He pet Bart absentmindedly while flipping through the TV channels, finally settling on an old episode of Family Guy. His previously frightened mood fo...rgotten, he stood up and stretched, walking back to the kitchen area to pour himself a hot cup of coffee. Then the familiar BING! Sounded from the computer, prompting him to rush his task and spill hot coffee all over the counter. That was forgotten however, replaced with stronger feelings of anticipation than before as he made his way back to the. Yuko was boiling water for noodles when she heard hail hitting the windows. She looked outside and saw the tree--a scawny, potted thing surrounded by a fence to keep dogs from peeing on it--waving like mad in the strong winds. As the hail pounded all the harder, she decided the smartest thing to do was to get away from the windows. She poured the hot water over her noodles and waited. Lightning flashed rapidly outside, reminding Yuko of the strobing lights from her captivity in the mall. The TV. "It means that a very well organized group or persons has been slowly chipping away at you for more than half a century, with what I would call biological warfare."Nimrod sucks in his breath. His gentle touch, gone, as he takes his hands back to his lap."Why?" He asks."I could not tell you." I shake my head."Your original thought," Melville says, remembering my first day here and our long talk. "You suggested that this was softening up process." A prelude ... to invasion." Grim faced Napoleon. She still held one of my hands in hers. She looked at the TV screen for less than a minute before speaking to me.“Do you want me to turn up the sound?” she asked quietly.“No. I like listening to you. Even when you’re not speaking you sound good.”She turned her head away as a blush started up her face. “Let’s just sit nicely like this for a bit, okay?”“Sure, whatever you like”, I answered, the sincerity in my voice was readily apparent to her as she suddenly scooched even closer to me. She.