I waved at Bereth and Isaiah as they tied off on the beach at Redbank.

“Any new developments?” Bereth asked.

I was hesitant to answer, knowing how he was beginning to feel about my meddling here.

“You could say that. I need to make a trip to PanTech’s island, if you don’t mind. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on starting any trouble there. I just need to clear up something.”

Ghost tilted his head.

“Not Rockport?”

“Not yet,” I said.

Bereth and Isaiah looked between one another, hesitating.

“Alright,” Bereth finally said. “Though it seemed the last meeting with them did not go so well. Are you sure it’s safe to return?”

I smiled, trying to reassure him.

“I do. I’ve learned a lot about this Adversity Management since the last time I met with them. I think they will do everything they can to avoid open conflicts. We’ll talk, and that’s it. Besides, I’m not going to argue with them about the vaccine anymore. They’re not going to give it up, so I’ll have to come up with other ideas there.”

“Other ideas?” Isaiah asked as I boarded the boat.

“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. I just believe the people on Rockport deserve the same choice as everyone else. I haven’t come up with a solution to this yet, but I want to try. That’ll come after this bit of business, though.”

As we floated off toward the island, Bereth became more insistent.

“I think I’d feel better knowing a little more about your business with Adversity Management. No offense to you, Taylor, but you’ve been so open with everything until now that it makes me nervous you’re not sharing the reason for your visit.”

I sighed, looking to Ghost, who simply nodded his encouragement.

“I’ve learned a lot about the disappearance of the Lunaria and Jeremy’s daughter. I have reason to believe she’s either there on the island, or that she was shipped off to PanTech HQ. If possible, I want to know the truth. Her parents deserve to know.”

“You don’t believe she’s dead?” Bereth asked, more surprised than I expected him to be.

“That depends. If she was shipped off to HQ, most everyone there didn’t make it out. If she’s on the island… she’s probably still alive. They would know the answer, and I’d like to find out. It’s possible this girl may even be someone I knew.”

Isaiah and Bereth both nodded grimly, the brief surge of excitement leaving them as quickly as it came.

“You see why I was hesitant to bring it up before I learned the truth.”

“Aye, I do,” Bereth said, choosing not to pry further as we rowed toward our destination.

***

Arriving on PanTech’s island, we were greeted by Clarise. ‘Greeted’ was one way of putting it. She seemed entirely unimpressed by our arrival.

“Did you miss me?” I asked.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” she replied. “And just to be clear, wasn’t a bad thing.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Quick question,” I said, holding up a finger as I stumbled off the boat.

“You didn’t come here for a quick question,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“No… but I have a quick question. How many humans are left in Adversity Management?”

“About half our forces. Kaden told you this the last time you were here.”

“How many were lost to the virus?”

“I think you should talk to Kaden,” she said, ignoring my question and turning to walk away. “Assuming he’ll want to talk to you.”

“Wait here for a bit, if you don’t mind,” I quickly whispered to Bereth and Isaiah before shuffling to catch up with Clarise.

“Why are you always on beach duty? Tick off the wrong person?” I said, doing my best to make small talk with the stoic woman.

“It was my request,” she said.

“That’s fair. Don’t get along with the rest of the crew?”

“I get along with them fine. If your aim is to stir up trouble, then…”

“Nope, just making conversation. I’m a bit of a loner too, if you couldn’t tell. My best friend is a bird.”

She grinned, and Ghost tilted his head as though it was a joke he didn’t quite understand.

“I’m more interested in the island than conversation. All of them have a similar education and spent time at PanTech HQ. I’ve never been off this island.

Ghost and I shared a glance. No way… but wouldn’t hurt to ask more questions.

“Never been off the island? I thought everyone who joined PanTech had to go to HQ for training. Especially Adversity Management inductees. Did you take the exam after your eighteenth birthday?”

The irritation was returning at my barrage of questions.

“Lots of exceptions get made. You should know that.”

I nodded, hoping she wouldn’t completely dodge the question.

“Fair enough.”

“I’ve never taken an exam, and I’ve never been off this island. I’m our scout, so I spend most of my time monitoring the coasts with our equipment or just patrolling. You might not think it would matter here, but since the collapse of HQ I’ve had to deal with a couple of invaders.”

As curious as I was about these invaders, it was deeply secondary at the moment.

“Never taken the exam, and never been off the island,” I repeated.

“That’s what I said… Are you mocking me, Professor?”

I stopped in my tracks, looking up at Ghost again. His expression, as always, was unreadable, but he seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Do you ever visit your parents here?” I asked.

“My parents are dead, so PanTech took me in and raised me. I was rescued from their fishing boat.”

“Ghost…”

“Nothing thus far confirms it, Taylor,” he said, shaking his head. “Be thorough.”

“Clarise, this is going to seem completely out of the blue, but I’m investigating something that I think you may be involved in. With just one of your hairs, or a drop of your blood, I can confirm it. I would be grateful.”

“And what would I do with your gratitude, exactly?” she scoffed.

“Please… I think you’d be interested in these results as well.”

She sighed, turning to face me and taking a step forward.

“I’m not interested in your vague language. Tell me exactly what you want it for.”

I took a deep breath, trying to find the words.

“I don’t think your parents are dead,” I said.

I fought the urge to add more to it, but I figured those words were already difficult enough to process.

She stared at me a moment, angrily at first. She looked as if she wanted to punch me.

“What? You show up out of the blue talking about the virus, causing a scene about how we’re using your vaccine, and now you’re here telling me my parents aren’t dead? Are you insane, or just trying to draw me into your schemes to cause trouble?”

“Option four?” I asked, shrugging.

“Didn’t you skip option three?”

“Option three is that I stumbled upon this entire mystery by chance, and finding you here is, ironically, almost miraculous.”

“What’s option four?”

“All of the above,” Ghost interjected.

“Thank you for that, Ghost. But yes, maybe all of the above. If what I say turns out to be true, wouldn’t you want to know? And wouldn’t you want the people who manipulated your parents and lied to you your entire life to answer for it.”

She was beginning to look visibly distressed, pacing slowly back and forth.

“Fine,” she said, plucking a strand of her hair and handing it to me.

“Thank you. Now, I just need to go to—”

“Unnecessary,” Ghost said.

“What? Why?” I asked.

He leaned over, pulling at my shirt with his beak, then presenting a long strand of silver hair.

“Your lucky day,” he said. “How rare.”

“How rare indeed,” I replied, taking the hair from him.

“Is that…” Clarise said, almost sounding hopeful now.

I pulled out my medical scanning device from my shirt, quickly sampling both strands of hair, referencing parentage. It only took a moment for the results to appear on the tiny screen.

It was overwhelming. My emotions nearly got the better of me, as I held it up for Clarise to see.

She sat on a nearby stone, rubbing her temples with her fingertips.

“You know… it would be harder to believe if it didn’t explain so much. So many things about my life begin to make more sense if this is true. Tell me everything.”

I took a deep breath and, over the course of the next hour, did exactly that.