Fate of Frailty Chapter 5
By Karen Hart
A soft, high-pitched whoosh dragged Rubedo's attention back off of the book he'd again been attempting to read; Gaignun was back. He set the rag-eared paperback down, and sat up straighter on the couch. "All right, you've got something on your mind. What's up?" I can tell even without the link, he added mentally.
Gaignun flung himself down next to his brother, and exhaled. "Helmer and I were discussing the Kukai Foundation. It's not doing so well." He related the earlier conversation, including the idea that'd been forming in his head for the past forty-five or so minutes. "It's not guaranteed to work, but I think it's the best bet."
Rubedo thought that over. He was aware of why Gaignun was telling him all of this—for some reason, Gaignun's ideas tended to take a more coherent form when he bounced them off of his older sibling. So he gave the idea another moment's consideration, and decided that it had merit. "So what's Helmer think of the idea?"
"I think he's going to give it some serious thought. I know he doesn't want to shut the Foundation down so soon, since it's been doing fairly well at keeping U-TIC at bay." Gaignun paused a moment. "I suppose the real problem would be who to turn the Foundation over to, though. It's his pet project, more or less."
Rubedo shrugged at that. "In any case, if he's taken the idea seriously, he's probably already planning out how to make it work."
Gaignun smiled. "You're probably right."
---
Shelley idly picked at the touchpad with one hand, her chin resting on the other, as she contemplated the equation on her screen. A moment later she tapped out an answer, and closed the program. With a stretch she swiveled her chair around and stood up. "Done!" The exclamation was reserved, yet triumphant.
"Finally," Mary muttered. "Didn't think you were gonna take that long with your homework."
The lavender-haired girl groaned. "Hey, wait into you have to deal with these problems." She shook her head in irritation, and changed the subject. "Anyway, whose turn is it to cook tonight? Gaignun's?"
Mary nodded. "Sounds about right. We should probably go help him, shouldn't we?"
"Yes. He's probably going to either want or need it."
---
As it turned out, Gaignun had found something he was able to cook without too much trouble—at least, not as much as he usually had. The girls found him in the kitchen, wiping a bit of tomato juice off of his hands with a disposable towel.
"Whatcha making?" Mary asked, standing on the tips of her toes and peering over the counter. Black olives, green olives, tomatoes…and what are those other green things?
"Nachos," Gaignun answered. "Kind of like what we had at that restaurant a couple weeks back."
"Nothing spicy, right?" the young blonde inquired cautiously. She'd taken a bite of the aforementioned dish, only to find it full of hot peppers. Needless to say, she hadn't been too happy about the experience.
Gaignun shook his head. "Nope. The spiciest thing would probably be the green onions, and those aren't really."
Mary sighed in relief. "Good," she said, stretching the word out. "Ah, how much longer?"
"It's almost done, really." Gaignun shrugged. "Just gonna put the toppings on and then wait for Helmer to get back before I toss them in the oven." The same sound that'd alerted Rubedo of his return caught his attention. "Speak of the devil.
---
The five of them grouped around the kitchen table, carefully removing chips off of the baking sheet and paying due compliments to Gaignun after they each took a bite. The black-haired sixteen-year-old grinned in modest embarrassment.
There were a few minutes of industrious silence, as the group proceeded to make a dent in the large meal, before Helmer spoke up, voicing an idea he'd had not long after Gaignun had left his office a couple of hours ago.
"Wait, what?" Rubedo mumbled around a bite of nacho. He swallowed and tried again. "Wait, what was that again?"
Helmer reached for another topping-heavy chip, and gestured with it. "Well, it makes sense, really." He turned to face Gaignun. "You already know a great deal about the Foundation—both of you do, actually. And posing as Soze's son wouldn't be that difficult, really."
"Out of curiosity, just how would we pull it off?" Gaignun asked. "I mean, it's not like anyone ever mentioned Soze Kukai having a son."
Helmer grinned. "Trust me, that won't be a problem. Soze, fictional as he is, is a strange, reclusive man, and it wouldn't be unbelievable that he had a son he never mentioned. I kept him that way on purpose. It's easier to make changes that way."
Gaignun nodded thoughtfully. "And it probably helps that I don't spend that much time in the public eye, given that the five of us live together. That'd be a little more difficult to explain away."
"Actually, it probably wouldn't be that hard," Shelley interjected suddenly.
"Hm?" Rubedo looked at the twelve-year-old girl, confused.
"Well, like Helmer said, it wouldn't be a problem making it seem like you're an estranged son." "Estranged" was her new word for the day. "And people have seen us out in public together, but they don't really know about us living together, do they? Just say that you moved out of your father's house as soon as you had the chance. You don't have to give any huge explanations about how you live. Just enough to make people believe you're who you say." The others blinked at her. Coming from Shelley, that was a speech.
A slow grin spread across Gaignun's face. "You know, you've got a point. And then I can always—" He caught himself just as Rubedo jabbed his elbow into his side, slightly disturbed that he'd considered using his hypnotic abilities after all those years. The girls looked at him quizzically. "Ah, nothing."
Helmer bit into another nacho. "So, you accept the role?" he asked for confirmation.
Gaignun nodded. "Yeah."