Obviously, that was one of the classrooms located in the hallway past the cafeteria.
Arriving at the door, I caught the glimpse of the classroom’s number, from a small plate above the door frame.
I opened the door, seeing Samantha, sitting at a desk and Marianne Whitmore, standing behind the teacher’s desk.
“Hi, Derek,” Marianne said, smiling sympathetically. “Glad you’re here.”
After closing the door, Samantha flashed me an assuring smile as I drew toward the front row. There I picked a seat at a desk next to her. I remained placid, but also alert.
“I won’t be taking much of your lunchtime,” the teacher added, coming around the desk, then sitting on the front edge.
“What’s going on? And who are you?” I asked, frowning.
“I’m the one who sent you the message, just now, Derek,” Marianne explained, suddenly removing her glasses and brown wig, revealing red hair, instead.
Samantha didn’t seem so surprised to be looking at an older version of herself.
The older Samantha drew toward her younger self, handing a X-Agency watch. “Here, trust no one.” She then turned to me. “Now, you understand what seemed so familiar about me.”
Samantha gazed carefully at her new watch. “How do I use this?” she asked.
“I’ll leave that task to Derek,” old Samantha said.
I nodded gently.
“I’m here this week to watch over you two,” she went on. “And for you, Derek, to watch over her,” she added, pointing Samantha. “We continue to protect you from Elites. Believe me when I tell you that some of them may be present in this school, or around the area. No matter what their age. Just keep your eyes open.”
“Is there an easy way to identify them?” I questioned.
Old Samantha shook her head, throwing quick a glance at the door’s tiny window.
For Samantha, I knew this was awful news to her, looking uneasy, her arms around herself, gazing around gloomily.
“Samantha’s training has to begin immediately,” old Samantha told me. “I also need you to take care of that, Derek.”
I gave it a nod, glancing worriedly at my girlfriend.
“I have so many questions flooding my mind right now. I just don’t know where to start,” Samantha cried.
“I understand that, sweetie,” old Samantha uttered compassionately. “I promise you, we’ll find those answers together. Just not here and not now. It’s too risky.”
“Does Lab 58 ring the bell?” I asked.
“Yes it does, but we’ll get to that, Derek,” old Samantha said, slipping on her glasses and placing her brown wig over her head. “In the meantime, you two go have lunch,” she added as quickly as she stepped out of the classroom.
“You wanna go out to eat?” I asked Samantha.
She nodded unquestionably. “Anything’s better than staying here.”
CHAPTER 61
“We’re in this together, now,” Samantha said, swallowing a French fry.
Sitting at a booth away from the windows, I took the time of swallowing my last bite of steak pita, gazing around the diner. Then I brought my eyes back at Samantha.
“How are you feeling about all this?” I asked her.
She rolled her eyes in thoughts. “It’s both scary and exciting,” she almost whispered. “Here I have an opportunity to live an outrageous life, completely out of the ordinary, instead making a little money and living the normal and dull life that most people have. Here I am, at the verge of discovering my new powers. Having the potential to save others and becoming part of a secret government organization.” She sighed. “But in the other hand, all of this is happening way too fast. I was leading a normal life before I went to bed, last night.”
“You were leading a normal life before you knew about me, Samantha,” I told her.
She nodded in agreement. “But what I’m afraid of is how all of this will fit into our lives.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Our future, Derek. What will happen to us?” she wondered. “We will have to live a life of secrecy. Keeping secrets from our family and friends. What if I want a family some day?”
“What I’m worried about, right now, is you,” I said. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Well, if we look the bright side of it, I’ll be going into training, soon. I’ll learn whatever there is to learn and be able to defend myself. That should make you less worried. Wouldn’t it?” she cackled.
“Time will tell to see where all of this will lead us,” I said. “Meanwhile, let’s take a step at a time.”
“We could always go ahead of time to see how things will turn out,” she suggested.
I shook my head. “You can’t take the future for granted,” I explained. “Every time you look into the future, you change something, whether slightly or tremendously.”
“I see,” she said. “Also, by being aware of upcoming events, you take away hope.”
I nodded. “Lab 58,” whispered.
“What about it?” she asked.
“What could, possibly, be behind that door?” I wondered, falling into profound thoughts about it. “Can it be the answer? Where it all began?”
“Maybe … I … hm.”
“From what I understand, I have it, my brother also has it, but hasn’t been developed yet. It’s something that we’re born with and comes into effect around the age of seventeen, or perhaps earlier. It happened to me only once when I was twelve.” I sighed. “Somehow, I’m not so sure that the gene came from my parents. And now, it’s also part of you, Samantha.”
“I’m sure it will soon be explained to us,” Samantha said.
“And I have a hunch that we’ll be finding the answers ourselves. I want to get to the bottom of this.”
CHAPTER 62
As the day of school ended, I was on my way to take Samantha to the X-Agency facility.
I arrived at her locker, carrying my backpack to my shoulder. The area was swarmed with people, ready to leave for the evening.
Samantha slipped on her jacket, and had just finished packing her bag, then swinging it onto her shoulder.
“Ready to go?” I asked her.
She nodded, smiling.
“Come with me,” I told her.
We strutted our way through the crowd, heading toward another part of the school – a quiet location to transmit discreetly. Borrowing a few steps down to empty hallways, we headed toward the trade school part from within our school. We turned into another corridor, walking toward and exit door.
“You wanna get something to eat, before we go there?” I asked.
Samantha stared at me with a smiling frown. “No, I’m fine. But if you’re hungry, sweetie, I could make you a sandwich if we make a stop at home for a few minutes.”
“No, I’ll be all right,” I affirmed, smiling.
We held hands, walking the next few steps, then vanishing within a blue flash of light.
We stumbled into my office at the facility.
“My God! This is it?” Samantha hurled, glancing at every corner.
“No, this is just my office,” I said.
“There’s no door or window anywhere!”
“This way,” I said, pointing the wall opposite the desk.
We headed forward as the tiles unclasped themselves apart, forming a doorway. Samantha’s eyes grew as wide as they could possibly be.
Entering the white corridor, we strolled among various X-Agency members, circulating to all directions as we crossed several intersections. We continued into the long corridor, heading toward the end, soon arriving at a white door. The entire opaque door systematically divided into tiles, folding themselves away to from another doorway.
“This is truly amazing!” Samantha exclaimed in low voice.
“Derek!” old Derek greeted, with an inviting gesture. “Come in.”
“I hope we’re not disturbing,” I said.
“Not at al
l,” he replied.
“Is that … you?” Samantha asked me.
“Yup,” I told her.
She gazed all around the office, admiring the colorful holographic decor – deep into a rainforest, at the edge of a huge rock, where a tiny creek flowed from a few narrow waterfalls. She even smiled at the little chirping bird, flying graciously, close by.
Old Derek stood up from his desk and drew a few steps forward. He threw a glance at Samantha, sending her a greeting nod.
“Obviously, I’m aware of Samantha’s new condition,” he said.
“Actually, I have something that has been wrecking my brain, lately.”
“I know, Lab 58?” he said. “Up to now, Samantha is the only one who’s ever came face to that door. The rest of us encountered the same situations by appearing elsewhere within that same building.”
“And how in the world did I get there?” Samantha demanded.
“You transmitted yourself,” old Derek explained.
“But it all happened beyond my control! Something took me away and brought me back in my room,” she replied.
“And why do we always first appear in that building?” I asked.
“The origins of that gene are still unclear to us,” old Derek stated. “But the gene is owned and maintained by a secret government division. No knowledge where it’s from and who or what made it. And why always that same building you ask? We do know that the gene carries an unknown genetically transmitted memory.”
Samantha and I glanced at each other, astoundingly.
“If you’d like, there’s a good deal of documented information about the subject, from our computers,” old Derek added.
“Great. I’ll look it up,” I said.
CHAPTER 63
A moment later, Samantha and I, entered the simulation hall.
“It feels quite comfortable,” Samantha said, moving around, strapped into her own armored suit. “But isn’t there a helmet, along with the suit?”
“Yes, there is,” I replied, letting my helmet shape itself to my head.
“Whoa … How does it work?”
“You have to feel it. Just imagine that you have an arm on your upper back, between your shoulders. The suit senses specific signals from your brain as the helmet acts like an electronic prosthesis.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed, frowning. “Kind of creepy in some way.”
I smiled at her.
“I think I got it,” she said as the helmet finally shaped itself to her head. “This is cool!”
Then we folded away our helmets for the first exercise.
“Now we’re gonna start with something simple,” I said. “Like transmitting yourself from here, to there.” I pointed the other end of the hall.
Samantha seemed skeptical, rubbing her hands together. “And I could do this, right?”
“I believe you can. But take your time. It’s not a speeding test.”
“But how do I start?”
“You first transmitted yourself while you were asleep. Obviously, you wouldn’t remember how you did it. Now that you’re awake, you need to concentrate. From my first experience, It was easier for me to concentrate with my eyes closed. And eventually, you’ll be doing it with your eyes open.”
“All right,” she said.
“By closing your eyes, envision that you're sweeping from where you are all the way to the other end of the hall. Then feel that you’re already there.”
Samantha nodded.
I drew a few steps away, giving her some space. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
A long minute went by with nothing happening.
“This isn’t working,” she cried.
“You may feel nervous at the beginning for not knowing what it really is. But it’s normal. Trust me.”
Once again, she tried. And nothing happened.
But she kept going.
Taking the time and patience she needed to figure it out on her own. Then after some time of trying and retrying, she stood once again with her eyes closed, concentrating. She abruptly reopened her eyes, being startled from sudden faint sparks around her.
“What was that?” she asked.
“You’re almost there, Samantha,” I told her.
She kept on trying.
Then within a minute, Samantha suddenly vanished in a blue flash of light, and reappeared at the other end of the hall.
She was going to run back toward me, but stopped, walking back to her spot. She then transmitted herself back to her initial spot.
“I did it!” she shouted, throwing herself into my arms.
“I knew you could do it,” I said.
“This is great! I want to practice some more.”
The training continued for another full hour. Samantha was quickly gaining confidence, and already increasing her speed.
Before we left the facility, Samantha and I headed back at my office. From my desk, I accessed, through the holographic main menu, anything I could find on the transmitting gene – many folders containing documents, other records and even video files.
I was able to transfer whatever I needed directly to my watch.
“What are you doing?” Samantha almost whispered. “Are you looking up information about our genetics?”
“I’m gathering any information I could find,” I said. “I’ll be done in a few seconds.”
CHAPTER 64
During that night, my eyes suddenly opened at three forty-one in the morning. Staring up at the ceiling, I tried shutting my eyes and fall back to sleep, telling myself to relax and let myself slip away to the land of dreams. But after some time of tossing and turning, I just had to open my eyes again, with my alarm clock now showing, three fifty-two in the morning.
The many times I had trouble falling back to sleep was the cause of having a particular idea roaming my mind. I was having a trouble getting rid of the thought, for now, unable to relax and wait until later.
For me the time was now.
I sat up, slipped on my glasses from my nightstand and swung my bare feet out of bed. Then I went to my desk, where I left my watch. I sat down, tapping the X, accessing the main menu. From there I navigated through the files I had copied from the facility. Besides scanning through multiple documents, I got to the video files folder. The folder contained close to five hundred videos.
As I passed through several of them, mostly skipping forward through their lengths, the files were archived footage on various tests performed on humans, not animals. I hadn’t surfed my way through the entire flock of videos. But still, I had not yet caught a glimpse of information about the genetic origin.
I sat back, my arms crossed, with my eyes watching a video from a holographic display, vertically emerged from my watch.
There was a heavy bearded scientist, with round glasses and a head-full of curly hair – practically a hairball – introducing the upcoming experiment to the camera. Behind him sat a middle-aged man, dressed in a blue medical uniform.
“This is the X-Agency project and right now, it’s two-fifteen in the morning, and we’re about to proceed with test number: three hundred and thirty-two,” the scientist spoke exhaustively. “We will begin by performing an injection to our patient, which the experiment itself will result into a mutation, due to DNA resequencing.”
The patient was led by a male assistant in uniform, to lie down on a table. The patient was then strapped from chest to ankle.
The scientist tapped a finger to a syringe, containing a bright-blue substance. After carefully eyeballing the liquid within the syringe, he then handed it to his assistant. The assistant had wrapped an elastic above the patient’s elbow for the vein to bulge. Then the assistant inserted the needle, injecting the substance into the patient’s veins. The elastic was then removed. All members remained immobile, waiting for the substance to take effect.
But after a few short seconds, the patient began to cough, trying to break free from the straps. Then pressure began to rise, making th
e man’s face intensively red.
“All right, everyone just calm down,” the scientist shouted. “Just give him a Batch-Five formula. It will neutralize the entire process.”
The patient received a second injection, which took effect almost immediately, calming him down, his face back to its usual color. The assistant removed the straps as the patient slowly sat up. He then suddenly blew out a loud burp, followed by vomiting to the floor.
Time Leap: A Teen Superheroes Saga Page 14
