"So they release the report on Hot Rod, but not Scattershot," Twin murmured. "Isn't that awful? I don't know for the life of me why the Phalanx hasn't made her death public. Perhaps they don't know? But, no, they have to know.
"Ah well. Time to let the rest of the world know as well."
With that, he hit the upload button for the files pertaining to Meadow Rich's death.
When Joey woke up that morning, he checked his alarm and sighed. It was 5:30, a little past the time he'd be up for an early shift, but still earlier than anyone else would be up. After trying to go back to sleep for a while, though, he just dragged himself out of bed and quickly changed into a T-shirt and jeans.
He headed for the small kitchen area, thinking about what he'd whip up for himself for breakfast. When he left the hallway, however, he found himself blinking in confusion.
The kitchen lights were already on bright. At night, they went dim enough so that you could barely see, but they were turned on like someone was in there. Joey blinked to adjust his eyes and walked out, frowning. Who else would possibly be up at this hour? Courtney?
But, no. The answer just confused him more.
Darius was cooking something on the stove, skillfully flipping a bright yellow mass of something like a professional chef or something. That, while strange, was normal enough.
The really weird part was the other person there. At the table, her legs swinging freely from the chair that was too tall for her, was a little girl. She had a box under her so she could sit comfortably at the table, probably no more than six years old.
She turned when she heard Joey's footsteps and the two of them stared at each other in stunned silence for a while. How long, Joey couldn't have told you.
"Uh..." he finally managed, probably looking totally stupid to this kid. He wasn't used to kids. What did one say to a random little girl at six in the morning?
Before he had to answer that, though, Darius saved him.
"Breakfast is served, Ida. Cheese omelet, wild quail eggs."
"Thanks, Darius," she said, grabbing the fork at her spot and cutting off a piece to eat. "Can you make something for that weirdo over there too?"
"Certainly." Darius glanced around for a moment, then seemed to realize Joey was there. "Joey. What can I make you?"
"Uh...I'm good, thanks," Joey said, glancing around the kitchen. Whatever Darius was making, it looked overly complicated.
"Darius, make him his own omelet. May as well use those quail eggs before they go bad," the girl said, not looking up from her meal once.
"On it," Darius said, his face relaxing into a smile. It was uncanny. Joey couldn't even protest as he grabbed a spherical object and smacked it against the edge of a bowl. With a practiced motion, Darius peeled the two cracked halves apart and something round and yellow fell into the bowl. With practiced motions, he repeated the process with four more little speckled balls.
Now, Joey knew what egg was. He had an idea of what an omelet was. But the way Darius was preparing it looked totally foreign. Egg came in a carton, not...whatever those weird brown balls were.
With little else to do, though, he sat anxiously at the table, glancing at the little girl as she dug into her breakfast. Under the omelet was a bed of grilled vegetables of various sorts.
"So...what's your name?" Joey asked, trying to focus on the girl. If she was here, she had to have some connection to Odin, didn't she? Maybe his daughter?
That was a weird thought, but now Joey couldn't get the image of Odin as a doting papa out of his head. Did she know what her dad did? Probably not. So there was no reason to be wary of her, was there?
"Ida," she replied simply between mouthfuls of omelet and veggies.
"Hi, Ida," Joey said, panicking inside. Then it hit him - how could he be such a dunce? "I'm Joey. I just moved in a couple of days ago."
"Hi, Joey," Ida responded, sounding bored.
"What are you doing up so early? And where's your dad?" Maybe he could get some information on Odin out of her.
"Huh?" Ida dropped her fork and stared at him like he was an alien or something.
"Um..." Joey panicked, trying to figure out what she hadn't understood. "D-do you normally get up this early?"
"Duh," she said, glancing at Darius as he finished plating Joey's breakfast.
"Here you are, Joey," Darius said with a smile as he placed the plate in front of him. Joey did have to admit, the food did smell good, even if its origin might be somewhat suspect.
"Thanks," Joey said cautiously, taking a small bite.
It was weird. It tasted nothing like egg. It was far richer and creamier, so had Darius added thick milk to it? How was this accomplished? What was 'quail'?
"Good, right?" Ida said smugly. "Darius has the best cooking."
"Y-yeah," Joey said awkwardly. He had a feeling it was more complicated than just the chef, though. Seriously, what were those little round things he'd cracked open?
He focused mostly on the food for the next few minutes, trying for the life of him to figure out what he was eating.
When he was finished, though, Joey looked back at Ida, who was drinking a big glass of juice while Darius put the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher.
"So is your dad around?" he asked as she put the glass down.
Ida glanced at him, staring in confusion for a while before she seemed to figure out something. Maybe Odin wasn't actually her dad?
"Just me and Darius," she said. "Why are you up so early, though?"
"Couldn't get back to sleep," he said with a chuckle. "I have today off, so I'd hoped to sleep in, but I guess I'm too used to getting up for work."
"Huh. Sucks to be you," Ida said, finishing her juice and hopping down from the table.
"Hey, Ida?"
"What?" When she turned to look at him, she looked slightly annoyed.
"Do you get lonely here all by yourself? Want to play a game with me?"
"No." Ida glared at him, then turned and scuttled towards the door Odin had told them was off-limits. Darius followed behind her, like a diligent caretaker.
Joey finished up his breakfast, then put his own dishes in the dishwasher. The entire time, he puzzled over the morning.
Who was Ida? Who was Odin, really? Had Darius been made to babysit Ida? What was this place, really?
No matter how much he thought, the answers wouldn't come, so Joey just flopped onto a sofa, lost in thought. He was still there when Courtney came for breakfast an hour later.
"Hey," she said. "You look lost in thought."
"Can I talk to you about something weird that happened?" Joey asked, sitting up. Courtney started making some toast as she replied.
"Shoot. Can't be anything weirder than what we've already experienced."
"You might be surprised..."
