Micah enters the room. I can see his face contort as he sees my lying in my own vomit. “Wh-What happened?” I ask, struggling to get up.

“Uh, hold on just a moment, I think I have a spare change of clothes here somewhere, don't move.” He's gone. My head begins to pound and I feel very out of it. The smell is absolutely putrid and almost makes me throw up a second time, but there isn't anything in my stomach to throw up. Micah returns with a white t-shirt and a pair of black pants. He tosses them to me. “Here, this should help with that problem.”

“What happened? I ask again. “Why'd it send me out?”

“I don't know what you see in there, I can only stop it to talk with you like I did at the start there. Tell me about what happened before you shot back out.”

“I was standing out on the roof of the Republic Plaza. I remembered where Grace died and where I stepped off the ledge.”

“So I'm going to make the guess that fear is what sent you out. You got afraid and your emotions got the best of you, so you returned here,” he said.

“It's how I get in, too.”

“Well, looks like you'll need to work on keeping that under control then.”

I stand up, taking off my shirt and replacing it with the new one, and then the same with my pants. “What're we going to do about that mess?” I ask.

“We've got some time to kill before you can do anything more with that pod. ICARUS uses up a lot of energy.”

“Do you think I could get something to eat, also? I think the last thing I had were some snack food I had back in my time.”

“You don't need it.”

“Huh?”

“Your body isn't human. It doesn't require food and water to function. I'd even think that eating would be detrimental to your health because I didn't find it necessary to include a digestive system in you, or me for the matter.”

“Oh.”

“It's not like I purposefully restricted it from you, it just wasn't high on a priority list, you know?”

“Makes sense.”

“Of course it does, now clean up that mess and we can try another pod, we've got four more people you can learn from while Kate's pod recharges.”

“All right, fine. Do you have like a mop here or something?” I ask.

“Yeah, one second.”

He leaves again, and in a few minutes he returns with one, and the mess is promptly cleaned.

“I’ve got one question,” I ask, finishing up.

“Okay, shoot.”

“If I get hurt in these memories, what would happen?”

“I'm not too sure. I guess you could check with something small, like a cut or a bruise and see what happens.”

“Already got one,” I said, pointing to my arm.

“Ah, right. Did anyone said anything there?”

“No, I'd actually forgotten about it until this moment.”

“Then I guess maybe it's different there than it is here.”

“Okay, I think I'm ready to try again,” I said.

“Excellent.”

I turn to leave the small, square room. In the room just next to it is the exact same setup, a similar looking pod with a similar looking basin at the end filled with the weird light. The nameplate said “Andrew Cress.” Inside I see a guy who looks to be in his mid thirties or early forties. He has dark black hair that spikes down in the front. I look back out towards Micah and ICARUS.

“Hey, who’s this dude?”

“One moment.”

He steps down from his post and walks into the room next to me.

“Ah, that’s David’s son. If you recall that is the boy who was the culprit of the infamous gum-in-hair incident in your first look at the scientist's kids.”

“Ah, so this is him grown up here?”

“Yes. He’s one of the ten children that was infected with Radical-9. He’s like you.”

“So he's got the same abilities as me?”

“Not everyone who has Radical-9 in their system experiences the same phenomena. His power was different. It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to him,” he said said.

“You’ve met him?”

“Of course, he was my best friend back when I had to start all of this nasty business.”

“Was?”

“He's not really much of a friend inside that pod, now is he?”

“Why do they all have to stay in the pods? Surely some of them could help you out here?”

“What is there to help? This Earth is destroyed and all that’s left is stardust, better that they don’t have to experience this.”

“You don’t have to go through it alone, you know,” I said.

Micah is silent for a moment. The awkward moment of silence passes and he shakes his head.

“Alright. I’ll get ICARUS situated. Are you ready for this?”

“Y-Yeah…”

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

He walks out of the room, obviously distraught. I take in a deep breath and turn towards Andrew’s pod. I close my eyes for a second and then walk up to the basin right beside the pod and peer over it.

“Are you all set?”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, but not really feeling it.

I’m more so feeling a growing pit of pity for my future self. The ever familiar feeling of falling returns and the colors begin to take over my vision once more. I’m falling through the void. I’m lying on a wet patch of grass and dirt, a front lawn, perhaps. I sit up, coughing slightly as my vision refocuses. A large white house sits in front of me. My attention is immediately grabbed when I hear a loud crash coming from inside the house. I rush to my feet and I scramble up to the door. There is another crash and I grab down at the handle. I open up the door and run inside of the house. I’m looking at two figures facing each other in a cluttered living room. A nearby lamp has fallen over and broken and I believe it to be the cause of the crash. One of the figures, the one with his back towards me, takes a step forward.

“We aren’t going anywhere, Elena. I have a lot of work to get back to,” the voice said.

I feel like I’ve heard it before and then I realize it belongs to David, Andrew's father.

“Dave, you need to think rationally about this. Our son is watching,” Elena said, her voice tinged with fear. She's got beautiful short black hair and bright green eyes. Behind her I see the young child from my first vision with him. Andrew, who can’t be much older than five years old. He has black hair and glowing green eyes just like his mother. He watches the confrontation with interest, but little understanding.

I can guess that they can’t see me, otherwise I would’ve been acknowledged by now. Why is it only sometimes they can see me?

“You aren’t listening. We aren’t leaving. I’m continuing on in my work and that’s final.”

“That virus of yours is going to kill this world, David!” Elena said.

“It's not a virus! It's a cure,” he said, grabbing her arm, she wails slightly.

“This work is what keeps you fed and under this roof and as long as you live under this roof you will listen to me,” he said, deadly serious.

“U-Unhand me!” Elena said as she yanks her arm downward, freeing herself from his grip.

David reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a revolver. He aims it at Elena and I can see her face widen in fear. Without any extra thought I’m running towards David and I jump to tackle him to the ground.

I’m surprised when I fly right through him and land on the ground between them. I look behind me and I see David’s hardened face. It’s dirty and there is a wild look in his eyes. His arm's shaking almost much as I'd seen Mason's. I look in front of me and swing my arms out to try and grab Elena’s leg to pull her out of harm’s way, but my hands phase through her as well.

“David! W-What’re you doing? Andrew is watching! Please don’t do this!” Elena said, bursting into tears. I look back at Andrew and his eyes are wide, but he stands there like a statue.

“David! Please said something! Please put the gun down,” Elena said.

I look back towards David and it looks like his eyes are bugging out. I see his hand shaking. Elena takes a slow step towards David. He looks up frantically and then nearly jumps backward.

“S-Stay away!” He yells.

“David, I can help you. You just need to put down the gun.”

“I said stay back!” David yells again.

Elena takes a slowed step forward once more. In one fell swoop I see David raise the gun. He raises it and points it at his own head. I see his eyes are watering and he shakes his head. In another moment he pulls the trigger and his brains fly across the room in a splattered array of mess.

I hear Elena scream as David’s body falls to the floor. The gun falls out of his hands and clangs to the ground. The colors around me begin to drain as I see Elena running up to David and cradling him in her arms, crying. My head hits the floor and I’m back to darkness.

I wake up lying against a hard surface. I open my eyes and I’m lying against asphalt. I get to my feet and look around. I’m in front of what looks to be a school. I see that all of the trees are all bare. Snow covers the ground.

I look down over and I see another figure. On a closer look I see it is Andrew Cress lying on the ground about ten feet away. He’s older than when I last saw him, but younger than he was in the treatment pod. I’d guess somewhere around seventeen or eighteen.

He’s wearing a long black shirt with jeans on. His hair is a little longer than it was in the treatment pod, but it has his trademark ‘spiked-down’ look.

His eyes open and I can see the brilliant green shine through. He coughs once and slowly sits up. I reach out to touch him, but like before I cannot make contact. He stands up and looks around himself. “Wh-What? How am I…here? Is this some crazy vision? Did that crazy monster do this?” He asked himself, dazed. Monster? What could he mean?

I hear a loud crack and then a few seconds later a huge bolt of lightning strikes the school behind us. The shockwave sends Andrew off of his feet and he gets thrown into one of the nearby trees. I’m thrown to the ground. I hit pretty hard, but my pain doesn’t compare to Andrew’s, I hear him yell out in pain. I work my way to my feet and my body begins aching. I look over and Andrew and see that there is a large bruise sprawled across his chest. I can only see it because his shirt has a huge rip right through the front and I can see blood seeping through. “Wh-What the hell?!” He screams out.

He begins to run away from the burning school building, but when he gets a small distance away he doubles over and begins coughing. He spits up a good amount of blood. I blink and when my eyes open again I see our scenery has changed.

We’re no longer in front of the burning school building, but instead outside of Andrew’s house. He’s still on the ground hacking up blood. Andrew stumbles to his feet. He’s clearly in no shape to walk, but he manages to limp his way to the front door. He grabs the handle and throws it open.

I head inside behind him.

“Hello? Anyone here?” Andrew calls out. I enter the living room slowly, staying behind Andrew. I have a bad feeling about all of this. There’s something in the air, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I notice that the living room television is on, but it is only playing static. Andrew limps to the staircase on the backside of the room.

“Mom? Are you here?” he calls out, wincing slightly.

I slowly make my way up the stairs behind him. I hear another crack of lightning. We make it up to the top of the stairs and Andrew stops for a moment.

He must be thinking of something with a look like that on his face. I turn the corner and stand right next to him and I notice that one of the hallway doors is open slightly, unlike the other doors in the hallway.

I can hear a low groan coming from that direction, as well. The feeling of dread I’d felt downstairs intensifies. Andrew hobbles over to the door and places his hand on the handle. He hesitates slightly and then he pushes it open.

I can hear the door slam against the wall and I see his face turn to one of pure horror. I walk behind him and look over his shoulder and then I can see a body hanging from a noose. I look upward to see where the rope is hanging from, but it only leads into darkness. My eyes travel alongside the rope all the way back down to the body.

I notice it is the hanging body of Elena, Andrew’s mother. I see his eyes go wide and he begins shaking.

“Come on! No! Get the fuck away from me!” He yells.

I reach out to grab Andrew’s shoulders and then I realize I can touch him now. I spin him to face me.

“Andrew, you need to listen. You need to get out of here, find help, find anyone.”.

He looks at me and then into my eyes. “They’re all dead. Everyone is dead and you are alone.”

“What?” I ask.

In another moment he faints and then in the blink of an eye he is gone. I’m standing alone in the bedroom. Well, not really alone, because the hanging body of Andrew’s mother is here for company.

I swallow hard and then I hear another sound. It sounds like gurgling. I turn around and see that the body of Andrew’s mother has fallen to the ground. It begins spasming and then slowly rises. I see that her skin is horribly decayed now, it’s almost a sickly blue color.

Her entire lower jaw is broken on its hinge and a rancid black sludge is dripping from her mouth. I also see that both of her arms are bent backwards at unnatural angles. She walks closer to me, bits of her flesh pulsating with a dark aura.

She moans slightly and with it a bit of the goop falls to the floor, burning the carpet. In another moment she leaps across the room, knocking me over.

One moment I feel an intense burn on my right leg and the next moment I’m looking up at a different ceiling. I blink twice and look around and I’m lying next to the treatment pod and basin once more.

My leg aches terribly. I’m breathing faster than I probably ever have and my eyes are wide open. So Andrew is more like me than I’d imagined. He lost both of his parents too. I can see how he and Micah were able to connect.

Maybe if all this nonsense didn't happen he and I could have been friends, also?