"Come home?" Jason repeated after Brett, his forehead frowned. "We can't leave yet."

"We just made some progress," Mera added. "People have started to confide in us again and may have found a possibility to recharge the synchronium!"

"The synchronium? Really? Aces!" Brett exclaimed from the screen.

"You see why we can't go now," Neri said. "There is still much to do."

"Yeah, I get that," Brett nodded, "but as you can guess, the scientists want to see you in person and we need their support. And the only option to get all of them to Australia without raising suspicion is the conference next month in Darwin. At the same time, there is a Comic Convention which is a good excuse for many scientists not to be at the conference all the time. It's the perfect and also the only opportunity left this year."

Neri and Mera exchanged a quick look.

"Then, we should talk to Mother," Mera said.

"I think, Mum is talking to her right now," Brett replied, stretched his neck a little and nodded. "Yap, she does. In the living room."

"Why the separate calls?" Jason asked.

"Because I wanted to throw in some sweets to lure you home. As it happens, some of our friends can be there as well. I talked to everyone we kept touch with. Froggy, Vanessa and Benny have a few days until the summer semester starts. Lena and Mick were able to get a week vacation from work. Lee can't make it due to her tight schedule at Oxford University."

"What about Zoe and Sallyanne?"

"Zoe is stuck and she couldn't come up with a good excuse to leave the training camp so close to the Olympic Games," Brett responded, his voice gloomy, clearly disappointed. "And Sallyanne is already on her way to a research ship in the North Sea. She got one of the rare internship opportunities she worked for since she started her studies in surveying and remote sensing."

"Yeah, she told me about it," Jason remembered. "I'm glad it worked out for her."

"Still, I am sad I can not see everyone again," Neri said.

"They send their love, Neri," Brett assured her, "to all of you."

"We'll need a few days to make preparations," Mera told him.

"But you better hurry up," Brett insisted. "Considering you need five days for the flight alone, you should board the spaceship in four days, five tops."

"So, we better get started then," Jason replied and reached out his hand to end the call.

"Wait! What about the synchronium?" Brett wanted to know. "You can't throw something like that in the room and leave me hanging! Didn't you say it needs several generations of the Gift to recharge?"

"Remember what Mum said about Morphic Fields?"

Brett frowned. "Remotely," he responded. "Something about an energy field with memories, experiences and stuff, connecting all kinds of species? The thing why some apes on one island can suddenly create a tool out of a rock after another ape on another island on the other side of the globe invented it?"

"Exactly. The people of the Ocean Planet have telepathic abilities, so I figured they have something similar."

"And you want to find other people with the Gift by that?"

Jason shook his head. "No, we're rather hoping to get access to memories of the Gift, some sort of an imprint."

"So you wanna give the synchronium a rub with an image of someone with the Gift?" Brett cocked his head to the side, his expression sceptical. "Sounds like a longshot."

"It is but it's worth a try," Jason replied. "Homoeopathy is based on the same principle and it's working."

"What is home-pathy?" Neri wanted to know.

"Homoeopathy," Jason corrected. "It's a branch of alternative natural medicine. Basically, you mix water with a tiny amount of a poison which usually evokes the same symptoms as your illness or injury, and take it to activate your immune system. The amount of poison is actually so small that it's merely an imprint of its chemical properties."

"Yeah, but the immune system is a living thing," Brett tossed in, still doubtful. "And you wanna try tricking a machine."

"A machine which reacts to our thoughts and wishes," Mera reminded him.

"Ok," Brett responded. "Did you try it yet?"

"It is not that easy, Brett," Neri told him. "There are so many thoughts and memories."

"And those of the deceased are way harder to reach," Mera added. "Our people believe that they linger in a higher level, in a deeper layer of this library. There are only few who try to get access to this layer and just as few who actually believe that they do."

Brett made a popping sound with his lips and exhaled. "Sounds like a new mission. Just wished for once you would choose something easier and more fun."

Jason rolled his eyes while exchanging a smile with Neri.

Mera grinned. "Well, when you're around it's always fun."

Brett wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh girl, don't make me blush! You know it stings with my hair!"

Jason shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, his hands on his hips. "Well, we have a lot to do before we can come. We better get started."

Brett's face sank. "Girls, can you give us some minutes alone?"

"Of course," Mera replied, her forehead frowned.

"I see you soon, Brett," Neri waved.

"So Mr Killjoy," Brett addressed him when the girls had left the room, "what was that?"

"Nothing," Jason said shrugging, "but you flirting like this … it just makes people a little uncomfortable."

Brett snorted. "Look who's talking! You think Mera and me or any of the others felt comfortable watching you two being all lovey-dovey around each other?"

"We were never lovey-dovey."

"Maybe not in the open but obviously enough," Brett said. "Which makes me wonder what happened."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked, his tone a little too defensive which made Brett lift one eyebrow.

"A few weeks ago, you could hardly keep your hands off each other. And now, you two seem kind of distant. Not distant distant but you know, the way you were before you became official."

Jason took a deep breath and Brett's face fell.

"Oh no. You're not saying you went back to ,we are just friends`?" Brett sang the last part in an annoying tone.

"To be honest," Jason sighed and sat down on a stone bench, "I have no idea where we stand. Only that it's my fault and I have no idea how to fix it."

Any silliness and amusement left were gone and Brett gave him one of his very rare serious looks. "What did you do?"

"It's not something I did," Jason murmured. "It appears it rather something I … didn't."

Brett's eyes grew wide and his mouth formed an "o". "Well, that I knew but am I supposed to understand that?"

"I don't get it either," Jason confessed. "I'm still in love with Neri, always will and a great part of me wants to be with her for real. But there is the voice inside my head, telling me to be … "

"Sensible and responsible?" Brett cut him. "Yeah, that sounds like you but you're both grown up."

"Mera told me, she thinks it's because I'm not sure about this relationship in general."

"Not sure? But you two are … Wait!" he suddenly jumped. "You talk with Mera about that?"

Jason shrugged. "She rather confronted me about my friendship with Shersheba. And she dropped casually the telepathic connection between family members and the resulting lack of privacy."

Brett put his hand over his mouth but did a poor job hiding his grin. Jason gave him an annoyed look which made Brett burst into a loud laughter.

"Ok, that sucks!" he snorted. "Under these conditions, I would also have problems getting it up."

"Brett!"

Brett defensively held his hands up, trying to turn serious but failed to shut off his wide grin. "Ok, sorry, Bro! But you got to admit that's actually not surprising. You could have guessed that."

"Somehow, this is turning in the exact same conversation I had with Mera," Jason sighed.

"Sorry, I wish I could be of more help," Brett replied, finally more seriously. "I really hope you can fix it, mate! You two took so long until you finally got over the being friends state although it was so obvious to everyone around you. When you entered the room everyone else was signed out. And when we returned from a dangerous mission, it was your arms she flew in first. And you were the one she always worried about the most. You two are the reason I still believe in working relationships and true love, as cheesy as this may sound. So please don't screw it up!"

Jason smiled when Brett put his hands together in a begging gesture. "I don't intend to. I promise!"

"It's a good thing you come home," Brett responded, his tone thoughtfully. "With all our old friends, maybe it will remind you why you fell in love with her in the first place. Being back in this nostalgic atmosphere, who knows? Things could just fall into place before you know it."

"I hope so."