Cookie the snake slithered out of her cave, taking in the heat of the artificial light above her. She looked around her glass cage, taking in the surroundings of her synthetic biome. The food rock was perfectly in place. Her cave was pristine, just as it always was. The sand was warm, and the tiny tree was green as it could be, providing some shade for whenever the need should arise.

She always made sure that everything was as perfect as could be, just like father did. Every piece of waste and any other useless materials were pushed to the far side of the cage, ready to be taken away and into the garbage.

Content with her surroundings, she curled up to bask under the warm light, the only thing making her company being her own thoughts.

Where was father? It was unlike him to be gone for such a long period of time. She was hungry, so her hopes were placed on father returning soon.

He always said that things were rather hectic for him, but she saw no reason to be angered by father’s excuses. She could tell with a mere glimpse when he was angry or anxious. Lately, he had been tired. Anxiety and stress were visible in his eyes, and he had not been spending as much time with Cookie as he used to.

The snake’s thoughts were interrupted as the door to the room slid open with a hiss. She looked up, expectant.

Father!

She straightened herself and looked up at the figure that walked into the room. Father had arrived, yet he was missing his armored faceplate. He walked over to Cookie’s cage and leaned down, smiling.

“Who’s a good Cookie?” he asked, his expression tired, yet somewhat relaxed. All Cookie did was probe the air with her tongue, looking into the man’s eyes.

“I brought you something,” he said, reaching into one of his pockets and retrieving a small bag, from which he produced a piece of meat. It was larger than those he had given her before, which made Cookie happy. She knew that it was always hard for him to get food for her, so the fact that he had taken the trouble to pick up a larger piece meant much to her.

Cookie watched as he placed the meat on one of the food rocks, ready to be consumed. Before doing so, however, she had to show her gratitude; so she reached up and snuggled against father’s nose, causing him to smile and let out a relaxed sigh.

Father stepped away from Cookie’s cage, walking over to his desk and sitting down on the chair next to it. Before eating the piece of meat, Cookie decided to observe father for a few moments. She had to show him that she cared about him, and that he was not solely a source of food.

She watched as he opened up the holographic computer of his desk, going over several screens. She caught glimpses of photos and diaries, recorded messages and various forms of miscellaneous information.

“This is Infantry Commander Jack Silverback, second in command of the USS Vector.

“It’s been two months since I recorded the first part of this log, and I am both happy and worried to say that I have found many answers to my previous questions.” He looked over at Cookie. “I also believe that my cybernetically enhanced snake, Cookie, is the only thing keeping me sane right now...”

“To start with... Today I was overseeing one of the routine medical checks, and the augmentee ‘Atlas’ was there. Some curious troopers pushed the bastard into the line, and it tried to contact the Admiral in a pitiful attempt to bail out.

“I did not allow that.

“We forced it into the scanner, and we were dumbfounded at what we saw...

“Four lungs, three hearts, the skeletal structure of the left arm is metal, rather than bone and its skull is reinforced with titanium. All of that only adds to the fact that it is as strong as a trooper in an exo-suit.

“It’s a mutant.

“So that makes two things that are wandering around the ship: a mutant and an android, both of them things that should not even exist. Why does the Admiral even allow them on this ship? This is worthy of an execution...

“Additionally, there’s the raider ‘Torres’. I managed to pull out some basic records regarding her. It turns out that she’s an ex-convict who was in line for the Crimson Guard due to insubordination, and she was pulled out of the prison planet Ironwatch by the Admiral. He does have the authority to do so, but what is the purpose behind such a thing?

“I’m beginning to think that he’s purposely keeping away from the USC. He must be scared of the execution, but there’s still got to be more to this. Where did the mutant and the android come from? How exactly are they tied to the Admiral? I’m going to put as much effort as I can into finding out.

“Silverback out.”