THE THUNDER

'How are we going to get Sarah out?' Jeremy asks, turning to Stephan who is standing by his side with a bitter, angry face. The two young men turn at the same time to Mr. Vaughen, who doesn't say a word.

'Let me think about it,' their boss finally mutters after a very long minute of silence. Then, he leaves the room, scratching his head. Not only does he have to find the African president's granddaughter, but now he also needs to save the daughter of a semi-retired senator, who has been chronically depressed for the last three years.

Stephan and Jeremy stare at each other for awhile in dead silence, their faces speaking to each other; one is screaming anger, while the other is shouting wrath.

'I don't trust him,' Stephan says without taking his eyes off Jeremy. He breathes heavily.

'Me neither,' his teammate replies, fidgeting nervously in the bed, 'I can't even trust myself,' he continues remorsefully, 'But what can we do?' he adds worryingly.

Stephan starts pacing back and forth alongside the bed before stopping suddenly in his tracks. He stares straight ahead for a moment as though the light of a brilliant idea has struck him like thunder.

'We have to pull out the big gun,' he says, then turns to his colleague with a smile on his face before adding, 'My mother!'

Jeremy looks at him, puzzled and confused.

'Can you walk?' Stephan asks impatiently.

'They won't let me out without permission,' Jeremy retorts as he tries to drag himself out of bed.

'Just don't ask for permission,' the young man retorts. He helps the agent stand up, then he says, 'You've been injured; you're not under quarantine. You should still be allowed in and out of the premises, but we want to get you out discreetly.'

'So, can you walk?' he asks anxiously once Jeremy is out of bed and standing straight.

'Yes, I think I can,' he replies while he successfully attempts to make a few steps.

'Great!' Stephan says then he looks around the room anxiously for a few seconds before asking in a panic, 'Where are your clothes?'

'Clean ones? In my locker, I suppose,' Jeremy replies. He looks around confused. The young man starts feeling slightly dizzy. He walks back slowly towards the bed to sit down on its edge, gazing stupidly at Stephan.

'Wait here, I'll be back with something for you to wear, then we can go and talk to my mum.'

Stephan rushes on his way out of the room.

'Stephan!' Jeremy calls when his teammate reaches half way in the doorway.

Stephan stops short, his fists clutched. He turns back to look nervously at his peer. There is no time to lose if he wants to see his sister alive. What he has seen through Jeremy's device the last few days, and what he now knows about Libra Justice as well as the Assembly of the Almighty have completely shifted his perspectives. He feels no longer safe, in control, or empowered in a world that has given him birth privileges that he is supposed to cling to. The recent events have made him realise that his so-called fortunate birth rights are in fact fictional stories told to make him more compliant to a powerful ancient system that wants him forever trapped in the same narrative. In this massive play, his role remains as irrelevant as all the other characters; the very same people he has been educated to look down upon.

At this specific moment, standing in the doorway of the large clinic of his highly reputable employer, apprehensive about his sister's life and totally powerless without the help of his mother and his teammate, the young man feels deeply hurt and betrayed by both society and his alleged fortune. His sister and him have been used as pawns all along, just like Jeremy, with only one difference: his sister and him have status and influence through the Babel gene and family whereas Jeremy seemingly doesn't have any.

Suddenly, the warning of Stephan's mother comes back to him in a flash. What she has been telling his sister and him all these years rings true now; the incoherence, contradiction, and depth of her words weren't just due to the trauma of her fifteen-year-detention in the camps of artificial intelligence. His parents had reached deep down to the very bottom of the human soul, and they had come back up with those words as a gift to the world. However, like the world, the young man has overlooked their wisdom, neglecting the precious gift.

'I'm sorry. I should have looked after Sarah,' Jeremy sighs, gazing sadly at Stephan.

The agent lowers his gaze for a split second. He bites his lips, then looks up straight at the young man sitting at the edge of the bed.

'No Jeremy. She should've looked after herself,' he says in a calm assertive voice.

The agent leaves the room in a hurry.