“Did you guys spill the beans?” asked Tony .
“No, but there’s a secret surveillance camera in the hidden room. I also just discovered that myself…” came Miguel’s confession.
Tony was utterly speechless.
“Master, I’ll talk to you later. Dave’s back again!” Miguel hung up the phone as soon as he dropped the sentence.
Just then, Ben looked Tony in the eye and questioned, “What’s the matter?” “Miguel said that Alpha Dave knew it already!”
Ben was stumped for a second before blurting out, “How did Alpha Dave find out?” “Through the surveillance camera, that’s how.”
“Adults can be so shrewd and cunning!”
At that point in time, Donna put forward a naive inquiry. “But does that mean Alpha Dave saw what you did in the hidden room? Or did he learn those true identities of yours and Nelly ?”
Upon hearing those words, Tony and Ben shifted their lines of sight to Donna in unison. That’s right!
The children had never used their own IDs, so even if Dave were to pick up anything, he would know nothing more than what they had been up to. Considering that they were simply trying to keep the hackers at bay, they figured they wouldn’t be told off for anything.
The corner of Tony ‘s lips curled upward. “You’re so smart, Donna !” Huh? What did I do?
Right at that moment, Tony went on, “I’m going out to see Alpha Dave for a bit.” After announcing his decision, he leaped up straightaway and headed outside.
A crease appeared between Donna ‘s brows. “What are you trying to do?” Alas, Tony had already left without even looking back.
All Donna could do was turn back. The frown on her face didn’t abate as her gaze landed on Ben . The latter piped up, “Obviously, he’s going to negotiate with Alpha Dave. What else could he be doing?” Then came Donna ‘s speculation, “By stopping Alpha Dave from telling on him?”
Ben bobbed his head in exasperation.
“Wouldn’t that be a little unnecessary, though?” added Donna .
“Since he wishes to go against Daddy, we’ll simply let them battle each other!”
Nodding, Donna agreed, “We’ll watch from the sidelines and enjoy the drama, then!”
“Yes, let’s do that!”
The two looked at each other and grinned.
Meanwhile, Tony was bolting toward the hidden room in a flurry.
As chance would have it, he bumped into Dave the second he arrived at the door.
Tony pretended to stay collected and flashed Dave a smile so bright, greeting, “Hello, Alpha Dave!” Dave, in turn, sneaked a peek at the boy, and the former, too, chose to put on an act. “Here to play?” “No, no. I’m not here to play. I’m here to see you, Alpha Dave,” replied Tony as he shook his head. “See me?” Dave walked up to Tony and continued, “What’s up?”
After deliberating momentarily, Tony parted his lips and reported, “Alpha Dave, there seems to be a new batch of hackers at Midnight fang pack , and they’re quite good.”
“So?” Dave’s eyes never left Tony .
“So, I’m actually struggling to fend them off.”
With a smirk playing about Dave’s lips, he stated, “Okay, now. What are you hinting at? Just tell me what you have in mind.”
Tony wasn’t sure what he should say.
Is Alpha Dave already doing away with our pleasantries? Since it’s come to this, I suppose I should quit playing dumb.
The next second, he spoke. “About that, Alpha Dave, have you told my daddy yet?”
An unfathomable glint flickered across Dave’s eyes. The man kept mum for quite some time before revealing, “I might’ve brought up a thing or two.”
“How far did you go?”
“Not much. I only briefly described to him how you fared in the uninhabited zone.” Listening to that, Tony was at a loss for words.
That means… Daddy must’ve some rough idea of what’s been going on.
At the thought of that, he hurled Dave a question. “For the time being, can you not mention a word about what happened today to my daddy?”
“Why?” Dave sounded so casual as he responded with yet another inquiry. “I’d like to come clean with him personally.”
Dave narrowed his eyes to slits, seemingly considering the boy’s request.
Right then, Tony looked the man in the eye and pressed on. “Pretty please, Alpha Dave?” “All right, all right. But you have to answer me one thing.”
As expected, nothing would come for free without an equivalent exchange. Tony inclined his head in acknowledgment. “Ask away.”
A broad grin then appeared on Dave’s face. “You’re not the disciple of Anonymous, correct?” Once again, Tony was bereft of speech on the spot.
Oh, dear! Adults are indeed intelligent. Come to think of it; they must’ve all gone through a lot to be where they are today. Of course, they wouldn’t fall for my tricks that easily.
He reckoned that the adults must have lowered their guards solely because he was a kid. Deep down, he knew very well that his secret would come to light someday.
Thinking of that, Tony shook his head and denied it. “No, I’m not.”
Dave’s lips curved at the boy’s words. It was as though the former had long known the answer himself. “Okay, got it,” replied Dave, nodding at the same time.
Tony , on the other hand, was baffled.
“I won’t tell on you. I promise,” reassured Dave in a deep voice.
At first, Tony thought that Dave would pursue further by bombarding him with gazillions of interrogations. He wasn’t anticipating the whole exchange to conclude in that manner.
Following that, a smile finally bloomed on Tony ‘s face. “Thank you, Alpha Dave.” Without a word, Dave spun on his heels.
Tony eventually heaved a sigh of relief as he watched Dave’s leaving silhouette.
It was then he started to wonder how he could ever bring himself to confess to his father.
At that juncture, Miguel sneaked out of the hidden room. “Master, does that mean you owned up already?”
Tony ‘s brows knitted to a tight knot. “Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?”
“N-No. I was following Dave out and wanted to ask him some questions. I didn’t expect to hear you two talking. I really tried hard not to listen, but I still accidentally overheard everything…”