William tapped the surface of the circular breakfast table while staring down the front entrance of his group's favourite dining spots. The party of four had already placed their orders, and the first plates were on route to being served. Despite all of his instant messages sent that morning, Astral hadn't replied to a single one of them. He even offered to drop by a little earlier at her residence so she wouldn't get lost.

While he was there, he figured he'd get the chance to check out the ritzy palace that the academy deemed worthy of the elite. Without an invitation, he wouldn't be allowed to cross the threshold. It would have been a great chance to meet some of the other residents and improve his social net worth.

His last message to her was explicit instructions on how to get from the upper-class student residents to his group's little slice of paradise. There were a handful of specialized cafes all along the street facing the education towers. Many of them were run as a senior year project for leadership studies in a near real-life exposure to business operations and management, all under the supervision of an assigned instructor. It was a bit too complicated for William's taste. By the end of this year, he'd have to figure out what leadership program he was going to choose as his focus. He planned to choose the one that was popular with the rich kids. This year, he wanted to focus his energy on cultivating those relationships that would help him gain acceptance into elite-driven course materials. There were only so many seats and if he wasn't academically strong or socially relevant, his chances of succeeding dwindled. It was a challenge he was all too ready to accept.

The cafes served as unofficial hangouts to the two squad offices nearest to it. In this case, their little piece of paradise catered to supporters of squads VII and VIII. During the games, the small space that could barely contain fifty students, would be packed with supporters. On any other day, these little culinary delights maintained near full occupancy during three lunch cycles and three dinner cycles. Students who favoured sleeping in would often skip breakfast all together or resign to eating in the dining hall closest to their dorms. William was one of those students, except for today. Today, he wanted to keep up appearances. He wanted to make sure that his position within his little group remained unchallenged. He hoped that he could prove his worth through his association to Astral, whose political connections would benefit anyone who wanted to advance their careers. He wasn't entirely sure, how she could help his friends with those goals, but Reginald had only taken an interest in William when he l

earned of the summer student. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that someone from Reginald's family would have had someone like William in his social circle if he could help it.

"Your friend coming, hun?" Sarah, Reginald's younger sister, asked in a baby voice. Her voice could make boys do whatever she wanted. He was sure she knew it too. He was proud that her siren's call had no effect on him. She smiled and cocked her head to the side; her blond ponytail tumbling over her shoulder. Her white blazer hung open, revealing the black vest beneath it. Her blouse was unbuttoned just far enough down to hint at the possibility of revealing the cleavage of her growing breasts. Tall black stockings hugged legs fit for a dancer, stopping to hint to her the existence of her thighs that were covered up by a black pleated skirt.

"Don't call him that," Reginald barked at his sister. "People will talk."

Sarah grabbed at William's arm, her breast nuzzling him. "So what!" She pouted. Sarah was his age and shared many of the same classes, following the leadership curriculum.

"He's not a good match, and you know it," Reginald glared at his sister. "Sorry, Will, but it's true." William couldn't hope to match the matrimonial bids that Sarah would attract when she'd go public at sixteen. She already had suitors bidding privately. Though legally, none of those bids could be accepted, the fact that she was attracting bids as young as four years old was an aspect of great pride for her family. Being the youngest of the family, she would never be the head of her family's operations. If she chose to chair a division, she'd have to answer to her father and then her oldest brother. The way William heard it, her only worth was in what she was able to attract as a potential business merger to increase the overall wealth of the family.

He felt bad for her. Her parents dictated everything she was allowed to do and her watchdog brothers monitored her every move. If he were in her shoes, he'd take every opportunity to have a little fun too. Knowing she was using him to antagonize her brother was probably why her little games had no effect on him. He knew better than to take her seriously.

"Astral didn't message back," William told Reginald, ignoring his role in the game. Reginald was a senior student following the Leadership track. He had a perpetual sour expression on his face, as though nothing in life pleased him. He and his sister shared similar traits. Dark brown eyes, carless blond curls, and fair skin. Their home was back in the great Capitol City, where real sunlight would never touch their skin.

"I ran a search on your friend." Liam was Reginald's right-hand man and best friend. He was the tech fiend of the group and knew all the clever tricks to by-pass the system. Unlike his best friend, Liam was following the technology education branch. The pair had plans to use their inheritance to start a tech company after graduation. Liam had short, dark brown hair, beetle black eyes, and smile fit for a young politician.

"Oh?" He loved learning all sorts of neat tricks from Liam. He wondered if the tech geek had come up with a workaround for their problem. He couldn't come up with a good reason Astral wouldn't turn up in searches. Wasn't illegal or something to dodge scanners?

"Her name is spelt with two A's right?" Liam adjusted his glasses as he input the search parameters on his tablet as though pulling up the proof of his lack of results would make believers out of the doubters. William nodded. "Yeah, it's Daamon, with two A's."

"She's not in the system," Liam confirmed and showed Reginald. William panicked. 'Did she go home?' Reginald's dark, accusing eyes burrowed into William's soul. "That's funny," Sarah came to his rescue, "because it was all over the news feeds that she was coming to this school. But they didn't show any pictures of what she looked like. That would have been a huge help."

"Sarah, you are as genius as you are beautiful!" Liam grinned. He only ever smiled when he spoke to Sarah or when he'd solve a particularly nasty logic problem. "She was called into the courtyard about ten to five. If we monitor the courtyard security feed, we should be able to track your friend," he shared.

"You can do that!" William exclaimed.

"We're encouraged to break into the system," Liam explained. "It helps to expose security faults. No one's stupid enough report them. What would be the point of exposing an exploit?" He set to work on his tablet, barely conscious of the food being set on the table.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING FREAK!" Sarah's shrill shrieks combined with the smashing of plates drew all eyes to her. She rose to her feet, her chair falling backwards. By the time she saw the damage she had caused with the intent to put the Enhanced waitress in her place, the occupants of diner had frozen in place, riveted to the drama.

Astral stood amongst the debris of broken glass and ruined food, her stockings torn and her uniform ruined with hot food. In Sarah's attempt to make a scene, she had failed to notice the approach of their much-anticipated guest. In seconds, Astral had removed her shoes and her stockings to reduce burns, grabbed the nearest cloth handkerchief to clean up the liquid remnants from her skin.

Security personnel barreled through the door, forcing the stunned Sarah down onto the table and binding her hands, ignoring her protests.

Reginald shot to his feet in his sister's defence. "Arrest the freak! This wouldn't have happened if she was where she was supposed to be!" He shouted firmly. The security staff ignored the blustering teen, dragging the confused girl out of the restaurant to be processed.

"My mother will have your jobs!" Reginald shouted after them. He followed them for a few steps. "Don't worry, Sarah, I'll call mom!"

Liam collected Reginald's things and hurried after him, ploughing his shoulder into the waitress, causing her to fall to the ground. William knew that he was expected to follow but found that he caught under Astral's crystalline stare. There was something oppressive in the way she looked at him, as though someone else was looking through those eyes, and they didn't like what they were seeing. Her long inky black hair was left lose, breaking the carefully manicured look that his father always insisted she maintain in public.

He opened and closed his mouth several times in the hopes that an excuse would miraculously present itself. "Those were the friends you were so desperate for me to meet?" Astral voice was tightly controlled, a cross between disapproving and on the verge of rage.

"It's her fault," William defaulted to the only excuse his group had, "those freaks shouldn't be here! That's why we pay a premium." Dinners who could afford to set premiums did so, the rest of them were happy to scrounge up whatever business was left. His group's little piece of paradise had the luxury of playing host to the top ranking team, three years running. Squad VII had legions of supporters, whose fans were all too happy to dine out for the chance to share a meal with the academy's favourite team. Such a huge following meant that the cafe's project coordinator could afford to establish an unspoken anti-enhanced rule.

Astral sucked in air through clenched teeth and shut her eyes as though fighting back the sudden onset of a severe headache. She released her breath slowly. It was something she did when she thought William was being a moron and needed to brace herself before she said something that would get her into trouble. He loved those opportunities. Every chance he had to take her down a peg was worth the aggravation. She thought she was so much better than him. He'd show her that he knew how the game was played.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked at the waitress. If she could have turned her head far enough to avoid seeing William in her peripheral vision, she would have. "Are you okay?"

The waitress was a handsome senior student, whose auburn hair was tied back in a thick tight braid. Deep geometric scarring marred her face. She refused to look Astral in the eyes though she nodded and uttered, "It's nothing. I don't want trouble."

"Too bad!" William spat, "If you didn't want trouble you shouldn't be here."

"That's enough!" Students spectators, second year and higher, had gone rigid with attention. William's breath caught in his throat, and his heart fluttered. He hoped Seth would say something to praise him. Recognition from the school's hero would put that self-righteous twit in her place.

Seth's black hair had been combed back, but the length it had acquired over the summer was failing to abide by his usual look, and rogue strands had fallen out of place. A few more inches of growth and he'd be able to tie his hair back, making his way past that annoying blinded by hair stage. Last year, Seth had been meticulous in keeping his hair short. He wondered if the pressure of the war was getting him. Everything else about Seth remained clean and well kept. Ever button was done up, his scarf knotted exactly in the right fashion, his pants creased in just the right level of prominence. His long shin length coat, an optional uniform combination granted only to game participants, was buttoned up to his throat where two gold buttons announced his championship ranking.

His deep blue eyes surveyed the scene, taking it in with cold, calculating precision. His eyes flashed over the key participants and spectators, falling to the enhanced girl who was hastily trying to gather shrapnel from the ground piling it into her apron. William knew that he was taking in everything. William's heart sank when Seth's gaze settled onto Astral. "Allow me to escort you back to your residence, you'll need to get changed," he told her. "Assuming you're not hurt."

"I'm not hurt," Astral growled. "Before I go, I want William to apologize to that girl on behalf of his heathen friends since he clearly can't string together an original thought of his own."

William smirked; there was no way Seth was an Enhanced sympathizer and Astral pretty much shot herself in the foot by showing that she was one. He noted the awkward standoff between the pair, a silent conversation between Astral's death gaze and Seth silently pleading for her to be reasonable.

"I'm not going to apologize. She should apologize for being alive!" William shouted. He felt cornered.

Seth's mouth hung open, taken aback by the student's outburst. Astral shrugged. "If these are your values, we have nothing further to say to one another," she told Seth. "You can find yourself a new candidate for recruit too."

The coloured drained from Seth's face. "You can't be serious!"

Astral stepped over the mess at her feet, careful to avoid jagged remnants of what had formerly been whole plates and cups. Seth narrowed his eyes at William. His dark blue eyes accused him of something vile, something worthy of hate. "Fine, you don't want to apologize. You'll work the rest of the girl's shift's for the rest of the week, out of the goodness of your heart. Don't make me hunt you down should I find out you did anything less than your best."

He followed Astral out, leaving William feeling like the world had swallowed him whole.