.
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