Fallen Star

Chapter 21

"What is this...?"

Sayuri's words barely registered in my head. My feet were planted at the entrance, superglued to the ground as a shock of ice water was dumped across my head and froze me to my core. I could feel the grip on my flashlight slackening but at this point, it wasn't needed anymore.

This could not be happening.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing in front of me. No, this was absolutely impossible. My stiff legs somehow took a step back and my shaking hands dropped the flashlight, causing its glow to flicker into non-existence. My throat was as dry as the lost Sahara and open in a silent scream. My heart was pounding against my chest as if I was going into anaphylactic shock and horror was running through my blood like adrenaline.

It was like seeing the blood and hearing the screams in Alpha all over again, except this time it was so, so much worse. And it was real.

Tubes.

Four of them in total, two on each side of the room, glowing and bubbling and filled with a mysterious neon green liquid. Inside of the tubes were people.

It was clear that they were dead, indicative of the open gunshot wounds in their heads or hearts that had been cleaned up and dressed but still adorned the corpses as scars. Some of them had missing limbs and one's neck was completely blown open; their head was connected to their body by a mere thread.

The flashbacks were beginning.

Screams. Fury. Desperation. Fear. The memories of panicked running and sobbing, of people screaming and fighting. People dying at my feet as tears streamed down my face. And his words as he handed me his pendant.

"Hiro! You need to get out of here!"

"What!? No! I can't just leave you! I won't!"

"Hiro, listen to me! You have the brightest future ahead of you. Take this." It was his pendant, the bright blue aquamarine one that shone with all the colors of the bright ocean. I had never seen him go a day without wearing it. "Go to the city of dreams." He smiled ruefully. "Forgive them, Hiro, and live."

That same pendant was safely stored in my pocket. It was the same one I'd recovered from the wooden chest in my room and used as a cheat ticket to safely arrive in Alpha City. It was the same one I used to get me through this entire ordeal with Emyr and the Memory Keys as an unmoving rock of confidence I could draw upon. It was his last gift to me and his courage came with it. It was proof that I carried on his will despite having failed to do so for the past five years. I reached into my pocket and held my pendant in my fist. It seemed to radiate heat, and that warmth was the only thing keeping me from going insane right now.

"Ah, welcome. I was wondering when you'd return and find this place, Shooting Star."

I bristled as Sayuri whipped around. That was not a voice I recognized. Who was it? Who dared...

It was a wizened old scientist with deep wrinkles and thick goggles that obscured both his eyes and the upper half of his face. He wore thick rubber black gloves alongside his standard white lab coat (which was really just a rehashed white curtain) accompanied by big yellow rain boots. This ragtag, recycled ensemble told me that he was probably indigenous to Omega. Alphas would wear something more sophisticated and professional. Behind him were none other than, you guessed it, Emyr and his cloaked companion.

"What do you think you're doing here!?" Emyr hissed. I finally found my voice and when I spoke, it was low, dangerous, and full of fury.

"That's what I should be asking you! You don't belong here! This entire... Laboratory," I waved my hand around me, "shouldn't be here! What is this place and what do you think you're doing to these people!?"