Erin stared at the self-proclaimed AI in confusion. She had just told Erin that what happened to her and the others wasn't an accident. Also, her parents bearing a mark like hers sounded bizarre to her. And then there was the mention of a reset.
She wanted to ask multiple questions, but she knew it was better to take them one at a time.
"What have my parents got to do with any of this?" she demanded.
"Even if I tell you, you won't remember. None of your memories of this place will follow you back. You've even depleted your energy, so that's another round of short-term amnesia…"
"But my parents? Tell me why they abandoned me. What happened to them if they were really here?" Erin pressed, urgency lacing her voice.
Just then, the white door behind her started rattling, like something was trying to open it from the inside.
"Whoops, time to wake up," the AI said flatly.
Erin glanced at the door. She wasn't ready to leave yet, not when she had just learned something that could give her the answers she'd been searching for her entire life, the answer to why her parents weren't there.
"Go east," the AI spoke again, this time earning a raised brow from Erin.
"What?"
"I said, go east when you wake up. Whatever happens, don't stay in one place for more than a cycle, or day"
The door swung open, and an invisible force pulled Erin out of the white space, back into her body in the wasteland ruins.
---
Her eyes opened slowly, fluttering as she took in the scenery before her. The familiar features of the ruins, now officially her first battlefield, came into contrast. The monoliths still stood tall, despite her uncontrolled abilities, they were still standing.
Erin tried to lift herself up, but her body felt sore, so sore that she could barely lift a finger. Her muscles were strained from the fight, and her energy was completely depleted. Jayden, having seen her condition firsthand, had believed it was near impossible for her to wake up, but she did, and he was relieved.
"Don't get up, just… stay put." Erin stared at him as he spoke. "I know you must be confused, you probably don't remember me. My name is—"
"Jayden, yeah. Get off my face, please." Erin cut him off.
He had been so convinced that she wouldn't have any recollection of events like last time, but he was wrong.
Erin had briefly lost her memory the first time she touched a monolith. The second time had been even more severe, considering she maintained contact for a longer period of time, except this time, she retained her memories. That alone raised questions in Jayden's mind, but he kept them to himself.
He glanced down at her arm, noticing the mark pulsing faintly under her sleeve. Luckily, it wasn't glowing in any dangerous color.
"I had the weirdest dream… or something," Erin muttered, rubbing her head.
"What is it?" Jayden asked.
"I don't… I don't remember." Erin frowned in realization. "I mean, I know I had a dream, but I don't know what it was. Why don't I remember?"
"Was it the visions?" he asked again.
"No, the vision is different. I remember that. I don't remember what happened after the vision." She glanced toward the monoliths that loomed a few meters ahead of them, then back at Jayden.
"It's probably stress. I mean, you just faced off against two mutated beasts, or crabs… which is wild, by the way. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around that." Jayden hesitated before pointing to her mark. "Thank goodness you're okay. I thought we lost you for a second. You scared us, Erin."
His voice was soft, maybe too soft, almost like he was telling her something more. Erin noticed it, but immediately brushed it off.
"Yeah, you scared us, all right."
Liam's infuriating voice cut through from the corner of the small space.
"When you almost leveled the entire fucking planet on us!" he shouted aggressively.
"What do you mean? She saved us," Jayden defended. But Liam… Liam was a hardhead.
"By almost killing us in the process? Am I the only person sane enough to see how much of a danger she is, to herself and to us? Eira, back me up here." Liam turned to her, expecting support but Eira kept quiet, watching Erin closely.
Now, Erin could have fought back. She wasn't always one to back down from a fight. But she said nothing, not because she felt guilty, but because she was lost in her head, searching for something.
'I was somewhere. But where? There's something missing… somewhere I need to go. Someplace that has answers.'
She tapped her lips with her fingers, then surprised even herself by standing. Somehow, she had mustered enough strength to pull herself up.
"We need to go that way." Erin's voice broke the silence, her hand pointing toward the distance.
"What? Where?" Eira asked, glancing toward Erin's finger. All of a sudden, she seemed interested in wasteland politics.
"Oh, so you can talk, huh?" Liam scoffed at Eira before turning back to Erin, shaking his head in disbelief.
"No. We need to go back to our starting point, we don't know what's out there. You and your powers… they're dangerous. We need to go back to where we first arrived. That's where the portal will be. I have to go home."
Erin completely ignored him.
"We can't stay here any longer. Those crabs, or something worse than them, will come. We have to go, guys."
"Fine by me. I can't stand another minute in this place." Jayden nodded in agreement, then nudged Eira. "Let's go."
"Where are we going? Do you know where?" Eira asked, avoiding Erin's gaze.
"East."
"East? What's in the east?" she pressed again.
Erin side-glanced at her before looking ahead. She wasn't sure herself what was there, but she had a feeling that's where they needed to be.
Liam had no choice. The last thing he wanted was to be left alone, unprotected. He still didn't feel good about it, but he decided to go anyway.
---
In a dim lit hallway, four students leaned against a concrete wall, chattering amongst themselves.
"Did you hear?"
A teenage boy whispered. Standing next to him in the hallway were three others. All four wore the same uniform, a school uniform bearing a crest with the letter 'A' on it.
Other students strode along the hallway, chattering amongst themselves.
"Hear what?" one of them asked.
"There's a new Riftbrander, and from what I hear, she released two wild Energy Bursts in less than a cycle," the first boy said.
"That's not possible. Having more than one would kill you," the third student scoffed.
"Well, she did," the first replied.
The fourth boy pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against. His green eyes flashed with curiosity, and a small smile spread across his lips.
"She must be something… can't wait to meet her."