Chapter 3.6: Breakthrough

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From Leo's diary

Lyra is growing quickly, the more time passes the more she looks like me. She also already has a respectable temper...



Claire: C'mon Lyra, today we have guests at home, we have to go downstairs!
Lyra: No!

Why do we have guests at home, you may be wondering, my dear diary? Well, first of all, today is Harvestfest. Aster and his family will come, while Orion also decided to invite a few of his friends from Sixam. As a member of that group our cousin Celine also came,  she seems to be doing well. 

This really is the kind of situation in which we are very grateful to the teleport device they are working on, because otherwise this gathering would have been impossible.



But we also have other reasons to celebrate today, which is also why we told my brother to invite as many friends as he wanted to: it's our birthday!


I and Orion have diverging opinions on so many matters, but I have to admit that I really do care about him. I realised it only when he decided to move on Sixam for so long, I'm very grateful to see him back on our planet again.


Diiiiiiiiing!


Leo: Someone just rang at the door...
Orion: Don't worry, I'm going!


Orion: Who the heck are you? What do you want?
???: Ohi, what's that stuff? Don't...


Orion: Ah ah, did you really think to scare us?


Ignoring the troubles outside, we continued to talk for the rest of the night. We didn't have a chance to do so in a while, it was really needed.


Claire: Well, I'm probably better to talk about this with you, you seem to be the most serious one among the Sixam's rebels.
Silas: What do you want to talk to us about?
Claire: What is the Ministry of Defense doing in your laboratory? By now half of the documents about it have been classified, it seems worrisome to me.
Silas: ... all our work has been labelled as top-secret and we are watched by the military and secret services, that's all I can say.

Claire replied with a frustrated snort, she had worked hard to be able to give a laboratory for the study of alien technology to the Sixam's rebels, and now the Ministry of Defense wanted to take all the credit. 
What were they doing over there? We had no clue about it, and it didn't seem like a good sign...



Orion: Wow, they are really letting you use telepathy in the investigation? To me it sounds even too clever for the human police, are you serious?
Leo: I was sure you would have been enthusiastic about it, but this makes me even less sure about it...
Orion: What do you mean?
Leo: Ah, nothing. I don't think I'll do that anyway, I'm not even that good with telepathy...
Orion: How hard could it be?



Orion: You just focus and read, it's easy! And then you erase the memories of those last five minutes, what's the problem?
Leo: I see, you mean something like...


Leo: here, I couldn't see almost anything!
Orion: I'm not stupid, it was clear you were about to do it. I've learned a couple of tricks on Sixam, you know?
Leo: ...
Orion: On the other hand, your suspects do not expect you to be an alien, doing as before you will be able to see all the memories you want.


We all had a lot of fun, the evening and the end of the party arrived in no time.


Leo: I really had fun today!
Claire: Yes, me too!
Leo: So that it's Harvestfest, we should say something we are thankful about. Well, I think that the thing I'm the most thankful for is our very close family!
Claire: (amused) Even if sometimes it is a bit strange though!
Leo: (amused) which family is not?



???: Do you really want to leave me here? Hey!


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Now that he was given permission to use more often his teleport machine prototype, Orion often comes to visit us in the evening. Luke seems to get along very well with him, but I prefer to keep an eye on them... It's not that I don't trust my brother, but I'd rather avoid him teaching Luke weird and dangerous stuff.


Orion: Fractions are very boring, you're right, but you need to start with that if you want to build a rocket that goes into space!
Luke: What do rockets have to do with this?
Orion: I see, you've never had to deal with fuel tanks... So tell me, if you have a 100-liter tank filled with only 75 liters of fuel, how full is that tank?
Luke: (puzzled) Ehm ... 75%?
Orion: And if you can travel 1000 km with a full tank, how many km can you do with that fuel?
Luke: Um... (Counts on fingers)... 750?
Orion: Right! And those 250 km missing can make the difference between arriving at your destination or  remaining stuck wandering in the open space. Did I ever tell you about that time...

Maybe I was worrying too much, Luke never had so much fun doing his homework before.


Luke: ah! What was that noise, is there a monster under the bed?

When hearing Luke screaming about a monster with tentacles hiding under his bed, Orion took what seemed far too long to evaluate the situation and decide what to do, who knows what he was thinking of. Then he just shrugged, and said:


Orion: Do you really think this is a monster? It's afraid of a few drops of water, even a raspberry would do the trick!


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A few days later, Claire and I took the opportunity to take the children to play in the snow. They had a lot of fun, and I have to admit that it was the same for me too. Claire, having grown up here in the north, knows a lot of tricks for making beautiful snowmen and snowballs that don't crumble before hitting the target, and she also seems determined to pass on all her knowledge about winter games to us.





When we got home we all had frozen ears, nothing hot chocolate and a good sleep couldn't fix!


Luke, on the other hand, refused to go take a nap before he could wash a few cups in the kitchen. His propensity for order and cleanliness surprise me more and more every day...



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Meanwhile, at work the situation is getting more and more hectic as the investigation proceeds.

We found a former lair of that gang, their extreme caution is also shown in their choice to move constantly. However, we are certain that, regardless of their care, some clues must have remained. And we are determined not to let them slip away.



We even managed to find witnesses and to ask them a few questions.


And we then spent the rest of the week analysing the clues we found.


And, finally, we managed to identify one of the members of that gang. Not one of the leaders, but not one of the gallops at the bottom either.


Leo: get ready to break in, we found her!



Leo: The evidence is overwhelming, you have no way to deny that you are guilty. But if you cooperate with us, we could find compromises ...
Suspected: I won't tell you anything, and you know it too.

Lately that gang was changing its modus operandi, it was difficult for us to keep up with all those changes in their rhythm, in their places of supply and sale. Something big had happened within that drug sellers gang, but what?


Suspected: Keep me in the cell, I don't give a damn. And without my lawyer, you won't hear another word from me.

Frustrated, I took her back to the cell. I was so sure about it, she knew so much more than what she had told us. That gang was moving quickly, way more quickly than our investigation, how much more time we could afford to waste? How many people could we keep away from the dangerous stuff they are illegally selling, if just we would have been able to get the information we needed from her mind?

I'm not sure yet it was the right thing to do, but it seemed the only way possible in that moment. Also, the Captain's orders for that kind of situation were very clear.



Suspect: What...



Captain: Agent Miller, what did you find out?
Leo: In the last few reports we had written about the changes in their way of acting, and from the last interrogation I think I understand what could have caused those changes.
Captain: I don't have all day, hurry up.
Leo: I had to read her mind to find out. It seems their gang leader has recently changed, and their new priority is getting the monopoly over a new drug.
Captain: What kind of drug?
Leo: Even that girl did not seem to know much about it. What she knows is that they were told to sneak into some research laboratories under the control of the Ministry of Defense.
Captain: Continuing the investigation could be complex then, especially if you are talking about some top-secret labs...
Leo: (cautious) ... Actually, I might know someone over there.


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Back home, I struggled a lot to stop thinking about the investigation. But I couldn't miss it, it was time to celebrate again!


What for this time, you may be wondering, my dear diary? Well, this time it's Claire's birthday.


Time really flies, I can't believe so much time has passed since when we met for the first time...


Aster and his family managed to come, all his children are growing up so fast... Orion, on the other hand, did not even respond to the invitation, he said he was too busy with his work. And I also suspect to know why...


Claire: You seem distracted tonight, are there any problems at work?
Leo: More or less. Finally we begin to have some concrete clues about what that gang is up to, but the investigations are becoming more and more difficult to follow...
Claire: Why, what happened?
Leo: The gang has moved, I think that to continue the investigation I'll have to borrow that teleportation prototype for a while.


Claire: Why, how far should you go?
Leo: Actually, I should reach some labs you've been talking about a lot lately, I'm heading to...


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The address should be this one, but... What kind of place is this?


Orion: Hey Leo, I was starting to think you got lost!
Leo: Wait, you’re not gonna tell me you live in this trailer?
Orion: It's more comfortable than the bunker labs on Sixam anyway, I assure you.


Orion: However, we don't really have much free time for chatters in here right now, we have a few urgent stuff to deal with. What did you want to ask us?

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