Happy New Year everyone! Here's to a better future than the past we leave behind!
Since this the final story in the Stormbreaker Universe, I intended to just have as much fun as possible. To that end, I'm announcing a second tie-in YouTube series.
Normally, this series is a three-way crossover between
Stellaris,
Homeworld, and
XCOM. However, I saw an opportunity to add a fourth game into the mix recently and I seized it. Later on in this story, you will see some elements of the award-winning adventure game
Life is Strange have been added to the Stormbreaker Universe
. If you are not familiar with this game, don't worry, I've got you covered. I've started uploading a no-commentary Let's Play series of
Life is Strange on my YouTube channel, for anyone who wants to know more about that game... or if you just want to guess which elements have been brought to
The Last Heroes.
With that said, let's carry on and start 2022 with my favorite pasttime: Storytelling!
Chapter 3
Lost and Abandoned
March 2, 2086
Detroit, Michigan
While Inez was sharing her life story with the Anward family, a passenger ship came in to land at the starport. Hundreds of travelers from around the solar system disembarked and parted ways in the terminal. People from low-gravity worlds like Mars or Luna stumbled as they were hit with the full weight of Earth’s gravity. Nobody here was from the distant colonies of Alpha Centauri, Sirius, or Altair. Interstellar travel was heavily restricted these days, and the reason why was listed on every electronic board in the terminal.
“Warning!” proclaimed one such sign. “A dangerous space storm is affecting the Orion Arm. The storm is known to contain radiolytic isotopes, which are lethal to carbon-based life. All interstellar travel is strongly discouraged!”
Amidst the crowd of travelers, there were two of interest: a man and a girl. The man, dressed in a heavy winter coat over a formal business suit, looked to be fifty-one or fifty-two years old. His wavy blonde hair was fading to grey, while unkempt stubble adorned his chin. The man regularly looked down at his companion with kind hazel eyes. The girl next to him was just ten years old, she wore a winter jacket overtop a school uniform and carried a small white purse. She had snow-white skin and long black hair tied up in braided pigtails; but her most noticeable feature was her eyes. This girl had beautiful green eyes, like glittering emeralds.
As the pair walked along, the little girl held onto her chaperone’s hand. Both of them were looking around nervously, and for good reason. About two minutes after they disembarked from the passenger ship, two men also disembarked. They were wearing dark suits and sunglasses. The bigger of the two men straightened his necktie while his companion slowly looked around.
Near the end of the terminal, the young girl and her companion pushed the big glass doors and found themselves in downtown Detroit. The older man looked down at her.
“We are very close now.” He said. “Do you remember what we discussed?”
The little girl nodded. She was frightened.
“Trust yourself.” He said. “Your intuition is right. Now take this.”
The man passed a sealed envelope into the girl’s palm. There was no return address, only the name of the recipient was written on the backside. She slipped the envelope into her purse. Finally, the two travelers looked at one another for a moment, their breaths hanging like clouds in the cold winter air. The little girl wiped tears from her eyes and sniffed.
“Please.” She breathed. “I don’t wanna be alone.”
“You are not alone.” The man replied. “She’s out there, somewhere in the city. You’ll find her. I know you can.”
The man knelt down and hugged the girl, whispering in her ear:
“It’s only for a little while. I’ll see both of you very soon.”
Then he straightened up and put one hand on the girl’s shoulder. With a gentle push, he sent her on her way. The grey-haired man watched until the girl walked all the way down the street and vanished into a crowd of people. She briefly re-appeared as she crossed the street, but then she was lost in the dense crowd and was gone, swallowed up by the utterly massive population of Detroit.
The man sighed contentedly. He did not want her to witness what came next.
From behind him, a voice said:
“Professor Emanuel Espinosa? I’m from the Reclamation Agency. You need to come with us.”
A man wearing a law enforcement uniform stepped forward and grabbed the Professor’s shoulder. At once, a powerful electric shock ran up the agent’s hand, knocking him back. The Reclamation Agent screamed in pain while Professor Espinosa broke into a run, bolting down the street, moving in the opposite direction the little girl had gone.
As he ran, the Professor tore off his winter coat and left it behind, revealing the technologically sophisticated vest he was wearing overtop of his suit. As he ran, the Professor reached towards a small dial on the front of his vest, labelled “Scorch Circuits” and turned the setting up to its maximum.
…
Meanwhile, the little girl was slowly starting to panic. She was walking aimlessly through Grand Circus Park, but she had no idea it was called that. She didn’t know where she was, nor did she know where she was going. All she knew was that she was searching for a woman called Inez and that she had no idea where Inez could be found.
She was lost.
Deep inside her, panic was rising like the tide. The little girl looked around so frantically that her pigtails slapped her face.
I’m lost. She told herself. I’m lost!
A stranger spotted the girl and asked if she needed help. The girl tried to focus on the stranger’s voice, but this only made things worse. Suddenly, she could hear other voices as well. Hundreds of people were talking all around her… all about her!
That kid doesn’t have anyone with her.
She’s all alone, it’s so sad.
Was she abandoned like the other kids at the docks?
Poor girl’s gonna get kidnapped, not like I can do anything about it.
I’m so glad I’m not that girl over there.
I bet I could get her into my car.
In that moment, the girl’s fears got the best of her. She screamed and started to run. In what direction? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was she got away from this crowded place and found somewhere quiet, where there would be no voices. The little girl fled the park, stopping only when she ran into an alleyway between two high-rise buildings. There was nobody here save for a homeless woman, wrapped up in many blankets and eating a fast food burger.
The girl leaned against the wall, still clutching her envelope, panting. She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the world.
You are safe here, little one. Take your time.
The homeless woman’s voice flowed into the girl’s mind as though it had always been there. The girl opened her eyes and looked at the vagrant opposite her. The homeless woman didn’t even look up. She was still attacking the hamburger. Now that her breathing slowed, the lost girl got a better look at the woman on the ground. The homeless woman was vaguely Asian-American in appearance, with wavy black hair and vibrant purple eyes. And… the girl couldn’t be sure… but there was some unspeakable quality about this strange woman.
Somehow, and she would never be able to explain why, the girl knew that this woman was good, and that she would do nothing to harm the small child opposite her. It was like the homeless woman had an invisible aura… one that felt warm and welcoming.
The homeless woman looked up at the lost girl.
“Your instincts are right.” She said. “Just put one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get where you need to go.”
The lost girl wanted to say something, to reply. But instinctively, before she opened her mouth to speak, she blinked.
The homeless woman was gone. As were the blankets and food. Nothing remained to suggest that anyone had ever been there.
The lost girl wanted to call for help, to cry out, to do anything that would bring this kind soul back, but she seemed to know that nothing she did would achieve that result. She had no choice but to press on.
The girl resumed her journey, walking down the alleyway and back into the city. She was lost; she knew it. So, at each and every street corner, she took a wild guess, turning and changing her path arbitrarily. As she went on, she felt more and more miserable. Only one thought went through her mind, over and over again:
I’m lost… I’m lost… I’m lost.
…
The same moment
Novi, Michigan
Inez was feeling anxious.
She didn’t know why. She was still enjoying dinner with the Anward family and everyone was being so kind to her. Flint was entertaining everyone with a funny story about his job as a dockworker. She found his story hilarious, but for some reason, Inez found her urge to laugh was being suppressed. She just felt wrong. Meanwhile Flint carried on with his tale and delivered the punchline:
“And that was when I saw the wind was blowing sixty knots right up my rear end!”
Everyone laughed except for Inez. She was sweating now, and her breathing was getting fast and shallow. She had absolutely no idea why, but she could feel a sense of panic starting to rise up within her. Why? Nobody was going to hurt her. She was safe here.
Garth put a hand on her shoulder.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “You seem tense.”
Inez quickly stood up. Her hands were shaking now.
“Uh… I have to go to the bathroom.” She mumbled. “Female trouble.”
Inez raced to the bathroom, locked the door behind her, and then sank to the floor as she broke down completely. She burst into tears.
“I’m lost!” Inez cried aloud. “I don’t know where I am. I’m lost... I’m lost… I’m lost!”
Inez blinked her eyes. And suddenly, she wasn’t in the Anward’s house anymore. Now she was wandering through the streets of a great big city she’d never seen before. The sun had set and lights were coming on, bright enough to dazzle and blind her. She was in the middle of nowhere, she was hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and the cold was getting to her. The paper envelope clutched in her hand felt heavier with each passing moment. On the sidewalks, in the storefronts and in the restaurants, people looked at her, no doubt wondering why a ten-year-old girl was all by herself in the big city in the middle of the night.
She looked down at the sidewalk and watched her own feet. One foot in front of the other. Just keep moving. Inez focused on how she needed to find the person she was looking for… how she needed to ignore the countless strangers around her and just keep pressing on. Slowly, the sense of panic died down. Inez caught her breath and blinked twice.
…
She was back in the bathroom of the Anward house. Someone was pounding on the door.
Inez wiped cold sweat from her brow and called out in a quaking voice:
“Who’s there?”
“Just a concerned old man.” Replied the voice of Garth.
The door opened from the outside. Garth, Opal, Ruby, Montri, and both of Opal’s mothers were standing in the hallway, looking very alarmed. Clearly, Inez had not been silent while she was going through… whatever that was. Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she started to apologize for causing a scene when Garth interrupted:
“Forgive me for eavesdropping, Miss Espinosa, I think I understand what’s happening to you. I might be able to help.”
…
The Anwards didn’t really have a family room in their house. It was more like a multipurpose room that served as a space for watching television, reading books, and sleeping. Both of the couches folded out into beds, and at Garth’s request, Opal pushed one of these beds back into its couch configuration so that her grandfather could reach the bookshelf. He leaned over, withdrew a large volume, and then settled back into his wheelchair. He invited Inez to sit down on the couch next to him.
“I know I look as young and fit as a track star.” The old man joked, “But I was born in the Old World. In the year 1995, I attended college at Antioch University in Seattle, where I studied Psychology. I don’t mean to make you feel foolish, but I believe I have a better understanding of the Human mind than anyone else in this room.”
Inez shook her head.
“You’ve gotta try harder than that to offend me.” She said, then a flash of impatience ran through her like an electric shock. “Look, sir. Do you know what just happened to me or not? ‘Cause I’m kinda scared right now.”
“I do.” Garth responded with confidence. “And first, you should know that there’s nothing wrong with feeling scared. In your situation, it makes sense for you to feel that way.”
Opal looked from Garth to Inez and back again.
“What situation?” she asked. “I don’t get it.”
Garth held up a hand and Opal fell silent.
“First of all, Inez, can I call you that?” He started. Inez nodded and he went on: “Thank you for telling us about your childhood earlier. Those details are what helped me solve the puzzle. Tell me, do you believe your parents really abandoned you?”
Inez balled up her fists and nodded.
“They’ve had five years.” She answered. “They knew where I was the whole time, too. If mom and dad haven’t come for me in all that time, then they really don’t care. Like I said; screw ‘em.”
Garth nodded and opened the book he’d selected. On the cover was a painting of a honey badger clutching a breadknife in its forepaws. Above it were the words “Psychology in Seattle by Doctor Kirk Honda.”
“And before then,” Garth went on. “You mentioned that you were being bullied and harassed by other children. Did your parents do anything to stop this?”
When Inez shook her head, she noticed a dawning look of comprehension starting to appear on the faces of the other Anward family members. Opal’s jaw dropped while one of her mothers went pale and started fanning herself.
Garth looked Inez in the eyes.
“I think, and I must emphasize that I have no proof of this… but I think you may have suffered some kind of traumatic event in your childhood. One that you have subconsciously repressed. I believe that something my family said or did at dinner tonight triggered those repressed memories and caused your distress. And for that, I apologize on behalf of my son, his wives, and my grandchildren.”
Of course, Inez accepted the apology and forgave the Anwards, but as the evening went on and the conversation moved to other less serious matters, Inez felt a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She was worried. She knew that Garth was right.
But he was also wrong.
True to what he claimed, Inez had suffered traumatic events when she was younger… but she could remember them clearly. Inez would never forget the strange examination in the cell, the one where her mother had looked at her with such disappointment. But there were two other events that left scars on Inez’s mind, and the more she thought about them, the more she realized they did not account for the strange episode she had in the bathroom.
The first incident happed when she was just nine years old, Inez was playing outside of the lab, wandering around the ghost town of Bannack. She’d been meandering along the Grasshopper Creek when David Sepulveda spotted her. Back then, he was a bully. Inez was small and weak, an easy target for the restless teenager. He started throwing rocks at little Inez, causing her to scream and run for cover behind the abandoned post office. David was only about fifty yards away, and he called out to Inez, promising not to throw any more rocks if she came out. She stepped out from the protection of the wall, and a moment later, David threw another stone. It hit Inez squarely in the left eye, knocking her to the ground. She would have a black eye for days and all these years later, Inez still had occasional nightmares about the rock-throwing incident.
Sure, it was traumatic, but Inez knew that this moment wasn’t responsible for her newfound distress. And neither was the second traumatic incident:
It happened a few weeks after Inez turned sixteen. This time, the population of the Bannack Base was getting together for a Victory Day party. One of the cafeterias was cleared out and turned into a dance floor, and nearly the entire population of the Bannack Base showed up. Inez made herself into the life of the party that night, dancing with dozens of partners, from adults to younger children. Late into the night, most of the older adults and younger kids were done for the night, and Inez tried to leave with them, but David Sepulveda caught her by the arm and forced her to stay. For nearly a full hour, David (who was twenty-one at the time) showered Inez with completely unwanted compliments about her beauty and attractiveness. When she tried to leave, he tightened his grip and told Inez:
“You can’t go anywhere until you give me a kiss.”
There was a fight. It ended with Inez having the first kiss of her life stolen by David, one of his hands on her neck and the other grabbing her by the hair. Inez left the scene with a sprained wrist, David left with a bloody and broken nose. Thankfully, this was the last time Inez ever saw David. Her parents abandoned her in Detroit just a few weeks later.
…
Thinking back on both of these events, Inez found herself feeling confused. Garth hit the nail on the head. She was traumatized in her youth. Twice, in fact; but neither of these events involved her saying or thinking the words “I’m lost.”
Inez was vaguely aware of the conversation going on around her. Opal, Garth, and the rest were now debating the diagnosis.
Shaking his head, Montri concluded:
“For what it’s worth, Inez. You couldn’t have been left in a better city, with a better friend.”
He nodded approvingly at Opal.
Inez got the strong feeling that Opal was about to say something, probably a compliment, but she was intercepted by a loud knock at the front door. Everyone stopped talking at once. Montri looked at his children.
“Were any of you expecting other guests?”
Opal, Flint, and Ruby all shook their heads. Montri moved to the door and called out:
“Hello? Is someone there?”
The high-pitched voice of a young girl spoke through the door.
“Um, I’m sorry to bother you. I’m looking for Inez Espinosa.”
Looking at Inez with a puzzled expression, Montri opened the door.
There was so much to take in that Inez was frozen in place for just a second. Standing in the doorway was a girl dressed in heavy winter clothing. She had long black hair that seemed to just spill out from underneath her wool cap and dark green eyes that caught Inez’ gaze and held it there. At first glance, the girl looked to be about ten years old, but those sorts of details sailed over Inez’ head. The expression on the girl’s face is what was most important.
She was afraid.
Inez had seen fear before. She’d been afraid plenty of times. Heck, she was scared yesterday when that guy cornered Opal in her booth. But this strange girl was going through a different kind of fear. She looked over her shoulders and kept her head on a swivel. Her hands stayed close to her chest, and her body was hunched as though preparing to stage an escape.
This girl was terrified of a pursuer. Maybe they were hidden or perhaps she shook them off, but Inez could plainly see it in the strange girl’s face and movements. Somebody dangerous was following this girl.
Inez had only about a second to think. On the one hand, this girl was clearly in some serious trouble. That was etched into her face. Inez felt a powerful urge to run into another room, slam the door, and forget about the girl, but she just couldn’t ignore the fact that she had used Inez's name. That alone had many implications. No, ignoring her wasn’t an option. Inez waved her hand at Montri, signaling him to allow the girl in.
“Who is this?” Opal asked.
The green-eyed girl was still twitchy, looking from side to side as if she expected an ambush. Montri looked concerned. Flint was alarmed. Ruby was filling another soup bowl for the visitor. The newcomer looked around at the group and asked:
“I’m supposed to find Inez Espinosa. Which one of you is Inez Espinosa?”
Slowly, Inez raised her hand. The young girl unzipped her winter coat and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket.
“My name’s Cassandra.” Said the girl. “They said I had to find you and give you this."
Inez, Opal, and Montri all looked down at the paper in Cassandra’s hand. It was an envelope, the type used in the Old World to send messages written on paper. Handwritten words adorned the front of the envelope. They said:
From: Professor Emanuel Luis Espinosa Peres
Bannack, Montana
To: Maria Madelina Inez Freeman Espinosa
Detroit, Michigan