《Telos - 9th Anniversary Edition》


 Part I | Chapter 1

    [Memorial Sacrifice]


    June 28th, 2018


    Athens, Ohio, Lancaster Ave


    The worst time of the year was when all the bugs came out. Tiny specks of insignificant life that only exist to piss me off. Summer isn¡¯t my favorite season as it is, but when you introduce the scourge of humankind as a daily obstacle...you can be sure I try my hardest to be away from them as much as possible. Of course, not having a roof over my head makes that a touch more difficult than it does for most people. Those of us that remain, at least.


    The world is a much different place nowadays. Fighting, starving, dying. It¡¯s all equal parts suffering round these parts. It¡¯s hard enough to find your next meal without having to worry if the place you rest your head is oft to be your last. Of course, now the flies were competition for the available food out there.


    Summers were always the worst, and while I¡¯ve had some easier summers where I was able to camp out at broken down businesses that had larger food reserves than normal, out here this summer I was all on my own.


    There was a temptation to raid the campus nearby. It¡¯d be familiar. It was where I was going to undergrad before¡­


    Well, before. It was heartily tempting...I still had a lot of my old stuff there. We all had to evacuate once the boiler in the science building blew. Some people thought it was a terrorist attack¡ªthose had been increasing in the public eye. It¡¯s almost laughable now, thinking about the situation that snowballed the complete evacuation of the school¡ªI learned about it a few weeks later from a source who was live on the scene.


    Apparently, a pair of stoners snuck into the science lab because they knew it was going to be empty at that point of the day. Turns out, it wasn¡¯t, and there was a bit of conflict between them. My source¡ªa guy named Issac who had been working late on a project was a bit of a stickler for places being used for intended purposes.


    Turns out the two fine gentlemen were sticklers for places being used as smoking spots. Arguments erupted and...I can¡¯t confirm who touched who first, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if one of the other guys shoved first. Now, if that had been that, nothing further from some hurt egos would have left that building.


    Unfortunately, one of those shoves led Issac falling backward against his table. I don¡¯t know quite what the mixture he was working with, but I guess that isn¡¯t wholly important. I don¡¯t have to paint the whole picture here, yeah? Building went boom. Of course, it was more like the room went boom, but it was just the start of what went bad. Y¡¯see, whatever was in those containers wasn¡¯t healthy for the rest of us when they combined. And air travel on a college campus is...very troublesome indeed.


    Few of the people who hung around the area after cleanup started...well, they started getting sick. If that was it, would have only called for a quarantine and a lockdown. Things progressed when the first murder came about.


    Those people...they became...feral. Sounds like the start of a post apocalyptic zombie story, right? Well, things progressed from there. All in all there were about twenty people that were seriously affected, and when the second case went feral the entire campus shut down and everyone was evacuated out. There wasn¡¯t much of a police force to take down the creatures those people became¡ªso they just remained and haunted the halls, surviving on whatever they could get their hands on.


    I caught up with Issac a while back near a bar a few towns over. He was a poor sight¡ªfelt guilty as all hell for picking a fight that day. Drowning himself in all the warm booze he could find. I don¡¯t know if he recognized me¡ªhell, I don¡¯t even know if he knew I was there, but he sure as hell regretted a lot.


    That¡¯s when I learned to avoid carrying regret as much as I could. Never regret so your burden never gets heavier than what you carry. My proverbial pack on my back only allows what I can hold and no more. Others may find that...coarse. They may use rougher words for that, and to that, I said, fuck that. When you¡¯re out here in the summer heat, getting sucked alive by the mosquitoes and fighting for your next meal from the flies, you can carry whatever the fuck you think you need to carry.


    And yet...I cannot deny that carrying some of my old shit from my room like some new clothes or some of the snacks I squirreled away that haven¡¯t spoiled was still heavily tempting.


    And it really is quite muggy outside.


    I must apologize for that, you see, I''ve got this thing with me. There was this doctor at the orphanage I used to visit, this was before I went to the college, and they did all sorts of tests and such. I can''t remember the name of it off of the top of my head. I was around that age, you know, where anything adults said goes in one ear and out the other.


    Anyway, they said I had a high rate of survival, so it wasn''t anything like...bad I guess. I guess that''s why I didn''t stick to remembering what they said it was. I just know what it does to me. Sometimes my mind likes to create side-tangents of thought that run alongside my main one. That''s the best I can really explain it, I''m not used to telling other people it, really. I''ve pretty much got it under control anyway to the point where it isn''t running multiple conversations simultaneously. That was a real headache-inducer.


    -nice shower


    You know...I think I might head to the campus after all. If I''m quick enough I can snag enough for a good meal. I could use some time away from smelling like a plumber''s handkerchief, anyway.


    Huh...did I read that somewhere? That¡¯s odd...not the kind of metaphor I¡¯d normally think of on my own. Might have been a King novel or something, He tends to write those kinds of physical grotesqueries.


    Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself, my bad. My name''s Gavin and I absolutely love long walks on the beach. That should be enough for you to know, right? I''m not too good at this, I know. But then again, I guess if I was then I¡¯d be in a much different spot than I am now. Might be dead. People who care too much about presentation often miss the small things that end up biting them in the ass in the end.


    People aren''t really my thing. I guess that''s another deciding factor on why I was going to the school, because my last ditch effort here in the street was stopped because of people. Remember that bar I told you about? Well, I was going to hide out there for a bit. Raid the stash that someone else had prepared but not gotten the chance to take opportunity of, but a real rough gang of pricks showed up. Came in, I managed to just get away before they shot Issac. Put him out of his misery I guess.


    Getting away and surviving¡¯s always been a skill of mine. I don¡¯t tend to rely on others, so I¡¯m not slowed down. Shit starts to go down and I¡¯m gone. I¡¯m rather thin and relatively fast on my feet. Definitely helps in the new environment.


    They''ve since gone and locked themselves in, most likely drinking themselves away. I''m not a fan of alcoholics either, by the way. So you can check that off on my eHarmony profile.


    But a nice drink wouldn''t be terrible right now-


    Sadly, I have to accept this loss of the bar, I''m much too little of one man to take on five brutes who are more aggressive if they''re drunk. It is quite the shame, though.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    I hike up the straps on my backpack and begin the walk down the street. I keep very little with me...well, of course because I have very little, but that should be changing real soon if things go my way.


    Across the street from the bar is when the air begins to change. It seems to become heavier, pungent in taste. If I had anything in my stomach I''m sure I''d hurl it up. So it''s good I don''t, I guess. It doesn''t stop the dry heaving, but I''d rather that then burning my throat out. Life''s all about thinking about the positives, you see?


    -nice shower, it would certainly be nice to have a nice shower, it would-


    I reach the fence. It is almost three times my height. You might think it is a normal fence, but then again, you aren''t native to these parts, not like the few around here.


    Not like me.


    Everybody around here knows to stay away. This is what separates us normies from the Vultures. It''s almost a blessing that they haven''t figured out how to climb yet, it must have not clicked yet, to be able to grasp solid objects and pull up. Well, whatever is keeping them on that side doesn''t really matter now, I''m going over. I toss the backpack over the side of the fence, it lands doubled over itself.


    I grasp the wires of the fence and stick my feet through the holes, letting my toes wrap themselves around as I reach up and grab at a higher point. I''m up halfway and grip into the metal, reaching my hand now over the top of the bar, and then my elbow, and then using that to balance my weight as I pull myself over the fence.


    I used to be so much better looking. I don''t mean to brag, but now I feel like any stray gust of wind could pick me up and blow me away, far away from this place, from this life.


    Once I''m clear I drop down and tumble right next to my bag. The landing hurts my feet a bit, I think I may have landed on a rock or something, but I stand up and grab my pack and sling it across my back and begin walking. It''s going to be a lot more quiet as I continue. I''m not going to be seeing that creepy kid whose been killing rats or the woman who digs through the garbage to keep her and her enlarged stomach satisfied. They were sights of what the area around here does to people.


    I''m betting absolutely everything right now on the levels of contamination are low enough around my dorm. I''m sure I''m the first to come through here, since nobody really wants to be the guinea pig to throw their life away. I guess I don¡¯t care either way¡ªthat¡¯s why I¡¯m even entertaining the thought of your presence.


    I see the library first, I recognize it even now after the top floors were scarred by fires. That happened a while back before the evacuation. I don¡¯t think that one was the stoners¡¯ faults, as almost humorous as that would be. As far as I can remember that happened as an intentional act that spread far out of control. Med student named Jamie Throuton broke down and freaked. Her grades weren¡¯t up to what she needed. Instead of taking responsibility for her failures she wanted to torch the place she hated the most¡ªthe place she¡¯d spent so much of her time and actively looked to squeeze as much out of her as possible.


    Top floor was destroyed, but the building survived. Jamie was burned pretty bad in the event. She was quickly enveloped in the blaze that spiraled out of control. Not only was she expelled for the action, but she was also brought on federal charges of arson. I can¡¯t said I don¡¯t know the stresses that could push someone to that point, but to so fruitlessly kill any chance of survival or recovery...I couldn¡¯t imagine being locked up in a place as shitty as that.


    I have my own frustrations with the expectations others place on me, but instead of going up in flames, I choose to rebuke any and all that come my way. Anything that doesn¡¯t push me forward¡ªthat doesn¡¯t lead to my next meal gets shucked and tossed aside.


    Looking at the scars that formed so short a time ago on the library, I do feel a certain sadness for the knowledge that is lost, though. People come and they go¡ªthey don¡¯t really have much to offer that another, similar person cannot provide. But the books, though, those are priceless. Sounds awful? Just the times we live in. No easy replacement for knowledge. And knowledge is what keeps the dead from the dying. We¡¯re all dying, but we¡¯re not all dead.


    Maybe I could stop by and see if I can find anything that survived the blaze. Although, that would add to the number of buildings I had to visit, and unlike the dorm I was heading to, it wasn¡¯t secured. So I¡¯d be a target for as long as I was out in the open.


    I walk past the library, deciding against going in. I duck around the back, walking on the tiled walkway leading through the perimeter of the campus. I peek through the slits of the alleys into the quad, a large open field where the students would have sat and studied. It was an odd sight seeing it so...empty. This place was one of the most popular when things were close to normal. Nothing to be gained from here as even the trees have been picked clean. Skeletal fingers that stretched to the sky. It was a horrible thought to think how the Vultures managed to get their fix from the leaves.


    They definitely didn¡¯t climb¡ªthat much was clear from their inability to make it over the fence. They must have knocked all the leaves down by throwing themselves against the trees. And suddenly, my body had a phantom ache inside.


    I remember on the large tree in the center we would all gang up on Halloween and completely cover the branches of the tree with toilet paper. It was some tradition that was started eons ago that continued up until the very end, but it seems all of the excess toilet paper has been recycled for some other use. It was definitely odd that the Vultures ate their way through the leaves but left the toilet paper well enough alone. I guess some human tendencies remained after turning feral.


    Things seem to be okay so far. I''m quite a ways from the science building, and I haven''t started retching from the air as much as I thought I would be, so I have high hopes for the chances of me stocking up. Maybe I might be able to spend the night if I can lock up the dorms enough. God...imagine sleeping in a bed I once considered comfortable. The thought is too tantalizing to pass up.


    Then thinking of how nice that would be, I think of how long I had been without it. It really kind of sucks, you know? Like, I worked tons of summer jobs since I was sixteen, all so I could make it to college and do something with my life. I don''t think I''m going to be getting a refund on any of it. All that wasted time, effort and money.


    I find my old dorm after my deliberations. The building itself is rather unassuming. The exterior had no defining features that distinguished it from any other building. I only know its purpose because of my extended experience here.


    My stuff, or what remains of it should still be in my room. Of course, that''s with extremely positive thinking and assuming no Vultures have made it into the building yet. This dorm specifically was outfitted with fiberglass windows and can only be opened from the outside with a student or faculty ID. The other buildings were going to get the upgrade soon enough, but it just wasn''t in the cards it seemed.


    They wanted to instill a sense of security in the freshman so they''d stay and continue to pay tuition. They didn''t give a shit about upperclassmen, those were hollow promises. I race to the front door, sliding my backpack to my front as I open up the front zipper. I grab at the plastic card with my face plastered across the front, my eyes staring back at me with the stupidest smile I''d ever seen.


    ¡°God I need a haircut,¡± I said, looking at the blond bush on my head. And when I get one I want to grow it out. It almost makes me want a drink.


    I¡¯m broken out of my thoughts by a terrifying scream behind me. I turned quick on my heels to see the naked, bruised body of one of the Vultures. She''s got a crooked jaunt in her stride. Open sores and welts covered the surface of her body, and bruises discolored the entire surface. Dirt, grime, and what looks like blood cakes her wicked form, she looks at me with an obsessive glare, she begins drooling as she walks closer.


    No no no no no! This is so not going down this way! Hurry just have to scan the card-


    I turn and practically smash the card against the scanner. The light goes green and I make a mad dash inside, turning to pull the door shut as quickly as I can. The Vulture slams her body against the door frame and I¡¯m almost pushed off my feet by the force of it. These monsters...just what could have set them off? What was in that explosion that turned them from normal people into these absolute feral creatures? Something''s happened, something big and nobody wants to talk about it. Well, not nobody, I hear whispers that it isn''t happening just here. There are people that come here from other cities that have it way worse, like Buffalo or San Diego. Those places have it real rough.


    I dig my heels in and shove the door back against its latches. The Vulture¡¯s fingers slide in between the cracked opening. The door shuts over on top of them and the Vulture emits a nasty scream that shakes my stomach something uncomfortable. I finally push it closed as the Vulture pulls its fingers free. The door shuts and the lock re-engages.


    I slide down against the door, catching my breath, looking out onto the lounge I''d been so used to just a year ago, a place I called home if not just for a while.


    And now it has gone to shit.

 Chapter 2

    I remember going to Disney World once with my father when I was five. It''s my earliest memory, and I remember the carousel most of all. I hadn¡¯t ever experienced that sense of extreme dizziness. Seeing the characters all around and that many people in one place...it all coalesced into a single perfect memory.


    I remember calling out to my father and running toward him after leaving the carousel. That feeling of the world spinning underneath my feet. The total loss of control¡ªand now I sit here with the exact same feeling, and the world¡¯s


    I look down at my ID in my hands. With the force I slammed the card I saw that it bent quite a bit. Damn things were cheap as all hell, anyway. Don¡¯t even think that this thing will work anymore now. It was always just another way for them to get you to shell out another thirty dollars.


    Hoping that I¡¯m wrong, I gather my bearings and stand up with the bent card clutched in my hand. I make my way across the room and press the card against the reader. Once, twice, and a third time and it does not give. I groan loudly. I turn and rest my head against the door, pounding it slightly.


    Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. God...goes to show how awful these things really were. The door is locked tight and the windows were so thick I wouldn¡¯t be breaking them with anything short of a battering ram. Of course they couldn¡¯t cheap out on the budget for that. And I¡¯d definitely classify this as an emergency situation.


    I look back to the security desk, peering around the wall I can see that power is still running to the computers. Of course, these computers had direct access over the scanner system. I hop over the counter top and pull the chair up to the side and ready my fingers on the keyboard.


    Username:<u> </u>


    Password:<u> </u>


    Of course, how could I have forgotten? Damn it, I don''t know any of their log-ins...unless, wait a second. I think I remember that the computers here all share a default log-in. I just have to use ¡°admin¡± for the username and the password should be just ¡°123456.¡± I found that out last year while dicking around in the computer lab. I had the bad habit of forgetting my account password from time to time and I just resorted to using the default since it is much easier to remember.


    I type it into the fields and the computer boots up fully. Success! Now it is just a matter of finding the program that controls the scanners. I open up the start menu and go to the search bar.


    ¡°Scanner,¡± 0 results. ¡°Lock,¡± 0 results. ¡°Student ID¡± 1 result, ¡°ID Manual.¡± Ha, perfect!


    And to think, I could have made an excellent security guard. I just did the extent of the guard''s work that worked here. Especially this one guard who watched Golden Girls on the portable TV he always brought into work. I''m pretty sure you could''ve been John Wayne Gacy and made it past him.


    Actually, reminds me of the time I learned I didn¡¯t have to take them seriously. I was out with a friend of mine...well, he was a friend, at least. Don¡¯t know if he made it out alive. Anyway, sorry, side tracked. He was this real tall guy. Kieran was his name. Easily the tallest guy on our floor. Could leap a mile if he tried. He passed as over twenty-one when we went to go get some booze down in the city. There was this store they had set up¡ªlittle mom and pop shop with a cashier who didn¡¯t card if you looked the part.


    So Kieran heads into the store and buys a few cases of beer. Nothing too fancy. College kids don¡¯t care what gets you off if it does the job right. It could be¡ªand often was¡ªthe nastiest dirt that did the damage but you sucked it up and you did it because in some small way we were all telling the world that we didn¡¯t care for its limitations. We were in control of our own selves.


    Turns out, the world was perfectly suited to showing us just what little shits we were. Still, I have very vivid recollections of walking back with Kieran to the dorm. I had the same backpack I got on now¡ªexcept it was loaded to the brim with bottles and bottles of booze.


    Turns out, the natural flow of walking is a lot less stable for glass bottles sitting in a backpack than either of us had planned. I felt it all shatter¡ªone after another and felt all the beer drip through the bag down the back of my legs. I froze right there on the spot and knew I was fucked.


    Kieran though, he knew he had none of it on him. His part was done. He didn¡¯t even chip in for any of the beer. So in the end, he didn¡¯t lose anything. We were just outside our building and I was standing there like an idiot with thirty some-odd bottles of broken beer dripping down my body and signaling ¡°Please get me in trouble.¡±


    I was fucked. I¡¯d gotten in trouble before about it¡ªthat time not being my fault but instead that of some obnoxiously loud girls one of my floor mates invited over. But anyway, getting caught here likely would have led to some serious consequences. I had no parents to radio home to¡ªboth died long ago. Pretty sure I would have just been booted out on my ass, handed a fine farewell, and left to my own devices.


    I figured if I was going out, I was just going to walk in, accept it, and figure it out from there. I was angry at Kieran, but I figured if I was in his shoes I would have done the same thing. So, rather than get caught out there like a moron, I walked inside.


    I swear, my blood froze to the touch as I passed the security guard. And he just...let me through. I slapped my ID against the reader and I walked upstairs. Past the second staircase up and pressed the button for the elevator. I almost expected security to meet me on my floor, arms crossed and all ¡°Yeah, right buddy. Come on, you know exactly what you did.¡±


    But they never came.


    I walked out of the elevator toward the end of the hall and let the door swing shut behind me as my roommate looked me dead in the eyes with the most shocked look I¡¯d ever seen on his face. He was as frequent a drinker as I, but he didn¡¯t have the build of Kieran to avoid getting carded at the shops.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°What the hell are you reeking of?¡±


    And that was how that story ended. From that point on I brought many a bottle back past these gates that now block me from my things. Even now I see that as much as a useless oaf he was at his job, if he was here I probably would never have been able to do¡­this.


    I switch the scanner system off, and I can hear the door unlock. I jump back over the counter top and reach for the handle.


    Success, baby!


    I grab it, swinging the door open and pulling it closed tightly behind me. That same elevator I took before was to my left, and to my right is a divided staircase that either led down to the basement floor or up to the first. Down in the basement lies the laundry room and a few student lounges. The laundry room is nothing special, five floors of students crammed to do laundry with six washers and driers, it is almost the scariest part of the whole college lifestyle. I''ve never seen anyone get so vicious over a few dryers.


    Then there was the time I walked in on the dance team and their massive orgy down here at three in the morning. There is nothing more indicative of the college experience such as blatant sexual deviancy and large pools of prohibited alcohol.


    I tend to stick to one poison over the other. Never much enjoyed the thought of getting attached, specially in a time where people were so desperate in looking for attachment.


    Lemme tell you, that time down in the laundry room¡ªkept me away from using those machines for the rest of my stay. Everything felt...like I could imagine exactly who was in which position over which load. I¡¯m sure they enjoyed it well enough¡ªI could even recognize two of the girls who had been the cause of my first meeting with the school dean about improper use of school facilities. What a rip that was.


    The lounges weren''t that much different, people who wanted to bone usually chose down in the two separate lounges if their roommate was busy with the room. My room''s on the second floor. I begin walking up the stairs to the right, and I swing open the door right at the top. The first floor extends in both directions, rooms line each of the walls. Each of them locked, needing their own separate key given only to those that live there or in use by security. I don''t remember seeing any of the keys that security had, so I suppose it went with the last guard, wherever he may be. He may as well be six feet under.


    My exit is through the door on my right, the stairwell that climbs all the way to the top floor of the building. I''m climbing up the stairs and push the door open onto my floor. To my left are the rooms where everybody smoked a lot of pot. It just seemed like the place to gather, and I remember my hall always smelling of the stuff constantly. To the right are the bathrooms and the rest of the people who would join the people on the left, and just past them on the end is my room. Of course, my roommate was asthmatic, so weed was a deep no from him.


    He''s gone now, just like everybody else.


    I don''t know if he''s still alive, probably is. He seemed like the kind of guy who would know what to do in a situation like this, he''s from Jersey. I walk down to the end and stand in front of my room. It would be a real shame if my door was locked like everybody else''s, mine was always so weird that it never fully locked when it closed. That led to some irritating times where a couple of the guys down the hall would sneak into my room and do shit to me while I slept. Well, now I''m making a positive of this, I''ll bet they''re absolutely jealous now that I have access to my room and all of my shit. That is, if they''re still able to feel jealousy.


    I open the handle and walk in, smiling at the place that I called home. My bed remains made, my roommate''s stuff is still here. I even see the drawer where he kept all his expensive knives. He could become a serial killer with all these fucking knives in his drawer.


    I always gave him shit for it.


    Turns out his fascination with them just came from the design instead of the use. I toss my backpack onto my bed, and I see a box of Cheez-Its on his desk. He''s not going to be eating these anytime soon. They''re stale, but at this point I don''t give a shit. I''m grabbing them by the fistful and shoving them into my mouth, savoring each bite. Thank the lord for junk food tasting so good.


    I walk over to the mini fridge sitting beside my bed, it is still plugged into the wall. I reach inside and grab one of the bottles of soda from the shelf and twist the top open. I''m guzzling the drink down, but have to stop about halfway because it burns. It is a good burn. I miss this burn. I need to shower. I grab my key off of my desk. You know, just in case my door were to actually lock itself. I want to be prepared. I bend down beneath my bed and open up my drawers, clothes I hadn''t worn in so long. I''d been so used to my gray t-shirt and shorts that I''d almost forgotten how much stuff I''d actually brought to school.


    I could make serious rep by starting my own Salvation Army back on the outside. That''s assuming I want to leave. I could ride this place out all the way to the end.


    I grab out some clothes and a towel and hit the showers. The showers of course are located directly across from the toilets, so if you happened to be in the middle of a shower while someone was taking a shit you had to deal with the smell the entire time. It was absolutely awful. And don''t get me started on the people that actually took shits in the shower.


    I shake my head in disgust and hop into my shower. Of course it isn''t actually my shower, but it kind of is. Third from the right, nobody ever thinks to use it, much less shit in it, so it''s usually the cleanest one. I toss my clothes outside alongside my towel alongside the bar at the top.


    The hot water hits my skin and I let out an audible moan. It feels so good after sleeping in my own filth for so long to finally get clean. I don''t have any shampoo. I''d run out actually before I had to leave and was going to get some more, but obviously that didn''t happen. Looks like I''m going to have to just stick with my putrid locks. Man, what a shame.


    I run my hands through my hair and down my face, letting the water cascade down as I scrub myself. Then I hear a sound from outside, the ding from the elevator stopping on this floor. I freeze. Why would the elevator be running? It is set to the basement automatically when it isn''t in use, and it isn''t like anybody else is-The scanner.


    I went and turned it off, it must have turned it off for the whole building. The whole system is connected. My skin begins to crawl as I imagine all different kinds of things crawling through that elevator door, and then I remember the sole Vulture that nearly got the best of me outside. How could I expect it not to want to find its way in? Of course it wouldn''t let a new source of food out of its sight. God, I am so stupid!


    I turn around and shut off the shower, letting the water drip from my face as I curse myself. Stupid! It definitely heard the shower running! I''m fucked I''m fucked I''m fucked. I begin to panic, but I can''t panic because then I''ll make more noise, and if I make more noise-


    I hear the bathroom door swing open, it squeaks, it is a very heavy door and prone to making loud noises. I go completely silent. I can''t think of anything, I''m completely paralyzed. I hear the footsteps come closer, I''m shaking underneath my skin. I see the curtains pulled aside, and I see a gun pointed directly at me.

 Chapter 3

    Behind the gun is Addison Thompson. She was a student here¡ªmember of the dance and softball teams. She¡¯s tall, brunette, and limber. She seems equally as confused to see me¡ªlooking me up and down and stays down for a noticeable amount of time, saying something under her breath before looking back up. ¡°What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were one of those damn monsters,¡± she lowers the gun.


    ¡°I...I could have said the same thing,¡± I said, reaching for my towel and wrapping it around my waist. I''ve seen her around campus quite a bit, never really talked to her at great length, but then again, she was one of the people participating in the Great Laundry Sex Party, so I guess I really didn''t need to.


    ¡°Well thank fucking god, I''ve never fired a gun before and really wasn''t looking to begin today,¡± she said, looking to the side. ¡°And uh, nice,¡± she said, blushing.


    ¡°What are you doing here? I ask, walking out to grab my clothes.


    ¡°Uh...could we perhaps wait until you''ve gotten dressed before we continue?¡± She asked.


    ¡°You''re oversensitive about the human body? Who would have guessed?¡± I ask, throwing my shirt over my head.


    She looks angry for the smallest of seconds, but then a flash of recognition passes across her face, ¡°No, it isn''t that...I''d actually forgotten about that whole thing in the laundry room,¡± she said, dropping her shoulders.


    ¡°I hadn''t,¡± I said, smirking, sliding on my boxers.


    ¡°I don''t have to explain anything to you,¡± she said.


    ¡°I didn''t ask you to,¡± I put my legs through my jeans and pull them up, buttoning and pulling down my shirt so it is more comfortable.


    ¡°Listen, we were all really wasted that night.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is this you explaining?¡± She looks down to me and her lip creases. ¡°Oh, no, do continue, I''m sure this leads somewhere good,¡± lifting up my leg to throw on my socks.


    ¡°You know, giving attitude to a girl with a gun is never a good idea,¡± she said, cocking her head.


    ¡°It is when the girl openly admits to never having shot a gun before and not wanting to. I mean, I think I''m good,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, come off your high horse. Don''t act like you''ve never done anything stupid while drunk,¡± she said, placing one hand on her hip.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Wait...what?¡±


    ¡°Wasn''t into it.¡± The lie came out easily. I wasn¡¯t really sure the reasoning behind it. Maybe to catch her off her game? Maybe to see if she¡¯d call me out on it? Either way, I¡¯m enjoying myself. ¡°I came here to get out of crummy situations, not lodge myself into them,¡± I pick my towel off of the ground.


    ¡°And that''s why you''re here now?¡±


    ¡°Right now was a momentary lapse in judgment that turned out in my favor. I could have as easily been mauled by those monsters outside or not even made it to the grounds at all.¡± I begin walking around the corner and look back as I speak, she follows. ¡°The question I want to ask is why you''re here.¡±


    ¡°I heard it is really tough out there, so I never really left. I mean, not fully. I had to go to get this gun, but for the most part I''ve been holed up in the campuses'' scanner locked buildings. Those monsters out there don''t have ID cards so it works for me. You being here now means you had your ID on you when you left, why''d you think of taking it? If I had every intention of booking it I would''ve grabbed some food or something,¡± she asked.


    Summer sucks without a roof over your head.


    I open the door, holding it open behind me, ¡°I guess I subconsciously had intentions of coming back at some point whether or not it was a war zone or not. You were right about what it is like out there, the whole state is practically fucked,¡± I said.


    ¡°Huh, no sarcastic retort?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It comes and it goes,¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re much more talkative than I originally pegged you. I like it,¡± she said.


    ¡°Also comes and goes,¡± I said with a smirk.


    ¡°Figures. You able to get back into your own room?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it tends to not lock, worked out for me for once,¡± I said.


    ¡°What does that mean, for once?¡±


    ¡°Couple of people on this floor would take advantage of that, stuff like that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m sorry,¡± she said.


    </a> ¡°You feign sympathy, you aren''t sorry,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh now? So you know how I feel?¡±


    ¡°You said it because it fills a void in a conversation. You''ve probably never even had to worry about a single thing in your life except for when the next round of shots was being served.¡±


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    ¡°Where the hell did that come from? And don''t said it comes and goes.¡±


    ¡°It comes from getting people. Like, really getting them. You don''t have to speak to them to get to know them, just seeing how they react to situations tells a much more clear story than what their mouths could ever said.¡±


    ¡°So, like stalking people?¡±


    ¡°I don''t follow people around, no. Way too many people and way too much effort for my liking. Just seeing how people show themselves off in public. How they wish to be seen. You, you''re like the sun,¡± I said.


    ¡°Really?¡± She looks up.


    ¡°Constantly exerting everything about yourself so that everybody around you knows you. A call for attention of the highest caliber,¡± I said.


    Her look changes, but not to the angry expression I was expecting. I was expecting a fight back, an argument to get my blood boiling, maybe even an excuse to steal that gun away for my own use, but what comes surprises me.


    She starts to cry, she backs up against the wall behind her and slides down against it and puts her head in her lap, hugging her legs around her. God damn it, you know, this is why I don''t do people things. You try once to do something and it always ends with someone crying. That''s my weakness, I can''t stand by when someone''s absolutely losing it. As much as I''d like to be done with this situation I know it''d eat me up inside.


    I walk over to her and slide up next to her, ¡°Look, I''m...sorry for what I said.¡±


    She shakes her head slowly, ¡°No...no, you were right. I tried so hard.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t...I wasn''t ever like this before college. Not the party girl, not the in your face kind. I wanted to change, to be something new, you know?¡± She said in-between sobs. ¡°I didn''t have any friends, believe it or not, I was the biggest loser. Glasses, pimples everywhere, and even the most ridiculous braces.¡±


    ¡°And then you met a genie and now here you are?¡± I ask.


    ¡°No, I begged my parents to do anything to help me not be so unwanted.¡±


    ¡°What does that entail?¡±


    She shakes her head, ¡°They took out a loan to do this really expensive surgery to permanently fix my vision, and after that, the school bill, the money for the braces, everything became an all or nothing investment for my family hinged on my happiness...because I asked them to.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to guess you didn''t grow up with a lot of money?¡±


    ¡°No, and so when I got here...I promised myself I''d be different. I''d make the most out of what they did for me, so I didn''t make them go into debt for nothing. So, I was absorbed into the college lifestyle.¡±


    ¡°Well, good news. Your parents aren''t drowning in debt now. Nobody to collect!¡±


    She stares up at me with red rings around her eyes.


    ¡°Too soon?¡±


    ¡°I had to bury my parents. There is never a time where that is funny,¡± she said.


    I can think of a few situations.


    ¡°Well, you have to take what you can from a situation.¡± She is silent.


    ¡°Like...you''re still alive. You made it out and they''d be proud of that.¡±


    ¡°That wasn''t totally assholish,¡± she said.


    ¡°Well thank you, I try.¡±


    She lets out a deep breath and looks to me, ¡°Mind if I ask a question?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Are you alone...also?¡±


    ¡°Since I was fifteen,¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry,¡± she said, looking down.


    ¡°It''s like I said, finding positives. I didn''t have to lose them to this nonsense,¡± I said, waving my hand in front of me.


    ¡°You''re horribly macabre, you know that, right?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been told as much,¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, do you think you would consider joining me in my room?¡±


    I look over to her.


    ¡°I mean, not in that way, unless you want to, but really I meant like, pooling our resources. Out there is kind of fucked, and we''re both at this on our own. It might just make this a little less shitty...¡±


    I stare at her, considering her proposal. It makes enough sense. ¡°Sure,¡± I said.


    I hate flies. This is the time when they would start popping up.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why not?¡± I said, standing to my feet. ¡°It seems like a grand time. If you want to go head up I''ll grab some stuff from my room and follow you up,¡± I said.


    She stands up behind me, ¡°Okay, you know which room is mine, right? 403?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t, but I guess I do now,¡± I push open the bathroom door. She walks behind me and takes the door as I walk out. She smiles and turns to the elevator, pressing the button. I turn around and walk down towards my room. I open my door and walk inside, letting the door close slowly behind me.


    You feign sympathy, you aren''t sorry.


    Where did that come from, indeed? Maybe I was pushing my own flaw onto her, projecting, I think it''s called. But maybe it''s just something that she said that triggered it.


    Before I came here I really didn''t do any of this stuff, I swear.


    Maybe it''s the certainty of the promise, the look for approval. It''s not unlike that of my father, ¡°I''ll be home by five, I swear!¡±


    I swear. I don''t buy it for a second. Nice sob story she has, but it seemed a little too neat. A little too convenient in this time where convenience is dangerous. I''m not in a time where I can take things at face value anymore¡ªthat kind of thing can get you killed. That girl sees a lonely kid and so she thinks since she has no other options she might as well sway his mind to give her a good time, that and some free supplies. I slip into my pair of sneakers.


    So why, then, am I entertaining the thought and going up there? Well, just because I can see through her words like a window doesn''t mean I couldn''t use what she''s offering. I did said I was slightly aroused back during the great laundry orgy. She does have a really nice chest.


    I grab up my backpack and unzip it fully. I grab the box of Cheez-Its beside me and stuff it on top of the small black box that I already have inside. It fits just as well beside it instead, and then I move to my closet. I find some more boxes of food, mostly unopened. I grab what I can and fit it into my backpack. Drinks I''m not too particularly needing at the moment, but I grab a few just in case. I choose bottles of water over the soda, I guess I want to attempt to keep hydrated easier. Finally, I open up my roommate''s desk drawer and grab out the box of condoms inside..


    He won''t be needing them.

 Chapter 4

    Up on the fourth floor I can see Addison''s door slightly open. I walk up and push it the rest of the way with my hand. Addison is sitting on her bed cross-legged with the remote beside her, facing her television which seems to be showing a never ending loading screen.


    ¡°The internet is spotty here. Of course, there''s nobody paying the bill, but sometimes, just sometimes, I can connect to Netflix,¡± she said.


    ¡°How can it do that?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, but I''m not going to question it, might just jinx it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±


    ¡°You can set your bag down over by the dresser,¡± she said, pointing.


    ¡°All right, thank you,¡± I reply.


    I walk over to the other side of the room and lay the bag down on the floor. I also reach into my pocket and take out my broken ID. ¡°Such a shame, I actually really liked my picture here, too,¡± I lie.


    ¡°Oh?¡± She asked, looking over. I flash the pieces of my ID and she cocks her head. ¡°Did that just happen?¡±


    I walk over towards her and lean on the side of the bed, ¡°No, it was when I came into the building, I had to rush because I had caught the attention of one of the Vultures outside,¡± I said.


    ¡°Vultures?¡±


    ¡°That''s just what I call the people out there.¡±


    ¡°Oh, makes sense...wait, if it broke right when you came in, then how did you get past the door near the security desk?¡±


    ¡°I went behind the counter and manually opened the door from the computer,¡± I said.


    Outside of the room I hear the ding of the elevator.


    ¡°By which you mean you shut off the scanner?¡±


    ¡°Well...¡±


    ¡°Fuck, we''ve got to move,¡± she said, standing up. ¡°God damn it, why''d you have to do that? Especially...now of all fucking times.¡±


    ¡°I had no way else in here,¡± I said.


    ¡°Then you should have left.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, damn it,¡± I said, running over to my backpack. ¡°Do you have your gun ready?¡±


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    ¡°I''ve never had to use it before, I don''t know if I can really use it,¡± she said.


    ¡°You almost used it on me,¡± I said.


    ¡°That was the adrenaline...that''s long gone,¡± she said.


    ¡°All right, give it to me, then, I''ll use it,¡± I said, in the vain hopes that she actually listens.


    ¡°What? No, it''s my gun! You''re the one who fucking allowed it to come up here, I''m not rewarding you with shit,¡± she said, standing her ground.


    I''d said I was amazed with her sudden bravado if it didn''t mean a chance at the loss of my own life.


    ¡°Okay, okay, fine. But there isn''t anything that said we need to confront it now, stay quiet,¡± I said, closing the door and walking over to my backpack, putting it back on.


    She moves off of the bed and bends down, her skirt not quite covering as she reaches underneath her bed and pulling out the pistol. I hear the elevator door open. Whatever is outside is definitely in, and it is on our floor.


    ¡°Stay there, I''ll shoot it if it comes in,¡± Addison whispers, moving slowly in front of the door, holding the gun out in front of her, cocking it and breathing heavy.


    I hear heavy footsteps outside, they are slow and methodical, not like the stumbling and rushed that had come to meet me outside. Is it maybe another one that managed to find its way in, or maybe something worse? The footsteps stop, I can see the shadow of whatever is outside crawl underneath the door and stop right at Addison''s feet, she''s sweating bullets, I''m sweating nukes. There is a knock on the door, once, twice, and then three times. I''m absolutely silent, she swallows hard. There is another knock, a single hollow knock that seems to last for an eternity. Then something smashes against the door, it shakes a little bit, but holds. The sound makes me jump.


    ¡°Whoever the fuck it is you better leave, I have a gun and will shoot you!¡± Addison screams, she''s hyperventilating.


    There is a silence, and then a low voice growls out, it is distorted by some sort of voice modifier to sound almost robotic, ¡°You don''t have the guts.¡± Then the door flies off of its hinge right into Addison, sending her to the ground. Standing in the hallway is a robed figure wearing a gas mask. It jumps into the room with incredible speed and stamps onto the door frame, snapping it in two and picking Addison up off of the ground.


    I run to pick up the gun she''d dropped, and I raise it, leveling it with the intruder''s head, ¡°Let her go, now,¡± I said.


    The robed figure utters out a low and hollow laugh, and from underneath the robe comes a long blade that digs itself into Addison''s abdomen in one swift motion. Her head flies back and her eyes go wide as I feel my fingers pull the trigger. The bullet catches in the side of the figure''s head, but it doesn''t detract it from pulling the blade out of her. I see that there are spikes on the side of the blade, and they rake out her intestines as they pool onto the floor before me.


    ¡°I was wrong. Now...she doesn''t have the guts,¡± the figure said, turning to me.


    I unload the rest of the clip into the figure, its body recoils from each shot, but after I finish the clip it bends back around and looks at me as if nothing had happened. It moves to crack its own back, stretching as it reaches into the robe, most of its body hidden by the cloak it wears, even the back of the head masked by the hood of the robe. It pulls out a small cartridge, square in shape and it presses a button on the face. Smoke begins emitting from it. The figure drops it to the floor and it explodes into noise and sound. I fall to the ground as my muscles start to fail, everything is numb, but I can still see.


    The figure''s gloved hand breaks through the smoke and grabs me by my collar, the only thing I can hear now is the sound of the television, it must have finally connected. On screen is a clip from a historical documentary about World War II. The figure pulls me up and holds me in front of it. I must be losing it, because before I pass out I think I can see the mask begin to smile.


    ¡°...And on that cold day in January of 1945, Great Britain became the world''s largest superpower...¡±


    Everything goes dark.

 Chapter 5

    ¡°Is he alive?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, you check him. I don''t want to touch him.¡±


    ¡°Are you squeamish?¡±


    ¡°I just don''t want to touch him.¡±


    The voices, they surround me, permeate my being. I can feel my body again, my weight. It feels as if I¡¯ve taken a header into a ditch. My eyes open slowly, and I see bright-yellowish lights casting onto columns around me, they stand against shined wood walls.


    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± Comes from my right, I turn my head slowly, everything seems to be a blur, acting on a sort of delay. I see two people standing. One is a guy a little older than I am, maybe a few years older, he''s wearing loose pants and a gray hoodie, hood down. In place covering his head is a brown beanie with some specs on the bridge of his nose. Beside him is a younger girl, probably sixteen or seventeen, she is bigger, quite a bit bigger than the guy. She has somewhat long auburn colored hair and she wears a purple long sleeve shirt with a long but frilly skirt, they both stand tall above me.


    ¡°I...can''t feel my tongue,¡± I said, opening and closing my mouth.


    ¡°You...what?¡± The guy asked.


    ¡°No, wait, I think I have it, yeah. I got it. It was just numb for a moment,¡± I said, sitting up and fully looking around. The room we''re in is outfitted with a very ornate red carpet with gold trim stretching across, it almost looks like a fancy ballroom, save for the tables. It is very open, yet there aren''t any doors or anything. It is just a closed room with no conceivable way in or out. I sat looking at the environment as if everything were moving in slow motion.


    ¡°Now, what the hell did you to me?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Us?¡± The guy asked, turning to the girl. His brows are furrowed and looking to her for help.


    ¡°He thinks we did this to him,¡± The girl beside him said.


    ¡°Yes, I got that part, I was just confused by it.¡± He turns back to me. ¡°No, we didn''t bring you here, but it''s okay, I forgive you because I believed you to have done the same to us.¡±


    ¡°You...thought I brought you here? How the fuck could I have done anything to you if I was out cold? And how the hell am I supposed to believe anything you said? I don''t even know you.¡±


    ¡°He has a harsher tongue than I thought,¡± the girl said.


    ¡°Well, I mean, he couldn''t feel it,¡± the guy said back.


    ¡°Right, right,¡± the girl replies.


    The guy turns back to me, ¡°I could said the same about you, my friend, but I took a look in your bag and you seem to check out.¡±


    ¡°You went through my backpack?¡± I ask, feeling for the weight on my shoulders, but it isn''t there.


    I''m going to kill him. Straight up going to-


    ¡°Hold on there, chill out,¡± the guy said, ¡°Your bag is right here,¡± he tosses it to me. I struggle to catch it, it dangles as I do.


    ¡°Hey, watch it! There''s important stuff in here! What the hell right do you have to be looking in my bag?¡±


    ¡°The same right that you have of doubting me, Gavin Daniels.¡±


    ¡°How...?¡±


    ¡°I saw your name on that box. I''m going to respect your privacy that much and will hope there isn''t a weapon of some kind in there. I couldn''t open the combo on the lock anyhow."


    I stare at him.


    "They said the best way to know your enemy is to befriend them, so I''m playing this by ear. Are you going to be friend or foe?¡±


    ¡°I''ll be the guy who finds a fucking way out of wherever we are. Now, since you''ve been well informed about my name, would it be the slightest bit of consideration to share me yours?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Your attitude is noted, but unneeded,¡± the guy said.


    ¡°I''m Grace, Grace Jackson,¡± the girl said, breaking her silence. ¡°I apologize for his rough exterior, we''re both as confused as you are. What he''s not so eloquently trying to ask is if you''ll help us figure out what happened to us.¡±


    I turn to face her, ¡°I understand, still wouldn''t kill you to give me your name, would it?¡± I look back at the guy.


    ¡°Tom, it''s Tom. Well, technically it''s Thomas, but just call me Tom.¡±


    And technically you could''ve just said that the first time.


    ¡°Right, well I guess the first order of business is to ask if you guys know where this place is?¡±


    ¡°No clue,¡± Grace said.


    You''re a load of help. Well, a load of something.


    ¡°Okay, and how about how you got here?¡± I ask. ¡°Before...I was attacked. Both me and...¡± I trail off, remembering the sight of Addison being disemboweled.


    It was like seeing a pinata be torn to shreds.


    ¡°There was this crazy guy in a gas mask who came in like a train. He started attacking and-¡±


    ¡°Gas mask?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°You saw him too, then, figures,¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Figures? What does?¡±


    ¡°I remember seeing him too,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°Same, yeah. I was driving home from work and I''d actually gotten into an accident. I was rear-ended and spun around. When I came to I saw a figure hovering over my windshield. Get that? He was standing right on the hood of my car and kicked my windshield in.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Then he had this small little smoke bomb,¡±


    ¡°And let me guess,¡± I interrupt, ¡°It made you feel all numb?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Like I wasn''t even in control of my body, it was freaky.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I remember that smoke bomb-y thing too. I was in my house and that freak in the robe came to my house and well, I bet you can guess what happened. I''m here now, obviously,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°I was at my college,¡± I begin, my headache pounding through. ¡°I was with a girl...and that guy kicked down the door like it was nothing. Then he took this blade and stabbed her. After her he threw that smoke bomb and I was useless.¡±


    ¡°Why''d he kill her, though?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°You would think he would kill either both of you or none of you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, maybe it''s because she had a gun,¡±


    ¡°Stands to reason, then,¡± Tom said.


    There is a crackling sound above me, I look up and take notice of what looked to be an intercom speaker. There seems to be something broadcasting from wherever we are.


    </a> "Hello, I assume you''ve had a nice nap. I am your captain, Leto, and I''ve gathered you all here for my game. It isn¡¯t really a hard game. You simply just have to escape. You have each been injected with a fatal dosage of Tubocurarine, a drug that slows your respiratory system to a halt. Within eighteen hours it shall spread throughout your entire body, meaning you will die a nice and painless death.¡±


    The voice is easily recognizable, it is the metallic harsh voice of the figure in the cloak. At least I''ve something to call the bastard now, Leto.


    ¡°What? Explain yourself!¡± Tom calls out.


    ¡°As I mentioned, there is only one way to prevent your demise, your escape. I''ve placed vials containing a drug called Axelavine at the exit of this place, your playground. This drug when injected shall protect your body from the remaining attack of the Tubocurarine.¡±


    ¡°This is absolutely insane,¡± I said, looking down to Tom and Grace.


    ¡°There might be others like you within the walls of your playground, I cannot guarantee their lust for blood is any less or more than your own. After my speech is concluded there will be a door that reveals itself to you, this is your first step. I suggest you who woke together work together, for that will be the easiest way to escape, but it is entirely up to you on how you move on from this point onward,¡± Leto said.


    All of us are silent in deadly anticipation. My head begins to pound once more, it becomes harder to breathe, but it passes quickly. A section of the wall begins moving to our right, it slides out of place revealing an opening into what looks to be another, similar looking room.


    ¡°Do we go?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°I think so, I mean, we can''t stay here with that Turbo stuff flowing through our veins,¡± I said.


    ¡°Tubocurarine,¡± Tom amends. I give him a look, and he shakes his head, ¡°Sorry...med student. Knowing these things is kinda my job.¡±


    Jesus Christ, a med student? Only reason someone wants to be a med student in these times is because they''re pretentious as fuck. ¡°I want to help everyone who gets sick so they can all thank me and I can be their hero!¡± Give me a break.


    ¡°And what the hell''s he got a med student kidnapped for?¡± I ask, poorly hiding my disdain.


    ¡°I don''t know, maybe because I have some knowledge on the drugs he was talking about? I can''t think of any other reason. Maybe to avoid doubt over what they said.¡± he looks nervous.


    ¡°Because I know about them, look at me and be amazed!¡± Fucking asshole. ¡°That sounds about right,¡± Grace said. Or maybe Leto has good taste in hating med students as much as me.


    ¡°Well, they do act as he said. So if we really do have Tubocurarine flowing in our blood stream we better start moving.¡±


    I turn to the opening in the wall, looking into the room ahead. It looks to be some sort of party lounge. I take a few steps towards the opening and feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Tom past his hand.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Woah, hold on there, you almost fell,¡± he said.


    ¡°What? No, I didn''t. Let go of me,¡± I said, pulling away from him.


    ¡°Okay, okay. Chill, just helping you out,¡± Tom said, holding his hands up. I look at him hard before turning back around.


    I so was not falling, I''d know.


    In the party lounge I can see a very large grandfather clock ticking slowly at the end of the room, just next to a metal door. It seems that we have until four whatever-time-of-day-it-is before we succumb to the effects of the Tubocurarine. Then I notice something else inside of the clock, just behind the small glass window at the base. There''s a single sheet of paper caught up inside. I grab at the paper and pull it out.


    ¡°Did you find something?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°No, I just love investigating the innards of clocks.¡±


    ¡°What does it said?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°I''m reading, I''m reading,¡± I said, shaking my head and turning back to the sheet of paper.


    YEAR ZERO


    03/30/2007


    Today is a new day. It is our first day on our research on the Lantrate and Dicoberene. I must admit I am a little hesitant, it''s my first day on the job and I''m already being given these orders from up high. I guess this stuff came from Mars, we got it in these little vials the size of my pinky finger. It''s quite insane that I''ve finally got the work to help keep me in line, I''m anxious.


    I''m working with three other men, I haven''t met them yet, or even know their names, but I think I remember hearing something about another coming in a few weeks later. I should go, I''ve got to go see if I can wing this whole ¡°meeting the other members¡± thing.


    Signed


    Jack Adata


    ¡°Do any of you know a Jack Adata?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°I might have known like, a Jack Adams or something like that, but nada on that one,¡± I said.


    ¡°You sure?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I think I''d remember someone with the last name Adata.¡±


    Something there. Something about saying that name, having it roll off of my tongue. No, I''m sure I don''t know any...Adams...Adata, nah. Okay, Jack Adams was that kid I knew on the outside, the one who liked to kill rats. I remember he told me his name once after he offered to share some with me. No matter how desperate I get for food I am never going that far.


    ¡°Well, like, I guess it must have been maybe the people on this ship before us,¡± Grace said. Or are we in some sort of sick television show? I do not even want to think if anybody can see me right now,¡± Grace brushes her hand through her hair, looking around.


    They said the camera adds ten pounds...


    ¡°Television show?¡±


    ¡°Some sick human sport to keep the masses entertained while the world whittles away around them,¡± Grace said, looking around for any sign of a camera.


    ¡°To be honest, I don''t know about that, I think that Leto guy would have mentioned something about it. I think this might be for his own personal enjoyment. Why personally, I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°I still don''t know why this note relates, then,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°I''m just going to said it''s here to waste our time. The more time we''re here talking about it the less time we have to get the hell out of here,¡± I said, stuffing the paper into the back pocket of my backpack.


    I don''t said it, but I have a lingering feeling I''m wrong, that this is important. Somehow. Someway. Whoever this Leto guy is has got me figured out cold for not leaving anything unturned.


    ¡°Well, all right then, we ready to go through that door there?¡± Grace points to the heavyset door. It looks like something you''d see on a ship in a cartoon, the handle is even made to be a wheel on the face of the door.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡±


    ¡°I can handle this door here, step back and watch the magic happen,¡± Tom said, cracking his knuckles. He grabs the spokes at the top and bottom as he grips it hard. The wheel refuses to move.


    I remember moving into the apartment that I lived in. My father was struggling just as much with a box that contained some of our kitchen appliances, most of which were sold a month after due to our low storage space. We moved into a small apartment in Denver back in 2007, back when it was actually nice. My parents worked as scientists, they were top of their game. The only thing was they worked freelance so they didn''t get paid in stable intervals. Then my mom got a job over in New York and she had to be away so that she could help us live and-


    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± Grace stares at me with a grin on her face.


    Of the two people I had to wake up to...


    The door is open in front of me, Tom managed to get it open. ¡°Yeah, I''m fine,¡± I said, walking through as I peer into the next room. It seems to be a Parlor Room. There is a table in the middle of the room, some surrounding chairs, a dresser and an empty frame sitting upon the wall. Just beyond the tables lies a metal door that looks exactly like the one I''m next to built into the wall, except only there seems to be a small machine to the right of it on the wall. I walk inside and try the door, the metal doesn''t budge a single inch.


    ¡°I think this is some sort of input device,¡± Tom said, walking up next to me, inspecting the machine. I look over, and it has a small display at the top of it''s square-like box. Below it is a numbered keypad from one through nine.


    ¡°Maybe it needs a password to be unlocked,¡± I said.


    ¡°Any chance 1111 is a no-go?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°I''d guess so, is there even really a point to trying that? Who would honestly put their password as that?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, maybe it is. There''s literally no harm in trying it,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°Oh? No harm? What if us putting in the wrong password causes some bad reaction? Think of that?¡±


    ¡°Hey, come on, lay off her, it was just a question.¡±


    I walk over towards the dresser at the other side of the room, the empty frame hangs right behind it, the wall inside of the frame looks just like any other, except it looks a little bit lighter in shade. I take the frame in both of my hands and slide it off the wall, apparently it wasn''t an empty frame after all, it had a glass pane with a slightly off color section of wood inside. Behind the frame is a tiny alcove in the wall. There''s a tiny sheet of notebook paper stashed away, on it is scribbled, ¡°0399.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± I call out to the others, waving the sheet in my hand.


    Tom looks over and smiles. It isn''t the goofy buck-tooth smile I''d been expecting. I chalk him up a silent point. He presses the buttons on the keypad, and the display glows a bright green before ringing a sound of approval. Another sound shifts in the tumblers of the metal door, and Grace takes the wheel in her hands, surprisingly able to make it move.


    ¡°Hey, Gavin, Grace, look at this,¡± Tom said, closing one of the drawers of the dresser. He turns fully around and is holding a full sheet of paper.


    Okay, they aren''t completely useless. I''ll give them that. I may have been a little harsh in my original judgments.


    ¡°It''s got writing on it similar to the last note, same typewriter like look,¡± he said.


    ¡°What kind of font must he have been using to not go for a default, nice looking font?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Maybe it was made with an actual typewriter,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°In 2007? I doubt it,¡± I said.


    ¡°I guess you''re right.¡±


    ¡°So, what does it said?¡±


    ¡°So, this one is labeled Year Zero as well,¡± I said.


    YEAR ZERO


    04/02/2007


    I last updated on Friday, but I''ve a good reason for my absence. We''ve been so busy on the Lantrate and Dicoberene. I''ve been warned to not mention specifics in these journals, so I''ve done the duty of redacting out any mention of them from this point on. I can''t really go back in time to fix my mistakes, right?


    Well, besides that, we''ve got good work going. The potential of this stuff is insane, maybe if we keep digging we can cure cancer. Maybe then I can get a bonus and I can take Pamela and Megan out for a nice vacation.


    </a> Also, one of my co-worker''s wives is struck something bad, with the cancer, I mean. I don''t remember her name, but his name''s Jay. I''m still trying to get them memorized, Jay''s got the highest pitched voice out of all of them, his hair shows peaks of gray before any of the others, but only slightly. The others don''t stick out enough yet, I''m trying. I think one other''s name might be David...yes! David! He had this super-dark hair that clung close to his head, and his voice was very deep. He seemed to talk very casually with Jay, maybe they knew each other before hand? Actually, all three of them seem to have a sort of familiarity with each other, (I cannot remember the last one''s name or anything about him.)


    Signed,


    Jack Adata


    ¡°Okay, what is this?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Hey, can you let me see that first letter?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, grabbing it out of my pocket.


    Tom''s eyes scan the paper and he grins. ¡°Yeah, here, those two redacted sections, I think they belong to these two things right here that he wrote about in the first page.¡± His finger rests on the two words ¡°Lantrate¡± and ¡°Dicoberene¡±.


    ¡°That seems very likely, and this guy was scolded for writing about it, but isn''t this a sort of private journal? How could anybody have found out if it''s private? After the first day even?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Maybe it wasn''t private?¡± Grace suggests.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Well, this is just a theory, but like, that first letter mentioned something about Mars, right? And like, I don''t ever recall hearing of those two...things that it wrote about. Lactate?¡±


    ¡°Lantrate,¡± Tom corrects.


    ¡°Lactate is breast milk,¡± I said.


    Grace''s eyes open wide and she immediately turns a bright tomato red.


    ¡°Not exactly, technically a lactate is a base for lactic acid...¡± I stare at him, a specific look that just begs him to ask ¡°what¡±, but he doesn''t.


    ¡°Or...it could also be from lactation,¡± he said, a defeated sound.


    ¡°Well, yeah, I meant Lantrate, but oh boy did that have me embarrassed! But anyway, uh, yeah, I''ve never heard of them before. Now, I''m no science whiz-¡±


    ¡°Guilty,¡± Tom speaks up.


    Now it''s her turn to look him hard, ¡°Anyway, but even I passed Chemistry with a good grade, and both of those are unfamiliar. So, that and the fact that they mention Mars, and that it needed to be redacted, I propose that these are things, elements maybe, that they found on Mars?¡±


    ¡°They who, though?¡±


    ¡°Who do you think? NASA most likely, they''re probably government stiffs.¡±


    ¡°Okay, well, I suppose that''s a possibility. Wouldn''t you think that someone on government level would like, know a bit more about their job on the first day? Or maybe even like, not sound like a dunderhead?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Maybe, but even government people are still people, you''re going to have your dunces and goofballs anywhere, we just seem to be following the paper trail of theirs. Although to be honest, you do seem right in saying he doesn''t so much fit a government type, but then again, we know next to nothing about him.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he got canned and these are his only two papers,¡± I said, laughing.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Tom said, not so sure.


    ¡°I also seem to recall you saying that this was just a waste of time?¡± Grace asked, turning her head to the side and giving me a look not unlike a vapid spider, a million little bug eyes staring me down.


    ¡°I was wrong, okay? I¡¯m starting to think that these...logs or whatever have some relevance, my joke aside. Whatever these people were working on seemed to be really important,¡± I said.


    ¡°And also let''s not forget we get name-dropped two coworkers, this guy''s definitely got shit memory...or maybe it''s a selectively great memory? I mean, he has like physical features down, but can''t even remember one of his three coworkers?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°I don''t know, we don''t even know if he actually works right beside them or just heard names in passing. He could be a total loner.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    ¡°And how about this Megan and Pamela?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°I''d think family. It''d be weird to ask your new co-workers out for a vacation.¡±


    ¡°True.¡±


    I''ve never been on a vacation. Things have always been so busy and hectic, I just remember being busy when I was younger. I don''t really remember what about, but just a general sense of ¡°busy¡±. Like, a foggy cloud you''d see in a cartoon when someone''s doing millions of chores in the shortest amount of time possible.


    ¡°I guess we can only speculate on what these were for until we get more information,¡± I said.


    There is a loud sound, almost like an explosion.


    "Anybody have any idea what that was?" I ask.


    "Not a clue, hopefully it''s not Leto pulling the plug on us early," Tom said.


    "Let''s just get out of here," Grace said.


    We walk through the door and we enter a room that looks to be an infirmary. There are a few hospital beds lying against the wall, one of them to our right blocking a hallway that leads into darkness, but other than that, the room is stripped bare. In front of us is a large metal-set door. The floor is a thin wood and I¡¯m sort of fearful that it may break out underneath us. The walls are barren of any color whatsoever, as if they had been completely sucked out by some color-vampire.


    And lying face down on that furthest bed is a girl, seemingly naked lying face down. Please either be dead so I don''t have to bother or have a really nice rack.

 Chapter 6

    I walk over slowly, my muscles begin to tense up. I can feel a sweat drop begin to form across my brow. I''m nervous. But, I''ve certainly been around dead bodies before, I mean, you kind of have to get used to something like that in today''s day and age. So why am I so nervous then? I see the woman rise as she breathes in and out. It''s because she''s alive, that''s why I am nervous. The dead are so much easier to handle.


    I didn''t get to bury my parents. Addison mentioned that she had to bury her parents, I just now remembered. I mean, technically, I don''t even know if they are dead. My father left one day to find my mother after an accident happened. He was driving across the country and felt I was safer in the apartment. I can only assume since they never returned they died. And even if they didn''t, that means they skipped out on me, in which case they''re as good as dead to me anyway. None of the emotional baggage remains, it''s sort of liberating to finally know how people think of you, you know? The last thing people tell you before they die is usually how much they hated you or loved you or whatever. It''s the truth, because why lie when you can no longer benefit from it?


    The girl shifts as she breathes up and down. In a spry moment she looks up and is now standing on the bed, she looks to be around my age.


    Her tits are awesome.


    She stares back at me, I look down and feel a rush of humility crash over me. I feel myself needing to explain. She jumps down off of the bed, her breasts bounce as she hits the floor. I find my eyes following them up and down. She''s got long blonde hair that stops at her shoulders.


    ¡°Excuse me, I think we might be in the same predicament,¡± Grace said.


    Oh shut up. The only predicament you''re in is risk of diabetes.


    She doesn''t answer, she walks past Grace and stands right in front of me. She is inches from my face and I find it harder to breathe. I can feel an erection building in my pants. She looks me up and down similar to how Addison had prior. Instead of pointing a gun at me however she simply brings her hand up to my forehead and presses her finger against it, her cold blue eyes staring holes into me. Her hand is cold, almost unnaturally so. My head begins to pound, I hear Tom saying something to me, but everything blurs. It is hard to keep focus as she stares right back at me, and the pounding increases. All at once my vision fades. Through it all I hear the mechanical voice I''d heard before when I was grabbed.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Hero.¡±


    President Hal Valhart. He was a rather charming man. He was who England gave to us after the full annexation of the United States to the British Empire. This was back sometime in the seventies. I remember seeing the recording of his first time on podium in front of a live nation.


    ¡°I''m certain you''ve all heard the rumors, that I''m being sent here under the direct authority of blah-blah blah. Listen. I volunteered for this position because I know you all are going through a rough time. It isn''t easy going through change on this scale. I know you see me as the bad guy, but I want you all to know that I want what is best for you so that we all can get along. They could have sent over someone way worse who could have ruled here with an iron fist, but I want us all to be open. So I will be taking questions now to help ascertain anything I need to do to help make this whole thing work.¡±


    A single hand in the crowd goes up, it is a reporter who seems to nearly be jumping out of her seat.


    ¡°Yes, the lovely lady in front.¡±


    A microphone is passed out to the crowd and it reaches the woman, ¡°Yes, I am sure that you''re a nice man and all, but that means jack diddly to who you are as a leader. What if we don''t like you or what you do?


    Valhart seems to smile, but it isn''t menacing. It seems warm. He radiated this sort of security at almost all times.


    ¡°You see, I know I''m not going to be able to please everyone, so for those of you who dislike how things are here, I will give you one bit of advice. The queen isn''t as forgiving as I am, not by a long shot. If word gets round to her that things aren''t going well here, she will not hesitate to pull the plug on this country, do you understand?¡±


    The reporter is speechless.


    ¡°I don''t want that to happen. I was an aficionado of pre-war American culture, and would absolutely hate to see such beautiful memories be erased forever. I''m on your side. But, and this is a big but, if you do find your new living conditions unbearable...find a way out.


    Find a way out.

 Chapter 7

    I''m back in the infirmary, and the girl is standing in front of me again. Her finger leaves my forehead and she dashes off, leaping over the bed. Grace jerks her head once, her eyes unmoving as she follows the girl as she runs off into the darkness of the hall.


    ¡°Oh, Grace, are you all right? Who the hell was that girl?¡± Tom asked.


    That girl did something. I don''t know what, but she brought out that memory. I hadn''t thought about that in a long while. Find a way out. It''s almost like a challenge. I don''t think about what happens next, I''m just moving. Movement without thought is almost what you could consider the lives of feral creatures, although they too have their own special way of thought, right? Just because we don''t understand it doesn''t mean it doesn''t exist. It makes sense to them.


    I push by Grace and Tom and leap over the bed into the hallway, all around me becomes dark, and I hear a huge thud, but I keep moving forward, not looking back. A scream lashes out from down the hallway, I need to get closer. I bump into a wall, the hallway juts out to a corner that I didn''t notice, and continues on for what seems like ages. My head begins to pound again, I''m short of breath, but keep stable. I dash forward until my legs do not cooperate any longer. The hallway seems to continue on forever, and I don''t even know if I''ve made any headway.


    I pull my backpack around and unzip the main pouch. I pull out a water bottle and undo the top, I tip the bottle down my throat as water flows nearly into my lungs. I cough and hack as I feel the cold rushing down, I don''t even mind the discomfort I can''t imagine how fucked I would be if I didn''t have my backpack with me, I am so happy I packed it well.


    I down the bottle, regretting drinking so much but at the same time so relieved that I''m hydrated. I feel around inside my bag to find that I''ve got two more full bottles left. I''ll have to ration them out for longer, and like hell if I''m sharing. In a perfect world maybe, but I hardly know those two, and I don''t know if they''d even do the same for me.


    I zip up my bag and thrust it back on my back and continue down the darkness. Finally do I see a beam of light as I turn one final corner and find a metal staircase that looks like it has had all of its guts removed, leaving it as a skeleton of a staircase. The steps don''t look anywhere near stable, but I venture that if I''m going to die, it''s going to be here anyway, so why the hell not?


    I look up to see a lantern hanging on a rope illuminating the little corridor I''m standing in with a sickly green light. I place a foot on the bottom step and shift my weight onto it, testing its durability. Of course, it would make much more sense to test some of the higher steps, but sometimes just doing the first step is enough.


    My mom wasn''t around much. Both she and my dad were so busy with their new jobs. It was with NASA, you know? A kid''s supposed to be proud of his parents when they finally land good work, break through the depression they were in and land some big money, but all I could feel was sadness. My parents were leaving each other so they could make things work. What kind of family is that? One that only makes things work at the first step, that everyone is alive, that is enough. Everything that comes after is secondary. Happiness is secondary.


    I climb up the rest of the stairs without problem, they don''t buckle underneath my feet or anything. I can be thankful for that at the very least, that and the fact that I don''t believe Grace or Tom have found me yet. Company''s nice, but not their company, to be honest. At the top of the stairs is a stretched out catwalk that hangs over a ledge no longer encompassed by the hallway It stretches out a good ten feet before dropping off to another staircase that rises up. Just what kind of ship is this, anyway? I navigate my way across the catwalk, I notice I pass two of the supports that stretches up to the darkness above me. I notice that the catwalk is being supported not by beams, but instead of chains. The thing''s hanging off of the ceiling, which is too far up for me to even see the end of it. It seems ever since the floor opened up for the chasm below it also opened up the ceiling a bunch.


    I climb down on the other side and find that the hallway ducks around a corner symmetric to the side I was just on.


    Just great, how am I supposed to find my way out if everything is going to be just a mirror image?


    I turn the corner and begin walking down the hallway, leaving the light behind once more. I hear another sound come from a ways down, so I kneel down and begin to slow my pace. Whoever this woman is, she isn''t going to slip by me again. I''m going to get some answers, whether she cooperates or not. I reach the corner and the sound grows louder. I swallow hard as I hear it come closer. I inch closer as I find a large metal door, there is a pounding from the other side, it is the source of the sound. I notice a metal bar holding the door shut. Sweet, a weapon. Now I have some persuasion up my sleeve. I slide the bar quietly out from between the handles and grip it tight like a baseball bat. I steady myself and kick once on the door, the pounding on the other side ceases. Now I just grip the pipe even tighter and wait for the door to open. Then I can crack it right upside-


    ¡°Gavin?¡± Tom''s voice calls out.


    It''s Tom and Gracie that were making all of that noise. I stand there with the pipe in my hands.


    It would only take one hit. Well, two, one for each of them. Maybe a third to get Grace down, she''s got some natural armor on. Just one action to make my life so much easier.


    ¡°Yeah, it''s me,¡± I sigh out, letting the pipe fall to the floor. It smacks softly against the carpet and bounces thrice before stopping fully. I grab a hold of the right handle and pull to open the large metal door. I catch sight of Tom''s stubby little face right in front of me and my eyes roll over to the pipe laying right beside my foot. I lost my chance.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Were you two just sitting in this room the entire time?¡± I ask, peering through the doorway.


    ¡°We had nowhere to go,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°Why couldn''t you just-¡± I said, but not before stopping as I see a large grate covering the hallway I''d run down. That must have been what made the large thud I''d heard, but where had it come from?


    ¡°The only way was back, seeing as this door was locked, our only hope really was getting through here,¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Well, then I guess it''s your lucky day,¡± I said. ¡°And unlucky, because the hallway bends around all the way to this door. There weren''t any other exits.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Grace asked.


    I turn to her, ¡°No, there''s actually a department store inside with a lot of brand deals,¡± I said.


    ¡°No there isn''t...¡± Grace said, honing her eyes on me.


    ¡°Yeah, you''re right. You want to see? Feel free,¡± I said, stepping back from the door, gesturing a wide arm sweep to invite them in. They walk in slowly and I lead them throughout the dark hallway, silent. We reach the chasm and catwalk, eerie green light and all. I step onto the first step and turn around.


    ¡°This is where it mirrors, the catwalk is at the center and it just loops back around,¡± I said.


    Tom looks down below, through the steps into the chasm, ¡°Where do you think that leads?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No, we''re not going down there,¡± Grace said almost immediately. ¡°We''re on a boat, remember? Down is generally a bad idea.¡±


    ¡°I actually think it might be a good idea,¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well, we''re not breached, otherwise that chasm would be full of water.¡±


    ¡°It could be at the bottom.¡±


    ¡°Well then, it looks like we have something to break our fall, don''t we?¡± I cock my head slightly.


    ¡°No, I''m not doing it, obviously there''s another way. We don''t even have a safe way down there! The face that we don''t even see what it is that is down there means it is too high,¡± she said, stepping onto the first step of the catwalk. ¡°Obviously you missed something in the dark, like a door or something. We can check the other side.¡± She continues up the steps.


    ¡°Maybe we can fashion a sort of rope or like with something from one of the other rooms?¡± I ask, following her up the steps.


    Tom follows up behind, ¡°Or maybe something small to toss down to see how far it goes, or see if we can hear an impact.¡±


    I hear a slight noise.


    ¡°Wait, stop,¡± I said, holding still.


    ¡°What?¡± Grace said.


    It sounds again, a creaking almost. I see it then illuminated by the lantern''s light. The chains holding the catwalk up are weakening, the thin metal scrapes as it tries to hold on.


    The lantern rope, we could have yanked that down and used the lantern for a light source, damn it.


    The chain just behind us snaps and I can feel the catwalk begin to dip. Grace is the first to react as she runs forward, jumping out way too soon and landing face first onto the catwalk, the force of her jump causes the whole structure to buckle, the corner diagonal to the broken one shatters off and a piece flies and almost nails me in the face, only missing me by a few inches.


    ¡°Run!¡± I yell out. I take a step forward and simultaneously the last two corners snap and the whole top of the catwalk begins to fall, all three of us with it. As soon as I breach the darkness I feel a rushing sensation behind my brain.


    Run run run around.


    Never stop, don¡¯t make a sound.


    Run run run today.


    Never cry, don¡¯t delay.


    Run run run around.


    Keep on running til they all fall down.


    I see a large, open room. It ducks down in the middle where a bunch of children are. There are five of them total, and I think...that I am one of them. I mean, he has my trademark stellar locks of love, so I mean, it makes enough sense. What doesn''t make sense is I have no clue where this is or who the other kids are. One''s a girl that looks my age with bright blonde hair knotted up in a ponytail. She''s crying because there seems to be something that looks like gum that had been wadded into said ponytail.


    Beside her is a young boy who looks to be only three or four years old, who has his attention solely stolen by the amazement of such an oddity as a thing like gummed up hair. I''ll pen him as the culprit for Miss Blondie''s freak-out. I see the other one that looks just like me helping her out, pulling some gum out of the young blonde girl''s hair.


    The oldest of the group looks to be a teenager, somewhere around sixteen or seventeen years old with dark brown hair that casts onto her shoulders. She tries to end the screaming and fighting.


    ¡°Dad, please, I can''t watch them all day. You know how I am with kids, and Megan here is already giving me a migraine,¡± the teen said, speaking to somebody out of view.


    ¡°Kate, I know I''m asking a lot out of you, but this was the deal for us to be living here, that you help babysit so that we can keep working and I can keep food on our plates,¡± An older man''s voice said, thick in a heavy western accent.


    ¡°I understand that, but how can you expect me to do this for eight hours every day?¡±


    ¡°It might extend past eight depending on what this stuff is, and I know that sounds bad, but I''m telling you straight up so you don''t get disappointed.¡±


    ¡°This sucks.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, life sucks. But to make it suck less we all have to suck up a little bit and do what we have to.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''ll be all right. I''ll ask Jay and see if his wife, Karen I think her name was, would be interested in coming up to help you out. She''s out of work considering her condition.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that''d help a bit.¡±


    ¡°No problem, sweetie. I''ve got to go now, I''ll see you at dinner.¡±


    The girl, Kate, looks down at the floor and breathes heavy, ¡°No you won''t, but I appreciate the sentiment.¡±


    She looks to the ground, obvious disappointment hung heavy in her face. It seems to not be recognized as the darkness surrounds the scene. It feels...almost familiar.

 Chapter 8

    I wake up to a sudden pain in my spine. It travels throughout my body like a tourist in the summer. But unlike a tourist, it¡¯s decided to take up permanent residence and has even paid a few of its taxes straight to my lower back.


    I''m staring upward at a giant hole of rusted metal. All around me I see a familiar room. It¡¯s the large expanse I had just seen before with the dip down in the center. A thin layer of water remains and soaks the back of my clothes and backpack. I sit up quickly, moving to a standing position but nearly topple over. My right arm is pretty fucked up. I think something''s sprained, but I can''t really tell what, it all kind of hurts. I''m the only one in the room, Grace and Tom must have woken up and left me, fucking cowards.


    Just like them to leave me to die. Just like everybody else.


    ¡ªMakes me want a drink¡ª


    I look up again at the giant hole and I walk around the room more trying to see a better angle of it. By the looks of the shape it looks entirely to have been the ship we were in. It sits safely in what seems to be a gigantic storage room. I came out of a hole that''s been torn out of the hull. What this actually reminds me of is this one television show I watched when I was younger, it detailed the inside of this one museum that had a full on replica of the Titanic built inside of it. It in of itself was this whole other interactive display.


    Heh, maybe it''s my good old friend Jack Adata here. I reach into my pockets and grab at the papers I''d stuffed away, they''re completely soaked and the ink begins to run.


    Hold on¡­.just a fucking second. Didn''t that one voice in that dream said the name Jay? I mean, this is definitely the room I saw, so maybe that voice with the western accent is the worker that was supposed to come in a bit later? And was that really a dream? I suppose not. I''ve been feeling weird ever since that woman stared me down I''ve been having these like, flashes. I guess it could explain that something within her made something within me like, start? React?


    I don''t know, I''m just trying to find out why I knew what this room looked like before I even entered it. I do know one thing, though, I have to find that woman. She''s the key to all of this, it seems.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    I look around me and find myself standing where the girl named Kate had been standing in the flash I''d seen. I turn to where the Western-Man, Kate''s father, would have been standing. There''s a ramp that forks off behind a railing leading up towards a sealed door, right beside the door lies an electronic keypad similar to the one we had encountered earlier. I begin to walk towards it, but I hear a sort of sloshing around me. I turn and it seems to follow, I feel its weight upon my back. I take my backpack off of my shoulders and unzip the main pouch. It seems during my fall my last water bottle burst open and soaked everything in my bag.


    I pull out the box of Cheez-Its and set it on the floor, the lower level seems to be the only part covered in water. It seems that it''s source was from that sort of crevice in the ship and it must have just busted through the hole into this room. That doesn''t explain how the ship got here in the first place, though.


    After the Cheez-Its I grab down at the box of condoms and toss them aside. No use in having those now, all they''ll do is take up space. Then I grab at the soaked shorts and shirt from inside and take them out, wringing the water out as much as I possibly can. Finally, I grab down at the box buried at the very bottom, the thing I am worried most about getting wet. The box itself is damaged almost beyond use, the fall didn''t do it any favors alongside being soaked. I slide off the top and rejoice at the papers inside still dry.


    I haven''t looked at this paper. Well, that''s a lie, by poor detail. Of course I''ve looked at it, seen it. But I''ve never read it. Because what it contains is information that I, for up to this point in my life, have not wanted to know. Do you remember me mentioning about me visiting a doctor while at the orphanage I used to be at?


    Well, of course, you may have been wondering, ¡°Well, don''t they usually give you like, a physical diagnosis or medical report or something?¡±


    Yes, yes they do...did, rather, and this is it. I didn''t want to know what was wrong with me, by giving it a name I gave it power, I gave it something over me, control. That is something that I can never give up, if you lose control you lose everything. But ever since I woke up here I have to admit that these rampant thoughts have become more troublesome. They''re becoming more than thoughts and Tom was so close to seeing it. But at the same time...he''s a med student, he might be able to help me with this. Something''s wrong with me, something that makes me have these thoughts.


    Something that obviously drove my parents away and something that made them never want to come back to their son while he was waiting so very patiently for them and¡ª

 Chapter 9

    Lewy Body Dementia. Otherwise also referred as Parkinson''s Disease Dementia. That''s the diagnosis given to me by my doctor, a nut-job in person maybe, but I would assume he had some assertion to his diagnosis. Plus, there''s even a symptoms list:


    Oh lucky me, lucky me.


    -Chance for fluctuating cognition with pronounced variations in attention and alertness.


    -Recurrent complex visual hallucinations, typically well formed and detailed.


    -Low dopamine transporter uptake in the brain''s basal ganglia as seen on SPECT and PET imaging scans.


    -Repeated falls and syncope (fainting)


    I mean, on my own I haven''t really fainted as of late¡­unless...


    ¡°Woah, hold on there, you almost fell,¡±


    ¡°What? No, I didn''t. Let go of me,¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Chill, just helping you out,¡±


    I so was not falling, I''d know.


    I''d know.


    Maybe...I didn''t know, because I was so focused on one of my other tracks? I mean, why would Tom lie about something so stupid as that? I turn the piece of paper over and it reads ¡°PROGNOSIS.¡± Oh goodie, I get to hear the inner details of the rest of my life. I look at the paper and it''s loaded full of acronyms, numbers, and abbreviations. I can''t make heads or tails of it.


    I need to know now. And the only person who can help me do that is Tom. So, I have two missions, find Tom, and then find that girl. And escape, but that''s obvious.


    I roll the papers up and set them in the front pocket of my backpack and I walk up to the keypad and find that it has the same numbered keypad as before. I type in the same code as before, ¡°0399,¡± and the keypad''s screen glows green. I hear the tumblers of the door shifting just like the last time, and it actually rises up, opening the way for me. I walk through to find a hallway that branches off to my right and left, they both turn, so I assume that I''m in some other sort of symmetrical hallway. Just then I hear a loud burst of sound. Gunshot.


    There is a loud scream that follows and I''m taking off running. I head down the right path and follow the way down and see a door to my left. I see an entrance to a stairwell at the end of the path, but before going down I decide to check the door out. Wherever that shot came from it has to be close.


    ¡°What? No, it''s my gun! You''re the one who fucking allowed it to come up here, I''m not rewarding you with shit.¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    I see her pale face as her life drains all at once from it. In one action, one decision a life had been taken. Maybe more if I don''t make it out of here alive.


    Inside the room is completely empty. The room is an eternal white, it is completely void of anything besides a single sheet of paper sitting in the middle of the room. Conscience tells me to leave and find the source of the gunshot, curiosity tells me to pick the paper. Curiosity wins. I grab the sheet of paper in my hands and glance it over, it definitely is another one of the notes from Jack.


    YEAR ZERO


    04/17/2007


    -Mason, shortest, dark brown hair kept short. His voice has a rough Texan drawl to it. He''s got a kid, Kate with him here that is easy to pick out. Short, long dark brown hair and the highest pitch voice here, save for my own Megan.


    -Jay, taller than Mason, hair with patches of gray. Voice is a high pitched almost-New-Yorkan accent.


    -Gregory, taller than Jay and Mason, shorter than David. Dirty blonde hair, reaches his shoulders. Voice is average pitch, Home accent. Apparently his wife Lorraine works for us as well, but she''s actually been stationed over in New York


    -David, tallest of the group, jet black hair, deepest voice. Almost sounds like from Europe.


    I know their names and their builds. it''s been so tough, but I think I finally got it. Thank God.


    Signed,


    Jack Adata


    So, this is it then. It makes some sense at least. My parents, they were involved with whatever is going on here. Gregory and Lorraine, no chance in hell that it''s coincidence that those were my parent''s names. I mean, I guess I know what this is being done for. Freelance work for NASA, it seems. Something they don''t want any official connection to, so that''s why they hired people like this Jack and my parents. Keep a paper trail as thin as possible, but still be able to document progress.


    I never really knew specifically what my parents did for NASA prior. I mean, I really wasn''t interested if they were allowed to tell anyhow. But now something here shows that they were testing something they found on Mars, that Lantrate and Dicoberene stuff. Maybe if I can find more of these papers I can find out why my dad had to go find my mom.


    Find Tom. Find the girl. Find who shot the gun. Find what happened to these scientists. These are my objectives, and I guess I need to start with the most time sensitive of the bunch.


    I throw the door open behind me and am taking off towards the stairwell. I''m taking the steps two and then three at a time down and I reach another diverging path, there is a door, but the stairs also continue downward. I contemplate going further down, but ultimately decide in going through the door. I walk into a sort of parking garage. On the ground a few feet in I see a fallen Grace, she lies in a small pool of what seems to be her own blood. She is breathing slow and heavy, holding her hands to her side.


    Thank god it was her that was shot instead of Tom or the girl. Best case scenario.


    ¡°Oh my god, Gavin!¡± Grace said, pained and with obvious difficulty.


    ¡°Quick, what happened and where''s Tom?¡± I ask, jogging up.


    ¡°That woman from before snuck up on us and had a g-gun. She was spouting some crazy...oh god, some crazy nonsense and sh-shot me. Tom took off a-after her down the ramp.¡±


    ¡°Okay, thank you!¡± I said, standing back up and running off.


    ¡°Hey, where the hell are you going?¡± She calls.


    ¡°You two ditched me back there,¡± I said. ¡°I can only return the favor.¡± I''m running now without a second thought, without giving my conscience a second to catch up with me and keep me from getting the answers I need.

 Chapter 10

    Down the ramp I see a similar scene, save for a bleeding Grace. Echoing from above the car ramp I hear the pained screams of an animal waiting to be put out of its misery. On the opposite side of the garage is a blank wall empty to the fullest amount. Or would that be the least amount? To my right is another slope downwards to the next floor down. I keep running down as the screaming from above quiets ever so quietly.


    On the floor below I see a door outfitted with all different kinds of warning signs, it''s very old and tattered and most of it has scraped off, but I can read "D....GER:......RATOR ROOM.¡± I hear a thud against the door, someone''s on the other side! I grab the handle and swing it open, a shot rings out and I jump out of my skin as I see the quick trail of a bullet fly past my head, mere inches from lodging itself into my eye socket. Tom spills out of the room and crashes into me. I fall to the ground with him, he''s much heavier than I originally pegged him as. ¡°OW! Wh-Gavin?¡± He sputters about as he jumps to his feet. He slams the door and locks it tight from the outside and looks to me with a wild look in his eye. ¡°What the hell happened?¡±


    ¡°That fucking woman from before, from the room with all of the beds got away. I saw her when we fell and I went after her, both you and Grace were unconscious from the fall still. I would have woken you up if she didn''t start running away from me,¡± he said, moving quickly to the ramp leading downstairs. I stand and move to follow.


    "And what was that?" I ask.


    "I caught up to her, and she had me pinned down. I didn''t know she had a gun.¡±


    ¡°Grace managed to wake up and completely avoid waking me,¡± I said.


    ¡°I didn''t know she woke up, you either, to be frank. I had to find that woman, I wasn''t even thinking about waking you two,¡± he said. ¡°Do you know where she is now?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I lie, following him down the slope to another floor that looks identical to the ones above.


    ¡°Damn, I didn''t get a chance to look. Were there any other pathways that you ran by that she could have gone down?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but I don''t like having that woman so close to us,¡± I said.


    ¡°Right, you''re right. Maybe she found her own way, we can loop back around, but we need to be safe first,¡±


    ¡°To be fair, I don''t think we''ve been safe at all through any of this, but don''t let me talk down your lack of conscience,¡± I said.


    Hey, if he''s willing to talk himself into ditching Grace I won''t interrupt any more.


    ¡°Right, I don''t like the feeling of leaving, but you know,¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know, I think I''m starting to like you a little better, Tom,¡± I said.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°You don''t seriously consider this a good thing?¡±


    ¡°I think it is better her than us,¡± I said.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I need you,¡± I said, running to a door on the far side of the garage. ¡°C''mon, we can''t be taking that slope all the way down.¡±


    ¡°Need me? For what?¡± he holds the door open so he can slip through behind me.


    ¡°You''re a med student, you saw that box in my backpack, right?¡±


    ¡°I...yeah, I saw it.¡±


    I grab at my back as we step down the stairwell that seems to go on for eternity.


    Just how large of a building are we in?


    I take out the medical report and hand it to him, ¡°I got the main points. Dementia, I got that. I need you to read me the prognosis,¡± I said.


    ¡°I...¡±


    ¡°Tom, I need you for little else. I''m going to tell you straight I''m letting you tag along because you can help me out,¡± I said.


    ¡°And Grace?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I didn''t kill her, no...well, not directly. She was above us, the floor above us, I mean. When I found you. Shot, from the woman most likely. I need you to read me that prognosis, stat.¡±


    ¡°You...you''re insane,¡± Tom stops halfway down a step.


    ¡°Well, according to that, yes. But Tom, this is important, I need to know how long I have and what comes next, then I need to find that girl-¡±


    ¡°Find the girl? Why in god''s name do you want to do that?¡±


    I can feel my head start to pound, but this isn''t one of those hallucinations, this is just a normal headache. ¡°Because I need to find out what she did to me when she touched me, because before all of this bullshit I didn''t ever have these weird ass hallucinations. Tom, I''m seeing stuff I shouldn''t be able to see,¡± I said.


    He looks at me and then down to the paper, ¡°This doesn''t in any way, shape, or form excuse what you did,¡± he said, and then looks down at the paper.


    ¡°I''m not asking it to. I know I''m fucked up, I want to know for how long.¡±


    Tom looks back up at me, ¡°What did you see in these hallucinations?"


    ¡°I''d like to keep walking as we talk,¡± I said.


    Tom nods and continues moving down the steps, almost as if he''d forgotten what he''d just been through. I guess I can share in his sentiments.


    ¡°Are you coming?¡± I ask, jumping down the stairs by threes.


    ¡°Are you going to answer my question?¡±


    ¡°I saw the people who were here before. Like, that Mason and his daughter and shit. Things like that, almost like I was looking into a window of the past or something.¡± Tom nods and his pace picks up a tiny bit, but then he turns on a dime.


    ¡°What? What is it?¡±


    ¡°We''re going back to get Grace,¡± Tom said.


    ¡°What?! Why?¡± He hands me back the papers and I take them slowly. He takes in a deep breath and smiles, ¡°If you want to know your prognosis, then you''re going to come along and you better hope that she''s still alive,¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? That''s so not fair!¡± I scream at him.


    ¡°Think of it this way, you won''t get lost finding that girl, but something tells me she won''t do much talking. Come on, let''s go,¡± he said, running back up the stairs.


    You have got to be fucking kidding me.

 Chapter 11

    The girl is nowhere to be seen, gone. I notice that the door to the generator room is still closed, locked. Grace is lying down where I saw her previously, I see her chest rising and falling slowly. ¡°Grace!¡± Tom said, now jogging over towards her. I can see her eyes open slightly as she looks to her left, she doesn''t have much strength left, it seems.


    ¡°T-Tom...you''re here...¡± She said.


    And then she sees me.


    ¡°Y-You...what the...fu...ck are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Grace, I understand you have beef with him, at the same time, I understand why you left without him.¡±


    ¡°To be quite fair, you left too,¡± I pipe in.


    ¡°Not the time,¡± he said, walking closer to Grace. ¡°Gavin, I think I remember seeing an extra pair of clothes in your bag. Would you mind if you parted with at least the shirt?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I guess not,¡± I said, taking it out of my bag, tossing it over to him.


    He catches it with one arm and turns back around to kneel over Grace. ¡°Now, you''ve lost quite a bit of blood, but I need you to stay calm, okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    He takes the shirt and rips the collar to effectively unwrap it, and then he applies some pressure to the wound as he ties it around her as if you would a hoodie.


    ¡°I don''t have any actual bandages with me, so sadly this is the best I can do. The good news is I don''t think that what that girl has is a real gun."


    "What do you mean?" I ask.


    "I''m no expert on guns, but the entry wound here looks much too small if an actual bullet that size hit her. I''m thinking it might be like, modded to shoot something like BB''s."


    "So, she''s got a BB pistol?" Grace asked.


    "Yeah, if you keep pressure on it you should stop or at least slow the blood flow, you should be fine.¡± he said.


    ¡°Now, I don''t think you should move quite yet, While it doesn''t seem so bad right now it could make things worse,¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Okay,¡± she glares up at me.


    ¡°And I understand we have some problems. Well, we''re going to need to settle those before we do move on.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, why?¡± I ask.


    "Because like it or not we were gathered here against our will."


    "Chosen," I said.


    "Hm?" Tom asked.


    "Maybe we were chosen. That girl spoke to me, she said hero. What do you make of that?"


    "I don''t know, but that''s not what I''m talking about. Well, not yet," Tom said. "I''m talking about how you don''t seem to want to be with us, Gavin."


    "I just really want to get out of here," I said.


    "Yes, we do too, but I''m sure we can get out quicker and easier if we team up and work together."


    "I just don''t like you guys, I''m sorry. Not for saying it, for I guess the bluntness of it? I don''t know," I said.


    "I''m not asking you to like me. I''m asking you to work with me so we can get out of here alive." He points to Grace on the ground, "And leaving one of us like that isn''t the way to do that."


    "Okay, okay. You''re right. I''m not much for the whole friends thing, so I''m not saying I''m going to be your friend,"


    "But...?"


    "I''m sorry I left you for dead, Grace. I know that isn''t able to cut it, I just want to get the hell out of here."


    "It''s a start," She moans out as she tries to sit up.


    "No, you should rest back, you might make things worse."


    "Okay," Grace replies.


    Tom turns to me, "Now, you were saying something before?"


    I look to him, for the first time I don''t completely hate his guts. Well, maybe second. I kinda did give him praise earlier, didn''t I?


    "I''m thinking that we were chosen to be here. I don''t know about you, but I think there might be a reason we''re here. Me...I think mine''s this," I said, handing him the note I''d found in the room I''d woken up in. Tom reads it aloud to Grace.


    "Why would he write all of this information down?" Grace asked.


    "And what does it have to do with you?" Tom adds.


    "I thought the very same question you did, Grace. Then I started to remember some pieces of the other letters that stuck out to me," I said.


    "What happened to-"


    "They got soaked in the water when we fell," I explain.


    "Oh."


    "So, I remember in that second letter there was a bit where Jack was describing Jay by his voice."


    "Yeah, I remember that."


    "Now, why would he have to do that? Usually unless a voice is like, out of the ordinary I don''t make mention of it, personally."


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "I don''t know, maybe his voice really was memorable?"


    "Maybe, but that brings us back to this note here, the one listing all the names. Do you see anything weird about it?" I ask.


    Tom looks at the paper in his hands and looks it over once again. "Let''s see...Name, height, hair, voice, family...that seems to be the pattern it follows for each of them," Tom said.


    "What about their faces?" Grace asked.


    "Huh?" Tom looks to her.


    "I knew something bothered me, but now I know. Why describe literally everything about someone except for like, their facial features? Nothing at all for any of them?"


    "That''s what I thought too. Why would he not mention any of their faces? Why stick to everything else? And then I remembered he wrote down this," I clear my throat and stand straight, "I''m still trying to get them memorized."


    "Normal people don''t usually have to memorize things like that, right? We can just like, understand them," Tom said.


    "Yeah, I think our dear friend can''t recognize people by faces, that''s why he has to list them by their voice and hair."


    "I guess it makes sense. And I can kind of get why he felt so stressed to memorize them. How would you tell your coworkers you had something like that and expect to be treated the same?" Grace said.


    "I think there''s a name for that, the not-recognizing-faces," Tom stumbles.


    "Prosopagnosia," I tell him.


    He looks over to me, shocked. "How...?"


    "I remember reading about it. It''s strange I knew something that you didn''t, Med Student."


    I remember reading about Prosopagnosia when I was in the waiting room of the doctor the staff had taken me to see. There were a bunch of other kids that were ahead of me in priority for seeing the doctor. Kids with measles, kids with hemorrhages, kids without legs. In that time I read that people can either have prosopagnosia from a genetic mutation or from trauma on the brain at some point in life. I wonder which one Jack is? Maybe since he isn''t making such a big deal of not being able to see faces he has dealt with this for a long time, maybe even since childhood.


    "I have a question," Grace asked.


    "Yeah?" I ask.


    "You said this had something to do with you."


    "Oh, right. That''s not a question, by the way, but I''ll explain anyway. So, I have reason to believe that my parents worked with this guy," I said.


    "What?" Tom asked. Grace merely looks at me with an annoyed and pained expression.


    "That letter you''re holding Tom, it mentions one of the scientists, Greg. It also mentions his wife, Lorraine. Well, my parents were named Greg and Lorraine, and they worked as freelance workers, just like these people."


    "What?"


    "I didn''t know they were doing this kind of stuff, but I think that might have something to do with why I am here," I said.


    "And you think that you were chosen because of that?" Tom said.


    "Yeah."


    "Well, then I have something to share as well. I didn''t want to earlier because I would have thought for sure you guys would have seen me as the bad guy. Mason, the one in this letter with his kid, Kate. That sounds an awful lot like my uncle Mason. Their last name is Radica," Tom said.


    I can see why he thought so. I mean, I surely would have pegged him as Leto if he came forward with something like that, but that only leaves one question.


    "Who''re you related to here?" I ask Grace, turning down to see her on the ground.


    "Me? None of these people. My dad''s a nut-job reporter and my brother is currently six feet under ground."


    "I''m sorry," Tom said.


    "He was going to college, you know?" Grace said. "He wanted to be a writer. He had such a way with wording things, and now he''s dead."


    Probably back in 2013. A lot of people died then, and after, too.


    "And your father, a reporter? Who for?" I ask.


    "His start-up company called The Freeman''s Word, yellow journalism stuff. He had a bit of a mental breakdown back in 2005, so he isn''t doing anything as of late except for watching television at home."


    "Okay, any uncle Jays or Davids?" Tom asked.


    "Nope. I have an Uncle Joe, but he''s dead too. He just smoked a lot."


    "Okay, uh, I don''t have any other leads really. Anything at NASA ring a bell to your normal life?" I ask in desperation.


    "Nope."


    "Well, maybe you''re just unlucky," Tom said.


    "Yeah, maybe," she said, moving her hand to her side once more.


    "Oh, before I forget Gavin, I owe you one prognosis," Tom said, pulling the medical report out of his back pocket.


    "You''re keeping to your word?" I ask.


    "You''re one crazy son of a bitch, but I do believe that you deserve that at the very least," he said.


    "Wait a minute, prognosis for what?" Grace asked.


    "Our boy here''s got himself dementia," Tom said.


    I look at him hard.


    "What? Nothing is too personal here, Gavin. Especially considering you were trusting enough of me to help you out."


    I sigh, "Continue."


    Tom continues scanning the back of the page, and he looks up to me, "You''ve got approximately five years," Tom said.


    "Is that what it said?" I ask.


    "Yeah. I mean, it doesn''t so much said it outright."


    "I assumed, I would have seen if it did."


    "But the bad news is this is dated five years ago..." Tom looks to me, handing me the report.


    "So...it could be anytime then..." I said.


    "Yeah, sorry."


    I look down at the paper in my hands. "How...how can you tell it said five years?" I ask. "Where does it said it?"


    He walks over and looks over my shoulder, "Look there, that''s where it said your diagnosis. Based on your specific condition the general prognosis is five to ten years based on severity and malignancy."


    "And mine is severe?"


    He nods.


    I could drop any time. That¡¯s scarier than any kidnapping or robed assailant. This is an imminent death to my own body. I feel something rise, I think it''s puke. Or maybe it¡¯s just the physical manifestation with my inability to process recent events. Maybe it¡¯s something so severe it will just remove all the pain¡ªtake it all away and leave me alone finally.


    "Gavin...Gavin?" Tom shakes my shoulder. I am woken out of my reverie and swallow hard the vomit that rose to my throat.


    "Y-yeah?"


    "Are you going to be okay?"


    "Yeah, yeah I''m good. Great. We need to move."


    "I don''t think Grace is ready to mo-"


    "Nah, I think she''s perfectly fine to move, we need to go," I said, pulling her to her feet, not listening to her pained moan. She nearly falls over, but I''m jogging down the corner before they can even react.


    "Gavin, where are you going?" Tom said, putting a little too much emphasis on the "where". I stop, but only for a second.


    "I''m going to find that girl, it makes sense that she''s Leto, come on!" I said, running down to the door I''d found Tom by. It''s still locked. Looks like I might finally get some answers. I''m not expecting much but the bare minimum. That seems to be the way to go these days.


    Survival isn''t much of an option anymore. I need answers. I need to know why my parents left me. I need to know why I was taken here. I need to know why¡ª

 Chapter 12

    I unlock the door and swing the handle up, I hear Tom and Grace coming down behind me. I pull open the door, it is much heavier than I expected. I have to push it with two hands once I get it out enough to hold it open. Tom comes from behind to help hold the door open. "C''mon, we have to find her quick," I said, letting the door go, Tom shifts, surprised I did.


    "Are you going to at least wait up for us?"


    "I''ve been freaking shot, I can''t move as fast as you guys," Grace said. Tom helps her move along behind me, the door shuts behind them both and it eclipses the hallway into darkness.


    "Can''t they afford lighting in this stupid building?" I ask, slowing to wait for them.


    "I don''t know, but the generators should be this way. I mean I was headed there before that girl snuck up on me."


    "And she would have filled you full of BBs if I didn''t save your ass," I said.


    "Looks like I am the unlucky one," Grace said. "But the bleeding I think has stopped."


    "That''s good."


    "Yes, thank you Tom."


    "Mmmm, I can smell the contempt from over here," I said.


    "Yeah, you do."


    I reach out my arm to feel the wall, it continues for another foot before expanding out.


    "I think we''re in a larger room, maybe we can find our way to the generator?" I ask.


    "Okay, do you want to fan out?" Tom asked.


    "That seems the best idea, we can call to each other if we get lost. Don''t go too far in case there are other rooms or paths."


    "Gotcha."


    "How about I go straight, Tom goes right, and you go left, Gavin?"


    "Sounds like a plan," I said.


    I head to my left and brace my hand against the wall, sliding it as I go past slowly. I don''t feel anything along my perimeter of the room, must be empty. I''d rather scope that out first before I leave the wall and risk-


    "Gyahh!"


    Tripping over something.


    "You okay?" I call out.


    It''s Grace who answers, "Yeah, something was on the ground. Lemme see if I can find it. I think it''s a..." she goes silent.


    "A what?" Tom asked, he''s a little bit further away.


    "Guys..."


    "What is it?"


    "I think it''s a skull," she said. "Here, come feel this and tell me that''s not a skull!"


    I walk over in her direction, I bump my arm against something metal and wince out in pain. I assume I hit the generator with the arm I fell on out of the ship. I hear a noise, I think I hit a button.


    "BOOTING UP."


    "Sonnuva," I whisper.


    "Are you there?" she asked.


    "Yeah, to your left," I said, grabbing at my arm.


    "Okay, check this shit out," she said.


    I reach out and find her hand, I move down a bit and she places something hard into my hands


    An intense fire burns. A girl screams out loud it pierces my eardrums. I see the face of a young girl for a flash of a second, she looked like a young teenager, scared for her life as the fire consumes her. She is unknown to me. The fire wraps around her wrists and she screams out. I can feel the heat around my own wrist. It then spreads up her arms and webs around her face, erupting her pale skin into a bright orange. I feel the heat consume me and I scream out.


    I toss the skull up as my hands burn hot, I''m breathing heavy as I hear the skull land somewhere behind me.


    "You okay?" Grace asked.


    "Yeah, I saw the owner of that skull as they were dying, I think."


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    "How...is that possible?"


    "I don''t know, ever since the girl touched my forehead back there I''ve been like, having these nasty hallucinations which are more like visions to be honest."


    "And in that vision you saw..."


    "It was a girl, burned alive."


    "And you trust these?"


    "I mean, I know hallucinations are a thing with me, I understand that, but like, I''ve never heard of someone hallucinating things about people he shouldn''t know about like this. I think there''s something more to it," I said.


    "And you want to find that girl because she did this to you?"


    "Correct, and now you''re all caught up. Wait...where''s Tom?"


    "I''m over here!" He calls out. "I kept going and found what I thought was a generator. I tried to find any connection switch but then I found something odd. I found that what I thought was a generator was actually a bunch of smaller generators...and that they''re not generators," Tom said.


    "What?" I ask.


    "I might be wrong, but the sign outside, it was faded, right?"


    "Y-Yeah," I said.


    "Fuck."


    "What is it?" Grace asked.


    "We need to get out of here now."


    What could he be talking about? I mean, if it''s not generators what could it¡ªFire.  That girl burnt to death in here. Incinerator. It was never a generator room, the sign said "Danger: Incinerator Room"


    Oh God.


    "Tom''s right, we need to move. We''re in an incinerator room."


    "Wait, like...how that girl...?"


    "Yes."


    She doesn''t seem to need any further incentive to move, I hear her running. To where, I don''t know. I can''t see anything.


    "I don''t know if Leto has this rigged up to go off on a timer or what, so please don''t touch anything else," Tom said.


    "Okay, I don''t-"


    A mechanical noise whirrs to life, "BOOTING COMPLETED. INCINERATION BEGIN."


    "What. Did. I. Just. said." Tom mutters.


    "I didn''t touch any...oh...whoops." I said, remembering bumping into a switch of some sort. Without another second I''m running off to my left. I map out the dark room in my mind and pray that there is an exit in the back.


    I see light spilling into the room as a door opens, Grace made it to the other side. Just then the darkness is scared away by the flames that spill out of jets protruding out of the floor diagonally upwards. They illuminate the room, it''s a hard metal that must somehow be heat-resistant.


    Tom is running behind me as the flames encircle the ceiling and bend down to the floor below. I hop over a railing that I would have fallen over had it remained dark as Grace rushes us, waving her hands madly.


    I clear the distance as I feel my back heating up quickly. My shirt begins to stick to my sweaty back and I jump through the open door and I think if I was in there any longer it might have burnt off. Tom runs in right behind me and Grace closes the heavy-set door by herself.


    She''s stronger than I originally thought.


    I am breathing heavy, sweating all down my face and I look around. We''re in a small space about ten feet across. There''s the door that leads to literal hell, us, and on the other side is an elevator shaft, but no elevator.


    "So, I was going to suggest we turn back and go down the stairs, but I don''t want to do that anymore," Grace said in-between breaths.


    "Well, we know one thing," Tom begins. "We know that girl, Leto for all we know, is still ahead. When the room lit up I saw no other exits from that incinerator room," Tom said.


    "You think she''s Leto?" I ask.


    "It would make sense. At first I thought she might have been like us, but the fact that Leto would need to keep a close eye on us and how she "woke up" separate to us," Tom explains.


    "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, knowing that doesn''t really change anything. We''re still going to find her and get some answers."


    "I feel good, like, we''ll actually get out."


    "Yeah?"


    "Yeah, I have some hope," Tom said, smiling.


    Hope. I hope his hope is on the mark.


    Whenever I think of fire I think back to The Exploding Man. You see, Hal Valhart wasn''t like any of our Presidents back during World War II or anything like that. He didn''t serve terms, he served until the Queen saw it fit he didn''t any longer. Lucky for us, he was pity to our problem, so he worked out really well. I liked the guy, no particular issues. Others did, and that''s when we got into the sorry state we''re in now as a nation. Back then there was an assassination attempt on Mr. Valhart and his entire close cabinet, even containing members of the royal family of the Queen. It was successful.


    What''s strange wasn''t the fact that there was an attempt, because Valhart did have his share of naysaiders, people who couldn''t adjust from the old times. (Personally I think they were just making the transition harder on themselves.) What was weird about it was the method used. A single man, (nobody has come forth with his name, hence the name "The Exploding Man") walked in on a meeting with the group of gentleman while they were discussing the new economic breaks for the working poor.


    (Get that? Valhart was killed while trying to help the people, that''s a big reason why I liked him.)


    The man, if you couldn''t guess, exploded, killing everybody in the room. Valhart and two grandsons of the Queen were killed in the blast, and all Thirteen of Valhart''s personal guard. So much life taken with one blast.


    What''s weird about that is there were no traces of residue on the scene from any explosive substance. There wasn''t even a body of the man, only a shadow forever marked where he died. Popular theory is he rigged up some nuclear sort of blast that vaporized him completely.


    Once this happened the Queen wasn''t too happy with us. She basically removed all stations of support and left us like a dying animal. We turned into scavengers, mostly. Some places are lucky, still have their support in place for some reason or another and are doing just fine. I hear they¡¯re trying to install a new president¡ªsome bumfuck official from Britain. That¡¯s going to be absolutely great let me tell you. One Brit goes up in flames so obviously you just throw as many at the problem as you can afford. That solves all the world¡¯s problems. At least...wait, oh, I¡¯m sorry...Anyway, I got off track.


    That''s the tale of The Exploding Man. Now, where was I?

 Chapter 13

    In front of us lies the empty elevator shaft, behind us is the incinerator room. I take a step forward and look deep into the elevator shaft. It descends down into darkness, there seems to be no sign of the actual elevator. I look up and strain to look for it up as well, but no such luck. I can see a floor below us on the other side of the shaft where the elevator would pick up.


    "You''re not thinking of jumping down there, are you?" Tom asked me.


    "I''m afraid we need to, Tom. There isn''t any other way we can go."


    "There isn''t any button to call this stupid elevator," Grace said.


    "I guess so," Tom said.


    "I really don''t think I can make that jump, guys," Grace said.


    "Do you think you could use the cord as a sort of in between? Like, if you don''t believe you can make it all the way, which, let''s be honest I don''t think any one of us is physically fit enough to jump that far," Tom said.


    "Right," I said, thinking about it. "You''d have to have enough momentum pushing yourself forward to not get stuck on the cord and have a one way trip to the bottom."


    "Ouch, that sounds like it''d kill your hands," Grace said, looking at her own mitts.


    "Are you sure down''s the only way to go? Like, really sure?" Tom asked.


    I look back out into the shaft, holding the left column for support as I peek my head out. I don''t see any opening for any of the elevator''s passage as I look up, whatever it goes up for must either be way out of my vision or not exist at all. Why make the shaft go all the way up, then? "Yeah, I think down''s our way to go, I can only see the one exit."


    "Okay, well, then I guess I see we have no other option. I certainly don''t have the strength to climb all the way up," Tom said.


    "Neither do I. I''ll go first, if that makes you both feel better," I said.


    Look at me, offering to go first into a possible death trap. Have I really gotten this soft in the course of an hour? I mean, if I die here I''ll at least be able to ask my parents in the afterlife why they left. Got to keep thinking positive I guess.


    Tom nods his head and I turn to face the shaft. I swallow hard as I run forward, my legs running like tiny machines of their own will. They carry me as I leap forward, time seems to stop as I reach out. I nearly slam against the taut cords and I grip tight around, but I can''t find a hold, so I begin sliding down. My hands begin to burn as I go down, and I see the other entrance approaching below.


    I push off of the cord and reach my hand out and it slams down onto the edge of the entrance. I grip my fingers around the edge of the flooring and pull myself to my elbows, breathing hard as my hands burn from sliding. I lift myself up and roll onto the side. I''m on my back looking up and I can see the ledge I''d jumped from. Tom stands out over the edge about where I was standing only moments prior.


    "You okay, man?"


    "Yeah, my hands hurt like a bitch but I''m largely okay," I said.


    "I don''t think I can do that," Grace said.


    "Yeah, I think I''m in agreement, you almost just barely made it," Tom said.


    "Aw, come on guys. We really don''t have much time to be arguing over little things like this," I said.


    "Little? My life isn''t a little thing," Grace said.


    "Your choices are to sit there and do nothing, go back and be burnt to a crisp, or get the hell out of here."


    "I know but, like, jeez, if I knew I''d be doing this shit I wouldn''t have skipped cardio," Tom said.


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    "I just wouldn''t have gotten kidnapped, to be quite frank with you," Grace said.


    "Touch¨¦," Tom said.


    "Come on already," I said, standing up.


    "Fine, fine. Since there is no other way I guess I can just freaking go. God this sucks so much."


    Grace backs up to give him room.


    "If I die here, well, just fuck. If I die anywhere it might as well be highlighting my greatest flaw, physical activity," he said.


    "You''ll be fine," I said.


    "Yeah, you got this," Grace said.


    He backs up and I can see him make a sort of cross shape crossed his chest.


    Huh, I wouldn''t have taken him for religious


    He begins to run and I see him jump. His lanky arms swirling in circles as he grabs out for the cord. He grabs a hold with his right and swings around it and grips tight with his left. His grip must be really strong because he stops still and only slides down slightly. He fixes his grip and stops just before the entrance. I can hear his relief and I admit I am a bit relieved too. There''s an echo from up above.


    "Okay, you actually got the hardest part out of the way, now you just need to get over here, do you think you could start by swinging your legs?"


    "I think so."


    He begins to swing ever so slowly at first, he grunts as he holds on tighter to the cord. The noise from above grows louder, I can feel something rise out of my stomach.


    "Uh, Tom, you might want to-"


    It takes a second. But even then he doesn''t react quick enough. The elevator shaft from up above falls and seems to stop on a dime right in front of me. I heard a sort of crack as it hit Tom, but I can''t see him. The shaft is blocking the way. I hear Grace scream from across the shaft, it echoes up and down it and it rings through my body. Just like that my irritation for Tom was gone. All that was left to replace it is the corpse falling somewhere near the bottom of this building. I guess it''s cruel coincidence that he happens to be the closest to getting out of here, yet his body will never get the chance. The elevator door begins to open slowly, it creaks kind of slowly at first and then all at once. Leto stands inside, still as bare-chested as before.


    "Gavin, what happened? Are you still there?" Grace yells out.


    "Yeah...I''m here, and so is Leto," I said.


    "What?!"


    She walks out to me, she''s holding something in her hand, it looks like a card of sorts. She walks out slowly and hands it out to me. I''ll admit it catches me off guard.


    "What the hell did you bring us here for? Who are you and why have you-"


    She stops me and places it in my hands before running off. I look down to it, it looks like a get well soon card. Drawn over the front is a little teddy bear with an eye stitched closed. On the inside it said "I''m so sorry for your loss! I really hope <u> Thomas </u> feels better soon!" All of it is preprinted into the card except for Thomas'' name, which is scribbled in with some sort of marker. It seems Leto was prepared for someone to die in this shaft. "Grace, find some way down here! I''m going to catch this son of a bitch!" I yell running after her.


    Just down the hall I speed up and I''m sprinting now to catch her. She stumbles through a doorway into an open lab, I catch up to her and grab at her arm. The second I make contact she spins around and I can see her head flying forward into me. I try to lean back but her head comes through anyway and smashes right into me, sending me toppling back. My vision wanes as I hit the ground, I struggle to my feet as she begins to continue down the hall. I reach out and manage to grab her by her ankle and she trips and lands on her face.


    "Yes, no running away now," I said, crawling over her and pinning her arms down. She struggles to get free and I push down harder. "No, you aren''t getting up. Now, you''re going to be answering some of my questions," I said, breathing a little heavy.


    She''s silent, only staring up at me with a vacant almost-smile.


    "Are you Leto?" I ask her.


    She nods, her eyes unmoving.


    "Okay, good. Now this is progress. Why did you bring us here? What is your aim?" I ask.


    Silence.


    "What did you do to me before? Why am I seeing these visions?"


    Silence.


    "Come on! Answer me!" I scream, pushing down on her harder and my right hand slips off of her arm. She wiggles it free and I grab hold of it, to hold it back, but it doesn''t come at me like I expect it to. She actually reaches for her face, her eye specifically. She begins digging her hand into her eye, clawing at it, scraping.


    She makes no noise, no sound of pain, but she looks absolutely awful, screaming with no sound. I try to pull her arm away, to get her to stop, she can''t get out of this without answering me, but her grip is much stronger than mine. A thick white liquid begins to pour out of her eye socket. She brings a finger up to the liquid and dabs it on her finger like a paintbrush. She moves lightning quick, pressing her finger to me once more and like before I can feel my body go numb all at once.

 Chapter 14

    April 18<sup>th</sup>, 2007


    The room around us fades and tables are rearranged. Tables that once were once chipped and broken rebuild themselves before my eyes. Papers once strewn about return to their original location, some disappear completely. Five people fade into existence before me, their actions ceased and everything stands still as if it were paused.


    This is another one of those visions, er, hallucinations. The one closest to me on my right is an easy recognition, it''s my father. That means that these other four are the ones he worked with, of course. Beside my father is David Cress, the man with the jet black hair and the European sounding voice, Jay Rein, the hair that has already started to gray alongside his cloudy eyes, and Mason Radica, the one with the dark brown hair cut real short with a southern drawl. The fifth, Jack Adata, stands in a separate partition behind a glass window fully robed in white with a mask over his face. I guess I can''t really know that this is Jack, but I do.


    Just like I knew the others''s last names. I didn''t know them, but now I do. I think Leto is showing me that, telling me inside my head. I also know that the time I''m looking at happened ten years ago in 2007. Her voice slips away as the world starts to resume in front of me. My father presses a button on a microphone standing in front of all four of them and bends down.


    "Hey Jack?"


    "Yes, Greg? I read you," I see him reaching for a mic on the lapel of the robe.


    ¡°Okay, good. You have little room for error here, you realize that, right? You''re working with things no other human has come in contact with."


    "I know, I know. I promise I got it."


    "We don¡¯t know how that Lantrate reacts with anything, you''ll need to tell us every little thing that happens even if you think it doesn''t matter. We won''t be able to see the reactions since we''re locking the door so the safety barriers can go down,¡± Mason said, bending down to speak in.


    "Wait, safety barriers?" Jack asked.


    "Yeah, they''re mandatory, Jack. Word from up high demands their use in conjunction with the Dicoberene and Lantrate," My father said.


    "I wanted to tell you, Jack, but-" Jay begins.


    "But you wouldn''t have gone in if we''d said so," my father said.


    "Well what the hell, guys? Jay, I would have thought you would have at least told me," Jack said, his voice cracks.


    "There is nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario is that we have to unlock the door and you''re all fine, okay? It wasn''t our choice to put you in there," my father said.


    "It was from on high, wasn''t it?"


    "Straight from the President himself," David said, breaking his silence.


    "He didn''t like the mishap you caused with the sulfuric acid, so consider this sort of retribution act to win over his favor once again," my father said sternly.


    "Right, I''m sorry again," Jack said.


    "Well, we''ll see once we figure out what this stuff does," my father said. "Begin test one," he lets off the button.


    Jay looks to my father, "Now why''d you tell him that Valhart assigned him to be the one who had to test it, Greg?"


    My father slides up his sleeve and moves his hand to near his elbow until he unfastens what I see is actually a prosthetic arm. He slams it down on the table and looks Jay in the eye. "He cost me my arm, Jay."


    "Yes, I know that, Greg, but at some point you have to move on. We''ve got work that could very well be our advancement as a species and you risk it over something petty?" I ask.


    "Petty? Man, you try losing your arm and see how petty it is."


    "Guys, guys, you need to relax. Listen, if Bozo the clown in there fucks it up, then it''s him who pays for it. If he succeeds, cool, we''re still good out here, you see? It''s the safest method, and besides, what if you did go in there, Jay? What if something did go wrong? Who would be there to take care of Karen?" David said.


    "Excuse me for intruding in on what sounds like a private argument, but we really need to turn our attention back to Jack. Greg, if anything happens to him in there, you''re the one tasked with telling his daughter," Mason said.


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    My father doesn''t answer. He bends down to the microphone and presses the button, "Jack, you okay to begin?"


    ¡°Yes, I read you."


    "The locks are being sealed now," he said.


    "Okay."


    A heavyset metal pane begins to replace the glass of the window by what I can only explain by science that seems fifty years ahead of anything I''ve ever seen. It seems to transform.


    I turn to walk and I find that I can actually move myself, I''m not pinned to one spot like in my last vision. I look to the closed off partition and move towards it. I wonder if I can see this up close and personal. I find that the door is incorporeal, or rather that I am. I pass through the door and see Jack''s shaking body as he breathes in deeply. There is a microphone situated in front of him on the sole desk in the room.


    He lets his finger off of the button and he looks down, moving away for a moment and I see a few sets of containers on it. One contains a green looking metal that seems to glow ominously. The label on the container said ¡°Lantrate." Next to that one on the left is labeled ¡°Dicoberene¡± and it contains a rough looking chunk of rock. These are the two new elements that they¡¯d found on Mars.


    I notice that there are two other containers, each labeled ¡°Radium¡± and ¡°Calcium¡±. There are solid forms of each element in the containers. Jack first takes a chunk of the Dicoberene off of the larger chunk. He moves slowly, a hesitation in his movements. There is a beaker beside the containers and Jack lifts the Dicoberene sample and sets it inside of the beaker. Next, he takes a small sample of calcium and gently eases it into the beaker. When the two elements touch, they begin smoking somewhat, but that seems to be the only reaction.


    ¡°Testing shows that subject Dicoberene reacts minimally with subject Calcium,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°What does minimally mean exactly, Jack?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°Sizzling, almost like I poured acid on it,¡± Jack replies.


    Jack then moves to grab the Radium. He uses a pair of tongs and grabs a small sample which is then dropped into the beaker. Once the Radium hits the Calcium and the Dicoberene, the beaker begins smoking even more. "Subject Radium produces a ton of waste byproduct when introduced to the Calcium and Dicoberene. I haven¡¯t even begun heating them up yet.¡±


    ¡°Alright, test out the Lantrate now. That¡¯s the one we¡¯re all curious about,¡± My father said.


    "No need to rush him," Jay interjects.


    "Jay..."


    "Hush up the both of you," David said.


    ¡°But are you sure that you should add that in if it¡¯s smoking?¡± Jay asked.


    ¡°Jay, you need to learn how to calm down. Everything will be okay,¡± David responds.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going in,¡± Jack said.


    He wipes off the tongs of the bits of Radium that had stuck on and he goes in to grab a small specimen of Lantrate. The glowing green metal seems to hum and glow brighter in a rhythmic fashion.


    "It''s glowing brightly now, guys."


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a good feeling about this,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°Uh, yeah. I think I¡¯m with Jay on this one,¡± Mason stands up.


    "Guys, we have to take a little bit of risk. Who knows? This could be like, the secret cure to cancer or something!¡± David assures.


    ¡°I-uh, grabbed a bit too much of the Lantrate for one specimen¡¯s worth and it¡¯s kind of stuck to the tongs,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°Approximately how much do you have?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°If I were to guess, I¡¯d said about nine sample sizes worth."


    "Nine?! You only need to put one in!" my father calls into the microphone.


    "This stuff acts like a magnet to any other particles! I can¡¯t get it off!¡± he said, frantic.


    I see David take over the microphone from Mason, ¡°Jack, you have to test this stuff out. If you can¡¯t get the extra bits off, then just dip what you can into the beaker! This is important shit we¡¯re dealing with!¡±


    Jack takes a deep breath and dips a lone section of the Lantrate into the beaker. When it makes contact with the other elements, it softens into a liquid, which all empties into the beaker. The solution begins glowing a vast array of blues and greens and even oranges.


    Jack holds the beaker out in front of him and he notices that the other solid elements had been melted into one liquid solution.


    "It all went in," Jack said.


    "And?" my father asked.


    "It''s turned all rainbow-like, liquid and it''s really hypnotic," Jack begins. ¡°Does anybody want to get a closer lo-¡± He is interrupted by the sudden explosion of the solution in the beaker.


    The liquid blasts out in all directions and Jack tries to shield his face with his arm. He screams out in pain as the liquid splatters against the metal like a blood splatter. The blast blows the door clean off its hinges. Jack is lying on face down on the ground, the entirety of his suit burnt off and his skin doesn''t look much better.


    The others rush into the room, helping him stand up. He''s alive, making out a garbled cough as his eyes open slowly. He lets out a sound that sounds pained from the start, and then all of a sudden the alarms in the building start going off.


    "Warning. Warning. Chemical leak. Warning. Warning."


    "God damn it, Greg," Jay lets out, and he lets go of Jack.


    "W-What? Where are you going?" my father said.


    "The kids," he said, "You and David stay here, okay? Mason, come with me."


    "Got it."


    Mason hands off the rest of the weight to David, who helps my father pull him out into the main laboratory. My father mouths "I''m sorry" to Jay, who doesn''t seem to see, or care at the moment. Mason and Jay start running out of the room and cross into a hallway, the very one that leads to the elevator that killed Tom. The vision fades to darkness.

 Chapter 15

    I''m staring right at Leto''s face as I come back, her eye socket still bleeding. She must have gotten out from under my grip while I was out, because she''s sitting right beside me in the old laboratory.


    She stands up, I''m surprised at the fact that she can stand after gouging out her eye. She makes a motion with her hand for me to follow her and begins running off.


    All of this running off, it can''t ever be a leisurely pace off or a nice walk off. I''ve ran more in this past day than in a long time. I stand to my feet, my back is killing me and the pain in my hands returns. A part of me wishes I didn''t come back from the vision, everything just hurts.


    She went through a door on the far side of the room, just past the partition where Jack was working. I glimpse at the floor and see a bunch of papers fallen on the floor. A bunch of them are diagrams or packets full of things that pass way over my head, but one looks different, familiar. I notice it''s one of Jack''s written logs.


    YEAR ZERO


    04/23/2007


    I''ve made a terrible mistake. I tried to discover fire, tried to give our species the next big push. The cost of such was too high. My daughter was caught in the middle of the aftermath. This is too much to handle, the only source of good news is that I''m alive, but if it meant bringing Megan back I would trade places with her. I can''t face my own wife after this. I have to find a way to fix things. I''ve messed things up, but I can''t stop. I have to fix this. Maybe I can find a way to bring her back. Then we can be a happy family again.


    The others, they live, we decided as a group to give the kids a custom dose of a type of beta blocker that will help them forget this madness. Jay elected that we remember, so that we do not repeat this tragedy.


    I do not intend to repeat it, I intend to surpass it. And I will not let any of them interfere with this plan, they''ve been antagonistic towards me since the very beginning. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.


    And you, Mr. President, I know you check these update logs weekly, so by the time you see this I''ll have already begun testing. Send whatever order you please to try and stop this project. We''re going into phase two.


    Signed,


    Jack Adata


    I have a bad feeling in the pit of my chest of where this leads. Especially about his kid dying. Megan, was it? I remember her as the small child with the blonde hair from that one vision. Now that I think about it, I know of another girl with blonde hair she actually reminds me of...No way, that''s impossible. Jack''s kid died, No way that this blonde chick Leto who is around my age and looks just like this little girl is the same...person...none of this makes sense. I stuff the note in my pocket and go through the doors, I need more answers. I need to know why. Why. Why.


    I find myself struggling with the door. It''s a heavy metal door that refuses to open easily. It feels like there''s someone else on the other side holding it closed as I try to push it open, but I can see through the crack of the door to know this not be the case. A streak of terror runs through me when I hear the familiar sound of gunshots ring through my body. I almost instinctively duck down as to avoid any oncoming bullets, but I realize my reaction would have surely been too slow, plus the fact it didn''t even sound like it came from this room. That doesn''t stop my feeling of dread that is usually associated with the firing of a weapon.


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    I run inside and I find Grace shaking, she holds the BB gun in her hands, and at her feet I see Leto/Megan on the ground, unmoving. "Ah! Gavin! I went all the way back and the incinerator room was clear and-" Grace begins.


    "You...what did you do?"


    "What? I was coming to find you and I found the BB gun Leto had shot me with on the floor and I decided to end this."


    "She was my only chance for answers!" I scream, louder than I intend to.


    "Answers? Gavin, I want to get out of here!"


    "There is no out for me, remember?! All I have left are questions now that won''t get answered because you shot the person willing to tell me them."


    "Excuse me, but did you forget that she is the reason that you''re here?" Grace asked.


    "What the fuck do I care now?" I yelled. ¡°All I had left was the chance to figure out what the fuck we¡¯re here for. I don¡¯t care about getting out anymore. What awaits for me?¡±


    ¡°Okay, fine, maybe so. If you think about it only from your perspective. But I have more to live out there.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you,¡± I said. ¡°That is exactly why I wanted to ditch you back there. Only thinking about yourself. I do it because cretins like you pretend you¡¯re any different. Level with me one second. Think about exactly what you just said. You have all these wonderful lives you¡¯re going to have out there, and so I should just fuck off, right? Well that¡¯s great. Thanks for confirming what garbage you are.¡±


    ¡°Gavin,¡± Grace started, but I wasn¡¯t having any of it. I was mad, and I wasn¡¯t sure exactly if it was all at her. I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t, but she was here, and so was I.


    ¡°No, go fuck yourself. Find your own way out. See if I stay here another goddamn second.¡±


    "Okay, fine, then. I¡¯m wholly not sorry,¡± Grace said back. ¡°At first I was slightly sympathetic but now? No. You¡¯re just a miserable child who is literally older than me, but still acts like he¡¯s a brat.¡± And when her anger couldn¡¯t hold, she stood still and broke before me. Eyes, face, the whole works.


    It takes a certain kind of person to be rough around the edges. It¡¯s not something you just are. It takes a lot of careful, subconscious work to build up the walls that shove people out. It¡¯s not anything I¡¯m proud of, but then again, there isn¡¯t much room for me to be proud of much in this life. The little I managed got swept away in the¡­


    You¡¯re not here for a pity story. Heh, guess I¡¯ve been a little too self indulgent here. That¡¯s entirely my fault. One of these times I might slip up and reveal something truly heartrending. Isn¡¯t that what makes broken folk endearing? Or, is that what most drives them away? I guess I¡¯m not too great a judge at that.


    I stood here at a precipice. A real money moment¡ªSpielberg would have framed it perfectly. The rowdy good for nothing jerk sweeps in and shows his crusty old heart ain¡¯t that foreign to feelings and emotions and...all of everything that ruins such believable characters. God, gag me. Good people out there exist, but if any of them still remain, I can¡¯t imagine them coming anywhere near this shitstain.


    I walked out.


    I don¡¯t remember if she started to cry harder or if she called something out to me. My mind was flooded with all the answers I had lost with Leto¡¯s body bleeding out in the room behind me. My last hope was that somewhere...at the end of this was something that could put my mind at ease.


    I have given up on becoming a good person. I don¡¯t have time for that¡ªI have something within me that is...growing. A growing despondency that I fear will take me ever faster than my condition will. I feel...dangerous. Like a ticking time bomb waiting to blow.


    And where are all the goddamn answers?

 Chapter 16

    Inside the elevator I can feel the air tense up. It only has one button on the inside of it, one destination. Best thing of all is that it is completely unlabeled. Huh, sounds like some crazy metaphor for my life. One way to go. One true path, one ending. No retries, restarts, or second chances. My mind has forgone entirely the drugs within my system¡ªthe sickness in my brain, even the impending doom of my desire to continue walking. As that elevator rises, I know I¡¯m meeting my end. Whatever form it may take, I lean my head back and close my eyes as the doors open.


    Warmth reaches my cheeks. A light behind my eyes shines faintly as the oranges of the sun outside fill the innards of the elevator. As I open my eyes I see a canvas stretched far out wide. I never was one for sight seeing, but knowing¡ªjust knowing it was my last sight, I saw the marvel at the orange sun painted across the sky. No smile came, for this sight was anything but acceptance. I¡¯d been fighting those stages all my life, and this, as enthralling as it looked, could be nothing more than the full form of acceptance. Of myself, my situation, and my future.


    Outside, far from the death traps of below. Do I deserve an end as beautiful as this while Grace is down below, and Tom is crushed to death? No, not in the slightest, but at the same time that is exactly what life is all about, right? If you could dial life back to a few short moments, right here...is everything life has to offer.


    I take a step out onto the terrace. I am overlooking a vast city¡ªdozens of stories below. Life looks like it really...should be. In that moment, I freeze. Seeing the people on the streets on their own schedules¡ªlife looks...normal. This looks...normal. Cars driving, even this sun...this was never for me. How could I...be so foolish. This sun was never for me.


    I feel a deep heat inside my throat. I try to swallow and feel only numbness as my body tries to feel around...like a foreign agent invading what little control I have left. can feel myself breathing faster, everything feels so hot. I feel like I''m back in the incinerator room and the jets are each firing off on me for about a million degrees each. I remember the pain that girl who died in there went through. I see Grace drop to the ground. My eyes are closed and I can see her somehow¡ªback down below. She isn¡¯t breathing. I open my eyes and the sun is suddenly...so bright. Too bright. I begin hyperventilating.


    I was so close...just fucking should have killed me two minutes earlier and I would have been fine. FINE. Now I¡¯m seeing everything out in front of me. I could have made it. I could have...made it count for something. Making it this far should count for something, right? Making it...making it¡­Ugh, fuck. My head...it¡¯s pounding.


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    That''s not fair! This isn''t fair! Fuck this and fuck Leto and Fuck my dad and fuck everything!


    Two figures stand before me now, the young child, Megan to my left and the fully healed figure of Leto to my right. Looking at them both together the resemblance is clear now. They''re in my head, and I can see them both as they both whisper out, "Hero." A crack shatters across my vision as I fall to a knee, everything shakes around me and the air tastes like lead. My head feels as if it is on fire, and I''m so irrevocably warm. So very warm.


    "Hero, our hero," they repeat.


    "I''m not your hero!" I scream out, ripping my shirt off, it is too hot, I''m too hot. "I''m not anybody''s hero! I''m just a fuck up and I don''t even want to be here!"


    "Hero, our hero."


    I turn my back to them, scrambling across the terrace until I reach the edge, hopefully looking at something else other than the sky will help. I look out over the edge, I must be like, at least fifty floors up. Down below I can see the specks of people that walk in their daily lives and drive their cars.


    Denver.


    The name pops into my mind, and I don''t know where from, but if it''s true, if this is Denver, then that would make this building the Republic Plaza. I''d read about it when I was younger for this charity event that I was a part of in elementary school.


    I feel like I''m the Human Torch, like a fire has been lit inside of me and it is boiling me alive. It hurts me I cannot remember Megan, or even remember the fact that she died, but how could she have been here if she was dead? I''m not her hero. I''m not anybody¡¯s hero. I failed everyone and everything. Addison''s dead because of me, I let loose the security lock. And Tom wouldn''t have died if I didn''t insist we jump the elevator shaft.


    I move one foot off the ledge. I''m no hero. I''m no hero. My body feels like it is going supernova, and then it goes dark.


    I''m no hero.

 Part II | Chapter 1

    [Knowledge]


    Am I dead?


    I don''t feel dead. If I was I don''t think I would feel anything. Unless I''m in hell, then I think I would be tormented to feeling nothing but pain until the end of time. Yet...this isn¡¯t pain. This feeling...is strange. I don¡¯t have a banging headache...this is...quiet. The thoughts that run concurrent to my own are not here. The several tracks that my train of thought can try to take at once are not here.


    Everything feels calm.


    Is this a personal hell where my punishment is to feel calm in nothing? I must said that''s almost poetic, but something''s telling me I''m not actually dead. I open my eyes and feel a dim coldness as a green light shines in front of me. It looks as if a monitor of some electronic device had turned on. It dimly illuminates the room around me. Walls surround me on every side in a small rectangular room. A pair of eyes shadowed in darkness appears on the screen, they seem to glow.


    "Well, hello there Gavin. I assume you''ve enjoyed my game of cat and mouse so far?"


    "Your game¡­?¡± I called out to the darkness. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± I ask, finding my voice is harder than I thought. It sounds like I just got finished smoking a few packs.


    "Well, that¡¯s quite a loaded question,¡± the voice calls back.


    ¡°Loaded, you mean full of shit? Are you going to give me answers or just be cryptic as shit like everything else?¡±


    There is a moment of silence where I think the answer to that is yes. But when the voice carries back, it¡¯s...softer, smoother. ¡°I wanted you to come here, Gavin. I wanted to meet you."


    "Huh, that''s interesting, most people would just send a Facebook message or even stop on by in person. Kidnapping was outdated even before SAW came out," I said.


    "Ah, there''s the sarcasm," the voice said. ¡°Thought you were only just edgy for the sake of it, but there is still a bit of wit there.¡±


    I took in a sharp breath and closed my eyes. This motherfucker was avoiding answering on purpose and it wasn¡¯t doing much for me keeping headache free. "Hey jackass, you still haven¡¯t shown yourself. Kind of rude when you¡¯re supposedly waiting on meeting me. Who are you, why did you want to meet me?¡±


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    "You can call me Micah, everybody does," the voice said.


    "Everybody? I don¡¯t see anybody else here."


    "It was a joke."


    "What part of that was funny?¡± I ask. ¡°Real shitty comedian here,¡± I turn to the side. Trying to find anything that resembles an exit in this godforsaken prison.


    "I''ll answer them in person, it would only be more fitting," Micah said.


    "Okay, I¡¯m going to ask this one last time. Where. The fuck. Are you?¡±


    "Well, I need to be sure that you won''t cause any damage," Micah said. ¡°Defeats the purpose of all that I¡¯m doing if you won¡¯t be cooperative.¡±


    "Well, kidnapping someone isn''t a good way to assure that," I said.


    "Point taken, but once I¡¯m able to explain you¡¯ll understand that out of the available options it was the best one.¡±


    "Well, okay, but how long do I have so sit in here?" I ask.


    "It all depends on you, Gavin. You''ll know what you need to know and then it will be the right time," Micah said.


    The screen turns off. I was left there in a shocked awe. It all depends on me? Well, I want to get the hell out of here! How about that?


    "What the hell do you mean it depends on me you lunatic? I''m the one locked in the stupid box!" I yell out, but it does nothing.


    I slam my fists against the wall and again it does nothing. I lie down against the wall and stare into the darkness. Having what little light I had taken away really sucks right about now.


    I take in a deep breath and sit down with my back against the wall with the monitor on it. Right now would be a perfect time for one of those visions. It''d at least give me something to do. I see something in the darkness then, a bubble in front of me appears. I lurch up back against the wall as it bounces off the ground once, twice. And then moves slightly toward me. Inside its reflected surface is a sight of the outside world.


    I relax and crawl closer toward it, inspecting the edges. It looks like any sort of bubble a kid might blow. It was so strange...inside it I could see perfectly like a window into another world, but everything outside of it was still cast in perfect darkness. If I were anywhere but here I¡¯d think to contain it and investigate these...otherworldly qualities. Light doesn¡¯t work like this. At least, this here shouldn¡¯t.


    I lean in closer to see it as it floats up and down, the view inside starts to move, shifting faster as if it were attached to a helicopter flying through the air. It changes and fades to an inside view of the Republic Plaza building¡ªterribly awful memories coming back to me of where I came from. Questions join the memories of how I got here, but before I can dwell on them for too long I feel myself being sucked into the bubble. I feel my head shaking back and forth and then the weightless feeling joins me altogether.


    The darkness has left me, but confusion becomes my constant companion. I know not where I am but what I see before me.


    The innards of the Republic Plaza.

 Part II | Chapter 2

    February 15<sup>th</sup>, 2008


    The scientists stood solemn in front of me with grim looks on each of their faces. Three men who I knew were Jay, Jack, and David were talking amongst each other. I...just knew it was them. Something inside solidified and molded the fact to my brain. Just as I knew I was watching a scene play out that was a year past the incident that caused that girl¡¯s death¡ªMegan. I was remembering my time here more clearly. True memories instead of...dark things to feel haunted by.


    The haunting feeling still persisted, don¡¯t get me wrong. There are definite ghosts that haunt these halls, and I fear I¡¯m looking at a few of them now.


    "So Greg and Mason are gone?" Jack had the most puzzling look on his face. His hair was chopped short¡ªit looked like a personal job out of haste. Salt and pepper colored the face that had seen stress more than most. Yet, the expression that painted his gaze was...anger. Jack, the one whose words I¡¯d heard the most clear through those notes was by all accounts a timid individual. Always preoccupied of what others thought of him. It wasn¡¯t in his nature...at least, I believed, to be so up front and direct. There''s something different about him. His whole demeanor shifts uneasily, he looks to be completely fine physically, but he looks different somehow.


    "Ran off to New York," David said with an air of contempt in his voice. He was scratching the back of his head fervently.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a plot against you,¡± Jay said, nervous. ¡°This isn¡¯t some conspiracy.¡±


    "I''m not wholeheartedly surprised regardless," Jack said. ¡°Spineless and not at all worth the work we¡¯re doing.¡±


    "Greg¡¯s always been that way," David said, leaning in looking at Jack.


    ¡°Dave, what do you mean?¡± Jay looked at the other with concern in his face. ¡°You¡¯ve never thought that¡­¡±


    David brushed him off. ¡°Oh come on. He¡¯s always been the spineless one! Can¡¯t even handle his kid right¡­¡± David quickly looked to Jack as he realized his slip. Luckily, Jack was deep in his own thoughts, his back now turned to the both of them. "We¡¯re better off,¡± David called to him.


    Jay was shaking his head. ¡°They couldn''t do it anymore, that¡¯s it. I don¡¯t blame them. They were sick of the lies, of the pain they caused.¡±


    "Oh? Now they''re sick?¡± Jack barked back. The veins on his forehead popped out of nowhere. His face was beet red. ¡°They weren''t sick of the pain they put me through when Greg threw me in that makeshift gas chamber. Both of them weren¡¯t here for the work. They only aimed to suss out the outsider. Play their high school bullshit and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED."


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    "Now, Jack, I understand what they did wasn''t right," Jay said, his hands held up defensively.


    "Don''t think I don''t remember you not stopping them, the both of you," Jack said. ¡°You¡¯re just as culpable for what happened that day.


    "Y-Yes," Jay begins. ¡°I understand my part I played in the accident. A fact I do not hide from anybody. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here¡ªto make up for the¡ª¡±


    "It only happened because Greg was head of the project, sir,¡± David broke in. The look on Jay¡¯s face equaled my own as I saw the absolute level of kiss-ass that David was showing. ¡°Now that you¡¯re in charge we have more freedom to do with as we please," David said.


    "And that I am glad for, David. You''re working your way towards my forgiveness. Now, Jay, you have quite a bit of work to do before you get to that point."


    "Y-yes sir," Jay nods, but the look itself confused me. I stood there staring at this group dynamic that confused and only piled on questions to the increasingly growing mountain of already existing ones. Just why was Jay so¡ª


    "First thing''s first is we''re going to continue testing," Jack turned around and started walking¡ªshocking both of the other scientists into following behind him. ¡°And we don¡¯t stop until I get satisfactory results.¡±


    "Continue?" Jay asked, picking up the momentum to catch up.


    Jack looks at Jay, not slowing down a moment. I had to pick up my own pace to follow them. Jack had a wild smile across his face. "Yes, it is quite unfortunate that Greg and Mason couldn''t be here to see this."


    "Something tells me you have a solution with that smile," David said.


    "I do, and it involves Jennifer," Jack said.


    ¡°You''re going to test on her?¡± Jay asked.


    ¡°I am, we are. I''ve also got work to do to get an extra pair of hands around here.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Jay asked.


    ¡°I''m in the process of transferring over one of the guys from the east coast over here. His name''s Sal Muhn, and I think he''ll be a good amount of help,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°Right,¡± David said, unconvinced.


    ¡°It should take a few months for the process to fully go through,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°And what if he doesn''t agree with your ideals, Jack?¡± Jay asked.


    Jack looks to Jay with a serious look, ¡°Well then, we''ll just have to kill him.¡± He laughs and the look of horror that Jay¡¯s face grows to tells me that this isn¡¯t some dark humor that¡¯s shared between them.


    I know dark humor¡ªI practically exude the stuff. I think that qualifies me to tell that this...this was serious. This wasn¡¯t a threat...it was an inevitability. The world around me filled in like a painting¡ªthe colors started to fade and drip down to the ground. As it made contact the droplets changed color and bounced across the floor and walls until the vision changed before my very eyes.

 Part II | Chapter 4

    April 25<sup>th</sup>, 2007


    Life has resumed at the Republic Plaza. A few days have passed since the meeting at the park. Jack¡¯s out of the hospital. It¡¯s a fact that confuses me, but I can do nothing but accept it. So what if the blast had looked like it caused fatal injuries if I was staring at him here, looking fully unharmed on the job?


    The only thing that would make sense would be that this wasn¡¯t just a few days after...but more than anything I knew that. I couldn¡¯t speak to the source of that knowledge¡ªit had just felt like it was innate knowledge within me.


    The lab we were standing in housed the gigantic ship I had originally woken up on. I find the group all assembled around the suspended vessel. I¡¯m shocked to see my father still around after his talk about the east. Although, from how he¡¯s crossing his arms even I can tell it¡¯s weighing on his mind. Something wrong must have gone wrong in his plan.


    I don¡¯t remember going out East...I wonder. Did he leave without me? Where would I have gone? My memories of this time were...foggy at best.


    ¡°So, what''s this big ship for?¡± David¡¯s voice pulls me out of my thoughts like they¡¯ve harpooned me from myself.


    ¡°It was found just before it sank in the Atlantic Ocean.¡± Jack began, staring up at the vessel. ¡°Word has it that it was a supply ship from Japan sailing toward somewhere on the east coast.¡±


    My father rubs his forehead and lets out a sound of mild confusion. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s great. What¡¯s it doing here?¡±


    ¡°Another project, it seems,¡± David said.


    Jack turns to David and gives him a firm nod. It¡¯s...crazy looking at him here compared to a year in advance. He looked like he had aged five years in that time. While he didn¡¯t have that extreme firmness that concerned me, there was...something under the surface. I don¡¯t quite enjoy being in his presence, even if he can¡¯t know I¡¯m here.


    ¡°Word from up high said it was stocked with weapons meant to arm a resistance force somewhere in Deep California. That obviously wouldn''t do, so it was taken down and salvaged. Valhart didn''t want word of it getting out to the public because he didn''t want to alert them of the existence of the resistance force. Sometime by the end of the year we''re supposed to take this thing and re-purpose it for whatever they have in mind for it,¡± Jack explains.


    ¡°I mean, we have until the end of the year, right? It¡¯s not like we need to worry about it now,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°We aren''t worrying about it.¡± Jack said, his tone is curt. ¡°Period.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to have to at some point,¡± David scratches at the back of his head. ¡°Great responsibility and all.¡±


    ¡°No, you seem to misunderstand,¡± Jack said, and he turns to David. ¡°This ship is going to sit here, and we are not going to remove focus from the Radical-9.¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± Jay began. ¡°If the President¡ª¡±


    ¡°Fuck the President.¡±


    This got all their attention immediately. I took a few steps back to watch the scene unfurl from a better angle.


    ¡°It¡¯s a waste of time. And seeing as we¡¯re all going to be trapped here for the next who knows how long working our asses off, I would much prefer working on projects that yield actual results.¡±


    ¡°Jack, you know that¡¯s not going to fly,¡± My father gave an irritated look back.


    ¡°Lot of things that shouldn¡¯t fly do around here, Daniels. Or is it just the things you don¡¯t care about? What part of blowing me up was in the guidelines?¡±


    My father had no response. Jack has a much easier punch to pull with the situation with his daughter. I thought about that anger that must have coursed through him and conflicting feelings were doubling inside me.


    ¡°Interpersonal relationships aren¡¯t left up to guidelines, Jack. But everything that happened inside that chamber stopped being of my volition as soon as you picked up those flasks.¡±


    A horrid look crosses Jack¡¯s face. ¡°You put me in there. You¡¯re project lead. This catastrophe was your fault.¡±


    ¡°Jack, Greg, let¡¯s¡ª¡± Jay tries to stop the ensuing argument, but neither man is hearing any of it.


    ¡°We signed up individually for the risks this job has. We each individually took an oath before signing on. Any one of us had the opportunity to duck out at any time. Anything between you and those elements remains so. Don¡¯t pin your guilt on me.¡±


    ¡°You from the start have done nothing but belittle my intelligence and exclude me,¡± Jack said, now stepping closer to my father.


    ¡°Jack, I suggest you not-¡± David begins.


    ¡°Suggest nothing, David.¡± Jack growls. ¡°We¡¯re going to continue the work here. We¡¯re all part of this, you¡¯re right,¡± he gets a real nasty look in his dark eyes. ¡°We¡¯re going to fucking get back in there, and we¡¯re not going to stop. We¡¯re not going to let anything distract us,¡± he turns to my father, ¡°Unless there¡¯s someone else¡¯s kid here you want dead? Hm? That¡¯d sure show us for being different, right?¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough,¡± Jay said, stepping in between the both of them. First he looks to my father, ¡°Chill off upstairs, okay?¡± My father walks a few paces out of sight. My focus is full on Jack. As Jay turns to him I can see the holes he¡¯s digging into him with his stare. ¡°I think you need some time off to recover from your accident...you know¡­get some proper rest and get in the right headspace.¡±


    Jack shakes his head, ¡°No, I¡¯m not going home. You think I want to be there now?¡±


    Jay looks at him and takes in a deep breath. ¡°I know how hard this must all be, but it isn¡¯t right for you to drown yourself here.¡±


    Jack stares at Jay with a contemptuous look. A glass canister beside him flies across the room and smashes into the wall, shattering onto the floor below with a loud noise.


    ¡°I¡¯m. Not...going...home.¡±


    Even my father stops pacing and turns his gaze toward the broken canister, and then over toward Jack. I stare at the impossible¡ªhe wasn¡¯t looking at Jack when it happened, but I was. He didn¡¯t even touch it when it flew. It just...did. All by itself.


    That accident...why my father was so scared of Jack. Was this what he was talking about? What he had such paranoid feelings about? Why was he still here if so?


    The questions are eating away at me. I want to scream at him and tell him to get me away from this situation as fast he can. Get me away from this danger. I fall to my knees and know it¡¯s only going to get worse from here. My dad¡¯s dead after all.


    Jack¡¯s breathing heavy as he takes in every look one by one. His eyes traveling down the length of the room and finally finishing at my father. ¡°Stop staring at me and get back to work!¡± He screams it and stomps out of the room, the others moving out of his way as he passes. In one fell swoop, there was a new lead on the project. He slams the door behind him and I¡¯m brought toward him, out of the room with the others. Jack continues down the hall a few paces before nearly falling against the wall.


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    He holds himself up and leans against it, taking some of the weight off of his legs. He holds his hands up to his face and I notice the discoloration in them. They almost looked blue.


    He rolls up his shirt sleeves and I can see that the veins in his arms are almost popping out of his skin. The sight of it almost makes me vomit. The skin on his arms looks similarly discolored. I see sweat bead down his forehead and onto the bridge of his nose. He''s shaking and breathing heavier than when he was being confronted. The sweat was pouring down him now.


    ¡°What...is happening? What did that stuff do to me?¡±


    He looks past his hands towards a framed picture on the wall. It seems to be a portrait of a previous space crew that worked in the building. He seems to be shaking more, and I can see the portrait shaking on the wall. It falls to the floor and I hear a voice from beyond the cold steel door.


    ¡°Jack! You might want to come here, and fast!¡±


    Jack turns around to look at the portrait on the ground before looking back towards the door. ¡°W-What?¡± He calls out, strained. He rasps as he tries to lick his lips, they¡¯re drier than a desert. He stands shakily to his feet, shifting to the door. He reaches down to move the handle but the door opens as he does and he comes face to face with David. The two almost collide.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Jack asked. Some color returns to his face, and David seems to not notice the change as he begins talking immediately.


    ¡°Well, you do know of the map we have of this building, right?¡± David said, almost strained himself.


    ¡°Yeah, the digital real-time one on our tablets, what about it?¡±


    ¡°Well, Mason just pinged me. He was out checking something he noticed¡ªfucker wouldn¡¯t tell me what it is unless it came of something...and what do you know, it did. There¡¯s a section of the building that was encrypted inside of the original file. It was basically like a digital band-aid was used to cover the existence of a room up on the thirty-eighth floor,¡± David explains.


    ¡°But we''re on the thirty-ninth floor,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°Yeah, so there''s this small room on basically every floor above the thirtieth floor. They''re usually some sort of service room for use by staff. You know, excess generator rooms, storage, and other things like that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and?¡± He was having a hard time imagining why it was so important that he needed to know this immediately.


    ¡°And there isn''t anything listed on the thirty-eighth floor for that area, it''s almost as if it was skipped over or erased.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ve walked through every floor of this building once and did recall that one of them didn''t have a door where I thought it would be.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but this encrypted section that Jay found was an update log, he found that at one point there was a room in that very location.¡±


    ¡°Okay, and?¡± Jack asked, his interest shows, finally.


    ¡°And we all said that it might support us not trusting Valhart,¡± David said. ¡°There''s something there that we''re not supposed to know, something they had to cover up last minute.¡±


    ¡°Dave, I never said I didn''t trust Valhart,¡± Jay said.


    David turns around, ¡°Jay, please, important business. Adults are talking.¡±


    ¡°So, you propose that we go and check out this mysterious room?¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°I do very so support that idea,¡± David said, gripping the tablet with enthusiasm.


    Jay turns his head to my father and quietly whispers, ¡°What the hell is up with him?¡±


    His answer was a shrug, and it got me curious too. I knew David acted a whole lot more kiss-ass- y in the coming time, but was it something really so sudden? I would have to keep this in mind...or...was that wise? Was it wise to worry about something like that now? I almost forgot about my situation back...out there.


    Wherever the hell out there even is.


    Sure, it was cathartic getting to see this all play out, but what good would it actually do if I go back to...there, and end up getting piked or shot or, well, anything really.


    I realized my inner conundrum, how much of a hypocrite I really was. I realize I had been so desperate for answers I believed that they would be the last thing to satisfy me before my inevitable demise. And now that I¡¯m starting to learn...I desire yet more. I always desire more, and know that will never not be true. Even if I find the answers to everything I will keep desiring more. Was that desire what my father sought to satiate by becoming a member of this scientific team?


    I wonder, if I had an opportunity like this to uncover the absolute unknown...would I take the same path? Would I end in the same place? Would I was such a dangerous question.


    ¡°Right, well, I do think we should check out this mysterious room,¡± Jack said as he looks towards the others. ¡°If you wish to come and join us, feel free. Let''s go Dave.¡±


    David nods, I see the others follow him out of the room.


    ¡°Does anybody here know anything about who was using this space before we were contracted?¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°Not a clue,¡± Jay answers. ¡°I was the first one here.¡±


    ¡°Well then, it looks like we might get a clue.¡±


    I watch them as they walk outside of the room and into the hallway, following the path that I had previously taken when I''d woken up.


    They walk past the spot where Grace was shot, and instantly a massive wave of guilt floods my system. Now without the overbearing feeling of being shit on constantly I have an opportunity to think on how I have been acting. Stupid...so stupid. There¡¯s no way I¡¯d get a chance to do anything like my father did...not with how I acted.


    Jesus Christ...I actually left her to die. I know what I thought when doing it, but I honestly thought because I was going to die it didn¡¯t really matter¡ªtheir lives didn¡¯t really matter.


    Of course they mattered.


    In the end, my lack of care is what brought me the suffering I so despised. Maybe I really am dead, and this is some sort of purgatory where I learn just how much of a piece of shit I¡¯ve been before I get cast down to hell.


    They walk down the slope and I see the spot in which the door to the Incinerator room had been. Now there rests only a solid wall.


    ¡°Well, we''ve got a wall, what does that do for us?¡± my father asked.


    ¡°Hold on one second,¡± Jack said. He walks up to the wall and presses his face up against it, knocking his fist on it twice. ¡°It is hollow back there...¡±


    ¡°Well, alright, so what do we do with that information?¡±


    Just then I hear a noise, I''m sure they do as well as the focus is then diverted towards the wall. It sounds like the wall is tearing itself apart from the inside.


    It''s then I see Jack''s hand vibrating against the wall, shaking and spasming as it tears itself open, the concrete wall shifting inside of itself and crumpling away.


    ¡°Jack what the hell is happening?¡± Mason asked.


    He doesn''t answer, he only continues as the wall reveals itself completely, the torn away concrete falls to the ground around them. Just past it is the hallway that I''d seen previously.


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? We''ve got some secrets to unfold,¡± he said, walking inside.


    ¡°Jack, that was...¡± David begins, stepping inside.


    ¡°Something new, I know. I guess being thrown into the locked chamber with the Radical-9 did me some good, huh?¡± He said almost monotone.


    ¡°I don''t like the sound of this,¡± Jay whispers to my father.


    ¡°I don''t like the sound of you not moving,¡± Jack bellows out.


    ¡°Right,¡± Jay said, shooting a look over to my father who only seems to nod in response.


    Down the hallway they enter the Incinerator room, and there I can see the skeleton of the girl that had passed away from the fire. It lies ominously on the ground as if it screams for help.


    ¡°What the hell is this?¡± David asked, stepping into the room.


    ¡°It looks like a reason to doubt the good President, huh?¡± Jack asked, looking around the room. ¡°It seems chunks of rock from Mars aren''t the only things that have been tested on here.¡± He points to the jets. ¡°Those are incinerators.¡±


    ¡°So whomever this skeleton belonged to was burned alive?¡± David asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jack said. ¡°They died a most gruesome death it seems, all this covered up, most likely.¡±


    ¡°That''s awful,¡± David said.


    ¡°Yes...it is quite tragic, What do you suppose we do about it?¡± My father asked.


    ¡°Well, we can create a huge door warning of the existence of this room, that''s the first thing,¡± David said.


    ¡°And then we work to complete our research on Radical-9,¡± Jack said. ¡°...without the aid of Valhart. From this point on you fall into rank under me, understand?¡±


    ¡°I still don''t think that''s a good idea,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°You will, in time. Don''t worry Jay, together we''re going to show that Valhart that we''re not one to be afraid of, we''re not just disposable scientists who can be swept under a rug!¡±


    I can feel the tension in the room as I feel the unease slide over me. Somewhere out in the real world I can feel a throbbing pain in my leg. Pain draws me back to my body.


    Draws me back to the darkness.

 Part II | Chapter 3

    April 20<sup>th</sup>, 2007


    The walls were broken down to reveal a blue sky above and an expanse of what looked to be a park. I didn¡¯t recognize it, but I could tell that time had gone backward¡ªI was viewing an earlier memory. Still after the accident, but before my father moved out east with Mason.


    Speak of the devils, I glance at Jay, Mason, and my father having lunch at a table far from the other park visitors. They¡¯re in plains clothes, but three old men sitting huddled together at the park is an odd sight even here. I wonder why I think that...is it because I know what these people are a part of, or some other hidden prejudice inside of me? The thought was almost tantalizing to analyze before I tuned in to what they were talking about.


    ¡°Guys, I can''t do this anymore,¡± Jay has his head in his hands. The remnant of his sandwich left aside on the table. He digs his fingers into his skull and he lets out a sound of dejected frustration. ¡°I told you again and again that you shouldn''t have been pricks to Jack.¡±


    My father sighs, ¡°Yes, I know. I fucked up. He''s in the hospital and his kid is dead because of my personal agenda, and I have to live with that.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Jay asked.


    ¡°What I should have done in the first place, before all this nonsense. I should have gone with Lorraine to New York.¡±


    ¡°Dude, she cheated on you, you know what kind of can of worms that would open now?¡± Jay said.


    My attention is immediately pulled toward my father. I...didn¡¯t know this. I knew my parents weren¡¯t together before they died¡ªobviously I had spent most of my time with my father...but this was the reason why?


    ¡°What, really?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°Yeah, it happened two years ago with some guy she met online,¡± my father said to Mason. He turns back to Jay, ¡°Yeah, well I have to put my personal feelings aside, I need to make sure Gavin is safe, and he will be in New York. As awful a partner as she is, she isn¡¯t an awful mother. He can be safe there.¡±


    ¡°Safe? Safe from what?¡± Mason asked. When my father doesn¡¯t answer I can see the concern start to grow in Mason¡¯s eyes. ¡°Safe from what, Greg?¡±


    ¡°From Jack.¡±


    This catches them off guard. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jay asked.


    ¡°Back in the hospital, when we were visiting Jack, I felt something really weird when you two stepped out.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Mason asked.


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    ¡°I can''t really explain it, but it was just me and David in there with him and I felt this rush of...¡±


    ¡°Of what?¡± Jay looks to him,


    ¡°Of fear. I don''t really know how it happened, but even though he was unconscious I could feel him, Jack that is, right next to me. I could feel him, his anger.¡±


    ¡°That''s strange,¡± Mason said. ¡°Maybe that''s your conscience speaking out?¡±


    ¡°No, not anything like that,¡± my father said. ¡°This was physical, it was mental, it was even emotional. It paralyzed me. There isn''t anything in this life that I''d felt that had come close to what I felt in there.¡±


    ¡°Well, are you certain that it wasn''t just you like, making yourself feel things?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°I am one hundred percent certain, Mason.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so you''re just going to up and leave?¡± Jay asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be so quick to leave, Greg. You have shit here you need to make right with Jack,¡± Mason said. ¡°You made the order that killed his kid.¡±


    My father looks nervous, he puts his head in his hands.


    ¡°Listen, if things do get bad, I''ll be on that way with you, but like, what harm could he actually do?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°I think I''m going to stay no matter what, I mean, I can''t leave anyway because of Karen''s cancer. Uprooting now would be a nightmare in getting new doctors that would know what they were doing,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°I just don''t know what to do,¡± my father said. ¡°Nothing seems like the right thing because I''m at fault if something goes wrong either way.¡±


    Mason pats his back, ¡°It''s okay, man. We''re going to get through this. Do you want to bring Gavin up to the cafe suite tonight? I''ll call Kate and she can whip something up for us, you too Jay if you and Karen are interested.¡±


    Jay nods and smiles warmly, ¡°I think that would be nice. She''s been aching to go out and eat, but the chemo''s been a little tough on her lately, I''ll see if she''s up to it,¡± he said.


    Mason turns to my father, ¡°And you, Greg?¡±


    ¡°I guess it could do us some good.¡±


    ¡°Good, I''m going to go and see her now, forgo the phone call. Meet-up at said, seven?¡±


    ¡°Seven works,¡± My father said.


    ¡°If she''s up for it we can make seven,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°All right, gentlemen, I''ll leave you two to your own devices, seven it shall be.¡± He walks off leaving the two others behind. I stare at the scene and take Mason¡¯s seat next to my father. I try to put my arm on his shoulder, but I¡¯m forbidden from interacting. I go right through him like he were some ghostly mirage.


    I ball my hand into a fist and am holding it where his heart must be...how close I am to you and you¡¯re...years away from me. Dead, gone, and still here to be at the center of that which I most desire.


    The ground starts to peel upward as if it were folding over on itself like a sheet of origami. It coalesces at the top point into a singular glowing mass of white that spills new colors onto the ground below. I hold my arms above me to shield my face, but like everything else here it flows through me as voices and...scents?


    I get a very strong hint of something nasty and I turn over to retch. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the familiar insides of the Republic Plaza building¡ªalthough this time I¡¯m standing inside a room I haven¡¯t been into before¡ªit¡¯s a different laboratory.


    I dive right in.

 CHAPTER N?NE

    <h2 align="center">A MESSAGE FROM THE CREATOR</h2>


    August 27<sup>th</sup>, 2021


    It is in these dark passages I scribe my darkest regrets. I find the record of them equally troubling and pleasing. It is through the lens of my characters that I find peace within myself. Is that selfish of me¡ªto create worlds and therefore flood them with problems so that I may find my own resolve? I can see so.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    And still, I love each of my creations¡ªfor the act of creating is why I myself was created. Until the end I shall do as I¡¯ve done, and I see those for and against. I am not blind to the issues within my worlds I create. It is for them I give them adversity to overcome. To grow, become better, and to someday surpass me.


    The ultimate goal, I guess, is to create that which will destroy me entirely. And if I weren¡¯t cogent to that end I would not write another word.


    To those who will inevitably make their mark, stand tall.


    Z-One

 Part II | Chapter 5

    I''m sitting back in the darkness. My muscles feel weak, much weaker than I had originally woken up. I am breathing heavy as I stand up¡ªI have to brace myself against the wall. Suddenly, it feels so much colder. I have to push myself off because it feels cold to the touch, but then I realize...it¡¯s not the wall that¡¯s cold. My arms feel frozen¡ªI¡¯m shivering from head to toe. Where the hell am I? That very much is still unknown.


    I walk slowly with my arms outstretched like some sort of zombie. My hands are feeling a mixture of numb and on fire. Like the outside layer is burning while everything inside my flesh was just...silent. Thoughts of all kinds and colors swim through my mind...wait...no, they¡¯re more like hovering. Flying? Spinning.


    My hands go to my head and my entire brain feels like it is encased in a glass case and floating among colorful fish. My right hand grasped the monitor as I slid my finger across it looking for the button that had turned it on last time. I find it at the bottom right corner of the monitor and I see the whole thing light up green like before.


    ¡°Well hello again, Mr. Daniels! It is quite a pleasure to hear from you. I was quite worried you weren''t going to make it,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°What wouldn''t I make it from? All I''ve done since you last talked to me was sit in here and do nothing!¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t call what you''ve been doing nothing, Gavin. I''d call it quite intriguing if anything, seeing the past as clearly as you do.¡±


    ¡°Wait...how do you know...?¡± I ask.


    ¡°I know quite a bit about your situation. Your dementia and all of your other nasty physical afflictions. You don''t have to worry about those anymore, though, so I guess you can thank me for that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you? How would that even be possible?¡±


    Now thinking on it...


    ¡°Yes, during your transport here your cancerous mind has shed all those nasty bits. It¡¯s taken some time for your mind to catch up, of course so you may feel some temporary side effects.¡±


    I could almost sense the sardonic grin on the other side of the screen. I gripped the side of the tablet with an iron grip. ¡°What do you mean by that? What do I still have?¡±


    ¡°That will be answered, but not right now. You will be the one to tell me that, Gavin.¡±


    ¡°What? How the fuck will I be able to do that if I don''t know what it is?¡±


    ¡°You''re going to look back into the past for your answer.¡±


    ¡°Look into¡­¡± I was flabbergasted. I had barely begun to process the fact that these...visions were real to my own mind¡ªmuch less to have them be confirmed by this fucking asshole on the other end of the call.


    ¡°Your visions. You have not questioned their origin?¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Their origin? You mean my dementia plus whatever Leto did to me?¡±


    I can hear Micah laugh on the other side of the monitor, ¡°No, no. Well, I mean it is true your LBD did help the severity of your condition, and my fair assistant helped you unlock that ability, it was within you for a long time. A gift waiting to be delivered.¡±


    ¡°How the hell do you know so much about me?¡±


    ¡°Well, that''s simple, Gavin. I''m your father.¡±


    ¡°Wh-What?!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! You should see the look in your face! God I wish I had a mirror, but sadly you''ll have to try and make do with the screen there. God that was hilarious. Imagine, right? Dad come back to life to...well, I guess I don¡¯t want to give away everything right away.¡±


    This guy is a real piece of work.


    ¡°Gavin, you have to trust that the order in which things are playing out are for your convenience. I wish for you to understand everything you need to, but to give it all away in the second act is just much too much for you to handle.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you let me decide what the hell I can handle or not,¡± I grumble, feeling a slight headache coming on¡ªbut I can tell it is nothing like the consistent pain I¡¯ve had for¡­.well, for longer than I can remember.


    ¡°All right, you take the reins!¡± he laughs. ¡°I¡¯m going to go grab some lunch. You go at whatever rate you feel is good for you and I¡¯ll be back when you¡¯ve had your epiphany or whatever.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant, asshole!¡± I slam my fist against the side of the tablet. It stings and I shake my hand in frustration.


    ¡°Now now, if you behave maybe I¡¯ll toss you a burrito?¡±


    ¡°I hate Mexican food,¡± I said.


    ¡°I know.¡±


    The screen turns off. I''m left in the darkness and I slide back down to the floor. How does he know me? He said he''s somebody from my past, is it possible I forgot him like I did Megan? Maybe he''s that kid with the black hair who dumped his wad of gum into Megan''s hair. I wouldn''t put it past him to grow into such an asshole later on in life. But then again his voice sounded a bit older than someone my age. And what of even how to see these visions? Surely they''re not all connected? The very first time was when Megan touched my forehead. After that was when Grace, Tom, and I were falling out of the ship. The third time was when Megan gouged her eye out. Even though I didn''t have a vision, walking off of the Republic Plaza gave me that same sort of feeling as I fell. And then the last time was when I woke up here.


    What is similar about each time? Well, two of them was when Megan touched me, but like it didn''t happen when Tom held me back or anything when I woke up the last time. The only thing I can come up with is fear.


    Each time something scared me, more than a normal amount, my body reacted and threw me into that vision. Even waking up here and not knowing if I was even alive or dead was enough to send my mind looking. Okay, but how do I trigger that now?


    I guess I have to scare myself, if that is even possible. I close my eyes and think deep down. I feel really stupid that I have to show you what I''m afraid of, but I feel a weird sense of fondness towards you, you''ve been here so long.


    Even if I don''t realistically feel like you''re here anymore, I still have the habit of speaking to you as if you were here, I guess my one true friend through all this. Heh, that''s funny. My closest friend and I don''t even know you''re name, or anything about you really. In some sick and twisted sense, I guess that''s what I''ve been afraid of all along, being alone. Not having anybody to acknowledge my own existence. I know I seem like such an asshole to everybody, but it''s just really hard to be happy when your own parents desert you.

 Part II | Chapter 6

    February 13<sup>th</sup>, 2008


    I see Jay and my father back at the park I had seen them at a year prior. This place seems to be their meet-up of sorts. I wonder why I''m seeing events I never saw first-hand. Maybe it relates to how Micah said that this was a gift?


    ¡°Jay, I can''t do it anymore,¡± my father calls out, focusing me in on them.


    ¡°I know, I know. We need to do something.¡±


    ¡°He''s changed, Jay. There isn''t any defending his actions anymore.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. I only did because of how you treated Jack, you know?¡±


    ¡°I was an asshole and wrong and all of that stuff, I get that, but that doesn''t excuse the danger we''re in now, the danger our families are in.¡±


    Jay nods his head and looks up, ¡°His abilities are growing, changing him more every day.¡±


    ¡°Not for the better, it seems. He''s so much more angry now, and those outbursts of his can really hurt someone.¡±


    ¡°He looks a bit tired too,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°Are you worried for his sleep patterns, Jay? At a time like this?¡±


    ¡°No, not in that sense. I meant his body. It just seems tired from holding it all in, you know? He looks like he''s had years added onto him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I see that.¡±


    ¡°In just ten months he''s enhanced his telekinetic ability. That kind of power on a human body takes a toll, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± my father said.


    ¡°There''s...something else I need to tell you,¡± Jay begins.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been meaning to said it for a while now, but the time hasn''t really been kind to us. I''ve been seeing...things lately in my dreams.¡±


    ¡°We all see things in our dreams, Jay.¡±


    ¡°I think these are more than dreams is what I''m getting at. They''re becoming more frequent and more detailed every night.¡±


    ¡°Well, okay, what do you see?¡±


    ¡°Terrible things, Greg. I hear screaming and I see bloodshed. One of the big ones is that I see you and Lorraine being...¡±


    ¡°Being...?¡±


    ¡°Being brutally murdered by Jack. I don''t see the context but I see her body burning and I see you with bullets in your head.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well Jay, like I said, it''s just a dream,¡± my father said.


    Jay shakes his head, ¡°I''m not sure that they are. Greg, we''ve both seen Jack do the impossible when he got that Radical-9 in his system. What if...he wasn''t the only one?¡±


    ¡°You''re implying that maybe the initial explosion wasn''t enough to spread to just Jack?¡±


    ¡°I think it''s more than an implication. I mean, we opened that door to get him out of there, we were so worried about getting everybody out of there we didn''t really stop and think about what was actually spreading.¡±


    ¡°The doctors didn''t know what it was,¡± my father said.


    ¡°Right, which makes sense because half of the stuff in it isn''t even from this planet. But I managed to get a blood sample from Jack the other day.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I asked, no need to worry, told him I was going to study it to see how much stronger he was getting, he seemed to like that idea. But anyway, I compared that to what I remember what his sample looked like when this all went down.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°I have reason to believe that this Radical-9 is radioactive,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°If that''s correct then that is bad,¡± my father said.


    ¡°Very. But it''s weird.¡±


    ¡°Weird how?¡±


    ¡°So, in it''s purest form, the liquid that exploded all over Jack and gave him those burns are fully and wholly radioactive. The mixture caused it to also turn into a gas which spread out through the building, also radioactive.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know how this stuff works, Jay.¡±


    ¡°That''s not the part that''s weird, what''s weird is that when it entered Jack''s body it sort of attached itself to his innards like a parasite.¡±


    ¡°But parasites need to have some form of life, do they not?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that''s why I said some form of. It seems that this stuff is more mysterious than we thought. It''s completely bonded to his DNA.¡±


    ¡°So, if this stuff possibly got into the air after we opened the door...¡±


    ¡°It could have spread to everyone in that building. Thankfully I don''t think it had enough time to get outside before the lock-down.¡±


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    ¡°And that means Gavin too, fuck,¡± my father runs his hands through his hair and takes in a deep breath.


    ¡°Yes, unfortunately I do believe that the children are in a similar situation.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but then why would Jack be the only one to exhibit these...powers? His telekinesis?¡± my father asked.


    ¡°Well, it''s possible he had the greatest amount of contamination considering that he was right there, and I think it might be more than telekinesis, I think that he might have a healing factor. He recovered from his burns to the point where it doesn''t even look like he had them faster than anyone ever expected.¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes sense. I don''t like the sound of it, but it makes sense.¡±


    ¡°I do think you should leave, take Gavin and get him away while you can.¡±


    ¡°And what about you and Karen?¡±


    ¡°I can''t move her long term. She''s in the middle of her chemotherapy and I don''t know if we''ll be able to afford that if I don''t stay.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but what if something happens to you here?¡±


    ¡°I''ll get through it, plus, I''m going try and convince Mason and Dave to leave also.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with Dave. He''s so far up Jack''s ass I don''t even think he''s his own person anymore.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to try. Elena and Andy deserve to be away from all of this. And if Dave doesn''t want to leave then I''m going to go straight to her. If you wait a day I can have Mason accompany you guys. I was going to ask him to come here, but he''s actually busy with Jack at the moment. I think they''re working on building some sort of pod-like machine.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can wait up for him. I''m going to swing by the apartment before I head into work. I have some things I need to take care of anyhow,¡± my father said.


    Jay nods his head. ¡°Okay, I''m going to head in now, see you when you get in?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, stay safe, man.¡±


    ¡°You too.¡±


    The vision changes, Jay dissipates into the void and the park around them melts into the apartment I lived in as a kid. My father is up and making his way through the small living room. He goes past the small CRT TV in the corner of the room putting on the jacket of his suit and straightening his tie.


    I see as he walks past my old room and opens the door slightly, as if not to wake me inside. I see the younger me cuddled up underneath my sheets inside, this is me ten years ago, talk about surreal. I see a smile on my father''s face as he closes the door quietly and grabs his cell phone off of the arm of the loveseat. He drops it into his pocket and takes a deep breath before walking to the other side of the room, opening the front door and stepping out.


    I follow him as he makes his way out into the hallway and down the stairs. We used to live on the second floor of the apartment, so I had the basic course out of the building memorized.


    My father walks out of the front door and begins walking towards the parking garage.


    ¡°Fancy place, huh Greg?¡± A voice calls out from behind.


    My father turns and sees Jack leaning up against the wall of the building. He''s got his suit all nice and pinned up, along with it he wears this weird sort of scowl. ¡°Ah, Jack. I wasn''t expecting to see you here. I don''t believe I''ve ever told you where I lived?¡±


    ¡°You didn''t, but you didn''t need to.¡±


    My father stops fully and turns around to face him, ¡°I don''t understand Jack.¡±


    Jack laughs and walks up close to him, uncomfortably close. He puts his hands on my father''s shoulders and gives him a look I can''t quite describe with words. It looks like a laughing hyena crossed with a bear.


    ¡°I didn''t expect you too, good friend. I couldn''t expect that of you with how closed off your mind is.¡±


    My father backs off, letting Jack''s arms fall to his side, ¡°What the hell do you mean closed?¡±


    ¡°You are simple, Greg. In some cases that isn''t bad, but in the work we''re doing it isn''t enough. We don''t need simple, we don''t need you. Don''t bother coming into work today.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±


    ¡°In some aspects, yes, I am. You see, I''ve been seeing things lately. Glimpses and snapshots of things not yet. It was all very confusing at first, you see, but to someone who''s gone above simple I was able to figure it out.¡±


    ¡°And what the hell did you figure out?¡± My father asked.


    He has the same temper as I do, I can see that clearly within him. I almost miss him.


    Jack grins, ¡°My problem. At least, one of them. And that is you, Greg. You are one of my problems.¡±


    ¡°You made me your problem by coming here, Jack,¡± my father said.


    Jack shakes his head, ¡°No, no I did not, Greg. I came here because you are a problem. The good president didn''t send me into that test chamber a year ago, Greg. That was you. You sent me in there and didn''t care if I''d lived or died.¡±


    My father''s anger lessens slightly, I can see the guilt in his eyes, ¡°You''re correct. I was-¡±


    ¡°Save it. I didn''t come here to see you cry...at least, not in that way. No, I have to thank you! Because in some fucked up manner that is the moment that decided the rest of my life! And you''re no longer going to be a part of it.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean, Jack?¡±


    ¡°It means I am going to be generous. You know of my abilities, and you are going to leave this town, this city, even this state, now.¡±


    ¡°You''re insane,¡± my father said.


    ¡°Almost dying does that to you.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going.¡±


    ¡°Well, I would have guessed you would have stood your ground. Listen, I understand your bravado. You''re the head of a very prolific yet at the time secret band of scientists. I get the machismo, but honestly it''s only going to get your kid killed.¡±


    ¡°You''re not touching Gavin.¡±


    ¡°That''s the best part. I don''t need to. I can feel my grip around his throat right now, one tense of the mental muscle and your boy''s neck is as good as snapped.¡±


    My father puts down his arms, he looks at Jack with less fight and more contempt.


    ¡°Now, you are going to leave right now, no packing, no saying good-bye, now. You are going to reach into your pocket and take out your cell phone and smash it.¡±


    ¡°If I''m going I''m taking Gavin with me,¡± my father said.


    ¡°Those aren''t the terms of this negotiation, Greg. I would have thought you would have cared the littlest about his life, or is it the same as how you saw Megan?¡±


    My father moves to argue, but even I can tell it isn''t going to do any good.


    ¡°If you want your son to live, you will smash your cell phone and leave, now.¡±


    My father''s face beads with sweat, ¡°What should I do about money for the trip?¡±


    Jack smiles a vicious smile, ¡°You''ve got a nice suit on, improvise.¡±


    My father swallows hard as he reaches into his pocket, his hand shakes terribly.


    ¡°That''s it, now smash it.¡±


    He does. He throws it against the ground, the flip phone bounces off of the concrete and flips into the air, spinning twice before it lands again. He goes down to reach for it to throw it again, but it lifts off the ground before he can get it.


    Jack lifts it high into the air and flings it to the sky. I look up to see where it goes, but I lose it in the clouds of the cold morning.


    ¡°Now go.¡± My father silently walks backward. I can see him eye the side of the apartment where my bedroom is. The vision begins to fade to black. I feel a heavy sort of weight in my heart as I process all of what just happened.


    My father loved me. He didn''t want to leave. Jack made him, My father made Jack. There are so many conflicting emotions of hate and love in my heart. The web of my life goes back to before I was even remotely aware of anything.


    Everything is black.

 Part II | Chapter 7

    May 5<sup>th</sup>, 2008


    I see my father. He looks like he hasn''t eaten in a few days, he no longer wears his suit but instead a short-fit black t-shirt that said ¡°UP YOURS¡± with two hands flipping off everyone and everyone emblazoned on it alongside a pair of khaki shorts. He''s on a city sidewalk, I don''t know where, but it''s a few months after Jack threatened him. People pass by him in their everyday manner, I hear some people whisper ¡°Dude''s on drugs,¡± before laughing it off and walking away forever. I want them to stop. I want them to stop talking about him like that. It isn''t right, it isn''t-


    He moves along still, walking, walking towards something. He reaches the end of the street and turns the corner. I rush up to follow him, the crowd doesn''t slow me down one bit as I walk through them since they are only a memory. Not my memory, granted, but to all the same effect.


    I follow my father to a large building, not quite skyscraper level or anywhere near the height of the Republic Plaza, but that doesn''t mean it isn''t big itself. I''d guess around fifteen floors. Maybe he finally made it to New York, and this is that eastern branch of the freelance group that I keep hearing about? Maybe I''ll get to see my mother. My mother who...apparently cheated on my father, right. It''s okay, I''m okay. She''s dead now anyway, they both are. Nothing to worry about, I just gotta learn what I have to and get out of here.


    My father walks through the front door, not unlike that of a zombie, I must said. I follow him inside and notice that we''re the only two who seem to be around. Er...he''s the only one that''s around. The entrance is decorated with all kinds of tacky paintings that scatter the wall that are all probably hundreds of years old alongside a very cheesy red carpet that makes me feel like I''m walking down expecting to get photographed.


    He stumbles over to the front desk, looking like he''s about to collapse. He reaches over the side of the desk and picks the phone up off of the dock and presses the ¡°Intercom¡± button. ¡°Yes, will a Mrs. Lorraine Daniels come to the front desk to help her husband get their son back?¡± He hangs the phone up and leans up against the desk, breathing heavy.


    The next minute feels like an eternity. I see the elevator doors at the end of the hall open up, and inside stands a finely dressed woman with curly blonde hair. She wears a look of shock as she exits, quickly moving to my father. This must be my mother, I don''t recognize her at all.


    ¡°We''re in trouble,¡± my father said.


    ¡°Well, I can see that, where the hell is Gavin? Why''d you come here? Where''s-¡±


    ¡°Please, not a million questions at once, I feel like a train hit me and then went in reverse to finish the job. Can I get something to eat and something to wear? I''ve got a lot to tell you.¡±


    ¡°I thought you didn''t want to see me anymore,¡± she said.


    ¡°I don''t care about that, current matters supersede my personal feelings towards you, Lorraine. Now please, may we go upstairs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I''ll gather the others to come and help also.¡±


    ¡°Good, we''ll need their help.¡± The vision fades once more, changing shape.


    A few weeks seem to have passed, my father sits alone at a desk as he works furiously, writing something down at a breakneck pace. He''s out of the non-fitting clothes and back into a look more like him, a fancy suit which makes him look like he''s about to seal a business deal.


    ¡°Greg,¡± I hear a voice said, I''m unsure of who it is.


    ¡°Not now, I''m working.¡±


    ¡°I know, but it''s-¡±


    He looks up momentarily, I see a short haired woman standing close to him, her suit look about as sharp as her eyes.


    ¡°Samara, I really can''t afford to not be working right now.¡±


    She walks over and places a hand on his, ¡°Listen, I know it''s hard losing your son the way you did, and I know Lorraine''s as torn up over it just as much as you are, we all here feel for you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Samara,¡± my father said.


    ¡°But the reason I came over here is because I''ve got someone up front who said that he knew you, you want to come and confirm for a second?¡±


    ¡°Okay, sure. Sorry about snapping earlier.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay, I understand you''re under a lot of pressure to figure out how to stop Jack, we all are.¡±


    My father stands up and nods his head, ¡°Yeah, if I could just figure out the nature of his healing factor, that''s my main setback. I don''t have any updated samples of his blood, so I have no idea how much he''s changed in the past few months.¡±


    ¡°I understand it''s a tough situation, I believe we''ll find a solution, all of us, together,¡± she said, motioning her arms, ¡°Shall we go greet our guest?¡±


    My father nods his head, ¡°Yes, let''s.¡± They head past the cluttered array of desks inside the new place. Well, new to my father.


    They find the staircase at the end of the cluttered room. In some weird trade off of roles I felt the need to scold my father on his organization, like he would have of me.


    Downstairs I see a familiar face waiting in nearly the same spot I had seen my father crumpled over, it''s Mason.


    ¡°You''re here!¡± My father said, walking over and pulling him into a hug


    ¡°I could said the same about you, old friend,¡± Mason said, almost choking from the intensity of the hug.


    ¡°So I''m going to assume then you two do know each other,¡± Samara laughs.


    ¡°Yeah, he''s from west coast,¡± my father laughs also. He turns back to Mason, letting go, ¡°Where''s Kate?¡±


    ¡°Safe, she''s actually back at the hotel we''re staying at. I have to ask you, though. Jay mentioned that you''d be waiting up for us, what happened there? I stopped by your place and it was completely empty.¡±


    ¡°Jack happened. The day after Jay talked to me about leaving Jack showed up at my place with no warning or anything. I didn''t ever give him my address, Mason! He said he''s been seeing things and needed to take me out of the equation. I couldn''t tell anyone or else he would have killed Gavin.¡±


    ¡°I see. That about lines up. Greg, he''s gotten stronger, more out of control,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Well, okay, why don''t we head upstairs? You can meet the rest of the skeleton crew and tell us all about it. I hope you can spare some time?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course, Kate''s ordering room service and got a lineup of movies on the pay-per-view.¡±


    ¡°Huh, come into some money, Mason?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you could said that.¡±


    ¡°Well, if we''re going to go, I''ll call everyone to the meeting room. I''m Samara, by the way, Samara Knight,¡± she said, extending her hand to Mason.


    ¡°Well, it is definitely nice to meet you under better pretenses,¡± Mason smiles.


    My father looks towards Samara, ¡°What does he mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, I mean I didn''t know who he was at first and everything''s been so stressful lately and so...well,¡±


    ¡°She said I better not be with Jack unless I wanted to be neutered like a dog,¡± Mason laughs.


    My father laughs, ¡°Neutered? That''s like the least threatening way to said that.¡±


    ¡°I''m not good under pressure with people, never have been, doubt that will change anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°At least you''re at terms with it,¡± Mason said.


    Samara nods her head, ¡°Well, gentlemen, what are we waiting for?¡±


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    My father looks toward Mason and then nods his head towards the staircase they descended from, they quickly begin walking towards the staircase and up even further.


    The meeting room is on the second floor, a small square room that looks like it''s been hit with the budget-cut hammer. It''s got a small rectangular table fit better for a church benefit than an official meeting room with small fold up chairs scattered about.


    ¡°Uh, nice place,¡± Mason said, looking around.


    ¡°Yeah, it''s small, but it works.¡±


    ¡°Is this really what Valhart is funding? I think there was more put into a children''s birthday party¡±


    ¡°Well, they don''t study isotopes of human genomes at birthday parties,¡± Samara jokes.


    ¡°Hope not, that''d take going to the swimming pool to a whole new level,¡± Mason laughs.


    Samara and my father stare at him, not getting it.


    ¡°Gene pool guys, come on.¡±


    My father look to Samara, ¡°I forgot to mention, he does that sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Make bad jokes?¡±


    ¡°I think that''s an insult to bad jokes,¡± My father said.


    ¡°Okay, okay. Let''s skip the part then where I pull out the real jokes and get on with this,¡± Mason said, looking a tad attacked.


    ¡°Right, I''ll be right back, stay right here,¡± Samara nods, walking out of the room.


    There is an awkward silence in the room for a couple of seconds. If I could I would break the tension by making a stab at Samara since she left the room or something similar. Actually, that''s untrue. If I could interact with this world right now I''d hug my dad and go hug my mom and pretend none of this ever happened.


    ¡°It''s good to see you, Mason,¡± My father said


    ¡°You too, Greg. I''m sorry I didn''t find out sooner about you and Gavin, if I''d known I would have done something,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°I know, and I would have found a way to call you guys if I had the opportunity to.¡±


    Mason nods, ¡°I know, we''re going to find a way to stop him, I promise.¡±


    I see the door behind them swing open, just barely clipping the chair that sits right in front of my father.


    I see Samara on the other end walking in, two older guys and my mother walk in behind her.


    The first guy is big, like, really, really big. I''m sure he would smell like fish if I was actually there. His hair bunches up around the side of his head, inconveniently leaving a bald spot right on the top of his head.


    The second guy is more lean, gelled up hair and I''m pretty sure the police would have to confiscate it on the grounds of a deadly weapon. Maybe he can share some of his hair with the other guy.


    ¡°Okay, everybody, this here is Mason...uh,¡± Samara begins.


    ¡°Radica,¡± Mason finishes.


    ¡°Hold on a second, I thought you were familiar,¡± the gelled guy said. ¡°You were a part of Just Cause, weren''t you?¡±


    Mason looks closer at Gel-Guy and I can see his eyes widen. ¡°Barry? What the hell are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I could ask the same of you. Looks like the good old US of A don''t care of the returning vets, huh?¡±


    ¡°Does everybody here already know each other and I''m just out of the loop?¡± Samara asked.


    ¡°Navy Lieutenant Mason Radica, he served with me in Panama back in 1990,¡± Barry said.


    ¡°And Army Captain Barry Rainwater, you almost got your leg blown off near the Marriott Hotel,¡±


    ¡°Guys, I''d really love to hear you catch up on old times, but we have more pressing matters here,¡± the big guy said.


    My father mouths to Mason, ¡°You were in the Navy?¡±


    He nods tersely.


    ¡°Okay, Barry here is our head engineer. If anything goes wrong with our equipment he''s the guy you go to. He''s a real whiz with electronics,¡± Samara said. ¡°And this is is Sal, he is our lead on microbiology.¡±


    ¡°It''s good to meet you, Sal Muhn as in moon, please don''t mispronounce and confuse me for the fish,¡± Sal said with a heavy middle eastern accent.


    ¡°And it''s nice to meet you as well,¡± Mason nods.


    ¡°And I''m sure Greg¡¯s told you about me,¡± My mother said. ¡°I''m Lorraine,¡± she extends her hand.


    ¡°I''ve heard you were really smart and good at what you do, Mrs. Daniels,¡± he shakes it. This seems to make her smile, if slightly.


    I can see my father smile a little too.


    ¡°I''m here from the western branch same like Greg because of Jack Adata, I presume you''ve gotten everyone up to speed so far, Greg?¡± Mason asked.


    My father nods.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Yeah, that slimy ass-clown is going to be buried six feet under if I can get my hands on him,¡± Sal said.


    ¡°Right, well, that will be a little hard considering any injuries he''s sustained in the past year he''s been able to heal at an accelerated rate. His body suffered a fourth degree chemical burn when all of this started and came back like it was a mosquito bite, we cannot under any circumstances take that lightly,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Okay, and you mentioned earlier that he was getting stronger, mind explaining?¡± My father asked.


    ¡°Yes, this compound, Radical-9, we named it after the elements that melded together before they exploded out: Radium, Dicoberene, Calcium, and Lantrate. These four created the monster we know as Jack Adata today. When he first was irradiated we didn''t know the scope of what he would become...almost.¡±


    ¡°Almost?¡± Barry asked, ¡°What do you mean, almost, Mason?¡±


    ¡°Greg, when we took Jack to the hospital and you were in the room with David you told me about this feeling you had, correct?¡±


    My father nods his head, ¡°Yes, I was in there and I felt absolutely crippled from head to toe. For ten or so minutes it felt like all of Jack''s anger and despair was pouring out of him and into my soul. I still remember how cold to the bone I felt.¡±


    ¡°I believe that this was the first instance of his enhanced psyche reaching out. That ability to project emotion onto others like that, it''s astounding,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°And come to think of it, it was after that moment that Dave started acting strange, as if he had been Jack''s right hand pup,¡± my father said.


    ¡°Maybe whatever you felt he did too?¡± Sal asked. ¡°Maybe it hit him harder and he got scared.¡±


    ¡°It''s possible,¡± My father said.


    ¡°Then there was the freak out in the lab,¡± Mason begins. ¡°Jay, our friend back in Denver was asking Jack if he was all right, he was acting strange and paranoid, so it seemed okay to ask. Jack nearly had a meltdown and threw a glass canister from his side without even touching it. Later on he used this ability of telekinesis to rip away chunks of a wall inside of our building to find a room hidden away on everything but the blueprints.¡±


    ¡°So, it''s more than just what you imagined in the beginning,¡± Samara said.


    ¡°Way more. That was after a few days, mind you. Let''s take it a year after, his body is dying, plain and simple. It cannot handle the Radical-9 that is in his system, much less than the fact that it seems to be multiplying at an exponential rate. The more that multiplies the stronger his abilities become, the stronger he becomes the scarier he is, the less like himself he is. The less his body can handle it,¡±


    ¡°Okay, so then the solution just seems to be to wait it out, right? Eventually it will be too much and he''ll just keel over, am I right?¡± Barry said, leaning against one of the chairs, supporting his head up with his right arm.


    ¡°Initially that is what I thought too, but there is a big problem with that,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°What''s that?¡± My father asked.


    ¡°Radical-9 is a very reactive compound, as we''ve seen first hand, Greg. If his body shuts down from all of it in his system he will become a makeshift bomb.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°The concentrated amount of Radical-9 in his system all thrown together in someone as big as him would be enough to go nuclear. Just think of how badly we were hit with the very minimum of what this stuff has to offer.¡±


    ¡°So basically our options are to wait and die or attack him and die,¡± Sal said.


    My father runs his hands through his hair, ¡°No, I''m not letting that happen.¡±


    ¡°He isn''t either. Jack knows about this possibility, I was the one that helped him find it, in an effort to see if he would allow me to find a cure.¡±


    ¡°Did he?¡±


    ¡°Hell no, I''m here now, aren''t I? He scrapped my project and began researching ways to prolong his life rather than fix it.¡±


    ¡°Do you know any of what he is doing with that?¡± My father asked.


    ¡°I left before any of it came together, but I think he may be using the kids for something, Jennifer, Andrew, and I would assume Gavin as well now that you''re not there,¡±


    ¡°Use them for what?¡± My mother asked.


    Mason hesitates, ¡°I think he may be testing on them. He had me work on these...they looked like metallic pods, sort of like something you would freeze somebody in, I left after that, but I think that he might be adding in controlled doses of Radical-9. He might be testing and irradiating them with the compound.¡±


    ¡°Why would he do that? That''s insane!¡± My father yells, and then realizes he did.


    ¡°I don''t know why, but I have a guess, but it''s pretty far out there,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°I think we left far out there when this guy started moving shit with his mind,¡± Barry said, crossing his arms and pacing the room.


    Always the antsy one, it seems.


    ¡°I think...he might try to go one step further with projecting his emotions out. He might be trying to project his consciousness onto an heir of sorts,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°You''re right, that is out there,¡± Barry said.


    ¡°You mean like take over their bodies?¡± Lorraine asked, visibly horrified at the thought.


    ¡°The kids have Radical-9 in their system, we had that checked, I looked myself. It''s much less than the amounts in Jack and even you and I, Greg. I believe he might think that means they are suitable to have the perfect amount gassed into them so they can have the power that he has without the drawback of physical decomposition.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case then we need to do something. We need to find a way to stop him without triggering that reaction inside of his body, and we need to find out how to get the kids safe from him,¡± My father said.


    ¡°How do we do that?¡± My mother asked.


    ¡°That''s the question of the century, now isn''t it?¡±

 Part II | Chapter 8

    January 28<sup>th</sup>, 2014


    I''m back in the republic plaza. I''m looking into a cleared out space with four metallic pods that almost look like cocoons in the middle of the room. Machines that look like generators to said cocoons sit off to the side, the wiring covers the ground. I see that the machines have circular windows on the front of them.


    Off to the side behind a barrier I can see Jack, Jay, and the large man I''d seen back in New York, Sal Muhn. It looks like they finally finished the transfer process from him back then. My question is...is he someone Jay can trust down here?


    ¡°Alright Sal, just hurry it up, will you? This isn¡¯t the time for doubt, we need to succeed. We can¡¯t do that if you hesitate!¡± Jack barks.


    ¡°R-Right, sir,¡± Sal mumbles.


    ¡°Go ahead and situate them nice.¡±


    Looking at him, Sal looks himself like he''s stressed off a couple of pounds. His face is wrinkled and full of exhaustion. I see him leading a small child by the hand past the barrier. I see the leftmost pod open up, the door of it swinging widely open.


    On the inside I see a small area with straps attached that look like they''re meant to restrain something down...Or someone.


    He leads the young child into the machine, he can''t be more than five. He looks up at Sal with a wide eyed curiosity. Sal does everything in his power to keep away, but he can''t stop from looking at the child and takes in a deep breath.


    I hear a knocking sound from the machine directly next to it, Inside of the window I can actually see someone inside of that one, it looks to be an older boy, maybe around fifteen, he''s pounding on the shell of the cocoon and I can almost see tears in his eyes.


    Sal straps the young boy into place and shuts the door, locking it into place. He walks back to the barrier, closing his eyes and finding it hard to breathe. ¡°Okay, there.¡±


    ¡°Jay, bring Sarah and John in next.¡±


    ¡°Yes, okay,¡± Jay struggles to said.


    I see Jay walk towards the pods, he carries two infants with him. This needs to stop. I hear Jay think. He lowers the first child into the pod and it seals itself up. He looks at the second child¡¯s eyes for one moment before lowering them into the pod. Jay slowly walks back behind the barrier, he looks like a man who has had the soul sucked out of him.


    ¡°Let''s get this started,¡± Jack said, and he presses a button at his side.


    ¡°RADICAL-9 EXPOSURE NUMBER TWO. SUBJECTS ARE IN PLACE. DATE ¨C JANUARY 28th, 2014. TIME ¨C 05:56 AM.¡±


    The four pods are now filled and they begin glowing on their rims. The chrome face of the metal is a shiny silver, but the edges glow with a sort of neon-like gas that illuminates in all sorts of different colors. The pods begin making a sort of mechanical sort of ringing sound and then the windows of the pods begin to fog up. It seems that they are being filled with Radical-9. Mason''s theory was right. The sound from the machine intensifies and grows even louder. The neon-like lights on the rim of the pods has grown in intensity and shines brightly and then I hear the screaming. It comes from the leftmost pods, the ones with the two older kids. Their pods begins letting out steam and smoke and then I hear a small but confined boom.


    I see the two windows get sprayed with a dark red liquid. Blood. I hear a frantic panic come from behind the barrier. I see Sal running up to the pods frantically.


    ¡°Jack! My boys! I told you that this would happen!¡± Sal screams. He turns around and looks towards him, ¡°You monster! You wanted to go through with it anyway and now they¡¯re gone forever! What the hell is wrong with you?!¡±


    The vision begins to lose clarity, but I can see Sal being lifted into the air, he¡¯s grasping at his throat.


    ¡°Test two is a slight failure, recommencing the test for those that survived.¡±


    His body is lifeless. The force of his body hitting the wall is something I''m not going to forget for a long time.


    ¡°Are there any objections, Jay?¡± Jack¡¯s voice asked calmly.


    Jay turns his head slowly to Jack, his eyes still wide. ¡°You know, I could easily just kill your boy here and move on with Sarah, it makes no difference to me. Your boy lives because you''ve stayed by my side.¡±


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    ¡°N-No objection sir,¡± Jay said weakly.


    ¡°Great. We go in again.¡±


    Like a hurricane I¡¯m sent through the cycle as the world around me breaks down. Everything around me rebuilds itself to a completely foreign scene. I look around and see Mason, alone. He''s curled up against a wall on what looks like a bank of...wherever he is. He''s shaking tremendously, and I can''t tell if he''s cold or got some kind of spasm going on. Maybe both. I can see a phone clutched in his hand, raised up to his ear.


    ¡°N-No. Kate I c-can''t come ho-home. I need to do this I need to please stop interrupting me.¡± There are a few seconds of silence. ¡°No, I-I''m fine. I promise that I''m fine I swear it Kate. I need to sp-speak to the president I need to.¡±


    He hangs up the phone and sets it down beside him, his arm shakes wildly. I can see his breathing is short and he looks like he''s been sweating up a storm.


    ¡°I''ll be h-home for supperrr,¡± He slurs as he makes his way to his feet.


    Sweat is pooling under his arms, staining the dress shirt and staining fast. His face is redder than any tomato I¡¯ve seen. It looks like it takes him an extreme amount of effort to even get moving. I see the cell phone vibrating on the ground beside him. He kicks it away and makes a show of it by lifting his leg up into the air after.


    ¡°I said I''ll be home and I will because I promised I would,¡± he said. His speech has turned into a big slur. What the hell happened to him?


    Mason begins walking down the street and I get a better view of what is ahead of him. I see the United Nations conference building in front of me.


    Mason keeps walking closer, reaching just past the secretariat building and finding his destination, the General Assembly. I see him step towards the entrance, closer and closer as I see his arm spasming by his side. He walks right in, no knocking, no hesitation. I follow him in, walking through the doors as if they were nothing.


    The main chamber is much larger than I imagined. I remember reading about this place in some of the magazines that they had back at the orphanage. This was the place where things went down. 193 members all coming together to show that just maybe we could work together to ensure peace. Now of those 193 people that used to fill this hall only fourteen sit at the table now. I understand.


    ¡°I heard you gentlemen hired scientists to study foreign material,¡± Mason yells out towards the men in the center of the room, all situated, facing each other. I see four of them on the ends draw guns.


    ¡°Excuse me, but we''re having a private conversation, may I ask you to leave?¡± A voice I recognize clearly said, it''s Hal Valhart.


    Mason takes a few steps down the alley, ¡°You brought us together to research, to examine, to experiment. We were desperate for cash and knew we would do it.¡±


    ¡°Should we fire, sir?¡± One of the men at Valhart''s side asked.


    ¡°Hold on one moment, Stan,¡± Valhart said. ¡°You''re one of The Prometheans?¡±


    ¡°I''m one of the ones w-who can''t stand what''s in me. I-I feel so very hot and this all needs to s-stop. I know you know about Jack.¡±


    Valhart''s expression seems to change, ¡°He''s a rouge factor, something that cannot be stopped.¡±


    ¡°What? No! You need to st-you need to stop him! He''s going to kill us all! He already killed Greg!¡±


    ¡°I cannot do that, Mr...what was your name again?¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter! Why won''t you help?¡±


    ¡°Because this was how things were supposed to happen. Direct orders from the Queen herself.¡±


    Mason looks like his heart just broke in two, something inside of him snapped, surely.


    ¡°You may fire now, Stan.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    I see the sparks from the muzzle as the bullets shoot out, time seems to slow down for a second, but speed up as they blow through Mason''s body. They must be very large caliber bullets as they send Mason back, his blood drips to the floor.


    It''s then I see his face turn red, much redder than I''d seen anyone ever.


    ¡°I....¡± Mason said before I can see his skin breaking away, his skull underneath screams out as the entire building erupts in a white glow. Valhart and his men begin screaming, but only for a second, their screams are lost to eternity in the blaze.


    Through the dust and debris all I can see around me is debris, the greater chunk of New York City was leveled in seconds.


    I look back towards where Mason sat as he died, a shadow of his body is burned into the ground. The same seems to be for Valhart and his thirteen men, shadows forever marked onto the earth as Mason, The Exploding Man erased them nearly from existence. But that means that there''s a bigger problem at hand. Valhart wasn''t discussing the poor here, he wasn''t working to make things better, he was ensuring that Jack became what he did, but why? Why would he want that for any other reason then to see the world burn? The queen. He said it was a direct order, but why? How could she have known this would happen? So many questions that do not have answers.


    The vision fades to black. I feel a familiar pain in my muscles.


    I open my eyes to darkness, but it isn''t dark for long. I hear a loud mechanical scraping noise, light fills into the small room, and I can see exactly how small the space I''d been confined to is. I''d barely have enough room to stretch out if I''d sprawled out across the floor. The light source blinds me, it''s pure white, spilling in through a doorway now open.


    ¡°Come on out, it''s time we had a chat,¡± I hear Micah''s voice, and it''s not through the small computer terminal behind me this time.


    I stand slowly, my legs getting used to being used once more. I have to hold myself up with the wall behind me to get myself up fully. I step outside of the room and let the harsh light fill over me. Blinding lights fill my vision and I have to brace my hand over my eyes to reduce the pain.


    I can feel the heat resonating off of the lights above me, and then I realize I might not be going crazy, but the outside of the tiny room is significantly warmer than the inside. I''m standing on metal, the entire floor is metal, and so are the walls. It looks to be some sort of facility. I couldn''t describe where.


    ¡°The lights are used to keep this place warm in addition to well lit, it''s not like we can depend on the outside for heat,¡± Micah said to my side. I turn to see him. I¡¯m facing an older version of myself.


    I recognize Me immediately. My eyes go wide and weakness overtakes me in full.

 Part III | Chapter 1

    [Purpose]


    ¡°What?¡± I ask. ¡°What the hell are you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m sorry, is there something on my face? I was surely hoping our first meeting wouldn''t be embarrassing,¡± he said, covering his face...my face with his hands.


    ¡°How the fuck do you look like me?¡±


    He drops his hands to his sides and walks closer to me, ¡°I am you! That''s how.¡±


    ¡°That hardly explains anything. How are you here? I don''t believe for a second you''re anything but some poser,¡± I said, pushing him back.


    ¡°Makes you think more on things right? I mean, when I told you that you should have seen the look on your face, I really meant it!¡± He begins laughing.


    I don''t.


    ¡°Oh, what? Did you lose your sense of humor in the time you sat in time out? Come on, it was a joke, a rather smart one if I do said for myself.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is this?¡±


    He shakes his head, ¡°You''re going to have to be a lot more specific than that, there''s a lot of this everywhere.¡±


    I take a deep breath. It takes a lot not to punch him in the face. ¡°This, me being here, you sending Megan after me, why any of it? I''ve seen so much shit since you did all this and I deserve answers,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ah, that word, deserve. So rightly used in the wrong context. You don''t deserve anything, Gavin. But I''m going to give it to you anyway as a gift from myself, to myself,¡± he said, opening his arms as if for a hug.


    ¡°Okay, first thing''s first. Who are you?¡± I said, ignoring his prodding. I know he''s enjoying every last second of this.


    ¡°Gavin Matthew Daniels. I was born on March 1<sup>st</sup>, 1999 to Lorraine and Gregory Daniels. My parents were killed by Jack Adata in the year 2013, five years after they left me in the hands of a cold blooded killer,¡± he said. ¡°And I now call myself Micah because it hurts too much to refer to my old life.¡±


    ¡°How do you know all that?¡± I ask.


    This can''t be happening.


    ¡°Because, like I said, I''m you. Oh, right, I should probably explain this part. So, you''re not where you think you are. Or rather, you''re not when you think you are.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°What year is it, Gavin?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Uh, 2018?¡±


    He makes a very loud buzzer noise, ¡°Incorrect, good buddy.¡±


    ¡°I''m not your buddy.¡±


    ¡°Either way, no. Right now you''re currently present in the year 2060. Congratulations! You missed out on like fifty birthdays. I''m not making up for those presents.¡±


    I look at myself, my arms, hands, legs, all of it look the same as it always has. ¡°I''m calling bullshit. Wouldn''t I be old?¡±


    ¡°We''re not in your 2060,¡± Micah said, more serious.


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Gladly,¡± Micah said, smiling a sort of grin that makes me more anxious than excited. I''ll be honest, when I broke into my old school I didn''t think being here with a lunatic would be my punishment. I miss those days.


    I''d give just about anything to only be worried about food and shelter, hell, I''d even take back my dementia so I could die of natural causes and that be it. I have a feeling once I get to the bottom of all of this I won''t be able to come back out.


    ¡°So, do you remember your last thought before you came here? What you did?¡±


    I think back. I can see it clearly, Grace was succumbing to the Tubocurarine in her system. I walked off the edge of the Republic Plaza and everything went dark.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, shuddering the thought.


    ¡°On that day, that was June 30<sup>th</sup>, 2018, by the way, you exploded.¡±


    I look at him with an unchanged reaction. I''m not surprised at what he said, it''s about par for the course for a lunatic.


    ¡°You don''t believe me,¡± He said, more than asked.


    ¡°You expect me to?¡±


    His eyes scan around the room, they look tired.


    ¡°You saw Mason, right? His end and how he torched New York City?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Like that. That happened to you. When you jumped off of the cliff your body went nuclear because of what is inside of you.¡±


    ¡°The Radical-9, correct?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. This was planned from the start, it was why I sent Megan back.¡±


    ¡°Back? And what do you mean from the start?¡±


    ¡°One thing at a time, Gavin, please,¡± he smiles something big.


    I sigh, ¡°Tell me one reason why I don''t kick the living shit out of you now,¡± I said.


    ¡°Because then I won''t give you the rest of the answers you would go insane without.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure with what I''ve seen I''m already insane.¡±


    ¡°Touch¨¦.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so what do you mean you sent her back?¡±


    ¡°I told you once before if you were listening. You''re far from the day you blew up, Gavin. This is forty-two years later. I sent her back to your time.¡±


    ¡°Okay, like...seven questions just spawned from that answer,¡± I said.


    ¡°Take them one at a time.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so you said I blew up. But I''m all right here. That proves I didn''t.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily.¡±


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°That isn''t your body, and before you jump to the conclusion, I didn''t steal your body, either.¡±


    ¡°This...isn''t my body? That''s impossible. I can feel it! I am inside my body.¡±


    ¡°What you''re feeling isn''t human. It''s a bionic shell which your consciousness now lives inside of.¡±


    ¡°A bionic...It''s a robot? I''m a robot?!¡±


    ¡°In short, yes. It''s called an Automaton, a robot that is meant to act and look like a human. You''re in possession of one modeled after yourself, as am I. Although I am only doing so because it''s more convenient than the sixty-one year old body I''d had originally. This was the goal of sending Megan back to your time.¡±


    ¡°W-wait, hold on. I''m not ready for that answer, I''m still stuck on you saying I''m a robot.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so let me try to explain it as plain as I can. The Radical-9 in your system reacts violently after death. I don''t know the specifics, only that your heartbeat is what keeps your blood pumping enough to neutralize the explosive reaction. You had a mixture of the Tubocurarine inside of your body and the shock from falling that lead to your body''s death.¡±


    ¡°And so I exploded.¡±


    ¡°Correct. You destroyed the city of Denver, quite impressively too. Body count''s somewhere near 550,000.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a lot of people died that day. Almost as much as Mason, actually. He broke a million in the greater part of New York City.¡±


    ¡°How can I trust that this information is correct?¡±


    ¡°You do or you don''t. I don''t have the newspaper of the day if you were wondering.¡±


    Over half a million people died from my body exploding?


    ¡°Prove to me I''m a robot.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I want proof. I want solid proof that what you''re saying isn''t bullshit.¡±


    He seems to think this over and then mouths ¡°One second¡± to me, walking off. I walk to follow but he turns his head quick and said ¡°Stay.¡±


    I listen, not completely sure why, but I do. Right now would be the perfect time for me to plan my escape from this guy and find out where I am, but he''s right. I do want answers, and for now it seems that he...I...am the one that has them.

 Part III | Chapter 2

    It doesn''t take long for Micah to return, he''s carrying a silver scalpel in his hands. ¡°What are you planning to do with that?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Oh, there''s a panel here on the cubicle you were in I needed to open to show you proof,¡± Micah said, walking past me.


    ¡°Okay?¡± I said, turning around. ¡°Is it so bad that you needed a-¡±


    My eyes go wide as he turns and brings the scalpel down the length of my arm. I feel it burn as he steps back for my counter attack. I grab my arm in pain and look up at him.


    ¡°Surprise! There wasn''t any panel on the cubicle, but man you should have seen the look on our face!¡±


    ¡°You''re fucking dead,¡± I said, stepping closer towards him.


    ¡°Hold on, look at your arm,¡± Micah said, unmoving.


    ¡°Wh-¡± I said, looking down at my arm. A white liquid trails down my forearm. ¡°White blood?¡±


    ¡°That''s my proof,¡± he said, his arms open again.


    ¡°Megan had white blood,¡± I said, remembering.


    ¡°Correct, she was not the actual Megan Adata, she is similar to you. The only difference was I didn''t have any of her actual consciousness to implant, so I had to work with memories,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°What do you mean work with?¡±


    ¡°Follow me, I have something to show you which can help explain some things,¡± He said, walking back down the path he''d gone before. It''s a cylindrical hallway that curves around in a half circle.


    ¡°W-wait! Why couldn''t you just lead me down this way when you were getting your scalpel?¡± I ask, jogging to catch up, trying to stop the blood flow from my arm, following the path around its bend.


    ¡°Because you needed to ask that question! It wouldn''t have made sense to you unless you asked that question, everything has a sequence for which it plays out, this has been a long time coming,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°How long of a time?¡±


    ¡°Since I was your age.¡±


    ¡°How long ago was that? And how...is that?¡± I ask.


    ¡°What''d I said about one thing at a time, Gavin?¡±


    He opens a large circular door with a touch of his hand to a scanner beside it and steps inside.


    I resist the urge to ask where we are, that question will come in time.


    Inside is a golden room. I mean it isn''t coated with gold, but it just has this sort of aura to it. It''s probably as wide as a classroom, but as for how tall it is, well I couldn''t even begin to answer that. It extends up as far as I can see and then some.


    The elephant in the room is a machine that sits in the center of the room. It''s tower-like with screens at the base surrounding it. Huge power cords lead from the base outward to five different rooms on each of the walls of the hexagonal shaped room.


    ¡°This room is what allowed all of this to happen,¡± Micah begins. ¡°This machine here is a product of the collaborations between my old partner and I in this time.¡±


    ¡°Your partner?¡±


    ¡°He isn''t with us in the present moment,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°This machine is known as ICARUS, which is an acronym for the Infinity Core Amplifier of Research Under the Sun. It''s a database for the collective consciousness throughout our history.¡±


    ¡°Explain in smaller words,¡± I said.


    ¡°Think of it like Wikipedia, you know what that is at least, right Gavin?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Good. This is a physical manifestation of that concept. Being able to search up anybody''s memories on the fly, it''s all through this machine. Learn its secrets and it opens the world and its infinite complexities up to you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, how does that work?¡±


    ¡°You couldn''t even understand the concept of it, do you think you would understand the specific mechanics behind it?¡±


    ¡°Dumb it down for me, then,¡± I said, not caring how much attitude slips out.


    ¡°We started manually with each database, fact checking and double checking. When my partner was still here and working on it we both decided manual was way too slow.¡±


    ¡°So you decided to automate it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, in my time we have advanced energy sources which in short allowed us to automate that process. It took eighteen years for it to be created.¡±


    ¡°Okay, and this machine sent Megan back into my time? You said she was different?¡±


    ¡°Yes, since the Megan that you knew, that we knew died in 2007 I couldn''t work with her consciousness since it long passed. So, what I did was install an artificial intelligence protocol with the directive of finding you. This included all of the memories that I could find relating to her,¡± Micah said. ¡°Think of it as almost-Megan. She wasn''t complete, I didn''t give her the voice she had since I didn''t feel it would be needed, and recreating a voice is much harder than you would believe.¡±


    ¡°Okay, and she was sent back to get me,¡± I said, running my hand through my hair to understand it.


    ¡°Yes, I had to use Radical-9 to send her back, that''s the advanced energy source, by the way. While explosive, it also has near limitless power capabilities.¡±


    ¡°I remember Mason saying something like that, how Jack was growing stronger every day.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s what allowed me to use ICARUS to send her back. I used that explosive power this stuff has and transformed it into a source I could use. I basically blew a hole in the time-space continuum.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that dangerous?¡± The question I had asked seemed...foolish. Of course it sounded dangerous, but I still had to see how he would respond.


    ¡°Not as dangerous as the threat we face.¡±


    ¡°And what danger is that?¡±


    ¡°One thing at a time, Gavin. Do I have to go find a chalkboard to make you write it down? If I had known how stubborn you would be to not understand I would have brought a spare notepad.¡± Micah asked.


    I take a deep breath. I notice I''ve calmed a bit since I''ve arrived. It''s strange that it''s now I find a sense of comfort. As wild as this all was, it was helpful taking each piece one step at a time. I wasn¡¯t sure how I felt about all this yet, but I was still standing, and he was the reason for that. I had to take this one step by one step.


    ¡°Why did you bring me here?¡± I ask. ¡°What did you need for Megan to break open time itself to bring me here?¡±


    ¡°Telos,¡± he said.


    ¡°Tell who what?¡±


    ¡°You ask for the Telos. It''s Greek, Gavin.¡±


    ¡°You sure love your Greek shit, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°I find it very thematic, yes,¡± Micah smiles. ¡°What can I said? They were natural storytellers. Made everything all wrapped up in a nice bow. Telos here in this context means ultimate object, or more easily recognizable, end goal. My end goal is to save this timeline.¡±


    ¡°Timeline?¡±


    ¡°You remember me telling you earlier that this was 2060, but not your 2060, correct?¡± Micah asked.


    I nod my head. ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ve wrapped my head around that concept. It¡¯s...hard, if I¡¯m being honest.¡±


    ¡°If it were easy I wouldn¡¯t be having the need of bringing you here,¡± Micah said.


    I nod in response to this.


    ¡°The reason, Gavin, that you and I are both here right now is no trick or lie. There¡¯s no twist here but for the fact that this is not your 2060. We¡¯re parallel to your time. I do not know how your future looks, but if I had not acted as I did¡­¡± he trailed off and looked down to the floor. ¡°Things would not be in your favor. That¡¯s as easy I can explain without talking more about a lot of different things. As easy as I can explain it is you are in an alternate timeline. Your consciousness went through the hole in time that I created when your body blew up.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Why''d it do that?¡±


    ¡°Normally your consciousness would evaporate to the afterlife or whatever anyone else believes in. My partner and I found out that there is a short window for when the consciousness¡ªyou can consider that your soul¡ªis separated from the body. I sent Megan back because I needed her to give you those memories.¡±


    ¡°The memories of the Radical-9 incident?¡± I ask.


    He nods his head, ¡°Yes, exactly.¡±


    ¡°They started when she pressed her finger on my forehead at first, and then she gouged out her own eye to do it again, but with her blood.¡±


    ¡°Blood substitute,¡± Micah corrects.


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°She used the Radical-9 within her bloodstream so to speak to convey those memories to you.¡±


    ¡°I still don''t understand how that kept me from dying.¡±


    ¡°Technically, it didn''t. For all intents and purposes you are dead. I just rerouted your path after such. You see, memories have a desire to go back from where they originated after death. That''s why your soul leaves your body and would go to who knows where. You ended up here because you had enough of those memories in your system to override the original desire of your own memories. The new ones you had received became a higher priority to send home, and so they took the only path that they could, right back through the hole ICARUS had created.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that makes sense, and my old memories are here for the ride?¡±


    ¡°They''re an anomaly, memories that should have gone, but still exist on our plane. Quite interesting, don''t you think?¡±


    ¡°You''re a lot more serious than a few moments ago,¡± I said.


    ¡°Because we''re going to a topic that requires as much,¡± Micah said, turning around. ¡°Gavin, I''m going to show you something, I want you to be prepared for it,¡± he said, stern.


    ¡°O-Okay,¡± I said, not really knowing what to make of that.


    Micah walks over to the main tower of ICARUS and finds the keypad connected to the machine. He begins typing away at it, it doesn''t even look like he''s looking at the keyboard. I guess we have that in common, it really came in handy when I was writing papers for school. Wow, that feels like such a long time ago.


    ¡°I''m going to open the view to outside, this room is surrounded by a bunch of now shielded windows. I want you to look out and see if you can find anything of interest,¡± he said, still typing.


    I look up to see the golden-like metal sheets covering the walls recede away one by one, revealing a metal frame with some sort of glass windows. They recede even up near the top and through there I can also see outside. I see the nighttime sky, the stars shine brilliantly on their near-black canvas. There''s a chunk of space rocks among the stars. "You mean those giant bits of rock? Is that a meteor?"


    ¡°Not exactly."


    "What is it then?"


    "That little space shithole is Earth."


    "Woah, hold on a second now...that¡¯s Earth?! Where the hell are we?"


    ¡°We''re on a settlement on the moon,¡± he said, as straight faced as ever.


    ¡°I don''t...¡±


    ¡°You know of the events of The Exploding Man. That much you saw, and even what happened directly afterwards, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I lived in a shithole,¡± I said.


    ¡°Things kept that way until about 2021, my time. People started to get a grip on reality and society began to slowly rebuild itself. People calmed down and looting slowed dramatically. It was a miracle. Peace had seemed to return to normal lifestyle for quite a time until around 2027 when a dictator of sorts had taken control of the country. He was another envoy of the Queen of England. He brought structure back to us, but he took away freedom.¡±


    ¡°What was his name?¡±


    ¡°Oliver Avery. He moved the capital to San Francisco, actually. I don''t know the details on why, but he did. Then we fast forward to two years later. On March 18th, 2029 Radical-9 is released to the public.¡±


    ¡°What? How does that happen?¡±


    ¡°It''s in that year that Jack Adata dies, his body is at it''s absolute peak for Radical-9 concentration. The explosion destroys all of New York and a bit of Jersey. Gone, completely wiped off of the map. The radiation spreads far and wide, and soon other people who are irradiated by the original blast begin to have similar adverse affects as Jack had. Fast forward once more about fourteen years to 2042 and nuclear war is waged almost tenfold. People lose control of their bodies, Jack was a single man and he took out the entire state of New York. What do you think happens when thousands of people go nuclear?¡±


    The pieces start falling into place. ¡°And you said we were on the moon.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, specifically, a base prepped for the remaining percent of the population who didn''t become irradiated to the Radical-9 and make it off the planet before it''s destruction. You are now standing in one of the ten bases on the moon created for that sole purpose," His tone deepens.


    ¡°So¡­this is all real?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Very, but don¡¯t get so down! We¡¯re on the fuckin¡¯ moon! How many people back home can said that? Huh?¡± His demeanor changes on a dime.


    "A moon base?" I said again, trying to process all of the in-formation.


    "Its name is Sustineo-10 as in it is the tenth built, although this one coincidentally was abandoned for its contamination of Radical-9. Ironic, huh? Or¡­would that be coincidence? I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s funny all the same," he chuckles.


    "It''s contaminated in here?!" I ask.


    "Nah, I''m messing with you," Micah laughs.


    ¡°Okay, so where are the others, the other survivors, I mean?¡±


    ¡°They''re currently in cryogenic sleep, Gavin. Each of these five doors holds a cryogenic pod which rests a survivor. The pods are being kept online by ICARUS.¡±


    ¡°And what about you?¡±


    ¡°Me, well, it''s my job to make sure that they don''t die and humanity doesn''t go extinct. Those five people are the last humans besides us two.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, there was little room in the rocket that made it up here. I''m supposed to wait out the Radical-9 contamination and then wake them when it is safe enough for them to propagate.¡±


    ¡°Must be a lonely job,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah. Ever since my partner...it became lonely after that. Been at it for forty-two years, and eighteen without him. But it''s going to be okay, because now you''re here.¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡± I ask, looking again at the broken piece of rock in the sky that used to be Earth.¡±


    ¡°Like you, I was infected with Radical-9. The reason I''m not in one of those pods is because I had it in my system, but for whatever reason I didn''t explode like the others, ergo I didn''t die. I lost that threat when I shifted my consciousness into this automaton. That power of which I spent ten years researching in my downtime here. Studying, endless studying and I find the solution, my partner and I do. We create our first automaton, it was a prototype model, it failed in the end, but it led to this model, the one we both inhabit.¡±


    ¡°What''s different?¡±


    ¡°There''s something different about you, your soul,¡± he said.


    ¡°You mean our soul?¡±


    ¡°No, as strange as that sounds. I think it''s because you''re supposed to be dead, but you''ve got some Radical-9 bound to your soul.¡±


    ¡°So what? I''m forever poisoned by this shit?¡±


    ¡°I do not know what would happen to your body now, probably similar to your last one if you died, but that''s how you were able to see the visions while you were inside the locked cubicle. You wouldn''t have been able to if you didn''t have any in your system. ICARUS is limited, as much as it can do, it can only show me what is officially recorded through history. What we need is a way to prevent Radical-9 from ever existing, or at the very least, from Jack coming into contact with it.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I''m listening.¡±


    ¡°A fortunate side effect to showing you all of those memories from ICARUS is that you''ve gotten used to how they are, how they interact with your mind, right?¡±


    ¡°That''s debatable, they just kind of force their way in. Well, actually except for that last time where I guess I could control it,¡± I correct.


    ¡°Well, what I need you to do is to work on the ability to fully control it, so that instead of them coming to you, you go to them. That way you can actually interact with them, fill in the holes we have.¡±


    ¡°What holes would that be?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, if we did our job would be easy, huh?¡±


    ¡°So, anything relating to Radical-9, then?¡±


    ¡°Exactamundo Gavamundo. These aren''t exactly going to act as memories, because you''ll effectively be going back in time to when these events happened.¡±


    ¡°So I''ll be time traveling?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that''s how it''s basically been for you receiving these memories, or at least it would have been if you had a stronger pull. Now with ICARUS here you''ll have that and be able to make that travel.¡±


    ¡°But I''ll still be in your timeline, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you won''t swap back over to yours when you go back.¡±


    ¡°Will I ever go back to my own?¡±


    ¡°Yes, once we find out how to stop Jack.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I think I want to try this,¡± I said.


    ¡°It really doesn''t matter that you want to. I mean, there''s not much else you can do here,¡± Micah said.


    I guess he''s right, and for the time being I''m going to believe him, it all sounds right. If I can stop this stuff, the Radical-9, maybe I can save those it took from this place? Mason, my father, my mother, Sal and his kids, Megan. All of them. I''m going to do it.


    I have to.

 Part III | Chapter 3

    ¡°So, are you ready?¡± Micah asked.


    I nod my head and turn around, ¡°I''m about as ready as I can be.¡± I make my way towards the door on my left, grasp the handle and throw it open in some dramatic sense. I enter a small square room. It''s strangely constricting and I feel a little claustrophobic. In the center of the small room I see a pod that looks somewhat similar to the cocoon-like machines that Jack used to irradiate those kids. Beside it is a small basin with some sort of strange light in it.


    "It''s time to start the fun," I hear Micah call from the main room.


    "I guess so," I said to myself quietly.


    "When you''re ready, I need you to just stare into that basin from the top, okay? Just do what you did the last time to make the visions come to you and I''ll handle the rest.¡±


    I walk over and glance down at the pod, stopping when I see a face through the glass window on the front. It takes me a moment to recognize Kate inside of the pod. She''s older, but I can see the seventeen year old self in her face. She looks to be in her thirties. Below the window is her name engraved on a plaque, ¡°Katherine Radica¡±.


    I walk to the basin full of lights and look over and into it. The colors are glowing vibrantly and intensely. I''m staring at them for a few moments and then I start feeling light headed. The colors begin melding together and then I''m shifting back and forth. I hear a mechanical hum behind me and I assume it comes from ICARUS. It''s another moment and then my vision begins fading. The colors are all one and I''m falling into them as if I were atop a great skyscraper. I''m falling and I can''t stop.


    I close my eyes and like before the scenery is all different when I open them back up. I blink twice and then notice that I¡¯m lying under a brush of leaves. The sun shines brightly in my eyes. I look up and I see towering skyscrapers in the distance. I¡¯m sitting against a large oak tree overlooking the city below from a hill that seems to be out on the outskirts. I stand up. I feel a cool breeze pass by my face. It isn¡¯t cold enough to be winter, but not warm enough to be summer.


    Just when is it? I don''t have that instinctual feeling anymore that let me in on that kind of information. I think it might be because I was viewing it from the outside and not in.


    I begin walking down the hill. My pace begins to pick up and I almost fall several times. It''s been so long since I''ve ran, especially down a hill to where the wind picked up through my hair and I smiled. I reach the bottom look back up at the top.


    Exhileration.


    That''s what I felt, and I hadn''t felt it in such a long time without also feeling fear. The edge of the city is closer than I''d imagined from the top of the hill than I had seen it atop of the hill. I see a large city sign to my right and it reads DENVER in big white letters. Something then catches my notice about the sign. It is phasing in and out of existence. Everything around me is doing it now and I don''t understand what''s going on. The whole world is literally freaking out.


    "...ey....an you hea....e?" I turn around, nobody is there. Then I hear it again. "Hey! Are you there?! Answer!" I realize it''s coming from my head. I then hear the solemn yet stern voice of Micah. I don''t know how to answer him. I try to think my response back.


    "What the hell is happening? Everything is screwed up around here."


    "Good, you made it. I was scared for a few minutes there that it didn¡¯t work."


    ¡°Why would that be a concern?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t blame me for worrying. Anything could have happened and we¡¯d both be screwed.¡±


    "How are you even talking to me?"


    "Now that your power is beginning to develop, you can begin to see you can do a lot of things you couldn¡¯t do before, like this for instance. Once you learn to control it you will be able to link up telepathically with others, although only those like you would be able to respond back.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I understand. I don¡¯t quite understand why I¡¯m in Denver, though,¡±


    ¡°Denver? You remember that is the place where you were first brought, right? Also this is where the research on Radical-9 was handled. Head to that building, the Republic Plaza. I think you¡¯ll find Kate in there,¡± he said.


    ¡°If it must be done¡­¡±


    ¡°It does. Now, I have to go. The only way I could link up with you is if I halted the memory, so you¡¯re going to be back to yourself in a few moments. Good luck out there.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    I see the sign start to return to normal. The land around me does the same. I sigh and look up into the sky. It has returned to its normal state as well. I decide to walk into the city bounds, might as well start somewhere, right?


    I begin walking down the road that leads into the city¡¯s heart. The last time I remember hearing about the Republic Plaza before being stuck inside of it was that it was really only empty office space and a host of some charity. The air that hangs around the city itself seems...strained.


    It is as if it is holding its breath in suspense. I don¡¯t see anybody in the streets as I walk by.


    Cars are parked along the side of the road and I see many colorful umbrellas line tabletops on the pavilion. Nobody is around to sit at the tables. I look up once more at the sky and see a towering hunk of metal.


    It is the Republic Plaza, it even said it right on the face of the building. It stretches high into the sky, as if it wants to give the heavens a little poke. An existential touch as if to challenge a higher deity.


    It''s odd to see it from ground level after seeing it from the very top first. I walk up the steps beside the pavilion and look again at the large building. I step closer towards the building and reach the electronic double doors. I see a button to the right of the doors which controls them. I take a deep breath and click the button. The doors open with a mechanical WHING.


    I step inside and take a look around. There are some couches and chairs to my right. They¡¯re all a matching black. The walls of the room are painted white and so is the floor. I feel like I¡¯m in the middle of some chess game where the white team is severely outwitting the black.


    I see a figure in the corner behind the help desk reading a newspaper. They¡¯re holding it up so I can¡¯t see the face behind the paper. I walk up to the desk and place my hands on it rather hard. I see the figure behind the paper almost jump out of their seat. She slams the paper down and looks up at me. My hands sting from slapping the table, but I try my best to not show it.


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    ¡°What the hell do you want?!¡± The woman asked. She looks to be in her mid twenties, her golden-brown hair is propped up in a bun which seems to reflect off her blue eyes.


    ¡°Uh, yes, I was sent here on the request of President Valhart to meet up here with whoever is in charge.¡±


    I don''t know when this is, I didn''t want to risk saying Jack if it isn''t that time yet.


    She stares at me for a solid minute, unblinking, ¡°Do you have any identification on you?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, then I can¡¯t let you in,¡± she said and sits back down. I sigh and think for a second.


    I get an idea and then get close enough to whisper, ¡°Okay, okay. So I''m not a scientist, but I need you to stay real calm-like, okay? I''ve got word from my boss that there''s illegal activity being performed here in this building, so I was sent here to investigate. If you don''t want to lose your job, you''ll let me through.¡±


    I have a smaller amount of trust in my words after I said them. It sounds ridiculous.


    ¡°Do you know Bryan?¡± She asked, a sudden interest in her eyes.


    ¡°Uh...yeah. He''s uh, the one that reached out to me!¡± I said, playing along.


    ¡°I told him I didn''t need back up here, I''m not in any danger. The guys who used to work here split,¡± she said.


    ¡°I uh, don''t believe Bryan filled me in exactly on your mission, per se, do you mind?¡± I ask.


    I cannot believe this is working. Someone else here for intel?


    ¡°That sounds like Bryan, what didn''t he tell you?¡±


    ¡°Uh, well, he pretty much just looked me up because of my renowned undercover work.¡±


    Idiot. If undercover work was renowned it wouldn''t be undercover anymore.


    She nods her head, ¡°Okay, so nothing, then. That''s just great. Alright, so here''s the deal. This place is like a minefield with bad news. There was some sort of weapons testing here last year by the army, the whole place almost burnt down.¡±


    ¡°Burnt down?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, there was a big story here about a girl who died in the fire, she was the daughter of a local lawyer.¡±


    So that must have been the skeleton both Jack and I found inside of the incinerator room. But I think she''s a bit wrong on the fact that the place almost burnt down considering the room she died in was meant to dispense fire.


    ¡°That part isn''t so much important compared to this next one, anyway. So, after, these new guys come in. They''re not army at all, but they seem to be just as secretive. You don''t understand the stacks of documents I had to forge to get my position here,¡± she said. I''m going to be honest, she''s extremely gullible. I wouldn''t be surprised if this Bryan guy wasn''t the one that did all that work and just sent her on her way. ¡°Well, if you wouldn''t mind paging one of them down and keeping our guise up,¡± I said, nodding my head towards the phone situated on the wall behind the desk.


    ¡°Right, right. I''ll see if I can''t have you sent up. What was your name again?¡±


    ¡°Uh, Nathan.¡±


    ¡°Alright Nathan, I''m Jeanne, good to know I have backup here,¡± she said, picking up the receiver and pressing a few buttons into the keypad. ¡°Yes, I have word that Mr. Valhart has sent an extra pair of hands from the branch in New York...Okay, yes, he''ll be down here waiting for you.¡±


    She hangs up.


    ¡°Mason Radica, one of the scientists in here will be down in just a moment.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you,¡± I said.


    That thank you was more subtly for Micah. Thanks for the absolute zero guidance in this whole shebang. I don''t even know how I managed to fool this Jeanne chick with absolutely no proof. Can I expect to do similar with the scientists? I''m going to have to at least try.


    The elevator doors at the end of the room swing open and I see Mason step out, he looks the same as he did when I saw him first in 2007, not like how I saw him at the end, crazed and spasming.


    ¡°Mr. Radica, this is the new pair of hands,¡± Jeanne said.


    Mason walks over, he''s taller than me by quite a bit. It''s something different to be seeing him here instead of from the memories themselves. It feels different.


    ¡°Really now? You look a little young to be in this kind of work, boy,¡± Mason said, looking at me.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been told I look young for my age,¡± I said. ¡°But I can assure you I''ve got quality work. The name''s Nathan Denning,¡± I said, outstretching my hand.


    Probably overdid it. I definitely need to work on my improv skills if I¡¯m going to keep from blowing whatever cover I have.


    ¡°Well, okay then. Is his paperwork all filled out, Ms. Armando?¡± He doesn''t shake my hand. I let it fall awkwardly to my side.


    ¡°Yes, I have it all taken care of. It was a matter of transferring his work over,¡± she said.


    He nods and gives a sort of smirk, ¡°Perfect.¡± Inside I¡¯m feeling more relieved than I try to let on. Nervously I give off a laugh and scratch the back of my head. He regards me with a smile and nods. ¡°Well, come on. Let me show you the place.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    We begin walking towards the elevator. Mason turns to me, ¡°So, you come in for the paycheck as well?¡±


    ¡°Something like that, the majority of the reason is family,¡± I said. ¡°Got to make sure they¡¯re properly supported. Although I¡¯d be lying if I said the curiosity out of the unknown didn¡¯t attract me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing to have,¡± Mason said. ¡°Curiosity drives us all in the end¡ªbut don¡¯t let it consume you here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, trust me, I¡¯ve learned steadfast not to let the work consume me. Happened with my parents.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Both of them worked in the field.¡± I tell him.


    ¡°Were?¡± The elevator doors swing open. We step inside and he presses a button for the desired floor.


    ¡°Yeah, overworked and definitely let their curiosity get the better of them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay, always trying to do better than the previous generation, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess you can said that,¡± he nods.


    The elevator rings and the doors open up.


    ¡°Now, there are fifty-six floors to this building. I''m not going to walk through the entire thing, we¡¯re going to take this elevator up to the sixth floor residential suites.. I¡¯ll introduce you to my daughter and she¡¯ll show you the ropes around here.¡±


    "Daughter?"


    Kate.


    ¡°Yes, she''s the one who looks after the rest of the other''s kids since they can''t leave ''em home alone. She''s a really smart girl, so she''ll have no trouble showing you around. I have important matters to attend to with the others so I¡¯ll have her show you around until you''re ready to come and join us on the thirtieth floor,¡± Mason said.


    The elevator stops and he motions me out of the elevator.


    ¡°All right, I guess. See you up there.¡±


    He nods his head and the elevator doors close. I can hear it rising once more. I can honestly said, I didn''t expect to make it this far, a newborn courage rises within me. I turn around and look at the room I am in now. This suite is a three room space with chairs and a loveseat in the main room. It looks more like the interior to a hotel than anything else. Looks like I''m going to need to keep this charade up a little longer.

 Part III | Chapter 4

    ¡°Hi! I''m Kate,¡± the familiar girl said as I walk inside the living room. She''s a tad shorter than I am, but I can see that she definitely has her father''s eyes. She''s got shoulder length brown hair and a smile that actually makes me think different of her than I saw in the one vision. She has actually a nice smile.


    ¡°Hello, Nathan,¡± I said, nodding my head as I walk in and look around. ¡°So, your father told me that you were to be my guide for the day?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess so. He always wrangles me into stuff like this. Case and point me even being here,¡± she jokes, leaning on the side of the wall.


    ¡°I assume it''s not really all that interesting staying here all day, huh?¡±


    ¡°No, not particularly. I had to drop out of school because me looking after the other kids was the condition on my father working here. So it became either a matter of education versus survival.¡±


    ¡°Ah, where are the other kids now?¡±


    ¡°They''re asleep. It''s early, you know.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right, time''s been slipping away from me as of late. I don''t think I even know the date anymore sometimes,¡± I laugh, fishing for a time.


    ¡°Well it''s going to come back to you real quick here, that happened with me the first few months here. It''s weird to think how much school was in helping me realize what day it was.¡±


    Damn it all to hell.


    ¡°Are you still in school? You actually look really young.¡±


    ¡°Uh, I graduated college early,¡± I said.


    ¡°Huh, how old are you?¡±


    ¡°Only twenty.¡±


    ¡°Wooooow, you''re old.¡±


    I make a sound of humility, ¡°I''m not that old.¡±


    She rolls her eyes, ¡°Well, okay gramps, where has my dad shown you so far?¡± Goes to show I''m better at socializing when I''m not even myself.


    ¡°Just the first five floors. He said he was busy and here I am,¡± I said.


    ¡°Sounds like him. Okay, well I hope you realize just how tall this building is,¡±


    ¡°I understand you not going through every single floor. If you want you can take me to the ones I''ll probably be in the most often. That''s what your father suggested.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that sounds like a plan.¡±


    ¡°You know, he spoke pretty highly of you,¡± I said.


    ¡°He did? Well, I¡¯m his daughter so...¡± she said, looking the other way.


    ¡°Well, he did so to a complete stranger if that helps your view on him. I''m sure he would have kept you in school if he could have found a way.¡±


    ¡°Well thank you.¡±


    ¡°It''s no problem. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to make it somewhat quick since I can''t be away for too long considering these guys can''t really feed themselves,¡± she said, pointing to the room in the back.


    ¡°Right, right.¡± I laughed. ¡°My mother used to said that about my father all the time.¡±


    Bit of a mistake here going into detail about them¡ªespecially considering I had already told Mason they passed when I was young. Those kind of details weren¡¯t things young children remembered about their parents. I had to pull back from that topic before it created any issues moving forward.


    ¡°Seems very much like a guy thing, though, don¡¯t tell my Dad I said that. He tends to get annoyed when I point out things like that,¡± she winks at me.


    ¡°Solemn promise,¡± I sign in front of my chest.


    ¡°Alright, well, as you can see this floor is basically where everyone sleeps if they plan on staying a few nights to get work done. There are twenty different suites on this floor, but we only really use one or two considering how little people we actually have working here,¡± she explains.


    ¡°Makes enough sense. Crazy they let the rest of this building just go to waste. I mean, how much space do you realistically need?¡±


    She gave off a look of mutual confusion. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve asked myself that question ever since he started working here. Keeps it nice and quiet though. A little too quiet sometimes.¡± She changes pace on a dime. ¡°Now come with me, we''re going up to the fifteenth floor.¡±


    ¡°What''s on the floors between us?¡±


    ¡°Food storage, mainly. Bigwigs definitely don¡¯t like my Dad and the rest of them being outside of work a lot.¡± She looks off to the side. I can recognize the derision from that statement from a mile away. Lord knows I didn¡¯t agree wholeheartedly with it¡ªbut I definitely couldn¡¯t show all that now¡ªI was supposed to be one of those dedicate yourself kind of scientists now.


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    ¡°A lot of it is also empty space. It would be where the IT department would be, but we outsource any technical problems we have to the President. Anything beyond that is beyond what I¡¯ve been able to eavesdrop.¡±


    ¡°Lord knows you tried though?¡±


    She smiles coyly. ¡°Sure did.¡±


    We walk towards the elevator and she presses the button, calling it to us. ¡°Why''s that, though? Happen to pick up on why things are kept so tight lipped around the things around here?¡± I hold for a minute. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like they give this info out during the interview process.¡±


    She chuckles. ¡°It sounds a lot more complicated, definitely, but my guess is that it keeps bodies in the building. Less people that can spill any super confidential secrets or interpersonal drama. I guess the goal was to attract as little attention here as possible, that''s why the other guys like my dad are all freelance, not connected to any big names to attract attention.¡±


    ¡°How''d your dad manage to find out about this work?¡±


    ¡°He was in the army before I was born. I guess he had some sort of connections. I don''t know about the others, I only really see them when we''ve all eaten together on special occasions, and even then we don''t really talk.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±


    The elevator doors open and we step inside.


    ¡°Yeah, I don''t really talk to too many people. Sometimes when the kids are asleep I''ll head down to talk to Jeanne downstairs. She''s the only other girl here I can talk to so it''s nice to at least have someone.¡± She presses the button for the fifteenth floor.


    ¡°Yeah? She seemed kind of...aloof,¡± I said.


    ¡°She isn''t the best on picking up clues I guess, doesn''t make her a bad person in the slightest. She always tells me stories of her at home and it makes me wonder how things would have turned out if my life were a bit more normal.¡±


    ¡°I understand that thought completely.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Tell me a bit about yourself.¡±


    ¡°Well, My parents died when I was young, like, really young.¡±


    ¡°Oh I''m-¡±


    ¡°It''s okay, really, before you finish that apology.¡± She nods her head. ¡°They''re the reason I''m here, and I guess the reason why I keep moving forward. It took time to realize that. For a long time I was mad at them.¡±


    ¡°Mad? Why?¡±


    ¡°I guess I blamed them for leaving me in such a shit place.¡±


    ¡°Where''d they leave you?¡±


    ¡°Oh uh...some orphanage,¡± I said. Fuck. This got too real. I can''t let this distract me from what I need to be doing. Nor can I reveal that I was stranded and living on my own in an America which doesn''t seem to have existed yet. My best guess is this is sometime in early 2007. The elevator sounds as the doors open and I see massive machines lined up until the very end of the room. There seems to be very little walking space.


    ¡°Okay, so this is one of our generator rooms. You probably saw the one on the fourth floor when my father was bringing you up.¡±


    I did, it was rather small compared to this one, it only housed one of these large machines instead of the almost fifty that sit in this room now.


    ¡°That fourth floor one powers the first three floors. It''s basically a backup that we can reroute to any of the higher floors if an emergency happens. This here is where all the main power for the next fifty floors comes from. Everything above is connected through one of these generators if not more.¡±


    ¡°That''s insane, I''m used to having trouble with my phone charger, much less a power source for an entire building.¡±


    I don''t have a phone.


    Well, then it''s good you''ll only be down here in case something goes wrong. We''ve been here for a few months now and nothing has gone wrong so far, though,¡± she said.


    ¡°When did you first get here?¡±


    ¡°Tail end of 2006, it was mid November when I first got here. I think we were some of the first ones here. Now here we are, four months later.¡±


    Four months...so it''s March 2007. Jesus, finally do I have a grasp on when I am. This is about a month before the Radical-9 incident in April.


    ¡°All right, you ready?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, where to next?¡±


    ¡°It''s a surprise,¡± she said.


    ¡°Oh, come on. That''s hardly fair,¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, it wouldn''t do so much as to spoil the surprise, now would it?¡±


    ¡°I guess not.¡± The elevator begins rising. It keeps going up and up.


    ¡°We''re going past the thirtieth floor, aren''t we?¡± I ask.


    ¡°How''d you know?¡±


    ¡°Seems like an awful long time for fifteen floors of distance.¡±


    ¡°I guess you''re right.¡±


    The elevator shakes a little as it stops and the doors open up. I see the familiar sight of the roof of the Republic Plaza, and I can feel my heart sink into my stomach. She walks out towards the center of the roof looking out. I step out slowly, the doors almost close on me as I do.


    ¡°This is where I sometimes go to just lose myself when the kids are asleep.¡±


    I look to my side and I see the spot where Grace fell down and died.


    ¡°I find this area so peaceful. Sometimes I like to look out over the edge and just imagine all of the tiny little people down there.¡±


    I walk out with her and look out over the edge where I chose to end my life. I feel the cold rush into my body all over again. It''s such a weird thought that not too long ago this place became nearly leveled because of my body exploding. If Grace had somehow managed to survive the Tubocurarine she definitely would have gotten caught up in the blast.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked. ¡°You look like you''ve seen a ghost.¡±


    ¡°Funny you should said that,¡± I said. ¡°No, I just don''t do well with heights.¡±


    ¡°Ah, fuck. I''m sorry. I thought it would be interesting at least.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay, you didn''t know. It''s not like I would have said anything anyways,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay, well, I''m still sorry about it. Why don''t we head on back down and I can show you the floors with all the food in it?¡±


    ¡°I like food,¡± I said, still a bit nauseated.


    ¡°I hoped you would,¡± she said, sarcastic.


    The cold feeling rushes to my head, and almost immediately I feel my head spinning. I feel myself thrown back and my view changes back to the small square room back on the moon. I hit my head against the wall and am lying on my back beside the pod.


    I throw up.

 Part III | Chapter 5

    Micah enters the room. I can see his face contort as he sees my lying in my own vomit. ¡°Wh-What happened?¡± I ask, struggling to get up.


    ¡°Uh, hold on just a moment, I think I have a spare change of clothes here somewhere, don''t move.¡± He''s gone. My head begins to pound and I feel very out of it. The smell is absolutely putrid and almost makes me throw up a second time, but there isn''t anything in my stomach to throw up. Micah returns with a white t-shirt and a pair of black pants. He tosses them to me. ¡°Here, this should help with that problem.¡±


    ¡°What happened? I ask again. ¡°Why''d it send me out?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what you see in there, I can only stop it to talk with you like I did at the start there. Tell me about what happened before you shot back out.¡±


    ¡°I was standing out on the roof of the Republic Plaza. I remembered where Grace died and where I stepped off the ledge.¡±


    ¡°So I''m going to make the guess that fear is what sent you out. You got afraid and your emotions got the best of you, so you returned here,¡± he said.


    ¡°It''s how I get in, too.¡±


    ¡°Well, looks like you''ll need to work on keeping that under control then.¡±


    I stand up, taking off my shirt and replacing it with the new one, and then the same with my pants. ¡°What''re we going to do about that mess?¡± I ask.


    ¡°We''ve got some time to kill before you can do anything more with that pod. ICARUS uses up a lot of energy.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I could get something to eat, also? I think the last thing I had were some snack food I had back in my time.¡±


    ¡°You don''t need it.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Your body isn''t human. It doesn''t require food and water to function. I''d even think that eating would be detrimental to your health because I didn''t find it necessary to include a digestive system in you, or me for the matter.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°It''s not like I purposefully restricted it from you, it just wasn''t high on a priority list, you know?¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Of course it does, now clean up that mess and we can try another pod, we''ve got four more people you can learn from while Kate''s pod recharges.¡±


    ¡°All right, fine. Do you have like a mop here or something?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Yeah, one second.¡±


    He leaves again, and in a few minutes he returns with one, and the mess is promptly cleaned.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got one question,¡± I ask, finishing up.


    ¡°Okay, shoot.¡±


    ¡°If I get hurt in these memories, what would happen?¡±


    ¡°I''m not too sure. I guess you could check with something small, like a cut or a bruise and see what happens.¡±


    ¡°Already got one,¡± I said, pointing to my arm.


    ¡°Ah, right. Did anyone said anything there?¡±


    ¡°No, I''d actually forgotten about it until this moment.¡±


    ¡°Then I guess maybe it''s different there than it is here.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I think I''m ready to try again,¡± I said.


    ¡°Excellent.¡±


    I turn to leave the small, square room. In the room just next to it is the exact same setup, a similar looking pod with a similar looking basin at the end filled with the weird light. The nameplate said ¡°Andrew Cress.¡± Inside I see a guy who looks to be in his mid thirties or early forties. He has dark black hair that spikes down in the front. I look back out towards Micah and ICARUS.


    ¡°Hey, who¡¯s this dude?¡±


    ¡°One moment.¡±


    He steps down from his post and walks into the room next to me.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s David¡¯s son. If you recall that is the boy who was the culprit of the infamous gum-in-hair incident in your first look at the scientist''s kids.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so this is him grown up here?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s one of the ten children that was infected with Radical-9. He¡¯s like you.¡±


    ¡°So he''s got the same abilities as me?¡±


    ¡°Not everyone who has Radical-9 in their system experiences the same phenomena. His power was different. It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve spoken to him,¡± he said said.


    ¡°You¡¯ve met him?¡±


    ¡°Of course, he was my best friend back when I had to start all of this nasty business.¡±


    ¡°Was?¡±


    ¡°He''s not really much of a friend inside that pod, now is he?¡±


    ¡°Why do they all have to stay in the pods? Surely some of them could help you out here?¡±


    ¡°What is there to help? This Earth is destroyed and all that¡¯s left is stardust, better that they don¡¯t have to experience this.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go through it alone, you know,¡± I said.


    Micah is silent for a moment. The awkward moment of silence passes and he shakes his head.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll get ICARUS situated. Are you ready for this?¡±


    ¡°Y-Yeah¡­¡±


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    He walks out of the room, obviously distraught. I take in a deep breath and turn towards Andrew¡¯s pod. I close my eyes for a second and then walk up to the basin right beside the pod and peer over it.


    ¡°Are you all set?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m as ready as I¡¯ll ever be,¡± I said, but not really feeling it.


    I¡¯m more so feeling a growing pit of pity for my future self. The ever familiar feeling of falling returns and the colors begin to take over my vision once more. I¡¯m falling through the void. I¡¯m lying on a wet patch of grass and dirt, a front lawn, perhaps. I sit up, coughing slightly as my vision refocuses. A large white house sits in front of me. My attention is immediately grabbed when I hear a loud crash coming from inside the house. I rush to my feet and I scramble up to the door. There is another crash and I grab down at the handle. I open up the door and run inside of the house. I¡¯m looking at two figures facing each other in a cluttered living room. A nearby lamp has fallen over and broken and I believe it to be the cause of the crash. One of the figures, the one with his back towards me, takes a step forward.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going anywhere, Elena. I have a lot of work to get back to,¡± the voice said.


    I feel like I¡¯ve heard it before and then I realize it belongs to David, Andrew''s father.


    ¡°Dave, you need to think rationally about this. Our son is watching,¡± Elena said, her voice tinged with fear. She''s got beautiful short black hair and bright green eyes. Behind her I see the young child from my first vision with him. Andrew, who can¡¯t be much older than five years old. He has black hair and glowing green eyes just like his mother. He watches the confrontation with interest, but little understanding.


    I can guess that they can¡¯t see me, otherwise I would¡¯ve been acknowledged by now. Why is it only sometimes they can see me?


    ¡°You aren¡¯t listening. We aren¡¯t leaving. I¡¯m continuing on in my work and that¡¯s final.¡±


    ¡°That virus of yours is going to kill this world, David!¡± Elena said.


    ¡°It''s not a virus! It''s a cure,¡± he said, grabbing her arm, she wails slightly.


    ¡°This work is what keeps you fed and under this roof and as long as you live under this roof you will listen to me,¡± he said, deadly serious.


    ¡°U-Unhand me!¡± Elena said as she yanks her arm downward, freeing herself from his grip.


    David reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a revolver. He aims it at Elena and I can see her face widen in fear. Without any extra thought I¡¯m running towards David and I jump to tackle him to the ground.


    I¡¯m surprised when I fly right through him and land on the ground between them. I look behind me and I see David¡¯s hardened face. It¡¯s dirty and there is a wild look in his eyes. His arm''s shaking almost much as I''d seen Mason''s. I look in front of me and swing my arms out to try and grab Elena¡¯s leg to pull her out of harm¡¯s way, but my hands phase through her as well.


    ¡°David! W-What¡¯re you doing? Andrew is watching! Please don¡¯t do this!¡± Elena said, bursting into tears. I look back at Andrew and his eyes are wide, but he stands there like a statue.


    ¡°David! Please said something! Please put the gun down,¡± Elena said.


    I look back towards David and it looks like his eyes are bugging out. I see his hand shaking. Elena takes a slow step towards David. He looks up frantically and then nearly jumps backward.


    ¡°S-Stay away!¡± He yells.


    ¡°David, I can help you. You just need to put down the gun.¡±


    ¡°I said stay back!¡± David yells again.


    Elena takes a slowed step forward once more. In one fell swoop I see David raise the gun. He raises it and points it at his own head. I see his eyes are watering and he shakes his head. In another moment he pulls the trigger and his brains fly across the room in a splattered array of mess.


    I hear Elena scream as David¡¯s body falls to the floor. The gun falls out of his hands and clangs to the ground. The colors around me begin to drain as I see Elena running up to David and cradling him in her arms, crying. My head hits the floor and I¡¯m back to darkness.


    I wake up lying against a hard surface. I open my eyes and I¡¯m lying against asphalt. I get to my feet and look around. I¡¯m in front of what looks to be a school. I see that all of the trees are all bare. Snow covers the ground.


    I look down over and I see another figure. On a closer look I see it is Andrew Cress lying on the ground about ten feet away. He¡¯s older than when I last saw him, but younger than he was in the treatment pod. I¡¯d guess somewhere around seventeen or eighteen.


    He¡¯s wearing a long black shirt with jeans on. His hair is a little longer than it was in the treatment pod, but it has his trademark ¡®spiked-down¡¯ look.


    His eyes open and I can see the brilliant green shine through. He coughs once and slowly sits up. I reach out to touch him, but like before I cannot make contact. He stands up and looks around himself. ¡°Wh-What? How am I¡­here? Is this some crazy vision? Did that crazy monster do this?¡± He asked himself, dazed. Monster? What could he mean?


    I hear a loud crack and then a few seconds later a huge bolt of lightning strikes the school behind us. The shockwave sends Andrew off of his feet and he gets thrown into one of the nearby trees. I¡¯m thrown to the ground. I hit pretty hard, but my pain doesn¡¯t compare to Andrew¡¯s, I hear him yell out in pain. I work my way to my feet and my body begins aching. I look over and Andrew and see that there is a large bruise sprawled across his chest. I can only see it because his shirt has a huge rip right through the front and I can see blood seeping through. ¡°Wh-What the hell?!¡± He screams out.


    He begins to run away from the burning school building, but when he gets a small distance away he doubles over and begins coughing. He spits up a good amount of blood. I blink and when my eyes open again I see our scenery has changed.


    We¡¯re no longer in front of the burning school building, but instead outside of Andrew¡¯s house. He¡¯s still on the ground hacking up blood. Andrew stumbles to his feet. He¡¯s clearly in no shape to walk, but he manages to limp his way to the front door. He grabs the handle and throws it open.


    I head inside behind him.


    ¡°Hello? Anyone here?¡± Andrew calls out. I enter the living room slowly, staying behind Andrew. I have a bad feeling about all of this. There¡¯s something in the air, but I can¡¯t quite put my finger on it. I notice that the living room television is on, but it is only playing static. Andrew limps to the staircase on the backside of the room.


    ¡°Mom? Are you here?¡± he calls out, wincing slightly.


    I slowly make my way up the stairs behind him. I hear another crack of lightning. We make it up to the top of the stairs and Andrew stops for a moment.


    He must be thinking of something with a look like that on his face. I turn the corner and stand right next to him and I notice that one of the hallway doors is open slightly, unlike the other doors in the hallway.


    I can hear a low groan coming from that direction, as well. The feeling of dread I¡¯d felt downstairs intensifies. Andrew hobbles over to the door and places his hand on the handle. He hesitates slightly and then he pushes it open.


    I can hear the door slam against the wall and I see his face turn to one of pure horror. I walk behind him and look over his shoulder and then I can see a body hanging from a noose. I look upward to see where the rope is hanging from, but it only leads into darkness. My eyes travel alongside the rope all the way back down to the body.


    I notice it is the hanging body of Elena, Andrew¡¯s mother. I see his eyes go wide and he begins shaking.


    ¡°Come on! No! Get the fuck away from me!¡± He yells.


    I reach out to grab Andrew¡¯s shoulders and then I realize I can touch him now. I spin him to face me.


    ¡°Andrew, you need to listen. You need to get out of here, find help, find anyone.¡±.


    He looks at me and then into my eyes. ¡°They¡¯re all dead. Everyone is dead and you are alone.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I ask.


    In another moment he faints and then in the blink of an eye he is gone. I¡¯m standing alone in the bedroom. Well, not really alone, because the hanging body of Andrew¡¯s mother is here for company.


    I swallow hard and then I hear another sound. It sounds like gurgling. I turn around and see that the body of Andrew¡¯s mother has fallen to the ground. It begins spasming and then slowly rises. I see that her skin is horribly decayed now, it¡¯s almost a sickly blue color.


    Her entire lower jaw is broken on its hinge and a rancid black sludge is dripping from her mouth. I also see that both of her arms are bent backwards at unnatural angles. She walks closer to me, bits of her flesh pulsating with a dark aura.


    She moans slightly and with it a bit of the goop falls to the floor, burning the carpet. In another moment she leaps across the room, knocking me over.


    One moment I feel an intense burn on my right leg and the next moment I¡¯m looking up at a different ceiling. I blink twice and look around and I¡¯m lying next to the treatment pod and basin once more.


    My leg aches terribly. I¡¯m breathing faster than I probably ever have and my eyes are wide open. So Andrew is more like me than I¡¯d imagined. He lost both of his parents too. I can see how he and Micah were able to connect.


    Maybe if all this nonsense didn''t happen he and I could have been friends, also?

 Part III | Chapter 6

    ¡°Gavin, are you okay?¡± Micah asked, walking up beside me. ¡°Your leg is burnt.¡±


    I look down, and there are burn marks like how I felt back in there.


    ¡°I guess it''s not as different as we might have thought, I said.


    ¡°Then I guess you''ll have to be more careful next time, what the hell happened in there?¡±


    ¡°There was this monster, it shifted out of Andrew''s mother''s dead body. Both of his parents succumbed to Radical-9, but neither of them exploded.¡±


    ¡°Huh, really?¡±


    ¡°His father shot himself in the head and his mother hung herself.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it''s something inside of the brain that causes the explosive reaction? Maybe that''s the makeshift fuse.¡±


    ¡°Also, Andrew talked about some sort of monster. It might relate to the thing that burned me, do you know what he¡¯d meant?¡±


    ¡°He...did?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he was about seventeen or eighteen.¡±


    ¡°That''s...unexpected.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Because the Andrew of my time wasn''t in any danger when he was that age. He was on track for going to law school. What I''m thinking is that you didn''t see the Andrew of this timeline.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I think you might have found a way to bleed over into the memories of the Andrew of your timeline.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°In a second. Why don¡¯t you stand up and catch up with yourself?¡± He asked, stepping out of the room.


    I sit there, beside the pod and basin for a few more minutes, collecting my thoughts and just breathing. Taking in the air and letting it out. When I¡¯m ready I stand up and I take one more look at Andrew inside of the pod.


    It isn¡¯t just me who has gone through ordeals because of this stupid Radical-9. Once I can fully control it, I need to meet up with him. I feel like we could get through this if we stick together. I place my hand on the treatment pod and then close my eyes.


    Once I¡¯m done I turn around and head out of the door, facing ICARUS as Micah rests up against the wall.


    ¡°So, you want to hear that story now?¡± He asked.


    I nod my head.


    ¡°Okay, so it is actually about one of the projects that Jack had started to ensure his survival. It was called Project Elysium,¡± he explains. ¡°Elysium was the name of a virtual world that Jack had created. He¡¯d built it once he realized that his physical body was decaying and quickly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d heard about that as well, in one of my visions. It was when Mason had moved over to the eastern branch, right?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Correct. Jack¡¯s body couldn¡¯t handle being overloaded with Radical-9 so it had begun decaying at ten times the normal rate of a human being. So, in order to sustain his life he had built a virtual world, a world where his mind could rule.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so what does this have to do with Andrew?¡±


    ¡°Jack had marketed the world under a guise as a virtual reality video game. This''ll be at about 2022 your timeline, as this never occurred in mine. Without a government to stop him, he was free to do what he wanted. He¡¯d gotten ten thousand people to participate in the project unknowingly. People believed it as an escape from the reality of what was at hand. To them, it was just a game.¡±


    ¡°He trapped ten thousand people in this world?¡±


    ¡°Yes and your Andrew happened to be one of them.¡±


    ¡°What about when I saw him?¡±


    ¡°Mine didn''t experience that event. I think you seeing that memory is a side effect of bringing you here. You might have connected with him on a level I never could have to have him borrow that memory.¡±


    ¡°But that memory didn''t even happen yet in my timeline!¡± I said.


    ¡°To you, of course not. But time isn''t a straight line, Gavin. It''s more like an ocean. Just because it did not happen to you does not mean it did not happen at all, which it will, and in some ways already has.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I think I can make some sense of that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Another one of the ten children that had been trapped in that world,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°After David had killed himself Andrew¡¯s mother could barely live with the grief. In response, she¡¯d adopted a daughter. One from one of the scientists after she¡¯d been tested on.¡±


    ¡°Which scientist?¡±


    ¡°Jack.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Jack had another daughter after Meg. You might remember the infant that Kate was looking after alongside yourself and Andrew? That''s her. He also had a son, too, but he hadn''t been born yet. He''d be in 2013.¡±


    ¡°That''s insane.¡±


    ¡°The daughter, Jennifer was adopted while Jack was indisposed because of Radical-9. The son, Samuel, had been killed inside of the virtual world.¡±


    ¡°W-Wait. I¡¯m still stuck on Jack having more kids.¡±


    ¡°Andrew grew up with an adopted sister that had a power like him. The difference is that she willingly entered the virtual world to save her brother.¡±


    ¡°She sounds like she¡¯s really brave, then.¡±


    ¡°She was. She''s dead in this timeline.¡±


    ¡°I assumed.¡±


    ¡°Not in yours, we need to keep it that way.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this started up again. I¡¯m pumped. I¡¯m ready to go,¡± I said.


    ¡°Kate¡¯s pod still needs to gain a bit more power, so we¡¯ll hold off on there for right now,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°Okay, then. I¡¯ll go through that one,¡± I said, pointing to the door right in front of me. He nods his head.


    ¡°That person you won¡¯t actually recognize based on looks.¡± ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°It''s Grace''s father in there.¡±


    ¡°Her¡­father? Why him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of an interesting story. You were put in contact with his daughter by mistake. The automaton I¡¯d sent back, the Meg automaton had a set of rules implanted into her memory banks. She had to grab specific individuals related who were to help explain things in my absence, as I could not travel there myself. He was supposed to explain all of this Radical-9 business and help you learn about your power. Something went wrong when I¡¯d sent her back and she misinterpreted the mission. So, instead of grabbing Bryan Jackson, she grabbed Grace,¡± Micah explains.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°And were you initially trying to bring Mason in with him?¡± I ask.


    ¡°No, I wanted to bring Thomas in. His medical expertise would help you come to terms with your condition in a way his uncle could not.¡±


    ¡°I have a question,¡± I ask.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°How would have Grace''s father explained anything to me? How is he related to this?¡±


    ¡°Her father worked as a yellow journalist, remember? He was actually Jeanne Armando''s boss from the Republic Plaza, if you also remember that.¡±


    ¡°He was the one that assigned Jeanne to the undercover work.¡±


    ¡°He''d been working to bring to light the events that had happened there in the Republic Plaza, starting even with the army which had done weapons testing the year before even the scientists got hold of the place.¡±


    ¡°Okay, and so I''ll be traveling back to see him through there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he might know something about Jack that we don''t. Are you sure you¡¯re ready to jump back into this so quick?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m positive.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, head on in,¡± Micah said.


    ~...~


    I walk up to the door and grab a hold of the handle. I open the door and walk inside and I see the familiar treatment pod and basin. The treatment pod has ¡°Bryan Jackson¡± written on it. Inside the small window I can see an old face. Wrinkles are amidst his plump red nose and mouth and he looks like he¡¯s on his deathbed. Hell, with Radical-9 existing he may as well be. His hair is short and gray, he looks to be well above seventy years old, maybe even eighty.


    ¡°You ready in there?¡± Micah asked me.


    ¡°Yep!¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m starting it up!¡±


    ICARUS begins to hum and I crane myself over the basin. My vision goes black, but this feels¡­different. The feeling of falling is absent. All that happens is that everything around me goes black for a second and then in another second it is filled with color. I think I¡¯m finally getting some control over my power.


    I¡¯m standing on an asphalt road, snow piles up in patches around me and skeletal trees surround me on my right and my left. Behind me, I can also see that there are more trees off into the distance. The road leads directly into the heart of the forest. In front of me I see a solitary house. Its faded green paint has turned into a sort of gray-blue mixture.


    It is completely silent, not even the wind is making a sound. Everything seems to be holding its breath. I begin to walk up to the house, each step I take it seems to jump ten feet backwards. I blink and then I¡¯m there in a second.


    No. Within a fraction of a second.


    I stare at the hard wood door for a moment and I hesitate for another before I think about knocking on it. What if I¡¯m invisible again and my knocks aren¡¯t heard? What if I¡¯m not invisible, but nobody¡¯s home?


    I shake my head and put my closed fist up to the door, but as soon as I do I feel a tinge of cold metal press against the back of my head.


    ¡°What do ye¡¯ think yer doin¡¯ here, boy?¡± A Texan accent drawls out behind me.


    ¡°Wh-What?¡± I said, nervously.


    ¡°I want ya¡¯ ta tell me who you are! Either you do, or I blow your brains to kingdom come!¡±


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m Nathan Den-¡± The gun is shoved harder against my head and I cringe with pain.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think you understand. I know you ain¡¯t no Denning. I¡¯ve been researching you and your buddies and I know an alias when I hear one. You don''t exist.¡± the voice said.


    ¡°You¡­you¡¯ve been researching me?¡±


    ¡°You and yer little sciencey folks. I know something is up. You all messed up, didn¡¯t ya?¡±


    Me visiting the past through Kate''s memories changed how he researched? Interesting.


    I turn around slowly and I see the younger face of Bryan Jackson. He now bears a thick brown mustache and his plump red nose is as jolly as Santa¡¯s himself. I don¡¯t see any familial resemblance between him and Grace. In his hands I see he is carrying a double-barreled shotgun.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll explain if you put the gun down, please.¡±


    ¡°An¡¯ how can I be sure I can trust ya?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡­I have answers, but I need to ask a few questions as well.¡±


    ¡°What kinds of questions?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you if you please just put down the gun. I¡¯m not here to cause any trouble.¡±


    Bryan hesitates slightly, but then he lowers the gun. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll talk, but if I get answers that I don¡¯t like, I¡¯ll bangity-bang without a second thought,¡± he said, play-shooting with the gun.


    ¡°U-Understood,¡± I said.


    ¡°Now, why don¡¯t you head on inside, you were planning on it anyway, I reckon?¡±


    ¡°U-Uh, yeah, sure.¡±


    Bryan steps in front of me and opens the door and then steps inside. I follow him in.


    ¡°So, son. How did you manage to just poof into this here secluded forest here?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell no-one, but I did see you. You just magically arrived. One second you¡¯re not here and then the next you are.¡±


    ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t¡­I was just, uh, walking through the woods and got lost,¡± I lie.


    ¡°No, it don¡¯t work like that, son. This area is federally protected, I¡¯m in one of those witness-protection program things.¡±


    ¡°Are you supposed to tell me that?¡±


    ¡°Well, I reckon if I thought you¡¯d spill the beans I could just shoot you right now. So, you going to answer my question? Ain¡¯t no way some city slick is wandering through these kinds of forests.¡±


    ¡°Can you answer how you know about me, or about any of this?¡± I begin asking.


    ¡°Well, I was on the runnin¡¯ list to be one of them science folk.¡±


    ¡°You what now?¡±


    ¡°Now, I know what yer thinkin¡¯, ¡°This man from the oaks ain¡¯t no science typical.¡±


    I take a moment to try and decrypt his drawl.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a reporter?¡± I said, remembering one talk with Grace.


    ¡°I used to be¡­wait a darn moment. How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°It kind of connects to how I came here. Is the reason you aren¡¯t anymore because of what got you into witness protection?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Does it have to deal with you knowing something that¡­you shouldn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Depends, what does it mean to you?¡±


    ¡°You were right. I¡¯m not really Nathan Denning, but I¡¯m not really one of those scientists either. I¡¯m working to find out what happened there and a part of what happened had¡­it had given me the ability to¡­as you put it ¡®poof into existence here¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I knew there was something up,¡± Bryan said.


    ¡°Can you tell me what year it is right now? It¡¯s kind of important,¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s 2013, son.¡± 2013, that¡¯s the year that the government collapses.


    But the way he talks about it, it¡¯s like it hasn¡¯t happened yet. Or he hasn¡¯t heard about it.


    ¡°One more question, how long have you been here without updates on anything?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t remember too well, it¡¯s been a bit. I¡¯d been sent here because I¡¯d uncovered something about a virus that you scientists had made, something about samples from space?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s real. It¡¯s all real and-do you know where your kid are?¡±


    ¡°How do you know about my kid?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but do you know where she is?¡± I ask, again.


    ¡°There was some¡­people in suits that took them for a walk a bit ago.¡±


    ¡°How long ago?¡± I look over Bryan¡¯s shoulder and see a letter resting on the mantle. What I can make of it, it seems to be something like a fancy eviction notice. It¡¯s dated 2011.


    ¡°Bryan, are you even supposed to be here?¡± I ask.


    Bryan¡¯s eyes turn wide momentarily and then he looks at me with renewed interest.


    ¡°Hello and who are you?¡± His accent completely gone.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Bryan looks at me with his head cocked and an inquisitive look on his face. ¡°Why are you in my house?¡±


    ¡°Bryan, you need to listen to me, there ar-¡±


    ¡°H-How do you know my name? How did you get into my house? Where is my Grace?!¡±Bryan asked, his eyes beginning to bug out.


    I take a step backwards and hold my arms up in front of me.


    ¡°Bryan, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not here to-¡±


    ¡°No! You¡¯re not going to take me away! Give back what you took!¡± Bryan yells, raising the shotgun into the air.


    I jump back and scramble out of the house. I hear one blast go off, but I don¡¯t turn around to see what it¡¯d hit. I practically jump through the front door, almost tripping over myself.


    ¡°Hey, uh, Micah! This is a great time for you to stop ICARUS again and find a way to get me out of here!¡± I call out, running.


    I keep on running until I¡¯m at the end of the street, where I believe I¡¯m safe from Bryan and that¡¯s where I feel the dizziness begin to creep in. It is then that I drop.


    My eyes open fast. I¡¯m lying in a dense forest. It is heavily fortified with full-grown trees at every corner and lush with other kinds of greenery. It seems to be a totally different time than the last one. I blink my eyes slowly and rise to my feet. The earth begins shaking and I¡¯m thrown off of my feet. I look up and then I realize the sky is different. It¡¯s a deep black and then I look around me to notice that I¡¯m surrounded by darkness.


    The darkness begins shifting among me and then shapes rise into view. The darkness to my right forms into something I notice is quite familiar, it shifts into ICARUS. It all comes into focus slowly. I see a blurred figure standing in front of me.


    ¡°Micah, th-thanks for the save back there. He had a gun and-¡± I stop when I notice that something is wrong, terribly wrong. The figure standing before me isn¡¯t Micah at all.


    I¡¯m standing face to face with Jack Adata.

 Part III | Chapter 7

    ¡°Why, hello, Gavin. I hear you know a lot about me,¡± Jack said. ¡°Or should I call you Mr. Denning? Your existence is quite troubling for the understanding, you see?¡± His face is old, really old. I can see the veins in his forehead poking out. His stature is really quite frightening. I back up slowly, my vision waning.


    ¡°Wh-What?!¡±


    ¡°You, I know a lot about you as well Mr. Daniels,¡± Jack folds his arms and takes a step towards me. His long blue overcoat flows behind him. ¡°I¡¯d really hoped that Mr. Jackson would¡¯ve taken care of you, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case.¡±


    ¡°How do you know about that?¡±


    ¡°Why, from you, of course. Well, to be more precise, from your consciousness from this time,¡± Jack said, smiling. Just then I see Micah step out from behind Jack, a wicked look on his face, my face.


    ¡°Ha! You should¡¯ve totally seen the look on your face! I really had you going with that sob story!¡± He said, cackling.


    His voice is back in the sarcastic tone I¡¯d heard prior.


    ¡°You did well enough, looks like your bloodline isn''t totally worthless,¡± Jack replies, turning his head to him.


    ¡°You¡­why would you side with him?! You know what he did! You saw what he did!¡± I yell.


    ¡°And I know what he can do, Gavin. Only a fool would deny it. What¡¯s the other side, huh? Do the right thing so I can waste away here for all eternity? No!¡± Micah screams, a vein pulsating on his head. ¡°I threw away my name because I threw away my weakness. I''m not you!¡±


    ¡°We were meant to stop him! By doing this you¡¯re dooming the other timelines!¡± I said.


    ¡°Fuck the other timelines! Don¡¯t you speak of them like you know anything! You know nothing!¡± he screams, his grin growing.


    Jack holds up an arm and Micah backs off.


    ¡°Now, now. No need to get personal¡­oh, I¡¯m sorry, slip of the tongue,¡± Jack grins slightly. ¡°What my partner here is trying to said is that it is pointless to fight back. What you can do instead is join us, and there is no limit to what we can accomplish.¡± I take in these two, they¡¯re like polar opposites, Micah is unstable and looks like he is about to go off the wire, meanwhile Jack is a collected case of pure evil.


    ¡°And what would you do if I refused, huh?¡± I ask.


    Jack looks to the ground and then up at the ceiling, taking in a deep breath, ¡°Gavin, we¡¯re going to continue onward.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to what?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re moving forward. You¡¯re going to go back into the next room and continue your journey. You need to learn everything,¡± he said.


    ¡°Why would you let me do that?¡± I ask.


    ¡°There is much to learn, Gavin and knowledge is the greatest thing we have,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not doing it. I¡¯m not going to do anything that helps you,¡± I bark.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you have a choice and I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll like the alternative,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°And what would that be?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let my partner here do his work on all of these survivors.¡±


    Micah grins wildly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to take it real slow on the poor subjects, hahah!¡±


    ¡°Andrew''s in there, you''re best friend,¡± I said.


    Micah bends his head down and I want nothing more than to punch him in the face, ¡°I''d have the most fun ending his life. Him and those godforsaken puns.¡±


    I sigh, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do it,¡± I said, clenching my fist.


    ¡°Good. Now, head on into that room over there,¡± Jack said, pointing to a room behind me. I turn around, looking at the door, I slowly walk towards it.


    If anything it''ll give me some time to think of another plan.


    ¡°And Gavin? Please do try to hurry. I can¡¯t promise that I can restrain your friend here while you¡¯re gone and I wouldn¡¯t want you to miss out on any memories because of it,¡± Jack calls out.


    My pace continues unfaltering. I grip the handle of the door, silently cursing Jack and my future self.


    Damn it! Why would he side with Jack?! You think you know someone¡­it turns out you can¡¯t even trust yourself. How much of this has been real? How much have I really seen? How much has he wanted me to see? I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve let myself fall for his trap. I can¡¯t succumb to the questions, I need a beacon to hold onto. I need something to be real, something to believe in.


    Meg, I¡¯d said I¡¯d believe in Meg, but she¡¯d just been an automaton, created by my future self to aid Jack. I¡¯d met the real Kate, something real to hold onto. These memories are my beacon. They¡¯re what I can hold onto to get me through this mess.


    He didn¡¯t want me finding out that half of the story and now he has no choice but to show it all to me, but why? He could just as easily kill me and end it right there. Unless he wants to make me his heir, like Mason had thought about. I hadn¡¯t really thought of it until now, but that¡¯s probably why he needs me alive. I¡¯m infected with Radical-9 to my core, and I possess a body that he could use. Oh God, it is all coming clear. Now he¡¯s trying to get my power to fully awaken so he can add it to his arsenal. I open the door slowly and walk inside. I walk up to the treatment pod and I see that Thomas is inside. Sure enough, just below the small window I see ¡°Thomas Hadley¡± is written down.


    I hear the mechanical hum of ICARUS start up and I pass a gaze over the basin and immediately get sucked into its cold hard grasp. I open my eyes and I¡¯m lying on an apartment floor. I stand up to see the sleeping body of Thomas on a nearby futon. I quickly run over to see if I¡¯m invisible in this memory.


    I am.


    Just then, a nearby landline phone begins to ring. I see him bolt upright. He looks about as drowsy as I feel. He stands up slowly and yawns, walking over and places his hand on the landline phone. Just as he does I see that time seems to stop and everything but Tom and the phone fall into shadows. I see a figure appear to my left, they are cloaked in shadow and also holding a phone. I can see both sides to the call.


    ¡°Hello? Who is it?¡± Thomas asked.


    The man-in-shadow walks forward and I can see him clearly.


    ¡°Thomas, I am in some deep shit,¡± the voice said.


    ¡°Mason?¡± Thomas asked.


    I rub my eyes to make sure I¡¯m not just seeing things, but he¡¯s standing right here. Light returns to the world in selected sections. I can see Tom and about five feet around him, the same for Mason.


    It¡¯s like I¡¯m in my own separate dimension peeking into both of theirs while they¡¯re speaking. Maybe this is another part to my power?


    ¡°Tom, you need to get out of the city as fast as you can,¡± Mason said, hurriedly.


    I can see his face is riddled with sweat and his eyes are almost bugging out of his head.


    ¡°Uncle Mason, what¡¯s going on? Do you need me to drive up there?¡± Tom asked.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°N-No, just listen. You need to get yourself out of the city, find somewhere safe,¡± Mason replies.


    ¡°What does that mean? What happened?¡±


    ¡°Thomas, your theory on Radical-9, do you remember it?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°Radical¡­what the hell happened? Did it get out?¡± Tom asked, his face creasing with concern.


    ¡°Sort of¡­yes. At least, it''s going to. I have to talk about Jack, warn people. It''ll be a matter of time before shit goes down, but I have to tell people,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Where''s Kate?¡±


    ¡°That''s the part I''m getting to, you''re going to need to take care of her, I''m positive I''m not going to make it out of this meeting with the President alive.¡±


    ¡°The President? Mason, please reconsider.¡±


    ¡°I can''t, this has to stop now.¡±


    ¡°At least call Kate before you go.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to get control of the situation currently, but that¡¯s why I called you. You need to get out of the city, because once people find out about this, shit is going to hit the fan,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me driving up there to help you out?¡± Tom asked.


    I see Mason¡¯s side go completely dark and I¡¯m left with a confused Tom slamming the phone down. He grabs his coat and walks into the shadows and I¡¯m left staring at the two pocket dimensions. All of a sudden, I feel a certain¡­energy flow through me. I don¡¯t know how, but I feel like I have the ability to scroll through these pocket dimensions. I raise my hands in front of me and see that my new feeling was correct. Am I unlocking my power by myself now? Scrolling through like small previews into other worlds, the next one that comes up is one I recognize immediately.


    It shows ICARUS.


    Inside of the pocket dimension I see Jack and Micah. I''m looking at it from the outside, a dark void in-between the dimensions. I bring that one dimension closer to me so I can hear what they¡¯re talking about.


    ¡°How much are you going to let him know?¡± Micah asked, coming into focus.


    Jack turns and cackles. ¡°Enough. This has been a long time coming, and a specific amount of events need to happen for this to be exactly how I need it,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°Okay, but couldn''t you do that without risking him learning too much?¡± Micah asked.


    Jack¡¯s stare turns hard, ¡°Once I take over, it¡¯ll give me potential. Potential for limitless power. Power without limitations like I have now,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been kind of dodging the elephant in the room,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°And that would be?¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have gotten here if it wasn¡¯t for me bringing you to this time, Jack. I want you to get me out of here,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one with the power to jump through time? I don¡¯t see why you need me to do that,¡± Jack sneers.


    ¡°I could in theory with ICARUS here, but I would need someone to be at the controller for basically all eternity. I''ve done you the favor of not bringing that up. I mean, don''t get me wrong, I appreciate you helping me build this thing in the first place, but I need further help to break this boundary of mine,¡± Micah said.


    So it was Jack that was his partner, makes enough sense now in hindsight.


    ¡°And if I were to refuse? If I were to just deny you that power?¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be doing that. I¡¯m your ticket out of this time and unless you want to be stranded here, you¡¯d do me this favor,¡± Micah said, grinning wildly.


    ¡°Or¡­I could just take over your mind and leave you to the rats.¡± Jack said, his voice growing irritated.


    Micah isn¡¯t ready to let go that easily.


    ¡°If you try I¡¯ll be sure to shut this thing off. You wouldn¡¯t want that, now, would you? Pipsqueak in there¡¯d be lost in some random strand of time you¡¯d have no way of finding,¡± He said, a jack-o-lantern like grin on his face.


    ¡°Hm, it seems you have me well met. I guess I had underestimated you, Mr. Daniels.¡±


    ¡°Please, not with that name. I no longer wish to have any association with that windbag,¡± he said.


    ¡°Micah, huh? Whatever brought about that name?¡±


    ¡°Change,¡± he said, serious.


    I see Jack grin slightly, nodding his head.


    ¡°All right, then,¡± Jack continues to nod his head and then he holds up his hand. ¡°Come here. I¡¯ve got just the thing for you.¡±


    Micah walks up, grinning, ¡°Now you¡¯re speaking my language!¡±


    ¡°Before I do this, I must ask that you keep in mind of our agreement,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯ll go back and round up Jay¡¯s kid just in case you manage to fuck this up.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Jack said, nodding and placing his palm on Micah¡¯s chest.


    It begins glowing white and then I see it begin to glow brighter and brighter and I see smoke rising off of his chest. Micah begins laughing, louder and louder and Jack¡¯s face is as hard as stone. In another few seconds Jack raises his palm and backs away. Micah¡¯s chest is still burning white and his form begins shifting. His back hunches over and I can see his hands begin to shape into sharp claws. Hair grows rapidly across his body, my old body and his face shifts into something that looks like a mixture between a man and a wolf.


    There are veins across his chest that pulsates with a glowing white light and he howls once. ¡°I decided to give you a bit more¡­physical brute as well. Once you can control it, you¡¯ll be able to shift at will, along with your enhanced jumping,¡± Jack said.


    Micah¡¯s voice roars out, heavily guttural, ¡°I feel¡­I feel strong. Why is it¡­that you can¡¯t do that to yourself?¡±


    Jack shrugs his shoulders. ¡°It isn¡¯t something that works on me. The most logical reason is most likely because I¡¯m already overloaded with the stuff,¡± he replies.


    ¡°Duly noted, Deputy Danger,¡± Micah said.


    ¡°Now, why don¡¯t you go make yourself useful and start on that little plan of mine, why don''t you?¡± Jack asked. ¡°I''ll wait here for him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get onto that eventually. I want to go to the outside for a bit. You did said I need to get control over it,¡± Micah half-roars, but I can still see the sort of jack-o-lantern grin on his face.


    ¡°Fine, but just make sure it gets done, you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Loud and clear, amigo¡± Micah grumbles, throwing his big claw-hand in a salute. He slashes his claws into the air, they seem to tear at the very fabric of time-space. In another moment I see him begin to phase in and out and distort. Within seconds he¡¯s gone, body and all.


    I¡¯m left there staring into the pocket dimension with my jaw wide open. Jack expects a chance of failure, that''s why he''s sending Micah out there as a failsafe. He isn''t fully confident he can get inside my head. I''m going to show him just how right he is for being unsure.


    I now have a steadfast confidence growing within myself. I move to re-enter the dimension, but then my body stops cooperating and I crumple to the ground. My vision clots and it all goes dark. I¡¯m not falling through the space between dimensions, but somewhere solid. I must have landed and the next thing I know I¡¯m laying on the ground beside the basin and treatment pod. I reach up and grab the side of the pod with my right hand and my whole body is trembling.


    I feel a powerful force hit my back and I slam into the treatment pod from behind. I turn my head around to see Jack standing over me. He must¡¯ve kicked me or something.


    ¡°And what are we doing here? I¡¯d thought you¡¯d entered the room with Thomas, huh? How the hell did you get here?¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°W-What?¡± I ask, struggling to get to my feet.


    It is then that I see the name on the treatment pod is Kate¡¯s and not Tom¡¯s. That means I must¡¯ve moved my body when I came back. Is this a step forward? I sure hope so.


    ¡°Well?¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°What?¡± I ask.


    ¡°You¡¯re power is strengthening, is it not?¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°And what would you do if it were?¡± I ask.


    Jack¡¯s face grows into a grimace.


    ¡°I¡¯m not letting you visit these ridiculous memories so you can be a pain in my side,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°You expected me to be cooperative?¡± I ask.


    ¡°It seems I may need a stronger motivator,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± I ask.


    Jack replies with silence. I hear a loud cracking sound and look to my side. I see that the treatment pod is caving in like a crushed soda can. I then look back to Jack with a look of obvious worry on my face.


    ¡°What are you doing?! It¡¯s going to kill her!¡±


    ¡°She died the moment you started being a pain,¡± Jack said. The treatment pod nearly collapses on itself, but it stops.


    ¡°Now, next time you disobey she¡¯ll get the full effect of going through the trash compactor,¡± Jack said.


    I¡¯m breathing hard and I look from Jack to the treatment pod. I immediately turn towards Jack and lunge at him. In a matter of seconds Jack has me pinned to the wall behind me, but the weird part is he hasn¡¯t moved a single muscle. ¡°T-Telekinesis?¡± I call out.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite helpful for situations quite like these, you¡¯ll find,¡± Jack said, grinning. I begin sliding against the wall towards the door, a vice-like grip attached right around my neck. I can feel the force crushing my windpipe and Jack begins walking along side me, telekinetically dragging me alongside.


    I¡¯m beginning to lose consciousness, my body begs for air. Jack puts his hand on the back of my head and he shoves it down into the basin.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t be missing work like this, Mr. Daniels, it may cost you an arm and a leg some day,¡± Jack said, shoving my head in deeper.


    My vision is filled to the brim with various colors and my body begins to feel lighter until it is all numb. I¡¯m dying. This is different, he¡¯s killing me right here and now.


    My vision begins to fade and all I see is darkness.

 Part III | Chapter 8

    My eyes open and I¡¯m screaming loudly. My breath is staggered and I look around to notice that I¡¯m lying in a bed. The floor and walls are decorated somewhat like a hotel room. There¡¯s a wardrobe on the other side of the admittedly small room and the bed I¡¯m resting on is fit low to the ground. I hear footsteps outside of the room and then the door to my left opens. Kate runs through, half-awake and somewhat-droopy.


    ¡°Nate, is everything okay?¡± My heart is still beating nearly out of my chest. I turn towards her, I must be back in the Republic Plaza.


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m fine. I just had a bit of a nightmare,¡± I said, not entirely lying.


    Kate walks further into the room and sits down on the foot of the bed.


    ¡°Is it anything you want to talk about, dear?¡± Kate asked. This has kind of crossed into a weird zone.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m fine, that¡¯s alright,¡± I reply.


    ¡°Okay, well, I was coming to wake you up anyway.¡±


    ¡°Really? You looked like you just woke up yourself,¡± I said.


    ¡°I did. Do you want to get a start on the day?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± I said.


    I really need to find out what year it is.


    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t forget we have to go to my father¡¯s lab first thing, remember?¡± Kate said.


    ¡°For¡­what again, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Today¡¯s the day my father¡¯s prototype is shown off, that¡¯s what!¡± Prototype? Prototype of what, exactly?


    ¡°You get dressed and I¡¯ll meet you down there, okay?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± She nods and smiles. She then slides up the bed and kisses me on the lips. My eyes go wide and I nearly topple off of the bed.


    ¡°Woah, that must¡¯ve been one crazy dream to get you so spooked like that,¡± Kate said.


    ¡°Y-Yeah¡­you have no idea,¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t take too long!¡± she said, walking out of the room. Just what the hell had happened here?! I wait a few moments in silenced horror and then I scramble to the digital clock beside my bed.


    4/01/13.


    So, this is before the government shutdown¡­but that would also mean that my parents would be dead by now.


    Wait a minute, why is Kate here? Why am I here? Why is Mason still here?


    I run out of the room to see the white hallway. Sure enough, this is the same hallway, isn¡¯t it? Why is this memory conflicting with everything I know? I look down to myself and notice I¡¯m wearing a set of pajamas, weird. I walk back into the room and walk over to the wardrobe. I throw on a pair of long gray pants and a black long-sleeved shirt.


    I¡¯m also glad to realize that the pain I¡¯d felt from the last memory hadn¡¯t carried over. I walk back outside of the room into the monochromatic hallway. Now, if only I could figure out which way I¡¯m supposed to go. I never knew each of the scientists had personalized labs.


    ¡°Nathan! Where are you going?¡±


    I turn around to see Kate on the other side of the hallway.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m heading to your father¡¯s lab, of course.¡± I mumble out.


    ¡°Oh! I understand what¡¯s going on. No, I do that sometimes too. Come on, it¡¯s this way,¡± Kate said, motioning her hand. I turn and walk over her confusedly.


    ¡°Do¡­what sometimes?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Think of the old building. It¡¯s such a mystery to me why we decided to rebuild this place to look exactly like the western. It just makes everything so confusing,¡± she said.


    The eastern branch! Of course! How could I have forgotten?!


    We begin walking down the hallway and the elevator opens at the end, just like the other building. Instead of hitting the button for the fourth floor, Kate instead hits the button for the seventh floor.


    ¡°I don''t see why anyone even would think it would make sense trying to cram a fifty-six story building into a twenty three story one. It''s less than half,¡± Kate said. The elevator begins moving downward. There is a tense silence in the air. Kate grabs my hand in hers and I can feel my heart beat increase in speed. She must notice, because she gives me a weird look.


    ¡°Are you alright? You¡¯ve been acting a bit strange,¡± she said.


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­that uh, nightmare really got to me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, I know how that feels. Sometimes I have nightmares about things that are absolutely horrible.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± I ask.


    ¡°This¡­Radical-9 stuff. I actually dreamed about it before it happened. I saw people dying and¡­¡± she trails off.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you don¡¯t need to talk about it if you don¡¯t want to,¡±


    ¡°I saw you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I saw you¡­die. It¡¯s this terrible war-zone, people dying everywhere and I saw you die.¡±


    ¡°When¡­when was this?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Back about a year before I¡¯d even met you. I hadn¡¯t put the pieces together back then, because who remembers a nightmare they¡¯d had that long ago? Then I had it again, a few nights ago. I remembered everything and I remembered seeing you.¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Was there anybody else there you can remember?¡± I ask.


    ¡°There was a few, but I don¡¯t remember them all too well. I do remember seeing another girl, seventeen or eighteen. She was crying over you, cradling your body. She had dark red hair,¡± Kate said, obviously distressed.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a dream though, right? It isn¡¯t real,¡± I said, not confident in my own words.


    She was one of the people infected with Radical-9.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s just a dream,¡± Kate said quietly.


    The elevator doors open and we step out quietly. We¡¯re in a hallway that is long and narrow, various paintings litter the walls. I see various recognizable paintings like the Mona Lisa, or Starry Night as I pass by. We enter a large room that extends out both sides beside us. I see Mason and Jay. They¡¯re standing on top of a small set of stairs in the wide laboratory. Tables and desks clutter the floor and all sorts of papers clutter the tables.


    ¡°Well, there you are!¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Sorry, we kind of overslept,¡± Kate replies.


    ¡°Now, Nathan, I¡¯d like to be the first to humbly thank you for your service here in our efforts to stop Jack. You¡¯ve been more help than I can imagine and your father would be proud,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°M-My father?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Yeah, Greg would sure be proud of you,¡± Jay reiterates. Wait a second...what?


    ¡°Son, we know you¡¯re Gregory¡¯s kid. You look just like him,¡± Jay said. ¡°We also know the kinds of things you''re going through right now.¡±


    ¡°What? Wait, this is¡­?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°By the looks of it, you shouldn¡¯t really be in this time, should you?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°You know because you two have Radical-9 in your systems, right?¡± I said. Mason nods.


    ¡°That''s why my thanks earlier were made, your power to travel through time is something truly amazing.¡± Mason said.


    ¡°How long have you known?¡± I ask.


    ¡°The first day I met you,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Likewise and it¡¯s lucky that Jack didn¡¯t give two shits, or he might¡¯ve caught on too. That¡¯s why we played along,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°¡°Just one moment, I''m having trouble understanding,¡± Kate said. ¡°How can he have been a time traveler if he''s been here every single day for like, six years?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult to explain, but he¡¯s only just rejoining us, is that correct?¡±


    ¡°Right. This morning is the first I¡¯ve ever been in this building personally. The last time I saw it it was still kind of a wreck.¡± I said.


    ¡°N-No, that¡¯s impossible, you¡¯ve been here this whole time,¡± Kate said.


    ¡°You remember me being here this whole time. In reality the reason Jack never suspected anything is because I didn''t meet him back then. Neither did Jay, or even David. That first day I left when we were on the rooftop.¡±


    Kate holds her hands to her head, ¡°This is all so confusing.¡±


    I turn towards her, ¡°I¡¯m not from this time. I''m from the general area, yes, but not this time specifically. I am infected with Radical-9 and I can send my consciousness into other times where my body could exist,¡± I said.


    ¡°Marvelous,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°It¡¯s limited, as far as I know, I can only stay for a few hours at a time until I can control it fully, but I¡¯ve recently learned that I can sort of slip through different times as if it were like flipping through chapters of a book,¡± I said.


    ¡°I think I understand. So, when you left the first time, who was it that stayed here?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It could have been me from any point in time. It was me, but it wasn¡¯t¡­me,¡± I explain.


    ¡°Well, this is all fantastic and now you¡¯re here to witness me reveal the world¡¯s first automaton!¡± Mason said and he picks up a small remote on the nearby desk.


    ¡°Automaton?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Yes, a machine made to look like a-¡±


    ¡°-Human,¡± I finish.


    ¡°Precisely,¡± Mason said. Jay''s been here helping me finish the prototype. Mason presses the button and a section of the floor opens up between him and Jay. It opens pretty wide and I see that something is rising up from below.


    ¡°Let me be the first to announce that the Automaton Project is officially at the testing phase!¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Let me tell you, he would not shut up once he finished this thing,¡± Jay said to us. Rising from the space beneath the floor is a figure, a pure white humanoid shape, completely featureless. It¡¯s somewhat like a mannequin.


    ¡°This is the beginning of our attack on Jack,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Logically we cannot harm him, but if we could find something to be our go-between we''d at least be much safer.


    Jack probably got the idea for this from Mason in the future.


    ¡°Mason, however impressive these things are now, it isn¡¯t you who has control of them in the future,¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°The reason I¡¯m here now is because my body, where I''m actually coming from is the year 2060. Jack is waiting for me on the other end, so to speak. He''s there monitoring me and he''s got the knowledge on how to build these things, probably en masse.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, then I guess that I have a lot of work to do to catch up, huh?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°Mason, maybe he has a point,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°Jay, we¡¯ve come this far. If we finish these faster, then we can end this faster,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°You need to destroy this thing and fast. Maybe you can change history all the faster,¡± I said.


    ¡°The Automaton shall remain as it is, under my command. I can even prove that it will do no harm to us,¡± Mason said.


    He presses a button on the remote once more and I hear a low mechanical hum.


    ¡°Mason, don''t make the same mistake my father and Jack made,¡± I said.


    The Automaton slowly shifts its head to the right and to the left. It is somewhat like a clockwork figure, turning on process and logic. It turns its head slowly in almost full rotation, but it returns to its normal gaze staring forward once more.


    My heart is pounding and I have the unending feeling that something was supposed to happen, something more. And then it does. The Automaton lunges to the side, knocking Mason off of his feet. It jumps on top of the nearest desk, nearly smashing it into two pieces.


    ¡°Dad!¡± Kate yells out.


    The Automaton turns its head towards the direction of the sound and I see its hand open up to reveal a syringe.


    ¡°Mason! You need to shut it down, NOW!¡± I scream.


    Jay runs up to tackle the Automaton, but it shoves him off with one stroke of its heavy arm. I see not just one syringe in its hands now, but three. I hear Kate running towards her father, but the Automaton is one step ahead. It jumps behind her and takes her by her hair. She yelps and is then thrown to the ground. Not wasting another moment, I find myself jumping onto the Automaton¡¯s back, grappling its neck. It takes notice and then I feel a sharp sting in my right arm. I look down to see the creature had stabbed my arm with the syringe. Another second and it stabs my left too. I can feel the liquid being drawn in and I lose my grip on the Automaton.


    Kate gets up off of the ground and is backed against the wall. I fall off and I can see it ready the third syringe, but it isn¡¯t aiming it at me. It¡¯s aiming it right at Kate. I start seeing flurries of different colors and shapes, but one, single thought penetrates all of it. I must save Kate.


    I¡¯m up in a matter of seconds, my arms are losing their feeling. The Automaton readies its arm and I see Kate cringe. I scream out and I¡¯m running out in front of the Automaton. I push Kate out of the way. In the next moment I see darkness. There is a quieted silence and then light comes back in fuzzy, distorted shapes.


    I¡¯m breathing heavy and the pain of it all comes in one fell swoop. I grasp around my face, screaming and then I feel it. The syringe is lodged in my right eye. The pain of it all is worse than anything I¡¯ve ever felt. My vision is fading, but I can see Mason using what looks to be a high tech pair of spark plugs to finally end the cruel monster. It falls to the ground with a loud thump.


    My brain is working in overdrive and I get a quick look at all of their relieved faces. They don¡¯t stay that way for long, because when they see me they turn into a shared look of horror. The next thing I know everything goes dark. Is this how it ends? By a memory? Did I¡­fail?

 Part III | Chapter 9

    Everything is foggy, it feels like I¡¯ve been in darkness for the entirety of my life. I hear faint sounds, people talking, whispers, even laughter. I don¡¯t know where I am and I believe I¡¯m losing touch with who I am.


    I feel like if I don¡¯t constantly remind myself I will forget and just be a wandering spirit in the darkness, cursed to wander just to wander. No purpose, no being. Nothing. All of a sudden I see a bright white light. It is a single concentrated beam of light shined directly in my eyes. It moves from one eye to the other and then back to the first.


    I slowly open my eyes and I can see Mason and Jay hovering above me. Mason has a small flashlight hovering above my eyes, testing for dilation.


    ¡°W-Where¡­am I?¡± I slowly ask, my voice is a lot more strained than I thought.


    ¡°Slow down there, tiger. You¡¯re lucky to be alive, you don¡¯t need to rush anything,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°I¡¯m alive?¡±


    ¡°You saved my daughter,¡± Mason said.


    I sit up and I feel a rushing headache coming on.


    ¡°Hey, what did he just said about taking it easy?¡± Jay asked.


    My head begins to pound.


    ¡°My head¡­why does it hurt so much now?¡± I ask, holding my hand up to my head.


    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s one thing we have yet to tell you,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I ask.


    ¡°The Automaton had those syringes that were full of Tubocurarine.¡± I have a bad feeling about this.


    ¡°Okay and?¡± I ask, fearing the answer.


    ¡°The drug would¡¯ve killed you if it reached your heart,¡± Jay explains.


    ¡°And it didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Because we removed the drug from your body before it could reach your heart.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great! How¡¯d you manage that?¡±


    ¡°We¡­didn''t know the circumstances of you being...¡± Mason begins.


    ¡°We didn''t know how to handle what you are, Gavin. Or rather, what you''d become.¡± Jay said.


    ¡°Your body is a more complex version of the prototype I had running. Gavin, you''re an automaton,¡± Mason said in awe.


    ¡°Yeah, this is what happened when Jack got his hands on me basically to make a long story short.¡±


    ¡°Well, I also have to explain that you don''t really have a heart anymore. At least, not fully,¡± Mason said.


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°Well, in your new body your heart is equal to that of a tiny generator. It''s not susceptible to the Tubocurarine. In fact, none of your body actually was since your whole respiratory system has been automated.¡±


    ¡°I still felt it all, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, your nerves have been fused into the circuitry. That''s how you can move around and feel things around you.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Just then, I see the faces of Jay and Mason turn into looks of horror.


    ¡°W-What¡¯s wrong?¡± I ask.


    Jay points behind me. I turn quickly and then I see it too. It looks to be like a rip in time itself. Coming right through it is an arm I can recognize by the long blue sleeve with golden markings.


    ¡°What is that?!¡± Mason asked.


    I don¡¯t even get a chance to explain as the arm grabs my neck. I feel an intense burning sensation as his hand makes contact. I scream out and I¡¯m yanked through the rift in time. The next thing I see is that I¡¯m being thrown against ICARUS. I crash against the hard metal and I look up to see Jack standing before me, stationed in the pit of ICARUS.


    ¡°Well, it seems like you had a nice reunion,¡± Jack said. I can still feel my neck burning from where he grabbed me. Just what did he do?!


    ¡°What? Cat got your tongue?¡± Jack asked. I try to speak, to move, to do anything, but I¡¯ve lost all feeling in my body.


    ¡°Well, it seems like you¡¯ve made my job all the easier. You weren''t supposed to talk to them, you were supposed to let the stupid girl die,¡± Jack said.


    He walks closer to be, but then he stops. I see a weird look across his face. It turns to one of curiosity, but it doesn¡¯t stay for long and in the next moment his face turns to one of surprise. He steps forward quickly, but then I see everything go dark.


    I open my eyes and see that I am in the space between dimensions. In another second I see Jack¡¯s arm once more and I try to swim away from it. I locate another dimension in the distance and I propel myself towards it.


    Right when I¡¯m about to make contact I feel a hardened grip on my leg. It''s on the one that got burned, so I wince a little as it tightens. I stretch out and grab hold of the new time and yank myself through. I tumble through and land against the wall. I hear some screaming as I see Jack tumbling in after me.


    I look around to notice that I¡¯m outside of Andrew¡¯s house.


    ¡°You¡­what did you do to me?¡± I ask, finally getting my voice back.


    Jack gets to his feet slowly, obviously dazed. ¡°You¡­jumped,¡± He said, looking up at me, as he does his face grows into one of shock.


    ¡°You¡­you kept your body, how did that¡­¡±


    I don¡¯t let him finish. I¡¯m running at him and I catch him off guard, sending him off of his feet. I have got to find something to protect myself with, anything at all. I look around me and I can¡¯t see anything within reach that will help.


    Jack gets to his feet and I see an angry look fill up his face.


    ¡°Why you little¡­you¡¯re just as annoying as your pesky father,¡± he said.


    He then brings his right arm up and I see something begin to form in it. It¡¯s some sort of purple mess of goop. It looks sort of like some sort of plasma. It begins dripping out of his hands onto the ground below him and it starts burning the grass around him.


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    Jack takes a step forward and then he throws the plasma glob. It hurtles right towards me and instinctively I raise my hands up in front of me. The plasma coats my hands, but then the strangest thing happens.


    It doesn¡¯t burn or anything, but instead it begins to wrap around my hand and arm like a double helix. It dances around my fingertips and I feel like I can will it to move with my own mind.


    ¡°What the hell now?!¡± Jack screams.


    ¡°I¡¯m as surprised as you are,¡± I said, my eyes not leaving the foreign substance.


    ¡°It must have been when I grabbed you,¡± Jack said, more to himself than me.


    Maybe, is it possible he¡¯d given me these powers by accident? It¡¯s plausible that he accidentally did the same thing to me as he did to my future self. That could mean I already have my ticket out of here, I just have to survive this fight.


    ¡°Just how dangerous is this stuff right here?¡± I ask, walking closer towards Jack.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know the power of which you deal with,¡± Jack said, backing up a step.


    ¡°Oh how the mighty act,¡± I start. I can see Jack¡¯s eyes moving fast from my hand to my face. ¡°Now, do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?¡± I ask. Jack is silent for a second and then a wicked grin appears. In a matter of moments Jack whips his arm up and I¡¯m lifted into the air.


    I half expected the telekinesis to come in at some point, but it is still as restricting as last time. I cannot move my body at all. Maybe I don¡¯t have to move my body. I breathe slowly and concentrate on the plasma covering my arms. In another moment the plasma begins to shift and change. It begins to bubble and in the next moment I see it hop off of my arm. It heads straight for Jack, scalding the side of his head. I hear him yell and I¡¯m dropped to the ground. I look at him and see that nearly a third of his face had been burnt by the bubbling plasma.


    ¡°You son of a bitch!¡±


    In a matter of seconds Jack has closed the distance between us and he shoves me to the ground. I feel the wind get knocked out of me and the whole world around us changes in a flash. One second we¡¯re outside of Andrew¡¯s house and now we¡¯re on top of the Republic Plaza building. Jack looks around himself, confused and I take the opportunity to kick him off of me. He catches himself in mid-air and is now hovering a foot off of the ground.


    ¡°What the¡­you can float now?¡± I ask.


    Jack doesn¡¯t answer, he immediately rushes in and picks me up. We¡¯re rising up, higher and higher. The rooftop of the Republic Plaza begins to shrink to the size of a raisin.


    We continue to rise up, but then I feel something different, as if everything just fell into place. My beacons of reality, they¡¯re all doomed if I can¡¯t get out of this, which is why I will get out of this.


    I can get out of this, whenever I need to. I have the power.


    I concentrate and then I close my eyes. My heart begins to slow and I feel the air around us change. I open my eyes and we¡¯re standing in my college dorm room. Jack falls backwards onto my bed and I look around quickly. I reach for my roommate''s knife drawer but feel the left half of my body held back. Jack''s telekinesis pulls me away, but I pull my hardest to push forward. It feels like my body is tearing itself apart, but I manage to grab hold of a knife inside of the drawer and I toss it at Jack.


    He lets go of me to catch the knife just before it reaches him. I feel the metal of the knives, they''re cold and hard, but I''m not even touching them. All in one mental motion I feel them rising out and soaring out towards Jack. I can see I catch him off guard.


    In another moment I close my eyes and I¡¯m gone.


    ~...~


    I¡¯m floating in the space between dimensions, I don¡¯t even care which one I go to, I just need to get away. I need to find a place to regain my thoughts.


    I need to find someone to help. Bring me to anybody. I¡¯m floating through the darkness and then I see a sudden light ahead of me. I swim through the space to reach the light.


    I¡¯m reaching closer and closer for it. I finally reach it and I extend my arm out towards it. I get just one slight touch of the light and I¡¯m dragged in like stray dust to a vacuum. I awaken in the middle of a desolate city street.


    Buildings are in complete disarray around me. There is nobody around me and the whole place looks like it has been abandoned for years. I stand up and get my bearings and I cough. The air around me even tastes toxic.


    My brain is racing at a million miles a minute and my body is doing its best to catch up. I then hear a stray thought enter my mind. It freezes me to my core and all other functions stop as soon as I hear it.


    ¡°Gavin.¡±


    That is all, just one single word, in one unforgettable voice. I hear him. I hear Jay. I turn around in a full circle, looking for any sign of him. Nothing. Telepathy. It must be. I remember Micah saying something about me being able to talk with those like me like this. I connected with him, that means. It might mean I can answer back.


    ¡°Jay? Is that you? Jay?!¡± I ask, panicked.


    ¡°Gavin, I can¡¯t said how happy I am to hear your voice again. Where are you?¡±


    I look around my surroundings, trying to find out any indicating features. I see ruined skyscrapers all around me and the one building that is still standing only has the first floor surviving. There is a massive gate surrounding the perimeter of the building, but I can see the words ¡°Republic Plaza¡± coating the front of what remains on the building. I''m in Denver. I''m in MY Denver, back in my time. I can''t believe I''d ever be thankful to be in a ruined city.


    ¡°I''m in Denver,¡± I tell him.


    ¡°R-Really? We¡¯re in the town over! I¡¯ll swing by to pick you up, we have some minor things to take care of first,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain later, it¡¯ll make much more sense,¡± Jay said.


    I take a deep breath and lean against the gate. Just who could be with him? All of a sudden my head begins to pound. I¡¯m having another vision. It overlays my current vision like another layer of the world. No passing out this time. I¡¯m staring at the spot I had just been standing in, but from a different time, perhaps?


    It doesn¡¯t seem to look any different at all, so maybe it was just a few hours ago? I see Jay standing in front of a small car and then another figure comes into view.


    I recognize him immediately as Andrew Cress. Right beside him is a younger girl, blonde hair and brown eyes. I can also see she is bleeding from a wound on her head and it looks pretty serious. This vision is from 2022, and that''s where I feel I am now. I can feel the intuition I had prior rush back to me.


    Apparently, it¡¯s not as serious as I think, because she is able to move and function properly, but it still has me uncomfortable. I think this might have been right after Andrew and his sister left that virtual world. What was his sister¡¯s name again? Jen?


    ¡°So, what do we do from here on out?¡± Andrew asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you both back to your house and I¡¯ll go on my way.¡± Jay said.


    ¡°You¡­worked with both of our fathers, didn¡¯t you?¡± Jen asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m Jay Rein. I have my own son who is just like you two,¡± he said.


    ¡°Really? Where is he?¡± Andrew asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d said he¡¯s having a blast on his school field trip to the Bronx Zoo. I¡¯d left him with some people I trust that I know will raise him right,¡± he said, somberly.


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t trust myself to not ruin his life anymore than I¡¯d already had,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯d let some old friends of mine adopt him, as they had always wanted a kid, but couldn¡¯t have one of their own.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s next for you, then?¡±Andrew asked.


    ¡°I had mentioned it a bit before, but I plan on continuing my research on the cure for Radical-9. I owe it to my boy to make a world that is safe for him to live in,¡± Jay said.


    Jay gets into the car, followed by Andrew and Jen. I walk up closer to the car to hear them better.


    ¡°Radical¡­9?¡± Jen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain it later,¡± Andrew said.


    So Andrew knows of Radical-9, then?


    Jen looks in Andrew¡¯s eyes for a moment and then shifts her gaze to the ground.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re Jack¡¯s daughter. I can see it in your eyes,¡± Jay said, looking into the rear-view mirror.


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±


    ¡°Before all of this, he was a good man with good intentions. Something in that stupid specimen had brought something¡­feral inside him. I don¡¯t know how else to explain it.¡± Jay said.


    There is a tense silence. Jay begins to drive off, I watch as the car leaves my field of view. The vision fades slowly and I¡¯m left standing beside the gate. I can see a bright light in front of me, two of them, actually.


    I notice it¡¯s gotten extremely dark outside and stars fill the skies. The two lights close in on me and I finally see them to be headlights. The car returns just as quickly as it had left, but the one difference is that this time it isn''t a vision.

 Endgame

    I stand completely still as the car swings up and stops right next to me. The passenger door opens and I see that Jen had moved to the backseat, in-between Andrew and another girl. She''s got long black hair just a few shades brighter than Andrew''s.


    I can see her deep blue eyes from outside of the car. I''m guessing how she seems attached to Andrew at the hand they must be involved in some way. I see Jay flash me a smile and he cocks his head, ¡°Hop on in, Gavin. We have a lot to talk about,¡± he said.


    ¡°Certainly,¡± I said.


    I open the door and step inside, pulling the door closed. Jay begins pulling out and onto the street. He''s going rather fast, but I''m not complaining.


    ¡°So, you are one of the ten?¡± Jen asked me.


    ¡°Uh, yeah. Jay, did you explain Radical-9 to them?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, before we go farther with that I should introduce you. Andy, Jen, Lindsey, this is Gavin Daniels.¡±


    ¡°Daniels...wait, you were the one from the vision,¡± Jen said.


    ¡°What?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Jen had these visions of the past when we were trapped inside of Elysium, you hear of that?¡± ¡°Andy¡± asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I heard of it.¡±


    ¡°Well, it was your parents, they saved me,¡± Jen said.


    ¡°Must have been when they died,¡± I said.


    ¡°Gavin, your parents were brave people, and I''m sure that they''re proud of all that you''ve done.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m Andrew, Andrew Cress, but please call me Andy. It makes it sound less formal. I''m not one much for formalities,¡± he laughs.


    ¡°And you''re Jen, right?¡± I ask.


    The younger blonde nods her head. I can see the resemblance she had to Megan.


    ¡°And you''re Lindsey, who are you?¡± I ask.


    ¡°I met Andrew inside of Elysium. Now, I''m not like you guys, I don''t have this...Radical-9 stuff inside my body, but I''m fully committed to help you guys in whatever you need.¡±


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    ¡°And you two are...¡± I said, pointing to Andy and her. She nods.


    ¡°Okay, so, Jack is still alive,¡± I drop the bomb. ¡°And frankly I bet he''s pissed.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have a long ride, so feel free to get any stories out while you can,¡± Jay said.


    I nod my head. ¡°It all started back in 2018,¡± I begin. I tell them the adventures through my first kidnapping. Meeting myself in the future¡­being betrayed by myself in the future, even realizing I''m not even in my own body anymore.


    I tell them of my power to travel through time and I also tell them that I¡¯ve heard of their journey, their adventure through the mystical virtual world, Elysium.


    ¡°How is that possible? We only just left there not a few hours ago,¡± Lindsey asked.


    ¡°In the future I¡¯d been in, your journey had already happened. My future self was the only one there to remember it, everybody else was comatose or too busy trying to keep the human race alive to prevent Radical-9 from spreading and making us all extinct,¡± I explain.


    ¡°But in the end, your other self betrayed you for power,¡± Jen said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it was the power he wanted. I feel for him. He¡¯d been forced to live as the caretaker of the world while it all hung on his shoulders.


    He¡¯d had nobody else to comfort him and he had a longing. A longing I once knew. I¡­I wasn¡¯t really social before all of this. I didn¡¯t really need anybody else after my parents died,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Andy said.


    ¡°I believed that I could do it on my own and I¡¯ve learned firsthand what being alone leads me to. I¡¯ve learned the value of friends, even in losing them. I¡¯ve learned the one thing that separates me from him,¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll said, no matter what you turned out like in that future, you aren¡¯t going to be as bad as him,¡± Andy said.


    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to just let that happen,¡± Lindsey said.


    ¡°We have to stop him, because he is going to be the end of this world if we don¡¯t,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay, do you have any inkling where he may be now?¡±


    ¡°I do. He''s going after your son, Jay. Jack set up a fail-safe with Micah to go after him if he failed to get me.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already heading there, Gavin. No need to worry.¡±


    ¡°We have time, Micah said he needed time to learn his abilities, but we cannot count on that. We need to find him as fast as we can.¡±


    ¡°It might be a little difficult, because the people I gave him to went deep into hiding. They changed their names for this because they understood the gravity of the situation. We''re going to need some time to find them,¡± Jay said.


    ¡°Well, then let¡¯s get a move on, shall we?¡± Jen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m already clocking eighty on this thing, it wasn¡¯t in the best of shape when I picked it up, so I don¡¯t want us ending our journey because of some engine fire or something like that starting up,¡± Jay said.


    We set our sights on our transcontinental journey and now our destination is New York. Hopefully Jay¡¯s kid is still alive and kicking, because we have one hell of a fight on our hands.


    ¡°Hero. My hero.¡±


    Megan, I think I''m finally beginning to understand what you called me. I think I''m finally ready to take up that mantle. This is going to end, all of it and you''re memory will finally be able to rest in peace.