Lon heard the gunshots, felt the fire’s heat, and saw the space copter touching down. Shit. I might not get away even after all that, he thought. He opened the bag and took a few pills to make up for any lost days. Lon thought long and hard, but kept running. The gate was only yards away and he needed to reach it, then he would be free to start his life over once again. Freedom never felt so good or close. Just a little farther to go. He noticed his car just outside the gate. Lon sighed in relief. Then his stomach started to churn and his legs almost crumbled in defeat.
“Hello, are you okay? Can I help you, miss? What happened here?” asked a tall man with a crew cut, in an FBI jacket and dark pants.
“Uhh, I’m okay, just a little shook up. Came to work today, only to find this,” said Lena, pointing to the building now in flames and looking at her feminine hands.
“Glad you’re okay, but we need to talk to you. Find out what happened and what’s going on here.”
“Please, let me go. Just got here and turned around. Don’t know anything.”
Lena started sweating.
“Yeah, I can vouch for her.”
Lena turned around to face Sam. Her jaw dropped, but she pretended to be crying.
“Hey, who are you? Didn’t see you walking in.”
“Sam in Security, just started my shift,” he said, as he walked toward the FBI man in his tan pants, his shirt with the words security printed on it.
The FBI man stopped in his tracks. His phone started to buzz as another space copter landed a few yards past him.
“Got more important things to take care of. But stay here— still need to clear up things.”
He then sprinted toward the burning building.
Lena watched the FBI officer leave, then stared at Sam.
“Whew, close call. What are you doing here?”
“Been waiting here all night and watching some weird stuff going on. Crazy creatures, fires, a lion on the roof, and people running everywhere. I followed your car, only a guy was driving it— maybe your new boyfriend. Are you into something kinky here?”
Lena started to laugh as she noticed that her blouse exposed a partial breast and her skirt was on backwards. Maybe there was a way out of this.
“Yeah, and it got a little out of hand. But now I’ve got to get back, take care of business. You know from all the e-mails I received that there’s trouble at Infinity and I’m needed,” she said as she walked briskly to her car.
“Got it. Been getting those e-mails too. JD says that a con artist screwed up everything and hacked into some other accounts. She’s in big trouble with Whitaker. Guess I picked the wrong side,” Sam said.
Lena smiled and took that as an apology. She waved and took off, laughing all the way back, her car flying at 200 miles per hour. Sam never followed her.
Maggie
Dr. Neilson had a gun on them and she needed to think fast to get out of this trap. Where the hell were Enrico and Mark for that matter when they needed them most? I can’t lose it now or Jaz will fall apart, thought Maggie.
Dr. Neilson put a gun to their backs as he directed them out of the basement toward a back exit and into a small van. The building was spewing smoke. Coughing and gagging in the van, they reached the runway where the space copter was parked.
“Hurry!” Dr. Neilson pointed the gun on them, gesturing them to get in quickly, his wild eyes searching the area as he threw a large black plastic bag into the space copter.
Jaz looked at the space copter with her hands shaking and big tears falling down her cheeks.
“Why are you doing this? Just let us escape and we won’t say anything. I promise… please don’t take us in that space copter again,” she said.
Dr. Neilson laughed.
“I’m not going to hurt my beautiful girls that I helped create. You’re precious to me and I want you to be safe, away from all this chaos. Especially my lovely Maggie, or MJ. I’ve been fantasizing about being with you for so long. Besides, I have the serum and pills that you need. Now I can start my own company and you can work for me. C’mon, get in before the FBI agents get here.”
Maggie’s head throbbed and her arm flopped from a broken bone after being kicked by the hybrids as they escaped from the cage. She must stall them, pretend to be too injured to travel, try to talk her way of this mess. If only Mark would answer her messages and track her to the runway. Maggie was determined not to get into that space copter; she didn’t trust Dr. Neilson for a second.
But he pushed Jaz into the space copter and moved toward Maggie.
Maggie realized this was her last chance to save them both.
“You know I’m so grateful to you. If it wasn’t for you-- we wouldn’t have been so successful. Your brilliance and dedication…Maggie said. Her hypnotic eyes locked with his as her arm throbbed.
Dr. Neilson reached for her hand, his grimace changing to an adoring smile. He swung open the door to invite her in.
“Just let Jaz go and we can be together,” Maggie said. Then she bit his hand.
Jaz reached for the door and hopped out of the copter.
“Ahhh…You ungrateful bitches! I don’t have time for this and we have to get going. You’re don’t have a choice. No one is here to save you and they’ll never find the place with our invisibility screens, and there’s still all those creatures running around,” Dr. Neilson said. He waved a gun at them.
Then they both fell to the ground as Maggie pulled on Jaz’s shirt.
Maggie threw up as she tried to raise herself. Jaz rushed to her side and stumbled as she tried to help her, sobbing and sniffling. “We can’t do it… please just leave us alone,” said a tearful Jaz.
Then Dr. Neilson fired his gun into the air. The blast scared the women and they cowered in fear. It echoed throughout the compound.
“I mean business, so get in the copter.”
Maggie prayed that Jaz was not hurt, but she heard her breathing.
They heard trampling footsteps. Jaz looked up to see a flurry of blue jackets, camouflage, and uniforms running toward them.
“Help us, over here,” Jaz screamed loudly, blocking Maggie with her body.
“Damn, you fools! Need to go now,” said Dr. Neilson his gun pointed at them.
“You’ll have to shoot me, because I’m not going without her,” said Jaz.
Maggie marveled at Jaz’s courage and defiance, backing her with boldness.
“Put down that gun right now,” Maggie said, eyes once again focused on him as he dropped it unwillingly.
The crowd got closer and one burst from them, his muscular presence a relief to Jaz. Just as he reached the three, one disappeared. Enrico grabbed the two women, but looked around, heard a scuffle of footsteps, then gasped as the space copter took off, as if flying itself.
“Where did he go? Is he flying that thing?” Enrico asked, blinking his eyes in disbelief.
“It’s like he disappeared-- gone just like that,” Jaz said; her eyes heavenward.
The crowd of FBI agents, police, and Mark reached the three, just as the space copter flew away. A couple of the agents scurried to the shack on the runway to discover any evidence. Mark bent down to examine Maggie.
“Baby, how are you? I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. Had a hard time locating this place; it seemed to disappear and then reappeared. A lot of chaos with those things running around and the building on fire. But then I heard that gunshot. I got scared, but you’re safe now,” said Mark as he caressed Maggie’s hair.
Jaz held tight to Enrico, burying her face into his chest, whimpering.
“I’ve got you now. Everything’s going to be ok. You were so brave there a minute ago,” said Enrico, still holding onto her.
“Jaz saved me. I owe her. Just so glad that guy is gone. But it’s better now that you’re here,” said Maggie.
“I still don’t understand why you were brought here and what was going on. But you need to rest now and we’ll talk later about it,” said Mark.
r /> Jaz opened her mouth to explain, but Enrico put his finger to her lips.
“You’re in shock, no need to talk now. I’ll take you home in my van nearby.”
They took off toward the gate, with the fire still raging and the cry of birds above.
A whir of wings and a space copter touched down and medical personnel scrambled out with a stretcher. They lifted Maggie and put her in it with Mark at her side.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight again. Let’s go,” Mark said as they took off in the air.
Maggie laid back on the stretcher and closed her eyes. She put her hand in her pocket and felt some pills. She sighed. The end of a bad experiment.
Jaz
She watched as the black building disintegrated. Smells of burnt plastic and smoke filled her nostrils as she ran through the dense, fake boulders and poly-trees with Enrico. They hurried as poly-branches crashed down, and little pathways of fire obstructed their path. Enrico scooped her up in his arms and dashed through the brush to his van. He gently let her down on the passenger seat and placed a light blanket over her.
Jaz shivered as Enrico drove the truck out of the forest, past the once-black, glass building, and through the iron gate with the engraved O. Never to go back again, but what about the new Jaz? Would she go back to being fat Jaz? She grabbed a few pills that she found in Dr. Neilson’s lab, but how long would they last? How did she feel about Enrico? She felt guilty about dumping Matt after all he’d done for her, but Enrico stirred in her a passion she had never experienced before. Her heart fluttered and her body tingled over his strong arms and warm embrace. She felt so safe and comfortable around him.
“Are you okay, Jaz? Do you need some water or your cookie?” Enrico asked.
“You’re unbelievable,” she said as she munched the cookie.
They both laughed as he reached the open road. More fire trucks were headed toward the compound, but they seemed to ignore them.
“Your mom is so worried about you and so is Matt. They’re still staying at your place and I just sent them a message that you’re safe. They’ve watched everything on G Net about Optimal and they have so many questions.”
“Right now, I just want to be with you. I was so scared and then you came. You’ve saved me from my worst nightmares and have always been there for me.”
Jaz inched herself closer and kissed Enrico on the cheek.
“The feeling’s mutual, but I don’t want to overstep my bounds. You and Matt, being a couple and all,” said Enrico, his eyes still on the road.
“Please pull over, I want to talk to you-- need a moment before I see mom and Matt,” said Jaz.
He pulled the van over to the side of the road, just outside the city limits. There wasn’t a car in sight; the road and sky were completely devoid of traffic. Jaz needed to catch her breath. Finally, free from all the chaos and stress, she turned to face him. She dreaded telling him about her new identity, the hybrids, and the serum. He probably would never believe her and she would be devastated. In her heart, she didn’t care about Matt and her mom could wait.
“You probably want to know what happened, who that guy was, and why he disappeared. I think I need to tell you the full story,” said Jaz, her eyes focused intently on Enrico.
He took her hands in his.
“I really don’t care.”
“What if I wasn’t, would you still care? What if I told you that man who got away was a doctor and that he invented a pill that could change your identity? And that he probably became invisible to get away. Would you believe me if I said I used to be someone else?”
Enrico shook his head.
“Doesn’t matter. But I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked to be the person you are now, your ambition and strength. You had to have that special something already inside you. You’re beautiful to me.”
“Optimal gave me a chance and I took it. Don’t hate me for that. Without the pills, I used to be this girl and always wanted to be a model, someone famous.”
Jaz showed him before and after photos, her face turning scarlet.
Enrico looked surprised, then laughed.
“Same features, different body type. So? You’re still little Jaz to me. Beauty is inside you.”
He took her in his arms and kissed her fully on the lips, then the eyes, then her neck.
Jaz closed her eyes, breathing heavily and returning his intense kisses. She immediately felt the warmth of being loved and cherished for herself. She realized that was all that mattered. Probably Matt would never understand; he loved Jaz the model, the stunning woman who went to Eden.
“Maybe we could both change our identities and run away together,” Enrico whispered, laughing in her ear.
Jaz touched her pocket, feeling for the pills.
“Not a bad idea. How about we become surfers and move to Hawaii?” She continued to kiss him, ignoring her incoming messages.
Epilogue
One year later
Charlie
“We’re creating a new company called Opportunity to leave off where Dr. Arno started, helping people change their behavior, their internal identity. This identity serum promises to help those who are suffering from mental illness and Opportunity will provide them room and board while they recuperate. I dedicate these new grounds and facility to Dr. Arno, my aunt and mentor,” said Charlie as he addressed the media outlets from his new office that overlooked new green turf and poly-trees.
That terrible day still haunted him. His aunt’s dead body, hybrids escaping, and a burning Optimal would have crushed an ordinary person, but not Charlie. Confronted by Feds, police, firemen, and eventually General Burke, he mustered together strength and courage.
“My aunt got blindsided by her partner, Dr. Neilson, who has now disappeared. Her goals were humanitarian, but he was the mastermind. Her vision helped people become their best selves with an identity serum. It was Dr. Neilson’s fault— he left the company in chaos and has disappeared. It’s extremely suspicious and he should be your prime suspect. You should be looking for him,” Charlie remembered saying as Johnson and his crew backed him up.
“This man looked out for me even when his aunt and Optimal didn’t. He organized the crew when the fire started and handled his aunt’s death instead of running away like Dr. Neilson,” said Sydney. She stood close to his side.
Without evidence or the hybrids’ testimony, no charges were filed against Charlie with the focus on finding Dr. Neilson.
But Charlie confronted more difficult problems years before, after his parents died in a fatal car crash. Since he owed everything to his aunt, he decided not to walk away, even though he was devastated and heartbroken over his aunt’s death, and broke from the destruction of Optimal. Without Sydney’s belief in him and her winnings, he could never have pulled this off, his new company Opportunity. He answered the questions that streamed live and then noticed Sydney outside his door. He concluded his press event and motioned her into his office.
“I talked to the architect and he added the new wing to include the library and suites for the patients. We’re going to use greens and blues for the walls to calm the residents. Such a change from the stark white Dr. Arno used. The wrought-iron fence can stay; we’ll have ivy growing on it and the basement will be turned into a rec room,” said a pregnant Sydney, her spiky hair grown out into a long ponytail as she smiled brightly. She wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her into his lap.
“If it wasn’t for your support and optimism, I could never have done this, but I wanted to turn the Optimal grounds into a treatment center for our patients. Thank Heaven you found that bag of serum. I feel your luck and love of people has been passed on to me. And the serum can be used to change people in a positive way,” said Charlie, giving her a kiss on her cheek.
“Honey, you saved me from the casino’s lawsuit, got my money back, and out of that terrible contract. I was almost destined to be their slave, forever promoting the casino when I could be right her
e with you, helping depressed people become happy adults,” said Sydney.
Johnson entered the room, then stopped short, his face turning a light shade of pink. “Uhh, so sorry to disturb you, but Dr. Lang wants you to review the new serum results; Ed Winter, a health reporter from G Net is here to interview you about the new Optimal— I mean, Opportunity— and Arnold Pignatius stopped by.”
“Don’t worry. I’m so glad I made you Director of Operations. Yes, and one of our survivors,” said Charlie.
The pig-faced man stepped into his office.
Lena
Lena entered her office at 7 a.m., admiring the sunrise from her bay window on the 90th floor. She suspected after her move yesterday into this bigger office that Whitaker would make an announcement. She worked hard this last year, organizing the computer system files, getting new clients, and staying clear of JD, who was terminated a month after Lena came back.
“I’m so embarrassed for what happened with that Lon guy. Misread the whole thing. Maybe you could write me a recommendation letter,” said JD, the day she left.
Lena promised to send her one, but trashed that idea the minute JD left the building. Maybe she’ll understand what it’s like to be without a job. No sympathy for her, thought Lena.
She checked her emails and found one from Tim.
“How about dinner at my place tonight? Going to barbecue some steaks.”
She deleted it without answering it. Tim ignored her most of the year and now probably heard rumors of her advancement. Time to move on and meet someone new.
Lena stared at the large plant on her desk, the message still attached. Its message read, “It’s so good to have you managing my accounts. Thanks for all your hard work! -- Martin Walters.”
He must have been glad to get away from JD, Lena thought.
Around 8 a.m. Whitaker poked his head into her office.
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