I stand in front of an arched gate, brick walls on either side covered in moss. The toll booth was in poor shape, the fences broken.
I am Sophia Young, one in a team that will explore the ruins. The rest of the team should arrive in California in a few days. I'm getting a head start.
I step over the fence, my hiking boots easily finding traction on rough earth. Two messenger bags hang from my shoulders, huddling close to my sides. The one on the left is my "purse", where I keep personal items like my storage ball. The other is my "evidence bag", to hold my findings.
I frown at the destruction before me. Buildings that once stood proud, now shards and rubble. A water tower, with legs collapsed, lay on its side, the last of what this place once was. In dulled colors, the letters 'WB' marked a shield-shaped door. It was locked, of course, and they would get a team to cut inside the hallow structure soon.
This was the result of war. The third world war, to be exact. I was a local of a nearby city. The company assigned me to squad W2, in charge of the former WB studios. The new studios, WBz, would receive anything important we salvage.
I walked up to a structure, and sat on a sign that had fallen off it long ago. Letters had come off, spelling ' syc ia ry'. I removed my Observation Journal from my purse, taken a few notes before putting it away. I walked around to the back. I opened the door there, and immediately headed downstairs. This was my second day, so I had already searched the safe areas of the first floor. In the basement, I found a computer, screen facing down on the wooden desk.
I pulled out my mini generator, and plugged it in. I lifted the screen to see it cracked but still usable. Turning on the computer, I squeezed my storage ball. A USB ejected out the round object. I inserted it into the computer and began to download everything into a new folder on the storage ball. A pop-up told me it would take a few hours.
I looked over the rest of the room. The desk had four, evenly sized drawers. A filing cabinet lay in the corner, contents inaccessible from its position. I opened the top drawer, finding note pads, pens and…. an odd hand puppet.
The other drawers held similar items, except for the fourth one. It contained a stack of manila folders, the words 'top secret' in red on every one. I placed them in my evidence bag. I was about to turn away when I noticed that it didn't seem as deep as the others. Opening another drawer, I discovered it wasn't. But they were both the same size…
I pushed up on the bottom of it. A board came up, revealing a false bottom. Underneath it sat alone flash drive, attached to a keychain. I picked it up, and on closer inspection, I noticed a white label on the otherwise red surface. 'Freak'…
A ping from the computer told me the download was complete. I placed the drive among my other treasures, one of which seemed to be a broken storage ball with a smiling face that frowned when squeezed.
I removed my storage ball from the computer. Giving it a squeeze, the surface once again became completely round. I returned the item to my purse, along with the generator.
I headed to my car outside the lot.
I drove up to the company building, a little excitement pumping through my veins. I parked in an underground garage. I got out of my car, and entered a nearby elevator. I pressed the button for my floor, the third floor. I like my floor; I could jump out a window without critical injury.
The elevator slid up. I stepped out, handing my evidence bag to a secretary. She, in turn, would hand it to my boss. He would then sort out the items inside. The unimportant ones would be put in a box, and up for grabs for staff. First come, first serve.
I smiled, before entering my office. I squeezed my storage ball, and put it in my work computer. I began downloading the new files into the system, before starting on my report. Once both were done, I checked the 'unimportant' box. Inside sat a flash drive and a broken storage ball. I instantly snatched both, placing them in my purse.
Back in my office, I put my storage ball back, then strapped a helmet to my head. I stored my purse in a larger 'travel' bag, securing the fastenings on it and putting it on.
I grabbed my Solar Sail and raced to the elevator, waving to the secretary as I passed. A Solar Sail is a solar powered hover board used in Sun Surfing. Sun Surfing is a high-tech version of wind surfing. Not to be confused with a Solar-board.
I rode my solar sail to my home. I entered the code to open the garage, then sat the solar sail against a wall. I took off my helmet, and removed my purse from the travel bag.
The instant I stepped foot inside, I raced to my laptop. Fishing out the flash drive, I turned it on. My curiosity peeked as I opened the first folder. It was empty, save for another folder. I opened that folder to reveal another one. It went on like this for quite some time, and as I progressed, I heard something resembling a cry for help. Finally, I found that in those many folders, was a program.
It was titled 'Freak', like the flash drive, and had an icon that looked like a cage. I clicked it, and what appeared to be game popped up. It had a man in a red outfit and blue skin inside a cage. The man had spiky black hair, wearing white gloves and equally white boots. The cage had a tall door, and slightly resembled a prison cell. The man stuck his head through the bars.
"Hey you, get me out of here!" I pondered for a moment, scrolling my mouse all over the game.
"How?" I asked myself, thinking of the lack of tools the game had. The man grinned, and pulled his head back into the cell. He pointed to a spot on the door.
"Click the lock, click the lock!" he said. He nodded enthusiastically as my mouse approached the lock. I clicked. The lock fell off, and the door swung open. The man raced out of the cell and started running around my screen. For a second I thought I downloaded a virus. He ran towards me.
Before I could comprehend what was going on, I found myself backing away from the screen, his face inches from my own. I quickly jumped out of the way as he finished climbing out of my computer. I stared at him, mouth a gape, completely bewildered.
"Hi, I'm Freakazoid!" he said, a grin planted on his face, as if this were the normal-est thing ever. Judging from his appearance, that could very well be the case. For him. I recovered and shook his outstretched hand.
"Sophia Young." I replied. "How did you do that?" he gave her a confused look for a moment.
"Oh, that." He thought about it for a moment. He shrugged it off. My laptop caught his attention. "Hey, is this a wireless game system?"
"Actually, it's portable computer known as a laptop. How long have you been in that flash drive?"
"What's a flash drive?" He seemed honestly confused." If you mean that program, a long time. It got really boring in there!" he paused in thought, listening. He tilted his head slightly, as if an invisible shoulder angel were telling him something. He blinked. "What year is it?" he asked.
"Oh! Um," I was surprised by his sudden seriousness, "2115." He was stunned. Then he seemed to concentrate, his face scrunching up and making grunting sounds. He began speaking in random gibberish I couldn't began to understand, Then muttered something I assumed was binary, before finally passing out.
As he lay on the floor, I barely heard him breathe out the words, "Freak in". I saw the blue skinned male turn into a nerdy teenager. Sympathetic, I lifted the underweight boy into my arms, and carried him upstairs. This is when I should have known my life would be changed forever.