"Well it seems you are back to normal Diana," Martin said snidely as he walked the halls of Torrington with his step-sister, still musing over how Diana had previously been turned into a half-lizard half-human mutant by Octavia's machinations.
"Of course I am," Diana said sternly, "and I still can't believe how you are still making a joke out of it."
To be more direct, Diana was feeling quite ashamed and guilty over what happened: she had resigned from the Center and joined Octavia's group, thinking it was a better paranormal organization after she got an N on her evaluation at the Center (N meaning Needs Improvement). In the end, it only wound up being a front to create a super-creature to attack the Center with...and Diana gave the final pieces to the Genetic code as it were.
"Oh come on Diana," Martin insisted, "I can't help but just make at least some joke about it."
"I don't make jokes about the times you go through some transformation;" Diana countered back, "do I?"
Martin was left speechless as he recalled the number of times he could remember when he had been changed into something. "But you still are a big baby at times," Diana fired silently.
Martin's boiler was sent sky-rocketing at that comment, since at the last Halloween, they were sent on a mission, which involved candies that turned people into their costumes. Martin had earlier had a mix up of costumes and wound up with a 'big baby' costume, with the end result being nothing short of unforgettable.
"I'm not a big baby," Martin declared.
"Oh please," Diana said tiredly.
"Martin Mystery, Diana Lombard," a voice called out, and a teacher with a head of grey hair with glasses came running up to them with papers in hand: it was Principal Pebbleton. "What is it," Diana said, looking at the panting principal with the dozens of papers in hand.
"It is about the recently graded tests with the Mark-Atron 5000," Pebbleton stated, "there appears to be a major design flaw in it."
"What do you mean a flaw," Martin asked, since when his test was marked, it was an A++ (unbelievable, isn't it) while Diana was a A- (that's not bad, as Diana decided, but she usually got A+'s), and he did not want to lose that grade.
"A couple of the teachers noted how off the marks on some of the tests were compared to the students' regular grades, so they decided to re-mark them by their own hands." Saying so, he pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Diana.
"I would think there was a flaw too," Diana stated, without looking at the paper, "considering Martin is a straight D-student." Martin lit up like a campfire at the comment.
"Congratulations, Diana Lombard," Pebbleton declared, "your mark is actually an A+; you aced the exam to be exact."
"All right," Diana stated, leaping in joy, glad that her mark was proper again.
"And what about me," Martin said, whipping a piece from Pebbleton's hand.
"You got another D+, Martin," Pebbleton stated. Martin became petrified like a rock, and crumbled.
"Due to this fiasco, I am scrapping the Mark-atron 5000," Pebbleton stated, "and melting it down for spare metal in Work Education. I just hope I can get my money back," Pebbleton stated, walking away, "You shouldn't trust people who say such a thing is a revolutionary piece of engineering, nor can you trust such machines."
"You got that right," Diana uttered under breath, noting how M.O.M had been demoted and sent on a refresher course by the C.O.R.E computer, despite the fact that the creature severely outmatched the Center at every turn.
"I lost my A++," Chibi Martin squeaked in a corner, crying his eyes out.
"You have to earn such things Martin," Diana stated, and walked away. I just worry if I'll have to earn the Center's trust back.
-
Later, they got a call from the Center, and going through the normal procedures, they met Billy in his office, seeing as how M.O.M was demoted by the C.O.R.E computer. As a matter of fact, she was there, as Billy's aide. After having the mission explained, Martin went off, but Diana stayed, and she asked Billy to leave, so she could have a private conversation with M.O.M.
"I assume it is about the recent incident with Octavia," M.O.M said knowingly, seeing the look of regret upon Diana's face. Ever since then, Diana could barely bring herself to talk to M.O.M., or even look at her.
"Yes, and...I don't think I really deserve the new evaluation the C.O.R.E gave me."
"Oh," M.O.M said in interest, "and why is that? You seemed enthusiastic enough before."
"Well, M.O.M," Diana began, "I just started thinking about it and-"
"Just call me Olivia, or Ms. Mandell." Olivia said suddenly.
"What?"
"That is my real name," Olivia said, recalling the time she went undercover as a teacher at school, "but since my initials do spell M.O.M, you can use it still."
"All right," Diana said, "but it is just that...I nearly destroyed the Center! I just don't see how I was let off so easily by that computer!"
"Don't blame that computer, Diana," Olivia said, "it is just a over-sized bucket of bolts that does things by average, and immediate situation."
"What do you mean," Diana asked.
"The C.O.R.E computer was responsible for your earlier evaluation," Olivia confessed, "and I just read what was on the paper."
"So it wasn't your personal opinion?" Diana asked hopefully.
"No. You may be by the book all the time, and that helps, but...well," Olivia admitted, "I guess that your lower performance than Martin on that scale could be attributed to him having the U-watch. It gives a sort of unfair advantage when it comes to evaluations."
"I see."
"Besides, Martin usually doesn't take things seriously, and messes up my workplace a lot, but that isn't a factor in the evaluation though."
"But you could do to be a little more creative," Olivia said, "though I do have to admit...during your run with Octavia-"
"Don't bring it up," Diana insisted.
"...You performed very well, based on how you usurped Martin twice."
"I know," Diana said guiltily, "but you wouldn't believe the types of gadgets I was given, and-"
"They were above the par of the Center," Olivia finished. "I know; I had teams scan the equipment that Martin took from what you dropped...it is old, Black Ops tech from the Center."
"Old Black Ops," Diana said in interest, "from the Center?! But how was that possible, and what are these Black Ops, and are they still around?"
"No, they are not," Olivia said, and Diana noted that a shade of anger overlapped her voice, "I completely decomissioned the Black Ops when I was made manager."
"Why? What was their purpose?"
"They performed the dirty work of the old manager," Olivia decided to explain, "and they specialized in the taking down of monsters that normal Center agents at the time couldn't handle. The Black Ops agents were never investigators; they were predators, authorized to use lethal force," she stated, earning a fearful look from Diana's eyes, "and Octavia was their supplier."
"And after the Black Ops was decomissioned, you fired her when she was given a bad evaluation?" Diana asked.
"It was more or less due to the fact she was in deep with the manager before me," Olivia said, "and the Black Ops. She must have left that part out, or you missed it when going through her stuff."
"Wouldn't that make CIHL a rogue splinter faction from the Center?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But we are veering off subject, Diana," Olivia said, switching things around before personal information was unearthed. "What did you want from me?"
"I need you to make sure that no one knows I was involved with Octavia," she begged her, surprising Olivia. "Because if word got out that I nearly destroyed the Center, I would be isolated, and no one would trust me anymore."
"...All right Diana," Olivia said, placing a tender hand on her shoulder, "I'll make sure that Billy makes sure that information is sealed away."
"Oh, thank you," Diana said happily, and hugged Olivia, which surprised her, but she returned it anyway. "You have no idea how much that means to me."
"Look, Diana," Olivia said, "why don't you take this mission off?" Seeing the surprised look on Diana's face, she explained. "You went through a lot at Octavia's hands, so at least a week's rest should do you good."
"You really mean it?"
"I still have leverage over Billy, despite me being his aide now, I can still convince him to give you a week's leave."
"M-Ms. Mandell," Diana said in surprise, "I didn't know that...you could be so motherly."
The statement surprised Olivia immensely: Diana thought she was being motherly? She wasn't even trying to be, but Diana said it was. The comment itself sparked Olivia's memory of her own child; the one she left behind for her job as the boss. She breathed a sigh of regret, which caught Diana's immediate attention. "Ms. Mandell, what's wrong?" She seemed stunned when I said that she was acting motherly. I wonder if it is possible that...she actually is a mother, and she left her child behind for the Center?
"It's nothing Diana," she lied, "it is just that...during your time here, I have come to think as a sort of daughter."
"You have," Diana asked, "why?"
"Well," Olivia said, and decided to tell a half-truth, "seeing as how young you are, I took it upon myself to make sure nothing serious happens to you. However, I am not very good at it."
"Don't say that," Diana said, "I am sure you could be a great mother if you tried."
If you only knew, Diana, Olivia thought in regret. "I...I guess so."
"Ms. Mandell," Diana said, "after what happened, I think I finally realize why we do what we do."
"Really," Olivia said, knowing the answer, "then tell me."
"To keep the people safe, is one reason," she began, "but the reason why we hide the paranormal, is because there are people like Octavia who would use it to their own ends."
"That is the right answer, Diana. Off you go now."
"See you later...M.O.M."
Olivia smiled. "You'll be seeing me sooner than you think; as part of my Refresher course, I have been assigned a part-time as a teacher at Torrington, and who knows? I may volunteer to be the teacher later."
"I actually didn't mind the assignments you handed out," Diana said, "but you could take it a bit easy on us later."
"All right." Olivia said, and she watched Diana walk out the door.
"So things went well," Billy asked, as he flew in.
"Yes," Olivia said. "She wants us to make sure her involvement with Ocatvia is completely classified, and wants no one to find out about it."
"I see, and I can understand her concern. It is the same way that I want no one knowing that I was once a powerful warlord called Ganthar."
"...The same way no one knows about that, and that I have a son too." Olivia said regretfully.
"What brought that up," Billy asked, knowing that whenever something reminded her of her son, she would always become sensitive.
"When I told Diana, that I could arrange for her to take a week off from the Center to recuperate...she practically told me that I was acting like a mother."
"I see," Billy said, knowing that Olivia usually considered herself to be a bad mother for not staying with her husband and son.
"Billy," Olivia asked, "do you think that it is possible that...during their time here...I seem to have treated them like they were my own children?"
"Well," Billy said, thinking about the times she has shown concern for the two of them, "you could say that...yes, you do act like that sometimes."
"I wonder if...it is a result of my not being there for my son...and needing to find an outlet for it."
"I don't know M.O.M," Billy confessed, "but I agree with your suggestion about letting Diana off for a week."
"I figured you would. I should get going to the training camp." Leaving it at that, Olivia left for the Center Boot Camp, with her thoughts on her son, Isaac Alexander.