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I hurry over to the photocopier. I have done this plenty of times before and my fingers fly across the pad like it is second nature. All the while, I watch Tyler fight and I know from a single glance that he has had experience fighting this Lady. He dodges, punches, and weaves with such force and accuracy that I am sure he knows her style of fighting.
Tyler ducks as the lady goes to hit him in the head, but at the last second the woman turns her fist and pulls him into a headlock. Tyler doesn’t even have time to process what’s happening before it’s too late and he’s looking around in confusion, wondering how he got there.
I take a look at the photocopier to see how long I have to stall before the file uploads. Great, 50 seconds.
49…
48…
“Give me the paper and come with me, Jasper dear. Otherwise, Tyler Dixon will pay for your mistake,” I have no idea what I should do. I can’t fight her, that has already failed once. I can’t talk my way out of anything. I am completely useless. The best thing I can do right now is just play dumb. At least that’s something I’m good at.
44…
43…
42…
“I’m sorry, miss. You’ll have to excuse my impoliteness, but I’ll have to get you to repeat yourself. You see, I have hearing problems.”
Congratulations Jasper, faced with death and you blame your non-existent hearing issues. You are officially the dumbest person alive.
Shut up, I tell myself knowing that she has me and is going to kill me and Tyler and steal the paper for herself. Don’t be stupid, I remind myself. I’ll just get dragged into Dad’s office and have to face the fact that I’m stealing information from him. He is going to be in an uproar when he hears that.
Maybe she should just kill me now and save me from the trauma.
37…
36…
35…
“Please,” she scoffs, tightening her hold on Tyler. He is no longer like himself, but instead the lady has turned him into her robot. He is completely slack in her hold. “I know you Jasper. I know that you crave your father’s attention. I know that you would do anything to please him. But I also know that you can’t wait till all of this power is yours when you have the CSO all for yourself. I can help you. You give me the paper and we can help each other. I can give you power, and in turn you can help me. I will make you into a man just like your father used to-”
“I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE MY FATHER!” I yell with a sudden rage. I don’t mean to be so loud, but I just need her to stop talking. She is too assuming, too personal, too right for me to listen to her.
All I’ve ever wanted was for my father to notice me, to at least pretend that he likes me. To treat me like a son and not just someone that can take messages for him and someone to help him manipulate people. It’s not that I don’t want to be like him, necessarily, but I want to be better than him. I want to finish building the society my father started but make it better. I don’t want to ever become a father who would be willing to put their son through even half the stuff that he has put me through in the name of ‘science.’
Sure, as a person, Mr. Cunningham has done some things right, but as a father…he doesn’t even deserve that title.
I can see the satisfaction gleaming on the lady’s face when she knows that she’s hit the spot. She knows that I’m thinking about it, or at least that’s what she thinks. Even though my dad isn’t the best, it is going to take me a lot more convincing than that to run away from everything I’ve ever known and help her.
I figure that she isn’t working with my dad. Or if so, she’s really good at lying. Her words indicate to me that she’s separate from my dad, that this is about her gaining power. But for what reason I’m not sure.
But I don’t want to stay long enough to find out, “run, Tyler!” I yell loud enough, hoping to snap him out of his trance. Luckily enough, it works, and he manages to work his way out of the headlock. He starts running at a random table near the door. Which is definitely not the way I wanted him to run. I wanted him running out the door, not away from it.
I don’t want him to get into this mess, my mess. I know that I am going to get caught and I don’t want Tyler to suffer too. Whatever this lady has planned, he doesn’t need to be involved. It’s clear that he already knows what this woman is capable of, and he shouldn’t have to be around her longer than he needs to be. I take a look at the time on the photocopier.
12…
11…
10…
I know that he has just enough time left to run, with his speed he would make it to his room easily whilst I created a diversion. Yes, Jasper - the least creative person in the universe - is planning on creating two diversions in a day. Am I crazy? Extremely.
“Tyler, run!” I repeat, louder and more demanding this time. I am trying to sound like I am ordering him to run. I wish I had the commanding voice of my father because my voice just sounds like a desperate plea. He jumps onto the table and laughs at the lady below him.
I know Tyler’s intentions, if I get myself into trouble, he will be right there next to me. That’s just the type of person he is. No matter what, Tyler does everything in his power to not miss out on the fun. And despite everything, he sticks by me. I hate him for it because I know that my name helps me. If something goes wrong, I have the protection of my father, no matter how much he dislikes me. Tyler has no such security blanket. If something goes wrong, he is the one that falls, not me.
