An Update Hey everyone! This is Alex again. I've decided to post some occasional updates on how Misty, Julia, and I are doing here in our West London flat. I plan to post these updates from time to time, whenever anything exciting happens or just to let people know how we're doing. Well, you wouldn't believe how quickly London has recovered from the detonation of the QC1. It's almost like nothing ever happened here. Apparently the blast caused much less damage than initially reported. However the QC1 completely vaporized, leaving no trace of it whatsoever. Hopefully all that terrible technology died with it. I think about Ellie and Carrie a lot, and how I got caught up in the whole mess. The last couple weeks have been extremely busy for all of us. Misty and I have been in endless debriefings and meetings. She wants to continue her work at MI6, but they've given her a month or so to decompress. She will report back to duty after the New Year. For Julia, we've looked at various schools in the area and we think we've found one that will fit her. It's not the most rigorous academically but they do offer a kind of culinary apprenticeship that she might enjoy. She won't start until after New Years. As for me, I've been talking to the local software startups and I think I've found a small niche group to work for. Misty has vetted the owners of the startup and determined they have no nefarious connections, so I hope to stay out of trouble. I may start that in a couple weeks if everything works out. As to our legal status, it's still pretty murky. The UK has granted me temporary asylum from US extradition. They're trying to negotiate with the US to get my charges dropped. We've even gone as far as to inquire into receiving a pardon from the President. They've completely suppressed any mention of our involvement so we can go on with our lives. We've been slowly adjusting to life in rainy London. We've begun looking at various houses, as Misty's flat is cramped, and Julia doesn't really have her own room. Fortunately housing prices are pretty reasonable right now. We have a couple we like, and we hope to be moved in in the next couple weeks. In Misty's flat we've put up a few Christmas decorations, although Julia didn't really appreciate them. We're trying to find a mosque she might want to belong to. Julia has definitely been a challenge. Since everything ended, she's become a bit moody and withdrawn. She's spending a lot of time on the Internet, hoping to find some of her old friends online, and perhaps some family as well. Misty says that she's just experiencing some PTSD and she'll get better, but I think she may be a bit lonely and homesick. On the QC1 we never really had time to reflect and think about our losses, but I think it's really hit her hard. And frankly, London culture is so different from her home that she's having trouble adjusting. We hear that her new school may have a few Filipinos attending so we hope she can start making friends. She's trying really hard to be nice and to fit in but I can sense frustration building inside her. One thing that may help is our trip to the Philippines next week, our combination honeymoon/adoption trip. The UK has made us foster parents for now but we do need to at least try to provide some real paperwork for her. They've granted us British visas so we can travel.  Well, we're surviving. Some days I feel like just sitting in front of the TV all day drinking beer in my underwear, and after all I've been through can you blame me? Misty isn't thrilled about it but I guess everyone needs to deal with this in their own way. I've been with Misty now for most of the year, but now that it's "official" it's hitting me that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with this woman. Don't get me wrong: I love her and I do want to grow old and raise a family etc, but she does have a lot of annoying habits and things I don't want to get into. She insists on taking us to "cultural" events whereas I'd prefer to just go to the movies or a soccer match. We've disagreed on what's best for Julia. It seems like we need to argue about everything. I hope moving into a new place will help, or maybe we'll spend weeks arguing about how to set that place up as well. Whew that was a lot. Seriously, I think things are going really well. We're just going to take things one step at a time. Until next time!