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!”
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87XPHdkP33
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4KL6UBtAb
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.
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM81EqSxGD3
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBWIf9PvD7
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.
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLQfzSYoFD
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDoV4AMRA9
Tim updated the entry in his encrypted file:
- Preschool teacher × Combat specialist146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPE5tkFUwCC
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ewFqG6sEG - Food stockpiled at home146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPXYB7QHxi
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1d9dCFrPz - Black market search history146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfyPVqPl5Z
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoQSnAQ9Od - Shooting accuracy abnormally high146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKlXMRspQQ
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQa7DWX0Z6k - No decorative items, extreme minimalism146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJTrN0h6Tb
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHtK5ranoY - Didn’t call the cops after home intrusion146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKoygZkMA0
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYv7qSXuJqd - Practiced archery for years146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1o32aZToT
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIXPhzbr2N - Doesn’t write Red Robin fanfic146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQu05V9C5uI
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfaIEF0z48 - Moved houses unusually fast146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2cR5n6xWY
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbfFcCf2NL - Overactive defense responses146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvo1sOD6Cej
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgT5etgXzCa - Distrust in government agencies146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNamB1pvdvL
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxBGOHTk92 - Double-life presentation146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYs7Bv8HB1C
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVF5YdUVev
Tim’s fingers paused mid-typing.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMcQ4tosHt
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—146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIs4HEufpR
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSu6WpHrFGZ
Too clean.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGFpfiJlAd
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:146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbK8LI0HYWZ
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:146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyrWIbBw3j
He needed to find the fragments left behind…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevEI54MLzo
from whatever world Nora had come from.
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and then Add to home screen.