OPERATION: MEMENTO
Memories
Entered
Mysteriously
Explain
Nothingness
To
Operatives
Out on the bridge of the KND Moon Base, against the cold, dim backdrop of the million stars, Abby Lincoln turned her back on the universe, and felt old.
She was old. This was nearly her thirteenth birthday, that invisible line in the sands of time that divided teens and kids like beach and sea. Perhaps after all these years, she still held out hope that she would become just like Maurice, commissioned to serve until her time ran out. Or like Numbuh One, chosen among millions to be the sole representative of the pale blue marble below her. But she knew that that was unlikely. Even though she'd recently gotten the position of Supreme Leader, she knew that it would not last forever. Nothing lasts forever...
But there was a way. One last mission, to stay ahead of the game. One last dash for the sunset.
Turning her back to the window, she walked over to her desk. On it lay a bulky, sealed envelope. Situation R, it was called. Some said the idea inside had been written down at the beginning of time, at the dawn of the First Age of the KND. Throughout the aeons, the subtleties had changed, to account for the passage of time - but the overall sequence had stayed the same. Not even the Supreme Leader could open the envelope at will. The envelope had to be delivered to her from the secret archives of the KND, when some mysterious device down there decided it was time to give the instructions out. No biggie, then.
Slicing the envelope open, the yellowed paper within it revealed what she needed to do. Pulling a blank piece of paper towards her, she wrote her final orders. She would not remember writing them - and these would not come into play until much later anyway, but it was key to write them out now.
Done with the orders, she looked at her watch. It was already eleven hundred hours. Not long more until the members of Sector V got to Moon Base. Then they could start. Finish what they began.
But until then-
Abby looked at the stars again, and prayed, prayed that somehow, someway, it would last long enough for them all to be together again.
"There she is!" Sector V alighted from their vehicle and rushed to greet their supreme leader. Before Abby could respond, she was smothered by her teammates, rolling around in one big, happy group on the floor.
"Oof-let go!" But Abby had a satisfied smile. For that instant only, there, before her, were her friends, her teammates of five years. Peeling herself off the ground, she dusted her blue shirt off and just stared contentedly at her friends, enjoying that moment of final reunion.
Wally was the first to break the silence.
"So what's this cruddy mission you got us here for, Numbuh Five - ma'am?"
He stared lopsidedly at her, through his golden bowl-cut, as if expecting an answer and knowing there probably wasn't one. Seeing her silence, Wally continued, "You'll be thirteen in a few hours time anyway, there's no need to rub it in with one last mission this and sentimentality that. We already did that schtick with Numbuh One."
"Aww, you'll see. Did you guys bring Keith?" Keith was the newest operative in Sector V, the short sandy-haired boy, now so key to the success of this mission.
"No ma'am, but you didn't say-"
But Kuki was swiftly cut off by Abby, who clamped her hand across her mouth.
"You're right, I didn't. Don't tell anyone about this mission, OK? We're not going to end up like Chad or my dear sister let's get going, Eighty-six's already looking to eighty-six us like some reject teenager trash. Let's go!"
Climbing back on board, the team looked at the sweeping expanse of Kids Next Door Moon Base, staring back at it like it would be the last time. And as the ship headed back to Earth, they watched the moon base grow smaller and smaller, until it disappeared to a point and the moon was but a lazy glowing orb in the sky - seemingly nothing more than a dream.
Once they were back at the treehouse, no-one wanted to waste any time.
"Work faster, people! Numbuhs Two and Four, you're gonna have to hide the SPLANKER there instead!" Abby, all coolness gone, jabbed her finger madly around Sector V's treehouse. The main hall looked like hell all askew with gadgets thrown over the floor, and the air rattled and shook with a mass of sounds, as if the team were moving treehouse. A mustard gun lay next to a crudely drawn sketch of Numbuh Four, author unknown. "And - oh, Keith, what's wrong?"
Keith stood before Abby in the tyre hologram pit, tears shining in his young eyes. "I'm gonna miss you guys a lot. I don't - I don't wanna grow up-"
Abby shushed him gently, moving into that pit, where so many moons ago, the five members of sector V had planned every mission and every attack together. "Look, Keith, your time's still long yet. Don't bolt the door before the horse's even thought about running..."
Keith blinked away the tears, but it didn't work. His watery blue eyes stared into Abby's brave ones. She gave him a tight, motherly embrace.
"C'mon, Keith. Numbuh Five's sure that you're going to be fine with your new friends. And you know where to find us, right, cause Numbuh Two's adjusted it a little. You'll be with Sector W after we're gone, but don't forget us...
As he pulled out of the hug, Keith asked, "Thanks. Abby, if-if, y'know - it doesn't work - goodbye."
Abby nodded, biting her lip hard. "Don't be too lonely, alright? Make some new friends. Have fun. See ya around, alright?"
A second later, she was standing up in the pit again, pulling a large, detailed map of the whole world towards her. "The only thing left is that directions thing - Numbuh Four?"
"Alright, mate!" Wally grinned stupidly back, two thumbs up. "I still don't get what's going on with this Memento business, so how's bout you tell me why we've got to do all this stuff?"
"How's bout Numbuh Five tell you to focus on your part of the mission and finish it before Numbuh Eighty-Six comes with my birthday cake? Numbuh Five says relax, you'll know very well what to do when it's time. Before then, you've got a job to do, so do it!"
"Beat ya to it, Numbuh Five - ma'am. We're done here."
Abby looked around the room, raising her hand. Slowly, all the work came to a temporary stop. "Alright then, Sector V - we've agreed to all do this together, right? I know it's common enough procedure for the whole sector to agree to joint decommissioning, but you guys don't have to - I'm the only one with any real reason to be decommissioned."
"Forget it, Numbuh Five. I'd lose my memories faster than I'd lose any one of you! We all know this day's coming, so let's get it over with, huh? Let's get it-"
Wally choked, unable to finish the sentence. The treehouse was temporarily quiet. Shaking away the tears, he furiously continued:
"Anyway, we'd said we'll do it together, and by crud we'll do it together!" Numbuh Four stared at Abby and Keith in the tyre pit, eyes alight with passion. He looked around, and there were no signs of any dissent.
Abby didn't look. "Alright-" she pulled the map towards her again, "-this looks like it's nearly set up, and just in time too- Numbuh Eighty-Six is going to be here in minutes. Come over here, guys; Numbuh Five's gotta say some pretty important things."
The last whirrs of computing and machinery died away as the members of sector V finished up and took their seats, one last time, around the tyre hologram.
Abby addressed the older members first. "Firstly, you guys should know that the success of this operation isn't guaranteed. The experience will be unique to all of you, and yet we'll have to cooperate at some point if this plan is to succeed. Numbuh Five's got faith in all of you, but it's going to be hard, and we only get one shot at it. Even if we succeed, Numbuh Five's not sure it's the life that we'd like to have, and if we fail, we risk wiping ourselves out of existence. Are you guys sure you want to do this?"
All around the circle there were grim and silent nods. Abby looked around, and a sob choked in her throat as she continued-
"Now this is the one I want to say to everyone. We all remember - that's you too, Numbuh Four - that Numbuh One made us promise him something before he left. So tonight, I want you all to promise me the exact same thing, OK?"
Abby drew her arms around her circle, pulling them all in. All around her, her pre-teen friends, the only things that mattered in the whole wide world. And as they were all holding hands , Abby spoke again.
"Even if we never see each other again, I want you to promise me one thing, that you'll never grow up. Even when you're a hundred years old and don't remember a thing we did together, you'll still be a kid at heart, OK?"
The tears were falling again, now thick and fast, and no-one could hold them back, and no-one cared to.
"Even if they take away our memories, they can't take away our friendship, alright? So-"
"Kids Next Door-goodbye." Abby's voice broke on the last word, just as the cool night air outside filled with the buzzing of vehicles, commissioned specifically for those who would not go quietly. But there would be no problem this time.
The door slid open, and as Numbuh Eighty-Six walked in, guns at the ready. Abby held her hands up, and the rest of Sector V bar Keith followed her silently.
At the exit she looked back.
"Keith." She said in a voice of the greatest importance. "Do not go gentle into the good night. Don't say nuthin' else to me, OK?"
"What-"
"That's the first clue. Do not go gentle into the good night."
"But I don't understand-"
"Yeah? You will soon." And with that, Abby, along with the rest of Sector V, walked away into the ship.
The doors slid shut behind them. A moment later, Keith heard the rockets blast off for the Moon Base, felt the huge nothingness of the treehouse wash all over him as the reality of his friends' departure hit him like a lead weight.
Walking to the bridge, he watched as against the backdrop of the starry, starry night, the ship travelled further and further away. He stared as presently, the ship faded into being just another star, another point of light in the distance, the brightest one of them all.