A message from Heather arrived with the first rays of sunlight.

Still on the move. Hope to see you there.

I nearly jumped with excitement. She was okay. Now it was my turn to stay discreet and meet at Erik's house to continue our plan.

I quickly replied: So glad to hear from you. I'll be there. Stay safe.

That message sent me racing out of Nexus Court as if hurrying to Erik's place would somehow make Heather arrive faster too.

The sun was barely up and I could already hear the shouts of the protesters heading to Foundation Square as I darted between the streets. They were getting an early start, which meant we'd probably face early trouble. I just hoped I had enough time to find Heather and figure out how to reach the Orb before Brooke missed me.

When I arrived at Erik's apartment, I froze at the door, suddenly aware of how nervous I was. My body tensed, and my chest tightened as if it were folding in on itself. Erik's disappointed gaze from the press conference weighed on me like a backpack full of stones. No matter how much I wanted to drop it, I couldn't shake the fear crawling through my veins. What if he hated me now? What if he didn't trust me anymore? What if he refused to help us?

My heart hammered as the questions twisted tighter inside me, knotting around my lungs like fishing lines. Breathe, Grace, breathe. Not the time for a panic attack. With whatever courage I had left, I knocked on the door.

Tear-streaked eyes met mine as Erik opened the door, frozen in place, less than happy to see me.

"What are you doing here?" He said, wiping away his tears as if feeling embarrassed.

"Hey," I leaned in. "What's wrong?" I said pulling him into my arms.

"Stop." He said moving away. "I don't want your fake kindness"

"Come on Erik." I said. "You know it's not fake."

"What do you want?" He crossed his arms over his chest as if trying to hide his obvious fragility behind a defensive stance.

"Is this about the press conference?" I asked. "Because if it is, please, let me explain."

Erik's lips twisted into a sarcastic grimace. "Explain what? How the implants are supposed to bring freedom and happiness like they did for me? Or maybe you want to explain why, after disappearing, you came back as a hero of the Reg Society and didn't even bother to reach out to me before stepping onto the Nexus Court stage?"

Whoa. There was a lot I needed to explain. Erik's hands were trembling, just like mine. His voice cracked, and his eyes were rimmed with a bloody red.

"Erik. Let me in, and we'll talk." I said, steadying my voice.

"Why would I do that?" His tone was ice cold.

"Because deep down, you know there's an explanation and you want to hear it." I locked eyes with him, hoping he'd see past the anger. But the silence between us only grew heavier. "I haven't let you down. You know that. Not once. Just... let me explain."

Erik hesitated and then his voice cracked: "Okay... come in."

I sighed with relief. "Thank you, mate, thank you."

His apartment had changed again. The sofas were now arranged in a way that made no sense, facing the wall and far from the window where they'd always been. The walls had gone from that familiar light green to a deep, dark blue, that felt almost oppressive. Every time his implant got a new update, Erik paid the price. His personality, his tastes, and of course, his memories, all scrambled.

It didn't surprise me. I had figured it out years ago, which is why I visited him every week, making sure he didn't lose track of who he really was. But after the mission and all the time I'd been gone, it was clear it had hit him hard.

"You've been remodeling...Again." I said flatly while sitting on the sofa.

"I know it's a mess. I don't recognize this place as mine anymore." He said sitting next to me.

"Well, it has potential, but I think it's fair to say this isn't your best shoot, man."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. The bags under them, tinged purple, made it obvious he hadn't slept in days.

"Come on, Grace," he said. "Just spit it out."

I took a deep breath. Finally, my chance to fix this mess had come.

"Erik." I took his hand in mine and met his gaze, trying to offer as much reassurance as I could. "I didn't reach out because everything happened so fast. I was thrown into the spotlight before I had a chance to do anything. But you need to know, not everything I said at the press conference was true."

Erik's tender, crystalline gaze fell to our clasped hands, which he gripped tightly. His frown remained tight and worried.

I continued, "I've had to handle things from my side without raising suspicions."

He pulled his hand away. "From your side? What side are you even on anymore?"

The fact that he really doubted me hit like a punch to the gut, but I kept calm. I didn't want the conversation to escalate further. "I'm on our side, of course."

"I don't know what that means." He said.

I took a deep breath and fell silent for a moment, allowing the conversation to breathe. Erik was right, there was a time when the line between both sides was sharp, but now it had long since faded into a blur.

"Look, there are no sides, okay? This world is a mess, and the only thing that moves us now is the love we have for each other, no matter what side of the wall we are."

"I'd like to believe that," Erik said quietly, "but I've been so... lonely." He wiped away a tear that escaped down his cheek. "You were the only one who gave me any hope about this life. I listened to the news every day, hoping to hear updates on the mission. When they announced you were missing, I... I nearly lost my mind. So when I heard you were back, I thought you'd come visit me. But that didn't happen."

His words were raw and I could see the depth of his hurt. "Erik, I'm sorry. I should have reached out sooner but I couldn't. Believe it or not, this was the plan from the beginning: Coming here."

"It was?" He said not really convinced.

"Yes. There's a lot I need to tell you. We need your help." I said.

"We?"

"Yeah... Me, Heather, and... Michael."

His eyes as darts, pierced me. "Did you see him?"

"I definitely did."

He blinked nervously and straightened up a bit, sitting up more rigidly "Where did you find him? Is he alright? Does he remember me? Did you give him the..."

"The music box?" I finished for him. He nodded. "I did, and you know what? It saved us."

Erik's tears fell, now completely uncontrolled, as he buried his face in his hands. I couldn't stay distant any longer, couldn't bear to. I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him.

Of all the people in this miserable world, Erik was the last one I could bear to see cry. He had always been a beacon of light for everyone who knew him, especially for Michael. From the very first day I crossed the border, he had been there for me, creating the transmitter to send messages to Michael, and even saving us with his music box. What would I have done without him? What would any of us have done without him?

As I hugged him, I noticed he had lost weight. I could feel each of his bones. I had suspected it before, seeing how loosely his shirt hung on him, but feeling it now... it was worse than I could have imagined. I hated seeing Erik like this. That damn implant that was messing with his mind seemed to be consuming him physically too, and with each passing day, he was fading more and more, as if time itself was mercilessly erasing him.

The next thirty minutes were a Q&A about Michael, which seemed to infuse Erik with new energy, and the spark returned to his eyes. Thank God. But even then, I couldn't bring myself to be completely honest with him. I knew Michael missed Erik. That wound had never healed; it was cut too deep. But Michael had grown cold to the idea of ever seeing him again. Every time we talked about it, he'd say Erik was gone as if repeating the lie would make it true. And despite the countless times I told Michael that Erik was still waiting for him, the words seemed to vanish into the same void Erik was slipping into.

"Will Michael come here when this is all over?" Erik asked, hope brightening his eyes.

"Well, I'm not sure what will happen, but you'll definitely see each other."

That was the only thing I could promise him.

"If you want, you can send him a message now," I suggested, pulling out my pager and showing it to him. "There's no music code here, though."

"What's this?" He took it and scanned it with his big, curious blue eyes.

"It's a way to communicate without being detected, old tech. Just type whatever you want, and I'll make sure he gets it." I explained.

Erik thought for a moment, then began typing. After a minute of rechecking, he handed the pager back to me.

"Done." He said.

I looked at the screen, and my heart softened. The message read: "Hi Michael, it's Erik. Grace is here, and I can't wait to see you again. You never left my mind. Take care."

The fact that he had used those precise words, "You never left my mind," felt double powerful, given his situation.

"He'll be glad to hear from you."

Erik looked at me with his angelic smile, but then his gaze dropped to his knees as if he had suddenly disconnected from reality.

"Erik?"

He didn't respond. He didn't even blink. His eyes were fixed on a point on the floor. A second later, he began to shake. His brow furrowed, and his eyes squeezed shut as if he were in terrible pain.

"Erik, what's wrong?" 

I shook him and grabbed his face with my hands, lifting it to mine to get him to react. He was stiff and still, like frozen metal.

"What's happening to you!?" 

I had no idea what to do. He seemed to be having some sort of attack that was constricting his entire body. I bolted to the kitchen, tearing through his cabinets, searching for medication. Nothing. Just a few notes on the fridge, reminders written by him: Grace is good, You love Michael, You play the violin...

Then I saw the last one: Always wear the patch.

The patch? What the hell was that? I came back to Erik, who was now slumping to his right. His implant was flickering with a rapid red light. Was he getting another damn update?

"Erik! Please, tell me what to do!" I shouted desperately.

He fell to his side, and I caught him just in time, easing him onto the sofa.

"What patch do you need to wear? Could that help?!" I asked my heart racing.

He managed to half-open his eyes and stared at me, then pointed weakly toward the hallway.

I ran, not even sure what I was looking for, tearing through his apartment, his bedroom, bathroom, and finally the last room... The one where, years ago, he had hidden his violin. The same violin that, over time, had been ruined by an implant update that made him lose touch with reality. I could never forget it.

I opened the door and saw a desk cluttered with tools, chips, and blueprints scattered everywhere. It looked like an engineer's workshop.

What was all this? I scanned the desk and spotted a small, whitish patch that looked like silicone, with something hard embedded inside. Without hesitating, I grabbed it and rushed back to Erik, who was now barely conscious.

"This?" I asked, showing it to him. He nodded and placed it on the lower part of his wrist. The patch flickered blue, and Erik took a deep breath.

"Do I need to do anything else? Should I call someone or get something?" I asked, unable to calm down completely, even though Erik seemed to be stabilizing.

He shook his head softly, and I understood that all I could do was stay by his side. After about five minutes, Erik seemed to be feeling better and managed to sit up on the sofa.

"How are you, buddy?" I asked.

"Good. I'm glad you were here." He replied, his voice still weak.

"What the hell happened?"

"The updates from the system are becoming more frequent," Erik explained. "What you saw was my mind resisting the latest one..."

"That's so messed up. And what about this?" I pointed to the strange patch that seemed to have helped Erik.

Erik took a deep breath, his voice steadier now. "Follow me," he said, offering a small, reassuring smile. "I need to show you something important."

We returned to the room where I had found that little patch, and now, more relaxed, I could see how everything had transformed. There were newspaper clippings on one wall about the Phoenix Group and their Tech blockers. On another wall, there were tons of sketches of microchips, mathematical formulas, and diagrams of the human body. The desk was cluttered with small inventions, and in a box, there were many patches similar to the one I had brought him, all only half-finished.

"What's all this?" I asked.

"My new hobby." He smiled. "Getting my freedom back."

"Your freedom?"

Erik approached the desk and picked up one of the small, whitish patches that looked like silicone with something hard embedded inside.

"What is this?" I asked.

"I call it the Signal Ghost Patch. It's what might finally free me from the implant updates... assuming I get it to work right."

"What? How does it work?" I asked surprised.

Erik turned his wrist to show me the patch that I had brought to him earlier. "The Reg bracelet constantly monitors my vitals, right? Every time it updates, it messes with my brain, rewiring memories, thoughts... But this," he pointed to the patch, "creates a feedback loop. It sends false signals to the bracelet, making it think the update has already been applied."

"Are you serious?" I asked, amazed.

"Dead serious," Erik replied. "You saw it in action. You just place the patch on any part of your body that can pick up a pulse. It's not perfect yet, but it can alleviate about half of the effects of an update." He paused, looking at me earnestly.

"That's why I'm still mostly myself. I don't know what state you would've found me in if I hadn't built this thing."

"This sounds incredible, Erik!" I said, enveloping him in a hug. "Just when I think you couldn't possibly impress me more, you go and do it again!"

He chuckled. "Well, it still needs a lot of testing. I'd like it to be more reliable before I get too excited. The goal is to reach 100% effectiveness, but that's still a way off."

"How did you come up with the idea, genius?"

"Well," he said with a smile, "I've been in touch with some rebels. Reg Tech blockers are all over the black market now, which is why there's been so much chaos in the city lately."

I remembered all too well the first time I saw a Reg Tech Blocker in action. A rebel girl had disabled my speed booster by jabbing me with a small device, like a pen with a tiny needle. It completely shut down my enhanced speed.

"The Phoenix Group has something similar," I explained. "They use massive towers to block Reg Tech."

"I know," Erik said. "But instead of just using detectable blockers, we need something that can hide the signals."

"So, you just wear this patch, and that's it?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's simple, discreet, and comfortable." He replied.

"Have you tested it on anyone else?"

"Only on myself so far," Erik admitted. "But I'm confident it'll work. If it can shield me, it can shield others."

I glanced at the notes and drawings pinned to the walls. He'd clearly poured a tremendous amount of effort into studying and perfecting this.

"I can't believe you did this." I said.

Erik's eyes softened, and he gave a small, grateful smile. "I couldn't have done any of this if you hadn't come back time and again over the years to remind me of who I was. You've been my guardian, Grace."

Our eyes met, and our smiles mirrored each other. Suddenly, my pager buzzed. I pulled it out and saw a message from Heather:

Need help. There's a lot of chaos in the city center. Lots of Narval officers around. It'll be hard to cross in disguise. Coming from south of Foundation Square.

Shit. I'd been dreading this. The streets were crawling with pissed-off, anxious people, and that meant Security Officers were everywhere too. How the hell were we going to get through this?

I stared at the message, my mind racing. The situation was worse than I'd anticipated.

"Heather's in trouble." I said, showing Erik the pager.

Erik's expression turned serious. "We need to get to her."

Author's Note:

Hey! What's up? :D Who's your day going so far? 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you liked the chapter! 🤗

While I was writing the chapter, I was thinking about Erik and Michael's situation. They haven't seen each other in a long time, and while Erik is hopeful, Michael is a bit distant. How would you feel if you had to reconnect with a past love? Would you have forgotten them? Let me know!! 

Love you all! ❤️

Ava! 💫