I woke up in a helicopter feeling like hot garbage. My limbs were weak, my eyesight was blurry, and my sense of smell seemed to have all but vanished. I felt like someone had cut my brain in half and stuffed my skull with wool. It was like the world’s worst hangover and a full body beatdown had a baby. In short, I felt like shit.

GG looked at me with concern. “Are you alright?”

I slowly patted myself down. I wasn't injured, but I could still remember how it felt when KB broke my neck. I remembered how it felt to die.

“How did I get here?” I asked, looking through the displays that functioned as the helicopter’s windows. I recognized the familiar white roof of Simon’s factory. “How did we get back to Porto?”

GG reached over to touch my hand. “We just left the house a few minutes ago. Don't you remember? Or are you playing a prank on your favorite aunt?”

I checked my internal clock to see how long I had been out, then pinged a King Aerospace satellite to double check the date. Every external source I could reach told me the same thing, that somehow I had traveled back in time. Which was impossible.

If the clocks were accurate, and I wasn't under the effect of some wetware melting virus, today was the day that Aunt GG took me to the range. I ran a full system diagnostic to make sure that everything was working.

To my surprise, it came back with a clean bill of health. I started to feel relieved, then I realized what was missing. Echo was gone, and most of my internal systems were running at less than half capacity. I was in my old body, before Echo started tinkering with it.

I looked at my aunt, who was still waiting for a response. She seemed genuinely concerned. “I'm just messing with you,” I lied, still wondering what the hell was happening.

GG’s expression told me that she didn't believe me, but she decided to let it go. “Are you excited to learn how to shoot?”

“I already know how to shoot,” I replied automatically.

The hairless katzen sat back in her seat. “Well then, if you are so confident in your skills why don't you prove it on the shooting range? If you win I'll make you something nice. But if I win I want a hundred pushups, right when I ask for them.”

A chill settled over me as I recognized the familiar words. “No thanks,” I said, “I'm not at my best right now.”

“Suit yourself,” GG replied with a shrug.

***

When we touched down on the tarmac, Simon was waiting for us. He waved when I looked his way. I waved back, then I realized something I had missed the first time around.

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We were in aunt GG’s stealth helicopter. That meant there were a couple of centimeters worth of black composite separating us from the outside world. I could see him through the displays, but there was no way he could see me.

I made a heart shape with my hands, something I hadn't done since I was a little girl. Simon smiled and responded with a heart of his own. I got out of the helicopter and walked over to him.

He gave me a warm hug and opened the door to the black SUV. André was sitting in the driver's seat, blissfully unaware that his whole life was about to come crashing down.

Simon turned around to face me. "It seems your aunt has roped me into teaching you how to shoot. She said you were very excited to see the range.”

I decided to play along until I figured out what was going on. My money was on a full psychotic break. That, or the Gravekeeper was fucking with me as my body rotted away somewhere. Neither one was particularly appealing.

“Oh, she said it was your idea.” I raised an eyebrow at my aunt. “And I already know how to shoot.”

“So you keep telling me,” GG purred, “And yet, she refuses to make a friendly wager.”

I shot her an encrypted message.

Her yellow eyes narrowed.

I decided not to answer. Instead we rode in silence as the SUV slipped into the garage. Vika was standing there to greet us, just as she had been the last time.

We said our greetings, then Simon gave me the uniform he had made. I looked down numbly at the duffel bag in my hand. The first time I saw the uniform, I had been so excited. Now all I could think about was how I would probably never get to wear it.

“Well, do you like it?” Simon asked.

“Yeah, it's great. Everything is great,” I lied, trying to pretend that I wasn't on the verge of a mental breakdown. Right now the program that regulated my emotions was the only thing stopping me from collapsing into a heap on the floor.

I could feel it inside my head, flattening down the peaks and filling in the valleys. It was keeping me level. And if how things had worked in the past were any indication, by this time tomorrow I would feel cool as a cucumber.

“Everything is fine,” I said, trying to pretend that I wasn't losing my mind, “I'll go suit up and meet you on the range.”

“And I'll help,” Vika added, “I’m looking forward to catching up with my cousin.”

I thought about asking her to give me some space, but didn't want to seem suspicious. “Sure,” I said, “That would be nice.”

***

Once we were alone Vika pulled me aside. “Ok, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked as I stuffed my clothes into Vika’s locker, “Everything is fine.”

“Bullshit,” replied Vika, “You smell like you're having a panic attack.”

I paused, mentally punching myself for having forgotten that hunds could smell strong emotions. “It's fine,” I lied, “We can talk about it later, once I figure some things out.”

“Ok, then would you care to tell me how you knew the code to my locker?”

I didn't have a convincing answer for that. I couldn't exactly tell her that we had shared one in my past, which was effectively her future. Instead I tried to change the subject. “Let's go see Knight and get kitted out. I don't want to keep the others waiting.”

“Sure,” Vika said, looking at me with extreme suspicion, “Let's do that.”