[Ah. The cosmonaut's eyes soften a little, and he gives his head a small tip forwards, a nod of some quiet acknowledgement. ]
I'm sorry.
[ He truly is. There are some wounds still so fresh within him regarding a lost companion of his own — things he's barely been able to process, with so much happening, a whirlwind of horror from there to here. But his co-pilot... occupies some particular space within him, always. The man didn't deserve what happened to him. And Konstantin, who was responsible for that man, failed to save him at all. Will he stay there in that facility until his life eventually runs out? Hooked to machines, body forced to stay alive, used for observation and possibly even experimentation? The public don't even know. His family don't know.
He'll always wish he had found a way to grant Averchenko mercy before he escaped that place. He'll always feel that he left him behind.
He looks back over to the bodies, left so strange. They almost look haunted, with those expressions of terror locked into their features. Just what had they seen....? ]
cw: mention of person in vegetative state
I'm sorry.
[ He truly is. There are some wounds still so fresh within him regarding a lost companion of his own — things he's barely been able to process, with so much happening, a whirlwind of horror from there to here. But his co-pilot... occupies some particular space within him, always. The man didn't deserve what happened to him. And Konstantin, who was responsible for that man, failed to save him at all. Will he stay there in that facility until his life eventually runs out? Hooked to machines, body forced to stay alive, used for observation and possibly even experimentation? The public don't even know. His family don't know.
He'll always wish he had found a way to grant Averchenko mercy before he escaped that place. He'll always feel that he left him behind.
He looks back over to the bodies, left so strange. They almost look haunted, with those expressions of terror locked into their features. Just what had they seen....? ]
What was his name? Your companion.