Reunited

Boze and Bridget were in the kitchen of a haunted-looking farmhouse.

Bridget sat at the old wooden table while Boze prepared a vanilla milkshake. Hoping to create a romantic moment, he poured the milkshake into a large glass and placed two straws in it before carrying it over to the table.

Smiling with anticipation, Boze set the milkshake between them and took a seat across from Bridget.

They each leaned forward and tried to sip through the straws.

Nothing came up.

Crap, Boze thought. I made it too thick.

His smile faded as disappointment crept across his face.

Bridget, with her magic, sensed exactly what had happened. She knew Boze had wanted this to be a special, romantic moment, and she wasn't about to let a stubborn milkshake ruin it.

She closed her eyes.

One of the kitchen drawers slid open on its own. Two spoons gently floated through the air and settled onto the table, one beside Boze and the other beside Bridget.

Bridget picked up her spoon, scooped up a generous bite of the thick milkshake, and leaned across the table.

Boze smiled and accepted the spoonful.

As he swallowed, Bridget burst into a soft giggle.

"You've got a little something..." she said.

Boze blinked in confusion until Bridget pointed to the tip of his nose, where a tiny dollop of vanilla ice cream had landed.

Laughing, Boze scooped up a spoonful of milkshake and reached across the table.

"My turn."

Bridget opened her mouth for the bite, and just before she could pull away, Boze gently tapped the spoon against the tip of her nose, leaving behind a matching dollop of vanilla ice cream.

She gasped in playful surprise before breaking into laughter.

Soon they were both laughing across the old wooden table, each with a tiny spot of vanilla ice cream decorating the tip of their nose. The oversized milkshake with its two useless straws sat forgotten between them.

It hadn't turned out to be the romantic moment Boze had planned.

It had become something even better.

Rain, Jacob, and Delilah walked from the old barn that served as the command center to the haunted-looking farmhouse. Jacob climbed the front steps and reached for the kitchen door.

Using her magic, Rain sensed that Boze and Bridget were trying to share a special moment.

"Stop," she said, just loudly enough for Jacob to hear.

Jacob turned and looked at her. Rain silently motioned for him to use the other door that led into the living room instead. Jacob nodded in understanding, and the three of them quietly entered through the other entrance.

That night, as Bridget slept, she began to dream.

She saw a teenage girl she had never seen before walking beside her mother as the woman carried a wedding dress out of a bridal shop. The dream shifted, and the same girl and her mother entered a bakery together.

The scene changed again.

This time Bridget saw a different teenage girl, also unfamiliar to her, playing with a small child. The teenager gently tickled the laughing child before rolling onto her back, allowing the little one to poke and play with her belly button. The girl laughed joyfully as the child giggled with delight.

The dream ended as suddenly as it had begun.

Bridget awoke with a start.

The strange symbols on her belly glowed with a soft golden light.

Crap. I don't need to wake everyone else, she thought.

She quietly slipped out of bed and made her way into the kitchen. The room was stifling, the air unusually hot and uncomfortable.

Deciding she needed fresh air, Bridget stepped outside.

As she walked through the front door, she froze.

Standing beside the entrance was Data-G-01, holding a phaser rifle set to its highest setting—a power level capable of disintegrating a person's molecular structure in less than a nanosecond.

The android's sensors immediately detected movement.

He began analyzing the possible intruder.

No one knew that every night at exactly ten o'clock, Data-G-01 silently left the command center, retrieved a phaser rifle, and stood guard outside the haunted-looking farmhouse. It was a duty he had assigned himself: protecting those whom destiny had chosen to safeguard mankind.

The analysis completed.

Identity confirmed: Bridget Master.

Satisfied, Data-G-01 resumed scanning the darkness for threats, his finger remaining poised on the trigger.

"Data, what are you doing?" Bridget asked.

"Night watch," Data-G-01 replied without expression, never taking his eyes off the darkness beyond the yard.

Bridget hugged her knees as she sat on the front steps, enjoying the cool night air. Data-G-01 remained perfectly still beside the door, his phaser rifle pointed toward the darkness beyond the yard.

"You do this every night?" Bridget asked.

"Affirmative."

"Since when?"

"Since my arrival."

Bridget looked over at him. "Nobody told you to?"

"Negative."

"Then why?"

Data-G-01 kept scanning the tree line before answering.

"My primary mission is the preservation of humanity. My secondary mission is the protection of those identified as critical to humanity's survival. You are one of those individuals."

Bridget smiled faintly. "So you stand out here all night by yourself?"

"Affirmative."

"Aren't you ever... lonely?"

The android paused for nearly two seconds.

"I do not experience loneliness."

Bridget chuckled. "Figures."

"I do, however, recognize that prolonged isolation has a negative psychological effect on most humans."

"So you're worried about me?"

"I am concerned with your continued physical and mental well-being."

Bridget leaned back against the porch post.

"That's about the closest thing to caring I've ever heard from you."

"I care," Data-G-01 replied matter-of-factly.

Bridget blinked.

"You... do?"

"Affirmative."

"I was created to protect life. Through my experiences with this team, my behavioral algorithms have evolved. I now value each member as an individual in addition to the mission."

For the first time since coming outside, Data-G-01 turned his head and looked directly at Bridget.

"You are my friend."

Bridget felt her eyes begin to water.

"Thank you, Data."

"You are welcome, Bridget Master."

She laughed softly.

"You know, one of these days you're just going to call me Bridget."

"I will consider the request."

"Really?"

"Probability of compliance: 87.4 percent."

Bridget smiled.

"I'll take those odds."

Data-G-01 turned his attention back toward the darkness.

"Multiple nocturnal animals detected at the edge of the woods."

"Dangerous?"

"Negative."

"Good."

Several quiet moments passed before Bridget spoke again.

"I had a strange dream."

Data-G-01 remained alert.

"Would you like to discuss it?"

Bridget nodded.

"I saw two girls I've never met. One was with her mom buying a wedding dress. Then they went to a bakery. After that, I saw another girl playing with a little kid. It all felt... important somehow."

"The symbols on your abdomen are currently emitting low-level energy."

Bridget instinctively placed a hand over the glowing markings beneath her shirt.

"I figured."

"There is a 96.8 percent probability that the dream and the symbols are connected."

"You think they're trying to tell me something?"

"I believe you are receiving information."

"But from who?"

"I do not currently possess sufficient data to answer that question."

Bridget sighed.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

Data-G-01 lowered the rifle only slightly as another scan completed.

"I will continue searching for an answer."

Bridget smiled warmly.

"I know you will."

The two sat together in comfortable silence beneath the stars—one human searching for answers, one android standing watch over the future he had sworn to protect.

Suddenly, the quiet of the night was interrupted by a sound that resembled an explosion.

Data-G-01 immediately initiated a sector scan. His sensors sounded an intruder alert. Raising his phaser rifle, he cautiously moved toward the source of the detected motion.

Bridget closed her eyes, and a hand phaser materialized in her grasp.

"You're not going alone," Bridget said.

Data-G-01 took the hand phaser from her, adjusted its power setting to maximum, then handed it back.

"Stay close," he instructed.

Together they carefully advanced toward the area where the motion had been detected.

"Who's there?" Data-G-01 called.

A teenage Black girl with black hair and brown eyes stood frozen among the trees.

"Who's there?" Data-G-01 asked again.

As Data-G-01 approached with his phaser rifle aimed at her, the girl slowly raised her hands.

"My name is Asia," she said.

Data-G-01 began scanning her. After several moments of analysis, he determined that she posed no threat.

Bridget stepped up beside him, her hand phaser still aimed and ready to fire.

"You can lower your weapon," Data-G-01 said. "She isn't a threat."

As Bridget and Asia looked at one another, strange symbols on both of their bellies suddenly began to glow.

The two girls stared at each other in confusion.

Asia cautiously lifted the hem of her shirt just enough to reveal the glowing markings on her stomach.

Bridget gasped. She lifted her own shirt and revealed an identical set of glowing symbols.

The strange markings were exactly the same.

"Oh my gosh!" they exclaimed in unison.

Data-G-01 immediately began analyzing both girls simultaneously. Moments later, the results appeared on his display.

The scans indicated that Bridget and Asia were sisters.

Concerned that there might be an error, Data-G-01 initiated a second scan. After a thorough analysis, the results were exactly the same.

"It appears that the two of you are sisters," Data-G-01 said.

"What?!" the two girls exclaimed in unison.

There has to be a mistake," Bridget said, shaking her head. "There's no way she could be my sister."

A strange feeling suddenly came over Asia. Something deep within her mind urged her to show Bridget how she summoned her magic dueling cards.

Asia closed her eyes. The symbols on her belly began to glow, growing brighter with each passing second. In a flash of light, a deck of magic dueling cards materialized in her hand.

Bridget gasped.

Almost instinctively, she closed her own eyes. The symbols on her belly glowed with the same radiant light, and an identical deck of magic dueling cards appeared in her hand.

Neither girl spoke.

Asia and Bridget simply stood there, silently studying one another, each wondering how a complete stranger could possess the very same mysterious power.

A small smile crossed Asia's face.

"How about a friendly Shadow Game?" she asked, holding up her deck.

Bridget looked down at the cards in her hand before meeting Asia's gaze again. Curiosity slowly replaced her disbelief.

After a brief pause, she smiled.

"You're on," Bridget replied with a nod.

Bridget and Asia stepped into a small clearing beneath the moonlit sky. They stood several yards apart as Data-G-01 and the others watched from a safe distance.

The glowing symbols on their bellies shone brighter.

A circle of shimmering energy spread across the ground, surrounding the two duelists. Wisps of black and violet energy spiraled upward, forming the battlefield of the Shadow Game.

"Shadow Game... activate!" they declared together.

Their decks glowed as they shuffled themselves.

"DUEL!"

Both girls drew their opening hands.

Asia was the first to attack, summoning a swift warrior that charged across the field. Bridget countered with a magical guardian whose shimmering shield absorbed the blow before driving Asia's monster back.

Turn after turn, they matched each other perfectly.

Whenever Asia unleashed a powerful spell, Bridget answered with an equally powerful counter. When Bridget summoned an enormous creature to dominate the field, Asia revealed a hidden trap that evened the odds.

Data-G-01 silently observed.

"Their strategies are nearly identical," he said. "Current probability of either duelist achieving victory: fifty percent."

As the duel continued, the symbols on both girls glowed brighter and brighter, almost as though they were feeding the Shadow Game itself.

Neither duelist noticed.

The battlefield trembled as their strongest monsters faced one another.

"This ends now!" Asia shouted.

"I was about to say the same thing!" Bridget replied.

Both girls played their final cards.

Twin pillars of radiant energy erupted from the field as their ultimate monsters charged at each other.

The collision shook the clearing.

A blinding flash engulfed everything.

For several seconds, nothing could be seen except brilliant white light.

When the light finally faded, the monsters had vanished.

The battlefield dissolved into countless glowing particles.

Both Life Point counters simultaneously dropped to 0.

The duel had ended in a draw.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Data-G-01 stepped forward and activated his scanners once more. He carefully analyzed both girls, comparing every biological marker, energy signature, and genetic sequence. When the scan was complete, he looked up at them.

"I have verified the results three times," he said. "There is no error. Bridget and Asia share the same genetic profile. The probability of this occurring by chance is statistically insignificant."

Bridget swallowed hard.

"So... what are you saying?"

Data-G-01 lowered his scanner.

"You are sisters."

Silence filled the clearing.

Bridget slowly turned toward Asia. The memories of their duel replayed in her mind—the identical strategies, the matching symbols, the way they instinctively understood each other's moves.

"It all makes sense now," Bridget whispered.

Asia looked down at the glowing symbol on her belly before meeting Bridget's eyes.

"I felt like I'd known you before we even spoke," she admitted. "I just couldn't explain it."

Bridget stepped closer.

"I didn't want to believe it," she said softly. "But after everything that's happened... I know it's true."

Tears welled in Asia's eyes.

"Without another word, the two sisters embraced.

The symbols on their bellies began to glow once more, brighter than ever before. Warm golden light surrounded them, and a pulse of energy spread across the clearing.

Data-G-01 watched in amazement as his scanners detected the two energy signatures merging into perfect harmony.

"Confirmation complete," he announced. "The bond has been recognized."