CHAPTER 54: HOME SWEET HOME

The spaceship was how he’d left it, a broken wreck. A thing so battered from this view it seemed impossible that it would still be working or functioning.

Tatehan smiled as he stared at it, his eyes gleaming with hope.

’Home!’

’Home sweet home.’

That word made him think back to the map in his inventory, given by Kael. The map that led to *his* home.

But while Kael never arrived at his own home, here was Tatehan, standing in front of his. The broken spaceship of the Red Dragon was his home.

Slowly, he started walking toward it. Around him were parched traces of grass. He looked at the sky, squinting so the sun wouldn’t burn his eyes.

The sun was certainly very hot when it rose here.

He unsummoned the armor. It went off his body in a spiral of cosmic-like smoke, the helmet dissolving from his head.

He placed his hand on the panel beside the door. His biometric signature was recognized and Tatehan stepped into the spaceship, his face one of accomplishment.

The door shut the moment he entered. Tatehan tossed the animal skin bag on the floor. It fell with a light thud and now he looked around.

Exactly how he’d left it.

He’d expected bad news. He’d expected an invasion from the brutenecks, but he saw nothing. All he could see was the same thing he’d seen before leaving for the mauler.

With a groan, he stretched his arms to the sides and then backward. For some strange reason they were starting to get numb. It was surely because of too much usage.

He’d been fighting since he left the spaceship. And maybe it was also because of the time he’d been unconscious, not being able to use his hands for that long had weakened them. It could also be because of the beatings he’d received.

All this coupled together must have really weakened his arms.

Tatehan noticed that the place was dark. Really dark, even. He wouldn’t have been able to see if not for a dim light shining in the middle of the room. Although it was there, it was very faint.

He was expecting to hear the Spaceship’s AI voice, but he heard nothing.

"Spaceship’s AI!" he said loudly.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the light that had been shining very dimly suddenly went off.

Going off, it flared brightly for a moment, then went completely dark, not shining again.

Then, a red light shone in the middle of the space. Tatehan squinted his eyes.

’Okay, what’s going on?’

The light changed to blue, then to green, then to yellow.

Tatehan furrowed his brow, fascinated yet surprised and slightly scared.

Then came a torrent of more lights. The place became a scene of rainbow colors. Dazzling and mesmerizing.

Tatehan stared, befuddled. He was starting to panic slightly, and as more colors fell, his panic intensified.

The display of dazzling colors went on for quite some time. Tatehan stood there, his hands twitching to summon anything, a sharp sword, a chakram, anything.

Then came the dancing of holographic figures in the lights, dancing and making amusing gestures. Tatehan could see nothing clearly but the central light, that was the only source of illumination in this place, or it would have been completely dark.

As the holographic figures danced, the lights shone on them, granting them different colors, painting them in stunning hues.

Tatehan was in awe. He’d wanted to summon the chakrams or the sharp sword, but this didn’t look like a threat that required it.

Then the place went dark. A second later it was bright again, seven figures now in a line, breakdancing.

Tatehan smiled gleefully now. One of his favorite forms of dance was breakdancing, and he almost felt himself moving to it.

He was realizing what this was about now. He was slowly getting to understand the scene in front of him.

When the place had first gone dark, he’d thought it was a powerful Martian human, or perhaps the Obscuron that had come. Maybe the Obscuron had gained control of the Spaceship.

And when the lights started changing to different colors, he’d thought it was some kind of dramatic threat display.

But he knew what this was now.

As soon as he had that final thought, the place flooded with normal light.

The rainbow color lighting was gone and all that was left were the holographic figures, now slowly dissolving to dust.

Confetti rained from the ceiling of the spaceship and fell on Tatehan, covering him like a mad outpour of rain would do.

[Welcome back Host!]

[Welcome back Tatehan!]

[Welcome back!]

He heard the spaceship say.

That put a smile on his face.

To be honest, he’d never expected this. What he’d expected was to come back and start ranting at the AI for almost making him die. He’d wanted to come back sad and angry.

He’d wanted to release a rant and all that.

But with what the Spaceship’s AI had done for him, it was a sight that could make someone cry.

The AI had prepared a grand celebration for his return. Like a father welcoming a son who’d been away for too long, or a mother doing the same for her daughter.

Tatehan smiled widely, and in that moment he seemed to forget everything. The tribulations he’d faced while searching for the mauler. The fact that the mauler had almost killed him. And the fact that he’d killed the very first friend he’d made on this planet.

Standing there, speechless, with a wide smile on his face, he seemed to forget everything.

He dusted the confetti off his body and, looking at the ceiling, he said:

"Thank you, you lying AI." He added that with a cheerful grin. "I should be really mad at you, y’know. When I almost died, all I could think about was how much I hated you. Haha." He was trying to sound offended.

[My apologies, host. My thinking capacity hasn’t been fully restored, so I wasn’t exactly sure of accurate probability calculations]

Even though the AI was being honest, Tatehan could only find it shocking and a bit daft.

"Damn, so if I’d died—"

[You didn’t. I believed you wouldn’t, that’s why I prepared this surprise, because I knew you wouldn’t die]

Tatehan shrugged. He couldn’t blame it. If it was true that its intelligence upgraded as the spaceship was repaired, then there was still work to do.

[Did you defeat the mauler?]

Tatehan let out a devious grin even though it wasn’t actually intended.

"I damaged it."