"Clearing Doubts"

Being questioned by the closest mutant in the research facility, Sanno was conflicted to tell him the truth. He wasn't sure about the outcome. Was he going to hate him?

Chrome saw how nervous Sanno was. It seemed like he didn't expect him to find out. The hidden camera that Sanno had attached to the tree fell last night, but because he trusts him, he wanted to tell him immediately before someone from D.M. Cadre inspects the area. "Sanno, don't worry," he said, and smiled back at him, "I won't tell anyone."

"Chrome…" Sanno was relieved. He knew he should be cautious, but this mutant is almost like a brother to him.

Chrome knew that there weren't hidden audio recorders in the mutants' rooms, and Roy was the one who told him that. He took a deep breath before he said, "Honestly, I want to tell you something…" Chrome placed his chair closer to Sanno and spoke softly, "I want to get out of here… But I don't know how..."

Sanno widened his eyes in surprise. The chameleon guy was an obedient mutant, but he still wished to escape. If Chrome wanted to get out of that filthy place, then Sanno's the right guy to help him.

"I will help you, I promise," Sanno said, tapping his mutant's shoulder to assure him. "Trust me. Soon, I will make my next plan."

Hours had passed, and Dr. Logan received a call from Dr. Jaia Mullock. "Dr. Jaia, we've bought the tickets for March."

"Alright," she replied, "By the way, the shark mutant seems to be frightened because of her new environment. Can you send us her assigned scientist?"

"Yes, I'll tell Ms. Faye right away." He replied while taking down notes on a tablet. He wrote on the screen using his stylus. "Anything else?"

"Ah, regarding the vulture mutant… I want him in our lab for a while. I want to try a field test for him. Ms. Mayheart still didn't submit her proposal, but please prepare for his temporary transfer."

"He will be hard to convince," Dr. Logan said.

"Then, just bring the caretaker with him."

Sanya sat in front of her computer, and she couldn't concentrate on her project proposal. She kept on staring at the blank page until Dior noticed her.

"Are you okay, Sanya?" Dior said, stopping from reading his 17th document. His eyes were obviously tired, from the lump of work that he shouldered in Dr. Brown's absence. "It's not like you, to space out for a whole thirty minutes."

"Ah, I'm okay, Mr. Svenkin," Sanya replied. Ever since Dior told her that he was disappointed in her, she kept her distance from him. She started treating him like her boss as Dr. Ryzer Brown's replacement. "I think I just have to drink some coffee. Do you want some, sir?"

Dior shook his head, and Sanya went straight to the small kitchen counter. Dior had already noticed the difference. It was true that he was disappointed because, in Sanya's experiment, she would be manipulating the vulture mutant and the caretaker, and she would be using their honest feelings towards each other to her advantage. Experiments like that were too much for Dior. He already knew that it wasn't in Sanya's nature to take pity or feel sad towards the mutants, but he was hoping that she knew where to draw the line. But since she's still her senior colleague and now her boss, all he could do is sit back, and see where her career path would go.

While Sanya was watching the coffee drip, she was thinking about how to go with the proposal. She looked at the time, and it was 5:30 in the afternoon. Her phone suddenly rang. When she saw who's calling, she answered quickly, "Hello, Sanno?"

"Hey… Sanya," Sanno said. "I can't have dinner with you today."

"Why?"

"My father will come. We promised to have dinner together," Sanno said. It wasn't a lie, and Dexter would really come.

"Uhm, Sanno," she said hesitantly, "I would like to meet your parents."

Sanno felt bad that she was already thinking of meeting them. He told her, "Maybe next time, we had some sort of… family issues to discuss. Sorry."

Sanya was disappointed, but hearing Sanno's sad voice made her believe him. "Oh, it's okay, we have a lot of next time… Right?"

"Yes," Sanno abruptly replied.

"So, uhm… Am I going to hang up now?"

"Hmm… yeah."

"Okay… Uhm… Sanno, I want to tell you something."

He coldly replied, "Hmm… what is it?"

"Sanno, I… I love-"

The call ended.

"He hung up on me…" she was disheartened. She never heard Sanno say those three sweet words, so she planned to be the first one to say it to him.

Suddenly, she received a chat message from him.

Sanno: Sanya, I'm sorry I have to go, my father's here. I'll make it up to you, okay? ;)

She was relieved that he wasn't ignoring him or something. "I knew it, something just happened, that's why he hung up," she thought. She then typed in her reply and sent it.

Sanya: It's okay, have a good meal.

Sanno: Thanks, you too. :*

When she saw the kiss smiley, she remembered the steamy scene last time. She blushed at the thought of it, and the bitter taste of coffee became sweet to her taste.

The doorbell rang at Joy Angeldame's condo unit, and she quickly ran to the door to open it. Dexter Angeldame smiled at his wife and planted a kiss on her cheek. He then took off his coat and placed it on the coat hanger.

"What's for dinner?" he asked. They went to the sofa and placed his bag on the coffee table.

"I cooked roasted duck, and Sanno baked your favorite cinnamon roll," Joy said, as she went to the dining table to set up.

Sanno had just finished talking to Sanya when he went out of his room. He fixed the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt, and greeted his father, "Dad, welcome home."

"Ah, thank you," Dexter said, closing his eyes because of tiredness. He then remembered something, "Where's Dr. Wenn's daughter?"

"She will be here at any minute," Sanno said. Shortly after, the doorbell rang. He walked towards the door and opened it, seeing Lovely in her pink pajamas. Her red, long hair was fixed in high pigtails.

"Tada! Just some gifts for you," Lovely exclaimed. She gave him a bag of spices and a bag of fresh tuna. "Mother sent me these. She knew I moved my job here to Newton Ave."

Sanno took the tote bags from her. "Thank you, but… why do you look like a kindergarten student?" he laughed at her, and Lovely hit his shoulder.

"Sannooo! You're so mean!" she replied, and she pouted as she continued hitting his shoulder jokingly.

"Did you forget that you will be meeting my father?"

"Ah! I forgot! I thought we're just going to have dinner today!" Lovely panicked and held her pigtails. "I'll just take these off-"

Sanno laughed, and pulled her arm, "Never mind, come inside now. The food will be cold." When Lovely had already gone inside, Sanno closed the door.

But at the nearest corner, someone had already recorded their conversation.