A few months ago, Eddie walked into the probation room where Simon was in. The latter was being jailed for a month due to him rioting again.
"Eddie, my dear officer, welcome back." Simon smiled, "I was just wondering how you are going to entertain me today."
"I'm just going to sit her and observe you and your actions." Eddie replied sternly, "I'm making sure you don't do anything stupid."
"Aw, Eddie, why so serious?" Simon teased him, "I know it's my last week here, but don't be so sad. You'll see me very soon."
"I don't wish to see you again, Simon."
"Why? You should be sad, devastated, heartbroken that I'm leaving. You should cry tears of misery for me. Do you know what our relationship's like?"
Simon placed his hand around Eddie's neck, "We're like Batman and Joker. One cannot survive without the other. It's like eating a jelly without peanut butter. You are like the jelly, nice in its original taste, normal in your own ways. I'm like peanut butter, the extra but delicious, savory, satisfying adding to the jelly, adding the fun in."
"We're not as close as you think, Simon. You're just being delusional."
"Delusional? But I like the things you are fond of, like a bento set, bananas, the movie Weathering With You..."
"We don't love or like the same stuff. I respect the Master, while you don't."
"Now that's a different case. I said that I liked the things you love, but that doesn't mean I have a fondness of all the things you liked. The Master is one of them. I really, really, really hate the Master. Like if I could teach him a lesson, I would."
"You're like my brothers." Eddie sighed as he shook his head.
"Brothers? You got brothers?" Simon asked, "I didn't know that. You didn't tell me that."
"You don't need to know about them." Eddie stood up, "I'm done talking to you. I'll bring another officer to accompany you." He then left the room and locked the door. Simon frowned and crossed his arms.
Back to the present, Lucas and two police officers came in the probation room. Lucas sat opposite Simon while the two officers stood in front of the door.
"Welcome, Lucas." Simon said, "I didn't expect you to be here."
"You must be Simon Costner, am I right?" Lucas asked.
"Of course. The most famous rioter in this whole world." Simon proudly said, "I wonder what brings the younger brother of Eddie here. Perhaps it is to ask my opinion on your lovely officer brother."
"I'm not here to ask that." Lucas shook his head, "I clearly know what's he like. I'm just here for a casual chat. I want to get to know more about you."
"What's there to know 'bout me? I'm Eddie's bestie. I love to riot against the Master and his bunch of shitty people. I'm around my sixties. I have robotic arms and legs. Speaking of that, you're the talk of the town a few months ago, when you were fixed by the Master, aren't you?"
Lucas sighed, "I was about to die, Simon. He only helped me when I was about to lose my damn life."
"So, tell me, how did you get into the accident?"
Lucas took a deep breath and pointed at his mouth. Simon looked at him with confusion. Lucas then coughed. A small bullet-like thingy came out of his mouth and landed on Simon's pants.
"I used to be a car salesman. I got my job through a friend, who recommended me to the boss due to my public relation skills. I only sold a car. I got fired from my job." Lucas talked, "I was devastated. I lost my only source of income. With my qualifications, I couldn't get any other job. This world is just so cruel, so I went to drink. That was my source of comfort. Soon, I'd gamble. At first I thought it was dangerous, because I could potentially lose lots of money, but on the first time I went there, I won quite a big sum of money. I got addicted to it, and soon I was borrowing money from loansharks. I got caught up in my debt and I had to run away. While I tried to drive away from them as they chased me, my car fell off a cliff. The car over-flipped many times down the hill, and I was in critical condition. I had to have my arms and legs amputated due to the serious injuries I had from the accident. You see, none of these would've happened if I could've gotten another job with a good qualification. The Master has made it hard for us. Only really smart people get the good jobs. Not even a person with average qualification can get a decent job in this world."
Lucas then went near to Simon, "Because of this, you need to stand up and say that you can. You can do anything because you got the experience and knowledge. You just got to prove it, and show it to the world that you could do so much more than people think you can. So, what about you, Costner? What's your story?"
"Time's up." One of the guards announced. Lucas stood up, "I hope my story is clear and my points are concise. I'll see you soon." He and the two guards then walked out.
Simon inspected the bullet-like thingy. It is like the size of a bullet. He looked around it and found nothing strange.
Just as he was about to throw it away, he accidentally tapped it and a small portion of green acid came pouring out from one end of the thingy.
"There is acid coming out from this?" He thought.
In Thomas's classroom, he softly slapped himself in the face as he tried to concentrate during Mr Benson's lesson.
"...so, now we're stuck at this part." Mr Benson is saying, "I think you all should know the answer to this, but I'm gonna pick someone to answer the question to make sure they didn't forget how to do it. Aaron!"
As one of the robotic students stood up to answer the question, Thomas checked his phone under the table. He then saw that Kizuna had sent a message to him the night before, at ten thirty five.
"Thomas-chan, when are you free to hang out together? - Ai-chan" is what the message stated. He thought for a while before replying, "Maybe..."
"Thomas!" Mr Benson called out, "You looked like you are sleeping! What's the answer to this working?"
"Thursday!" Upon saying that, Thomas immediately covered his mouth with his hands in embarrassment as his classmates laughed at him.
"Twenty percent of six hundred and ninety two is Thursday?" Mr Benson asked with a sarcastic tone, "Wow, Mr Springfield. That's a one of a kind answer. May I ask you how you arrived to that?"
"Umm..." Thomas is frantically thinking of an answer, "You see, six plus nine plus two equals to nineteen, right? So, twenty percent of that is 3.8, and rounding that up to the nearest whole number is four."
"Oh my, is that true? If that's the case, then please tell me, what is fifty percent?"
"Well...it's gotta be Tuesday."
"What about a hundred and seventy five percent?"
Thomas took a while to think. He used his fingers to count and muttered some mental calculation to himself. Finally, after a few minutes, he was ready to give an answer.
"Friday!" Immediately, everyone except Thomas in the classroom burst into tears of laughter.
"We have an intelligent professor in the class!" Mr Benson said to the class, which prompted the class to laugh even harder. Thomas looked around and pretended to do the same too. At that point, everyone stopped, and Thomas is the only one who is chuckling awkwardly. Mr Benson then turned from laughing to giving a serious face.
"You shall stay back after class, Thomas Springfield." He told Thomas, "If you don't know how to answer elementary math questions, I shall teach you how to solve it."
Thomas sighed and leaned against his chair as he groaned.
In the afternoon, Marcus walked into Eddie's office while the latter is doing some work on his laptop.
"Eddie, I got some news for you." Marcus said to his partner.
"Leave me alone, Marcus." Eddie replied, "I need to do some work here. I'm quite busy. Some citizens have been filling in reports online on the infrastructure of their work buildings and why it looks so ugly aesthetically. I have to entertain their bullshit because no one else will."
"But this is really important. Your brother went to visit Simon in the probation room."
Eddie stopped what he is doing and looked up at Marcus.
"The guard allowed him in, and he talked with Simon for quite some time. Don't you really want to know what Lucas had said to him?"
"I will see if I have the time to do so after I finished my work."
"Do you need me to help you..."
"It's okay, Marcus." Eddie interrupted, "I'll settle this on my own. You can go and settle your own stuff."
"Alright, sure." Marcus nodded his head, "I'll leave you to your own stuff. I shall go for my lunch break. Wanna join?"
"Marcus, haven't I told you I'm busy?" Eddie asked with an annoyed tone.
"Okay, okay. Chill, Eddie." Marcus then left the room. Eddie stopped doing his work and rested his head on the table. He has been stressed lately. He really didn't know how to get along with his own younger brother. Ever since the death of Charlie, their relationship has been estranged. His late mother's wish was for the three brothers to work hard hand-in-hand and communicate well. With Lucas disagreeing with everything Eddie said, and quarreling over the matter of whether the Master is a good guy or not, it seems like it's impossible.
Eddie didn't mean to be cold towards Marcus, but the stress just got to him and it made him so frustrated. He sighed as he got up from his seat and walked out of his office.
Simon is resting in his probation room as he thought about what Lucas had said. His train of thoughts are interrupted by Eddie storming in and grabbing him by the collar.
"Why did my brother visit you?" Eddie growled, "What did you say to him? You'd better not say anything that's bad for him."
"Relax, my dear officer." Simon patted his shoulder, "He won't be swayed so easily even if I were to tell him something. He has this strong mind and stands by his own decisions and choices, and won't get swayed by anyone, including his own brother."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The officer screamed.
"Take a deep breath in and out, Eddie." Simon smiled, "Cool down, and don't get so worked up. Wrinkles will appear if you do. Lucas came here to have a casual chat about our lives. You know, he talked about his for quite long. Sadly, I couldn't talk about mine. So sad. After all, I just wanted to share about my life. I'm sure you've never heard about it before, have you? Do you wanna hear it, my precious officer?"
"I have no time for your nonsense." Eddie let go of Simon's collar, "I got other things to do. If I find out that you brainwashed my brother or threatening him, I will not let you go."
"No worries, Eddie. You're my best friend. I won't hurt your family members." Simon then started chuckling as Eddie left the room and locked the door.
Lucas went back to Garderner Street and went in a house. There is a group of humans and robots in the living room, taking about Simon.
"Have you heard that Simon's in jail now?" One of the humans asked.
"Just because he fought for our rights." One robot added on, "The Master has always been a dickhead. Mr Costner is speaking up in behalf of this world, because most of them don't dare whine, complain, or fight back."
"He shouldn't be kept in a stupid, small room for this." Another human said, "The Master and his dogs should take notes and change the damn rules!"
"We have to free Simon out of that horrid place." Another robot voiced out, "We need to come up with a plan to pull him out and burn that police station down."
"This is Simon's riot group, am I right?" Lucas spoke. The group turned around and aimed their guns at him.
"Who the hell are you?" The first person asked, "You're not from the Master or the police, aren't you?"
"I'm Lucas Lee." Lucas introduced himself, "I'm a friend of Simon Costner. I came here to help, not to stir any trouble."
"How can we even trust you?" A robot questioned.
"Look, I hate the Master, like all of you guys do." Lucas answered, "My life is a mess now, and nothing good ever happens to me. So, I could just riot along with you guys, and get more supporters at the same time. Furthermore, the more, the merrier."
"Would you even sacrifice your life for this?" A human walked to the front. He is five feet eleven inches tall.
"Your life will be dedicated to rioting," The man continued, "And if you're caught by the police, you'll get a probation jail sentence. One day, one month, one year, one century. You sure you can risk your life to go against the Master?"
"Yes." Lucas nodded his head, "Yes, I'm sure."
"Alright then, welcome to the team." The man shook hands with Lucas, "My name is Jericho."
Lucas shook hands with Jericho and smiled as he thought, "I will force Simon to riot again. Then, he will be caught and will be given the death sentence since he broke the laws by breaking out of the probation room. I'll take this opportunity to lead the group and kill the Master before I take his position."
At night, Thomas and Penny are eating dinner alone. The former's mother went out for her friend's birthday party.
"So, how's school today, dear?" Penny asked. Thomas replied with a chicken nugget in his mouth, "It's fine."
"Your examinations are next week. Have you prepared for it yet?"
"I'm reading and revising on my work after school in the library." Thomas replied, "I understand most of the topics, but there are some I don't get it at all."
"Well, that's good." Penny then looked at Thomas, "By the way, I want to hang out this Thursday. Our university's closed for that day due to the canteen's renovation."
"Well, I know that it's closed, but Thursday?" Thomas asked, "Why Thursday? I thought you are having your student council meeting for Teacher's Day? Did you quit it?"
"Me? Quit? Nah." She then explained to him that one of the student councilors needed some time to settle his family issues, and thus the meeting was postponed. I want to spend some time alone with you and I want to relieve your stress before your examinations."
"I see." Thomas nodded his head, "You really don't have anything else on Thursday?"
"Hmm...let me think..." Penny thought for a while before talking again, "Oh yeah, the parent-teacher conference. But..."
"But what?"
"But my parents don't care about me anyways. They don't give a shit if I'm alive or not. They restrict me in everything, and grounded me in my room for coming back from a party too late. They don't want me to enjoy my life. They want me to suffer."
"Penny, your parents did this for your own good." Thomas retorted, "You know girls that are alone in the night are more prone to getting molested, rapped, or kidnapped by some guy. They're just worried for you."
"Enough said, Thomas." Penny uttered, "Don't change my perspective of them. All I want to do is to spend time with you and your mother."
"Speaking of that, I'm meeting a friend for a school project on Thursday." He lied, "We need to discuss about it together and submit it before examinations start."
"Are you for real?" Penny asked, "Can't you change the date or something?"
"My lesson ends late tomorrow, and he has to go to his family dinner, so I can't hang out with him afterwards. We can only do so on Thursday, and we have the whole day to finish it. Please, Penny. This is counted in my final year examinations. You don't want me to get low marks, don't you?"
Penny sighed, "I can't force you to come if it's your school project, can't I?" Thomas smiled and kissed her cheeks, "Thanks for understanding. I promise I'll go out with you after my examinations. Besides, going out before it might affect my mood for studies, won't it?"
"If you say so." Penny then started eating. As Thomas is crunching a carrot, he thought of how he had just lied to her. He had to, because he wanted to meet Kizuna. He had already promised her to meet her, and he couldn't let his own girlfriend know because it might trigger her. He mustn't let Penny discover his lie at all.
Jason is lying down on his bed, looking at a picture he took with a woman and a girl. He smiled at it before he turned sad.
As he placed it back on the table and closed his eyes, the photo frame dropped onto the floor. He groaned and opened his eyes as he tried to reach the frame with his hand without moving from the bed. Out of the blue, a hand picked it up and handed it to him.
He looked up and saw a woman. Not just any woman, but it is the woman from the picture.
"Chantelle." Jason is taken aback as she sat on the bed and smiled at him.
"How's your day, my sweetheart?" She asked with a gentle voice, "You don't look so good."
"It's been fine, Chantelle." He replied, "I've been so busy with work. People love giving me trouble. No worries, though. I won't let anyone suffer the same fate as you and Alexia anymore."
Chantelle held his hand and looked at him, "I might have not said anything about this before. Don't do anything that makes people dislike you, you understand? I don't want my husband to be a man hated by everyone."
"I got it all under control, Chantelle." Jason assured his wife, "You don't need to worry about me." He smiled at his wife and she did the same.
The thunder then roared and rain stared pouring down from the sky. Chantelle stood up and let go of his hand, "I've got to go now. I'll see you later."
"Got to go?" Jason asked, "It's raining cats and dogs here. You should stay here and sleep with me. That way, you'll be safe from all the trouble."
"Jason, I can't stay. I really got to go."
"But...you just came. I don't want you to disappear ever again. I really, really, really missed you, and all I want is you to be by my side. Even if it's for one night, I would gladly be with you."
She looked at him and beamed, "I will always be in your heart. All you got to do is to think of me. I will see you later. I love you, Jason."
Jason quickly got out of bed, but tumbled onto the floor. He tried to stand up and move forward, but he couldn't do so. He felt like he was restricted to the ground, but he didn't care. He couldn't let his wife leave him again. He tried his best to move again, but he can only watch her open the door.
"Chantelle! Come back!" He cried as she left the room and closed the door.
"Chantelle!" He screamed and broke into tears afterwards. Kizuna rushed into his room and squatted beside him.
"Daddy! Daddy!" She shook his body, "Are you okay? Are you fine? Are you injured?" Jason then hugged her while he sobbed. She softly caressed his head with her hand, "It's okay, Daddy. I'm here."
