December 28th 2010.
It was time to go home. Jay had spent an awesome time in Nancy and felt a little regretful at leaving but everything had an end.
He tightly hugged his grandmother at the train station, "Tu vas me manquer, mamie." (I'll miss you, grandma.)
Freja emotionally patted his back, "Toi aussi, mon lapin." (Me too, sweetheart.)
His grandfather came and roughly hugged him as well, "Aye, me grandson!"
His aunt Marie had left yesterday and the goodbyes had been strained what with Juliette's attitude and all. She played the bitchy teen to a T, Jay thought maybe he should try and see if Carmen didn't have a role that fit her in stock. She'd probably win an Oscar.
"Au revoir, mamie!" (Goodbye, grandma!) Lou sniffled from Lee's embrace. She was sad she wouldn't see her grandparents for a long time, but she was also happy she was going to see Anna and Haven again. She also missed Scamp a lot. He was very naughty but also super cute, and she couldn't wait to put the collar Jay had gifted her on him.
The family of four bade their final farewell before jumping in the train to Paris and boarding their flight home to JFK.
***
December 29th 2010.
They got stuck in New York. There was a snow storm and all flights had been delayed, so they had to wait at the airport.
Lou spotted a public piano and went up to look at it. Some guy was playing and received sparse applause when he was done. Lou happily sat in his stead and started messing around with the keys a little.
Jay watched in amusement until the little girl got a little frustrated at not being able to do much on it. She turned her head around and pouted, "Jay! Do you know how to play?"
He smiled and got up. He sat next to her and showed her a few simple chords she could play and she eagerly tried them.
When she got tired of it, she asked him to play a complete song. Jay thought for a bit before he started playing Yiruma's River Flows in You.
He got so into it he didn't even notice he had finished until Lou who had been watching him adoringly started excitedly clapping.
Jay smiled at her and got up before realizing some of the passengers had taken their phones out and were filming. He took a good natured bow once they started clapping and took his sister to regroup with his parents.
"Piano too?" Helen disbelievingly shook her head. "Since when?"
"I learned a little in Switzerland, and Kasim lends me his keyboard sometimes." Jay shrugged.
Lee smiled, "I like that song."
"So do I." his son softly responded.
An hour later, they were told they could start boarding and just like that, they were on a flight back to Boston.
***
They arrived home late into the night. Lou had fallen asleep and Jay carried her and put her in bed before going back to help his father bring the luggages in.
Everyone was completely exhausted to be honest, so they simply decided to leave everything in the entryway and unpack tomorrow.
Jay was so tired, he didn't even remove his clothes and simply crashed on his bed.
***
December 30th 2010.
No morning training today, Jay woke up at 9am, which was probably the most he had slept ever since his rehab.
He reckoned it might have been even later if it weren't for his high physical abilities. A hypothesis that was proven right after he made his way downstairs and realized the house was still as silent as a tomb.
He got a brunch started, figuring it was too late for breakfast. They all woke up about an hour later, and Jay had to reheat everything but he didn't mind.
"Ugh, just our luck for our flight to be delayed." Helen mumbled her cup half-downed. She had opted for coffee, instead of her usual. Circumstances oblige.
Jay's phone started beeping at that time. He checked it and it was a text message from Leah asking him whether he was still sleeping. He always wondered what people expected to receive as a reply. Maybe something like 'Yes, I'm sleeping. I'm currently having an awesome dream too; so leave me alone'.
He wryly shook his head and told her that he was awake. She replied that Tiny had come back and they would reconvene at her house this afternoon. He responded that he'd be there.
Jay told his family his plans and asked for everyone else's in the process. Lou and his mom would go take a look at the gallery and fetch Scamp at the same time, Lee volunteered to stay at home and guard it from any intruders. The shameless force was strong with him.
***
Jay dressed up warmly, and started walking to Leah's house. He had wanted to ride his bike, but with that much snow it wasn't happening.
When he knocked on the Parson's door, Leah's younger brother was the one to open. Jay rarely got to see the guy, he constantly ran off with his friends to improbable places. He was also a brat.
"'Sup Jay!" Luke greated. "They're downstairs. They don't want me to be there." he mumbled in dissatisfaction.
Jay chuckled and ruffled the eleven year old's hair. "Thanks for the tip." he said before making his way down.
"I'm not a kid! Don't pat my head like that!" Luke indignantly protested from above.
Tiny, Kasim, Em and Leah were all sitting on the ground playing Monopoly when he came in.
"Whatcha mean you won't pay up Tiny?! It's the rules okay! Yo, you're on my property bro, pay up!" Kasim lectured in dissatisfaction.
"... Rules are meant to be broken." the Hispanic guy simply responded.
"Bro you for real? You hustling your bro?! Damn ssereq!" (Damn thief!) Kasim spat out in disdain.
Leah and Em didn't bother hiding their amusement, they were outright laughing at their antics.
Jay chuckled and stepped inside, "Mind if I join?"
Regardless of what he had expected would happen, silence and staring had not been it.
Leah rose up and dragged him in, and the next thing he knew he was buried under a pile of human bodies.
"Merry Christmas doofus!"
"Habibi, I missed you!"
"Gringo, how did you know about the engine?"
"Those jeans are giving you a mom-butt!"
He could cross out 'peculiar friends' from his bucket list… After he remembered to add that option on it first.
***
"Sooo, what are we doing tomorrow night?" Em opened while munching on some chips.
Kasim took out something from his pocket and started gnawing on it, to Jay's disbelief.
"Umm, aren't you a Muslim?" he provided, pointing at the piece of bacon his friend had half-eaten already.
"Yeah?" Kasim asked in confusion, before understanding dawned on him. "Ah! Nah bro, that's turkey bacon! Want some?"
Jay just stared at him in silence. "I forgot… that that actually was a thing. Lou's allergic to pork so she can't have any. Where did you buy it?"
"Pretty sure you can buy it anywhere, Jay. If your mother wanted to give that to your sister, she would've done so." Leah meaningfully pointed.
Right, it was true. Although turkey was lower in fat, it still wasn't something healthy enough his mom would want his sister to have for breakfast.
"I don't mind unhealthy, okay? I haven't had any in so long." he said and took up Kasim on his offer. It was different but wasn't bad, he could get used to it.
"Man, you still haven't told me how you knew about my bike missing a piece?" Tiny inquired.
"Your mom told me." Jay smiled and answered. Tiny's mom worked at the school's administration, she was the one named Natalie who had helped him on his first day.
Tiny just shook his head, "Man, th-"
"If you guys thank me again, I'm leaving." he threatened.
Jay had had his Christmas gifts shipped directly from internet. Tiny's was the only one he had gotten from a specific website, the rest had basically come from everywhere.
The reason they had showered him with love by burying him under them was to show how thankful they were for the presents. Leah and Em had gotten iPods, which they had wanted to buy for a while but Jay and beaten them to it, and Yves Saint Laurent's gift cards.
Kasim had gotten an Allen & Heath Xone:42 mixer, and Tiny a black generator with built-in regulator for his 1978 Harley Davidson XLCR Café Racer.
Em smiled, "When's the trailer of your movie coming out?"
That got everyone to perk up and they listened with rapt attention.
"They told me mid-February, but it was only an estimation." Jay replied.
The conversation then turned to which Hollywood celebrities everyone liked, to their favorites singers, to their scandals, to their pets and finally to last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Tiny was weirdly really into the show, to the girls delight. Kasim and Jay were just bored.
When it was time to leave, they each got a list of things they'd need to bring for their low-key get-together tomorrow night. They would have it at Jay's since his parents were attending their respective jobs' New Year's Eve party.
Jay told Leah to bring Luke if she wanted, since Lou would also be there, before heading back home. He made it safely without tripping once on the slippery ice that had invaded a huge part of the streets.
***
December 31st 2010.
His parents left at around 4pm, exhorting him to pay attention to Lou and call them if anything happened.
"And no alcohol." had added his mother.
Like he would let that happened. He was an adult, alright, he was at least more responsible than the others. Plus Kasim didn't drink so that pretty much put an end to the discussion.
He went to his hidden room with Lou in tow and hooked his Xbox 360 to the projector screen.
They would have a Halo Reach tournament, and he was really anticipating it. He hadn't played the game in ages but, some things, you never forget.
"Jay, can I watch Gru in your room?" his sister asked.
"Of course, baby." he brought her back to his room and she wormed her way through the covers.
He put the 'Despicable Me' DVD in the player and gave her the remote.
"You know how to pause and play, right?" he asked and she nodded.
He kissed her cheek and smiled, "I'll be downstairs waiting for the others and finishing the toasts. You let me know if you need anything, okay?"
"Um, okay!" she smiled.
Jay went back downstairs, he fetched Dr. Pepper, 7up, Coke and Minute Maid cans from the garage and brought them to the living room. He picked an empty bowl and threw in some Ferrero Rocher's and Réveillon papillotes they had brought back from France, as well as some Kit Kat, M&M's and Snickers.
He had made salmon, tuna, turkey bacon and fish eggs toasts. He hated foie gras, also known as goose liver, so he hadn't bothered buying any. He also knew Lou didn't like it since she had tasted it during Christmas.
Kasim was the first to arrive, and he went straight to Jay's room to watch the movie with Lou. The guy was a bigger kid than his sister was.
Em, Leah and Luke were next, followed by Tiny. They had each brought a type of snack and helped Jay bring everything upstairs.
The Halo Reach tournament ended up being a lot of fun. Jay had kicked their butts, especially on the Sword Base map; it had been a massacre.
Lou had fallen asleep around 10pm and would've missed the counting down to the New Year if Jay hadn't woken her up. That would've made her sad.
"Mmh? Jay…morning?" she yawned and sleepily let out.
"No, but it's gonna be the count down soon. Wanna do it with us?" he smiled at her.
She immediately perked up at that. "Yes! I do!" she hurriedly got out of his bed.
They regrouped with the others in the hidden room who were watching the Time's Square annual live on the giant screen.
"And 10!" the announcer started and they followed right up.
"... 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4…"
"3! 2! 1! ZEROOOOO!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!" they all happily screamed.
Lou kissed Jay on his cheek, and Em and Leah did the same. Kasim, Tiny and Luke also got the same treatment, though the first mumbled something about 'haram' and the latter just stuck out his tongue at his sister.
2011. They say new year, new resolution. As Jay watched his close ones laugh and bicker, he once again thanked his lucky star. Life was truly good, what could possibly change that?
***
At the same time, somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, at an undisclosed facility.
An old man in a neat suit sweeped the documents on his desk to the ground.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE MISSING?!" he hollered in rage, his usual elegance nowhere to be found. His hair was disheveled and he looked like a madman.
"Sir… please calm down." a young woman tried to appease him.
"CALM DOWN?!" he vehemently spat out, "Thirty years!! Thirty fucking years of research vanished and you're telling me to calm down?! I didn't get rid of the bastards in charge so that you incompetent morons could lose them!"
Inez bit her bottom lip, her fists clenched. If the man had been paying closer attention, he wouldn't have missed the hate that briefly fleeted through her eyes.
She inhaled deeply and coldly stated. "You asked us to keep them contained, which is what we did. We only check on them every other year ever since you deemed the project a failure. We only realized they were missing today during our check up."
"Hahahaha… That is to say, that they could've disappeared anytime during the last two years?" the old man derisively ran his fingers through his grey hair.
"... Yes." Inez replied. "But didn't you say that they were useless? Why does it matter?"
"Matter? Of course it matters! Success is built upon failure, how am I supposed to get new ones without the originals when all the researchers are dead?!" he started coughing and reached for a bottle of pills in his inside pocket. He swallowed them and sat down on his chair.
"What about the security footage?" he asked.
Inez slightly flinched, an action that thankfully went unnoticed. "It... has been destroyed. We're currently looking into it."
"Find them. No matter what you do… find them." he wanly exhaled out.
She hesitated slightly, before adding "We might be able to narrow down the search. Verto has a preference for games-"
"Who the hell is Verto?" the man interrupted.
"Not who, what. It's the one who can morph… Their creators all gave them names." she responded after taking a look at the file in her hands.
"I don't care about that. Five years. I only have that much time left. You need to find them before then." he commanded before waving his hand in a dismissing manner.
Before she made it to the door, he stopped her. "Wait. Any news from Escoval?"
She stopped and paused for a second,"...No, sir. He hasn't been in touch for the past six months."
"For Christ's sake." the old man mumbled, "Forget it. He'll show up soon enough."
Inez nodded and took her leave, closing the door behind her. She went back to her office and took a peek at the file she'd been holding.
[CLASSIFIED Project #77: AI Nanites.
Start of the project: 1973.
Brief summary: Verto - morph | Sana - heal | Cognitio - teach
Status: TERMINATED in 2003, three lead researchers dead, failure.]
She went on her computer and replayed a video for the second time. A middle-aged man could be seen entering one of the labs and going out a few minutes later.
"Oh, Henri… what have you done?" Inez mumbled.