Approximately twenty years earlier

Flying out of the skyline traffic over the outskirts of La Jolla, San Deigo, Devin Richardson's black bullet-shaped vehicle takes a holographic lit-off ramp at terrific speed. He always enjoyed pushing these government vehicles to the max. It was his one work bonus. Login braced himself momentarily at the turn.

"You have to gun it at the turn? I would like to live today, thank you," Login says gritting his teeth.

"I got you, I got you."

Login laughed. "You love these chasers way too much."

Devin smirked, "Gotta enjoy the perks of our sedentary jobs right?"

"More like sedentary lives, yes."

The vehicle descended further as they dipped into another lower, less traveled lane leading to more sub-urban homes that initially greeted them tucked away on a hillside. Login ran his fingers through his black, slicked back hair taking in the view. His suit clothes are loose fitting as he is thin in built and never cares for the choke hold of the executive style.

"I think little Katey wants another sleep over with Bella again. We gonna make that happen?"

"Sure. Just don't back out on me on our plans," Devin interjected slowing speed dramatically and relaxing his grip on the wheel until he lets go completely and allows the car to take over.

"Of course not. It is just without the access you had before, we are screwed."

"We'll just have to operate underground. Now, this may be a long shot but what about ghost memories imprinted on the chips of those we can get to, you know.."

"Those that have been murdered? The dead ones?" Login laughed morbidly.

"No, those that have been banged by their secretaries! Yes, the dead ones."

"Ghost memories... well, there has been a case or two but it's rare. You're talking 2 in 10,000 cases or something crazy like that."

"I know but with the state of trauma these people were subjected to, there could be some kind of imprint on their chips. A fragment of something."

"Yeah, that's if we can get to their bodies."

`"Just say that we could. If we could get to them, download that information, then we could find out if someone using the brain cloud to feeding suggestions or programs."

"I'm worried where this trail leads and what exposes us to." Login looks around recognizing the neighborhood, "By the way, why are we in your neighborhood right now?"

"After that meeting, I just want to check on my family. Make sure no one has got to them. Then, we''ll get to this hacker guy friend of yours." A momentary anxious look comes over Login as his leg begins to bounce.

"I'm not so sure we just shouldn't lie low for a while. I feel like too many eyes are on us right now."

"That's why we have to move fast before they remove every trace of evidence there is."

"The dead people aren't going anywhere, man."

"We don't know that! We gotta get this information and get it out to the media quick before they remove every trace of evidence we have."

"And if we turn up nothing?"

Devin looks at Login in outrage mixed with compassion and is forced to turn away being at a loss for words. When he does look away, he sees that in his driveway are two vehicles he doesn't recognize. He stiffens in his seat and grabs the wheel.

"What is it?" Login asks.

"We'll find a way," Devin looks at him, "No matter what happens, we'll find a way. Trust me."

Devin takes the vehicle out of lock and pulls it up onto the front lawn.

"Stay here. Whatever you do, don't get out of this car."

"I-I wasn't planning to but-" Login's words are cut off by a slamming car door. "Great. Brilliant plan."

Devin enters the open front door to eerie quiet and knowing that Kate and Bella are usually quite noisy playmates, he isn't sure if Kate was picked up by her mother or what, but the deafening silence hits the pit of his stomach telling him something isn't right. Usually, his wife would immediately call out his name and there was no sign of her. He begins to head to the kitchen to grab a knife when a small child comes down the steps.

"Bella? Where is mamma?"

The young child of six stands at the bottom of the stairs paralyzed biting her bottom lip as if confused.

"Bella are you Katey still playing? Honey, what is it?"

The young child runs off hollering for her mother. Devin follows Bella down a hallway and Cindy comes out a doorway to greet her. The young child leaps into her mother's arms.

"Dear now-now! What's the matter?" Cindy looks over at Devin and is startled. She swings her daughter around to protect her. "What-who are you?

"You're joking right? Cindy, where is Katey? Whose cars are those in the driveway?"

Devin's jaw drops and his eyes bulge slightly as he sees a man who resembles himself step out from behind the door Cindy had come from.

"What the hell is that?" Devin protests. The duplicate of himself steps in front of Cindy and Bella as though to protect them.

"Who the hell is this? Get the fuck out of our house?" says the humanoid. Clever, Devin thought, that is something he might say himself.

"No, this is my house. Cindy, tell him! What-this is crazy. Cindy! For God's sakes, tell him I'm your husband," he pleads, holding out his hands that begin to shake.

Cindy steps forward with compassion filling her eyes and then turns back to lean in toward the humanoid and whispers, "What do we do?"

"Get back in the room, lock the door, call the police," he replies reassuringly.

Devin looks about feeling like the hallways of his own home are suddenly foreign to him and are closing in. He starts stepping back toward the living room slowly. Cindy locks the bedroom door, and the humanoid starts approaching him with a sinister curl to his lip.

"Don't be scared. It seems you don't fully understand," the humanoid whispers sadistically. Devin flounders and stumbles further back into the living room in shock and panic. "So let me make it clear to you. This isn't your home anymore. You no longer exist. And..," the sound of aircraft overhead beat on the walls of home and vibrate the windows, "you are about to be handed over to System authorities. Kind of ironic, wouldn't you say?"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Devin storms through the front door facing an onslaught of wind from landing aircraft and is frightened to see that Login is already being taken out of the vehicle and cuffed. Devin puts his hands on his head gripping his hair and turns to make a run for it only to face the big wall of himself, his duplicate.

"We tried to warn you. You didn't listen. It's over for you."

On A Compound Balcony

Devin Richardson stands on a small brick patio with a brick overhang shaking off the remnants of the dream he just had about his body double and him and Login getting arrested. The tall, solid and unrelenting brick reminds him of the humanoid when he turned to run just before he was taken away to the warehouse. He catches a small breeze and attempts to look beyond all the brick into the soft sunset and the blue water below for some sense of peace of mind. He takes in a small breath.

Kate gently slides open the glass door and slips through like paper. She walks to the farthest side to not interrupt Devin as much as possible. She plays with some rubble at her feet eyeing a hole made by a past explosion from wars of decades past.

"Seems like a nice evening," Kate interjects.

"As much as any detainee can enjoy it."

"Your safety is Kyle's main concern."

Devin laughs, "Really? And here I was thinking crucifixion was on the table."

"Come on, you need to realize the times we are in. You are a part of creating a System he has spent his life trying to take down. He isn't going to send you a card and chocolate hearts."

Devin breaks his look outward and looks Kate over. "I was thinking of your father. Login. I remember escaping," he turns back looking outward to the horizon again. Kate draws closer to him. "When I got out of my cryogenic unit, he was in the unit next to mine." He turned back to Kate, surprised suddenly by the closeness and the look in her eyes. "I wanted to break him out, but they were too close. I could barely walk...I'm sorry." He grabs her arm. Her eyes well up with tears and she shakes her head.

"No, I understand," she musters up the courage to reply, "You know where he is. He's still alive."

"Yes, and if you can help me get out of here so I can find my wife, I can help you get into that warehouse to get your father." She pulls her arm away and looks down. "It's the only chance we have. You know Kyle is a hothead who is set on bringing this System down, which is all very noble. We can rejoin that cause later but let's get those we love safe first!"

Kate turns back looking at him and he recognizes some of the softness gone from her face and a bit of coolness in her eyes. "We can't do an escape plan. We would become an enemy of both the Resistance and The System. That's a lost cost, Mr. Richardson."

"Kate, I know this System and it can't be taken down by some military force. It will rebuild itself This is more complicated. Our best bet is to find our loved ones and create a life out on the outreaches. Somewhere far away from here where no one can find us."

"So, find our loved ones and just give up on everything else? How noble."

"I'm a realist. It's our only chance."

"I am too, and I want to survive. I lost it all when I lost my father. I'll find some way of getting to him but I'm not going to make enemies along the way. I may need these people."

Devin turns and leans on his elbows on the patio wall looking down below. He looks back at her who is softly pulling the patio door open and about to exit. "What do I have to do to get you to trust me as your father did?"

"Don't try so hard. I don't trust anyone," she whispers and slips inside.

Compound Cafeteria-Evening

Enrique and Theresa enter the cafeteria with their hair wet and trying to adjust their clothes. Devin sits rows away at a table looking as though he is deep in contemplation.

" 'Migo, you should have brewed some coffee waking us up at this god-awful hour, I'm still half asleep" Enrique chuckles with the sound of a wound in his voice. He looks at Theresa who couldn't even manage a fake smile and walks behind using him as a shield for her utter frustration. As they approach the table, Devin looks upward at them and his impassioned expression weakens Enrique's humor and silences him. He turns back to Theresa again who returns with an I-do-know-either shrug.

Farther away, behind a metal counter, Kate remains hidden out of view, listening. She pulls her gun in case she must do the inevitable or just merely defend herself if she is discovered. An awkward sense that she is doing the wrong thing momentarily overcomes her, but she shakes it off once the conversation begins. She scoots herself closer to the edge to listen to what is being said.

"Thank you for coming. I know what I'm about to ask the two of you is a tall order."

"Which would be?" Theresa asks with a hint of frustration.

"Helping me to escape."

Enrique laughs, "Seriously? You woke us up for this? Escape to where?"

"I want to get to my wife first. Then get Login for Kate."

Kate's eyes shifted about as her feelings conflicted with one another hearing that he would be going to get her father. Had she just misheard that? Did he know she was listening? Was this a ploy to get her on board because he knew she was here listening?

Enrique nods as if giving consideration and then his eyes bulge as he can't keep the laughter in anymore. He shakes his head after several hoots and sits across from him saying something in Spanish to himself before speaking. The word "loco" came up, which Devin knew meant crazy.

"Oh man, that is a suicide mission! God forgive me," Enrique does the sign of the cross, "But if your wife is still alive after what came over the media, that would be a miracle. Don't you think they know you will be coming after her?"

"I agree," Theresa interjected, "I admire the lone ranger shit but you are too hot an item, especially now-"

Devin holds his hand up, "Just hear me out: I know the System better than anyone. One thing I know for sure is that it cannot be taken down by any military force. It has to be done within-"

"Well, then tell that to Central Command and work with them!" Theresa shouts.

"I don't see that happening. I need to go a different route."

"Where have I heard that before," Theresa said rolling her eyes.

"This is a military outfit with big egos. They won't listen and I don't have time. I need to get my wife to safety now," Devin stands in anger, "Why doesn't anyone here understand that."

"No offense, 'migo, I understand you love her. But, we will have no protection. We could be killed before we ever get even a few miles away from here."

"You will have protection!" he turns, "You will have me! I know this System inside and out. There is nothing 100 bombs can do than I can't do 1000 times over from the inside. Once we get my wife, you can get me to a source to get inside the System and I can get take it down. We will find a way!"

Kate bit her lip in anger as she was pretty certain Richardson was lying. It was hard for her to believe that he had made such a switch from escaping to the outer reaches to now taking the System down. This was clearly a ploy to get them on board since the truth hadn't worked with her. She wanted to stand up and shout him down, but she stuffed it. She knew what she had to do. She would have to tell Kyle but for now she would keep a close watch on them and tell him in the morning. The anxiety of the involving him was even worse than her anger of Devin's, a man who was like a second father to her, selfish treachery.

Kyle Kelly's Patio--Morning

Kyle lays in a lounge chair wearing a thin white gown while basking in the morning sun. He is on a large patio that rests on the remains of the ruins of a portion of the compound from past wars. The sun is just rising over the waters in Mission Bay making them sparkle like small stars. On a small table next to him is a plate of a half-eaten breakfast. A repurposed humanoid named Stephanie is pouring him papaya juice.

"Things are going to be different now Stephanie. What a beautiful sunrise, isn't it?" he asks pulling himself up to the table to drink some of the juice.

"How are things going to be different, sir?"

"As the old saying goes, there's a light at the end of the tunnel," he raises up his full glass to cheer himself, "and that light is Devin Richardson." Kyle drinks up the juice. "More please, thank you, dear."

"Pardon me, sir. But I thought it was only just the other day, you were complaining how resistant he was to your plans and to the Resistance."

"That's about to be rectified. He isn't going anywhere until the bastard co-operates and since he wants to leave--badly," he smiled, "We have a win-win situation when it is all said and done."

"Hmmm. I'm not sure he is the type that can be held back for very long." Kyle looks at her as if she swore at him. The two of them turn to the sound of rubble moving and there stands Kate with a solemn look on her face.

"Kate, morning, what is it?"

"I," she looks to the side and chuckles nervously putting a hand on her hip, "I honestly don't know how to say this to you."

Kyle furrows his brow and gets up walking over to her, "What is it? You look as pale as a ghost."

Compound Corridor--Moments Later

Kyle Kelly cheaply dressed down in light fatigues with soldiers in tow storms down the corridor in a fury. His unbutton fatigue shirt flies like a cape as they storm down the corridor. The outfit reaches Devin Richardson's room and he cues the soldiers to beat on the door. The beatings of several soldiers on two sides of the door can be heard echoing in the corridor but it provides no response from inside or outside or anywhere around. Kyle parts the soldiers away from the door.

"Mr. Richardson, open this door, please! I need to speak to you right now." He pauses and then briefly beats on the door himself letting out his own anger. He brings his reddened face close to the door listening but hearing nothing. "Okay men, let's break it down."

A soldier comes forward and uses his key card that he swipes over the thumbprint identifier and the door opens.

"Smartass," Kyle smirks.

"Not everything is a comic book, Sarg."

"Yeah, yeah, just get inside."

Kate enters behind them moments later and her eyes widen in horror. "He's not here either? They couldn't have left already? There's been no notification of any craft leaving. I've been watching all night."

"Well look whom they have with them. You should have woken me as soon as you heard what they were up to."

"I will call Tom and get back to the garage! They couldn't have gotten far," she reaches for her phone.

Kyle storms out and his soldiers slowly follow suit.

*