"The inner scanners show no signs of contamination." Miyon said, standing before the thick, big metal door to the cargo hold, where their mysterious package got dragged in by the ship's 'malfunction.' "Still, after what just happened, I wouldn't believe anything she says!" he grumbled, clamping down on his bulky environment suit's wrist-mounted computer.

"This suit was based on a human template Pa; it should filter out all kinds of diseases!" Sylen tried to calm him down, but she also said it to stop her hands from shaking.

"Let us hope the ancestors were truly just as brilliant as the fables tell us about them!" He nodded with the big, round helmet around his head, its plexiglass already foggy from his anxious breaths.

Opening the door, it slid into the walls with a loud rumbling, revealing the well-lit cargo hold, filled to the brim with junk, scrap metals, and 3-meter tall, mechanized loader suits. They were nudged forward as the air rushed into the previously sealed room, replacing the vacuum with breathable air.

"No changes," Sylen said, walking forward, her right arm raised, and from the palm of her brown glove, from a round disc embedded into its fabric, green beams were scanning everything before her.

"Scan on the microbe level." Miyon walked past her in a half circle, watching the suitless body lying on the cold, rusted, metal floor.

"I am already doing it. Nothing. It's clean. In the air, on the body, there are no known or unknown elements contaminating it. We could take off the suits if we wanted to!"

"No!" Miyon shouted, strictly reprimanding her, "Don't you dare do that, or I'll shave your head bald!"

"Hauh! I-i… I just said what the readings told me…." She trembled, darting her eyes left to right as if she was reading her helmet's infodump, constantly rolling past, detailing everything about the status of the outside world and her own bodily functions.

"Hmf! You are always way too lax! For now, come and help me bag this corpse! We are going to burn it, same with our suits!" He reached towards his back, pulling out a black tube from his belt-fastened toolbag. With one whip of his hand, it rolled out, turning into a simple trash bag, ready to be filled with… well, a corpse.

"The suits?! They are expensive, Pa! Very expensive!"

"Our lives are priceless; items come and go!" He reprimanded her once again, looking at the human-like body. "Weird…"

"What?" She asked, coming up and also checking out the man before her. He was surprisingly good-looking; one could say he was simply; perfect. The exposed parts of his body were well defined, not overly muscular but also brimming with energy, even after death. "He is surprisingly… sexy," Sylen said, without holding back much in front of her grandfather.

"Well, you are at that age already." Miyon smiled faintly, but then his face returned to a confused state. "I say it is weird because he looks almost as if he is alive! And look!" pointed at his body as a whole. "No signs of mutations! He almost looks like… a human!"

"You are right! Pa, what if we found a real human?! Wouldn't that be awesome?! He could fetch a great price!"

"You speak nonsense again, Sylen; no humans are left in the galaxy! Neither live nor dead ones! None!" He quipped at her, walking next to the body and grabbing its wrist.

As soon as he did, the 'dead' body's head moved, and its eyes snapped open, revealing deep, purple irises shining like exotic gems. For a brief moment, Miyon did not even react, and instead, Sylen was the one who screamed so loudly she almost cracked her own helmet's vizor. Miyon janked away his hand, now also screaming, tumbling backward, falling hard, roving in the air with his legs and arms like a turtle stuck on its back.

"Pa!" Sylen rushed over, pulling him away and helping him stand back up. Both ran out, closing the heavy door behind them while Miyon smashed his palm onto the emergency purging button. The hatch to the cargo hold opened in a hurry, sucking out all the air and everything not held in place by the security magnetization. Watching from the camera feeds, linking directly to their helmets, they were horrified.

"It does not even move…." Miyon gulped as they saw that the body was unbothered by it and just lay there, unmoving.

"Hh-he..he- He just opened his eyes!" Sylen stuttered.

"I saw it!" Miyon whined, looking at his granddaughter and seeing the same fear in her eyes as he was feeling.

"H-hey…" Crackled the inner speakers of their helmets, prompting the two to freeze in place as they listened to the dry, tired voice. “I’m… really… thirsty…”

…
….
…..

"Is he still there?" Miyon asked through the radio while he was in the other part of the ship, trying to find a heavy flamer; he knew they had one to burn away the talking corpse they took in from the vacuum of space.

"He is," Sylen answered, standing guard with a laser rifle. She was now without the bulky suit from before, only wearing her regular clothes. She watched the small screen next to the door's control panel as the man inside had already sat up, slowly regaining his faculties. By now, he was massaging his legs as if trying to return the blood flow into them, preparing to stand back up. "Pa, I don't think it is a good idea to be… aggressive… I… I don't think it will work!"

"I don't want any zombies on my ship! If he does not get sucked into his origin, his ashes will be!"

"Pa…" She tried to say something, but she was quickly shut down again.

"Stay put and keep an eye on him!"

"Okay…" She grumbled, cutting the feed as her eyes returned to the small screen, watching him sitting there. His face was calm and unbothered, massaging his own body over and over again.

"What is your name?"

"Kyah?!" Sylen yelped, jumping in place as she heard the man's voice coming from the wall-mounted speaker next to her. "Damn it!" stomped in place, angry to be scared by him. Again. "How are you doing that?!" She asked back, pressing the activation button for the microphone.

"Doing what?" The man questioned her again, not understanding her.

"Speaking through our systems, without any devices! Are you augmented? Some cybernetics? But your skin was spotless; you didn't show any signs of alterations!"

"I…" He fell silent for a minute, furrowing his brows, trying to come up with a simple explanation. "I just tap into it."

"Huh?" Sylen blinked her eyes, confused as if it was anything but an answer. "It was you who made our ship pull you in?"

"Yes." came the immediate answer.

"How?" She gawked, filled with absolute shock, really starting to fear what would happen if her grandfather came back with a flamethrower!

"I just… know how to do it. I can't explain it well. I just do."

"Sure! If it is a secret, just say so!" She snorted, angry at his non-answer.

"What is your name?" The 'living corpse' asked again, not angered in any way, continuing to calmly massage his legs.

"It is a Secret!" Sylen answered, pouting at the other side of the wall.

"Mine is Omega. Good to meet you, A Secret."

"..." she opened her mouth wider and broader Sylen before flaring up angrily. "I was being sarcastic! That is not my name!"

"I know." He nodded at the other side, stopping for only a moment before leaning back, moving her toes, and watching them act as he wanted, smiling at the results.

"..."

"..."

"Damn it!" Sylen opened the channel again, clearly angry that he ignored her. "My name is Sylen!"

"Okay!" Omega answered, slowly standing up, starting to stretch, and now regaining much of his mobility.

Watching him, Sylen was about to blow her top off, her ears and tail standing erect, aiming at the ceiling while she was grinding her teeth together… somehow, that reanimated corpse inside the cargo hold really got on her nerves!

"I'm back!" Miyon arrived in a rush, wearing a metallic exoskeleton with a giant fuel tank on his back and a robust flamer attached to his left hand.

"Pa! I think this is a terrible idea!" Sylen flinched, watching him with a worried expression.

"It is not!" the old man growled, opening the door and letting the air once again rush into it.

"Wait…" Sylen furrowed his brow. If there was no air in there, how did he hear her? How did he answer her? But those questions were no longer critical, seeing her grandfather rush in, aiming at Omega.

"I think you should listen to your girl." Omega looked at him with kind eyes, not angry nor afraid.

"Be gone, monster!" Miyon shouted, activating the heavy flamer, and red-hot, blazing fire burst forward in an arc, engulfing Omega completely.

Miyon felt the scorching heat coming from it, even as his arm was flickering, coated in an energy field, shielding its wearer from its destructive power. He was blasting the same spot until the whole tank on his back ran empty. When the flames dispersed, even the weapon's barrel was melted, completely ruined, and the ground wasn't faring any better. Now it looked like quicksand; the rusted surface was bubbling and swirling like some nasty, sick soup, releasing white-hot, foul-smelling columns of smoke as it started to cool back down.

"Pa…?" Sylen gulped, watching the destruction, barely blinking, her gaze fixed on the spot where Omega had previously stood.

"Worry not; this should've done it!"

"Done what?" came the quick question as Omega walked forward, coming out from the smoke, looking at them with a slightly tilted head and a questioning gaze. He was surrounded by a soft, twinkling aura, constantly changing colors. He was not just unharmed; his feet traveled the molten metal floor, almost like floating above it. Wherever his feet passed, the floor rehardened and repaired itself back to its original form, only missing the rust and grime, shining like a freshly reforged surface.

“W-w-what…” Miyon stuttered, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"A personal distortion field!" His granddaughter whispered, her eyes partly shining in fear and excitement. A technology like that was considered 'lost' as she had only heard about it from old tales! That must be it!

Omega just looked at her for a moment, flashing a mysterious smile but said nothing before gently bowing.

"Sorry if I startled you two; I mean no harm to either of you! I… I'm just… lost." Omega sighed with a tinge of helplessness.

"Lost?" Sylen stepped forward as her grandfather still didn't recover from his shock.

"Yes." he nodded, now only looking at her.

"Well… we are in," she tried to explain, but Omega raised his right hand.

"Sorry, I was not clear… I…" he smiled, showing a very human-like, awkward expression. "I don't know who I am…" he whispered, genuinely embarrassed by his predicament.

"Huh?" Miyon flinched, returning to reality.

"But… you remember your own name?" Sylen asked, unsure what to believe.

"I remembered what a voice called me when you asked for my name. That is all! Besides that… nothing. Sorry!" he bowed elegantly again. "I only know bits and pieces gained from your ship's memory core. That is all."

"You accessed our ship's core?! You-!" Miyon clicked on the flamethrower's ignition trigger repeatedly, but it had no effect as it was not just empty but also ruined.

"She is a good ship." Omega smiled, ignoring Miyon, looking around himself, admiring the insides before turning towards Sylen. "Can we… move into a more comfortable place? My legs are still a little numb."

"Y-yes." she nodded, gulping, unable to tear away her eyes from him.

"Sylen!" her grandfather shouted, hurrying next to her, shielding her from "him."

"Pa! Don't you get it? He could have hurt us by now if he really wanted to!"

"I am really not here to hurt any of you." Omega nodded then he looked into Miyon's eyes, scanning them for a few seconds. "I know why you are so afraid… I am sorry you lost her that way…" he sighed with honest compassion emanating from him, reaching forward, gently stroking the old man's head, only reaching up to his chest. Sylen was utterly flabbergasted, watching her grandfather tremble, starting to shed tears and showing deep fear slowly appearing on his face.

“Who… are you…?” Miyon asked, quiet as a mosquito, barely holding himself together. He wanted to shake off his hand, but somehow he couldn't, and not because he was controlling him. Simply the feelings coming from the man's palm soothed him greatly, easing the pain in his heart that was always there since losing his daughter and her husband, leaving him alone with Sylen.

"A friend…" Omega smiled, gently wiping off Miyon's tears with his finger.