New Life : A Second Chance

Chapter 43 - Setting The Foundation

That night, Kyle and Kay had already moved into Master Shifu's house. Kyle was cooking dinner, something that shocked the heck out of Master Shifu. He was extremely worried about the sort of food that Kyle would produce, but decided to encourage him. He was sitting in the living room, seemingly watching television when in reality, he was psyching himself up.

'Must be supportive. Will eat everything with a smile' was his mantra that night. Kay was setting up the table, and it wasn't long before she came up to him and politely said, "Master Shifu, dinner is ready"

He grunted, steeled himself and walked to the dining table.

On it, he saw a simple dish: spaghetti, bolognese sauce, potato salad on top of a bed of fresh salad leaves. "Oh? Western?" he said as he sat down.

"Yeah," replied Kyle, "just a simple dish today. I can cook rice next time but not any dishes from Country J. Maybe cabbage rolls, but that's about it" Kyle's forte was Country M's food and pasta, as the latter was something he loved a lot in his previous life.

"We'll take turns then," said Master Shifu as he picked up his utensils. Kay helpfully put some spaghetti and sauce in his plate and handed it over.

"Thanks, Kay," Kyle replied as he took the plate she gave him. He waited until she had sat down with her own plate and together, they started eating. Master Shifu was surprised at the taste, as it didn't taste as 'tomato-y' as he thought it would.

As if sensing his thoughts, Kyle said, "I don't like the heavy taste of tomato either, so I stir-fried some chili paste after caramelizing the onions. Gives it that extra kick, don't you think?"

Master Shifu nodded, taking more. If this was an indication of Kyle's skill in cooking, he is thinking that he'll be getting fat soon.

That night, Kyle was sitting cross legged in the living room, which had been changed to their training room. All of the furniture in the house was specially made to save space. In the living room, the flat screen tv was on the wall, and there was a modular sofa known as the Sofista set. It had a sofa, armchair and a chaise lounge - and all three pieces could be put together like pieces of a puzzle to create one big sofa. The two chairs fit under the sofa, and their backrests become armrests.

Of course, it was Kyle's duty to put all the furniture into its 'compact' mode before training began. He simply put together the Sofista set against the wall, then pushed the long rectangular table into itself, making it only a quarter of the original length. He then pushed it down, and just like your ironing board legs, it folded into itself. Picking it up, he placed it on top of the sofa.

There was no mission to conduct today, though lately, Kyle noticed that Master Shifu had only been giving him the 'normal' training. Just being the vigilante "Ice" and beating up the small fry. Kyle was told that he needed to strengthen his mental state first and focus on sharpening his hypnotism skill. The State of Zen was draining, and Master Shifu did not want him to go into that state until he was stronger.

So for now, it was the boring meditation practice. Kyle preferred to go out and use his fists, for he found it exhilarating. He could understand why Robin from that horrible Netflix rendition of Teen Titans was feeling. Using fists was good! Bam bam bam ...

WHACK!!

Kyle's head fell forward with and he rubbed the back of his head with a frown.

"Concentrate, you darn child!" Master Shifu scolded him.

Kyle took a deep breath, "Yes, Master Shifu" and tried to focus again.

**--**--**--

While Kyle was busy training, Kay was next door at the MIB basement, sitting in front of her computer and flipping through some files. Agent Oreo only knew Kay and Kyle as the two proteges that MIB leaders had chosen and were grooming. The room that Kay was currently in had been made specifically for her and was equipped with the latest equipment and full of various security measures.

Since Kay doesn't have a photogenic memory like Kyle, she had to rely on files instead. Like Kyle, however, she did not trust the computer to store such important information. No matter how good she was, there will always be someone better. By living by that credo, they managed to scrape by.

Right now, she was studying the file on Kyle's kids. Rather, his future kids and what were the plans that they were making. The file was labeled "KIIIDhere", which Kay had initially found puzzling.

She remembered the time when she asked him about it. Seeing the weird label, she thought that Kyle didn't know how to spell "KID". When she asked, he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he just gave that stupid, mysterious smile with his eyes getting glazed off - which indicated him thinking of a distant memory ... and all he said at first was, "It's a secret."

"What?! Even for me?!" Kay pouted.

Kyle laughed, "Of course not, silly. KIIIDhere was the handle of someone I knew before in my previous life. Someone that I met online, and had given me motivation and joy; who's words of encouragement pushed me forward. So, it's an appropriate label for the file for my kids. KIIIDhere represents inspiration, and that is what my kids are to me."

Kay nodded in understanding. She wished she could have met this "KIIIDhere" but Kyle said he never knew the real person. It was just a handle online, and they had never met. Like any online acquaintances, life happened, less time online which meant the connection faded and they soon lost touch over time. The touch that was left behind though, never faded.

She shook her head back from the memory and came back to the present. Kay thought it was such a pity. If they knew who this "KIIIDhere" was, they could probably get to know the person now. They could have become real friends rather than just a memory. A beautiful one, but still, just a memory. She sighed.

Looking at the file again, Kay reached for her phone and dialed a number on the secured phone. Anyone who tried to trace the call would get bounced to several dummy locations, and even if they persisted, she would have stopped the call within 10 minutes. It would normally take about 12 minutes to track the line, if they were good.

The call was picked up within the second ring. "Yes, Ms K?"

"Henrika," Kay said, and the voice scrambler changed her voice several octaves lower, "What's the latest on Subject S?"

"Subject S has entered primary school and is adjusting well. He enrolled at the school, just as you said. Qiu is his homeroom teacher"

"Good," Kay said in approval.

Subject S was, of course, Kyle's son. He was seven that year, and just entered Primary 1. Subject D would be entering pre-school the following year. Qiu was their people, and this was the first step in establishing a closer connection. Kyle had managed to recruit him while he had just wanted to enter the Teacher's Training Academy. Kyle actually remembered that Qiu was his son's first teacher in school, and did some background research on him.

Kyle had proposed a win-win situation for Qiu : a full scholarship to the Academy and Qiu was to work with him for 6 years in return. Those 6 years were, "coincidentally" the time Kyle's son would be schooling in Primary School. Basically, Qiu's duty was to keep an eye out on Kyle's son, and ensure that he was safe.

Kay remembered the day when they had been planning all of this. Kyle actually had a headache the first time they were talking about it. Kay was also confused a bit, but since she didn't understand most of it, it didn't really bother her. She was only 2 at that time after all, so even though she had been a bright baby, she was not an adult nor a genius like Kyle.

Why Kyle had such a headache was because he said he distinctively remembered that Qiu was his son's homeroom teacher, and had been his favourite. Qiu had always been there for him, and basically was his 'parent in school'. Kyle had asked Kay, "Do you think Qiu was like that because of what I am planning to do now, or he was already like that and I don't need to do anything? Is this the proper timeline? I would have experienced everything I would be planning to do ... aarrgh! It's so confusing!"

In the end, they decided to just follow their hearts and not their head. Who knew what truly happened in time travel? Especially when you went back in time? So, they will do what they want to do, and hope for the best.

"Mari? What about Subject D?" Kay asked, knowing that the phone was on speaker.

Mari gave a short 2 min report on Kyle's daughter, and everything was as it should be. Kyle's ability to recall things easily made their job easier. Still, Kay did not want to take things for granted. Anything could happen and she wanted to make sure everything was still the same as it should be.

"Good," Kay stated again, "Continue to monitor the situation".

"Understood," Henrika and Mari said in unison before ending the call.

Henrika and Mari were the "Mary Poppins" Agents. There were three of them, and these two had normal names, unlike the Infiltration Agents that had biscuits for their handles (remember Agent Oreo?). Oh. Except for the third Mary Poppins Agent: Agent Minimi. She insisted on that handle herself, saying something about babies being a "mini me". They were responsible to monitor Kyle's children, but never to interfere in anything. The Mary Poppins Agents found their tasks to be extremely puzzling, but didn't question it.

Kay closed the file and walked out, heading towards the living room.