"You know what puzzles me the most about this?" Veronica wondered aloud as she held her steaming cup of coffee in her hands.

Her host's sudden yet calm question piqued Asli's interest midway through her sip leading her to cut it short and reply with a soft yet audible, "What?".

"I don't know how to put this into words," she started, her hand in her hair, massaging her scalp; a habit Asli noticed whenever the girl was confused or a bit too thoughtful. It might've been only a matter of hours since their first interaction, but she was a bit too observant in nature to miss such a recurring thing. "But, it just bothers me how we'd been in the dark all this time, actually still are, I think I'm the only one who knows about it. I could excuse the media's silence if it were a matter of small manageable riots, but we're talking about mass murder here, a rapid decline in population growth, and well, the population itself slipping to a 6 or 5 number digit. That's insane! And now you're saying your sister got murdered for trying to stand up against this injustice, and your best friend and the rebels are all caught, leaving you out here all alone to start a revolution, mind you, in a world where communication is deliberately severed, and the media is quiet. You need numbers, Asli, revolutions don't run on a lone atom, you need a molecule, hundreds and thousands of molecules."

Asli had been staring at the shiny reddish brown surface of her coffee when it all dawned on her. Veronica was right, starting a revolution all by herself wasn't just stupid, but also impossible. It's not like Kris meant that either, of course she meant gathering enough numbers and voices to shake things up. But looks like they'd all forgotten the communication problem, especially between the sections. Even the official phone booths that were installed after the 2035 act of separation stopped working few years later and had been dysfunctional ever since.

She took a tired breath. "I don't know, you're right about this communication thing. The basis of any revolution is a good means of instant contact, if not a reliable media coverage. But, I can't diss the idea either, my sister died for this to happen, now is as good a time to speak up as any."

"Well, we just ought to think outside the box, right? There's gotta be a solution."

Asli nodded. "If only the other sections had the same technological advancement... Would've been a lot easier, you know?"

Veronica shrugged in uncertainty, "I don't know," she said, "Wouldn't they still disable the media coverage if that were true? The root problem would be left unfixed."

"Maybe through hacking?" Asli hypothesized, "You know, we could hack into their surveillance system for a few minutes and shuffle the connections for a while. Would be enough to spread some awareness, in my opinion at least."

As Asli shrugged and took a brief sip of her beverage, Veronica's eyebrows creased in thought, and a moment of brief silence crept into the air between them as a revelation crossed her mind.

Enlightened with an expected thread of hope, Veronica rose up in a second from her seat and started looking around for the keys to her motorbike.

Asli, having noticed her new friend's energized behaviour, rose up too, and started following her around the house and throwing in concerned questions as they got in and out of multiple rooms.

"What happened? What're you looking for? Veronica!" she raised her voice at her name when she slipped into the depths of her wardrobe.

"What are you doing in there?" Asli asked again, folding her hands around her chest as she stood behind her and waited for an answer.

A few seconds later, Veronica emerged from the wooden constriction she was trapped in, and with an excited grin, she held up the keys for Asli to see.

"Found it! Now get ready, we're about to go on a little night trip."

A glance at the wall clock made Asli's eyes widen, "It's almost 3 AM, are you serious?" she exclaimed.

Veronica's expression turned to that of mild confusion, "Yeah, what about it?" she said, already changing to a black top.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that it's way past midnight? Where are we off to anyway?"

"Well," she started as she zipped her tight jeans, "we're gonna pay a little visit to my best friend's humble apartment, have a conversation over a cup of coffee, or tea, whatever, you're gonna like it."

Now it was Asli's turn to be confused.

"At 3 AM?" she exclaimed.

"At 2:55, but yes." Veronica confirmed, adding a last minute touch up to her make up.

She stopped halfway through a mascara curl and gave Asli a look.

"What?" she inquired.

Veronica rolled her eyes, "What're you waiting for? Go get dressed," she said, matter-of-factly.

Asli tightened her folded arms as she stood her ground. "I'm not going anywhere before you tell me what's going on."

"Ugh," Veronica let out, closing her makeup bag, "Jack's a hacker, Asli, he's good with computers. I think a little talk with him would be useful, now go put something on."

A plain "Oh," was all Asli gave in response before heading out to slip out of her pyjamas.

"Oh, jeez, wait, I forgot," Veronica said, stopping her, "Your clothes aren't washed yet, my bad, so the wardrobe is yours. Pick what you want."

Asli smiled in embarrassment, and with a murmured thank you, she entered the room and stood before the vast collection of her host, her eyes searching for the simplest combination of a pair of jeans and a shirt.

A sleek black dress hung on a hanger, a jumpsuit, a cropped top, ripped jeans, a maroon mini skirt, a jumper over there somewhere, all of which she'd never consider putting on. Cringing, she turned to the folded clothes at the bottom, and there they were: a white tank top, and a grey pair of skinny jeans. Decent enough, she thought as she fetched them and waited patiently for Veronica to shut the door behind her.

Not along after Veronica left the room had Asli emerged, fully dressed and ready to go.

"Off we go, now, hun!" Veronica ushered, as she clapped her hands in excitement.

Asli was, for the first time in a while, feeling a sudden surge of energy, an electric kinetic push so powerful she could almost feel it running through her veins. And as they stepped out and rode on the star kissed motorbike, she began to realise it's what felt like to make a move towards the desired goal, to seek a solution instead of mourning the losses.

Something told her that this Jack guy had all the answers.

It was a smooth rushing ride to Jack's apartment, yet Asli couldn't help but notice the wakefulness of the section 3 hours past midnight. With the restaurants, bars, even coffee shops, not only open but also crowded, she'd been wondering if Pallid ever slept, or shut down to a land of sophisticated deserted streets.

Veronica rang the bell while Asli kept her eyes fixated on the door, expecting a dude to turn out any minute.

A brief moment passed without any response, and just as Asli, already turning back on her heels, started to say, "It's not the right time anyway, let's just leave.", Veronica bent down and slid her hand beneath the welcome mat, pulling it back with a key.

Asli raised an eyebrow, Veronica smirked, unlocking the door with a satisfying click.

"Aye, come in here, Ver!" came an instant enthusiastic yell as soon as they put their foot in the threshold.

"How did he know it's you?" Asli whispered to her friend.

Veronica smiled, turned to the vastness of the flat and yelled a "Have you got anything in the fridge?" before whispering back to her, "No one unlocks his door other than me, we're that close."

"Nice," Asli said.

"A bunch of coffee flavoured smoothies, and soda, grab me whatever you're gonna pick for yourself." Came his voice again.

Veronica made her way to the fridge and stood before it, the door open in a 180 degree angle.

She fetched 3 coffee flavoured smoothies and kicked the door closed before swiftly slipping to the ignited room at the end of the corridor. Unsure what to do, Asli followed her.

She was met with the amusing sight of a tall blonde guy in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts before a bunch of screens and about three keyboards, his fingers vigorously tapping on their keys, not even feeling her presence.

Veronica nodded at her and gestured for her to sit on the chair on her right, which she obliged as quietly and politely as possible.

"So, who's your friend?" he asked, not glancing away from the tiny multitude of numbers and codes in front of him.

Veronica shrugged, taking a sip of her smoothie.

"Would you look at her, Jack."

And at that, he stopped his unrealistic tapping and turned in his chair.

Their eyes met, Asli's confused and nervous, his shocked, if not a little bit amused.

"A wheatlander? In Pallid?" He exclaimed, turning to Veronica who nodded in confirmation.

"How's that possible!"

"Uh,"Asli uttered, not sure what to do.

Veronica's expression betrayed pure seriousness when she spoke again.

"You think that's impossible? Wait until you hear her story, it's eye opening."

"In what sense?" he inquired.

"In every sense, Jack, we've been living in a nasty lie all this time."

"What are you trying to say, Veronica?" he urged, his curiosity taking over.

Veronica, now up and pacing back and forth, sighed. "I'm trying to tell you that the Separation is a big scam. We're near an apocalypse and we need your help."

In the brief silence that followed, Asli found herself admiring the ceramic tiles.