Jackson’s return

When some fresh air hit Akemi's face, she felt relaxed. It took several years to finally achieve a body. The blood flowing through the veins, the heartbeat everything made it so alive. This was definitely good and to achieve it once again, the victory smell in the air made it even more amazing.

The animals were running into the forests one after the other. Akemi's pets were really designed with high quality. Akemi enjoyed this freedom without limit. She spread her hands in the air and even sang an old song. The animals, birds, and insects danced in the rhythm while playing background music.

Meanwhile, Hastin stood in front of Simon's car. He did not know how to drive. He was supposed to learn it after his father's trip. His father promised to buy a Bugatti Veyron for him and will teach him how to drive. But Jackson never returned from his journey.

All his father's cars were parked in his extensive garage. Those cars might already be rusted and might not even start anymore, after being stored there for so long. Left with no option he tried to push the car towards his garage.

A few hours earlier in Japan, some people started to break the locks on an abandoned factory.

"Hurry up! We do not have all day here," Akihiro shouted.

He was wearing a military uniform and was standing next to Jackson.

He turned and said to Jackson, "We are so sorry, we couldn't find you anywhere after that accident. So we informed your son that you are no longer alive after five months of search."

"It's ok, Akihiro. I understand! It has been twelve years already. I cannot blame you for that. In that matter, I really cannot blame anyone as it was an accident. Thankfully, I still remembered your address and you did not move away from there." Jackson said weekly.

"So, where were you all this time? What were you doing after you escaped from that accident?" Akihiro asked.

"Sadly, I was in a rural hospital. I don't even know how I got washed away to that island. All I remember was that I was driving the car over the Ishidoa bridge with Kayoko and suddenly a giant truck hit us. We were thrown into the flooding river. I was in a coma until now. Speaking of Kayoko, How is she? Did she survive?"

"Hmm… I don't know how to tell you this. About Kayoko... we found her body washed away on the east shore. Her daughter, Akemi was only ten at that time. Akemi was sent to live with her grandmother. Recently we have received news that Akemi disappeared a few days ago. The investigation is being carried out, I cannot give you any more details on that."

"It was all my fault. I feel guilty now. I will bear all the costs for that investigation, so can you use your connections to speed up the process in finding Akemi?" Jackson asked.

"Sure, if you can give the money I won't say no, but how are you going to do that? Do not forget you are a dead man who came back alive. You did not change much, so I could recognize you. I think it is better for you to go back to your country now. We will do our best to find Akemi, do not worry." Akihiro assured him.

"Shirei-kan, Aite Imasu!" (Commander, it's open!) someone shouted from that group, who were trying to open the thick metal door with many locks.

These old digital locks were very tricky to open. They had to work hard and at the same time with utmost caution to open them as one wrong move could blast the whole area. It was like a ticking time bomb which was left out in the open for a long time without anyone to activate.

"Let's go inside. I still don't understand, after you came back why did you insist on coming out here. Whose factory is it anyway?" Akihiro asked.

"The land belonged to Kayoko and I helped to build this factory. I asked her to lend it to one of my friends to develop an App. He was a bit off...how could I describe him? He might be considered a strange shrewd who dedicated himself to believe that he could change this world. I was supposed to meet him that day. But, you know what happened to us later…"

When they all entered, Jackson felt like something was quite not right. The servers were still up and running fine.

"It looks like he succeeded in his work. But where is he? He would never leave this place. I used to tell him to get a life. But he would defy me saying this was his life." Jackson said after checking the whole place.

"Considering the dust accumulated on this place, I can tell you that no one visited this place for a very long time. What is the name of your friend by the way?" Akihiro asked.

"Haruto. His name is Haruto." Jackson wandered around that room once more and found a few sketches of different types of animals, birds, and insects.

"This was all related to that App! Looking at the dates on them these are more than twelve years old. Where did he disappear? He had nowhere else to go when I last met him." Jackson was really worried.

"Jackson, it's already twelve years! He was a grown man and could have gone anywhere after he realized that you were not going to come anymore. I think, you better go home and see your son. That should be your priority now and not some random psycho guy who ran away." Akihiro said.

"I hope he is living somewhere happily. Can you help me find him?"

"Did you give that guy some lump sum amount or something precious? You are seriously worried about an unimportant person. Who cares if he lives or not? You better leave now, I would help you with the arrangements for your safe return to your country. So stop thinking about some random guy and be thankful for this second life. Just think about your son's reaction when he realizes that his father is still alive."

"I don't know. I am just a little disturbed thinking about Haruto. When I met him, he was desperate and had the desire to die. I gave him hope but I couldn't keep up my promise to meet him."

"Just forget about him for now. I will keep a lookout for you and if I ever come across any news related to him, I will let you know immediately. Do you have any photos of him? Or any other information regarding him?"

"I don't have his photo with me right now but I have it at my mansion. I will email you, once I reach there. Thank you! Thank you so much for your help." Jackson hugged him.

"That's ok! What are friends for?" Akihiro patted his back.

"Shirei-kan(Commander)! What should we do with all these servers?" one of Akihiro men asked.

"Just shut it down! It's of no use now... A complete waste of electricity! I don't even know how it was still running efficiently. I doubt if anyone paid bills for this factory." Akihiro commanded.

Slowly one by one the servers were shut down. Jackson's face still showed a little bit of concern but he could not do anything as of now. He doesn't know where Haruto is? And to make the matter worse, Kayoko's daughter Akemi was also missing.

Akihiro arranged a private plane for Jackson to send him home. At that time one of his men came rushing towards him with a phone.

"Moshi Moshi, Aki Hiro Koko!" (Hello, Akihiro here).

"Commander, we just received the intel that it is not only Akemi but there are many more missing cases coming out in open, even from the past."

"Are you sure? Do all of them have similar descriptions? The victims were looking at their phone screen and then they all vanished into thin air within a few minutes." Akihiro asked.

"Hai, Shirei-kan!" (Yes, Commander!)

Akihiro rubbed his head and tried to keep himself calm. The situation was really out of control now. He was not sure about how long they could control the news from spreading.

These incidents are increasing in number day by day and there was no way they could control this panicking situation. The economic loss would be incredible. They need to come up with a solution fast or else he cannot imagine the outcome.

They will be in a war with something unknown; technologically advanced creatures, maybe. Even with so much technological development, it has become extremely difficult to trace back to anything. There was no clue left behind.

All they could find out after searching for so long was, there were few lucky draw links being circulated. They may be or may not be related to these current missing case incidents.