We returned to the train, which was already in motion. Aiden remained unconscious in one of the carriages, lying on the floor next to Podbe, which surprised both Reia and Podbe himself.
"He's not waking up," said Podbe in a worried tone, his golden tail swaying slowly. "I think we scared him when he heard my voice in his head."
"I think so too," replied Reia with a gentle, reassuring smile as she approached him. "Animals on this planet don't usually communicate with humans except through sounds or gestures, like your barking, for example."
"I see, that's why it had such a strong impact on him," Podbe responded, tilting his head to one side as he observed the unconscious boy. "Or maybe he fainted from hunger."
Reia gave him a few soft pats on the back, as if to calm him down.
"It's alright, don't get so nervous, I understand. But I don't know what could have happened to him."
Meanwhile, in Aiden's mind, everything was confused. He found himself in a space—or rather, an endless white expanse. He began shouting desperately, hoping someone would hear him, but there was no response. He tried to run, but his steps felt useless; he moved aimlessly, as if trapped in an endless cycle. Worry grew within him, and a mix of fear and bewilderment filled his chest. Had he died? Was he dreaming? The last thing he remembered was that Podbe, the little dog with extraordinary abilities, had been talking. Suddenly, a dark wooden door with intricate details appeared before him. At first, he felt a shiver of fear, but then he decided to venture toward it. With trembling hands, he turned the knob and opened it.
Upon crossing the threshold, Aiden found himself back at the orphanage. His heart pounded fiercely as he looked around in disbelief. He thought perhaps he was dreaming. Remembering how to check, he decided to pinch himself or give himself a small tap. He did so and only felt pain. That meant he wasn't dreaming.
The sky began to darken, and a light rain fell over the place, dampening the ground and filling the air with a fresh, earthy aroma. In the distance, he spotted the figure of a woman wrapped in a black cloak, carrying something in her arms. She walked hurriedly until she reached the entrance of the orphanage. There, she carefully placed what she was carrying and left a note on top. Without looking back, she ran off into the storm, vanishing into the shadows.
Driven by curiosity, Aiden tried to follow her, but the figure disappeared as if she had never been there. Perplexed, he returned to the front door. As he approached, he discovered that what the woman had left behind was a newborn wrapped in a white blanket and a folded note. With trembling hands, he picked up the letter and began to read:
"Please care for my son, my precious Aiden. I cannot stay with him; there are people and forces that will not allow me to remain by his side, and they would stop at nothing to destroy what I hold dearest—him, my beloved child. To protect him, I must make the agonizing choice to part with my most treasured gift. I pray he is cherished here, that this place may offer him shelter, even if only for a time. Though I could not reach his father, I believe one day he will find him and know the love I longed to give him myself. Forgive me, my sweet Aiden. My love for you runs deeper than words can ever express, and you will forever dwell in my heart. With all my love, your mother, Amely."
As he finished reading, warm tears began to roll down Aiden's face. It was a letter he had never received, as the sisters at the orphanage had never delivered it to him. He gazed at the tiny baby but, when he tried to touch it, his hands passed through it as if it were a ghost. The newborn began to cry loudly, and at that very moment, one of the sisters rushed out to investigate who had left the child at the door.
Aiden, gripped by panic, hid behind a nearby bush. From his hiding spot, he saw another sister appear behind the first one and ask in a firm voice:
"What has happened? Who left this here?"
The scene seemed suspended in time as Aiden felt the weight of the truth crushing him.
"I think it's a baby," said the first sister in a soft but surprised tone.
Both women approached the small bundle lying at the entrance. Carefully, they lifted it into their arms and carried it inside the orphanage. As they unfolded the blankets wrapped around the newborn, they discovered a note with his name written in shaky handwriting: Aiden. The sisters exchanged uncertain glances. Some murmured that the mother must have been mad; others, harsher in their judgment, claimed she was a heartless woman. In the end, they decided to store the note in a drawer until the boy was old enough to understand its contents.
Meanwhile, Aiden watched as the years flashed before him like fleeting fragments of a dream. He saw all the experiences he had lived through at the orphanage: the faces of the children he had met, the families who had adopted him and then returned him because they considered him too troublesome or simply grew tired of him. Each rejection, each farewell, was etched into his memory like an invisible scar. The images were so vivid that he could almost feel the pain again. But then, everything went dark. The ground beneath his feet seemed to swallow him, dragging him into a deep abyss for what felt like hours. Finally, a bright light emerged, and Aiden could see once more.
Upon entering that new light, he beheld a completely different scene. A stray dog darted through narrow streets and dark alleys, dodging people who tried to shoo her away as she searched for food. She arrives at an abandoned house, where six small puppies doze beside her. She had recently given birth and now devoted herself to protecting and feeding them. Months later, the puppies were clumsily walking, following their mother as they learned to survive. She taught them how to find food and fetch useful objects, always watching over their safety.
However, the peace did not last long. In a heart-wrenching scene, armed men began to chase the dogs. The mother, brave and resolute, confronted the attackers to give her pups time to escape. Though she managed to save five of them, the villains mercilessly killed her. The puppies ran together down the alley but were intercepted by the evildoers, who captured them and took them to an unknown destination. The last puppy, however, miraculously escaped when the fragile ground beneath his paws gave way, sending him tumbling into a sewer. When he finally emerged, he found only his mother's lifeless body; there was no trace of his siblings. From that day on, the little canine wandered alone through the streets, facing a hostile world.
Outside of Aiden's mind, a notification blinked on the system Reia was monitoring. She read aloud: "The link is at fifty percent. The host must enter the link." A menu appeared with two options: yes or no.
"That must be why the boy isn't waking up. We need to enter," said Podbe, selecting the option "yes" with Reia's help. However, upon activating the link, Podbe collapsed as well, plunging into the same sequence of images Aiden had witnessed.
When he reached the final scene, sadness overwhelmed him as he remembered his own past and saw Aiden's suffering reflected in it. He searched for the boy among the shadows and, upon finding him seeing those images, called out urgently:
"Boy! Boy!"
The boy turned quickly and, recognizing him, ran toward him. They embraced tightly, sharing a moment filled with empathy and understanding.
"I'm so sorry for what you've been through, Podbe," said Aiden, his voice trembling with sadness.
The dog nodded, expressing his sorrow with a silent but meaningful gesture.
They introduced themselves to each other, as if truly meeting for the first time.
"My name is Aiden. I'm twelve years old, and I ran away from the orphanage because I felt it wasn't my place, that there was something more waiting for me in this world," explained the boy with determination in his voice.
"Well, I already know your name from everything I saw," replied Podbe with a kind smile. "And since you named me, I'm Podbe. I'm seven months old, I think. I lived on the streets. They captured me and took me to a shelter, but on the day of the adoption fair, I managed to escape because no one wanted to take me."
"I also ran away from adoption; it was supposed to happen the next day. I left some friends behind, but I know there are more out there," responded Aiden firmly. "And now that I know I have a father somewhere, I need to find him, even if I don't know where to start."
"I hope you find your father, and you find whoever did this to your family," they said to each other, sharing a moment of hope and resolve.
But before they could finish their conversation, Reia interrupted them with a somewhat impatient tone:
"There's still ninety percent of the link left."
"What's missing?" they both asked in unison, looking at each other in confusion.
Suddenly, everything turned dark again. An invisible force dragged them downward, this time pulling them into a dimly lit red room. There, they began to see various images projected onto the walls, but none of them seemed familiar.
"He looks handsome," commented Reia playfully, observing the scene. "If I were human, of course," she added with a teasing laugh that momentarily eased the tension.
The images showed fragments of an unknown person's life, but everything moved too quickly to fully comprehend. Finally, they were taken to the last moments of a man identified as Agent B-Twelve. They watched him obtain a mysterious artifact and then fall into the alley where he met Podbe.
"I see, so that's how he found me and passed it on to you. What a lucky dog," said Podbe, wagging his golden tail with a mix of pride and amazement.
Then, a final message appeared before them: "The link has been completed. Goodbye."
Both Podbe and Aiden jolted awake, blinking in confusion as they tried to process what had just happened.
"Wow! What was all that?" exclaimed Aiden, rubbing his eyes as if to make sure he was truly awake.
"I don't know, it felt like a lived experience," replied Reia in a calm but intriguing tone, as if she were analyzing the events herself.
Aiden turned to look at Podbe, who now sat in front of him with a curious expression on his furry face.
"Whose voice is that?" asked the boy, pointing into the air as if he could directly aim at the source of the sound.
"Oh, she's my conscience… I mean, my virtual assistant from the JORGS system," explained Podbe with a mix of pride and nervousness. "Please don't faint again, kid."
"That's insane, Podbe," said Aiden, shaking his head in disbelief.
With a mix of curiosity and awe, Aiden mentally greeted Reia and asked:
"Where are we? Did we get on the train? But how? And what's this JORGS thing you mentioned?"
Podbe tilted his head, as if weighing how to respond. Finally, he said:
"As for the first question, I brought you aboard. And for the second question, let Reia explain."
Reia, who had been patiently waiting for her moment, couldn't contain her excitement to explain the system. With an energetic voice, she began detailing its purpose:
"JORGS stands for Justice, Order, Gratitude, and Service. It's a system designed to bring hope and support to those in need. To do this, it grants its host special abilities to complete specific quests, as long as they achieve the assigned objectives."
"Wow!" exclaimed Aiden, his eyes widening. "Ah! I see, that's why Podbe was able to get me onto the train, even though he's so small. And I want to hear more."
Reia let out a soft, almost imperceptible giggle, laced with satisfaction.
"Well, finally someone who wants to listen to me," she said teasingly, directing her comment at Podbe, who responded with a playful bark.
However, before Reia could continue her explanation, the carriage they were in began to move strangely. At first, the movement was slow, barely noticeable, as if the train were adjusting its pace. But suddenly, a violent impact shook the entire compartment. The force was so strong that it sent them flying through the air, spinning like leaves in a storm.
Aiden felt his body being ripped from the ground and hurled forward. Podbe, with his tiny paws stretched out, tried to grab onto something, but it was useless. Both of them were flung out of the train, falling into a deep darkness as the metallic roar of the vehicle faded quickly into the distance.
The silence that followed was deafening.