As soon as I’d seen the huge arsenal in the back of the bounty hunter’s car, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I was heading east, towards the mines again, with a backpack stuffed with explosives.

It had been interesting trying to leave the house. AEGIS was utterly convinced that I was either going to blow myself up, or create a cave-in and trap myself, and had even resorted to having DOG block me in the house while we yelled at each other. This didn’t work out too well for her, because while she was busy controlling DOG, she was too distracted to really argue with me, and whenever she let it do its own thing, it insisted on playing with me instead of trying to keep me contained.

Not that I really needed to be contained, as I wasn’t about to run out of The Bunker while she was yelling at me, but she had her issues.

In the end, she’d talked me out of bringing any grenades or other anti-personnel explosives and only permitted me to bring blast charges with remote detonators. I could only imagine what kind of great bounty hunter Luminary might be if his tactics involved rigging up a ton of explosives and then blowing his target into a red splatter with a remote detonation, but at least it served my purposes.

It was still early morning, with the sun only dawning a couple hours ago, and the morning chill was making me breathe steam and move briskly for warmth. I thought I’d crossed into Saga’s range by now, but she hadn’t acknowledged my presence or even scanned me, and I was wondering if something was up. I stepped up my pace just a little bit.

Eventually I reached the compound. It looked…ever so slightly different. I wouldn’t have noticed had I not visited so many times before. Some of the fences had been mended crudely, and the main gate was now more upright than collapsed. Stepping through a still-existing hole in the side, I found footprints all over and yet more signs of repair.

The footprints belonged to two people, it looked like. One large, with light steps, and another tiny, barely leaving an impression. I recognized them immediately as Wynn and Tate’s, and my blood boiled a little bit, thinking of Saga imprisoning the two of them here, maybe even forcing them to mend the fences so that they couldn’t escape. I followed the footprints to the dormitory-like buildings I’d set foot in once and never returned to, after having a freakout session at my own reflection.

It felt silly, the things I was concerned about back then. Then again, having an argument with AEGIS this morning felt silly too, so I wasn’t sure if I was actually making progress in life.

“Saga, if you’re out there, I want you to know that I think this is seriously not cool,” I said, as I opened the building’s front door, which again, was actually functional. The hall beyond was tidy, and the roof had been shored up, though still full of holes. “Taking control of Wynn and especially Tate is messed up, man. I brought a bag of explosives, see? I told you I’d get you out.”

The complete lack of response was almost creepier than having her talking into my brain. Though, I thought I did hear a faint whisper from behind me, someone speaking in Chinese? But when I turned to look, there was nothing there.

“Also not appreciating the creepy silent treatment,” I muttered, as I stepped down the creaking hall. I found a room with a fresh wreath of braided branches on the door, and knocked gently. When there was no response, I pushed it open.

The room was the same type as the one I’d tried to salvage before, small, square, with a single window, closet, and bathroom. The rusted bedframe had been removed, and instead, a hammock made from some of the same synthetic weave I’d seen in the admin building warehouse was hanging up, with Tate sleeping fitfully in it.

In a breathy voice I realized I’d never heard him use, I heard him whispering to himself in his sleep: “Mommy. Mommy. Mommy.” He seemed stressed and distraught, and I thought I should probably wake him up and let him know it was just a dream, but he wasn’t responding to my shaking him.

“Tate. Tate. TATE.” I shook him bodily, more than enough to wake up anybody, but still he slept, repeating the word like a twisted mantra. I picked up his hand and sent a spark into it, enough to give him a little shock, but he didn’t even react. Something was very wrong, and there was only one person around here who fucked with people’s brains.

I checked next door and found an empty room, but across the hall I found Wynn, sleeping in a similar arrangement as his son. He too was speaking under his breath, his eyelids fluttering and eyes darting quickly back and forth. “You’re bluffing. You’re lying. You’re crazy. You’re insane. You’re bluffing. You’re lying. You’re crazy. You’re insane.” Definitely a less pleasant mantra than his son.

“Saga, I’m serious now, let these two go,” I said. No response. “I’m coming down there, and if…if…if you somehow got out with these guys’ help, and then left them like this…well, I won’t forgive you.”

It wasn’t a lot of sense to threaten her if she’d already left, but the quiet and weirdness was getting to me. I kept thinking I was seeing things out of the corner of my eyes too, but when I looked, nothing was there. As I left the room, I saw something move in the bathroom. I hesitated a moment, thinking I was just seeing things again, but decided to step in to see.

There was indeed something in there. A small rabbit, apparently completely lost, had cornered itself. Its pupils were tiny, despite the relative darkness of the room, and it didn’t look at me or even freeze as I entered. It paced back and forth behind the toilet, lost in some other world. Nothing for me here, I turned to leave again and briefly caught sight of myself in the mirror again.

I was…old. Tall, thin, with a trim beard and streaks of black still in my greying hair. My military-style uniform was pressed and fit well, and I straightened the collar with a sharp snap. I gave myself one final inspection in the mirror and then headed out of the dormitory. Today was a very important day.

I joined the others in the yard, and we all stood patiently waiting, some holding quiet conversations. We were all on-edge, as we knew at any moment, the grounds would be crawling with top brass, and before then our officers would be up and down us, making sure everything was more than perfect for their arrival. Within a minute, a pair of vehicles pulled up to the tall fence gate and my sergeant and others swarmed out of the cars.

“AT-HEN-SHUN”, a captain bellowed. We snapped to order instantly, assembling in neat rows on either side of the walkway. They surged through the rows, delivering sharp criticism to everyone within range. “Polish up those shoes!” “Stand up straight!” “Clean up that insignia, are you proud to be a member of the XPCA or aren’t you?”

Almost half an hour of this torture later, we were allowed to relax and wait for the real event. We stood in formation, the summer morning sun warming the backs of our necks, but not one of us even dared to sweat at this point. Thankfully it wasn’t too long before another two cars pulled up. One, a regular transport vehicle like the last two had been, the other, an armored van.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

From the first emerged two men whose slim black uniforms identified them as top officers. I had no idea who they were, but when the captain yelled “AT-HEN-SHUN” again, I snapped into the crispest salute of my life. Without even a glance at us, the two of them walked the narrow aisle and turned down into the admin building.

While we watched them go by, the armored van had been unloaded. There, guarded by a dozen of us in full combat exosuits with arms at the ready was a little chinese girl, crying as she plodded towards the mine entrance.

We were off the side of the central facility, but in this annex, there were 52 guards, three facilities, and one prisoner.

The metal gate swung shut behind her, making a tall unified barrier of chain-link and barbed wire around the entire complex. She would never be leaving here again, and barring exceptional circumstances, neither would we. We were to remain on-site to keep her here forever. Heavy metal bars bound the gate locked, when I had a faint realization in the back of my mind.

Hadn’t…earlier today…I walked through a hole in that fence? It was impossible, of course, nobody could just walk in here. And what need had I of that? I lived here, and had for weeks before our prisoner’s arrival.

But…I remembered it. So clearly. I was worrying about something at the time. Maybe the state of the fence? I turned to look where I remembered it being, and saw nothing. But then I saw…something. Like two fences overlaid on top of each other at once, a fence and its ghost. What was going on? As soon as I turned to look around, everything else started to dissolve at the edges as well. I felt a compulsion, an unbreakable desire to stand at attention like I should, and by moving, by thinking, by questioning, it felt like the world was fracturing under me.

I took a step, and felt all the others around me go hazy. Saga. I remembered. Wynn and Tate, how could I forget? I looked down at myself and saw my filthy, worn clothes, the clothes of an exiled Exhuman, not the military attire of an XPCA guardsman. I had to get into the mines.

I jogged forward, feeling the explosives on my back sway as I ran. Something was wrong with Saga’s powers, and whatever I’d just been trapped in, I’d guess Wynn and Tate were experiencing something similar. I had to get in there and find out.

The light clipped to my chest shone a tiny little circle of reality, but outside of it, visions floated past. As I entered another dark hallway, I saw my parents standing there, who whispered as I ran past. “There’s my shooter,” he said, making ridiculous finger gun gestures at me. “Who’s my favorite Exhuman, eyy buddy?”

“We’re so proud of you sweetie,” Mom crooned. “Nobody else could have murdered all those men just as well as you did. I put a special treat in the oven for when you come home. It will be all ready…never!“

Well this was a horrifying new take on reality.

“Where are you going son?” Dad called as I jogged past. “We need to talk about your three new girlfriends, and how messed up they each are!”

“Trust me Dad, I know,” I muttered as I left them behind. Further down the hallway was an asian woman I didn’t recognize.

“There you are, rotten child,” she chided. “Always lying, always make trouble for everyone. I knew you were no good.”

“Who’s this supposed to be?” I asked but then I realized I was now inhabiting the body of a small asian girl. The floor was so much closer than it had been, and my hands were so tiny.

The pull to stand there silently and wait for mother to finish was strong, but I knew that was the memories pulling at me. I had to keep moving, had to fight them, or else I’d get trapped again. My body hardly cooperated as I took a struggling first step, but when I did, I felt myself peeling away from the little girl.

Young Saga, I realized. And this, her mother.

“Trying to leave, I see. No concern for your mother, who raised you. Always thinking only of herself, such a rotten child.”

“I bet you’d have a better child if you didn’t treat her so badly,” I said as I left the ghost behind. We were reaching the home stretch here, I was almost at Saga’s room, but the visions were getting stronger and more frequent. I saw myself and many of the football team hanging out on the ceiling, XPCA guards patrolling this corridor in lockstep, teachers I had, and a friendly woman doctor.

Finally I stepped into the final chamber. It was my living room, and there, on the couch, puffing away at a cigarette was Brick.

“I’ve told you not to smoke that shit, and certainly not inside the house,” I said.

“Like your parents would even know what it smells like,” he said. “Nobody even knows what smokes are anymore.”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s going to keep me out of trouble if they find out.”

Brick gave an exaggerated shrug like I was making his life intolerable but did put out the cigarette on a coaster on the table.

“I hear you’ve got big news,” he said. “Something about a full scholarship to Cal?”

“Who told you?”

“Your old man. Told me and everyone else in the city.”

“Figures. I think he’s more excited about it than I am.”

“We’ve got some news too,” Brick said with a sly grin. From behind me, I heard someone moving I turned to look and saw Lia, wearing the same sweatshirt and shorts as the day I’d been captured. I froze at the sight of her.

“Since you decided to betray me, I’ve decided Brick is my new brother now,” she said, walking behind the couch to wrap her arms around him. “He’s a little rough around the edges, but he doesn’t keep secrets from me, and he isn’t a murdering Exhuman.”

“Lia, I never meant to kill those people. I never meant to be an Exhuman.”

“Easy for you to say now that they’re dead, I guess.”

“I’m serious Lia. You…of all people…have to believe me.”

“Maybe I would have if the last thing you’d done to me hadn’t been lying to me!” she shouted. “We were close, I trusted you! And then you go off and become…this?”

“I’m sorry! I never meant to hurt you.”

“Well you hurt her plenty,” Brick chimed in. “Ever since you left, she’s been crying her eyes out every night. You tell her you’re so close, and then you just abandon her?”

“That’s not how siblings treat each other, Athan,” she said, her voice choking on a sob. “That’s why I’m with Brick now. He’s so much a better brother than you ever were.”

“Lia…I’m sorry. None of this had anything to do with you.”

“This is my life!” she shrieked. “What part of my life has nothing to do with me? You think you can just tear that all away and I’ll just carry on like nothing’s wrong?” Her voice became low and grave. “I missed you. My life was incomplete without you. See the proof?”

She extended her arm towards me and I saw scars of horizontal parallel cuts made across her wrist.

“Lia…no.”

“That’s right, Athan. You drove me to this. You killed your own sister. How many more do you think you killed without even trying? You think this place is haunted by memories?” She gave a scoffing laugh. “No, Athan, we’re all ghosts.”

“No. No, no, no. You were always so happy. You were so smart and full of life. This isn’t possible. This isn’t right.”

“The proof is right here, brother,” she said extending her wrists to me again.

“No. This is all a vision from Saga’s powers. Saga! SAGA! I know you can hear me. I’m standing right in your room. I’m not in my house, I’m not in my living room, and these two people are not right here!”

I screamed at them. “YOU DON’T EXIST. NEITHER OF YOU ARE REAL.”

“We’re real as your thoughts and feelings brother.”

I closed my eyes and willed them away. I remembered the room as it actually was, tried to picture the walls of coarse rock, the thick metal doors, the windows, barely translucent at this point from the layers of filth and spiderwebs.

“You can wish us away…” Brick’s voice called.

“…but we’ll still be with you.” Lia finished sadly.

I opened my eyes and found myself in Saga’s chambers at last. It was exactly as I remembered, except there were a pair of pickaxes by the door and some new scratches at the windows.

I had to do something, before the visions came back again. I pulled a blast charge out of my pack and paired it with the detonator. I slapped it on the center of the first window and hit the green prime button.

“Saga!” I yelled. “Saga, whatever’s going on, I’m coming in there. Just hang on!”

I ran out of the room and back to the corridor. I gave it fifty running paces before I jammed down on the detonator.

Fifty paces, as it turns out, is not enough to escape a blast which has nowhere else to go. I saw the ripple in the air and felt the wall of fire shooting down the hallway towards me, and then felt myself get thrown in the air.

I saw a circle of light on the ceiling twinkling above me as my vision danced and then the edges grew dim, and then I saw nothing but blackness.