On the other day, it was Friday, in the schoolyard, when a man approached Ivy while she was grabbing a snack at the cantina. He wore black sports pants and a blue shirt with white vertical stripes; his hair was dark brown and he combed it to the right, splitting it sideways. The secretary looked at him and noticed that she knew him:

"I liked your disguise, Ann."

"Collin! You want to ruin everything by calling me by name. What brings you here? You need to help me, not get in the way... It's not common for a school secretary to have visitors while she works."

"The reason is relevant, you'll understand", he said, removing an object from a black folder that he held in his hands.

Ann was curious and he continued:

"Agent Soliver, I brought you the copy of the transmutation recognition glasses that can help you recognize any suspects in this school."

These special glasses had been obtained from an alien who had been studied by the capturing agency in the government's base in Arizona many years ago. He had died and left this technology that they weren't able to copy. The glasses worked perfectly and were strategic, because they allowed them to recognize transmuted beings because of the electromagnetic radiations emitted by the bodies with this condition.

"Please, call me Ivy. I see you're doing an effort to ruin my disguise. Even more so calling me agent. For the love of God! It doesn't even sound like you're a member of the Pentagon's Alpha-Omega team."

"All right, I won't do this anymore. But take the glasses. I used them while I waited for the recess time and I didn't see any strange person."

"How did you get inside the school?"

"I showed my badge and said I worked for the government. I used the excuse that I was doing a routine check up on the school's safety. I said I was inspecting to see if the country's educational institutions were prepared for calamitous events like fires, cyclones, and the like, and they let me in."

"If they believed you, fine. Thank you for the glasses. I'm going to use them frequently during class breaks and if there's an alien out here, I'll find it."

"Chief Steighem confided to me that a large international agency is being organized to bring together all the secret intelligence services on aliens into one globalized body. It will be called WAEP, the World Agency of Earth Protection, and there are chances that the boss will be the director of the agency because of his experience in capturing alien beings. This body will be subordinated to the UN and the construction of its headquarters is already well advanced. If you succeed in this mission, you could be promoted and given some leadership position, as could I. Let's work as a team. What do you think?"

"Awesome... I would love to participate in this new agency. Imagine if we could work together with agents from other countries and have an international database at our disposal as if it were an Interpol to capture ETs!"

"I'm glad you liked the news. I've always liked you very much. You must know that." Collin almost revealed the love he felt for Ann.

He had always hidden the attraction he had for the agent in fear of being unrequited and losing her company. He also feared that if the agency found out, it would result in the loss of his job. The amorous relationship between agents wasn't accepted in any case by the organ. This would compromise the efficiency of the investigations, according to the agency's behavior rules.

Ann felt that Collin seemed to want to say something else, but she ignored the fact since not even by far it came through her head that it could have anything to do with her.

"We'll keep in touch. If you need help or support to catch them, don't hesitate to call us", said Agent Netil, already leaving.

Ann lifted her hand slightly to say goodbye. She, covertly, took the glasses with both hands and placed them over her eyes.

Curiosity was too great and she couldn't wait any longer. She turned her head to all sides and watched the children who were circling through the courtyard. Some were sitting on the stairs that headed to the classrooms. Ann started wearing her glasses, capable of recognizing transmuted aliens wherever she went. During the recess, she observed all the people who passed through the school premises. No one escaped her suspicions, not even the teacher who had witnessed the fact or the principal. She knew that extraterrestrials could transmute into any person.

Helen didn't like Ann since the first time she saw her at the courtyard. Although she didn't know who that woman was, something in her transmitted a bad energy to the girl.

Agent Soliver couldn't find out anyone strange in the place. Helen was playing with her friends during recess and her presence was on Ann's radius of observation. However, Helen had been born with Nicholas' Terran appearance. The terrestrial genetic dominance was at that moment protecting the girl and she didn't know it, and couldn't even imagine that she was in such danger. Especially now, when there was no one to protect her. Her parents and her alien grandfather were far away from there and she was defenseless.

The spy Dargan continued his work routine at the Institute, reserving some time to date Rachel at night and at the weekends. The girl was captivating him more and more and he couldn't stop thinking about her. Maybe that was the love that ancient humans idolized so much. Sophia, on the other hand, noticing his utter disinterest, didn't look for him anymore, her heart broken.

After a while without news, Dargan decided to act. He rented a car so as not to raise suspicions and began observing the routine of his enemy's family at various times. He needed to find a way to discover if the wife and daughter had gotten any clues from Merko during this period. He could even try to get closer to Sophia, but how, without her pushing him towards a romance?

He had stopped there, in the middle of the shadows, thinking about it, standing at some distance from her house, when someone came close to him, catching his attention:

"Hi!"

Hans got scared and cursed mentally when he saw that Sophia was right in front of him.

"What are you doing parked here, in my street? I went to the bakery to get some fresh bread and I saw you..." she asked, suspicious.

Sophia did think about avoiding him, but he was watching her house. The girl thought that was very strange.

"I... I was..."

"I know. You've disappeared for a while and were apprehensive to look for me... You avoided me this whole time, I don't know why."

"That's right." He took advantage of the cue. "I decided to stop by and see you. Since it took me a long time to look for you, I was ashamed. I needed to apologize and try to be your friend."

"I had already told you that I arrived a few days ago and you didn't even bother to see me after all this time. I think we'd better leave things as they are, each one going their own path. We can be friends, yes, even because we'll always see each other in college, and I don't really have anything against you. I have other problems to solve that occupy my head much more."

He smiled, sheepishly, when heard her mentioning his irrelevance, but, deep down, that was what he wanted.

"Did everyone from your family come back?"

"No. Just me, my mother, and my niece. But why do you want to know?"

"And where are the others?" Hans continued to inquire.

"This is a question which answer we also want to know. My brother, my sister-in-law and stepfather disappeared like magic, and so far, they haven't sent any news. They talked about a crazy story of an invasion that was going to happen here in the country." Sophia stared at him, unhappily. "Hans, I'm breaking up with you and ask me about my family? It seems like you live in dream world!"

He, seeing that he had made a fool of himself, decided to divert the topic, and prepare himself better to speak to Sophia. She seemed to be a smart girl and he couldn't waver or he'd spoil his disguise.

"Sorry Sophia, I need to go now. I just wanted to see you to solve what bothered me. I missed you and I'm glad we got it right. This week, we'll meet in college."

"I don't know what kind of missing is this, since you stayed so long without seeing me. I think you have feelings as fickle as your personality."

Hans lowered his head after hearing her and left, showing no sign of sadness.

"That's weird. To him, it was as if I were a stranger. That snow-cold man wasn't the same one I knew", Sophia pondered, feeling her heart free from an immense weight.

"I need to do my research more discreetly. What if it were Merko who saw me there? He's a dangerous man, and if he were suspicious that I was watching his house, he'd come after me. Everyone on planet Life knows he has never failed in his missions."

On Monday morning, the spy teleported to Helen's school. He would try to approach the child who could reveal more information about Merko's whereabouts. His attempt on Sophia had been a disaster. Who knows, maybe at the girl's school he could get some information.

"Children tell everything," he thought.

He had entered the school's internal information system and learned that an electrical maintenance had been requested in one of the buildings. Therefore, he presented himself in the office with a uniform of the city's electricity company, with false identifications.

He waited until the recess to observe the children play. While pretending to be staring at the central power box, he spotted Helen, playing with other children. He started fiddling with the electrical breaker panels, waiting for an opportunity to approach the girl.

However, he couldn't imagine that the worst was about to happen, since Ann arrived at the yard at that same instant, as she always did every day. On her face, the recognition sunglasses were looking for extraterrestrial signs.

"I'm almost giving up on this investigation. For weeks I watch all the people in this school and nothing happens", she thought, discouraged.

Suddenly, her long-awaited moment came, when she came across Dargan, who revealed, thanks to her glasses, his alien identity. Ann paused for a moment, and thought about how luck had finally shown her the way. She didn't know if she should confront him right there, because there were too many kids around. Although she was trained to fight, the sensible thing to do would be to ask the organization's agents for help.

So, she took the cell phone and, immediately, called:

"Collin, you're not going to believe what I'm seeing right now."

"What happened, Ann? Tell me quickly, I'm on a mission."

"Our target appeared. He's right here in front of me. What should I do?"

"Wait for me! I'm going as fast as I can."

Agent Netil called his boss; began to prepare the approach and arrest of the alien target. A special army command was assigned to the mission, and a jet brought more agents to Los Angeles.

Shortly thereafter, the school's principal received a call from the city's mayor, who ordered him to close school immediately and send all the children home. He promised to explain the reasons after. The signal echoed through the walls of the school.

Ann had been there all this time, without taking her eyes off the suspect. That mission would be worth the best promotion of her career. In contact with Agent Collin Netil, she knew that, in a matter of minutes, everything would be surrounded. But Ann couldn't imagine that she was dealing with a soldier trained by Merko himself, ready for any kind of combat.

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Also read #TheChildrenOfTime Trilogy by chaienesantoswriter