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The last thing Crosshair remembers is the face of his beautiful girl looking down at him, her long blond hair surrounds her. She's holding his hand, whispering words of love to him.
He blinks, eyes adjusting to the bright light. He puts an arm up to cover his eyes and slowly brings it back down, eyes going wide. His hand. His right hand, long gone, is there, where it used to be. He flexes his fingers, turning it over and back. He looks around him, wanting to show someone, to make sure he's not the only one seeing this.
In front of him, standing with arms crossed is a face he recognizes instantly. It's the face of a reg. It's Cody's face, Howzer's, Wolfe's, Rex's.
"Hello, Crosshair," the reg says pleasantly, a friendly smile on his face.
"Hello..." he answers, looking around him further. There's a great wrought iron gate in front of him and looking through it he sees a garden. Its lush greenery is beautiful, exotic flowers lining either side of a sandy path.
"It's so good to see you again, Cross," the reg is saying, walking toward him. "I knew you were coming today and wanted to be here for your arrival."
Something familiar about this reg makes him pause. He looks more closely at his face. "Echo??" Crosshair raises an eyebrow, looking him over fully. He's never known Echo as anything other than his half cyborg self. His body is restored, his skin a darkened tan. His dark hair is cropped close to his skull.
"Hey brother," Echo says, reaching his right hand out to clasp Crosshair's own.
Crosshair takes it and holds firmly for a moment before releasing his hand, holding it up to show Echo, wriggling his fingers and motioning to Echo's hand. "This is...nice."
"Yeah, one of the perks of heaven." Echo says, smiling.
"Heaven?" Crosshair asks. "Surely I don't deserve to go to heaven..." he trails off quietly, looking beyond Echo to that garden again. Now he can see a cliff in the distance with ocean beyond that.
"Apparently, all clones go to heaven. I can't explain it but it's true."
"But...I've done so many terrible things..." Crosshair looks down, letting his life flash through his mind. "All the people I've killed...I've betrayed my brothers, ruined lives..." He is suddenly overwhelmed at the memories. The guilt. Choking on tears he drops his head, his arms hang at his sides. Echo places a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Would you know, Cross, even all the clones who executed order 66 are here? It wasn't their fault of course. They were a pawn of the empire, as were you. Anyway, it doesn't matter, all clones go to heaven, no exceptions." Crosshair looks up at him, at his kind and honest face and he feels his heart lighten just a little. He dries his cheeks with both hands.
"Come on, let me show you around." Echo leads him to the gates which swing open at their approach.
The garden is wet with rain, a light mist falling around them. Huge red flowers the size of dinner plates nod downward with the moisture. Delicate white flowers line the path at their feet. Crosshair can identify each flower by its botanical name, having learned them in life. He stops to smell some of them. Their scent is one hundred times that of their counterpart in his living world.
"Everyone here makes their own version, their own afterlife. This is yours. It's beautiful." Echo says, looking out to the water and sky.
They walk to the edge of the cliff. The ocean below crashes on the rocks creating a kind of music.
Behind them a noise makes them turn. A large creature bounds up to Crosshair, leaping to his face. He is knocked to the ground, throwing his arms up in defense. She licks his face, nibbling just the slightest amount in her excitement.
"Ow, ooh, Batcher stop...it's good to see you too, girl." He's smiling and petting the creature, scratching her snout and horn like she used to love. She pants her happiness. Crosshair laughs, sighing contentedly.
Echo is smiling, watching them. "I'll leave you to look around. I'm here if you need me."
"Thank you, Echo" Crosshair says, getting to his feet.
He walks to the cliff's edge again and looks down. A narrow path winds back and forth through the rocks ending in a small beach. He starts down the path, Batcher following at his heels.