Spring semester was coming around and not much word about what happened that fateful night spread between the cousins, mostly for the reason that Marcus had officially moved out of Missy Baptiste's residence and found shelter in some unknown location. It never worried the Baptiste's but it gave some worry to his semi-loyal cousin Rodell, who proceeded to treat his life the same way since his cousin left. They still share the same classes and Rodell is starting to eat on-campus to keep an eye on his quiet cousin.
"Hey Dell," one of his friends called on him. "Are you okay? Why don't you talk to him?"
"Yeah," his other friend chimed in. "You guys are cousins, right?"
Rodell sighed, "Yeah, we are kin but I don't want to bring up the past or anything, or cause some kind of bull with my mom. If she finds out…"
"She doesn't have to know," he pleaded. "Come on, the poor guy's all alone."
"I guess it couldn't hurt," Rodell hesitantly agreed, leaving his belongings with his trusty friends. He got up and walked to the other side of the busy cafeteria, taking a chance he may never seek again. He sat not too far from the silent Marcus and started, "So...basketball's going good, and we haven't had much rainy weather yet."
Rodell chuckled awkwardly at Marcus's silence and took a glance at his supporting clique. He sighed and came straight to the only relative he knew in this school. "Listen, it's not the same since you left us, Mar. Please come back. My ma said she'll forgive you and let you do what you want. She'll let you fix that toaster you've been wanting to fix for the past few weeks."
He remained unfazed. Rodell pleaded, "Come on, cuz! You're the only blood that's in my generation! Please! Toast ain't the same without you!"
There was some silence and Rodell felt like he gave up. As soon as he got up, Marcus broke the most fragile, intangible thing in the world. "I admire you."
Caught off-guard, Rodell looked back. "Huh?"
"You have no idea how much I crave that kind of attention. You know me as the quiet kid, but before that, when my life was great...I had friends, people who enjoyed what I did, what I knew what I was learning...especially the one thing that I never knew made me the happiest."
Sitting back down, Rodell asked with curiosity, "What was it?"
"Making Uncle Leo proud."
Rodell widened his eyes and then he finally realized the admiration Marcus spoke of. He thought back to times when he earned his first B in his sophomore year while Marcus would've swept them off with his straight A streak. He thought back to times when Rodell got paper awards for his basketball excellence and the first test he passed in Geometry while Marcus spent three all-nighters fixing the fuse box so his family could use their appliances without fearing a blackout or a failure. He discovered the amount of guilt that came about when he realized how much his family ignored what Marcus had done for them while they idolized him.
He looked to his cousin in shame and stammered, "Mar, Mar, I-I-I didn't know all this time…"
Marcus got up, grabbed his book and laptop, and left for the double doors. Rodell, standing up and reaching for his departing cousin, was crowded by the mass as the bell rang. As the heads blocked the vision of his disappearing cousin, Rodell finally realized the ugly definition of a missed opportunity. As he looked in shame and guilt, his group of friends came to his side, comforting his shakened soul.
"It's alright, Dell," one of them said, helping him turn the other direction. "Come on, let's get your mind off it."
Fighting him to run after Marcus, Rodell gave in and joined his friends for basketball, resuming his life as usual, as if nothing happened.
Arriving at her train to return home, Missy had released her eightieth sigh of the hour as she came to her seat. She sat next to a woman who had adorned a similar fashion to her. The woman was staring out the window when she noticed Missy's frustration. Missy, ignoring the woman next to her, opened up her phone and went to her photo gallery. She stopped at one photo and sniffled, wiping a tear from her eyelid. The tears came heavy and she searched in her bag for a tissue. Luckily, the woman next to her offered her one. "Thank you," Missy nearly cracked. She took a deep breath and stared at the photo.
Sensing her aura, the woman cleared her throat and asked out of the blue, "College?"
Missy was caught off-guard and responded, "No, he's not my kid...he's just my priority. But Lord, where the hell is he?"
"He will not answer if you cuss like that," the woman appeased to her vernacular. She was a mystery of her own, a mystery already known by a few. Missy laughed, "Oh Lord, many times He heard me say that...may I ask you something? You seem like a kind soul."
"I am a therapist," she said. Missy gasped, "Well, what a coincidence that I'd run into one right here!"
The woman laughed and asked, "So what's the situation?"
"You see," Missy confessed. "He's my nephew from my husband's side and they got their own thing going on. Anyways, his only guardian is sick and I'm the one to take care of him. I am a God-loving child and so I thought I would take him to church and, you know, keep him safe. You know what happened? The little boy thinks he's Mister Man and turned his back to the Almighty! Oh I will not have that!"
"So he does not conform to your way of living?"
"Exactly! George and I are doing our best but one day, boy, he got to me that day! When I asked him to stand up, you know what he said? 'I will not go against who I am!' Whoo, do I got a Lucifer here!"
"Did he ever mention Satan before?"
"No, not that I know of! He's been in my sight the whole time, before he went on and moved out, but then again I kind of asked him to…"
"Have you heard from him? Do you have any idea where he is?"
"No...and no! Oh what have I done? I drove him off like a Cadillac off the cliff! What if he's hurt and I'm the one to blame?"
"No worries...keep praying if that's what keeps you safe, and maybe it'll keep him safe." The woman tried to hide her scoff, as religion was something she didn't share a positive view of.
"I should've filed the missing child report when I had the chance!"
"Do not worry, Missy. In time, he will find a way to the truth and hopefully, you will be there to support him and finally be proud of what he has done."
"Yeah," Missy said, realizing the other avenues. Catching herself, she exclaimed the woman, "Hey, I didn't tell you my name!"
"We therapists have talents that not even our supervisors know…" the woman cunningly responded. "I know more about a person than they know themselves."
"Huh," she said. She noticed the huge bag the woman was carrying and couldn't help but ask, "You got a big family?'
"What? Oh no, I look after a neighbor in my area. She has trouble getting the stuff she needs and I took it upon myself to help her with the groceries."
"Where she live?"
"Harlem."
"Is that true? I live there too…" Missy sounded a little more quiet, as if she has finally found an ally to help bring her nephew back. Little does she know, this woman knows a lot more than meets the eye. Now that she knows who Missy is and what her personality is like, Missy's position in the fate of things to come will be a piece of cake as long as Missy doesn't know who she is speaking to. That way, oblivion and irony should work hand in hand and everything should go as planned. That is, if nobody tries to outsmart Madame Azreena and manipulate her vision.
"That's cool." The woman went back to looking at her reflection in the moving pan of a skinny amber light racing through tracks, dividing itself and coming together as one. There was nothing more interesting than watching at how fast light can travel without breaking a sweat. It was especially interesting to see if the light could pass through the thick window and land on her golden nose ring.
When the woman arrived home, she placed her bags to the side and called out the person she was looking after. He was busy in his room, working on his next project. His concentration took him so far that he didn't even notice the change of air when the woman, Madame Azreena in disguise, arrived to his room. It didn't take but two knocks on his door for Marcus to realize the woman who have been taking care of him since he moved out of the Baptiste's had offered him a long-awaited hello.
He turned around, removed his bulky headphones which paused his music and, stunned by Madame Azreena's appearance, chuckled, "Oh hey there, Madame! Sorry I didn't hear you come in!"
Taking in the greeting and subtle apology, Madame Azreena took a look at Marcus's progress on the huge screen. Impressed and stunned by his work, she complimented, "Great doing on a field of the unknown!"
Marcus laughed, "Oh this is just the beginning! Soon, I will be able to get Maxie out of this AI program and humanize her!"
"Oh yes, hello to you too, Maxie." She leaned toward the computer screen and saw the words "HELLO THERE, MADAME" being typed on the screen. The night Marcus encountered that faulty computer was also the night he accidentally activated the AI that was trapped in the laptop, which caused the server to be "cursed". Marcus named this AI to be Maxie, short for Maximus Turbos, the name that was found on the box, and it was the probable reason why Marcus was able to transform Rodell's car into that mega launcher that nearly obliterated that gang.
"I'll be preparing some dinner in a few. I'll let you know when it's done," informed Madame Azreena. Marcus affirmed her decision and went back to his project. While he worked on some machinery, a bored Maxie, using the text box, asked Marcus, "How will I be?"
Caught off-guard, Marcus tried to clarify. "What?"
"How will I be? In your form? Will I look like you? Or will I look like her? Or those celebrities you like to look at?"
Unsure of how to answer, Marcus stammered, "Um...I don't know. I guess you have to imagine it."
"But I can't imagine. I've been living in this laptop for as long as I can remember. Maybe you can."
"Huh, what?"
"Yes, create a program that can map out my appearance, my speech and knowledge of your era."
"Are you sure? I've never done something like this."
"Neither have I, but it never hurts to explore. Come on, be a pal and help a lil ol gal out! See? I'm perfecting it already!"
Marcus laughed and responded, "You must've picked that up from my YouTube history of old sitcoms. Alright, I'll see what I can do…"
This one project became two all-nighters and a "sick-day" from school. Luckily, he had no tests or assessments to worry about, besides the Fitnessgram that was being held during his gym class but he never minded it. It wasn't his favorite class, especially since that night had occurred. It turns out that some of Rodell's rivals had that class too and were skeptical at recognizing him. But he never spoke to them, nor gave them any clue.
Suddenly, during his treacherous journey of fixing Maxie's program, he drifted elsewhere on his laptop and searched up a location to order food. By accident, he pressed a random button and in a flash, Maxie popped up a new screen, showing everything that Marcus had typed out. "What?" Marcus caught himself out of his boredom. "What do you mean, everything?"
"I'm scanning the location of Manhattan, New York," Maxie explained to a startled Marcus. "Understanding routes, limitations, dead ends, traffic laws...I am analyzing an appropriate mode of transportation for these conditions."
"Wait, what? The hell is going on here?" He scanned and observed his over-exhausted laptop and soon, a flash had occurred, along with a shock wave that sent him flying across the room. His back landed against the back wall and he managed to get up with just a small pain. Opening his eyes to figure out what had just happened, he was surprised to see his laptop with a bleak black screen. He rushed over and studied where Maxie could've gone. All of a sudden, he heard Madame Azreena call out his name.
He came downstairs to the huge room and discovered a strange car in the vast vicinity. Madame Azreena was surprised as well, as she tried to figure out how a car can fit through a small door, or even how the huge garage door could open without making a sound. She stepped forward toward the car and questioned, "What did you do?"
Marcus ran downstairs and studied what may have been his latest creation. As he slowly walked around the vehicle, his eyes followed how the light glared upon the dark violet paint and revealed the luster of the clean, smooth windows. The interior must be dark inside as it was hard to see through the window. He studied the curvature of the rear end and let his hand slide across the smooth exterior. Suddenly, a voice startled him.
He shrieked, leaping a foot back from it. He walked closer and asked, "Maxie?"
This time, instead of the expected robotic, monotone voice, Maxie took on a more feminine voice. She chuckled, "Heh, sorry for scaring you. I rather you not touch me there, that's why."
Wrapping his head around this subject, Marcus stammered, "Wait! You were in my laptop and now...you're a car? How did this happen?"
"When you were looking at the map of Manhattan, you activated a control that allows me to analyze the area and I picked out the best transportation for that field."
"So wait, you can…?"
"Yep, beam with the intel you can find, Marcus, because I'm the AI to morph it!"
"So that program...it was a morphing gig the whole time?" He backed away, realizing his newfound success. All his work to find something else had paid off to find something greater and new! He started to laugh out of joy and lost control of his tears as he hugged Maxie. Simultaneously crying and laughing, he squealed, "This is the best day of my life!"
Leaning against the threshold of the kitchen, Madame Azreena chuckled proudly to herself, looking up to the ceiling. She whispered, "He could feel your pride, Leo. You've finally found the way to your peace."
A cold rush of wind came with a burning scent from Marcus's room. Curious, Marcus ran to investigate and discovered that his laptop was completely fried. He shrieked, "How is this possible? You were just okay about a minute ago! Huh? Oh no, if my laptop's out, then how will Maxie get out of her form? Will she be a car forever?"
"Fear not, young mechanic," Madame Azreena reasoned. Marcus freaked out, "What do you mean? My entire program is lost without the laptop!"
"Without the laptop? Mmm, and I thought someone else was there to guide you."
Marcus calmed down. He responded, "Huh, yeah? But without my laptop, Maxie won't…"
Madame Azreena placed her hand on Marcus's head and comforted, "As long as you can keep the trust between you and Maxie strong and formidable, nothing can stop you from achieving the impossible."
"What? Oh yeah…" he realized it for himself. The night he saved Rodell by just using his car and how he was able to revive Maxie from the laptop, there was sure to be some kind of power that was unseen by the human eye. Possibly, it could be beyond scientific discovery! He knew that, with Maxie, he will be able to solve this mystery and achieve what he was meant to be. Madame Azreena, noticing his self-exploration, became pleased with herself, thinking about her next move. Suddenly, underneath her nose, she sensed something other than burning rubber.
She looked over to the hot metal mess and noticed that the smoke was dancing a little longer than it should've. Her eyes focused on the meandering silhouette and discovered something sinister: three breaks in the cloud and they laughed with such a manic taste in them. Madame Azreena, scared, realized she had to do something, but all she could do was warn Marcus and let him face the test on his own.
All of a sudden, Maxie started honking and yelling, "Marcus! Look out!"
Marcus snapped out of his daze and immediately noticed the smoking ghost from his laptop. Immediately dropping it, he shrieked out of fear as it rose into a fiery vortex and turned the room into a blaze. In the heat, Marcus found himself face-to-face with his first enemy: a blazing spirit that erupted out of his old laptop. She had eyes that were brighter than a work-zone hazard sign and her fangs were as yellow as the sunflowers at the first rise of the spring sun. Her hair were flowing strands of flames and there were some volts around the huge flame that surrounded her. Her skinny, long orange arms stretched out to the side and spread out their blazing bony fingers. She looked like a skeleton was made of fire.
Madame Azreena, scared for her life, uttered, "It can't be...I didn't predict this…"
"Madame Azreena, who is she?" Marcus whimpered, aghast at the sight. Before anybody could make a move, Marcus discovered that Madame Azreena was missing. "What? How is she gone at a time like this?" Marcus shrieked. He turned back and whimpered to himself, "I guess it's just you and me, Maxie."
A flash occurred next to him and Marcus became accompanied by a girl with dark brown hair tied up in a side ponytail and olive skin. She had adorned a grey tank top and loose jeans. She affirmed, "Let's teach this homewrecker a lesson!" Her voice was more raw and authentic, less like a robot or automated voice of some kind.
Marcus, turning over to see the girl, shouted at her, "Wait, who the hell are you and how did you get here?"
The girl turned to him and tapped near her temple twice, winking. Marcus gasped, "Maxie?"
The fiery spirit laughed and growled, "I can't wait to sink my wires into you and turn you nothing but charcoal!"
Marcus shuddered but Maxie stood in front, confident with her prowess self. Marcus asked her frantically, "Maxie, what are you doing? You don't know what she can do to us!"
Calm, Maxie slowly raised her arm across her face and responded with such ease, "Years in a laptop can teach you how much potential a photon can receive." She pointed to the spirit and shouted, "Give me your best shot, Pyro!"
The spirit screeched, breaking through the walls and shattering the metal and eardrums. Marcus, pushing his hands into his ears as hard as he could, said to himself, "Her screams are incredible! No human can withstand this kind of pressure nor these kind of vocals!" The shockwaves were so huge that Marcus found himself almost falling to his knees and being blown away by this power.
Protecting herself, Maxie yelled to Marcus, "Hang on, Marcus!"
But he can no longer withstand it. Marcus's soles gave in and he slid off the platform, crashing into the garage doors. There, the screams were less ear-shattering but the vibrations were just as strong. Picking himself up from the ground, Marcus scrambled for a solution to this dilemma. He forced himself to think but nothing came at the top of his head.
Then he remembered: the mega launcher that originated from Rodell's car. Marcus looked at his hands, flipping them over and back again. He questioned, "Can I do it?" He looked at his hands, wondering if he could somehow recreate that moment again.
He decided that he must, no matter how long or hard it took. He ran into the kitchen and looked for an appliance he could utilize. On the table were the groceries but no pots or pans were set for cooking. Guess Madame Azreena wanted to teach him how to cook on his own, but that's another lesson to be taught. Running around the kitchen, he heard a blood-curdling scream from Maxie and a part of the ceiling nearly broke through. "Oh no," Marcus shuddered. "I need to think of something and fast!"
As he looked around, he found a kettle full of water and a long hose that connected to the sink. It would only work if the switch was on. Suddenly, Marcus had an idea. He held onto the two objects and concentrated, trying to remember that night.
The laptop...the fight...remember a life is at stake...come on...the laptop...Rodell...Maxie...what? Maxie!
He opened his eyes as a shove of lightning surged through him like a generator, just ready to run through like a working mill. The kettle and pipe started to glow with such intensity that it illuminated the entire room.
Meanwhile, upstairs, the fiery beast named Overheat was locked in combat with Maxie. Maxie, her human forearms fully transformed into incredibly long daggers, was defending herself against the spears of flames that came thundering out of Overheat. The entire room was in a complete blaze and Maxie found herself back into a corner, completely exhausted. Confused, she questioned to herself, "How is this possible? I'm an Artificial Intelligence. I'm merely a machine. I shouldn't be gasping for air like this."
Overheat, laughing and forming another type of weapon with her flames, walked up to Maxie and boasted, "Machine? Look at you! A human is not a machine! And because you're a human…" She grabbed an extremely long pole with a pointed tip and held it toward Maxie's chin, bringing her weak head up to Overheat's blood-thirsty eyes. "I can kill you."
Through her exhaustion and short lived hope, Maxie silently accepted her fate...until a huge gush of water pounded through the open doorway, pushing Overheat into a wall with such force. Maxie looked down in confusion and raised her head to see a determined Marcus holding a machine of some sort. She gasped out of relief and excitement, "Marcus!"
He was armed with a launcher that was connected to the sturdy pipe, which had a larger width and could withstand immense pressure. Walking into his blazing room, Marcus muttered under his breath, "You're gonna pay for destroying my room, my only home!"
The once-confident Overheat was now fearing for her life, unsure of what Marcus could do to her. Most of her flames had evaporated and been extinguished by the first blast. She backed herself into the wall she crashed upon and stammered, "What are you going to do to me? Who are you?"
After a tension-filled pause, Marcus, walking up to her, responded, "Call me Mech." He directed the launcher to Overheat's shaking head and switched the water's temperature to a freezing cold touch that not even the Kelvin scale could reach. He pulled the trigger and all was heard was Overheat's bone-chilling scream as she was obliterated by the shocking water. Steam filled the room and the electricity became weak as the volts were fizzled out by the humidity and temperature of the room.
A few minutes later, Marcus called emergency and they investigated the area. When they asked what caused it, Marcus answered, "A ghost."
Word got out that Marcus and a mysterious girl were caught in a blaze and thus came the rumors. For Rodell, he had to find out for himself. He caught up with them one day as they walked their way back to a new home. Acting all friendly, he greeted himself to Maxie, who had adorned a rather radical, alternative look from this generation. "So I hear you've been hanging out with my cousin here, right? Well, might I say, he does have good taste!" Rodell smirked. Marcus cut him off, "What's your deal?"
Offended, Rodell uttered, "What? Just hanging out with my cousin, that's all. And I wanna know if he's in good hands."
"Marcus is a skillful mechanic and studious scholar of his school. You should respect his education rather than focus on the rumors," Maxie answered Rodell, continuing her walk. Rodell was caught off-guard by such a response, especially since this is the first girl to talk to him like that. So articulate and with such grammar and vocabulary. Marcus chuckled, "Am I in good hands now?"
He left Rodell for the final time and never did they cross paths again...for a long time.
When they got home and got ready to sleep for the night, Maxie asked Marcus, "Are all human boys like that?"
"Huh? Oh no, not all of them," Marcus responded. "Rodell's one of those guys that the girls can't resist and I'm the one who would help those girls realize their bad decision with him."
They laughed and Maxie continued to ask, "Will I be able to achieve this form successfully?"
"I have confidence. I mean, who's better at knowing how to be a human than a human themselves?"
"I thank you, Mech," Maxie said with compassion. "You've taught me what an AI can do other than just be someone's assistant on a computer."
"Oh well," Marcus said, accepting the compliment. "Besides being a car or a girl, I know I add more to your morphing program and help you become whatever you can be."