When he entered his office in the colony , a delegation of scientists was already waiting for him , and with them was John .

“Hello , Alex” started John .

“Hello , John . Why are you here?” replied Alex .

These people contacted me to plead their case with you .

They told me everything they figured out , and believe me , they didn’t miss much .

They figured out everything about the treatment , the gates , and more…

They even have theories about what will happen from here , but they can’t be sure .

Nevertheless , they want to be a part of it all .

They wanted to ask you if you would be so kind to make them part of your faction , including their families .

My advice to you is to accept them and the people they propose .

They would enrich your little society and are prepared to follow you wherever your path takes you , as long as they can pursue their passions .

“We won’t trouble you at all or try to take over if that’s what your thinking” said a scientist .

It’s just that , according to our observations , you have access to better and more scientific and technological advancements in the mall than the rest of Earth .

We think that you have access to more knowledge and methods to implement this , and we can hardly believe that your path lies here on Earth while you have access to so much more .

So , in order to witness all that the universe has to offer , we would like to bind our fate with yours .

“Don’t think to much of it, Alex” said John .

It’s human curiosity . While it may cause some problems on Earth , the gains for you are more than enough to endure .

Worst case scenario , you compensate them for their losses , and you gain true scientists and engineers while your secrets remain secret for now .

“I guess I don’t have really a choice in this” sighed Alex .

I knew you guy’s would figure it out , but my only intention was to keep it a secret as long as possible .

“So do you accept us and keep this a secret a while longer?” asked another scientist .

“Yeah , welcome aboard” said Alex.

But John , you’ll have to handle this .

I’m going on a little holiday with my family.

Just out of curiosity , how many people are we talking about ?

“We don’t have the exact figures yet , but including our families , it should be between 50,000 and 60,000 people” answered one of the scientists .

And we know about the behavior adjustment in some cases , although it gives us the creeps , we all are willing to risk it .

“Okay , just remember that if you don’t consent to this , you should stay on Earth .

This is for all of our safety , and don’t be afraid of me altering anything else .

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Without your consent , I can only refuse the treatment and send you back” said Alex .

So once again , welcome to my faction .

If you’ll excuse me my family is waiting for me . I’ll be back in two weeks .

John , can you handle this for me until I’m back ?

“No problem , Alex” answered John .

See you in two weeks!

“Gentlemen , if you’ll excuse me , I’ll be on my way” said Alex , and he left for the island .

A while later , after taking a taxi and traversing the gate , he arrived on the island and went straight to his house .

“Hey sweetie , how was it ?” asked Helena .

“Long story short , they figured out everything , and we’ll be having at least 50,000 more people in our little society” answered Alex .

How are the kids ?

“Mary is feeding them while I’m preparing dinner . You can help me in the kitchen” answered Helena .

“I’ll be right there . I’m going to check on them first” replied Alex and he left for their room .

Mary had just finished feeding them and put them in their cribs .

While he was looking at them , Kimberley smiled and said , “dada” .

“Helena , Kimberley just said her first word” said Alex , raising his voice .

Helena stormed into the room , cursing that she missed this moment .

Alex was on cloud nine and held Kimberley in his arms , who was still smiling and looking like she was having fun .

“Come on , Kimberley , one more time for mommy” said Alex . “Say , daddy!”

“Dada” said Kimberley .

“Ah come on . I gave birth to you , I carried you for nine months , why do you say daddy and not mama” said a frustrated Helena . “Come on , say mama” .

“Dada” said Kimberley once more , smiling .

“This isn’t fair” said Helena , practically crying .

Alex was laughing and said “good girl” which got him elbowed by Helena .

“Mama” said Samantha suddenly , as if she didn’t want to perform less than Kimberley .

Helena picked up Samantha while smiling and said “at least you’re not a traitor to mommy” and gave her a kiss .

Samantha seemed to relish in her mother’s love and said once again “mama”.

Both Alex and Helena were happy and looked at each other with love until the smell of smoke brought them back to reality .

Mary hurried back to the kitchen while shouting “Dinner!” which elicited some nervous laughter from both of them .

Two weeks seemed to pass in the blink of an eye .

They enjoyed the pool together and relaxed in the shade while trying to teach words to their kids .

Thanks to Mary , they had some alone time as well , and Cathy finally sent them the gift she had promised for the birth of their children .

It was a collection of children’s tales in a full immersion VR setting which was interactive to some extent .

A story teller would guide them trough the stories while interacting with the children and answering their questions .

Even Da’grass had made a contribution and shared some children’s stories from the Ethereans , as did El’Anor and Cathy .

Curious as they were , Alex and Helena had entered the program and watched some stories .

They thanked those responsible for its creation and made it accessible for everyone on Earth , much to the delight of children around the world .

Cynthia had released her movie but not the documentary , claiming it wasn’t finished , and on the last night of their vacation , they watched the movie .

It was a three part movie .

Cynthia had made three movies and released them on the same day just to make sure that no one had to wait for the next parts .

Alex was happy that they had watched the movie in the Nexus , but Helena had fell asleep in his arms somewhere in the middle of part two .

He made Da’grass log them out , and she continued to sleep in bed while he went to check on the children .

After he made sure that their diapers were clean , he joined Helena in bed and fell asleep .

The next morning , he got a message from Da’grass that one ship had decided to return to Mars , thus terminating their search for habitable planets , and the other one was about to make one last stop at a location suggested by a scientist who was sure there was life on that planet .

He had scoured the night sky with equipment procured from the mall and was excited about his findings .

John told Alex through a message that the decision was made to prepare them for joining their faction but that they couldn’t dismiss the claim of the scientist .

By the time they arrived at their apartment the day was as good as passed , and the second ship arrived at their location .

Messages started pouring in , and Da’grass had to filter them .

Apparently , the planet was teeming with life but showed no signs of civilization.

The magnetic field of the planet was strong and stable , and the surface was a mix of green and blue from trees and water .

It seemed to be a planet that was primordial in nature , similar to how Earth would have looked like if the comet had never impacted .

As the hours passed , more and more information started coming in , as well as pictures of the local wildlife .

Oxygen levels were at 35 percent and the wildlife resembled variations of dinosaurs .

The planet was 30 percent larger than Earth , and 68 percent of the planet was covered in water .

Everyone was excited about the findings , and Alex finally had his bargaining chip for negotiations with the UN .