“I will never join the Elite organization,” I said.
That was when the lights suddenly went out, then hearing the building’s entire power go down to extreme darkness.
The power came back only after a few seconds. Everything seemed back to normal.
Alex carefully scanned all corners of his office. “What the hell just happened?” he blew coarsely.
Then strange sounds were heard from outside the office’s closed doors: clamping, smashing, gun shooting, shattering glass, followed by male and female screaming voices.
Still strapped in the wheelchair, I figured that the short time of power outage signified that something within the building had changed.
I concentrated. My mind traveling from within the building: a partially blurry vision of what was happening from outside the office – a war, seeing many suited Transmitter Agents, fighting against Elites. But I was unable to transmit myself anywhere. Feeling too weak. Producing nothing more than faint blue sparks.
Come on Derek … you can do it, I told myself.
“Don’t even bother, you’re way too weak, right now,” Alex said, landing a tight grip to the wheelchair. “You’re coming with me.” He began activating his watch.
A mysterious black flying machine came roaring close to the large window.
A Dark Rider.
From a blue flash, a Transmitter Agent appeared, swiftly shoving a fierce kick to Alex’s chest, knocking him to the floor.
The helmet folded itself away.
“It’s all over, Alex,” Thomas said, tearing off his watch. “You’re coming with us.”
But Alex abruptly stroke a kick at Thomas with his unnatural strength, sending him crashing against the high ceiling.
Alex heaved himself from the ground, with a push of his arms, twirling up to his feet.
Thomas regained the floor, along with a few fragments from the ceiling, as Alex sped toward me, gripping a threatening hand to my neck. I was still trying hard to transmit without any success.
“Drop it or I break his neck open,” Alex said.
“Hold your fire,” Thomas spoke into his watch.
“Surrender, now, or your brother will meet a painful and tragic end,” Alex snarled, pushing his thumbnail further into the right side of my neck.
Unable to move, I was in tremendous pain, feeling tiny streams of blood running down my back and shoulder.
“Just let him go, Alex,” Thomas said.
My neck slightly cracked as he applied greater pressure.
“Goodbye, Derek,” Alex said, looking down at me.
A blue light suddenly sparked from behind us. Alex swiftly turned to see old Derek standing before him, already holding up a smocking gun.
A stream of blood ran down from Alex’s forehead, then dripping down the tip of his nose. The shot went through his brain. Alex’s eyes dimmed as his body crumbled to the floor.
“I managed to find a gun on my way here,” Derek said, drawing closer. “Next time Thomas, shoot first and arrest later.”
Thomas released the clamps from the wheelchair. “You’ll be all right, Derek,” he told me.
I smiled, finally able to bring a hand to my neck.
CHAPTER 52
At the X-Agency facility, old Derek and I received medical attention. The procedures involved some tweaking, but after a few hours our bodies and health were back to normal.
But back at the Elite building, I was the only one who couldn’t transmit myself anywhere, since the injected chemicals were freshly active into my blood, making me vulnerably weak.
Jeffrey was also brought back to the facility, finally getting some rest, then soon to regain his usual routine, continuing his work and research.
Then, I saw Derek, all attired in a black suit and tie. No glasses. He picked up my watch from the desk, where I last left it. Even though we were the same person, the watch, desk and office was mostly his as for me it was all yet to me mine.
Derek sat down at his desk as Thomas and I took our seats across from of him. Thomas also wore a suit, while I had slipped into casual clothes at home before I came back to the facility.
“After months of hacking into the Elite systems, we finally managed to bug their building’s security system,” Thomas explained. “That’s how we got into the building.”
Derek nodded with a faint grin. “But this mess is far from being over. Now that Alex is dead, there are still Elites roaming at large. We must keep our eyes open.” He sighed.
“We’ll be doing our best to track every one of them,” Thomas said.
“As for you, Derek,” my older self addressed me. “Besides of your foolish act, you’ve been quite brave. But things could have gotten very disastrous if Thomas and his team wouldn’t have arrived on time.” He paused, then resumed. “In your time, Derek, the X-Agency project is at its very beginning. It is both a Canadian and American secret government organization.” He hit a key from his desk’s tactile keyboard. A holographic display emerged vertically from his desk, showing the profile of a balding man. “Eventually, you’ll be meeting Mr. Norman Blake. He’s part of the project and will be explaining everything to you. You will be recruited along with several people your age and some older, having the same ability as you have.”
I listened, pushing up my glasses.
“Oh! You’ll have your eyes fixed if you want. Corrected eyesight with advanced and safe technology. No more glasses, like me.” He paused. “But remember, Derek, the decision is yours. You are not forced or obligated to join if you do not wish to. We know it could be a tough decision to make. Especially at your age. You’re still a young man and I was a few years older when I accepted. You can take your time.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
Even knowing that I didn’t have to do it, I felt deep within me that joining the team was my destiny. But still, I decided to put a hold on that thought. For now. I would be concrete about it when I’d be meeting Mr. Norman Blake.
“Well, I guess this is it?” I added.
Both men shook their heads.
“Not at all. For you, it’s the beginning. And it continues with us,” Thomas said. “If you ever need anything, Derek, you may pass by anytime.”
“Technically, you’re already part of the X-Agency team,” Derek told me.
“Absolutely,” I said.
“I believe this is yours,” Derek said, handing the watch to me.
“But isn’t this one –”
“I already have my own,” he replied, pulling up his sleeve, revealing his watch. “And you may use this office, in the mean time.”
“You may also keep your suit with you,” Thomas said. “You may never know when you might need it. And you’ll be notified for any occurrence.”
CHAPTER 53
From the X-Agency facility, I went back home to my room, transmitting myself a day ahead of time – in the night of Saturday to Sunday. I deserved a break, at least spending a whole day, relaxing with my family and friends. Especially Samantha.
I dropped my backpack, containing the suit, on the floor against my nightstand.
In spite of knowing that the Elite Master was dead, I knew the mission was far from being over. I had to remain alert. Keep my eyes open at all corners. And trust no one. Even though Alex had been killed, he was still alive somewhere in the past.
I woke up at eight-fifteen in the morning, seeing the powerful rays of sunlight pierce through my blinds, feeling the warmth. It was going to be a beautiful day, in spite of the cold temperature.
Walking out of my room, I saw my brother in his room, his nose sunk into a juvenile fantasy novel.
“Hey, buddy!” I called, smiling at him.
He smiled back, lifting his eyes from his book.
“What are you reading, there?” I asked.
“Era of Swords. It’s a book mommy bought me yesterday. I’m already almost half into the book.”
“That’s great!” I told him.
Some time later
, I contacted Samantha.
We sat at a coffee shop in town, spending the remaining of the morning, savoring a cup hot chocolate. Samantha gazed at me with a certain glitter to her eye – having the sensation that she no longer saw me as the Derek she once knew.
“If I get this straight, you’re actually a day older than you’re supposed to be?” she cackled.
I nodded in response. “I had a rough weekend.”
“And so did I,” Samantha recalled. “Back at the restaurant?”
“I know, but it’s all over, now,” I assured her.
“So what are you going to do? Are you going to join the X-Agency project?” she asked.
“I’ll see when the time comes. I’ll decide then. For now, I’m working with the future team.”
“It’s up to you, Derek. Whatever you wanna do, I’ll be proud of you,” she said.
“I want to do something else … plan something out of the ordinary for this summer,” I said. “What are you thinking?”
Samantha shrugged and smiled. “I’ve always had the dream of traveling the world … starting with Europe. I already have my passport.”
I smiled enthusiastically at her suggestion. “That’s a good idea. I also got my passport.” I gently took her hand. “Whenever you’re ready. And if it’s all right with you, we could skip the plane and get there within a second.”
Her smile grew wider as she leaned forward. “It’s all right with me,” she said softly.
I leaned closer as we both kissed.
We then stood up from our table, slipped on our warm coats and walked out of the coffee shop. We both stared into each other’s eyes – our gazes that simply said: I love you.
Strolling away further into a street, we held hands, walking with the clear sense of simple happiness.
CHAPTER 54
On Monday, I was happy to be back at school. Attending the usual classes and being with my friends. Back to my normal life.
For the moment.
That morning I lay down my breakfast tray, sitting by myself at our usual table at the cafeteria. Then I saw Jeffrey walking by with his breakfast and coffee, and dropping a handful of books onto the table.
“Hey, Jeff,” I greeted him.
“How’s it going, Derek?”
“I’m good.”
Jeffrey took a sip of coffee followed by a large bite of his egg and ham sandwich. “So, did you manage to program your laptop yet? The one you bought from my uncle?” he asked, swallowing his bite.
I shook my head. “I didn’t have much time to tinker around with it, lately,” I said, taking a bite of my own breakfast sandwich. Then I took a glance at the books next to him. “What are these books?”
Jeffrey pushed the pile forward as I immediately scanned through them. There were three books: Electrical Engineering, Circuit Boards and Programming.
Quickly reading through some pages, I suddenly lifted my eyes, frowning at Jeffrey.
“About a month ago, I woke up with a great inspiration. So, I borrowed these books from the school’s library several times,” he explained.
“I can see that!” I exclaimed.
“I almost read all of them, this weekend. I’m just a few sections from finishing the book about computer programming.”
Sometimes, Jeffrey was known to be unpredictable. He could laze around for a few days, then swiftly get up and impulsively start a big project – after doing the necessary research, of course. That was one of the things I admired about him.
“So what’s with all these books?”
He glanced around to several corners of the cafeteria and kept his voice low. “I’m planing a project and, if it’s all right with you, I’d like you to be part of it.”
“Cool! I’d be more than happy, but what is it about?” I asked eagerly.
“Computer stuff,” he said. “I even started to write a basic operating system. I can use your help since you’re pretty good at that stuff, too.”
“No problem,” I said.
“If you want, come by my house after school and you’ll see for yourself.”
I nodded. “I’m glad to see that some of us still use the library for information, instead of surfing the web.”
“The Internet?” Jeffrey cried. “Oh, please. The real good stuff are still found in books, instead of a resume of many other resumes from whatever website.”
I laughed. “I know that.”
“I know you do. We’re the smart guys!” Jeffrey cackled.
We gave each other our friendly handclasp.
Soon after, the bell rang for the first class of the day – English class.
CHAPTER 55
Sitting at my desk, a substitute teacher walked in as soon as the bell rang, indicating the beginning of English class. A thin young woman instead of our usual robust Mr. Roberts.
“Good morning!” she said softly. “My name is Marianne Whitmore.”
She was a small figure, thin, heavy glasses with shoulder-length wavy brown hair. She wore a green wool sweater, jeans and black flats. Although, looking harmlessly cute, my paranoid instincts began to kick in – thinking that she might have been an Elite.
Cut it some slack, I told myself.
After reciting our names for the presence sheet, she then distributed each student a document to work on – an English exercise.
“Mr. Roberts left me these documents as an exercise for the upcoming reading comprehension test,” she said.
The teacher flashed me a charming grin, passing by and handing me a document.
I wrote my name and flipped the first page to begin.
“She’s kind of cute don’t you think?” Jeffrey whispered behind me.
I turned and said, “Absolutely!”
Then I took a glance toward a few rows away to my left, watching Samantha, knowing that she was the most beautiful.
But I immediately went back to work into the eighteen-page document. There was a whole ten pages of story, with eight answering pages.
A quite easy exercise. I managed to get through the story quickly, memorizing much of its contents. A story, which took place in the late eighteen hundreds – a young redheaded girl with a powerful imagination, living on a farm, in an infamous village. Then the story turned romantic – the redheaded girl meeting the love of her life and live happily ever after. I’m sure you get the idea.
Writing down the answers, several of them appeared to be tricky. But I was done in no time.
Being confident with my provided answers, I looked around, seeing most people writing their answers by re-reading several passages of the story.
Then I glanced at the teacher, concentrating into, what appeared to be, her agenda, with a shoe dangling at the tip of her toes. She also gazed around the class at times, then bringing her nose back into her book, purposely giving the required time to finish the exercise.
I felt there was something about her. From the way she looked at me when she passed by my desk. It was as if I knew her, even though being absolutely sure that I had never seen her before in my life. But I just couldn’t figure out what it was.
From ten minutes before the end of class, I decided to let it go. Thinking that we probably knew each other from another life. Who knew?
I stood up and brought my document over to the teacher’s desk, followed by a few students.
She aimed her blue eyes at me, along with a warm smile. “You revised your answers carefully?” she asked.
“I sure did,” I replied, grinning faintly, purposely studying her expressive eyes.
“Good luck on your exam,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Where have I seen her before?
CHAPTER 56
After school, I went directly to Jeffrey’s house.
Descending the cracking wooden steps down to the basement, Jeffrey hurried ahead as I then heard the creaking of an opening door.
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