"Marie Durant."
Ethan had never heard that name before, but Durant was Jacques's surname. Could they be related? Something in Ethan stirred in a positive way—this felt different from before.
Ethan opened her message and read the text:
"Hello, Ethan. I am Jacques Durant's mother. I believe you two are close friends? If you're open to talking with me, please reply. We need to talk. It's about Jacques. Thank you."
Ethan hesitated at first. He had been asking around the police cadet dorm, but only a few people really cared about what happened. It had taken him a lot of rejections and mockery before he finally found the right cadet who had actually witnessed what happened and told him how Jacques got caught by the police.
That experience had made Ethan put his guard up more than usual. He had just realized that not everyone was a good person.
But since she claimed to be Jacques's mother… she must really care, right?
"Yes, I'm Ethan. I'm open to talking—by phone or meeting up?" Ethan texted back.
The reply wasn't a text—it was a call.
Ethan picked up, impatiently. "Hello?"
"Ethan, I'm Jacques's mother. Are you free to meet up now? This is urgent and important," Marie's voice was calm and composed. She didn't sound like she was in danger or rushing.
"Yes, sure. There's a café nearby—"
"How about at our place? We can talk in my car or at your flat, if you don't mind. Public spaces aren't the safest right now. Honestly, I'm worried my phone is being tapped."
Ethan's heart pounded hard.
Was Jacques's disappearance really that serious? It seemed like this might involve powerful people. Of course it did—the police were definitely involved since Jacques was last seen at the station.
But Ethan wasn't comfortable bringing a stranger home, and getting into someone's car was out of the question. What if it was a setup?
"Wow… this—this is difficult…" Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Or we can meet somewhere you feel safe?" Marie offered again.
"Please… come to my flat," Ethan decided finally. It was better than getting into a stranger's car—at least his flat was a space he could trust.
"Alright. Share your location with me."
Ethan shared it.
But it wasn't his home—it was Marry's Breakfast & Diner, his mother's place, where his uncle ran the business from night to morning. It was open 24 hours and had surveillance cameras. If anything happened, his uncle could protect them.
Ethan rode his bicycle to the diner and secured it with a chain.
When he entered the diner, his uncle smiled as he saw his nephew again. "Thought I'd never see you again. How's your study?"
"All good, Uncle," Ethan said, spreading his arms to hug him.
Since Jacques disappeared, Ethan had told his uncle that he wanted to take his study seriously and stop working part-time. What his uncle didn't know was that instead of studying, Ethan had been sneaking around, trying to find Jacques.
"Had dinner?" his uncle asked.
"Yes, I'm full. Thanks."
A gray car pulled up in front of the diner, its headlights blinding him for a moment. After the engine stopped, a woman with curly red hair tied in a bun at the top of her head stepped out. She looked around first, shook her head slightly, then entered the diner.
Meeting a stranger was strange. Even though you'd never seen them before and didn't know what they looked like, somehow you both already knew which one was your person. The moment Marie entered the diner, she spotted Ethan and gave him a warm smile.
"Uncle, that's my guest," Ethan said, leaving his uncle to welcome Marie Durant.
As Ethan walked away, he could hear his uncle chuckle. "I knew it—he's not gay. He just likes older women."
Ethan ignored the comment and shook hands with Marie, confirming their names.
"Ethan Shaw."
"Marie Durant."
Marie smiles at Ethan's aesthetics; he looks very soft and gentle. "What a beautiful young man."
Ethan just smiles and looks down shyly.
Marie glanced around. "Well… is this really your house? I feel very welcomed here."
Ethan chuckled. She must be referring to his mother's name on the neon lights. "My mother's name was also Marry—kind of similar to yours."
"I guess that's why you two connected so easily—brothers meeting late," Marie nodded.
Ethan showed Marie a seat not far from the entrance. As they sat together, Ethan said, "This is the table where we used to sit."
"I see. What would you two talk about when you were together?" Marie set her purse on the sofa.
Ethan shrugged. "Jacques didn't really talk much—neither do I…"
The memories returned to Ethan. They usually just sat on the sofa, reading something while Jacques slept. But since he always ordered food, his uncle never complained. Sometimes, when Jacques woke up, he would look at pictures of spaceships while Ethan studies biology.
He'd feel something crawling on his foot. Thinking it was a bug, he jumped, his heart pounding. But when he looked down, it turned out to be Jacques's toe.
Ethan pouted, glaring at Jacques with vengeance, but Jacques just laughed it off.
Ethan smiled at the memory but hesitated, unsure if Marie knew her son was gay. Ethan decided to be careful about how much he shared about Jacques.
"So, do you know what happened to your friend?" Marie asked.
Ethan shook his head. "Last time we talked on the phone, he told me that he was arrested for almost killing his friend. But when I asked around his friends in the dorm, it seemed like there was a fight and Jacques ended up injuring his fellow cadet named Mourice Lahm."
Ethan stopped right there, keeping the part where the reason Jacques fought with Mourice was because of Charles to himself. If he told her, she would know that Jacques was gay.
"So you had a chance to talk to him after he was arrested?"
"Yeah, he was at the police station. He asked me to come, pretending to be you, wanting to have some food. I guess he just wanted comfort after that tough situation."
Marie nodded. Something interesting stood out to her. Apparently, her suspicion was true that Ethan probably had something more than just friendship with her son. The way Ethan spoke about Jacques showed how much he cared and how much feeling he had for her son.
"Interesting..." Marie muttered. She also realized that instead of calling her, Jacques chose to call Ethan instead. This told her that Ethan's feelings probably weren't one-sided.
She was here to pick up Jacques's belongings that had been kept at the police station. As she was checking Jacques's belongings, she opened his phone and discovered a lot of tender interactions between Jacques and Ethan. She thought her son had a crush since Jacques wasn't usually very expressive when he texted.
Well, at least Jacques didn't pick a narcissist as his lover or close friend. That's a good thing.
"I see that you've been asking around about my son," Marie raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah. Nobody told me what happened to him, and I'm a bit upset because everyone seemed to move on with their lives while Jacques—" Ethan couldn't continue. He didn't want to show emotion because this thought was always stuck in his head. It seemed like nobody cared where Jacques had gone, and it saddened him. No one fought for him. No one even bothered.
"So, where do you think he is now?" Marie asked, more curious about how far Ethan would go to play detective or how good he was at searching with such little information and few sources.
"I really don't know," Ethan shook his head, unable to look Marie in the eye. "But I know that... his instructor named David is involved in this."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Because his reaction was just strange, as if he knew where Jacques is, but he just told me to forget about it. So, I think powerful people—especially since he disappeared in the police station—are responsible for his disappearance. But where they took him?" Ethan shrugged and shook his head again. "I really don't know."
"You are clever and brave, Ethan," Marie praised the young man sincerely.
Ethan just nodded. It didn't make him proud because that wasn't his aim. He didn't want to be praised—he wanted Jacques back. He just wanted to see Jacques again. More than that, he wanted to make sure Jacques wasn't in danger. Because if he was, Ethan swore he would do anything to save him. And if he wasn't strong enough to save Jacques, Ethan would stay with him so Jacques wouldn't feel lonely while in danger. If Jacques got stuck in hell, Ethan would stay with him, holding his hand while being burned by the hellfire.
"The reason why I came here is because I need your help, Ethan," Marie started to get to the point.
"Sure, how may I help you?" Ethan didn't hesitate. His face showed how much he hoped this would bring Jacques back.
"You see, Jacques..." Marie stopped. She knew that Sigma had warned her not to tell anyone about Jacques's whereabouts or there would be grave consequences. But she didn't care. After knowing her son's fate, she felt like she was betraying her own integrity as a mother if she let him be used by the government—reduced to just a clone donor for a project that would only benefit some powerful people for their own selfish gain.
Marie decided to tell him anyway. "...He was special."
"Yes," Ethan nodded.
"He wasn't Earthling," Marie continued. "He was an Argonarian. And in his chromosome, there's something that people call an 'aether cell.' This is something they want to cultivate and expand so they can inject this cell into Earthlings and turn them into powerful superhumans."
Being in nursing academy, of course Ethan knew what an aether cell could do. Earthlings were the only human species who didn't have aether cells, which was why they wanted it so badly. But they couldn't make Jacques breed because he definitely couldn't breed with Earthlings—the children would be sterile, and the aether cell wouldn't be passed down to his offspring.
This opened Ethan's eyes about Jacques's whereabouts. Suddenly, everything was clear. Now he knew where Jacques might have been—and why he was taken away.