After giving birth, the mutant mother panda's intelligence rose a little. She clearly knew Caroline could raise the cubs better than she could. So that was why this scene was happening now. Maybe in the mother panda's mind, if she didn't hand the cubs to Caroline, they might starve later. Animals like pandas or hamsters could even eat their own babies when they were scared or too weak to feed them. It sounded cruel to humans, but in nature, it was a way to survive. Caroline's mouth twitched. She could raise the cubs, but she wasn't sure the government would allow it. She tried to return the cubs to the mother panda. But the unreliable panda mom simply turned around and showed Caroline her wide, silent back. Caroline called to her a few times, but the panda ignored her completely. "Um ... go get Colonel Sutton," Caroline told a soldier. The soldier snapped out of his shock and quickly ran to get Francis. When Francis came down, he found Caroline sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding a baby bottle and feeding the tiny cubs. The scene looked pretty funny. Caroline didn't look motherly at all—only helpless. "Colonel Sutton, why is your panda so sneaky? She's totally trying to make me her nanny." Francis slapped his thigh and laughed. "Ha! Looks like our base's panda is smart! She knows who's suited to be a mom!" "What now?" Caroline asked straight to the point. After talking it over, Francis asked Caroline to take care of the cubs for a few days. In return, the government would give her one mutant panda cub. She could choose one of the cubs she raised. Caroline liked that deal a lot. She had wanted a cyan-colored mutant panda anyway. And once she had one, she could figure out how to get her storage space to absorb cyan energy. She did not want to hurt the little panda. But if she ever had to get cyan energy, keeping a cyan-ability panda gave her a backup plan. Besides, this was the first time she had ever seen an animal with cyan energy in the wild. So Caroline carried four panda cubs back to her room. Before she left, she gave the mother panda more food—as a trade for taking her kids. She placed the cubs in a baby crib, surrounded with padding and lined with puppy pads. She fed them every hour. It gave her something to do. The cubs were so cute with their pink skin and tiny, soft paws. No matter where she stood in the room, the cubs would tilt their heads toward her and squeak, like they were searching for her. Most of the time, though, they just slept—lying on the pads, smacking their tiny mouths, sometimes twitching their little pink paws in their dreams. They were adorable. After another hour or two, Francis came to see her again. He told her the situation with Blake had been handled. With Zach's testimony, everything Blake had done was clear. Blake had an ability, but never reported it to the government, which was already a violation. Now that he was dead, the military wouldn't pursue anything else. Blake's ability let him take on the appearance of anyone he had seen, clothes included. Andrew had planned to use him for shady things, which was why Blake's ability had been kept secret. "Lieutenant Colonel Roberts' situation made us suspicious of Commander Zimmer's old team. There are still a few soldiers listed as 'no ability.' This is a good chance to investigate them," Francis said seriously. Blake and his son were both rotten. They had always helped Bernard do dirty work. Francis and Nathaniel had suspected them before, and after hearing Caroline's and Zach's statements, Francis dug deeper and uncovered more problems. In short, Francis told Caroline the two men deserved what happened. The military would not blame her or anyone involved.