At an hour nearer to dawn than dusk, the Backroom was empty save for a single weary soul. Until recently, it had been packed with people working feverishly through the night, but urgent investigations into Preservation had concluded for now. Having sorted through the final unprocessed data from Containment Complex 10-29, Shale finalized her report to Y'shtola, then rose to her feet, taking a regulator in hand.

Memory restoration.

They had confirmed the devices merely sealed away memories of the deceased, rather than removing them completely. Thanks to the combined efforts of Oblivion and the Alexandrian government, they now had the means to restore such memories via the Meso Terminal in Living Memory. An achievement in large part due to Shale's expertise and a persistence bordering on obsession.

She had worn a regulator herself once, and knew it had taken something from her. Someone defined by their absence, and a time Shale had almost lost herself. Yet whenever the question of restoring her own memories arose, there was always an obligation, a justification. An excuse. But the reckoning was long overdue. And, deep down, she already knew whose memories had left the hole in her heart.

"Well. I've kept you waiting long enough."

Taking a quick sip of the stiff drink beside her, Shale began the procedure.

Even long past midnight, the revelry in the streets showed no signs of abating. Partway through her shift, Shale left the bar and ducked into an alleyway. Leaning back against the wall, she took a swig from the bottle she had swiped and sighed. Closing her eyes, she let the warmth wash over her as she drifted between sleep and wakefulness.

Shale had spent her entire lonely life beneath Everkeep's barrier. Her parents were gone, as were her memories of them, either due to a regulator or her having been too young to remember. Though she found this deeply unsettling regardless of the cause, the thought that a part of her had been excised—ruthlessly gouged out without her knowledge─was almost too much to bear. And yet, the risks that came with forgoing her regulator left her paralyzed, unable to commit to that choice.

She liked electrope. It recorded everything and it never forgot. Even so, when someone died, those perfect memories were extracted and locked away in the cloud.

And so Shale stopped letting people in. It can't take what never was. Over the course of her self-imposed isolation, she all but lost interest in the lives of others.

Her skill with electrope led her to become an engineer, only for her to grow tired of her overly familiar coworkers. The way she saw it, she only needed credits enough to fund her hobbies of tinkering with the stuff and riding her air-wheeler. Eventually, a bar on True Vue offered her a position, and Shale discovered she didn't dislike the work. The well-defined distance between her and the customers was a surprising but welcome buffer, and she could abide polite smiles and brief conversations. Perhaps this was a job she could hold down for a change.

During her breaks, Shale fell into the habit of slipping into the back alley with a bottle of something strong for a quiet nap. Until the day her quiet was irrevocably shattered.

"What do you think you're doing? This is no place to sleep!"

It was only when the bottle was plucked from her hand that Shale realized the rebuke was directed at her. Supposing it was another drunkard annoyed she had stolen their preferred spot, she reluctantly opened her eyes and considered the Shetona woman crouched before her, golden thread woven through the braids of her long, dark hair.

She wasn't wearing a regulator. And they definitely hadn't met before. I would remember.

Her brilliant golden eyes were fixed on Shale, who couldn't help but look away from their piercing judgment.

"What I do here is none of your business. And that's mine."

Shale snatched the bottle back, draining it in one sullen gulp. A look of exasperation flitted across the other woman's face.

"Look. People have been mugged around here, so you can't let your guard down like that. You'll get yourself hurt!"

"Hah! As if I'd have trouble tracking down a petty thief. Could dig up their personal data and ruin their lives in a flash. Yours too, if you don't leave me be."

A bold claim meant to drive the woman away, but that only served to kindle renewed interest.

"You don't say…? Hey, you wouldn't happen to be any good with electrope, would you? I just so happen to be looking for a capable engineer free of other commitments!"

Damn those golden eyes. They were glittering with undisguised excitement.

"I'm Cahciua, by the way. So, what do you say? Fancy being my partner in crime?"

The invitation was so earnest and absurd that Shale dropped the empty bottle. She watched it roll into the darkness out of the corner of one eye, while Cahciua beamed expectantly.

"No."

Cahciua turned up at the bar practically every day after that. She regaled Shale with stories of her son's adventures in faraway lands─never failing to mention that the two of them would get along swimmingly─and with tales of the animals she loved so much.

One day, she asked Shale to make a cocktail from her homeland─a Prairie Sunshine. Shale had never seen the sun, but the finished drink was a gold no less dazzling than Cahciua's eyes.

"Ah, this hits the spot! Every now and then I start to miss the sun something terrible."

Cahciua smiled, raising the glass to her lips.

"...Is the world beyond the barrier really that great?"

"It is. To me, anyway. There's just so much I've yet to experience! I've been alive for over a hundred years, and everything I know is a drop in the ocean compared to what's out there. I always dreamed of traveling the world, unraveling its mysteries, cataloging its flora and fauna… Of course, a single lifetime wouldn't be nearly enough to behold all its wonders. So nothing would make me happier than to see my darling boy carry on in my stead someday."

Shale had never seen the sun. But for a moment, as Cahciua punctuated her words with a bright laugh, she understood something of its radiance.

Every time, without fail, Cahciua asked Shale to join her. And every time, without fail, Shale flatly refused. The stalemate dragged on, until Cahciua tried a different approach.

"Just one day. One day. Give me that, and I'll never bother you again. I swear!" A final impassioned plea to which Shale acquiesced.

They arranged to meet in Heritage Found, just outside the base of Everkeep. As their destination lay some distance away, Cahciua had offered to let Shale ride with her. Despite herself, Shale was rather eager to see what sort of air-wheeler Cahciua would turn up with. She hadn't taken her to be a rider. When Cahciua finally appeared, however, she was straddling a strange beast that she called a rroneek. Apparently, it was the last of its kind in the dome. Shale, of course, had never ridden an animal in her life.

"You're telling me to─? No, no way! Absolutely not!"

"Oh, stop griping and get on! Quickly now, or we'll leave you behind!"

Shale immediately and deeply regretted not having brought her own mechanical steed. Alas, she'd accepted payment in advance, so she took hold of Cahciua's extended hand and clambered onto the rroneek's back. As it began its rolling gait, she clung to Cahciua and squealed.

"Eek...! Make it go slower, would you!?"

"Ahahaha! Don't you just feel so alive?"

Cahciua spurred the rroneek onward with effortless glee, paying no heed to Shale's protests. When her torment came to an end an eternity later, they had come to a series of caves in the Thunderyards known as Earthen Sky. Cahciua's request was that Shale accompany her inside and assess several electrope appliances that she'd stored within the abandoned mine.

They crept through the darkness of the caves, Cahciua dispatching any threatening beasts with a well-placed arrow. Once they arrived at their destination, Shale cast her eyes around the dimly lit chamber and spied a heap of machinery, all of which looked considerably dated. Though Cahciua had acquired the refurbished equipment from an acquaintance at the driftdowns, she was unsure what exactly it might be used for, and wanted her expert opinion. Shale quickly ascertained that they were components for a large transmitter, and told her with a compatible receiver, it would be possible to communicate over significant distances.

"Don't know what you’re trying to do here, but so long as you pay, I wouldn't mind helping again."

Perhaps it was the flicker of excitement at seeing such unusual machinery that spurred her to extend the offer. She couldn't say why, but for the first time in a long time—if not ever—she wanted to be useful. To help someone. Cahciua turned with a look of surprise before shaking her head.

"Knowing what it's meant to do is more than enough. I'll sort the rest out on my own. Thank you, Shale."

Perhaps she should've been grateful not to be dragged deeper into her troubles, but to be rejected was inexplicably vexing.

"At the very least," she insisted, "can you tell me what it is you're really after?" Chuckling, Cahciua walked over to a crate and pulled out a bottle of long-forgotten wine and two dusty glasses, and set them gently on a nearby table.

"In that case…will you sit with me, and talk about life?"

They spoke of life, death, and what came after. Like her fellow Shetona, Cahciua believed that all lives were meant to end, before returning as new life once more. Her people had ever held great respect for nature, and Cahciua was determined to protect this cycle. To ensure it would continue unbroken in the world her beloved son yet called home.

Having always worn a regulator, Shale had no understanding of death. Yet, as she looked into Cahciua's golden eyes, shimmering with passion and joy, she wanted to believe as she did. But Shale was afraid. Terrified. Cahciua didn't wear a regulator. If she were to die... What record would remain that she had lived? Of the love and hope she had for her son? Unable to be sent to the cloud, it would all be lost. Until, eventually, she would be completely forgotten. That couldn't happen. It couldn't be allowed to happen. As Shale's words tumbled out, Cahciua simply smiled.

"Forgetting, being forgotten...that's all perfectly natural. No matter how much someone means to you, your memories of them─their voice, their touch, their scent─everything fades. But memories aren't precious because they last. Why else would we struggle so desperately to hold on to them? Besides, you'll forget things whether you wear a regulator or not, so there's no need to fret about it! It's a cycle after all, and in the end, you'll come home to the people you loved. And when you do, you'll get to know them all over again!"

Shale still didn't understand. How could I? Drunk on too much wine, she pressed further. She should at least wear a regulator if she was planning to go and do something dangerous! With a wince, Cahciua laughed and promised to give it some thought.

Regardless, Shale began visiting Earthen Sky of her own accord and teaching Cahciua how to make use of her equipment. And after Cahciua returned injured, having run afoul of a mechanical sentry, Shale demanded she be made a fully fledged accomplice. Unable to deny her, Cahciua revealed her true, treasonous aim: to put a stop to Zoraal Ja, Alexandria's King of Resolve. Even then, Cahciua would only allow her to assist from afar while she conducted reconnaissance herself. Though Shale was frustrated by this restriction, Cahciua never failed to show her gratitude.

The day at last came when Cahciua would venture forth alone to scout out a route to the private residence of Zoraal Ja himself. Sensing Shale's deep unease, Cahciua suggested that perhaps they ought to bring on a few more companions. Shale barely had time to consider the proposal before Cahciua affixed a regulator to her head─a gesture all the more meaningful from one who wished to live by the laws of nature, and clearly intended to put Shale's mind at ease. Seeing her struggle to muster a response, Cahciua broke into a mischievous grin.

"If we're going to be a proper organization, consider being a little less curt. We can't have you scaring off all the potential recruits, now can we?"

Cahciua's fading laughter echoed behind her as Shale scrunched her face in annoyance.

The signal from Cahciua's regulator disappeared mere hours later. Filled with a sudden foreboding, Shale tore the regulator from her head, but it was too late.

Her heart was pounding, as if shot through and gushing blood without cease. Her breaths were shallow and quick, her eyes red and wet. She knew. She knew the pain and the longing and the pain, and nothing more.

Shale had nothing now, nothing but hard liquor and impotent anger. She picked fights with anyone and everyone, disregarding─welcoming, even─whatever harm might come her way. The days blurred together, and on one the same as any other, as she lay sprawled on the floor after exchanging blows with a blue-haired Hyune, a strange, round machine floated into her field of vision.

"...Honestly. What do you think you're doing? This is no place to sleep!"

They definitely hadn't met before. I would remember. And yet, why did that voice sound so familiar?

And why did her heart ache and burn with the intensity of an unseen sun?

Even as she shouted at the machine to leave her alone, she felt a tear run down her face and fall away.

Shale slowly opened her eyes, the Backroom stubbornly refusing to come into focus. Willing her unsteady legs to carry her, she stepped outside and made her way to a local observation deck. As she took in the view of Solution Nine, she let out a slow exhale, counted to four, and removed her regulator.

Had it been a kindness? Had Cahciua kept the truth of their time together from her because she knew how afraid she was to forget? Or had she simply considered it a new start─a part of the natural cycle?

Either way, those memories were hers again. She was hers again.

Suddenly, Shale could've sworn she heard a bright, mischievous laugh in the distance, and found herself laughing, too.

No. She had been with her all along.

You always got your way in the end. But…

"It isn't the end, is it? It's...my beginning. Our prologue."