"It's getting worse" he said. The smaller box was a portable mini laptop, and on its screen were numerous people standing like a doll and facing a three story building. The people in the picture were too numerous that it was impossible to see the ground where they stood. At the balcony of the Victorian building, stood a man in black hood.
"Who is that?" Matt asked
"That's General Zack, the new king of Anadan" The girl name Sandra replied with a deep voice. She was skinny with low cut hair, and her shoulders were broad.
"THE WHAT" Jeff and his friends asked simultaneously.
"Our source said this man traveled out of Anadan, to the real world" Leonard paused, letting it sink in "And now he's back, claiming he is the savior. To cut the long story short, we think this man kidnapped the king and usurp the throne. We also think he is dangerous as everything has been in chaos since he showed up"
"Chaos" Ham asked "That depends on your definition of the term. The screen only shows bunch of people in a conference."
"Right, Bunch of people without their free will. Do you see that?" Raz zoomed in and the other students stared with confusion. The crowd had their back on the camera, with gaze fixed on the man standing on the balcony.
"I see nothing odd" Matt said
"I mean this" Raz pointed and the rest of the student gasped. At the nape on each individual in the crowd, was a circular tattoo. Inscribe inside this circle was the word 'Heureux'.
"Heureux" Leonard explained "Is a French word for happy. For the past two months since this general showed up, people have been acting strangely"
"This is hilarious" Ham said laughing. "If all you have said so far were true, then why had the school not alerted anyone? And come to think of it, we watch TV every day, news about this man would have flooded the whole school."
"Ham, I think Leonard is right" Jeff said as he pointed at an image on the screen. All heads followed his finger as they stared with wide mouth, at a vague image in the shadow of one of the pillar. Raz zoomed further in, that the image became a blur, but its features remained recognizable.
"You have a bird eye Jeff, we hadn't noticed that initially." Raz said. The image was that of the creature the other students had found in Ema's apartment that day. But to be on a safer side, they all stared at the image as though it was the first time they had seen it.
"Again, I say these are all pictures probably posted to incite fear. Every Tom, Dick and Harry would have this news on their fingertips if it were true" Ham said with a little panic in his voice.
Jeff stared at him from the corner of his eyes and shivered. He couldn't tell if Ham had said that as part of playing ignorance or if he really meant it.
"The school won't tell you a damn. They know what is happening out there, that's why they cut us out from the rest of the world. No outgoing calls, no visit from friends or families. They just want us to believe that all is well, why the world is falling apart." Sandra said with frustration.
Silence envelop the room, each one of them lost in their own thought, trying to put two and two together and also trying to access everything. For starters, it was difficult for them to believe that the world they have come to cherish and adore; was changing.
"Why are you telling us this?" Pinna asked
"Because we need to create awareness, so people would be vigilant." Leonard said. His eyes went to Pinna; the dim light only lighted poorly the perfect smile on his lips. His face had no crease. It was as if they held all the answers to every troublesome moment.
"That's impossible" Ham shrugged. "I mean... nobody would believe a portrait from an unknown source. To make ends meet, you will need concrete evidence."
"We are still working on that, but the most important task at hand is going to warn Zone 3 about the new development." Raz said with an appealing gaze at the five.
Sensing confusion written on their faces, Sandra quickly briefed the five newbie about Zone 3.
"Zone 3 is a code name for a group, who are trying to stand against the government and its control technology; I prefer to call them, Defiant-3."
"So you mean you want us to sneak out of school, just to warn this Zone 3?" Ham asked and watched as the other three nodded their heads. The silence that envelope them this time was much longer.
"Why can't either of you warn this group yourself" Matt broke the silence not minding to hide the distrust in his voice.
"We can't, our presence is highly needed here" Raz said
"Wow, I don't suppose we are the only students in this academy you've showed this pictures" Ema who had been silent all along asked.
"Yes, you are not." Raz said smoothly and then turned to Jeff and Matt "But they are the only ones we trust, even though they are like pain in the ass."
"Is that supposed to make me feel any better?" Matt asked sarcastically, but was ignored.
"I will go" Jeff said after a long silence. He could see the disbelieving looks Matt threw at his direction but he paid no mind to it.
"I will go with Jeff" Ema said almost immediately. The rest of their friends all volunteered to go with them but Leonard objected the idea.
"We might blow our cover if five people just sneak out of the academy. The two of them would do." Leonard finished. Matt wanted to challenge him but decide to keep his peace when he got a reassuring look from Jeff.
"How do we find this zone 3" Ema asked stressing the word.
"You would need this, it would lead you to them" Leo said and handed over a small device to Jeff. The device contains a hologram map.
"So that's it, they inform this zone of yours and what next" Matt asked impatiently. The confusion swelling around him seemed to be increasing.
"They are not doing this for us. They are doing it to save millions of lives. I don't think you actually know what we are up against" Sandra asked Matt who was staring at them as though they have the whole world in their hands and was about to crush it to dust.
"Zone 3 is in the city of Balom, and we expect you to be back as soon as possible. You leave after the grand party." Raz said softly as he placed back the Laptop in a small box and hid it underneath a big one.
"Huh, I hate this" Matt frowned and walked out of the room. His friends followed behind, each of them lost in their own thought.