Archive of Our Own ^beta

It happened one day.

In the middle of building his latest contraption, Rufus looked up and found that Elysium was no longer in the sky.

“Can I stop holding up this beam? It’s pretty heavy.” The voice came from his neighbor Lewis, who was underneath the heavy beam supporting his not-yet-finished contraption.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah.” Rufus only glanced briefly as his contraption collapsed as his neighbor let go of the beam. He turned his attention back to the all-too-empty sky.

“Where’s Elysium?”

“Huh?”

“It’s gone.”

“What? Oh.” Lewis shrugged. “Don’t know where it went. At any rate I’m glad there isn’t a bomb hanging over our heads anymore.” He looked over at Rufus, who stared at the sky a little longer, then took off at a run towards the junk heap where he currently lived in.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re worried about your imaginary girlfriend,” Lewis called after him.

“Her name is Goal! And she’s not imaginary.”

“Oh please,” Lewis rolled his eyes.

Rufus ignored him, which was a part of his programming at this point. His scrap metal peg leg crunched amongst the junk pile, a souvenir from his fall off the last high boat to Elysium. Once he was on the porch of his makeshift shack, fashioned from scrap metal and plenty of bolts, he took a look at the horizon around him. His shack was built up near the top of a junk tower, so he had a perfect vantage point.

Everywhere he looked in the sky, there was no sign of the glittering, pearlescent city. He swore under his breath.

“Maybe they finally got to go to that Utopia place,” Lewis called from below.

“So maybe they did,” Rufus muttered. But it was equally possible that they could’ve fallen back to Deponia. After all, since they weren’t able to execute their detonation plan, Elysium would only fall lower and lower in the sky until it fell into Deponia. And Rufus couldn’t think of how else they could produce enough energy to propel themselves to Utopia. He was fairly certain there weren’t any geniuses on board, least not ones who measured up to his skill.

See, if only I had gotten on Elysium , he thought to himself, they would ’ve totally benefited from my genius plans. I would’ve gotten them to Utopia in the blink of an eye.

He sank into a brief daydream of being heralded as a hero on Elysium, before waving it away. None of that now. He needed to know if Goal was alright.

“Oh, Lewie!” He called down to his neighbor as he descended from the junk pile.

“My name is Lewis.”

“Alright then. Louise.”

“Lewis!”

“Whatever. I need to borrow your junk bike.”

“It doesn’t work.”

“What? What do you mean it doesn’t work? It worked fine three weeks ago.”

“That was before you decided to salvage the engine for parts for this… whatever this is.” Lewis gestured to the fallen contraption.

“Ah. Well. That bike was scrap metal anyway. That engine part barely works. I miss how consistent power inverters were.”

Lewis frowned at him before shaking his head and walking away. Rufus ignored him and walked over to his contraption, his metal leg clanking against the scrap on the ground. He had impaled his leg completely in the fall, and Gizmo had to amputate it, but Rufus had built himself a prosthetic leg out of scrap metal. He intended one day to fit both of his feet with rocket thrusters, and debated on whether he should cut the remaining leg off, but Gizmo warned him heavily against it.

Carefully, he picked up one of the pieces: a retracted telescope, and put it in his worn down, beaten up coat. He picked up the engine part and hauled it over to Lewis’ front yard. It was more of a flatter area of scrap than a front yard, but nevertheless, it was the area in front of his own banged-up shack. Rufus located Lewis’ junk bike, sitting there sadly by the side of the shack, and set down the engine in front of it.

With the use of a wrench and very little knowledge of how bikes worked, Rufus fit the engine back onto the bike, give or take a few screws.

“I’m sure we don’t need those anyway,” Rufus whispered to himself.

“Need what?” Lewis stepped out of his shack.

“Chili peppers,” Rufus said, all-too-loudly. “Don’t need chili peppers where I’m going. To Kuvaq. Because Toni grows them in her garden. Yeah.”

“Who’s Toni?”

“Nevermind.”

“Is that my dirtbike?” Lewis asked, walking towards Rufus and the bike.

“Yup! Fixed it. Good as new.”

“I’ll only believe that when it’s turned on.”

Lewis walked over to the bike, and turned the key in the ignition. The bike choked and sputtered, spewing out black smoke. Rufus felt dread creeping over him until the bike coughed before roaring to life.

“Well I’ll be. You actually managed to repair it.”

“Of course I did! You really think I would take something apart without knowing how to put it back together?”

“Ye—”

“That’s not the point. The point is, your bike’s working again, so can I borrow it for my trip to Kuvaq?”

“No.”

“Oh come on, why not? I fixed it and everything! You should let me use it as a way to show your gratitude.”

Lewis opened his mouth, then closed it, deciding not to bother arguing. “I said no.”

“Pleeeaaase?”

“No.”

“Oh fine. I don’t need your stupid dirt bike to get to Kuvaq anyway.” Rufus turned away, in the direction of his house.

“That’s right. You could always use your feet,” Lewis called after him.

Rufus grumbled all the way back to his shack. He kicked at the scrap that laid against the walls. Once upon a time, some of these things would’ve been useful to him. He would have tried to build a contraption that would propel him towards an Organon cruiser. Towards Elysium.

Which was currently not in the sky.

However, the thought of this gave him an idea.

He looked out over the horizon, and saw the glittering scrap rooftops of Kuvaq in the distance.

“It’s time for another brilliant Rufus maneuver!”

Lewis walked out of his porch to the sound of his junk bike roaring to life.

“Rufus, you can’t use my—”

He stopped at the sight of Rufus’ front yard. There was his junk bike, running in place, stopped by a small metal structure that was keeping the bike from moving forward. Directly behind its exhaust was a fuse that led all the way to a large rocket, where Rufus was strapped to. He had also strapped a small bag, no doubt personal items.

“Rufus! What are you doing?” Lewis shouted over the sound of the junk bike.

“Oh calm down, Lewis. I didn’t disassemble your bike this time. And this time, I’m using a rocket, not a saw blade. And it’s a much simpler design than the one I used to crash into the Elysium escape pod. See! I learn from my mistakes!” Rufus beamed at Lewis, then muttered to himself, “Yup. I definitely suffered a concussion from that fall.”

“Rufus! Are you crazy?”

“Crazy? Absolutely! I’m an insane genius!”

Lewis opened his mouth to say something else, but the junk bike backfired, interrupting him. A flame shot out from its exhaust pipe, lighting the fuse on fire. He watched in horror as the spark followed the path of the fuse, frozen in place.

“Haha! In mere moments, I will be in Kuvaq, and you’ll still be here with your silly junk bike that’ll take you a day to follow me. Don’t you wish you were as smart as I was?!”

“Rufus! You’ll kill yourself!”

“Oh nonsense.” Rufus rolled his eyes. “I’ve been dragged through the scrap piles of Deponia, latched onto an Organon cruiser. I’ve dropped from a tower right into a pile of needles. Hell, I’ve fallen from Elysium herself. I just can’t be beat!”

The fuse was right at the base of the rocket now.

“Sayonara, neighbor!” Rufus called out.

There were a few moments of silence before the end of the rocket burst into a fiery shower of sparks. Lewis watched as the rocket propelled Rufus, screaming in a mixture of fear and joy, into the sky, towards the nearby city of Kuvaq.

“Firefighter Gizmo at your servi— oh, Rufus.”

Rufus cracked open an eye to find that he was, once again, surrounded by flames, right in Kuvaq’s town hall. He looked up to find Gizmo, staring disappointedly at him.

“I thought you had left for good,” Gizmo said.

“I thought I had too!” Rufus beamed. “Never thought I’d say this, but it feels good to be back.”

He tried to get up, but realized he was firmly tied down to the rocket, or what remained of it.

“Um. A little help?” he asked, looking back up at Gizmo. Gizmo sighed.

Rufus stretched his arms after he was freed from his own constraints and scratched himself.

“Say, Gizmo?”

“What is it, Rufus?” Gizmo was still busy putting out the very last of the remains of the fire with his extinguisher.

“Do you know anything about Elysium?”

“Oh, Elysium. I suppose that’s why you’ve come back.” Gizmo stepped on the still-burning embers, finally extinguishing them. “Yes, Elysium has fallen.”

“Elysium has what?”

“Fallen, I said.” Gizmo picked up his extinguisher and made for the stage exit. Rufus followed him. “About three days ago. I suppose they could not keep that glittering city up for too long,” the firefighter-doctor-police officer continued.

“Fallen? Where?” Rufus asked.

“In between the two Ascension Stations. If you go further past the Lower Ascension Station, you’ll probably find it.”

“But that’s so far away! I have to find Goal.”

“Well, your only option is to get there on foot I suppose,” Gizmo said, matter-of-factly. “And don’t even think about trying to build another contraption.”

Rufus groaned. At least he had the mine rail to propel him the rest of the way to the Lower Ascension Station, once he reached it. He picked his suitcase up, and made a small salute towards Gizmo.

“Well, I’m off now.”

“Really? That soon?”

“Well, yeah. I have an Elysian lady to find.”

“Perhaps you really have changed.”

“Oh no I haven’t.” Rufus rolled his eyes and walked out of the town hall, out of Kuvaq, and towards the mine tunnels, as the sun grew lower in the sky.

As Rufus walked up to the mine cart tunnel system, the next day’s afternoon sun glinting off of the dilapidated yellow crane, he let out a breath, and eyed his suitcase. “I’m beginning to feel a sense of deja vu here.” As the only other mine cart was not currently in front of the crane, but rather inside the mine tunnel station, Rufus picked up his suitcase and continued to walk along the mine rails.

“Oh, Goal,” he muttered. “I’m coming.”

He came across the station, thankful to find that the mine cart was still there. Settling down into it, he readied himself for another fast ride, and double checked the controls, relieved to find that they were the same as he left it.

“Here we go,” he said, then pressed the button.

The minecart took off, speeding through the tunnels and turns at breakneck speed. He screamed the whole way through it, until he emerged on the other side, almost running someone over.

“Hey! Watch where you’re driving that thing.”

Rufus was leaning forward, flat on the hood of the mine car. He slowly pushed himself back, and was startled to see there were people. So many people .

He was about to ask what was going on, but then he looked up, towards the far horizon.

There, laying in the earth of Deponia, was Elysium. The gargantuan, magnificent, iridescent city. It jutted out from the scrap piles, standing upright, although slightly leaning to the side. Although it was now amongst the dirt and filth of Deponia, it still felt as majestic as it had looked floating amongst the stars.

He glanced around to find a crowd of people, some faces he recognized, some he didn’t. It appeared people had traveled from the four corners of Deponia to witness this event. No doubt to try and scrounge whatever they could from it as well. Rufus got off the mine car, and started moving through the crowd, although once he found himself in the middle of it, it became unbearable to move. People were shoving and pushing from all sides, while he wanted to get to Elysium as fast as he could.

“Out of my way, my girlfriend’s waiting for me on Elysium,” he shouted.

“Oh, shut up,” some guy yelled back at him. “You’ll get your turn just like everybody else.”

Rufus grumbled, then looked up, formulating a plan.

“Ow, hey!”

Rufus ignored the protests of the person he was currently climbing onto. Once he was on the other person’s shoulders, he started jumping from head to head.

“Ow, oww!”

“Hey!”

“Get back here!”

Rufus ignored them all, hopping for a while until he got to the front of the crowd. There, everything was still, as the people from the front sat and stared a long distance away from the line of Organon who held up a barrier around Elysium.

“Not another step further,” one of them called out to Rufus just as he was walking towards them. “We’ll shoot anyone who walks close enough.”

Rufus quickly backtracked into the crowd.

“Crap,” he muttered. What now?

“There’s no getting past them,” a Deponian told him. “We’ve been staying out here for the past five days, waiting for them to let up.” The Deponian scoffed. “What are the Elysians gonna do, stay in their broken castle forever?”

Rufus looked back up at Elysium, impossible and towering as ever.

Don ’t worry Goal. I’ll get to you, no matter what it takes.

Goal looked out at the crowds gathered below Elysium. A golden glimmer caught her eye.

Rufus?

She shook her head. Rufus was dead. He was never coming back. She needed to stop being so hopeful.

But is that what Rufus would have told her? To stop being hopeful? It was everything he had fought for.

She sighed. Enough about Rufus. I need to move on.

“What’s wrong?” Cletus asked, behind her. “You’re not still thinking about him, are you?”

Goal rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m still thinking about him. He sacrificed his life to save us.”

“And look what good that did us, in the end.”

Goal turned on Cletus, who took a step back at the look on her face.

“Don’t you dare say another word to dismiss him. He died to save you, so if you don’t have anything good to say about him then keep your mouth shut.”

Cletus opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then closed it for good. Goal turned away from him, towards the window.

“Look at all these people! We just abandoned them, here on Deponia, for a better life in Elysium. And for what? We’ve just come crashing back down on them once again. Forced to gaze our truth straight in the face.”

All rivers run eventually to the sea, after all.

Cletus said nothing, only gazing out the same window, a neutral expression on his face. Goal looked at the room around her.

They were in Cletus’s personal quarters. It was lavishly decorated, with marble flooring and countertops. Everything seemed to be trimmed with gold. Even Precious, Cletus’s pet plague-breath lizard, resided in a magnificent glass tank of his own, complete with all he could ever want or need. They lived here, in luxury, and the Deponians had lived in filth and stink, without even clean water to drink. Goal felt a little sick at the thought. Now she understood why Rufus had been almost willing, on several occasions, to sacrifice everyone, in order for a better life.

A knock on the door sounded, and Cletus went to open it. It was a servant-bot.

“The Elders have made their decision.”

“Oh, finally,” Cletus said. Goal followed him to the doorway. “Let’s see what they have to say.”

They took the elevator to the grand councilroom, Cletus glaring at Ronny when he almost dared to sing to lighten the mood.

“Ah, there they are.” The Elder Un called out when they arrived. Goal took her side by her father, the Prime Controller Ulysses. She was still upset at him for almost obliterating everyone on Deponia, but she would rather stand next to him than to Cletus.

“We’ve come to a conclusion,” Un continued. “Unfortunately, we have no immediate way of launching ourselves back into space. So we are stuck here on Deponian ground for the time being.”

Cletus groaned.

“However, since Deponia is still considered uninhabitable, we are choosing to stay here, in Elysium. However, we won’t be taking any visitors. No one will be coming in or out of Elysium. ”

“So, we’re going to lock ourselves up in Elysium?” Goal asked.

“Yes, that’s the plan.”

“But why? With our current technology, we could help the citizens of Deponia. We could help make the planet inhabitable again.”

The Elders looked at each other, hesitant.

“Oh come on! We may have left Deponia because it was uninhabitable. Perhaps we didn’t have the technology to transform it. Or maybe we did. But we’re back down now. We have a chance to make things right.”

Everyone in the room looked at her strangely.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Listen, Goal, Deponia… has been declared uninhabited for decades now. The earth is covered in scrap and tetanus and God knows what other kinds of diseases. The sea is literally rust red. It’s…unsalvageable,” the elder Trois said, with an apologetic look on his face.

“Unsalvageable? Don’t you people have any hope?” Goal shouted. There was a silence in the room that told her no.

“If Rufus were here, he would have found a way to fix all of this,” Goal said, then spun on her heel and walked out, ignoring her father and ex-fiance calling her back.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she grumbled in the elevator.

If Rufus was here, he ’d know what to do.

If Rufus was here, he ’d still have hope.

If Rufus was here …

She felt the painful ache of tears welling up under her eyeballs and crossed her arms, turning away from the elevator panel.

“Where would you like to go, Miss Goal?” Ronny asked her.

“Just back to my quarters.”

“You mean the Prime Controller’s or Cletus’?”

She couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing either men at the moment.

“You know what, just take me to the promenade.”

“Right-o!”

She walked out of the elevator, past the petting zoo. There was an influx of Elysians petting the cute, fluffy animals to calm their stress regarding the recent events. The animals looked much worse for wear. Goal ignored them and walked past. She walked to the end of the deck, looking out upon Deponia. Sighing, she rested her arms against the railing.

“Miss Goal.”

Goal turned around to the familiar, deep voice. Bozo stood behind her.

“What did they say?”

“They want us to keep living as we are, locking ourselves up in this accursed spaceship. They don’t want to even lift a finger for the rest of Deponia. With all the technology we have we could help turn Deponia back around!”

“Heh, you’re starting to sound like Rufus when he talked of making his way to Elysium.”

“Heh.” His face came, unbidden to her mind. It was of course, the same as Cletus’s, but in her mind the two were distinctly different. Rufus was scruffier, more unkempt. “If only he were here.”

Bozo gave a little shudder. “Yeah I’m not glad he’s dead but… something tells me that if he were here he would just ruin things for all of us.”

Goal looked at him. “How can you say that?”

“You know how he is.”

“I—” Goal sighed. Bozo had a bit of a point, even if she wanted to refute him.

“I just, I just wish I could bring him back.”

I wish I could bring him back.

But how could you ever bring back a dead man? It hurt that they had all the advanced technology the world had to offer and yet—

Wait a second.

“The clones!” Goal yelled, startling Bozo.

“What about them?” Bozo asked. “They look like they’re doing a pretty good job of keeping the mob away from Elysium.”

“No, Bozo, not the Organon clones. Well, yes the Organon clones! Bozo!”

“What?”

“Rufus was a clone.”

“So?” Bozo asked. His eyes widened as he realized fully what Goal was thinking.

“I can bring him back.” Goal said, smiling for the first time in weeks. “I can bring him back!”

“Uh, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Bozo asked.

“Of course it is. He can help us! He’ll know what to do!” Goal pushed off from the edge of the railing and darted in the direction of the elevator. Bozo hurried to catch up with her.

“I never thought I would hear that about Rufus,” he mumbled.

Bozo followed Goal through the hallway down to the computer core.

“Are we even supposed to be down here?” Bozo asked.

“I’m the daughter of the Prime Controller, I’m allowed to go anywhere.”

“If you say so, Miss Goal.”

“Ronny!” Goal called, addressing the computer, “I want you to make a copy of Prototype R.”

While Goal and Rufus were preparing to launch themselves to Elysium in the Organon truck, Rufus had managed to tell her a lot about what he had discovered, and how he had managed to clone himself three times (she was shocked that the Rufus she had saw was different from the one she was talking to).

“We have no such records, Miss Goal. Perhaps you were looking for a movie instead?” Ronny said apologetically.

“No such records? But surely you can clone an Organon clone?”

“Oh, yes, Miss Goal. We have chips for Organon clones. Would you like me to make you one?”

“No, no, wait.” Goal said, turning back towards Bozo. “Why wouldn’t they have the blueprints for Rufus?” she asked.

“Don’t look at me, I know nothing about this,” Bozo said.

Goal racked her brain, trying to remember what Rufus had told her of the whole cloning experiment. He had explained to her the cloning process, as well as the mysterious figure known as Hermes.

Goal had heard the name Hermes here and there throughout her time on Elysium. He was an important figure, one whom her father was often frustrated with, and she had never known why. Although after Rufus’s explanation, she now understood that he was the one responsible for making the clones. And its possible that he had denied her father’s requests for different clones.

If Elysium didn’t have the information for the three prototypes, then that cloning factory that Rufus was cloned at had to carry their information. But something tickled the back of her mind.

Goal racked her brain. Think, think. There was something important Rufus mentioned. Something that was necessary for the cloning.

“Nucleic acid!” she exclaimed, startling Bozo.

“What?”

“Nucleic acid! That was what Rufus needed the most for the cloning.”

Goal turned towards the computer interface.

“Do you have nucleic acid?”

“Of course, Miss Goal! We need it for all our clones.”

“I need a vial,” she said. There was a clunk, and a slot popped out of the computer, containing a vial of green liquid inside.

“Anything for you, Miss Goal!”

Goal grasped it in her hand.

“Ronny, tell me where Herme’s factory is.”

“Anything for you, Miss Goal! It’s located at these coordinates.” A thin machine popped out of a slot, and Goal picked it up. It was a navigator, with a destination pre-inputted.

“Do you know how to drive an Organon truck?” she asked Bozo.

“What?” Bozo had so far been very confused in all this.

“Come on, there’s no time to lose. I’m bringing Rufus back from the dead.” Goal rushed out of the computer room. Bozo groaned, following her.

Goal and Bozo got into the elevator to find Doc and Bambina.

“Oh, there you are. I was just looking for you, Bozo,” Bambina said. “Where did you two go?”

“To the computer core room. I have a plan to save Deponia.”

“Another one?” Doc asked. “Please tell me it’s not as crazy as all of Rufus’ schemes.”

“Actually, I’m going to bring him back,” Goal said.

“You’re what?” Bambina and Doc exclaimed at the same time.

“I’m going to clone him again.” Goal said.

“Why would you do that?” Doc asked. “He’s given us enough trouble as it is.”

“Because I know he’s the only one who can take us out of this mess. He’s the only one who can figure out a way to make Deponia livable again.”

“Goal, dear, I’m not sure if this is the right course of action—” Doc started.

“I know what I’m doing. Rufus will save us. You’ll see.” Goal said.

Doc looked at Bozo, who shrugged. Once something got into Goal’s head, she could be stubborn as a bull about it. It was one of things Rufus and her had in common.

“Alright. But how do you intend to get there?” Doc asked.

“We’ll roll out of Elysium on an Organon truck,” Goal said.

“But haven’t you seen the crowd outside?” Bozo asked. “Moving a truck through that will be impossible.”

“Anything’s possible, especially if you have a five-ton truck and your foot all the way down on the pedal,” Bambina remarked.

Goal stood there, silently. Bozo did have a point, and she couldn’t just run over people in her way to get to the cloning factory.

Think, Goal. What would Rufus do?

Think.

What did Rufus already do?

“I’ve got it,” Goal said, turning to the others. “We’ll launch ourselves out of Elysium.

Doc and Bozo stared at her in horror, while Bambina nodded, saying “Dangerous and risky, I like it.”

“Well if that’s the way most of you feel about it,” Goal said, remarking on the men’s expressions, “I’ll go by myself.”

“Go where by yourself?”

The elevator door opened to Cletus, having rung the elevator from the Habitat Ring. The group had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t noticed the elevator moving.

“Well, I wasn’t about to tell you, Cletus,” Goal said, moving out of the elevator, “but I’m going down to Deponia.” She stepped towards her room, in her father’s quarters.

“Why would you want to put yourself down there again?” Cletus asked, following her. Doc, Bozo, and Bambina also stepped out and trailed after them.

“Because I’m going to bring back Rufus,” Goal said, turning towards Cletus. “And nothing you say or do will stop me.”

“I could have the Prime Controller ground you in your quarters,” Cletus said. “Deponia is dangerous, as you should know well by now.”

“He can’t keep me in my quarters! I’m a grown woman.” Goal protested. “Whatever happens, I’ll find a way out.”

Cletus frowned. He very much disliked Goal’s spunkier side.

“Fine, go by yourself if you like. See if I care if you get yourself killed.”

“Fine by me,” Goal snapped, rushing into her quarters. The door slid closed with a bang behind her.

“Your ex-fiancée is a very… temperamental woman.” Doc said.

“Yes, well. I have no real obligation to her anymore,” Cletus said, folding his arms. “The only reason I stick around her is because she’s a woman who needs a real man to help her through these hard times. Honestly, my generosity burdens me sometimes.”

“You know what else could burden you?” Bambina asked. “A black eye.”

Cletus jumped back.

“Bambina,” Bozo cautioned. He sighed. “I think, unfortunately, Goal is right.”

“About Rufus being our last hope?” Doc asked, looking at Bozo as though he had grown a second head.

“No, about us being able to help make Deponia livable again. About the fact that we shouldn’t hole ourselves up in Elysium and hide from our problems and mistakes.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Doc conceded.

“Therefore, for this reason alone I think I’ll have to go with Goal. If only to try and persuade her not to bring Rufus back from the dead.”

“Right with you, baby.” Bambina said. “I’ve been aching to get out of this white eyesore anyway. Too much glitter and politeness for me.”

Doc sighed. “I guess I’m coming as well. Someone needs to be there for any injuries that might occur.”

Cletus looked at the three of them. “Are you all serious? You’re all crazier than I thought you were.”

They glared at him, and he threw his hands up in the air. “Whatever. I’m going to stay here on Elysium and enjoy all my plentiful luxuries and pleasant scents.” He stormed off in the direction of his quarters.

Doc knocked on Goals’ door. She opened it.

“What is it?”

“We just want to let you know that we’re coming with you,” Doc said.

“You are? Oh thank you so much!” Goal hugged Doc tightly, then pulled away.

“I’ll wait for you all at the elevator when I’m ready. Thank you all again!”

She rushed back into her quarters. Doc, Bozo, and Bambina exchanged glances, wondering if they had made a huge mistake.

“Well,” Bozo said, “here goes nothing.”

Rufus threw his hands in the air.

“This is going to take forever,” he yelled.

He had been walking along the perimeter of the Organon blockade, intending on walking the whole way around Elysium to search for any weak spots. However, the problem was that Elysium was quite large, and as far as he had been walking he had seen nothing but Organon soldiers tightly packed side-to-side, with no hope of getting past them.

He looked up at the towering spaceship, but there was nothing indicating that he could get through. Elysium had turned from an iridescent castle to an impenetrable fortress. Rufus sighed.

“Nothing’s going to stop me from seeing Goal,” he muttered. “Not even Elysium itself.”

All along the blockade, the Deponians had set up camps and campfires, circles where they would sit and wait for the Elysians to eventually come out. Because of this, the crowds had dissipated massively, and Rufus could walk through them without having to jump across on heads.

He smelled barbecue somewhere, and he followed the scent, letting his nose lead him.

Rufus gawked at what he saw once he reached the end of the scent trail.

“Oh! Rufus!” Wenzel exclaimed. “I thought you had gotten to Elysium.”

Wenzel was sitting in a circle, along with Zoon and a few other of the Deponians from Kuvaq. Zoon was carefully grilling what appeared to be pieces of platypus and wombat.

“I was very close, Wenzel,” Rufus said. “Closer than you’ve ever gotten and you’d ever get.”

“Whatever. You’re still here on Deponia.” Wenzel looked down. “And hey, you’ve gotten a metal leg!”

“Yeah, a souvenir of my fall from Elysium.” Rufus folded his arms proudly. “I fell all the way from the highboat as it was in the sky, and I survived. See, my life’s way cooler and more exciting than yours, Wenzel.”

“I still found a fresh water spring. While you’ve been away, I’ve been busy racking up the money. Now I’m just here waiting to be admitted into Elysium. Being a reputable man like me, the Elysians will let me in immediately. The same can’t be said for you. For one thing, you stink.”

“Hey, I smell like an authentic Deponian, not some short loser suck-up. They’ll appreciate the garbage that clings to me. And my ragged clothes. You can’t get any more Deponian than that.”

Rufus couldn’t see it but he was sure Wenzel rolled his eyes.

“We’ll see when they open the doors to Elysium,” he said.

Rufus turned towards Zoon and the grilling meats.

“Can I have a piece? Only because I’ve been starving ever since I came out here to see Elysium.”

“Sure,” Zoon said tiredly. Rufus grabbed one of the legs, the animal origin he couldn’t tell, and chewed on the meat while he stared up at Elysium.

“Oh don’t tell me you’re still trying to get into Elysium,” Wenzel said. “You truly never change.”

Rufus grinned.

“What can I say. When I have a Goal I never give up on her.”

He chewed off the rest of the meat, which honestly tasted quite good although he would never admit that to Zoon, and threw away the bone. He looked around him at the scrap piles that surrounded the camping Deponians.

Building another catapult was what he wanted to do. He’d aim for the low windows that adorned the sides of the glittering spaceship city. However, none of the scrap piles seemed particularly beneficial for building a catapult.

His eye caught the sight of a small group of Organon soldiers moving through the camps.

“What are they doing here?” Rufus asked.

“Oh they just make their rounds around these camps to make sure none of us are hatching any plans to attack them en masse,” Wenzel said.

“Even when Elysium has fallen, the Organon continue to oppress us,” Rufus muttered. But he hatched a plan as he watched the Organon soldiers. Although they moved seemingly with purpose, it seemed as though they were rather bored. In fact, some of them hung around the camp fires and sampled barbecues and ale, which the Deponians resignedly gave to them.

Trailing behind the Organon soldiers, he waited for the right moment. And then finally, it came. One of them trailed away from the others, making his way to a vendor who had taken the opportunity to set his wares up in the camp. He sold ale by the mugful, and the stray soldier walked over and demanded ale free of charge, which the vendor had no choice but to give. Rufus looked for the rest of the group, but they were preoccupied with making fun of a few particularly badly-dressed Deponians. He sneaked up behind the stray soldier.

“Say,” he said, “If you’re looking for a bit of fun, I know where the strippers are.”

“Really? There are strippers here?” The Organon soldier asked.

Oh, this is just too easy, Rufus thought to himself. “Yeah! Just follow me, they’re behind that scrap pile over there. You know, away from the innocent eyes of children.”

“By all means, lead the way. I suppose like everything else here they’ll be filthy as hell, but free entertainment is better than none.”

“Oh, of course.” Rufus said. He walked towards a particularly large scrap pile, and turned around it, leading the Organon soldier behind him.

“Wait a second. There aren’t any strippers!” The soldier exclaimed.

“Are you sure? Look over there!” Rufus said, pointing behind the soldier. As the soldier turned to look, Rufus picked up a heavy steel bar and hit it over the head of the soldier, who fell to the ground, knocked out cold.

“Huh. I guess those helmets aren’t very protective,” Rufus observed. “That’s the kind of quality you trade for getting mass-produced items.”

He wasted no time undressing the Organon soldier, before tying him up with a piece of stray metal wire he found in the scrap piles. Once finished, he donned the Organon armor and strolled out behind the scrap pile.

“There you are! Where were you, soldier?” The leader of the Organon group asked.

“I was err-- busy checking out the only decent ale on this forsaken planet, sir.” Rufus switched into his Elysian accent.

“Well be quicker about it next time. We’re patrolling, not gallivanting.”

Looked to me like you were all gallivanting just fine , Rufus thought, but he didn’t dare say it out loud.

“All right. Back to base,” the leader announced. The troop moved to march behind him in an orderly fashion, Rufus adjusting his behavior to match. They walked past the Organon border, into a pod that brought itself up into Elysium through the use of a cable. Rufus could hardly contain himself with excitement.

Here I am, Elysium. Finally.

He wanted to take off the Organon armor and make a mad dash around the floating city.

Not now, Rufus. He needed to stay in cover, if only for the sake of Goal.

They walked down long corridors, in confusing directions that only made Rufus feel like he was walking through a maze.

Finally, they arrived at a busy area, which could only be assumed as the center of the barracks.

“Took you all long enough to get back. I assume there wasn’t too much trouble?” a familiar voice said at the front of the group. Rufus froze.

Argus .

“Yes, Bailiff, sir. Nothing to worry about at all. The Deponians seem to be very complacent.”

“Good to hear. They’ll get more restless as time passes on, but we’ll be prepared.” Argus replied. “At arms!”

All the soldiers in the room arranged into two straight lines on either side of the bailiff. Rufus jumped into position quickly. Here, without clusters of soldiers to obscure his sight, the bailiff Argus was standing clearly in front of him. Rufus’s blood boiled at the memory of him threatening Goal and offering to be her fiancé.

“The Prime Controller has just informed us of the Elder’s decision as to the future of Elysium,” Argus announced, his voice booming through the room. “The Elysians are to stay within Elysium. There will be no transport to and from the city. We are simply to stay here, safe from all the harm that awaits us outside on Deponia.”

They really are going to lock themselves up here! Rufus thought.

“For now, there is still the issue of there being 11,000 of us clones aboard Elysium. I will be sure to address the Prime Controller about this issue and see to it that--"

"Bailiff Argus sir!" An Organon burst in.

"Yes, what is it?I’m in the middle of something," Argus replied, irritated.

"There's a riot on the north side! Some of the Deponians are trying to break through."

Argus groaned. "Fine." He looked over at the crowd in front of him. "You, you, you, and you," he pointed, his fingers landing on Rufus, "come with me."

"Me?" Rufus asked.

"Yes, you, who else?" Argus shouted, exasperated. "And you, soldier, take ten more men with you. We'll nip this uprising in the buds."

Argus marched out, the Organon he had chosen moving behind him. Rufus groaned inwardly, but followed suit.

They walked through the hallways again, taking the elevator down to the ground. As they neared the conflict, Rufus could hear chaos and anger getting louder and louder.

"Alright, men. Pull out your weapons."

The Organon pulled guns off their hips, cocking them. Rufus fumbled for the weapon he hoped was hanging from his own belt. He hadn't checked after taking the suit from the Organon, after all. He sighed a breath of relief when his hands closed around a gun hilt, pulling it off the belt.

Hee hee. I have a gun now.

"Advance with caution, soldiers. Once you see them, fire at will."

"Sir, yes sir!"

Rufus followed the other Organon to the firefight, gun raised. They stepped out into the Deponian sun.

There was a crowd of Deponians, rallying and pushing themselves against the Organon. Rufus recognized some of them as being from the Floating Black Market. Some were armed with guns, which they were using to shoot at the Organon, the bullets bouncing off their shields uselessly.

"Men, fire at will!" Argus called. The Organon started shooting at the Deponians. Rufus watched as they shot the Deponians, who deflected their bullets with man made shields. But it was too much. He knew they were going to fail, and yet he could do nothing but stand and watch.

“Why aren’t you shooting, soldier?” Argus asked, his voice loud in Rufus’ ears. Uh oh, I’d better do something.

“Um, my gun’s jammed,” Rufus said.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Run to the armory and grab a new one.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Rufus said, turning to go. He ran away from the gunshots, away from the losing Deponians, and into the Organon elevator.

He stood there, in the elevator, unsure of what to do. Now he was free to go where he pleased, but should he? Should he help the Deponians?

The sooner I find Goal, the sooner I can fix this , he said, making up his mind.

“Where would you like to go?” A voice came out of nowhere.

Rufus shrieked, jumping. 

He looked at the console. Above it was a mechanical sunflower, that held a tiny banjo.

"Well?" The flower asked.

"You can talk?"

"Of course! Ronny the computer-flower was born to talk!"

"Oh."

"Where would you like to go?"

"Do you know where Goal lives?"

"Miss Goal? Do you mean the Prime Controller's Daughter?" Ronny strummed a chord. "Oh, the songs I could write about her beauty!"

"Heh heh, yeah she's pretty." Rufus smirked. "And she's my girlfriend."

"Oh really? I didn't know she was into the army type," Ronny commented. Rufus realized he was still in Organon wear.

"Ah, yeah, listen," Rufus stammered, "Can you take me to her?"

"Of course! To the Habitat floor we go!" 

The elevator dinged then rose upwards. Rufus had to keep himself from bouncing off the walls with excitement. 

I'm coming, Goal! I'm coming!

The elevator dinged again when it reached the floor. Rufus stepped out, towards the railing.

Elysium was beautiful, just as he'd always imagined it. And from this height, he could see almost everything.

"Wow," he mumbled, mesmerized by the sight. Below him, the city stretched out, white and glittering. The flowing green in the distance took him a moment to recognize as a garden. He had never seen plants that green before on Deponia.

Snap out of it Rufus. We need to find Goal.

Rufus stepped away from the rail, then looked around. There were doors that ran down the hall. But which one was Goal's?

Just as he was about to start searching, he heard footsteps. Rufus looked up just in time to see a door close.

Aha. That might be Goal. If not, he would just ask them.

He walked up to the door and knocked.

"Yes? What is it," a familiar voice asked as they opened the door.

Rufus found himself face to face with Cletus.

"Oh, Organon. Yes? What do you want?" Cletus asked, crossing his arms. "I have things I need to attend to."

"Ahem. I need to know where Goal is. I have business with her," Rufus said in his most intimidating Organon voice.

"Aren't you Organon? Shouldn't you know where she is?" Cletus asked.

"Err," Rufus stuttered.

"Unless," Cletus mumbled, ignoring him. His eyes glanced towards the end of the hallway then came back to Rufus. Rufus looked, but saw nothing.

"Unless what?" Rufus asked.

"Unless she's already gone on her camping trip with her friends to the Floating Gardens, that's what. She's quite quick at packing when she really wants to go somewhere, that girl." Cletus sighed. "You'll probably find her there."

"Ah, thank you, Inspector," Rufus said, raising his arm in a salute. Cletus raised an eyebrow, looking at him oddly. Rufus lowered his arm to his waist. "I'll be off to find her now."

"Yes, and do search thoroughly if you don't find her at first. She likes camping in the hardest-to-reach spots in that garden."

"Will do."

"Good day."

The door slammed closed in his face.

Rufus rushed to the elevator, and quickly took it to the Gardens.

Later, Bozo, Bambina, and Doc arrived in front of the elevator, their bags packed. They looked over at each other.

"Remember," Bozo told them. "We need to try our absolute best to dissuade Goal from cloning Rufus."

Bambina and Doc nodded solemnly.

"I'm ready!" Goal called. They turned to see her, with a lightly packed bag.

"Got everything you need?" Bozo asked.

"Yes, I'm totally ready."

"And, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

"Nothing could stop me from doing this," Goal said, a fierce look of determination in her eyes.

"Alright," Bozo sighed.

"Oh, you're still here," Cletus said from behind them. "I thought you had gone already."

"No, but we're about to," Goal said, crossing her arms.

"Listen," Cletus said, coming over. "An Organon soldier stopped by my habitat earlier and asked where you were."

"Really? That's strange, I was in my room at the time," Goal said.

"Yes, well. I told him to go and look for you in the Floating Gardens, and to make sure he does a very thorough job of it. You're off camping with your friends, after all."

"Oh Cletus!" Goal ran and hugged him. "I knew you were kind on the inside."

"Eheh, well. There's nothing stopping you once you have a goal, Goal. I figured I wouldn't interfere with that." He ignored the glares coming from Bozo and Doc.

"Alright," Goal said, turning towards the three. "Let's do this."

They walked into the elevator, taking it down to Organon level.

Goal stepped out of the elevator, to the surprise of some Organon soldiers who had spotted her.

“Err, Miss Goal? What are you doing here?” one of them asked.

“Take me to one of your Organon trucks,” Goal said. “And grab a couple of rockets from the armory.”

“But Miss Goal, you’re not supposed to be down here—”

“I’m the daughter of the Prime Controller, and you definitely don’t want me going and complaining to dear Daddy about how this rude soldier didn’t let me see the Organon trucks. Take me to them, now.” Goal crossed her arms and glared at the soldier.

“Err, yes, of course. Right this way, Miss Goal.”

The soldier led them down to the garage, where rows and rows of Organon trucks and vehicles sat parked. Around them were giant windows, the Deponian sunlight giving the garage a warm glow. Below were the crowds of restless Deponians. Goal touched her hand to the glass.

I ’m coming, Rufus.

“Here are those rockets you requested, Miss Goal.”

Goal turned around. Two Organon soldiers had joined the first, each with a very large rocket in their arms.

“Good. Now get me some rope and hooks,” Goal said, walking up to the rockets as they had set them down. “Oh, and a key for one of these trucks.”

“Miss Goal?”

“Now.”

“Yes, Miss Goal.”

When the soldiers had walked away to retrieve the necessary materials, Bozo cleared his throat.

“Erm. Don’t you think you’re being a bit…snappish?”

“We managed to come in at a good time: Argus is currently busy,” Goal said, looking towards the windows. “We just need to finish what we came here to do fast before he comes back.”

“I see,” Bozo replied.

“You’re strapping the rockets to the truck, by the way,” Goal said. Bozo sighed.

“Whatever you say, Miss Goal.”

The Organon soldier came back with the rope and hooks, which Goal handed over to Bozo. Bozo immediately got to work, carrying the rockets and securing them in the right place on the truck.

“Miss Goal. What is your friend doing?” The Organon soldier asked.

“Daddy wants to prototype a new kind of Organon vehicle,” Goal responded. “He wants to see if all the current Organon trucks can be modified with rockets. It’ll make them faster, you see.”

The Organon soldier only nodded. “Of course. Our Prime Controller has only the best ideas.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Goal saw Doc roll his eyes.

If it were anyone else, doing this would not be this easy. But they were dealing with Organon soldiers, clones that were programmed to follow their superior’s commands. Clones that were programmed specifically not to think too hard about the orders or information they were being given.

“It’s done,” Bozo said. Goal and the rest opened the back of the truck and put their bags into it.

“Now, the key,” Goal said, reaching out to the Organon soldier.

“Err, why would you need a key?” the soldier asked. “And why are you all putting your bags into it? You’re not planning on… breaking out, are you?”

So what if I am , was what Goal wanted to say, but she stopped herself.

“Of course not. Daddy wants to make sure the truck still works with all the extra weight attached to it. He also asked me to pack the truck up as if one was going somewhere, to make extra sure that it would still run.”

“Oh. Makes sense.” The soldier handed the keys to her, which she took, her hands slightly shaking. She climbed into the truck and closed the door behind her.

“Now what?” Bambina asked. Goal bent down, reaching into her bag. She retrieved a match.

“Now, we just have to light the rockets.” The Elysian passed the key over to Bozo. “You start the car.”

“I’ve never driven one of these before,” Bozo said.

“You’ll be fine. You’ve driven that junker for years!” Goal pushed the keys into his hand.

“B-but that’s different!” Bozo protested, but Goal was already out the back door.

“Finding everything alright, Miss Goal?” The soldier asked.

“Yes, everything’s fine, I just have to have a second look at the fuses on these rockets.”

“Of course, Miss Goal. They’re fuses of the highest quality, you know.”

“Uh huh.” Goal lit the match and touched the flame to one of the fuses.

“They’re thick and durable, but catch fire fast,” The soldier continued. He chuckled. “Too many times you light a fuse only to find it fizzled out part of the way to the explosives, but we don’t have any problems of that sort with these rockets.”

“Oh really? Great.” Goal had lit the second fuse.

“It really is! Makes offensive tactics a hell of a lot— hey wait a second—”

Goal jumped back into the truck, slamming the truck door behind her. She saw Bozo struggling turn the keys in the front.

“Darn it, these keys don’t wor—”

Goal surged forward, hitting the big red button marked START next to the steering. No sooner had the truck roared to life than it shot forward, towards the big windows. Everyone screamed as the truck broke through the glass, sailing over the Deponians below.

“Hit the gas,” Goal shouted over everyone as the truck began dipping towards the scrap piles. “Hit the gas!”

Bozo shoved his foot to the floor as the truck landed onto a large sheet of metal. The wheels, already in movement, made the truck slide forward and to the side. They tumbled off of the pile and lunged forward, the rockets still propelling the truck forward. Bozo struggled to keep the truck straight as they sped through scrap piles with no sign of stopping.

“Hey Goal? What direction do you want me to steer in?” he shouted. Goal retrieved the navigator from her bag.

“Turn right!”

“Here?”

“Just turn!”

Bozo banked the truck sharply to the right, nearly overturning them all.

“Not that hard!” Goal shouted.

“I don’t know what you want!”

“Here, let me!” Bambina leaped into the cockpit onto Bozo’s lap, taking the steering from him. “Let me see the navigator!”

Goal held it up for her. Bambina glanced at the navigator, adjusing the steering accordingly, then looked back towards the windshield.

There was a large, very solid scrap tower in front of them, which they were barreling towards at an alarming speed.

“Crap!” Goal yelled. Bambina shouted something much more crass, and sharply turned the truck. It swerved halfway onto the tower, driving nearly perpendicular to the ground. At the speed they were driving, the terrain soon evened out, and once the tower was no longer in the way, Bambina turned the truck around in the right direction.

“I have to cut off the rockets!” Goal shouted, jumping to her bag and retrieving a cutting knife.

“What for?” Doc asked.

“They’ll explode, and they’ll still be attached to us!”

Goal opened the back door of the truck, and winced away from the rockets spewing sparks at her sides. Hanging on with her hand inside the truck, she leaned towards the one on her left, then started cutting at the ropes that secured it to the truck. Her knife went through the ropes easily, and the rocket was freed quickly. Goal was thrown back into the truck as it started spinning wildly. With the other rocket still attached, it caused an imbalance in the propulsion of the truck. She ignored Bozo, Bambina, and Doc’s screams as she pulled herself halfway out of the door again, fighting the dizzying motion of the truck as Deponia whirled around her. Goal brought her knife down on the ropes that secured the last rocket to the truck, hacking away at them until they came loose. The rocket launched into the sky, throwing Goal back into the truck again as it jerked to the side.

Everything was still and silent as Goal laid on the floor of the rear end, panting. Two distant explosions could be heard, one after the other.

“I think… this is the last time I get myself involved in one of yours or Rufus’ plans,” Bozo said to Goal from the passenger’s side of the cockpit, after a pause.

“You know that’s a lie,” Bambina responded, facing the wrong way in the driver’s seat of the cockpit.

Doc groaned. “I can’t believe I agreed to doing this.”

Goal sighed, finally sitting up.

“Well, the hardest part is over,” she said. “We’re out of Elysium.”

“Yay,” Doc deadpanned.

Goal stood up, walking into the cockpit. “Are we ready to drive towards the cloning factory?”

“Just give me a minute,” Bozo groaned. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“I’m ready,” Bambina said, turning herself around in the driver’s seat. She eagerly gripped the steering wheel and looked at Goal. “Prop up the navigation thing on the dashboard, I’ll get us there in no time.”

“Thanks, Bambina,” Goal said, doing as she had asked. Turning around, Goal helped Doc up onto a seat. “Sorry about that whole thing.”

“It’s alright, dear. I understand how important this is to you.” Doc nodded shakily. “But please, a little easier on the crazy schemes?”

Goal laughed. “I’ll try.”

Bambina stepped on the gas, and they were off towards the cloning factory.

Cletus heard another knock on his habitat door.

“Yes?”

He opened it to find bailiff Argus standing in front of him.

“Argus?”

“Cletus, you must help me.”

“Wh-what is it?” Cletus asked, having a feeling he knew what this was about.

“It’s Goal. She’s gone. Launched out of Elysium on an Organon Truck.”

“So? Why do you need me for? Just go find her and bring her back.”

“You know where she went.”

“Why would you think that? You know Goal and I are no longer engaged. Why would I involve myself in her plans at all?” Cletus crossed his arms.

“Oh come now. You must know something about her whereabouts. I know you do.”

“Then why would I tell you?”

“Because otherwise, I’ll let the Prime Controller know you let his daughter escape Elysium. You were an accomplice.”

Cletus stood there, thinking.

“If that were true, why are you here now? Why didn’t you send your soldiers to take me out of my habitat, present me to you, and force the truth out of me? Unless… you can’t let anyone know about Goal’s escape.”

Argus fidgeted, and Cletus knew he was right.

“You don’t want the Prime Controller to know Goal escaped from under your grasp.”

“No, I don’t.”

Cletus smiled smugly.

The relationship between the Prime Controller Ulysses and Argus had been strained ever since Argus’ attempt to overthrow the Prime Controller. Now that all eleven thousand Organon soldiers were aboard the ship, Argus no longer had much of a reason to overthrow the Prime Controller, and now that Elysium had crash landed, there was more of a need for a militia than ever. The Prime Controller had trusted Argus with giving Goal security, making sure she was never going to disappear off to Deponia again. Argus had assigned two Organon soldiers to follow after Goal’s every step, but after a while she had complained, and when he didn’t listen to her complaints she had outsmarted the two soldiers by either slipping away, getting doppelgangers to confuse them, or losing them in the crowds. Argus soon gave up, and simply didn’t try to shadow her anymore with clones. He had reassured the Prime Controller that he had it all under control, however. For this, the Prime Controller agreed not to terminate him and all the other clones on board.

The Prime Controller Ulysses held a key to the ultimate failsafe: a button that would instantly terminate all of the Organon clones. This was installed as a chip in each of their brains by Hermes to ensure in the case of a mutiny or a rebellion. Because of this, Argus would always be under the thumb of the Prime Controller.

Cletus watched as Argus exhaled deeply before looking at him.

“Help me. Please.”

“I am not going back down there again.”

“Then at least tell me where she was going.”

Cletus pursed his lips, thinking.

“She said that she wanted to clone Rufus back into existence.”

“That idiot? What is she thinking?”

“She thinks that he’ll be the solution to all our problems.”

“If anything, he’ll just cause more problems.”

“Right, well. That’s our Goal for you.”

“Do you know where she’s going to clone him?”

“Something about a factory. Down on Deponia. Possibly the same one you and I came from.”

“I don’t know where that is,” Argus said, thinking.

“Well she must have gotten the coordinates somewhere. She had taken the elevator.”

“The computer core. That’s where.”

“Alright, well if we’re done here then I’m going back—”

“Not so fast.” Argus held the door open as Cletus tried to close it.

“Oh, what is it now?” Cletus groaned.

“It’s true what you said, back when this all began,” Argus said. “I don’t know her like you do.”

“So?”

“So you’d know her tactics, her way of thinking. You’d be best suited to try and persuade her back, once we catch up to her.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Argus. That woman’s insane.”

“And you have the most experience dealing with her.”

“You can’t make me go back down there,” Cletus said, trying to put as much menace into his words as he could.

“Yes, I can.” Argus pulled out a gun and pointed it to Cletus’s head.

“Oh you little—”

“Pack. Now. Lightly.”

“You’ll pay for this.” Cletus growled as he closed the door.

EARLIER...

Rufus had a hard time making his way to the Gardens, on account of Elysium being gigantic. He often had to ask for directions, which most of the Elysians were nice enough to give, yet they still gave him odd looks. He assumed that was because he was dressed as Organon, and Organon soldiers were supposed to know their way around Elysium by now. But Rufus made sure to rush off before they could question him any further, and the Elysians were content to return to their prior activities, which Rufus looked on with envy. More than once he had to stop himself before rushing off into the Fun Zone, and he often loitered around whenever he saw Elysians having fun.

Not now , he kept telling himself. Find Goal first, and then we can have all the fun we want on this paradise.

Finally he found the Gardens, marked with a gigantic archway that had bright exotic flowers entwined through it. At the top of the arch was a sign that said Floating Gardens . Beyond it was an enclosed bridge that led upwards.

As Rufus walked along the bridge, he heard an explosion. Looking down towards the sound, he saw an Organon truck that flew out of Elysium, rockets strapped to its sides. It flew over the crowds below and landed on a distant scrap tower, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

Goal?

He felt frozen on the bridge. There was only one person he knew apart from himself that would be crazy enough to launch themselves out of Elysium on a modified Organon truck.

A group of Organon soldiers rushed past him and he ran to catch up with them.

“Hey, what was that?” he asked.

“Probably some Elysium deserters. The bailiff will have more information for us when we get to the barracks.”

Rufus followed them. They walked all the way back to the barracks, where the bailiff stood on a platform. Rufus noticed that his armor had a few dents and cracks into it. He hoped that it was because of the Deponian rebellion he had previously witnessed.

“I know that you are all here to ask about the recent incident. I’m here to let you all know that it was merely a band of Elysium deserters. Probably some of the individuals that boarded Elysium from Deponia. Not a big deal at all.”

The Organon in the room muttered, seemingly disappointed that the incident wasn’t more exciting.

“For now, I am assembling a small group of Organon for a top-secret meeting. The rest of you are dismissed.”

The muttering started up again as the Organon soldiers wondered about what the bailiff was planning to discuss. Argus started selecting a few soldiers, and once he was finished, led them to a door at the side.

Top secret? Sounds like something I need to know about. Rufus slyly stepped in line behind the last soldier, trying to move in as though he had been one of the few chosen. To his surprise, the doors closed behind him without issue.

“Now to talk about the truth behind the incident. I want you all to understand that not a word of this leaves this room,” Argus announced.

“Sir, yes, sir.” The soldiers said in unison.

“The inhabitants in that truck were not Elysium deserters. They were a band led by Goal, the Prime Controller’s daughter.”

Rufus felt his heart swell with pride when he heard the words. Of course it was Goal. Who else would be cool enough to pull off a stunt like that ?

It quickly deflated when he realized that Cletus had lied to him about Goal’s whereabouts. So he must be in on it.

“Do we know where she went, er, bailiff?” Rufus piped up. Argus turned towards him, eyes piercing, and at first Rufus thought he was about to be put on the chopping block.

“No. We have no clue about her intended destination. I’ll figure that out myself. For now, everyone stay quiet about this.”

“What if the Prime Controller asks?” another soldier piped up.

“Hmm.” Argus thought for a moment.

“We… tell him that she’s camping at the Floating Gardens?” Rufus piped up again.

“Yes—no. We can’t tell him that. That was the excuse she had used last.” Argus hummed. “The Prime Controller had kept mentioning that. No, we need a different excuse. Some place she’ll be for an extended period of time without returning.”

“Staying over at a friend’s?” Rufus piped up again.

“Yes, that’s precisely it. She’s staying over at that Deponian’s habitat. What’s her name? Toni.” Argus put his fist to his palm in a triumphant motion. “Yes, it’s the perfect alibi.”

Toni? Rufus didn’t realize that Goal had been spending so much time with his ex.

“You and you,” Argus commanded, pointing at two soldiers, “go down to that woman’s habitat and force her to keep her lips sealed about the arrangement. Tell her that she must make it seem as though Goal has been staying at her place.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” the soldiers said, before moving off. Rufus had to keep himself from snickering. Toni was absolutely the wrong person to pick for this. She bowed under no intimidation, and being forced to do something would undoubtedly make her the most disagreeable person in the whole of Elysium.

“That will be all for now. Remember, not a word. Not a whisper of this goes to the Prime Controller.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” the soldiers shouted.

Rufus made his way out of the barracks as the soldiers dispersed and got into the elevator. I ’m going to make that skunk Cletus tell me where Goal was going.

To his dismay, Argus got in with him.

“To the Habitat Ring,” Argus ordered Ronny, then turned to Rufus. “Where else did you want to go?”

“Err, I was also on my way to the Habitat Ring.”

“Oh? How coincidental.”

They stood in silence as the elevator moved upwards.

“What business do you have up there?” Argus asked Rufus, making him jump.

“Ah, I, have to check on some Elysian because they forgot to pay their fun tax.”

Argus stared at him.

Rufus stared back.

I screwed up. How could I be so dumb? There aren ’t any taxes in Elysium.

“Of course. The richer Elysians up here always evade their taxes. Good on you for enforcing the rules, soldier.”

“Heh, of course, sir.”

Wow. There are taxes up here in Elysium. That sucks.

The elevator dinged, and Argus stepped out.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business with an Elysian to sort out.”

He walked off, in the direction of Cletus’ habitat.

Crap , Rufus thought. He has the same idea.

Rufus looked around for a way to hide so he could listen in. All he saw was the pillars around the railing.

As he walked up to the railing and looked down, he muttered to himself, “This is one of the craziest things you’ve ever done.”

Carefully, he straddled the railing, then towards a pillar, he started searching for grips in the pillar to climb. Making his way up the pillar towards the awning above the Habitats, he tried his hardest not to look down.

“Crap, crap, crap, crap,” he whispered to himself as he got higher. His hand slipped, and he wrapped all his limbs around the pillar tightly. A whine escaped his throat, but he extended a hand out, then another, then pulled himself up, and up, and finally he was on top of the awning.

“Oh Goal,” he sighed once he caught his breath, “the things I do for you.”

He crawled his way over to Argus, who he could see underneath at Cletus’ door.

Rufus laid on the awning as he listened to the conversation between the bailiff and Cletus. When he heard that Goal was on a mission to clone him, he sat up, yet still listened intently.

“That idiot? What is she thinking?”

“She thinks that he’ll be the solution to all our problems.”

She ’s got the right idea , Rufus thought. But I ’m here! I’m alive!

After the exchange between Argus and Cletus finished, Rufus rushed back to where the elevator was and slipped back underneath the awning, then rushed into the elevator before Argus could get there.

I have to get to the cloning factory before Goal does, Rufus thought. I have to catch up to her.

He took the elevator all the way down to the Organon level, then walked out into the barracks. Looking around, he spotted the entrance to the Organon garage. He walked in and grabbed the keys by the side of the door. Looking around, he saw the hole that Goal had made launching herself out of the garage.

“I’m coming, Goal,” he said out loud, for what he hoped would be the last time. He selected a truck. Turning the keys into the ignition, he backed out of the garage, to the cries of the soldiers.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Ignoring them, he hit the gas pedal. The truck flew towards the hole in the wall, towards the hot Deponian sun.

“Hey! Stop!”

Rufus screamed as the truck, instead of flying straight out of the hole, began descending down to Deponia and the crowds below Elysium at an alarming rate. The truck hit the decline of a scrap pile, and Rufus, his foot still on the pedal, continued to scream as the truck drove off the scrap pile and towards the crowds of Deponians. They stared at the truck in shock and confusion before diving out of the way.

However, Rufus didn’t get very far before the Deponians, instead of diving out of the way, began crowding around the truck, stopping it from moving further. They began breaking down on the truck.

“Hey, Organon, let us in!”

“Yeah! We want to get to Elysium!”

Rufus watched as they got progressively more aggressive. In the rear view mirror, he could see Organon making their way to him.

Crap .

Quickly, he took off his Organon armor, revealing his Deponian clothing underneath, and leapt out of the truck.

“It’s a Deponian!” one of the Deponians shouted.

“Yeah, outta my way!” Rufus yelled, shoving past the Deponians.

“Hang on, how did you get into Elysium?” A large, burly man grabbed Rufus by the shoulders. Rufus eyed the Organon soldiers, getting steadily closer.

“There’s no time for me to explain! I need to get out of here. Let go of me!” Rufus jerked out of the man’s grasp. Once the Deponians saw the Organon soldiers getting closer, they formed a protective barrier around Rufus.

“You’re not getting to him,” one of them said.

The Organon soldiers pulled out their guns, and Argus headed up the back.

“Out of the way, peasants. We have a man to apprehend.”

Double crap. I can ’t let him see me.

Rufus looked around for a way out. I have to think fast.

The Organon brandished their guns at the Deponians, who held their hands up and reluctantly backed off, having no weapons of their own to fight with. Finally, Argus got closer and closer to the figure who had escaped Elysium. He saw a flash of bronze goggles over an aviator cap.

“Rufus?” he called hesitantly as he walked up to the figure’s back. It couldn’t be.

The figure turned around, revealing an unfamiliar face and build. “Huh? Who’s that?”

Argus felt a mixture of feelings he couldn’t explain. Relief? Disappointment?

“That’s the Deponian who escaped!” The Organon soldier to his right shouted, pointing at the man.

“What, huh? No! I’m not the one who escaped, he’s right over here—” The Deponian looked around. All that stood around him was a crowd of Deponians, all of which were unfamiliar to Argus.

“You’re coming with us,” he said to the Deponian.

“What? No!”

“If you resist, we’ll be forced to blow your brains out.”

At that, the Deponian stopped fighting, resigning himself to being taken away.

Rufus slipped through the crowd, hat-less.

Phew. That was close.

He continued to push himself through the mass of confused Deponians, focusing on getting himself as far away as possible from Argus and the Organon soldiers. He couldn’t risk them seeing he was still alive.

Now what?

He had no choice but to advance towards the cloning factory on foot. He knew it was approximately near the Higher Ascension Station, which meant that currently he was very, very far away from it. Rufus looked back for a second, wondering if he could try getting the Organon truck, but he looked forward again, pulling himself away. Driving that truck through these crowds would only slow himself down even more than it did.

He sighed, walking through the crowds. Now I ’ll never be able to make it to the cloning factory before Goal.

“Hey there. What’s got you so down in the dumps?”

Rufus looked up to see an elderly man, who looked cheerful despite his rugged looks. He was clearly one who had survived amongst the scrap for quite some time.

“Oh nothing. I just need to get to the Higher Ascension Station before my girlfriend can, and I can’t walk there faster than she can drive.”

“Troubles with young love, eh? Well, don’t worry about that, lad. Why don’t you take the rails?”

“The rails? What, do you mean the Organon rails?”

“Yes? What, you’ve never taken them before? How did you get here?”

“What do you mean? I got here by the minecart tunnel, then on foot.”

“Oh, I assumed everyone had gotten here by the rails. Yes, we hijacked the Organon rails and made carts for ourselves to travel through them. You couldn’t possibly expect us to walk all the way from Porta Fisco once we learned Elysium had crashed? No, you couldn’t even hold the crowds back. We needed to be here ASAP.”

“Where do you get on the rails?” Rufus asked, eager.

“Just follow me.”

Rufus followed the elderly man, who he learned was named Rogers. They walked through the crowd, which made Rufus nervous at first. Once he saw that there weren’t Organon soldiers searching for him in the crowds he calmed down.

They walked all the way from the crowds to the Lower Ascension Station. Up at the top, they walked to the Organon rail, where there were a group of Deponians crowded together, sitting and watching Elysium as if it were some sort of fireworks show. On the rails were structures that Rufus soon realized were meant to be carts. They were really more like pieces of scrap metal that were barely held together by nails and screws. The breeze made them rattle and clank.

Rufus thought they were perfect.

“Oh, great! How do you make them go?” he asked, jumping into one. The other Deponians gave him an odd look, probably wondering why he was opting to travel away from Elysium

“Uh, be careful there, you don’t want to be too rough with them. And that one doesn’t have enough—”

But Rufus had already found the lever by then and had accelerated off.

The transport was bumpy, but Rufus barely noticed. He was only focused on the speed of the cart.

At this rate, I ’ll make it to the clone factory before Goal! And then we’ll see each other, and our eyes will meet, and she’ll call out my name…

Rufus’s reverie was rudely interrupted by the transport puttering out. It got slower and slower until finally it coughed to a stop.

“Oh, come on! Not now!” Rufus got off the transport and took a look.

On the side was a fuel gauge, clearly salvaged from a car and duct taped to the side. It read empty.

Rufus groaned.

“I hope there’s some sort of fueling station close by.”

After pushing the cart for what felt like forever, Rufus came across a familiar sight. A structure built underneath the Organon rail, with a bright neon light that read Hotel Metenekel . He looked out over the horizon, with the sun setting in the distance.

Wait for me, Goal. Please.

“The sun’s setting. You think we should stop for a bit?” Bozo looked out towards the orange, clouded sky.

“No, we should move on,” Goal said. “We need to get to the clone factory before the Organon catch up with us.

“Dear, I don’t think there’s any harm in taking a rest stop,” Doc interjected. “I know you’re eager, but—”

“I’m not eager, we need to get to this cloning factory and clone Rufus. He’s key to saving us all!” Goal stopped, then sighed, putting a hand on her face.

“I’m sorry,” she started, “I’m just—”

“Very excited to see Rufus again. We know,” Bozo said. “But there’s no point in overexerting ourselves and then not being able to escape or fight back if the Organon ever catch up to us.”

The Organon truck jerked as Bambina parked it next to a tall scrap pile. She stepped out of the driver's seat, putting a hand on Goal’s shoulder.

“I think we should listen to my Bozo for now, baby. And I know how passionate a lady’s love for her man can be. Besides, I haven’t eaten anything since we left, and I am craving that meat jerky I packed away.”

Goal sighed, a wan smile on her face at Bambina’s words. “Alright. Let’s stop for the night.”

“I’ll go and try to hide our truck,” Bozo said, stepping out.

When Bozo made his way back into the truck, after hiding it with a large piece of sheet metal, they all had dinner together. Goal had packed enough rations to last them two weeks. The rations were mainly made up of salted meats and preserved goods. Together, they sat on the floor of the truck and ate together. It was a quiet affair, and Goal wondered how much louder it would be if Rufus were here with them. He would probably be singing, or rambling on about something .

A few attempts at conversation were made, but they didn’t hold for very long, although it wasn’t on account of the group having bad chemistry. After all, they’ve had all sorts of wacky adventures together. No, it was the exhaustion from the endeavor, and the excitement/dread of the future to come. As much as Goal was excited about getting to the cloning factory, she was also terrified. What if the Organon caught up to them? What if they ran into problems on the way there and were never able to make it to the factory?

Worse still, what if she wasn’t able to clone Rufus? What if all of this was for nothing?

Goal shook her head, trying not to think too much about it. She tried to think, instead, of Rufus. Of his laughter, or the way he determinedly did things, whether they were at the cost of others or not. It made sense the more she thought about it — the world had turned its back on him. Everyone had made fun of his dreams to reach Elysium, and for that they received no compassion in return.

Yet he still sacrificed his life to save Deponia.

Oh Rufus.

Goal felt tears welling up, and she held them back. The tragic scene where he let go continued to replay in her mind. The look on his face as he fell — quietly content with his decision.

She couldn’t hold back the tears, and they streamed down her face. A painful ache bloomed in her heart. She wanted so badly to see him again, and she hadn’t realized it until now. Bambina placed a hand on her shoulder, and Goal leaned into it.

“It’s alright. We’ll get there,” she said, her normally gruff voice softening. Goal nodded silently.

Soon, they decided it was time for them to try and get some sleep. Goal and Doc slept in the cockpit seats, while Bambina and Bozo slept on the bags in the back of the truck. Curling up, Goal stared up at the stars above them. Although she had seen them many times when she was on Deponia, it felt different now. Now she was alone. In a way, she felt more connected than ever before to Rufus. Was this what he looked up to, every night? Hoping for a better life?

She laid there in the seat, awake for a longer while yet, long after everyone else had fallen asleep. But eventually, sleep overtook her as well.

Cletus rudely awoke to a knock on his door.

“Coming, coming.” He rose out of bed, putting on appropriate clothes for the trip ahead. He didn’t have to open the door to know that the ones behind it were Organon soldiers come to escort him to the garages for the bailiff’s trip out. He double checked his bags to make sure he had everything he needed. Three large suitcases, all absolutely necessary — he never went anywhere without these three suitcases packed.

The knocking persisted at his door.

“Coming, I said!”

He grabbed the three suitcases and lugged them to the door. Opening the door, he was met with two Organon soldiers.

“The Bailiff has demanded your presence—”

“Yes, yes, whatever,” Cletus murmured, tossing his bags into their arms. “You will carry those for me down to the garages.”

“Err…”

“I am the Inspector and I will be treated with dignity and respect.”

“Yes, Inspector, sir.”

Cletus didn’t wait for them to follow him as he stalked to the elevator. They took it down to Organon level, where they made their way to the garage. Inside the garage, Argus was busy surveying the loading of a large escort truck. The truck was large enough to carry forty men, and was armed with two guns on the side and a large bazooka on top.

“Heavens, Argus, you don’t think you’ll need that much firepower to secure Goal do you?” Cletus exclaimed as he walked up to Argus. “She’s not backed by an army of her own.”

“Cletus, do you really think after all the trouble we went through that I would take any second chances with her?” Argus didn’t look away from the truck. “After that wild goose chase we made around this entire trash planet to try and catch her, and failing at every turn, I won’t come unprepared this time. Do keep in mind that she’s got some of those Deponians with her, who knows what they might whip up to oppose us.”

“Fair enough.”

Argus then turned towards Cletus, and glanced at the suitcases the Organon soldiers were carrying.

“You can’t be serious about taking all of that,” Argus said.

“They are all absolutely necessary.” Cletus said, huffing.

“Oh really? What’s in them?” Argus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“One of them holds my clothing for the trip, one of them holds my personal items, and one of them holds the things I use to waste time during trips.”

“Inspector, we are not taking a vacation.” Argus looked up towards the soldiers. “Drop those on the ground.”

The soldiers did as they were asked.

“Inspector, you will leave the bag with luxury items here, and you shall only take some of your clothing and pack it with only your most essential personal items.”

“B-but,” sputtered Cletus.

“Be quick about it, or else we are leaving all three of your suitcases here. I can’t afford to waste time. Goal already has a day on us.”

Argus walked away, leaving no room for argument, and Cletus was left to his own devices.

Miraculously enough, in the thirty minutes it took for the Organon to finish loading the escort truck, Cletus had managed to reduce his luggage to a singular suitcase, packed with clothing, personal items, and one book to pass time with. He didn’t hesitate to make his displeasure known, however. At least until Argus threatened to duct tape his mouth.

They set off, the truck moving towards the open ramp towards the outside. The swath of soldiers outside quickly moved aside, letting the truck pass. There were no issues until the truck moved past the Organon barrier and into the Deponian “territory.” Although most Deponians left the truck alone and merely watched it pass, tens of Deponians attempted to swarm the truck, surrounding it, trying to break the glass.

“Err, Bailiff? What do we do?” a soldier asked.

“Keep driving. They can’t stop us, and they need to see that it is foolish to even try. Step on the gas.”

“Perhaps a bit harsh, Bailiff?” Cletus piped up. Argus glared at him, and Cletus could see in his eyes that he was on the warpath. “Alright, alright, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

The truck did indeed plow on, and soon the Deponians stopped trying to attack it, lest they be crushed under its eight massive tires. It wasn’t very long before there was nothing surrounding them but endless scrap towers and scrap piles.

“More speed, come on. We need to arrive at the factory before they do,” Argus commanded, his voice booming inside the truck. Cletus sat down, trying not to become too motion sick.

He suppressed a groan when Argus walked over to him. “Do you know anything else about her plans?” The bailiff asked.

“I only know as much as I told you. I was very clear with her from the start that I would not go with her plan, so she didn’t feel the need to tell me more. Suffice to say that I will probably not be much use to you, and my being on this truck will be for nothing.”

Argus said nothing, merely looking out at the window besides them. Cletus shuddered to think of what was in his mind.

“I can’t believe she’s going to try and bring back that idiot. Of all the crazy stunts to pull off.” Argus gritted his teeth. “Enlighten me a bit, would you, on what her plans were for him?”

“I believe she thinks he’ll help her achieve her goals of utilizing Elysium technology to revive Deponia.” Cletus said nonchalantly.

Argus barked a laugh, startling Cletus.

“That fool? Why, he’d rather laze around on Elysium than do whatever it is she wants him to do. She’ll get nowhere with him.” Argus rolled his eyes. “She should see it coming. After all, the three of us are cut from the same cloth.”

“Oh don’t remind me,” Cletus groaned, waving a hand dismissively. “I prefer not to think about that part too hard.”

Argus chuckled before finally leaving Cletus alone to his devices.

Rufus stumbled down the stairs that led to Hotel Metenekel. The hotel seemed to be deserted, even more than the first time he had been here. He hoped that there was still someone working around here.

“Hello?” he called out into the reception room. No answer. He walked over to the desk, and looked around. Nobody. As one last resort, he rung the desk bell.

The green haired hipster receptionist sprung up from under the desk, making Rufus jump.

“Oh hey it’s you again! Savior of the world, or whatever. How’d that go?”

“Well, as you can see, we’re all still standing.