Assassins weren't an organised bunch like moosers were. They were shrouded in mystery as if secrecy earned them points for coolness. Vesper couldn't find the hub for assassins. And there wasn't a list of jobs. Vesper had to scour different hubs before finding a clue in the list of the more conventional jobs for mercenaries.
Vesper could write programs for a wide search of the deep market, but Farges had to describe the parameters. And Farges had no trouble seeing through the code. Assassination jobs were hidden between recon jobs. There was no standard cue for differentiation. It was merely language that an assassin could pick up on, while it was just a recon job for everyone else.
Unfortunately, the non-standardisation of the language meant that Vesper couldn't write a program to sort the recon jobs and separate the assassination jobs. And that seemed to be the point. Even in the rapidly changing world and the well hidden deep market, assassins were an elite lot.
By the time they read through a portion of the list of recon jobs and separated the assassination jobs, it was morning. And they were off to school.
— We're forgetting something.
"Sure we are. Wouldn't be normal otherwise."
— I don't understand.
"Thought you'd say that. We lost sleep."
— No. I mean, yes. Not that. Something else. Do you feel uncomfortable or something anywhere?
"No. Not sure what you mean."
The conversation ended abruptly as he walked down and out of the building. And saw Mia.
"Hi," she greeted cheerfully, like nothing was amiss with her being there at that time of the morning.
"Hi," Vesper greeted back. "You moved?"
Mia nodded vigorously. "I did," she beamed. "Closer to school. And closer to you."
Vesper was pleased, and showed it in his smile. She did say school first, but he knew he was more important.
"Here," she said, handing him something wrapped in foil. "Breakfast."
— Food. We forgot food.
"Wow," Vesper exclaimed. "I forgot to eat. You're awesome. What's inside?"
It was soft bread rolled over grated cheese and jalapeños with a hint of mint and tomatoes.
"You love it," she said with certainty.
"I do," he agreed, taking a bite. "You ate?"
"Yeah. Mine's different. Less jalapeños and no cheese. Instead, olives and garlic sauce. Had it already."
"Where do you live?"
"Palace heights. 402."
"Oh, nice. I'm 601."
"We're neighbours. That's so cool."
They were both delighted. They were talking, he was eating, and they arrived at school. Yugo was waiting outside the first year building. Hellos were said, smiles exchanged. And the important question brought up.
"We forgot to ask where to go," Yugo said.
"Huh," Mia exclaimed in confusion.
"I don't understand," Vesper said.
"We're supposed to learn cultivation from old man Migu," Mia explained. "But we don't know where to go."
"I don't understand," Vesper repeated. "Classes should be conducted in the classroom."
With that, confusion cleared away from their faces. Not long after, Yugo had another question.
"Which classroom?"
"We're two, so ours," Vesper answered.
And so, the three sat in the back of 1A's classroom, engaged in a serious discussion.
"Where do you live?" Mia asked.
"In Farth. Second lane," Yugo answered.
Farth was different from Citi Gardens. Citi Gardens had always been a premium residential area. Farth was originally the housing zone for the officers at the old airforce base. As the airforce shifted operations to the new base, the airport was opened to commercial operation. And Farth became the housing zone for the employees of the airport. Finally, when all commercial flights were diverted to the new airport, the airport of Farth was closed for all civilians and open only for government operations, and Farth turned into premium housing zone for government employees holding high stations.
"Your parents are civil servants?" Mia asked.
"My father," Yugo answered. "He's with the ministry of trade. Mother's a contractor. She doesn't really leave the house though. All her work is on nodes."
"Sounds important," Mia said in a dreamy tone. She then answered the question Yugo was hesitant to ask. "I'm from a business family. He's the same. And we live in Citi Gardens."
"Both of you?" Yugo asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I moved only last night."
"Because I'm there," Vesper bragged.
"True," Mia agreed.
"I want to move too," Yugo said wistfully. "Mom wouldn't agree. And dad's not home. He would help convince mom if he was. What do I do?"
Yugo looked troubled. Mia's smile was unaffected. Vesper looked confused.
"Why can't we just ask your mom?" He asked.
"We can ask," Mia explained. "She won't agree."
"Why not?"
"Because all her work is at home, in Farth," Yugo explained.
"That's easy," Vesper said nonchalantly. "We'll convince her in the evening. But where will she come?"
"Palace heights," Mia said, thoughtfully. "We'll take all of the sixth. You in 601. I'll be in 602. Yugo and her mom will take 603. It's big enough for a family."
"They're not all taken?" Yugo asked slowly.
"No biggie. We'll just buy them all," Mia said like it was the simplest thing. Leave it to me, her expression was saying.
Vesper wasn't sparing a thought. Looking at her two friends, Yugo was convinced.
A minute after they fell silent, Migu peered in through the open door.
"There you are," he exclaimed and walked in, followed by a boy and a girl. "We were waiting for you three, when I realised that you didn't know where we met. And so, I came looking for you. These two are your elder brother and sister. They don't look like it, but they're twins. Cain and Abel. Cain's the boy. Abel's the girl. And these three are the best of the first years. Vesper, Mia and Yugo."
Having introduced the five students, Migu wore the expression of a loving elder. "Shall we go?" He asked.
The five nodded, and followed Migu out. Along the way, they were all ears.
"Our school believes in cultivation styled after individual personality. So, the first step is deep exploration of the inner self. For beginners, meditating in quiet environments close to nature brings best results, since the inner self is firstly a reflection of the outside. Which is why our school is in the woods beyond the second ground. There are two other first years, Min and Drus. They've taken their first steps toward their inner selves. You'll be starting too. Cain and Abel will be your mentors. Cain for Yugo and Abel for Mia. As for Vesper, well, you'll be with me."
The seniors were surprised for only a moment, then nodded. By last night, everyone knew about Vesper. They didn't understand entirely, but they knew Vesper was special. That made it easy to accept old man Migu personally mentoring Vesper.
They arrived at the woods, that thinned near the centre, where a ground of students were cultivating. Migu pushed the introductions for later, and led Vesper away. Cain and Abel led Yugo and Mia to a quiet corner and began instructing the juniors.
Migu led Vesper deeper in where the woods were dense and the silence was heavy unlike the thinned woods where the silence was light and easy. Migu stared at Vesper and spoke honestly.
"I know you're stronger. I can't teach you. You need no teacher. If anything, you have much to teach me."
"I don't understand," Vesper replied.
Migu smiled, as if the reply was within his expectations.
"I'm saying, we could talk. About inner energy. About cultivation. About everything related."
This, Vesper understood. He nodded. "We could talk."