The Brother

Chapter Nineteen

Jace skipped his afternoon siesta as he chose to dedicate more of his time to training. He quickly dressed himself up and went to the sim room and found it locked. He was disappointed and made his way to his brother’s room.

Jonathan was in his usual place, sitting behind the desk, and seemed to be focusing on the contents of the paper he held in his hand.

“What are you doing?” asked Jace as he approached the desk.

“Trying to figure out a way to enter Stryke’s base without compromising any of us.” said Jonathan, his voice sounded distant.

“Any luck?”

“Not really. Only a handful of us are willing to do it, the problem is, we are all easily recognized by both parties.” said Jonathan. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to train. But the sim room is locked.” said Jace.

“ I know. I’m the one that locked it.” said Jonathan as he stared into the paper. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself by pushing your limits.”

“Isn’t pushing the limits the whole point?”

“Let’s just say that there is a limit even for that.” said Jonathan. “One that should not be pushed.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” asked Jace. “I don’t want to take a nap.”

“Well, go out.” said Jonathan. “Explore the city.”

The idea of going out sounded good. “What’s the timings of schools in this place?” he asked.

“Nine to three.” said Jonathan. “Why? You planning on taking a course?”

“Well… yes.” said Jace. “Learning to write would be great.”

“Sure. You’ll have a tutor from tomorrow.” said Jonathan. “But that’s not all, is it?”

“No.” said Jace and explained the events of the dining room.

Jonathan had an amused look at the end of it and said, “What did she see in you? I mean, you resemble me a bit, but other than that, I see nothing attractive.”

“Maybe you’re not the best judge.” said Jace. “Just dial her number for me, it’s already three- thirty.”

“Sure. I’ll do it.” said Jonathan. “I hope that in the near future you can go out with girls without my help.”

“Thanks.”

“You are signing up for the writing classes, right?” said Jonathan.

Jace shook his head and mouthed “No.”

“Should have seen that coming” muttered Jonathan as he took out his caller.

“Hello” said Jace after Jonathan handed him the caller. He could see the miniature version of Grace, in a shade of blue, waving her hand as she said, “Hello.”

“What’s up?” asked Jace.

“Nothing much. You?”

“Well…um” began Jace, a bit unsure. “I was wondering if you are free right now. I was thinking of hanging out with you, actually.”

“Sure. Meet me at the hall in ten minutes.” she said and the call disconnected.

“Jace and Grace” said Jonathan. “They rhyme. Why did you pick a girl whose name rhymes with yours?”

Jace turned to look at Jonathan, who was grinning. “Where’s the hall?”

“It’s the one on the ground floor with the fountain.” said Jonathan. “I’m willing to bet that this evening will be very awkward for you.”

“No, it won’t” said Jace.

“Anyway, does she know that I’m your brother?” asked Jonathan.

“No. She thinks that I’m from Carimen.” said Jace and looking at the raised eyebrow of his brother, he added,”I didn’t know what else to say.”

“No problem. Just go and have fun.”

Jace made himself comfortable on one of the chairs that was pressed against the wall as he waited for Grace.He observed the fountain carefully. He remembered looking at the fountain and thinking that the people in it were all of different communities. But now, he realized that the people were of different professions and not communities. Professions he did not know about.

“Have you been waiting for long” said a voice which Jace immediately recognized as Grace’s.

“Not really.” said Jace and stood up. “I don’t know much about this place, so I don’t really know where to go.”

“Don’t you know anyone?” asked Grace, with a slight look of disbelief on her face.

“No. I know a couple of people.” said Jace. “But they aren’t too interested to hang out with me.”

“Oh. Don’t Worry.” she said. “I’ll take you on a ride.”

“You have a vehicle?” asked Jace.

“Of course I do. I’m seventeen.” she said. “Come on. We can talk while riding.”

Jace wondered if every seventeen year old in this place had their own vehicle. He remembered the hundreds of times he had asked his father for a motorbike and been denied.

“Sure.” said Jace and followed her out of the building. They were now on the road when she said, “Egredior!” and a bike quickly came their way.It was white with blue stripes. There was a red star on the fuel tank and the seats were black and appeared to be made of soft leather.

“So it’s the same command in all vehicles?” Jace asked.

“They all depend on voice detection.” said Grace. “I thought that there were bikes in Carimen”

“The numbers are low.” said Jace. “Anyway, where are we going?”

“Let’s hangout in a park for now.” she said.

Jace wondered why she would choose to go to a park. It made no sense to him. Looking at the expression on Jace’s face, she smiled and said, “You’re new to the city. So I’ll help you get a couple of friends You’ll thank me later.”

“You sure about that?” Jace asked and watched her sit on the bike. He didn’t know why, but he felt like the bike was a perfect match to her.

“Hop on” she said. Jace snapped out of his daydreams and quickly sat behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders.

“Does this thing fly?” he asked. He remembered the horrible experience the last time he sat on one of these. He was more than willing to walk the whole way if she said yes.

“As much as a car.” Grace said. “The ones owned by the air force and the Chief fly much higher - like thousands of feet - kind of higher.

“Thank God.” Jace muttered under his breathe. “Let’s go.”