The Zavius - code 126

The Bribe

"So, there's a missing page and you want us to find it? And it is really important, and no one should know we know about this code?" Zeta asked.

"Exactly." Bexley nodded.

"So, we'll go to the security rooms, re-watch the footage and find the map and find the storage room in the map to get the piece of paper?" Celestia asked, confused.

"Yes. You guys are students too and have been in Zavia for a longer time. If any of the professors see you up there they'll probably think you are exploring the campus. But if Axerd and I go up there, we will be drawing attention to ourselves." She explained.

"Why do you think it's going to be on our campus?" Nylo asked.

"There's no time to explain it but I saw Sarah with a copy of the page," Axerd said.

"You guys can leave now. Celestia, Nylo and Zeta, go for the paper, and Evangeline, come with us." Said Bexley.

"Where are we going?"

"To the library of course. We missed a few days, remember? You have to help us catch up with the syllabus." She said.

The three of them left the form and walked upstairs. They headed into the security rooms. Celestia and Nylo began to search all the corners, while Zeta started stacking Sarah's wandering. They finally found out that she went into the storage locker next to the dorm, opposite to the security room. They headed towards the locker, but Arnate stood in the way.

"Hey," Zeta said, hoping she would move.

"Where are you guys going?" She asked.

"It's not really your business. If you don't mind, stare at us from somewhere else. You're in our way." Celestia rolled her eyes and tried to get past her, but Arnate wouldn't move. "Why are you in such a hurry? What do you want from the storage lockers?" She frowned.

"Nothing. We wanted to get the tablets for taking down notes for classes. And the stylus." Nylo said. "We are helping our friends to uh.. study."

She raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Help who? Your guardian friends?"

"Well, yeah. Please excuse us." Celestia frowned back at her and walked past her.

The storage locker was a walk-in closet which was very organized. Each drawer and shelf had labels. They started checking between all the files and stacks of papers. After about five minutes Nylo found a copy of the page under the printers. Celestia and Zeta came closer to take a look.

"What does it say?" Celestia asked peeping into it.

"We shouldn't be seeing this. They will tell us about it if they want to." Nylo said. He quietly walked out, followed by Zeta and Celestia.

Meanwhile, Evangeline heard all about what had happened in Xylona.

"Do you think the woman might be Sarah?" She asked looking at them.

"No, her voice was lower than hers," Bexley said.

"And what about the new people you met there! Will we get a chance to meet them?" She asked, smiling. "They are nice guys," Bexley said and Axerd scoffed. "Yeah right. That girl hates you." He said. Bexley ignored him and continued, "I was thinking of going back there and getting them here, for a little trip. They might like the change." Bexley noticed Axerd roll his eyes but she decided to ignore him. "That's a great idea! I'll come along with you guys." Evangeline said and flipped the pages.

"Whoa. so this is how Zavia really looks. It looks very different from the news reports on TV" Blaze said as he looked around the huge white room." "wait. This isn't blue!"

"Yeah, not every room in Zavia is blue, you know," Axerd replied coldly. Clexa scoffed at that and started walking out of the room.

"This is the Arena," Bexley said as they walked past it. "This is where we trained."

"You know how to fight?" Clexa asked, unbothered.

"Of course we do," Axerd said. She didn't seem to notice him glaring at her.

"We haven't seen Jazlene in a while," Axerd said as he plopped himself on Bexley's bed in her dorm.

"She might be busy with her studies." Bexley shrugged. Just then, the door swung open. "Jazlene! We were just talking about you!" Bexley smiled at her. Jazlene smiled back, somewhat uneasily. She shifted on her feet and sat on the chair beside them. "We were wondering where you were, we haven't seen you in a while," Axerd replied.

"Oh. I was just uh... busy with... stuff." She rubbed her hands against her thighs, clearly uncomfortable. "Jaz, what's wrong?" Bexley asked, concerned. Jazlene just shook her head and smiled. "I should get going. I only came here to say hello." she got up and walked away. She turned back when she reached the door frame and smiled sheepishly, and then shut the door behind her.

Jazlene was quite distracted that day. She wasn't sure if she wanted to attend Sarah's class. She got nervous whenever Sarah and Axerd and Bexley were in the same room. She felt like she was doing something terrible to them, even though it wasn't a big deal. The was just giving Evlon a taste of his medicine. She convinced herself to walk into the classroom and found herself alone with Sarah. She walked slowly, sat down and gave a small nod.

"Blake." Sarah said. "Good afternoon." Jazlene tried to avoid eye contact and nodded again.

"I hope you had time to think about it," Sarah said. Jazlene shook her head. "I can't do it. Evlon's mother and Axerd and Bexley are the closest I have to family. I can't do this."

"Stop being so selfless. You learnt only yesterday about how selfless Scarcia was and didn't take credits for the invention of spacelifters. Look at the planet now. You were one of the many people who didn't want to live there because it was not developed. Think about yourself for once. Your family left you all alone. You've been listening to Evlon ever since. And he left you guys and you have been mad at him. Evlon will obviously try to stop them from starting the war. And they will sack him. Now, his only choice would be to return home. Now, I need you to get the page about the Code your friends stole from the storage locker."

"Are you bribing me? This won't work."

"What are you afraid of? Your friends' safety? We got that looked into." Sarah said.

"We?" Jazlene knitted her eyebrows.

"Oh. yeah. This wouldn't have been possible without Sierra." she smirked. "So, does that mean you agree to get it?"

"Fine. I'll do it. But this is the only thing I'll be doing to help you. After you get that piece of paper, forget that I ever helped you with this." She said and went back to her place as the students started entering the classroom.

"Where are the twins now?" Celestia whispered when the students seated down.

"I don't know, I think they're in our dorm. I hope they don't run away or something." Bexley whispered back. Zeta chuckled. "They're not kids. Why would they run away? I'm sure the twins are fine, Bex, don't worry. They are from Xylona, after all. They should be intelligent enough to not get lost." She said a bit loudly, which was heard by Sarah. "Twins, huh? From Xylona. More pawns for me." She muttered.