Earthen Series Part One**Follow Aija, Zuri and Ze, as they are plunged into the dark world of aliens who are working to destroy the human race and take over the Earth; as they are faced with difficult decisions regarding love, feelings, abilities, t...
Alex shook his head and handed Zuri her widened Scroll. "It was vibrating."
There were messages from Aija and Ze. And two missed calls from Aija.
'Did you speak to Aija? I'm worried.' Ze's message read.
Zuri sighed; she hadn't told him anything yet. How was she supposed to inform him of aliens? She wasn't supposed to tell anyone.
Aija's message seemed longer. She opened it.
'I debated this over with myself for a long time. I didn't want to tell you initially - you're at home, and that's good. But, then I knew you'd be furious if I didn't inform you. Etrie wanted to meet you as well. There is going to be a 'party' tonight. I'm at Quinn's right now. Kuna will pick you up at the Apartments; I will meet you directly at the 'party.' If you want to join us, you need to be here by ten tonight.'
Zuri reread it just to make sure she had read it correctly. She had. Obviously, 'party' meant a Harvest stopping mission.
She looked at her mother and then at Alex. If she had to reach Innermost by ten that night, she would have to leave the latest before lunch. There was a possibility of Alex making a fuss. But, she wanted to go on the mission.
She thought about it for a while about what she would tell them while she packed her bag. Finally, she decided to tell them that she had forgotten some vital school work and that she needed some materials for her study, which was only downloadable at the school library.
Alex was upset, but surprisingly he didn't make a fuss by crying and pleading her to stay like he often did. Maybe he was growing up after all. She called her father and told him of her sudden change in plans, kept a food package for lunch and hurried to the Sub-Terra Turbo Station. Now wasn't the time for enjoying views, she had to get Innermost as soon as she could.
She put in a text message to Omar saying she couldn't make it to lunch at his place, but to take Alex anyway. The distraction would do him good, and her friends took good care of her brother.
Zuri reached the Sub-Terra Turbo station in time for the next train. She scanned her left index finger at the Pay Gate and ran to the Inbound Trains Platform. She hopped onto the train just as it closed the doors behind, hitting the bag on her back. It wasn't as packed as the Terra Turbo train would have been in the afternoon. She had traveled just once before in the Sub-Terra, after which she had decided she liked the views from the Terra-Turbo.
The interiors were plush and more comfortable. Zuri walked from compartment to compartment, searching for one without anyone. She walked through the DigiScreens, which separated two compartments. They buzzed out of focus as she walked through them, and she felt the gentle prick of electricity on her skin. She walked through an ad for pre-packed sweetlings now available in food stores out of Innermost.
She had to ask her dad if they indeed were the next time she spoke to him. She finally found an empty compartment and took a seat. She had already texted Aija that she would be joining them on the mission. Aija hadn't been pleased; she had hoped Zuri would refuse since she was far from Innermost. But, Zuri wasn't going to give up on it that easily.
Aija had been spending a lot of time at Quinn's place, especially since the blast at the Research Centre. Zuri wasn't sure if Aija truly enjoyed being there close to Quinn, but her parents made sure Aija was there during the weekends.
Thomas Ersco had been found two days after the blast. He hadn't been found at the Institute; he had gone home by himself, all clean and having changed into new clothes. It was apparent that he had spent the two days elsewhere, but he wouldn't speak of it. He hadn't spoken at all for three straight days, after which he did, but very little just asking for food and speaking of casual stuff as if he hadn't experienced something terrible.
The Ersco family was, of course, happy that he was physically unhurt and that he was alive. But, they were worried that the blast had a terrible effect on his mind. He hadn't returned to work, and it didn't look like he would for a while. The only thing about the blast he had told them was that a colleague had come running to him and told him something was wrong and that they needed to get out immediately. Thomas had wanted to warn the others, but his colleague had told him that he'd already informed many of them and that they would get out. Thomas didn't know where the colleague was after they got separated when running out. It was inexplicable, but no one had a choice but to accept what he had told them.
****
Zuri went home, changed into more comfortable clothes – jeans and a t-shirt. She tied her curly hair into a bun, and on Aija's advice wore a jacket. Zuri hadn't much need for them in Innermost. It got cold sometimes in her small town, but it wasn't unbearable. She owned two or three jackets just for how it seemed to complete a few of her outfits.
Her Scroll beeped somewhere in the living room. "Read the message," she commanded.
'Be out by ten. I'll take you.' The male voice of her device read it out.
She found her Scroll and checked the number. The contact had auto-saved as Kuna.
She still had some time before she had to head out, so she had dinner, took some rest, and then headed out of her Apartment block. Precisely at ten, she received a text from Kuna. 'Where are you?'
'Outside my building.' she replied.
'I'm outside the gates. Come.'
In the time it took her to go outside the gated housing complex, she had yawned thrice. She should have slept on the train, but her excitement hadn't let her. She had tuned into the arts channel where a re-run of the year's drama production was on, and she had watched it, to distract herself.
She went out as the gates slid open, auto-unlocking for her and looked around. Kuna emerged from behind a tree. He didn't look pleased, but he didn't say anything about it.
"This way," he said, turning around.
"You're still mad about this?" she asked as she fell in step beside him. Kuna was tall, but so was she, and she comfortably matched his fast pace and long strides.
"I'm only doing this because Etrie wanted to meet you."
"Why?"
"To erase your memories..." he regarded her as he said it.
For a single moment, she thought he was joking and was about to laugh at it, but he sounded and looked serious. So, she kept quiet, turning away from him.
Well, if Ytai could Harvest souls, they could surely erase memories.
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