Chapter 4: A Scientific Edge

The growing crew makes their way to San Francisco to recruit Xander, knowing his immense intelligence will greatly aid their cause.

"Hey, uh, Jasper? Do you mind coming here a minute?" I heard Tequila's voice calling out to me.

Another night had passed for both myself and my slowly growing crew. Second and I had spent that time occupying some of Tequila's guest rooms, and this morning, we were all planning to head out so we could find Xavier, the last member of the squad. It was just as I was lugging my own suitcase outside to the car that I was called upstairs.

"Coming!" I called back.

I didn't hesitate to climb the stairs to the second floor. The master suite was the second room to my left, and it was just as sleek and modern-looking as the rest of the house. Tequila was currently standing over a large vermillion duffel bag on top of the king-sized bed. Her smoldering red hair was worn in a ponytail with her trademark strip of leather. A canary yellow front-tied bandana was also present, holding back any and all strands that dared to avoid being tied back. She had swapped out her usual business-casual look for a form-fitting, midnight-purple tracksuit with white accents and sneakers, which included a moderately cropped hoodie with its zipper partially undone. Upon hearing me enter the room, she turned around.

"Oh, there you are," Tequila said.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, stepping into the room and plopping down onto the bed.

"Oh, nothing really. But I do have something on my mind that I've been keeping a secret for many years now," Tequila explained, sitting down next to me. "And I feel that you're the only one I can comfortably say this to."

"Okay?" I asked a bit more hesitantly.

"Okay, so for the longest time now... I dunno, like, since we first met in college?" Tequila began. "I've... harbored a bit of a crush on you."

In an instant, my face went blank and emotionless, but underneath my skin, I was shocked to the core. Over the ten years since graduation, I'd been harboring some romantic feelings for Tequila as well. So imagine my surprise upon learning that she was starting to love me too.

"I... I never admitted it, because I wasn't sure how you'd handle it. But I figured it'd be better now, seeing how we're both adults. It's the reason why I stayed single for the entirety of college, and the whole decade afterwards," Tequila finished. "So once we find some free time, what say we, uh... do something together? Just you and I? Y'know, maybe give us a chance? I-I mean, if you don't want to, that's totally fine!"

"No, no, it's alright," I quickly replied. "I'd be lying out of my a*s if I said I didn't wanna test the waters myself. Maybe once we've completed our mission, or if we find some free time along the way?"

"I'd like that," Tequila replied, relief clearly audible in her tone. "God, you have no idea how much that means to me."

Neither of us said a word, instead pulling each other close for a tight hug. Part of me expected her to make us lock lips, and boy did I want to, but I doubted that was on the table. At least not this soon after the initial confession. But then again, we'd known each other for over ten years, so would it really be a crime to kiss right then and there?

"Hey guys! What's taking so long?!" Second called from downstairs.

"We're coming!" I called back, before turning back towards my potential new girlfriend. "We'd better go."

Without further ado, the two of us made our way to my station-wagon. As Tequila effortlessly lifted her bag into the trunk, I climbed into the driver's seat and Second got into the back.

"Hey, uh, was everything okay back there?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh no, nothing's wrong. She just wanted me to help her close her duffel bag, that's all," I replied.

Second simply shrugged and once we were all buckled in, we set off.

Unlike with the rest of my friends, I didn't even have an ounce of confusion as to where Xavier was located. He worked at Quarter-Century Laboratories, a large headquarters located in San Francisco, California, that was solely dedicated to science experiments of all varieties. After a long, slightly arduous road trip, we finally arrived. In order to turn into the guest parking lot, I had to quickly slip into a gap in the traffic that occupied the left lane. The gap was just barely big enough to fit my car into.

"You just love squeezing into tight spaces, don't you?" Tequila asked, her remark accompanied by one of her sultry smirks.

"Hey, I did what I had to do," I replied dismissively as I shut off the car.

As my comrades stepped out onto the asphalt, I took a good look at the sign on the building's front lawn:

---

What will life be like 25 years down the line?

We just might have the answer!

QUARTER-CENTURY LABORATORIES ®

Pioneering the future since 2013!

---

"Yup, this is the place," I announced as I led my party towards the front doors.

"So what's the plan, here? Are we just gonna walk straight into Xavier's office VIP style?" Tequila asked. "Because I'm pretty sure we'd need to set up an appointment beforehand."

"Already got that covered. See, X and I actually met up twice over the past ten years. The second time, I paid him a visit in the hospital because he was on the brink of death, and then I gave up one of my kidneys in order to save his life. He even gave me this car as a thank-you present! And ever since then, he's been in my debt. Hell, I could ask him to kill himself, and he'd do it without hesitation... not that I'd actually do that, but you get the point," I explained.

"Aw man, I really wish I'd learned that sooner!" Second groaned. "Then again, that just goes to show what happens when we distance ourselves from each other for so long."

Upon entering the building, I was expecting every employee inside to have hair in some shade of blonde, given the laws that were in place, but I was pleasantly surprised at the diversity. The cafeteria we passed by was manned by black-haired staff, and the young, female secretary at the front desk had hair similar in shade to Dad's.

"Excuse me, ma'am. We're here to pay a visit to Xavier P. Cedric?" I politely asked.

"You three have an appointment?" the secretary asked flatly.

"Er... well no, but I mean, he's a close friend of ours," I replied.

"Yeah, well that's what they all say," the secretary replied. "... But since I'm in a good mood today, I'll give him a call. What's your name, sir?"

"Jasper Collins," I replied.

She then pressed a few buttons on her office landline before putting the receiver up to her ear.

"Yes, Professor Cedric? Some guy named Jasper Collins is here to see you," she said.

The rest of us couldn't hear what was happening on the other end of the line, but judging by the secretary's expression, I could tell that Xavier had seen us through.

"Welp, he says he knows you, and he wants you to come to his office right away. It's in Room 508 on the fifth floor. Have a nice day, sir!" she said as she waved us off.

Upon stepping into the stainless steel elevator, I immediately gave my friends a smug look. Both them simply rolled their eyes. Before we all knew it, we were standing outside Xavier's office. A simply-designed placard was on the door, that read: "Professor Xavier P. Cedric". Excited and apprehensive at the same time, I politely knocked on the door. It didn't take too long for Xavier to pull it open and adopt an expression of shock at the sight of his three best friends.

"Still rockin' that mullet, I see?" I asked.

"Ah, Jasper! Been way too long since we last met! Second, I cannot believe you're finally back on the face of the earth! Oh, and Tequila! Read your newest book recently; not my type, but I have to say it was pretty damn good!" he shook all of our hands in rapid succession as we filed into the room.

"Well of course it wasn't your type. If there's one thing I remember from the old days, it's that all you read is textbooks," Tequila replied. "Heh, wouldn't be surprised if you're the man behind at least some of the new revisions."

"Wow, how'd you know?" Xavier asked.

"Lucky guess," Tequila replied.

As the two had their brief exchange, I took a good look around the deceptively large office. The actual office only occupied one corner of the room, and consisted of a desk, rolling chair, computer, and printer, as you'd expect. Another corner contained a workbench and several tools, presumably for some of Xavier's more mechanical projects. And the third corner included a whiteboard and a table full of chemistry equipment. The fourth corner simply contained the door.

Like Tequila, Xavier had gotten his fair share of exposure and success over the past decade, but not quite to the same degree. Nonetheless, he had won a couple of Nobel Prizes for his work in the field of science, which were proudly displayed above his desk.

"Good to see you again, X! I trust you're in good health?" I asked.

"All thanks to you, pal!" Xavier replied, callously plopping into his rolling chair and leaning back a little. "So! What brings you folks here? Oh wait, I already know! You're here to take a look at some of my inventions, aren't you?"

"Well, actually we're..." Second began, only to get cut off.

"I've formulated cures for Lupus, Parkinson's, all known STDs, as well as most known forms of cancer. For some odd reason, the ovarian cancer antidote never seems to work, no matter how I tweak the formula. Yes, it cures people, but it leaves them with infertility as a permanent side-effect," Xavier explained, drifting aimlessly around the room in his chair as he spoke. "I also invented that solar-powered car that Jasper drives. Hoping to mass-produce those at some point in the near future."

"That's all well and good, but..." I started, only to get cut off as well.

"O-ho! But that's not the greatest idea I've ever come up with!" Xavier announced, his mint-green eyes sparkling excitedly.

He then dimmed the lights all over the room, except for the chemistry corner. It was only then that I noticed a large off-white tarp draped over a tall object. Xavier effortlessly yanked it off, revealing a large, vertical chalkboard with a heavily-detailed diagram of a little boy drawn onto it. Occupying the space outside of the diagram were countless notes that I couldn't read from across the room. Not because I was near-sighted, but because the writing was just too damn small.

"Behold, a new form of genetically-modified human! This one comes with all my successful medications embedded into the compound that makes up his blood, making him immune to all those illnesses. His body also has the ability to use every single component of a food or drink he consumes, meaning no waste products," Xavier explained. "And it also comes with more powerful hormones, resulting in the onset of puberty ten years sooner than normal!"

"Now why the f**k would anyone want that?" Tequila asked, before she and I looked to our left at the sound of a loud snort.

"I'm sorry! It's just that... the thought of a bunch of guys... engaging in locker room talk at... only five... years old... hahaha... that just sounds hilarious!" Second said in the midst of laughing.

"If this experiment proves to be a success, then hopefully I'll be able to save countless lives before they even start!" Xavier finished as he covered up his project and flipped the lights back on. "In addition to all that, I'm also being asked to teach science at the local university. Fun fact: the education industry is actually the only area in which your hair color doesn't matter. I guess it's because there are so many classes that pertain to so many industries, so there's no point in such senseless segregation."

"Yeah, well that's actually why we came to see you," I said at last. "I decided to form a movement and rebel against these stupid laws, and I figured my best bet would be to recruit all my best friends before I try to sway anyone else."

"And you can bet I was pretty quick to join his cause. I wanted so badly to be a doctor, but since I have black hair, I'm stuck as a short-order cook, while Jasper over here is stuck printing money. And because we both have brown eyes, we're stuck earning only an average salary that doesn't change no matter how much effort we put into our jobs," Second explained.

"Very interesting..." Xavier's voice trailed off as he clicked a ballpoint pen on his forehead, before starting to jot down some notes. It was an odd habit that he seemingly hadn't broken since college.

"So I guess the question is, will you be willing to join us?" Tequila asked.

"Well to be honest, school is probably the best place to be in this day and age, given its lack of hair-based discrimination. It's the only place that feels the way society used to be." Xavier adjusted the ornately-patterned tie peeking out of his lab-coat as he stood up. "So if it means shaping the rest of America into the way school is today, then I'm in. No questions asked!"

"Glad to hear it!" I replied as I gave him a fist-bump.

"Excellent choice," Second added, shaking his hand.

"Well I guess I'd better make preparations for this movement of ours. Teaching a class of moody late-teens can wait for now!" Xavier said. "Now run along! I've got some things to do, but I'll keep in touch!"