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Chapter 9

An Old Memory

Two days passed by without much activity. This industrial little town of Laxisland went on as usual seeming blissfully unbothered by the worries of late. The day passed by in clockwork, albeit the bizarre changes in the hours. Virginia stood absentmindedly at the town's entrance. Staring into the distance where the sun overhead beat onto the wasteland and the desire to leave irked her. She wondered about her two missing friends and her family. It was useless to go but excruciating to stay.

Virginia considered their options; she and Jet could be confined here until a viable lead came their way. By now, even Jet's bold contention sounded good. Though she wasn't much of a risk taker, she was beginning to feel a bit stir crazy. So she considered Claiborne; Roykman had said it was in the opposite direction he had taken to get here. But what way did he take? And what is the opposite? No, that didn't seem reliable. They were lucky they hadn't been stranded in the first place, so leaving on that shaky information was suicide.

They could wait for the electricity to return so they could make a telephone call. But from the looks of it, it had long since been out.

"I'm sick of this place," Jet stated, startling her. As usual, he sounded rather perturbed, though he seemed genuine in this instance.

Virginia pursed her lips, unable to argue with that. The time spent together, parted from Clive and Gallows, had yielded little effort to fill the space between them. Though the mere fact that he had agreed to wait here with her this long was a step, she believed. The Jet she had met on that train so long ago would have let her fall down that canyon without a second thought.

"There's someplace I wanna check out," He added in a milder tone.

She turned to face him and noticed he was dressed as usual with his ARM in one hand, as if he was already prepared to leave. He was staring into the distance as she had been, seeming to be only partly there.

"What?"

Jet considered it for a long moment, then replied, "The Leyline Observatory, I want to know what that guy was there for"

Virginia recalled the young man they had met in the Capers' Gorge, as it was called. Lechek, the kind man who had told them he was conducting research to bring back to the Ark of Destiny. Virginia hadn't even thought of him since arriving in Laxisland, though Jet remained suspicious of him.

"Hmm? But didn't he say he never made it to the Observatory?" She asked, "Besides, we can't just venture into the wasteland aimlessly"

"I didn't say anything about you," Jet replied, already heading out of the town's gateway.

"Hey, wait!" Virginia shouted, grasping his arm and forcing him to turn and look at her, "What's the matter with you? You can't go alone!"

"What are you talking about?" He replied snappishly, looking down at her from the corner of his eye, "I've been alone for as I can remember; moreover, I'm not as fragile as a human, the wasteland can't harm me so easily"

Defeated, Virginia let her hands fall slowly to her sides as she peered down at the dusty ground at her feet, "B-but, why…?"

Jet had already taken several steps away from her and without stopping he said over his shoulder, "Just stay here, I'll be back"

…Will you?

Virginia stood for a long moment, listening to his fading footsteps. She was still staring at the ground, feeling as if two ropes were bound around her heart; one tied to this little town, to stay here as he ordered. And the other…

Night came swiftly over the wasteland. He was pleased with this silence; no one was there to weigh him down. Finally, even for a moment, he felt the proverbial chains she had wrapped around him were loosening.

Jet had learned how to completely drown himself into his thoughts while traveling. It was as if he would fall asleep and awake in whatever new and different place his feet could take him. But he wasn't just wandering this night and using the small information that merchant had given, he had found himself standing outside the damaged fencing of the Leyline Observatory. The tall, weathered building stood like a menacing shadow below the night sky. His feet were planted on the ground outside that place and for a second, Jet regretted ever returning here. But he felt it was a place he had to confront; to remember things that were probably best left forgotten.

With a clenched fist, he reached for the rusted handle of the door. Its sickening creak as it opened sounded as if it would fall from its hinges at any moment. The dark lobby was eerily silent, but it was the silence that screamed sorrow. The wide room was the same as it had been the last time they had been there; there were reception desks on either side of the far end of the room and in between them was a dark hallway.

The halls were as black as night, but his eyes adjusted quickly and he could see the vague shapes of open doorways and broken computer monitors. Jet pressed one hand onto the wall next to him, feeling the cold, rough texture of the metal. If life flourished here, it had long since faded away. Walking forward, he tried to imagine this place while it was in use, before it became rust and broken, abandoned technology. He imagined the seven individuals in Virginia's torn picture; the only record of his "father", taken only in a second in time. A man who had lost his son and with pain so tremendous, he resorted to using his knowledge to create a surrogate, a fake. Him.

Shaking his head, Jet stepped onto the lift and with seemingly ancient life; it grumbled and slowly scaled the building to the next several floors. Standing motionless, pacified by the gentle rocking of the platform, Jet was glad he would never be able to meet this man.

The large doors of the lift opened and Jet emerged onto the highest level of the observatory. Looking around, or attempting to, he could see the dim lights of the computers, the power connected directly to the planets life lines.

"Hmph," Jet scoffed. It sounded like a bunch of children playing scientist, finding useless information that would do nothing in saving the planet. Pretending what happened here made a difference. As far as he was concerned, everything they did was for nothing.

Advancing, he found himself in the lab where four large capsules stood, two on each side of the room; each of them casted a dull, blue light in the dark room. Jet felt a shiver run down his back as he wondered about the life that had been born in these…things. His eyes transfixed on one in particular, where stains of some unknown liquid were dried at the bottom of the capsule.

Then, reluctant at first, Jet pressed his hand against the cool glass. And it was just that simple.

Sleepy, he was peering from the inside out. The light outside was bright, blinding to his newly opened eyes. He felt weightless and the hands and feet of this foreign body moved violently without his permission, smacking against the glass. Tubes and artificial life lines surrounded him in this manmade womb, he tugged at them uneasily. An older man was standing outside the glass, smiling.

"My son," The man mouthed clearly as he, an artificial being, absorbed this new world, "Adam"

With a gasp,Jet fell back against the capsule behind him, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. His ARM clattered onto the ground, breaking the silence. Gazing at the empty capsule, the memory rewinding and replaying endlessly in his head, he could feel, after each passing moment, himself growing angrier; angry with this man for dragging him into this unwanted life because of his own inability to accept the loss of his son.

"I…am not…" Jet rose and approached the capsule, "your son!"

With a raised fist, Jet struck the glass hard. The one side was streaked with rigid cracks, but it wasn't enough to appease him. Hatred sent unrelenting tremors across his body. Grinding his teeth and with shaking fists, he had never been so livid.

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the halls, shattering his anger. He turned, stunned by the familiar sound.

"You idiot!" He shouted, crossing the room to retrieve his ARM and exiting the room.

Minutes before, Virginia had entered the Leyline Observatory. She had followed Jet ever since he had left Laxisland, keeping far enough away to only vaguely see him. She knew he would give her a scathing lecture if he caught her, but she was unwilling to let him come to this place alone. Upon entering, she couldn't see nor hear Jet any longer. But she could hear the distant rumbling of the lift. Cautious, she stepped carefully into the adjacent room on the first floor.

Virginia recognized the large, white rectangular shape on the wall to be the dry erase board. She could also see the black shapes that were the lockers and the table in the center of the room. She imagined the seven members, her father included, gathering here to discuss their research. This place, the place where her father had spent his "other life"; he did great work here, but she still couldn't forgive him for leaving her so suddenly.

Walking towards the center of the room, the young leader noticed something white sitting on the table. It appeared to be a photograph, though she could only see it because of the white trimming. She found it odd; she certainly hadn't seen it here the last time they had visited the observatory. Tentatively, she picked it and tried to study it, but it was too dark to see.

Then, what felt like fingers, reached out and pressed against the back of her neck. She couldn't restrain a horrific scream. Praying it was Jet, she spun quickly; ready to face whoever or whatever had come for her.

Nothing was there, just the large white board.

Virginia felt a cold sweat cover her body. She couldn't have imagined that, no, she felt fingers touch her neck. She was on the ground now, with her back pressed to one of the old chairs and the photo was clenched in her hand.

After a long silent moment, she heard a shout that almost had her jumping out her skin again.

"Hey!" Jet shouted, passing by the first door to the room, "Virginia!"

Virginia calmed herself, relieved to hear him saying her name even if it was out of spite.

"I'm right here," She said, hearing him almost pass by the second door where his footsteps halted, "I'm fine"

Jet appeared next to her, kneeling and his softly glowing eyes were chilling. Vaguely, she could see the cross expression on his face and she couldn't have been happier to see it.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" He snapped, "I told you to stay away from here!"

"I…I know, I'm sorry," She replied with a shaken smile, "I just… wanted to stay with you"

Relieved that it was dark, she was glad Jet couldn't see the blush on her face that she could feel painting her cheeks.

"…" He seemed taken aback, but he recovered quickly by saying as he stood, "R-Ridiculous. Anyway, what did you scream for?"

Standing, Virginia brushed her lavender skirts off with her free hand, "Oh…" She didn't want to tell him. Jet wouldn't believe her. She had been causing him a lot of trouble lately anyhow.

"It's nothing," She replied evasively, "I heard a noise, but it must have been the building settling. I'm sorry"

"Tch. Figures"

"Did you find what you came for…?"

Jet didn't reply to that and she could since him slinking away a step or two.

"Nevermind, lets just go"

Virginia bit her lip in regret for asking as her grasp tightened around the photo in her hand. Oh. She had almost forgotten about it.

"I found something," She said abruptly.

"Wha—Ah! Hey!" Jet shouted in objection when she took his hand and dragged him into the hall and towards a nearby lab. The monitors on the wall casted a dim, amber light onto the floor and she held the photograph up to get a better view. After a moment of squinting, she felt a pang in her chest as the image on the old paper became clear.

"Hmm?" Jet inquired, noticing her expression in the dramatic light, "What is it?"

Virginia turned her head slowly to look at him; she looked as if she had seen a phantom.

"This…This can't be"

"What?"

Stunned, she gave the photograph to Jet and it didn't take much lighting for him to see the figure in the photograph. It was young boy, maybe seven or eight, with cropped red hair and green eyes. Jet knew this child, at the age he would have been today. This boy had helped them escape the ravine, told them he was on his way to the observatory, and that he was a currently member of the Ark of Destiny. But that was simply impossible. At the bottom of the photograph, in careful handwriting, it read:

R.I.P Adam Kadmon

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