Out of the Shell

7 - Your Life Has Just Begun

December 7, 2404
23:00

"It was close," Tony said. "But we made it out of there alive, only because you took the jump. I'm proud of you for that." He smiled. We were sitting at the same spot he saved me from drowning. The fire was keeping us very warm from the freezing weather.

"Still have my decrypted files?" I asked.

"Ah, man... I think I lost it in the explosion. Sorry."

I was saddened. "Well, I guess that's that," I looked at Tony, he was smiling. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He put his arms behind his back, then showed me the flash drive with my decrypted files on it. He laughed.

"Ugh! Why would you do that?" I said, annoyed. He was laughing hard. I looked away to try and hide that I was smiling too, as well as trying not to laugh. I couldn't help it, so I burst out laughing.

"I hope nobody was hurt in that explosion," I said, after calming down.

"I doubt many were," Tony explained. "People were evacuating even before the first explosion."

I nodded my head, looking at the orange embers and large flames.

-----

December 8, 2404
10:00

"Glad I was able to find you two again," Jason said. We stumbled across him while walking past the destroyed Institute building. We were now in his personal office. "F-404, your decryption almost made it through completely. Twenty out of one hundred files are corrupted. Were you relaxed completely?"

I shook my head. "No." I couldn't blame myself, after all, we could have died in the explosion.

"All I was able to pull out from this was his partial identity. No IDM serial number or location information," Jason continued. "They were a former Institute member, although..." He squinted at his computer screen. "His Institute identification number is unusual... X-002. Odd. The first letter is supposed to be M or F, according to the gender."

"X? What does that mean?" Tony asked.

"I have no idea," Jason clicked through some more files. "Real name unknown. They go by the name Vena."

"So this is the person that supposedly attacked me?" I asked.

"Correct. If we find this person, they will be arrested under Institute law."

"How do we find them?"

"That's the thing. The location files are corrupted. I could decrypt you again, but that could damage your brain. After all, this information is locked deep inside your head."

Deep inside my head. What Brandon told me earlier started to make sense now. If I thought hard enough, I could potentially find Vena and take them down. The problem is, I had no idea where to start.

"This is as far as I can go, F-404," Jason said, keeping eye contact with me. "I can't help any longer. It's all up to you now." He smiled slightly. "You can do this."

Tony and I left shortly after. A lot was racing through my mind. Who attacked the Institute? Where could Vena be? How long will it be until I have all my questions answered? Tony would tell me that 'only time will tell.'

"I guess time will tell what happens next, huh?" I looked at Tony and laughed.

He chuckled. "Yeah. We beat time, our journey ends in victory. Time beats us... we die. After all, Amielle, our lives have only just begun. We can't stop here."

"I don't want to stop here. I just don't know where to start." Moving the tall grass in front of us, we went back to our hang out spot.

"Relax," Tony said. "You need to learn how to relax. Just... breathe. Think about ways you can improve yourself as a person."

I closed my eyes and breathed in. I opened my eyes and froze. "Something's not right."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked. "You were..." He looked me in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

I was confused. "Yeah, why?"

"Your eyes, they're blinking red. Rapidly. Very fast."

"Why are they doing-" I stopped as I was pinned to the ground.

"Amielle!" Tony shouted. I heard him run toward me, as I attempted to lift my head off the ground. Something was weighing me down dramatically. "There's someone-"

I managed to lift my head up for a split second. Tony was on the ground, not talking. "Tony!" I shouted. "Tony-"

I blacked out.