“Next!”

 Mira  walked in nervously. She bowed.

“Hi, I’m  Mira ! I’m here today for the little spies program.”

“Welcome, darling. You’re coming with your mom and dad today?”

 Mira  hesitated.

“No, Ma’am.”

“Hmm… and you come with your own volition? Mention a name, either you mom or dad.”

“I’m currently living with my dad, Casian.”

The room froze. The panels exchanged glances.

“Very well, we’ll call you back in a minute.”

The girl’s heart missed a beat. Did she say something wrong?

“Casian, Casian as in that Casian?”

“Yes, the photo and fingerprint confirm her identity as the daughter of Casian Rivenmere.”

“Think she came with Casian’s approval?”

“Are you crazy? He’d burn the whole city before he’d even let his daughter walk out and about.”

“Does she have powers, though?”

“That’s the thing. She’s a 50%, but she inherited none of the top 20 ranker’s brilliance.”

“She’d still have potential, I believe.”

They called her back in.

“Why do you want to join, kid? The training will be rigorous, and you’ll be sent to the South to who-knows-what. We’ll try sending aid or occasional communication, but other than that, you’d be left to survive alone.”

“That’s ok! I can cook, sew my own clothes, navigate new streets, and ask around. I can take care of myself. My dad’s always busy in his office, and I never see him smile. I want to join to at least lighten his burdens a bit, and I don’t see any way I can do that outside of this program.”

“Does he know you’re joining?”

“No – uhm, should I tell him?”

“No, no.”

The panels glanced at each other.

Should we recruit her?

She’s a 50%. She’s rare.

Her potential and almost-none powers for now would give her the best chance to pass security and survive.

She’s sweet.

She’s desperate too.

Will Casian rain down on us?

He would, but there would be nothing he could do except for going directly against the South himself. We’d have to fast track to send her within a month.

The lady chuckled. She rang her bell.

“You’re in, kid.”

 Mira  smiled, her blushing red.

The first week was orientation – and by rigorous, Mira didn’t expect that they meant try-not-to-sleep challenge.

“Lucian gained his powers after marrying into the Allevttes, which makes him entity. He has the ability to manipulate every living matter – Dilvei every non-living matter…”

The kids looked on, trying their best to keep their eyes as wide open as possible.

“Lucian’s rise to power was controversial, as the Southern faction, while seemingly cohesive and democratic, were hugely defined by segregation. Humans, faes, entities have their own lanes since birth – faes will become models, influencers, and everything related to appearances, entities everything related to power, humans relating to their numbers and immunity in long term manufacturing and crafts…”

 Mira  yawned.

“Lucian is deemed a wildcard and while he haven’t entered the official combat ranks, is placed in top 5…”

The poor girl blinked. They slept more than 8 hours a day but dang, so they really have no reason to doze off except that this guy have yapped for three hours straight and is have no intonation whatsoever…

“The Allevtte family are one of the core families in tier 1 with pure lineage. They commercialized and monopolized spatial manipulation, building an empire with the help of humans. Of course, there are attempts here and there for a dark market in this industry, but their reach in both the legal and underworld is extensive – especially after their heiress, Dilvei, joined the Society – a celebrity network of heirs and heiresses of several business empires. Now, for similar reasons, they had a clear diplomatic stance against harming humans and faes, but a neutral one towards entities’ higher position…”

 Mira  gasped, slapping herself. Did she doze off?? Wake up,  Mira , wake up!!

She looked around. Nearly everyone had fallen asleep.

The lecturer looked almost depressed.

“Is my lecture that boring?”

“Ahahah, I don’t think so…” Mira grinned guiltily, “The – uhm – lunch was too heavy.”

Then the mental drills.

“You were abandoned by your parents on a trip, you forgot what they look like, you are now lost.”

“I’m abandoned by my parents on a trip, I forgot what they look like, and I’m now lost!”

“Your parents used to play piano!”

“My parents used to play piano!”

“Why do you keep on trying to play the piano?”

“Because they remind me of my parents!”

“A fae’s reading your thoughts!”

 Mira  stared at the fly on the window. FLY FLY FLY FLY.

“You’re sad!”

 Mira  tried imagining the saddest things ever.

“Wrong! The fae is still reading your mind, so they’ll know!”

 Mira  quivered her lips, staring at the floor. SAD, SAD, SAD.

“More tears!”

SAD SAD SAD SAD SAD SAD SAD SAD. LOOK AT THAT FLY – IT LOOKS SO HUNGRY AWWW

“Ok now laugh!”

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY.

“Pretend I’m lady Allevtte.”

“Good day m’lady, you’re even prettier in person! I’m a huge fan!”

“WHAT WAS THE COLOR OF THE APPLE?”

“Blue!” BLUE BLUE BLUE BLUE.

Espionage.

“The hamster was pink, went to the store to buy purple, then realized that they are blue – then they bought an apple before they meet Mr. Onion before getting surprised by a Cheetus – “  Mira ’s heart missed a beat.

Damn it, she forgot!

She looked around. She needed to go back to gain more information.

The actor peered at  Mira . She waved cheerfully, smiling sweetly.

“Hi Sir! Do you know the direction to the grocery shop?”

“Oh yes, you go…”

 Mira  sneaked a few glances at the actor’s note and thanked the actor, returning to complete her report.

“Can you take the actor’s watch too?”

 Mira  glanced at the man. H-how did that previous kid s-steal the watch again?

“Hi!! I have some candy as a thank you!”

“Oh my gosh, you’re so sweet!”

 Mira  tapped the watch, tried taking it off, but it fell instead. OH MY GOSH, DUMB  MIRA !

 Mira  – not sure herself how she did it – grabbed the watch before it fell. She clasped her other hand, pretending the watch was in that empty palm.

She grinned nervously and put the bundled palm into his bag, nudging just enough that it felt like she really put something in.

“Ehehe sorry – OH, MY SISTER IS CALLING! See you later, Sir!”

“See you later!”

The instructors looked at each other in awe and nodded.

So, before the month ends, Mira boarded a train. The program helped her pretend joining a side course, and she left a note on her dad’s desk, “Enrolled in a science camp program till the end of the break – see you later!”

“We can only go this far with you, be careful, ok? Check in with us every month at least, use the device to encode your message. You are from now on your own, and if you ever decide to reveal us before your 20’s, we will deny you.”

 Mira  nodded.

She walked several hours further, out of the woods. A whiff of cherry blossoms hit her.

She froze.

Valleys of greeneries and flowers – the most vibrant ones you can think of – trapezed around and over neon buzzing cities, with trains over the skies and fresh crystal waterfall falling down the clouds.

Welcome to the South.