Chapter 97: About Time
Once Code finished eating, he and Sky joined the rest of us, Sky having felt comfortable leaving Faith in her tent. He was attempting to hide it, but it was obvious Code was avoiding me as he occasionally repositioned himself to maintain a distance he deemed suitable between myself and him. I think Forest caught wind of this, but luckily, he read the room and recognized that I didn't want to make this any more of a problem than it already was.
Cliff's words weighed heavily on me, putting me in a slight trance that kept my consciousness constantly fluttering between being present in reality and absent-minded. Nevertheless, my autopilot-like state was still archiving what was happening while events continued to play out.
While Hunter and a few others focused on the third crate, Sky scrounged through the dirty backpack we had gotten from the second crate. The only thing inside was an old canteen very similar in size and shape to ours, the letters spelling out ‘ALEY’ printed on the side. After double-checking if she missed anything from her initial examination, Sky unscrewed the canteen cap and brought the lid to her nose, taking a whiff.
Only detecting a damp residue left behind from old usage, Sky tipped over the canteen and started shaking it. I was confused at first by what she was doing, but a thin scroll of paper eventually dropped into the palm of her hand. It was tied with a single, measly string, which Sky swiftly untethered. Opening the scroll, she informed the rest of us of what it read, emphasizing that the capital 'L' in 'love' stood out to her.
“To the promise I've made, I'll always Love you."
The scroll was odd, but the rest of the group seemed to shrug it off in light of the more intriguing matter of opening the other two crates. And personally, I was in the same boat.
After opening the third crate, the one that Hunter had called me over for, we found another ripped piece of paper, a collection of electronic watches… each one with a dark gray band that had a total of four thin buttons on each side of the tiny black, square screen. We also figured out there was an instruction manual that went along with the watches and gas masks.
There were sixteen watches and also sixteen gas masks, and I assumed one of each was meant to belong to each person if all sixteen of us had survived up to this point.
We had a little more trouble opening the fourth and final crate but eventually worked it out. Inside was one medical kit packed full of basic on-hand medical supplies, sixteen radio transceivers, three more compasses that looked identical to the one we already possessed, and, unsurprisingly, another piece of ripped paper.
There was also another large quantity of items inside, also totaling sixteen. This time, they were these black and grey patterned glasses with green lenses. None of us knew what they were or what purpose they served. We fiddled around with them for a while, trying them on and whatnot, but we couldn't figure anything out. Despite that, we knew the glasses must be important, so we didn't immediately disregard them.
At some point, Code asked Forest for the notebook and pen, which Forest obtained and handed over. After obtaining the items, Code jotted down what was in each of the four crates on a new page:
First crate: Large slab with a message, a compass, a wooden plank, and a single blank piece of paper
Second crate: Another smaller slab with a message, a backpack (scroll), a blank piece of paper
Third crate: Watches and gas masks (16 each), blank paper, an instruction manual for the watches
Fourth crate: Paper, med kit, three more compasses (to make a total of 4), radio transceivers, and weird goggles (16 each)
Somebody here never lost the memories of their past life. And Zeris told me who.
Ever since Cliff muttered those words to me, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about them. I wanted to just… ignore them. But… I couldn't because something deep within me was actually considering his statement. I don't know why, but my mind and body wanted to believe him.
And yet, I forced myself to turn a blind eye to my instincts.
I can't fall into Cliff's trap… I can't allow myself to be such a fool! He was desperate, and he's already lied before!
As I fought this inner battle, the rest of the group gathered all the new items we got from the crates while Forest and Hunter sought out the other pieces of paper. Placing the four paper components on the ground close to one another, Code immediately recognized that the tears along the edges between two pieces aligned and adjusted them to fit. Once he pieced together the first two, the other two scraps quickly fell into place and filled in the space required to make a square.
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The edges on each of the four papers suddenly began to glow a yellow, lemony hue. Code quickly stood up and took a step or two back, as did the rest of us.
The tears that previously separated each piece began to mend themselves back together, reconnecting the four pieces of paper. Once all of the papers were officially united into one, the lemony glimmer exploded, and a harmless wave of yellow iris aura rippled along the ground's surface. Some people, like Sky and Code, hopped over the strange ripple while I kept my feet planted, tracking the bizarre phenomenon as it passed underneath me and eventually faded out of sight.
I then glanced back at the large paper, noticing that that same lemony shimmer bordered the perimeter of the map we'd made whole. Then, a series of three-dimensional illustrations started to take shape, emerging and standing upright from the flat surface. Astounded, I felt like this was the first time I'd ever seen something like this while the translucent visuals continued to conform and adjust.
Everybody exchanged looks of surprise with one another; all of us were amazed at what we watched unfold in front of us. After about a minute or so, no more tweaks were made to the model, and it finally laid still.
Taking a step forward and peering down at the model, Forest uttered, "It's… this is our camp."
Intrigued, I step up beside him and crouch to a knee. Before, when each paper was still separated… each segment wasn't very large in size. But now that they have assembled as one, the supposed map we have just created is quite large, probably similar to that of a large, flat poster board.
Gulping, my eyes consume the sheer amount of detail invested into the 3-D model. Everything was perfectly accurate to our camp... the tents, the firepit, the supply crates we had just opened, and even… us. A dot occasionally beeped at the very center of the model, acting as the focal point; however, the actual map wasn't at the model's center.
Our group was standing off to the bottom right corner of the model. The firepit at our camp's core was slightly above us to our left but still very much toward the bottom end of the model. As the objects continued to focus, I noticed that the dot was beeping from within a tent above the firepit, at least on the model.
Curious about whether the model could be mobilized, I reached out to either side. Not wanting to ruin anything, I dirty my fingers as I carefully finagle them underneath the sides, my intention being to lift the map up from its current spot. As I did so, my eyebrows lifted in astonishment at what my fingertips felt. The once-thin pieces of paper that were as light as feathers had expanded into a relatively stout thickness. Additionally, although I hadn't attempted to lift the map yet, I could detect that the map actually weighed a fair amount now.
"Ember, hold on! There's no need to rush anything! We should take a few minutes to assess what just happened!" suddenly exclaims Code, his face tense with fright while his hand was outstretched to me as if to say 'stop!'.
Glancing at him and then back at the model, I waited. And just as I predicted, although it was slightly delayed by a couple of seconds… the model adjusted to each of our movements. Two human-shaped figures had advanced closer toward the center of the huddle of people; those two figures meant to be Forest and me. Another person's arm was also outstretched in front of him, Code's.
"Fascinating…" I whisper, and Forest hums in agreement over my shoulder.
Listening to Code, I release my hold on the map and assure him that I agree with his assessment, "Of course, my mistake, Code."
Delta then appeared by my side, a prominent glint of engagement manifesting in her eyes… which stunned me a little. She had been so quiet that I had practically forgotten she was with us. Now that I'm thinking about it, this is the first time I've ever seen her with an expression of… curiosity.
Wow, this day just keeps getting weirder…
"Is this… how he's kept track of us?" she muttered, side-eyeing me for an answer.
Huh? I hadn't thought about that. Interesting…
"What makes you think that?" I ask, seeking to learn her reasoning.
"Well, all this weird stuff took shape after we combined these scraps, right? Wasn't Ace the first to get his hands on the first of the four papers? He claimed it was blank, but what if he somehow tampered with it? This live model shows that we can be tracked, right?! Our current location might be being broadcasted right now!"
She does have a point, especially about how we could be tracked with this. But, I can't believe she's still on about Ace… actually… well… I guess her words aren't totally thoughtless now, considering that Ace and Zeris are supposedly working as a team. Considering that, I highly doubt that Ace knew about Zeris's existence even that early on.
Wait. What did Forest say…?
Unless Zeris has the power to see into the future… he could've never predicted every action we could take. That's not feasible; it's impossible even.
Reciting Forest's words, I explore the theory I've just conceived.
I was right before… Zeris never intended to hide his involvement with this trial. Think.
Along with Sky… Ace was the person who allowed those four to leave camp. Ace was the first to run toward the scream from the woods fearlessly. Ace was the first to find Flora, and all anybody saw was her dead in his arms. Ace was the one who advocated for us to explore further that night. Ace's group was the one to encounter Zeris the following day… not mine. Zeris allowed Ace to live… why?
Was it really because he and Blue proved their worth, or was there something going on behind the scenes? And then, once Ace was exiled, Zeris seemingly met up with him the very next day, and they quickly teamed up. For how much Ace despised and displayed his hatred for Zeris during the trial… that's an awfully fast turnaround.
Could Ace have been working with Zeris from the very beginning? Was Delta actually this whole time, in a way… correct?
Somebody here never lost the memories of their past life. And Zeris told me who.
71:14:01… 71:14:00… 71:13:59…
Flashing a glance at Cliff, he and I locked eyes. It was as if he was waiting for me.
Cliff then smirked and said, "About time."