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!
Chapter 65: Chapter 65 New Game Plus
"You are going to have to start at the beginning," said his mother, sitting down with a huge bowl of noodles.
Olivia was busy slurping her own noodles, and Dustin was blowing on his, to cool them. They were one of his mom's best dishes, from when he was little, and she had just happened to be making herself some of them, to eat over the coming week.
"Good, because I still need to know a few things," he said. "I was sentenced to a year on a death planet, only there was a problem of a time dilation, that ended up lasting twenty years instead."
"What?!" exclaimed his mom and Olivia together.
"I overheard the orderlies talking about it," he said, looking over at Olivia guiltily.
"Those jerks!" she fumed, taking another bite of her noodles.
"You spent twenty years on that horrible place?" his mom said, anger and outrage on her face.
"No, actually. That's what I need to talk to you about. Do you have any experience with Gooblens?"
"What?! How have you heard about them?" asked his mom.
Olivia had paused in eating her noodles to listen.
"Do you?" he asked again, ignoring her question.
"Actually, when I was very young, a Gooblen came along and took care of me. Your father found me, because of her, and she left me with him. I'm not sure whatever happened to her…" his mom said, trailing off as she remembered her past.
Dustin nodded thoughtfully.
"What did you call her?" he asked.
She looked embarrassed before answered. "Granny."
"Are you aware of any Uz'En having an ability to access other Uz'En memories? Past or future?"
"There are stories…" his mom said, obviously struggling to remember any of them.
"I've heard of an ability like that. It was called chrono skimming. There was a lot of interest in it, in the military, and everyone was tested heavily for it. What do you know about it?" Olivia asked, forgetting her noodles until he took a bite of his own.
"Okay, look. I think I have that ability," he said, watching the looks of surprise on their faces. "While I was under, I met Olivia, escaped from the death world, killed the Josagn," he said, starting to tick things off on his fingers as their looks of surprise climbed and climbed.
"I found a new homeworld for the Uz'En, moved it to a safe place, developed nanobots, perfected the PED that Olivia is wearing now, we married, had a child, found my dad hiding, met up with Granny, collected the Uz'En from all over the galaxy, fought several alien races and one rogue AI before… before I was woken up," he ended, not sure he wanted to add that everyone died in the end.
"I'm not sure I believe all of that," said Olivia, looking dubious.
"I know how to prove it," said his mom, setting her empty bowl down. "What is your real father's name?"
"Kitteral," he said, without hesitating.
While his mom's eyes immediately began to tear, Olivia jumped in.
"Sorry to break your bubble, but I can't have kids. They sterilize us before we can…"
Dustin jumped in before she could finish.
"They always sterilize you, but you can regrow your missing bits with that PED."
She glanced down at it thoughtfully as his mother gave a massive sob.
"We have to find him! Please!"
"Calm down, he went into hiding to keep the AI from finding you and killing you, but I've already dealt with the AI."
"How?" asked Olivia.
"A simple reprogram and it believed that it was a threat that needed to be dealt with before anything else. I also sent a little care package to every alien race that ever tried to eradicate us, that can't be traced back to the humans."
"Are you sure?" asked Olivia with a worried look on her face.
"Relax. The worst that can happen, is everyone thinks the Josagn sent them, and then they will be wiped out."
"That's harsh," said his mother, still wiping her eyes and blowing her nose.
"No, it's brilliant!" exclaimed Olivia. "I hate those disgusting bird creeps!"
"So, what are we doing now?" asked his mom, sitting forward in her seat to hear his answer.
Dustin thought about that. "I can hack into the network and get us tickets off the planet, so we can start looking for dad and Granny. Do you guys want me to check on the planet I made our home? I named it Haven, by the way."
They discussed their options over the next thirty minutes, and finally decided to get his dad and Granny first, before heading for the planet Haven. He explained to them that his time in the virtual world had been dated two hundred years into the future, so things were bound to be interesting for them.
When they heard of the time difference, he had to explain the bits about learning how to stop aging, and being frozen in the cryo-units. Olivia drilled him on what he knew about her, and ended up being rather impressed. He was just glad he remembered as much as he did, though, he did leave out the bit on her being a clone. He wanted to wait and see if Granny thought she was one, before worrying about that.
Building a second PED for his mom, who couldn't change her facial features to save her soul, he then gave both of them quick lessons on using them. Finally, three hours after they arrived, they were climbing into the back of a taxi, on their way to the space port. They all appeared to be businessmen, safe from the scrutiny of the unmarked car at the gates.
Pausing at the ticket kiosk, they acquired tickets to be allowed onto one of the newest and fastest ships currently docked at the port. The funny thing was, as they arrived at the boarding desk, their tickets were the only ones that worked. Even the pilot and flight attendants were denied access by the robot guard.
Dustin couldn't help giving them all a grin as the doors shut on the angry group of people.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Sdrawkcab
Sdrawkcab
He probably shouldn't have grinned. Oh well. At least he knows how to fly it, right?
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment