49

Trial Number 1

“Man, they sure are making a lot of errors with the software,” I said to myself as I anticipated my turn to use this new matrix software. There were 50 people selected to come to the designated secret area to test this out. I was number 49. Everyone who had been in the testing room made the computer malfunction. I was sort of scared, so I tried to walk away, but then...“Test Subject Number 49!!” That was me. They had yelled this out to notify me and anyone else that my test was underway. “OK. So, young man, have you heard of the movie ‘The Matrix?’” Said the very old scientist. He was a very nice man, though. He had on a white lab coat with goggles to shield his eyes in case something were to happen. I paused for a moment before saying “Yes, sir. I have watched the movie plenty of times.” “Well then,” he added, “Let's get started. This test is to help regular civilians like yourself see the world that that movie was based on.” I replied, “Ok, I think that I can handle that.” After I said that, I heard weird noises coming from the machine, but thought nothing of it. “Test Number 49 will commence in t-minus 5 seconds.” said the computer. Once it started, I saw 1’s and 0's just like in the movie. A couple of seconds later, I was in an Augmented Reality Sequence that allowed me to do anything that I could think of! It was weird at first, but I got the hang of it after a few minutes. A couple of seconds after I started to get the hang of things, the software sort of lagged and glitched, but I thought nothing of it. “Really? It’s 2045 and we still have laggy software?” I said, shaking my head. 20 minutes later, the world went back to normal. The scientists behind the glass were clapping and cheering, oblivious to the computer’s weird sounds and sparks. After I walked out, I was escorted out of the building by militants with AK-47’s. I ran outside ready to tell my older cousin what had happened. About 2 minutes after I got out of the building, the alarm started to go off. The 50th test subject and 4 of the 5 scientists are still inside. I'm running away alongside the 5th scientist when, “BOOM!!!” the whole 1st floor of the building blew up, leading to a chain reaction of collapsing floors. The other 4 scientists are dead under the debris. The 50th test subject...the 50th child, is dead, with them.

Gift or Curse?

A few days later, I noticed intense headaches and visions. The really weird thing about these visions is that they always happened in the next couple of seconds or days later. About a month later, I started predicting the near and imminent future out of nowhere. My friends doubted my new abilities. Then, I started developing more abilities. I developed telekinesis and the ability to read minds the next week. I told my friends and, to no avail, they thought I was crazy. During the third period, I went to the gym and started playing basketball. I was using my telekinesis to shoot and read the opponent’s mind. Even when I told them what they were thinking of doing, they thought it was luck. So, to show them, I used my telekinesis to pick up the ball and shoot. Finally, they believed me. They were very surprised when they saw what I was capable of. I thought I was gifted, but even without reading their minds, I knew that they thought that I was cursed. I noticed over the next few months that my friends were drifting away from me. Slowly, but surely. 1 month, everyone is cool with me. 1 more month passes, almost everyone is cool with me. A couple more months pass, one person is still with me.

Return Of The 50th

If you, the reader, were paying attention, you would remember that the 50th test subject died in the 1st chapter. If you were really paying attention, you would know that I never told you who she was. She was my girlfriend. She promised that she would go if I went to that testing site. When I didn't see her come out, I was devastated. But, on the news the next night, they were talking about a child being found at the testing site. The next morning, I got an email telling me to come back. They wanted me to go back to the place that almost killed me and killed the love of my life. When I got there, they had a large greenhouse type tent set up to test anyone that was still there. Before I could walk into the testing room, sprayers from all over fully sterilized me and a computerized voice said, “Sterilization complete. Proceed to the next room.” The child was unharmed and looked normal. She had no scratches and was tested for supernatural signs. She had a new DNA strand that could reproduce muscle tissue, bone marrow, and skin cells as well as blood. She also had senses that were heightened 10 times over! Plus, she had super strength! The next day, she was at school. I ran with my super speed, which had developed over time, straight to her and, to no surprise, everyone was shocked by what I had just done. They were even more shocked to see the 50th child, which was my girlfriend, come back after being announced dead on international television. She had so many questions, as did I. The only problem was that the first question she asked was, “Who are you?”

A New Challenger Has Appeared

My first reaction was, “Jasmane, i-i-it’s me. N’Namdi. I am your boyfriend.” She replied with, “Oh my gosh! I have a boyfriend!?” I was initially surprised, but I thought to myself, “Of course she doesn't remember. She was under all of that debris and announced dead. What did I think she would remember? Well, I guess it’s my obligation now to help her remember. But how?” I was determined to find a way to help her remember everything. The only problem was how was I going to do this on my OWN!? I realized that I wouldn't be able to do it by myself. I gathered a team. A team of supernaturals like myself. They were all my friends from along the way. Decaden Kelley; The power of X-Ray vision. He could analyze anything in a matter of seconds. Beryl Baker; Supernatural drawing skills plus she had flexible bones. She could move without restriction and stretch her limbs to great lengths. Jared Alexander; Invisibility, teleportation, and is a British spy. Eloy Carvajal; Bulletproof body, a professional hacker, and had an impenetrable force field that could be used at any time. ‘J45man3 5m1l3’; Professional hitwoman and super hearing and vision. Last but not least, N’Namdi Islam; I can predict the future, read minds, use telekinesis, have super speed, and can alter time to my advantage. This was the team. We are The Gifted Ones.

Intel

My team was formed. I had every person that had every ability that I needed. But, we still needed a plan. Eloy had started by saying, “Maybe we should start at the testing site where she ‘died’.” Beryl had replied with, “How did it look? Maybe I could draw a scale picture of it and Eloy could pinpoint the location with the help of Jared.” “Of course!” I exclaimed. “Guys, you can get on that right now. I’ll run to a couple of places where people would know a little intel on her. I’ll take Decaden with me.” After I said that, Decaden and I ran to a few places with my super speed. Decaden used his X-Ray vision to see in the places that I couldn’t see inside. After running from place to place, Decaden finally analyzed a place that had intel on her. “Here!! Stop here!!” he yelled. I stopped with a skid mark left behind. We went in and saw a woman that was working there. “Hello, ma’am, we’d like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind,” I said. The woman was hesitant, but gave in after what felt like hours of staring! She then said, “Alright, the girl you are talking about is my daughter. She was dead though, correct?” “They thought she was dead, but we have her at our treehouse headquarters. I’m sorry to say this, but… she can’t remember a thing.” I replied. “AMNESIA!?” the woman exclaimed. She then burst into tears and tried to talk while sobbing. “She won’t remember this, but… here. It is a photograph collection. This may help you get her memory back.” “Thank you, ma’am,” I said while trying to comfort her. Decadenthen said, “Guys, I hear something in the backroom!” I replied, “Let’s go then. Thank you for this ma’am.” We then walked to the backroom labeled “EMPLOYEES ONLY”. But, before I walked back there, the lady pulled me aside and whispered something in my ear. I said, “I promise.” and started to the “EMPLOYEES ONLY” room. Decaden asked, “Bro, what did she pull you aside for?” I said, “She told me to promise that I would get her daughter back to her with all of her normal features and memory. Well, plus the abilities of course.” “Wow. That’s a big promise that you just made.” Decaden said. “I know. I’ll do anything to bring her back to a normal state of mind and bring her back to her mother...and me.” A couple of minutes of looking in the “EMPLOYEES ONLY” room, I found some records that hold classified intel of the 50th child in an open safe that I’d noticed just then. “Guys, I think that we’ve been looking in the wrong places,” I said. “How come?”

Jasmane said. “This. We are gonna need the rest of the team.” I replied. “Well, let’s go!” Decaden yelled. “Come on, gang!” I replied. A few seconds later, we arrived at headquarters. “Yo! Jared, Eloy, Beryl! Come down here! I found something that you guys need to see!” I yelled. “We’re coming down!” Beryl said. “So, what’d ya find?” Jared asked, and Eloy nodded and stepped forward to see. “See for yourselves,” I said.

Mirage

“Oh my gosh!” everyone exclaimed. “Yes. There is a warehouse where her memories have been stored.” I said. “They must’ve kept them while they were “testing” her,” said Eloy, agreeing. “Correct. They wanted her to keep her mouth shut about the program. There is something that they know that we need to know.” A couple of hours later, we went to the location’s coordinates that were foolishly placed in the “TOP SECRET” file. “Is this it?” Beryl asked. “These are the coordinates,” said Eloy. “Guys, it’s maybe just a cloak. That’s why you can’t see it.” I said. A few seconds after I said that, we went to check if my theory was correct. To no surprise, I was correct. After Eloy disabled the cloak, we went inside. Surprisingly, no one was inside. Or so I thought. “HEY, WHO’S IN THERE!?!?” yelled one of the guards. “Everyone, get ready. It’s about to go down.” I said. “GET THEM!” exclaimed one of the guards. Using my prediction skills and my time-altering, I took down 3 guards without them seeing what I did! Then, I stopped time to let everyone set up something that would kill each guard at the same time. “Ok, guys. I’m restarting at 3… 2… 1!” I said while letting time start. “Well, that was easy,” said Decaden. “Of course it was! How do you think N’Namdi came up with our name?” Beryl said.

Bigger Than Us

“Okay, guys. I don’t wanna be that guy, but...we may have to split up.” Everyone sighed heavily after I said that. “Come on, guys. We will cover more ground that way.” Eloy said. “Yeah, he’s right.” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said. A few minutes later, I go into a pitch-black room with one light hanging over files spread across a white table. “GUYS!!! COME HERE!!” I yelled. “Guys?!” I said, feeling confused at the time. I heard a blood-curdling scream in the other room and ran as fast as possible to the other room. “WHAT THE FREAK IS THAT??!!” I exclaimed. “I DON’T KNOW, BUT IT AIN’T GOOD!!” yelled ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ and Jared. The monster that we saw wasn’t a monster. It was a human test subject! The tag that I spotted on his chest read: “TRIAL 1 OF MATRIX SOFTWARE, SUBJECT NUMBER 49”. As soon as I saw that, I stopped time. I had to do a few things to tranquilize him before we all examined him. “Wait… This says Trial 1, Test Subject 49,” Eloy said. “Yeah, so?” Decaden questioned, confused. “I was Subject 49. I was also in the 1st Trial of the software,” I said with a reluctant sigh. “But, how can it be the same tag if you’re right here?” Jared asked. “Well, the only logical explanation for this is that this isn’t just matrix software. It’s a cloning device!” I said, reassuringly. “But, how?” Beryl asked. “It must be taking all of the subjects from the tests and making new ones for a new reality!” I said. “A virtual reality!” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ added. “That explains why Jasmane doesn't remember anything!” Eloy said. “Exactly!” I responded. “Wait, so if Jasmane doesn't remember anything, then that means that-” Jared started to say something, but couldn't quite get it out. “It means that the real Jasmane is still in the software. We have c-clone!” I finished his sentence right before we went back into the room with the one mysterious light hanging over the old wooden table in the pitch-black room. “Before that clone of me attacked us, I found these files on where she might be,” I said. “What are these?” Jared asked. “They look like flash drives, but weirder,” Jared said, in an examination voice. “They aren't just flash drives. Hey, Decaden, gimme some light,” I said. Decaden proceeded to take out his phone and turn on the flashlight. “Seriously? Your phone's light?” Eloy asked. “Yeah. I always have my phone on me. So what?” Decaden said. “So, when did supernatural beings like us carry our phone on a mission?” I asked. “We have the ‘Com-Watch’ for that. I built them for everyone so that we wouldn't need our phones” I added before we argued for 5 minutes. “Come on, guys, we are drifting way off topic here.” Beryl intervened. “Alright, alright,” I said. “Just light the way, man,” I added. “Thank You,” Decaden said. We walked further as more and more of these flash drives kept popping up all over the room. “They must be our alternate selves.” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said. “Correct. These flash drives keep our clones’ ‘54v3__FILe’ inside of them,” I said. “Okay, that's cool and all, but Jasmane's real self is in there. We have the clone, right?” Jared said. “I know. Once we get the real Jasmane out of the software, we can destroy all of the clone flash drives for good. Once we do that, all of the clones will be erased from the digital world,” I replied. I added, “Now, this won't be easy, so don't ever let your guard down.”

A-Team

“Okay, Eloy and Jared, you guys fix up this computer while I and Decaden go find any spare parts. Jasmane, you and Beryl cover the doors while Eloy and Jared fix that.” I said. “Alright,” Eloy said. “Cool. Should be a piece of cake.” Jared said. “No problem.” Beryl and ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said together. “Come on, Decaden. We have to split up to find some extra parts in the other rooms. Check your Com-Watch. If I can't hear it, something's wrong.” I said. “Got it,” Decaden said. Using my super speed, I found a monitor large enough to work with the software. “Alright, now all I need is a platform. I can probably make one with this scrap metal.” I thought to myself. “Jeez, you would think that someone with super speed would be back by now,” Beryl said, with a chuckle. “I know, right?” Jared replied. “Alright, now this goes here...and this goes here...red to black… DONE!” I exclaimed. “That’s him!” everyone said in a weirdly synchronized fashion. “How do they always know?” I said to myself. “Okay, here he comes in about 3...2...1….” Jared said. “Hey, guys!” I said. “Told you,” Jared said. “Okay, I found…*grunting*...this monitor,” I said, struggling. “...And, I built this!” I added. “Wait...where did you learn to build things of this nature and scale?” Eloy asked. “Yeah, you aren't that tech-savvy,” Jared added. “Wow, thanks for the encouragement.” I chuckled. “I didn't tell you guys? I majored in technical engineering in college as well as music courses.” I added, bragging. “Well, okay. Mr. Secrets!” Beryl said, sarcastically. While we waited for Decaden, we played Monopoly to pass the time. “BOOM! In your face! Pay up, Jasmane!” I yelled, victoriously. “Ugh, how do I keep landing on your properties!?” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ exclaimed. “Maybe because he’s bought half the board, and keeps taking our money!” Beryl said, angrily. Not even 10.5 seconds later, we heard Decaden running. “Alright, I'm back!” Decaden yelled. “Finally!” We all said, together. “Also, who's winning?” He added. “N’Namdi is, as usual,” Beryl said, unenthusiastic about the situation in itself. “Yeah, he’s been kicking our butts the whole time you were gone!” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ added. “But, despite our losses, he built the main monitor and platform,” Jared said, reassuringly. “Well, I got the main processor!” Decaden exclaimed, with a victorious chuckle. “Alright, guys…” I said, but was cut off when Beryl said, “Ahem!” “Oh, right. ...and girls,” I added, in fear of the repercussions that would be forthcoming if I hadn’t added this. “Thank you.” Beryl and ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said. “Let’s get dangerous!” I said. “Ok then, Darkwing Duck,” Decaden said with a chuckle.

Oops...

“Okay...Are we sure about this?” Beryl asked. “Yeah, are we?” Jared added. “It’s the only way to save our friend,” I said. “Okay then,” Eloy said, unsure if he wanted to say yes. We put the computer back together and stepped onto the platform. “Alright. Is everybody ready?” Eloy asked. “Ready!” We all replied. “Okay, initiating in 3...2...1…!” Eloy said before pressing the activation button. What he didn’t know was that the clone of me from before was watching the whole time. The clones are just A.I. software, learning from previous experiences, applying what they see to everything that they do. Since he had been watching us, it walked over to the button and monitor that got us inside of the matrix program and pressed the button. He then stepped onto the platform, awaiting what he saw happen to us. “Well, we’re here,” I said. “But, where’s Jasmane?” Beryl asked. “Right h-...oh, right, hehe.” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said, sadly. “You do know what’s going to happen to you when we find the real Jasmane, right?” Eloy asked. “Yeah. But it’s okay. It was fun being alive while it lasted.” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said. “Well, listen. I’ll find a way that you can still be alive.” I said, reassuringly. “Th-Thank you.” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said. “Ok guys, I hate to kill the moment, but we have to find Jasmane!” Beryl said. “Oh, yeah! You’re right.” I said. We trekked on as we searched up and down in every nook and cranny for the real Jasmane. “Where….is...she?” Jared said, panting. “How would we know? We are walking the same places as you, to be fair.” Eloy said. “Over here!” I heard a faint voice. It sounded like her, but I didn’t want to just run over and get killed or trapped by anything, so I yelled, “Who are you!? Show your face!” as she came into my sights, I readied my powers. As soon as I could see her, she ran into my arms screaming, “N’NAMDI!” She tackled me to the ground almost as I hugged her back stuttering, “I-I-It’s you!”

Mission Accomplished?

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Decaden exclaimed. “Yeah, something is fishy here…” Beryl added. “You might want to test her…” Eloy said, being his suspicious self. “It’s me, guys, come on!” Jasmane said, trying to assure her innocence. “If it is you, what did N’Namdi get you on you guys’ first anniversary?” Eloy asked. “A new poem book with kitty pages!” Jasmane said. “Alright, she’s clean.” Eloy finally admitted. “Wait, who is this girl!?” Jasmane questioned stiffly. “Oh, this is your clone,” I said, oblivious to the fact that the real Jasmane didn’t know what the heck was going on. “And?...” Jasmane said. “Listen, the program that you all were using made clones of the 50 people that used it. Even this idiot.” Beryl said. “HEY! I’m right here!” I exclaimed. “Y-ye-yes, I am your c-cl-clone.” ‘J45man3 5m1l3’ said. “What's wrong with her?” Jared asked. “Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you guys. I learned that when a clone and the real thing get in close proximity to each other, the clone starts to phase between dimensions. Pretty much, the clone is going to die as soon as we destroy the drive.” I said, surprisingly calm about the entire situation. “What!?” Everyone exclaimed. “That isn’t a good thing, why are you so calm about it!?” Beryl asked. “Because, I’m gonna make her a real person as well as my clone so that they can be together and lead a normal life, but they still have the powers that they did while they were clones stuck in the program!” I exclaimed happily. “And how do you plan to do THAT?” Beryl asked. “Easy,” Eloy said, confidently. “Just go into the files on the computer that we used and copy theirs directly from the master file,” Jared added. “Yeah, it will give them all of their powers and memories so they will still be normal and they will be able to stay if you add a new element to their file after copying.” Eloy finished. “Okay then, let’s go back to our lab and get this done. These past few months have been very weird…” Decaden said while shivering from the thought of everything that happened. After he said that, I opened another portal back into the lab from the program. “Okay, guys, let’s make everything normal again!” I exclaimed. “Normal?” Beryl asked. “Come on, you know what he means," Jared said.

Game Over...or so we thought.

After we jumped into the portal, I destroyed every single ‘54v3__FILe’ that was created and gave J45m4n3 5m1l3 and my clone what they deserved. A real human life. Well, sort of. Until… "BOOM!!" A large metal door barricading the contents inside of this place of ruin was destroyed as we all heard, “You won’t get away with my technology!” We all looked at each other and got into our stances. “Ready?” I said as I smirked and we all looked at the creature, seeing a familiar face. I gasped.

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