"Who's that?" Jade asks with wide eyes.
"I don't know. But let's find out."
Jade nods and hides behind Jesy as they approach the front door cautiously. The doorbell kept on ringing, making the DNA detector alarm warn them over and over again.
When Jesy looked through the monitor, "It's Leigh-Anne!"
"Then open it!"
"Are you bloody kidding me? Her DNA is recorded, but the detector couldn't identify her."
"But you can see her in the camera." Jade argued.
"Cameras can be hacked, Jade, that's why we only use it as secondary security. You can–"
"JESY!!! I SWEAR, IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DAMNED DOOR, I'LL USE MY BOMB LAUNCHER TO OPEN IT! YOUR SHITTY DNA DETECTOR IS MALFUNCTIONING AGAIN!!"
Jesy and Jade stopped their banter when they heard Leigh's loud voice through the intercom.
"Okay, my bad...that's definitely Leigh-Anne." Jesy declared.
"You should have a temper detector instead of a DNA detector, Jes," Jade suggests.
As soon as Jesy unlocked and opened her door, they were greeted by a stomping, crossed-armed, pissed-looking Leigh-Anne.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?! The other day I went to your place, Jade, and you welcomed me with a gun pointed between my eyes!" Leigh said with a huff. Jesy's eyes lit up and widened as she looked at Jade like a proud mom for teaching her kid the right thing to do.
Leigh turned to Jesy, "And you, Jesminda! How many times do I have to tell you that you don't need a DNA detector. You're just wasting your money on this piece of shit – it's faulty, it's inaccurate, and rude! I've been coming here almost every day and that douche couldn't do the only job it's supposed to do!"
The two women stared wordlessly as Leigh-Anne continued to rant in front of them. Jesy made an exit to grab a drink.
"We're now living in a very peaceful place and time. You can't live like you used–"
"Here, have a doughnut." Leigh-Anne was cut off by Jesy shoving food in her mouth. "I made orange juice for you – fresh orange juice – so stop waking up the universe with your rocket launcher. I'm taking down that douche tomorrow. And there's a reason why I like the nighttime, Leigh-Anne. And it's to get rid of that kind of mouth!"
Jade laughed at her two friends. Leigh tried to say something but because of the doughnut, her voice was muffled.
"Just drink your orange juice, Leigh," Jesy rolled her eyes. "Sit down, calm yourself, then tell me why you're here. Bad dreams? Blocked drains? Gas leak? Ghost problems? Gray problems?"
"Ugghhh..." Leigh scrunched up her nose in disgust. "What's with your orange juice?"
"Vodka." Jesy simply answered, while Leigh-Anne made a face at the glass she's holding. Jesy raised her eyebrow in question.
After Leigh is done eating, she takes out her old time device from her pocket. She hasn't used it since Perrie died. All of them, actually, deactivated their time devices since that day. There was an executive order and law in place that forbid anyone from the space cities to use the time device.
Only Taylor was brave and a rebel enough to use it without anyone noticing her, not even The Faction.
"I received a signal from T-Swift," Leigh announced. "I think she's trying to contact us. I actually don't know that she's traveling. Why is she traveling? Do any of you know about this?"
"Uhm–" Jade was about to speak but was cut-off by Jesy.
"Uh-uh, nope." Jesy said, shaking her head. Leigh studies both of her friends, trying to sense if they're lying.
"Anyway, look..." Leigh presses a button and Taylor's recorded hologram appears. The signal seemed to be weak as there were glitches in her hologram.
"Guys – need your help. I can't go back – I think somebody from The Faction found out. I used the time device. They disconnect – and now I'm stuck here. Please – Jade that I need her help. How she got the inactive time device to work before – my location – Earth, April 9th year 2511. I'm sor – ry."
"She's in 2511...that's 3 years back!" Jesy gasped.
"What is she doing there?" Leigh questioned.
"Going back to The Microcircuit days. That was the year when T-Swift succeeded in uploading it to Perrie. That's when Perrie came back from..." Jesy grew silent towards the end of her sentence.
"But...The Microcircuit doesn't exist anymore. It never did." Leigh retorts.
Jesy taps her chin, "I know..."
"April 9th 2511..." Jade whispers to herself but the two women heard her, so they whipped their heads at her. Jade stood up and grabbed the book. "April 9th 2511..."
The two women were still clueless what the brunette was talking about. Jade opened the book to the same page where she found the tomato.
"April 9, 2511! OH MY GOD!!!" Jade's hand flew to her mouth.
"What? You're creeping me out!" Jesy shrieked. "And I don't get scared that easily but you're–"
"Jesy!!!" Jade screamed.
"What's going on?" Leigh asked, looking between Jesy and Jade.
"Something about Perrie's tomato telling her something from the book," Jesy tried to explain to Leigh.
Leigh tilts her head, confused as ever, "What?" Jesy stood up and sat beside Jade, Leigh followed.
"April is the fourth month of the year – that's Chapter 4," Jade began. "The page – which is 911 is telling me about the exact date and year -that's 9-11. And this book is the twenty-fifth edition! It's the same date and year that Taylor just said – April 9, 2511!!!
"Oh-kay? And then?" Jesy asks.
"I think Perrie is trying to tell me to stop what I'm doing and jumpstart my time device so I can help her sister get back here." Jade concluded.
They were startled when Jesy clapped once loudly, "Thirlwall, you are a genius!!"
"I gotta go..." Jade closed the book. "I'll fix my time device and help get T-Swift back. I'm pretty sure she's onto something." She then rushed out of the house, leaving Jesy extremely proud of her, and Leigh-Anne who was still utterly confused at what's going on.
"What was that?" Leigh turned to Jesy. "Perrie tried to talk to her?"
"Yeah, they talked through a tomato." Jesy answered.
"What?!" Leigh became more confused than ever when Jade came back inside and grabbed Leigh-Anne by the wrist.
"You wanna know everything?" Jade asks.
"Yeah, of course!"
"Then come with me to my house. I'll tell you everything." Leigh couldn't do anything as Jade was already dragging her out of Jesy's house.
"She's just afraid of the ghost, Leigh!" Jesy shouts from the door. "That's why she needs your company!" she snickered.
"Shut up, Jes!!!" Jade shouts back.
☆
Jumpstarting the time device is just an easy task for Jade. From the length of time she studied how it works, Jade knows the time device like the back of her hand. She knows how to tweak it and she's developed a technique of her own to make the device work again. The good thing about refurbishing the dead time device that Taylor gave her, any of her activities of time hopping is undetectable by The Faction.
That's why she was able to use it one time without the Faction knowing that she isn't originally from that time. However, after she arrived at Exobase City, she deactivated the time device once more, thinking that she wouldn't ever need it again.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you and get T-Swift?" Leigh-Anne asks, concern was written all over her face.
Jade shakes her head, "Jesy needs you. She may not admit it, but I don't want her to be left alone here. And I may need your help, too, in case something happens to me and T-Swift in–"
"Nothing–" Leigh grips the brunette's shoulder. "Nothing will happen to you and T-Swift."
"You don't know that–"
Leigh raises her perfect eyebrow, "You don't want to argue with me, do you?"
Jade studies Leigh's unwavering stare. Even if the caramel-skinned woman had temper issues, she cares a lot for her friends. Jade couldn't do anything but heave a deep breath.
"No..."
"Good. Now, go...save your lover's sister!"
Jade nods. "In case Perrie gave you signs or something, pay attention, okay?"
Leigh wasn't able to throw back a witty remark because Jade already disappeared after pushing a button on the time device. She's left in the brunette's lab, too silent for her liking as she tries to sense her surroundings.
"Nope! Not me, Edwards, don't you dare scare me or I'll cremate your body right here, right now." She threatened.
Then, all of a sudden, a pen dropped from the table and rolled on the floor. Leigh didn't move, instead, she stared at the pen.
When an object drops from a high surface, depending on how high that surface is, that object should eventually stop rolling. However, it was a bit odd that the pen kept on rolling in her direction, which made her take a few steps backward. She then dashed out of the lab.
"I'm just kidding!!! Byeeeee!!!" she shrieked as she ran out of Jade's house and straight to her car.
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♫ Into Your Arms - Witt Lowry ft. Ava Max