For A Star To Fall

Chapter 5: Acting Motive

Chapter 5

Rubbing his hands together once again, Jordan prepared to hack into Lumiere Biopharm's main database. As he typed in string after string of computer code, he glanced upwards at Emyle, who stood to his right. There would probably never be a better time to ask a few questions, considering the fact that she did not seem as frustrated as before any more.

"Uhm," he cleared his throat, "I know that I'm being rather nosy, but I was just wondering why you want to do this. I mean, I want to be able to see whatever the other scientists are doing so that I can stalk them and play awesome pranks on them. And I'm confused because you don't seem to have any motive for this."

Emyle's gaze was as hard as granite when it flicked to Jordan's face. Silence stretched out, only interrupted by the steady tapping of his fingers on the laptop keyboard. He waited, but her reply never came. "You know," Jordan began, "now would be a great time to answer my question."

Keeping her face blank and expressionless, Emyle replied coolly, "A question is commonly characterised by the turning up in one's tone at the last few words in a sentence, causing a higher pitch. You failed to do that, thus you did not ask a question and I do not need to answer anything."

Fingers still flying across the keyboard, Jordan gave an audible sigh, but persisted. "Okay, fine. Why are you doing this? What's in it for you?"

Instead of answering like she had implied she would, Emyle softened her tone considerably, making it as friendly as she could, and widened her eyes. "Jordan, can you please please please help me? It's so very important to me. There really is no time for questions. I'm looking for a tall, middle-aged man, with rather long dark hair. Oh, and he may be locked in a room or tied to a chair."

Hearing that sudden change in her tone, Jordan glanced up at her. Emyle gave him a winning smile, and her eyes seemed to dance, even though their depths were as dark as ever. Such a queer girl, he thought as he nodded slowly and returned to his hacking. It was as if she was somehow bipolar, seeming so standoffish at first, but suddenly switching personalities and becoming so warm and cuddly.

Emyle was hoping that Jordan would stop asking such questions and just leave the subject of her intentions alone. It was hard enough, being in this place, with all of her physical activities monitored twenty-four seven, and having to decide if Jordan was trustworthy or not, and whether it was worth it attempting to convince him to help her. But she had no other choice, Jordan was already involved, and he probably would not back out of this even if she wanted him to.

He was starting to ask questions and soon this would escalate into something much more serious. She could not afford to answer some of these questions, especially if she knew that he would probably not understand her. She had to convince him to help her, in such a way that he would not bother to ask any other questions. But how? Emyle racked her brain. Father had said something about this, hadn't he?

"My precious star," Father said softly, cupping her face with his large hands, "you are a young, beautiful girl. You must use these traits to your advantage. Be helpless, needy, and vulnerable and others, especially males, will feel obliged to aid you, more so if they feel that your situation is dire. If you use them effectively, almost everyone can be susceptible to your charms." Beaming, Emyle knew in her heart that a great gift had been bestowed upon her.

Jordan looked at her, noticing despite himself how she pushed out her bottom lip, her eyes big and begging. He almost groaned at the injustice of it. Just when he was about to press her for more answers, she gave him the puppy dog eyes. The real kind of puppy dog eyes, complete with the pout and the vulnerable look. The kind that no one-not even him, Jordan Ripley-could resist.