by Newbiel
"Thanks for the offer but yes, I prefer to live on my own. We will see each other tomorrow, we will need to talk. Bye Spider brat." She waved her hand before getting back in the car.
After the limo had left the alleyway, Diane took Nathaniel by the arm and started giving him a tour of the house. The mansion had a brand new security system, and the furniture was all new, even some parts of the house had been repainted beforehand. Nathaniel liked how the furniture was put together, it was recent but held a simplicity that he particularly appreciated.
"You did all of that in a day?" He asked.
"Yes, you know I'm a perfectionist dear." She smiled, happy that he like what she did.
"I should have hired you in my team." Nathaniel laughed.
"I'm too old for that, this is a young people's game. Talking about your team, I had a question. What are they doing when you are away? You can talk freely, I had our security scan the place from top to bottom, we are good."
"Well, Lina is installing and creating security protocols for the official side of the company. I thought that the best way to ensure that nobody finds out about our hidden activity is to create a real branch to the company. Thanks to grandpa and mouth to mouth, we are racking a nice profit every quarter. I believe you know our best client by the way, Lyndon label." Nathaniel laughed.
"What? You are making your own blood pay?" His grandmother had a fake scandalised expression on her face.
"That's exactly what grandpa said, I just remind him that he was making me pay when I use our own studio to make my music. Well, I'm not a total monster, I made him a little discount on the deal."
"It never stops to amaze me how much you are alike the both of you." She laughed. "And the rest?"
"Hans is busy modernizing our computers in the bunker. They are the best in the market right now but he kept telling me they are trash so I let him modify them while we are between cases. Camilla was injured in the operation but she's already back and she's busy with Scott doing security for the tower. Lucie was also lightly injured but she's currently in Canada doing thermal therapy, she's not really happy to cancel her beach trip because she has a bruise that prevents her from wearing a bikini." Nathaniel laughed thinking back when she told them that.
"Jon is working at a clinic near the tower and Na-Yung is catching up on what she missed in Columbia. Not mentioning the fact that they keep training under Scott surveillance, our first mission highlights a lot of problems that we have and need fixing."
"How is your mission going by the way? You mention some of your team members getting injured and you were really vague when you came back."
"I'll tell you but please don't say anything to the others about it or they will be worried."
"Of course dear, you have my word." Diane nodded seriously.
"Okay, it was a close call grandma. The mission was going as planned when one of the kidnappers shot Lucie and woke up the whole fort. Camilla and I happened to be cut off from the rest of the team and they came after us. I took upon myself to defend the difficult passage to stall them but I pay dearly for it. I got shot four time, two in my left arm, one in the gut and one in the leg. The leg wound was the worst since the bullet cut my femoral artery. I managed to heal myself using my soul but it was almost too much to handle, I started bleeding from my eyes, ears and nose when they came to get me and my heart was ready to burst. Luckily, Jon realized it and managed to save me. The mission was a success, we saved thirty six prisoners but lost two in the fighting." Nathaniel explained.
"Is this why you are preoccupied? Is this the fact that you almost died or is it the fact that you failed to save two of the hostages that make you think?" Diane asked, not at all pleased that her grandson had learned that her grandson almost died.
"The two had an impact for sure but this is not the principal reason. When I was busy fighting, I realized that I was going to be overrun. I could have saved myself by retreating away to a more defensible position but that would have condemned Camilla for sure. At that moment, I suddenly remembered that between 1870 and 1950 in south Asia, they were using a technique to build arch using a steel cable to reinforce the structure. it was later proven that it was in fact the opposite and the steel cable created a weakness in the arch and so the method was abandoned. Using this information, I managed to shoot the cable and the whole arch went down which bought me a few seconds to survive. Without it, I would have died." Nathaniel explained somberly.
"I didn't know that you learned architecture Dear or that it was an interest of yours but I'm glad that it saved your life." She said, relieved.
"That's the thing grandma, I never did."
Chapter 198: :
"What do you mean dear?" His grandmother asked, puzzled.
"I never learned anything about architecture, that was never an interest of mine. I could have believed that I heard something about architecture in passing but an obsolete technique only used in south Asia and that was never used again in sixty years? No, there is no way that this piece of information made his way to me." Nathaniel shook his head.
"Maybe it was from Marc's memories?" She proposed.
"No, it was not from Marc, that I'm certain. You know mnemonic right?" Seeing Diane nodded, he kept going. "Well, since I was young, I created my own system on the same model but I modified it to suit my needs. I realised that using my method was better to help sort and store the information I was memorizing. You asked me some time ago how I could read this fast, right? This is why."
"Since you are transforming the word that you read or ear, it should take you more time to translate it back to word, no?" Diane asked doubtfully.
"At first it was, I had a lot of problems with it in fact but I managed to improve it by trial and error and now I'm as fast as anyone or even a little faster. It's all about adaptability, you train your brain to learn that way because it was the way taught to you, I always like to make things difficult for me. My moms told me it was because I love to be challenged. Anyway, the point is that when the information made his way to me, it was using my own method." Nathaniel explained.
"Based on what you are saying, how is that possible that you knew about it then?"
"I tried to know, I started scanning my own memories but each time, I hit a wall of sorts. It's almost like…" Nathaniel voices trails off, lost in thought.
"Almost like what?" Diane probbed.
"It's almost like a part of my memories are locked from me." Nathaniel finished.
"How is that possible?" Diane asks, alarmed.
"I don't know but so far I came up with only two explanation. The first would be that something traumatic happened when I was young and my brain locked these memories to protect me. I don't think it was the case but it's possible nonetheless. The second explanation is the one that I'm the most uncomfortable with and the one that is the most likely in my opinion. Someone tampers with my brain and hides a part of my memories from me. And I'm not talking about indoctrination, hypnosis or brainwashing, I don't think any of this can work on me. I'm talking about someone like me, someone with powers."
"You really think that someone has a power like you?" She asked with apprehension.
"Grandma, we are more than seven billions people on this planet, you really think that I'm the only one that can do what I can? I don't think I'm that unique. I don't say that they have the same abilities as me, but I believe others like me are around."
"I don't know, I think that if people like this exist, we would know about it by now." Diane answers with some doubt on her face.
"Seriously grandma? Did you already forget about Marc and his radar like ability?" Nathaniel asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Marc? But I thought that his control over his surroundings was a skill?"
"That was what he was thinking. Marc always thought that it was a combination of his senses that enabled him to be aware of people around him. After using his ability for a long time now, I found out that it was not in fact the case. Do you know how
everything in the universe is constantly in motion, vibrating? Based on what I know, the vibration frequency of humans is between five and ten hertz. Marc had the ability to resonate with human frequency which enabled him to feel people around him." Nathaniel explained.
"Yes but dear, beside him and you who are essentially the same person now, there is no proof that others exist. I don't want you to waste your time chasing something that doesn't exist."
"I know grandma but I already have my suspicion on someone who could have an ability." He smiled at her.
"Who is this?" She asked, surprised.
"She's in my team." He smiled again.
*****
After that, Nathaniel did go on twitter to warn people that he was alright and was inciting people to calm down. In two hours, he had received over fifty thousand notifications on his account from people asking for new, not mentioning news organisations who were trying to join him. He also made a few retweets from people who did not like him to have a little bit of fun before shutting down twitter.
He had of course warned his mothers and his grandfather that he was fine before going to twitter. They were far from happy to hear what happened but they understood that being in the limelight was enough to become a target for some people. Nathaniel on his side was not really happy about that new development. He was already living a dangerous life, being targeted by delusional people because the fictional character that he was playing on screen did not really appeal to him.
That was when Maggie suddenly called.
"Oh hi again Maggie, missed me already? Seeing me in a harmful way made you realize the love you have for me all this time?" Nathaniel said playfully.
"I'm only regretting that he misses you!" She yells over the phone. "And I like real men, not virgin spiderling."
"You know I'm not a virgin right?"
"Just so you know, doing it alone doesn't count as losing your virginity. Whatever, I have news so shut your crap hole!"
"Okay, okay. What's the news?"
"Alright, first, do you want to sue the studio? They are responsible for the security of the actors and employees and they screw up big time. You could collect big time on this."
"No, I'm going to pass. I don't need or want that kind of publicity or money for that matter. And frankly, you already abused them enough." Nathaniel laughs, thinking at Maggie's rant earlier that day.
"Well, someone had to do it." Maggie said with a righteous tone, making Nathaniel laugh even harder. "I have a question for you." She asked more seriously.
"I'm all ears." Nathaniel answers.
"When the guardrail broke, you weren't scared?"
"Of course I was but when I made that jump, I was ready to make a move in case I were to miss it. I had already made the call to keep my body away from the fall so when the guardrail broke, I did just that. It saved my life."
"I see. I watched the film that they took of the situation, your acting was perfect, even at the end when you turn back with that smile. You know what's going to happen right?" She asked with glee.
"I can guess, they are going to want to use the stunt in the movie and they will use the attempt murder on me as free advertisement." Nathaniel answers.
"Ohh, look at you… starting to grow up. If I were to care about you, I would congratulate you right now. But you're wrong on one thing, this is not going to be free advertisement. I'm going to make them bleed to get it." Maggie said before starting to laugh so creepily that even Nathaniel was feeling uneasy.
Chapter 199: :
Los Angeles. 16/02/2013. 10:10.
Sitting in the conference room of the police station, Nathaniel was facing four people. The first was the captain of the precinct, a fifty years old bald man in uniform. Beside him to his left, there was the appointed lawyer in charge of representing the LA police department, a thirty years old black haired woman with sharp features. Following the order, there was the two detectives that had come take Nathaniel statement after the attempt murder on him, detective Morrison and detective Ortiz, both of them also in uniforms.
Nathaniel on his side of the table was flanked by two fifty years old lawyers in expensive black suits. These two were not here by his own initiative but his grandmother was angry that people took on him and she just hired the best lawyer in the city to make sure that nobody would ever think about bullying him again.
Even Nathaniel had to admit that they were talented and the opposite lawyer knew that a win was out of question here, her only presence here was to litigate the damages but things were not looking good at all. Locking her jaw, the women could not keep from looking at the two stupid detectives that had bring this on top of the police department who frankly did not need that at the moment. Looking at the outrageous money settlement on the piece of paper proposed by the lawyers in front of her, she could not hold back a shiver. She also knew that they could not bring this case to court because it would turn to a PR nightmare, and also because they would still lose at the end.
"That's enough." Nathaniel finally spoke, surprising everyone around the table as he had kept quiet until now.
"Mister Lyndon, it would be best if you kept quiet while we deal with this situation." One of them said respectfully but Nathaniel could see the arrogance in his eyes.
"Both of you, leave, now. You are fired." Nathaniel said calmly.
"Mister Lyndon, you should reconsider…" The second starts to say before Nathaniel stops him again.
"I don't need to reconsider, I made my decision but don't worry, you will still be paid for your time. Goodbye gentlemans." Nathaniel added more steel in his voice.
Seeing that he was not going to change his mind, the both of them exit the room with anger. Once they were away, Nathaniel leaned forward in his chair, taking the paper with the settlement money on it and starting ripping it to pieces in front of the stunned people on the other side of the table, they did not expect the situation to change so quickly.
"First, I would like to apologize about this, I have a really protective grandmother and she doesn't hesitate to go overboard when people start picking on me." Nathaniel shook his head with a little smile.
"Captain Walkins, I'm sorry that things escalate to this magnitude. You should know that my mother is a prosecutor and even my godfather is a cop. I know that you do a difficult job where the means to scrutinize you are on the rize and your funding gets slashed each year. I have a huge respect for what you and your people do and what you sacrifice to make the street safer." Nathaniel said frankly.
"I appreciate it young man." He nodded gratefully.
"Mister Lyndon, do I understand that you don't want to press charges anymore?" The lawyer asked, not daring to believe it.
"That's correct but I would like to have a private chat with detective Ortiz first." Nathaniel asked casually.
Hearing that, the captain and the lawyer look at each other before turning to the detective Ortiz who was looking at the Lyndon kid with animosity. Her partner had a troubled expression on his face, seemingly not knowing what to do between stopping the meeting to protect the kid or protect his partner's career. He knew why his partner didn't like the kid in front of them but he also knew that it wasn't his fault at all.
"Can we know why?" The lawyer asked.
"Sorry but no, this is a private matter. You should have made an inquiry about me counselor, you must know that I don't need help from a lawyer, if I were to go to court against you, I would win." Nathaniel said with confidence.
"I do." She answered reluctantly. To be honest, the evidence was so overwhelming that even a bad lawyer could win this case, not mentioning the person in front of her who has, according to the rumor, a genius legal mind. There was even an audio recording of the entire thing as they interrogated him while he was still wearing his mic! She could not help to shout internally.
"Ortiz, do you have a problem with that?" The captain asked.
"No, I'm good."
"Alright, then we are going to leave you two
alone. Once it's done, I would like you to sign a couple of papers." The lawyer asked.
"Of course." Nathaniel nodded.
He knew that these papers were an agreement to let the matter go and not talk about it again or face retribution. It was something expected to make legal matters go away and put everything to the past. Once everyone had left the room beside the two of them, Nathaniel started tapping with his fingers on the table.
"Detective Ortiz, I'm glad that we are finally alone."
"What do you want from me?" She asked with hostility.
"Me? Nothing. I'm here to tell you a story. You know, once upon a time there was a girl, everyone loved her, she was nice to people even to strangers and she was pretty. She had a dream, she wanted to become a popstar. After graduating from high school, she applied to one of the biggest labels in the county for a six month training internship and she got it. In her mind, it was the beginning of her new life as an artist. But when she started the internship, she realized that there were other girls in here with her, more talented girls and even more beautiful than her. Not discouraged, she worked harder than everyone else in the program but at the end, it was not enough, the label picked someone else. The girl was crushed, she had lost her dream and did not know what to do anymore. But all was not lost, she had met a boy during that internship and they ended up together." Nathaniel made a pause, seeing the detective's attention on him.
"She fell in love with the boy, who wouldn't? He was handsome and a talented musician. But you know, that boy as a secret, he was an addict. When everything was alright, he was the most attentioned boyfriend that the girl ever had but when he could not score or did not have the money to, he needed to blow some steam and so hit on the girl. The girl was so in love that she hid it from her family, convinced that with some effort she could cure him, so that she could heal him from his addiction. It lasted for months, months turned to a year but things were not looking up. On the contrary, the beating was coming more and more often and even her older sister was starting to get suspicious about what was happening. After having an argument with her older sister, the girl run back to her boyfriend to find him having sex with another girl. Heartbroken, the girl ran away from her boyfriend's apartment. She had enough, she just wanted to stop hurting, to stop suffering. After running for almost an hour, she found herself on The Vincent Thomas Bridge on top of the guardrail, looking down to the water. Finally closing her tears soaked eyes, she let the wind take her away. The girl was no more."
