REMEMBRANCE | an ejen ali fanfiction

02 | Everlasting Things

"Ali?" his father called from downstairs, his hand holding onto the railings as he turned towards the direction of his son's room. "Are you finished packing yet?"

Shuffles of leather echoed in the walls, then followed by urgent footsteps that belonged to a 12-year-old boy. "I'm done," Ali says, shouldering a bag that was filled with his belongings. "Where are we headed to, papa?"

"I don't know yet, but we're taking a road trip on the way there." Dr. Ghazali turned, the car keys jingling in his hand. "Have you said goodbye to your friends yet?"

"I did."

"That's good."

With the hum of the car engine and the clanking of the closed gates, Dr. Ghazali's car drove off into the distance, leaving only a sign attached to the gates.

SOLD.

* * *

Alicia would be lying if she said she wasn't bothered by Ali's cold attitude towards her. How couldn't she, after they'd been through thick and thin together? She'd saved his life, and he saved hers too. They were friends, partners, and perhaps best friends.

She couldn't blame him, for now she was eating the fruit that she sowed. Ali may have gotten his memories erased, but his hatred was honed and rough, the only existing proof that he was once an agent of MATA; who had experienced countless betrayals and horrors of the world.

After all, what did Ali say? His mother died because of Nikki—no, more specifically, died for the people of Cyberaya. The ability to protect was what drove Ali to be an agent, not for power.

Nikki was right about him. He would always help first, ask questions later. But now he's gone, slipping right under her nose.

Her fingers brushed onto the surface of the plastic poster, the printed words loud and clear. Sold, it wrote. And under it was a phone number, covered by permanent marker, rendering it ineligible.

I'm sorry, she thought. I should have tried harder.

Alicia felt her face getting moist, and she blamed the rain for it. The only thing was that it wasn't the slightest bit raining, the sun gleaming warm and bright in the sky.

She was too late.

Again.

* * *

"Where are we?" Ali asked, pulling his jacket tighter. He blew breath from his lips, his breath misting up as he slouched over, trying to maintain warmth in the cold.

Ali looked ahead into the tunnel, the dark, never-ending path stretching further into a distance; the firm metal below their feet never once creaking, with only the faint thud of their footsteps echoing through the caverns.

The walls and ceiling were not furbished like the floor, the texture rough and uneven like a cave's, with only dim lights placed on railings guiding their way.

Ali sneezed, wiping his nose with the back of his palm. "And why is it so cold?"

His father walked in front of him, his silhouette darker than the rest. He spoke nothing, only focusing on his journey into the unknown.

With no answer granted for him, Ali sighed and looked down to his shoes. Of course he wouldn't get anything from his father now. He'd largely ignored his son for the majority of his life, why was this any different?

His mind drifted back to the video of his childhood, where things were much simpler. Legs never stopping to move forward, his hands clenching his sides as he recalled his father's serene smile when he was younger, when his mother was still with them.

If only she was here...

The rest of their walk was continued in silence, the darkness less frightening than the soundless atmosphere created by a father and his son, both slowly drifting away without a trace.

After what seemed like an hour, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. They were facing a large wall, which Ali assumed was the end of the cave, and a pair of enforced iron doors, sealed shut. For a moment, he felt like he was caught up in a sci-fi movie, but tech like these were common nowadays, albeit less sinister and less hidden.

There was a keypad by the door, the green lights blinking as his father pressed onto each number with trained precision and experience. The keypad slid open, revealing a screen of blue and white lined checkered boxes. Like second nature, he pressed his palm onto the security as he leaned forward, an identifying beam scanning his irises.

An unknown, scrambled machine humming emitted from within, and the frame to the door hissed, the metal doors sliding open.

The room beyond those doors were dark, but the air inside was warm, as if the machines operating within functioned eternally, gears never once halting ever since their creation. One by one, the lights overhead lit up, the hanging bulbs linked by wires in the ceiling and leading to a generator containing a generous amount of azurium.

Ali would have questioned and stared at the contraptions in wonder, but instead all he felt was dread. He didn't understand why, as he was always wanting some adventure and wanting in on some big secret, but the moment they stepped into the entrance of the tunnel located in a mountain, his spine prickled with fear and wariness, every fiber of his body screaming at his mind that this was a bad idea.

His eyes trailed over to the computers on the left, which were hooked to complicated machinery that he could barely recognize. They appeared to be appliances from hospitals, but much, much more advanced and mysterious.

He recognized some of them as his father's work, having grown up with science and robotics but never once interested in the subject.

Ali turned to his father, ready to start an awkwardly late conversation, but just like before, his back was turned from Ali, his eyes somewhere else.

Like always, Ali thought. He walked over, his footsteps unnaturally light, and tapped his father on his back. "Uh, dad?"

Dr. Ghazali didn't acknowledge him, and this time for good reason. Irritated, Ali swiveled towards the direction that his father was looking to, and his mind stopped. Blue light was casted on them, but it wasn't the machines that caught his eye.

It was his mother's body, inside a containment tube.