Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!
So today was, well, compared to previous days, a little boring. I did some homework, had a class or two (did I mention, Beth can drive herself to school now, so I don’t have to drive her to classes I don’t take) and finally had a chance to sit down with all the stuff I hadn’t had a chance to look at.
So the first thing I looked at was the papers that Mrs. X gave me. Included was a flash drive.
I wasn’t sure whether to actually put it in anything, considering where it came from, so I brought it to Dave. He had a air-gapped (just a computer with no network access) computer, and plugged it in there to see what was on it. Just a bunch of video files. Very innocuous. He said I was right to be concerned but this looked alright.
So, I put the drive in, copied the files over, and started watching.
It was security camera footage. Two people were fiddling with something on one wall. It was blacked out. There was a figure sitting at a table with a book. Then a bright flash of light, the two people were gone, and the figure at the table crumpled to the ground. Then a couple of people rushed in, and the video stopped.
Was that… the event?
Awww.
So, they sent me video of the event. It’s good to know what happened, I suppose, but… sigh. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, that’s exactly what Mrs. X. told me happened, right? Oh well. I appreciate the intentions.
And I went through the papers and read up on what happened. It was mostly as she described, but with a lot more detail. They left in most of the conclusions from the investigation. The stuff involving the experiment itself was redacted, but there was a lot of discussion about safety, precautions, lack of experimental plan, and apparently I was not cleared for top secret and should not have been there. They actually didn’t spare many words for my adoptive parents, apparently they really had a lapse in judgement and probably would have ended up in Leavenworth too, or at least fired, if they hadn’t disappeared.
That really sucks. I guess I can add them to a long list of people who failed me.
Yeah, I know. I forgave most of them. That wipes the debt, it doesn’t wipe the fact that the debt existed.
There also were a lot of papers about the search for me, incident reports on that, and a redacted transcript of the trial where the people who dumped me got in a whole heap of trouble. And so they should have. They get added to that list too. But, as Dave says, no one has ever accused the government of being competent. Sorry, Mrs. X, but I have a stack of papers you gave me yourself that bears that out.
Apparently they didn’t redact the fact that the device that caused all the trouble is now destroyed.
That’s probably for the best.
So… not a whole lot more to gain from those right now. I’d post them here but Mrs. X asked me not to. I guess that’s fair. I can tell you about them, though.
So… now for the letter from Crystal.
Lily… my big sister lily… you’ve always been there for me. Even from the beginning, you were there for me. You have always had a hug for me when I need it, you held me when I was crying, you scolded me when I did something very stupid… but you’ve always loved me. You’ve always loved me. I never have to worry when you are around. You will protect me, you will wipe my tears, you will give me chocolate… there is nothing in your power that you wouldn’t do for me if I needed it. And this isn’t because I’m Crystal, it’s because you’re Lily. It’s who you are. You have so many sisters… so many people… who love you, and it’s so deserved. Because you always, always love them first.
One day we will grow old, you will still be Lily, and we will still be sisters. Then we will die, and we will still be sisters. And when we go to heaven, or wherever we go after we die, we will still be sisters. And I will always, always, ALWAYS, love you.
But don’t worry. I like boys. But any boy I marry will never get in the way of our sisterhood.
Awwwww. I’m sniffling just writing that.
I don’t know if I understand my “gift”. But I was looking back over some previous diary posts today, and it’s always been this way. I think my “gift”… is love.
And I can’t think of a better gift to have.
And on that note,