Hey, guys! This chapter took longer than I expected, but here it is at long last! Thank you to all of you that have faved/followed the story in the mean time. I'd love to know what you think! I'm still hard at work on this story, and I might already be able to post Ch. 5 here in the coming days. Now that school is out, it makes working on my writing just that much easier. But I'm still working a job during the Summer, and believe it or not I do have a life outside of FanFic (shocking, I know...) But I have lots of really good ideas for thjis story, and I'd love for you to stick around to see them all!
Ch. 4- 'Getting Down to Business.'
As soon as Ulrich got home from work later that week after a couple of days of being 'Older Ulrich' he started to realize that this might be a little more permanent than he thought. Ulrich was hoping that whatever happened to put him here would just naturally be undone in a couple of days, but it seemed that whatever happened, was going to keep going unless he did something about it. But now he was faced with the realization that he might be here as Older Ulrich a little longer than he thought, and that meant acting as naturally as he could as he could while trying to figure out a way to get back to being Younger Ulrich. That meant filling in as many of the gaps as he could in his memory so he could act as naturally as possible. There wasn't much he could find out while looking out of bars in a mental facility if someone decided that he was suddenly crazy. While he couldn't find answers for Younger Ulrich, since he could be in that psychiatric hospital sooner than he thought if he went around spouting off about how he thought was in some alternate timeline or something. But he could still ask questions about Older Ulrich, as long as he phrased the questions in a way that made it seem okay that he didn't remember basic information about who he was. Ulrich figured the best way to do that was during dinner.
His mom made sure that they sat down as a family every night and ate together, something that he was sure never happened growing up. They were lucky if they even saw each other most night growing up. Both sides of Ulrich remembered that dad was always busy with work, and he was either busy with school or sports. Despite this new modification to his schedule, dinner was usually quiet. Mr. Stern would typically be working on something from the office, and Mrs. Stern would spend most of the dinner silently glaring at Mr. Stern to put away his work. But he didn't notice. Ulrich was happy to let them stay quiet for now since he was working on a list of all the things he would need to do if he woke up the next day and found himself still trapped as 'Older Ulrich.' There was no telling if this was permanent, but he wanted to make sure he was ready just in case. Most of them were just basic reminders, like how to get to work in the quickest and most efficient way, and also what he needed to wear to work, and what time he would need to show up so that William wouldn't yell at him again. But at the very top of to-do, the list was to try and find the reason for why he was this far in the future with no memory of why or how. Ulrich took the time to dig around his mind to try and make sense of the two timelines, but whenever he went to access those parts of his memories, he felt a large block. His mom shot him a couple of looks as he groaned and grunted at the dinner table while he was trying to remember his past. She just thought that Ulrich was insulting her roast and calling it dry by all the sounds he was making.
Ulrich stopped doing that, apologized, and went back to eating his dinner. But, the whole time, Ulrich was still trying to remember his past. He tried focusing on the Younger Ulrich side first since that was his first goal. It was to figure out how to get back to that version of himself if that was even an option. He could remember some things, like Herb and Nicholas and even Sissi, even though Ulrich wished he could forget about her. But when it came to specifics, Ulrich came up blank. He could remember attending Kadic Academy. And that's what made him think that he wasn't crazy since both Ulrich's could remember the boarding school of his youth. And he also remembered other vague things, but nothing that gave him any insight into anything new. At least, there was nothing to tell him where to start looking for answers.
On the other hand, there was a lot of info readily available on Older Ulrich. His parents were forthcoming with answers to any questions he had. He just had to make sure to phrase his questions in a way that made it seem okay that he couldn't remember things that had happened to him in the past six months or more. According to Ulrich's father, Ulrich had only been working at CEM for about a total of three and a half months and had been pulling odd jobs here and there before that. But Ulrich still felt as if Monday, earlier that week, had been his very first day on the job as the mail room clerk. His apparent amnesia had caused him to forget almost everything about the job and meant things like how to do even the most basic of his work responsibilities. But after a couple days, Ulrich started to get a grasp again on his duties. But on top of the lessons he was relearning, he also got a long lesson on the history of the company from his dad.
Apparently CEM was the largest entertainment provider for all of the central France, and many other neighboring countries as well. It was mostly a conglomerate of many other smaller companies that had offered simple services that were now combined into one big company. They did everything from TV and movies to books and video games. Mr. Stern also said that CEM had their own news station, a chain of restaurants, and a clothing line, all based off of the shows and movies and the culture that revolved around them. To Ulrich, that all sounded more than 'large'. How could a company like that even exist? And how could Ulrich not hear anything about this while growing up? It just seemed to pop up out of nowhere.
Ulrich switched gears and started asking some of the other questions he thought his parents could answer. Starting with college and what he graduated in. His mom told him that he had graduated with a degree in Business with a minor in Creative Writing and in Art. Ulrich could understand the Business degree since he was told that he had been expected to take over the family business. That didn't surprise either Ulrich's at all. What he couldn't understand were the Writing and Art degrees, what was he thinking of getting that?
It had been drilled into him that he was going to take over the family business before he had even graduated from middle school. So he didn't have a need for those other degrees. Ulrich guessed it was because he balked at the idea of going into business because he was hoping to do something else with his life. But if anything, he was hoping to go pro with his sports. But it seemed like Older Ulrich had caved somewhere along the line and had catered to his parent's requests but was still rebellious enough to go after some other classes. They wouldn't answer him when he asked questions about sports, though. He didn't know why, but it seemed to be even more of a tension spot, even more than what Younger Ulrich could remember from growing up. All they could say was it was always originally the plan for Ulrich to go to school to prepare to take over Mr. Stern's company, and if Ulrich desperately wanted to after that, he could get into sports.
But of course, that was all before CEM had bought out Mr. Stern's company and hired his dad for Marketing in the business. Now his parents just wanted him to try and do his best and climb the corporate ladder and leave the sports behind to focus more on making a career and then starting a family of his own. Ulrich didn't know how well he liked the sound of that. He knew that physically he was old enough to do that, the only thing he worried about was that he still felt like he had the mind of a thirteen-year-old. It had never occurred to Younger Ulrich that something like that would ever happen. Of course, he knew he would grow up, get a job, and eventually get married, but to Younger Ulrich, all of that seemed like a distant prospect. But there they were talking jobs, dating, and growing up like it was happening now. Mr. Stern said that there were a couple openings in various departments around the company that would give him a good start into becoming self-sufficient. And then that would start him on the path to doing things like moving out into his own place, getting a better car. Mr. Stern also said that all of this stuff had the possibility of making himself more attractive to the ladies. Ulrich blushed and complained that he wasn't sure that is what he wanted to do.
"Well what else are you going to do, son?" asked Mr. Stern, "You already graduated from school, you've got yourself a job, and now the next step is becoming your own man and starting a family of your own!"
"Yeah…but…" hemmed Ulrich
"Well that's exactly what I did when I was your age, in fact, your mother and I actually met when I first started working and…" said Mr. Stern
"Yeah I know dad, I've heard the story," shot Ulrich. It was true, both Ulrich's had heard the story, multiple times in fact.
"Well I'm just saying, that you probably should give more thought to making that your goal," said Mr. Stern, ignoring his son's comment, "Y'know? Just start taking your dates more seriously and think about starting to find the one," he said with particular interest. It was then that his mom and dad held hands and looked into each other's eyes lovingly.
Ulrich groaned internally and almost felt sick at the mention of that. Younger Ulrich was still of the mindset that he wasn't ready for girls while Older Ulrich couldn't believe that his parents were telling him to settle down. He had heard plenty from his parents and co-workers about his disastrous dating life. It seemed like he couldn't keep a girl for more than a month before she dumped him, or he just moved on. And apparently that had earned him a really negative reputation around the office. However, he didn't have the nerve to point out that Older Ulrich could distinctly recall that Nicholas had never even had a girlfriend since high school when one of the foreign exchange students from Finland had taken an interest in the nerd. But she had to return to her country soon after, and Nic, unable to go with her, had never been the same since. He reverted back to his old ways, asking girls out on a 'moonlit experience' but none of the girls liked it. They saw it more as sexual harassment, and so he hadn't gone on a date since he was a teenager. Ulrich thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't that bad, but still groaned that it was his parents telling him to grow up and get married.
"Just think about it sweetie, we're not telling you that you need to get married by, like, tomorrow, just think about it," said Mrs. Stern, placing a hand on Ulrich's.
"Yeah, but maybe you need to start looking elsewhere, just not at the company," said Mr. Stern. Ulrich groaned internally again when his dad mentioned his bad dating reputation.
"Like maybe that cute Yumi Ishiyama?" said Mr. Stern with a nudge.
"What?!" shouted Ulrich, almost choking on a mouthful of food. He managed to get the food out of his airway, but that didn't mean that his dad had stopped talking.
"C'mon sport, I saw the way you were looking at her that morning on the TV."
"Yeah…but dad…" Ulrich froze, he didn't want to reveal the real reason why he was staring at Yumi. It wasn't because he was attracted to her, but because he had a feeling that Younger Ulrich might know her, but wasn't sure.
"What is this?" asked Mrs. Stern, taking an interest. Ulrich's stomach plummeted. His mom was the last person he wanted in on this conversation.
"Oh, I walked into the kitchen Monday morning to see him glued to the screen when Ms. Ishiyama was being interviewed for that new movie!" laughed Mr. Stern. Ulrich felt like he was going to physically be sick.
"Ulrich!" said Mrs. Stern in a surprised tone, "I didn't know you felt that way about her! I think that's beautiful!"
"No- mom- it's not…!" mumbled Ulrich, trying everything to not talk about it.
"And you certainly couldn't do worse than one of the number one actresses in Paris!" said Mrs. Stern.
"But…" stammered Ulrich, "Yumi and I are just good friends..." said a random voice in his head. Ulrich recognized it as his own.
"But Yumi and I…we're just good friends!" repeated Ulrich.
"Good friends…" scoffed Mr. Stern, "I wouldn't say that with the way you were looking at her this morning!"
"I didn't even know you knew her!" said Mrs. Stern.
Ulrich's thoughts suddenly cleared, and he had a moment of clarity. In his mind's eye, he could see Yumi. He had never really talked to her before. She was a grade ahead of him, but Ulrich couldn't really take his eyes off of the new student that had just moved in from Japan. The scene changed, he and Yumi were friends, not best friends, but good friends. The two views conflicted, and then he realized one was for Older Ulrich, and the other was for Younger. Older Ulrich never really got the chance to talk to Yumi, they had some classes together, but she was more interested in another new student who had gotten kicked out of his school. William. Ulrich could recognize that face anywhere. William was the same age as Yumi, unlike him, who was a year younger than her. And to top it all off, William was a bit of a bad boy, which almost immediately drew Yumi to him. Ulrich never really understood what she saw in him, nor did he ever stand a chance. So he focused more on his studies and started to draw away from other people. It wasn't until years later that he saw her again, walking into the lobby of the CEM building. It was then that Ulrich knew where he wanted to apply to work. The memory faded.
The other set of memories opened up, and now he was watching Younger Ulrich's view. Younger Ulrich had some fond memories of Yumi. They would hang out in a group together at school. In fact, as Ulrich thought about it, her features fit nicely for the Asian that he remembered from the team. Almost like magic, her face filled in with detail but left the others still blank. That left seven other faces to fill in. But then his thought returned to Yumi. They practiced Pencak Silat together, and even if he wouldn't admit it, she had kicked his butt at least a couple times. They were actually quite friendly; but Younger Ulrich was quite clear, they were only good friends. But that still didn't mean that he had thought about her as maybe something more. Yumi would never go for it, though, she was too busy with school and family to even think about him. But then there was another thing, Yumi popped up in association with Ulrich's memory of the supercalculator. The two of them worked together to…then the memory faded. Apparently he wasn't going to be able to get to the bottom of everything that easily. But then he got interrupted by his mom talking.
"And really Ulrich, it's great to finally know what type of girls you're into! I don't think I would've ever pegged you for someone like her…"
"Someone like her?" asked Ulrich, he felt like he had missed some of the conversation.
"Well you know, we came from Germany, and she, well she…" said Mrs. Stern, awkwardly.
Ulrich didn't have any idea where she was going with this.
"She isn't what…?"
"Well, your father and I found each other when working here, but it just so happened that we were both from Germany. We helped each other learn the language, and that's when we started to, y'know? Fall in love…"
"And what does this have to do with Yumi?" asked Ulrich.
"Well, we're glad you have your sights set high, but you have to know how we feel about that…" said Mr. Stern.
"Feel-?"
"Well, we were kind of hoping that the girl you would find would be from…" said Mrs. Stern. Ulrich could feel a little, unexplained anger rising in his chest. He didn't know where it came from, but for some reason, he was suddenly defending Yumi.
"What? She'll come from Germany? Or France? Is that what you're going to say? Are you surprised because she's not from Europe?"
"Ulrich!" shouted Mr. Stern
"You're saying you're surprised that she's Asian?" Ulrich didn't know where all this anger was coming from, but it almost felt good to let it out.
"Well no, Ulrich," stammered Mrs. Stern, "It's just…"
"And so what if she is?! I can fall in love with whomever I want! It shouldn't matter if she's from Germany or France, or even Africa! Why should you limit who I date and marry just because she isn't from here?" said Ulrich, slamming his hands down on the table.
Older Ulrich started to remember, the problem with his dating life wasn't that he couldn't find the right girl, it was finding the kind of girl that his parents would approve of. He knew that these strong feelings weren't new to him. They felt like they were trapped up inside Older Ulrich for what felt like the past few years. Everything was coming back now. The only reason he had such problems was that Ulrich never got to fully introduce the girls he dated before his parents would talk him into finding a different girl because she wasn't originally from France or their home country of Germany. In fact, for a company as big as CEM, Ulrich was surprised that he was able to find so many people who were from other countries to date. But that also posed the problem he was facing. Apparently his parents wanted him to marry another 'good little German or French girl' and to leave all the others alone. But Ulrich had the feeling in the back of his mind that he wasn't destined to follow that directive. But it was almost impossible to tell his parents that.
"Ulrich James Stern!" shouted Mr. Stern. It was then that Ulrich realized he had crossed a line, "You apologize to your mother right now and then go to your room!"
Ulrich ground his teeth in anger but then saw the look on his mother's face. It was sad, on the verge of tears. Ulrich immediately felt sorry for having let out all his anger on his parents. He didn't want any more issues, especially since his dad looked ready to turn him out of the house. Ulrich stood up, excused himself from the dinner table and apologized for his behavior to his mother. Without saying another word, he left the kitchen and went up to his room to keep on writing on his list. He put 'don't mention Yumi' at the bottom of where he was writing, and then continued. He couldn't really explain what was going on, but things seemed much more complicated than he initially thought. It redoubled his drive to find out what happened and see if there was any way to fix it.
Almost nothing made sense. And he felt like that was the reoccurring theme of the week. But he was determined to get to the bottom of it all. He also couldn't explain the new set of memories that had popped into his head when he was talking about Yumi. But Ulrich thought back, and sure enough, there was everything both Ulrich's could remember about the Asian. There were still some gaps, but Ulrich felt much better knowing that this confusion wouldn't last forever. There was a way to work through it, he just had to find that way again and again so he could fill in all the gaps. Ulrich spent the next few minutes reviewing all the memories that he was able to find. Younger Ulrich's memories of Yumi were pleasant and happy while Older Ulrich's were a little more depressing. Apparently, Yumi in Older Ulrich's world had never actually met or hung out like they did in Younger Ulrich's. He had a bit of a crush on her growing up, but she spent most of her time with William, who eventually became her boyfriend. All Ulrich ever wanted was for her to notice him, but nothing ever seemed to work. Finally, Yumi and William went off to the same college, but Ulrich went off to study at a different one. He was no longer able to handle the feelings he had harbored all those years. He felt like if he continued to follow her, it would only give him more pain.
Yumi went on to be a big movie star, landing all sorts of leading roles. William became a screenwriter, he wrote many of the screenplays that Yumi acted in. Then something happened something that he couldn't remember. Ulrich fought to jump over yet another gap in his memory to something more recent. The next memory he had, Ulrich was looking for work and happened to go with his dad that day to work so that he could apply for jobs in and around the building there downtown. Ulrich wasn't sure that he wanted to work at the same company that his dad did. But on his way out, he saw Yumi, who was walking in. He could still recognize her striking features, and she still looked as gorgeous as the day he first saw her. Ulrich knew that she was no longer with William, but the gap in his memory wouldn't tell him why. Ulrich immediately high-tailed it back inside the building to apply for whatever position he could qualify for. There was only one, and after much negotiation, pleading, and careful arrangement with his dad, he landed the job in the mail room.
But it wasn't everything that Ulrich thought it would be cracked up to be. Yumi didn't actually work at the large, glass office building. Instead, she worked at a studio that was a few miles outside of Paris. Ulrich did see her from time to time when he was out delivering the mail. Because she was not only a prolific actress, but she also did a voice-over for some of the cartoons and commercials that CEM put out. So that meant that occasionally she would be in the building for at least a few hours at a time. Even though he saw her, he never got to meet her. The two had run into each other at least a half a dozen times, but each time, Ulrich had been able to say anything to her. And really, it was as much fault of his as it was anything else. He couldn't talk to her, and it was half-nerves, half something else. That something else came in the form of Christophe and Benoit. She traveled with two massive bodyguards when she was in the building, keeping even the most zealous fan from coming near while she was out and about.
Ulrich made it a goal to just even try and introduce himself to Yumi in the coming days if he saw her. But that posed its own set of problems. How would he get to talk to her without getting taken down by her bodyguards? Ulrich had an image in his mind of what could happen, but all of it ended with a picture of him being tackled to the ground, and he really didn't want that. Then the next question was, how could he get the chance to not only talk with her but also bring up these memories that he had? Did she have them too? If she wasn't, what would it sound like if he were to ask her about them? These were just some of the questions that he had as he thought about these new memories. In any normal situation, it would have been enough to make someone want to give up. But to Ulrich, it gave him hope. He had found a way that he could finally get to the bottom of this and find some answers.
Ulrich finished up his list which mostly included the people he wanted to talk to tomorrow if he had the chance. At the top was Jeremy. He didn't know how much the blonde boy would be able to help him, but it couldn't hurt just to see what he knew. Ulrich had meant to try and make it up to the lobby to talk to the blonde nerd. But work had kept him busy, and he was still hesitant talking to Jeremy for fear that he might take things the wrong way and think that Ulrich was his friend or something. Next was Odd Della Robbia. Ulrich hadn't met the man yet, every time he had gone to the Development floor, he was either out or busy with meetings, so Ulrich had been unable to even lay eyes on him yet. And he was kind of hesitant to try and meet him after hearing his dad talk about someone 'odd' in the Development department. He still wasn't sure if his father meant this Odd guy, or someone else, so there was really only one way to find out. But Ulrich figured it couldn't be that bad. He enjoyed his trip to the Development floor because of the general atmosphere of the office and the workers. So unless Odd was some sort of office Nazi, he was sure that the conversation would probably be short and to the point.
Next were the Cardiff's. Ulrich wasn't sure if he would have the chance to talk with them. But he figured he had a better chance of talking with them than he did with Yumi. But doing so would mean that he would have to brave the Executive offices, where apparently his reputation was the worst. Ulrich wasn't really sure that he would have to talk to the Cardiff family. His interest was more to see why their name seemed so familiar. So he figured he could afford a quick trip up there, observe, and then probably never go back up there again unless absolutely necessary. The last was that pink-haired girl he saw rushing out of the elevator on Monday morning. He didn't know why in fact, he didn't even think of her name. But the voice in his head nudged him to include her on the list.
After putting the finishing touches on his list, Ulrich turned in for the night. He set the alarm on his phone to go off so that it left him enough time to get up and actually get to work early this time. He figured with the extra time he could finalize his plans and questions in case he ran into any of the people on the list. The person he wanted to talk to the most would be Yumi, but there would be no telling if she were going to be in the building tomorrow. So his focus would probably be Jeremy. Ulrich was sure that he could just pop up to the lobby either before work or during it if he had the time. Ask a couple questions, and then move on. But then he felt stumped. What kind of questions would he ask? It's not like Jeremy was involved with his memories of the supercalculator. The only people he knew were involved was himself and Yumi. Ulrich couldn't remember any others in that group, so there was no telling that Jeremy was one of them. He was just someone that he felt like he needed to talk to. To be safe, Ulrich figured that he would just leave out the supercalculator, to avoid sounding crazy. Maybe he would just ask some questions about who he was, and if he knew Ulrich at all. But that sounded a little fishy, even to Ulrich. And he didn't want Jeremy getting the wrong idea about him taking an interest because he wanted to be friends or something. Ulrich felt like he had enough nerds in his life already, and he was trying to distance himself from them already. He didn't need another one.
Ulrich drifted off to sleep. His dreams were tormented by thoughts of long hallways and twisting paths in a place he didn't recognize. But he felt like he needed to get somewhere before time ran out. He didn't know what he was doing, or even where he was going. But it was imperative he get there in time. Ulrich spent what felt like an eternity in this labyrinth before rounding a corner to see what he thought was his goal. There was a computer terminal that he could see at the end of a long hallway. But each step he took after that made it seem like the computer was a mile away. It almost looked like the whole scene was getting sucked through a funnel, increasing the distance between him and the end of the hall with each passing footfall. Ulrich ran as hard as he could, but it felt like he would never reach the computer. Just when Ulrich felt like he was going to give up, a flash of white light emanated from the end of the hall where the computer was. The light inspired fear in him, and he turned to run away. But he got caught in it and woke with a start.
Ulrich sat up quickly as he felt his breath catch in his chest. He panted and gasped as he tried to regain his breath. He shivered slightly as he started to notice the pool of cold sweat that he was laying in. The brunette took a deep gulp, and he could feel his heart racing. What was that dream about? Ulrich took a moment to slow everything down and dab at his brow with the back of his hand. After a couple minutes, he felt calmer, but his breathing was still slightly ragged, and he continued to shiver a bit from how chilled he felt from the cold sweat. He sighed and stood up to try and get off his sheets. He stood in front of the mirror on his closet door and saw that he was still Older Ulrich. So apparently it was permanent, at least for now.
Ulrich rubbed his eyes with his hands and walked over to his desk while trying to suppress a yawn. Ulrich looked at his desk and glared groggily as he clicked one of the buttons on his phone. He was nearly blinded by the light from the phone. No one had warned him about that. The clock on the screen seemed to say that it was still pretty early, about 6:30 in the morning. Ulrich shook himself and groaned in frustration. He wasn't sure if he should go back to bed or not. Ulrich decided to take advantage of the free moment to just sit and think. He shambled back over to his bed, and being careful not to sit in the sweaty spot, he closed his eyes and went internal. But when he did, all he could think about was that strange dream. It felt so real, but then so did all of the memories he had from Younger Ulrich. He made the distinction in his mind that it was just a dream, and probably didn't mean anything.
But then why did he feel so confused, alone, and frustrated?! Ulrich opened his eyes again and then leaped to his feet. He needed to do something to clear his mind. Unsure of what to do, he spent a couple minutes pacing back and forth until the voice in his head whispered that he should go for a drive. It didn't make sense to him, especially when he had already planned on arriving to work early to try and prep for the day. But then he realized there was a thing as being 'too early.' CEM probably wasn't even open yet, so that meant that the rest of his co-workers wouldn't be there, and he would be twiddling his thumbs until they showed up.
"So maybe that drive isn't such a bad idea after all…" thought Ulrich.
He didn't know where he would be going, and how long he would be out, so he figured it was best to be prepared in case he was out for most of the morning. He decided that meant getting dressed for work early. Ulrich was starting to think how much he didn't like having to dress up for this job. He wished it was something he could do in his jeans and a t-shirt. But then he thought about how CEM was a big, professional company, which meant that he probably had to look the part, even if he worked in the mail room. But did he really need the tie? Ulrich felt like he was tying his own noose wearing a necktie, and the shoes had to wear pinched his toes slightly as well.
"This feels like a monkey suit!" Ulrich thought to himself, but he still put it on. But not without a few grumbles and curses as he did so, and as he tried to get his tie to look decent.
Once he was dressed, he stole quietly from his room and down the stairs. He could hear his dad snoring, and his mom 'breathing heavily.' She always swore that she didn't snore. But as he heard the distinctive buzz coming from his parent's room, he swore that it sounded very much like snoring. Ulrich peered out the front window and wiped a thin layer of condensation from the glass pane so that he could see outside. The entire block was covered with a thick layer of fog. It gave the outside world an almost eerie and ethereal feeling. Ulrich cracked the front door open slightly, and felt a cool breeze sneak in through the open doorway. He shivered and shut the door again as he set out to find some warmer clothing. There was a coat rack nearby with each hook marked with a single letter for each member of their family. He saw the one labeled with a 'U' and figured the things there belonged to him. There was a large overcoat, scarf, hat, and gloves both on the hook and on the shelf. Ulrich donned the warm clothing and then walked back outside.
The fog outside was thick and made it hard to see any farther than a few feet in front of his face. But he was glad that he did have warm clothing. It cut the cold significantly, but he could still feel a bit of the air bite his face. He shut the front door behind him and walked to his car. It felt kind of weird slipping out this early without warning his parents, but he figured that they wouldn't want to talk, or they just wouldn't care either. After last night's argument both could have applied. Besides, Ulrich would probably see his dad at work later, so there really was no reason to worry, at least in his mind. But he still didn't want to wake his parents. But he knew that his car made too much noise to be considered 'stealthy.' It was then that Older Ulrich proved his worth. A series of steps popped into his head on how to sneak out. It kind of shocked Ulrich that he would know that, but then again, he had some memories of sneaking out when he was young as well. He grinned and then launched into the steps.
Once he was sat behind the wheel, Ulrich popped the parking break but kept his other foot firmly on the brake. The car was old enough that you could still shift into gear without starting the car. Using the dashboard as a guide, he shifted the car into neutral and then let off the brake. The car began to roll silently down the sloped driveway. Once he had cleared the driveway, he continued to try and eke out as much momentum as he could to get as far as he could from the house. He actually managed to get halfway down the street before his car stopped. Once the car halted, then Ulrich could then start the vehicle without worrying his parents. Sticking the key in the ignition, he worked with the old car to start. Finally, the car roared to life and Ulrich let out a small cheer. Each time the car started again seemed to be a small victory since he didn't always know if it would start the next time he got in. He continued down the road to the next stop sign and then came to a halt.
Now that he was here, where was he going? This sounded like a good idea to start, but now that he was here in his car, where was he planning on going? Ulrich glanced at his watch and saw that he had a little less than two hours until he had to be at work. Which meant that wherever he went, he couldn't be more than two hours away, or risk being late again, and he didn't want that. The fog was so thick that it almost made everything blur into one. So it almost didn't matter where he went. Since even if he knew where he was, the fog would obscure everything, making it feel like a new adventure. He sat at a four-way stop, which meant that he had three different directions to go, without returning the way he came from. Not wanting to get sidetracked, he set a timer on his phone that would go off half an hour before he had to be at work so that would give him time to travel there from wherever he was. Ulrich then looked back to the road and tossed up the decision in his mind; then decided to go left.
Once on the road, he tried to remember where the CEM building was and tried to hold it as the center focal point of his drive. Each intersection he came to he tossed up what road to take, ruling out the ones that would lead him away from where he needed to go. It almost became a game to him. Eventually, Ulrich found himself on the motorway. It was a little nerve-wracking to be driving there with all the cars whizzing by him, so he picked the next exit that he could and got off. Once back on the surface streets, he continued his game of picking streets. Soon, he found himself in an area that he actually recognized! This was the neighborhood called Sceaux, this was where he went to school at Kadic Academy!
"Huh, what are the odds?" he thought with a chuckle.
After a few turns, Ulrich found himself driving right outside Kadic Academy. He was happy to see it still standing. He wondered if some of the teachers or faculty he remembered were still there, like Jim. Even though the portly physical education teacher was kind of the school laughingstock, Ulrich still liked Jim. Both Ulrich's had some good memories of him and the stories that he'd 'rather not talk about'. Although now Jim was probably pushing fifty in the ten years that seemed to have passed. If he were still working there, he would probably end up being a faculty member for life. Ulrich laughed a little to think about a much older Jim hobbling around the school trying to catch the much more youthful students. Ulrich wished he had more time, or he would have gotten out and walked around. But when he looked at his phone, he had less than thirty minutes left on the timer, giving him about an hour to get to work, and he was sure he would need it. So he decided he would have to come back another time. The fog was starting to clear in some places, and the sun was starting to shine through. Ulrich could finally see the CEM building, and he tried his best to navigate towards it from memory.
But along the way, Ulrich made a bad turn, and he ended up next to the river with no way to cross it. There weren't a lot of bridges that crossed the river in this part of town. But then Younger Ulrich had a flash in his memory of a bridge that wasn't too far away that he thought would be able to cross over to the other side. Ulrich navigated to the bridge, but it didn't look like it was operational. Several barriers were blocking the road and a sign that read 'CONDEMNED.' The fog was still thick, making it impossible to see what was on the other side. Why would Younger Ulrich remember this bridge if it didn't seem to go anywhere? He looked down at his phone and saw he didn't have much time left. But there was something about this that peaked his curiosity. Ulrich pulled over to the side of the road, parked, and got out of his car. He left the motor running but locked the door. But then he realized that it probably didn't matter. If someone went to all of the trouble of car-jacking him all the way out here, and for his beat-up car no less, they deserved it.
Ulrich jogged up to the barriers and tried to see what was on the other side of the bridge. He couldn't see, but there was a dark outline through the fog. It looked like a building, which would explain the signs and all the warnings. But what kind of building this giant would still stay standing after it had been declared condemned? If it was such a problem, why didn't the city, just demolish it and build something new on top of it? This peaked Ulrich's curiosity even further. Ignoring the sign, he set foot on the bridge and gave a few tentative steps to make sure the structure was still weight-bearing. When nothing happened, Ulrich figured that the bridge was still fine, and edged closer to the building. The fog was abnormally thick around the building, making it hard to see even the slightest detail. The brunette held out his hands to make sure that he wouldn't bump into anything. But then he had the image in his mind of how silly he looked. He realized that he had a higher chance of falling than he did of bumping into anything so he lowered his arms and instead slid his feet a few inches at a time before taking the next step. He took it slow and steady since he really didn't want to go plunging into the river.
Things started to come into focus, almost like putting on a new pair of glasses. Ulrich could tell that the building, whatever it was, took up most of the island. The island itself didn't look natural either, it looked like the result of a man-made effort. As Ulrich got closer to the building, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his head. The pain was minor and didn't last long, but it caused him to wince and stop for a second. After he had recovered, Ulrich continued to edge closer and closer. A few more steps and then Ulrich felt another pain, this time, worse than the first. The pain caused Ulrich to groan and hold his head. The pain went as quickly as it came, but it caused Ulrich to wonder what was happening. Flashes of memory started to leap into his brain. At one point, Ulrich saw a manhole cover. Several memories of Younger Ulrich using this passageway began to flood in, causing Ulrich to develop a migraine. But why would Ulrich use this passageway? This factory was at least eighteen kilometers from the school, even as the crow flew. Even more, if you stuck to the road. Ulrich battled to fight back the pain. Between all the random thoughts, he heard voices in his head that he thought he recognized.
"That passage in the gym is a great way to break curfew!"
"Yeah, and there's another one on the campus."
Ulrich fought through the pain and continued to work his way closer to the building. Ulrich was finally close enough to see that the building was a large, abandoned automotive factory. Once he saw it, Ulrich's brain went crazy. He felt like his head was going to split open from the pain. The brunette's head was a jumble of thoughts and memories. Nothing seemed to make sense. What were those voices? How did he recognize them? And why was he even feeling this way from seeing a couple engineered fixtures? Ulrich took a couple more steps, and the pain stopped. Right then and there.
"What was all that about?!" he thought
Ulrich took a couple steps back. Nothing. A couple more steps forward. Nothing. Ulrich didn't feel all that different, and he had no new memories. There was nothing to help guide him to why he felt that way just two seconds earlier. Now he was super curious. There had to be a reason why something like that happened. Something like that just doesn't happen regularly. It certainly didn't occur when he saw any other building, but it did when he saw this one. Was this the factory that he thought he should have been in? The place looked like it was ready to crumble at any second. But fighting the urge to turn around and leave, Ulrich decided to check it out. He took a few more steps and found the entrance to the factory that was all boarded up. There were a couple boards pried off, probably the work of some vagrant or scavenger looking for scrap to sell. He ducked under one of the openings and then lifted his legs in one at a time.
The whole factory was dark and dimly lit. Only a little light came through the dark, dingy windows, many of which were also boarded up as well. He couldn't see much, and there wasn't much to hear other. There was the faint sound of the skittering of mice as they ran away. But other than that, the factory was as quiet as a tomb. Ulrich pulled out his phone and slid up on the main screen. In his experimenting earlier, he had found that his phone came equipped with a flashlight. It surprised him when he found it because the bulb was pointed right into his eyes when he activated it the first time, nearly blinding him. But now that he knew how it worked, it was much more useful. Ulrich activated the light and waved his device around to get a good look. There wasn't much; some crates that looked broken and empty, a lot of steel girders and concrete. Ulrich took a couple steps and had to catch himself before he went tumbling over an open edge. Ulrich gasped and panted as he caught his breath. The drop looked dangerous, and he could have died, or been seriously injured if he hadn't noticed in time.
On the floor below, there wasn't much either, just like the floor he was on. However, he did see a series of girders that framed a large hole in the ground. Ulrich pointed his light at it to see what looked like the framework of an old freight elevator. There was no car visible, and the cables looked like they had seen better days. If that thing used to run, it was many years ago. Now it was just a big open hole that looked as dangerous as the rest of the factory. Ulrich knew he didn't have much time, but he couldn't resist the urge to take a closer look. Nearby there was a large, exposed support beam that had a couple ropes tied to them. Ulrich figured that was how people got in and out of this death trap. As Ulrich neared the lines, he heard another sound in his mind.
"What? Are you afraid of heights?" The voice sounded familiar, but Ulrich couldn't put his finger on why.
"No…," said Ulrich both out loud and in his mind, as if responding to the voice.
Ulrich took a couple steps closer and laid hold on one of the ropes that looked the most reliable. He shut off the light since he would need two hands to slide down the line. He slipped his phone into his pocket and grasped in the dark for where he thought one of the ropes should be. Just as Ulrich seized at one, the timer on his phone went off. Ulrich gasped in shock at hearing it. He had almost forgotten about it, and so it took him by surprise when it sounded off. Ulrich silenced the timer and then stood there, stumped. Ulrich fought his feeling to stay and investigate, but then he also knew that he had to get to work. If he was late again, he could only imagine what William would have to say. He would definitely be chancing termination. But Ulrich talked himself into just five minutes. He would go walk around the elevator, check it out, then leave if nothing exciting happened. He stood there, psyching himself up to take the jump, trusting that the rope would hold his weight. He wasn't afraid of heights, it was falling that really frightened Ulrich. He tugged on the rope a couple times, just to get it into his head that the cable was all right. It creaked a little but otherwise held. After a couple deep breaths, Ulrich grasped the rope tight and readied himself to take the plunge into the dark.
Just then, a giant rumbling sound started and Ulrich almost went toppling down to the lower floor again in shock. It was only the rope that saved him from falling headlong to the surface below. Ulrich pulled up until his whole body was balanced on the floor again. Ulrich quickly pulled out his phone again and switched on the flashlight. After a quick glance around, Ulrich noticed that the freight elevator was active and moving! While on any other occasion, he would have loved to stick around and see what was happening, the sudden movement scared Ulrich, and he turned tail to run. He vaulted out the factory, sprinted across the bridge, and leaped over the barrier. He didn't even stick around to see if anyone would come out. He just ran to his car, jumped behind the wheel, and peeled out. It was only once he had found another bridge and crossed the river that Ulrich settled down, and his adrenaline stopped pumping.
There we go! Another chapter with some surprising twists! I can't wait to show you what happens next! So stick around!