Act II ~ Reignard

December 29

The cool winter air and morning sun woke Reignard up. He sat up abruptly realizing he was outside the front of his family home in Notting Hill, a district in West London. The light of dawn shone on his handsome face making his blue eyes sparkle. His mop of dark hair glistened in the scattered sunlight that shined through the bushes in front of his home.

Reignard raised a hand to block the sunlight that shone on his face. That’s when he noticed he was wearing white leather gloves. He lowered his hand looking at it not recognizing them. That’s not the only thing Reignard found amiss. Upon further examination, he realized he was wearing a black tuxedo! The tuxedo was tailored to fit his well-developed body. He wore a pressed white dress shirt that peeked through the satin white waistcoat that was fastened closed beneath his open black jacket with satin lapels. Golden clasps fastened a red, satin-lined cape to the shoulders of his jacket. His gloved hands felt the fabric with his hands and rubbed it between his fingers as if he were trying to confirm that the garments were indeed real but that he was also wearing them. The clothes were slightly damp as he was sitting in half-melted snow. How long had been out there? Had anybody seen him like this? He thought as he went to get up, noticing the matching top hat to his tuxedo toppled over in snow accompanied by a white domino mask.

Reignard looked around to see if anyone had noticed him or was walking by, but it was early enough that only a couple of cooing pigeons noticed him that morning. Their round unassuming eyes watched in curiosity as Reignard quickly got up, his black oxfords tapping on the pavement while he gathered the hat and mask from the ground shaking the snow from them. He absentmindedly checked his pockets but could not find his wallet, phone or keys save a golden star-shaped pocket watch dangling from a golden chain tucked in the pocket of the waistcoat.

Reignard took the watch in his hands noticing the blue-sky window with golden stars and moon representing the phases of the moon. Then, the watch started to tick and Reignard felt the slight pang of a headache. He touched his temple, and the headache went away. Clutching the watch along with the hat and mask, Reignard used his free hand to enter the digital code on the keyless entry pad on his door and went inside.

In contrast to the traditional facade of his home outside, the inside of the home was remodeled and modernized inside. Reignard took off his gloves and tossed them along with the hat, and mask onto the nearby sofa of his living room. He held onto the watch. Resting his hands on his hips, Reignard took a breath giving himself another once over.

“How did I end up dressed like this?” he asked himself as he made his way upstairs.

He entered the master bedroom kicking off his shoes and socks and got undressed. The tuxedo and cape were strewn about the floor as Reignard paced about the room in his underwear trying to piece together how this happened. After a moment, Reignard remembered having these dreams that started shy of a few months ago. The dream was so vivid to him! He remembered an epic battle against what he considered evil demons, it all felt so real to him! He remembered the night sky and how clear it was with so many stars until a large shadow caused each star to disappear. The grotesque face that appeared in the shadow haunted him even now. Reignard remembered holding a sword and wearing regal armor.

“ENDYMION!” he heard a voice cry out. It wasn’t his name, yet the familiarity of the voice was what urged him to respond! He raced to the voice and remembered seeing the silhouette of a woman. He reached out for her but felt something sharp impale him from behind. The pain felt so real, that he remembered he could barely breathe.

Reignard felt the wound and saw the dripping blood on his hand.  He buckled and he fell to his knees. The princess took him into her arms and cradled him close to her. She was crying, she was crying for him. He knew at that moment he loved her, that he always loved her, and that he would give his life to protect her,

“Serenity,” he remembered whispering weakly.

That was her name, he remembered her warmth and felt the life leaving him, but he felt comfort there in her arms. Just as his eyes were about the close. He felt her take the sword from his hand. He was too weak to take it back from her, he knew what she meant to do with it.

“No.” he tried to say but failed! Reignard felt paralyzed, he couldn’t breathe! He watched in horror as the woman impaled herself on his blade.

“Endymion...” she sobbed, her white slowly turning red with her blood.

He watched her bloody hand reach out to her and crystal-like tears fall from her obscured face until a spark of brilliant light flashed between them and her anguished scream woke him up in the middle of the night.

It was the same dream every night! It haunted him! Reignard found himself sleeping less and less as the days went by, then he started losing track of time. He didn’t know when they would happen but would remember waking up in random places around London where he couldn’t remember a certain gap of time. Fortunately, it seemed to only happen at night, but this marked the first time he was wearing the tuxedo. Reignard glanced over at the crumpled tuxedo on the floor of his bedroom; his head throbbed at the sight of it. It had to have something to do with his dream and lack of sleep but how? The ticking of the pocket watch filled the silence that hung in the room.

Reignard’s phone rang interrupting his train of thought. He glanced over to his phone vibrating on the nightstand next to his wallet and keys where he had left them when he fell asleep the night before, or so he thought. He walked over to the nightstand, placed the watch next to his wallet and keys, and picked up his phone.

“Hello, Kale.” He said with a grin.

“Reignard…For the millionth time, it’s Cael! Like Kyle, just spelled differently!” Cael said on the phone in a slightly annoyed tone.

“I know, I know,” Reignard said in an amused tone before yawning,

“Rough night?” Cael teased. Reignard couldn’t help but smirk at his friend teasing him now.

“You could say that.” He sighed in response.

“Carousing the streets of London without me?” they asked.

“Just couldn’t sleep.” Reignard half-admitted glancing at the crumpled tuxedo on his floor.

“I’m heading into the shop. I’ll be there in 5. Be dressed and ready. Coffee is on me.” Cael said hanging up before Reignard could respond.

Reignard smiled and let out a sigh putting the phone back down. He glanced at the pocket watch and then turned to look at the tuxedo once more. He gathered up the mysterious garment and shoes from the floor and went downstairs to grab the hat, mask, and gloves. Reignard stood in the middle of his living room unsure of what to do next before going to the nearby closet under the stairs. The last thing he needed was Cael asking questions about his ‘costume’.

Making his way back upstairs, Reignard took a quick shower and threw on a heather gray t-shirt with khaki-colored slacks and black socks. He grabbed his keys, phone, and wallet from the nightstand. He considered taking the pocket watch but decided against it. As he trotted downstairs, he heard Cael’s car honk from outside. Reignard opened the door.

“I’ll be out in just a bit, lemme grab my jacket.” He yelled out to Cael!

Turning from the door he grabbed his black combat boots from the shoe rack by the stairs. Sitting on the bottom step he pulled the shoes on his feet and tied them tight. Getting up he grabbed his jacket that was slung over the banister and was out the door making sure it was locked.

Stuffing his hands in his pocket he walked out the front gate of his home and stopped in his tracks eyeing the car Cael arrived to pick him up in.

“You got it?!” he exclaimed in disbelief looking to Cael leaning back in the driver’s seat, their arms resting behind their head with the most satisfied look on their face.

“I got it,” Cael said nonchalantly beaming with pride before getting out of the car.

Cael was dressed in a tailored MISBHV dove grey blazer and slacks. The buttoned jacket hid their black bandeau top. Their Stuart Weitzman SW-612 sneaker booties padded the pavement as Cael strolled about the car with their hands in their pocket watching as Reignard circled the car.

 “So, this is?” he asked carefully taking a breath.

“1967,” Cael said excitedly!

“Cael, this is a Toyota 2000 GT!” Reignard said gesturing at the car. Then he realized the car was a soft top convertible, “Wait a minute.” He said putting a hand to his chin, “There are only two cars that were made with the soft top.” He observed.

“Uh-huh.” Cael said watching as Reignard put the pieces together, “One of them was found in Hawaii in ‘77 and returned to Japan for the Toyota Museum.” Reignard continued before covering his mouth.

“Yeah?” Cael asked. They could barely contain themselves.

“The second car was never found,” Reignard said incredulously looking to Cael.

“I own the second,” Cael responded gleefully. Reignard touched the cool white metal of the car.

“This can’t be the second car from…” Reignard said in awe locking eyes with Cael.

“YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE!” they yelled in unison.

“You own a car from James Bond. That means…” Reignard managed to say,

“Sean Connery himself sat in this car,” Cael said matter-of-factly,

“How much?” Reignard asked tensing at how much she could have possibly paid for it.

Cael circled the car joining Reignard who stood on the sidewalk, they leaned against the car and crossed their arms locking eyes with Reignard. They looked at the car and nodded at it before looking back at him.

“You really wanna know?”  they asked with a Cheshire cat grin.

“C’mon, Cael,” Reignard muttered.

“Take a guess,” Cael responded cheekily.

“Oh, Bollox!” Reignard protested, “The last Toyota 2000 GT to be sold was like, what? Seven years ago? It sold for about a million then and that was the standard model. This is one of two bespoke cars. Both made for a film that was made over fifty years ago and it’s the most valued car in the collection.” Reignard explained sarcastically,

“4.2 million quid,” Cael said flatly.

“4.2 million!” Reignard said in shock.

Reignard knew he should haven’t been shocked at the price tag for the car, Cael was one of the most popular F1 Racers in the UK. They were a far cry from their college days when they raced the streets of London to make ends meet, even that wasn’t enough to buy one of the only two open-top cars in the world.

“Hop in.” Cael said circling the car again and hopping into the driver’s seat, “Coffee and then to the shop.” They said revving the car as they started it.

Reignard got in on the passenger side still in awe of Cael’s purchase and watched them as they put in gear and took off speeding towards Ladbroke Grove. They made a quick stop at Amoret Coffee from Pembridge St before catching the A501 near the Paddington Basin. Cael sipped their Americano while Reignard sipped his Espresso as they casually drove towards Clerkenwell.

It was long before Cael was on Goswell Rd and pulling into the Terra Firma Customs garage on Bastwick.

“Hey, Rex, Skye!” one of the mechanics greeted the two as they got out of the car.

Reignard and Cael waved as they went into the nearby office.

“Right on time.” A voice greeted them as they entered the office. Zaki leaned back in his office chair resting his arms behind his head and nodding at Cael and Reignard.

“Is she on yet?” Reignard asked,

“I was just setting up the call now,” Zak said leaning up as he typed some things on his computer before getting up.

Zaki wore a cream linen shirt with pink embroidery along the collar. His sleeves were rolled up and he wore a pair of dark pants with dark lace-up boots. His black leather jacket hung on the back of his chair at his desk.

The trio plopped down on the large luxurious couch facing a large flat-screen TV that was mounted up. The webcam took focus of them showing them sitting on the couch in the video preview. Cael finished their coffee and set the cup down on the table in front of them while Reignard sipped his. A moment later an icon popped up on the screen.

“There she is,” Cael said.

The icon disappeared showing a fresh-faced young woman on the screen. Seeing the trio on her screen, the young woman smiled, and she waved with both hands.

“Bonjour from Paris! Hi Reign, Kael, Zak!” She said softly greeting her friends. Reignard, Cael, and Zaki all smiled back at her.

“River!” Zaki said,

“It has even been 3 months and we miss you already. The shop isn’t the same.” Cael said warmly,

“I know. I miss you already.” River said wistfully, “How are things?” she asked.

“Cael got the second Toyota 2000 GT from James Bond!” Reignard exclaimed.

“From, You Only Live Twice?!” River exclaimed, “That’s our favorite movie.” She said happily!

“4.2 million quid!” Zaki chimed in.

“4.2 million?!” River said in astonishment running her hand through her short hair and smiling to herself.

“What?” Reignard asked.

“Yeah, what is it?” Zaki asked as Cael propped their feet up on the table resting their arms behind their head with a smug, satisfied look on their face.

“Well…” River started.

“No,” Reignard said.

“You found the car for them?!” Zaki shouted!

“I did a little snooping and found the private owner. When he heard that it was my favorite movie and when he found out I knew Cael, he was more than happy to sell to one of the top F1 drivers in the UK.” River explained blushing running her hands over her crème-colored cashmere sweater. Reignard and Zaki glared at Cael who looked at them innocently.

“Neither one of you bothered to ask how I found it,” they said with a shrug. Reignard rolled his eyes and shoved Cael into Zaki who shoved Cael back at Reignard while they laughed manically.

River laughed at the trio roughhousing on the couch before loudly clearing her throat to get them to settle down. River reached for something on her desk and revealed a translucent blue visor.

River slipped on the visor, and it lit up, its elaborate interface decorated the screen as words flashed and scrolled on the lenses.

“What is that?” Reignard asked in fascination.

“A pet project, I’ve been working on.” She said her brown eyes reading the prompts on her screen. She raised her hands and began typing on what seemed to be an invisible keyboard. She would move her hand this way and that as if she were moving things on a board.

“What are you doing?” Cael asked looking at River in confusion. River scoffed and smiled,

“I created an AI and computer spatial system called Drive Me Mercury. The visor is called Genius the Veil. It. allows me to interact see the system and interact with it.” She explained. River looked to Cael on her screen who had a dumbfounded look on their face. River smirked and rolled her eyes, “I’ll show you.” She murmured and her screen switched to show her friends what she saw.

The trio sat up in unison as the interface River was working on was displayed on the screen. The interface was a blue three-dimensional digital space highlighted in blue much like River’s visor. Weird code language scrolled on various parts of the screen. A video screen of River sitting at her desk was in the corner, her hands were raised typing in the air. A digital keyboard with weird symbols on the keys appeared and the corresponding keys lit up to match River’s input.

“What coding are you using?” Reignard asked who was familiar with computers himself but the code River was using was not anything he had seen before and yet it felt so familiar. River smiled to herself as she continued typing and gesturing.

“It’s a code language I created. It’s unique to this system.” She admitted blushing. Reignard’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You mean this entire system is built on original code?” he asked. River nodded affirmatively.

“Yes, it’s hard to explain. It came out of nowhere, but I feel like I’ve seen it before because when I built Drive Me Mercury, it came together quite fast. I researched to make sure I wasn’t sourcing another code. I couldn’t find it anywhere.” she explained.

“That’s amazing,” Reignard said in wonder.

“It looks confusing,” Cael said half-watching the screen while checking their phone. Zak nodded in agreement.

“I decided to call the language, Mercurius,” River said confidently. The name just felt right to her in her mind just like the code was familiar to her.

“I’m using the system to connect with my computer at the shop,” River explained as the computer at the vacant desk in the office powered on.

Reignard, Cael, and Zaki glanced over to the computer booting up and looked back to the screen as various schematics of cars and auto parts were downloaded and displayed on the screen simultaneously before disappearing. The interface pixelated and changed in color on the screen and a 3d model of a silver-blue Ferrari F512M appeared and rotated on the screen.

“Hey, that’s my car,” Cael said finally recognizing something on the screen. River smiled with satisfaction.

“Yes, I have downloaded my files to Drive Me Mercury. I can now use the system to maintain your computer systems, check for errors, see what updates are needed, and determine the best enhancements needed for all of Terra Firma’s vehicles!” she announced happily.

“River, you have outdone yourself,” Zaki said proudly clapping his hands and rubbing them together.

“Well, my contract with the shop helps me out here in Paris, the internship is great and all but doesn’t pay well,” River admitted sheepishly.

“We’ll always look out for you, River. If you need anything, I’ll take care of it.” Cael said caringly. River smiled at Cael gratefully.

“I appreciate that. I want to earn my keep like I always have. Since I won’t be able to race for the foreseeable future, you three will need an extra boost without me.” River said with a wink before focusing on Cael’s car, “So I’ve got loaded.” She said as the system highlighted various parts of the car. Cael’s eyes’ sparkled watching the car revolve on the screen with various indicators showing information about the car.

“First and foremost, I am reprogramming and upgrading the Engine Control Unit, so it is compatible with my systems. I am also providing an upgrade to the traction control system. I had George install a custom telemetry system on all the cars so I could use Drive Me Mercury for things like this.” She said as a progress bar loaded showing the upgrades happening, “George also installed LED HUD Displays into the dashboards of the cars which will use Quicksilver or Q.” She explained.

“Q, like from James Bond?” Cael asked catching the reference and remembering Desmond Llewelyn’s character from their favorite movie.

“Exactly,” River replied.

“What’s Quicksilver?” Zaki asked.

“Quicksilver is an interlink communication system based on my technology. It can be used across all the vehicles as well the Teletia S,” River explained,

“And what, pray tell, is a Teletia S?” Reignard asked,

“Oh!” River exclaimed excitedly, “My latest prototype. You should have received a package.” She spoke.

“Oh yes!” Zaki said getting up. He walked over to his desk and brought a brown box back sitting down.

“Go ahead and open it,” River said with a smile watching as Zaki used his muscular arms to break open the box revealing a black lock box.

“River, you are taking your love for Q to a whole new level,” Zaki said with a grin running his hands along the box and opening its lid to reveal the shiny new screen smartphones nestled into the polyurethane foam packaging.

“Q is covertly utilizing existing commercial and government satellite infrastructure temporarily for its encrypted communication network. Drive Me Mercury in conjunction with Q is using an evolving encryption code to avoid detection and maintain secure channels. Hopefully, with the system learning from the satellites I can create a network of my own without piggybacking. But this will do for now.” River explained watching Reignard pick up his phone which was colored black.

“I’ve been migrating all of Terra Firm’s tech and systems to ensure compatibility with Drive Me Mercury for increased security measures and proprietary protection. Given that you and the crew are still street racing, discretion is key.” River said.

“Luckily, Cael’s investment provides us with a foundation and reputation of legitimacy for the shop,” Reignard added as he examined the sleek device in his hand.

“Plus, we want to operate out of the black without having Cael pad our pockets,” Zaki added with a nod while he picked up the puce-colored phone.

“Fortunately, Cael hasn’t had to do that as of late,” River stated matter-of-factly watching Cael pick up their phone which space blue.

“I used my winnings and part of my app earnings to secure an exclusive contract for Terra Firma with a manufacturer that operates out of Shanghai. They will make the Teletia S and anything tech-related we need for the vehicles.” River said watching her friends power up their phones, a stylized Mercury logo displaying on the screen.

“This setup looks just like my iPhone,” Reignard said in awe as he scrolled through the phone.

“I’ve taken the liberty of creating backups of your current phones and used that to image them for your Teletia S. And now that you’ve turned them on…Your current phones have been wiped and deactivated. Your numbers and all your phone content are now on the Teletia S.” River said sheepishly wincing as she waited for the backlash.

“What?!” Cael asked looking at how their phone was reset to its factory setting and asked to be set up for activation.

“River!” Reignard said in dismay noticing his phone was wiped as well. Cael and Reignard looked at each other and then looked over to Zak who had taken a liking to his new toy.

“What are you doing?” Cael asked in disgust at how calm Zaki was about his old phone being wiped.

“I’m playing Mission the Road.” Zaki said gleefully, I was overdue for a new phone.” Zaki said looking down at the cracked screen of his battered phone. Cael rolled their eyes and shook their head.

“It’s for the best. You should be able to use your phone like you normally would.” River reassured.

“I trust you,” Reignard said tossing his old phone on the nearby table. Cael sighed in half-agreeance.

“Me too.” They said putting their old phone on the table.

“I can’t believe you did all of this,” Zaki said in astoundment.

“You are like Q,” Cael said with a wink making River blush.

“I’ll work with the team to get Nimbus fully upgraded including yours Reign and Zak,” River stated as she took off the visor running a hand through her short hair.

“Thanks, River. You’re the best.” Reignard said watching as Cael looked at their new phone, checking the messages with a very pleasant smile on their face, “And what do we have here?” he asked snatching up Cael’s phone.

“Reign!” Cael said in surprise swiping at their phone to get it back, but Reignard had leaped up from the couch out of their reach,

“You’ve been eyeing your phone ever since we got in the office. Now I see, why.” Reignard said with a sly smile watching Cael get up and circle the couch and the table in hopes of catching Reignard,

“Give it back, Reign.” Cael grinned,

“There’s that smile again,” Reignard said as he rifled through Cael’s notifications while dodging Cael. Two of them went round and round.

“Reign, come on!” Cael protested.

“Well, well…who is Mina?” Reign asked with a knowing glance and Cheshire-cat grin. Cael blushed profusely,

“No one of importance!” Cael blurted out.

“An awful lot of blushing for someone that isn’t important.” Zaki sneered.

“Shut it, Zak!” Cael said.

“Wait a minute.” Reignard said looking up from the phone directly at Cael, “You’re dating Mina Nilasiman!” he exclaimed. Cael fell over on the couch, their face pressed into the cushions.

“The famous violinist?!” River exclaimed her face in awe as she watched from the screen.

“Cael, you devil you!” Zaki said with a grin getting up and joining Reignard.

“That explains all the travel you’ve been doing as of late,” Reignard said. Then the phone chimed again and Reignard’s devilish smile curved even more!

“What is it?” River asked in anticipation.

“Mina just secured tickets for Cael and her companions to the Infinity New Year Bash in Paris!” Reignard said. Cael sat up abruptly,

“What?” they asked. Reignard tossed Cael their phone who re-read the message for themselves,

“River, looks like we’ll get to see you sooner than we thought.” Zaki said crossing his arms and nudging Reignard, “We’re coming to Paris for the New Year!” he exclaimed.