Legacy Mutation (Book Eight)

Chapter 39: Remember

"Have fun at school," Leonardo says, his voice laced with a fake cheery tone.

Dakota and Asher nod, not feeling happy at all. Donatello didn't leave his lab the entire weekend. He just...sat there and stared at a wall, mumbling to himself. The twins came in regularly to clean his injury and make sure he was eating a little, drinking too. Their dad ate little bits of the offered food and drank a few sips of water, but remained unresponsive otherwise.

"Just try to take your mind off of it, alright?" Raphael suggests, patting Asher's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess," the boy returns sadly.

"Don't want to be late! Kids! Get out there!" Destiny calls as she slips Venus' backpack over her daughter's shoulders.

"Bye!" Dean calls, flashing a smile as he tries to make his family feel less worried about them.

"Keep smiling, little dudes!" Michelangelo shouts.

As the kids disappear out the turnstiles gate, Donnie pokes his head out of the lab slowly. His lips purse with slight guilt when he sees Asher and Dakota's obviously forlorn feelings, his eyes filling with tears again.

"I'm the worst father ever," he whispers, turning away from the door and placing his hands over his face.

Sarina wouldn't want me to be like this... he thinks. She'd want you to keep going on without her, stay strong.

He shakes his head, wiping his eyes. "No, Sarina doesn't want anything but my death now. She doesn't even remember that she loves me..."

He clenches his hands into fists, tears blurring his vision as his muscles tense. He grinds his teeth together, trying to keep his anger and his sorrow and every other insatiable emotion at bay.

Then, with a scream of agony, he turns and punches the nearest thing he can reach, which happens to be Sarina's computer. Not he monitor, the computing unit that actually runs the whole thing. It topples off the lab table, crashing to the floor and breaking apart with the loud crackling sound of electricity.

"Donnie?" Mikey's concerned voice sounds from outside. "Bro? What did you do?"

"N-Nothing! I knocked my computer over, a-accidentally. It's n-nothing!" he stammers, hoping that his youngest brother doesn't decide to pry.

He releases a breath as the footsteps recede. He turns to the crumpled mess of wiring, feeling absolutely awful for possibly destroying his wife's work.

"I'll get the microchip and the hard drive. She backed everything up, it'll be fine," he mutters to himself.

However, when he kneels next to the broken computer, his eyes catch sight of another thing; a USB drive. It's not something that belongs inside a computer, and Donnie knows that. His heart rate picks up as he scoops the drive into his large green palm, wondering what she has inside.

"Well...she won't mind if I look, right?" he asks.

Judith, the robotic hamster who spent most of her days rolling around and making little noises, let out a confirming beep. Metalhead also stuck his thumb up.

Donnie races to his computer and plugs the USB in, his eyes brightened with excitement as he clicks on the file. Inside, there's a folder labeled "My Memories". Donnie frowns a little, assuming that the folder is full of photos from the years. However, he highly doubts that pictures are so secretive that they must be hidden inside a computing unit. There's a video file next to the memories folder, labeled "For the one who matters".

He clicks it without hesitation. The screen becomes completely black as the video boots up, going into full screen. Then, there's a small blip of white light and a familiar face appears on the screen. Donnie has to stop himself from crying at the sight of Sarina, still blue-eyed and happy, albeit much younger, eighteen at least.