HOPE

It was like waking from a strange dream, that's how he recalled it. The first sound was a reassuring gurgling of nearby water, later attributed to a fountain in the University garden he found himself in. He woke on a park bench, as though he had fallen asleep after sitting there for too long, but it didn't feel like waking from any regular sleep. He was disoriented and he felt a dull ache in his limbs that he couldn't quite place. As his vision cleared he looked around and tried to make sense of his surroundings. Young adults, students judging by their appearance, passed by his perch on the way to morning classes. Some ignored him, while others threw him odd looks. He reasoned he must have looked like a homeless sleeper, a 14 year old street urchin, who could blame them?

He stood up from the bench and looked around, and as he walked forward he noticed a difference in his stride. His heart raced and he darted toward the nearby building and pulled himself up in the window. His silver hair was a mess above his piercing green eyes. He ran his fingers over his chin, feeling the day old stubble brush roughly against their tips. He could hardly believe his eyes: he was 27 again. A joyous laugh escaped him, garnering more strange looks from those milling past. He spun around and began searching the remainder of the garden near his bench.

"Lightning!" He called, but with no reply, "Lightning!" He tried again.

"Light, where are you?! You won't believe it!" Nothing.

His brow furrowed. They had passed over together, he knew they had. There was no reason for her not to be nearby. Then again, no-one else was either. He weaved through the campus and saw no sign of Lightning or anyone else: not Serah, Snow, Vanille, Fang, Sazh or even his parents. He was alone. Somehow when they came over they must have been split up, which meant there was no reason to worry. He tried to calm himself with this thought. It wasn't that they weren't here at all, it was just that they were not in this specific location. Right now Lightning and the others must be waking up just as confused, and maybe as alone, as he was. And if they were out there, he could find them.

He made it sound so easy is his head, but where would he even start? Hope stopped searching is way through the campus and looked around. The campus was laid out with a scattering of old stone buildings amongst newer modern designs and beautifully manicured gardens. The students and faculty he had dismissed before walked into and out of buildings as though they were merely going through the motions; a regular day in their lives. Had they arrived earlier than him? Was there a delay in his migration? He tried to make out his location but so far was only able to find the University coat of arms embossed on buildings numbers. Hope looked closer and read the phrase printed in the scrolls at its base: "Ad altiora tendo". It was a language he hadn't seen before. Where the hell was he?

Hope worked his way to the campus centre and found a cafe. He patted down the pockets of his shirt and pants and felt something in the latter. He fished out a plain looking wallet and what looked like a phone. His eyes lit up upon seeing the phone and he chastised himself for not checking his pockets sooner. He opened the wallet and found a healthy number of credit notes, but no cards, including ID. He approached the counter, ordered a latte and found a seat outside where he had a good view of people as they passed by. He examined the phone in his hands. It was different to what he was used to in the old world, but he figured he could work it out. He found the power button on the side and was met with the lock screen. Following the on screen instructions he swiped and was presented with a screen full of tiled icons. His examination of the screen was interrupted as he noticed someone approach his table.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked.

"Not at all, go ahead." He said without looking up.

"You know," she said as she sat down opposite, "You look really familiar, but I can't pick it."

Hope looked up to see if there was mutual recognition and was shocked when he saw the familiar blue eyes and short blonde hair of his old assistant.

"I'm Alyssa, by the way" she extended her hand and Hope shook it loosley, still in shock. He regained his composure and smiled back as they released hands.

"I'm Hope. You know, you do look really familiar."

"Hope? Hmm, Hope what?"

"Estheim."

"That name is definitely familiar." Alyssa said, and leaned back in thought, "I must have seen you around campus before, or maybe we met at a conference?"

It was clear she didn't recognise him, despite their shared history in the old world. Hope picked up on the clues in her response that answered the question he had wondered earlier, or at least partially. Everyone around him was at ease with their surroundings like they had been here for some time. It was still unclear to him exactly how long, and why if Alyssa recognised his face and name she didn't actively remember him. He figured the best course of action was to play along and match Alyssa's confusion.

"Maybe, I'm not sure either to be honest." He replied.

"Isn't that funny? So what do you do? Do you work here?"

"Oh no, I was just in the area and thought I'd take a look around. I've actually just moved here and to be honest, I'm looking for some local work."

Alyssa cocked an eyebrow, "Oh really? What field are you in?"

Hope's heart raced. He had quickly realised he needed resources if he was going to find his friends and family, and that would start with access to an income. The only problem was that he wasn't certain what the status of the scientific community was in this new world; and if he answered incorrectly he might either sound like he had no experience or a lunatic. The phone he was playing with before Alyssa arrived confirmed there were differences, and Hope resolved that sticking to the fundamentals, just vague enough, might be enough to keep the conversation going.

"I started out in applied physics and chemistry, but more recently I've been involved in engineering work."

"I'm glad you saw the light." Alyssa winked, "I work in the electrical engineering department myself. What kind of engineering work have you been involved in?"

Hope thought of New Cocoon and the extensive work that he and his team developed trying to build a behemoth structure that could take off from Gran Pulse. It was certainly a feat of engineering and as Director, Hope found himself overseeing teams of many specialties. At its core, the challenge laid in what to build it out of and how to get it off the ground.

"Mostly materials science and engineering. There is a lot of crossover with applied physics and chemistry so the transition was quite natural. Specifically, optimising lightweight alloys for aerospace applications and energy storage." Hope continued to talk in more detail about the engineering challenges, without going into detail about the reason for the project.

"Oh, that's so interesting." Alyssa remarked, "You know, I sometimes work with the aerospace and materials guys myself. We have a small department of materials engineering here, and wouldn't you believe it but one of the lecturers recently resigned. I know we've only been chatting for a short while, but I like you Hope, and based on what you've been telling me your work is impressive. So tell you what? I know the department head and could easily introduce you if you like."

Hope was amazed at how easy an offer effectively fell into his lap. Compared to his position as Director at the Academy, a position as lecturer was a considerable step down, but one commiserate with his age and perceived level of experience. He wasn't about to argue, and besides, he worked his way up from the bottom before, he could do it again.

"If it isn't too much trouble, that would be great. Thank you." Hope replied.

"Don't sweat it. There's no guarantee, mind you, I'm just introducing you. Roger, that's his name, will still interview you as much as the other candidates."

"Oh no, of course not. I'd expect nothing less."

Alyssa checked her watch, "I have a meeting with him in 10. Once you've finished your coffee we can head over and I'll introduce you. Do you mind having to wait around an hour until our meeting is finished?"

Hope finished the last couple mouthfuls of his coffee and stood up from the table, pocketing his phone. "No, that's fine. I have a completely open schedule today."

"Great!" Alyssa swung her bag over her shoulder and beckoned Hope to follow her, "The engineering precinct is over this way."

After a brief introduction to Roger, Hope found himself milling around in a long hallway in one of the engineering faculty buildings. He noticed some research posters on a nearby wall and walked over to examine them. They covered a range of topics, including efforts to increase the efficiency of solar cells, new alloying methods, biomaterials, electrochemistry and corrosion. For the most part he was at least somewhat familiar with the topics on the wall, and he was able to absorb enough knowledge in the space of Alyssa's meeting to feel more at ease about the impending interview with Roger. He was also finally able to see the name of the University: Paterson University. Named after someone, no doubt.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and again browsed over the icons on the home screen. His thumb wavered over "Contacts" and, seeing he still had some time, pressed it. He was immediately disappointed. Apart from preloaded numbers for customer support and voicemail, there were no entries. That would have been too easy, he figured, of course. He exited and found his way to an internet browser and began to read up on the history of the University. He navigated to their page, located Roger's profile and found a list of his publications. Out of curiosity he opened a second tab and searched his own name, but it came back with no results that were him; he would have to change that.

"There you are!" Hope was disturbed from his phone as Alyssa walked towards him.

"Oh, I saw these posters and my curiosity got the best of me." He replied.

"No problem, you didn't wander too far. Roger is waiting back in the meeting room. Here," she gave him a copy of her business card. "If you're new to the area you're going to need some friends and I can show you all the best places to go. Hopefully I'll see around here more often." Alyssa smiled and coquettishly waved goodbye as she made her way out of the building. Hope watched her leave and placed the card in his pocket before heading into the meeting room to see Roger.

"Sit where ever," Roger said and motioned his hand at the chairs around the table opposite. Hope selected one directly opposite and sat down.

"Alyssa gave me a rundown on your conversation at the cafe, if what she said is accurate you have quite an impressive resume. Speaking of, I'll need you to send through a copy of your actual resume." Hope nodded. Roger looked briefly at some notes in a folder and continued,

"Now, I'm not sure if Alyssa mentioned much about the position. We urgently need a lecturer to take classes in electromaterials and polymers. This is looking at close to 25 hours of lecturing a week, plus time to prepare and assess coursework. We also expect all our staff to be actively involved in research and be current with industry and academic trends in their field. You're replacing someone who had a new PhD candidate about to start, and my expectation is that you will be able to supervise their work. Now, I'm just going to go over some more general questions before we go into more detail about your specific experience."

The interview was long and lively. The initial questions quizzed Hope about his past experience in teaching, which Hope had to admit he had no formal experience. Lecturer's weren't expected to have teaching qualifications, so Hope's admission that he had really only acted as mentor and project supervisor weren't a deal closer. Moving on to his experience Hope began to shine. He and Roger had lively back and forth about their projects, challenges and solutions. They spoke as equals and Roger was clearly impressed.

"I have to say Dr Estheim, I'm surprised you're interested in a position as Lecturer. It sounds like you have significantly more experience than is required for this role."

"Don't get me wrong," Hope began, "in my previous position I had a lot of responsibility, but that was in private industry. As I mentioned, a lot of my work was military based and therefore highly sensitive. All my publications in this area aren't publicly available. Furthermore, as we've established, I don't have the experience of teaching that would be expected in higher roles. I feel this position is commiserate with my experience in a teaching and research institution, and I'm certainly not one to let my ego get in the way of an opportunity to work at such a prestigious university."

Roger smiled, "Good. I feel like you would make a strong addition to our team. Your work in industry is particularly interesting. We want to bring in more industry involvement in our research, do you think you could do that?"

"Definitely, I have a lot of experience getting industry involvement and grants off the ground."

"Good. Well," Roger passed Hope his business card across the table, "please send your resume to my email there. Once received I expect to provide you a response within the week."

The two men stood and shook hands.

"Thank you for seeing me." Hope said as they both started for the door.

"It was good to meet you Dr Estheim."

The University campus was located in the inner city, just outside the CBD. He had easy access to shopping, restaurants and accommodation; not that he could afford to spend much money on any of them, at least not until he had employment. On that score Hope worked his way to a public library and spent the afternoon putting together his resume on one of the publicly accessible computers. Fabricating his history made him uneasy, but he had no option; there was definitely no trace he should exist in this world. He even had to come up with a fake birth year to match his outward 27 years of age. He listed character references "on request" and figured he would cross that bridge if or when it came to it. Satisfied, Hope created an email account and sent the resume to Roger.

As he was putting together the resume it became apparent that he would need to get passable fake ID. Using the anonymity of the public computer he began to make queries online as covertly as possible, jotting down websites and contact details on the notepad app in his phone. Once completed he cleared his search history and left the library, making his way to the nearest quiet alleyway to make his phone call.

Hope's heart raced as the dial tone rang, checking for people that may overhear his conversation.

"What do you want?"

"Documents: birth certificate, utility bill and an academic transcript." Hope said.

"Man, I think you've got the wrong number."

"Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly - they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced"

There was a pause on the other end.

"Alright. It'll be a thousand credits. I'll text you the address. Be there by 5." They hung up.

Hope pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen, waiting for the message. It arrived a minute later and Hope immediately looked up the location and directions. He would be cutting it close, but he could make it.

The sun was beginning to dip as he arrived at the address. He cautiously approached the door and, seeing no door bell, knocked. There was quiet and the muffled movement inside. Hope thought to knock again but the door was suddenly jerked open.

"Inside, now."

Hope wasn't sure what he expected before arriving, maybe a scalour with a rough looking criminal. Instead he was in a middle class home being hurried in to a home office by a mousey middle aged man. The man sat down in front of a computer on a desk and spin on his chair to face Hope.

"I'll need half upfront, the other half on completion. It will take three days. Be back here at 5 in three days, you understand?"

Hope nodded and pulled out his wallet. He leafed through the notes and handed out 500 credits. The man snatched the money and continued, "Good. Pull up a chair."

Hope spent the next half hour working through the content of the forms, including providing details about his parents and where he was born. They reviewed rental houses from interstate for a fake address of his last utility bill and entered details from the course list of the international University Hope had found earlier for his resume. After the man was satisfied with the information he led Hope promptly from the premises.

Hope headed back into the city and found a cheap hostel for only 20 credits a night. He found himself bunking in a room with four other men, who were tourists from overseas.

After downing a cheap take out meal Hope slumped back on his bunk and opened the internet browser. He typed in "Lightning Farron" and pressed search; no hits. He cleared it and tried "Claire Farron". This came back with results, but none seemed to be Lightning. Hope sighed. Next he tried both his parents and got no results back for them either. Despondent, he tried "Serah Farron" and was thrilled when he found a social media page with a picture to match. The site prompted him to create a profile, which he did, taking a quick snap of himself on his phone to use as a profile picture and using his new email to register. He then sent Serah a friend request.

Before going to sleep for the night, Hope continued to do his research to familiarise himself with the area and his fabricated past. He had no additional clothes and had to sleep in the clothes he'd been wearing that day. The first thing on his list for tomorrow would be buying clothes and deodorant.