Ty sat in an overstuffed armchair facing the window, fiddling with his tablet to create a patch that would remove all tracking software from Amber and Bennett’s tablets.
Ty had been filling the girls in on everything that had happened to the group over the past few days. While they didn’t quite believe his stories, they were still more than happy to accept an invitation to Eastern Metropolis. Any excuse to go to the most party-filled city in Halcyon was fine by them and the clothing Brynn needed designed was an added bonus.
“Ty, are you sure you don’t mind meeting Amber and Bennett at the train station by yourself?” Brynn asked as she walked out of the bathroom, having just changed into a variation on her default outfit, making it a bit more metropolitan.
Her normal black and gray ensemble was broken up with random teal accents throughout the fabric that perfectly matched the long flowing teal wig she wore.
“Yeah it’s fine,” he reassured her, taking in her appearance with a bemused expression. “It shouldn’t take too long to find them and bring them back here.”
“And Jonah you have some idea of where we’re going, right?”
“More of an idea than I did a few hours ago,” he replied, nodding to Ty. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“No problem,” Ty responded without looking up from his work.
“Jonah, are you going out like that?” Brynn asked skeptically.
He wore his typical default outfit of black fitted jeans and a grey T-shirt.
“I thought I looked pretty,” he joked, giving Brynn an offended pout.
“Don’t you worry you’ll stick out too much looking so normal?”
“I think you’re the only one worried about sticking out too much,” Ty answered, also looking much too normal for Brynn’s taste in his usual dark brown pants and cream colored shirt.
“Fine. Go ahead and be normal but don’t come crying to me when everyone looks at you like you’re complete weirdoes.”
“Okay,” both boys responded in unison, annoying her to no end.
Though Brynn hadn’t succeeded in convincing Jonah to change, she had gotten him to put on thick black-rimmed glasses to break up the monotony of his outfit. By the time they had walked through the majority of the city and were nearing the suburbs, Brynn was feeling very comfortable with her surroundings.
Ty had already gone to meet Amber and Bennett at the train station and had planned to meet them back at the hotel room so they could all get on the same page with the current plan.
Jonah and Brynn walked in silence for a long while, keeping an eye out for any Workers as they made their way through the maze of a city. Brynn tried not to be paranoid in the city full of people after Jonah and Ty had reassured her many times that she was safe, but as she passed by an outdoor café and made eye contact with a red haired girl she swore she had seen in the night club only a few nights earlier, she had to believe it wasn’t a coincidence.
She stopped in her tracks to turn and look at the woman who was very openly staring at her. She was a tall, lanky, pale girl who seemed to have a light dusting of red powder over her cheeks and nose, giving the impression that she was constantly blushing. Her long hair was a bright orange that Brynn thought was natural except for the blonde tips that made it look like her hair was on fire. And her pale green eyes were practically luminescent against freckled cheeks.
Had she not been such a striking girl, Brynn would have assumed she was wrong in thinking she had seen the girl before. But standing there on the sidewalk, staring at the girl with the upturned nose who didn’t seem to have any desire to hide the fact that she was staring at Brynn, she knew she wasn’t making things up. The corner of the girl’s mouth began to twitch as if she were hiding a smile when a horrible pain shot through Brynn’s head, surprising her so much with the violence with which it came on that she doubled over, grasping at her forehead.
“Brynn!” Jonah exclaimed, grabbing her elbow to keep her from falling over. “What happened?”
Instead of answering Brynn looked up at the café once more to see if the girl was still watching her, only to find that she had vanished, much like the night in the club.
“Brynn?” Jonah said again, this time with more worry in his voice.
“I’m fine,” she finally answered, straightening up once more and rubbing the side of her head. “It was just one of those stupid headaches again.”
“It looked pretty bad.”
“It was. But it doesn’t last long,” she assured him, beginning to walk towards the ocean once more and deciding against telling Jonah about the red haired girl, afraid that she’d come off as paranoid again.
“Is it getting any better?”
“No,” she admitted guiltily. “But don’t tell Ty I had another one, okay? I promised him they were getting better.”
“Why would you lie about something like that?” Jonah asked, his brow furrowed as he watched her, making sure she wasn’t about to suddenly collapse into a heap.
“He won’t let me go to Panurgic if it’s still happening.”
“Wow,” Jonah said in disbelief, never quite approving of Ty’s overprotective nature. “He said that?”
“Well, no,” she replied. “But you know he won’t.”
“Can’t say it doesn’t sound like him,” Jonah answered with a laugh, finally taking his eyes off Brynn, his worry gone.
As the suburbs of Eastern Metropolis disappeared and gave way to the sandy open terrain of the beach that Brynn was so used to, she voiced a thought that had been bothering her for some time.
“Do you think Eris built every seaside city on a peninsula to keep people from getting out and finding the other continents?”
“I think all seaside towns are probably built on a peninsula, yes,” he answered, taking off the fake glasses and putting them in his pocket. “But I don’t think Eris did it. According to those files they built all of the cities hundreds of years ago. What you should be asking, is how in the world did we really believe our civilization had existed for thousands of years instead of hundreds?”
“She said it’s because we’re all too lazy to crack open a history book,” Brynn answered.
“I’ve looked in several history books in the library back in Seaside,” Jonah said, sounding almost indignant that Eris thought they were all so uneducated. “They have a history going back to the beginning of civilization. Or at least what they’re pretending is the beginning of civilization.”
“I guess when you populate a continent with people who lack curiosity, little details like the beginning of time are easy to fabricate.”
“I guess they proved that pretty effectively.”
“And what do you mean you don’t think Eris built the cities?” Brynn suddenly asked.
“I mean, she can’t be hundreds of years old, Brynn,” he responded logically as they walked through the deep sand that began to turn dark brown as small raindrops dotted the ground.
“You still really believe she’s human?” Brynn asked incredulously. “After seeing how fast and strong she is, you really think she’s just a normal human like you and me?”
“I think she definitely got a few enhancements like the Workers do,” he answered.
“If she’s human then I might as well grow wings and fly across the ocean like a bird, because anything must be possible,” Brynn said with a laugh.
“Fair enough. That’ll make the rest of this trip pretty fast,” he responded with a grin in her direction, making the scar on his cheek stand out.
The two walked in silence after that, both agreeing to disagree and keeping their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until they had walked for quite some time that Jonah pointed out something Brynn would have never noticed.
“Does that cliff look strange to you?” Jonah asked, pointing at a jagged rock formation just ahead of them.
They had seen many similar formations jutting out of the ocean and the shoreline, but this one in particular look
ed a bit off. The dark brown rock was marred by a single crack that could have been caused by any number of things. The crack itself, however, looked too perfectly carved; its lightning bolt shape too precise.
“Do you think that could be it?” Brynn asked, looking up at the crack. “If it is then we have a little bit of a climb ahead of us.”
“Let’s just do it,” Jonah said excitedly, the prospect of a good adventure always putting a smile on his face.
“Don’t you think we should wait until it stops raining? The rocks are probably pretty slippery,” Brynn responded, looking skeptically at the jagged edges they’d have to scale and worrying what would happen if she had another headache halfway up the cliff.
Jonah grabbed Brynn by the shoulders and turned her around so that she faced him. He looked down into her blue eyes that matched his with excitement.
“Let’s go,” he said again, a smile spreading across his face.
“But the rain,” she repeated.
“Not just up to the cliff Brynn. Let’s go to Panurgic. Right now,” he said, this time a little more urgently.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, smiling through her confusion and trying not to look too concerned. “What about Ty and Amber and Bennett?”
“I didn’t want to say anything before. I really have tried being logical about the whole thing but I just don’t know if I can really trust Ty,” he admitted, looking like it was the last thing he wanted to say out loud.
“That’s ridiculous Jonah. Of course you can trust him. He’s more worried about our safety than we are,” she reminded him.
“I have no doubt in my mind he cares about keeping you safe. That’s my point. I don’t think he brought Amber and Bennett here to help. I think he brought them here to convince you to go back to Seaside.”
Jonah brushed a few stray teal hairs away from Brynn’s face, knowing he couldn’t convince her of his suspicions.
“Please just leave with me,” he said again.
Brynn could feel her heart beating in her stomach as she looked up at Jonah. He had trusted her with so many things and followed her wherever she asked without any explanation needed. She knew there were times when Jonah had to go on blind faith, following Brynn on crazy adventures even when she could have been totally wrong. Could she really ignore Jonah’s plea for her faith this one time?
“Even if you don’t believe me, can you trust me?” he asked, leaning his forehead against Brynn’s and closing his eyes. “Can you just do that?”
Though she knew this was an important point in her friendship with Jonah, and whatever she said next would have great implications no matter what she decided, she couldn’t help but notice their close proximity and how much she wanted to kiss him right at that moment.
“Maybe we could make it alone,” she said, closing her eyes and trying desperately to resist the urge to tip her lips up to meet his.
There was something about Jonah that had completely intoxicated her and her thinking seemed to have become fuzzy. She knew she should be worried about how upset Ty would be if they left without him, but Jonah could also be right that there would be no trip if Ty had a say in it.
“I think if we don’t do it now, it might never happen,” Jonah answered, his voice much closer than Brynn thought it was a moment before. She could feel his breath just inches from hers. “Let’s go Brynn,” he whispered, releasing her shoulders and instead wrapping his arms around her.
“Ty would get over it,” she said, trying to convince herself more than Jonah. “No, that’s a lie. He would never forgive me, would he?”
“Once I bring you back safely he’ll be fine,” Jonah answered, still startling Brynn with just how close they were.
Jonah brought his lips to hers briefly in the smallest hint of a kiss, giving Brynn goose bumps all over her body.
“Was that the rain check?” she asked him, her eyes still closed.
“Not much of a rain check,” he answered before pressing his lips forcefully against hers.
Brynn felt a rush of warmth pass through her whole body as she kissed the boy who had put so much trust in her. All it took was that one action on his part to convince her that she needed to go with him.
The kiss was brief and much too short-lived for Brynn’s taste, but it left a burning in her stomach and a tingling on her lips that made her want to pull Jonah close to her once more. She never wanted to stop kissing him.
She opened her mouth to tell him that he was right; that they should leave right then and there. Run away together to solve the biggest mystery of their lives. But before she could voice this opinion, her tablet buzzed within her purse, causing her and Jonah to untangle themselves guiltily.
She quickly pulled the tablet out and answered the call from Ty, his face appearing on her screen and instantly making her feel like a horrible person for her thoughts of leaving him behind only seconds before.
“It must be cold on the beach, your face is all red Brynn,” Ty said with a laugh, the sounds of the city muffled behind him.
Brynn instantly brought a hand up to her cheek in embarrassment while Jonah suppressed a grin beside her.
“It’s really cold,” she lied, while trying to look innocent and not like she had just kissed the boy Ty couldn’t stand. “So what’s up?”
“Amber and Bennett insist on seeing a few sights before I drag them back to the hotel room, so we’ll be a little later than expected,” he informed her with a roll of his eyes. “Have you two made any groundbreaking discoveries?”
“It’s been a very enjoyable trip,” Jonah said, leaning in close to Brynn to smile at Ty on the screen.
“Can’t wait to hear all about it,” Ty said, his complete lack of comprehension making Brynn feel even guiltier. “Well I’ve got to go pretend I care about the millions of clothes Amber and Bennett are making. I’ll see you guys soon.”
With that, the screen went blank and Brynn’s guilt increased.
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say you won’t be coming with me now?” Jonah said with a raised eyebrow.
“I can’t just leave him, Jonah,” she responded, already beginning to walk back to the city so that he couldn’t ‘convince’ her anymore.
She knew she wouldn’t be strong enough to resist that kind of persuasion. He ran to catch up with her and sighed deeply.
“Can’t blame me for trying right?”
“Did you kiss me just to get me to go with you?” Brynn asked indignantly.
“That’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while but I couldn’t very well kiss you with Ty always hanging around now could I?” he asked, amazing her with how up-front and honest he always was with her.
There was never any pretense with Jonah.
“Anyway,” Brynn began, trying to change the subject off of the embarrassing turn it had just taken. “We should probably head back to the hotel room.”
“I was thinking of hitting the library, seeing if we can find anything interesting there.”
“I don’t know. I’m exhausted,” she answered, finding that the emotional rollercoaster she had just been on had completely worn her out.
“Why don’t you go take a nap while I look then? You can tell me what new and interesting things Eris has in store for you this time,” he joked, reminding Brynn of exactly why she slept as little as she could.
“Sounds like a ball,” she answered sarcastically. “I guess we’ll all regroup tonight and figure out a game plan for getting up that cliff to the tunnel.”
“That works for me,” Jonah began. “Oh and Brynn?” He said, looking over at her with the smile that always seemed present on his handsome face. “Thanks for the rain check.”
Chapter 6: Maxwell
Brynn had only spent a short amount of physical time in A1. The brief trip she’d taken there had been enough to scare her away for the rest of her life. The same, however, could not be said for the too-brave-for-her-own-good scientist whose memories Brynn dreamed in.
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For a moment, as Brynn walked through the hallways of the white facility, she forgot that she was most likely dreaming and actually felt as if she had somehow wound up back in A1. The mere fact that she was walking around and not strapped to a bed was enough to suggest such a bizarre twist in her fate.
As she walked though, she realized how little control she had over her own body. While she felt internally compelled to walk down this hallway with a purpose, she had no idea why and she got the sneaking suspicion that even if she had wanted to turn and run, Rachel wouldn’t let her. Passing in front of a reflective door Brynn turned to take in her appearance, shocked by what she saw.
Staring back at her, was an exact physical copy of herself that looked slightly off. It was as if someone had taken her body but didn’t use it the same way Brynn did. Instead of the determined yet apprehensive stance Brynn usually assumed, this copy of herself was brimming with confidence, her eyes alert and slightly suspicious of her surroundings. It was like hearing your voice recorded for the first time and realizing what you really sounded like.
Brynn continued to look at the reflective surface of the door, finding that she was oddly interested in what lay on the other side of it when a pair of arms encircled her waist and pulled her into a hug from behind.
“Hey you,” said a male voice that she was sure she had never heard before, though it did stir something in the recesses of her memory.
She could feel warm lips press against her neck but she didn’t pull away like she would have if she had been in control of her body. Instead she could feel a smile passing across her face, a warm feeling bubbling up in her stomach much like it had when she and Jonah had kissed earlier that day.
“Hello Maxwell,” she heard herself saying, breaking away from the boy’s embrace and turning to face him.
He wore a white lab coat like Rachel, though he was several inches taller than her. He had light brown hair, dark brown eyes, a wide smile that made Brynn’s cheeks go warm and thick black-rimmed glasses. Brynn looked down the hallway to make sure no one was coming, causing Maxwell to do the same before smirking at her.