The trip to China had been long, filled with obstacles and barricade. It had first started on that day, three years ago, where Jack decided to start looking for his soulmate. That initial search, however, had been fruitless. That had been the first of many obstacles. The biggest one, however, was when he discovered that his soulmate was, in fact, dead. Only their soul remained in this world. This wasn't exactly an obstacle, just… a bad turn of events. However, Jack didn't want to live his life with a useless compass in his wrist, like other people would be happily to live. He was only 22 years old, a whole life ahead of him. It was… too much time with this kind of reminder. Thus, the genius decided to go on a search for this soul, and set it free. No one deserves that kind of ending, anyways.
"There's no talking you out of this, is there?," Said Jack's mom as she saw her son placing his luggage at the door of their mansion in New York. There was a robotic butler standing next to the luggage, ready to lift them when commanded to. Jack turned back to look at his mother. She was standing next to the grand stairs that were in the middle of the mansion. She was hugging herself, watching with red rimmed eyes at her only child. Jack sighed, and walked over to her.
"I'm sorry, Mom," Jack said, hugging her tightly. He placed his head atop of his mother's unkempt mop of fiery red hair. With that, the woman crumbled and started sobbing against his shoulder. Her hands wove around Jack's torso, and held him tight to her. Jack's own hands were rubbing circles into her back.
"Please maintain contact with your father and I," Said Jack's mother once she had calmed down. She pushed Jack to arm's length, and looked at him up and down. Tears started brimming in her eyes as she drunk in the possibly last image she'll ever have of her son. Jack smiled sadly at her, and raised a hand to gently wipe away the tears that had started to run down her cheeks again.
"I will. I won't be long for more than a year, mom," Said Jack gently as he gazed down adoringly at his mom. His father had left during the morning; he didn't want to see his only child leave. Thus, this left his mother alone to try and change his mind.
"Ok, well… Go find that soulmate of yours, and bring them back so I can kick their ass!" Said Jack's mom. Jack internally deflated at that; if only she knew…
"I will, mom; but don't kick their ass too hard, ok?" Chuckled Jack. His mother chuckled too at that, before kissing his cheek and combing his red hair with her hand.
"Okay honey. Call me once you get there, and please get there safe and sound, ok? And take the lunch I packed you. Made some cookies, too," Said Jack's mom, looking towards a decor table, where the lunch currently was. Jack laughed, and nodded.
"Thanks," Said Jack, walking over to the decor table and grabbing the containers. Another butler bot floated in behind him, to which Jack gave the lunch to. The bot floated back to the entrance and left. In the meanwhile, Jack revised his mental checklist of things he had to bring to the trip.
"Ugh, I'm missing something," Mumbled Jack, scratching his hair. Behind him, some keys jingled. Jack turned around, and saw his mother holding the keys to his car, and the jet, on the tip of her index finger.
"Your dad and I thought of hiding them from you, but… That'd be a bit cruel, now wouldn't it? Everyone does deserve to find their soulmate," Said Jack's mom. Jack sighed, and walked over to her.
"I'll be fine, I promise. Look, I'll even getcha a silk dress, from China. How's that sound?" Asked Jack, gently taking the keys.
"I'd much prefer you get my son to stay home; but, alright, I guess a silk dress would be the next best thing," Said Jack's mom. Jack grinned, and kissed her forehead.
"Well, I gotta go. Love ya, mom. I'll call you when I land on Beijing," Said Jack, walking towards the grand entrance of the house. His mother called out a 'Bye, Jackie' behind him. Jack snapped his fingers, and the bots were grabbing his luggage and taking it to the car.
Once inside the car, Jack looked at the mansion's entrance once more. His mother was standing by one of the Greek-like, marble pillars that held up the architecture of the house. She waved goodbye at him, and Jack did the same to her. Without further ado, Jack started the engine of the SUV, and drove out the mansion.
The day had started out cloudy, with a chill wind rustling the leaves. Autumn was right around the corner, some trees already turning yellow. Jack sighed, he liked New York during the autumnal season. He was going to miss that too.
"Waddup?" Jack asked to the butler bot hanging out next to him, after a while of driving. The bot had started to play with a few harmless controls in the car; changing stations and whatnot. As soon as the bot heard Jack, it stopped and looked at the redhead with a "deer caught in the headlights" look.
"The roof," the bot answered mechanically.
"If I had a nickle for every time someone says that," Jack muttered, annoyed. The bot continued changing stations.
The next obstacle had been getting through security at the airport.
"John F. Kennedy, huh? Welp, looks like we're here. Let's see if they let us in through the cargo area," Said Jack, reading the airport's name on one of the numerous signs it had. The bot next to him hummed in agreement. The bots in the back seats also hummed in agreement. No one wanted to carry luggage through that city of an airport.
Luckily, Jack had called beforehand a few months ago. He already had a parking reserved, and a hangar where his private jet hung out. Once Jack had been parked, he got out of the car. Stretching his limbs, he motioned for the bot that had been riding shotgun to get out.
"Buddy, you're my bodyguard now. Congrats. Now look tough," Said Jack to the bot. The bot stared impassively as ever at Jack. It didn't actually have an expression-full face, to begin with. Jack shrugged.
"Can't see if you're glaring or smiling at me… Meh, good enough. C'mon, let's go," Said Jack, mentally running a small blue print to install expressions on the bots. Wouldn't be hard, it was just a total of four that he was taking with him.
"Sir, I'm gonna have to stop you there," Said a guard as soon as Jack had hit the elevator button of the multi-floor parking lot. Jack stopped, and looked at the guard. She was holding her walkie-talkie earpiece, and glancing at the bot.
"Hi! I'm Jack Spicer, nice to meet ya, Mrs. Song," Said Jack, glancing at her name tag. She instantly let go of the earpiece as soon as she heard his name.
"Oh, Spicer? As in Spicer Industries?" Asked Officer Song, although she already knew the answer.
"The one and only," Said Jack, grinning. The officer smiled along.
"Yeah, you were scheduled to arrive today, right? Oh, and then this is one of your bots," Said the officer, looking curiously at the bot. The bot nodded.
"Yep! Brought him along, he's acting as my bodyguard right now, hope y'all don't mind," Said Jack, pulling a puppy face. The officer laughed and shook her head.
"No, no, not at all. What with the contract you made with the DoD last year, I'm pretty sure you're one of the safest guys in America! So, what can I help you with?" Asked Officer Song, standing at attention.
"So, I was wondering if I could get in through cargo to my hangar. I was about to go up to front desk to ask about that," Said Jack.
"I'll ask for you," Said Officer Song, fishing out her earpiece, "Officer Song to front desk, Mr. Spicer arrived and he had a questions about…"
As the officer continued her queries about security permissions and such, Jack took to, once again, making sure he had everything. The bot next to him floated idly, before getting a bit bored. The bot started to fiddle with his hands. Jack glanced down to the human-like gesture, and hummed lowly in acknowledgement. Seemed the personality matrix he'd install on them was beginning to grow. And, it seemed that this one was gonna be a handful in the future.
Officer Song lowered her hand from her earpiece, and Jack noticed that her right wrist's compass didn't have its needle on, but a cute ink of a branch with pink flowers. Jack guessed it was a cherry blossom tree branch, with how the flowers were gently drifting out of the compass and around the officer's wrist. So, she'd found her soulmate; that's cute. Jack quickly took his mind off of it.
"Mr. Spicer, they're saying they'll let you in through cargo, but only if you go through a security check first," Said Officer Song. Jack sighed, but nodded.
"That's alright! Just tell me through which terminal, and I'll be there," Said Jack.
"Actually, they'll do it in one of our conference rooms. There's too many civilians in all terminals right now," Said Officer Song. Jack nodded; true, he didn't want to alarm no one with all the unsafe equipment he was carrying.
"That's fair. Where's this conference room?"
Getting to the conference room had been harder than he thought. Sure, he had gotten access to maintenance hallways, and thus it wasn't as hard as going through the crowd. That, however, did nothing to fix the sheer size of the airport. It was literally the size of a small city. Also, other security guards weren't nearly as friendly as Officer Song herself; she also wasn't able to accompany him to this area, due to not having enough clearance. Jack barely got time to thank her for her help, before he had been escorted by other officers to the conference room. His bots trailed behind him with all the luggage he had been carrying.
"Sit inside while the inspectors arrive," Said an officer as he opened the wooden door to the conference room. Jack nodded, and he stepped inside with his bots. Once in, the door got shut, and the distinct sound of a lock was heard.
"Wonder what's got their panties in a twist," Asked Jack to the menacing, floating, 8-foot bot with red eyes that had been accompanying him this whole time. The bot shrugged, and placed down the luggage. The other bots did the same.
Sensing that this was going to take a while, Jack sat on a chair and fished out his phone. He placed his feet on top of the table, and started checking his social media. It seemed a few people out at the airport had gotten glimpses of him walking around. Blurry pictures were all over Twitter, making Jack feel more like a cryptid than a human being. He retweeted a few with the #Confirmed hashtag, or a link to the x-files theme song, before hearing the door to the room open. He pocketed his phone, before looking up. Interestingly, it wasn't normal officers that had entered the room. It was homeland security.
"Didn't I sign a contract with you guys?" Asked Jack.
"That was the Department of Defense, not Homeland Security," Said one of the officers, looking at the bots distrustingly.
"Ah…" Jack said, before directing the officers to his luggage, "So, there might be a few...stuff… in there."
"Open them up," Said the officer. Jack looked incredulously at them as they even brought a K-9 in.
"I ain't got no drugs-but, after all this, can I pet it?" Asked Jack as he opened the cases.
"Sir, we are going to have to hold you in an interrogation room," Said the officer, taking one glance at the first luggage that had been opened-and, yep, those were guns.
"Ugh, alright, but can I at least pet the dog?" Asked Jack as he stopped opening the cases. One of the guards behind the officer raised his eyebrows as he looked at one of the cases that was packed with grenades.
"No," Said the officer, before two officers came in and grabbed Jack by the arms.
"That's just cold," Said Jack as he was hauled out of the room. The bots made to follow their creator, but were held back by another officer.
"The bots will go to a holding room, in the meantime," Said one of the officers. Jack rolled his eyes, but groaned out a 'fine'.
The interrogation room was as every bit as movie-esque as possible. There was the cold, steel chair with the cold, steel table. The white floor with grey walls. The steel door. The black-tinged window that was actually a mirror. Jack scoffed at the absurdity of it; he'd done the goddamned paperwork four months ago to avoid this exact shit. The paperwork that basically said he was part of the military, and had almost the same clearance as military transport aircrafts.
But no, here he was, bored out of his mind. They'd taken his phone to, to boot. Jack realized that he should've just built his own airport, instead of being nice and using government ones to help with the economy. Whatever, too late for that now, he mused as he played around with the compass on his wrist. The needle kept pointing East, never moving nor quivering, like normal needles would do whenever the soulmate walked around. Jack traced the intricate, deep green borders of the compass. The border was in the shape of long, chinese dragons that went around the circle. Supposedly, once he found his soulmate, those dragons would come to life and live around his arm. Jack didn't know if that applied to dead soulmates. The needle of the compass was simple, but golden. Suddenly, the door to the room opened. Jack lifted his gaze and saw an officer walk in.
"We found your paperwork," Said the officer, as he set down the folder with it on the table.
"I told you I did it," Said Jack, crossing his arms, "Now let me go."
"Not before you answer a few of our questions," Said the officer, sitting down and clasping his hands. Jack glanced to the officer's wrist, and found that it was hidden expertly by the long, white sleeve of their shirt. Looking back, Jack realized that all the Homeland security officers had had long sleeved shirts that covered their wrists. Interesting.
"Alright, fine, waddaya need to know?" Said Jack.
"You never filed where were you going," Said the officer.
"I'm going to the Beijing Capital International Airport. Yes, I already filed in with them about all this stuff. Hopefully, they'll be less bothersome," Said Jack.
"We will need to conduct a call with them to confirm that," Said the officer, motioning something to the window. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Yeah, fine, what else?" Asked Jack.
"The compounds of the grenades," Said the officer, taking out a notepad.
"Why is that important? Isn't it more important to know that all of those briefcases are made of explosion-resistant concrete, along with some indestructible plastic, fabrics and titanium?" Said Jack. The officer clenched his jaw, but relaxed after a while. He placed the notepad back into his suit.
"I suppose so… What will you be doing in China?" Asked the officer. Jack pursed his lips, before placing his left arm on the table and showing his wrist.
"Looking for estranged soulmate. The… reason as to why I brought so much explosives and guns and stuff was because, well, since I know that there's some groups looking to get a hand on me, I figured it be easier to protect myself instead of hiring others to do it. Look, c'mon, if I were going to do, like, a terrorist attack, I wouldn't be using civil airports like JFK or Capital-and, yes, this is a direct flight. I'm not stopping in any other airports," Said Jack.
"...Fair enough, but one erroneous movement, and you'll be hauled back to the states, understand?" Said the officer, standing up.
"Yes, sir," Said Jack, shooting a mock salute. The officer groaned, and rolled his eyes.
Once Jack was let out of that whole ordeal, he marched his way back to the parking lot-still accompanied, however, by two officers. Seemed that Homeland security was going to keep an eye on him for the time being.
"I hope y'all know that I don't have space for you two in here," Said Jack once he was seated in the SUV. He started it up, seeing the officers retreat.
"There'll be two officers going with you on the trip. They're waiting in the hangar," Said one of the officers. Jack scoffed, but pulled out of the parking and into the driveway.
"Fuckin assholes," Muttered Jack as he fixed the rearview mirror so he could watch them cough in the distance at the smoke that came out of the SUV.
"It is standard protocol, sir," Piped up one of the bots in the backseat. Jack pouted.
"Oh, shut your voice box," Grumbled Jack.
The hangar wasn't overly big, just big enough to house the private jet. The jet itself was a sleek black, with the red Spicer Industries logo shining on its vertical stabilizer. There were a few maintenance bots floating around, each having already completed their tasks a while ago. At the foot of the metal staircase leading to the airplane were the two Homeland security officers, talking to each other.
"Officers," Jack said to get their attention. The bots that had been trailing behind Jack went up into the jet to deposit and organize the luggage.
"We are to travel with you to Beijing Capital. Once there, we'll see you off when you arrive at your intended destination within China," Spoke one of the officers. Jack noticed the lack of a nametag, and frowned.
"Well, if you two will be on road trip with me -or, air trip-, the less you could do is give me something to call you," Said Jack.
"Due to security purposes, we cannot give you our names," Said the other officer, this one a woman.
"Fine then. You will be Minga, and he'll be Petraca. Now, get on," Said Jack as he started ascending the stairs. He heard the sound of footsteps on metal, and knew that the officers were following.
The inside of the jet was small, but well organized so it was spacious. The entrance to it led directly to the lounge, where a few tables and sofas were. There was a LED flat screen on a wall that separated the lounge from the cockpit. Under the TV there was a small table with a few liquor bottles. Jack offered a drink to the officers, but as expected, they refused. Besides the cockpit, the opposite side of the lounge led to a hallway. In that hallway, there were doors to the bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen, and the storage area. In the storage area, there was a small room for the bots to hang around were windows everywhere; however, the lights were turned on due to them being in the hangar still.
"You'll be flying this?" Asked the female officer, now named Minga. The other officer, Petraca, was busy inspecting the jet.
"Yeah. Got my international piloting license at 15," Said Jack, flashing said license on front of the officer's face before placing it back inside his bomber jacket. He'd don it at soon as he had entered the bedroom of the jet. He pulled out the aviator glasses from one of the pockets in the jet, and hung them on front of his shirt.
"And the co-pilot?" Asked Minga. Petraca came walking back to stand at the lounge.
"Ooh, right," Said Jack, before calling out on the hallway, "Jack-bot 926, haul ass over here."
Instantly, the bot that had been the bodyguard this morning was back at Jack's side.
"Yes?" The bot asked.
"You were promoted from bodyguard to co-pilot. Get in there," Said Jack, getting out of the hallway to the cockpit. The bot floated in.
"That's not a viable co-pilot," Commented one of the officers.
"He is. I installed a few flying manuals and instructions into the whole lot that I brought over. I'll probs leave him connected to the flying computer if I get bored. We'll see. Anyways, gotta go! Bye!" Said Jack, before slamming close the door to the cockpit. He locked it, and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Computer, status," Said Jack as he walked over to the pilot chair. With the press of a button, the windows of the cockpit were brightening. Jack pulled the pilot's headset over his head, and accommodated the microphone. Meanwhile, the jet's computer rattled off the status of the jet; things like engine temperature, gasoline stored, and battery levels were mentioned.
"JFK Ground Control, Spindu Four One Three, Request clearance for Bravo, Over," Said Jack into the headset. The hangar doors opened, and there was another plane parked on the Bravo taxiway. Thankfully, he knew he'd need a clearance on the Bravo taxiway.
"Why did I choose this airport?" Groaned out Jack as he sunk into his seat.
"JFK Ground Control to Spindu, where are you Spindu?" the controller asked.
"Inside the hangar at the start of Bravo. There's a Cessna on front of me, can't leave, " Said Jack.
"Alright, copy that. Give us a few minutes."
Jack drummed his fingers against his thigh, watching the small Cessna that was blocking his way. After 10 minutes, Jack considered rolling over the Cessna and paying whatever damage demolishing a plane would cost, but thought better of it. After 20 minutes, Jack-bot 926 hooked onto the flight computer, and fiddled around with the cockpit lights. After half an hour, Jack finally saw someone run over to the Cessna. What Jack assumed to be its pilot threw open the door, closed it, and instantly turned the plane on.
"Ground control to Spindu, clearance for Bravo, please advance over to Victor and wait behind the Delta short of Alpha," Said ground control once the Cessna taxied out of the entrance to the hangar.
"Copy that! Spindu Four One Three," Jack said merrily once the Cessna had gotten out. He taxied the jet out onto the taxiway, and rolled over to the position behind the Delta.
"Huh, looks like there's quite a line," Said Jack. The bot beside him hummed in agreement.
The wait to get in the air wasn't as long as Jack thought it'd be. One hour, and the wheels were off the ground. Pulling the aviator glasses over his eyes, Jack sighed deeply as he took the blue skies around him. The sun was setting over the horizon, meaning that they'd be arriving at Beijing during dusk. The jet lag was going to be awful; at least Jack planned to take the next day off in order to adapt.
Air traffic was low at best; almost no planes did direct trips. Jack had the luxury of doing so, since he had added solar energy to the list of energy sources that could power the Spindu jet. The bot next to him kept itself hooked up on the flight computer, and eventually Jack let him pilot the ship. He seemed to be enjoying it.
"So, how's everything?" Asked Jack as he exit the cockpit. He launched himself onto one of the couches, and laid sprawled on it.
"Good," Commented Petraca, who was reading a magazine. Minga had been watching the TV.
"Ugh, did you guys see the line at JFK? I thought we'd never get outta there," Said Jack, raising his arms to motion them as he spoke. He caught a glimpse of his compass, and lowered his wrist to look at it.
"You sure are dedicated to finding them," Said one of the officers. Jack glanced at her, and back at the wrist.
"Who wouldn't be?" Said Jack.
"Do you know who they are, or…?" The officer, Minga, trailed off. Jack shook his head.
"Nah, the drones I had couldn't track my compass-or any compass," Said Jack. The officer grunted in understanding.
The 20-hour long flight was a slow one. At one point, Jack ended up going to sleep in the bedroom. He'd relayed all important instructions to Jack-bot 926, who seemed to be excited about the idea of manning a plane all by himself. Jack found it cute that the bot's personality matrix expanded to being amazed by airplanes. Once they'd arrive at China's borders, the bot was to wake him up. After giving the bot the instructions, Jack checked the rest of the bots in the storage area, and saw that they had found an old chess game and were playing it. Or, well, two of them were playing it while the last one acted as referee. Not once had Jack seen those things be so concentrated, until now. Being shooed out of the storage by the referee, who didn't want anyone distracting the two players, Jack hit the bed and instantly went to sleep.
~o~o~o~o~
(A/N): This wasn't beta-ed, or proofread as it should've been. There's probably 1001+ continuity errors ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So, I'll be updating every Friday. Chapter Two is already written, but I'll publish it next Friday.
This fanfic is going to be slow, so, if you want, you can just wait 'til chapter three is out. That's where the action truly begins. I won't judge!
Kudos + comments are highly welcomed and appreciated!