Questions & Answers
I didn’t fully trust Dr. Hubbard, and I wasn’t about to try wrapping my head around how Elaine and I came back from the dead a year later. I figured, ’what have I got to lose.’ I headed down the hall to the armory. Lying on the table were my guns; the ones I had come up with at the academy after Whimz unlocked our Alchemy. Next to them were a compass and a hooded trench-coat. I put on the coat and grabbed the guns. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to holster the guns though. Dr. Hubbard hobbled up to the door.
"I forgot to add this to your teleporter." He tossed me an armband that fit around the teleport watch. I placed the armband on and grabbed the guns. They instantly disappeared in a fading trail of white particles that wrapped around my forearms and into the teleport watch.
"An infinite dimensional storage. I designed it myself. It will store your weapons and items. All you have to do is picture the item and the item will appear in your hand.”
He hobbled away. I headed out to the hall, and up the same stairs I’d chased Elaine up. This time when I opened the door, I gave my eyes time to adjust to the light. It burned; my eyes had never been used outside the simulation. My skin even felt warmer than usual as I acclimated to the world. The sunlight made me sneeze; my ears rang. I took a deep breath and my body calmed down. I was back to life.
I set off down the main road. The dirt and gravel cut through the woods and emptied on the shores according to the map. The sunlight danced through the limbs and leaves on the trees as I walked. It gave me some time to think. "What… Just what am I? If the academy was just a dream, what does that make me?" Too many questions and no answers.
There, a rustling in the brush. I readied my fists and the white particles swirled out and formed the guns in my hands. A beast leapt into view. It was the same thing that attacked us at the academy. I could more precisely make out what it looked like now. Its head was divided into four total sections. The two cheek bones curved up like muscly rock formations, and arced bits of electricity between them over its nose. Its bottom jaw hung open like it was getting ready to attack. Its eyes were black; to match its coat. White streaks ran down its body in all directions. I stepped to the side and stepped on a twig. It fixed its gaze on me, snarled, and began to bark ferociously. As it barked the white streaks in its fur began to also spark the same electricity that was on its face.
One of the lightning arcs shot off and towards me. I almost froze, but then I remembered the simulation. I threw my arms together in defense and a blue glowing shield appeared in front of my arms and deflected the lightning. I dropped my arms and readied for a fight. I took a deep breath and centered myself; there! "I remember."
I dug in with my right foot and launched, dashing at the creature. It snickered and leapt forward; running at full speed towards me. We neared each other. Closer… closer… I could see the greenish to black tint in his eyes.
"I remember that Whimz gave us Alchemy!"
I reacted quickly; turning the outside edge of my weapons into a fine blade. The beast leapt at me, mouth wide open, with razor sharp teeth gleaming in the intermittent sun beams. I slid forward on the gravel; my right fist extended for the punch. The beast collapsed behind me, hemorrhaging blood. I had sliced it open from jaw to tail; not deep enough to kill it though. It whimpered and snarled as it tried to get up.
I put my guns away and conjured some Plasma. The beast growled at me as I drew closer, but I still rushed over and applied the Plasma. The beast’s wounds began to heal. Even a cut like that was no problem for the Plasma from the academy. The beast shook its head and stumbled to its feet. I think it was confused. It just stared at me; like it was thinking about what to do with me. I rose to my feet. It slunk back with its head down, and slowly retreated into the bushes.
‘At least I didn’t have to kill it.’ Seeing that beast unlocked my memories for fighting and training. It was like I had never forgotten. I continued down the road. The forest began to thin out; becoming more and more sparse. Eventually the trees ended and it was just an open plain leading right to the ocean. The water and horizon were beautiful. The waves crashed on the shore, and receded just as quickly; leaving traces of sea foam and darkened, muddy sand.
I scanned up and down the coast. ‘Gotcha!’ the base that Dr. Hubbard was talking about was an old castle that had been converted into a science base. I snuck through the tall grass and got as close as I could to the base without the patrolling guards seeing me. I timed their movement and waited for a crack in their patrol. ‘There!’ I took my chance, sprang forward and leapt the stone wall. I hugged the wall and found a service entrance marked “Utility” that lead to the basement pipes. It was muggy and steam poured out of some pipes in intermittent bursts. I walked as silently as possible with the water puddles giving away small splashing steps, and the rats scurrying, squealing and squeaking. I followed the service signs and arrows that led back to the main facility. The hallways counted down in letters. I was in “Hallway V”. I trailed the halls all the way to “Hallway D”. I was about to round the corner when I heard the squeaky wheel of a cart rolling down one of the cross halls. Then I heard a voice.
“Keep moving. The doctor needs this cart of supplies for the final stage of the experiment.”
“Yes sir.”
A lackey in a grape colored jumpsuit and shackles clinked down the hallway. He was a portly man, no more than five-five. The soldier next to him was in full battle dress; carrying an assault rifle. The soldiers face and head were covered completely by a black mask with goggles. There were no mouth or nasal openings on the mask. Instead you could see small tubes like veins running under the mask where the nose would have been. The tubes ran to the back of his head and down his neck. I couldn’t make out where the tubes went after that.
The two drew closer and closer. I knelt down and hid in the shadows of one of the larger floor pipes.
“What does the doctor need these supplies for sir?”
“Project Leech. Keep moving.”
The two walked past me at the cross hallway. I waited for them to get a bit past me. They didn’t seem to know I was there. I was able to make out what the nasal tubes from the soldiers mask ran to. There was a small tank strapped to the back of his gear. ‘I doubt that’s oxygen.’ I waited for them to get down the hall and then snuck down the hall behind them. I figured they might lead me to Jack, or at least somewhere I might find answers to this place.
As I followed them, the pipes began to thin out and the flooring and walls began to become… cleaner. The floor turned from grimy watery concrete to nice white tile. The bricks on the wall faded into nice white clean cinderblocks. At the end of the hall were a set of hospital double doors; I followed the soldier and prisoner through. Past the doors the hallway came to a ’T’. The soldier and lackey turned right. I knelt down and waited to see if anyone was down the hall to the left. I looked up at the wall above me. My eyes first caught the sign pointing behind me to the "Morgue and Utilities". My eyes then caught the mirror up on the wall. There was no one to my left so I leaned out to see how far down the other two men were to my right. They had already turned down another hall and the way was clear. The sign under the mirror indicated that to the right was "Medical", and to the left was "Holding"; I choose holding.
I followed the hall to the right. Passing through some doors I entered "Holding". The place looked like a prison. The first cell I came across had one of Dr. Hubbard’s soldiers.
"Please you have to get me outta here!" The soldier ran up to the bars pleading. "I don’t want to end up like...” a red light in the corner of his room began flashing. ”Oh god, get me outta here!" the bed dropped through the floor; the toilet pulled itself into the wall. The only thing that remained was the drain in the floor.
"How do I get you out?"
"Down the hall is the guard’s station. They’re all making their rounds right now so you should be ok."
The red light stopped flashing. A clanking sound began to grow louder from the drain in the floor. Like a beating drum it pounded ever closer until something hit the floor; cracking it out radially around the room.
"OH FUCK!"
A metal door slammed behind the bars. A small window was placed in the center of the door. I peered through the window. Small black like cockroaches began to pour out of the floor. The soldier tried to avoid the bugs but it was no use. The bugs swarmed all over the soldier and began to eat him. As they ate him they broke him down into this gooey liquid that pooled into the drain.
I ran to the guard’s station to open the rest of the cells and let the soldiers out. I couldn’t help that first soldier, but I could save the others. I made it into the guard post inside was a lone guard, ‘Shit i thought he said they were all out.’ The guard turned away from the door and i took my chance. I rushed in a put him in a sleeper hold until he passe out from lack of oxygen. Looking over the controls i found the cell release and pressed it. The cells slammed opened and the soldiers began to slink out. They had no weapons; the alarms sounded and the guards were coming. A few ready troops dropped in from the windows in the ceiling. They were swarmed by the soldiers that had been in cells. That gave them a fighting chance. As the guards began to pour in and the fighting began, I stopped one of the soldiers from the cells.
"Where did they take Commander Jack?"
"I saw them haul him off to the medical wing on the other side. They said something about how he was ‘perfect’." I took off back towards the Medical side of the facility. "Hey aren’t you from…" He tried to get my attention as I had left him behind.
I sprinted down the hall back towards medical. The diversion in the prison wing should help me get Jack out easier. I busted through the double doors leading to the medical wing. Lining the hall were doors and medical rooms. At the end were two guards in front of a door marked "Private". I put up the hood on my cloak so they would not recognize me.
"Hey! You! Stop right there!"
The guards rushed down the hall towards me firing their guns. I put up my shield from the simulation and rushed towards them. Bullets deflected off in all directions. As we drew closer to each other one stray bullet returned to its shooter and struck him dead in the shoulder spinning him to the ground. It was just one on one now and he had to reload; the soldier was out of ammo. We were close enough to each other that he swung his rifle butt at me. I deflected it with my shield, spun around on my left leg and clocked him across the face with my right. The soldier stumbled back. His friend on the ground, clutching at his shoulder, yelped and slid his ammo clip towards his friend.
The soldier leaned down to catch it, but it stopped just in front of him; a boot standing on it. He looked up, and there stood Elaine as she materialized from her teleport in. She launched into the air, and shuriken kicked the soldier in one upward kick to the chin, snapping his head clean back like a hinge; severing his spinal cord. The other soldier had bled out and died after exerting his last amounts of energy to slide his clip.
"Elaine?"
"I discovered the answers I was looking for Marty. I’ll show you after we get Jack."
Elaine put her hood up and hurried through the double doors; I followed. The room was enormous. Medical equipment, computers, and pipes were everywhere; all pooling to the center, where Jack was strapped into the chair. We ran over to Jack. He rolled over groggily.
"Who are you?"
"It doesn’t matter Jack. We’re here to help." I started to undo the restraints.
"No! Don’t!" Jack yelled at Elaine and I. "They put something in my back just before you got here." Right as jack said that, I saw something slither under the skin on his shoulder. "Oh god what did she put in me!?"
Jack began to panic and pull at his restraints. He managed to wriggle his left arm out of the cuff and seized to the side, exposing his back. The sutured wound was pulsing as tentacles began to slide through the stitching. An octopus like creature ripped out of Jack’s back and flopped to the floor like a sack of pennies. The creature seemed to be gathering strength and growing. Elaine and I undid the rest of Jack’s restraints; he was unconscious from the pain. I hauled him over my shoulders, and carried him down the back hallway; away from the other soldiers and fighting, and towards the emergency exit out of the room. As Elaine pushed open the emergency door, I felt something wrap around my leg.
"Go Elaine, I’ll meet you outside." I dropped jack to the floor
"What? Why?"
I had no chance to answer. A tentacle pulled me back down the hall and into the room where Jack had been.
"Marty!!" Elaine called after me.
I couldn’t respond; the creature was dragging me along the floor. It pulled me back into the room. The creature had become enormous. Like a giant mutant octopus, it screeched and flung me around knocking my hood off and uncovering my face. I fired furiously at the creature’s face with my guns. One shot managed to strike near its eye, stunning the creature and causing it to drop me against the floor. I scrambled up and went for my teleport watch, but the creature was already coming for me again; this time with multiple tentacles trying to snag me. I dodged, flipped, and moved with agility, but there was a reason I could never move as well as Elaine; I’m not as limber. I snagged on one of the tentacles and tripped. In that instant the creature was able to grab my leg and arms.
Having grown tired of the games, the creature reared back and exposed its mouth. The opening was a circular orifice with many rows of teeth. The teeth moved like a blender, spinning and shredding back and forth. It pulled me in closer, and closer.
’Shit…’ I had to think fast… ’That’s it!’ I pulled my arms as hard as I could together. The creature did his best to restrain me. As I inched closer and closer to the creature’s’ mouth, my hands inched closer and closer and closer. I was almost in the mouth of the creature when the barrels of my guns connected.
"Eat Shit!!"
A blast of energy erupted out like a blue and white bubble around me; the force of the explosion ripping the creature in half. It squealed and flung me back against the wall next to the double doors. My back slammed and I fell to one knee on the floor. The two halves of the creature lay lifeless on the floor; a steaming pile of death was all that remained. I composed myself and was about to teleport when four soldiers burst through the double doors. I whirled around. It was Dan, Whimz, Erin, and Mariel.
"Stop right there!" Dan yelled as they pointed their rifles at me.
"Marty!?" Whimz exclaimed.
I slapped my watch and teleported before they could get near. I teleported outside to where Elaine and Jack were. Jack was still unconscious.
"What happened? Why is your hood down?"
"The creature that was in Jack grabbed me and pulled me back down the hall, but I took care of it. I used my guns to blast a bubble of energy that tore it in half…. Elaine, I think Whimz may have seen my face before I teleported."
"Wait what!? What were they doing here?"
"They must have been after Jack like us. Or they were here to shut down this facility. I say we take Jack back to your father and ask him. And we’ll have to use your teleporter; thanks to that creature fight mine is still recharging."
Elaine slapped her wrist and we teleported back to Dr. Hubbard’s lab. Dr. Hubbard whirled around; his cane pointed at us.
"Shit, I almost shot you three. Hello again Elaine."
My watch dinged, signaling that it was recharged. Before either of us could respond, Elaine pushed Jack to the floor and slapped my watch. We whirled off to a small clearing just outside the forest near the ocean.
"Why did you do that Elaine?"
"Because I need to show you something! What, you think I just showed up out of the blue to rescue you and Jack without a reason after the way I stormed out? You are the only thing keeping me from just running away forever. As soon as I came here everything came flooding back." Elaine pulled the amber black rose from her pocket. “If you remember this, then you will trust me and follow me inside.”
We had teleported a small house perched on the seaside cliff. It wasn’t necessarily run down, but it was obvious that no one had taken care of it for many years. And then I began to recognize the structure.
"Wait, is that?"
"Yeah… It’s our house that we all lived in. I thought of this place when I ran... it was the only place I ever felt safe; here with all of my friends... and you." Elaine stared straight at me then turned and walked up the steps.
"C’mon. There’s something I want to show you." Elaine slid the door open and motioned for me to follow.
I walked up the rickety steps and inside the house. Elaine closed and latched the door behind me.
"Sorry, force of habit. C’mon; What I wanted to show you was up stairs."
I followed Elaine up the stairs. The second floor was one main hallway with two bedrooms on the left, a bathroom and workspace on the right, and one main bedroom in the direct center. All sort of memories came flooding back. Of Elaine and I in the center room, of Whimz and Mariel next to us and Dan and Erin next to them closest to the stairs. And the work room where we all studied. I grabbed the railing, overcome with emotion. Elaine took my hand.
"It’s ok. I felt that at first too." Elaine walked me up the stairs and down the hall and into the workspace room.
I followed slowly, still trying to accept that the dream world was really this world. The wallpaper was old and torn. Boards creaked with each step; dust that had settled kicked up in small clouds. I entered the workspace room.
"Ah-ha there it is. I wanted to show you my father’s files. He lived here after my mother and I… were killed. You and I are copies of his daughter and her boyfriend. Jade and New Hope were not always at war. The two nations were working together to leave our planet, but the ship was sabotaged from within. My father designed the drive core for the ship. You, my mother, and I were on board when the ship exploded. My father was blamed and shamed for killing his own family and all those people. He was exiled to the wasteland and re-appeared fifteen years later when he began work for New Jade.
Relations between the countries had broken down after the incident. New Hope and New Jade begun to fight over the dwindling resources of the planet. My father left when he encountered her second in command. A man named Darkstar; A Great general of the pre-war world, born in 1891; which would make him nearly four-hundred years old today. My father discovered who he was and defected from Jade. In some newer files however, it appears as though my father found out that it wasn’t his fault for the explosion."
Elaine held up some security photos. "These are from the ship just before it exploded. Darkstar was the one who sabotaged the ship to keep it from leaving. For what purpose, I will have to ask him if I ever meet him."
"Are you okay?"
"No. I don’t know what to do with this information. I was hoping you might have some answers Marty. I’m so confused. After seeing this, I should feel, happy that I’m still alive and here with you..." Elaine leaned over the desk and started to cry.
"Hey, hey, come here." I took her by the hand and drew her in and I wrapped my arms around her.
"Damnit!" she lightly pounded on my chest. "Why would he do this to us?! I thought bringing you here with me would magically solve everything."
"Let’s ask him."
I grabbed the datapads and pressed my teleporter. Sending us back to the lab where Dr. Hubbard was.