Chapter Six

"Yes. I thought you understood that part." Samuel looked almost surprised by my question. "We were obvious choices for Marie. As her only children, she wanted to make sure we survived. So, we were among the first selected for the program."

"What about the other four soldiers?"

"You just met one of them... Theo. You will meet the rest of the team soon."

"Were we successful in saving people?"

"Yes. We are still working on saving the survivors, but things changed once we started conducting missions."

"Like what?"

"Shortly after she created us, our mother realized just how powerful time travel could be if it got into the wrong hands. She knew that even her husband couldn't be trusted. It would be too easy for him to go back in time and make changes that would impact our future. She had seen him grow reckless over the past few years and wanted to destroy Troy at any cost. Dr. Marie James knew it was only a matter of time that her husband caused some serious damage that would be hard to clean-up. So, we left OnyxFive."

"I don't get it. Why would we leave our home?" I had never wanted to leave a place. It had been the opposite for me over the past few years. Typically, I wanted to stay, but the families would eventually ask me to leave. Really, they never said anything. My case worker would just show up and tell me it was time to pack my things...again.

"We left. It was a unanimous decision. Unfortunately, our departure meant that instead of just soldiers from NorthStar to contend with, we now are also being hunted by OnyxFive. Our father was not happy about us leaving and has vowed to find us. Both he and Troy are intent on trying to replicate our capabilities, which could be disastrous.

Images from my dreams of the war danced vividly in front of me. I could easily see the small planes. They were sleek, dark machines that didn't look like those from 2010, but I had always known what they were. They flew non-stop over desolate land. Smaller, human-like, robots walked under the machines.

"And we fought in the war?" I hesitantly asked as more of the pieces came together.

"Yeah, we were rebel soldiers before we were changed."

"Is the war still going on?"

"Yes, but not at the level it was a few years back," Samuel said. "There are really no more human soldiers to fight, just robots. Troy has been trying to find OnyxFive, but he hasn't been successful. He also wants to find us, but we've managed to stay hidden. There have been a few times his robots have gotten close to trapping us, but we always manage to escape."

"So, if we are not fighting on the battlefield, then what do we do?"

"Dr. James encouraged us to move shortly before you disappeared, and we built a new compound that is safely hidden and which no one has been able to find. You are currently standing in that compound."

I looked around at my surroundings. White was definitely a prominent color.

Samuel cleared his throat. "While we still consider ourselves soldiers, we are not fighting against any group. At least, we don't instigate. We are now working on survival. While I continue to do research and test new ways to get plants growing again, we also know there are small camps of people hidden among the dirt hills. They would die without us bringing them food and plants from other decades."

Samuel walked over to a large screen and ran his hand over the smooth surface. A dark image appeared. It looked like a city during the middle of a dust storm.

"What is that?"

"Earth. That's what the majority of our planet now looks like now."

"Really?"

"Yes. I know. It doesn't look like anything in 2010. I tried to warn you. Things have changed and unfortunately, not for the better."

"Where do people live? Where are the kids?"

"In the tunnels," he said as a darker image appeared on the screen. There were dozens of people walking around, but they all looked dirty. It almost seemed as if the future had reverted to the past. It just didn't seem possible.

Theo appeared back in the room. "Your friend in the alley has been taken care of," he said nonchalantly as he crossed to the table and sat down in one of the chairs. "The rest of the team started in 2007, so he really had no clue about you. I confirmed he is still very much alive. We shouldn't feel too many ripples."

"Thank you," I muttered. "Is he really alive?"

"Esa, his time wasn't up. We needed to keep him alive," Samuel responded. "It's too risky to have people die before they are set to expire."

Theo folded his arms over his chest. "Samuel, you should probably know we felt several ripples in time around the accident scene."

"What does that mean?" I asked. They had mentioned the word "ripples" several times now.

"It means the accident may have occurred more than one time," Samuel responded.

"How is that possible?"

"I think this is just proof your disappearance wasn't an accident," Samuel said. "Someone went back and altered the scene. Those people were not supposed to die and you were not supposed to get stuck in that year. Whoever it was, did it intentionally."

"That's what I was thinking," Theo said. "Esa was right. All we could see was a bright light and then she just appeared. She looked completely lost as she walked around the accident scene."

Finally, I felt some sort of retribution. Maybe now these two would start believing me.

"That's interesting," Samuel said. "Did any of you capture some images before correcting the scene?"

"Audrina has it," Theo said.

Before I could ask any more questions, Theo's eyes narrowed. "Let's go. Now that we know a little more about where's she's been. I want to see if little Miss Priss is still in there somewhere."

"I'm not going anywhere with you if you call me Miss Priss," I shot back at him.

"Good. We'll see about that," he turned away from me.

Suddenly, there was a weird, yet beautiful, swirling vortex of blue vapors dancing around us. I reached out to touch one of the bands, but my hand went through the light. Speckles of blue, yellow and red danced off my skin as I got closer to the light.

"It's amazing," I said to no one in particular as I continued to watch the vapor-like bands. I had never seen anything like it. "What is it?"

"Jump, Esa!" Samuel pushed me forward. My body was lifted off of the ground and thrust further into the lights.

Suddenly, the blue bands were gone and we were sitting in a large field surrounded by a forest of tall pine trees. Lush green blades of grass glistened in the sun's rays, and the air had a hint of dewy saltiness, as if we were somewhere near the ocean.

"Where are we?" I looked over my right, then left, shoulders.

Tall wild flowers filled the field with vibrant splashes of color. The scene felt magical, and I wanted to see more. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the faint sound of waves crashing against a hard surface. I pushed past Theo and walked toward the large trees to explore, hoping something here would help me remember more about my previous life.

Slowly, I made my way past a large tree and found myself staring out over the deep blue of an ocean. Below, the water angrily slapped against the brown monolithic rocks jutting out of the ocean's floor, before crashing onto the white, sandy shoreline, leaving a trail of suds as the water retreated.

In the distance, a white stucco lighthouse loomed over another cliff. One side of the lighthouse was gone, leaving only jagged brick edges. It was like the lighthouse had been split down the middle by some sort of bomb or fire. Behind it, everything was dark. Pitch black. The sight was captivating, yet haunting.

"It's breathtaking, isn't it?" Samuel said from behind me.

"Yes. Beautiful." I responded, lost in my own thoughts. It felt like I was staring at some obscure art piece, not a real building.

There was a long moment of comfortable silence as we took in the view.

"We landed in a time right after the war broke out. It's close to our primary year and easy for us to practice in," he said. "This is one of my favorite decades. There are still beautiful places that haven't been destroyed."

"Hmm."

"There's more to show and tell you. Unfortunately, as you can see, our world is not like where you've been for the past three years."

It was hard for me to take my eyes off the darkness. "It's definitely different."

"Come on, Esa. We need to be somewhere you can concentrate," he finally said. "We only have a limited amount of time to practice and I want to see just how much you remember."

We retraced our steps to the open field. In the center, Theo was sitting on a large rock, his hands stretched out behind his body. His face was tilted up towards the sun.

As we approached, he beckoned me. "Come on, sit down next to me for a minute. It's a nice day, right?" He patted the rock, his voice softer now than during our first meeting. It was almost as if he wanted to help me.

"No," I responded dryly, unsure how to respond to him. I definitely did not want to sit next to him after the way he had treated me earlier. "I'll just stand over here."

"Don't be a wimp. C'mon," he said, chuckling. With a goofy grin on his face, he seemed more like a little boy who had spotted Santa Claus than the hardened soldier I had come face to face with a few minutes ago.

Before I knew what was happening, Theo tackled me to the ground and rolled on top of me, pinning my arms above my head. The speed in which everything happened almost felt like it was faster than lightening. I felt an intense wave of electricity pulse through my entire body at his touch. It ripped along my hands and rushed to my feet, causing every inch of me to feel like it was on fire. It was the most intense pain I had ever felt.

"Let's see just how powerful you are right now. Next time, don't be so easy," he said smugly, drawing his finger slowly across my cheek. His actions were almost taunting. "Don't worry, the burning will stop shortly. Try and find us."

He rose and sprinted toward the tree line, with Samuel following close behind him.

I watched helplessly as they faded into the distance. The intense electricity inside of me was growing more powerful. I could feel my skin tingling, and my hands shook. I wondered if my skin would melt off my body.

I willed the pain to stop, but my pleas were ignored. My mind raced with peaceful images as I tried to stop the current, but it only grew more intense. It must have been because of Theo. The thought angered me. He'd done this to me on purpose.