Esper

Esper Chapter 8: The Trigger

Part 1

"Finally...that's all the information I needed to mark down!" Nicolaus Thompson sat back in his chair, stretching his tensed muscles while letting feelings of accomplishment wash over him. On the computer monitor before him was a comprehensive list of information that he'd accumulated from the incident, in concern to his own powers, and miscellaneous tidbits about the other survivors. "I kind of have to wonder, should I delete some of the stuff on here? Bah! No one else is ever going to see this!" The young man scanned his eyes up and down the list, getting stopped, as he often would, on the section concerning Kevin Greene. "...Not going to freak out again..." Fighting back the nausea, Nicolaus left his bedroom, going to the sink, aiming to wash his face.

"Oh, Nicolaus, how are doing?" Almost from thin air, the suave Alonso appeared in Nicolaus's living room!

"Geez, man! Wh-when did you get here?!" Totally unprepared to see anyone else in his apartment caused Nicolaus to fall back on the ground!

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"No! No. It's fine." More awkwardness between the two was fostered.

"Nicolaus, I'm sorry for just barging in. Dani told me to pick up the last of her things."

"You probably should've called..."

"I did. Your phone, it may be off."

"..." Nicolaus pulled his smartphone from his pocket and noticed it was, in fact, off. "Damn. What did you need?"

"Dani left some paperwork behind, and the things she'd bought for the baby."

"Oh, it's on the couch..." Alonso acknowledged and started gathering things. "..." Nicolaus regretted his coldness toward the man who showcased nothing but well-mannered interactions with everything he did, and more so, could soon be an in-law. "Say, Alonso...uh...where are you from exactly...?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm from Ecatepec, a city in Mexico. I grew up in a much smaller town north of there, though. My family moved around a lot growing up."

"Cool, cool. Did you meet Dani in Mexico?"

"Yes! She was...how did she describe it? Understanding herself by understanding other points of view?"

"Yeah, that's Dani."

"We traveled a lot. When Dani heard about what happened to you though, she rushed back!"

"Right...kind of makes me feel bad."

"Why? She is your sister. She loves you! Dani is a very compassionate woman, full of loving energy!"

"Hearing you describe my little sister like that is a bit creepy...and I guess...kind of...sweet?" Alonso and Nicolaus laughed.

"Dani had mentioned your mother and step-father living far away. Why does she not visit them?"

"I mean..."

"Don't answer if it upsets you! I don't want to make you angry."

"No! It's fine. Dani...and my Mom haven't gotten along after what happened with our Dad. Them spending just about every day at each other's throats was what made me want to move away. It got so bad once, I had to pull Dani off my own Mom because they actually started fighting."

"Oh my goodness."

"Sure you still want in on this messed up family?"

"Well...you seem pretty normal."

"I just hide it well." Alonso's phone rang.

"That's Dani. We can talk another time, Nicolaus."

"Yeah. I should probably charge my phone and get back to what I was working on." As the door closed behind Alonso, Nicolaus returned to his room and connected his phone to the charger. As soon as the device powered on a call came through. "Huh? Vergil...oh right. I was going to message him." Nicolaus answered, and his young friend bombarded him with incoherent stuttering!