CHAPTER SEVEN: MICROCHIP

I took a sip of my tea and moaned in delight. It amazes me how tea can have such a soothing effect on the soul like water over sand. I gulped down the contents and looked at Peter and Bella, who were taking sips of their tea.

Bella Brown was a beautiful woman with average skin, silky black hair, and amber eyes. She was kind, but strict, which was a good thing in my eyes. Kind to those around her, and strict when she has to be, especially when it came to the kids.

As for her and I, we weren't close enough to call each other good friends or anything. Back then, when I was outside and we saw each other, we would wave and say 'hi' to each other. To put it simply, we were friendly with each other, but not enough to be put in the category of 'friends'.

As for Roxanne, she was outside playing with the kids. It made me happy to see her doing something that made her happy. In fact, she sometimes talked about the kids and her desire to play with them. I didn't see any problem with that so when it came to that time, it was fun for us all. Me doing my thing with Peter and Bella and my girlfriend doing what she loved most.

They gulped their sip and looked at me, warm smiles plastered on their faces.

"So, how's everything been for you and Roxy, Mihael?" Bella asked, her voice sweet like honey.

"It's been great," I said. "Still have a few people trying to get in the way of our relationship, but other than that, great."

Peter nodded. "That's wonderful to hear, Mihael. It's a shame you still have to deal with that."

"Not all relationships are approved by the public," Bella said. "I agree that it's a shame, but you shouldn't worry about what others think. If you being with Roxy makes you happy, focus on that. Your happiness matters. Not the disapproval of the public."

I smiled at that. It's true. I knew what would happen if I entered a relationship with Roxanne. The thing about humanity is that when you see something like this in fiction, it's like they are cheering for it to happen. But when something like that does happen in real life, it's a complete 180.

That's the part that confuses me the most about people. Why does it matter if it's acceptable in fiction, but if it were to happen in real life, it's a disgrace? If you approve of something, don't act like it's not acceptable when you're a huge supporter of it in fiction. In my eyes, that was hypocrisy in its finest form, and it is not a good thing. I will never understand why people even do such things, to begin with.

"I guess so," I said. "I mention this because some douchebag tried to get her to leave me and had the audacity to kiss her hand. Safe to say, he received a knuckle sandwich."

"And I bet you were the one who gave him such a treat," Peter said with a smirk. I nodded. "Can't say I blame you there, Mihael."

"Anyone in that same situation would've done the same if a random stranger had the galls to do that," Bella added. "I remember Peter did that to someone when we were dating back in high school. There was this one man who was notorious for stealing girls from other people. When we were dating, he tried to steal me away from him. Of course, I had no interest in the man and I made it clear. It came to its conclusion when he kissed me on the lips in front of Peter, and let's just say, his face got rearranged. Needless to say, he never did anything like that ever again."

I stared at Peter in shock. In the time I've known him, I never thought Peter would be capable of doing something like that. Then again, you never know what someone is capable of until you push them over the edge. And from the sounds of it, Peter certainly has a line that should never be crossed with him.

"Is that so?" I asked.

Peter nodded. "He was universally hated in the school so it should be no surprise that even the principal refused to take any action against me after I beat him. In fact, he dropped out of school because no one would do anything about it. I heard he's not doing well in life and is spending a lifetime in prison for attempted rape. I can't say I feel bad for him, but when you do things and think you can get away with it, it will bite you… hard."

I nodded. I never met the guy, but it was satisfying to hear that he got exactly what he deserved. Disgusting people like that man deserve such a fate. As I thought of that, I remembered someone from my past that I hadn't thought about in years.

His name is Kenny Wilds. He was a notorious bully from high school that would pick on you for pretty much anything. One day, he went too far by saying something nasty about Lisa. He ended up receiving a devastating beating from me. After that, I never saw him again.

The thing was when I went back to school, people were asking me about details over something that happened at the Pizzaplex. I had no idea what they were talking about. So I brush it aside. Now that I thought about it, maybe something did happen, but I just couldn't remember it at all.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard Peter ask me, his voice snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "I was thinking about a bully I used to know back in high school."

"Who might that be?" Bella asked.

"His name is Kenny Wilds," I said. "He was a very nasty kid who would pick on you for anything. For some reason, he liked picking on me the most. Of course, he would get the snout beaten out of him every time he did.

"One day, he said something about my sister that crossed the line. I responded by beating the shit out of him. I didn't want to drag people into my problems so I never revealed to my family the reason I did what I did. I was suspended for 3 days for that."

"Why didn't you tell them?" Bella asked, sounding surprised.

"I feared for what would happen if I did," I explained. "You will never know what someone is capable of. There are people out there who can become dangerous or even murderous over anything. I feared Kenny would try to do something so I did it to keep them safe. Plus, my father was the police chief at the time, and being a cop, you are bound to make a lot of enemies."

Peter and Bella looked at each other for a moment before looks of understanding formed on their faces. I was glad they understood, even if I had a gut feeling that they didn't agree with that kind of logic.

They looked back at me.

"I get where you're coming from," Peter said.

"So, what happened to him?" Bella asked.

I thought about it for a moment. To be honest, I haven't heard much about him. All I knew was that he was sent to boot camp after what he did at the Pizzaplex, though that was what I didn't know. I had to be honest; I had no idea how he was doing now. However, I preferred to not think about it.

"I don't know," I said with a shrug. "The only thing I do know was that he was sent to boot camp and nothing else. After graduating from high school, I never heard anything about him again. My school days were the worst so I try not to think anything about it. He was the worst of the school bullies I had so I'd forgotten about him until now."

They nodded in understanding. I sighed mentally. I was glad to see that they understood. Nobody likes to think about the days that they were bullied mercilessly by some asshole kid. It was those kinds of memories that people would rather forget.

None of us said anything as we sipped our tea. To be honest, I was secretly grateful for the silence. I wanted to clear my head and think of something to talk about that wouldn't bring up any bad memories in the long run. I would rather talk about positive things rather than something that would be bad.

"Hey, Mihael," suddenly came Bella's voice. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at her. She had a serious expression plastered on her face. I was taken aback by this. Something didn't seem right and I didn't like it.

"Yes?" I said slowly.

"There's something we need to tell you," Peter said suddenly. I looked to see him looking at me seriously. Whatever it was that they had to tell me, it had to be something big.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked. They hesitated for a moment before they looked me in the eyes.

"Did Roxy… ever tell you what happened before she went to the Pizzaplex to help you in your fight?" Bella asked. I looked at her for a moment before looking at Peter. I had a feeling about where this was going and it was something I wanted to ask Roxanne about but decided against it due to the timing.

"She did," I admitted. "She told me some of the important bits, but there was one thing she didn't tell and it was what you found that allowed William to hack her. I knew she was hiding something, but I decided to not push for it as I wanted to know what happened before she showed up and joined the fight. Did you find something that day?"

There was a long pause as I waited patiently for what they were going to tell me. Why they decided to bring this up so suddenly was beyond me, but I was secretly glad that I was going to get some answers.

Bella sighed, breaking the silence. "I did find something. It's… something I can't explain with words alone. I've been safeguarding it for quite some time. I never threw it away as I was afraid of what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. Do you want to see, Mihael?"

I went into deep thought as I looked at the backyard where Roxanne was still playing with the kids. As much as I wanted to wait and not ruin the fun mood that was there earlier, I wanted to know what it was that had been inside Roxanne that was allowing William to gain control of her. Whatever it was, I was going to talk to her about it later.

I turned my attention back to Bella, who was waiting patiently.

"Show me," I said slowly. Bella nodded and got up from her seat, heading towards their bedroom.

I sat there, not moving a muscle as I waited patiently. My heart began pounding in my chest, making my eardrums thump. I did my best to keep myself calm and composed. I couldn't explain why I was feeling this way. I was finally about to get some answers. Some of the truth was about to come to light.

Bella came back to the kitchen, her right hand clenched tightly. She stopped beside me, looking me in the eyes. I looked at her hand and waited for her to reveal what it was.

"This… this is what I found," Bella said. She opened her hand and I finally got to see what it was.

It was a small microchip about the size of a fingernail that was shining a sinister purple. Sparks of energy emitted from the thing. As I stared at the thing, I felt a corrupting aura flowing from the thing, like it wanted to invade my mind.

I continued to stare at it for a moment before I looked Bella in the eyes.

"Where did you find it?" I asked.

"In the back of her endo head," Bella explained. "The wires showed signs of tampering, meaning someone refigured the wires to be fully connected to it. To make it even worse, it was attached to her AI programming, allowing someone to take control and rob her of her free will at any time. She was being turned into a robotic proxy by William, a slave to his will.

"I did more work on it over the coming months and it looks like it was designed to slowly and permanently erase the victim's memories and personality completely once fully hacked. It's complicated but I know this is the sole reason for what happened several months ago at the Pizzaplex."

I slowly took the chip from her hand and held it in the palm of my hand. Just by holding it, I could sense how dangerous it was. It was like holding a Saw-Scaled Viper with one hand. To think such a thing was inside Roxanne the entire time was both terrifying and disturbing. It was crazy to think that this thing was the culprit for Willaim's hold on Roxanne.

As that thought ran through my head, something clicked in my head. A sudden realization that almost made me drop the chip. If this microchip was the reason for William's hold on Roxanne, it might also be the reason why Roxanne couldn't remember anything from that night and why access to her memory banks was blocked. Now that it was out, it meant only one thing; Roxanne remembers what happened on the night of the security breach.

I did my best to keep my composure though I had a feeling that I was failing miserably. All of this was crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. If she remembers, we will finally know what happened that night. The questions will finally be answered. However, the timing wasn't perfect at the moment.

I composed myself before looking Bella in the eyes. A soft smile formed on my face. I saw a small one form on her face as well.

"Thank you for telling me this," I said. "It certainly explains why Roxanne was hesitant to tell me about this."

"We were going to tell you later, but Peter and I thought it would be better to tell you now," Bella said. I nodded, understanding the reason fully.

I looked back at the chip and thought about how the hell it had gotten there in the first place. On top of that, it bugged me that it had been attached to her endo head and the wires were tampered to be connected to her AI. Someone had done it but the question was who did it?

As I thought about it, I thought back to what happened months ago. I remembered the things my mother told me, as well as Kyle. As I did, a sudden realization hit me. I remembered that someone had been there that night. The one person who had some of the answers I needed. Vanessa.

Vanessa was the former security guard during the time the kids had been going missing. The morning after the breach, Vanessa confessed to being the one who was responsible for the missing kids. She admitted to Kyle that she did it and that William Afton forced her to do those things. At the time, he thought she was crazy until it was proven right.

I mentally sighed. I wished I could remember what happened on the night of the breach. Although the truth might be hard to handle, it was better than being stuck with memory loss. I wanted answers and the truth. Although I knew Vanessa had some of the answers I'd been looking for, I had a gut feeling that she wasn't going to tell me anything since I didn't remember anything. Even if I showed her the chip, it wouldn't be enough. I needed to remember crucial moments if I wanted to get her to talk.

I snapped out of my thoughts before looking back at them.

"Hey, you don't mind if I take this home?" I asked. "It might help me in the future. I can't say how though."

They looked at each other for a moment before they looked back at me and nodded. I stuffed the chip in the small pocket that was in my right pocket. That way, I can lower the risk of losing it.

The sound of the sliding glass door caught our attention. I looked in time to see Roxanne and the kids coming back inside. The smiles on their faces almost made me forget what I was thinking about.

The boy and the girl were Emmett and Tara Brown, the only children of Peter and Bella.

Emmett Brown was a 10-year-old little boy with a baby face, smooth black hair, and amber eyes. He was the sweetest, and most selfless little boy I've ever met. It was a blessing in disguise for them to have a son like him.

Tara Brown, who had just turned 10 on the 2nd of this month, was a girl with a pretty face, long blonde hair, and light blue eyes. While she was as kind as her brother, she was a bit vain when it came to her looks. She did brag about it, but those moments were few and far between.

"Hey, kids," Peter began. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah!" they shouted at the same time. My smile grew some more at the sight. It was then I remembered that Roxanne and I had to head home. The last thing I needed was for my mother to grow worried, despite her knowing where I was.

I sipped the last of my tea and looked at Peter and Bella.

"Thank you for having us here," I said. "However, Roxanne and I need to leave. My mother is expecting us."

"It was nice having you both here," Peter said.

"Come back soon," Bella said. I nodded in agreement.

Roxanne walked over to my side and held my right hand. I held hers as we both walked out of the house, closing the door behind us. Once we were out, I remembered I promised my mother that I would call her to let her when we would be on the way home. I pulled out my phone and dialed my mom's number. It rang a little before a click went off.

"Hello?" came my mother's voice.

"Hey, Mom, it's me," I began to say. "I'm just calling to let you know that Roxanne and I are on the way home. We should be there in about a few minutes."

There was a short pause on the other end.

"Okay, Mihael," she said. "Be safe."

"I will," I said before I hung up. I looked at Roxanne and nodded. She nodded in acknowledgment. With that, we began heading over to the truck that was parked in the driveway of the house.

I drove down the road that led back to the family home, my eyes glued on the road. I didn't have to look to know that Roxanne was staring out the window at the scenery, something she loved doing whenever we drove anywhere. She was always fascinated by the world around her, which I couldn't blame her. Having spent 12 years in the Mega Pizzaplex would do that.

A traffic light ahead turned red, forcing me to stop the truck. Once it came to a stop, I waited patiently for the light to turn green. I took that time to look at Roxanne, who was indeed looking out the window. I mentally chuckled to myself at that before turning my attention back to the road ahead of me.

As I waited, I thought about the chip I had in my pocket. As much as I wanted to talk to Roxanne about it, I didn't want to ruin the happy vibe that was in the air right now. It wouldn't be right to do so. It would also bring back bad memories.

"Mihael, are you okay, hun?" I heard Roxanne ask. I looked to see a concerned expression plastered on her face. As much as I didn't want to, Roxanne knew that I was hiding something if I had whatever look I had on my face.

I sighed, knowing there was no way around it. I looked her in the eyes.

"Well, Peter and Bella told me something a while before you and the kids came back in," I said. "And it had something to do with what happened a few months ago." I looked her dead in the eyes. "Do you remember what you told me back at the hospital? That they had found something?"

It took Roxanne a moment to get where I was going. An expression of shame formed on her face, her ears lowering. Something told me that she thought I was angry or something. That was the only thing I could think of.

"They told you, didn't they?" she asked, her voice pained.

"They did, Roxanne," I admitted. "They also showed me what it was they found. I have it in my pocket as we speak. Tell me, was the chip the reason why you didn't tell me about it?"

She looked down for a moment, the expression on her face worsening with each second. That was all the confirmation I needed to know that it was the reason for her not telling me about it back at the hospital. I looked away in time to see it turn green. I put my foot on the gas and the truck began to move.

None of us said anything. Silence took over. As much as I wanted to take a peek and see if Roxanne was okay, I didn't dare take my eyes off the road. You should always be vigilant and focused on the road. Just taking your eyes off the road or becoming distracted for even a second leads to life or death.

All I could was imagine what could be going through her head. I had no doubt that Roxanne knew that I was aware that now that the chip had been removed, she remembered everything of that night. As I thought about that, I mentally slapped myself for even bringing it up. Then again, I couldn't beat around the bush since Roxanne knew me well.

"Mihael?" I heard Roxanne whimper. I didn't take my eyes off the road, despite the ache in my heart upon hearing that whimper.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Do you… hate me?" she suddenly asked. It took everything I had to not hit the brakes and cause an accident at that. The suddenness of the question took me by surprise. I wanted to look at her, but my eyes were glued to the road.

"Why would you think that?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"I've… I've been wanting to tell you about it for some time, but I haven't been able to find a good time to do so," Roxanne explained. "I know you hate it when things are being hidden from you, but I've been so focused on our relationship that I haven't been able to get the courage to pull you aside and talk about it. You must hate me about it now."

I didn't say anything. Silence once again took over. As it did, I thought about what she said just now.

She was right about one thing; I did hate it when things were kept from me. When people hide things from you, it is either out of fear of the reaction or the consequences that come with it. Regardless of the reason, it is never right to hide the truth for the truth has a way of coming out of the shadows.

When Roxanne and I started this relationship, I wanted it to be based on honesty, trust, inquiry before judgment, loyalty, and love. She agreed that it should be that way. That meant no lying, no jumping to conclusions, and being there for each other no matter what.

I sighed. If the situation was different than it was right now, I would've reacted without thinking. However, I understood the reason for Roxanne not telling me anything. Acting like a man-child wasn't going to go well for me.

"Roxanne, I don't hate you, and don't ever think I will," I said in a firm tone.

"What?" she gasped. "But, you-"

"I understand the reason for it, Roxanne," I said, my tone firmer. "The timing wasn't right and I didn't push for it. We have been too focused on the future to even think about it. One way or another, we will have to talk about it at some point. Right now isn't the time for it."

A traffic light up ahead turned red. I stopped the truck and began to wait. I took that time to look at Roxanne. She had oily tears streaming down her face, a guilty expression plastered on it. She looked away from me, but I leaned forward and placed a hand on her cheek, forcing her to look at me.

"Roxanne, I'm not mad at you in the slightest," I said strongly. "Don't blame yourself for failing to tell me about the microchip when you had the chance to do so. I truly understand that talking about something like this is never easy and it's hard to know when it is a good time. So, wipe those tears away and be assured that I will never judge you."

Roxanne blinked a few times before closing her eyes. More of those tears began trailing down her face before she nodded her head. I let go of her face and focused my attention on the road just in time to see the light turn green. I slowly hit the gas and it began to move.

None of us said anything for a moment. The silence was becoming a bit tense. I wanted to look, but I refused. I could only hope that she was feeling a little better from what I just said. I wanted her to be happy and not worry about me being mad over something like this. I knew that Roxanne was a bit insecure about certain things, something I learned months ago, but I could only hope that it would not be enough to ruin our day.

"I love you so, so much, Mihael," I heard Roxanne whisper. "I hope nothing will tear us apart."

I smiled at that. In the corner of my eye, I see her reaching out for my hand. I took my right hand off the wheel and held it tightly for a moment. I rubbed it softly as a way to comfort her.

"I love you the same," I said as I continued the drive back to my mother's house.