AN: For those who wanted something other than women problem, this might be
disappointing... *sweat drop* I am sorry. But I promise, it is not pure
fluff! There is other, "deeper" *cough* stuff to it. I sound like some
stupid, egoistic freak for saying this...Anyway, read and review. Tell me
what you think. In my mind it's a bit on the melodramatic side.... Oh well.
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Ray Kon was probably the most difficult person to locate on the face of the planet, well, most difficult for a rather well known person, that is. I tracked through half of the world looking for him. First I checked with Yale University. I knew for a fact he worked there before.
You are looking for a Professor Kon in Physics Department? Yes, of course he worked here before. He was a lecture hall favourite. And no, regretfully he isn't with us anymore. You want to know where he might be? Sorry, but haven't got a clue. Though Fermilab is a safe bet. It is said they wanted to hire him.
Fine then. I went on to Virginia.
Doctor Kon? Yes, he was here before, but regretfully he isn't here anymore. You are looking for him? I am sorry I can't be more of help. If you do find him, if it isn't too much trouble, please tell him we wish for him to come back here and work with us.
The similar process went on many times before I finally found him, working for Cine Lab, a new laboratory on the border of France and Switzerland. And the difficulty didn't just end there. People in Cine Lab were reluctant to receive me, and even more so to give Ray's address to me. They asked me politely to wait, they must make sure of my identity and such and such. Finally two days later they gave me Ray's address and told me Ray would be free the following day and would love to see me in his place.
Sure. That wasn't the warmest welcome, but it will do. The weather on that day wasn't exactly great. The sky was grey and it was raining somewhat. Following the address and the direction, I took one sky train, two buses, and walked for another forty minutes before I finally found Ray's residence. Does everyone nowadays find the need to live so secluded?
Ray's house was located on a hill of a quite high altitude, overlooking a water body that I don't quite know the name of. The house looked like a log cabin almost, rather than a residence home where someone would live in all year around. I went up and pressed the doorbell, almost immediately the door opened, and Ray stood there, with a soft smile on his face.
Ray was so much different from what I remembered, even in looks. He was much taller, and slim and well built. His raven black hair was still long, but lost their youthful spikes. His face was angular and carved, with a pair of flashing golden eyes. He looked strangely predatory. Yet there was an air about him, a weariness and wariness, like a tiger that is constantly alert despite his raw material power.
"Kenny, it's so good to see you." He said warmly, melting the cool air about him a bit, "Come."
I followed him into the house. The interior was spacious but decorated to the minimum level. The floor was maple, but the walls and the ceiling were simple, rough pine. The furnitures were all simple wooden structures, and there were a few colourful rugs about to break the monotonous wooden colour. I followed Ray into a small room. There were four armchairs, big, antique looking things covered in rough fabric, and a small tea table. A teapot and some cups were sitting on the tea table. Ray sat down in one of the armchairs, and I took a seat next to him. He poured a cup of tea for me, and another for himself.
For the first few minutes, we sat in silence, sipping our tea. Finally Ray asked, "I imagine it took you a while to find me?"
I gave him a wry look and said, "No kidding Ray. I phoned no less than ten universities, five labs, five government agencies, before finally found you in Cine Lab. And it was another two days before they would even give me your address. What are you doing?"
"You know how it is, Chief." Ray said coolly, and there was an almost imperceptible grimace on his face, "I have been involved with a few...grim incidents in my work with MSS. It is hardly practical for me to list my name on the Yellow Pages. "
I nodded feebly. I didn't entirely know what he was talking about, but I have the basic idea. And I don't want to know more. Promptly I changed the subject. "So how are you doing these days?" I asked.
"Not too bad." Ray answered with a smile, "Cine Lab is wonderful. And this place is great for living too."
"So what kind of work do you do?" I asked again, "I know it's something about physics, but what is it specifically?"
"I am doing mostly theoretical works." He said, "String theories and study of subatomic particles. That's why I am at Cine Lab. They have the largest and latest atom smasher here."
"Wow." I said, amazed, "That stuff is way over even my head. And imagine all the time back then I thought your best subject was culinary arts."
Ray arched an eyebrow and said teasingly, "I am wounded, Chief! I had no idea that you held me in such low esteem!"
We both had a good laugh at that. "So is your work going well?" I asked him after the laughter died down.
"It is heading in a good direction." Ray answered thoughtfully, "We are very much confident that we are on the right track." After a moment of pause he asked me, "What about you, Chief? What kind of work are you doing?"
"Oh I work for Erzentech. Doing AI and such stuff." I answered while sipping more tea.
"Impressive." Ray said, "Still the computer lover, aren't you? And I trust Dizzi is happy with your job?"
"Oh, she is more than happy." I said, laughing, "She now has a network of computers to play in her palm, or paw. I just hope she just doesn't go power crazy."
Ray smiled, more out of politeness, I guess. That joke wasn't really funny. "How come you suddenly decided to visit, Chief?" He asked me in a gentle voice.
I answered quickly, "I just wanted to see you guys after all those years, you know, take a look how you are doing these days and such. I already visited all others. You are just way too hard to find."
"So you visited them?" He asked with interest, "Are they doing well?"
"Very well." I replied with a grin, "Tyson is now the chief designer and engineer of a prominent beyblade manufacturer. He even coaches beyblade in local facilities. You know how he is."
"Cool." Ray nodded, "It's good to hear that. And Max and Kai?"
"Max is in LA, California." I said, "He is now a bioengineer working for Triton BioCorp. He is wicked! You should have seen this little bird he created. It looked just like Dranzer, and it spews fire too!" More joyful amazement in Ray's eyes as he silently sipped his tea. So I continued, "And Kai lives in New York. He is now a composer of highest prestige, and he is engaged to a beautiful Russian cellist."
There was a strange sound coming from Ray. I thought he had chocked on his tea, which was completely natural should one hear something like that. Finally he said, "Wow." He raised his teacup and said with a little more enthusiasm than usually, "A toast to Kai! For finally becoming a human." The last sentence was a tease, of course, and I could just picture Kai's glare should he hear it.
"Since we are on that subject, anyway." Ray asked me, "Tyson and Max? Have they got themselves a girl or two?"
"Of course." I replied with a smile, "Tyson has managed to find this sweet, sweet little girl, who made his house a heaven. And I was half expecting a trash can when I walked in. And Max is trying to get this girl next door, quite literally, that is, if they can get over the part that Max is an atheistic bioengineer and she is a devout fundamentalist."
Ray laughed again, a sonorous sound of pure joy. He asked again with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "And you, Chief? Did you find a girl, or are you still stuck with Dizzi only?"
"Stuck with Dizzi still, I am afraid." I said with mirth, "Woe to me! What about you, Ray?"
The smile faded from his face, fast like a freak wind suddenly stirring grey rain clouds. There was now the same weariness that I saw about him when he first opened the door. He looked at me, put on a mirthless smile and replied, "I am afraid I am still single, just like you."
Again I couldn't guess the meaning of his sudden shift of mood, so I went on asking tactlessly, "What about Mariah? I thought you two were together for a long time." That red-haired girl was as beautiful as they come. And she was sweet with Ray as long as I can remember.
His face darkened, and there was a flash of pain in his eyes. "Mariah is dead." He said stonily.
I stared at him, my entire being screaming of shock and confusion. There was a long, tense and deafening silence. Finally I asked with a trembling voice, "What...what happened?"
"That was almost five years ago." Ray said, his voice now quiet, "I had some work from MSS, and Mariah happened to just get swept into it."
I stared at him still. That was extremely vague. "I don't get it." I said fearfully, "If you... if you don't mind, tell me more."
Ray lowered his head, and his face was now hidden in shadows. His voice was now low and distant, "It's not much different from the time when we had dealings with BIOVOLT. Mariah and I managed to collect evidence of a criminal organization's activities. Of course they are not going to take things lying down. We were fleeing from them in a boat, out on the sea, in the middle of nowhere. We managed to take down most of them. But one man got on our boat, with a gun, while we are without any weapons."
I had a fair understanding of things by now. I stared at the teacup in my hand, not knowing what to say. There was a strange nonchalance in Ray's voice as he told the tale, perfectly calm and collected. There was silence for a long while, and then Ray began again. He was no longer speaking to me anymore. He was speaking to himself now, his voice like one entranced.
"The man had aimed his gun at me. He only wanted to kill me. Mariah blocked the bullets flying towards me with her own body. She died saving me. I don't know why she was so generous. She shouldn't have done that." His voice began to tremble ever so slightly, and his calm wavered.
"I am... I am so sorry, Ray." I said brokenly. Everyone has problem in their lives, no matter how perfect they seem on the first glance. I now believe that firmly after my visits of Tyson, Max and Kai. Ray probably had worse problems than all of us, I had thought as much the moment he opened the door and I saw his world-weary look. But this was definitely not what I was expecting. This was something you see in bad movies and shed a few cheap tears over. This should never happen in reality.
Finally Ray said softly, "I don't know why I am troubling you with all these. Sorry, Chief."
I didn't say anything, but merely shook my head. I didn't trust myself to speak at that moment. The time remained we spoke of happy things, of our childhood hours together. But I could no longer laugh so freely. When the hour grew late I made my excuse and prepared to leave. Ray had accompanied me to the door, and he stood there, watching me striding down the hill. I turned back and looked at him once more after walking some fifty steps. He waved at me, an easy and airy gesture. Then with that he turned, and vanished behind the wooden door.
I looked up in the sky. Though the rain had stopped, the heaven was still lead grey. There was a melancholic silence, and faintly I heard a lark cry from the depth of the woods about me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ray Kon was probably the most difficult person to locate on the face of the planet, well, most difficult for a rather well known person, that is. I tracked through half of the world looking for him. First I checked with Yale University. I knew for a fact he worked there before.
You are looking for a Professor Kon in Physics Department? Yes, of course he worked here before. He was a lecture hall favourite. And no, regretfully he isn't with us anymore. You want to know where he might be? Sorry, but haven't got a clue. Though Fermilab is a safe bet. It is said they wanted to hire him.
Fine then. I went on to Virginia.
Doctor Kon? Yes, he was here before, but regretfully he isn't here anymore. You are looking for him? I am sorry I can't be more of help. If you do find him, if it isn't too much trouble, please tell him we wish for him to come back here and work with us.
The similar process went on many times before I finally found him, working for Cine Lab, a new laboratory on the border of France and Switzerland. And the difficulty didn't just end there. People in Cine Lab were reluctant to receive me, and even more so to give Ray's address to me. They asked me politely to wait, they must make sure of my identity and such and such. Finally two days later they gave me Ray's address and told me Ray would be free the following day and would love to see me in his place.
Sure. That wasn't the warmest welcome, but it will do. The weather on that day wasn't exactly great. The sky was grey and it was raining somewhat. Following the address and the direction, I took one sky train, two buses, and walked for another forty minutes before I finally found Ray's residence. Does everyone nowadays find the need to live so secluded?
Ray's house was located on a hill of a quite high altitude, overlooking a water body that I don't quite know the name of. The house looked like a log cabin almost, rather than a residence home where someone would live in all year around. I went up and pressed the doorbell, almost immediately the door opened, and Ray stood there, with a soft smile on his face.
Ray was so much different from what I remembered, even in looks. He was much taller, and slim and well built. His raven black hair was still long, but lost their youthful spikes. His face was angular and carved, with a pair of flashing golden eyes. He looked strangely predatory. Yet there was an air about him, a weariness and wariness, like a tiger that is constantly alert despite his raw material power.
"Kenny, it's so good to see you." He said warmly, melting the cool air about him a bit, "Come."
I followed him into the house. The interior was spacious but decorated to the minimum level. The floor was maple, but the walls and the ceiling were simple, rough pine. The furnitures were all simple wooden structures, and there were a few colourful rugs about to break the monotonous wooden colour. I followed Ray into a small room. There were four armchairs, big, antique looking things covered in rough fabric, and a small tea table. A teapot and some cups were sitting on the tea table. Ray sat down in one of the armchairs, and I took a seat next to him. He poured a cup of tea for me, and another for himself.
For the first few minutes, we sat in silence, sipping our tea. Finally Ray asked, "I imagine it took you a while to find me?"
I gave him a wry look and said, "No kidding Ray. I phoned no less than ten universities, five labs, five government agencies, before finally found you in Cine Lab. And it was another two days before they would even give me your address. What are you doing?"
"You know how it is, Chief." Ray said coolly, and there was an almost imperceptible grimace on his face, "I have been involved with a few...grim incidents in my work with MSS. It is hardly practical for me to list my name on the Yellow Pages. "
I nodded feebly. I didn't entirely know what he was talking about, but I have the basic idea. And I don't want to know more. Promptly I changed the subject. "So how are you doing these days?" I asked.
"Not too bad." Ray answered with a smile, "Cine Lab is wonderful. And this place is great for living too."
"So what kind of work do you do?" I asked again, "I know it's something about physics, but what is it specifically?"
"I am doing mostly theoretical works." He said, "String theories and study of subatomic particles. That's why I am at Cine Lab. They have the largest and latest atom smasher here."
"Wow." I said, amazed, "That stuff is way over even my head. And imagine all the time back then I thought your best subject was culinary arts."
Ray arched an eyebrow and said teasingly, "I am wounded, Chief! I had no idea that you held me in such low esteem!"
We both had a good laugh at that. "So is your work going well?" I asked him after the laughter died down.
"It is heading in a good direction." Ray answered thoughtfully, "We are very much confident that we are on the right track." After a moment of pause he asked me, "What about you, Chief? What kind of work are you doing?"
"Oh I work for Erzentech. Doing AI and such stuff." I answered while sipping more tea.
"Impressive." Ray said, "Still the computer lover, aren't you? And I trust Dizzi is happy with your job?"
"Oh, she is more than happy." I said, laughing, "She now has a network of computers to play in her palm, or paw. I just hope she just doesn't go power crazy."
Ray smiled, more out of politeness, I guess. That joke wasn't really funny. "How come you suddenly decided to visit, Chief?" He asked me in a gentle voice.
I answered quickly, "I just wanted to see you guys after all those years, you know, take a look how you are doing these days and such. I already visited all others. You are just way too hard to find."
"So you visited them?" He asked with interest, "Are they doing well?"
"Very well." I replied with a grin, "Tyson is now the chief designer and engineer of a prominent beyblade manufacturer. He even coaches beyblade in local facilities. You know how he is."
"Cool." Ray nodded, "It's good to hear that. And Max and Kai?"
"Max is in LA, California." I said, "He is now a bioengineer working for Triton BioCorp. He is wicked! You should have seen this little bird he created. It looked just like Dranzer, and it spews fire too!" More joyful amazement in Ray's eyes as he silently sipped his tea. So I continued, "And Kai lives in New York. He is now a composer of highest prestige, and he is engaged to a beautiful Russian cellist."
There was a strange sound coming from Ray. I thought he had chocked on his tea, which was completely natural should one hear something like that. Finally he said, "Wow." He raised his teacup and said with a little more enthusiasm than usually, "A toast to Kai! For finally becoming a human." The last sentence was a tease, of course, and I could just picture Kai's glare should he hear it.
"Since we are on that subject, anyway." Ray asked me, "Tyson and Max? Have they got themselves a girl or two?"
"Of course." I replied with a smile, "Tyson has managed to find this sweet, sweet little girl, who made his house a heaven. And I was half expecting a trash can when I walked in. And Max is trying to get this girl next door, quite literally, that is, if they can get over the part that Max is an atheistic bioengineer and she is a devout fundamentalist."
Ray laughed again, a sonorous sound of pure joy. He asked again with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "And you, Chief? Did you find a girl, or are you still stuck with Dizzi only?"
"Stuck with Dizzi still, I am afraid." I said with mirth, "Woe to me! What about you, Ray?"
The smile faded from his face, fast like a freak wind suddenly stirring grey rain clouds. There was now the same weariness that I saw about him when he first opened the door. He looked at me, put on a mirthless smile and replied, "I am afraid I am still single, just like you."
Again I couldn't guess the meaning of his sudden shift of mood, so I went on asking tactlessly, "What about Mariah? I thought you two were together for a long time." That red-haired girl was as beautiful as they come. And she was sweet with Ray as long as I can remember.
His face darkened, and there was a flash of pain in his eyes. "Mariah is dead." He said stonily.
I stared at him, my entire being screaming of shock and confusion. There was a long, tense and deafening silence. Finally I asked with a trembling voice, "What...what happened?"
"That was almost five years ago." Ray said, his voice now quiet, "I had some work from MSS, and Mariah happened to just get swept into it."
I stared at him still. That was extremely vague. "I don't get it." I said fearfully, "If you... if you don't mind, tell me more."
Ray lowered his head, and his face was now hidden in shadows. His voice was now low and distant, "It's not much different from the time when we had dealings with BIOVOLT. Mariah and I managed to collect evidence of a criminal organization's activities. Of course they are not going to take things lying down. We were fleeing from them in a boat, out on the sea, in the middle of nowhere. We managed to take down most of them. But one man got on our boat, with a gun, while we are without any weapons."
I had a fair understanding of things by now. I stared at the teacup in my hand, not knowing what to say. There was a strange nonchalance in Ray's voice as he told the tale, perfectly calm and collected. There was silence for a long while, and then Ray began again. He was no longer speaking to me anymore. He was speaking to himself now, his voice like one entranced.
"The man had aimed his gun at me. He only wanted to kill me. Mariah blocked the bullets flying towards me with her own body. She died saving me. I don't know why she was so generous. She shouldn't have done that." His voice began to tremble ever so slightly, and his calm wavered.
"I am... I am so sorry, Ray." I said brokenly. Everyone has problem in their lives, no matter how perfect they seem on the first glance. I now believe that firmly after my visits of Tyson, Max and Kai. Ray probably had worse problems than all of us, I had thought as much the moment he opened the door and I saw his world-weary look. But this was definitely not what I was expecting. This was something you see in bad movies and shed a few cheap tears over. This should never happen in reality.
Finally Ray said softly, "I don't know why I am troubling you with all these. Sorry, Chief."
I didn't say anything, but merely shook my head. I didn't trust myself to speak at that moment. The time remained we spoke of happy things, of our childhood hours together. But I could no longer laugh so freely. When the hour grew late I made my excuse and prepared to leave. Ray had accompanied me to the door, and he stood there, watching me striding down the hill. I turned back and looked at him once more after walking some fifty steps. He waved at me, an easy and airy gesture. Then with that he turned, and vanished behind the wooden door.
I looked up in the sky. Though the rain had stopped, the heaven was still lead grey. There was a melancholic silence, and faintly I heard a lark cry from the depth of the woods about me.
