CHAPTER 19
Michael

Past the electrical barrier, most likely designed to keep humans out, there was nothing stopping Michael from walking straight into the cave.

The musty damp smell of the inside of the cave was like the inside of any other tourist-ridden caves out there, but this particular smell triggered Michael's memories.

Memories of having crawled out of that cave, all alone, wet and cold.

As his hand reverently brushed along the inside of the cave wall he remembered the disorientation, of not having the inkling of a clue as to where he had woken up, where he had been or where he was going.

The center of the cave was lit by a small opening in the roof, casting rays of daylight around the somewhat circular space. Michael stopped and his heart rate accelerated.

Ground Zero.

To his left, nestled in the cave wall, were two compartments about the size of British telephone booths. He took tentative steps towards the chambers. After that barrier crap this cave had put his girlfriend through he was less eager to feel safe and confident in this place.

As he approached, he saw the pieces of the membrane, which had covered the front of the chambers, jutting out of the edges. Carefully, he reached out and touched one jagged edge and gasped as it fell apart at the contact, disintegrating into dust. But before it had evaporated, it had felt sharp and hard as a piece of polystyrene plastic.

He carefully put his head inside the chamber, now conscious of the fact that anything he touched might be obliterated at contact. The back wall of the chamber was irregular with what looked like pipes embedded in the material.

"What the hell is this thing?" he mumbled to himself and next angled his head to look up in the ceiling of the chamber.

In the center of the 'ceiling' of the compartment was a circular dome, about the size of a watermelon split in two. It was dark red in color and covered in faint lines as if a spider had decorated it with its web. Michael was pretty sure that a spider had nothing to do with its appearance, though. He would have easily been able to reach it (he really wanted to touch it), but admittedly he was a bit afraid of what might happen.

Worst case scenario, that thing would probably electrocute him as it had tried Maria, and that would be the end of this tour of self-discovery. With its woven blue spindles across it, the dome gave off a sinister look that made Michael suspect it was a power source. Possibly the thing that had 'operated' his and his alien friends' first years and plausibly even having decided the date of their birth.

Suppressing a shiver, Michael pulled his head out of the chamber and glanced at the one next to it, before continuing down the cave. He had yet to find his own chamber and possibly a fourth one. There were no big holes to light the cave with daylight as he moved further into the subterranean space and he fumbled with his backpack for a couple of seconds before pulling out a flashlight.

The light from the flashlight revealed indentations in the cave walls. Lots of them. Almost like the cave paintings paleolithic humans had left behind 30,000 or so years ago for modern generations to explore and try to make sense of. But these weren't paintings. These were more like stone carving shaped into letters.

"It's a language," Michael told himself, running his hand down the indentations. "It's my language."

He couldn't understand it, couldn't even begin to be able to read it, but he instinctively knew that at some point he had known this language.

He pulled out Maria's flashlight (not that she needed it anyway, sweating outside in the blazing desert sun) and positioned it on the left corner of the wall while he placed his own on the right corner. Angling them upwards, he got them to illuminate the wall fairly well. Stepping back, he retrieved his smart phone, swiped forward to 'Camera' and started documenting.

Maybe Isabel or Max could make sense of it.

Pocketing the phone and collecting the flashlights, he was back to tracking down the dark cave just a few minutes later. The light of the flashlight caught in the membrane of the chamber first, reflecting it back to Michael in small white glints. Next the chamber came into view and Michael felt a warmth spread inside his chest.

This is mine. This was mine.

He walked up to the chamber that was shrouded in darkness, pushed well into the cave wall, and let the artificial light from the flashlight caress the exterior and interior of the chamber. Aiming to step closer, Michael stumbled and unthinkingly put his arm out to brace himself. He felt the sharpness of the dried up edges of the front membrane push into his hand and squeezed his eyes shut in trepidation, expecting the whole chamber to come crashing down as his weight would fall into it. To his surprise, the membrane didn't collapse at his touch, but kept digging into the palm of his hand. Michael opened his eyes and could for himself see that the structure was bearing his weight.

Because it's mine. I'm allowed here.

It was the only possible explanation. The chamber he had touched before (either Max's or Isabel's) hadn't recognized him and had been intent on self-destruction. Another safety precaution against being seen and examined by non-authorized individuals. His heart was almost pounding out of his chest as his hand kept moving into the chamber, being able to touch across the ridges at the back, across the pipes, and up along the height of the contraption. He stopped just short of touching the dome, still hesitant on what might happen. He clenched and unclenched his fist a couple of inches below the dome, his hand hanging in the air awaiting his command and closed his eyes before he moved to touch it.

I love you, Maria.

He didn't feel a boom, he didn't feel pain.

There was no heat, no tingle, nothing.

Michael slowly opened his eyes and saw the dome glow red and the spindles lying as a mesh of veins on top were pulsating in a blue color. His initial reaction was to pull his hand away. His withdrawal caused the dome to go dark, as if he had turned off its power supply. He rubbed his fingers together in contemplation before settling his hand, his whole palm this time, against the belly of the dome. It sprung back to life, the red glow brighter this time.

"You recognize me," Michael said to the dome. "You created me."

He knew it was ridiculous (silly even) to think that the small dome had created him, that it was even a living thinking thing, but he was certain that it had kept him alive and made sure that he had fitted together properly. It was the control room that had seen to it that he got two arms instead of three and only one head. It probably was the reason for his abilities.

"Well, yeah," Michael murmured. "Maybe they fitted me with the beta version of this dome thingy." Considering that his abilities were not as impressive or as evolved as Max and Isabel's.

His hand still attached to the dome, to keep it bright and powered on, Michael used his left hand to fish out his phone and took a photo of the dome. Something else for Max and Isabel to mull over. He pulled his hand back, the dome powered down, and pulled out of his chamber.

"Now, is there a fourth chamber here, or what?"

Maria

There's a reason why the word 'deserted' originated from the word 'desert'.

Right now, Maria felt very much deserted in a desert.

It was getting close to noon and the sun was almost at its peak, beating mercilessly down on the landscape below. Michael had left her a bottle of water and she just drank the last of it before refocusing her meandering attention on the figures she was drawing in the sand with a stick she had found. Camping out in the desert with nothing but sand sand and more sand in sight was not really what she had envisioned when Michael had told her of his plans of going into his birth cave. Maybe she had romanticized it a bit (slowly treading through a damp dark cave, Michael pulling her close to his body as he found the cool alien remnants of his origins), but at the very least she had pictured them inside the cave - together.

There was no way she would risk getting electrocuted again, but being left out here alone really blowed. It didn't help matters that Michael seemed to take forever in that cave. A nagging voice at the back of her head was worried that something might have happened (what if something happens to him inside the cave, no one will know, no one can access him) and she had only been able to put a small damper on that voice once she had given Michael a deadline.

If he was not out in one hour, she would call Max.

After that decision had been made, she'd been able to let herself relax. Not that 'relaxation' was the word she would have chosen to describe sitting on a hot big rock in 95 degree heat. Plus, her feet were expanding in her shoes, pressing on the blisters at the back of her heels. Maria DeLuca was not a happy camper.

She glanced at the watch around her wrist. Five minutes. He had five minutes left before she had to call Max. If something had happened, Max might not be able to get here in time to help, but she was really out of options on this one. Unless…

She was just starting to consider running through the barrier (maybe the electricity wouldn't have a chance to catch onto her if she was fast enough) when she saw the blurred outlines of a man exit the large rock formations that hid the cave. She let out a sigh of relief.

Thank God.

When he had passed the place where Maria had collapsed, Michael started speaking in a very exhilarated voice, "There's four. Maria, there's four."

Maria got to her feet and stumbled into his arms. "Right now, at this moment, I couldn't care less about how many there are." She had no idea what he was talking about. "You're here."

He was holding her tightly, gathering his fist into her hair and pressing her head against his chest. "You okay?"

Maria pulled back and smiled up at him, squinting in the bright sun, "I'm hot, I'm thirsty, my feet are hurting and I never want to see this place ever again, but you're here so I'm okay."

He shook his head with a relieved shaky laugh and pulled lightly at her braid, "Silly girl."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"More," Michael answered and his eyes sparkled in a way that Maria had never seen before. Had he ever looked so alive before?

She smiled cautiously, not sure what to make of this new Michael. She had never considered how his findings in the cave might affect her. Affect their relationship. Suddenly it hit her that whatever was in that cave might give Michael the answers to leave. To leave Earth. Her heart plummeted to her stomach and she pulled out of his arms.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked, worried.

She clutched her stomach, feeling nauseous. The air was even hotter, burning her lungs as her breathing picked up.

"Maria?" He grabbed her forcibly by the upper arms. "Look at me."

"Can we please go back now?" Maria asked.

"Do you need more water?" Michael asked. She could feel his eyes burning into her like the sun itself. "Maybe you're dehydrated. And the seizure-"

She looked up at him. "What did you find in there?"

Michael looked at her incredulously. "We can talk about that later, Ria. What's wrong with you? You're what matters, okay?"

He cradled her face in his hands, Michael's movements were rarely gentle and now was no difference. His fear was making him more concise in his gestures, which only increased Maria's love for him. His passion, his wildness and raw nature were what she loved about him. And those characteristics were always felt through his hands, especially now. His thumbs were pressing hard into the soft pliable tissue of her cheeks, trying to knead the answers out of her.

But his statement had been enough to calm her. At least for now. For now, his declaration that she was the most important thing even in the aftermath of his discovery at the cave, soothed her nerves enough to bring her out of what would have been a panic attack.

His grip on her face relaxed somewhat as he felt her relax. "Talk to me," Michael demanded, not used to this speechless version of his girlfriend.

She inhaled deeply, a tear slipping out of her eye, and she placed her hands on top of his, gently pulling them away from her face. "I just got scared."

"About what? There's only you and me here."

"About what you might've found in there. That maybe it would make you leave…make you leave Earth."

Michael looked at her as if she had grown a second head and there was anger in his voice as he said, "I'mhere, aren't I? Why would I leave?"

"I've never seen you so alive," Maria trembled and put her arms around his middle, burrowing her head into his shirt, burying herself in the smell of him. "It scared me."

He was silent for so long that she would have pulled back if he hadn't been placing random slow kisses against the top of her head.

"I'm not really sure what I found in there," he said after awhile.

Maria held her breath.

"But even if there had been detailed instructions on how to leave Earth and fly to another planet, a presumed home planet, I never would've left. This is my home, Maria."

She looked up at him and he met her eyes honestly. "My home is where you are."

She stared at him for a couple of seconds before she started laughing. "Sorry, sorry," she mumbled as he started looking a bit hurt. "I just can't believe you're saying this. It was like pulling teeth to get you to admit that you loved me, but this…"

She shook her head in disbelief. Maybe he had been replaced in the cave. Maybe-

He forcibly gripped her chin, angling her head towards his and crashed their lips together. The kiss was heated, tongues dueling, hands wandering and they came out of it out of breath and even hotter than the sun above them.

Maria smiled. Nope. This was her Michael. Her beautiful alien.