2011

Evelyn had just got the last of the changing supplies when she heard a little knock at the door, opening it she saw Amber, oh hello Amber do you need something?"

Hey everyone! Sorry for not getting this chapter out yesterday. I’ve been trying to be more social… but that meant getting back late yesterday, so while the chapter was complete… it wasn’t edited. I’m sure by now for anyone still reading this… you can definitely tell when my edits have been made late at night. So, apologies for that, but I will be making it up to you all with a chapter today and another sometime Saturday. Looking ahead more… there is another poll out for what I next write. This may be the last one, but for now, the three options as well as the link can be found back in other chapters as well as most recently in chapter 27. And just in case you forgot my method or are new here, this poll will remain open until I post my final chapter. When that will be exactly will be posted at the latest during the second to last chapter. Now… last but not least and as usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter of my story! Chapter 29: Bad Notes All Around Addy huddled tight and held onto her stuffed bear, sniffling and trying to block out the world. Both her arms still hurt from the doctors earlier and while her mommy had promised her it was necessary and she trusted her mommy completely, she still didn’t like when they gave her shots. A crack of twigs was heard nearby and Warren peaked into their makeshift fort. “Hey there, kiddo. You okay?” Addy nodded but then pointed at the two Band-Aids just after the two cuffs of her pink shirt, one on her left and one on her right arm. “Shots, today, Warren…” He nodded and sighed before entering the fort they had cobbled together last summer. “Not fun at all, huh?” Addy shook her head, her ponytail flapping behind her as she did. Warren smiled and sat next to her before rubbing her shoulder like the good older brother he was. “I remember when I had to get my own. Hurt for a while… but you remember why we have to get them, right?” Addy sighed and nodded. Her mommy and daddy had been very thorough in their explanation this morning. “It’s ‘cause of the war and whatevuh happened. A lot of people… died,” she made sure to whisper that ugly word, “and Mommy and Daddy are just trying to protect us.” “That’s right,” Warren confirmed. “Dad’s brother died from whatever the fallout was and now… he’s just trying to protect us. Mom too…” He sighed, likely seeing that an explanation like that still wasn’t helping his sister feel any better. “Doesn’t make it hurt any less though, huh?” Once again, Addy shook her head. This time though, she hugged her bear and leaned into her older brother for comfort. Warren smiled at the tiny gesture from his younger sister. With a ten-year age gap between them, she was mostly just annoying to him… but she also had her moments. “It’ll be okay, sis. The pain will go away soon, but… you know what always made me feel better?” Addy sniffed and then backed away from his arm and looked at him with wide eyes. “What?” “Cookies,” he noted confidently. “Mom’s cookies… the ones she keeps above the refrigerator in that jar of hers that she always keeps stocked. One or two… and I guarantee a smile all over your face again.” Addy’s face lit up. “Promise?” Warren backed up a little and crossed his heart before holding up his right hand like he was making a solemn vow. “Cross my heart and I swear on the pact of siblings.” Addy smiled more, excited for the prospect of a fresh chocolate chip cookie. Her mommy had made them only yesterday and with the sealing capabilities of the jar, she knew they would still be slightly soft. Plus, the chunks of salt on top made pretty much everyone weak at the knees that tried them. But… one thought crept into her mind and her smiled faltered. “But Warren… those are only for special occasions and after dinner if we’ve been good.” Warren smirked, as if he had encountered the same problem dozens of times before… and then had overcome it. “That’s right… but I won’t tell if you won’t, okay?” Addy’s smile quickly returned. She trusted her brother implicitly and besides her toys and her mommy and daddy and one or two friends at kindergarten already, he was her closest companion. “Deal.” The two then lay back in their fort, looking at the various treasures they kept inside. Mostly balls and strange-looking tree branches that were swords or wands or jousting lances… whatever they felt like at the time. Warren had built the fort with their dad when he was younger, but when Addy came into the picture and she was finally allowed to come out here by herself, the fort had only expanded.   “Warren?” Addy finally asked her brother, cutting the silence. “Yeah?” He seemed preoccupied with something else… these days that was high school or girls or when he was going to get his first car. “You think mommy and daddy are okay?” she asked bluntly. Warren seemed to snap out of wherever he was and quickly turned to face his little sister. “What do you mean by that?” Addy shifted on the ground and clutched her teddy closer. “It’s just that… ever since the picnic last Spring… they seem really nervous around Dikos and that Thermos guy…” Warren smiled only for a moment. “Drakos and Thanatos…” he corrected before his smirk vanished completely. “But wait… you’ve seen them around here?” Now, there seemed to be fear lingering behind his eyes in that question. “Well, yeah… they come around and I seem them when I get home… usually arguing with Mommy or Daddy.” Addy’s half-days at kindergarten gave her a unique perspective that Warren no longer had full access to. That being said, he was also more aware and informed than Addy was. “Addy… promise me that if you ever see them again, don’t ever go near them. Stay behind Mom or Dad,” he warned, the second time Addy had been waved off the two of them. Addy felt fear begin to eclipse her, but once again, she trusted Warren completely. “Okay. I promi…” A scream then shattered through the branches. Loud and long, it was one of pain and distress and who it came from, even if it was distant, was immediately obvious to both siblings. “Mommy!” Addy heard it first and bolted off toward the sound, clutching her teddy ever tighter. “Wait! Hold on Addy!” Warren had heard it as well, but his maturity had taught him that running towards screams was humane and brave… but could just end up leading to more trouble and danger. He knew what his parents did, and while they were the good ones, the same couldn’t be said about all their coworkers. Fortunately, Warren, being the older and currently taller sibling, soon caught up with Addy. He quickly snatched her hand and held her back. “Don’t you run off like that again,” he warned, still walking with her though. “Running towards mom is usually a good thing, but… don’t just run into those situations again, okay?” Still pacing fast back toward the house, albeit with a little more restraint now, Addy nodded. She felt a little bad for apparently scaring Warren, but the scream was definitely from her mommy. ‘What if she needed help?’ Not long after, the fort being only a little way away from the house, both siblings came and saw their mom clutching a paper of some kind and their dad soon approaching with dread written all over his face. She clutched the note tight and showed it to him… the color soon draining away from his face nearly entirely. ‘ As the two began to whisper, Addy, not even thinking of anything more than her mom’s scream, soon wrenched free from Warren’s grip and walked up to them. “Mommy! You okay?” Her mommy looked back at her with panic and quickly hid the note. To anyone above the age of seven, they might have caught the fact that her mommy then tried with all her might to force a smile back onto her face. She was successful… but the transition was obvious. Only being five and three quarters though… it was completely lost on Addy. “I’m fine sweetheart. Just…” Her glance shifted to her husband. Addy’s Daddy then smiled, apparently being the better liar of the two of them… but Addy didn’t know that. “She saw a bug, honey. A really big bug too!” “You did?” Addy, not having dealt with some of the more subtle nature of human emotions, viewed things more as black and white. A person was happy or sad… a good person or a bad one. A smile and a bright tone meant happy… so she was happy too and bought their fib completely. “Yeah, honey… I did…” Out of Addy’s sight, her mommy then handed her daddy the note as she escorted her daughter inside. “Let me tell you all about it inside. Maybe we could even have some of those cookies you like so much, huh?” “Cookies?” If Addy was worried at all anymore about the scream, her face and her tone certainly didn’t show it… especially after a nod of confirmation from her mommy. “Yay cookies!” At this point, she only cared about the chocolatey goodness she was about to consume. On the outside though, Warren emerged from the trees and saw his dad looking at the note. Accidentally cracking a dry twig underneath his foot, Warren looked at his dad with worry. Warren didn’t know everything… but he knew enough about Juventas. His dad sighed and looked up from the note to his son after hearing the twig crack. Then, with only a single nod, both knew the contents of the letter. A threat… one against Addy. One had come for Warren years ago. The sender anonymous but the Pepperidge family was smart, and they could guess well enough. The point was not a threat to them today… but a promise of future pain if they should ever step out of line. *              *              * Addy shifted nervously as she sat at the doctors. Ever since she was young, she hated the building she was currently at. Her dad joked a few years ago that Addy had specifically become a nurse to give better shots than the office next door to the one she was currently sitting in ever did. She didn’t find it very funny, but never having come to the Little side of things before, she held onto Oliver in her lap with cautious intent, hoping he wouldn’t be skewered like she had once been. “Now then… let’s see here,” the doctor began, entering with a smile and a stuffed animal inchworm stuffed inside his white coat pocket next to his pens. “I think we have a new patient today, huh?” Addy nodded. She looked at Oliver, expecting him to answer as well, but today he looked almost frightened as he clung on tightly to Stripe. Not trying to make a big deal about it, Addy smiled and responded for him instead. “That’s right. Oliver. New caregiver here and I… well, I just want to make sure he’s all okay.” She wanted to tell him that she was nearly frightened herself that Oliver was regressing and she had no idea why… but that type of information felt dangerous. “And that’s your right as his mommy,” the doctor said back, setting his files down and then smoothing out the crinkling sheet on the examination table as a nurse entered with a tray of items. “But let’s get started then.” Addy could have corrected him about the whole ‘mommy’ part, but when Oliver didn’t object either and just let himself be plucked up by the doctor… she didn’t say a word. In fact, with the whole exam, she just stayed back, helped when asked, and tried to see if Oliver would respond to any of it. First, the doctor checked his vitals. Heartbeat… good. Blood pressure… more than good. Measurements were tabulated and everything was marked for his new chart. Next, the doctor began to prod and poke Oliver in various ways, using his stethoscope and depressors to check his heart, lungs, teeth, and abdomen. He even flashed a light in his eyes and checked each carefully. Oliver responded with some fussing, but mostly, when the doctor pressed on his tummy, Addy just noted that his diaper dampened a little more. The last part of the exam was all about abilities. For Littles, that became complicated fairly quickly. Normal babies and toddlers… most achieve milestones according to their age. For Littles though, a 42-year-old could very well be less mature than a 20-year-old… and it might not even be close. For Addy, this was the part she was most interested in. Coordination and gait were checked first. Mostly normal, at least with the consideration of a wet diaper… but Oliver failed a few of the checks. “No big deal, Ms. Pepperidge. Totally normal if he’s ever seen a cartoon or two in his life here…” Addy kept her mouth shut on that one… at least for now. Then came the questions and interactions with balls and dolls… and how he interacted with other Littles. It was a little more difficult in an isolated setting, but the doctor seemed a pro at each question and check that he performed. If Oliver answered strangely, no matter how cute, the doctor just had the nurse jot it down. At most, he would praise Oliver for answering him back. Sadly, even for something as simple as ‘who do you trust,’ Oliver’s response to point at Addy and beam wide up at her was considered a ‘pass.’ “So?” Addy asked, nearly pacing through the floor after the doctor had initially left after his examination. “Perfectly healthy Little on your hands, Ms. Pepperidge,” he noted with a smile. “Some delays and some issues with coordination, speech, and connections to words and emotional responses… but I would expect such things from Littles these days. All those hypnotic cartoons, you know?” “But doctor…” Now was the time. Addy knew she needed to tell him. “I worked for Psyche New Beginnings. I know full-well what those cartoons do and I’ve been monitoring him very closely sense he first arrived here. I can guarantee… he’s never seen any cartoons like that. In fact, he was almost normal until about a few weeks ago…” “He…” The doctor blinked back a few times at Addy. “Oh… I see…” He then bit his lower lip and called the nurse in right away before turning back to Addy. “Ms. Pepperidge… if that’s the case, then I have some serious concerns. I’m going to need to take some blood from your Little, but if he’s regressed that fast this soon without hypnotics and I’m assuming without drugs… then more tests may very well be needed to ensure his safety at this point.” Addy clutched Oliver tight, the Little still seeming mostly oblivious of the world beyond Stripe. “Do you really think it’s that serious?” She knew it was and this point… she was almost hoping the doctor would deny her deepest fears. The doctor sighed though as the nurse entered and he made a few motions for her to start prepping to draw blood. “Let me put it this way… if you started exhibiting those symptoms… wouldn’t you be concerned?” “Oh… right…” Addy walked a fine line with Littles. On the one hand, she knew they were adults, but on the other, she also knew that the Psyche program and others showed that humans worked well with regression… like they were made for it on some level, conscious or not. But with something like that put so bluntly about her Little’s condition now, Addy nearly froze as Oliver was then maneuvered around for the blood draw. Only when the needle appeared and Oliver freaked out did she come back to reality. “Addy! Addy! No needle! No needle!” he wailed, thrashing around on the examination table. “Please! Please! No needle!” Addy’s heart was shattering… but she needed answers. She would try to explain it to him later, but right now, she felt confident that she knew his needs better than him. Today, with his blood being taken, while painful and against his wishes, would ultimately help him in the long run. So, with the help of the nurse, held him down as the doctor drew his blood… and Oliver screamed. Once it was all taken, receiving some notes with instructions for what to look out for with further signs of degradation to his mind, Addy soon left, cuddling and hugging Oliver in her arms about as much as she could. Needless to say, in his regressing state, drawing blood was just about the worst thing ever to happen to him… and his words remained unintelligible through his tears for the next 30 minutes. They only stopped once he had passed out tucked away in his car seat on the ride back home. Even still, Addy barely wanted to rustle him awake once she got back home. But even still, there, waiting for her expectantly, was her dad, looking every bit concerned as Addy had been earlier. “So? What did the doctor say?” Picking Oliver up from his car seat, still passed out, Addy pressed her one free hand to tell her dad to shush and not to wake him. He gratefully nodded back and helped her bring in Oliver’s diaper bag and a bag of cupcakes she had picked up for tonight. Considering how Oliver reacted, she knew it was the least she could do for him. Placing him down in his crib, Addy tiptoed away and sighed as soon as she saw her dad, needing to unload a little from what she had seen and heard at the doctors. “Dad… you should have seen him. His speech wasn’t slurred… but I would have sworn I was dealing with a regressed Little today at the doctors.” Her dad, previously occupied with going through what were likely bills on the kitchen table, stopped and looked back at his daughter. “That bad, huh?” “Yes,” she confirmed, his relative casualness over something so monumental getting under skin a little. “You’ve seen him, right? He’s changed! In no time at all, and no drugs or hypnosis… he’s changed!” Now, his vague curiosity seemed to focus more, completely shirking off any of her concern. “And you’re sure of that? No drugs or anything else you can think of since he’s been here?” He paused and folded his arms. “You know I won’t judge you if you did. But…” “Dad!” Addy nearly wanted to toss a book at him for even insinuating such a thing. “I haven’t done anything! And that’s my point! He shouldn’t be this way!” She was nearly seething by then. Pursing his lips for a moment, her dad got up and then almost walked past her before patting her shoulder gently. “Just take some deep breaths, Addy. If you need air though… I can watch Oliver for you if you’d like. But… try not to worry about this. If there’s something… I’m sure it will pass…” Now, Addy was downright suspicious of her dad. He seemed less like the panicked man she thought he’d be and more like someone who already knew what was happening… and that everything would be okay like he’d promised. If she didn’t know any better, it was as if he had experimented with Oliver and that the trial would soon be over and everything would be back to normal. But right as she was about to fling an accusation at him, her watch beeped… reminding her of the other major task she had to do today. Sneering for a moment, she then purposely relaxed her face and looked back at her dad with the most neutral expression she could muster. “That… that would actually be nice. I… yeah… some air would be good I think…” Her dad smiled and nodded. “Then you go. Oliver and I will be perfectly fine here while you get that air and ease your mind. Maybe a walk through the woods, huh?” If Addy wasn’t so furious and confused and uncertain about everything, she might have raised an eyebrow with the connection between her task and what he had just suggested. But… that’s not where she was at right then. So, she stormed off and into the woods without a second look back, huffing as she went. After taking a moment to breathe in and de-stress and focus on her next task, Addy stepped into the woods behind her dad’s house. While she was technically ‘going for air,’ instead of just wandering around, she knew exactly where she was headed… her brother had been perfectly clear with his message yesterday over the phone. ‘Meet me at our place… the special one where we used to meet… only the two of us know about it…’ She sighed as she pushed back one of the branches of an overgrown pine tree. While in theory, only they knew that it was a common meeting spot, like when she had been pissed with her dad yet still wanted to talk to her brother here close to home… their dad had helped build the fort when they were younger. First with Warren… then later with her. As she approached, walking along the trail that had long since needed to be trimmed back, yet giving it almost an extra layer of secrecy now, she gazed at the remains of the fort. Still intact throughout the years and the several storms that had passed through here, including two hurricanes since she had left for college, it was showing its age now. It was essentially just a grouping of beams their dad had brought in and had joined together on the ground. The once sturdy roof seemed to have several holes in it now and nature looked as if it had moved in on nearly every corner. Careful to avoid any snapped twigs from the previous fall that had littered the floor, Addy stepped inside and admired how little had been removed since she last visited. A dusting of pinks and purples from her days at the fort remained. She was sure the empty beer cans were still buried near the east wall from that one get-together she had with her friends. Of course, as she looked around, squirrels and birds seemed to be masters of the domain more than anyone else. “Addy?” Addy spun around and saw her brother standing there. “I’m glad you came…” “Warren…” She wanted to hug him, but there was also a part of her that was supremely upset with him as of late. While he had been supportive of her through the years, even if their dad hadn’t always been, recently, their dad had been making up for lost time. Oliver got along great with him and there wasn’t an aspect of her life that he didn’t support any longer… even saving her hide in Juventas more times than she could count by now. More recent documents he collected showed there were times he had saved her and she didn’t know about. But her brother… ever since Christmas and when she and their dad had reunited, he had been mostly absent. At one point, he had even met Patrick when he visited her at Psyche back in the fall. With Oliver though… she could count the number of times the two had met… and he was actually her Little now. And all that was added onto that they were now both board members and he seemed to be actively avoiding interactions with her. First, the meeting in the secret bunker beneath the house and now the picnic. When asked, her dad just said to ‘talk to Warren.’ Now, she was here and facing him. And she wanted answers. “So… hey…” he responded sheepishly. “Hey? Hey?” Addy could feel a fury building up in her chest. She knew this wasn’t going to be easy. When Warren did something, he typically had a pretty good reason, but this time… she couldn’t think of anything except that maybe she had done something wrong… or that he was ashamed of something he had done. Either way, she needed to know. “After multiple absences and a distance that was even rare for dad and I last year, that’s what you’ve got to say?” Warren sheepishly walked toward Addy, his head drawn downward and almost looking weary and even a little ashamed. Finally, he collapsed onto one of the log stools that their dad had made for them years before. “Addy… I… I barely know how to begin with this…” In that one moment, Addy saw her brother… the one she remembered from when they were young. While the years of stress being on the board had worn him to the bone and he was no longer the spry and enthusiastic jock that he was, she could still recognize that he was overwhelmed. She wasn’t sure what, but not being six anymore, she knew something was going on with him. Sighing and setting her own emotions to the side for a moment, she walked over and sat on the other log stool right next to him before taking his hand, her nursing instincts to care, comfort, and help where she could, was now taking over. He wasn’t the youthful jock anymore, but neither was she the scared six-year-old either. “Warren… please… talk to me. I can tell something is up. Let me help. Is it dad? The board? Or…?” “It’s everything, Addy!” he said, his word dipped in frustration. “I…” He then winced and reached into his pocket before pulling out an increasingly familiar device… the signal blocker. Letting out a breath, he then nodded. “Okay… now we can really talk. I just… I’m not even sure who to trust anymore…” “You can trust me…” Addy tried to encourage. Warren looked at her. There was a spring of hope in eyes… but one that also seemed to be immediately thrashed down in favor of suspicion and gloom. “I… I wish I could, Addy. I want to but… you’re on the board now. How can I trust you knowing that now?” Addy blinked back at her brother for a moment, and things began to click into place in her mind. “Wait… is that why you’ve been so distant with me since I reconnected with dad?” Warren looked completely guilty… and then nodded. “I want to trust dad, but… the company is rotten, Addy. I’ve seen it firsthand. I… we’ve all had to do something we’re not proud of being on the board. I know Elena and Josh are doing their best to resist… but they’re still new. I can already see Josh caving in sometimes and Elena… she works way too closely with Mr. Allen to be so clean for very long either.” “They’re friends, Warren,” she tried to defend. She knew the score and she knew she needed allies. She hadn’t made those tough calls yet, but from her dad’s instructions recently and her further insight into board decisions as well, she knew there were levels of good on the board. ‘Question is… how good is my brother?’ She wanted another ally, but just as he was looking at her with suspicion, despite her highest hopes, Warren might have been just as tainted as he was painting her out to be now. “I know, and… I know they’re working towards the good side of things. I just…” He looked at his sister with the weariness of years of dealing with inner office politics at the most supreme level. “I just… I don’t know who’s responsible… I don’t know who to blame… I don’t know if someone’s approached you yet… I don’t even know about dad anymore…” Addy was about to respond to each, but each unknown he listed, she couldn’t help but feel the same… except he seemed more in the weeds than her. It was a proverbial wall going up around him… and she had enough. Squinting her eyes and pinching her lips and flaring her nostrils, she bolted out of her seat and shot her hands to her hips in frustration against her brother. “Damn it, Warren! Speak to me! This is our special place! We could always talk here, and you know me! You know I want only the best for Littles. I’m your sister and I haven’t even had my first day! Do you really think I’m so weak that I’ve already been corrupted before I’ve even started?” From his look back at her, it was clear he hadn’t thought about any of that. “Addy… I… I… I’m sorry.” Once more, Addy saw that something more was happening with her brother. He wasn’t showing bravado or strength or really any of the kinds of traits she normally associated with him. Now, instead, he was showing panic and uncertainty and distrust… even a little fear, something she would have never imagined seeing in her big and tough older brother. He was always so sure about things, but now… Realizing she needed to take another approach, Addy marched up to him and took his hands. “Warren… I’m trying here. Please… please trust me in this. I can be your ally. You know my record, and… I’ll even sear on mom that I’m clean here…” For the two of them, their mom was basically sacred at this point. She was the one that had got out and had started her own company. Yes, it was tied to Juventas, and she was still on the board until her death, but she had stood up for her principles and was an incorrupt near saint-like figure to both of them. Swearing on her image and name… it was never to be taken lightly. And with Warren, it finally seemed to do the trick. “Okay…” he breathed out, almost like he was on a rollercoaster and preparing for the inevitable drop. “I’m going to trust you. I just… whatever happens, please don’t tell anyone about this. Not the board… not Elena or Josh… not dad… not even Oliver, okay?” Addy readied herself internally. Whatever he was hiding from her, seemed to be something he would take to his grave… or at least was seriousness enough that he couldn’t really trust anyone else with it. Remembering back to when they were younger, she smiled and crossed her heart before holding up her hand for her own oath. “I swear…” Warren took a deep breath in and then let it out. “Okay…” His face pinched with regret and uncertainty. “I support dad’s organization… I support Little’s rights… I even support some of the more radical decisions that have come to the board.” He paused and now visibly winced. “But I can’t do anything about any of it…” Addy frowned. “But why?” Her mind raced with all the possibilities, and each, even with the new visage that was forming of her brother, seemed more impossible than the last. He was fearful… not a coward. He was hardened… not a monster. He was worn down… not out in the fight. ‘So, what then?’ He then reached into his right pocket and pulled out a note. “I received this last year. It’s not much but I’ve received other messages since then…” Addy reached out and took the note and read it carefully. “Dear Mr. Pepperidge… It has come to our attention that you have been voting against us for the better part of your time within the company. Before, we could allow your vote as it was insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Now, you will vote how we say to vote. Any deviation away from this and your wife and Little will be summarily taken and tortured until you comply. Their deaths may be inevitable in this process… do not test us. The Board…” Addy nearly dropped the note a few times as she read it over. It was neat and yet utterly barbaric… and signed by the board… as in the totality of everyone there. She tried to look for clues… but it revealed nothing. It was a threat and one as plain as day. For Warren, it was now to be compliance or the loss of everything he held dear in life now. Addy looked back up at her brother, tears now glistening in her eyes. Suddenly, everything with him since then made so much more sense. “Oh Warren…” She went to hug him, but Warren stood up off the stool and backed up. “Please Addy… I… I can’t. Not about this… I… I’ve been doing a good job I think of keeping it together but… if I hug you now… I’ll break for sure.” Addy hated that stubborn and macho quality in her brother, but in this case, she knew she had to respect it at the very least. “Okay… but the note, Warren. Please tell me you’ve tried to figure out who sent it at least.” He nodded. “I did. Lots of times and pulled in favors and resources even beyond my position on the board. But even after all that… nothing. Generic paper and emotionless writing and no hints of who is the true culprit… or culprits.” Another item clicked in her mind. “Oh… it says, ‘the board’ and you think it could be more than one of them… or all of them…” She paused and the meaning of that truly dawned on her. “So that means you think…” The very notion nearly took her to her knees. “Wait… Elena? Josh? Dad?” Warren nodded again. “All of them could be involved. I only got this note right after Elena joined last year. Josh was already on the board by then, so I think when the votes were tallied, the upper members realized they could be in the minority. And with me with people that actually were vulnerable…” “They targeted you…” she filled in to his confirmation. Addy remembered back to the note her parents received when she was six. The board hadn’t threatened Warren… but that day, both she and Warren were targeted due to an upcoming vote. Addy didn’t find out about it until years later… but seeing Warren with this note now… she knew the board wasn’t above these sorts of tactics. She just had hoped that with Mr. Thanatos missing to wherever, Juventas would have been past this by now. “And lately…” Warren walked away and looked through one of the holes in the fort to the outside. “I just wonder about some of the votes. Pro-Littles have been losing several times now… almost to the point where I wonder if there is any true pro-Little vote on the board now.” “But Dad? Elena? And Josh?” Addy knew that her dad sometimes needed to side with the board to keep within the inner circle and fight when he knew he could win, but Elena and Josh seemed unmovably pro-Little. ‘Did I get them wrong?’ She could already feel the suspicion beginning to cloud her mind. Warren sighed. “I… I’m not sure. Dad is flexible in his vote, and mine? I get an email occasionally… untraceable, but it tells me what to vote for ‘or else,’ so I do. It’s not every vote… just a lot of them recently. And my mind working overtime here, I can’t help but feel that maybe Josh and Elena are plants. Show pro-Little tendencies on the outside and secretly side with pro-Big tendencies when it comes down to a vote. We rarely know the votes… more just if a motion passed or failed.” “So, you don’t know who to trust…” Addy sighed. “And between that and the threat over your family… you stay away from things that would just make it worse…” Warren nodded, pain in his eyes. “I… I still hand things off to Dad and his little group here, but… I can’t make any moves myself. At least… not until I know who’s actually threatening me. Today… I just have guesses… and I can’t take that risk now…” Addy was accepting of it all… but she could see there was something more he was leaving out. A note was powerful threatening your family… but Warren now seemed completely different. Something had to have happened to show the threat was real. “Warren… what happened? I know you. Something had to have happened beyond just a note and a few emails telling you how to vote… isn’t there?” Warren winced… and then nodded. “You know me so well…” He then took in a deep breath. “Jakey… last year’s Spring picnic… Julia and I went there with him. All dressed up, he was telling us about a massive battle he had with his toys on the way over…” His eyes looked distant as he recalled the story… and Addy had to pause herself for a moment. She hadn’t met Jakey until July due to a particular turbulent Little she had been working with at Psyche last year. ‘But Jakey is regressed now… but then he was talking about battles with his toys? What happened?’ She pressed in, her mind already starting to panic as she desperately tried not to make a connection between Jakey and what was happening to Oliver now. “Go on…” Warren’s lower lip trembled for a moment. “He was a rescue but normal in his head. A Little, yes, but coherent and smart. He dreamed of going back to Earth one day… and Julia and I were trying to make that happen. He didn’t need our help normally, but after the picnic…” He trailed off for a second, his voice breaking a few times when he tried to continue again. “W… we don’t know who or when… but when he came home with us that night, he regressed fast. It almost looked like he was having a stroke or something. Deep regression within hours…” “No…” Addy had heard of that thing before… but those drugs were banned within Juventas. They had existed at one point, and it was true that the pure form of FOY that existed now could produce similar results… but that was heavily monitored after the Losantiville incident. Everything added up… it was an uneasy conclusion about who was responsible.    “I wish I could say otherwise, but yes… we tried everything to help him… but it was too late.” Warren sighed and came back over from looking outside the fort. “We got him examined and…” He squeezed his eyes shut in pain. “Doctors say its likely irreversible. Jakey needs our help now. Earth… Earth is gone to him forever…” “I’m so sorry Warren…” It was a common enough story, but with it combined with the note, Addy’s deepest fears were practically confirmed. “It was a confirmation of their threat to you, wasn’t it?” Warren winced and nodded. “I thought so too. No threats came afterward though… just an email the next week telling me how to vote… and I did.” “So now you don’t come to company picnics anymore…” Addy felt a little bad for thinking of the worst of her brother, especially once he nodded to her notion. “Warren… I thought the worst of you. I’m… I’m so, so sorry. Please… forgi…” But Warren held his hand up to stop her. After a moment, he looked back at her and shook his head. “No, Addy. Don’t apologize… don’t feel bad. I kept this to myself. I shut you out when the two of us should have been the strongest allies on the board. But…” “But the threat still stands against your family…” Addy’s mind already began to piece things together to find out who was responsible for the threat. Warren needed to be an ally. While Elena and Josh were likely allies, Addy knew that she needed to confirm them first. She wouldn’t reveal Warren’s secret… but she needed to know for herself as well. “Yes… and I don’t know much, but I’ve been on the board long enough to know that if I did tell you and became your ally so publicly… the board might go after you as well,” he warned, his voice shaking even to just get the words out to her. “Dad’s protection only goes so far, and… with him gone off the board and you with Oliver now…” His words hung in the air and Addy nearly felt a jolt of pain directly in her chest. “I’m vulnerable as well…” She knew that on the outside. Her dad had practically already warned her, but hearing Warren’s story and seeing the depths the board would go to in order to win more company votes… the threat now felt more personal and real than ever before. Now, it wasn’t a rumor of their cruelty to even members of their own board… it was a fact. “I’m afraid so, and…” His watch then beeped. He grimaced and it and then turned it off before looking back at Addy. “That’s my cue. I gotta go, but… I wanted to leave you with this one warning… stop feeding Oliver those bars he’s been eating.” “The…?” Addy thought back and they were just simple nutrition bars… nothing on them mentioned anything dangerous. “The bars? But… but why, Warren? Do you know something?” He sighed as he stepped toward the doorway out of the fort. “No… I don’t know. At least… nothing concrete yet. More like a guess but… my guesses usually are pretty good with these things. I may not be able to help you or dad directly, but if I sense something wrong… especially off the record…” He paused and picked up his anti-listening device. “Then I want to tell you all. Don’t spread it around… but it might just help you out. Coming onto the board… you’ve got enough to worry about.” Addy wanted to question things, but maybe not able to take more questions or really needing to be elsewhere now and not gain suspicion, Warren then popped off the anti-listening device. Even out in the woods, in theory at least, they might not have been safe. It was a remote possibility they were been listening to or watched out here… but it was clear neither sibling wanted to risk it at this point. “Well, thank you, Warren,” Addy said back to her brother graciously, knowing the time of their conversation had now passed and needed to wrap up. “I will consider that brand of Little clothing for Oliver as well. Tell Julia to give me a call up soon. Maybe we could go shopping for the both of them…” Warren smiled and nodded, now seeing the skills of a good cover story that Addy had obviously been practicing for just such a moment. “I will. Give love to Dad and Oliver for me. Gotta get back to the office. Big things happening soon…” And with that, Warren slipped out the back and likely made his way through the gap in the fence of the property that Addy had once used herself when meeting up with him. Back then, she was the one sneaking in and Warren was the one with their dad. Now, as Addy made her way back home, it was the opposite. Looking into the room where Oliver was snoozing and her dad was reading a book; she stopped just short of being seen. Warren had dropped a lot on her today, and while she was grateful, she couldn’t help but look at their dad with some sort of suspicion now. ‘I need to get my hands on those files at Juventas. I need to see who specially is responsible for threatening Warren’s wife and Little. If I can do that, maybe he’ll trust some more people again. Maybe no involvement… but maybe he could help out more.’ But looking in, she also saw a half-eaten nutrition bar next to Oliver. Sleeping peacefully in his playpen, he looked perfect… except for the fact that even in his dreams, the sleepy Oliver appeared regressed. A soaked diaper, drool on his front, signs of playing with his toys chaotically when he had been awake while she was gone, and worse… a hand perched so close to his lips… like he was moments away from sucking his thumb. A normal Little? Fine. But Oliver… all that should have been far away. Concerned, Addy immediately bolted to her computer and used her new log-on credentials to the Juventas website. The first thing she did… searched for the nutrition bars. But she came up empty. No signs and not even a single mention of them. There was one item that seemed sort of to do with it, but clicking in… she was blocked. ‘Hmmm… that’s weird. Usually that’s only for something classified with the government… not a silly nutrition bar…’ For a moment, she worried that maybe Warren was playing her… at least until she started looking elsewhere. And sure enough, several Littles seemed to be unexplainedly regressing. There wasn’t a clear link, but a closer look at several of the pictures accompanying each story… there were the bars. Her first day on the board was two days later… on Monday. She wanted with all her might to bring the evidence at her disposal to light. She wanted to find out what was happening. Problem though… she really didn’t have any evidence. And for the first time, she could begin to understand the frustration on the board. Access to more information than ever before but no way to execute and not seem crazy or an alarmist that needed to be dealt with. So, for the moment, Addy snarled and marched directly into the kitchen. Grabbing a trash bag, she then rifled through the cabinets and disposed of each and every box. ‘Sorry Dad… I know you just bought these for Oliver to tide him over between meals and feedings with me… but I just don’t trust them anymore.’ With the last of the bags tied and thrown out, Addy returned to wake up Oliver. She wasn’t sure what was happening to him and her position on the board seemed more dangerous than ever, but Oliver… his love for her was a sure thing. And going forward, she knew she would have to rely on those sorts of things. The board and its members, as she was finding out, were anything but a sure thing.

Omaha.

From my own experience with parents/advisors on overnight field trips plus from some of my friends ik who also did/do it (i was a 2010s kid), none of us really got insulted or embarrassed by our parents over it. Now and days, kids are just embarrassed by it due to personal issues rather than outside sources. My parents literally have never said anything bad about it or done anything morally wrong due to bedwetting, but I was extremely embarrassed and ashamed of it regardless.    I interpreted this as more so as a way to tell kids that they shouldn’t be embarrassed by it due to their own insecurities since it doesn’t define them. Wholesome ad. 

Laurel county here