Having so many girls on Heiya Island didn't affect just the council. Everyone on Heiya Island was aware of what was going on with them. There were a few residents allowing some of the girls to stay in their home until either their family could be found or until the new wing was finished. There were also those taking a more proactive approach. The Five Elements had been in these girls' collective shoes before, even if the circumstances of their rescue from the cult was different. Anyways, they all wanted to help out these new girls as much as they could. Though they had different ideas to go about it.
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While the slave ring that had kidnapped these girls had been busted, there was still a lot of data to go through in their computers, like where these girls had come from or if there were any other places this slave ring was still operating. The problem with taking out a group so big is that it is hard to tell if everyone has been capture or if enough had escaped to continue their operations elsewhere. However, the slavers were cautious to put their files under encryption, which meant that Interpol had to do a little more work with decrypting them.
Jinxing offered to help and had actually made some progress in cracking the code. "Have you been working with computers long?" asked one Interpol agent.
"Not too long," said Jinxing, "I started learning what I could about computer science after I converted. I guess I just have a knack for it."
"You do seem to possess talent," said the Interpol agent, "With a bit of training, you may be able to work as one of our analysts."
"Me?" asked Jinxing, "Would that mean I'd have to leave my sisters?"
"Not necessarily," said the Interpol agent, "Considering how extensive this slave ring is, along with various other criminal organizations that may be involved, Interpol may set up a station on his island. Though it may be until the pandemic has ended before any real work can be done on it."
"Well...I'll need to think it over," said Jinxing, "I mean, I can't just leave my sisters like this and I'm not sure what would be required at this job."
"Take your time about it," said the agent, "Interpol is not a small-time game."
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Meanwhile, Tuxing and Muxing thought that these girls needed some lessons in self-defense. Obviously, they couldn't work with every girl at once, but a group 20 was enough to start with. "Now, not everyone has what it takes to be a martial artist," said Tuxing, addressing the girls, "It requires dedications and discipline to learn how to fight like a pro. Some of you might want to commit, some don't want to go that far, and some may try to learn but find themselves lacking. But I don't expect everyone to do more than they're capable of. But what we can do is give the fundamentals of self-defense."
"We'll start you off with an important lesson about the nature of predators," said Muxing, "You may think a predator will keep pursuing its prey no matter what. Actually, it is far more likely that predators won't go after prey that are too much effort to catch. If an antelope is too fast for a tiger to catch it, the tiger will quit before it uses up too much energy. That also happens with human predators. Unless they're very determined, they prefer to go after easy targets that can be caught without a fuss. What you can do to avoid this is make a fuss, scream, throw anything you have around you at them, run if you can. If you're in a place where there are people, try to get their attention."
"That is the simplest form of self-defense," said Tuxing, "But sometimes, it's not quite enough. Sometimes you're grabbed before you can run. But this doesn't mean you're helpless yet. There are ways you can get out of their grip. Go for their joints, their faces, their groins, anything to weaken their grip."
"We'll be showing some of the best weak spots that you can exploit," said Muxing, "If any of you want to learn more than this, we'll see if you have what it takes."
Later, Tuxing and Muxing discussed their first class. "I think they made some progress," said Tuxing, "I'm not expecting a lot of them to devote themselves to martial arts, but at least they won't be easy targets."
"I just hope we can deprogram them," said Muxing.
"Are you sure they've actually been brainwashed?" asked Tuxing.
"So many of them seem to have an unhealthy devotion to Ami," said Muxing.
"It's just admiration. That doesn't mean they're brainwashed," said Tuxing.
"I don't want them to debase themselves as sexual dancers," said Muxing.
"Muxing, there's no shame in acting how you want to act. If they want to embrace their sexual nature, that's their choice," said Tuxing.
"Well, I want to be sure that it *is* their choice, not their programming," said Muxing.
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Not every rescued girl was staying. Some had families to return to. As such, the residents of Heiya Island were making sure they were comfortable before they were taken home.
"They're nice girls," said Huoxing, "I hope they won't lose their families again."
"You know, some might not want to go back to their families," said Shuixing.
"I at least met a few who do," said Huoxing, "And one of them said she'd like to introduce me to her brother."
"Younger brother or older brother?" asked Shuixing.
"Older," said Huoxing, "Don't know if he'll be Mr. Right, but I'm hopeful."
"That reminds me," said Shuixing, "You know how the airports are opening up?"
"I'd hardly say open," said Huoxing, "A lot of airlines are still keeping themselves grounded."
"Well, the Animalian airlines are reopening. You just have to spend a little time in quarantine before and after the flight," said Shuixing.
"And you're that eager to fly?" asked Huoxing.
"Well I do have a wedding to attend," said Shuixing.
"I know you miss Nate a lot, but you don't need to marry him right away," said Huoxing.
"Not me, his father," said Shuixing.
"Oh yeah, he's marrying that cow, right?" asked Huoxing.
"Blueberry's a good woman for him," said Shuixing.
"Which means Nate might get a new brother and won't have to worry about inheriting the farm," said Huoxing.
"That's part of the benefit," said Shuixing, "I'm really just happy for Ulysses and Blueberry."
"Ok, just don't convert Nate at the wedding," said Huoxing, "We want it to be a special occasion."
"I've been showing a lot of patience," said Shuixing defensively.
"You've also been showing a lot of belly," said Huoxing teasingly.
"Hey, I've worked it off," said Shuixing.
"If you say so," said Huoxing.