I walked into my father's secured office with Rusty at my feet, and looked around. “I still hate this office.”

“I think it looks fi-” Alyssa tried to say, but was cut off by a loud booming voice.

“AN UNAUTHORIZED VOICE PRINT HAS BEEN DETECTED.”

The office door slammed shut, and the security locks engaged with a loud clang.

“I asked you to be quiet.” I said to her.

Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, and I quickly put my hand up to cover it.

“Shush!” I said.

Alyssa mumbled the words that she was sorry against my palm.

“Rusty. Up.” I said, and my robotic dog hopped up onto my father's immaculately clean desk. The weight of the dog activated the pressure plate to open the control panel, so I opened it the rest of the way and stuck the end of Rusty's tail into it.

I took my other hand away from Alyssa's mouth and opened the back panel on Rusty. I hit several buttons, and chose the appropriate menu options, then my AI Amanda helped turn off the tripped security alarm. The security lock disengaged with another loud clang, and the office door opened.

“Okay, that's got it.” I said, then put my hand over Alyssa's mouth because she was about to speak again. “What part of 'be quiet' don't you understand?”

Alyssa mumbled into my hand again, and I sighed.

“It's a continuous safety feature.” I explained. “Any time an unauthorized voice is heard, the door locks.”

Alyssa tried to talk again and I gripped the back of her head with my other hand to hold the hand over her mouth steady.

“STOP TALKING!!!” I yelled at her. “Either shut up, or get out!” I said, and she looked at me with angry eyes. “I won't be able to get any work done if you keep up with this foolishness!”

Alyssa looked like she wanted to knock my hands away; but, she must have remembered how she had hurt me earlier and nodded instead.

I eased my hands away from her head and mouth, and she didn't say anything. I walked around to the chair behind my father's desk and sighed as I sat down. The middle section of the desk flipped up to reveal a computer monitor and a manual keyboard. I looked at Rusty's back panel to see if Amanda had anything to say.

It won't let me add any new users to the secured files, Jack.

I hit the clear button and looked at the screen. I typed in a few basic commands to see what kind of system it was, or if my father had changed anything; but, I found it was all just the way I remembered it as a kid.

“Hm.” I said out loud. “Security... security... where would you keep the secured server, dad?”

Rusty barked and I looked at the back panel.

According to the power usage, there's a main server right under this room.

“Dad, you sneaky devil.” I said and brought up the schematics for the house on the computer screen. “I don't see where... where... ah, there it is.”

I hit the wall display and the house schematics were enlarged to fit the available space.

“There you are.” I said. “Now, how do I get access to you?” I asked myself and rubbed my chin. “I left so fast this morning that I forgot to shave.” I smiled and looked at Rusty.

It says you need to speak the pass phrase.

Thanks, Amanda. I thought to her, hit the clear messages button, and brought up the security files on the computer.

“It looks like I need to speak a security code.” I said to Alyssa, then I checked how many chances I had to do it. “Well, damn.”

“Wh-” Alyssa clamped her hands over her own mouth and mumbled that she was sorry. I waited for the security features to engage again, and when they didn't, I relaxed.

“I only get one chance.” I said, and checked the time stamp on the file. It was a year before my mother died. “So, nothing after she was sick.” I said, then sat back in the chair. “Alyssa, this is going to take a while.” I said to her. “I need to find the right pass phrase, or everything will be lost.”

I didn't know for sure if that was actually true or not; but, what I did know was that my father was a vindictive bastard. It was safe to assume that he would have something set up to damage or destroy his work so it wouldn't be stolen. I got up from behind the desk and took Alyssa's arm. I led her from the office and down the corridor, and opened the door to the spare room.

“You can stay here, so you're close to me if anything happens; or you can go back to the reinforced section to spend the time with your squad mates.”

“I'll stay here.” Alyssa said as she stepped just inside the doorway to the spare room. “Even though I didn't appreciate you putting your hands on me like that.”

“I'm sorry about that.” I said, and stepped close to her. I invaded her personal space quite intentionally, and she looked at me with what I thought was either anticipation or expectation; because she didn't back up at all, or even look like she had thought about it. I reached a hand up towards her face and saw her tense up; then I ran my fingers through her hair in a quick motion and moved the hair away from her face.

“I'll holler if I need your help.”

Alyssa's expression had changed slightly from expectation to a hint of surprise, because that was not what she had expected me to do or say. I smiled at her, stepped back out of her personal space, and shut the door.

Hopefully, that'll keep her out of the way while I figure out what the pass phrase is. I thought and went back into my father's office. For the next few hours, I searched through everything; both physical and electronic, and found nothing.

What the hell kind of pass phrase would my father put on this thing? I asked myself.

Even hooked into the house like she was, Amanda couldn't find a reference to any kind of a pass phrase, let alone the actual one.

I yawned loudly and stretched, then stood up. “Maybe a fresh look at it in the morning will work.” I said and looked at Rusty. “Are you staying here, or are you coming with me?”

“I'd like to stay.” Amanda said, and then Rusty barked. “Rusty wants to come with you, though.”

I chuckled and disconnected his tail from the console. Rusty hopped off of the desk and trotted beside me as I left the office and it shut behind me. I walked to the spare room and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Alyssa asked when she opened the door.

“I'm going to bed to get some rest.” I said. “My room's the one on the right at the end of the hallway.”

“Okay.” Alyssa said and shut the door.

So much for sticking with me for my protection. I thought in amusement as I walked down the hall and entered my old room. I looked around at the things I had left here, and smiled as I thought of all the time I spent here with my mother. I shut the bedroom door and walked over to my desk. I had hit my growth spurt early, so both the desk and the bed were normal size.

My model of the Cavern was still on the desk. It was hand-made from clay and had taken a week at room temperature to cure and get hard. I smiled and didn't want to touch it, afraid that it would crumple to dust after so long. Circuit board diagrams covered the walls, and coding shortcuts were scribbled over nearly all of them.

My father hated that I did that to the printouts. I thought and smiled. He never knew that I did it on purpose, just to drive him nuts.

I laid down on the normal-sized bed and relaxed, and Rusty hopped up to sit on the end of it.

“Goodnight.” I said.

“Sleep tight.” Amanda said, and Rusty barked once.

I started to go over everything that my mind had glimpsed in the file download from Dennis, the archive AI, and drifted off to sleep.

*

“Mom!” I yelled. “Jay's picking on me again!”

My mother came out of the vacation house and looked at the offending child. “What did I warn you about, Jolene?”

“I should only kiss him if he wants me to.” Jay said and then giggled.

“You're both only nine.” My mother said. “Don't go jumping ahead of yourselves.”

“He's so cute, though!” Jay said and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I love him!” She said and planted a big wet kiss on my cheek.

“Ahhh!” I said and squirmed to get out of her grip. “Mom, help!”

My mother put her hands on her hips and Jay tightened her hold on me.

“Jolene Marie Henderson.” My mother said in the tone that all mothers used for bad children, and Jay kind of wilted at the sound of her full name; then my mother smiled sweetly. “Give him another kiss and let him go.”

“YAY!” Jay yelled happily. She kissed me on the cheek again, let me go, and ran off to play with Rusty.

“Mom! How could you?” I asked her, and tried to wipe off Jay's kisses. My mother knelt in front of me and used a tissue she had pulled from some magic place, and wiped off my face.

“She really does like you a lot.” My mother said. “You could be a little friendlier to her.”

“I know.” I sighed. “It's just...” My face flushed red. “...the only girl I want to kiss me... is you.”

My mother laughed the same laugh she always did when I said something like that, and she kissed my forehead. I didn't squirm or fight it at all, and she leaned back.

“My sweet little angel, you're going to have to accept that other girls are going to want to kiss you.” She said and went to wipe off my forehead, but I stopped her. “Jack, there's lipstick there.”

“That's okay.” I said, and darted forward to kiss her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetie.” My mother said, and I took off running after Jay and Rusty. When I caught up to them, Jay saw the lipstick mark on my forehead and stopped running.

“Ha ha!” Jay laughed and pointed. “Mama's boy!”

“Yeah, I am.” I said and hugged her.

“What... what are you doing?” Jay asked me, surprised.

“Being friendly.” I said, leaned back a little to look at her, and kept a hold of her. Jay was a little shorter than me, with wavy shoulder length blonde hair, and she had dimples on her face when she smiled. I never thought about them being cute before, though. I was overcome with a kind of weird feeling, and her lips looked plumper than they had only a moment before.

“J-Jack...”

I leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was my first 'real' kiss, and it was weird, wet, and awkward. I stopped after only a few seconds and leaned back again. Jay had a look of complete shock on her face, and if I had a mirror, I think my own face would have had the same expression. We stared at each other for several moments, then Rusty barked at us.

“What is it, boy?” I asked him and let Jay out of the hug. Rusty barked twice and turned around to show me his back panel, so I knelt to look at it and nodded. “My mom says lunch is ready.” I said, closed the panel, and stood up.

Jay was gone.

“Jay?” I looked around, and couldn't see her. “JAY!” I yelled. I looked down at Rusty. “Find Jay!”

Rusty barked and took off at a run. I ran after him, and he led me away from the house. It wasn't until several minutes later that we reached the drop off and I became scared.

“JAY!” I yelled and stepped closer to the edge. “JAAAYYYY!”

Rusty barked and I turned to see what he wanted, my foot slipped, and I fell over the edge.

“AhhhhhhHHHHH!!!!” I yelled as I plummeted into the darkness.

*

“AhhhhhhHHHHH!!!!” I yelled as I sat up in bed. “Goddammit!” I said, rolled out of bed, then put my head in my hands.

My room's door burst in and Alyssa was there in full combat mode. Her eyes glowed a bright red and she had her fists clenched and ready to fight.

“It was a dream!” I said to her. “A goddamned stupid dream!”

Alyssa's eyes went back to their normal color, and she nodded. “Can I ask you what happened?”

“That's the thing.” I sighed. “I remember it every time I wake up from it, and I know it's a dream because what happened at the end of it didn't actually happen.”

Alyssa walked over and sat down on the bed beside me. “What happened?”

I told her what was in the dream, and she looked at me.

“I'm not a dream specialist, but... I'm pretty sure I know what that dream means.”

“Oh, wise one! Give me your knowledge!” I said sarcastically.

“You didn't see her again after you kissed her, did you?” Alyssa asked. “Either she moved away, or because of... well, you never came back here... not after...”

I sighed. “You think my subconscious is trying to tell me something.”

Alyssa nodded.

“What is it?”

“Do you feel guilty that you never saw her again after that?” Alyssa asked. “She really liked you, and then you disappeared.”

I froze still at her words. “Oh, god!” I said. “I understand! After all this time of suffering from it!” I said excitedly. “It wasn't her that disappeared in the dream like I always thought! It was me!” I took Alyssa into a hug. “Thank you!” I said, let her out of the hug, and put my hands on her shoulders. “Thank you so much! If it wasn't for you...”

“You're welco-Mmm.” Alyssa's words were cut off when I kissed her.