The Return Protocol Chapter 1

The mission was a success. I returned to my own world, waking from the coma that had held me captive.

My children, all grown up now, stood vigil by my hospital bed. My wife, Florence, threw her arms around me, her embrace a desperate anchor. Her parents, my in-laws, were weeping with joy.

I was just about to dismiss the System, to choose to stay here, in my life, when the door creaked open.

A man who was my spitting image—a near-perfect double—walked in.

My own two children rushed to him, clinging to his legs with a familiar affection, and called out, “Daddy!”

Every eye in the room swiveled to me. The air crackled with a thick, suffocating awkwardness.

The man shot me a triumphant, mocking smirk.

I put the System on hold.

“Let me think about it,” I transmitted. “About whether I want to stay.”

* * *

My children, Lily and Sam, clutched at the man’s—at Alex’s—clothes, their eyes fixed on me with a wariness usually reserved for monsters. A sharp, needle-like pain pricked at my heart.

My wife, Florence, squeezed my arm, her grip tightening.

I looked at the others. They had been happily explaining the new emergency alert system they’d installed on my phone, clearly not expecting Alex to make such a dramatic entrance.

My father-in-law, his face a mask of embarrassment, finally broke the silence. "Liam, while you were… unconscious, Alex was the one who took care of us. We were going to introduce you two properly when we got home."

My mother-in-law chimed in, her voice strained. "Yes, that's right. Now that you're awake, you two should get along. For our sake."

Alex just smiled, a lazy, confident expression as he strolled over to my bedside. His eyes were glittering with provocation.

I remained silent, freezing the System in my mind.

I’ll give you my answer in a couple of days.

A soft sigh echoed in my consciousness as the System went dormant.

Seeing that I was ignoring him, Alex feigned a wounded look. He forced a smile for the benefit of the room.

"My apologies. It was presumptuous of me. Liam has every right to be upset. I'll just… I’ll go."

He didn't give anyone a chance to respond, turning on his heel and walking out.

"Alex, wait!" my mother-in-law cried, stamping her foot in frustration before hurrying after him.

Florence flinched, starting to rise as if by instinct, but my gaze caught hers and she froze, slowly sinking back into her chair. She hugged me tight, her voice the same soothing murmur she’d always used to comfort me.

"Don't overthink this, Liam. You're my husband. You're the only one."

But then Lily, my daughter, hitched up her little dress and ran out after them. My son, Sam, shot me a look of pure hatred before slamming the door so hard the walls vibrated.

I didn't understand. How had my sweet, loving children turned into these hostile strangers?

Sensing the tension, my father-in-law excused himself to handle the discharge paperwork. A short while later, I was in a wheelchair, being pushed out of the hospital.

But as we drove, I realized this wasn’t the way home.

"Dad," I said, my voice raspy. "If I remember correctly, this isn't the road to our house."

His hands tightened on the steering wheel for a split second. Then he chuckled, a hollow sound. "Your memory's as sharp as ever, Liam."

He took a long, meandering detour before finally pulling into our driveway.

I didn't understand the purpose of the scenic route until the moment I stepped through the front door.

The large family portrait that had hung in the entryway—the one of the four of us, smiling in the summer sun—was gone. In its place was a new photo. Florence, her parents, Lily, and Sam, all beaming. With Alex.

Stunned, I stared at the picture on the wall before storming upstairs and throwing open the door to what used to be my bedroom.

Of course.

The cuckoo had taken over the nest. Alex had made my room his own.

My chest heaved. The decor was completely different, all sleek, impersonal modernism. And there, sitting on the edge of the bed, was Alex, reading a bedtime story to my daughter.

A bitter, mocking laugh escaped my lips. For five years, I had slavishly completed every task the System threw at me, all for the singular goal of coming back to my family.

And now? Now there was no place left for me in my own home.

"You were going to take me somewhere else at first, weren't you?" I asked, my gaze locking onto my once-kindly father-in-law. He had the decency to look away, shamefaced.

"We'll get the room cleared out for you right away, Liam. This will always be your home."

The moment the words left his mouth, Alex, in the bedroom, put on his wounded act again. He stood up silently and began gathering his things, only to be stopped by Lily.

When she thought no one was looking, she launched herself at me, shoving me with all her might. I stumbled, falling hard against the floor. She grabbed the nearest object—a heavy book—and started hitting me with it, screaming through her tears.

"You just came back and you're already bullying my daddy! You're a bad man!"

"Get out!"

"Get out of my house! Leave!"

I just stared at the contorted, furious face of the child before me, utterly frozen.