MEMORIES
THE SOUND OF THE BULLETS RICCOCHETING OFF OF THE WALLS WAS making Isaac's ears ring. He could still hear the soldiers running after him, firing their automatic weapons as they tried to gun him down. He knew why they were after him. He had escaped from one of the research labs.
The research labs were owned by the Alten Corporation, an offshoot of the former United States Military before the merger of all the world's governments into the One World Nation. One World Nation was a bid by the former United Nations to join all the nations of the world as one, in an attempt to end all war and violence. No one believed it would work, and were subsequently surprised when it did, and when the government of the world declared utopia.
If only the common folk knew what would transpire several years later.
The government of the One World Nation turned their ideals around on the citizens, rounding them up one by one. It didn't take long afterwards for people to realize that this wasn't utopia, it was a dictatorship, with the government practicing what Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party practiced over a hundred years ago-anyone they deemed unperfect was euthanized, and those they deemed perfect were forced to join the military and continue the process in a vicious cycle that seemed to have no end.
Isaac himself had been captured, along with his dad and best friend Doris. In a way, Isaac could understand his dad being taken, as he refused to join the One World Nation military, and at the time they were taken, Isaac didn't know why they took him and Doris. They were only twelve years old, too young to be forced into the military-the standard age for that was seventeen-so perhaps it was to be...euthanized?
No, that wasn't it, at least not for Isaac. He remembered some men in white coats saying how he was different, how he needed to be studied and tested. He remembered being poked and prodded, being hooked up to some sort of machine, remembered being given shots of who knew what.
Isaac almost lost his footing as he rounded a corner. He put his hands on the wall to maintain his balance and kept running, just as a burst of bullets hit the floor. He felt chips of linoleum hit his bare legs, but didn't pay them any mind; he had to keep going, otherwise he was going to die.
Wait, there's got to be some place around here that I can hide.
He skidded to a stop in front of a door. He quickly checked the lock; it was open. Pulling the door open a little bit, he saw that it was a janitor's closet. Isaac quickly slipped inside and shut the door.
Please don't find me, please don't find me, please God don't let them find me.
He held his breath and listened as the soldiers ran past the room. He waited, listening as the soldiers ran down the hall, wondering if they had gone away yet. Slowly, he pushed the door open and looked up and down the hall. There was no sign of anyone, at least no one he could see. Half of the lights in the hallway didn't work, and it didn't help that North Bay was labelled as the darkest city in the One World Nation during the night.
He slowly stepped out of the janitor's closet and shut the door, moving slowly and quietly so he didn't alert anybody.
I've got to find Dad and Doris before these monsters do anything bad to them.
She slowly walked down the hall, stepping slowly and quietly so as to avoid any unwanted attention. As he walked, he began to think about his dad, Gerald Lawrence.
For as long as Isaac could remember-which wasn't very long-his dad had been teaching him karate and other assorted martial arts, as well as teaching Isaac how to harness his inner ki, teaching him how to use it not only in offense-such as firing it as a projectile weapon-but also in defense.
And then there was Doris Jameson, Isaac's best friend. No, not just his best friend, but his only friend. Isaac was so different from the other kids that no one wanted anything to do with him. Doris was the only one who tried to be Isaac's friend, and though he denied her friendly advances at first, he slowly accepted her friendship. She became like a sister to him over time.
But there was no reason to take Doris too. So why did they...?
He shook his head and stopped walking as he came to the labs. He got down on his hands and knees and started crawling. He stopped after a few feet and peeked into the closest room, looking in through the bottom of the window.
Doris!
She didn't look like she'd been harmed, at least not from what he could see. She was strapped to a table, hooked up to an electrocardiograph machine, which was measuring her heart rate. The scientist in the room was taking notes. At least he wasn't poking and prodding her like they did with Isaac.
Still, I can't just leave her in there. I've got to help her!
He stood up and stepped in front of the door. Mustering up all of his courage, he kicked the door, knocking it open. The scientist turned to Isaac, a shocked look on his face.
"I'm here for the girl."
The scientist slowly moved towards a desk on the left wall. Isaac watched him, knowing he was going for the alarm. He held out his hand and, just as his dad had taught him, fired a ki blast, hitting the desk and shattering the alarm system.
"Don't even. Now, release Doris."
Slowly, the scientist made his way over to the table Doris was strapped to. He unstrapped her and disconnected her from the electrocardiograph machine.
Isaac ran over to Doris, pushing the scientist out of the way. "Doris? Can you hear me?"
Doris began to stir. Slowly, she opened her eyes. "Isaac? What's going on?"
"We're getting out of here, that's what," Isaac said. He helped Doris to her feet. "Can you walk?"
"I think so."
"How about run?"
"I think."
"Good, because we're gonna have to book it if we want to get out of here." He took Doris's hand. "Come on! We gotta find my dad first!" They hurried out of the room.
"Alert! Alert! Prisoner escape!"
"Great," Isaac huffed. "Just fan-freaking-tastic. Someone hit the alarm." He started running faster. "Come on, Doris!"
"Isaac, wait! My legs are still a little stiff!"
"You said you could run! Oh, for crying out loud." He hurried back to Doris. "On my back, quick!" Doris climbed onto Isaac's back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Isaac started running again. "I'm sorry, Isaac. I'm slowing you down. We're going to die thanks to me."
"Don't say that," Isaac said. "Don't you DARE say that, Doris Jameson! We're going to make it through this, all three of us."
"But we don't even know where your dad is. He could be anywhere in the building!"
"Then we'll search the whole darn place if we have to. But I am not leaving here without the two of you."
They ran down the hall, looking through every window they could. There was still no sign of Gerald. Isaac's heart raced even more than it already was as horrible images of what they were doing to his dad raced through his mind. Brainwashing, genetic testing, euthanization-all sorts of possibilities went past his mind's eye, even as he tried not to think about it.
"Isaac, he's in here!"
Isaac stopped running and looked through the window Doris was pointing to. The room on the other side looked like the room where he'd just found Doris, only there were more people in here; not just a scientist, but a team of scientists as well as two armed guards. They were standing around a table, and strapped to the table was Isaac's father, who was having something injected into him with a needle.
Isaac felt his blood boil. They were killing his father!
"I've got to help him."
"No, Isaac, don't. Those guards will shoot you before you even get a chance to do anything."
"I'm can't just leave my dad in there."
He kicked the door open and fired two ki blasts, each one hitting a guard and knocking them to the ground. A few more ki blasts took out the scientists.
With them out of the way, Isaac hurried over to the table and unstrapped his father's ankles and wrists. He looked at the needle the scientist had used, saw it inscribed with the symbol for poison.
"Oh my God. Dad? Dad, can you hear me?"
Gerald's eyes fluttered open. They were watery, and his skin was starting to become pale.
"Isaac? Is that you?"
"Yeah. And Doris is here too. Come on, Dad. We're getting you out of here."
Gerald coughed, spitting up blood. "Sorry, kiddo. I'm clocking out here."
"No. I won't let you die. I just won't!"
"They've put poison in me. It's eroding me from the inside." He pointed to the desk on the far wall. "Get in the top drawer of that desk. There's something in there, something you should have."
Isaac hurried over to the desk and pulled the drawer open. Placed on top of a stack of papers was an orb, about the size of a baseball. Isaac picked it up. It was a bright yellow stone, with four orange stars engraved on it.
He hurried back over to his father. "Is this it?"
"Yes. Take it. And find the other six."
"What do you mean, the other six?"
"The seven Dragon Balls. Find all seven, and make a wish, a wish that will fix all of this."
"I-I don't understand."
"You will." He pulled Isaac close. "You have to fight them, Isaac. Combat is in your blood."
"Because you've been training me."
"No, not just that. It's because you...are..." His eyes closed, and his body fell limp.
Isaac shook his father. "I'm what? Dad, tell me. What am I?" But his father wasn't responding.
He was dead.
"Dad? Dad?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, ready for a fight, only to find Doris standing behind him.
"I'm so sorry, Isaac."
"Don't be," Isaac said. "You didn't kill him. These bastards did. And they're going to pay for it. I'll make sure of that."
He looked at the orb he still held in his hand-the Dragon Ball. Seven of them, huh? And Dad said that they can grant a wish. If I find all seven, I can wish my dad back to life.
"We've got to get going, Isaac," Doris said, snapping him back to reality.
"Yeah. You're right." He looked back at his father's body one last time. "I'm sorry, Dad." He and Doris ran out of the room.
"Which way do we go now?" Doris asked, looking up and down the hallway.
"Stairs," Isaac said. "Take the stairs down to the first floor, and then we're out of here."
"Why not the elevator?"
"They'll probably be expecting that, and have the elevators rigged to blow or something." He grabbed Doris's hand. "Come on!"
They ran down the hallway, arriving at a door leading to the stairwell. Isaac kicked it open. The sign on the wall told him that they were on the fifteenth floor.
"Shouldn't take us that long. Come on."
They hurried down the metal stairs, their footsteps echoing off of the concrete walls. Floor after floor went by in a blur as they ran, until, after a few moments, they had reached the ground floor. Isaac threw the door open. He grabbed Doris's hand, and they ran for the front door. The door flew open as they hit it, and they ran down the street, away from the Alten Corporation Labs, not stopping, not knowing where they were going, only knowing that they had to keep running.
Isaac's eyes snapped open. He sat up on the cot and looked around. It was still dark. He looked at the clock on the wall of the shack-it was just after midnight, on the tenth day of July. Today marked the fifth year that Isaac and Doris had been on the run, evading the shock troops of the Alten Corporation and hunting the Dragon Balls.
Five years of moving around from place to place, living off the land and sneaking and stealing to survive. Five years, and no Dragon Balls. I'm starting to think this is a lost cause.
He heard a familiar sound on the roof of the shack; rain water. Slowly getting off of his cot so he didn't wake Doris-who was on the cot directly next to him-he made his way outside.
The cool rain felt good on his sweaty skin. He felt as though he were being cleansed, as though all his nightmares and fears were being washed away.
Clean it. Clean it all.
After a few moments, he headed back inside and dried himself off with a towel. He tossed the towel into a corner. It landed on top of his jacket. Slowly, Isaac walked over to the jacket and pulled out the yellow orb, its orange stars shining brightly even in the blackness of the night.
Lost cause or not, finding the Dragon Balls was my father's dying wish, and I am not going to let him down. I will find the Dragon Balls, even if I have to travel through hell and back. I'll go where I must to collect them.
I'm not going to let you down, Dad. I swear it.