In the midst of a personal crisis, Todd Gruely finds himself grappling with the direction of his life. His turmoil intensifies with the sudden reappearance of his long-lost best friend, Ocean Morales, who returns after four mysterious years, her memories lost in the abyss of her absence.
Despite his frustration, Todd agrees to aid Ocean in her quest to reclaim her past. Their journey unearths unfathomable mysteries, thrusting Todd into a reality he never could have imagined during their separation.
As they delve deeper, they uncover a malevolent force lurking in the shadows, hell-bent on harnessing technology for nefarious ends. At the heart of this intrigue lies a revolutionary invention: The Miracle Metal—a substance with limitless potential for both good and evil.
Now, faced with the looming threat of an organization known as 'The Calypso', Todd grapples with the weighty question of what, if anything, he can do to thwart their sinister ambitions.
The soft, still air crept through the open window, smelling of sharp pine and crisp dew that was common on the changing of the season as night drew near like a blanket being pulled over a sleeping child. The distinct sound of computer keys clacking away filled the modest bedroom, and a hue of autumn orange faded across the white wall which was adjacent to the window. No remarkable occurrence was taking place, but the aura of the space was likened to a peacefulness that is found amongst a city park during the peak of fall, leaves strewn about, with couples wrapped in scarves, walking the paths with hands intertwined.
Todd Gruely sat in solitude at his desk perusing the internet to satisfy his ever-churning interest in the world around him. With no direct motive, he clicked through rabbit holes of knowledge that piqued his curiosity. A shadow caught his attention as it briefly flickered across the array of colors that beamed through the window, but the quaintness of his fortress was unbroken. He brushed the bangs of his shoulder length, brown hair to the side with his hand and thought about what plans might lay ahead for tomorrow.
His ember eyes reflected the white screen ahead as he blankly stared through, picturing a weathered trail he liked to walk on days with little going on. The soft features of his face relaxed momentarily before he continued and started watching a video about Ancient Mayan culture. He knew that he should be putting his effort towards job applications, but the daunting task of filling out identical questionnaires that quizzed a person on redundant dilemmas had finally numbed his mind.
During the summer, Todd had finished the last of the remaining classes required to attain his bachelor’s degree from the nearby University of Portland. He majored in philosophy, to the disdain of his father, who saw no practical use in having such a degree, but his mother was supportive and made no hurry of him to look for work while he was in school.
To the full knowledge of Todd, it was no surprise that he had little job opportunity to select from that pulled directly from his accumulated knowledge on ethics, logic, and critical thinking. On paper, he had little work experience and a degree that many openly mocked. He pushed the thought out of his mind and returned to the images of the clear, running streams he would visit tomorrow to clear the worry brewing in his gut.
He pushed his feet against the smooth wood finish of his desk, moving the swivel chair back. Tucking his feet in, he used his hands to give the chair enough momentum to twirl a few full rotations. While spinning around, he caught sight of his tucked bed next to the open window, and the thought of plopping down with a nice book enticed him, as the day wound down.
The chair stopped with his back to the bed and the neighboring door to his bedroom. He put his feet down and began to push himself up when he heard a creak that he assumed was his mom coming to say good night. In no eager attempt to greet his guest, he turned around, pivoting his foot in the plush carpet beneath his toes. At first, he could only make out a silhouette standing in the frame, but his stomach dropped in a quick plunge, for he knew in certainty that this was not his mother.
The shadow stepped forward into the remnants of light waves hurled along the curvature of the Earth and into Todd’s bedroom. Long, dark hair flowed atop the shoulders of a young woman wearing a baggy grey sweatshirt and rugged jeans. Her icy eyes were faintly sunken, darkened by some troublesome worry that glistened behind the deep stare she cast upon Todd as she inched towards the center of the room, a placating smile forming with great struggle on her weathered face.
Each step she took synchronized with an intensifying thud in Todd’s chest as his heart pushed endorphins of nervousness and excitement throughout his trembling body. There was no denying the identity of the face that stared back at him, her eyes acting like a highway of emotions beaming through their locked gaze.
“O- Ocean,” he muttered in a daze, the sound of his own voice ringing back into his mind, giving him the feeling of extrasensory aerial perception on the situation. “What are you doing here?” She did not respond but kept walking forward increasing the flurry of thoughts and emotions that twirled at hyper-speed through Todd. The few feet left between them collapsed in the gravity of their deep connection, and Ocean threw her arms around Todd in an embrace that saturated every sinew encompassed in his body, as he experienced existential harmony like never before.
“I’m sorry I never said goodbye,” she solemnly voiced, salty tears starting to pool at the corner of her lips. She pressed her face onto Todd’s shoulder as the darkness that hid in her crumbling demeanor released into a sob.
Todd had no words. He was embracing the lack of separation in both body and spirit after having conceded to the thought that he would never see Ocean again. He had spent four long and tormenting years apart from her.
One morning, years prior, he approached her house to meet her – as was customary most days – only to have her parents explain that she had run away. There was a hastily written note left atop her bed detailing the fact that she did not want to be – and would not be – found. Much was left to the imagination, for she did not describe her intentions besides that “something of great importance” was her motive.
Of course, her parents still reported her missing, and Todd joined the small, local search party each time they embarked upon the nearby woods for signs that she may have been there. Rumors of murder and insanity were the most propagated stories that sifted through the mouths of people that heard of the oddity of her disappearance. After the first year, most assumed that she was dead one way or another.
Todd did not give up hope until his junior year of college when the stress of schoolwork left him with little time to think of much else. During that year’s spring break, his family took him on a trip to Hawaii where he stumbled upon a glimpse of happiness for the first time since he had last seen her. He reluctantly resolved to continue with his life and find joy outside of her presence. One night as the sun slowly descended behind the delicate crashing of the warm, tropical waves, he let out small tears in memory of Ocean and what their friendship had been. He did not feel sad anymore, and a heavy weight lifted from his heart. The beauty of his surroundings helped to wash and cleanse his soul until the perimeter of the approaching tide finally kissed his feet, and he said goodbye to Ocean.
Their friendship was birthed nearly two decades ago on the first day of elementary school, when the magnetism of the mysterious forces that govern friendship pulled them together and fused a bond that remained true and pure until the last day of high school, from which both graduated with honors. The genuine nature of the time they spent together sparked long and deep conversations about the Universe. The two of them would often stay up late into the night conversing or listening to their favorite music, simply enjoying the presence of one another at the stage of life that is best described as the awkward transformation of the human form.
Memories of their adventures flooded back into Todd’s mind as he held Ocean in real-time with an unimaginable passion. Only a sliver of his being believed that she was still alive, but that sliver was the part of him that knew Ocean the best. That part knew the true strength of will that was present in her and believed that whatever carried her away must have been remarkably important. He dared not ask just yet. Every second that ticked away in that moment was bliss to him.
Ocean was the first to break away and look up into Todd’s eyes through the mild irritation that encompassed her own. She searched for words to speak, but there were so many that needed to be said, and her mind worked to prioritize that which was the most important. The silence began to stretch thin, placing pressure on Ocean to make a comment. The deep perpetuity of their pupils staring through one another was being overtaken by the encroaching enigma that needed explanation.
“I need you to help me find Josh Sternbecker,” Ocean blurted out in a choppy rhythm that disturbed the serenity that had been twirling about. Todd was baffled at first, and then his countenance turned to frustration and anger as he took a step back to contemplate her demand.
“You run away for four years… without a single trace or goodbye,” Todd started, his cheeks forming red hues, “and the first thing you ask me when you return is to help you find my childhood bully?” Ocean stood by her directive to the best of her ability as Todd now struggled to find the right words to represent his emotions. “How?... and why!?... What could he possibly do for you that I can’t!?” Ocean could see the pit of anger expanding inside him. “Seriously-”
Before Todd could erupt in a tirade of rage, Ocean pulled his body into hers with raw desire and pressed her lips against his, slowly moving them in an archaic dance that unified their bodies through a meditating expression of attraction. Todd’s body relaxed and his breathing regulated to a normal pace; the bliss had returned.
Ocean pulled away once more, but this time kept her fingertips gently locked with his. “Todd… I love you. I aways have loved you, and I always will. But there’s something gravely important going on that beats the priority of that love. I need you to understand that.”
Todd hesitated for a moment, then quipped in haste, “What is it that is so important?” He did not ask in anger, but there was frustration in his tone, that exact thought having paraded through his mind a great many times since she had left.
Ocean paused, unsure how to answer, “...that’s the thing... I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember what?” asked Todd in honest confusion at the statement.
Looking down at her feet, Ocean continued, “It sounds crazy… but my memories have been erased. There are some bad people out there, and somehow, they were able to erase my memory of them… and pretty much everything that I’ve done in the past four years.”
Todd’s mind was naturally skeptical, but he tried his best to make sense of it. “How do you know it was these bad people that did this?”
“I can feel it deep inside me... it's like having the name of something on the tip of your tongue, but for the life of me I just can’t remember who or what they are. There’s a large chunk of my life that’s just vanished.” Ocean became weak in the knees and used Todd’s stability to hold herself up. “I woke up the other day, alone on a park bench, and for all intents and purposes, I could have sworn that yesterday we were both graduating from high school, like the past four years never happened.” Ocean’s gaze suddenly intensified. “But it did happen Todd! Four years have certainly passed by, and the more I try to remember what happened, the more stressed my brain becomes, and all I’m left with is this feeling that I was hunting some very bad people. Someone out there found me a threat, and now the last four years are just gone for me...”
Todd was taken aback – to say the least – and no amount of time would help him to process the current situation at hand. The answer raised a dozen questions, and each question raised a dozen more. There were no more words that Ocean could find to express her frustration, nor any more energy to explain the hole that she inexplicably felt existing inside of her. Todd watched as her limbs started to slump in momentary defeat.
“...and you think that Josh Sternbecker can somehow bring back these forgotten memories?” Todd questioned as delicately as he could muster, shifting his hand to Ocean’s shoulders in response to her frail posture. She looked up with light in her eyes, a speckle of hope glinting as her lips shifted into a grin.
“I know it sounds crazy, but… but I just don’t know what other options I have,” Ocean postulated with the greatest confidence her body would allow. “Why else would I have his name written on my leg?” The more she spoke of it, the more enthralled she sounded. “I must have known that this was a possibility, and in preparation, I wrote his name on my leg so that I would find my way back. I don’t know how or why, but it’s the only thing I have to go on right now… and I have to keep going or else my spirit will break, and all will be lost.” Her demeanor began to shrink again, though this time more akin to a puppy giving eyes to persuade.
Todd gave a soft sigh, turned towards his desk, and picked up his phone. “Who do I even know that would possibly still be in contact with Josh Sternbecker...” He started scrolling through the contacts on his phone in search of a name that might lead the way. The list had not changed much since high school, given his reclusive nature and shy personality. Each flick of his finger narrowed the list, giving weight to the encroaching anxiety that he would not be able to help. Suddenly he paused on a name, and moving into his mind’s eye, he attempted to recall the hazy details of his distant past.
“Didn’t Josh end up going to Lincoln High School?” Todd surmised; his face scrunched in contemplation. Ocean looked at him with permeable uncertainty, the task of remembering being the bane of her existence in that moment. “I think he did,” Todd expounded, not noticing any of Ocean’s mannerisms, “and Luke hung out with a lot of people from Lincoln back in the day. That’s worth a call at the very least.” He tapped the screen a few times and moved the device to his ear, readying himself to ask a peculiar question. After a cycle of daunting rings on the line, a voice emerged from the speaker.
“Hi,” began Todd awkwardly, “it’s been a while... I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m calling.” Ocean could not ascertain what Luke was saying, but his tone was pleasant enough. “Yeah, I’ve been good, I hope the same for you,” Todd resumed, attempting not to rush into the matter as to not seem impolite. “Truthfully, the reason I called was to see if you still talked to or had Josh Sternbecker’s phone number?” Todd looked at Ocean for the first time since picking up his phone, as they waited anxiously, Ocean only heard more incomprehensible garbling. Tension started to slowly seep into her sinews, giving rise to a weightless feeling in her gut. She did not want to get her hopes up and subsequently shattered, for hope was the only tangible modality currently holding her mind together.
“You do have his number?” Todd nearly shouted in excitement, and on hearing that, Ocean was overtaken with giddiness and joy. She felt that her life was starting to take form again and moving back on the right track. The feeling of being in the aimless abyss was ending. She began to see actionable steps appear before her. Todd scribbled down some numbers with a nearby pen and notepad and thanked Luke with deep sincerity.
After he hung up the phone, his shoulders squared towards Ocean and revealed his stunned face. “Well, that was easy,” he remarked, starting to type in the numbers he had written down, “I guess best not to waste time.”
Muffled ringing flowed through Ocean’s ears until she heard a faint, ‘Hello?’ Her mind began to drift, picturing the moment she would finally reclaim her purpose. Todd attempted to casually converse, but Ocean did not make out the words being said. Waves of assuredness rippled through her core. In that moment, she was finally able to relax and examine the causal elements that pushed and drove her motives.
She very much wanted to let go, but the primordial fear of aimless wondering pinched the desire back to the pit of her being. Her body was tense with a constant nag to keep acting, and in her best attempt, she soaked in the few moments of not having anything to do. Ocean heard Todd finalizing the conversation at hand, but the sudden disappointment that swelled from his expression grounded every feeling of success that had been bubbling up.
“That number doesn’t belong to him anymore,” Todd woefully stated, “and hasn’t for at least the past three years.”
Ocean gloomily turned from Todd and sunk herself onto his bed. The gnawing agony of defeat cycled into her mind, and hastily, she defended her optimism and set deep to thought. There had to be another path to finding Josh, she thought, peering out the window into the darkening neighborhood she once youthfully perused. The streetlights now beamed down, illuminating paths she remembered wandering playfully.
A sudden spark arose, and Ocean recalled that not all those times in this neighborhood had been pleasant. “What about Josh’s grandparents!?” exclaimed Ocean, causing Todd to develop a curious irk.
“What about them?” Todd distastefully retorted.
“They may know where Josh is now,” Ocean answered with vigor, arising from her defeated slump, “and their house is just a few blocks away from here!”
“How do you remember that?” Todd posited in disbelief, “but you can’t remember the last four years?”
Ocean glared back, her eyes forming daggers. “Don’t you remember? That’s how we became friends in the first place…”
Feeling the sudden hostility, Todd emotionally took a step back. He had forgotten. Josh used to live with his grandparents during grade school, and their house was in direct route of his walk home from school. That’s where the bullying began, and having noticed his torment, Ocean had decided to start walking home with him, despite this being out of her way.
Josh had turned to teasing him about needing protection from a girl, but Todd preferred this to the pushing and shoving that commenced once there was no one else around. Feeling a bout of guilt, he apologetically smiled at Ocean in a way he hoped would convey his undignified quip.
“But even if we do know where his grandparents lived,” began Todd, attempting to recover his blunder, “what is the likelihood that they will still be there after all these years?”
“Old people never move by choice Todd,” Ocean rebutted, “and even so, this is the best shot we’ve got in front of us. I’ve already scoured social media and can’t find a trace of him or anyone he might be related to.”
Todd then realized that Ocean had not come to him first with this endeavor and had very much attempted to resolve it herself. A nagging sense of self-pity arose in his gut, but he decided to deflect the internal bitterness. Right now, he was with Ocean, and that was enough for him.
“Are you coming with me?” Ocean asked, penetrating his internal dialogue, “or are you going to make me go alone?”
Todd smiled. There was hope, he thought, that her presence would not be a fleeting tide.