The minimarket has a high ceiling, and a few people are lined up—patiently, yet bored. Most of them are truck drivers—big, tall, hairy, with strong arms. Ethan adjusts his glasses, feeling a bit shy as he glances at the rugged men. There's a high chance they're straight, yet his mind still wanders into experimental thoughts.
How would it feel under their grip? They probably wouldn't let you squirm around as you like. They'd pin you down.
Ethan feels his cheeks heat up and quickly avoids making eye contact. Men— the older they get, the more masculine they seem. Aged like fine wine.
But for emotional fulfillment? Ethan doubts they could provide it. Some might be funny and hopefully patient, maybe even stress-free, but older men also come with baggage—unresolved childhood traumas and the expectation that their partner will help fix them. And they're usually bad at listening, even when they need to listen to themselves.
They would project their unresolved issues onto others as if there were nothing wrong with them.
Then, Ethan stops his train of thought. Was he being too judgmental? If so, then he was no different from them.
As he waits in line, Ethan glances outside through the mini market's glass wall. He can see Marie's car clearly.
A part of his mind wonders—why hasn't Marie found a husband yet? Was she even looking?
Here's the revised version with improved grammar and flow while maintaining the original tone:
Marie's phone beeps, dragging Ethan away from his thoughts. He flinches at the sound—the ringtone is an eerie, evil vampire laugh from an old movie. It makes him want to pick up the call just to silence it.
"H-Hello?" Ethan answers hesitantly, glancing around to avoid the curious gazes of the truck drivers nearby.
"Who is this?" a female voice asks urgently. She sounds serious—like the kind of person who means business.
"I-I'm Ethan." He looks around again, relieved to see people losing interest and minding their own business. "I'm Marie's friend."
The woman abruptly switches to a video call.
Feeling pressured by her assertiveness, Ethan accepts the call. The screen now shows a beautiful brunette woman with hazel eyes and a ponytail, likely in her mid-30s.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before," she says, her tone sharp. She exudes the kind of authority that makes Ethan feel like he's already done something wrong—just by existing.
He avoids her gaze, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm Marie's son's friend."
"What is she doing with you?" The woman quickly changed her expression from furious to pauses, as if something just occurred to her. She looks away for a moment, pressing her index finger to her temple in thought.
Then, with a nod, her voice softens slightly. "Oh… Ethan. So, you're Ethan."
Wait—Marie talked about me? Ethan is caught off guard by her reaction. But at least she doesn't seem mad anymore.
"Y-Yeah… How do you know me?"
"Marie mentioned you last night." The woman's tone remains firm. "Anyway, where is she?"
"She—" Ethan glances toward the mini-market's glass window just in time to see Marie walking toward her car in the parking lot.
"She was in the restroom, but I think she's done now. Do you really need to talk to her?" he asks.
"Yes. It's urgent—I just got an important update for her. Can you get me to her now?" Her voice grows sharper. "Wait… are you at a mini-market? What are you buying?"
"Uh…" Ethan peeks at the cashier. A man at the counter is trying to buy mobile data, his hand on his hip, attempting to stay patient while the cashier struggles with some sort of issue. They've been at it for minutes.
"A chocolate bar," Ethan finally answers.
"Just a chocolate bar?"
"Yeah."
"Boy, get this phone to her now. She's in danger. Quick!"
Ethan doesn't argue. He drops the chocolate bar, steps out of the line, and rushes out of the mini-market.
"Okay, I'm heading to her now—"
He stops abruptly.
A rugged-looking man is just leaving Marie's car. Something about him is off—his posture tense, his gaze shifting as if he's making sure no one is watching. Ethan's stomach tightens when he notices the man slipping off a pair of rubber gloves.
Their eyes meet.
The man smirks. He raises a hand and drags a finger across his throat in a slow, deliberate gesture. Then, he walks away.
"Hello? Ethan?" The woman's voice on the phone snaps him back. "Why are you frozen? Did you see a ghost?"
A cold dread creeps up Ethan's spine. He rushes toward Marie's car and yanks the door open.
The phone slips from his grasp and crashes onto the asphalt.
"Ethan! What happened?!" The woman's voice is even more urgent now.
Ethan stands frozen for a moment—long enough for the wailing sound of sirens to pierce the air from every direction.
Police.
They're surrounding the gas station.
"Ethan!! Run! Get out of there, NOW!" the woman screams.
His instincts take over. He snatches Marie's phone from the ground, shoves it into his hoodie pocket, and bolts.
Dashing toward the back of the gas station, he spots a truck pulling out of an alternate exit. Without thinking, he runs for it, jumps onto the truck bed, and scrambles inside the empty cargo box.
The truck accelerates.
Breathing hard, Ethan collapses onto the floor of the truck bed, his mind racing. The image of Marie's lifeless body flashes in his mind—her head slumped on the steering wheel, her grey sweater soaked in blood. The police swarming the parking lot, the suspicious man, the woman's urgent warning—
What the hell is going on?
Gripping his hair in frustration, Ethan stares at the dark walls of the truck, his heart pounding.
He's worried.
About everything.
Ethan didn't know where the truck was taking him, but as long as it carried him away from the gas station, he felt safe.
By the time the truck finally stopped, the sun had already set. Ethan, half-asleep, stirred when the driver found him.
"Eh? Since when did I have a passenger? How long have you been back there, kid?" The truck driver adjusted his blue cap and greeted Ethan cheerfully.
Ethan wiped his eyes, his head heavy from the uncomfortable sleep in the truck's cargo bed. Instead of answering, he simply climbed out. "Thanks for the ride," he mumbled and walked away.
"Hey, hey! Where are you going? Do you even know where this is?" the truck driver called after him.
And just like that, Ethan fully opened his eyes and realized—he was in the middle of nowhere. All he could see was an endless stretch of desert and road.
He definitely couldn't make it on his own. He wouldn't last.
"Come on, kid. I'm heading back home. I'll introduce you to my family," the truck driver offered kindly, sensing that Ethan was lost.
Ethan hesitated but had no other choice. Shyly, he climbed into the passenger seat.
"What's your name, kid? Mine's Adol," the truck driver said as he started the engine.
Ethan rolled his eyes in mild amusement. He knew an Aldo back at the academy, and now he was dealing with an Adol.
"I'm E—" He stopped himself. Suddenly, giving out his real name didn't feel safe. "I mean… Jack."
"Welcome aboard, Jack. Don't worry, you'll love my family," Adol said with a grin.
Ethan glanced down at Marie's phone. The mysterious woman had been calling while he was trying to sleep. Her messages were urgent, asking him to call back as soon as he could.
She was a mystery. Her conversation with Marie had been set to disappear, and Marie hadn't even saved her number. That was why Ethan couldn't tell who she was, what she did, or why she was affiliated with Marie.
He also couldn't tell if the woman was a friend or a foe.
But since she had warned him about the police, perhaps she was on his side.
"I was sleeping, sorry," Ethan texted her.
She didn't reply.
Ethan exhaled, trying to release some of his stress. Right now, exhaustion weighed on him. He had just witnessed a brutal murder. The killer hadn't even bothered to hide, and the police had arrived suspiciously fast.
Judging by what had happened to Jacques, Ethan could only assume this murder was connected to the same people who had taken him.
Why? Why would they go this far—kidnapping a boy and even murdering his mother—just to obtain the DNA of an Argonarian?
But then, his logic snapped into place. Of course they would go this far! Scientists had been trying to cultivate aether cells for a long, long time, but every attempt had ended in failure. For some reason, the moment the cell was expanded or manipulated, it died.
Even if it survived within a living being, it would wither and disappear, leading to horrific results; Organs without bone structures, grotesquely oversized, pulsing and breathing as if alive—yet the aether cell would be gone.
Even when they managed to create a viable baby, it would die within days. The longest-surviving clone had lasted only two weeks.
Even if they somehow kept the child alive and growing, it would still lose its aether cell.
It seemed that any method other than natural insemination could not sustain the precious aether cell.
Of course, they wanted Jacques in their hands. To them, he was worth nothing more than his cells. They had once considered ways to keep Jacques confined to the cloning lab, even trapping him inside a dream simulation.
But now, Jacques had discovered something in his subconscious—something that had hooked him. There was no need for a prison, no need for a leash, no need for keys. He was willing to stay in the lab, inside LUCY… dreaming… while the scientists stole his cells without his consent.