Jacq appeared at the door of his house, the same spot at which he was kidnapped. It was dark outside and everywhere was quiet. He walked to a sofa and slumped heavily on it.
He was tired mentally, not physically. The whole experience is so hard for him to process. Rightly so, he is a sixteen year old high school boy who dwelled heavily on his imaginations,, but right now, his imaginations had come true and he couldn't believe all that had happened.
Maybe it wasn't true, he thought to himself. Maybe it was all just an illusion.
He raised his head and checked the door handle and saw the burnt patch where they had forced the door open. It wasn't an illusion after all. It all happened.
Jacq tested his powers again. He reached deep into his mind and focused on his vision. He could see through the door into his room. The scattered clothes still lay there. He could see the broken wardrobe door, he scanned the room further and his mood soured when be saw his game console split cleanly into two on the floor.
Hell, it all happened.
Jacq just lay there on the sofa and closed his eyes in gloom. He knew his life can never be the same anymore. The quiet life he had lived all these time... The little fame he had gained a short while ago... His fantasies and imaginations...
Damn!!!
It was always a good thing to dwell on his fantasies, hoping that the world he had created in his mind came true. A world of superheroes and supervillains... Advanced technologies and machineries. A world where he can shoot at advancing aliens or enemies non stop and then respawn if he got killed. It all felt good.
But now, that world appeared before him and he is having a bitter taste at the back of his throat.
With great power comes great responsibilities... Tch.
Jacq grew tired of over thinking as his eyelids started feeling heavy. He appreciated that the system was quiet for once. He straightened his posture and fell asleep there on the sofa.
"I won't..." he murmured before he drowned in the land of dreams.
[Sweet dreams.]
*******************************
The next morning came too fast for Jacq. The room lit up dimly as the morning sun filtered in through the blinds. He rose slowly from the sofa and staggered to the bathroom. The little space he managed on the sofa made gave his neck a bad cramp, so he massaged his neck as he brushed his teeth.
He looked up to check himself out in front of the mirror. He wasn't impressed.
His sleek black hair was scattered and tied into knots all over his head. He looked down his lean body and was even less impressed. His body has become leaner than the last time he checked. His chest came out chiseled well and his stomach showed a complete set of six packs that wasn't so obvious like before. His stomach grumbled as he stared at the mirror, that was when he remembered he hadn't eaten anything for a while.
Jacq looked up one more time before he noticed his eyes. The blue glow had died down but the eyeballs still maintained an icy blue colour.
Good god. Karl will notice the change in colour...
Ugh, right... Karl.
Jacq hadn't seen Karl since the day before he disappeared and he knew he would have come to check on him. Jacq wondered what Karl could have done when he saw the door locked.
Hmph... I'll find out later. Wait... Where the hell is this system?
[Thought you wouldn't call. I'm here, Jacq. Good morning.]
"Morning. Hope I'm not killing anyone today?"
[Yes, you are. You'll be killing your old self.]
"Explain, mistress," Jacq teased.
[It's a spontaneous process. You will start changing form, and in less than an hour, you will change into a robot. A full robot... For life]
Jacq freaked out instantly.
"What the fuck?!!! What you mean, b***h?!"
[Language, Jacq.]
Jacq continued yelling.
"Fucking tell me what you meant..!"
[Look how serious you became. If you had taken your life this serious, you could have had more friends... What a pathetic loner.]
"What?"
[Be calm. I was only joking. Good morning once again.]
Jacq stared at empty space in disbelief. This 'silly' system just got a violent reaction out of him for no reason.
He shrugged then continued his brushing. He wasn't going to let the system get him late for school. Ghen, he remembered he wanted to ask a question.
"Uhm, do you have anything you can do about my eyes, please? I can't go to school like this."
[That's already taken care of. Be fast and don't be late.]
And truthfully, Jacq checked the mirror again and found that his eyes is back to its normal brown colour. He smiled in amusement.
"Wonderful, ma'am... In fact, I should get you a name. I'm still thinking though."
[Ugh...]
Jacq pretended he didn't hear the protest from the system. He got into the bathroom and washed his body clean. He spent close to ten minutes before stepping out with a tick blue towel around his waist.
He whistled a forgotten tune from his memory as he prepared for school. Quick as never, he ran into his room to tidy up the floor and arrange his belongings. He packed his clothes into the wardrobe and half closed it with the damaged door.
He paused when he got to the damaged console. Hid mood changed one more time before he dumped it into the bin by his bed.
My, oh my...
[Loserrrrrr.] The system made a long whisper.
"Hush."
After tidying up the room, he bounced to the kitchen to get breakfast. Alas, he saw those white shopping bags from his shopping earlier, carefully placed on the kitchen table. His kidnappers had helped him pack them inside. He was grateful for that, at least. He was grateful for her... His mood changed again.
Cassie...
[Hey, young man. How many mood swings do you pull per day? It's just morning and I've counted more than a hundred.]
"Hush," was the reply from Jacq.
He sat on a chair and grabbed a big loaf of bread and a jar of mayonnaise, he ghen prepared tea alongside. It only took him five minutes to devour half of the bread it. When he had eaten to his fill, he pushed the bread away and stood up to grab his things, ready for school.
The time clocked 8am.
"Shit, I'm late."
**********************************
The early morning silence of Briggton High greeted Jacq as he stepped into the school compound. Class was just about to start when he entered his classroom. He walked up to his seat at the left corner of the classroom and sat in silence.
Gists and gossips ensued from the girls and boys alike. The girls, either taking about a new hotshot guy in school or about their boyfriends or a soap opera they had seen the day before. The guys always gisting about, well, guy stuff.
Jacq's eyes crossed the room in search of Karl but he couldn't find him. He reached into his bag and brought out his notes for the subject which will hold any moment. He was zipping his bag shut when Mr. Atkinson, the mathematics teacher walked in.
The maths teacher was a man of big build, most likely in his early fifties. He has a blond hair which is now bald at the front all the way to the middle of his head. Hid glasses made him look like he's looking at two places at once, and he has a soft smile adorned by sparkling white teeth.
Behind Mr Atkinson was a new student. A black boy of average height. His wooly hair stood out in a grand fashion, making him look taller than normal.
Mr Atkinson introduced him as a new student and urged for love and cooperation with him, as this is his first time in America.
Black boy introduced himself as Olatunde Adeola, and bowed before walking down the classroom to look for a seat.
The whole class tried pronouncing the name in the same accent but it only ended in a burst of laughter from half the class.
Mr Atkinson cautioned the class to keep quiet, before pointed to the seat beside Jacq and ordered the new student to sit there.
"Good god," Jacq muttered under his breath.
Olatunde sat gently on the seat and turned to say "hi" at Jacq. Jacq mumbled a greeting in return before turning his face to the front of the classroom.
This seat was Karl's before the maths teacher changed it. He had instructed Karl to change his seat when he realized that Jacq does not concentrate much in class when Karl is around. Since then, the seat has been vacant. So, the sudden 'invasion of privacy' does not go well with Jacq. He wanted to have the whole space to himself without nobody disturbing him.
He looked at the front row by his right where Karl's new seat is, but he still couldn't find Karl.
Okay...
The mathematics lesson commenced and as usual, Jacq started dozing due to boredom. Mr Atkinson droned on about trigonometry, but Jacq only heard him faintly. He was only half present.
He was about to fall into a real sleep when the new boy tapped him on his shoulder to wake him.
"Sorry, please wake up. The teacher is teaching," the black boy whispered in an accent very strange to Jacq.
Jacq looked at him surprised and angry at the same time, but he kept the anger to himself.
What the hell is wrong with this nutjob? Let me fucking sleep in peace. And wait, did he just say "sorry and please" in one sentence? Oh my godddd!
Where is Karl?!
Jacq was still surprised at what transpired just now. He couldn't let his anger show but he let the surprise show boldly on his face...
Take me out of here.
The system made a soft chuckling sound.