Record of a Life

Theo dodged the flailing arm just in time. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid getting splashed with moonshine from the pirate's tankard. The stuff reeked like industrial-grade paint thinner, yet the pirates chugged it like water.

Along with Darian, who crouched before Gryseld in the center of the deck. She and Gryseld sized each other up, sparks flying, before knocking their tankards together and tossing them back. Neither so much as surfaced to breathe.

It was kind of impressive, Theo had to admit. The crowd surrounding them seemed to think so too, judging by their hoots and hollers. Among them, he glimpsed Sam's mint green hair.

Privately, Theo hoped Sam hadn't decided to sneak some moonshine herself.

Those that weren't watching the show caroused around the deck, dancing jigs and belting off-key shanties to the accompaniment of musicians playing instruments cobbled out of monster parts. Others feasted on the endless plates of roast fish that Cay, Lodo, and Gryseld's cook obligingly served up.

As for Theo, he was starting to feel more than a little sick of the party, and it wasn't just because of the moonshine fumes. As he futilely wiped at his stained sleeve, he began edging toward the ramp leading back to the Blue Sky. 

If he'd had his way, he wouldn't be here in the first place. Nobody would; they'd have long taken to the skies and started heading north. But Gryseld insisted her crew needed to unwind after their long journey, as well as celebrate the upcoming 'treasure hunt.' As much as Theo thought it was a waste of time, he knew there was no point saying no to her.

Still, that didn't mean he had to hang around all night. Ryllis had already stormed off with Jin in tow, fed up with the increasingly un-G-rated festivities. Theo might as well join them. 

Once he was back aboard the Blue Sky, he sighed in relief. Laughter and music still drifted through the air, but at least now he could hear himself think. 

Might as well head to his room, take a shower and get changed. But the moment he stepped off the ladder under the hatch, he almost bumped into another person. Sputtering apologies, he staggered back.

"Oh no, it's okay," the person said, raising her hands. Nevy, her coat pockets overflowing with bits and bobs as always. "I should've looked where I was going."

"Um, yeah...so you're done with the party too?" he asked. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure he'd even seen her there in the first place.

"I didn't go," Nevy said, confirming his suspicions. "I was in my lab."

"You weren't missing much," Theo said, rubbing the back of his head. Despite himself, he felt a little awkward; after all, the last time they'd spoken, she'd been trying to cajole him out from the engine room. Should he apologize? But she was probably already over it....

"I can imagine." Nevy's chuckle cut through his frantic thoughts. "To be honest, I don't like Captain Gryseld very much."

"Huh?" Theo blurted. He hadn't expected to hear that from good-natured Nevy, of all people.

"I don't." Becoming defensive, Nevy hunched her shoulders. "It's not like she likes me either. She thinks I stole Kress from her. I'm always afraid she'll want to steal Kress back."

She lifted her chin, her mouth pressed into a thin, tight line as if daring Theo to challenge her. But that was the last thing on his mind. Indeed, something very much like admiration was rising in his chest.

"You really care about Kress, don't you?" he found himself saying.

"Ah! Well. Well, I suppose?" Just like that, Nevy's confidence fled. "Yes, I suppose I – well. Kress left Gryseld to be with me. So I know she won't go back. I should have more faith in her...."

As she spoke, she fidgeted with her pockets as if trying to find some way to occupy her hands. A few nuts and bolts spilled out of her lower pockets, clattering to the floor. Theo bent down to pick them up, but she didn't take them when he held them out. Instead, she was staring right at his face as if she'd only just now noticed him.

Theo cleared his throat. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, no, no." Nevy twitched like she'd stepped on a thumbtack. "It's just – I remember now. I have something I want to give you."

"Something?" Theo asked, but Nevy had already started rummaging through her pockets. Rather inefficiently, she crossed her right arm over her torso to fumble at her middle left pocket. Just when Theo considered lending her a hand, she successfully pulled out whatever she'd been looking for.

A flat rectangle in a silver case. Theo's heart flipped upside down. 

Zenith's phone. 

For a moment, he wanted to demand why Nevy had it, but then he remembered her earlier interest in 'pa-hones.' Had she been studying Zenith's phone this entire time?

"I've been doing a lot of research," Nevy said. "And I believe I've figured out a way to make 'fones' functional here on Tielos. If all goes well, I might be able to reverse engineer one of my own. It would be a game changer, wouldn't it? We'd be able to communicate whenever we wanted."

"Really?" Theo blurted, his heart pounding. "That's amazing, Nevy."

"No, no." Nevy quickly flung up her hands. "I still haven't – I mean, I only just managed to start Sir Zenith's fone. I was going to tell Prince Darian after the party, but I...I figure it's only right to give this to you first."

The next thing he knew, she pressed the phone into his hands. He opened his mouth, ready to ask her why, but one look at her shut him right up. That firm, resolved expression was back on her face, but Theo didn't miss how her hands were trembling.

Maybe she felt guilty about what had happened too. In her own way, she was trying to make up for it.

She didn't need to, not at all, but Theo's heart swelled anyway. Fighting against the ridiculous urge to cry, he put on a smile and said, "Thank you."

Nevy nodded swiftly, then turned around and hurried down the hall like she was being chased by a monster. Despite himself, Theo's smile widened. 

But it slipped when he looked down at the phone in his hands. So plain and ordinary, though it felt oddly alien after he'd spent so long without using one. 

Swallowing hard, he pressed the on button. At first nothing happened, and a strange mix of relief and disappointment flooded his stomach – until he felt a slight buzz, and the start screen appeared.

As the phone ran through its start sequence, Theo trembled harder and harder. Afraid he might drop it, he squeezed the phone tighter. Not that it helped much with how sweaty his palms had become.

He gulped in a few deep breaths, willing himself to calm down. But when he saw the home screen, his resolve shattered into pieces. He'd expected to see the default background, but instead – instead – Zenith had set it as a photo of a stuffed octopus wearing a paper crown.

A warm summer afternoon. A day spent at the aquarium. The octopus he'd bought, which Zenith had christened Sir Dareo after the two people he admired the most....

His breaths rasping in his throat, Theo darted his gaze madly across the screen. Dumb, irrelevant details leaped out at him. A full charge. No signal – obviously not.

He almost wanted to stuff the phone into his pocket, forget he'd ever turned it on. But he pushed aside the cowardly urge and pressed his finger to the gallery icon.

He'd done it by instinct, since he looked at his own gallery so often. He didn't expect to find much in Zenith's, so the grid of images that greeted him took him aback. Holding his breath, he began to scroll through them.

Very few were pictures of people. Instead, he saw trees in full spring flower, a closeup of a ladybug on a leaf, the neon sign of an ice cream shop. Everything carefully centered and in crisp focus. 

The more Theo scrolled, the harder his eyes stung. All this time, he'd had no idea just how diligently Zenith had recorded his life on Earth. For him, no detail seemed too small or insignificant. 

When he hit the final picture, Theo's heart stopped dead. It was – it was – a boy with a shock of pink hair, smiling awkwardly while throwing up the metal hand sign. 

A vague memory stirred in the back of his mind. That was right, when Zenith had first gotten the phone, he'd asked for a picture of Theo....

His vision blurred until all he could see was the pink blob of his hair. Every breath scraped his raw throat. The tears fell, hot and stinging, scattering across the phone screen.

The strength bled from his body, and he fell to his knees. Burying his head in his arms, Theo shook from deep, wracking sobs, like he hadn't cried since Zenith had left.

Nobody had ordered Zenith to take these pictures. He hadn't done it out of any sense of duty, either. He had only done it because of his own curiosity, for his own reasons...his own sentiments.

This was the real Zenith, the full-fledged person he had become. The person who Theo now knew he needed more than anything to meet again.