Part of the Truth

"Son of a—"

"You finally found it Master Dwayne."

A voice came from behind which made everyone turn their heads

"What do you mean by that Jerome?" I asked

"I had a dream two nights before I met Lady Antonia. In that dream, I saw my room turned upside down and everything was a mess."

Jerome paused for a while. Everyone was silent and was waiting for his next words.

"And on the walls of that room were instructions."

"Wh- which was?" Yan asked in a scared tone

"'study room second floor, desk statue head, down the stairs, put on helmet, track 01 code 20. Burn message afterwards.'"

It was exactly what Toni did a while ago. Except for the part where we put on the helmet. That's right. On the board was the blueprint for the Mind Jump Device. It was the prototype version of it. Why was it here? We all looked at the helmet for a few seconds and then looked at Jerome.

"What's on track 01 code 20?" Lovely asked in a scary voice

We all had the same question in mind. What was track 01 code 20? And what was in it?

"The truth… Well part of it." Jerome answered in a shaky voice.

Is he scared of something?

Without thinking much I ran towards the device and placed it on my head. The others didn't stop me since they were curious as to what the code meant.

"Track 01 code 20" I stated

[System Activated]

A familiar robotic female began to talk

[Track 01 of code 20 will be played. Each video will vary upon user. Please state your name.]

So it's different per person? Okay let me try.

"Dwayne Ricks"

[User recognized, state day of birth]

"Thirty-first"

[Password Recognized, State the number of times user has mind jumped]

"One"

[Error. Invalid number of jumps]

What? But I only did it once…

"Master Dwayne…" Jerome called me

My attention was now on the mini white board that he held on his hand. It stated "try 20"

What? 20? I would remember if I jumped 20 times. And as far as I know, I only jumped ones. But I had to try…

"Twenty"

[Code accepted. Scanning for recorded memories. Scan complete]

The horror on my eyes could be seen by everyone. Twenty times… I actually mind jumped twenty times without me remembering it. And Recorded memories? I don't recall recording any.

[Two memories recorded. Please select memory number.]

"One"

[Confirmed. Playing Memory]

Just then everything faded to black. And after a few good seconds, I was on a chair in our living room in the Philippines. I looked around and it felt nostalgic. The house was small and simple since this was the time when dad first started the company by building gadgets. We were not rich back then. Then from the kitchen someone came out walking with a smile on his face.

My dad was coming over.

I never remembered this memory. Why does it say recorded?

He then started to talk…

"Twenty times…" he said

I froze, it was like he knew.

"You had to mind jump twenty times before you could find my lab. Well… our lab…"

What is he talking about? Does he mean me? Or… a future version of me.

It seemed like he could read my mind.

"Yes, our lab. Yours and mine… you'll find out soon… That is if you can make it pass the trial this time."

Was the zombie apocalypse his doing? Did he do it to test me again?! He can't be that ruthless as to allow the world to fall for his own benefits.

"You never saw right through me. Of course I wouldn't do that to the world son. And no, the moon's death was not my fault. It happened because for short moment, the sun shifted its gravity, pushing one of the comets towards us, hence the death of the moon."

He said that as if he could see right through me. Is this a joke?

"You deserve to know the truth. I can't give out everything because if I did, it would cause a time paradox."

Paradox… I'm the paradox?

"You are, but you are a good kind of paradox."

I could not speak anymore, this was too much. I'm a paradox?

"Listen, when the mind jump device was at its beta stage your mom, Jerome and I were the first ones to test it."

That's why Jerome knew this was a trial. That's why he was able to transmit a coded message. It finally made sense!

"That's right! Jerome was the first to receive a message from his future self to protect you. I on the other hand saw you fall several times before finally succeeding."

I had to fall several times?

"I couldn't just sit and watch, therefore, I continued to explore the future and develop our company for you to have resources for the upcoming apocalypse. I brought the future technology here so you can prepare. But I didn't stop there. Your mom and I came to a conclusion that you also need to be physically prepared."

Hence the training…

"I hope you won't hate me for it son, I didn't want to watch my four year old son, which who I'm facing right now suffer. This is your four year old self, that's why you can't remember this. It was hard. But it was all for you. I can't be there for you right now for some reasons. But I did prepare the way for you."

Suddenly, I could feel that my eyes were warm and were wet.

I was crying…

"You are strong. You are my son after all."

I'm sorry dad. I thought to myself.

He just gave me a very warm smile.

What should I do now?

"Here's what you need to do. Listen to your future self. You'll need him. Survive the next ten years. Because after that is the worst part. To survive the event after the next ten years you'll need everyone from your old gang. That's right everyone."

But why? We could just stay here.

"You'll understand soon. Like I said, you need to listen to your future self. You have to look for clues as to why this is happening, what's going to happen after the ten-year preparation, and how to stop it. You are part of something bigger. You and your team."

What does that mean? Me and my team? Are there other teams? So the first ten years was not even the worst part? What is going on?

"The next clue is in Queens, New York. In our old apartment, find where the light touches the most, then dig. And a piece of advice, don't leave the mansion for a year. No matter what. Just don't."

Why? What's going to happen?

"Love you son, see you in 15 years."

What the freak?! 15 years?! What?! But I still had so many questions!

[End Transmission. Starting the Next Recorded Memory]

Before I could recover, another blinding light flashed before my eyes and I was transferred to the second memory.

When I was finally able to see, I was in a familiar room. It was definitely a sight that you didn't want to see. I scanned the room and finally recognized the place. It was all bloody and bodies of the lower grade decay were scattered everywhere. On the corner of the room was a body that sat down. It was Ken with one arm left and was in a bloody state. He was obviously alive but he was barely breathing. Suddenly, Antonia entered the room and she was covering one of the many bite marks all over her body. She was very pale and was now breathing heavily.

"You're still alive!" She shouted as she limped towards me.

She then checked something on my head.

"The device is still recording!" she exclaimed

"Get to that room and talk to your past self." She urged me as she pointed weakly to a room. Then she collapsed on the ground. She must've lost a lot of blood.

My future self then went into a room with more dead decay around. It was a bathroom. He then turned to face the mirror while catching his breath.

He looked horrible. He was bloody all over and his face was dirty but it retained its charm.

"Listen to me" He then began to speak…

"Don't leave the house for a year. Stay there."

But my comrades…

"Don't worry about the rest, they'll be fine…"

He is really me. He knows what I'm thinking.

"Don't leave the house…. Whatever you do, don't leave. Hopefully in this twenty-first attempt, you'll finally make it."

I guess dad was right. I need to listen to my future self.

"And one more thing…"

There's more?

I then focused on what he was about to say…

"Don't believe dad…"

______________End of Chapter______________________