My son, David, the Jumper

Just when I thought my ultimate dream has finally become reality, Jumpers and we, Paladins, are not rivals anymore, I was informed by the Tower of Roland’s encounter with my son, David, at a market place somewhere in Japan...

What was David doing there all the way across the world in Japan? Was he also trying to locate the new Jumper there? I can only occupy my head with all kinds of questions instead of showing my concern for my son while I am here in the Paladins sparkling new headquarter, The Tower. For the past two years, we Paladins have grown so vast both in our technology and number of members. And more and more wealthy businessmen are interested in investing in our organisation so they are pouring in phenomenal multi millions amount of money for the Paladins to research and develop on new advanced devices to capture more Jumpers. Their only selfish intention is so obvious for me to see, they want to posses the ability to jump or in Jumpers’ term, to teleport from one place to another instantly.

To Roland’s pride and joy, he and the team here in The Tower have created the Pulverizer 2000. Although the Pulverizer 2000 looks nothing more like a silver stick to ordinary people, it is actually equipped with two extracting ropes which can paralysed a Jumper with high voltage of electric shock from both end of the ‘stick’. Heaven forbid that Roland had the opportunity to test his new toy on my son David. As for the new Jumper, the only relevant information that we know is that she is a young Japanese girl in her 20’s and she has not really jumped as much as the other Jumpers have. For this reason, the Paladins are simply keeping an eye on her at the moment and let her enjoy her hidden power for a little bit longer and then we will definitely prance on her like the big fat cat in a ‘Cat and Mouse’ game.

Doesn’t fate enjoy playing irony games on people? For I can recall from my earliest memory, my father, David’s grandfather, was the leader of the Paladins back in the days. He used to come home after a long hard day at the office and boost to my brother and I about the good deeds that the Paladins were doing for human kind. As an innocent daddy’s girl that I was, my father was the greatest saviour to the world in my eyes and becoming a Paladin was like the number one goal in my life back then. I knew nothing about all the terrifying and inhumane tortures that my father and the other Paladins used when they were capturing or interrogating the Jumpers. I was so naive that in my mind I believed that they were like preachers at our church; they only talked to them patiently and guide them into the light of God; it never occurred to me that there was so much more to it...

At the tender age of eighteen and with my father’s help, I was recruited as a research assistant in the Paladins’ library. I was ecstatic to have landed such position with the Paladins, my idealistic world-saving organisation. The Paladins emphasised very much on their members’ formal education so I was also offered a scholarship to attend college. Soon after I graduated college, I started officially working for the Paladins. And of course, for the first few years I was only appointed to research on incidents of Jumpers teleporting themselves around the world, but none of the naked truth was exposed to this young girl at this early stage. With my fully committed effort and my father’s influence within the organisation, I was offered the position to be the department head of researches. And to show my commitment and loyalty to the Paladins, I had to sign an agreement that I would never leave the organisation till the day I depart this world. I was so consumed by the thought of being successful in the organisation and with no second thought I signed it. I was only twenty-four years old and I was the youngest department head ever in the history of the Paladins. My father and my family were so proud of me and needless to say that I was feeling the same about myself too!

David’s father, William Rice, and I met in the first year at college. He was not doing particularly well with his studies so he dropped out at the start of the second year and worked as an apprentice at his father’s car workshop. Although William and I were like chalk and cheese in other people’s eyes, we did have an unexplainable attraction towards each other. We had to keep our boyfriend and girlfriend relationship underground especially with my father for he saw William as a burden to my aspiring career with the Paladins upon my graduation from college. Nevertheless, the love between William and I stood the test of time and criticisms from other people. And by the time I turned twenty-four and firmly secured my position, department head of researches, William and I decided to start our own family! This decision was not the only surprise to my father and everybody, though they attempted every way to hinder us but it was all too late, I was pregnant with William’s child! My father was devastated when I broke the news to everyone because he was concerned about how William was going to support our new family. I assured him that with a love as strong as mine and William’s, we could overcome any hardship thrown in our paths.

William and I got married and as a wedding gift, my father had bought us a small but cosy townhouse which I am still appreciative and grateful today. And when next spring arrived, so did our son, David! He was the most gorgeous baby that I had ever laid eyes on and I just wanted to cuddle him all day. By now, William had inherited his father’s car workshop and I was juggling my life being the department head of researches at Paladins and the loving mother to my son, David. Our new family life was going so smoothly that in the back of my mind I knew that something terrible would go very wrong at some stage. My worst nightmare had realised when David turned five and that was the very first time that he ‘jumped’ as a Jumper to the top of the Empire State building in New York!

What was a mother to do? I had been with the Paladins for long enough to fully comprehend the ‘naked truth’ about our organisation and how the Jumpers were being tortured when they were captured. And with the loyalty agreement that I signed, was I to apprehend my own son and hand him over to the Paladins? Even if I keep this as a secret to the organisation, sooner or later they would be able to detect the teleporting that David did; they would hunt him down like a pack of wolves. I had to make the most difficult and heart breaking decision that a mother could imagine. I had to leave my loving husband and my vulnerable five-year-old boy in order to save their lives. I applied to be transferred to work at the Paladins headquarter in New York and the reason was that my marriage was breaking down and my husband was a useless drunk and was abusive towards me. I would never forgive myself for telling such horrible lies about William, my ever trusting and supporting soul mate and husband but I had no choice. And I knew that David would never forgive his mother for abandoning him and his father, I was torn apart...

David, can you still remember the first conversation that we had in Rome after you were captured?

“So you’re a Paladin and I ‘m a Jumper. What happens now?”

“I’m giving you a head start, son. Because I love you.”

I will always love you, son.

Mary Rice, mum