Forbidden Link

06. Debate

Lakelynn put on her tinted glasses and walked to the car parked by the side of the road. A two-door sports car in metallic red. Lakelynn got into that sports car when she pressed the button on the remote in her hand and the sound from the car came afterwards.

She immediately started her car engine after going inside the car. Knowing that Alex was still staring at her, Lakelynn rolled down the window, pointed at Alex, then moved her index finger down.

Alex immediately looked around and searched for the sign Lakelynn had made. It didn't take long for Alex to find a wallet that had been placed on the chair where Lakelynn had been sitting before. Alex took the wallet and showed it to Lakelynn from a distance. With an innocent face, Lakelynn gave Alex a wave and started the car.

"Geez… that girl's always good at making trouble," said Alex, still with a Lakelynn wallet in his right hand. "Did she leave it on purpose so I could go in there?"

Just as Alex was about to contact Lakelynn to question his presumption, a phone call had turned Alex's phone screen into a green and red phone button. Above the dial is the name “Farrell Gypsyworth” and a photo of a boy wearing a high school uniform.

“Al, have you watched television today?”

The voice that came from Alex's cellphone speaker sounded a bit noisy. Alex imagined that Farrell was still in the office with the people passing around him.

"You can just message me if you're still busy at work."

"It does not matter. I have just finished a meeting and will take Leona to lunch. I want to ask you right away so you can get the latest information to make a move soon. Do you know the latest information about links from television…. Al?" Farrell called the name of the person he was talking to on the phone because Alex didn't respond.

"I just met Lakelynn," replied Alex, looking at the wallet in his hand.

"Lakelynn? Kaira's best friend from high school?"

"Yes. She already knows Kaira's current condition."

“Al, it seems you are outside. How about we have lunch together?”

"Okay. I am not far from your office."

Although he still had to wait for his two friends, Alex did not continue his activities, which had been delayed. Thinking that Lakelynn must have called him first, Alex turned off the screen and opened the menu book that was lying on the table. After finishing choosing the food for his lunch, Alex waved his hand at the waiter. In addition to ordering a menu for him, Alex asked for one more menu to serve to the next person.

Because the position of the person they met was still on the same block, Farrell and Leona walked from the office to the cafe that Alex had told them to. The two of them only took about ten minutes to walk from the office until they found a familiar figure waving at them from a distance. Alex immediately handed the menu book to the twins Farrell and Leona as soon as they sat across from their seats.

After mentioning the food he chose to the waiter, who immediately approached the people who had just arrived, Farrell immediately turned to Alex.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your sister. Then, what would you do?” asked Farrell.

“I just make sure if the news on television is true or not. I wanted to keep checking myself by going into her house. However, there's nothing I can do after finding out that Kaira is really in a coma."

"If it has become a worldwide conversation, shouldn't there be a solution by now?"

“Huh… it seems they were just trying to prevent it without providing any solution.” Alex just mentioned "they" as the people who had been on television before. Leona, who had just finished telling the menu to the waiter, did the same with Farrell. The girl turned to Alex with a look of pity, so Alex frowned in protest.

“Hey, stop making your faces like that. I'm still fine."

Triggered by the pitying faces Farrell and Leona showed, Alex began to tell about the incident that happened that morning when his mother had found out about Kaira's condition from the television. Didn't forget, Alex also added that his mother had almost called Kaira's father to ask about Kaira's condition, so he searched for another contactable person who would be better than his father.

Alex knew very well that Farrell and Leona had never liked the closeness between him and Laklynn in the past. Because he already knew that his two friends must be confused about why he had to contact Lakelynn, before being asked, Alex had already given the reason. After being reminded that Kaira didn't really have any friends other than Lakelynn, the Gypsyworth twins couldn't blame Alex at all for his choice.

"I think it will be difficult to find a person who has been close to Kaira, though...," said Farrell after thinking about Kaira's social information, which had very few results in his mind.

"You also thought like that, right?"

"What did you talk to Lakelynn about?"

"She was trying to help me to see Kaira," answered Alex to Leona's question, coming to the conclusion that the wallet had been left by Lakelynn.

"I am sure she didn't just help you like that. What else did she say to you?" asked Leona, with her arms crossed on her chest and an unpleasant look.

"She talked about Kaira's condition. Kaira seemed peaceful right now."

"And then? What does that woman want you to do?"

Leona's gaze seemed intimidating to Alex. Alex knew that his friends wouldn't be satisfied with a simple answer like that before. So forcefully, he told his conversation with Lakelynn before, as Leona wanted to hear.

"She told me to follow what people were doing to rescue Kaira." Alex demonstrates quotation marks when he says 'rescue'. "It's as if they believe they can save someone who is in a coma just like that."

“Rescuing Kaira? What do you mean?"

“Do you mean to press the link and look for Kaira in it?” asked Farrell, which invited a questioning glance from Leona. “Just as Mio said yesterday. There were people who were willing to pay people to prove what really happened after hitting the link.”

"And Charles Donati dared to pay people to save Kaira," added Alex, which made Farrell as shocked as Leona.

"Is Kaira's father gathering people to save his daughter without knowing if it will succeed or not?"

"Yeah… I wanted to ask Lakelynn about that also, but she just left me before. She just said that my sister is in her house now because there were too many reporters at the hospital."

“Wait… Alex… you don't intend to do the same with those people, do you?”

“Farrell… chill… I won't do it just because someone told me to come along.”

"If Lakelynn is the one who told you that, couldn't she be lying?"