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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBU0lbuvHO
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwqRDSaM6y
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.
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3fXaXi5Eu
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASOTYvN4vq
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU69MkIsIZL
Tim updated the entry in his encrypted file:
- Preschool teacher × Combat specialist147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4u8x7fHP3o
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYY4GNLZ7xb - Food stockpiled at home147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SKoV75UUI
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWU9zgE7HM - Black market search history147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuzP1qAusA
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5m4oMskPlm - Shooting accuracy abnormally high147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJkdRvXfip
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3b3dQEkzd - No decorative items, extreme minimalism147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxTWLPMemy
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqLvNI5C4E - Didn’t call the cops after home intrusion147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50m9wuMZUt
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqk2XgEauQi - Practiced archery for years147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeOtJLpC2k
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tdD1tDkFV - Doesn’t write Red Robin fanfic147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJL8D1qL83
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpZEHHrSs0 - Moved houses unusually fast147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3IGbfcrP5
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5hppHCjuw - Overactive defense responses147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjLrOrqMGO
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUT13Bj7R6p - Distrust in government agencies147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9n11u0g6Xt
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCaLeEpKKX - Double-life presentation147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BBqQJMUNA
147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1weuVhLCpT
Tim’s fingers paused mid-typing.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WfDfiZoPj
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SslZvllDE
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAJTzvTKld
Too clean.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k6W3Zu2cM
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8utgBp3PmV
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ0eoKK0L3
He needed to find the fragments left behind…147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTcy0wQ3Yk
from whatever world Nora had come from.
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and then Add to home screen.