"That didn't take Jean very long." Anubis uttered as he peeled himself off the bed. His fuzzy hair darkened his eyes as he gazes in your direction, but not directly at you.
"What do you want to know?" He asks as he pulls out his computer, typing in codes that you only partially understand.
"Frankly, I'm surprised he let me in in the first place… Anyways, do you think ELife has a database of their cyborgs?" I sit on the edge of the bed, sinking in slightly. Anubis's room was rather simplistic: nothing on the dark blue walls, plain carpet and plain blankets, a bookshelf full of fancy books, and the only somewhat strange object was a full-body mirror next to his desk. He did seem to have a style in clothes - unlike Jean - so maybe that makes sense.
Anubis flashes a gentle, but tired grin.
"Everyone has a database for everything." He remarks as the typing on his computer directs to the ELife website. Within minutes, a wall of sensitive text appears on his screen.
"You want to know something about Roger I'm assuming?" He absentmindedly speaks as he goes through the text, searching.
I shake my head. "Actually…" I said, picking at my nails out of nervousness. "I… need you to find if they have a place where they keep pictures of cyborgs? Is there a place for that? There's a certain cyborg I'm curious about."
Anubis furrowed a brow curiously at you, but complied nonetheless.
"Catch feelings for someone during the revolution or something?"
He mutters as he starts typing, scrolling and searching, which then leads to a screen of photos. Each photo contained the face of a man, either neutral or sort of smiling. Under each photo was a set of numbers, words, and other bits of information.
"Knock yourself out." He pushes his chair away from the computer to give you room to browse.
"You don't know a thing about catching feelings…" I mutter, but I'm not sure where it came from. I felt Anubis's eyes on the back of my head as I stood up to scroll through the database. "Actually, this is an enemy - or at least I think so."
My finger rolls the mouse's scroll until the screen reveals what I want it to.
His face is unmistakable; the same face that cursed Roger's name and left him dying to you as he walked away with no remorse. The same face that stared you down at the stoplight, searching his own database for where he remembers you. You look below his face to find some peculiar information;
001: "Edward" 2017-04-20
Duplication starts: November 15
"Edward…" I mutter, "November Fif…" My words trail off as I wonder why that date had particularly struck me. I have absolutely no plan of what I'm going to do with Edward when I find him, but maybe, just maybe, I could convert him and get some kind of information. Maybe Anubis could help me. No… he wouldn't help me without getting money or something out of it.
I turned to look at Anubis. "What?" he say, brows furrowed.
"Can I make you help me?" I ask, but maybe not so particular to him.
"Can you ma-" Anubis hesitated, furrowing a brow in confusion. "Depends on what it is…?" Anubis is just as much cautious as he is curious, but if he's being honest with himself, this case is different from any case he's ever taken, and he's not entirely sure how to handle it.
I smirk, just like the fanfictions. "I just need you to come with me and like, I don't know, interrogate this man. And also, I don't know, check in on Roger or some shit. Okay, maybe I need your help with a plan too."
My eyes meet Anubis's as I attempt to look at puppy-eyed as possible, even though I know it wouldn't sway him. I just needed a partner in this and god knows Jean won't help me. Anubis seems smarter anyways.
Anubis squints his eyes at you, almost as if he knows that he's leaving you in anticipation.
"I'd better not regret this."
He uttered as he stood up, grabbing a jacket.
He led you to the kitchen where he turned on the lights.
"Let's start with a plan. We don't know where Roger is and if he succeeded the re-"
A knock resonated from the door, at a perfectly even beat.
Anubis looked at you, frozen in his position.
"Did anyone follow us on our way home?"
"Uh oh," I mutter in an Aloe kind of voice. LOL. "Maybe we already know where Ed boy is…"
I motion Anubis away and head swiftly to the window by the door, peaking my eyes over, but the night's strength was far too powerful for me to see jack shit. I take a deep breath, knowing the house lights gave away the fact that somebody was home.
I step back to the door and turn the door knob.
His eyes protrude through the darkness of the outside, reflecting the light coming from inside the house as he gazes intently at you. Crickets thankfully filled the few moments of silence that followed.
"Are you…Jean?" His voice was solemn, a forced sort of formality that he felt the irrational need to hold.
Though he held a confident composure, Edward's competence is indeed nowhere to be found.
The man in front of me matched his picture perfectly - curled chocolate hair paired with a stereotypical Instagram model face. He stood with posture nearly identical to Roger's. I squint my eyes in confusion. "Who's asking?" Jean is a unisex name, but how did he know it?
The man furrowed two very confused brows as he adjusted his position.
"I'm asking…" He began, but then the light returned to his eyes as he held out a hand. "My name is Edward. Roger told me to find Jean, and then he can help me find Jenny."
He straightened up his posture, putting on a face of masked determination.
"Roger told me that Jenny aided him in becoming human again. I hope that this Jenny can perform the same procedure with me."
"I'm asking…" He said, which led me to giggle a little. "My name is Edward. Roger told me to find Jean, and then he can help me find Jenny. Roger told me that Jenny aided him in becoming human again. I hope that this Jenny can perform the same procedure with me."
I stare at Edward in amusement. "Well Roger, is a fucking dumbass. It's not as simple as a procedure, and from the looks of it, he was already way ahead of you when I met him. I'm Jenny."
Edward's eyes widen in shock as the realization sets in.
"Jenny! That's perfect, we've already made our acquaintance.
He shakes his head, scoffing at himself.
"Anyway, how much should I pay you? I don't have much, but I'm sure I could find a way to get more. Or, if money isn't exactly your thing, I could dedicate my life to protecting you."
"Uhhh…" I put a hand on my forehead, realizing that Edward was not a threat in any way. Nor did he hear anything I just said, except for 'I'm Jenny.'
"Do you just wanna come in, Eddie?" I sigh with a grin on my face. I open the door for him and glance back at Anubis, who is snickering.
Edward twitched his hand, which rested at his side as he nodded, taking a step in.
"I'd love to, Jen."
As Edward locks eyes with Anubis, he holds out a hand.
"Ah! So you must be Jean. I'm Edward."
Jen? I twitched, but Eddie moved past me before I could say anything.
"Ah! So you must be Jean. I'm Edward," he says. Anubis flitters his eyes to me for a split second; a mischievous look cascades over his face. I shrug slightly, curious about what Anubis planned to do.
"Yes, I am Jean. How can we help?" he responds, shaking Eddie's hand kindly. My mouth drops open in surprise and I try not to laugh.
"Well, I'm sure you're aware of the situation with the andr-cyborgs. Unfortunately I'm still…under their control, in a way."
Edward clenched his fist again, looking down for a second before straightening up and continuing.
"I just want my soul back, Jean. But I fear I can't get it on my own."
Anubis raises an eyebrow at him. "Do you have mics? I'm going to have to disable some of your functions if you want our help. That is, if you want to." The last sentence is aimed at me.
I nod my head confidently. "Alright Eddie boy, I will help you get your soul back. It could take long, though." I shift weight onto my other leg. "Let's sit, first, so Anu- I mean Jean can do his thing."
Edward hesitates, not sitting just yet as his face wrinkles into that of concern.
"You want…to remove…my mics? Will I still be able to hear you?"
He wasn't sure how much of his functions relied on the robotic parts, so he continued.
"How many functions are you going to disable? Is it going to hurt?"
Anubis opens his mouth to reply, but I wave a hand at him. "No, Eddie, you're mistaken. Jean is going to disable the function that allows your company to spy on you, which spies on us. Like, a tracking device or any way they can hear us through you This way. we could get to only you. You won't feel anything, or I assume so. Jean will only disable any form of tracking for us, but nothing else," I reassure Eddie, trying to keep a calm, nurturing voice. Should the real Jean be here for this?
I smile gently "You will still be alive and you'll still be Eddie with ears." Hopefully.