(Whoops, this is horrifically late... sorry, I've been low on motivation. BUT HERE IT IS, THE NEXT CHAPTER! :D Please let me know what you think!)
It wasn't until about fifteen minutes into Engineering that Jay realised something, and began to panic. He'd put the android away in his dorm, which he shared with Kai. Kai, who was very concerned with his image. Kai, who would probably go and find any excuse to change into a clean uniform. Kai, who hated androids. What if he found the android? How would he react? He wouldn't get Jay into trouble, would he? Sure, they gave each other crap sometimes - okay, most of the time - but they were friends.. he... he wouldn't destroy the android?!
His panicked train of thought was interrupted in a crash by a tap on his shoulder that caused him to nearly jump out of his skin.
"Ah - sorry, sorry Jay," the boy next to him said, eyebrows raised. "Your finger-tapping was just very distracting. And annoying."
"S-sorry, Karlof," Jay stuttered, folding his arms around himself instead of having them resting on the desk. He had a tendency to tap his fingers or shake his foot when he was nervous. It was an involuntary thing; he didn't choose to do it. Poor Karlof had to deal with that a lot, as he was assigned a seat next to Jay.
Igor Karlof was tall, well-built and had a strong accent (and personality), which intimidated his small, wiry classmate a lot. Jay felt bad about this, because despite the fact he was a little scary, Karlof was actually a really nice guy.
"What is on your mind?"
"I'm uh, just... just worried."
"But you are worried all of the time, almost."
Jay laughed and brushed it off, hoping his classmate would just accept it as nothing. It's not like he and Karlof were particularly close, he wouldn't expect Jay to confide in him.
Try as he might in paying attention to what the teacher was saying, soon enough everything that reached Jay's ears sounded like a muffled blur, like cotton balls were stuffed in his ears. He couldn't focus anymore. He knew this was just nervousness; he'd been fine in Literature and Maths before morning break, so this wasn't an illness affecting him.
"Mr Walker." The teacher's harsh voice ripped through his thoughts, and he had to stop himself from letting out a small scream.
"Y-yes, sir?" Jay asked, an awkward smile falling upon his face; a flimsy mask.
"Your homework, please."
"Oh, oh yeah!" He flipped through his binder to find the homework assigned last lesson; something about the importance of having the correct measurements in blueprints or something like that. He had finished it in a blur, and combining that with his current state of mind, he barely remembered anything of it. The teacher thanked him and moved on, collecting Karlof's homework and then everyone else in their row.
As time went on and class was drawing to a close, the ticking of the clock hanging above the door and the scratching of pens throughout the classroom grew louder and louder as Jay waited to be let go. His free period was next, he needed this to be over...
After what seemed like an eternity, the bell chimed. Jay hurried and packed his things, bolting out of the classroom and darting through the throng of students in the halls making their way to their next classes. He didn't even hear Cole calling out to him as he ran past. The black-haired boy found that odd; he and Jay were best friends, he wouldn't ignore him for no reason...
Jay made it to his dorm and quickly surveyed the room. It looked like the only things that had been disturbed since his last visit were in Kai's corner of the room; he hadn't even bothered to put his soiled shirt in their laundry basket. Not like Jay had any place to judge him; he'd been known to leave his clothes (even his underwear) on the floor after getting changed as well. Lloyd and Cole were constantly on their backs about being cleaner. The message never sunk in.
With a sigh of relief, Jay knelt by his bed and gently pulled the android out from underneath it. He felt guilty about leaving it there, under the bed as if it were a discarded toy, but where else was he supposed to hide it? He shared a closet with Cole. What if he'd come into the room? He shook his head, trying to clear his mind like the contents of an Etch-a-Sketch. It was time to look into repairing the poor thing.
He sat the android up against the side of the bed and found himself admiring the craftsmanship. Its skin was pale, and its expression, with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, made it look like it was resting peacefully, instead of what had actually just happened to it. There was no visible damage to its handsome face; its white-blonde hair was an absolute mess, though. Jay picked out little twigs and bits of grass from it while he pondered what to do. Its hair was soft. Really soft.
Did it even still work? Sure, there was no visible damage but there could be a ton of internal damages... He tapped the side of its head gently, hoping that all it needed was a little nudge. It began to fall to the side before he caught it. That motion had moved the collar of its shirt, revealing to Jay a panel on its chest.
Well. This was awkward.
Cringing, Jay lifted up its shirt, thankful it was a male-based android, and opened up the panel. Everything looked normal - oh no, wait, there was something out of place, it seemed. A round disc-looking thing that was kind of glowing. He was mesmerised by it; he'd never seen anything of the sort before in his life. He didn't even know what material it was made out of. He slid it back into the hollow circle that matched its size, jumping back when the sudden whirring of machinery startled him.
Had - had he done it? He sat back and watched as the android's eyes fluttered open, and it began to look around, confused.
"Yes!" Jay shouted, pumping his fist in the air. This was way better than the time he won that Fritz Donnegan arcade game championship. He bit his lip when the android recoiled, ice blue eyes staring at him with... fear? Was that really a look of fear in an android? "Oh - sorry, buddy. I'm just glad I got you working again." He lowered his fist, perhaps the android thought he was going to hit it, like the protesters. "I... I did get you working properly again, right?"
The android didn't answer right away, but sat still, as if it were deep in thought. He assumed it was doing a diagnostics test.
"Yes. It seems that my power source had merely been knocked out of place somehow." So that's what the glowy disc thing was. "But... my memory systems seem to have been a bit affected."
"Oh," Jay sighed, his heart sinking as his euphoria flew down the drain. "I don't know how I can help with that, sorry. I'm only good at building and fixing, not programming stuff... What do you remember? Is it a lot, or...?"
The android closed its chest panel and pulled its shirt back down, furrowing its brow. "My name is... Zane. I... have a father, but... I... I cannot remember who he is. And there is someone else..." It began to look upset. "Nothing else."
"Hey, hey, hey," Jay muttered, touching its shoulder gently. For a moment, he forgot he was talking to an android, not an actual person. Its emotions were so real... "I'll try my best to help you, okay? Is that okay? I don't know how, but I can find out somehow. Maybe... maybe your memories are backed up? Could that be possible?"
"That does sound like it could be a possibility. Thank you for all your kindness, um..."
There was a long pause. Then, feeling dumb, Jay realised what the android - what Zane wanted.
"OH! Sorry, I'm Jay. I'm don't worry about it, Zane-"
Jay's heart stopped when he heard loud footsteps; it sounded like someone was barrelling down the hallway.
"Zane," Jay whispered, standing up and grabbing his phone off his nightstand. "Get under the bed and don't make a sound."
"What?"
"Trust me!"
The footsteps reached the door and Zane scurried under the bed, making sure the draping blankets were hiding him from view. Jay raised his phone to his ear just as Kai came barging into the room.
"Jeez, Kai, can you be quiet? Sorry, Mum, it was just Kai being a loud idiot."
"Hey, I forgot my USB, okay? Mr Garland is making us do our dumb PDHPE presentation today and I'm pretty sure Chamille will legit kill me if I'm late. HI MRS WALKER" Kai shouted over his shoulder as he looked through the drawers of his own nightstand. "CAN YOU PLEASE BRING US SOME MORE CRUMB CAKE THIS WEEKEND?!"
Jay rolled his eyes. "She says she'll see what she can do; she and Dad are kinda busy this week. Now hurry up, don't wanna ruin the presentation that you totally helped out with."
"I did too work on it!" Kai shouted defensively, whirling around to face his friend. "I'm the one who put the slideshow together!"
"Yeah, while Griffin and Chamille did all the actual research, and the writing, and the wording for the presentation-"
"Just... just shut up, Jay."
A few moments later, Kai found his USB and bolted back out of the room like a hurricane. Jay sighed and put down his phone. When had his heart started pounding like crazy? Thank goodness his mother called him a lot; he didn't know how believable that would have been otherwise. He plopped down onto the bed, trying to steady his heart rate. That was too close.
"You can come out now, Zane."
"Jay, you have a... very interesting friend," Zane commented, crawling out from under the bed, wiping some dust off of its white shirt as it stood up.
"Eeeh, that's one way of describing him."
"Why did I need to hide?" Zane asked, sitting on the bed beside Jay, looking at him intently.
Jay didn't know how to answer this question. Well... he did, but not in a nice way. He didn't want Zane to feel bad. Judging by the initial fear it had shown, it seemed it had a wider range of emotions than the basic ones most androids had. It must be a prototype of some kind... that would explain the lack of registration.
"I just... um... well, he was supposed to be in class, so I wouldn't have had time to explain why you were here..."
"You're lying, Jay."
"WHAT?! How can you tell?"
"Well, your heart rate is incredibly high and you were speaking in a slightly higher pitch than you have been during the time I've been speaking with you."
"You picked up on that in just a few seconds? Holy crap." Zane smiled. Jay didn't really know what to say, still in awe. "Wow, you must be some amazing prototype."
"Pardon?"
"Well... you're so... perfect. You don't just look more human than any other android I've seen - they're mostly in the uncanny valley - but you act like it too. I've never seen an android who shows as much emotion as you." With a laugh, he added, "Borg Industries is really stepping up their game."
"Borg Industries?"
"Yeah? They make the best androids - actually they're the only company that makes them, but you know tha... oh. Right. Your memory..."
"While the name 'Borg' does sound somewhat familiar, I do not think I have anything to do with them. I may not remember much, but I remember that my father created me."
Jay had totally forgotten that Zane had mentioned something about having a father in all the Kai chaos. "Oh yeah, I was wondering what you meant by that... why do you call him that?"
"Well... not only did he create me, but he treats me like a son. I remember... I remember him saying blood does not make on a relative, it is the bond they share."
Jay smiled. "I'm glad you think that way, not many people do."
"You agree?"
"Of course!" The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. Only Cole knew this, but Zane was so easy to talk to... "I'm adopted. And I don't know who my birth parents are, but I don't really care. My adoptive parents are more my family than them. Sure, we're really poor, and they're really embarrassing sometimes, but... we're a family." Jay realised what he'd said, and tried to go back to an earlier topic. "Hey, uh, do you remember what you were doing in the park? Before I brought you back online?"
Zane thought for a moment, before giving a vague description of being at the park and getting swamped by angry, violent people. Jay's guilt returned - that had been the small group converging within the protest. He could have helped Zane earlier, if he hadn't been such a wuss...
"Should we get you back to your father? Maybe he can help with your memory - plus, he's probably super worried. What were you doing in the park, anyway?"
"I was... I... I am not sure. I believe I was searching for someone."
"So... you were lost?"
"I suppose so," Zane sighed.
"Well... where do you live? Maybe once all my classes are done for the day, I can help you get back home?"
"I..." Zane trailed off, going totally silent for almost a minute. "Jay... I barely remember anything. Only the most recent events and my core programming, such as my name. I do not remember where I live, I do not remember why I came here, I can't even remember what... I can't even remember what my father looks like!" Its voice was wavering, face distraught. If it were a person, Jay thought it might be on the verge of tears. He felt bad for it, but also impressed by its creator.
"Hey, Zane, buddy, its okay. You can stay here until we figure out how to get your memories back. I-if that's okay with you, of course."
"You would help a total stranger?"
"I have already, haven't I?" Jay laughed. "Oh. There's, ah, just a few things, though..."
"Oh?"
"I am so, so sorry but you'll have to stay under my bed unless it's just me or no one in the room. I can't risk someone finding out about you. You don't have registration, and that's illegal. He didn't say what could happen to Zane if he was caught with no registration. It had had a traumatic day already.
"Registration?"
"Yeah, all androids need them. I wondered why Borg Industries didn't put one on you, but since you're not one of theirs... Oh!" Like a bolt of lightning, Jay was struck with an idea. "I think I know how we can find your father! We can look up anyone else who makes androids! B.I. is the only company, but I've heard of some people making their own androids... not as cool as you are, though."
"You think I'm... cool?"
"Heck yeah, dude! You're so cool! Ugh, I'd love to show you to my friends but... that's the other thing. Even they can't find out about you. That guy who came in earlier - Kai? I-I'm sorry to tell you this but... he's not exactly fond of... androids..."
"Oh."
"Sorry... I'm still happy to help you, Zane. Are you up for this?"
"Yes."
"Alright! Let's get to finding your father!"