Sienna had achieved her goal. She didn't like using Derek to threaten Sylvia, but she had no choice. The safety of her son was paramount. Once she reached and entered her house, she saw that her mother was waiting for her.
Her mother said, "Lucas is in his room. You should go and talk to him."
Sienna nodded and was about to go to Lucas's room when her mother said, "Sienna, wait."
Sienna looked back and asked, "What happened?"
Her mother said, "Don't be too harsh on him."
Sienna said, "Not this time, Mom. You always protect him, but not this time. He should have told me. Things could have gotten dangerous. Really dangerous."
Her mother said, "I'm not trying to protect him…"
Sienna said, "But?"
Her mother said, "He didn't tell you because he didn't want to hurt you."
Sienna said, "You are not making any sense."
Her mother said, "Lucas was always a smart child. Maybe too smart. You think he didn't notice how you changed the topic anytime his father came up? He probably thinks that his father is a terrible man who hurt you to the point that you ran, or that he is dead. His other Innate Talent is obviously related to his father. That is why he didn't bring it up."
Sienna was silent. Then, she ran to her son's room.
Back at Sylvia's office, Beth started looking into Sienna's files. After an hour had passed, she said, "That's weird."
Sylvia said, "What's wrong?"
Beth said, "I can't find anything other than what is publicly known about her. I can't even find which of the Five Great Academies she went to."
They both looked at each other and exclaimed at the same time, "Her files have been falsified!"
They were very familiar with the concept of falsified files. After all, they had them as well. And so did any people with a considerable background. Based on their files, the citizens of the Federation could be segregated into three categories.
The first category consisted of the files that all government officials, except for the bottom-most tier, could access, i.e., the files on common citizens.
The second category was the classified files. One needed to have a certain level of authority to access them, i.e., undercover agents, politicians, and other government officials. If they didn't have that access, they would see the word "classified" on the file and be flagged by the higher-ups.
The third category included the falsified files. Only people with a certain level of strength, wealth, and political background had these.
Not only were their real files highly classified, but false files also contained just the right amount of truth to make them look legitimate, and the perfect amount of lies to throw anyone off. These files appeared to be of the first category, perfectly hiding them in plain sight.
Even they only figured it out because they were very familiar with falsified files and knew that Sienna and her background were not as simple as she looked. These files would have easily fooled the common eye.
Sylvia said, "Wait, try my account. We should be able to access the files with my authority."
Beth nodded and did as she was told. Sylvia stood behind her so that she could also see what was happening on the screen. They were able to bypass the falsified files, but the real files were still classified.
Sylvia muttered, "Sienna Zenith, just who are you?"
Beth said, "Should I…?"
Sylvia said, "Do it."
Beth said, "We should think about this for a minute. There is a reason that files are classified even to you."
Sylvia said, "Beth, just hack the system and get me those damn files. She knows too much. I need to know if she is a threat."
Beth replied, "Your wish is my command."
Beth got to work. Her Innate Talent was coding-related. With her strength, she was able to open the files for less than a millionth of a second. Sylvia missed it, and Beth was only able to take a peek before they were locked out. The creators of the database that she had hacked into were much stronger than her and had better Innate Talents. Not to mention, they kept an eye on it 24/7. So doing what she had done was a feat unto itself.
Before she could even process what they had seen, the hologram of a woman appeared from Sylvia's watch. She resembled Sylvia greatly.
She screamed, "Sylvia Lancaster, what the hell did you just do?"
Sylvia and Beth were surprised by the sudden intrusion as they stared at the hologram.
Sylvia said, "Greetings, Grandma."
Beth immediately got on one knee, with her right fist on her heart, and said, "This lowly one greets the—"
She was interrupted by the hologram, "Oh, stop the bullshit and get up. Tell me why the hell the Family Head called me and said that you had been flagged for trying to hack into one of the falsified files?"
Sylvia said, "Um… because we did hack into a falsified file…?"
The woman in the hologram smacked her forehead and muttered, "What did I ever do to get such a dumb granddaughter?"
Sylvia said, "I heard that."
Her grandmother said, "So what?"
Sylvia replied, "That hurts my feelings, you know?"
Her grandmother said, "I know. That's why I said it."
Sylvia stared at her grandmother's hologram. Her grandmother continued, "Look, the Family Head and I took care of it, but stop now. We can't protect you forever."
Sylvia said, "Thanks."
Her grandmother said, "So, did you find anything? Anything worth the trouble?"
Sylvia was about to reply, but the hologram interrupted her and said, "Wait. It's better if you don't tell me. I do not want to be a part of this mess any more than I already am. Just remember this: You pull even one more stunt like this again, and I will personally bring you back and lock you up in Purgatory for at least five centuries."
Sylvia could see how serious her grandmother was and said, "Alright, Grandma."
Then the hologram disappeared. Beth and Sylvia stared at each other, and Sylvia could see the immense shock in her eyes.
Sylvia asked, "So, what did you see that spooked you so much?"
Beth wiped the sweat off her forehead as she said, "I probably saw it wrong."
Sylvia said, "What did you see?"
Beth muttered, "It can't be true…"
Sylvia grabbed Beth's shoulders and said, "Beth, tell me. What did you see?"
Beth said, "A name."
Sylvia asked, "What name?"
Beth whispered, "Charles Shelby."