"The VIP in a Dull Blue Necktie"

Thursday night came. As usual, Lia met Sanno in the e-bus' stop, and they started traveling to Makylee City.

"How's your new job?" Lia asked him.

"It's so boring," Sanno replied. He was referring to his new job at the convenience store in which he took the afternoon shift. He needed to get an actual part-time job, just in case time comes when D.M. Cadre decided to look into his life after his caretaker job.

"You look tired," Lia said, when she saw his eye bags. "You look like you're not sleeping well."

Since he's cleared of suspicion from Dr. Logan, he came back to his real mom's place. His past nanny, Vivian Angeldame, is currently a real nurse at Eulim General Hospital and she's Dexter Angeldame's 3rd cousin, and Sanno hid her lineage through hacking the government database. She took care of him since he was a baby, together with his mom Joy. Sanno was a stubborn boy who liked to escape the mansion, and Vivian would always look for him and chase him in the busy streets of Makylee. Until now, they're still keeping in touch, occasionally staying at room 1101, and she treats Sanno like her son.

Sanno focused on making deadly computer viruses and advanced cybersecurity measures for his next attack. Because of that, he usually doesn't sleep. Sleeping for an hour is a lucky thing for him.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Sanno said. He didn't want his friend to get worried.

He wanted Lia to be part of his team, because she was already harboring negative feelings for D.M. Cadre. But he stopped himself from doing so, because it wasn't a big enough reason for him to let her endanger her life.

But if one day, Lia decided to fight for her beloved vulture mutant's freedom, Sanno would not hesitate to help her. Although, he didn't know if that time would come.

They arrived safely at their homes. The next day, Lia was awakened by her noisy cellphone.

"Yeah, hello?" Lia said in a hoarse voice.

"Is this Ms. Lia Brentvale?" a woman's voice on the other line said.

"Ah, yes, miss. May I know who you are?"

"I'm a nurse here at Makylee Hospital," she introduced herself. "Ms. Brentvale, your father, he... he's fully awake and stable now!"

Tears formed in Lia's eyes out of happiness. "I'm going there now!!!" She loudly said, and ended the call. She grabbed the nearest shirt and pants she could see, and changed into them.

Her siblings Lemmon and Lorus were both out for groceries, so she just called them and asked them to meet in the hospital.

Lia sat down on the elevated floor before the shoe racks, and looked for her shoes.

"Where are those..." She went to the backdoor where wet clothes were hanging in the clothesline, and were exposed under the rays of the sun. There, she saw her white shoes and black boots tightly hanging in the rope, and were very wet, as if it was just cleaned earlier that morning.

Lia went back inside the house and searched for her other dry shoes, and only the dusty red sneakers could be worn. She didn't wear it ever since she got fired from her part-time jobs before. Without anything else to choose from, she tucked her feet in, and tied the shoelaces properly. "What could go wrong on this lucky day?" she thought. Her father's awake now, after a long time!

When Lia arrived at her father's room, she couldn't believe it!

His father Allen had opened his eyes. He's there in the hospital bed, trying to move his head. Perhaps the long sleep had made him feel weak.

"Dad!" Lia called, and his father's eyes darted towards her.

"Lia..." Allen uttered. "Lia..."

Lia sat beside his father's bed and held his right hand. "Dad, I'm here."

"Lia..." Allen said. He's uttering his daughter's name, as if wanting to say something to her, but he still couldn't.

"Don't push yourself too hard, dad," Lia said, with tears in her eyes. "I'm so happy you're awake now."

"He needed to adjust for a while," the doctor told Lia. "Actually, miss Brentvale… he had shown good progress in his condition these past few days. He's waking up sometimes, but he closes his eyes immediately. But today, it's positively different, that's why I had the nurse to call you and bring the good news. Although, we still need to check up on him for some hours. If he's stable, he can go home with you."

"Thank you, doc!" Lia excitedly said. She then faced her father, "Dad, didn't you hear? We can go back home, soon."

Meanwhile, Dr. Dexter Angeldame had a VIP guest in his mansion.

"Thank you for coming. I know that you're a very busy person," Dr. Dexter shook hands with his guest. "Please take a seat, Mr. Hiddleworth."

The second son of Oliver and Amanda Hiddleworth, who wore a semi-formal attire with a dull blue necktie, sat on the sofa in front of him. His slightly wavy hair was waxed on the side to prevent it from falling down his eyes. He looked around the living room and saw the extravagance that the doctor's home had displayed. He chuckled, then said, "My mother will like your mansion. Especially that chandelier up there," he pointed at the chandelier with lots of diamonds.

Dexter laughed at his guest's comment. "Yes. I think she will like it."

"So, let's get straight to the point, doctor," Varus Hiddleworth told him, as he leaned at the sofa's back, "What does a rich doctor like you want from a poor politician like me?"

"You're not poor, sir," Dexter said, and praised him, "You've got a lot of people who support you. Isn't that more important than wealth? Especially for a politician like you..."

"Well, I wouldn't say you're wrong, but you're not right, either..." Varus said, chuckling. "So, what do you need from me?"

"I want to know what you wanted to do with D.M. Cadre's blueprints."

"Whoa, that's too straight to the point, doc," Varus chuckled. "But before I answer, how did you know about it?"

The doctor cleared his throat and called the chameleon mutant, who was standing in front of the curtains and Varus didn't notice.

"Holy cow, you surprised me!" Varus shrieked. "Wait, aren't you...?"

When Chrome stepped out away from the curtain, his skin turned back to the way it was: green. "Mr. Hiddleworth, hello," he greeted him politely.

"What happened, why didn't you return?" Varus asked the green-skinned mutant.

"The security's too tight. It was too much for one person," Chrome explained. "But I'm willing to redo the task... if you'd permit."

"Well, I don't have that much to pay you, anymore," Varus answered. "I donated a lot of money to charity."

"How noble," Dr. Dexter said. "You take after your father."

"Yeah, and it's better than taking after my mother," Varus gave a smug look, "Look at my brother Jayce. He hung out with mom and got a lot of money from her. Now, he's in jail."

"You still live with your father, right?" Dr. Dexter asked.

"Yes. He's out of office, but he's always guiding me," Varus answered, as he smiled at the thought of his father's kindness. "He helped a lot of people, even after he resigned as Senator years ago... Not unlike that materialistic mother we had."

"Looks like you have a grudge..." Dr. Dexter observed. He's talking nicely about his father, but the opposite when it comes to his mother.

"Of course. She's too evil," the young politician said, "Can you believe it? She even gave away one of his sons, on the day when she gave birth to him. I only got the news after I graduated from college. It was from a very reliable source."

Dexter raised his eyebrows and asked, "Oh? So did you find out where he is?"

"I couldn't find him," Varus answered. "I used all my connections, but... he's really hard to find."

"How about this... I'll help you find your brother, but in exchange, lend us a hand... We're going to get D.M. Cadre's blueprint."