Hey everyone, JJ here, with a new story and a new genre! I'm really excited about this one as well as My Brother's Keeper... and one other story I have in the works! F3 All I will say is that it involves Professor Layton and one of the best authors I know! ) (Not me, although, I'm in it too.) Well, let's cut the chit-chat. My commentary will be minimal for the first three chapters...

Dependency

Episode 1

A Unique Experiment

Chapter 1

Brandon awoke to the buzzing of his alarm clock. He groaned. He forgot to shut it off. After a bit of fumbling on his dresser, his hand found the "Off" button. Brandon sat up. No use trying to get to bed now. Once he was up, there was no going back to bed. He shuffled his way to his bedroom door.

Brandon slowly ambled into the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face to help himself wake up. The tips of his shaggy brown hair clung together as the water hit them. Brandon slapped his face a couple of times to make sure he was awake before leaving. He went to the nearest window in his apartment and opened it up. The sound of taxis honking, pigeons cooing, and people yelling at each other filled the air. The sweet sounds of New York City.

Brandon was pretty lucky for a 14 year old. He lived in one of the coolest cities ever, with one of the coolest moms ever.

"Brandon!" Elise, Brandon's mom, groaned as she walked into the room. "It's six o'clock in the morning! On a Saturday!" Brandon's mother had brown hair, much like his, that was down to the middle of her back.

"Sorry Mom." Brandon said, closing the window. "I accidentally left my alarm on."

"I figured, but I was talking about the window!" His mom said. "It's too noisy out there to be opened this time of day!"

"But it sounds so nice today Mom!" Brandon said, opening the window and waving his mother over. "Listen!" His mom stuck her head out the window and closed her eyes.

"...Yeah. I guess you're right." His mom said, smiling. "Maybe this was worth getting up at 6:00 for."

"I think it's going to be a good day." Brandon said, walking away.

"You really think so?" Elise asked as she closed the window.

"Yep." Brandon said, going over to the wall clock and rubbing his hands on it. "Oh, and Mom?"

"Yes honey?"

"It's 7:00, not six."

One important thing you have to know about Brandon is that he's blind.

About 6 months ago, Brandon was in an accident. He was taking the bus to school, when it was hit by a semi-truck going through an intersection. The glass from the windows lodged themselves into Brandon's eyes, making them unusable. For the next few months, Brandon had to learn how to do things without seeing. It was a grueling process, but Brandon was getting better and better each day. Although, he missed doing some of the things he used to do.

Play football.

Play video games with his friends.

Doodle on his class notes.

Watch the sun rise.

See colors.

It was hard for Brandon. Yet through everything, Brandon found a new passion.

Listening.

It was fun to hear all of the sounds he had missed while he was still seeing. He started to hear things sharper, clearer, more in focus. He noticed that his favorite rap song had a really rocking bass track. He noticed that his mom's voice wavered whenever she laughed. He noticed that the library really wasn't as quiet as you'd think it would be. Brandon was still pretty happy, despite the fact that he couldn't see.

But there were some days where he missed his sight. And he wished, even if just for a little while, that he could see again.

"Mom, do we have any milk?" Brandon asked.

"Okay, I know you just woke up, but maybe you should wait to have breakfast until later today." His mom said, quickly putting on her Police vest and putting her hair into a bun.

"So that's a no." Brandon said walking over to the couch, preparing to sit down.

"A little to your right." Mom said right before he sat down on thin air. Brandon corrected himself and sat down. "Yes, that is a no. But cut me some slack, it's 7:00, I haven't gone grocery shopping yet... or even gone out yet. Left." Brandon reached a little further to the left and found the remote control. He flicked on the T.V.

"Excuses excuses!" Brandon said teasingly.

"You're a pain in my butt!" Elise walked over and gave Brandon a quick hug. "I'm gonna be late, love you!" She planted a kiss on his cheek and hurried out the door, putting her Police hat on as she ran out. Brandon laughed and shook his head. She needed a better alarm clock. He started changing channels, listening to each one, to see if there was anything he liked.

"Seen it."

"Chick flick."

"Infomercial."

"No way."

He finally stopped.

"CSI... yeah, sure, why not?" He sat back and started to listen.

"Sooooo booooored." Brandon groaned. He stood up and felt his way back to the wall clock.

7:30.

Brandon banged his head against the wall. Saturday morning, and nothing to do. He felt his way back to the couch and slumped into the cushion.

"What to do..." Brandon wondered. He didn't want to watch the television anymore, but it seemed like the only option. It was too early to call his friends, and he couldn't step out without someone knowing he was leaving. If he tried to call his mom to ask if he could leave, he would have to go through her crabby secretary. He was bored, but not that bored. Brandon walked over to the window once again, and opened it. He stuck his head out and listened once again.

"Hey, move it will ya!"

"So Humphrey was saying that he-"

"Brandon!" A voice from below yelled. Brandon smiled.

"Hey Lou!" Brandon yelled down. Lou was one of the best hotdog makers and venders this side of the Hudson. Brandon and his mom were great friends with the man, since they made it a tradition to go and get hot dogs from him every Sunday. He was about 45, with a thick brown mustache, and no hair. He was a bit heavy set, but not to the point where he would be called fat.

"Hey, I saw your mom running out here!" Lou yelled, his voice thick with a New York accent. Brandon and his mom didn't have one, but they were pretty good at pretending to.

"Yeah, she was late. Again." Brandon rolled his eyes.

"Tell her to buy a new alarm clock!" Lou said, as he handed a man a hot dog.

"I will!" Brandon yelled. "How's business?"

"It's going slow today kiddo!" Lou said. "I've only sold like three dogs in the last five minutes!"

"Send one up!" Brandon yelled down. "I'll be right back with the lift!" Brandon felt his way to his bedroom. He made his way over to the dresser and felt along the top until he found what he wanted. It wasn't very fancy, a square piece of wood connected by a string to a motor. Brandon went back to the window, set the motor on the window sill, placed a couple bucks and a rock to weigh them down with on the board, and pressed a button on the motor. The motor whirred, and the string got longer and longer, sending the board down to the street below.

"Thanks Brand!" Lou yelled up. "I appreciate doing business with you!" Lou carefully grabbed the board and took the money. "I'll make you something special! A breakfast hotdog I came up with!"

"Sounds good!" Brandon yelled. Lou laughed, a bellowing, deep sort of laugh that you couldn't help but smile at. A few minutes passed.

"All right, reel 'er on up!" Lou yelled. Brandon pressed a button, the motor whirring back to life. The string shortened once again, as the board traveled back up to the window. The smell of sausages and bacon drifted to Brandon's nose, making his mouth water.

"Is it a bacon wrapped sausage?" Brandon asked Lou.

"Good! What else?" Lou challenged.

"Hmm... Eggs... and tater tots?"

"Hash browns! Good guess though!" Lou chuckled.

"Thanks Lou!" Brandon yelled down!

"Take care of yourself Brandon!" Lou called back. Brandon hungrily grabbed the board and brought it to the table. He carefully grabbed the dog, brought it up to his mouth, and took a bite.

Brandon closed his eyes and smiled.

"Lou, you've done it again." Brandon said, as he took another large bite.

"Now what time is it?" Brandon asked himself, walking over to the wall clock and feeling the hands.

9:20

"That's more like it!" Brandon smiled, then made his way over to the phone.

Or where he thought the phone was. He felt the surface of the table, but nothing was there.

"No." Brandon thought. "No, no, no, no, no!" Brandon started to search furiously, getting down on his hands and knees and sweeping the floor with his arm. He didn't feel anything, and started to stand up.

Unfortunately, there was a table in the way. Brandon hit into it hard. He fell back down to the ground, groaned, then slid back and sat up, rubbing his head. This was one of those days where he hated being blind. He misplaces one thing, and he can never find it again.

Just then, the phone rang. The phone that was right next to him. Brandon glared at the sound before grumpily snatching it off of the ground.

"What?!" Brandon said angrily into the phone.

"Um... is this Brandon Jennings?" A male voice asked.

"Oh, um, yes, this is him." Brandon said in a much kinder tone.

"Hello, my name is Professor Hampton, I'm from TeL-PEcK labs."

"Oh, that giant white building..." Brandon said. He passed by it on his way to school before he went blind.

"We have randomly chosen you and four other teenagers to take part in an experiment that could change the world. Would you be willing to come down here at about 4:00 P.M?" The Professor asked.

"Sure, but, uh, I didn't sign up for any of this." Brandon said, a little unsure of what was going on. What if this was a prank?

"The experiment we are doing was top secret, but we are now ready to begin testing. If we sent out any applications for test subjects, rival companies could come and steal our ideas." Brandon wasn't entirely sure if he believed that, but he really didn't care.

He was blind, how much worse could one prank make him?

"I'll be there!"

"So this guy just calls out of the blue?" Elise asked her son.

"Yeah, he said I was chosen to be in an experiment that could change the world!" Brandon told his mom excitedly. "I already said I could go! I'm not sure if I believe him, but I figured, what the heck, right?"

"I wish you would have talked to me about this before hand." His mom said, sounding a bit worried.

"I'm sorry, but it sounded like he needed an answer right then." Brandon said, lying a bit.

"...Okay, but you need to at least let me walk you down. I don't want you heading out that way all alone."

"Whatever you say Mom!" Brandon said. "Love you!"

"Love you too!" She replied, and they both hung up.

The hours seemed to drag on at that point for Brandon. The closer and closer the hour came, the more and more excited Brandon got about the whole thing. When his mother finally came home, he still had a good hour to go before they could leave.

"What do you think I'm testing?" Brandon asked.

"I don't know, what does the world need to revolutionize?" His mom asked back.

"...Lunch food?" Brandon asked.

"I wouldn't mind a better law enforcement program." Elise said back.

"Or what about better modes of transportation?" Brandon fantasized. "Flying cars, jet packs."

"A device that eliminates traffic!" Elise said, snapping her fingers.

"A new weapon to fight with!" Brandon said, making his fingers into a gun and waving it around the room.

"Television that you can feel to watch." Elise said, grabbing her son's hand and holding it.

"Now that would be cool!" Brandon said.

"I know, right?" She and Brandon laughed.

"My mom is so awesome!" Brandon thought to himself.

"Don't get too excited though." Elise said, checking her watch. "We still have a good fifty-five minutes left." Brandon stood up and checked the wall clock.

"Mom... we have to be there in five minutes." Brandon said.

Elise and Brandon burst into the reception area of the laboratory.

"You need... a better... watch!" Brandon said between deep breaths of air.

"I'll put it at the top of my list." His mom said back, just as tiredly.

It was a hard run. Imagine running through one of the busiest cities in town, then imagine doing that without being able to see anything.

"You're just in time." A voice in front of them said.

"You... you're the man from the phone call!" Brandon said, straightening himself up. "Professor Hampson right?

"Hampton." The scientist corrected. "A pleasure to meet you Brandon." He was tall, and wore a white lab coat over a turquoise blue shirt. He had short, dark hair that spiked up in the front, and had small glasses resting on the tip of his nose. "Right this way, let's get you introduced to your fellow testers."

"Okay." Brandon nodded. "Bye Mom!" He turned to give his mom a quick squeeze.

"Bye sweetheart!" She hugged back. "Be good, listen to what they tell you okay?" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Call me when you're done, I'll come get you."

"Right this way." The Professor called out. Brandon nodded at his mom, then followed the Professor's voice. He accidentally bumped into a corner on the way to him.

"Are you okay?" The professor asked.

"I'm fine." Brandon replied. "It happens all the time."

"You might want to get your depth perception checked." The Professor suggested.

"I don't have any. I'm blind." Brandon said, walking down the hall, placing one of his hands on the wall for guidance.

"Oh... I'm... sorry!" The Professor said a little awkwardly.

"Don't be!" Brandon said cheerfully. "It's not your fault."

"...I apologize. Had I known you were blind, I might not have chosen you for this specific experiment." The Professor said, a little sadly.

"What do you mean?" Brandon tried not to sound offended, but he hated it when people tried to exclude him from things, just because he's blind.

"You can't play video games anymore, can you?"

"No."

"Have you ever played a game called Pokemon before?"

"Yeah, but when I was really little. I've only been blind for six months now."

"...Well, we'll just let bygones be bygones. Hurry now!" The Professor said, making Brandon pick up his pace.

"Why did you ask me about Pokemon?" Brandon asked, feeling a bit curious.

"It'll all become clear soon. Right in here please."