Flavio Mancini is a brilliant but lonely student from Rome who has a crush on Claudia, a wild and reckless girl. He doesn't know that he is the result of a genetic selection by the Interdimensional Assembly, a group of beings who can manipulate quan...
Unaware of any possibility of alien activity on Earth, Flavio had left his accommodation at the Student House early in the morning to attend classes with an unusual state of mind. The previous evening, spent at the Drunk Teddy Pair, had left him with a mixture of satisfaction, illusion, hope, frustration... he was seeing his Flavia closer than ever after the events of Valdaora, yet so far away since he had been accepted into IUPITER.
On the one hand, he had managed to enter fully into her social bubble, on the other hand, he found her as unattainable as ever. In addition to the demanding commitment that participating in the project was requiring of him, there was also the secrecy he was obligated to maintain.
«How were the first two weeks back at university?» he had been asked several times, with several formulations, by several friends of Flavia, as well as by Flavia herself. With Cristina sitting in front of him, Flavio had carefully avoided any reference to what was taking up most of his time. Of course, he would have respected the confidentiality protocol even if Cristina hadn't been there to watch over him, but the fact that he couldn't talk about it even with her, his new work partner, made the obligation of confidentiality even more frustrating and awkward to uphold.
That Monday morning, he had attended classes with less motivation than he had ever had. After classes he had run away to have lunch at the Air Force Command cafeteria, a privilege that was benefiting both his wallet and his stomach.
As he swiped the anonymous badge at the various entrance points of the ministerial building, he wondered how much it was worth insisting on that path. He had insisted on it partly out of curiosity, partly out of personal ambition, and a lot to be able to improve his relationship with Flavia. But after Valdaora, after Flavia had started visiting him in his university accommodation, he realized that, to get closer to her, a normal life might have been more convenient for him than the path he was taking as a secret agent.
If he had been one of those on par Cristina... who knows, and in fact, Flavia and Cristina had spent almost the whole evening glued together. Women's stuff, he thought. Instead he was not an officer, he was not someone who moved everywhere to check, make deals, give orders and decide. He was a desk-bound secret agent, he spent all his time there processing the information that was given to him without even being able to peek at what they were doing on the upper floors.
All of a sudden he understood why Nasoni had become such a bastard and Boccaccio such a moody psychasthenic.
A moment before the involuntary dive into the lake, he had resolved to make himself useful to society, to help humanity as much as he could. And that den of warmongers seemed more and more like the least suitable place to do it. So, savoring a taste of psychasthenia himself, Flavio filled his tray and chose one of the many free tables in the cafeteria that would only later start to get crowded.
He had just sat down when he heard a sound of footsteps behind him. He had no idea who she was, he didn't even bother to turn around, he just registered the idea that it must be a she from the high-pitched clatter of hurried steps between the self-service displays. Then he heard her voice, which in a polite chirp asked for cannelloni and turkey at the hot food counter, and again the clatter, which got closer as she headed for the cash register, and the kind greeting to the cashier before swiping her badge. He finally heard the steps approaching again, which he imagined would continue straight ahead to find a table further on, perhaps to join some of the few employees who were eating at that time.
And yet, a faint vanilla scent heralded the presence of the girl who stopped right in front of Flavio.
«May I?» she smiled at him, nodding toward the seat across from his.
Before even looking at her face, Flavio nodded, confused by the unexpected familiarity from the stranger. Then, finally, he noticed the great beauty of this unknown woman. She exhibited an athletic build, which Flavio would have said resembled that of Cristina, although she was shorter, a bit lighter and more slender, and was wearing civilian clothes. A mother-of-pearl hair clip held her mane, wavy and as shiny as honey, in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Even Flavio noticed that the accessory was a perfect match to the rest of her outfit. She had a taste he found refined and mature for such a young girl. He estimated that she must be around his age or slightly older: the brown eyes with which she had smiled at him had the liveliness typical of a young girl, or of someone with a screw loose. For sure, Flavio's first impression was that she was rather eccentric and had perhaps mistaken him for someone else.
«You're Flavio, right?» she cheerfully asked him as she set down her tray and took a seat. Without waiting for an answer, she extended her hand over the steaming plates to introduce herself. «My name is Clelia; the guys upstairs told me you also work in the group.»
At Flavio's raised eyebrows behind his glasses, Clelia leaned forward to whisper, «I'm also in IUPITER!»
«Oh...» Flavio syllabled. «Sure, I understand,» he finally returned the girl's smile.
«Today is my first day; I started this morning,» Clelia explained in an Italian remarkably devoid of inflection. Then she flashed her teeth in a grin that crinkled her nose: «You have no idea how excited I am!» she said, holding back a shiver.
With a mouthful of food, Flavio glanced at Clelia's civilian clothes: her tailored suit and fitted skirt were well complemented by shoes and a purse; her modern and youthful-cut blouse was not more formal than necessary, just like her simple and discreet jewelry. There was no doubt she was a civilian, nor was there any doubt she was too young to have experience comparable to the other civilian members of IUPITER. Flavio realized he was no longer the only exception to that rule.
«You look quite young compared to the other members... how old are you?» he dared to ask her.
Clelia chuckled and stalled. «Older than I look...» she winked, then changed the subject. «But I know I was lucky to receive authorization to join the project.»
«I was lucky too, I guess,» Flavio admitted.
«I'm sure you weren't! I've been told you're so good that they took you even though you haven't graduated yet. I had to move heaven and earth, present all my credentials and then forge some» Clelia joked. «I studied mathematics, and I've heard you are the other mathematician in the group...»
«No,» he corrected with embarrassment, «I'm actually a university staff assistant. I'm supposed to be in the Callisto initiative, but for now, I mostly collaborate with Professor Boccaccio from the Europa initiative.»
«Wow, amazing!» Clelia exclaimed, impressed. «You even have the trust of two faculties!»
After lunch, the two used their badges to return to the IUPITER office. Clelia took a moment in the bathroom before getting back to work, and Flavio saw her return with a pair of glasses with a black frame so thick that it wouldn't go unnoticed. They were the kind a secretary might wear in an attempt to seduce the office boss and which, judging by the imperceptible grade of the lenses, had little utility beyond their aesthetic value.
Clelia sat down at her workstation, at the same table as Flavio and right next to him. A little later, Cristina arrived, impeccable in her uniform and as busy as usual. She formally introduced them, calling Clelia "Dr. Paradisi," and explained to the two that they would have to work together to compare university data with that compiled by the military sections of other countries participating in the project.
Already during the first day of work, Flavio could ascertain two things about Clelia Paradisi. The first was that she was incredibly skilled in understanding and handling the calculations and formulas that Flavio passed to her: if she had gotten there, it was without a doubt due to her abilities. The second was that, in addition to those abilities, she also had personal contacts and a lot of other information about the project that she was aware of but careful to keep to herself. This girl had many secrets, Flavio suspected, and that of the newly graduated model was only the first facade of a person with a deeper story, a story so deep that Flavio did not want to hazard guesses about Clelia's real background.
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