Just when Tim thought everything was over—
He had already driven back, safely dropped off Nora. The atmosphere along the way had been light. No boundaries were crossed, no pressing questions asked. The day’s arrangement seemed to end perfectly, even letting him breathe a small sigh of relief.
But—
While sitting in the living room, sorting through surveillance data on his laptop, a soft chime came from the small projection pad in the corner.
Finn—the little boy who had just fallen asleep—suddenly woke up and, as usual, activated the daily video call with his parents.
It was a routine. No matter where he was or what he was doing, Finn always called his parents every night to tell them about his day. The screen lit up, revealing Leila—wearing a soft white robe, sitting in front of the vanity in a ship’s cabin. The ocean’s shimmering light reflected beside her. Jason stood behind her, gently undoing the clip in her hair.
“How was your day, sweetheart?” Leila signed, her smile warm.
Finn launched into a stream of chatter—talking about how Grandpa took him to the market, breakfast, feeding pigeons, lunch, what he did in the afternoon, what movie he watched… an uninterrupted conveyor belt of detail.
Tim, sitting beside him, began to zone out, already thinking about getting a cup of coffee…
And then—the nightmare arrived.
“I saw Ms. Nora today too! She was having dinner with Uncle Tim!”
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6BxW5j4Eg
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9tm1fruSn
Tim froze.
On-screen, Leila had been smiling gently, but at those words, her eyes snapped wide open. Her head jerked up, and she turned quickly to look at Jason.
Jason raised an eyebrow—then gave a light cough.
Leila turned back slowly and signed, “What do you mean? Just the two of them?”
Finn scratched his head. “I dunno… but they sat really close. I think it was pasta? And Ms. Nora looked… really happy…” He squinted, thinking, then shrugged. “Uncle said they were talking about some super important grown-up stuff.”
Leila had the expression of a mom who just heard her son say something that clearly meant her brother was bullshitting.
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoywMvj5by
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZE1SyifUV
Tim had already buried his face in his hands.
Once the bedtime call ended, the tablet’s screen slowly went dark.
Leila looked up at her husband. The two of them held eye contact for a few seconds—then gave each other a knowing look.
Their eyes said the same thing:
This is gonna be good.
Tim had never anticipated that the biggest leak in his “low-profile investigation” wouldn’t come from the surveillance footage, or Bruce, or even Nora herself—
It came from his beloved nephew’s sweet, harmless little mouth.
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110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfT4nO5oytY
Tim updated the entry in his encrypted file:
- Preschool teacher × Combat specialist110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCduIH7Xl1
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WrL1aFXqa - Food stockpiled at home110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEpto0RlBz
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLgRIgcHMj - Black market search history110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8rTKQHkL8
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LdJoMcVDs - Shooting accuracy abnormally high110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwNB8gtjHP
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxJTL1xBWx - No decorative items, extreme minimalism110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7PX0KYOSS
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREAcTENKII - Didn’t call the cops after home intrusion110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiV4toKOcWW
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73oUsHOveV - Practiced archery for years110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnWNYoQrJQ
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBht8OPHx7R - Doesn’t write Red Robin fanfic110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVn4km52k0
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpIyHcmUc6 - Moved houses unusually fast110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSp5BNqDVGZ
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBa3kBzvngF - Overactive defense responses110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0dfQUFebu
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7xfcsfC73 - Distrust in government agencies110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBa5F1DObZq
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqEhcFHVtL - Double-life presentation110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYtrqtSKiw
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5WocGvUxe
Tim’s fingers paused mid-typing.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6M5dYgnwm
He glanced through the bulleted list, a small furrow forming between his brows.
There was already enough information here to piece together a rough profile.
He dragged the tags “guns” and “archery” into the same group.
Guns were useful—but if you ran out of bullets, switching to a bow made sense. Especially in a post-disaster scenario, arrows were reusable, silent, and easy to craft.
Next, he highlighted “food stockpile”, “minimalist lifestyle”, “distrust in government”, and “frequent relocations” and grouped them together.
That grouping made things even clearer—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0nkz129I5
It described a survivalist mindset formed after some kind of catastrophic event. Someone always prepared for the worst: maybe a natural disaster, maybe a man-made collapse where the government fails. And someone who never stayed in one place too long.
That wasn’t a normal lifestyle. It was one forged through training… or trauma.
Which meant—Nora had been through something. Something big enough to shape her into this.
Tim pulled up her official records.
Nothing.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJAHJ7XdVe
Too clean.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXWzw8FVlk
Even her school history was so ordinary it faded into the background.
But then he thought of Dick’s wife—Claire.
Claire had an unusual history too. There was a stretch of time in her life when nobody knew where she was or what she was doing. She was now staying in Blüdhaven, pregnant and waiting to give birth.
Dick hadn’t been around much lately, busy taking care of her.
If Claire could have a mysterious past, then it wasn’t impossible for Nora to have one as well.
Tim typed a new command, opening a fresh folder.
He labeled it:110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgb3ufxmHjQ
Nora v2
The folder icon flickered once—then auto-encrypted.
Tim leaned back in his chair, hands crossed, eyes still fixed on the screen.
Next step:110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOATWAVsOw
He needed to find the fragments left behind…110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwYN7MNAGR
from whatever world Nora had come from.
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and then Add to home screen.