Chapter 5: End of the Beginning
It was one of those nights when you wish you could sleep forever—to escape a reality too harsh to bear. Yet some truths claw their way into consciousness regardless of how deep you try to bury them. I woke to a burning brightness in the room, the glare searing my eyes. My hands and legs were chained. I struggled to free myself before an officer entered.
“Cipher Silver?” the man announced. “I’m Officer Zigba, and I’m in charge of your case.”
“My case? Where am I?”
He began grilling me about the incident with Randy—the chaos at the hospital and my fight with him back at the farm. But my mind was already elsewhere. Zigba mentioned that my sister was safe at the farm with our manager, Ian. I dodged his probing questions, fabricating a different story to keep details about the serum hidden until Number One returned. For two more days, I was locked up, interrogated about possible terrorism.
Then Number One reappeared. He had mobilized allies for the coming fight—a task force assembled by the General of the Planetary Defense Force. His face was stern, and from our first encounter, I knew he was no ordinary man.
“You must be Cipher Silver,” General Sydney Flick intoned. “I heard about your mother. My deepest sympathies. Now, if you’ll indulge me, please explain what happened. How did that boy get hold of the serum?”
Noticing my hesitation, he swept closer, “Number One explained everything. The enemies coming are monstrously strong—they’ll be invincible against our weapons. The serum is our only hope. The robot said he left the remaining vials with you. Where are you keeping them?”
The realization hit me—I had consumed nine vials meant to create an army against the aliens. I took a few silent deep breaths before answering.
“Home.”