Just when Tim thought everything was over—
He had already driven back, safely dropped off Nora. The atmosphere along the way had been light. No boundaries were crossed, no pressing questions asked. The day’s arrangement seemed to end perfectly, even letting him breathe a small sigh of relief.
But—
While sitting in the living room, sorting through surveillance data on his laptop, a soft chime came from the small projection pad in the corner.
Finn—the little boy who had just fallen asleep—suddenly woke up and, as usual, activated the daily video call with his parents.
It was a routine. No matter where he was or what he was doing, Finn always called his parents every night to tell them about his day. The screen lit up, revealing Leila—wearing a soft white robe, sitting in front of the vanity in a ship’s cabin. The ocean’s shimmering light reflected beside her. Jason stood behind her, gently undoing the clip in her hair.
“How was your day, sweetheart?” Leila signed, her smile warm.
Finn launched into a stream of chatter—talking about how Grandpa took him to the market, breakfast, feeding pigeons, lunch, what he did in the afternoon, what movie he watched… an uninterrupted conveyor belt of detail.
Tim, sitting beside him, began to zone out, already thinking about getting a cup of coffee…
And then—the nightmare arrived.
“I saw Ms. Nora today too! She was having dinner with Uncle Tim!”
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXEyLMhu6G
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPjok7kUIm
Tim froze.
On-screen, Leila had been smiling gently, but at those words, her eyes snapped wide open. Her head jerked up, and she turned quickly to look at Jason.
Jason raised an eyebrow—then gave a light cough.
Leila turned back slowly and signed, “What do you mean? Just the two of them?”
Finn scratched his head. “I dunno… but they sat really close. I think it was pasta? And Ms. Nora looked… really happy…” He squinted, thinking, then shrugged. “Uncle said they were talking about some super important grown-up stuff.”
Leila had the expression of a mom who just heard her son say something that clearly meant her brother was bullshitting.
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147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbIhfhx0Xk
Tim had already buried his face in his hands.
Once the bedtime call ended, the tablet’s screen slowly went dark.
Leila looked up at her husband. The two of them held eye contact for a few seconds—then gave each other a knowing look.
Their eyes said the same thing:
This is gonna be good.
Tim had never anticipated that the biggest leak in his “low-profile investigation” wouldn’t come from the surveillance footage, or Bruce, or even Nora herself—
It came from his beloved nephew’s sweet, harmless little mouth.
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147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVr3p35RYR3
Tim updated the entry in his encrypted file:
- Preschool teacher × Combat specialist147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGSUGcPHHf
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡns97SWQWIN - Food stockpiled at home147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXlgyXvRxw
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc84JLIUv4h - Black market search history147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzv1a04ptV
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayjco6NcLl - Shooting accuracy abnormally high147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0z70tV9iL
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLTzBE8ncE - No decorative items, extreme minimalism147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHRZVBVMD6
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsW6L5IChCw - Didn’t call the cops after home intrusion147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDgCz5PXua
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTgcoAL4LN - Practiced archery for years147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzXmaMeDly
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmgDZeCRR8 - Doesn’t write Red Robin fanfic147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMkJ3G3Uwl
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndqhehPEH1 - Moved houses unusually fast147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnsOPFOmOt
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiguOFO6UQc - Overactive defense responses147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9ZbfUmyWh
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFeNzb9gCK - Distrust in government agencies147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiWW784qZ6
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnj6dXNJ4D - Double-life presentation147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbpU3v6gNo
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUoMsIRrTW
Tim’s fingers paused mid-typing.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcxgCZCHUi
He glanced through the bulleted list, a small furrow forming between his brows.
There was already enough information here to piece together a rough profile.
He dragged the tags “guns” and “archery” into the same group.
Guns were useful—but if you ran out of bullets, switching to a bow made sense. Especially in a post-disaster scenario, arrows were reusable, silent, and easy to craft.
Next, he highlighted “food stockpile”, “minimalist lifestyle”, “distrust in government”, and “frequent relocations” and grouped them together.
That grouping made things even clearer—147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0d075zpfk9
It described a survivalist mindset formed after some kind of catastrophic event. Someone always prepared for the worst: maybe a natural disaster, maybe a man-made collapse where the government fails. And someone who never stayed in one place too long.
That wasn’t a normal lifestyle. It was one forged through training… or trauma.
Which meant—Nora had been through something. Something big enough to shape her into this.
Tim pulled up her official records.
Nothing.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KNFgo0q2H
Too clean.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDFRzzaUQN
Even her school history was so ordinary it faded into the background.
But then he thought of Dick’s wife—Claire.
Claire had an unusual history too. There was a stretch of time in her life when nobody knew where she was or what she was doing. She was now staying in Blüdhaven, pregnant and waiting to give birth.
Dick hadn’t been around much lately, busy taking care of her.
If Claire could have a mysterious past, then it wasn’t impossible for Nora to have one as well.
Tim typed a new command, opening a fresh folder.
He labeled it:147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzim30ryAyx
Nora v2
The folder icon flickered once—then auto-encrypted.
Tim leaned back in his chair, hands crossed, eyes still fixed on the screen.
Next step:147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzoMX3febk
He needed to find the fragments left behind…147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCD9z8K2QQ
from whatever world Nora had come from.
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and then Add to home screen.