Retrospect

Forty-nine

Hale was on top of the massive cube of memories, wires attached and crossing everywhere around his head. The wires were connected to the cube, as well as to my parents on either side of the object. Hale was speaking to me, but I wasn't paying any attention to him, watching my parents and their terrified expressions.

The masked man cackled. "This is the moment of truth, Cavey," he announced, "who do you love more?"

This sick game he was playing made me lose all patience. Forget it. I would make a run for it, over to my parents, even with him looming over me. Murl had sidled up next to me, so I told him to go after my mom while I went the other direction to free my dad. He nodded and we both rushed forwards, racing to get to my parents before Hale took them from me.

Unfortunately, the masked man shot a few, unusually large bullets from his belt and they exploded in front of me and Murl, sending us flying backwards onto the floor. I landed on my bad arm and yelped in pain. "You can't choose both, Cavey," he said, waggling a finger at me.

I narrowed my eyes and got to my feet, resentment burning my skin. "You're not going to even give me one of them," I shot.

Hale snickered with amusement from on top of the cube. "You're absolutely right! I'm the one that needs both of them right now." Without warning, he flicked a button on his suit and immediately an electric blue burst of light sizzled steadily outward from his body, enveloping the entire cube and my parents.

My mom screamed, a clear indicator that whatever Hale was doing was causing her an unbelievable amount of agony. My dad was reacting the same way, unable to escape the metal cords and bands strangling him from head to toe.

I couldn't wait around any longer and let this happen. I headed straight for the masked man, ignoring the heat intensifying in my arm, making itself known again. The white lights of the stadium-sized room flickered, as if Hale was draining all of the electricity and power from the building, possibly from the entire city.

The sharp, squealing emanating from the cube and around the masked man were deafening. I couldn't hear anything else and it felt like it was stabbing my brain, the noises harsh and piercing. Yet, I didn't let that stop me from sprinting towards the source of all of the city's troubles. I glanced back, feeling a rush of persistence when I saw Ana, Murl, and Miles following closely behind.

I looked up, standing at the base of the cube and sprung up, hooking my fingers into the chips' compartments and finding footholds in the side as I climbed. Miles, Murl, and Ana parted ways and rushed to my parents while I pulled myself up, finding that I was standing directly in front of the masked man. Air created by the power surging through Hale forcefully pushed against me, making it difficult to find my footing.

The masked man was like a skyscraper above me and I was drowning in his shadow, knowing I had to remove the wires from his head in order to shut down the transferring of the memories. He was incapable of moving since there was so much energy going through him, so it could've been easy to stop him. It could've been, except he was still a crazy amount of feet taller than me and wore a bullet-deflecting metal on his chest. Not only this, his legs were covered in heavy steel, making it impossible to tackle him or push him off the cube. And if that all of that wasn't enough, the waves of power radiating from all of the wires were enough to kill me if I got too close.

I tried throwing my blade upwards, aiming for the masked man's shoulder. Unfortunately, the blade missed and clanged off the metal plate underneath his coat, then skidded off the cube. He started laughing uncontrollably. "That the best you got, Cavey?" he challenged, voice shaking the room.