Fortune had begun to work in their favor because along with their freedom, Sina’s health had started to improve.
Elias held Sina’s hand while she lay on the bed in a trance-like state. But he knew that something was moving violently within her. Even with his faint grasp of the sixth sense, he could still feel the undulating waves of inexplicable energy breezing through the room, surrounding them like vapor. He watched Sina with worry, praying that nothing would go wrong.
She finally opened her eyes, breathing in deeply. Her eyes met his, and she smiled weakly.
“It’s getting better,” she told him, getting up. “I should be stronger than you at this moment.”
“You don’t look strong at all,” Elias said, gently brushing her hair to the side.
“You worry too much.”
But it was good news. Not because he could rely on her, but because she was looking happier and more energetic, regaining the usual confidence that she’d had. Although her weaker self had been cute in itself, he wished for her best state. And it also meant that they could continue their lessons when she got better.
“Thank you for being with me,” she laughed, wiping her eyes, “and loving me. It’s the most wonderful feeling.”
“I’d say the same thing!” Elias stated, hugging her. “What’s wrong?”
“I had a bad dream.”
“What kind of dream?”
“I began to remember who I was before.”
Elias felt a tinge of worry touch his mind, but he closed his eyes, neglecting the thought. Was he still worried that she might leave him after everything they’d been through? Never.
“That’s okay,” Elias assured. “It won’t change anything. You’re here with me now.”
Sina nodded. “Thanks. You were worried that I might leave you, but it will never happen.”
Elias pulled back, his eyes a little wider. “You can read my emotions again?”
She nodded.
“That’s great! I mean, as long as you’re fine with it.”
“I like knowing you,” she said softly. “Is that uncomfortable?”
“No. Not at all.”
At that moment, he was relieved that he’d never given in to Crystal’s suggestions. There had been tempting moments, but his father’s words had echoed inside of him like a siren. The yelling of his mother in the morning had kept him from crossing the line.
Something was breaking inside of him. His dampeners were getting weaker. As much as he wanted to ask Crystal to renew them, he didn’t want to lose the infatuation he felt with Sina.
“W-what is it?” Sina muttered, looking away with a blush on her face. “You…want to do it?”
“No! No, I mean—but not yet!” Elias exclaimed, getting up from his seat. “Er—I mean, you know what I mean.”
“After marriage, yes? We’ll have to find your family and friends.”
Right. That was how he had explained it. Marriage was a party where everyone close to the bride and groom came together to celebrate. It was a lifelong promise with everyone as their witness. The problem was that he had no idea where everyone was, nor did he know where he and Sina were either.
“It’s not necessary,” Elias said, recalling everything that had happened. “I…do miss them. But it’s not required.”
“But I want to meet them.” Sina wrapped her arms around her legs. “I want to see the people who raised you.”
She’d been created as a weapon. The concept of family and friends would be foreign to her. There was a certain melancholy in her words, an awkward sense of longing for something she’d never known.
“You will,” he promised. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”
He wasn’t. After all that he had done, would they accept him with open arms? His parents would be sick with worry—or would they be, preoccupied with taking care of his younger brother? Every time he’d thought back to the night he’d run away from his house, he’d wanted to ball up on the floor. They hadn’t thought of Jewel that well either, blaming him for his rebellious attitude.
It was better now. It had been so long ago. He blamed them less—all of his friends less for the events that had unfolded. But he hadn’t forgiven them. Not until he saw them. And he didn’t want to see them.
“You don’t need to if you don’t want to,” Sina told him worryingly.
“No, it’s necessary,” Elias said, resolving himself. “So many things happened since I came here. I…can’t run away anymore, can I?”
“Then—are you ready?” she asked in a soft voice.
He nodded.
“Yeah.”
⤙ ◯ ⤚
Truth be told, they’d found a map a while ago.
Or rather, Crystal had found the map of their location on the globe. But given Sina’s condition and the possibility that their pursuers could still be on their trail, they’d remained in one location, making sure that they would be in peak condition when they left. It wouldn’t be as easy as Crystal sending the location to him.
“There is a chance that Workman might be against us,” she’d speculated. “If that is the case, sending across mapping information will be detected right away. The system believes that you’re still inside of it, and I’m a scanning drone for all it knows. You’ll have to pick up the map manually.”
So they were now walking cautiously through the streets with Crystal acting as the guide. Sina seemed to be much more energetic as well. She could now carry the rifle while he held the bags because according to her, she was much better of a shot.
“I never miss,” she’d told him. He could believe it.
They arrived at their destination—a sizable antique building—and breached the doors with Crystal’s help, making sure to keep an eye out for danger. Sina had regained some of her power; her senses were now better than his. But with Crystal’s help, he was sure he could do better.
He didn’t want her to suffer again. The best outcome would be for her to relax while he did all of the work. She’d done so much for him. He hadn’t repaid half of it.
“Is this it?”
“Yeah.”
They were inside a museum. He eyed one of the walls. Talis Museum of History. Did anyone care about history nowadays?
His eyes went back to the screen before him. It had come to life and was displaying its default background picture—namely, the world map.
The world map was not something he was unfamiliar with. But the current one was too large without a location marker. He glanced at Crystal.
“I’m going to move the pointer to where you are,” she told him.
The pointer slid across the screen, stopping at the side of the continent his home was in. His eyes widened, and a feeling of excitement came over his body.
“We’re actually this close?” he breathed. “It’s less than three hours with a train!”
“It’s still a long distance,” Crystal sighed.
“Is it possible to meet your parents today?” Sina asked with surprise. “I—I wasn’t ready. I need to prepare.”
He wasn’t sure what she had to prepare, but he shook his head. “We don’t have a train, and trains are pretty fast. It might take a week or two on foot.”
“We can get a train as we did before. I liked riding the train with you.”
“It’s dangerous,” Elias said. “The people who were chasing us could know. And Workman too…”
Sina was created as a weapon. The thought of Workman doing anything to harm people had been unimaginable to him before, but with Crystal being wary of the system and the strange automatons he had seen, he was starting to doubt Workman. The world had either ended or Workman had been hacked, but both were impossible.
The only possibility he could think of was that Workman didn’t think of Sina as a human. Then it wouldn’t matter whether she died or not. But with him sticking close by her, he could prevent the worst outcome as harming humans went against Workman’s very existence—unless they were murderers.
He let the thought go before it developed into something else.
“I’m sure we’ve waited long enough,” Sina said. “Your cooperator has helped us before.”
“They’re telling me it’s risky to move trains since all of them are coordinated by the system,” Elias sighed. “All trains have stopped. That’s odd considering that we’re pretty close to where I live. Or lived.”
Sina looked down. Her expression looked blank, perhaps thoughtful, but he’d known her long enough. Her mild disappointment that she tried to hide was clear to him.
“Maybe bicycles?” she suggested. “Or another quad bike.”
Crystal, please find a way to ride the train, he pleaded with all of his heart. She was looking forward to it!
“There is one possible method,” Crystal answered. “If you use a vehicle that is not part of the public transportation system, you could travel on the rails without being detected.”
“There might be a way,” Elias told Sina. And where can we find this vehicle?
“Follow me!”
Down the street, through the buildings, across the alleyways, they followed Crystal who floated before them. It was silent aside from their footsteps, and not having much to talk about, remained that way while they were under the shadow of the buildings. The sun had risen to the top by the time they set their eyes on the old station they’d been guided to, one that looked as if it had been abandoned for a century.
Are you sure about this? Elias whispered, glancing at Crystal. It looks ancient.
“Trust me.”
It was less of a station and more of a storage box with a large metal door that slid sideways. With a grunt, he tried to pull it open, but the rust was too thick and the wheels not oiled. The door creaked but didn’t budge.
“Together?” Sina suggested, putting her hands next to his.
He nodded. “Together.”
With a terrible groan of grating metal, the door slowly inched sideways. A few more pushes gave them a thin space that could fit them. He slid in first then beckoned Sina to enter. Inside was a large, spherical object covered with a cloth covered in a decent amount of dust. He pulled it away.
“A monosphere,” Elias examined, touching the glass dome of the vehicle. “But for normal rails?”
“Back in the day, these designs were popular,” Crystal explained, sitting on top of the dome. “But they were ill-suited for the general population.”
Sina nodded once. “This is good. Does it work?”
With Crystal’s help, he was able to find the manual door handle, and while the controls looked a little different from a regular monosphere, it soon hummed to life with a press of a button, lighting up the dark room dimly. Sina entered as well, sitting down and closing her eyes. Though she’d said that she was recovering, it seemed to him that she was merely saying that for his sake—to ease his worry. They had walked more than usual.
“Wait here,” he told her, stepping outside. It was fortunate that the vehicle was on rails, but the door leading out still had to be opened. Surprisingly, it was manual—and rusted. He pulled and pushed on the heavy crank, forcing the door up halfway where it refused to budge further.
“Crystal.”
“Try your best.”
Breathing in, he pushed as hard as he could. The door creaked—then he met a wall. He couldn’t surpass the threshold. He glanced back at Sina. If she helped him, maybe it would be possible. The first door hadn’t budged either without her help.
He struck his forehead with the palm of his hand, covering his eyes for being so mindless. Sina had spent her energy to help, hadn’t she? Walking was too minor of a task to cause her fatigue. Looking back, she’d been weakened significantly after she’d done the impossible with her small physique, doing what he couldn’t. She was in this state because she’d wanted to help him. And automatically, he was seeking her help again.
“I wish she didn’t expend herself like that,” he whispered, leaning against the crank. “She should be more selfish. But she can’t count on me when I’m this weak, can she? Can’t even open a stupid door.”
Clenching his jaw, he pushed against the crank again. Crystal looked at him with pity, touching his shoulder.
“If you could find a large object you can swing, you could strike the door open,” she suggested. “Try to use physics.”
“Yeah.”
He turned around—and stopped. Elias touched his chest. Something felt warm.
“Elias?”
It wasn’t warmth related to temperature. It was as if a drop of molten vigor had coagulated inside of him, dissolving into his body. He recognized the sensation. It felt similar to when Sina taught him to awaken his sixth sense—but hotter. Clearer.
Controllable.
“Elias. Your body’s telling me that something’s going on. I can’t tell what it is.”
“I think I know what this is,” Elias said, placing his hands on the crank. He closed his eyes, focusing on the strange energy that coursed through his muscles. He wasn’t sure what was happening to him. But at that moment, nothing felt impossible.
He pressed forward—and the crank broke free from its lock with an ear-splitting screech, suddenly becoming smoother to rotate. The door was soon wide open, revealing the clear skies outside, casting new light into the darkness of the old shed. He took a step back, breathing in deeply.
So it had finally come. The trip home. Where everything had begun and would end—but with a new friend.
Sina had fallen asleep when he returned to the sphere. He quietly pressed the controls, leaving the task of going home to Crystal. Sitting down next to Sina, he let her head fall on his lap, brushing her hair aside to uncover her face. She weakly opened her eyes once but closed them once more, falling deeper into sleep.
“We’re going home,” Elias whispered with the slightest tremor. “You’ll never be a tool again. Never.”
He clenched his fists. The power from before was gone as if it had never existed, but he knew that it was something Sina had gifted him. They would be safe once home. But if Workman truly wanted to capture Sina and dispose of her—then he would do everything to stay with her. It would be child’s play for Workman to kill both of them. But if there was one thing that he’d been taught over and over,
It was that Workman could not kill humans. It went against its very existence to do so. So as long as he remained close to Sina, Workman would not be able to lay a hand on her. As for the others—
He looked down at his hand. That power he’d felt—the feeling of impossible possibility. He’d caught glimpses of Sina’s world but never had he experienced it so clearly. The power to cause miracles. It would protect them. He would protect them. He believed it.
The small vehicle hummed forward, slowly accelerating until the buildings around them became blurry while the ones further away became noticeably smaller with each second. There was no turbulence, just a smooth, relaxing ride to enjoy, albeit slower than regular trains. Enough to add a few more hours to the timer, but still much faster than traveling on foot.
They would arrive before nightfall. He found it hard to believe. The journey was finally coming to an end. It had been a bizarre start in the unknown thinking that the world had ended followed by losing his only companion and being gripped with fear. He’d survived the Shadows and defeated the one who had created them.
He had met Sina. The darkness from her clone had latched itself onto her, drawing the Shadows to her, but they were a million steps away, too far away to affect her. According to Crystal, the Shadows had stopped moving, going into a dormant state. They’d shaken off their pursuers.
They were going home.
“Elias.”
He turned his attention to Crystal who was sitting opposite them. She looked worried, somewhat sad even.
“Now that we’re getting closer, I’ve been able to collect more information,” she told him quietly, “but things aren’t the way they used to be.”
Elias felt a shiver go down his spine. “You mean—the world really ended?”
“No, it’s not that. Everyone is safe. But…”
She glanced at Sina’s sleeping face. “The girl. There’s one thing you should—”
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He shook his head. “Not now. Please. As long as it doesn’t put her in danger, you can tell me later. I just…want to relish this moment.”
Crystal nodded. “I’ll be floating around if you need me,” she told him, fading into nothingness.
Even though she was a helpbot—an SPC—he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of guilt in his chest. Maybe it was time to change her. A robotic voice would be fine, and the helpbot could take the appearance of a drone. It was time to forget about Jewel and erase his last remembrance of her.
But Crystal had become something more. She’d been there with him from the beginning. He couldn’t bring himself to change her. Not yet.
“Did…I fall asleep again?”
Sina got up from his lap, rubbing her eyes. “I meant to close my eyes a little.”
“You looked like you were having a good dream,” Elias told her.
“I…I did have a dream,” she agreed. “I think I did. I don’t remember.”
“Well, dreams are like that.”
She looked around, getting up to stretch. “How far have we come? Are we almost there?”
“We still have a few more hours to go.”
“I see.”
Sina took a seat next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder. “It’s peaceful.”
“It is.”
“I hope it stays like this.”
“It will get better.”
“How so?”
Elias thought for a second. His friends didn’t think too well of him, nor did his family. Would it be better? He hoped it would, once he reconciled with them. An uncomfortable process.
“The Otherworlds are great,” he answered, thinking back to his time in Talanim. “You can talk to animals and sleep under the stars. But that’s only one of the worlds. There are so many others, and you can become anything you want.”
“I think I’m already everyone I want to be. But you’re saying that there are more?”
“Yep. More than you can think of. You can be a pirate, a warrior, a mage, a tea shop owner, a botanist, even an astronaut.”
“What’s an astronaut?”
“Someone who can explore space.”
Sina looked up at the sky. “Up there? Is that possible?”
“One of my friends was studying to become one,” Elias chuckled. “There’s so much about space that we don’t know even though so much has been explored. There might be many Otherworlds, but there are billions and billions of stars out there.”
“Is that where people go after they die?”
“To space?”
Sina nodded.
“I’m not sure,” Elias said, scratching his cheek. “It’s scary to think about. It’s a really old question too. But since we’ll be living thousands of years anyways, I guess we have plenty of time to think about it.”
“Can our bodies live that long?”
“Maybe not. A few hundred years at most, and it’ll get all wrinkly. But most people become Dients by then. Then you can’t die anymore.”
“Dients?”
“Yeah. I’m oversimplifying the process, but they take your brain, stick it in a jar, then hook it up to some machines so that you can enjoy the Otherworlds for the rest of eternity.”
He almost laughed out loud at Sina’s bizarre expression. She didn’t seem too pleased with the thought.
“That can’t happen to us,” she said with a frown. “…I won’t let that happen.”
“Well, it’s not forced,” Elias told her. “You do it when you want to. There’s just so much more you can do there, you know? And you don’t have to worry about starving or suffering…”
“Being out here makes you suffer.”
Her solemn tone threw him off a little. He looked down at her to find her eyes looking up at his. There was no smile on her face, nor a frown. Just her usual, blank expression. It had been the norm for the majority of their time together, but seeing it return made him worry if he’d said something wrong.
“Physical suffering,” he emphasized. “Like blisters and diseases and bleeding.”
“Hmm.”
“You don’t like the thought of becoming a Dient, do you?”
“No.”
Sina’s answer was as clear-cut as it could get. It was surprising since her opinion on other subjects had been vague as she hadn’t known much.
“Could I ask why?”
She shut her eyes tightly. “It’s too miserable to live like that. You would be living in an illusion while your real body is stuck in a container. You can’t call that living.”
“People who are too old to function properly are usually the ones becoming Dients,” Elias explained, patting her shoulder. “And people who are close to dying. Healthy people don’t become Dients. You could call it life after death.”
Sina didn’t speak. Instead, she buried her face into his arm, holding it tightly. Some time passed before she opened her mouth again.
“They were going to do it to me,” she said softly. “The people who captured me. They were going to turn me into a Dient.”
Elias’s eyes widened. “You’re starting to remember.”
She nodded worryingly.
Despite knowing that she would sense his emotions, a burst of anger flared inside of him, causing his face to heat up. The Engans. They would dare?
Or was it the automatons? No, the automatons had been tasked with eliminating Sina—he was sure of it. The dogs he’d saved her from when he’d first met her were the same kind as them. The Shadows were mindless creatures. That only left the Engans.
“Elias?”
“You’re right—I’ll never let that happen to you,” he promised, glaring back at the way they’d come from. “We’ll grow old together. So what if we get wrinkles?”
“We won’t grow old.”
“Huh?”
“With my power and the gift I’ve given you, we’ll always stay young,” she said, putting her hand where his heart was. “‘A tool must always be in perfect condition.’ But now I’ve found my true purpose.”
She hugged his arm tightly, hiding her face in it. “I’m not a weapon, Elias. I was meant to save lives.”
“I know. You saved me over and over.”
“………………!”
She looked up at him as if she wanted to say more. Her eyes were watery, her cheeks flushed, and her expression sincere. He could feel it. She wanted to speak.
But she didn’t.
“I’m glad I met you,” she said instead.
A gentle atmosphere enveloped them afterwards, and he could feel her happiness through her fingers in his hand. A squeeze here and there. Warmth they could share together. A speck of unease tugged at him from deep within his mind, but he ignored it, focusing on the present. There was no need to think too hard. What mattered was enjoying the moment. Enjoying the peace.
“What other things can you remember?” Elias asked carefully.
“Nothing much. But I’ve been seeing visions of the past.”
“The past?”
Sina nodded. “Before I became…a tool. My childhood.”
Right. It made sense that she had a childhood. One of his guesses for the method of her upbringing had been that information had been zapped into her brain—a bizarre guess now that he thought about it. But how had she lost her memories?
“Can you tell me more?”
“I had a father who took care of me. A…father figure,” she corrected herself. “And friends too.”
“Sounds…quite normal.”
“It was,” Sina agreed. “For me, at least. They taught me how to control my power.”
“Like you are doing for me.”
“Something similar.”
She looked up into the horizon. “Some of these memories…I would have rather not known.”
Turning her head, Sina stared him dead in the eye.
“Elias, what if I wasn’t the person you thought I was? Would you—leave me?”
“Of course not!” he swore, shaking his head furiously. “The past doesn’t define who you are. You’re Sina. I told you before, right? I’ll always be with you.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
He took her hand and put it on his chest. “I know you can feel it. Am I lying?”
She shook her head.
“You know, I’m afraid that you might leave me if you knew who I really was,” Elias coughed, slightly turning away. “I tried to make my life sound fun, but in reality, I was kind of a loser.”
“That’s fine. I was aware.”
Elias choked on his spit. “You—oh.”
She smiled. “When we first met, you were not stable.”
“Ha—ha, er, yeah, I wasn’t.”
“But you’ve changed.”
“So have you.”
“That’s the part I’m not so sure of. Have I changed?”
“People are always changing,” Elias told her. Indeed, they changed too quickly. “You’ve become more expressive. You’ve…ahem, found love.”
He cringed a bit at that. She smiled, then began to chuckle heartily.
“I have,” she breathed. “It was the most wonderful thing. But that is why I am afraid that the past will take it away.”
“What is there to be afraid of?”
Elias wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pointed forward where the rails continued endlessly. “There’s no time to look back when so much is ahead of us.”
His cheeks reddened when Sina began to giggle. But he was glad for that. She needed more laughter in her life. The past where she’d been forced to suppress her emotions was far behind them. He wouldn’t let it shackle her down.
“I’m glad,” she sniffed. “Hey, Elias?”
“Yeah?”
She looked hesitant but eventually got the words out in a small voice. “The first time you talked about love, you were remembering someone.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Would it be bad to ask…who that was?”
Was she worried? That was something new.
“I can tell you, but—are you maybe feeling jealous?”
She tilted her head. “Jealous?”
“Er, it’s thinking that I might leave you for someone else.”
She looked down at her hands. “I don’t know. But it makes my chest tight if I think about it.”
“Oho.”
Sina furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you making fun of me?”
“No, no! I mean, I feel—moved. Yeah. I’m honored.”
She looked confused. He couldn't help but laugh a little.
“Don’t worry. I don’t think about the past anymore,” he assured. “But if you want to know, I could tell you about it.”
“Please.”
The journey home was long. There would be plenty of time to talk about the events that he’d wanted to forget the most. But he got the feeling that he’d get some closure once Sina listened to it; he wanted her to know more about him. His weaknesses, his faults—she was someone who would accept it all.
He took in a deep breath.
“It all began before winter break…”
⤙ ◯ ⤚
Buzz. Fwip.
Elias opened his eyes to the familiar sensation. He popped up on his seat, suddenly worried that their enemies had surrounded them.
“Relax. We’ve just arrived at a familiar place, that’s all.”
He blinked at Crystal who was sitting next to the door. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around to get a grip on the situation. A gargantuan structure loomed over them, making the darkened evening even darker. While he’d rarely stayed around until it got so dark, just the mere outline of the building told him everything he had to know.
“Education?”
Sure enough, he was at his city-school. He got on his feet, pressing the button for the door. Sina was still sleeping, so he stepped out quietly to inspect his surroundings.
“How come we’re here?”
“All roads in the megalopolis lead to Education,” Crystal told him, walking next to him with her hands behind her back. “After all, every child who lives in it comes here to learn.”
“And the way home?”
“It’s become a little complicated,” she answered. “The trains in the megalopolis are all flipped around underneath the city to make their return trip. But the rails below aren’t in the right position. I won’t be able to move it either without the system interfering.”
“Meaning?”
“We’re stuck here.”
So close, yet so far. Although it was a place he’d come to countless times, something about it now gave him the creeps. Education was never without light. During the night, it was like a beacon that could be seen from miles away. But though the sun was casting an orange-red glow in the sky, the city remained dark without a single speck of light.
“The good news is that there are spare trains we could use that point in the right direction,” she continued, “but they’ll have to be activated manually. And the key for that is…well, at the top of Education.”
“At the top?”
“Yes, on the administrative floor.”
“I never knew about that.”
“Of course. It’s for emergencies.”
Elias frowned. Something felt off. “But what’s the emergency?”
“About that—”
“Elias?”
He turned around. Sina had emerged from the sphere, hair all over her face. He grinned, helping her brush it aside. It had been a long time since they’d gotten proper haircuts.
“This, my dear, is the city of Education!” he proudly introduced, spreading his arms towards the giant tower. “It’s where I went to school.”
“Oh! Is this the place?”
“Yep. Normally, it would be brighter. I’m not sure why it’s so dark.”
The cool breeze brushed past them. Only then did he realize how quiet it had been. The birds that usually picked up the crumbs that the students dropped were missing as well.
“I think we’ll have to change rides,” he sighed, pointing towards the top of the tower, “and our ticket home is up there for some reason.”
“So we must retrieve it?”
“Mhmm.”
She happily hopped onto his arm, locking it with hers. “So it’ll be a school date!”
“I guess you could say that.” He smiled. “Yeah, it’ll be a date. I know some good places.”
He led her while holding hands, and they leisurely walked across the campus while the sun slowly hid behind the horizon. Though the darkness was eerie, he felt at peace with Sina by his side. She had that kind of atmosphere. Calm and soothing. The doors were still functioning, so they headed inside into the large area that led to the stairs and elevators. With Crystal’s help, the lights lit up, showing the way forward.
He told her about the classes he’d taken. He told her about the games he’d played during class and the group projects he’d done. The meals he’d eaten. The sports he’d competed in. She listened earnestly, nodding at his every word.
They had a quick meal at the cafeteria and some ice cream which was his favorite. It was new, being there with just the two of them. He liked it. They had the whole place to themselves.
But where were all of the researchers and Tertiary students? Noza had told him that they often stayed the night at Education. And yet, he felt no signs of life. It could have been that only this part of the building was vacant, but when he asked Crystal—
“Everyone is gone,” she shook her head.
That doesn’t make sense. What happened to them?
“Everyone has evacuated.”
Evacuated? From what?
“Potential danger.”
Are we in danger too?
“No. The two of you are safe.”
That was a relief. With a light heart and some thankfulness for the opportunity, he guided Sina to one of the classrooms, showing her inside. She sat on one of the desks, then sat on a chair, beckoning him to sit next to him.
“School sounds nice,” she told him. “It would have been wonderful to attend with you.”
“It’s not too late. There should be Otherworlds where you can become a student.”
“To access the Otherworlds, must I become a Dient?”
“Not at all. All you need is a CNI. Er, complete neural integration. They inject some fluid into your spine, but it doesn’t hurt at all.”
Her face became one of worry. She reached forward and touched his neck, moving her fingers down his back.
“It’s completely harmless. Everyone gets it when they become adults.”
“I don’t like it. It’s unnatural.”
“I thought you had something similar in you as well.”
She blinked. “Yes. I didn’t like it. It was a tracker meant to kill me. But don’t apologize,” she smiled, putting a finger on his lips, knowing well that he was about to say sorry. “We’ve lived different lives, that’s all.”
“Yeah, who cares about the Otherworlds anyway?” he shrugged.
After lingering a bit more, it was time to take the elevators up. While there was a central one that led straight to the top, taking it would likely alert the system, so they walked across the halls, using the shorter ones and stairs instead. The upper floors were for those who pursued Tertiary education which he knew little about. While he couldn’t tell Sina about it much, at least he had the pleasure of exploring the unknown together with her.
So many rooms. They could explore it all, but Sina seemed to be more interested in visiting his home. It wasn’t long before they stepped out of the last elevator to take the final flight of stairs, reaching the top floor through the emergency exit.
“So?” Sina asked.
“No aliens,” Elias sighed.
The urban legend that aliens resided on the topmost floor had turned out to be—well, a legend after all. It was surprisingly vacant and open, with glass all around the sides, giving the feel of being open to the air.
“I’ll go get the key,” he told her.
The container with the key was sealed at the center of the room, elevated on a large platform that was pure white. It reminded him of a monument.
“And it is,” Crystal said, floating nearby. “It has been a very, very long time since someone has used it.”
He broke the glass that trapped the key, taking it out with his fingers. The key was a round ball the size of a marble. He looked at Crystal for an explanation.
“Just a moment. And—here we go.”
Elias flinched when the ball suddenly moved, turning into a liquid and wrapping around his middle finger. It solidified again, turning into a simple ring.
“Tah-dah. The universal key,” Sina said proudly. “With this, you can access anything and everything that is programmable.”
“Wait—what?”
“It means that we can get the train without any problems,” she clarified. “It’s not that hard.”
He eyed the ring. “This ‘key’ sounds a lot more dangerous than it is.”
“Maybe. But it’s an emergency. Nanotechnology is amazing, isn’t it?”
“I thought that was only used for medical purposes. You know—the more parts there are, the easier to break?”
“It’s true. But that is why technology is wonderful. Like the Multipurpose Utility Pole!”
“I miss that.”
“I miss my drone as well.”
They sighed together.
“It’s getting late,” Elias noticed, looking outside. “Maybe we should sleep here for the night.”
“Fortunately for you, there are beds on this floor.”
“Really?”
“This place was meant for a certain someone, you see. He never got to see it, but it was created according to his wishes.”
“Who?”
“Workman’s creator.”
He suddenly felt bad for trespassing. But Crystal assured him that he was free to use it since the creator was not someone who would turn down tired travelers. On a hidden shelf that rose from the floor, he found a mattress that was more like a thick blanket and pillows with actual blankets. After neatly arranging everything, he headed back to Sina who was staring into the distance with her hand on the glass.
She turned around after hearing him. “This is a nice place.”
“We can spend the night here,” Elias told her. “It’s getting dark anyway. Oh, and guess what I found over there? Games and a big screen! We can watch movies if you’d like.”
“Movies? Games?”
Sina was confused at first, but she quickly understood the concept of pure entertainment. The rest of the evening had passed before they knew it, and to prepare for the next day, they lay on the mattress together, closing their eyes.
“I liked that movie,” Sina gently laughed. “The main character was like me.”
“You can call down lightning?”
“No, silly. But he was powerful. And he lost his memories. And…he saved the world.”
Had she called him silly? He chuckled.
“True. We saved the world, didn’t we? You were a little suicidal at first.”
She pouted. “I was only doing my mission.”
Elias laughed. Sina had been immune to teasing, but even she was changing with time.
She pinched his arm softly. “And you were too scared to do anything. What were you going to do if I hadn’t come?”
“Oh. Er—things would have worked out.”
“Hmm. I think you were a little suicidal too.”
“Was I?”
“Yes. It was like you had no motivation to live until you met me.”
“Hey, I was lonely.”
She moved in to cuddle, and he held her in his arms. He could never get used to the feeling. It was wonderful, joyful, and heavenly. For everything in the world, he would not trade his moments of Sina.
Sleep came like a gentle breeze, tenderly pushing him into blissful slumber.
⤙ ◯ ⤚
In the middle of the night, Elias realized that he was terribly thirsty.
Sina was sleeping next to him, and the night was still dark. Carefully, he crawled out of the blankets and tiptoed across the room to find some water. Pouring himself a cup, he quietly gulped it down—
He froze, nearly dropping his cup. On the other side of the room, behind the glass windows, floating outside in the air were large scarlet words radiating angrily,
‘YOU ARE BEING TRICKED.’
He rubbed his eyes. The words were still there. Looking at them sent a chill down his back.
Crystal? What’s that?
She didn’t reply. He looked around.
“What’s what?”
He nearly jumped. Crystal was in her pajamas, yawning.
“That—”
He pointed towards the words, but as abnormally as they had come—they were gone. All that was before him was the darkness of the night and the faint sound of the wind thumping on the glass. He frowned, walking up to the windows. There was nothing there.
“You okay?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re safe, right?”
“There’s nothing dangerous nearby.”
He blinked. Had he been hallucinating? Then again, his head was a little drowsy from sleep.
Putting down his cup, he crawled into bed again next to Sina. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he scooted closer to get a better look at her sleeping face.
Only this time, it wasn’t Sina.
A faceless Shadow stared back at him. The instant he realized that Sina was gone, a fog of black struck his face, and his consciousness slipped away from his grasp.