Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Dark Past, Bright Future
It's been six years since the day when the entire world literally had all eyes on my father. Bruce Delfin was a genius. His accomplishments and accolades garnered over the years of his success were beyond what anyone could imagine. From gravity-defying objects to a wide range of hover vehicles to underwater speed-of-sound light rail transportation that connected continents and countries worldwide, Bruce made it happen.

He changed the landscape of technology and transportation forever.

But, he wasn't thoroughly satisfied. Not just yet. All his life my father wanted to find an even faster way of travelling. He wanted to be able to get from home to work in a matter of seconds. He wanted to be able to get from North America to Europe in just the same amount of time.

After years of hard work, total dedication,extreme knowledge and sheer talent, my father created the latest invention that would meet what he had always envisioned.

A teleportation crystal.

On October 26th, 2026 my father brought me to his beta-testing presentation demo, an event that was being broadcast in every single city of every country, in every continent on Earth. Over 9 billion people watched as he was about to demonstrate just exactly how his teleportation crystal would work.

I remembered that day fully. My mother, Stacy, watched from home with my older brother Paul to avoid the media coming from all directions. My dad, however, wanted to bring me along with him. He wanted me to experience the event live, and the fact that I barely talked forced the reporters to avoid interviewing me about my father's plans.

At that age I was only 12, my brother already at the age of 18. I sat on a chair in the presentation room located on the 26th floor of the Norbs Corporation Tower as I watched my dad begin the beta-test. On that day, I was so excited. I couldn't wait to see my father with yet another ground-breaking accomplishment.

He was my idol; my role model. I loved my dad and dreamed of becoming like him one day. He knew that, and he loved the fact that I was interested in going into the same field as he did. I wouldn't say I was his favourite child, but because of the fact that I wanted to follow the same sort of career path one day, he wanted to bring me everywhere and show me what kinds of tasks he did.

On that day of October 26, I wish I never came.

Or, to correct myself, I wish it just never even happened. I wish there was no presentation to present. For once in my life, I wish my father didn't invent the teleportation crystal to begin with.

As he stepped into the portal right after he activated the crystal, he waved at me and smiled. He was so proud, and I was too. The moment the portal closed I remember waiting excitingly for where he would reappear from. Everyone in the room chatted and waited, impressed so far with what they saw. Everyone in the world waited for the phone to ring in the presentation room, where Bruce would have called to indicate where in the world he was, whether it be in another continent or simply on another floor in Norbs Corp Tower.

An hour passed. Then another.

And another.

At first, I waited with excitement, which turned into anxiety, which then turned into impatience, until finally, I waited with worry.

At the end of the day, there was no phone call. There was not even a single sign or trace of where my father could be. My mom picked me up, extremely shaken up by the event. The greatest scientist of our time was now missing in action.

Months had passed, the entire world performing search and rescue teams in hopes of finding Bruce Delfin. At one point however, they were all stopped and the operation was aborted. About every part of the planet was scaled and there was still no sign of the one I called dad.

The loss of my father struck and shook every part of the world. Norbs Corp was forced to seize all experiments and projects on Bruce's teleportation crystal, deeming his discoveries and research to be fake as well as unsafe to continue. The dangers that it could cause were terrifying as it easily wiped away one of the greatest scientists off the face of the Earth.

Although it was a loss to all of the people worldwide, it was an even greater loss to my family. None of us handled it well, and as the years progressed, it only went from bad to worse. My mother fell into depression. Ever since that day, she never went back to work. She dedicated her time following up with search parties, but when all of them were discontinued, she broke down and lost all hope. My mother loved my father, and his loss would ultimately be something too great for her to accept.

One morning Paul and I woke up only to find out that Stacy was gone. We assumed that she went out to get a bit of fresh air, to cool off and to accept what had happened to my dad. However, days had passed and she never returned home. At around the 7th day, we realized that she had left us.

On March 12 of 2027, more than a year since the day she left my brother and I, she was found dead by a shallow river in the North-end of our city; cause: suicide.

Paul had taken care of me ever since she ran away from home. We stuck up for each other and grew a close bond. He became the father-figure of our family as I remained the youngest member of what was now an even smaller family. We had no relatives or cousins. Or, at least, they didn't have the urgency to even find us and take care of us themselves.

As far as I was concerned, Paul was the only one I had left.

As the months went by, I began to realize that stress started to get to him. He dropped out of school to work two jobs. At one point, we began to grow distant to each other because of how he was always away. I would mostly be alone at home, only seeing Paul for a couple of hours in a day on a couple of days a week before he would go for his next job. Little did I know that he had a third job he worked at which began to fully separate us apart.

One afternoon, I found a kilogram of cocaine sitting inside his bedroom. At once, I knew he was doing the wrong thing. We fought & argued to the point where we never talked to each other at all.

On August 18, 2029, Paul was found dead at the back of an old apartment building with gunshots through his back and his head; cause: drug dealing affiliation.

Paul had always told me that he would do anything for me, so that I could have a better life. I trusted him, I believed in him. However, getting into the drug business wasn't what I wanted him to ever get into. Yet, he did.

The last words Paul ever told me were, "do you think I wanted to do this? To sling coke on the streets? Gabe I'm doing this for you, so shut the hell up and let me do my thing."

The last words I ever told him were, "Fine, do whatever you want. Just leave, I don't want you here anyway."

To this day, I regret ever letting those words slip out of my mouth. If I never said it, maybe it would've never happened.

Or maybe, I was just destined to be alone.

For the next three years I did everything on my own. I had no true friends, just a whole lot of acquaintances. My father's reputation never was forgotten. Those acquaintances either knew me through Bruce Delfin, or because I was his child prodigy, supposed to fill in the hole that was left behind when he disappeared. Many people called me the Son of Bruce, while just as many people mocked me and called me The Only One.

The only one left. I was alone in this world that not only made fun of the loss of my entire family, but now expected me to be the next greatest whatever, next in line to my father.

As I told this to a fully attentive Mia, I saw her filled with empathy, with sorrow and most of all, with complete disturbance. She was compelled by the story of my family. It was a shock she never expected.

In spite of this, I continued on. There was one more thing I felt the need to share. The one thing that turned my life around, regardless of if it was for the better or for worse.

On October 26, 2032, I started my first day at Norbs Corporation of Specialized Technology as an Innovative Technological Research Discovery Specialist: ITRDS. It was the same field that my father had worked, in the same building that he made famous.

I took my very first step into the path that Bruce Delfin paved for me; the very first step in a road full of millions of steps before I reached the end. And even at the end, the world expected me to continue on the legacy that my father left behind.

The pressure was enormous, but I never let it get to me. Too much had already gone on in my young life for me to worry about what everyone wanted me to be, what everyone thought I would become. I downplayed the hype, although, because of my quiet and humble personality, there wasn't any hype to begin with. I would be hidden in the shadow of my father, forgotten and not recognized. That is, until they discover my last name, connecting me to Bruce Delfin.

In all honesty though, I didn't want to be famous. I didn't want to be recognized. I just simply didn't mind. If popularity came with what I did, so be it. But if it didn't, I could probably care less.

On my first day on the job, it was a good thing no one put me under the microscope. I was having a bad day; a day that couldn't have gotten any worse.

I woke up late, my head cringing in pain with a major headache. Despite it, I got out of bed and took a shower before I headed right out the door. I decided to skip breakfast.

I took public transportation to get by around the city. When my father disappeared years back, billions of dollars were spent by my mother all for the search operations and state-of-the-art tracking technology to find him. Six years later, the money he earned - all the money of my family - was practically gone.

There was just enough left over for me to get through the last couples of years on my own before my first day at work, so I decided to spend it wisely; I no longer had a mother, a father or a brother to earn anymore income. The government did send a few extra bucks every month, but when I say a few extra bucks I literally mean a few. extra. bucks.

If I lived off of it alone, I might as well be living on the streets today.

Thankfully, with the amount left over from my inheritance from my parents, it helped me get to the vital day that was October 26th, 2032. The day I would finally work for myself. The day I was supposed to start my career. And I will never forget the day for as long as I live.

My day should've started at 8 AM, ready to work individually on setting up everything I would be using for the next half of my life, if not, for the rest of it. Instead, I was caught in major morning traffic. My stomach growled because of the fact that I hadn't eaten anything since the night before and the sounds of the bustling street only added to the excruciating aching of my head.

I arrived at my office floor at 11, being obviously noticed by my boss. Because of my late arrival, he scowled at me mentioning that punctuality is everything in today's world. After hearing a load-full from my him, I thought I was finally off the hook. Instead, I was forced to stay and work overtime to make up for my lateness.

I didn't mind; I mean, I knew I deserved it. However, it just happened that my first day at work was also the day everything personally went wrong.

I took an aspirin at lunch and ate alone at the food court, finally satisfying my hunger. At around 5 PM, the majority of my co-workers finished their shift. As for me and a few others, we worked quietly in our own little spaces.

At around 7, everyone was gone. Everyone accept for me.

As the evening began to blanket the city in a coat of darkness, I began to pack my things and go. All I brought was my black jacket and my phone. On my way out, my luck didn't seem to get any better. The elevator I boarded jammed, and I was reluctant to call for help. Pressing the assistance button would have caused a huge scene, something I was willing to avoid no matter what. I didn't want to drag anyone else into my problem.

Therefore, I tried to break open the elevator doors myself. After a few minutes of attempting to separate them apart, I was finally successful. But, when I thought things couldn't get any worse, my phone slipped out of my jacket pocket and managed to fall through the tight crevice between the elevator and the floor I was currently stuck in.

I let out a huge sigh of disbelief, but eventually moved on. I couldn't spend the rest of my time moping about the loss of a phone. I've lost more important things than that.

Deciding that the only option I had left was to take the stairs down, I made my way to the exit. When I finally approached the hall that led to the stairs, I noticed an ominous glow in the distance. Out of curiosity, I couldn't help but walk toward its direction.

I suddenly found myself inside a large, dusty, room. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on whatever this room was. I was too distracted with the white, glow that resonated from the corner of the room.

I stood in front of it, finally realizing that it was something floating in the middle of air. So entranced by the thing, I couldn't help but examine it. Then, I thoughtlessly decided to touch the mysterious thing with my fingertip.

And when I thought my day couldn't get any worse, when I thought I already reached rock bottom, when I thought there was nothing else that could change the outcome of my day; the cloud-white portal sucked me right in, closing shut behind me as my entire body made it inside.

"Not long after, I met you" I softly told Mia, who so into the story that I was telling for almost an hour now. "I saw the infinite sky, the islands... I was convinced I was in heaven. I was convinced I was dead."

"But you aren't," she quickly shouted, sitting on top of my lap as she wrapped her arms around my body. It happened so quickly I couldn't even react. Mia laid her head between my neck and my shoulder as she began to speak in a teary voice. "You aren't dead and you aren't unlucky. You aren't alone either..."

I began to lightly blush as she tried to reason with me. I could tell that she was very emotionally-charged.

"I'm sorry... about what happened to your family, about everything that you had to put up with and go through. I never knew and I just feel so bad..." Her arms began to hold me tighter and tighter. "I've never met a person like you before. You looked so strong, so calm, so humble. I had no idea you were hiding such dark secrets."

"Because they aren't dark, and they aren't secrets - anymore at least."

Mia pulled her head up and looked at me. Her arms simultaneously now wrapped loosely around my neck.

"I didn't have any friends, close friends that I could trust at least. It was only a secret because I never told anyone about my past. But now, I told you."

She let out a smile, a smile that started to make me feel a little embarrassed for some reason.

"And it was only dark because everything that went on was depressing. It was a complete sad story." I started. "But, today is the present, so everything before today is the past. And with that said, I can honestly say that October 26th was the worst day of my life... and the best day I've ever had."

I noticed Mia begin to turn a shade of pink, even in the dimness of the night.

"It was the end of my pain, my loneliness... and was the start of my recovery, my joy. Discovering the world of Cloud 9 is one thing, but meeting you changed my life, no matter what angle you try to see it from." I said, pouring my heart out as I unknowingly began to put my arms around Mia's waste. "My stay here at Fiefa and the closeness we've developed has given me confidence for a bright future. I'm... I'm just sorry for occasionally having those dreams about my father..."

Mia suddenly hugged me once again, only this time with a feeling of comfort and security.

"Don't worry about it" she spoke softly. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll take care of you. I'll protect you. And you don't have to feel alone because... You have me."

Deep down inside, I felt at peace. I felt happy. Mia made me feel complete.

As I put one of my hands to rest on top of her head, I said "look who sounds more like the angel now."

She then let go of me, continuing to sit on top of my lap, and cracked a grin. "For the record, you're my guardian angel Gabriel. It's only right for me to take care of what's mine."

We let out a couple of laughs, loosening up and joking around as the clouds that surrounded the entire continent continued floated effortlessly into the night.