Backing Out

Sazzy narrowed her eyes at Linda.

[But Patricia used her children to test us though?]

She had a good point.

Asking Linda that question, Linda laughed once more.

"That was on me. I told her to do that. You would not believe how mad Patricia was."

[Ok she has more than a few screws loose.]

Oliver reached over from under the table and held my hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shifting ever slightly closer to me.

"Ok, putting away all that. How much do you know?"

Shifting her head to the side, the tension in the room suddenly turned cold and her previous innocent smile became as sharp as a blade.

Should I tell her everything? Even about Liz and her relation to Barbie? About her group who was secretly trying to overturn the Colonizer's hold on the majority of the large associations ?

Seeing my hesitation, Linda's sharp smile turned back to its previous harmless appearance.

"Since what happened for the past few days was my bad, I will start first. 20 years ago, when we took in Amanda, it was pretty obvious that she was running for her life. It didn't take long for the stress to pile up and for her to spill everything to me. You see, the both of us were around the same age and so we hit it off pretty well at first. This relationship only became better after we shared this secret. She told me three major points."

Linda put up one finger in a very showy fashion.

"The first major point. The Colonizers were the ones who snuck the poison into the food source of the Alliance."

"Two, the Venenum people were innocent. They were not involved in the poisoning. But they were made to take the fall."

"Three, the poison was in the form of a preservative that they added into the food. And Amanda managed to sneak out a recipe for it. Unfortunately, she left the recipe behind at the house that is now yours. And I assume this was how you were pulled into this whole mess."

Putting down her three fingers, she then shook her head with a sigh.

"Amanda apparently had also brought with her a bottle of the poison. But, due to her panicked mind, she didn't remember where she hid it. Whether it was in that house or in our village. And by the time she told us this, she was already engaged to that man in the neighboring tribe Fluvius. So there were countless places she could have hidden it at."

Sazzy heard her words and looked over at the drawer where we hid the bottle of preservative.

[Perhaps she may have hidden it immediately when she had come to this village. How weird that she wouldn't remember any of it though.]

Linda paused her exaggerated actions and then showed an expecting look towards my direction.

"Now since I have said my part, it's your turn now."

I subtly shifted my gaze towards Oliver. He didn't seem to be shocked by anything he heard. It was unlikely that he didn't understand what was happening. He was an exceptionally smart boy after all. Maybe Sazzy or Ava had filled him in?

Turning my gaze back to Linda, I decided to tell her everything from the start. Baring some more sensitive things. I started with how I befriended Ken, whose sister had been poisoned by the preservative. Then he requested my help to find a way to destroy that poison, which led me to asking Margret to help. In the meantime, I was approached by Liz, who invited me to Vastum where we found the 'cure' for the preservative.

"Hmm. So there were moles in the pro-Colonizers' own companies. Well, that makes things easier."

Leaning in and putting her chin on her hands, Linda smiled in a very satisfied manner at what I had said.

"If it would not be too much, could you give me the contacts for this Liz. It seems that there would be many things we share in common."

Not outright agreeing, I said I would check with Liz first.

"Sure! Here's my contacts by the way, so you can tell me her's later."

Linda pulled up her personal terminal, as did I, and we exchanged contacts.

"Thanks for all the information! I take it you're going to Fluvius next?"

Swiping at her personal terminal, Linda said casually as I heard a 'ding' from my own personal terminal.

"As thanks, here's an easy to follow map that will lead you to the Fluvius village. If you think that's not enough, just tell me and I'll arrange a villager to guide you there!"

Linda stood up from her chair and waved at us.

"Well, since I've gotten all I came for, I'll get going now!"

Seeing her head to the door, I quickly stood up myself and called out to her.

"Wait! I think I should give you this."

I walked over to the drawer where the jar was kept and took it out.

"I discovered it when I was cleaning the guest room."

Handing over the jar, Linda held it close to her face to look at it and then smiled.

"Thank you. With this our work is going to be much easier."

Leaving with a smile on her face, I closed the door behind her and looked at the map she sent me. It was incredibly detailed, showing quite a lot of landmarks we could follow. If we used this map, we surely wouldn't get lost in the deep woods.

Looking at the map, Linda suddenly sent me a message.

"I forgot to tell you, but since a lot of our villages are victims of displacement or have lost their families in the Loser's War, our village is quite anti-Colonizer, so you shouldn't mention Liz and Vastum. Also, we are all working on revealing the whole truth to the public, so you've been a real help! If there's anything else occurring, I'll contact you. But otherwise, you should just enjoy your life and leave the rest to us. For your sake. Happy cooperation!"

After this long message, she sent a cheeky smiling face.

Looking up from my personal terminal at Oliver, I saw him talking with Sazzy and Ava in the living room. The Colonizer's were not afraid to break into people's homes. It was too dangerous to be involved any further.

I lowered my head back to my personal terminal and typed back.

"Don't worry. I don't plan to involve myself anymore with this matter. I do plan on enjoying the rest of my life. Thank you."

Linda sent back an ok sticker and I closed my personal terminal.

Walking back to the living room, the four of us sat down at the living room table. Sazzy had her personal terminal open to show several notes she had written, and they seemed to be having a very active conversation.

I smiled at this warm scene, before I felt a little buzz from my personal terminal.

Opening it up, my smile froze and I felt my heart drop and freeze.

It was a message from the police, with a verified mark next to their contact.

"Dear Alex, we are currently investigating a break-in to your house that occurred within the past 24 hours of this message. We advise you to stay away from this area until further notice is given, as we will be conducting thorough investigation into capturing the culprit. The pictures attached are to show the damage, although you do not have to worry about the damages as according to the contract, you will be compensated for around 50% of the damages to your house."

Below the block of text were several pictures of the house. The window facing the beach was broken, and glass was scattered all over the steps. Through the broken window I could make out the disarray that was the kitchen.

Below the first picture was a close up of the kitchen. All the drawers were open and the intruder was obviously looking for a specific something. A lot of bowls and plates lay smashed onto the counter and floor. Our sofa cushions were also thrown all over the room.

There were also pictures of each room in the house. All of them were in similar forms of chaos. Everything was everywhere and all the drawers were pulled out. Even the wardrobe was emptied onto the floor.

We didn't buy any expensive jewelry, so there was nothing to steal in the house.

[Alex! What are you looking at? Your face is pale.]

I saw Sazzy call out as she walked over. Energetically peeking at my screen, she then paused in shock.

[Who did this! What happened!]

Attracted by her exclamation, both Oliver and Ava also approached me. When they saw the pictures, Ava put her hands on her mouth in shock while Oliver just stood there, like a deer in headlights.

"The police said there was an intruder, and that we should avoid going home until they tell us to."

I numbly announced to everyone.

Looking at the pictures, it reminded me of the scene where Amanda was chased out of the house. Whether it was by random chance that someone robbed my house, or it was due to the Colonizer's catching wind of us having evidence of their crimes, it didn't matter.

I was no longer involving myself and Oliver in this matter. And I was also going to buy myself some really good security measures once we return.