"'Somewhere else' would be the floor, Stan. I don't want to sit on the floor," she responded, pushing against his feet. "Why don't you ask the Lexx to grow a footstool or a chair?"

"Why don't you just sit on the floor? You've done it before."

"I don't *want* to sit on the floor."

"Well, you *can't* sit here." Stan gave her a final shove, pushing her from the platform to the floor. Grabbing the post with her hand, she caught herself and quickly stood.

"Stan!" Her eyes slit in anger and he thought she had never more resembled the lizard she partly was. He noticed Kai, still watching from his evidently comfortable position sitting on the floor of the bridge.

"Kai is sitting on the floor and he's not complaining."

"The dead do not complain," Kai offered, his voice not once straying from its even tones. Stan had seen that response coming and had immediately regretting setting the dead guy up for one of his "the dead do not" statements.

"Kai, don't you ever get tired of saying that?"

"The dead do not get tired." Stan felt sure that Kai's expression had not altered in the last four, maybe five *months*.

"Yeah, well, Kai, the dead *do* get boring."

"And you don't, Stan?" Xev asked, lifting the robot head from the floor and tucking it under her arm. 790's eye screens narrowed their lids at Stanley.

"Yeah, Tweedle," 790 sneered. "At least the dead are less boring than you."

Leaning forward on the command post's armrests, Stan moved his face nearer the three before him. "In case the two of you - the *three* of you - haven't noticed, I do have something that makes me more interesting, a *lot* more interesting."

"Really?" Xev asked dryly.

"Well, it certainly isn't your brain," 790 added, hatred flickering across his screens.

"Who cares about brains, tin can? When you've got the parts, you don't need the smarts. Right, Xev?"

Xev's eyes widened in angry surprise and 790's shook with rage. Even Kai inclined his head.

790 stuttered over a few insults before launching. "You worthless, stinking, vile, disgusting, moronic assortment of useless, idiotic mass powered by a incompetent, microscopic, malfunctioning puff of brain tissue!"

"Really, Stan. You shouldn't think so highly of yourself." Xev walked toward him. "We all know there's one way to get your interesting, *little* something out." A cluster lizard growl sprang from her throat as she clamped her teeth very close to the soft flesh of Stanley's wrist.

"Do it, Xev! Eat the worthless flesh bag!"

Stan quickly pulled his hand back, jumping from the command post, and backed away, cradling his almost-damaged appendage. Xev sat down on the unoccupied command post platform, setting 790 comfortably beside her, and stretched out her long legs, a mocking smile on her lips.

"I was *not* referring to the key to the Lexx, but now that you mention it," he said, waggling the powerful hand toward them. "That puts me *way* ahead of you two!" He gestured forcefully toward Kai and 790.

"Eat him, Xev." 790's eyes turned to the assassin, watching in silence. "Kill him, Kai." His eye screens searched the bridge. "Somebody, kill him!"

Kai turned his stony expression to the agitated robot. "I will not kill him now, 790."

Stan's mouth dropped in surprise, and then quickly closed in irritation. "What do you mean, 'now?'" he asked warily.

"He means that when your incessant whining is enough to annoy the dead, he will swiftly dispose of you!" 790's voice rose to a furious pitch, echoing within his shell.

"Is that what you meant, Kai?" Stanley asked, hiding his nervousness with a hint of sarcasm.

Kai's eyes switched from 790 to Stanley, then settled on the ground. "The dead do not...participate in pointless discussions."

"This isn't a pointless discussion, Kai," Xev corrected. "It's a pointless argument."

Kai tilted his head in a faint nod, acknowledging the amendment. "The dead do not argue either."

"The dead do not, the dead do not," Stan repeated, clutching a hand to his head in frustration. "Don't you ever have anything else to say?"

Kai, his expression unaltered, considered the question, then looked to Stan. "It depends on the situation."

"It depends on the --- Xev! Can't you make him say something *normal*?!"

"I can't *make* him do anything, Stan."

"Of course, because if you could, you'd-" Xev bolted up straight from her relaxed position, her eyes livid. Stan flinched. "Never mind." He swallowed the bitter words down in his throat and rolled his eyes as Xev lounged back again.

"I'll admit I was the cause of the destruction of ninety-four reform planets, but I *still* think that having to roam the universe with you two for the rest of my life is a punishment *way* worse than the crime." Xev noticed as, behind him, the viewscreen flickered to life, airing static. Stan's expression softened, his face becoming blissful and at peace. "Sometimes, I lie in bed at night and dream about what my life might have been like if I had never met you guys."

"Ever wonder what your life would have been like if you had never met those people in your life who continue to annoy you day after day?"

Xev, Kai and Stan all turned to the viewscreen in surprise. Confusion clouded Stan's face. "What was that?"

The screen flickered to play a commercial showing a family walking excitedly through red and purple metal gates. The view on the screen drifted above the happy family to show the sign above the red and purple archway. The sign read, "Ultimate Universe."

"Come to Ultimate Universe," the enthusiastic voice continued, "where you can explore your Alternate Universe as well as the finest, state-of-the-art thrill rides." People screamed with enjoyment as a ride launched, tossing them high into the air. "And experience the one-of-a-kind 'Possible Paths Gate', an adventure so unique, words fail to describe it." The camera approached a metal hut, but the door slammed shut, blocking the view of the interior. "So, come to Ultimate Universe and have an experience you can't have any where else. Ultimate Universe is all AU and all about *you.*"

There was a moment of long, dumbfounded silence.

"Stan." The Lexx's deep monotone echoed through the bridge.

"What is it, Lexx?"

"There is a planet with lots of bright, shiny things on it."

"Yes, thank you, Lexx."

Xev stood up in the command post, leaning against the armrest. "Maybe we should go down there. Just to check it out."

Stan turned, regarding Xev, Kai and 790. He nodded, emphatically. "Anything to get us off this ship."

Annoyance flashed across Xev's face and was soon replaced by a smile of feigned awe. "Wow, Stan. We usually have to go through a lot more of your whining before you finally agree."

Stan turned to her, his jaw clenched. "I do *not* whine!"

"Tweedle, you invented whining. You *define* whining!" 790 interjected.

Stanley moved toward the robot head, reveling in the thought of tossing him into the depths below the bridge.

"Xev is right," Kai observed. Stan stopped, looking at the assassin. "Your objections are usually...strong, to say the least."

Xev smiled. "See?"

Stan looked between the black-swathed man and the comparatively colorful woman. "Fine! You two stay here - she can drool over you and you can stay dead, but I am going!"

"Relax, Stan," Xev responded, lifting 790 from the platform. "We're all going."

"A field trip with the moron," 790 said with sarcastically subdued glee. "Oh, joy!"

"Relax? You just told me a second ago that I wasn't 'objecting' as strongly as usual."

Xev opened her mouth, prepared to bare her teeth and throw out another retort, but she closed her lips and rethought her statement. "For once I agree with you," she conceded with a sigh. "Let's go down there, get off this ship and hopefully *away* from each other!" The bitterness sparked, despite her obvious efforts to contain it.

Kai, his brow furrowed, turned to the woman in charge. "If the goal is to separate us, then perhaps one of us should stay behind. If we all leave together, we have not separated."

"What's wrong, Kai?" Stan asked, already preparing to leave. "The dead do not explore?" Kai considered Stan's comment, his features darkening.

"No, Kai," Xev interrupted. "We'll all go. We might need you to kill Stan if he gets really annoying." Kai did not move from his position regarding Stan. Xev walked to him, and grabbing his arm, pulled him toward the exit.

"I will do as you ask, Xev," he said finally, moving his eyes to hers.

"Oh!" Stan exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. "A joke from the dead man!"

Xev rolled her eyes. "If that were the case, Kai, I wouldn't be - never mind. Come on, Let's go."

Stan and Kai followed Xev toward the moth.

***

Stan lowered the moth to the ground, its flapping wings stirring up the dust below them. Xev threw open the eye hatch before all the legs of the insect had touched the ground. The huge expanses of the Lexx had felt oppressive - the microscopic allotments of personal space in the Moth were unbearable. Xev hopped out of the transport, her feet hitting the ground at the same moment as those of the moth. Clutching 790 against her side, she didn't turn to see Stan or Kai climb out. The muscles in her calves and thighs twitched and her feet stretched within her heavy boots. Her body wanted to run and put as much distance as possible between herself and her *constant* companions.

She looked ahead of her, barely making out the brightly colored entranceway they had seen on the viewscreen. Their moth was surrounded by ships and transports, stretching out in rows. She turned behind her to see the same configuration of rows and the moth setting squarely between them. Kai turned, noting the same.

"Perhaps you should move the moth, Stanley," he suggested, turning his dark eyes to Stan. She might have commented on the hint of irritation and condescension in his voice, but wanted to spare herself the cold "the dead do not condescend" statement.

"*You* could move the moth, Kai. Or don't the dead fly," Stan retorted, hoisting himself back up into the moth. He received only a narrowed stare from Kai. Xev tasted the sour, acidic burn of anger in the back of her throat and averted her eyes. This constant bickering was even starting to affect Kai; they had been together so long it was starting to bother a dead man. The moth chirped as it stepped backward, joining the row of transports. Ignoring Kai moving beside her, she walked on toward the large gates in front of them. Stan and Kai would catch up.

A group of young women passed her, searching the rows for their ship. Xev smiled in greeting, not slowing her pace. They couldn't have been much younger than she was herself. "I love her boots," one whispered to the other. A small glow of pride sparked in her chest, but was soon squelched.

The women saw Kai.

"He is gorgeous." Their harsh, lusty whisper was clearly audible, but, when Xev turned, she saw that Kai had chosen to ignore it. She stopped. The women huddled together, appearing as a mass, rather than a group - a four-headed ogling, drooling monster. Kai disregarded them, walking in his usual purposeful manner until he reached her side. The spark of pride began to warm again - this obviously desirable man had come to *her* side. Then, however, she recalled that this desirable man was incapable of feeling desire for anyone.

Xev watched Kai as he regarded the structure before him, discovering that a foul mood had masked any pleasant feeling she usually possessed. Some days, she would spend hours sitting in the cryochamber, gazing at him in his cryopod, and imagining a thousand different scenarios ranging from the funny to the erotic. Today, he irritated her. His silence and insistence on indifference irritated her. He looked at the building, completely oblivious of her attention, and a bitter frown spread across her lips. She loved him, but, at the moment, she didn't like him very much.

Xev's eyes slid across the annoyingly bright purple and red entrance. Brown rust pierced through the colorful paint, giving the appearance of gaping holes in the metal archway, and voices rumbled from behind the concealing walls. Railings narrowed the entrance to single file, leading all those who might wish to enter past a booth. A large man occupied the booth and Xev foresaw a confrontation. One spike of loud laughter shot above the general din and Xev was able to identify the rest of the noise as other, more subdued laughs and screams of enjoyment. Large collections of people walked past them, all smiling and in good spirits-and all casting an occasional peculiar gaze at the somewhat mismatched crew. A love slave, an assassin and a robot head stood out well enough - a displeased love slave, an indifferent assassin, and an angry robot head stood out even more.

"Thank you for waiting for me, guys," Stan whined, as he trotted up beside them. "I appreciate your concern."

"We were hoping the moth would spontaneously combust and burn your body to a charred, lifeless pile of charcoal!" Xev felt the agitation of 790's eye screens against her forearm.

"Fire again? Those faulty circuits you have in that metal skull of yours are running out ideas, you stupid tin can." Stan bent at the waist, bringing his face closer to the robot's in the crook of Xev's arm. His eyes were too close to her breasts for her comfort and she gruffly pushed his face away.

"At least he *uses* his head, instead of letting other body parts make the decisions," she snapped, switching 790 to her other arm. Both the men followed her as she continued toward the entrance.

"That's only because he's not *equipped* to think with anything else!"

Xev approached the booth, smiling sweetly at the man. "How many?" the man asked distractedly. He looked up, seeing her for the first time. His eyes quickly surveyed her whole body with the glint of a predator. That was a look she knew.

"Three."

"Four," 790 corrected.

"Three and a quarter," Stan concluded with a sneer. Xev felt a tirade boiling within 790's metal shell and clamped her hand across his mouth before it could begin.

"Three," she stated again, a deep, cluster lizard growl rolling in her throat. The man in the booth, raised his gaze from her body to her eyes, his pupils swimming in worry.

"Uh, no charge. You can go on through." He hurriedly waved them through the gates.

Xev smiled. "Thank you." Stan and Kai followed her through the railed archway.

A long line of people spread across the entrance pathway and Xev stopped behind them. The queue stretched to a small, metal hut, the one they had seen in the advertisement. Above the door, it bore a sign reading, "Possible Paths: The Ride." Hearing a shriek and a turning of wheels, her eyes whipped upwards. Spanning the air above her was a metal track. She followed the shriek to a box filled with people on the track, traveling with great speed toward a dark tunnel. Stan and Kai fell in line beside her, also looking skyward.

"The purpose of this place appears to be...amusement," Kai commented, his eyes falling to the expansive crowd in front of them.

"Another genius observation, Kai. Make sure you tell us *every,* little thing you notice," Stan said, with a roll of his eyes.

Xev stepped forward as the crowd in front of her shifted.

"Leave him alone, Stan."

"Are you fighting his battles for him now, Xev?"

Kai turned his eyes to Stanley. "I am capable of fighting my own battles."

"So, they dead *will* argue?" Stan asked, feigning surprise. "That's a good tip."

Xev walked forward another few feet forward as the crowd moved.

"You haven't had any great insights, Stan," Xev countered. "And it might not be a good idea to pick on an assassin."

"He wouldn't do anything to me. I've got the -"

"Key to the Lexx, we know."

"The key," Kai interjected, "will be transferred at the point of death."

The three stepped forward again, filling the vacated space before them.

"Your brave, dead assassin just threatened me *again*, Xev. Doesn't that bother you?"

Xev walked forward in the line and shifted her eyes to Kai, irritation burning in the back on her chest. "Don't threaten him, Kai. It won't help anything."

"You know, I don't know why I even try. Of course, you're going to take his side!"

"I didn't take his side. I don't like *either* of you very much right now!"

She felt 790's screens shaking under her arm. "Smash his cranium, Darling. Let me be your instrument of death, my cream-filled carnal crumpet!"

"If I wanted him dead, 790, I wouldn't do it by crushing his skull!"

"Next?" All four turned their eyes to the woman standing in front of them. Xev looked around in confusion. The crowd before them had dissipated, depositing them at the front of the line just outside the "Possible Paths" hut.

"Come on, come on! We've got a lot of people to get in." The woman grabbed Stan's arm with one hand and Xev's with the other, pulling them forward toward the hut entrance. Kai followed.

"You have to be standing in front of the gate when you ask your question. Please, phrase the question in the form of a "What if" question. You may each ask one question. My name is Kharny. I will open the door when your time is up and you have asked all your questions. Any questions?"

Xev opened her mouth to protest and received a metal door in her face.

The door clicked shut behind them, leaving the four in the secluded darkness of the small room. Xev sighed, scanning the inside for any kind of object, or perhaps another door-but nothing could be seen in the obscurity.

She was about to turn around, demanding to be released, knowing for the first time today the others would agree with her-but suddenly, a light exploded and filled the tiny hut. All three spun around to face the sight, and Xev gasped in surprise at what they saw.

Standing straight at about three feet from the group were two large pillars, the source of the light, both spaced at roughly two persons' length from each other. They appeared to be made of stone, with intricate designs and symbols carved upon their span, glowing fiercely with a pale turquoise aura.

Then, in a sudden burst, the auras spread between the pillars and mingled, weaving together to form a fine webbing of light and color. Bright shades of turquoise, magenta, coral-green and other such tints shimmered together in a beautiful network.

"I am the Gate," it said, in a deep, resounding voice. "All humans part of this existence walk the paths of their lives. The path you now walk is set, but I can show you different roads your lives may have taken. Ask what you wish to know."

For what seemed like an eternity, no one spoke. Not even Kai, who simply stared at the so-called Gate, presumably attempting to understand its function.

Finally, Stanley seemed to flinch and he whirled around to face the door.

"Hey, let us out!" he cried, frantically bashing the door with his fists. "We didn't ask for this!"

"You may each ask one question!" came Kharny's voice from outside the hut. "Please don't waste time, we have a big line waiting."

"Oh, this is great," Stanley moaned. "Now I'm stuck in an even smaller space with you two! Oh, I'm sorry, tin head-you two and a quarter! "

"Shut up Stan, I'm not in the mood," Xev snapped.

"No one is ever in the mood for Stanley Tweedle," 790 said, still nestled in Xev's arms.

The Gate stood imposingly in front of the group, silent since its introductory speech. Xev breathed in deeply, feeling a bizarre mixture of curiosity and dread. She was unsure how to react to this-was the Gate's claim true? Could it actually depict an alternate path of life? If so, the possibilities were endless.

She shrugged to herself, casting a glance over at Stanley, who didn't appear to be breathing, so consumed with apprehension as he was, and then at Kai, who merely observed the Gate and said nothing.

Xev felt a slight amount of annoyance at the sight of her comrades. Stanley's constant cowardice and fear of any kind of adventure was decidedly a hindrance, and even she had to admit that Kai's indifference grated on her nerves at times.

"Well, isn't someone going to say something?" she asked, tentatively.

"I believe we are expected to ask questions to this 'Gate'," Kai offered.

"Well thank you, Mr. Obvious!" Stanley retorted angrily. "I never would have guessed."

"Unsurprisingly," 790 said, a sarcastic grin etched on his digital features. Xev flipped him over to her other arm, fighting the urge to yell at everyone to be quiet again. Instead, she took a hesitant step towards the Gate, scanning its smooth shimmering surface with her eyes.

"Oh, great!" Stanley whined. "What else could I expect from you two? You never make the situation any easier."

"Similarly, I rarely observe you to facilitate any situation, Stanley." Kai added dispassionately .

Touch�, Xev thought. "Please, everyone just be quiet! That woman probably won't let us out until we tried this thing."

"I am *not* going anywhere near that thing, and that's final!" Stanley declared, crossing his arms like a sulking child.

Anger rising again, Xev grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward her, her advanced cluster lizard strength being little match for him.

"Stanley Tweedle, when will you ever stop being such a coward?" she hissed.

"Hey, you ask it a question and let it burn you to a crisp, but I'm not going near it!"

"Oh yes, Xev!" 790 happily . "Push the waste of carbon molecules through it! Watching him sizzle ever so slowly will definitely be good for morale!"

Ignoring him, Xev glared at Stanley like a predator stalking its prey, relishing the sudden thought of thrusting him through the Gate. Or, wait. Even better...

"Tell me Stan, how would you feel if I did this..." In a quick gesture, she snatched the crimson "4" hat from his head, waving it in the air like a handkerchief. "... And tossed it through the Gate? Wouldn't that be something fun to see!"

At Stanley's terrified expression, Xev grinned and glanced at Kai. He stood placidly off to the side, watching the exchange with little emotion. Somehow, the sight only frustrated her more.

"Xev," Stanley said in a no-nonsense tone. "You do anything to that hat, and I'll rip you to shreds."

"Oh yeah?" She scrunched the hat in her grasp. "Well, what if I were to take your hat and rip *it* to shreds?"

Stanley was about to answer, but didn't get a chance. The Gate thrummed, and the colorful light mesh in its center spread out like a giant hand, swallowing them all.

For a second, time stood still.

And then, it began again in a single burst.

Images flew by.

Of Xev herself, a prisoner on the Cluster...

Kai, walking over a long ramp, in full assassin mode...

Stanley, sitting behind a desk....

Her love slave transformation...

Running into Stanley Tweedle...

Stealing the ship... escaping through the Fractal Core...

Visiting Brunnis... watching the supernova...

Returning to the Light Universe...

Watching the Gigashadow destroyed....

Meeting Mantrid, unsuspecting... destroying his planet...

Herself, trapped in some device... slowly being disassembled...

Waking up again... her face, different...

Glimpses of Kai... of Stanley... of 790... of herself... too fast, too blurred to make out...

And then...

Xev sighed, standing in the cryochamber. Slowly, she let one finger trace the pattern of metal encasing the glass pod, as she stared intently at its occupant, Kai. He was still and quiet-frozen, and Xev sighed again.

Finally she gave the pod one last look and made no particular rush to exit the cryochamber, striding through the passageways until she arrived at the bridge.

"Dearest of darlings! How I missed you!" gushed 790.

She smiled and picked him up, setting the love-struck mechanoid on her lap as she settled down on the floor, next to Stanley Tweedle who stood on his command pedestal.

"Back from the dead?" he asked, sliding down the length of the pedestal until he sat on the bottom.

Xev grinned at him. "That's very funny, Stanley." She cocked her chin towards the viewscreen. "Anything interesting?"

Stanley shook his head, and ran his hand through his sand-colored hair, shaking it a bit. "I'm always on the lookout for a good planet, you know-which would be a lot easier if the robot here would give me a hand."

"If I had hands, Tweedle, I would bite them off before I gave them to you."

Xev couldn't fight a small chuckle, and she glanced expectedly at Stanley as he opened his mouth for a witty comeback.

And then time stopped.

And another burst later, Xev found herself expelled from the enveloping light of the Gate, and suddenly she was back in the small hut.

Frozen in place, Xev felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest, her breath rattling in her throat. What in the Two Universes had just happened? She was just here... and then she was... back aboard the Lexx? She was utterly confused.

Using only her eyes, Xev peered over to her left; Stanley was equally stunned, a look of pure terror locked on his face. Over to her right, Kai stood without expression, which wasn't exactly surprising.

"Stanley?" Xev asked, shakily.

"Y-yeah?"

"What just happened?"

He exhaled a mighty panicked breath and whirled to face her, his hands trembling as he lifted them in front of himself. "Did you see what I just saw?"

"Did you see... the Lexx?"

"And I saw you..."

"I saw you too."

"And I saw you, sweet love pudding!"

"And we were just talking?"

"And then it stopped."

Stanley nodded, evidently relieved they had seen the same thing. Xev twisted her head to look at Kai. "What did you see?" she asked delicately.

"I did not see anything," he said, frowning ever so slightly.

"Then I don't understand," Xev said, puzzled. "I was on the Lexx, and I walked onto the bridge. Stanley was there, and 790-I started talking to Stan, and then it all stopped."

She was about to turn to Stan again, but with a sudden shock she realized she was still holding his hat. Holding her breath, she tensed as she turned around-Stanley faced her. Stanley, without his hat. Stanley, without his hat, as she had just seen him.

I can show you different roads, the Gate had said.

What if I were to rip your hat to shreds?

I can show you different roads...

Xev flinched. As though she were caught with spasms, she spun towards the Gate, then Stanley, then Kai, and then the Gate again.

"Don't you get it?" she said excitedly. "This machine can show us the future!"

"What future?" Stan asked, weakly. "We were just on the Lexx."

"And you didn't have your hat! Because I asked, what if I ripped your hat? Well, you wouldn't have it anymore, right? So we saw a future that would happen if you didn't have your hat!"

Stanley moaned, rubbing his eyes. "I think I'm getting a headache."

"I assume this is why this particular ride is called 'Possible Paths'," Kai proposed. "This Gate appears to have the ability to display alternate futures based on the questions asked of it."

"I don't get it," Stanley said.

"A moron like you wouldn't!" 790 yelled.

Kai continued, "Xev asked a question-accidentally, however--, 'what if I were to take your hat and rip it to shreds?' The Gate interpreted it as a question. It likely absorbed us all, showing us a future without Stanley's hat."

"That's ridiculous. My hat doesn't change the future. And why didn't you see anything, Kai?"

"My most probable location at any given time is in cryostasis. It is unlikely I would recall anything."

"That's right, you were in your cryopod," Xev said. "I saw you."

"Stanley-perhaps the lacking of your hat is not a significant change, but it does still present an alternate future."

Stanley sighed, tossing his hands in the air in a gesture of resignation. "Fine, whatever. That's too much analyzing for me. When do we get out?"

"Wait, Stan..." Xev began. She handed him his crumpled hat back before continuing. "Don't you want to try it some more? This could be interesting."

He replaced the hat on his head, smoothing the wrinkles Xev's hat abuse had caused. "Well, I'm not interested, Xev."

She turned away from him, growling softly. Things certainly weren't getting any better.

The door behind her rattled as Stanley pounded his fist against it. "Excuse me, ma'am? Kharny? We're ready to come out now."

"Did all of you ask your questions?" came Kharny's edgy tone. No doubt the colorful ride handler was tiring of their constant bickering.

"Well, no, but-"

"Then hurry and finish up! You're not the only ones who want a ride."

"But... oh!" Stanley groaned, his hands flying upwards in an animated gesture of frustration and despair. "This can't be happening. You know what? I think-"

"You think?" 790 scoffed. "I thought I smelled something burning."

Whatever force of nature had kept Stan from exploding up until now decided to flee and he stormed like a wild bear, furiously tearing 790 from Xev's arms. She didn't resist, unwilling to participate in this particular dispute, and stepped away as Stanley began heatedly shaking the robot head.

"That's enough, you hear? I'm sick of listening to you!" he vociferated, as he shook the unfortunate 790 so hard Xev could hear the mechanical parts within him rattling.

"Tweedle... you..." 790 stuttered, sounding as dizzy as a robotic cranium could get. "Xev! Kai... kill... the moron!"

Xev shrugged them both off with a toss of her hand, and focused her gaze on the Gate again. What she - and Stanley - had seen moments ago had been the most unbelievable experience of her life. It felt like falling through a slipstream of time, and then suddenly dropping into what felt like the perfectly normal present-she wouldn't have known it was different if they hadn't been thrown back out. So many possibilities...

She heard 790's desperate pleas silence as Kai delicately stopped Stan's robot-shaking rampage by taking 790 away from him, shifting him in the crook of his arm. Finally, some peace, Xev thought.

She drew in a breath, and actually smiled. "I'm going to ask it something." she declared.

She sensed some movement behind her, which she guessed was Stanley tossing his hands in the air again. "Xev, no! Stop taking these dumb risks! Kai-" She felt a rush of air as Stanley whirled towards the silent dead man. "Kai, tell her this is madness! She'll get herself killed!"

Kai's eyes drifted from the Gate to Xev, and then back to Stanley. "You have already experienced this... device," he said, speaking as though considering his options. "It appears to be functional and safe."

"Now *you're* taking *her* side?" he gasped, incredulous.

"The dead do not take sides. I was merely stating a fact."

"Okay," Stan relented. "Okay, fine, Xev. What are you going to ask it?"

She stared at the light webbing, feeling it reflect off her skin in colorful patterns. "It's nothing too big, just a little question. To test it out."

Xev dipped her head back a bit, readying her muscles for the sudden surge of being thrown through time.

"What if I hadn't been part cluster lizard?"

The Gate throbbed, the webbing roiled and surged like a sea during a violent storm, and then it reached outward to gently grasp the four.

Time froze for an instant.

And began again in a single explosion.

Xev felt herself bound to a table, a heavy machine looming over her...

A hideous wail... like some kind of monstrous lizard...

The machine, descending over her...

A lizard hitting the machine from the outside... that wail again, receding...

Running into that man, Stanley Tweedle...

Two big lizards, standing in the corridor... a third one appears, leading the others away...

Seeing Kai on the bridge of the Lexx...

The supernova...

The GigaShadow's destruction...

Fleeting images of her friends, glimpses of herself...

They flew by like leaves caught in a whirlwind, fluttering so quickly one could only see but not touch them.

And then...

"Xev, let me tell you, you are *not* going to regret this!"

I already am, she thought. But she smiled instead. "I know, Stan."

Stanley lead the way, practically hopping along as though he were a child who had just been told he could have all the ice cream he wanted.

If there were ever a living definition of the term 'mixed feelings', Xev was certain she was it. On one hand, she was happy that her hyperactive, over-inflamed love slave libido would finally be sated-for a while, at least. However, she felt a bit disappointed in herself that she had given in to Stanley's pleas for a chance in bed with her. Sometimes, she wished she could have had a stronger will when it came to keeping her sexual urges under control.

Stan, however, seemed as happy as anyone could possibly get, and when they arrived to Xev's sleeping chamber, he was very nearly bouncing up and down. "So this is it, right?" he asked, outstretching his arms to her. He opened his hands, then closed them, obviously nervous.

Poor Stan. "Yes, Stan. It's for real." He had a right to be anxious about the situation. She had teased him enough, and she guessed he must have been teased a great number of times beforehand.

She took a slow, forcibly seductive step towards him, considering him in a quick glance. Sure, he wasn't as physically beautiful as Kai was - Kai... she felt little heartbeat skip at the thought of him-but she had to admit, she could be doing a lot worse. Deep down, she knew the real reason for her rejection of Stanley's advances wasn't only due to his appearance. When they had first met, he had very blatantly displayed his yellow streak, an aspect of his personality she had immediately found repulsive.

But now he had become her friend, and she had learned to see past all that-at least, her overactive libido had.

So, this was indeed it. She said nothing more, and instead closed the distance between them in a slow, seductive stride. She took in his both bewildered and ecstatic expression before firmly clasping the back of his neck, pulling his face to her to initiate a hungry, passionate kiss.

She felt his thin, maladroit lips straining to follow hers as she engulfed his mouth, thrusting her tongue deeply inside, exploring every inch of his mouth. This wasn't so bad, she reasoned. After all, maybe Stanley wasn't perfect, but he was still a man, and she needed one very badly at the moment.

Her body was already hot and raring to go, as it constantly was, and with fervor she pushed Stan down on her bed, her swollen breasts crushing his chest, her tender nipples poking the inside of her lizard-skin dress, already firm.

She felt Stanley shifting beneath her, his hands spreading all over her, caressing her buttocks through the material of her dress, grasping the back of her thighs, pressing her tightly against him.

"Oh yes, Xev..." he moaned, his lips skimming down her cheek and then her neck. "This is going to be so great... I promise you..."

She bolted upright, tearing the security guard hat from his head, and threw it aside before she swiftly began unfastening his red uniform. "Shut up, Stan. Don't talk," she said, urgently sliding his uniform top from his arms.

Following her lead, he reached for her back, pausing to caress her hair before fumbling to remove her dress. The small gesture of tenderness had surprised her, but she seemed to forget about it seconds later as her garment came loose, exposing her aching bosom to his view.

He obviously seemed to enjoy it, as he stared at her for a long second before murmuring, "Xev... you know, you are so beautiful..."

"I said shut up, Stanley," she insisted as she clutched his head and pulled his face between her generous breasts. Luckily, he got the message, and Xev tossed her head back, sighing in ecstasy as his mouth moved from one breast to another, kissing the tender skin between and then running his tongue over her stiff nipples before gently nibbling on them.

This really wasn't so bad, she thought, and moaned aloud as his lips began sucking hard on her right nipple. Her skin became moist with sweat, and she felt him tasting her as his tongue made a trail upward, pausing to kiss and bite at her neck, continuing until he reached her lips. She obliged with another hot, aggressive kiss, and she slipped the rest of her dress off before he had a chance to as she sensed his hands moving down her body to do so.

Nude now, Xev wrapped her legs around Stan's hips, thrusting against his groin until she felt his growing hardness pushing against the material of his uniform, pressing against her own hot, moist groin. She pushed upward again, felt him shudder, and grinned with delight as she pushed again.

When she saw him open his mouth, about to speak again, she gripped his neck and yanked his face closer to her. "I said be quiet," she told him, playfully, though her voice was beginning to grow hazy with passion.

He smiled back, and his hands began tracing indistinct patterns on her back as she released him. She adjusted her weight underneath him, using her feet to grip the remainder of his uniform, pulling it down his hips and then his legs. She kicked the material away from the bed, allowing one leg to stroke up between his, gently nudging his hard organ, feeling its heat even through his underwear.

The sensation ignited her passions even more, and her groan of desire mixed itself with his as she imagined his heat inside her, by now the only thing she wanted.

Moving quickly, before Stanley had a chance to fight back, she hooked her arms around his waist and flipped herself over him, pinning him to the bed with her body. He gasped in surprise and then in pleasure as she straddled his hips, the tip of his throbbing member pressing against her sex as it flared with arousal, gushing moisture in anticipation.

Panting like a wild animal desperately in need to mate, Xev tore Stan's undershirt from his arms, and pulled his underwear off with such strength she nearly ripped them. Stan moaned incoherently, his erect organ bumping against her smooth belly as he pushed his hips to her.

She slid her body up and down, against his a few times, making her stomach slick with his own dampness, and she stole a moment of lucidity from her pleasure-hungry mind to consider his face. He was flushed and sweaty with arousal, his eyes were closed and his mouth opened and closed in quick successions as his breath came in sharp gasps. She admitted to herself, it was something she never thought she'd see, and for a second she wondered if she was making a huge mistake.

Kai was the one she had imagined so many times in such a situation, locked in passion as her body entwined with his. Not Stan.

She closed her eyes and groaned in frustration. Stan, however, took it as a sigh of pleasure and he gripped her backside, steadying her as his warm, shaky hand cradled the back of her head, pulling her face to him, raining starving kisses all over it.

"Please, Xev... please..." he begged. Xev sighed, making her body shudder. If it had to be Stan, then so be it. She was tired of burning with long denied need, her body constantly screaming for attention.

She pushed herself up on her arms, spreading her legs over him, her muscles contracting in anticipation as she used one hand to guide his leaking, throbbing organ to her own burning, eager sex. He twitched beneath her as the head of his shaft slowly penetrated her, and she sighed with the sensation as he easily slid inside her silken depths.

His pelvis began to move in slow, circular motions, and in turn Xev lifted herself up, sitting on his lap, digging her knees in the sheets of the bed as she rocked back and forth, then up and down. Sweat beaded her skin, making it gleam in the dusky lights of the room.

She parted her lips to moan, head tossed back as she forcefully rode him, feeling him push against her hips every other moment or so, content to have her in control. And she was pleased, too, as she doubted she could have been as satisfied had their positions been reversed.

Stan's male flesh throbbed and twitched within her, and Xev increased her pace to a wildly erotic rhythm, small jerks tickling the walls inside her, each stroke from his rigid member fueling the fire within her. His low gasps echoed in her ears, but she didn't care to hear them. As she stood on the edge of her climax, her eyes were closed tight and she only had one image, of one single person, in mind. And even though her mind was overcome with her physical ecstasy, she was utterly aware that her fantasy would only remain a fantasy.

She closed her eyes tighter, and a tear escaped.

She could feel Stan growing even larger inside her, and she rotated her hips just as her long-awaited climax finally-finally!-came. Seeing her in the throes of release triggered his own, and he gasped, twisting against her as he exploded, spreading liquid heat deep within her. Her body jerked spasmodically and she cried out in pure delight, falling backwards against Stan's legs as she shuddered again, closing her thighs and then opening them again, moaning softly as she felt Stan's hands caressing her smooth legs.

They both lay there for a moment, catching their breath, and Xev sighed to herself. So that was it, she thought somberly. For the first time in a while, her overactive libido was calm, though she knew it wouldn't last too long, but that wasn't what troubled her.

No. No, what troubled her was what she had given in to. She loved Stan. But she loved him as a friend, and nothing more. And she was painfully aware of the utter futility of loving someone who would never love her back.

But it didn't matter to her. Her feelings were her feelings, and they mattered to her. She couldn't play around with her own emotions, let alone someone else's.

She slowly disengaged herself from Stan's body, and grabbed a sheet, wrapping it around her gleaming body. Stanley craned his neck to look at her, a tired smile spreading across his face.

"Xev... Xev, that was incredible. I mean, it was fantastic!"

"Thank you, Stan," she said softly. She watched him as he pushed himself up and threw another sheet over his body, forcing a smile as he snuggled next to her.

But he somehow noticed her reluctance, and asked, "What is it? Is something wrong?"

She exhaled slowly, steeling herself. "Stanley, I'm sorry," she told him. "But what just happened... it can't happen again."

She couldn't deny a feeling of guilt as she saw the disappointment painted on his face, but she continued nonetheless. "I love you, Stanley. I love you very much. But I'm not in love with you. I'm in love with Kai."

He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Xev! Come on. He's not the one who helped you with your little libido problem. I did! And you know you'll have to do this again!"

"No, I'm sorry," Xev insisted. "Listen, you know I didn't entirely want to do this, and I still don't know why I caved in, so this was a one-time thing, okay? At least we both got something we needed. If only for a little while."

He opened his mouth to protest, but acceptance of this rejection seemed to appear easily. Xev couldn't help but wonder if he had expected it.

"Okay, fine. I understand," he said, ever so slightly dejectedly. "But you're really sure about this?"

"Yes, Stan, I'm sure."

"Okay, that's okay," He rose from the bed, still wrapped in the gauzy sheet, and gathered his clothes. He sighed softly and took a step to leave, but turned around to Xev, smiling sadly. "At least... thank you, Xev."

She smiled back. "Thank you too, Stan."

She watched him, quietly, as he left her in her sleeping chamber, alone.

And time stopped.

Xev gasped in shock as the Gate released them for a second time to the confines of the small hut.

Carefully now, she turned her head to the side, unsure of what she would see.

Sure enough, Stanley was there, staring at her with equal shock. Off to the side, Kai stood with 790 in his arms, both unaware of the silent mixture of horror and wonder going on.

"Xev, my walking definition of human female perfection-I didn't see you! All I saw was the bridge, minus that walking definition of human sewage."

"I did not see anything, either," Kai stated. "I suspect I was in cryostasis."

Xev glanced at him, nodding dumbly to acknowledge his statement. But her eyes stayed frozen on Stan, whose expression was rapidly turning into one of embarrassment.

"Stanley..." she attempted.

"Xev," he answered, his eyes averting her gaze for a split second.

"Did we both see the same thing?" she asked, not sure if she wanted an answer.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we did."

She groaned and whirled away from him, wiping at her mouth, a look of disgust turning her lips downward in a frown. When she looked back at him, she could swear he was holding back a grin.

"What alternate future did the lacking of your cluster lizard DNA present?" Kai asked innocently.

Xev growled as though to confirm with herself that she indeed was still part lizard. "A future where I was so weak-willed, I agreed to sleep with Stanley!"

"What??" 790 wailed. "Tweedle! You... you horny, smelly animal! I'll tear off your limbs and then make you swallow them!"

"Oh, come on!" Stan said, his hands balling into fists. "Right after, you tossed me out and said you wanted Kai instead!"

Xev snarled and whirled towards him again, her cheeks flushing with anger and embarrassment. "Stanley, shut up!"

"*You* shut up!"

"Perhaps it would be best if everyone were to 'shut up'," Kai offered. "I take it from your reactions such an alternate future is not one you would desire?"

Xev shrugged, slowly allowing her anger to fade. It wasn't real, she reasoned with herself. Only a possibility-- and an unlikely one at that. "I think I remember things from the past. The past that went with that future, I mean."

"This is *really* weird," Stanley mumbled, furtively glanced at the Gate.

"Xev, my dearest, we must leave. You must get away from these nightmares."

Xev wiped at her lips again, a slight nod tilting her head. "I think that's fine by me."

Stanley turned to her. "Now wait just a minute! You asked two questions. I didn't even ask one!"

"We know how it works, Stan," Xev reasoned, walking for the door. "Let's just go."

"No!" Stan shouted, pounding his closed fist against one of the walls. "That woman said we could each ask a question - I want to ask my question!"

Xev folded her arms and waited. Stan looked to the Gate, a satisfied smile on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could just see 790, his entire digital expression vibrating with fury.

"What if," Stan began, searching his mind for the perfect question.

"What if Tweedle had died a long, horrible death on the Cluster like he should have?!"

"Hey!"

The Gate's glowing web reached out for them once more and Stan closed his eyes, bracing for what he was sure would be an unpleasant alternate future.

He felt nothing.

The Gate hissed.

With an electronic pop, the web returned to its resting spot between the two pillars. The colors flashed and sizzled.

"What happened?" Stan asked, seeing Xev, Kai and 790 all still in the room and unharmed.

The Gate swept through its array of colors once more, then let out a long hiss.

"That is not an option."

Xev turned to the Gate, confused. "What do you mean, 'it's not an option'?"

The Gate hissed again. "That is not an option."

"I believe it means," Kai translated. "That an alternate future wherein Stanley died on the Cluster is not possible."

"You mean, even if I had gone up to His Shadow and told him to take his demerits and shove them, I wouldn't have died?" Stan asked.

"Correct, though it would probably still have been...unpleasant." Kai replied.

"Fine!" 790 shouted. "What if Tweedle had just died - anywhere!?"

The Gate sizzled, its colors intensifying. "That is not an option." 790 let out a tormented howl.

The door bolted shut. Rushing to the closed exit, Xev pulled on the handle with one hand, knocking with the other. "Hey! Let us out!"

Kharny pounded from the other side. "Let me in! What did you guys do?"

"We didn't do anything!" Xev shouted above their combined pounding. "The Gate hissed and the door locked."

Kharny's knocking abruptly stopped. Xev paused, her hand ready to strike another blow against the unyielding metal.

"Um, you guys aren't a part of a prophecy or anything, are you?"

Xev turned, exchanging glances with Stanley and Kai. She shrugged slightly, leaning her face toward the door.

"Just a little one."

"How little?"

Xev winced. "The Fall of the Divine Order."

Xev flinched, hearing one single thud against the other side of the door. When Kharny's voice continued it was muffled - she had thumped her head against the door. Xev suddenly felt distinctly nervous.

"The Gate hates prophecies. The bigger the prophecy the more it hates it," Kharny explained. "You have a destiny that must occur and so your paths are all alike. Didn't you see the sign outside? It says not to come in if you know you are in any way linked to or part of a prophecy."

"We didn't see the sign."

"Wait, wait," Stan interrupted, joining Xev by the door. "It's a Gate! How can it hate *anything!?*"

Xev shifted her eyes to him, unamused. "The idea of a usually inanimate object having a personality is confusing you, Stan?"

"All you have to do to get out," Kharny shouted in to them, "is find one event that would have completely changed your present."

Stan rolled his eyes, walking from the door. "Oh, is that all?"

"How do we do that?" Xev asked, pressing her ear against the cold metal in an attempt to hear Kharny better.

"You just have to figure out something that would have made your present completely different. If you do that, the Gate will be happy and it will let you out."

"The Gate will be happy?" Stan asked from his position across the room. He quickly waved away the question, folding his arms in disgust.

"Why doesn't the Gate just figure out the right path and let us out?" Xev asked.

"Prophecies make the Gate feel powerless," Kharny explained. "But it knows it's powerful. It wants *you* to know."

Xev dropped her hands to her side, moving her cheek from the metal of the door. Slowly, she turned to Kai, Stan and 790.

"Could you get started, please?" Kharny requested with contained impatience. "We still have a lot of people out here."

Xev walked from the door to Kai and Stan.

"What should we do?"

Kai glanced at the Gate, still sweeping through its hues. "I suggest we start asking questions. Obviously, Stan's death is not the event that would sufficiently alter our present, as it is 'not an option'."

790 gritted his teeth, holding back a howl of frustration. Stan turned to Kai.

"So, even if I had jumped off the bridge of the Lexx - "

"You would not have succeeded in killing yourself," Kai supplied.

"Noooooooooooo!"

Xev, a puzzled, worried look on her face, moved to console the distraught robot.

"It's okay, 790."

"Though endowed with a mind as ample as your bosom, lovely one, you do not understand," 790 wept, digital tears streaking his screens. "The one fantasy I have, besides possessing and controlling a large powerful body to entwine with yours en flagrante delecto, is imagining the death of Stanley Tweedle in all its glorious possibilities. And that machine - " He let out a deep sob. " - that machine took it away from me." Xev hugged 790 to her as he wailed loudly.

"I am sorry for your loss, 790," Kai stated in a voice devoid of any true sorry. "But this will not help us free ourselves."

Kai walked to stand in front of the Gate. Xev tucked 790 under her arm and joined him. "What should we ask?"

Kai glanced at her then looked back to the Gate. "Something that would alter our future."

Xev watched him as he walked back to Stanley, standing outside the illumination of the Gate. Taking a deep breath and clasping 790 more tightly to her side, she squinted into the brightness.

"What if...I had never met Stanley Tweedle?"

She braced herself.

The Gate hissed. "That is not an option."

Under her arm, 790 whimpered pathetically. Xev glanced over at Kai and Stan. Stan shrugged. She searched her mind for another question and quickly found one to which she wasn't entirely sure she would even want to know the answer.

"What if I hadn't met Kai?"

The Gate hissed, more loudly this time. "That is not an option."

Xev let out a subtle sigh of relief.

"This series of questions is not helping the situation," Kai calmly criticized.

She searched her mind again, looking for the most dramatic, important event of her life. All heartache, pain, joy and triumph had been located around one brief period.

"What if the Divine Order had never existed?"

The Gate sizzled impatiently. "The Divine Order was not a occurrence in your life. Its path runs independently of yours and is unable to affect its outcome."

Xev sighed, out of ideas. She turned to see Kai, silently regarding the Gate. Slowly, he walked forward to stand beside her, his dark eyes looking straight into the brilliance between the pillars.

She watched him silently, her heart pounding as she waited for him to say something. 'Something', well... she knew precisely what she wanted him to ask the Gate. She would have asked herself, but... she couldn't. She wanted him to do it himself.

Stanley began to pace, passing Xev as he did so.

"Okay, let's think about this clearly," he began, turning around to face Xev and Kai. "If it's got to be something that would completely change the way things are now, then it has to be something big."

Xev nodded. "That makes sense to me. If everything we've tried isn't right, then it must be something huge." She looked between the two and a quarter men around her. "Any ideas?"

Stanley took a deep breath and marched toward the Gate. The idea of once again being swallowed by the bright netting of the Gate and having his body controlled by an entity he couldn't understand made his stomach churn, but he faced the Gate with comfortable certainty that he would not die. The assurance of survival was a great catalyst of bravery.

"What if," he enunciated toward the brightness. "What if I didn't have the Key to the Lexx?"

The netting, predominantly purple this time, stretched out and consumed them.

Stan opened his eyes wide, the brightness no longer causing a reflexive squint.

Images flew by.

Sitting behind a desk, hurling metal balls at a robot...

Zev strapped to a slab, a cluster lizard shrieking in her ear...

Kai being awakened in a drawer...

A small insect smashing against Stanley's face...

Running to avoid a termination order...

Meeting Zev...

Meeting Thodin...

Crouching against a wall in the Lexx, hearing the nasal piercing cry of a cluster lizard...

Zev dashing forward, her arm outstretched, preparing to save the endangered heretic...

The heretic, only his head and one arm extending from the tooth-lined petals of the lizard's mouth, his eyes full of the fear of failure...

Zev reaching out to him and their hands becoming connected by a golden strand of light...

Risking his life repeatedly because he had to...because the Captain had to stay with her ship...

The images continued, but Stanley's ability to recognize them as unfamiliar vanished.

Stan sat in the galley, staring at his faceplate of green, processed food. His stomach churned in apprehension and anxiety. They had located a planet, a planet they had never seen before. He closed his eyes, hoping, praying he wouldn't be called.

"Stan in the galley," Lexx said, his voice resonating in Stan's head - the realization of a long dreaded event. "Xev wants him to come to the bridge."

Stan gently set down the faceplate, the churning in his stomach rising, creating a burning in his throat. Slowly, he stood and walked from the galley. He never wanted to explore these places, but Kai couldn't always go alone and Xev had to stay on the Lexx in case it was needed. He hadn't slept a whole night through since they'd left the Cluster.

Xev stood on the command pedestal, her bright eyes searching the viewscreen before her. Stan calmly walked to her, reporting for duty.

"Stan, what took you so long?" she asked, not averting her eyes from the planet hovering in space before the Lexx. "I have been dying to know what's on this planet."

"You could go," he suggested, his eyes on his feet. "I could stay here and watch over the Lexx."

Xev turned to him. "What good would that do, Stan? That planet might be dangerous. If it is, we'll need the Lexx and I'm the only one with the Key." She lifted her hand, displaying the golden ripple of Lexx's Key crossing her palm. "I'll go wake Kai. You go get a moth ready. And, Stan, hurry up!"

She stepped down from the post, striding from the bridge.

And time stopped.

The grasp of light released them. Stan looked around, seeing Kai, Xev and 790 all where they had been moments earlier. The memory of what he had experienced trickled into his mind.

"I don't like that path," Xev commented before Stan had come to understand all the images.

"Why not? You'd have all the power," he said with a frown.

"But not as much of the fun, Stan. I don't want to be Captain."

"Well, you're not, so don't worry about it." He turned his eyes to Kai, who, sensing his stare, redirected his eyes toward him. "You were in cryostasis again?"

"Yes."

"This ride isn't much fun for you, is it, Kai?"

"I doubt it was designed to amuse the dead."

"That's good," Stan replied, attempting to contain a grin. "It'd be kinda pointless, wouldn't it? On account that the dead do not get amused."

Xev walked toward Kai, her mouth twisted in thought. "What do you think, Kai?"

"I think," he replied in measured tones, "that that was not the correct question."

Xev narrowed her eyes briefly at the assassin, but chose not to comment on his obvious observation. "So, what is the correct question?"

"How about if I hadn't been a Security Guard Class 4 on the Cluster?" Stan exclaimed in what he likely felt was a sudden stroke of brilliance. "If I hadn't been a Security Guard then I wouldn't have been on the Cluster. If I hadn't been on the Cluster, then I couldn't have met you guys."

He looked excitedly to Xev. She looked to Kai, who inclined his head in acquiescence.

"But I would suggest," Kai interposed evenly, " that you not mention your rank. It would seem likely the Gate would show us a possible path wherein you were never demoted from Class 2."

Xev nodded. "Go ahead and ask, Stan."

Stan quickly trotted to stand before the Gate. "What if I hadn't been a Security Guard on the Cluster?"

The web devoured them, swallowing their bodies in its maw of light.

Images, bright and dizzyingly colourful, swept past.

Strapped to a table, amino acids and flight path coordinates being embedded in his teeth...

Leading the Foreshadow directly to the Ostral-B Heretic base...

Running out of oxygen...

Meeting Feppo and Smoor...

Being tortured...

Escaping, his Heretic's uniform torn and abused, from Feppo and Smoor's ship...

Arriving on the Cluster to aid Thodin...

Rushing to help release Thodin from the prisoner transport...

Zev bound to a slab, being transformed into a beautiful woman...

Kai, lying in a drawer, turning his mindlessly loyal stare to His Divine Shadow...

Running from guards...

Meeting Zev...

Meeting Kai...

Receiving the Key...

Stan slouched at the command pedestal, staring out into space. His boredom lifted as Xev entered, her lizard skin dress and red hair complementing the organic, fleshy tones of the bridge. He straightened his red and silver spandex uniform and smoothed his chin length hair.

"Hey, Xev."

She turned her lucid eyes to him, suspicious and likely correct about his motivations. "Hello, Stanley."

"I don't like your tone, Assistant Deputy Back-up Courier," 790 informed, his eye screens narrowed and his voice wet with unashamed animosity.

And time stopped.

The Gate extracted them from its maw, dropping them again in the metal hut. All stood in silence as the possible path refreshed itself in their consciousness.

790 glanced at the other occupants in the room with unconfined irritation. "Well, that, like Tweedle, was a small, uninteresting, unimportant nothing."

Xev passed Stan as they paced in front of the Gate. Kai watched in silence, the two pacing shadows crossing repeatedly across his unconcerned expression.

"Are you thinking, Kai?" Stan demanded, glaring at the assassin. "You're stuck in here, too, you know."

"I am as aware of our predicament as you are, Stanley, but being 'stuck in here' does not concern me."

Xev rolled her eyes. "You could still help."

Kai nodded faintly in acknowledgement and his brow furrowed in thought. Xev continued to amble back and forth in front of the Gate, her hands propped on her hips.

"It has to be something that would completely change who one of us is," she mused, her foot punctuating the sentence with a strong step.

"Yeah," Stan agreed, his eyes brightening. "If we aren't who we are then we couldn't become who we are."

790's eye screens narrowed, his digital pupils sliding slowly over to Stan's walking form. "Brilliant philosophy, Tweedle."

"Oh! Okay, I've got an idea!" Xev stopped abruptly, rushing to stand directly in front of the Gate.

Stan quickly trotted out of her way, ducking behind Kai and receiving a disinterested glance over the shoulder from the black-clad man.

Xev straightened her shoulders, looking directly at the luminous webbing.

"What if I had never become a love slave?"

"Good one, Xev," Stan shouted over Kai's shoulder as the Gate pulled them into its light.

Xev attempted to acknowledge and recognize each of the images as they fluttered past her.

Punching her would-be-husband in the Temple...

Being bolted to a metal slab, sobbing...

A 790-model robot escorting her slab to the love slave transformation room...

Stanley reporting to the Detention Center...

Stanley rushing back to the Detention Center, batting a tiny insect out of his way...

Cluster lizards devouring 790's body, tossing his inedible mechanical head away...

His head bouncing against the restraint controls...

Her slab suddenly being lowered and her limbs released...

Zev walked onto the bridge, finding Stan slouching at the command pedestal, snoring contently, 790 at his feet. She smiled.

"Hi, 790."

"Hi, Zev."

She leaned nearer Stanley's ear. "Good morning, Stan!"

With a start and a grunt, Stan awoke. As soon as the cloud of sleep left his eyes, he immediately surveyed with appreciation Zev's long, white wedding dress and her dusty-blonde hair.

"You look nice today, Zev."

She shot him a warning glare.

"I look like this every day." She propped her hands on her ample hips and looked to the viewscreen. "Anything interesting?"

"Not a thing," Stan replied, his eyes still on her. He stepped down from his command post. "Look, Zev, you and I are the only two people on - "

Zev whipped her face in his direction.

"The only two *living* people," he amended, "in this Universe, or in this ship, at least. You and I might as well have some fun."

Zev crossed her arms across the roundness of her stomach, the fabric of her wedding gown brushing against her ankles as she turned to face Stan.

"I'm sorry, Stanley. I can't." She pressed her plump hand against his cheek, then turned to leave the bridge.

And time stopped.

As she approached the corridor, she was yanked back and dropped on the floor of the metal hut.

"My dearest darling Xev, are you all right? That was the most unbearable path by far, my one and only object of complete and untarnished adoration. I did not love you!" 790, his eyes wide with horrified wonder, examined her frame for damage.

Xev stood facing the Gate, as the memories of the path linked with the synapses of her mind. She turned, finding Stan on his toes, peering at her over Kai's shoulder.

"Stanley?" She walked to him. Swallowing nervously, he stepped out from behind Kai to meet her. "You would have still wanted me?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, apparently." His gaze fluttered about her boots, unable to make eye contact. "I mean, you're Xev. That by itself makes you a lot closer to irresistible than most women get."

Xev's eyes softened.

"Don't believe him, delight of the Two Universes. He's just trying to trick you. It's a Tweedle trap!"

"Quiet, 790." Xev touched two of her fingers to Stanley's chin, raising his face to meet her eyes. "Thank you, Stan." Her eyes brightened a bit with appreciation and affection. "Thank you."

Stan laughed uncomfortably. "No problem, Xev."

"That was not the correct question," Kai observed.

"Not in the way I meant it, no," Xev corrected. Stan's laugh faded and he gave her a small smile. She smiled back and then averted her eyes to the Gate.

"What do we ask it now?"

Kai took a step toward the Gate. Xev turned her head ever so slightly, watching him, waiting for him to speak. Kai, please...

Kai eyed the Gate, the span of light ebbing and undulating with color. Intellectually, he knew it was beautiful.

"What if I had not died at the hands of His Divine Shadow?"

He felt Xev tense beside him. The Gate cast its net and snared them.

Kai looked around, letting his eyes take in the light again. It still held a fascination that an object of such brilliance and hue could be faced, eyes open, without reflex taking over.

Feeling the floor of his insect craft beneath his feet and the controls pressed against his palms, he prepared himself for the flash of images.

Flying against the Foreshadow...

Terror, anger, bravery, destiny...

Lying at the feet of a black-cloaked figure, his legs unable to move...

"The Brunnen-G will defeat you..."

Being lifted by two servants of His Shadow, his crushed legs sending screams of pain to his brain...

Lying in a cryopod, futilely raising one arm to stop the lid; too weak to resist further...

Stanley rushing down a hallway, a small bug smacking against his face...

Zev, bound to a table, screaming as a cluster lizard attacks...

Stanley meeting Zev...

Opening his eyes, seeing nothing but the frosted glass of the cryopod...

Feeling fear and relief...

Shoving open the lid, his limbs shivering with the prolonged cold...

Meeting Zev and Stanley...

Seeing Xev...

A sensation he used to recognize as excitement teased at the edge of his mind as he reminded himself that this was not the way his reality had occurred. By the time the admonition reached his awareness, he no longer believed it.

Kai leaned back against the organic headboard behind him. Xev stretched out her long legs, gently tapping her bare feet against his maroon boots.

"I still get mad when I think of that little brat," she said, distaste dripping from each syllable. "I'm glad I punched him."

"I am, too." Kai smiled. Xev grinned and scooted nearer to him with a failed nonchalance. "However, the holograms at the wife bank would probably be very disappointed."

"They don't exist anymore, so they have definitely gotten over it."

Kai laughed faintly, his forelock shifting with his breath. Shifting his weight, he felt his shoulder press against Xev's. She instantly responded, tucking her legs up between them, her knees sliding up the length of his limb. A tingling trailed where her skin had touched his clothing, the heat of her permeating the fabric. He had never been this close to her before, but he had wanted to be.

He paid no attention to the movement he saw in his peripheral vision. Waxen tendrils extended from the ceiling and a young woman dropped silently to the floor.

Kai's eyes focused on Xev's, though his mind acknowledged the blur below as her lips he neared with his own. Her breath teased against his mouth, stirring his lock of hair, brushing it against his cheek. Her eyes closed, the lids heavy in anticipation. The space around them seemed dead, absent - they were the only two in the universe.

"I'm hungry."

Xev's eyes flashed open and away from him. Both of them took in the sight of the pretty woman clothed in a soft pink dress, her blond hair curled in ringlets around her heart-shaped face. Their faces paled with dread.

"Hi, Lyekka," Kai greeted, his voice measured with forced calm.

"Stan!" Xev shouted, turning her face toward the corridor.

Moments later, Stan bounded into the room. "What's wrong? Lyekka?!"

"I'm very hungry, Stanley."

Stanley looked desperately around the room, his eyes rushing over Kai as he stood up from the bed.

"We aren't anywhere near a planet," Stan explained. "We don't have anything."

Lyekka's eyes saddened, her lower lip puffing slightly in the hint of a pout. "I need to eat, Stanley. I am very hungry."

"Just wait, Lyekka, wait-"

"Don't worry, Stanley. I will not eat you."

She turned, her deceptively innocent eyes surveying Kai and Xev. She smiled at Kai, her eyes appreciating his build for the wrong reasons.

"No!" Xev and Stan shouted simultaneously as Lyekka reached out to caress Kai's cheek.

In a flash, Kai was pulled into Lyekka's death hallucination.

And then time stopped.

He saw only a glimpse of Xev before the Gate retracted, depositing him on the cold metal floor of the hut. Xev, beside him, extended her fingers, gently brushing against his hand. She recoiled from the cold.

"That was not the correct question either," Kai said, stepping away from the Gate, returning to the surrounding darkness.

Xev whipped around, her face flushed, watching him disappear into the relative shadows.

"What could it be?" Stan wondered aloud. "We've tried all the big things - the Divine Order, Xev's cluster lizard, Kai's death. Oh! Maybe, maybe it was - "

"Wait, Stan." Xev's gaze remained on Kai though his own was trained on the floor. "I would like to explore *this* question."

She turned to face the Gate, allowing herself a moment to form the question she wanted to ask. "I'm going to ask it what would have happened if we hadn't met Lyekka," she declared to the others.

Stan sighed wearily. "If we hadn't met Lyekka, then you'd still be a bowl of goo."

This candid fact made her pause, but she was far from beaten. In her mind another question formed, one that would cover all possibilities of misinterpretation and show her exactly what she wanted to see.

"All right, Gate," she said. "What if Lyekka just hadn't been hungry that day?"

The Gate obediently stretched its shimmering tendrils and projected them all through the layers of time once more.

The images soared past again, though they were relatively similar to what she had seen before.

Herself bound to a table, screaming as a cluster lizard attacks....

Meeting Stan...

Meeting Kai...

Stealing the Lexx....

Kai....

Xev adjusted herself on the bed a bit, patting the smooth claret surface of Kai's boots with her bare feet. She watched him with quiet excitement, stretched out as he was alongside her on the inviting surface of her bed.

"I still get mad when I think of that little brat," she was saying with hardly concealed disgust. "I'm glad I punched him."

"I am, too." Kai said, smiling that gorgeous smile that was already more than enough to make her senses reel. She smiled back and inched closer, not making any particular effort to be discreet about it. "However, the holograms at the wife bank would probably be very disappointed."

"They don't exist anymore, so they have definitely gotten over it."

Xev watched him again as a soft laugh escaped his lips, and when he moved a bit until their shoulders pressed together, her reaction was immediate. She pulled her legs up, coyly brushing her knee against his leg, seeing a tiny blaze of desire igniting in his eyes at the contact.

Every instinct nudging her forward, screaming at her to go for it, Xev inched closer still to him until their faces were only a breath apart. As her eyes closed with imminent excitement, she felt the moist warmth of his lips timidly brushing against hers, and then engulfing them in a gentle but still passionate kiss. One of his hands slid upwards to stroke her hair, while the other caressed the small of her back.

She gasped around his mouth, poking her tongue out to circle the inside of his lips, and then plunging it deeply within to explore every inch of his mouth until his own heated tongue met hers.

Ah, they had waited much too long, Xev decided, her final coherent thought before the heat of passion overwhelmed them both.

With fervor they began clawing at each other's clothes, desperate to remove the obstacles between them and their bare selves. While she worked on removing his maroon uniform top, he lowered the fastener of her lizard-dress, scraping his fingers up and down her bare back. The tips of his fingers left fiery little tingles, and Xev doubled her efforts to pull the clothes off his body.

She managed to squirm out of her garment and threw it away, crushing the full length of her body against Kai's. He felt *so* good against her, she didn't think she could have waited a moment longer for this to finally be happening. His arms wrapped around her in the embrace of predestined lovers, he lowered her to the bed, easing the weight of his body on her. And Xev reveled in the glorious sensation of him as he kissed her face, raining kisses down her neck and then gently tasting the skin of her chest, careful not to leave an inch of her body unloved.

She moaned and growled softly as his lips skimmed over her skin, teasing the tender swells of her breasts. The touch was dreamlike, a thousand times better than anything she had ever fantasized about, and as her passion rose to fever pitch she was struck with the desire to ravish him, to crush him in her arms and hold him and touch him everywhere.

Kai's lips traveled to the center of her chest, and as his hands gently began stroking her unbound breasts, a soft sigh of pleasure escaped her lips and her own hands rubbed against his naked back, her fingers scraping his skin, and she curled her legs upwards to hook them around his waist, caressing the sides of his chest as she did so.

"Mm, Kai..." she whispered. He looked up for a moment, and they smiled at each other. For that moment, it was a look that said everything... I love you, I'll love you forever, I'll never leave you....

Xev leaned her head back and groaned softly as his kisses traveled lower, his fingers following in indistinct patterns as they stroked her belly. She could feel his warm breath tickling her skin and when she felt him reach the auburn locks at her groin she eagerly parted her thighs, stifling a gasp as he ran his fingers against the inside of her leg. When he cupped her mound, she felt herself flare open at his touch.

She giggled softly, rotating her hips as his fingers gently parted her soft folds, rewarding him with a soft surge of silken wetness. "We should have done this," she breathed. "The second we first saw each other."

A small laugh was her answer. "I think Stanley and the others would have objected to that," Kai said, placing a few tender kisses on her knee as his fingers caressed her glistening folds.

Xev delighted in his every touch, and later she would be content to later take the time to drink in the beautiful sensations of his fingers and lips, but they had waited much too long and she was in no mood to be teased when they had much more *serious* things to be doing.

His trousers were still on, and she wanted them off. Without hesitation she snaked her hands between their bodies, fingers digging into the muscles of his arms as she pulled him up to her. Smiling devilishly, her eyes connected with his and she studied him deeply as she let one hand travel down his slender body, watching the subtle variation of emotion in the deep glow of his beautiful eyes, until they closed softly as her fingers deftly caressed the hardness beneath the surface of his trousers, struggling for space in the confining material.

Quickly now, her fingers pulled down the fastening of his trousers, releasing his swollen organ into her eagerly awaiting hands. She stroked him once, gently, moaning in unison with him as she felt him throb in response to her long-awaited touch.

Xev pulled his head to hers to kiss him, hungrily, deeply, moving her body underneath his until she could lift her legs around his hips, pushing him down against her. The tip of his organ caressed her for a moment, pressing against her sensitive little button before finding her silken opening. She gasped as he eased within her, and she felt his warm breath against her cheek as he moaned, and his hips began to undulate slowly as he entered her completely.

She was certain Kai would complete her more than any other man ever could. She accepted him fully, matching his rhythm as he rotated slowly, caressing her most intimate part from within.

Xev moaned with utter joy, every one of his strokes within her sending her reeling with pleasure. Her hands were all over his back, rubbing it, caressing it, making him moan with sensual delight.

After a few thrusts he leaned closer to her face, caressing her mouth with kisses that were as gentle as they were passionate. And she eagerly kissed him back, and their soft groans were lost together as his hips moved in small circles against her. Xev pushed back, slowly opening her lust-hazed eyes to stare at him.

Kai's eyes were closed, his lips parted ever so slightly as he gasped for breath. His skin gleamed with a fine film of sweat, his face flushed with the intensity of his passion. His hair, most of it fallen and free of his bun, framed the smoothness of his skin and the small strands fell around his face like little tears of ebony.

He was so beautiful like this, and Xev had no desire to see the lovely sight before her end any time soon. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, forcing him to stop the sensuous movement of his hips, and open his eyes and look at her.

"What is it?" he asked huskily.

Xev playfully batted her eyelashes at him, then ignored his gasp of protest as she smoothly slipped free of him, pressing her hands to his chest until he was lying on his back. Her gaze swept all over his lovely naked skin, until she saw her moisture shining on his hard organ, mixing with his own slowly leaking fluid. The sight rekindled her hunger and she dove for his groin, slowly rubbing her lips against the tip of his member before engulfing it in her mouth.

She savored his warm, musky taste, further excited as she felt him tense up and his breathing grew erratic as she caressed him with her lips, tracing the pulsing, delicate veins along his shaft with the tip of her tongue, and her hands gently cupped his tender, swollen sacs. She felt him tremble as he fought the urge to press his hips up.

Satisfied with his reaction, she released his aching hardness, nuzzled the patch of fine dark hair above it, and continued her exploration up his body, caressing every inch of skin and every muscle contour. Her tongue toyed briefly with his navel, then traveled higher, her fingers raking across his chest and stiff, sensitive nipples as her mouth possessively claimed his.

As they kissed, Kai gently cradled Xev in his arms, maneuvering their bodies until she now rested on her back. His lovely lips curved into a small smile as they caressed her cheek, then her neck, exploring her with his mouth much as she had moments before.

His lips tickled and teased her skin, and the air cooled the moist trail his tongue left. Xev found herself moaning, shivering as his mouth found her breasts, kissing and tasting her soft, exquisite skin, gently pinching her nipples with his lips.

It grew into a blur of sensation and her body's movements became beyond her control as Kai's lips and hands roamed everywhere on her body, his loose hair caressing her skin whenever he moved. And when his lips reached her most intimate self, teasing her swollen little bud with slow, rhythmic sucks, she was certain she wouldn't be able to hold back a minute longer.

But then she felt herself return from the edge of abandon, aware of Kai silencing her moans as his mouth claimed hers, kissing her with renewed passion.

Xev pushed herself up on her elbows, slowly sitting up, then swinging her legs over Kai's thighs until she sat on his lap, the head of his organ just barely brushing against her moist opening, desperate to enter her. And they both tensed as she lowered herself onto him, uniting them again in a bond that went beyond just the physical.

She smiled at him, but his own smile was lost in her mouth as she crushed his lips to hers. His hands began roaming over her body again, tickling the bare skin of her back, stroking her everywhere until his fingers stopped to caress her chest, gently rubbing her nipples with the tips of his thumbs.

She sighed with pleasure and pushed herself up, then down again, feeling his hardened manhood filling her with such excruciating pleasure with each thrust she thought she would explode with ecstasy every time. Slowing down, she gently rocked her pelvis against him, crushing their chests together. His nipples were as hard as hers, drilling into the softness of her swollen breasts.

She could feel him kissing her shoulders, grazing his tongue against her skin. Closing her eyes again she sculpted the swell of his muscles with her fingertips, smelling the enticingly erotic scent of his sweat glistening on his skin. She rubbed her lips against his neck, then poked her tongue out to lick at it. He gasped.

"You liked that?" she whispered to him.

"Yes," he shivered, the word little more than a soft groan of passion.

Xev smiled to herself, then focused on spreading her tongue against the tender skin of his neck, delighted in his response. His soft gasps became intoxicating and she soon found herself moving again, riding his hardness until they were both now moaning with desire.

The taste of him still lingered on her lips, and she lunged at him and kissed him again with intensity, passionately sucking at his lips and tongue until they both had to stop for air.

And finally it turned into a wonderfully sensual dance. Their hands were everywhere, touching, caressing, feeling their bodies as though discovering each other for the first time, for the only time that would ever matter, moving with passionate grace, like two orchestral instruments complementing each other in sensual harmony.

Xev could barely contain her cries of pleasure. She could feel Kai's head against her shoulder moving to the rhythm of their thrusts, as she slid herself up on his hardness, rocked a bit and rotated around him, then sliding all the way back down until they were pressed so closely together it was hard to believe they would ever be separate bodies again.

And as their moans lost themselves together and their bodies crushed together one last time, months of longing and desire culminated into a single, long, painfully exquisite burst of release.

Xev cried out as the sensation of unbelievable burning intensity tore through like a rolling wave, shaking her and tossing her with a pleasure of such strength she was certain she was about to pass out. She could feel Kai's hands, holding her as he pushed into her heated depths again, making her explode with ecstasy again even as she felt burst after burst of his pure hot liquid filling her, and his deep-throated moans echoed in her ears.

It was a high that felt as though it would take an eternity to descend from. The only sound in the room was the couple's own passion-heavy breathing and the pounding of their frantic heartbeats.

Finally, exhaustion slowly began taking over, and they both lowered themselves over the damp, crumpled sheets of the bed. Their eyes met, their gaze sharing their unspoken bond of love. Xev smiled as Kai wrapped his fingers around her hand, caressing it.

"I can't think of a reason to ever leave this bed," she said, chuckling softly.

"I hope you don't." He smiled, lifting her hand to kiss her palm.

And they lay there blissfully staring into each other's eyes until sleep overcame them both, a sleep sweet with love and desire.

***

Time then seemed to continue, but only certain moments stood out.

***

"Kai... this can't be happening..."

Xev's voice trembled as her eyes blurred with tears, mixed with sorrow and anger and helplessness, which nearly made her sick with their intensity. She held on tightly to Kai's hand, who barely had the strength to hold hers. Just the effort of keeping his fingers curled around Xev's hand was a visible strain.

"I'm sorry, Xev," he said, weakly. "I wish... I wish it wasn't..."

He thumped his head back against the cryopod, moaning softly, and Xev choked back a sob, one of many she had bitterly swallowed back, determined not to waste any last precious minutes with frantic sobbing.

Kai sat on the bottom of the pod, his knees hugged close to his chest, his slender body racked with chills though his face was beaded with perspiration. His unbound hair lay in disarray around his head, a few errant strands clinging to the moisture on his face, occasionally furrowing as small waves of pain traversed him.

He looks so pale, Xev thought, as she watched him close his eyes for a moment, lids trembling. There was nothing she could do to comfort him, nothing she could do to ease his pain but simply sit there and stay with him. She lifted his hand and gently kissed his fingers, mindful of the swollen area below his wrist where the spider had bitten him.

With dismay they had learned the Lexx was ill-equipped to treat anything as seemingly trivial as a spider bite. And thanks to that oversight, thanks to that strange planet which had seemed so beautiful from up aboard the Lexx, but had been packed with unfamiliar animals and insects, thanks to Xev's own overdeveloped sense of curiosity-- she cursed herself - Kai would be dead soon.

It had only been a few hours since they returned from the planet, since that vile little creature had assailed him before anyone could react, crawling out of nowhere and injecting its bitter venom through the tender skin of his arm. Though 790 had performed numerous tests on Kai, there was nothing to be done. They had nothing on board the Lexx to countermand the effects of the venom, and it had spread through his system with alarming speed.

He was growing weaker by the second, and he would be dead soon. Xev was fuming with rage, angry at herself-if she hadn't wanted to go down to that planet, this never would have happened. It wasn't fair! She should be the one dying right now, not Kai.

Oh, Kai...

With obvious effort he pulled his head back forward, and Xev slipped her hand behind his neck to help him. His skin was cold and clammy, and she tenderly brushed the hair away from his face, gently caressing it.

He sighed against her hand, and Xev felt her heart ache even more as she felt more warm moistness against her hand - he was crying, softly, soundlessly. It took all of her strength not to burst into tears right here and now.

"Oh, Kai..." she whispered. Careful not to move him, not to cause him any more pain, she gently draped her arms around him and held him, feeling his body tremble as the fragile life still inside him was slowly being drained away.

"I'll miss you," Xev murmured, placing a small kiss against his neck. "I-I can't help but feel that... we weren't together for as much time as I wanted to, and-"

"Xev," Kai gasped, softly. "It's okay... it's happened." He paused to catch his breath. "Just remember... even in death, I'll still be with you."

"Kai, I... listen..." she began, but her voice was already breaking.

"Xev, please, don't talk, just... just stay here... with me..."

And he gently rested his head on her shoulder, a few last, shaky breaths slipping past his lips.

"Whatever you want, Kai," she whispered to him. And she held him to her as though he were her child, as though the warmth and love of her embrace would be enough to protect him from the evil poison seeping within him.

For a few minutes they sat there, Xev gently stroking his hair, daring not to loosen her embrace, until she felt Kai stir and sigh ever so slightly. She could not contain the tear that fell from her eye and onto the ebony-black hair below her face.

"Kai?" she attempted, her voice hushed.

Silence.

"Kai?" It was no more than a strangled whisper.

Silence again.

And finally Xev allowed herself to break down, crying out in despair, her voice echoing over the frozen walls of the cryochamber. She cradled Kai's limp body in her arms, rocking him, the torrent of unbridled tears escaping her eyes as she buried her face against her dead lover's head.

She couldn't tell if her tears ever ended. It felt like they never did.

And then time stopped.

The Gate stretched out and released them all from its incandescent grasp, spitting them back in the cabin. With a start Xev took in her surroundings, her eyes still burning with tears, and whirled back towards the Gate.

Agitated as a wild animal, she stopped within inches of the technicolor netting and yelled, "That wasn't right! I wanted to know what would have happened if Kai wasn't dead! And he died! That wasn't supposed to happen!"

"What happened?" Stan asked, casting a quizzical glance in Xev's direction. When she didn't answer, and merely stood, staring at the Gate with uncontained ferocity, he turned towards Kai.

"I died... again," Kai said. He closed the distance between himself and Xev in one graceful step, his eyes locking cautiously locking onto her.

"Xev..."he attempted.

A sob of anger and despair shook Xev's shoulders. "That wasn't supposed to happen," she said again, eyes brimmed with unchecked tears as she looked up at him. The memory of him dead in her arms was still fresh, making her shiver with the horrible reality of it. "The Gate won't show me what happens if you don't die."

Kai considered this for a moment. "Then perhaps... it is destined to be so."

"What?" Xev breathed.

"My death must be part of our destiny. As you and Stanley and 790 are to live, I am to die."

"But I don't want you dead, Kai! You should be alive!" Xev insisted, and she clasped a hand over her mouth, shocked at the sound of her own words. What was wrong with her? She was beyond childish emotional outbursts of the sort. She knew Kai was dead! Why was it affecting her so much now?

Because of what the Gate had shown her, Xev suddenly realized. Could it be true that... somehow, perhaps even on an unconscious level, she had never quite abandoned hope that someday, Kai would return to life? And now, she was being told, in no uncertain terms, that in no alternate future under any different events would Kai ever stay alive. Kai could never be destined for life. The truth was ugly and she hated it.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, urgently wiping at the tears on her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Kai."

"Your reaction is... understandable, Xev," Kai said. And, much to her surprise, he reached his hand out and gently placed it on her shoulder. She smiled at him, and touched his hand.

"Thank you," she sighed, blinking a few times to clear her eyes. If he had to be dead, at least she was happier to have him in this reality than the latest one. Here, he was awake, if not alive, and around. It was better than dead and not around at all. "But I can deal with this later. Right now, we've got other concerns."

"Yes, right," Stan said, clearing his throat, happy about the change of subject. "Does anyone have any other bright ideas?"

Xev sighed, suddenly feeling tired and drained. "I'm fresh out."

***

Stanley crossed furiously back in forth before the glowing gate. Xev sat on the floor, her head in her hands and 790 in her lap.

"We've tried everything," Stanley complained, his voice hinting at an emotional breakdown.

"We haven't tried everything, Stan," Xev corrected, not raising her head. "If we had tried everything we wouldn't still be in here." She focused her eyes on the robot head gazing up at her from her crossed legs. "Do you have any more ideas, 790?"

"No, Sweetness. Though I calculate there are over four hundred thousand million possible questions, I don't know which is the correct one to free you." 790's digital eyes echoed his sadness. "But I will stay with you, dearest, darling Xev, and keep you company until the air in this poorly ventilated hut is exhausted."

"Thank you, 790."

"And I will spend the remaining centuries of my existence reciting love sonnets and - "

"Thank you, 790," Xev repeated, her voice more firm. "I appreciate that."

Stan continued to pace, worry and fear causing his limbs to flail with nearly every step. "It's not fair," he whined. "We didn't even want to go on this ride." He stalked to the door, passing Kai as he moved, nearing his face to the metal blockade. "You hear that, lady? We didn't even want to go on this ride."

"Quit whining and ask questions," Kharny replied, sounding depressed and irritated. "I don't want to stay here all night."

"Night?" Xev asked, lifting her eyes to the door. "It's night already?"

"Already?" Kharny replied. "No. It came the same time it usually does. You guys are just taking *forever!*" She slammed a fist against the door.

"I suggest," Kai began, shifting his eyes to Xev, "that we continue guessing."

"Fine!" Stanley shouted at the door. "Let's get detailed, shall we? This gate is obviously anal-retentive! What if my shoelaces were green? What if the Lexx were three inches shorter? What if Kai had short hair? Or what if he had stayed on Brunnis 2? What if Xev had never punched her husband in the temple? Or if she married His Divine Shadow instead? What if I - I...what if I hadn't run into that stupid little bug thing in the Cluster? Or - "

The air was ripped from his words as the Gate engulfed them.

He looked up and could see Kai and Xev, with 790 in her arms, before him. The three of them stood, facing each other. Images fluttered around them, but this was different than the other times - this hurt.

Kai's ship crashing into the Foreshadow...

Kai's body being altered, cut, mutilated by the bio-scholars...

Zev going through her trial...

Zev undergoing the love slave transformation...

Stanley reporting to the Detention Center...

Stanley rushing down the corridor, a small mechanical bug flying past him, its course undisturbed...

Bugbomb! Who would have thought it was possible...

Cluster lizards trapped in their cages...

Thodin's restraints released in the main stadium...

The Ostral-B defeated...

The four of them faced each other - unified. Suddenly, a force shot from the center of the gate, knocking each of them in a different direction and further and further away from one another.

It was a descent into darkness, and finally....

Drone 790 took notice of the slab as it arrived. It slid upon a metal trail until the prisoner upon it was horizontal beneath the Lusticon.

Drone 790 received the information concerning this prisoner. Aranda Brun. Guilty of the crime of failing to perform her wifely duties. Sentenced to be a love slave for Seminary 6734498.

Deftly, drone 790 lifted a pair of black goggles and placed them on the prisoner's eyes. The prisoner made a sound, but he had no reaction to it.

He paced to the controls and activated the scanning device. The prisoner was scanned.

He activated the first of two DNA-alternating mechanisms. Aimed at her reproductive systems, it accelerated her hormonal production and rendered her sterile.

Moving to another panel, drone 790 randomly selected a hair color and type. He then activated the Lusticon.

The prisoner made another sound but it was meaningless to him. The machine descended and the prisoner's DNA was reformed. It lifted. Still wearing the vision-blocking goggles, the prisoner's slab was lifted and taken away.

Drone 790 took notice of the next slab as it arrived. It slid upon the metal trail, grinding a bit, until the prisoner was horizontal beneath the Lusticon. The prisoner was making a lot of noise but he took no notice to it.

Drone 790 received the information concerning this prisoner. Nayru Miron. Guilty of the crime of failing to perform her wifely duties and caught in bed with another woman. Sentenced to become a love slave for Seminary 6734499.

Drone 790 lifted a pair of black goggles, placing them on the prisoner's eyes.

He stepped up to the controls and activated the scanning device. The prisoner was scanned.

He activated the first DNA-alternating mechanism and it was aimed at her reproductive system. The prisoner was still making a lot of noise.

Drone 790 moved to another system panel and randomly selected a hair color and type. He activated the Lusticon.

The machine descended and the prisoner's DNA was reformed. It lifted. Still wearing the goggles, the prisoner's slab was raised up and away.

Drone 790 took notice of the next slab as it arrived. It slid upon the long metal trail with a rusty noise until the prisoner was horizontal beneath the Lusticon.

Drone 790 received the information concerning this prisoner. Anju Kafei. Guilty of the crime of...

***

Kai entered the small two-room home. A family of seven occupied the front room. According to his orders, the second room was home to a small party of heretics. Kai's cold, green eyes surveyed the scene, quickly assessing the man, woman, two small boys, three young girls and a baby whose sex he was unable to determine; all seven enemies of His Shadow.

"You are harboring Ostral-B Heretics, enemies of His Divine Shadow." Fear swept swiftly across the large family. The mother and father grabbed their children to them, believing their thin, weak arms would afford protection to their offspring. "I have been instructed to kill you." Kai lifted his arm, readying his brace.

The door to the second room burst open and two men and one woman stood in the cavity in the wall. Their shiny, sparse clothing told Kai immediately that these were the heretics he was sent after. They raised their weapons, shooting flashes of energy at him. Kai's inorganic body absorbed them, unharmed, as he turned his brace toward them.

Kai fired, the weapon shrieking from his wrist, slashing into the chest of the tallest heretic. The children watched in silent horror and their mother cried aloud, as the man fell to the ground, his heart punctured. The remaining two heretics lunged at Kai.

The woman leapt on his back as her companion attacked Kai head on, his knife ripping into Kai's shoulder. The blade left a deep, painless wound in the assassin's dead flesh. Kai pressed his right hand against the heretic's neck and fired his brace, severing the man's head in an explosion of bone and sinew.

Kai threw the woman from his back, knocking her to the floor. He paused, the gash in his shoulder healing. His eyes turned to the last remaining heretic as she stood to attack. She ran toward him, a blade grasped in her fingers, raised above her head. Just as she leapt at him, Kai fired his brace. The cord of his weapon caught the woman's waist. She hit the ground, her eyes staring blankly forward, her legs landing a few feet away.

The children wept with muffled sobs, their parents struggling to keep them silent. Kai surveyed the carnage, the three corpses cooling on the peeling hardwood floor. Then, he slowly shifted his eyes to the seven whimpering humans cowering in the corner.

"You are guilty of crimes against His Shadow," Kai began, glancing at the baby, wailing in discomfort. "I have been instructed to kill you." He lifted his right arm, aiming his brace squarely at the infant.

***

Zev felt worn springs pressing against her shoulder blades. A familiar, rhythmic creaking assaulted her ears, soon followed by other, similar creaks each pounding with their own rhythm. Sweat dripped on her forehead as the man on top of her, perspired in his effort.

The muscles in Zev's neck relaxed and her head fell to the side. She peered through the strands of light blue hair that fell across her eyes. The woman on the threadbare mattress next to Zev's laid naked, awaiting her next visitor, the time between men not long enough to warrant dressing.

Zev felt different. The usually pleasant sensation of a man inside of her, his long blue robe hiked up about his waist brushing against her sides seemed distant, removed, as if it was happening to the woman in the next bed.

A cold sweat beaded Zev's skin. Her heart beat in her ears, the flow of blood laboring past her eardrums to her brain. The flow slowed and slowed and the beat grew quieter and quieter. Her eyes glazed over as the cleric, his breathing ragged and rushed, erupted within her. She strained to turn her head, arduously shifting her pale blue eyes to the cleric.

Her lips parted and her last breath bore the word "help."

Regaining his breath, the cleric looked down at the blue-haired woman beneath him. Her eyes were vacant, the blackness of her pupils having claimed the whole. He recognized that look.

He slid himself from between her thighs, pulling down and straightening his dark blue robe, glancing at the caped attendant standing calmly at the exit. The cleric walked from the room, passing the attendant. He paused, nodding back to the woman lying naked on the tattered mattress.

"That one's expired."

The attendant notified, the cleric continued from the room.

***

Stanley swallowed hard, nearly choking as his terror-drenched breath rattled in his throat. His body was bound to a thick, painfully cold metal slab, its iciness numbing his skin and very nearly freezing the perspiration which poured down his back. His muscles ached from being immobilized for so long. The shackles binding his limbs and chest were becoming increasingly constricting.

He had chosen this-- after all, it was triple organ donation or death-- but that knowledge just didn't help. He was afraid. Afraid of the pain, afraid of losing three organs, afraid of living the rest of his life in a world that would allow this. It was wrong. No, it was beyond wrong. He wasn't sure what to call it, but it felt worse than wrong.

His slab was moved along a long metal trail, stopping every so often as a new prisoner was tried and punished. Stan could hear the screams as the sentences were carried out. He could imagine the screams in his own voice all too easily.

His heart beat frantically in his chest as the slabs halted again. The bound prisoner in front of him let out a short yelp as the memory probe pierced its way through his head. Stanley could hear the holographic mockery of justice speaking, but he had no ears for them. Not yet.

After what seemed like mere seconds, the slabs moved again and another cry of agony tore through the air as another sentence was carried out.

The slabs stopped.

The holographic lawyers flickered to life.

Stanley whimpered.

The chubby defense lawyer, all smiles, stretched his hand out towards Stanley's petrified form. "My client-"

The computerized voice chimed in. "Stanley Tweedle, security guard class 4."

"-is innocent of the charge of insubordination and throws himself upon the mercy of this court, secure in the knowledge that His Shadow's wisdom will prevail upon these proceedings."

Stanley tried to swallow but lost any remaining physical control as he spotted the memory probe in his periphery looming towards him. His heart was pounding so ferociously he was certain his chest was pulsing outward with every beat.

"Memory search commencing," the computer announced. And the long needle-like probe pierced through Stanley's cranium. His gasp came out rusty, parched, his muscles stiffening and straining suddenly. The probe didn't hurt, but it had to be the worst sensation anyone could experience without pain.

He tried to block the image being retracted from him... arguing with the line major over an access code-- a code! Three organs for a code. A heavy price.

Luckily, the images betraying his guilt were soon over and the needle was pulled out. Stanley sighed in relief, knowing he would have collapsed to the ground had it not been for the restraints.

"Memory search complete," the steady electronic voice said.

The still holographic judge came to life. "You--"

"Stanley Tweedle, security guard class 4," the computer offered.

"You have been found guilty of insubordination and you are therefore sentenced to triple organ donation so that your vital organs will be contributed to the protein bank where they will be recycled for purposes that serve His Shadow."

The slab slid on the rusty trail and turned to face the most dreaded sight in the two universes: the organ-outlined mold and its complementary blades. Three blades popped out. Stanley's eyes squeezed shut.

"You have been found guilty of insubordination-insubordination--" The judge's image flickered. "-and you are therefore sentenced to triple organ donation-triple organ--"

Somehow, the sound of that rang a tiny alarm in Stanley's brain. He opened his eyes, suddenly chilled by a whole new terror. "Oh no..." he whispered under his shaky breath. "Oh please, no..."

The judge flickered again, then stabilized. "You are therefore sentenced to death, however your vital organs will be allowed to live on and contributed to the protein bank where they will be recycled for purposes that serve His Shadow."

"No!" Stanley cried desperately. "No, anything but that! Please!"

With a sharp sound all blades popped out and activated with a rusty whirring sound, circling the shape of each organ it surrounded.

"In the execution of this sentence you are hereby cleansed of your crime against the people of the 20,000 planets. May His Merciful Shadow fall upon you."

The words bounced right off him. Stanley's eyes widened in horror, the slab insistently moving forward. No mercy to be shown there.

"Please! Not that!"

The blades loomed closer.

"No!"

It was a cry of terror that would have lasted much longer had the blades not begun slicing through Stanley's chest. The noise was a cacophony of horror-- the gory sound of skin tearing like cloth under the assault of the round razors, the disgustingly loud echo of bones crunching and snapping, blood splattering over his face and body and everywhere.

His scream turned to a desperate gurgle as blood welled up from his insides and out of his mouth. Cruelest of fates, he wasn't even permitted to die yet as the blades rolled around his insides, doing their job with inhuman conviction.

The pain was unimaginable. In its intensity, it was numbing. His precious organs spilled from him, torn away from him as a torrent of his lifeblood poured after them. His head moved limply downward, granting him this agonizing vision as a last sight. He would have vomited with the sheer horror of it all had his stomach not been halfway out of him already.

It was beyond wrong.

And then the last blade whirred to life a micron away from his face. It pushed forward, shredding his face apart, shattering his skull in search of the priceless organ within.

There was no pain. He was no longer able to feel it or even be aware of it.

Darkness enveloped him and he was finally allowed to die.

***

And time stopped one last time.

***

The Gate tossed them out, its luminescent arms dropping them carelessly on the metal flooring. They each hit the ground hard, landing on their backs, their heads smacking against the floor and sending reverberations through their bodies.

The door unlocked and swung open.

No one moved.

Cheers erupted from outside the hut and Kharny rushed in, anxious delight and worry making her movements jerky and unpredictable. "Great job, you guys," she gushed. "Great job. Now, c'mon, get up. Get up! People are waiting."

790 blinked his digital lids.

Kai stood, tilting his head from side to side, checking his systems.

Xev sat up, running her hands over her arms, warming them from the chill of the floor.

Stan rolled over, pressing his lips against the floor, his eyes closed.

Calmly, silently, with Kharny ushering them out, the crew of the Lexx filed out of the metal shack.

Silently, they walked back to the moth.

Silently, they flew back to the Lexx.

Silently, they stood on the bridge.

Stan took his position on the command pedestal, looking on the amusement park's shabby exterior, still displayed on the viewscreen.

"Lexx," he said softly, his voice emerging raspy, rusty, unused. He cleared his throat. "Lexx," he called again, louder. "Take us up."

"As you request, Stan," Lexx replied, already complying to the command. Lexx's steady baritone sounded through the bridge, seeming inhumanly loud and encompassing after the extended silence.

The Lexx's thrusters fired, sending a shudder through the hull, and the ship rose, leaving behind the Gate and all its possibilities.

Silently, they all watched.

Xev felt hollow, or maybe the opposite. She couldn't identify what she felt. She had never felt it before. It was like when she had eaten too much at the Lexx's food synthesizers. When she had eaten so much and was her stomach was so full that it felt empty again.

Kai, who had been watching the Lexx's ascension, turned toward the corridor, preparing to leave. Xev's eyes stared at her feet, but her ears, her mind and her heart followed Kai as he walked from her.

"Kai," she called, her voice breaking.

Kai stopped and turned to her.

She looked up at him. Tears rose in her eyes and she couldn't breathe, her chest was tight and the air burned in her lungs.

"I know that you don't want to be alive," she spoke, punctuating her words with sobs. "I know that you don't want - that you don't want anything. If everything that Gate said was true then you might - we might - *our lives* might have been different."

She caught her breath, the tears coming in torrents and her words forming in her mind only as she spoke them. "You may not have been meant for life, but you were meant for me." Kai's expression clouded. "It doesn't really matter what we haven't gotten to do because you're here and you have your own mind. I can see you every day and talk to you every day. I don't know what you saw back there, or what you saw," she continued, including Stanley and 790 in her view," but my life-" She stopped, her lungs demanding air through her sob-choked throat. "I would rather be here floating out in space on a giant bug ship with you three, than anywhere else that Gate showed me. And I'd rather still be a love-slave, and for Kai to be alive-dead, and for Stan to be the captain..." She suddenly fell silent, her mind no longer able to form the words her mouth still wanted to say.

She felt exposed. Her face was warm with tears and she felt silly, but she hadn't said anything that hadn't needed to be said, that she hadn't needed to say.

Kai remained silent, his eyes trained on his feet, his eyebrows knitted in thought.

790 wept quiet, digital tears.

Stanley attacked Xev in a bear hug.

"Oh, Xev, I love you, too," he gushed. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here. "We're here, we're alive - except for Kai, who shouldn't be anyway - and we're together. I don't care if it only took Bugbomb to ruin all our futures. I don't care about all that stuff that Gate showed us."

"I adore you, Xev of my heart," 790 sobbed loudly, joining in. "Any path that doesn't lead to you and my undying devotion to you is hell to me. I will endure torture, centuries alone in a barren wasteland devoid of diversion save my own cries of loneliness echoing off the surface of the hulk of rock I call my home floating dead in space, I will even endure Tweedle, my dearest, if only I exist in a reality where I love you."

Laughing through her tears, Xev lifted 790 from the floor and held him to her, even as she turned to accept another hug from Stanley.

They all turned to Kai.

Kai looked up at them, his face blank. Suddenly, his eyebrows raised, understanding their silent expectancy. "...Of all the possibilities we were shown," he said evenly, "this one *is* preferable."

Xev and Stanley grinned. Her arm still around Stanley's waist, she moved to Kai, pulling Stan with her. She pressed her cheek against Kai's shoulder and felt his hand gingerly touch the small of her back, taking from context what his actions should be. She noticed his other arm move to encompass Stan and let out a happy, cooling laugh, combating the heated tears still falling from her eyes.

The band of intergalactic misfits stood together for a brief time, a reanimated former assassin, a security guard who controlled the most powerful ship in the two universes, a love slave with a personality and a automaton without a body. Each one - save Kai - going over his or her life and delighting in every mistake and poor choice.

"That's enough!" 790 declared. "Tweedle's stench is overloading my circuits."

"How can you tell?" Stan countered, stepping away from the group. "Your circuits are malfunctioning anyway, you overgrown ashtray."

"Malfunctioning?" 790 repeated as Xev walked toward the command pedestal. "Not compared with the misfiring synapses in that underdeveloped meat that passes for your brain."

"I am returning to cryostasis," Kai injected serenely. "Wake me if you have need of me." He turned and promptly left.

"At least I have a brain, robot boy," Stan rebuked. "You can't even claim that. Just a bunch of wires and circuit boards."

Xev set 790 down on the floor, continuing her motion toward the command post.

"I don't think you should be claiming a brain, Tweedle," 790 continued. "That might be premature, as so much about you is."

Xev sat down on the command pedestal, ignoring the argument progressing behind her. She focused on the viewscreen, the motion of the Lexx through space, the celestial bodies that they approached, then passed. The viewscreen displayed only the void of space, the void of space she had seen everyday, unrelenting, unending, only decorated with the bright pinpoints of stars. Each star represented another path, Xev thought, a life that they could have lead, a death that could have occurred, a possibility that could have been and each one a life, a death and a possibility...that wasn't. Xev smiled.

THE END

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