Infinity and Beyond
-Chapter 7-
The Recruit
Vision
Alex and some other recruits walk down the stairs in a straight line and stand in a room with white floor. They line up in two rows, facing Michael.
"Good morning." Michael says to them. I almost smile, I miss Michael. "Some of you have been in training here longer than others, but none of you have experienced real world combat as part of a strike team." He opens up a silvery case that has many black glasses in it.
"So today, we'll be testing your skills in a simulated close-quarters fire-fight." He continues. "Team Alpha will be Thom, Ingrid, and Luke. Team Omega: Robbie, Alex, and Sara. During the sim, while you're trying to survive, you only have a second to decide who's your friend and who's your enemy. So choose carefully."
End Vision
I don't understand what I've just seen, but computer mama shows lots of things I don't understand.
Mommy's talking to computer Alex while I'm changing out of my pajamas.
Alex: All I know is that they're using a recruit. Strange choice.
Mommy: Strange how?
Alex: She's tough, but too sweet for Division. Close to washing out, not sure why they picked her.
'She's talking about Sara.' I remember the other girl I've seen in computer mama's vision other than Alex.
Mommy: I think I do. Your friend doesn't know it yet, but she may have been handed a suicide mission.
Alex: How do you know that?
Mommy: Because I've seen it before. Recruit, low-ranking, sent out alone, we've to stop this.
I forget to unbutton my sweater before putting it over my head, now, my head is stuck. "Mommy!" I call before hearing her footsteps. "I'm stuck!"
I feel her hands unbuttoning my sweater before I can pull it down from the top of my head. "You alright?" She's smiling; she looks like she might start laughing.
"Uh-huh." I nod as she sits down on my bed and pulls me onto her lap. She grabs the hairbrush from beside my bed and starts brushing my curly dark brown hair.
"What do you want for breakfast?" She asks.
"Hmm… Cereal?" I smile.
"Okay." She nods as she puts down the hairbrush. I get off of her lap before she stands up and takes my hand. "Let's go get you some cereal."
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"Try not to get any on your clothes, okay?" Mommy says just as a spoonful of milk fall on my pants.
I look down at it. "Oopsies." I murmur quietly. I hope she doesn't get mad at me. "Sorry, mommy."
I see her hand holding a wet paper towel as she wipes my pants with it. I feel goosebumps pop up on my olive skin, it feels cold.
"I'm sorry, mommy." I get a little scared again.
"It's alright." She smiles at me before throwing the paper towel into the trash can and picking me up onto her lap. "How about I feed it to you?"
"Okay." I nod before opening my mouth wide as she puts a spoonful of cereal and milk in my mouth.
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Alex: Green and white logo, tree with a bird flying next to it. That's all I can get.
'Eco-Front, an environmental group.'
Mommy: Good work.
Alex: Nikita, this girl is worth saving.
Mommy: They're all worth saving, Alex. I'll let you know when I find her.
After mommy's done with Alex, she searches through some pictures on her computer. After she finds what she's looking for, she grabs a big black bag and opens up her large black cases that have many guns inside it.
I just stand there and watch her while hugging Lily. "We've to make a little trip, okay?" She tells me softly as she's packing her guns. I just nod silently.
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Mommy and I are in her car as she's watching a large group of people that are a little further away. They're all shouting and holding up signs.
"So predictable." Mommy shakes her head quietly before she grabs a rectangular thing and plugs something into it.
Then she leads me out of the car and sticks the rectangular thing on a pole. "What's that?" I ask.
'Multi-frequency jammer.' I don't know what that means.
"It's something that will stop scary things from happening." Mommy tells me quickly.
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Mommy holds my hand as she leads me into a pair of glass doors. We find Sara standing in front of a huge window. "My guess is that that's not chicken soup." Mommy says as she walks up to her.
"Nikita." Sara mutters.
"Oh, they finally showed a picture of me, that's nice." Mommy is now standing behind Sara, almost as if she's lining up. I'm standing a little further away by the stairs.
Mommy and Sara start fighting. Mommy easily throws her onto the ground just as two men walks up to her. "Look guys, let's work this out." Mommy says before she knocks them down too. It's weird how I'm not scared of her anymore…
Sara takes this chance to stand back up and run away. Mommy picks me up before running after Sara.
Sara runs to the back of a van and knocks on it. "Open up! Open up! We've to abort!"
Mommy catches up to her and puts me back down before grabbing Sara and fighting her again. Mommy takes off Sara's black vest and throws it under the van while at the same time, throwing Sara onto the ground.
'That vest is going to blow something up.' I gulp as I'm starting to get scared.
A man comes out from the back of the van with a gun just as Mommy picks me up. She grabs Sara too as the man starts firing gun shots. I start to cry.
Just then, the van blows up. I scream and cry louder. I can feel the heat from the now burning van. I'm very scared.
Sara and Mommy both get up. Sara has a gun in her hand. She points it at Mommy. "Pay attention, Sara." Mommy says to her. "That vest was on you a minute ago, cops are coming, you gonna shoot me?"
Sara looks at me as I can't stop crying before turning back to Mommy. "No, I'm gonna take you." Sara says before she breaks the window of a car. "Get in!" She yells.
Mommy stands up, picking me up with her. "It's okay, honey." She says to me softly. "Don't cry." I do try to quiet down a little as Mommy gets in the driver's seat with Sara on the seat beside her. I'm always on the back seat.
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"Where to?" Mommy asks as she's driving.
"What?" Sara frowns.
"North, south, east, west, pick one." Mommy says.
"I don't know." Sara says.
"Better figure it out pretty quick." Mommy tells her.
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Sara says rudely. There's a few seconds of silence before Sara speaks again. "Division, I want to go to Division."
"Division." Mommy nods sarcastically. "You mean the people who just tried to blow you up with an explosive vast and then shoot you? Good call." I still don't really understand sarcasm.
"Look, all I saw was an explosion." Sara says. "Besides, when I bring you in…"
"You'll be a hero." Mommy finishes for her. "Give me directions."
Sara looks around as if she doesn't know something. "Oh, that's right." Mommy continues sarcastically. "You don't know where they are."
"Yeah, but you do." Sara says.
"Not anymore." Mommy shakes her head. "I think they moved since I've last left."
"I don't believe you." Sara says quickly. "Drive faster."
"So we can get stopped by the cops?" Mommy says.
"I said speed up!" Sara growls as she moves her leg to under the driver's seat and a second later, the car speeds up randomly. I yelp and stop crying for a few seconds as my head hits the bottom of the car window. Then, I start crying very loudly as my head hurts now.
The gun in Sara's hand fires very loudly as the window on Mommy's side shatters. "My daughter is in this car!" Mommy growls angrily as she knocks Sara out.
Then she stops the car by the side of the road and steps out of the driver's seat. She climbs onto the seat beside me and checks my head before pulling me into a hug as I still can't stop crying.
She continues hugging me and rubbing my back as my cries slowly get quieter. She waits until I've fully stopped crying before she speaks again. "You okay now?"
"Yes." I sniffle. "Thank you, mommy."
"Always." She kisses my forehead before getting back onto the driver's seat and starting the car again.
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We're watching a video of Sara. "This is a war to save our planet. In war, people get hurt, people die. They die for what they believe in. I'm a child of Mother Earth, and I'll fight to protect my mother."
"Amanda told you that you were confessing to a bombing when she recorded that, right?" Mommy says as she's sitting on the floor and helping me with a puzzle of Tinkerbelle. "They used you to frame innocent people, Sara."
'To confess is to say that you've done something you shouldn't have.'
"I… I don't… I don't get it." Sara closes her eyes and shakes her head.
"I'm going to need your help." Mommy tells her. "I've to make sure that they're not going to get away with it."
"No." Sara shakes her head. "No, I've to go back, please. I made a promise."
"A promise? To Division?" Mommy sounds as if she can't believe what she's hearing.
"I won't tell them anything." Sara says. "About you, about this place, I swear!"
Mommy stands up. "That's right. You won't, because the second you walk through that door, they're gonna put a bullet in your head."
"No! No!" Sara yells. "They trust me. You haven't even been there! You don't even know what it's like!"
Just then, Mommy grabs her arm and throws her onto the ground. I quickly stand up and run a little further away.
"I know more about Division than you'll ever know!" Mommy says angrily as she's still holding onto her arm and pressing her onto the floor. "They promise you this productive life? You know what you're gonna do? You're gonna kill and you're gonna kill and you're gonna kill more, and one day, if you're very lucky, you're gonna remember what it was like to be a human being."
Then, mommy lets go of Sara's arm and gently brushes her hair out of her face. "I don't want you to go through what I did, Sara." She says before pushing her own hair back. She doesn't sound angry anymore. Now, she sounds sad, and she looks sad too. "Wouldn't wish that on anyone."
Mommy stands up and walks toward me. She crouches down in front of me. "Did that scare you?" She asks softly.
"Nuh-uh." I smile and shake my head before I wrap my arms around her in a hug. "Be happy, mommy."
I hear mommy laugh very quietly as she picks me up and kisses me on the cheek.
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Mommy's doing something with her clothing rack just as Sara walks into the room. "What are you doing?" Sara frowns. I'm watching Bug's Bunny on mommy's computer.
"We're making a new video." Mommy answers. "One where Tammy Smith reveals that she was actually paid by Taxpro to bomb their headquarters in order to frame Eco-Front."
'Taxpro: an oil company.'
"After we get this to the media, I'm gonna introduce you to a forger friend of mine." Mommy continues to Sara, who is now sitting on the sofa. "He's gonna set you up with a new passport, whole new identity, one you can use for the rest of your life, preferably on a beach, on a tax-free country far, far away."
"I can't leave." Sara says quickly.
"I thought we talked about that." Mommy frowns as she walks toward her. Then, mommy turns to me. "Not so close to the screen, honey."
I pause the video and turn to mommy. I hold my arms out toward her. "Mommy hold me?"
"Come here." Mommy smiles as she walks over to me and picks me up in her arms.
Sara takes a deep breath before speaking again. "When I was sixteen, I had a baby. My parents said that I was too young to be a mom, but they just didn't give me a chance. Instead, they took me to this shady lawyer named Hershey. They said that adoption was the best answer, you know, win-win. The cash we got kept my parents high for about a month. I thought that if I graduated to agent that I could find my son."
Sara sighs before continuing. "When I said that I made a promise, it wasn't to Division, it was to my baby."
"Did you tell anyone in Division about him?" Mommy asks.
"No." Sara shakes her head.
"Why? Because you knew instinctually that it had put him in danger one day?" Mommy says. "I wish I would've kept the people I loved a secret from them, but I didn't, and now, my fiancé's dead and my daughter is in danger."
"No, I'm not." I say quickly to mommy as I tilt my head. "You always keep me safe."
Mommy almost smiles as she rubs my head. Then, she turns back to Sara. "Look, Sara, I know it's painful, but you've to leave your past where it is. You're young enough to start a new life."
"That's the same line Division fed me." Sara tells her.
"Well, the difference is, I'm trying to help you. Not control you." Mommy says quietly. She sounds tired. "I don't know what more I have to do to make you believe that."
"Mommy take a nap?" I tilt my head.
This time, both mommy and Sara smiles. "No, I'm alright, sweetie." Mommy says as she touches my cheek. "But it's your nap time, and you need to take your nap. Otherwise, you turn into Miss Little Sleepy." Mommy pinches my straight nose lightly. I giggle quietly as she carries me off to bed.
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I climb up a little bit onto the metal thing on the side of the bridge and stand on my tip-toes so I can see below it. There are many cars and trucks and buses rushing out from underneath the bridge.
"So, this guy any good?" Sara asks.
"Gustav?" Mommy says. "Yeah, a couple of years ago, he forged a passport for a guy at Homeland Security, story is, the guy's still using it, never noticed the difference."
"So, you trust him?" Sara says.
"Occasionally." Mommy gets a yellow envelope from a guy on a motorcycle that's passing by. Then, she checks the things inside the envelope. "Government-issued ID, work papers, student visa, everything you need."
"Thanks." Sara says.
"Don't thank me yet." Mommy says. "You still have work to do."
"Right." Sara says. "So, we make the video, saying that I was working for Taxpro and not Eco-Front, and then I can go."
"No." Mommy says. "Then you go to school."
"What?" Sara frowns.
"Takes more than just the right papers to disappear, Sara." Mommy tells her. "You need to learn to live off the grid, by yourself. I could teach you, but it takes time. First, we start by placing you somewhere remote. You strip life down to the bare essentials, food, shelter, water, resupply. No more contact with anyone, for the first six months."
"Six months?!" Sara sounds like she can't believe what she's hearing.
"While you're up there, I'll be looking for a warmer place to move you too." Mommy continues as if she hasn't been interrupted. "In the meantime, we need to make that video."
Just then, Sara starts running away. "Sara!" Mommy calls just before Sara jumps off the bridge and onto the roof of a very big truck.
"Come on, sweetie." Mommy picks me up before chasing after Sara.
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Vision
Sara walked into a room with a man who was on the telephone. 'Hershey.'
"I'll be in touch." The man said before hanging up the phone. Then he turned around to see Sara. "Can I help you?" He asked her.
"You don't remember me, do you?" Sara tilted her head.
Hershey shrugged and smiled before Sara continued. "Five years ago, I had a son and you said he'd be better off without me. You were wrong."
"Look, I'm… I'm sorry but I think… you're mistaken…" He stuttered.
Sara walked over to him, grabbed the telephone, and banged it on his head. Hershey yelled as he fell to the floor. "You sold my son." Sara snarled as she grabbed him by the head. "Now, tell me where he is, or die right here."
End Vision
I know mommy is about to do something scary when she leads me into Hershey's office. Hershey looks up from his seat at us. His head has a big bruise on it.
Mommy lifts me up onto a chair. "Stay here."
Then, she walks over to Hershey. "Tell me what you told the girl."
"She tried to kill me." Hershey says quietly.
"You'll live." Mommy tilts her head before sitting down in a chair opposite him. "Where'd you send her? I'm not gonna call Social Services. Listen, Mr. Hershey, doesn't matter to me whether it was a legal adoption or not. I just want to know where I can find the boy."
Mommy leans closer to him before continuing scarily. "If I've to ask you one more time, you're gonna wish Sara had killed you."
I'm glad I've never made mommy mad, she's very scary when she gets mad. I squeeze my almond-shaped dark brown eyes shut when mommy has to force him to give her what she wants. I hug Lily tightly.
I hear mommy walking over to me when she's done. "It's okay now." She says to me quietly as she picks me up. I open my eyes to see that Hershey now looks like he has fallen asleep. I can see more bruises on him now.
I squeak quietly before laying my head on mommy's shoulder as she pats me gently on my back. I like how mommy always feels warm to me.
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Mommy puts me in the car's backseat before climbing in herself. She pulls out her hand gun and points it toward Sara, who's on the driver's seat. "Here we are again."
Sara's still looking out the window. "I'm sorry." Sara shakes her head. "I didn't—"
"Yes, you did." Mommy interrupts her. "You're a lot smarter than you led on, Sara. All this time, I'm trying to win your trust, while you're planning on running."
"It wasn't a plan." Sara shakes her head again.
"Right." Mommy says. "Because if it was a plan, you wouldn't have stolen a car with a GPS. Division didn't teach you that? Come on, let's go, they'll be here any minute."
Mommy gets off the car with Sara before she helps me out of the car before picking me up. "Just let me see him." Sara says as she's following mommy's quick footsteps. "Just once, I'm sure he's gonna be home from school soon."
"We don't have time!" Mommy says angrily.
"Please!" Sara says.
"Sara, you didn't come here to see him." Mommy says loudly as we are back to the black car we came here in. "You came here to take him. I'm not gonna let you do it. For his sake and for your's."
"Oh yeah?" Sara says as she looks at me quickly before turning back to mommy. "And what makes what you're doing so different?"
There's a moment of silence as mommy hugs me tightly. Now, she looks a little sad, so I hug her back. "Infinity isn't an ordinary kid anymore, Sara." Mommy says quietly.
"What?" Sara frowns.
Mommy takes a deep breath before continuing sadly. "She's paying for my mistakes, Sara." I turn around to look at her. My eyes widen when I see the tears in her eyes. I hope I haven't done anything that would make her cry.
"You know, I regret it everyday." Mommy starts again shakily. "I regret to have done such horrible wrongs that my daughter has to pay for them. I regret, more than anything, that I didn't do everything I can to keep her away from them. But, you know what the worst part is?"
Sara doesn't say anything. She just stands there, staring at mommy with wide eyes. The silence drags on for a little longer.
I turn my head to look at mommy. I bite my bottom lip as I see tears flow out of her eyes. She takes a shaky breath before closing her eyes as more tears roll down her cheeks.
Mommy swallows before finally speaking up again. "The worst part… is that I've no idea how to fix it." She makes a very quiet choking sound and a gasp that's only a little bit louder before continuing. "I'm the one who got her into this mess, Sara, but I've no idea how to protect her from all of this." She finishes with a sniffle.
Does that mean she's crying because of me? I feel as if I might start crying too. I don't want to be the one to make mommy cry…
Just then, I hear more cars coming. 'Division's here.' Mommy quickly opens the door to the back seat of the car and helps me climb up onto it. Then, she turns to Sara, who's still standing there, looking a little shocked. "Get in!" She tells her.
It takes a few seconds, but Sara gets onto the passenger seat as mommy's on the driver's seat. Mommy drives in the opposite direction as the cars that are chasing after us.
"Hold on." She says before making a quick turn. She stops the car by the side of a circular thing with the two Division cars behind her.
Just then, Michael's voice sounds from the rectangular screen in the car that's by the driver's seat. "Nikita! Get out of the car."
I peek out the back window of the car hopefully. Is Michael here? If he is, I want to say hi to him. I pout when I don't see him…
"How did they do that?" Sara asks.
"They hacked the Bluetooth." Mommy answers. I giggle quietly to myself. If anyone has blue teeth, they will look really funny.
"Infinity, you need to crouch down and stay in the car, okay?" Mommy turns around to look at me. I nod before doing what she says.
Then, she turns to Sara. "Stay low. Do as I say." She leads Sara out of the car and to the trunk. I can hear them opening the trunk door.
Seconds later, I start hearing gunshots. I make a wish to the Genie that mommy and Michael won't get hurt. "Hold your fire!" I hear Michael shout. He must have magic powers because the gunshots stops after that. I've to remember to make a wish the next time I see him.
"I want to take you both in alive!" Michael finishes.
"It's too late!" Mommy yells. "Sara's dead! One of your men just killed her. It's just you and me now." 'Nikita's lying. Michael's requesting a satellite image and two extra units.' I don't really know what the last part means…
The gun fight starts again after that. I guess Michael's magic powers don't last very long. But after another moment, the gunshots stops sounding again. Yep, I've to remember to make a wish the next time I see him.
'Michael's being ordered by Division to go back.' Mommy and Sara gets back into the car. "Put your head down." She tells Sara as she drives away from the Division cars, which are driving in the opposite direction. 'Division's under attack.'
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Mommy's holding my hand as Sara is looking at a little further away at a boy who's playing with a ball. "It's time." Mommy tells her quietly.
"Just one more minute, okay?" Sara turns to look at mommy quickly. "It's not like I'm ever coming back here."
"One more minute." Mommy agrees. "Then, you've a new life to start."
Sara turns back around to look at the boy. "He's gonna be a forward."
Just then, I hear a woman's voice calling for him. "Daniel, honey, it's time for dinner."
"Daniel." Sara nods. "It's a good name."
Mommy picks me up as she looks sad again. I tilt my head, I wonder what's wrong. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her on the lips. "Please don't be sad."
Mommy smiles a little and hugs me closer to her. "You always know what to say, don't you?" She kisses me on the cheek. I tilt my head, do I?
"Let's go, Sara." Mommy turns to her as she opens the car door for me to let me climb in before she steps into the driver's seat just as Sara gets on too.
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Alex: Sara's safe?
Mommy: As long as she follows my instructions, she'll be. I wish she could know how you helped get her out.
Alex: At least she's out. I heard they executed the one I told you about, Robbie.
Mommy: I'm sorry, Alex.
Alex: You were right about getting close. It hurts.
Mommy: I know, but if you felt nothing, you'd be like them.
'Division's training Robbie to be a cleaner.'
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Author's note: Remember to review! Your suggestions are always welcome!