Chapter 3: The World

Julie: "Ew, what's this smell?"

Julie uses her palm to cover her nose and mouth. The place reeks with the smell of rotten leftover food, an unclean bathroom, corpses of mice and insects inside the wall, dead skin cells, etc ... The place is a complete mess, that Julie has completely ignored during her previous rage. Now with senses returning to her body, she reacted instantly to the horrible combination of smells that had infected this room. Meanwhile, Luke noticed Jacob was hesitant and refused to speak up, he patted Jacob on the back and followed Julie into the house. 

Julie: "You seriously lived in this condition? What's wrong with your family?"

Julie: "God! Where am I supposed to step on? There is garbage everywhere!"

She makes a small leap from the front door, trying to land on a somewhat empty spot near the hallway. She lowers her back, into a jumping pose, and leaps forward. Sadly, she lands her feet on an empty water bottle. She loses her balance. then starts to move around uncontrollably. She steps into a puddle on the floor, causing her to fall backward into another pile of garbage. 

Julie: "Damn it!!! IT'S SMELLED"

Luke: "What are you clowning around for, idiot?" 

Luke walks in while pushing all of the garbage away with his foot. He offered a hand to Julie, which she had taken, and pulled herself back up. 

Luke: "But seriously, this is too much even for me. I've seen homeless people live cleaner in the street"

Luke: "At the same time, I can't blame you. I don't think I would have done better if I was stuck in a room for an entire year"

Julie: "Huh? Stuck? A year?"

Luke: "What's wrong?"

Julie: "I thought Jacob was Professor Tiz's relative? And we are here to pick him up because he is having a 'starstruck' issue, and can't go and pick up Jacob himself?"

Luke looks dumbfounded. He put his entire palm to cover up his disappointed face before confronting the woman in front of him. 

Luke: "So this is what Tiz told me to solve"

Luke: "Julie ..."

Luke: "You slept during the meeting, aren't you?"

Julie: "Ehh, I guess I did get sidetracked for a bit"

Luke: "How long are we talking?"

Julie's cheeks went red as she was getting more and more embarrassed. 

Julie: "About ... an hour"

Luke: "That's quite honest coming from you, I will give you that"

Luke: "And I guess Lain gave you the mission brief then?"

Julie: "...Correct. But, it was really convincing. He has been doing so for the last few missions already, and we haven't got into any trouble so far."

Julie: "Until now at least ..."

Luke: "That's a miracle already. A temporary solution like that can only get you so far."

Luke: "Wait, how many missions are we talking about?"

Julie: "Let's just end the conversation here" - Julie abruptly stopped Luke from asking any more questions. 

Jacob: "I told you guys to stop talking in alien language, damn it!"

Luke and Julie look at each other, both embarrassingly turning away from each other, and proceed to further investigate the room. Remembered the smell, Julie held her nose tightly while walking around near the kitchen.

Julie: "I noticed this packaging! Hey, Luke, familiar with this?"

Julie called out for Luke while pointing her other hand to an empty pack on the floor. Her voice sounds very funny with the stuffed nose. Luke does not glance back at her but still acknowledges.

Luke: "MRE, the once used for dragged out, long period battle in the military"

Luke: "A single package can make you full for a week. Though I remember we used to consume this thing every day, and that's not even enough for how much energy we spent on training"

Julie: "Oh, you finally admit that those training sessions were hellish? Even worse, these are barely food. It doesn't have any taste, while it is chewy and hard to swallow. Right, Jacob?"

Jacob doesn't reply. He still stands at the front door, hesitant to step inside. It's either he was embarrassed by the devastating state of the room, or just not comfortable having people around. He is still reluctant, not sure what to do from this point onward. Seeing Jacob doesn't have any intention to answer her, Julie continues. 

Julie: "The frustrating thing is that we don't have a choice for food either. If we choose something more pleasant for the night, like an omelet, then you probably can't even bring yourself up the next day"

Luke: "You talk like you have experienced that first hand"

Julie: "Remember that one time when I was allowed to take a day off? My roommate thought I was dead. I woke up with both of my eyes missing, it was terrifying"

Luke was observing the toilet and noticed Jacob's nametag in the sink. He still shows interest in Julie's story regardless.

Luke: "Damn, teenagers! It's the blue pill effect?" 

Julie: "Yeah. I didn't pay attention to theory class when they were going through regeneration effect."

Julie: "Guess I learned it the hard way."

Luke: "So what happened on your day off?" - Luke asked while reading the information on the card. "Jacob Humbert" was the name of the employee.

Julie was checking the refrigerator but closed the door hard when Luke asked the question. It could be she was frustrated with the unfruitful search so far, or because she was forced to remember an unpleasant memory. 

Julie:  "There's no one to help me. I was the only one having that problem, and everyone was too afraid to receive a punishment for being late."

Julie: "So after they told me that I could be absent, no one else was around."

Julie's voice went down, and she seemed to be slightly upset. Luke stayed quiet and put the nametag in his pant pocket. Jacob also notices subtle changes in Julie's behavior, unknowingly moving himself forward to listen to the rest of the story. 

Julie: "I stumble around the house, trying to find ways to recover my vision. The only thing that I could rely on was my memory, but that couldn't help me from touching dangerous objects around, or falling on stairs and random objects on the floor" 

Julie: "I somehow got to the kitchen. I think the distinctive smell of industrial, packaged food helps me pinpoint its location. But that's still the easy part..."

Jacob: "..."

Luke steps out of the bathroom and eans into a nearby desk. He crosses his arms, eyes still staring directly in Julie's direction. He also noticed the rusty set of kitchen equipment on the table near her but quickly brought his attention back to the person who is deep in thought right now. 

Julie: "I stuffed the MRE package into my mouth. I think because I was visually impaired, the brick shape of the food was even more noticeable. But I was too hungry to even notice its usual hideous taste."

Julie: "It's so weird that having a full belly feels much better than a bit of flavor on the top of your tongue."

Luke: "So you will pass on our next date?" - Luke tried to break the heavy atmosphere. 

Julie: "I will stop telling the story then!"

Luke: "... My bad" - Luke then looks at Jacob, waiting for some sympathy to ease the awkward situation, only to also be weirdly looking at. 

Julie: "So after that, I wave my hands around to look for a drawer, containing all of the needed bottles for training usage."

Julie: "Thing is ... all of the bottles felt the same. I couldn't distinguish which one is which. There used to be a girl in the team who prepared all of the needed pills for us, but she was also out at the time."

Julie: "So I just take one of each ..."

Luke: "..."

Jacob: "..."

Julie: "And see which faith am I belong to"

The intense atmosphere in the room has gone up quickly ever since Julie started this whole story. Even Luke, who was usually pretty cheerful, is also tense up, anticipating the end of this event. But Jacob can't seem to have enough patience to take it all in. Remembered the devastating effect of the red pill, he speaks up.

Jacob: "Why do you have to do it to yourself?"

Julie: "... What do you mean?"

Jacob: "You could just ... stay in bed right? Your friend will come back at break time. You have good comrades, so they will help you"

Jacob: "Or you can wait for an instructor to come and help you at any point. It's their responsibility right?"

Jacob: "What is the point of risking yourself, for absolutely nothing?"

Julie was surprised a bit by Jacob's sudden reaction to her story. However, she responded with a smile on her face. Her gloomy face brightened up quickly.

Julie: "It's the past, Jacob. Are you perhaps afraid that I might have made the wrong decision?"

Jacob: "No, it's just ..."

Julie: "Which pill do you think that I have picked, Jacob?" - Julie asked, while seriously looking at Jacob. She seems to have some kind of expectation for him.

Jacob: "I ..." 

The one who raised the question suddenly becomes the one to answer. Jacob gets tensed up, thinking about all of the possibilities. Standing in front of the woman that he was scared to death, his mind gets all messed up, and can't form an appropriate answer. Luke, who was silently observing this whole time, started to laugh uncontrollably. 

Luke: "Haha, what are you guys doing?"

Jacob: "..."

He goes up and rounds his arm around Julie's shoulder. He points his index toward her face. He speaks ironically, trying to lighten up the mood. 

Luke: "If this girl made a grave mistake that day, do you think she will be standing here and talking about all of this to you?"

Luke: "She probably chokes herself while chewing the brick, and goes back to her room crying, who knows?"

Julie: "You stink!"

Julie disappointingly looked away and pushed his hand away from her shoulder. A distinctive "Hmph" sound came from her, as she was moving away from the two, and started searching the working desk next to the mattress. Luke doesn't seem to let Julie get away from the conversation that easily. He smirks, knowing he has just found a new topic to tease her. 

Luke: "It's out of place to see you so open about your personal life, Julie"

Luke: "Is it because you found something in him?"

Julie: "THAT'S NOT IT!"

Julie: "... not because of him at least" - Julie talks while facing the other way. Her cheeks get slightly red from embarrassment. 

Luke laughed as he heard the flustered Julie. He then walks toward the kitchen table to have a glance at the kitchen equipment set. Julie looked at her phone. There are some cracks on the screen, as a result of the explosion. 

Julie: "We have wasted so much time already!"

Julie: "Jacob, if you have finally got your mind together, start packing up!"

Luke: "You heard her" - Luke walks toward Jacob. He is holding a rotten scissor and a rotten knife in his hands. 

Jacob: "What do you want? I got nothing to bring along. Just tell me when we can go"

Luke: "I know that already. This place can't be more empty than a prison."

Luke: "And that girl, she said that, but she doesn't look like she will go anytime soon"

Jacob: "A dumpster-loving freak, isn't she?"

Julie looks back at him, with killing intention in her eyes. Jacob gulped and looked in another direction instead. 

Luke: "I'm surprised that you make can joke in this situation. I can already tell that you guys will get along pretty well."

Jacob: "As if ..."

Luke: "Haha, it's probably because of your connection with Professor Tiz that piques her interest. She is indeed a freak if you talk about him."

Luke: "Now, if you have nothing to bring along, then at least bring along a clean-looking body. Find a spot, I will give you a haircut"

Jacob looks suspiciously at the tools. It's the thing that he used to use to break every corner of this room, to find a way out. Now when he is finally free, it's being used on his own body. "How ironic", he thinks to himself. 

Jacob: "I doubt those are barber's equipment."

Luke: "You never know what a great man can do with any tools! Trust me, I did haircuts for friends all the time. Find a spot, let me show my gratitude for helping me earlier, okay?"

Jacob sits down on a spot near the hallway. His memories were jumbled, but this very position made him feel the most comfortable. The space where it was just him and silence, a curse of a place, has finally got some life to it, once again. Julie scrambles around the table and finds some articles about a 'recent' discovery about cells-related technologies, that took place around 10 years ago. She flicks the stack of paper around for a while, before tracing a certain word on it. She stops her index finger at "Tiz" in a paragraph. 

Julie: "I think it's because of responsibility"

Jacob: "Huh?"

Julie: "My actions in the past. I felt responsible for what I had done. I'm scared that I have dragged everyone down."

Julie: "It's the same thing earlier. I felt responsible for barging into this place without prior announcement, so I shared my vulnerable side for you in return. Nothing more than that."

Jacob: "Responsibility..."

Luke: "That's who she is. Straight to the point."

Jacob looks down to the floor once more. He sees his shadow get dragged way out of the door. A hole was created in the wall behind him, where it was getting into contact with what remains of a functional door. "Responsibility, responsibility, ...", those words continue to run in his head, as he thinks back about his current situation.

Luke: "Do you know what makes a good haircut, Jacob?" - Luke talks about something completely different. 

Luke: "It's both party's responsibility. The one getting the haircut, and the one performing it."

Jacob: "You speak nonsense like this all the time?"

Luke: "Haha, you think so? Guess I've left a bad first impression."

Luke speaks, but his hands are still moving around, gently removing excess hair on Jacob's head. He uses the back of the knife the straighten out strands of hair, and while rusty, through his delicate hand, it has a very effective comb. The same goes for the scissors on his other hand. It has been so rusty that it can't make a clean cut anymore. But Luke takes that as an advantage. He takes time to make multiple cuts in the same area before moving to another, so no need to go back and find any mistakes. Jacob, while feeling uncomfortable for having a stranger touching his head, still can recognize that Luke is doing a great job with his messy hairline. 

Luke: "But I don't think it's nonsense at all" - Luke speaks with a serious tone. 

Luke: "We aren't born with responsibility. We gave it to someone, and gained from another"

Luke: "The barber gains responsibility from the customer, which makes them more careful with their craft. The customer also gains responsibility from the barber, as whatever their head will look like, it's them that choose to be there."

Jacob: "What are you trying to say?"

Luke: "'Trust', that's the bridge to send responsibility from one to another. The customer trusts the barber, the barber trusts his tools, and trust the customer's judgment."

Luke: "If you feel responsible for something, then there is some trust that has been placed on you from someone, that what's I'm trying to say."

Luke: "Do you doubt Professor Tiz's judgment, Mr.Humbert?"

Jacob: "How did you ..."

Jacob turns his head around and immediately gets a shiver sent down his spine. It's still the same smile that Luke always makes, but his eyes trying to say something more sinister and devious. He has been very friendly ever since they met, but this is the first time Jacob feels threatened, like what he has experienced with Julie previously. 

Luke: "..."

Luke: "And there we have it!" - Luke changed his emotion a 180, coming back to his usual carefree, wholesome character. 

Jacob touches his hair. It's way shorter than before, and no longer covers his eyes or ear. He stands up and rushes into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. Multiple versions of the same, cleanly-looking man appears. It's like a younger version of himself, though only a year has passed. He touches his face. He makes a smile, and a hundred smiles go along with it. A 'snap' sound and a flash suddenly appeared before his eyes, as he started to reminisce about the first day of his photo shoot. Luke's voice can be heard outside of the toilet. 

Luke: "I told you. A little change can make quite a difference!"

Jacob stood at the toilet door and looked outside. Luke is cleaning his hand with a hand sanitizer taken from his pocket. He smiles confidently, knowing that he has done a fantastic job. When his hands dried out, he spoke. 

Luke: "I trust him"

Jacob: "..."

Luke: "Probably more than anybody in this world. I feel responsible to work by his side."

Luke: "I don't know what your relationship with him is. But there are reasons for this rescue to happen, and I partially believe some of them are based on trust."

Luke: "Once you clear up your feelings, I hope we can find some mutual understanding."

Jacob: "... Sure" 

Julie: "Yes?"

Julie picks up the phone call. It's not her phone, but Luke's phone. She doesn't even bother to ask for permission, not even take a second to look at the caller.  She knows that it must be work-related, as any phone call here can only occur in a secure environment. Her left hand is still holding a big stack of papers and magazines. She turns to Luke's direction, blinks her right eye, and pulls out her tongue, trying to look silly. Luke only responds with a frown.

Julie: "Huh? Right now?"

Julie: "Okay, stay in position! We are on the way!"

Luke and Jacob look at each other and tilt their head in confusion. 

Julie: "They spotted Lumen! He is hiding somewhere on the main road. We're moving to the next phase of the operation, immediately!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The three of them rushed outside. They are so hurried that they even forget to lock the door. Julie still holding dearly to the stack of paper in her left hand. Luke quickly grabbed his shoes on the way out and struggled to put them on while moving. Jacob moves out accordingly but still looks back at his room periodically. Time doesn't wait for anyone, so there is no more time to mourn about unexisting things.  It's bitter, but still, there is a life ahead. It's like what they have said, it's "trust" and "responsibility" that moved us forward. And right now, it's the drive to understand the complicated feelings in his chest, that bring him to the outside world. They stopped when getting to the bottom floor. 

Luke: "Julie, use my car. I will manage somehow."

Julie: "What are you saying? Get in the car!"

Luke: "No, that will only get all of us killed. It's not easy to spot Lumen like that if they only have a few people. They must have come in groups."

Luke: "I will run in the other direction, you two move along the main road."

Julie: "This is a one-way road! There is nothing more suspicious about a car violating the law! WE ARE GOING TO BE EXPOSED, IDIOT! Now shut up and get into the car."

Julie: *shaky voice* "Are you going to leave again?"

Luke steps up and offers her a hug. 

Luke: "Not this time, Julie. I'm here to stay. I promise I will be back."

Jilue: *sniffle* "You stink!"

Luke: "That's much more like you!" - Luke releases his arms.

Julie: "But still, what are you going to do about the one-way road problem?"

Luke: "Call 'him'. He came back with me earlier this week."

Julie: "You mean ..." 

Julie: "Understood. Good luck, and don't die on me!"

Luke: "Definitely!"

Luke: "Oh, and one more thing."

Luke: "You forgot this, Jacob!"

Luke took Jacob's ID card from his pocket and gave it to him. 

Luke: "Since I have known your identity, let me tell you a secret then."

Luke: "My name is not Luke. It's a code name between our organization."

Jacob: "So does that mean ..." - He looks at Julie, she looks like she is trying to hold her tears

Julie: "No, Julie is my real name. I don't like playing with identity bullshit" - She tried to speak with a straight face. 

Luke: "Though I can't share my real name with you at the moment, I hope you can still see this as a token of our friendship."

Luke: "I will say this again. I hope we can understand each other one day." 

Jacob: "..."

Jacob: "Sure, 'Luke'!"

Luke: "Farewell, Humbert!" 

Julie starts the engine of Luke's car. She controls the vehicle so that it's facing in the opposite direction of the main road. Jacob receives his ID card from Luke's hand and jumps right into the passenger seat.

Julie: "Hey, Luke!"

Luke: "Yes?"

Julie: *blush* "...Thank you" - Julie said as she was turning the other way, with her cheeks blushing lightly. 

Luke: "..."

The car spins its wheels on the sand once more before running straight ahead. Luke stays back and looks in their direction before the car disappears from view. He looks at Julie's car, which got stuck deep into the sand, and starts scratching his head. 

Luke: "This girl ..."

Luke: "Now, what to do?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Julie keeps her foot on the pedal, making the car run at a monstrous speed. It's barely safe to sit in the car at this speed. Jacob however, is surprisingly calm. He sits quietly, completely ignoring the borderline criminal act of the person sitting next to him. The awkward vibe between the two has reached a new peak, as there is no longer a middleman to keep the conversation coherent. Jacob, sitting on his chair, thinking of a way to break the ice. This process takes so much of his processing power, that it makes him unmovable. He decided to speak once Julie finally pushed the brake pedal to avoid a pothole. 

Jacob: "Hey ..."

Julie: "Keep your mouth shut." - An unexpected answer from Julie. She is mad at something.

Jacob: "I haven't asked anything yet ..."

Julie: "If you only have meaningless questions, that better keep it to yourself."

Jacob: "What is even your standard for 'meaningless'?"

Julie: "Meaningless is meaningless, that's all there is to it. So far you have only made my job harder. Just shut up, I don't need your input to finish the rest."

Jacob: "Isn't it your fault?"

Jacob: "That guy, Luke, you and him must be pretty close huh? Just so you know, my words and actions won't affect his decision to stay behind anyway."

Julie makes a violent step on the break, causing the car to drift and turn sideways. A black trace, caused by friction between the tires and the road. Both of her hands hold tight to the steering wheel. Her head faces the front window, but her eyes close shut. 

Julie: "I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"

Jacob: ".... Right"

The car is running backward into its original position, and the tires are rolling once again. The silence is coming back, with only the sound of the wind going in and out of the vehicle. Jacob doesn't seem interested in keeping the conversation anymore, so he changes his view to the side door's window. It's boring outside, with just the black row, and a huge yellow desert. After a while, Julie does a facepalm. She noticed her temper had only made things worse between the two. She starts speaking, but her eyes still focus on objects ahead of them. Though nothing is in front of this empty road ... 

Julie: "I will tell you what you need to know. So again, keep your mouth shut. I don't need unnecessary commentary"

Jacob: "..."

Julie: "We were assigned to the same unit just a few years ago. Though we trained in the same training camp since we were younger. But boys and girls didn't live in the same area"

The car slowed down for a bit. The speed affects the quality of her speech, making it harder to listen. 

Julie: "Anyway, he is the best at his job. I usually have to switch partner every few weeks, cause I can't stand their inefficiency."

Julie: "These people showed up late at work. They are always underprepared, which has many times put us in dangerous situations."

Julie: "They are also whining like kids when it comes to combat. Those losers cried when they got a needle pinched into their fingertip. Imagine when they have to blow up their whole armed, gosh, nightmare!"

She seems to calm down as the story goes on, especially when Luke is mentioned. 

Julie: "When I first saw him as my new partner, I felt horrible. I hate his damn-force smile. Man is also flimsy as hell. You saw it already, a small blast can cause his entire bottom half to disappear."

Julie: "I was so against it at first. We argue every single time we are on a mission, and I always end up writing a letter to HQ, begging them to let me have another partner."

Julie: "Apparently there is a hard cap to how many times you can send requests to higher-ups..."

Jacob is shaking on the seat next to her. He is trying so hard to not burst out a laugh, but his face still keeps on the window, refusing to look back at her. She is annoyed, but cause he didn't make any sound, she bites her lips and continues with her story. 

Julie: "But over time, I started to notice something."

Julie: "Although we are arguing, the mission still goes by surprisingly well. Jacob knows the limit of his body, so he always makes sure that everything behind the scenes must be prepared sufficiently."

Julie: "His strategy is always on point. Every mission was carried out with minimal damage. His use of pills is so unique and out of the box. Before I knew it, I had already mimicked some of his skills."

Julie: "He is also really good at communicating too. While we were practically screaming at each other, no information was lost during that. I keep relying on his mission brief, rather than spending an hour in the boring meeting."

Jacob came back to his usual demeanor and listened carefully as Julie was getting to the turning point of the story. 

Julie: "I complained less and less the more I met him at work. He also opened a lot more about himself to me, rather than trying to battle with my mouth."

Julie: "But, he left..."

Julie: "There is an urgent mission overbroad, so he and a few more experienced agents from our company have to move right away."

Julie: "There is no goodbye, not even a wave of hand. He is gone like that, my once-in-a-lifetime, perfect partner, gone."

Julie: "But now he is back, what do I even worry about?" - She sighed, and turned her face to look at Jacob's back. 

Julie: "I will permit you this time to make fun of me. And we are done with this whole misunderstanding bullcrap, okay?" 

No response from him. 

Julie: "Hey! Hello? I say that you can speak now!"

Impatient, she moved a bit closer to the passenger seat, only to hear Jacob's freaked-out notices.

Jacob: "The mirror! Julie, the mirror!"

She looks at the mirror on the right side of the car. A figure similar to a car slowly moving closer and closer. Even Julie is freaked out at this point, but she keeps her composure. 

Julie: "Jacob, how many of them?" 

Jacob: *shaking* "Only one car so far, and I vaguely see two men in the front seat. No one else is in the backseat it seems." - His one year of senses training has paid off.

Julie: "Only two?" 

The someone anxious emotion on Julie's face quickly faded away, replaced with a confident smile. 

Julie: "So that means Luke is holding the rest of them down. This is either the leftover bunch or just a scout who luckily found us."

Jacob: "What are we going to do?"

Julie: "Give them a warm welcome, of course."

As the car got closer into view, Julie switched her right foot to her left foot to push the pedal. Instinctively, Jacob moves his body a bit further, closer to the car door. Holding her hands tight to the wheel, she lowered her back to almost lie on the chair, then delivered a kick to the glovebox right in front of Jacob, forcing it to open right away. A gun was slowly sliding down and stayed in Jacob's view. He turns his head to look for an answer from Julie but only receives an angry glance from her. 

Jacob: "Just so you know, I won't shoot it!"

Julie: "Even if they won't hesitate to do the same to you?"

Jacob: "..."

Julie: "GOD!"

She angrily kicked the box again, much harder this time. The gun fell out of the box and ended up dropping around Jacob's foot. Another item was rolling down toward the end of the box. It's the yellow pill bottle. She leans forward and grabs it, not even bothering about the gun lying on the ground. She swallows a pill, then removes her hands from the wheel temporarily. She uses her right hand to pull all of her five left fingers backward, like a stretching exercise. However, the pulling force was huge, and Julie was biting her lip throughout the process. And just after a blink, all 5 fingers were removed right in front of Jacob's eyes. Blood splashes everywhere, stain the driving wheel in red. 

Jacob: "Hold the wheel!" - Julie screamed

Jacob: "!" 

Still shocked by what just happened in front of him, Jacob completely froze in his seat. He only got back his composure after feeling the car was swinging around uncontrollably, along with Julie's scream. He jumps up to grab the wheel, while Julie pushes her upper half outside of the window, getting into a throwing position. She throws her fingers as soon as the car is stabilized again, toward the car that is chasing them. The driver in that car also notices the strange projectiles that are moving toward them. They adjusted their speed to dodge it but still got 3 fingers landed on the hood. The leftovers fell to the road and got crushed right after they were landed. The fingers on the hood suddenly start shaking and crawling around, almost as if they were alive. Holes started to appear as its skin melted away, and sparks of electricity grew more intense as time went on. But nothing seems to happen to the vehicle, as it keeps moving toward Julie and Jacob at a constant speed.

Julie: "Shit, non-conductive material." - She moves her body back to her seat. 

Jacob: "Of course it is! What are you even doing?"

Those fingers spark and burn themself to black, and rolling down to the road by the wind. It's a wasted effort. Seeing the thread is gone, the person sitting in the passenger seat pulls out their gun and starts shooting at the car in front of him. Some of the bullets hit the mirror near Jacob's position. 

Jacob: "Ahhhh!"

Julie: "Stop whining already! At least I tried, and not sitting there and be too afraid to pick up a damn gun."

Julie: "Those fuckers would have been blown up already if I didn't waste the red pill on you"

Jacob: "I thought we have settled this already?"

The rain of gunshots won't stop. As the cars get closer and closer to each other,  the shots are also getting a lot more accurate. Windshields around the car have all been broken, and both Julie and Jacob have to keep their head below the deck to avoid a headshot. Glasses fly all over the place, some shards even stick to their body, and only get pushed further into their skin every time they move around. 

Julie: "We don't have time for this..."

Jacob: "Where is your confidence from before?"

Jacob: "You got humble quickly. They don't need your welcome!"

Julie: "Shut up! I do have a plan!" 

She looks at Jacob, but it's not a look with any ulterior motive, but doubt. Julie has never been this quiet ever since they got into this car, and Jacob can feel that. She doubts his ability to follow her plan, which even Jacob himself does not believe in. After a while, Julie went back to look at the road in front of her.

Julie: "You can't run away anymore, it's do or die here."

Julie: "And I don't want to die just yet, not here!"

Julie: "So you have to follow me, no matter what. But I will give you a choice ..."

Jacob: "A choice?"

Out of bullets, the guy sitting in the passenger seat turns his back around to search for ammunition in a case on the backseat. Thinking that they have the advantage, the driver pushes forward and continuously smashes into the car in front of them. The other complains that the driver's action only makes his job harder, but he can't be bothered to listen. Julie is having a hard time controlling the vehicle because of that. She quickly spun the wheel to make the car go sideways, then pushed the brakes to reduce the car's speed. Both cars are driving parallel to each other right now, and so close to each other that the two cars start the scratch each other on their door. Inside the car, Julie and Jacob come to an agreement. 

Julie: "We only have one chance. And remembered, you choose to do it."

Julie: "Don't mess it up"

Jacob: "..."

Julie: "On to three. One ..."

The guy in the passenger seat finally got his magazine and quickly performed reloading on his pistol. 

Julie: "Two ..."

The driver noticed strange behavior from the car next to them, so he hastily pushed the brakes, trying to find a better angle for his partner to deliver his shot. Inside the other vehicle, Jacob reluctantly looks at his bloody hands from grabbing the wheel earlier. He takes a deep breath, before shoving the yellow pill on his left hand onto his mouth. 

Julie: "ONE!"

Before both of them can react, Julie consumes a blue pill and then punches the windshield of the chaser's car with her left hand. Without any finger left, it's practically a skull hammer getting into contact with a fragile wall. Shards blasted into their faces, causing them to panic. Not even waiting until they opened their eyes, she moved her entire arm upward toward the ceiling and dealt a heavy blow downward with her elbow. It was only supposed to hit the handle and open the door, but the force was so strong that its latch was broken in half, causing the door to fall off. It was dangled and rubbed to the road, then fell out of the vehicle completely. 

"Shit!", the man with the gun grunted. He aims his gun at Julie's head, but in front of him is not her. She has already lowered her chair backward, to have more space, revealing Jacob with yellow electricity running all over his body. He looks up right at the open space. After letting out a painful scream, he lunged forward, diving straight into the other car. The man was caught by surprise. He raises his gun higher and pulls the trigger right away. It missed Jacob, but unfortunately behind him, Julie was bringing her body back up to control the vehicle and got hit right in the head. The bullet is shot at almost point blank and goes through Julie's head, hitting the ceiling. Blood splashes out of her head, with part of her brain goes upward into a stream. She went unconscious right away, and the car steered uncontrollably into the desert. Meanwhile, Jacob successfully dives into the two men's car. But he didn't stay for long. He grabs both of them using his arm, causing an immediate electric shock. He then uses all of his leftover strength to roll over the driver's seat, kick the door open, and roll off the vehicle. The vehicle lost its balance, started to trip, and rolled over several times before stopping in the middle of the road, unrecognizable from its original form. Jacob still held tight to the two men after getting out of the car, and the three of them screamed in terror while being hit by a constant stream of electricity before all shutting down at the same time. Everything falls into complete silence. Smoke goes out from the broken vehicle, creating a black pillar that goes up into the sky. 

...

...

Julie: "I will give you a choice."

Julie: "One job is very simple. The other is a bit more technical. You choose one, and I will do the other."

Jacob: "Which one will kill me?"

Julie: "Both can" - She answered confidently. 

Jacob: "So all of that talk about your valuable life is fake?"

Julie: "CAN, not absolutely! I can do both jobs and get myself out of here quickly. But what about you? What CAN you do?"

Jacob: "..."

He looks into Julie's eyes as she speaks to him in all of her seriousness. Inside of her eyes, it's not a reflection of Jacob. It's Julie herself! Jacob blinks his eyes and in front of him now, it's himself! What's going on? The person in front of him changes every time he blinks. He breathed heavily as questions flooded into his confused mind. 

(Julie): "What CAN you do?"

(Jacob): "You have two choices!"

(Julie): "I move into the kitchen ..."

(Jacob): "They will help you!"

(Julie): "Which faith am I belong to?"

(Jacob): "What is the point?"

(Julie): "Responsibility"

(Luke): "Responsibility"

Jacob: *mumble* "Responsibility"

He returned to reality and saw Julie looking at him, with a troubling look on her face. Jacob might have answered her question while he was lost in thought. 

Julie: "... I see. That's surprising, coming from you."

Julie: "... Don't mess it up!"

...

...

Jacob opens his eyes. His entire body aching, and his brain was overloaded with the sense of pain. How much time has passed already? He uses all of his strength to move his head around, trying to observe the surroundings. The two men lying next to him are still unconscious. Their car from afar has been badly damaged. Smoke has already spread around the area, making it harder to see anything else further than here. "Where is she?", he thinks. He recalls the moment she was shot in the head and closed his eyes. "So this is the end", he thinks. "The one who wants to live dies first", he laughed in silence. "Naturally, the next one will also die", that's his resolve. But suddenly, footsteps can be heard nearby. He opens his eyes in curiosity. Smoke particles go into his eyes, making them glow red. His vision is all blurry. All of his leftover strength is used to focus on the figure in the distance.  Has Luke failed to do his task, and now their allies have caught up to us? Or worse, someone from the government official has recognized the ruckus and is here to investigate? Who can it be? 

From the smoke screen, a figure slowly walks into view. Something so bizarre that it could come out of fiction. In the corner of Jacob's eyes, Julie appears. Half of her body vertically enters the scene. Her left eye burned with hatred. His clothes were torn out, with scratches all over it. But that's her shirt, the one that she burned during her exchange with Jacob earlier. Her left hand holding Luke's coat, which has a bit of sand on it but is still relatively intact. Jacob was trying to call out her name and grab her attention, but his voice could not come out. His throat was badly damaged, and his brain could not even form a coherent sentence without being cut off by excruciating pain. But before he could even start to rethink his decision, shivers sent down his spine. Jacob forgot all of his pain in a split second just from looking at the horror that was to come. A strong wind came into the area and blew away some of the smoke screen. Julie's entire body was shown, all for the world to see. Everything is still intact, except her face. A quarter of her face has gone, like a slice of a cake that has been cut off. It's a complete miracle that she is still alive after all of that. Her brain was being exposed to the air, pumping like crazy. Every little string of veins was shown. Some of them started the recover and reconnect with each other. Her head is fixing itself, but looking from a distance, it's like a creature was trying to tear her head apart. The scene was disgusting, so much so that it could make the unexpecting Jacob throw up, but he could only lie there, upside down, and wait for her to approach. 

However, this is a good sign. Julie is still alive meaning her plan has succeeded. Now all there is to it is just wait for her to give him the blue pill, and they will figure out the rest together. He is relieved and hopefully looking at her as she is getting closer.  His hope did not last for long. He noticed something was wrong from the moment he saw the hateful left eye. He has seen that before. It's the eye that terrified him when he first saw her in his room. The eye that "kills". It's not a coincidence that right now, in Julie's right hand, it's the gun that Jacob has refused to pick up earlier. She will not let this slide. She takes out a red pill from the coat, inside of a small package. She smacked the gun to her waist, making it open a small area near the chamber, enough to insert a single cartridge inside. But instead, she inserts the pill inside. Stopping near the two men's bodies, she raises her gun forward and aims at them. 

Jacob: *breath* "No..."

Julie: "..."

Jacob: *grunting in pain* "N...No... JULIE, NO!"

Julie: *open the safety lock* "..."

Jacob: "JULIE! STOP! NO"

Jacob: *breath* "It's a crime! There has to be ... another way ..."

Julie: *index finger on the trigger* "..."

Jacob: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!" - He screams his lung out of him 

BANG! 

BANG! 

Two consecutive shots went out just like that. Two shots, one in each guy's stomach. Their body got bloated like a balloon before exploding, into a rain of blood. Their body vanished from this world without a single trace. Jacob rolls his eyes backward, in complete shock. Blood covers his eyes. Extend his neck to look up, he saw Julie, and see world, all in the color of bright red. His mind is emptied, and he is ready to fall unconscious again. Except ... that's what he would have wished to happen. His hair was pulled back up by Julie. Her face is so close to him that it forces their eye to nearly touch each other. Her skull has been recovered, but the skin is not coming back yet. On one side, Jacob saw an angry Julie look deep into his soul. On the other eye, he saw a skull, with a hole in the eye big enough to see everything running inside of it. But his body cannot make any reaction anymore, it's too much for him already. This is his limit, and Julie can only blink her left eye in disappointment. She takes a blue pill, puts it on her hand, and stuffed it into Jacob's mouth, forcing him to drink it. Her large hand closes both his nose and his mouth. Can't breathe with his nose, so his body is forced to use the mouth to breathe. His body moves around, even with all of the damage that has been done to it, trying to break out. His throat tried its best to do a breathing motion, in and out, and eventually sucking the pill down his stomach. After making sure that the pill has been consumed, Julie holds Jacob by the collar and turns him upward. She lifts his head, still using the collar of his shirt.

Julie: "It has to be done this way."

Julie: "Only death awaits people with sympathy for their enemies!" 

Then, she drags him back to the car, still relatively functional in the distance, leaving everything behind. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------