Now it's time for less questions, and more answers ;D.
Declan yawned. He had spent the evening carefully going through James' notes, and sleep was beginning to mess with his brain. Right when he was about to give up and call it a night, his eyes suddenly caught something, an entry was written in a handwriting that transmitted James' excitement... He decided to read one more page.
May 27, 1976:
I am proud to say that I might have discovered something of interest regarding the physiology of abnormals benefiting from an unusual longevity, therefore possibly useful for Helen. In 1948, we rescued a couple of yet unknown mammals in a mine south of Georgia, that Helen believes to be a species somewhat close to humans. We also believed them to be the last of their race. We have been trying to breed them ever since, in vain. However, a young female of the same species was found in Siberia last year, that Helen transferred from there to London.
I suggested that we try to use her for reproduction with the original male subject, and separate the original female from them for a while to preserve their species. Helen wouldn't hear any of it, as those abnormals seem capable of feeling, and demonstrate a strong attachment to each other. Yet, I had no other choice but to follow my idea. At the time, all analysis showed that our original female subject was too old to conceive. Against Helen's advice, I proceeded to separating the couple and placing our new inmate with the male. The experiment was a failure. The original subjects both experimented what I can only guess was a mental breakdown, so I had to put an end to their separation.
Today, during a check up, I discovered to my utmost surprise that the female I thought unable to give birth is with child.
I don't know how it is possible, as we determined her to be around three centuries old and past menopause, but my best theory is that the process, which can last up to ten years for a human female, could be prolonged for subjects with unusual life expectancy. It also seems that the subject's breakdown triggered a peak of hormones, in turn facilitating impregnation.
I haven't told any of this to Helen yet, and I fail to comprehend how any of this is possible, but it might hold the key to Helen's aging process.
That was it... Declan rubbed his tired eyes. After reading through almost three notebooks full of not so interesting facts and bits of Magnus' life, and almost falling asleep about five times, he had finally struck gold with this entry. He woke up completely when he realized he had never heard of those abnormals... Something wasn't right: If their lifespan was so long, they should be under London's supervision, so under his supervision. Yet, they obviously weren't. The idea crossed his mind that they may have been transferred to another sanctuary. He dismissed it immediately. James would never have agreed to let go of subjects of interest for his personal research.
He flipped through pages without finding any mention of them. It was time to open the last notebook. There it was, on the first page:
December 26, 1976:
This Christmas has been tainted with political turmoil, and I fear that my dearest Helen's vacation in London is far from being as relaxing as I wished it to be. The abnormal I was interested in is expecting a girl, that we wished to name Lucy. She's barely a month away from delivering, and the baby shows perfect bone development. However, the Soviet authorities have heard about Helen's transaction in Siberia, and asked our government for reparations. We were recently contacted by Denis Healey, minister for foreign affairs and Commonwealth himself, and had no choice but to let the office organize the transfer of Lucy's family and of the young female from Siberia back to the USSR, along with all my research on them. Failing to do so would have endangered our relationship with the Crown and therefore our finances. I also suspect that surrendering our four inmates may have avoided an international crisis. That is also Helen's opinion after a few inquiries around the city.
We are appalled at the situation, but the tensions between the Soviet Union and the West leave us with no room for autonomy. The best we can do for now is bow to the Crown and hope that one day, we may be able to retrieve our poor friends.
And that was it... The rest of the notebook didn't mention the matter anymore. Most of it was about Magnus' first pregnancy, which was none of Declan's business. He already felt guilty enough about reading those pages. He yawned. It was almost four, and the staff meeting he had to conduct at nine would surely be terrible. He thanked God he didn't have any meeting with Magnus at 7.30. He was, of course, devoted to his job, but he also valued his sleep, unlike the members of the five.
He changed into his pajamas and went straight to bed, mentally noting he had to notify Will after their staff meetings.