Tooth Fairy: Are you suffering from the headache again?
Z: Me? No, I'm not.
Tooth Fairy: You shouldn't lie to a doctor.
Z: Fine. A bit, just a bit. Some warm water will help. I don't need those ... those things.
Z: I don't dislike your toothfairies. It's the texture that creeps me out. I've tried multiple times. You know how it ended.
Tooth Fairy: Don't worry. I have some drugs for humans. Wanna try?
That is another option for arcanists who find it hard to swallow those humanoid fairies.
Z: Oh? That's surprising. Thank you.
Tooth Fairy: How about the future of those kids?
Madam Z casts a glimpse at the backseat and sighs.
Z: Are you talking about the deer girl, or Joshua, the troublemaker?
Tooth Fairy: You can tell me one by one. It's a long trip back to the headquarters. We've plenty time to chat.
Z: Joshua will pay for what he did.
Z: Absence from duty without permission is a severe violation of the regulations. He will face a demotion and be grounded for three to five months.
Z: Of course, I'll apply for leniency for him, but I think it won't make much difference.
Z: We don't have many means to help him. Vertin might be a good choice.
Tooth Fairy: You mean assigning him to Vertin's team?
Z: Exactly. If we can make Vertin apply for that …
Z: He'll be put through a much milder punishment. After that, he'll be free to leave with Vertin.
Tooth Fairy: This is a good idea.
Tooth Fairy: How about Jessica, the deer girl?
Z: She ...
Z: She needs to receive some education to become adequately socialized.
Z: Based on her result of the amended Arcanists Risk Evaluation Chart, this little girl is very dangerous.
Z: We rescued nine hostages from her cave. Three are from the film crew. The other six are from the student expedition team that went missing six months ago.
Tooth Fairy: The validity of that chart is debatable, for it doesn't have a sufficient number of questions to draw a conclusion.
Z: Yeah, when we arrive at the Foundation, we will give her a more comprehensive test.
Z: But that doesn't mean that she'll get a higher grade. We all know that the amended version tends to overestimate examinees.
Tooth Fairy: Can I visit her while she's in the Foundation?
Z: Of course, chatting with someone familiar is conductive to embracing the community.
Z: You don't need to worry too much about her. We'll treat her the right way. The arcanum shown on her is of a very unique kind, and she'll be helpful in many experiments.
Tooth Fairy: That's good. But I still have one more question.
Z: Go ahead, doctor.
Tooth Fairy: Members from the Zeno also participated in the rescue. Did you call them to come?
Z: Yeah, this should have been their responsibilities. To be more precise, all of these problems were their fault.
Tooth Fairy: Are you talking about the missing of their Youth Force?
Z: What? No. But, wait, what missing Youth Force?
Tooth Fairy: The myth that Zeno Youth Force disappeared overnight at the Green Lake Campsite. Haven't you ever heard of that?
Z: No, never!
Z: Where did you hear that?
Tooth Fairy: Joshua told me.
Z: He is just a young man, impulsive, and can't tell a story from a fact. Why would you believe …
Z: Never mind. Back to the business.
Z: By the end of the '50s, Zeno found a bunch of critters with unique appearance in the woods near the Green Lake Campsite.
Z: As they continued to investigate, they found that special moss in the woods that can trigger changes in appearance.
Z: In order to conduct further research, they built a campsite and held some camping activities as disguise from time to time.
Z: The critters mutated and evolved very fast. Meanwhile, the town prospered, and the nearby population soared.
Z: After several incidents of attacks on local residents by fled critter subjects, Zeno decided to move the campsite out of that area.
Z: That deer girl was neglected during the moving. She was left at the Green Lake and kept on secretly living there till now.
Z: Other critters that escaped have hybridized with the local breeds and hence created the new critters you've encountered.
Z: They more or less carry a lineage of changelings, which are very hard to deal with. But thank God, you've brought this girl under control.
Tooth Fairy: Jessica has been like their ... friend, or leader.
Z: I think she is more like a leader, or even a master to them.
Z: Zeno conducted military training to the first batch of critters, so they are more obedient than others.
Z: Your Jessica is like … their commander.
Z: She gives orders to the critters at the bottom of the lake through a radio hidden in the remote control so that they act in precise alignment.
Tooth Fairy: …
Tooth Fairy: So you knew the truth of the Green Lake Campsite from the beginning?
Z: It was Zeno's idea to clean up the mess with the Foundation. They contacted me before …
Z: Huh! If you could've asked me earlier, like before you depart, we wouldn't have to go through so much trouble.
Tooth Fairy: Kids were ignorant for lack of knowledge, yet adults were ignorant for their cognitive inertia. In a story where truth and falsity are mingled together, it is hard to tell which is which.
Z: What did you say?
Tooth Fairy: Nothing, nothing important. Have you heard of what happened to my brother?
Z: Huh? Your brother? What happened to him?
Tooth Fairy: Do you know how his teeth disappeared?
Z: Ummm. I don't want to offend anyone, but wasn't it because of the curse of the toothfairies?
Tooth Fairy: Heh heh.
Z: What? What are you laughing at?
Tooth Fairy: Nah, nothing. As for my brother, I will tell you more later.
Tooth Fairy: Hush now. Give me my camera.
Tooth Fairy turns around, leans over her seat, and presses the shutter.
The children are leaning against each other and sleeping in peace.
That's the end of the horror story, which is not that horrible, though.
