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 agrees to work along with Etrie on Harvest Stopping Missions.

---- Thieron is in the Open. Alton asks to visit him – something he had been avoiding for a long time since he punched Dhor-Wo, and broke his nose and jaw. Alton is not angry with Thieron for hurting Dhor-Wo; he tells Thieron that he will send him to retrieve the Àvo. Thieron finds a photo of his family in the forbidden section of the Mansion. He hears the voices of two women in the forbidden section and wonders who lives there and what secret Alton is hiding.

---- Thieron and Nala check out a new target, and realize that Etrie's team was trailing the same target.

---- Aija's parents tell her that she has received the notice for engagement from The Leadership. She hates the idea of it, but there is no escape. Aija meets Quinn and likes him.

---- Kuna confronts her about Quinn; he seems visibly upset about it.

---- Zuri goes to her place when Kuna is there and she tells him she knows all about them. Kuna is angry with Aija for telling about them to Zuri, who is now insisting that she too, joins them.

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****14.1 - Goldstar****

The 'skrish skrish' of the cleaning bot was disrupting his thought process, and as it neared him, he grunted 'shoo', sending it in the opposite direction.

When the 'skrish skrish skrish' was a dull mumble, he looked back at the smart screen, where Reports Tab blinked with new news.

'H'eon member Tjvè spotted at 100 and 14th New Park Road Pristine City One.'

'Fifty-year-old man missing from 2000 and 10th Lo Residences, Pristine City Three.'

'Etrie Ay'tir tapped into Outbound Terra Turbo.'

'New human girl seen with Etrie Ay'tir's team.' 

Goldstar leaned towards the screen as he read the latest report. 'New human girl' it read. Had Etrie saved someone and absorbed her into R'ies? It wasn't like Etrie to keep the humans he rescued in his own team, even if they agreed to be a part of R'ies. Humans on the group were more of a hindrance than a help to Ytai, and Etrie would never keep anyone who would slow him down. Who was this person who had captured Etrie's attention enough to have her on his personal team?

The Gale had long known about the existence of the two Ytai groups. Why one of them worked to protect the Earth was still a mystery to him. The Gale had often sought the help of R'ies but soon had come to realize they weren't of much help and that the R'ies worked in tandem with the Leadership.

Why was R'ies – an alien group helping the Leadership? Why was the Leadership seeking the help of an alien group? He could never come up with a convincing answer.

But, Goldstar was sure of one thing – R'ies worked against H'eon and appreciated any information the Gale gave them about H'eon's activities. But, R'ies never worked against the Leadership, and the Gale was trying its hardest to bring down the Leadership and bring in equality among all the people.

He let out an audible breath as he wondered who this human girl was. He would have to find out if Etrie continued to take that person with him everywhere.

He received an email from Himari at Pristine One. 'R'ies has confirmed the existence of an Àvo on Ytèan. They will be sending someone to retrieve it once the location is confirmed.'

The door to the Tech Room opened just as he deleted the email. Amy entered and walked up to him. She nodded once at him as she handed him a small piece of paper and left. The paper was sealed off, and his name 'Goldstar' was written on it. He opened it, and there was a note reading – 'The Transfer plane will be starting at two a.m., from Landing 5.' 

The Transfer of the five people had been delayed, and Goldstar had come back to Pristine City Four. They had agreed to do the Transfer much later, and it now included an extra person. He was looking forward to it since he could see Iyler again.

Goldstar and Iyler never contacted each other even on their Scrolls. They didn't want to leave any trace of them being in a relationship. There were days when he would feel like shouting to the world that he loved Iyler Sun Smith, but Iyler wasn't interested in letting their relationship known to others. It wasn't like people in the Gale never dated each other, but because Goldstar still lived a life outside of the Gale and Iyler had no idea of his real identity outside the Gale.

Goldstar did consider being exclusively involved with the Gale, but that would mean not being able to see or meet his family – that was the amount of secrecy required, and he wasn't ready to give up his family. But, he knew that one day he would have to do it. The day the Leadership chose a partner for him to marry was the day his double life would have to end; for he would not give up on Iyler or the Gale. Just thinking of it made him sad that one day, he might have to say his goodbyes to his family.

Goldstar switched off the smart screen and headed out of the Tech Room of the small Gale Core of Pristine City Four. It was a fourth of the size of the main headquarters in Pristine One. He found Arex and asked him to inform the Transfers to be ready by eight in the evening. It took a few hours to get to Landing 5, from where they would travel to the South Land. Three of the Transfers had moved with him to Pristine Four and were staying in the Open under the protection of the Gale there. He would pick them up from there and go to Landing 5, where Iyler would arrive with three more Transfers.

Transfers generally didn't know of the Gale. Often they had chanced upon them or heard of them from other people who had also run from the Leadership. Most people ran to the Open. Many times, if they went to the Open most of them ended up having their souls Harvested since the Open was crawling with Ytai. The Gale had squads keeping a lookout for such people in the Open.

The majority of the Transfers were made up of people who ran to escape their terrible lives – especially in the smaller towns. It included couples who ran from the Leadership to marry each other and also included people who wanted to escape a life controlled wholly by the Leadership. Most of the Transfers knew there was a considerable difference between the lives of the rich and poor; between the lives of those at Innermost and those in the outer towns. In some cases, they might have spoken out about the inequality, and the Secures would have taken them into custody and put them on the death row.

Many Transfers escape to the Open where they may chance upon the Gale, and there were few who had learned of the Gale's existence. This rumor had caused them to take a chance and run to escape. Rarely did a Researcher or Scientist or Leadership employee run. Some figure out that the Leadership is being unfair and realize if they speak out, they would be killed. So, most keep quiet, but there are those who run. The Gale helped such people escape to the South Land – where they could live a life free of the Leadership.

The South Land housed people who had run from the Leadership. In the South Land, people lived as they wanted to; married the person they wanted to. And that was the Gale's ultimate plan – to make sure all the citizens could do what they wanted, love who they wanted, and have access to all facilities regardless of their financial capabilities.

The Leadership had knowledge of the South Land, but they hadn't been able to stop it from growing into a big country of its own. Initially, when the Leadership had found out that an organization called the Gale was transferring runaways to the southernmost continent, they had tried to intervene, but the Gale had been too good for them. They knew how not to get caught on their radar. After a few years, the Leadership gave up on the Gale since they weren't affecting the day to day work of the Leadership on the Main Lands.

***

Goldstar went to his school boarding to pack a few of his clothes. He rested for about two hours and headed back to Core.

"Where are you off to?" Avery asked him. He was heating food in the oven.

"Home..." Goldstar lied to his roommate. "I'll be gone for a few days."

"What about classes?" Avery looked worried.

"I'll catch up."

"I know you will." Avery sighed. "Is everything alright at home?"

"Yes, nothing critical. Don't worry, Ave. I'll be back soon."

Avery nodded. "Take care, man."

"You, too; stay safe."

Goldstar went back to the small Core at Pristine Four situated smack in the middle of an office building under the name Murcel Technology Services. He wore his Gale uniform coat over his black jeans and navy blue shirt as it would get cold in the Open and also in the South Land. He received his package of four dinners and left for the Open.

He tapped his right thumb into the Scanner, the guard nodded at him, and he walked out of the office. He reached the Sub-Terra Turbo Station in ten minutes and took the path to the outbound train. Pristine Four was heavily guarded compared to Pristine One even though the most important of people lived at Pristine One. Innermost here had more Secures patrolling the place compared to drones like in Innermost of Pristine One. He had to be careful while tapping at the Pay Gate since he used a different ID when carrying out Gale operations.

He looked around as he walked to the Pay Gate. A Secure was standing near the entrance to the train platform, and another one was close to the Pay Gate, but he was busy helping an older man in a hover wheelchair. Goldstar hurried to the Gate and placed both hands near the Scanner. He swiftly tapped his right thumb, instead of the left index finger. 

A photo of a man similar to him in looks appeared on the screen with the name Vertan Dio; none of the Secures was looking at him. 

He turned right and went towards the outbound platform.

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