I walked out my chambers feeling the most refreshed I had felt in years. Another sweet lady led me through a fascinating labyrinth of long, bright corridors, finally stopping in front of a great oak door. "You best be on your way, love," she said as she squeezed my hand, "Your family is awaiting you." She smiled cheerily and disappeared around the bend at the end of the corridor, her white hair flouncing around her like a halo. I returned a belated grin and didn't hesitate before swinging open the door. Inside was my perfect little family, together again. It hadn't been long since we had last been together, but the setting of this gathering contrasted greatly from the dungeon we had been united in before. The walls shown like pearl and light poured from the crystal chandelier like pure sunshine. Smiles gleamed from the faces of my family members. We were once again clean and, at last, together for good. Or so we hoped.
Now I must take a few steps back from our last post. As mentioned earlier, our mother explained what was going on. Many embraces and laughs later, a guard entered and bid us to follow him. As we traipsed down a new corridor together, I noticed something about our dazzling haven: the lack of windows. The place gleamed as if it were the sun itself, yet there was no place for sunlight to enter. While this small detail would have alarmed me in earlier times, the peace that seemed to emanate through the walls kept me calm. We finally entered through another oak door, which led to another, which brought us to our final destination: a small office. It's decor was clean and uncomplicated, but the owner was not plain or boring at all-in fact, he was somehow familiar.
"Tim, Sara," said the man. "It is so good to see you!"
To the surprise of me and my sisters, he rushed forward and embraced our parents.
"Callan! We cannot thank you enough for everything you have done for us," said my mother, smiling at the tall stranger. He wasn't very old; judging by the hint of gray in his golden hair and the minuscule wrinkles forming around his green eyes, he could only be a year or two older than my dad. Then again, the past months of separation had aged my father greatly, so perhaps using my dad to deduce one's age wouldn't have made for the most accurate results.
"Girls," spoke my father, turning to face us, "I would like you to meet your uncle Callan."
The word "uncle" echoed through my mind as my eyes widened and blinked in surprise. This man didn't look anything like my dark-haired parents, and surely we would have heard about him sooner had he been blood-related. My mother quickly filled us all in.
"Callan is married to Alice," explained my dear mother. My eyes widened further. This just didn't make sense! But after a minute, it did. It was true, we had never met aunt Alice's husband; they were married when I was so little I had no recollection of the wedding, and whenever we were with Aunt Alice, he was "working abroad." This information, although surprising, began to make perfect sense. Carter was the first to run up and hug this seemingly-new relative; something in the way she looked at him during the first moments in the office told me his appearance rang a bell. One by one, we joined the embrace. My parents stood by and smiled.
Soon we all took a seat in the 8 chairs that sat before his desk. Sure enough, there were framed pictures of my young cousins before us. I smiled. I already felt like I had known my uncle forever.
"I'm so happy to see you all," said uncle Callan with a grin. "But alas, it is time we move on to less-enjoyable matters. I assume you guys know the backstory to all of this?"
We nodded, remembering our mother's explanations in our meeting room earlier today.
"Well, I know how much you guys want to be done with all of this. I completely agree if you decline. However, your parents and I agree that you would be the best for the job. Before you protest, let me explain:
Diana McFiggins Winthrop and Marc A. Winthrop, aka Nanny McFiggins and M.O.N., have been after your parents' invention for years and years now. While there was a time when we thought the contraption was safe and so were your parents, it has become evident that this is not the case; the two are still desperate to get their hands on the invention, and have obviously been trying to use your girls to get through to it. We need to stomp their mission dead before we can truly breathe easy again. The Winthrops-yes, they are indeed married-work alone, fortunately, and rarely use outside forces, so it will be rather easy to get the two of them. However, there's more to it. They have other inventions used mainly to destroy, as well as well-hidden plans to get to the invention. We need to target and destroy the weapons and plans, as well as lock up the Winthrops, before our mission is complete. Unfortunately, these two are very secretive, which is why we feel you six would be the best for the job, as you are more familiar with them and their techniques than any of our secret services are. Should you choose to accept this mission, we will be dividing you up into pairs and sending each pair, as well as a small back-up team, to each of the three targets. I know it's not much information to go off of but please- say you'll accept?"
I was rather shocked and a little angry. Everything had been going so well!! We were finally together and now this stranger wanted to rip us apart again! And our parents supported him-what was this??!
The sound of a chair hitting the ground shook me from my thoughts. Carter stood standing, firm and tall and reliable, staring Callan down quizzically. After a moment of silent analysis, she gave her answer.
"Yes. A million times yes."
Carter! I thought. Are you crazy? Are you trying to get us killed?! However, Carter wasn't alone. Hailee and Bailey stood up with her and pledged their allegiance. I couldn't believe it. Soon, Rikki joined them. After more thought, I gave in. He was right-we would never be able to breathe easy until we stopped the Winthrops for good. I stood up. A few moments later, Kailey rose. It was official. Our new adventure had begun.
Our parents smiled, although they were teary-eyed. Looking back on it, it had to have been the hardest on them. Fortunately, they were to join in with the back-up and research teams. Uncle Callan breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.
"Before we get started, you must go through the Protect our Victims and Bystanders and Children program, also known as the POVABAC program. It's basically a Witness Protection Program upgrade for secret scientists-call it what you like. You girls will need to take on new identities and habits. After these past few years, it is likely the Winthrops will know you better than you may like to think. Shall we begin?"
--Alex
Keeli will be joining us.
"Tim, Sara," said the man. "It is so good to see you!"
To the surprise of me and my sisters, he rushed forward and embraced our parents.
"Callan! We cannot thank you enough for everything you have done for us," said my mother, smiling at the tall stranger. He wasn't very old; judging by the hint of gray in his golden hair and the minuscule wrinkles forming around his green eyes, he could only be a year or two older than my dad. Then again, the past months of separation had aged my father greatly, so perhaps using my dad to deduce one's age wouldn't have made for the most accurate results.
"Girls," spoke my father, turning to face us, "I would like you to meet your uncle Callan."
The word "uncle" echoed through my mind as my eyes widened and blinked in surprise. This man didn't look anything like my dark-haired parents, and surely we would have heard about him sooner had he been blood-related. My mother quickly filled us all in.
"Callan is married to Alice," explained my dear mother. My eyes widened further. This just didn't make sense! But after a minute, it did. It was true, we had never met aunt Alice's husband; they were married when I was so little I had no recollection of the wedding, and whenever we were with Aunt Alice, he was "working abroad." This information, although surprising, began to make perfect sense. Carter was the first to run up and hug this seemingly-new relative; something in the way she looked at him during the first moments in the office told me his appearance rang a bell. One by one, we joined the embrace. My parents stood by and smiled.
Soon we all took a seat in the 8 chairs that sat before his desk. Sure enough, there were framed pictures of my young cousins before us. I smiled. I already felt like I had known my uncle forever.
"I'm so happy to see you all," said uncle Callan with a grin. "But alas, it is time we move on to less-enjoyable matters. I assume you guys know the backstory to all of this?"
We nodded, remembering our mother's explanations in our meeting room earlier today.
"Well, I know how much you guys want to be done with all of this. I completely agree if you decline. However, your parents and I agree that you would be the best for the job. Before you protest, let me explain:
Diana McFiggins Winthrop and Marc A. Winthrop, aka Nanny McFiggins and M.O.N., have been after your parents' invention for years and years now. While there was a time when we thought the contraption was safe and so were your parents, it has become evident that this is not the case; the two are still desperate to get their hands on the invention, and have obviously been trying to use your girls to get through to it. We need to stomp their mission dead before we can truly breathe easy again. The Winthrops-yes, they are indeed married-work alone, fortunately, and rarely use outside forces, so it will be rather easy to get the two of them. However, there's more to it. They have other inventions used mainly to destroy, as well as well-hidden plans to get to the invention. We need to target and destroy the weapons and plans, as well as lock up the Winthrops, before our mission is complete. Unfortunately, these two are very secretive, which is why we feel you six would be the best for the job, as you are more familiar with them and their techniques than any of our secret services are. Should you choose to accept this mission, we will be dividing you up into pairs and sending each pair, as well as a small back-up team, to each of the three targets. I know it's not much information to go off of but please- say you'll accept?"
I was rather shocked and a little angry. Everything had been going so well!! We were finally together and now this stranger wanted to rip us apart again! And our parents supported him-what was this??!
The sound of a chair hitting the ground shook me from my thoughts. Carter stood standing, firm and tall and reliable, staring Callan down quizzically. After a moment of silent analysis, she gave her answer.
"Yes. A million times yes."
Carter! I thought. Are you crazy? Are you trying to get us killed?! However, Carter wasn't alone. Hailee and Bailey stood up with her and pledged their allegiance. I couldn't believe it. Soon, Rikki joined them. After more thought, I gave in. He was right-we would never be able to breathe easy until we stopped the Winthrops for good. I stood up. A few moments later, Kailey rose. It was official. Our new adventure had begun.
Our parents smiled, although they were teary-eyed. Looking back on it, it had to have been the hardest on them. Fortunately, they were to join in with the back-up and research teams. Uncle Callan breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.
"Before we get started, you must go through the Protect our Victims and Bystanders and Children program, also known as the POVABAC program. It's basically a Witness Protection Program upgrade for secret scientists-call it what you like. You girls will need to take on new identities and habits. After these past few years, it is likely the Winthrops will know you better than you may like to think. Shall we begin?"
--Alex
Keeli will be joining us.
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