School ended as usual, around three o’clock in the afternoon. I walked off to the parking lot with Mya and Brendan. We were still discussing about the lesson we had in Biology class today. When we got to the parking lot, Mya said goodbye and headed to her own vehicle. Brendan and I headed to my car for departing the school premises.
I dropped him off at his place and I headed home. I parked my car outside the garage because I felt like going out for a drive later on. I headed upstairs to my room and put my bag on the bed. I opened it and took out the detector and the manual that my dad had lent to me for the day. I set off to my dad’s lab and I found him working on his gadgets, although he wasn’t alone.
I set the detector on his desk and sat down on one of the chairs that the lab offered. I waited for him to finish off what he was doing before I talked to him.
“Hey dad”, I called after he set down what he was working on.
“Oh, hi honey”, he looked up with a smile.
He saw me eyeing the man that he was working with and he understood where I was already. I knew that he had never allowed anyone else, except me, into his lab. I never thought he’d be in need of a sidekick because he seemed to be happy working all on his own.
“This is James Carter, an old friend of mine that I used to work with in college. James, this is my daughter Lina that I was telling you about”, he introduced us.
“Hi Lina, it’s a pleasure to meet you”, James said with his hand extended.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, James.” I took his hand in greeting.
“Please, call me Jay”, he said while he was still holding my hand.
“Jay”, I smiled at him.
He let go of my hand and moved back to what my father was working on. My dad stepped around to where I was seated and he saw me raising a questioning eyebrow at him. He didn’t need any mind-reading ability to know what I wanted to question him on.
“James has decided to partner up with me through all this lab work since he knows how I work and we kind of work in the same way”, he said in a serious tone.
“But why?”
“Well, both of us had an ambition of having our own labs and working independently since college. We both got those goals in check, that’s why you’ve never seen him before. He had his own lab in Cape Town but it wasn’t as private as mine. So he got attacked by an organisation because they wanted him to work for them but he didn’t want that. They took all his work notes, his gadgets and wanted to burn his lab down with him inside. He managed to save himself from the set-up but he couldn’t save anything else from his lab. They took everything from him but not his money and documents. He decided to come back to Johannesburg so as to save himself from them.
"I ran into him this morning when I went out for the supplies. He told me that he’d love to work with me hand in hand in making the best scientific supplies that would make us earn more millions from different countries. And also, to protect you from the organisation”, he said.I gasped, “Protect me?”
Jay had heard our conversation and he came around to join in so that I could understand what they were talking about.
“Lina, your dad told me everything about you so don’t be alarmed that I know this much. This organisation was planning on creating a new superhuman race that they wanted to use for their evil deeds. So they had started on abducting kids from all over the world so that they could change them to superhumans by adding different kinds of powers in them. They wanted me to help them do so, but I couldn’t involve myself in something that ludicrous and dangerous. So that is why they took my notes, so that they find another scientist who knows a way around all my formulas. And that is why I bailed from the city”, he said that in a very sad tone.
“So you’re telling me that there’s an evil group out there that is trying to get hold of people like me?” I asked that with bitterness.
“Yes, and that is why I have joined forces with your father. We were the best in our class back then, and I know that we might be able to take down this organisation with all the combinations they may be able to come up with. And of course, you can be able to help out when it comes necessary”, Jay said with a shrug.
I couldn’t respond to what he said because I was caught up in a lot of thinking about everything that they’d told me. I got my act together to answer but I couldn’t help but get annoyed over it.
“How am I going to be able to help out?”
My dad answered this time, “Remember all the training that we’ve been doing around here?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, now it would have to be done in reality, see it as your first mission that you’ve been training for”, he said in a soothing tone.
It didn’t help because I got really overwhelmed and my super senses glitched.
“What?” I said and immediately my heat vision activated such that I shot a laser across the lab that hit the far wall and did some damage to it.
Jay jumped up frightened by what he saw but my dad came around and told me to calm down.
“It’s not that big a deal, honey. Just keep on acting like you’ve been doing and no harm will come your way. These people don’t know you, or me for that matter. They only know Jay but they don’t know that he’s here”, he said that and wrapped his hands around me when he saw that I was in control. “So, for security reasons, Jay will be staying with us from now on. We’ve got plenty of room and I hope you don’t mind”.
“Of course not, he’s welcome to stay”, I said in a low tone and then I got hold of myself. I turned to Jay and smiled apologetically, “Sorry about the overreaction”.
“It’s all good, kid. I hope you’re not going to put a hole through me from that laser shot of yours”, he laughed.
“No, it won’t happen, not unless you cross me and leave me no choice but to do so.” We all laughed at that.
So it was all settled and I felt better knowing that I now had two people protecting me.
“I almost forgot, I have a surprise for you”, my dad said with a lit up face.
“What is it?”
He went over to the wall near his desk and I saw a small screen on it. He swiped on the screen and an almost translucent face appeared. I noticed that it moved and soon after that it talked.
"Hey”, it said.
I stood there not moving, amazed by the creation on the wall that was looking at my dad.
“Lina, I’d like you to meet Jack, a new member of the family. Jack, that’s Lina over there”, he gave the introduction like it was from one person to the other.
“Hey Lina. You sure are a feast for the eyes, aren’t you?” it talked as if it was living and I was still amazed that I couldn’t say anything.
I gathered my thoughts and said, “Hi Jack. Nice to meet you”.
Jack made a smiling face and I couldn’t help but smile too.
“Jack is our new home security system, better than those set alarms every night. Jack is more fun, since he can talk”, my dad said.
“And he’s not just here, but everywhere in the house, except the rest rooms”, Jay added.
“Jay, you were not supposed to say that, I was supposed to tell her myself. Or even surprise her when she got to the other rooms”, Jack said.
“Sorry, Jack”, he smiled.
“Party pooper”, Jack commented.
“So, honey, what do you think?” my dad asked, still standing by Jack.
“Umm, I think he’s cute and better than the security alarms”, I said with a shrug. “I mean, with time, I’ll get used to him.”
“Great, that’s great”, Jack commented. “I look forward to that, Miss Lina.” And then he winked at me. I laughed at that and then he went away.
I started to move towards the elevator to get upstairs but my dad stopped me to ask about Ashton.
“Hey, how did it go with the guy you told me about yesterday?” he asked.
“Oh, the detector detected that he really is bionic.”
“Oh my!” my dad exclaimed.
“Who was detected to be bionic?” Jay asked.
“There’s a new kid that enrolled in her school and he’s bionic”, my dad told him.
“Where’s he from?” he asked.
“I don’t know”, I answered.
“What do you know about him?” he asked me in a serious tone.
I had to go back, take a seat and tell him about it.
I told Jay everything about Ashton that I knew, including the fact that he could read minds too. I also told him about the multi-million rands car that he was driving, although I don’t know why that was relevant. I told him about how his eyes changed colour mimicking mine. I told him all the minor details I knew about him.With all that I told them, there wasn’t any harmful information that made him or my dad fear for the worst. I still couldn’t get my head around the reason why Ashton’s picture was on the missing children’s website. I decided to toss it aside for some day that might come up with a helpful solution to the puzzle in my head.“Hey dad, I’m going out for some air. I’ll be back soon”, I said that heading to the elevator.“Ok, but be back in time for dinner. And please be careful”, he added with a smile on his face.“A
“So, where are you from?” I asked him as soon as I looked away from him.“I’m from Cape Town, I think”, he said in a tone that implied that there was a lot more from the answer he gave me. “But that’s a story for another day because it’s a long one.”I was about to answer him when Jack came around and said, “Kid, we have to move or else your dad will soon call you to find out where we are.”“Yeah sure, let’s go.” I turned to Ashton and smiled apologetically that our conversation was cut short. He nodded in understanding and flashed a brilliant smile at me. I shuddered and looked away, dazzled. He saw that and he laughed in his mind.“I’ll see you tomorrow at school, then”, he said that and then to Jack, “I’ll see you some other time, champ.”“Yeah, you can cou
School was dragging for the rest of the week as I was still planning on going to the mall with Jack during the weekend. I invited Mya and Brendan to come with me but they said that they already had plans. I wanted them to come so that they would meet Jack so I didn’t tell them about him. When the time came, they would get to know him.On that Friday, during lunch time, Ashton called me, mentally. I didn’t look up but he knew that I heard him.Lina, he called.Yeah? I answered.There’s something I want to ask you, but I’d rather do it verbally, he said.What is it?Can’t say. Meet me by the parking lot in two minutes, in my car, he ended.
That night, I watched movies on my laptop until the wee hours of the morning. I told Jack about the addition to our outing to the mall. He was pretty much excited that Ashton was joining us. I told my dad and Jay about my plans for the weekend and who I was going to be with. They didn’t say much about it, I knew that they would be working all day in the lab and I’d be out of their hair.I slept for a few hours and woke up midmorning. I tidied up my room and then went downstairs to help myself to some breakfast. I wanted something to make me feel energetic since I was to practise earlier that day, before going out. I found my dad in the kitchen.“You slept late last night”, he commented.“Umm, yeah. I was just watching some movies and I got too carried away with them. So I slept around two in the morning.”“Honey, you know that you need enough rest or else you&
I drove off in the direction of the Mall, with Jack. It wasn’t a very long drive but I wasn’t in a rush so I drove under the speed limit. We talked about my school with Jack, I was telling him about how it was. I described everything clearly for him so that he could try to picture it. He asked about my friends and I told him about Mya and Brendan. “Kid, don’t tell me that you only have two friends at school”, he said with a disapproving tone. “I do have two friends only. Some students tolerate me but some really look at me like I’m some kind of disturbing bug, although I’ve never talked to them. That’s one of the reasons why I always wear hoodies and keep my head down.” He considered that and took a moment going over what I had just said. I didn’t know what he was thinking about, it was annoying that I couldn’t read his mind. For all I knew, I don’t think he had a mind since he was just a computer. He was way better than a normal computer because he could rea
We watched the movie while playing around with the snacks that we had bought, and also Jack making us laugh about some of the scenes in the movie he made to be pretty funny. It was a great movie and we watched it till the very end of it. I enjoyed every moment of it, even Ashton seemed to have enjoyed it too. I had no doubt that Jack had a great time as well.We went out of the cinema when the movie had reached its end. We were quiet for a while and we looked for a quiet restaurant that we would sit in. We found one around the corner, almost on your way out in the direction of the parking lots.All the way from the cinema to that restaurant, I was feeling uneasy. I felt like we were being followed but I couldn’t be sure by who. I kept on looking behind my back to see who was following us but I just saw a lot of people walking about their business, I didn’t see anyone who seemed out of place there. When we got to the restaurant, I felt better and relaxed.
Ashton started asking questions about my family."So you live with your dad and uncle?" he asked.Even though Jay wasn't technically my uncle, this was the best way to inrtroduce him to people around me. "Yes, I live with both.""May i ask what happened to your mom?" he inquired further.Truthfully, i hated answering those questions concerning family, but I made an exception of giving answers to him."She died while giving birth to me", i paused. "I never got to know her."He kept quiet as he felt the gravity of pain in the information I had offered him."I'm sorry", he said after a moment of silence."It's okay. It was a long time ago and it doesn't as much anymore. I have my dad who tries by all means to fill whatever void is there and I'm grateful for that."I smiled to assure him that I meant what I had just said. He let it go and smiled back at me.I then asked "What about you?"He hesitate
I dashed downstairs and found Maggie still in the kitchen with Jack. They noticed me but paid me no attention. I decided to use that opportunity of them not looking at me and dashed to the hidden elevators to the lab. I got to the lab and found my dad and Jay finishing off what they were installing in the capsule. They paid me no attention as well so I used that opportunity to get to the lab computer. Ever since we found out how dangerous this situation was, I had decided to use the computer in the lab because it was the only one around the house that was so deeply encrypted that it was highly impossible to trace its location and activity.I went straight to the website and got the number that I wanted. I took the phone situated next to the computer and dialled the number on the screen of the computer. It rang twice and a female voice answered.“Hello”, the voice said.“Hi, is this the McKenzie residence?” I asked.My question brou