Oregon

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6:30 ??

I walk briskly next to Emelisse and behind everyone else in the group. The tall evergreen trees that make up the forest sway heavily with the wind. Marcelo and Cazius lead the group. I continue walking lost in my own thoughts when Leo comes up to me. "How much have you been exposed to the siren?" He questions me. "I wasn't keeping count but a lot of times". I reply honestly. He looks at me with a puzzled expression on his face. "How have you not turned?" He mutters to himself more than to me. He then looks down at my wrist. "Your watch" he points out. I look down to see my watch spinning again. "I don't know why it keeps doing this" I say truthfully. Within a split second loud sirens blare through the forest. "Run!" King yells. Everyone begins sprinting down the path. Androids begin running at the group from both sides of the path. One of the androids tackles King in front of me. The android manages to punch him in the face before Emelisse shoots it in the head. I help King up and we keep running. The siren sounds again and a sharp pain shoots through my head. Black dots cloud my vision and I fall. I feel myself fading in and out of consciousness until I pass out.

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??:??

I wake up in a daze, unaware of my surroundings. The room I'm in is less lit. I can hear people talking but I can't make out the words. I recognize one of the voices as Emelisse. I rub my eyes and try to get up but quickly realized my wrists are retrained behind my back. "What's happening?" I manage to choke out. "Anastasia!" I hear Emelisse yell. She rushes over me to untie my hands. "God, I thought you turned into a scouter" she says while hugging me. "You didn't immediately turn into a scouter so Emelisse convinced us to carry you" King says annoyed. "Where are we?" I ask sleepily. "Oregon" he says. *They carried me all the way to Oregon?* Leo comes up to me holding my watch. "When was the last time it started freaking out?" He asked. I recall Cazius previously asking about my watch. "When Alaric got turned into a scouter" I reply solemnly. Cazius gets up and stands next to Leo. "I think the watch freaks out every time androids are near" Leo states. "That could be possible" Marcelo says. "Androids came around after the eradication of analogue clocks. Maybe that's because they weren't compatible" He says finishing his thought. Leo hands me my watch and I put it back on, checking the time.

8:44

I look around for my bag and see it in the corner of the room. I sift through my bag for a water and remember the documents in it. I pull the envelopes out and Cazius looks at me with a puzzled look. "What are those?" He asks. "It's hard to explain, but I found these documents in my grandmothers storage unit. She worked on this project called the 'Ultanica'" I say. When I mentioned the Ultanica, Leo's eyes light up. "Can I see those?" He asks me. I hand him the envelopes and he scans over them. "I used to work as a security guard at location #1" he begins. All eyes in the room fall on him. "These documents show the mechanical build of the Ultanica. With this information we can disable it." He tells us. "What does the Ultanica have to do with this?" Odelia asks. "It's the server that androids run on. It's also referred to as the 'Ultimate'" he replies. "So that's why we're going to LA?" Odelia asks further. "Yeah, it's the only chance we have to get out of this alive." King says. "We should get going" Marcelo starts. "The androids are still on us." He finishes. "He's right" Cazius agrees. Emelisse helps me up and Leo gives me the documents back. "We should eat before we go though" Emelisse announces. She hands everyone a granola bar. We all walk out the door, the bright sunlight casting down through the trees. I walk in between Odelia and
King on the path to LA.

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