"Woah..."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked into Xerses' apartment. Yes, I'd been inside before; that was obvious. Dinner with the Marshalls' was normal. I just never had a reason to go into his office. All the equipment needed for the work we did was back at the Restoration office. And if we needed anything extra, Province Hall or Prime would easily provide it.

Yet, walking into Xerses' office, lined with all of his personal computers, I felt like there was more technology here in a single room than there was back at the facility. There were wall-to-wall monitors, and keyboards of every size, neatly placed beside each other. A large LED screen showed a white screen with small black text appearing across the top. Perfectly placed, it read, "Morning, Xerses."

"Yo..." I listened as Xerses closed the door behind me. It clicked quietly. His footsteps were louder than the lock as he stepped beside me. As I looked at him, he smirked and rocked on his feet. All while I pointed at the computer screens in front of us. "How high is your light bill?"

"Light bill?" Xerses scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Man, I ain't paid for a light bill in who knows how long."

My jaw dropped as I watched him walk over to his desk as though he had said nothing wrong. When he looked back at me, saw my face, he lifted his hands up in his defense. "Wait, wait, not like that," he said, laughing. "Erica has this perk from her school days. To keep her computers up and running, Province pays for her electricity."

"Oh..." Walking over towards the large desk on the left, I let my hand pass over the flat keyboard. The white squares were warm under my fingertips. And as though the desktop on top of it noticed my presence, it powered on, welcoming me. 'Hello,' it read.

I couldn't help but smile. "You mean to tell me these computers aren't yours?"

"Nope." Xerses rolled in his chair. "I mean, that one is." He pointed at one at the right. "And that one." His finger motioned to the one above it. "But the rest of these bad boys? That's all Erica, man."

"Shit..." I laughed. "I mean, I knew she was a genius, but—"

"No. I'm a genius." Xerses pointed at his chest with his thumb. "Erica she's..."

I looked at him as his eyes rolled back and a smile lifted every part of his face. "She's a Goddess."

The look on his face, that smile, it was good to see. It was great seeing him happy, considering all he had been through. And to think he put it all behind himself so easily...

"All right, so," Xerses dropped his hands on his lap and looked at me, "you remember that headset Clark and Alex created a few years back?"

I nodded. I remembered. That headset was used to train each of the Peace members how to wield a weapon, and how to fight, all within a few hours under a virtual program. It was that same program where I got to know so many "rebels" from the digital war. Where I found the courage to confess my love to Clara, without fear, without regrets. I couldn't remember exactly why I'd held back, but I knew... something was keeping me from saying it.

"All right, cool." Xerses nodded and turned towards his desk. There was a small drawer at the bottom, one he opened and stuck his hand inside of. When he pulled back, there was a small device between his fingertips.

It wasn't the big headpiece I remember putting over everyone's eyes when I had to train them.

Pointing at it, I asked, "What's that?"

Xerses held it up in front of him. It was a simple sphere, black, with no markings. Yet, when he applied pressure, it flattened and expanded to the size of a quarter. I lifted my brows, amazed.

"It's the same device, just new and improved," he said. "Alex had dropped it off a few months back and wanted Erica to test it on Malfunctioners when she had the time. Only, then, we didn't have too many and there wasn't a reason to give it a go. Now..." He cringed and closed one eye. "Erica will probably be looking for this soon. Luckily for us, she can be a little scatter-brained and misplace things. We'll use it while it's 'lost' and return it before she even realizes we took it."

Tugging off my jacket, I placed it on a chair in the room's corner. "Did she really misplace it or are you going to make her think she did?" I asked him, a smirk on my face.

Xerses laughed, and with a slight toss, handed me the device in his hand. "She did. I just found it first."

My mouth opened with a silent 'ah.' I couldn't argue with that. Finders keepers, right? Even if it wasn't his to find.

"Besides..." Xerses turned back towards his computer screen, fingers quickly typing away at the keyboard. Three different programs opened for him, ready and available for him to use. "We'll use it first to make sure you're okay, then I'll put it somewhere where she can easily find it." Pressing the enter key, he turned and faced me. "It'll be like we never had it at all."

I smiled, moving the sphere from one palm to the next. His plan to use the device and return it as though we never had it at all was the best-case scenario. Because I wanted to be fixed and back to normal before anything could turn worse for me or Clara would notice a difference. I wanted to keep going about my daily life, go to work, stay at home, without worry. And once the Domes were safely built, I would help there, too. Be with the Codes who need me.

I couldn't do that if I wasn't one hundred percent.

"Sit there." Xerses pointed at an office chair in front of him. "Get comfortable. And put that thing on the right side of your temple."

"Okay." I did as instructed, sitting directly across from him. The small device was cold when it met my skin. But it was definitely an upgrade from the massive headset Alex and Clark had created in the past. Granted, back then, I wasn't made to wear one as I could seamlessly connect and disconnect to the server. My new body, however, wasn't as handy. Sometimes it felt as though I was limited on purpose.

"All right." Xerses faced his computer again. "We'll be doing the exact same thing we do to the Malfunctioners when they come off the table, cool?"

Leaning my head back against the chair's headrest, I watched the program start-up on the computer's screen. "You're going to playback through my memories and find any gaps?"

"Exactly." He shot me a small smirk. "And when I do, I'll pull through your data files and connect the missing pieces. Won't take more than a few hours. You should be back to normal in no time."

I could hear the device turn on, a silent whirring in my ears. My internal computers reacted on their own, too. Letters appeared over my vision. And yet, though it all seemed like a solid plan, I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"What if I'm not, X?" I asked him. "What if this gets worse?"

Xerses let his finger hover over the enter key as he turned his head to look at me. There wasn't a smile on his face, or any expression to give me a little comfort. His eyes were serious. His breathing was steady, yet controlled. "It won't," he said. "I got you."

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I wasn't sure when I closed my eyes or if I'd shut them at all. The moment Xerses started the program, I was zipped out of reality, pushed through an electrical field that didn't feel real. Honestly, with the way technology worked with Alex and Clark, I only assumed their device would be seamless. Couldn't imagine how someone could put the device on and not feel sick once it began?

Then again, I'm sure the start-up process was a little different. They designed the program just for them, their situation, and make-up. Xerses threw me in here without a single tweak. And I felt it, deep in my stomach.

"All right, how you feelin'?" Xerses' voice echoed in my head.

Blinking as I looked around me, I stared at the white space I once called home. For over fifty years, I lingered in a virtual space meant to keep my programming safe. There were no walls, no ceilings unless I wished one to be there. In this space, the world was at my fingertips. And yet, so far away.

In this place, I wasn't real. I couldn't pass on to heaven. It was as though I were a soul locked away with a key I had no access to. Until Clara...

I pushed my hands into the front pockets of my jeans and stared at... nothing. Emptiness. The Void, as I called it. "Other than nothing?" I said out loud.

Xerses heard me. "I guess that's good then, huh? Don't want you to be freakin' out," he said, laughing.

"Not freaking out." I laughed, too. "Just... uncomfortable."

"Yeah, I can see."

It was weird hearing him in my head. A part of me knew this was how Clara must have felt when I was in hers. Yet, as I looked up at the white space above me, I told myself it wasn't the same. I was sure Xerses had a clear view of me and all that was around me, to better understand my predicament. With Clara, I could only see what her eyes allowed.

"Let's get down to business, cool?" Xerses cleared his throat as I looked ahead, listening to him. "You're saying you can't remember your past. How far back?"

I shrugged, licking my lip. "What I did during the war is when I feel lost. My childhood seems intact, memories of my brother, my parents, all good to go. Just—"

"Just the nitty-gritty. Got it."

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