Faces, Names, and Memories (completed)

Chapter 31 - Flashback

I'm standing by the front door of my house. It's a recent memory; I'm fourteen years old.

"Mom!" I call out towards the house. "I'm going with dad, see you later!"

"Okay! I'll meet you guys there!" My mom shouts in reply.

I open the door and run out to the self-driving car my dad is sitting in. I hop into the passenger seat and strap in. The car starts heading off.

I look at my dad. He's looking at blueprints and codes.

"Dad, stop obsessing over it. Everything's going to be fine," I say.

"Jade," My dad looks at me. I look back at him. "Anything and everything can go wrong with this launch. It's bigger in size and significance than anything we've ever built before."

"I know. We've spent more time working on it, too," I point out. My dad looks at his tablet for a few more seconds.

"You're right. I can't imagine something going wrong, not with all the brains that have come together to produce this." My dad replies.

We sit quietly for a few seconds as the car drives us along the way. My dad doesn't say anything until the car rolls to a stop in front of VeraTech industries.

"Are you ready for this Jade?" My dad says, looking at me.

"I've been ready since we first finished the blueprint," I reply.

"Let's go make history," My dad replies.

"Again," I add, smiling. We leave the car and it goes to park itself in dad's spot while we walk up to a gate.

He presses a button on the gate, and it buzzes with the sound of an intercom. No one says anything over it.

"Blue wolf," My dad says.

"Emerald feline," I say.

"Welcome, Dr. and Ms. Vera," A voice says, and the gate opens. We step inside and start walking to the door of the building.

"Dad, you know, you never told me where you got our code names from," I ask.

"You never asked," My dad replies.

"Well?" I press. My dad laughs.

"You know, not every question needs an answer, Jade," He replies. He opens the door to a warehouse.

"This one does," I insist.

"No, it doesn't." My dad replies.

I pout at my dad.

"Just a tip, in the future, the most important questions often start with why," My dad tells me.

We walk down a hallway and stop at a door.

"Okay, so why Blue Wolf and Emerald feline?" I ask.

My dad shakes his head at me. "Your thirst for knowledge always amazes me. I randomly generated everyone's nicknames, I figured it would be safer than a single code word."