My New Friend
Early Morning: February 26, 2190 AI
"Yo, Werner," Elliot called when his friend got into work, "You've got to see it. I've been working on the shape of the Filgaia Sample, it really looks human. This is so great, when he's born, Jet will have a new friend to play with." He was sipping a small glass of wine, which told Werner how happy he was. Usually, Elliot only drunk wine with and after dinner, unless something really good had happened. The forty year old man was practically singing, happy at his achievements. His silver hair seemed to have just been washed, and his purple eyes shone with delight. Virginia thought she'd never seen a more cheerful man in her life.
"Hi Uncle Elliot, remember me? I'm Virginia, I came with Daddy to work last year," she said. In that instant, Elliot turned around. He was shocked to see the child, the man had no idea Werner was going to bring her along. It was very dangerous around here, and the only reason Elliot had done it for years was he had no one to leave his son with. So he began to fret over what had happened to the rest of her family.
Elliot advised, "If something happened, you better not tell Leehalt. You know he'll just blame you for whatever killed the three of 'em. Then he'll say, 'I knew you'd mess up sometime Maxwell. You just weren't right for Ekatrina. I knew she'd regret not choosing me in the first place some day. Now I'll make you pay for killing the girl I loved.' And I'll have to help break up a fight again." He did an eerily on target Leehalt impersonation there.
Werner picked the child up, hoping she wasn't too confused. "No, it's not like that at all. Virginia decided to follow me to work, since she seems to know I'm going to be gone awhile. And now she won't go back home. I told her she could stay for one day. Do you think Jet could watch her while I'm working? I know your son is a responsible boy, and I don't think I can trust Melody or Malik. They're the only ones free today, and they'll just as soon fight with one another before they watch my little girl." He put her on his left shoulder, holding her there with his hand. Virginia giggled, she liked it when her father would do this to her.
"No prob Werner," Elliot replied, "Jet'll love to have someone to play with, he's so eagerly awaiting the birth of Adam Kadmon. As a matter of fact, he's in the specimen chamber right now. We'll kill two birds with one stone. You can drop your daughter off with Jet, and I can show you what I did last night."
* * *
Inside the chamber, they saw a boy of fourteen years. Like Elliot, he had silver hair and violet eyes. Unlike his father, however, he wasn't wearing a lab coat. Jet had on blue jeans and a black shirt, nothing too fancy. Virginia was shocked, he wasn't nearly as tall as either of their fathers. Must have inherited his mother's lithe frame, just like she did. In front of him was a large chamber, holding what appeared to be a formless human being. The girl figured that's what her father and Elliot had been talking about back there.
"Jet, do you remember Werner's little girl? She came here nearly a year ago and visited with us for the day. Well, she's come to visit again, and we don't have any free time to watch over her. So would you mind keeping her with you for the day?" asked Elliot. His son turned towards him, and gave him a smile. It reminded the girl greatly of the relationship between herself and her father. She knew they were very close.
Jet answered, "Sure I will. There's nothing much for me to do anyway, and she could get lost very easily if she was inside this place. Besides, I'm getting pretty bored with no one to talk too. Adam isn't formed enough to have his own will, so he can't communicate with me. But until then, I can give her a tour of the laboratory. I think she visited when you were still stationed right near Little Rock, am I correct?"
Werner nodded. "Now Virginia, be good for Jet. He's going to be taking care of you today. I don't want to hear about you getting into any trouble. I won't do anything about it, since I won't be home for the rest of the week, but you can be sure your mother will hear about whatever trouble you get into. Now I've got to get to work with your Uncle Elliot. See you on my next break kiddo." He ruffled her hair a little bit.
Elliot got to bragging about how he'd formed their sample into a human shape in only the span of a few hours. Virginia looked at it, she couldn't believe that he was able to create a human being. But would it be sentient? Could this person actually talk back to her one day. She found herself agreeing with the boy named Jet, it seemed like a chance to finally have a real friend of her own. What would he be like? Would he be hansom? Caring? Strong? These questions went through her mind, until Jet tried to call out to her.
"Do you want me to show you around?" he asked, "I mean, this is your first time to the Yggdrasil, and it is a pretty big lab. But let's start by getting acquainted. My name is Jet Enduro, what's yours?" Even though he knew her name and she'd been told his, it was only polite to introduce himself to the girl.
"Virginia Maxwell. And yes, I'd like to take the tour very much. Then we can tell each other all about ourselves," she stated. Virginia grabbed the older boy by the hand, pulling him until he began to walk.
She learned that Jet was indeed fourteen, he'd in fact be fifteen in September. His mother had died in childbirth, and he was sent to live with his only other blood relative. Elliot was broken up about the loss of his wife, he was working that day on an urgent project when she suddenly went into labor a month early. The doctor could do nothing for the mother, but was able to save the baby. Jet believed that was why he was on the small side, he was born premature as he called it. Virginia didn't know exactly what he meant.
The girl told him that she was seven, going to be eight this July. She lived with her mother, her aunt and uncle, and her father. They resided in the town of Boot Hill, in the family house. Her mother was a good cook, always making the best meals for them. Stopping short, she worried about offending Jet since he didn't have a mother. But he assured her that it didn't bother him, he was used to it by now. Besides, they had decided to talk about themselves, and telling about their family lives would be the best start.
She asked him, "Jet, would you be my big brother? I'm an only child, and nobody in the town wants to play with me. They all think I'm weird, cuz Daddy wants to teach me how to shoot an ARM. Nobody likes me, and they all pick on me too." Virginia started to cry, and ended up in Jet's arms, wetting his shirt.
He began to tickle her. "Sure I will. I don't have any siblings myself, and since I live at the lab I don't have any way of even trying to make friends. We'll stick together. How about you stay here a little longer than your dad decided? Then the two of us will have more time to play together." He smiled a little bit, he didn't know anything about children's games, never having anyone to play group ones with.
"That's what I want to do," she stated, "I'm staying until my Daddy decides to come home. If it will be until this project is finished, then that's how long I'm staying. He can't make me leave, he shouldn't of left me in the first place. My mommy knows where I am, I left her a note. I'll come back when Daddy does. She believes what I say, Mommy trusts me." The girl giggled a little bit. Then, the two of them continued on with the tour. She couldn't believe how big this Yggdrasil was. Virginia wondered why they needed all this space just for a few little projects. I mean, how many paintings and Play Dough sculptures could there be?
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
Why Paintings and Play Dough? "Projects". Remember, she's only seven at the time. If this seems weird, Well, if she was there she'd have met Elliot's son. And the brother/sister thing is what one would naturally think with a child of her age involved. I'm not a pervert, if I wanted to write something like that I would use Gallows. He'd be fourteen, well almost fourteen in the timeline I created, about at the age when guys go through early puberty. (shudders) That's a scary thought, Gallows with raging hormones. He's perverted enough when they settled down.
