Reborn on Europa, Daphnis awoke under the stars. A ghost circled around them, warning them about an upcoming snowstorm. A pair of sad tired eyes stared into the night sky above them. Eventually, he pushed himself up from the snow and followed the ghost’s instructions to a nearby bunker. In just enough time, the newborn Guardian manages to block the entrance to their small shelter and catch their breath once more.

Now, with the most recent threat safely outside, their ghost is able to explain things. New life, new memories, new names. It upset the reborn Guardian at first. Their new life had just started, and now they were being expected to uphold the will of some other entity. His ghost explained to him that, no, he wasn’t. The ghost had been looking for years for someone perfect. Someone special enough to be gifted with this power. The power to protect themselves and those they love and the world they live in. The Traveller has gifted them this ability and can’t take it away from them. The Traveller wishes for more hands to help them protect the world and everything beautiful and living about it. The young Guardian remained silent for a while, and then verbally accepted their new life, or at least the beginning of it.

The ghost then asked them what they wanted to be referred to as. To which they had no answer. The Guardian glanced out of a skylight. The snow storm had cleared, revealing the unending starry sky above.

“Could we… talk about something else for a while?” He asked. Following the Guardian’s gaze, the Ghost looked up at the night sky.

“You know, it’s quite beautiful when you don’t run the risk of frostbite.”

The pair spent the rest of their time awake gazing at the stars and planets above them. The Ghost began recounting stories from years long past and their namesake origins. Saturn passed overhead, and the Ghost began explaining the seemingly endless list of moons.

“Daphnis, named after a lonely lovestruck Shepard. Descendant of the Titans, son of Hermes, and brother of Pan.”

The Ghost looked down at the Guardian, his eyes still locked onto the sky.

“I think that would suit you.”

“Hmm?”

“Daphnis. I think it would suit you. The way you look at the stars. You seem lovestruck.”

“Daphnis wouldn’t be too bad. What would you be calle".

“How about Panpipe? Your loyal companion through your story.”

“As long as you’re okay with that.”

Even without a mouth, Daphnis could still feel a warm smile emanating from his Ghost. “Accompanying you is my main goal. To help you succeed in whatever you put your mind to. I’d be happy to be your Panpipe, Daphnis.”

Daphnis smiled. This might work.

“Daphnis-1 it is.”

“Daphnis… one?”

“You’re an exo, correct?”

Daphnis’ eyes grew wide. From their perspective, they seemed completely human.

“My apologies Daphnis, it was shortsighted of me to assume you’d remember what you looked like."

The pair searched through the base for something at least slightly reflective. They were slow and methodical, despite Daphnis’ newfound panic and Panpipe’s regret, they made sure not to break anything or misplace anything that might be useful later. They eventually stumbled upon a particularly clean metal tray. Daphnis angled it as best he could in the light, but no amount of shifting his reflection could make it more believable. His lower jaw was made entirely of metal, with a scar tearing through his left eye, revealing the muscle behind it and the eye itself were also replaced with inorganic counter components.

“Panpipe, what are Exos?”

Panpipe explained, to the best of their ability, which only seemed to confuse Daphnis even more. A machine in the appearance of a human was not what they were, not by a long shot. There was too much actual human in him, too much actual human on him, to be considered an imitation.

Seeing how upset Daphnis was becoming again, Panpipe quickly rushed to distract their mind with more concrete worries, like getting off Europa. Daphnis had been found quite far out in the snowy desert, it would be quite a trek to find some sort of ship, let alone one in working condition, or the materials to repair one. But that was a trip they could start in the morning, for now, Panpipe recommended Daphnis rest. The bunker they were in was slowly raising Daphnis’ core temperature, their mind was focusing on the real dangers, they could finally relax.

Panpipe was finally whole. They could rest.

---

After a few days of trekking through the snow, avoiding blizzards where they could, the pair finally stumbled upon a crashed jumpship. Mostly intact, however, an entire wing had been separated. It took an extra few weeks of scavenging for places to sleep and materials to pull the ship back together again. Eventually, Daphnis and Panpipe finally managed to bring the ship back to a flightworthy state, and Daphnis provided the navigation necessary to make it back to The Last City.

It was a new experience, being suddenly surrounded by so many different faces and voices. Most were extremely friendly, happy to have another pair of hands around to help. Learning all these new faces and voices and personalities was a pleasant experience all in all. Certain faces gave them a double take, but refrained from outwardly mentioning anything. Panpipe noticed the occasional mutterer behind them, but made sure that Daphnis would be looking the other way.

A pain started to grow from Daphnis’ right arm, beginning in the wrist and growing to encompass his entire arm within the span of half an hour. As Daphnis began to leave the Hanger, the pain rapidly escalated throughout their entire body, causing them to quickly drop to the floor, it felt like their entire nervous system was made of live wires. The shipwright Daphnis had learnt was called Amanda Holiday rushed to his aide as their vision left them.

Daphnis woke up in a quiet ward. Panpipe filled them in on what had been discovered while they were out. Most of the inside of Daphnis’ right arm was mechanical. A human nerve that had somehow remained within the mechanical parts had become inflamed and the reaction had passed to their spine and throughout their body. They were currently being pumped with some high quality painkillers through whatever veins remained.

Their right arm and legs felt numb. The rest of their body felt cold. Their head felt so heavy.

“Do I have to stay awake?” They asked.

“No, you’re stable. It’d be best to get some real rest anyways.” Panpipe replied.

And with that, Daphnis was once again out for the count.

He awoke the next morning, bright and early. But, not everything was the same. He sat upright in bed, slouching over, his hands in his lap.

“Oh, good morning Daphnis-1” A doctor said as she approached him.

“Two.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Daphnis-2.” He corrected her.

The doctor asked Daphnis what exactly they remembered, and he told her that if she said he started existing today, he would believe her if not for the ingrained knowledge of resets and the number stored in his head.

Panpipe spent the next hour reminding Daphnis of the past few months. Europa, the jumpship, the tower, the new friends, the collapse, the now. A friendly face came to visit him that day, he was informed by Panpipe that her name was Amanda Holliday, the human woman who’d been the first to arrive at his collapsed body. He thanked her greatly for that.

The night slowly arrived. The painkillers had been toned down and the doctors were split on whether or not to completely scrap the exo limbs Daphnis had obtained along with the inflamed nerves housed within them and replace them with new ones or to assign them a pain management regiment. Daphnis carefully fell asleep again, hoping that this embarrassing mess would be quickly put behind them.

“Morning Daphnis-2.” A doctor said quickly, glancing between the machine pumping Daphnis full of painkillers and his tablet.

“Three.”

His eyes widened, “Again?”

“I believe so.”

Panpipe was equally as confused. Exo resets happened, and were unfortunate when they did. But two in the span of two days? That was a little more uncommon. But they performed their duties again, reminding Daphnis of the past few months plus one day.

A message was sent to him. From Europa. An Awoken, Artemis. A welcome message, and an invitation to come visit her. Panpipe promised Daphnis they would hold onto the message until Daphnis could be released.

Another reset upset the doctors further; there was an increased reluctance to remove Daphnis’ current exo parts if they were suffering from genuine exo illnesses. They still wanted to keep him for observation, and he still required pain medication, so in the ward he remained.

“Hey, Panpipe?”

“Yes, Daphnis?”

“This is normal, right?”

Panpipe hesitated.

“I can’t say that it is, I’m sorry.”

Daphnis sighed.

“But no matter what, I’ll be here for you Daphnis.”

“Thank you."

-----

“Morning Daphnis-3, or is it 4 now?”

Daphnis hesitated. The doctor nodded.

“Alright then, this is getting interesting.”

The cycle continued over the next sixty-three days. The pain stopped after day three in the ward. On day ten, Daphnis was moved to a secluded ward where a closer eye could be kept on them for a longer period of time, while the idea of mass surgery was still being tossed around. By day twenty-two, Daphnis became scared to fall asleep, trying to reason that maybe if they just remained awake through the night, they could somehow cling onto one more day of memory. It was only when Daphnis-66 awoke that Panpipe demanded something happen. The doctors’ final decision was made and Daphnis’ faulty limbs were removed. The metal further under the skin was left mostly alone, with assurance that there were no nerves inside them. After an additional two months of physical therapy, and a pain management regiment was provided, Daphnis finally allowed back out into the city. A city still brand new to them.

---

But now wasn’t the time to reintroduce themselves. They had a message to reply to. Someone had been waiting over three months for them.

The pair met back up with Amanda. Daphnis thanked her for her patience, but she was asked for her patience to be extended just a little bit longer. He needed his ship back. After some back and forth and reassurance that he would be fine, Amanda gave him clearance. And off to Europa he shot.

Landing, Panpipe immediately received another call from the Cadmus Ridge. Apparently originating from Artemis, the pair were informed that she was in dire need of help. They were given a destination, and Daphnis was directed into Bray Exoscience.

But they were not the first to arrive on the scene. A lone entity stood in the foyer, eliminating Vex all around them with a sidearm and a precise eye. As bullets rained on an enemy almost getting the jump on them, they turned around to face Daphnis. An exo face met them, pulling down their hood once they jumped down from the raised platform.

“Howdy, I suppose Artemis called you here as well?” Their voice, while generally positive, had an undertone of exhaustion.

“Why yes, sorry, we’re quite late we imagine.”

“Nah, it’s alright, Artemis said someone else might contact us.” The exo introduced himself as Apollo, and his ghost as Sixteen. The team cleared out the rest of the Vex and Apollo led them further into the facility, explaining what this place was originally used for, and why he was here.

---

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