Jay had been peacefully sleeping when he was suddenly awoken in the middle of the night by something hitting the underside of his bed. He nearly screamed, jolting into an upright position. Then he remembered seeing Zane underneath it earlier and let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully no one else had heard that… he wasn't sure if the android had fallen asleep (did androids even sleep?) or had powered down again. He hadn't had time to check between classes, dinner and bedtime. There was always someone else around. He laid back down, pulling the blankets tightly around himself and buried the side of his head into his pillow, ready to go back to sleep.
And that's when he heard it; a quiet sobbing.
He slowly sat up a bit, looking around the room. Lloyd and Kai were asleep (he didn't even have to look at Kai to tell; he could hear his snoring). Was Cole upset about his mother again…? He got up quietly, but upon approaching his best friend's bed, he saw that Cole was still asleep, and didn't look the least bit upset.
And yet the sobbing continued. Confused, Jay headed back to his bed, and lifted up the blankets draped over the side. Through the dim moonlight and streetlights that came through the windows, Jay could make out the shape of Zane, curled up into a ball. That's where the sobbing was coming from.
"Hey, don't worry, buddy," Jay whispered, laying on his side to place a hand on the android's shoulder. "I told you, we'll find him. No matter how hard we have to look-"
"N-no, we won't," Zane whispered back, voice cracking, glowing blue eyes staring right into Jay, with so much emotion, so much… sadness… it was hard to believe he was artificial.
"C'mon, don't think like that-"
"He's… he's dead, Jay."
Well. The brunette hadn't been expecting that. He got to his feet, confused and disappointed. Had Zane's memories come back? Would he have to say goodbye to his new friend? Jay sat down on his bed, whispered for Zane to sit with him.
"But Jay, your friends-"
"Are fast asleep. Come on. It's okay. And anyway, I've convinced them that stuff is a dream before," he chuckled. Zane crawled out from under the bed, and sat on it, across from Jay, who sighed. It was time to ask the question. "Did your memories come back?"
"I… I believe it was only some of them, my most recent ones… my f-… what led me to coming to the city."
"You came here cause of him?"
"I… guess so," Zane said with a nod. "These people came to our house, they wouldn't let me keep any of his things, including the house, because of me being an android… they… they wanted to take me, too… they treated me like I was just a – a thing, a possession…"
"Oh, Zane…" Jay muttered, reaching out and hugging the android, completely unsure if it would help. It was the only thing he could think of to do. He'd done the same for Cole the night they'd received news of his mother's death. Cole had slept in his best friend's arms that night, but there was no way Zane could do that, unfortunately. What if someone saw, and figured out he was an android? Hang on… the kitchen! Before they'd fallen asleep, Jay and Cole had snuck out to the kitchen and eaten a crap ton of ice cream to help him feel better. But did androids eat ice cream? Or… anything at all? Jay had never seen it… Regardless, it would be a better and safer place to talk. "Hey," Jay whispered. "I have an idea. Do you like food?"
"I… haven't eaten in a while…"
"So you do eat!" Jay said with a smile, letting go of the hug and sitting up straight with a smile. "Well, how 'bout we go somewhere, huh?" Zane was taken aback.
"Where could we go? It is 1:21am-"
"Exactly. Which means there's no one in the kitchen," Jay smirked, giving the android a small nudge. "C'mon – and stay quiet." Jay stood up, took Zane's hand, and led the android out of the room and down the hallway. They were approaching a main hallway when they heard footsteps and saw the light of a torch. Jay stopped abruptly and dragged Zane to the wall.
"Who the fuck do they think is going to break into a school?" someone muttered to himself. Jay seemed a bit relieved. "This job is too easy. And fucking boring – look, now I'm talking to myself!"
Zane gave Jay a quizzical look. As the man got closer, Jay pushed him behind a display case.
"Hey, Ronin…" he muttered, feigning sleepiness. He yelped when the torch was shone directly into his eyes. The man laughed.
"Shouldn't you be asleep, kid?" he said, lowering the torch. "Eh, whatever. I don't care. Hey, how'd Garland react to the missing trophies?"
"Freaked out like usual. You… know he's proud of those and the students he coached to get them, right?"
"Duh. That's what makes stealing them fun. Now, go back to bed or take a shit or whatever you were doing. Just don't make a mess."
With that, the brunette man continued down the hallway, whistling quietly. Jay grabbed Zane's hand again and rushed past the hallway.
"That was Ronin, the janitor-slash-security guard guy," he explained quietly. "I don't know who the heck hired him, he likes causing havoc."
Once they got to the kitchen, Jay didn't want to risk turning on the light, and instructed Zane not to do so. "The kitchen lady is… kinda scary, she creeps me out, but man, she's a good cook and has good taste. If she doesn't make it herself, she makes sure to stock really good stuff. What do you like, Zane?"
"I… am not sure. I still do not remember much. Won't we get in trouble?"
"We'll only get in trouble if we get caught." He opened the fridge, smiling wide when he saw a plate of cupcakes. "Well. Cole says you can never go wrong with cake!" he exclaimed quietly, taking the plate to the square wooden table in the middle of the room.
"Why is there a table in here?" Zane asked, confused, as Jay sat down.
"I think some of the teachers eat in here? Including the principal, cause he's friends with the kitchen lady." He lifted up the cling wrap protecting the cupcakes, holding one out to Zane, who sat beside him. "I'm sorry about your dad, Zane. And what happened afterwards." The android said nothing, staring down at the white icing on the cupcake. "So… what… what happens now…?"
"Well… in my memories, I remember thinking… 'Cyrus will help', or… something along those lines. But, of course, I do not remember who this Cyrus is." Zane took a bite of the cupcake. "Mm… this is lovely…"
"I know, right?" Jay said with a smile. "Hmm… I don't know of any Cyruses, aside from Cyrus Borg, of course. But there's no way it could be him."
"Didn't you and your friend mention him earlier? Who is he?"
Jay's eyes went wide. "He is the most amazing inventor, coming up with ideas and making blueprints and prototypes and stuff for Borg Industries! Don't listen to what people say, about his dad, Randall Borg, doing all the work. That's what most people believe. But if you closely compare Cyrus' stuff to his dad's, there is an obvious difference." He continued to ramble on about the technology produced by Borg Industries; it was clear he admired the inventor. Zane could tell this was an area Jay was passionate about, and smiled, staring at the freckled boy. Who stopped suddenly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh crap… I was rambling, wasn't I…?"
"Yes, but it is okay, Jay. It was nice."
"You sure? Even Cole, who is my best friend, gets annoyed if I talk too much about tech stuff…"
"Well… I do not mind. And besides… I am literally… 'tech stuff'," Zane said with a small laugh. Jay smiled, happy to see the android look a little less down. Even happier that it was his own doing. "And you are right… I doubt we would have known such a high-profile person as this Cyrus Borg… I don't remember what he looks like, only thinking that he would help. Oh, I wish I hadn't asked those people in the park for help…" The cupcake was set down on the table as the android buried its face in its hands and groaned a little.
"Hey! I'm sure we can figure this out, dude! It might not be finding your dad, but I'm still willing to help you. There's plenty of ways we could find out if someone knew him – message boards and stuff. Was there anything else in your memories that could help?"
"I… am unsure. Would a photograph of my father be of assistance? I remember, when they were packing up the house, they refused to let me keep anything but… I secretly took some old photographs and put them in the pocket of my jeans… Maybe he's in one of them?"
"Yeah, that could help! And – I don't know if your memory works anything like a human's does, but maybe seeing some of those photos could help jog your memory!"
"I guess it is worth a shot…" Zane reached for the pocket that held the photos, and placed them on the table. Due to the moisture of the snow between the house and the city, some of them were stuck together.
"Do you mind if I look through them with you?" Jay asked, curious.
"No, I would actually prefer it… I… don't want to look through them alone…"
The first photo was of Zane and an extremely old-looking man with white hair and glasses. Both were smiling brightly at the camera.
"Is that…?"
"Yes, that is my father, Dr. Hans Julien. While I do not remember much at all about him… from what I do remember… he was very kind to me."
"I'm sorry, Zane…" Jay said quietly, placing his hand on the android's shoulder.
Zane sighed. "Unfortunately it is a part of life…" It tried to flip over to the next picture, but the top one was stuck to it. It tried carefully to pry the top photo away, but, on the furthest edge it got caught, leaving behind it's white backing that obscured almost a third of the picture. So, now viewable in the photo were two figures; Zane, and a smiling boy, ice blue eyes twinkling behind rounded glasses, his black hair nice and neat. There appeared to be a handle on the back of the chair he was sitting on. "I do not recognise this person…"
But Jay did. He stared at the photo in awe, mouth agape and eyes wide. "No way. No freaking way."
"What is it?"
"It is him! But how?! What-?" he spluttered.
"Who?" Zane asked, completely lost.
"Cyrus freaking Borg, that's who!" Jay answered, typing into his phone and showing Zane a picture of a man with very similar features to the teenage boy in the picture. Despite the same shape of the smile, he looked… tired. The light in his eyes that had been present in his youth was not in the picture Jay showed.
The two jumped when the door closed, and a voice spoke behind them.
"Usually, it is Mr. Brookstone I find in here."