by Francis Tint
“Sorry, I just couldn’t help thinking about Ashlea and her evil agenda,” Blake responded.
“Ok,” Zach said. “I think we have a good baseline. Your brain activities are aligned with what you’re thinking and feeling. Now, let’s find out what happened to your earlier childhood memories. Let’s start with Corey.”
Images of Corey flashed in Blake’s mind. She thought of the moment when she had first met Corey by the bougie restaurant, and the shimmering tremor around him when he had come to talk to her outside the bar. And of course, she couldn’t help but to ponder over the moment when Corey had rescued her from Hermes’s headquarter. The private moments they had shared outside the flaming inferno they had set off to fake Kaitlin’s death.
“Major activities detected in the insula and the striatum areas,” Zach exclaimed. “Maybe I should’ve been more specific.”
“What do those areas mean?” Corey asked innocently.
Zach replied coyly, “Adult desires.” He directed to Blake, “Can you think about the time you were in the lab with Corey when you were a kid?”
Blake shifted her concentration to the dream where she was playing blocks with Corey in the sterile lab. Lower brain activities were registered in the limbic area, associated with minimal emotional triggers.
“Tell us,” Zach asked, “what are you thinking about?”
“Just the dream I had. I have no other memory of my childhood with Corey.”
Blake’s memory drifted to when they had visited Beryl University, and the ice-cream store that had sold her favorite flavor. She tried to imagine herself younger in the area, but nothing came to mind.
Zach commented, “These brain waves look very odd. It looks like there’s some blocked neural pathways in her limbic region. There’s also some sporadic activities in the BA10 region of the prefrontal cortex.” He considered for a moment, and requested, “Blake, try thinking about the moment you saw yourself as Ellen in the restroom.”
Blake revisited the vanity where Ellen had stood before. A rush of emotions flooded her mind. The emotional regions of fear and sadness were lighting up in her EEG scan. In addition, the BA10 region was also registering a spike of activities.
Zach explained, “BA10 is not a well understood brain area. I believe it’s the area responsible for our superpowers.”
“Why was the area lighting up when Blake was trying to think about her childhood?” Corey asked.
“My current theory is,” Zach speculated, “that her childhood memories were intricately linked with her powers. When the powers were blocked, they also obstructed her memories.”
“Whoever did this must be threatened by your powers.”
“Or they want my memories hidden.”
Next day, Tylor arranged to go out for coffee with Blake. “Hey,” Tylor greeted, “I’m glad you came.”
“Of course,” Blake responded. “I never checked in with you after the incident at the warehouse. How are you feeling?”
“A lot better now,” Tylor showed her the watch on his wrist. “Zach designed this for me. It allows me to fine-tune my enhanced senses. Now we have an extra weapon against the Typhon and the people working for Ashlea. I guess something good did come out of all this.”
“Zach’s so amazing with his mechanical gadgets,” Blake added. “We would be at a complete loss without him.” Still stalling. She had promised Julia before that she would stop leading Tylor on before the whole episode at the warehouse. With everything that was going on, she could never find the right time to clear the air with him. To make matters worse, Corey being a permanent fixture in the group simply added more unnecessary tension.
“I heard he also helped you figure out why you lost your childhood memories,” Tylor continued. “Now we just need to find out how to get them back.”
“One step at a time. I think we’re heading in the right direction. It’s only a matter of time,” Blake displayed unusual optimism. She paused, gathered up the courage and said, “Ty, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“Hold on,” Tylor interrupted. “I want to talk to you about something too. Let me go first.”
“Alright…” This caught Blake in surprise. What sort of conversation was he planning to have?
“You know,” Tylor started, “the last few weeks have been crazy. There’s probably a big part of me that just wants to go back to how it was, the three of us in the canteen, having meaningless conversations, with me displaying some awkward gestures. But I’m also glad we’re on this crazy journey.
“The time at the warehouse, it taught me a lot. It made me realize that, all this time, I’ve been avoiding the truth. I’d always thought that one day, I can make you understand that we’re meant to be together.” Blake was caught speechless, unsure if she was supposed to respond.
He took a breath before continuing. “I’m happy with you and Corey, Blake. I truly am. I realize that I’m the one who’s trapping myself. I need to see things for what they are. Certain things are just simply not meant to be. And I choose to free myself. Free us.”
After the remark, they exchanged genuine smiles with each other. Blake held tight on Tylor’s hands and said, “Thank you for all that. I want you to know that, no matter what happens, you’ll always be my closest friend. My best friend.”
They left the coffee shop and parted ways. Blake walked down the street toward Julia’s house, feeling more relieved than ever. To a certain extent, she had always felt responsible for letting Tylor feel the way he had. She had always hoped she could return Tylor’s affection. She thought one day she would develop feelings for him, and they could continue to build their careers at Ashlea Edwards and start an average nuclear family together. She used to think that would ultimately make her happy.
Buried in deep thoughts, she continued down the path oblivious to her surroundings. Had she paid more attention, maybe she would’ve noticed the shady hooded figure approaching her. Had she been more careful, maybe she would’ve deflected when the stranger took out a taser and stunned her in the middle of the street. Had she stayed more alert, maybe she would not have been strapped in an unfamiliar bed unconscious, at an unknown location, far away from her friends.
She woke up in a lightless space, walking down aimlessly. “Hello?” she yelled out, and was only greeted back by her echo. “Is anyone here?”
As if on cue, Ashlea materialized before her. She looked significantly younger. Blake gingerly approached her, as though not to alert her presence. Ashlea looked to be expecting someone, constantly checking her wristwatch and tapping her feet.
All of a sudden, Ashlea looked up, directly at Blake, frightening her. Blake slowly backed away, but Ashlea continued to pursue her with determination. “Stop. What are you doing?” Her voice echoed in the void space.
With great speed, Ashlea walked right through her. She turned around and realized Ashlea was simply meeting with the man she was rendezvousing with.
“Benjamin,” Ashlea said in a cold tone. “You’re late.”
Could this be Benjamin Jones, the director of the Capacify program?
“Traffic,” he replied starkly.
“Is it done? Can I see the paperwork?”
“I got you something even better.”
He turned and gave a signal. A man and a woman got out of the car, bringing a young girl with them. As they got closer to Blake, her mouth dropped open in utter shock. Walking toward her were her adoptive parents and her younger self.
The images vanished before Blake. She was dumbfounded with what she had just learned. Not only was Ashlea a self-serving fraud who took advantage of helpless patients, she had also been part of the scheme keeping the truth away from Blake the whole time. The special assignment, it had just been for her to keep a closer tap on Blake.
She was left alone in the obfuscated space. “Who are you?” she yelled. “Why are you showing me this?”
With a bag of chips in her hand, Julia installed herself on th
e couch with her favorite guilty-pleasure on TV. She glanced at the clock. It’s getting quite late. Where’s Blake? Why was she not back yet?
Her phone interrupted her thoughts. She put the show on pause, and saw the display on her phone flashing Corey’s name. Was Blake calling from his phone? Julia couldn’t help but to think of how much fun she would have teasing Blake the next morning.
“Hello,” she greeted on the phone in a playful tone.
“Hey Julia,” Corey replied ordinarily. “Sorry to call you so late.”
“I suppose an earlier warning that I’ll be home all by myself would be much appreciated.”
“What do you mean?”
“Blake can stay the night. It’s ok. I have my TV. You two have fun.”
“She’s not with you?” Corey replied in shock. “I couldn’t reach her on her phone. I called you, assuming she’s at your place. Zach wanted to try something to retrieve her childhood memory. Where is she?”
“Hm… let’s hope someone from the gang knows.” She typed the question in the group chat. Neither Tylor nor Rachael had a clue where Blake had gone. Tylor claimed he had met with Blake for coffee, but had separated a while ago.
“Tracking her phone down shouldn’t be difficult,” Zach replied in the group chat. “I did tell everyone to keep their GPS function on. I hope everyone has followed the advice.”
Upon receiving the message, the team quickly turned theirs on, hoping Blake had followed Zach’s instruction more diligently.
“Got it,” Zach sent the message on the chat. “Her phone isn’t far from the coffee shop. Let’s meet there.”
The team convened by the destination. “We parted ways after we had coffee,” Tylor said. “Last I saw her, she walked that way.” He pointed.
“That’s the way to catch the bus to my place,” Julia added.
“According to her phone’s GPS signal, she should be around here,” Zach said. They tracked down the path Blake would’ve taken to get to Julia’s home. They continued marching on when Zach stopped before an alleyway. “Wait,” he alerted the group.
“The bus stop is up over there,” Julia advised.
“But the signal is coming from this alley,” Zach protested.
“Great,” Rachael said, “another dark alleyway. It’s becoming a recurring theme.” She followed the group begrudgingly to the dimly lit aisleway filled with sewage smell.
“According to this, her phone should be right around here,” Zach said, gingerly stepping around filthy water puddles.
Julia took out her phone and dialed Blake’s number. A few seconds passed before a standard brand ringtone reverberated hauntingly in the dark corridor.
“Maybe we should implant GPS chips in our bodies instead,” Julia remarked.
“How are you showing me all this?” Blake demanded.
“These are memories you’ve always had,” a genderless computer voice replied. “We’re simply unlocking them for you.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Consider this a peace offering, for some information exchange.”
Instantly, an image of her younger self appeared before her. “Dad, where are you?” She saw her younger self looking around aimlessly in the sterile lab. She opened the garbage bin and looked inside. “Stop hiding. Come out!”
“Over here!” her dad’s voice echoed from outside the lab.
Blake and her younger self exited the lab. They followed Dr. Po’s voice and entered a hidden hallway. “Come over here, Blake.” His voice echoed behind a door.
Young Blake rattled on the handle trying to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked!”
“Put your palm on the sensor.”
She followed the instruction and the door swung open. She cheered up at the sight of her dad and ran toward him. He held her up high. “Good job, Blake. I knew you could find me.”
“What’s this?” Young Blake pointed at a strange-looking tubular gadget.
“It’s something that might become useful one day. You will figure out how to use it when you think of me.”
The images vanished after Dr. Po’s cryptic clue. She found herself sniffling, tears filling her eyes. “Bring him back!” She needed to see her dad again. Just for a moment longer.
“We could recover more of your memories. But we need something in return.”
“How do I even know this is real?”
“We might be able to fake the visuals, but not the emotions. You know you are that little girl.” The computer voice echoed in the barren space. Instantly, she felt intensely lonely, desolate. She knew she was that little girl. Her dad’s voice had given her a unique familial comfort she had never felt from her adoptive parents. He was the person she had developed a tight unconditional bond with. It was undeniable.
She wanted more. These were her rightful memories. In the past few weeks, her world had come crumbling down. Her adoptive parents had lied to her. Victor had sabotaged her. Ashlea had been playing her. They had no rights to keep her from the memories of the only person she knew she could always rely on unconditionally. They had no rights to hold her memories of her dad hostage.
The group convened at Zach’s place. “She dropped her phone,” Rachael said. “How can we track her down? Who took her?”
“I have one guess,” Corey responded.
“The same ones who got me,” Tylor concluded. The Typhon.
“Still doesn’t quite help tracking her down,” Julia said, “unless they have their address listed online.”
“I think this might work,” Rachael suggested. “Zach, do you think you can get a live feed of the electromagnetic field around the area?”
Zach pulled up a map from some satellite feed on his computer. “I know where you’re going with this,” Zach elaborated. “Since the Capacify candidates emit different frequencies, you’re hoping we can find a cluster of anomaly waves.”
“Exactly,” Rachael nodded in agreement. Zach pulled up a confusing gradient chart, with no clear indication of where the Typhon would be hiding. “I think we should take out some obvious interference: phone lines, electric wires, and so on,” Rachael suggested.
The resultant map still had a number of frequency clusters. “What are these spots?” asked Corey.
“Mostly cell towers,” Zach responded. “Some science labs, hospitals with heavy medical scanning devices. And of course around Hermes with their Capacify program.” He scrolled through the map to identify other electromagnetic wave hotspots. “And also this nuclear reactor site.”
“We still have an active nuclear site around?” asked Julia.
“I thought the government decommissioned it some time ago,” Rachael added.
“It would absolutely make a great hideout for an army of frequency-emitting soldiers,” Tylor concluded.
Blake held back her tears. “I would never give you what you need. You hurt Tylor. Your framed Corey. We will never trust you.”
“Tylor was a mistake. We will admit to that. But we did not frame Corey.” When they were chasing down the kidnapped boy Sam, someone had made Corey invisible. Kaitlin had said it hadn’t been her. They had just assumed it had been the Typhon. But if it hadn’t been them, who could it be?
“Makes you wonder who you can really trust,” the computer voice returned. It had been only a few hours between finding the invisible bracelet and crashing Kaitlin’s apartment. How had the information got out that they had been looking for someone with invisibility power? Could one of her friends be responsible for framing Corey?
The computer voice continued, “We can help you retrieve your memories and powers. We know you gathered the instructions to build the Synchronizer. We just want them in return.”
The group arrived at the abandoned nuclear-reactor site. They gingerly approached the entrance while looking around for any changes and sudden movements in the surroundings.
“Stop,” Tylor warned the group. No one took another step. “The area is equipped with infra
red sensors. I can see them with my enhanced vision. There absolutely must be a booby trap somewhere.”
Corey pointed up at some suspended spiked boulders.
“I think I can freeze them in place,” Rachael suggested, carrying Blake’s ice gun. Without delay, she proceeded to launch some cryogenic pellets at the deadly weapons attached above.
“Ok,” Julia said, “moving on now.” She casually took a step into the infrared zone. Tylor heard a click from the left. He immediately pulled her back right before an arrow flew across the area.
“Seriously,” Tylor said, “we should test to see if there are any other traps.”
“How are we going to do that?” Rachael asked.
“I can see where the infrared beams are pointing at. We just need to somehow trigger them.”
Corey picked up a stick from the ground, and summoned wind to remotely control its movement. “Let me know where.”
The two coordinated like clockwork. Following Tylor’s guidance, Corey led the stick to navigate the labyrinth of invisible infrared rays, setting off the traps one after the other. Rachael followed quickly by freezing the contraptions.
The team arrived at the entrance before a locked door. “This looks like an electric lock. I think I can hack it open,” Rachael suggested. At once, she connected the device with her phone, and launched a decoding program. Deliberating with Zach through radio, she tried different unlocking algorithms with no immediate outcome.
“Do you guys hear that?” Tylor asked. The team shook their heads. “I hear something coming, real fast. Rachael, you need to get us in stat. It smells fiery.”
A few seconds later, Tylor’s prophecy came true. A giant flaming ball tumbled loudly in their direction. The smell of burned charcoal enveloped the heated space. “Rachael!” Tylor repeated, “Get us in!”
“The stress is not helping,” Rachael responded, sweat dripping down her face.
“Step away,” Julia demanded. “When all else fails, brute force.” She lifted her gun and maxed out the intensity of her torch gun, firing directly at the lock.