MINE

Alternate Ending

Nathan remembered Brooke screaming and the world crumbling before his eyes. He watched Brooke die in the chaos and had no memory of how he got into the MoonEx bound ship.

"Virtual reality, Nathan. The shock-wave must have been the introductory signal. You never left the Earth. Everything you see only exists in the program." She stated calmly.

Nathan knew exactly how the concept of virtual reality worked but couldn't believe it was used in such an elaborate terrorism scheme. It all made sense to him now. The best way to kidnap the brightest minds in the world was to make them feel they weren't kidnapped. No one will try to escape when there was nothing to escape to. He had to give it to the Colonel. The man was a brilliant mastermind.

"I saw images of the crumbling Earth from the window of the spaceship that brought me to MoonEx. It was like watching a movie. Those windows were screens, weren't they?"

He didn't need Nurse Reese to reply. The answer was right there in front of him.

"I can't believe this. I'm on Earth? Where exactly are we? Do you know?"

Nurse Reese explained that she didn't have any details of their current location. Colonel Ford had made sure that information was secret.

"If we can figure out the address of the information store, you can hack into it." She concluded.

"Why did Borgina let me believe all of it? There's no way she wouldn't have known."

"She must have done it to keep you away from Brooke. Listen, Nathan. From the first time I walked into your apartment, it was obvious to see Borgina cared for you. Unfortunately, you only had eyes for Brooke. Think about it this way. If you believed Brooke was actually gone, then you will focus solely on her. She won't feel threatened anymore." Nurse Reese replied.

Nathan didn't want to believe Borgina would keep a secret like that from him. She always looked out for him. Why would she allow him believe the pack of lies the Colonel told when she knew the truth?

"There has to be another explanation. Borgina has looked out for me my entire life." He stated.

"...and loved you through it. Is it that too difficult to see?"

Nurse Reese recounted the 'Nathan's mine' message she found on her computer screen and showed Nathan her severed lower limb lying against a wall in the apartment.

"Borgina did that?"

"Yes she did. I don't know what else she's capable of but I'm sure she'll do whatever she has to, as long as it keeps you with her."

"That is the most insane thing I've ever heard in my life. Borgina is virtual. How can she cause such damage? How can she believe I'll end up with her?" Nathan could not believe the bits and pieces of information coming together in his head.

"How did she control the Oxygen levels inside your apartment the other day? Everything is controlled in this virtual world. She probably has a backdoor to the network controls. I know this because I had to disconnect my system from it. I couldn't let her continue messing with me like that."

Nathan looked at the severed leg resting against the wall and back to Nurse Reese. He wanted to disagree with her. There could have been a system malfunction or something. These things happen all the time. But why couldn't he disagree? He remembered asking Borgina about the code the soldiers always repeated. She claimed not to know what the coordinates meant. He remembered her angry outbursts. Certain things just happened at the time she got angry like the Rover collision outside his apartment.

His mind went away from Borgina and back to Colonel Ford. He couldn't forgive himself for not figuring things out soon enough. Now he had helped build missile navigation systems to overthrow his government. How many civilians will be caught in the crossfire? What if Brooke got hurt by one of the missiles?

"How stupid was I? Heck, we were all stupid." He thought.

Nathan bought the alien story Colonel Ford told like peanut butter jelly. The only person who questioned it was Becky. It was ironic to know the young man was killed for 'having ties with alien forces'. Nathan felt sick to his stomach.

"I need to find a way to contact Brooke. If she's still alive, I need to reach her. She needs to know I'm okay and that I'm coming to get her."

Nathan could no longer control his emotions. He let it out in a stream of tears. All this time he was hurting from losing her. He imagined how she must have felt knowing he was gone forever. Was she still hurting? Had she moved on?

The more these questions floated around in his head, the more he felt the sense of urgency. Whatever actions he needed to take, he needed to take them as fast as possible.

Nurse Reese walked towards him and wrapped her hands around him.

"It's going to be okay." She consoled him.

"This is all messed up. I can't stay here. I need to warn the government somehow. I need to get back to Brooke. How the hell do I get out of here unnoticed?"

"By planning carefully and discretely. You can't afford to be caught, neither do you need anyone sabotaging your plans. I will suggest you keep everything you know away from Borgina while we work on a plan to get you out. Like you said, we have to find a way to establish communication with your government. Someone needs to know what's coming." Nurse Reese replied.

It sounded like a good plan. Even though he knew it would require a lot of work and careful planning, it gave him some comfort to know there was hope.

Two hours later, the comm line buzzed in Nurse Reese's apartment. She activated the screen and speakers before sitting back down.

"What's his location?" The person at the other end asked.

"Back at his apartment." Nurse Reese replied.

"Does he suspect anything?" The voice asked again.

"No, Colonel." Nurse Reese smiled at the screen.

Colonel Ford seemed pleased with her report.

"Good. Let's proceed with the next step."

"I'd get right on it, sir." She replied.

"Has he said anything about his secret life?" The Colonel asked.

"Not yet, but he'll talk soon. We're going to work together on a communication plan to warn the government. He'll lead us straight to the President." She replied.

"You need to speed up. We're running out of time. He knows the location of the bastard and I need that information out of him." The Colonel was beginning to look upset.

"Yes, sir. There's something that can help me get faster results. His virtual assistant protects him like a mother does to a child. Get rid of her and I'll have free access to him."

"I'll get the tech guys on it. Get me the information I need in forty eight hours." The Colonel replied.

The comm line went dead and Nurse Reese stared at the blank screen for a few seconds before turning around. There had to be a way to get Nathan to talk. She just had to figure it out.

FINAL END OF BOOK ONE.

** Dun, dun, dun... So, it ends! What do you think? Do you like this ending better or do you prefer the first? Let me know what you think in the comments section and vote if you feel this story deserves it. If you have other possible endings in mind, let me know. I'll love to read it.

Until the next book, Cheerios, Amigos! Virtual hugs to everyone!

Maggy-Mae, signing out. **