Generation 3, Chapter 8: Sleep is overrated

"I'm coming with you," the answer came almost immediately. I would much rather risk my life with the aliens than go against a group of hostile humans. I knew they weren't coming to save me. Not after I had betrayed them.


"Really?" Copper sounded surprised. "I mean, after all we did...well, after what I did to you, I thought you would love to see us getting killed."


"Only you, big brother. She adores me," Chambray pointed out. Even in a dire situation, she still had the capacity to be her perky self.


"Copper, can't you see?" I pointed to a finger to the roof. "Do you think if they were attempting a rescue mission, that they would make such a ruckus outside? No, they wouldn't. They would attempt to negotiate at first to ensure the safety of the person being hold hostage. This...this is an attack, on all of us."

It took Copper only a few seconds to process what I had said, and that I actually meant what I said. He must have noticed that I had turned against my own kind, which was why he hesitated before speaking again. With a shake of his head, he pointed to the door. "Let's go. And remember, we act quickly. You're gonna have to move incredibly fast to try and keep us with us."

He wasn't joking.

They had never really shared any of their secrets, or what kind of other powers they might have other than superior intellect over other beings.

Never would I have guessed that accelerated speed was to be one of their many gifts.

I had never been an athlete, as my muscle structure was too puny to do almost anything. I had to rely on my brain. Brains wasn't going to help me out of this place.

My chest was heaving as I took big steps to catch up to them. A drop of sweat managed to slid across my face from my forehead. Gosh, if I made it out of this alive, I would have to commit myself to some kind of exercise. It was ridiculous to be tired after only a few meters of running.

But in the end, Copper and Chambray weren't fast enough, nor did their intellect help them when they got to the upper level of the house. Something exploded, obscuring our view of the front door.

"There's no way to see what they're gonna be throwing at us now!" Copper shouted. The ringing in my ears was loud, and even though he was yelling, I could barely hear him.

"We need to get down to the transporter!" Chambray yelled, her arm tenderly sneaking out to me, trying to see whether or not I was alright. I had ducked into a sitting position, too afraid to get up and face what was in front of me. I might always have acted bravely, but it seems that when the opportunity to be brave presented itself, I turned into a coward.

"There won't be enough time for you, not with them almost getting in here. I'll try to activate the little shields we have left, to buy you just enough time. But you'll have to go, NOW."

His words cleared up, and the meaning of them finally sunk in. "Copper, no! You have to come with us. You can't sacrifice yourself like that. You'd be killed."

"If I don't do it, we all die, Amelia. This way, you both can still live on. My research and I are more valuable. They might keep me alive for a while. But if you stayed, they would have no use for you. So go, and go quickly."

I tried protesting one last time, biting back the tears that were almost brimming over my eyelids. "Copper..."

"GO!" he shouted, pushing us to the staircase. Chambray pulled me up, forcing me to follow her. With one last regretful glance at Copper's worried face, I forced the power back into my legs, running after Chambray.

When we finally reached the transporter room, we both had finally managed to calm ourselves down, getting our breathing rates back to its normal self.

It was then that Chambray started panicking.

"I can't do this...," she whimpered. "I can't leave my brother here to die..."

"Cham...," I reached for her shoulder. "What he did was to save you. He cared for you enough to sacrifice himself. Don't let that sacrifice go to waste, okay?"

Her one hand covered her entire face, trying to stop the tears from coming. With the help of a few deep breaths, I could see the clarity returning to her eyes. She had let go of her trivial emotions, focusing on the job at hand.

"For Copper," she looked at me for a moment, then activated the transporter.

Flames started enveloping everything around us, but we were safe in the beam.

But it meant that Copper wasn't. He had most likely failed in his plan, and died.

There hadn't been any time to ask Chambray where we were going, but when the scene in front of me changed into an unbelievable sight, I had to ask. "What is this place?"

"This is an area in the middle of the city. That machine in front of us, that portal...it can take you anywhere in the galaxy. We never come here, as it would mean certain death. The police force, as you would call them, would come, arresting anyone in the vicinity of the gate, and most likely execute them in the end. That is, if you're an outsider, which we are, unfortunately. Any of the other citizens can travel through it freely, provided they have a pass that allows them that privilege."

"Why would you bring us here, then?" I frowned, looking over to gaze at her face. She didn't return my gaze, her sights fixed on the gate.

"Because it was what Copper wanted," she whispered, looking down at the ground. "He told me a few days ago that, when he had completed all of his tests on you, that we should...let you go. Send you back to where you came from. This is exactly what this gate will do, in a matter of seconds, of course. It's what you also wanted, remember?"

"Yes, in the beginning...but now, things are different," I tried to reason with her. "I have to help you escape, Cham. I have to help you survive."

"No, that was my duty to you, Lia." Her head whipped up, her eyes squinting at something in the distance. I could hear a faint sound, something that sounded like a helicopter. Perhaps some kind of spacecraft, meaning...the police. "They're onto us. You have to go."

"You're coming with me."

"I can't...," she smiled. "I need to remain here, to ensure that they don't know your destination. To keep you safe."

"Chambray! I will not have all of you sacrifice your lives for the sake of mine! You're too important to me!"

"As you are to me," she bowed her head in respect. I wanted to lash out and lift her head up to my gaze, telling her that she was insane. I was a nobody compared to her. "Though our time was brief, I've come to admire you, and the friendship we shared. You gave me hope, Lia. You taught us things we needed to learn. That is why you need to leave. To protect those things."

The noise created by the police force's vehicles were nearing our position, closing in on us. Chambray gave me a final nudge in the direction of the gate. "Do this final favor for me, okay? Please?"

Though I didn't want to, I nodded slowly, and forced my feet into the direction of the gate.

"I will never forget you, Chambray Dell," I whispered as I stood in front of the event horizon.

"And I will never forget you," I heard her voice one last time. Then, I stepped into the wormhole, not knowing what I would be facing on the other end.

All I could wish for was that it would be better than the current circumstances.

~*~

"It's...so dark here. I hadn't been expecting this...," I mused as my eyes observed the empty void around me.

"Of course it is," Charlotte answered my thoughts. "This is the final stop for you, Amelia. The bridge, the cross way. Here you decide what you wanna do. If you want to go back and choose to forget your real life, remaining a prisoner of your imagination for the rest of your existence, or choosing to wake up, and face the reality that you have forgotten. It'll be a hard adjustment, Amelia. You've forgotten a lot, and it might frighten you. I'm not trying to scare you into staying, I'm just pointing out the obvious."

"If I did stay, I would die anyways...," I smirked at her image.

"Oh, definitely not. Your mind would restart the image to your requirements of course. You could get to see Chambray again, Copper, hell, you could even keep seeing me. But you'd be leaving some other people all alone."

"Like Richard...? I feel as if...he's important, really important. But I can't lay my finger on it. From the few memories that I have, I gather he's my lover...? Father of my children that I somehow don't even remember?"

"I can't deny or confirm that fact. If you woke up, you could find out for yourself."

Something else occurred to me, something that she hadn't really elaborated on. "If I did wake up... I wouldn't see you anymore. I want to see more of you, Charlotte."

"You want to see a representation of a person that's dead, perhaps even a ghost though she really isn't seeing as the image is only a figment of your imagination. Honestly, Amelia, what has happened to you? You were never so sentimental over things."

"I've...changed...," I muttered slowly. "Someone made me see things in a whole new light. I just...can't remember who."

"Wake up, and you'll know," she smiled before dissipating in front of my eyes.

~*~

"Dad, did you see that?! Her eyes are fluttering! I think she's waking up!" a male voice yelled out loudly. That one voice made me wanna shut my eyes again and fall asleep. I didn't know who it belonged to. It could belong to some kind of criminal for all I know, maybe someone that wanted to harvest my organs.

I had to admit, that idea sounded rather ridiculous, even in my head.

I forgot all about my silly thoughts as soon as a warm hand touched mine, caressing it. "Amelia, darling... Are you alright?" The voice was soft, caring, loving even. And close, extremely close. Almost right at my face. By guessing, I could deduce that he was on his knees, by the bed.

It was enough to peak my curiosity. And so, I opened on eye slightly, then the other. The scene in front of me wasn't what I had been expecting. Before me stood a dashing looking young man, most likely in his thirties, bent over the bed. He looked familiar, sounded familiar.

But the memories I had once had, even the few that had come back to me, were quietly slipping away.

"W-who are you?" my eyes shifted to the left, noticing the other people occupying the space. "Who are all of you?"

I hadn't expected that that one simple question could push him over the edge. His brow formed a look of concern, and he bent a little closer to investigate. I couldn't help but shy away from him a little bit. That caused him to erupt into tears.

"Liam... She doesn't recognize me. She doesn't recognize any of us. How in the world is this possible? She was in a coma, yes, but no parts of her brain had been damaged before she collapsed into it. How could she not have any recollection of us?"

"I don't know, Richard..." the man with tanned skin and dark hair mused, looking caught up in his own thoughts. "I haven't had too many coma patients in my career. This is certainly the first to have suffered memory loss. If she doesn't know who Daniel and Darcy are, then my guess is she's forgotten most of her adult life. That most likely includes her encounter with you."

"So you're saying...," the shorter male with brown hair started speaking, "that our mother has no memory of us?"

"Don't call me that!" I yelped out, unable to stop my outburst. "I am nobody's mother"

"Oh, this is gonna be interesting...," the red haired girl in the back of the room lowered her head.

Charlotte had been right.

Maybe I wasn't ready for this reality.

It didn't seem like reality to me, more like another bad dream.

~♥~

It took all of my might to get off of my lazy butt and write this post. 

I was pretty shocked that I had succeeded in the end. O_o

I'm gonna speed through this news bulletin and just throw out this piece of news... School has started, and I was lucky enough not to have any homework for today. But, that won't happen everyday, so, there might, and I put the stress on might, be some delay in future chapters. I highly doubt it though. I can be very determined sometimes.

Anywho, thanks for reading!