A frightened Trahzi

Gerald knocked on Trahzi's door. There was no response.

"Trahzi," he said, knocking again. "I'm sorry for intruding, but I need to talk with you."

"Leave us alone!"

Gerald scratched his nose. "Look, I know you don't like me, but we're shipmates now, and the rest of us need to know what happened to you back there."

"Go away!"

Gerald knocked again. "Trahzi, this is a safety issue. Maybe I can help."

The door slid open and Trahzi stood there, towering above him in her full demon form. Black scales and talons protruded from her arms and shoulders, blue fire hung around her like a cloak. Her hand was raised, a ball of white-hot plasma held ready to use.

"HELP US!" she screamed, her voice rumbling and demonic. "YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID THIS TO US!"

"You promised you wouldn't burn me again," Gerald hollered as he ducked down, his hands held up over his face. But the blow never came. Beneath his fingers, he saw a drop hit the floor between her feet, then another. He lowered his hands and looked up. Tears were rolling down her red cheeks.

"Trahzi, you're crying."

"Of course we are crying," she said, embarrassed. "You did this to us! You ruined us!"

Her fire extinguished itself and she dropped to her knees.

"Please..." she whispered as she placed her hands over her heart.

Gerald moved in closer so he could hear her better.

"Please take these emotions back. We don't want them anymore."

Gerald felt a sting in his chest. He looked at her sympathetically, wishing he could help.

"You told us love would make us strong," she said, a tear dripping off the tip of her nose. "But you lied to us. It has made us weak. So weak we could not even move."

Gerald looked inside her room and saw the puppy sleeping in its bassinette. "You were worried about Puppy Trahzi, weren't you?"

She nodded in shame. "When the crew quarters were hit, we suddenly realized that Trahzi might have been hurt, or even killed. We were so afraid, so afraid of losing her. You see, when one of our bodies dies, the whole remains. But she is not like that. If her body dies, then everything she is would be gone, gone forever. We wanted to go back and check on her, but we were so scared. We thought, what if we find her, and she is already dead? And so we didn't do anything. Nothing at all. We were afraid of losing her if we did nothing, but we were also afraid of finding her already gone. And so we sat, unable to move, and unable to stay."

Trahzi reached up and wiped the tears from her face. "You have made us afraid of everything. We are humiliated. HUMILIATED!"

She held up her hand, showing the moisture from her wiped tears. "Look at this! We are supposed to be Trahzi, we are supposed to know no pain; we are supposed to know no fear. With a mere flick of our might we reduced a thousand worlds to ash. You have transformed us to a sniveling coward!"

"Trahzi, I..."

"SHUT UP! We do not want to hear any more of your lies!"

The puppy stirred in discomfort, and Trahzi panicked. She crawled over and held her close, rubbing her head and trying to speak softly to it. But her words came out hurried and alarmed, distressing the puppy further. When it began yowling, Trahzi stood up and ran over, giving her to the automated nursemaid, as if she no longer trusted herself.

Trahzi paced back and forth as the nursemaid attended to the puppy. When it finally got the puppy to sleep, Trahzi collapsed to her knees. She covered her face and sobbed into her hands.

Gerald felt a tightness in his chest, an aching throb. He searched for the right words, the right gesture, but nothing came to him. As she cried pitifully, he noticed the dilapidated state of her room. Every mirror had been broken, every reflective surface had been scratched, twisted, or otherwise ruined.

"We cannot bear to look at ourselves any longer," Trahzi sobbed. "Please, undo what you did to us."

"I... can't."

She threw down her hands. "PLEASE! Make us like we were before. Make us strong like we were. We don't want to be like this anymore. We don't want this love; it is a curse to us!"

Gerald reached out to her. "We all feel that way when someone close to us is in danger. I have felt it many times myself. But..."

"If you knew, then why didn't you warn us?"

"I did. I was completely honest with you at all times. I know you are only seeing the downside right now, but there is joy and meaning to be found in the connections we make with others. It can hurt, but even at its worst, it is better than being alone."

"Not for us! We were always alone, and it suited us just fine."

"This is new for you, if you just give it time..."

"NO!" she snarled, her teeth growing into fangs. "You tricked us. You betrayed us. You are just like him. You are just like the ArchTyrant! He was the first other we ever trusted, and he used us spitefully. After that, we were so hurt we thought we could never trust another again."

Trahzi stood up, and wiped her nose. "But then we met you, and even though we didn't think much of you at first, we found ourselves drawn to you. We trusted you, we opened our heart to you, and look what happened!"

Gerald felt like his heart would break. "Trahzi, please..."

She appeared before him in the doorway. "Our mission is a failure," she declared, pain in her eyes. "We will never trust anyone ever again."

She slid the door closed and welded it shut with a touch of her finger.

Gerald reached out and touched the door with his hand. His own tears fell. "Trahzi, I..."

"Just go away," she whispered.

Gerald rolled over and leaned against her doorway. "I'm so sorry, Trahzi. I didn't mean for it to turn out like this."