He could hardly look away when Sandoval took out the small vessel and offered him the real, pure Kryss. The pictures that haunted him crossed his mind. So many people he cared for were gone, so many of his friends were in stasis and maybe they would never wake up again. The pain returned.
Some years ago he thought he had found someone who gave him the friendship and acceptance he longed for so desperately. But now this friend was gone too and there was no one who could take his place ... or wanted to.
And all the hope he set in his children seemed to fade away like a handful of sand in a breeze. Whatever he did Zo'or would never believe that he cared for him and would never show him acceptance or even love. And his other children would never get the opportunity to grow up and see the world with their own eyes.
Were it not for his former protector he would have long since gone. There was nothing holding him back but the words: “We need you.” But who needed him? Everyone seemed to push him away and to wish he would not exist. Sometimes he wished the same.
For a long time there had been only one way to find peace and comfort, only one way to forget his pain. He knew that his addiction would kill him some day but sooner or later he would die even without consuming the drug. There were just two ways he could choose between ... but both lead to his leaving this level and joining the void.
He closed his eyes in agony. “Take it away!” he whispered.
“Come on, just a little taste”, the Agent said seductively.
The Taelon opened his eyes again and stared down on the poison that would finally kill him. But he would not survive anyway. And until the day he would join the void he would suffer ... every single day, every single minute.
Slowly he lifted up his hand and held it out to the human being in front of him. He just wished to forget his pain. Just one more time ...