"Heather."

That was the first thing she said, with a brief scratch in her voice. Then she paused, looking straight ahead, with piercing eyes that seemed like a lance of intentions going through us. Heather stood frozen, rigid, her eyes wide and her skin taut; she looked almost as if she'd stopped breathing.

"I'm so sorry." That was the second thing she said.

Michael shifted his gaze from the hologram to Heather with worried yet hopeful eyes. This message could be a wound but also a healing and he knew it. My heart was racing. My hands slightly sweaty, and I felt a pressure at the front of my head as if the hologram were merging the past with the present and the future in a swift journey that was hard for me to assimilate.

"It's me." She said. "Mom."

A thin but swift hologram tear traced down her cheek, only to be quickly wiped away.

"You'll have to be brave, honey. But I know you already are." She continued.

Her lips, her eyes, the shape of her jaw... she was a reflection of Heather, except for a few more lines of age.

"This might seem confusing, but I don't have much time. I've discovered something, and they're going to kill me for it." She glanced around as if checking for intruders. After a pause, she lowered her voice. "The memory wipe function... The reset... We created it with good intentions, I swear. I had no idea things would escalate like this."

The hum of the projector invaded the silences and pauses Heather's mother made and it was in that instant that I could hear Heather's breathing. Now agitated but making a hard effort to control it.

"Heather." She looked directly at us. "We need to stop this. A massive reset is coming. No one will be safe, not even those on the other side of the wall. Our data system shows that humanity is doomed, and in a few years, we will face mass extinction." She took a deep breath.

"That's why The Orb, is planning to erase all human memories and start over from scratch, treating us as if we were empty vessels or mere puppets." She sighed.

"And once I'm gone... they'll probably start with you."

Her eyes filled with tears, this time they were not thin and she had to make a long pause before resuming the talk.

"The code that freed The Orb has a flaw. No one knows about it. In this flaw, you need to insert a line of code, that will be like a bomb. It will destroy the whole system. You have the key in you; I know you're smart enough to figure it out."

A glitch interrupted her words. Her mother turned around again, her nerves increasing at every moment.

"Time is running. Listen to me: the code has a trigger. Once you're with The Orb, it will activate. You'll have to trust me. Just find The Orb, and everything will be over."

More glitches disrupted the transmission. "I love you so much." She turned around again, stressed, and then repeated "I love you so much, always...remember."

And the hologram faded.

Silence.

Remember. A significative word to end on.

Heather stood up. Anika turned on the lights. We all stared at her, waiting for some sign of what she was feeling. Her eyes were damp, and her pants were wrinkled, probably because she had been twisting them during the projection.

"The Orb is planning a massive reset." Heather stated. It was more an affirmation to her than to us.

"They've already started." Anika added.

She was right. I had suspected it before, but it hadn't fully hit me that resetting everyone who crossed the border was just a piece of a much bigger scheme.

"It's true," I said. "Ever since the last law was enacted, all outsiders are reset as soon as they cross over."

Heather walked slowly through the room as if she needed to move to process the information. "And all the changes they made while we were Narvals: removing humans from the border and replacing them with techno-humans, was this all part of the same plan?" She asked.

"Yes," Michael replied. "They've been pushing their agenda, just as your mother said."

Heather's gaze dropped to the floor as she stopped her strolling. "Why didn't they kill me too, then?"

Michael answered, "I think you were the first test. They wanted to see how a human without memory could become the system's closest ally."

Heather nodded, her lips pressed together, her fists clenched.

"Well..." She said after a pause. "They were wrong."

Her enraged eyes met mine, and in that instant, I knew all her doubts, the fears that had threatened her, and the suffocating insecurities she had gone through were gone. She was ready.

· · ·

We spent the entire night planning the mission, though by the end, only Michael, Heather, and I remained awake. The rest had gone to sleep. Luckily, it would be our last one mission. 

With Beverly and Stella having escaped, we knew the Reg Drons were likely searching for us. A possibility would be to pretend we had escaped from the Phoenix Group and cross the border again. However, that would put Heather at risk if someone happened to learn about our intentions. So, the best course of action was for her to re-enter the Reg Society undercover.

The problem was that if we were caught and something happened to Heather, we'd all be doomed. We needed to devise some kind of strategy to clear the path to The Orb. That's when I thought of Laura, Erik, and maybe even Kate. People from the inside who could help us if things went south.

"Are you sure they're reliable?" Michael asked, concerned about my suggestion.

"Laura is a must; she can help us cross through the mountain camps," I said. "We can then stay at Erik's place until we find the perfect moment to get to the Nexus."

"At Erik's?" Michael froze at that point.

"Yes, I'll need to check how he's doing, but he'll do anything for you, Michael."

Michael turned away, hiding his face.

"Come with us." I said. Because come on, It was obvious Michael and Erik needed to see each other again.

"No." He said firmly. "That's insane. I'll command an attack from the outside at the border, so we have the Narval Officers occupied while you get to The Orb."

"You have to see Erik." I insisted.

"Grace, please. We have to keep a clear head. Also, I don't think you and Heather should go together." He said.

"What? why?" Heather asked.

"It's too risky to send two people undercover," Michael said. "Grace could cross the border through the gates, claiming she escaped. It's more straightforward."

He had a point. I didn't want to leave Heather alone, but it would be better if everyone's focus was on me. I could tell them Heather was missing or even captured by the Phoenix group.

"It's true. Splitting up might be the best option," I agreed. "We'll meet up at Erik's."

"If we're splitting up, we need a way to communicate." Heather said.

"I've got that covered. Hold on." Michael stood up and left the room.

While we were alone, a long silence fell between us, one I didn't like. It was a worried, unsettling silence. So, I reached for Heather's hand.

"Are you holding up okay?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I'm fine. Just sick of this endless fight. I want it to be over."

I smiled softly. "Same here."

Another long silence followed. I gently caressed her hand.

"How are you feeling about... your mother?" I asked. It was a risky question, but also one that I needed to ask.

"It feels unreal. I haven't fully accepted that woman is... was my mother." She said, blinking nervously and dropping her gaze to our tangled hands.

Heather tilted her head and looked at me. "And you, Grace? You keep asking me, but how are you really?"

I wasn't expecting that question. We'd been so focused on her the past few days that I'd pushed my own worries aside. The truth was, I was terrified, but I wasn't about to lay that burden on her.

"I'm totally fine."

She raised an eyebrow, not buying it.

"Seriously." I insisted.

"That face..." She said.

I instinctively pulled back. "What?"

Heather gave a knowing smile. "I know you. You're keeping things from me."

I sighed. "It's not that I'm keeping things from you, it's just that I don't want to add my emotional issues to your worries. You already have enough."

Heather wrapped her arms around me and brought her head close to mine, resting our foreheads together, leaving a small gap between our mouths. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's nice of you. But I don't want to think of you suffering in silence." She said.

"Suffering out loud isn't useful." I said.

Heather sighed softly. "It's crazy how much you've changed. Back then, you wore your heart on your sleeve. You never held back, no matter what you were feeling."

I pulled back. "I learned my lesson. But don't think I've changed that much, my body still lets it all out in the lovely form of panic attacks." I grinned trying to lighten the mood.

"Your sense of humor hasn't changed, though." She said with a smile. "I hope when everything ends, your spirit heals."

I leaned on and brushed my lips with hers, a kiss that felt like a promise.

We pulled back right in time before Michael came back to the room. "I have it!" He said enthusiastically dropping on the table three little devices.

"Is that the old message thingy they used like ages ago?" Heather asked curious.

"The same! They were called pagers. I reconditioned several so they have an unlimited range. It's the perfect way for us to send messages without leaving a trace. We can only send short messages, but for what we need right now, it's ideal."

I took one to examine it. I had the size of a wristwatch but in a rectangular shape. The screen was small, but the buttons were large and cushioned.

"They look so retro and cool." I said taping a message for Michael and his device beeped.

"Great! It works," Michael said, checking the message. He raised an eyebrow. "Very funny, Grace. Very funny." He showed us the screen of his device, it read: "Nerd."

I smirked, and Heather playfully rolled her eyes while typing something on her device.

My device beeped with her message: "Clown."

I typed back: "And proud of."

Michael typed something and both of our devices beeped: "Focus, please."

We both laughed as Michael's rarely-seen smile slipped out, despite his best efforts to hide it.

Suddenly, the table vibrated, and we heard the sound of drones. A tremor hit, followed by a loud and unsetteling alarm. The lights flickered.

"What the hell is happening?!" I said.

Michael stood up, his eyes reaching a conclusion he didn't have time to convey, he only shouted. "Get down!"

There was a thunderous explosion, and the windows of the Phoenix Group's common room shattered. We dropped to the floor, huddling together. Screams. We rushed outside. A swarm of drones, like predators, was launching laser bombs over the Town.

"Fuck!" Michael said while searching for his weapon.

"They're looking for me." Heather stated.

Michael turned at us. "Forget about tomorrow. Leave now. Hurry!"

Michael pulled out his laser gun ready to join the fight.

"I'll help you." I said stepping forward.

"No!" Michael pushed me back. "You leave with Heather and follow the plan. Split when you get to the mountains. Keep communicated."

The drones were buzzing around like crazy, zipping over the houses and searching for anything that moved. A group of Phoenix soldiers sprang into action, firing at the drones and sending out their own flying machines to counter the attack.

I looked at Michael. This is how we'd end up separating again? Damn it. I didn't want to. We had spent too long searching for each other, too long-suffering for one another. It had taken so much for us to rebuild that connection, a bond that had once seemed unbreakable when we were kids. And now, just like that, we'd be parting ways again? Without knowing when we'd see each other next?

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. I caught him by surprise but as soon as he realized, he responded and I felt his warm body around me.

"We'll see each other soon, ok?" He said to my ear.

I nodded because I couldn't talk. My eyes were filled with tears.

Suddenly, a drone swooped down at us, ready to attack.

"Careful!" Heather yelled as she grabbed Michael's gun. She positioned herself to shield us and fired with lightning speed. The drone dropped, split in half right in front of us with a loud clang. Then she stepped forward and kicked it violently to clear it out of the way.

"Oh." Michael said, taken aback by the sudden burst of violence from her. "Thanks."

Heather turned to him. "Thanks to you."' She extended her hand as if to say goodbye, but he dodged it and wrapped his arms around her.

After that, we left, leaving behind a town in flames and destruction. The time had come: Our final mission. I took Heather's hand as we walked away, and she gripped it tightly. Now, every second with her mattered. Soon, we would part ways again, and once we did, anything could happen. However, the trust we had built over the past weeks made me feel that somehow we would find a way out of this messed-up world. We had no data about it, no records, no percentages, nothing to confirm if our path was the right one. But I didn't need it. The bond I felt with Michael and Heather was all that mattered. 

Author's Note: 

Hey!🤩

What's up??? 

You know what? while writing this chapter, I found myself reflecting on how challenging it can be to rebuild old bonds with people. Do you find it easy to form connections with others? Personally, I find it difficult because I tend to protect myself too much. What about you?

Thanks for supporting the story! 💖

Ava💫