It was a beautiful day. The sun shone, high up in the sky. Birds chirped in the distance. People walked casually down the walkways, laughing and smiling. Music played in the distance. The air was fresh and invigorating.

Halden watched the building across the street.

The Regency looked like it had always looked. A big white triangular building with triangular windows and colorful paintings between them that showed children playing, along with scenes of historical significance. It hadn’t changed in decades, if not more. There were so many memories tied to this place—some joyful, some painful. He hadn’t come here in ages.

He took a deep breath and walked across the street.

Bernice was an old world—some claimed it had been the first colonized when humans started spreading across the stars. Halden wasn’t too sure about that. There was contradicting information... even the history books never seemed to agree. Not that it mattered. But because of its age, the infrastructure of its cities was a mixture of old and new. There still were paved streets—though now only used by pedestrians—along with high-tech walkways that carried strollers through the sky.

He paused in front of the door and glanced up at the translucid tubes to watch for a moment the shapes of travelers going through them.

With a sigh, he shook his head and stepped in. He bumped into two men who were on their way out.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, old man,” snapped one of them.

It was the first time anyone had called him ‘old,’ but it didn’t bother him. He wasn’t even upset with the incident. He didn’t care. His mind was elsewhere. Ignoring the two strangers, he walked on, as if in a daze.

Lucy had been here. Not just as a child, with him, but recently. Before her death. When she had recorded that maddening video that puzzled him so much.

But he knew he would get answers today.

He had to.

Halden didn’t need directions. Despite the years, nothing had changed. His memory might not be as sharp as it once was, but his feet remembered the way.

They took him to the same elevator he had used so often when he had come here with Lucy. When she was a child. They had taken it to the fifth floor, like it was taking him now. The door opened and he walked down the same hall he had then.

For a moment, he wondered if he still was in the Fault. It all felt so out of place. Everything was the same. Like he had traveled back in time once again. Even the lighting was as he remembered it.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He stopped at the third door on the left and reached for the handle. It opened easily. He stepped in.

The room was larger than it should have been, but quantum physics allowed such things. Part of the architecture extended into what scientists called the ether. They weren’t quite sure what it was. Many called it a different dimension. Others believed it just ripped a hole through space, sticking out on some unknown world. Either way, it allowed building interiors much larger than what the structure could have physically contained.

The recreation area resembled a park. Holoscreens on the ceiling even made it feel like an open sky, with clouds drifting by and the sun shining down on the children. Many were there playing in the fields, swimming in the lake, bouncing on swings...

His eyes stopped on the swings. Lucy had mentioned them in the recording. There was one in particular she had loved as a child. The only one painted pink, with flowers drawn across the wooden seat. A little girl sat on it now, swinging back and forth and laughing.

For a moment, he thought it was her... his daughter. He clenched his fists as the pain in his heart reminded him it could not be her.

The girl suddenly jumped off and ran toward a woman who was sitting in the grass, motioning for her to come over.

Halden stood there staring at the swing as it slowed down its swaying motions. Only when it became still did he find the strength to step forward.

He stopped as he reached it and knelt by its side. He grabbed it with his right hand and shuddered. Closed his eyes, counted to five, looked again. He moved the little seat to the side and studied it from every angle. Looked underneath, too, but couldn’t find anything.

There had to be something. But if there was... Lucy wouldn’t have wanted just anyone to find it. She couldn’t risk it falling off either. Not if it was meant for him and him only, as he now suspected it was. Where would she have hidden whatever she had hidden here?

He stood and stared at the swing for a moment, then looked at the chains that held it in place. He glanced further up. No. She wouldn’t have been able to reach up there. Not without anyone noticing. There were always too many people here, too many witnesses.

His eyes went back to the chains.

What would she have done?

She would have sat on the swing, he realized.

He sat on the swing, ignoring the odd looks some adults threw him.

Lucy was smaller than him. As an adult, her hands would have reached... about here. He placed his hands accordingly and felt around the chains.

Something clicked as his DNA unlocked an invisible mechanism that held a microscopic chip merged with the chain. It unmerged and he felt a tingling sensation as it slipped into the palm of his hand.

Halden stood and, without looking, rushed out of the atrium, into the hall, down the elevator, and out of the building. Only once in the street, a few feet away, with his heart beating fast, did he bring up his hand and look at the chip.

Despite never listening to Rees and her father when they talked shop, the girl had a brilliant mind. She had not forgotten about this ancient technology. A DNA lock! What a smart, smart girl.

His heart ached as he slipped the chip into his wristpad.

He was about to tap the screen when a huge explosion shook the earth and sent him flying three feet away. He hit a wall and fell to the ground.

When he got back to his feet, still dazed, he turned to look across the street.

The Regency was gone.

All that remained were burning ruins, melted metal, shattered glass, and charred corpses.