A... Peaceful morning

Inside I find mother and that man sitting at the table. Their expressions are still a little strained from yesterday but they are at least trying to put up a front. I suppose I should do the same. So plastering on that same smile I walk up to the table and greet them in turn.

"Hey. I'm home" I say in what I hope sounded like a bright and cheery voice. My little greeting prompts one from each of them in turn of course.

"Welcome home sweetheart." mother says in an only slightly strained tone. Ignoring the strain however she at least has some of her cheer back already. We've been through this before so it really doesn't matter.

"Welcome back" The old man however is not quite as cheery. His expression is still strained, his gestures are minimal if there at all and most importantly, his greeting comes out as no more than a grunt.

I consider for a moment getting a more lively response out of him but decide leaving him be will allow me to watch him stew in his misery a little longer and that idea pleases me so I pretend like I didn't notice the strain in his voice or the tension in the room.

"What are we having for dinner I missed lunch again.." I trail off towards the end. This isn't even an act. I'm just really bad at keeping track of time. Very rarely do I get to eat lunch at all let alone at the house. Usually lunch consists of either biscuits in my home or nothing at all.

"Dear you really shouldn't keep missing lunch like that. It's bad for your stomach and it doesn't help with whatever work you're doing either." Mother says in a not quite scolding tone. She probably can't bring herself to scold me properly after what happened yesterday so this is as close to punishment as she's going to give me today.

"Hunger and exhaustion are the biggest causes for mistakes there are. Especially during delicate work. I don't know what you're doing every time you go out but if you're doing what I think you are you'd best get into the habit of eating and sleeping properly" The old man says in a tone far more decisive than mother's.

He has absolutely no compunctions about scolding me the day after a training session and it shines through. I suppose that's the difference between them. "I'll try but I just get so absorbed in work. It happens all the time." I say in as dismissive a tone I can manage without coming off completely hostile.

"And AS I SAID, hunger is a major cause for accidents and mistakes. It would be better for both you and whatever it is that you're working on to eat and sleep properly." Growls the old man with some serious force behind his words. This is the sort of thing that used to make me think he actually cared.

"Like I said I'll try, I'll try" I once again dismiss his statement without coming off too aggressive. I know that I'm not going to change and I don't really have any choice in how I am. The old man seems to notice my non-committal answer and narrows his eyes at me.

The tension in the room builds a little and I decide I've had enough of being glared at so I try to switch the topic. However a voice overlaps with my own. "What are we having for food anyway" Both the old man and I say in unison as we both pointedly stare at mother.

Seeing that it hasn't devolved into a fight mother looks relieved and she starts to explain why she's just sitting here and not in the kitchen. "Food's on already. It'll be done in a few minutes you won't have to wait long. Don't worry sweetheart I always do a little more than usual for you so you'll have enough food for both lunch and dinner" She pipes up looking incredibly chipper seeing as no fights broke out.

A scoff is all she gets from the old man before he lapses back into silence with me. Appearing to notice the awkwardness I see mother's expression become rigid. She's not scared or anything but it appears her thoughts are going into overdrive to try and think of an inoffensive topic to bring up.

Appearing to have stumbled onto an idea she once again interjects. "Did you two see the news earlier today?" She asks looking at each of us in turn. Seeing both of us shake our heads as she looks our way she seems to let out a sigh but I can't tell why until she continues.

"Apparently the flux corporation were accused of taking over orphanages and forcing the orphans into their workforce. There's no proof the orphans were treated particularly poorly though that company is known for it's bad working conditions compared to everyone else but it's still a scandal for them." She explains a hint of pity creeping into her tone.

"I'm surprised they let that slip out. They're fairly well known for doing stuff like this and keeping it hushed. How'd the media manage to find out? More importantly, who actually had the gaul to post such a story." I ask my interest piqued.

Flux is a well-known corporation for all the wrong reasons. They underpay their employees though not below ridiculous standards. They force them to work overtime quite a lot and though they pay them for it, it isn't much.

There's even a rumour that they use the excuse of paying into a pension or stock fund to divert some of their employee's salaries and then end up just not paying them unless they retire. Since essentially no one retires around here, they end up just taking a portion of their already meagre wages from them and nobody notices.

Worse, since it's on record that they pay them that money even if it is in a fund or pension, it means that the employees have to pay tax on that money despite not getting that amount in. Pretty common tactics for business' that have to scrimp on employee costs.

Some smaller businesses tell their employees as such and are sometimes accepted for it until they can get back on their feet. Since Flux is so big however they have absolutely no need to resort to such tactics and are just doing it to line their pockets.

My internal musings however are suddenly interrupted by a shout from the old man. "Well done to that news agency. They SHOULD be publishing this sort of thing. I'd give them a medal of honour if they were in my battalion." This interruption brings me back to my senses and I re-iterate my question to mother.

Making sure to not confront the old man about the moral quandary in this case I ask mother "Regardless of their morality, how did they manage it. I can't imagine Flux being exposed like this and just taking it lying down. Not to mention that taking over orphanages would've been done on the sly. How did they manage to get that information in the first place?"

My curiosity makes me ask the question despite the risk that the old man might freak at me. Luckily enough he seems curious too so mother's explanation goes uninterrupted. "Apparently they got an anonymous tip to look into certain orphanages and the way their run. Another anonymous video and picture later and they had full blown evidence that the company is taking over orphanages for essentially free and forced labour."

Her explanation gives me some reservations though. Who would have the resources and courage to defy something like flux and stay anonymous. It wouldn't surprise me if Flux put some serious pressure on the news company soon just to find out who this anonymous person was.

"As for why they actually posted it. It's because they were somewhat forced into it. Apparently one of their journalists posted on social media about the story and they would've been in even more trouble if they didn't post it at that point." She continues her explanation with something that doesn't make any sense.

I could see the journalist letting a different story leak and getting fired for it but this is flux. No journalist in their right mind is going to think that flux is taking this lying down. So this journalist is either an incredibly brave martyr or incredibly stupid. That or something else is at play here.

At that moment a bell rings throughout the room and mother leaps to her feet. "Sounds like food's done. I'll go plate it for you. Won't be long" She almost sings in joy as she heads to the kitchen ready to get us our food.

The room lapses back into silence as both I and the old man think about the flux corporation and the somewhat fishy way that they were exposed. Someone is clearly trying to undermine them and likely for the sake of these orphanages.

At first I would think it was just some vigilante or maybe a member of the orphanage itself. But there would've been news about the orphanage's punishment if the whistleblower was a member and they could prove it.

Then again mother might not have been able to see that news story for what it is but I would've thought she'd bring it up regardless if it was even remotely related. My musings continue for a few seconds but are swiftly put to an end as mother comes back with plates of food in her hands.

The old man gets up and once again helps take the plates from her and place them at the table in our respective spaces. First is his own, then mother's and finally mine. When he brings my food to me he places it in front of me with very little fuss and only a slightly awkward expression on his face.

The plating is near silent with the only exception being the sounds of the dishes clinking against the table and the old man's footsteps as he goes from the kitchen to the table. Well with my hearing I also pick up the sounds of mother's footsteps in the kitchen and the moving of plates in there but I pay very little attention to those.

Once all the plates are in the right spot mother comes to join us at the table once more and we both look at the old man for permission to eat. After a few seconds looking at each of us in turn, he takes a bite of the food and nods at us giving us the permission to dig in ourselves.

The food this time is salmon in a sort of watery butter substance and on the side is a plate of potatoes. Though mother has quite a few more potatoes and we have two salmon instead of one. As I dig into my meal I relish the silence that comes at the start of the meal.

Despite both of the other participants thinking otherwise I personally like the silence that comes from these meals. It means I don't have to keep up the act and can honestly enjoy my food. The meal continues with only some inoffensive small talk along the way talking about mother's work and my own childhood memories.

We almost would've looked like a normal family to any onlookers. Obviously there was still tension beneath the surface but in the end we had a fairly peaceful dinner and I enjoyed the fish quite a bit. I'm not so much a fan of potatoes but as a carnivore what can you expect from me.

So when the meal was over I walked to my room and no one stopped me. Today was fairly peaceful as my days go. A good thing really. I'm not sure I could survive tomorrow without having a peaceful time at home.

I get into bed and it changes me into pyjamas while playing indistinct whispers in the background. I get to thinking about my job tomorrow. Since everything's so peaceful today. I figure it's time I finally acquire the last piece for my robot.

With that thought I drift off into dreams and have a comfortable and restful sleep.