Daphne knows, it is useless by standing at the end of this empty alley, in front of this empty house, and thus letting her uneasy. She is also getting tired of keeping waiting in silence without knowing when Stairmount will return. She takes her mother's hand, "Mom, it'd better wait for Mr. Rivers outside this alley."
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"Okay, Sweetie. There are also many things that we can watch so as not to get bored while waiting."
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However, even after Daphne has been arriving at the main road, she can't do anything since it requires communication with the people in her surroundings. Let alone Saturnian language, her Jupiterian language is poor, that's why she still speaks with Stairmount in Plutonian language instead of Jupiterian language. All kinds of conversations among the people on the street are talked by them, but she understands none of them. And she can't buy anything either since she can't speak the Jupiterian language. In the end, she can only pay attention to everything in a half-pondering state.
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Before, everything becomes interesting with the presence of Stairmount. But now Stairmount has left them, also because of big trouble. She is so worried about Stairmount, how can she have the mood to pamper her eyes?
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"Mom, Mr. Rivers has gone for a long time..." Daphne mumbles. "Is he okay? Are his parents okay?..."
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"We can only pray, Sweetie," Mrs. Yalle answers slowly.
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"Mr. Rivers did this for us, but now his parents are in danger. I..."
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Mrs. Yalle puts her arm around her daughter. "Don't be pessimistic, Sweetie. Keep hoping for the positive."
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"Alright... Mom..." Daphne is stunned. She seems to watch something which is impossible to be here right now.
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"Yes, sweetie?"
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Not something. To be exact, someone. Daphne continues to watch the person. Mrs. Yalle immediately senses the strangeness of her daughter. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
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"That…" Daphne points at the person. "That person... is he really Damien?..."
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"Who is Damien?"
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"My internship colleague... he is also ethnic Neptunian..." Daphne steps towards the direction. The young man did look conspicuous; his magenta color hair and Jupitune face among Lismesan people. Because Obsidian is dominated by the Lismesans, the emergence of other ethnicities will certainly be very conspicuous. Slowly but surely, she approaches the young man who is busy making the call. The closer she gets, the clearer she can hear his voice when talking, which apparently is using Neptunian language.
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"Damien! It's really you, Damien!" Daphne calls.
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Turning off his ultra-cyber minipad, Damien turns around. "Eh... who are you?..."
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"I am Daphne! Daphne Yalle!"
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"Daph... ne?..." Damien frowns, staring at Daphne in her male disguise.
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Daphne quickly realizes that his disguise as a man let Damien unable to recognize her. "I'm masquerading as a man! This is my voice, don't you remember it?"
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Damien keeps his eyes on Daphne. But he also begins to be able to digest her words. The face can be changed, but not with the voice. "Yeah... your voice does sound like Daphne..."
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Copyright ©️ by boundless_universe
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"It's me, Daphne Yalle, your internship colleague. And this is my mother. We're in disguise."
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"Why are you in disguise?"
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"We are on the run, this masquerade protects us from being caught."
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"Run? Run from Sapphire?"
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Daphne nods her head. "And you? Why are you here?"
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"I'm also on the run. My family was forcibly arrested for genocide, with a very baseless accusation, that we have committed treason against the legitimate government."
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"Huh?... We also ran away just because of that reason! As for us, we were caught by a group of soldiers and dragged to a public park for no apparent reason!..."
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"Public park? Ah! That means you also experienced the same as me, the different part is just the reason. My family was also dragged into a public park."
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"That means, they did genocide towards the ethnic Neptunian that night, and the public park became the slaughterhouse..."
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"Don't just stand there. Take a seat." Damien points to the vacant side of the long bench he is sitting on. "Enough for two more people."
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"So, Damien. How did you escape?" Daphne asks again after she and Mrs. Yalle sit down.
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"Actually I didn't experience it firsthand. I wasn't at home when my family was arrested. And when I came home, I saw my family was being dragged away by them. I quickly hid myself while watching they were being away like a pig which would soon be slaughtered. Then... I saw it. My family... they killed my family!!!"
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Damien can't stand for it anymore. He screams aloud, then buries his face in his hands. Luckily no one understands what they are talking about, so even though Damien is screaming hysterically, the people beside them just watch for a moment, but soon turn away and continue their previous activities.
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"I am sorry to hear that, Damien..." Daphne mumbles in low voice.
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Damien lifts his disheveled face. "How about you?..."
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"I... uh... there was a sudden commotion... they were fighting each other on their own... so I used that chance to escape..."
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Daphne knows, Damien is her ethnic Neptunian fellow, so it should be safe to tell him the truth. However, something prevents her from mentioning Stairmount's involvement. She doesn't understand at all, she just gets the feeling not to do this. At least, her hunch said that everything about Stairmount should not be found out by any ethnic Neptunians.
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"There was a commotion? So a commotion ever happened at that time?"
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Daphne nods.
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"Ah, you're so lucky. If only the commotion had happened before my family was killed... they would still be alive right now..." Damien appears gloomy.
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Daphne can't help but feel upset. So, in the end, the genocide was still held? Stairmount's resistance turns out to be fruitless, since the victims still died in the end?...
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"Then, you ran away in disguise to avoid their pursuit?"
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Daphne nods. Damien whistles. "Wow, you're so smart! And your masquerade is epic! I won't even think that it is actually a pretty girl who is behind it!"
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"Oh, you..." Daphne gives a small smile. "Then, why are you in Jupiter?"
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