Even though W told her the story time and time again, she could never believe it... Until her Life Bearer managed to get their hands on video footage of that day. Then, X could never get rid of the images she saw... The screams... It was all printed inside her mind, burned with a metaphorical branding iron unlike the very real one which repeatedly marked her deceased Life Creator.

H DY YD RSL only loved four things : their spouse, their two children and their farm. Unfortunately, their Half-Breed status meant that the last one of these wasn't as successful as they had always dreamed. What self-respecting Mind would stoop as low as to buy produce from a Half-Breed farmer, right..? X, through reading several human-written books, discovered this situation would've angered an Earthling. Needless to say, Exons never felt this emotion. Consequently, her family and herself were simply disgusted and grief-stricken when it happened, and during the years that followed. H could be seen in the recording, closing up their tool shed. As they were about to slide the padlock in place, with the howling wind as their only companion, a shadow appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen. The camera picked it up, but her Life Creator didn't seem to realize someone sneaked up behind them. The hooded silhouette jumped forward, tackling their target. Luckily, even with the symphony of nature, the microphone could capture their exchange as they both rolled and fought on the ground.

     " Who are you?! What do you want?! " asked her Life Giver.

     " Stay silent or I'll kill you..! "

     " I am not going to surrender to some pathetic... "

The stranger cut him off:

     " I wouldn't end that sentence. "

     " Some pathetic creature who won't even fight me face to face! " H yelled.

     " Coming... From a Half-Breed like you... It's the pot... Calling the kettle black, my friend..! "

     " Don't call... Me... Your friend ! "

The struggle was starting to show in their voices and that's when her Life Creator's soon-to-be murderer whipped out a plasma-ray out of their light grey trench coat. Raising their four upper limbs, H stepped back. The attacker's hood had now fallen down, revealing the antennas and three eyes of a deranged Mind. Their blue hair was long and tangled, falling over their face in wisps.

     " It's yo-..! " Her Life Creator started to say when the plasma-ray's more or less inaudible power hit them right in the chest.

The glowing light faded out, revealing a wide and neatly cut circular gash, almost centered between their seven arms. The Exon, who would later be identified as D WT OO YCZ, went inside the tool shed to arm themselves with nothing other than X's Life Giver tragically famous branding iron. H used it on their animals to prevent anyone from stealing their livelihood. Now, it would be what took their life away. The never-ending yelps of pain following every mark made by the warmed up iron filled her nightmares for years. When H's body was nothing more than a pile of charred, sizzling flesh, D left with a sick expression of tranquility on their face. Then, sounds of doors opening and feet hitting the ground were heard off-screen for as long as barely over two minutes. That's when W came running, chased by their Life Creator's murderer. They had managed to get hold of the branding iron. Holding it like a sword, after a short altercation, it permitted them to disarm their opponent. The plasma-ray went flying away from the camera's range. Immediately, D sprinted on their eight legs and her sibling was left alone with the murder weapon, standing over the corpse.

Her Life Bearer evidently found this recording to prove their child's innocence. Deep down, Xarya always wondered how technology slithered its way onto her Life Giver's farm. Although they weren't Minds, living on the MoonSide had affected her parents' values. When she offered to bring them anything from the SunSide, she faced W's strong disapproval on account of that she would get caught easier if she was carrying provisions. Slowly but surely, she realized that separating Exons in three categories, then on two different sides of the planet, took quite a toll on the aliens' mental state. Her sibling's included.

It seems incredible to her, that even without using fear or anger to control the inhabitants of Exon, like Earth rulers do, their society is still entirely dominated. The hate-fuelled gap between the Brains and the Minds, the Half-Breeds' inferiority... If it doesn't remain because of Exonian Rulers and Exonian Law Enforcers, then how else does it?!

X takes out the final element out of her suitcase: a white cotton drawstring bag, while listening to Helen's recitation of rules.

     " Although I have a pretty good idea how trouble-prone you are, I don't know you well enough to know if this is something I must mention... No swearing, no drinking, smoking is allowed on the balcony accessible from our lounge area, but nowhere else. Romantic relationships are heavily discouraged. No students are allowed here and staff members aren't welcome in their dorms, except for medical purposes. You cannot leave the property unless you wrote a letter asking for permission to Mister Beaufort. Actually, you will simply give it to someone from administration, but he's the one who supposedly reads them and sends back a signed permission slip. Every teacher at the Beaufort Orphanage and Educational Institute has to complete 6 hours of work outside of our classroom time every week, I'll show you the tasks calendar later. The following ones are more pieces of advice. Do not get attached to the orphans, alright? They could get adopted any time. So, don't. And for what it's worth, I highly recommend not wandering around in the surrounding woods. If you hurt yourself or get lost, no one's going to save the new young and naive teacher. Trust me... "

A metallic clinking grabs her roommate's attention, interrupting her speech. The alien pulls the contents of the bag out, under the intrigued stare of the mathematics teacher.

     " Are those..? "

X puts the tenth tea tin down onto the counter, followed by a jar of Maraschino cherries and a glass container of caramel.

     " They're tea tins and dressings for my peppermint tea! " The alien smiles disarmingly, making her interlocutor laugh instead of simply gaping at her.

     " Alright... " Helen is still chuckling. " ...Erm, once you've put them away, join me downstairs. Your key to the teacher's housing is in one of the bottom drawers, by the way. "

The lounging area's farthest wall offers a jaw-dropping view onto an infinitely deep cliff through large bay windows. Beyond the insurmountable and almost perfectly vertical slope, only more trees fill up the horizon under the clear sky. That's also where the balcony is situated. The first thought that comes to her mind is how dangerous that decision is. A slight push or even an accident and... Eternal sleep here I come, she mentally concludes. To the right is the kitchenette and the left side of the room is occupied by a Pool table, Foosball table and many couches accompanied by coffee tables. A few teachers are chatting and they all stop to look at her when she enters. Her roommate encourages her with a slight tilt of the head. Her prettiest smile stretching over her face, X introduces herself:

     " Hello, my name is Xarya Pepper and I am the new English Teacher. It is a pleasure to meet you all. " She delicately strokes the front of her white dress.

After what feels like hours of fascinating conversation, but was only a few minutes of meeting everyone, the average-level mathematics teacher and her are once again alone. Standing behind the island of the kitchenette and away from the others, the human informs her they should head to the South Tower to finish up any remaining paperwork related to X's arrival.

The two ladies are walking back to their house when Dustin emerges from between two flowery bushes, holding a pair of pruning shears. His dark brown eyes widen and Helen reacts playfully to his visible but seemingly random shock.

     " Don't tell me you already forgot about Miss Pepper. You did give her a ride over. "

     " To be honest, I wasn't sure she'd survive spending so much time with you. I almost packed my bags and ran away when you gave me your boring tour of the place. " The caretaker seems to have recovered from his momentary bewilderment. However, he's still glancing rapidly at X, then back at his coworker. The strawberry blonde fakes being offended to say :

     " How dare you..! " She doesn't end her sentence and sticks her tongue out like a child. The extraterrestrial's giggling triggers her to start laughing too. Apparently, around Dustin, she can't keep a formal front for very long... But X doesn't mind at all. Actually, she appreciates this honest behavior from her new roommate. The alien accidentally locks eyes with the security guard. Lowering them, she notices something which is barely, while still being, worrying...