Three figures walked out of the car. They had several bandages wrapped around the different sides of their faces.

“Looks like this is goodbye for now. I won’t say anything other than that if you betray us, your life and everyone around you will suffer.” Charles smiled happily. Unlike his flustered and confused expressions earlier, there was now a suave of confidence and even joy.

The car immediately sped off leaving the three figures on the outskirts of the school grounds.

“What are we going to do now?” Jonathan sighed. It was a nightmare. Who would’ve thought that their deep dark secret would be easily exposed by a random Rising student?

Alean frowned and walked towards Ted.

POW!

A power punch was delivered and dove deeply in Ted’s stomach. The sudden attack left Ted unprepared to harden his muscles. He fell down and curled down like a ball.

“That’s for convincing me to mess with Seeker.” Alean glared at the boy and gave him another quick kick on the face.

“You two better not do anything idiotic in the next days. Our lives are at stake. My father would put all the blame on me if word gets out and the three of us would definitely die.”

“What? Surely the General won’t-“

Alean quickly kicked Jonathan in the groin. Just like Ted, Jonathan lost the strength to stand and was kneeling as he was covering his genitals.

“That’s for your poor acting! If not for you, Seeker wouldn’t have deduced everything! You don’t know my father! He’d trade me if he has something to gain! Why did you think I did everything to get where I am now! It’s because I know what my father will do to me if I’m useless!” Alean spoke angrily.

“Get up!” Alean gave another kick to the two curling men.

“I’ll talk to my father now. Decker, stop whatever operations we have in school now. Ted, contact all the Royal Reps and inform them that all operations are to be put on hold.”

The two forced themselves to stand up. The most they could manage was a bending stand. They however nodded and each went their own way.”

As the two departed, Alean sighed. She clutched her fist in frustration. Everything was ruined now. Who would die tonight? Will it be Ted or Decker? She could not help but fear even for her own life. She took out her phone and stared at it for a few minutes.

She took a deep breath and called her father. The phone rang. She prayed to God that her father would not pick up.

“What is it?” A cold voice sounded from the other end of the phone.

Alean sighed.

“We need to talk. Something has happened.”

Back at the duplex, Seeker had just finished eating his dinner. He had his fill from the various delicacies that they ordered in three different restaurants. Of course, a majority of what they ordered was for Seeker.

Cliff who was ‘invited’ to stay for dinner was shocked at how Seeker devoured three different dishes from different restaurants. Lynd sighed in envy. His stomach wasn’t as strong as Seeker. He could only manage one dish. Meryl, on the other hand, had a disgusting look at Seeker’s ungraceful act.

Cliff had no appetite. He had lived a life of danger. He was always confident on himself but right now someone who could even blackmail and beat up the biggest and most dangerous cartel in their country was right in front of him.

“What do you want from me?” Cliff weakly asked. He had been asking Seeker this same question again and again but Seeker kept ignoring him and munched on his gourmet.

“I have a job for you and your gang. I want you to secretly corner and torture the following people.” Seeker finally answered and handed Cliff a piece of paper.

Cliff swallowed a mouthful of his saliva at the much-exaggerated request of his new owner.

He took the paper and said nothing. He didn’t have the will to even read the paper.

Meryl took the paper and casually browsed on the names on the list. Lynd was curiously peeking behind Meryl.

“Zeek, why is everyone here an exchange student?” Meryl wondered.

“It’s connected to how the school is a hub for human trafficking.” Seeker continued to munch an Asian dim sum.

“Human trafficking? I thought even Alean didn’t know much about her father’s plan on that area.” Meryl wondered.

“Yeah, Zeek. That’s the part which I don’t get. Why hide it from her? I mean, Miss Cipril is pretty efficient.”

“Is she pretty efficient? Or just pretty?” Seeker teased.

Lynd blushed and quickly brushed it off.

“I’m serious, Zeek! Could there be someone else in school with Miss Cipril’s authority and command?”

“No. You have to take into account the General’s personality. You see, he views his daughter as a good chess piece. But at the same time, he fears her greatly. If her command and authority rise to a level that can pose a threat to him, then he would kill her. A General who is this paranoid and went to great lengths to hide his empire is someone who doesn’t want to share in power.”

“Why would this have anything to do with human trafficking?”

“Actually, I knew a tiny portion of this from my memories of the future. But after connecting the dots, I realized that I had greatly underestimated the power and reach that this General has. It looks like he would play quite a dangerous role in the future. One reason why the future was bleak was the abundance of traitors who managed to creep its way in our ranks. But later, we found out that they weren’t just spies. They were slaves. It was later revealed that they were a product of a new form of human trafficking.”

“A new form?

“It’s pretty complicated. As you know, this era hates human trafficking with a vengeance. Countries even collapsed when they found out their leaders were involved in this. You might remember the revolutions in One China and India.”

“So?” Lynd asked curiously.

“Well, this world has an intense need for err- sexual labor. But it’s almost impossible to do so today. So a new form of human trafficking that only a very small percentage of the world knows about was developed. Instead of taking or abducting someone and force them to do labor or sexual acts and leave them with no identity, they took a whole new approach.”

“How?” Meryl interest was now piqued. What other forms of human trafficking could there possibly be?

“Selling people with identities. Meaning these people have jobs, career and sometimes even a family! This is extremely costly to do but this is also extremely profitable if you do manage it. People as rich as General Cipril are now using people with identity and selling them off as slaves. These new slaves are almost untraceable.”

“Slaves with jobs? I can’t imagine that.”

“Alright, let’s take a look at the list. Are there anyone on this list that you particularly find attractive?” Seeker asked Lynd.

Seeker frowned and turned to Cliff.

“Umm… You Cliff. I doubt Lynd would have an answer to that unless Miss Cipril is in this list.”

Meryl laughed while Lynd was cursing.

Cliff, who was surprised at the sudden question, jolted up and was panicking.

“Boy, he’s really scared of you huh?” Meryl giggled.

Seeker smiled but was sighing inside. “You should be scared of me too Meryl, but my pressures doing nothing to you!” Seeker complained in his head.

“This one.” Cliff pointed on a name.

“Ohh! Good pick! Eva Ivanov smart and beautiful!” Meryl smiled. She was good friends with this person.

“Wait! Zeek! Why is she in this list? And why are you asking Cliff to beat her up?” Meryl angrily complained.

“I hope I’m wrong. But she’s probably one of these slaves. You see, General Cipril is very paranoid. So I calculated that he wouldn’t dare make slaves in this country. My guess is that they abduct people from different countries, make the necessary implants, and use the school's exchange program to make these slaves willingly go here. No one will suspect anything that way.”

“How will they do that? What do you mean make the slaves go here willingly?”

“Let me explain the process of how they do it. They implant two devices in a person’s body. One implanted near their hearts. This chip can cause a heart attack should the person controlling it wishes to.”

The three was surprised at this revelation.

“The first chip is meant to provide the threat of death. If an implanted slave disobeys the owner, he or she could die at a flip of the button. The second chip is implanted in the brain. And this chip is far more insidious than the first one. This chip is programmed to emit something that induces the brain to release several hormones that make the slave extremely happy. It’s very interesting. At a push of a button, a slave will biologically reach the highest state of happiness possible.”

The three stared in confusion. Why make a slave happy?

“Think! A‘Programmed Servants’ is a slave who would willingly and happily serve his or her owner. This slave would do anything that the owner wishes because it not only keeps them alive but makes them happy. That’s why I selected the most beautiful and handsome exchange students on campus. They are the most probable candidates to be slaves. It makes no sense for the General to create a slave for political reasons or make them a spy! I'm sure the government is not involved in this. So these are probably high-end sex slaves. Exclusively yours, exclusively for your bidding. And worst of all, these slaves are extremely happy if they serve you.” Seeker explained.

“I see... The owners could marry these Programmed Servants as they make best husbands and wives.” Meryl sighed.

“Of course. The slave would probably be happier if they get married. You see, no matter how dignified a man or woman is if perfect happiness is easily achieved through pleasing, or in this case, sexually pleasing their partners, then they would probably do it to their best. After all, a simple switch and they are in heaven.”

“And everyone in this list could be one of them?” Lynd sat silently and had a disgusted look. Meryl, on the other hand, could not resist but make a pun.

“So to them, the root word of ‘Happiness’ is no longer ‘Happy’ but it becomes ‘piness’ right?” Meryl chuckled.

Seeker and Lynd stared in shock at how Meryl was reacting. She was a woman after all and she found this funny?

“Oh don’t give me that look. We have you, Zeek. You’d surely fix this. Still, it sounds like the perfect false religion and the owner becomes a false god to these slaves. Death and Joy in the hands of this owner. Such a dreadful combination.”

“So why do you want me to beat up these folks?” Cliff who was silent the entire time suddenly spoke.

“The reason why I want you to beat them up is to verify which is one of in this list are Programmed Slaves. One slave would cost millions of Sydians. General Cipril can't afford to lose these slaves now. If they are Programmed Slaves and you beat them up, General Cipril will immediately ensure that these people are treated with the best treatment. Since I can’t find the trail through Alean, then I’ll find these slaves through this method.” Seeker grinned with his trademark devilish smile.

Cliff nodded. Looks like there were dignity and honor in his quest. He took the list back and could not help but gaze at Eva’s name once more. He didn’t know her, but he didn’t like the idea that such a beautiful student to become a sex slave. Then his thoughts drifted to an idea. If he was the owner of Eva then…

Seeker stood up and stretched.

“Time for the stream guys. Let’s go. I won’t see you out, Cliff.” Seeker walked out of the table and paced towards the stairs.

“I can’t wait to be the owner of these slaves! Think of the possibilities!” Seeker shouted with intense anticipation. He was even happily skipping up the stairs like a little joyful girl.

It took a few seconds for the people remaining to analyze what Seeker had just said.

“What?!” The three chorused.