The story so far:

----Xan learns from Aija what really happened to him; he feels hurt. He wants to warn his family about the experiments to save his siblings. Goldstar finds out Vincent is Ytean-human. And that he was responsible for his reputation. He is upset. He chooses to leave behind 'Goldstar' and be Rei. It is Ze's wedding day. Ruyanir's and Ze's wedding takes place. Ze challenges Na'thwir for the position of Zayr chief. Thieron goes to Zya'ara with everyone. Meets his family after years. The Company is on their way to attack again. Aija and Thieron fight with the Zya'araeans against the Wy'sith. Aija gets dragged away from Thieron. Nala and Luka struggle to shield Eiva and Afe. Nala is losing control over her shield. Zuri arrives to help. Thieron panics when he loses Aija. The ji'var attack him, but Aija finds him. Together they manage to kill the metal-controller, but when the Utzrn withdraw, Thieron realises it's to drown them. Aija calls Tai'un for help, and tells him she'll do anything in return for help. Tai'un uses the Avo to help them. Xan meets Vaughn, they spend time in Sier Ghat. Aa'di Irih'va has lunch with his grandfather, who tells him about his parents.

----Zuri waits for Aija to wake. When she goes to check on Luka, she hears Nala talking to Z'our. Thieron tells Aija he's in love with her. Aija tells him she hates him. Thieron is stunned by Aija's non-acceptance of him. Thieron accepts Irih'va's offer to work for the Crown. Rei gets back with Vincent. Wiet publicly executes Gale members, Rei is upset that he isn't able to do more for his people. Luka speaks with his former mentor and tells him he's quitting the Ithi'hra. Aija and Irhi'va speak in the Throne Room. When Irih'va kisses her she kisses him back but realises she cares more for Thieron. Irih'va is devastated when Aija leaves. Ruyanir is scared for Ze. She hopes he wins. Ze wins against Na'thwir. Zuri and Nala attend the Red-Moon festival. 

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****30 REI****

"May the Earth stay strong and proud,"

The wind answered him with a spirited sough, tugging at his hair.

Rei, attired in full-uniform, stood before Tailyn and Leigh's graves as per his morning ritual. The sun, higher on the horizon, glinted on the plaques.

"You were meant to be free in life,"

Rei didn't know what came after death. With any inkling of religion wiped out by the Leadership, not much was left on the thought. He'd read old books in his father's study, which talked of Heaven and Hell. Rei hadn't known whether to believe the books on afterlife and rebirth, but he had used the knowledge of it once to calm Aija and make her let go of Terra. Wide-eyed, rapt with attention, Aija had believed him when he concocted something about heaven for dogs and Terra being able to read her letter there. The memory made Rei smile. He hoped wherever Leigh and Tailyn were, they were happy and peaceful; they'd worked hard in life.

"May the Earth stay strong and proud, bless the Earth," Rei stated, bowed at the graves in respect as if seeking Leigh and Tailyn's blessings, and turned to leave.

He came to a stop spotting Himari and three children, two boys and a girl, standing beside Nir. Avi and Asahi smiled at Rei. Rei didn't need to guess who the girl was; he knew who the boys were spending time with. But even if he didn't, he'd get no applause for guessing. Layan was a near-exact copy of her sister Zhaleh; the same brown eyes, thick black hair, the same nose, the same determination set on her face. She appeared about Avi's age, though taller and lankier.

Asahi hopped, grinning. Himari smiled; even Nir eyed him with a sideways glance, something like affection on his usually blank face.

"Rei," Asahi jumped.

Rei picked him up, carrying him in his arms like he did when the boy was younger.

"We heard today was important," Avi mentioned.

"Yes,"

Layan eyed him, brows set in a frown, jaw set in determination. For what, Rei didn't know.

"Where's Vincent?" Asahi whispered into Ri's ear.

"At Core," Rei whispered back.

"Everything's ready," Premiere Zhaleh joined them.

Rei nodded.

"Layan, mom's been looking for you," the Premiere's voice was stern.

Layan stuck her tongue out at her sister; the Premiere rolled her eyes. The girl held her hand out at Rei. He put his youngest brother down to accept the flower Layan held out to him.

"Thank you, Layan,"

The girl nodded, still solemn.

"Good luck," Avi gave Rei a hug and told Asahi and Layan, "Let's go."

The two followed Avi back to wherever they'd been spending time.

"Layan! Home!" Premiere Zhaleh shouted.

The girl didn't even look back. Avi said something, and Layan broke into a wide grin, her eyes still on the boy. The three kids ran away.

Premiere Zhaleh grunted in frustration.

Rei beheld the white flower Layan had given him. He smiled.

****

"All set, you just need to look straight into the Screen," Avery assured Rei.

"All's set on our side as well," Himari nodded.

Rei had missed her presence when she'd gone to the Main-Lands to collect evidence. But seeing her by herself evoked sadness.

Two DigiScreens were set up in the Premiere's office. On one of them, Avery's image buzzed; on the other, the news channel of the Main-Lands played.

It was around eight p.m. in Pristine-City One when the prime-time news aired, and nearly everyone would be tuned into the channel. They'd broadcast at once to all Cities; some would see it earlier than others. They'd made copies of the Records of the experiments and sent them to each family who'd lost a child or children to it. They'd even sent any available records of scientists and their confessions to their families. If nothing else, official records and documents had to have the power to make people believe them.

"Wait," Vincent appealed. He took the white flower from Rei's hand and placed it through one of the buttonholes of his overcoat. Vincent corrected the lapels, then ran his fingers through Rei's hair, setting it in a side-sweep. "Now, you're ready."

Rei smiled, endeared.

Avery was trying to suppress a giggle. Rei scented at his former roommate.

"I just knew about you two," Avery grinned. "Now, back to work. Veer, your prompts will appear on the Screen. I'll give a count of ten, then switch to 'Live'."

Rei agreed with a nod, jittery. He sat in front of the Screen set up for him.

"Ten," Avery counted down.

Ba-bump; Rei's heart pounded against his ribs.

Rei sought Premiere Zhaleh to his left; he missed Amelie by her.

Nine. Ba-bump.

Rei's parents were to his right. Addithri smiled encouragingly; Ena gave him a solemn nod, hands crossed over his chest. He thought of Vaya, Avi, and Asahi.

Eight. Ba-bump.

Rei studied Avery on the Screen in front of him, counting down.

Seven. Ba-bump.

The sun was brighter that day.

Six. Ba-bump.

Rei thought of Earth.

Five. Ba-bump.

Rei thought of humans.

Four. Ba-bump.

Rei thought of Himari, Leigh, and Tailyn.

Three. Ba-bump.

Rei thought of Aija.

Two. Ba-bump.

Rei looked into Vincent's eyes. The man smiled and mouthed, "I love you,"

One. Ba-bump.

Rei took a deep breath and let it go.

The Screen in front of Rei turned blank, and his script propped up.

"Good evening, citizens of the Pristine-Cities. I am Rei-veer Rao-Oshiro, son of Ena Oshiro, the rightful owner of Oshiro Systems. I am the Leader of the Gale, once known as Goldstar."

Rei paused even though the script went on steadily. He sought Vincent, who smiled and said, "You're fine." Rei's image was on the second DigiScreen on which the news had been playing. When he continued, the image on the Screen followed.

"I interrupt your news, this day," Rei picked up where he'd left off, "to convey something of utmost importance. Thanks to the Leadership, some of you may have heard of the Gale.

"First, yes, we exist. Second, on behalf of the Gale, I apologise for causing a sudden stir in events lately and for all the panic it has roused. It wasn't our intention. But it was Mike Wiet's, the Representative of the Leadership. Mike Aspen Wiet has, very emphatically," Rei stopped suddenly when the news channel returned with the news, his image gone.

"No, no," Avery's whispers were heard through the Screen. "Damn, they caught us. Give me a second," Avery got control of the channel again. With Amelie gone, Rei gave their Tech needs to Avery. He'd seen his roommate tinkering with blogs, social-media, and other stuff Rei had never taken an interest in. It also kept Avery safe while he helped.

"Sorry for the interruption," Rei apologised before continuing with the script when his image popped up again. "Mike Wiet has, very emphatically, painted the Gale in a bad light and blaming the atrocities they've committed on us.

"The Gale was formed between 638-639 N.C. when Ved Naidu had a bad experience with the Leadership and found they were involved in barbaric activities – all to maintain their power."

Rei halted, swallowing. I can do this, he told himself.

"This day, the Gale breaks its silence to tell you the exact activities the Leadership has been conducting and what we've been doing to stop them,"

Rei heard Avery whispering frantically, banging his fingers on his keyboard. It made Rei panic, but he soldiered on. Avery was capable of handling intrusions.

"We have a message from people just like you – scientists, doctors, volunteers, people from every walk of life who've wrongly faced the brunt of the Leadership's ire, people who know what the Leadership is up to."

Rei stared into the Screen, steeling his nerves. "This day, we bring you the truth about the Green Plague, the Leadership's experiments, the aliens called the Ytai, the Iernei, and the Zayr.

"Countless people have died for the Leadership's greed," Rei's voice broke. He gulped and continued, "This is for those who died of the Plague, those who died at the hands of the Leadership because they tried to do the right thing, tried to speak up. This is for those in the Open who still suffer." Rei's tears escaped his control. "This is for Trey Aven, for Leigh-Hannah Owen and Tailyn Ever, and the Gale operatives publicly executed – their only crime wastrying to protect the citizens of the Cities. This is for Arun Briar," he choked on his tears, aware of Avery's presence on the other side of his Screen. "This is for Xan-Ae Lee and the countless children who died from the experiments and their families who were lied to.

"We, the Gale, promise to do better. We have always worked for the people and still continue working for you, to serve and protect you. This is for us all as humans, for Earth. May the Earth stay strong and proud in all its tilted glory."

The Screen continued to focus on Rei for a moment; he knew everyone around the world saw his tears-stained face. But he couldn't care lesser. At last, Avery switched to the video they'd created.

Vincent came to stand by him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Rei put his hand over Vincent's, sniffling as they watched the video airing. There were no more intrusions from the Leadership's Tech as the message played.

Avery had arranged it well. It included testimonials from scientists who'd been wronged by the Leadership, by people who'd run to the South, Records of the experiments, names of children scrolled at the bottom of the Screen on a strip of colour as the whole video continued. People who'd run to marry told of their experiences. It also included a short message from Ena Oshiro, Ba'diur, and Var-Inu. Ba'diur spoke in Ytèan, and Var-Inu spoke in Iernei, the subtitles for their parts appearing on the Screen. They informed of the experiments the Leadership conducted in association with the R'ies.

Scenes from the Open, showing the intensity of the Plague followed by the Savages and Creatures attacks, were horrifying to watch even though Rei was accustomed to it.

In the end, there was a message from Aimon Pearl, the man always seen by Mike Wiet. He confirmed that the attack on the Research Centre was carried out by the leadership. If nothing else did their work, validation from a well-known Leadership member should have better influence. The Gale had brought Aimon and his family to the South just the day before for protection.

The last part of the clip included a scene from the South-Land, showing the Gale, the Settlements, and the Zayr. It ended with Rei's part of the clip with Ena both appealing that the Leadership needed to be stopped and a new government was required to benefit all humans, irrespective of financial or social standing, and the Earth deserved better.

It finished with "May the Earth stay strong and proud," and the Screen remained blank for a whole minute. Then, Avery removed their hacked-connection to the LINC and resumed the regular news.

The room went quiet for a long time.

Then, Himari spoke, "Now, we wait."

****

They waited. And, waited.

To Rei, it felt like decades, though all the time passed amounted to a single day.

When the second day following their message started off quietly, too, Rei feared that it hadn't worked. Vincent worried if the Leadership had taken stringent measures, but Avery confirmed that the Leadership hadn't made any moves, online or otherwise. Avery coordinated with Himari and started posting on social-media sites through fake accounts. The social-media wasn't a platform with much freedom; the Leadership monitored everything that went on it, deleting anything against them. But Avery had gotten a few of his friends to continually post testimonials against the Leadership faster than the Leadership's Tech could remove them.

By the end of the third day, online activity surfaced gradually. By the fourth, the LINC exploded into chaos. Videos of the Open, the Savages attacking people, testimonials against the Leadership, started pouring in. Avery and the Gale's Tech on the Main-Lands made sure they stayed online. The Leadership did manage to remove any, but very many more were uploaded to replace them. And it was on the prime-time news, Gale insiders working for the news channel covering the experiments on children. Parents spoke up about their children who'd fallen sick right after the Eligibility Assessments and how their children died of a mysterious disease. The news also covered the Records of the Plague and word from scientists all day long.

Protests started at Pristine-One in front of the Leadership's Headquarters; dissent grew, with people asking them to step down. 'Wiet must quit,' ruled the media. People shouted it repeatedly outside the Headquarters. Secures were stationed in case violence broke. Rei hoped there wouldn't be violence. That hadn't been the intention, only to bring down the Leadership. Je'ai had gone with other Iernei to help for such specific reasons. She'd gathered as many Ithi'hra and R'ies combatants she could find on the Main-Lands willing to help. Rei would always be grateful to the Iernei.

On the fifth day, Mike Wiet spoke, live, requesting the people to calm down, that the Gale fabricated misinformation. On the sixth day, the largest crowd gathered in front of the Headquarters. People from all over Pristine-One and even those who could afford to come from other Cities arrived with banners, equipped with food and water, determined to stay until the Leadership stepped down. The Secures started to get physically aggressive in trying to disperse the crowds.

Nir and Je'ai were in constant contact. Je'ai had found a few shielders to protect the citizens from a possible Secures attack. Rei desperately didn't want that end to arrive.

Edgy, Rei wanted to go to the Main-Lands, but Vincent, Premiere Zhaleh, and his parents were against it, claiming it could get violent. Rei insisted there were enough shielders if things went wrong. Then he worried for Je'ai, who wasn't a shielder and was out there for him. Nir reminded Rei, Je'ai was there for the Emperor because the Iernei Royal had commanded her to protect Rei in any way needed. If it meant that she went on Rei's behalf, then so be it. It only made Rei guiltier.

The situation did get frenzied. Mike Wiet managed to escape the Headquarters, and the Secures attacked the protestors, first by pushing people away, then water, then tear-gas. When the people returned, they started firing, and the shielders took action. The bullets never hit the people; everyone, who'd run, stood astonished. Then some spotted the alien shielders protecting them. Videos of it surged on the LINC. The Secures continued firing; with the shield protecting them, people stood staring in awe at the bullets aimed their way ricocheting off the shield. By then, the Army had surrounded the Secures. The Army had surrendered to the Gale. When Rei had sent people to collect evidence on the Main-Lands, he'd also seen the importance of getting the Secures and Army on their side. The Secures were directly under Wiet, and the plan had failed. But the Army had come through to stand against Wiet; they'd hated the war on the South. The Army took control of the Secures and helped the Gale squad on the Main-Lands take over the Headquarters.

It was a surreal sight; even Rei had stared at the Screen, mouth open. If not for the shielders, it would've easily turned into mass murder.

Wiet still dared to announce he wasn't stepping down but only retreating for now. The Gale controlled the Headquarters; there wasn't much Wiet could do against them now. 'Wiet exits,' trended over the LINC and news even though he hadn't surrendered officially. Rei instructed Je'ai to search for Wiet and bring the man to him.

At long last, the Gale had control over the Headquarters and the support of the public.

****

"I need to!"

"Not yet," Vincent cut in.

"Rei huffed. "I must go. It's over."

"It isn't until we've found Wiet," Vincent explained, tone assertive. "There's still a risk to your life."

"I have Nir," Rei waved a hand at the Iernei guard, who rolled his eyes, making Rei scowl and Vincent smile.

"Just not now," Ena said with finality.

Rei, angry, walked out of the Premiere's office, hearing Ena and Vincent sigh in unison. Nir followed him.

"Traitor," Rei accused.

Nir grinned.

Rei wanted to go to the Main-Lands. Oh, the irony, he thought. When he was there, all he wanted was to live on the South. But if he were going to be a good leader, he'd have to go and handle things there, show himself to the people. He'd instigated the revolt; he'd stoked the fire; he needed to douse it.

The Gale squad and Je'ai were managing the Headquarters. They were expecting Wiet to retaliate with the Secures he'd escaped with and strike the office like they'd done the Gale Cores. It's why everyone fretted about Rei going.

Rei and the other Premieres were discussing the next phase of the plan. But for that, they needed Wiet in their custody and all of the Secures under their command.

"We did it, sort of," Rei told Leigh and Tailyn.

Many days following their deaths, Rei had found it hard to think of Tailyn's happiness on learning he and Vincent were together. It'd been the last time Rei had spoken to the kid. Tailyn's smile, which had reached his eyes, had tormented Rei. It didn't anguish him anymore. Now, it made Rei glad that he'd seen Tailyn happy, that Tailyn's happiness was his last memory of the boy, Tailyn's excitement for him.

"We've a long way to go," Rei continued. "I hope I won't disappoint you."

Nir came forward. The guard had always left Rei alone to this ritual of his. "Rei of Earth won't disappoint you, Tailyn and Leigh."

Rei's wide eyes gauged the Iernei.

"You can rest in assurance," Nir bowed and stepped back.

Rei faced the graves again, clearing his throat. He stood silently, relishing the whoosh of the wind, the brighter sun, and just the peace that came with living on the South-Land. At last, they were closer to bringing it to the Main-Lands.

A shuffling behind caught his attention. A guard; she bowed at them, speaking Iernei. It sounded like she sang a melodic lilting tune, albeit a song laced with alarm as the concern in her eyes gave her frayed composure away. When she'd spoken, her worry had transmitted to Nir.

"Hara says she's found Ytai activity on the other side of the land,"

Rei grimaced. "R'ies?" He knew they used the South as a base to land on Earth, far from the prying eyes of the Main-Lands.

Nir nodded. "And the H'eon,"

"I don't understand; Alton's dead."

"He's but one H'eon member, Premiere Oshiro."

Hara spoke to Nir, looking grim.

Nir studied her, and to Rei, it felt like he could physically see the thoughts running wild in Nir's mind.

"She thinks they may be handling In'ealk," Nir translated, standing straighter like he braced himself for bad news.

"In'ealk?"

"The Harvested Àvo souls,"

Rei staggered back; the sudden movement shot pain through his leg. He felt an unceasing, pounding drum replace his heart in his chest, loud and harsh. Not again, not again...

R'ies? And the H'eon.

"They're working together?"

"I suppose," Nir admitted, displeased.

Hara talked to Nir, who nodded and told Rei, "If it was only the R'ies, we'd have thought they're removing the In'ealk off Earth. But they're with the H'eon."

Rei ran his fingers through his hair. Aija had the Àvo, didn't she? What if the Ytai were only taking stock of the In'ealk?

"We need to find out what's going on before it's too late to stop them."

"Yes," Nir agreed with Rei.

Rei opened his mouth to tell Nir to take care of it when he froze. His whole body went taut.

There wasn't just one Àvo; there were many more.

What if the Ytai had one? 

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