Strangers and Soldiers (Book Two of The Upgrade Trilogy)

50,000 Tears I've Cried

....What a way to begin a story, huh?

Not that it was intentional, of course. It's just, I've lost a lot in the past month, and I can't tell if I'll ever get it back. You know what I mean? Probably not.

How can I be sure people will listen to this? It's not like I'm going to be sending this into the Authorities, even if I wanted to. For all I know, I'm just talking to myself, and my only legacy will be forgotten, just like everyone predicted.

But I'd like to think that maybe, just maybe, at least one person will find this and listen. Just like everyone listened to Kyle Straker.

My name's Ethan Macknamara. And, I guess this is my story.

----

Someone once told me my existence was pointless, that I should just give up right then and there, and nobody would care.

I know now that's a lie.

Barry, Ricky, Darrell, Sae...and Tess..they wouldn't want me to give up. I've held on for this long because of them.

And just when I thought of letting go, life threw something unexpected at me. Something that seemed to say: Ethan, don't you dare give up.

Trevor's gonna kill me for this, but....I'm happy this Upgrade happened. Sure, it got in the way of personal lives, and it erased dozens of people, but...it was also a second chance. Not just for 1.0, for 0.4 too.

But I can't complain. I have a story to tell.

So here we go.

My dreams are filled with smoke. I can't tell where I'm going, but wherever I'm off to, it must be pretty cold. Every bone in my body is shivering.

"Ethan?" I can hear Tess' voice, but it's too foggy for me to see her.

I rub my hands, desperate for heat. "Tess?"

"Oh my God, it's really you!" She runs out of the mist, placing her arms around me tightly.

I struggle to breathe. "You're crushing me..."

"Sorry." She lets go, smiling that awkward smile I loved. "I never should've left you, babe. I'm nothing without you."

"I feel the exact same way." I say, leaning in to kiss her.

Tess kisses me passionately, as the smoke surrounds us like we're in Twilight. Suddenly, it doesn't feel so cold anymore.

"Please tell me you'll take me back." My still technically girlfriend begged.

"Always." I promise her.

But that didn't last for long.

Because the next thing I can remember....

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

I could hear voices.

"Is he okay?"

"...He's alive."

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

"How did they find him?"

"A group of kids discovered him just outside the bubble. His vital symptoms were fine and all, but they couldn't get a stable connection to The Link from him."

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

"Well, he's comatose. What do you expect?"

"I get that, but, we don't know anything about who this dude is, that's all."

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

"Hold up. Nothing?"

"Not a single thing."