author's note: GAH!!! I wrote this, hit enter, and half of what I wrote disappeared!! So frustrating!
The next morning Ammon was headed through the tech lab to Alex's office when he ran into Masao. "Mr. Hamada, how fortunate I've run into you. I was hoping you might have a moment for a quick meeting with Alex if she's available." Ammon asked. "Well, I was just on my way to meet with Dr. Alto in the Earth Sciences lab, but I do have a few minutes I can spare" Masao replied. "Thank you, Mr. Hamada, this is helpful. I have instructions from Dr. Antoniou that involve you" Ammon thanked Masao. After finding Alex's office empty, they then made their way into her private workshop. As they did Ammon filled Hamada in with what he had discovered within the AI, leaving out his connection to the core code.
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"So really, I think what we need to do is determine what the schematics are for and then we will have a better idea of what this AI is meant to communicate..." Ammon explained after they stepped through the receding bookcase in Alex's office. Amid the clanging of whatever Alex was working on, Ammon found himself repeating his words louder but both Masao and Ammon heard Alex loud and clear when she said, half distracted "I told you both that last year." Both Ammon and Masao stopped dead in their tracts. Turning, almost in unison, they both stared at Alex trying to decide if she was talking to them or not. "Alex, what do you mean last year?" Masao questioned "We're talking about the.." "yes yes, I mean next year, don't be so petty, you know what I meant. Anyway, what do you think those are??" Alex said sweetly dismissive like a grandma excusing a cookie stealing grandchild before dinner.
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"Alex, what are you talking about??" Ammon probed. Alex pointed to schematic diagrams on the wall directly behind Masao. "I could have sworn I told you. I get the sequence of things messed up lately." Alex said, a little less sure of herself than usual. Masao, use to Alex's eccentricities but not her insecurity, reassured "I'm sure it's just the long hours, Alex. We all need to make sure to take Sunday..." "Tomorrow" Alex interjected. "Yes, tomorrow, off and come back on Monday with fresh heads." he finished. Alex then revealed what she had worked out that the schematics were for. "That makes complete sense now." Ammon responded. "Listen," Masao interrupted "Please get any files to me that either of you have so that I can take a look at this later but for now I need to lead to my meeting with Lopita. She called me last night eager to share some updates." "I'll call Dr. Antoniou and.." "Who??" Alex demanded. ".. Niella" Masao answered. ".. Niella, and update her." Ammon finished.
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Ammon shut his office door and dialed Niella. When she answered the phone, Ammon filled her in. "It's a disc." He said. "A disc? A halodisc??" Niella quizzed, excitedly. "If by halodisc you mean the disc that displays the projected AI, then yes, that's exactly what it is." Ammon answered. "Hmmm.. Is Javiera in today?" she asked. "Yes I believe so. Her lab lights were on when I passed them earlier." Ammon answered. "Ok, you're going to need to fill her in on this. Whatever materials Alex needs, she needs to make sure Akoni has full purchase authorization and she and Emily need to get as much info from Damien and, ugh, the other one, that they can." They hung up and Ammon made his way to Niella's office, where Javiera had moved to while Niella was on leave. He found her in and quickly filled her in, but under strict orders to keep their task limited to the two of them. It'd be easier to find out of there had been a compromise if each department was limited to it's own projects.
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After leaving Alex's office, Masao headed toward the Earth Science lab. He found Lopita working at the science station. "Oh Good, You're here." Lopita said as she typed something into the science station's interface. "So what do you know about pollen?" she asked as she turned to face him. "I know the basics. It functions to protect the male genetic material necessary for germination. Some pollen is light enough to be airborne, anemophilic, others are too heavy and only spread through physical means such as insects or animals." Masao answered. "Entomophilic, right. And that pollen releases pheromones that attracts the insects in order to aid the pollination process, along with many other functions. Each plant's pollen structure is based on it's needs. There are many types of plant pheromones, attraction, trail, marker, aggregation, attractant, repellant, arrestant, stimulant, alarm, etc." "Yes?" Masao probed. "Well what if I told you the insects on the meteors were attracted to pollen on both the interior and exterior of the main meteor? And what if I told you that the pheromones in that pollen were able to transmute themselves depending on the needs of the recipient?"
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"Here, it'll be easier to show you. Take a look" Lopita said, stepping out of Masao's way to look through the science station's microscope. As he peered into the microscope Lopita explained. "Slide 1 is pheromones from the pollen sample taken from the meteor. Notice the cell structure." "Ok?" Masao asked, curious as to where this was going. "Ok, compare that to slide 2, also from the pollen from the meteor." "Hmmm. Ok, could this possibly be pollen from a different plant?" Masao queried. "No, because that's from the same sample. I simply exposed it to two separate types of insects, ones that required different pheromone messages." Lopita answered. "That's... That's quite interesting Dr. Alto, quite interesting indeed" Masao said as he stood up, tapping his finger on the viewfinder.
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"And that's not all," Lopita continued. "Take a look at the readings." she said, pointing to the interface monitors. Masao turned and tapped in the command to bring up the analysis details. He soon noticed there were readings for all insect types - everything from coleoptera - or beetles, to lepidoptera aka butterflies. "I've run Mantids, lacewings, leafhoppers..." Lopita listed off the different types on her fingers. "And in every single instance pollen pheromones from the same sample produced different reactions every time." Masao stepped away from the station. "I take it this is something never seen before." "Never, nothing like it at all." Lopita answered, her excitement becoming harder for her to maintain composure through.
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"So how do we explain this," Masao gestured to the screens, "Are we looking at a new kind of plant?" "Well," Lopita started, "I wondered that same thing, but after all of these comparisons I just don't think that's likely. So then I started wracking my brain, thinking possibly something on the meteor caused the change. Then it hit me." She looked at Masao with huge eyes, her excitement clearly close to the brink. "Genetic engineering." "You think this pollen was engineered?? That would indicate it was placed on the meteors before they got to the lab. I'm not sure how that would be even possible. We seized control of the location almost as soon as the fires were put out. Monday I want you to run as many tests as you can think of. We need to be sure this isn't just a natural genetic mutation. We also need to see if we can determine what kind of plant produced the pollen" Masao instructed Lopita. "I'll get a few of the longer tests started before I leave. That way I can have the results first thing Monday." Lopita agreed.
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The next morning Ammon stepped out onto the deck of the houseboat to find Niella reading at the patio set. He sat down next to her and looked off into the distance. He was normally incredibly patient when it came to his daughter working through emotions, coming to him when she had already worked through them or when she needed advice in order to do so, but this time was different. He found himself unable to concentrate, thoughts of Adrastria flooding over him like a flash flood in a dry lake bed, whenever he wasn't diligent enough to keep focused. And he was incredibly worried for his daughter, too. While he hadn't really lied to her, other than her name, he had dealt with most of her questions growing up with diversion tactics and he now realized how that could have really complicated her feelings. Though he closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm himself, he was full of nervous energy. "Alright," Niella said, snapping her book shut, "Out with it, I can't stand your fidgetiness. It's... weird...." "I'm sorry, little one, forgive me. I'm not trying to be impatient, I just can't help but wonder how you're feeling about... your mother." Ammon said, trepidatiously.
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"I know it's only been two days, but it was a very large thing that happened and we haven't spoken about it at all. I am concerned." Ammon tried to gently explain. "I don't know, Dad. I still feel angry. I know no one lied but I guess in my mind growing up Mom wasn't with us because she needed to be rescued. Like, I know it's silly, but I always imagined her being held captive by an evil witch, or something. And you were going to find her and rescue her and we would all be a family again. I got older, and yeah I knew there was no witch to fight, but that same idea, that Mom needed us to find her to save her, has always been there. And that's not how it was at all. I mean did she ever even look for us?? My whole life I only ever wanted two things. For me to have my mom back, and you to have the love of your life back." Niella's pain and confusion were obvious, but so was the love she felt for her father, and for the mother she never knew. "But little one, isn't that what we have a chance for now? Do you not understand her reasons?" Ammon offered gently. Niella looked out onto the water. His words where the same that had been repeating in her head since that night. And she knew that her father must be riddled with conflict, trapped between his love for his daughter and what she knew was his soul mate.
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She crinkled her nose. She knew that she'd have to eventually acknowledge that she was only making things miserable for her dad, even though that was the farthest thing from what she wanted. "Listen Dad, I'm not saying that I don't want her in my life, or that I don't want her in yours. I know you love her - or at least the her you use to know. And I know I loved her before I knew who she was. And I know the only way forward is for us to find out." She sighed, deep and long in resignation. "And I know it's only a matter of time before we're faced with having to. I guess I just feel like I want to talk to her, to tell her how her being gone effected me my whole life." "Little one, what do you mean it's only a matter of time? If you need time, you can have it. You don't have to see her unless you want to, and I won't see her unless you're secure with it. Whenever that time comes we can go see her. Sunlit Tides isn't that far away." "Uh, Dad... She doesn't live in Sunlit Tides anymore. Karlie bought her a house, here, on the island, when we got back from Egypt, before the meteor."
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"You mean she wasn't just here visiting?? I don't know why I thought that... I guess listening to her tell stories of Karlie growing up, I just assumed she still lived in the same place. So, uh, she lives here then?" Ammon was clearly flustered. "Yeah Dad, she lives right over there, like two blocks away" Niella couldn't help but feel charmed by his nervousness at the revelation. She had always known her dad to be calm, cool and collected, even when he was having fun. She had never seen him flushed in her whole life. It reminded her of when she and Connor were first dating, Connor always shuffling nervously, with a giant boyish grin from ear to ear. "Oh, heh heh, imagine that. I, uh, heh, had no idea." Ammon chuckled in awkward anxiousness. "Oh alright! I surrender I surrender!" Niella threw her hands up in front of her.
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"Liiisten, Dad," Niella struggling to stand up with her ever growing belly "we'll figure it out." Ammon stood up too, helping Niella by the elbow. "How could I ever keep you from the love of your life? What kind of a daughter would I be?" she said tenderly as she wrapped her arms around him. Life had gotten so crazy - so crazy so quickly. But through it all Niella knew that her father loved her more than life itself and just knowing that made her realize just how much he deserved to have his every single dream come true if she could do anything about it. Ammon pulled back, searching Niella's eyes. "Are you sure, little one? Are you absolutely sure because no matter how close she lives I would never do anything to cause you pain." he reassured her. She was filled with the same gentle love for him that he had always shown her. "Dad, get out your phone." When he did, she gave him Shari's number. "Now call her. It's Sunday, she'll have the day off." As she walked inside, she heard him hit dial and her heart swelled with happiness for him.
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