Chapter Two: The Meeting

Brandon joins his class mate Katie for breakfast the next day and informs her of what has been going on with his life for the last few weeks. He is shocked to find Xion.

Chapter 2: The Meeting

 

The next day came like all the others, with the sun rising from the west and setting in the east. The morning had dawned beautifully as the rain clouds have lifted and the sun rose from the world’s blanket. I watched this from my room as I lay in bed, slowly waking up by the orange rays of the sun. Every morning I just enjoyed turning to my left side and watching the sun rise, because of how peaceful and benevolent it was. Most people nowadays couldn’t really seem to understand that; they were all focusing on work and making ends meet so they could at least have some food on their table, or they were just too busy to even notice what was going on with the world, but then again. I couldn’t really blame them; I was born lucky, unlike the rest. I was what you’d call the one percent. Yes it was lavishing, but it wasn’t as rewarding as one might inquire.

There were days that sometimes I'd wish I was born in poverty, so I could experience what those people were experiencing, but yet, even if I did, I wouldn't know what to expect from them. I would most likely end up hated by the rest because of who I was and what my name held. That was the interesting things that I've come to notice here. Names are rather important; they hold many types of valuable information, some of which may be good, and other may be bad, sometimes evil, but a name is a name regardless of what it holds. People would assume that my name, though of noble decent, would be evil, and fill me with greed, but that normally isn't the case. What I've come to learn is that people will make assumptions for the their benefits of survival. This is why people are they way they are, but I wouldn't blame them.

I got up and let the sun lighten the room. I turned on the holographic television. What was on was the news as usual. This time I had set it to CNN. The news anchor people were discussing the debate between whether they should've allow Parthenon into the United Nations, claiming that we were so young as a country, and inexperienced in its politics. I found that opinion rather bias. You see, what you have to understand is that Parthenon is located originally where Iceland was, and has is at allegiance with the United States, so recently, as an Act was passed by the United Nations that allows newly developed countries to join them, but as usual the opinion obligated US always has a comment on the subject.

“Parthenon to join the United Nations.” The news-lady, named Audrey Ortega, who was strategically chosen by her CEO for her looks. “Well, let’s be honest, Kent, this country doesn’t know what they’re doing when it comes to politics. They had just made an allegiance with Germany, just as they made one with us. I don’t think that the Treaty of 2038 means anything to these rich kids.”

“Well, Audrey, let’s not be hasty just yet and see what they have in mind with this allegiance. It might be one hell of a marketing scheme that they have up their sleeves, you know how those business-types are.” Kent Hammers commented.

“Uneducated, dumb-asses,” I swore as I turned off the television just as there was a knock at my door. I found it rather strange because to be perfectly honest with you, I only had about a few friends, most of which I didn’t speak to. They would normally email me if they needed some sort of information on the tests at school, or just wanted to hang out and watch a movie, but at seven in the morning was rather suspicious on anyone’s part, so I did whatever sensible person would do in this type of situation, ignore it.

I went about my daily morning routine of tidying myself for the day’s activities. I took a quick shower, and attended to the usual business. I knew today I needed to go talk to that Xion character, but as I went about with my routine, the knocking was still edging in the background, lightly tapping away every few minutes. This went about for 20 minutes, and I was already getting frustrated, but was still impressed by this person’s determination to get my attention.

I finally got fed up with this mockery, and waltzed towards the door. I looked at the monitor screen next to the door that allowed me to see outside. There was two men in black suits, one carrying a brief case, much like in my past memories. Their faces were really familiar like I've seen them before somewhere. I wondered if it could be them. Though it seemed really unlikely, I still opened the door and looked directly at the men in black suits.

“Can I help you,” I asked in a stern tone.

“Mr. Johnson, I’m agent Peterson, and this is Agent Jackson. We’re from Arch-Angel Industries, but I’m sure you already knew that,” he said flashing the badge that I automatically recognized. So they were from Arch-Angel Industries just like before. I wonder what they were going to tell me now.

I opened the door completely, letting them into my home. “Come in.”

They walked over to the living room, and stood there.

“Would you like something to drink?” I offered. I knew they weren’t going to accept it, but it was just manners.

“No thank you,” Agent Jackson, the short blonde haired one said. “We’re only here to briefly inform you of something.”

I walked over to the sofa, and let myself sit down. “So what’s they trouble then? It’s been what… fifteen years since I’ve last heard from Arch-Angel Industries. What does this have to do with me? My uncle is in charge now,” I stated bluntly.

“Sir, we’ve been keeping an eye on you, and we know that you are looking for your father.” Agent Peterson informed me. “We came to tell you that the information that you are hearing off of the internet websites are a lie.”

“I’m more than sure, Agent Peterson. I don’t see how I’m tied into these conspiracies. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t kill my own father.”

“So you’ve been doing your homework then?” Jackson this time.

“Of course,” I replied thusly, adjusting myself on the sofa, as the two agents took seat at the couch in front of me. I noticed that they placed the briefcase on the coffee table.

“Sir, what you need to understand is that you are the head of this corporation, and we looked at your other research as well. The company thinks that you’d be great part of the research team. Plus we came here to give you an important letter. All we were instructed to do is give you the letter and then inform you that to go to Arch-Angel Industries in a three day time-frame. Should the offer be declined, then we will move on, and then you sign off the company to your uncle permanently, then we move on with our lives.” Peterson opened the briefcase and pulled out a think envelope and placed it on the coffee table.

They went to the door and opened it. Peterson looked back at me and told me. “Remember, you have three days starting now. I suggest you take the offer if I were you.” Then with that being said, he closed the door and then there was silence.

I didn’t dare touch the envelope for some reason. I just had a feeling that if I did it wouldn’t be so good. I watched as the sun began to fill my room further and further with sun light, as the time went by. I glanced at the clock. 8:52 a.m. I really should be getting to eat, but what?

That’s when my holophone, a holographic device, as usual, that makes video and audio communication relays, rang from the other side of the living room. I got up and wondered who could be calling me at this time. I looked at the caller-ID. A picture a girl came out. It was no surprise there. Her name was Katelyn Blake. She had long white blond hair and gorgeous blue eyes. Her smile was sweet and kind, like a gentle breeze in the summer’s warmth. She was a student at the university I attended to; I believed that she was in my biology class. ‘I wonder why she’s calling,’ I thought. ‘She’s a very bright girl, so I’m not sure why she could be calling me.’

I picked up the holophone and answered the call. “Hello.”

“Hey, Brandon, it’s me Katelyn. I was just wondering how you were doing since you haven’t gone to school in a few days.” Katelyn began. Her voice was sincere enough.

“Oh, hi, Katelyn,” I spoke, sounding rather surprised. To be perfectly honest I was, mainly out of the fact that no one really calls me anymore. Most of my friends, like I’ve mentioned before, only call me when they want to hang out, let alone check on my well-being. Other than that, my friends were really intellectual people, so they had to work on homework then go to a job and try to pay for their college. I recalled one of my friend nearly begged me to help him pay for his college. Of course, I didn’t mind it, but he didn’t really have to make a scene in front of the entire library.

Anyway, getting back on track, Katelyn mumbled some words. “So how have you been?”

“To be honest with you,” I started, walking to the kitchen, and over to my favorite place in the world, the refrigerator. I took out a carton of eggs, and a fresh, and thinly slice package of bacon. “I’ve been in the gutter, but I’m getting better.” I assured her, thinking on how much I loved bacon, then again, who didn’t? I placed the ingredients on the red, maroon colored marble counter.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” She sounded pleased. “Hey, Brandon, I was wondering if you’ve eaten already. Maybe we could get something to eat before school, if that’s ok with you.”

“I just pulled out some stuff to make breakfast.” I replied as I opened the bacon and began cutting the slices into even smaller portions. “I’d like to go, but right now my hands are occupied,” I said, trying to keep the holophone in between my ear and left shoulder.

“Oh, well, that’s ok, I guess. I’ll see you at school today then?” Katelyn’s voice sounds rather down. Normally, I wouldn’t have paid much attention to it, but then I realized how blunt I was with her.

“Well, since you’re hungry, and I’m hungry, why don’t you come over to my place and we’ll have some breakfast?” I asked to make up for my bluntness, though I’m sure she didn’t notice it.

“That sounds great actually,” she giggled by my offer. To be honest, I didn’t know her much, but I think it would be decent to make more friends. “I’m downtown right now at the book store. I’ll take off from here in ten minutes, or so.”

“Ok, I just sent you my address,” I told her through the receiver as I pressed the holophone’s screen to send her my contact card.

There was a few seconds of silence then Katelyn spoke, just as I tossed in the bacon into the pan, and produced that familiar sizzle that would water the mouths of kings. “You don’t live that far from where I am actually. It’s a few minutes’ walk.”

That was odd. I didn’t expect her to be so close. “Oh really, where are you?”

“I’m at the Farms and Lords Bookstore.” Well, that didn’t surprise me. It was rather close. I used to go there for the coffee and lounge over the vast collection of literature that they could sell.

“Well, alright. I’ll be here making breakfast. I hope you like bacon and eggs. Would you like some toast or a side?” I questioned, savoring every word over the thought of this upcoming delicious breakfast.

“Sure, that would be fine. I’ll see you in a while then. Bye.”

“Alright then, goodbye.” I hung up the phone, realizing that Katelyn had chuckled lightly, before I had sent her on her way. I wondered what she was thinking.

Of course, as I stirred the bacon in a circular fashion, I was only being friendly. I hope she didn’t mistook it for flirting. According to various studies that I performed, and articles that I have read, woman had a tendency to over-think things rather severely, which is why I assumed that most relationships amongst the common folk didn’t really seem to last. Yes, there was the exceptions, who wouldn’t forget the exceptions; you’d had to be an idiot to exclude the exceptions, but there were some occasions that didn't last merely because of a simple form of jealousy and other minor distrusts.

As I went about cooking the delightful breakfast, I couldn’t help, but feel kind of depressed. It was a confusing emotion, as I’m sure most people have realized. I felt like I wasn’t worth nothing, but then I was worth a lot more than I thought. I didn’t know why I suddenly felt like this. I was cheerful a few moments ago, now I fell into this. Personally, I believe it was because of all the stress that I was going because of the recent subject of my father. I wasn’t ready to take his place at the top of the company, but I would eventually have to cave in because I knew that my father would have wanted me to take over after he passed.

I let that last thought sink in and breathed in the aroma of freshly fried bacon. I added a few spices then poured the eggs that I had cracked and whisked as I mentioned the previous thought. The scent has been keeping me going so far for today, because I haven’t yet dared to open the file that was sitting on my coffee table. I knew that within the confinements of the envelope there lay a dark secret. To be honest, I didn’t want anything to do with any of this. I kept thinking that if I did open it, I would somehow be exposed to such a terrible secret that I’d possibly want to end it all. But as it turned out, I knew that eventually one way or another, I would have to end up opening the letter and reading it, then I'd most likely end up working on my father's research, which is what I'm sure they're going to want me to do.

It wasn’t that long until I heard a knock on the door, a soft subtle one; it was so faint that you’d miss it if you weren’t walking by the door, which I was at the time, since I had just gotten out of the restroom. I walked over to the door and peered through the peep-hole. It was Katelyn standing there facing the opposite direction. She was in a white polo shirt and dark jeans. Her backpack was slung over her chest by what I could tell. Katelyn waited there patiently.

So without further a due, I opened the door, smiling as I did. “Katelyn, I wasn’t expecting you till a little later.”

Katelyn turned, and her white-blonde hair curved, flowing smoothly to a halt as she faced me. “Well, they didn’t have the book that I needed to I just decided to come over already. Besides I’m hungry.” She chuckled at her last statement.

I grinned and invited her in. “So, you’re just in time. I was just about to set up the plates and food. I didn’t expect you till like five minutes after that.”

The door was closed firmly behind me, but I thought I had noticed something from the corner of my eye. I thought I had saw two of the Arch-Angel Agent hiding in the corner of the apartment as if they were watching what I did. I soon dismissed it as nervousness and paranoia before I continued inside with Katelyn. To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t really know what I saw. I wanted to say it was the agents, but at the same time I had a feeling that there was much more than that.

So as Katelyn complimented the “beauty” of my house, I closed the door behind me completely. “Thanks, I always found it to be too modern.”

I watched as Katelyn went into the kitchen and sat at the table, where I had placed her plate. “Well, Mr. Johnson,” she teased. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

I chuckled and went to it down in from of her. “Sure, Miss Katelyn.” I looked at her and tried to see what she was playing at, but I assumed that it was just playful manner, and dismissed it soon enough.

“So, tell me,” Katelyn asked, gently, as she prepared her eggs by adding salt and pepper to them. “What have you been up to? I haven’t heard from you in about a few weeks. I missed our little conversations in biology.” She went about eating her freshly made food.

It was true. I hadn’t been going to class for mainly a few reasons that began a while ago. “Well, it’s a decently long story if you’d care to sit here and hear what I have to say.” I assured her about my tale.

“You could tell me. I’m sure that it’s so bad.”

“Not that it’s bad, but it’s just tedious. I assume that I could tell you.”

 

It began about a few weeks ago when I was staying at my home on the outskirts of the city. The sun was setting and I was indulging myself with a decent read that had just arrived in the mail. It was an old copy of a book called The Possibilities of a Creator through the Eyes of a Skeptic, it was a fairly long title, I thought. It was just about the end of winter break, and I was trying to enjoy my last few days before school began again. As I normally did, sitting on the fountain in the back of my home, I looked around and watched the gardeners cut the grass along the edge of the shrubs that were vibrating a dark, but settling, green.

As it turns out, one of the gardeners, when they were all done with their work, a man that went by the name of Santiago Escobar, stopped in front of me. I was rather confused at the sight of him. He was a dark skinned man with light stubble along his cheeks, and a scar that ran along his face on the left side. Santiago looked rather tough and rough. He glanced down at the book and said. “I remember when I read that book back when I was in high school. It was an interesting read for such a young person who wrote it. Do you believe in God?”

I just stared and wondered why he had asked me that. It was just so out of the norm, because people don’t really ask me that, because they assume that I don’t believe in a god, because I’m a man of science. Though this may be the case, I still wasn’t going to rule out the fact that it might be possible that the world is perfectly, and mathematically, existing at all. “To be honest, sir, I don’t know. It’s possible, but I’m not so sure just yet.”

“I know who you are, kid. I knew your father very well too. He was a brilliant man, and you want to know what he told me?” Santiago sat down next to me.

“Sure, I see why not.” I told him, after closing my book, and marking the page where I had left off.

“He told me that as he progressed through the realm of science, he came to realize that there is a lot more to reality that you could possibly understand. He told me that he will never understand God, because god was never meant to be understood. Your father told me that from the beginning of time that he would find the answers of the universe and bring them back to us, to show us the real way.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, because that’s what the book had just said on the lines that I was reading. “That’s strange, because that’s exactly what this book says,” I pointed out.

“Well, I assume that that is what it say, because your father was the one who wrote it,” Santiago said firmly. “He took a pen name and began writing books that went against his superior’s teachings and what he believed in. I just thought it would be nice to share that with you.”

“I didn’t really expect that.”

“Kid, if there’s something that you should know; the world is a lot more complicated that you could possibly imagine, both mathematically, and realistically. Have a good night, sir.” Santiago stood up and walked away then turned around. “Hey, kid.”

I looked at him.

“Transcended the illusion…” then he walked away.

That phrase has stuck with me for who knows how long. Every day I would recite it and then ponder about what he meant by it. It rang and echoed in my mind for hours as I would just sit there and looked up at the morphing clouds. What is the illusion? So I began looking up on the internet what it might mean. From a simple search, I found a more complex answer than I expected.

The search led me to a video. It was on an old archive website from about a hundred years ago or so. The date reached back all the way to 2016. As I sat there in the comfort of my study, when I came back to my home in the city, I had to install certain programs such as a virtual box that simulated an old operating system on my computer in order to view the file. I never heard of a .mp4, but I assumed that was what they used to use back then for their video formats instead of holographic plates, or .holo files.

The video began shortly after I clicked on it. An African American man appeared on the screen. He was standing in a vast room with no on around him, or anything at that, only a bluish mist like substance that hovered behind him and took over the background of the screen. “What is real? How do you define real?” He began. “If real is relatable to what you could see, and what you could feel; what you could touch, and what you taste, then real is no more than electrical impulses interpreted by your brain, so how do you know you aren’t in a hologram yourself?”

“We live in such a fascinating time,” he walked around gesturing his hands. “Over the last few months ago, a team of scientists from Germany has found what might be proof of an afterlife, but what does that mean? Does that mean that we have just crossed the bridge from reality into the ethereal, or does it mean that science and religion are one in a sense?”

He looked at the computer and smiled. “What we know as reality might just be a lot stranger than we have ever thought. Let’s me ask you one thing. Have you ever woken up, and then you realized that you were alive? It’s a strange conclusion to make, and quite shocking when you realize that most people have yet to experience it, or even lack the awareness to do so. Well, it’s this sense of awareness that allows us to feel something rather extraordinary.” He grinned as if he had just found the lottery, but what did this man mean? I didn’t understand what he meant by that, and I did experience that sense of awareness on a weekly basis, and to be honest, it’s one of the most intriguing thing that one could possibly feel.

As I came to think about it, I did understand what he meant, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself so I sat and listened as this man continued. “Let me tell you something about reality. Reality as we know it is a merely an illusion of perception, but what does this mean? Well, we didn’t always know that this was the case. We had always though that matter is all compose of little, vibrating particles called atoms, and these atoms were made out of protons, neutrons and electrons. That was until Thomas Young demonstrated a rather remarkable experiment. It was one of the things that revolutionized physics at the time, but just what was the double slit experiment?

“Well, when the double slit experiment involves shooting some electrons through a media with two slits in it. From there, the electrons, knowing that the world was only solid at the time, were expected to go through the media and produce two bands on either side of each other, but the quantum world was much more complex that it seemed. As they watched the bands come forth, it displayed not a media of two bands, but a frequency pattern of many bands, just as a wave does when it hits a media with two bands, sort of like an interference patter of the visible color spectrum. This was what baffled scientists at the time. They wanted to know what was actually going with the subject, so they peeked. They set a measuring device at the front of the plate, and then that when they found something stranger. The path of electrons was forming two patterns on the media cross the plate. This was even more bizarre. How could these particles form a frequency pattern when they weren’t being watched, but when they were being measured they formed the double band pattern?

“Now, how was this? It was like the particle knew that it was being watched. How bizarre was that? And what did these scientist conclude? Well, it was quite controversial at first. They proved that matter could be at two places at once. I don’t know how that works, but that’s what they math told us. When we looked at the interior of an atom, we realized that what we saw was mainly empty space. Now, how could something that was mostly 99.9% empty space, make something so solid. Well, this was because, it wasn't a collision of particles that formed this solidity of the universe as we know it, it was the collision of forced that held it together. So with this conclusion, we realized that most of what we know about matter was merely an illusion.” The camera looked directly at the man’s face. “If we don’t look at something, it doesn’t occupy the space, and when we do look at it, it all snaps together, forming the fundamental states of matter that we all know and love.” He smiled at the camera, and said. “Until we find out how the universe really works, we will never understand what really matters in life, but when we do, we are expected to receive something grand and almost divine.” There was something about the way that he said the word divine that made me realize that he had another meaning of the word, a much more deeper, mind boggling understanding.

 

The video cut off right there. I sat there looking at the blank screen, starting at my own reflection. What I was hearing wasn’t new to me, but the way that the man said it, just made me begin to wonder what in the world was going on in reality. So, from then on in, I began doing my simple, hobby-like, research. The information that I came across was rather baffling as I sat there just a few days later, scrolling through the archives of the old Network.

The article I was reading was entitled: The Freemasons. Now, according to the article, the Freemasons, were a secret society that were vent on taking over the world. As I read on, the article stated that back in 1996, a man by the name of George Bush announced what was known as the New World Order, a one world government. I sat there in my seat almost laughing at the thought, because that would be impossible. The logical reason would be mainly because the world views are so complex and no one would ever yield to this, but that’s when I read the next paragraph.

As it turns out, in 2016, a meeting was held by the United Nations that would determine the world leaders, and set the hierarchy for the “ruler of earth”, as the document stated. The meeting called together the world’s most “qualified” people that have been of higher power and have had a decent reputation among the masses. It went off stating families of a blood line that reached back thousands of years were the main candidates of the election. The goal was to unite the world into a one world government for one rather disturbing reason; we were about to embark on a mission for the search of extraterrestrial life though out the cosmos, after we had received the “Wow” signal, August 15, 1977. After that was discovered the government began preparation to head into the direction of this mysterious signal. According to the document, there was more than one signal, but these were meant to stay hidden until further notice.

The main goal was to send the world leaders up and about to search for these beings, after we had received the most recent signal that was the most disturbing. We were astonished when we had received one of the main signals during late 2014 around December that really made us want to achieve this long awaited mission. But that’s where it ended; just like that.

 I sat there baffled again because how could the world do something like this? It didn’t make any sense. As I read on through the article, the proof was getting clearer; there was something far more difficult to this world that couldn’t be understood just be reading a paper. I scrolled for the last time, before I decided to close the browser, because of what I had just read. On the screen was a list of names, last names, which were supposed to be a part of this Elite group of people, and on the very top of the list was my last name. I clicked on the link and read this statement. “The one whom is on top of the list is the Johnson family, whom help establish Parthenon.”

This was just too much to take in. My family had helped establish one of the world’s most powerful countries up to date; that was really troublesome, because my family was really humble about things. Normally, when my father would earn a prize or something of that sort, he’d merely bow his head and tell people how honored he was to have won a prize, then he’d walk off stage without gloating or saying anything else. My grandfather before him would do the same, and merely be humbled by the thought of winning something that grand.

 

“So you think your family is behind of all of that?” Katelyn asked as she sipped from her coffee cup. We still sat there at the counter, merely staring at each other once I had finished my story.

“To be honest with you, I’m not sure.” I replied disappointed. “From what I’ve been looking up, the pattern is obvious, but then again, I’m the aire to a multibillion dollar corporation, so I’m not sure what to believe.”

“Well, are you going to talk to Xion?” Katelyn asked me when I began to eat a little bit of what was left of my bacon and eggs.

“I need to know what’s really going on with my family, and this man claims to know something. I might as well take the opportunity.”

“Well, I hope you know what you doing? It might be just a silly conspiracy.”

Then there was knock on my door, a rather rapid, vulgar kind of knock that you’d hear if someone was running away from something. “Did anyone follow you hear?” I asked suspiciously towards Katelyn.

“No, but there were some men…” her voice stopped there, when there was a shout on the other side of the door.

“Brandon, open the door,” the voice was unfamiliar, but the tone was what startled me the most. It was quivering and has signs of panic so bad that you could basically hear the breathing coming from the person on the other side of the door.

I walked over quickly to the door and pressed the doorway monitor, a screen that allows you to see outside without the person knowing. “Who are you?” I asked speaking through the microphone, and looking at the unknown man at my door.

“It’s me Xion,” the person. “Please open the door! Those men in black suits are after me!”

I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. “Why should I trust you?” I was getting quite suspicious of the person beyond the door.

“Because I was. I know something about you that you only know.”

“And what is that?” I asked curiously.

“You’re searching for your memories.”

My eyes opened up. I never told that to anyone about that I was trying to find my memories. I wondered if this man was the person he claims to be. “Fine,” I opened the door, and the man fell in to the room. I closed the door and locked it. I was actually feeling rather angry at the man for knowing my secret.

I looked at this strange man who claimed to be informant. He was slightly taller than me, but a worn out figure. The man was dark skinned, and look flustered with sweat. His hair was a dirty brown that was all messy like. The man wore dirty clothes as if he’d been on the ground.

“How do you know that I’m looking for my memories?” I asked as Xion go up.

“That’s a story for another time, right now we have more pressing issues on our hands.”

That’s when there was another knock on the door followed by an aggressive voice. “Open the door, Brandon, we know he’s in there!”

“Who was that?” Katelyn asked, sounding frightened.

“That is,” Xion said. “Brandon’s company’s arch enemy, Daystar. They’re the ones that took custody of Brandon when he was little not too long after his mother was informed of his father’s passing.”

That was a low blow to me. I didn’t expect him to know that. In reality, what happened was that my mother had literary lost her mind after that and was now being held at Daystar. That’s what they have informed me anyway. I didn’t imagine that it was that bad. For all I know, it was just a cover story for what they’re really doing. Come to think about it, I wasn't sure what had happened to my mother. They told me that she lost her mind after she got word about my father and then I was taken by the custody of my uncle.

“Come on,” Xion exclaimed, walking over to my living room and then to my TV. He pulled out something from his jacket pocket. It looked some sort of flash-drive, but that was interesting because I haven't seen one of those in what seemed to be ages by now. “Brandon's father wasn't stupid. This place has been rigged by Daystar to watch Brandon, and he knew that it would happen.” He connected the flash-drive under my coffee table to I assume was some sort of port that I had missed. “Right now I'm over-riding the system and activating the escape hatch.”

“Wait, what,” I exclaimed confusedly. “Why wasn't I informed of this?”

“Because, you were in the custody of Daystar. Your father knew that he was being traced by them when you were young, they wanted to get to you, so he didn't tell you anything that he did, only bits and pieces, then he sealed your memory, via microchip once you were in the custody of Daystar.” Xion pressed some buttons, that appeared on the glass on the coffee table. “He knew that they would try to infiltrate your mind if they got a hold of you.” The coffee table started rising and under it a hole under that was revealed. This is when the knocking on the door turned into slamming.

“Uh, guys, I think we have a problem.” Katelyn said from behind us. I could hear that there was a sense of fear in the back of her voice.

“What are you talking about? Why would they want to get into my mind?” I asked, helping Katelyn with her things, because I knew where all of this was leading to. I got the letter that Arch-Angel Industries gave me. It was heavy and felt like it had a tablet like object inside.

“Because,” Xion replied, throwing his backpack down the hole. “Your father placed his most valuable information in the depths of your subconscious. The key to the universe, the very key that will open the door that leads to the original sound of the universe.” He placed himself over the hole as the slamming was turned into ramming.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but he seemed honest of what he was telling me. “And you want me to go with you?”

“Not just you, her as well,” Xion was about to throw himself down the hole when he said. “Its now or never. Come with me and I'll show you how deep the rabbit hole really goes.” Then he jumped down the pitch black hole.

“Come on, Katelyn,” I adjusted myself over the hole. “We'll go down together.” The slamming on the door was getting more and more intense. The door was cracking and tensing. It was only a matter of time the door would burst open and the men that were after Xion would come in and I didn't want to be in any danger, or put Katelyn in danger. I grabbed at my bag from next to the couch and was about to throw myself down when I heard a load thud and what sounded like the falling of the door.

Katelyn ran over to me and we both then jumped down the hole, screaming is fear unaware to where this would lead us. I was frightened as we slid down the darkness. I looked up as Katelyn held unto me for dear life, and I saw the hole close and heard a shout for my name by a man. It would only be a matter of time when I realize where everything was leading up to, and I wasn't going to like it. I knew that I would have to do everything that I could in order to protect myself, and if what Xion was saying was true, then everything I was raised to believe was merely a lie...