As they approached the center of the city, the group first bumped into Carlos.
“It’s nice to see you again, Jessica,” Carlos said as he extended his hand.
Jessica shook it and tried to smile politely as Jordan spoke. “Have you seen Ori? She’s getting her memory back.”
“He’s around here somewhere,” Carlos said. “Oh, here they come now.”
Jessica followed his gaze. Ori, Evelyn, and another familiar face walked toward her. Jessica’s heart thumped when she recognized the doctor with the decaying eyes from her visit to Zach’s nursing home.
Carlos continued as the three approached, “I believe you’ve met my colleague, Dr. Serrano. Yes?”
“Don’t worry, Jessica,” Ori said. “He won’t harm you. Dr. Serrano’s specialty is understanding and manipulating the physical network of the brain. You can think of him as a type of neurologist.”
“The rest of my memory is coming back,” Jessica blurted out.
“What have you remembered now?” Ori said.
Jessica focused on the grass, making sure nothing distracted her. “I remember how I met Zach. Leslie brought me in to meet him. Zach wanted me to write a piece on their technology. He figured that if more people knew how it worked, then there would be a leap in technological discoveries.”
She looked up and studied Ori’s face.
“Go on,” he said.
“I was skeptical.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew exactly how it worked, how everything worked.” Jessica rubbed her temple instinctively. She had flashes of herself writing in the journals with the green spines. She saw herself at the Point walking around the gardens, sitting in her room, or even sitting at the round table in the command center.
“I remember tagging along with you.” She glanced at Jordan, Vau, Tony, and the rest. “With all of you. You’ve taken me around before, explained everything to me.”
“Why were you skeptical?” Ori asked again.
“Truly understanding how the dark energy technology worked was a complex thing. I wasn’t sure that a piece by me would enable broad understanding and use of the technology. But Zach not only understood it well; he could clearly and simply explain it all.” Jessica smiled, and she felt her eyes water. “His brain was so fascinating that I just kept finding excuses to meet with him. From then on, it was like everything I learned here, Zach had dreamed about as well, without me telling him.”
“Your minds became entangled,” Dr. Serrano said. “No one can explain how these things happen, and it’s rare, but it does occur.”
“What happened on the night you lost consciousness?” Ori asked.
“I was in town for the forum on the virus, and I visited Zach’s place. He had something important that he wanted to share with me.”
“Do you know what it was?”
“He didn’t trust the people from Confidence Biotech. He found out that they were using the Global Breadth system to identify and capture healthy people. Then they used them to create an antibody. He’d feared something like that happening, so he’d given them a beta version of the system. He also downloaded the entire system on a memory drive and gave it to me. He made me put it in my car then and there. I’m so thankful I did. I had to check some emails, and when I went back into the house, Zach was unconscious. Some men were in the middle of dragging him out. They approached me and sprayed some liquid in my face. I collapsed and couldn’t move or speak, but my mind was still working. After a minute, I don’t know how, but I managed to get up and get to my rental car. I vaguely remember driving and crashing somewhere. The next thing I knew, I was at the Point by the pond.” Jessica grabbed her wrist to find nothing there. She gasped, “I lost my watch.”
“Jessica,” Ori said, “why did you go visit Zach?”
“He said that he had something to tell me.”
“And what did you have to tell him?” Ori asked.
Jessica gently placed her hands on her stomach. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Oh my God.”
“Your baby is fine.” Evelyn grabbed her hands. “She’s healthy, strong, and determined. Just like her mother.”
Evelyn released Jessica’s hands. Dr. Serrano then stood in front of Jessica and placed his hands on her shoulders. Jessica jumped back, but Ori assured her, “Dr. Serrano is one of us. When they sprayed you with that chemical, your connection to us was severed. Carlos sent the doc to assess the damage. You saw him clearly at Zach’s care center, which was a good sign. But then when you didn’t recognize him at the park, I knew things weren’t right.”
“We had to get you here to jump-start your memory,” Evelyn said.
She relaxed as Dr. Serrano adjusted his grip on her shoulders. “Take a deep breath and relax.” Jessica stared into his eyes. His irises were light brown, but they turned a bright white before they eroded. Just like she had seen before, the doctor’s eyes, eyelids, and sockets cracked and flaked like ash on a burned log. Just as quickly, they returned to normal. “Her full memory should return.” Dr. Serrano looked back at Ori and Evelyn. “She should be good.”
Evelyn stepped closer to Jessica again. “We need your help. Malik is in danger, and only you can provide the missing piece. We need to get back to the command center immediately.”
Jessica watched as everyone, including Carlos and Dr. Serrano, were adjusting their watches. Jessica nodded, and the group made their way to the gondolas out of the city and back to the edge of the rainforest. With precise timing, as soon as the group stepped off the glass transport, the thick white fog was waiting for them. Jessica hooked her arm with Evelyn’s as the chilly mist and air took her away.