From Alba's diary
Olivier: I see... It's still hard to believe they really are your nephews, though.
Alba: (worried) I don't know where to start with them, do you have any idea?
Olivier: … No clues, no. Did they give you any papers, by chance?
I was quite surprised when Olivier decided to show up in the middle of the night, after reading a messy message in which I tried to explain the situation to him. He couldn't sleep after reading that message, he said, and then he added that he was worried for me too. And I know for sure he was honest while saying it, too.
His first reaction, seeing Iris and River, was of absolute shock. Then, he rolled up his sleeves and walked straight to the laptop, to see if he could be of any help with the paperwork.
Well, this first night no one really slept at all, and I definitively couldn't say no to anyone offering me help at that moment.
Olivier: Let me try to put all these documents in order, just to understand where to start...
River: Food!
Alba: Did you understand anything about those emails I received from the social workers?
Olivier: It's like your brother said, for a while the two little ones are your responsibility.
Alba: Does any of those papers say for how long? Or what will happen to them afterwards?
Olivier: ... I'm not sure, they say they will make a decision in court in a month. Objectively it's a complicated situation.
He hesitated for another moment, before adding:
Olivier: To be totally honest I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to foster them to some adoptive family.
Alba: (worried) Uhm...
(from outside) Lily: So, does anyone want to explain to me what the heck has happened?
Lily: Then you weren't joking! How could Helios hide something like this from us?
Alba: ... He seemed so upset by the situation when I saw him, I can't believe it either...
Lily: Anyway, from what I understand, the custody of the kids was given to you because of bureaucratic reasons, but if you need a hand don't hesitate to call us, okay?
The bureaucratic reasons Lily was referring to are essentially related to her passport, as Lily never officially applied for the New Sixam citizenship after our whole family moved there. After all, she had always wanted to return to Sim City as soon as possible, what use could it have to her?
So now Helios's only close relative under proper jurisdiction is me. I was sure that Lily would immediately offer to help me, but I admit that I would have liked to share a bit of the administrative burden too.
Lily: (suspicious) Oh, you're here too, Olivier
Olivier: Nice to see you again as well, Lily.
Lily: (shaking her head) I don't have time to worry about you too, we have more urgent things to do... Like to go and pull Helios's ears!
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Shortly after, at Helios' house
So we left the little ones for a few hours at my house with Mirko, who is used to working with children after all, and then reached for our younger brother's house.
Lily: (angry) I thought you were the smart one! What the §@//* passed through your head, you idiot? Those two poor kids aren't even two years old and they already have to be tossed back and forth in a tribunal, does it seem normal to you?
Lily shouted at him all kinds of things, she was as angry as I'd ever seen her before. And I don't think I want to report her exact words in my diary. However, realizing how dejected Helios was feeling, she eventually toned down again.
Techna: (rational) Neither Helios nor I remember what exactly happened, technically we still don't know if it was our fault or not.
Lily: About this, how is it even possible that both your memories were wiped? And especially yours, Techna, don't you always keep a backup copy of your hard drive?
Techna: In theory yes, but… um…
Lily: But what?
Techna: … I don't remember where I was keeping it anymore.
Lily: (exasperated) C'mon! Then, could anyone at least explain to me who could be capable of erasing the memory of both a robot and a person? I don't understand anything about Sixamians' telepathy, but I know enough about computers to say that it's a completely different thing!
Helios simply shook his head, resigned. He looked so tired and sad...
Lily: Is it really that hard to restore your memory? I mean, the Sixamians can erase other people's memories just like that, with a snap of their fingers, but they really don't have anything to reverse the process?
Techna: Not all Sixamians are equally good at telepathy, some are way better than others. The ancient Sixamians who landed here around the time I was a prototype were exceptional in this, I met many of them at the time. But too much time has passed, and that type of skill has now been diluted over the generations, and with it the knowledge necessary to use it...
Helios: I'm currently treated at a memory clinic, but they say it will take time before I can remember anything. If I ever will. I know that the memories they erased from me were important, but not being able to remember them... it's driving me crazy, that's it!
This is the kind of situation that can only break all your certainties, but I cannot help but firmly believe in my little brother's innocence. He just needs time to regain his memories, because I'm sure he will manage to, and in the meantime I have every intention of helping him as much as I can!
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And the best way I can help him is to look after Iris and River to the best of my ability. The house is chaotic like never before since the little ones arrived here, even Nacho is always on the alert, and I have barely the time to go to work now, let alone any free time.
But, somehow, I'll manage. There is no alternative, I have to do it.
Nacho: (hisses)
I admit that, at first, I really struggled to understand these children. They're wary of everyone they don't know, and they don't even seem to get along particularly well with each other.
River is very insecure, he always follows me around the house and wants to be cuddled every time he can.
Alba: Don't worry, everything will be fine...
And even more problematic is his sister, Iris. She simply hates me, I'm pretty sure about it at this point.
She always answers no to everything I say to her, speaks over me while I'm talking, and she even threw toys at me a couple of times. I don't understand, did I do anything bad to her?
The only living being in the house with whom Iris seems to get along is Nacho, they are often playing together.
Alba: So, do you like the sea? Or, better, the ocean, it's huge, right?
River: Yes!
And, in all this great chaos, Olivier is really surprising me. Despite this far-from-ideal situation, in fact, he continued to come here as much as before, if not more.
Everything considered, I can only be grateful for the help she is giving me. With some help it's definitely easier to look after those little pests, alone I would never have known where to start.
Alba: Thanks a lot, on my own I don't think I would have ever been able to get to the bottom of that paperwork to enrol them in kindergarten.
Olivier: Yes, it was a bit tricky to sort that out, that's true.
No one said anything for a while, before I decided to ask:
Alba: Listen, I was wondering about one thing... Are you really sure you want to spend so much time here? I remember well how much you work, basically you're using your little free time to work more to help us. Are you really okay with this?
I mean, we weren't engaged or anything like that, he really had no obligation towards me. Especially when that meant taking care of those two little pests I suddenly became responsible for.
Olivier: It's not your fault, is it?
Soon after, he returned back to New Sixam to sleep a few hours before checking in at his job. There was more I would have liked to ask, but that wasn't the right moment for that.
The day everyone was waiting for has come, I had to sleep at least a few hours before we all headed to the tribunal for the first court hearing in Helios's trial.
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Lily: Can I say I didn't miss this place at all?
And so we met at the tribunal, anxious to hear the verdict. Helios seemed so dejected, his inability to remember what happened makes him fear he could have done the worst, he says, and therefore he cannot find peace.
Helios did his best to answer the judge's questions, he even let the telepathic group of the police read his mind. It was only possible to confirm that all the memories related to the experiments he did in that laboratory and to the first months of Iris and River's life were erased from his mind. Not that anyone expected anything different, to be honest.
But the police investigations are also following other paths. No matter how good of a job the criminals did, some small evidence remained in the records of those laboratories. It had been confirmed that experiments prohibited by New Sixam law had been performed, using the controversial Earthlings Pollination machinery that had once been standard equipment on Sixam spaceships. However, it had not been possible to trace the precise purpose of the experiments in question, nor to find clues pointing to the other people involved.
For the moment they have decided to leave the children in the custody of their closest relative, that is me, until Helios' position is fully cleared out.
The recovery, at least partial, of Helios's memories is considered one of the most promising paths of the ongoing investigations, and psychologists seem to think that making him spend time with Iris and River in a peaceful and familiar environment could help him remember something. Thus, the court gave its consent for Helios to come to my house whenever he felt the need.
And that's what Helios did already that same afternoon, he couldn't stand staying indoors all the time brooding over lost memories.
Alba: Hi, how are you?
Helios: …a little better, thanks.
Helios: Oh, I see the scarecrow-robot works!
Alba: The robot-what?
I turned just in time to see that weird scarecrow walking towards us and nodding his head in greeting. I remained speechless for a few moments in surprise, but in fact, perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised considering it was a gift from Tech Sixam.
Alba: Rather... don't you want to say hello to the kids?
River: Dad!
Helios: …Hi River. And hello Iris. You've grown a lot, you know?
Iris: Yeah, me strong!
River had recognized Helios immediately, and as usual he immediately asked to be picked up. And Iris seemed calmer than usual too. All this heartened me, even if he no longer remembered much about how his kids came to be and for some reason he wanted to keep their existence hidden from us, Helios must have been a good dad for the little twins.
I really don't know what to do to resolve this situation, all this makes me feel helpless and frustrated... How is it possible that the name of the real culprit hasn't come out yet? And why is it so difficult to find a solution?
It's a not huge thing, but I think it's excellent of Olivier to show up in the middle of the night after getting Alba's messy message. It shows he cares a lot about her, especially because he immediately starts trying to help.
ReplyDeleteI love your world-building and the intricacies that you create between different areas (Sulani, Sim City, New Sixam), but it's too bad that another generation of Millers has to deal with child custody and courts. :( Poor Iris seems to be really struggling, but at least there's Nacho. It's heartbreaking that Helios lost his memories and custody of his children. I think it will take a while for him to get them back.