Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update. I went to a convention last weekend and had a lot of stuff to catch up with during the week. I would like to thank all the new followers and favorites! I really appreciate it, and any sort of feedback.
Enjoy!
-Blink
I leaned against Jordi's kitchen counter with my arms crossed. I knew he was going to come home soon and I was pissed. I tried to discuss what happened and get answers out of him, but he'd always make up some excuse. I know what he does. I know he's a busy man, but there's no way he never has time to himself… or to me. He's already proved that.
The door was being unlocked; quieter than usual. The door slowly opened and Jordi walked in very closely and was careful not to shut the door to loudly. I could've spared him the trouble by making my presence known, but when I need answers, I don't want to play nice. He set his keys down and waited to listen for some noise. Probably to see if I was awake…. It's 8pm. I'm injured, not 70 years old. He turned to his kitchen and finally saw me, which made him jump like I've never seen. A man in his line of work… startled by a 130lb girl.
"Ripley! So glad you're awake. You're looking well. You sure you shouldn't be resting that leg of yours?" He asked.
"I want answers, Jordi. I'm tired and maybe even a little bit scared. If you don't tell me, I will find out. And you won't like the way I would do things," I threatened in vain. Jordi knows me too well and I wouldn't be able to find anything without his help.
He let out a big sigh, "I guess I can't keep avoiding this forever,"
I looked at him carefully, "Why are you so reluctant to tell me?"
"Because I know it's something you're not going to want to deal with,"
I looked down at the stab wound in my thigh, "Uhh Jordi. I'm already dealing with it! Look, can we stop playing it up so much and talk about it? It can't be as bad as what I've been imaging for the past week,"
"Okay, okay, can you just… sit down? You're making me nervous standing on your own like that," He helped me walk over to the couch, "How is it by the way, I haven't asked yet."
"Maybe cause you keep avoiding me. It's better. Still hurts. You ever got stabbed before?" I asked sarcastically. I knew the answer, but just wanted to get the point across.
He let out a laugh, "Have I ever been stabbed before…" He said as if I should've known the answer. He's definitely had much worse than I did. He sat down next to me.
"Alright, Rip. Where should we begin?" He asked. I could tell he didn't want to do this.
"The beginning?" I retorted.
"Did he say anything to you while you were in there? Do you already know something?"
"That guy… Fontaine or whatever; he mentioned that my dad had something of his. Data or something… He seemed to know you," I explained.
"I recognized the name, but I never met Fontaine," He said typing up something in his computer.
"Well who is he?" I sighed. I felt like this wasn't getting anywhere.
"Joseph Fontaine. He was one of the original ctOS programmers. And I mean original, like alpha stage. But he's been dead for 10 years,"
My eyes widened, "So either he's a zombie or he's some guy using an alias? How do you know him?"
"We've had… mutual associates,"
"Why did you let him leave after you guys found me? We could've asked questions. Now I'm chasing a dead guy around the damn city,"
Jordi shook his head, "Nahh Aiden put a tracking device in the only other car outside that compound. We just have to refer to that and we'll find him."
"What?!" I stood up way too fast, forgetting about my thigh, "Ahh fuck! I'm so tired of this!" I felt so useless not even being able to stand normally and my frustration just took over, "Jordi, why the hell didn't you tell me sooner? Is Aiden after him now or something? Are you? Is that why you haven't been home so much?!"
"You mind slowing down there with all the questions? It's not safe to go after him right now. He's all scattered, he's probably homeless or has multiple hideouts, which means a lot of men work for him. That house he took you to was most likely one of his thugs." Jordi seemed to get annoyed.
"Then explain this. You had Aiden make sure I got home from the cemetery okay. You asked me to stay inside for a couple of days. So it sounds like you knew he was coming after me. And you seemed to have your 'database' ready to go just now. So why didn't you tell me?" I was still standing with my arms crossed, demanding answers.
He didn't seem like he wanted to answer, "I just… had a feeling?"
"Bullshit," I began. "All of this could have been prevented if you just told me from the beginning. Look, i'm not blaming you… yet. So tell me."
He stood up, "You want to know why I'm trying to keep this away from you?" Jordi asked
"No. I don't care. I just want to know what you're keeping away from me…"
He looked at me for a second, sympathetic. I could tell he wanted to tell me why, but getting answers from him are hard enough, so I had to choose one or the other, "Fine. When I called you in the morning on your dad's anniversary, I was already at the grave. I've been doing that every year since he died. This past time, I saw him standing there at your dad's grave. I didn't know who he was, so I tried to find some more information before I assumed friend or foe. I was going to confront him myself eventually. Rip, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was going to get this bad."
His voice proved that he was actually sorry, "I believe you," was all I said.
"We'll find this guy. So can you please trust me and just do as I say?" He asked
I just looked down. I knew that meant staying inside. It was going to be a hard promise to keep but I eventually nodded slowly.
"Good… Look, I have some things to do tonight, but I'll do research when I get back. Stay. Safe. All right?" He titled my chin up to make me look at him. I just smiled quickly. His smile dropped. "I'll be back in a few hours. Lock the door on my way out," And with that, he was gone.
Hell no am I staying inside. I was being the worst fake-kid ever. And I knew exactly where to go…
…..
The Owl Motel. I only knew Aiden stayed here because of Jordi. Aiden manages to stay out of the public eye pretty well… aside from all that Vigilante stuff. I went to his door and turned the knob to find out it was locked. I knocked lightly and tried listening through the door. When I didn't hear anything back, I decided to take my chances by picking the lock with a kit in the form of a switchblade. The worst that could happen is that Aiden catches me mid way and opens the door for me. Either way, I was getting inside. Picking locks used to be a hobby of mine. "Still got it," I said to myself as the door unlocked.
I walked in and made sure to lock the door behind me. I stepped forward to see a normal motel room but with computers laid out and papers tacked onto a wall. Probably contracts and fixers Aiden had to take down. I wondered how many of those were given to him by Jordi. Even a picture of Jordi was on the wall. He was a fixer, I'm sure he's tied to something. I saw his niece's picture on the wall, Lena. There were strings connecting other people's pictures together, and there was a big question mark between Lena's and some other man's. And that's when I realized how much Lena's death broke him. And he was getting revenge….
I went over to sit on a couch at the other end, still starring at the wall. I remember when I first met Lena. Before I could let myself go into memory lane, I heard the door unlock and open. Aiden walked in quickly, checking his computer immediately. He seemed stressed out and didn't notice me. I obviously didn't think this far ahead and I started getting nervous. I didn't want to startle him by saying anything, and I didn't want to wait for him to get scared when he saw me. I stood up and walked toward him, but my leg decided to remind me that it hurts and I limped forward a bit, making the floor creak.
Before I knew it, he was pointing his gun right in my direction, with a hard look on his face. It quickly softened when he realized who I was.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," I called out, straightening myself out and putting more weight on my right hip.
He put his gun away, but still looked mad, "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"
"Heh, this isn't my first break-in," I smirked, "Jordi isn't helping me with this whole dead guy 'Fontaine', whoever the fuck it is, and now somehow my dad might be in the equation… He said you've been tracking his car. Ah fuck," I said as my leg really started hurting and I had to sit down. Aiden walked over to me to try to help, but I was already seated.
"The tracker hasn't moved in 2 days. I can go to it, but he either found it and took it off, or he ditched the car."
I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and held my head up with my hands, sighing, "I figured I wouldn't hear any good news…Am I overreacting, again? I've been doing that lately."
"You did just break into my apartment," He said with a small smirk.
I smiled softly, "I'm sorry about that. I thought you'd be more mad."
"Seeing you did brighten up my day a bit," He said. My heart fluttered. I really wasn't expecting to hear that. "Don't take that the wrong way – I went through hell so you're a sight for sore eyes," He walked back over to his computer and minimized what was on the screen. No matter what he did on his computer, he couldn't hide the giant wall of pictures.
"I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm frustrated and confused and no one is helping me figure this shit out. My dad has something, and it's not like I can ask him. No one else seems to know and I can't ask the guy trying to kill me! I was perfectly happy living my life without anyone in it and having no responsibilities or fears or enemies…"
"You're not overreacting about being hunted down, but your choice of lifestyle is dramatic,"
"You think that's dramatic?" I said eyeing his wall, "Then how do you explain that?"
"That's none of your business," He had no humor in his eyes after that. "So did you just come here to vent?" He sounded annoyed. I guess I hit a nerve. I should have known.
"Sorry, Aiden, I'm just used to being around Jordi…" I felt bad.
"Are you done? I have a lot of work to do," He turned away.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked timidly
"No. You don't want to help, you just don't want to go home and deal with your situation."
"That's not true!" I didn't feel very assertive sitting down, "I know you hate me, but if getting revenge for Lena will make you feel even a little bit better, then I want to help you…" I could feel my eyes trying to tear up, but I forced myself to not think about it.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Aiden responded calmly.
I didn't react right away. I stood up and slowly headed to the door, but stopped a few steps from it and looked at Aiden, "I lost someone, too. If I could get back at who killed him, I would. I'm not judging you, Aiden. I loved her, too. And I regret that I couldn't spend more time with her. I know why you pushed me away, and I am so sorry," and with that, I tried to leave but he grabbed my arm to stop me.
"Did you at least want a ride to Jordi's?" He looked into my eyes and I saw a familiar look but I tugged my arm back and walked out before I could remember why.
…..
I limped back inside Jordi's apartment. This time it was his turn to lean against the kitchen counter, judging me, as I walked in. Though I was expecting it. I just shut the door behind me, and sat down on the couch and looked at him.
"I was gone for 4 hours and you disappeared. I'm starting to think you liked getting kidnapped,"
"Well you weren't helping me! I had to do something,"
"And you thought Aiden would help you." Jordi said more than asked.
I eyed him, "How did you know – Ah, fuck, I know how, why do I bother asking? It was a waste of time anyway," I gave up, "You've been gone for days, and suddenly you're worried about me being gone for 4 hours."
"Yeah I have a job, and you have people after you. Which is the worst scenario for one to be gone for?" He asked.
"You always have people after you," I smiled.
"But I'm good at not dyeing. I've gotten stabbed and shot at enough times to learn to avoid it. You need to get stabbed about 20 more times to figure out how to never have it happen ever again because it sucks so bad,"
"I already know it sucks, how about after the first time?"
"That's a lie, and still not even close. Look, I have answers if you want them." Jordi brought back his laptop and set it down.
I sat up straight, "How did you know?" I said sarcastically.
"Does this guy look familiar?" Jordi asked as he turned his laptop to me.
Fontaine. Or at least the guy who said he was Fontaine, "That's him!"
"Yeah, I know this guy and that's definitely not Fontaine, dead or alive. That's Ted Tannen. He's an idiot. I'm not surprised he's pretending to be someone else."
"How do you know him?"
"Your dad had a job to break into a hideout several years ago. When ctOS was first getting programmed, some people involved were copying the data on their own time. Basically to be able to have control over it when it finished and run the city themselves. But they messed up and got fired by Blume, but not without taking the data with them. They went into hiding and continued the work on their own. We were able to find them and take the data from them, but not without a few losses," He started.
"How come I've never heard of this before? And why did you guys care about ctOS so much?" I asked
"The less you knew about your dad's involvement with ctOS, the better. You were like 15 at the time, it wasn't something for you to worry about. And Roy was buddies with one of these people. He didn't want to betray him, he was just trying to help him not get arrested or worse,"
"Was he friends with Fontaine?" I asked after a few moments. Jordi looked at his laptop and started clicking around. "What kind of database is that anyway?" I asked while he was scrolling.
"Just a list of people we – I've encountered. With some notes," He responded. We? As in he and my dad? I was going to bring it up to him but he interrupted my though, "And no he wasn't friends with Fontaine. He was one of the lead programmers for ctOS in the very beginning. He was brilliant. Really nice guy, too, from what I heard. Only got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Tannen fuckin' wishes he was Fontaine. Guy couldn't even program "Hello World" let alone a damn operating system,"
"So which one was my dad friends with?"
He brought up another entry.
Frank Murray
1958-2003
"Murray…. I think I remember him. He looks familiar," I said quietly.
"Wouldn't be surprised if you met him. They were in the army together for a bit before Murray lost a leg in battle and couldn't serve anymore. He went to work for Blume, but Roy and him stayed friends. I don't know why, but he started to go nuts. He felt he was out of control after his injury, and the opportunity to take over a whole city probably sounded like a dream. Roy tried to help him, but he only got worse. Murray died over that data. Fontaine, too. Murray threatened his family to work for him. I don't know why Tannen joined. Probably just stumbled his way in the gang."
I blinked trying to process all this, "So this "idiot" managed to kidnap me and stab me over data that's been missing for 10 years, which isn't even his to begin with? And his two pals are dead?"
Jordi nodded, "I don't really know why wants it 10 years later. It's not like it really matters considering how outdated the coding probably is. Maybe Tannen just had enough of regular life and thought to give ruling the city a shot?" Jordi smirked.
"So what do we do?"
"We get things done in the classic Jordi Chin fashion. To eliminate the threat,"
"How about talking to them?" I looked over to Jordi and after a few moments we both just started laughing.
"I'm going to call it a night. Don't go snooping in that database," He stood at heading toward his room, but quickly did a 180 and grabbed his laptop, "Actually, you've had a knack for doing the opposite of what I tell you, so I'm just going to take this with me," I flipped him off before he went back into his room. I sat there for a moment longer, trying to process all the information I just heard. I knew who my dad was after he served the military. I knew he had enemies, but I never thought that they'd outlive him enough to get to me. Very selfish of me, but I thought those days were done. I thought my own criminal history would end with my father's death…
Chapter 4 will be out very very soon! I originally had this chapter be like 5000 words long, but it got ridiculous and decided to split it into two chapters. Stay tuned!
Thanks!
