50 minutes before midnight.

After splitting up, Toshi asks to take Sally back to their apartment, so that Syd won't have any bargain left while he trains Jody of ” The Swapping technique.

And also, changing the escort place so that Syd's house wouldn't be noticed by the enemy that could have been around.

“ Alright. Now, pick up this coin. And try to focus on it with this sponge right here. You ACT like a median. Try to use your inner energy to pick up the object's property and put it on another.”

“.....”

Jody's blue energy flows around her hand, she starts to sense the leak, as well as her body, is draining step by step.

But this time it wasn't a problem. Because she had trained her body enough to endure this leaking. She's more persistent, constantly breathing rate, resistant to tiring. In another word, we can basically tell that Jody has been training to lengthen her stamina bar far more than the past.

“.......”

“Just think of riding a bike for the first time. It's hard, but if you do it frequently, then it turns into muscle memory. Easy.”

“......”

As Jody opened her eyes, She can sense that there's something leaking from the coin and it's traveling pass her body to enter a sponge.

“ Syd!”

Jody was touching a sponge, and she felt that it has turning harder and harder because of the property of a metallic coin to the point that she found it was hard to squeeze like it used to be.

“ Yes. It's happening.”

He replied.

As she's still excited about this, suddenly it drops down back to normal state. Because she feels very hot... Hot as hell...it's from inside her...and she felt like her chest was about to explode from the inside too.

The pain was shown on her face, Syd knows it well so he offered her a glass of water.

Jody found herself was fulled of sweat and tiring, yes, she can handle the leak of inner energy, but as she entered the new stage, The swapping, the new side effect occurs within her body.

It's different from the leak, it's not just running out of steam but she feels the HEAT rising up inside her chest and it makes her feel pain.

“ God...What was that? I feel like I'm on fire! ”

Jody wiped her forehead, then drank a cold water.

“ That's normal. Now, this is the new stage you have to pass. But it won't take long.”

The boy comes up with banana, he's peeling it while explaining.

“ Your body is like an engine. Have you heard about thermodynamics? ”

“ Thermodynamics?”

“ See, I'm not an expert. But... There's one important rule that had been written. It suggests that There's no single engine in this world that its efficiency is 100% ”

“......”

“ Do you know what that means?”

Asked the boy.

“ Efficiency is the ratio of the work you got from the engine divided by the work you need to put in that same engine to make it works for you.”

The boy continued,

“ And this world. This real life. There's no way that an engine can convert all the energy you've input and turns it into 100% work without losing anything. It's impossible, even in the ideal world. There is always a loss, an energy loss, the point is where did it go? Where did THAT loss energy go after the engine has worked for us?”

“ ... What are you trying to tell me?”

Asked Jody.

“Jody, your body IS the engine. You... Input the energy in your body. Your body does work for you which is allowing you to swap the object's properties. But not all the energy you have put in will been converted. There's also the loss too. Or to make it simple, your energy that your body took, it'll be split into 2 parts, the part where you use for this swapping technique. Another is the energy that is forced to be a loss within your body. And where did it go? No. It didn't go anywhere. But it changes its form into another. the HEAT, it is. That's the reason why you felt like your body was boiling. It's because of the loss energy turns into heat.”

“.... I see....so what I need to do now is increase my body's efficiency? Although it will never reach 100%, we need to practice to make our body convert the energy to do work as much as possible”

“ That's right.”

The boy chews a banana.

“ Also, to reduce the heat, try taking cold water every time you finished practicing. It's the same as you cool down a computer with cold water. You know, those tubes that contain water running through a CPU.”

“......”

“ How about the other way to cool down a body that's being used in the gym? Can that be applied to this?”

Asked Jody.

“ Nah. I never try that. But you can probably go work on it yourself.”

Jody nods, she then continued drinking water.

Syd then turned on the television.

“ Oh...”

Jody paused as she heard the news on TV, it's about her school.

[ News reporter sound ]

“ Moving to the other news, This afternoon there has been reported on canceling the central international highschool of London... After there's been reported of corruption of school's principal Collin Zellick...”

“...... See, I told you.”

Said Syd.

“ This could be a number 1 trending in social media...”

Jody took out a phone,

“ Yes, it is.”

Looking at the news feed, it really is. And seems like it was the latest one.

“ This has been announced just around 1 hour ago...”

Jody said.

The boy sat down on the sofa in front of her and kept watching with a banana in his hand.

Of course, she already knew what will be announced since Syd had already told her. But she still wanna see how it process.

Suddenly, as she gazed her eyes down to him, Jody noticed something on Syd Barrett's head.

A gray-hair.

At this age? Really?

“.......”

She was stunned by it, if it's just 1-2 lines, that's okay. But this, she saw it more than that.

More than it used to be at this age.

“ Syd... You are really 17?”

“ Want to see my ID card? Why did you ask? ”

“.... Well, I saw you have so much gray-hair over here.”

As she touched her finger on his head, Syd quickly draws away from there.

As if he doesn't want her to see it.

“..... What?? Really? ”

He stood up and scratched his head.

“......”

“ Not that much but I can see it from here... Want me to take a pic of it? So you can see by yourself.”

“... Don't have to. I'll just go get this out for a sec.”

He then proceeds to walk out of the room, leaving Jody with the television and goes up to the upstairs bathroom for a mirror.

“ ... Fuck...”

Syd looks nervous about it.

He then took out the hair picker from the desk under a big round mirror.

(... Shits keep coming and I was busy for 3 days straight on the mission that I forgot to take it out.....)

He scratched his hair and looked for the gray-hair Jody said, While that his head keeps thinking and thinking...

Then he proceeds to pull out his phone and call someone whilst glaring out, to make sure Jody wasn't around.

But that ain't enough. She's a good ears person, so Syd closed the door to make it completely soundproof.

“......”

[ Brother? ]

It's Roxxy Barrett, his sister's voice.

“ How's the brat? ”

[ Good... She's sleeping now. Due to the storm outside, it appears like the escorting will be delayed for 1 hour at the least.]

“ Storm?”

Syd glared outside through the small glass in the shower room...

There's actually a storm outside.

“ Shit. It's really storming outside...when did it happen?”

[ Around 20 minutes now. By the way, what is it? I think you call me not just for that reason.]

As if she's his sister.

“ Yes. Of course, I would like to ask you that...“

Syd paused, opened the door out to see if there's someone listening to his conversation... There's none.

Jody is still in the living room.

After making sure everything is clear, he closed the door back and continued.

“ Have Jody ever come to ask you about me or anything like that? I've sensed that there's something wrong with her since the airport... It's like she's suspecting me or something...”

[........]

His sister was stunned for a second.

“ So... She really did?”

[........]

[.... Yes. She came to ask me once...She's suspecting if you are not actually an ability user....]

The boy's eyes widened.

“....”

[... Brother...as we already know. Jody is not just an ordinary person. She's gifted. Soon, she'll probably figure it out by herself. She's unordinary. Or else you need to be very careful when you're around her. A little leak can make her noticed that something's wrong. Don't you see it at the airport? The way she can figure out who's the enemy by just a little detail? That's the kind of person she is. ]

“... No way. Even if she's better than this. There's no way she can reach that level of detective.”

[...Oh. I didn't say that she'll find out what's your secret. I'm saying, that She probably find out that you ARE lying to her.]

“......”

[ Maybe she has already found out but chooses not to tell you. Who knows? The way girls keeping things with herself is far more different than boys.]

“ So what did you reply to her?”

[ I didn't answer her. I don't want myself to be involved. Although I'm your sister, I don't have any privileges to answer your personal question without your consent. I tried to distract her...but it doesn't work. That's all I can do.]

“ Thank you.”

The call ends here.

(.... I knew it...something is up with her since we arrived in London. She is suspecting in me... A person like her won't let this slide for sure... I'm not the kind of secret keeper...but... It's best to keep it in this way...)

He sighs, opening the door to let the airflow.

It's a little bit hard for picking. Usually, Roxxy does it for him but she's not here so he needs to do it himself.

“ Guuh....”

It's hard as fuck.

“These cunts make me look like an old fucking man...”

“ You need help? ”

?!

Jody appears to show up behind him without being seen, the boy startled he then turns to her.

“ What the...fuck? When did you come?”

“ 2 seconds ago.”

The boy seems not to believe that.

“ What are you doing? There's another bathroom downstairs...”

“ I just said. Do you need some help? Looks like it's difficult to do that by yourself.”

She claimed.

“ ..... ”

“ No... I'm good...”

“ Oh, really?”

“.......”

“ You know what, Jody? Sometimes You're like a Gecko. Once you bite, you don't let go.”

“ Precisely, yes.”

Syd expression is like : 😒

“ I have a feeling...that I'm being forced to accept your help, am I overthinking or Nah?”

“ Just your imagination, Syd. I'm tryna be a good free occupant here.”

“.... You know that this is not a stuff one would let someone who not knowing each other do it right?”

“ Aren't we already know each other?”

“... Except for my mom and Roxxy, I don't let anyone touch my-”

“ Oh jeez, look what I got.”

Another hair picker.

It's another hair picker Jody took it from somewhere.

😨😨😨

“ Jody... You see. In Thailand...if you put your hands on someone's head, it's considered disrespecting.”

“ Unless that person is younger than me, isn't it?”

Jody answered back.

“......”

She didn't wait for him to reply, Jody quickly gets behind and pushes his face towards the mirror. While bringing out a small chair.

“ Sit down.”

The boy sits unconditionally.

“ See? Stay still and be a good boy.”

“ I'm not a dog.”

He said it frustratingly.

“ Who said you're a dog?”

“ The way you treating me.”

“ You see me holding any frisbee?”

“ No. But patting my head randomly? Yes.”

“ How did that tell you?”

“ Only dogs get pat in the head after we said to them ‘good boy’ ”

Said Syd.

“ There's another thing that got pat in the head after we said, good boy.”

“..... And what is that?”

“ A 6-year-old kid.”

“ That's it. Fuck you.”

Jody quickly pushed Syd down back to the chair as he tried to raise up and walked away.

“ Sorry. I'm just joking.”

Syd sat back and let Jody picked out the gray-hair again.

“ Haha. Funny. At least that joke is more stable than your crippling legs.”

“ hahaha.”

she giggled.

As Syd saw that from the mirror.

“ Fuck. I hate people like you. Fucking, Have you ever get angry by anything???”

“... Hmm, of course. I have. When I moved here, there are many boys who had show up to me.”

“ Huh. Show off?”

“ Yes. They kinda speak to me about how good their abilities were. You know, trying to impress me... But turns out they're trying too hard.”

“ Have any of them ever caught your eyes?”

Asked Syd.

Jody shook her head.

“ No. Actually, I don't care at all. I don't have any interest in those rookies who can't even beat me in the fight.”

“ Wait... Is that mean?”

“ Yeah. They never come up to me ever again. I just need to show them the differences between us.”

“ Shit... So you sent them to the hospital?”

“.... Um... It's not that harsh. I tried not to bring the injuries over the Nurse room level...but sometimes I went too far so...yeah... In some cases.”

“ Interesting. This makes me want to do a quick match with you though....”

“ Oh, I'm afraid that I'm too scared to face the mighty Sir Syd Barrett from the great Barrett family. Oh god, he's too strong to handle.”

That sarcastic, though.

💢💢💢💢

“ You fucking-”

“ Just kidding”

That's the instant paused by Jody Johanson to him.

She even smiles at him more.

It makes the boy feel uncomfortable, it's not teasing. It's far lower than that.

It's like she just wanted to disturb him, but as soon as his enduring bar is about to break, she somehow able to stop it at instant then repeat the loop over and over again.

He didn't feel like he got dominated, yet didn't feel like he won either.

It's kinda weird.

“ AAAA!!!!! NIGGA-”

The boy immediately screams as Jody made a little bit of mistake on picking up his hair.

Suddenly he got a slapped on his mouth.

“ Syd. Language.”

She continued picking.

.

.

.

.

.

.

At Roxxy Barrett's apartment 10 blocks away from Syd Barrett's house.

11:30 PM.

Half an hour before midnight.

Mickey Mannix and Seraphina Gilmour were with them too. They're here to help them look over Sally.

The little girl was sleeping at a small velvety pillow on Toshi's lap.

“ Has she ever got anywhere far from him? .”

Sera mentioned.

“ Who? ”

Asked Roxxy.

“ Him.”

Said Sera, pointing at Toshi, speaking about Sally.

“ He's her comfort zone. She's just a kid after all. She has no idea what she's doing.”

“ You didn't get jealous?”

Roxxy was paused by that question.

“Jealous of what?”

“ Your boyfriend.”

Needless to say, she knew Sera was talking about Toshi.

“ That bloody bastard isn't my boyfriend.”

She quickly declined.

“ Yeah. But the way he treats you is though.”

“ It's just his mating season. If I wasn't here he would go seduce others.”

“ Woah Woah. Mating season?? ain't that too offensive for him?”

“ No.”

“ I don't understand why you put up so much hatred on him. Not gonna lie, but he is good-looking for me.”

“ You only judged a book by the cover, huh? Even Syd is ten times better than this scum.”

Roxxy put down the laptop. She put her hand up in the air as if she tried to rank something.

“ See this ranking? This is Mickey. Okay?”

Then she lowered down a bit to a shoulder level.

“ This is Syd.”

Then she lowered her hand all the way down to beneath her feet.

“ And this is him. He's here.”

“ O...Okay... If that's what you said...”

Sera wanted to ask so much about the reason, but she noticed that Toshi is around here, and Roxxy seems like she's not so open for Sera yet. So she better not ask.

“ But there's still something I don't understand. How the hell sally is so stuck up with your brother so much? I mean...He even calls her Brat and...”

“ That's his talent.”

Said Roxxy.

“ But have you ever seen him acting strange lately?”

As Roxxy shoots her that question, she bends her neck in confusion.

“ What do you mean?”

“ Just curious. Have you noticed that my brother is acting strange lately? Like things you didn't expect that he'll do it or he won't let people do it on him but still happens anyway?”

“.... People like him? ”

“.......”

At that moment, Sera recalls when she saw Jody pulling his cheeks and patting his head like he's a kid.

That's the only moment she can remember.

“ Why do you ask like that?”

“......”

Roxxy gazed at her.

Sera is not dumb. She knows that question is not something to bring up. There must have been something going on with Syd that makes the closest person to him, his sister, spotted it.

After realizing that there's no way she can lie to Sera, Roxxy decided to speak her mind directly.

“ Well, It comes to me that recently, Syd began to know how not to argue every single word one's spoken. You know, I noticed that whenever Jody is around... Syd is...slightly a bit different than he used to be. He's less aggressive. And be a more... Good boy, I'll say.”

“ ?! ”

“ Seriously? That's what you actually think?”

“ Why so surprise?”

Asked Roxxy.

“ Because I see that too.”

“ Oh? ”

Sera continued,

“ If you ask me about it... Um, I'm not really...sure...but... I don't think people like him would let someone grab his head, would he?”

“ What do you mean?”

“ I saw Jody pat his head like a dog.”

Sera smirks when she thinks about it.

“ Never see that before but...heh.”

But as she glared up, it was completely different. Roxxy didn't laugh with her, moreover, she was frozen shocked.

“......”

And that makes Sera stops.

“ What do you say?”

“.......”

Suddenly, a man's voice from next to Seraphina. It's Mickey Mannix with a drink in his hand.

“ I don't believe you. You must be fooling around huh?”

Sera turns to him in confusion.

When did he show up? Well, doesn't matter because there's a bigger topic here.

“ What are you- I'm telling the truth!”

Sera asked him.

“ That's bullshit. Even it is Jody. It's impossible.”

Mannix still stands on his point.

“....”

“ Nobody. Touch. Syd Barrett's head.”

Toshi also joins the conversation. He spoke from the other side of the room.

“ What does that even mean-?? What the hell are you guys talking about?? I don't understand.”

Before Sera went more maniac, Roxxy quickly added a context to Toshi's word.

“ Here's the thing, Sera. Nobody laid a single finger on my brother's head. He considers it to be the most despise action he hates-”

“ For him, it's the same as...when you put your foot on his head and say “Suck my dick” ....it will trigger him and you know the consequence, right? When someone really does that to him.”

Toshi interrupted Roxxy with his easier explanation.

Needless to say, Sera can see a picture.

That person would be hospitalized for 1 month at the least.

But she ain't lying, Roxxy knows that.

“ This is getting more and more interesting than I thought...”

She said.

“ Not gonna lie, but I had witnessed he sent the local punks down to Mekong river once when I was in Thailand with that nigga.”

Said Mickey.

“ What? Because they touched his head?”

“ They came up to diss him. Because he accidentally hit them while we're walking. That day he's with his mom too. Syd tried his best not to start the fight. But as soon as they laid their finger on his head...you know...like tried to shake it to make him scared...then that's it. They're all hospitalized for 3 months straight.”

“......”

Sera was completely stunned. But still not believe Mickey's word.

“ They're all a man, aren't they? So he dares to-”

“ Nope. There are those punks chicks too. Their fate wasn't quite different from them. Maybe even worse, I don't remember.”

Toshi added.

“.......”

Completely gasp.

“ Sera. As you may see how my brother is. You should have known that when he's mad... Gender ain't even a thing in his head.”

Said Roxxy.

“ Actually, he doesn't even care who you are or where you from. If you come to diss him, that's it. Your nose breaks Unless you're his mom or paethai.”

“..... So... How can Jody do that without getting beaten?”

Asked Sera.

“ Maybe he needs to make an exception. Because you and Jody are the big assistants in our mission.”

Mickey suggested.

“ Hmm... Probably.”

Roxxy said.

As those three glares up to Sera, she completely declined.

“ Hell no. I don't want to do what Jody did to him. I won't risk my nose with that racist prick.”

“.....aw... Too bad...”

Mickey is the first person who shown an obvious disappointment after she declined.

“ What does that mean? Mannix? 😠”

“ Nah. Nothing.”

Ding!

Roxxy pulled out her smartphone.

As she saw the secret message on the screen. She informed them.

“ The agents have contacted me. They're already here. Let's escort Sally to them.”