"Yeah," I mutter immediately, which causes confusion in everyone. "Sorry, no I don't, I don't know why I said that," I laugh nervously. "Do we have marshmallows? We could totally make s'mores!" I pray my suggestion distracts them from my original comment, knowing they most definitely never mentioned a fire pit.
Jean sighs heavily.
"I do, but they're a little old. Doubt they've expired, though." He utters, making his way back to the kitchen to open a cabinet and pull out an opened bag half full of marshmallows. He turned back to you with a bit of a grin on his face, handing you the bag. He turns back to the cabinet and grabs a package of chocolate and graham crackers.
"I'll go get the gasoline and firewood."
Anubis announces, jumping to go down the hall. Jean returns to you and guides you out the back door and through the yard to the fire pit. On the way there, he grabs three metal sticks with wooden handles and sits down on a stool. After a few moments Anubis arrives with the firewood. He wasn't necessarily smiling, but he seemed excited for the fire.
I accept a metal stick and shove a marshmallow onto it as Anubis sets the firewood into the pit. He drizzles the gasoline on sparingly, and pulls out his lighter. In one quick action, he lights the wood on fire and backs away to avoid being burnt, although the faded scars on his arm seem to show that he wouldn't care anyways.
We sit back and watch the wild flames partying away with the wood as a snack, whilst burning our own snack. I rotate the marshmallow, but it starts to catch flame, so I try to blow it out. I put the sticky marshmallow in between two graham crackers and a square of chocolate, pulling the metal stick out. Jean and Anubis's marshmallows begin to finish as well.
"Okay let's try them at the same time," I suggest, counting down from three. After one, I take a bite of the warm s'more which would've broken apart had I not held the s'more with both hands. I nod my head in satisfaction.
Jean and Anubis take a bite from their s'more at the same time as you, savoring the flavor and smiling gently as the fire cracks on the wood. Then they stare at the fire in silence for a bit bc they're both lost in thought bc jean's getting war flashbacks and anubis has a raging boANYWAY
b
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time skip because i'm out of ideas haha
Jean and Anubis were prepping for the job, Jean throwing on his jacket and a pair of gloves, Anubis doing the same with gloves and checking a few things on his computer. Jean had pulled out his bag of guns and he was checking that they were all loaded before stuffing a few in various places on his person. Lastly, he checked up on his sniper rifle, which sat on the island counter, pointed to the inside of the kitchen.
I watch the two prepare their stuff, every movement they made was smooth and with precision, showing off how long they've been doing this. Anubis hands Jean and I little earpieces. "This is for timing. And if something is off, let me know," he commands. I nod my head as I put in the earpiece and proceed to cover it with my hair.
As they finish arranging their supplies, we head to the car.
"You sure you can get him in one shot, GG?" Anubis inquires as they approach the car. Jean scoffs at Anubis and hops into the driver's seat before starting the car.
"Fuck off, I'm fine." He utters, driving down the road. The car ride was silent, but it was a solemn silence. Anubis was tapping away at his computer, focused on whatever he was doing. Jean focused on the road, but seemed lost in thought. Luckily enough, the car ride was smooth, indicating that Jean really was sober enough for driving. Jean pulls into a parking spot a few blocks away from the town square, considering it was already packed. As he steps out, he looks up at the large building next to him, overlooking the area where the speaker would be standing.
"Not a fan of public executions, but…" Jean utters, trailing off as Anubis steps out and stretches.
We all split off in different directions, with Jean towards the building, and Anubis god knows where. I step towards the crowd and attempt to get closer to the speaker. According to the signs on the stage, it seems like a senator is making a speech. I look around, squinting. How will I distract this many people?
A man steps up to the stage, his strong presence immediately silencing the crowd. He begins to talk. I inhale, my eyes flickering to the building. I wait for Anubis's voice.
"GG, you ready?" You hear in the earpiece. Jean sighs heavily, his exasperation obvious in his breath.
"No need to rush me, he's gonna be speaking for like half an hour."
"Jenny, I've got eyes on you, I'll move the cameras away from you when it happens so there's no proof of who distracted the crowd. When that happens, you'll get a chance to return to the vehicle. Get in there and wait for us. Got it?"
He utters, his voice quiet and whispery as you examine people in the crowd, noticing a few guards at the front. They all stood with complete stiffness, eyes focused straight ahead, with large guns in their hands. They looked almost robotic, like they were built, but they looked just enough human to pass.
My heart rate is steadily increasing the more the senator talks, and the more I looked at the guards. They must be the cyborgs Jean and Anubis were talking about. They have to be.
Time passes slowly, and I shift my weight on the opposite foot. How much longer? I think. But, as if on cue, Anubis starts to count down. "Alright, GG, aim. Ready?"
"Ready."
"Three. Two. One."
"I'm turning off my earpiece so you guys don't hear it. You still know what to do, right?" Jean utters.
"Right." You respond under your breath.
"Alright, GG, aim. Ready?" Anubis begins.
"Ready." Jean says, indicating that was the last you're going to hear from him.
"Three, two, one."
You still hear the shot, which is distant, but almost immediately, the man speaking reacts, falling to the ground. Everyone starts yelling, but you take this opportunity to point behind you to your right.
"I think I heard it from that direction!" You yell, causing the crowd to run in all directions as the security starts running to where you pointed. You immediately know where to return; the car. You start running, trying to look as panicked as everyone else, but you were panicking for a different reason.
You run straight into someone, but this wasn't a regular human. You stop and look up to see him towering over you. His face was slightly human, but half of it seemed like the skin was ripped off to reveal a robotic layer. His human eye was green, but his robot eye was glowing red. His hair was orange and his skin dark.
"Excuse me, could you stay for a bit of eyewitness questioning?" He responds with nearly no emotion behind his voice or eyes.
Literally this is the worst possible outcome that could ever fucking happen.
I can't tell if Anubis can see me or if he lost track, because he isn't saying anything. I blink at the cyborg, wishing I hadn't lost my memory. What is he capable of? I should comply, right? Or do I make an excuse and run away? No, he must have seen me. Or, it must have seen me. I don't know.
In a panic, I respond, "Now? With a shooter on the loose?" My hands are shaking, and my heart has officially stopped. People are rushing by us. Why did I agree to this? I'd never help murder anybody! What the hell is wrong with me?
"It is ill-advised to waste time recounting an important event. Would you please come with me?" Though he stated his question as a question, his demeanor implied otherwise. He even had his brow furrowed in frustration, as if he knew. Did he know? Or did he always look like he was disapproving of everything?
I swallow, looking at the ground. Stop thinking, you will be fine. Just go. Say it was an accident. You saw wrong. Didn't seem like there is a choice here anyways. I look back up at him, wow he's tall, with a stressed expression.
"Okay, sir."
He guides you through the street and into a black car, closing it and taking off. Ironically enough, the car passes by the street that contained Jean's car. You wanted to look to see if they were in there, but you didn't want to be suspicious. Suddenly a voice rings in your ears. It was Anubis.
"Jenny! Where the fuck are you?"
I widen my eyes, flinching from Anubis's voice. I pray that the cyborg didn't see me, but I realize he must have already detected my earpiece. Cyborgs can do that, right? Just assume the worst, Jenny.
I avoid the urge to habitually move my hair behind my ear. I gaze at half and half boy, who's eyes are fixated on the road. "How long will this whole eyewitness thing take?" I question, putting a slight emphasis on 'eyewitness.'
He didn't look away from the road as he responds. As you study his attire, you notice the bands on his jacket. His jacket is a brownish-gray color, and the bands are a harder gray, with a number on it. This one said 0002. Unfortunately, he didn't have a name tag.
"No longer than an hour, if you cooperate."
You can still hear Anubis's voice through your earpiece.
"Are you with someone? Are you able to talk? Wait, you can't answer that if you can't talk. Okay, cough if you can't talk."
I mentally roll my eyes at Anubis. Obviously I can't fucking talk.
I fake cough, which isn't entire fake because I had been breathing too hard before and my throat started getting irritated. Turning my attention back to the officer, I say, "Are we almost there?"
"Patience." He utters, eyes transfixed for a few moments, as if he confused himself.
As you cough, Anubis sighs heavily.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay, that's fine. I can work with that. You had one fucking job, but it's fine. Eyewitness thing, that's great. All you have to do is bullshit your way through the questions, and we're good. Don't even give them your real name."
You could hear a muffled voice as Anubis quietly responds to Jean.
"She got caught, she's being taken in for questioning. She's only a witness right now, though."
You heard less muffled cursing from Jean.
I shake my head. "Oh, no I'm patient. I'm merely wondering how far away the station is, that's all. I had other plans, you see," I explain, ignoring Anubis's irritation. If my job was so easy, why didn't you do it yourself, punk?
I hope the cyborg gets the hint, to drive faster or question me faster or something. Should I be preparing for questions? No, it's better if it seems natural. Right? Or will he see through that too?
He remains stoic, barely reacting as he pulls into a building. It wasn't exactly a police station, but it could pass as one.
"Right this way." He utters as he guides you through the building and into a smaller room. He sits you down at the table and takes a seat on the opposite end, his face still unreadable and empty.
"My name is Roger, what is your name?" He begins.
I study his robotic side curiously. It's a bit difficult to maintain eye contact with the red eye glowing so brightly. I wonder if why he looks the way he does, unlike all the other perfect cyborgs.
"My name is Roger, what is your name?" he says blankly. Roger. That's ironic.
"Lindsay," I lie. I get a sense of deja vu, as if I've lied about my name before, but I can't quite place the memory. I await his next question.
Roger doesn't turn away from you or express any sort of reaction. However, there are a few moments of silence as he stares at you, his human eye squinting ever so slightly. He almost elicited an emotional reaction, but seemingly stopped himself. Instead he continues.
"Where were you at the time of the attack?"
"Where were you at the time of the attack?"
I raise an eyebrow. Well, you saw me, didn't you? I try to say the least amount of words possibly, afraid that what I say would cause more questions. I can't hesitate either. Choose your words carefully and quickly. "I was in the crowd, watching the speech."
There is a few moments of silence before Roger continues his next question. It's almost like he's…resisting a smile? What could that mean? He quickly regains his demeanor that barely faltered in the first place as he continues.
"Where did you hear the shot come from?"
I lean back in my chair, eyeing him carefully. "Um, I heard it behind me." I inhale deeply, but quietly. I'm praying I'm answering this questions okay, but god knows I'll probably regret something later.
I look to Roger for the next question.
Roger raises an eyebrow and tilts his head, almost as if he's slowly learning how to express emotions; or trying to hide them as best he can. He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, studying you closely.
"Do you think you could pin-point which building it came from?"
I squint my eyes, shaking my head. "I don't know."
Roger nods his head conclusively and shoots a Customer Service smile.
"That is all, thank you. You've provided us with plenty of information. We'll be checking up with you very soon. May I take you home?"
He offers, eyeing you specifically. What emotion is he expressing? Why does he seem to be expressing something, almost behind his eyes? His eyes searched you, hoping you'd search his.
I straighten up, relieved that the questioning ended quicker than anticipated. Roger gives a little spiel, which is clearly fake due to the fact that I did not provide any useful information, or at least I hope not.
"May I take you home?"
I blink. "Can you even- is it even possible? Don't you have to do other questionings or other police work?" I ask in confusion. Do cops normally offer that? Is that a normal thing? Am I being the rude one? I don't even remember Jean's address anyway.
Roger shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, urging you out the door nevertheless. He guided you to a different car than what you arrived here in.
"I'm going to show you something." He utters, starting the car and taking off. He drives through a few roads in silence, not looking away from the road as he pulls up to a familiar looking building; it was the one you met Jean in. He parks the car nearby and looks out the window.
"Are you aware of what happened in that building the other day?"