TRUTHS
Maple Falls
August 2040
The next morning the two were woken up by a clatter. It sounded familiar, but both were wide awake and very careful as they quickly slipped into their clothes and crept down the stairs.
But at the first careful glance it fell
The tension faded and the two happily rushed into the kitchen.
"Grandma!" They both shouted in unison and at the same moment "Pancakes", because Marga was preparing a wonderful breakfast for them both with the maple syrup she had brought with her from Canada.
As always, she had returned under the cover of night and was all too happy to surprise the boys.
They loved their pancakes, she knew that, so there was a decent amount already prepared. However, she had warned the two of them for years not to just eat like pigs at the trough and so the two of them now began to set the table in order to quickly get to the delicacies.
They even quickly placed a small jar of flowers that Ben had picked from behind the house in front of Marga's place to give her a little joy.
They were loving young men who knew exactly how to behave and they wanted to get one or two pieces of information out of Marga today.
Seth became restless even before he had finished eating the last pancake.
"Tablets Ben"! came a short instruction from Marga, who also noticed that the boys wanted to jump up.
"And don't forget to do the dishes!"
The boys looked at each other and you could tell from their faces that they had anything else on their minds than doing household chores.
However, they knew Marga well enough to know that she would hold a grudge against them for disobedience.
She was strict, loving, but strict, so they acquiesced.
While they were helping her, Ben blurted out: "We know about Max. And Joshua was even here"!
In her shock, Marga dropped one of the plates that she was about to put in the cupboard.
"That's why the excitement, I understand, has anyone seen him but you and what do you know?"
Seth and Ben quickly put everything in the cupboards and then dragged Marga into the library.
Seth started, he told us what he had found out so far. Ben, like Marga, listened spellbound as Seth explained and told everything in detail. Seth talked about the Transgenos, the big battle that was described in newspaper articles, the confusion around Terminal City, he had found out what the barcodes were about, at least those of the X series, and then he had a lot of vague reports about the Familiars.
The Familiars were some sort of cult that seemed extremely dangerous. Marga nodded in agreement with this assumption.
"Can you tell us more about what exactly was the danger that caused us to end up here and not once to tell our parents that they were still alive," Ben said somewhat reproachfully.
Now it was Marga's turn to tell the story. She had kept a lot from them all these years.
She told her parents how Max arrived here with her X5 companion, his name was Alec.
Everything had been planned down to the smallest detail until the two children arrived.
Max had dropped off the children here and disappeared again a few minutes later.
She had whispered something else in both of their ears and Seth had already regained some of the memories. He was 2 years old at the time and, thanks to his genes, was able to store such things very early on so that he could recall them later.
"I love you big guy, take good care of your little brother, you're the one who can keep a cool head when it comes to understanding all this."
Marga said that she, too, was housed here in a kind of witness protection program and was actually declared dead. Asha was actually her daughter, she used to belong to the resistance movement "S1W" and had gone into hiding for some time before the big battle. Things were coming together for her, so she only allowed herself to stop by once or twice a year to check that everything was going well.
She had left the instructions for all the companions, trainers and teachers during their visits and also gave the instructions after Ben's 15th birthday so that everyone's job, except for Marga, was now over.
Marga talked and talked. It was hard for the boys to follow her but they hung on her every word and lost track of time. They now knew everything that Marga knew. Seth realized that the pictures of the daisies were supposed to point to Marga. This was one of the easy pieces of the puzzle.
Seth then tried to fit everything he had found out from the library and the records into their stories.
However, part of the whole thing was still quite unclear.
What role did they play and what did all this have to do with the Familiars and what did the barcodes mean when they were visible.
So it was soon evening and the two of them were completely exhausted, full of information but now they were also sure how to proceed.
Now Seth just had to explain his plan to Ben in more detail and then pack. They couldn't go out without thinking, so they had to sleep on it for another night. Now it was already too late.
They both fell into their beds as if they were dead and were asleep, probably before their heads hit the pillows.
Marga, on the other hand, still had something to do.
After the two boys had disappeared into their rooms, she crept out onto the porch.
"Joshua," she called quietly.
A growl from the darkness told her he had heard her.
"Joshua, you shouldn't be seen."
"Marga, is angry with Joshua".
"Yes a little because it was very dangerous to show yourself but now come in and eat something. "The boys want to pack up tomorrow and probably leave soon."
"Joshua, hungry, likes to come in".
She held the door open for him and he slipped in, bending slightly so as not to hit the upper door frame.
Marga gave him something to eat and made him a place to sleep on the library sofa.
Joshua went to sleep and now Marga could also retire.
Early in the morning Ben was woken up by a loud scream or was it a barking howl.
In between he heard his brother Seth.
He jumped out of bed at the same moment, standing at the scene seconds later in just his boxer shorts and a hoodie quickly pulled on.
Seth, with only a towel around his hips, stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked over at the library where someone was trying to hide under a blanket and whining.
Ben had to laugh out loud.
"Joshua, you can come out, my brother won't hurt you."
"Seth scared Joshua," he said from under the covers.
Now Seth had to grin too. He had understood that Joshua posed no danger, in fact the giant was even more afraid of Seth than he had been of him.
Now a somewhat disheveled Marga, still looking sleepy, came out of her room.
"Aha, I see you noticed that I put Joshua here."
"Did you know who he was this whole time and that he was lurking around here," Ben asked.
"Yes, Joshua is an old friend of the family and also one of your parents' most loyal companions.
"He couldn't bear to stay there in the city without constantly checking on things. Now get dressed properly and then we can get started."
"Seth didn't need to be told twice, he felt a little uncomfortable wearing only a towel and immediately followed the instructions."
Ben, on the other hand, briefly went over to Joshua.
"Thank you big friend, without you I probably would have been pretty exhausted by the time I got to the house the other day."
"Ben has to be more careful and not get sick in such a situation."
Joshua was right. So before he climbed the stairs, Ben went into the kitchen and took his medication. He resolved to deal with this need in a much more disciplined manner from now on.
It didn't take long for the two of them, Ben took a quick shower and after just a few minutes they were both looking fresh and good-looking in their casual clothes in Marga's kitchen.
Joshua was already sitting at the table eating his breakfast in a not particularly mannerly manner.
Ben was also hungry but Seth just quickly grabbed a piece of bread and wanted to turn into the library.
"Sit down properly at the table, everything else won't run away."
Seth sat down somewhat reluctantly, but Joshua started talking straight away with his mouth full and so Seth was able to get rid of some questions that had arisen in his mind overnight.
He asked the most important question just before they were all finished.
"Our parents are actually still alive."
"Max is alive, my little friend has been busy. Was traveling a lot. But keep checking back with Joshua. But it's often sad except when Joshua talks about Seth and Ben. "Max will be happy again."
Well at least Max, her mother was alive, that was all that could be gotten out of Joshua at the moment.
He was still keeping a difficult secret that he didn't want to reveal on the first day. That much was already clear to Seth.
After Joshua said Max would be happy if he reported on the two of them, Ben had a satisfied smile on his face. He was so happy that he and his brother were not indifferent to his mother but were very much forgotten and loved.
That was the most important news for him at the moment.
At that moment he didn't realize that information about her father was missing.
After they welcomed Joshua here, they spent several days together. Marga cooked for the three of them, Ben went to pick up the shopping every two days like he used to, and then they sat together in the library and put all the details together into a big picture.
It took almost another 2 weeks until Seth explained his plan and revised it a few times after Joshua and Marga's objections.
They were outside on the lawn in front of the house to train twice a day because they weren't allowed to be out of practice before this trip.
Finally it was time to pack.
Both of them had enough strength not to have to worry too much about packing one or two shirts. However, the important things could not be forgotten. Water, Ben's medication, a knife for each of them for self-defense, maps and more importantly, documents that confirmed their identities and a notebook with a summary of all the information.
Recently, Marga and Joshua had been answering a variety of questions for the two of them.
But now, as they sat there and checked their backpacks again, Joshua noticed the pendant around Seth's neck.
"Seth wears the badge."
"Badge?"
"Family badge".
Marga jumped in. She had already said a lot about the cult.
Now she pointed to the pendant and told Seth that this sign of the snakes was assigned to the cult, a part of his past and he decided from now on also a part of his future. He was more correct than he would have liked at the time.
He briefly grabbed the pendant in his hand. His sleeve slipped down a little and part of his arm was also discovered with great interest by Joshua.
He grabbed Seth's arm and wanted to take a look.
"Stop it, every year it happens again, now it's gotten to the point where I look like a man again for the next four weeks fully tattooed biker or like a crazy shaman, take your pick."
"Joshua doesn't know any shamans, but Joshua knows Max and Max had these signs too."
Now Seth's interest was piqued. He now held his wrist under Joshua's nose and waited for more information.
"Joshua doesn't know anymore, Joshua can't read it, he can only read the barcode".
"It's always the last thing that shows up the day before my birthday after four weeks in which the other drawings appear. But Ben's is always there."
Joshua turned over to Ben and looked at his neck.
"Mmmmhhhmmmmm, yes it is there".
"You won't tell me anything more about that?"
"Second Ypsilon series, child of X series".
Ben was happy with that for the time being and hoped to learn more from Joshua soon.
Joshua had hidden the fact that he could normally read any barcode, but Ben's barcode seemed to be missing something, he just didn't know why or what it was hiding.