I opened my eyes to see a face watching me. He held a bamboo flute in one hand. Wavy shoulder-length black hair, beautiful brown eyes, and a mischievous smile. He blinked twice when he saw me watching. 

"Sorry!" was all he said in a warm, soft voice, and he quickly left the room. Who was that? I glanced around to note that I was in my room. Empty walls, clean desk, but the only thing that reminded me of my room was a drawing that Ari had drawn of us when we were little, hung on the wall in front of my bed. I slowly got up into a sitting position. I glanced at my hand to see that I was once again pale. The virus must have worn off. I got out of bed, put my slippers on, and left my room. I knocked on the room next to mine, Ari's room, but no one answered. Where could she have gone? Maybe the cafe? I decided to begin searching there. 

"Yo, Reika! How ya' feelin'? Let me cook you something," the head chef said when he saw me enter the cafeteria. He had glowing night-kissed skin, purple dreads, and a happy grin. He always wore sunglasses inside, so I couldn't tell what color his eyes were. I could never figure how he made food with those on. 

"No, it's alright," I said politely, but the loud sound of my stomach rumbling said otherwise. He made a 'uh-huh' sound and quickly got to work. How long have I been out for? I sat down at a table. The sound of something cooking filled the air the chatter. 

"Hey, Reika, how are you feeling now?" asked a familiar voice behind me. I turned around to see Timothy from the science division. He had curly brown hair, circular glasses, exhaustion in his black eyes, freckles on the bridge of his nose. He had his hands stuffed into his lab coat pockets. 

"I'm alright. Thank you for asking," I told him shyly. 

"Everyone was worried about you. But you survived thanks to the success rate of your bonding with the Mani, right?"

I frowned. "Success rate?" 

"Don't you know? Your success rate is higher than any exorcist in history. You've successfully bonded 85% with the Mani." I looked at him in surprise. 85%? I glanced at my left hand. The light reflected on the jewel. Just then, the head chef came with my food. He sat them down at the table. The aroma of soup filled the air, garlic bread, and hot chai. 

"Hey, do you guys know where Ari is?" I asked them as I blew into the hot soup. 

"Didn't she go on another mission?" Tim said. Another mission? 

"How long was I out for?" 

"Probably three days," I took a sip of the soup and took a bite of the bread. Are we that low on exorcist that Caleb sent Ari alone?

"After ya' done eatin', you need to report to Caleb. He's been worried about you," the chef told me. I sighed out loud. Caleb was in charge of the black corps in this jurisdiction. He would always freak out whenever one of the exorcists got hurt. He thought of everyone as a family, which was nice.

"Did you know he helped nurse you back to health. Even though he has a tight schedule," Timothy told me. I smiled at the thought of him being worried for me. I continued to eat the warm food. I could picture him pushing all the papers of his desk instead staying up all night taking caring of us until we were in full health once again. 

After I was done, Timothy and I walked to Caleb's room, which was on the thirty level. I knocked on the door twice until I heard a coming. I walked into the huge room: instead of walls surrounding us, there were shelves full of books. A TV is on one side of the room with black couches and a coffee table in the center. Caleb sat in an office chair and a desk full of paper and books in the front of the room. He had four empty cups on the corner of one table. Stacks and stacks of paper were on the floor around his desk. Caleb glanced up as he heard us approach. He got up from his seat and came running to me. 

"How are you feeling now?" He asked me as he scanned for any other injuries. I smiled at him, "I'm fine, thank you for asking." He took my hand and led me to the couches. 

"Please have a seat." I sat down, and he sat on the coffee table in front of me. 

"You had me worried, but I'm glad to see you on your two feet. 

"Now, I want you to begin training starting tomorrow. I don't want any excuses either," he said as he crossed his arms across his chest. 

"Yes, sir," was all I said as I glanced away from his eyes. 

"We have a newly recruited exorcist. Let me call him," Caleb got up and talked into the desk phone. I just woke up, and now he wants me to train? I'm probably gonna end up dead. I wonder how long Ari's mission is gonna take. I wish we had phones. 

"Alright, he should be here any minute," Caleb said as he sat back down on the coffee table. As if on cue, someone knocked on the door, 

"That was fast," Caleb said in surprise, then he got up to open the door. I wish I could disappear right now. I'm not a people person. Timmity pulled out books from the shelves and flipped through pages. If he didn't find it interesting, he put it back. 

"Reika, meet Krishna, the new exorcist." I got up and turned around to meet the same beautiful brown eyes, glowing tan skin, shoulder-length black hair, and mischievous smile. 

"You. What were you doing in my room this morning?" I asked, as I pointed at him. Caleb looked at Krishna, then at me, as if he were watching a tennis match. Krishna just stood there staring at me. 

"I can explain to him. While you were out, you seemed to be suffering from awful nightmares, and Krishna here plays the flute beautifully. So, I had him help us out," Caleb explained. Krishna took his hand out.

"Nice to meet you." I shook it and, surprisingly, there were calluses on them. I let go and crossed my arms across my chest. 

"You should take him out to town," Caleb suggested. Do I have a choice? I didn't want to. I sighed out loud, "We can go at" I glanced at the grandfather clock, "at six." 

"How old are you?" I asked since he looked younger than Caleb. 

"I'm 25. What about you?" 25? He's five years older than I, and yet he looks my age. I cleared my throat, "A woman never tells her age." Krishna raised his eyebrows and grinned at me. For the first time in my life, I felt like punching that grin off his face. 

"Alright, 'll be leaving. If you get any news about Ari, please let me know," was all I said as I walked to the door and left the room. I kept walking with no destination in mind, but somehow I ended up on the floor. Scientists ran around with stacks of paper and tried their hardest not to fall on one another. The room was the size of two ballrooms. A giant green colored orb was in the center, wires from the orb connected to four computers on either side of it, and tables with papers, files, etc. These scientists worked hard day and night. 

"Reika, what brings you here today?" Mark said, when he saw me. He walked towards me with a big smile on his face. 

"Timothy, not with you?" he asked, sounding disappointed. I shook my head in answer. 

"He's in Caleb's room." 

"Man! We've so much work and yet he's goofing around," he said as he stretched his arms. 

"Well, I've a question."

"What's up?"

"Is a success rate with the Mani important?" 

"Of course it is! The more the percentage, the better the moves, more synchronization, and so much more we don't know yet. You're the first with an 85%. No one had been that far yet." 

"Alright, that's all I wanted to know. Thanks!" I waved him bye and left to go to my room. Success rate, huh? For the first time in my life the success-rate made me smile, but not in a good way.