Robert Arnos stood on one side of the two way mirror, looking at the two men being interrogated in the room beyond. The interrogation was only going partially well, and he was beginning to get restless. He now knew what they were doing, but they hadn't 'fessed up to who they worked for yet.

"Robert, you wanted me to come by?" Sherry Izumi stated as she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She was wearing her usual type of clothes, the kind she always wore when at her home. She was a happy housewife after all.

Robert let out a sigh of relief, finally he could talk casually with someone. "Yes, I'm sorry to call you all the way out here like this, Sherry, but I needed your thoughts on this." he gestured to the men in the adjacent room and waited for Sherry to step up beside him before he continued. "These two were caught using a rented apartment to spy on the school at all hours. The police left them in our care just a few hours ago. We've gotten admittance of spying on certain students at the school, specifically your son and our "person of interest", but we haven't gotten them to spill who they work for yet."

Sherry nodded and stepped up to the glass, placing a hand on it as she looked at the two men. Under most circumstances anyone else in the position of being told her son was being spied on would be very worried and scared, but she wasn't. She knew this could happen, and the owl she had found the night before had confirmed it. "Last night I found a very high tech mechanical surveillance machine shaped like an owl watching our house. I broke it with a rock and brought it with me after I dropped off Shinku and Éclair at school earlier. The techs are looking it over now. It might give us a better clue."

"I see. That's good. Even better that you caught it. You said you broke it with a rock?"

Sherry nodded and turned to Robert. "Yes, I whipped it into the trees and stuck the camera lens. I think the stone went through into its processors as well. It's probably why it fell from the tree instantly."

Robert let out a laugh and looked to sherry with a smile. "you haven't lost your touch then, or that wicked throw of yours."

"No, I may have rusted quite a bit. I can sometimes practice my throw, but I am often busy with my son and husband. And I could never practice my other arts here."

"That is true. Do you think the two of them are doing good?"

"Who, my son and Éclair?"

"Yes."

"They are doing well. You could leave your office once In a while to check up on your own classes you know."

"I dislike hovering over my employees. The teachers all know their jobs well, and because they do I need not worry. How is their gateway going then?" Robert asked as he walked over to the door and gestured for Sherry to follow him.

Sherry followed him out of the room and down a few hallways made of solid concrete as they continued to speak. "She's doing it very well and nothing is wrong with it. It will be done in fourteen days. How is our own gateway coming?"

Robert smiled as the two of them came to an extremely large set of metal mechanical doors. "You're the expert on it, why not take a look?"

Sherry nodded and stepped over to a keypad beside the door. Tapping in a person specific code she then placed her hand on the screen, noticing the UN logo above the terminal as it beeped happily. The door groaned and a second later began to open, the light from the ceiling shining off of it as it opened and illuminating the area around in fractions. As the door opened enough for a person to go through Sherry shook her head and slipped through, Robert following her a moment later when it was wide enough for his larger frame. Inside the door was a massive room, easily as large as a stadium. In the center was a huge metal disc, with a massive framework of steel beams and cables around it. Rounding some of the beams Sherry stepped onto the metals disc, ignoring the cries of a pair of workers nearby who were calibrating a large machine. As she looked at the metal disc around her, her face grew sour. Glaring all the while she stepped of the disc and over to the two men calibrating the machine. As she stepped up beside them she kicked the machine, getting their attention, and then began to yell. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The two technicians looked to each other and then to Sherry." Um, we're calibrating the laser for tonight ,ma'am."

"Then your calibrations are just barely enough to not screw over our work, you idiots! The edges on the disc are all rough and sharp. On a disc this size they must be smoothed or the energy will disperse easier. Worse than that anyone could trip and severely hurt themselves!"

The two technicians cringed at Sherry's words and stepped back. Some did not realize it, but many people in the organization were actually afraid of her skill. "W-we're sorry, ma'am. We'll fix the calibration right this time!"

"You better. Having to smooth the edges after we're done will add another day to our plans, we're now behind because of you fools!" Sherry said as she walked away from them and back over to Robert. "Robert, where is Chantelle, she should've been watching their work more closely!"

Robert sighed to himself and shook his head. "Chantelle is out of country at the moment. Procuring the equipment we'll need to deal with the worst case inevitability. She left when those two we are interrogating admitted that they knew something about Flonyard existing."

Sherry sighed heavily and leaned against the wall beside the doorway where Robert still stood. "Now a day behind and I can't even yell at Chantelle for the crap way she's running things here."

"You know, if you came by more often, you wouldn't have to yell at her, right?"

Sherry nearly growled as she looked away from Robert and to the metal disc in the room's center. "I have duties as a wife and mother and I refuse to ignore them."

"I know, I know. Either way, if we're going to be a day behind, do you have any suggestion to add to our preparations?"

Sherry didn't say anything for a bit before she looked to Robert, her face serious. "Yes, I do have one request. Can you have a weapon made for me. A re-forge of my old blade. You remember what it looked like, yeah?"

Robert nodded. "The shards are still in storage, so I'll make sure they are used so you can use it just like before. I won't lie though; it still irks me that your weapon was the only one to survive the transport all those years back."

"That's probably because Isuka forged mine himself, and it wasn't a mass produced type like yours."

"Ugh, it hurts to hear that actually!" Robert said with a chuckle." I have a few other things you should see, is that alright or do you have to leave now?"

Sherry shook her head. "As long as I return before Shinku gets home it will be fine. Let's go."

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"Your mom seemed a little, odd this morning." Éclair stated as she, Rebecca and Shinku sat at a table in the school's cafeteria.

Shinku nodded as he stuffed some rice into his mouth. "Yeah, she normally isn't so eager to drive me to school when I prefer to walk. Maybe she had to do some grocery shopping or something."

"Oh that's right, your mom dropped you off this morning didn't she?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, it was weird because she was really forceful about it." Shinku said with a small chuckle as a young boy walked up to their table and stood there for a moment until Shinku and Rebeca turned to him.

"Um, I um, can I. can I speak to you please, M-miss Martinozzi?" the young boy asked stuttering on almost every word.

Éclair looked at the boy, not recognising him from Shinku's class. "Um, okay."

"Um, I mean, could I talk to you in private?"

"Ah, I guess so." Éclair said as she looked to Rebecca and Shinku, "I'll be right back I guess."

Shinku and Rebecca nodded as Eclair followed the young boy out of the cafeteria and the school to an area beside the gym, by the shadow of some tree's.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Éclair asked as the young boy seemed to shuffle about. She wasn't sure what this was about, but she was a little leery of it.

The boy stopped moving and suddenly bent over at the waist, bowing to Éclair as he spoke. "I- I like you, please go out with me!"

"Eh . . . eh . . . eh!?" Éclair burst out in shock at what she had heard, or what she had thought she had hear and hoped she hadn't.

"I like you, p- please, please be my girlfriend!" the boy stated again as he continued bowing.

Éclair looked at the boy and felt her heart shudder, not because of what he was saying, but because of the jolt it gave to her other thoughts. She liked Shinku, and Shinku had already asked her out. She wasn't going to wait any longer. "I- I'm sorry, I'm already going out with someone." Éclair said, her throat tight as she said it, knowing that now she had to stop herself from holding back.

The boy looked sullen for a moment but then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I- I should've realized you could be seeing someone. Have, have a good day." He said as he turned and walked away.

Éclair watched as he walked back into the school and calmed her breathing as she went inside. It was now or never. Stepping into the school's cafeteria she walked right back to the table were Rebecca and Shinku were still sitting, and instead of sitting beside Rebecca like she had been, sat beside Shinku. "Um, Shinku, about before . . . ."

"Hmm?" Shinku hummed as he chewed the bite of his sandwich he had taken just as Éclair had sat down.

"Um, I," Éclair stuttered a bit before shaking her head and patting her cheeks a bit, causing Rebecca to look at her strangely as she turned and looked at Shinku, "Yes, my answer is yes."

Shinku smiled and put down his sandwich, "Then shall we go somewhere after school?"

Éclair nodded shyly, her cheeks reddening slightly as she gave her silent answer.

Rebecca looked at both of them for a moment and tilted her head in confusion. "What?"