Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters, so don't sue me! o.o
Chapter Three: Suspicions Intensify
"You wouldn't want to harm the aliens you're harboring." - Relena
March 25, Monday à 17 days until the eclipse
"You should be more careful," Bra warned. "Mrs. Peterson can give you enough detentions that you'll still be coming here when you're forty."
"Oh, please." Relena smirked. "She doesn't scare me. The only thing that frightens me now is tomorrow's calculus test."
"Really?" Bra replied. "That stuff is so easy."
Relena snorted. "Maybe for you. Any type of math refuses to register in my brain."
"Oh, yeah? What's two plus two?"
"Twenty- two?" Relena answered, making an exaggerated I'm-thinking-so-much-it-hurts face.
Bra giggled. She'd seen that expression on Goku more times than she could count. "Well, if you're that sure you're going to fail, you can come over my house and I'll tutor you a bit."
"Really?"
"Sure." Bra shrugged. "Why not?"
"Thanks."
"Dude, who's that chick with your sister?"
"I don't know."
"She doesn't look fourteen to me."
"So?"
"If she's not in high school, I might ask her out."
"And take her out with what money?"
"The money I could borrow from my rich friend- whoa."
"Jeez."
"Holy crap, man. Do you see her eyes?"
"Why don't you scream that a little louder, Goten. Besides, how could I not see them?"
Bra looked up and saw them. "Trunks! Goten!" She waved at them and pulled the girl over to them.
"Hey, B-chan," Goten said. "Who's this?"
"I'm Relena Carter," Relena introduced herself, extending her arm for a handshake.
"Trunks," Trunks said. "I'm Bra's brother." He shook her hand.
Goten did the same. "I'm Goten. Can I ask you something, Relena?"
"Sure."
"Are those contacts or what?"
"GOTEN!" Trunks and Bra scolded.
Relena laughed. "It's alright, guys. I dunno, Goten. What do you think?"
"I think they're contacts."
"Do you now? Well, that's for me to know and you to find out." Relena smiled slyly.
Goten smiled back. Bra looked back and forth to both of them, and easily realized that they'd taken an immediate... liking to each other. She frowned. All of the sudden she had a nagging feeling in her chest. She'd felt it many times before when she saw a girl flirting with a guy she liked.
It was jealousy.
"Do you want a ride home?" Trunks offered to Bra, interrupting her thoughts.
"We could both use one," Bra replied, trying to ignore her envy as Goten continued to flash that smile at Relena. "I invited Relena over to study."
Trunks arched his eyebrows. "Are you sure Mom and Dad will be okay with that?" Translation: What if Dad is blowing things up in the gravity room?
Bra understood. "I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll stay where we won't bother them." Translation: Don't worry. I'll keep her away if Dad is training.
"Alright," Trunks said, shrugging. Translation: You're nuts.
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I can tell they're speaking in a sort of code. As they talk, their auras signify that they have a secret. Perhaps it is related to my mission. I will keep my eyes and ears open while over their house.
My facade as a teenager has worked well, since I am still very young. It was easier than I thought to make friends with Bra Briefs. She is a pleasant girl, but her aura tells that she is still prone to have an attitude that seems to come from her father.
Even her brother and Goten immediately accepted me as a fourteen-year-old. I'm pretty sure Goten is flirting with me, even though Bra keeps giving him weird looks and trying to change the subject. I think she may be jealous, but I really don't mind flirting back. I don't get a chance to go out with guys too much, and he's pretty cute...
Whoa, girl. Concentrate. Now is not the time to focus on your love life. You have a mission, remember? Saving the world is top priority compared to batting your eyelashes at a guy who has already gained an admirer out of your new friend.
Seventeen days. That is the time I have to find the target and tell him of his part in the destruction.
Not that I know what it is. Even headquarters is still clueless, no closer to translating the remainder of the scroll. They cannot even send someone to assist me, there being so few agents and so many planned Armageddon. I am on my own, with only my aura sensing ability and other enhanced abilities to help me.
What if they're not enough?
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"Earth to Relena!" Bra waved a hand in front of the girl's face. "You getting out of the car?"
"Sorry," Relena apologized. "Just zoned out to La La Land." She got out of Trunks's car.
"I hope you had a nice trip," Goten said, mimicking a stewardess. "Thank you for flying Trunks Airlines. Buh-bye! Please fly with us again."
Trunks shook his head. "Oh, Lord."
Bra giggled. "See you later, guys." She turned to Relena, gesturing to Goten. "I'm sure he just forgot to take his medication again. The voices in his head and all. Come on."
"Hey!" Goten called after them as the two girls sauntered up the walkway. "We resent that!"
Relena giggled. She had taken an immediate liking to the boy. He was charmingly blunt and to the point, and had no hesitation in asking her about her past, asking a million questions even though she only gave him brief answers. He was very funny too, seeming almost intent of keeping everyone around him in a good mood. His aura was a light orange, but it was strange. She could tell he was in no immediate relation to Trunks and Bra, but there was some genetic similarity among them. She wasn't sure what.
Relena was more than a little frustrated with this case. The short time frame was difficult enough without these people being so confusing. Bra's family had some sort of secret, and Goten had some sort of genetically significant connection with them, but he wasn't a part of their family. So many questions, and no answers. Ugh.
Relena looked around as she followed Bra to the front door. "You live on the Capsule Corporation grounds?"
"Uh-huh. It's not, like, radioactive or anything."
"Of course not," Relena joked. "You wouldn't want to harm the aliens you're harboring."
Bra didn't respond. She just walked into the house. But Relena could have sworn her face had briefly flamed bright red, and her aura again gave the sense that she was hiding something.
Before she could ask Bra if anything was wrong, a robot greeted them in the front hall, a claw reaching for Relena.
Relena started. "Whoa!"
Her exclamation seemed to startle the robot, which quickly drew its arm back and made a high pitched buzzing noise.
Bra laughed. "It just wants to take your coat!"
As if to prove a point, Bra gave the robot her jacket. The machine then turned its head to Relena and held out its other claw- er, hand- to her.
"Um, here you go," Relena said and handed it her jacket.
It made a few beeping noises and then rolled down the hall to a closet.
"Robot servants, huh?" Relena said, watching the robot hang up their coats. "Do they cook too?"
"Sort of. Mom has to program them to prepare certain things, but she still has to help them out. And they can't do the dishes or they'll be electrocuted."
Relena followed Bra into the girl's bedroom and they flopped down on her bed.
"So, where is your mom?" Relena asked.
"Probably in her workshop. She'll probably take a break soon. You can meet her then."
"And your dad?" Relena pressed.
"Uhhh... He's somewhere, I'm sure. He's pretty solitary, and he doesn't have a job or anything."
"Retired?"
"You could say that." Bra pointed to a framed photograph on her desk. "There are Mom and Dad, standing with Trunks and me at a picnic about a year ago."
Relena picked up the photograph and studied it. "Wait a minute." She pointed to the serious, non-smiling man in the picture. "This is your dad?"
"Yeah."
"And how old is he?"
"Pretty old."
"Older than thirty?"
"Yeah."
"No way."
"Yes way, " Bra responded, laughing.
"Your biological father?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, but I still don't believe it." Relena continued to look at the picture. "Sunny guy, isn't he?"
"You probably won't think of him as being very friendly, but he's really great."
She adores him, Relena thought to herself. Daddy's Little Girl Syndrome. "Is that a warning that I shouldn't be particularly happy-go-lucky around him?"
"Uh... Yeah."
"Okay."
"Don't try to shake his hand or anything either."
"Alright."
"In fact, just say 'hi' when I introduce you."
"Um... okay."
"Or may be you shouldn't say any-"
"I get it, girl!"
Bra giggled and turned on her stereo. "It's the End of the World As We Know It" by R.E.M. blasted through the speakers:
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine...
Bra's door swung open and a woman who very much resembled Bra came into the room. "Why on earth do you have to blast that thing- oh." Bulma saw Relena beside Bra. "Hello."
Bra turned down the radio. "Hey, Mom. This is Relena Carter."
Relena bounced up off the bed and shook Bulma's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
Bulma laughed. "I appreciate your manners, but please don't call me 'ma'am'. It makes me feel old."
"Yes, ma'am," Relena giggled. "I mean, Mrs. Briefs."
"Is Dad around?" Bra asked.
"Oh, he's somewhere, I'm sure."
"What does he do all day?" Relena asked.
The question seemed to catch the two off guard. They very clearly became uncomfortable, although they tried to hide their agitation. Bra began searching radio stations and Mrs. Briefs started to wring her hands. (Bra's friends usually never asked that question; if they had any interest in her father they were usually more concerned with catching a glimpse of his body, most often his rear end.) And Relena could see that "we have a secret" tinge in the auras again.
"Oh, well," Mrs. Briefs replied, "he mostly trains for those fighting tournaments."
"Everyday?"
"Yes." Mrs. Briefs seemed a little agitated at Relena's persistence.
"Gomen, Mrs. Briefs," Relena said. "I didn't mean to pry."
"That's alright, Relena."
"We have to study, Mom," Bra hinted.
"Alright," Bulma replied. "Dinner is at six. Be finished with your studying by then."
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It was a clear signal that I was not going to be invited to dinner, as I'd hoped. Not that there would have been a point to it anyway. Obviously the family is very secretive, and finding out anything useful would have been close to impossible. I may have to do more spying to get what I need to determine the target, not that I know exactly who to spy on.
Most of the secretiveness seems to be around the father, whom I've yet to meet. But according to his daughter, he's not very chatty either. I almost suspected him of being the target, but he is too old. There is still, though, some nagging suspicion about him.
It is strange that I still suspect him even though he is older than thirty, and I haven't even met him at all. But there is something different about him that I detect through the family's auras.
Mrs. Briefs's aura is a bright yellow, and with Trunks and Bra's auras being green, Mr. Briefs's is most likely blue. The thing about the children's auras is the equal amounts of yellow and blue. This is common among parents and their children, but this equality... It's odd, but it seems... strangely genetic.
Relena closed her journal file and opened up her email program. The only things that could possibly help out with the case now were those blasted scroll passages. For all she knew, Mr. Briefs was the one, but she and the society needed an absolute certainty to avoid the end of all ends...
TO: IPS
FROM: Messenger
RE: Operation AP
Suspicions about father continue, despite age matter. FBI file reveals a general history, but one that could be easily conjured up. Medical records are nonexistent; the man seems to never have seen a medical official. No police records have been significant. Just a few disruptions at the Brief residence that were chalked up to chemical explosions in Mrs. Briefs's lab.
Auras have also been a concern. Auras of parents and children seem to reveal odd genetic quality. Aura of son's friend has a similarity to that of the son, daughter, and possibly father, but government files reveal no other living relatives.
The case is becoming more complex and could be worth investigating only if these matters are related to the eclipse prophecy. The relation cannot be proven without the full translation of the scroll.
Request full attention on translation of scroll's contents that are to be sent to me ASAP.
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