Morning broke over Paris the way it always did. It was obnoxiously beautiful, the sun doing its best postcard impression, birds chirping like they had somewhere to be.
Eric woke to the smell of cooking and the sound of Ruby humming off-key in the kitchen. He sat up, dragged a hand through his hair, yawned like it was a personality trait, and stumbled out of the bedroom shirtless, abs on full display for an audience of absolutely no one who cared yet.
Ruby cared. She lit up the second she spotted him. "Good morning, Sleepyhead."
He grunted something vaguely human and beelined for the bathroom. Fifteen minutes of washing, brushing, and bathing later, he emerged a functioning adult and sat down to breakfast: eggs, milk, toast, and...
Bread. Red bread.
He blinked at it as it might blink back. "Ruby," he said slowly, "why is the bread red?" A beat. "There's no blood in it, right?"
Ruby's whole face brightened, practically vibrating with the joy of finally being asked. "This is Khubz Ahmar! It's a Middle Eastern bread. I found a video on how to make it!" She puffed up proudly for exactly one second before deflating like a popped balloon, eyes darting away, voice dropping to a guilty mumble. "...The real recipe was kind of a lot, though. So I just made regular bread. And added food coloring." A tiny pause. "So it's just... bread. Wearing a costume. Sorry."
Eric just smiled at her as he sat down and had his breakfast. When he ate the sandwich, he found it really tasty. He complimented it and praised Ruby.
But something was off. Ruby's brain, ever the overachiever, began connecting dots that weren't there. Eric was a gloomy, monosyllabic, allergic-to-compliments. The same Eric was smiling and complimenting her and being nice.
Was it the lap? Had her lap been so extraordinary that it cracked something open in him? Or was it—
Her eyes narrowed. Her whole face went red-alert.
"ERIC HEISENBERG!" she shrieked, loud enough to rattle the plates. "I am NOT having a baby yet, so stop acting weird!"
Eric froze mid-bite, utterly blindsided. Small mercy he hadn't been drinking his milk—it would've ended up airborne, then all over the table, then possibly on Ruby.
He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. He knew she didn't want kids yet. He also had, at no point, brought up kids. He'd made one comment about bread.
"A man can't even smile without getting accused of baby fever," he thought, staring into the middle distance like a soldier remembering the war. "What a world I live in"
He finished breakfast in wounded silence, then went to get ready for his and Max's interview, already regretting every kind word he'd said that morning.
The Paris commissaire was going to be taking their interview, and they wanted to be fully ready. Good for both of them—they had been in the American Army and were very respected there, and would be hired with relative ease. If not for some personal reasons, he wouldn't have had him and Max leave the army.
Eric, after getting ready, looked at himself in the mirror. Even though he couldn't see his reflection, he could still act as he could. He wore a black suit with a black tie, with all his important files in a black suitcase. His hair was combed back and tied in a ponytail as always. His heterochromatic pink eyes were like two beautiful gems, looking even more beautiful when reflecting light. He was, as always, clean-shaven too.
After he walked out of the apartment, he turned left and stood in front of the main door of Max's apartment. He knocked twice and stood there waiting. Soon, he heard stuff falling and Zoe screaming. He stepped back as Max walked out of the apartment wearing a dark purple suit and red tie. He was breathing heavily and gasping for air. He looked behind him and saw Zoe also gasping for air and looking embarrassed as she clutched her clothes hard.
"Is this why the narrator doesn't show his morning routine?" Eric thought with a remark, as if he were in a novel with a narrator explaining their life story. Eric brought his left hand to his face and coughed twice. He then looked at Max with a straight face and a suspicious gaze and asked,
"Ready to go?"
Max looked at him with a smile and said, "Not yet." He then turned back to Zoe and gave her a tight hug, making Zoe gasp for air and punch his back because she couldn't breathe. She looked at Eric for help, but Eric was gazing outside the window, mesmerized by the world's wonders and beauty, being completely ignorant of the injustice happening to a weak woman behind him. What a criminal!
After all his shenanigans ended, Max and Eric walked down the building and started walking down the street towards the police station, where they were going to give their interview.
...
Adrian arrived at school like he did every other day, already in a bad mood before the first bell had even rung. Mornings never agreed with him. All he wanted was for the day to be over so he could go home and lose himself in a few rounds of whatever game he was playing that week.
He walked through the main door, made his way to his locker, and started sorting through his things. He pulled out the extra books he needed and stuffed in the ones he didn't, working through the routine without much thought.
While he was still packing, a girl with dark blue hair and bright pink eyes approached him. "Good morning, Adrian. How are you?"
He turned his head to the right and found her smiling at him. He smiled back and returned the greeting.
"So, what's your first class?" she asked.
"Science," Adrian said, his voice flat as usual, and he started walking toward the classroom. She fell into step beside him without being asked.
The girl's name was Marie. She had been an acquaintance of his since his very first day of high school, someone he knew on what he considered a surface level. He didn't mind talking with her when the moment called for it, but beyond that, he had never really thought to take much interest.
As they walked, Marie's tone shifted. She sounded embarrassed now, and she scratched at her cheek, looking away from him as she spoke. "Do you have time after school today?"
Adrian nodded.
Her face brightened immediately at his answer. Encouraged, she told him about a new café that had opened in the district nearby and asked if he wanted to go there with her after classes ended. Adrian saw no reason to say no, so he agreed, and just like that, they had made plans.
...
As Max and Eric walked up to the police station named Commissariat de Police de Paris, they started to have a conversation so as not to feel so bored. This feeling was reciprocated by Max very strongly.
Max decided to be the one to start this conversation. He opened his mouth and asked Eric, "Can you tell me again why we are not allowed to talk telepathically anymore, and why can't we just teleport to the police station?" Max asked Eric two questions.
Eric replied in a low tone, as if making sure no one else could hear them, "I have told you already that things are becoming more dangerous, and they are going to keep becoming more dangerous. We should be doing our best to hide and not arouse suspicion. It is not the time yet to take risks. We have to first set up some foundations."
Max sighed in tiredness, looked straight ahead, and said, "It is a good thing I have been following my list of morals and rules; otherwise, I might have started to show signs of losing control already. I never knew that not using your powers could cause such negative changes."
Eric and Max stopped at a crosswalk and stood silently as they waited for the signal to turn green. There were two kids with their mother who were playing with each other and even running around chasing each other. Their mother was on her phone talking to someone. Eric looked at the mother and then at the kids playing.
He should tell them not to run around like that, but he had to abide by his list of rules and thus just stayed quiet. One of the kids suddenly pushed the other, and he was just about to be hit by a speeding car when Max reached out like a gust of air and pulled the kid back.
Everything happened so fast that no one even realized a kid was about to be hit by a car due to a mother's negligence. Eric looked at Max with his cold eyes and emotionless face. Max just looked at him and said, while smiling and laughing a little, "Sorry. You know, one of my morals is to always help someone in need. It surely overlaps your morals' weak points."
Eric looked up and saw that the sign had turned green, and they started to walk on the crosswalk. Eric asked Max a question while they walked, "Max, do you know the consequences of your action just now?" Max looked at him with surprised eyes for a second before smiling and asking while looking ahead, "Please enlighten me."
Eric opened his mouth and started to explain, "You just helped two little kids with a careless mother who didn't pay any attention to her kids while they played around a dangerous corner. Saving the kids was nothing special, but the fact that you did it so fast without anyone noticing is the problem. The mother remained as careless as ever, and the kids learned nothing about safety or not to push each other on the roads. Today they were saved by you, but what about tomorrow? The day after that? Or in the coming time? If it were me, I wouldn't have helped, which would have made the mother realize she needs to be aware of her kids and not be so focused on the phone while teaching the kids not to push each other around on roads—which would have helped them indirectly in the future—all by me not doing anything."
Max replied, "That is true, Eric, but you see, I don't care about the future or the past or what my inaction can do. I am an instinctual person who only cares about whether the person in front of me is hurt or not and will do whatever I can to help as long as I can."
Eric nodded in agreement. "You are right too, but I still believe inaction was the better option." Upon reaching the other side of the crosswalk, Eric said again, "I don't think we should continue this topic. Let's talk about something else now."
As they walked, they arrived in front of Adrian's high school, and Eric's sense of familiarity was triggered again—but this was not from Max. It was a different one. His intuition told him to look to the right and through the main door of the high school. He tried to find where this sense of familiarity was coming from. The supplementary feelings underneath the sense of familiarity seemed to be admiration and respect.
If this had been in the past, Eric would have been shocked like before, but now he had long prepared himself for sudden events and thus was still calm and didn't act out in any way that could arouse suspicion. He told Max about the sense of familiarity, and they walked away from there.
Just when they were about to reach the police station, Eric's premonition was triggered again, causing him to look to the right. "I am sure getting a lot of premonition triggers nowadays. I hope this doesn't worsen as time goes on," he thought. In front of him was a spectacle shop. He went inside, bought the darkest sunglasses he could find, and put them on. He, however, refused to give Max one even after he begged him to.
They finally reached the police station and entered. They were shown directions to the commissaire's office and walked there, stood in front of the gate, knocked, and waited. From behind the door, a gentle but commanding voice replied, "Come in, please."
Eric opened the gate and saw the commissaire in the flesh. He sat in his chair with confidence and command, making anyone who stood before him feel intimidated. Some of his blonde hair had turned grey due to old age and stress, and his blue eyes had a grey hue due to his cataract, but it only made him feel more experienced and terrifying.
Claude stood up from his seat and reached out his hand to Eric and Max. Eric and Max walked up to him and shook his hand. "It is nice to meet you both. I have been waiting for you both for quite some time. My name is Claude Perrin, the current commissaire of this police station."
Eric returned his greetings and introduced himself and Max. "It is our honour to meet you too, sir. I have heard a lot about you from Mr. Steins when I was in the army. You were a good friend of his, if I remember correctly?" Claude nodded and spoke as his earlier smile became happier. "Yes, I know him. We were very good friends back in training. He remained in the army while I came here to become a police officer, and here I am now, taking your interviews as the commissaire. Time surely flies fast in this small world. Oh, sorry for forgetting—please have a seat."
"It surely does," Eric proclaimed as they all sat down. Claude clasped his hands together and put them on the table as he looked at Max and asked him, "You seem to be the quiet one. You don't like talking?" Max looked at Claude and said with a serious face, "No, sir. I like talking, but at important times I try to only talk when necessary. I am more of a man who takes action rather than speaking."
"Your voice sure sounds confident," Claude praised Max.
Then he turned to Eric. "I think I should see your files now and ask you some questions. Normally, there would be many tests, but seeing as you have been recommended by a trusted friend of mine and have quite the experience, we will skip all that." While they talked, Eric's brows furrowed as he lowered his sunglasses a little. His eyes were now both bright pink and glowing like they were on fire, and there were four downward arrow signs around his pupil, which was a small dot of black now. Luckily for him, Claude couldn't see that due to his cataract, and the sunglasses only helped him further.
After half an hour of reading files and asking questions, Claude was convinced of the two young men in front of him and happy to be able to hire them, considering there was a shortage of manpower. This could be nothing but a blessing.
He stood up and shook both of their hands with great enthusiasm. "I am delighted to be able to work with such young talents like you. So when do you plan to start?"
Eric looked out the window for a few seconds, turned back to Claude, and replied, "What about right now? It is still morning." Claude nodded in agreement and had them get police uniforms, which consisted of a blue shirt, dark blue pants, a police hat, and an underarm holster with a semi-automatic 9mm revolver. It would take a day or two to get their IDs forged, so until then, they just needed to patrol some nearby districts.
Eric and Max were given their first duty and immediately left the station to go and patrol. After they got out of the station, Max turned to Eric and whispered to him, "I feel something was wrong with Mr. Claude during the interview."
Eric nodded and replied in a low tone, "Yes, you are right. He has been tainted. Other enemies have reached here already. Be on your guard while patrolling; you never know what might happen." Max nodded, turned back, and walked away. Eric also took a direction towards the nearest district and walked away.
Everything seemed quiet and peaceful, with nothing special. Eric was quite talented at observation, even when in the army; he was able to observe many people at once and predict what they were going to do. It helped him a lot in making strategies. Compared to this, it felt like taking a walk.
He walked and looked around and just saw normal people going about their lives: people having lunch or coffee in cafés, kids playing around with their friends in the park, ice-cream men selling ice cream from their vans—maybe he should pay some attention; "No, that would be too stereotypical," he thought. People buying fruits from stalls and bargaining, especially the aunties. As far as he was concerned, there was no drug dealing, shoot-out, or robbery going on.
Eric walked while observing everyone as he decided to check out a dark and small alley to make sure there were no illegal activities going on there. He stepped into the alley just when his premonition of danger was triggered. He looked down to the right, and there lay a broken mirror with multiple pieces scattered around. In the cracked surface of the mirror was a card that had a photo of a broken mirror printed on it. Eric took out his golden liquid, ready to teleport, but it was too late.
A domain was set up around him, and he was now in a huge room with nothing but mirror tiles all around him. Every glass tile reflected his figure from every angle, making anyone who could see their reflection dizzy and confused about their position.
Eric didn't panic and just blurted out emotionally, "Great, an ambush just when I told Max to be careful and try to remain as low as possible. Haha, how ironic." He then looked straight ahead and waited.