The REBELZ: "The Beginning" (Book 1) *SAMPLE Rough Draft!*

ELEVEN

Plus, Jax was the only guy Rickie really knew and he could have a good, relaxing conversation with, about anything...No Jane or Jackie nagging him or hurling insults—he could just be himself. It was quite refreshing. It was relaxing for Rickie to just have a regular guy conversation just as guys.

"Almost got it... There." Jax announced as he placed the back cover back onto the back of the computer monitor, screwing it shut. With the flip of a switch, Jax turned on the computer's console drive, which sat beside the computer terminal. Rickie crossed his fingers while Jax held his breath, hoping it would work and the computer would turn on.

Miraculously, the computer actually worked, turning on. 'Thank the Greek gods this worked!' Rickie thought in relief. Zeus seemed to be in his favor today.

Rickie twiddled his thumbs as he waited for the computer to boot up, wondering how long this would take. "I sure don't miss Dial-up." He muttered, debating on whether or not committing suicide would be faster than waiting for the stupid Dial-up computer to load. "Is there any way to make it power up faster?" Rickie wondered, impatience clear in his voice.

"Yeah, once it's up and running I'll have to download my ultra high-tech software to make it run faster. This thing is so old, I don't think I'll be able to really use it for hacking into other security systems. Though, I am working on a special high-tech computer system to do just that. It will be able to hack into almost anything and leave absolutely no trace." He said proudly.

Jax jabbed a finger over his shoulder, indicating one lab table behind him. On one side of the room was a half-finished project that accommodated most of the desk lining the whole section of the wall on that side of the room. There were spare computer parts and other gadgets of Jax's that cluttered the whole desk, along with other computer consoles as well.

"Why is everything always so 'high-tech' with you?" Rickie wondered a bit sarcastically, shaking his head in amazement at all the cool equipment around him.

"High-tech is the next best thing, my friend. Someday, once this war is over and the NGO is gone, I want to run my own big technology industry. Just like Tony Stark from Iron Man." Jax grinned.

"If we even live to see that day," Rickie walked over and examined Jax's handiwork, uttering a low whistle. "I'm impressed, though. Not bad, man! So you're constructing that from scratch? That's crazy!"

Jax nodded, smug. "Yep. I may not be an expert at this as you are, but I'm not doing too bad a job. Making this from scratch takes forever, though."

Rickie tried not to show how embarrassed he was at the compliment. "Oh stop it. You flatter me too much!" he grinned ruefully.

Jax mock-punched him lightly on the shoulder. "It's gonna be a masterpiece when I'm done with it. If you could help me with it, that would be great."

Rickie readily agreed. He was secretly glad Jax was asking for his help, but he couldn't help but feel a little wary. For all he knew, Jax could be playing him or something. "So what are you going to call it, brand-wise?"

Jax beamed proudly, his chest puffing up. "How does this sound: The Jacksonian 3000... or J3 for short? And, yes, I'm using the spelling of my old name." He added before Rickie could ask about it.

Rickie nodded, flipping Jax's idea over and over in his mind. He liked the sound of the name. "It has a nice ring to it." He admitted.

Jackson was indeed Jax's original name, the name he'd been born with. When the war against the NGO started up, and he was on his own, Jax decided to change his name to "something cooler," he had said. He preferred the name 'Jax' over 'Jack' any day... "Too original," Jax had claimed.