Bryan found himself a country home residing in the free lands; he fixed Brenda at the safe house, using parts of old broken robots. He customized the DTi-48 with the same ethological system Blackjack used; he strained his limbs working on the machine for days, until the shining toy was ready for combat.

Later that night, Bryan walked into his bedroom and found Elles still suffering from the infection. He opened his chest of drawers and grabbed a package of Meuron antibiotics, but instead of giving his suffering ex-girlfriend a dose so she could recover, he took two pills for himself before lying down next to the dying carrier. At midnight Bryan was still conscious, he got up and dragged Elles’s body to a tall tree growing outside. He took a rope, covered her head with a sack and then hung her in the tree. Bryan walked back into the house to eat his dinner alone, left his dishes to go take a shower and then went back to bed.

Every day, Bryan would wake up, grab himself a cup of coffee and walk outside to watch Elles body got eaten by bird scavengers. When he could not bear the sight anymore, he would walk back into the house and throw everything angrily on the floor.

Weeks past and the head eventually fell from the tree. Birds dined on the fruit and left the seeds behind and, in the same way, birds dined on the surrounding tissue but left the brain behind. Bryan came back at night to collect the sack; he went to the safe house, held up the hatch of the tank and climbed inside to fit Elles’ brain into the cerebrospinal fluid, blended with a supporting skull.

Brenda came alive as Bryan booted up his system using the program keys. From the front screens, he watched Elles memories back when they were still young and in love. Then he clicked the delete option. The command button asked him if he was sure, it wasn’t an easy decision for him, but he deleted her memory and then switched off the lights.

It was Spring and birds were making love, the sun shone so brightly between the shady leaves, and with each drop of sunlight, life passed by. Two kids played hide and seek, before losing one another in the forest. He tried to keep hold, she tried to lose his hand, maybe one day they would become lovers, but for now it was all fun and games.

Bryan woke up from his nightmare.

It was morning and Brenda rolled her tyres outside; she was so loud, riding around the neighboring grassland. Bryan came out to join her. Brenda was still discovering her world when this strange creature invaded her space, so she ran away to hide behind some leaves.

Bryan gave DTi-48 some time to get used to her environment, the neighbors were more welcoming, they thought of Bryan as one of their freedom fighters in The Pride. They had often seen Brenda on the television, blasting off at the Navy. She had fans, kids would sing and follower her and she would let them swing on her shooter.

He took his new DTi-48 back to school, but she hated books. Like a child, Bryan had to teach Brenda everything about her world. He taught her how to speak, how to do maths, (he gave his lectures from a board hung up against a tree) and self-control, which was the most crucial lesson on the field. When she was ready for combat, Bryan got ready to go back to war; the villagers waved goodbye all along their route. By dawn he had reached the desert where the pride had lost the previous battle with the Navy.

For days, inside the DTi-48, Bryan would read books to Brenda until she appeared brainy when compared to the rest of the dead vehicles on the field. Bryan did not mind giving his time to his machine; at least he knew he lived with her clear conscious. He didn’t love what Elles was anymore, but he was still in love with who she was.

Back in the land of the Navy, Blackjack took his girlfriend to the Golden Tower; they sat happily arm in arm, while watching the Navy documentary. Parker was eager to complete his mission for the One Nation movement, so he called Blackjack to his office.

“Things are about to change around here dad!” Blackjack announced as he took his seat, “I’m going to be a father and a husband, which means this, is my last assignment.” he said, adjusting his headgear. “You need a new One Nation assistant from now. As for Judy and I, we’re going back to her small town, where we are both going to settle down.”

Parker was shocked to hear Blackjack’s sudden announcement. He placed Nick’s brain in the lab machine, feeling humiliated by his son. Blackjack’s conscious was transported back to Nick’s memory, he woke up next to a broken aircraft after they had lost the fight with the navy robots. With a pounding headache, he stumbled through the desert zone, witnessing that every dead body was missing a head.

At the Golden Tower, Parker watched the action from his screen. He went to Nick’s body, missing a head, and he searched Nick’s pockets until he found the Meuron injector. Parker approached Nick’s brain and injected its cerebrospinal fluid with the cure. Nick, inside his memory, touched his chest and felt his heart pounding.

“Dad what’s going on? This brain does not have a body! Why can I still feel my heart in his head?” Nick (Blackjack) looked up as he shouted at the heavens. He didn’t receive a response.

Parker closed the doors and then locked his office. Staring at the blurry road ahead, the automatic vehicle speed away from the Golden Tower at 600mph. Parker drove Judy back to her hometown. They arrived at her apartment hours later, in the night.

“He said you were too unfledged for his lifestyle!” The black fast car sped off, leaving her standing there in disbelief.

“Unfledged…what does that even mean?” without closure she could not blame herself, however Parker was unsure which road to take and backed up his electronic wheels.

“Which way is I-land city?” he asked, needing to get there urgently.

Judy pointed towards the East side and then he sped away.

Blackjack realized that Parker didn’t axe his head so he could return to Chris as Nick. He got his hands dirty, fixing one of the armored hammers, which he planned to use to ride the dusty roads to Vocrust. He managed to fasten the leaking pipes and cruised around the field, passing dead vehicles, a bow roam and locked target.

Unaware, Nick drove his hammer too close to the DTi-48 and got smoked. At the golden tower Nick’s mind stopped functioning and Blackjack was trapped in a dead brain.

***

Tell us: Will Blackjack manage to escape being trapped in a dead memory?