Waking up to my retro alarm clock, I swung my kegs off the bed and stretched. Standing up, I walked to my dresser, pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a short-sleeved white shirt with a decal of a laughing dog, and headed to the shower. While standing under the scorching water, I think back to the strange vibe I picked up from my babysitters the day before, "well shit." I shut off the shower, put my clothes back in the dresser, and walked to the closet, pulling out my business suit, made of the best nearly indestructible materials I bought off the black market a few years back.

I grabbed a plain black leather belt, but my hand twitched, and I changed to a silver belt made of a folded sheet of cerulean steel. "Damn your intuition," but I still grab the belt and walk out of my bedroom. Walking into the kitchen, I see Ted and Arlene waiting at the back porch, so I let them in, and they sat at the kitchen table. "Coffee?" I ask.

Ted raises an eyebrow at me, but I cut him off, "ya, I know that's illegal blah blah. Want some or not?"

Arlene sighs, "I wouldn't mind, but we may get tested again soon, so better not."

With a raised eyebrow, I look between the two, they are excellent actors, but I Can still see a trace of guilt. Sighing, "It's like that?"

Arlene changes the subject, "I brought you some scrambled eggs, do you want them?"

"Are they real?" I ask doubtfully. Ted opens his mouth, but I wave him off. "Okay ya, I'll eat it." (It's better not to make actual food in front of the government)

After I finished my not egg, scrambled eggs, we headed to my garage and piled into my retro Ford. I call it a ford, but it's not; it is a modern something or another; I rebuilt it to look like one. Complete with a glass pack on my fake muffler for the sound. The neighbors are used to my eccentricities, so they barely even glance as I back out of my garage with my spinning fake rubber wheels hovering an inch above the pavement.

Driving down the street, I notice a group of kids playing costume or whatever they're calling it, not even bothering to look up at the approaching vehicle. Sighing, I pull back on the steering wheel, and we soar into the sky. I set the autopilot and lean my arm on the window, watching the cityscape pass by.

"What was it like?" asked Arlene in the silence while she also stared out at the city.

I smiled and shrugged, "honestly, the area has changed little. The cities were already spreading out back then. The only big change is the Tar River used to run along where Grossen highway now sits. The buildings got taller. The hills got smaller, the wildlife all went west."

"Do you hate what it has become?" Arlene asks.

"Not at all. If I did, would I have stayed?"

"Where are we headed?" asked Ted.

"I need to talk to my adopted son first. Then we can take Arlene shopping," I replied.

The flight took about three hours, landing in a large parking hanger where Central Park once stood. I got in a black car and headed for what used to be the Queens. Walking into the lobby of a building with mind-boggling curves that made my eyes ache, "architects are getting more outrageous every century," I say to my companions.

Walking up to the desk, I ask the attendant, "what floor is Charlie Collins' office." (Charlie moved his office here around three months ago from his old building that apparently failed in some inspection and got demolished. It probably wasn't an eyesore. Which is all they seem to build these days)

"Do you have an appointment?" Asked the bored clerk,

"No, just tell him his dad wants to speak to him."

The clerk looked me up and down, "Just tell him Mr. Collins is downstairs," says a chortling Arlene.

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

I wasn't all that amused, as this happens all the time. When we entered the elevator, Ted pressed the floor number. I stood in the back behind the couple. "Do I seem that young?"

Ted gave a gruff, "no, you don't, your to poised. You dress perfectly, and your eyes, it feels like you can look into a person's soul." Arlene burst into a fit of giggles at his words.

When the elevator door slid open, I put a hand on each of their shoulders, and as I walked past, I whispered, I'm going to miss you both. They both paused for a split second before following me, glancing at each other. Knocking on Charlie's office, his daughter soon opened it, "Hello Sally, are you still working as your father's secretary?"

"Grandpa, we missed you at dinner last week," she said accusingly.

"Sorry, I must have forgotten," I didn't. I don't enjoy seeing more of my family fading away.

Sally is in her mid-sixties but still looking healthy. She smiled sadly, "I know the real reason, but Dad really needs you to come by more often. His health is failing faster all the time."

Sally walked me to Charlie's office, and from the corner of my eye, I see Arlene's countenance beginning to fall. I don't want to worry Sally, not until she has her father to support her, anyway. So I nodded to Ted and directed his gaze at Arlene.

Ted's a smart man. He immediately understands and tells Sally, "we will wait out here if that's fine with you."

"If someone comes in, just knock on the door, and I will return immediately," Sally replies.

Nodding thanks to Ted, I follow Sally into the office, seeing my son for the first time in a few months. He is in his eighties, but you couldn't tell by looking he is still hale and fit. His daughter is still such a worrywart. I walk up to his desk before he can look up from his work and hold out my hand. "Son, how have you been lately." Startling the man, I grab his hand and pull him around the desk, hugging him.

"Dad, you still look as young as ever," he jokes, "while I get older every day, in few more years, the sags over my eyes might just cover my entire face."

Hiding my sorrow behind a mask of laughter (I didn't fool them; the eyes are the window to the soul.) We chatted about our lives for a while, then I reached into my jacket and pulled out a package. "My updated will, just in case," they both freeze. Sally looks accusingly toward the office door. "Don't blame them; their good kids," I say. "This was going to happen; eventually, every power grows stronger with time. Even though I only let out that mine is longevity, it's still a power, and one as old as mine is dangerous."

"What's going to happen? I mean, how will they get you?" sobbed Sally into her Father's shoulder.

"My guess since I'm close to Ted and Arlene, they're going to put them in jeopardy, forcing my hand."

"Where?" Charlie finally asks, after thinking about the problem for a while.

"I will take them out of the city, call it sightseeing, maybe the Rockies, so no one gets hurt if I mess up."

Charlie sat thinking for a few minutes, while Sally and I reminisced about her mother. When he looked up, he asked. Will they expect you to leave the cities? They may have a plan to do something around here after you leave. We know collateral casualties mean nothing to them.

Stellarman…. no Joshua (I knew I would remember eventually) will expect me to leave. I can guarantee that maniac has everything planned out no matter where I go. He will change his arrangements to match.

We talked together for another hour, going over scenarios, mostly wasting time, but it was nice, and the two of them seemed to appreciate it. Before leaving the office, I walked to the window overlooking the old Manhattan, took a device from my pocket, and pressed the button. Far away at my house, the ground shook, as it seemed the entire property turned inside out. After maybe thirty seconds, it left nothing but an empty lot, with a for sale sign stuck in the ground. In the office in queens, my pocket got a little heavier. I placed my house in my spatial pocket and exited the room.

I strode over to the napping couple, gently shook them awake smiled, "it's time to go. We need to get some warmer clothes."

Arlene hiccuped, and a single tear rolled down her cheek, Sally having followed me out, saw this, asked, "Is there no way for grandpa to be left alone?"

Ted grimaced, "sorry, this is an order from the top. We can't do anything but follow if I could..."

But I stopped him there. "No, you can't, cross these guys, or you will disappear. Don't even think about that once we're out of the office. I know he will have psychics following us."

Ted's communicator buzzed, and he tapped his ear, listening, frowning. "Slate, your house vanished. They want to know if you're running?"

"Can you?" A hopeful Arlene asked.

Sally walked to the girl, wrapped an arm around her, and replied, "even I know better than running from the government, hun."

Looking at Ted, I tell him, "no, I won't run. Let them know we're heading for the Rockies once we finish clothes shopping."

Ted turned his head to Arlene, seeing her crying into Sally's shoulder, "maybe we should leave her here."

Arlene jerks her head up at that, "no, I will see this through. It's the least we owe him." Arlene turns to me, "I was an orphan under your patronage, and Ted's family's house got destroyed by a super battle, and it was your charities that paid for the rebuild."

"Okay, then let's go," and I walk out of the office and straight into the elevator without looking back (I couldn't, I didn't want to see the looks on their faces). Two hours later, we were flying toward the Rockies, dressed in warm jackets.