Youri woke up in one of the cells. As his eyes opened, a dull sting spread through both of his hands. When he looked down he saw that they were wrapped in bandages, dozens of cuts beneath them, dark red stains seeping through wherever the deeper wounds had bled. He tried to flex his fingers, but the pain made him flinch, and the tears were running down his cheeks before he even knew that he was crying.
He lifted his head and looked around. Mold crept along the brick walls, the floor was cold enough to seep into his bones, and the rusted bars groaned whenever he shifted his weight. The only light came in from the corridor, a sickly glow that barely reached the corners. Directly across from him was another cell. Inside it sat an old man who was little more than skin stretched over bone, with a gray beard and long, unkempt silver hair. He was leaning against his bars and watching Youri with calm, sunken eyes.
Youri pressed himself back into the corner, fear tightening around his chest, and the old man slowly raised one hand.
"Don't be afraid, boy," he said, in a voice rough and worn with age. "There are very few down here who can do anything to you."
Youri stayed curled against the wall, trembling, and after a while the old man's voice softened. "What's your name, boy?"
Youri hesitated and swallowed hard. "I'm… Youri."
The old man gave a dry chuckle. "What an interesting name. Nice to meet you, Youri. I'm Flavio."
Youri wiped his cheeks and crawled a little closer to the bars, still wary. "How long have you been down here?"
Flavio looked down at his own hands before he answered. "I don't really know. It's been so long that time stopped meaning anything. You lose all sense of it down here." He tilted his head toward Youri. "What's the last date you remember?"
"September third, 15171."
Flavio let out a sudden laugh. "Seven years. I've spent seven years in this hell." He sighed. "So what's become of the world?"
"I don't know," Youri said. "I hardly ever left the orphanage. And when I did, it was only to go to the shops with Lira."
"So you're an orphan," Flavio murmured, and Youri nodded. "All right then, Youri. I'll tell you about the world. About everything outside these walls."
Youri blinked at him. "How can you? You've been down here so long."
Flavio smirked faintly. "Don't judge a book by its cover. Believe it or not, before I ended up here I was a space dweller. I traveled further than most people ever dream of going, and I saw more places than I can count, each one stranger than the last. The space beyond the clouds of Volar is vast — so vast that no one could conquer it in a single lifetime. And yet here we are, caged and cut off from everything we once walked through freely, all because we had the bad luck to be born with a superior gene."
"How did you end up here?" Youri asked quietly.
Flavio lowered his eyes. "That is a long story. So sit tight."
He shifted against the bars and began.
"A long time ago, my ship was hit by meteoric debris. The damage was heavy, and I had to set down on the nearest planet for repairs. As luck would have it, that planet was Volar. I made an emergency landing in the middle of a field, crops everywhere, glowing under the moonlight like silver waves. I climbed out of the ship, and before I could take three steps a woman was shouting at me and pointing a gun at my head." His lips curled into a nostalgic smile. "As she came closer, I could see her clearly. It was night, but her crimson hair shone like fire, and her eyes were green — unforgettable. I barely had time to open my mouth before she hit me with the butt of that gun and knocked me out cold."
He laughed softly at the memory.
"When I woke up, I was tied to a chair in her house, and she was standing in front of me with the gun still pointed at my head. Who are you? What are you doing on my farm? So I blurted out everything in one breath — that it was an accident, an emergency landing. She lowered the gun and said, Well, you should have said that sooner! Then she laughed and untied me. She apologized and asked if I was hungry. I was starving, and even if I hadn't been, I'd have said yes. She made me a bowl of soup — the best I ever had — and while I ate she asked me if I was a space wanderer. I nearly choked on it, but I managed to say yes, and she laughed again. Take it easy, wanderer. No one's after you."
His eyes had gone somewhere far away.
"I invited her aboard my ship so I could show her around, and to my surprise she agreed at once. She'd never set foot on a ship in her life, but she wasn't afraid of anything, and her eyes shone when she saw the cities below us from the sky. I flew her all the way to the repair docks, and just before we docked she turned to me and said, Hey, wanderer — what's your name? So I held out my hand and said, I'm Flavio. And she took it and said, Nice to meet you, Flavio. Even though I almost shot ya. I'm Mira."
"She invited me to stay at her place while the ship was being repaired. Said I didn't seem like a bad guy. I accepted. The days turned into weeks, and Mira and I… we grew close. I think I fell in love with her the moment I first saw her, but those weeks proved it was more than that. On the last night before the ship was ready, I was sleeping on her couch. She came in and sat down beside me and said, You wanderers never settle in one place, do you? She knew I was awake. So I sat up and said, We all wander until we find a home. And she touched my face and whispered, Then why don't you make your home here?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"You're too young for some of the details, boy. But Mira and I were married, and she became my whole world. And then, while she was pregnant, I got a call from a friend who was stranded on a deserted planet. I didn't want to leave her, but she patted me on the back and told me I'd regret it if I didn't go."
"So I went. I reached my friend in time, but on the way back, a Terrian patrol intercepted us, and it turned out my friend had been smuggling drugs the whole while. The soldiers arrested us both on the spot and sent us to Khalil — a prison planet for space criminals. I was sentenced to twenty-eight years."
He let out a slow breath.
"My heart shattered. Mira, my child — I thought I'd never see either of them again. But somehow I survived it, and when I finally made it back to Volar nearly thirty years later, everything was gone. Mira was nowhere to be found. The farm was abandoned and the fields were ruined. I searched the city, asking anyone who would listen. Instead of answers, the police picked me up and threw me into a mental hospital. That's where I met a certain Doctor Percival Knox. After a few tests, he declared me clinically insane. They drugged me, and when I woke up—"
He lifted one thin hand and gestured at the rotten corridor around them.
"I was here. In the Institute of Potential."