Manipulator (21 page)

The digital sun above them shone down, brightening the place up, but that was only because Nick had pre-programmed the weather to be like this. London was never usually sunny. The only thing that England had any guarantee of was rain all year round. But bad weather wasn’t going to help with what Owen and Eli were up to. They should at least be able to see what they were doing.

Eli picked up his pace urgently, and jogged over towards the towering monument in front of him that was Nelsons Column, located right in the middle of Trafalgar Square.

“This is the place where we’ll test it, right here,” Eli said out loud whilst pointing at the base of the Column which was up some of the huge concrete stairs. He spoke more for Nick’s benefit on the outside of PRoGRaM than he did for him or Owen. Eli turned his gaze away from the Column and looked directly at Archer “I have a theory for you,” he said as he turned. “About your wife’s car crash.”

“Go on,” Owen replied slowly. The man had caught him slightly off guard, and he was unsure of where Eli was going with his trail of thought.

“The three men that you’re going after, Marcus Ortega, Alex Morgan and Ethan Darkes?” he said, posing their names as a question rather than a statement.

“What about them?” Owen asked curiously.

“Well, that first name… the man that you’ve seen already. Marcus Ortega? He was there at the scene of your accident. Correct?”

“Yes,” Owen said, still completely in the dark in how Eli was thinking.

“So…” Eli continued. “You know what your second man, Alex Morgan looks like, yeah?”

“Right…” Owen answered slowly again, wondering when Eli was going to get to the point.

“Let me ask you this; have you thought to check if Alex Morgan was at the scene of your crash? Just like how Marcus Ortega was there? I know it may not give you any direct answers, but at least it shows that there is another connection in all of this.”

“You know. I hadn’t thought of that,” Owen admitted. He was instantly rendered curious with the possibilities that this opened up to him. He suddenly wanted to explore the theory. Although, just like Eli had said, even if Alex was in fact at the scene of the accident, it didn’t change anything.
There’s no harm in looking though, right?

“Want to go there?” Eli asked, almost reading his mind. “To the site of the accident?”

“Yeah,” Owen said, nodding enthusiastically, unafraid to go to Redford Avenue this time around. “Yeah. I do actually.”

“Good,” Eli said, turning his gaze away from Owen and pointing one of his fingers at the base of Nelson’s Column. “Watch this.”

Right in front of the two of them, a portal opened up. It was huge, at least three meters high and three meters wide. A perfect circle, set right in the centre of one of the four sides of the base of Nelson’s Column. It looked slightly different to the portal that Owen had seen back at PRoGRaM Headquarters, but as long as the thing worked, he didn't care about the aesthetics.

“And whilst we’re exploring this theory, we can check to see if these portals work as well!” Eli said excitedly with both of his eyebrows raised, impressed with himself as he marvelled at the portal he had just created.

Owen looked up at the base of the column where the portal was situated. “It’s a little big,” he commented as he began to walk with Eli up the huge concrete steps that surrounded the column.

“We can work on that,” Eli responded as the two of them reached the outside of the portal. The differences across the two sides were already incredible, like they were on the border between two completely separate worlds.

On their current side, Owen and Eli were basked in glorious sunlight, surrounded by people who were completely oblivious to what they were doing at the top of the Column. Yet, on the other side, a completely different landscape befell them. Darkness and rain were the order of the day as Owen looked through the portal at Redford Avenue, which just seemed to be calling out to him from the other side.
Best not to keep it waiting.

Without further ado, he and Eli stepped through the portal. Instantaneously, the two of them walked straight out of London and were transported into the middle of Redford Avenue.
Back in New York once again. Back to the place where our crash happened.

“Well. I’ll be damned,” Owen said excitedly. “The portal works!”

Eli silently appreciated what he had accomplished here, nodding his head to himself whilst feeling smug on the inside. “On that note. Wanna try and see if we can find Alex?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Owen said as he closed his eyes, knowing that this bit was coming.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Eli asked, the concern easily audible in his voice.

Owen didn’t respond. He was too busy trying to focus his mind in order to try and bring the memories forward. It didn’t take him long for him to conjure up the memory, on account of how he never really stopped thinking about the event. Not a day went by where he didn’t think of Annie and their car crash. Not a day went by without him thinking about what he could have done to change things.

And then… he felt it. He felt the memories flowing forward. He opened his eyes. In front of him, the scene looked exactly the same as it had done moments before. The rain was still pouring down from above, and the sky was still dark. But now, Owen could feel his own memory projecting out around him and Eli. He stood silently, watching as Annie’s car came down the road, heading straight for the intersection ahead.

Owen waited patiently for his memory to reach its end game, and just as Annie’s car was about to get smashed up at the intersection, Owen reached into the air and quickly clenched his fist together.

Time stopped.

The world had fallen silent.

In the world surrounding Owen and Eli, the rain hung motionlessly in the air. It was no longer smashing off the ground. His actions had instantly rendered the world silent. Annie’s car was frozen still, mere seconds away from getting pummelled into by a white van. And off in the distance, Marcus Ortega stood with his hostage, the gun ready in his hand.

Owen was playing the manipulator in his own memories. A very,
very
dangerous game. He stood and looked at the memory around him frozen in time, trying to pick out anything in particular that stood out. At first glance, there was nothing. But, Owen knew that they just weren’t looking hard enough. Since Eli had opened Owen up to the possibility of Alex Morgan being here, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the man was right.
 

The two of them went their separate ways, splitting up to try and cover more ground across the still, silent memory. They both knew the face of Alex Morgan. It was just a matter of finding him. Owen furiously moved between what little crowd there was, scanning all of their faces as he did so.

“Owen!” Eli shouted to him from across the intersection. He jogged over to Eli, wondering just what the man had managed to find. As he slowed his jog to a stop, Eli pointed down the sidewalk to a man nearby, frozen in time inside Owen’s memory.

Owen slowly walked towards the man, examining him with every step he took closer. To anybody else, the man was a nobody, but to Owen, this man was everything. He blended in perfectly with the small crowd around him. His face was nothing special. It held no obvious features or marks that made him stand out.

There he was, walking down the pavement whilst wearing a baseball cap to keep the rain out of his face, leaving his head tilted slightly towards the ground. The closer Owen got to him, the more that he could see. This man's eyes were full of purpose. His eyes were secretively looking in the direction of the crossroads, watching, waiting. He knew what was going to happen. Owen recognised his face immediately.

Another connection.

Another piece of the puzzle.

Alex Morgan.

Chapter Forty Two

Date: December 11th 2035

Location: Owen’s Apartment, New York

Beep.

It’s the noise of the impact in slow motion.

Beep. Beep.

Make it stop. Make it stop.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

MAKE THE NOISE STOP.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Eyes open. Awake.
It's time.

Owen checked the clock at the side of his bed. It was just after nine in the morning, giving him just under an hour to sort himself out before Nick arrived to pick him up. As he sat upright, a huge recurring pain fired rapidly through his skull, forcing him to lie back down and keep his eyes closed.
Damnit Owen. PRoGRaM is killing you.

Taking his time, he got up slowly and stumbled into the kitchen where he was able to grab some painkillers, praying that they could keep the pain at bay. This morning was all about preparation for the day that he was about to face. Right now, he was nowhere near ready, mentally
or
physically.

Owen was genuinely concerned with how PRoGRaM had been affecting his health over the last few days. The amount of time that he was putting into that machine lately was crazy. The headaches that he felt upon entry and exit into the digital world weren't just there during his time using PRoGRaM anymore. They were beginning to seep into his life
away
from the technology.
I need to stop.
He said to himself.
At least for a few days. Otherwise, that damn thing is going to kill me.

But that was enough dwelling, it was time to go.

Enthusiastically, Owen made his way out of his apartment and down towards the city below him. The cold air hit his face the second that he walked out into the New York City street. It was going to be a long, cold winter if this morning was anything to go by. Owen stood waiting, restlessly watching his ice cold breath come out of his mouth whilst slowly pacing up and down the small stretch of pavement outside his building. In his head he relentlessly went over every detail of the plan. He couldn’t make a mistake. Not today.

Less than five minutes later, a van pulled up and parked right alongside the pavement where Owen was pacing. Nick greeted him with a nod and a sly smile from the drivers seat. His old van looked worn, yet strangely sturdy. The tacky white paint job that covered the vehicle was starting to rust around the edges. As he looked it over, Owen wondered just why Nick would want to keep an old piece of junk like this when he could probably afford any car he wanted to.

A large door on the side of the van slid open loudly, revealing Kate and Eli who sat inside. Owen walked up and jumped into the back of the vehicle, greeting everyone as he sat himself down. The seats were unexpectedly comfortable as he dropped down into one and leant up against the side of the van. Opposite him sat Eli, staring down into his laptop. Kate shut the sliding door behind him and then sat in the seat next to him.

Owen felt his insides move as Nick pulled off in the van at some serious speed. He had no idea where they were going, but he suspected that for the next hour or so, they were just going to be driving around the less busy parts of New York City. It would be no good getting stuck in traffic on a day like today, as traffic could very well get them killed. But on the bright side, Owen knew that Nick was a bit of a control freak when it came down to planning things, and felt safe in the fact that the man would have it all under control.

“Owen!” Nick shouted into the air from the drivers seat, keeping his eyes focused on the road. “Eli thought of something else that we've missed.”
 

“I’m listening,” Owen said, turning to look at Eli as he prepared himself for what he was about to do. He tightened up his seatbelt as much as he could. It was going to be one of the only things holding him in place whilst he was under PRoGRaM’s spell.

Eli looked up at Owen and momentarily away from his laptop's display. “You’re going to need some form of disguise inside the Prison System. Otherwise, the inmates are bound to see you. If anybody thinks to check their memories afterwards, they’re going to see your faces. Then, they’re going to track you down in the real world.”

“Good point,” Owen conceded, nodding in appreciation of the thought that Eli was clearly putting into this.

“I’m not getting caught out now,” Eli replied, giving the impression to Owen that he had only thought about himself in all of this.

“I’ll admit. I hadn’t thought about disguises,” Owen said, talking louder than he normally would so that Eli would hear him over the noise of the van moving. “I assume that you’ve got something for us in defence of this?”

“Yeah. I’ve programmed a basic design for a mask into the world. When you wake inside PRoGRaM, you’ll have a backpack on. Inside this will be two masks. One for you. One for Kate. Keep them on as long as you’re around any of the inmates. That includes Alex.”

“Okay. We can manage that.” He said as he turned and looked at Kate. “Right?”

“Right,” she said back to him with a nod.

“Ready?” Eli asked as he stopped tapping away at his laptop.

Owen hooked his Manipulator Headset up and put all of the receptors in the right place before giving it a gentle tap to make sure that it was secure. He sneakily turned his head to see if Kate needed any help with her Tertiary-Bystander Headset, but it looked like she had her side of it under control.
Just like a pro.