Chapter 22 : Flashbacks and Memories

Lincoln found himself standing in front of a building in the upper Imperiale.

It was much taller than the one he lived in as it wasn't used for the military, but the residents of Imperiale city. The building was located in the middle of the city, and the rent was expensive as the heart of Imperiale city is said to be the best part of it.

However, this was Lincoln's real home but he wouldn't come here often to not put his family at risk whenever his life is threatened. And so, Lincoln would only come here once in a while.

He entered the building through the sliding doors, "Welcome." A human-like android greeted him. Lincoln nodded and proceeded to the elevator. He entered it, not giving much thought to the soft music playing in its background. When the elevator started descending, Lincoln found Naomi's contact on his mobile hologram and rang her.

He fixed his hair and looked into the camera, and the call answered on the second ring.

Naomi's face displayed on the screen, "Hello." She greeted with a tired smile. "Hey, any chance I can come home tonight?" Lincoln asked with a smile of his own, he knew it was too late to ask, but that was how he always did it.

"Sure, but he's asleep now. Sally invited us to go to the park tomorrow, and I didn't want him to be tired when we leave." Naomi replied and Lincoln nodded. "That's okay, I had a feeling Dev would be asleep anyway," Lincoln said. However, this angered Naomi a little, "If you knew, why didn't you come earlier?" She asked, her voice tinged with annoyance. "Because I was caught up in things, had to go on a long walk with a person," Lincoln explained, though it felt odd referring to Aytrex as a person. "I'll come to visit tomorrow first thing in the morning, I'll drop you both off at the park, I promise," Lincoln added quickly.

Naomi's expression softened, but she hid it quickly. "Fine, whatever, where are you now?" She asked. Just when she did, the elevator door opened up, announcing that he was on the 27th floor. Naomi groaned, "You never give me time to get ready!" She complained and hung up.

Lincoln chuckled and walked out of the elevator.

He proceeded to the last room in the corridor, which was a penthouse suite Lincoln got for his family. The corridor was silent, except for the air conditioner, this was probably because it was almost bedtime. The carpets had a scarlet touch and the ceiling was a beautiful piece of art with different colours mixed. Once he reached the door, he knocked on it slowly, bearing in mind that his son was asleep and ringing the bell would wake him up.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, idiot," Naomi said from the other side, and the door was answered a few moments later. Naomi stood there, in her nightclothes, waiting for Lincoln to enter. "For someone who looks tired you sure have the energy to attack me." He commented with a chuckle. "Of course," Naomi replied sarcastically and hugged him tight, a hug which Lincoln returned.

He followed her to the couch and sat down. He then pulled her into his lap and she relaxed in his embrace. "Time flies so fast right? Feels as if we got married just yesterday." Naomi said with another tired smile. Lincoln sighed and nodded.

"I heard more people like you showed up," Naomi said making eye contact with him. "It shocked me. I thought the battle would be easy as our spies counted fewer men on their side. But six of them had unusual powers, none were as powerful as mine but they still had the upper hand since I was outnumbered." Lincoln explained. Naomi's look turned to one of concern.

"Did you get hurt?" She asked and Lincoln sighed. "It was all minor injuries, but I used up a lot of power and you know the drawbacks of that," Lincoln replied with a grimace. She placed her hands on his cheek, "Your parents, what are their names?" Naomi asked, she would always ask it when Lincoln used too much of his power.

He thought of his parents. He had long forgotten their voices and faces. Most of his memories with them were also long gone from his memory. But their names had been hard to forget. However, when he tried remembering their names this time, he couldn't. "I forgot..." He said, looking the other way as tears fell from his eyes.

He wasn't ready to hear Naomi's response.

It came anyway when she gasped and then calmed down. She turned Lincoln's head to look at her and slowly wiped the tears off his eyes, "Alan and Emerald Blaze." She said, hoping he would remember. But he couldn't, it felt as if it was the first time, he was hearing these names. This was it; he had completely forgotten his parents.

"I don't recall them." He said coldly.

Naomi sighed deeply and hugged him, resting her head on his chest. "Will there come a time, when you forget me?" She asked slowly. Lincoln opened his mouth to answer but didn't know what to say. Could he even be sure anymore? "I don't know..." He answered. And it hurt him so much to say it, his memory, taken away from him at the cost of protecting his country. His memory was taken from him by choice, by choice of the moderator that granted him this power. His memory was taken from him when there were so many other things that could've been taken away.

He now knew why the scientist said it'll come at the cost of his parents.

It was because he'll forget them. Forget them completely. What was worse than losing his parents? Forgetting them too. "Once this is all over, we can try jogging your memories," Naomi said, breaking his line of thoughts.

There it was again. When will it be over? He heard it over and over again, but will it be over? Would he ever be able to live a normal life? Now he knew that his son could also have an ability, why should he be given this burden, this disease? It's all because Lincoln had agreed to get this power. He took the gemstone out of his pocket and stared at it. No, it was all because he found this stone two years ago.

"It's all because of this goddamn stone!" Lincoln yelled and threw the stone into the air as his body started lighting up with a crimson red aura. He then blasted it with energy until he could even see a crack in it, but then everything went black, and Naomi's voice became more distant.

Lincoln found himself in a dark tunnel. Voices filled it but he couldn't make out where they'd come from. On the other side, he could make up a dim red light. "You have already proven yourself." A voice said, this time it was directly to Lincoln. He didn't know if it was male or female as he couldn't think clearly. "But I've lost control over you. Please understand that your memories are not my doing. Being stranded on this planet for too long had weakened my control over my powers and over the beings I granted an ability to. I tried to bond with you, to fix it, but it wasn't working. It's too late for you, but there's one more way I can bond with someone again." The voice said, but before it could finish Lincoln woke up with a gasp.

He looked around in fear, the living room was just the same, but his vision was in red. All of the energy signatures roaming in it came to view and he was on the verge of screaming when Naomi hugged him tightly. "It's me Lin, focus on my heartbeat." She whispered slowly.

Lincoln complied, slowly calming down as he switched back to his normal vision.

He looked past her and saw his son. He stood by the wall, but Lincoln couldn't make out his expression in the dark. "Oh no," Lincoln muttered and gently pushed Naomi away. He then made his way to his son and knelt. "Hey there big boy, I missed you," Lincoln said with a smile. His son shuffled uncomfortably and nodded.

Lincoln then noticed he was hiding something behind him. "What's that behind you?" Lincoln asked. "N-nothing" His son replied and slowly backed away. Lincoln was too tired to find out and so he let it slip, "Haha, alright buddy. Now go back to bed, daddy's gonna pick you up first thing in the morning, so you better be active by then." Lincoln said with a smile.

His son nodded and rushed to his room.

He turned back to Naomi, "Someone spoke to me." He told her. "When?" She asked. "Just now." He replied. "Who was it?" She asked. Lincoln shook his head, "I don't remember. All I remember are their words, there's someone I have to talk to, but I have no way of contacting him." Lincoln replied and stood up. Naomi followed, "I know you'll find a way, but be careful Lin, please." She said as she walked him out the door. "Thank you, princess, I will. You too." He said and kissed her softly on the lips. They stayed like that for a moment until Naomi pulled away. "You better get going now." She said and hugged him one last time.

Lincoln returned the hug and rushed to the elevator as a thousand questions flooded his mind, maybe Aytrex will have answers.