Alex quickly led the others down to the basement. The escort was hardly needed though. Most of them had spent many a good times in the spacious room.
The basement of Alex's house was not only spacious, it was well-furnished as well. It was one reason that "Olivander's" place wasn't the usual hangout, even though he was the best out of all of them of getting greasy. His basement was more of a storage room for his parts more than anything else. Alex's basement however was the exact opposite: bright lighting, soft carpeting, comfortable chairs and sofa, a bar his dad built several years back, and a large TV in the corner with all the video gaming devices to practice racing with.
While Alex tried to gather his thoughts, everyone made themselves comfortable. He noted that Mark was perched on the edge of his chair, obviously eager for Alex to get on with it. The only other of note was Aneesa who sat demurely in her chair with her hands crossed in her lap. She really had a personality change when she was behind the wheel. This was her eighty-five percent of the time.
Fran didn't give Alex long to think though. "This better be good Alex. My dad still needs my help back on the job." Francesca often did work with her father on the job as he had gotten older and Alex did feel a small pang of guilt over that. So he began.
"All right guys. Mark and I were at an old warehouse earlier," Heads nodded as they comprehended the 'dumpster diving' Mark and Alex had essentially been doing. "And I stumbled on this old filing cabinet, figured it wouldn't have anything in it. Well that was almost true. It did have one file in it, a big one." Alex pulled it out from under his arm and handed it to Fran first. "This is what pulled you away Fran. What do you say to that?"
Fran didn't say anything at first, which was rare for her. Slowly, her slender shoulders slumped in slight embarrassment at her slight earlier and then passed it to the others as she said, "Yea this is pretty cool, Alex. But who's this Emmet Brown guy?"
Mark piped up, "I think I heard about him. I think he was some wacko scientist. Muy inteligente, aunque. But it was 30 years ago or something."
"And more importantly mate," Oliver went on. "What are we supposed to do with them? I'm a mechanic, not Merlin, for Christ's sake. This is beyond me." Alex noticed that good ol' 'Olivander' was also missing most of his usual bravado in that statement. This must have really been beyond him.
As the papers rounded to Aneesa, she spent a good deal of time silent flipping through the pages. She seemed really intent on something, but as of the moment, Alex couldn't guess what it was. As she continued to study, the conversation quickly turned away from the papers. Fran was talking about the latest leather job she had done on her car; custom leather was a hobby of hers and Oliver was firing back with speculation on the problems with his Impala. Considering how hard Oliver drove the thing, Alex was amazed that it didn't just fall off its wheels, no matter how new it was. Mark had turned and was watching TV.
After a while, Aneesa disappeared upstairs. She had pulled her phone out of her bag, so Alex guessed she was going to make a call. She's always so secretive. He thought, briefly. It was impossible to guess whether she really was or it was just her demeanor. It wasn't until an hour later that she almost magically appeared at the bottom of the stairs again, and she was positively radiant. Alex knew that that smile meant that she had something important to say so he quickly swatted Mark on the head to pay attention. Everyone else followed suit. "Go ahead 'big money'", Alex said.
"Well," Aneesa said quietly. "I just called my father. He wants to see these plans. I heard words farther away that said something about 'creation of a new asset'". For the first time in a while, Aneesa absolutely lit up. "Get dressed well everyone. My father will expect nothing less from people I call my friends."
