When they finally reached the right docking bay, they walked inside spotting
the pod instantly, which was leaned upward, all four them very curious about
the design, neither of them seeing anything remotely like it before.  It was
slightly more advanced than what they usually saw in a cryo pod, especially
Kai's pod.  It had the shape of an oval, only smoother in its shape and its
look, so much so that it would have looked brand new if not for the thin line
of dust and frost covering it.  It was also a different color from which they
expected it, not getting a clear as glass look but it was all red, from the
hood to the bottom of it.  It looked more like a giant red bug eye than an
actual chamber, and not only did it confuse them but amazed them as well.
"What do you think it is?"
"Or more importantly, who do you think it is?  790, you got anything to tell
us?"
"Not a clue.  This pod seems to have two layers."
"Two layers?"
"Yes, one outer layer and one inner, as to what they are for though, your
guess is as good as mine."
Kai, on the other hand, didn't ask any questions but instead went over and
wiped off a line of frost from the front outer panel, to reveal both what and
who was inside it, and to the surprise of the others, it seems to be that
Stan was right after all.  It was a beautiful, young woman inside cryosleep,
looking as peaceful inside the chamber now as when she first came in.  Stan,
Xev and 790 looked on curiously but Kai, even though the others couldn't see
it, had this look that was unnatural, one not of only of curiosity but of
some sort of familiarity...
"Hey, what do you know?  I was right for a change.  Heh heh."
"Kai?  Kai?  Kai?!"
"Yes?"
"Can you find any controls on it...you know, to wake her up?"
"None that I can see, but then again, I am not familiar with this type of
device."
"Humph, let me give it a try, you lucious hunk of man."
Xev gave the robot head a gentle slap on the bottom before taking it over to
the machine, scanning it over before hearing a strange and loud clicking
sound, proceeding then by the outer door opening to reveal a slightly small
clear square container inside.
"It's definitely a cryo pod, and unfortunately, it's on a time clock,
delicious
dark one."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that she will only wake up at a certain time that the computer
programs it to.  It also has a log and coordinates to a planet here in
the Dark Zone."
"Can you access those, 790?"
"Well, it will take some time.  Both the logs and the coordinates are both
security encrypted and password protected.  I would have to scan each code
one by one and try to piece it to together.  Whoever is in here obviously
doesn't want to be found."
"What if you activated the container?  If you woke her up, she could help
us figure this thing out."
"That won't be a problem, lovely last one of the Brunnen-G, I'll just speed
up the clock and make the computer think it's time to wake her up...and I
just about got it...now-"
Several beeping sounds followed up by the same amount of flashing lights
activated the small computer that made up most of the pod before it let out
a flood of cold smoke out from the bottom of the container, letting out
another loud clicking sound before the lid slowly rose up better revealing
the passenger inside: a tall, beautiful, brown haired woman wearing nothing
but a black, skin tight rubber suit.  She did not wake instantly as the crew
expected her to, instead her stiff body began to fall forward and if it were
not for Kai, seemingly out of instinct, who slid down to catch her body
before it slammed against the floor, their problems might have never been
solved.
"That was cool.  Thanks, Kai."
"You're welcome", he replied, standing and lifting the sleeping woman,
carrying her in his arms, "why is she still asleep?"
"She must have been under for a considerable amount of time", 790
interrupted, "you might want to carry her to a table to lie her down, it
may take a couple of hours for her body to warm up and for her to regain
consciousness.  In the meantime, I'll be killing my time trying to crack this
system. Just don't you get any ideas though.  I want you all to myself."
"Very well", Kai responded coldly, looking the strange woman over with an
interesting glance, "for someone of her built, she is surprisingly light."
"Hey!"
"I meant her muscular build, Xev."
"Oh, okay."
"I will keep watch over this one until she wakes."
"Suit yourself, Kai."
He gently nodded in response, hoisting the sleeping woman up a little more
to be more comfortable in his arms, a strange wave overtaking him as he
slowly carried her to the med bay, not knowing what was going on with what
was overtaking his mind and at the same time not believing any of it to be
true.

 --

Several hours and several suspected glances later, the former occupant of the
cryopod found herself rousing back into a slow consciousness, her eyes
blinking rapidly several times, the rest of her body feeling slightly numb
and her appendages slowly trying to move themselves, her fingers tapping
against the bed before it suddenly hit her that she had be revived and where
she was heading for.  Slowly opening her eyes, finding out not only that she
was not where she though she was supposed to be but also seeing an
unrecognized face above her, who turned out to be a tall, slender, handsome
yet slightly pale man with some sort of tattoo of the left side of his face
and a single strand of hair running down the other side, the rest of it being
tied up in some sort of bun.  He, on the other hand, just looked down at her
in a calm, frozen stare, patiently waiting for her to wake up, her taking a
sharp glance down to see his hand on top of hers, which were folded upon her
chest.
"Hello."
"Mmmmmmm...where am I?"
"You are aboard a ship."
"I can see that", she responded, sitting up slowly, "which one?"
"You are aboard the Lexx."
"The Lexx?  That rings a bell...of some sort", she replied, turning her head
to face him, "who are you?"
"My name is Kai.  I am one of the crew aboard this ship."
"Obviously", she quipped sarcastically, getting a better look at him as she
gathered herself up, "you're dead, aren't you?"
"Yes, I have been dead for over two...six thousand years."
"Wow, you've been around", she said, "and what did you use to do in your
former life?"
"I was an asassain",her trying slowly to sit up but ending up being gently
pushed back down to the bed by Kai, who placed his cold hands gently on her
shoulder, as they both noticed.
"You need your rest.  Lie down here until your body full re-activates itself."
"How kind of you", she replied with a sly smile, "and I suppose you want to
know my name as well?"
"I alre-I mean...I would not mind you telling it to me, so I can inform the
others."
"Others?"
"Yes, there are two other humans and a robotic head aboard this ship as well."
"I see...at least I think I do.  Are they traveling with you?  Where are
they?"
"Yes, they are and they are at the docking bay looking over your pod to find
any information...it also seems that there is something wrong with your
craft."
"I see...thank you for looking it over for me.  By the way, my name is Jaina."
"Hello...Jaina.  It is good to meet you."
"Same here", she replied with a warm smile, while he gave off another strange
look in return.
"I must to return to inform the others before I return to my pod to rest",
Kai said in a slightly rushed tone before heading toward the door, "I have to
preserve my supply of protoblood."
"Okay, I'll just...be here."
She gave off another sly smile in return while he just casually nodded in
response before opening the door and walking out toward anywhere.  Jaina lied
back, letting her body re-adjust itself before she tried to get up again,
taking the time to think about her new acquaintances...or were they?  She
swore that she had heard of them...knew for certain who they were and what
they were doing, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.  As for that
assassin...what was his name...Kai, wasn't it?  For someone who was supposed
to be undead, he didn't seem to act that way-or at least not usually, as
faint memories of her knowing they were like began to surface, he seemed
more...tense, different in a way.  It didn't really matter though, as it
would all come back to her soon enough, as she laid, succumbing herself and
her mind into slumber.
---

Wandering around the corridors that led back toward the third docking bay of
the ship, Kai found himself swarmed in curiosity, which was rare if,
possible, for him to experience.  It was that woman, she had struck something
deep inside him that was thought to be gone, a series of memories long past.
It couldn't have been what...who he thought it was, all of that was long past
gone, faded away by time and destroyed by shadows, but then why was it...her
bothering him so much?  Best not to think about it, he thought as he slid
back into the docking bay, where 790 and Xev were still looking over the pod
while Stan had seem to just disappear.
"Where's Stanley?"
"Oh, hello Kai", responded a startled Xev, "don't scare me like that.  Oh,
yeah, Stan's back at the chair looking over things."
"Made any progress with the computer?"
"Yes...and no."
"No?"
"Well, sort of", 790 quipped, "I've managed to access some of the things,
like where she originally came from and where she was heading."
"Which would be?"
"Believe it or not...she came from the Light Universe."
"You're kidding?"
"I'm afraid not, and by some coincidence, she crossed through the Fractal
Core before we did for the first time, the Core somehow damaged her craft
though.  It's supposed to go much faster but one of the tubes connected to
the engine blew out, which died out and she's been floating home ever since.
She's lucky it's been floating on the right track for so long."
"Can you say where she was heading?"
"She might not have made it with this in its condition, and I'm not sure of
its name but its supposed to be a planet five hundred light years away from
here, instead we caught up to her first and you know the rest."
"That's interesting", Xev replied, focusing her attention back toward Kai,
"you find out anything else?"
"She is awake and her name is Jaina...but other than that her memory is
full of gaps and her body is still trying to re-adjust itself."
"Well, that is to be expected.  Staying under long term cryostasis takes a
little while to re-adjust from.  She will recover though."
"That is good to hear.  If I am no longer needed, I will return to my own
cryopod and rest.  If you need me again, you know what to do."
"Okay", Xev responded, as Kai was already heading back toward his own cryo
pod, "we'll contact you when we find out anything...more."
---

While all of this was going on, Jaina herself was still trying to rest,
tossing and turning in the bed that was provided to her, the thoughts in her
mind rushing like waves, the bits and pieces of memories coming back to her
in flashes and sounds...
...a insect like spacecraft screaming a distressed transmisson, "We gotta get
out of here..."
...looking out at the star lit colored sky as two moons began to rise into
the darkening sky, one large and one small at one of those few tranquil
moments that she had...
...sitting inside a fighter craft, glancing out at the exploding crafts and
laser beams...
...a dark and strangely hooded man speaking "he has failed me, find them and
destroy them" while holding out his hand, filled with several jewels...
...a small, primitive city during daybreak which its inhabitants were being
slaughtered in disturbing ways...
...staring on at a cloning chamber that was opposite of her...
...scavenging a technologically advanced but deserted planet for its
treasures, finding a gold plated buckle with a firebird encrusted on it and
two very beautiful fire sparkled jewels along with its other prizes...
...all of them flooded into her mind before her eyes, the disturbance of them
making her toss and turn before she suddenly fell on the floor, waking her up
and allowing her to come back to her senses.
"What am I?"
She tried to reach her arm back up to the table to lift herself up, but it
felt like a heavy weight every inch of the way and it was to no avail as it
just came crashing down beside her.  She sighed aloud and decided to
patronize herself by just laying there and staring at the wall.
---

After a little while and a long search through an old computer, both Xev and
790 were about to tire themselves out and feeling ready to call it a night,
when something for each of them caught they're very interested eyes.  One
was about to find another smaller piece to a bigger puzzle while the other
was about to reveal another secret.
"Find anything, 790?"
"Nothing tangible and whole, but then again this is all in fragments.  This
log covers over six millennia of records so I'm working on the co-ordinates
first.  Obviously, this was supposed to be heading to some planet in the far
end of the one the galaxies in the Dark Zone."
"Any idea of where it is?  A closer location perhaps?"
"Somewhat.  I know it's near Fire and Water now, but as exactly the where and
how to get there is still incomplete."
"I see.  Keep working on it", Xev replied, bobbing her head up to look around
some more only to have her attention grabbed by some small sort of purple
compartment hanging off the side of the inner pod, "I'm...sure you'll find...
the answer soon enough."
"What's caught your eye, Xev?"
"I don't know, but I see something interesting...", she replied heading over
to it, reaching out to it, "it look like some sort of box...if I can try to
open it..."
"Good luck on that", a voice interrupted the both of them, it tuning out to
be one of their new passenger Jaina, who both of them look on to see her
slowly limping toward them, Xev rushing over there to help her before she
fell to her knee, "thank you.  That's my safe.  No one can open it but me."
"And why is that", Xev replied as she helped their guest over there.
"Because it's booby trapped.  If a person opens it the wrong way, it'll set
off a bomb that'll spread the explosion to goodness knows where.  This seems
like a pretty big ship anyway."
"Oh, it is, no worries about that.  How is your memory coming along?"
"It's getting better, but my body seems to be recovering more quickly.  Here,
let me."
Xev nodded in agreement and slowly helped her over to the compartment of the
chamber, where Jaina reached her hand out to find the switch to the boobytrap
when a overwhelming pain took over her head and caused her to stumble down a
little more.
"Oh...ow."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine, it's just another one of those headaches.  It'll
go away, just help me up and I'll..."
She finally managed to reach up her hand toward the switch, flipping it over
only to find that nothing happened, much to her disgruntled self.
"Damn machine", she replied before banging it to the side with her hand but
instead knocking it down completely to reveal its contents, "there."
"What are those things?
"You can say they're my prized possessions.  Things I needed to survive and a
couple of them I wouldn't want to live without."
Xev nodded in agreement once more before her caught something else again, a
small shiny, metallic object that she pulled out and looked over with still
no clue as to what it could be.
"What is it?"
"Let me see it."
Jaina grabbed the object from her and looked it over before extending her
hand, the object unfolding itself, spreading itself out to look like a
slender weapon with a round center where it could fold itself again, it
also having a hole in its center.  Its edges, on the other hand were both
curved out and extremely sharp, while there were also two sharp points hanging
off each end for each side inside nearby.  She suddenly decided to
demonstrate its purpose when she threw it across the room, nearly hitting an
unsuspecting Stan before hitting the wall next to him instead.
"Whoa, what was that?"
"My weapon", Jaina responded somewhat coldly, "may I have it back please?"
Stan sneered angrily, reaching to pull the weapon out with all the strength
he could, doing so which caused him to step back from the force of it.  He
looked on at it curiously before tossing it back at her foolishly, the weapon
swirling across the room before it headed its way toward Xev's face, her
gasping in fear for her life, that is until Jaina rose her hand up quickly
and caught in the nick of time, which still did ease Xev's mind.  Jaina, on
the other hand, just looked on at Stan with a hard glare before folding it
back up attaching it to a belt hook on her suit.
"That...has got to be...the closet call on record.  Thank you."
"Don't mention it...you never told me your names."
"Oh, my name is Xev", she responded pointing to herself then to the robot
head, "this is 790."
"Charmed", it responded in the same tone that Jaina used before.
"And this is-"
"Stanley H. Tweedle, at your service", he responded before heading toward her,
hoping in his desperation to make some sort of impression, while Jaina just
stared at him strangely.
"Are you the captain of this ship?"
"Yes I sure am, you're quite quick on figuring that one out.  Just like I'm
wondering if you were just as quick on figuring out how beautiful you are",
he said with a small chuckle before he reached out for her cheek only to
receive a kick in the face by her instead, knocking him down to the floor
while he moaned in a slight amount of pain.
"Woo!  I like this one already", the robot replied back.
"Don't touch me.  I'm not quite steady yet.  Xev, can you help me up?  I
think the more I move, the more I regain my feeling in my body.  I had to
practically crawl here but I think I can walk now.  I'm here to look for
someone here.  He was another member of your crew, his name is...Kai, I
think."
"Ah yes, Kai.  The most gorgeous man in this universe!  I don't care if he's
dead!  I'd do anything to be his cryo chamber partner.  He's the most
delicious specimen I've ever seen."
"What's with the head?"
"He's in love with Kai.  Don't ask."
"I'd rather not.  Anyway, could one of you take me to where he is?  I want
to thank him for helping me out and looking over me while I was asleep."
"Um, I wouldn't recommend that.  He's supposed to stay inside his cryopod
until we're in a crisis.  He's pretty much out of what he needs because he
wasted it when we were at Fire and Water, which I advised him not to, but no
he didn't listen to me-"
"I'll repay you all for your efforts.  Can you just please take me to him?
It won't take long and I would rather thank him while I had the chance.  I
don't know how long I'll be here."
"Oh, we can take you where you want to go, anyplace at all-"
"I would like to go and thank Kai...if you don't mind."
Stan didn't know what it was that made him change his mind, her stare or her
convincing voice but he suddenly found himself agreeing to what she wished,
nodding his head in agreement while Xev helped her to her feet.
"Yeah, sure.  Right this way", he responded while Jaina walked over to him,
"just don't kick me again.  That hurt."
"It was supposed to", she replied, both of them walking to the room where the
pods were, "does he always act like this?"
"Like what?"
"He's been looking at me in a strange way."
"Well, you're lucky then.  He doesn't look at other people in any way, unless
he feels they're worth something.  He obviously, somehow, likes you in
someway."
"I feel so special, but I thought the dead didn't have likes", she replied,
grabbing Stan's attention.
"How did you know he was dead?"
"Lucky guess."
"Oh, I understand that.  When we were in cryo for a few thousand years, I
felt like I was hit by a train-"
"I wasn't in cryo mode.  I was just drugged out."
"But that's impossible!  If you been sleeping like that for as long as 790
says you have, you would be long dead by now-"
"That wasn't a cryo pod.  It was just a normal transport-"
"But what about the gas coming from it?"
"That was to kill bacteria and old skin and to keep my lungs going."
"Okay, I still don't get all of this.  You care to explain it to me?"
"I don't know if I can", was all she could say before turning away and
heading further toward the pod room silently while Stan followed quietly
behind her.
---

Still sleeping inside his chamber, Kai had yet to realize that two people
were standing outside, ready to wake him from his death like slumber, which
isn't much death like considering he's already dead.  Stan worked the
controls as best as he could, hoping to get it right on his own for a change,
and thanks to sheer luck, he did.  Jaina, not caring for such details, just
stood there and looked on as the door swung upward and as he awoke.  She
knew she wanted to talk to him, she just didn't want to do around the
moron.
"Tweedle?"
"Yes, and by the way it's-"
"Your nose is bleeding.  I think it may be broken.  Go have it looked at."
"What?  What are you talking about?  My nose is-"
"Tweedle, you should get some idea of what I'm trying to tell you.  I want to
talk to him alone.  Go.  Now."
"Um, you see, I wouldn't do that if I were you, he's a very dangerous man
and-", Stan tried to reply but unfortunately was interrupted when she decided
to give him the hint for real and jabbed him right in the nose with the palm
of her hand, "Ow!  All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going.  Yeesh!"
As Stan walked out with his hand covering his nose, Kai regained consciousness
to see all the events that had taken place while Jaina just looked on and
smirked, before refocusing her attention back on the dead man.
"Was the really necessary?"
"He didn't take a hint."
"I see, and why have you chosen to wake me?  I need to carefully preserve
what protoblood I have left."
"I understand, but I won't be wasting much.  I just came here to thank you
for helping me out after I woke up and...", she quipped before a she got a
better look at him, causing her to pause for a second, "do I know you from
somewhere?"
"Yes...I mean no, I do not think so."
"No, no, I recognize you.  I know I've seen you before but I just can't place
where exactly...I think it was someplace called the Clu-"
Another sharp pain took over her already throbbing head, forcing to interrupt
her sentence but more importantly caused a small vertigo to take hold of her
and stumble into Kai's arms, both of them looking into each other's eyes for
a split second before she regained herself and pushed her body back up to
her feet.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine.  It's just another one of those side effects from the
re-awaking process, it'll pass soon.  I probably should go back and lie down
now though.  I just wanted to say thanks again and-"
"Let me go with you."
"Are you sure, that's not necessary-"
"Please, you are our guest after all."
"Alright.  I guess I owe you thanks again for this."
"You're welcome...on both counts."
He helped her up once more, and they proceeded to head back to the table she
laid on before, passing by the docking bay once more to see the rest of the
crew still looking over the pod, particularly Stan, who was more curious
about the possessions than the information it contained, especially when it
came a small metal claw ring, the design on the back of a small skeleton's
back, looking over it curious while Jaina sneered and let out a small laugh
in disgust.
"Hmmm, I wonder what this does."
"Um, I wouldn't touch that if I were you."
"And why not?"
"Because the claw's tip is poisoned and the ring itself is made out of
living metal", Jaina let out in a sly tone, causing Stanley to drop in it his
usually cowardly way.
"Living metal", Kai asked, "I remember the Divine Order trying to work on
such a thing long ago, to make as a weapon-"
"Yes, they did, and they succeeded", Jaina replied, picking up the fallen claw
from the floor and putting it on her finger, "of course they never had the
chance to try it out-considering I stole it from them.  Of course, to finish
your little statement, the difference with this being a better weapon is that
living metal only bonds to the first person to wears it or holds it.  Other
than that, it can poison or kill anyone else, alive", she responded before
looking to Kai, "or dead.  So, like I said, I wouldn't touch that if I were
you."
"Alright, alright.  Geez, if you put that way, just don't hurt me again."
"Yes, I do", she responded, hastily reaching over her hand to grab the rest
of her possessions before handing them over to Kai, "here, you look over them.
I don't know if I even can trust the captain let alone the rest of you.  I
just know the dead don't lie, the dead don't cheat and they certainly don't
steal.  You can look them over if you wish, some of them might even be
familiar to you, being a Brunnen-G and all.  I, on the other hand am going
to go get some more sleep, maybe that will help re-cover my memory more.
Good night to you all.  If you find anything else from that computer that
might help me, would you please let me know?"
"Sure thing", Xev replied more kindly, "in fact, I'm about ready to call it a
night myself as well.  What about you guys?"
"It's also getting pretty late for me too, I'll just go tell the Lexx to keep
flying to the nearest hospitable planet than retire to my moth", Stan replied
as he slowly walked back to the bridge, avoiding Jaina as much as possible,
"good night."
"What about you, Kai?  Are you going to return to your pod?"
"Yes, but I'm going to escort Jaina back to her room first.  790, keep
working on those files and you can give us an update in the morning."
"But...but-"
"No excuses, you can join me afterwards."
"Of course, you zombie love god you.  Good night, dearest...you too, Xev."
"Good night to the both of you as well."
"Night, Kai...Jaina."
"You too.  Have fun, robot."
"You too, just remember this though, I may like for you the way you treat
Tweedle, but don't you dare touch him, you here me."
"Promise", she said crossing her fingers before her and Kai separated
themselves and headed back to her chambers, both of them walking side by side
each other, "what's with the head again?"
"He underwent part of a love slave treatment that was meant for Xev and fell
in love with her instead, but when he broke down after the Lexx got stuck
between Fire and Water, I reactivated him and the program took over again and
since I was the first one he saw, he fell in love with me."
"That's a bitch."
"It has its uses."
"I suppose.  I always knew that the Brunnen-G had an attractive quality, but
this was carrying it on a bit."
"I can also tell you that your memory is getting better as well.  I did not
tell that I was Brunnen-G.  I must also ask why you think that I might be
interested in some of the things in this bag."
"Well, take a look for yourself.  It should explain everything.  That tattoo
on your face makes it pretty evident of what you once were.  I used to study
a little about your race, just a hobby.  They just stuck out, I guess.  You
being warrior poets and all, the idea just sounded so tempting."
"That was a long time ago", he responded, opening the pouch up to see what
was inside, "you also told me that we have met before?  At the Cluster, I
believe?"
"So that's the name of the place.  I'm not clear on that though, I'm still
not clear on much of anything expect that I've heard of you and this ship,
but like I said the rest is a blur.  Here we are, I believe", she replied,
both of turning an eye to the table that she was placed on before.
"Oh...yes, you're right.  Here we are.  Is there anything I can get you or
help you with while I'm still awake?"
"No...no, I'll be fine.  Thank you though.  You can return to you chamber
now."
"Alright.  Good night then."
"Good night."
Jaina glanced at him once more before retiring to her somewhat made chamber,
placing what things she took for herself aside before laying back on the
table to fall asleep.  Kai, meanwhile, suprisingly took his time walking
back to his pod, searching his hand and his eyes through the bag of contents
that he now possessed, running his fingers through several gemstones and
other trinkets-that is, until something very interesting caught his
attention.  He gently pulled something out, a small silver band with a
pattern of tiny spun silver flowers between two tiny ring surrounding it
from the top and bottom.  It caught it because of something very odd.  It
was very familiar to him, and that was rare for a dead.  It was something
very know-and something he would rather keep to himself.  It was his past
after all, and he had every right to keep it that way.  He just wanted to
know where she got it from.  That didn't matter now.  He had to go back to
the chamber, or never find out anything at all.  Looking back on at it for
a split second, he then slid it back in the bag and carried it back to his
pod with a bit more caution to it than before.
---

Trying to resist her best to toss and turn in makeshift bed, more thoughts
rushed painfully inside of her mind, coming back in fragments and in a
frightful pace.  Some were comprehensible, some were not and the rest just
scared the hell out of her, that is if she could be scared.  They weren't
just dreams either, they were real and once again, the pieces began to fit
into place...
...one of a man begging, lying on the ground and writhing in pain before
her eyes...
...another of a picture, the picture of the ship she's on to be precise...
...another one of pure warmth, the kind of warmth as her mind felt
comforting arms wrapped around her, a head on her shoulder and a sweet voice
whispering "I love you" in her unsuspecting ear, one she couldn't place...
...which quickly flashed to another glimpse of the man in the black hooded
robe that just seems to fold back, hiding whoever or whatever was
underneath...
...a small glimpse of a young man, propped up on a seat unconscious beside
her...
...and finally a few better glimpses of the fellow inhabitants of the ship-
especially those of the dead assassin...
---

Somewhere else on the ship, further away from everyone else, Xev had a
slightly more peaceful night of slumber.  All she was having-or could
possibly have-were fantasies of men.  Men holding her, kissing her, loving
her.  All surrounding her and caressing her as best they can, all of it so
peaceful and enveloping that she really didn't want to let it go.  It
wouldn't matter though, for a much darker reality was about to interrupt it
anyway.  Reality in the form of several arms and two powerful teeth-which
were lingering over her neck as she moaned on in pleasure, ready to take
what was there for herself before chomping down on it with such ferocity
yet with such cunning that the sound was as silent as small thin armed
shadow it left behind.  She didn't even see it coming.
---

Another morning came upon the crew of the Lexx, and with it this time came
a calling of its arrival-which was pretty odd considering that wake up calls
wasn't the Lexx's specialty of trade.  It's voice roamed the empty hallways
searching for it's slumbering captain, who has yet to realize that he was in
for a rude welcoming.
"Stan? Stan?  There's is something strange going on, Stan.  Stan?"
"Hey Tweedle", 790 called angrily, still activating from his nightly search,
"Lexx wants to talk to you!  Get your ass out of bed!"
"Ughh, now what", Stan finally replied, tired and cranky and finally willing
to get out of the dead moth where he rested, "this had better be good.  What
is it, Lexx?"
"Something penetrated my skin while you were sleeping.  It felt funny."
"Did it hurt, Lexx?"
"No, it was ticklish."
"Ticklish?  That's a first.  Did you find the source yet, Lexx?"
"No, I have not, Stan."
"Then keep looking and let me know when you found it.  I'm going back to
bed."
"Tweedle, you air waster, think.  This could be small sign of a serious
problem."
"Yeah right."
"Tweedle, your lack of thinking patterns and how they've kept you alive for
so long has never ceased to amaze me."
"And how they haven't yet turned you into a talking garbage can yet like
wise."
"Fine, if the ship breaks apart and your worthless carcass is floating
around like a booey while me and my delicious Kai are the only two able to
survive."
"Oh, you would love that, wouldn't you?"
"More than anything else in the universe", 790 replied, licking his robotic
lips in a pleasurable thought.
"Mmmmmm, what's going on here?"
Both of them turned their heads to see their new guest tiredly stumble down
the hallway in her casual morning style, hair tangled and messed up while
her suit started to wrinkle a little.  Stan looked on with a little fear in
her eyes while she just rubbed her newly wakened eyes to get a better focus
in them.
"Good morning to you too.  Our inept captain has found out that there might
be something wrong with the Lexx and he chooses to do nothing about it."
"Well, that's why we spared you of your miserable existence so you could do
it for us.  It's no big deal, Jaina, go back to sleep.  You head must still
be feeling-"
"My head is fine now, Tweedle.  Besides, I couldn't sleep much and all this
racket going on doesn't help anyway."
"See Tweedle, you're the cause of another thing that has gone disastrously
wrong in the universe."
"Will you two lovebirds shut up?  I'm trying to wake up in what piece I have
left.  How's the search going, robot?"
"Good as it can, I guess.  I'm still searching through your logs and tracing
it backwards to the day and place of your launch off."
"And?"
"From what I got so far, you left from the Cluster then landed somewhere in
the Dark Zone before taking off again.  I guess this where your craft
started to break down."
"That doesn't seem to surprise me.  I take it you've finished looking through
them then?"
"Yes, but there are some other files that are of some interest to me.
Assorted stuff that should really be there.  It's very heavily fragmented
but I should get it done soon enough."
"Soon enough?"
"I always do my best for Kai.  Should we wake him as he instructed?"
"You're probably the only one and no.  He probably wants to conserve
whatever he needs to stay alive.  Where's Xev?"
"Probably still sleeping."
"You want the honors of waking her or shall I?"
"Go ahead, give it a try.  If you can."
Jaina shrugged casually before searching her way toward Xev's room,
considering she really had no idea where it was.  Stanley and 790 meanwhile
continued their universe shaking argument about whether to wake the dead
assassin or not, but all that was settled in a more unpredictable way when yet
another voice roamed through the halls once more.
"Tweedle!  790!  Somebody get down here now!"
Taking the frightened yet serious tone to their minds, Stan picked up the
robot head and rushed over toward where the voice came from-which just
happened to be Xev's quarters.  Instead of seeing their expected pranks from
the love slave, they found Jaina cradling a very pale and very unconscious
Xev in her arms, which was certainly what they didn't expect.  They looked
down to see her fallen friend with her skin cold like, her eyes still closed
in a peaceful like slumber and her lower lip covering a drop of blood while
a small mark on her neck was also somewhat evident. 790 really couldn't care
considering it wasn't his precious Kai but Stanley became all too concerned.
"My God!  What the hell happened here?"
"Something attacked her.  I don't know what it is, but it must have attacked
her in her sleep.  It also looked like she didn't put up any sort of fight
either."
"Well, obviously", Stan replied as he moved toward them both, "is she dead?"
"No, but just barely.  Whatever it is inside that's keeping her alive must
be strong indeed.  I'll keep looking over her here, you two go get Kai.  He
might be able to help me out more."
"But Jaina-"
"No buts, Tweedle", the robot replied, "he said wake him in a crisis, and
this is obviously a crisis!"
"Well, what are you waiting for, go get him!"
"Oh, right", he replied, carrying the head with him as they both headed
toward the cryopod room.
"Yeesh.  Damn."
She sighed heavily and deeply before looking Xev over again, rubbing her
head gently before turning her neck over slightly to uncover the full bite
wound on her neck, which had a look of a type of big insect took a small
chunk out of her.  Examining it further though, she also found that this wound
had a thin gauze over it, sticky but still very web like.  While she was
tending to their fallen friend, Stan and 790 arrived at the cryo pod room,
of course 790 seemed a lot more eager to wake Kai up than Stan was for the
obvious reasons but none of that concerned him at the moment, unable to get
the thoughts of Xev's well being out of his mind...
"Let me do it this time, Tweedle.  You always screw up."
"Fine, whatever...I don't care", Stan responded as he placed the robot on
the control pad.
"Gee, Tweedle, what's your problem?"
"Listen, you may not care about her anymore, but I still do.  It's a little
something called feelings.  Look into it."
"Oh, I got them all right, and there for one man only", 790 quipped back as
the pod door began to open up, "and here he is now!"
Once more the door slid open and once more Kai slowly regained consciousness
as the protoblood kicked in, only this time he awoke to a crowd a little
less cheery than most, as he could read the expression off of Stanley's
face.
"Oh, lovely sex god of the Brunnen-G!  You're awake at long last-"
"Something's wrong, isn't it", Kai asked as Stan just nodded in return,
"where's Jaina?"
"Tending to Xev, something just tried to kill her."
"I see."
"Jaina asked me to come and fetch you so you could help us out."
"Then let's not waste any time then."
Stan nodded in agreement as he started heading back as quickly as he could
as Kai picked up 790 and proceeded to follow him while 790 just seemed to
be in sheer contentment or as much as any lovesick robot head can when he's
got the object of his affection carrying him under his arm.  Finally reaching
their destination once more, they came upon to see Jaina furthering examining
the wound on Xev's neck more carefully before she glanced up to see Kai
and the others arriving on time.
"You called, madam?"
"Very cute.  I've managed to keep her alive while you were gone though. I
also removed this sticky webbing goo that for some reason was covering it
up."
"Any determination on what caused it?"
"I can't tell, but this looks like an insect bite...a spider to be more
precise, big one too."
"Whoa, whoa, wait a sec, I thought all the insects were killed."
"Use that thing that supposedly fills the space between your ears and think
for at least one-second, Tweedle.  Jaina here has been floating out in space
for six thousand years, maybe another of the smaller insect larvae got
caught inside her of her cryo craft."
"Oh, it's not a cryo-"
"Anyway", Kai surprisingly interrupted, "any more clues to what happened and
how it can be fixed?"
"There are certain types of spiders that use poison to infiltrate their
victims, so I summize that this is what happened to Xev as well, creamy
stud pudding."
"That was my assumption as well, which means there's only thing that can be
done to save her-we have to suck it out.  So, you want the honor, dead man,
or shall I do it?"
"You do it", 790 burst out quickly.
"Fine then."
"No, I will do it", the dead man responded, "I don't want you to risk your
health for something I can do just as easily."
"How considerate...for a dead man."
"Kai, no!  Don't stoop that level, it's not worth it.  Let her do it, the
only neck I want you sucking is mine!"
"Relax, robot.  He's only doing it to save her life.  He considers you the
most important part of the ship, isn't that right, Kai", Jaina responded
with a wink without the robot seeing it, hoping he'd catch on.
"Of course, what and where would we be without you", Kai responded in his
normal tone, "You have no need to worry. I would not be alive and whole
without you."
"And don't you forget it."
Stan could only give a strange quirk of his brow to the whole conversation
while Jaina gently moved Xev closer to Kai as he proceeded to place his
lips to her neck and suck the poison out of her body, spitting it out on
occasion while 790 still couldn't help but be disgusted by the whole thing.
Jaina, playing the observer though looked on as Kai kept sucking on her
neck, getting a strange sensation through her stomach as she held her body
up to make it easier for him.  It was just probably part of the process of
her memory coming back, that's all.  She kept a stern and steady eye on him
until he finished, him spitting out what poison was left while she checked
on Xev's pulse.
"Done.  Is she better?"
"Yes and no", Jaina responded, rolling Xev onto her back, "her pulse is
getting stronger and her breathing is slowly returning to normal, but I
guess some of the poison took effect sooner than we though because she
hasn't woken up yet.  She needs to rest a little while longer until the rest
of it can clean itself out from her immune system.  Here should do it.  I
could check up on her once in a while the rest of you can find the bug
that's doing this.  It can't have left the ship."
"Good point.  I'll just get my big fly swatter and go hunting."
"While I go back with my dark hunk of man back to his cryopod-"
"No, 790.  You still need to read the rest of the files on Jaina's craft.
Stan can take you there."
"Oh", was all 790 could groan before Kai passed him over to Stan.
"Jaina, if you would, I would like you to walk with me.  There's is
something I want to say to you."
"Of course, just show me the way."
"Slut."
"790, off", was his final word before the robot turned itself off, "follow
me, it is not far."
"Okay, sure."
---

"I guess it is my turn to thank you now."
"For what?"
"For saving Xev's life and for helping me out with the robot."
"No problem, considering you did most of the work yourself.  I just helped
you out."
"No, you looked after her and kept her alive, that I did not do."
"Oh, I see then, well, you're welcome then", she said, letting off a small
smile as they walked on together, "may I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"What is this thing that the others say that you need to conserve so badly
because you used it up and you need it to stay...well...animated?"
"That substance is protoblood, and Stan is right for once, I am almost out.
That's why I spend most of my time in the cryo chamber."
"Okay.  If you ever run out, at least it was nice to see that you got six
thousand years worth of extra moments to remember yourself by."
"Most of them were in the box, and the rest were not as pleasant as some.
Reasonably, I can only say that I only had several few moments that I would
call pleasurable at best."
"Do you think these moments are good right now?  Considering that these may
be your last ones and if even they weren't, you're on given time so you
should enjoy each moment as you take it."
"In a sense, we are all on given time, and the answer is yes.  I am enjoying
these moments, final or not."
"Good...good."
They walked silently the rest of the way, neither of them able to think of
anything else to talk of, mostly because of spacey angst and secrets that
they would rather keep to themselves.  When they finally got there, all she
can do was close the container with just a small yet inappropriate phrase.
"Pleasant dreams."
"I do not dream."
"Oh, well, try not to freeze dry then at least."
"I will."
She glanced on him on last time as he lay his head back to rest and slowly
walked away as the pod door closed on him, looking down on the ground with
a more pessimistic state of mind, wandering herself back toward Xev's room to
check up on her while running into Stanley in the process as he tried in
vain to check a bug.
"Any luck with the spider?"
"No", Stanley replied holding a big stick, "and I really hate bugs?  How's
Xev?  Where's Kai?"
"Okay, first Kai is back where he usually is, and that's the pod.  Secondly,
I was on my way to check on her.  What did you do with the robot?"
"What else?  I put him back to work on your craft.  It was the only thing far
enough from me and him considering that he wouldn't shut up about Kai and
how pretty he was.  Then again no seems to when it comes to that."
"I noticed.  Look, I'm going to get something to eat and then check up on
Xev", she replied as she walked away, "you want anything?"
"No thanks.  Have fun", Stan replied, only to get silence in return.
---

After several hours of doing their certain jobs, all three of the active
crew members were all tired out.  Jaina took good care of Xev, looking over
her only to have nothing else happen in return.  Stan, on the other hand,
caught a couple of things-but neither of them were any giant spiders.  In
fact, one of them was a tiny cockroach, which he just threw over the side.
790 had more profitable results from the craft's computer, thing was though
when he pieced together one file it always lead to another bigger one
inside it.  Eventually, it began to tire him out, even for a robot head and
even further on he began to get sick of even seeing the, of course his
beloved Kai wanted him to keep going, and anything would be worth it for
him.  Fortune smiled upon it though when one of them showed up to slightly
relieve him of his duties, and it became a bigger one when it turned out it
wasn't the moronic captain.
"Hey, robot.  How's the search coming?"
"Ugh, tiring.  For a small craft, it's got a pretty big data bank."
"What can I say, technology can be such a bitch sometimes."
"You got that right.  It's all big text files full of warning and reports
but they're all fragmented.  One small files ends up turning into one bigger
file, it's so annoying."
"Well, it's all one big puzzle, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"Then just put the pieces together.  It should save you a lot of time."
"Heh, not a bad idea.  I never thought humans other than my darling Kai were
capable of such things."
"You're welcome.  Where's Tweedle?"
"Right here", Stan interrupted, startling Jaina a little and also causing
him to back up a little to avoid what she did to him the last time, "how are
things going?"
"Well, Xev is still the same and 790 here is working on a better way to find
the answers more quickly thanks to a certain someone."
"Don't rub it in."
"Well, that's great.  You keep working on it, head.  I'm sure the dead man
will be excited to hear what you got to say."
"I'm sure, considering he will probably the one to comprehend what I'll be
saying, you turd."
"Your foreplay always like this?"
"Very cute.  Look, I'm pretty beat-"
"Instead of pretty beat up, which you should rather be."
"-Anyway, I'm pretty beat, so I think I'm going to call it a night.  What
about you?"
"Yeah, I think I will too.  Maybe tonight, I'll have a better night's sleep
than I did before.  I'll just go have one final look at Xev before I go-"
"No, I'll do it."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got to go wish a good night anyway, I might as well."
"Thanks, Tweedle.  Well, night."
"Night."
---

Walking anywhere toward Xev's room, Stanley seemed more concerned about her
situation than ever, despite the fact that Jaina had told her that her she
hadn't gotten any worse.  It wasn't really about something trying to kill
them but more about the fact that, well...he really didn't want to lose her
again like before.  Finding where he wanted to be, he looked over to see her
still sleeping like a child, her body still and her lungs going up and down
slowly, showing that she was still very much alive-in fact, the only real
difference was that the wound on her neck was healing faster than he
expected and the scar receding more and more, which gave him some sort of
comfort despite her condition.  Instead of going over and sitting by her on
the bed, he just stood there looking down at her.
"Hey Xev, it's me Stan.  Just came here to wish you good night and all that.
Look, I just wanted you to know that I hope you get better and I really
don't want you to die again, not like you will.  Heh heh.  I mean if
anything happened to you again, I wouldn't know if I'd be able to take it
again.  I envy the dead guy for at least one thing, at least he can be a
real emotional Rock of Gibraltar at times like these.  Heh, sorry.  I know
you hate it when I make jokes about him, knowing your feelings and all that,
so I'll just wish you good night...so, good night."
Leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead, he realized that she could
wake up at any second and see him trying it, so he thought he just be better
off leaving her be, which he did after it took a second of thought to do so.
After clearing himself out of sight, something triggered inside the sleeping
Xev as she began to move her finger slowly and her eyes began to flutter in
and out before they opened up sharply and widely, suddenly finding herself
back to life and to consciousness with a clear and pleasant thought in her
mind-and still with no clue of what happened to her in the first place.
---

Retiring to his moth bedchamber after all his duties, it was Stanley who
found himself with the hard sleep for a change.  He guessed it must have
been his own worry about Xev, but finally after a little while, he was too
tired for even that to affect him and sleep finally came to him-but it
wasn't the only thing.  Turning to his side to get a better rest, Stan
continued to mumble useless junk when something of shadows crept up and
sharply grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly, unwilling to let go.  This
thing continued to have a grip on him until he awoke painfully to look at
it-it turning out to be a tall woman only that was the only human like thing
about her.  Her skin was green and thin lines of fur stuck out from it in
certain places, her eyes were that like of flies with small colors shifting
in and out within.  Nervous eyes flinched down for him to see the hand that
was gripping his all too tightly was very much human-but the other wasn't.
It seemed more like a big claw than anything else.  He was blinded by his
emotions and all of it was so surreal, he thought it was just some bad
nightmare that came back to haunt him.  That feeling ceased though when he
realized bad nightmares when swing at you with their arms, they don't rip a
big line into your shirt.
Screaming in fear as he awoke in a panic, the thing took her arm away from
him and seemingly just disappeared right into the wall, vanishing into
nothing.  Stan shook his head unbelievably and rushed out of bed, heading
toward anywhere he felt might be safe running into the next best thing
instead when someone else bumped into him.
"Xev?  Is that you?"
"Oh, hi, Stanley.  I was just looking for you.  You would not believe the
dream I just had-"
"Oh yeah, you won't believe this then.  Someone or something just tried to
kill me!"
"Yeah, sure, Stanley. You probably had some bad food before bedtime-"
"No, Xev, that's exactly what I thought as first, that it was all just a bad
dream-"
"Yeah, so?"
"So?  So, bad dreams don't do this", he explained, holding his shirt up for
her to see a huge rip in it.
"Whoa, that was one bad dream."
"That's what I'm saying, it's not a dream.  Someone or something is trying
to kill us for real."
"Who would try do that?"
"Maybe that spider like creature that bit you and left you out good for a
day or the really weird one that just tried to pop my hand off!"
"Spider bite?  What are you talking about, Tweedle?  There's no bite, I was
just tired and slept too long."
"Yeah, well, feel your neck.  Maybe that'll tell you otherwise."
"Don't be silly.  There's nothing on my-", Xev replied stunned when she felt
the skin on her neck and felt otherwise, "-there's something there!  I hate
it when you're actually right."
"Let's save the apologies for later.  I think it's time to wake Kai."
"Oh yeah."
Silently but in a hurry, both of them walked out of the room, trying not to
grab the attention of whatever was trying to get them, and headed toward the
pod room, still in fear for their lives and hoping for the best.
"I hope whatever is after us didn't get to Kai.  He's pretty much the only
salvation we have left."
"Yeah, wait, maybe we should warn Jaina as well.  She could be in some
danger as well, and perhaps the head too."
"Right, but let's wake him first."
"Right."
Both of them continued to head on when yet another familiar voice interfered
in their conversation, scaring the daylights out of them at the same time.
"Stan", asked the ship Lexx.
"Yah!"
"Lexx!  Don't do that!  Something is after us."
"I'm sorry Stan, but it happened again."
"What is it talking about, Stan?"
"Oh, Lexx just had this ticklish sensation earlier on that it worried itself
about.  Did you feel ticklish again?"
"Yes, Stan.  It was more powerful than before."
"I see.  Have you found the source yet, Lexx?"
"No. I will keep working on it though, Stan."
"Thank you, Lexx."
"Stan?  This could be serious."
"You sound like the robot.  If the ship is still here and in one piece, then
I'm still not worried yet.  Right now, I'm more worried about us.  Lets' go
get Kai and then check up on the others."
"Fine", was all Xev could reply with a heavy sign before they finally reach
the room and proceeded to wake the dead man, "can you hurry it up, Stan?  It
could be anywhere."
"Yeah, yeah.  I almost got it", Stan replied, working on the knobs until he
got the right combination and the door proceeded to open once more, "that
should do it."
"You have need of me", was all the dead man could say as he awoke looking on
at his two fellow crew members, "Xev?  You are awake?  I take it you are
healed then."
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks."
"Oh, you have no idea how much we're in need of you.  Something just tried
to kill us."
"I notice", he replied coldly, looking down at the rip on Stan's shirt, "when
did it happen?"
"While I was sleeping.  I thought it was a dream at first-"
"Just like what happened with Xev."
"Yeah, you could say that. I can tell you this now, it wasn't some giant
spider."
"Apparently not."
"What could it be then?"
"Love studmuffin!  Love love studmuffin", beckoned yet another voice, this
time of the robot head in the docking bay, "you might want to get over here
quickly, I know you I want you to."
All three of them, mostly out of curiosity, rushed themselves over to the
docking bay wondering what the heck the robot could possibly have to give
them.
"You're a little late on that checkup, darling.  I forgive you though, you
lucious godling."
"I take it you found something, 790."
"Boy, did I ever."
"What is it?"
"You new friend, Jaina, she's not human."
"Hey", Stan replied offended, "watch it, tin boy!"
"No, I mean it, maggot juice for brains, she's not human. She's a hybrid."
"A what?"
"Ugh!  Simpleton. A hybrid is a being or thing that is actually made up of
many things, like a cross bred sweet pollen rose that were on B4K or a
crossing bird or in fact like I was once was-"
"So, in actually, Jaina is actually human...sort of, at least."
"As hard as it is for me to believe, Tweedle's actually right.  She's part
human, as for the rest of her, it doesn't say what exactly, but I'll have
to go along the lines of insect and reptilian, which can only lead to one
kind of hybrid that I know of."
"Menti", replied Kai, in a cold, emotional tone.
"Correct."
"Wait", Xev entered in confused, "what are these menti?  I never even heard
of them."
"Wait a second...just wait a second.  I thought those things were just a
legend, one you wish you never heard...a rumor that was spread around just
to scare little children.
"Oh, they're very real.  I should know.  One of my memories was that of an
assistant to the bio-viziers that created these things.  They were grown
on the Cluster to be the prefect killing machines, replacement assassins so
that the Divine Order wouldn't have to waste protoblood that they got from the
Gigashadow."
"Well, leave to the Shadows to outdo themselves.  Something must have
happened to them that made them become so unknown to everyone."
"I do not know about that.  I do know that at one time one of the Divine
Predecessors sent me out to find one and capture for study."
"And you defeated it, right Kai", Xev replied in.
"I barely escaped with my undead life in tact.  They are known to also have
chameleon like skills and are even rumored to be virtually immortal."
"Like you said, the prefect species."
"Hold it, hold it.  Jaina may not be like them...maybe she escaped them to
avoid their way of life, she's been nothing but helpful to us."
"True."
"Not to mention that what I saw was like a giant bug, nothing human
like...and this thing that bit was more like a giant spider, and I've never
seen
her with a mouth that big.  Maybe there was a bug that that attached itself
to her ship and maybe we do have an insect problem.  Why we go and just ask
her?"
"That should be a lot easier than you think", replied Xev who then pointed
at the doorway, "considering she's right there."
All of them tun their heads sharply to see their new guest standing at the
doorway, wearing her normal rubber suit and the rest of her gear, staring
on at them just as sharply as she did before, noticing that Kai and 790 were
on to something that they didn't like while Xev looked so confused about the
whole thing and Stanley just wanted an explanation to help prove his claim,
which was exactly what he was going to get.
"Jaina...hi", Stanley jumped in, "we were just looking for you and-"
His short plea was interrupted though when the silent girl just threw
something at him-one of her weapons to be more precise.  Fortunately for the
dumbfounded captain, it nearly missed by only a hair, which just happened to
take one of his as well.  It seemed the whole experience left him in shock,
not because of what everything said was true, but because he wasn't
accustomed to having his life in danger so quickly.
"Tweedle, you moron!  That's what I've been trying to tell you-she is the
insect problem."
"Jaina!"
"By the way, you missed!"
790 began to sneer in anger again only to have it short lived when they
discovered that had, not one, but two of those special she had with her and
threw the other at him, only this time she didn't miss, hitting 790 on his
tipping him over and causing the flattened organic part of his brain to fall
out onto the floor as the weapon just swung around the room and moved until
she caught it with her hand.
"Bullseye."
Xev continued to look on at the whole situation still with the same feelings
of fear and confusion, now with worry over 790's well being and that of her
own.  Kai, on the other hand, just stared on at her like a dead assassin
would, like an opponent and a threat to his friends, if it wasn't for that,
he wouldn't even be motivated to go after her.  However, another more
strange motivation took over him as much it could because of his secret that
seemed to involve her: caring.  He didn't want to kill, but he was more
hoping that he wouldn't have to hurt her more than he had to, of course he
knew that she wasn't going to make that possible for him.
"It seems that we've figured out your true purpose here", he replied in his
usual tone.
"Yes, you have", Jaina replied back, more cold and calculating than before,
showing her true self to them, "and it seems I figured out something else as
well.  I now have all of my memory back."
---

Staring at each other deeper more or less trying to figure each other out,
one of the two assassins tried to figure out a strategy while the other felt
he needed to put an end to all of this.  Their spectators on the other hand
were a bit more curious as to the why instead of the who, and were not
afraid to ask.
"Who are you?"
"I told you name, it really is Jaina, and I really am from the Light
Universe, I just didn't tell you the whole story.  Not like I need to now."
"Yes, I believe you owe us some answers, like who sent you here."
"That is not too hard to figure out", Kai spoke in her place, "it was the
Divine Shadow.  That would explain all those jewels I felt in your bag plus
how you've know more about us than we've told you."
"Yeah", Stanley butted in, "and you being a hybrid, you probably could shift
into whatever form you could to try to kill me.  What I don't get is how
you could just disappear like that?"
"I can", Xev entered in, "those chameleon like abilities.  You probably
touched the ship and melded with it so you turn into or at look like one of
the walls of ship so we wouldn't notice you."
"That would explain the tickling sensations Lexx felt earlier, that was you,
wasn't it?"
"Very good.  All of you.  It seems I have underestimated my prey.  His
Divine Shadow sent me on a bounty hunt to find the four of you, destroy you,
take the key and bring the ship and the Predecessors back to him."
"Are you under his control?"
"Ha!  Of course not, you silly walking corpse.  He paid me to do it.  Of
course, when I couldn't find you earlier on here in the Dark Zone, I
decided to take what money I had and head off to planet my friend told me
about.  Of course, he never said it would be this far.  Then again, I guess
six thousand years is not too late to collect on a fee."
She headed her way toward the other assassin slowly, aiming for the kill, but
Xev entered herself into the fray, attempting to help her friend out by
socking Jaina across the jaw, using her slightly enhanced strength to make
it powerful, which caused Jaina to shift her head back suddenly but
surprisingly to Xev and everyone else, it was the only damage it caused.
"Oh, not the face, bitch."
Xev looked on furiously before trying again to give her another shot but
Jaina with a surprising quickness blocked it before giving one to her in
return, ending the little quarrel with a swift kick to the face, knocking
her down but keeping her awake which Jaina proceeded to head closer toward
her real challenge, Kai.  Xev, still feeling the sting of the blow to her
face, then realized if she couldn't defeat their newfound problem by force,
then it would have to be done by using her wits. Looking on to see that
everyone else's focus on the confrontation, she slowly crawled over toward
790, picking up the fallen organic piece of brain beside it, putting it back
inside the casing then proceeding to fixing it until his face came back with
a overwhelming scream of life.
"Ahhhhh!  What just happened?"
"Jaina almost put you out of commission."
"That wench!"
"Don't worry, Kai's going to take care of it", she replied, picking him up
and setting him down someplace high to get a better view.
"Of course, you silly ditz.  He's the savior of our lives of my heart.
Destroy her, darling!"
Unlike 790 and the others, who would rather see Jaina cut into a million
bits for what she did to them, that faint but overwhelming sense of caring
that somehow involved her was still very much inside of Kai, and it seemed
to show as they looked on at each other deeply, him raising his weapon up
and aiming it right at her head while she just stared back at him in return,
doing nothing.
"I will not kill you."
"I'd like to see you try", she responded with an evil smile, "because you
see, it's going to be a lot harder than you think."
Looking on at all of them with the same smile, she rose her small but
potent claw weapon up high, looking like she was going to strike it at her
opponent but instead struck it fast and hard across her own arm, cutting it
off completely and cleanly, leaving a wave of disgust amongst Stan and Xev,
while Kai looked on curiously and 790 couldn't care less.
"Oh...oh, that was unnecessary", replied Stan, who looked like that his
stomach was about to churn from the sight of it, "and probably the grossest
thing I've ever seen.  That topped the list of them all.  Besides, didn't
that mean you were about to put yourself at a slight..."
Before Stanley had the chance to finish his statement, all of them looked on
to see the small surprise Jaina had for them plus the real advantage she had
over them as they saw that same hand grow quickly right back into its place,
her flexing her hand to show them what she can do.
"...disadvantage."
"My god."
"Regeneration.  One of many blessings that my people possess", she replied,
looking on at her hand again to see that it wasn't that of a human's but
that of a huge insect, looking more like a big claw than anything else and
letting out a huge sigh because of it, "and its curses.  Eh, screw it."
She raised that claw and not wasting any time, stabbed it all the way
through Kai's stomach, leaving a big hole in his chest after she took it
out, causing some fright amongst the other crew members, especially 790,
who's concern over his beloved Kai grew on after that frightful display.
Their concerns lessened when they noticed the hole receding and him
recovering himself, giving them a small bit of satisfaction.  Jaina knew
better however, for knowing your prey more than he does about you gives you
an edge, and hers was increasing.
"Ah, one of the joys of being dead.  Virtually nothing can harm you-well,
that is until you run out of protoblood.  And you are almost out, aren't
you?  That difference between me and you is that I can easily keep going
until you run out and I'll still be here.  Now, wouldn't it be such a bitch
to fight for a lost cause you know you won't win?"
"Ha" 790 interrupted, "his brace will crush your skull before you even have
the chance to blink, regeneration or not.  This should present no challenge
to my dead divine dish here.  Finish her off, darling."
Taking the advantage of making the first move, Kai lifted his wrist once
more and fired his brace toward her chest, it firing off the line weapon
with the scorpion claw at the end of it.  Not expecting the unexpected
though, Jaina caught it just as quickly as he shot it out, pulling him and
the brace attached toward her, punching him right in the face and knocking
him on his butt before he even had a chance to react.  This also did not
have a good effect on the crew, who could only resume the display of the
shock and surprise they had earlier.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"We're dead", Stan retorted nervously, still looking on.
Rising up slowly, Kai tried once more to stop her in her tracks by firing
another weapon from his brace, this time it was the small shooting one that
flew out toward their victim, but she surprised them all once more by
catching it not with her hands but this time with her teeth, which made it
all the more the unbelievable.
"Oh, you got to be kidding me."
Jaina, still unimpressed, spat out the flying weapon and then threw it at
790 once more, knocking him down to the floor once again.  Nothing fell out
this time, but still caused concerned amongst them when he blanked out and
didn't come back on.
"Are you so sure now?"
Refocusing her attention back on the one trying to stop her, she smiled and
decided to make things more fun-and in his favor.  She tossed her own two
weapons to the side, while keeping the claw tightly on her finger in which
she felt were the even odds.  She raised her eyebrows to get some sort of
reaction from him which all he did in return was look at her the same way
he did before.
"I will not kill you."
"And I won't have to.  You think you made up enough for me, dead man?
We'll see.  Enough talk though. Let's dance."
She chose to make the first move this time by swing her claw covered finger
at him, forcing him to duck as he used his weapon again, which now turned
into a long blade, to stab her in the chest as a return for what she did to
him.  She stumbled back a little, laughing on at him for his effort as her
wound began to heal once more.
"Very good, dead man."
Swinging at it him once, she took her clawed hand and slammed it against the
wall of the ship, breaking it into pieces to reveal another one inside to
complete her human form.
"Let's see you try that again."
Taking her suggesting into mind, he attempted to use his brace again to make
another shot, but was less successful as she grabbed his wrist to prevent
him from firing, proceeding to give him a jab to the nose that had less of
an effect than she was hoping for.  He countered by lifting her arm back up
then turned around to give her a sharp slice to the back of the neck,
causing her to fall onto her knee, which she used to her advantage, sweep
kicking him down to the floor before she grabbed him by the throat and used
her own enhanced strength to toss him halfway across the bay, right in front
of Stan and Xev.
"Kai, are you alright?"
"Not at the moment."
"You know if you grabbed her weapons that she tossed aside, you can use them
against her."
"Thank you, Stanley, but I am more concerned about that claw. It is capable
of counteracting my protoblood and therefore destroying me in the process."
"Well, we can't have that, now can we?  Good luck anyway."
"Thank you."
Slowly getting up once more, he moved toward her, surprising her with
another jab to the face before she look at him startled and then kicked him
right in the face for good measure.  She tried to swing her claw at him once
more and nearly pierced his flesh before he dodged it in time, sticking the
blade out at her once more before rolled over to pick up one of her weapons
from the floor to slice his pinky finger right off.  Trying to go for more,
she swung it left and right at him, him dodging each swing in return then
kicking it out of her hand, it falling high into the air making her pull
off another surprise as she flipped up to the ceiling to catch it.  Instead
of landing straight on the ground, she showed off once more by sticking to
the wall instead, throwing her weapon down in front of his feet to taunt
him.  Looking up once more, he raised his hand-missing finger and all-and
fired his brace at the wall to even the standards.  Now she had where she
wanted him.  She looked on at him and snickered before running a couple
steps against the wall before jumping down onto the ground and grabbing her
other weapon while he released the attachment to the wall, falling to the
floor and not noticing it until it was too late that she was right behind-
and the claw pressing right against his throat.
"Gotcha", she replied proudly while the others looked on at him in fear,
"you got anything to say before I put you out of your misery, dead man?"
"Yes", he replied calmly, "actually I do.  Your employers are no longer
available.  They will not be there waiting for you."
"What are you talking about?"
"There is no more Divine Order.  It was destroyed shortly after you left to
hunt us down here in the Dark Zone.  The Light Universe was also destroyed
by Mantrid later on, so even if they were still around, there would nowhere
to go back to."
"Prove it."
"Why do you think the Divine Shadow did not try to call you back after you
did not find us?  I am sure he would have you sent back after you ha failed
him miserably."
"Damn.  You're right."
She let out a heavy and depressed sigh before what the other called the
unthinkable in their situation, for she did not proceed to destroy Kai
ruthlessly in front of them-but instead shoving him face first down into the
ground and then letting him go, relieve the others but still leaving them
in a state of mild shock at the same time.
"What, you're not going to kill us now?"
"What would be the point, Tweedle?  There's no profit in it now. Besides,
you're probably worth more to me alive now anyway", Jaina replied, moving
closer toward him, "considering that you can take me where I want to go,
that is if you still want to-"
Robbing her of the chance to finish her threat, Kai suddenly crouched
himself up and shot another throwing star into her chest before slowly
rising up to his leg once more.  Turning around slowly to face him, Jaina
stared on at him stunned before quickly glancing down at her chest then
looking at him once more as he rose to his feet, seeing a look of actually
something in his eyes: an apology-one in which he wasn't going to get.
"You...ass-", was all she could word out before she fell to the floor
unconscious, her wound showing all the way through her body.
"Whoa, that was a close one.  Thanks, Kai."
"You are welcome.  We should put her into a cryopod before she regenerates
herself and wakes up again."
"What did you do to her this time?"
"I pulverized her heart just like I did to yours once.  It should a little
time for it to regrow itself so we should hurry."
"Good idea", Xev agreed, "I'll go get 790."
Stan nodded in agreement and as him and Kai started to move her body, Xev
picked up the robot head and shook it a couple times gently to get it going
again to no reaction.  She looked all over to find the problem when she
noticed a loose wire coming from out the side and fixed the problem by
re-entering it into his system, shaking it a couple more times to get it
reactivated again which had a more successful result-and an unexpected
surprise.
"I will love you forever", it replied as it looked straightly into her eyes.
"Been there, done that", she replied, lifting it up and carrying it under
her arm.
"You got it working again?"
"What do you think, Tweedle", the robot responded.
"Heh heh."
"We must hurry", Kai entered in, "I can hear her lungs begin to rise and
fall.  We must drag her body-"
"Hey, Kai, hold up."
"What is it, Xev?"
"I see something", she replied, kneeling down and scooping a small green
glob onto her finger, "is that what I think it is?"
"It might be", Stan interrupted, "but knowing our luck, I seriously doubt
it."
"What do you think, dead man", the robot replied as he looked on at the
green gook.
"We must find out."
---

After carrying Jaina's body to the cryochamber room and placing her body
inside one of them to contain her, the rest of the crew of the Lexx was more
curious as to what flowed from her body.  Using several of the tools and
the microscope they had on board and with a little time to examine the
sample, 790 had manage to figure out what it finally was and it was exactly
what they needed to hear-and exactly what they didn't.
"Your assumption was correct, gooey drops of sweetness.  It is for a fact
protoblood."
"That's great!  Now we don't have to worry about Kai running out now!  Isn't
that great, Kai?"
"Yes.  But how long will it last?  Jaina is not exactly the most willing of
donors."
"Oh, who cares", Stan retorted, "she tried to kill us.  I consider this
justice if nothing else.  Besides, considering that she bleeds the stuff
plus with her ability to regenerate, she'll probably twice as much to
counter what we take out."
"Now we'll never have to worry about you running out or looking for more."
"Um, excuse me, love muffin, but there might be a slight problem to all of
that-one which might show that Kai might not be able to use it."
"Explain, 790."
"Well, this protoblood is much more raw and more...how shall I put it...
complicated than the kind he usually uses.  I have also detected several
kinds of strands of DNA that I'll have to look further into.  It might not
be able to integrate with his system and his system with it.  Plus, add into
it I have no idea what kind of side effects this will cause plus how we're
going to get it out of her without her noticing it."
"We will just have to take that risk", Kai responded in return, "I am almost
out and if she can provide some more for me, then I will use it if I can."
"Heh.  Suit yourself, dead man.  Don't say I didn't warn you though."
"I will take that into consideration."
"You better."
"Well", Stan butted in once more, "now that's all said and done, how's about
we keep looking for a home?  I'm heading back to the bridge to start
searching again, anyone else care to join me?"
"Sure", Xev replied, picking up 790, "care to join us, Kai?"
"Soon, but I have one more question for you, 790."
"Ask away."
"You no longer love me?"
"Of course not.  Xev is the only love for me.  She's the goddess who owns my
heart.  Why do you ask?"
"Just checking.  I will join you shortly."
"Okay."
Lifting the robot head a little to get a better grip on it, Xev gave him a
playful wave as she walked off toward to join the captain on the bridge.
Kai, meanwhile, turned slowly to face the pods, stepping toward the pod in
which Jaina slept soundly, glancing on at her peaceful body for a split
second before raising his hand and gently placing it on the glass, touching
it right where her face was.  He held it there gently while still looking on
at her for another split second, only letting it go after he was satisfied
then proceeded to walk away to join his friends-not noticing that their
prisoner inside was still very active, gently moving her lungs up and down
as she breathed slowly, letting off a small and evil smile after she felt
him leave the room.
---

The End...for now