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 man is after her next, but he leaves her alive and goes away. Another man finds her and asks if she is alright. He tells her that he needs to talk to her but not there. He wants to take her somewhere else, Aija, though wary of him agrees.

---- Zuri finds that Aija and Ze are both not at her Apartment. She goes to Market alone when Aija doesn't answer her calls. She meets Nala there, they spend some time together. Nala walks her back home.

---- Zuri arrives at her Apartment to find that another kidnapping as occurred. Zuri is worried about Aija now, who still hasn't contacted her.

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****5.2 - Ze****

Ze woke up, feeling utterly disoriented.

He was lying on something hard and cold. When he opened his eyes, he found himself still in the basement next to the dispenser. He sat up, mind still hazy. He looked at his Scroll; it was four in the morning. His head hurt.

Did I honestly fall asleep right here? He thought.

Ze had never been drunk before. It was his first time, and he felt terribly awkward at the moment. He had passed out right there in the basement.

Embarrassed, he went to his Apartment. He couldn't face the girls. How could he explain what had happened to him? How would he be able to admit that he had fallen asleep in the basement? He had been lucky no one had caught him there. It mortified him to think that someone could have seen him like that.

Ze drank some water, ate leftover chicken salad, and went to bed again. When he woke up next, it was nearly three in the afternoon. There still was a residue of pain in his head as he forced himself out of bed. He took a bath and made himself some soup.

There was a missed call from Zuri. He nearly called her back and then decided not to. He was too embarrassed. He wasn't sure of what to say if she asked what happened, or if she asked why he went back home and not tell her if he was okay.

Ze switched on the DigiScreen. It fizzed alive onto the wall. He didn't really like watching the T.V. on it. The only things that came on were the News; a channel called Progress Earth which gave details on how the planet was faring now (Ze was pretty sure half of the details were made up) and one channel which had few music programs and a single drama production that aired every new year's day. Ze only liked using it as background sound. He tuned into the News channel and turned up the volume. He worked out for about an hour, retook a bath and sat in front of the DigiScreen for about ten minutes, after which he got restless and started to pace about the Apartment.

He turned up the volume higher. He placed two plates, two glasses, and his DigiBook on the table and took a few steps away from it. Ze closed his eyes and reached for them with his mind. One of the glasses was heavier than the other two. He concentrated and lifted all of them. He opened his eyes; they were floating high up, close to the ceiling. He was getting better at controlling his 'power' or whatever one could call his ability as. Controlling them only with his mind had been tough initially. He still needed his hands to feel the energies of the objects if there were many. But, he was improving; quickly.

His Scroll beeped twice and gave him the message – 'Pristine School Housing Kidnapping.'

Ze let go of the plates, glasses, and DigiBook slowly and placed them on the table. He had set up his AIVIO to give updates on any news related to his School Housing, especially after two kidnappings had been confirmed there.

He went to the DigiScreen, reduced the volume a bit, and paid attention to the news. Maybe there was some clue about the old man who had gone missing.

"...the boy has been identified as Rez Night, thirteen years of age..." the anchor was saying.

A picture of the boy Rez popped up on the Screen, showing a young boy with blonde hair and brown skin.

"Thirteen-year-old Rez has been missing since this morning from the Pristine School Housing, where he lived with his mother. His mother confirms that he was at home last night, but when she arrived from work today morning, he was missing. It is peculiar for a boy to just disappear. Even footages from Drones and SecureCams show no strange activity or even show the boy leaving his Apartment."

Images of Rez with his mother popped up, followed by a live video of his mother on the grounds of the Housing complex. Ze realized that they were actually there in front of Blocks B and C at that very moment. He put on shoes and hastily walked out of his Apartment. Stepping out of the building, he made his way towards the Blocks B and C. As he got closer, he saw the crowd; there were at least five Secures, and he could make out three media personnel in their grey uniforms.

Nearing the crowd, he caught sight of Zuri, waving wildly at him. He made his way towards her, his earlier embarrassment returning.

"Have you seen Aija?" Zuri stormed towards he reached her.

"No...," he informed her.

"No?" she snapped.

"I haven't seen her since last night. Wasn't she with you?"

Zuri looked scared, and Ze grew concerned.

"What's wrong, Zuri?"

"I thought she was with you," Zuri told him, her voice grim.

"Why would she be with me?" Ze was confused.

Why would Zuri even assume Aija would be with him?

"I haven't seen her since this morning either," Zuri said anxiously. "She hasn't responded to a single call, nor has she sent a message. Now, this boy is missing. I'm scared, Ze."

"Maybe she went home."

"No. Not without telling me. Also, her Geo-Location's off. She never switches it off."

Ze sighed, "Wasn't a man spying on her?"

Zuri nodded, nearly in tears.

"We should have reported him to someone sooner." Ze said and added, "Do you have a family member's number? Could you contact her parents?"

Zuri shook her head. There was a lot of commotion near the crowd, with the Secures walking in and out of the buildings and blocking a part of the lawn on which they had found traces of blood.

"Let's go from here," said Ze.

Ze and Zuri walked towards Block H, contemplating with each other about what to do. They stopped in front of the building, and Ze tried calling Aija. But, she didn't receive the call.

"Aija?" Zuri said softly.

Ze looked at Zuri, who was looking out at the grounds. Sure enough, he spotted her too. Aija was walking towards them. Zuri and Ze ran to her.

"Aija!" shouted Zuri. "Are you alright?"

Aija looked tired. "I'm fine. What's wrong?" she asked Zuri.

"What's wrong?" scoffed Zuri hurt. "Where were you the whole day? Why couldn't you let me know where you were?"

"I'm sorry..." she smiled.

Ze found something off about her, but couldn't explain what it was.

"I was with my family," said Aija, twirling a strand of her long hair absent-mindedly. "You know how it is when I'm with them."

"I know!" yelled Zuri visibly angry now. "You at least message once. Why didn't you today? I was scared out of my mind."

"Scared? Zuri, I was at home."

"Do you know what happened?" Ze interrupted the girls.

"What?" Aija asked, seemingly unaware.

"A boy was kidnapped, possibly killed. He's been missing since last night."

Aija looked distraught, listening to it. But, she didn't seem surprised. She looked so tired. Ze didn't find something right.

"That's why I was worried," Zuri said, a little calmer than before. "I was so worried that you were probably missing too."

Aija hugged Zuri and whispered, "I'm fine, Zuri. Don't worry." And she added to Ze, "Are you okay?"

"Me?" he asked, startled. Aija nodded.

"Yes. What would happen to me?" he brushed it off, trying hard to forget the time he spent asleep in the basement. But Aija only looked at him keenly, like she knew there was something he was hiding. 

Then he figured out what was odd about her – she was still in the clothes she had worn last night. Shouldn't she have changed if she had been home?

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