Jacques opened his eyes to find himself in a tiny, windowless room. The only furniture was a desk with a laptop—without internet access—and a single bed, its covers occasionally changed by the nurses.
He pushed himself up, his body heavy, as heavy as his head. Why wouldn't it be? He was fat, unhealthy, hairy, completely ungroomed.
There wasn't much to do as a lab rat. Being born different has always been a curse.
As a human born on Planet Martian, Jacques's cells were considered precious. Earthlings were obsessed with Aether cells, convinced they could unlock superhuman potential—like something straight out of the superhero movies and comics they created.
Their endless hunger for power, their obsession with being special—all of it had shrunk Jacques's life down to captivity.
Moving was difficult. He stumbled toward the bathroom sink, splashing cold water onto his face. But the reflection in the mirror only made him hate himself more.
Staring back at him was a 40-year-old man.
Long, scruffy hair and an unkempt beard framed a face covered in ulcers. Fat clung to every inch of his body. He looked **nothing like the man he used to be—**far from attractive.
Jacques stepped into the shower, letting the water refresh him. Afterward, he returned to his bed, sitting down with a heavy sigh. Then, he reached under his pillow, his fingers searching for something.
A phone.
He clutched it tightly. The nurses would be here soon. He had to hide it before they saw. Quickly, he slipped it into his pocket, making sure there was no trace of it.
Moments later, the nurses arrived. They cleaned the room, extracted his cell, and, once their routine was complete, locked the door behind them as they left.
Only then did Jacques move.
He hurried to the toilet. The main room had CCTV cameras—he couldn't risk being seen.
Sitting on the toilet, hidden from their watchful eyes, Jacques finally pulled out the phone.
Finally! Internet time!
As soon as he turned it on, a small smile tugged at his lips. Notifications. Text messages from Etienne.
"Hey, sexy," Jacques typed. "I just had this crazy dream about you."
"Babe!" Etienne replied almost instantly. "What dream?"
Jacques didn't respond with a text. Instead, he started a video call. After a few moments, Etienne accepted it.
The screen revealed an older man with a disfigured, half-melted face. Once, he had been breathtakingly handsome, until a car accident burned half of his face and took that beauty away.
Feeling like his life was ruined, Etienne had retreated from the world. He worked in an online store, where no one had to see his face, and spent most of his days playing online games. That's where he met Jacques.
Through a screen, with no faces to judge, they had clicked instantly. Inseparable. Eventually, they had exchanged numbers.
Despite how horrifyingly damaged Etienne's face was, Jacques smiled softly when he saw him—as if he were the most beautiful person in the world.
It had taken Jacques three weeks to convince Etienne that he didn't care about his appearance. Three weeks of refusal.
"You'll run away when you see my face," Etienne had insisted.
When Etienne finally gave in, he was so scared that he hid behind a filter.
And even after that, it took another few weeks before he forgot to turn on the filter—before Jacques finally saw his real, ruined face.
And yet…
Jacques still looked at him with that same soft, warm gaze. As if nothing had changed.
The first time Jacques saw Etienne's true face, his smile blossomed. "So this is how you look like! Finally, I can see your face! Don't use filter anymore, babe, you looked so much better like this!"
Of course, Etienne had felt insecure, terrified. He knew he looked scary—very scary. He had to wear a mask whenever he left the house just to avoid frightening children.
People who used to worship his beauty had vanished overnight. No one told him he was handsome anymore, unless they just want to make his days better. No, he never knew his biological mom.
"Of course, I'm the most beautiful person," Etienne snapped now, rolling his eyes. "You only see me and the nurses."
Jacques laughed, and this—this—was why he loved Etienne. The man was hilarious.
"No, really," Jacques chuckled. "I'm not here for your face. I like you—especially the way your mind works. You're damn hilarious. Who cares about looks? I was in school when I was young, before they kidnapped me into this clone lab, remember? I saw plenty of pretty faces, but they had no heart, no personality. Not interesting."
At first, Etienne didn't believe that someone would accept him as he was, especially since he was already in his 50s. But Jacques was always excited to engage in video calls, to the point where Etienne finally believed that Jacques really meant what he said—he didn't care how he looked.
"I had a dream that you and I met, and we slept among the stars," Jacques giggled as he lied about it. "And then you're in my arms, we sing love songs, that's what we do; travel from planet to planet."
"That sounds sweet! I wish it were true," Etienne replied, trying to appreciate the imagination without criticizing it.
"Yeah, I also wish it were true. If only those crazy lab people weren't keeping me stuck here! Curse them!" Jacques's mood suddenly turned sour. He really wished he could walk away from the lab, but he had already signed the contract. If he escaped, they might kill him. It scared him.
Etienne paused for a while and then continued, "Baby," he called. "This morning, I read interesting news. Wanna hear?"
"Yeah, baby, sure. What is it about?"
"A farmer in Costabanka experienced a great tornado that wiped out his hard work, and the tornado also killed his wife and children," Etienne read the news again for Jacques.
"Oh, that's terrible."
"It is terrible, no one deserves that," Etienne shook his head. Then he continued, "But do you know what the farmer did after burying his family?"
"What did he do?"
"He rebuilt the farm, but also, he adapted to the situation. This time, he built an architecture anti-tornado, and his design was patented, which granted him a lot of fortune!"
"Wow, babe, that's impressive," Jacques nods.
"You see, babe, when you get a tornado, that's what you're supposed to do; you take it as a challenge and do something about it, don't just stay there feeling sorry for yourself and blame everything," Etienne was straightforward about it.
Very blunt, and straight-forward, but he knew that's the only way to talk to Jacques, or else he wouldn't get it.
"Babe, what do you think I can do about this? I'm trapped here! They won't let me out! There's no way I can get out of here, so many guards, they have guns! I could die trying to fight my way out. We might never see each other again. Do you want me dead?" Jacques sounded frustrated.
"No, babe, of course not. But I'm not here to wait around. It hurts, to be honest, to be able to talk to you but unable to meet you at all," Etienne sighed. "You're like the sky, you know?"
"The sky? Why is that?"
"Because you're always there, but unreachable. It's there, but I can't touch it. It's the same as a dream. This connection isn't real; it's no different than living in the world alone," Etienne sounded bitter.
Jacques had this talk with Etienne for a long time. For so long, Etienne always encouraged him to get out. Jacques only needed to escape. He was a grown man, but acting like a coward immature, blaming here and there except himself. Etienne really wanted to push him out of his bullshit, but Jacques was too scared to do something despite always talking about wanting to be free from the lab.
All talk, no action. Etienne deserves better than this attitude. If he can't fight for his love, what kind of lover he is?
"If we keep it this way, babe... one day they will figure out you stole that phone, and we'll never talk to each other anymore. Then, everything is a lie, isn't it?" Etienne continued, sounding so pessimistic.
"Babe, it wasn't a lie. I'm real with you!" Jacques got triggered.
"No, you're not. You don't want to do anything about your situation, and nothing is going to change. It will only hurt us both, so I want to stop this. Besides, I'm starting to think that the only reason you want to be with me is because I keep paying your internet bills."
"No! Don't! Babe, don't give up on us. It's not about the internet bills, I swear!" Jacques was so tense that he stood up from the toilet he had been sitting on.
"I don't want to live in a lie or imagination. And I don't want to waste time with someone who doesn't want to change," Etienne sounded upset.
"No, I'll prove to you. I'll find a way to get out of here. I promise! You don't need to pay my internet bills anymore. Next time you see me, it will be in person!"
After the conversation ended, Jacques roamed in his room. For the first time in decades, he started using his brain again, wondering how to get out. He looked at the ceiling—no way out. The only way out was through the door. So that's the only way he could leave. During dinner time, when the nurses delivered his meal, Jacques waited for them with the only weapon he could find: a chair.
But he had to be careful because they were watching his movements through CCTV. So he waited for them to arrive, grabbed the chair, and swung it. But since Jacques had never hurt anyone, his attack was weak—it didn't knock the nurse out, only pushed her to the floor.
Jacques ran through the open door and was confused at first—should he run to the left or right?
He chose right.
However, since he was never ever get out of the room, he was completely unfamiliar with the place, he quickly got surrounded by guards and recaptured.
They handcuffed him, pinning him down to the floor after shooting a paralysis bullet into his thigh.
Mission Failed.
Dr. Maxis found a phone in his pocket and suspiciously stared at Jacques. "How did you get this?"
Jacques didn't want to answer, but it didn't matter to Dr. Maxis because he eventually figured out that Jacques had stolen it from the nurse.
"You are quite talented, actually, even if it's a useless talent, but it still deserves some appreciation," Dr. Maxis mocked.
After that failed attempt, not only did Jacques lose his phone, but the door never opened again. They changed the door so they slid the food through a small window on the door, no longer with direct contact. And when they needed to extract his cells, two guards were there to prevent Jacques from harming the nurse again.
Losing access to the phone—and to Etienne—drove him crazy. They wouldn't let him say goodbye to Etienne or explain his situation. Jacques just wanted to tell Etienne to move on because he had failed. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't let him go. He couldn't forget Etienne, and every passing second without him was excruciating. He missed their conversations and Etienne's hilarious reactions to him.
For so long, being trapped in the lab, no one spoke to him. Everyone saw him nothing more than a clone donor, a cell bank. That's all. He was less than human. Since he stole the phone, he'd been actively talking to many people, but only with Etienne did he find happiness. He didn't want to lose it.
Die trying is better than die like a caged pet, so Jacques decided; he has to get out of here. Because that's the last thing he told Etienne before the phone was taken away.
Jacques found no other solution than to fight his way out, but he was too slow with his fat body. So, he began to work out. He wanted to get rid of the fat, so he kept moving, kept sweating until all the fat was gone, replaced with muscle.
It was a long journey, and it wasn't going to happen overnight. But working out consistently changed his mindset from "no way I can do it" to "I can make it!"
When his body started to transform, he felt stronger. He began to fight back. He fought the guards and took their guns. However, he hesitated to fire; he didn't want to hurt anyone. But his hesitation resulted in grave regret. They shot him, and they decided to put him into vegetation mode because it was easier for them to control him and continue harvesting his genes. He couldn't be dead, or the precious aether cell would die with him.
"Any last wish before we do it?" Dr. Maxis proceeded to mock him. "We can give you your favorite meal that you've been whining about for 30 years. What is it? Beef steak?"
Jacques would LOVE a beef steak, but there was something more important than that.
"I want to call someone," Jacques said sadly. He had lost all hope. They shot his knee, fracturing the bone, and he was now officially crippled. Even if he could escape, he wouldn't be as fast because he lost his leg.
Dr. Maxis gave him access, but it's a large screen hologram video call where everybody in the room can see who Jacques called and hear their conversation. "You only have 5 minutes."
Jacques called Etienne. He still remembered the phone number.
Etienne didn't pick it up at first because it showed as an unknown number on his side. He thought it was a scammer.
"Looks like you got rejected," Dr. Maxis glanced at his watch, tired of waiting.
"No, wait, he'll pick it up!" Jacques persisted, and he believed it.
"It's the last call. I cannot wait forever," Dr. Maxis said.
"Don't do that! You've kept me here for years, giving me nothing but soup! You won't let me do what I want, not even have fun! All I wanted was just to call someone!" While Jacques ranted, Etienne picked up the phone, and he could hear Jacques's rant.
"...I just want to fucking see him again for the last time, before you cut my nerves and put me in eternal coma! I just fucking need 5 minutes to see him again, and you're still being an ass to me! I swear, if you hadn't taken my leg, I'd jump on you and pull out your throat!"
"Babe? Is that you?" Etienne's voice quickly silenced Jacques. Etienne examined the man he saw in the video for a while. All his fat was gone; he looked big and muscular—a very different person. But instead making him happy or excited, it makes him confused, "Why are you handsome? Where did all your fat go? Is that really you?"
"Babe, you picked it up!" Jacques almost couldn't believe he could see Etienne again.
Dr. Maxis could also see Etienne's face because the video call was happening on the hologram layer, a wide screen. He narrowed his eyes and was shocked. "I thought it was a beautiful schoolgirl, but it's just a monster with melting candle face!"
Dr. Maxis laughed with his assistants.
"Hey, shut your sorry mouth or I'll destroy your teeth! No one calls him ugly!!" Jacques was really mad. His face turned red, veins showing.
"Yeah, when he was young? Suuure!!" Dr. Maxis laughed again.
"He's the most gorgeous person ever!" Jacques defended Etienne, even though, to be honest, Etienne had never shown his original face before the accident to Jacques. "I don't care what you think. You guys can fuck yourselves!"
"Babe, what happened? Where are you? Are you with someone? Why haven't you called me for months?" Etienne looked worried, his voice trembling as he confessed, "I kept paying your internet bills so you could receive my messages... but you never called, and... I thought you were gone..."
Everyone could hear Etienne's quiet sobs through the call.
"Baby, don't cry," Jacques turned his face toward the holographic screen, his expression softening at the sound of Etienne's voice.
"Babe, they took my phone—that's why I couldn't answer. And because of that, I've been trying to escape. I told you I'd figure things out."
Etienne's voice sounds trembles. "Oh... really?"
Jacques showed his broken knee, the destroyed bone is visible. However, Etienne's disfigured face made it hard for him to show any micro facial expression, only glaring with his dilated green eyes.
"They got me, babe. I lost my leg. I can't run anymore, and now they're trying to put me into vegetative mode. I'm sorry, babe. I can't fulfill my promise to you. But I just want you to know that you're the most beautiful person I've ever known...."
"Alright, it's been 5 minutes already," Dr. Maxis intervened, not because it had actually been 5 minutes, but because the whole conversation disgusted him. It was strange to see two unattractive old men saying such poetic things to each other.
"Shut up! It's only been 1 minute!" Jacques barked at Dr. Maxis , freezing him in place.
"Babe, I don't know..." Etienne wiped his tears, his voice still shaky. "I don't know... I thought you left me."
His voice broke as he sobbed.
"No, I'm not. They took the phone, that's why I can't contact you," Jacques continued. "If I could, I would keep trying, but there's no way now. I wish I could turn back time, so I could fix my previous mistakes..."
"It's okay, baby," Etienne's voice softened. "Where are you? I want to visit you before they turn you into a vegetable."
"Vegetative mode, babe. I don't know where I am," Jacques shook his head.
He lied.
Why would he bring Etienne here—to this dangerous place?
"Babe..." Etienne wiped his tears. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for every blunt, mean words I said to you. I wish I could have been more gentle with you."
But he couldn't tell Jacques that the reason he was blunt was because he didn't believe Jacques was serious about him. He thought Jacques was lying or pranking him and using him for internet access. But now, seeing the transformation in Jacques, how he put in the work, even though his mindset was still a bit spoiled, Etienne was impressed. All he needed was more time, and he running out of it now.
"Babe, don't be sorry for what already happened. You pushed me to my limits, and I'm grateful for that. I just wish I had more chances. All I want is—" Before Jacques could finish his sentence, Dr. Maxis cut off the connection out of disgust.
"—to be with you," Jacques finished his words to the empty air where the holographic screen had been.
He felt really hurt. He had tried his best, but it wasn't enough. All he needed was more chances. He let the people in the lab laugh at him, mocking him. They even called him "babe" now, treating him and Etienne as if they were a joke.
When they tried to inject Jacques with the drugs to put him in vegetative stage, Jacques, with full determination, pushed through. He snatched the syringe and mercilessly stabbed it back into Dr. Maxis, pushing the liquid into his own body.
"Hey! Capture him! Capture him!!" the assistants panicked.
The guards started to enter, and Jacques, with only one functioning leg, fought everyone he could grab. No more hesitation in hurting anyone! He smashed their heads into the mirror wall, no longer scared by the threat of cocked rifles pointed at him; they can kill him, he doesn't care anymore!
Bullets were launched, ripping apart his skin and impaling his internal organs. But Jacques decided that if they wanted to stop him, it had to be murder, or they would be the ones who got killed. The Argonarian fought with a bloody body, and he wouldn't back down because of the pain. He was enraged, rampaging and destroying everything in his path. As the last bullet went through his brain, his torso began to glow. Quickly, a shape of a black dragon formed across his upper chest, the dragon's head on his right shoulder.
A majestic divine voice is heard before Jacques completely losing his life, "You've passed the test.... Let's do this!"
Jacques was dead.
And that was when the black dragon's eyes glowed red and summoned the time rewind....
...back to the day when Jacques Durant was born.