Composed by Yuki Neco
In the big house in the suburbs which Dr. Dwight Emerson used as the applied physics laboratory, the people involved in Limuna’s case including Lumina herself were gathered in the living room. The young scientist, Dwight Emerson stood up and announced to get down to the business. The college students gulped with anxious feelings about what he is up to.
“First of all... let’s ask Dr. Allison,” Dwight said, “are you going to work with me on the research on matter-antimatter annilation?”
“As I said before, my answer is no.”
The one who answered the question was the man with a thick beard and mustache wearing butler’s suit. The students looked at the man with astonishment, except Lumina looking down at the table with embarrassment. Next minute, the man took off his false beard and mustache; consequently, he turned into Dr. Allison they knew from TV shows.
“Sorry, boys and girls. I was in disguise since I thought a big house like this needs a butler for welcoming guests,” Dr. Allison explained.
“Well, did Lumina know about this?” Li turned to look at her.
“Duhh... sorry about my freaking Dad. When I got here he told me not to tell you the butler is actually Dad, by this message card,” Lumina said with embarrassment, showing them the message card received from the butler.
“I’ll tell you one more time, Dr. Allison,” Dwight said to Dr. Allison. “Your research on the annihilation will be the solution to the problems of energy resources. The energy resources are the crucial problematic issues for human-kind in the future. I can channel your theory of physics to the engineers who will be able to materialize it.”
“Let me ask you, Dwight,” Michael Allison asked in return, “What kind of engineers are you going to channel my theory of physics?”
“Enginners of electric power plants,” Dwight answered.
“Is that so?” Michael Allison sniffed and narrowed his eyes. “I want to ask student detectives, but do you have any information about the connection he has established?”
Li raised his hand before reporting, “Dwight Emerson has established his personal connection by his academic activity such as attending academic conferences. His academic activity is more internationally oriented rather than domestic. In these years, he keeps in close touch with the research group in Israel.”
“Israeli research group...” Michael Allison nodded his head and said, “impressive for you, the student detective, to obtain the information. Hmm, do you have any additional information what kind of group the Israelis are?”
Madison raised her hand, “This case was invesigated as a joint investigation between L&S Detective Agency and Taylor Group. Taylor Group has found that the Israeli group has a fishy connection with smuggler groups of weapons. Those smuggler groups take their moves in Middle East and North African countries.”
Subsequently, Margaret raised her hand, giving Ted dead eyes, and talked, “I report that O’Reilly Group has found money flows from the Israeli research group to Dwight Emerson’s laboratory.”
“Wow, much more than I expected, superb,” Michael sang the praise of the information. “So fishy. Dwight, no matter how hard you explain you have no relations with weapon smuggling, it’s so fishy that I can reject the joint research with your laboratory. Matter-antimatter annihilation generates 100 times greater powers than hydrogen nuclear fusion. That can also be the seed for a weapon for mass destruction.”
Dwight banged on the table and said, “Don’t you remember? We already have the SD memory card including your final data, thanks to your intelligent daughter that left it in the vacant room.”
“But you haven’t resolved the final password yet,” Lumina said to Dwight taking a side glance at him. “If you have resolved the password and understood what the data means, you can explain the data and the theory of physics to your friends in Israel.”
“Humph, this cute little girl likes to make someone mad. Sorry for not answering your expectation, I’m not the one to be pleased with insult,”Dwight showed her an angry brow. “But you’re right. No, I haven’t resolved the password yet. I want Dr. Allison or his daughter to tell me the correct password. Please come,” he motioned Lumina to come closer.
She shook her head; however, two boys came into the room and took her by the shoulder dragging her closer to Dwight Emerson.
“Those guys... the presence I sensed in the paranormal studies club the other day,”Sakura thought.
“No, let me go. You disgracefulness, take your lousy hands off me!” Lumina screeched and struggled.
Dwight, Ted taking Sakura, and the two guys dragging Lumina were now at the corner of the room. Next minute, a glasswall grew from the floor to separate them from the rest of the people. The evils just took Sakura and Lumina as the hostage.
“What the heck are you trying to do?!” The three men jumped and kept banging the transparent wall. The wall is tough.
“Ha ha ha, bulletproof glass, people,” Dwight laughed.
If they are about to hurt her, I gotta use the Star Card. There’s no other choices, then. Sakura thought.
Dwight motioned Ted to prepare the LCD projector to show the password dialog to the people. The dialog to the final passoword was as follows:
The thoery and experimental data are my daughter's hand.
You cannot take them no matter how hard you try.
That's because you can't catch her.
She moves fast thanks to the ability of her own particle.
What's her own particle? (A)
The reason why you think so:
The particle is (B) .
Put an adjective for the blank (B).
“Interesting quiz, Dr. Allison. The first password should be ‘photon’ because it travels faster than anything. But I haven’t thought up of the second password. Tell me that!”
“Are you sure? Graviton travels at the speed of light, too,” Ken said.
“How about neutrino?” Ted mumbered.
“Don’t try to confuse me! The first one is ‘photon.’ I’m sure of it,” Dwight shouted.
“What do you want to do if I don’t tell you the password?” Michael Allison asked in a low voice.
Dwight opened his eyes wider evilly, “Do you want to see your precious daughter dead?”
“What an evil man he is! For his own sake!” the people shouted with anger.
A touch-and-go situation! Li and Sakura gulped and prepared their magic.
“Go ahead if you really want to. Kill her,” Michael Allison coldly replied.
“What kind of father are you, idiot? You’re killing your own daughter!” Lumina shouted with steaming anger.
“This guy is more insane than the guy across the wall,” Li sweatdropped.
“A-are you crazy? You’re abandoning your own daughter,” Dwight was astonished with the unexpected answer from Dr. Allison.
Michael continued, “Killing my daughter means you’re going to lose any possibility to get what you want.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just the experiment conductor. The novel theory of annihilation was formulated by my girl under the hostage. She is the only one in the world who understands the new theory you want.”
Dwight stepped back with astonishment, “Are you kidding? Are you saying that the wonderful thoery was created by this young girl?”
Dwight looked down on the floor a short while, until he looked desperately shouted.
“Then I’ll snatch her. She’ll be working alone for me forever!
No, you give birth to my baby. Inheritting our genes, it’ll grow to be a
great scientist overcoming Pauli and Dirac.”
“Gross! What’re you saying, pervert,”Lumina stepped back with a frown.
“He must have an escape way from that part of the room. We gotta stop the crazy guy... I can’t bare to look or hear that my precious Lumina is insulted by mere a filthy touch,” Michael Allison lost his calmness at Dwight’s words.
Now, it’s time for the magic... Sakura and Li were shifting to fighting mode, however...
“That isn’t so easy, Dr. Emerson Junior,” Lumina said as she jumped out of his reach. “Now I don’t know if my new mathematical formulation of matter-antimatter annihilation theory will yield a strong engineering improvement, but I just decided.”
All the people in the living room—both the good and the eveil—looked at Lumina speaking with a determined look.
“Human idea can apply the principle in the universe to the good or the evil. That depends on the spirit of the inventors. Against such hideous possiblities of evil application, new academic accomplishment should be known to people all over the world, then the evil will never be the only one who can use the priciple. I decided to publish my mathematical formulation to an international conference just right now.”
She winked at Madison beyond the transparent wall and said, “See Madison Taylor over there. She’s holding my laptop, which contains the paper I’ve been working out for these few days. The paper claims my new mathematical formulation of annihilation, including the data from Dad’s experiments. I’m submitting the paper just before your eyes, people.”
Lumina turned to Madison again, and motioned, “Click the send button, Madison.”
Dwight laughed aloud and said, “Thank you, little girl, for your confident stage play. You should be a stage actress, but such a stupid plan won’t work in the rural area. There’s no Wi-Fi internet connection in this countryside, and your submission will not succeed. Cunning little girl, I’m gonna punish you!”
At the very moment, Madison reported, “Submission is completed, Lumina!”
“What?!”
“I prepared relay stations for high speed wireless internet connection around here,” Lumina said.
“Yeah, the Wi-Fi connection in Taylor Group is much faster than the ordinary internet connection,” Madison explained proudly.
“What just happened?” Dwight didn’t understand the state. Not only him, but Sakura and Syaoran didn’t understand, either, they all stood with a puzzled look.
“I asked Madison to prepare high speed internet private line to submit my paper before your eyes. Don’t underestimate me like an ordinary girl. Mighty Lumina Allison easily predicted the happeneing in this place. Suppose my paper is super valuable as your estimation, so now, go on and disgrace me with your lousy hands; then you’ll be denounced by the people all over the world.”
Dwight staggered backward from his fatigue.
Now! Sakura and Li thought!
“Storm Card!”
“Ha!”
Sakura’s storm magic blew the evil people in a whirlpool and threw them to the other corner of the room. Li took his sword and slashed the bulletproof wall into pieces. Their moves were too smooth for the people to get aware what exactly happened. The evil were unconscious.
Li ran up to Sakura and said, “You were reckless to sneak in the hide-out all alone.”
At the next minute, Sakura felt a gentle pressure of arms of Li who caressed her. She heard him breathing. He whispered, “You did a good job, Sakura. I had faith in you that you can handle it even in a dangerous state.”
Sakura smiled in a relief and felt the warmness of the caress.
“Hey, what just happened? You gotta explain it,” Margaret asked.
“Uhhh... actually... Li is an expert kung-fu fighter, and I... am an expert of aikido...” Sakura explained stammeringly with a nervous laugh.
Li nodded his head several times without saying a word.
She moves fast thanks to the ability of her own particle.
What’s her own particle? (A) photon
The reason why you think so:
The particle is (B) luminous .
“The first password is the same as Dr. Emerson Junior presumed. But why is that word the second password?” Sakura asked in a puzzeled look.
“Read the last sentence aloud,” Dr. Allison said.
“The particle is luminous. Oh, I got it!” Madison exclaimed clasping her hands. “The particle is Lumina’s. So your daughter’s particle—Lumina’s particle—is a luminous particle, or a photon. With the particle’s ability, your daughter travels at the speed of light. That’s why nobody can catch her!”
“You accessed the final data, so you knew the final password, Lumina?” Sakura asked.
“Of course, that’s the meaning of my name,” Lumina sighed gloomily.
“Your name means the girl of light. Sounds like you’re the Goddess of Light.” Sakura smiled at her.
Dr. Allison sighed and smiled, “You’re right. At first, my seclusion was a fake.”
“Fake? What for?” Lumina asked in response. She was surprised just like anyone else in the living room to hear his answer.
“To test my disciple, Dr. Ken Matthews.”
“What were you planning to do to test him?” Lumina asked in astonishment.
“Dr. Matthews got a new post as an instructor at Freedstone University. He told me that he would offer an appropriate place for Lumina’s research. It was a good thing for her, but I couldn’t help feeling anxiety.”
“Anxiety of what?” unfulfilled Lumina asked.
“He is a good-looker just like my old days, and I was anxious that he might do something to make my daughter cry. That’s why I faked a seclusion and watched her.”
“Nobody knows if he was a good-looker as he says, but he must have had a fling when he was young,” Madison mumbled in a nervous smile, with a sweatdrop.
“Dad, you were the one who had been watching me...” Lumina groaned.
“Lumina, calm down, calm down...” Madison patted her on the back.
“But at that time, Dwight Emerson made a wrong guess that I was completing the new annihilation theory, because I had told him about the new mathematical foumulation Lumina had been working on.”
“Then, do I pass the test, Dr. Allison?” Ken asked timidly.
“You passed. You can prepare the place for Lumina’s research. But be careful, she has to return home before the sunset,” Dr. Allison talked like an alarmist.
“And...” He turned to and pointed at Li, “This boy failed. He almost fell in love with her.”
“N-nooo!” Li blushed and denied with his arms swinging. “I didn’t think of her that way, Sakura, I’m innocent. This guy is crazy!”
“What did I tell you? He was beginning to get bewithced,” Margaret said winking.
“Hey, talking about the way you persuaded Ted FitzGerald to make a confession,” Lumina said to Sakura and Li, “it’s impressive that you can do DNA identification!”
“Uhh... sorry, it was a lie,” Li said sheepishly, “in order to make him confess.”
“You’ve got a good gut to say that,” Lumina said.
“Same to you,” Li said back to her, “to make that confident speech to the evil.”“Actually, I was totally scared when he said he would make a run with me,”
she nervously laughed with her hands on her chest, “That crazy Dwight Emerson was going to do something weird to me. That was creepy. Just recalling the scene nearly make me cry.”
“By the way, your new mathematical formulation,” Li said, “is it such a super theory that the evil is eager to obtain, even taking a risk?”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Lumina rolled her eyes, putting her head on her hands. “I just made it following my inspiration. I have no idea if it’s such a big theory. But it’s only a set of equations derived by a twenty-year-old girl. Besides, I know there are flaws in my theory. Perhaps, that evil Dwight guy was fooled by Dad’s exaggeration.”
“Hey, when will you make an oral presentation of the paper you submitted?” Sakura asked.
“Six months later,” Lumina replied with a laugh, “I got to reinforce my theory by then.”
“Anyway, I think I have to give you something to show my gratitude,” Lumina changed the topic. “What do you accept as a reward?”
“We don’t need a reward,” Sakura said smiling, “our detective agency is nonprofit organization.”
“But this case was a serious case, so I think I should give you something.”
“Okay,” Li replied, “as a reward, I want you to give us the permission to use the voice data.”
“Voice data?” Lumina asked in return.
“Yeah, the one you recorded when you’re attacked by two guys. In the investigation, we found interesting intonation patterns, when the speaker is faking in accordance with the prepared scripts. If you give us the permission, we’d like to write a paper to present the intonation patterns.”
“Sounds interesting,” Lumina smiled. “OK, you can use the voice data. Uh, do you need a license agreement certification with my signature?”