System Nullification

Epilogue

The day after the rebellion, the city was rebuilt with the help of robots and somehow antimatter. When I asked Cameron how he pulled that feat off, he didn't tell me and just laughed instead. It actually took five hours rather than four, but I was still pretty impressed. He got up early to steal robots and help build the city, and everyone moved back into their homes in no time. I had no idea how he was able to rebuild everyones' houses the way it was, but I decided it was fine and that I should just go with it. He'd have to rebuild the government too, but it was all going to be worth the effort one day. Even Adam was amazed with our efforts.

Nearly dying was quite an experience for me, and it's something I wouldn't want to remember. Everything was going black, and somehow, when I remembered that, I couldn't help but realize that this was what Reed was seeing when he was leaving the world. I admired his courage, because I thought I was brave until I saw what he was capable of doing. Once again, I was stuck admiring another person, but he was long gone and couldn't acknowledge it openly. On the other hand, my parents were freaking out when they found out I nearly died, and they hugged me until I literally in fact almost died, and they said that they couldn't ever lose me. I told them I couldn't ever lose them as well, because they're my parents and they were the ones that gave me life.

Everyone was dressed in black formal wear, surrounding the grave of a familiar friend of mine: Reed Forbes. Someone had gone through the trouble of retrieving his body and carving an ornate handmade coffin in honor of the Time of Change with beautiful golden designs on it. They also crafted the grave, and when they asked Cameron what to do with the grave and coffin, Cameron told them to ask someone from my group of friends. Specifically Brianna. So when the squad was hanging out at Brianna's house, a middle aged woman knocked on the door. Brianna seemed to know the lady while the rest of us had no idea who she was. Apparently this lady, who moved to the southeast province, was a friend of Brianna's parents. Brianna began to cry and hugged the lady, who happened to be a very skilled carver. The lady transported the coffin and the grave to the nearest graveyard. Cameron called everyone in the rebellion for a sudden funeral for Reed, and of course, everyone was able to make it. Nobody needed to say to give a moment of silence, because we had all been fighting alongside Reed. "So," Cameron said as we all stared in silence at the beautifully carved grave. "Does anyone want to give a few words? Perhaps, anyone familiar with Reed?"

"If you don't all mind, my husband and I..." Reed's mom stepped forward from the crowd, holding her husband's hand. "We would like to say some things."

Cameron nodded, stepping back from behind the grave a bit. Reed's mom cleared her throat. "When Reed was born, I thought that he would live for a very, very long time. And yet, his life was shorter than my life or my husband's life," she began. "His experience was ephemeral. Not enough for everything he wanted to do in life."

She started to get shaken up and started crying a little bit, but her husband embraced her and continued for her. "But despite the short lived life he went through, we're proud of him," he said. "He lived for a good cause. And I'm glad that Penelope and I had the chance to raise him. He fought hard. And now look where we are..."

Silence filled the air when he paused. "Yeah... look where we are..." he said in a slightly hopeful tone. "We're honoring him. We're honoring the Time of Change. A time he helped pilot."

I thought deeply about what the parents said. Did they plan to say this beforehand, or were they able to come up with this on the spot? "I remember those times with him," Reed's mom said. "When he first asked me for more resources. To learn. He went for a good cause, but sometimes... I still wish he could learn even more about this world."

No one could do anything except look in sympathy... and some of us in empathy, in a way. "Thank you. That is all," Reed's mom said, giving a slight bow and holding her husband's hand, going back into the front of the crowd. "Reed, your father and I love you very much."