Aliena Numina Book 2

1 - Jason

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

About half a dozen men in dark gray suits with mechanical weapons had lined up to take down anyone who would walk out the elevator door. Several cameras were placed along the corridor, which was illuminated in white color. At the first glance, it was all against us.

I thought it would be easier this time. There was only one corridor. I was going to take the men's guns and disable the cameras. I could have wounded them so they wouldn't kill us, but I could have done everything better so it wouldn't have to.

As soon as I tried to take the gun of the man closest to us, I knew something was wrong. There was no glowing life in the man's pointless, pale eyes. His gray hair and aesthetic face showed at first that he was really human. Everything fell into place when I quickly turned around and saw the others.     

I tried to open his fingers calmly as I tried to get his gun. But it broke my fingers. It took me a long time to feel pain, and that was the only thing that gave me an advantage.          

I was dealing with bionic humans or robots. Their weapons wouldn't hurt themselves. Maybe that's why they were using these weapons. All the men had these guns, and they all looked alike. Now I had to find a new, solid way to disable them.

I quickly turned around. The laser gun Marcus took from Serma was directed outward. Marcus' fingers were probably going to break. Even the perfect flexibility of mankind would not work after a certain speed. I was sorry to do this to him, but I knew that if I didn't do it, none of us would have anything to worry about anymore.

When you are dragged into an inevitable war, you have only two options. You live or you die. There's no alternative to running away. It's going to go on until somebody has to put an end to it.     

The greatest battle of mankind is against himself. When he wins, everything else is a virtual obstacle. Dying or living is an option that develops according to our choices and this will happen sooner or later. But this death should not have happened for us today.            

I hated the idea of destroying any being, even if it was bionic. To me, the red laser light that appeared after a very long time caused a flash in the first man's neck and then a splitting effect. In normal times, the man's head would still be on his neck. But it would now be a dysfunctional image.

Their metal interiors glowed with incredible robustness. Its silver-gray brightness made the gun's red light even more appealing. I didn't know how they were going to react, but I was sure the best thing I could do was separate their heads from their bodies.

After I fried the cameras, I started to slow down. I stood right next to Nina and Marcus. So as soon as time was back to normal, Nina could heal me and Marcus right away. 

"Nina!" I said. "Marcus' fingers are broken. You need to heal them." I turned to Jason and Simon without waiting. The confusion on their faces and the way they still pointed their guns at the men indicated that they didn't even know what it was yet. They were still in their early state when the first man's head slipped off his body and sizzles came from the cameras.         

I continued, "J, take their guns and make way for us right now." The first pain in Marcus' face was already beginning to show. Nina took his fingers in her hand and began to heal them without waiting. Esme was looking at me in a way I didn't understand.       

"I'm sorry for this." I said. She was still looking at me in such an incomprehensible way. Back there, Jason and Simon took the men's guns and started taking them down if they had heads that were just sitting on their bodies.

"You did the right thing." She said in a sad voice. "I just don't understand what they want to do. Why are people so willing to destroy each other? Why are we fighting when we can live better?"

"I spend all my time thinking about it." I said. I sounded in pain. My fingers were starting to hurt. My right ring finger was turned upside down, causing a demoralizing look.

"Well, what's going to happen?" she asked in the same calm voice. It was like she'd lost the war.

"I don't know," I said with a wrinkly face. "I think Marcus does."

"What's wrong with you?" She suddenly asked.

"I broke my fingers, too." I said. Nina quickly let Marcus go.           

"Okay, you're all right now." She said as he quickly turned towards me. There were now deep worries on her face. There was a glowing inner sadness in her eyes.    

"Thank you, Nina." Marcus said. "It's like they didn’t break at all." He went into the hallway with Jason and Simon without waiting.

Nina grabbed my fingers and took them all the way to her chest, no matter what was going on. She mercifully kept them in her palms. I wanted this to last forever. As her soft, warm hands held my hands, her warm breath came up to my nose and took me towards the last day of the sun. Her breath, which smelled fresh, and her innocence as she closed her eyes, slammed my heart.

"How do you feel?" she asked, opening her eyes. My fingers were completely healed. I've never felt pain. It was as if mercy had flowed from her to me. I realized I never wanted her to get hurt.

"You're not only the best doctor in the world, you're also the most beautiful and the best doctor!" I wanted to go over and kiss her lips when she smiled. But I knew I had to stop myself. It hurt not being able to do that. Even being away from her for a minute seemed like a year to me, and by doing so, I could take her away from me forever. The thought of losing her was more severe than the thought of losing all wars.      

"You shouldn't tell a doctor that," she laughed. "They may misunderstand you."

"What did you understand?"

"Well..."

"Ed, you'd better hurry!" shouted Marcus. Nina breathed like she was out of line. A new comfort wrapped around her face. She smiled at me for the last time and rushed down the aisle.  Her expression was like what you're afraid of. What was I afraid of?

I walked around among the robots that had fallen sideways and went towards the door. They were all standing there waiting for me.

"Ed, are you ready?" asked Marcus. Everyone was waiting for me. I was going to go in as soon as the door opened.

"Yes," I said calmly. I touched the door carefully. It slowly turned to glass transparency. The second time I didn't touch it, it opened.

I walked in at a completely frozen time. Roder was just standing right next to a computer. Kate was almost as real as she was, staring at him. All the other bodies that were left behind were just standing there. It was like a mission that had already been taken care of. I slowed down fast. Roder's head started to turn slowly to me.

"How..." I had to interrupt. He was looking at me with a smile.

"It's a long story." He said in the same way. 

"But how-"

"I owe everything to Kate. She led me here."

"But how?" I asked again. I told the others the inside was clean.

"Kate said she can control anything that's electronic." He replied.

Kate's 3D image was smiling at me when the others walked in carefully, though.

"Everything's under control." Kate said, looking at Esme. Esme's face facing the robots was full of surprise. Nina comfortably approached Kate's image.      

"It's real, isn't it?" asked Kate, smiling at her.

"Today must be your day!" said Nina smiling.         

"What's it like?" asked Esme curiously. Jason and Simon put down all the guns they had and approached the footage. The curiosity on Simon's face was worth seeing. There was nothing left of that man.

"First of all, let me say this," Kate said calmly. She had a serious tone in her voice. "A robot just went to rescue the men we tied up. I got Serma out of there and waited for the robot to rescue the men." Kate was showing footage as she was talking. "A Frai I prepared for the men waited for them right outside the door. After they got on, I disabled the robot and took control of Frai from them. I sent them straight to the energy wall and got rid of them all."

"But..." I interrupted her. "They were human beings."

"I know, Ed, so I'm going to show you a few things they've done. I thought you were going to say that when you sent them there. That's why I got down from a face scan to the men's records. Look what came up?" she asked, opening a new image from a separate monitor. "I just want you to watch."

When the first image came in, I knew Kate was right. It was a cruel act they inflicted on a group of old women. Their clothes were taken off and an animal that looked like a dog was released on them. There was blood leaking from the flesh fragments that were ripped from the bodies of poor women and the sounds that made you go into nightmares. It was cruel enough to make even the cruelest person's heart ache.

The second image showed the same men again. This time he played a video that killed little kids like guinea rats.

"Enough!" said Esme. "That's enough!" She sounded crying. The biggest pain she couldn't bear was children pain. She always reminded me of my mother. As Kate closed the footage, I caught my eye on Jason. It was as if he was scolding himself for not punishing those men himself. His face resembled a bomb that was about to explode in anger. Now I regretted not wanting anything to happen to them.

We were all part of that vast sea where we carried the human name. But some of us were already swamped. Life had turned into a gambling table with false masks on their faces. Everyone was playing a game. The game and the player were human beings. The killer and the killed one were humans as well. We were shadows in the hidden faces of darkness and light. Often cold and sometimes feared shadows...

"Everyone pays the price for the life they deserve." Marcus said. "Some live with evil; some live with good, but the result is always the same. Everyone is human or not according to the world in them."

                                                  --------

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

"So Conscious Force was just a lie?" asked Jason, surprised.

"Basically no, but it's been controlled for years." Kate said, looking from the monitor to him. "And since this planet was discovered, no one's blood has ever been filtered like that again. I think that's the whole point. What happened there that the so-called Conscious Force disappeared?"        

"But despite that, people disappeared." I said with deep sadness.

"Yes, I'm scanning the files right now, but I'll find them soon."

"We need to find out who's behind this." Marcus said. Kate seemed to want him to find out as soon as possible.

"Well, what are we going to do down there?" asked Esme curiously. Marcus looked at Jason and Simon. He was obviously thinking of something.           

"As soon as Kate finds the people we're looking for, we'll leave. Jason and Simon stay here and take care of them. And when the work is done, we will do what is necessary to free them all and get them out properly."

Kate was still scanning screens when Marcus was talking. She was either looking at the screens or touching them, and everything just looked the way it was intended, not in a certain order. It was like getting what you saw in a bunch of colored balls. Kate didn't have any trouble doing it, but she seemed to find strength. As this was happening, Roder turned around every once in a while, and looked at her and smiled. Jason and Simon were looking for people to take care of later with a drink in hand. Jason stared at the cameras, each person, without taking his eyes off them. I liked his attention.

"I think I found it." Kate said in an excited voice. "They're in an underground area now. I think there's a meeting or something. If you want, I can send gas that can knock them all out, and I can control it for a long time. It's okay who goes in there."        

"What did you say?" asked Marcus suddenly. His voice sounded like someone who wanted to confirm what he heard.

"I say gas. I can disable them." Kate said calmly. "We're only a few hours away from the meeting center. The ventilation pipes pass right over them and the system is electronically adjustable. If I want, I can keep them all unconscious for a few days, or I can carry them to cells on the lower floors after they pass out."

"Are you sure you can do this?" asked Marcus. He didn't want to risk the job.

"Of course," she said. “It'll only take me seconds. I've already reached out to robots that are working in ventilation."

"Well, if they noticed the gas and started doing something. I mean, rescue or something?" asked Esme. She sometimes made interesting points about giving Marcus details.

"I've thought about it." Kate said calmly. "The meeting room has thirteen doors and I can check them all electronically. So, no one gets in or out. I can do anything with the robots on duty."

"How can you do all this?" asked Roder admiringly. Kate smiled and bit her lower lip. It made Roder smile slyly as if he were excited. Nina looked at them and thought deeply. Again, her mind-blowing behavior came out. I was really curious about how she sometimes felt or what she felt.

"Well, how long can the gas keep them unconscious?" asked Marcus.

"Like I said before. I can hold them like that for days."        

"How long before we get there using Serma's tank?"

"In less than an hour and a half. You don't have to worry about that. It's really simple. There are 633 test rooms under the building. I can carry each one there until we're gone. There are exactly 117 robots out there right now."

"Okay. Thank you for everything. Send Serma here until we get back." Marcus said. He got up and took his guns. He looked at Jason and Simon. They both seemed happy about it. "Guys, this place is in your hands. Be careful."

"Don't worry about it." Jason said with a laugh. "We're going to enjoy this. Come on, Sime, it's time to meet new people we were longing for." We all looked at him in confusion. Even Simon was surprised. Kate's image was smiling.

We left the two of them there and went to the tank. Kate seemed happier with her real face. She looked at me with a smile. She seemed to want to thank me, but she didn't know what to do about it.

We had just moved when Serma came. He went in without waiting. The Avokasso Block was like his nightmare. Even now, I could feel the chill he felt when he told us about.

The tank was moving fast. It was basically doing the same job, albeit differently from our own era. But here it was more qualified and useful. I looked at the cameras that showed the inside out. There was still wetness on the roads. When the lights started to illuminate all over the place, I felt like I'd stepped into a colorful world. There was no Conscious Force anymore. It felt like we'd left all the fears within us in the Avokasso Block.

This world we were on our way to was starting to feel closer to me now. But I still wanted to go. I thought we should find a way to go back to our own time. It felt like something unexpected was going to happen there. And that made me nervous out of the blue.    

I was sure Nina or Marcus felt the same way. Jason and Simon didn't even seem to want to go back to Earth. I wondered if the decisions I saw in that consciousness were anything to do with them. Maybe it was about the captive people here.

"I hope in a few days these streets will be restored." Esme said in an emotional voice. "Without people, it means nothing." 

Without people, it means nothing.

When Esme said that, I revived an unmanned life in my eyes and repeated the last sentence. An empty world with no one would be like an unmanned planet. The waters would have flowed pointlessly. The rain would shed tears of homelessness. The wind would blow through the void and smell of loneliness. Time would pass like a drunken passenger. That would be terrible. Without people, it meant nothing. Right now, it would be as meaningless as the silence that flows through these orphaned streets. Time would freeze forever as people left.     

"I'm sure they'll get over it quickly." Roder said. He had a serious look on his face.

And people would get over it quickly. That was true. All that was left were the stories we told. We'd never feel the same pain again. Maybe we were so independent because of all our qualities. Physically, we were weaker than any animal. But we had feelings and thoughts that guided us and made us who we were. We were recreating the depicter of an immortal life through what we did. We had the preparations for an eternal land. The idea of immortality kept moving inside us. We wanted to exist. We wanted to live, maybe forever. That's why the thoughts of the immortality were growing inside us.

That thought was intoxicating. I was excited to think about it. To be together with our loved ones forever and to live happily ever after... Being with Nina...

I was zoned out by the thoughts when Nina's voice flickered in my ear again. I came back quickly.

"One day everything will be back to normal. Maybe then we'll be out of it.” She said.

"Maybe then," I said with my head up. "We're not going to find anyone closer than this team. I don't know you, but I feel so alien, and it's stabbing me in like a knife." Nina looked at me and stared into my eyes. That seemed like a bittersweet moment to me.      

"Then you'll have to be with us all the time. You'll see our faces all the time." She said. 

"I'd like to do it wherever we are. I love you all very much."

"Come on, Ed!" joined Kate. "Don't be so emotional. We're going on a raid. That's not good. And I know the reason for your loneliness." She smiled.

"Really?" I asked, soullessly. Then I realized it was a joke. 

"Of course," she said. “Sometimes you just have to open your eyes. That's all there is to it. Next thing you know, loneliness has come with medicine to heal you."

"You can be more specific." I said. I didn't quite get it. Women always said something other than what they said, and I couldn't understand it.

"Guys!" Esme exclaimed. It made me feel like I'd been spared the complicated road Kate was about to take me on.

"Simon, Jason and Serma are downstairs." Kate stopped looking at me and went back to Esme. She adjusted the camera angles. Now we could see and hear them. She had just taken care of the cameras, which automatically positioned the tank and switched to a monitor screen that could be seen from all sides.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" She asked in a cheerful voice. Simon looked around in fear.

"You don't have to be afraid." Kate said calmly. "Have you forgotten? I can see everywhere."

Jason moved forward and headed towards a woman lying on the ground. Her blonde and long hair was dirty and messed up. She suddenly opened her eyes as if scared and stopped startled back. She was acting like a gazelle that saw the lion coming to eat her. We were quietly watching them excitedly.

"Sime!" said Jason in an excited voice. "Dude, she's beautiful. It's like I've never seen anyone like her before."

"J, I assure you, everyone heard that." But he kept looking at Simon without caring. There was a growing excitement in his eyes. Kate quickly directed all the cameras there. Jason was doing it for the first time. It seemed unlikely that someone who had been rude to women for the last time would be seen so innocently. Simon and Serma were just staring back.

"Sime. I've never seen anyone like that before." Jason's speech had a similar effect to the waters that cascaded through me. I wasn't that brave.

"Dude, I've never seen you like this before. Are you okay?"

Kate zoomed in on one of the cameras showing Jason. His pupils had grown and a fire had shone in him, burning with hope. He was excited and confused. He seemed like someone trying to figure out what was going on after he had a sudden shock.

"Hello," he said in cordy.

…

"Okay, I don't think you speak that language. No problem. We're here to help you."

"Who are you?" she asked him in Cordy. Jason kept looking at her, unable to decide what to do. He was speechless.

"You... Do you speak Cordy?" Jason's hands were shaking.

"Guys!" said Kate in an excited voice. "Love doesn't say it's coming. It just comes!"

"That sounds like an extra idea to me." Esme said, looking at Kate.  

"I know what love is like." Kate said, keeping an eye on the monitor. "His hands are shaking and there is a light in his eyes as if he had found a hidden treasure. You already know how Jason treats women. He's confused and distraught right now. Can’t believe karma does such things."

"Look at them." Roder pointed out.

"I know." The woman said calmly. She seemed tired and sluggish.

"Well... Do you want anything?" asked Jason in a gentle voice.           

"Yes," she said. “Please take us out of here." As she breathed and spoke at that interval, Jason crumpled his face as if he were sharing her pain. When she was done, Jason immediately approached a camera.

"J, it's her right, but she's going to have to wait a little longer." Marcus said. "If we take them out now, everything will be chaos. You know that too."

Jason turned his head positively and sadly and went towards her. There were two other girls lying where she was. Almost all were between the ages of twenty and twenty-five.

"Listen," Jason said in the same kind, sad voice. "If you wait a little longer, we'll get you all out. My friends are making adjustments right now. No one will be imprisoned anymore. I promise." He put his hands on her soft, white hands and looked. It was like there was a fire inside Jason that would never stop.

"I've never seen him like this." Roder said looking at Kate.

"I think J is pushing the boundaries of his kindness right now." Nina said. There was still a vague feeling in her eyes. Was that what Kate meant by saying I should open my eyes and look at what I see?           

"Kindness is not sold with money." Kate laughed. "Look at Simon. He's as confused as we are."

"And Serma doesn't know him yet." Roder concluded.

As their conversation went on and on, I was cut off from the world again.   

We couldn't predict when life would bring what to whom. With every step we took, thousands of options would go on and on. Everything kept evolving according to our choices. If Jason had been a little joyless that day, maybe he'd never have noticed that cave. We were never going in there. We were never going to come here. This was never going to happen.

What were those days? How long was it there? Did that happen? Was time passing through other than its secret passages as it traveled discretely and independently? Hasn't the universe yet revealed its hidden cultures and civilizations? Was the apocalypse coming? Was there life?

All the words were becoming actors and invading my brain. Time was getting complicated again. That beautiful person you looked into your eyes and lost it was looking at me. But my heart wasn't slammed anymore and there was no excitement. I was slowly slipping into a sleep hole. My body was moving towards painless fatigue.

I knew. This road and its tiny movements that went on and on shook me like a cradle. I knew I was falling asleep. Because fatigue was starting to suck me in like a big sea. But as my eyes closed, Nina was still in my heart. I could hear her voice; I could feel her eyes looking at me. There, behind those calm gazes, I saw a soul that had transferred itself in all its greatness. She was full of dedication and love. She kept calling out to me from another land where words remained undefined, this essence that invaded this body. And she kept me alive there. I could see her very comfortably at this moment of transition. And that was beautiful.                            

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The place was covered in big, white pebbles. All these pebbles were covered in whiteness that stretched as far as the eye could see. It snowed and formed a soft texture on these hard gravels. There were little arms of water covering the entire surface. Despite the cold weather, the water was hot enough to warm the human body. It was clean and clear. Its running voice was dominated by its nature, which was caused by the stones.

I folded the legs of my pants and started walking in the water. The heat was warming me up. In some places, the water was flowing violently upwards, contrary to gravity. It also had some arms that flowed through large stones resembling a rectangular prism and disappeared from view. It was like it was flowing into a world that was never understood. Despite the warmth of the water and the steam it produced, the snow that covered all the stones next to it did not melt a little.

I walked a little bit more and stepped on the hard stones. I wasn't afraid of the white water coming up to my knees. I kept walking until I could see a fishing net ahead.           

The net was as big as covering this whole desolate area. I started pulling it. Despite its size and burial in the sand, I had no trouble with doing this. It came as I pulled.

Suddenly, someone else came out of nowhere. Her hair was cut at the root. She smiled at me and held a part of the net that had drifted down to where the water turned into a stream. We started pulling it together. Two things were stuck in the net. As soon as we pulled them out of the water, the water turned blood. Now my feet were walking in a river of blood. It was painful, as if it had the blood of millions of creatures in it. I swallowed the shouting and the grief as if I were living inside of me.

I walked towards things that were caught in the net. The person who helped me disappeared as soon as she arrived. I approached it wondering what I had caught.

My heart started beating fast. It was nothing. One was Nina, and the other was just as beautiful a woman. Nina looked at me sadly. When the woman saw that, she bit Nina on the neck with her long teeth. Tears suddenly emptied from my eyes. She looked at me in anger, lifting her head from Nina's bleeding neck.

"You caused this!" She said in the same angry voice. "She's one of us now. She's a Dark One!"

"No!" I shouted. "No!"

I opened my eyes with that fear. Kate was trying to wake us up.

"We'll be there in three minutes." She said in a calm voice.

I took a deep breath. I was so glad what I saw was a dream that I almost screamed. My chest was going up and down fast.

Kate continued as she looked at the meeting room, which had been emptied now.

"Ed, can you wake them up?"

"Yes," I said still stunned. "What happened to them all?" I sounded strange to even myself. As I kept calming down, I was getting rid of the nightmare I'd seen.

"When they saw you sleeping, they started doing this one by one. So, I slowed down the tank and got you some more sleep. Oh, by the way... I put all the men in cages. Now they're unconscious in their cells like animals."

"What about the prisoners?"

"I gave them all water and food and gave a little speech. We don't have much to do."

When she realized that I was listening to her, she slowed down the tank and kept talking.

"Listen, Ed, everything's going to be back to normal. But shall I show you something that is not normal?" I nodded curiously. She immediately turned on another monitor and showed me Jason and the others. In the video, Jason and the woman were sitting in a separate cell. There were a lot of empty food packages around them.            

"Looks like J didn't stand idly by." I said.

"Yes, I've been watching since you were asleep. I've always enjoyed love things."

"I know," I said, pretending I wasn't interested. "Well, how do you do it? I mean, how do you control the devices?"

"Let's call it eye energy. Or rather, I don't know. It's like I can talk to them. They understand what I mean and react accordingly. It's like I'm the main computer and they're all working on my orders."

"That's crazy!" I said. She looked at me and laughed.          

"Absolutely! It's like I feel invincible."

"Maybe you really are."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm serious. That's the potential power of every human being. But most of them still don't understand it."

"Ed, we're not special heroes. But even if we have a gift, I think there's a curse to it."

"I think we wake up the curse. And it gives us what we deserve for doing this."

"So, what do you hope?"

"I don’t know." I said. “It's our hopes that give us real strength and move us. Without them, we wouldn't be able to do anything."

"Well, what do you expect?"

"I think..." I said, waiting a while. I didn't want to give her an answer. "I think we'd better wake up the sleepers and leave now. You know, hopes wait for action."

"You know what, Ed?" she asked slyly. "I think you're hiding something."

"I think I look like this to you because you think I hide something."

"All right, so be it. Let's wake them up." She breathed and waited a little and started singing a loud song. As I turned my head towards another monitor as they started waking up.

What Kate called a meeting hall was huge. It had cameras in it that could be adjusted from any angle. The minute you looked there; you'd know something was hidden.

Another monitor had footage of criminals being put in cells. They were all lying locked inside. There wasn't much left for us to do.

We went in and looked at the architecture almost exclusively. It was reminiscent of the European parliament building. But visual designs resembling bright and transparent glass attracted attention. There were also artworks, most of them made of frosted glass, and some of them represented this planet.           

Ever since Marcus, Roder and Esme went to look for both criminals and prisoners, we've looked around without saying a word. The dreams I had were always about Nina, and they weren't going so well. It worried me and made me shut up. There was an anxiety on my face that I couldn't hide. I wanted to get out of this shrinking environment as soon as possible.                                                                                                                                                                                  

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Marcus said he was going to give them a speech after everyone woke up in the morning. By sunrise, a new era would begin on this planet. Only the people of this country who ruled it strayed from the path and caused the deaths of millions of people.

Development is sometimes destruction. The idea of immortality would make man do all kinds of things. The rulers here made such a mistake and killed millions of people in line with their own ideas of immortality. Some people were used to make robots, some were held captive because they were beautiful and handsome.

After taking what they had obtained from each human being they had experimented with on this so-called dark group of people looking for eternal life, they left them to die and took their lives away from them. Death had become commonplace here.

But in the end, the idea they believed in led to the punishment they deserved. Now the administration would go back to the people and the criminals would be punished, which would never be enough. Because there could be no recompense for man's cruelty. A dead person could never be replaced again.

When they tried to create a secret world for themselves by using innocent and unaware people, the webs of fate were knitted in a different way, and we were perhaps specifically attached to one of the ropes of time and brought here. Now it didn't work out the way we would or they would realize. Maybe that's what Xwa was talking about.

Fate and programs, or designated times and events, were wisely related. Sometimes you have to live to understand them. Sometimes things could be nothing more than an experience for those dark days when a more terrifying truth would come to light. The only things that happened in between were the ropes that kept them going. The repetition of history was like a terrible nightmare. Like two lovers who hugged each other in a vortex, death and life were moving forward in this cycle.

We've been through a lot in this cycle. But despite all the chaos and hardships, everything could sometimes be truly amazing. I could see that in Jason right now.      

Jason was still taking care of that woman. He acted carefully to do nothing wrong and walked slowly so as not to wake a sleeping child. He had this incredible feeling on his face. I knew enough to know he was in love with her. He had that feeling in such a short time. Love at first sight. Right after the first eye contact, Jason wasn't that old Jason anymore. He was a different person now.

"Ed, what's going on with you?" asked Nina curiously. My heart started to beat fast again. Her voice kept echoing in my ears. 

"I'm just diving into those moments."

"Yes, that's what you're doing the most these days. There's something about you. If you want to share, I can listen."

"No." I said. “It's all right. I was just thinking."        

"Okay, that's up to you. I can listen to it whenever you want. There are no secrets between us, okay?"

"Okay."          

"Ed?"              

“Nina?”

"You say it first." She said when we said each other's names at the same time.

"Well... Ok. I was going to thank you for everything. You're a truly unique person." Actually, I wasn't going to say that. It was like I was going to say for a moment that I loved her, and I felt like I was moving in that direction.

"You're welcome." She said with a smile.     

"Well, what were you going to say?"

"Nothing!"     

She just smiled. There was a hearty air in her smile. Her beautiful neck was long. Her smooth face and white teeth, which glowed as she smiled, made her look even more beautiful.  

When Nina left, I got up and went to Simon's seat. I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "Well, what's the story with these ladies?"

"Miliziana is the one J is interested and the other is her sister Filiana. They have a weird accent, when they talk, it's like they're eating candy. They both speak Cordy. Their parents were killed right in front of them. That's why they're so shaken up. They never leave each other. But they're both very nice to J. I think J's their special hero. But you know what's weird?"

"No," I nodded.

"I think J's in love. Can you believe it, man? J's in love."

"You're right. Kate made that diagnosis before you did." I said.

"Oh, shit! I even find out after everyone else that my best friend is in love. That's too bad, man!"

“Don't beat yourself for that. You can't compete with Kate on this."   

"So, how's it going with you?"          

"Mine?" He looked at me in confusion when I said that.      

"Never mind." He said, implying something with his mind. He quickly turned to Marcus and said, "Hey Marc! When are you going to talk to them?" Then he got up and left me. Either there was something I didn't know, or they were thinking something. 

"Whenever Kate's ready."

"Everything's ready in a few minutes." Kate said with a smile. She was doing something fast.

The first light of the morning was filtering through the cameras. The technology here was dizzying. It was as if the sun was shining as if we were out and it was illuminating us.

Kate had it all figured out and made the sound go everywhere so it could reach the whole country. She reached almost every home in the country and made everything electronic work.

Now we were looking at the prisoners that appeared on the monitors and imagining that they would soon enter freedom. Captivity would once again be confined to its own dark world.

Nina came up to me and held my hand. But she gave it up immediately. After quickly looking around, she took a deep breath. I was gasping for air. The sound of my heart exploding inside caused bombs to explode in my ears.

"What do you think?" she asked. Neither she nor I were too different to tell the truth right now.

"I think there's a lot to think about. I'm as excited as the first person to set foot in freedom." I smiled. She looked me in the eye with compassion and love. And I screamed at her from the inside of my soul.

I love you. I love you. I love you so much.

And the screens shone.