Island of Change




Episode Three: Requiem



THREE DAYS AGO


"Sir!" The military officer saluted. "We have a possible location on Oceanic Flight 199!" Colonel Saunders turned in his chair, studying the officer before him.

"Continue," He said, curious. If they had found where the lost plane may have crashed, why were they involving him?

"We think it's the place we've been looking for," The officer said, pulling out a rucksack from his satchel and pulling it open. "The source of the energy that's been messing with our satellites. We've found it, it's right here." The officer pointed to a red "X" in the middle of the map, somewhere in between Guam and Sydney. "It moves around, but on a predictable pattern," The officer continued. "This is its latest position. Four months ago, it was here," He said, pointing to a black "X". Black dots crossed right over it. "The dots represent Flight 199's path over the South Pacific. It passed right over the source, and must have crashed."

"Good job," Saunders said. "I'm impressed." It was true, Saunders was a hard man to please. "So, how can we get to it?"

"Get to what?"

"The source! How do we get to this source and figure out what it's made of, what's causing all of the disruptions in our communications?"

"That… sir, I'm sorry, but that's im…"

"If you finish that sentence with 'that's impossible', I'm going to make sure you never leave shit duty! Understood?" Saunders yelled. The officer cringed. He didn't want to spend the rest of his military career cleaning out the urinals.

"Understood, sir," The officer said. "But with all due respect, it's very, very difficult. If we fly any jets over there, they could very well crash thanks to the source's power. Even if the jets managed to even do a simple flyover, we'd get questions from Japan, China, NATO, as to why we authorized such a bizarre mission far outside friendly waters!" The officer breathed heavily, as if expecting Saunders to declare him unfit for duty. Saunders thought for a moment, then nodded.

"What about covert missions?" Saunders asked as he sat down.

"That… we're actually prepared for that," The officer said. "Sir, with your permission, I would like to lead in a covert mission that, if successful, would carry a man directly to the source."

"I'm listening." Saunders said, and that was all the reaction that the officer would get from him, so he continued.

"There is a cruise ship taking off from Tokyo, Japan and heading straight towards Sydney Austrailia tomorrow. On the second day of its journey, it will come within one hundred miles of the source. That's the closest, and soonest, we can get through commercial means, which I insist is our only means." The officer paused. "This may be our only shot at this." Saunders stared at the map, then back to the officer.

"Can we get anyone to go along with this?" he asked. "Any agents who are qualified to run point on this kind of operation?"

"Just one, sir," The officer said. "He's young, but he's proven himself to be ruthless, smart, calculated. He's done several missions for the military already, and all of them have been successfully completed."

"Good. What's his name?"

"On the record, sir, he chooses not to divulge his name. He's a mercenary, quite frankly, they don't want us knowing who they are."

"Fair enough," Saunders said. "What is this man's name?"

"They call him Phoenix," The officer said. "No one really knows the story behind his name."

"Phoenix… I've heard of him." The officer wasn't surprised. He'd be worried if Saunders didn't know of Phoenix. "Hire him. Get him to Tokyo as fast as you can, I don't care what kind of strings you have to pull. This source could be incredibly dangerous, yet helpful. If we can capture it, learn of it, we could use it for ourselves to intercept any and all transmissions from non-Allied forces." Saunders studied the map. "If this source exits, as you say it does, and it exists naturally, then we can use it as a weapon. Plain and simple. Get Phoenix to Tokyo. Get him on that ship."



PRESENT DAY


"Megan!" Someone shouted. Phoenix woke up instantly, her ears perking as she heard Lost run into the camp. She turned and looked out of the small tent.

"I didn't even notice her leave," She said, impressed.

"Lost and Keegan can do that sort of thing," Tobias muttered. "They probably went to check on the traps." Phoenix nodded, but still curious, got up and walked out of the tent, heading towards Lost as Keegan ran out of the trees, the same sense of urgency on her face.

"What's wrong?" Megan asked, coming out of her tent.

"We found something," Lost said, holding out what looked to be the rags of a tarp. Megan stared at it, not understanding. "When we went to check on the traps, we found this one cut open already."

"Milo?" Megan asked.

"It had to be," Keegan said. "The cut was clean, like with a knife, or a claw."

"Then we smelled something," Lost said. "Seawater, and cattle." Megan blinked, absorbing this information.

"Did you check this trap yesterday?" She asked them.

"Yeah," Keegan said. "It couldn't have been more than fifteen, twenty minutes before we found the other survivors," she told her.

"What does this mean?" Phoenix asked, speaking up. Megan looked at her.

"It smells like seawater," She told Phoenix. "That means someone must have been swimming in it, and had it on their clothes and skin."

"You mean…"

"Your friends survived," Megan nodded. "They're on this island, and one of them is a cow, or something, from what Lost smelled. That's the good news," She said as she started to wander off towards the food tent.

"What's the bad news?" Phoenix asked.

"Milo has them," Keegan answered for her. "And if he does, then he'll use them against us, as bargaining chips, most likely. Or pawns in whatever messed up plan he has."

"And since he has them, we have got to move," Megan said, pulling out a small satchel. "Get the others up," She told Lost and Keegan. "We're going to hunt Milo down."


Mitch woke up, her head pounding. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was going to sleep in the camp, then waking up and –

She sat up with a start, feeling a tingle on her lower stomach as she did. Mitch looked around, startled. The camp was made in a bamboo forest, the plants so dense it almost formed a wall around them. A small fire sat in the middle as a makeshift stand stood in the corner, a few clothes hanging off of it. A box held some food and water. It was a small camp, but handy, and well hidden. She wondered if the person who lived here was one of the crazy people Milo was talking about.

"Ah, good," Said a voice from behind her. "You're awake." Mitch turned, and saw the cat-girl from earlier that night. She held a coconut in her hands, the top already skinned, revealing the milk inside. "I thought you might like a drink," She said, handing it to her. Mitch slowly took the coconut, drinking it. "Don't drink too much," The cat-girl said. "Coconut milk is a natural laxative."

"I know," Mitch said quietly.

"I also have some food and water. Not a whole lot, I don't have many guests over," She said, giving a small laugh. "But it should last the two of us until we can get you away from here."

"Who are you?" Mitch asked. The girl paused.

"I told you last night," She replied. "I am Doctor Andrew Von Leland, I'm a survivor of Flight 199. As soon as I told you that, you fainted on the spot." Leland stared at Mitch. "Are you okay?"

"I'm f-fine," Mitch stammered, staring at her. In the light, Leland was quite attractive, and certainly didn't seem crazy. Leland sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, then asked a question.

"What did Milo tell you about me?"

"She… he said that you had gone savage," Mitch said. "That you had gone crazy and lost hope."

"Do I look like I'm crazy?" Leland asked, getting up. "No, just eccentric." She went over to the open box and shuffled underneath the food and water, pulling out a pile of papers. "Here," She said. "I stole paper and some pens before I came here. They're letters to my family, my friends. Everyone I miss. I intend to deliver these personally when I get home. Does that sound like I've given up hope?" Mitch shook her head. Leland watched her, curiously.

"You… you don't happen to be part of a rescue party, would you?" She asked slowly.


TWO DAYS AGO


Phoenix stood on the dock, staring at the large cruise ship. He was given his mission to somehow reach the source of the disruption in the middle of the ocean, and that the closest the ship would be very early the next morning. Following the hundreds of people as they climbed aboard the ship, he wondered just how he was going to pull it off… this place had to have some sort of security, so he couldn't just jump off.

Putting his bags in his room, he walked around the ship, deciding to go somewhere to gather information before he made an exact plan. Walking to the ship's restaurant, he sat down at a table, waiting to be served.

"Afternoon, sir," Said the orange-haired girl as she gave him a glass of water. "I'm Kelly, and I'll be your waitress, can I get you anything to drink?"

"No," Phoenix said. "But, you could give me some information." Kelly blinked.

"Oh?" She asked.

"How secure is this ship?"

"Oh, it's very secure, sir. We have our own little security force on here," She giggled "If you're afraid of anything being stolen, you shouldn't worry, there's one hundred guards on duty, and fifty of them are always patrolling the ship on overlapping shifts. And we've got security cameras, motion sensors… if anyone tries anything, they'll be stopped rather quickly."

"And the life rafts?"

"Well, the ship is first-class, I highly doubt…"

"Just tell me about the life boats." Kelly paused, sensing that there was something amiss.

"Again, the security force and cameras see everything," She said. "No one uses a life raft without them knowing it, you can't just get up and get one. You'll get caught." Phoenix smiled at this.

"Who said I wanted to steal anything?" He asked, leaving her a twenty dollar tip. Thinking about what Kelly had told him, Phoenix started walking around the ship, exploring every floor, every room, where all the emergency supplies were; the life jackets, the life rafts. Then he checked for the engine rooms, a plan forming in his mind. Phoenix was going to steal one of the life boats, although he had to have a very good excuse… he couldn't just steal it. He could leave no record of himself anywhere, this was a covert operation and secrecy was an absolute must. So, if Phoenix couldn't just steal a life raft for no reason, quite obviously he had to create a reason.

Luckily, he always came prepared.


PRESENT DAY


"Alright," Megan said, looking at everyone. "So, that's the situation. Milo has the other two survivors, and we don't know what he'll do with them. We need to find Milo, and fast, we know he's hiding somewhere on the other side of the island, but we don't know where. So, we're going to split into two groups. Phoenix, Mikol, Grill, Alex, Callum, you are all in group one. You'll search the area to the North West. Ryan, Keegan, Lost, Tobias, Andrew and I will be in group two, searching the area North East. Any questions?"


The two groups split, each one not sure what was going to happen next. They all agreed to meet up at "the waterfall", which seemed to be in the center of the island, the middle ground. Phoenix looked around the jungle, studying the trail they left behind to go back to the beach shelter. Mikol followed, noticing Phoenix's studious stare. Walking a little further up, he met up with Alex and Grill, who were walking side by side. Glancing at them, he noticed that they, too, were just as careful as what they were looking at, studying everything as if it could be a trap. He asked them this.

"Milo is… well, I know you've heard this already, but he's smart," Grill said. "Smart enough to make traps that could kill us. We've seen quite a few of them already."

"Has anyone gotten hurt?" Mikol asked, surprised.

"Not horribly," Alex said. "Callum's had her ankle twisted, she almost fell into a pit Milo dug. Luckily we managed to get her out." Mikol grimaced. "Yeah," Alex agreed. "He's tried to kill us. I'm sure we'll run into a trap somewhere along the way. He hides them well, we usually can't see them until we're almost right on top of it."

"We'll be careful, though," Callum assured her. "We know what we're doing, and what to look for." Mikol nodded, unsure. "Besides, I'd be worried for the second group."

"Why?" Phoenix asked, the first word she spoke in a while.

"Most of them are felines," Grill replied. "And Louis is still out here."


"Where are we going?" Yuma asked as they continued walking.

"We are going this way," Milo said. "Obviously."

"No, but aren't we going to find Mitch? He could be anywhere by now," She stated.

"I know exactly where Mitch is," Milo said quietly.

"Where is he?"

"One of the survivors of the plane crash… one of the remaining ones, at least, found your friend last night."

"And… and you didn't stop them?" Yuma exclaimed.

"I was checking on something important," Milo explained with a shrug. "I wasn't here when your friend wandered off."

"You said he was kidnapped!" Yuma stopped. "Which is it?" Milo turned and sighed.

"Your friend must have wandered off in the middle of the night," Milo said. "Probably when she was turning into a girl. About ten feet in, she was found by a survivor and taken from there."

"How do you know?"

"I have a very acute sense of smell," Milo said. "Far better than yours. Mitch's scent turns from a bull to a cow, then meets up with another scent before both disappear. You wouldn't know that, though. You're still human." Yuma blinked at this information.

"So, if we're not going to find Mitch," Yuma said, following Milo as she continued walking through the jungle. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the one place on this island where we can be saved," Milo told her.  "Where we're going, we'll be able to go home."


ONE DAY AGO


Phoenix had done it: the engine room was rigged to blow at any moment.

Quite obviously he didn't do it with conventional explosives, those would have been noticed by now. No, Phoenix was smart; he did things the old fashioned way. Even though they had many people check the engines to make sure there were no leaks, there was a gap in between one person checking the engines and the other. It was small, therefore Phoenix had to time the gas leak with the small spark plug he had stolen from one of the supply shelves he had broken into. He had hooked it up to an electrical wire, so the plug was continuously sparking. Now all Phoenix had to do was get out of the blast radius before the gas met the plug –

There was a horrendous booming sound, and the entire ship shuddered as the engine room blew up, the fire igniting the gas lines and traveling down the pipes, exploding the gas tanks. There was a giant hole in the bottom of the ship, and water was rushing in. The ship tilted, and Phoenix propped himself against the wall, starting to run as best he could against the inclining hallway.

He reached the deck. People were running back and forth across the deck, grabbing life rafts, jackets, people were screaming in terror, others were running and panicking. The ship shuddered and cracked, the boat beginning to tilt and sink faster now. He didn't have much time. Phoenix ran to the edge and looked down, noticing a stray lifeboat going in the estimated direction of the source. Taking a deep breath, he jumped, remembering to point his toes towards the water so we wouldn't break his feet or legs when he landed.


Breaking the surface of the water, he swam for the lifeboat, ignoring the smell of burning metal and human flesh, the sound of people screaming as they either drowned or saw others drowning. His goal was that lifeboat. Soon the lifeboat stopped and started coming back for him, and Phoenix swam harder. The next thing he knew, the four guys inside were helping him up into the small raft. He collapsed, feigning thirst and exhaustion. As far as he was concerned, as long as the raft continued on its bearing, his mission was a success.


PRESENT DAY


"This is it? This is where we'll get rescued?" Yuma asked. "I just see a small lake."

"You see the lake, and the river that runs into the lake on both ends," Milo said. "But what you don't see is what's underneath it." Milo winked, and dove into the water, disappearing beneath the waves. Yuma watched, then swallowed and dove in after her. She saw Milo swimming away, seemingly into a cave hidden by the water. Curious, Yuma swam further, pulling herself into the mouth of the cave and gasping for air as she broke the surface inside. Pulling herself to the edge of the pool, she climbed out and wiped the water from her eyes. Looking around, she gasped.

The edge slowly sloped up in a gradual angle until it met with the rest of the cave. The cave itself was relatively even, and the ceiling of the cave reached far, far up. What startled her, though, wasn't the cave itself. Directly facing the mouth of the cave was a cluster of five crystals, all glowing a strange yellow color, illuminating the cave. Milo was standing next to the cluster, lightly touching the crystals.

"Welcome," She said softly. "To the source of the island."




End of Episode Three