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.

---- Aija and Zuri join Kuna on a Harvest Stopping Mission. They go to the hospital. Aija, at the hospital, stumbles upon Luka's satchel and goes after it, instead. She finds a kitten that has escaped from the hospital. When she is out of the hospital, releasing all the collected souls from Luka's satchel, Thieron comes.

---- Thieron kidnaps Aija. She finds out that Nala works for Thieron. Ze, who was following her to rescue her, gets captured along with her. Thieron binds Aija to himself.

---- Zuri is worried about Aija and Ze, who were taken by Thieron. 

---- Etrie kisses Zuri; she slaps him.

---- Ahi and Zuri patch up and agree to remain friends. 

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****20.2 - Zuri****

Her vibrating Scroll woke her up. Alex shifted beside her. At some point in the night, she had fallen asleep, and at some point, Alex had crawled into bed next to her, again.

She took her Scroll from the table. The auto-saved number showed the name as 'Innermost Secures Headquarters.'

Zuri stiffened. Kuna had warned her, but she was still terrified. She answered the call; avoiding it was the worst thing she could do.

"Yes?"

"Zuri King?" a woman's voice asked.

"Yes,"

"I'm Ms. Walker from the Secures Headquarters of Innermost, Pristine City One. I would like to talk to you."

"Go ahead." Zuri tried her best to not sound nervous.

"You volunteer at Pristine School One. Correct?"

"Yes, Ms. Walker."

"Do you know Ms. Aija Niyarah Rao-Oshiro?"

Zuri's heart clenched. "Yes, I know Aija."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Why?" she asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Please, Ms. King, answer my question."

"I saw her last on Friday night. We played at the Virtual Game Centre and went home."

"She was at your place, according to the Secure Cams in your building."

"Yes, for dinner. Then she left. What's going on, Ms. Walker?"

"Ms. King, Ms. Oshiro has been reported missing."

"What?" Zuri tried her best to sound surprised. "How?"

"When was the last time you spoke to her?"

"Friday night. I called her to say goodnight."

"Okay, Ms. King. Thank you for your answers. You are requested to report at the Headquarters by five this evening. You are allowed to bring a guardian with you since you are not twenty-one yet. Please be on time."

Ms. Walker cut the call without another word. Zuri looked at the time. It was still rather early in the morning, but she would have to leave soon in order to reach Innermost by five.

There was a text from Etrie: 'I am sorry, Zuri. I terribly am. What I did was unacceptable. I hope you can forgive me. I will find Aija and Ze."

Zuri didn't reply to the message, she deleted it and all other messages and calls from the Ytai. She deleted their auto-saved numbers and came upon Nala's name. She stared at it for a long time before deleting it.

She hurriedly got ready and kissed a still sleeping Alex on his head and went in search of her parents. She told them what had happened in as little detail as possible. They panicked. Her mother cried about it not being safe for her anymore. Her father insisted on going with her to Innermost, but she refused. Even a single day, the store was closed, meant a substantial financial loss for them. And, Imani needed to stay home with Alex.

Instead, she called Ahi, who was twenty-two to go with her. He agreed immediately, and the two of them left for the Capital, after breakfast.

"Are you okay?" Ahi asked her once they were on the train.

"No," she was honest. "I just want her to be found alive."

****

They arrived at the Secures Headquarters much after five. Ms. Walker was waiting for them already, and just as their ID chips were scanned, she dragged them into the building.

The building was built from stone as most Leadership official buildings were. There were massive ceiling to floor windows through which the evening sunlight poured in.

"You are late." Ms. Walker stated, leading them into the huge building.

"I had to travel all the way from Apper Town," Zuri said, not bothering to apologize.

Ms. Walker was a petite woman with raven black hair pulled back into a tight braid. She wore high heels with her black Secure's uniform, and Zuri wanted to ask her if she was even allowed to do so and decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

The woman led them to the fifth floor, to a room labeled 'Meeting Room 10', and motioned them in. She walked in after them and closed the door behind her. There were already a few people seated at the round table; a DigiScreen buzzed mildly at its center.

Ms. Walker motioned them to their seats – opposite the small group already present. Zuri felt nervous.

A middle-aged man in Secure uniform switched off the DigiScreen and acknowledged Zuri and Ahi's presence with a nod.

"Ms. Zuri King, I am Secure Ivan. Who is your guardian today?"

"Ahi Kumar Jones." Zuri informed Secure Ivan.

"Family?"

"Like family."

Ahi looked at her once before turning back to Secure Ivan.

Secure Ivan made Zuri and Ahi sign a non-disclosure form, meaning that they couldn't discuss what happened in there with anyone else.

"Okay," Secure Ivan nodded once the signing was done with. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Oshiro." he introduced the couple beside him.

Zuri nodded once acknowledging them. Aija's parents were good looking people, and it was easy to tell where Aija had received her beauty from. Aija looked so much like her mother.

Secure Ivan proceeded to ask Zuri the same questions Ms. Walker had asked that morning, and he cross-checked them with the data he had on his Scroll. Zuri tried to remain calm as she gave the same answers.

"Did it ever seem to you that Aija might have been unhappy?"

"No," Zuri answered frowning.

There was a knock on the door. Everyone stared at the door as Ms. Walker went to open it. She peeped out, whispered something to whoever was there, and then opened the door wider to let in a woman. She was beautiful, had golden hair, blue eyes, and Zuri had never seen her before. The woman nodded once at Secure Ivan, who only frowned at her for the interruption, and she took a seat far from everyone.

Secure Ivan looked at Zuri, "Are you sure she wasn't unhappy?"

"Yes, I am sure." Zuri insisted. Aija wasn't unhappy, it was the truth.

"Do you know that she had received her order of engagement?"

"Yes, to Quinn Ersco."

"Did she seem happy with it?"

"What are you implying, Secure Ivan?" Mr. Oshiro asked, his tone curt.

"Please, Mr. Oshiro." Secure Ivan said calmly. "I need to look at his from all angles. I would appreciate it if she can answer without being interrupted. Continue, Ms. King."

"She was glad, she really liked Quinn. She even met him often and not once did she indicate that she didn't like him, she was glad that the Leadership had chosen him for her."

Ahi held her hand under the table. Zuri let him; the touch calmed her.

She looked at Mrs. Oshiro, who smiled at her. She seemed grateful. Zuri couldn't tell the truth about Aija's kidnapping, but she could ensure they wouldn't assume the wrong things about her best friend.

"Do you know Ze Roan?" Secure Ivan asked.

Zuri looked at him, surprised. She didn't know why she was surprised, though. Of course, Ze's family would report him missing too. Kuna had informed her of it.

"Yes, I know Ze,"

Did Ze and Aija know each other?"

Zuri frowned. Where was this going? "Yes, the three of us are good friends."

"Do you know that he is missing?"

What?" she gave her best impression of shock.

"Ze Roan's been missing since Friday night and Aija Rao-Oshiro reportedly since Saturday morning. I believe this isn't a coincidence. Do you, Ms. King?"

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Oshiro asked angrily.

"What I mean is that, possibly, Aija didn't openly say she didn't like Mr. Ersco. And she and Mr. Roan had something going on between them awhile now. So, they decided to run together."

"Don't you dare make such unjustified conclusions!" Mr. Oshiro yelled. "Aija isn't such a girl. She was ready to get married to Quinn, she had even told us to set up an engagement date."

"Mr. Oshiro, please calm down." Secure Ivan told him. "This isn't unheard of. It's more common than you think. A lot of people run from the Leadership, especially when they receive their order of engagement or marriage.

"In fact, Mr. Roan's cousin – Volt Tally – ran from home a few years ago with a girl Remi Ivashkov. Maybe, he was confident and convinced Aija to run with him."

"Impossible!" Mr. Oshiro banged his fist on the table, turning the screen on.

Zuri had no idea how this meeting would go, but she hadn't expected it to be this – that they would say Aija and Ze had run off together. She found it hilarious. Ze was too scared to love someone because of Volt; he was the last person in the world to run with a girl. And, Aija wouldn't run even if she loved Ze. She loved her family too much to put them through this kind of torture.

All this time, the golden-haired girl sat quietly, taking down notes, her eyes only on Mrs. Oshiro. It was like the girl had discovered something about the woman and couldn't just take her eyes off her. A secret only she could see on her, and the rest were blind to it.

"Calm down, Sir." Secure Ivan gritted his teeth.

"That's not true," Zuri spoke.

Everyone looked at her, even the blonde girl and Ms. Walker, who hadn't lifted her gaze from her nails the whole time – even at Mr. Oshiro's violent reaction.

"Aija would never run with a boy. And, Ze once told me about his cousin Volt. Ze is terrified of what happened to him. Besides, he was very happy when he learnt of Aija's order of engagement. He was happy for her. They never liked each other in the way you are suggesting. It's the truth."

Secure Ivan sighed, running his fingers through his light brown hair.

"Thank you." Mrs. Oshiro told her.

Zuri nodded politely.

"I think you should be out there searching for her," Ahi spoke. "With all the disappearances going on, she might be in danger as we speak now, trying to decipher if she ran away with a boy. It looks like a happy girl is in trouble, and you are trying to put the blame on another missing kid. For all we know, the boy is in danger too."

"Well, someone here speaks sense." Mr. Oshiro said.

Secure Ivan frowned at Ahi, and Zuri squeezed his palm; he pressed her palm back.

Secure Ivan concluded the 'meeting.' 'Interrogation,' Zuri labelled it. He warned her and Ahi to not discuss this with anyone and reminded them that they had signed the NDF. The Oshiro's wanted to keep Aija's disappearance quiet for the time being since it would draw too much media attention on their family, and at the moment, they didn't want to handle it all.

Secure Ivan asked her to stay at Innermost until the investigation concluded, and she was given official permission to travel outside.

Ms. Walker led them out of the building and left. Zuri and Ahi stood out there, still recuperating from the discussion.

"Is Aija the one you were seeing?" Ahi asked, making a move towards the steps.

"No," Zuri said.

"Don't worry." he tried to console her. "I'm sure they'll find her."

"Has anyone who has disappeared or been kidnapped ever been found?"

"Zuri," he whispered, placing his palm on her cheek.

"Zuri..."

It was Mrs. Oshiro. Aija's father was behind her.

"Thank you, dear Zuri." Mrs. Oshiro said.

"I just told them the truth."

Mrs. Oshiro nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you, though it had to be like this."

Zuri agreed. "Please let me know if they tell you anything about them."

"Sure, Zuri. You take care now. And stay safe."

The Oshiros got into a red car, and as they left, she spotted Kuna standing across the street. He wasn't hiding, just standing there looking at her. She averted her gaze from his, lest Ahi caught her staring at the Ytai.

"The car looks awesome," he said, looking at its receding image. "I wish everyone was allowed to have them, like in the old world."

"You know how much damage those things caused."

"Yes, but everything runs on electricity or on the magnetic roads now." Ahi sounded wistful.

She didn't know how to respond to it. A sound made her look back and caught the blonde woman walk out of the building. She was beautiful, her blue eyes like the sky. But, Zuri didn't find her presence comfortable as she came directly to where she and Ahi were standing.

"Hi Zuri King, I'm Iyler Sun Smith." the woman held out her hand.

"Hello," Zuri said, not holding it.

Iyler smiled pleasantly as if Zuri hadn't just refused to shake her hand and said, "I just wanted to let you know that we're doing the best we can to find Aija and Ze."

"Thanks."

"You're no Secure," Ahi told her.

"I am. I'm in the Special Forces. I need not always wear my uniform."

"Can I see your ID?" Ahi wasn't convinced.

"Sure," she said with a very bright smile and removed her ID from her pant pocket. "Here." she gave it to him.

Ahi turned it around carefully and seemed convinced enough. He handed it back to the woman before Zuri could take a look.

"Are they the Oshiros? I mean the Oshiros?" Iyler asked them.

"Yes," Zuri replied frowning. If she were really a Secure from the Special Forces, she would have known for sure. Was she really a Secure? Was she new?

"Oh..." Iyler sounded more disappointed than excited.

"If that's all, we'll take our leave." Ahi declared.

"Yes, sure," Iyler said. "This is my Scroll contact," she said as Zuri's Scroll buzzed. "Call me if you hear anything or remember anything about Aija or Ze. You can contact me if you feel like you are in danger too."

Iyler Sun Smith left, and Ahi insisted on taking Zuri to her Apartment. She hadn't spotted Kuna on the way home. The Apartment looked clean like three Ytai hadn't spent time there. Ahi left after dinner.

****

Her AIVIO Scroll beeped once.

'Open the door.' It was a text from Kuna.

Zuri hesitated for a moment. She and Kuna weren't really on the best of terms, and she was feeling lost. She opened it, anyway.

Kuna stood there silently, waiting for her to let him in. He was in black jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. He hadn't tied his curls back today, and the dark curls framed his brown face, untamed; reminding her of her own curls.

She went in, allowing him to enter, and he closed the door behind him.

"How was the Secure's interrogation?" he asked, sitting on the couch.

"They think Aija and Ze might have run away together."

He looked at her, his expression showing just how ridiculous he thought it was.

"It's not unthinkable, if you see it from their point of view, with the facts they have."

"True." he agreed. "That woman Iyler Sun Smith..."

"How do you know her?"

"You never let me finish what I have to say." Kuna was annoyed.

"Sorry," Zuri said, sitting opposite him.

"She's from the Gale," he told her.

"The...what?"

"They are not the Secures; no way a part of it."

Kuna explained to Zuri about the Gale; about how they were working to bring the Leadership down and establish equality among the people; about how they wanted to remove rules that controlled the people – like who they married, where they lived and other such crazy rules the Leadership imposed on the people.

The Gale had people working in every field; it's how they collected more first-hand information. The Gale knew of Ytai, of the R'ies and H'eon, and even worked with R'ies a few times.

"She sure had a valid ID," Zuri said.

"It's not difficult to obtain an ID. It's easier than you think."

"Easier than finding the only car that was out that night?" Zuri's voice was bitter.

Kuna sighed, "They were thorough."

"Hmmm...?"

"Thieron didn't take Aija on a whim because he found her there. He apparently had been planning it for a while. He realized that it was us trailing that boy. He would surely have recognized Maya. He must have planned this well in advance. All the drones and Secure Cams were already manipulated before our team could do it. That's how we knew they were already on their way to the Hospital. He was very thorough with everything; no drone or Secure Cam was able to capture where they went. He had this obviously planned a long time back."

There was regret in his voice. Regret that he hadn't seen this coming.

"You think we really don't care?" he sounded hurt.

"I'm sorry. It's just...she means a lot to me."

"And me," Kuna admitted. "I'd rather be out there searching continually for her. But, it is useless, which is why I stay still."

"What about Ze? Why did they take him?"

"That's still a mystery to us. What use does Ze have?" he said more to himself.

"You will make sure to find him too?"

"Yes, of course. Ze is where Aija is, we'll get them both back.

"Etrie wanted me to tell you he was sorry. Something about what happened at the station. What happened?"

Zuri told him what happened. She needed someone to talk to, and Aija wasn't there. She hadn't expected Kuna to be the one she would be saying anything to. But, he really was as kind as he could be. He was genuinely nice.

"Really?" Kuna burst out laughing, holding a hand out to her. She high-fived it, surprised. "He deserved it." Kuna laughed.

Zuri smiled. Kuna was nice.

"Well," he said, calming down, "He isn't one who would usually do that. You must mean something to him. But, he really got it from you. I like you, Zuri. You're the first to slap him – no one's slapped Etrie."

"Have you had dinner?" she asked, proud of herself.

"No," he said.

Zuri heated a frozen packed dinner set and gave it to the Ytai. He frowned at it but ate it anyway.

Zuri looked at the Ytai. Oh, how her life had changed...

She sighed. She still had to go to school and act as if nothing unusual had happened.

She prayed that Aija and Ze would be fine.

✽✽✽