Jean chokes on the sip he was taking as the cup clangs loudly on the counter. Jean's silent for a moment as he tries to quietly swallow his sip. He doesn't look at you as he inhales.
"Is that a metaphor, or do you actually like the look of my hands?"
"A metaphor? God, Jean, you're hilarious. An absolute comedian. No, dumbass, I just like the look of your hands, the fuck?" I roll my eyes, then turn my body towards him slightly. "Dude, is something bothering you right now?"
"Other than your weird interest in my hands?" Jean utters, shaking his head. "No, nothing's…nothing's bothering me."
He leans forward, placing his elbows on the counter as he takes a sip and turns his body away from you. Though this seemed pretty rude, Jean's always been like this, and he wasn't sure whether or not he actually meant to be rude.
"It's late though, you should sleep."
ItS LaTe ThOuGh yOu shOuLd SleeP
I squint at Jean despite the fact that he isn't looking at me. "So… you're gonna offer me a drink, not talk to me, not even let me finish the drink, and then send me to sleep? I think that's a little bit unfair, Jean." I finally take my first drink and the burn of the whiskey is INTENSE.
Jean turns his neck to gaze at you, something unfamiliar to you in his eyes. Almost as if he was studying you, but he wasn't studying something foreign, he just seemed to be searching you for something.
"That's how I treat Anubis so if you don't like it, get in line."
He merely brushes your complaint off as he takes another swig of the drink.
"If you think you can't finish your drink within the next ten minutes, then let me have it."
"But, I'm not Anubis. Treat him however you'd like, I don't care, but I'm not him," I sigh, wondering if this conversation would get anyways. I have come to realize I am a persistent person, but I don't plan on changing. I move the glass farther away from Jean. Resting my arm on the countertop, and then my head on my arm, I look up at Jean. "I can't remember anything, Jean. All I know right now is that I want to know what the hell is bothering you."
Jean held back several words as he watched the cup slide away from his reach. He heaved a sigh to fill in the silence of time that it took him to decide what he wanted to say.
"You're too soft, Jenny," He begins, crossing his arms and tilting his head back to squint at you. "You can't stay with us if you can't handle the consequences this life comes with." He watches you closely, waiting for you to respond.
My jaw drops due to the amount of offense I just consumed. My brain immediately goes to formulate a defense, but all that came out is, "That's what you're worried about?" I straighten up and rub my face. The issue is, he isn't wrong. "Alright, fair. I'll leave in the morning." I take my last drink of whiskey before getting up to dump the rest in the sink.
Jean watches you carefully, the sound of the whiskey falling into the drain resonates in the room as Jean stands up, puts the bottle away, and leaves the room, leaving his last sip of whiskey in the glass on the counter. Though he seemed a little tense, he held himself back from slamming his bedroom door.
You gaze at the moon. She's beautiful. She gazes back at you with a smile. You reach out to touch her.
You never quite reached her. When did this happen? Where did she go?
You land-were you falling? You land in someone's arms. Who is this person? Do you even want to know?
Flickers of what never was hit you like heartbeats.
"But, you saved yourself. That has to count for something,"
Out of sight, out of mind, right?
"She wants to continue, so don't try anything like last time."
When was the last time you were alone, Jenny?
"Don't want to start a family for that very reason, too."
The strange man spoke.
"Looks like your special boy over here can't control himself like a normal fucking android. Had to teach him a lesson yet again."
That's when you remember; the man you saw on the drive home; it was the same man who brought the beat up Roger back to you.
You sit up in realization, almost as if the sudden surge of memory made you realize you'd been dreaming. Were you dreaming? It's hard to tell these days.
Pulling the blankets off of my body, I leave the couch and approach Jean's room. I'm about to knock, but hesitation creeps into my hand. Instead, I silently walk to Anubis's room. I don't know what's going to happen, but my knuckles softly hit the door.
"Come in," his voice mutters. I open the door to find a fatigued-looking Anubis sprawled about the bed, his arm on his forehead. He stares blankly at the ceiling but then glances at me. "What?"
"I'm being kicked out and I'm hoping you could help me find some more information for the last time. I don't know whe- if I'll see you again, so…" I look at Anubis, such a weird creation.
"That didn't take Jean very long." Anubis uttered as he peeled himself off the bed. His fuzzy hair darkened his eyes as he gazes in your direction, but not directly at you.
"What do you want to know?" He asks as he pulls out his computer, typing in codes that you only partially understand.
"Frankly, I'm surprised he let me in in the first place… Anyways, do you think ELife has a database of their cyborgs?" I sit on the edge of the bed, sinking in slightly. Anubis's room was rather simplistic: nothing on the dark blue walls, plain carpet and plain blankets, a bookshelf full of fancy books, and the only somewhat strange object was a full-body mirror next to his desk. He did seem to have a style in clothes - unlike Jean - so maybe that makes sense.
Anubis flashes a gentle, but tired grin.
"Everyone has a database for everything." He remarks as the typing on his computer directs to the ELife website. Within minutes, a wall of sensitive text appears on his screen.
"You want to know something about Roger I'm assuming?" He absentmindedly speaks as he goes through the text, searching.
I shake my head. "Actually…" I said, picking at my nails out of nervousness. "I… need you to find if they have a place where they keep pictures of cyborgs? Is there a place for that? There's a certain cyborg I'm curious about."
Anubis furrowed a brow curiously at you, but complied nonetheless.
"Catch feelings for someone during the revolution or something?"
He mutters as he starts typing, scrolling and searching, which then leads to a screen of photos. Each photo contained the face of a man, either neutral or sort of smiling. Under each photo was a set of numbers, words, and other bits of information.
"Knock yourself out." He pushes his chair away from the computer to give you room to browse.
"You don't know a thing about catching feelings…" I mutter, but I'm not sure where it came from. I felt Anubis's eyes on the back of my head as I stood up to scroll through the database. "Actually, this is an enemy - or at least I think so."
My finger rolls the mouse's scroll until the screen reveals what I want it to.
His face is unmistakable; the same face that cursed Roger's name and left him dying to you as he walked away with no remorse. The same face that stared you down at the stoplight, searching his own database for where he remembers you. You look below his face to find some peculiar information;
001: "Edward" 2017-04-20
Duplication starts: November 15
"Edward…" I mutter, "November Fif…" My words trail off as I wonder why that date had particularly struck me. I have absolutely no plan of what I'm going to do with Edward when I find him, but maybe, just maybe, I could convert him and get some kind of information. Maybe Anubis could help me. No… he wouldn't help me without getting money or something out of it.
I turned to look at Anubis. "What?" he say, brows furrowed.
"Can I make you help me?" I ask, but maybe not so particular to him.
"Can you ma-" Anubis hesitated, furrowing a brow in confusion. "Depends on what it is…?" Anubis is just as much cautious as he is curious, but if he's being honest with himself, this case is different from any case he's ever taken, and he's not entirely sure how to handle it.
I smirk, just like the fanfictions. "I just need you to come with me and like, I don't know, interrogate this man. And also, I don't know, check in on Roger or some shit. Okay, maybe I need your help with a plan too."
My eyes meet Anubis's as I attempt to look at puppy-eyed as possible, even though I know it wouldn't sway him. I just needed a partner in this and god knows Jean won't help me. Anubis seems smarter anyways.
Anubis squints his eyes at you, almost as if he knows that he's leaving you in anticipation.
"I'd better not regret this."
He uttered as he stood up, grabbing a jacket.
He led you to the kitchen where he turned on the lights.
"Let's start with a plan. We don't know where Roger is and if he succeeded the re-"
A knock resonated from the door, at a perfectly even beat.
Anubis looked at you, frozen in his position.
"Did anyone follow us on our way home?"
"Uh oh," I mutter in an Aloe kind of voice. LOL. "Maybe we already know where Ed boy is…"
I motion Anubis away and head swiftly to the window by the door, peaking my eyes over, but the night's strength was far too powerful for me to see jack shit. I take a deep breath, knowing the house lights gave away the fact that somebody was home.
I step back to the door and turn the door knob.
His eyes protrude through the darkness of the outside, reflecting the light coming from inside the house as he gazes intently at you. Crickets thankfully filled the few moments of silence that followed.
"Are you…Jean?" His voice was solemn, a forced sort of formality that he felt the irrational need to hold.
Though he held a confident composure, Edward's competence is indeed nowhere to be found.
The man in front of me matched his picture perfectly - curled chocolate hair paired with a stereotypical Instagram model face. He stood with posture nearly identical to Roger's. I squint my eyes in confusion. "Who's asking?" Jean is a unisex name, but how did he know it?
The man furrowed two very confused brows as he adjusted his position.
"I'm asking…" He began, but then the light returned to his eyes as he held out a hand. "My name is Edward. Roger told me to find Jean, and then he can help me find Jenny."
He straightened up his posture, putting on a face of masked determination.
"Roger told me that Jenny aided him in becoming human again. I hope that this Jenny can perform the same procedure with me."
"I'm asking…" He said, which led me to giggle a little. "My name is Edward. Roger told me to find Jean, and then he can help me find Jenny. Roger told me that Jenny aided him in becoming human again. I hope that this Jenny can perform the same procedure with me."
I stare at Edward in amusement. "Well Roger, is a fucking dumbass. It's not as simple as a procedure, and from the looks of it, he was already way ahead of you when I met him. I'm Jenny."
Edward's eyes widen in shock as the realization sets in.
"Jenny! That's perfect, we've already made our acquaintance.
He shakes his head, scoffing at himself.
"Anyway, how much should I pay you? I don't have much, but I'm sure I could find a way to get more. Or, if money isn't exactly your thing, I could dedicate my life to protecting you."
"Uhhh…" I put a hand on my forehead, realizing that Edward was not a threat in any way. Nor did he hear anything I just said, except for 'I'm Jenny.'
"Do you just wanna come in, Eddie?" I sigh with a grin on my face. I open the door for him and glance back at Anubis, who is snickering.