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Part One

Chapter One
Tuesday, August 13 2034
10:15 am
A soft breeze blew over the open meadow, ruffling over the over-grown grass and tall Daisies. A small, shy girl sat on a high, secluded branch in a tall Oak tree. A soft musical note cut through the humming summer air, then another until each separate note joined together to compose a soft, sweet melody. A young man sat below her at the trunk of the old Oak tree, basking in the cool shade its leaves provided. His husky voice sang along to the song.
A dark, hooded figure crept up behind them and cleared his throat. The young man, startled, turned to see who it was. Just as immediately, the music from above ceased, and the summer air was thick with tension. The girl dropped down from the tree to land next to her brother and they both stared at the hooded figure wary of his intent.
“Wh-who are you?” the young man asked forcing bravery into his quavering voice. The mysterious man removed his hood and revealed a smiling mask. His eyes shone through the slits dancing with amusement. The young girl grabbed at her brothers hand and the resemblance between the two was undeniable. She took a step away from the masked man and tried to pull her brother along. He, taking after their mother, stubbornly refused to budge. The man took another step forward and tilted his head to the side, gazing at the two as if they were a science project. The young man’s knees began to shake with fear. “I said reveal yourself!” he cried again his voice betraying the calm image he tried to portray. The man laughed again and took another step forward. The masked man produced a small blood-splattered dagger and raised it slowly above his head. The young girl let out a gasp and pulled at her brother’s arm more desperately. This time he eased and took a few stumbling steps backwards. With each step he took back the man took forward and the dagger rose higher above his head. Then, like a cobra strike, the dagger came plunging down into the young man’s shoulder. He gave a cry of pain and crumpled to the ground. The young girl shrieked and pulled at him even harder. Her brother held his injured shoulder and gazed up at the maniacal man in fear. The man laughed and raised the dagger again, higher every second in preparation for another strike.
“Brother! Let’s go! Get up!” the girl pleaded and then the boy rose to his shaky feet and turned and ran with his sister. The masked man laughed and began to walk slowly behind them, humming the very tune the young man sang not but a moment before.

Chapter Two
Sunday, August 18, 2034
10:30am
Giselle sat in a small bar on the road side, to escape the sweltering heat of the summer. Ever since the nuclear war between England and Korea the summers grew increasingly hot. A lot of people didn’t know much about the war except for what the media told them. But working for the government, Giselle knew what that was about. Korea was pulling a pretty nice haul of oil and before the Koreans had worked their differences and joined as one, England was receiving a huge load of it from the South. But then they reconciled and for some time everyone thought how wonderful it was to not have to worry over the tensions between the two countries. But that was when the former North Korea realized just how cheap they were selling the oil to England and the United States and they jacked the prices up insanely high. Imagine how well we took that. While the United States just went to the Middle East for their oil England was outraged. They sent troops into Korea and the Royal Navy along the coast. But it wasn’t long before secret agents discovered the Nuclear Weapons being manufactured there. So began the nuclear arms race. For a while the rest of the world just viewed it as another Cold War and began to harass our Prime Minister Arden for empty threats.
So we bombed the 38th Parallel, once the sign of the stand off between North and South Korea became where they signed the treaty that joined their lands. Which launched us into an all out war and we did not stop until we controlled their oil. Some people think England should have just gone to the Middle East like America, save thousands of Korean and English lives. But some think we didn’t go far enough, and that had we persisted Korea would bow to our will. But Giselle had her own opinion on the war.
The waitress finally came to wait on her and she ordered a glass of iced tea. The waitress rolled her eyes and wandered away to place her order and Giselle turned her gaze back outside to her car that crashed not a moment ago. She was stranded. A boy, her friend Ace, slid into the booth and sat across from her and beamed. She took in his shaggy strawberry blonde hair, eager green eyes, freckle splattered skin, and lastly his smiling lips. He reached across and took hold of her hand.
“Tow guy said he’d be here in a minute, so I’m going to guess we got another hour and a half here.” Giselle groaned and rolled her eyes.
“Fantastic,” she frowned. The waitress returned to their table with a glass of iced tea and glowered at Ace.
“I suppose you want something too?” she asked in an American accent. Ace smiled, amused, and nodded; also ordering iced tea. The two sat in silence for a moment gazing outside and saw the heat rise off of the ground. Bleep! Bleep! Giselle looked at Ace as he dug out his cell phone and flipped it open. Ace read the text message once and stowed it away. He looked up at Giselle and smiled.
“We got a job just now, so we better hurry,” he said with a smile. Giselle arched her brow.
“Oh yeah, because I have control over how fast the tow guy moves,” she answered sarcastically. Ace laughed and the waitress returned with his iced tea. She left before they could order anything else. Giselle laughed as soon as the waitress was out of earshot. “She’s pleasant isn’t she?” she asked. Ace chuckled and raised his glass for a toast. Giselle did so as well, “What will we be toasting to?” she asked. Ace’s lips turned downward just slightly at the corners almost ruining his care-free smile. He looked thoughtful for a moment and cleared his throat.
“To life,” he said clearly and their glasses clinked and they both took a sip. Giselle placed the glass down and turned her gaze back to the barren desert that lay before them. Ace’s eyes also turned toward the desert and he gave a little sigh. “Depressing isn’t it?” he asked and ran his fingers through his hair. Giselle nodded in response and kept her gaze on the smoking pile of junk they were supposed to call their car. She sighed and leaned her head against window.
“How long now?” she asked. Ace glanced at his watch and groaned.
“An hour and fifteen minutes,” he answered and sunk further into his seat. “We might as well settle in and give it some time. You know what they say; ‘Time flies when you’re having fun,’” Giselle rolled her eyes and heard her stomach rumble.
“Oh but can’t you tell?” she asked and flashed him a sideways smile. “I’m having a blast.” Ace laughed his happy-go-lucky laugh and stretched. “So what’s our job this time?” she asked curiously. The two both worked as spies for the government and it’s been a while since they’ve had any work of significance. Ace’s green eyes flickered, briefly, with worry. Then he shrugged.
“Just breaking into some broke-down construction factory. I guess there is rumored to be rebels setting up base their. But I guarantee you it’s probably a group of stupid teenagers trying to get their moments of fame until they’re busted. Isn’t that how it goes?” he asked reminding her of the governments’ last spook that ended like that. Giselle shrugged indifferently and cast her gaze to the hover board.
“I don’t care!” she exclaimed. “I just want some excitement! I want that stupid car to work again!” she cried and pounded the table with her clenched fist. “Good for nothing government limited piece of crap technology.” she grumbled under her breath. Ace chuckled and pats her hand.
“Don’t worry. We don’t have to wait too long. He might even be here early.” Giselle shot him an indignant glare and took a sip of her tea.
“Oh I’m sure that promptness is his first priority,” she said and sunk down into her seat with her arms crossed. The two sat in silence until they saw the tow truck pull into view. They both walked out into the miserable heat to greet him. He was a gruff, heavy set man with chewing tobacco pocketed in his lip. He spat some out and took one look at the wrecked hover board.
“Stupid kids,” he grumbled and bent over the board to take in the extent of its damage. “Yer engine is just over heated and the rubber melted around it. If ya woulda just given it a moment ya woulda been fine. Didn’t it make some kind o’ whirrin’ sound?” he asked. Giselle winced at his insult but decided not to fire back with insults of her own; and she definitely had a few. She shrugged and kicked at the sand beneath her.
“Yeah, but I didn’t pay it much attention. I am kind of in a hurry to get somewhere so isn’t there some kind of gizmo I can get to keep it cool for a long time?” she asked carelessly. The man cleared his throat and spat out another black lump of tobacco.
“Yeah there is but it’ll cost ya an arm and a leg,” he answered and began to pick the engine apart. Ace laughed and shook one of his arms and legs.
“Those are two things we happen to have in supply!” he exclaimed cheerfully. The man glared at him and scraped the melted rubber away from the engine. Ace theatrically cowered away from his glare and hid behind Giselle. Giselle rolled her eyes and sighed.
“How much?” Giselle asked. She was trying to get the whole process done and over with. The man thought for a while trying, the gears in his head clearly working harder then he was used to.
“’Bout three grand,” he answered before adding, “tha’s before adding fixin’ the engine. With tha’ in total it’ll pro’lly be around four or five grand.” Giselle’s eyes widened before she remembered the government would be forced to reimburse her. Then she shrugged indifferently.
“Fine, but I’ll need it done as quickly as possible. I’m late for a job,” she said the annoyance thick in her tone. The tow man took heed and was done in twenty-five minutes and was newly installed with a cooling system. Once the tow truck rattled out of view they both climbed into the car, she started the car, revved the engine and she waited for directions from Ace. He uploaded a map onto his phone and pointed to the East.
The construction factory was completely desolate, but it was huge inside. They pulled up, screeching to a halt and decided they should split up. Giselle had the pleasure of exploring the creepiest parts of the factory. She turned on her flashlight and began to look for the conspirators. Even though she should have been looking thoroughly, she was barely taking note of her surroundings; she was daydreaming on the job. She heard a loud hissing noise and she switched her light off and slowed down to nearly a crawl. She crouched down and peered around the corner to listen for anything threatening. Slowly she saw a tiny beam of light flicker in front of her. Whoever that was in here knew they’d been found. The light stopped just short of revealing her and was turned off. She slowly edged forward until she could clearly see and hear the group of people.
“Damn, Brian, chill! We’re pretty much invisible! You’re kind of jumpy lately, you aren’t scared are you?” a taunting female’s voice teased. The male, who must have been Brian, growled.
“I am not scared!” he hissed defensively. The rest of the group chuckled and then the female pulled out a long piece of paper, a map. Giselle strained to see it but gave up when she saw it was in a different language. Their voices reduced to a low murmur and she edged oh so slightly closer until one clear voice became definite. It seemed to belong to an older man pointing out various routes in the factor.
“If they’ve found us then Darren, Brian, and I will take this route. Elizabeth? You, Eliza and Rashel will take this one. But the chances of us being caught are slim. Slim to none, in fact,” he said smugly. One female snorted.
“Why are we splitting up? Aren’t we stronger in a group?” she asked making her point. The old man sneered and rolled the map up and stowed it away.
“Don’t you think I thought of that? Yes, we are stronger in a group but we’re more elusive when we aren’t all together. We might as well make it difficult for them,” he said and the group chuckled again. “But from now on we must keep talk about this group to a minimum. We shouldn’t speak of it again before our next move. We’re biding our time remember?” there was a low murmur of agreement that traveled through the group. One of the members was saying something inaudible to Giselle, but its importance seemed to be significant because the group all tilted their heads in her direction, and looked deep in concentration. As if they were afraid of missing even a single syllable.
“- He’s dead. His sister was found hysterical and was stark-raving mad when we found her. She was rambling about some masked man before she died. What do you think is going on? He was one of our best agents and someone’s killed him-“ Clang! Giselle was so intrigued by the conversation her flashlight had slipped from her hands and she was exposed. Each member of the groups’ eyes widened and they were on high alert. Brian produced his flashlight and shone it into her eyes. Giselle dropped down and they all rose in a frenzy. “That’s the governments’ agent!” the girl cried. Brian spat at the ground and picked up a crowbar. He advanced on Giselle. Giselle turned and ran down a dead-end hallway, she was cornered.
“It’s just one girl, Rashel! I can handle her!” he said. Giselle swallowed and narrowed her eyes at him.
“You wouldn’t dare! That’s a life sentence!” Giselle threatened. She dug into her pocket and felt the government tracker safely stowed away. She fumbled with it until it turned right side up and activated it. It gave a soft ping but was barely audible over the groups’ uproar.
“You mean if we get caught,” Brian said smugly and raised his bar into the air, Giselle’s eyes widened in an imitation of fear. The bar came down swinging at an angle; the force sent her flying into the metal wall. She crumpled on the ground and held her arm in pain.
“God-Damn it!” she cursed and another pain shot through her body. She bit her tongue to withhold the flow of curses and gasped in pain. The girl, Rashel gasped as Giselle lay at her feet. Brian dropped the bar on the floor with a loud clang and slowly backed away. The eldest knelt next to her. He pulled out a shabby rag and a bottle with strong scented… something and drenched the rag with it. The smell made her gag and she eyed the man warily. “What the hell are you doing?” she cried. The man held the rag to her nose and she held her breath, trying to avoid inhaling the fumes. Her head spun with the lack of oxygen and she gasped for breath. The fumes overwhelmed her and Giselle’s vision swam. She felt her mouth run dry and she licked her lips. “Damnit!You’reluckyIcan’tmoveorI’dkillyou!” she swore her words slurring. The world seemed to heave and she was knocked out cold.

Chapter Three
Sunday, August 18 2034
11:23am
Ace wandered aimlessly around the factory before giving up and deciding it was deserted. He turned back to their meeting place and dug out his cell phone. He dialed Giselle’s number and called her. He let it ring until it took him to voice mail. He figured she didn’t answer it to not give away her position so he flipped the phone over and pressed a button on the side. A large screen opened in front of his face and he cleared his throat.
“Message Giselle.” he said clearly. The digital screen flickered to a large empty text box waiting for him to insert a message. “Giselle, no one’s here. Let’s go back to the pad and sleep! Send.” he snapped the phone shut and put it away. He waited a good hour before he flipped his phone open again and checked for a message from her. Nothing. Ace grew worried and dug his hand into his pocket feeling around for his tracker. Once it was in his grasp he felt it vibrating, a sure sign Giselle was in distress. He quickly inserted it into his phone where a layout of the factory developed in front of him. Just as he turned the corner he saw a group of six fleeing to the exit and he raced toward Giselle. Ace found her unconscious on the ground. Her arm was bent at an odd angle and there was an odd-smelling rag by her head. He cursed and ran to her. He gingerly picked the rag up and tossed it as far away from her as he could. He fished out his phone and called for an emergency cruiser to come and help him. Once Ace snapped the phone shut he groaned and mooned over Giselle, unsure of what to do at that moment. He gently took her by the shoulders and shook her as softly as he could. “Giselle get up!” he hissed loudly, then held his breath for a reaction. Giselle’s eyes fluttered and she groaned in pain. Ace heaved a sigh of relief and seized her into a hug. She cried out,
“Augh! Damn it Ace! Can’t you see my arm is broken? What is wrong with you?” she yelped and he let her go. Ace smiled sheepishly and his features suddenly turned serious.
“Ok, what happened? How did this happen?” he asked his tone stern. Giselle heaved a sigh and stumbled to her feet. Once standing she swayed and then righted herself. Ace placed his hand on her good elbow for a moment to make sure she was steadied and waited for an explanation. Giselle stubbornly shook her head.
“I don’t want to explain it twice, wait until we get to base and I’m patched up. As soon as I’m okay I’ll have to report to the General and you’ll have to be there as well. Just wait until then. We are going to have to drive back now,” Ace’s features flashed with uncertainty.
“I already called the ambulance, let’s just wait for them to come and get us,” he suggested knowing it was pointless. Giselle stubbornly shook her head.
“Too much time wasted. We need to hurry and this is the quickest way. Let’s go.” Ace reluctantly helped Giselle out to the car in front of the factory and made her lay down in the back despite her protests. Ace’s heart pounded and he glanced back at Giselle.
“I’m worried Giselle, maybe this isn’t the best way. Maybe we really should just wait,” he pushed his point one last, futile, time. Giselle met Ace’s gaze in the rear view mirror and shook her head sternly.
“I want to get there right now, and if we keep on discussing this that’s not going to happen. Go… now.”

Chapter Four
Tuesday, March 20 2034
1:20 pm
A small girl sat at a small pond not far from the city of London and dipped her feet in. The Koi swarm around her expecting her usual treat of bread crumbs, but were going to soon find out she had none.
“Sorry friends, I don’t have food today. Will you still keep me company?” The fish hovered around expectantly for a moment more before one of them drifted away. The others seemed to understand and they all swam away from of her as if disappointed. The girl splashed her fingers in the water as if trying to call them back to her but none returned. She heaved a great sigh and her gaze shifted to the blue cloudless sky. She sat there for another hour before she declared aloud her reluctance to return to her home. She heard the grass crunch behind her and she slowly turned to face the source of the sound. A man stood there, wearing an odd smiling mask. The girl sat still a moment and tilted her head to the side. Something about the man sent off warnings that somehow seemed attached to her two older friends deaths not but two days earlier. The young girl rose slowly from the water’s edge and took a few steps away from the pond, careful not to get any closer. The masked man began to hum a song all too familiar to her, and she froze. “What is it that you’re singing?” she demanded of him, suddenly outraged that any other man than the boy she’d grown to adore would know his tune. The man’s note broke with a low dangerous chuckle before the song continued with a renewed purpose. The rage of his audacity broke across her and she clenched her tiny hands into fists. “Stop that!” The man tilted his head to the side and she could clearly see his amusement. The man took another step forward and she took one back, becoming precariously close to plunging into the shallow pond. She put her hands in front of her as if to ward off any attack. “What do you want?” she asked her voice feeble. The humming stopped, she noticed so immediately. Anyone with any sense would know that this was the time to run away but something about his eyes had paralyzed her. Quickly he was upon her and she stumbled backwards feeling her balance give away and the cool waters rushing to meet her.