Once Helen manages to get a grip on her pendant, she asks X: " Xarya, right..? Where do you come from again? "

     " Oh, I was born here. " She offers her guide her friendliest and most convincing smile.

     " And your parents? "

The alien is momentarily sidetracked as memories of her Life Givers rush across her mind. Her Life Bearer, even if they are a Half-Breed, managed to become an agent of the ELEA after years of strenuous work and sacrifices. It all payed off when they finally were recognized and obtained the career they had been longing for. They're the one she inherited her bright green hair from. As for her Life Creator, they were a hard-working and devoted farmer. Her ink-colored eyes are identical to theirs. Except, hers can still see...

     " Them too... Why are you asking? "

Maybe she should've lied to explain why she didn't know what a "chapel" was, but deviating from her original backstory isn't a risk she's willing to take. Not yet, anyways.

     " The chapel is where we pray or host Mass. It's like a smaller church, except it's owned by the Beauforts. "

Then, the visit continues. The common space, accessible from all Towers through doors which face the centre of the diamond-shaped building, is where students hang out between classes. For the enthusiastic alien, it's truly dream-like, but nothing compared to the gardens that stretch in all their breath-taking beauty behind the school. The instant they cross the second exit of the North Tower, her black irises sparkle with wonder. Down flared brick stairs, a shimmering river runs peacefully, its water seems so pure that it could be made of molten crystals, and its stream bed is parallel to the establishment. Hundreds, no, thousands of flowers and plants grow on each of its sides. The extraterrestrial never saw so many colors at once and so many shades... There is just something about the way the petals bloom with strength, the fruits dangle gracefully, the stalks sprout from the rich soily ground, the leaves shade over parts of the fresh grass... Even on the MoonSide, the species of plants aren't all that varied. Noticing the new teacher abruptly stopped walking, Helen does too.

     " Are you alright? "

     " I've never been better! "

By the expression that briefly appears on her interlocutor's face, X guesses the emotional depth of her answer was perceivable in her tone and that it made the mathematics expert feel awkward.

The two women travel across the - fortunately - quite steady wooden bridge over the flow of water to reach a medium-sized house made of the exact same taupe colored brick as the building they left minutes ago. Insanely tall hedges and equally huge evergreens, while blending into the surrounding woodlands, camouflage the structure. Unless they go through the back garden and up to the bridge, the students probably don't even know this is here. Using a heavy-looking copper key, the strawberry blonde lets them in.

     " To your left, male dormitories. To your right, female ones. Straight ahead, you'll find the kitchenette and lounge area. Follow me, I'll show you your room. "

The walls have wooden panelling and the floors, in the same tint of wood, are mostly covered by a carpet whose color reminds the alien of the Earth alcoholic beverage called wine. Up a narrow flight of stairs, which is unsurprisingly of the matching wood tone, along with the banister, are aligned the doors to three additional bedrooms.

     " You can fit all the teachers here?! " inquires the extraterrestrial.

     " There are two beds in each of the six rooms, I never had to share mine... Up until today. "

Before X can think about what comment she should make, considering her roommate's obvious disappointment, Helen lets her into Room 6. There is a spotless sink surrounded by equally immaculate counters over three narrow cabinets on the farthest wall, under a cottage type window, which is currently half-hidden by thin lavender blinds. So close to the cabinets that they could make one piece of furniture with them, two tall wardrobes stand barely four feet away from the end of the beds. Built with the dark orangey brown wood she's seen all over her new residence, the bed frames are each pushed against their respective sides of the small room. The bedding is also lavender, but of a darker shade than the blinds. Under the beds, three wide yet understandably low drawers fill up the space. Her fellow teacher closes the door behind them.

     " You can start unpacking, do you mind if I keep speaking while you do so? "

     " Not at all! "

Xarya swings her suitcase onto the right side bed, since the left one has a pair of scuffed boxing gloves resting near the end of the soft bedspread. A fighter ? The fiery human does look the part, more than herself, at least. She opens up her luggage and starts taking out her completely white wardrobe elements to store them. Seven pairs of navy denim overalls are already hung on a third of the hangers inside her closet.

     " One for every day of the week, " mentions her coworker, even if she had already figured that out.

Smiling, X takes a pair of overalls off the hanger.

     " Stating the obvious is something us teachers really get used to doing, I see. Most people assume it's just one of my flaws... Oh, must I wear these, also ? " She looks at them with a reluctant facial expression, before turning to Helen and offering her a pleading look.

     " Of course. " A sneaky grin appeared on her face.

     " I wear white. Always. " At this point, she is basically thinking aloud.

     " And it's a risky move, especially when... Never mind that, all staff members dress with those overalls. " Her grin becomes empathetic.

On Exon, the Minds, Brains and Half-Breeds belong to a color, specific to their kind. It's reflected in their hair and when they die, during the decomposition of their body, the corpse turns this color before completely rotting and reaching the darkest point: black. Those three colors happen to be the only colors on Exon, they're the primary colors of light. Minds are associated with blue, Brains with red and Half-Breeds, well, with green of course. As for clothing, Minds dress up with materials found in nature which they sew in the simplest ways. On the contrary, Brains modify the fabrics to make them resistant to just about everything and comfortable for the wearers. Furthermore, clothing for the inhabitants of the SunSide, like herself before she moved to Earth, is always grey. The special substance used to make the textiles so invulnerable impacts the way light is reflected or absorbed by it. Incidentally, the moment they stop growing, younglings will be defined by wearing light grey and elders will end up with dark grey clothes. Logically, anyone can buy new clothes, but the chemicals in which they are soaked before sale makes it impossible for any regular citizen to change their color. Only time can make a piece of clothing darker. Exonian Law also prohibits selling purely white or black clothing. They exist, but exclusively Exonian Law Enforcers and Exonian Rulers may wear them. White and black represent the absence or the unity of all colors. Therefore, true impartial figures to which protecting the people is a priority above everything else are the only ones worthy of bearing those symbols. One might suggest those who work in medical fields or lawyers could be allowed to wear black or white, but it's the law.

The government on Exon is called the Exonian Ruling and is comprised of fourteen Exonian Rulers, seven from each halves. They rarely modify anything in the set of Exonian rules and some members have kept their position for nearly 200 years. An average Exon can live up to 300 years and the current record is held by IW OC TY, who perished at the age of 405 years, 2 months and 6 weeks. Exonian Rulers, when they're not attending meetings, act as judges. No one is allowed to apply any sentence in a courtroom without their approval, on any sides of the planet. The seven Rulers from the MoonSide and the SunSide are ranked from 1 to 7, 1 being the level every Exonian Ruler aspires to reach. There has never been a Half-Breed in the Exonian Ruling and elections happen every 30 years. The Brains, the Minds and the Half-Breeds elect 26 candidates, who then fight for their position during The Test. The Test is physically as well as mentally challenging and the Last Round is the biggest event. The ten contestants who rank lowest from each half of Exon take part in combat, which often ends in death for some competitors. The three strongest from each team become the six other Exonian Rulers, along with the three higher rankers who didn't have to engage in violence. The biggest advantage of being one of the two First Exonian Rulers, FERs for short, is immunity. When they've managed to become number one on Exon, they're acquitted from The Test. In other terms, their subjects or rivals can't get rid of them.