The light caught me.

The Oppressed ship, Laura, Manning, Surge, they were all gone. Replaced with light as far as the eye could see. It was blue, no red, actually, it was green…orange? It kept changing colors.

It was like staring at a moving rainbow. It wasn’t bright, and it didn’t hurt to look at, but that only made things more confusing! Was I dead? Did I live inside a rainbow now?

I stomped on the nonexistent floor and felt something solid. I was literally just standing on color. I knew where I was: the realm where rules didn’t exist.

“Hello?” I shouted into the color. No response. Not even an echo. There was nothing solid for the sound to bounce off. “Rude. If I’m going to spend eternity here, at least send some company!”

“Am I good enough, lad?” asked a confident voice. That accent…it sounded like he hailed from the Tenth Division. My family did too. A dark shape walked out of the color. I couldn’t make out his features until he got closer. If this were a video game, he’d be a level that was in the process of loading. His hair was the same color as mine: chocolate brown, only his was shaggier. Scars decorated his face. His blue eyes reminded me of Beth’s. There was no freaking way this guy could be who I thought he was. “Can’t lie, I’ll be disappointed if you say no.”

The spitting image of my grandfather stood before me. He looked exactly like he did in my photograph. He even sported the same black and gray space suit. It looked way worse than it did in the picture. It was worn and somehow more scarred than his face, the result of countless battles.

I had to be dead if I was seeing him, but these were real chills running through my body. I was shaking beyond control. If I was dead, why couldn’t I be with my parents? Why him?!

“Are you…are you really Michelangelo Locke?” I asked just to get it off my chest. It did nothing to lift the weight.

He nodded, retaining that smile. “You’re my grandkid, aren’t you? Alex?”

“Wander.”

“Really? All right! Man, just look at ya. You were a teeny lad last time, but you’ve grown into a man! That’s mad, isn’t it! Don’t leave me hanging, speak your mind!”

I threw a punch at his face, but he caught it without flinching. I’d put every bit of strength I had into that! He blinked and looked at my captive fist like he didn’t realize he’d done anything. Then he let go, and my arm flopped to my side. I rubbed it and glared at the color floor.

“Sorry about that,” Michel—Grandp—he said. “You, want to try that again? I won’t block this time.”

I rolled my eyes. Being nice, even after I tried to deck him. He sure fits the description of the guy everyone worshiped.

“I won’t try to punch you again. I—I don’t know if any of this is real or not. You died a long time ago. That’s what Manning told me!”

He scratched his chin, where a bundle of whiskers resided. “Manning! Which one? I guess that doesn’t matter. You’re right though. The last thing I remember is everything going black on that day. I gladly sacrificed myself to keep my team safe. Sounds like it worked. That makes it all worth it. Heck, if even one soldier made it out it’d be worth it!”

“Stop it!” I covered my ears. “I don’t want to hear you brag about how selfless you are! It’s like I’m talking to a superhero. Everyone thinks you’re perfect, but if it wasn’t for your crummy leadership, you wouldn’t have had to sacrifice yourself! You’d all still be alive and happy! You could have been there for me; I could have met you!” I clamped my hands over my mouth. Had a dam just burst inside of me? Where did that last thing even come from? “Now I’m stuck here. I don’t know if I’m dead or not, but I probably am! These stupid Hybrid powers; I’ll never get them to work.”

I buried my face in my cold, dead hands. Life was so much easier when I was a kid obsessed with tools and cruisers. Now there were wires and circuitry in my guts, and I had no idea how they had gotten there.

“Hybrid? I’m one of those! At least, I was when I was alive.” His voice held a hint of sadness underneath that bravado. I didn’t know perfect beings could feel emotions. “I remember shooting mad lightning at the bots before I bit it. That’s what helped save my team. I think Upton was beside me when I died. Those silver eyes were the last I saw before black.”

I lifted my head. “Did you say lightning? That’s what I have too. Crazy old man, are you saying you had my Hybrid powers before I did? How is that possible?”

He threw out his arms for a hug. “Looks like you inherited powers, lad! Congrats! No need to thank me, of course.”

I scowled. “I was already born when you got Implanted.”

His eyes grew, then he tapped his forehead. “You’re a smart one, ain’t ya? In that case, I’ve got no clue what happened to ya. But if it bothers ya then I’m sorry, lad.”

I groaned. “Of course it bothers me! Especially now. This is just another thing to live up to. ‘Are you as powerful as your grandfather was?’ Give me a break.”

The colors of the realm slipped into darker hues. My sullen mood may have been the cause. Not that I had an obligation to keep the realm of death happy! It could have been dark for all I cared!

Michelangelo patted my back. “I’m getting the sense that you’ve had it rough because of me. If someone’s telling you to be more like me, you tell that fool that you’re your own person. We don’t get anywhere by being compared to others. We get there by living up to our own potential.”

“You don’t get it! Even if they don’t say it, I know it’s in the back of their minds.” I wiped my eyes before he could notice the tears. No way I was going to let him see them. How could I even be crying there? “Sometimes I wish you’d never existed…but then I wouldn’t exist either. Sometimes I don’t care.”

He shook his head. “Lad, I’m the king of screw-ups. It’s insane that you get compared to me! I can’t even count how many times I’d have failed if it weren’t for Theo. Rebecca? She was the brawn. If people think I fought a lot of AI, they should have seen her! Point is, we all need people, lad. They’re how the great people get their great reputations. Next time someone compares you to me, tell them about the time Upton had to remind me to wear my space suit before I set foot on Venus.”

I stifled a snicker at that. The great Michelangelo needed people as much as I did. This whole meeting had been worth it just for that information. Good thing too, because the light was getting brighter. I couldn’t look at it anymore. That sucked because every inch of this place was made of light. Had I always been floating or had that just started now? The whole realm was rejecting me.

“I think…I think I’m leaving.” I looked at my hand, but it was blurry. “I don’t feel connected to this place anymore.”

“You’re getting a second chance? Great! I was hoping you hadn’t bit it yet.” Michelangelo patted my back again. His smile downgraded to a frown before my very eyes. “I’m sorry if I’ve made things hard on ya, lad. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m sorry I didn’t get to be there for your first steps, or your first words. But, when I saw you in that crib for the first time, I knew.”

“You knew?” I felt my head getting numb. “Knew what?”

His smile came back. “I knew what I was fighting for. Take care, lad.” I couldn’t feel my mouth anymore. Responding was impossible even though I really wanted to. All of the light faded along with Grandpa.

Darkness swallowed me up, but I welcomed it. It was my ticket home.

I gasped in as much air as I could. The realm of light didn’t require oxygen, but the land of the living sure did. My whole body tingled like…well like lightning had struck it. Even the tiniest of movements burned, but there was an upside: I was alive.

Laura’s worried eyes stared down into mine. Her lips parted out of joy. Mine did too.

Then she slapped me.

“Ow!” I rubbed my stinging cheek. It wasn’t a serious hit, but it caught me off guard. “Sorry if I upset you by living!”

“Stop doing that!” Laura seized my shoulders, her eyes welling up with tears. “You can’t keep almost dying and expect me to be okay! You’re such a hypocrite, calling me out for what I do even though you’ve just done it yourself!”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry! I’ll make it up to you, but…did it work?” She slapped her forehead out of frustration. “I can’t believe you’re still focused on the mission. Look, see for yourself.”

The numbness from Surge’s shot wore off or my divine experience took it away, whichever worked. The point was that I could stand on my own two feet. I peered out of the windshield and saw a red sky. Surge’s blue dome was nowhere to be seen. The shield generator wasn’t glowing either. Now it really looked like a vase.

“We did it!” I pumped my fist. “We shut down the barrier! We beat the Oppressed! Mostly.”

“Beaten? Sure, you can say that if it makes you feel better.” Surge held his mangled arm as he glared at us. He was still trapped thanks to that bent knee. “Too bad you have no idea what you just did. You were so focused on your mission that you forgot the consequences. Can you imagine how poorly the ruabrum will be treated because of this little rebellion? You could be responsible for a massacre.”

I couldn’t ignore the twinge of guilt I felt. “We won’t be. I have faith in the humans and ruabrum of this place. They’ll take this time to reestablish what they had.”

“Yeah that’s not happening, but you’ve proven me wrong before. Underestimating you was a mistake. Are you as curious as I am about your potential?”

“Know what I’m curious about?” I walked up to him and knelt. “Where’s the Oppressed base? Where were you hoping to escape to after tricking Frost into blasting this city?”

He raised an eyebrow as he stared past me. “I may consider your question if you answer mine: who is that?”

I didn’t want to turn around because it felt like I’d be walking into a trap. I only did it when Laura gasped. The knight stood in front of the control panel with crossed arms. The setting Sun reduced him to a silhouette with its evening shafts. This guy again. He used to be intimidating, but seeing him now? After defeating the Oppressed? It was like spotting a fly in your room. Nothing but another annoyance.

“You’ve got to be as sick of me as I am of you,” I said as confidently as I could. “Dumb question at this point, but how did you get here? I’m sure there are tons of other ships in the air. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there was a ‘barricade’ over the city.”

“And you’re the one who brought it down,” the knight said in his distorted voice. “This entire ship flashed with light after it happened. Pretty easy to find you after that. Then again, it’s always easy to find you, Alpha.”

The blade on his rifle glinted in the sunlight. It wasn’t going anywhere near Laura this time.

“Plan?” Laura asked in a quiet voice. “Without Instructor Manning, I don’t think we can take this guy in close combat.”

“We can’t, but we might if we work together.” I looked down and saw the wrench in her hand. Good, she’d picked it up. “Hand me that thing. I’ll fight up close; you blast him from a distance.”

She passed the wrench, but her hand lingered on it. “But, you’re better with the gun. You chose the wrong time to get all ‘pacifist’ on me.”

“As long as we rush him, we’ll have the advantage. Besides, I’ve got another plan. We’re finding out who this guy is. Even if I have to take a blade to the gut to do it.”

“Please don’t.”

“Done scheming?!” His blue beam zipped past us. It exploded near the elevator but hopefully didn’t damage it.

I galloped at him and raised my wrench above my head. I swung it downward, but it only clanged against his rifle. He threw my arm off, and the wrench’s weight forced me back. One of Laura’s shots flew by us, keeping the knight away from me. He groaned and shot at Laura’s feet. She screamed as the explosion tossed her aside. I couldn’t even see her past all the smoke.

“Laura! Whoa!” I jumped aside, narrowly dodging his blade. I backed away as he stalked toward me. “Wait! We don’t have to do this. I know who you are. You disappeared around the time of the AI invasion. You know so much more about me than the AI could have told you.” He reeled back his blade and jabbed it at me. It nicked my arm but didn’t draw blood. “Stop it! I know you’re Anderson Oak!”

He froze. I did too because I was too scared to sneak in a free hit.

“Yeah, I know who you are.” I tapped my head. “So, you might as well take off that helmet.”

He grumbled. “Thanks, but I’m good. Unlike you idiots, I prefer to keep my helmet on when I fight.”

He raised his leg and ax-kicked the wrench from my hands, nearly breaking my thumb in the process. Then he holstered the rifle and threw a punch. I blocked it, but it still hit me like a brick. He jabbed again and again, then kicked me and then a palm strike to my face. Pain spiked in every cell of my being. I had no idea how my legs were holding up to this rush. He grabbed my arm, rotated himself, and yanked. My feet left the floor. I flipped over his shoulder and slammed into the control panel. My butt might have shattered all of Surge’s screens.

“Connecting dots, solving ‘mysteries,’ you’re just distracting yourself from the issues at hand!” The knight towered over me as he tapped the buttons on his wrist. “You think too much. It’s why you’ll never beat someone as focused as me—ah!”

His back exploded. He crumbled before me, wheezing from pain. I peered over his fallen body and spotted Laura gripping the pistol. She was down on one knee and blood was dripping from her mouth.

“Wander! Do the hacking thing!” she shouted. If only I understood what she meant. “The thing that brought down the barricade!”

The barricade? Oh, that thing. I seized the knight’s helmet with both hands and concentrated on it disassembling. The knight growled and pulled at my hands, but they weren’t going anywhere. I was holding on with every ounce of strength I had. He wasn’t wrong about me. I loved solving mysteries and making sure that everything made sense. The fact that he was right only furthered my curiosity. No one but Laura could know me so well. Anderson was the only other person who came close. He had to be Anderson. What other answer made sense?!

BZZZT!

Heat surged in my brain and fizzled out through my hands. The knight’s suit clicked then whirled. The complicated edges and shapes inched away from his face. From my point of view, it all happened upside down. I couldn’t make out his face until it was all over. My heart went crazy as his helmet completely disassembled. I pushed myself right-side up. His face was finally revealed.

Her face.

Time stood still as the girl with the golden-brown hair bun backed up. She gasped and covered her face, but she was shaking too much. She could never hide that face from me. Her face changed everything. Where was I? This wasn’t reality. I was stuck in the light realm. Was this a dream or a nightmare? Her hardened blue eyes glared at her hands.

“No, no, this wasn’t supposed to happen!” Beth Locke’s hand roamed over her face. “You were never supposed to know!”

“Beth.” The words left my lips before I could form a solid thought. “I knew it. I knew you were alive!”

She pointed her rifle sword at me. “Stay back! Don’t even ask for a hug.”

“You were right.” Laura pursed her lip as she sniffed. Could she keep from crying? I wasn’t even trying to stop my tears. “Beth. Is that really you? Why are you dressed in that war suit? Why are you trying to take Wander? Why are you helping the AI?!”

The fog lifted as Laura opened my eyes. Her being alive wasn’t even the most important revelation. My baby sister was working for the murderous robots who had killed our parents.

“Beth, why are you doing this? What did they promise you? Are they controlling you somehow? Whatever it is, we can help you fight it!”

“If you want to help me, you’ll have to come with me!” Beth’s chest heaved as she got closer. I’d never seen her eyes filled with that amount of intensity. Her voice was high and sweet-sounding, but it also had a harsh tone now. “I’m not mind-controlled. I’m following the AI out of my own free will. They’re the only ones who know what the universe needs!”

“What?!” I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t understand this at all. Someone sweet like you working with aliens as evil as them? They’re the same monsters who killed our parents—”

“You killed them!” She punched my suit. I staggered back, but I couldn’t tell whether it was from the blow or her words. “You’re the Alpha. You’re the one they were after. If you had been there and Frost hadn’t intervened, then our—my parents would still be alive!” She shut her eyes and inhaled through her nose. After exhaling, she revealed her steely gaze again. “You may have killed my parents, but you still have a chance to fix this galaxy. As soon as I increase the range on this stupid thing, we’re out of here.”

She fiddled with the controls on her wrist again. I should have been stopping her, but my torrent of thoughts prevented me from acting.

“You’re blaming me for the death of the people who put a roof over our head…while siding with the murderers?! That doesn’t make any sense! You’re allowing emotion to overpower logic! Please just come with us so we can fix everything. The only reason I was here today was so that I could find you.” I held out my hand. An offer. The only right option. “I want my little sister back.”

She glared at my hand like it was the knife I had used to stab her in the back. Oh wait, I wasn’t the traitor here. She was the one throwing away everything to pursue a grudge. Her gruff exterior faltered. For a moment, my sister’s softness returned to her. The real Beth stood before me…until the pain returned to her eyes.

“Your sister died on the same night as her parents!” She fired her rifle. An explosion chomped into my suit, flinging me against the panel. My chest was practically filling with lava. “Don’t call me Beth. I’m Beta now. The Beta Hybrid. A being destined to come second…to the Alpha.”

She stepped aside to avoid one of Laura’s shots then she groaned and took aim. But a second, much more powerful shot launched her beside me. Beth slid off the control panel and fell to her hands and knees. She gasped for air as she scowled at her new opponent.

“Good thing I have crazy reflexes, huh?” Kaela Fire stepped out of the elevator. She had a black eye and her suit was dented, but at least she wasn’t limping. “Like, these doors open and I just see this crazy chick blast the heck out of Wander. The rest of you aren’t looking too hot either. Holy—is that guy dead?”

She pointed at Manning. He tossed and turned like he was having a nightmare. Kaela and I sighed in relief at the same time. My sigh flooded my ribs with pain though.

Beth coughed “How dare you strike me! I could take you down in at least 167 different wa—what?” She examined her wrist as it shot out wisps of blue. She frantically tapped it and whimpered out of frustration. She had been in the habit of doing that when she was younger. “Damn it! The range on this is busted. I must retreat.”

“No!” I reached out for Beth with my weak, shaking arm. Everything hurt, and I could feel my consciousness fading, but I needed my sister. I couldn’t let her disappear again. “Stay. Please.”

She met my gaze. My eyes pleaded with hers. I knew then and there that I’d lost her. Her soul was reflected in her eyes, and it was broken. She pressed her wrist. A blue outline washed over her before she blinked out of existence. The girl I had risked my life time and time again to find had just turned her back on me. My physical pain was nothing compared to this emptiness.

“What the heck just happened?” Kaela scratched her head. “What’s been happening? Was that girl with the AI? What happened to the barricade thingy?”

“As someone who personally witnessed it all, it’s difficult to explain,” Surge said. Though he was in the middle of the room, I had forgotten he was there. He had stayed awfully quiet throughout the chaos. “Kaela, I need a metalbound ray for my knee. Can you fetch—”

“Maniac-says-what? Sorry, but I need to help the people who didn’t just imprison a city first. Then we’re having a little chat about freedom before I give you yours back.”

The events of the last few minutes played over and over in my head. Every word out of Beth’s mouth stuck to my mind. I may have saved Red City, but I had failed the person I cared about the most: “You killed them!”

That was one thing we both agreed on.

The Oppressed’s sickbay was gray, and their beds were as hard as dirt. Kaela fished out medic bracelets for each of us (we refused to use ours until Manning got his). Mine wouldn’t fit on my chest, so my arm had to do. An up-close shot with such a powerful rifle wasn’t easy to heal. After I felt the bracelet’s power run out, my ribs still ached. It didn’t replenish my vigor either, because I was tired enough to sleep until the Sun consumed us all.

“I’m guessing something’s wrong with your shoulder?” Laura said from the bed beside me. I didn’t realize I’d been rubbing my left shoulder until she pointed it out. It was sore; must have been a side effect of being shot.

“Who cares about my shoulder? It’s not the part that hurts the most.” I clutched my chest. My heart was beating faintly under my palm. “I can’t believe Beth is…where do I start?”

She frowned. “Tell me about it. The sweetest girl I’ve ever known just kicked our butts and tried to kidnap you. Where did we go wrong?”

“It’s all because of me. I…I guess I’m the Alpha Hybrid, and she’s the Beta. It’s like we’re superheroes huh?” I forced myself to chuckle, but Laura wasn’t falling for it.

“Sorry. It’s just impossible to wrap my head around. I swear all of reality just bent after the AI attacked New Selene. All of this happened because of that one event. Imagine removing it from this messed up timeline. Everything would be different…hey, how are we getting off this ship?”

“Would you mind lowering your volume? I haven’t gotten sleep this excellent since before I enlisted.” Manning yawned and sat up in his bed. He unclasped his bracelet and set it on the little table beside him. The hole in his side was completely closed up. “I suppose it’s too late now, though. What did I miss?”

“Instructor!” Laura lurched forward, but then winced and fell back into her bed. “Ow. You’ll have to take a rain check on that hug.”

He smiled. “I’m glad I have the opportunity to. I couldn’t be happier to see that you two survived all this madness. Did you disable the Blue Barricade?”

“Wander did! He used those crazy Hybrid powers of his to shut it down,” Laura said. “Then everything went nuts when the crazy armored guy showed up again. Armored girl, I mean. About that—”

The light and sound were stolen from the environment. Everything went numb as I was pulled apart. My torso extended like toilet paper unrolling. Laura and Manning became blurs; I could only recognize them from their colors. I knew what this was, and I welcomed it. After everything that had happened, some numbing was exactly what I needed.

Then it stopped. The stolen details hurried back. My mouth felt like I’d been sucking on a hairball. Gross.

Laura coughed as she picked herself up. “Oh lord, did the Oppressed poison us?”

Manning met my gaze. “No…that was a warp. We’ve left New Earth.”

“But this ship was just cloaked,” Laura said. “I don’t know much about ships, but wouldn’t that have left it with no power?”

“That means, wherever he took us, he intends on staying.” I forced myself out of the chair. Standing up sent a wave of pain throughout my chest. “He needs to take us back. We can’t leave the Columbus and the Eachtra behind!”

“That’s right, all our stuff! We need to—wait, did you just call it the—”

“Not the time!”

Each step hurt, but so did sitting still. So much had gone down in Red City. We had no idea what the ruabrum were doing now or how the city would respond to all the chaos. There was so much to deal with, and he just wanted to run away from it?! The elevator offered no resistance. It let us in and carried us up. I pushed the doors apart when they started to inch open.

“Surge!” I shouted to the room. He was seated in front of the control panel rather than standing. Seeing the back of his head again filled me with unease. “What did you do?!”

“I promised Kaela that we were done fighting. Don’t make me a liar.” He massaged his bandaged arm as he stared past the windshield.

“I decide when I’m done fighting.” A spark flew off my nose, startling me. Did I have permanent static electricity now? “Whoa…anyway, how could you just warp out of Red City?”

“Wasn’t easy with three broken screens, but I managed. In case you hadn’t noticed, I showed my face to the entire city. Then they probably uploaded that to the Internet, so the whole planet knows my face. Soon the whole galaxy will. Retreat is the only option. It was time to go home anyway. You’ll love it here.”

“Excuse us if we don’t feel comfortable in the hands of our aggressors,” Manning said. “If it weren’t for Ms. Fire, this wouldn’t be a calm conversation.”

“We had different viewpoints, but now I agree with Kaela. There’s much to gain if we work together. Besides, we’re the ‘good guys’ here. You’ll learn that in time.

Laura scoffed. “Why are you acting like we have any say in this? You kidnapped us!”

Surge pushed the yoke forward, taking the ship down in the process. The windshield showed stars until it was suddenly filled with green. It blinded me. It was like he was taking us toward a green star. As my eyes adjusted, I realized that I’d seen it somewhere before.

“You would be free to leave, but you’d head straight to Frost if you left,” Surge said, stating a fact. “I can’t have that, so we’ll be taking some precautions first.”

“What precaution—oh…oh my god.” I realized what I was looking at. I finally recognized the planet that I had only seen from a distance until now. “Is that what I think it is? Is this a trick?!”

“The only trick here is the one Frost’s been pulling on the whole galaxy.”

The sickly green ball was the same one I’d been staring up at for years. The one that reminded me there was more to my galaxy. There were planets in need of exploration. All except this one: the original Earth.

“Impossible!” Manning adjusted his glasses. “We can’t land here. It’s inhabitable!”

“There it is. The lie that Frost hopes you believe.” Surge stood up but then winced. He gripped his arm tightly, as if warning it to quit hurting. Seeing as Laura had blown it up, I doubted that would work. “In your time with us, you’ll learn all about the lies Frost feeds you, and maybe you’ll even come to your senses about her. You may have forced me to abandon the Blue Barricade, but the fight for the galaxy? I can’t afford to quit that.”

That, on top of everything else I was processing, made my head feel light. Then my shoulder throbbed again. I shouldn’t have been up and about. I had to make this quick then. I marched up to Surge and glared into his eyes. They were as uninterested as ever. He sure had faith that I wasn’t going to try anything. Having kept a mad dog like Dylan around, everyone else must have been child’s play to Surge.

“We’re not spending any time here. Kaela’s the only one I could even consider calling a friend.”

“If you don’t want the shield generator anymore, then be my guest and leave.” His face was concrete though he had just won this verbal game of chess. My stomach dropped as I realized that I had forgotten to take it. Beth had shown up before I could. “That’s the response I expected. I won’t hand it over now, but perhaps, in time, you’ll earn my trust. I may not have recruited a city, but, from the sound of it, you’re worth a whole planet. It’s my duty to keep the ‘Alpha,’ out of Frost’s hands. So do us all a favor and head back to the sick bay, private.”

I wanted nothing more than to break the windshield and shove him into space. We may have saved the city, but we had essentially turned ourselves in to do it. I had no actual plans to join the Oppressed, but Surge knew that already.

I turned to the Earth’s green aura for answers. When you viewed something as a symbol, you never envisioned seeing or meeting it. What better place to plan our next move than at the place where all of this had started?