The story so far:

---- Aija is a Volunteer at the Pristine School at Innermost. She works along with Zuri and Ze, who are her friends. Aija witnesses a strange event one night – light emanating from Rez's body. The kidnapper is after her soul, next, but he leaves her alive and goes away. Another man finds her, he wants to take her somewhere else - Aija though wary of him agrees. Aija learns of the existence of the aliens – the Ytai. Also, about the R'ies and H'eon, Harvesting and Àvo from Etrie. Etrie tells her that the man, who Harvested Rez (Thieron), will now go after her. He tells her that the spy/kidnapper's name is Luka. Etrie asks her to work along with him.

---- Aija is invited by Etrie for a Harvest Stopping Mission. Aija tells Zuri about Quinn – she's to meet him as an order from the Leadership. Kuna, who works for Etrie, picks Aija up for the mission. Etrie partners Aija with Kuna for the night. Aija agrees to work along with Etrie on Harvest Stopping Missions.

---- Ze catches Aija returning early in the morning with two unknown men. He worries if she is doing something wrong by dating one of the men she is with.

---- Ze decides to talk to the girls about it.

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****11.2 - Ze****

Ze had no classes to take care of that day. 

He knew Zuri and Aija's timetable enough to know that Zuri had free time sometime in the afternoon, but Aija was busy the whole day. He opted to speak with Zuri about it first, thinking that Aija might be embarrassed to hear about it from him.

Aija and Zuri arrived at school five minutes after Ze. Zuri wished him a good morning, and Aija just smiled as she sat at her table. She took out her DigiBook and yawned. Of course, she was tired. She had probably been out the whole night. She had come back around five-thirty in the morning, so she wouldn't have had much time to sleep.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yes. Why?" Aija didn't tense or startle. She was calm.

"You look tired. Didn't you sleep well?"

"I did. Just lesser than usual." Aija smiled. She didn't doubt him at all. She really believed that no one saw her.

"I asked her the same thing," Zuri told Ze. "Doesn't she look worn out?"

Ze nodded. Aija's eyes were puffy – like she had cried.

"I'm fine." Aija insisted.

The morning bell rang, and Aija quickly left the Teachers' room. Zuri looked at Ze, and he knew that she wasn't convinced with what Aija was claiming either.

Zuri left too, leaving Ze with Mrs. Pbalan, who taught the children math.

The one thing Ze hated the most was math. He wasn't good at it, and it made him nervous. And, for no fault of hers, Mrs. Pbalan made him anxious – just because she taught math.

Ze went to the workroom and sat for a while in front of the smart screen wasting time. He checked his mail – there was s notice regarding the Teacher Training Applications being available the next week. He sighed. What subject would he specialize in? Definitely not math.

He took a stroll around the school. He saw Zuri taking care of the class seven students; Aija was with the elementary kids playing a game. She had her hair tied up and was looking happy as she played with the kids. Ze wondered what subject she would choose. That is if she even decided to become a teacher. She was from one of the affluent families of Innermost. They had different areas of education they often went into - teaching wasn't one of them. It was a strange fact that she was even volunteering as a teacher.

He passed the time wandering around school and reading at the library. The library was an enormous room bereft of books. It had rows and rows of tables and chairs where one could keep their DigiBook on the table and read books on it. The school library had access to several publications which one could download and read for free on their DigiBooks. Like most other rooms in the school one was lined with ceiling to floor windows allowing the natural sunlight to fill the room.

Aija and Zuri joined him for lunch at the Food Hall. They made plans to go to Market together on the weekend. Aija looked more tired now than in the morning. She was quiet in general, but today she seemed to be brooding over something.

"Aija" Zuri called her.

"What?" she asked. She hadn't touched her lunch and was staring at it. She looked uncomfortable.

"Something's going on with you."

"It's nothing," Aija said swiftly. "I have a class the next hour too. I'll get going."

Aija left without eating, and as soon as she did, Zuri said, "Something is definitely going on with her."

"I felt it too." Ze agreed, not divulging much yet.

"What's up with her?" Caroline asked them as she stood up as well. "I have a class too. See you later."

As Caroline, the junior volunteer left, Zuri said, "I saw her leave last night – with a man."

Ze choked on a piece of watermelon.

"Ze? Are you ok?"

He nodded, drinking some water.

"She didn't tell me about it. It's not like her. But then again there was something I hadn't told her either."

"When did you see her?"

"At around eleven, I suppose. Aija generally stays at my place even though it's a school night. But, she left in a hurry. She didn't even text me if she had reached her Apartment, which she always does – especially after Rez. I called her, and she didn't pick up. So I went to check on her – that's when I saw her leaving with a man. They didn't walk towards the main gate; they climbed over the wall- which means they were going somewhere secretly."

Zuri was looking at her food lost in thought.

"I wanted to talk to you about her," Ze told her.

The bell rang, indicating the end of the lunch break. Everyone but the two of them left. Zuri was free, Ze knew it.

"What is it?" she asked, taking a bite of her pudding.

"I saw Aija, early today morning, returning from somewhere. Two men accompanied her. I'm assuming you saw her leave with one of them."

Zuri looked at him, mouth open; her pudding forgotten.

"Do you remember how he looked like?"

"Not really," she said, still shocked as she placed her pudding container down. "I saw them from a distance. I'd recognize Aija anywhere, even from that distance – her hair is such a giveaway. But the man – I think he had dark hair and dark skin as well. I think he looked a bit like how you might have if you grew your hair."

"Well, I remember him then," Ze said. "One of the men had light skin and the other dark. She was wearing that guy's jacket – the one you saw. The odd thing is that they were dressed very similarly; the same dark brown pants, shirts and jackets like some kind of uniform."

"What is that girl up to?" she wondered aloud.

They sat in silence for a long time, each one thinking of a possible reason for Aija's night outing with two men.

"Do you think she's going out with one of them?" Ze was careful with his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Dating?" he rephrased.

Zuri looked at him, her eyebrows raised, "Um...she actually, she..."

"She likes me?" he finished for her.

"What? How? You knew the whole time?"

"Yes," he agreed sheepishly. "I've known for quite some time. But, I don't feel the same for Aija. I don't want her to get into trouble."

Zuri let out an audible breath. "I don't think she's dating anyone. Also, she received a notice from the Leadership to meet her future partner."

"She did?" It was his turn to be shocked. "Could that be why she wants to see someone else? She probably doesn't like who her future partner will be."

"No. She doesn't dislike him." Zuri informed. "She knows him from before. She wouldn't do anything as drastic as seeing someone in secret just because of that."

"I'm just worried."

"You seem scared."

Ze rubbed his forehead, considering whether to tell Zuri what had been running consistently through his mind. He decided to let her know.

"My cousin Volt, he was a very quiet person. He was disciplined, always came home straight from school, studied hard." Ze told Zuri. She listened to him raptly. "I noticed that he started coming home later than usual during his last year of school. It continued for a long time, and then he started volunteering at the hospital, but later opted to study at the Research Institute. We found it odd – he had always wanted to be a doctor. A few years later he received his notice for marriage. He was angry; I still remember him storming out of the house after fighting with my aunt – his mother.

                 "He came back that night with a girl. Her name was Remi. He told us they were in love and that they wanted to marry each other. My aunt and uncle were terrified, but they agreed anyway. They had a small wedding at home; her parents attended it too.

                  "Well, they got a house close to the Research Institute where they both studied – now you know why he gave up on medicine. When they applied for the home, obviously they declared that they were married to each other. A month later, both of them disappeared without a trace. I had spoken to Volt that morning. He was supposed to come home and help me with my math homework." Ze paused. It was too much for him; to remember Volt.

Zuri stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"He didn't come home," Ze said, gathering his strength. We couldn't find Volt or Remi. Two days after they went missing, we received an official notice from the Leadership that they were declared as missing."

Ze stopped, the memory of his cousin hurting him.

"The Leadership did something to them," Zuri spoke for him. "They found out about their secret wedding when they applied for the house."

Ze nodded. "They didn't even bother searching for them. The Secures sent us away every time we went to ask them about him and Remi."

Ze let Zuri think about it, for a few minutes, before saying, "The Leadership isn't kind to anyone falling in love. I'm worried the same might happen to Aija."

"You do care; about Aija."

"She is my friend."

Zuri told him she would speak to Aija about it.

"Thanks."

"Ze," she said.

"Yes?"

"Your cousin Volt wasn't wrong. It wasn't his fault that he loved. It was the Leadership's fault for hurting them just because they wanted to be with each other."

Ze thought about it for a very long time.

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