All three of us got ready to leave the house, I felt a tugging sensation in my mind, someone wanted attention. Lory was still getting ready, I closed my eyes and entered my command center. Eris stood there, “Hey, how are you doing?”
“I am well, I guess. After Lory mentioned you guys are missing time, I decided to check the data banks.”
“Where are the others, and did you find something?”
Eris smiled, “Most of them are in their room. Captain is eating some fried chicken. And, I did find something.”
She pushed a few buttons, “Look, there are indeed 31 minutes missing.” She showed me the screen, me just sitting there and eating my sandwich, then a flash of black, and I sat there again. “Huh, that is strange. Is there any way to retrieve that data?”
“No, not at all. But, I decided to check your databases. I am trying to keep my mind busy.”
“Is something bothering you?”
“Yes, I am, missing my children a lot lately.”
“Oh, I am sorry, I did not mean to inconvenience you.”
Eris shook her head, “I am a single parent, and I promised my children to find a responsible husband. That is the last thing I told them. I am going to find you a husband, that will care for you, not as if you are outcasts, but as if you are loved and belong.” Eris shed a tear, “It has been so long since I have seen Limos and the others.”
I walked over and hugged her. “One day we are going to see them, I am sure of it.”
“Thank you, Steve.” Eris shook her head and rubbed away her tears.
“Did you find anything else, Eris?”
“Yes, allow me a second to pull it up.”
She showed me images of me killing my foster father. There were some blanks. Then she showed me killing Haley, more blanks. She scrolled through my human life, more blanks, and a lot of them. “What the, has someone been messing with my memory all my life?”
Eris looked at me, “I think that is a fair assumption at this point. Something bad happened in those 31 minutes. And get this, When I go back to before your birth, which for some reason is possible, it asks for a passcode.”
I had to laugh, “That is stupid.” I put my hand on my chin, “Something is hidden there alright, some important information that people want to stay hidden. But, I think I may know the password.”
“Try kairos, it is Greek, I am a fan of Greek things.”
Eris nodded, “I have not tried it yet but, here goes nothing.”
Eris started entering the word, Captain burst in just before Eris hit enter. We both stared at him, he had a fried chicken in his hand. “Are you alright, Captain? Your arm is back.”
“Don’t fucking put in that password.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said, don’t, you are going to regret that.”
“Is that a threat, are you threatening me?”
“No, yes, no.”
Eris scratched the back of her head, “I am not following anymore, whether it is a threat or not.”
Captain regained his composure. “If you press that enter button, something bad is going to happen. Information on someone we locked away will come free. Information, people want to keep secret, a person is trying to stay hidden, push enter, and he will be free.”
I looked at Eris, then back at Captain, “Fuck man. This computer knows where Micheal is?”
Captain nodded, “Yes, that it does.” Captain walked over, “Can I please press the backspace button before someone pushes the fucking enter button?”
Eris looked at me, I nodded. She removed the password. Captain sat down, relieved. “Thank god, if I had been a second later. Oh man, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
Eris looked at him, “Are you sure, that was not the overdose of chicken you have been consuming lately?”
Captain let out an awkward chuckle, “Very funny.”
J walked into the command center, “What is up with the commotion?” He looked at the screen, “Oh dear. Please tell me he is not free, I am not ready to die yet.”
Captain shook his head, “It is alright, we are safe. We are safe. The information is safe.”
I looked at J, “Do you know?”
He nodded, “Angel and Thanos know it as well. We all worked together to make it happen.”
Eris cleared her throat, “Someone in the outside world is demanding your attention Steve,” she changed the screen to my current vision, Lory was waving her hand in front of me, and Funk stood there with his arms crossed.
I sighed, “No one touch that fucking computer until I have more time to think about this. I mean, if we know where Micheal is, then-”
Captain started shaking his hands. “We are not ready for him, no one is. Let him stay where he is. Please, for the love of god, Steve. Who knows what is going to happen to us, if he finds the people responsible, the last time we had the element of surprise, and we barely made it out alive.”
I nodded, “I just need to think about this.” I opened my eyes, “Yes Lory, what is it!?”
“Wow, you are grumpy, what is going on?”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
I sighed, “Sorry, I am dealing with a lot.”
Lory smiled, “Tell me, what is going on?”
“You are right, we lost 31 minutes, it is just a black screen.”
Funk looked up, “That is not good.”
“No, but Eris started checking into this situation. She found many blanks in my memory. Someone has been altering or wiping my memory. My whole life.”
Lory gasped, “What, that is horrible, we spoke about this once.”
I nodded, “You were right, someone is fucking with me. And I know why.”
Lory nodded, “Yes, go on.”
“I know where Micheal is.”
Funk put his hand on his blade, “What is up, Funk?”
“Just, being careful.”
I shook my head, “I know, but I don’t know.”
Lory sighed with a lot of annoyance, “Can you try to explain it properly to me?”
“Yes, Eris tried to go back to memories before my birth, the command center asked for a password, it is Kairos. It means time. Captain stopped me, he told me, the information behind that password is the information people are trying to hide. It could tell me where Micheal is. And I don’t think he is on some retreat, he is inside of me, and that password will let him out.”
Lory put her hand on her chin and waggled her tail the way she does when she goes into deep thought. But I also saw glee in her eyes, as if something she wanted for a long time just landed in her lap. “If he is not on a retreat, like everyone is saying, and he is somehow inside of you, how does that work, how do we get him out?”
“I am not sure about anything, but Captain, J, Angel and Thanos pulled something on him. I think they somehow put him away for a good reason.”
Lory looked at me, “Because he is too dangerous? I think that is exaggerated, I would love to meet the man himself.”
I shook my hands, “No, we are not meeting him. There is something, I am not supposed to say, but I guess, with this information there is no different option than sharing it. Angel, J and Thanos were not strong enough to contain Micheal, wherever he is, or whoever he is. Captain is a copy of Micheal, some kind of computer program. Like a soft version of him, much weaker, a lot less aggressive, not as hostile. Just annoying. Together with this copy, Angel, Thanos and J put Micheal away. Captain somehow linked everyone together to get enough strength to pull it off. After that, he must have given me the reins. The reason he wanted control, so badly, is because he was scared I would find out how to unlock the information where Micheal is, and possibly leak it.”
Lory looked at me, “Holy shit Steve, you, whatever you are, a piece of you, beat Micheal. You are the one who stopped him, well, the other you’s.”
I nodded, “They probably left him somewhere to rot.”
Lory nodded, “Which means, if he is going to come out, he will be fucking pissed off, still, we should try to free him.”
“No, it would explain why people and monsters want to kill me.”
Funk let his blade go as he has been keeping a close eye on us, “And why is that, Steve?”
“Because I am the only one with the fucking answer where that psychopath is. It is in my fucking brain, kill me, and Micheal’s name vanishes. The only four people who know it are inside of me. Lory, remember those wolf people that got killed by the man we met on Stratos Isle?”
“Yes?”
“He was protecting me, scared people would find me, and the answer to where Micheal is, not to protect him, but his seal, he was afraid Melin would damage the seal.”
Lory seemed to have an aha moment. “That makes sense. No one wants Micheal to get out.” “But you also have the answer to how to beat him, you used his soul against him. Which is fucking smart if I may add. Are you sure we can't let him out?”
“Yes, I am sure we need to him locked up, and whatever happened in those 31 minutes, someone from wherever must have tried to kill us, and the people wiping my mind and altering it, saved us.”
Funk slowly nodded, “Yeah, that sounds about right.” He started walking to the door, “Are we going already?”
Lory looked at him, “Are you not going to act more shocked?”
Funk sighed, “I just want to continue to Poluma, now you will be all like, oh you already knew. I am not in the mood for that.”
I giggled, “Classic Funk, hiding secrets and making it funny.”
He smiled, “Yeah, brother, I am the silent Insect with plenty of answers. Are we going?”
Lory looked at me, “He is right, he is very silent.”
“Yeah, but we like him a lot, don’t we, Lory?”
“Yeah, we do.”
Funk sighed, “Idiots, lovely idiots, are you coming?”
“Yeah, we can use a distraction, and I bet some monsters are coming to try to kill me again.”
As we continued on our path, Lory whispered, “Steve?”
“Yes?”
“Can you, you know, arrange a meeting with me and Micheal?”
“No, why do you keep asking me if I want to let him out?”
Lory remained silent for a while. “Never mind, I will shut up, like you want me too.”
“What, that is not what I said!”
“Fuck you, Steve, let's act normal and forget this ever happened, alright, Chosen One?”
I grumbled, “Fine, let's go on.”