Back to present day

Michael turned the key in his vehicle. The engine turned over and hummed softly.

Benz G55. Comfortable, regular in the area, room for stuff.

Rolling down the autobahn, he kept mindful of the speed limit. A new gun and a knife with traces of DNA on it, he didn’t need the attention.

Skipping through songs, he settled on the electronica portion of his playlist. Fast moving but smooth, just enough to stay awake for the long drive ahead.

A few circles through random towns and cities to ensure he wasn’t tracked, and a journey down redundant off road trails before he finally arrived. The garage door opened, the dogs came outside and sat attentively by the driveway.

Two big brown shepherds, K9 trained and happy to see Michael return, wagging their tails. As michael backed his vehicle into the garage, he watched the mirrors until his back tire touched the curb he had affixed to the floor to prevent ramming into the workbench.

As he shut off the vehicle and opened the door, soft steps could be heard coming down the stairs. The door into the house slowly opened. As it did, Michael could see her soft greeting smile.

Lani was four and a half feet tall, her hair was blue with yellow tips. She was of slender build with hints of athletic lifestyle. Her face and unpainted skin tone revealed her pacific origins, though she was very much an American minded German. When Michael wasn’t looking, a secret hid behind her eyes.

Michael stepped out of the SUV, a half hearted grin looking expression appeared on his face. This was as much smiling as he could do. His face hid emotions better than hers because he had been numbed to certain sociological things. Unlike Lani’s ability to hide emotions and mask feelings to disguise it with an alternate cause, which came from practice in merciful deception.

“How was your trip?” Lani asked with relaxed excitement.

“It was dull, as usual,” Michael replied in his meager attempt at a social tone as his attention suddenly shifted to her hair which he had last remembered was a golden synthetic yellow before it had become this blue color that it now was.

Lani giggled as she noticed that his eyes had locked onto her hair. “Like it?” she asked as she moved her head side to side in an effort to wave her hair lightly.

Michael nodded, letting out a faint chuckle. “Of course I like it,” Michael said softly, “you smiled when you thought about it.”

Lani’s heart pounded a moment. Hope surfaced, but nervousness reinforced her hesitation as she stepped out of Michaels way and let him walk into the house.