Mom?!!

Alexia was dumbstruck, while the little child looked at her wide eyes and unblinking. 'When did she even get a big kid?' she wondered.

"That's why he looked familiar!" Devon exclaimed, his head going back and forth between the two of them. "I thought he looked familiar when I first saw him, he's your child isn't he?"

Alexia glanced at Devon wondering if she should ask the system to figure out what was wrong with his eyes.

Damien, Alex and Quinn also looked at Alexia with curiosity. 

"Uhh guys, I'm nineteen remember?" 

"So?" Alex the slow one asked.

"He's at least, four years old, if I were his mommy that means I would have been pregnant at fifteen?!!" She exclaimed, her face showing frustration.

"Ohhh," a slow look of realization dawned on all the guys.

Alexia seeing that expression on their faces wondered if boys were naturally dumb when it came to these matters.

"Little boy, as you can see, I am not your mommy, maybe you mistook her for me?" She asked the child with a hopeful expression on her face.

The child didn't get what she was saying but he understood that she no longer wanted to be his mommy, he burst into tears.

"Wahhhhh, mommy don't want me anymore,"

Alexia panicked, she tried to console him by saying things like we'll help you find your mommy and the likes, but he's ears were blocked because he just kept crying, finally Alexia couldn't stand to see him cry that long because she was worried about his health, so she admitted to being his mommy just to pacify him.

"Okay stop crying, Mommy still wants you, mommy was just playing with you." 

Like a switch had been turned off he stopped crying, the tears drying on his face, Alexia picked him up in her arms patting him to sleep and within minutes he dozed off.

She carried him for about twenty minutes before she passed him to Damien who kept on patting his back, while she went to check on Quinn who had been quiet.

"You good?" Alexia asked sitting on the ground next to him.

"Yeah, I'm alright just thinking." 

"About?"

"Where we go next"

"I think we'll figure that out after we have some rest and look through what Alex found."

Quinn nodded before they both fell silent watching Damien pace up and down with the child in his arm, while patting his back.

After about twenty minutes of Damien repeatedly patting the child, he gave him back to Alexia who was sitting on the floor, she placed the child on her laps and then cuddled him, the rest followed suit sitting on the ground with her.

"So, Alex, let's see what you've got?" Damien said, pointing at the tablet on Alex's lap.

Alex held up his tablet as he unlocked it and navigated the screen, "the file are encrypted so I've been decoding them, there are a few like the surveillance footage but I don't understand it as the surrounding indicates it's not the same research facility." While he was talking, he pulled up the video and played it.

The location in the video looked like Base X, but they didn't know that and also didn't know where it was, so they turned off the video. 

"Okay, the files have been decoded," Alex said while operating his tablet. He opened the file and what he saw in there was a shock to him.

"Guys why do these people have out files?"

"What do you mean by have our files." Quinn asked as he grabbed the tablet away from Alex.

On the screen were different pictures if each of them and there were images of three more people, two he was sure he knew and the other one he didn't know.

He passed the Tablet around so others could get a look before he spoke up.

"So there are pictures of us in that file and the location we were originally at before we met each other and nothing else, right Alex?"

Alex nodded, the file he selected just had their pictures and the location they originally were at before they met and no other information. He opened other files but there were bunch of garbage and not important, so he closed the files but didn't delete them.

"With the way it looked like on the file they made it like that was our starting point in the game,"

Silence.

"Arghh, I mean like when you're coding a game and you want to put down your character starting points and stuff like that, you arrange them in a file to make sure you don't lose information." Alex explained.

A look of understanding passed each of their faces.

"But still, what does that have to do with us and why are our pictures in that file?" Devon asked as he still didn't get it.

Silence.

"I say we look for the people in the files we might be able to get answers from them," Damien said.

"But where do we even begin to look for them, and in the midst of this apocalypse?" Alex asked.

Silence. 

"You know what guys let's regroup and have a rest we'll figure this out before we set off." Alexia said, before she passed the child to Damien. She stood up pulled Quinn aside and then whispered in his ear, after they were done, they both looked towards Damien.

Damien nodded.

Alexia walked back to Devon and then pulled him aside before they had a conversation, the look on his face alternated between confusion and then surprise before acceptance. 

"System?"

[Host.]

"Hold on, now where were you earlier?"

[I've been here all along.]

"I called for you and you didn't answer."

[Host you didn't call for me, if you had I would have answered.] 

Alexia paused, did she or did she not call for the system, she wasn't sure as she couldn't remember but then decided to let it go.

"Anyways, we have to bind a new ally, and can we bind a child?"

[Host can bind a new ally, not the child.]

[Since both parties have agreed to the binding initiatives.]

[Binding Ritual initiated...]

A faint glow surrounded Devon before fading away.

[Binding Ritual Completed.]

"I don't feel any different than I did before" Devon said flexing his arms.

"That's because I personally have to upgrade your abilities for you," Alexia looked him up and down. "Although I really don't know what I'm supposed to upgrade, you're powerful enough as it is." Alexia mumbled.

"Right, so why don't you upgrade mine instead." Alex nudged her playfully.

 Author's Note: I had writer's block and couldn't come up with what direction to go after the last chapter, but luckily, I had a bit of inspiration so I'll be going in the direction I thought of which means the story might be different from what I originally planned it to be and that's also why this chapter is choppy. Gomen.