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A short message for grown-ups.
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Hello, friends, and welcome to Sleep Tight Stories.
Red and the gang solved the mystery that had been set up for them.
Red realized they were being watched and made sure the others knew.
After telling the story of where they found the mascot suit and what had happened, they went home planning on continuing to look just like normal students.
The Transfer Student Volume 2
Red gets home just as her mother is setting the table for dinner.
Blue's already there, somehow managing to look innocent despite having spent the afternoon communicating with raccoons.
How was your mystery investigation?
Their mother asks, bringing out plates of something that smells Surprisingly normal, for once.
We found the missing mascot, Red says truthfully.
Turns out raccoons took it to make a nest.
We helped relocate them to a better spot.
Raccoons?
Her mom laughs.
Well, that's certainly different from your usual mysteries.
If only she knew, Red thinks.
After dinner, Red retreats to her room with homework as an excuse.
But once her door is closed, she pulls out Meridian's device from its hiding spot under her dresser.
The blue glow illuminates her face as soon as she activates it and suddenly the screen fills with data files records communications, all downloaded from Dr Hart's underground archive.
Her homework can wait.
This definitely can't.
Red sits cross-legged on her bed, Meridian's device casting strange blue shadows across her walls as she scrolls through file after file.
With each one she opens, her stomach drops a little further.
The information Dr. Hart collected is incredible. and deeply troubling.
There are financial records showing massive amounts of money changing hands between corrupt AID agents and Earth corporations.
Communication logs reveal agents casually discussing the sale of acquired Martian assets to companies such as Advanced Energy Solutions and Quantum Tech Industries.
And the numbers are staggering.
Billions of dollars for access to Martian technology that Dr. Hart spent decades protecting.
But what really makes Red upset are the technical specifications.
Blueprints for Martian energy systems that could revolutionize Earth's power grid.
Communication devices. that make Earth's technology look like tin cans and string.
Medical scanning equipment that could detect diseases years before they become serious.
Cultural archives containing three generations of Martian art, music, history, and knowledge.
All of it carefully documented by Dr. Hart.
All of it, hidden in caches across the region.
And all of it at risk of being stolen and sold to whoever pays the most.
And there's a timeline that makes everything more urgent.
The refugee transport arriving from Mars isn't scheduled for two weeks anymore.
According to these files, the arrival has been moved up The families are coming in nine days.
Red reads through the corrupt agent's communications and feels sick.
They're planning to be there when the new families arrive, offering to help with integration, providing assistance with paperwork and housing, earning trust and then casually asking questions.
Did your family back on Mars ever mention Dr. Hart?
Do you know anything about old facilities in this area?
Have you heard stories about Martian scout teams who came to Earth decades ago?
But there's something even more troubling in the files.
Some of the technology the corrupt agents have already recovered from earlier caches won't activate.
The devices recognize they're being handled by the wrong people and have locked themselves down.
The agents need actual Martian refugees, people with the right genetic markers or cultural knowledge to help unlock what they've already stolen.
That's another reason they're so eager to befriend the arriving families.
They need them to access the very technology they're planning to sell.
The arriving families won't even realize they're being pumped for information and used as living keys to unlock stolen technology.
They'll be grateful for the help, eager to share what little they know to repay the kindness.
And every small piece of information, every innocent touch of a lock device brings the corrupt agents closer to their goal.
Once the corrupt agents empty those caches and sell everything to Earth corporations.
It's not just about money.
It's about exposure.
If Martian technology suddenly appears in corporate labs, questions will be asked, investigations will start and every Martian family living quietly on Earth, including Red's, could be exposed.
There's more in the files.
Lists of caches that corrupt agents have already found and cleaned out.
Names of Earth companies eagerly waiting for the next acquisition.
Encrypted communications about the big score.
The three remaining caches that Dr. Hart hid most carefully.
The ones containing her most important discoveries.
A soft knock on her door makes her jump.
Red?
It's Blue's voice.
Can I come in?
She quickly dims the device screen and slides it under her pillow.
Yeah.
Blue slips inside and closes the door quietly.
You found something bad, didn't you?
What makes you say that?
You get this look when something's really wrong.
Like you're trying to figure out how to fix the world.
He sits on her bed.
Is it about the quarry stuff?
Red nods slowly.
Blue was there too.
He deserves to know.
The timeline moved up.
New families are arriving in nine days.
Blue's eyes widen.
That soon?
And the corrupt agents are planning to use them, not hurt them, but use them.
They'll offer help with integration act all friendly and ask innocent-sounding questions to get information about where the remaining caches might be.
That's still pretty bad, Blue says.
It gets worse.
Some of the technology the corrupt agents already stole from other caches won't work for them.
The devices know they're being handled by the wrong people and locked themselves down.
So the agents need actual Martians to unlock what they've already stolen.
That's why they're so eager to help the new families.
Lou's face shows his anger.
So they'll trick people into unlocking stolen technology without even realizing what they're doing?
Exactly.
And once they access everything and sell it to Earth's corporations, people will start asking where this advanced technology came from.
Every family like ours could be exposed.
Blue processes this, his expression determined.
So...
We need to find the remaining caches first and make sure they can't access any of it.
And we need to do it before those families arrive and get caught in the middle of this mess without even knowing what's really happening.
We should meet with the others tomorrow, but not at school.
The public library, Red decides, after school.
We can say we're working on a group project about Mars. which is basically true.
Blue actually grins at that.
A very important research project.
He reaches over and squeezes her hand.
We're going to beat them to it, Red.
We'll find those caches and protect what Dr. Hart spent her whole life saving.
Yeah, Red agrees, feeling determined despite her fear.
We will.
After Blue leaves, Red looks at the device again.
Tomorrow, they'll make their plan.
But tonight she needs to understand exactly what they're racing to protect and what the corrupt agents are so desperate to steal.
The next morning at school feels different.
Red notices Agent Torres everywhere.
In the hallway between classes, lingering near their lunch table, even leaning against a locker outside Mr McCaskill's classroom when she arrives for English.
He looks like any other high school student older, maybe a junior or senior but his eyes are too watchful, too calculating.
"'Morning, Red,' he says pleasantly as she approaches the classroom.
"'Heard you guys solved the missing mascot mystery.
Pretty impressive.'"
Just helping out the school Red replies, keeping her voice steady, even though her heart is pounding.
That's what I like about you and your friends.
Always getting involved.
Always curious about things.
He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes.
Must run in the family.
Your brother Blue's the same way, isn't he?
Always asking questions.
Always exploring.
The way he says exploring makes Red's skin crawl.
We just like solving mysteries, Red says carefully.
Of course, Torres nods slowly.
Just be careful that your curiosity doesn't lead you somewhere you shouldn't be.
Not everything is meant to be discovered, you know.
The threat is subtle but unmistakable.
As Torres walks away down the hallway Red, slips into Mr McCaskill's classroom and where Charlie and Rachel are already waiting at their usual spots.
Did you see Torres outside?
Charlie whispers urgently as soon as she sits down.
He's been all over this morning, in the library during study hall, near my locker between classes.
I think he's watching all of us now.
He definitely is, Red confirms quietly.
But he's fishing.
He suspects we know something. but he doesn't know what exactly.
We just need to be extra careful today.
During class Red manages to pass coded notes to everyone about the library meeting using their old system from the chicken nugget case, which seems almost hilariously innocent now compared to what they're dealing with.
At lunch they barely talk to each other, deliberately sitting at separate tables to avoid drawing Torres' attention.
But Red can feel the tension in the air, that electric sense of something important about to happen.
Everyone knows tonight's meeting will determine their next move.
After school, they each leave the building at different times, taking different routes to the public library.
Red watches from the bus stop as Torres stands near the main entrance, clearly trying to figure out who to follow as the gang disperses in different directions.
She allows herself a small smile.
Round one goes to them.
Twenty minutes later, the public library is busy with its usual after-school crowd.
Red finds a study room in the back corner that's empty and claims it for their group project.
One by one.
The others arrive over the next 15 minutes, each carrying actual school books and homework to maintain the appearance of legitimate studying.
Once they're all inside with the door closed, Red pulls out Meridian's device.
Okay, she says quietly. even though the study room walls are thick enough to muffle sound.
What I'm about to show you is really bad.
Like, worse than we thought bad.
She displays the timeline on the device screen and watches as understanding dawns on her friend's faces.
Nine days?
Alexa says, her usually calm voice cracking slightly.
That's barely enough time to plan anything properly.
There's more, Red continues, scrolling through the files.
The corrupt agents have already stolen technology from other caches, but they can't access it.
The devices know they're being handled by the wrong people and locked themselves down.
Charlie leans forward, his eyes huge behind his glasses.
So they need actual Martians to unlock what they've already stolen?
Exactly.
That's why they're so eager to help the arriving families.
They'll trick them into unlocking stolen technology without even realizing what they're doing.
Rachel's taking notes frantically, her hand shaking slightly.
How many families are we talking about?
At least 47 on this transport Red reads from the files including families with kids our age or younger.
The weight of that number settles over the group like a heavy blanket.
47 families, all walking into a trap designed to exploit their trust and their genetic connection to Martian technology.
What about Meridian's family, Kurt asks.
Are they on some kind of watch list?
Red scrolls through the names and feels her stomach drop.
They're marked as priority observation.
I think Torres and his people are watching them extra carefully, because Meridian's parents work for the good faction.
We need to warn the arriving families, Charlie says immediately.
We need to tell them what's really happening.
But how?
Blue asks, thinking it through.
If we start contacting Martian families directly, Torres will know we have information we shouldn't have and he'll move faster to stop us and get the caches before we can.
We need more evidence, Alexa says, thinking strategically like always.
Dr. Hart said there were three cache locations.
We got data from the first one, but maybe the other two have something else.
Something we can actually give to the good agents.
Something they can use to stop Torres and his team before the families arrive.
Red nods, pulling up the map Meridian had drawn in the sand that day at the playground.
The water treatment plant.
That's the second location.
When do we go?
Kurt asks.
And Red can hear the determination in her voice.
Red thinks about Torres' thinly veiled threats this morning about the nine-day countdown, about 47 families who have no idea what's waiting for them.
This weekend.
She decides Saturday morning, just like the quarry.
We need to move fast, but we also need to be smart about it.
Torres is watching us more closely now.
He practically threatened you this morning, Rachel points out, looking worried.
What if he tries to stop us?
Which is why we need another distraction, Charlie suggests.
Something that makes us look like we're focused on normal school stuff, while we're actually planning the water plant mission.
They spend the next hour planning both their Saturday mission and their cover story.
Speaking in whisperers, and occasionally laughing loudly when anyone passes by their study room.
Just friends doing homework together.
Nothing suspicious at all.
By the time they pack up to leave, they have a plan.
It's risky, and Torres is definitely on to them.
But they don't have a choice.
Nine days until the transport arrives.
Three days. until their most dangerous mission yet.
And that is the end of this part.
Good night.
Sleep tight.
