He stopped in my way, and made Toroyal's peace sign.

I decided to go to Toroyal's archives, to know if there was a potential person, other than my brother, that could have the Sensitive DNA we would use to make me both sensitive and smart. The city's family archive were the perfect place to get to know more about your family.

I thought I would get there fast, find if I have any cousins, take their name, and phone number, then leave.

Nothing's ever that easy. A lot of things came in my way on that hot summer afternoon of April. The building I was heading to was in downtown. And Downtown was crowded that Friday. Everybody was out. I was happy that I would be left right in front of the building, because walking among the insane amount of people was not appealing to me.

Besides, I had to be there before they closed. There were roughly forty-five minutes left. I couldn't come any earlier than that because of work.

About fifteen minutes later, my AirCar lowered itself in the busy and parked.

"what the heck?" I yelled, my footfall heavy as I approached where my Guards were seated. "why did the drier stop?"

"you're getting your thirty minute of walking left." replied Mic, the head manager of my seven other bodyguards

I rolled my eyes. Yes, I had a minimum amount I had to walk every week. Programmed time. but I couldn't do it at the moment.

"I can do it later. Tell him to restart."

"nope. You cant. Last day."

I glared at him. "Mic! I'm running out of time!"

He stood up, hovering over me. He was a foot taller. "Then you better get going."

All of my bodyguards followed his move. Sometimes, I hated the fact that they never spoke. They almost looked like robots; only following orders, always having nothing to say. didn't they have a brain, and thought for themselves.

If Min had wanted to make my driver made out of metal move, he would have. Father gave him access.

I went to my cabin, grabbed a cap, and some sunglasses. They wouldn't stop people from recognizing me. Or seeing me get out of my car parked right in front of them – thanks Mic. But at least I'll feel less like an animal being displayed at a zoo.

I unlocked the door, and a white metallic staircase lowered itself on the pavement. I took the stairs two at a time, and jumped the last few ones. When I heard footsteps following my moves, I raised my head to the sky, and sighted.

"look at the crowd. It'll take us twice as long to get to where I am supposed to be." I told Mic. There was barely space between people.

I was going to be late. I was going to be late. What would that say about my expertise to the High Science Council? That I'm a kid that can't meet her obligations?

"my job is to keep you safe, Autumn. No matter what. You better get going." He tightened his belt, and when he started walking, the crowd, recognizing him, made space for him.

Maybe it would be easier to get there than I thought.

I followed him, with my team of people. I kept yelling 'excuse me', 'I'm sorry but I need to pass', 'I'm on a time deadline and need to pass' to people. Although it helped, the crowd was tight. The afternoon wanderers were having a nice walk in the 15 degrees Celsius. After a winter of minus forty-five, fifteen was warm. It would take too much time to get there.

I clicked on the screen of my AirPhone. Seven minus fifteen minutes.

I wiped with a tissue the sweat on my forehead. Part of it was because of the stress I felt. I thought I wasn't moving enough.

Then I stopped moving.

I saw a man kneeling on the ground, with a crowd surrounding him. "Excuse me. I need to pass."

He extended his hand in front of him, and stood. I stopped dead in my tracks. A quick glance at my AirPhone told me there were ten minutes to seven. I already doubted I would make it on time, because I had 900 meters to walk.

The hooded man made sure I wouldn't.

When he motioned for me to stop, immediately, my guards formed two double diamonds in front around me. The formation made sure everyone was looking at each side of me.

"We're keeping you safe, Autumn." Mic said, close to my ear. I nodded. A few people had tried to hurt me in the past. Aside from a kidnapping of a day, and a few bullets over the years that barely touched my skin, nothing too serious had been done to me. It was the price I had to pay for fame.

Did he want to hurt me?

He made peace signs with both of his hands. Then placed them at the sides of his head. Then he joined in front of his body, horizontally, the peace signs forming a solved puzzle.

My bodyguards pulled out their arms. Everyone was watching with furrowed eyebrows. It was the peace sign of Toroyal. A lot of people did horrific things in its name.

"may you achieve great things while staying safe." He said.

He didn't not yell. Because of the silence that was heavy on everyone's shoulders, and the silence question "is he about to take his gun and fire?", it felt like he screamed.

It was the reminder that something freaky was happening.

Then he turned around. Because the crowd was also holding their breaths, it immediately created a perfect path for him.

He ran. Fast. When the crowd closed in, he disappeared in the mass of people.

What had just happened? Again, the word safe was mentioned. Why? Did he know about the surgery I was performing soon?

I regained my pace. This time, it was easier to pass people. Since everyone was looking at me, to know my reaction, a few path was formed for me. I just ran it, with my bodyguards.

I got there late. But because I'm "The Perfect She" -in his words- he waited for me and let me in. After lengthy procedures of security check-ins, and check-out of the building, and research while looking at my geological tree in between the two, I was out by eight o'clock.

The man responsible of closing and opened had been advised I was coming, and stayed for me. I was impressed, too. I was not someone worth worshipping. Or waiting for that long. I was just me.

I truly didn't understand the obsession.

By the way, back to the question of; did he know about the surgery.

Drumroll. Yes. He did.

How he found it, was the question I tried to solve throughout the story. The answer I got later, was satisfying.

The first step, though, to find out was figuring out who stole my papers from the High Council. It's what I did the next day with Johnny.