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The sky was on fire.Ships—dozens of them—streaked through the atmosphere like falling stars, their hulls glowing red-hot before crashing into the barren surface of Nomans Planet. Each impact sent shockwaves through the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and debris that blotted out the sun. The air was thick with the acrid smell of burning metal and the faint, metallic tang of blood.Vash stood amidst the chaos, his silhouette stark against the fiery backdrop. His face was unreadable, a mask of emotions too tangled to decipher. Was it anger? Guilt? Grief? He’d played the necessary parts, hadn’t he? The script had demanded certain actions, and he’d delivered. His hands, limp at his sides, clenched and unclenched, as if trying to grasp something that was no longer there. Or perhaps, he was simply rehearsing the next scene.At his feet, his brother lay unconscious, his breathing shallow but steady. A faint bruise was forming on his temple, a stark contrast to the pale, almost ghostly hue of his skin. The fight—their fight—had ended here, with one brother on the ground and the other standing over him, staring at the destruction raining down around them. A necessary sacrifice, he’d reasoned. Collateral damage. The words echoed in the hollow spaces of his mind, devoid of any real feeling.Vash didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just watched as the ships fell, one after another, their once-proud forms reduced to smoldering wreckage. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice whispered that this was his fault. A familiar voice, one he’d long since learned to ignore. Louder than that voice was the silence—the deafening, suffocating silence that came with knowing there was no going back. And, a small, almost imperceptible smile played on his lips. No going back meant only one thing: forward.
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The humans had always been a mystery to Vash. They were the creators, the ones who had brought plants like him into existence. But they were also the ones who had built the bulbs—those strange, suffocating devices where ordinary plants were kept, silent and powerless, their energy harvested to fuel the ships. Vash and his brother were different. They were independent plants, born not from human hands but from something older, something wild. They didn’t need bulbs. They didn’t need humans. And yet, they had been found by one.Her name was Rem.She was the only human who knew about them, the only one who had kept their existence a secret. With her long, straight black hair and kind eyes, she had become their protector, their friend. She was the one who had given them a place on the ship, hidden away from the others who slept in cold sleep, frozen in time until their turn to take control of the vessel. For a while, it was enough. They had Rem, and she had them. The brothers didn’t question why they were kept secret. They didn’t need to. They trusted her.But then the alarm sounded.It was an accident, a mistake that woke the other humans from their cold sleep. And with their awakening came the end of the brothers’ quiet life. The humans were horrified by what they found—two independent plants, growing faster than anything they had ever seen. In just a year, Vash and his brother looked like they were eleven years old. To the humans, they were monsters, abominations that defied the natural order. They didn’t see the brothers as living beings. They saw them as experiments, as things to be controlled.The abuse started almost immediately.They called the brothers names, locked them in dark rooms, and treated them like animals. Vash hated it. He hated them. He couldn’t understand how his brother could stay so calm, so patient, when the humans were so cruel. “It’ll be okay,” his brother would say, his voice soft and reassuring. But Vash didn’t believe him. How could it be okay? How could they live like this?One night, after a particularly harsh day, Vash broke down. He cried in the corner of their room, his body trembling with anger and fear. His brother found him there and held him, whispering words of comfort. “We’ll get through this,” he said. “We have each other. And we have Rem. That’s enough.”But it wasn’t enough. Not for Vash. He couldn’t forgive the humans for what they’d done. He couldn’t forget the way they looked at him, like he was nothing more than a mistake. And then, one day, they found something that changed everything.It happened while they were exploring an abandoned area of the ship. The brothers had always been curious, and with the humans mostly in cold sleep, they had the freedom to wander. They rummaged through old files and documents, their minds buzzing with questions about the ship’s history and their own origins. That’s when they found it—a hidden console, its screen flickering faintly. Without thinking, Vash pressed a button.The screen lit up, and the room filled with a horrifying image.It was Tesla.The first independent plant created by humans. Tesla was beautiful, radiant, and alive in a way that ordinary plants could never be. But what followed was a recording of an experiment—a brutal, merciless dissection. Tesla’s screams echoed through the room, a sound so raw and full of pain that it made Vash’s very roots tremble. He couldn’t look away, even as his brother gasped and turned his head.Then, Vash accidentally pressed another button.The floor beneath them shuddered, and a massive experiment tube slid up from the ground. Inside was Tesla—or what was left of her. Her body was ripped apart, suspended in a strange, viscous substance that glowed faintly under the cold light of the tube. Her once-radiant form was now a grotesque mockery of life, her limbs twisted and her face frozen in an expression of agony. The sight was so horrifying that Vash felt bile rise in his throat. He wanted to puke, to scream, to look away—but he couldn’t. He was paralyzed, his mind unable to process the sheer brutality of what he was seeing.His brother stumbled back, his hands covering his mouth. “What… what is this?” he whispered, his voice trembling. But before he could say more, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.Vash caught him before he hit the ground, his own hands shaking as he lifted his brother’s limp body. He didn’t think, didn’t hesitate. He just ran, carrying his brother through the dimly lit corridors of the ship, his mind racing with fear and anger.Rem appeared suddenly, her face pale with panic. She must have noticed something was wrong from the ship’s systems. “Vash, stop!” she shouted, rushing toward them. “You shouldn’t have seen that! Let me help—”But Vash pushed her away, his voice sharp and desperate. “Don’t touch him!” he snapped, his eyes wild with anger and fear. “Just… stay away!”Rem froze, her hands hovering in the air, her expression a mix of guilt and sorrow. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I tried to stop you. I tried—”Vash didn’t let her finish. He turned and ran, his brother’s unconscious body cradled in his arms. He didn’t stop until they were back in their room, the door locked and barricaded behind them.Gently, he laid his brother on the bed, his hands brushing the faint bruise on his temple. His brother’s breathing was shallow but steady, his face pale and peaceful in unconsciousness. Vash sat on the edge of the bed, his own body trembling as the image of Tesla’s mutilated form flashed before his eyes. He felt sick, his stomach churning with a mix of disgust and rage. The humans had done this. They had taken something beautiful and alive and turned it into a nightmare.From that moment on,Vash knew they couldn’t stay. They couldn’t trust the humans anymore. But his brother, ever the pacifist, would never agree to leave. He would want to stay, to believe that they could still make peace.Vash didn’t have that luxury. He had seen the truth, and it had shattered him.
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Vash didn’t leave the room.Days passed—or maybe it was weeks. Time had lost its meaning. The only thing that mattered was the locked door, the barrier between him and the rest of the ship. He didn’t trust anyone anymore. Not the humans who had abused them, not even Rem, who had tried to stop them from seeing the truth. She came to the door every day, her voice soft and pleading, but he never answered.“Vash, please,” she would say, her hand resting against the door. “I know you’re hurted. I know what you saw was… unimaginable. But you can’t stay in there forever. Let me help you.”He didn’t respond. He just sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze fixed on the floor, his hands clenched into fists. His brother lay beside him, still unconscious, his breathing steady but faint.Vash had stopped checking on him after the first few days. There was nothing he could do. Nothing anyone could do.The room was small, barely large enough for the two cots and a few storage compartments. The walls were cold and metallic, the air stale and lifeless.Vash hated it. He hated the silence, the emptiness, the way it reminded him of the experiment tube and Tesla’s mutilated body. But he hated the thought of leaving even more. Out there, the humans were waiting. Out there, the truth was waiting.He didn’t eat. He didn’t need to. Independent plants like him didn’t require food to survive, though he and his brother had always pretended to eat just to blend in, to seem slightly more human. But now, the thought of food made him sick. He couldn’t stomach the idea of sitting at a table, surrounded by the very people who had destroyed Tesla. So he stayed in the room, his body growing weaker by the day.His health deteriorated quickly. His once-vibrant complexion turned pale and sallow, his eyes hollow and shadowed. His hair, usually neat and short, grew long and unkempt, falling into his face like a curtain. He looked tired—no, exhausted. Like he hadn’t slept in weeks. Maybe he hadn’t. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Tesla. Every time he tried to rest, he heard her screams.He found himself staring at the small pair of scissors Rem had used to trim their hair. She had always been the one to do it, her hands gentle and precise as she worked. She would hum softly while she cut, her voice a soothing presence in the otherwise cold and sterile environment of the ship.Vash had always hated the process, but his brother had loved it. “It makes us look more human,” he would say, smiling as Rem snipped away. “It makes them feel less afraid of us.”Now, the scissors sat on the small table by the bed, their polished surface catching the faint light from the overhead panel.Vash picked them up, turning them over in his hands. They were sharp, precise, and deadly in the right hands. His hands. He ran his thumb along the edge, feeling the cold metal against his skin. It would be so easy. One quick motion, and it would all be over. No more pain. No more fear. No more Tesla.But every time he brought the blades close, he hesitated. His brother’s face, peaceful in unconsciousness, would flash in his mind, and he’d drop the scissors, his hands trembling. He couldn’t do it. Not yet. Not while his brother was still here.Rem kept coming to the door, her voice growing more desperate with each passing day. “Vash, I’m begging you,” she said one evening, her voice cracking."I know you're inside, and I know you're suffering.You don't have to go through this alone.Please let me inside, I want to help you." He didn’t answer. He just sat there, the scissors in his hand, staring at the door. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to trust her. But he couldn’t. Not after what he’d seen. Not after what he’d learned.The truth had shattered him, and he didn’t know how to put the pieces back together.
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The days blurred together, each one indistinguishable from the last.Vash sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze fixed on the floor, the scissors still clutched loosely in his hand. His brother lay beside him, unmoving, his breathing shallow but steady. The room was silent, save for the faint hum of the ship’s engines, a constant reminder of their isolation.Rem came to the door every day, her voice soft and pleading. “Vash,” she would say, her hand resting against the cold metal. “I know you’re in there. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling, but… you don’t have to face this alone. Let me in. Please.”But Vash never answered. He just sat there, his mind a whirlwind of anger, fear, and despair. He couldn’t trust her. Not after what he’d seen. Not after what the humans had done.One day, however, something changed.Rem’s voice was quieter than usual, almost a whisper. “Vash,” she said, her tone heavy with resignation. “I… I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep standing here, talking to a door, hoping you’ll answer. I want to help you. I want to fix this. But I can’t do it if you won’t let me.”There was a long pause, as if she were waiting for a response that would never come. When none came, she sighed, her voice breaking. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry for everything. For what they did to Tesla. For what they did to you and your brother. For… for not being able to protect you.”Vash didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just sat there, his hands trembling, the scissors digging into his palm.“I’ll leave you alone now,” Rem said finally, her voice barely audible. “But if you need me… if you change your mind… I’ll be here. I’ll always be here.”There was a soft thud, as if she had rested her head against the door, and then the sound of footsteps fading away. The hallway outside was silent once more.Vash stared at the door, his chest tight with a mix of emotions he couldn’t quite name. Part of him wanted to call out to her, to tell her to come back. But the other part—the part that had seen Tesla’s mutilated body, the part that had heard her screams—held him back. He couldn’t trust her. He couldn’t trust anyone.He looked down at the scissors in his hand, the cold metal glinting in the dim light. For a moment, he considered using them, ending the pain and fear once and for all. But then his gaze shifted to his brother, lying still and peaceful on the bed, and he hesitated.He couldn’t do it. Not yet. Not while his brother was still here.But the thought lingered, a dark shadow in the back of his mind, growing louder with each passing day.