Where is she?
“I have a daughter?...” The words left Nebula’s mouth without her noticing it. Her deep voice slowed by confusion, disbelief, anger, and… fear.
“I had sex with Nebula?” Peter had no idea where those words came from. He swore that wasn’t what he was supposed to say. “Um, I mean, I have a daughter?” He tried again after finally finding the appropriate response.
Everyone in Nebula’s office was silent. All staring at the two former members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The two people who once lead them. Lead not just their team, but their family. None dared to say anything.
“It’s probably another person they kidnapped planted as our child.” Nebula stated, giving everyone an explanation to the file that was in Rocket’s hands, not letting her emotions get the better of her, and making sure she took the situation rationally.
“We’re not sure about that.” Peter whispered. He just didn’t want to conclude anything yet. Nothing was confirmed, he thought. If he were being honest, so many thoughts were rushing in his head. He wasn’t even sure if he was still thinking clearly. He wanted to say so many things, but he couldn’t find the voice to say them. He looked at Nebula, trying to adjust what he’d do next according to her but even she was just looking blankly at the child’s file.
Rocket finally put his hand down and kept the file in the folder. “Let’s go to the site you three were talking about.” He ordered, looking at Cosmo, Adam, and Kraglin.
“Aye, Captain.” Replied Adam, still carrying the box containing the files of other former captives as he started to leave and walk towards their ship.
~
The whole trip to the said site, no one made conversations. Nebula tried to steer as far away from Peter as possible. And Peter, he decided he wouldn’t think about it until he was sure the child was his. Nebula had a point. And most of the time, Nebula was right. So, for the time being, he was telling himself he was not a father.
Once they were at the site–a what looked like an abandoned building having only one room, they decided to divide and conquer. The place was filled with metal cabinets and drawers. The Guardians spared nothing and opened all of them but only found piles and piles of papers containing profiles of the once residents of that cursed planet.
Until Phyla, the once child now teenager Guardian, yelled, “Guys! I think I found something!” Everyone rushed to where she was, and she pointed down to a drawer. On top of the files was what looked like a CD case.
Peter took the item and observed it. When he opened it, he saw that there were two CDs inside. “Do we have a player in the ship?”
“I can make one. Just give me 5 minutes” Rocket answered.
~
Rocket assembled a player and a screen inside the building. “I’ll put the ‘CD 1’ first?” Rocket looked around the room to see if anyone would disagree. “Okay then.” He put it in, and it started playing.
It featured only a shadow of a man. When the shadow started talking, it sounded heavily covered. The kind deep voice protected witnesses on the news use, Peter noted.
“We present to you, the Archi Chip.” The shadow said. Then slides popped on the screen.
“What is this, a webinar?” provided Peter’s sarcasm.
“This project was inspired by the High Evolutionary.” To this, everyone’s eyes widened. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. And everyone had their senses alert. “But with none of his failures. No torture. No need for physical alterations. We don’t want pain. We just want peace. And now we can achieve it. Everyone. Can achieve it. The voice continued. “The Archi chip, is a chip that can be planted into any living, thinking individual, for them to act accordingly to the Architect’s design.” The screen showed a small, white, square, electronic chip. “With this, a perfect civilization can be created. A perfect world, a perfect galaxy.”
Rocket felt anger running through his veins. He clenched his fist. He suddenly wanted to destroy what they were watching, but he stopped himself. This wasn’t about him. This was about his friends looking for answers, so for them, he continued watching.
“Each chip is already preprogrammed with personalities, characteristics, skills that the Architect has carefully selected for each and every resident, for them to function according to his design. But, of course, a world without growth is boring. That is why they are not completely controlled by the Organization. Think of it as a game. Each avatar is given a set of characteristics that the player can use as it plays through the game. The player can still make choices, but all within a bound environment. The environment we create and control. For each and every organism of this forsaken galaxy.
Residents still make some choices, but because they are not given the knowledge to know anger, jealousy, and all that, they don’t choose violence. They don’t fight. They only flourish.
Planet Miera marks our first large scale success.
Of course, as we are still in the process of development, all our subjects are properly documented. And as proof of our case, we have sent a second file. In there is a video documentation of the lives of Subjects Y6166 and Y6167. They are the first ever to decide to have a family, even though that was not part of their program. And every decision they made after that was rather beautiful.
It only goes to show that even with our heavy controls, there is room. For life.
That is why we’re really hoping that you consider this. Because we would want nothing else but to increase our scope so that the entire galaxy—can now know peace. We just need the capital that we are sure you will be willing to provide. And unlike the High Evolutionary, we do not need to create an entire species that will be superior to others. Everyone. Everyone already existing will be part of this perfect galaxy. So please, consider. We will be waiting for your favorable response.” The screen went black.
Without waiting for anyone’s order, Rocket played the next CD. It didn’t surprise him to find Peter and Nebula the moment it started playing.
“The details at the bottom shows that this is a video of thousands of hours.” Mantis pointed out. Are we going to watch all of this?”
Peter was quick to respond, “We don’t have time for all that. Doesn’t this have fast forward or something?”
“Of course there is.” Rocket was offended, but nonetheless, he took his remote and started forwarding the video. From the very fast playback, they can still see some frames and kind of make out what it shows.
Rocket stopped skipping frames. It showed a scene of what looked like a wedding. Peter and Nebula were facing each other. Peter was holding Nebula on the waist, and Nebula had her arms around Peter’s. It looked like a small civil wedding. Nebula was not wearing an extravagant wedding gown. Just a simple white silk dress that beautifully complements her figure. Even Peter was just wearing a simple black suit with a black tie.
There were also not a lot of people. Aside from them, just a couple of witnesses and one who was officiating. “I now pronounce you, husband, and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”
Peter’s smile was ear to ear. And he didn’t wait a second before capturing Nebula’s lips with his. Nebula happily returned the kiss. The people around them started cheering, but nothing seemed to matter for the couple, as they just deepened the kiss as if no one was looking.
Everyone’s jaw dropped. They can now never unsee Nebula and Peter kissing.
“I don’t see the any answers in watching that. Forward, Rocket.” Nebula ordered Rocket.
“What do you mean, no answers? You and Peter got married. Paper accurate. One question answered.” Rocket couldn’t suppress a chuckle, but he still obliged. He skipped scenes but only after a second before stopping.
Nebula and Peter, still in their wedding clothes, were kissing again, this time, way harder than the last. They were inside a bedroom, obviously in a hurry to get each other off their clothes. Nebula, frustrated that she couldn’t take Peter’s tie in one pull, activated her arm, and ripped off Peter’s suit. Tie, suit, shirt, RIPPED.
“Oh” Peter was happily surprised.
“ROCKET!” The room shook with Nebula’s yell. “No one needs to see this! And Phyla’s here!”
“I need to see this.” Both Rocket and Peter said at the same time.
Nebula shot daggers at Peter, “You kiss your fiancée with that mouth?”
The building heat inside Peter cooled down at the mention of his fiancée. “Move it, Rocket.”
Nebula was about done with cooking eggs and bacon when Peter popped into the dining room in his office clothes, briefcase in one hand, seemingly in a hurry. “Damn, that smells good.” He said while taking a sip of the coffee Nebula had already made for him. “It’s too bad I have to go.”
“What? You haven’t even eaten anything yet.” Nebula made no effort to hide her sadness as she put the newly cooked breakfast onto a serving plate. She looked him in the eyes, only to look away to show him she was upset. She didn’t want her husband to leave just yet.
“Honey, I wish I could, but you know I’m trying to impress my boss, I can’t be late.” He said giving her a quick peck on the lips. “I gotta go. I love you!” He went for the door.
“Just say it. You don’t like my cooking.”
Peter stopped on his tracks, and looked back at his wife, “What are you talking about? I LOVE your cooking. I can eat you every day! I mean your food!”
Nebula rolled her eyes. “Just go.” Her lips curling into a small smile.
Peter took this as a sign that he could now leave the house.
Fast forward. Peter was in the office pantry. Nervous. He closed his eyes and swallowed. Then walked towards his boss. “Hey, boss.” He greeted. “Can I just ask if that higher position is still up for grabs? ‘Cuz um, I would like to apply.”
“You’ve only been here two months, Peter” Peter’s boss reminded him through a raised eyebrow.
“I know, sir. It’s just that… My wife and I have been trying to have a baby, and I could really use the additional income.”
“Hmm.” His reptile-skinned boss nodded in understanding. “Well, Peter, the position is open for everyone who is qualified. So, just send in your resume and we’ll see.”
“Okay, sir. I will. Thank you very much.” Peter started bobbing his head for no reason. It was the excitement. And the hope.
“Goodluck with the baby.”
It was the first time somebody had said that to Peter, and he couldn’t help but beam. “Thank you, thank you so much, sir.”
Fast forward. Nebula was lying on their living room couch, rubbing the bottom of her very visible belly. Peter was knelt on the floor, facing Nebula from the side of the couch. He took his headphones and put in on Nebula’s belly. “They say music’s good for the baby.” He said as he placed a kiss on her tummy. This put a smile on Nebula’s face. Peter then took one of Nebula’s legs and started massaging it. “Does this make you feel better.”
Nebula, with her eyes closed, could only “Mmm” in agreement.
Fast forward. A very pregnant, obviously near her term Nebula was sitting on a rocking chair in the nursery of their home. She was knitting what looked like little onesies. Peter, who was sitting on the floor trying to assemble a crib, could only tear up at the sight of his wife.
Fast forward. Nebula was surrounded by doctors, but her eyes could only see one person: Her husband.
“Come on, honey, push. You can do this” Sweat and tears mixing on Peter’s face as he tried to do his best to help his wife. Nebula was crushing his hands. There were small scratches that were bleeding already, but he didn’t care. All he could think about was his wife screaming in pain as she tried to push.
Nebula screamed as she pushed again. “One more, Nebula. The baby’s still not out. You have to push again.” She heard the doctor instruct.
“I can’t, honey. I can’t.” Nebula told Peter one word per breath.
“No, honey, you can.” Peter was crying. If only he could take Nebula’s pain away, he would. He would do anything for her. “You’re the strongest person I know. You can do this. Please, for our little Nova.”
Hearing their daughter’s name seemed to give Nebula renewed strength as she was able to push with all her remaining will once more. Then they heard a baby’s cry.
Fast forward. On her rocking chair, Nebula was carrying her baby girl with one arm, the other, the metal one, playing with the nose of her bundle of joy. The baby laughed in glee as Nebula poked Nova’s nose again and again, softly, and playfully. And when Nova’s tiny hands caught Nebula’s pointer finger, the Luphomoid started to tear up. Peter, who was seeing all this through the open door, started to cry. Nebula was unaware of her husband’s presence until she heard him sob, “Come in here, daddy.”
END OF ONE YEAR. And the CD stopped.
“So, all that, for a prototype for a business pitch?” Peter questioned in disbelief. “What the fuck?”
“Well, at least you weren’t torn apart or hurt, right?” Kraglin tried to comfort them.
“What’s wrong with these people?” Rocket spoke in low volume. He was more talking to himself than to the others. Without thinking, he blasted the screen he himself created. Not that it would change anything that had happened. But Rocket felt better thinking he ended people who are crazy enough to be inspired by the High Evolutionary.
I have a daughter was all Nebula could think of. Everything would have been fine if the video they had just watched confirmed what she initially thought. That the child a piece of paper claimed to be her child was nothing more than a stranger taken away from her home. But no. I have a daughter. She kept repeating it in her head hoping it would sink in.
Peter watched Nebula from a fair distance. He knew her well enough to know that right now, his friend, technically his wife, is distraught. She was staring into nothingness. Like she is currently in a different world. Not even noticing that the others were arguing around her. Well, could he blame her? He himself was feeling overwhelmed by everything he just saw and everything he just learned. Yes, apparently, he did have a daughter. But it wasn’t just that. He had a daughter. With Nebula. His mouth ajar, his face sweating, his insides playing football, he wanted to walk up to Nebula and start a conversation. Just say something. Anything. Just have an excuse to stay close to her. Maybe the conversation would lead to an opportunity to hug her, hold her, anything just to have his skin touch hers. But the sight of her subconsciously placing a hand on her flat belly caused Peter’s heart to miss a beat. His limbs went numb, and suddenly he felt like disturbing Nebula at this time would be the worst mistake he would ever make. Talking about our daughter could wait, he thought.
“So, did we blow up Peter’s child along with the planet?” Drax’s question felt like a bullet through Peter’s chest. “I mean, where is that kid now?”
“No, no, no, no. I saved her. I know I rescued her. I remember rescuing an infant. I had to carry her in her crib with my mind.” Cosmo answered in a rush.
“Okay, so where is she? Where did you leave her?” Mantis asked.
“I don’t know. I left her along with the others we rescued. I mean I had to go back and save more. And I don’t know, I assumed someone would claim her. Or someone would look for her. I mean, it’s not like we checked on everyone we save. We usually just defeat the bad guy, and leave. So, when the battle’s over and we got Pete and Nebula, I didn’t think further. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Am I a bad dog? I’m so sorry.” Cosmo begged as she started to cry. She now couldn’t help but blame herself for losing Nebula and Peter’s baby.
“But she made it out alive, you’re sure of that?” were the first words the team heard from Nebula after the confirmation of her worst fear.
“Yes, she is. Unless no one took care of her because no one knew her, and she died of hunger.” Cosmo started panicking. “No, no, no. I’m so sorry!”
Rocket started walking to their ship. “I’ll go contact someone to help us find her. I’m pretty sure there is someone we saved that could help us. I’ll go contact everyone we can connect with. For the meantime, I think we should burn all these files and go back to Knowhere. If there’s any chance that the technology behind that chip is in any of these papers, we can’t risk it. We better destroy these like we destroyed that planet.”
And that’s exactly what the Guardians did. Nebula starting with blasting the CD player that contained her one-year life with Peter.
~
KNOWHERE.
Peter couldn’t contain himself in his room, so he decided to go outside. Seeing Drax be with the teenagers of Knowhere made him chuckle. But he decided that this was probably the best environment he could be in, given his newfound situation.
He stood and observed from a close enough distance the bunch of kids they once rescued. Peter saw one girl painting. Another, dancing, and another playing with Groot’s old gaming console. He couldn’t help but imagine what her daughter would be doing right now. She was probably around six years old. Peter had no idea what 6-year-old girls do. Maybe she would be playing with her doll. Maybe she would be running around outdoors. Maybe she would be reading a book. Then Peter’s mind started going in a darker direction. Maybe some people took her in to raise her as their slave. Maybe she was malnourished and, on the streets, begging for others to give her scraps or food. Maybe she didn’t survive all these years…
The horror in Peter’s mind started to show on his face. Drax noticed this and decided to stand next to his friend. “She’ll be fine, Peter.” Drax said as if reading his mind. Which is saying a lot because this was Drax. “Even though you are the father, she is still a daughter of Nebula. I’m sure she is a survivor, like her mother.”
Peter shook his head, but appreciated the effort Drax gave to comfort him. “Thanks, Drax.” There was silence for a moment. “Hey, you guys seem to have a lot of Earth stuff here now, huh?" He tried changing the subject. To distract himself from the fear of possibly losing the daughter he hadn't even met. "I mean these,” he pointed out a skateboard and a bike that were parked near where they were standing. “These are all from Earth, right?”
“Oh yes. Everyone brings back something from Earth every time we visit you there. Sometimes we keep those items for ourselves, sometimes we give them to the children.”
“That’s nice.”
“Those ones,” Drax referred to the things Peter was pointing out earlier, “are from Nebula. I mean, these kids are most excited when Nebula comes back from Earth, because she really fills the ship with things she would give to the childr—”
“Wait, Nebula goes to Earth?”
“Yeah, to visit you. Like all of us do.”
“No, Nebula has never visited me on Earth.”
“What are you talking about? Every time she comes back, I ask her, ‘How’s Quill?’ and she says you’re fine. Do you mean to say that she lied? That she never went to Earth and these items came from somewhere else?”
Peter didn’t bother to answer Drax. He suddenly felt mad at Nebula. He went to Nebula’s quarters, slamming the door open as his eyes searched the room for the Luphomoid. She was right in front of him.
The sudden slam of her door caused Nebula to stand up from her bed. And when she saw who dared enter her room, her eyebrows narrowed wondering why Peter looked like he came into her room to kill someone.
“Why didn’t you visit me?” Peter demanded an answer. “Why were you on Earth but didn’t visit me?”
“I didn’t know that I was obliged to. You aren’t the only reason to go to Earth, Peter. Your planet doesn’t revolve around you.” Nebula said bluntly. Her deep voice not faltering.
“Bullshit.” Peter looked down and clenched his fists. Then he looked up at her again. “I can understand you going to Earth for other reasons, but to go there, multiple times and not once knocking on my door? Bullshit. Why?”
“There was no reason for me to.”
“BULLSHIT!”
Even through Peter’s loud scream, Nebula didn’t flinch. She maintained her posture even after seeing tears come out of Peter’s eyes.
“Do I really mean nothing to you?” Peter asked through wet eyes. “When I used to visit here, you barely talked to me. I get it you’re busy, but you could have at least lent me some of your time. But I guess I’m not worth it. I mean who the hell am I to you, anyway? You and Rocket shared five years together, he’s probably your best friend. Probably the only one you consider family here. Him and oh wait, I guess the entire Knowhere. ‘Cuz that’s what you said right? You’ll treat these people like they’re family. I guess you care about everyone except me then. You wouldn’t even visit me once in 6 years after taking multiple trips to Earth.”
“Where is all this coming from, Peter? What’s the big deal about me visiting you?” Nebula didn’t understand why Peter was crying about this. From what she saw every time she visited him, he seemed happy on Earth. She didn’t understand how her presence would bring any positive difference.
Peter continued to cry as one of his shaking hands started rummaging through one of his pockets. “Because of this.” He took out something Nebula hadn’t seen before. It was a small, curved box with buttons on it, and something metal attached to it. “This is the key to my car. It’s a simple automatic car. I bought it the moment I could afford it.” He brought the item closer to chest, and his shaking fingers started fidgeting with it. “It has buttons with very clear symbols so you can lock and unlock its different doors. I- I- bought it for you. For when you visit me…” He chuckled as he wiped the tears off his face with his free arm, after a deep breath, he looked down, “…I waited for as long as I could…”
Nebula felt weak. She felt like rushing into Peter to wipe his tears herself. But her rational self decided against it. So instead, she decided to open her mouth to say something. But before Nebula could form any words, Rocket appeared behind Peter. “I found your kid. She’s in New Asgard. Do you want to go there now?”
Peter, who was facing away from Rocket, let out another deep breath and composed himself. He turned back and replied, “New Asgard? Yeah, definitely. Let’s go get…our daughter.” He said this, shooting a quick look at Nebula, who just stood there with her mouth slightly ajar. Peter’s voice was clear, almost with no hint of his recent weeping.
“Okay, then. Let’s go.” Rocket said as he started walking away, only to turn back. “Oh, and don’t forget to pack your weapons.”
“Why? Would we be in a fight? It’s Asgard. We’re in good terms with Asgard.”
“Yeah, well, better be sure. I just don’t think King Valkyrie would give away her adopted daughter that easily.”