"How?" Halle asked, her voice failing her.

"It doesn't matter how!" Sky exclaimed with a heavy heart. "The point is why you accepted such an offer from Mrs Evergreen."

The golden hues of the wheat fields on either side of the road as their vehicle passed by were a mesmerising sight.

"It was Hazel, right?" she whispered with mild anger.

"Mom! Why?" he insisted.

"You were getting so good against phoenixes that..." Her lips quivered and then, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but it made no sense."

"Why?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Because you were usually... not like this before," she explained as she moved a hand to signal all of him. "You've always been good with your studies. Your grades have always been amazing. But fighting? Physical tests? Playing sports?" She chuckled awkwardly. "This isn't you. I assumed something was up."

"Like what?" he asked defensively. "That I was somehow cheating to be the perfect, phoenix-killing hero? How could I cheat?!" He clenched his fists.

Well, I don't think that befriending Haywire is cheating. I just learnt stuff from him on the fly.

"I don't know. But you're smart enough to come up with something." Her voice didn't quiver when she said that.

Their vehicle passed by some warehouses and the hydroponics' growrooms.

"Please, Mom. This is insane!"

"I mean it. I thought I was doing the right thing," she replied with honesty and pride. "I thought that, if Mrs Evergreen found out that you're hiding something that would damage your reputation and all your efforts to be better at this, it might as well be me the one who finds out the truth. Whether I would've told Mrs Evergreen what I found out or not... that's a completely different thing."

When she fell silent, she averted her eyes.

He swallowed hard.

"You know, I wanted to keep this issue personal," she added with a defensive attitude.

Her gaze was wary, darting around. Halle's body language became guarded and tense, her shoulders slightly hunched as if to shield herself from perceived threats. Her arms crossed firmly over her chest, creating a barrier between her and the world.

His jaw clenched, and his lips pressed into a thin line, showing his frustration.

"I wanted to protect you," she went on in a shadowy tone. "We don't need somebody who doesn't belong in the family sniffing in our affairs. I did this for your own good."

Sky chuckled. For my own good? And the reward Mrs Evergreen promised you? He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked out the window. The city lifts were in sight.

"Why are you angry at me now?" she asked.

"Because you sound sure that I'm hiding something." Well, I am, but she shouldn't suspect I am if she were a good mother. "Because you don't trust me. You'd rather blindly trust Mrs Evergreen instead. Don't you trust me?"

"I do, but-"

"Then, why didn't you just tell her that I have nothing to hide instead of accepting that deal with her?"

"Because she's never wrong, Sky!" she yelled at him.

That outburst startled him.

"Besides, she's been nothing but generous to both me and you, Sky." She knitted her eyebrows and went on sternly as the vehicle parked. "She offered me a promotion and a special job for you, one that would not require so many dangers or being exposed to the public eye. You've always hated being the centre of attention. I thought I was doing the right thing."

Should I trust her with this?

"I don't want you to accept anything of the sort ever again, Mom," he said as he opened the vehicle door. "I will find my way as I make my choices. My future, or my job... those are my responsibilities, not yours."

"Fair enough." She also climbed out of the vehicle and walked around it to walk beside Sky towards the city lifts.

"Besides that, you need to trust me more. I'm not cheating... or hiding anything." I totally am, but not that it should matter to her.

The vehicle's driver and his copilot also climbed out and stood to attention. When Halle passed by, they saluted her. She curtly nodded in reply.

"I understand," she replied with bottled-up anger. "Are we good now?"

Not a chance. "I guess so... if you tell Mrs Evergreen her suspicions are wrong. Or will you carry out a raid on my room first?" he asked defensively.

"If you're not hiding anything, then why should I?"

The sturdy metal plating and heavy tires of the armoured personnel carrier were juxtaposed against the greenery of the landscape. As Sky and Halle began their silent ascent on the lifts, its massive bulk became littler and littler, just like their mother-son relationship's worth.

The landscape stretched before them like a tapestry of vibrant colours and textures. Golden wheat crops swayed gently in the breeze, their stalks creating waves of shimmering gold. Nearby, canola crops painted the scene with bright yellow blooms, adding a touch of sunny vibrancy. Vegetable gardens dotted the expanse with a medley of plants and fruits, their lush foliage promising a bountiful harvest.

A meandering river wound its way through the fields, its waters reflecting the clear blue sky above. Bridges arched gracefully over the river, connecting different parts of the landscape with an air of quaint charm. In the distance, the woods stood as a verdant sanctuary, their trees reaching towards the heavens.

The horizon met the sea in a breathtaking display of nature's grandeur, where the sky seemed to kiss the ocean in a hazy embrace.

But all that beauty could not seize Sky's attention. He was lost in thought.

I can't tell her the truth about Haywire. This conversation was a test―and she's failed. Miserably.

No, I'm the one who's miserable now. She's a control freak. My crappy relationship with my mother is like a ball and a chain tied around my ankle. I keep dragging this weight―no, this burden―wherever I go. Will it ever end?

Halle respected Sky's wish to be left alone in his room to rest. Blaming his headache and last night's hectic events, she conceded.

Taking off his time-skipping wristwatch, he stared at it and sighed. I've been using it as a regular watch at the end of the day. But I said I'd be responsible for my actions, right? Besides, it's set at a time when Haywire still was Endurance's puppet. I can't.

He stored it with his other gadgets, like his halfway-made sonic shotgun, in the large chest at the feet of his bed. He also took his enhanced whistle from his jeans pocket and stored it there, as well.

He didn't go out of his room for either lunch or dinner. The tense relationship with his mother had made his hunger disappear. He lay in bed, but he could not rest.

When Sky left his room a few hours later, right before sundown, Halle went up the stairs to his room.

Doubts plagued her heart. Many years of leading the Elite had cauterised it against the slightest of failures and suspicions. A teenager could not pose a threat to her vast experience.

"Audio log 4591," she whispered to a portable recorder. "Inspection of Sky Falcon's bedroom as per Mrs Evergreen's instructions."

She opened the door and smirked when the fresh air coming from the open round window greeted her.

"So, you're not here. As I thought. I'll see what you're up to, Sky," she said as she came into his room in the attic and stood there, recorder in hand. "I knew you were hiding something. It was a good idea to command an active search for you after all."

She fished her phone from one of her pockets and opened a special security app designed for the Elite. After logging into her account as Head of the Elite, she checked on the progress of the search.

"Every single static camera and drone is onto you, Sky. They'll emit an alarm right into my phone when they see you. But not only that. I've ordered a drone to track you and follow you... wherever you're going. Ah, there you are!" She frowned. "Somewhere in the woods? Huh, strange."

She wondered what her son would need to hide there.

"Anyway, let's inspect your room. Got no time to lose. I'll show all the recordings to Mrs Evergreen together with anything I might find here."

She exhaled as she stared at Sky's posters and his calculations.

"I might not understand a word of these formulas, but I'll find out what it is soon enough. The people in the research and development department will surely help."

She took some photos of his calculations on the blackboards with her phone's camera. Next, she stood by his desk.

A hand brushed the keyboard. The screen lit up and displayed a blocked screen.

"A password-protected PC, of course. But that won't stop me from taking the tower with me to the headquarters." She smirked when she saw her son's phone lying on the desk, forgotten. "Like your smartphone here. I wonder whether there are any compromising photographs or information in it. Anyway..."

She disconnected the tower and put his phone on it. Then, she looked around the room and found a chest. When she squatted down close to it and opened it, she smiled.

"This is what I was looking for," she whispered as she found the enhanced whistle and his sonic shotgun. Her smile grew wider.

She unblocked her phone once more and dialled a number.

"Hello, this is AAI's research and development department," a female voice said.

"This is Halle Falcon, Head of the Elite, speaking," Halle replied formally. "I request an urgent task from you. Top priority, Mrs Evergreen's orders. I need a PC tower and a mobile phone inspected for sensitive information... and a few gadgets to be reverse-engineered as soon as possible. I'll deliver them myself in a few minutes. Have a team ready by morning."

"Yes, ma'am."

Halle ended the call.

"The inspection was successfully executed, producing potential evidence of treason. End of audio log 4591."

After pressing the stop button and storing the recorder in her pocket, she took Sky's time-skipping wristwatch in her hands and inspected it with a raised eyebrow.

She playfully asked herself, "I wonder what you might be, exactly?"

Hello, my sugar cubes!

What will Halle find in Sky's PC's tower and phone? Will the time-skipping wristwatch and his other gadgets fall into the wrong hands?
Have you ever had controlling parents? (I did. And grandparents.)

Stay tuned!

XOXO

Mar