From Leo's diary
It's snowing a lot, Aster and I finally managed to assemble our first snowman! It was fun, but I didn't expect my hand to freeze so quickly.
It's a shame Orion isn't there too, he surely would have enjoyed adding a punk crest made of ice onto its head.
Despite the cold, Mr S.'s electoral campaign proceeds at a brisk pace, the more time passes the more his victory seems unavoidable. We cannot avoid feeling more unsafe than ever before in this situation.
TV: ... following the recent increase in the criminal activity in the southern district of Sim City, notoriously inhabited by numerous aliens, Mr S. is appealing to his supporters, demanding the collaboration of the general population with the authorities. If you notice any suspicious activity, or any violation of the law, please notify the competent authorities as soon as possible, so that...
Dad, who is still in contact with his former colleagues writing for a newspaper openly opposing Mr S., is the more informed about the situation among us. And he rarely has good news to report.
Hermes: The TV news hasn't talked about it yet, but there are rumours about the draft of a new directive. They could introduce a reward to those who report us aliens for any infraction, at this rate...
My parents are quite old at this point, could this constant worry about Mr S. be harmful to their health? Yet they insisted on discussing over and over about our possibilities, and on whether we should start with new lives somewhere else, maybe in some other country with more favourable views about us.
However, both me and Aster have our reason for not wanting to abandon our lives again. Even if we know the risks, we want to remain.
Unsurprisingly, another person who is getting more and more upset because of the recent news is Claire. Recently, she even started to open protest against her father in front of the Parliament.
However, not many people seem to care about what she is saying, for now.
Also at the police station, the situation seems tenser than just a few weeks ago, when I started to work here. The number of reports sensibly increased, everyone is working very hard and there isn't much time left for anything else.
However, we cadets are experiencing this new atmosphere only marginally, as we are still asked to deal with the minor cases. For example, I was sent to arrest the alleged perpetrator of a theft in a fish shop, who would ever think of stealing some trouts?
It didn't take long to find the suspect...
... nor to retrieve the stolen goods.
Inmate: Okay, I could actually have something to say about that store...
At the end of the day, I had to report my results to our Captain. He seemed almost amused about the case of the theft at the fish store, but also strangely thoughtful about something.
Leo: and that's it, captain.
Captain: Great job, cadet.
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A few weeks later, from Luna's diary
What a day, I don't even know what I should start from, nor am I sure I have the strength...
It seemed like a sleepy Sunday morning like so many others, it seemed that nothing strange could happen.
Out of the blue, we heard a persistent knock on the front door. Quite perplexed, Leo got up and went to open the door.
Leo: (surprised) Captain? What happened?
Captain: (very serious) I'm afraid today it's your turn to give us some explanations, cadet.
He wasn't wearing his uniform, but he had a search warrant for our house with him. And this is when we realised something was definitively wrong.
We never knew if it was some neighbour, some colleague from my job, Hermes or Leo's ones, or some old school friend of the boys. We really have no clues, but does it even matter right now?
The important point, our real problem, is that we have been reported as possible disguised aliens. We knew since the beginning that this scenario was a concrete risk to us, that this could have happened at any moment, but after so many years we were feeling relatively safe, we thought that our cover was convincing enough.
Instead we found ourselves surrounded by policemen, and we couldn't do anything else but step aside and let them in. At that point, it didn't take long before they discovered the fake IDs, a few of my father's old inventions and everything else.
Captain: Fake IDs, forged medical records, alien camouflage not allowed... I'm afraid things won't turn out well for you from now on.
Leo and Aster didn't say anything at all, but I could only read fear and despair in their eyes. I turned again to Hermes, who was doing his best to show some strength with his expression.
Hermes: this time we're really screwed, huh?
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The police force at that point didn't take long to put the pieces together and connect us with the Miller family who disappeared from Oasis Spring about ten years earlier. Hermes was right, we were really screwed.
I and Hermes got the worst punishment because, on top of the ten-year-old illegal disguise, we had also forged a large number of medical records and IDs. We avoided jail and got house arrest only because of our age, but the penalty for such crimes is of several years.
The boys, on the other hand, are only accused of illegal disguising, with the mitigation that most of the time they were, in fact, underage. They will remain under house arrest with us only until their sentence is decreed by the judge. In their case, however, it should result in a fine and not much more. And, of course, they will no longer be allowed to use any disguise in the future.
Orion is perhaps the one who is doing the best, now he is officially wanted by the police but I don't think he really risks anything as long as he stays on Sixam.
In all this, however, we cannot avoid asking ourselves: how much have our children really lost? What future could they have after such a record on their files? They have lost their jobs, many of their friends, and now the whole neighbourhood looks at us with suspicion. Did we really deserve this?
Hermes: (seriously) Now I and Luna are too old to plan anything, it would just not make sense for us. But you are still young, as soon as the police give you a moment of rest you could start from scratch somewhere else, or even join Orion on Sixam. Think about it...
But Leo and Aster haven't answered him yet, they don't seem to know what to do either.
Not even a week had passed since the beginning of our house arrest, when Aster's friend (?), Roberta, came knocking on our door. She seemed very worried, I would say.
As soon as those two saw each other they just hugged tightly, without saying anything. She didn't seem surprised in the slightest to see us like this, but just terribly sorry for the situation we were in. Aster must have been able to explain everything to her since the last time we saw her.
Seeing them together, I can't really imagine him deciding to leave this town to start over somewhere else.
Leo, on the other hand, hasn't said almost anything since when we got reported, he always seems absorbed in who knows what dark thoughts. I'm worried for him, I just don't understand what he's thinking about.
Luna: Leo, how are...
Leo: (focused on TV) Wait a minute, what's going on?
TV: We interrupt normal broadcasting for some shocking news. The outstanding political career of Mr S. could be on the verge of collapsing, because of a video shot by his younger daughter and now trending on social media. Let's see an excerpt immediately...
Hermes: What the...
Leo: (worried) Shhh, let me listen!
We tried to ask Leo what was going on, but he was just staring at the screen with shocked expression. Then, as soon as the TV news stop airing, he ran to the computer looking for the complete footage of that same video.
He seemed so worried about that girl, Claire. And, after seeing that video, I start to understand why too.
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A few hours earlier, not far away, during the recording of the infamous video
Roberta: How nice, you called the whole scout group!
Sophia: What is this reunion for?
Claire: I have to ask you a favour. I have prepared a speech, could you film me and then upload it on youtube?
Roberta: Sure.
Claire: (serious) Whatever happens, don't stop recording until I'm done talking, please.
Claire: How could anyone want to give our country in the hands of a crazy hypocrite like Mr S.? Don't get fooled by all his overconstructed talks about how dangerous the aliens are, as if the real problems were those!
Claire: I think I know him well because, just as a reminder, I'm his youngest daughter. Even though he doesn't talk about me often, have you ever wondered why?
Claire then stopped for a moment, before throwing a furious look at the cameras recording her and removing the disguise she had always used up to that moment.
Claire: (furious) Well, what are those faces, are you surprised? That's right, the little daughter of the perfect Mr S. is, in fact, an alien! And guess who forced me to disguise myself to look just like him for all this time? He was ready to break his own rules just to maintain the appearance of a perfect and respectable family, as if I gave a damn about it!
Claire: The sole idea of seeing that hypocritical idiot leading this country makes me sick! Actually, he can also go f...
At that point, Claire was abruptly interrupted by two passing patrol officers who had seen her remove her disguise. They could also arrest her, but she didn't care at all.
She made a lot of people upset, she got arrested, and maybe she could also have ended to prison, but she didn't care. She was so sick of her father, at that point, for sure she would have done it again a thousand times.
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