"Dear Mum...
You've probably noticed I'm not at home. Don't worry, I'm safe.
But - I'm sorry - I've messed up really quite badly. I've had to run far away as possible from this place. Once you get back, I want you to file a missing persons report for me. Say you last saw me in this house before you left, but I'd gone to stay with friends up north in newcastle. If - this is important - the army come round, or some men in suits, or anyone like that, you know nothing about what I've done or where I've gone. The last you heard from me will be the text I sent on Friday. Once you've read this letter, I want you to burn it, and the attached pictures.
Well then. That's out of the way. I should probably explain...
The printing press near the mine dump isn't just a printing press. It also hides a military research lab. While you were gone, I broke in and stole something. I thourght it would be some kind of dangerous explosive thing.
It wasn't. It was a live specimen. An animal.
It's intelligent, at first I thourght it was some kind of bird. But It can speak. This may sound crazy too, but it can use telepathy, or telekinesis, or whatever it is. Move stuff with its thourghts. Mind read. If you think this is crazy, I agree with you. It is. I've attached some pictures of the animal (its called a 'Latias' and it's some kind of dragon) in the likely event you don't believe me.
She (it's female, apparently) has told me that the government has kidnapped her and that she has an owner. On the other side of the world. So I'm doing the right thing and taking her back.
It may be a one way journey though. I'll be fine, PLEASE don't worry. But the place I'm going... There may be no way out. Even if their was, the government here isn't happy with me. They'd probably kill me. Latias has promised me that I'll be looked after when I safely return her. So, all in all, it's for the best.
I'm sorry. You always said I should move out and make my own way. I guess I've finally done it, even if this isn't the way we'd planned. Ah well...
If I don't see you again: You were a brilliant mother and an even better friend. I love you."
Mac folded up the letter and pictures and put it inside a tub of butter in the fridge. If police searched the house, they'd be unlikely to check the fridge, and even if they did, not the tub of butter. His mother, on the other hand, would make herself toast when she got in, and open the butter so she could butter the toast, finding the letter.
Mac realized he was crying. This would be his last time in the house he'd lived 18 years in. End of the line. After that, all gone...
He walked through to the study. In it was a computer. He pried open the side of it and located the hard drive, ripping it out and stamping on it with his foot until it made the crunching noise of the interior disk breaking.
No more evidence. They wouldn't be able to touch his family without evidence of the break-in, all of which was on the drive he just destroyed.
Mac walked out of the study and closed the door, the thud sounding hollow in the house.
He didn't want to leave. But there was no other option.
"Do you want cheering up?". A voice in his head. Latias.
"Er... Yes." He said outloud.
Latias hovered in from the kitchen.
"You are doing the best thing I have ever seen a human do. You are the bravest and most coragous person of them all. You are amazing"
To Mac, he didn't feel much better, not at all. It was not so much that he didn't think he was doing the right thing, he knew he was. But no matter how good he was, he was still leaving 18 years of memories behind. But latias looked so hopeful, he couldn't help but smile.
"Let's do this". Mac grabbed his pre-prepared bag off the floor. It had money, a passport, some food and a few of Mac's little gadgets that he suspected might be useful in it: Some gadgets and trinkets from his work, a phone charger, a phone battery, an internet satellite receiver, a photocopy of a 'certificate of mutism' he'd whipped up, a few trinkets he'd stolen from his time in a grenade factory, a laptop, some basic electronics stuff, and a wepon that he'd assured himself was an absolute last resort. The bag wasn't particularly large, but weighed in at over two kilograms.
He went to the front door and locked it (from the inside) for the last time. He was going to miss that sound. Next, he led Latias out through the living room and through the back doors, into the garden. Mac left the house, stepping over the threshold and out into the sun.
Leaving wasn't how he expected it. It should have been cold, and snowing. Or at least raining. Something with a miserable air. It had just gone winter after all.
But no. It was sunny, and the direct heat from the sun was desperately trying to warm Mac's numb feelings as he turned and locked the back door.
Latias thourght he was taking forever to complete this task. She was reading his mood, it was solemn and detached. She, on the other hand, was ecstatic: She was going to fly over this new world and get home to Latios. Possibly before the end of the day!
For the sake of Mac, though, she didn't break out into song. She just did a teensie smile.
Mac turned to see her floating horizontally - as normal - in the middle of the garden. Both his neighbors were on holiday, and the back of the garden was shielded from the public's view by a thick hedge. So it was okay for Latias to be visible. For now.
Eventually, she couldn't take it any longer.
"Come on! We'll miss the flight!"
Mac eventually spoke up, but his voice sounded hollow. Latias expected him to perk up once they were in the air.
"Oh. Yeah, wouldn't want to do that. Er... So... How do you normally fly with humans on your back?"
"I don't" Latias 'said' a bit too hastily. "BUT, when I do, they normally lie flat on their stomach with their arms around my neck. My shoulders will keep you from falling off."
Now that she mentioned it, Mac could see two lumps where her wings joined her body. If he were to name them, he'd call them shoulders, even if her arms were somewhere completely different. But yes, if you laid down there, you wouldn't fall off. Hopefully.
He walked unsteadily up right next to her and she floated lower, to about waist height. He patted her on the head - prompting a coo and a slight head tilt of affection -, simply because he wasn't sure what else to do. She looked very... Unstable in the air, like the slightest weight either side would make her tip over. Obviously, one does not simply climb on t-
"Just climb on already. You can use my paws as a step if you want. You've got arms. Use them."
"O... Okay then..."
Mac grabbed around Latias neck and jumped, pulling himself so he was straddling her neck. He suddenly remebered her teeth, razor sharp. He didn't want to end up accidentally injuring her, otherwise she might do the same to him. Without the 'accidentally' bit.
But she stayed steady, like nothing had even happened. She coo'd happily though when Mac managed to lay down inbetween her wings. She hadn't done this in a long time, and it made her feel like she was taking Bianca for one of her rides around Alto Mare.
"Okay... I'm going to turn invisible now... You can still hold on, but be careful. Also, watch my feathers. The reflective side of them is really delicate."
Mac felt a bristling underneath him and just like that he was no longer looking at Latias' neck. He was now looking at a patch of grass, and, from what he could see, apparently holding on to nothing at all.
"You ready?" The voice in his mind asked.
He didn't ever think he'd be ready for something like this. But he could hardly turn back now. He took one final look at the house. "Yes"
"Okay then. Hold tight"
They both shot off into the air, climbing directly upwards as quickly as possible to avoid Mac being seen by any people below. The last thing they needed was the news helicopter following after them recording the human seemingly flying without aid. Mac had forseen this and was wearing clothing that would disguise him against the sky, but still fit in on land: A blue hoodie, Navy jogging trousers and white sports trainers. But it was still better to get out of sight as quickly as possible.
Latias heard this thoughts and made a casual observation. "You know, the shade of blue you're wearing looks a lot like my brother's."
Mac was too busy holding on for his life. The G-force was mainly over, since Latias wasn't accelerating any more. But the wind against his back was still pushing him up against her feathers, and he was constantly worried of falling as the ground shrunk away from him.
"Don't worry if you fall. I'll catch you... This high enough?" Latias' voice in his head said.
Mac dug out his phone from a zipped up pocket. He pulled up the GPS, and waited a few seconds for it to get a fix. When it did, he scrolled across to the altitude. 1730ft. Plenty high enough. Air still thick enough to be breathable.
"Yeah, it's good." He shouted. The wind up here was fast, and he wanted to make sure he was heard.
Latias became visible again and slowly stopped rising, and Mac could see that she was looking down and around at the ground.
From this height, she could see all the little details Alto Mare didn't have. Her vision had a 20 times higher resolution than a human, so whereas Mac was struggling to pick out houses, Latias could quite easily see cars. There were a lot of them too. Because Alto Mare only had water ways, there were no cars. She'd never left Alto Mare, but Latios had. He said the mainland was too far away for her. He hadn't mentioned or shown her any cars either.
But there were so many here. All gliding along down black or brown pathways, at this altitude making no noise, but tracking smoothly along, all different shapes and sizes. A few even had red and blue lights on. But for now, she had to get them to the airport. And fast. Mac was light for a human, but still heavy. She'd only ever carried Bianca remenial distances. This was a lot further, according to Mac.
"Okay. Which way?" She asked him telepathically.
He shouted his response, but it was quite clear to her sensitive ears. "Turn 120 degrees clockwise... Wait, you're like a bird right? Don't you have an internal compass or something?"
"Duh, yeah?"
"Well then go south. We'll get as far as you can go, and if you're tired we can go to the nearest train station and get the train from there. That Okay?"
Latias nodded. Mac was kind. No pressure. If she couldn't manage, there was a backup plan. But she desperately wanted to get home as quickly as possible. And not disappoint Mac. She turned round and headed in the direction she thourght was south.
On her back, Mac was trying not to slide off. Her turn was quite rapid and he was close to falling off, but he didn't. He risked a look over the side of Latias' neck as she set off, just to check what direction they were going in. Below, the M1 snaked out infront of them, carving a almost direct path to London. They were pretty much parallel with that, so as long as Latias stayed true, they would be there soon.
As luck would have it, there was a tailwind. So whatever speed Latias was going at, the wind hitting the top of Mac's hoodie and trying to pull him off Latias would be 70 MPH less. He checked the speed field on the GPS. 150 mph.
From the air, it felt oddly slow, even though it was more than double the speed limit on the road they were following.
He wondered how fast Latias could actually go. She heard his thourght and responded psychicly. "Well, my brother can go faster than sound. I'm only a bit slower, but I don't carry stuff often so with you on my back... I'd say 300 miles an hour. Guessing. But you'd have trouble breathing, so I'm only going this fast. For now."
Mac would have nodded in agreement if he wasn't burrowing his head against Latias' back to stop the wind and cold getting into his face. Suddenly had a thourght. "WHAT ABOUT RADAR?" He shouted into her neck.
"What's a RADAR?" The comparatively quiet voice in his head asked.
Mac's hometown was near an RAF base which normally held 8 airplanes which hosted 'MAGIC', The UK's airborne radar network and threat detection system. The plane's had a round dish on the top that could scan for any airborne object that radio waves would bounce off. Like a missile. If an object wasn't recognized, then - Mac presumed - the fighter jets would be scrambled.
The planes flew at medium altitude: A few thousand feet higher than Latias, and Mac frequently saw them flying in circles above his school when he was smaller. And odds were, they'd detect Mac and Latias before they saw them. Especially if the military were looking for them.
Then again, RADAR depended on radio waves bouncing off the object, but (not that he'd checked) Mac was pretty sure feathers didn't bounce radio waves, they just absorbed them. Pretty sure. They'd been going for 15 minutes though, even gone almost directly over the RAF base, and they weren't being hunted by F16's.
While Mac was considering their chances of being shot out of the sky by hi tech fighter planes, Latias was thinking of home. More specifically, her brother.
The night before she'd been kidnapped, he'd said something to her. He'd said he found her... 'attractive', for want of a slightly less cruder word. Admittedly, he was drunk to the point of trying to imitate a French accent. And he also managed to knock himself out by flying into the ceiling shortly afterwards. So he migh not have been 100% in control of what he was saying. All the same, drunk humans are more honest, so surely the same applied to Latios?
The truth was, she saw Latios in the same light: He was strong, very masculine and all in all, a perfect mate. They'd need children anyway, unless the line of Lati's was going to die out. So why not just tell him how she felt? He'd understand. Actually, being a hormanal male, he'd probably be glad she finally told him. Bianca would probably freak out at first, sibling relationships were frowned upon in humans. But wild animals - Which Latias' instincts were constantly reminding her that she was - didn't take that into account.
She missed her brother/lover all the more when she thourght about him.
What about Bianca? How has she been coping? They'd be looking for her, no doubt. But she was on the other side of the world... And it wasn't the world they'd been told it was. All the land shapes and everything were different and...
The thourght of them panicing was even more depressing. Latias went back to thinking about what life would be like being Latios' mate. Him bringing presents. Her finding new berries to impress him with. Him punching things in the face if they got too close to the kids.
It was a good distraction, but eventually the long flight started to take its toll. Latias slowly started to loose altitude.
"Mac? I'm getting tired! I can only go about another ten miles." She telepathed him. However much discomfort she was in, Mac's was probably just as bad, physically and emotionally. He was in an environment he wasn't designed for, has just left his lifelong home for an indefinite length of time, is being hunted down and is going somewhere where he will know no-one. At least she had a prospective mate. It looked like Mac had nothing right now.
"That's okay, according to this, we're almost at a place called 'Wellingbourgh'. It's got a train station and we can catch a train from there, so long as there aren't any staff working. Or they have a ticket machine. I don't want to show my face if I don't have to..." Mac checked his portable screen for where they needed to be. He looked down to compare the views, but while he could see a few landmarks, the train tracks were beyond his resolution.
He took a guess at where the station was and took a brave lean forward to point at it to Latias. "That's round about where the station is. Can you fly lower and look for secluded spots we can set down at?"
Latias gave a positive coo, turned invisible and started to decend. To Mac, if it wasn't for the feel of Latias' feathers underneath him, he'd swear he was falling.
Just as they reached 700ft - according to Mac's GPS - he saw the train station roof, a typically bland glass/plastic construction that stuck out on the landscape like a magikarp in the elite four. Then, another roof. It was much higher, and it gave Mac an idea of where they could set down. He pointed it out to Latias. "There! That'll be perfect!" He shouted, making sure she heard.
Latias had indeed heard, and quickly decended onto the roof. The building was large enough that they wouldn't be seen landing on it by anyone in the surrounding streets, but Latias went as quickly as possible anyway: she really was starting to tire.
The roof was empty, with no obvious way onto it. The moment they touched down, Latias became visible and laid down on the floor, partly to let Mac get off, mostly because she was exhausted. Mac stepped off and looked worried.
He stroked her neck and looked increasingly concerned. "Latias? You okay?". Latias' psychic reply was weak, but still 'loud' enough for Mac to understand. It was accompanied by a feeble but happy coo, which made her seem slightly better than she looked.
"I'm fine... That flight was just so... Long... The moment I get something to eat, I'll be fine..."
Mac understood this. Energy equals matter multiplied by the speed of light squared. She must have been using an incredible amount of matter/food to produce enough energy to get them airborne. Still, she could eat on the train. There wasn't anything on this rooftop, not even a snail. But he had a plan to get them down, without getting caught. He dug into his bag and spoke to Latias as he did.
"Can you still turn into that human form?" He asked. Latias responded by glowing a bright blue color. The color lasted longer than last time - clearly the less energy she had, the more time the transformation took. Eventually though, the color dimmed and a girl was revealed, sprawled out on the tarmac roof. Mac looked at her brefly as she turned around off her stomach and sat up, then he pulled 2 bright green bibs from his bag.
Latias looked at the clothes. They were bright green, and had writing on them. Mac passed her one and put the other on himself, swapping it for his hoodie and patting down the front and back so it had less creases. She tried to do the same, but managed to mess it up and put it on the wrong way round, She looked up at Mac and did a 'Help?' Face. It wasn't on back to front. It was on upside down.
Mac helped her out as he explained how the bright green color was going to help them be camouflaged.
"Theise are from one of my job's assignments." Latias read the small text on Mac's bib. 'HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE'.
"Basically, the people who wear theise are allowed anywhere, anytime. They normally have a badge which can be scanned, but in the 3 weeks I had to do this, I never once was asked for it. I nicked a set of two before I left, I knew they'd come in usefull."
Latias wasn't quite following, but kept silent.
Mac helped her stand up and they both looked at each other. After he was assured they looked semi-believable - and with Latias wearing that blouse, she had to admit that they did - he turned to walk towards the edge of the roof that had a one-way fire escape, left over from before two stories were demolished. Pushing the bar made the gate swing open, and they both stepped onto a metal gantry attached to the side of the building.
Mac could see workmen on the area where the staircase went down to. They were loading parcels into vans with "ROYAL MAIL" printed on the side. Perfect.
As they reached the bottom floor (pushing open another metal gate in the process) a worker ran up to them. He was wearing a red flurecent bib, safety goggles around his neck and spoke with a barely understandable accent.
"Oi! What do you think your doing here in there then mate?"
Luckily, Mac lived in Yorkshire and understood even the most inunderstandable accents. He replied in the most upper class and official accent he could muster
"I'm Jake Spencer, this is Tia Sharp, we're with the Health And Safety Commission.". The worker suddenly looked very worried. Thiese guys could close them down with the snap of their fingers. He put his goggles on as 'Jake' continued to talk.
"I've just conducted a test of your fire escapes, they could be better, not alarmed or protected in any way, rusty construction..."
As Mac rattled off a list of made up problems, Latias started to wander off. He should have really told her to stay with him, but she was inquisitive.
"And it looks like my coulleage is about to find even more examples of malpractice. If you wouldn't mind showing us the exit, please, your duty manager WILL hear about this. Mrs Sharp. Tia! With us now please, quick sharp!". Haha. Quick sharp. It was funny because her last name was 'sharp'.
Latias turned around upon hearing her nickname and started walking back to Mac, who was being led off by the workman.
This place was interesting, loud machinery, lots of dirt, all kinds of interesting smells... And really, REALLY big cars with boxes being put in them. What was inside? Would one go to the airport?
But she had to stay with Mac. He was taking her home, after all. She ran to catch up, and joined him as he was taken to a small door set next to a much bigger door in a wall. Mac hit a button and the door made a buzzing noise. The workman opened the door for them. He looked Mac in the eye, Glanced at Latias, then closed the door the moment they were through.
"Latias, try and stay with me? This is difficult enough as it is."
Latias telepathed him a 'sorry', as Mac set off towards the train station which was just around the corner.
One short walk and a traffic light crossing later - which Latias was extremely intreuiged by - They arrived at the front of the station. Even though it was just a short walk, Latias was panting. "If you're going to pant, don't stick your tongue out" was the only advice Mac would offer on the subject.
The station had automatic doors, which slid open when they approached. Mac decided that their next task would be to buy a ticket: the last thing they'd need was to be arrested for fare dodging. Since they were trying to stay unnoticed though, he used the automated machine instead, agonizingly sliding in notes to the machine, paying 100 pounds cash for 2 First Class Return tickets to London. Even if the police did track this transaction, they'd assume he was coming back, when in actual fact he'd be taking a plane out of the country altogether.
Thought the entire process, Latias was trying to see around him and look at the machine, looking around his left shoulder, then his right, then moving his left arm so she could see the screen, then the same with his right.
Eventually, the machine spewed out 4 tickets and Mac grabbed them, stuffed them in his wallet and returned it to his trouser pocket.
Mac checked the train times: They'd just missed the last train, but the next one would be in 20 minutes. It was cold though, and Latias had mentioned being weak to cold, so they went to wait in the waiting room. It wasn't much warmer, but it was better than waiting on the unshielded platform. Mac sat down on a seat close to the door and Latias took the one next to him, as they both listened to announcements telling passengers not to cycle, run, smoke or throw bricks at the trains.
Mac realized he hadn't seen the news in a while, and removed his phone from his pocket. It was running off an unregistered Pay As You Go, so the police couldn't track it - Mac had got it for just such an occasion - and he connected to the waiting room WiFi, which was thankfully free.
He opened the 24 hour news app, plugged in his headphones and offered an ear bud to Latias while the video loaded. No doubt she'd want to see what was happening in this whole new world.
Latias knew what the ear bud was, Bianca sometimes wore them to listen to music. But why was Mac offering her some music? He didn't even know what she liked. But she took the earphone anyway, and screwed it into her right ear.
Mac moved the screen in front of both of them and Latias realized she'd be watching a video of some sort. After 2 seconds of loading, the news theme came on. It started from the last rerun of the news headlines, so they wouldn't join halfway through a story. The intro finished and a newsreader appeared behind a desk. What sent Mac into shock was the headline in the background.
The studio's background that normally showed the main feature was replaced with the BBC breaking news banner and the words "MILITARY THEFT" in big capital letters. Behind it was a picture of the 'printing press', looking ominous with armed soldiers and surface to air missiles parked outside. So much for keeping that a secret.
Latias took longer to realize, but when she did, she almost hung her head in her hands. The only thing stopping her was wanting to see the rest of the article. The main newscaster started to speak.
"Good morning, Welcome to BBC News. Our top story..."
The camera angle changed so the presenter was now looking side-on, with the breaking news sign behind him.
"Police are looking for a man in connection with a break in at a military facility in the early hours of this morning. The man, named as Mac Simmons" - The mention of his name made Mac's heart stop there and then - " reportedly broke into a secret military test site and stole a highly dangerous test sample. It is understood that he was last sighted by military police at his own home, but failed to be apprehended because the house search was not carried out correctly."
As if things couldn't get worse, The screen cut to a shot of Mac, surrounded by the words 'WANTED' on either side and 'CALL 999' on the bottom in red. The picture was the last one they took at his school, and he had changed a bit, but he was still somewhat identifiable. in the same way a courgette was somewhat recognizable as a cucumber.
"The police have provided a photograph and are warning that he is highly dangerous and should not be approached or apprehended by any member of the public. If you have seen him, police demand you contact 999 immediately so he can be detained for questioning. Over to our military affairs correspondent for more information..."
The picture disappeared from the screen, but it stuck in Mac's head. He was wanted. He was actually being seeked out. They knew he was the perpetrator. It was almost certainly from the DNA he left behind. They got that done quickly.
But he was being hunted down. They'd put out a photo of him. Anyone could see him now and sound the alarm. Although the photo was about three years old and taken at a time when he wasn't even shaving.
For the sake of Latias though, He kept himself together. She was starting to shiver, and it wasn't the cold. Luckily, the waiting room was empty, so no one saw Mac's attempts to calm Latias down.
"Latias, its okay, it's okay! Look at me. Look. Your eyes, at my face." He said to her, quietly and kindly but at the same time also forcefully.
She looked up though, and stared into his eyes.
"You will get home, because I promised it. Them putting an old picture out of me doesn't mean they've found me, does it? Most people won't see the news until they get home, and since most people are at work now, they won't know we're wanted until it's too late. Remember, they still think I'm 50 miles away. Somewhere near home. Listen. Look at me... Don't worry, I've even got a plan to get us through the airport too. If I can outsmart some military guards, then ordinary people and an airport shouldn't stand a chance. Trust me. Okay?"
Latias looked like she was about to cry, but she nodded.
Inside, she was almost crushed. Mac was the only person who could get her home, she was sure of that. And now his cover was blown, how we're they going to get out of this country? Never mind into her own!
The reporter on the screen was still talking, conducting interviews with various soldiers who were just reciting lines they'd been told to, essentially telling anyone that if they suspected anyone, they were to contact police immediately. Highly dangerous. Armed with dangerous military equipment. Criminal mastermind. Personality disorders. Possibly involved with the mafia. Traumatic Childhood. Prospective murderer.
As the program continued, it painted a worse and worse picture of Mac. Most of it was lies, but it still demotivated him. What would his mother do when she saw this? He'd thought the military were going to play this down and not announce their facility being broken into, given the panic it could cause. But obviously, it was that big a breach that they decided to prioritize capturing him and calming the public down later. They wanted him reigned in and most probably dead. Really, really badly.
The female newsreader cut in as the picture of Mac surrounded by wanted signs came on the screen again.
"Once again, if you see this man, contact police immediately. We really can't say that enough, can we Bill?". The male news anchor, obviously called Bill, agreed. "Yes, and we'll be giving you more news on that story as it develops..."
As the program cut to the weather, Mac heard his station announcement, by a flat, emotionless voice from the speaker in the ceiling.
"Platform 2, for the, 13:46, East Midlands Trains service, to, London's Saint Pancras. Calling at..."
Mac took a second and composed himself, before standing up. Latias had her arm linked with his, so he pulled her up too as he did. She was still crying, and Mac needed her desperately to calm down otherwise she'd raise even more suspicion.
"Come on Tia, we need to go. This is our train."
Using her nickname did the trick, and she brought her head up, wiping her eyes with a hand and making a sniffing noise, before forcing a smile.
"That's a good girl - Well... Dragon -. That's a good dragon. Now come on, I think you'll love the train!"
Latias doubted that highly.