March 8

           Hello there. It’s been over a decade since I’ve written in a journal. It feels weird to be talking to myself. But lately my mind has been struggling to keep hold of everything. There are too many hypotheticals, too many threats. Maybe I’m being paranoid. Probably, I’m being paranoid. But it feels like someone is watching me.
           Before I get into all that, I have to tell you about my Lyndsey. She’s incredible. Most of the time she has her head up in the clouds and I have to repeat myself three or four times before I break into her concentration. I’m often receiving notes from her teachers that she’s not paying attention in class. Rick is worried, but I’m not. I was the same way when I was her age. And my curiosity has served me well in my research. Well, that is, until now.
           With Lyndsey out on this page, I can safely put her aside in my mind. Rick and I have been working on a theoretical exploration of UV light as an ignition source for air-petroleum fuel cells. After years of theoretical work, we moved to our experimental phase last year. But one month in, our funding dried up. The health pandemic forced our sponsor to commit funds elsewhere. You know, why am I explaining all this? This diary is for me and I already know all of this stuff.
           Anyway, an energy company in Fletrook offered us a lab with more funding than we’d had before. Rick and I were thrilled. We’d come so far. We didn’t want to stop. So we started commuting up to this little town with an incredible lab. And we are getting close to showing a causal relationship between our UV ignitor on corn bio-fuel. But strange things have been happening. The power has been going out in the middle of the day. They say it’s a generator issue and maybe that’s so, but when the power is cut, the lab is instantly filled with armed guards. They must be waiting outside, which means they must know when the power will go out.
           Rick says it’s nothing to worry about, but that’s not the only weird thing. Lyndsey has this new friend at school, Claire. Well, not really a friend. Lyndsey doesn’t seem to care for her much. Claire is new and the school assigned Lyndsey as sort of a mentor. But Claire’s mother is always around. She walks the girls to and from school, and she’s been asking Lyndsey questions about us. I’ve tried calling to introduce myself, but no one ever picks up in the evening.
           And the train. We take the train to Fletrook every day but lately we’ve been getting stares on the train. It seems like men will move their seats to sit around us. Rick says I’m being paranoid, but I think he’s just too focused on the progress we’re making with the ignitor. I guess Lyndsey gets it from him too. Each one of us is focused on our own little world. Poor girl. I hope she becomes a scientist and puts that concentration to good use!

     ~Piper

March 21

           They’re following us. I’m not sure what to do. They installed new “fire detectors” in our lab for “safety upgrades,” but when Rick and I are completely silent we can hear a whirring sound coming from them. They’re cameras. Someone is watching us. They’ve also begun escorting us to and from the train station. The guards carry guns and are wearing bullet proof vests. I laughed at first. What threat in Fletrook could possibly warrant such armor and guns? But then I realized. The guns are for us. We’re the threat.
           Rick doesn’t think I’m paranoid anymore. We’ve sent Lyndsey to stay with my sister. The cashier at the company’s canteen (they don’t allow us to out for lunch anymore) asked us how Lyndsey’s stay has been going. We hadn’t told anymore at the company about Lyndsey. I don’t even know that woman’s name.
           Rick is off doing some research into the owners of the lab. We shouldn’t done this before we accepted the funding. So far a lot of dead ends. But there’s a symbol on some of the guard’s uniforms that appears promising. I just hope they don’t find out we’re looking into them.

     ~Piper

March 23

           We’ve figured it out. The UV ignitor, I mean. We’ve discovered the formula for the heat and fuel ratio. Somehow Rick and I figured it out in silence because we don’t want to let The Godfrey’s know we have it.
           That’s the other thing. The Godfrey’s. They were hard to find, but we found them. They seem to be some mostly hidden organization. Most of the guards are American so our educated guess is that they’re based in America. I don’t know what they want from us.

     ~Piper

March 24

The kite. We love you Lyn-