Shattered Memories
by Time Guardian

Chapter 2 - Unsettling Discoveries

Jonny laid flat on the chair in front of the bank of monitor screens. His dad had finally talked him into using the Questworld program, but that didn't mean that he wasn't scared of what he would find out.

However, the need to find out what was going on won out over the fear.

"Let's do this."

Jonny heard his father typing away at the console. The disc that was attached to the side of his head shot forth a brilliant beam of bright green light that arced around his head.

He then heard his father give the computer a series of voice commands.

"IRIS, activate Questworld program."

The computer quickly complied.

"Program activated and ready for your input, Dr. Quest."

"Questworld, Logon. Subject: Jonny Quest."

"Subject Jonny Quest recognized. Going hot in 3...2...1..."

The green light that was in front of Jonny's eyes started to swirl in a circular fashion, revealing a dark black tunnel in the middle. He felt a pull, and then was quickly sucked inside.

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Jonny materialized in the middle of a vast black landscape, covered by a green grid. The size of the place was amazing. It reminded him of the sci-fi shows he loved as a kid.

"Can you read me Jonny?"

He staggered back at the unexpected ethereal voice, until he recognized it. His dad was full of surprises indeed.

"Yeah dad, loud and clear, but would you mind not scaring me like that again?"

Jonny heard him chuckle. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I needed to test the audio link anyway. This is the main way I can contact you while you are in Questworld,
but I can also see you via the monitors and monitor your health with the medical sensors."

"See me? You mean you've given me a human form?"

"See for yourself. Inserting mirror."

A mirror suddenly appeared before Jonny.

He was dazed, but was amazed to see himself in a virtual human form. His facial features were an exact match, and he noticed that he was dressed in what looked like cyber-armor. Green tinted circuits seemed intermeshed throughout the whole outfit, giving him the feeling like he was in a video game.

"This is cool, dad. Now, where's this program that you have been telling me about?"

"I am activating it now. IRIS, activate program Brain Wave one."

A glow surrounded Jonny, and when it cleared, he found himself in the middle of a brightly lit corridor. Numerous doors of different colors lined the walls.

Dr. Quest began to explain to him what he was seeing.

"This is a virtual representation of your mind, Jonny. The program has scanned your neurons and thought patterns and has translated them into tangible things that you can interact with-well, at least for the duration for that particular memory at any rate."

He started walking down the corridor, looking at each door.

"So you are telling me if I open one of these doors, I will walk right into one of my memories?"

"Yes, that is the concept. Go ahead and try a few of the doors."

Jonny picked a series of doors and tried them, but none of them would open.

"What gives, dad? Why can't I access these memories?"

It took a moment for his father to answer.

"Those seem to be memories that have been made, but the program could find no tangible links to them. Let me see if I can adjust the scanner program and-"

Jonny heard him pause, and then looked up the corridor as a large glowing red arrow materialized, pointing to a door on the right.

"That was the first memory accessible that the scanner picked up."

He approached the door carefully. It looked no different than the other doors.

"Okay, here goes."

He grasped the knob firmly and turned, and a bright flash of light engulfed him.
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When the light disappeared, Jonny found himself in a strange cramped room. There was little light, save for what was coming through a slit in the doorway, along with a square patch of moonlight shining in from a window on the far wall. A small bed was shoved up next to the opposite wall.

Looking over at the bed, he was astonished to see a younger version of himself trying to sleep, and not succeeding. Jonny heard him whimper, toss and turn.

He felt a pang of resentment and fear. Echoes of the past... -I remember this place-

Jonny walked to the center of the room and sighed. He decided to sound out his thoughts,
so he could bring his dad up to speed.

"I remember a little bit about this place. This is the room where I stayed when I was trained to be an assassin. The training schedule was brutal from what I can remember, and I went to bed with nightmares more often than not. This was a scary time..."

Jonny let his voice trail off as he heard large footfalls, and then the door opened with a mighty crash. Jonny saw his younger self shoot quickly to a sitting position, then cower into the corner of his bed whimpering.

"No, The guard has come for me."

A large figure loomed in the doorway. As he walked closer, Jonny noticed the gun in his hand.

"Wake up! You are to have an audience with the boss."

He heard the voice of his younger self whimper. "No, I know what he wants to see me about. I'll get punished, no-"

The burly guard started to reach for the figure in the bed. "I will teach you manners, whelp!"

Jonny flinched, anticipating hearing a cry of pain. Instead, the guard disappeared,
and he saw his younger self one again embroiled in a nightmare.

"What happened dad?"

"That memory ended, Jonny. It's just going to keep looping."

A sense of uneasiness tinged his voice.

"So how am I supposed to unlock other memories? This one doesn't offer a lot of clues."

"Try building on this memory, son. What do you remember about this room? Any smells,
textures, sounds?"

He walked around the room, staring at the walls and the bed. Jonny let his fingers lightly trail over the wall, and it sparked something in his mind.

"I remember the walls here being made out of of a rough stone. When we would go out for morning exercises in the grassy field, I'd always let my hand trail over them."

Jonny heard his father exclaim.

"You did it! I am reading another door has become available. Two doors down is your next target."

He quickly and gratefully exited the room, letting his eyes adjust back to the light of the corridor, when he saw a glow emanate from door his father specified.

Jonny stood there for a moment. He was closer to his goal, but-

His father must have sensed his hesitation. "These are only images, Jonny, they wont hurt you."

-You sound just like Hadji- he thought in frustration.

Opening the door, he stepped out into a lush green field. Various rocks were strewn about,
and in the distance he could see a fence that seemed to be made of Iron.

Jonny's breath caught in his throat as he turned around.

The castle he was looking at seemed huge to him from where Jonny was standing. Four long spires jutted out from it's four corners, making it seem more like a military fort than a castle. The dark grey stone seemed almost black in the simulation, making the whole thing seem evil and foreboding. His mind zoned out as he looked the castle over and eventually recognized it's significance.

"This castle is where I stayed for the better part of my training."

-So cold-

"Jonny."

-so alone-

"Jonny??"

-isolated-

"Jonny, your vital signs are worrying me. I am logging you out."

Jonny shook off the feeling of dread. "Please, not yet dad. I remembered something else."

He ran quickly to the edge of the property. He encountered the large wrought-iron fence,
but he was more interested in what was beyond it-a road with a street sign. It was in a language he didn't recognize, but it was indeed a street sign.

Jonny was excited. This was one of the most coherent memories that he had in some time.

"Are you seeing this?"

"Yes I am son. I am running a computer search now on the road name and the castle. Hmm, here it is: both are located in a Northern part of Germany. This narrows things down quite a bit, doesn't it? Jonny?"

Jonny stood there and trembled. Fragmented memories of escape attempts and drugged torture flooded his brain until his head throbbed. It was too much, too soon. This was why he didn't want to do this in the first place.

He heard his voice waver as he made the request. "Dad, please get me out of here."

"You've got it, son. Logging you out of Questworld now."
The landscape changed once again, and Jonny found himself back in his father's lab once more. After he sat up and removed the disc from the side of his head, he knew what he had to do next, despite what his pounding head was telling him.

"I need to go to Germany and see things first hand."

His father looked uneasy. "I'm not sure going to Germany is such a good idea, Jonny. What's the rush?"

"Ever since I have seen that picture of Hadji's, that girl has been giving me bad vibes but I can't remember why. The castle is the only lead we have so far, and I want to take it. I have to protect Hadji from getting hurt and-"

An angry voice cut him off. "No need."

with a sinking heart, Jonny looked to the doorway of the lab, and saw that the voice belonged to Hadji. He was standing in the doorway with an expression of pure anger on his face.

"I don't need your protection from the woman I love."

Jonny stood up quickly and shouted. "Hadji, wait!"

His words fell on deaf ears. Hadji stormed out of the lab and slammed the door.

Dr. Quest looked at him intently as Jonny slowly sank back down into the chair. In all of his years, he had never heard the two of them fight at all. He saw no malice in his son's expression, but what he did see was the pain reflected in his eyes. He knew that Jonny didn't want to nor mean to hurt Hadji.

"Son, are you sure about this?"

Frustration flooded Jonny's emotions. "If you are asking me if I am one hundred percent sure,
I can't say yes. All I have to go on is a fleeting impression that I have seen that girl before for the wrong reasons, along with a nightmare I had last night. I have not had a nightmare in months until I saw that picture. Dad, you taught me to trust my instincts, and right now they are screaming at me to find the truth. So, what do you say? Will you let me go to Germany and find out?"

Dr. Quest stood up, went over to Jonny, and kneeled until he was at eye level with him.

"I cannot deny the power of instincts, cause they helped me to find you. Prepare yourself today, and I will make sure the jet is fueled and ready to leave tomorrow morning. There is some pressing work here that I must attend to, so how about if Race and Jessie come along?
She has been wanting to try out her German and-"

He was cut off by Jonny reaching forward and giving him a huge hug.

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Where matters of love are concerned, it looks like Jonny's going to have a fight on his hands. Can he get the "proof" he needs and convince Hadji before he loses his heart-
or more?

More to come...in-between work, a Sailor Moon fanfic, and NaNoWriMo, that is. :p

Till Later,

Time Guardian