by Thom Parsons
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Eli asked, the concern easily audible in his voice.
Owen didn’t respond. He was too busy trying to focus his mind in order to try and bring the memories forward. It didn’t take him long for him to conjure up the memory, on account of how he never really stopped thinking about the event. Not a day went by where he didn’t think of Annie and their car crash. Not a day went by without him thinking about what he could have done to change things.
And then… he felt it. He felt the memories flowing forward. He opened his eyes. In front of him, the scene looked exactly the same as it had done moments before. The rain was still pouring down from above, and the sky was still dark. But now, Owen could feel his own memory projecting out around him and Eli. He stood silently, watching as Annie’s car came down the road, heading straight for the intersection ahead.
Owen waited patiently for his memory to reach its end game, and just as Annie’s car was about to get smashed up at the intersection, Owen reached into the air and quickly clenched his fist together.
Time stopped.
The world had fallen silent.
In the world surrounding Owen and Eli, the rain hung motionlessly in the air. It was no longer smashing off the ground. His actions had instantly rendered the world silent. Annie’s car was frozen still, mere seconds away from getting pummelled into by a white van. And off in the distance, Marcus Ortega stood with his hostage, the gun ready in his hand.
Owen was playing the manipulator in his own memories. A very, very dangerous game. He stood and looked at the memory around him frozen in time, trying to pick out anything in particular that stood out. At first glance, there was nothing. But, Owen knew that they just weren’t looking hard enough. Since Eli had opened Owen up to the possibility of Alex Morgan being here, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the man was right.
The two of them went their separate ways, splitting up to try and cover more ground across the still, silent memory. They both knew the face of Alex Morgan. It was just a matter of finding him. Owen furiously moved between what little crowd there was, scanning all of their faces as he did so.
“Owen!” Eli shouted to him from across the intersection. He jogged over to Eli, wondering just what the man had managed to find. As he slowed his jog to a stop, Eli pointed down the sidewalk to a man nearby, frozen in time inside Owen’s memory.
Owen slowly walked towards the man, examining him with every step he took closer. To anybody else, the man was a nobody, but to Owen, this man was everything. He blended in perfectly with the small crowd around him. His face was nothing special. It held no obvious features or marks that made him stand out.
There he was, walking down the pavement whilst wearing a baseball cap to keep the rain out of his face, leaving his head tilted slightly towards the ground. The closer Owen got to him, the more that he could see. This man's eyes were full of purpose. His eyes were secretively looking in the direction of the crossroads, watching, waiting. He knew what was going to happen. Owen recognised his face immediately.
Another connection.
Another piece of the puzzle.
Alex Morgan.
Chapter Forty Two
Date: December 11th 2035
Location: Owen’s Apartment, New York
Beep.
It’s the noise of the impact in slow motion.
Beep. Beep.
Make it stop. Make it stop.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
MAKE THE NOISE STOP.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Eyes open. Awake. It's time.
Owen checked the clock at the side of his bed. It was just after nine in the morning, giving him just under an hour to sort himself out before Nick arrived to pick him up. As he sat upright, a huge recurring pain fired rapidly through his skull, forcing him to lie back down and keep his eyes closed. Damnit Owen. PRoGRaM is killing you.
Taking his time, he got up slowly and stumbled into the kitchen where he was able to grab some painkillers, praying that they could keep the pain at bay. This morning was all about preparation for the day that he was about to face. Right now, he was nowhere near ready, mentally or physically.
Owen was genuinely concerned with how PRoGRaM had been affecting his health over the last few days. The amount of time that he was putting into that machine lately was crazy. The headaches that he felt upon entry and exit into the digital world weren't just there during his time using PRoGRaM anymore. They were beginning to seep into his life away from the technology. I need to stop. He said to himself. At least for a few days. Otherwise, that damn thing is going to kill me.
But that was enough dwelling, it was time to go.
Enthusiastically, Owen made his way out of his apartment and down towards the city below him. The cold air hit his face the second that he walked out into the New York City street. It was going to be a long, cold winter if this morning was anything to go by. Owen stood waiting, restlessly watching his ice cold breath come out of his mouth whilst slowly pacing up and down the small stretch of pavement outside his building. In his head he relentlessly went over every detail of the plan. He couldn’t make a mistake. Not today.
Less than five minutes later, a van pulled up and parked right alongside the pavement where Owen was pacing. Nick greeted him with a nod and a sly smile from the drivers seat. His old van looked worn, yet strangely sturdy. The tacky white paint job that covered the vehicle was starting to rust around the edges. As he looked it over, Owen wondered just why Nick would want to keep an old piece of junk like this when he could probably afford any car he wanted to.
A large door on the side of the van slid open loudly, revealing Kate and Eli who sat inside. Owen walked up and jumped into the back of the vehicle, greeting everyone as he sat himself down. The seats were unexpectedly comfortable as he dropped down into one and leant up against the side of the van. Opposite him sat Eli, staring down into his laptop. Kate shut the sliding door behind him and then sat in the seat next to him.
Owen felt his insides move as Nick pulled off in the van at some serious speed. He had no idea where they were going, but he suspected that for the next hour or so, they were just going to be driving around the less busy parts of New York City. It would be no good getting stuck in traffic on a day like today, as traffic could very well get them killed. But on the bright side, Owen knew that Nick was a bit of a control freak when it came down to planning things, and felt safe in the fact that the man would have it all under control.
“Owen!” Nick shouted into the air from the drivers seat, keeping his eyes focused on the road. “Eli thought of something else that we've missed.”
“I’m listening,” Owen said, turning to look at Eli as he prepared himself for what he was about to do. He tightened up his seatbelt as much as he could. It was going to be one of the only things holding him in place whilst he was under PRoGRaM’s spell.
Eli looked up at Owen and momentarily away from his laptop's display. “You’re going to need some form of disguise inside the Prison System. Otherwise, the inmates are bound to see you. If anybody thinks to check their memories afterwards, they’re going to see your faces. Then, they’re going to track you down in the real world.”
“Good point,” Owen conceded, nodding in appreciation of the thought that Eli was clearly putting into this.
“I’m not getting caught out now,” Eli replied, giving the impression to Owen that he had only thought about himself in all of this.
“I’ll admit. I hadn’t thought about disguises,” Owen said, talking louder than he normally would so that Eli would hear him over the noise of the van moving. “I assume that you’ve got something for us in defence of this?”
“Yeah. I’ve programmed a basic design for a mask into the world. When you wake inside PRoGRaM, you’ll have a backpack on. Inside this will be two masks. One for you. One for Kate. Keep them on as long as you’re around any of the inmates. That includes Alex.”
“Okay. We can
manage that.” He said as he turned and looked at Kate. “Right?”
“Right,” she said back to him with a nod.
“Ready?” Eli asked as he stopped tapping away at his laptop.
Owen hooked his Manipulator Headset up and put all of the receptors in the right place before giving it a gentle tap to make sure that it was secure. He sneakily turned his head to see if Kate needed any help with her Tertiary-Bystander Headset, but it looked like she had her side of it under control. Just like a pro.
In their own time, Owen and Kate both nodded back to Eli, who then picked up an injection gun that had been sat on his lap for the duration of the journey so far. Steadying his hands over the rocking motion of the van, he took the small plastic lid off the gun, exposing the tip of the needle hidden inside.
Reaching over gently, Eli pushed the needle into Owen’s leg and fired a small shot of red liquid into his bloodstream. Within seconds, the world around Owen started to fade away to darkness.
Here we go.
Alex Morgan.
Chapter Forty Three
Date: December 11th 2035
Location: New York Streets
Little did they know, their team was being watched. Waiting directly opposite where Nick had pulled up his van was a small car which had been inconspicuously parked for hours. Inside, a dark figure of a man was sat there, silently watching out for signs of activity. Finally, after many painstakingly boring hours, it seemed like something was about to happen. He couldn't help but pull out his phone and update his boss on the change in activity, just like they'd told him to.
“What’s happening?” the distorted voice said down the phone to Ethan. It was barely understandable, and answered without even the slightest sign of a greeting. Although, Ethan was used to their straight-to-the-point attitude now. Just as he had grown accustomed to the robotic voice that his boss used to mask their own voice.
“Nothing,” Ethan said, updating them of the situation. “They’re just sitting there in a van. I don’t know what they’re doing.”
The voice on the other end of the phone line said nothing in return. Ethan sat, waiting patiently for further instruction, but nothing came. In the end, he gave in and made the first move. “Maybe it’s time we should stop?” he asked.
“No,” the voice replied to him suddenly. “It is interesting to see the commitment that Owen is putting into this. Let’s play the game a little more, shall we?”
“What do you want me to do?” Ethan enquired, curious of what his next order was. He watched as the van in front of Owen’s building pulled out and merged into what little traffic there was on the city streets.
“Scare them a little,” the voice replied.
“What’s that going to do?” Ethan asked in a questioning tone, feeling that the task he was being given was pointless. He was sick of taking half-measures with Owen and his team. It always seemed to be a warning and never a punishment. Ethan was more of a full measures kind of man. He didn’t mess around, and was always one for taking the more direct course of action, regardless of what the consequences were. He started up his car’s engine, preparing to take pursuit of Owen.
“Remind them that they are not in control,” the robotic voice said to him.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. He heard as the boss on the other end of the phone line hung up.
Ethan sighed, put his foot on the accelerator and pulled his car out into the traffic in order to follow Owen's van.
The game was on.
Chapter Forty Four
Date: December 11th 2035
Location: PRoGRaM
Disorientation.
Heavier.
Difficult.
Painful.
Owen clutched onto his head with both of his hands and dropped quickly down to his knees. He screamed out in agony from the pain pulsing through his mind.
What's happening to me?
The agony was too intense, and Owen's knees just couldn’t hold him anymore, causing them to buckle out weakly from beneath him. He fell to his side, hitting the floor hard, but never once released his hands from grasping the sides of his head, as if it was doing something to stop the pain.
Archer curled his body up, quickly assuming the foetal position on the floor.
OWEN!
Through the agony, Owen heard someone screaming his name. A female voice. Muffled, but distinguishable. It was as If his head was being held underwater. But he could tell that muffled voice anywhere. It was Kate. She was calling out to him as he held his eyes tightly shut and stayed as still as he possibly could on the floor, wishing that the pain would just go away.
He felt hands gently shaking him, trying to snap him out of what must have looked like some sort of seizure. But the pain had hit him too much, too fast. He wasn’t going to live the agony of this one down for hours. Slowly, Owen opened his eyes to see Kate in front of him. She was crouched down over his body, wishing him back from the border of death. His vision was blurry, but he could make out her lips moving, her muffled voice shouting his name out repeatedly.
He blinked a few times. He tried to blink the pain away, but he wasn’t that fortunate. He needed to just lie there until it passed. Assuming that it will pass. Archer thought. Minutes felt like hours, the pressure that was bearing down on his head must have been killing him slowly.
“Eli!” Kate called out emotionally. It was the first word that he could hear properly. The first word that Owen could hear which wasn't distorted whilst coming out of her mouth. She continued speaking, a dreaded look of concern on her face. “There’s something wrong with Owen… he’s having a really bad reaction to this PRoGRaM entry.”
“No,” Owen managed to say, cutting her off before she did something stupid. He needed to stop her. She was trying to get Eli to pull them out of PRoGRaM, but he couldn’t afford that. He needed to do this.
“No,” he said again, more demanding this time. His tone managed to grab Kate's full attention. “Don’t stop this... Give me time.”
“Owen, PRoGRaM is killing you," she said back to him quietly, understanding the pain that he was in and not wanting to irritate it further. "We need to stop.”
“No,” he responded desperately, shaking his head at her, regardless of the pain that was coursing through it with every movement he made. “It’s going now. Slowly. Give me a minute. Please.”
He was grateful that Kate listened to him. She was willing to give him time on his own to recover instead of pressing him on the subject further. He managed to roll himself out of the foetal position and onto his back, letting himself stare up at the White Room’s ceiling. A few minutes passed before he felt like he was capable of getting himself upright. But that didn't mean that the pain had passed. It hadn't. Not fully anyway, but it was endurable enough for him to get up and do his job. He managed to pull himself to hit feet, with a little help from Kate.
“What happened?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know,” Owen said, slowly and gently shaking his head, trying not to aggravate his headache into coming back on a full blown rampage. “PRoGRaM entry I think,” he guessed, entirely unsure of just what it was that was causing him the pain. Although I have a pretty good idea…
“We’re using it too much aren't we?” Kate asked rhetorically. “You said it yourself before. No-one's tested out PRoGRaM to this extent. Ever. We need to stop after this. We need to have a break. It’s killing you Owen.”
He knew that Kate was right, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it to her. He needed to stop using PRoGRaM after today, at least for a little while anyway.
Only then did he began to worry about the time that we be upon him soon in which he would have to exit this digital world. Then, the pain would start all over again. He shuddered in anticipation. We need to finish this. I can’t take much more.
“Let’s get this over with. We can worry about me later,” Owen said. “We’ll portal out from here into the Prison System.”
“We can open a portal in
here?” Kate asked. “I was expecting us to use The White Room to get in.”
"Well, that was the plan," Owen said. "But then we figured out that the portal's would work. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. We can create the portal from here without issue.”
Owen felt something heavy materialise onto him. He looked over his shoulder and suddenly found that he was wearing a backpack. It's the one Eli mentioned before me and Kate entered PRoGRaM. Up until this point he had been so pre-occupied with controlling his pain that he hadn’t even remembered that it would appear.
He took it off his back and swung it round so that he held it in his hands in front of him. Opening it up, Owen found two masks inside. They were just what they were going to need to make sure that they weren’t discovered. “We’re going to need to put these on,” he said to Kate as he handed one of the masks from out of the bag over to her.
Even on Owen's first glance, the masks looked absolutely terrifying. What was Eli thinking?
She took it from him and began to put it on, pulling it over her head and then tightening it at the back to make sure that it wasn’t going to fall off. Owen held the second mask for himself in one hand and dropped his now empty backpack to the floor. Looking up at Kate, he saw that she had just about managed to put her mask on by herself.
She looked like something straight out of a horror movie.
Surrounding the entirety of Kate’s face was a gas mask.
The design that she wore was extremely similar to those that ground soldiers used during World War I and II. It was the type with the long snout to stop whoever it was that was wearing it from inhaling any dangerous gasses. Owen tried hard to see through the dark glass visor around her eyes, but he couldn’t see anything at all through it. This was good news. At least there was no way that anybody was going to recognise them on the other side of the portal once it opened.