After hearing the reporter say that name, I almost freeze. My breadth hitches in my throat, and I block out the rest of the sound around me. Hernàndez? This must be some kind of trick, they're lots of other people in the world with that name, it doesn't mean he's my . . .
"Albert, are you okay?" My mother asks with worry etched over her features.
I take even breaths to try to slow down my heart which I didn't know picked up the pace. "Yes, yes I'm fine."
She frowns a bit like she doesn't believe me and turns off the TV with just a downward swipe of her hand.
"How did you find out about this?" I ask my mother, putting my bag down.
"I was on the phone with Sack and he casually brought the news up, told me to go check it out and I saw this." She answers. By now her phone is hanging limp at her side, unused and was that way when I came in so she must her ended her call with Sack by then.
"And you don't find that at least a little suspicious?" I question, knowing my mother is smarter than that.
"Of course I do. Sack clearly knows something, get PITAN so we can strategize about this." My mother says.
"That won't be necessary Vanessa, I'm already here." PITAN says as he materializes in front of me. Years ago, after he was created, my mother hesitsntly had him surgically attached to my brain — I told her that if she didn't I will, establishing an almost neural link between us, with it, I can summon him and be used as a medium for him to materialize.
"Mother, I need you to tell me what he and you talked about." I request.
"We just talked about what we've been up to for the past few years, we didn't go into details of course." My mother says, A fond smile graces her lips as she recalls the conversation. "We laughed about the crazy antics he's been up to and how boring my life has been. Then he said there was something crazy on the news and I saw . . . you know, that."
"You said for the past few years, I didn't know fifteen years was just a few." I comment.
"No Albert, you didn't know him for fifteen years, we still worked together until two years ago when he went on a hiatus, he still acted as head of physics, just away from SOSRAC. Are you interrogating me right now?" My mother questions, a bit annoyed.
"No we aren't, we just want to get all the facts, we'll get to strategizing now, right Albert?" PITAN asks, practically daring me with those translucent blue eyes of his to say no.
Translation; lay off, Albert. "Right."
I can't help it, being overly paranoid is the only way to get the results I need. "When I spoke with Mr. Dent or as you call him, Sack, he said he couldn't look you in the eye after what he did. He played it off as irrational guilt for being a best friend to my father and letting what happened to him, happen."
"But you think he's actually responsible for it." My mother deduces.
"Exactly, there's no way he couldn't have known what SOSRAC wanted to do when he's the literal second-in-command to my father. They had to have needed someone close to him." I say.
"Interesting theory Albert, but don't forget, Javièr was one of the smartest people alive," PITAN starts.
"Is one of the smartest people alive." I correct PITAN and receive an eye roll.
"Not to mention, he was Sack's best friend, it's unlikely that this sort of thing could be put past him." My mother finishes.
"Well does anyone else have other ideas? I didn't think so." I say.
"Actually, you could have a point Albert. On the day your father disappeared, all the heads of each science department was present in a special viewing room, I had to babysit you so I wasn't there, but Sack was." My mother says suddenly after a brief moment of silence.
"This is a great time for me to just find out about this." I say, not bothering to keep the accusation out of my voice.
"Albert, that's enough. Your mother clearly didn't want to bring up Sack before now, he's part of a painful past, try to understand that." PITAN interferes with a warning in his tone.
"Don't worry about it PITAN, it's alright." My mother says.
"No, mother, it's not okay how you withhold vital information like this, do you think you're the only one who's hurt by his disappearance?" I ask coldly.
"Of course not. But you didn't know him at all, not like I did, and it eats you up inside. You've become obsessed son." My mother says, the sadness she tries to hold back evident in her voice. Well tough cookies.
"I apologize if my determination to get my father back seems like obsession. Since you tell me nothing, I'm forced to get information from obscure sources like this damn book." I say, whipping out the journal that Mr. Dent handed to me.
"Your father's journal. I suppose you should have all the information you need." My mother says, looking defeated.
"No thanks to you, mother." I almost spit out. I've never referred to her affectionately and after today, I don't think I ever will. Almost sixteen years of anger culminated into this one release on my mother.
PITAN is just standing there, he must be feeling awkward — that is, if he's even capable of awkwardness, he's always adapting so I can't be sure.
Walking past my mother without another word, I make my way upstairs, and I feel PITAN start towards me, but is stopped by my mother. I pause to eavesdrop.
"PITAN, Albert's never sworn before. What happened today at school?" She enquires.
I look back to see PITAN glance at me before answering. "He met Lucas' kids."
Oh great, another important person that my mother neglected to tell me about. And she's apparently telling PITAN about this, where was I when all this information was given?
It doesn't matter anyway, now I know that I can't even program a trustworthy person, I only have myself to rely on.
"You know I can hear your thoughts right?" PITAN says in my head, already having dematerialized.
"I know that it's unfair that I can't hear yours back, but nothing's fair is it?" I ask back mentally.
Without waiting for his response, I change the subject. "I need you to pull up everything you have on the Reid twins' parents, or are you going to tell me about this Lucas?"
I hear him sigh, I don't know how that's possible since he doesn't have a body, or lungs, or a throat, but I digress.
"Lucas Reid is the head of SOSRAC'S military." PITAN says.
"You're starting to act like my mother. I thought we don't keep information from each other PITAN."
"I would have told you eventually but how does that come up in conversation?" PITAN asks.
"I don't know, maybe you could have mentioned it before I got into a basketball game for the Reids." I say. From my tone, you couldn't tell that I'm sarcastic, but PITAN knows me all too well.
"That was a bad time and you know it, look I'm sorry okay? Vanessa didn't tell me much about him."
"It's Vanessa now? What happened to you calling her Mrs. Henderson?" I ask with an eyebrow raised.
"Albert do you want to know about Lucas Reid or not?" PITAN asks, his patience wearing thin.
I remain silent but gesture for him to continue.
"As a child he was your typical jock, so naturally he gravitated toward learning a martial art, mostly because he thought it was cool."
"He was average in all his subjects by Xanderidge standards, until he met who you know as Charlotte Reid, the head of chemistry. That happened in the middle of their sophomore year and he also befriended your parents, Sack and Julia."
"Is that all?" I ask.
"Vanessa also said Lucas hates war movies, I don't know why you need to know that but you said I shouldn't withhold info." PITAN says.
"That's a bit ironic when you consider his line of work." I quip.
"That is true, she said it was something about not liking unnecessary loss, and that's why he's in his line of work." PITAN elaborates.
I ponder this new information and am filled with something close to glee, but not quite.
"That means getting close to the Reid twins can be more profitable than I thought." I say, already thinking of schemes to worm my way and gain their total confidence.
"Woah there, slow your roll. He's usually at work so you won't get much about him from the twins." PITAN informs me.
At this point, I'm used to him shooting down my ideas, it's why I built him; to give intelligent feedback and serve as a second opinion on most matters.
"Alright then, the Reid twins may still be of use to me. Any luck in finding the location of SOSRAC'S headquarters?" I ask PITAN, already advancing towards a computer in my training room, over the course of this conversation, I made my way downstairs.
"No luck just yet, and Vanessa is still so insistent on not telling us." PITAN says.
For years now, PITAN and I have been trying to get my mother to tell us exactly where SOSRAC'S headquarters is, no luck just yet, she wants to do all she can to at least postpone my demise.
"We can't make her, so let's focus on what we can do, like find out more about Diego Hernàndez." I say.
"Pulling up all available records." PITAN announces.
Seated at my computer, I view the files regarding everyone on earth named Diego Hernàndez. Since my surname is fairly popular and earth's population exploded decades ago, there are quite a lot of folders to look through.
I start by singling out those in this continent, if they're in Asia or one of those islands SOSRAC created by sand filling the ocean, then it's hard to imagine how they got back from Washington so quickly when you consider the extra precautions that will undoubtedly be put in place.
"Cross reference these files with police records, if there's a match, boot it." I tell PITAN.
"That narrows it down a bit, but you might want to take away those who are under the age of twelve." PITAN suggests.
"You don't think a middle schooler could pull it off, PITAN?" I question, but do as he says and remove the files of those who are twelve and under.
"Not everyone was as dangerous as you when you were that age, Albert." He says.
"True." Is my response.
We spend the next half hour diligently searching through the remaining files for anyone who could be the man we're looking for.
"The name could be a pseudonym, something to throw the authorities off track." PITAN says.
"Maybe. All we have is a picture and a name, you'd think there'd be more about him. Have you checked hospital records?" I ask.
"Yep, nothing on him, like he doesn't exist. We're dealing with a ghost here. Not even high-tier mafia bosses have this kind of anonymity. The only people with this much Internet absence are-"
"Those connected with SOSRAC." I finish his thought. "Dr. Gerald Finn is SOSRAC'S candidate for President, do you think the attempted kidnapping was staged for publicity?"
I can almost feel PITAN nod in my head. "I wouldn't put it past them. Remember your old principal who your nosy self got arrested for drug trade?"
"SOSRAC was in on the operation and they pretended to search for the drugs and hand them over to the police, saving their own skin." I say, recalling the incident well.
From what I gathered, SOSRAC was experimenting with performance-enhancing drugs for Extreme Athletics, A more dangerous and tasking version of normal Athletics. The drugs that didn't turn out well served as narcotics and stimulants, so they teamed with my old principal to sell the drugs to the few cartels in the vicinity.
I, being the nosy — I mean inquisitive — person that I am, found out about this and covertly slipped tips to the police that eventually led to their downfall. SOSRAC made sure there was nothing incriminating them, and so walked away without any charges.
That's not the only time that I've tried to take SOSRAC down, A couple years ago, I found a facility where SOSRAC conducted illegal tests on people, I wasn't able to save the victims since SOSRAC evacuated them, I also wasn't able to get any evidence so I just blew up the factory. Much like the drug trade, SOSRAC ended up being more popular because of that, received sympathy and generous donations from well wishers. They played it off as a gas leak and started a safety campaign with it.
PITAN suggested I stop attacking the small buildings I can find and focus on the big picture, I listened.
"What's the endgame here? The elections are a few months away and if SOSRAC pulls more stunts like this, they'll run America." PITAN says.
"I don't know, PITAN." I say, feeling useless at the moment because my brain, as powerful as it is, can't come up with a solution.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, not even the smartest person in the world can have all the answers. Go to bed, we'll talk in the morning." PITAN says, materializing and putting his hand on my shoulder in an attempt to be comforting.
"First my mother, now you? I'll sleep tomorrow, now, it's time to train." I say, shrugging his hand off me.
"Spar?" He proposes.
"I thought you'd never ask." I answer, and with that, we begin.
He starts toward me with a simple straight punch that I sidestep and follow up with a spinning side kick to wherever his torso is supposed to be, it's not hard for him to block and we return to our original positions.
"Are you taking it easy on me PITAN?" I question.
"Me? Never." He says.
He sends a spinning roundhouse kick to my head which I duck under and he sends a knee to my face when I raise it back up. I'm not fast enough to block so I take the hit and roll backwards with the impact. As expected, when I pop up, PITAN attempts a punch that I grab and use his extended arm to drag and flip him backwards.
He rolls back to his feet and deflects the kick I aim at him, then tries to punch me but I block it and give him a forearm strike in the face, he responds by using the arm I blocked him with to flip me over his shoulder.
I land on my feet and pull my arm out of his grip, allowing him to send a jab to by torso. I block his follow up kick with my foot and kick at his legs to make him stumble, then side kick his head. The force of the kick turns him around and with his back facing me, he backflips and drives both his feet into my chest, sending me flying back.
Once I get back to my feet, I dismiss the ache in my chest and hook the arm he sends at me with a right hook, then hold it behind his back and wrench on it, I don't know why I bother, he doesn't have joints so this won't hurt.
My point is proven when he reaches down between his own legs and pull at my legs out from under me. When I go down, I don't let go of his arm and he just backflips over my downed body and kick my hand, forcing me to release his grip.
I'm too slow to get up so as I try to push myself up, he grasps my left arm, spins it and throws it against the floor, instantly discovering it.
Through the pain I manage to think, 'he was definitely taking it easy on me earlier.'
We continue for a few more hours and stop when it's almost midnight. PITAN ended up beating me again and again.
When I picked myself off the floor for what felt like the hundredth time, he asks, "why didn't you use your powers?"
"You know why PITAN, I shouldn't bother with them for just a sparring session." I say.
"You're at a disadvantage with me since I'm not human, you should at least practice with them so you get used to it." PITAN says.
"The answer is no. I'll only use them when I need to." I state.
"You won't even use them now?" PITAN asks and as if on cue, A latch in the wall opens and a gun pops out, the result is that a bullet ends up in my shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Albert, I thought you'd stop it." PITAN says apologetically.
I look at the blood spilling out from the bullet wound before I answer. "Using the abilities given to me by my father's creation would kill me faster than this bullet and would be an insult to my father if I'm too dead to get justice for him."
I go up to my room and take my father's journal with me, before I read it, I retrieve a portable Cellor from my drawer.
It's one of my most valuable possessions because it was a co-project by my parents, it's short for Cellular Regenerator, and if you can't figure out what it is from the name, you should consider befriending a dictionary, or your English teacher.
I pry open the wound with my finger and while gritting my teeth through the indescribable pain, I manage to pull the bullet out and put it in the trash. I'll recycle it later.
Using the Cellor on my shoulder, I feel my wound closing and moments later, it's gone without a scar.
I place the device shaped like a cell phone back in my drawer and plop down on my bed to read the journal, I open to the first entry.
This is Javièr Hernàndez, who else would it be this is my Journal after all. Today I helped a boy out of a toilet, it sounds weird, and looked even weirder , but it felt good — afterwards, while doing it it felt really dirty.
The boy called himself Sack, I felt that it was a weird name but who am I to judge, he's English, his people basically invented the names I use today. Having braces, he was difficult to talk to, but an excellent conversationalist with a shared enthusiasm for physics, the things we would do one day.
Vanessa, my girlfriend, finds him cute, I'm not the least bit jealous.
P.S keep my girl away from that kid.
I'm not a possessive person, but if the attraction between an electron and proton — you and your girlfriend — could be put in jeopardy by some other electron, you're going to want to stuff him in the furthest shell possible.
I can't decide who though, he might become a proton if I put him with a more negative character, Julia being a perfect example, he might never be the same if he gets to know her. In that case, maybe he, Vanessa and I could be a trio, Julia too. Anyone who won't attract my girlfriend and has a taste for studying other nuclei, is cool with me.
Okay, cringe-worthy atom analogy, but the point is made. I might set him up with Julia in the future, but that is a plan to ponder another day. Sack asked me an intriguing question today, what came first; light, or darkness?
I feel a little pressure behind my eyes as I finish reading. My father sounded happy and carefree. I never got to know him, and the world lost a brilliant mind too early. I don't know what that pressure behind my eyes is, but I turn my focus back to this journal. It's the one chance I have to get a glimpse into the mind of Javier Hernàndez, the father I never got to have.