Enough with those headaches already. I rubbed my temples instinctively, my cold hands cooled off my warm skin. My muscles felt sore, and I wasn’t sure I could stand on my feet without help. For some reason, I also found this feeling familiar, like something I was used to in the past.

And yet, I didn’t seem to remember anything about it. As I opened my eyes, I saw the human female, her robot and the wild man staring at me in fear. I smelled blood. I looked around me and saw the dead bodies of the predators that assaulted us before.

Did I do that? I want to ask them, but I knew the answer already. I did that. My body still felt the impact, and yet I was the only one scathed. A certain feeling started to swell inside my body. Thank God, no one else was hurt. It was strange for me to feel that way, but amidst the darkness of the spaceship, I didn’t want to feel alone anymore.

Alone. Alone was Esuh. A white, excruciating pain stroke my head. The word Esuh, a word that meant a lot to me, kept swirling in my head.

“You. Human. I...I remember!”

She turned to look at me, but she didn’t make another step towards me. She stayed put and talked to me from a distance. “Are you...are you Jay?”

What was that question? I just told her I remembered something so important, and she asked me if I was Jay? “Eladia, isn’t that your name?”

She nodded.

“I remembered the name of my people. And yes, I’m Jasih, the Prime Officer, and an Originator. Do you still doubt me?”

She rushed to my side. She laid out her hand wanting to help me get up, but I didn’t need help from puny humans. I could get up by myself. And so I did, my whole body in agonizing pain, but nothing an Esuh couldn’t handle.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…,” she wanted to say something but stopped.

“It’s what? Speak human!”

“Nothing. Again, I'm sorry. Now, can you please tell us? What’s the name of your people?”

She was hiding something, but I was in no mood to play her game. At the same time, she was the only one that could know what had happened to my people. “Have you heard the name Esuh? Esuh of the Two Faces?”

Her face suddenly lightened up in the hearing of the name, but I got the sense that it wasn’t from recognizing them. “Of the Two Faces you said? Do you remember more about your people? Why did they call you that?”

My hand jolted to grab her arm. I knew I was squeezing way too much, but maybe some pain could wake her up. Anger made me talk slowly, steadily. “Don’t...you...understand...what...I’m...saying...to you?”

For a moment, our eyes met, and I couldn’t move my head. Her fearless glare matched my own in every aspect. If she were two heads taller, with bigger muscles and another color, she would have been an Esuh herself.

I released my grip, and she immediately took two steps back. “I haven’t heard anything about your people Jay. But the next time you touch me, I won’t help you even if I find something about them.”

Silver, her robot, got in front of her now, and for some reason, that feral kid also wanted to protect her. He growled at me like I’m the enemy, but they seemed to have forgotten that I was a Prime Officer, that countless Esuhes counted on me and respected me. But this funny bunch didn’t.

They looked at me as if expecting me to apologize, but I just turned my head and searched the way out of my spaceship. Before taking another step, I heard the young one yelling at me, trying to say something. I acted like I didn’t hear him, but then the robot stopped me as well. “It’s dangerous out there. Zan is trying to protect you.”

It had a name after all? “Did this Zan kill all those animals or did I?” She didn’t answer. “I thought so. Get out of my way.”

Zan kept yelling, but I didn’t care anymore. Better out there with any of those monsters than in here getting disrespected by a bunch of weaklings.

“My camp is close. You can spend the night there with us and leave in the morning.” Eladia’s voice was rough, soulless. She didn’t want me there. But I couldn’t die, not knowing the fate of my people.

“Okay. One night.” One night and then I’m done protecting your sorry asses.

Two minutes later, we were walking down an open place full of a strange, black material. I heard Eladia talking to her robot assistant, discussing the importance of roads and tar in the archaic ages. Soon, I found myself getting intimidated by the sound of her voice. But still, I couldn’t get enough of it.

A round, pale object was flying in the sky. This planet’s natural satellite was beautiful but lonely up there. Back home, the three moons used to dance all night, casting many different colors to the sky. The night was as bright as the day, and the Esuh didn’t feel lonely. I didn’t know why that name gave me that painful feeling, but Esuh didn’t feel pain, no loneliness either.

Even by just remembering that one name, all those pictures came back to me. The Living Oceans that swallowed and spat whole worlds in their wake, and the Flying Fortress, the pride of all the Esuhes. Walking down this...road, I suddenly felt the weight of the world falling on my shoulders. Esuh meant lonely, and I felt like I was just beginning to grasp the meaning behind that word.