A Father’s Last Gift

The Chrono Knights had returned to Neotera, their ranks battered and diminished. Ambrose Thane’s betrayal loomed over the order like a dark storm cloud, fracturing the confidence of even the most steadfast knights. Whispers of doubt circulated through the halls of the Time Tower, and the morale of the knights was at an all-time low.

For Jessie Valis, the weight of it all was suffocating. After their return, Viktor Magnus, the High Arbiter, had called Jessie into his office. The conversation had been brief but impactful. Due to the swirling rumors surrounding Jessie’s connection to Thane’s plans—and to the Valis Incident—Magnus had placed him on temporary leave.

Now, confined to his room, Jessie felt the walls closing in. He avoided everyone, retreating deeper into his thoughts with each passing day. Everyone’s attempt to reach him were met with silence.

Sitting in the darkness of his room, Jessie clutched the small pendant his mother had given him before the large-scale mission. His fingers traced the edge of the worn bead in the center, as his mind raced in circles, consumed by the same unrelenting question.

Was this all his fault?

A soft knock broke the silence.

“Jessie?” His mother’s voice was quiet, almost hesitant. When there was no answer, the door creaked open, and she stepped inside. She carried a tray with a bowl of soup and some bread. She set it down on the bedside table before sitting on the edge of his bed.

Jessie didn’t look at her.

“Sweetheart, you’ve barely eaten. You haven’t come out of this room in days. Talk to me. Please.”

Jessie’s jaw tightened, his gaze fixed on the pendant in his hands. Then, finally, he spoke, his voice low and strained.

“What happened to Dad?” he asked, “What really happened mom? Was it all really his fault? Or are they lying to us?”

His mother froze, the question hanging heavily in the air. She sighed, “Jessie… I’ve told you everything I know.”

“No, you haven’t!” Jessie’s voice rose suddenly.

He turned to face her, his eyes blazing with a mix of anger and desperation. “I’m so sick of hearing that! Everyone just keeps saying they don’t know or they can’t tell me. I’m tired of being left in the dark, Mom!”

His mother flinched at the raw emotion in his voice. “Jessie, please. Calm down—”

“I don’t want to calm down!” Jessie snapped, standing up and pacing the room. “I don’t want to carry this anymore. I don’t want to be this… this thing that everyone’s afraid of or whispering about! I just want to be normal, Mom. I just want to stop being the reason everything falls apart!”

He hurled his father’s pendant to the ground in a burst of frustration. The glassy bead hit the floor with a sharp crack, splitting open. Jessie froze, the anger draining from him as he stared at the shattered remains.

“Jessie…” His mother’s voice was low, as she knelt and picked up the pieces. Within the broken pendant lay a tiny chip, faintly glowing blue.

Her lips curled into a bittersweet smile as she turned the chip over in her hands. “Thoma… you were always a mystery, weren’t you?”

Jessie’s heart pounded as he stepped closer, staring at the chip. “What… is that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, holding it out to him. “But it’s something your father left behind for you. And knowing him, it’s important.”

Jessie took the chip, his mind racing. Whatever this was, it felt like a piece of the puzzle he had been chasing his entire life.

“I… I have to go,” he said suddenly, looking at his mother with a mix of urgency and guilt. “I’m sorry. For yelling. For everything. I just… I have to figure this out.”

Her expression softened, and she cupped his cheek, her touch warm against his skin. “I know, Jessie. And I love you. Never forget that.”

“I love you too mom.” He nodded with a smile, clutching the chip tightly as he rushed out the door. There was only one person who could make sense of this: Mira.

And for the first time in days, Jessie felt a glimmer of hope cutting through the darkness. Whatever secrets this chip held, he was determined to uncover them—even if it meant facing the ghosts of his past head-on.

◔

When Jessie arrived, he immediately informed the squad of his discovery. The squad room buzzed as everybody gathered around Mira’s terminal. However it felt significantly emptier without Dax and Rhea who were still in the medical wing.

Mira wasted no time, carefully plugging the memory shard into her workstation.

“It doesn’t appear to be a standard memory shard,” Tidus announced after scanning it.

Mira’s brow furrowed, her fingers flying across the keyboard. “Your father left quite the fancy gift. I can’t seem to access it. The data’s there, but it’s encrypted.”

“Encrypted? Why would his dad encrypt something like this?” Talia asked, crossing her arms.

“Maybe… it’s more than just a message,” Liriana offered quietly, “Something he didn’t want falling into the wrong hands?”

“Or,” Mira muttered, a spark of excitement flickering in her tone, “it’s not a memory shard at all.”

Tidus scanned it again, “Hypothesis confirmed: the shard contains neural patterns consistent with a brain scan chip.”

“A brain scan? Like… a piece of someone’s brain? My dad’s brain?”

“Exactly!” Mira exclaimed, her voice tinged with awe. “These chips are rare and incredibly advanced. They’re usually used in medical fields for things like memory reconstruction or immersive therapy. But this… This could be a direct imprint of your father’s memories.”

“How… is that possible?” Liriana’s curious eyes widened.

“Some researchers take the surgery, just so their life’s work doesn’t go to waste because of a fatal accident. In Jessie’s father case… it may be different.”

Talia’s brows knitted in concern. “And how do we access it? Can you decode it here?”

Mira shook her head, “Not here. But the brainscan room in the medical ward? It’s built to process neural data. If we plug this in there, Jessie might be able to… experience whatever’s on this chip firsthand.”

“Experience?” Jessie echoed.

“Think of it as stepping into a simulation,” Mira explained. “The sensory feedback is so real it’ll feel like you’re actually there.”

The group exchanged uncertain glances, but Jessie’s resolve hardened.

“Let’s do it.”

◔

The sterile white walls of the medical ward’s brainscan room were a stark contrast to the dim, buzzing energy of the squad room. Mira carefully placed the chip into the machine’s slot while Tidus monitored the setup.

Jessie sat in the reclining chair at the center of the room, the scanner’s helmet poised above him. He exhaled slowly, his fingers gripping the armrests as he prepared himself.

“Alright,” Mira said, “The system’s ready. Once you’re in, we’ll monitor your vitals. If anything feels off, just—”

The door burst open.

“Hold up.”

All heads turned to see Dax, his sleeve pinned up where his left arm had once been. Behind him stood Rhea, her head wrapped in white bandages but her sharp eyes alive as ever.

“Dax? Rhea?” Jessie’s jaw dropped. “You shouldn’t be up—”

“Save it,” Dax interrupted, his grin strained but genuine. “We heard everything in the infirmary. There’s no way in hell we’re missing this.”

“Next time you don’t want us involved, maybe talk in a more private space?” Rhea leaned against the doorframe, “We heard you’re about to dive into something your dad left behind. If it’s important to you, it’s important to us.”

Maybe briefing everyone in the infirmary wasn’t such a good idea, Jessie thought.

“Guys…” Jessie’s voice faltered, a wave of gratitude washing over him.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Dax added, taking a seat nearby. “I hate suspense.”

“That makes two of us.” Talia said, and Liriana nodded as she sat beside Rhea.

Mira smiled, her fingers hovering over the console. “Alright, then. Jessie, you ready?”

“Let’s do this.”

As the helmet lowered over his head, the room fell silent, the hum of the machine growing louder as it prepared to access the memory shard. Jessie closed his eyes, his heart pounding as he braced himself for whatever awaited him in the depths of his father’s mind.