Chapter 63: Chapter 63 Proof
Dustin sat heavily in the taxi, as it drove through the dark streets. His mind still refused to accept that the past twenty years had been fake. There had been too much that was real. The pain and anguish just refused to settle on him. As the taxi pulled up to the curb, he noticed the blinking red light of a camera in the corner, recording him.
Thanking the driver, he climbed out and looked around. The memories of this place were faint, almost gone. His eyes caught another camera watching him, from the corner of the building. As he walked toward the entrance to his apartment building, he saw that the camera was moving in order to keep him in its sights. A nagging thought occurred to him, but he put it out of his mind as he entered the apartment.
Ignoring the camera that turned to watch him above the door down the hall, he walked up to the manager's office and knocked.
"Come in," came a muffled voice.
Opening the door, Dustin was caught off guard by the horrid stench that filled the room. The manager turned in his chair to look at Dustin, his eyes red rimmed and filmy. On the desk was an assortment of drug paraphernalia, that the guy was too far gone to even try to hide.
"Oh, yea, the prison guy. Your keys are over there on the hook. Let yourself out," he added as he turned back to his chemical recreation.
Dustin looked to his left and saw the little board with its classic tiny hooks. There was only one set of keys, so he grabbed them and saw the number 235 printed on them. Shutting the door firmly behind him, he made his way to the elevator, to see it was out of order. With a sigh, he turned to the stairs. A bum was sound asleep just inside the door, an empty bottle of rum laying next to him.
Pausing at his apartment door, he glanced to either side. Olivia had said her apartment was next to his. Did that mean on the side? Or across the hall? Did he want to wait until she got off work to find out? The camera at the end of the hall was watching him, so he inserted his key and pushed his door open.
It was just as his memories remembered it, bits and pieces of alien technology scattered over every spare space, except for near the kitchen door. It was strangely clean there, other than a thick layer of dust. He looked around quickly, for any blinking red lights, and relief shot through him.
Dustin made sure every window was locked and the curtains securely closed, before unplugging everything electronic in the apartment. He started to gather the bits and pieces into piles, determined that his memories of the past twenty years couldn't be wrong. What if he had lived the future?
The AI could be watching him, knowing that he knew about it from the program he had just woke up from. He was going to do things right this time!
With a PED half finished in his lap, a knock came to his door.
Grabbing his largest screwdriver, he rushed to the door and peaked out the view port.
Olivia was there, looking around, terrified.
Pulling the door open, he quickly pulled her into the room, and glanced at the camera. It was turned away from him, so she wasn't recorded coming into his room.
"How did you know?" she asked, anger and fear warring for control of her emotions.
"You killed him, didn't you?" he asked, moving back to the PED he had left on the floor. They didn't have much time. There would be people coming for them soon.
"It was instinct when he grabbed me. I couldn't stop myself," her voice was hurried, panicked.
"Help me get this stuff into these bags. We have to get out of here. They're going to be here soon!"
"Who?" she asked, helping him shove the alien pieces into the two backpacks he had found in his closet.
"The military, of course. There's about to be a war with the Josagn, if it hasn't already started."
Olivia looked at him for a moment, then went back to packing.
Strapping the unfinished PED to her arm, he pulled her sleeve back down over it.
"You are going to need that, when I get a chance to finish it. Let's get your hair changed. They aren't going to look for two people traveling together."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"My mother is a drunk, but she has a lot of money. I'm going to collect my inheritance and then get us out of here, where they won't find us. If we get caught, we're going to be in some serious trouble."
She looked at him, as if he was crazy, and for a moment he wondered if he was.
"I don't know. Maybe I should turn myself in…"
Grabbing her shoulders, Dustin turned her to look at him.
"I lost you once, please don't make me lose you again." His voice cracked.
She scrunched her brow. "Maybe you did need that psych eval…"
"Look, I need to prove to you that I'm not making crap up." He turned and ran his hand through his hair, looking around for anything to help him convince her. Then he thought of something. Turning back, he held up his hand and she looked at it, out of reflex.
Dustin focused on the sensation of changing. He remembered it. It had been almost a reflex by the end. He didn't have the genetic information inside of him from the countless aliens of the galaxy, but he was Uz'En, and he didn't need the genetic information. He just had to know it was possible. They could change just from seeing something.
As she glanced at his face in suspicion and confusion, he strained at the change. Sweat beaded his brow. This had to work!
Olivia opened her mouth to say something, but before a word could escape her mouth, her eyes widened in shock as his hand began to change. His fingers thickened with dark scales and grew claws. A deadly toxin glistened on the tips, and Dustin grinned.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Sdrawkcab
Sdrawkcab I think that's the end. I might type one last chapter, but let me know what you thought!
Chapter 64: Chapter 64 Dustin’s Mom
"There," Dustin said, closing the cover on the PED strapped to her arm. "When I activate it, you will feel a sharp stab as it ties itself into your nervous system."
She nodded and winced as it activated. Breathing hard, she calmed down and looked at him.
"It's talking to me!"
"Good. While you get acquainted, I have something to do. Try not to bother me unless it's an emergency."
Olivia nodded again, and watched him as he moved over to the computer jack, he had hacked into. They were hiding in a storage room just off the space port. When they had left his apartment, she had held onto his arm and acted like a happy-go-lucky girlfriend as they made their way down the street. As they were climbing into a taxi at the corner, several unmarked cars screeched up to the front of the apartment building.
Taking a breath, he acted before he could stop himself. For a moment, electricity coursed through his body, and he fought against the current, feeling it starting to cook him, and then suddenly, he remembered how to dive. It was like forgetting how to swim, and almost drowning before remembering again.
Floating above the network that stretched out over the planet, Dustin took a moment to revel in the knowledge that he had been right. At least partially. None of the stuff in the virtual world he had experienced had actually been real, but the knowledge he had learned, and the people he had encountered had to be real. The security systems in the network ignored him, unable to see or acknowledge him.
With a mental grin he first searched for the AI. It was there, watching and manipulating everything. He could see where it had taken a small interest in him, because of the mentions in his virtual tapes of an intergalactic rampaging AI, and the mention of Uz'En, but because his tape had been deleted and overwritten by those two bumbling orderlies, it had quickly lost its interest in him.
Before he typed the program, he knew would work to destroy it, he searched for his mother. In the virtual world, he had struggled with knowledge of her. Had she really been an alcoholic, or was she an Uz'En? Was his dad really a war hero, or was he an Uz'En prince? What he found was enlightening.
His mother had been pregnant, a refugee from a war-torn planet, when she met with his human father. He had fallen in love with her, and convinced her to marry him, and to claim that the child was his, to provide for Dustin, should anything happen to him when he was deployed. There was a record from her arrival, that mentioned his real father might have been a criminal refugee that died in an exploding shuttle while trying to escape detainment, but it was vague and difficult to read.
As he continued searching, he found that there was a mention of a Gooblen being detained in an off-world prison, strangely similar to the station he had encountered Granny in the virtual world. Could he steal a ship and get her freed? He would probably need his nanobots first.
Glancing at the data about his mother, he knew he had to talk to her next, before the authorities went searching for her. He had no doubt that his disappearance would be noticed as they investigated Olivia's disappearance. If he had his nanobots, the task would have been easy, but they hadn't been created yet, so he had to work with what he had available.
Constructing the program to deal with the AI, he watched as it immediately started working.
Pulling out from the dive, he turned to Olivia with a smile.
"We have a taxi to catch. It should be here soon."
"Where is it taking us?" she asked, pulling her sleeve down over the PED.
Dustin chuckled, and stood up. Changing his features, he made himself look like a girl, and twirled for her. The look on Olivia's face made him laugh.
"The voice with that look is totally wrong!"
"Don't worry, it's just to hide our identities until we get to my mom's house. Come on!"
He pulled her to her feet, and they made their way out of the storage room and towards the main street just outside the shuttle space port. No sooner had they reached it, then a taxi pulled up and Dustin didn't hesitate jumping into it, dragging Olivia behind him. The driver never said a word, driving them the entire way in silence. As they pulled up to the gated community, they spied a car watching the entrance.
Dustin waltzed up to the gate door and put in the code without batting an eye. He had made sure to check it, before getting out of the dive. His mother was living in this secure facility, so she didn't have to worry about anyone bothering her while she drank away her life.
The front door key was still under the door mat, and he quickly let them in, securing the door behind them before changing his features back to normal.
"Who's there?" asked a husky female voice.
"It's me, mom," he answered, turning around for her to see him.
"Dustin? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were locked away in some prison you would never survive," she scowled at him, before turning to leave. Dark circles were under her eyes, but he could tell just from looking at her, that the reason she was still alive, was because her natural Uz'En healing was repairing the damage faster than she could destroy it.
"Mom, wait. I need to talk to you, before you go kill yourself."
She glanced back at him in disgust, and stopped when he held up his hand. It was his lizard hand, complete with crystal scales and highly toxic claws.
Swallowing, she seemed too stunned to say anything.
"Look, I know that Herald wasn't my father, and that you think my real father is dead, but I have reason to believe that he's not. If you are willing to talk to me, I'm willing to help you find him."
"It's not safe here," she muttered, grabbing her keys on the mantle.
"I've already disabled all of the bugs in the house. It's as safe a place as any. We have a couple of hours before anyone comes to question you about my disappearance."
"When did you get out?"
"Thirteen hours ago."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Sdrawkcab
Sdrawkcab
I've decided to keep going until I've tied up some more loose ends. Let me know your thoughts!
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment