Friday, March 16h, 2029

GAVIN

I’m looking up at the warehouse, Andy’s looking at me, Lindsey is looking at Andy, and Sarah is looking at Iris. It lasts only a moment, but I’m aware of the web we’ve made. Somehow, that seems to fit—tiny little pieces of history have come together and formed one time. The perfect roll of the die—the flip of a coin. Millions of chances to be taken and all of them lead to right here, right now. And they don’t stop here, they only meet up only to go on their merry way again. Hopefully, they converge once more at the time of Jack’s death—that time that Lindsey spoke about. When we can all celebrate and relax on the beach. They’ll be celebrating without me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. No, I can change the future. That’s what I’m here to do. I’m here to change the future, I have to keep that in mind.

“Who should break the news to Jay?” I ask.

“I guess we’ll bring it up when it is time for it to come up,” Andy answers.

“What does that mean?” Iris asks.

“Whenever we get through of the questions.”

Sarah nods.

Andy is the first one to walk into the building followed by Lindsey, Sarah and Iris are next to walk in. I follow in the rear and we enter through a rusty metal door posted at the entrance of the building. It creaks as it opens on its hinge. Andy stops at the end of the hallway and he presses the button to the pager next to the door on the wall.

“Hey, it’s Andy. We’re back and have a lot to talk about,” he says.

Rushed footsteps flutter on the other side of the door and can bet that Jay had been working on something important before we’d shown up. Just then, a familiar voice rings out over the pager, “Y-Yes? Were you successful in your attempts? Was it him?”

“Let us in and we’ll explain,” I say.

“Right, right. My bad, I’ve just been so busy researching and studying this contained specimen and-”

“Jay, the door first,” Andy interrupts.

“Right, sorry.”

I hear a mechanical sound as the tumblers of the door unlock and it swings open to reveal a large warehouse space—largely emptied of the storage facilities that had once rested here. It is now replaced by various pieces of laboratory equipment and about a dozen computers nearly lined up side by side. Jay is standing behind one of the desks with a bunch of equipment beside him. His hair is starting to gray a little bit, but only in the front. He wears his stress like a new fur coat.

“I spy with my little eye, two new accomplices,” Jay says, a little whimsical, but it fades quickly. “I do not spy a third and I also don’t see Jen.”

“She’s gonna meet back up with us,” Andy says.

“And there’s an explanation for the two newbies, actually,” I say. “This is Sarah,”

“Really? Is that…” Jay says and then stops himself. “I...I do see it,” Jay says. He walks over slowly towards Sarah and looks into her eyes, a curious look in his. “You can’t be…” he says, quietly.

“Can’t be…what?” Sarah asks.

“It’s been sixteen long years since I’d seen you last, I remember your eyes,” Jay says.

“She’s the one that I saw the day that Sal died right?” I ask.

Jay nods. “You...” he says to Sarah, “...were with my son in 2014...and Sal’s two kids, the two who didn't make it,” He trails off.

“What happened to this Sal guy?” Iris asks.

“Who is this Sal guy?” Sarah adds.

“Sal Muhn was a scientist alongside myself and various others. His two children were killed in the very experiments that you were put through, Sarah,” Jay explains.

“He was also killed because he refused to follow Jack’s orders,” I add.

“Oh.”

“So, what of you?” Jay asks, looking at Iris. “Are you another…no, that couldn’t be right, I don’t recognize you at all.”

“No, I’m not infected with Radical-9, but I’m here to help all that I can! I’m Iris McCallum, Mr. Rein,” Iris extends her hand and I laugh.

“Well, it’s good to have you aboard, Iris,” Jay says.

“And your son, he’s a good kid,” Sarah adds.

“My…son. So that means…?” He asks.

“And therein lies the rub,” Andy begins.

“What happened?”

“Long story short is that we found him, but he was stolen away by Micah.” I say.

“Damn it,” Jay says. “Probably being taken to California.”

“California?” Lindsey asks, cocking her head.

“How would you gather that?” Andy asks.

“I had a bad feeling about all of this. I’d seen it in my dreams last night. At first I couldn’t tell if it was my boy, my John. Then I saw his eyes.”

“You saw it in your dreams?” Sarah asks.

“Jay has the same power as you do, Sarah,” Andy explains.

“You seem to know a lot about a person based on their eyes,” She says.

“There’s a lot you can tell, like how a person is really feeling,” Jay begins. “There is a whole story just waiting to be read there, it just takes a person willing to read it,” he adds.

“Hey, I totally think that too,” Iris says.

“Well Ms. McCallum, it looks like you’re well met,” he smiles.

“So, he’s in California?” Andy asks, getting back on topic.

“Most likely, I saw Oliver Avery in the dream. Since he’s stationed way out there I’d say that’s the most likely choice,” Jay says.

“How would he have gotten there so fast?” Sarah asks.

“Micah’s power is so corrupted and overblown, his is like a leap through time compared to my jump,” I begin.

“Which means he could cross the entire country in what seems like seconds,” Lindsey adds, realizing.

“This is very bad,” Jay says.

“Well, what’re we waiting for? We need to get moving, then!” Iris says.

“C’mon, we have to hurry. Did you bring the car?” He asks.

“Yeah, it’s sitting out front,” Andy replies.

“We’re driving to California?” Sarah asks.

“I don’t have the expenses to fly us all out there,” Jay says.

“Well, then car it is, shall we get going?” Andy says.

“Yes, let’s hurry,” Lindsey says.

I nod in agreement and we head out of the door. “Did you manage to make any progress on the specimen?” I ask.

Jay looks at me and then back to the computers behind us. “I think I may have a solution to our problem, yes.”

“Problem?” Iris asks.

“This was what I said I was working with Jay on. We were trying to find a way to neutralize the explosive reaction of Radical-9,” I say.

“And I think I have a way. It's going to take some time to prepare, but in short I can construct a sort of gun that shoots out radiation. Think of like a police officer's speed gun, invisible to the naked eye but still effective. This radiation would counteract the Radical-9 within the system of whomever you shoot it at,” he says.

“That's excellent!”

He nods, patting the pocket of his jacket. “Once we get a place to stop we can test it out.”

“I...just had a bad realization,” Sarah says, “How are we all going to fit in the car?” Sarah asks.

“I can’t afford to get another car,” Andy says.

I begin thinking, and then I have an idea. “Jay, you can have my seat,” I say.

Andy looks over to me, his eyes widen just a little bit. “Gavin, you’re not staying here?” he asks.

“I’m not staying. He can have my seat because I’ll jump.” I say.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lindsey asks.

“I may be able to jump out of this line and then back in—at least somewhat close to California, hopefully.”

“May?” Sarah asks.

“I’ve never done something this specific before.” I say.

“I repeat my question,” Lindsey crosses her arms, “This isn’t practice, this is walking into the big leagues.”

“Well then ring the bell.” I say. “I’m not going to deprive Jay the chance to see John and you still have Jen and Jake to think about,” I say.

“You don’t have to go in alone,” Andy says.

“He’s not,” Iris pipes up, shocking everyone. She takes a deep breath and walks beside me. “He’s not going to go alone, because I’ll go with him,” she says.

“Is that even possible?” Lindsey asks.

“I...I don’t know, but what kind of new friend would I be if I didn’t try?”

“You’re not infected with Radical-9, though,” Sarah says.

“Then infect me!” She says. “Let me help! Nobody goes alone here.”

“No, I’m not going to allow that, it’s too dangerous.” I say.

“Oh, come on.” Iris says, “I didn’t come along and listen to your million year long story to not help when I can.”

“We don’t even know if that would be possible,” I say.

“Have you ever tried?” Iris asks.

“N-No,” Andy says, unsure. “But I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“If Jay’s gun really works then it wouldn’t matter, right? Once we meet back up you could just zap me back to normal.”

“It’s not magic,” Jay says. “It’s not an immediate—”

“All I’m hearing,” Iris interrupts, “Is concern for my safety from everyone. I appreciate it, but I have to be able to look after myself, and Gavin’s right. We have too many people to fit in this car, you’re going to need space for Jen.” She turns to me, “Now, I’m going with you, and that’s final. So come on,” She holds out her arm. “I’ve taken enough science classes to know blood contact can spread viruses.”

“Iris, I really don’t—” Sarah begins, but stops when she sees the fire in her eyes. “You...really want to?”

“I need to.”

“Okay,” Lindsey says, and I turn to her quicker than the wind.

“Excuse me, what?!”

“If you went alone you’d treat it like a suicide mission if it came to it. You could say everything to the moon and back, but we all know it.” Lindsey’s voice is tense.

“A...are you suggesting I be put on suicide watch?” I ask. What?!

She shakes her head, taking in a deep breath. “Of course not. I’ve just known you a long time.”

“I...” Andy starts, bringing his hand to the back of his head, “...I agree.”

“You too?” My hands feel clammy, and I’m aware of the sweat running down my neck.

Iris hasn’t flinched. “We have to at least try. If it works we have two people closer to John.”

“There are so many reasons why it shouldn’t work,” I say.

“But none of them have been confirmed.”

I sigh, letting my body let loose all the tension. “Fine. Fine, fine fine.” I look to my side and see one of the smashed out windows of the warehouse—the shards below on the grass almost all gone, but I find one. I walk over and hold it in my hand, eyeing it over. “We try it once. No waiting. If anything looks like it’s even remotely going to go wrong I’m backing out and going alone.”

She nods, “I’m ready. Just cut your hand and I’ll do mine.”

I shake my head, “No, not on the hand. You’ll need that.” I draw a thin line of blood on my forearm, wincing as it tears the skin. I let out a breath as I stop halfway between my elbow and my hand. “Do it smart, not cool.”

She looks me up and down, stopping on the trailing blood—its white trail dripping onto the grass. “Your blood...”

“You cut or we split,” I say.

“Right, right,” she shakes her head, and then looks down to her arm. “So best case scenario is I get your powers.”

“Any case but that is a worst case,” I say, holding myself tight with my free arm.

She draws a quick line and lets out a cry—it goes all the way up to her elbow, but it’s not as deep as mine. She grits her teeth and stares dead into me, walking up and holding her arm up. “Raise it,” she says, the fire back.

I nod, and hold my arm up to hers. In an instant I feel my vision start to daze. There’s a chill in the air and suddenly I see the fire behind her eyes intensify. Around me I see that we’ve jumped—we’re standing in the dimension between dimensions. It is full of purples and blacks and like some sort of dark void and it houses all of the different timelines of the world floating by in little bubble-like pockets.

“What is this place?” She asks, looking around with her mouth open.

“It...worked,” I say, incredulous.

“Well, duh. We tried it instead of thinking on it forever.”

“It...worked,” I repeat.

“Yeah, we’re not going to sit here and say the same things—at least until you answer my question.”

“This...” I blink, still trying to believe it, “...This is how I jump. This is the ocean of all different timelines.”

“So we could go anywhere?” She asks.

“Our goal is to jump out of our current into some other time, and then jump back in.”

“Okay, you’re going to have to lead the way...this is totally tripping me out.”

“Well, we don’t want to end up stranded in some other time,” I say. “I haven’t done this...god, since I came back to this line eleven years ago. Back then I thought of where I wanted to go in my mind and I would follow my mind’s eye to that location.”

“Well, I want to go to California—the timeline doesn’t matter. That should make it easy for us to make it back to California of our time, right?”

“You’ll have to think of something specific—and we’ll have to each think of that same thing,” I say. “How about...”

“The San Francisco Bay,” she says, cutting me off. “I always wanted to go there—I read about it a lot a few years back.

“The Bay?”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to have this huge skyline of the golden gates bridge.”

“You know we’re not going to stay, right?” I ask.

“Well, yeah, but I’d love to see it at least once.”

I sigh, “Okay, the bay area it—”

~...~

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I’m rolling onto the hard wood of a boardwalk pier. Above me “PIER 39” is plastered on the side of a building opposite of the upset ocean beside me. A heavy wind crawls up my back spraying ocean-draft across my face. It’s dark out—probably around midnight and nobody else seems to be around. Except for Iris. I let loose my tight grip.

She pulls herself to a standing position. I see that a streak of her blood has splashed on the pier where she slid. Mine, too, but it’s white to her red.

“Are...you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, just a little sore, you?”

“I’ll be good,” I say. “I can’t believe that really worked.”

“You’re still on that?” She asks, stretching. “I’m a boss, so of course it’d work.”

I shake my head, “The part that had me most confused is you ending up here. When I jumped it was my mind that was always being sent from body to body in different timelines.”

“That’s not what you said originally,” she says.

“Yeah, I know,” I say, holding my arm. “That’s because I’ve been avoiding telling you and Sarah about this,” I hold my hand below the cut.

“Yeah, what’s the deal with that—are you dying?”

It gets a slight smirk from me. “No. It’s much more complicated than that.”

“Of course it is,” she says, without humor. She takes a step closer to me and holds my arm up, looking at the blood, then back to her own arm. “Guess I went a little too far, huh? Maybe if I went shorter mine’d go white.”

“This...is hard to say, because I don’t want any of you to look or think of me differently.”

She cocks her head, “I’ve known you all of one day. My thoughts of you can’t change all that much,” she says, her eyes rising. “Although, that’s even hard to say considering it’s changed from cute guy to superhero. So I guess try me,” she crosses her arms.

“W-wait rewind a second,” I say.

“No, sorry hero. You don’t travel through time. You had something more important to explain,” she grins.

What...?

“I...uh, this body isn’t mine. Now that I’ve said it I’ve thought of ten different ways to say it better, um, I told you about how I visited the future—the alternate 2060.”

“Yes, I’m following along,” she says.

“That was the first time I jumped...that was from our 2018. The thing about that was my body from 2018 didn’t go to 2060—only my mind did. My body—it succumbed to the Radical-9 poisoning and exploded—destroying Denver. I’m...supposed to be dead in this line...the only reason I’m not is because of Micah, believe it or not. In his time he constructed...I guess you could call them robots, but they’re more...bionic. Everything’s a substitute made to look and act like the real thing—skin, blood, bones. But none of it is human. Micah hollowed out one’s neural network and used it like a net to catch my mind when it arrived in 2060. Ever since then I’ve been bonded to it. It doesn’t age normally and bleeds this white...” I hold my arm out, “...this blood substitute.”

I expect a lot of things in the seconds that pass. Screams, confusion, questions upon questions, but I don’t expect the kiss.

“Calm down,” she says. “I said you were cute. Looks like you can rewind time.”

“I...I feel like all of that might have...”

“Gone over my head?” She holds her arms behind her. “No,” shaking her head, “I understood. It’s not what I expected, but I’ve learned to toss my expectations to the side when it comes to this Radical-9 business.”

“Right...” I say. “You’ve perhaps been the most unexpected reaction to who I’ve told that to.”

She smiles, “I’ve told you all that I’ve always dreamed of something more important being out there for me. You’ve all but confirmed those dreams.”

“I...”

“Do we have to go right away?” She asks. “I mean, we literally have time on our side. Could we stay here for a while and still make it back to our time when we need to be?”

“I...I don’t know,” I say.

“Like how you don’t know how my body made the jump when yours only did when it became a robot?”

“Y-yeah,” I say, swallowing hard.

“Well, you can relax. I’m not a robot. I don’t know why, either. Looks like I’m just a new breed of hero.”

“We probably should—”

“Test out this theory.” She says, walking to the edge of the pier, looking around at her feet. She stretches once more before sitting down on the edge with her legs dangling off the side. “At least watch the sun rise.”

“That’s...”

“Time we would be spending cramped up in the car anyhow. Come on, it’s only a few hours at most. It’s like Lindsey said...we’re more than this virus. I want to prove it.” She extends her hand out.

More than the virus. More than the virus...we can be more than the virus. We...can save John. We can also watch the sun rise. We can be more than the virus.

The sun sets out on the horizon. Iris is sitting beside on the edge of the pier. The wind blows out across the water—but it’s certainly not the winter-winds that we came from. It must be late spring when we are, now. It’s nice.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve just...watched the sun like this.” I say.

Iris looks down to the water just below our feet before shifting back. “Yeah, I used to look at the sun set a whole lot. I never had much of anything to think about it since I saw it so much, but now it’s a bit different. This...this is an entirely different sun than the one I looked at, right?” I nod. “But...it looks the same. I think that it doesn’t matter that it is. It still gives the same warmth—I think back to those same memories. I think...” She looks back up to the sky, “...I think that your body is like that. It may not be the same, but you’re still you.”

I think of the memories that I have. They’re all mine, and nobody can take them from me. She does make sense. “Thank you, Iris.” I lean back and take in the salty air, “I know the others try their best to make me feel normal. I don’t always show my appreciation like I should. It feels good.”

She smiles, “I’m happy I can help.”

JOHN

Micah walks toward the end of the hall carrying me across his shoulder. He begins to shift back to the human-form I’d seen him in earlier. He’s naked—the shift tore off all that he was wearing, but he’s not any bit uncomfortable by it. I am still unable to break free of his grip, and it is too late for me to try as we reach a door to an elevator. I hear the door open and he tosses me inside; I land hard on my side. In the shadows of the light behind him, I can see the jack o’ lantern grin return to his face before the door slams shut.

There’s movement below me. A mechanical hum roars to life and the room begins shaking. I set my hands on the ground to try and stabilize myself, but the room buckles once and I fall back over. Just what is happening? I make it to my knees. My muscles are aching from being electrocuted. I grit my teeth and get a balanced foot down. The room shakes again, but I stay firm. I reach out around me and I find a wall to hold myself against until I make it to my feet.

The doors open again and a blinding light spills into the elevator. Outside is a small somewhat dome-shaped room. There’s a sloped ramp that curves around the back of the room and in the middle is a large machine that’s shaped like an egg with two supports plugged in on each side. Strapped to the front of the machine was a bluish-gray flesh sack that almost resembles a cartoony alien. The hair on the top of the scalp had receded as far as it could go and a bag valve mask plugs up the mouth. Its chest is rising slowly. It’s alive.

Its yellow eyes open, there’s but the dullest hint of blue behind them. “Jonathan. You’ve made it.” The creature didn’t move, it’s mouth is still plugged with the mask. It’s still in my mind.

“You’re Reinhardt? You look like...a monster.”

Reinhardt’s body blinks once, makes a wheezing sound full of sloshing internal fluid, then blinks again. “I...am alive. With you I can be more.”

I cock my head, “I’m not helping you do anything. Not in a million years. I don’t see how you could think that you can stop me from leaving...” I look past him—there’s an array of long glass windows.

“They lead nowhere useful to you. Unless you wish to kill yourself, that is. We both know you aren’t going to do that.”

“K-Kill myself?” I back away from the machine. “No, I’m not doing that, and I’m not staying here. I’m not falling for your reverse psychology BS.” I turn and pace around the machine toward the open panes and step out.

“Jonathon...”

...And I’m standing on a steep precipice hundreds of feet in the air, overlooking a tumultuous riverbed below.

“The jump would kill you—the water would not save you. If you are so inclined to be a contrarian to the very end I can so easily use Sarah for my plans.” Reinhardt says slowly.

“This is insane,” I say, my vision getting woozy seeing how high I really am. There’s got to be a way out.

“You are inside the Statue of Liberty. Do you believe that you can live a fall from the crown?”

“The Statue of Liberty?! I’m...I’m in California?”

Suddenly my body lifts into the air and my muscles are all extended as far as they can go—I cannot move. I’m pulled back inside, around the machine to the ugly form again.

“I wanted to see you before we continued. Nothing more. I am satisfied. You will be a perfect host. Now, a gift before you return to Micah for more tests.” One of his depreciated arms rises—nubs for fingers begin to glow with an eerie light. My body moves closer to him until it makes contact with his index finger.

There’s a warmth that flows through my shirt to my chest. It a matter of moments it burns and I can’t help but scream—I can’t worm free from his grip. Reinhardt’s eyes seem to go wide, there’s almost a smile there. and he grins. I can’t move and it feels like he’s burning a hole through my entire chest. Finally, he removes his hand from my chest and I drop my head down, my body still standing tall. I’m sweating and breathing heavily and my chest has become numb.

“Leave.”

I am floating back to the elevator. I try to look away from the creature in the machine, but I can’t move until the elevator doors close—slicing the link.

My body collapses onto the ground and I cough a hoarse sound. The hum begins again and doesn’t stop until the doors open to a fully clothed Micah. The grin is the last thing I see before it all goes dark.

SARAH

“Now, don’t get yourself killed, alright?” Andy’s looking right at Gavin. It’s a simple request, but one I’ve been thinking a lot about since the two of them disappeared—that was a shock in of itself. But their insistence got me thinking: If I was in a position to save John, but I had to make that ultimate sacrifice, could I do it? That answer I think is a little different for everyone. I think Gavin would answer yes without a second thought. Andy’s scared that he would.

I...I don’t know what I’d do. I’d love to get John back and save him, that’s not the hard part. But what comes after? What would he think if someone traded their life for his? Would that guilt haunt him? Would it cause him to take his own life, thereby nullifying the initial sacrifice? I’d like to say yes, but I’m afraid I’d freeze up in the moment thinking of all the consequences. That’s not a brave answer, I understand this, but I’m not really a brave person. So that’s okay. I just have to be me and do my best.

After Gavin and Iris jumped we got in the ZX Hybrid and took off. Jay was especially nervous—he felt guilty about bringing another person into Radical-9’s clutches, but I helped assure him that Iris had her mind made up, and there was no changing that.

I haven’t known Iris for long, but the good thing about having the ability to hear her thoughts about me is I can tell she genuinely likes me, and I feel the same back. That’s all I need, really.

The ZX Hybrid sped along the emptied streets of the Pulaski Skyway until we crossed over into New Jersey—this was a few hours ago now—and we’ve been driving on the Pulaski ever since.

Andy explains that the highway is not used much anymore since the big earthquake that rocked this place pretty good four years ago. The people just kind of gave up on it since it’s much too far for anybody to make on foot. He also told me about the tires of the Hybrid. Apparently they’re a new rubber polymorph that absorbs in the debris and stones in the road—anything that might normally ruin cars’ tires out here.

“Sarah?” Jay asks. I can see his eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror.

“Yes?”

“My boy…John, could you tell me a bit more about him?” He seems more nervous than any parent should have to be asking about their child. It’s understandable, though.

“I wish I could tell you everything you want to know,” I begin, “I only knew him for a few days to be honest, but he was very memorable—to me at least.”

“What do you mean?” He asks.

“He seemed very quiet with people he wasn’t comfortable with—I uh, saw that first hand. The first dream we shared was before we actually met.”

“He gets that from me,” he chuckles, nodding.

“He seemed like he was very smart. I didn’t get the opportunity to know what about—he struck me as the kind of person who easily hones in on the thing that they’re the best at. Once we save him I want to learn what that is.”

“Me too,” Jay nods. “I...I have so much lost time to make up for.”

“He was-is…a good guy,” I say, catching myself. Jay turns to look at me again. “He saved me. We were in my car and we slid off of the road. It was this big accident, but he was the one who dragged us both out of the car. We were all scraped up pretty bad, but he managed to find the strength to get us out of there,” I say.

Jay smiles and then turns back around, “Thank you, Sarah.”

We turn off of the Pulaski and onto the Lincoln Highway. It’s similarly barren like before. The sun has begun to set, painting the sky a faded orange. The road rolls under us and I watch as the trees pass in large groups. The branches are still bare—this past winter has been a particularly bad one. The snow came in earlier than we’d expected and is taking forever to leave.

“I think I see a place to stop for the night—I don’t know if anybody will be there, but I’m going to pull in for the night,” Andy says.

“The Continental Inn,” Lindsey says, reading the sign. “I have heard a bit about that place,” Lindsey begins.

“You have?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s this really scenic inn that is said to have a really good array of paintings inside. At least...it did.”

Andy pulls into the abandoned parking lot of the Continental Inn. Its white base seems to be chipping in some corners, but all in all it is holding up together rather well. There is a large tree out front; its leaves completely fallen for the winter. I open my door and step out of the car, stretching as I do. The others join me as a nice breeze blows across our bodies. Not too cold, just nice enough to know we’re outdoors.

“I’ve stayed here once before,” Jay pipes in, scratching his chin.

“You have? Are there really nice paintings inside?” I ask.

Jay begins walking to the inn and right after the rest of us begin walking as well to catch up, “I do remember a bit about them, yes. It’s been such a long time since I went—about twenty three years ago. I wish to see them again,” he says.

“Twenty three?” Andy asks.

“Around there, I believe it was sometime in 2006 or so. It was actually where I took my…my wife for our honeymoon,” Jay says, trailing off.

“Oh, I’m assuming she’s…?” I ask, not sure if I can even finish asking, but I don’t need to. Jay nods slowly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He reaches the door and then looks up at the building. He looks back down and grabs for the handle. With a loud creak the wooden door opens up and the orange sunset begins filling the dark hallway with light. “Her name was Karen…” he begins. “She was the most wonderful person. She loved life and everything about it. She was the kind of person who would tell you what she felt when she felt it and wasn’t afraid to celebrate the good things.”

“She sounds like an amazing person.”

“She was a leader and a damn good one,” Jay says. He walks inside of the inn and I follow right behind him. I catch the door before it shuts fully and hold it open for Andy and Lindsey.

“A leader?” I ask, letting them both pass me and then finally entering in myself. The door shuts behind us and the light leaves the room.

“She wasn’t afraid.” Jay replies, moving forward in the darkness on account of his voice growing farther and farther away. I walk faster through the darkness to catch up with them, but find it so difficult because it is pitch black. Finally, the room bursts to light as I see Jay in the back of a large rectangle shaped room near a light switch. “Good to know that this was still in this general proximity. I’ll be honest, I was guessing a little bit,” he says.

“What do you mean, about Karen, I mean?” Lindsey asks.

“She wasn’t afraid to take pride in herself, to claim ownership over her accomplishments. She would help others out when they needed it and she felt good about doing it. She’d always told me that one problem with our society is that doing good was never praised enough—never fully appreciated—which in turn causes people not to do it as often. People are expected to do good deeds without taking ownership in that good. They have to be modest lest they run the risk of being claimed arrogant and cocky. Karen would always say ‘Let good do good and be given good in return.’” Jay says, looking around on the different walls around us.

I follow his gaze as I enter the room and I see a lot of beautiful paintings hung up on the walls. I recognize a few from artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Van Gogh, but there are also some artists who are foreign to me. Each painting seems to be better than the last and I find myself turning around on my heels to look at every single one of them.

“Wow, that’s really deep, I wish I could have met her,” I say.

“Yeah, she was the best. The world could sure use more people like her.”

“Might I ask…how was it that she passed?” I ask.

“She had cancer. It was a tumor in her brain and it spread throughout the last few years of her life. She passed in 2014, but she’d been dealing with it all since 2006.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“She was given a ninety percent chance of living at the first diagnosis. It started out small, something that had been common in most people that survive. Of course, we were shocked, but we had been hopeful in her odds.”

“And it turned out that she wasn’t so lucky…” Andy says.

“No...No she was not. It was manageable at first. Things went along slowly, but we managed, we adapted, we survived. Then in 2013 the tumor in her brain grew. It grew immensely and she began losing bits of herself nearly every day. Some days she’d forget where she was, or even who I was. I then hand-made her a keepsake to remember me by, so every-time she would look at it she would see me.”

“What’d you make her?”

“It was a watch. It was a one of a kind that didn’t exist anywhere else. It came from my own two hands and I even personally engraved our initials into it.”

“Aw, that’s very sweet of you,” Lindsey says.

“I’ve always had problems with my heart and I used to live in Germany before I met Karen and moved here to America. Back in Germany they don’t…or didn’t, use the same kinds of generic pacemakers they use here. Each one is individually unique and given an electronic code on the inside of the machine. I’d known my code mentally for as long as I can remember and each of these codes is magnetically linked to one of earth’s poles for coordination. I fine tuned the watch so it could act like a GPS to that exact code.”

“So, it could locate you wherever you were?” Andy asks.

“Yes. It was synced onto my exact position no matter where I stood, barring magnetic interference.”

This watch he’s talking about sounds familiar, I think I heard something like this before. “Jay, when I first met John he wore a watch and said it was a Pulsar Mark II. Would this happen to be the same watch?” I ask.

“John still has it? That’s…that’s wonderful,” Jay’s face lights up.

“So it is the same one?” Andy asks.

“Yes, once Karen passed away and I was left with John I had a choice to make. This was when Jack had gone off the deep end and forced us to test our children for a second time, this being the one with You, John and Sal’s two children.” Jay says, looking right at me. “I had a choice to make, so before any further testing could happen I had to get my son out of there. I sent him to friends I knew in New York and with him I sent the watch.”

“If John has the watch, do you think that he could use it to find where you are?” Lindsey asks.

A look of sudden surprise crosses Jay’s face. It takes him a full minute to finally react again, “Oh. My. God.”

“What, Jay, tell us what it is?” I ask.

“Stupid! I have been so stupid, if only I’d known he’d kept the watch!” Jay says, pacing around the room.

Andy stops him in his tracks and places both of his arms on Jay’s shoulders.

“Stop, what are you going on about? And in English, please,” he says.

“The watch’s detection doesn’t work just one way. If I could build another receiver like the one in that watch I could find the exact coordinates of that watch’s location.”

“Wow, really?” Lindsey asks.

“Really. That watch is both constantly transmitting and receiving the electronic code that is synced up to my pacemaker. If I can get that receiver, then we can find out exactly where John is and how close we are to him,” he says.

“Jay, that is genius.” I say.

“Yeah, good going,” Lindsey nods. I notice she’s fumbling around in her pockets absentmindedly.

“It is, but we’ll need to balance it with making the gun to neutralize the Radical-9. Tons to do and so little time to do it in.”

Andy cracks his knuckles, “We’re going to be of no help to John and the rest if we’re all dropping from exhaustion. We need sleep and seeing as this place is abandoned for the time being, I say we take advantage of that.”

“I agree,” I say.

“Let’s go scope out the sleeping situation,” Lindsey says, she takes her hands out of her pockets, there’s a slight hesitation. “Just breathe. Just breathe,” her runaway thoughts say. “It’s okay.”

What? I can actually hear hers? That's odd, I haven't been able to hear them in a while. Maybe it's because the others have Radical-9 in their system and it acts as a sort of deterrent?

I nod my head and we check the different doors around the inn. There were four doors in the main rectangular room we were in. Two of them lead to a back room which leads behind the main desk and the other two lead to two single rooms. There’s a small staircase which leads up to the second floor which has seven rooms with king sized beds.

“Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about room sizes being an issue,” Jay says.

“I’ll take the bottom one here on the left,” I say.

“Just a single? You sure?” Lindsey asks.

“Yeah, I’m sure. It’d be more comfortable for me anyway, I sleep-er…slept on a single back at home and it will make it easier for me to adjust to this whole deal,” I say.

“Fair enough,” Andy says.

“I guess I’ll take the first door on the left of the second floor there. Lord knows I can use a good night’s rest on a king sized bed,” Jay says, laughing.

“Andy and I will take one on the second floor as well, most likely the one next to yours then, Jay,” Lindsey says.

“Well, I’m exhausted. I’m going to get some rest right now and I suggest that you all do the same,” Andy says.

“Yeah, I was planning on it,” Lindsey agrees.

Jay nods, “I’m going to check some things out first. I’ll see if I can use some of the things left around here to make another receiver. I’m not very hopeful, but who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky and find some scrap metal and electrical bits,” Jay says.

“Okay, but don’t stay up all night, you’re going to need your energy.” I say.

“I know, I’m only going to search for about an hour or so, not too long.”

“Alright, good night to you both, we’ll be heading upstairs now,” Lindsey says.

He nods his head and smiles at me before turning around towards the stairs. I turn and walk to the door. I open and step inside the dark room. The light from the main lobby spills into the room revealing a small, delicate bed and a desk beside it with a lamp resting on top. Once turned on I can see that there is a small fireplace on the other side of the room; the innards are completely hollow, though. I shut the door behind me and begin unzipping my coat. Memories of my mother come flooding back to me as I toss the coat onto the bed. I regret not saying good-bye to her, but I know I wouldn’t be strong enough to say good-bye and actually mean it. This whole thing is just so crazy. I just want to find John and get this over with.