Chapter One

Jonah could see the look of confusion and concern in Linnea's eyes but didn't know what to tell her. Asking her to come here had been a tremendous risk for her. The escape from the facility was still incredibly fresh in all their minds, even though time had passed, and they had all come to settle into the protection and comfort of Nana's house. She was putting herself in danger by agreeing to come back here without knowing what she might face. There was no way to know if Ryan was still watching the perimeter of the school or even still had members of his army patrolling the buildings to watch for any of the group to return so that he could get his hands on them again. I hadn't seen any of them or noticed any signs that they might still be watching, still waiting, still ready to try to take control again.

As I crept through the grounds and made my way back into the school I had been as vigilant as I possibly could, watching out of the corners of my eyes and trying to remain as aware of the feelings within my body. Something that I had learned in the time since I was working in the old version of this school was to listen to my body and trust what it told me. I was within my body but at the same time, it was as though my body was its own entity. It could tell me far more about what was happening in a situation than I could be aware of in an instant. I trusted myself and allowed myself to tune in to the shivers down my spine, the stinging of my skin, or the sense of heaviness that settled over my head when I was walking into a situation that could be dangerous. It had taken me so long to really learn that. I had been through so much, suffered so much, witnessed so much.

But in the moments when I let myself breathe, I was thankful for all of it, because it had taught me the invaluable lesson that I knew had saved my life countless times before. It was something that took only a second. There was a moment, a brief moment, when what I felt could prepare me for what may lay a step ahead. If I took that moment, I could be ready. If I didn't, I may not live to see what may be in the step beyond that.

I could remember a time, distantly it felt like, when I had to pause and connected myself inward in order to evaluate what I was feeling and what might be happening around me. The thought of being able to do that seemed like a luxury now. I no longer had it. Now I was in a constant state of vigilance, my senses heightened, my mind focused, and my muscles tense. I had to be if I wanted to get through this alive.

I’d had that same vigilance from the moment I arrived back on the campus and since then I hadn't noticed any feelings that told me there was any imminent danger. There was the expected swirl of discomfort through my belly and tightness of bitter nostalgia in my chest. I knew that would be there. It always would be. Walking through these grounds felt as if my feet were trying to find the footsteps I had left so long before and entering buildings that were foreign and familiar, new and old, mine and beyond my grasp. There were layers there. Layers of time. Layers of experience. Layers of existence.

But I hadn't felt the eyes of the Valdicians on me. I hadn't heard the timed breaths of the hybrids. I hadn't seen the people walking through the campus, looking as though they were trying to blend in with the world around them but standing out even more because of it. Even as I thought that, I wondered what other people thought when they saw them. Every day people swarmed the campus grounds and the buildings rising out of them. Students, teachers, and workers of all kinds roamed around oblivious to all that was happening just beneath their feet or even right in front of their eyes. Jonah knew these people saw the hybrids. They may even see the Valdicians. Ryan didn't hesitate to take the most seamlessly crafted of his army and send them out among the throng so they could watch everything that was happening and bring back the details of everything they saw and heard.

Jonah wondered if the people who belonged on the campus noticed them. Many of the hybrids were created so delicately that their looks barely differentiated them from other species that already existed among the humans on the campus. Some even looked nearly entirely human themselves. But there were differences. Many of them walked in a stilted, controlled way that came from never having the opportunity to develop normally but rather being forced into growth and learning nearly from the moment of birth. Once the hybrid babies were born, they were brought to the nursery where they were monitored and processed rather than cared for and nurtured. New skills such as walking and talking weren't seen as milestones, but programming stages. Some responded more smoothly than others and Jonah had seen those who had been freed gradually losing these behaviors and compulsions.

Those who were still in Ryan's grasp had been further indoctrinated and Jonah knew that most if not all of them would have mannerisms that would totally separate them from anyone around them. But would the people around them actually notice? Something else Jonah had learned was that people, especially when they were in large groups, tended to be very easy to distract and convince. People in a group didn't want to be different. They didn't want to be the ones whose thoughts didn't fall in line with those of everyone around them. They didn't want to be the ones who brought attention to something others didn't notice or hadn't seemed to bother anyone else. When people were alone they were sometimes more likely to notice strange things or to question what they were seeing, but simply guiding them toward noticing what others around them were seeing or thought could put them right back into control.

This was a benefit in many ways. Trusting and being willing to follow could mean protection and less resistance. But it could also be extremely dangerous. When people put so much of their reliance and trust in the people around them, and stopped putting their trust in themselves, they were no longer able to guard themselves. Their fear of being separated from the group kept them from noticing what could put them all at risk.

Jonah knew that was what was happening with the hybrids that were sent out amongst the students and teachers of the University campus. They could be a serious threat, a danger that none of those who came to the University each day to study or to work would understand, and they might not even be prepared to respond. Did any of them notice the strangers moving among them? If they did, how did they feel when they were near them? What did they think when they saw them? Would they react if needed?

Learning that Ryan had begun to send his hybrids out on the campus, both from the main facility itself and the outposts he had created, had made it more intimidating to choose this spot for where he would meet with Linnea, but also made it more urgent. He knew the danger he could be facing by coming back here again. Before, the hybrids moved only in a formation and only when Ryan was in control, restricting their movements to battles and training, and primarily at night. Then there was a shift. Jonah didn't know the exact moment when the change happened. He only knew that Ryan had noticed him there and within hours he saw a hybrid step out of the building and into the flow of people walking by. The man, a blend that Jonah would assume was primarily human and Mikana, had carried nothing and looked nowhere but ahead. He walked with determination and direction, but when Jonah fell into step several feet behind him, following his path, he found that he walked to one end of the campus, turned, walked across the other direction, and then turned again and headed back toward the building where he began. He didn't enter any of the buildings, he didn't interact with anyone. By the next day, their numbers had grown.

He knew Ryan was looking for them. He wanted to reclaim his creations and ensure that the pregnant women were contained before they gave birth, so all the babies would know was his facility. But he wanted Jonah, Aubrey, and Ilya more.

That was what brought Jonah here now. That was why he had asked Linnea to do something so dangerous. He didn't want her to be in harm's way. He wanted to protect her just as much as he wanted to protect all the others and find a way to free those who were still held in Ryan's grasp. But he needed her help. To accomplish what he needed to, he had to have someone with knowledge not only of Ryan's operations, but also of what was happening with the rest of the crew. The truth was, what Jonah was doing may have been an even greater risk.

He had been moving this way for so long, and yet this was one of the very few times when he ever felt any sense of being nervous. Traveling was never the term that he felt like using to describe his movements. That didn't seem to give the right impression, the right definition to how he was able to shift and explore, to exist in first one moment and reality and then in another, but also in both. It had been after he had come back here three times that he went to Linnea and asked for her help. He told her everything, explaining the critical importance of what he needed to do. It was the first time that he had explained it to anyone who wasn't sharing his timeline and he worried about how she was going to react. She could have laughed at him. She could have been enraged that he would have tried to manipulate or confuse her.

Instead, she believed him.

Jonah could only imagine that after an entire lifetime that was built around someone trying to destroy the Universe and all that was in it, Linnea was eager to believe in someone who was trying to save it.

But this was the first time that he had asked her to come back here and it was the first time that he wouldn't leave immediately after their meeting. He was preparing for what could be the most dangerous mission that he had ever taken, and he didn't know what was going to happen. Before now each time that Jonah had moved from time to time or stream to stream it had been for brief visits or he knew that he was going to be far from the rest of the group. This wasn't the case now. His realities were about to crash into one another and if he wasn't careful with how he timed each movement he could cause irreparable damage. He didn't really know what would happen if they saw him. He didn't know what would happen if he saw himself.

He only knew that he couldn't let it happen. He had to bide his time and make sure that he was there at the exact moment when he left. If he wasn't, the world around him and all that they had known could dissolve away.