Allice in Mysterious Land (ON HOLD)

29: Not-welcomed

"Sandra and Arsy are good. Though they were unable to contact us because they couldn't figure out the internet connection issue," Roy huffs as he dries his recently-showered hair with a towel. Throwing his dirty clothes into the laundry basket in the cave's narrow, stone-walled bathroom, he steps out and heads to his desk, casting disapproving glances at Mrs. Sybil's cosmetic products next to his inventions.

It was barely 7 AM when he returned. He woke us up with the drum-like claps of his hands. Being foolish enough to imagine ourselves in a soldiers' camp, all of us jerked up with a start, as if reporting to a commander.

"Are you listening?" He glances at me with a slight scowl as he turns on his old-style laptop. The newest model on the billboards is only made of glass, while his still has the metal frame and pop-up keyboards.

"Yeah. That's great." My concentration is slipping away, and I try to grab it like a beacon. "Have they met the president?"

If only Grand-Mad and Mrs. Sybil didn't go to the nearest convenience store to restock Roy's 'food warehouse' and get our daily supplies, and if only Xin-Yo and Miro weren't out to search for worms to feed these ungrateful Mantis shrimps... I wouldn't have felt this sleepy.

Sitting on his chair, Roy leans back with a small smile on his lips. "Not yet. They should've gone home by now, but the delay caused by the internet connection makes them stay for a few more days. Also, I knew nothing was going to be that smooth." He clicks his tongue as he fixes his eyes on the screen. "Beatrix must've told Ivon Fray about this. It's bad if he relays that to the president..."

At the mention of the two manipulative scorpions, I snap my eyes open. "Has he tried something?"

"Well, The Flagged House always stops them from meeting the president. Though I'm kind of worried." Roy opens and closes his mouth several times, his hand supporting his chin on the desk. "About the president. Beatrix said he couldn't care less about humanity issues..."

"We don't know for sure." It's getting humid inside the cave, and the suffocating air adds more to my anxiety. "Beatrix might be scaring us."

"Whatever that is, I told Sandra about it. She always can handle things like this."

I rest my back on the jagged wall as Auntie Morgan's discovery rushes to the front of my head. Since Roy's openness about his bad feelings last night, there seems to be no reason to keep this hidden anymore. "I called Auntie Morgan last night, by the way."

His narrowing eyes falter as his fingers dance on the keyboard. "What did she tell you?"

"There are about ten missing inmates in her section. A few days ago, a group of official scientists—possibly—came to the prison and looked around. But... don't you think it's strange?" My tone carries out heavy uncertainty. "They must be from the government, according to Auntie Morgan, since not everyone is allowed to the cells directly. And if that was true, what were they doing there? Are they connected to Sandra's dad's project too?"

The squeaking squirrels from the trees and the shrill chirps of the birds fill the dreary silence within the cave as Roy and I drown in our thoughts.

Whenever we solve a mystery, another one pops up. After we discovered how Ivon Fray is connected to Beatrix Kamal, and how they're using Jorge Zaragoza as an important pawn on their chessboard, now we must figure out which side the president is on.

As if that isn't enough, we still have to find out what these scientists are planning to do. Are they planning to stop on the Chiroquin, or are they trying to make something else? Why should they take those prisoners away?

What if they're testing Chiroquin on humans?

A blast of crowd's noise resounds from Roy's laptop, jerking me out of my rocketing thoughts. His eyes narrow at the screen and his lips are pursed into a deep scowl. "You must see this first."