Chapter 4

Warning: Strong language ahead

October, Year 2039

Tick-tock. Silence. Tick-tock. Silence once more. The silence in the empty observatory in the school's west wing was only interrupted by the ticking of an old mechanical clock, the creaking of a chair as one of them shifted restlessly and the clink of ceramic against wood as they set down their mugs. The silence felt as if it had reigned supreme for an eternity and a half, when only a little more than a quarter of an hour had passed, the fact confirmed by both the old clock on the wall and the screens of their wristbands. Fifteen minutes of absolute, tense, deafening silence. Iris had the feeling she was about to lose her sanity, but, on second thought did she really need it anymore? The world had officially gone off the deep end anyway.

   Iris, like the others, just sat there drinking tea from the mug Mr.Carol had handed her and staring blankly at the green spot beside the clock that she had noticed on the wall. Yup, her mind definitely wasn't working at all, but then again, Iris mused, she doubted any of the others were better off. How did one begin to comprehend what had happened anyway? These kind of things only happened in fantasy books or sci-fi novels! Nobody taught you how to deal with instantly being zapped from one place to another in school. Things like that just didn't happen in real life... So, what did that mean? Was this just a bad dream she was having? Setting down her cup, Iris pinched herself - it hurt. So, not a dream then. What was going on? Ah, and once again her thoughts had come full circle. Yes, staring blankly at the wall was definitely a far more productive activity and was less likely to give her a splitting headache on top of everything else. The only person in the room who seemed to be in full control was Mr.Carol, only looking a bit stressed out as he typed something quickly on the holographic screen his wristband was projecting. With a sigh he closed it and with no small measure of guilt he surveyed the blank look's of the students. Clearing his throat, he decided to test the waters.

"I suppose it's about time I tell you what's going on."

Jacob nodded, a bitter edge to his words, a tone that was usually very unlike him to take on.

"Yes, that would be nice. Seeing as you are the only one who knows what the heck is happening."

"On a related note, it'd also be good to know how you knew about this crap and where we'd end up this evening."

Added Ella, testily. It seemed her response to stressful situation was anger, the polar opposite of Iris's inhuman icy calm. At her words all turned to look at the oldest man in the room, silently agreeing with Ella's question if not the phrasing. Mr. Carol, not the least bit offended by their words or tone, merely smiled tiredly.

"You have every reason to be angry with me, I suppose so I can't blame you for your tone. I take no offence to your questioning, but be warned: the one who is responsible is not as patient. I do not want to see you suffer more than I will have to."

Matthew spoke up, his voice cracking slightly.

"What do you mean by us suffering?"

Mr. Carol took a deep breath and surveyed the students, pity in his gaze.

"Please listen to me. I can only help you if you heed my advice. The reality you were just thrust into is nothing like your previous life was - in this type of reality you have to expect the unexpected. I know that emotion can often blind people, you are teenagers so that applied to you all the more so, but to survive it's 'games' you will have to learn to put them aside."

William turned his gaze to the dark-skinned man, his face as impassive as ever.

"By it you are referring to this Yfa, are you not?"

Mr. Carol raised a brow, looking between the students and surveying their expressions. Matthew looked like he was queasy, Jacob looked like he wanted to smash his mug, Ella was glaring at her tea and only Iris and William wore impassive masks. Perhaps those two would find it a bit easier than the others. 

"Is that what she introduced herself as? I'm assuming she contacted you?"

Iris nodded, confirming his guess, her blue eyes lacking their usual cheerful sparkle. They were the eyes of someone who was starting to crack. Carol did all he could to suppress the guilt at the knowledge that this was only the beginning and they would have to go through a nightmare because of him. Matthew was the one who clarified Iris's words for him.

"We all got a letter with a rather...intimate...form of address as well as the notification that some 'Loss of Direction' has begun. The letter was signed Yfa."

Ella gave a low growl in the back of her throat.

"I swear when I find that bitch I will make her pay for calling me what she did. Where does she get off calling me her beautiful fairy maiden?!"

Matthew scoffed, rolling his eyes at Ella's enraged outburst.

"The same way she got off warping you from whatever den you were in, Scruffy."

Ella shot him a glare, not willing to let her mortal enemy let her mortal enemy get away with name-calling even in such a tense situation.

"Keep your trap shut, flame eevee spawn."

"What'd you just call me, Mace-head?!"

"Not a fan? I have--"

"ENOUGH, PLEASE!"

The unexpected outburst came was accompanied by a slam. Ella and Matthew were instantly silenced. Everyone in the room turned to see the previously silent member of the group, standing on her feet, her palms slammed down on the table and her eyes closed. Her body was trembling violently. Jacob, who was seated at her left, cast her a concerned look.

"Iris?"

The girl sighed and slowly sat back down, burying her face in her hands, hiding her facial expression from all of them. In an exhausted voice, she continued, a note of pleading in her voice.

"Look, obviously we're all tired and freaked out. We have no clue what's going on, but Mr. Carol does, so please could you all just shut up and listen to the only one here who knows what the heck is going on?!"

They all exchanged a glance and resolved to keep silent. Tensions were running high and they were all dealing how they could, just like Yfa had told them all humans did, but they did have to listen. Mr. Carol stood up, tucked his chair in and folded his arms behind his back before he began speaking.

"You said this Yfa told you about a loss of direction. Did she give you any clues as to what it is?"

Jacob looked at the man in confusion, befuddled by the question.

"Don't you know what it is? You said something about a loss of direction too, when you'd just found us."

"I want to be certain we're talking about the same thing. Was there anything at all?"

Ella frowned, tipping her head back as tried to think back.

"Well, she did blather on about humans reacting to stressful situations differently and something about uncertain paths. Nothing really that stood out."

Wrinkling his nose, Matthew nodded in agreement and Jacob and William soon followed the suit. Iris looked up from her hands, confused.

"Wait a minute: did she say nothing to you of not heeding her warning and she didn't drop two weird words on your heads? She said they're from her language, but I've never heard them before."

All the other teenagers shook their heads, their eyes betraying emotions ranging from extreme apprehension mixed with confusion to alarm and curiosity. Carol inclined his head in Iris's direction, an indiscernible emotion playing on his face.

"What two words did she teach you?"

Iris frowned, crossing her arms, but rather confidently she repeated the two words she had learned from a language she'd never heard before.

"Um, it was Fnoyemir - which means friend and Rachi - which should mean comrades. That's it."

Mr. Carol gave her an appraising glance, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Miss Fawners, if I'm correct you have a particular aptitude for languages, yes? Top of your class or so I'm told."

Iris looked down at her lap and shrugged her shoulders, her voice quiet as she responded.

"I do well on test, yes. I somehow end up with the best marks in the class, but that's all. The rest is nonsense. I'm just good at languages because my family speaks three different ones. That's it!"

The last words contained a trace of panic. Iris was waving her hands in front of herself and if one could catch a glimpse of her face they'd see fear written over it. Mr. Carol sighed.

"I'm not blaming you, Miss Fawners. In fact, it's a rather useful thing to be good at. This complicates matters though - it means Yfa is close enough to us to know you and your strengths."

"It could be a fluke." Ella reasoned, apprehensive.

"That's doubtful. Alright, listen, I don't know how much time we have left so I'll tell you all I know about what's going to happen and you have to follow my instructions to the letters or you could end up dead, understood? I'm not exaggerating- the reason I know about this is because you aren't the first ones this has happened to - the others didn't make it. Death is all too certain for you now. Am I clear?" 

The teenagers responded with a nod, whatever thoughts they had evaporating at the mention of death and at the sound of genuine grief in Carol's voice. Death...It had always seemed an abstract concept to them, well mostly. Out of the five of them only two of them had seen Death's visage before and it had shaken them - they knew death's footsteps so to speak and they could identify the steps in the distance. Death was waiting, watching them. Iris clenched her clasped hands and William averted his eyes while the others seemed merely afraid. Truly, blessed were the ones who had not seen Death's form hulking over their loved ones. Meanwhile, Carol continued.

"Yfa said she's putting you through the Loss of Direction. Well, for one, she's staring off small. In essence, you will randomly be transported from one spot to another and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop yourself or to choose your destination though it should be limited to Eastbridge. The best thing you can do is be always prepared for a sudden trip and adapt to the best of your abilities. Don't overthink it and don't try any stupid no matter what. The indicator should be the sole of your shoes glowing pink."

Jacob looked at the Vice Head incredulously.

"And this is starting off small?!"

Mr. Carol smiled grimly, dipping his head once in confirmation.

"Oh yes, if this Yfa is what I assume she's is - this is very kind of her."

"And what do you think she is?" William inquired.

Mr. Carol calmly looked out of the window which was spattered with raindrops. None of them had noticed that it had started raining. He looked at the stormy sky with a wry smile on his face.

"She's an alien. Or she should be."

Ella scoffed at the notion.

"That's impossible."

"Hate to agree with Miss. No-manners here, but she's right. Aliens don't exist. We'd know."

Mr. Carol gave a throaty, bitter laugh one full of pain and things that were best left buried in the sand of times long passed.

"Oh, if only that were true. Believe me or not, you have already begun experiencing the Loss of Direction and you can't do anything to stop it. All you can do is try to survive. Trust me, you will wish for your death serval times over before Yfa is done with you. You will break, make no mistake about that."

He scanned their faces and sighed. His tone was softer as continued.

"Look, I'm not trying to scare you...I don't want to lose you. I couldn't help the others and don't ask me about them. I tried to find Yfa before the deadline, but I failed. I want you to have a chance at living past this ordeal and for that you must endure. You're not little anymore so I won't sugarcoat this for you - life will be worse than death. The simplest way to put it is that you will be living in a nightmare you can never wake up from, not until Yfa's amused enough and then the nightmare will change shape, but it will not stop. I will try to make it this experience as short as possible, but the only way to do that is to find Yfa . However, with nearly no leads it won't be easy."

William reached into the pocket of his suit and produced a letter in a plastic folder, holding it out to Mr. Carol. His voice was firm as he spoke.

"This is the letter which I received during the school day. I have had it analysed, but no traces of human DNA were found. Maybe it could help you."

"Thank you. It will."

Silence descended upon the group. A few minutes passed quietly before Ella spoke up, her voice small, she sounded nothing like her usual self.

"What about our families ? And school? You say we're going to be randomly teleported - someone's bound to notice. I don't want anyone calling me a witch or my family to worry."

Mr. Carol had a helpless expression on his face.

"I honestly don't know, Miss Rocherfote. I will do my best to cover for you five here, but beyond that I cannot assist you. You must help each other - you cannot ignore each other any longer. And, yes, I know that you have been acting like the others don't exist."

They all opened their mouths to protest, but Mr. Carol cut them off with one hand.

"I'm not asking you to be best friends or anything - I'm asking you to work together, to be allies if not friends. You know that apart from myself and the people next to you you will have no one to turn to, because after all - teleportation is impossible and aliens do not exist. Yes, you do not know each other and you are all nothing alike, but that doesn't mean you can't try to work together, does it? Now, one last question because it looks like our time isn't up."

He indicated to their feet and they all looked down to find their shoe soles glowing blue. 

"That's the sign that once you take a step you will be returned back to your previous location or, well, approximately. It'll trigger a reverse warp. Now, I believe Miss Fawners is part of the gymnastics club while Miss Rocherforte and Mr Jones are part of our school's teams. Track and football, yes?"

"Yes"

"Well, I'll, unfortunately need you to quit those clubs and join the newly-founded astronomy club."

Iris furrowed her brow, confused.

"But, sir, we don't have an astronomy club."

"As of tomorrow we will - those club meetings will be our cover. I need to see you all at least once a day if not to make sure you are all relatively unharmed then to catalog the warps you've gone through. So, after the school day is finished I need you join me here for at least ten minutes, understood."

They all murmured an agreement. This man was really their only hope of making it through this loss, whatever it was. It was honestly hard for Iris to wrap her mind around the concept. She was in her final school year, she was supposed to be worrying about her grades or her upcoming exams not aliens from beyond the Solar system and...Unexpectedly, something occurred to Iris. She locked eyes with the adult in the room.

"Wait, I believe I may have something else to add."

Mr. Carol frowned, but nodded to tell her to continue. He was surprised: the least noticeable one in the group was the one that held the most information. Why would they single her out so early on in the game? Well, it had most probably been a coincidence as, apart from Jacob, Iris was the one who led the most normal life out of the five. The girl interlaced her hands, fiddling uncertainly with her fingers as she spoke.

"Before we ended up together on the evening of the Rewind Festival I was babysitting my younger brother. He dragged me off to see a fortune teller, he went in first, but then she called me in. When I went to see her she kept referring to me as 'chosen' and she told me this weird fortune telling poem. I just remembered it."

Iris drew a shaky breath and looked around herself. Ella was slumped in her seat, arms crossed over her chest, looking highly sceptical while Jacob had a slight hopeful expression on his face. Matthew had his brow furrowed as though he was trying to puzzle something out and Mr. Carol looked thoughtful and apprehensive. Iris's attention was drawn to William when he spoke, his voice serious and his whole being reminding Iris of something or someone else. Who? She couldn't place her finger on it quite yet.

"Do you remember the poem?"

"I do."

"And are you confident that you can repeat it word for word?"

He pinned her with his gaze, evidently meant to intimidate her into telling him the truth. Iris, however, found herselves meeting his gaze with no qualms at all. Huh. That was odd, normally she would be afraid of even looking someone like him in the eye. Iris nodded.

"It's not the kind of thing that one can forget easily."

"Then would you be so kind to share it with rest of us?"

It seemed like some unspoken challenge was going on between them. Ella raised a brow: the heck was going on with the two of them? She saw the blue-eyed flower girl shrug an so begin to recite smoothly:

"A creature not from Sol has risen,

Five of Terra it has bidden.

Five from all corners of the world

shall have to lose all they dear hold.

A loss of mind, a loss of body,

A loss of feeling, a loss of paths - all unavoidable.

Prepare, oh chosen child, prepare

For there is no escaping it's deep rooted snare. That was it. She was called Madam Ailli, I think."

Ella threw up her hands in a sign of resignation, a sarcastic note in her voice .

"Well, you've got me totally convinced that it's an alien. 'Cause no human phoney fortune teller could ever come up with that."

Matthew snorted, eyeing Ella as though she was a small child who needed the most basic things explained to her.

"Anyone can come up with a poem, dingus, but not one that actually comes true. A loss of paths? Seem familiar?"

Ella proceeded to kick the redhead under the table and stand up. Iris glanced down at the screen of her wristband, noting that it had somehow turned to half past midnight and she needed to get up early for school seeing as she lived on the outskirts of Eastbridge, following Ella up. Jacob also got to his feet.

"Seem like we should get going. This isn't going to be one of those scenarios where we've only been gone a few seconds, is it?"

Ella snorted and both Mr. Carol and Iris cracked a smile at that. It seemed exhaustion was overruling panic at the moment. The older man sighed and dipped his head in agreement.

"Sadly, no. But we've spoken long enough. The last thing I want is to cause more trouble for you than I already have. Go, but be careful."

They nodded once more before all taking one step forward and vanishing with a soft crack. Carol stood up and went to deposit the mugs in the sink. He sighed to himself.

"Ailli, huh...Should have known she'd get involved, never could stay out of trouble that one. So does that mean that she knows who Yfa is? Is she on her side? No, Ai is mischievous, but she'd never hurt a human. Still, why would she tell Iris Fawners that? Convenience? Ai's a whimsical person, but she'd never does anything without some kind of reason. Ow!"

Carol winced as his hand brushed against a chipped part of the cup, thankfully though it was just a scratch. He put the cup aside, murmuring.

"This is only getting more complicated. Yfa's going to a slippery one to catch especially since she's one of the 14 and she's using an alias. I'd go to Tase with this, but she has her hands full as is, besides I should probably keep this a secret for as long as possible. A rogue agent...Never good news."

***

The next morning Iris had to focus hard to stay awake in class, constantly stifling yawns. In the end she'd never fallen asleep despite ending up right in her bedroom. Her mind, though confused and exhausted, just wouldn't turn off. She'd taken a quick nap during her ride to Rai Station on the city rail (that was what had replace did the subway in Eastbridge), but that did nothing to lessen her exhaustion. She'd also been jumpy the whole morning, watching her feet and dreading seeing the soles turning pink. Some part of her still refused to accept it as reality despite the fact that she'd teleported 3 times now. It wasn't as fun as one would imagine it to be, especially when it felt like someone had decided to light your feet on fire every single time. Still, despite Iris expecting it, nothing did happen. She safely reached her school, went through Algebra, English safely, steadily arriving at her Literature class and pulling out her tablet and stylus. The class started off as normal and as she lost herself in the discussion of which foreign writer should could be considered the classics, Iris was lulled into a sense of security. Yes, this was nice, this was normal. They then moved onto the presentations portion, apparently the teacher, Mr Kogswood had asked a few students to do presentations on famous foreign writers. Looking through the list on his own device, Mr Kogswood dramatically (a small always) called out.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome to the stage Ellen Rocherforte with her presentation about the pessimistic humorist russian writer - Chekhov."

He struck a pose, pointing a the girl in the back. The class, already well used to the dramatics, clapped politely. Iris looked over her shoulder to see Ella stand up from her seat with her tablet, an annoyed expression flickering across her face. She looked just as sleep-deprived as Iris, but her movements betrayed none of that. Iris envied her for having that amount of self-control. Their eyes met and Ella's gaze seemed to harden as she saw Iris. She turned towards the board and took a step only to vanish with a small crack. 

  Iris's eyes widened and she gulped. Oh no, this was bad. This was very, very bad. How would everyone react to a person vanishing into thin air before their eyes? Heart thumping violently in her chest, Iris looked to her right and caught Matthew's eye two seats away from her to see him looking as freaked out as she was, although he was trying to keep calm. Iris looked at the teacher to see him rubbing his eyes. She braced herself for his reaction, only to hear him sigh in disappointment, asking his head.

"Oh, Miss Rocherforte is absent today? Why did none of you tell me that, you rapscallions,hm?"

The class attendance monitor, a boy, chuckle do awkwardly.

"Sorry, sir. I have no clue why I didn't mark her down as absent today."

"Ah, these things, happen, Mr Rogers. Now..."

Iris stopped paying attention past this point, her mind spinning. Why wa she the teacher acting like Ella was absent? She'd even answered during the lesson even more so her things were clearly on her desk! And why were none of her classmates acting freaked out? Hadn't a girl just disappeared into thin air before their very eyes?! Adopting a mask of calm, Iris leaned over and whispered to Heidi.

"Hey, Heids, why is everyone so calm?"

The blonde raised a neat eyebrow at her.

"Why shouldn't we be?"

Iris stared at her before whispering hurriedly.

"Ella Rocherforte just vanished into thin air! How is that normal?!"

Heidi blinked her warm rich brown eyes at her in confusion before placing a hand to Iris's forehead, looking at her worriedly.

"Iri, do you have a fever? Ella Rocherforte's been absent the whole day so far. And people don't vanish into thin air, silly. Did your uncle fill your head with stories of 'alien' ruins again? Iri, you're 17 now, you know better than to believe that. You ok? You're looking awfully pale?"

Iris muttered  quick confirmation of her wellbeing before sitting back in her seat, burying her face into her hands. She felt positively nauseous. What the hell was going on? Well, she knew Ella had been teleported off somewhere, but why was everyone acting like she hadn't been here in the first place. Had she been hallucinating and Ella had really ditched school? Her mind flashed back to Matthew. No, he'd looked just as freaked out as she had. Iris lifted her head up and looked to Matthew who met her gaze with the same fear and confusion clear in his eyes: he didn't understand why no one else had seen it too. Iris needed to talk to him. Mr. Carol had been right - they could only rely on each other it seemed. She needed to get out of class. Iris lifted her hand up and waited until Mr. Kogswood pointed to her.

"Yes, Miss Fawners?"

"Sir, may I please be excused? I don't feel well all of a sudden."

The teacher frowned and looked at her in concern.

"Do you need someone to take you to the doctor's office?"

Iris opened her mouth to respond when Matthew, who'd evidently figured out her plan, quickly jumped to his feet and offered. Heidi looked very bewildered beside Iris.

"I'll take her, sir. She seems in no condition to be walking by herself."

The teacher turned to him and nodded.

"Of course. Who better than our young doctor in training? Go ahead."

Matthew swiftly reached Iris's side and wrapped and arm around her shoulders, helping her out of the classroom while she acted as though she was about to fall over all the while trying not to look at Heidi. Inside this was very awkward and embarrassing, but that same inhuman icy calm hadn't taken hold of Iris again and it demanded she reveal nothing. As soon as they'd got out into the corridor and Matthew had slid the door closed they dropped the act. He looked at her with approval.

"Good acting, Fawners. What in the name of all thing she good happened in there? It's like they all..."

He trailed off. Iris nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's like they all forgot Ella was ever there. Were their memories overwritten or something?"

Matthew looked uncertain, his common sense conflicting wit his reality. Everything he'd ever been taught in both medical school and in this denied the possibility of Iris's suggestion being the truth, but...

"I'd say impossible, but after last night I don't know what's really impossible and what's not. You saw her disappear too?"

"Yes. Though why did no one else?"

"Maybe it has something to do with us being..."

He looked nauseous, unable to finish the sentence. Iris finished it for him, her blue eyes steely.

"Being Yfa's chosen, you mean?"

"Yeah."

The boy confirmed, running a hand through his hair agitatedly. He didn't know what to do. That had never happened before. He had always been proud of himself for being able to have a plan of action no matter what. He had always been able to solve all problem so alone, independently. Of course, those had all been normal, human problems with no...no aliens involved. He wasn't sure even if there were any aliens involved. He was lost. No, he didn't  have time to focus on his pride - they had to figure out what was going on. He wasn't too worried about Scruffy-spikes, she'd be fine most probably given her attitude to life, but this was another issue entirely. Swallowing his pride, he looked at Iris, who was chewing on her lip absentmindedly.

"So, what now, Fawners?"

She focused back on the present, her large blue eyes looking at him. She sighed.

"Okay, first thing's first: call me Iris. I don't know in what's family you were brought up, but normal people in England call each other by their first names, unless you're in London and then that's another story entirely. Can I call you Matthew?" he nodded and she smiled "Good. I say we go find Mr. Carol, he might know what's going on."

"And if he's not here?"

Iris shrugged. "We'll work from there. Solve one problem before moving onto the next one."

Matthew looked at her with a raised eyebrow over his green eyes, a bit impressed by the girl's ability to think straight under pressure. She reminded him of a head surgeon during an operation, confidently issuing orders. Huh, maybe she wasn't like what he'd heard about her. He nodded in agreement.

"Right, that's probably our safest bet for now."

They both took of on a run towards the faculty office. They made it halfway there before the pain exploded in their legs and their soles lit up neon pink. Iris found herself squeezing her eyes shut before crashing into something. Taking a few shaky steps back, Iris shivered at the cold. She opened her eyes to find herself standing on what looked like the foot of a mountain of rocks in a crater. It took a moment for Iris to realise where exactly she was and when she did her blood ran cold. Out of all the places she could have teleported her to Yfa had chosen to place Iris at the foot of the monument to humanity's failure 20 years ago. Iris Fawners was standing shivering at the site of Impact Zero, the place they had all come to refer to as C-Zero. Yfa must have been having a good laugh at that.