WARNING: get plenty of tissues!
When I started to come to I heard my Farnsworth buzzing. I woke Pete up and answered it. It was Artie and he was pissed. We explained everything to him and he started to chew us out. I knew we'd get it worse later. After we got back to the warehouse Jane and Artie explained what the Regents did to H.G. They wanted to give her a normal life but also wanted the ability to keep her consciousness. Claudia had finished decoding the file and Jane showed us a video of when they used the Janus coin on H.G. and how it separated her mind from her body.
A tear ran down my cheek as I saw the light in my H.G.'s eyes leave and the dullness of Emily Lake appears. I whipped it away before anyone noticed. Jane told us we needed to get the coin and told us where to get it. They gave us a shopping list and sent us on our way. Claudia, Pete, and I went to a grocery store and collected the items on the list. Ironically, all of the items had an Egyptian connection. Something happened with the register and a man was brought to finish ringing us up. He had an Egyptian eye pin on his jacket and told us to follow him. The volt was in back and the man opened a lock box for us.
Claudia reset the orb and Helena appeared. I wished that she wasn't a hologram. If she was real I'd hug her. Though, seeing her and hearing her voice made me remember the night I spent with her…or her husband spent with her. I was glad we were in the refrigerated area because my cheeks started to burn. I looked down and I believe Helena noticed. "Is everything alright Myka?"
"Huh? What? Yes. I'm f-fine." Claudia looked at me with that look. She knew exactly what was going through my head. I filled Helena in on everything that happened. She was…shocked.
"Living with a cat…in Wyoming? So my body is out there teaching high school English?" She stood there with her arms crossed trying to let everything sink in.
"Your students love you." Helena looked at me. She knew something was off with me.
"But a cat?" She grumbled and shook her head. "But what does Sykes want with me?"
"We were hoping you could tell us that…" Claudia looked from me to H.G. We kept on the back roads while we headed back to the warehouse.
"Hey Myka," I looked at Pete from the back seat. Claudia sat shotgun. "I have a thought. It's a way to save the warehouse but you're not going to like it."
"If it saves the warehouse then I like it already." He didn't say anything; he just drove off road. We drove a few yards and got out and walked a little more.
"We need to destroy the coin. I know you're going to take this personally but…"
"Pete, how could I not?" Claudia stepped back. "You're talking about killing a human being…."
"I'm talking about stopping Sykes right here and right now."
"She has one of the greatest minds in history and…it'd be like…burning down a library with a friend trapped inside!" My voice was starting to crack.
"I know but we're at war and unfortunately wars have casualties." Pete walked backwards towards a large rock.
"No. You're not doing it." Anger was starting to build in my stomach.
"So you're willing to live with the idea that Sykes may get what he wants?" I walked towards him.
"H.G. would never help him!" Pete and I continued to argue as Claudia went back to the car. "Pete, I'm not letting you kill her! I cannot, I will not destroy H.G. Wells. I love her!"
"Myka," I spun around. The look on her face told me she heard that last sentence. "May I offer an opinion?"
"No, because I know what you'll say. I refuse to let you kill yourself!"
"Myka, if you truly want to save the warehouse you must destroy the coin." Tears started to burn my eyes. "Destroy the coin and whatever Sykes wants from me will be destroyed with it." She took a few steps towards me. I shook my head slowly.
"No…." The word barely made it out of my throat. Helena's eyes met mine and she looked deep into them. Tears started to roll down my cheeks and she placed a hand on my cheek. I wanted to feel her warmth but it wasn't there. "You'd be gone. Dead." We just stood there. "The price is too high." Her holographic thumb rubbed my cheek.
"Destroy me and Emily Lake will be of no value to him. She will be safe. Let me live on through her. You know how much I love literature and she's an English teacher. We need to think rationally and not emotionally. And quickly before I remember that I'm not this noble." I sniffled. Helena said her goodbyes to each of us but saved me for last. "How do you say goodbye to the one person who knows you better than anyone else?"
"I wish I knew." We stared into each other's eyes again. "Helena…I need to tell you something…before it's too late."
"What is it Myka?" I looked down and started to cry again. The lump in my throat was large and it was getting hard to breath. When I looked back into her dark eyes I sobbed. "I used your time machine. Claudia fixed it and I used it to go back in time and see you. I wanted to see you in all your glory and I did. I was transported back to the 1800s. I took over…."
"My husband's body." I could feel eyes on us. Helena had a soft smile and cupped my cheek again. "I knew back then that there was something different about him that night. There was a passion in his eyes that I had never seen before until I met you. Thank you for giving me my Christina."
"I love you Helena…" She smiled with a nervous chuckle.
"I love you too Myka. The last thing I want to see is your eyes." Claudia turned the orb and Helena disappeared. She took the coin and handed it to Pete. I fell to my knees and started to cry in a ball. Claudia came to comfort me. She helped me to my feet as I tried to compose myself.