"I'm following you because I'm curious about what you have to say. What, it's not like I'm going into your room or anything," Codebreaker said.
"I heard you singing Taylor Swift. You're a safe boy to come into my room," Lainey said.
"No, I like girls," Codebreaker replied.
"Oh, okay. You're still pretty safe if you have soy boy interests like Taylor Swift. I bet you have a man-crush on Harry Styles and you write fanfi-"Lainey stopped herself. That went too far.
"You could have finished that sentence. Harry Styles broke up with Taylor Swift. That's betraying her so besides me liking girls, I wouldn't like Harry Styles. I'm done with this. I like to analyze pop culture. It's insightful into the daily life of Americans. One day, we'll be looking at the artists and singers of today and we'll be analyzing them the same way we analyze ancient societies now. I've got ten websites where I analyze. We could still be in contact when you get to Mars," Codebreaker said.
"You treat me like a specimen of some analytical paper. I highly doubt we'll be analyzing the artists and singers of today compared to then since we barely analyze the ones from ancient societies except for the fact that they played the harp. I do agree that it is insightful to the daily life of Americans. I don't want you contacting me if you're going to treat me like a lab experiment. Also, I want to forget about everyone I've ever met on this planet so there you go," Lainey replied.
"I understand. You've been hurt and you want to start a new life, but there will be a time when you'll want to remember them. You didn't use the memory-erasing device on yourself. You even admitted that you were a coward to me last night in my room. You will stop fighting your rational self and your rider nature soon enough. Yeah, David told me about that. Some things I can't figure out without some information. Some stuff I can figure out through theories and the scientific method, but I'm not always in my cave all day analyzing like I'm Isaac Newton," Codebreaker said, standing in her doorway. Lainey went to grab a bag out of her suitcase.
She would use another chance to analyze Codebreaker. He had taken a pretty watch from his mother in her apartment. That meant, she was either married, a single mother, or lived with somebody else whether it was a roommate or a boyfriend. If married or a boyfriend, could it have been Emerald? Pretty watches meant that Codebreaker was attracted to eye candy like Emerald was with jewels. Also, Codebreaker had eaten out of cat litter which meant that he could eat items that weren't always the highest of qualities. Those were two clues besides his powers, his analysis, and besides some of the words he was saying to her.
"I don't care, but all that is interesting. You make good points, but once I get to Mars, I'm on Mars and I'm never going back. I'm never going to have a husband or kids. I'm never going to adopt kids either. I'm going to live far away on the outskirts and plan on never coming back to Earth unless the fight comes directly to me," Lainey said. She didn't care if she was acting like a jerk or not. She didn't care what people thought about her that much. Wait? She wasn't treating Codebreaker too much like how she wanted to be treated. Her mind went back to Garth, Tom, and all the friends she had made yesterday. She also needed to find out about Chard before she left and to accomplish the rest of her goals about contacting Grace & Nathan.
"You might meet somebody on Mars who doesn't know who you are. The fight ends up coming to you anyway. Based off my analysis, I may not get married or have children because life gets harder when you are married and have children. I don't have an exact opinion on the subject because I'm indecisive. Is there anything you need?" Codebreaker asked. He seemed almost desperate for friends. Lainey came back with the bag she needed for the shows she was going to perform. It had a guitar, paper with songs lyrics, and other equipment inside it. She even had a knife in the bag to defend herself if someone tried to run the stage and attack her.
Codebreaker didn't seem to want to get married or have children. That was interesting. Did he have any bad parental experience? Did he not want to have it spread to his children? This was her chance. Lainey walked past Codebreaker in the doorway. "Do you have any friends?" Lainey asked.
"I did have my in-person friends, but I had to leave them because I had become an Anti-Magician. You didn't answer my question. Is there anything you need besides questions?" Codebreaker asked, his hands pulled palms up out in front of his body. Lainey knew that he was acting confused. What if he knew exactly what she was trying to extract? What if he knew something? She had to find out about the relationship between him and Emerald.
"I would like to ask questions and I would also like to find Chard so I could talk to him. I'd like to find out more about him before I leave. My powers sensed hatred, conflict, and other negative emotions inside him. He got triggered when Nathan mentioned the government in a negative light and I want to know why. Today, I heard Chard playing in the bath. I didn't get to see Chard's entire room on the tour. How is it when you train with Chard?" Lainey pressed. This was stupid. He would obviously say no personal stuff like real names besides small talk, pronouns, codenames, and non-direct stuff if it included personal information like names and addresses. Codebreaker turned around to face Lainey.
"I understand why you like to ask questions. You want to find out information because you are curious and you want to piece together stories about people based on small increments. I'm tempted to find out about Chard too and I have before, but he hasn't said much to me. I've figured out that the government must be a positive aspect in his life and he was offended by personal experiences, but that could be far off the real truth. When I train with Chard, he seems normal, but he doesn't like a lot of the social events David makes him go to since he's mission-focused. He also has fire powers that might be connected to Fire Rider or someone. I don't know where he got his powers from, but I haven't asked him about it. Possibly a lab experiment gone wrong, I think. I'm always thinking about all the possibilities. What do your powers see inside me?" Codebreaker asked.
"Ask a direct question. Don't be afraid," her Rider nature said into her mind. She sensed very few emotions in Codebreaker. Some emotions were there, but it was similar to Emerald. He was almost like a ghost she couldn't read. Opposed to Emerald, Codebreaker had some emotions that weren't hidden and she could read some of his DNA structure while she couldn't read any of Emerald's DNA structure. Who was the chromosome donor to Codebreaker? Who was his dad? She couldn't find anything regarding who his dad was. His body was more advanced and powerful than others. What species was he? Fully human or lab experiment?
YOU ARE READING
Lainey and the Magicians (First Draft)
FantasyA fictional story of a girl who tries to break away from her reckless magical past toward a bright future. Read and you'll see what happens.