Project Reminiscence

"Welcome back, Izac!"

It said my name. How did T12 know my name?

"You… T12, how did you know my name?" I asked in shock.

"T12 is currently overrun. I am Project Reminiscence and in one minute, I will be instructing you your next move," Project Reminiscence informed.

What just happened? I kept wondering.

"This message that I will tell you is highly confidential and only for you. Izac, you are currently at Morr Empire, 1930.60 miles away from the rendezvous point."

A map appeared on the surface of the table, showing me my location and my destination.

"From there, we will be assisting you with all our power. We will remain dormant for a period of time before we try to find you which you requested. Here—"

The map showed four locations.

"—are your destinations before going to the rendezvous point. Bionic Empire, Tradesville, Craper Empire, and the rendezvous point, Galactic Empire. A 2951.28-mile trek. A printed map will be provided. We will not make any contact not until the timer reaches zero."

A countdown suddenly appeared on the surface of the table and started counting.

"Time Remaining for the Full Activation of Project Reminiscence: 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds."

"Please be careful and never trust anyone."

There is too much information. I can't digest everything.

A piece of paper suddenly came out from the table which was the exact copy of the map I saw on the surface of the table.

"In 30 seconds, all data will be wiped out and a system reboot will occur. We will be waiting for you and please be safe. 30… 29… 28…"

Rendezvous point?

Destinations?

Project Reminiscence?

What does it mean?

I have no idea.

"3…2…1… 0. System rebooted. Good Day. Hi, I'm T12. How may I help you today."

I guess I wasn't talking to T12 a moment ago.

I have a lot of questions.

How did that thing earlier know my name and why does it feel like there are people who know me?

And it mentioned earlier that, they'll not contact me for 1 year which I requested. What's happening really?

Is there someone out there who wants to help me?

And if they did know me, does that mean they know who really I am?

I'm scared.

I'm scared because what if they're just trying to deceive me?

But, what if they are good people?

I look at the map and studied my destinations. And by the looks of it, one year is not enough. They look pretty far.

Should I follow these directions?

I don't know what I should do.

But then I recalled, the glowing tree told me to go north and because I followed her directions, I found this table. If this table was what the glowing tree was referring to, then that means I'm on the right path.

The table said that the message it will relay will be secret and I am the only one who is allowed to hear it. It knows my name. It told me where to go and it said that there will be people who'll help me. It didn't demand anything and just gave me instructions.

These people, I hope they're someone who I can trust.

If they wanted to help me and know me, then does that mean, they know everything about me including my missing memories?

If that's the case, are the fragments in their possession?

I must know! I really must find these people.

But if they have my fragments, why do I need to go to these places?

Is there something in there that I must see?

Are there people I must meet?

Thinking about it, they must have left something for me in there. If ever they do not have my fragments, I have a hunch that these locations are where my fragments are hidden.

Can I really find my missing fragments in these locations? But what if it's only a trap?

I really have no idea what's going on. I don't even know what to believe. Everything is confusing. I want answers and these people have them.

That thing earlier said that someone's waiting for me out there. I don't trust these people completely but they're the only ones I've got.

But then I realized, "When did I meet these people?"

Is it during my first life?

I am sure they're not on the second one.

The third? Fourth? Fifth?

When?

With these clues, I am more confused and more intrigued about these people's identities.

No matter who they are, at least I now know where I must go. They said I'll be meeting them in a year, then I will do my best to survive until I finally meet them. From there, I will know the truth. But, they should have at least told me why I'm going to these places.

How would I know what I'll be doing in there if I do not know why I'm there?

Sigh!

I hope that they are good people.

I had a feeling that this will not be easy. But I must at least try.

I look at the map again and scanned each location.

"Bionic Empire, Tradesville, Craper Empire, and Galactic Empire."

Do these destinations similar to this place?

The distance is great and I think I'll be walking forever. I really hope I could find someone in there that could at least help me.

But why do I feel uneasy about these places?

I'm nervous.

What if the people in there are worse than the people in this place?

What if they'll hurt me?

What if I hurt them?

"Bionic Empire? What kind of things will I discover in this place?" I uttered in worries.

"Bionic Empire, also known as the 'Empire City of Androids' and 'City of Defense'—"

I just realized at this moment that I have T12 that knows everything.

"T12," I exclaimed. "Can I ask you about these destinations on my map?"

"Yes. What do you want to know?"

"Everything!"

•••

I'm on my way to this place called Bionic Empire. It took me almost three hours to learn the basics about these places. I also asked T12 if it could teach me common knowledge of this world. I learned and discover a lot of things. Including the metal things that Bionic Empire has. T12 told me that they are called Security Droids and they have the job of protecting the empire from intruders.

With that said, I might have difficulties entering the empire. T12 said that I need a card that I must present to the authorities so that I could enter the place with no hassle. But, I don't have that kind of thing.

T12 also said that Bionic is a well-secured and guarded empire and it will be very dangerous if I go wandering the streets of Bionic with no proof of identity.

What am I gonna do? I asked myself.

That Project Reminiscence or whatever that was told me to go in there. What if someone in there knows who I am and just lets me enter?

Even if I sneak in, those metal things will just probably catch me and do bad things to me. T12 told me that I'll go to jail if I'm caught.

Wait, that Project Reminiscence said that I must go in there but it didn't say in what kind of way?

Is being caught enough?

Ugh! I'm so dumb! I don't have any more ideas!

Maybe I'll just go with that and if there is really a person that I must meet in there, he or she will probably free me. If there were none, then I guess I'll be spending my sixth life in prison.

It's already evening.

I got out of Morr Empire near midnight. I'm heading northwest, towards Bionic. T12 told me that I should just follow the road because it will lead me directly to Bionic Empire.

I look at the map as I walk, I then look forward to where I was heading and all I can do is sigh.

"It's so far!"

There is still that option where I'll just use one of my power and head to Bionic but I can't do that. One thing I learned from this world is there are things called 'cameras' and 'satellites', where it captures moving images. I think T12 said it's called a 'video' or something like that. With that, people will know what is happening to a certain place without being actually in there.

The magic of this world is terrifying.

With that issue, I can not just use my powers recklessly. They might feel threatened or they might have mistaken me like I'm some kind of evil entity that will bring disasters to their nation.

I can't have that.

I must refrain from using it as much as possible.

T12 also said that from Morr to Bionic, it will be a two-week walk. T12 also suggested that I could take the bus or any kind of vehicle to get there faster. I, of course, asked T12 what this 'bus' is and it said that it is a large vehicle designed to carry passengers usually along a fixed route according to a schedule. It requires money to avail of its service but I don't have any money.

What kind of currency do they use?

I gave Aurelia a flower and she looks satisfied with it. Would flowers be enough?

Perhaps, gold?

Diamond?

Other gemstones?

Sigh, I have no idea. I guess I'll just walk.

•••

It's been almost two weeks since I started my journey towards Bionic. My legs hurt and I've been growing fruit-bearing trees along the way every time I felt hungry. I've lost count on how many trees I've grown. Well, at least people like me with no money who decided to walk to Bionic or Morr will never get hungry.

However, every time I grow trees, uneasiness and headache start to build up. There was a time when I couldn't take it anymore which resulted in a sudden discharge of a moderate amount of energy which lessens this queasiness I feel. Life energy was expelled during that time. Releasing this kind of energy resulted in an emergence of a new ecosystem, a forest in this case.

I really hope life in that place won't be affected by what I've caused.

After a long walk, it was near noon when I finally saw the towering heights of the famous walls of Bionic.

Though I'm all exhausted, I try my best to get near the gates. I didn't show myself and kept a great distance away from those scary-looking men in uniform and those metal things and just hide within the forest near the gates. I hid there and look at every movement and thing they do.

There were a lot of vehicles lined up at the entrance of the empire. There were a lot of vehicles that run past me during my long journey yet they didn't even ask me if I wanted to hitch a ride. Well, I'm not really expecting someone will let me hitch a ride with them.

Enough with that.

I must think of a way to enter this empire. If I just go in that gate, those guards will ask for my identification. They'll take me into custody if I couldn't show any proof of identity. Once in custody, they'll start asking questions.

That might be troublesome.

"HALT!"

I jumped out of surprise as one of the scary-looking metals suddenly appeared at my back out of nowhere.

This is bad.

"Halt! Unknown individual, please show no restraint and surrender. You have entered a no-entry area. Please come with me to the gates and have your identification recognized," the metal thing instructed.

As far as what T12 has said, "Never engage in any unauthorized and violent action when you are in the presence of security droid. You must follow its instructions as calmly as possible or else they'll show hostility."

I must not do anything to displease this thing in front of me. I must calmly follow its instructions. Just by looking at this thing makes me hesitate to do anything reckless.

"Okay, I'll go to the gates with you," I replied in submission.

"Please proceed to the gate now!"

I was guided by the security droid towards the gate. As I got nearer, I noticed some hostile stares. Eyes with anger. I felt like something happened to this place before I arrived here.

"RD-134 is in pursuit?" a man uttered with displeasure in his tone. "That's the seventh report we've received this day, eh."

"Yeah! In just four days, we received 163 criminal sightings. It is all because Caleb destroyed the power grid!" another man groaned.

My hunch is right.

"He's a total scumbag! I was all amazed by his amazing skills despite him being a criminal but now, I'm all grossed out and mad at him! He seriously risked millions of lives in this empire!"

"Thanks to him, criminals are more active now since our AP Turrets are no longer keeping these criminals out—"

I wasn't able to listen more to their conversation when I entered a room.

"Please remain here and wait until the interrogative officer arrives," the security droid said and then left.

With that, I was left alone inside this room. It looks busy outside and people look all stressed out.

That Caleb guy must have messed up so bad which made these people burn with rage against him.

I waited for a while for someone to join me in this room. As I waited, my heart began to beat faster.

Ugh, my heart!

I begin to breathe heavily. My heart is beating forcefully. I feel squeamish and my head hurts. My body begins to tremble.

It's happening again.

I must leave this room before something bad will happen.

I tried to leave the room but I stumble onto the ground having trouble breathing.

Ugh!

I must go out!

This is bad! This is terrible!

It's happening again!

I can't control it!

I feel like I'm about to burst. This is the same feeling I felt when I expelled energy which resulted in the sudden growth of a new forest.

Instead of a severe headache, an overwhelming stinging sensation is what I'm feeling. It feels like bees are piercing my whole body nonstop.

I very much know this isn't life energy I'm gonna emit because I can feel the air vibrating.

This is—

"Hey, do you feel that?" a man uttered.

"Yeah, it's giving me goosebumps!" another man replied.

I wasn't able to control it anymore and a sudden burst of electrical energy exploded which caused havoc. The room I'm in was devastated and the people outside were all on the ground. I saw the metal things guarding the place all drop dead onto the ground.

I am scared.

I was so shocked and because of that, I did the first thing that came into my mind.

I run away.

•••

Meanwhile, on the day Izac activated the Project Reminiscence, at the main headquarters, the head of the operation was informed by an officer-in-charge for the monitoring.

"Sir, the eagle has been out of the cage. Project Reminiscence has begun."

The head took a sip of his glass of liquor as he listened to the report.

"So, it has finally started. Officer, disseminate this to everyone."

"Tell them that he has returned!"