The next day, Hanna was surprised to see Steve stop by her desk. The middle-aged middle manager usual only came by their office to talk to Rachel. Hanna's eyes were drawn to the hefty folder carried by the sales manager.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhc8lf5eo4I
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"Good morning Hanna," Steve greeted her.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovfNiAArsU
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"Um, good morning," Hanna said uncertainly. "Can I help you with something?"178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nmnztJhhH
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"This account is yours now," Steve replied bluntly, passing her the folder.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgb36mKSVz1
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Hanna flipped through the paper inside, quickly skimming everything. As she read, her fingers picked up speed. This was good, it was much more interesting than anything she usually got.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAlWBC8uCl
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She slowed down as doubt crept into her head. This certainly wasn't something she'd ever expect to be handed to her, let alone handed to her by Steve. He technically wasn't her boss and she wasn't about to argue about this assignment. She didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth but...178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrl71sZlW4O
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Hanna glanced up at him in disbelief. "You're giving me this account?" She looked at the paper again, as if to confirm what she was seeing.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37KudrF33O
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"Yes. Sarah's instructions," Steve explained.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8I2YdEWp8
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Hanna blinked at him, not believing what she was hearing. "What? Really?"178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07PlQU7yKD
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"Yes. Really," Steve answered, mildly amused. "Whatever you did to get on Sarah's good side, keep it up." He went to walk away then doubled back. "Don't mess this up."178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4l6RZXRBCE
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Hanna nodded enthusiastically in response, watching him walk away before digging back into the papers. She could tell right away that there was going to be a ton of illegal things happening here. She saw something that looked like an illegal tax haven deposit. Page flip. Another probable money laundering operation. Page flip. This company was definitely a front for something, she'd have to dig further into that later.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtyOtfe873
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She lost track of time as she mapped out the complex flows of money in her mind. Finding tiny significant details in the complicated arrangement of bank accounts, assets, companies, transactions and more. The realization that she hadn't had any coffee today finally pulled her out of her daze.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbfUyjS6db
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Hanna walked into the break room, eager for that caffeine hit she'd forgotten to get this morning. She noticed Rachel was in there again. It seemed like she was always in here instead of at her desk.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyyMGzEgoj
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"Morning Rachel," Hanna greeted her older coworker as she made a beeline for the coffee pot.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPiREY1hiD
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"Good morning," Rachel replied in almost a grumble, she wasn't in a good mood.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eTrUA8Xl2
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"How's everything?" Hanna asked tentatively, keeping in mind how Rachel had a tendency to talk anyone's ear off.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVGKsntMrE
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"It's fine." Rachel jumped at the opportunity to gossip, perking up right away. "Did you hear that the merger got fixed? Rumour's going around that somebody in legal had screwed something up with the paperwork."178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0tc1ZyDrm
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"I knew it'd all get sorted out in the end," Hanna said, in the process of fixing herself a cup of coffee.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9VYP9sS2r
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"So what are you doing tomorrow?" Rachel asked, eager to keep up the conversation.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd75TTMCS8S
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"Um, work?" Hanna stated in confusion.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVnr9tz8ae
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Rachel laughed. "It's a holiday. Remember? It's the anniversary of the Charax arrival tomorrow."178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4yyWwQDVL
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"Right, I'd totally forgotten. I'll do whatever my family is planning." Hanna lied again. Her family would still have their own work to do, she'd probably just lie in bed watching old movies. "It's the fiftieth, isn't it?"178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiXYD7oLoX
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"Yeah, I hear the fireworks are going to be amazing." Rachel took a tiny sip of her coffee.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTvE0XCQ4x
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"So you're going to watch them?" Hanna enquired politely.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8f3QfbYkd
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"Yeah, me and... someone else," Rachel answered vaguely.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0UiLUYgfa
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"Anyone special?" Hanna asked curiously.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGFSnKIWa1
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"Oh, maybe," Rachel mumbled. "Enjoy the holiday," she said quickly as she exited the break room, suddenly in a hurry.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAy7O1Jn0q
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"You too," Hanna called out to her with a smirk, already guessing who this mystery person was. She turned her attention back to her goal here, coffee.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44SLeLcsiz
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With all the excitement of Kayla's return, she'd completely forgotten about the holiday tomorrow. Hanna started stirring copious amounts of sugar into her coffee absentmindedly. She'd always liked Arrival Day, the holiday to celebrate when aliens first arrived on Earth, that's what people said anyways. She always found that amusing because, in reality, Terrans discovered on that day that were the aliens. Earth may have been their home for tens of thousands of years, but it wasn't their original home.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFw0wYZN0mY
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Hanna hadn't been around for any of that, but like every Terran child, she had heard the story over and over again. When the first Charax stepped off the ship, appearing to be an ordinary human, it caused confusion across the world. People called it a hoax immediately but Terran scientists eventually confirmed their story by verifying their shared genetic history.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwfCPXmYR9
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The leading theory was that one of their early lost colony ships had happened to end up here and the Terran people were the descendants of the original survivors. While the Terrans were working out how to build roads and temples, the Charax were out colonizing the galaxy. The first ship had come from their closest colony planet, Manina, one of many inhabited worlds in the Charax Empire.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUk6cDjIlQ
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Humanity had already conquered the stars, just not in the way Earth had planned. The revelation rocked the planet. Despite the Terrans' fear and apprehension, they were anxious to learn everything about their new visitors.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpE9fMTOfb
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The Charax considered the Terrans like long lost cousins and established communication and travel between Earth and Manina. They shared their culture and history but not weapons or technology. It was clear the Charax regarded Terrans as young, immature cousins that should not be trusted with anything they considered remotely dangerous. Hanna agreed it was probably a wise decision at the time, considering what happened afterwards.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuPHZilfbE
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The Charax changed their stance on sharing technology when they learned about Earth's climate change crisis. They claimed it was irreversible with Terran technology and offered to step in, to build the necessary facilities with Charax technology to restore the planet's ecosystem.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJxSL6H2LO
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For years, people debated if the planet should accept. Governments couldn't come to any agreement on the subject. Many people believed the Charax might be interested in terraforming the planet only to invade it later. This was the push the Earth's governments finally needed to create a single unified organization to represent the entire planet. Which continued to debate and argue as the situation deteriorated. Water levels rose, hurricanes killed as the debate raged on. Earth eventually had no choice but to accept Manina's help.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVsREHFaZ7
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Manina sent a ship of supplies and a team with the necessary skills to Earth. Although the majority of Terrans were grateful to Manina, there were still many human factions that opposed Earth's new allies. Construction sites were bombed, transports were attacked and Charax citizens were assassinated in attempts to stop the implementation of the climate control systems. At the same time, other people were greedy. Other groups kidnapped people on the team, trying to extract information from them, or stole key pieces of technology needed to complete the project.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KQShUYfVH
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After these events, Terrans were angry and Manina was outraged. They threatened to cut off their aid entirely. In response, Earth promised the safety of their citizens and took increased security measures, including protecting their identities. Earth's government helped the Charax blend in with the general population.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4iO1cOp7Lg
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Eventually, the facilities were built and once people started to see the results, opposition vanished. The official story was that all Charax who had come to Earth for the project left afterwards. There were still some official representatives from Manina on Earth, with their own protection details. Earth has been in engaged diplomatic talks with Manina ever since but their progress has been nonexistent. Manina has stood firm on their position not to share any additional Charax technology.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBgxd43BND
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The technology... Hanna had only heard stories but it all sounded amazing. Forget the space ships, the Charax could blow up planets, cure cancer, extend the human lifespan and more. She understood why people were so eager to get their hands on anything Charax. Although, it was probably best that the Terrans couldn't blow up any planets. They'd probably start with their own.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIrAGlz3I1
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Hanna realized the sugar in her coffee had dissolved a long time ago and she was simply stirring the mug aimlessly out of procrastination. She dropped the spoon in the sink with a clang before heading back to her desk, thinking about what movie she wanted to start with tomorrow. Maybe 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' or 'Men In Black'? She frowned inwardly, she clearly had aliens on the brain if those were the first two things that came to mind.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpfQrSLRAU
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I wonder what Ethan's doing, she thought, I could find out. It wouldn't be too difficult... She shook her head. No, that's too far. Following him outside of work would be too creepy. She sighed and sat down at her desk, getting back to her work.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSuS6bWfLR
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