"Dad, stop it!" I complained feeling ashamed. "You're becoming a pest right now."

At that, Sigi raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be amused by my frustration expressed as a hockey-related comment.

"I must congratulate you, young man," my father said in awe, ignoring me completely. "Nobody has ever been able to dodge that bullet successfully."

"Which bullet?" Sigi asked, not getting it.

"She, saying she wants to break up, of course. Oh, you see, she's lethal at that," he added slyly and getting extremely confident. "Killed many guys' hopes with that. But you've survived it. It's a great achievement! I'm proud of you."

"Dad, please!" I wished he would shut up already.

"Have you got a job?" my father asked Sigi, not wasting a single second and not caring about being considered nosey.

"Yes, I have. I'm a bouncer at Amanita, the nightclub."

Which might close soon due to the boycott, I added mentally. We would soon see what would happen that night. They were due to open, as usual, but I worried about what might happen.

"Ah, yes. I've heard about it. The trendiest club for clones in Thalis. Nice," my father commented while examining Sigi from head to toe. When I noticed what he was doing, I wanted to dig a hole and die.

At that moment, Sigi had an aura of strong resolution all around him as if he had never had a single weakness. His broad shoulders seemed to be as strong as a steel beam, so unlike any of the guys I had ever met. His calloused hands told a story of hard work and long-term suffering, though. I couldn't take my eyes off his shining, wet, dark hair, with those nicely-shaved sideburns and that long fringe dancing over his serious facial features. I wondered what my father was thinking of Sigi.

"Besides that, you're Dawn's enforcer..." my father went on with satisfaction in his voice, "and you'll probably get awarded the MVP trophy at the end of the season, correct?"

"That remains to be seen," Sigi replied being modest.

"Many are betting on your success. I don't think you'll have a problem winning the MVP, Sigi. May I call you Sigi?" My father reacted with much more confidence, a more formal kind.

"Yes, Sir," Sigi replied with a warm smile.

"I believe the commentator is right. You've got a lot of potential. I'm sure you'll both win the MVP trophy and the League Cup this season. You're really good! So, hum... you're -what?- twenty-..."

"Twenty-four, Sir."

"Oh really?! When I was exactly his age,..." My father turned to me then, "I was already married and we already had got you, Daphne."

"Dad!!!" I was tired of him making me feel uncomfortable.

"What? I'm just implying that you're both old enough to get kids," he replied seriously. "I don't want you to hurry, though. I know I won't get to know my grandkids. Your grandparents didn't get to know you either, Daphne. My parents died when I was a kid, and your mother only had her father alive by the time we got married. He died shortly afterwards, sadly. And your grandmother, well, she..." He made a brief, uncomfortable pause. "She..."

I was saddened at the mere mention of my grandmother on my mother's side.

"What happened?" Sigi asked visibly unsure as to whether he should ask about it.

"She disappeared," my father answered with sadness. "Irina, my wife, was too young. She was only two years old when her mother left them. But she did remember some things about her."

"Left? You mean..." Sigi asked.

"She packed her bags, left a note saying she was sorry, and left without a trace," my father answered with sadness. "I have always believed that Irina had never fully recovered from the shock. She's also gone from our lives, Sigi. I suppose you might already know that."

Those were the scars of time in our family life. Most of our family members had been taken from us, but only one had fled from us. We've never known the reason why.

"I do, Sir. I'm sorry for your loss." Sigi cleared his throat, and then he went on trying to change the subject: "With due respect, Sir. I might be old enough to get children, and Daphne too, but I wouldn't ever rush things. I won't ever push her to do something she doesn't agree to do."

"That's very honourable, Sigi. I'm glad you value consent. But if you don't get a bit pushy, she shall get everything her way. She's unbelievably stubborn!"

"Dad!" I could see that I would end up saying that word way too many times because my father never wasted an opportunity to unmask my faults.

"Yes, I've noticed that," Sigi replied completely ignoring me and my complaint-like mood. "More than once already."

"Are you both plotting against me, or what?!"

"She's a tough cookie when she's upset, you know. But she's a good girl," my father concluded warmly.

"I know. We've already argued – several times," Sigi insisted. "But she was kind to me when we met. She fixed my motorbike and didn't ask for anything in return. I was late, in a hurry. If it hadn't been for her, I would've got screwed."

"Oh, really?" my father asked with curiosity while he stared back at me with naughtiness. "She fixed your bike, huh? Interesting..." He smiled genuinely at me.

"Now you don't find my dream of becoming a mechanic so annoying, do you?" I said with sarcasm and a stupid, big smile.

"And now you don't find guys so disagreeable, do you?" he said then, mocking me with the same kind of attitude and smile.

We were being childish – and we knew it. It was fun, though. We shared a knowing look, then. My father chuckled. Sigi was staring at us in silence, enjoying the scene with a gentle smile.

"Anyway," my father said then after a soft sigh. "I'm going home. It's getting late. I'll leave you two alone. Have fun. Just don't come back home too late like yesterday, Daphne." His warning was a caring one. He worried about me but not in a suffocating way like other parents.

"Wait! I've come here with you on Frankie. If you take her, then how am I supposed to come back home?"

"Sigi's got a bike, hasn't he? The one you fixed, right?" He winked an eye at both of us.

"I'll take her home, safe and sound... and not too late. You don't have to worry, Sir," Sigi replied formally before I could say anything.

"Just do me a favour, Sigi."

"Anything, Sir."

"I've seen you've got good aim when you play. Just... don't score – when it comes to... her. You know what I mean, don't you?" He cleared his throat consciously. "Don't put the cart before the horse, so no shotgun wedding, please. Promise?"

"DAD!" My heart would soon be my undoing due to shame.

Sigi blushed way too much. Then, my father giggled softly, smiled, and then he put his right hand on Sigi's left shoulder, patting it a couple of times with vigour and pride. His eyes were soft and loving.

"When it comes to getting Daphne's attention, I can't compete against a young man like you, Sigi. She's lied to me because of you. I know she has. She's never done that before. Treat her right." Those moments of truth in my lies were shining through his words. Then, he turned to me and said gently thus: "Daniel would be thrilled about this, Daphne. Don't lock yourself out of life like before, when your mother died."

Mentioning both my brother and my mother made my blood freeze. He rested his gaze on both of us only to go on:

"I've lost a son, but now I might get a son-in-law. I'm happy." He sighed deeply and, seeing that none of us dared to say anything further, he simply said smiling: "This is my cue to leave you two alone, right? There are way too many clone police officers out there, patrolling the streets and making random detentions. And careful with the vandals, too. Stay safe, OK?"

Having said that, my father turned around and left the Sports Palace. The rest of the people were gone too. We were alone, Sigi and I.

"Your father is amazing, Daphne," Sigi told me whispering in awe as if he admired him. "Now I get the reason you're the way you are. Your pride, your stubbornness, your persistence, your defiance, the weird humour you've got,..."

I chuckled as if I was unwilling to admit all that.

"Also your integrity, your sincerity, your optimism even in the darkest of times," he added softly. I couldn't help but stare at him and his loving eyes on mine. "You always try to look on the bright side of things – well, I guess both of you do that. It's amazing. You're really lucky to have him."

His tone was too sorrowful to ignore where it was coming from. Since I knew his story, I didn't dare to say anything.

"Things are getting thornier after this," he said after a heartfelt sigh.

"I know," I replied seriously but calmly. "He wasn't supposed to meet you. And you weren't supposed to kiss me. Agape's told me about the... rule. Now what?"

"What's done is done."

"Momo's seen us. She might tell on us just to mess with me."

"Or to get back at me for rejecting her," he added in a foul mood. "You know what? Forget about Momo. She's an idiot! And forget about Agape getting mad at you. She can't. She adores you. She won't get mad at you – ever."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she knows that -well, everybody does actually- that you're a good person, with ethics in mind in everything you do. Even if you despise what we do and how Agape thinks about her mission and clones, she won't ever yell at you for defying her. Besides, you're far too valuable."

I remembered Agape's words about me when she had forbidden me to quit the group earlier that day. I never thought I'd become that important to her or the group.

"That doesn't mean I get to do what I want," I replied being fully conscious of our state of affairs. "I see the reason why she believes relationships can become detrimental to the rebel group's performance. She won't allow distractions. I wouldn't allow them either if I were in her shoes."

He chuckled once and smiled at me. He was probably thinking about my ethics and how lovely it was for me to fall for them in everything I said or did.

"I've had lunch with her today," I went on casually. "She's told me we've got no mole. And that the IOU might be the Secretary of State's thing."

"I assume you believed her."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Checking what we've done so far in the alternative network 2.0 as if she was binge-watching a soap opera doesn't count as proper fact-checking in my book," he explained seriously. "She's barely slept for days, Daphne. She's running on energy drinks and nicotine patches, and God knows what else. She's a genius, but she can't control absolutely everything we've done so far. Besides, your haters might not be at ease just because of what Agape's done. They might have not tried to harm you before today, but that doesn't mean that you're gonna be safe from them from now on. They could try something in the future."

"I see. I was hoping Agape to be right." I felt dejected. "I was also hoping that K8's success would also be considered mine since the mosquito idea was mine. That way, the group would reconsider my worth."

"That's true in Cian's case. He's told me so today. You've got him on your side."

"Great!" We smiled at each other briefly.

"But... one thing I'm completely sure of in this: if we had a mole, they should've fled the second Agape had started to check on our chips. Only out of fear of..."

"Out of fear of being exposed and... killed by any of you, maybe?" I feared to ask.

"Indeed. I would've volunteered, Daphne. Just so you know. Your safety, and the group's safety, come first."

He left me breathless with that. He was willing to kill a former friend just to make sure the rest would be safe, including me.

"This potential mole issue and the attempt at a mutiny have deteriorated the cohesion of our group," he went on in a dark mood. "Since K8 has been able to find the androids and the 3D printers, and infect them with Agape's and your mosquitoes, I expect the President and the Secretary of State -and obviously Apollo- to be edgy and extremely hostile when they find out that their new toys are faulty. We need to be ready to strike when they feel most vulnerable. In order to do that, we need something to unite us again, to feel like a family again."

Indeed. He had already said so in the past: he considered the rebel group not just his friends, but his family. That made potential betrayal and lack of cohesion an even more bitter pill to swallow, especially at a crucial moment in time.

"Speaking of family, I've seen the Three Furies doing something weird. Why do you think Nemesis, Vera, and Momo might be interested in K?"

"K? What are you talking about?" he asked in disbelief.

"I've seen them right before I introduced my father to you. They have just rushed after him when he was exiting the building... for some reason."

"What?!" he exclaimed with wide eyes.

"I don't get it. Well, he could be useful to Agape. He's fast, daring, and sneaky. Are you looking for more members now that the alternative network has been upgraded?"

Sigi stared at me in disbelief.

Hello, sugar cubes!

I love Rost, he's one of my fav characters. I love it when he mocks his daughter like that. I hope you like him too! 😊

XOXO

MS