"Hi, James!" Stairmount waves his hand to a tall Jupitune man who is walking fast toward him.

James approaches Stairmount who has now taken off his disguise. They quickly embrace each other. "Gosh, Stairmount! We've been separated for four years! I miss you!"

"I miss you too, James!" Stairmount pats James on the back.

"Of course I miss you! Neptune attacks Pluto, how crazy it is! Glory to God, you are still alive!"

"Yeah... I've almost died a few times. Luckily I have a cockroach's life!"

*) Cockroaches are hard to die. Hitting them once is not enough, we have to hit them many times to make them really die.

"Tell me the details about your experience at Pluto to me later, okay!" James lets go of his arm. Then he squints at Daphne and Mrs. Yalle. They have also taken off their disguises, and now are standing quite far from them. He whistles. "Wow! You are a real gentleman! Gee whiz! You know that Plutonian women can be listed as one of the most beautiful women on this Planet! Hey, and that young woman, is even prettier than ordinary Plutonian women!" He pokes Stairmount's arm. "I get a piece of great news! Our laboratory expert is evidently a great gentleman!"

"Hush, don't say such low-quality words!" Getting uneasy, Stairmount quickly cuts off James' words. "If you know the story, you would have done the same with me! And so do the other men! So, it's not just me, you know!"

"Yeah, you do have to find a partner, that's natural. Don't just focus on your career and look for success. Without women, life is meaningless!"

Stairmount smiles slightly. He then takes the friendly round-faced man in his 40s to Daphne and Mrs. Yalle.

"Let me introduce the three of you. This is my best friend James. James, this is Mrs. Yalle, and this is her daughter, Daphne." By first translating into their respective languages, Stairmount introduces the three of them. Each of them starts to shake hands with each other.

Now they have arrived at Tiara, to be precise, in front of the Embassy of Pluto in Jupiter. That large building is quiet and deserted, with only a few people who are milling around in the middle of the large front garden. The splash of the fountain greets them as they enter the building. Stairmount has told James about Daphne's story - but he hides the fact that Daphne is an ethnic Neptunian, not Pluto indigenous person. And about the passport tablet which is usually required to be shown at the embassy, Stairmount gives an excuse telling that the situation in Pluto was so chaotic that it was very difficult for them to save their own lives, let alone deal with trivia things like taking passports and so on while missiles were busy hitting their residences. This reasonable excuse manages to let James unanticipated, and thus leads them down a light brown walled corridor full of cold and quiet nuance, to the room where James' acquaintance is. James is really a nice guy, and Stairmount feels very grateful for that, but he still feels uncomfortable telling him all of the truth. But it is understandable. He is now in a crisis of trust, where he can't fully trust anyone. So that he will do everything - as long as it doesn't stray from humanity - to make him feel safe. Including doing this little lie.

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Copyright © by boundless_universe

When they come to the end of the corridor connecting them to a large, thick mahogany door, James presses the doorbell.

"Who is that?" A voice answers from behind the door.

"James Clay."

"Please come in."

"Thank you." James opens the door marked 'Pluto Ambassador', which leads them into a very beautiful large room. A middle-aged man with a Plutonian face is sitting at a very fine-quality table with his name written 'Dereck Tavon, Deputy Ambassador of Pluto' on it.

"Those are the ones you are talking about?" Mr. Tavon asks.

"Yes, Sir," James answers. "This is Mrs. Mirinda Yalle and Ms. Daphne Yalle."

"Passport tablets?"

"Disappeared due to the chaos of war."

Mr. Tavon nods his head slightly. Instead of treating Daphne and Mrs. Yalle with great empathy (as they should, since both mother and daughter are the victims of war, and again, since they are from the same country), Mr. Tavon instead coldly turns to his laptop, thus gets busy doing telepathy browsing on the cyber monitor. The atmosphere falls silent for a while, while they wait for Mr. Tavon to finish his work.

"We can't accept them..."

The cold voice soon startles them. "Excuse me, Sir?" James even has to ask so as to make sure that his ears don't ridicule him.

Mr. Tavon throws a cold glare at Daphne and Mrs. Yalle. "We can't accept Neptune people."

"Ne... Neptune?!" It is Stairmount who asks in confusion. "Sir, they are the citizens of Pluto. You must have their data, right? So you may check!..."

"And that's the result I get after I checked it." Still giving the cold glare to Daphne and Mrs. Yalle who look back at the Deputy Ambassador with a mixture of shock and horror on their faces. "You are Neptunians, and not the indigenous Plutonians. For that reason, we can't give the asylum for you."

"What the hell? What's going on, Stairmount?" James is obviously confused.

Stairmount himself, feels his surprise quickly turns to anger. The allegation of Mr. Tavon immediately reminds him of the brutal treatment they just experienced, and which also prompted them to come here. But he knows that emotions will not solve the problem, instead, if he becomes emotional, it will bring harm to Daphne and Mrs. Yalle. It is the solution which is needed here, not emotion. Taking a deep breath, Stairmount says, "Sir, that's true, they are indeed ethnic Neptunian. But Sapphire is indeed inhabited by the majority of ethnic Neptunians, right? And that is the area which suffers from Neptune's attack the most. Sir, Neptune views them as the citizens of Pluto, that's why they can do the attack so brutally and relentlessly. And, that's why we don't ask the asylum from Neptune Embassy. Because after all, they are the citizens of Pluto. Your citizens!"

"That's final. It is the provisions set from above, not my will."

"Sir!..."

"I think it's enough!" Mr. Tavon stands up. "I have an appointment in ten minutes. So..." He glances at the door.

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