It was around this time that everyone began heading back to either school or college. However, in some cases, there were still plenty of new beginnings to go around before February.
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Henry, Antonia, and Beatrice were on "Migratory Leave" in Vilcabamba when Henry got a notice from Horizon Labs. Opening the Zoom Channel, he was certain he was going to be surprised about it, and he was.
"She's what?" asked Henry, utterly flabbergasted at the "Poster" he'd been sent. It showed a female Bald Eagle with long, whitish-blonde hair done up in a ponytail and wearing nothing but a blue choker, "patriotic" pasties to preserve modesty, and a pair of white boxing gloves with red cuffs and one blue star on the "business end".
"Sam here's another veteran with moderate to severe PTSD," said the Agent, rolling his eyes while also smiling to himself, "Her RHS has led her to Ela Shah and her group. Right now, she's focusing on her training, but she wants you, Beatrice, and Antonia to be there for her premier match this spring."
"Ohhh-kayyyy..." said Henry, reluctantly, as he ended the call, and turned to see Beatrice and Antonia laying on his bed, barely clothed, and giving him bedroom eyes.
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Meanwhile, Miss Vivian, Miss Lucy, and Madame Madge were also on Zoom talking with another Horizon agent over the newest member to their occultist circle.
"'Lady Zhen', as she calls herself, will be easy to recognize." said the agent, reviewing her file, "She's a pure white viper with only two arms, as well as a degree in Astronomy and Astrology."
"You can get a degree in fortunetelling using the stars?" asked Madge, in confusion.
"It's what she told me she can do." said the agent, shrugging his shoulders.
"And what do you mean by a 'white viper'?" asked Miss Vivian.
"It's her donor and pet." said the agent. "It's an extremely pale blue variant of the white-lipped island pit viper, and for some reason, it's extremely protective of her. Other than that, we don't know how she managed to obtain it since she's from China, and white-lipped island pit vipers of that blue color are only found on Komodo Island."
"Sometimes, it's better not to know." said Miss Lucy, "I'm at least glad that we're getting a new poisonous snake. There's a new recipe in my old owner's grimoire I'm eager to try out, but it requires the venom of a blue snake."
"... indeed." said the Agent, closing the Zoom call.
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Meanwhile, the GGAC were working on their other project, when they weren't helping out with Ryouiki Island. By now, they had cleared out enough land for some more permanent habitation, but they were still a way off from "Ninja Prep". Fortunately, they had enough downtime to work with both the Chinese and Japanese governments for their big idea for dealing with the 'delusional anime fanboys':
The Tomb of the Crouching Dragon
Inspired by Chinese mythology, the game Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, When Worlds Collide..., and their own D&D 'adventures', the tomb was meant to be filled with plenty of traps and monsters (mostly "animated" terra cotta warriors) to, at least attempt, to break through their delusions as they tried to make their way to Wo Long's burial chamber.
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With Lunar New Year to look forward to in February, January was hardly boring, especially in Dino City and the Mesozoic Enclave, where those who signed up for the Mister and Miss Zodiac Competition were in training. Surprisingly, Sophie and Roland weren't going to be competing, but they were going to be doing the special coverage.