- AP - “Daddy, when will Mom come?” Anton asked, cranking up his mechanical toy car. His twin sister Billie was already busy emulating a chasing scene, vocalizing the various engines sounds and effects. “Saturday, I've told you a dozen times,” Frank Cooper sighed, building the race track on the living room floor. Hearing no response, he turned around, and saw his two childrens looking down. His heart clenching, he realized how much tougher a divorced parents situation was for 9 year-old kids. He let go of the tracks, and hugged tightly with each arms his kids. “Don't worry, you'll spend a great time!” The children looked dubious, but soon resumed their game. Sighing with relief, Frank finished up the tracks. “There you go! Now be careful, and don't break anything,” he smiled, rising. “Thank you Dad!” they chimed together. Discreetly moaning and stretching his cramping back, Frank thought with amusement how 40 years old felt surprisingly like 55. Looking quickly over the family picture on his way to his office, he smiled for his luck to be constantly present at home to watch the evolution of the only precious gift of life. Sitting in front of his computer, he entered his login details, and was faced with an ongoing status from his software. He sighed. Opening his messaging app, he began typing: “Dear Mr. Lee; My new computer is struggling to keep up the same power as my old one. So your game animation commission will be done tonight. Will send it tomorrow morning as soon as I wake up. Cheers, Frank” He sent the message, and waited as the recipient began almost immediately replying back. “Dear Mr. Cooper; No problem! Totally get it; our tech is rubbish nowadays... "> Can't wait to see it! Best regards, Michael” Frank smiled, and closed the messaging app. Seeing that his project wouldn't be done before another 45 minutes, he opened his Interweb browser and logged into his bookmarked social forum. After fifteen minutes of browsing through the latest posts, he sighed, feeling almost depressed. Finally, a post caught his eyes. “That's not possible... Finally, a good news!” he muttered, clicking on a link named: ‘Best Wild Edibles Weeds For Landscaping!’ His daughter's sudden voice made him jump in surprise: “Daddy, when can we join that website of yours?” Frank laughed gently and stroke her hair. “Not yet, darling. Wait a little longer; there's mature stuff in there.” Billie pouted, looking back and forth enviously at the computer's screen. “Where's your brother so you can beat him at racing, like you always do?” he teased her. Billie shrugged. “Talking.” Frank looked at her, surprised. “Talking? To whom?” “Oh... I don't know. Two strangers. They knocked, so we let them in,” his daughter answered nonchalantly, hopping from one feet to another. “What?!” Frank panicked, jumping off his seat and sprinting to the living room. He came almost crashing down against Tom, and the latter, stumbling backwards, nevertheless managed to catch Frank and hold him up. “Woah, mate, you're okay?” Tom asked, worried. “Tom!” Frank exclaimed, then saw Madzistrale squatted beside Anton, admiring the toy cars. “Mad! I wasn't expecting you guys.” “Us neither,” Tom admitted, keeping silent how exactly they ended up in front of Frank's porch: by simply appearing there without prior wishes to do so. “We knocked, but your son opened the door and insisted that we come in,” Madzistrale smiled apologetically. “It's okay,” Frank said. He looked sternly at his two kids: “Later on, I'll have a chat with you two.” “Please, don't get them in trouble!” Madzistrale rose, panicked. “I should've insisted on waiting for you!” “It's okay,” Frank comforted her and the children. "I'll just have a chat about opening doors to strangers. Just remind you two how dangerous it could have been.” Anton and Billie looked down. Frank ruffled their hair, then ordered: “Now, please go upstairs. Your break is over, you need to study for tomorrow's exams.” The children complained, but obeyed, climbing half-heartedly the stairs. Frank turned to the siblings. “You guys want some coffee?” “No!” Madzistrale answered sharply. She realized how rude she sounded, so she smiled shyly: “I already took more than enough.” Frank smiled. “I know what that is. Come on to my office, I need to keep an eye on my ongoing project.” Tom and Madzistrale followed him, and he took away books and tinkers that were stacked on two chairs. Madzistrale fell to the urge of looking at the computer screen. “Oh! You're interested in wild edibles?” she noticed, excited. “Yeah, a little. But it's more that it's the only good news around,” Frank sighed. He clicked on the minimize icon to check up on the software. “And you're an animator?!” Madzistrale exclaimed. Frank blushed a little. “Yeah. It allows me to take freelance jobs but stay at home with my kids. Especially with Victoria working full-time...” “Your wife?” Tom asked politely. “Ex-wife.” “Oh... Sorry,” Tom apologized. “Nothing to apologize for. It's life,” Frank said. “So how have you been? The last I heard, you were going to see the Public Advisor?” Madzistrale grimaced in disgust. “Yeah... No. Don't bother about that guy.” Frank looked puzzled. “What do you mean?” “He's a bloody psych...” Tom know kicked her leg, cutting her short. “He's a typical high-ranking official that's in power for that reason. No different than any other.” Frank sighed and sat back in his chair. “Where has our world gone to? Perhaps some are right: no political parties are ever worth our hopes.” “Or someone is purposefully poisoning the well,” Madzistrale suggested. “When there's poison in your water, you don't blame the water, but rather the idiot that puts the poison there.” Frank looked at them, interested. “So you believe there's someone else in charge? A hidden hand?” “You bet.” Tom raised his hand: “Or rather, that's our theory. But we still know so little; that's why you might be our insider. What do you think?” Frank considered them, then his computer screen. “I only know what I'm seeing is not the world I want. Look at this!” Hr motioned the siblings to come closer, and returned to the homepage of his social forum; he began reading out loud the head titles: “ - Doing away with parties - The risks of saving others - Why WW3 is needed - The right to strike first - How pacifism is a myth - The time has come to show the people's true face...” Frank stopped, and looked almost sick. “I know the government is not right, but what frightens me is the population itself, how insecurity has driven them nearly mad with hate and violence. No one any longer wants to find peaceful solutions. Yet more they grow violent and angry, more the government retaliates with tighter rules. It's an endless cycle, and it's not looking good. The population themselves wants a world war, for Gaea's sake!” “And what world do they expect afterwards?” Madzistrale pondered sadly. “Exactly. The people react in extremes. On one side, they're either completely compliant, and allow whoever to control them, because they just don't care any longer, they've given up. On the opposite, we find complete all-out anarchism. How can someone live peacefully in such a world? Who can wish such a world for their families, children? I certainly don't want any of that, for me, my kids, or anyone else. Surely a peaceful way can be found. But I don't see it anywhere...” Tom gave him a pat on the back. “We won't let that happen. We'll find you a way.” Frank laughed. “If only it would work that way.” “Why not! No one's tried, so we'll do it if everyone's too lazy for that,” Madzistrale said. Frank looked at them, puzzled yet strangely uplifted by their enthusiasm. “Why would you do it?” “Because we can,” the siblings simply answered, smiling. Frank smiled. “Okay... I'll cheer you on.” “You'll do more than that,” Tom rectified. “We'll need your help in the future to figure all of this out.” Frank shrugged. “Hey, I don't know what I can do... but count me in.” Madzistrale hugged him. “Don't worry. All good heroes are terribly ordinary in reality.” Frank laughed. The siblings felt thr familiar pull on their mind, and they rose. “Sorry, but we gotta go.” “Sure,” Frank rose too, accompanying them to the door. “Say bye to your kids; and please be kind to them,” Madzistrale asked once on the porch. “And do us a favour,” Tom added. “Keep hoping for a peaceful world with peaceful solutions to problems. The world need people like you.” “I'll do my best,” Frank acknowledged. “Till next time, then!” the siblings said. Frank waved back as they walked away. He looked back into his house, making sure Madzistrale hadn't forgotten her purse. When he returned his gaze at the driveway, he frowned. His driveway led directly to either a grass frontyard bordered by tall dense hedges, or to the street's sidewalk. Yet he could see no signs of the siblings.