CHAPTER 129: LIZZY

Well, thanks to Liam, the two had ended up being kicked out of the quiet bar.

Apparently, you couldn’t disturb the peace more than once else you’d get kicked out and hearing that Ethan might be able to help them continue the research was a shocker to Liam and his raised voice was what caused them to be kicked out.

It was a pretty funny scene when the waitress reappeared, nervous but still respectful as she cleared her throat beside their table.

"Uh, gentlemen... I’m really sorry, but this is your second disturbance warning. We’ll have to ask you to leave."

"W-what?" Liam asked his embarrassment before lowering his voice and adding, "can you overlook it just this once?"

The waitress offered a sympathetic smile, already sliding the bill onto the table. "I’m sorry, but house rules. We pride ourselves on being... serene. You gentlemen are, um... less than serene."

Ethan stood smoothly, sliding a few bills from his wallet and placing them on top of the check. "Fair enough," he said, his tone polite, though his eyes were amused. "Thank you for your patience."

Liam groaned, standing reluctantly. "You know, in any other bar, they’d be glad I was shouting. Adds to the atmosphere."

"Yeah, but not in this one," Ethan said, buttoning his coat as they walked out.

That earned a short laugh from Liam despite himself. "Can’t believe I got us kicked out."

They walked a few steps in silence before Liam glanced at him sideways, still incredulous. "So when you said you could actually help us... you weren’t joking?"

"No," Ethan Calmly said, "but we’ll discuss that tomorrow, it’s getting pretty late and María might get a bit worried."

They stopped just before reaching the parking lot of Franklin’s Bar and Grill.

They noticed that the get together party was still ongoing, with their occasional drunk course mates dragging each other out either to spend the night together or drop themselves off before they did anything embarrassing while drunk.

But none of them noticed Liam or Ethan standing just a small distance from them.

Ethan pulled his phone from his pocket and unlocked it, as he said, "give me your number and send me your address. We’ll talk properly tomorrow. I’ll want to meet your sister, too."

Liam hesitated a moment, then took Ethan’s phone and punched in the digits. When he handed it back, his lips twitched into a small, almost hopeful smile. "You really mean it, huh? You’d actually... help us restart?"

Ethan put the phone back in his pocket. "If it’s as good as you say it is, then it’s worth saving. But don’t get ahead of yourself, the final decision is up to OmniTech."

"Right. Of course." Liam nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to mask the excitement in his eyes. "Guess I’ll... clean up the place before you come by. Don’t want you thinking we live in a cave or something."

Ethan just chuckled in response and walked towards his car, "see you tomorrow, man."

"Yeah, tomorrow." Liam replied before also putting his phone back in his pocket, turning towards the street and he lifted his arm, causing a taxi to immediately appear and he boarded it.

Meanwhile, Ethan’s BMW pulled away from the parking lot and headed towards the main Street as he returned home.

"So, what are your thoughts on him?" He asked, seemingly to no one but his phone lit up, revealing Athena’s avatar.

{Well...} She seemed to think for a short while before replying, {he seems honest and eager.}

"He does," Ethan agreed, "and tomorrow I’ll find out if he’s good enough to keep around."

With that, he took the turn that led to María’s building, a bit curious about who Liam’s sister was.

-----------------

Liam soon got out of his taxi and walked towards their run-down apartment with a bag in hand.

When he said that things had gone downhill since their research was taken from them, he wasn’t exaggerating.

He and his sister had moved from what you’d consider a middle-class life which consisted of steady rent, decent groceries, and enough breathing room for experiments in their cramped garage turned lab—to barely scraping by.

Now, their ’apartment’ was a two rooms in a crumbling complex that smelled of umwashed human bodies and whatever the f*ck else.

Their apartment building was the kind of place where the elevator had long given up and the landlord didn’t bother fixing anything unless you shoved cash under his nose.

With a sigh, Liam gripped the white plastic bag a bit tighter as he walked into the building.

He was greeted by the flickering lights that let out spark every now and then when bugs flew into it.

Already used to the sound, he climbed up the stairs before arriving at their door and unlocking it.

Inside, the living room was barely lit by a single desk lamp shoved into the corner, its glow lit up scattered papers and dismantled circuitry across the coffee table.

A half-eaten bowl of instant noodles sat on top of a stack of old research journals.

"Lizzy? You awake?" he called, pushing the door closed behind him.

He knew she was, she might’ve just locked herself back in the room when she heard him walking up the stairs.

Why?

Well, she blamed herself for wasting his opportunities. After graduation, Liam had pretty good job prospects. Companies had shown interest in him—safe, comfortable careers that would’ve kept him far away from this kind of struggle.

But Lizzy had convinced him to join her instead, to chase the dream of finishing the Doctor in a box project.

The project that was supposed to change the world, but that all had been seized from them and thanks to that, Liam was ’suddenly’ unwanted by any company he applied to.

Even the ones that were willing to adjuste his salary to a higher one just for him to work for them, were now letting his application emails rot in their digital mailboxes.

And ever since, she carried that guilt which was also the reason why she started avoiding him, to the point that she locked herself in whenever he was around and only came out when he left.

But Liam wasn’t about to allow that today, he walked towards her room door and started knocking.

"Lizzy. Open up."

But there was no response.

He tried again, this time leaning his forehead against the door. "Come on, I know you’re awake, I brought food."

There seemed to be movement on the other end but still, there was no response.

"Lizzy," he sighed, softening his tone. "You can’t keep doing this. Hiding from me isn’t helping either of us."

That was when the lock clicked and slowly the door opened just enough to allow his sister’s face to peek out. Her eyes were red-rimmed, dark circles beneath them making her look like she hadn’t slept in days.

She looked at him, then at the bag in his hand. "...What is it this time?"

"Chicken fried rice, and spring rolls," Liam said, lifting the bag like a peace offering. "Not much, but better than what’s on the table."

Her gaze flicked toward the lamp-lit mess of notes and her left over noodles that she had hurriedly left, just to avoid him.

"You should’ve just eaten it yourself," she muttered, pulling the door open wider and stepping into the living room.

Liam ignored her words and set the containers on the coffee table. He opened one, grabbed chopsticks, and shoved them toward her. " Eat."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds being the occasional tapping of their chopsticks.

Finally, Liam broke it.

"I met someone tonight."

Lizzy froze mid-bite. Her eyes moving up to his face, looking suspicious. "What kind of someone?"

"His name’s Ethan, a friend from college. He said he can help us restart the project."

"We’ve been through this before, remember? People say they’ll help, and then they either run off with our work, or they ghost us the second they realize how much trouble we’re in." She replied putting down her chopsticks.

"This isn’t like that," Liam insisted, leaning forward. "Ethan’s different. He’s... I don’t know how to explain it, but I think he means it. He asked to meet you tomorrow."

"We’ve been through this before Liam," She snapped, "you can’t keep getting your hopes up just for a stupid dream of mine."

They were both silent for a while after that. But Liam wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

"Lizzy," he said gently, "this could be the chance we’ve been waiting for."

His voice held hope, so much of it that Lizzy could clearly see it, so she went silent, giving his words a thought.

Finally, she sighed and leaned back into the chair. "Fine, I’ll meet him. But one word of bullshit, Liam, and he’s leaving."

Liam nodded, "fair enough. Just... give him a chance, Liz. That’s all I’m asking."

She gave him a long look, then turned back to the cold spring roll in her hand. "...Tomorrow," she said finally.

Liam smiled faintly. "Tomorrow."