Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 06:53:42 +0100 (MET) From: Rick Chasez <jc.chasez@gmx.net> Subject: Artificial Love 2 (boybands) DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction, meaning everything is not true. 'Nuff said DEDICATION: To Bry, love u ;-) And special thanks to Ted This and other stories I wrote can be found at: http://jcchasez.ifrance.com ----------------------------------------------------- ARTIFICIAL LOVE CHAPTER 2 by Rick - jc.chasez@gmx.net Joey drove JC to the hospital. It all seemed unreal and the guilt was making JC feel like he was carrying around a million tons of steel. Joey told him Justin had been speeding and nearly ran a person over, which made him drive into a wall. No one could understand why on earth Justin had been doing that. Except JC, but he couldn't let the others know the real reason. He just prayed to God his angel would survive. // I should have never told him the truth... This is all my fault // Justin had been for a couple of hours in the ER and was now in the Intensive Care pavilion. "Listen, JC. No one is allowed to be there, but we got you permission to be with him for 5 minutes. We all know how much he means to you," the manager said to JC. JC was led to Justin's bed by a nurse. He saw his angel laying there, as if he were sleeping, like he had seen him a hundred times before. He had been afraid to find him badly bruised, but he only had a few scratches. The doctor told him there had been internal bleeding and quite possibly brain damage. Choking back tears, he stood beside Justin, placed his hand softly over Justin's, and whispered: "Justin, I'm so sorry about what happened... Please, don't leave me. We need to talk about this, you need to come back." After a couple of minutes, the nurse made him exit the room. The doctor was talking to the group and their manager. Justin's family had just arrived. His mother was sobbing loudly and when she saw JC, she approached him and hugged him. JC felt so crushed. They were told that Justin was probably going to die in a couple of days. There wasn't a way to save him. There were some techniques, but they couldn't promise them they would succeed. One of the options to keep him alive was to freeze him until they could be sure that he could be healed. His mother was shocked, she didn't want his son to be kept artificially alive but the thought of letting him die was far worse. His parents signed the forms for him to be frozen. --- JC cried for a long time that night. All he could think about was how he shouldn't have told Justin anything. He begged God to take him, but to let Justin be well again. God didn't listen. In the morning, he went with Justin's family to Cryotech, a company dedicated to freeze people in the hope of finding a solution for their diseases, maybe years later. Justin was already placed in a chamber filled with liquid nitrogen. Justin's mom was crying and sobbing, and his father was trying to comfort her. They all went back to the house Justin and JC shared so his mother could pick up his stuff. She gave some things to JC, like the small plush puppy he had kept since he was 3, and his favorite cap. JC's heart felt so empty without him. He wondered if he could go on without his angel. // You had already lost him, remember? // // Yes, but he was alive... // // He still is, isn't he? // // If you could call it being alive... // // Just shut the fuck up, leave me alone // // That's the problem, you are alone // JC spent many sleepless nights during the following weeks. --- Somehow, Nsync's management had prevented the press from finding out what had happened. They were on a break, it had been said, and then they would be rehearsing for their next world tour. No one wanted to think of the reaction of thousands of teenage girls when they found out their heartthrob was practically dead. JC went every day to Cryotech's facilities and talked to Justin's frozen body. He would tell him what was going on with his family, with their friends and then, before leaving, he always asked him to forgive him. It was becoming obvious that they couldn't keep the secret for much longer. The fans kept calling the tv shows asking for news from Justin and when they appeared in some random show, the first thing the girls asked was where Justin was. At the time they said he was on a trip, but they wouldn't be able to hide he was missing forever. The group and Justin's family were called to a meeting by the record company. They explained that Nsync still needed to deliver 5 more records to comply with their contract and that they had come up with a solution for the problem they were facing. JC couldn't believe what he heard. They all opposed to the idea, but in the end they were told it would have to be done. They at least needed to try. --- JC and the others drove to Wang Industries, a little known company which, however, was incredibly successful. Its owner, Dr. Wang, was waiting for the Nsync members in his office. He looks so young, thought JC. How can this man be the creator of something so amazing. During the next hour, Dr. Wang explained them the details of what they were going to see. A fucking robot. A machine, made of steel, optic fiber, computer microchips... JC's brain couldn't quite understand it. Their management intended to replace his angel, the boy he adored with something not even human. There were tears rolling down his face while he listened to the doctor babble on how advanced modern science was and how this... thing... was going to dance and sing just like Justin did. "I'm sorry, Dr. Wang... but I think this is a load of bullshit" said JC suddenly. "Mr. Chasez, I can assure you no one will be able to tell the difference between the real Justin Timberlake and the robot" "What about us? Are we supposed to live with a stupid machine? Reminding us all the time of the real boy it is replacing?" "That is an issue between you and your management, Mr. Chasez. I can only give you my guarantee on the product you're taking" JC bolted out of the office and ran to the restroom to puke. When he came back, the sight struck him like lightning. There, in the middle of the room, was Justin... Could it be? He was standing with his back to him... JC could look at the same strong shoulders and the back of his head, until recently covered with golden curls. JC approached him and walked around slowly while looking for something he could recognize in him. JC kept staring at him slack-jawed... Justin's eyes made contact with his... the same blue eyes he looked at for the past several years. The same nose, the same soft pink lips... and then he heard: "Hello, JC!" And everything went black. TBC?