Meiko had driven me home. It was around 7 o'clock when I had arrived. David's car was still missing from our driveway, since he told me he'd be home around 9. It wasn't unusual for him to be home that late, though some days he would work from home, like he had yesterday.

"You live with your uncle, right?" Meiko asked.

"Yeah," I said, "he's been taking care of me since I was like, five."

"What about your parents?" she asked.

"Don't have any," I replied.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," I said. "I didn't really know them all that well, and David's a good guy. He watches out for me."

She nodded. "Good to hear."

I opened the car door, got up from my seat, and was about to leave when Meiko stopped me.

"Griff," she said, "before I forget, you have a phone number I can reach you at?"

"Oh, good idea," I replied, "would be kinda awkward if you showed up at my door to tell me when we'd be getting started."

"I could do that if you wanted," she chuckled, "but I'd rather do it a bit more inconspicuously, if that's okay with you."

I nodded, pulling out my phone. The FotoFriend notification came up again. I reminded myself I'd take care of it when I got inside my house.

After we exchanged numbers, Meiko sent me a text that said "Just making sure it's you."

I replied to it saying, "If you mean Griff, then yeah, you got it."

I looked at her, smiled, and closed her door. She gave me a wave goodbye as I let myself inside.

I went to my room, and put my bag down on the floor next to my bed. It was still early enough in the night that I didn't need to go to sleep, but I laid down in my bed and took out my phone to check out the FotoFriend app.

An animated owl with a photo camera showed up on the app screen.

"Hello, welcome to FotoFriend! The only photo app you'll ever need to keep things in frame!"

I tapped the screen on the "returning user?" button, and entered my credentials.

"Okay! We're getting everything ready for you!"

The app started downloading all of my photos to my device. I hadn't really ever used it much, aside from saving a few photos here and there of landmarks and places I'd like to go eventually.

The download finished, and the app made a sound of a camera snapping. The screen pulled up my pictures, and I started browsing through it. It all looked in order.

It was all organized into folders, too. The majority being the ones I labeled "places to go." I took a quick glance and saw images of Times Square and the Eiffel Tower, among others like Tokyo at night or the city of Dubai. There were plenty more, but those were the biggest examples for me.

I went through my camera folder, and saw a bunch of pictures of myself in it.

I remembered why, too. Miku had "liberated" my phone from me, and wanted to get photos with me in them. All of them had something wrong with them, either I didn't look right, or I wasn't looking at the camera, or I moved too much. None of them looked good to me, and I wanted to delete all of them, but Miku had given me plenty of good reasons not to.

"I know you don't like them," she had told me, "but I think you look nice in them."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm not really used to being in front of a camera."

She shrugged. "You're right. Leaving you on your own isn't good. I have an idea. Can I see your phone one more time?"

I sighed, holding it out to her.

She pulled herself closer to me, and focused the camera on both of us.

"Smile!" She announced, putting her hands into a peace sign. The shutter sounded, and the photo appeared.

"So what do you think?" She asked.

I took a look, and my face lit up.

"I really like it," I told her. "It looks really good."

I may have been a little biased, but the photo looked better because it had Miku in it. Maybe it was because I preferred looking at her over my own face to begin with, but her smile brought something that made me

"Great!" she exclaimed. "I was hoping I could get you to like at least one of them."

I had made sure to back it up before the day was over. If anything were to get lost, I would at least be able to recover it.

With everything returned from my back up, I needed to go find that photo.

Except, it wasn't there. I kept looking around, but no matter how many times I checked, it didn't show up. I would look through every folder twice, some even three times, before accepting it was gone.

Why was it missing? Did I forget to back it up? Did it get corrupted when it had been uploaded? Did I stupidly forget to upload it? I swore I had made sure to upload it.

No luck, I couldn't find it. It was gone. It was gone and there was no way I could get it back.

I put my phone down, and placed my hands on my face. I felt like my head was spinning and my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Then I thought about the security footage from earlier today.

But, I thought, what if I didn't mess up? What if that man in the suit, the one who put a gun to my head while I slept. Did he do something? It wouldn't have been hard to break into my phone.

Considering what I had seen today, it wasn't the most far-fetched theory I had.

I couldn't give up. Then I thought, maybe I should give Meiko a call.

I know we just saw each other, and that she might already be back at base, but I figured that I could send her a text message if she didn't pick up.

Her phone rang, and I sat there waiting to see if she'd pick up. I had no idea what I was going to say, and I had no idea if she was going to see it the way I did, but I had to try.

Before the call had reached 30 seconds, she picked up.

"You okay, Griff? You're lucky I'm not at the base yet. Did something happen to you?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I kinda ran into something. Can you talk?"

"Sure, I'm not back yet."

"Okay, well," I started, "this might sound a little crazy, and I've got no evidence to go on with this, but you know I was knocked out back when Miku disappeared?"

"Well, yeah, I saw the footage. We all did, but go on."

"Well, on that same day my phone got stolen. I had to get a new one, and just downloaded all of my old photos. Everything came back, except for one. I don't know if it got deleted intentionally or I just never backed it up, but I wanted to know your take on it."

She paused. "Only one photo?"

"Look," I said, "it's the only photo I had of Miku. I can't say for certain if it's intentional, or I just screwed something up, but I don't know if we can afford to shrug things off for the sake of coincidence, wouldn't you say?"

"True," she replied. "I wouldn't be surprised they tried to cover their footsteps when they took your phone off you. These people have been trying to ensure you forget about her to begin with."

"Sure seems like it," I said, "and the more I think about it, the more I realize how scary this actually is."

"Scary?" Meiko asked, "How so?"

"It was scary enough having been put through an armed robbery, but then it turns out it was all staged to reclaim one person into, well, God knows who they are. Then, it turns out they're actively trying to make sure anyone close to them forgets about their existence, or so they hope. It's terrifying to think what kind of power these people have."

"Let's not forget," she added, "they'd have put a bullet in you if Miku hadn't complied."

"I remember," I said, "I can only wonder why they didn't just shoot me, or, well, bring me along."

"I know that killing you would have been a bad idea, considering that you're just a kid. You didn't know anything, and I'm sure they knew that. As for bringing you along, the last thing they need is any more extra weight to carry."

"You think they would have killed me?"

"You're here, right? That's the important thing."

Meiko was right. Dwelling on the what-ifs would be a bad idea. I was alive because Miku complied with some mysterious man wearing a suit. She could have been able to run away if I wasn't dead weight, or well, a bargaining chip.

"Your life for hers," Meiko continued, "she made her choice to save you. Don't dwell on what she didn't do, but focus on what you can do."

"I know," I said, "I just hope she's doing okay through all this."

"I can't speak for her, but I think she's tough enough to take whatever's thrown at her. As for me, I should get going. Knowing Gumi and Luka, those two are going to start worrying about me again."

"Again?" I asked.

"It's a long story," she said, "and I've really got to get going, but I'll tell Gumi about you agreeing to help us. She'll contact you the moment we get started with our next operation."

"Sounds good," I replied, "let her know about the photo, too. I wanna hear her thoughts on it."

"Will do. Take care of yourself, Griff."

"Thanks, Meiko. You do the same."

She hung up. A couple minutes later, David pulled his car up to the driveway. I hadn't realized how much time had passed. I decided to get ready for bed and turn in early. Considering that Gumi was probably going to call me soon about my agreement, I expected to get a call tomorrow morning, maybe mid-afternoon.

David opened the front door, and the sound of keys jingling could be heard. He sounded like he was on the phone as well. Something about work, probably. I wasn't paying too much attention.

"Griff," he asked, knocking on my door, "are you home?"

I opened my door, "I've been getting ready for bed."

"Ah, just making sure. You have fun today?"

"Plenty," I said, "I'll probably hang out with them again real soon."

"Good to hear. I'm gonna be heading to bed in a second myself. Just wanted to make sure about you."

"Yeah, I'm kinda wiped. It's been a strange week."

"I bet. Are you holding up okay?"

"Aside from being in the middle of an armed robbery a week ago, and still not sure about a friend of mine going missing, I think I'm doing pretty good.

He laughed. "Well, that's good to hear. I guess that therapy helped, huh?"

"I needed it. I'd consider going next time, but I'll take myself."

"If you need me to drive you, just let me know."

I nodded, and we both went to bed.

Laying down, I closed my eyes. I must have been more tired than I thought, because I fell asleep almost immediately.

However, I would wake up a few hours later from my phone vibrating. An unknown number had shown up. I hesitated to answer it, but eventually picked up.

"Hello, Griff?" a familiar voice said. "It's me, Gumi."

"Gumi," I asked, "do you know what time it is? Why are you calling me, and better yet, how are you calling me?"

"I got your number from Meiko, silly. She told me you agreed to help us. A lot faster than I expected, personally, but you seem to have a pretty good reason to join."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you decided to call me."

"I'm getting to that," she said. "Look, I just wanted to let you know that I did say I wanted you to agree by Saturday, but since you've already kinda done that today, well, I figured we could expedite things."

"Expedite things?"

"Well, tomorrow might be better. I've already prepped the full-body scanner for use, and all we need now is for you to come in and help us do some research."

"Hold on, you're saying we can start on this tomorrow? This is kinda sudden-"

"It's better if we start earlier. We still need to find out where Miku is, and then we'll need to figure out a way to get her back to us."

"So, you wanna get started tomorrow?"

"If you're on board with it. You did agree to help us, and right now, I think you'd be perfect for a routine expedition."

"What does that entail?" I asked.

"Just a quick survey of an area. We've only got one location I can send you to, and it looks like there's a plethora of information in there."

I was tired, and being woken up by Gumi to be told that we'd be starting immediately just stressed me out more, but I agreed to help out, so I couldn't really complain about it.

"Is there any other reason aside from surveying that we should need to start immediately?"

"Well, about that," Gumi continued. "Meiko told me about your photo problem. Your theory about these people wanting to erase her existence? Not bad, you are definitely on to something. I wanted to see if you could bring me your phone tomorrow. Maybe I could recover that picture for you."

"You could do that?"

"Sure," she said, "if I can get into your account, I'll see if I can recover anything. In exchange, you and Meiko will do research."

It sounded fair, and maybe getting started sooner would help us find out what happened to Miku.

"Okay," I said, "and Meiko is cool with this, too?"

"Meiko is always okay with it," Gumi said, "don't worry."

"Okay, well, have her pick me up tomorrow after school. My uncle is going to be at work anyways."

"Sounds good. We'll see you then!"

Gumi hung up, and I went back to sleep. This time, I'd end up having a dream.

I was inside of the Operating Room, but there was no one around. Gumi wasn't at the computer, and Luka and Meiko were nowhere around either. I investigated.

"Guys? Guys!" I yelled. "Anyone around? You are here right?"

No response. Just dead silence. I was alone, and I was alone inside of a place I had known next to nothing about. The bright blue light filled the room, and I was unsure what to do next, or where to go.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Then the monitor flickered, and a video popped up. It was the recording of Miku and the man in the black suit.

"Of course, you do care about him."

"Just don't hurt him."

"We won't, but you'll be coming with us."

He pointed his gun at the camera, but instead of shooting it out, he lowered it again.

"I am surprised, though," he said into the camera, "how she could care about you, Griff."

I froze, realizing that he was talking to me directly.

"I want to ask, and answer honestly, but do you honestly believe you can get her back?"

I hesitated to answer. I wanted to answer "yes" as confidently as I could, but I started to doubt myself. Instead of answering, I backed away from the monitor. . This was impossible, I couldn't fight him. Once again, running away was the only thing I was capable of.

I ran to the exit door, but he appeared there in front of me.

"No answer? I figured. I would give up now. There's no way you'll get her back."

He put the gun to my head, and pulled the trigger.

I jolted awake in a cold sweat. My heart was racing, and I was gasping for air. I realized it was only a dream, but I couldn't shake the feeling it brought. I was starting to have second thoughts already. I had no idea how I was going to help, considering the only skill I had was running away, or panicking.

I sat up and put my head against my knees. Why did I agree to this, I asked myself. I can't fight, I can only run.

I stayed in bed until my alarm clock went off. I didn't bother staying in bed. Instead, I got out of bed and got ready for school. Maybe today would provide a decent distraction from everything that kept me awake.

David was awake, making coffee.

"Morning, slugger," he said, "you sleep okay?"

I scratched my head. "Decent, I guess? Still feel kind of tired."

"Coffee?" he offered.

I nodded. "Sure, usual would be nice."

The "usual" was about three or four of the flavored creamers we had. If we were out of those, it would be milk and about a couple sugar cubes.

"Alright, coming right up." He poured the coffee into two mugs and put them on the kitchen table.

"Just letting you know," he said, "I'm heading back to work on a regular schedule again, so, I can't really take you to school."

"Back to taking the bus?" I asked.

"Sorry to do that to you, unless you want to leave earlier, but that's ultimately up to you."

I chuckled. "I think I'll take my chances on the bus. I kinda don't want to be at school any longer than I have to."

"Totally understandable."

I sipped on my coffee, and looked at my phone. I saw my call logs, and remembered I was going to be going on an operation with Meiko today.

"Oh, David," I said, "my friend Meiko said she wanted to hang out again today."

He cocked his head. "Already?"

"Short notice, I know, but she said there's a movie she wants to see."

I felt bad lying to him about it, but it was better he didn't know.

"Well, alright. Just be sure to call me if you're gonna be home late tonight. I don't want to have to worry about you."

"Will do," I said as he grabbed his briefcase and adjusted his shirt collar, "have a good time at work."

"Likewise. Take care."

He opened the door, and saw himself out. I finished my coffee, and left the house to head down to the bus stop. I was a little early, though, as the bus was set to arrive in another seven minutes. I sat on the bench, and pulled out my phone to see if there was anything going in the news.

I was distracted though, and didn't notice a car pulled up in front of the bus stop. The driver in the car honked. I looked up. Inside the car was Meiko.

She rolled down the window. "Need a lift?"

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I figured I should be helping you now that we're working together. Come on, I'll take you to school. We can get started with our operation after you're done."

"Gumi said after school you were going to pick me up. Any reason why you're coming now?"

"I wanted to talk about our plan for today."

I stared at her, not convinced that was all she was all she wanted.

"I needed to get outside. Are you getting in or not?"

I opened her door, and we drove off.

"You know," she started, "I was thinking of just driving back to base and letting you ditch school, but I wouldn't be a good adult doing that."

"A good adult? Now that I think about it, I never asked how old you were."

"I'm old enough to drink; outside of that, it's not important. What is important is that we need to talk about our plan for today."

"Okay," I said, "what exactly are we going to be doing?"

"Well, you've been briefed about the Full-Body Scanner, we talked a little about it yesterday."

"Yeah, very little. Is it safe? Do we know if it's going to work?"

"It has to," she said, looking at me. "if it doesn't, we don't have any other way of getting Miku back."

"Then it has to work." I said.

"Atta boy," she said. "Once this gets underway, you'll feel a lot better."

"Yeah, I guess I'm just worried we're never actually going to find her."

"If you doubt yourself like that, sure," she said, "but we're always going to have doubts about things, especially when you don't know what it is or what it does. I'm not trying to tell you you're wrong in how you feel, it's totally justified, but what I am saying is that you need to shut out that voice in your head sometimes."

"I'm just shook up, that's all," I said. "Last night kind of didn't help with that."

"Bad dream?" she said.

I stared at her in disbelief. "How did you know?"

"I get 'em, too," she said. "They'll stick with you if you let them, but they're just dreams. You'll find it's just your brain trying to make sense of things, or in your case, maybe it's trying to get you to back off from whatever it is you're doing."

I explained my dream to her, and how I'd been feeling pretty discouraged after the whole thing.

"They're just dreams," she repeated, "it's only going to really affect you if you let it. Besides, you've got me, and I'll be sure to keep you safe if anything goes wrong."

I smiled, feeling a little better. "Thanks, I'm glad to know I've got someone to watch my back."

"We're working together now," she said, turning her car into the school parking lot, "and that means we've gotta keep each other safe."

"Thanks, Meiko."

"Anytime," she replied. "I'm expecting you to watch my back if I ever need it."

"You got it," I said, opening the door. "Anyways, I'll be seeing you after I'm done."

"I'll be here."

I shut the door, and headed towards school. All I had to do now was survive the boredom of being in class. That sounded easy compared to whatever it was I was going to be doing later that day.

Exploring a virtual world sounded almost too crazy to be true, but so did a secret base below a sewer system, stationed in the same state I lived in. Or, a girl I know disappearing mysteriously, while an armed man in a suit who I have no knowledge about is telling that same girl that she needs to come back with them. It was hard to believe that a week ago I knew nothing about any of this, and now, I knew more than maybe any one person should know, especially at my age.

The fact remained, it was all real. I couldn't deny that, or the fact that we were the only ones who knew about it. It had to be kept secret, for our safety. Maybe it was a good thing I didn't really have too many friends. They'd probably find out eventually. Even the thought of me giving everything away to David made me anxious. I could only imagine what would happen if he had followed us into the Operating Room.

Good thing no one knows, then, I thought to myself, the last thing I need is more attention to myself.

I made my way to class, and sat down at my desk. If anything, I was going to need to survive the lessons here before anything really interesting could get started.

I went about my day, mostly attempting a normal school life, and probably failing at it. I couldn't keep focused in class, my thoughts drifting to the activities ahead. I was kind of wishing Meiko had done what a "good adult" wouldn't do and helped me skip class today, but I get the feeling that would have drawn more attention than any good it would have done.

I'd be out by around three o'clock today, and I'd have plenty of time to explore this place, so I needed to keep my head in the game for that long.

My lack of focus lasted until lunch, where all I had to worry about then was eating something. I sat down at an empty spot, secluded from students. I never really thought about it, but I usually ate lunch like this - away from everyone, sitting alone. Miku and I didn't go to the same school, after all. It would be nice to have someone to hang out with once in a while. Even if it was just for a half-hour.

Though, now I was wondering if Miku even went to school. She'd said she was sixteen, and she looked like she was my age, but with everything I'd seen, I had to wonder who she was involved with, and why they had wanted her so badly they had burglarized an entire shopping mall full of people to get her. The people that took her seem to have power elsewhere, too, if they could organize such a large assault and be able to get away with it. News outlets didn't even talk about this, and the police seemed to have wanted me not knowing anything either.

I could have spent my entire lunch thinking over this, but after my phone vibrated a couple times, I had to check it. It was Meiko's number, and she had sent me a few text messages.

"Everything is mostly set up," it said, followed by, "Be ready. There's no turning back on this one."

"I wasn't planning on it," I wrote in reply.

"Good."

"Just be waiting for me outside. I want to get started as soon as class is over." I wrote.

"Can't help you there."

It wouldn't be too long, either. Once lunch ended, I only had English and history class to deal with. I could focus on those a little better than math and science.

The hours flew by, and I learned nothing in the process.

As history ended, I walked out from my classroom at the second story, and headed towards the stairs. Through the window, I saw Meiko's car pull into the parking lot.

"She wasn't kidding," I said to myself, "well, I better get going."

I approached her vehicle, and entered.

"Well," she said, "you ready?"

"I have to be," I said, taking a deep breath. "I have to be."

"Alright," she said, "then let's get going. We've got work to do."

We headed off to the base. In a little while, we'd be starting our expedition.

"Just remember," she told me, "this isn't going to be anything you've ever done before."

"From what you've told me," I replied, "it really doesn't sound like it."

"Should we be worried about anything dangerous?"

"That's the thing," she said, pausing. "Gumi doesn't have any sort of reference to what's in this place. All she told me was that the coordinates were simply 'there.'"

"And what exactly is 'there'?"

"I wish I knew but I guess, we're going in to find out."

"So that's our objective, then?"

"We're not exactly military. We'll do what we can."

That got me. Neither of us were really "trained" for something like this, as far as I knew. I was just a teenager, and Meiko, well, Meiko seemed like she was just a really tough girl. I don't know how well we'd match up against anything dangerous, if any of that was present.

"What about Gumi, is she coming with us?" I asked.

"Gumi has to be back at base to get us home. Without her, we're stranded."

"What about Luka?"

"She'll be with us. We need all hands on deck, after all."

"Got it, so it's just us three. We'll do okay, I hope."

Meiko laughed. "Have a little faith, would ya? I need you to have that confidence from this morning."

"Alright," I said, "but only because you're with me on this."

Shortly after, we would arrive at the base. Meiko and I got out, and pulled the camouflage tarp out from the trunk. We pulled it over the car, ensuring it was covering it all of the way, before proceeding to the base entrance.

We walked over to the overgrown power station. Everything looked the same as before, and I had to follow behind Meiko to even find it. She parted some vines and branches and found the door. She waved for me to go in first, before shutting the door behind her.

Meiko called the elevator up, and the hidden door opened. It was time, and I was ready to see this through.

We stepped in, the door closed, and we were on our way.

Ding, the elevator sounded off. We were here. The Operating Room was just ahead. Meiko and I started walking over to the door immediately.

We opened the door, and Gumi was sitting at her chair, with Luka standing beside her. The two were looking at the monitor, discussing plans. Gumi saw us enter, and greeted us.

"Why, hello, you two!" She said, enthusiastically waving, and spinning her chair around.

"Hey, Gumi," Meiko said, "is everything ready?"

"It's been ready. Don't worry. I do need a couple more things before we start. Mostly from Griff here."

I remembered that Gumi had said she wanted to see my phone. I reached into my pocket, and pulled it out.

"I got it right here," I said. "I didn't forget what you told me last night."

Gumi nodded. "I was going to remind you in case you did forget." She grabbed my phone, and took a look at it.

"Do you need me to unlock it?" I asked.

"Nah, I got it," she said.

I stared at her. She could break into it, just like that? Then again, she was able to nab security footage that was supposed to be destroyed, and able to recover lost files that were stored elsewhere. Password breaking must be a regular hobby of hers.

"We've already got you measured from your scans yesterday." Gumi continued. "Everything's clear. You're ready to get to work."

"So what happens next?"

"Just need you to get suited up, and we'll start the scanning process."

"Suited up?"

"You didn't think you'd be going out dressed like that, did you?" Meiko asked, pointing at my regular jacket.

"I didn't really think about that," I said.

"You'll need to wear something that doesn't restrict you," Luka said. "We've got something to fix that."

Luka grabbed a duffle bag seated next to Gumi's chair and tossed it to Meiko, who caught it.

"Both of your suits are in there. Go get changed, and come on back. We can get started once you're ready."

Meiko and I left, and we walked down the hallway to another room, opposite to where the medical room was, labeled "Storage." It looked like a locker room, and had benches to sit on, kind of like my high school gym.

Meiko placed the duffle bag on one of the benches, and pulled out two articles of clothing. They looked like jumpsuits. One was a muted gray, and the other was a crimson red.

"The red one's mine," she said, handing me the gray one. "Better go get changed."

There was a set of about eight changing rooms lined up next to each other. Meiko went into the fourth one, and I went into the fifth. I sat down, and took off all of my clothes. I felt around it with my hands before trying it on. It was smooth, like touching my own skin.

While it was a struggle to get it fit on at first, it fit me like a glove. I felt fully flexible without any restriction. Even the gloves on the suit felt natural. It was nothing I had ever worn before, either. The only thing different was my feet, which felt like I was wearing boots more than being barefoot.

I walked out of the fitting room. Meiko walked out next to me.

"How's it feel?" She asked.

"Like a second skin, almost."

"That's actually what we call these, they're supposed to fit that way."

"You've worn this before?"

"Just for some tests, but never out in the field."

"Then I guess we're both going in blind."

Meiko nodded. "We better not let the girls wait."

As we were leaving, Luka had walked in holding a black jumpsuit.

"She's waiting for you two," Luka said. "I'll be there in a bit. She's got some things she wants to tell you before we start."

"Already been briefed?" Meiko said.

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

We walked back over to the Operating Room, where Gumi was still seated in her chair, typing. From looking at her monitor, I guessed she was doing last minute checks of the Full-Body Scanner before we'd get started.

"Ah, you're both here," she said, "and your suits are fitting, I'd hope?"

"Yeah," Meiko said.

"Yep," I added. "So, when are we starting?"

"Right now, better listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once."

We moved closer to her, and Gumi started explaining.

"Right now, we have no idea what we're delving into. I've got limited access to this place. We're going in to see if we can get it back up and running, and hopefully, see what's out there."

I interjected, "do we know what this place is?"

"What we do know," Gumi replied, "is the coordinates. I can't tell you where they came from, but they were on our system for a while now. I only just recently cracked the encryption left there. My theory is that someone left them here for us to find, or well, for anyone who would find this place.. Secondly, from what I've been able to see from these coordinates, no one else is around to find it. I believe this may have been the research base for the original crew that operated here. Whatever might have happened to them, I'm not sure, but if we get this base back online, we can get a much better picture of 'Other Earth.'"

"Sounds good," I said. "So we're the only ones who'll be there. Should be easy enough."

"Just don't get cocky," Gumi said. "You're still new at this, and I can't guarantee there won't be any wildlife out there, or any life, for that matter."

"Then let's get going," Meiko said, sounding almost impatient, "I've been wanting to see this place for a while now."

"Now's your chance, then," Gumi said, "good luck out there!"

Luka stepped back into the room, clad in her black jumpsuit. Together with her bright pink hair, which she'd pulled back in a ponytail, she made a surprisingly striking figure.

A door behind me opened, and I diverted my attention away to look at it. It was the scanner room. Meiko waved for me to go inside.

"This is it," she said, "your ride's here."

"So it is," I said. "Is it bad to say I feel a little anxious about this?"

"It's okay to be nervous," she said, "just don't let it get to you. You'll be fine."

"She's right," Gumi said. "Just stay calm, and before you know it, you'll be on your way."

I took a long, deep breath, and stepped in. The door closed behind me. The room was dark for a moment, but soon became covered in a bright blue wave of light as a large group of monitors activated. Diagnostic information was scrolling on each screen. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Gumi came on over the intercom.

"Alright, Griff, I'm going to start it up. Can you stand on that circle in the center of the room?"

The floor had a set of four circles, all which got smaller in diameter until they reached the center. The center circle was full, and had a bright glow. I walked over to the center one, and planted my feet firmly on it.

"Okay," she said, "initiating launch sequence… now."

Machines started whirring, and the ground shook. A device emerged from the first circle. It looked almost holographic, and I theorized it was a shield to cover me, or protect everything outside of it.

"Scanner protocol activated." Gumi said. "Everything's looking good so far. Secondary scanner layer is deploying now."

A pillar rose from the ground from within the circle, surrounding me. It rose to the ceiling, and locked into place with four docking clamps at the top. Blue lasers activated one by one, layer by layer, with each laser targeting my body.

"Final layer activating," Gumi said, excitement in her voice, "here we go! See you on the other side!"

A mass of white light poured into the center of the pillar. I couldn't see anything. I started to feel weightless. My body lost all sense, or maybe I was overwhelmed by so much at once. I couldn't tell.

It felt like I was floating over a body of water,

I found myself on the ground, laid flat, with my head spinning. I was so dizzy, and I felt like I was going to get tossed across the room if I tried to move. The feeling didn't last long; it ended almost as fast as it came.

The other two showed up almost immediately, with a brilliant flash of white following their entrance.

Unlike me, they landed on their feet, and didn't look nearly so exhausted. They seemed to have done better than I had at getting over here.

"Need a hand?" Meiko offered hers out to me. I grabbed it, and she pulled me up.

"You two got here pretty quick. Did we have two other scanners?"

"Of course," Meiko said, "did you think we'd go in individually?"

"I thought that was the only way we could do this."

"You thought wrong. We've got three in the operating room."

I nodded.

"So," I asked, "where are we?"

"That's what we're here to figure out," Luka said, matter-of-factly. "Right now, we've got plenty of work to do."

Then we didn't have time to waste. Wherever we were, we needed to figure it out, and we were just getting started.