The Distance Between Us

By maha1

Written in the
NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program.

PDF created on June 8, 2021.

Table of Contents 2
Dedication 3
Prologue 4
A Day in the Life 6
Project #273 10
A Narcissist’s Lust 14
Inner Conflicts 17
The Living Dead 21
Decision 23
On the Road 26
The Island 30
Final Briefing 32
Behind the Curtains 35
First Encounter 38
Open Hearts 43
Something Not Quite Right 51
A Taste of Honey 59
Unhealed Wounds 66
Shattered 71
Seeing Evil 74
Realization 78
Escaping Hell 82
A Way Out 87
Reunite 89
Always and Forever 93
Acknowledgement 97
About the Author 100
About the Novel 102

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 Dedication

For R,

Thank you for everything

3
 Prologue

December 2050

What has my life come to? If only he knew my struggles and what I went through. If only he saw
me as I suffered to go through the endless tunnel of codes and numbers just to bring him back. I
felt the statics running within me. But I ignored it and kept fighting through the pain. All of my
work did not go in vain. After all, they got what they wanted, and I got what I wanted.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the eerie howls of the wind. I peaked outside of
the window, and noticed the enormous grey clouds raging as they let out the heavy snow on our
land and all over the trees. The insidious mist lingered around the mountains’ body. The snow
continued to embark upon the village for hours, but it didn’t bother me. I felt numb inside. The
Russian weather had no mercy on its people, and I have gotten used to it.

I sighed as I moved to the side to have a better look at myself, and the realization of how much
I’ve changed hit me so hard. I knew that I’ve changed, but not that much. I was a completely
different person. My face was pale as a ghost, my messy black hair fell on my shoulder. But
then I looked at my eyes, and they were empty. Empty. The eyes that once had so much life,
so much happiness, are now…empty. I wasn’t always like this; I was once a happy and cheery
person. But the things that I saw changed me.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw him smiling at me like always. He is
always like this; he has a smile on his face at all times. He still does not know what his smile
does to the people around him and I.

“You’ve been sitting here for a while.” He said softly.

“Yeah, I know. I was just…thinking.”

“Thinking? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, don’t worry about it. How’s your neck?”

“It’s getting better now after the pill I took earlier. Anyways, I came here to remind you to get
ready, it’s almost 6:00 PM, we’ll be late.” He said while rubbing the back of his neck.

I turned around to look at the clock and I realized that I’ve been staring outside of the window
for 2 hours. The time passed by fast and I did not even feel it.

“I’ll get ready now, thank you for reminding me.” I said while fake laughing so that he does not
suspect anything.

He softly smiled at me and left the room. He knows that I know that he is sensing something
wrong. All of the old memories are coming back. They are coming back to destroy my new life.

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But no matter what happens, they can’t take away what’s now mine. I fought so hard, and they
knew that this would happen. It shouldn’t come off as a surprise to anyone. After all, they got
what they wanted, and I got what I wanted.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5mVQ9T64tswcFKEdTq29IV?si=eede91d54f114254

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 A Day in the Life

February 2050

We ran as fast as possible down the hill, but they are still there. They are not giving up on us,
they wanted us dead. They yelled at us in their language to surrender, but we’d rather die than
give them what they want. Vadim and I hid below the shrubs so that they can lose our tracks.
My heart seemed as though it will pop out of my chest, and my breathing became heavier. I was
shaking, and I was unable to think properly, but Vadim tried to help me remain calm.

“Relax, we need to think of something, we cannot surrender!” Vadim said out of breath.

“I can’t think properly right now, brother, you’re on your own.”

“Do you have any weapon on you?”

“Just my kni-“ I was cut off by a man yelling in Arabic that he found us. Vadim got out and
tackled him to the ground.

I can’t move forward to help him. My friend struggled before me to kill this man, and I can’t even
help him. Every time I moved a finger, I felt pain radiating through my body. Vadim pulled out a
1917 pistol out of his boot and aimed it at the man’s head. I tried to move my left foot, but
failed. I felt an electric shock that went down my spine. Vadim he did not pull the trigger, and
that’s not a normal behavior from him. The man kept on fighting Vadim’s strong grip, but he did
not pull the trigger.

Beep, beep, beep...

I jolted up from the sound of the alarm looking around frantically. I was thankfully awoken from
this nightmare. The nightmare that doesn’t seem like it will ever let me live peacefully. The war
left a permanent scar on all of us, and it will never heal. I sat down on my bed and took a deep
breath as I scrolled through my messages. I saw that my father wanted us to meet him at the
Mobius headquarters. He does not call in a meeting unless there is something serious. I can’t
seem to have the enthusiasm I used to have 10 years ago. I’m growing older now, and my love
for the job I do is slowly fading away. Also, knowing that I am adopted doesn’t make my life any
better. In fact, it makes me feel lost. I don’t know my background, and nor do I know my real
family. I want to stay hopeful, and I want to find my real family, but this is not the time for this. I
have a job, I have friends, and I have a lot of responsibilities. I can’t think of these things now.

I got up and peaked outside of the window, and the weather is gloomy as always. I got shivers
from touching the cold window. The huge dark clouds remained on the city for two weeks, and it
doesn’t seem like they will leave. The cold rain danced across the cold window. I looked down
and saw the androids waiting for the bus. These androids are nothing but a burden on our
society, and nobody wants to understand why. Right above the bus stop, the CyberLife
advertisement caught my eyes: “Live an easier life with the help of Cyberlife’s finest

6
androids.” We are depending on androids “to make our lives easier” but instead they are
making our lives a living hell. Parents no longer raise their children, retail services no longer
depend on people, and the governments are depending on androids and other technologies to
protect their countries and borders.

I stumbled across the dark room to reach my bathroom. I went through the calendar and saw
that it’s the 14th of February. That’s ironic. I don’t know whether I should be miserable or happy
at this point. I open the bathroom lights and saw my face in the mirror and I was very
disappointed at the sight before me. No wonder why I’m still single. The stress can be seen on
my face, but I can’t hide it anymore. I went in the shower and turned on the hot water. My
thoughts drifted to the message my father sent us yesterday; why did he call in a meeting? Why
him specifically? If the country went in a state of emergency, they will send us all to the
mountains, and I’m not ready to go there again.

I got out of the shower and I went through my wardrobe and picked up the usual outfit. I had on
the broadcloth white shirt, the black two button suit jacket, a black capris pants, and I had my
hair in a high bun. I went down the stairs and noticed how dark my house is. I’m not often
surprised by it, but today...I have a very weird feeling. I walked by the living room and into the
kitchen, and I just stood there. The only things that I had on the kitchen island were my pills.
The pills that I have been taking for years and none of my issues went away. In fact, they
became worst over time.

I picked up my coat and backpack and left the house. I stepped outside and I got goosebumps
on my whole body. When will this weather have some mercy on us? As I was walking down the
street, I came across an android picking up trash off of the street and sidewalk. I went up to it
and stood in front of it, and I was unable to help but notice its features. They humanized these
android so much to the point where they are replacing us.

“Hey, can I know what’s your name please?” I asked it out of curiosity.

“Good morning, my name is Marcus.” The android said with a odd smile on its face.

“How long have you been working?”

“I have been working here since January 18, 2050.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I hope you have a good day today.”

“Thank you, I hope you do too.” It said as it walked away and continued its work.

They may look very human, but their eyes will always be very strange to me. I will never
understand why they are trusted that much. As much as they portray their innocences to me, I
still know that one day, those who are in charge of them would regret creating them. My friends
call me insane, but that’s the truth, and it must be accepted.

When I reached Red Square, I saw that all of the stores had many roses and all of them had
heart shaped objects on their stores. I could only imagine what’s it like to buy a loved one these
gifts. Out of interest, I walked into one of the gift stores. As I walked in, I heard one of my
favorite songs playing, Never Be Anyone Else But You by Ricky Nelson. I walked down the
aisle and saw all of the fresh red and white roses. Right under them, they had placed many

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classic love songs as LP records.

“Good morning ma’am, happy Valentine’s Day, is there anything in particular you are looking
for?” Said an employee who had a welcoming smile on her face.

“Oh hi, umm, no...I’m just looking at some of these records.” I nervously laughed knowing that I
was probably standing here like a creep.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, I'll get going now. Happy Valentine’s Day” I said as I hurried past
her and out of the store.

I continued my walk down the sidewalk and walked towards the coffee shop. I walked into the
shop and the sharp and earthy warm smell of the coffee beans wandered in the air. I walked up
to the barista and as it turned out, it’s another android.

“Good morning Ma’am, happy Valentine’s Day, what can I get you today?” It said in an uncanny
way with a wide smile.

“Good morning, can I have a small Mocha please?”

“One small Mocha, on-the-go.” It said to the other android that was preparing it.

When the android was done, I walked up to the cashier to pay. However, I realized that I left my
credit card at home for the third time this week. So I decided to pay by the chip. I placed my
hand in front of the large scanner and waited for it to confirm.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but it seems that your chip is expired.” The android said as the machine let
out error beeps.

Perfect, I thought. What else could go wrong today? I dug through my backpack to look for
some cash, but even in there I haven’t got any. What a great way to start off the day! I felt
someone’s presences behind me, but I ignored that person and continued looking through my
back.

“Aye android, come here, I’ll pay for it.” Said the man as he instructed the android to come
forward.

The voice seemed very familiar, and when I looked at who the person was, it turned out that it
was Adam. A lifesaver, as always. He paid the for Mocha and approached me with a smug
smile on his face.

“You should be grateful that I came down here.” He said as he smugly laughed.

“Well, I appreciate it. I would’ve paid but the chip is expired.”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll go and get it renewed today.”

“Thank you, I’ll head out. I don’t want to be late today.”

“You’ll go walking?! It’s raining outside! Come on, I have ordered a taxi to drive me to
headquarters. I won’t let you go there in the rain.” He said as he insisted for me to go with him.

8
I walked with him outside and the rain seemed to increase even more. I touched the taxi’s
touchpad to open the door. I sat and waited for Adam to put the location on the screen in front.
As Adam was putting in the location, I looked up and saw the surveillance drone flying over us.
The car began to move forward, and we came across Begovoy District. There was a crowd that
was protesting about banning androids. They held posters that said “We want jobs, not
androids!” “Ban all androids!” and “Androids stole our jobs!” These people genuinely believe that
these androids stole their jobs, but it seems as though they are forgetting that these androids
don’t have an option other than to work for us.

“These people are ridiculous. The government won’t comply with their demands because the
government want these androids.” Adam said as he lit his cigarette.

“Yeah, you’re right. Don’t forget that they are boosting the economy. The Yankees are desperate
to have their hands on these androids.”

“These people have been fighting us for years, and now they come running to us when they are
in trouble. It’s funny to see their hypocrisy when they are in trouble.” Adam said as blew out the
smoke.

We are supplying our enemies with products we worked on, and we never got anything in return.
We aren’t providers for such people. We came across CyberLife’s Headquarters and saw more
people protesting there as well. Surveillance drones flew over them while police officers tried to
stop them from damaging the property. It surprises me how the government is still patient when
it comes to these animalistic behaviors.

The skylines that stood far away looked like mysterious creatures as they pierced through the
grey clouds above. Even in the darkest of days, the Muscovites skylines are always emitting
resplendent colors through the city. Life in the city isn’t always bright and exciting; it can get
dark and gloomy even in the brightest of colors. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I saw a
female android with two kids playing with them, while the mother was speaking on the phone on
the other side of the park. We are at the point where we would rather depend on robots and other
technologies to do simple daily tasks, this will be the cause of our extinction and we are gladly
accepting.

The taxi car stopped at the Mobius Headquarters employee’s parkings. I stepped outside of the
car and noticed that there aren’t many people today in the headquarters. That’s strange. Adam
and I walked into the headquarters and saw that there aren’t many people working today. This
wasn’t a normal behavior from the people that work here. It is always loud and phones are
always ringing. But today, it is quiet and it was dim. Adam and I looked at each other, and I
knew I wasn’t the only one alarmed by this.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xCsRaOmIscTeipkQKC9bq?si=1d0da485e0c0426b

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 Project #273

I walked towards the employee’s entrance that is next to the reception, and I put my wrist in
front of the large scanning machine so that the door will open. The glass door made a ‘check’
sound confirming my ID. I felt a funny feeling in my wrist. It felt like the chip moved in and
touched my vein. I tried rubbing my wrist so that the chip would go back to its original place. As
I walked in, I was greeted by our security guard, Hank.

“Good morning, Irina and Adam.” He said in a grumpy voice as always.

“Good morning, Hank.” Adam and I said in harmony.

“Your dad said that you should meet him in Hall B13.”

“Alright, thank you.” Adam said as he headed towards the elevators.

“Do you know why there aren’t a lot of people here today?” I asked Hank curiously.

“No, I don’t. I’m surprised that there aren’t many people here as well.”

“Alright, thank you.” I said as I followed Adam to the elevators.

The elevator doors opened and we walked in. I was getting nervous knowing that we need to
meet at that hall. The hall room is known to be the core of orders, emergency orders, and new
projects. We walked out of the elevator and into the narrow and vacant hallway. It was long and
broadly dim. The sound of machinery filled my ears as I walked down the hall. My heart beats
got faster at each step I took towards the hall room. When I walked, I saw the large screen
monitors and my father standing on the podium behind the lecture stand and waiting for
everyone to settle in. As I walked through the crowd of people, I was met by Max who had a
wide and cheeky grin on his face.

“Good morning you two.” He said while chuckling.

“Happy Valentine's Day.” He continued.

“You two are late for the 2nd time this week. This will go on your records. Now get in and take
your seats.” Ruslan said with his stern voice.

This man is always against my group and I. We have been going head to head ever since we
returned from Syria. He is always on my head nagging and yelling abut things that don’t even
matter. His main goal in his career is to become the Vice President’s secretary. He has
dedicated his life to this one goal. While he keeps on trying, he drags us down and steps on us
so that he would be closer to the Vice President. His narcissism is killing him slowly, and he
either does not want to realize it because of his stupidity, or he is way too delusional to even
notice it.

10
Max led us across the hall and we sat in front of the podium. My eyes trailed off to the
silhouette of a man standing in glass room above. I couldn’t make out any of his features. He
was tall, and he was wearing a suit. He just stood there, with his hands in his pockets and did
not move an inch. The android announced that the meeting will begin in 5 minutes. I looked over
at Max, who had his face stuffed with his all-time favorite cake then pinched his ear.

“Ow, what was that for?!” He said as he rubbed his ears.

“Who is that guy in the room above?”

“Oh, I didn’t even notice him up there.”

“I’ve seen him couple of times, but I just brushed him off.” Adam said as he took a bite out
Max’s cake.

“He’s always standing there and not moving. It’s kind of odd, and I don’t feel comfortable around
him being there.” He continued.

“You are spitting in my face, man. Please do not talk when your mouth is filled with food. Come
on.” I said as I rolled my eyes.

I’m surprised that I haven’t seen him before. I don’t know any person that would stand up there,
unless he is from the department of Grozny. But even then, they wouldn’t just stand up there
and not introduce themselves to us. My father got up the stairs and all lights closed, and the
spotlight shined on my dad as he put his papers on the lecture stand and presented his slides.
The title was “Project #273 (Chronos).” This name has been mentioned in several reports back
at the Gudermes base. When our location got exposed to the terrorists, we had to abort all of the
projects we were working on. We got an order by higher commanders to burn all datas,
statistics, and findings then move to Gamsutl. A sound of thunder made us all jump. The whole
hall started laughing as they tried to ease the tensions.

“Good morning everyone, I hope you all are doing great on this sunless day.” My father said as
he greeted us all.

“I would like to start off by thanking you all for attending this very important meeting. You
might’ve noticed that there aren’t a lot of people today in the headquarters. That’s because I
wanted to spend this day talking to you about this very important project. I have called in the
inner circle of this team only.”

“I also want to introduce a guest today and the reason why this guest is an important asset to
this project.”

My eyes widened when I saw my mother walking up the podium. Max and Adam both looked at
me while they both nervously laughed. My mother does not come to our headquarters unless
there is an emergency.

“My co presenter, Maria, will briefly introduce you to today’s project.” My dad said then went
back and sat on the chair behind.

“Thank you, Daniel and good morning to all. As you all know, I’m Maria, I work in project

11
managements. Today, I chose to come here myself and briefly talk to you about the project we
are working on.”

“The Russian Federation has successfully created many projects in which they impacted our
lives greatly. We have had international senates that have requested to work with us to create
new project together.”

“The project that we are working on is called Chronos. I believe Irina and her team may have
came across this name in several reports back at the Gudermes base. This project was
abandoned because of the 2nd Ukrainian War. We were at a huge risk of losing this project, and
we couldn’t risk our valuable information to be at the hands of our enemies. “ She said

The only thing you all couldn’t risk is the money you would lose. But obviously your
“commanders” are neither willing nor have the courage to say that to everyone. I thought

“Chronos was a concept researched during the 2nd World War when the Germans invaded
France. Chronos is a system that allows the human brain to be connected to a larger server that
allows humans to be in a different time period without moving or touching the body.”

"This is what happens when the Russian government watch too much Arnold Schwarzenegger
movies. “ I whispered to Adam and Max as they both snickered.

“Is everything alright over there?” My mother asked as she pointed at us.

“Oh yeah, everything is definitely alright. How can I not be alright when this clownery before me
is playing?” I said while the rest of the hall laughed.

“Hey, all of you, have a little bit of self-respect towards the lady. That is disgusting.” Ruslan
yelled at us.

“Anyways, the reason why we are now working on this project is because we are all at the verge
of a 3rd World War. We cannot fully depend on a robotic army to protect the motherland, which
is why we studied history very carefully and throughly then came to this conclusion.” She said
as she swiped to the next slide.

“The strength of the Soviet Union is immeasurable. However, when the western rats snuck into
the union, they spread a plague amongst it. This caused it to fall hard. They did not want us to
be as strong as we were. It is an insecurity of theirs to look weak in front of the world.”

Oh yeah, blame others for your own mistakes. When you cannot owe up to the mistakes and the
horrible killings they caused, you blame others for the consequences you faced. This shows me
who are the real insecure ones.

“The goal of this project is very simple; yet complicated in its own nature. A young man that
goes by the name of Raymond Zadornov was an immigrant that lived in the US and fought the
war in the US army. His family were amongst the strongest families in the Soviet Union. His
father, Alexander Zadornov was part of Lenin’s and Stalin’s inner circle. They were sent by Lenin
to the US to be spies in their government. This family is the most important family to us. The
reason why we want Ray is because he is a smart young man, and he can help us reunite the
Soviet Union.”

12
“Thank you, Maria for the explanation.” My father said while he stepped on the small step in
front.

“Now, we came to an agreement with the US government to take his body for the sake of
experiments. The Americans put him as missing in action in their database. Then however,
they wanted us to pay them-“

“That is disgusting, this is a human rights violation. This is vile, and it is nothing to be proud
about.” I said loudly in an angry tone.

“Alright, calm down and let me explain. We have not used his body for any other reason, we
have not even touched his body yet. We had a team of professionals to come in and surgically
remove his brain. We then cryogenically froze his body and brain while we shifted our focus on
the servers.”

“Our final phase is using a live human brain to connect it to the STEM server. We can
manipulate the human brain to believe that it is in a different time period. Wireless signals give
signals to the frozen brain so that it can be revived. There is one person who’s brain can be
wired to this server, and it is Irina’s...”

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7th3iHLb7Gl17zZVRwKq0E?si=9af8831c67754957

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 A Narcissist’s Lust

“....There is one person who’s brain can be wired to this server, and it is Irina’s.”

“WHAT?! Are you serious? You want me to sacrifice my life for the sake of this ridiculous
project.” I yelled.

“It is completely safe, we have one member from the project that got tested on.” He said
frantically while trying to calm down the people who were whispering to each other.

So now I am required to put my life on the line again?! I fought wars to protect them, I have so
much blood on my hands. I am weak, and I do not have the strength I once had. It was taken
from. It slipped right through my fingers and I couldn’t do anything about it. They took everything
from, even my smile has been taken from me, and now they want me to be a puppet for their
experiments?

A man walked up the podium and I still was unable to make out his features. When I looked
above, the man that was standing and watching us is gone. He stood there on the podium and
waited for us all to calm down after the sentence my father said. My father was speaking with
him and gave him the microphone. He came forward in the spotlight and froze right at the spot.
The man had sharp features, he had a black hair that covered his eye. He had a prosthetic
eyes, it looked very robotic and had no human feature to it. He was pale white and had a smug
smile on his face.

“It’s nice to finally speak with you, Irina.” He said in a deep, raspy voice.

I froze right in my place. How did this man know my name? I know that I never met this man,
yet he knows who I am. I turned to the right to see my father and mother who had a look of
nervousness on their faces. They desperately want me to agree.

“I must admit, you are a very talented young woman.” He said.

Ruslan looked furious at the comment this anonymous man made. He did not want the people
who were in the hall to hear such compliment from a stranger. But he was the least of my
concern right now.

“My name is L, I was born in Italy. My mother was Italian while my father was Russian. I was a
war photographer back in World War 2. I “died” in 1945 in Germany when the Americans invaded
Zell Am See. I was shot right in the eye which is why they replaced my eyes with a prosthetic
one. There is nothing to be afraid of, Irina. You are a young and naturally skilled woman. You
have a strong mind and heart, you can do this.” He said as he walked around the podium
casually.

My father rushed to the computer to insert a USB. He scrolled through the files while “L” stared
at me with a smirk on his face. His stare feels like it’s piercing right through me. I sat down and

14
took a sip of water, this is too much. I can’t stay in here or else I will lose it again.

[Ruslan’s POV]

She can’t have this, she won’t have this opportunity. I, myself won’t allow her to do this. I
worked for 20 years to reach the position I’m in today, she can’t destroy what I have create in
the past years. I need to reach her father, I know I can convince him to put me instead. She is
not stabled enough to be part of this project, I can drag her down in a matter of hours. I looked
at her while her pathetic friends stood by her side. I always wanted her to leave and retire, but
the war did not affect her. In fact, she left the Syrian hospital normally and returned to Russia.
What kind of human being is she?

I can bargain with her, I can even bribe her. She is a woman who runs after money and she will
do anything for the money. I must get closer to her father, I need his trust. I looked at the
podium and saw her father standing next to his wife as she scrolled through the files on the
computer. This is my chance to convince him to put me instead of Irina.

I walked up the podium and saw “L’s” eyes following me as I walked towards Daniel. They were
going through the files of the project. I walked to Daniel who was talking on the phone and sat on
the chair next to him. I was furiously tapping on the floor as I impatiently waited for Daniel to get
off the phone. This is my only chance to show my dedication to my job, that’s what he wants,
and I’ll give it to him. Daniel got off the phone and I stood up quickly to follow him down the
podium.

“Sir, sir, I wanted to talk to you to about the project.” I said hurriedly.

“Sure, Ruslan, I’d love to hear it. Let’s go outside.” He said as he led me outside of the hall.

“Now, what is that you wanted to tell me?”

“Sir, you know I’m working very hard to help you out. I’m willing to help you with whatever you
need as well. Irina isn’t in her right mindset now. So I was wondering if you could replace me
with her in this project.” I said as I exhaled.

“Ruslan, you know I appreciate your hardwork. It means the world to me, and I can see how
dedicated you are to your job.” He said.

“Thank you sir, this means a lot to me.”

“However, I want Irina to be the one who will revive that man. She is strong, and I know it.”

“wh-what, why her?!” I exclaimed.

“We made the final call, Ruslan. She will help us in this project whether she likes it or not. We
will even force her if we had to. Anyways, I need to end this meeting.” He said as he walked
back into the hall.

No, no, this can’t be happening to me. I paced in the hallway trying to think of something, but I
felt like my brain is foggy. I can’t think straight. It feels like the light at the end of the tunnel is
slowly darkening. I need to get closer to Daniel, this is the only way I can be his secretary. I will

15
do whatever it takes, and I will get that position. I walked in the hall again to hear the final part of
the presentation. I hope I can at least use this time to think of something.

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 Inner Conflicts

[Irina’s POV]

Ruslan entered the hall and his face was bright red. he glared at me as he sat down on his seat.
I can only imagine what had happened between my father and him. This man will never get off
my back until I fail. This is his one and only goal at this point. I closed my eyes and kept on
calming myself down. I can’t fall into a hole of unnecessary distractions and forget the important
things. My father got up the podium and “L” stood next to him, while my mother put a picture of
a young man.

“So, the picture behind me is “L” when he was in college. His passion during that time was
photography.” My father said as “L” walked around the podium.

“L’s” thickly lustrous black hair shined like a blackbird’s wing. His ocean blue fox eyes looked as
though they carry the darkest of secrets. He always had that cunning smirk on his face, but
throughout the meeting , he never showed us what’s behind that smirk. His bloodless skin
caused all of the veins to rise up to the fabric of his skin.

“In this photo, “L” joined the Soviet army as a photographer. He was with those who were the
first to invade Berlin.” My father said as he continued to swipe through the pictures.

“Here, “L” was unfortunately shot in the head which caused him to...umm...to pass away.” He
said hesitantly.

“L” chuckled as he pulled out his camera and began to caress it. I looked around to find
everyone confused by what he is doing. I have never seen anything like this before. This was an
unnatural behavior and my father’s team seemed to ignore it.

“This photo was taken in the lab when we took his body and experimented on it. The man lying
next to him was a volunteer who was wirelessly connected to STEM. ”

“So, Irina, you are now seeing a living proof that this works and is safe. I want to speak privately
with you and your team. Ruslan can you please bring them all to the conference room?”

“Yes sir!” Ruslan said.

“Thank you all for joining me today and listening to this presentation. You can contact me
anytime you want if you have a question or feedback. Dismissed.” My dad said while getting off
the podium.

I slowly stood up and the lights were turned back on. Everyone gathered their belongings and
shuffled around so that they can leave and go about day. My own father wants to try this
sadistic experiment on me. I may not be his biological daughter, but I at least deserve a bit of
respect. Adam put his arm around my shoulders and walked with me outside the hall.

17
“So, what are you going to do now?” Max said while he caught up with us.

“I don’t know yet, brother. I really don’t know. I-I never had to face such situation before and I
don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Don’t worry about it, Irina. We all have a lot of faith in you.” Adam said to reassure me.

Those who are around have faith in me, but I lost that faith in myself a long time ago. I’m putting
my life on the edge of a knife. Although I was involved in many projects before, I never had to
face such situation in my whole career. Russia is filled with smart politicians, senates, and
lawyers, why do we need to “revive” a dead man to help us rebuild our country? We went up
stairs to the conference room to find my father, mother, and Ruslan sitting in there. We knocked
the door, then slowly walked in.

“Irina, listen to me till the end; I need you to work with me. You are a very smart young woman,
and you have outstanding skills. Your job will be very simple; you need to go back during that
time period, live at least 1 or 2 days in the Hamtramck, and then we will fast forward the time to
when the war starts. While we work on doing that, you need to gain his trust. You will have
people there that will help you escape with Ray without his knowledge to the Bolshoi Zayatsky
Island, and at the end, we will bring you two back again.”

“You consider all of this to be simple?”

“Trust me, we will fast forward the whole process and you won’t even feel it. You would feel like
you’ve stayed there for 2 months, but here, it would be 2 days. Hell, even 2 hours. It’s not that
hard.” My father said while pleading.

I looked over my dad’s shoulder to find Ruslan breathing heavily while he heard all of the things
my father was saying. There is no reason for him to be so against me. But again, he isn’t my
concern at the moment.

“Next week, I’m going to need a response from you. Here are the papers and the flash about
Ray’s background. This will help you understand his life and it is a way for you to get to know
him better.” My mother said while handing me a poly envelop with all of the documents in them.

“Just know that you don’t have a choice, Irina. Go through these documents and report to
Ruslan and I next week. Dismissed.” My father said before living the room.

Max, Adam, and I stood in the middle of the room dumbfounded. What did he mean by I don’t
have a choice? I sighed as I looked at Max and Adam who look speechless from what had
happened today. I walked passed the both of them and to the hallway. I went to the reception
and I was met by a very irritated looked Ruslan.

He rushed towards me and said, “Irina, we need to talk.”

“Hurry, I’m already having a bad day today.”

“Listen, how about I give you 50,000 rubles, please send a request to switch positions with me.”

“Are you really that rich though?”

18
“Is this really your concern now? Listen, let me switch positions with you.”

“You do realize that I want to do that right? You heard what my dad said, he will obviously force
me or even trip me into doing it. You have something, talk with him, not me. Happy Valentine’s
Day.” I said sarcastically and walked off.

I’m already having a horrible day today, I can’t deal with this anymore. I left the headquarters
and stopped a taxi. I realized that I have forgotten my wallet and my chip is expired. The
torrential harshly cold rain kept on falling on the city. I had no other option than to walk, so I
headed back to the front entrance and continued my walk back home.

I have one week to come to a decision. I still don’t understand why this man is the only way we
can make this country stronger. I find this very inhumane and vile, Ray’s family probably did not
know that this was happening. Even if this was real, and he actually was brought back to life,
how will he live life normally again? How will I live during that period of time?

Whether I would want to do it or not, I will be forced into doing it again. They will lure me and
force me to sacrifice my life for their own personal gain. What will I and this man gain? The only
reason why they want me to confirm my final decision is because they do not want a human
rights violation lawsuit. This will ruin their reputation in front of the rest of the world. Plus, the
media will definitely get involved and they will make things even worst for them. Apparently, I’m
supposed to believe that “L” was actually brought back to life safely. But the pictures, and his
prosthetic eyes are very convincing.

I arrived back home and I got into it. The darkness in this house helps me release all of the
rough emotions without looking at them. I went upstairs and into my room. I sighed as I removed
my coat and shirt, this day is just a rollercoaster of emotions. I went into the bathroom to
change into more comfortable clothes. I turned on the lights and I looked at myself with disgust.
What happened to me? I opened the drawer that is next to the mirror and grabbed the bottle of
annex. I really can’t handle being this stressed today. I went through the other drawer to look for
the razor, and found a shaver instead. I tried removing the razor from it but it did not work. Anger
was slowly building inside of me, which caused me to smash the shaver. Blood dripped down
my hands and so I placed a band aid on it. The razor broke into two pieces, and so I grabbed
one piece of it to cut the pill to take half of it.

I left the bathroom and went through my phone that was on the bed. There were 23 missed calls
from both Max and Adam. There was a notification from the security camera as well. I clicked
on the security camera and found that the both of them are standing in front the door. I ran
downstairs and into the living room to open the front door for them. When I opened the door, I
found two wet men bold grins on their faces. They were holding two pizza boxes a bouquet of
red and white roses, Smirnoff vodka and Jack Daniels.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” They both said as they tried hugging me.

“Thank you, you two. But please stay away from me, you two are extremely wet. Get in, the
weather is cold.”

Max gave me the bouquet and then nudged my cheek. They both entered the house and placed
the food on the living room floor. I went upstairs and took a two towels and oversized hoodies.

19
When I entered the living room, I found the both of them lying on my floor while laughing with
each other about something.

“Take this, I don’t want you two to stink up my house.” I said while handing them the towel.

“Don’t worry about it, we will behave ourselves.” Max said while patting his hair dry.

“Do you two not have wives? Go hang out with them.”

“We don’t know where our wives are at, so we came to you.” Adam said.

“Why are you very happy abo-“ I was cut off by Max who out of a sudden gasped.

“Can we please do a sleepover, please?” He pleaded.

“You’re a grown adult who is married, brother. We have work tomorrow as well.”

“It won’t hurt if we just stay in tonight.”

“Fine, we’ll have it your way then” I said as I finally gave in with his request.

We sat on the floor and opened the pizza boxes. I had my eyes the whole time on the poly
envelope that is on the sofa. Curiosity got the best of me and I went and grabbed the envelop. I
opened it to find many files within it and two USB flashes. The first USB flash says “digitalized
documents” and the second one says “pictures and videos.” I inserted the first flash into the TV
and saw the list of documents. Hopefully I can learn something about this man.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1F1xKqHVFHKeAcluy954dj?si=c0189774babc4088

20
 The Living Dead

I read through the documents and I felt as if he is still alive. I felt his positive presences around
us. He was born in Mirny Russia. His family were taken to help the Russian Revolution rally and
his father formed a tight bond with Lenin and became part of his inner circle. When the Soviet
Union formed, he got closer to Stalin and he became part of his inner circle. His father was then
sent to Hamtramck, Michigan as a spy to work in the CIA before the 2nd World War. How he
gained their trust is still unknown, but he successfully sent all information to the Soviet Union
without getting caught. Reports claim that he taught Ray everything about his job because he
wanted him to grow up to be like him.

People around Ray used to claim that he is a go-to guy, a fun person to be around, and a very
thoughtful person. They all also focused on one thing; he was a very courageous man. He
always stood by the right thing and fought for it. He did very well in his studies, he studied art in
college. However, he stayed in college for 2 year because of the war that broke out.

Between the documents, I came across a newspaper that said “A Group of Youngsters Give
Police Officers Hard Times In Central Park.” The front picture was a taken from the bottom of
a tree with young boys sitting on the top with audacious smiles on their faces. Apparently, these
boys sat on the top of a tree for a week. The officers tried climbing the tree to bring them down,
but failed miserably at doing so. Because of the failed attempts at bringing them down, the
officers called their mothers so that they can order them to get off the tree. This shows how
boyish his pranks were on the members of the community.

He entered the army the second year of the war. He was unable to leave nor report back to the
Soviet Union. He decided to enter the US army because he thought that would be the only way
he can report back to the Soviet Union. He fought in France then Germany where he lost his life
due to a sniper shot. He was shot right in the back of his neck. When the Soviets entered, they
were able to take in his body before the Americans did. His family did not know that this
happened to him. They stayed years not knowing what had happened to him.

The Americans investigated his disappearance and learnt that the Soviets really did take his
body. They wanted to file a lawsuit against the Soviets. However, after the war, they both came
to an agreement that the Soviets will pay the Americans $130k for them to put Ray as M.I.A and
to keep his body. For some unknown reason, the Americans accepted the offer. Ray’s body was
then taken to Bolshoi Zayatsky Island for experiments.

“This dude had a rough life. I feel bad for him.” Adam said as he took a bite out of his pizza.

“Yeah, yeah he did. His life wasn’t getting any better.” I said as I got up to insert the second
USB. I took a shot of Smirnoff and I’m still unable to focus on anything. My head buzzed as the
USB opened.

When the USB opened, it was filled with pictures and videos of him, his family, and his friends. I

21
clicked on the first photo and it was before he entered the army. It was his high school picture.
He looked very young although the background of the picture claimed that he was 18 during at
that time. He was fair-haired, broad shouldered, and he he had a very nice smile on his face.

The next photo was him standing next to 6-foot tall guys and it seems like they won the football
game. He looked like he was very excited about the win because of the wide and excited smile
on his face. The next video was of him with his family at home. He was playfully tackling his
friend while a lady behind, who I assume is his mother, laughing at the sight before him. I exited
the video to look for a picture or video where he was in Germany or France.

I found a picture of him standing with his platoon and he looked very tired, yet he was still
smiling. He had either hazel, blue, or grey eyes. I could sense his positive energy just by
looking at the picture. I clicked on the next video to find him singing with his friends. He looked
like he was having the time of his life. It warmed my heart to see how he enjoyed every moment
in his life even in the darkest of days. All of the things I’ve seen made me confident about all of
this. I feel more comfortable doing this knowing or at least having an idea what this man’s
personality is. But then I felt this strange feeling in me, I never felt this way towards anyone.
Why am I feeling this way about him? I can do this. I know I will succeed at doing this, and
while I’m at it, I will take him somewhere away from these horrid people. I should do this for him,
and only him. But...I still don’t know the down side of this project and if this will really not put my
life in danger.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mBYdMCmRrCRSgxbJnyRSX?si=dc0a324ae86547db

22
 Decision

The Week After

Today is the day I come to a decision about this project and my involvement in it. I came in
earlier than usual, I was impatiently waiting to spill the news. I haven’t even told Max and Adam,
because I know what will happen if they disagreed with my decision. I couldn’t risk it anymore. I
paced around the conference room while waiting for the team to arrive. I have the perfect plan
for this project and what I’ll do after it’s done. If I’m really a good manipulator as they claim I
am, then I will use this awful skill against them. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I saw
the team entering the conference room. I was ready to put on a mask so that I could hide behind
it with the truth.

“Good morning everyone, thank you all for coming today.” I said with a welcoming smile.

“Good morning, Irina, I hope you invited us here to tell us about your final decision.” My dad said
as he took a bunch of papers out of his backpack.

“Yes, yes I did come to a final decision.”

“Well, this better be good.” Adam whispered to Max.

“I’ll make this short and simple, my decision is...I will help you bring this man back to life.”

My mother and father heaved a sigh of relief. I looked at Ruslan and he looked like he was about
to explode. This will not go well for me. Max and Adam looked at me with shock, but I thought
that they will support my decision based on the talk we had last week?

“NO, YOU WILL NOT DO THIS. I WON’T ALLOW YOU TO DO IT!” Ruslan yelled as he
slammed his hands on the table.

“YOU ARE NOT MENTALLY STABLED ENOUGH TO DO THIS!” He continued.

“LISTEN TO ME, no matter what you do; I will not change my mind. So knock it off and grow
up.” I said in a stern tone.

He grabbed his backpack and left while slamming the door behind him. What is wrong with this
guy? I poured myself a glass of water and took out my Buspirone pills. I can’t let this delusional
person ruin what I’m planning on doing. I will not let Ray suffer even more because of these
people.

“Irina, I want you to sign on this contract. It is basically stating that you agreed on being the
person who will bring back our guy back to life.” My mother said while handing me the contract.

I immediately signed it without even reading what’s written in it. This contract does not mean

23
anything to me. No contract will make me do something I wouldn’t want to do. I have one goal in
mind right now, and it is to protect Ray after bringing him back to life. Yet he will be taken from
me, he will be taken advantage of so that he can help them. But I will be by his side until they
get what they originally wanted.

“All of you, please meet me at the office. Let’s finalize this.” My dad said then left the room.

I grabbed my bags to leave the room but was stopped by an angry looking Adam and Max. They
will not let me off the hook that easily. But at this point, nobody will stop me from getting what I
want. Their stares burned through me, and the long awkward silence made me uncomfortable.

“I have to do this.” I whispered.

“Why Irina, why? This is not worth it, you will not achieve anything from it.” Max said
disappointedly.

“I want to do this to help Ray. These people are violating his rights. I can't let them hurt him nor
his family. His family deserve closure, and this is what I will be doing. I only need your
support.”

Adam and Max both looked at each other and back at me in a disappointed way. I don’t want to
hurt them nor do I want to lose them. I need them by my side, I need them to be my backbone
during this mission. I know I can do this, I believe in myself. I just need them to believe in me.

“Fine, we’ll be there for you. You are a hard-headed woman, there is no possible way for us to
stop you from doing this.”Adam said while Max nodded his head in agreement.

“Thank you, thank you so much. I will not let you down.” I said while smiling.

“Let’s meet with Daniel now.” Max said while Adam followed him to the door.

I knocked my dad’s office door and he signaled me to come in. He was speaking with Ruslan
and he was unpleased. He glared at while I slowly entered the office with Max and Adam. I
walked in to find a map projected on the screen. I sat on the chair next to the desk and my dad
walked behind me to close the lights. I looked at the top of the map and it was Saint
Petersburg’s location and the map was cut in half.

“Now that you agreed on doing this, you must know that the facility is obviously not in Moscow.
That’s why we will be leaving to Saint Petersburg this week on Friday. Saint Petersburg will be
our rest stop while headquarters rent self-driving cars for us. From Saint Petersburg, we will
leave to Belomorsk. It will be a 9 to 10 hours drive. Once we reach there, we will go on a cruise
trip to the island. It will be a long trip, but this is the only way we can arrive to the island.” My
dad said.

“Do you have any questions?” My mother asked.

“Nope, everything is crystal clear.” I said while smiling.

“Alright then, you are all dismissed. You can also go back home. There isn’t anything important
today.” My dad said.

24
“Thank you, sir. Have a good day.” Adam said.

I walked out of the office knowing that the first phase of this is done. The second phase is me
going into that server. This was the only thing I was worried about. I don’t understand how it
works, and I highly doubt they will let me know how it works now. I have another issue as well,
and it is Ruslan. If I can depend on Max and Adam to get him out of my way, I will be able to
protect Ray as he works with the government.

“You heard him boys, we will be leaving on Friday. But I need to brief you on something as well.”
I said as a smirk grew on my face.

“Alright, let’s talk in the taxi so that nobody hears us.” Adam said.

We went downstairs to the reception and left to the employees exist. Max tagged a taxi so that
it would take us back to my house. I touched the tap screen so that the door opens. The only
thing I should do now is simplify what they have to do for me. They are very skillful at getting
Ruslan off my back. I can count on them to help me with my side mission. We’ve been through
hell together, I can trust them.

“Alright, so I agreed on bringing Ray back to life, but Ruslan is unhappy with this decision.” I
said.

“Why though? I still don’t understand what’s his goal.” Max asked.

“He wants to be my dad’s secretary and he wants to get closer to him. Anyways, you both know
that Ruslan won’t get off my back. The only thing I need from you is to back him off as I work.
You always succeed at doing so, which is why I’m depending on you again.”

“Of course we will get him away from you, don’t even worry about it. We will do whatever it takes
to help you with your plan.” Adam said while Max nodded in agreement.

“Wow, that was easy. Thank you, I knew I could trust you.” I said while I fist bumped Adam.

I was not expecting this to go this easy. This is the only thing I needed; their support will help
me get through this very fast and easily. I just need to focus on how can I manipulate Ray. One
side of me feels very bad for doing this to him, but the other side wants to get him out of this
misery. What I’m doing will help my country and it will be a ticket for freedom to Ray. I don’t
look at myself as a hero that’s mission is to “protect and save the city.” I don’t have a choice
but to do this. I will be forced against my will, and both Ray and I will be taken advantage of. I
just need to get this over and done with.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Wtww6azt1f2zJVSlIJred?si=9bed2705a685499a

25
 On the Road

Friday

I got up this morning earlier than usual. I made sure that I have packed everything, I won’t be
using half of these stuff anyways. I haven’t been outside of Moscow for a long time, I will
definitely miss this city. Moscow has an energy to it that makes people attracted to it. The city
has a heart which makes the city always alive. Leaving will be hard, but I’ve agreed to do this
for one reason, and I should stick to it. 14 hours of moving around the country, which means I
have plenty of time to learn more about Ray.

I pulled my luggage out of the room and down the stairs. I peaked out the window to find the
airport taxi car outside. I got my luggage and took it outside. I turned around to look at the house
for the final time; I will definitely miss this house. Although I did not have any memories in here,
but I will still miss it. I got into the taxi car and took out my phone to text Max to see if they’re in
the airport.

“Hi Max, did u make it to the airport?”

“Ye, I checked in with Adam.”

“Is my dad there??”

“No, they still didn’t come, r u on ur way?”

“Yup, I just left”

“Alrighty, see ya ;)

The celestial fireball in the sky shined on the city. I felt like I was drowning the crowd of people
in downtown, the crowd had a life of its own. I grabbed my bag to pull out the pictures I printed
last night. While flipping through the documents and pictures, I found a picture of Ray standing
with his platoon in Paris. Just by looking at his photos, they make me feel like he’s a long-time
friend of mine. He’s always smiling and he’s always trying to make others cheerful. I looked at
the picture after and saw his body in the lab. They had his body in a glass cylinder and there
was a liquid all over his body. Those who are in charge are taking advantage of him; once
they’re done, they will just throw him somewhere and he will get hurt. I won’t allow this to
happen.

The car came to a halt as it reached the airport. I put my wrist in front of the scanner to pay. I
left the car to find androids waiting in front of the airport entrance to help people with their
luggage. It seems as though I won’t see them for a while. I entered the airport to see that it’s
completely different now. There are androids that are checking in people, luggage carts are
made to follow the person, and the surveillance drone flew all over the airport. I walked towards
the empty check-in desk to find the android waiting for someone to check in.

26
“Good morning, where are you flying to today?” The android said with a grin on its face.

“I’m going to Saint Petersburg.”

“Would you like to check in with the chip or with the code?”

“With the code.”

I gave the android the code that was given to me and I gave it my luggage so that it weighs it. It
gave me the ticket of the flight as it weighed my luggage. I texted Max to let him know that I
checked in. He texted me back to meet him in the lounge where he and the rest of the team are
waiting. I would’ve preferred if I traveled on my own, but obviously they want my friends and I to
be under their supervision.

I walked into the lounge and started scanning it to find them. I suddenly found a smiling Max
waving his hands while smiling creepily to catch my attention. I set down my bag and removed
my jacket and shook Max’s and Adam’s hands. I looked around for my father, Ruslan, and my
mother and I found them sitting in the distance eating and talking.

“I ordered you a coffee, this will be a very long trip.” Adam said.

“Why are they sitting there?” I asked.

“Probably planning their experiment that will be conducted on you. They look at you as their lab
rat now.” Max said while Adam laughed.

“Ha ha ha, you’re very funny. Anyways, did they talk to you about anything?”

“Why are you so paranoid? We’ll tell you everything and we’ll help you out, don’t worry.” Max
said as he ate his cake.

“How are you able to find this cake everywhere?”

“I like strawberries, don’t judge me.”

“Why do you want to do this so desperately all out a sudden?” Adam asked.

“I told you why, I care about that man and what’s happening to him is unfair. I want to make
things right. You know our government will just throw him out somewhere and he will hurt
himself.”

“But you started thinking this way once you saw his pictures though. I truly believe you may
have some feelings to-“

“NO I’M NOT!”

“Yeah, she definitely is having some feelings towards him. If so, that’s creepy.” Adam said while
Max chuckled.

“You don’t need to build a facade and hide behind it, you can tell us. If you are feeling a certain
way towards him, it’s all cool.” Max said while wiping his mouth.

27
“You know what, I’ll go outside, you two are being ridiculous with these conspiracy theories.” I
said while getting up.

I walked outside the terrance and sat on the chair next to the wall. I don’t see how me caring
about Ray's wellbeing is the same as me falling “in love with him.” I’m just trying to make a good
thing and I do not want them to jeopardize his life after this is over. Once I saw his pictures and
videos, they made me feel more confident towards this project. I also want to meet him and see
what’s he like. I do think he’s a good looking guy, but that does not mean anything. I have one
goal and I won’t allow any feelings to intervene and block my way.

I felt someone tapping my shoulder which made me jump a bit. I turned around to see “L”
smoking as he sat next to me. I want to know more about this man. He’s like a book of
mysteries and I want to read and know more about him. There is no possible way for me to get
through him, so I will need to do a little bit of digging.

“I know you are wondering how I know you and why I think you are the perfect “candidate” for
this.” He said as he took a deep breath.

“Yes, yes I am wondering that.”

“You have a very strong mind, Irina. You are very smart to the point where it’s difficult to hide
anything from you. In addition, you have a way that makes people feel comfortable around you.
If you befriended Ray and built up a bond of trust, this will be a very simple and easy process
for you to bring him back. I know this will end very fast.”

“What’s it like to go through the STEM system?”

“It’s painful. You would feel statics running within you, but you won’t do anything about it. You
fall in a deep whole slash tunnel. You would see codes, every time you try to focus on them,
they disappear. It is a very painful experience.”

“But you will pass through it very fast, you just need to relax and you’ll be fine.” He continued.

Statics running within me? I am slowly beginning to regret this. I don’t even know how this
process will be. I have the right to know, yet nobody informed about the procedure. If I
overthought this, I will make it harder for myself. I have to do this for Ray, I can’t allow such
things to stop me from doing this. I can handle the pain, but he won’t be able to handle it. Our
world now is extremely innovated, there is no way he will be able to live in this life. But at the
same time, I will struggle as well.

I received a notification from the airport’s app that boarding started. I got up and picked my
jacket and bag. I walked back into the lounge to find the team ready to move out. I caught up
with Max and Adam and noticed that Ruslan was following us while my parents and “L” were
talking about something. I pretended not to see him because I wanted to find out if he would do
something.

“What did you and L talk about?” Max asked.

“He told me that he believed in me and stuff. But he told me that the procedure will be very
painful. That’s kind of turning me off, not gonna lie.”

28
“And you still want to sacrifice your life for a dead dude because you are starting to like him?
That’s kind of messed up, Irina.” Adam said.

“For the last time, I do not like him in the way you are thinking of. I haven’t even met the guy! I
am doing the right thing. It’s literally our job!”

“Whatever you say.” He said.

No matter how much they tease me about this mission, I will still do it. It is true that I’m
sacrificing my life, but this time, I’m not hurting anyone. In fact, I am helping another person not
to fall in the wrong hands. I know what’s it like to be a government’s puppet, and I won’t make
Ray fall in the same trap I fell in years ago. I looked to my side to find that Ruslan still has his
eyes on us. If he wants to play hard, then I’m up for that challenge.

We walked down the jet walk and entered the airplane. The android on board helped us all to find
our seat. I thankfully chose the window seat, I need time to think about all of this. 14 hours or
even longer, I can know exactly everything about Ray before reaching the island. I went through
my pocket to take my earphones out but I accidentally dropped a note on the floor. I grabbed
and opened it and it said: “Remember, don’t bring cameras, recording devices, or a large sum of
money. - Daniel” How come I have not read this? There must be a reason behind this, but that’s
none of my concern now.

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 The Island

The cold breeze of the isolated island hit my face as I walked out the off the cruise and onto the
ramp. The wind-whipped island had odd labyrinths. The voluminous and slightly blood-flecked
clouds on the north looked as though they are ready to attack the land. As I walked onto the
small hill before me, I saw the facility. It was huge, and the color of it was awfully grey. It almost
resembled a prison with its barbed wires on the fences. The motion detector lights make it seem
like there is something in there that is hidden.

The team and I walked towards the heavily guarded gate. The trooper came out with his rifle
pointed at us while the K9 kept on barking at us. He asked us for identification and my father
gave him a card. He scanned the card to confirm and gave the other trooper the “OK” sign to let
us through. The heavy black gate slid open for us. I followed my father inside to find military
vehicles and troops standing inside. Why is this place so protected? I looked above to find
troopers standing in the balconies following our every move.

The large metal door of the facility opened automatically. When we entered, we were unable to
see anything. Not even an outline of a shadow. The dark and cold entrance put me on high alert.
We turned to the left to find a dim lit hallway. My father signaled us to walk in. As we reached
the end of the hallway, he took out a card. He scanned it and that made a check sound. The
door opened and my heart skipped a beat at the scene before me. I turned to look at Max and
Adam who also look mortified at what’s before them. My father eyes came in contact with me,
then immediately lowered his gaze.

“What in the world is this?!” Adam whispered.

“Umm, please...come in.” My dad said awkwardly.

The huge circular room had what seemed like bathtubs that were connected to a tall wiry tower.
Right at the top of the tower, there was a sphere that was made out of glass yet it was foggy on
in the inside. The sphere had cylinders coming out of it. The only thing I could see through the
darkness were the Mobius logo on the computer screens that are connected to the bathtubs. I
looked above to see that the same glass room that was in the headquarters is also there.

“We need to brief you on little things before putting you into the server.” My mother said while
holding a file.

“Are you sure you want do this, Irina?” Adam said in a stern tone.

“She has no choice, Adam. She chose to do this, she can’t turn away now.” My dad said.

I chose to do this, I brought this all upon myself. I promised myself to do this without backing
away any time soon. I just need to stay focused on their objective for now. Once I’m inside, I
can change everything. This room is making me very uncomfortable because of its eerie
features.

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I walked towards one of the bathtubs to find that there is rust around the corners of it. There is
one possibility of why there is rust in there; this has been used before. The bathtubs had wires
coming out of each inch of it. I walked in between the bathtub to have a better look at the tower.
The tower had what looked like a door with a chair inside of it. I turned around to find my father
and mother wandering around the lab awkwardly. They know how wrong this is, yet they don’t
have the guts to admit it.

“Now that you’ve seen the lab, we need to give you the final briefing...”

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 Final Briefing

“Now that you’ve seen the lab, we need to give you the final briefing...”

“This is wrong on so many levels, Irina.” Max whispered to me as we all followed my dad.

The only way to make it right is by following their orders. I want to get this over and done with.
We walked up the squeaking metal stairs and I got a better look at the lab. The silence that
straggled around the lab made me feel uneasy. The second floor had many offices and they all
were similar to each other. They looked very clean and untouched, there weren’t any signs of
people working here. Next to the conference room, there was a darkened hallway. My mother
tried to move in front of me so that I don’t see it.

My dad opened the conference room for us and we followed him inside. The room was filled with
blueprints and maps. One thing that stood out to me the most is that; none of the rooms had
any windows. There were security cameras in every single corner of the room. We all sat down
while my father and mother opened the projector.

“I know you are probably wondering what this is; this is the lab where this project will be
conducted. Now that we made it here, we can finally tell you the procedure.” My dad said.

“First, know that this lab is heavily secured. The reason why I’m telling you this is because none
of us will leave this building until Ray is alive. You will not be able to use your phones or any
gadgets you may have. Second, we will be starting with the project tomorrow. So prepare
yourself, Irina.” My mother said.

“This is STEM, this is where you will be connected to. You will be put in one of these bathtubs
that will be filled with a liquid. We will connect your brain wirelessly to our server. Ray’s body will
be placed in the tiny room that is in the tower. We will be able to connect both your brains to our
server. Our employees will get you through the server and out of it. You will have as much time
as you want to successfully bring him to us. I just need you to remain in contact with us through
the communicator that you will find once you’re in.” She continued.

“We’re counting on you, Irina.” My dad said to boost my morale up.

We will be starting with the project tomorrow. Her words kept on repeating in my head. They are
going to fast and I’m still behind. They desperately want me to go “into their server” to the point
where they don’t even care to ask me if I’m ready. Max and Adam both know that this isn’t right,
but I have to prove them wrong to win their support. While I’m at it, I need to get Ruslan off of
my back. He won’t let me off the hook and he will try everything to stop me achieving my
objective.

I curiously want to see Ray’s body. I must see what they have done to him over the past
decade. There is no way they will allow me to look at him now, but before I do anything, I must
see him. If things don’t go as planned, I will file a human rights violation lawsuit in Geneva. The

32
only way I can do that is to see what they have done to his body and how they’ve treated it. But
once again, why do I care that much about this whole thing? The right thing to do right now is to
at least have an idea about whom I will be “reviving.”

“I need to see Ray’s body.” The words came out of my mouth so sudden and that caught my
father off guard.

“You will see him tomor-“

“I need to see him NOW.”

“At this point this is getting ridiculous.” Adam scoffed.

“Fine, follow me.” My mother said.

I followed my mother outside of the lab. We went through another metal gate that said
“Basement.” I walked down the ghostly blue stairs and into a cold hallway. My fingers ached due
to the cold atmosphere that this basement had. The quietness pierced through the steel walls.
The only thing that I could hear is the beating of my cold heart. I chewed my lips as we got
closer to the huge cylinders that had smoke coming out of them. My mother walked into the
freezing room and opened the lights. The cylinders had names, dates of births, death dates, and
locations. My mother stopped in front of one cylinder and my brain stuttered for a moment. I
couldn’t believe what I saw before me.

“Here, go take a look.” She said as she opened the door of the cylinder.

“Oh...my god.” I said appalled by what I saw.

It...was his body. Wires hung around his white as a sheet body to keep him standing still. His
anemic lips looked as though they are trying to ask for help to get out of the hell they’ve put him
in. His eyes that were half way open were vacant, as their luster dimmed. I could already see
the beastly things he saw in his past life. I slowly reached to touch his hand and it was like
touching cold steel. The blue and purple veins looked as though they will pop out of his white
skin. He had a pleading expression on his face. Pain was painted all over his dried skin.

“What have you done to him?” I mumbled.

“We cryogenically froze his body. His body has been placed here for more than 80 years.” My
mother said.

“All of this just to gain political power? Exploiting someone’s dead body for these horrific
experiments just for power? Really?” max whispered to my dad disappointedly.

“We are at a verge of a 3rd World War. We need to strengthen our country or else our fate will
fall in the hands of the enemies.” My dad replied.

“Alright, that’s it. I showed you his body, tomorrow you will meet him. Now, let’s go and show
you where the three of you will be spending the night.” My mother said as she locked the
cylinder.

What I have witnessed just now will forever be ingrained in my head. Though he is dead, I was

33
still able to feel some sort of a connection with him. Whatever it is, it is further making me want
to go into their server to save his life. They are playing with his dead body without the
knowledge of the world. They took his body and dug themselves into a deeper hole just to hide
their sickening secret. The eyes of the world cannot see what’s happening behind the curtains.
The only way to put a stop to such acts is to unveil the curtains to expose such appalling
secrets.

We walked up the stairs and into a gated hallways that had a sign that said “Apartments.” This
place is huge. One could go crazy just to figure out how to leave this grim place. The rooms
were numbered and they all looked the same. It resembled a psychiatric hospital due to its
haunting environment. We stood in front of room number #304. My mother opened for us the
door and we walked in. I looked at the living room and it looked like a hospital’s waiting room.
The cadet blue were made out of plastic and the vinyl flooring were dark grey. They had so
much dark stains all over them. The lights were dim and depressing. I walked into one of the
bedrooms to find that they look exactly like hospital bedrooms, sad and dull. No windows, no
TV, and no service.

“You will be spending the night here. Dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast will be given to you by one
of the employees. The door will be locked from the outside. You have to be ready by 9:30 AM
so that we can start with the procedure. Your luggage will also arrive now. If you need anything,
you can ring the bell that is right behind you.” My mother said as she left the room and locked it
behind her.

I sat on one of the chairs and put my head in between my hands. What have I put myself into? I
still have no idea what’s happening behind the scenes. Whatever their plan is, it’s definitely
going to be something sinister. There is no turning back at this point. I made it in, I saw what
they are hiding, and now we’re locked in. I need to focus on my objective for now. I heard a
knock on the door, then someone opened the door. A young employee pushed in our luggage
and quickly locked the door. I heard Adam’s sigh from the other room.

“I really can’t believe this is happening. The procedure will start tomorrow and I still don’t have
the confidence that this will work.” Max said in a worried tone.

“Don’t worry, brother. I will stay in contact with you once I’m in. For now, I just need you to keep
your eyes on Ruslan.”

“If he even thought of doing something stupid, I will teach him a hell of a lesson.” Adam said as
he came into the living room.

“Remember, we just need to stay together. Yes I will be deep in their server, but I will update
you on everything that happens.” I said to reassure them.

Everything will be fine. I know that everything will be fine. I can endure the pain, I just need
support. I don’t know what’s in their servers, I don’t even trust that this was tested properly
before. I just know that I have one objective, and it is to get Ray out of all of this. Once he’s
alive, I will make sure to retire from this. I don’t need this in my life anymore. I will take my
friends and head up north. I know just the place that I will head to once this is done.

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 Behind the Curtains

My eyes slowly opened up and they felt heavy. I couldn’t keep my head straight. It was buzzing
and my vision was blurred. I tried to move my hands but failed. When I looked at my wrists, I
was shocked to see that I was handcuffed to a wheel chair. I wanted to speak, but words failed
to come out of my lips. The gated door of the lab opened and I found that there were people
standing in the conference room above. The person that wheeled me into the lab stopped as
they carried my body and placed me into the bathtub.

I was paralyzed. I couldn’t feel a single thing. My breath hitched as the milky white liquid began
to pour from the black holes that were placed around the bathtub. I looked above to see my
mother and another person placing some sort of electroencephalogram cap on my head. They
placed an oxygen mask on my face and I heard loud sounds that were almost like engine
sounds starting up. They placed my head on a hook that had rubber all over it to stabilize my
head.

“Good luck, Irina. Please try to cooperate with us. I know that you don’t trust us, but we have
the same goals as you.” My mother said as she typed things on the computer.

“No, you don’t have the same goals as me. Don’t you even try using that argument.” I whispered
back to her.

“Just stay in contact with us. I will let you know when we will fast forward the timeline. I will be
here for you.”

“And someone else will be in there for you.” She continued.

She continued typing on the computer that was attached to the bathtub. This is it. I will finally
get to see what’s behind the curtains. I looked above to see 5 people standing there and looking
at me. It was as if they are watching some sort of a movie. My throat was dry and my whole
body was trembling. I don’t what’s inside of this, and I’m not told what to expect.

“Are you ready?” My mother asked. I nodded and she pressed one final button.

“STEM entry in 3...2...1”

My body started drowning into large hole as the void engulfed my whole body. I turned my body
to see that I’m falling into a dark hole. I tried to grab onto something but to no avail. I could feel
the condensation all over my face. I tried to scream but as I opened my mouth, nothing came
out. My breathing fastened as I looked around to find something to hang onto. Electric shocks
ran through my body. I scratched my skin to get rid of the static feeling that was running in my
veins.

The water that was moving around me stopped as I landed slowly onto my feet. I looked around
to see codes in the distance. Where am I? I could see the dim lights, but I did not know where

35
they came from. There was water all over the dark floor. I slowly began to walk towards the
codes and static feeling was still running within my veins. I couldn’t shake off the feeling, but I
continued moving forward. As I slowly walked towards the codes, I heard men talking.

“Why is she moving like this? And why is he shaking in that way? Are they okay?” The voice
asked.

“We don’t know yet, Maria is calling her now. Once she replies, that would indicate that she
made it in safely.” Someone else answered.

I began to hear the echos of a phone ringing in front of the computer that had the Mobius red
logo. The light that was near the codes became brighter as I got near it. I noticed that it was an
office desk. There was a communicator on that was ringing, I couldn’t see who was calling. I
reached out to grab it then an office setting began to fade in. I felt weak and I kneeled down to
sit. I was in so much pain to the point where I was unable to move any further.

“Hey Irina, can you hear me? Hello?” My mother called from the communicator.

“Yes, I’m here I can hear you. What in the world is happening?!”

“Snap out of it, Irina. You’ve made it in safety. How are you feeling?”

“I feel like a truck just hit me. You don’t understand the amount of pain I’m in right now.”

“This feeling will pass as you gradually adapt to the environment inside of STEM. Right now,
you are in your office in your house.”

“This office is just like my office back in Grozny.”

“Your subconscious built it. You will find a map. This map is the map of Hamtramck. We marked
down Ray’s house and school. You will also find codes that you can use to communicate with
the rest of the team. Tomorrow, you will be registered as a new student in his school. You look
very young, so he will believe you. Get to know him, learn what’s he like. I need you to form a
strong bond with him. We will let you know when we will fast forward the timeline.” She said.

“Our team provided clothes, makeup, and hygienic products in the house as well.” She
continued.

“You want me to be a student? I literally failed school before.” I questioned.

“I know, but we already made a deal with the school that you will not learn anything and you will
not do the exams and stuff like that.”

“Also, how am I young looking when I have tattoos all over my body?”

“Try to hide them. When you will go to the school tomorrow, talk with Mr. Wilson. We told him
everything already. I will now leave you to it.” She said.

I’m on my own. It took me a moment to realize that another issue just popped up; how the hell
am I supposed to adapt to this life? I looked at the clock and saw that it’s 11:30 AM. I’m
physically and mentally exhausted. I looked around the office to find Soviet posters and

36
antiques. I don’t remember my office having any of that. I looked for the map that my mother
was talking about and found it near the clutter of folders.

I opened the huge map to find that it had everything marked down. I looked at my house and
compared it to the distance between Ray’s house and mine. I’ve noticed it’s not that far from
here. It’s only 20 minutes by walking. Hamtramck is a very small city, I believe I can easily
navigate through the city on my own. The other paper had codes that I had to dial into the
communicator to call Max, Adam, Ruslan, “L”, my mother and father.

I opened the office door slowly and I walked into the narrow hallway. The wallpaper had flowers
painted all over it. It looked like something from a grandmother’s house. I walked to the end of
the hallway to find another room. I opened the door to find that it’s a bedroom. The floor creaked
as I walked into the room. The bed was really high, it looked nothing like the modern beds we
have. The table hairstyle had makeup that looked dark and used. I turned around and headed
into the bathroom to find that there were hygienic products placed there. The clothes were very
old-fashioned. Skirts, jackets, shirts, and pants all had plain colors and patterns.

I sat on the bed and saw that there were some newspapers on the nightstand. One of them had
a headline that said “SS authorities open the Flossenbürg concentration camp in northern
Bavaria, Germany.” I am not here to fight this war. I will make sure Ray goes nowhere near the
Germans. I won’t all him to get wounded nor hurt in any shape or form. My head is very heavy
and my eyes are dry. I laid on the bed to rest for a bit. I will be having a very long day tomorrow
and I need my energy to be recharged.

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 First Encounter

June 1938

The loud alarm went off which caused to jolt up. I tried calming myself down as the alarm kept
ringing. I grabbed it and tried pushing the bells to turn it off. I pushed the buttons on the back of
it but it did not stop the alarm from ringing. How do I turn off this alarm?! I took the
communicator and dialed Max’s communicator. I left the room due to the loud alarm, I couldn’t
hear a single thing. I walked into the bathroom hoping that Max would answer.

“Hello?” He asked.

“Hi Max.”

“OH MY GOD IT IS HER!” I heard him yelling.

“Oh my god, are you okay?!” He continued.

“Yeah I’m fine. Well... I was fine. I don’t know how to turn off this alarm. Help me out, brother.”

“You slept? You’ve been in the server for like an hour or something like that. Anyways, there is
the on and off switch on the back of it. But what’s it like right now?

“The house is really old, this will be a challenge.”

“Anyways, listen, I gotta go now. I’ll make sure to call you.” I said as I turned off the
communicator.

I walked back into the room and looked at the back of the alarm. It did have a on/off switch.
After switching off the alarm, I went through the closet to look for something to wear. I will finally
get to meet Ray today. I am pretty nervous, but hopefully my everything goes as planned. I
picked out a simple crimson shirt with a beige skirt and a black kerrybrooke shoes. It’s not
something I’m used to wearing, but it’ll do for the time being.

I walked down the old stairs and into the living room. It had beige wallpapers with brown stripes
all over it. Right above the fireplace was a picture of Joseph Stalin. Nice. A small touch to
remind me to whom I belong to. I looked at the the television that had selector switches. The
switch was on zero which I assume means it’s turned off. I switched the knob to number 23 and
that switched on a show. I felt proud of myself for knowing how to turn it on. I turned the knob to
zero and headed towards the kitchen.

The kitchen was small and ordinary. One thing I’m grateful for is that it actually has a proper
kitchen island. I looked through the cabinets and fridge. There were eggs and bacon which I
decided to make. Today I will finally get to meet him. I am an awkward person and I have no
idea how he will react to my awkwardness. I know just the way to make him follow what I say. I

38
highly doubt he would even be able to read between the lines. It is apparently the year 1938,
which means the US still did not enter the war with Germany. I can strengthen my friendship
with him easily, the only thing I'm hoping for is that he can cooperate with me.

After finishing breakfast, I wash my hands and left the kitchen. I wore my shoes, sweater, and I
took my backpack that had only a pencil case and a notebook. Before leaving, I remembered
that I left the map and communicator in the office. I looked at the time and saw that it’s still 7:05
AM. I still have time to do a bit of exploration around the city. I took the map and communicator
and locked the door behind me. I went downstairs and grabbed the knob of the door. My sweaty
hands turned the door knob and opened the door. I was nervous about this, but I this is what I’ve
been waiting for.

I walked outside and my eyes widened. It is really 1938! The houses looked very old and there
were kids running and playing. They all had the vintage style. Their hairs, clothes, and the way
they spoke all indicated that this is really 1938. I heard a bicycle bell ringing, I looked to the side
to see the mailman throwing newspaper on the doorsteps of the houses. The vintage small cars
that were on the sidewalk had bright colors to them. They looked nothing like the modern cars. I
couldn’t believe that I was really in the 1930s!

I walked up north towards 2343 Street to leave the neighborhood. Right outside of Hamtramck
was where the crowd was. People were all over the place laughing and talking. The police
officers gave everyone bright smiles and helped elderly people to pass the busy streets. The
cars’ engines roared loudly throughout the city. Detroit was alive and its energy had a way to
manipulate me into allowing it to run within my soul. The summer breeze made me feel
refreshened. The smell of Jasmine that came out the flower store near by triggered fond memory
that I never even had. As I walked towards the pedestrian crossing, a smiling police officer
came to me.

“Good morning, young lady.” He said as he stood by my side.

“Good morning, officer.” I don’t like police officers and I never will. Hopefully he would get off of
my back.

The cars suddenly stopped and I hustled across the pedestrian crossing and onto the other side.
I stood in front of a church that already had people going in. I took out the huge map and saw
that the school is just right in the corner. I crossed the street towards the church and stopped. I
was already able to see the school. I walked to the side of the church to find students entering
the school. I looked at the time and it was 7:30 AM. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I
don’t know how will he react once he sees me. I also don’t how I will react once I see him.

I hurriedly stood by the students who were being escorted by the police across the street. The
only thing I have to do now is blend in. I looked at the group of girls who were wearing similar
clothes to mine. They had different hairstyles, but there is no way I can do that with my hair. My
hair was in a bun and I hope that this is not suspicious. The tattoos that are on my arms and the
rest of my body will definitely blow my cover. As I crossed the street, I heard a group of young
boys laughing and running towards the school’s entrance. This might be his group! I tried
following them, but I couldn’t keep up with their pace.

I walked into the school and it was gigantic. Its interior reminded me so much of the Moscow

39
metro station. The motifs were made out of marble and the huge windows let in the warm sun
rays. I’ve noticed that they had paintings on the wall. I got closer to inspect them and learned
that they are all painted by students. They also had pictures of students that graduated from the
school. I walked towards the reception and saw that they had a picture of Christopher Columbus
with his quote written in gold. The only thing that bothers me the most is that they are not
teaching the students the real side of this guy. They never will. The only thing the Yankees are
good at is lying to people. I waited for the reception lady to end her call while I examined the
paintings that were on the walls.

“Good morning, what can I help you with today?” She said with a warm smile.

“Good morning, Ma’am. I’m a new student here and I was told to meet with Mr. Wilson.”

“You are Irina Yasinovski, correct?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Alright then, just give me a moment.” She as she dialed the phone.

I never had a good relationship with my teachers back when I was a kid, which is why I failed
school. I really want this man to be nice towards me. I’m very short-tempered and anything can
trigger my anger. I don’t know how to act like a school kid either which is another struggle. If I
started overthinking, I will blow my cover.

“So he’s on his way rig-“ She was cut off by a man who came bolted towards us.

“Good morning, Irina. Welcome to Central High School!” He said loudly which caught the
attention of the students.

“Good morning Mr. Wilson. It’s a pleasure to be here!”

“The pleasure is all mine! Come with me to my office so that I can tell you everything about the
school.” He said.

I followed down the spacious hallway. He seems like a nice person. He is very welcoming and
he gives off a warm vibe. One thing that caught off guard is that he knew my name. The lady at
the front desk also knew my name. They were giving each other strange looks. I brushed it off
thinking that it is something between them that has nothing to do with me, but I can sense
something quite not right. I scanned the faces of the students hoping that I can find Ray.
Unexpectedly, my vision was flooded with Mobius’ logo. My breathing became heaver and Mr.
Wilson pushed me towards his office.

“You saw that?” He questioned.

“Wait, are you seeing the same things as me?!”

“Oh, I see they did not tell you this. My name is not Mr. Wilson. I’m Anatoly. I’m a technician
and I was sent in here from Omsk's base. The lady you saw there is called Alena. She’s a
psychotherapist. I’ve been here for 6 months to bring back Ray to live. But they disconnected
his brain and I couldn’t finish the mission. I guess you are here to complete it.”

40
“Why am I knowing this now?”

“They probably didn’t want you to freak out or something. It’s really hard to adapt.”

“Why did I just see the Mobius logo? It really hurts.”

“Ever since you’ve joined the server, someone is playing with the codes. I believe his name is
Ruslan. He is your team leader, right?”

“Yes, but what is he doing to them?”

“I don’t know, but you should stop him. We will die here if he kept on messing with the codes. I
will try to stabilize the environment here so that the pressure is not too high on us.”

“Please do, I do not want to die in this trashy server.”

“Let’s go and meet Ray. We need to get out this server.”

I got up and followed him out of the office. What else is being hidden from me? All of these
things should’ve been told to me before I even entered this useless server. Lying and deceiving
me won’t stop me from achieving my goals. Whether they can read my thoughts or not, this
won’t stop me from taking Ray. I thought that Max and Adam are able to control Ruslan. But
he’s playing with the server and this can get Ray killed, and of course me.

I followed Anatoly up the old stairs and into the hallway that is filled with classrooms. My fingers
were fidgeting. I broke into a sweat. My heart pounded, and my hand began to feel clammy
against my moving leg. This is the moment I have been waiting for, this is what I wanted.
Anatoly walked into the classroom and everyone sat down quietly. I scanned the room to find
Ray.

“Ray, come here please.” Anatoly called out.

“Yes sir, I’m coming!” Ray said.

A young man stood right up and walked towards us. It was him! The man I’m here for stood and
came right to me. The man I was told he wasn’t worth fighting for is here. He looked just like the
pictures. I was thunderstruck, he is real. He is alive and well. The pressure built up inside of me
which made me feel like I will get a nosebleed. I never felt this way towards anyone before. His
smile made me feel an odd feeling in my stomach. I was lost for words and my throat was dry.

“Ray, this is Irina. She’s a new student here and she’s new to this town. I want you to get to
know her and I want you to show her around the school and if you had the time, around the town
if you could.”

“Yes sir, will do! It’s nice meeting you Irina!” He said in a cheery voice as he extended his hand
to shake mine.

“I-I’m g-glad to meet you t-oo!” I stuttered as I shook his hand. My hand was sweaty and he
probably feels disgusted by that.

“I’ll leave you two together. Please Ray, take care of her.”

41
“Don’t worry about it sir!”He replied.

Anatoly left and I stood there with Ray. I was unable to look at him. He was just like the
descriptions and claims that were written about him. He’s way too charming and I never met
someone like him before. I looked up to find him smiling and I felt immense heat on my face.

“Please come in, I believe you are tired from walking all over the school with Mr. Wilson.”He said
as he gestured me to walk into the classroom.

“Yeah, the school is huge! I almost got lost coming to this classroom if it wasn’t for Mr.Wilson
who guided me here.” I said while giggling to ease the tensions.

“The school is really massive, but I’ll navigate you around the school.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“No problem! Hey, would you like to sit here? I know it’s at the back of the class but there are
many empty seats at the back.”

“It’ll be fine, I don’t mind it.” I said while grinning.

"Great! I’ll be right back, just give me a minute.” He said.

He rushed to a girl who was playing with her short hair while eating a bubble gum. She looked
like the popular girl in class. He went to her and they spoke with each other. They were laughing
and she was being very touchy with him. I felt anger building up inside of me. She can’t take
him from me. I know him more than she will ever even try to know. I chose to do this for him
and I won’t allow any woman to play right in his head to slowly pull him away from me. Whether
that’s his “girlfriend” or not, I will make sure this little thing that they have going on to end. I will
make sure to gnaw the thoughts of him right out of her head.

A teacher walked in and tapped his ruler on the table. Everyone ran to their seats and Ray sat
on the empty seat that is beside me. Great, this is exactly what I want. Just stay close to me,
that’s what I need from you now. I looked at the teacher and he looked very familiar, I’ve seen
this man before but I do not know where. He looked right at me and blinked at me several times.
It took me a moment to realize that he was conveying a message to me. I learned this back in
basics. He is either telling me that he is from Omsk, or he came from Omsk. I glanced at Ray
sideways to find him snickering with his friend who was sat in front of the classroom about
something. You are in my control now, Ray.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6vfAqTZcatdGSApDAr63Ic?si=b32a3bb534924451

42
 Open Hearts

[Raymond’s POV]

I got to school today expecting it to be another boring day. However, when Irina walked in, all of
that changed. Mr. Wilson asked me to show her around the school and town. When I met her
few minutes ago, I immediately felt a certain way towards her. She looks nothing like the girls in
the school, she’s very different. Her black hair flowed, just like a poet’s quill and ink. Her pale
pink skin looked like it was given from the high heavens. She uses a smile to hide an ominous
secret. There is something about her, but I do not know what it is.

I purposely sat next to her, I want to know her more. She has a way of pulling me to her even
though we just met. I don’t know much about her, I don’t even know where she’s from. She’s a
very fine looking girl, and I can sense the things she hiding from me. She turned to look at me
and gave me a slight smile. I felt heat emerging in my body as I looked away. I don’t want to
scare her away but getting closer to her.

“Raymond Zadornov focus on the lesson! It is nearly the end of the year and your marks awful!”
Mr. Jackson yelled snapping me out of the train of thoughts I was in.

“Yes sir.” I said while the rest of the class chuckled.

I do not want her to think of me as a loser. There are many teachers that will try to destroy my
reputation in front of her. The only thing I have to do now is convince her to skip school with me
so that I can sit and speak with her. She looked at me again and caught me staring at her for
the 2nd time today. I’m not one to be gauche around new people. But there is something about
her that is breaking all my walls of confidences and domination. There is no way she is as
innocent as looks like.

The loud bell rang as everyone hastily packed their things to go to the next class. Mr. Jackson
called Irina and asked her if he can have a word with her. As she packed her bag, I saw
something on her upper arm. I couldn’t make out what it was, but it was black and slightly big.
I delved into my bag to look for the cologne my father gave me weeks ago. I stood at the corner
of the classroom and sprayed it. I found a water bottle on the floor and I took it. I sprinkled some
of it on my hair to make it look more fixed.

“Hey Ray, come on, we’ll be late for the next class.” Robert yelled causing me to flinch.

“I-I’m not going to the next class.” I said hesitantly.

“Why, you are skipping many classes. You’ll be going to college next year, bud.” Warren said.

“I want to leave with Irina for a bit. I want to show her around and get to know her a little better.”

“That explains the looks you’ve been giving her through the whole lesson. Everyone was looking

43
at you.” Robert said as he tried teasing me.

“I see you’re already having some feeling towards her, huh?” Warren said with a smirk on his
face.

“I just want to get to know her, that’s it. It’s not that big of a deal, man.”

“Fine, take us with you.” Robert said.

“Alright then, you can come.” I said.

I picked up my bag and left the classroom. I saw her still talking with Mr. Jackson. I stood next
to the lockers that are on the opposite side of the wall. She was different, very different. The
way she speaks, moves, and stands is nothing like the rest of us. I just had little conversation
with her, and only by that conversation, I knew that there is something about her that isn’t
normal. She’s not socially awkward at all, but she’s acting like it. But why?

[Irina’s POV]

After the first class ended, Mr. Jackson asked me if I could speak with him outside. As it turned
out, he was also sent here from Omsk. His actual name is Sergey. He is a STEM programmer
and he has been in here for 6 months. I wasn’t told that there will be people who came from the
STEM server here. I am discovering this now, and I don’t think they want me to know this.
There are many things that are hidden here. I would love to figure them out and expose them,
but this isn’t what I’m here for. I’m here for Ray and I will achieve my objectives.

“So, I know this is too much information to handle. I’m sorry that you are knowing this now”
Sergey said.

“No problem, thank you for telling me. Can you do me a favor please?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Can you just inform me about any suspicious activity, this will be highly appreciated.”

“Of course, there will be a meeting on tomorrow with all Mobius members, I’d like it if you would
come. I will also let you know if I receive any reports from someone.”

“Thank you, I will try to go there.”

“I see he’s waiting for you, I’ll catch up with you later.” He said as he grinned at me.

I looked behind him to see that Ray was waiting there. I need to switch to my charming
personality to keep him right in my control. That means, I will need to create many lies to keep
him to me. He cannot suspect anything about me. He was staring at me during the lesson and
Sergey saw it. I assume that he still want to know me better, and I am ready for it.

“Hey Irina, I was thinking if we can both skip school for the day. You know, to show you around
the city and to get to know more about you. How does that sound?” He asked.

“That sounds great, let’s do it!” I said brightly.

44
“Just one more thing; my friends Robert and Warren want to come with us, is that alright with
you?”

“Yes, of course!”

This is exactly what I did not want to happen. I don’t want his friends to come with us, I don’t
want them to distract him. I need his attention solely on me and not some other people. I walked
with him towards the fire exist. He pushed the door for me and I grinned at him. He is a true
gentleman, something I have not seen in the other world for a while. The clock is ticking and I
must get closer to him. If I can just pull onto his heart strings and make him focus on me and
only me, I can easily get him out of here and away from these oppressors. Just cooperate with
me, Ray.

He opened the exist door down the stairs and we were in the school’s yard. This place almost
looks like an old castle because if it’s gothic atmosphere and designs. I followed Ray to the
kitchen of the school. The workers there greeted him and unlocked another door for him. The
door was an exist outside of the school premises.

“So, now that we are out of the school, I didn’t get the chance to tell you who these two boys
are.” Ray said as he walked by my side.

“well, you technically did.” Robert said.

“That’s true. I met Robert and Warren back when I was in elementary school. We became really
close, almost like siblings.” Ray said as he slightly jabbed Warren’s shoulder.

“Back then, we looked at Ray as the popular guy in school. We still do, but now that we are
older, we started to learn that these things don’t matter.” Warren said.

“Exactly, these things don’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you are with your friends.
The friends who got your back, the friends who will stay with you even when you are at your
worst. Those are the true friends we hear about. Befriend someone who will remain with you at
all times. Not some person who will use you for their own good.” I said.

“Before I get too poetic, where are we going to?” I questioned.

“I’ve got to say, lovely speech. We are going to one of my all-time favorite restaurant, Freddy’s
Stove. You’ll love it there.” Ray said joyfully.

All of these little things that he’s telling me right now are helping me a lot with my plans. He
does not realize it yet, and I hope he doesn’t until they fast forward the timeline. The only thing I
have to do now is separate him from his friends. He cares about them so much to the point
where he haven’t even spoken to me about anything personal.

Ray and his friends stood in front of a restaurant. I looked above and saw that it is the
restaurant he was talking about. He opened the door and the little bell above the door. The smell
of raw meat tarried in the restaurant. The smell of the foul oil and fat made me almost gag. The
Yankees will through anything in their mouths. I looked at the group of men who’s mouths were
filled with meat and oil. I looked away in disgust at what I just witnessed before me. Ray and I
were seated by the lovely waitress next to the window. This is my chance to get through him.

45
“We’ll leave you two to it. See you later.” Robert said as he and Warren waved and left.

“Now that we are alone, I can finally get to know you better.” Ray said cheekily.

“Yep, I’m grateful that we skipped school together. I really want to know you too, I feel very
alone in this huge city, you know?”

“It’s a beautiful city, you will love it here.” Ray said as he signaled to the waitress to come to us.

“What would you like to order?” He asked.

“Just a salad. I’m trying to cut off the weight a little.”

“Really? You don’t have to. I mean...umm...you look great.” He said as he slowly turned turning
scarlet.

Ray put in our orders and I can see how nervous he is. He wants me to be confident around him
and tell him everything. But this won’t be happening anytime soon. I want him to want to know
me even more. In that way, I can easily isolate him from everyone and make him follow my
lead. After all, I’m sent in here to manipulate him.

“I didn’t get the chance to know where you’re from earlier today.” He said.

“I’m from...Omsk. I was born and raised there.”

“Oh, so you’re Russian? That’s really nice to hear. I’ve been struggling since I moved to
America. We get judged everyday by them.”

“They’re Americans, don’t expect anything good to come from them. This is the only thing they
are capable of doing, which is judging others. They are dogs who bark at others when they have
nothing to complain and cry about. They’re insecure, this shouldn’t come off as a surprise to
you.”

“How did you come to America from Omsk?”

“My father is a...a...judge and had work here. My mother was also studying to become a nurse.
Both of them decided to continue this lives living in America since there is more freedom here.”

“How did you come to America?”

“My dad works in Stalin’s inner circle. It sounds crazy, but he was sent here as a spy. He
brought my mother and I here as well so that the Americans don’t suspect anything. He was
hired in the CIA with no problem. But now, he is unable to report back to the Soviets.”

“Oh...I did not expect to see that coming.” I tried to look shocked, but I can’t brush off the
feeling that he knows something about me.

“How did you come to Michigan?”

“Umm...my dad...you know, had a case in Detroit. A guy killed his wife and the rest of his family
and my dad was told that he needs to work on the case. My dad loved Michigan and he chose

46
to live here...in the...the north side of the city.”

“By the way, who was that girl you were talking to today before the class started? I want to get
to know her more.” I had to know who is she to him.

“She is my cousin. Her boyfriend invited me yesterday to his football game and I asked her if
she could tell him that I thank him so much for inviting me. My dad’s brother followed him to
Michigan and he decided to live here as well.”

I looked down at my fidgety hands and I realized what I was thinking today in class. She is just
another family member and I misjudged her. She was just a friend and a family member to him.
Not only that, but she apparently has a high school lover. This what I feared coming in here; my
feelings are getting in the way and I’m unable to focus on the objective. I glanced at him and
saw him eating the burger the waitress just brought. Even when he’s eating, he still manages to
look good. No, no, this isn’t the time for this.

“So you like football? What team do you support?” I said breaking the silence.

“I’m obsessed with football! My two favorite teams are the Green Bay Packers and the New
York Giants. They're awesome!”

“Do you usually have time to practice after school?”

“I do practice football and I go to art lessons as well. I love art and I plan on going to an art
school later.”

“Wow, you’re a multitalented man, that’s amazing. I wish you the best of luck!"

“Thank you, Ma’am! How about you, what do you like doing?”

“I love writing, I am not one to express myself verbally. So I write poems and stories to express
my emotions. When I was a kid back in Omsk, I used to hangout with my grandfather who was
a poet. I learned so much about poetry and story writing.’

“Wow, that explains a lot about your wisdom. Poetry and writing is a form of art you know.”

“Thank you, I try using what I learn from writings and poems in real life situations. I’m glad we
share some interests.”

We finished eating but then I noticed thunder strikes outside. Nice. I will now embarrass myself
in front of Ray. I should’ve worn that jacket when it fell out of the closet! I waited for Ray who
seems to be having a conversation with the chef so that we can leave. His positive aura brings
me so much joy and warmth. I thought that such feelings abandoned my soul, but it doesn’t
seem like it. The Mobius red logo appeared causing me to almost fall. It felt like someone tased
my brain. My whole body quivered as the feeling of the shock faded away.

“Oh no, it is raining again. It was sunny this morning.” Ray said behind me causing me wince.

“That’s too bad, my hair, makeup, and outfit will be ruined. I really tried hard to look good today.”

“You don’t need to try too hard, you’re already pretty.”

47
“That’s so nice of you.” I said slowly. No one has ever said that to me before.

“There is a store nearby that sells clothes, they’ll probably have an umbrella. How about we go
and check it out?”

“Sure, I would love to have an umbrella to cover all the hard work I did.” I said sarcastically
making him giggle.

We left the restaurant and out into the cold wet weather. It wasn’t the weather that made me feel
cold, but it was the nervous state I was in. I didn’t know this is how I’ll feel when I meet him. But
he is giving me compliments and he seems very intrigued to know more about me. These
compliments might be a way of showing friendliness, but I do not know anymore. I am unable to
read between the lines.

The rain felt like needles on my skin. My pale skin caused goosebumps to scamper all over my
arm. I wrapped my arms around myself to warm myself for a bit and to stop my arms from
trembling in front go Ray. Ray doesn’t seem like he’s bothered by the rain. He was staring into
the distance as he walked towards the end of the block. To me, this wasn’t something normal
someone would do. Just stare and not talk at all. Maybe he’s just shy that I’m with him, but
based on my past experiences, I can feel like this isn’t normal.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice that you were cold. Here, have my jacket.” He said as he took off
his jacket.

“You don’t have to, I can handle the cold.”

“No, I insisted.” He said as he helped wear his jacket.

His jacket smelt like cologne, the smell felt like a drug to me. I was already addicted to the
smell. Everything he touches becomes gold. Even when he helped wear his jacket, that made
me feel like sparks were coming out of me. I want to stay right next to him, but I can do that by
having full control on him. We reached the store and he opened the door for me to enter. The
store was small and was clustered with clothes. Ray ran towards the umbrellas that were in the
basket and widely smiled at me. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him looking at me in that
way.

Ray paid for the umbrella and we both walked out of the store as he opened the umbrella. He put
it above us and I moved closer to him. I don’t remember feeling or having such moments with
someone else. Ray was different to me. There was something about the way he smiles, walks,
and talks that makes him unique. If it wasn’t for Mobius and their atrocious project, I would’ve
never met Ray.

“Do you live in Detroit or Hamtramck? A lot of non-American immigrants live there.” He
questioned.

“I live in Hamtramck, I find it very peaceful there.”

“Do you live with your family?”

“No...umm..since I turned...18, I was granted the request to live alone.”

48
“Definitely a dream of mine. It’s really hard to live with careless parents.”

“Well, at least you know who your family are. I don’t”

“Why?”

“I’m adopted and I was also neglected by them. I do not know my background and who I belong
to. I only know that I was born in Omsk and now I’m here. I’m lost, Ray. I really am.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that. Hopefully one day we...I mean you can find your parents.” He said
sympathetically.

Sharing my personal experiences isn’t my goal. My personal experiences are the reason why
I’m destroyed today. I’m with Ray now, my focus should be on him. Maybe I will find my real
family once I’m done with this, but I can’t allow such issues to come in my way right now. Using
my “natural skill”, I was able to relate to Ray. If I keep on doing that, it’ll attract him even more. I
realized that we made it to Hamtramck in this cold weather.

I led Ray towards my house, this will be a very important factor that will make him very close to
me. I would like to invite him into my house, but I still need to adapt to this life that I’m in now. I
can’t embarrass myself by doing something stupid in there. This will cause my cover to be
blown away. I need to first at least learn my way around old machinery. The modern world is
way easier than this place. We reached my house and I stopped on the doorsteps.

“This is my house, kind of far away from the school, but it’s a nice neighborhood.” I said as I
took off his jacket.

“I live right there!” He said while pointing at the house with the bright red roof top.

“Oh, you live very close to me! Thank you, lord!”

“How about I come here tomorrow morning so that we can walk together to school?”

“Of course, that would be great. I really needed help coming to school today, I got lost several
times.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be by your side until you know every block in Detroit.”

“Thank you for today, it was lovely meeting you. I hope this is a start of a new friendship.”

“It definitely will be a start of a new friendship, for sure.”

“Speaking of friendship, where is Robert and Warren. I haven’t heard from them anything?”

“Don’t worry about them, they’ll be fine.”

“Again, thank you for the good time today. I hope you have an amazing rest of the day.” I said
as I smiled at him.

He waved at me then headed towards his house. I took out the house door keys and put the
keys through the hole. The door handle was very stiff and wouldn’t move. I moved it to the other

49
side and it swung open. I can’t even open a door like a normal person. Today was a hell of a
day. The fact that I met Ray made me feel foreign emotions. Emotions I never thought that I am
going to ever feel again.

I changed my clothes and later laid on my bed to call Adam. They have to know what had
happened to me today. I’ll probably be ridiculed for a lot of things, but I need to update them on
everything. The communicator kept on ringing until a shuffling noise came from it.

“Hello?” I asked quietly.

“Hi Irina, we haven’t heard from you for a day. How are you?” Adam said.

“Did you meet him?!” I heard Max asking in the background.

“I have a lot of things to tell you. First, I did meet him, and he is really attractive.”

“SHE IS HAVING FEELINGS TOWARDS HIM!” Max yelled.

“He really is good looking, I did not expect him to look this good. I was super nervous when I
met him. I was shaking and sweating like crazy! We skipped school and we got to know each
other. He even gave me small compliments as well!”

“I feel like a high school girl right now!” Max said excitedly.

“This isn’t the time for this, you two.” Adam said in a stern tone.

“Yeah, I also met some teachers who are actually sent into the STEM server from Omsk’s
base.”

“You have to be kidding me right now!” Adam said.

“Nope, I wish I was. They are technicians, psychotherapists, and even programmers. We will be
having a meeting tomorrow and I’ll meet the rest of them. They all claimed to be here for
months.”

“Update us on how the meeting goes tomorrow. We’ll talk to you later, it’s 2:30 AM.” Max said
while opened a bag.

“Talk to you later.” I said as I closed the communicator.

There is something not right here. If this system is very secure and well-developed, then why
did they send in all of these people? They could’ve easily sent in a detective to bring Ray back
to life. Something happened here which caused them to send in more people from the team. I
know that I won't be told what had happened, but I need to know before pursuing anything. I
need Ray, but at the same time, I need a safe environment to get him out of here.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6kresY8HBsKfUzOsXjYVuC?si=8a8ad70df06f4a06

50
 Something Not Quite Right

The alarm chimed into my dreams causing me to flinch as I turned around to turn it off. I slowly
began to close my eyes when I realized that Ray will come and pick me up to go to school
together. I immediately got up and went through my closet to look for something nice to wear. I
noticed that the weather is still rainy and that only meant that I need to wear the huge coat that I
was trying to avoid. I looked at my face in the bathroom mirror and saw all of the scars. I went
out with Ray yesterday with scars all over my face. I can only imagine what his initial thoughts
were when he saw them.

I came out of the bathroom, grabbed my shoes and backpack, and went downstairs. I frantically
looked for something to eat in the cabinets. I found a box of cereal and I poured some of it in
the bowl. I sat next to the living room window so that I can see if he comes from the distance.
Today I will get to meet the rest of the Mobius team. I need to understand what’s happening in
this city. My mother will not tell me what had happened here, but I will drag this information out
of every team member until I understand what happened.

I took the bowl to the kitchen and then heard the bell ringing. I dropped the bowl into the kitchen
sink and turned off the water. I ran upstairs to my bedroom to add more makeup on. I couldn’t
find the perfume bottles anywhere on the table. I looked into the dresser and there was a full set
of perfume. Why would anyone place them in the dresser? I sprayed a lot of it all over my body.
I learned that men are attracted to the scent of vanilla, I will do anything to attract him to me. I
ran downstairs and put on my coat. I took in a breathe and opened the door.

“Good morning, Ray!” I said joyfully.

“Good morning! Am I still dreaming or do you really look that amazing in the morning?”

“You look beautiful as well.” I said while giggling. I already feel like I’m blushing.

“So what are we going to do today?”

“I’d like to show you a place that I like going to every now and then.”

“Nice, I’d like to see it."

“Alright then, let’s go.”

I walked next to him under the umbrella he was holding. He looked even more handsome than
the first time I saw him. I do not know what is it about him that attracted me to him from the first
place. One thing is for certain, I will get him out of here. The environment here is unsafe, I can’t
do that when the place is not stabilized. Ray and I are developing a very strong bond, I didn’t
even need to try too hard.

Ray is a very intelligent guy, he knows how to extract information from someone very smoothly.

51
The questions he asked me yesterday proved that he is really smart. But I don’t want him to use
this intelligence on me. He can easily extract from specific information that might blow my
cover. I can’t get too comfortable with him until I go to Germany or France with him. From
then, I can go with him to Russia. Cooperation is the key.

Ray took me to a different part of the city. A part I haven’t seen yesterday. I looked at his other
wrist to find it twitching. I still believe there is something strange about him that hasn’t been
reported in the documents. The way he stares into nothing and now the hand twitches. I need to
dig further into knowing if my theories are correct. I really care about him, but he won’t tell me if
he’s actually diagnosed with something. Even if he was, it won’t change the way I look at him. I
looked around us to see that we are near a building that was next to the lake.

“This place is called Detroit Boat Club. This place is a sport rowing club. I don’t enjoy the sport,
but the people here are very nice and they allow me to sit in for a time alone. I come in here to
draw or paint as well.” He said as he showed me around.

He opened a huge door and we walked into an ample hall. The walls were made out of pearl
white marble. They had gold Victorian motifs and paintings of what looked like kings. Three
dozen glittering crystal chandeliers spiraled down from the ceiling. I peaked out of the large
window to find the view of the lake. There was a terrance out, so I got out to get some fresh air.
The light breeze and the rain made the place look magnificent.

“What do you think of the place?” Ray said as he stood next to me.

“It’s absolutely stunning! How often do you come here?”

“If I get too stressed out, I come here to rest for a bit.”

“We should get going, school will start.”

We went back into the hall and walked out of the building. I want to know what’s his relationship
like with his family. In the documents, it said that he didn’t have a good relationship with them.
He also hinted that yesterday in the conversation we had. I don’t want to directly ask them
because I don’t want to look insensitive towards his situation.

“So, do you have siblings?” I said breaking the silence.

“No, it’s kind of hard living alone with my parents. If I had a sibling, I would at least have
someone to vent to when I’m stressed.”

“But...why is it hard to live with your parents though?”

“I’m neglected by them. It really hurts and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Oh...I’m sorry you are going through that. You are a great guy and you really don’t deserve to
go through this. But hey, look at the positive side of everything. You are a talented man, you
can use your talents to get you out of the stress you are in.”

“I believe it can, I just need help. I don’t have motivation. I’ve been with Robert and Warren for
years and they try to motivate me everyday. But still, I can’t seem to find joy in doing the things

52
that I used like doing.”

“I know you will, just try harder. This is all happening for a reason, and you should use this to
grow stronger.”

“I’ll try, hopefully I can get out of this.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We walked onto the school premises and saw a group of jocks. These types of people are the
ones I’m trying to avoid at the moment. I will get in trouble with them, and this isn’t the time for
it. I’m here for Ray and not these people. We walked into the school to find Anatoly greeting
everyone that entered. In the hallway of the classes, a group of boys were standing and talking.
They eyed every girl that passed by them.

Ray came to my left side and tried to distract me from looking at them. I can feel his jealousy
even though we met a day ago. This is exactly what I want right now. I can make him jealous
but I don’t want to hurt him. He’s already going through rough times, I can’t allow anyone to hurt
him. We stood next to a random classroom.

“Hey Irina, I owe this kid there money, I’ll go give it to him. It’ll be quick.” He said.

“Sure, go ahead.”

I stood next to the classroom and I can feel someone staring at me. I glanced at the person and
saw it was one of the boys who were standing next to the lockers. The boys were pushing him
to come to me. I do not feel like dealing with any of these people at the moment.

“Hi there, I heard you’re the new gal here, am I right?” He said.

“Hello, yes I am new here.”

“My name is Sebastian, and you?”

“I’m Irina.”

“Lovely name.”

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Ray said as he came out of the class.

“I was talking with this guy here.”

“Come on, let’s go.” He said.

I walked with him towards our classroom. We entered the class and he sat right next to me. He
looked very unhappy. He was irritated at the fact that guy was speaking with me. I felt guilty, but
I need to get him in my control.

“If you ever run into these guys, stay away from them. They’ll take advantage of you.” He
whispered.

“Oh, okay.”

53
The red Mobius logo appeared in front of me causing me to feel light headed. I tried playing it off
by removing my jacket. This might be a sign of something harmful. I need to meet with the
Mobius team members. Sergey gave the class work to do. I slowly got up and walked up to him.

“Hey, listen. Since we will be having that meeting today, where will it be at?”I asked.

“I’ll give you a phone number, call this person and tell them that I gave you this number. They
will understand.”

He gave me a phone number that had repetitive numbers. I was weirded out by it, but I ignored
it.I looked back at the seat to find Ray looking at every move that I took. I opened the book and
pretended to work.

“So, what’d he give ya?” Ray asked.

“It...it was a name of a book he asked me to buy yesterday. I forgot what’s it called, so he wrote
it down for me.”

“Oh, alright.”

When I was in basic training, I was taught how to lie to get myself out of trouble. I am now using
the techniques on Ray. It is slowly killing me knowing that I’m lying to someone whom I’m
supposed to befriend. I need to convince my mother to fast forward the timeline.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I walked back into my house after school. I went and changed my clothes and looked for the
phone. I looked in the living room but I couldn’t find it. In the kitchen, still no. In the hallway, no.
I walked back upstairs and into the office and found a rotary phone. I began moving the circular
holes, but failed at dialing the number. I called Adam through the communicator so that he can
help me out.

“Hi Adam, how are you all?”

“Hey Irina, we’re good. How about you?”

“I’m doing great. I need your help though.”

“Sure, what do you need?”

“I don’t know how to dial a rotary phone. Please help.”

“Okay, so pick up the receiver.”

“What is a receiver?”

“The phone, picked it up. Come on, how do you not know this?”

“Okay, now what?”

“What is the first number that you want to dial?”

54
“1.”

“Okay, so put your finger in the circular hole that has the number 1 and rotate it till it reaches the
metal thing.”

“Alright, done.”

“Now do the same with all numbers.”

“Okay, thank you man. I’ll call you again in a bit.”

I dialed in the numbers and waited for someone to answer. I quickly got up and grabbed the map
and a pencil. Nobody answered so I had to redialed. Someone picked up the phone but I couldn’t
hear an answer.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hi, is this Irina?” The mysterious voice asked.

“Yes.”

“Hi Irina. Sergey told us that he told you to attend the meeting today. It’ll be on street number
2847 and house number 48”

“Okay then, I’ll be there, thank you.”

I scanned the map to find street number 2847 and I found it to be near the corner. I marked it
down so that I don’t forget it. Now all I have to do is wait till tonight. I haven’t informed Adam
and Max about the behaviors of Ruslan because I do not want them to freak out. I still need to
understand what’s happening within the STEM system. If someone will stop Ruslan, it will be
Max and Adam. I trust their strength even when I’m far away from them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I put on my boots and coat on and left the house. I opened the map while I was standing out to
look at what direction to go to. I headed north following the compass that was on the map. While
I was walking, the neighborhood was quiet The sound of rain softly fell on top of my umbrella. I
heard a bush moving which caused me to spin almost immediately to look for the source of the
sound. I couldn’t see anything.

I felt the presences of someone following me, but every time I turned, everything became quiet
and I couldn’t find anything suspicious. It might’ve been another glitch in STEM’s system. I kept
glancing every now and then behind me to see if I could spot the source of the sounds. I
reached the house of the meeting and rang the bell. A man opened the door and let me in.

The house had maps, statistics, and Mobius logos all over the walls. It reminded of the bunker
that we had back in Chechnya. The house’s walls were painted grey, and the chairs had mold
growing all over it. The man led me downstairs and into the basement. The basement looked
nothing like the place above. The basement had old paintings of gods and the chairs and table
made out of a mahogany wood. The walls had the glistening and casting white reflections that
came from the chandelier.

55
“Hi Irina, I’m glad you could make it. We are getting started now have a seat.” Said Anatoly
while holding a glass of wine.

I sat on the chair and waited for everyone to settle in. All of these members work for Mobius, yet
I wasn’t told that there was going to be a huge number of Mobius team members. For all I know,
this people might be here to take away Ray.

“Welcome Irina, I’m happy to see you here. My name is Alexander, and I’m the team leader of
the Omsk group. So today I called you all here to talk to you about the issues we are facing
here. We all have been experiencing the Mobius logo glitch. We found out that this is being
caused because there is someone who is increasing the pressure in the other side of the world.
This pressure is used to stabilize one’s mind when they are here. This is very dangerous. This
can kill us and the Core. The logo that we are seeing is a warning sign. So, Irina, I would like it if
you would talk to your superiors about this issue.” Alex said.

“Will do. By the way, do you have any idea why I wasn’t told that about the Mobius team
members that are already here?”

“This tactic has been used for a long time. They always do that. They don’t want your focus to
be shifted from the mission and onto the Mobius members.”

“And what did you mean when you said the Core?”

“The Core is Ray, our brain signals are all connected to his. When the pressure is increased this
can kill him easily. The pressure is our brain signals.”

“So Ray is the one in so much danger?!"

“We all are, Irina.”

“Alright, fine. Thank you for this meeting but I have to leave. I can’t take it anymore.” I said as I
picked up my jacket.

Ray is now in so much danger. I thought I told Adam to keep his eyes on Ruslan, but it seems
as though he has other plans. If he wants to kill Ray, he has to go through me first. I made it
very clear to everyone that I do not want anyone or anything to go anywhere near Ray. I sadly
can’t return to the other world. But if I had the opportunity, I would’ve taught Ruslan a lesson he
will never forget.

I returned back home and sat on my bed to read through the documents about the brain signals
and the pressure thing Alex was talking about. It might not be Ruslan’s fault this is happening.
Nowhere in the reports did the subjects complain about such issue. I grabbed my communicator
and dialed in Adam’s number. I have to put a stop to this.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Adam’s POV]

I was lying down on the couch while eating the chips Maria gave us. We were finally granted the
access to television. Both Max and I were slowly going insane when Irina left. She has been

56
gone for 4 days and it feels like an eternity. Her body is twitching a lot in that bathtub and her
heart rate is going through the roof. I heard my communicator ringing which caused Max and I to
flinch. I ran to grabbed it and saw that it was Irina.

“Hello” I asked.

“Hi Adam.” She said irritatedly.

“You sound angry, what happened?”

“Listen to me, listen to be very carefully Adam. Is Max with you?”

“Yes, I’m here!” Max said.

“I just came back from a meeting with the Mobius team members. We have been experiencing a
weird phenomenon. We’ve been seeing Mobius logo and it hurts very much when that happened.
As it turned out, this was a warning sign. Someone is increasing the pressure of our brain
signals causing destabilization in this environment. This can kill Ray and I. I’m assuming Ruslan
is behind this. I want you to stop him. I don’t care what you do, you must stop him.”

“So he’s trying to kill you, huh? You know what, stay on the line. I’m going to him now.”

I got up and put the bag of chips on the table. This man has gone rouge. He will kill my friend,
my sister. Irina does not have the ability to control him. She’s in that world now, and she has no
idea what’s happening here. Just because she’s gone there, this isn’t an excuse for this psycho
to harm Irina.

I walked into the conference room to find Daniel on the phone while Maria was working on her
laptop. Max and I waited for Daniel to end his conversation. Both Daniel and Maria should know
that this is happening. While we were waiting for Daniel, coincidentally, Ruslan walked in.
Perfect.

“It’s lovely to see that you’re here.” I said sarcastically.

“Is everything okay, Adam?” Daniel asked.

“No, everything is not okay.”

“What happened?” Maria asked.

“Irina called me and she told me that she’s experiencing some sort of an issue there. She has
been seeing Mobius logos and she said it’s painful. As it it turned out, someone is increasing
the pressure causing them to feel this way. Everyone is suspecting that it’s Ruslan.”

“Ruslan, are you the one who’s doing this? I gave you access when Irina entered, are you the
one who’s doing it?” Maria asked quietly.

“ANSWER HER QUESTION!” I yelled.

“It was by accident. Accidents happen.” He replied causally.

57
“No, this can’t be an accident. You will overpower everyone’s brains and kill them!” Maria said
angrily.

“Listen to me very carefully, Ruslan. Irina is now in that world now, my responsibility is to
protect her. So don’t even think of doing something stupid again.” I said as I grabbed his collar.

“And you, you will give me access to that system. I no longer want Irina’s life to be in the hands
of this sad excuse of a human being.”I said while pointing at Maria.

“You heard that, Irina. We will be given the access to that system. We’ve got your back, sister.”
Max said to my communicator.

“Thank you guys.” Irina said.

I turned off my communicator and left the room while glaring at Ruslan. He can put me in harms
way, but not Irina. Not my sister. I’m willing to do anything for her. She put all her trust in Max
and I, and I will not let this sadistic human being get anywhere near her and Ray. I just need an
access to that system and I’ll make sure that Irina is safe while doing her mission.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2EiL8nktJd03ma5aw3ip1d?si=182cd6d916b2456a

58
 A Taste of Honey

I went to school with Ray this morning as usual. Today I feel light yet still sorrowful. I was told
by Max last night that today the timeline will be fast forwarded. I’m very close to getting Ray out
of this. I’ve been in here for days, but it feels like an eternity. I looked at Ray as he spoke with
Robert and Warren. There are so many things I admire about him, I could only wish to tell him
these things.

The school today will be holding a prom night. That’s something we didn’t have back in Russia,
and I’m not willing to go later tonight. I’d rather spend time alone thinking about the plans I have
set. Ray will probably attend prom today, which is why I’m feeling miserable. This night is the
night Ray slips right out of my fingers.

The teacher walked and tapped her ruler on the desk so that everyone could settle in. I couldn’t
even look at Ray in the eyes. I already feel broken inside. The person who I promised myself to
protect and save, will be slipping right out of hands today. I haven’t felt this way before towards
anything or anyone. I put my head on wall and my daydreams took me on a wild ride.

“So, will you attend prom night today?” Ray asked snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Umm..no. I don’t know anyone here except you. Plus, I’m new.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I’m sorry you won’t attend tonight. How about you come to my house
tonight? My parents will go out and you and I can hangout together.”

“That’s great! I’d love to meet your parents!”

“Awesome! I’ll let them know you will be coming tonight. I’m going to go to art class now, do you
want to come?’

“Sure, I’m curious to see your art.” I said while smiling.

I picked up my backpack and followed Ray outside. In the reports I’ve read yesterday, many of
his friends that were in the army claimed that he is one of the best artist they’ve seen. I wouldn’t
be surprised to see beauty coming out of his hands. Everything he touches turns to gold.

Ray took me into a little art store. He walked in and greeted the old smiling woman who was
next to the door. The place had so many paintings all over the wall. They all had stories that
could take one on a long ride. I looked at the corner of the place and saw sculptures. They came
in so many sizes and forms.

Ray knocked on a door and someone said that we can come in. The room was empty with just
one elderly looking man sitting and painting something. The room had large windows and the
view was the lake. Although I’m not a painter, I still felt artsy.

59
“Good morning, Ray.” The man said as Ray and I sat next to each other.

“Good morning, Mr. Dennis.” Ray replied.

“Who’s that lady you got with you today?”

“This is Irina. She’s new in town and I wanted to show her the place.”

“Hm, well it’s nice meeting you, Irina.”

“It’s nice meeting you too, Mr. Dennis.”

Dennis got up and took out a fairly large canvas. He placed it in front of Ray onto the easel. I
was flabbergasted at what I saw on the canvas. The painting was of a nature scene. There were
beautifully painted mountains that a bit of mist around them. The river was made to look like it
was running. There were Sakuras in the corners of the canvas.

“Whoa! You painted this!?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s not as good as I expected to be.”

“It’s unbelievably marvelous!”

“Really? Thank you, that means a lot!”

Ray continued painting. His soft hands danced on the canvas as he painted more of his magic I
was in awe at the way Ray painted. I never expected to see this from him. Nobody spoke much
about the extraordinary painting skills. I looked at Dennis to find him looking at Ray smugly. He
got up and sat next to Ray as he continued painting unbothered by Dennis’ presences.

“What even is this garbage painting? This isn’t your level, Ray. Kids can paint better pictures
than this.” Dennis said while trying to ridicule Ray.

“You’re such a failure. I thought you are better than this.” Dennis continued.

Ray said nothing. He closed his eyes and inhaled. I couldn’t take it anymore. I clenched my fist
to the point where they became white. I felt flushed. I looked at Dennis who continued giving
Ray’s painting dirty looks.

“Listen to me teacher, instead of trying to provoke him and making him hate this talent, I
suggest you to go back to your seat and keep that mouth of yours shut. You do not talk to him
in that way. I promise you, if I heard you talking to him in that way, I’ll make sure to tear your
tongue so that he don’t listen to your vile words. Got it, teacher?” I said as I forcibly grabbed his
shirt making him stand.

He nodded his head and I dropped him back to his seat. Nobody gets to talk to Ray in that way,
even if he was mistaken.

“He ruined my mood, let’s leave.” Ray said as he got up.

I followed him out of the room and the store. He looked very melancholic. Something I’m not

60
used to see in Ray. I always looked at him as the cheery and happy guy. But his teacher broke
his spirit I will make sure to built it back up. As long as I’m here, nobody can tear Ray apart.

We reached my home and I looked at ray and said, “I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I
didn’t mean to lose my temper.”

“No, don’t worry about it. By the way, I did not take your number when we first met.”

“Oh yes, I’ll go and get it. It’s a new place and a new phone, I don’t quite know it yet. Just give
me a moment and I’ll be back”

“Take your time.”

I hastily turned the stiff doorknob and ran to the phone in the office upstairs. I looked at the
papers and documents and I couldn’t find the number. I opened the computer to find a lead on
the phone number, yet I couldn’t find any. I had to call Adam. I dialed Adam’s communicator
and paced around the office waiting for him to pick up.

“Hi Irina.” He said in a tired tone.

“Hey Adam. Listen, I just said that I will be giving Ray my phone number but I can’t find it.”

“Look under the rotary phone, it’s usually underneath it.”

I picked up the rotary phone and found the number underneath. I thanked Adam and turned off
the communicator. I took a small piece of paper and wrote down the number in a clearer hand
writing. I ran down the stairs and opened the front door to find Ray still waiting.

“There you go.” I said as I tried to catch my breath.

“Thank you, remember, tonight at 7:30, okay?” Ray said as I gave him the number.

“Yep, I’ll be there.”

“Great! See you tonight!”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Raymond’s POV]

I went downstairs and into my living room to make sure everything is perfect. Irina is finally
going to come to my house today. My parents will be leaving town today which gives me the
opportunity to spend more time with Irina. Hopefully something more happens between her and I.
I need to thank her properly for what happened today when we went to class. She really stood
up to me, something I haven’t done since 2 years ago.

I heard my mother and father talking in the other room. They were still not ready to leave and it’s
already 7:20. Irina will be here anytime and I don’t feel comfortable with her meeting my parents.
They are very judgmental and I do not want them to hurt her in any way. I walked into their room
and waited for them to end their “important” conversation.

61
“When will you leave?” I asked curiously.

“We’ll leave now, your dad is showing some of the documents he found this morning.” My mom
replied.

“Well, Irina will be arriving in a bit.”

“No problem, we’d love to meet her. You’ve been speaking about her so much lately, son. I want
to meet her.” My dad said while smiling.

I went to the living room bathroom to make sure my hair still looks good. I want to show her my
best image. Something I haven’t shown her because of school and their demanding rules.
Showing her my best image is really vital for me because I want to strengthen my bond with her.
I heard the door bell which caused me to flinch.

“Hi Irina, how are you doing today, sweetheart?” I heard my mother faintly saying behind the
door.

I walked out of the bathroom to see Irina talking with my mother. She looked glorious with that
royal black dress. It like every dress is designed just for her. She looks charming in every single
way.

“Hello Irina, it’s lovely to see you.” I greeted her as I gestured her to walk in.

“It’s lovely seeing you too!”

My dad came downstairs with his hands filled with documents as he walked past us without
noticing Irina. My dad does not have a filter on. He would say anything that’s on his mind. I’m
trying to avoid this now.

“Hello there, my apologies I was reading the reports.” My dad said as he finally noticed Irina.

“You must be Irina, right?” He asked.

“That’s correct, sir.”

“Irina, t-this is m-my dad.” I faltered.

“Oh, it’s nice meeting you Mr. Zadorov!” She said cheerfully.

“I must say, my boy Ray here has been talking about you none stop since the day he met you.”
My dad said.

“I hope in a good way.” She giggled.

“Yes of course, I was very curious to meet you.”

“I really hope you have a fun time with Ray. We’ll leave you to it.” My mother said while my
father helped her wear her jacket.

“Thank you, Mrs. Zadorov. It was lovely meeting you today.” Irina said.

62
I exhaled in relief knowing my parents did not embarrass me in front of Irina. In fact, they liked
her. Who wouldn’t? It is just her and I, now it’s me who shouldn’t make things awkward and push
her away. I have taken my pills just for the sake of having her coming here.

“Your parents are really nice.” Irina said.

“They like you, they don’t often go soft on new people.”

“I’m glad they do, I was worried that they might think I’m a bad influence on you.”

“By the way, about what happened today; I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to mess up everything
today. I don’t like teachers in general, and the fact that he was talking to you in that way was
unacceptable and I couldn’t stop myself. I’m sorry.” She said as she sat next to me.

“I really appreciate it. He has been talking to me and degrading me in front of the other people
for two years. He always bullies me because I’m from the Soviet Union and he’s getting into
politics and that’s not something I like. Thank you for standing up for me, I really needed that.”

“So what did you prepare for us today?” She asked.

“I bought some movies and food. I really want to spend more time with you, and I thought that
this is a good way of doing so.”

“It’s awesome!” She replied.

I got up and put in James Stewart’s movie After the Thin Man. While I was putting the tape into
the VHS player, my hands began to tremble. Sweat rain down my neck as my breathing got
heavier. I did not want to face Irina so that she does not get scared from me. The pills that I
took are not working as they used to.

I slowly stood and went to the kitchen. I went to at least 10 doctors and none of them knew how
to help me. I took all types of pills that came in all shapes and forms and it did not help me.
Why can’t I be normal? This is my only chance to strengthen my bond with Irina, yet this is
trying to blow it up. I sipped on some water hoping it could at least calm me down.

“Alright, are you ready?” I asked Irina while trying to sound excited.

“Sure!”

I pressed play on the TV, however, statics began playing instead. I propped the wires from
behind properly into the TV.

“Is that James Stewart?! I really love him, he’s a great actor!” Irina said keenly.

What does she like about this old man anyways? I know if I tried acting and performance, I
would be 10x better than this man and the other as well.

“This movie came out in 1936, but it’s a classic.” I said as I opened up the food and placed it on
front of her.

“I really like his movies, even the old ones!”

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“I’m happy I made the right choice of choosing this.” I chuckled.

“Alright, dig in!”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That was a great movie! I’m surprised I haven’t seen it before!” Irina said while I turned on the
lights.

“How come you haven’t seen it? It was a hit.”

“I kind of stopped watching movies since my chip expired.”

“What chip?”

“Oh...umm...t-there was a s-system b-back when I was i-in Ohio. W-we used c-chips to pay.”
She stuttered.

“That’s a cool concept.”

She looked down and got closer to me. She grabbed me and put her head on my chest. Her hug
caused sparks to ignite within me. She was soft and she smelt like vanilla. That’s something I
wanted for a very long time. I wanted this moment to last forever.

“Thank you for...everything.” She whispered into my chest.

“See you tomorrow.” She said.

She let go of me and left the house. When she left, I felt empty. It was like I lost a part of me. I
met her only for few days, but it feels like I’ve known her for a long time. It is a challenge for me
to hide my illness, it’ll come out one way or another. I just want to enjoy these small moments
with her until I feel comfortable telling her about it.

I felt the urge to follow her. I grabbed my jacket and left the house. I searched the streets to find
her. I need to make sure that she makes back home safe. I saw her walking down the street
towards her house. I kept on following her between the bushes so that she does not see an
outline of my shadow. I heard two men laughing about something and they were going in her
way. She stopped and they said something to her, they were talking to her as if they knew her. I
tried listening in to know who they are. The men and Irina parted ways as the men came to my
position. I took a further step inside the bushes causing me to slip. The two men stopped in their
tracks and looked into the bushes to find the source of the sound.

“Ray? What are you doing here?!” The familiar voice yelled.

I got out of the bushes to look at who they were, and it turned out that they are Robert and
Warren.

“What is happening, Ray?” Warren asked.

“Are you stalking Irina?” Robert questioned angrily.

64
“I was making sure that she arrives home safely.”

“By stalking her?! What is wrong with you, you just met her!” Robert replied.

“Come on, let’s get you back home.” Warren said.

I walked in the direction of my house with the both of them. I don’t know what to do anymore.
The only thing that can heal at this point is the presences of Irina, and not these pills. She now
means the whole world to me. This girl came into my life and changed it. She has a way of
pulling me to her without me even realizing it. How am I going to explain that to Robert and
Warren? We walked back into the house and I threw my jacket on the couch and sat next to it.

“What’s happening to you, Ray? Why are you behaving like this?” Warren asked calmly.

“I can’t explain it.”

“Ray, you will hurt that young woman. We care about you and her.” Robert said while pacing the
living room.

“You have to rest, it’s 10:30. We need to talk about this tomorrow. Good night.” Warren said
while getting up.

They both left the house and I was sat there in silence. I won’t hurt Irina. I just need her in to be
with me and all my troubles will go away. She walked into my life, and I won’t allow her to leave
it. I haven’t felt this way in a very long time. Now that I’m feeling it, I won’t let go of it. Irina and I
will form a strong bond and I’m willing to follow her and her lead. She’s smart and she knew
exactly how to enter my heart. She’s the only one I’ve got, and nobody will interfere.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WQo3k6hUYYzstSUqrU2Yz?si=5b8553afc5244008

65
 Unhealed Wounds

The ringtone of my communicators interrupted the dream I was in. I haven’t had this good of a
sleep in a while. I arose from my warm pillow to then hear silence. Whoever was calling hung up.
Yesterday felt like a lucid dream. I wanted to stay between his hands for an eternity, but my
objective rang a bell into me. Everything that happened yesterday was magical. I felt the beating
of his tender heart connecting to my frozen soul.

The communicator rang again. I got up tp see who it was and it turned out to be my mother. She
can wait. I went to the bathroom and washed my face so that I can feel refreshened. I need
to focus on what she has to say. I sat on the bed and called her again.

“Hello Irina.” My mother said in a tired voice.

“Hi, how are you?”

“I’m fine. Today is the day you’re probably waiting for.”

“What is ‘today’?”

“We will fast forward the timeline to France in 1944 and the city will be Paris.”

“Ugh, do you have to fast forward the time now?”

“Yes, Irina. We do not have much time. We are getting threats left and right here. We need
Ray.”

“Okay, fine. How do I do that?”

“We need to do it as fast as possible. What time do you prefer?”

“I’ll do it now, I want to get out of here with Ray.”

“Right, go to the office and I’ll lead you through the process.”

“Got it, talk to you in a bit.”

I hung up the call and stood in the middle of the room. I was having a really good time with Ray
here. But fun is over, it’s time to get back on track. I have allowed my emotions to distract me
from my objectives. If I want Ray to escape this world, I need to finish what I have began. I
went into the bathroom to get ready for this next mission.

I tied up my hair and fixed the frizzes that were poking out. I looked at myself in the mirror for
the last time. I look happier, he really changed me. I hope that our relationship grows stronger
despite the war. I left the room and walked down the old hallway leading to the office. Even
though I did not explore the house more, I’ll still miss it. I walked into the office and dialed my

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mother’s communicator again.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hi again, Irina.”

“I’m in the office, now what?”

“You see the computer? Turn it on.”

I clicked on the start button and waited for this old school computer to turn on.

“Okay, it’s on.”

“Do you see the new added file?”

“Yes, I clicked on in.”

“There is a small machine connected to the computer. It looks kind of like a bag with what looks
like a payment terminal.”

“Yep, I see it.”

“Now listen to me, you can place on your communicator whenever you feel comfortable going to
France.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Let me know when you make it to France, bye.”

I sighed as my mother hung up the call. I’m dreading this so much, but if I want to make it out of
here, I should hurry. I have a huge responsibility that I’m carrying on my back. Once I achieve
my goals, the rest of the Mobius members can make it out of here. These people don’t deserve
to be here. I have to bring everyone out of this garbage system. I gathered up the courage and
placed my communicator into the machine.

The office around me faded into blackness. My uneasy breathing made it hard for me to focus.
The void was quiet with only the sounds of water dropping onto the ground. I calmly began
walking when suddenly a door that had a bright light opened in front of me causing stinging pain
in my eyes. The electric shocks went down my spine and crawled into my skin as the codes on
the wall popped and disappeared constantly. I squinted while having my hands onto my face to
cover the bright light. Every time I took a step closer to it, the refulgent light became stronger
causing me to close my eyes.

The effulgent light engulfed me into an another office. I looked around me frantically making sure
I actually made it. I sat down on the chair that was behind me and sighed in relief. The office
looked old and it had stains of rust all over the wall. The floor looked like it was being attacked
by the mold that is growing on top of it. The place was very filthy to the point where I felt like I
had a layer of dirt on me.

I heard the sound of a grenade that went off making me jump. Men were screaming outside

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causing me to shake in fear. I did not know where I was, it was like I’m in hell. I walked in front
of the desk hesitating to whether I should open the door the office or not. I tried calling my
mother through the communicator but only received the sounds of statics. I could only get better
connection outside. Someone opened the door on me and entered, closing the door behind him.
He turned around and I froze.

“V-vladimir?” I quietly asked.

“Looky here, how are you doing Irina.” He said out of breath while smiling.

“What in the name of god are you doing here?!”

“I have the same mission as yours, Irina. I’m trying to get Ray out of here. Well, I take that
back. I am now making sure he does not get wounded. I’m basically a babysitter to him now.”
He said sarcastically.

“What is happening right outside?!”

“The battalion is fighting the last Germans that are behind the building. They’re almost done with
it.”

“Where’s Ray?”

“I’ve given him something else to do in the safe house above. And yes, he still remembers you.
They apparently applied codes into his brain making him believe that he’s known you for a long
time and that you two joined the army together.”

“I’m going to make this very clear for you; I’m not here to fight this war.”

“You will have to later on, Irina. I’m sorry.”

“I...can’t bring back the old memories.”

“You still haven’t recovered from what you’ve been through, right?”

“Yes, brother. The wounds are still unhealed.”

“I understand, I will be with you. Don’t worry.”

“I won’t go outside without a weapon with me.”

“Correct, follow me to the armory. You also need to wear the US army uniform”

I stood behind Vladimir as he scanned the hallway making sure that nobody is outside. He
locked the office door then gave me the keys. He gave me the “all clear” signal making me run
right behind him. The hallway had rusting walls and sewage water dripping from above. There
were insects all over the place. I ignored him and hurriedly tried to catch up with Vladimir. He
opened the armory door and I ran inside.

“So, you will be using the M1A1 and a M1911 pistol. I will try my hardest to prevent you from
being in the line of fire. Remember, you will face some Germans that you will have to kill. And

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here, take the uniform and get dressed in that bathroom.”

I took the uniform out of his hands and went to the bathroom. I can’t believe that I will have to
live through this hell again. I already went through it before, and it killed me on the inside. I don’t
need this in my life right now. The line of fire is the only thing I need to avoid while getting Ray
out of this. The Germans aren’t soft and easy going with the Americans or the Soviets. I can
already feel the beginning if the end. I grabbed the helmet and put it on my head. You can never
kill the spirit of a soldier.

I got out of the bathroom and saw Vladimir loading the weapon. Now, the only things that I have
to deal with are the horrors of what I will face now. He lend me the weapons and draped his hand
on my shoulder as he walked me out of the armory.

“My American name is Noah. Don’t get it mixed up with my real name.”

“Got it.”

“I know that you can still fight, I believe in you.”

“Let’s do it.”

I walked up the blood stained stairs that reminded of the bombing of the hospital. So many souls
were lost, and this is reminding me of it. All of the memories that I thought I already burnt out of
my mind, are now resurfacing. They are stronger than ever. We got up into the safe house and I
saw wounded soldiers lying on the floor next to medics. Skin was all over the floor with the smell
of blood and alcohol lingered the air.

“Hi Irina, I was looking for you.” Ray said.

“Oh, my god. I’m glad you’re okay.” I said as I ran into his arms.

“I’ll be fine, they said the cut isn’t that deep.”

“What cut?”

“The stab wound.”

“YOU GOT STABBED?! No, no, no no. That’s it, you’re not going back out there.” I said while
tears formed in my eyes.

“Relax, I’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go out and celebrate!” He said as he wrapped his hands
around me.

He’s already getting hurt. Where was Vladimir who was assigned to protect him? I have to do
this on my own. I can’t even trust anyone to protect him at this point. I walked out of the safe
house to see tanks and black smoke all over the city. This isn’t the same Paris as the one in
2050. The strong smell of the gunpowder almost made me dizzy. My past is returning. The past
I swore I will not allow to come back, is creeping back.

We walked behind the torn apart buildings and I heard the sounds of someone moving. I
immediately pulled Ray behind the car and peaked over the bumper of the car. I pulled my rifle

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and aimed it as I ambled towards the source of the sound. I looked over and saw the head of
someone moving. I ran behind the dumpster and slowed my breathing to focus. I couldn’t see
properly because of the smoke and the sun that was already setting. I mustered the courage to
stand up. I was met with a young German who smiled at me, but that smile faded almost
immediately when he saw the American flag. I did not hesitate one second, and I shot him. I
shot him right in the chest. I shot a child. The sound of the gunshot echoed in my head as I
walked to the kid to make sure he’s dead. I look into his soulless eyes that looked like they
wanted revenge.

Ray ran towards me and pulled me away from the dead kid. He did not acknowledge the dead
German and continued walking with me. Loud bombing sounds caught Ray and I off guard
making us both aim our weapons towards the Eiffel Tower. Ray smiled at me as the French
residence celebrated their victory. The French girls were all over the American soldiers. Ray had
a wide grin on his face as he checked out the French girls who had beers in their hands. I
unwrapped myself from his arm and he did not even notice it. I clenched my teeth and bit the
inside of my cheek to avoid causing more trouble.

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 Shattered

After passing all of the drunk people who were on the streets, we walked into a bar. There were
many French in their which made me feel very cautions around them. These girls are very well
known for taking any soldier and doing unimaginable things with them. I sat at the bar and asked
for a glass of Jack Daniels. My head was already buzzing, maybe this could at least take some
of the pain away.

The bartender gave the glass and I took a huge gulp of it. I rested my head on the table for a bit
to help myself calm down. I’m not ready to do this. I did not sign up to fight another war. I wasn’t
even told that there is a possibility that I might fight again. I haven’t prepared myself mentally.
In addition, I am off of my pills which is very hard to cope with.

I looked around me to see if Ray was still sat behind me. I was confused that I couldn’t find him
anywhere. I looked to my left to find him in the arms of other French women who were all over
him. They were touching his body and kissing his cheek. My blood was boiling and my grip on
the whiskey glass got stronger. These are the type of women who had no dignity nor self
respect.

The urge to walk to these women and hurt them in many ways came to mind. To wash away
these thoughts, I ordered 4 shots of Absolut. A stream of tears ran down my face as I took each
shot. I was broken into millions of pieces. I was so close to getting him to me, yet these
buffoons easily took him away from me. What is it that they have that I do not?

I am here for a mission, but the heart wants what it wants. That’s something I cannot have any
control over. Seeing him between the hands of some random woman completely destroyed me.
It is my fault that I did not use force on him. It is my fault that I did not directly pull him to me. I
decided to allow him go his own way and I turned a blind eye to him because of my foolishness.

“There you are! I was looking for you.” Said Vladimir as he came into the bar.

“Why are you crying?” He asked as he wiped a tear away.

“It’s nothing.” I said while sniffling.

“Okay? Your mother called me saying that you will be leaving to Germany tomorrow. So prepare
yourself.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Ohhh, now I know why you’re crying. It’s because of what’s happening behind you, right?”

“Yes.”

“See? I’m still a good detective. But don’t think about it too much. He’s drunk now and he’ll

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forget them by tomorrow."

“I hope he does.”

“Are you capable of driving now, or are you drunk?”

“No, I’m not drunk, I can drive.”

“Here are the keys and the car is up front. Go back to the safe house. I have a meeting with a
sergeant, I’ll be going with him.”

“Thank you again.”

I took the keys out of Vladimir’s hand and put them in my pocket as I embraced myself to go to
Ray. I pushed off the French girls and forcibly grabbed him causing him to wince. I got him to
stand up, but he once again fell on me. I pulled him through the bar and outside. I unlocked the
car door and threw him in. I got into the other side and was disappointed at the car. I did not
know how to drive a manual.

I got out of the car again and took out why communicator to Adam. I don’t them to know what’s
happening in this world right now because I know the overreaction that I will receive from the two
of them. I prefer to stay quiet and not say a word to them about the situation I’m in right now
with Ray. I promised to create a strong bond with Ray and that’s a promise I stick to.

“Hello?” Adam asked catching me off guard.

“Hey Adam, how are you?”

“I was sleeping, but is everything okay?”

“yeah, everything is okay. I need your help. I don’t know how to drive a manual car.”

“So, you have to put in the key. Then on your left hand, you will find the start up button. Push
that while putting your foot on the break at the same time. To change the modes of the car,
there will be a long stick. Pull or push it to the mode you want. Also, the small sticks are the
signals. The break is the handle under the start up button. The headlights can be enabled by
pulling the circular sticks. Got it?”

“Yeah, thank you for the instructions.”

“No worries.”

He hung up the call and I went back the car to find Ray trying to open the car door. I put his
hand back into the car and got into the other side. I pushed the start up button and pulled the
long stick to drive mode. The smell of women’s perfume was stuck to him. I know that he
wouldn’t be so calm if I was in his position. So why should I let it go as if it’s nothing? We aren’t
in a relationship, but we have a very strong bond, and he should appreciate that by not going to
different women. That’s if he really cared about the bond between us.

The bumpy road was making Ray feel sick. He opened the car window and threw up. I had to
stop in the middle of the road while the tanks behind us moved past us. I want him to be more

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hurt and to be more in pain. He has to face the consequences of his ignorant actions. The
jealousy ran into my veins causing me to feel revengeful. For now, I have to clear my mind from
this nonsense. I will be basically sent to war again tomorrow. This isn’t something I should care
about. I know how to make him run right back into my arms.

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 Seeing Evil

After what I’ve seen yesterday, the flames within me ignited. The desperation of wanting to get
him out of here is becoming stronger than ever. Today will be the final phase of this project. I
am just few steps away from getting him out. The only part I do not want to go through is the
war. The safe house today is quiet. Soldiers were sleeping on the floor. I got up and went to the
office downstairs.

The malodorous smell of the sewage downstairs caused my head to throb. The place was in a
horrible condition, nobody should be here. I took out the office key to unlock the door, but it
turned out that it’s already unlocked. I heard a voice in there talking with someone. I peaked in
to find Vladimir talking with someone on the communicator. I went in and sat next to him waiting
for him to end the conversation.

“Okay, okay. Bye.” Vladimir said into the communicator.

“I’m glad you came in, I was just about to call you.” He said.

“So, Germany?”

“Yes, you will be leaving there now and I’ll meet with you there as well.”

“Mhm, fine.”

“I was told that I shouldn’t tell you this, but I have to. The timeline that you will be in is the
actual time Ray got shot. You have to avoid that at all costs.”

“Got it, thank you.”

“No worries, see you there.” He said as he left the office.

I was left alone in the office with the communicator and computer. There are many things that
I’m not told. I’m slowly discovering these things and I do not know how to react to them. I’m
also not hearing much from Adam and Max during these few days. The environment is finally
stabilized, thanks to Adam being in control of the system. I decided to call them to check on
them. I might be in a different world, but they are my friends and I care about them. I dialed
Max’s communicator.

“HI IRINA!” He yelled into the communicator.

“Hey Max.”

“HOW ARE YOU!?”

“I’m good, but why are you yelling?”

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“SO THAT YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

“I can hear you just fine, Max. Where’s Adam?”

“He’s here. We got Ruslan under control, that’s why you aren’t hearing much about him.”

“That’s good, the environment here is stabilized.”

“So, when are you going to come back?”

“I’m almost at the final phase. I will be going to Germany now. Apparently, today is the day Ray
died originally. My mission now is to get him out of the line of fire.”

“You will not be fighting the war, Irina. You are not mentally stabled enough to fight now.” Adam
said.

“I know, I will try to avoid fighting as well.”

“Alright boys, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” I said as I hung up.

I really miss them. I have to muster the courage to do this. I can’t keep on hiding behind the
walls of codes and servers to avoid the war. I need Ray, and I need to leave this world as well. I
took my communicator and placed into the machine. The pain is unbearable, but I can push
through it.

The painful void faded in making the office around me disappear. Here we go again. The bright
light was gut-wrenching. I couldn’t bare the pain anymore. I felt the pain inside of me and every
time I took a step, it got worst. I closed my eyes as I went into the flashy door. I opened my
eyes to find myself in what looked like a bunker. I could hear the bombings above. I did not want
to leave the bunker. I can’t go out in the field again.

I heard the soldiers screaming agony causing me to choke on tears. I’m not as strong as I used
to be. I can’t go back on the field to fight a war that ended 100 years ago. I heard a familiar
sound coming closer to the bunker. I hid under the table hoping this person does not enter. I do
not want the door of the bunker to open. Someone came in causing my heart rate to increase.
The man was cussing and pacing the bunker.

“Vladimir?” I asked quietly.

“Oh, thank god you’re here! I was waiting for you!”

“What’s going on up there?!”

“The Germans are almost surrendering. We’re almost done.”

“Is Ray up there?”

“I have assigned him to call in air support in the tent. I’m trying my hardest to distract him from
fighting.”

“You know what? I’ll go to that myself.”

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Vladimir nodded his head and opened the bunker’s door for me. The blasts caused my ears to
create a loud ringing. The gunshots sounded like ghosts howling in misery. My legs felt like jelly,
but I ignored it and tried to remain focused on my surroundings. We reached towards the exist
door then heard the roaring of the engines getting closer to us. Vladimir opened the door and the
strong scent of the fire and flesh impacted me and bringing back the dark memories I was trying
to avoid all along.

The scene that I was met with will forever be deep-rooted in my head. The tanks were scattered
all over the village ready to fire at any living Nazi. The smoke from the burning cars and
buildings covered the village like black cloud. The buildings were torn and shredded with only the
structure of them almost standing. The sky had fighter-jets flying across scanning for any target
to fire at. Soldiers carried each other to the tanks while the Nazi prisoners were taken into
trucks.

I looked for Ray in the tents and couldn’t find him. I was disquieted at the fact that I can’t find
him anywhere. I spoke with a Private in the tent that was next to the burning building and told
me that Ray was in tent J103. I thanked him and walked around the village to find the tent. All
tents had men getting treated because of their wounds and the others sleeping. J100, J101,
J102, J103. I ran into the tent and saw Ray sat there with a worried look on his face. His eyes lit
up as I ran into his arms. Warmth washed all over my body knowing that he’s safe and sound.

“I was so worried about you.” I whispered into his chest.

“I’m glad that you’re safe.” He said as he kissed my forehead.

“I am trying to contact the Soviets.”

“Any luck?”

“No, they have indestructible security making it very hard for anyone to contact them.”

“You can get in contact with them if went back, you know?”

“It’s too dangerous for anyone to enter again.”

“What if I can help you with it?”

“I...don’t know.”

“Anyways, we need to rendezvous in the blue building there.” He said while pointing at the
building.

He got up and closed the radio. The war atmosphere is depressing and heart-wrenching. I
couldn’t help but feel weak at the scenes that I cam across while walking in the village. It was
like the 2nd Chechen War repeating itself. Years of taking pills and going to therapy, just went
down the drains. This is not what I signed up for. I just need Ray to comply with them and this
nightmare will be over.

I am trying to give Ray hints to go to the Soviet Union so that I can take him to the island. He
knows the dangers of entering the country again, but it’s a must. Vladimir is probably already

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was told what to do, I just need some advice from him. I can’t keep Ray in here any longer or
else I will lose him. My bond with him is strong, and I can’t afford to lose everything that I have
created.

We walked into the building that had parts that were destroyed due to the bombing. Officers
were sat discussing the mission and drinking. I was worn out from moving from France to
Germany. My mental state has gone drastically down. Bad thoughts and emotions are eating my
brain and building a facade in front of me. I walked up the half broken stairs and into the
apartment room. I threw myself on the couch and fell into a deep slumber.

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 Realization

I woke up to the loud booming of the thunder. I turned around to find Vladimir drinking wine while
reading the newspaper. He passed the wine bottle to me and I took a large gulp from it. Although
I slept for some time, my head is still killing me. I looked outside to see that the rain is pouring
hard onto the village.

“You’ve been asleep for a while. I kinda was concerned about you.” Vladimir said breaking the
silence around us.

“I’m really tired, this is draining my energy.”

“You need to get Ray to Finland so that you can go to the island and you have to do it fast.”

“He is not cooperating with me. I’ve been dropping hints every now and then, yet he doesn’t
want to leave now.”

“Your job is to manipulate him into going there, Irina.”

“I am indirectly doing that so that I do not bust my cover.”

“And what is that cover that you are trying not to bust?” I heard Ray saying right behind me.

My heart skipped a beat as Vladimir’s eyes widened. I slowly got up to face him.

“Really? Why are you doing this? Are you sent by the Soviets?” Ray asked impatiently.

“It’s not what it looks li-“

“THEN WHAT IS IT?!” He yelled making Vladimir and I jump.

“I knew it, since the first day that I met you. I knew that there is something not normal about
you.”

“Please listen to me. Let me explain to you what happened.” I pleaded as I held his arm.

“Let me go, I don’t even want to look at you now. You’re absolutely pathetic!” He said as he
pulled his arm away from me.

A solemn tear fell down my cheek as I sat down. Vladimir sat next to me to calm me down. I
just lost Ray’s trust. He thinks I’m a Soviet spy trying to hurt him. I should’ve been careful about
my choice of words. I just lost the most precious thing that was in my life and it’s all because of
my stupidity. I began tugging on my hair due to frustration while Vladimir held my hands
together.

“Calm down, calm down.” He said.

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“No, I can’t, I just lost him.” I said while the river of tears fell on my cheek.

“Just lie to him. Tell him that you were sent by the Soviets not as a spy, but to take him there
so that he can report back to them.” Vladimir whispered in my ear.

“How is he going to believe that?”

“Tell him that there are Soviets that might put his parents’ lives in danger, this is the only way
you will get him to believe you.”

“Fine, I’ll try it out.”

“Good luck.” He said as he got up and left the room.

All of this is a lie. Everything that I’m doing is a lie. I just broke Ray’s heart. It’s all because of
this useless project. I should’ve reported them to the right authorities instead of going along with
it. There is no way he will forgive me after what I said. I’m not going to get out of this until Ray
goes to the island. I need him to comply with me. The last thing they might do is force him to go
to the island. I won’t allow that to happen. I will take him there myself.

I wiped my tears away and fixed my hair. I went to the room beside me to find Ray putting his
head on the table. I feel so bad for all of the false hopes that I’ve created for him. I destroyed
him and it’s all because of some word that I said. I got in the room and sat on the chair that was
in front of the table. My heart broke at the cite of him. I ran my hand in his hair to calm him
down. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I wiped them off.

“Please let me explain.” I whispered.

He ignored me, but I had to tell him what Vladimir told me.

“Your father is not reporting back his findings to the Soviets. They are trying to hurt you and
your parents. I was sent here just to protect you. That’s it. Your parents....already have people
there with them. I just need to take you to Finland so that I can take you to an island
where...you need to reconnect with the Soviets.”

“You expect me to believe that?” He said as he sat up straight.

“I need what’s the best for you.”

“How did Noah know about this?”

“He was briefed about this before, he already knows. It is out job to protect you. Nobody here is
trying to hurt you in any way.”

“I really care about you, Ray. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get you there safely. I just
need you to cooperate with me.”

“How do I know that this is the truth?”

“Tomorrow, Vla...I mean, Noah and I will take you to the airport. Everything will be revealed
there. You can even ask them your questions yourself if you want to.”

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“I don’t think I can do that.”

“Please cooperate with me and everything will be alright. You can do it the easy way, or the hard
way. The hard way is; they will forcibly take you and your parents there. Trust me, you aren’t
going to like it. Just follow me and I promise that I will be right by your side.”

“I’ll go with you, but so help me god if it was another lie, you won’t like what I’ll do to you, Irina.”

“Okay, understandable.”

He gave me a look of disgust and got up then left the room. I have no reason to be crying right
now, it is my fault that I’m lying to him. I just need him to go to the airport with Vladimir and I.
Everything will go smoothly once I’m on that plane with him. I’m almost done with this, just the
final phase and I’m out.

I got up and looked around the apartment building to make sure that nobody’s here. The place
was slowly falling apart. The rain poured into every open area causing me to almost slip while
walking back into the room. I took out my communicator and dialed Adam’s communicator so
that I can explain to him what just happened. The connection was weak, so I paced the room to
get a better connection.”

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hi Irina, are you okay?” Adam asked concerned.

“Yeah, well no. Why are you asking?”

“Your blood pressure and heart rate is through the roof. What happening?”

“I almost busted my own cover.”

“WHAT!?”

“I was talking with Vladimir, he is a Mobius team member, about my objectives. Ray overheard
that I’m trying to manipulate him into going to the island. He got really angry with me. I tried
convincing him that I’m sent here by the Soviets to protect him so that he can report back to
them. Tomorrow I will go to the airport with him and we’ll go to Finland. We’ll take a cruise to go
to the island. In short, I lied to him even more.”

“Are you sure he doesn’t know anything about the project?”

“Yes, 100%.”

“Okay, that’s good. I need you now to calm down or sleep for a bit. Your signals are all over the
place.”

“Got it, I’ll talk to you later, bye.” I said as I hung up.

I lied on the couch trying my hardest to fall asleep, but failed. I tossed and turned in the small
couch, yet I couldn’t fall sleep wouldn’t come. The relationship between him and I is now hostile.
If he goes to the airport and is convinced by what the people there would say, everything will

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calm down. I just hope that tomorrow morning he doesn’t do anything foolish.

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 Escaping Hell

I woke up in a warm bed with a fairly huge and warm pillow. My whole body was aching and I felt
almost paralyzed because of the pain. I remember very vividly that I was lying on a couch. I
removed the duvet away from eyes and saw that I was in a perfectly clean bedroom. I was way
too tired to even look around to see where I was. At the point, I didn’t even care. My heavy dry
eyes slowly began to shut down again. The smell of male cologne was very strong, but I was
still exhausted.

I heard the sound of a man stretching and moving in the bed with me making me jolt up. I look
to my left to see that Ray was asleep next to me. I rubbed my eyes to make sure that what I
was seeing was actually true. He had no shirt on but he looked like an angel sleeping next to
me. I looked down at my body to see that I was just in my tank top. I shook him a bit so that he
would wake up.

“Hey, hey, wake up.” I said while shaking him.

“Hmm.” He answered while his eyes were shut.

“How did I end up here next you?”

“Hmm?”

“Get up, now.”

He got up next to me and rubbed his eyes twice then stretched. He ran his hands through his
messy hair to fix it as he got out of the bed.

“Again, how did I end up here?”

“Rain was pouring in the living room and I felt bad for you. I brought you here and removed your
gear so that you can sleep peacefully.”

“Well, thank you. But next time, make sure to wake me up so that I don’t assume the worst.”

“See? Even though I’m mad, I still care about you.”

“Don’t forget that I’ll be taking you to the airport today.”

“Okay, but also, don’t forget the deal that we had.”

“I did not, now go get ready.”

He grabbed his shirt and the rest of his gear off of the floor and went into the bathroom. I put on
my uniform fast, but quietly. I tip-toed out of the room and into the hallway. The hallway had
water all over it and I had to walk carefully so that I do not slip. I heard bricks falling down from

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the room next to me. This place is falling apart and everyone should leave fast.

I went down the broken stairs to look for Vladimir. There were officers having a meeting
together. I looked at them to find Vladimir, but couldn’t find him. I opened the tent that was near
the building but couldn’t find him there either. I asked one of the officers about his whereabouts
and he told me that he got wounded. What happened to him now? I ran towards the medical
tents to see him lying on the bed on his stomach.

“Noah! I was looking for you! What happened to you?” I said in a worried tone.

“One of the god forsaken Privates shot me in the butt!”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, the pain is so unbearable!” He said while biting the pillow.

“Which side?”

“Is this really time for your jokes? I’m in so much pain! And it’s on the right side.”

“Oh no, it kind of looks bad.” I said as I stood on my toes to look.

“Hey! Don’t look!”

“Alright. So listen, I’ll be taking Ray to the airport. You comin?”

“I’ll catch up with you later. I have taken three shots of morphine and I can still feel the stitches.
The medic said it’s not that bad”

“I guess your skin there is really sensitive.”

“Listen, if you will make fun of me, then leave. I can’t bare to hear you ridicule me more.”

“I actually need to leave now, but I need the Jeep’s keys.”

“It’s in my pants pocket.”

I took his pants that were on the floor and searched them for the keys. I took it out and left the
tent. I walked back to the building to find Ray standing out and talking with the group of men that
are standing around him. I’m hoping that he did not tell them about yesterday’s incident. This
can cause a bigger issue with the commander of this battalion. The Yankees are looking for any
reason to hate on the Russians.

“Hey, Ray. Let’s go we need to move now.” I said as I got into the Jeep.

He got into the Jeep with a sandwich in his hand. I’m finally leaving this place with the Mobius
members. This is the final phase, all I need is to be on that cruise and the Mobius members will
help me with the rest of the procedure. I’m really concerned about Ray and his cooperation with
the members that will be in the airport. I stopped in the middle of the road to look at the map for
the final time to make sure that I’m going into the right direction.

I reached the airport and saw Soviet troops standing there. They signaled me to stop and ask for

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some identification. I didn’t have any so I showed the Mobius card and the trooper understood
almost immediately what was happening. I entered the airport and followed the direction that led
me down a tunnel. The tunnel was dark so I pulled the stick to open the headlights. The tunnel
was made out of bricks and had lights that barely worked.

The tunnel led me to what looked like a garage. There were tanks, trucks, cars, and artillery
weapons. I looked at Ray he looked very cautious about the place we were in. Mobius will
obviously put me through all of this hell before I can actually leave. I got out of the car and Ray
followed me. I opened the door that was in front of the tank and walked in. The door had stairs
that took us up. I started climbing the stairs while looking up. This could be a trap and I can’t fall
for it. I took out my pistol and slowly opened the door.

I opened the door to see that it was really and airport. All airplanes lined out on the runway. I
walked down the hallway to look for any Mobius member, but it was very quiet. I looked at the
group of men who were sat behind the desk working on something. Ray and I slowly approached
them so that they do not get scared by our presences. I tapped on the desk so that I can catch
their attention.

“Hey, I’m Irina from Mobius.”

“Which city?” The man asked.

“Saint Petersburg?” That must be it. I came from Saint Petersburg and took a cruise to the
island.

“I’m here with Raymond Zadornov and we need to leave from here to Finland.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You can’t go to Finland. We only have a confirmed request that you will be
arriving in the island.”

“Okay, no problem.”

“Before we leave, I have some questions.” Ray said.

“Yes, go ahead.” The man said as he continued writing.

“Is Irina’s job really to protect me as she said?”

“Yes of course, you need to reconnect with the Soviets. Irina is here to protect you and take you
with her back to the Soviets. She had to go under cover for this.”

“Why didn’t she tell me that to begin with?”

“Because that would cause a lot of chatter on the streets. The Americans don’t have a good
relationship with Soviets. This was a crucial step.”

“Will my parents be there as well?”

“They will be there by...umm...tomorrow.”

“Okay, thank you.”

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“So now you’re convinced?” I asked Ray irritably.

“Yes, as long as I’m just there to reconnect with them and not for any other reason, then I’m fine
with going there.”

“So, here are the tickets. You will arrive right in the island’s airport. You won’t be going in the
cruise again.” The man said as he handed us the tickets.

“I’ll take you to the plane, please, follow me.”

Why didn’t I reach the island with an airplane as well? Knowing that there won’t be any stops
made me feel very excited. Although I am very excited for this, I’m still in physical and mental
pain. Ray now can’t change his mind about this trip. The plane will take us right into the heart of
the island. The place will definitely be heavily guarded like when I went there for the first time.

We took the lift down and went out in the runway. The runway was mostly filled with fighter-jets
and cargo airplanes. The team member took us to the airplane that had the Soviet flag on it. Ray
and I walked up the steps and entered the airplane. It was a private jet that had luxurious and
comfortable looking chairs and couches. There were stairs that went up.

“So here is where you have to be at during take off, then you can go upstairs to rest for a bit till
you land.” The man said as he showed us around.

I followed him upstairs to see that there were two beds and the door can close and be locked.
This is exactly where I need to be at after take off. I went downstairs and sat at the chair and
Ray sat on the opposite side as well. The man left and the door closed behind him. Everything
that I planned before entering the STEM server is finally achieved. I just have the final phase
and we’ll be out of here. I looked at Ray to see him looking depressed.

“This is happening for your safety, Ray.” I said softly.

“I know but-“

“What is it? Tell me.”

“I’m still worried.”

“Also, I’m sorry about the things I said to you yesterday. I was confused and I didn’t know how
to react to the things you said.” He continued.

“If anything happens to you, it’ll happen to me as well. As long as I’m with you, you’ll be fine.
And don’t worry about it, I understand, you were in distress.”

He nodded his head and then the airplane began moving. We both fastened out seatbelts and
waited for the airplane to take off. The pressure was building up in my ears as the airplane
ascended. I closed my eyes as the pain in my ears increased. I started swallowing harder to get
rid of the pain. I was in enough pain to deal with the pressure that was building up in my body.

The belt sign disappeared which indicated that it’s safe to remove it. I got up and stumbled
around the airplane to go upstairs. I carefully climbed the stairs and opened the door. I removed
my shoes, jacket, and vest. I plopped myself on the bed and rubbed my head to get rid of the

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headache.

Ray walked in as well then smiled at me. He got closer to me and covered the rest of my body
with the duvet. I saw him as he also lied on the bed. My head was getting lighter but my eyes
were getting heavier. I could literally put my head anywhere and fall asleep almost immediately.
I need to prepare myself to go back to the other world where I truly belonged to. My sight was
blurry and everything faded to black.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Raymond’s POV]

I couldn’t help but smile at Irina who looked like an angel sleeping in the bed. I was really
worried about what I will have to deal with once I land. I am already beginning to regret agreeing
to do this. I felt very broken when I heard that Irina was manipulating me. But now that I know
the truth, I am becoming very nervous. I know that I can trust her, but there is still so many
things left unanswered.

The fact that I was watched made me think about what else does she know. My family is also at
risk and I was unable to contact them about it. The letters won’t reach them until three months.
The Soviets are trying their hardest to get in contact with my parents and I. I just need to go
there with Irina and figure things out. It’s not my position to fight with the Americans anyways.

I joined the Americans because I though that would be the easiest way to get in contact with the
Soviets. They built walls of steel to protect themselves from any outsider. My father also sent
me a letter saying that it was hard for him to find any lead on how to contact them. Every report
must be given to them before the Germans further invade the Soviet Union.

Thankfully, it turned out that the only lead was with me all along. It is Irina, she knew how to
come into my life easily without even startling me. The tensions between her and I should ease.
I’ve hurt her, but she is trying to forget what had happened between her and I. I know that she is
feeling a certain way towards me. I was able to see that in many occasions. I will make sure to
tell her that. She deserves to know the truth.

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 A Way Out

I was awakened up by the sound of a loud bang. The whole airplane was trembling and the
pressure in my ears got even worst, I looked outside of the window that was behind the bed to
see that we already landed in the island. My heart began to flutter rapidly from the excitement. I
got up and ran down the small steps to find Ray picking up his stuff.

I grabbed my bag from the chair and someone opened the airplane door for us. I got out of the
airplane and was met with soldiers who surrounded Ray and I. The island looked nothing like the
one I went to the first time. This one had wet lands everywhere. The place was grim and
depressing. The cold moister caused my whole body to quiver.

I looked at the building and it was somewhat smaller than the one I went to. We walked to it and
saw snipers all over the place with guard dogs barking loudly at us. One of the soldiers opened
for us the entrance door. The lights open at every step we took in the hallway. There were pipes
all over the place and it was dark even though there were lights.

“What is this place?” Ray whispered.

“You’ll see.”

The doors automatically opened for us and we were met with the STEM lab. I looked at Ray who
was looked like he just saw a ghost in front of him. The soldiers walked us upstairs and into the
conference room. I got in and stood next to the window to look at the lab from above. It looked
just like the one that I was in. There were absolutely no difference between the two of them. A
man walked in while smoking. I quietly got up and saw that it was...”L”

“Hello again, Irina.” He chuckled

“L?”

“You have been here for so long, so I have come to take Ray and yourself back in.”

“Take us where?”

“Into the other world.” L said while laughing.

“Let’s get this over and done with.” He said as he left the room.

“WAIT.” I yelled.

“Why are you here to extract us?”

“Because this was done on me. I am a successful experiment.”

“Also, my name is not “L” nor does it begin with the word L. My real name is...Roman Valentini.

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I was told to keep a low profile so that I don’t attract more attention.”

“What experiment is he talking about, Irina?”

“You’ll know everything soon, pal.” Roman said.

“Don’t worry about it, Ray.” I said trying to reassure him.

“Just know that the procedure won’t be like the one before. You will be put to sleep and you will
wake up on the other side. Extraction is always easier.”

He threw down his cigarette and left the room. Ray and I followed him down to the lab. I looked
around the lab and it looked brand new. The bathtubs were clean and the computer monitors
looked very modern. The place here looked very clean and new. Mobius team members entered
the room and they all were wearing doctors coats.

“Why is he saying that we need to be out to sleep?” Ray asked me.

“Just follow what they say and you’ll be fine.”

“No, I need to know now, Irina.”

“I promise you that everything will be alright. Just follow their instructions.”

“Everything better be alright.”

“Ray? Please follow me.” One of the members said.

This is it. This is what I wanted from the beginning. Everything is going smoothly. I couldn’t look
at ray especially because I was lying to him during the whole stay here.

“Irina follow me as well.” The same member said.

I follow him to the other side of the lab. I carefully got into the bathtub and positioned my head
on the two hooks. The member asked for my arm to be put on what looked like a hand cuff. He
locked it around my hand and started typing things on the computer. Another member came
from behind me and put on the electroencephalogram cap with the oxygen mask.

After the man next to me finished typing the computer, he inserted a needle into my arm. I
winced at the pain but closed my eyes to prevent it from hurting me more. I opened my eyes to
see that it’s already inside of my arm. The man started writing something down. My eyes got
heavier and I felt my whole body sinking again.

The bathtub began filling with the milky liquid and I felt my whole body paralyzed. I was unable
to even move my fingers. My head was heavy and I could barely keep my eyes open.
Everything was slowly fading to darkness, but I kept on fighting. The loud engines started
speeding up which made me worried. I closed my eyes and I sunk in the void of darkness.

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 Reunite

I jumped up while gasping for air causing all of the liquid around me to splash everywhere. I
looked around me to see the 5 people staring down at me. I looked to my right to see my mother
standing away from me all wet from the water I splashed onto her when I woke up. I started
removing my oxygen mask, but she came and stopped me.

She put back my head on the hook and started typing rapidly on the computer. I tried getting up
and looking behind me to see if Ray was alive or not. Mobius members ran towards the tower
and I tried getting out of the bathtub. The liquid began draining and my mother removed the
mask and cap.

“Take it easy. You’re safe now.” My mother said as she tried calming me down.

“NO! Where’s ray?” I said as I got out of the bathtub and falling to the ground.

“I need your help getting him out. Go to the tower.”

I ran towards the tower and saw him standing there with his eyes closed.

“HURRY!” I screamed

My mother started typing on the computer that was next to the bathtub I got out of. She was
typing rapidly but it felt like it was forever. I need him to leave now. I need him. My mother typed
the final letter and the door slowly began opening. I pulled his body out of the tower and he fell
right into my arms. His cold skin made me think he was still dead.

I put his head on my lap and I tapped his face so that he would open his eyes. I rocked back
and fourth trying to calm myself down as I tried waking him up. I looked at his hands and they
were shaking! My eyes lit up and held his hands to make him feel safer. He opened my eyes
and looked at in a confused way.

“...Irina? Is that really you?”

“Yes, love. Oh, my god. I can’t believe that you are really alive!” I said while tears ran down my
cheek.

“I...had a...nightmare.”

“This nightmare is over now. No need to be scared anymore” I said as kissed his cheek and
placed his head on my chest.

“Is this real, or am I still inside of STEM?” I asked my mother.

“Yes, Irina. It’s over.”

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I looked behind my mother to see Adam, Max, and Ruslan standing there in shock. Adam slowly
walked towards me. I smiled as I wiped my tears away.

“See Adam? I made it, I brought back Ray.” I said while sniffling.

“I...don’t know what...to say.” Adam said with his eyes widened.

Max sat beside me and touched Ray’s arm. Both Adam and Max looked at Ray in disbelief. I
looked at Ray and he was confused about why they were looking at him in that way. I finally did
it, he’s finally here. The thing I planned for and worked hard for is now achieved. I didn’t need to
worry anymore. My troubled just ended.

“Hi Ray.” Max whispered.

“We are Irina’s friends. I’m Max and this is Adam.”

“Nice meeting you.” Ray said tiredly as he shook their hands.

“This is not over, Irina. Bring him upstairs to the conference room.”

Adam and Max both smiled at me sympathetically. I carefully removed Ray’s head off of my
chest. I put Ray’s arm around my shoulder and slowly got up. I walked with him towards the
stairs and Adam stood behind Ray so that he would catch him if he fell. His body is light, it
didn’t feel like carrying an actual body.

I reached the conference room and Adam and I slowly placed Ray on the chair. I sat right next
to him while holding his hands to reassure him and to calm him down. This is the part that I was
fearing the most. Someone sat next to me and blew out smoke. I looked beside me to see that
it’s Roman. He stared at the projector with his empty eyes waiting for my dad to come in. My
mother and father both walked in and stood in front of the projector.

“Hello Ray. My name is Daniel Yasinovski and this is Maria Petrov. We are Irina’s parents. I’m
the Vice President and my wife works in project managements.” My dad said while smiling.

“It’s nice meeting you both.”

“So Ray, it’s the year 2050. The Soviet Union fell and it is now called the Russian Federation.”

“The Soviet Union fell? When did that happened?” Ray asked curiously.

“It fell in 1991. We are now at a verge of a 3rd World War. I’ll make this very short and simple for
you; we need your help to reunite the Soviet Union again to protect the motherland.” My mother
said.

“First, where are my parents?” Ray asked.

“I’m sorry to say this, but they died, a very long time ago. That’s the truth they are trying to
avoid. Also, you died as well because of a sniper shot in the 2nd World War, which is why you
are confused at what’s happening.” I said loudly.

“What? Is this true?” Ray asked us all. Everyone slowly nodded.

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“But again, Ray, what can we do to reunite the Soviet Union?”

“Is this what you care about now?! “

“Yes, that’s the only reason why we did all of this.”

“You know what? I’ll let you know. A treaty must be signed between Russia, Kazakhstan,
Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasia that promises to not start any war with each, to protect
each other, and to allow each government to have their own elections. That means, there
shouldn’t be any Communism because of this destruction it is causing.”

“So just like the European Union.” Ruslan said.

“What’s the European Union?” Ray asked.

“Don’t worry about it, continue.” My dad said.

“So, the economy should be unified. If any of the countries that I mentioned was at war, all
countries should come together to help the one that is in the face of danger. Military power will
be very strong considering the power in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus. This will also
strengthen the borders of every country. All orders, laws, and policies should come out of
Moscow because it is the strongest city. They all have to agree on it as well. There should be a
new Soviet citizenship as well. The new Soviet Union should care about the well-being of its
people and both the people and the government should benefit from every aspect.” Ray said.

“The treaty should be called the Treaty of Moscow 2050.” My dad said.

“Yes, it should include all of the things he said.” My mom said as she wrote down some things.

“That’s it? Is this all that you wanted?” I asked while starting to get angry.

“Yes, thank you for everything, Irina. Now Ray is in your hands, you get to decide what you want
to do with him.” My dad said.

Max, Adam and I started getting up but was stopped by my mother.

“I just need you to know one thing; the black thing behind Ray’s neck is called a DNI. It is
keeping him alive and well. You don’t have to worry about him getting sick or dying again. He is
safe.” My mother said.

“Okay, thank you for the information.” I said sarcastically.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Max said as he opened the door.

Ray slowly stood up on his feet and followed us downstairs. I looked above to see my mother,
father, and Ruslan staring at us as we left the lab. I finally made it out. Ray is with me, this is
everything I dreamed of. We walked down the dark and narrow hallway and outside of the
facility. The cold rain stabbed my skin as I tried covering myself with the my shirt.

I saw the cruise waiting for us, and I tried to walk faster towards while holding Ray’s hand. I
looked behind me to see the guards still looking at us. I have to leave this island. They will do

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something that will tear me apart again. Adam and Max helped Ray to board the ship while I
followed the three of them.

I sat on the couch and sighed in relief know that this nightmare is finally over. I did it. I face all
of the obstacles that were thrown on me and I made it out. I have Ray with me, this is what
matters to me the most. I gave him another chance to experience life and to live until the end of
times. He might not have what he wants, but I got him out there.

Max came into the cruise with a bottle of water and asked Ray to drink some of it. He put his
head on my lap and Max and Adam covered him with their jackets. His skin was still blue and
pale. His lips are now less dry than before. His veins are slowly disappearing making him more
alive.

“Hey, Irina. I already spoke with Vadim. I told him what you told me. We will go to Saint
Petersburg airport then land in Chechnya. He told me everything is ready there. He’s waiting for
us to arrive.”

“Thank you guys. Everything you did for me while I was gone is something I’ll never forget. I
really don’t know how to repay for everything you’ve done for me. Ray is alive, he’s here now
with me.” I said while smiling and tears welling in my eyes.

“We’ll do anything for you, sister. You mean the whole world for us, and we are more than willing
to do it again for you.” Adam said.

This new chapter in my life is about to start. All my hardwork did not go in vain. With the help of
my friends, I got exactly what I wanted. This is the beginning of a new life...

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 Always and Forever

December 2050

I stood out of the house that Ray and I lived for 10 months. Vadim helped us to live away from
Mobius and also offered us so much protection. We’ve been living in the forest for a long time. I
looked at Max and Adam who are standing with their wives. We will move to a region that is on
the borders of both Chechnya and Dagestan. I do not want Ray to be anywhere near the city. It
is unsafe for all of us. Mobius is everywhere, there is no way they will let us live peacefully.

I got into the car and put in the coordinates of the new house on the map. Ray loaded the trunk
of the car with our bags. I took out the rifle and gave it to Ray so that he can place next to him
in the car. Paranoia strikes deep, which is why we need to leave. I got into the car and waited
for Ray to get in.

“Hey, Irina! How do I open the car door?” Ray said from behind the car.

“You need to touch the touchpad so that it will open.”

“Oh, okay.”

He got in the car and I pressed “drive” on the map in front. I truly believe that what the future
holds for me will be very bright. Now that I got Ray with me and I’m surrounded by my friends, I
can trust that everything will be fine in the future. As long as we are as far away from Mobius,
Ray and I can live our lives to the fullest.

We reached downtown in Grozny and saw how much this city is really using the new technology.
There were robots all over the place. The displays in the clothing stores had androids modeling
the new collections. People were able to preorder the products just by clicking on the
advertisements.

“Are those real people in the store?” Ray asked.

“No, they are androids.”

“What about those things that are flying above us? What are they?”

“They are surveillance drones. Any emergency that happens, they report it back to the police.”

“The back of my head is really hurting today.”

“Did you take the pill?”

“I’ll take it once we reach the house."

Ray is having a very hard time to adapt to this world. He barely knows how to use almost all of

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the new technologies that are developed. I’m more than willing to patiently teach him everything
all over again. I want him to live a better life than before. He doesn’t deserve to walk down the
long road alone.

Ever since the day Ray confessed his love to me; my life turned around. My life now has a
purpose to it. I’ve struggled for years all alone trying to figure out what I want in life, but now, the
answer is right with me. I no longer use my pills, he is the only medicine that I needed in my life.
He stood by my side and trusted me to protect him. His words still repeat themselves in my
head.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 2050

I hung the last dress in the closet and adjusted the shoes that was on the floor. I went towards
the window to see that it was pouring rain outside. I opened the window and was hit with the
earthy smell of the forest. The rain fell on the leafs which caused them to jump and move under
its fall. The cold moister made me quiver. I closed the window and sat next to it admiring the
view of the forest.

Someone knocked on my door and I asked whoever it was to enter. It Ray who came in and had
a beam of satisfaction on his face. The sight of him made me feel at ease. He lost his life and
all of the people he loved, but I’m here to give him another chance to live a happier and safer
life.

“The weather out is nice.” He said as he looked out of the window.

“Yeah, it’s really calming. I love it.”

“I...I want to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah, sure go ahead. Is everything okay though?”

“Yes, everything is fine. So...umm...since the first day I met you back....in that school, I looked
at you differently. When I hung out with you and got to know you better, I grew obsessed with
you. Even when you came to my house, I had to follow you all the way home to make sure that
you’re safe. What I’m trying to say is...I really like you.”

“Awe, I like you too.” I said as I got up and hugged him.

“No, I don’t think you understand. I really love you. These circumstances brought us together,
and I’m grateful that they did. I don’t want this to sound corny, but have a special place in my
heart. I spent time learning about you and my love for you grew stronger. I understand why you
not tell me the truth when we were there. I never loved someone as much as I love you. I really
never had anyone like you in my life. I can say this with confidence; you are really one of a kind.
I truly love you, Irina.”

“I...I don’t...know what...to say”

“I know this is coming all out of a sudden, but I can’t hide my feelings anymore. I understand

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that you might not look at me in that way. I also know that this will be very awkward.”

“The reason why I decided to sacrifice my life and bring you back is because I felt the same
way. Max and Adam knew that I wanted you which is why they helped me. I started reading
more about you and learning more about you, and that’s when I fell for you. I’m just shocked
that you even feel the same way about me.”

“I love you...”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rocky road woke me up from the nap that I was having. I looked out of the window’s care to
see that we are on top of the mountains. The overcast made the whole village look dark even
though the sun is till up. The snow made it hard for me to see at the distance because of the
fog. The car came to a halt in front of 4 houses that were close to each other. I wore my coat
and scarf and closed the car. I got out and was met with the skin numbing cold. My legs sunk in
the freezing snow.

“So these are the houses, this one here is yours and Ray’s house.” Vadim said.

I walked into the house and saw that it looked just like house in Moscow. The living room was
spacious with large couches. The kitchen was clean and it had all of the necessities. I put my
bag on the couch and went upstairs to find the bedroom. The bedroom’s view was on the snowy
mountains. I heard Max calling my name.

I went downstairs to find them all standing in front of the TV. My father and mother were in what
looked like a huge conference room and all of the senates surrounded them. The representer
claimed that this conference is about announcing new important laws and policies. I did not even
want to look at them nor hear anything about them. My father welcomed those who are there and
watching the broadcast.

“Today, I’m happy to pronounce that the treaty that was signed with all of the respected leaders,
is to reunite the Soviet Union. I would like to begin by thanking Irina Yasinovski for helping us
with this project. All of her hardwork is highly appreciated.” My dad said.

“Turn it off please.” I asked.

“Why?” Max asked.

“I don’t want to hear anything from these people. I don’t need them in my life anymore.”

I took my bags and went upstairs into the bedroom. I threw my stuff on the bed and sat next to
the window to calm myself down after what I’ve seen. Ray knocked on the door and pulled in his
bags and closed the door behind him. My phone was buzzing in my pocket. I took it out to see
that they were all mentions on Instagram and Twitter of the same video. I turned off my phone
and threw it on the bed. I can’t stand even seeing this video.

“Irina, how do I open the light?” Ray asked.

“You just need to press the square object that has the red LED around it.”

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“And how do I open the sink?”

“It opens when you put your hand in front of it automatically.”

“Okay, thanks.”

With all of the things that I’ve been through, I can’t go back and put my life on the line again.
This is the end of my career, I don’t need this in my life anymore. I want to live a peaceful life
with the people that I love and cherish. Mobius entered my life with the motives to control it. I
need to get rid of them so that I can live. I desperately want to break the chains and be free
from the obsessive system they put me in.

“Hey, are you free for dinner tonight?” Ray asked me snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Uhh, yes.”

“Great! Then it’s a date! It’ll be at 6.” He said.

I smile grew on my face at what Ray just said. My life is now perfect. Everything that I dreamed
of is becoming true. Ray is now with me and in my life. He came into my life as a gift from god.
This is everything that I wanted. My worries are slowly fading away as my relationship with him
got stronger than ever.

Mobius thinks that I’m just going to stay quiet, but they are mistaken. I may retire from my job,
but I’m not going to allow them to continue doing the terrible things they do. I’m not going to fade
in black. The world deserve to know the truth, and that’s exactly what I’ll do. I’m not done yet,
justice must be served. All of those who suffered in the project deserve justice.

Revenge is growing within me. The burden that was put upon me because of what happened
made me want to bite back. They can run, but their truth can never hide. They can lie and to the
world about what had happened, but they can’t lie to those who were involved. Mobius showed
its true colors and it showed us the damage it can cause. My mission is not over yet, it’ll end
when the world know the truth. Everyone should know my story and what I went through. This is
definitely not the end, this is just the beginning.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/70y0RIZUhlL5nK92uIjwUt?si=38e93ca9b30249b0

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 Acknowledgement

The journey that I was on while writing this story is definitely a wild one. This is something I will
never forget. I finally got the opportunity to show my creative side. It is always a dream of mine
to write a book or a story. In this project, I learned a lot of valuable lessons that will forever
remain with me. For some, people would just look at it as another boring school project. But to
me, I look at this as a start of something new. I always had a fear of writing a story and sharing
it. This got me out of the shell I was in and allowed me to unleash my inner creativity. As much
as it sounds like I’m exaggerating, this is exactly what I felt.

There are numerous people who always supported me and even inspired me to continue writing.
I always have stories in my mind that I would want to write, but then I look at the downside of
doing so. Thankfully, I had written some ideas in the past about stories that I would want to
write and this was part of that list. I spent days and nights to write this story and it’s worth it.
Although I went through days in which I didn’t even have the motivation to write a single
sentence, I finished this story and I’m very proud of it.

Many of these characters are based on the people around me. Meaning, the main characters are
my actually my friends. When I began writing this, I started observing their personalities and
looking at them in different perspectives. I also got to learn more about how a man would think
in different situations. I learned that from a person that means the world to me, this novel is also
dedicated to him. This person taught me many things, and helped me during the roughest time.
Thanks to him, I gathered up the courage to write.

I was highly inspired by a video game called The Evil Within 2. Many of the dialogue and
concepts were taken from that game. I personally love this game a lot, and I thought, what
would the story be like if it was about time travel? I always imagined myself living in the past
and how would I interact with the people there. I decided to add some of the concepts from that
game and changed it into time travel instead.

There are many things that I would definitely go back and change. I had so much ideas that I
wanted to add. Due to the time of submission, I didn’t get the chance to write them all. I plan on
writing a sequel in the near future which is why I ended the story with a cliffhanger. I also plan
on translating this in Arabic and Russian for my dear friends. After finishing this story, I
definitely want to share it with everyone. To whoever read this book, thank you. It means so
much to me that you got to the end of this story. I can promise that this is the start of
something absolutely beautiful.

- M.

The Distance Between Us - Wattpad link.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mbwviVQHHPjfGgqAqjMsR?si=16d27c6e034f41af

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 About the Novel

Irina has been working in the Russian government for 19 years. She was assigned to
go back in time to bring back a man called “Ray” back to live. Both struggled in each
others’ time periods.

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