Chapter 3 Who's There

When Megan parks in front of her house, there is an unfamiliar black SUV parked facing the opposite direction. There are four men in the car: a black-suited man driving alongside a red-suited man, and in the back on the right side, a blue-suited man drinking a glass of whiskey next to a man wearing a hoodie. It seems like they are watching the neighborhood.

Megan waited for a while. There's a young man with a cap standing next to the SUV, and the man in the red suit opens the car window.

"Make sure no one sees you." The red suited man said.

"No one tailed me. The detective already left early." The young man said.

"Good. Your work is done. Just lay low for a now." The black suited man said.

Megan recognized the young man. It was Charles Franklin, the neighborhood kid in front of her house.

She opened the door and lit a cigarette. An old lady called her name while she was holding a cigarette too.

"Megan? Why you still up?" An old lady asked.

"Mrs. Sully, I just got out from work."

"You overworked yourself even it's weekend. It's bad for your health."

"You can't sleep, Mrs. Sully?" Megan asked.

"I just need some air."

"With a cigarette." Megan said.

"What can I say, it calms me down." Mrs. Sully said.

Charles saw Megan and Mrs. Sully talking beside her car. He immediately went inside their house.

"Do you run an information from her?" The red suited man asked.

"Megan Marshal, 27. A bodyguard to a Cyber Security Engineering company. She moved here at the Maple City." The hoodie man said.

"She saw us. We need to talk to her." The red suited man said.

"It's too early, Sandro. We can't just approach her, she's dangerous enough." The black suited man.

"She's a cadet officer before. She specialize a sniper. Fabian's right, we can't risk." The hoodie man said.

"Even she doesn't have a gun holding, her presence is too strong." The blue suited man said.

"You're right, Vincent." The hoodie man said.

"Well, you can talk to her Ben." Vincent said.

"It's a suicide." Benjamin said.

"It's worth a try." Vincent said.

"You can try, Vincent." Fabian said.

"I mean, what y'all afraid for?" Vincent said.

"It's not about fearing. It's all about timing." Fabian said.

"Then watch this, brothers." Vincent said.

He went outside and walked through another sidewalk.

"Good evening and morning, ladies." Vincent said.

"You're not from around." Mrs. Sully said.

"How'd you know, madam?" Vincent asked.

"I can tell." Megan said.

"I just got lost. And I need a tools to fix my car." Vincent said.

"You know, you're bad at lying." Megan said.

"What makes you think of that, mademoiselle?" Vincent asked nervously.

"We just saw you came out from that SUV." Mrs. Sully said.

"Yeah, you're right." Vincent said.

Mrs. Sully's small cactus plant, hanging from the outside balcony, suddenly fell; she immediately rushed to save it.

"What do you want?" Megan asked.

"I like your car." Vincent said.

"Talk straight. We ain't wasting here." Megan said.

"My brother wants to talk to you." Vincent said.

"I have no business to him, and who is he?" Megan asked.

"It's just very important, yeah." Vincent said.

"Are you a fucking kidnappers or what?" Megan asked.

"We're not like that. That hurts. We're guardians, we protect the gateway." Vincent said.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Megan asked.

"You will not understand for now. But you will see through your eyes what I'm talking about." Vincent said.

"Is this kind of a joke? I'm waiting for a punchline." Megan said.

"It's not a joke, okay. You saw us, right? We didn't do anything bad, in case you misunderstood." Vincent said.

"Listen, buddy. It's fucking midnight and you're talking shit. You made yourself looks more fucking suspicious. Now, I'm curious. What's up with you folks?" Megan said.

"Nothing interesting. And be careful to your house, that's all. Adios!" Vincent said.

He runs fast and goes inside the car. Fabian drives away immediately before Megan could approach them.

"Is he on drugs?" Megan asked.

Mrs. Sully went back.

"What happened, he seems in panic?" Mrs. Sully asked.

"I think he's high, Mrs. Sully. He's talking shit." Megan said.

"A drug addict? Poor lad. Hopes he recover soon." Mrs. Sully said.

"Gotta go, Mrs. Sully. I have works to deal with it tomorrow night." Megan said.

"Don't overwork yourself, Megan. It's Sunday, you should rest and sleep." Mrs. Sully said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Sully. You too, okay?" Megan said.

"Go on, now. Goodnight, honey." Mrs. Sully said.

"Goodnight, Mrs. Sully." Megan said.

Megan went inside the house and went to the kitchen to get some water. She took a nap on the couch and fell asleep immediately.

A sound of thunder disturbed Megan's peaceful sleep. She got up to look out the window.

She went to the kitchen to get some water and snacks, but when she opened the fridge, it was empty. Her stomach growled. It was already 2 AM when she looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

Megan grabbed her keys, went outside, and drove to a nearby 24-hour convenience store. After grabbing a snack and some drinks, she went to the counter, and the cashier looked like he was having a bad day.

"How you doing, buddy?" Megan asked.

"Terrible. My store just got robbed by a group of teenagers just yesterday." The Cashier said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did you report to the police?" Megan asked.

"I did, they already at the police station. They took all the money and even harvest the packs of cigarette." The Cashier said.

"Is the money and cigarettes get back to you?" Megan asked.

"They destroyed it and the money they already gambled and spent. Worst is, they all minors." The Cashier said.

"Nah, I don't give a shit about the age. You have to put them on juvenile. Those kids will not gonna learn from their shit they did." Megan said.

"I hope so but you know, our laws here are complicated." The Cashier said.

"Man, put them on jail. There's no excuse for what they cause to you. Just saying, take care of yourself, buddy." Megan said.

"Appreciate it, buddy." The Cashier said.

Megan went back to her car. As she drove down Cipher Street, it started to rain. When she parked in front of her house, she suddenly got confused because of the exterior of the house - it's different and changed.

"Something's not right." Megan said.

She was about to open the door but it's a passage knob.

Megan inspect the door. It looks like it needs a fingerprint to open the door.

"This is a fucking dream. I'm still sleeping, but it feels fucking real." Megan said.

She forced the doorknob too much until the alarm made a warning sound.

"Who's there?" A man said with a deep tone.

A tall man in a formal suit opened the door.

"Who the fuck are you?" Megan said.

"Is there a problem? I think you've got a wrong house." The man said.

"I live here." Megan said.

"This is my property, Miss. Take a time to look around." The man said.

Megan observes the environment. A futuristic house and flying cars. It's still raining, but the surroundings are clear because of the light preventing zero visibility. Besides the house, there is a horizontal mirror building. The rest are great barrier houses. The road is peculiar; it has lights inside.

"Man, tell me this ain't real." Megan said.

"You're at the Cipher Zone. It's only access by officials and scientists. Who send you?" Tha man said.

"I dunno. I just woke up and fucking bought a snacks at store."

"Well, you managed to access to pass the road. Are you the new Engineer?" He asked.

"No, I'm not an Engineer and definitely nobody send me."

"What would you want your drink?" The man asked.

Megan looked at him blankly. She went back to her car and turned on the GPS, Waze.

"You just arrived to your destination." The Waze said.

The man knocks on the window with an umbrella.

"It's raining bad, maybe you should go inside, Miss." The man said.

"What year is it?" Megan asked.

"2030, why?"

"This is crazy. It feels real tho." Megan said.

She opened the door and they went back in front of the house.

"Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy." The man said.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Megan said.

When they went inside, the interior changed a lot. There is almost no furniture. It's neat, and the living room and kitchen area switched up.

A portrait of the group of men wearing a white coated and glasses hanging on the wall that piqued her interest.

"Even the inside changed a lot." Megan said.

"I designed it."

"Do you have a problem hitting a woman?"

"Why you're asking?"

"Maybe this is a really bad nightmare. Can you hit me in the face?" Megan asked.

"There's no way I can do that. You're asking like it's a normal thing to do."

"Are you a scientist by any chance?" Megan asked.

"How'd you know? You guessed it right. I'm Leo." He said through the kitchen and went for a drink.

He placed the whiskey on the counter beside Megan.

"What's your name?" Leo asked.

"Megan, and I don't like this shit anymore."

"Did you trespassed from the side Avenue?" Leo asked.

"Avenue street? Why would I trespassed? It's an access road for everyone."

"There's a rule. No one can just access the road, you gonna need permission." Leo said.

"That's bullshit." Megan said.

"You can't drive without a ticket to any roads you wish to access." Leo said.

"It's a fucking street not a highway roads." Megan said.

"Highway roads is only access by the government." Leo said.

"What kind of dystopian shit is this world?" Megan said.

"We all have freedom here."

"You called it freedom? It's bullshit."

"We all have a ticket to pass. If the guardians, allowed it. And the government road is easy access to everyone. All you need to do is the Guardian's permission."

"If it's easy access, why would you accused me for trespassing?" Megan asked.

"You don't have the badge where the ticket placed."

"The fuck. I heard enough."

"Whiskey?" Leo asked.

"Its not a good time for that, dude."

"I have a name. I'm not Dude."

"For fuck sake." Megan said.

"Dude is my neighbour, he's right in front of my house."

"Great, is he a scientist too?" Megan asked sarcastically.

"He's an Engineer too."

"You said you're a scientist?"

"Both."

"Are you an important person?" Megan asked.

"You can say that."

Megan got dizzy for a second. She sat on the couch.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked.

"Obviously not."

"I'm sorry. I can drive you where you going, Megan."

The dizziness is getting worse. She stands up to catch some air. She reaches for her phone in the coat pocket. When she opens it, it's 2 AM. The time seems to not be moving at all. Megan tries to call her cousin, Lany, but the service is bad.

"Hey, take it easy." Leo said.

Megan balanced herself by leaning towards the wall. Leo assisted her. She held onto her waist to prevent the fall. He lifted her onto the couch. After a few seconds, Megan completely passed out. Leo got a blanket and was about to put it on her when she suddenly vanished slowly. It's like a static with a orange and green lights.

"Megan?" Leo said.

He was shocked at first. Then, he went to his office room and dialed a number through the screen floating above the table.