The memories of the past are what ghosts are made of. They know your weaknesses and your fears. Sneaking up on you like a predator, they hunt you down until they make the kill. Our memories make who we are, but sometimes that make us into who who we are not.

The image was blurred but Flashwing found himself in his old Rome apartment. He could see someone, someone that was from very long ago. What were they doing there? Wait! A memory, one of a girl that once was. Her name is...Illia. Flashwing struggled to put the pieces together which were scattered.

Then came the explosion...the apartment was filled with fire and burning. The bright flash from the package which had arrived the previous morning. It was enough to make one go blind...yet...it was all happening in slow motion. As the explosion engulfed Illia, Flashwing dove for the door and saw only the mouth of the flames trying to swallow him as well. This seemed to rewind and happen again, like the dream was waiting for Flashwing to do something different. Maybe there was something that he could have done.

Suddenly, the thought of trying to save Illia occured to him, but it was too late. The slow motion suddenly went into real time, which the explosion blinding Flashwing yet again...

The screams might have been contained in the walls of his apartment, but Flashwing startled himself as he shot out of bed in a cold sweat. His Jobe apartment was cold from the night, and the screams had echoed into the quiet walls. This was his home, and at least he was safe here. It has been a dream, but that dream had once been real. Those who were responsible had entered his life yet again. Perhaps this time would be his last chance to secure his safety.

Illia had for a short time been the closest thing Flash had known to a romantic partner. The events of his dreams are ones that haunt his past and have made him into the person he is today. Illia taught Flash the way of the sword, hand and foot. That training made him become an Agent with hopes of tracking down her killers.

The vid-moniter next to the bed flashed with today's messages on it. They included the ARK's party at Reets as well as events at Rompas. There was also the left over work from the previous week as well as a couple private messages. The one message was already read, though flashwing opened it again as if it's contents would have changed.

...Secure Transmission Encryption type Delta. Press Thumb on access panel and give access code to proceed....

Flashwing placed his print onto the vid-panel. "Flashwing Orbin, password Alpha one.

"Thank you, accessing transmission"

Dear Flashwing,

It's Ian, I know that you've been out of the gridstream for some time but I ran across some Intel that you no doubt would be interested in. Somone has tipped off Salabus that you survived the Newland Desert. We were all surprised that you were still alive after all the rumors around Rome that you had been perma-killed. I'm sending you the location of our work base, though I doubt that you would get easy access to it. You can always use it as a fall back location. I saw your working for the Universal Robots Company! And think you called us all geeks after your Agent training. Look man, stay sharp because Salabus is still working within the Omni Corporation and if he thinks your still alive and a threat he's going to snuff you out quick! We're here to help, but only trust the people you know. We will keep you updated if anything comes our way.

Sincerly,

Your partners in crime

...Message end...

The fact that this all happened on Valentine's Day is either pure planning, or bad luck.

Flashwing crawls from bed, and after a nice sonic shower gets dressed to go take part in today's events. No doubt that it would be a very long Valentine's Day without the one woman who would be worth celebrating it.

"Guess I'll be bringing my sword to the party today. Maybe I can fit it in a box of roses or candy"

*Flashwing grins*