16 YEARS, FOUR MONTHS AND 16 DAYS AGO

The children's mother walked over to a record player as she set down a record.

During extreme weather conditions, a climber must possess the wisdom to determine when evacuation is inevitable.

She walked to the dining hall entrance holding a bell in her hand and ringing it. The sound of multiple footsteps approaching the dining room filled the quiet home.

A controlled alpine descent begins with the girding of one's loins and the anchoring of the climbing rope to one's enemy, the mountain.

The children all walked in standing behind their assigned chairs as they waited for their father.

The Dülfersitz rappel is the preferred method for descent when the rope is the only available tool, but must be regarded as a last resort. Begin by looping the rope

Their father walked in as he stood behind his chair looking at them and nodded speaking up," Sit" They all followed the orders sitting down as the record continued to play.

A screen anchor must be used if the rope is to be successfully retrieved from the face of the mountain.

Nearest to the father were Allison and Luther, who sat across from the man and smiled at each other in secret.

Tightly knot the ends of the rope.

Next to Luther, was Diego and next to Allison was Klaus.

Once anchored, thread the doubled rope through the legs, front to back, and around the buttocks.

Klaus was rolling a joint as Diego was using his knife carving something into his armchair.

It is of utmost importance that the rope is drawn under the gluteal muscles, not through the crevice between the gluteus.

Next to Klaus, was Ben reading a book peering at Prime who was nudging his feet as they hooked it together in affection. At the end of the table from their father, Prime and Vanya sat next to each other. Vanya stared at her brother Five who was looking at his father intensely. The father looks at his children drinking his wine then turning down to eat his meal.

Proceed by holding the rope diagonally

A loud clang was heard on the table as the children looked at their brother Five who had stabbed the table with a butter knife. The father shoots his head up and speaks sternly," Number Five?"

"I have a question" He seethed clasping his hands together and looking at his father intently

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson" He said referring to the record playing

Five not having the excuse pushes his plate away from him," I want to time travel"

"No" The father immediately rejected his son.

"But I'm ready I've been practising my spatial jumps, just like you said" Five fought back to his father. He scrunched his nose as the spatial jumped next to his father.

"See?" said Five. His siblings peered at the scene but turned back to their meal.

"A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn" The father explained

Five shook his head," Well, I don't get it"

Their father scoffed and spoke," Hence the reason you're not ready" Prime and Vanya looked at their brother shaking their heads to stop him.

He looked at them but rolled his eyes and turned back to their father "I'm not afraid" He argued

"Fear isn't the issue, the effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable," He said getting frustrated and turned to Five," Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore"

The children shared looks as they saw Five Turns leaving.

The father turns his head shouting," Number Five! You haven't been excused!" The children look at him walk away and turn back to their meals, but with Vanya, Prime and Ben still looking at their brother going off.

PRESENT DAY

Prime looked around the room for the notebook that was missing in our father's study, "Where is it?!" She impatiently shouted.

Pogo entered the room," Ms Prime is everything okay?"

"No, Dad's notebook is gone, along with some other files"

Pogo then gasped," Oh dear, that is not good" She nodded and he excused himself.  Prime, eventually, gave up leaving the room and walking out and saw Klaus moaning on the couch. She walked in making a face seeing him in only his underwear.

FROM BEN'S VIEW

Ben stood up as he saw Prime walking in. He wanted to walk over to her and hug her—kiss her but, he was dead. Prime looked at Klaus who was talking in his sleep.

"Dang it, Klaus, I need you sober, I need you to tell me what Ben says," Prime said as Ben perked up hearing his name.

He walked over to her knowing she couldn't see him as tried to reach for her but his hand went through," I miss you Prime, I miss you so much" He said looking at her as she sighed.

"I miss you Ben" Ben gasped thinking she heard him, but she didn't and walked out of the room. He dropped his hand sighing and turned to Klaus who was still moaning.

Klaus shot up after breathing heavily looking at Ben and he spoke," You know you talk in your sleep?" Klaus started to pant as he crawled on the floor to his clothes," There's no point, you're out of drugs"

Klaus grunted at him and shouted," Shut your piehole, Ben" He turned to his brother and smiled," Said with love" blowing a kiss.

Ben smiled at him and scoffed," I've got a crazy idea, why not try starting your day with a glass of orange juice or some eggs? I'd like you to relay what I say to Prime"

Klaus stood up," Can't smoke eggs, and don't worry, I'll tell Primey you miss and love her, all that mumbo jumbo" Ben shook his head looking down to his book as Klaus walked behind him," One of these has gotta be gold-plated, right?"

Ben looked up at Pogo walking in and smirked as he cleared his throat scaring Klaus.

"Christ on a cracker! Pogo?" He retorted as Ben was amused at the scene.

"My apologies, Master Klaus. I have a query for you" He questioned

Klaus just replied with, "OH?"

"Items from your father's office have gone missing. In particular, an ornate box with pearl inlay"

Ben turned to Klaus sighing," Really?" He then ignored him.

"You don't say?"

Pogo sighed," Any idea where it went, your sister Ms Prime, had stated to me they had been misplaced"

Ben turned to Klaus as he went in a daze. Ben signed knowing he must have sold it to get drugs," No, no no idea" He sighed," Sorry"

"Liar," Ben said as he muttered

"Drop dead"

Ben winced at him," Low Blow"

"Would you shut up?!" He said his voice

Pogo spoke," Excuse me?"

Klaus gasped and lifted his hand," Pogo, I didn't mean you, I just I... You know, there's been a lot of stuff I've been dealing with Just a lot of memories coming up. All those good times. Well, not so many good times as really awful, terrible, depressing times." Ben laughed at Klaus who was getting himself into a mess.

"The contents of that box are priceless. Were they to find their way back to the office, whoever took it would be absolved of any blame or consequences" Pogo said

"Oh, well, lucky bastard," said Klaus

Pogo clicked his tongue," Indeed"

Pogo left the room and Klaus groaned looking at Ben," We're screwed"

"You're screwed, I'm dead remember?" Ben smirked at him

He frowned and crossed his arms," If you keep that up Benny boy, I'll not tell Primey anything"

"You ass" Ben spat as Klaus grinned at him winking, "Put on some clothes, please, I don't enjoy this view"

...

"Five?" Prime heard someone call out and she walked following the voice to see it was Vanya

"Hey V, welcome-

"Is Five here?" She asked worried

Prime furrowed her brows, "What happened to Five? Did he—IS he okay? Did he get hurt?"

"Wha—Oh, P, no I, just he was at my apartment last night, so I wanted to check if he came back home since he wasn't there when I woke up"

"Oh...uh, well he was this morning, he is probably somewhere upstairs," Prime said as she smiled walking up.

Prime walked around the house, hoping to run into any of her other siblings who were still around. She kept hoping that they'd stay, but they all had lives out there, minus Luther, but she wanted them all to stay, just like how their father hoped.

"But I'm leaving for the airport. It's not a big deal if I miss one session" Prime peeked through the hall at Allison on the phone," Patrick, it was my father's funeral. You know, I'm pretty sure the court recognizes that as extenuating circumstances" It was her soon-to-be ex-husband," Is Claire there? Yes, I would like to say hello to my daughter if that's all right with you" Prime looked to see Vanya walking down the stairs as she looked at Allison," No-Patrick! Don't-" Allison sighed as she hung up the phone.

"Are you okay?"

Vanya asked as Allison turned around to her," Yeah"

"Well, I've never met your ex-husband, but he sounds like an asshole," Vanya said slowly

Allison sighed," That's one word for it"

"You know what? You're probably better off here" said Vanya

She looked to Vanya," No, I'm probably better off with my daughter"

Vanya gasped and Prime glared at Allison at her raising her voice at Vanya, when all she was trying to do was comfort her," Of course, um I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"You know, if I wanted advice, Vanya, no offence, it wouldn't be from you," Allison said excessively

Vanya made a face," What is that supposed to mean?"

"You've never even been in a relationship," Allison said

"That's not true," Vanya said

Prime stepped out," Shut your mouth Allison" Allison turned to look at her as Prime came in, "Look, I was going to let it slide, but you know what, your mouth really needs to be shut"

"Prime do you even know what it's like to love-

"I do, and he is dead Ben is dead—dead Allison! Claire is still alive, okay, she is still here. you can continue fighting to see her, but I can't! Vanya was just trying to comfort you, and you go off acting like it's the end of the world! News flash, Rumor, but before you start biting Vanya's head off about her relationships, you should mind your own. She was not trying to patronize you, she was acting like a sister, to you—who never once acted like one to her, so if I hear you ever say one word to Vanya about her life choices and her affairs, you better watch your back"

"She wrote that book about us-

"And so, what?! I don't care and all of you shouldn't, did you read it? From Vanya's point of view, or did you read it just to see what kind of things she said about us? For Vanya, being constantly told by our father she was not enough, she was not one of us, how would you feel?"

Allison walked away and turned around," You're an adult Vanya, you don't get to blame your problems on anyone but yourself."

"You should say that for yourself Allison" Prime seethed at her," If I didn't step in, you would victimize Vanya, for what? For wanting to get away from this family, the family that treated her like nothing? The only people who understood her were Five, Ben, Klaus and I—we gave her time, when the rest of you never included her in any fun, and you know what you did, so before you run your mouth, don't let me tell her, why she is so cut off from all of us" Allison flinched at the last part Prime whispered and turned walking away.

"P, you didn't need to do that, she was ri-

"No, V, I did it because I needed to, I couldn't just stand there and let her take her anger on you, she is an adult just like us, she can't pick at you when she knows nothing about you," Prime said patting her shoulder," Just continue being yourself, and live your own life without having any of our siblings trying to dictate your actions"

She smiled and hugged Prime who returned it.