Open Your Eyes [Arthur]

[Francis Bonnefoy]

Francis held his hair out of his face, as he cuddled up to the toilet. His perfect streak at last ruined. And he didn't even get a laid out of it. He mentally cursed cute Ukrainian boys and alarm clocks that were still set for 6 am in the morning.

Once he was certain that his stomach was done, Francis got up and washed himself up. Teeth (twice), shower (45 minutes), hair, food (passed) and then finally he thought to go see the reason why he got himself plastered last night.

Jeanne.

The bot that belonged to his mother, the one he reluctantly inherited. she was the reason why Francis thought about the origins of all the robots. He never had proof, and honestly, a part of him hoped desperately that he was wrong, that he was paranoid and maybe he should be checked into a mental ward.

That was how bad the alternative was.

If he was right, and maybe it was just the paranoia speaking, but he really felt that he was correct, life as he knew it would be flipped over. It would mean that Jeanne was once human and now she's...

She's not.

"Jeanne?" He called her name out a few times. Her programming was set to that name, she should respond in some way. She used to turn her head to look at Francis enter a room. Because she understood that Francis was her master and she was a bot. An old model that needed to be hooked up most of the time. But she was functioning properly in her worn and used way.

Now she didn't even respond when he called out her name. Lately only a direct order seemed to work, but Francis hated it. He didn't want to order her like a doll, it was sickening. So sickening that he ran away from his house last night...

He moved closer to her, her eyes were still closed. "Jeanne, open your eyes." His heart felt like lead in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to hit his head on the wall.

He waited for a moment, and nothing happened. He repeated his order and still nothing was happening. His heart raced. "Jeanne?!" He shook her, nothing. He yelled out her order nothing.

After an hour of panic and calling for help from the maids and still no response, Francis went back to his room and grabbed his cell phone. If there was someone who could fix Jeanne it would be Yong Soo. Francis refused to have her sent anywhere, or put on some cold lab table. After trying to reach the bot multiple times, Francis then tried his house. No luck either. At this point Francis was already outside in his electric car, he was driving to the Braginsky flat.

All form of manners, disappeared from his mind as he burst open the door and called out for them. The flat was empty. He would have thought nothing of it, if it wasn't for the fact that everything felt wrong. Terribly wrong, he opened the closet doors, he knew their contents and yet half of it was missing.

Swallowing any and all conclusions, he went back to his car. And then he tried to contact Jin.

Again, no answer. Now Francis grew up in a religious family and he himself was rather superstitious. He couldn't believe in coincidences, at least, not today he couldn't. He didn't even bother trying again. Glancing at the time, it wasn't even 10 am, and Francis couldn't even care to remember if his business partner was a morning person. He called Arthur Kirkland. He didn't even bother to keep his voice in check, he didn't care that he sounded like a wreck.

"Arthur, I am on my way to your house. Is Yong Soo there and what about Jin? I need to see Yong Soo, immediately."

[arthur]

Arthur rolled over and answered his phone sleepily, blinking. "Francis . . .? Bonnefoy, why are you calling about Jin before six in the morning?" He sat up and glanced at the clock. "Hell." Scrambling out of bed, Arthur shifted the phone. "Yong Soo? I'm assuming he's in his lab over at Ivan's, why would I have him?"

He pulled on his pants and searched for a shirt, opening his bedroom door to glance out for his bot. "Jin?" He called, waiting for the boy's prompt response.

There was nothing.

"Jin?" He tried again, ignoring his phone at the moment. "Jin!"

Arthur brought the phone to his ear. "Bonnefoy, get here now."

[Francis Bonnefoy]

"I am at your front door," Francis replied as he pulled up in front of the house. He winced at the sound of his own coarse voice. "I'll need some water." He mumbled to himself and he snapped his cellphone shut.

Hopping out of the car he ran up the steps and let himself in, "I am in your kitchen!" Francis called out, figuring Arthur might need time to finish getting dressed. He poured himself a glass and looked in the cupboard for the very needed Tylenol. He swallowed the pills and leaned against the counter. His shoulders tensed and his form stiff. Today was just going to get worse.

[arthur]

Arthur came down the stairs quickly, shirt half-buttoned and slightly frantic looking. "What's going on?" He demanded of the Frenchman, attempting to fix his shirt as he poked his head around the kitchen, wondering if Jin was playing a game or Yong Soo had coaxed him into sleeping in the laundry room or some nonsense. He took a deep breath, checking his phone for Jin's GPS.

Nothing. Not a single blip on the screen.

". . . Where is my lad, Francis?"

[Francis Bonnefoy]

"Probably wherever Yong Soo is." He filled up the cup of water again, and drank it quickly. "And the Braginski appartement is empty. Ivan would have told me if he left, but...It was a mess, clothes packed the works of a fugitive. The front door wasn't even locked. I don't like this one bit , Arthur, I was actually relieved to hear your voice on the phone..." Francis was deadly serious. "I don't know what to do."