Monday

Zane was not having a good day. Because he had missed work on Saturday and Sunday, he had been fired, and now he did not have any means to earn money, which meant that he could not pay for school. Thankfully, he had money stored up, and so he would be fine for the moment, but further in the future… he wasn't sure what he would do. He most definitely had to find another job, but he wasn't sure how he could work and train at the same time.

Zane sighed. He wanted to finish school, but with how things were going, he wasn't sure if he had a choice…

After school, Zane and his friends arrived at the monastery for training. Zane hadn't told anyone about his dilemma, and he wasn't sure if he planned to. They probably had enough problems of their own to worry about. He had thought about asking Kai and Nya, but had decided to wait for now and see how things went.

"Okay, Zane," Jay said, "I brought my computer, so we can go and do this now, if you like?"

"Do what?" Kai asked.

"Zane wants me to unlock an encrypted file in his memory banks," Jay replied.

Zane inwardly cringed. He hadn't wanted anyone else to know about it, in case it did not work.

"Oh…"

They all looked at Zane in sympathy and curiosity.

"Uh, Master Wu, if that's okay with you?" Jay asked Wu, who was standing there with a cup of tea. It seemed to be all he ever drank…

"Of course. The rest of you will train," Wu said.

"Great! Come on, Zane!" Jay enthusiastically hurried inside. Zane followed him uneasily.

Jay told Zane to sit on one of the kitchen chairs, and then he took out his computer from his backpack, opening it up and turning it on. "Okay… let's see here…"

Zane clasped his hands together, waiting for instructions.

Jay took out a USB cord, plugging one end into his computer, and then held out the other end to Zane. "Plug this into… uh… wherever it should go. It will allow me to access your memory banks and, uh, anything else, I guess…"

Zane eyed it nervously, suddenly not liking the idea of Jay looking around in his memory banks. He took it anyway, remembering why he was doing this, and that it was a necessary action. He turned his holographic imaging off, revealing a port in the back of his head. He plugged the USB in, feeling his brain circuits immediately connect to the computer.

"Okay, good… Uh, let's see here… Aha! Found it!" Jay looked up from his laptop. "Are you ready?"

Zane wasn't sure what the two of them would find. It could be nothing, or it could be his missing memory files. It might change his life forever… Or, Jay may not be able to open it, and so he would be left wondering what it was.

Zane nodded tentatively, clasping his hands even tighter.

"Okay. I'm gonna open this file here, then. This should give me access to your systems… Okay, there we go… Yikes, that's a lot of files… Uh, Zane? This may take a while…"

Zane nodded, mixed thoughts swirling through his processor.

An hour later, Jay suddenly exclaimed, "Aha! Here it is!"

Zane jumped. Through the whole hour, Jay had been mumbling to himself, and so it had startled him with the sudden noise.

"Okay… wow, that's a lot of security… It's time to test my skills…" Jay started mumbling to himself again, and Zane tuned him out, once again lost in his own thoughts.

About twenty minutes later, Jay said, "Okay, Zane. I've broken through most of the security. I'll begin opening the files now… You'll, uh, probably have any memories on it start playing, so it'll kind of be like you're hallucinating or something, so whatever happens, don't move, okay?"

Zane nodded, frowning in anticipation and anxiety.

"Well… here goes," Jay told him.

Zane waited for something to happen, and after a few seconds, his screen suddenly glitched, and an image appeared. He gasped in shock as memories were suddenly flooded into his processor, coming too quickly for him to even comprehend them. His life was literally flashing before his eyes. Suddenly, the memories ground to a steady halt, and then continued much smoother. His…father…walked over to the door, opening it. Zane gasped in shock again at who was there. It was two of the Emperor's guards.

"Hello, Mr. Julien," one of the guards greeted coldly. "May we come in?" It was not a request.

Dr. Julien stepped aside, allowing them entry. "Of course…"

Dr. Julien… Yes, that was my father's name, Zane thought, a sense of happiness and sadness almost overwhelming him. My father…

"Um, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?" Dr. Julien asked, sounding a bit nervous but obviously trying to conceal it.

"We understand that you invent things?" the other guard said.

"Yes. Um, why?"

"We would like to have a look around, if you don't mind." Again, it was not a request.

Dr. Julien nodded, and Zane watched as they rummaged around in drawers, closets, and anywhere else they could get their hands on. When their search was done, they both came back over to where Dr. Julien and Zane stood.

One of the guards looked at Zane suspiciously. "Who is this?"

"Oh, this is my son, Zane," Dr. Julien replied.

"Hello. It is nice to meet you," Zane responded in the memory. Zane himself did not actually say anything.

"Hmph," the guard huffed. "Your son, huh? Interesting…" He narrowed his eyes, looking Zane over.

"Is there a problem?" Dr. Julien asked.

The guard turned back to him. "You are aware that it is illegal to build a nindroid without a permit?"

Dr. Julien paled, but held his ground. "Yes."

The guard glared at him suspiciously, then gestured to his comrade. "Let's go." They both left, and Dr. Julien closed the door. He turned to Zane, a sad look on his face mixed with fear.

"What is it, father? Is something wrong? Who were those people?" Zane asked.

Dr. Julien sighed. "Those were two of the Emperor's guards. They… were looking for you."

"What? Why?"

Dr. Julien shook his head. "I am very poor, as you know. And you are aware that you are a nindroid."

"Yes?"

"Well, you need a permit to build a nindroid. I… didn't have enough money…"

Zane's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh…"

"They will probably arrest me tomorrow… They may find out about you."

"I don't care. I will not leave you, and I will not let them take you."
"Zane…" Dr Julien walked over to him. "I… I need to do something. Come here."

Zane followed his father over to one side of the room, where a computer stood on a desk. Dr. Julien sat down in the chair, and then grabbed a USB cord. He plugged one end into the computer, and the other into Zane. He gazed at him sadly, then turned to the computer. He started typing on it, and Zane watched him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Zane asked, a sense of uneasiness coming over him.

Dr. Julien looked at him, his face showing regret and sorrow. "Know that I love you, Zane."

Zane cocked his head slightly in confusion.

"I have a good reason for doing this…" He clicked a key on the computer, and suddenly Zane found himself unable to move. Panic flared through his systems, in the memory and in reality. Zane stayed where he was, remembering Jay's warning not to move.

"I cannot have you trying to break me out. You would only be caught. The Emperor's dungeons cannot be escaped… I had hoped that I would be able to hide you in secret for far longer, but… that is not the case. I love you, Zane. I'm sorry…"

Dr. Julien pressed another key, and Zane's vision went dark. He suddenly found himself on the porch of the orphanage, where he had woken up. He had never known how he had gotten there. When he had woken up, he couldn't remember anything. It was all just a white blank… like an unused white sheet of paper.

Zane gasped as his vision suddenly blinked back to reality, and he found himself back in the monastery. Jay was looking at him with an expression of horror and fear, his face pale.

Zane realized that he was gripping the chair tightly, and so loosened his grip, trying to relax. He felt tense all over. He tried to process what he had just seen, but… there were so many memories running through his head.

"Are… are you okay?" Jay asked tentatively.

Zane shook his head no. He was most certainly not okay. The Emperor… he had imprisoned his father. His father was in the dungeon. Was his father even alright? From what P.I.X.A.L had said about the way they treated androids… He wasn't sure how they treated their prisoners, but it was probably far worse.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jay asked, still sounding unsure.

Zane barely heard him. His mind kept on giving him flashes of bits of memory, and he couldn't focus. He knew one thing, though: he had to rescue his father. He had known that the Emperor was evil, but this… this brought it to a whole new level. Zane wanted revenge, and he wanted to free his father. But with so many thoughts and memories running through his head… his processor was overheating. Zane clutched his head in pain, but then his vision glitched and he blacked out.

"Zane!" Jay gasped, rushing over to him. Zane had just… went limp, his eyes going dark. Jay didn't know what had happened. "Hey, Zane? Zane!" Not knowing what to do, Jay rushed outside.

"Guys! Hey, guys!" Jay skidded to a halt, having slammed open the sliding door leading to outside.

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"What is it?" Cole asked, sounding worried.

"It's Zane! I-I, I unlocked that file he wanted me to unlock, and then… well, the memories started playing on my computer, and in Zane's head, and then when it stopped, he… well, he seemed fine- no, not fine, but, uh, you know what I mean! But after that, he just, like, fainted or something! Or shutdown!"

Everyone exchanged alarmed looks, and then rushed into the kitchen. Zane still sat there, as limp as before.

Nya rushed over, quickly examining Zane, and then went to Jay's computer. She sighed, relaxing a bit. "It's okay. He just overheated. His version of fainting, or passing out."

They all sighed in relief.

"Oh, okay… good." Jay laughed nervously, then joined Nya at the computer.

"So, what did you find out?" Kai asked.

Jay paused, then said, "It was Zane's missing memories, I think…"

"Did you find out what happened to him?" Cole asked.

Jay nodded. "Yeah. Uh, you'll have to ask Zane about it… He should probably be the one to tell you."

"When will he wake up?" Lloyd asked.

Nya shrugged. "I don't know. When his systems cool down, I guess."

Jay rung his hands anxiously, glancing at Zane. He had watched the whole thing, as the memory had been playing on his laptop. He hadn't meant to watch, but after seeing the Emperor's guards… curiosity had kept him glued to the screen. He had known that Zane had a disliking for the Emperor, but… that was before he had gotten his memories back. Now Zane probably despised the Emperor.

About twenty minutes passed, all of them still gathered in the kitchen. Kai was pacing restlessly, Jay sat on a chair staring at his computer glumly, Cole was eating a banana, as he tended to eat when he was anxious, Nya stood staring at the wall, and Lloyd stood watching Zane. Wu stood off to the side, regarding them all.

Suddenly Zane stirred, and they all immediately tensed.

Zane blinked, then bolted upright. His father… No, wait, he had his memories back. He… he remembered everything. The guards, his father, his past.

He suddenly realized that everyone was staring at him, and that he was still in the monastery's kitchen.

"Uh… are you okay?" Jay asked.

Zane swallowed uncomfortably, then stood up. "I'm fine. I need to go." He turned to leave, hearing his friends' protesting.

"No, Zane, wait! Where are you going?!" Kai asked, leaping after him, along with the rest of them.

"I have to do something." Zane exited the monastery, then looked back at Jay. His friends and Master Wu were also there. "Thank you, Jay." Zane gave him a grateful smile, then turned and left.

"Okay, what was that?!" Kai asked. He turned to Jay. "Where is he going?"

"I don't know…" Jay murmured.

"Well, do you have any idea?!"

Jay shook his head. "Nope. He seemed pretty distressed earlier, though."

"Maybe we should go after him? Make sure he's okay?" Cole suggested.

"No. Give him space," Wu told them. "He probably just needs time to think."

"Yeah, I agree," Nya said. "Zane will tell us what happened when he's ready."

The rest of them agreed, and then they all realized that they should probably get home. It was getting late.

Zane headed for his home, his real home: his father's house. He wanted to see what had become of it. It had been four years since he had last seen it.

Half an hour later, Zane approached a small home that was tucked between two others. There was no yard, at least not anything that you could call a yard. It was just concrete all the way up to the house, about six feet. He gazed at it for a few moments, pondering the memories he had gained while living there. He looked to the door, then walked up to it. He paused, then cautiously knocked. No one answered for a few moments, but then the door opened, revealing a man, about in his thirties or forties, Zane guessed. He looked to be in disarray.

"What do you want?" the man asked grumpily.

"Hello. I used to live here. I was wondering if—"

"Go away," the man growled, and then slammed the door. Zane had been expecting that. The neighborhood here was not the kindest, nor the cleanest. Garbage lay around in disheveled piles, some of them having flies circling them. This was what you'd call the 'poor side' of the city.

Zane sighed, deciding to head home. However, he paused. He suddenly changed course, walking determinedly. He knew that his father had not wanted him to come after him, but Zane knew that he had no choice. He had to at least try to rescue his father.

Fifteen minutes later, Zane approached the palace wall. He evaded the guards as he usually did, and then snuck in to the palace garden. He used his phone to signal P.I.X.A.L. P.I.X.A.L and him could not text each other, but they could signal each other whenever one of them had something they wanted to tell the other.

He waited patiently for a few minutes, and then saw P.I.X.A.L emerge. He greeted her quietly, and P.I.X.A.L walked over to him, saying her own greeting.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I… I managed to unlock that file. Well, a friend helped me…"

P.I.X.A.L's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? What was on it?"

"My… my missing memories…"

"Oh! Well, that's wonderful!"

Zane smiled in agreement, but then he quickly became serious. "P.I.X.A.L, my father was imprisoned here by the Emperor."

"What?"

"I was wondering if you could get any information on him. See if he's… even still alive."

P.I.X.A.L nodded. "Of course. I'll get on it right away." She turned to go, then glanced back at him. "Is there anything else?"

"No, I do not believe so… Goodbye, P.I.X.A.L, and thank you."

"Anytime. Goodbye, Zane." P.I.X.A.L then vanished into the shadows.

Zane turned to go, hoping that his father was alright.