Elucidation

Darryl quickly returned home. He started packing things that he'll need. He decided to not inform Andrew about this because he knows he will prevent him from doing it. He packs a short supply of food, money, clothes, and the 3 pieces of equipment he found in the box in his office. That equipment was an All-Purpose Tool, a navigator watch, and the Captivity. These equipment are all approved tools invented by Bionic scientists except for the Captivity. This invention, Captivity, is a gun that immobilized any target. It works like a taser but it can be used multiple times and with no limitations.

"Whoever this person helping me, is this person really helping?"

The Captivity is still a pending invention which means it was stolen from VaultTech. There are severe consequences for stealing pending inventions but Darryl didn't mind it. As long as he finds Diana, that is what all matters.

As he finishes packing, he then removed from the frame the picture of him and Diana on the nightstand cabinet. He folded it and put it in his wallet. He also took the keychain doll Diana gave to him and chained it on the belt loop of his jeans.

Darryl is now ready to leave.

Since he can't tell Andrew about it, he took pen and paper and wrote a letter for him. He then places it on his bed because he knew that Andrew always comes to his bedroom first when he is looking for him.

He made one final goodbye to his property. All of the things he brought are packed in one small backpack to avoid getting people's attention. He wore black glasses, a mask, a hoodie jacket, and a cap. He didn't use his car and decided to use public transport to find Cypher. Using his car might be problematic since it has a tracker which might be used to find him if ever authorities finally find out about his plans.

As he arrived at Sector B, he used his navigator watch to locate the exact place where Cypher would be hiding. Before Darryl left the NTC, he first scanned and examined the equipment to know if it was rigged or if there was a tracker implanted. Thankfully, there weren't. The marked spot on the watch directs him to an abandoned building which is scheduled to be demolished tomorrow.

"It seems he is underground."

Darryl sneakily entered the abandoned establishment and started searching. It was dark as he keeps searching. As he reaches the basement, he saw guns and other things scattered on a table. Maps, a coffee, and other documents were seen on another table. The coffee was still hot implying that it was just prepared a minute ago or something.

Before Darryl could check the map, someone suddenly strangled him from behind. Darryl fought back and tried escaping from the attacker's grip.

"Who are you? How did you find me?" the man inquired as he keeps tightening his grip.

Darryl recognized the voice which made him conclude that it was Cypher.

"Wait… It's me… Darryl!"

Cypher quickly freed him.

"How did you find me, Sir?" Cypher inquired as he began packing everything. "If you're here to convince me to surrender, I think you should leave!"

"I'm not here to do that. I'm here to ask for your help!"

Cypher halted from hiding his stuff.

"Help? Why would you need my help? What exactly do you want?"

"That boy…" Darryl said. "That boy you interrogated, is he part of that malicious organization?"

Cypher returns his gaze at Darryl with alarm.

"What do you know about that kid, Cypher?" Darryl asked. "Please tell me!"

"I don't think that there is a need for you to know, Sir."

"Please, Cypher! He's the only one I know who might have the idea where Diana is!"

"What do you mean?"

"That kid handed me this necklace," Darryl informed as he showed him the necklace. "I gave this to Diana, a week before she disappeared. I don't know… maybe he knows where she is?"

"Sir, I want to be frank with you. This kid is something supernatural. You might not believe it but he can control disasters," Cypher confessed. "I know it sounds crazy but—"

"Cypher, I believe you!" Darryl interrupted. "I completely understand the shock. I saw it myself and felt it. I want to know why and how he got the necklace. I know it will be dangerous but I have to know."

"Sir, do you understand what you're trying to get yourself into?"

"I don't care even if I lose everything, I will find Diana."

"Are you certain, Sir? Once the dice are rolled, there will be no turning back."

"I'm prepared for that."

Cypher stared at Darryl and sighed.

"If that is what you want, I will help you," Cypher assured.

With that, they agreed to join forces.

"Sir, I've been wondering. How did you find me?" Cypher added.

"Um… someone led me here and…" Darryl replied. "…showed me the way out."

"What do you mean by that?" Cypher exclaimed in alarm.

"Earlier at my office, something appeared on my computer. Things like the PR organization, the Project Reminiscence. It also showed me your location and…." Darryl explained as he showed him the escape route.

"Wait, is this?" Cypher blurted.

"Yes, that's Caleb's escape route!"

"Thank goodness you have this! I've been scanning the document for a very long time looking for this!"

"Documents? What documents?" Darryl inquired.

Cypher grab the documents which were laying on the table.

"This document holds a lot of classified information regarding the Project Reminiscence. My wife was murdered because of that organization. I'm gonna find out who's behind this and I'm gonna make them pay!"

"Andrew told me that you were there at Hummington Street. He said that you followed the boy after he found me. Is the boy here with you?"

"About that," Cypher sighed. "I lost track of him after he crossed the city gate."

"Wait, how did he cross the gate? Did no one stop him? Don't tell me he destroyed everything that tried to stop him?"

"No, Sir!" Cypher replied. "I think he teleported."

"Wha— Huh?" Darryl blurted in disbelief.

"After I left you to your friend last night, I quickly followed the boy. I kept chasing him, convincing him to go with me. I somewhat understand why he doesn't want me to get involved. I saw how remorseful he'll get every time he causes trouble to others. I think he doesn't want to make other people get involved with him. He always looks terrified."

"As he reaches the gates, something flashes in him like some sort of electricity. The brightness blinded me temporarily and when I returned my sight to him, in a blink of an eye, he was already on the other side."

"What really is going on here? How is that boy able to do that?"

"He even knows how to heal people, Sir. I was shot on the shoulder and I thought I died but… I just woke up with no injuries like nothing happened. I really don't understand what just happened to my injuries not until I saw him heal you. He laid his hands on you and a bright light was emitted and insinuated in you. I saw how he restore your body. It was crazy and I just realize that he did the same thing to me. He saved my life and yours."

Darryl couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Cypher, would you care explaining how everything started?"

Cypher shortly sat on a chair as he began telling everything he knows.

"3 days ago, I received a dispatch signal over the Watchtower 2. An attack was reported there. As I quickly responded, I later discovered that there was an EMP explosion happened. Witnesses said that everyone near the Watchtower passed out and was immobilized. Noticeably, all droids near that area drop dead after their circuits got fried up. I thought it was caused by the King of Thieves since he's known for that kind of thing but it wasn't. The DPS recovered footage of the event before the explosion happened. On the footage, a boy entered the interrogation room after a Roaming Droid caught him in the forest, peeking. The boy submitted and calmly proceeded to the room for identification. A few minutes later after the Droid left him, he is seen panicking. He looks like he's in pain and tried to exit the room when all of a sudden, the footage glitched."

"For 20 seconds, the footage was distorted and nothing is appearing on the monitor. As it returned to normal, we discovered that an explosion occurred and the interrogation room was devastated. Everything is severely damaged except for the boy. I even speculated that the explosion was caused by the AP turrets and everything was just a coincidence but as I interrogated him, he confirmed the attack. However, he said that he didn't mean to harm people."

"As I keep examining the details of the acquired evidence, I later learned that there was no grenade nor any device used by the boy. If there was, the droids should have reacted before letting him into the interrogation room. I just realize that after I witness a guy who tried to enter the empire with a gun. Though it was registered, the droids still reacted. From that realization, I am certain that he didn't bring anything with him."

"But it made the situation even more unclear. How did he cause the explosion if he didn't use anything to trigger it? Unless he was the explosion. I know it sounds crazy but I have a hunch. And that's the reason why I tried asking him about the classified cases."

"For years, I've been investigating it secretly. Though I have limited information, I manage to surmise that the boy is somewhat connected to these organizations."

"Chief Wesler told me about this. Cypher, what did you find out?"

"I discovered that Project Reminiscence isn't a single organization but rather a terrorist conglomerate. The organization is interconnected with every terror group that exists, from Thanatos, Scavengers, and other small organizations that are slowly making a name."

"How did you know that?" Darryl inquired.

Cypher quickly showed him the images of the logos of the terror groups.

"Do you see anything in common, Sir?"

Darryl examined each logo. Yet, he found nothing.

"I… I don't see anyth—"

Cypher then revealed to him his discovery.

"Do you see it now?"

"What the!" Darryl blurted.

"I believe that this Project Reminiscence is the main organization. It's just unclear what's their objectives. But…"

"But what?"

"The boy… I think they wanted the boy? I think they know what that boy is and what's going on!"

"Maybe he's some kind of a failed experiment?" Darryl guessed.

"Failed experiment?" Cypher muttered. "Now that you mentioned it, the boy did say something about slavery. He said that he's a victim of slavery. And he is forced to do things whether he likes it or not. This only means one thing, I think this Project Reminiscence is trafficking humans. I've read something about that in the documents. Using them as guinea pigs might be a possibility. But for what exactly?"

"However, it's not clear to me why he is going to the meet-up point which was directed by the organization. If they do torture and do experiments on him, why would he go back to them?"

"Meet up point? What do you mean by that?" Darryl inquired.

"That boy said that the Project Reminiscence told him to go to 3 more places after here before meeting them up. Those places were Bionic, Tradesville, and Craper. And after he reaches those locations, he is then requested to go to the rendezvous point, the Galactic Empire."

"And what's the point of those?"

"The boy said that the people behind that organization will find him after a year to help him on something confusing. As the countdown starts, he needs to find those places first. And if we want to find him, we need to go onto that place and intercept him."

"If we are lucky, we might still find him here at Bionic. But if we don't, Tradesville will be his next destination. After seeing the things he can do, anything will be possible for him. He might do something weird again and just cross the Imperial Gates with ease."

"Cypher, there's one thing not clear to me," Darryl said. "The chief told me that there were a group of people who attack the SFD. Are those part of the Project Reminiscence you are talking about? And how did they manage to enter the empire?"

"If what the boy said was true, I think they are a different organization. The Project Reminiscence told him that they won't do anything until the timer reaches zero. It only means that other people are involved. Maybe their allies? Or enemies?"

"What did that kid get himself into?" Darryl let out.

"Our main priority is to find that boy and ask him everything we need. We need his cooperation to find out the truth."

"Do you think he'll cooperate?" Darryl doubt.

"I don't know. But we should at least try. These documents will help us understand what's going on but we should do that at another time. First, we escape!" Cypher expressed.

"We must find Izac before it's too late!"