Flashback #1

ACG School Jakarta, Indonesia.

August 2026, 2:20 pm

Kayla-"Let's play after school"

"Ok, but make it quick, I have to take you guys somewhere"

"Got it Hope! Don't worry."

Everyone starts playing. After 20 minutes I go aside and check the time. 

Ryan sits under a tree. He takes his mobile along with him.

I asked Ryan - "Ryan, why aren't you playing?"

"I have to get going now."

"What? But I said-"

"The others said that they'll be back in some time. figured out I'll wait for them."

(sighs)"Since you're not playing, I have something to tell you."

"Come and sit."

Ryan starts screaming and trembling while holding the mobile in his hands.

"What? What happened? Why are you screaming like that? Shut up! You're scaring everyone!"

 I took his mobile.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you but…."

"What are they?" What-what is happening?(Screams Again)

I slapped him. "Don't scream like that! Stop panicking! You're giving me a heart attack. I'll explain it to you later. If we don't leave immediately, we'll be stuck in traffic for hours." I said.

Ryan asked me-"Where are you going to take us?"

"Like I said before, I'll explain it to you later."

Ryan agrees with me with an ounce of doubt. Together, we sprint towards the group, our footsteps echoing through the silence.

"Remember that I said I will take you guys somewhere?"

"Yeah…." Nova says while looking at the others.

"We're going now. No questions."

The group's collective jaw dropped as my 4-dimensional car materialized out of thin air. Its futuristic lines, glowing lights, sleek design and shimmering metal gleaming in the sunlight.

I sat in the driver's seat and asked everyone to hop on as I walked towards it. After everyone got on, Nova questioned me,

"Hope, what are you thinking? You know you're not old enough to be behind the wheel, right?"

"It doesn't matter for the next few hours. And no one will contact anybody until I say so. Hold tight." I broke my knuckles and started driving.

"Hope why are you driving so rashly?" Devin asked me as if we were gonna die.

"Look out! Everyone brace yourselves!" Carlos shouted.

I eased right into the car in front of me and continued as usual. Everyone screamed for a few seconds and suddenly stopped.

"Are we dead?" asked Carlos.

"Everything's fine! Calm down and sit tight."

"What were you thinking, Hope? We could have died!" Kayla shouted with fear.

"Wait, what just happened now? How in the world can we survive something like that?" I could tell it just by seeing Nova's facial expressions from the rear view mirror.

"This is specially designed for situations like this. So, no need to worry. Now watch as I run into another one." I said and speeded up into a group of vehicles easing my way through them.

"What-what do you mean by situations like this?" Devin's voice stuttered.

"Hope said that she will explain about it later." Ryan patted Devin's back and calmed him down.

"Ryan, can you look up where E-V9 is right now?"

"What is E-V9?"

"Uhm….you know what? Forget it. Just look up and tell me where it is."

"Ok…. It is in the Philippines."

"Then we'll have to hurry up." I speed up even more to get everyone to their families in highly-protected underground bunkers.

In plain silence, where we were able to hear our own breaths, 

"Are you sure we can get there on time?" Kayla asked.

"Do you doubt me?" I countered her question.

"Yeah…." she said hesitantly. "It is starting to rain."

I take a deep disappointed sigh and continue as usual. I take a look at the time and say-

"I guess I can't take you to your families. I'll have to go with plan B."

"What? Why? Maybe try speeding up a bit." Ryan replied.

"We're on the top speed. Even at this speed we will not be able to reach as our homes are in different directions and I have set up the bunkers near everyone's home."

"Then what about our families?" Ryan asked as he trembled with fear.

"Don't worry, I already got them into the bunkers."

"How did you convince them?"

"I already knew that no one would listen so I just made everyone unconscious for like 3-4 hours."

"What?! How will you know if they're still alive?"

"Ha-ha, they will start to call my parents to complain about me, or they will call you. Then we can explain everything to them."

"First of all, we only do not know anything about what is happening, and you will explain to them?" Nova interrupted.

"Don't worry, I said I will explain about it later. Just wait a minute, I will go and check if the emergency bunker is working or not." I get out of the car and and rush towards the bunker a bit far from the car in the heavy rain.

"An emergency bunker is supposed to be working at all times, right?" Carlos asked.

Everyone was looking at me while I was struggling to open the underground bunker. I rushed to the car and sat down. Ryan pressed me to explain what happened.

"I am not able to open it because of the rain."

"Aren't emergency bunkers supposed to work at all times? " Carlos questioned me.

"They are supposed to, but I had to set this up in just 2 weeks. So…. it is not that prepared. And all the supplies we need for survival for the next few years are in this one itself. If we can get into this, then we can reach our families as these are connected by underground tunnels."

"What are we gonna do now?" Nova asked me.

"Guess we're gonna go with Plan C." I started driving immediately.

"How many plans does she have?" Carlos asked Ryan.

"How would I know?" Ryan replied.

"Hope, where are we going now?" Nova asked.

"As my home is far from here, we'll go to 'my' house."

"What do you mean by 'my' house?"

"You'll see."

As we reached, I rushed everyone into the house. I quickly went to the basement to find out that there were not enough supplies for all of us till the next few years. While Everyone was dropping their jaws on seeing my secret house, I went up to Ryan and Carlos to ask if they were interested in coming outside with me to buy some supplies. I informed the rest and the three of us started immediately.