The beach brought a piece of mind that Mark had been missing. He slept on the sand, kept time with the sun, and company with the ocean. It was a simple life, but it made him happier than he could ever remember being.
One year to the day after their victory was the next time the glasses lit up. He put them on without thinking and teleported to the command center. It was the first time since that day that he had been summoned rather than just showing up on his own.
He arrived in the command center alone. Tehcnarious and Lumarion greeted him. "What's the situation?" He asked as he took off his glasses.
"You may relax Eric, there is no emergency." Lumarion reassured him.
Eric had gotten tense and tried to let it go. He felt his shoulders relax. "So why the call then?" he asked.
"It has been a year without incident here." Lumarion started. "It is time to retire your team and begin training a new one." his colors dimmed and then brightened again. "But between now and the end of their training is not your responsibility." The color wall darkened for a second before it lit up again. "Unless you want it to be." He continued. "Your original oath has been fulfilled. You are free to turn your shades in and return to your normal life." Lumarion got brighter.
Mark looked at the silver shades in his hand. Then back at Lumarion. "What did the other's say?" He asked.
"That I cannot tell you. This is a choice each of you must make freely, without external pressure." Lumarion's colors were neutral tones and average brightness "You must do what is right for you, and you alone." Lumarion finished.
Mark looked back at his shades. "And it's only until the new team is ready?" he asked. Technarious nodded. Mark pocketed his shades. "I'll stay on until then." he answered looking at Lumarion.
Technarious set the open shade case down so that Mark couldn't see the inside and stepped forward. "I'm glad you're staying Mark. First things first, we need to get you prepped for Subcon Memret implementation." Technarious rattled the worlds off like they meant something to Mark.
"Subcon Memret?" Mark asked,
Technarious nodded. "Subconscious Memory Retrieval." He started. "We're going to place some very important data in your mind in case of emergencies. It can be retrieved through the use of certain key words. That way as long as you are alive, the next team will have an emergency backup plan, and access to resources, even in the worse case scenario." Technarious explained.
Mark hesistated. "So your going to fill my head with information that I won't remember unless its keyword activated?" He clarified.
Technarious nodded. "Yup, best to think of yourself as a last resort treasure map." He replied.
Mark nodded slowly. "That doesn't sound as good as you think it does." He snapped.
Technarious led Mark out of the main command center hall and into a lab. "I'm a robot not a writer." He replied.
"Is this going to hurt?" Mark asked.
Technarious shook his head. "You'll be asleep having the best dreams ever, and you won't even remember it happened." He answered.
In the glasses case sat all but the silver shades.
