What If the Fire Fragment was Different?

Chapter One: The Decision

Click.

The revolver slotted perfectly into place, like a small glove on a child's hand.

But this wasn't about to be comfortable.

Sigma glanced over at Phi, her small frame fitting perfectly into the chair before him. He glanced over once again to Diana, trapped in an incinerator. Shuddering, he stared at the wall instead. He knew for a fact that an incinerator and a revolver could not bring good things. It didn't take a genius to figure out that conclusion. Sharp blue eyes bore into him. However, it wasn't even as if he could see them. He just knew. Forty-five years, asleep or not, could tell you a lot about a person. Phi was no exception to this. Each and every timeline, regardless of how long it lasted, taught Sigma something he didn't know about her.

She thought methodically, in every sense of the word. Rapidly coming to conclusions was what she was made for, whether your feelings were considered or not. She was excellent at quick thinking and he couldn't knock her for it. Especially not after how many times it had saved his life. He didn't have to look to know that she was studying him. Cold icicles stabbed into what she could see of him. Turning to check, he nodded. Of course they were. Before she got the chance to pass any witty or sarcastic comment, a voice spoke.

"So I trust you are beginning to gage the situation you are in?" Phi rolled her eyes as she heard that ominous yet familiar voice. "Zero." she spat. He chuckled as he continued. "Beside the chair, a revolver should be set. The incinerator door is locked and the three of you, I imagine, are confused." Pondering, he paused. "Let me tell you a story. In 2011, a woman was unfortunate enough to lose her life. She was stabbed by an unknown culprit. A man, waiting patiently for a cab, was arrested and wrongly convicted of the murder. As a result of this, his wife ended her life and left two innocent children behind. A surgeon was picked up by the aforementioned cab and was taking him to the hospital where he was due to perform an operation. However, the car crashed and killed both the cab driver and his passenger. Unfortunately, the sweet, innocent boy who was due to have an operation also died. Devastating, but there were six total casualties. So what caused these unforgivable deaths? A snail. A single, solitary snail took the lives of six people and will go on to claim a billion times that amount. In total, six billion people will drop dead due to a single snail."

Desperately, Phi was trying to hold back her uncontrollable laughter but she couldn't stop giggling. Sigma glanced at her and nudged her. "Phi. Shh. These poor people are dead..." She turned to him, nearly crying. "Sigma. A fucking snail. This is nearly as bad as your cat jokes." It took him a second. "...Nearly?" Phi had finally taken Sigma's advice and had gone back to being quiet. Zero cleared his throat, eager to continue. "Right. Well, regardless, back to the point. Inside the gun is six rounds. Three are live, three are blank. Regardless of which fires, the incinerator door will open. If nothing fires, the incinerator will activate in ten minutes."

Sigma swallowed.

You're kidding.

"One final thing." Zero chuckled with a callous laugh. "You're all connected somehow. I imagine you can feel lost memories eating away at you, thoughts from another history. Find the link. It could be important." With that, the room was blanketed into a suffocating silence.

"Cryptic bastard." Phi indignantly spat. "A connection the three of us share? A common goal or meaning perhaps? Different timelines...did something happen between the three of us that we just failed to remember? Can you even SHIFT, Diana?" Uncomfortably tense silence permeated throughout the suffocating room in response to Phi's question. The three members of D-Team found it excruciating to both make and avoid eye contact. Curiosity and the unknown balanced each other in a conflict to be the dominant feeling. Gathering courage, Sigma turned to Phi. "Any thoughts?" He asked. "If anyone is going to figure it out first it's you." She smirked. "I appreciate the compliment. But frankly, I don't understand for once. Unless you two have anything, we're fresh out of leads. I have no loose memories of other timelines that could link to what he means. Begrudgingly, I'll have to leave you in charge for once old man." Diana choked.

Old man.

Old man.

Significance. Diana could feel the weight of Phi's mocking nickname for Sigma lie on her restless chest. Is this what Zero meant? Were her delicate fingers going to be forced to stretch and attempt to grasp forgotten fragments of memories she may not even have? Desperately, her strained mind tried to unearth any memory of anything that could even begin to form an answer to Phi's question. She felt an emptiness within herself like a question lingering in the air, a sentence left unfinished. Could she SHIFT? Did she share the same mind-blowing ability that Phi and Sigma cared so much about? This was all so new to her but an air of familiarity wrapped its arms around her shoulders. If her brain could just reach further forwards, just a little bit more...

No.

It couldn't be.

"Sigma! Get your hands away from that gun!" Diana screeched through the glass. Phi turned her head to look in Diana's direction. "What's gotten into you?" She asked, keeping her eyes on Diana as they widened slightly. Backing away from the gun thoughtlessly, Sigma replied. "But why? You think I want to shoot? Phi is my best friend, I'm doing this out of it being the most rational choice!" Phi nodded. "For once, it's easy to agree with you. If he shoots, your survival is guaranteed. Don't worry about me." She looked to Sigma, firm in her beliefs. "I know I can trust you." Diana was getting more aggravated by the second. "Ugh! Don't either of you get it? Phi I might understand, but not you Sigma?" As they widened, Phi cast her eyes to Diana. "Wait...Did you figure out what Zero meant?" Heaving a sigh of relief, Diana thanked Phi. "I'm glad you understood." Sigma gave Diana a puzzled look. "So what does that change? Why mustn't we shoot?" Balling her hands into fists, Diana responded with a harsh cry.

"Because I refuse to let you put our daughter's life in the hands of fifty-fifty chance!"

Still. The room fell flat. No atmosphere, no words, no sounds.

Nothing.

Breaking this silence was almost impossible and no-one wanted to. It mirrored the thought of shattering glass, as if everything would fall away at the utterance of a single word. Like a little white lamb, Phi's eyes darted across the room, pondering this new information in a well-disguised panic. "So you're telling me I got stuck in the Decision Game with my parents? What does Zero think I am? A child?" She glared. "If I don't get out of this alive, then you're a piece of shit Zero! Even if I do, you are!" She started glaring. "Sigma. Listen to me. Make sure Diana gets out of this alive, you hear me? Your advice has saved my life so it's time I saved yours. No less with your own words. We can all SHIFT. So we'll see each other again. Just think about it! Why does us being related change anything? You were going to risk me dying beforehand but why not now? Sure, there's blood between us but so what? Don't let it muddy the waters. Save Diana and maybe me if you're lucky. You didn't come this far to make mistakes now." She smiled at him, a soft smile that he knew meant she was ready to let her life go.

"No!" Diana screeched through the glass. "Sigma, you will not kill our daughter! Doesn't your best friend mean more to you than fifty-fifty chance? Just let me die. It's you two needed for the survival of humanity!" She bit back her lip and fought not to sob. "Please...please Sigma. Don't force guilt upon yourself that could've been avoided. I remember! We vowed to give up everything for our children. Even our lives. It's my duty as a mother to ensure Phi's safety. So it is your priority too, as a father."

Phi shot a harsh glare in their directions. "Can you please stop coddling me?! This is what Zero wants! We were adamant we would shoot but suddenly familial bonds changes that? Does that mean you were fine with killing me before? Do you see what conflict this brings? Just pull the trigger Sigma, this information means nothing. I'm simply a variable in this equation. I don't matter. I can be replaced, I will be replaced. Please, just trust me like you have before and pull the trigger." Diana frantically shook her head. "No! No! You can't! Please!"

Not again.

He couldn't do it again.

Regardless of what this stupid game was called, he couldn't do it again. He'd spent all of 2074 making tough decisions, turning his back on those he shouldn't have and paying the price for it. Not again. He couldn't turn his back on his best friend, his daughter, regardless of how much she protested. He couldn't stab the mother of his child in the back, no matter how much she insisted he do so. He was stuck, his hand glued to the slim gap between ally and betray. He had to make a choice, and soon. He'd either have half a chance of killing his best friend or be certain of the death of the woman he loved.

He had to make his choice.

Now.