Chapter-18 Arctic, 79°58'39.25″S 81°57'32.21″W Pandora Research Laboratory

Cecilia spent the afternoon talking and discussing with Doctor Akiko. Many parts of her story made Cecilia gasp, horrified, and curious. Doctor Akiko was in exactly the same position as her. A witness to a shocking, horrific and uncontrollable event.

When Cecilia asked what she was doing while on Pandora, Akiko said she was seconded to monitor Object X on a daily basis. Especially if at any time the mysterious figure woke up from her long sleep.

To the best of Akiko's knowledge, if an object had stopped its cryonic state, which for Object X meant it was no longer in frozen state, it should recover from its coma.

But it was not the case with Object X. There must be unknown procedures to the researchers on how to reanimate an object that was no longer under cryonic preservation.

Akiko also said that Captain Shinji, First mate Yoshido, and the entire crew of the Hantaa 05 ship should have been quarantined before being allowed to return to Japan.

The last thing Akiko heard was that Hantaa 05 did not immediately return to Japan. The order from Tokyo instructed that Hantaa 05 must continue the hunt before returning to Japan.

Akiko objected the order. It was too risky to let the Hantaa 01 crews continue to carry out their activities in public space. She said she did not know how to detect asymptomatic person who was a carrier.

Even though she was confident in the accuracy of the pathogen detector results from Captain Shinji and First mate Yoshido, Akiko knew exactly that the Hantaa 05 crew who carried out the investigation and evacuation process at Hantaa 01 were not examined by Professor Sato's team. That was what Akiko had been worried about all these times.

Hantaa 05 continued to cruise and hunt around the Arctic for a few weeks or at most 3 months. Akiko did request Professor Sato to find the whereabouts of Hantaa 05 and to examine the crews thoroughly.

But Professor Sato said he could not do that without an order from the WHO or the Japanese government. And he did not think that it was reasonable at that time. The scale of the case was small and still needed to be proven first. In any case it would create unnecessary panic if it was leaked to the public.

Cecilia recorded all the details in her book. She envisioned several scenarios in her head and had to discuss with Doctor Aslan immediately. The day had turned to evening, it was time to talk to Cathy.

While enjoying a sunny night in the Northern Hemisphere, Cecilia and Cathy chatted lightly in the outdoor recreation area.

It was a patch of baren area with only lights and a fire that was kept burning from a gas pipeline to prevent whoever there from freezing to death.

Cecilia and Cathy talked about their childhood while enjoying coffee and light snacks without mentioning anything about work. That was their tactic to avoid prying eyes and ears that were constantly watching and listening.

The next day in the data analysis room, Cecilia and Cathy would have a real conversation about the information that Cathy had gathered.

At that moment they were talking about mundane stuffs and meaningless for someone who controlled an insect-like robot that looked like Solifugus who was listening to their conversation.

The operator had programed the mini robot to follow Cecilia anywhere she went. Except in a lab that could easily detect any kinds of intruders. In any shapes and forms. To anticipate this, he had recruited lab staffs to be his eyes and ears so he could still spy on her.

The orders from his boss in the other part of the hemisphere were clear. He had to monitor and report any developments in Pandora. Cecilia's sudden arrival caught his attention. And maybe this was one new kind of development. His super-rich boss was a man who wouldn't mind wasting money for a principle he'd always adhered to; Earth and the population on it must remain in balance. If there was a shift in the balance due to the population density, then all necessary measures must be done. Including if one of them was committing genocide.

He had only met his boss once. And at that time, he was terrified to hear the strangeness and psychopathic nature of his boss. Despite his calm demeanor, the boss could turn to an angry bear when talking about humans who continued to damage the earth.

Again, the person focused on Cecilia and Cathy's conversation.

Ah, they're so long-winded. Long talk about the past. None of the topics caught his attention. None of them were worth writing in the report for the boss.

Cecilia signed to Cathy to end the conversation. It was late and she wanted to examine the small mark on Object X's wrist. Cecilia felt the mark was key information that needed to look into.

Both bid good night. Each entered their rooms with different thoughts. Cathy was very happy to have her cousin here. Cecilia was so eager to find out the meaning of the inverted pyramid.

Cecilia tried to search the Internet for any references of the sign. None of what she encountered was even close to the truth.

Cecilia racked her brain. Where did she saw that mark before? Cecilia's mind started to wander.

Of course! The sign was once shown by one of the nerdy astronomy students who used to have a big crush on her in campus. And at that time she dismissed him because she thought the nerd had watched too many Star Wars movies and worshiped the BB-8 robot in that movie.

What's the bookworm's name? His name was as weird as the person. Ahh, Willy Booth. Cecilia immediately started to search.

Cecilia giggled. There were some advantages to have an unusual name. It made him easy to find on the internet. Hmm, Willy was working at NASA. Oh my God! I'm sorry I underestimated you Will. Again, Cecilia giggled in amusement.

For almost a few hours, Cecilia tried to find Willy's contacts. She finally got it from Tinder. Lucky me that you are still on the market, Will. Cecilia typed an email.

Dear Will. Do you remember me? Cecilia Gordon? I'm writing this to make sure you're okay and frankly I need your help to identify a picture that I think has something to do with astronomy. I am hoping that you remember showing me an inverted pyramid sign or symbol? Can you please explain again about the sign, Will?

When you return to London, don't forget to contact me for coffee. Cheers, Cecil.

Cecilia smiled wryly as soon as she pressed the send button. She wasn't sure Will would reply her e-mail. After all, she dissed him then.

Bing. Incoming e-mail sound.

Cecilia stared at how quickly Will replied to her email. At the same time, of course, grateful that her curiosity paid off immediately.

Hi Cecil. Thank you for emailing me. I was very surprised and happy. The inverted pyramid sign is a symbol of the UFO planes in Area 51. Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with. Cheers. Will.

Cecilia eyes were about to jump out of their sockets. So, this was true?