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Shadow walked into Maria’s room carelessly, grabbing all of the blankets, pillows and sheets off her bed. After a moment of consideration, he grabbed the stuffed animals as well, adding them to the oversized pile in his arms.
Dragging it all out was a little difficult, but he made it work. He didn’t use his air shoes, not wanting to singe the materials accidentally, though it probably would have made things easier on him. He let the fabrics drag across the dusty floor until he reached his destination.
He dropped his pile in front of a large window, spanning from the floor to the ceiling. It was the perfect spot to watch the stars.
He spread out the bedsheet first, using it as a barrier between the rest of the materials and the dirty floor. Next, he used the thickest blanket as padding, folding it over on itself until he had a little bed. The rest of the blankets acted as walls, with one leftover to cover him. He set the pillows down, then decorated the whole thing with the stuffed animals.
He curled up in the center, covering himself with his chosen blanket, grabbing one of the stuffed animals to hold. The makeshift bed was comfortable; not quite as warm as Maria’s, but sleeping in that room alone was making him anxious.
Hundreds of thousands of stars twinkled beyond the window, the only thing that had remained unchanged during the span of his short life. He searched for all of the constellations Maria taught him, then tried to find new shapes when he ran out.
He didn’t find anything new. He’d already done this hundreds of times before. The bed made it nicer, though. He should have done this a long time ago.
He buried his nose in the stuffed bear’s fur, searching for even a hint of Maria’s scent. It had already faded, but he always checked anyway. The plushies and bedding didn’t really smell like anything anymore. None of the human scents remained anywhere on the ARK. It was all just metal, chemicals and dust.
He wondered what the earth smelled like. He used to walk through the greenhouses, before everything wilted, closing his eyes and pretending that he was wandering through the planet’s grassy fields with Maria by his side. The first thing she’d wanted to do upon arriving on earth was see a meadow of flowers.
He hoped she’d gotten to see it. He just wished he could have seen it with her.
But he didn’t dare feel angry or jealous. His whole life, his very existence, had been working toward the goal of curing her, and after so much pain and fear and suffocating hopelessness, they’d succeeded.
Maria was on earth, alive, healthy, hopefully happy.
And Shadow…
Well, Shadow had done the only thing he was supposed to do. His usefulness had run out. All he could do now was be grateful that he hadn’t been killed, like G.U.N. wanted. He was too dangerous for earth; a weapon like him should have been broken, but Professor Gerald came up with a different solution.
Shadow was still alive, and now, he’d get to spend the rest of his life on the ARK.
It was… lonely, but safe. There were no more scientists to experiment on him, no more of the Black Arms aliens caught in test tubes to scare him, no more soldiers to train him, and bark orders at him, and attack-
He squeezed the stuffed animal in his arms, letting its soft fur soothe him. Nothing could hurt him anymore. He was safe. Professor Gerald made sure Shadow would be safe.
There were some things that still scared him, worries that he couldn’t seem to shake, like what he would do when the food ran out, but that was a problem for later.
For now, he stared out the window, watched the stars, and hoped that Maria had found a better life on earth.