Fan Fiction ❯ Human Alloy ❯ Breakfast Plans ( Chapter 5 )

“Maybe, but still….” I was astounded. Curse Yue for making me go commando. Kane had walked in brandishing a silver halter top, a long white skirt with pale pink rose trim going from the left hip, across the width of the skirt and wrapping around the hem, and a choker collar with a fat ovular ruby in the center. His hair was still down and wild. He wore sandals, I noticed, as well as being ornamented with his usual array of jewelry: earrings, bracelets, and rings. Kane's appearance seemed bright and lively due to his lightly applied amount of make up.

 

“Well, well! A new flower for you garden I suppose, eh Yue?” Root chuckled, kicking back a chair under the table for Kane to occupy. I noticed a slight blanch in my friend's countenance, but it was quickly concealed as he grinned, taking his place at the table.

 

Yue returned from the stove, several plates being carried on his arms. He set them down gently, trying not to spill any of the contents.

 

“Here you are,” he told me quietly, a plate of toast with jam, a large piece of some kind of fruit, melon, I think, and several sausage patties next to a small pile of fluffy scrambled eggs. Yue served us drinks, primarily milk and orange juice, before he sat himself down with us to join in our early morning dining. Everyone sat in the same order that we had sat in last night. Suddenly I felt very self-conscious, eating as if under careful surveillance and continuously straightening my clothes or my napkin. I felt nervous. The window across the table behind Yue was tinted, and it reflected an early morning grey, as if the sky were deciding between raining or giving us a blue skied day.

 

Kane also seemed extremely aware of himself, losing all of his flamboyancy like a deflated balloon loses all of its helium; he pecked at his food like a bird. Amidst all tensions, I became distracted by my meal. The whole milk was thick, creamy, and sweet; the sausage reeked of flavor and spices, and I savored every bite for so long that I soon noticed everyone else was nearly finished eating. Talk had made itself scarce, for only the sounds of forks, knives, and people chewing filled the table. I had only the pallid orange fruit left for consuming. Deciding against offending anyone by not eating the melon, I bit into its soft flesh to discover it was sweet and juicy. Yue watched as I experimentally tried the rind, he suppressing a laugh as he saw me chew it unpleasantly. He made up for it by coughing and swallowing a mouthful of milk to preserve the silence.

 

Root glanced around the breakfast table once he had finished his meal, now worrying over a cup of coffee. Yue again cleared our dishes.

 

“Well, now that we've been fed and well slept, we can discuss the matters at hand,” he said gruffly. As the raven haired boy obediently cleaned the kitchen and put away the eating utensils, Root began the conversation I had been dying to learn about.

 

“I believe we may be able to act now with our mission; it won't be difficult and doesn't require extensive planning. Most people throughout R.A.D.A.R. don't even know us and those that do, have no idea about our intentions.” The general paused to sip his drink from his white China cup. “Therefore I don't think it will be a problem with abducting a Mecha-Pet or two and filching some more information. Gin, please describe what you've learned.” Root looked expectantly at the girl.

 

“Ay Capt'in. Well sir, I don't think we'd `ave a prob'em getting' by `cause ain't nobody's expectin' us. They don't think we'd be comin' back so soon, ya see? Aniways, Mista' Q's wanting' to rec-reate an `uman robot, for `is fancies I suppose. Kane `ere and Jeanie boy is startin on `em now, ain'tcha?” Gin explained, gesticulating and looking at Kane and me in turn.

 

I nodded, the tension quickly returning, my mouth dry. Yue placed pale hands on my shoulders, and I shivered at his sudden touch.

 

“Yes we are,” Kane replied, blonde hair falling across his face as he nodded.

 

“Yeah, well Mista' Q's plans are ta service them robots to the people. He ain't gonna make em do real terrible stuffs like us; he's just gonna have `em rep-rogrammed to disobeys some, so then people would be sendin' em back and payin' him money to fix `is robots that `e originally screwed up! So, `e's goin' on about these new feacha's….” Gin babbled on, and my mind began to wander, thinking about Yue's gardens and how I wished I could have relived that evening with him.

 

“….will need a map of the upper floors….”

 

“….granted access. I can show you….”

 

“….have you heard….?”

 

“….running around, yeah I have!”

 

“What do you think Jean? You said there was an odd image of something on your screen yesterday when we were at the lab on the computer, didn't you?” Kane asked, holding my hand with his.

 

“Oh, uh, yeah. There was this image of something on the screen…. looked like some sort of leopard or large cat. It was a Mecha-Pet, I think, but I don't really know; it only showed up for half a second,” I said, a little unsure of myself and even more uptight since they had averted their attention to me.

 

“It looked like a leopard?” Yue asked softly above me. I looked up to meet his clear blue eyes and nodded. I absolutely refused to think of them as my father's. As far as I was concerned, Father had no eyes anymore. The grip on my shoulders tightened.

 

“Do you know of them?” Root asked, thumbing the rim of his cup. His eyes were narrowed, almost suspicious, and his gaze seemed worried. Yue shook his head, eyes closed.

 

“No. I don't.”

 

Silence permeated the room for a moment.

 

“So, what exactly are the plans?” I asked, a little hopeful.

 

“Well, we gotta find out more about them wily runnin' robots now,” Gin said gravely.

“What? Robots running loose?” I asked, slightly confused.

 

“If you had been listening you would know,” Root replied coldly, gripping his cup tightly. I turned a shade whiter.

 

“Yes, there have been several wild Mecha-Pets running untamed throughout R.A.D.A.R.'s buildings. They're causing some damage but nothing more than what Mercy might do,” Kane explained, still holding my hand and giving it squeeze.

 

“Mercy?” Root asked.

 

“My Mecha-Pet,” I said hastily.

 

“We know `oo she is!” Gin snapped, but her anger was quickly overtaken by remorse and she said nothing else.

 

“You do?” I inquired after an awkward moment of silence.

 

“Of course,” Root sighed. “That's one reason why we haven't gotten rid of either of you yet. Especially you, Jean, because Mercy has been helping us out.”

 

“She's been…..helping you?” This was incredulous; unbelievable. “Helping you with what?” I was shocked that my own fox would betray me. I felt bitter, defenseless, enraged. Yue ran fingers through my tangled hair to comfort me, but it did little to cool my nerves. I was absolutely bristling.

 

“You? You hackers? Of all people, she's been helping<i> you</i>?” Tears lined my eyes and my breath caught in my throat.

 

“It's okay,” Kane soothed. “It's for a good reason.”

 

“She knows about this place? And she never told me? When we could have told people and had you arrested for your crimes, she held back and played a part in your wrong doing as well?” I demanded, mouth drawn tightly, jaw set, blinking back the tears that still fell. Root looked grave, Gin, astonished and taken aback. Kane looked blank, distant.

 

“Look, just help us out a little will you? It's because of your fox that we haven't rewritten your memories—”

 

“So you're rewriting memories too? Along with the chemicals and everything else, you're a part of it?” I felt nearly delirious.

 

“No' us Jean. We ain't using no kind of tech-no-ilogical stuffs ta be harmin' people. We're usin' the chem'cals R.A.D.A.R.'s producin' to rewrite the mem'ries of people who are opposin' us,” Gin explained kindly despite my best attempts to ignore her. Root nodded.

 

“Gin's right you know. People mistakenly find out about us, despite all the precautions we take, and those that don't like what we do, we have to modify their memories so that they don't know about us, or else this faction would be doomed. It may never have even have existed in the first place because of a mistake we made.” I folded my arms tightly across my chest, pouting. The first and best friend that I had only had, had been using me. Now I understood that her curious questions weren't out of the hunger for knowledge in wanting to get closer to me to understand me. It was to get closer to feed her the information to people who wanted to destroy me.

 

“Root, can we talk about this later?” Yue asked softly, concern tinting his voice.

 

“Fine, if he wants to be a damn baby, let him be. If he refuses to understand then I don't give a damn if we do erase all the memories he's ever had!” Root nearly shouted, furious. The cup in his hand broke, shattering into white ceramic pieces, coffee spilling everywhere. Root only gritted his teeth in a snarl, his golden eyes piercing like a wolf's.

 

“Here, I'll take Jean into the next room,” Kane offered, gently pulling me up by the crook of my arm.

 

“I'll clean this up,” Yue sighed, and I shivered as he left my side to fetch a rag and trash can.

 

“Come on now.” Kane walked me out of the kitchen and into the circle of plush pillows. I followed unwillingly.

 

“You always have to be difficult, don't you?” Kane whispered in my ear, grinning as he pushed the hair out of my face.

 

“Leave me alone,” I hollowly warned.

 

“It's <i>not</i> that big of a deal you know. If you could pay attention and look at things from their point of view, you'd know that these three don't want to hurt you.” I stared blankly at the wall. “And just because Yue is a kind, soft-hearted person, doesn't mean he's the <i>only</i> one who accepts you.”

 

His arm was around my shoulder and I tried to pull away from him. He was really annoying right now.

 

“Leave me alone!” I hissed savagely. Kane seemed unaffected and certainly undaunted. He tilted my face towards his and watched me with cool sea green eyes.

 

“Listen to me. Mercy loves you just as much as I do. We'll all take care of you. I know all you have lived with is machinery and computers, but that's not what life is all about. There are more important things we have to look at here, like keeping Earth for example. Scientists keep meeting obstacle after obstacle with living on another planet. There are too many difficulties as of now. You have to learn that the planet is the first and foremost thing we need to take care of.”

 

“Let God take care of then! He created it, so He can undo everything He did, since He's so powerful,” I retorted spitefully, hugging myself tightly.

 

“Not everyone believes there's a God. If humans are too lazy to do something about the destruction we've created then they can all burn with the planet. Quite frankly, we can save it. If you help us, we can fix things and we won't have to live with all this.”

 

This was something I didn't need to hear about right now. I shouldered his arm off of me, standing up, rage overtaking sorrow.

 

“Why do I even have to be here? You don't need my help, you can do it by yourself, I make no difference,” I whispered fiercely, starting to take leave.

 

“That's not true!” Kane replied hastily, jumping up to accompany me on my way to the door. “You're the best in your field, even Larin knows it. Jalene—”

 

“Don't call me that!” I yelled, turning to him, fists clenched, eyes flashing angrily. Kane looked perturbed, and I was more annoyed than if he hadn't been.

 

“You're someone who has a passion for technology. It's not just something that can be taught. Other people honestly don't care about what happens to them or the Earth. All they want is to live and be happy no matter what it takes,” Kane was getting worked up now, “and you, Jalene Einhart Banks, are one of the few who does care.”

 

I slapped him, with all the strength that my infuriated rage would allow. He stumbled, his cheek a bright red. I shoved past him, not even hearing what he was saying.

 

“Why do you hate me?” he yelled, “because you care? Excuse me if you're only living to find a happiness you've never experienced!” I threw open Yue's door, locking it behind me before bursting into tears, slumping down on his water bed, falling into the pillows and sobbing. I curled up, turning over to watch the fish stare unblinking at me. They watched me, as if in an eerie understanding that said, “I know how you feel.” I sniffed, choking, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. Why? Why did the people I love most always have to hurt me? Why did they die because of me? Why did they always say such hurtful things? First Mother, then Father, then Mercy, and now Kane. Who would be next? Yue? The thought saddened me even more and I burst into a new fit, burying my head in the pillows and nearly smothering myself.

 

I felt a warm, soothing hand on my back and I jerked my head up, tears streaking my face. It was Yue. My eyes softened, and the previous thought of Yue abandoning me sent a tremor through my body. I was crying so hard I thought I would be sick.

“I have a key to my room,” he said softly as I let my head fall, covering my face with the pillow again. As if I cared. “I'm sorry.” He began to rub my back slowly, trying to quell my shaking as I sobbed, uncontrollably it seemed. I knew he felt my pain. He was a compassionate person, and empathetic angel. He laid down beside me, propped on one elbow and still continued to rub my back reassuringly.

 

“Come here,” he said quietly after a moment. The silence was only broken by my muffled sobs. He pulled me against him and I clung to his body and warmth. I tried to catch my breath against his chest but couldn't, giving in to another racking sob and cough instead.

 

“Shhhh,” he soothed, calmly taking up to running a hand over my back, his other holding me close around the shoulders.

 

He kissed my forehead. “I know you're upset, but you'll be sick if you don't calm down some.” I confirmed this by coughing and sniffing again. Silence followed for several moments as I held on tightly, safely, to Yue. He flipped his long lack hair out of the way, caressing my neck and shoulder, running fingers through my hair once more. I snuggled against his open necked blouse, trembling, but quite considerably calmed down.

 

“Do I still have to help you?” I asked weakly. Yue looked at me intently, his head on his shoulder as he was still sitting up on his arm.

 

“Why do you not want to?” he asked gently, softly.

 

“I just want to go home. I want things to be how they used to be,” I said, giving in to another small sob. Yue lay completely down, morbid blue eyes watching me with concern as I looked at him from where I was. He hugged me closely, wiping my eyes, his head over my shoulder, his legs wrapped around my waist.

 

“Hey, we won't force you if you don't want to. But Kane is right about you being one of the few who would be able to help us. His remark was harsh,” Yue paused, hesitant, “though true.” I stiffened in his grasp.

 

My angel murmured something in Celtic in my ear.

 

“What?” I asked, my tears now dried. He laughed softly.

 

“Just a little love and good luck,” was his response as he kissed my jaw and cheek. I smiled faintly, now completely limp. Stopping, only long enough to make some realization unknown to me, Yue continued to kiss me along my jaw line and neck, smiling. He rolled over on me, lacing his fingers with mine, sitting in my lap, ebony hair cascading on either side of his face, smiling all over. He drew his face only an inch from mine.

 

“You know what?” he whispered. I shook my head slightly, eyes wide, though still somewhat watery.

 

“No.” He giggled.

 

“I only gave you pants for a reason,” he said very faintly, drawing even nearer to delicately place a kiss against parted lips.

 

“Yue?” I nearly felt like crying again.

 

“Come on,” he said, lifting me up under my arms, sitting me in his lap now instead and brushing wispy white hair away from his eyes.

 

“First though, you need a brush,” he said, grinning and reached to his headboard for a brush, leaning deeply against me and supporting me with his arm. “Mmm… no, turn around. There.” I sat on my knees, hands folded in my lap as he began to gently brush my hair. Oddly enough, it wasn't that tangled, although I figured it had been through as much hell as I had been through this morning. I felt as he shifted his weight on the bed as the water below him moved as if in annoyance of being disturbed. He pressed his body against mine and I shivered at his closeness, only knowing what his intentions may have been or will be. He found a reluctant part and brushed my hair aside. It seemed now that everyone was doing everything for me. Soon enough I wouldn't even have to chew my own food. I smirked at the thought and shivered again as the brush pulled gently through my hair.

 

I heard Yue laugh softly behind me. Once he was satisfied that my hair was completely devoid of tangles, he jumped from the bed for several clips and whatever else he put in my hair.

 

“Oh, Yue,” I asked, suddenly remembering, “You have my bracelets don't you?”

 

“Yeah, I'll get them in a moment,” he said, pulling an elastic band through my hair. A half minute later I felt something claw at my scalp. My head felt heavier because my hair was up. My neck was naked.

 

“There, beautiful.” Yue clapped his hands together as if just putting the finishing touches on a masterpiece. He laughed and hugged me at my perplexed expression. “Come on, we can talk in the garden. Kane is discussing plans with Root, confirming everything before we go out and do it.” I nodded and got up from the bed, stretching. He grabbed my bracelets from a cubby hole and handed them to me which I promptly put on, ignoring my bandaged wrist that really didn't bother me at all. Yue followed me into the shower stall after locating the key and let us both into the garden.

 

The sun was bright, birds sung merrily and the breeze was warm. I lay down in the sun, staring at the clear blue sky, clouds drifting overhead. Kane sat behind me, putting my head in his lap, and I folded my hands over my belly, lying contently beneath the warm sun. It felt so good to be out here, and I immediately felt drowsy. Yue hummed, gliding smooth fingers over my skin, on my face and neck. I smiled blissfully as he bent over, arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me up into his lap and kissing my neck and collarbone repeatedly. Oddly though, my brain was alert and it told me something wasn't right as I slipped into an unexpected slumber.

 

 

****************************

 

 

I awoke and the sky was grey above me. I noticed the tree branches first, reaching for the heavens, and as I sat up, wiping the sleep from my eyes and holding my forehead that sported a slight headache, I found I was alone in a forest. Sitting in a bed of trodden pine straw and leaves, I looked around to confirm the fact that I was indeed by myself. Three sets of eyes glowed from beside a bush, and for an instant I froze. My brain processed them as some sort of animal, and I knew it as a deer, but only from pictures. I'd never seen a live one before. From reading, I remember vaguely that they were herbivores and that the males, or bucks, had antlers, but that was all. There was a larger one, a doe I guessed, or the mother deer, and she was washing two smaller ones, her fawns, with her tongue, like a cat.

 

She stopped to watch me as I stirred, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air to see if I was dangerous. Taking a moment to decide that I wasn't, she continued to nose her babies, their liquid eyes watching me with awe. I watched them back, eyes matching their own curiosity and perplexity. Quickly glancing around, all I saw were trees, some with pale white bark; others with a rough texture. I noticed the pines, but those were only one of the few that I could identify. I pushed myself up, rustling the leaves and the family of deer observed me calmly. Big floppy ears twitched as flies buzzed around the mother's creamy white nose. She stared at me warily. The presence of people was not impacted upon her, but I could tell that she must be used to being with people, due to the fact that Yue had claimed his spending much time out here. I'm sure he cared for everything in his underground forest, so the deer and other animals were probably used to him.

 

One of the fawns audaciously bounded up to me, stopping short several feet to reach out with a timid nose and snuffle my clothes.

 

“Shoo,” I said, swatting a hand at it, and it gave a small squeaky cry as my hand made contact with its nose. I immediately regretted it. The doe quickly ambled up, stocky legs giving way to a trot as her speckled fawns joined her by her side. She stopped to look back, making sure that I would not advance on her, but as I made an approach, perhaps thinking I could apologize, she leapt off, raising her white flag of a tail.

 

“Wait,” I called, the air around me, I noticed, much cooler now that the clouds had hidden the sun, but the family of deer had ceased their rustling as they disappeared into the thick forest. Watching after them, I sighed. Something bothered me and I couldn't pinpoint it until I looked at my arm. A fresh bandage was on, probably done while I was asleep.

 

That made me wonder how I got here and what I had been drugged with to fall asleep. Who could have slipped me something while I wasn't looking? Yue. He could have easily put it in my drink. Of course if it was powder he could have cooked with it as well. I shook me head. But why Yue? Why would you want to drug me and drag me out into your forest somewhere and leave me? Was this what Root meant when he said being locked up? I didn't know. About the best I could do was wander around and hope that I could fins my way back to the door that led to Yue's room. Or least find some way out of this place. Hands on hips, I looked up to think things over. I had no idea where I was. I had no clue how large the forest I was in was. I have no navigational skills whatsoever, nor did I know which direction was facing anyway. I didn't know what landmarks to look for and I had no idea if someone was intending to come back for me or not. A gust of cool wind passed and I shivered against it. The wind was cold on my neck. My hair was still up.

 

Yue had told me he could control the weather. Would he purposely rearrange his weather patterns to see how much hell he could give me before I went ballistic? Thinking about my angel made me sad. My stomach settled uneasily and I felt as if I might cry again. He had always been so soothing and wonderfully kind. Was he turning out how all of the others had? Mercy and Kane and them? I hoped not, but leaving out here, defenseless and alone, sure qualified for fitting in the betrayal category. Hunched against the cold, I wandered, my feet shuffling through dry leaves. I had no idea where to go, so I might as well just go. I headed in the direction the deer had gone, hoping maybe I could find them again. I don't know why I wanted to see them though. Maybe I was just feeling lonely. Deer didn't talk, so I knew they couldn't argue with me. I smiled at the thought of me yelling at a deer that just calmly turned its head and walked away.

 

Stepping over fallen branches and plants that had managed to make it through this winter weather, I finally noticed something odd. All of the trees had no leaves. Although it considerably cool I doubted if it had ever been cold enough for all of the branches to lose their leaves so quickly. I wondered about this, but I couldn't really ask questions. No one was around to answer them. I was glad that I had gotten my bracelets back for I could tell that it was…… 3:08 A.M? That wasn't right. I know I hadn't slept <i>that</i> long. Besides, it would dark out, and it was as bright as, well, day. That would have to mean that someone had messed with my watch. I pressed a button on one of my bracelets to see if I could get a geographical map of this place, but it could even scan the surrounding area for a GPS. There must have been some interference in the atmosphere, probably in the metal plating that created the weather above me. I sighed and continued on, sticking my hands in my pants pockets.

 

Something crinkled. I pulled out what appeared to be a hastily folded piece of thin paper. Interested I opened it. It was a note, from Yue. He had such beautiful writing although it did take a minute to distinguish the letters from one another.

 

 

<i>Kill only to eat, or in self-defense. Rain water falls as pure as it gets. Where does the river flow from? Watch the animals. Return to the sakura tree in my garden when you can. You'll be just fine.

 

-Yue</i>

 

 

There was a letter in my other pocket, and it looked old. I doubted if it had been purposefully placed there, but mistakenly instead.

 

 

 

I've seen them more recently today, though I don't know where they come from. They've caused no destruction, and have killed nothing save for what they eat. They remind me of a wolf by the way they move in packs, or even lions, but they all work together. I see no reason to eradicate them. All I can do is see if they'll…..

 

 

It was cut off here. It sounded very mysterious indeed. It also vaguely struck a chord in my memory but I couldn't think what. I reread it several times, but nothing came to.

“Huh? Well that's odd,” I muttered, folding them back up and pocketing them.

 

 

I trailed off, still trying to follow the direction in which the deer had leapt off to. Brown leaves crunched below foot as I brushed small branches and twigs out of my face. I wandered on in the stillness of the forest. It seemed foreboding, for I had never walked through a forest before. It scared me to think that the forest itself was alive, or so people said—those that could remember the groves of trees before the industry took over. Cautiously I picked my way over dead limbs, beginning to chill for the jacket was warm but the air was cold. My body temperature was uneven in too many places. I had to modify my course, which I could never correct, or so I thought I did. I said before that I had no navigational skills, which was proven when I had veered north instead of Northwest, but I didn't know that at the time.

 

Grunting and silently complaining, I slowly made my way through the woods. I was no athlete nor was I familiar with the surroundings of nature, so it was hard enough just climbing through the tangle of branches and leaves. I tried to avoid what I could and stay on a clear path, but because there were no trails, I often ended up taking what seemed the harder way around. Roughly half an hour later, according to my mistimed watch, I ran into a solid stone wall. Panting, I followed it, assuming it would take a straight course, which I found soon that it curved around, jutting out one side and revealing another branch of extended forest. Beyond that I could see clear space. Pushing aside a broken tree limb, I found there was a wide meadow that dipped down to meet a small river that ran through. The swiftly running water flowed from downhill in the distance and pooled to form a rather large lake several hundred feet from where I was standing at the base of the stone cliff.

 

Trees lined the meadow a few hundred yards across from the boarder-line that I was standing on, open mouth, taking in the wondrous spectacle. From where the origin of the river was, lay a thin blanket of mist that concealed all else from the human eye but what I later found out to be nothing more than solid rock. It was nothing more but a dip in a mountain range on a geographical map. The river branched off like a large dark blue vein against the green valley's skin and into a fork, one side leading to the pool, one running straight through and clear around the bend from where I was. Judging from where the river was, I had only been yards of thick forest away from it from where I had been laid. I wondered why I hadn't heard it, but I could only figure that the river possibly had expanded and the water calmed from rapids to a steady flow instead. I noticed a clot in the vein of river, a big brown one of what looked like a pile of sticks that was blocking the flow of river and causing it to pool up the way it did.

 

Hesitantly, I ducked under the branch, mesmerized by the site that lay so plainly before me. It was incredible, and so hard to believe that something like this existed, but it did, and it was right there for my eyes to see. I looked around, is if searching for someone else, but of course I found no one. I heard a distant rumble, but I couldn't tell from what direction it came. Then, almost instinctively, I looked up, just in time to get hit in the face with fat droplet of water. It was raining. For nothing more but pure technology, I had to admit that the weather the artificial sky produced was enough to fool me. Searching quickly for some place to hide in to stay dry, I only found a small overhang in the rock off to my right, behind me. It hugged the lake that the dam had created, making a small ledge over the water and the land surrounding it.

 

I ducked under it as a streak of lightening arched across the sky, followed by a drum roll of thunder. The rain fell down, slowly at first, before picking up pace. Suddenly, everything around me seemed much colder. Miserably, I sat under the overhang, hugging my knees close to my body and sulking. Tears blurred my eyes but I knew they would do no good in any situation. Feeling sorry for myself would get me nowhere. Then again, what else could I do anyway? I closed my eyes, my face buried in my arms on my knees, my breath keeping me warm while the rain drummed around me. The ground I was sitting on was slightly downhill and the water soon collected at the base of the slope, soaking my pants and shoes. I stood up once realizing this, crying out at the cold that bite viciously into my toes. Water had seeped into my boots, despite their high back.

 

Pouting, I drew my thin jacket closer to my body, shivering in the cold. I was nearly frozen to the bone standing out in the pouring rain, completely lost and alone, and on top of that I had to pee. Against all efforts, I managed to make myself as comfortable as I could in the ankle deep water as the rain sped into the small ditch I was situated in bringing dirt and grass along with it. I sighed heavily, slumped against the dreary stone wall and closed my eyes, waiting it seemed, for death, or at least relief. I stood, numb, for what seemed like days, though it was only hours. The rain thrummed steadily against the ground, draining into the lake and river and flooding out into the ground until the water was even with the ground and the surface of the ditch which was high up my ankles.

 

I was in a half trance, nearly a Popsicle, before I noticed someone was shaking me. Last I checked I was alone, but I guess someone was here. I painfully opened my eyes, for they were sore from cold, frost lining my lashes. My breath came in smoky plumes.

 

“You still alive?” the someone asked. I stood, paralyzed at what I saw. Mouth agape, all I could do was stare. One stormy grey eye and one ginger colored eye stared back at me, both surrounded on either side by long, snowy white hair. If I hadn't known any better I cold have sworn I was staring at a reflection of myself.

 

“That must be a yes.” He even sounded like me. I tried to get my tongue to work by my throat was like a frozen pipe and I couldn't manage anything past a small cough. The only difference between him and me is that he wore more, thicker clothes, compared to my nearly skintight shirt and jacket. His eyes were dull, but I saw a smiling sparkle in them.

 

“Come with me. The rain's calmed down enough to find decent shelter without getting soaked,” he told me, tugging on my arm to encourage me.

 

I followed, grudgingly it seemed, but only because my feet didn't want to work properly. I noticed that the rain had subsided to a light drizzle, mist overtaking the entire valley side and obscuring the vision. Soon, enough blood had worked into circulation to get me moving faster and my pace quickened. I followed him, glancing at him every now and then as he pulled me along, his grip firm on my upper arm. I had no clue where we were going; I was concentrating on not tripping or falling through the veil of vapor.

 

“We're almost there,” he told me, still leading me by the arm like a convict. “Careful now.” We crossed over a thinner part of the river. I noticed we must be close to the opposite side of the forest now, and we were.

 

“Here, in here,” the boy said, holding back a thick branch that covered the mouth of a small cave. “Go on in.” Seeing no other options, I complied with his request. The opening was dark and narrow and I could feel his right behind me. I was bent nearly over, almost crawling on all fours like a dog.

 

I found a flicker of light and the cave expanded to a fairly wide room, large enough for five people to sleep comfortably, slightly longer than it was wide. A small fire burned merrily in the center and man was it warm! I crawled to the other side of it, sitting down near it and warming my hands. The boy that had found me came in after me.

 

“Here, take off your clothes to dry, they're soaking,” he said, pulling a blanket out from a pile of what I supposed were bed things. I felt a pang of self-consciousness, but in all honesty I was ready to be nothing but warmed. I stood easily, the cave ceiling only a few feet above my head. I shrugged off my jacket which my savior took, waiting for the rest of my clothes. I removed my shirt deliberately which was still moderately dry. I looked to my clone but he seemed to not care, just waiting impatiently for me to finish undressing. We were both guys so, no problem. Leaning against the smooth back wall for support, I tugged off my shoes, dumped what water was left out onto the compact ground more by mistake than purpose.

 

He set my boots aside, near the fire, but not so close that they would catch. My hair was damp and what came loose were like clammy fingers clawing my neck. I shivered. The boy continued to watch me, staring into my face as I tentatively unzipped my leather pants and gave them to him, standing nude, and blushing faintly, but holding my composure. He offered me the blanket which I promptly wrapped myself in.

 

“Your lips are blue,” he observed, stretching my clothes out on the ground to dry and holding them in placed with weighted stones. I only stared into the fire.

 

“So, who are you and what are you doing here?” he asked. I took a moment to warm myself before I found the voice to respond.

 

“My name's Jalene, I work as a computer programmer and engineer at R.A.D.A.R. I have no idea how I got here other than Yue probably put me here. That's my guess anyway,” I shrugged, pulling the blanket tighter around my legs. My host nodded.

 

He sat thoughtfully a moment, cross-legged, and he reminded me of one of those old Indians I used to see, dressed in deerskin and moccasins, which was, in fact, what he was wearing as well as stone turquoise beads in his hair.

 

“Here,” he crawled around to me and let my hair loose. It fell in a ponytail down my back. He took out the clips and put them in a drawstring pouch for later. I didn't care if I'd ever see them again though. “That's better.”

 

“Now who are <i>you</i> and what are you doing here?” I asked, shying away from the stranger. He smiled faintly. His eyes looked alive and alert now. They seemed lonely; hungry for companionship.

 

“I've been here for quite a while. I've lost track of the days. You see, a while ago I met a group, a rebel group bent on destroying R.A.D.A.R. I stayed with them a couple of days and agreed to help them. I can't recall who they were though, but I remember I had fallen for one of them, which was a mistake for I had loved someone else,” he sighed. His eyes seemed dreamy and far off. I had the suspicion that I knew who he was talking about.

 

“Well, one day I woke up in here, undoubtedly in the same fashion as you. I wandered around for a while, until I found a door. It led out of R.A.D.A.R.'s building. You see, I used to work for that company once upon a time, but ever since I was convinced that all they were out there for was to gain money and power, I quit. I've been working against them. Anyway, I've been going back and forth between the world out there and the one in here. I prefer it here, but it does get lonely.” He paused to watch the flames lick the cold, still air. The smoke reached out to the mouth of the cave. “I was caught for a crime. If I had just been a little more careful I would have gotten away, but I was sold out by a friend.” He shook his head. “I was sentenced to death, and the day I was to be killed I escaped and fled here. No one could find me. I've helped protect this place, along with some good friends of mine. I don't trust many people, but I found someone taking you here earlier. After thinking things over I thought I could trust you so here you are.”

 

“Are you still working to stop R.A.D.A.R. or have you retired to here permanently?” I asked, intrigued by his story.

 

“Well, I've had to lay low for a while because someone that recognized me reported me to authorities. It's been a few weeks though, so I should be able to get out and do more. I snuck out just the other day, sadly to tell my love that I couldn't make it with him. I regret it but,” he looked sadly off into space then smiled grimly. “I plan on faking my own death; in front of him I'm afraid. I have the perfect plan for it too. I just hope I don't break his heart.” Silence followed as I turned this over in my mind. My suspicions rose even further. This was a fishy story, and if I picked the right loophole, everything might make a little more sense.

 

“You never told me your name,” I said blandly, though with curiosity.

 

“Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Cale.”