"Congratulations,
you are our 1000th customer. We give you 2 hours free Karaoke session at room
307. Please follow our staff to the room, thank you"
Rey took
a glance out of his cellphone for a while, couldn't believe of what he has just
heard. He never got that much luck before. He didn't even know about that
promotion. It's not that he couldn't afford to rent a room. He usually came
here to have some nice drinks and Karaoke session at the bar. It's cheaper. But
who cares, as long as it's free.
"Here
we are, sir, please." The karaoke staff opened a high wooden door with 307
metal plate number's hanging in there. "Please come in, enjoy your time."
The
Karaoke staff smiled and allowed him to come in.
And that
door was the last thing he cannot remember.
-------------------------------------------
UBS Tower Building
Her shoe
dropped down the building. She couldn't believe she had reached this point.
Fear, anger, guilt all blend into one. Sarah had at last, here already at the
top of UBS Tower. This was the time to end this. Let all this pain went away.
She stepped her foot to the emptiness of air, prepared to take the leap. The
cold wind crawled behind her neck, little by little, strangled her. And the slight
tremble came out of control in all part of her body as she tried to step
forward. She breathed deeply, like it was for the last time. The tears started
to fill her eyes in, broke it into a thousand pieces, blurred her sight out.
This was the time..
The chest
pain was real. The burden got heavier. No she wasn't ready. She stepped her
foot back. It felt like something held her back. Someone watched her behind.
She turned her head back.
"Sarah,
please! Go out of there! For the love of God, would you? Please?!"
"Josh!
What are you doing here? Why do you even think of coming back? Go Away!"
shouted Sarah with her eyes full of tears
"Please
can you come back here for a while. Sarah I beg you, please! Don't go this
way."
“But for
what in the world, I would have to live anymore? Josh! I gave up everything! My
parent, my career! All so that I could be with you! D**n it Josh!" And
with that word, all the tears started to break out of her defense, she couldn't
bear it any longer.
"You
know, I just ask you one thing! One thing! No shut it!" She added quickly
"I know what you were gonna say, but long distance won't work, Josh! No it
won't! And after all that I have sacrificed to be with you! I don't want to be
the one who sacrificing myself all over again. So here, I make this sacrifice
for the last time. And all these pain, all these big mistake that I had thrown
my life away, has to end!" She continued with uncontrollably sob.
"No
Josh, now just tell me that you won't go to Virginia again. Tell me you will
quit the CIA, tell me you'll never leave again! You call them now!"
Shouted Sarah hysterically. She shrugged her cellphone.
"Here,
I'll call the CIA, I'll go tell them, but please would you go inside first
Sarah, please!"
"I love
you Josh" She stepped behind, moved back, came inside the window.
"I
love you Sarah"
Afterall,
she wasn't ready.
-------------------------------------------
Reynold Mckenzie, June 2014,
Missouri
Pacsetter Electronic Inc
He
breathed deeply, felt relieved. From now on, everything’s fine, everything
would always be fine. With the proud on his face, he stared at his balance on
the ATM receipt. He officially had his first permanent job, he had his life
back on track at last. All these fears and insecurities had ended already. All
the random jobs, he did it to collect some money. He finally had settled.
Reminded of all the dark times when he barely even ate, lived alone in the
roadside, had no education. Now he was living in a small flat, happily in a relationship
and has a settled job.
"Hey
kid, answer me?" Rey awoke from his deep thought, apparently didn't hear
anything said before.
"I
am sorry sir, I'm Reynold, Pacsetter operator for today, could you please
repeat your complain?"
"Yes,
so here, this cellphone hasn't work for at least the past 3 days, but I am in a
hurry. So can I leave it here and I'll get back, umm, let's say tomorrow to
take back my cellphone, Reynold?"
"Okay,
I'll try to take a look at it first, see what I can do to fix this. Here, I
made you the receipt, you can show this when you want to grab your cellphone
tomorrow. I'll try to fix this as soon as I can." Reynold gave the receipt
and got back to the counter. He took the cellphone, opened its casing and
examined every little part of it. The electronic device was one of his
expertise lately. He used to take a lot of different job until there was an
opening in Pacsetter where he then tried to apply and got some training session
in his probation period. But today was his first day as a permanent employee.
He had to finish it tonight. But it was still a long ride there.
He
thought, he knew that today would be different because today was his first
permanent employment.
But that
day passed differently because of another reason.
"Sarah!"
-------------------------------------------
Josh Gallagher, August 2014,
Virginia
CIA Headquarter
I stare
at my cellphone receipt on the table. It's been almost 2 months and I have
never get it back. I know it might sounds weird but somehow I lost some part of
myself that night. Or some of my memory? Or some of my heart? I guess I lost a
lot of things in life.
So yes,
me and Sarah. We broke up that night at the top of UBS Tower building. And she
wasn't that devastated on the break-up. She accepted that pretty well actually,
after I took her cellphone.
I tell it
like this, not that I don't love her. In fact, she is the love of my life. I
just had reached the stage of love which made me realize that I couldn't really
make her happy so I have to let her go, find her own happiness one more time.
Yes she always said she was having enough happiness with me, but deep down, I
knew she didn't. She started to have a lot of nightmares and hallucinations.
And in some other times, she said something about leaving her parent and her
dream. It made me even sadder. For instance, she lived her dream as an
Executive Financing at UBS which located at UBS Tower building, one of the
skyscrapper in Chicago. And she still lived with her parent, occasionally, usually
during Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or even 4th of July holiday, while spending
the rest, being my fiancee.
I didn't
know what had happened to us recently. We didn't even have a real issue. All I
knew that day, I gave up upon Sarah torturing herself most of time. I couldn't
stand it anymore. So I took her phone, left her right there at UBS tower, let
her go. And I have to keep that phone away from her. Then as my gut has told
me, she is happier than ever.
I knew
about this weird cellphone for some more time but always refused to believe in
it. I wasn't ready to take that away from her, to break the bond, to be out of
her life. I had tried to throw the cellphone away and bought her a new one, but
it was always back. One day I just knew that I had to be the one who thrown it
away out of her life, just to make her happy once and for all. I had to go away
and brought that cellphone with me. And yes, the cellphone was still with me,
up until 2 months ago, when the cellphone was broken and I sent it to the
repairman, his name is Reynold if I am not mistaken.
I show
him the receipt on my table. Yes, Gio, I have lost it 2 months ago. I am so
sorry, but the cellphone you're looking for isn't with me anymore. You can
search that Rey-guy if you want, but I've searched the entire Missouri and I
didn't find him.
Giovanni
stares me across the desk, pauses for a while to understand what I have just
told him. However, it is all too much to take. He looks like considering
something before at last talks to me in a low-pitched voice.
"You
have to be careful if you find that cellphone Josh, I mean the chip in that
cellphone. The cellphone itself is harmless, you see a ton of this model
circulate in the market. This is the top secret from CIA but since you will be
assigned for this project then we have to tell you the information that might
be useful for the investigation. And you have to understand why they made this
cellphone "ringing" into people's head at the very first place. Oh
yes, our code-name for this chip is Ring307." Gio explains the
division-introduction brief to me. Curiousness and fury are mixed in a way that
I cannot describe. This chip has destroyed Sarah and our engagement, and half
part of me. Giovanni continues, breaks the silence.
"Some
of our smarter underground researcher developed the device to alter people
mind, to broadcast the same frequency as hypnotize. Because mastering people's
mind is everything. You can ask someone do every favor you want, alter their
mind, if it is the right person, you'll get everything you want in this world.
The secret research started behind us, behind the CIA, a few years ago."
Gio memories something before moves ahead.
"But
apparently one of the researcher suddenly got the right mind and he stopped
them by locked the function of Ring307, and hid it away. While this chip is
locked pretty well, it still broadcasts some weak signal in that hypnotize
frequency, so that would be the explanation of what happened to your
ex-fiancee, Ms Sarah Wilson. Our source told us that they didn't find it in
most people but well, some people's mind can be really triggered by Ring307. I
cannot be sure why, but I guess because it's connected with her really good.
There's few person needed to unlock this chip, one of them, is your Sarah, I have
also ever heard about the face-detector for a girl in Missouri named
Frysanthia" Gio suddenly pause for a while before he wipes his nose and
continues.
"I didn't
know more details about that, nor the reason why these girls were chosen as the
key to unlock that chip. The Professor (that's how people here named him),
unfortunately, had disappeared- protected for his own safety, so we couldn’t
ask him anymore. They also hide The Professor identity as a part of their
protection program. So yeah, we will never really find out everything"
-------------------------------------------
Reynold Mckenzie, June 2014,
Missouri
Morris State Park
Suddenly,
a bright light flashed from somewhere near. Then dimmed and disappeared seconds
later. The frightened stare appeared in his face. Reynold was there, in the
park, all of the sudden, he didn't even realize. He held the cellphone tightly,
apparently had just took a photo. Someone watched him behind. He turned his
head back.
"Sarah!"
"Rey!
What are you doing here? I was looking for you everywhere. Why you didn't come
home yesterday?! I worried about you!" shouted Sarah with her eyes full of
tears
"Sarah,
I beg you, please! Don't go this way. I didn't mean to hurt you. I really have
no idea why I am here. All I remembered, I was still worked in Pacsetter
yesterday and suddenly these all happened. It's all just blurred out."
explained Rey with all the confusion on his face
"Wait
what is it in your hand?" Sarah quickly took the black-rectangle-thing out
of Rey's hand. Something really familiar slapped her face so hard, something
from her past. The frightened stare quickly spreaded into her eyes too.
"Rey,
I remember everything!"
-------------------------------------------
"What
are you talking about Sarah? Please I don't understand. Please I want to see it
too." Rey pointed the cellphone on Sarah's grip.
"No,
you cannot have this! This thing had changed you entirely! See, you just have
this for one night, one night Rey, again! And you’ve even already gone away
from me without any news! This thing has a bad influenced on you, repeatedly,
all over again! You couldn't be near this cellphone!" Sarah started to
play with the cellphone before continued. "Wait, are you cheating on
me?" Sarah showed the cellphone displaying a photo-montage of a girl,
mostly sitting in a park bench as its wallpaper.
"So
you like her huh! You collected her photos!" She started to cry more
hysterically.
"Sarah,
I don't know why I am here! I don't know anything. I don't understand! Rey held
his tears and started to approach Sarah, whom quickly took a step back.
"No,
Rey, go away! Now, you don't even have an explanation for what you've done? But
for what in the world I would have to listen to you anymore? Rey! For God sake,
could I be more important to you? I gave up everything! My parent, my career!
All so that I could be with you! D**n it Rey!" And with that word, all the
tears started to break out of her defense, she couldn't bear it any longer.
"I
had experienced these before, or had I?" Suddenly some memories came up
into his mind. Everything's going to reveal itself, right now, at this very
moment.
-------------------------------------------
Josh Gallagher, October 2013,
Chicago
UBS Tower Building
"But
for what in the world I would have to live alone anymore? Josh! I'll give up
everything! My parent, my career! All so that I can be with you! D**n it
Josh!" And with that word, all the tears started to break out of her
defense, she couldn't bear it any longer.
"You
know, I just ask you one thing! One thing! No shut it!" She added quickly
"I know what you were gonna say, but long distance won't work, Josh! Me in
Chicago and you in Missouri. You won't even remember me! And after all that I
have seen, all those ambition you put into making that chip on the cellphone.
Then seeing you’re broken, when you had been forced to betray your friends and
your hardworks for years. But you did the right thing Josh. You just have to
let it go. Accept that you had chosen to reveal the chip to CIA." My heart
had just rolled out, listened to her saying those things, she's so brave, much
more braver than me.
"And
not to mention that chip influenced you most, it changed you. All those ambitions
and hallucinations. Sometimes you cannot even remember what you did. Josh, you
have to let all these go, but you're not going through it by yourself. I am not
ready, who'll be ready to throw their life away! But I'm going to make one last
sacrifice to be with you! I don't want to be the one who sacrificing myself all
over again, watched you torturing yourself. So, I make this sacrifice for the
last time. And all these pain, if it will be a big mistake that I'll have to
throw my life away, I have to.." She continued with uncontrollably sob. I
wanted to hug her so badly. I wanted to find a peace, a bravery, so that I
could let these all go. But yet, I wasn't ready, I had never ever ever been
ready to finally give the cellphone to CIA and left all of this.
But I'll
have her forever
"No
Josh, now just tell me that you won't go to Virginia again, not going back to
regret this cellphone no more. Tell me you will quit the CIA! You call them
now." Shouted Sarah hysterically. She shrugged the cellphone.
I accepted
the cellphone and dialed the number. This would be the end of everything.
Hello, Mr
Petterson. This is Josh Gallagher. Before I'll change my mind, I hereby inform
you that I'm currently at the top of UBS tower and I accept the CIA Protection
Program. Please activate the program, code number RYN-001LD right away. I'm
going resign from Ring307 and give the Ring307 back to CIA. You now have the
access to erase mine and my fiancee memory and plant a new identity in our
brain. Thank you, good bye Mr Petterson, it has always been nice to work to
you.
I put out
the cellphone and knew exactly a couple of minute from now, the agents would
coming. I stared her eyes deeply, told something that I should have told her
some time ago.
So now we
could start over.
"So
now we can live together Josh" she looked at my eyes deeply. Torn into sad
and happy all at once.
"I
love you Josh" She stepped behind, moved back, came inside the window.
"I
love you Sarah"
Afterall,
she wasn't ready. Neither was I.
But the
footsteps behind us announced that the agents were coming.
I
approached her. Hugged her so tightly and closed my eyes.
-------------------------------------------
Reynold Mckenzie/Josh Gallagher,
June 2014, Missouri
Gators Karaoke Bar
And we
broke up.
It has
been passed few hours ago but her tears still seemed so clear in his head, or
mine. She yelled, thought I cheated on her. And she ran away. But I couldn't
blame her because a lot of things she had to receive. And I have to receive it
too, just way too much. I didn't even chase her this time. Instead, I went to
this small bar in the border of Missouri, tried to talk myself into sense.
I don't
know who I am right now.
I am
Josh, a reseacher at CIA headquarter in Virginia, happily engaged to Sarah
Wilson, an Executive Financing of UBS.
Or am I
Rey? I couldn’t even say I to "Rey". Because "he" is not
even a successful person, live in a small district, who couldn't even keep
"his" girlfriend Sarah from going away.
I
wouldn't say Rey with I, eventhough it is me. I just couldn't accept it.
Or did I
actually never accept "Rey" of all this time? I never really let go
of the Ring307. Well, I don't know.
My head
was so dizzy right now with hundred thousand information which suddenly filled
up my head. It's all because of this cellphone.
"Congratulations,
you are all our 1000th customer. We give you 2 hours free Karaoke session at
room 307. Please follow our staff to the room, thank you"
I took a
glance out of the cellphone for a while, just to see a karaoke staff talked to
me. I couldn't believe of what I have just heard.
"Here
we are, sir, please." The karaoke staff opened a high wooden door with 307
metal plate number's hanging in there. "Please come in, enjoy your
Karaoke."
The
Karaoke staff smiled and allowed me to come in, behind that wooden door which
on a few minutes later, I wouldn't even remember anymore.
-------------------------------------------
CIA Agents, June 2014, Missouri
Gators Karaoke Bar
"Hey
Barker, please re-read the order from Mr Petterson, I drank some tequila up
front few minutes ago" Spencer asked while he sat inside karaoke room 307.
"Mr
Petterson said that The Protection Program, code number RYN-001LD had fallen
apart. We have to remove the planted identity named Reynold out of Josh's mind.
And looks like we find the target in a right place, a bar, everyone can get
drunk and forget things here." Some noises came up from outside the door,
broke their conversation.
"Here
comes the target, Spencer, on position" Barker snapped behind
They saw
Josh on position and they injected the serum before he could move. They put
some cable on Josh's head and turned on the computer. Barker put some code to
the computer while Spencer put another cable into Josh's arm. The program on
the computer worked and they arranged the position. Josh looked like fell
asleep on the couch right now.
“It’s
done. All the Reynold memories are gone. He would wake up with drunk memory in
his head.”
-------------------------------------------
Giovanni Walker, August 2014,
Virginia
CIA Headquarter
“So,
Josh, I got all of your story, but for the last time, I have to make sure about
this. You really have no idea where is Ring307, right? Do you have any idea who
The Professor might be?”
“No Gio,
and I need you to leave right now, please. I am so dizzy”
Gio
closes the door, talks to the nurse.
“How is
he doing? He got the break-up memory in the top of UBS tower, right Cindy? I
guess Ms Sarah Wilson would have been great to have another life without Mr
Gallagher. She got too much signal exposed from the cellphone. She has the
right to spend the rest of her life in a happier place.”
“Well
said Mr Walker and good bye” Cindy the nurse smiles then walks back to the CIA
Headquarter Care Unit. The patients need her.
