5 days later
"thanks for missing my call Logan, I fell asleep on the plane as usual and they didn't check" says Maria
"I told the airport to double check for you because you tend to fall asleep on flights, it's not my fault they didn't do as I asked Maria" defends Logan
"will you two STOP fighting already, you fought the whole helicopter ride home" says Tori annoyed
"now I'm seeing why your parents separated you guys" says Erin as Tori lands the helicopter
"oh I'm just extremely nervous, I haven't seen Logan in years, we were extremely close, the only time I would fall asleep is with Logan snuggling me when I was little, literally every time without fail, our mom is a conspiracy nut, she believes that Logan was touching me and that I liked it and that's why I was calm around him, Logan has never been that crazy, he never once touched me, not like that" says Maria
"there was the one time, with the razor when you were six" says Logan
"that was my fault, I was seeing hair between my legs when there was none and I'd taken mom's razor and tried to shave it away, intention matters Logan, your intention was to stop the bleeding not molest me, you were conscious of where your hand was, I remember you telling me that you needed to stop the bleeding" says Maria
"what caused the hallucination" asks Erin as they get out of the Helicopter
"a substitute teacher had slipped drugs in my juice that day, I was incredibly intelligent, way above my fellow classmates, she'd wanted a reason to slap me or hurt me physically, she believed that me parading my intelligence around was making the other students feel dumb, we were SIX, my classmates LOVED my stories, especially Diane, after the hallucinations died off so did my vision for several months" says Erin as Hanna, Nicole and Brianne walk over
"why do you love Hanna, because if it's temporary you could hurt her feelings" asks Zoey blocking Maria's view of Hanna
"she cares about her sister's equally, ones a dwarf and the other is slightly mentally unstable, it takes strength to treat them as equals, their uncle is a brain chemistry researcher on Vancouver Island, a place I visited often to understand myself so I know what I'm talking about" says Maria
"Nicole isn't unstable Maria" says Jade
"she very much is, note I called Nicole slightly unstable, her mind is first rate like my own, Nicole's issue is a chemical imbalance causing an area to be under developed, she's very much playing dumb to make herself feel normal" says Maria
"would fixing this chemical imbalance make her break up with Dana Cruz" asks Zoey
"emotions nor decision making are the area that's under developed so no it would not" says Maria as Hanna and Brianne draw closer
"then what area is it" asks Zoey
"have none of you seriously looked at her eyes lately" asks Maria
"her eyes are fine, she has no problem walking or looking people in the eyes" says Zoey
"you miss the point Brooks, she has a first rate mind, the condition gets worse with age, she may have been ok last year but she won't be soon, she should be actively striving for a job worth her time yet she is fine talking to patients, which requires little movement because she can be there for hours at a time, doesn't that seem fishy to you, her uncle says that she had been writing a book but recently had to stop because she can't focus her eyes for long enough to write" says Maria as Hanna speaks up
"what do you know of her condition Maria" asks Hanna getting to the point
"I know the FDA recently pulled authorization for the only medication that could have helped her, the community went berserk about it, lit a building on fire in retaliation" says Maria
"my uncle works in the field, is that why you went to visit him so often, because you have it too, or was it just to get his approval to date me" says Hanna as Zoeys's jaw drops
"the first one, I've been having eye problems as of late, your family is legendary in British Columbia Hanna, I've had to incorporate a self driving mechanism into my bike because I randomly go blind, when activated my bike lowers a third wheel and my motorcycle becomes a tri-cycle and drives me to my destination, with only me operating the throttle, it was an absolute pain to implement and get approved for road use…. Which I guess I'll have to do all over again, the law around these things sucks here" says Maria
"does Nicole really have eye problems Hanna" asks Zoey
"yes, it's caused by irregular pulses to the optic nerves, the pulses come normally before age twenty, but brain development to do with visual stuff stops there in people with the condition so the pulses become irregular, if you were to look closely at Nicole's eyes they wobble, she was in a car accident in Alaska shortly before her and Dana returned to the property with Quinn's consent that caused it to step up in severity, walking is fine if she's aware of where she's walking ahead of time, like working at the hospital, that's why in the codes we include the room number, Nicole can read the braille room numbers if she has to, golf carts are just slow enough for her to drive them safely, by the way Maria, my uncle called and said you don't have the same condition as Nicole, that it should go away soon" says Hanna
"does he know what caused it" asks Maria as Nicole walks over carefully
"being the victim of drugged juice at age six can do many things, how bad were the hallucinations in the razor incident" says Hanna
"pretty bad, I thought I had hair down there half a foot long, I'd never shaved anywhere before, I didn't know how it was supposed to work, all I knew was it would make me get bullied if I didn't get rid of it, had Logan not stopped me and slowed the bleeding till the ambulance arrived I'd have kept attempting to shave my skin off till I bled out" says Maria
"your hair and the eye thing are related then" says Hanna as Maria nods
"Nicole why didn't you tell me your eyes were messed up" asks Zoey hugging Nicole
"by the time Dana and I left for Alaska for her mission thing you guys were all talking about your future plans, Michael wanted to be a world record holder, Logan wanted to fund Quinn's experiments, you wanted to be a model, Chase wanted to learn to ride a unicycle, I didn't want anyone to stop working towards their future because of me" says Nicole
"what does Dana say" asks Chase
"that her future plans were worth destroying to love me, I find my job very fulfilling but that does not mean that Dana should have stopped working to become an LA kings hockey player, I don't like being the reason someone quit working for their dream, dreams are important" says Nicole
"she still hasn't called huh" asks Tori
"no and it's been three days, she said once she found something she'd call, I'm getting scared" says Nicole
"her phone is still active Nicole, she knows to contact if she's in danger" says Tori as another helicopter touches down and Dana gets out
"DANA" screams Nicole as Dana walks over
"I'm sorry I didn't contact you Nicole, it was a sticky situation down south of the border, I was only able to free fifty girls out of the seventy that were being trafficked" says Dana
"that's better than nothing Dana" says Tori
"I said I freed them, I didn't say I was able to bring them with me Tori, there's a media blackout in the area I told them to show up in, they have barcode tats Tori, this is worse than Huang, way worse, Ana was with me as a mediator, I don't claim to know Portuguese, she offered, I learned that they're all from a single stretch of South-Western Brazil from the southern tip of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso Do Sul, through the state of Parana and Santa Catarina and ending at the edge of Santa Rosa, I estimate a maximum count of fifty thousand victims, I'm surprised any victims are being trafficked, that's a pretty secure stretch of Brazil" says Dana
"and no victims from northern Brazil" asks Tori
"if there are any they aren't many, the trafficker I intimidated to get the fifty free from said they were being taken to make a statement to the Brazilian government, something about them not caring about slavery, he pointed out one girl in particular, by the name of Adriana Soto" says Dana
"oh my god, that is the Brazilian president's DAUGHTER" says Tori as Ana gets out with Adriana
"Tori she says her father is responsible for the slave trade in Brazil" says Ana
"Adriana what proof do you have" asks Tori
"I tell him to stop, de girls he selling, force tattooing, they fight his oppression, then they disappear, he not like me fighting him so he sell me too, you need to make my dad PAY" says Adriana
"we can't intervene in the government of another country Adriana" says Tori
"he's a criminal, what difference does it make" asks Adriana
"he's a government official, that's the difference, we only intervened in China after they gave us permission to stamp it out" says Tori
"the people not vote him out, they're scared, they have no power" says Adriana
"I don't know if there is anything that we can do Adriana except grant asylum when they arrive, the only thing that might change that is if you tell the American people what's happening there, if there are protests in support of your request then the government might be able to do something, Dana was only sent to investigate and free anyone in Mexico from Brazil being held against their will, we don't have the power nor the manpower to take him down, I'll set up a meeting with Quintin, my boss's boss and if he says so I will petition the president, but only if he says so, regardless of what he says you are welcome to stay here" says Tori as Quintin ironically walks over
"no invitation needed Victoria, Adriana is welcome to call a press briefing as long as I can attend" says Quintin
"shall I call the press Adriana" asks Tori
"por favor" says Adriana nodding to make her intention clear
"should we have a translator" asks Quintin
"no I should be fine, have them here in an hour, I need to write down what I need to say so I don't miss anything" says Adriana as her and Ana head inside
"she sure seems bold" says Quintin
"she's effectively a slave herself, she stood up to her father, asked him to stop and he sold her instead of debating it or arguing, she's angry and it's clear she felt we Americans were her only hope of returning the people back to Brazil, though I get the feeling she won't want to go back ever" says Tori
1 hour later
"why have you called us here Victoria Vega, you don't usually want national news reporters like me on the property" asks National news Reporter Nathan Moore
"this is important Nathan, that's why, now put the camera on them and keep it on them" says Tori as Nathan complies
Camera 1
"hello Americans, I have a favor to ask, Brazil is corrupt, government officials are being paid off and so are cops, girls like me are being forcibly tattooed with barcodes and sold as slaves, ANY girl who tries to stand up against my father is disappeared, we are paraded as American property so as to stop any country from keeping us free from slavery as no country from Brazil to these United States wants to be responsible for stopping a 'shipment' of American property, my father cares not if we are raped, killed or starved, he would sell any American girl into slavery if they reside in Brazil and he would kill the American men as he kills any Brazilian man who oppose him, I asked my father to stop and I was disappeared, he has made ghosts out of entire towns, we have no power to defend ourselves, I beg you to help us, take the country if you must, my father will not risk the lives of his loyal soldiers for he uses them to disappear us, you are our only hope America, none of our so called allies will help, the people of Brazil are helpless against my father, please help us" says Adriana as she faints
"ok that's a wrap, make sure to air that Nathan" says Tori
"it's not my decision but I will certainly try" says Nathan as he leaves
"are you sure the message will be on the air Tori" asks Ana
"Nathan is no slacker Ana, there is a reason I called his network in particular, it has the most audience and Nathan is known for sharing stories between the networks, I don't have to flex any CIA muscle here, if his network won't air it then he will hand it to a network that will air it" says Tori as they get Adriana inside to cool off
"my impression is that camera man likes Adriana" says Ana
"unfortunately he's engaged, he would be playing with a very hot fire if he walks that walk" says Tori
"who's he engaged to" asks Cat
"my eldest daughter, otherwise known as the press secretary for the president of the United States" says Quintin
"that sounds awfully political, are we sure nobody is playing politics here" asks Cat
"her tattoo is genuine, when scanned it reads 'do what ever you want with my daughter, she is useless to me now', it would be extremely foolish of her to permanently put that on herself if this is a scam intended to punish the US, besides my youngest tested her by kissing her on the lips, when my youngest wants something believe me she knows how to get it, Adriana stared at me after the kiss, she was shocked, I nodded and Adriana kissed back, then told me her father just needed a reason to get rid of her, defying him was his chance, she admitted she wanted to walk away from her family but this wasn't how she planned it, trust me I know how to read people, it read as a way to be accepted into the family, not as a scheming plot, my daughter then said to Adriana's face that if she was lying about the whole thing then she'd kill Adriana herself, believe me my youngest would she takes after me in so many ways, some I wish she hadn't" says Quintin
45 minutes later
"well it aired all right, there are calls to action and the president himself is headed here to determine himself if this is a plot, you better get Adriana ready, he'll be here in three days" says Ariel
"the A/C broke, does your building have air-conditioning Ariel, Adriana is not doing so good, she can't take the heat" says Tori
"the CIA quarters are completely blocked off at the moment, Patrick's Protégé decided to make an appearance, big stand off, all buildings are locked down, you best get her to Dillard Hall hospital, and have her cuffed just in case" says Ariel
"you got it" says Tori getting Adriana to the hospital