In the summer of 2014  

Anastasia sat on her bed beside Grandmother. Her long golden hair draped down her shoulders. She wore a blue cotton blouse with corduroy pants.  

“My dear, Anastasia.” Grandmother said.  

“Grandmother, I prefer Stacy.”  

“You have a beautiful name.”  

Anastasia scrunched her nose and said, “It sounds like an old lady’s name.”  

“Your name means ‘One who will rise again’. I believe you’ll do something great one day, Anastasia.”  

It posed a challenge for a 12-year-old to believe. Anastasia wasn’t considering the future. She pondered over the unfolding situation.  

That is why, when Grandmother made that statement, Anastasia didn’t pay attention. She put the thought out of her mind. What did Grandmother know about her life?  

 Grandmother possessed great wisdom. She would advise Anastasia when she messed up or needed help. She consistently showed up whenever Anastasia needed her.   

 Grandmother had learned a lot over the years. Grandmother seemed to understand what she talked about.  

Maybe Grandmother believed right. Anastasia would find out. One day, she would.  

***  

2024  

22-year-old Anastasia Roberts glanced out the window, opening the blinds with two fingers. They would be here any moment. Anastasia shouldn’t have done what she did, but it’s too late now.  

Doing undercover work is always dangerous. Anastasia not only went undercover, she also did it all alone. The people she pretended with, found out what she had done. They’re now in hot pursuit of her.  

She could have tried to run, but they would catch her, regardless. They had been smarter than Anastasia. She went from the player to the played.  

Anastasia had attempted to get into the corporation (ScienCorps) and steal a few files from them. Her goal to steal the files, copy them, and put the originals back. No one acted oddly around her except the CEO.  

He began asking her odd questions like, “Have you ever got in trouble with the law?” or,  

“Do you like politicians?”  

Usually, she shrugged off his question, giving him blank answers.

Anastasia had been inside ScienCorps for 3 months. She was beginning to get tired of working here and waiting for an opportunity. She didn’t want to do anything too soon, but she also didn’t want to overstay her welcome. She decided she would take a risk soon. 

Late one night, Anastasia was inside the large building deciding to put her plan into action. She twisted the knob on the CEO’s office. She was aware he kept the drawer with files locked. Where’s the key? She glanced around the large room. His office had marble walls, shiny floor tiles, the brown desk was long, and the room had an amazing view. The key wasn’t in plain sight. The only way in would be to pick the lock. She removed a hairpin from her long blonde hair. 

“Got it!” Anastasia yelled when she managed to get the file cabinet open. 

She needed to do this right, take the files she wanted, make copies of them, and put the originals back.  

It sounded easy in her head, but she still had to do this carefully. Retrieving three files, Anastasia left the office and made her way to the printing room. It was dark, even when Anastasia held out her flashlight. She headed to the copying machine, placing one file inside. When the first two were done, she placed the last one inside. Anastasia began reading the first file she had grabbed.  

2:00 A.M.   

ScienCorps  

It looks like the patient in room 234 isn’t reacting well to the treatment. She was experiencing a variety of different symptoms. I gave her a dose of Staflacin for the rash she developed. Maybe we gave her too much of the eight-five. She is only 10 years old.   

We need to make sure this doesn’t get out to the public. If they knew we were testing this, well, it would be big on the news. I’ll see what I can do about the girl’s status.   

Suddenly, the light flickered on. Anastasia looked around in surprise. The door of the printing room swung open. In came the CEO and a short man she had never met.  

“Doing a little work, are we? You have a great work ethic. You know you aren’t getting paid overtime, Stacy. Right?” The CEO said.  

She scrambled to think of something to do. She looked around the room for some way to escape.  

“Derk, grab her!”  

In a panic, Anastasia ran towards a large window in the room. She pulled it up with all her might. She jumped out of the window and ran as fast as she could. She was almost home when she realized she had forgotten all the files in the office.  

She was safe when she got home. They wouldn’t find her here. Then she remembered she had put her home address on her application for the job. They would find her easily.  

***  

The knock on the door shocked Anastasia out of her daze.  

“Open this door!” A man said, banging on the door aggressively.  

She made no attempt to open the door. The man applied force to the door, and it swung open.  

“Don’t move!” The man–Derk from the other night yelled.  

Another younger man was standing beside him. He had a solid build and had large muscles 

“Grab her,” Derk said to the other man. 

The other man reached over to grab her and tie up her arms. 

The man hauled her out of her house and placed her inside of a black car. 

Anastasia could see out the window, but she was unaware of where they were taking her. 

When the car stopped, she could tell they were at a ScienCorp test facility. Most people hadn’t heard of the test facility on the outskirts of the city. 

The other man took the arm ties off her arm. The two men took Anastasia inside the facility. Derk pushed her into a room with a chair that had arm holds on it. He locked her arms into the holds and handed the key to the man beside him. 

Derk said, “You did something terrible yesterday, Stacy. What were you doing?” 

Stacy averted Derk’s cold gaze. 

“Answer me!” 

“I was looking for a file for work,” Anastasia said. 

“You had to copy the files to work? Last time I checked, your work doesn’t require checking files. You were snooping. Who do you work for?” Derk said. 

“I don’t work for anyone, and you have no solid evidence I was snooping.” 

“I think we should give you a taste of what you were snooping for,” Derk said, sporting a mischievous grin. 

“I’ll be back, Nick. Watch her while I’m gone. I’ll be back in five minutes.” 

“Okay.” 

Derk exited the room, shutting the door behind him. 

Nick put the key in the holds, unlocking her arms. 

“What are you doing?” Anastasia asked. 

“I'm helping you.” 

“Why?” she asked. 

“We have little time to talk. Follow me,” Nick said, guiding her through the door. 

They got to a back door and exited the facility

“Who are you?” Anastasia asked. 

“Nickolas Brogon, at your service.” 

He led her to his waiting car. 

She was in a car with a random man! What was she doing? 

Suddenly, a realization overcame Anastasia. 

“I’ll have no proof without those files,” she said. 

“These files?” He lifted the files from under the seat. 

She gasped in surprise. “How did you get those?” 

Nick continued driving without responding. 

“We have to get as far as we can. We don’t want them to find us.” 

Anastasia accepted that response and gazed out the window. 

Was her grandmother right? Had one day come?