by Ethan Bibile
He wasn’t expecting it, but upon arriving back into the rooms where Meliiun was Quinn found himself to be an instant celebrity. He was happy to be reunited with his language translator, which helped him to understand all the praise he received, as well as his credit card and gun. No one seemed to care that he only rode a hoverboard down the side of a building by accident. They only seemed to care that he did it.
The process of everyone exiting the building down the alleyway was very particular. They were sent out in groups of ten to avoid suspicion from the local authority. It took a while, but Quinn eventually returned to the streets of Nigellia. It had returned to daytime, and the crowd had changed from a whole heap of rather shifty people to people who had a rather kinder look about them.
Quinn strode through the morning crowd, slowly making his way back to the Audion. He looked around when he noticed a red-headed woman walking in front of him.
“Laura!” Quinn called out, making his way through the crowd. Laura stopped and turned around, smiling at Quinn as he approached her.
“Hi,” Quinn said. He held out his hand and Laura shook it. “Quinn Fenton. We didn’t really get a proper introduction with, you know, pretending to try to kill each other,” Laura laughed.
“Laura Somers,” She said. “You’re right, we never did get a proper introduction. But I’ve got to say, what you did in the arena was incredible,” Modestly, Quinn shrugged the compliment off.
“Everyone keeps saying that, but I didn’t really mean to do it. It just sort of happened,” Quinn replied. The two began to walk down the street among the milling crowd of people. “What you did in the arena was incredible. I mean, you shot me from the top of a building that was how many stories high?” Quinn exclaimed.
“I’ve been doing this for ages,” Laura replied. “I’ve gotten rather good with a gun. But you’re new to Nigellia, aren’t you?”
As they were walking side by side, Laura didn’t notice Quinn’s smile falter.
“Yeah,” Quinn said. “I’m not that familiar with this area in the slightest. My A.I recommended it,” Quinn said lightly. Laura looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Your A.I recommended this place?” Laura asked. Quinn nodded. “How old are you?”
“I’m nearly eighteen,” Quinn replied, not taken aback in the slightest. “I can fly a ship perfectly fine, my robotics and mechanic skills are pretty good as well. You don’t look much older than me.”
“I’m nineteen,” Laura said, smiling up at Quinn.
“What’s the legal age to do things like this here?” Quinn asked. He wasn’t surprised when Laura replied it was eighteen.
“You're operating outside the law, aren’t you?” Laura remarked, however, Quinn saw that she was smiling at him. Quinn shook his head back at her.
“Don’t really have any other choice,” Quinn replied lightly, not really wanting to discuss his current situation at the moment. He was supposed to be out here so he could join a new society and try, as hard as it was, to move forward. For this reason, he ignored Laura’s perplexed look. “But what are you talking about, that whole place is outside the law!” Quinn exclaimed and laughed.
“You’re acting outside the law even in a place that acts outside the law,” Laura said, and Quinn shrugged.
“How’s the arena so big though?” Quinn asked, turning around to look in the direction they’d come, looking around for the arena, but couldn’t see it. “I can’t even see it. Is it invisible or something?”
“Yeah, they cloaked it, so no one could find it. The arena itself also has some weird particle tech. I’m not really sure though, it’s complex,” Particle tech. The ability to increase someone’s size, or even decrease it. But to shrink a whole portion of a city, and people without them noticing was something.
“How’d you do it though?” Laura asked. “Ride the hoverboard down the building, I mean.”
“I was just following standard hoverboard rules and hoped they applied to that one,” Quinn shrugged, once again brushing off his touch of fame. “How long have you been doing this?” Quinn asked, changing the topic.
“A few years,” Laura shrugged. “I mean, it’s not much but it’s kind of my job. People know I do this and I’ve built up this reputation for myself.”
“With good reason,” Quinn said. Laura smiled shyly. “You're amazing with a gun! But in saying that,” Quinn’s smile turned into a thoughtful frown, thinking back to the arena. “You could have shot me when I was playing around with the hoverboard and several times after. Why didn’t you? You could have won there and then.”
“I don’t usually like to shoot people straight up,” Laura said. “Unless I really hate them or something. I saw you, and you didn’t look especially mean. I guess it’s just part of my morals to give people a chance. Even if it is just a game.”
Quinn nodded at the answer, thinking it over in his head, realizing how much that very sentence told him about his new-found friend.
“Do you think you could teach me how to use a gun sometime?” Quinn asked. He really should be able to use a gun if he was practically on his own. It wasn’t like Morgan could shoot teach him.
“Sure!” Laura said, her face lighting up, looking up at Quinn, smiling. “There are a few old training grounds not far from here, we could use them.”
“Thanks,” Quinn replied grinning. “Sorry in advance if for the destruction that I know I’ll cause with a gun,” Laura laughed at his response lightly. “When would be a good time for you to meet?” Quinn asked.
“Meet me here this time next week,” Laura said, and Quinn looked around, quickly memorizing his surroundings.
The two eventually reached a split in the road, aliens milling about on both separate streets.
“Which way are you going?” Quinn asked. To his disappointment, Laura pointed in the other direction to where he was going to get to the Audion. He probably should get back, Morgan would most likely worry if he didn’t return.
“Well, I guess we’ll see each other next week,” Laura replied, smiling.
“I guess we will,” Quinn replied, grinning. The two simply stood where they were for a few more seconds, before finally biding each other farewell and parting their own separate ways.
Quinn walked down the street, considerably happier than he had been when he came down the street for the first time. He was glad to have had a real person to talk to after over a month in isolation. He felt lighter inside somehow. Perhaps after months after his family’s deaths, he was finally moving forward, or at least attempting to.
As he continued strolling along, he noticed a wall that was covered in wanted posters of fugitives. Quinn strolled up to it. Perhaps he had heard about some of these criminals at home back in school. His eyes began scrolling over criminals and not to his surprise, he had no idea whom any of them where.
Most of them were of an alien species, yet there was the occasional human criminal. The majority looked rather large and menacing, definitely people that he certainly would never like to cross paths with in his entire life.
Suddenly, Quinn saw someone he knew. His eyes widened as he recognised their face. He was in complete shock that he saw them, of all people on this planet so far away from home and in a completely different time.
He stared straight into the face of the person who was the very reason why he was here, why he was away from home, why he had no home.
He stared at the face of the man who had killed his family.
Agross.
A SHOCKING DISCOVERY
Quinn nearly had a heart attack.
He blinked a few times, trying to make sure that he wasn’t having some sort of terrible nightmare.
He stared at the cold, cruel face of the man who had led the army back on his home planet. However, now he was up close Quinn got a long, good look at him.
He was human, yet there was some quality about him that made him look positively evil. His face was the cruellest, most demonic smile Quinn had ever
seen in his life. The pupils in his eye were black pools of nothingness that seemed to be black holes themselves, his long, black hair hanging down around his face to his shoulders.
The photo of him wasn’t a mug shot like the rest of the other wanted posters were. It was a photo of him walking with his army behind him, surely death approaching. Quinn was surprised whoever had even taken this photo had managed to escape Agross alive and create a wanted poster.
It was impossible. How, or even why was this man back here too? He would have gotten to this time by time travel, obviously, but why? Was he following Quinn? Why of all the people in the entire universe would he follow Quinn to two thousand and sixteen?
Yet he had given Quinn a despicable grin upon seeing him during the attack. A grin that greatly unsettled Quinn altogether. Part of Quinn said it couldn’t possibly be the same person. There was no way in hell that it was him. Then Quinn looked at the name below the picture.
Agross.
He had heard that name when he saw the man in the flesh. Someone had screamed it out in pure agony and rage.
It couldn’t be some sort of coincidence. There couldn’t be two people that looked identical with the exact same name who were both criminals.
Quinn hadn’t realised he was shaking. He was shaking with absolute fury and he spun around in rage when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was just a tall, bald alien with pure red skin and green, twinkling eyes that were so much kinder than Agross’.
The man said something Quinn didn’t understand, so he pulled out his language translator.
“Who is this man,” Quinn said, his voice almost begging. The alien looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Please, tell me, I need to know.”
“I’m surprised you do not know,” The alien said in a kind, calm voice. “I thought everyone knew.”
“Well, I don’t. Just please, who is he?” Quinn begged, perhaps more desperate than he’d ever been in his entire life.
The alien sighed, looking at Quinn in almost pity before turning to the poster of Agross with a cold look on his face.
“Agross,” He began. “Possibly the most feared criminal ever. He’s a madman, a lunatic with only one goal. To reign supreme over all the universe,” Quinn stared at the poster with pure hate. “People began noticing him a few years ago. Not much is known about him, with the exception that the man is a genius. A terrible one, yet a genius all the same. He is a complete secret to us all.”
Quinn shut his eyes, soaking in everything that had happened in the last few minutes. Everything had been going so well, he had met Laura, making friends with a real person. He was making progress. Moving forward. And now this was pulling him back.
“Yet some do have knowledge of him.”
Quinn’s eyes flew open, turning to look at the red alien who was still staring at the poster.
“Who?” Quinn asked in desperation.
“They are called T.A.S.P.A,” The alien continued. “Not much is known about them either, apart from the fact their sole purpose is to defeat Agross.”
Quinn stayed still, not moving at all. So many emotions ran wild in his head. So many thoughts. He was confused and had no idea what to do. Yet in the middle of all the confusion, the Audion came into his thoughts.
Morgan would be able to identify if this was the same man that had destroyed his home.
“Thank you,” Quinn said, before stuffing the language translator back into his pocket and proceeding to rip the poster off the wall. He sprinted off down the street with it, leaving the alien who had helped him behind and very confused.
The only time Quinn had ever run faster in his entire life was when Nespritia had been under attack. He dodged around people and jumped over things. People automatically made way for him once they saw a frantic teenager sprinting through the crowd towards them.
His jacket blew up behind him as he ran, caught in the wind, his hair whipping back as he continued to sprint like his life depended on him doing so.
Quinn skidded to a stop as he tore around the corner through the archway into Sagra’s landing pad complex. He flew through the landing pads, making his way to Sagra’s depressing excuse for an office. Not to any surprise, Sagra was laying back on the chair, fast asleep. The chair groaned under his weight and Quinn wouldn’t have been surprised if it broke before his very eyes.
Quinn quickly shook Sagra awake. The alien looked around slightly dazed and mad at being woken up until his eyes found Quinn.
“Quinn Fenton, owner of the Audion, checking out,” Quinn said very quickly. He pulled his credit card from his pocket and grabbed hold of Sagra's machine that received payments. Quinn proceeded to tap his card on the surface of it, transferring money, before turning on his heels and sprinting off towards the Audion. He ran right up to the back of the ship where the cargo door was closed, pressing his finger against the metal plate on the side of the ship. Once he had been authenticated, the door slowly opened.
Quinn ran inside as fast as his legs could carry him, only stopping briefly to close the door behind him.
“Ah, Quinn!” Morgan’s voice echoed throughout the ship, greeting Quinn back home. “How was your time on Nige-” Morgan was very quickly cut off by Quinn.
“Not now Morgan!” Quinn said as he burst into the living room and went up the staircase to the cockpit. “Morgan, start up the facial match program,” Quinn asked as he entered the cockpit. He ran over to the desk that had the computer on it, opening one of the draws and digging around frantically until he found what he was looking for.
It was a pure white instrument that had the shape of a paintbrush, yet without the bristles on the end. Quinn put the poster of Agross flat down onto the table, quickly flattening the wrinkles out that he had made as he had madly dashed to the Audion. He flicked a switch on the side of the paintbrush like instrument and a blue light came out of the end of it.
Quinn used this light to scan the picture of Agross, going up and down the picture to properly scan it, making sure that he didn’t miss out on any little detail whilst scanning.
Once the scan was complete, Quinn crossed to the dashboard and plugged the device into it. He flicked a switch and the front window of the ship turned into a large screen. It showed any photo that had been scanned by the device. Quinn tried to ignore the ones of his family, and instead selected the picture he had of Agross.
“Morgan, pull up footage from the night we left two thousand one hundred and ninety-two,” Quinn asked frantically, breathing faster than normal, not due to running so frantically, but more due to the anticipation.
Without questioning him, Morgan pulled up the security footage of the night Quinn’s home was attacked. The night he lost everything. The picture of Agross Quinn had scanned shifted across to the left of the screen and the video footage took up the right side.
“Morgan, search all faces in the footage for this man,” Quinn begged. Morgan started instantly. Photos of people’s faces flickered across the screen as Morgan searched, the footage quickly rolling by at high speed. Quinn closed his eyes, not wanting to relive the horrible experience once again.
“Quinn,” Morgan said very slowly, and Quinn opened his eyes, his entire body slightly trembling. There, on the screen was a zoomed in photo of the battle that had taken place that night. And right in the middle of the zoomed in picture was Agross. Quinn looked from the scanned wanted poster to the footage that had technically not even taken place yet.
Quinn shut his eyes and lent against the dashboard. He felt all his muscles tighten in anger. Face match never lied.
“Quinn,” Morgan said softly. Quinn ignored his friend. “Quinn, who is this.”
Quinn looked up at the photos with pure loathing.
“That, Morgan, is Agross,” Quinn said with no expression in his voice at all. “During the fight, during everything that happened, I saw him. Leading an army, commanding a legion. He was the leader. He ordered that attack to happen, it was his fault,” Quinn said, and his words sudde
nly got stuck in his throat. He could feel his eyes burning.
“It’s his fault they're dead!” Quinn yelled. He buried his head in his hands and he began to sob. His chest heaved up and down and sobs racked from his body that he was so sure was already broken.
Nothing made a sound except for Quinn, his sobs echoing around the cockpit. Not even Morgan made a sound.
Quinn finally looked up, his eyes red. He wiped the tear tracks from his cheeks, breathing in a couple of times to make sure he was alright.
“I found that poster,” Quinn said, weakly gesturing to the poster on the table. “I found it on a wall of fugitives,” Quinn flopped down into the Captain’s chair, staring at the picture of Agross on the screen.
“But how is he here?” Quinn asked, yet the question was more rhetorical.
“You’re here Quinn,” Morgan pointed out.
“I’m only here because of him,” Quinn said, sitting up straight and pointing at the pictures of Agross. “If it wasn’t for this guy I wouldn’t be here at all!” Quinn sighed, running his hand through his already messy hair.
“He would have time travelled,” Quinn stated the obvious, just needing to say it out loud so it settled with his brain. “I don’t know if he time travelled there, or time travelled here, but he’s already killed them and now he’s here, so what does it matter?” Quinn groaned. He slouched into the chair, groaning.
“Why?” Quinn said softly, his voice barely audible.
“What was that Quinn? I didn’t manage to pick that up,” Morgan asked, his robotic voice much louder than Quinn’s.
“I said why,” Quinn said firmly, this time much louder. “Why me? What did I do? First, my family is killed, and my home planet is destroyed until it’s a bunch of rubble. Then, I get sent back in time nearly two hundred years, I might as well be in a different universe. And now Agross shows up here! First, the universe puts me through hell and now it won’t ever let me forget it because he’s here!” Quinn’s voice had risen to a yell as he ranted on. His chest heaved in and out. He hadn’t realised he had stood up. When he did realize, he sat down.