Flashforward - UNFINISHED Graphic Novel By Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin

Flashforward A Graphic Novel What if Memories from the Future could be sent to our Present? And what if those memories contained images of Earth’s demise… but not what caused it? Four Scientists from a not so distant future try to avert a world ending disaster by sending their memories back three years into their past… but because of some unknown glitch they are sent back thirty years instead… to a time when they are just teenagers. But… they aren’t the only ones who’s memories have been sent back in time… there are others… and… worse… they may have taken back the cause of Earth’s destruction with them! Can they now prevent the inevitable? Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin 9/22/2008 Flashforward Chapter 1: FRAGMENTED… East Harlem, Manhattan, NY… 3:47am… GEOFFREY WILLIAMS: I wake up screaming! “What happened?” I think to myself… “W-W-W-Where am I?” I look around and to my surprise, the surroundings seem eerily familiar. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was… HOME? But not my home now… My Home 30 years ago!!! How could this be possible? I just saw… well… I think I saw the world (sort of) explode just 5 seconds ago! I manage to get up and look in the mirror! “Holy Shit!!!” I cried out! This isn’t possible! My face in the mirror… I’m 17 again! “What the fuck is happening???” Then I hear a knock on the door! “Geoffreeeeey!” I think that’s my Mom calling! “What’s all the ruckus in there?!” It is my Mom! But I saw her die 6 years ago??? I rush to the door and open it… and there she was… alive and well… “Mom???” I ask while still finding it hard to believe she was right in front of me. “Of course it’s me!” she retorted. “Who else did you think it was? And why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Without thinking, I rushed over to her and hugged her tight! Two blocks away… still in East Harlem, Manhattan, NY… 4:08am… FATIMA DELA CRUZ: I keep telling myself it had to be done! I had to use the machine! There was no other choice! I rush back in to the bathroom and throw-up again! This is the like the 4th time I’ve thrown-up since I realized that I was back in my past! Was this guilt? I know we’re not supposed to tamper with the past; but I had NO CHOICE!!! But I overshot it! We were only supposed to go back 3 years. I think I pushed us back 30 years! How the hell am I going to find the others now? And to top it off, I still don’t know who or what caused that EXPLOSION! I have to stop it! But how? This is just great (sarcastically)! I’m a 16 year old with the mind of a 46 year old! And worse, I have to deal with that asshole of a step-father again! By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 1 Flashforward Suddenly, the door to my room creaks open… It’s him… Brooklyn, New York… 3:59am… CHARLIE SAWYER: I knew the settings were off the mark! Count on Faith (Fatima Dela Cruz) to botch this job as well! And what’s this? Now I have to relive my pathetic teen years again! Always the butt of jokes… the geek… the nerd… four-eyes!!! Well ol’ four-eyes became one of the best Quantum Physicists in the world… (silence)… well… at least 16 or so years from now! But now? Ayyy Caramba!! Do I really have to go through all this again? (Sigh) I’ll worry about that later. I have to find Faith, Yoku and Danny soon so we can piece this shit back together and come up with some sort of plan! Where do I start looking? I don’t even know where they went to high-school! Well, at least I’m sure Faith and Yoku went to school… but Danny? I wonder how that blockhead even got into the program! Did they even have schools in prison? Oh well… first things first… I wonder what Mom’s got in the fridge… Battle Mountain (Te-Moak Indian Reservation), Nevada… 12:59am… DANIEL WHITE-FOX: “There is something different about you, Daniel…” came the voice of my grandfather. He has always been a wise man. Even as I tried to keep my secret ever since I realized that I had been thrown back further than expected, he still managed to see right through me. “I’m okay gramps!” I muttered. “Just a little dizzy.” I knew it wouldn’t convince him, but I couldn’t really tell him what had just happened to me… could I? My grandfather gave me that look… you know… the look that says, “You’ll spill the beans soon enough.” When my grandfather left to retire for the night, I went to my room to search for the members of my team on the internet… I typed “Fatima Dela Cruz” on my Google search and came up with dozens of names… none of them the right one. Now, any other computer geek of this era would’ve given up the search after that; but being from the future (or at least remembering things from the future), I’ve learned a few tricks that might just help my search… As the resident Neuro-Interface Information Technology1 (NIIT) Expert of my team, I’ve come across some unique forms of Tech-Viruses that haven’t existed in this time. I could replicate one of these TVs2 1 Information Technology (IT) has evolved to Neuro-Interface Information Technology (NIIT) where the human race may link directly to computers and the internet with their minds. 2 TV stood for Tech-Viruses. Television, cable and computers would merge into just one form of media in the near future; so the term TV would have a different meaning. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 2 Flashforward and hack into the telecommunications networks here and, with some luck, trace my team! I’ll need a few hours to work on this… Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan… 4:42pm… YOKUHIRA TAKEA: I am here again… in the arms of my beloved… Two days from now he will fall off his motor bike in a race and be killed instantly! Should I tell him? Should I save his life and change the future? No! That wouldn’t be right! But isn’t this what I have set out to do? Change the future? Or are we here to stop only one event from happening and let the rest of history play out as it has done before? But doesn’t our being conscious of the future already change history? I sit silent by my beloved and try to hold back my tears… or… he may notice. I shouldn’t say anything. He wouldn’t believe me anyway… “Yoku…” my beloved called. “What is wrong? (In Japanese)” “Nothing, Shido…” I answer. “Nothing at all…” And we remain silent as we walk towards my home… a home I knew some 30 years ago… As we pass by a nearby store, we see some of our classmates gathered around Yoshi, an unassuming student in our class. Yoshi was in panic! He was rambling about something! As we approached him, my concern turned to shock! “I saw the world end!!!” he said! “The Earth exploded from beneath us!!!” he rattled on! Yoshi was describing events exactly as they had happened in the future!! That’s funny (cynically)! How can things have already happened when they were still about to happen? Yet… Yoshi told his story just as I had remembered those events! This is not possible! The machine was only supposed to take Danny, Charlie, Faith and me back! How could Yoshi have gone back too? Something must have happened to the machine when our memories traveled to the past! How many more people traveled back with us? This isn’t good! The world as we know it may be in peril! I have to find the others now!!! East Harlem, Manhattan, NY … 4:45am… FATIMA DELA CRUZ: I shout at him hysterically! “You can’t touch me anymore!!” I screamed! He wasn’t expecting me to fight back! It felt good! I hit him again and again with his own baseball bat! I grabbed it just as he walked through my bedroom door! Stupid Jerk! He always brought that bat with By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 3 Flashforward him each time he entered my room! I think he felt like some kind of macho stud with it. Well how does it feel now? “What’s the matter? Afraid?” I mocked. “How does it feel when your victim isn’t so helpless anymore?” I guess it helps when you’ve had 30 years to consider what you should have done then… and suddenly… THEN is NOW! The Jerk named Jack, my stepfather, finally managed to utter something, “Don’t hurt me anymore…” he said. “I’ll leave you alone… I promise...” Just then my mother bursts into the room! “Wha… What’s going on here???” she shouts! “I just beat your husband to a bloody pulp because you were too afraid to do it yourself!” I shouted back! Growing up in the provinces of the Philippines, my Mom was always taught to be obedient to her parents and her husband. I guess it’s okay if the man was like my real father, a patient and kind Filipino Engineer. But when my father died in a construction site accident in Dubai, my mother, who was a nurse, decided that it would be best to move to the USA to find our fortune here. I was just 7 years old when we moved here. Everything was fine, I guess… until she met that jerk, Jack! I was 14 years old then and Jack… Well… let’s just say I’m glad I came back to kick his butt… Not everybody gets the chance to right the wrongs in their lives… so I guess I’m lucky… My Mom was speechless for a moment… but… then… suddenly, she started to kick the no good son of a bitch! And we both ran him out of the house! Battle Mountain (Te-Moak Indian Reservation), Nevada … 6:34am… DANIEL WHITE-FOX: I guess this’ll have to do. It was the best TV I could come up with considering the equipment at my disposal. My Tech-Virus was now ready for a test run! I plugged in my mobile phone to a USB port on my computer and let the TV tap into all the cell-phone signals in the world, sort out all the conversations and text messages and come up with the numbers of those most likely to be my teammates. This would only take an hour or so back in the future, but with today’s technology, it might take days… “Danny!” that’s my Dad calling. “Breakfast’s ready!” I look at the time. Oh shit! It’s almost time for school. “I’ll be right down, Dad!” I reply. I’ll have to admit that it feels good to see my family again… I mean, I haven’t seen my family for 3 years. Ever since we discovered that Psionic3 Rift in the Philippines things have been really hairy. At least now, I get to spend 3 Psionics is the study and/or practice of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy and telekinesis. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 4 Flashforward time with my family… The only thing missing are my wife and kids (Sigh)… God I miss ‘em!!! Will I ever get the same chance at building the same family again? Michelle and my kids Chelsea and Ryan… Will it ever be the same? Or have we already screwed up history? But there is something good about the timing though… A year from now I’ll go to jail for hacking into the FBI Computer. Now I get the chance to correct that mistake before it happens… (thinking)… but… it might be fun trying out some of the new stuff I learned from the future to hack into the CIA or even the NSA this time… (Manages a smile). As I’m about to leave the computer my TV catches a signal… and a phone number too! I don’t believe it! That was fast! Only 15 minutes! Okay… here goes nothing… I’ll dial the number and see who answers… It’s ringing… Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan … 10:42pm… YOKUHIRA TAKEA: I need to get a signal out. If Daniel is out there somewhere he’ll figure out how to get in touch with me. But how do I get a signal out there? Let’s see… What can Danny hack in to? Almost everything, I guess. So, if I send a coded text message from my cell-phone to anybody… he could trace it, right? Oh well… I have to try… “Danny White-Fox is back from the future.” This is the message I typed out on my cell-phone. I then sent it to a cousin of mine in Las Vegas, Nevada (she’ll, no doubt, wonder what that message was about). I hope this works… A few minutes later… My phone rings… It’s a US number… I answer the phone, “Hello…” “I knew you’d be the one to figure out how to reach me!” said the voice on the other line. “Yoku! It’s me… Danny!” East Harlem, Manhattan, NY … 9:16am… GEOFFREY WILLIAMS: “I just don’t understand it, Ma…” I say as I try to explain what I’m experiencing. “I don’t know if I had a dream or some sort of voodoo message from the future kindda stuff, y’know…” By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 5 Flashforward “Stop talkin’ so loud Geoffrey!” my mother protests. “We’re in a coffee shop and the people around can hear you.” she continues. “They’ll think you’re some sort of crazy person!” she says. “Not that I wouldn’t agree with them… you can be kindda crazy, boy!” I look at my mother with my eyebrow raised. Did my mother just take a pot shot at me? Just then, a small teenaged Asian woman approached me. She looked at me rather strangely. Though I don’t mind beautiful women staring at me, this one was starting to get on my nerves… “Can I do anything for you, lady?” I ask. “Oh! I’m sorry!” she replied. “Was I staring?” “Dran right, you was starin’!!” quipped my mother. “You was starin’ at my handsome black boy!” “I’m really sorry!” replied the Asian girl. “I just couldn’t help but overhear your conversation… the one about the future?” “I told you they’d think you was crazy, boy!” my mother said as she scolded me. “You just never know when to shut that big yap o’ yours!” “NO!” cried the Asian girl. “That’s not why I approached you!” she continued. “Let me start over… My name is Faith…” Location: Unknown, Time: Unknown… An UNSEEN ENTITY sits alone in the dark… Amazing how things turned out! I am young again! Strange… I’m having trouble recalling what I was doing a few minutes ago… Oh wait! I seem to recall… I think I was… hmmm… in the middle of… DESTROYING THE WORLD??? - End Chapter 1 - By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 6 Flashforward Chapter 2: 27 YEARS LATER… East Harlem, Manhattan, NY … Present day… 11:23am… FATIMA DELA CRUZ: I begged off from school today. I used last night’s Jack-bashing as an excuse to stay at home and try to send a signal to Danny or Yoku… or even Charlie… I really hope they’re out there. I have to warn the guys that we’re not the only temporally displaced4 people here… That Geoffrey guy I met earlier in the coffee shop earlier… That was scary… The TMT5 was only supposed to take Danny, Yoku, Charlie and me back… or rather our memories back. But now this… How many more people came back with us? And… what are the consequences of this? This is all my fault… I panicked! I must’ve added a “0” to the settings by mistake! But how does that account for the other time-displaced people here? And… how can you think straight when everything around you is blowing-up??? I was only trying to bring us back to the time when we first discovered that Psionic Rift! I only wanted to bring us back 3 years… Tagaytay City, Philippines… 27 Years from now… or… 3 years from the END of the World… 2:03am… Institute for Neuro-Temporal Application (INTA) Research Facility – A US Military funded Institute devoted to the study transporting human memory to the past… or if possible… the future. CHARLIE SAWYER: As usual! I’m the only one awake again! Oh wait! I see Faith rattling away on her keyboard again. She seems excited about something. Go-o-o-o-lly! She is smokin’ hot! Even at her age, she’s still a head turner! (Sigh) All I can really do is look… She’d never go for a guy like me. And why isn’t she married yet anyway? With her looks she could have any guy she wants. Hmmm… maybe she doesn’t “like” guys… maybe she’s… (thinking)… Nah! What am I thinking? Get back to work Charlie (knocks himself on the head)! “There you are, Charlie!” calls out Faith. “C’m ‘ere! I need to show you something.” Geeezz! I hope she shows me a picture of her in a bathing suit! Yeah right! Dream on, Charlie-boy! 4 5 Temporally Displaced means NOT in the proper time line or NOT in proper chronological sequence. Temporal Memory Transfer Machine – This is the device that transfers human consciousness to the past. The TMT was actually invented by Dr. Fatima Dela Cruz with the able assistance of her team at the NTRA. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 7 Flashforward I start to pick up my glasses from my desk and signal to Faith that I’m coming… “I’ll be right there, Faith!” I holler… 1:52am… FATIMA DELA CRUZ: These readings can’t be right! It’s way off the scale! But why don’t I feel any seismic activity? With readings this intense we should be feeling some major quaking by now… maybe even Taal Volcano6 erupting… but… nothing’s happening outside… Maybe it’s some sort of equipment glitch. Where’s Danny? Maybe he can fix it. I see him… and… just my luck… he’s asleep! Better not wake him. He’s been up for 2 days straight fixing the satellite receiver for the neuronet7. Where are Yoku and Charlie? (Sigh) Yoku’s in one of her trances; and when she’s in that state, you can hit her with a hammer and she still won’t feel it! Gotta figure this out… Checked the equipment… No… it isn’t a glitch… Hmmm… I remember Charlie showing me some strange seismic readings he got in Arizona 8 months ago… and… yes… I remember now… those readings looked similar to the one’s I’m seeing now! Where the hell’s Charlie??? Wait… there he is! “There you are, Charlie!” I call out. “C’m ‘ere! I need to show you something.” “I’ll be right there, Faith!” he replies. Charlie picks up something from his desk and signals me that he’s on his way over. As Charlie approaches, we hear a loud crash on the other side of the room. It’s Yoku! She’s floating again! She must’ve knocked over some stuff as she started to float. She only gets that way in dreamstate… and only when there’s a very strong psionic activity happening nearby… Hmmm… Strange… She’s been doing that more often lately… Then, suddenly, everything goes black… 1:47am… YOKUHIRA TAKEA: In Dream state… 6 Taal Volcano is a volcano in the center of Taal lake in the Philippines and is considered one of the smallest volcanoes in the world. It can also be seen from the NTRA Facility in Tagaytay. 7 The NEURONET is what the Internet has evolved into… a global network that links all the data in the world and is accessed with the use of the human mind. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 8 Flashforward This is the same dream again! Fire all around me! The floor is shaking. I’ve had this dream three times before… I see a face in the distance. The flame makes it difficult for me to see who it is. I feel I know this person… yet… I feel, too, that I am yet to meet him… her… who? Why does everything around me seem familiar? I’ve never been here before… yet… I feel like I’ve known this place all my life… Huh? The flames… they’re lifting me off the ground… taking me to that door… “Wait!” I cry out (in Japanese). “Where are you taking me?” “Who’s there?” comes a voice. It’s like it’s speaking from inside me… him… her… who? The voice shouts out this time, “Why are you in my head???” And it gets even louder, “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!”… I feel like I’m about to explode!!! I do explode! The pain is too much! “AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”… I think I’m passing out… Everything is black now… Manama City, Kingdom of Bahrain… 27 Years from now… 10:14pm… JASIM AL-MUBARAK: Driving through Manama… On my way home… “Weeeeeeeeeee!!!” a police siren shrieks… Police presence in Bahrain has increased ten-fold over the last 6 years. Ever since alterative fuels and sources of energy have replaced more than 70% of fossil fuel use around the world, the unrest around the Gulf Region has been all but controllable. It’s a good thing Bahrain was spared most of the agony! We were able to find other sources of income before the financial crisis happened. Outsourcing to France and Canada became one of our main industries and this practically saved our economy… better yet… it made us the richest Country in the Gulf… Perhaps this is why so many extremists from the rest of the Middle East hate us so… Attacks by extremists and terrorists against our business district in the last few years have escalated to staggering proportions. I wonder how long we can hold on to our way of life? I wonder if the police, most of which we’ve had to import from Pakistan lately, will be loyal to us when things get too chaotic? By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 9 Flashforward Ah… Finally! Home… It will be good to rest now. I’ve been working 11 hour days all week! The office has been severely undermanned! This is a welcome weekend indeed… “Papa!!” my 6 year old son shouts as he rushes to me. “Hassan!!!” I respond, equally as excited! “Why are you up so late? (in Arab)” I ask teasingly as I embrace him. “Perhaps you are up to no good, ey?” I say jokingly. The phone rings in the living room… My wife, Mona, answers the phone… “Jasim… Phone… Overseas call…” Mona informs me… She then transfers the call to my cell-phone8… “Hello?... Yes, this is Jasim Al-Mubarak.” Little Italy, Manhattan, NY … 27 Years from now … 9:16am… GEOFFREY WILLIAMS: Why do they always run??? Crazy kids! I’m getting too old for this… “Foster!” I shout out to my partner! “Let me out here while you drive around back… and don’t forget to tell back-up to cut ‘em off at Canal (street)!” “Are you sure you can keep up wit’ ‘em kids, L-T??” quips Foster! “I mean… you ain’t no spring chicken no mo’… y’know what ‘m sayin’?” “Just shut the fuck up and do what you’re told, farm-boy!” I retort as I get off the car. “Now git!!” Foster drives away laughing… and does what he’s told! Stupid farm-boy! Where does he get off callin’ me old? Hehehe! But seriously… he’s a good kid… and a good cop! There! I see one of the perps now! And there’s the other one on the ledge of that building! What’s that he’s got with him? Looks like… Oh SHIT! It’s a Particle Cannon9!!! I frantically reach for my radio… “Foster!!! Get the hell out o’ there!!!” I shout! “NOOOOO!” I scream!... Too late! The perp on the ledge fired! The energy ball hits our car directly… it obliterates half the car and leaves a giant hole on the street beneath the car… I take out my gun and start firing! 8 9 In the future, transferring calls from landline to mobile phone becomes a regular thing. A particle cannon is a bazooka-like gun that shoots out a concentrated ball of energy and can pretty much obliterate anything. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 10 Flashforward “You son of a bitch!!!” I shout as I fire my gun at the perp on the ledge! I hit him and he falls to the ground. Wait! The other one… where is he? I hear someone approaching from behind me. I turn around and fire! I was right. It was the other perp! I walk toward the second perp. He’s still alive… Oh God! H-he’s only a kid! No more than 10 years old. I pick him up and cuff ‘im. “Stay there you piece o’ shit!” I bark! Where the hell’s this kid’s mother??? I call for an ambulance. I have half a mind to let this kid bleed to death… but the rules say I gotta take ‘im in alive. Frankly, I don’t see why we should even let him grow up. I mean he’ll just get back out on the street again and do what he does… Kill cops… I run over to the other perp… Yup… another 10 year old. But this one’s dead. How the hell do 10 year olds get a hold of particle cannons??? I finally run over to Foster… “Oh my God! Michael!!!” I shout. I look over at a good cop… Michael Foster… his body literally blown apart… Godammit!! What the fuck’s this world coming to??? I hear sirens… Back-up’s finally here… I go back to the dead kid with the cannon. I try to think of some logical excuse for this kind of thing… can’t think of any… Hold it! What’s that? I see something wedged at the back of the kid’s neck… INTA Research Facility; Tagaytay City, Philippines… 6:01pm… (16 hours after the Psionic Blackout) FATIMA DELA CRUZ: “Faith… Faith…” I hear someone call… Still feel dizzy… What hit us??? I open my eyes to see Charlie frantically trying to revive me… “Did anyone get the number of the ‘truck’ that hit us?” I manage to joke, but I know the situation to wasn’t a joking matter. I look at Charlie and he manages a smile at my rather stupid joke… “How’re the others?” I ask. “Yoku’s still out… Danny’s outside checking on the PRD10 he installed a couple of days ago… The engineers are…” Charlie relates to me before I cut him off… 10 Psionic Recording Devise By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 11 Flashforward “Wait a minute! Danny installed a PRD?” I ask feeling a little peeved. “Who authorized the installation of a PRD???” I ask. Being the head of the NTRA, I authorize all types of monitoring or recording equipment. I’m peeved! We’re supposed to be a High-Security US Military Funded Agency. We can’t afford lapses like this. If our research were to get out to the public it could cause chaos to the timeline. Even if I’m feeling a little week, I manage to stand and walk briskly to where Charlie told me Danny was… There’s Danny… Walking towards me… “Hey Faith! You gotta see this!” Danny exclaims excitedly. I ignore his excited remark. “Who the hell authorized you to install a PRD???” I ask… obviously annoyed. Danny stammers a reply… “I-I-I didn’t mean to u-undermine your authority, F-Faith.” He tries to explain. “I-It’s just that Yoku…” At this point I cut him off… “So you work for Yoku now???” I arrogantly reply. “Just let me explain… okay?” Danny pleads… I nod for him to continue… Danny explains… Three (3) days earlier… DANIEL WHITE-FOX: Damn these temporal waves! They’re always screwing up the neuronet! I guess it comes with the territory! General Morgan decided that we should set up our facility here in Tagaytay since Temporal Signals were strong in this area! But every time we run tests on the Temporal Field it screws up the net! So now we’re stuck here in Tagaytay… the Philippines… a foreign country… except for Faith that is… I guess we’re kindda lucky that Faith is Filipina… she sure got things set up in a jiffy!... There! The neuronet’s back on line! “Am I good or what?” I say proudly… obviously full of myself. “Yeeeeeha! I Rock!!!” I shout as I strike an ‘air-guitar’ pose. I can be soooo juvenile sometimes… “Hello Daniel…” a voice calls from behind me… I turn around to see Yoku smiling at me! I feel a little embarrassed at the fact that I’m still doing my ‘airguitar’ thing when I turn around to face her. “Sorry about that… I was just…” I try to explain… Yoku then starts beating on an ‘air-drum’ and signals me to join in! I then start strumming away on my ‘air-guitar’ and we have a good laugh about it afterwards! It’s fun to let loose sometimes! “You wanted to talk to me about something?” I ask Yoku. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 12 Flashforward Yoku hesitates at first, but eventually starts telling me about strange dreams and images she’s been having for months. She tells me that thought the dreams differ somewhat, she feels that there is a powerful Psionic behind it because she senses a presence every time this happens. I listen to Yoku intently as she relates dreams of fire, darkness and destruction! I have no reason to think she’s crazy… I mean… Yoku was certified by the PMRA11 as one of the most powerful Psionics in the world herself… she is both an empath12 and a telekinetic13… and my best friend! So, if Yoku say’s there’s some kind of Psionic doing some crazy mojo or something to her, then I believe her! “Whoa! That’s scary, Yoku!” I respond after she finishes her narration. “Tell you what… Let me ask Faith if I can install a Psionic Recording Devise (PRD) outside your room so that we can…” at this point Yoku stops me… “Wait! Don’t tell Faith!” she cries… “But Faith has to know…” I protest… “Daniel… we are only days away from fully testing the new Temporal Memory Transfer (TMT) Machine!” Yoku explains… “If we tell Faith about this, she’ll have to move the test back several months again and the General might cut our funding!” she continues… “And then I’d have to go back to PMRA! I don’t want to go back there, Daniel!!” This is probably going to come back to haunt me… but I agree with Yoku! Faith has gotten the short end of the stick from General Morgan lately for the delays in the testing of the TMT and it’s very likely that we’ll get the shaft if we get another hitch. And… knowing Faith, she would rather take the shaft than risk putting any one of us in danger. Yoku is a vital element in the machine’s success! Being an empath, she is both the antennae and the anchor of the TMT. Without her, the Machine is useless. “Daniel… I promise that if the PRD picks up anything that could endanger me or the test, we’ll both tell Faith about it…” Yoku tries to assure me… “Please Dainel…” she pleas… Though it is against my better judgment, I go with Yoku’s plan… I install the PRD… but we don’t tell Faith… NYPD Manhattan Office … 2 days after the Shooting Incident in Little Italy … 4:01pm… GEOFFREY WILLIAMS: “L-T… the Captain wants to see you, pronto…” says Ricky, one of our Latino rookies, as I approach my desk… 11 12 Paranormal Monitoring & Research Agency – the branch of the US Military that studies strange events, powers, etc. An EMPATH is someone with the ability to sense nearly everything about an object simply by touching it. Powerful empaths, like Yoku, can actually read the history of the last 3 people who have touched an object she is psychically reading. 13 A TELEKINETIC is someone who can move things with his/her mind. In Yoku’s case she hasn’t fully controlled this power yet. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 13 Flashforward I acknowledge Ricky’s message and proceed to Captain Peter Wang’s office… As I approach the Captain’s office, I notice that he has guests… they look military… “You wanted to see me, Cap.?” I ask as I enter the office. “Have a seat, Geoff.” Offers the Captain. “This is Brig. General Russel Morgan of the Paranormal Monitoring & Research Agency (PMRA)…” he introduces… The General shakes my hand and introduces me to his 2 other colleagues… Lt. Samantha Ward and Lt. Dominic Scott… both also from the PMRA… “I heard you had a run-in with some kids a couple o’ days ago?” asked General Morgan. “Would you mind telling us what went down, son?” he continues… Did he just call me “son”? Why don’t I like this guy? He seems kindda… I don’t know… condescending? “Nuthin’ much to say, really…” I answer. “Got a 9-1-1 call about some guys breakin’ inta some warehouse and we responded…” I narrate. “Turns out dey was kids with some high powered shit… (pause)… Blew up my partner…” I say while managing to keep from crying… “Did you find anything unusual with the children, Lieutenant?” asked Lt. Ward… I thought about that piece of nanotech14 device I found on the back of the neck of both the kids. I took them and kept them from the other cops after the incident. I swore to Foster’s wife and kids that I would find the guys giving particle canons to kids and bury ‘em! I figured that somebody would come lookin’ for those nanotech devises soon enough… and now I know… “Nope…” I answer. “I figure they was drugged up or high on sumthin’ to pull this kindda stunt!” I lie though my teeth. I’m sure they’ve already figured out that I’m lying though… but that’s exactly what I want… “Are you sure???” the hot blonde Lieutenant (Ward) asks again… She’s obviously annoyed… I think I got to her… Good… “Look… I already told you I found nuthin’!” I retort… pretending I was angry. “And why would the PMRA be interested in some shootin’ in Little Italy anyways???” “That’s none of your concern! Just answer the fuckin’ question!!” she shouts… Hmmm… beauty and a hot temper to go with it… I think I’m in love (sarcastically)… “Hold it you two!” at last, Captain Wang steps in. “I’ll have none of this shit in my office… understand???” 14 Super small technological devises. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 14 Flashforward General Morgan stands up… “I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, Captain Wang.” He says. “We won’t be taking any more of your time.” Continues the General. He’s so irritatingly calm! It makes me want to throw up! Their hiding something! I can feel it… just as they can feel that I’m hiding their little devices. Game on guys… I’ll find out one way or the other just how you’re involved in this… “Thank you for your time Lieutenant…” the General says to me. “If you remember anything, please give me a call…” he says as he hands me his business card. And so they leave… but not without the General’s two lackeys givin’ me the “eye”… “You’re hiding something !” says Captain Wang. “I’ve known you since high school Geoff… and I know you’re hiding something…” “Look Cap… Pete…” I reply. “I’ve got a hunch those guys are inta sumthin’ really crooked!” I continue. “And when have you known my hunches to be wrong?” “I trust you Geoff…” Pete replies. “But if this thing gets out of control, I’m coming down hard on you! Understand??” I look back at Pete… Capt. Wang… and I nod in acknowledgement… Time to go fishin’… INTA Research Facility; Tagaytay City, Philippines… 6:45am… (2 days after the Psionic Blackout) FATIMA DELA CRUZ: I let Danny and Yoku off the hook. But I’m still disappointed in both of them! They should never keep something like this from me! Back to matter at hand… Those PRD readings Danny showed me the other day were off the charts… just like the seismic readings I got in the lab… Could they be connected somehow? I’ve never known a Psionic to control a seismograph that way… not to mention… from long distance! The PRD indicates that there were 2 sources of psionic signals… One was obviously Yoku… but the other Psionic signal was thousands of kilometers away! It’s mind-boggling! I sent a report to the PMRA yesterday. They should’ve called by now… “Any word yet?” Yoku asks… obviously worried… “I’m really sorry Faith!” I glance at her and manage a simple smile… I know this is tough for her… ever since she began to manifest her powers, she’s had to deal with “hell”! I can’t imagine having the power to feel every By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 15 Flashforward emotion and see several different histories every time she touches a single object! Just thinking about it could drive a person crazy! And she was actually driven to madness a few days after she manifested. Her parents took her to several hospitals before the… then… newly formed PMRA got hold of her. She’s been with the PMRA for more than 26 years! At least she can control most of her abilities now. When our team was formed 11 years ago, she was loaned to us by the PMRA. She was recluse and quiet. It took some time for her to warm up to me… she warmed up to Danny first… but when she started to trust me more, we developed a really tight bond. She thinks of me like a sister… I guess I feel the same way about her too. We’re the only friends… the closest thing to family… she’s known in a long time. I couldn’t let anything happen to her… even if it means losing this project… My mobile phone starts to ring… It’s General Morgan… Danny and Charlie stand up from their seats… Yoku starts praying… I answer the phone… “Good day General! I assume you’ve read my report…” I answer… “Faith… this is unacceptable!” comes the General’s reply… I can’t say I didn’t expect that… General Morgan gives me a litany of reasons why we cant postpone the test… reasons ranging from money to his ulcers… He also starts shouting about how incompetent I was and gives me some racist remark about how he never should have hired a Filipino for the job in the first place… And I listen to all this without reacting… Finally he says, “The test goes on as scheduled! No more extensions!”… “I’m not putting Yoku or any of my team in danger, General…” I bravely respond… “Yokuhira is PMRA property! You’ll do as I say or I’ll…” came the General’s angry reply… I cut him off… “Or you’ll what, General???” I shout back! “Cut my funding???” I ask mockingly. “Let me save you the trouble then… WE QUIT!!!... And Yoku’s coming with us!!!” “Now listen here you ungrateful little brown skinned whore…” he tried to shout back… but I closed the phone on him and didn’t answer any of his attempts to call me again… The others look shocked as I walk away… Manama City, Kingdom of Bahrain… 11:52am… JASIM AL-MUBARAK: “Mona!” I call to my wife… “Have you seen my blue coat? (in Arab)” By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 16 Flashforward “I’m brining it up now, Habibi15…” Mona replies… “Why do you have to leave so suddenly anyway?” “My boss says that I have to go to the Philippines…” I reply… “He says that I will receive my instructions as soon as I reach the hotel.” “Why so secretive… this boss of yours??” she asks again… “Hala! Enough questions woman! I need to hurry!” I reply annoyingly… I am packed now and I hurry to my car… I then start to drive to the airport… I see another police car zip by… Must be another crime happening nearby. I hope this doesn’t delay my trip to the airport. There it goes again! Another police car. (Sigh) There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by that police aren’t busy holding down the criminal elements in Manama. For such a small city, the crime problem here is terrible! But I have to hand it to the police… they have managed to keep this country safe despite the constant threats… I get an email from my car’s neuronet… My boss… I’ll have to read it later… Can’t read while driving… I must admit that my job is quite demanding. As CEO of one of the biggest investment houses in the Middle East, I am always looking for ways to use my principal’s money wisely. I wonder, however, why he would choose to invest in the Middle East at this point in time… these are not very good times here… which makes my job all that difficult. So far, I have been lucky enough to make some very good investments for my boss in the Gulf and he has come to rely on me more and more. Yes… I have been quite lucky so far. Tsk!... I wonder why I was selected to go to the Philippines though… I have to question the wisdom of sending me… an Arab who has not done much negotiations outside of the Gulf… to negotiate some mysterious deal in another country… Oh no! Traffic!... So that’s why there were so many police cars… I see two people being arrested16… could they be terrorists? This is scary! But I can’t worry about this right now… I have to reach the airport. (Sigh) Oh well… I guess I can read my email while there’s a lull… I put on my neuronet eye-piece17 and read the message… Hmmm… It says here that I have to find this woman… Fatima Dela Cruz… - End Chapter 2 - 15 16 17 Common Arab term of endearment meaning “the man I love”. You’ll find out much later why these two people are important to the story. In the future, people rarely use computer screens or mouse pads anymore. They simply attach an eye piece both for viewing and clicking (by the movement of the eyeballs and eyelids). By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 17 Flashforward Chapter 3: TEMPORAL ALTERATIONS… The Pentagon, Washington DC … Present day… 7:23am… RUSSEL MORGAN: “You men have been selected for a very special program…” announces the big booming voice of Col. David McGraw… I listen intently… or at least I pretend to… I’ve heard this all before… a couple of days ago my consciousness was transferred to the past… I’m guessin’ Faith had something to do with this! (Smirks) Never trust a girl… a Filipino girl at that… to do a man’s job! “There is a silently growing threat in our midst! In fact your next door neighbor or even your own brother could be the threat… and they don’t even know it…” says Col. McGraw. Here it comes… the question that will change history… “Do you know what that threat is?” asks the Colonel… Then he calls my name… “Lieutenant Morgan… Do you know what that threat is?” right on schedule… I know that the answer is “Psionics”; but why ruin McGraw’s moment of glory… and why spoil my fun? I answer like I did before, “Aliens, Sir??” The room bursts into laughter… except, of course, for the Colonel… “Are you making fun of these proceedings, boy?” the Colonel asks in a threatening voice… “No Sir! Just answering the question, Sir!” I reply… I hear snickering in the background… “You’d better keep that smart-alecky mouth o’ yours shut, boy… or so help me… I’ll rip your tongue right off!!!” the Colonel retorts… Suuuure you will, you old fart! I’d like to take this chair I’m sitting in and bash his brains in! But I choose to keep quiet and let things play out… for now… Colonel McGraw turns around and speaks, “The threat I am saying is…” Here it comes… PSIONICS… And as if on cue… he says it… “Psionics” I manage a hidden grin… This is all too easy… By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 18 Flashforward Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan … 11:22pm… YOKUHIRA TAKEA: Daniel says that I should give him a few more days to find the others… but I feel so uneasy about this whole thing. I wish he’d hurry. I’m really so confused! It feels strange that I can already control my psionics at this time… I know that Shido’s accident will actually trigger my latent psionic abilities… but that hasn’t happened yet… Oh Shido… beloved! How can I bare to lose you again??? The accident will happen in tomorrow’s race… Should I tell him? Should I try to save his life? I wish Faith was here… she would know what to do… Oh Daniel please hurry… “Yokuhira!” my father calls… “Why are you still up, my child? What is bothering you?” “I don’t know. Papa…” I reply… “I feel that something terrible will happen tomorrow…” My parents then rush to my side… “Yokuhira, my daughter… you are crying!” says my mother who is obviously concerned about me… Even before Shido’s accident, which will force my abilities to manifest, I have always been sensitive… it’s as if I could feel what the people around me were feeling… I would touch an object and start feeling sad or mad or happy… and I couldn’t explain why… and when I start feeling sad, I would sometimes have severe bouts of anxiety… I would hyperventilate uncontrollably sometimes and my parents would have to take me to the hospital… Their concern for me at this moment is understandable… but how can I tell them that I already have this condition under control now? My parents start to hug me… “Hush now, my daughter… dry your tears…” my father says so lovingly… “Your Mama and I are here to protect you…” Protect me, Papa? Does he even know what is to come? How can he protect anyone from what is to come? I don’t dare to answer him… I just hug both of them tight! It feels so good to have parents again… a few months from now the PMRA will come after me and will forcibly take me away from my Mama and Papa… Am I to live through all this again? What am I to do? Suddenly, my mobile phone rings… My face lights up… It’s Daniel… I excuse myself from my parents to answer my phone… “Daniel?” I answer… My parents look on curiously. They’ve never heard Daniel’s name before. I move away to a more private place in the house… By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 19 Flashforward “Yoku! I found Faith!” Daniel exclaims excitedly… “That is wonderful news, Daniel! What is our next step?” I answer equally as excited… “Well… there is a little problem…” Daniel says… somehow dampening his excitement.. “We’ll have to figure out how to get her out of jail…” A local high school in East Harlem, Manhattan, NY … 8:25am… FATIMA DELA CRUZ: I’m glad we get a free period now… our teacher needed to rush to some emergency or something… This gives me a chance to use the computer in the library… Okay… let’s see if I can get a message out to Danny… I know that he told me once that he was from… what’s the name of that place… I know it sounds like “War… Mountain”… Wait! That isn’t right… more like Battle… that’s it… Battle Mountain, Nevada! An internet search should… there it is… American Indian Reservations… Te-Moak Indians… Damn it! No website! But there’s an email address… Maybe if I send a random message to this address Danny will be able to pick it up… Let’s hope this works… Danny! You’d better be hacking into this system! Here goes nothing… I type a message… “Danny, if you’re reading this, here’s my mobile number, XXX-XXX-XXXX – Faith” I send the message… Now I have to wait… “RRRRRRIIIIINNGG!!!” the school bell rings! Damn it! The period is up! Time for my next class… I’ll have to come back here on the next break… As I rush to class I see that Geoffrey kid from the café… Wait a minute… he studies in the same school as me? Funny that I never noticed him before… Geoffrey smiles at me and waves… He’s with this Chinese guy from the wrestling team… What’s his name… I think it’s Peter Wang18… Could this Peter guy also be time displaced? I’ll have to talk to these guys at lunch later. I have to find out more… I wave back at Geoffrey and start rushing to my next class… 18 Yup! This is the same Captain Peter Wang, Geoffrey’s boss, from the 2nd Chapter. By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 20 Flashforward “Miss Fatima Dela Cruz?” a deep voice asks from behind me… I turn around to see two policemen… “Yes officers… How can I help you?” I reply… Funny though… I don’t remember ever being approached by cops in High School before… What could this be about? “Miss Dela Cruz… We’re sorry kid… but we have to arrest you…” came the apologetic reply of one of the policemen… “Arrest me?” I’m obviously shocked! I really don’t remember any of this! “Why Sir???” “Would you happen to know a Mr. Jack Cole, Miss?” the officer asks… “He said that you beat him up with a baseball bat…” the officer continues… “I’m really sorry Miss… but we have to arrest you for assault and battery…” Jack told on me??? Oh Shit! He didn’t!!! That piece o’ garbage is having me arrested??? “Yes officer… I know him… but you have to let me explain…” I reply… “You’ll get your chance to explain Miss… but right now… you have to come with us…” answers the policeman… and he begins to read me my rights while the other officer slips the handcuffs on my wrists… They lead me to the police car and we head for the police station… I guess beating that Jack-ass changed history already… Oh great! Can I get any stupider? But I had to stop him… didn’t I? I wasn’t going to go through that HELL again!!! Damn it! How much more of the timeline am I going to foul-up? (Thinks for a moment)… Oh Shit! Forget the timeline… Was I just arrested in front of the entire student body? (Sigh) This is embarrassing! As we near the police station, my mobile phone begins to ring… I look at the number… unregistered… I have a hunch it’s Danny… One of the officers reaches out to confiscate my mobile phone… but I plead with him to allow me to take the call… “Please let me take the call, Sir… you can consider it my ‘one’ phone call… PLEASE…” “Oh what the heck! Take it kid…” the policeman finally gives in… “Hello? Faith? Is that really you?” came Danny’s excited voice over the phone… I reply, “Danny! I’d love to chat… but I’m in kind of a sticky situation… listen carefully…” Battle Mountain (Te-Moak Indian Reservation), Nevada … 7:04am… DANIEL WHITE-FOX: By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 21 Flashforward Okay! Let’s not get too excited… I found Yoku and Faith… but Faith’s in jail… this complicates things… C’mon think Danny! Think!... I can’t get to Manhattan fast enough and Yoku’s too far away to use her psionics… That leaves me with Charlie… Where the hell is that arrogant bastard anyways? He’s the only one who hasn’t tried to send a message to me… or to anyone for that matter… That’s just like Charlie… The only person he cares about is himself… He may be a brilliant Physicist… but he’s still a spoiled rich brat! Wait a minute! That’s it! If Charlie’s family is rich then it shouldn’t be much trouble finding him… I remember that he’s from Brooklyn… which makes him the nearest person to Faith at this point… and his parents’ influence could be just what we need to get Faith out… that is if Charlie can get his parents to do just that… Oh crud! It’s time for school!... Hmmm… I think I’ll do my surfing on the old school internet instead… “Danny! You’ll be late for school!” calls my Mom! “I’ll be right down, Ma…” I reply… By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin Page 22