The classes were going well and Lia also managed to teach one. Very soon, the time to meet the students arrived. Thos time, Lia would meet everyone. She knew that this time she had to be good at teaching in the presence of everyone. If they wanted to make a game, they had to cooperate well.But before that, something that was ignored by them raised its head."That grandpa sent some gifts. I feel weird."Aster had told Lia.Lia didn't think anything of it but before she could ask him, he showed her.It was a very weird vase."Why would he give you this?"I don't know. Lia thought that you couldn't return the gifts so they could just keep it."I will keep it with me. You forget about it."Lia took the vase home and then threw it somewhere.She saw it again the next day. And that's when she found something.Lia had a watch that detected signals near it.She found one unknown signal so when she tracked it, she found the culprit as the vase.Lia instantly felt regret.She backed away as i
"I got a tip from the person following your old man. It seems that he goes to a club house."Aster heard with rapt attention."What's the weird business here?"He didn't think there was anything going on! Because Marvin spoke to him personally, it must be something serious."He is going to a clubhouse for old aged people. And get this, that clubhouse is just a front. What really happens there, no one knows. I asked my guy not to follow him. It can alert the old man.""Good, we have to think and act. I think this clubhouse can give us what we want."Aster was excited to hear this news. It was great. Finally, he was going to find something worthwhile.So when he told Lia, he was shocked to see her not excited."Why aren't you excited? I thought you would be more excited than I am."Lia rolled her eyes.Who said she wasn't excited?But was it worth it?"You get excited now but what if you get nothing there? Wouldn't you be setting yourself up for disappointment?"Aster thought and felt t
"Hey, why is my life so hard?"Lia was sad. Her program had bugs. So many of them. She just deleted an empty line. What's up with this?She had to see indentation now. Because sometimes that caused errors too.She then clicked and clicked and the error didn't go away.Lia was plucking her hair."You will be bald if you continue that."Chris entered her room and observed."I can't seem to find what's the error. I don't know what to do."Chris looked at the screen and he felt that the words made no sense.x=x+1How was that remotely possible?"How come x equals x plus one?"Lia frowned."What's wrong with that code?""That's the wrong thing you wrote. Maybe x equals y not how can 2 equal 2 plus 3. Check it."Lia then understood his point."That is not wrong. You know the reading happens from right to left while assigning. So the value of x plus one is stored in x. The equal sign shows that we are putting the value on the right in the left variable. So that statement is right."Chris fel
Lia was waiting to see all the new students. She knew that this was the first communication between them and the Outleirs. Anyway, the leader had helped them so much and this was the way she could help them back. Lia then found the group arriving being led by a familiar lady. It was the lady who stopped her before. The lady who asked her for the photograph copy.So they were here early?Lia didn't focus on her and moved her eyes away.The lady noticed her and smiled a little."Welcome everyone. As you have already learned the basics, let's review."Aster lectured and Lia watched everyone.She had to see if anyone was having problems. She helped them change the settings. She was the assistant today.Like an understudy, haha.When the class was done, Lia breathed in relief. Well, teaching was very hard. She couldn't understand how her teachers did it. They made it look simple, haha.She waited for Aster and they went to meet Marcin and Albert who were working in the opposite room."Is
The club was dark. It was definitely not a club that was what they found in the information collected. Because it was a club Aster had seen in movies. With people dancing and what not.Aster was forbidden to go to any places like these. And he didn't want to go too. Because he was always busy."Follow me."Marvin yelled in his ear.The loud noise prevented them from communicating but Aster could make out his words.He followed him through the sea of people. It felt like an eternity when they reached the other side.It was somewhat calm in this corner."You don't act suspicious. Try to blend in."Aster was confused."How?""You dknt stare everywhere. Act like you come to places likes these everyday. In fact act like you live here."Aster then turned around and didn't watch anyone. He was really feeling off with the energy of thus place. He wasn't a fan of places with loud noise."See there, we will enter the room when the lights switch off. We have to be fast."Marvin pointed to a door
"Yes, so they mean that they have successfully trapped some families by placing bugs. That means they are actively listening to us. We should give them the wrong info and play with them.""But Lia, that way we won't be able to catch them.""Then what do you want to do?"Marvin spoke."We want to catch them without giving them any chance to act. Why should we give them information even if it is a bad one? We are not going to pamper them. Just catch them the next time we go. Easy."Lia pouted."But that is no fun.""You know we will have no way of knowing their reactions even if we decide to play with them."Marvin added."Why not? Aster should have left some listening device there."They all turned to Aster who looked confused."Did you? Or did you not?"Albert asked him."I left one.""Only one?"Lia asked."One batch."He answered sheepishly."And how many are there in a batch exactly?"Albert smiled at him."Ten."Marvin was shocked."When did you have time to do this?""When we were
Lia didn't know what was happening with Aster but she was really worried about the constant looks from that lady in the class.Was there something on her face?She unconsciously wanted to cover her face with bangs but she controlled her urge.She wanted to ask her, why."Okay, this is the end of today's lecture. Let's start working on our programs."Lia left that all aside when she totally concentrated on her work. She was bere to teach so she wouldn't want to jeopardize that.The assistant teacher was also very helpful."Miss, can you wait!"Lia was stopped by the lady.Lia wanted to run away and she winced towards the door."Wait, I'm not gonna hurt you."The lady raised her hands to show that she was coming with peace of mind."Okay, what do you want me for?"Lia asked.If there was one thing Lia learned by being in the company of all the rich people she suddenly met, it was confidence.If you are failing, fail with confidence.If Marvin knew this, he would say that he definitely d
"I was freaked out because of the way you kept watching and staring at me."Lia finally told her."That, I was watching because you look similar to my idol. I feel like it's the eyes of fans because they keep seeing their idols everywhere.""Who is your idol?""It's August of True Hate. I have his signed album. You wanna see?"Lia wanted to say that she sees Oggy on a daily basis now.And she didn't look anything like Oggy, right? Maybe because they live together, their faces started looking somewhat similar?She decided that way."Hey, what's your name?""I'll tell you my real name. Okay?"Lia nodded."And you have to find out my work name by the members. You should also get to know them that way."Lia felt extremely thankful. She was actually scared to talk to the members about anything other than the subject they were learning."My name is June. And my sister's name was May. Our mother loved these months. You know she always said if we had a brother, she would name him August. That
The date was wonderful. When they came back, Lia couldn't stop smiling."So, I'll see you tomorrow. "Aster dawdled without wanting to leave. Lia smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you go first. I'll wait for your signal."Lia left first and opened the door to Jake's face."Have you son some lottery again?""Noo!"Lia wanted to stop her face from smiling like an idiot but it was proving to be hard."Then your experiment was successful. I knew it, let's celebrate by eating leftover ice cream from yesterday."Lia didn't pay attention to him. At this point, she didn't need to pay attention to him as he was already taking out ice cream. She slipped away to her room.Lia then opened her window and opened the balcony curtain. It was yellow, and the signal successfully alerted Aster. He smiled and sat in his room, waiting for Asher to come back.Aster wanted to talk to his brother and tell him how happy he was today.It was like he was floating. And nothing could stand in his way or hurt him today.
Butterflies were dancing everywhere. Lia felt like she had eaten some and some were flapping around her.That was really hilarious to think. But the thought of dating Aster sent her over the edge. She was being foolish but she was really happy.Lia cleaned her desk three times in a row before managing to calm herself down.Aster- How about we go to the museum today?Lia sent a reply lightning-fast.Lia- YesMuseum date, haha.She would love it.Museums were interesting and she would get to see a slow motion world there.No crowds today and more time to watch the exhibits she loved.Like the historic paintings and fossils.Lia wasn't worried about other things because she found herself wondering. The impact of the dating was this. She found herself double guessing her double guessing results.Finally, she dressed herself in a very casual way.And like always, she left her apartment with a note taped to the door. In case her brother wanted her to a grocery run, he could see the note and
Lia- YesAster grinned happily and he wanted to do a cartwheel. That ended badly as he knocked over the vase on the table. But that didn't damp his enthusiasm.It was a feeling he never experienced. It was like he was living in a fluffy cloud and he was made of a fluffy cloud too.The high he was feeling made him forget so many things. For instance, the stupid contract he made then. And the threatening things in their lives. And the fact that he never told her that the Lexor family was related to her.Yeah, love has selective vision and he was the perfect example.Lia was somehow the more clear headed one in this scenario. She just started working on her game. Lia had this habit. When she was bursting with something, she would try to delay it with some other work as a tactic. And when she felt somewhat calm, she would deal with it.This only worked for ten minutes and she kept having flashes of Aster. Lia sighed and smiled."Stupid Lia!"This showed that her tactic wasn't working an
"Do you want to confront him?"Marvin asked Aster.Aster really wanted to ask that person how could he betray his family. This guy was his mother's cousin. And to do this, it was really bad. Simon had sent so many items from his mother's collection and they were more or less bad. Similar to the stuff the old man gave. Now he was really doubtful about the old man too.Was he also involved in this shady stuff? Was he the mastermind behind this operation?Aster didn't know."What's the guarantee that he will tell me everything if I ask him?"Lia nodded. Yes, he could lie. Then they would lose their edge by making the enemy know that they were onto him."Yes, you are right. I think all of the people we found are scapegoats. If it was that easy to find him, your brother or your parents would have found him. And to keep doing this stuff for such a long time, he should be somewhat proficient, right?"Lia rambled.She really thought that way. "Also, we found this organization. Maybe there are
"Yes, the animal categories are very disturbing. It makes no sense why they used that but then again, it all depends on the person who is making the categories. If it was me, I would give them artistic names. Like painting, singing, dancing, you get it, right?"Albert answered and chuckled.But who asked him anything about this? No one. He was very interested in knowing and answering questions. "Hey, you are still working on the cats' folder, Marvin is now combing through monkeys."He also provided status updates.Good guy.This was making Lia nervous and competitive. She felt like she was taking a competitive exam and she had only thirty minutes left to solve half of the question paper."Got it. Your decryption algorithm worked, let's see the results."They all surrounded Aster."Let's see the first image."It was actually a cat playing with a red dot but after the decryption, it became something else.There were words instead.59 million gain 15 million lossAJ recruited"What's thi
Lia watched Aster set up the equipment and do a final check. She stood out of the way watching everything.Albert just stayed there in the chair hanging his legs out and nearly falling asleep. He slapped himself awake and it was very funny to watch.Lia then watched Marvin coming out with cups of coffee.She took one because let's face it, she wasn't awake completely."Okay, we are ready. On your signal."Marvin nodded."It's time. Start."Aster pressed the button and the screen started changing. The text was scrolling and Lia found it difficult to read."This is going well. We don't have much to copy. It will be done in three minutes."And like he said, the status bar came to a stop."It's done."It felt less party kind of an exclamation but they were still happy. Lia thought that they would all jump in the air and celebrate. But the reality was that even with coffee, they were all very sleepy.""I'm going to sleep."Albert fell asleep there.As it was done, Lia nodded and went to her
"Mom I have to talk about the class schedule with Marvin and Aster. I'll be home late.""Okay, have fun."Lia had finished her dinner and when everyone were watching television, she got a signal from Marvin."You go. I'll watch Asher and Jake."Oggy declared. Well, if he was so sure, then why not?"So, what is that water thing?"Lia almost forgot. Oggy was also a member of the kid gang.Seeing their attention drawn to the fountain, the three of them left the room.They went to Albert's apartment because apparently Aster's was not totally safe now.They didn't get rid of all the spy chips there. They left one as a formality.And that's why they had to change their Lair."Tell me, tell me, tell me."Albert started repeating."Wait, let Lia settle down."Yes, Lia was searching for a good cushion. She was embarrassed at having that pointed out "I'm okay, you can start."She coughed."Okay, so here's what we found."Marvin then motioned for Aster to start talking."Marvin connected my cop
"Whew, we are back home. The whole thing was very stressful."Aster felt like he was in heaven when he saw his couch. He was that happy."Yeah, take rest now. We will check the computer in the evening. Let's get the information sooner so that we can work on other things later."Marvin changed out of his clothes and he was ready to go out.Aster was surprised."You aren't going to rest?"He questioned Marvin."Yes, I have to go check the company. With the headquarters not here, I have so much backlogged by being out."Aster felt sad for Marcin. Good thing Ray did his work in the meantime.Maybe when his brother woke up, he would be free and sleep till he naturally woke up.Those were some happy days.Aster sighed and fell asleep on the couch."Uncle, you are back."It should be later because he was woken up by Asher."Yes, Aster, you are back. When did you come back? We didn't know anything."Jake was with Asher."I came around afternoon. Then I fell asleep. I would have met you all in
"This is a disaster," Aster told himself when he saw the bustling crowd in there. The club was totally filled with people and it was getting on Aster's nerves.He had never seen these many people in such a closed space.He made his way to the other end to get to a secluded place.Marvin had gone to the other side so he could keep an eye on people coming and going out of the side door.Aster felt that Marvin was doing a very focused job. Marvin kept shooting him messages that kept popping before his eyes and Aster wanted to block him.Marvin was having fun with the glasses but Aster had worked on them for so long so he didn't have any preference over it."Hey, handsome, are you alone?"Aster was brought out of his reverie by a voice.It was a guy.He had short spiky hair that looked like it could really hurt someone."Oh, no. I'm in my company."That guy came near him and sat beside him."Crazy night, right?""You realize it's just afternoon now.""What? Its night. See."Aster saw no p