Note to self: Never play "Iridescent" while typing all the time… It will make you tear up…
Chapter 3: Clown Cousin and No Need to Go Back
May 24th, 2007
Tranquility, Nevada
Tranquility High School
2:34 PM PDT
"So, you basically want me to think of a number between one and fifty," Lisa said as the student in front was gathering her project items in order to give room to Sam Witwicky. "And you are supposed to guess it right?"
Michelle nodded her head enthusiastically, adjusting her glasses since they nearly fell off. Lisa sighed, her head already filled with pain and fatigue as she said, "Alright, but I really doubt that you could even guess-"
"28!"
Everyone turned to look at her as she seemed to have a look of triumph in her expression. Slowly sitting back down, Michelle made a quiet victory sound as Lisa just stared at her with complete shock. She decided to listen to this next presentation the best that she could since it was the last one for the day, giving her a look on what is acceptable and qualified for a presentation to their Chemistry teacher. As Sam made sure that everything was seen, he stood up and was ready to speak when Lisa noticed the blonde boy sitting in front of him pulling back a rubber band with a paperclip. She wasn't able to stop him in time as Trent DeMarco released the stretchy band to let the unbended thin metal fly through the hair and hit Sam in the jugular. It was just a small hit as Sam stopped in mid-sentence and the teacher quickly stood up to search for the culprit.
As Trent pretended to be curious on who did it, Lisa took the liberty to hook her right foot on one of his back legs of his chair as she then pulled it back abruptly, causing him to stagger a bit before turning his back to look at Lisa with a glare. Copying the move that George Lopez always did with the nod, she returned the glare while whispering, "Whachya gonna do, gaki?" He glared as he then returned to look at the front. Lisa noticed that the black haired girl that was sitting next to him was still staring back at her with an amused smile. As she went to focus on Sam's presentation, Michelle leaned towards Lisa and said, "You so owe me twenty bucks now."
"What? Why?" Lisa inquired quietly as their teacher seemed to be glancing in their direction. Michelle made a shrug before focusing on the presentation. At this rate, Lisa knew that she wasn't going to listen at all. As Sam began to talk about the items, she then remembered the conversation she had earlier with the boy about the objects.
7:25 AM PDT
Lisa had just closed her locker as she took out her book that was needed for the next three classes including the notebooks. Thankfully, her laid back attitude let her only need to carry one small notebook and the textbook of the second period. A small pain in her head began to grow, showing that her fatigue and abrupt awakening was still taking effect. It didn't help that someone was calling her name rather too enthusiastically. Sighing, she turned just in time to come face to face with Sam Witwicky as he was sweating rather badly. "You do know you don't have to keep running everywhere, Sam," she stated while suppressing yawn.
"Hey, I got a great offer for you," he said as he rummaged through his bag, muttering to himself as Lisa was just being half asleep while trying to think of something that will help with her headache. She was then brought back to reality when she saw a pair of damaged glasses shoved into her face. She nearly stumbled backwards as she just stared at what was in his hand. "Here! This is what I was talking about yesterday," he said enthusiastically while Lisa cautiously took the glasses from his hands. They were old-fashion spectacles as they had a crack in both lenses, but she also noted odd dashes on them too. They weren't like any scratches she had seen before as she then handed them back to Sam, saying, "Those cracks can really affect the value of the item, especially when you are trying to sell it off."
Seeing the small disappointed look in her fellow classmate's eyes, she then said, "If you give me a good price, I might think about buying them tomorrow or something." Those workds immediately made the boy perk up as he did a small victory pump before heading off to class as the warning bell had just rung. Giving their goodbyes for the day, they went their separate ways to start their school days.
She was brought back to the present as she heard the bell that signaled the end of the day. Thanking the Gaming God for letting her stroll down Memory Lane, she picked up her bag only to be hit on the side of her head by Trent's who accidentally got in her way. Making the fake apology, he, his friends and his girlfriend, began to head out of the classroom. Michelle stood with her friend as she glared after the blonde and said, "That guy needs to get laid… by another guy."
Lisa slowly turned to look at her friend before heading out, knowing that Sam was busy trying convince the teacher to give him an A for his report and won't have time to discuss about the glasses. She personally didn't care at this point. She just wanted to get at least another hour or two of sleep.
Bolivia's Auto Shop
3:36 PM PDT
"Do I really have to wear this?" Michael begged for the fifth time. His cousin, Manny, sighed irritably as he finished the make-up and said, "You backing out now? Pensé que queríaeste trabajo, primo."
"I know, but I thought I was just archiving cars like I did this morning," Michael stated. He then turned to the mirror as he said, "Not dressing as…"
He didn't finish his statement as he froze in fear of what he was dressed as. The polka-dotted, star patterned suit he was wearing was quite colorful. Sadly, he was only able to see two to three of the colors on it. The frilly collar slighted itch his neck, but it didn't make his fear go away. To top that off along with the makeup and honky nose, he wore a yellow afro that had a clown hat attached to it. The arrow sign laid nearby, arrayed with a small phrase that were eye-catching like "Best Wheel Deals!" along with the name Bobby B's on the arrow tip.
Manny then pushed him to the sidewalk; Manny thanked him for archiving all the cars this morning before heading to school. This obviously made it easier for his boss to know what the best ones to sell were and to who they should be sold to. He then told him to just make sure that drivers and pedestrians could see the sign and twirl it once in a while. Sighing, he began to do just that, but it became very irritating after just fifteen minutes. He then saw a rather expensive looking car collar in shiny black. It took most of his will to not drop the sign and walk over to the shiny car. He also noticed a rather battered up yellow Camaro with racing stripes do a U-turn in the same way as the shiny car. However, it still wasn't enough to make him ignore the shiny car.
It helped a bit when he heard Manny's boss, Bobby Bolivia, shout, "Manny!"
"What?"
"Get your cousin outta that damn clown suit. Look like he having a heat stroke, scarin' white folk!" he heard the boss state. Feeling a bit whiny and still a little high, he shouted, "I'm hot! Make-up's melting! Hurts my eyes!" He heard Manny starting to curse as he went over to him and spoke irritably, "Let's go."
"Dude, I can do this," Michael slightly begged. "Sólo estaba bromeandoantes."
"Well," Manny started speaking while taking off the handkerchief that was around his neck, starting to whack Michael with it. "Your joking is going to get me fired." He proceeded to hit him with the cloth, making them pass behind two possible customers of the dealership before Manny dragged him over to the auto shop.
"My boss is already having a meltdown," Manny stated as he started to work on the undercarriage of a Toyota. Michael then just sat with his cousin as he just handed the tools he said for him to give. It was only a couple minutes later when they heard Bobby calling Manny's name. Irritated, he threw the wrench that was in his hand as he walked out of the building and into the sun, shouting, "What?"
"What is this?" he heard the boss shout. Michael went to peek over the cars, seeing that Bobby was referring to the yellow Camaro that he had just seen almost twenty minutes ago. "This car, check it out!"
Glancing at it for just a second, Manny shouted, "I don't know, boss. I never seen that. That's loco!"
"Don't go Ricky Ricardo on me, Manny. Get your damn clown cousin to look up the list he made this morning," the boss ordered. Manny then stalked towards him as he demanded, "Where's the list?" Heading towards the old cabinets, Michael began to search for them while hearing Manny curse rather long in Spanish. Once he pulled it out, he searched through the list and showed him that it wasn't on the list.
"Aye, puto!" Manny shouted as he said, "Why'd you miss that one, Michael?"
"How could I miss something that just drove in here?" Michael spat back before hearing something cluttering with a car beep. The two headed outside as they saw Bobby crawling out of the passenger side of old Beetle, speaking to the two customers in a reassuring tone before calling to them in the same way, "Hey, Manny! Get your clown cousin and get's some hammers and bang this stuff out, baby."
The two just looked at each other before heading inside, reaching for the hammers. However, they both froze as a loud screeching sound echoed through the area, causing nearly everything glass to break. They covered their heads as they were showered with glass. Luckily they weren't hurt as they glanced at each other and quickly headed outside. There, they saw every car had their glass windows shattered into showering bits and pieces… well, all except one. The Camaro was parked, untouched by the destruction except for its already faded paint and scorch marks. Sensing the inevitable, Manny looked at his cousin and said, "Sorry, bro. You gonna have to look for a new job…"
Michael let out an exasperated sigh as he heard Bolivia shout at him, "Manny, tell your clown cousin he's fired! Look at the destruction he brought to my… my…" The rest of what he was going to say was stopped by him wailing in despair. As they watched African Man wail in sadness, Michael then asked his cousin, "Can I have at least fifty bucks for my trouble?" He then pulled off the cheesiest smile that a man should ever give, and Manny gave him, giving him a bill of 50 before pushing him off and heading back to the shop, looking for a broom.
As he walked off in his grey sweater hoodie, black shirt, and battered black jeans, he saw that the customers were Sam and his father as the teenager was getting into the yellow Camaro. He saw them drive off, giving the wave of hello as Sam headed off down the road and towards home.
May 25th, 2007
Somewhere in Qatar
2:07 AM ADT
"Can you believe this shit?" he heard Epps say to him as Vince turned to look at his comrade joining to sit with him. Epps handed him the binoculars that he used to take a picture of the machine that attacked their base. Reminding him of the devastation done to their base, Vince wondered if they were the only survivors of the assault. Staring into the lens, he saw the picture of the machine a bit more clearly and less fear-blinding. He then noted that the optics of the machine were bright red, those similar to those of cars when they go on to a full stop or even a red light in an intersection. He also noted that the machine was made up of parts of a Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low heavy-lift helicopter; the parts of the flying vehicle were placed almost perfectly on the machine's body in order to allow mobility in the form it attacked them.
"It's like something from Sci-Fi," Vince commented as he handed the binoculars back. Epps laughed a bit as he said, "It looks like it even has a force field around it."
"Once again," Vince chuckled out. "Something from Sci-Fi."
"Or comic books, that's what Donnelly said," Epps stated as the two continued to stare out at the calm night. There was a long pause before Vince asked, "How much farther is it before we reach Mahfouz's village?"
Sighing, Epps kept on looking out at the distance as he said, "From what he said, we might be able to get there in a day or two. As long as we just continue the way we go, we will get there and get this shit to the Pentagon." Nodding in agreement, he exchanged a good night handshake before heading off to sleep before it was his turn to keep watch. Vince sighed as he laid back on the rock that was his support, making sure not to fall asleep.
All he knew now was that they had to keep two things safe: the binoculars and the kid.
May 24th, 2007
Washington DC
Pentagon
7:11 PM EDT
Using the webcam of the laptop he was installed in by his programmer, the security program known as EMERGE watched as twenty-one year old Tracy Flynn looked very eager to be sitting in the Pentagon.
She was dressed rather childish looking, her dark blonde hair put up in a messy ponytail. Her clothing consisted of a black colored shirt with the cuffs on the short sleeves in which was overlapping a long-sleeved white shirt with a small frill at the hems of the shirt. Her skirt was black and red plaid and her black leggings were tucked in army boots. He saw her adjusted her large brown-rimmed glasses that didn't really cover her eyes.
Note: Tracy Flynn has no relations to Kevin Flynn from TRON. In this world, TRON is considered a fiction movie as it is in our world.
"This had better be worth on what we were being pulled from," EMERGE stated through Tracy's headphones, making sure that only she could hear the voice. Making a small laugh, EMERGE waited for a typed reply as it said:
One can only hope that you downloading the Harry Potter series and finish reading them even before the seventh book comes out is not that bad of a thing.
EMERGE rolled his eyes as he said, "But I need to know! It's like a revelation to all the questions I've had. I've never been this confused since the time you first created me." Seeing his creator laugh a bit, she suddenly went serious and silent as she moved her face from the installed webcam of the laptop. Out of great curiosity, he turned on the microphone so that he could hear the Secretary of Defense speak.
"I'm John Keller," said an elderly voice that seemed to hold some hidden power. EMERGE smirked at this as he knew all political figures would need to have this kind of aura from him. "Obviously you're all wondering why you're here, so these are the facts: At 17:00 hours GMT yesterday a SOCCENT airbase in Qatar was attacked. So far as we know, there were no survivors." He saw the sad look on his creator's face; obviously she was giving her wishes towards the people who were killed at Qatar. He heard the Sec Def continue.
"The purpose of the attack was to hack our military network; we don't know what they were looking for, but they were cut off during the assault, which leads us to assume they're going to try it again. Now, no one's taken responsibility for the attack. And the only lead we have is this sound..."
Upon hearing the playing of the recording, EMERGE nearly had to cover his own virtual ears so that they wouldn't derezz. It sounded so… inhuman to him as he had heard every kind of music and sound effects from nearly every movie, show, and video game ever made. What else was he supposed to do when Tracy was out when she had to report to her parole officer? He was jolted back to the present as he heard through the reverse speakers of the laptop, hearing John Keller's voice echo through the system.
"That's the signal that hacked our network. NASA's working around the clock to break it but we need your help in deciphering this signal. You've all shown technical skill in the field of signal analysis… We're on a hair trigger, people. The United States has dispatched an armed force to its full capacity. This is as real as it's going to get. I'm going to leave you to the officer to sort you all into groups… Good luck to us all."
With that, he saw through the laptop that Tracy picked it up and carried it off in order to be assigned to a group. Turning off the speakers, he noticed that his creator was talking a rather cute blonde woman who was dressed rather pretty. However, the time to act curious was over as he went to pull up every firewall that he and Tracy created along with some from popular virus protection sites. From the sound of the signal, he wasn't going to take any chances with something to corrupt with the only place he can really exist without a fight.
Tranquility, Nevada
Home
4:42 PM PDT
"Mom, I'm sorry," Josh said into his cell phone.
He noticed Michael passing on taking his fifth slice of pizza he made for himself, seeing the sprinkled marijuana mixed with cheese and some sausage. Lisa seemed to pause for a bit from typing on her laptop. She was working on her report that was similar to Sam's geneology report, only she didn't pick to work on her family history. Michelle was just staring off at the people who were walking by their house, either talking about recent events or jogging to stay in shape. Alvaro was basically just knocked out and sleeping on the chair that was placed on the porch.
He then continued on his phone call.
"I know you are worried, but it's all right. I've been getting used to the school and the scenery. It's actually a really nice place, I feel a little more… peaceful here… yes, Mom, I'm sure that this is just vacation and nothing bad is going to happen… Yes, bye mom… I… uh… I love you too."
With that quickly said, he quickly closed the phone while seeing the knowing smirks from his friends. Shaking his head at Michelle and Michael who were messing with him, he heard Lisa ask, "You sure that you are gonna stay here for the summer?"
Turning to look at his friends, he said, "I speak for all of us that we are here because we want to make sure that you and Michael can at least find a bit of peace, just until your families can get over the bullshit they pulled."
Nodding her head in agreement, Michelle said, "Yeah! Why don't we do something since we really don't have to be back anytime really early tonight?" Everyone laughed before Lisa said, "We have school tomorrow, remember?" Everyone groaned, though Alvaro was still asleep. Rolling her eyes, she then saved all her documents before going online to find the times of the movies that were on for the day. Then, a realization hit her head.
"Hey," she spoke aloud, getting the others attention. "You guys know about the burn book that has been going around the school for awhile?"
"There's a burn book?" Michelle said, her interest peaked as she pushed everyone out of the way to get in Lisa's face. Ignoring the uncomfortable look on her friend's face, she began to interrogate her, "There's a burn book at this school? Did you get to look through it? Did you write in it? Am I in it? Am I? Am I? Am I?" There was a long silence as the only thing that could be heard was Alvaro's small snort before going back to a quiet sleep. Lisa then shook her head, quietly saying that she wasn't in the book. Michelle suddenly pulled a very pissed off face before running over to their neighbor's house.
Sam was washing his new ride, getting rid of some dirt that was there but it still had some dings and scratches on its paint. He didn't notice Michelle towards him until he turned to see her in his face as she shouted, "Sam, there's a burn book at our school!" Noticing the rather displeased look on her face, he then asked, "Um… are you saying this because someone wrote you in it?"
"That's the thing!" she shouted. "No one did! No one wrote shit about me in there!" She screamed to the skies above as she then muttered, "Those muggle bitches…"
"Turn to page three hundred and ninety four," they both heard come from the car as they turned slowly to look at the banged up Camaro. She then pointed at her car and asked, "Did your car just quote Snape from Harry Potter?" When Sam just slowly nodded his head, Michelle was about to freak out before saying, "By the way, we are gonna be asking for a ride to the theater. We're watching the third Pirates movie." As she proceeded to scream out that Severus Snape was real, she ignored the shocked look at Sam's face before he realized what she said.
XxXxX
[Kamuix1991 has logged in]
Kamuix1991: Hey! Anyone on?
DaV33m0n: hi
R3V3R: hey! Kamui! Look who joined us
Kamuix1991: yeah, hi
Kamuix1991: anyone seen the news?
M1k3yMcMuffin: geez rude much, kamui
Kamuix1991: did anyone see the news about Qatar?
N0nM0n485: it's all over the news, kamui. It's just another terrorist attack
N0nM0n485: why? You seem to be taking a great deal in this
…
Kamuix1991: I have a friend who was stationed there
M1k3yMcMuffin: oh…
R3V3R: dang
N0nM0n485: sorry about what I said
DaV33m0n: did you get any contact from him?
Kamuix1991: I wouldn't be this worried if I did
Kamuix1991: sorry, i'm just worried
[All3n_N1nj4 has logged in]
All3n_N1nj4: what up!
M1k3yMcMuffin: hiyas
All3n_N1nj4: …okay, I sense a disturbance in the force
R3V3R: you saw the news, right?
All3n_N1nj4: uh… I don't watch the news
…
M1k3yMcMuffin: I vote we kick him out.
All3n_N1nj4: hey! Dx
R3V3R: I second that motion
All3n_N1nj4: come on, guys! Sorry if I don't watch the news all the time
N0nM0n485: then just look it up
All3n_N1j4: and I shall do just that
[All3n_N1nj4 has logged out]
M1k3yMcMuffin: LOL
M1k3yMcMuffin: did he just log out?
R3V3R: OMG who invited this guy?
N0nM0n485: I think it was Rider or Boa
R3V3R: man, that would piss off Troik badly XD
Kamuix1991: hey, guys. I'mma go
Kamuix1991: and I won't be on for awhile. Gonna be moving to another area
M1k3yMcMuffin: okay
M1k3yMcMuffin: wait, what?
M1k3yMcMuffin: no! don't go Dx
R3V3R: well, hope you have a safe trip
N0nM0n485: later kamui
[Kamuix1991 has logged out]
To Be Continued…