Well, the inevitable finally happened, Ben caught on, and how!
After their moot adventure and having to explain to him in detail, Ben finally realized what was going on, and had fun messing with Theodore in return for all the times he pranked Ben.
Theodore tried to pull his usual pranks on Ben, getting into his head, throwing his voice, but nearly jumped when Ben spooked him for once.
One word.
"Boo."
The pranks that the Smith brothers pulled on him, no longer worked, because he figured them out, and it did result in Ben figuring out that the same went for Odette.
He didn't press her, but lightly made it aware that he knew her brothers' tricks, knew they were telepathic, and what goes on when Theodore isn't around.
Deduced that Odette's also telepathic like them and knew what Theodore does when he isn't in the library or with family.
Lila didn't like having to explain her side to Theodore and Odette what happened on the moot adventure that Al snagged them in, but she insisted that the events that happened caused this mess, and the fact of the matter's that it was inevitable that Ben would've figured out that Theodore and Hammond weren't just gaslighting him when they pulled their tricks.
He would've found out about Odette's two hearts eventually, even if she had her contract prevent physical and intimate contact.
So, as much as the adventure wasn't worth writing about, yes, it was inevitable, and maybe a good thing that Ben got to witness what Lila and Theodore deal with on the regular.
He didn't see his first Dalek, lucky bastard, so that's good, but now that he's aware that while some adventures were overtly insane, some like the one he's inadvertently went on, he'll probably avoid the replicas down at the studios because of it.
Anyway, Odette admitted to him on a dinner date, that, well, they're part-aliens, but fortunately, Ben's sharper than the character he played, because he figured it out, it was the unexpected adventure that solidified it.
He made great points, saying that she'd always get to places quicker than them, impossible to do unless she's the Flash, when she overexerts herself while filming action scenes, it takes but thirty minutes at most, which she isn't X-23, before she bounces back like nothing's wrong, and the major one, when she fell into the torrential river.
She's no Aqua Girl.
Maybe someone else could've survived, but the fact she went kilometers down the river in frigid waters, dragged down many times from the undercurrent, somehow still had enough strength to cling to a flat rock and pull herself towards the riverside despite the cold waters battering her violently, it's suspect, even if she did her own stunts time-to-time.
The details afterwards got hazy, because Lila didn't pry, but it's assumed that with the air cleared between them, Odette isn't cagey telling him things, and Ben kept their unusual secrets close to his chest, so that's something.
Alas, poor Theodore and Hammond, no longer able to prank Ben.
He's gotten better at knowing when he's being had by them, that said, he takes it in stride, despite them attempting at reconvening, trying to find new pranks to pull.
Oh, what we will do with our dear Smiths?
Well, that's just a minor recap, but now today, Theodore and Lila are up to their usuals, going out on an adventure where Al picked up a furloughed beacon coming from a dwarf planet.
It's been active for what Al determined over a little few week, he says it came from an encampment living on the dwarf planet, trying to terraform it into something habitable, which Al estimated about 78% of the planet's habitable, but the rest remain bitter cold and snows glass.
The TARDIS materialized in a cave made with a giant excavator drill, leading into the encampment built underneath the planet until it's completely habitable, as it's the safest point.
Above ground, there's smokestacks dotted across the dwarf planet, shooting pillars of white phosphorus smelling smoke into the air, the substance used in terraforming the planet, carried by the wind that's capable of sending humans flying if they're caught in the irregular windstorms that occur.
Until the white smoke clears, nobody's able to reach topside safely, hence they used gliders that easily break through the windstorm and protected against the snowing glass.
All gliders went through the decontamination chambers on route to the encampment, but thankfully, Al got them close to the encampment that they didn't have problems walking along the drilled tunnel deep towards it.
Along the way, Theodore and Lila broke the silence by talking to each other.
"Why wouldn't he have just taken into the encampment instead of making us walk?" Lila wondered Al's strange decisions leading up to this, which Theodore says there's always a reason for his actions, so he thinks.
Shrugging her jacketed arms, Lila's bemused at the decision, nevertheless, but Al always has his reasons for doing stuff, even if it doesn't make sense, initially.
"I wish he'd tell us more, though, it feels like we're being talked to by the Riddler," Lila sighed as she walked with her arm around Theodore's as they traversed over the uneven ground made by the drill going down into the unknown.
Sighing, Theodore agreed with her, but Al told him more than once, there's always a reason for his choices, yet reminded Theodore that if he needed help, he's one telepath conversation away from appearing.
"By the way, what's this thing I've been hearing about you checking out books from the third floor?" Lila inquired what Theodore's been doing on the third floor of the library.
He doesn't go up there much unless Hammond has him do something, otherwise, he stays on their floor, and Theodore says they gotten new books in about coins, figured he'd spend time looking at them, trying to get an idea.
"Still on the coin, huh?" Lila blinked as she looked up to him, he affirmed that he's just about had it.
Between the lost coins, Paul's journal, everything else, he wonders why he doesn't just walk out the window.
Gently squeezing his arm, Lila tells him that he's just got his father's stubbornness, it's natural that he's frustrated.
It's not everyday you hear that the professor that abused his students lost his head in a bizarre incident without any proof that someone killed him like they're in "Scanner," using coins that couldn't been custom made, but here they are.
Ditto, Paul somehow resurrecting his sister in another woman's body with a heart transplant that should've been impossible, even if he had good intentions, the way he went about it, not so much.
"I wish I'd get one answer to my questions," Theodore sucked air through his teeth while he felt Lila rub his arm as she held it, comforting him that he'll get the answers he's seeking, eventually.
He's got three hundred birthdays to look forward and more, that's something.
Theodore appreciated her optimism, though mentioning he didn't think he'd want to look for the answers, alone.
"Aw, come on, the ferrets can help. Bam Bam's been good at stealing stuff lately, Panda's good at remembering numbers, Oxford's got the brain of Einstein to use those numbers, and Starlight's great at commanding them," Lila comforts Theodore that the ferrets' will keep him company during his long life, their life expectancy's 20x longer than an earth ferret, they'll keep Theodore company for many more adventures.
Nodding as his wild hair bobbed, Theodore sees Lila's point, but there's a look on his face, which Lila instantly spotted, and asked what was wrong, which he adamantly didn't tell her, even when she prodded.
He wouldn't tell her and she's forced to change the subject to something that he would talk to her about: Ben.
"You knew it was going to happen, eventually. If not now, it'll be later. I saw his eyes," Lila reminded Theodore it was a longtime coming. She saw those blue eyes whenever Odette's near him, Ben's heart's about ready to leap into space whenever she's by his side.
Groaning, Theodore replied that he's aware, it's just that it is't fair!
Nudging him gently, Lila comforted him, reminding him with his brainpower, he'll figure out a way to play his tricks on Ben, but cautioned that he'll have to hope Odette doesn't find out, again.
Mischievous, Theodore gave a toothy grin as he mentioned that he can't help but think of all the potential tricks.
"Hm, you did tell him about the Samito and the Ko'gan, right?" Lila asks if Theodore informed him about the aliens working amongst the studio staff, which Theodore adamantly said that he hadn't gotten around to telling him, yet.
A look from Lila, Theodore swears he didn't have the time, besides, Ben already knows they're part alien, he'll figure out on his own, surely.
"You're not going to scare him with Dom, are you?" Lila eyed the aloof giant, who swears he wouldn't do that to Ben.
She knows him too well, because Lila didn't buy it, and he admitted that Dom scares him too, so it's even.
Shaking his head as his wild hair bobbed once more, Theodore assures her that he'll tell Ben about Dom.
Dom might not think Ben's a threat, but he's been known to play tricks of his own, only he forgets his strength, often.
"Just tell him when you can, don't forget to tell Dom that Ben needs to be in one piece for Odette," Lila mentioned that Theodore needed to pass along the details to Dom, prevent anything miscommunications.
Affirming that he'll do that, Theodore swears he'll talk it over with them, only because of Odette.
Reaching the encampment, there's staircases leading up to the oval doors, a safety precaution just in case.
Climbing the staircase up, the two reached the oval doors, that opened without any interaction, not even from a twist of the wrist and the activation of the Sonic Screwdriver.
Thankfully, it wasn't the start of a horror movie, there's a motion sensor built in that detected them, and the door opened automatically.
A gust of air blew past them as they entered through the circular hallway, sterile white, the soft light above them enrobed them while cross section lasers came from the sides, scanning them, before the oval door at the end opened automatically.
Walking through, they're met with the oval halls of the encampment, reinforced over the months that it's been active, spots have been reinforced more than others, in different colors, made of the same material, and each one dated since the last reinforcement.
The cool air's still, but it shows that the oxygen tanks still worked while the encampment's working on creating breathable conditions underground while dispelling the heat and stuffiness.
Glancing around, his icy blue eyes darting across the sterile halls as they're walking, Theodore sees the signs on the walls, describing the rules of the encampment.
HV67 —
No running.
Must be authorized to return to the surface.
All personnel require regular testing for radiation when returning from the surface.
All inbound items must be sterilized and checked for contamination.
Failure to follow procedures results in detention.
Noncompliance results in court marshal pending trial.
There's more rules, but Theodore got the gist of it, essentially your standard rules that you find on colonies dotting much of the worlds over, with special punishments for not following them.
They took it seriously, especially on planets that haven't been fully terraformed, one mistake's enough to send progress back or worse, cause introduction of foreign pathogens that haven't been studied and sorted.
It's understood, too, that nobody questions it when someone gets detained pending charges, their lives hinge on everyone working together, watching their steps, prepared to fall into formation the moment there's a problem.
Seeing how everything's maintained, it didn't look like someone brought in a foreign matter that hadn't been indexed and certified as safe by the officials, everything looked normal, nothing suggesting anything set off the alarms, yet as the two walked, nobody came out of the myriad of offshoot labs to ask who the hell they are and how'd they get down here without authorization from the committee.
Going towards a lab, poking their heads in, everything looked pristine, nothing out of place, no signs of struggle, like people just upped and left.
Looked like the lab worked on studying the dwarf planet and how the terraforming's changing it compared to when the colony came here, there's different samples of the ground from various points in time.
First sample's when they just arrived, up until last week, when the recent sample of the ground was taken, seeing the subtle differences between the shades of the dirt showed how the terraforming's changing the planet.
Seeing the precaution of the labs as they walked past them, doesn't seem like they introduced something like a dormant virus or fungal spore.
Coming up to the last lab before the lift to the next floor, there's a map of HV67, which Theodore and Lila made notes on, before taking the lift to the first floor.
Still has power, not emergency, fully functional, not rickety, let's see how long that stays true, given their luck.