The Disparate One

It was Sunday, January 8th.

The sun was blasting and everyone was hiding under their hats and umbrellas. The air was dry and the sky was completely blue. Young people were excited to run to the beach to cool off. Others were enjoying isolation with their air conditioners. A few decided to visit the park where under the trees the air was cool. Oxford was one of them.

He watched the branches sway with the winds and dry leaves roll across the pavement. His unruly white hair was as fuzzy as the trees. His body slumped on the bench, leg on top of another, admiring people passing by.

Ever since they got out of the other side of the tunnels, they rejoiced and went their own ways after agreeing not to discuss anything about the facility anymore. Their way to forget it. But Oxford was one of the few who struggled. Either way, he was glad everything was over.

It had been years since the last time he talked to one of his colleagues, the most recent was Chap who got a job at a famous laboratory in Britain. He and his team had been creating extraordinary discoveries. Classified of course. Chap did his best to not be too good at it to avoid any suspicion.

Tria got her own theatre and became a famous actor. One of the highest-paid especially when performing live. She lived in Italy. Ony became an engineer in Japan, building next generation artificial intelligence with his team. Like Chap, he pretended he knew less.

Though, despite being years since they last contacted one another, Oxford planned to visit them next week in Dubai where they agreed to meet, their sort of reunion. He wanted to see how they were doing because, unlike his colleagues, Oxford was retired.

His daughter, Azalea, had finally married the man of her life just months ago. He liked how she was treated, a princess, like what he did. She was the only thing he had left because unfortunately, his wife, Zinnia, passed away recently. Her plane was flying to Russia when it crashed in the Himalayas. It broke his heart. He fought the urge to lose control and drown in alcohol. He fought long and hard just to keep her daughter unaffected by the tragedy.

Her body remained in the crash site, there was simply no way to get to it. The only things he had left of her were their pictures. Their family pictures were placed alongside more others. Some had Sion and him in it. A few had Fier and him, using a holographic mask of course.

Fier got a job in the Whitehouse as a secret service agent. He didn’t use his body as an advantage during his work. He made sure he blended well. As for Nite, well, he was nowhere to be seen when they got out of the facility. The same went to Soothsayer. He wondered where he was right now. Probably helping other people.

His peace was disrupted when he felt his phone vibrate. He brought it out and put it on his ear.

“Dad, where are you right now?” Azalea’s sweet voice came.

“At the park, why?”

“Can you come home now? There’s someone here wanting to see you.”

Oxford straightened his back, pressing the phone further to his ear. Despite the calmness of his daughter’s voice, he could hear the hint of shakiness behind it. Something was wrong. An intruder perhaps?

“Alright. I’ll be on my way,” replied Oxford nonchalantly.

Oxford parked his car at the front entrance of his mansion. His eyes furrowed when he found a convoy of black vehicles parked nearby. All of which had no plate number. He stepped out of his vehicle and walked up to the front door. The moment he stepped inside, he felt something pressed on the side of his head.

His eyes turned and found a man pointing his gun at him. He froze, thinking what he should do. He remained calm when he was led to the living room where more men stood throughout. All had weapons drawn. He could smell a funky scent looming around the place. He suddenly almost slipped. When he looked down, he found a line of gasoline across the marble floor.

“Dad?” Azalea’s voice echoed.

Oxford darted his eyes in the direction where he found his daughter strapped on a plush armchair. Ropes wrapped around her stomach, legs, and wrists. Tears flowed out of her eyes. In front of her was a man standing with his back facing Oxford. He was wearing a white general uniform.

Oxford’s breath shortened and completely stopped when that man turned around. His dark eyes trembled in front of the glaring white irides. The man showed a smile which Oxford could tell wasn’t pure happiness. Both of them were not glad to see each other.

“Long time no see, Oxford,” Ray’s voice sent shivers down Oxford’s spine.

Oxford couldn’t form words as his mind recalled every specific moment he did in the facility. His thought ended the moment he watched Ray fall into the water with no regret. Questions began to rise up.

“To be honest, at first, I refused to believe you are still alive, until now. God, you’ve been through a lot haven’t you, huh?” Ray stood with a stance and a cocky smile.

The contrast between them was drastic. Unlike Oxford, whose every inch of his body changed, Ray remained the same as the last time Oxford remembered it. Still young, yet threatening. Like Micro.

“H-how?” Oxford uttered, bottom lip shaking.

Ray smirked and chuckled. He sat on the sofa and gestured to Oxford to sit down for a quick chat. Ray glanced on his wristwatch before looking at his men, nodding at them. A few walked away, headed back to their vehicles parked in front. Ray sighed, seeing how old this other man had gotten.

Ray dug his hand into his pocket where he revealed a small circular device. Oxford’s eyes widened. It brought many memories. One of which was the time when he survived an accidental explosion with that device with him. The device had the capability to protect the person who had it by providing a forcefield.

“Cal secretly slipped it to me before I pressed the trigger, hence I survived the explosion.”

Ray smirked again, seeing the disbelief on Oxford’s face. He began telling him that it was Cal who saved him from his drowning. And that it was Cal who told him about everything that everyone knew all along. It was further proved to be true after he killed Cal and…

“...this.”

Ray slid out a memory chip. His own memory chip.

To tease Oxford, Ray brought an ordinary pistol from the facility. He assured this was made during Cal’s term. He handed it to Oxford after showing him that it was fully loaded.

“Go on… this is your last chance,” said Ray, sitting in front of the end of the barrel.

Oxford knew this already. The weapon won’t fire because not a single person in the facility had the authority to kill the founder. Even robots.

Ray calmly retrieved the gun from Oxford’s hand.

“It’s a shame really…” Ray frowned for a second, remembering the times he had with Oxford. But, past was past.

All of the sudden, a pair of men rushed over to Oxford, holding him in his place as they tied him onto the sofa. Azalea screamed which irritated Ray. He signaled one of his men to do something about her noise. A man shoved a balled cloth into her mouth. Oxford tried to fight back, but the men were absurdly strong. As if they weren’t humans at all.

Ray stood up as he spun the pistol around his finger. Oxford muffled curses under the cloth, glaring at Ray who stood nearby, with an evil smile. All of Ray’s men calmly walked out of the mansion when Ray aimed the gun blank range.

Oxford paused his muffling and said something aloud and as precise as possible. Ray could make out what he was trying to say.

“Leave. My. Daughter. Alone.”

Ray chuckled again. He sighed when he rubbed his face, he looked to the side as if someone was standing behind the wooden wall.

“Sorry Oxford… rules are rules,” stated Ray, “Do what you need to do.”

Suddenly, another man walked into the scene. It shocked Oxford.

“I’m sorry Oxford… the prophecy must be reified,” whispered Soothsayer before pressing the trigger.