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

---- Xan is a student at the Pristine School. He attends Cello classes at the same academy as his best friend Vaughn. Xan is preparing for the mandatory Eligibility Test that he must take once he turns sixteen. Xan has a small party on his birthday. Xan feels like he is being constantly watched. Xan takes his Eligibility Test and does well. He gets his Medicine Administration done. Xan feels sick and at his party, he faints.

---- Zuri is back at her hometown. She tells Alex why it's important to do well at school - so that they can both live at Innermost and bring their parents there too.

---- Zuri meets with her friends. She admits that she likes someone - a girl. Her friend Amyas tells her that he likes her. 

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****16.3 - Zuri****

When Zuri woke the next morning, Alex was still sound asleep in his bed. She rolled about on her bed for about a half-hour before she forced herself to get out of bed.

There was only one thing on her mind – Nala. Why hadn't she contacted Zuri yet? What was she hiding? Zuri kept saying things between them weren't serious, but in reality, she wanted to make them consequential. Only if Nala were a bit more open and not seem to have too many secrets.

She washed up, changed, and went downstairs to the main room. Imani was at the dining table, painting a beautiful waterside landscape. Zuri had never seen such a place in real life – only in DigiBooks.

"Where's your brother?" Imani asked, not lifting her eyes from the blue of the water she was painting. Imani had wanted to go to Pristine Two to study art. But, she hadn't qualified for it on the Eligibility Assessment Test and was stuck in Apper town where she had been born. Imani had been so happy when Zuri had been accepted to volunteer at Innermost that she had cried. "Get out of this town into the best of the world," she had told Zuri.

"He's asleep." Zuri yawned.

Her mother continued to paint, and Zuri had breakfast, after which she brought out her DigiBook and opened her History book to where she had last stopped and continued to study. A test was coming up in two months, and she needed to finish her studies if she wanted to do well.

Often, she pondered about how her life might have been if she had been born to a wealthy family like Aija. No, Zuri wasn't jealous – just curious. She loved her life as it was now, her mind just wandered on some days, to the possibilities of what her life might have been.

Would she have been free of the Study While You Volunteer Program? Could she have enjoyed her free time doing anything else other than studying? Would she have decided to become anything other than a teacher? It was surprising that Aija had chosen to be one, even when her parents were against it. Aija was rebellious despite her quiet and soft nature.

Alex came out about an hour later.

"Are you sick?" Imani asked him.

Alex shook his head and handed Zuri her widened Scroll. "It was vibrating."

There were messages from Aija and Ze. And two missed calls from Aija.

'Did you speak to Aija? I'm worried.' Ze's message read.

Zuri sighed; she hadn't told him anything yet. How was she supposed to inform him of aliens? She wasn't supposed to tell anyone.

Aija's message seemed longer. She opened it.

'I debated this over with myself for a long time. I didn't want to tell you initially - you're at home, and that's good. But, then I knew you'd be furious if I didn't inform you. Etrie wanted to meet you as well. There is going to be a 'party' tonight. I'm at Quinn's right now. Kuna will pick you up at the Apartments; I will meet you directly at the 'party.' If you want to join us, you need to be here by ten tonight.'

Zuri reread it just to make sure she had read it correctly. She had. Obviously, 'party' meant a Harvest stopping mission.

She looked at her mother and then at Alex. If she had to reach Innermost by ten that night, she would have to leave the latest before lunch. There was a possibility of Alex making a fuss. But, she wanted to go on the mission.

She thought about it for a while about what she would tell them while she packed her bag. Finally, she decided to tell them that she had forgotten some vital school work and that she needed some materials for her study, which was only downloadable at the school library.

Alex was upset, but surprisingly he didn't make a fuss by crying and pleading her to stay like he often did. Maybe he was growing up after all. She called her father and told him of her sudden change in plans, kept a food package for lunch and hurried to the Sub-Terra Turbo Station. Now wasn't the time for enjoying views, she had to get Innermost as soon as she could.

She put in a text message to Omar saying she couldn't make it to lunch at his place, but to take Alex anyway. The distraction would do him good, and her friends took good care of her brother.

Zuri reached the Sub-Terra Turbo station in time for the next train. She scanned her left index finger at the Pay Gate and ran to the Inbound Trains Platform. She hopped onto the train just as it closed the doors behind, hitting the bag on her back. It wasn't as packed as the Terra Turbo train would have been in the afternoon. She had traveled just once before in the Sub-Terra, after which she had decided she liked the views from the Terra-Turbo.

The interiors were plush and more comfortable. Zuri walked from compartment to compartment, searching for one without anyone. She walked through the DigiScreens, which separated two compartments. They buzzed out of focus as she walked through them, and she felt the gentle prick of electricity on her skin. She walked through an ad for pre-packed sweetlings now available in food stores out of Innermost.

She had to ask her dad if they indeed were the next time she spoke to him. She finally found an empty compartment and took a seat. She had already texted Aija that she would be joining them on the mission. Aija hadn't been pleased; she had hoped Zuri would refuse since she was far from Innermost. But, Zuri wasn't going to give up on it that easily.

Aija had been spending a lot of time at Quinn's place, especially since the blast at the Research Centre. Zuri wasn't sure if Aija truly enjoyed being there close to Quinn, but her parents made sure Aija was there during the weekends.

Thomas Ersco had been found two days after the blast. He hadn't been found at the Institute; he had gone home by himself, all clean and having changed into new clothes. It was apparent that he had spent the two days elsewhere, but he wouldn't speak of it. He hadn't spoken at all for three straight days, after which he did, but very little just asking for food and speaking of casual stuff as if he hadn't experienced something terrible.

The Ersco family was, of course, happy that he was physically unhurt and that he was alive. But, they were worried that the blast had a terrible effect on his mind. He hadn't returned to work, and it didn't look like he would for a while. The only thing about the blast he had told them was that a colleague had come running to him and told him something was wrong and that they needed to get out immediately. Thomas had wanted to warn the others, but his colleague had told him that he'd already informed many of them and that they would get out. Thomas didn't know where the colleague was after they got separated when running out. It was inexplicable, but no one had a choice but to accept what he had told them. 

****

Zuri went home, changed into more comfortable clothes – jeans and a t-shirt. She tied her curly hair into a bun, and on Aija's advice wore a jacket. Zuri hadn't much need for them in Innermost. It got cold sometimes in her small town, but it wasn't unbearable. She owned two or three jackets just for how it seemed to complete a few of her outfits.

Her Scroll beeped somewhere in the living room. "Read the message," she commanded.

'Be out by ten. I'll take you.' The male voice of her device read it out.

She found her Scroll and checked the number. The contact had auto-saved as Kuna.

She still had some time before she had to head out, so she had dinner, took some rest, and then headed out of her Apartment block. Precisely at ten, she received a text from Kuna. 'Where are you?'

'Outside my building.' she replied.

'I'm outside the gates. Come.'

In the time it took her to go outside the gated housing complex, she had yawned thrice. She should have slept on the train, but her excitement hadn't let her. She had tuned into the arts channel where a re-run of the year's drama production was on, and she had watched it, to distract herself.

She went out as the gates slid open, auto-unlocking for her and looked around. Kuna emerged from behind a tree. He didn't look pleased, but he didn't say anything about it.

"This way," he said, turning around.

"You're still mad about this?" she asked as she fell in step beside him. Kuna was tall, but so was she, and she comfortably matched his fast pace and long strides.

"I'm only doing this because Etrie wanted to meet you."

"Why?"

"To erase your memories..." he regarded her as he said it.

For a single moment, she thought he was joking and was about to laugh at it, but he sounded and looked serious. So, she kept quiet, turning away from him.

Well, if Ytai could Harvest souls, they could surely erase memories.

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