Planetary News: Tesla Tomas was caught trying to board a passenger craft in Red Mist. A flight attendant recognized him and reported the man to the local authority. Cherry Ford hasn't been found yet.

Oli's teenage roommates had made it hard for her to sleep, constantly laughing and squealing as they reminisced about their home lives and how much they would miss getting pounded by their boyfriends now that they were becoming nuns.

She didn't want to tell them to shut up and get into an argument, having been their age once. Teenagers only listened to those they adored, and themselves. Instead, Oli left the room, using this as a chance to snoop around and get the layout of the city before the welcoming ceremony.

"Where are you going, newcomer?" Yolanda asked.

Oli withdrew her hand from the doorknob and turned to the deacon with a smile. "Me going lookin' for food." It wasn't a complete lie. Dolph had served her a small plate of whale meat, claiming high demand had left him with barely any for himself.

"You should have come to me." Yolanda crossed her arms and looked down on Oli. She was a tall and muscular woman, and the glare in her eyes would have scared most people. But Oli had dealt with far bigger threats. And if it came to it, she would gladly put the cyborg down.

Oli scratched the back of her neck and pretended to be clueless. "Yuh never did tell we weh we cud find yuh. Me did hope by going outside, de believers wud show me weh dem served food."

"Hmm." Yolanda's lip curled.

At five-foot-three, Oli wasn't intimidating at all—and that was the mistake her enemies made. Her short height and pear-shaped body portrayed her as weak and innocent. But the moment they attacked her, they regretted it.

"Fine, I'll take you to the Dining Hall." Yolanda passed Oli and opened the front door. "Follow me."

Horns honked, vehicles beeped as they backed up, and brakes squealed while the two went in the opposite direction of the entrance gate. Oli smiled. Things like noise pollution couldn't be escaped as long as humans were involved.

The Believers roamed the streets welcoming people with hugs and smiles, creases forming at the corner of their mouths, eyes, and forehead. It looked painful to be that happy all the time. Some newcomers grimaced at the cultists' expressions and winced at their touch, but said nothing.

Bishops and deacons stood outside their respective apartment buildings, speaking to the newcomers before waving at Yolanda when she passed with Oli.

They reached the end of the street, and Oli's nose flared and stomach groaned when the rich smell of brewed coffee and cooking oil from fryer vats entered her nostrils. She gulped while staring at the two Dining Halls. Behind them were other streets and apartment buildings.

Above the entries of the streets were black and white holo-numbers and words. The numbers of the apartments glowed in white, and below them was the category of occupants in black, reading: Believers.

Oli turned to where she came from and spotted the same thing. The category of occupants said: Newcomers.

"You hadn't noticed it?" Yolanda scoffed. "And here I thought you were too observant." She pointed at the large white buildings with the holo-words DINING HALL 1 and DINING HALL 2 above them in green and blue. "Hall 1 is for believers, and 2 for newcomers. Once you become a believer, you'll move to apartments behind the halls and eat on your respective side."

"Wah make yuh tell me this?" Oli asked. Yolanda had an agenda, but the hyena didn't know what it was. If she had time, she would've figured it out.

"This information is not a secret. If you weren't busy trying to question our ranking system, you would've asked and been told. Now go eat; we don't want you hungry at the welcoming ceremony." Yolanda turned and returned to where they came from.

With a single exhale, Oli headed for the double swinging doors of Hall 2 and entered, the smell of grease and fried food coating the room. Constant laughter and chatter came from the people sitting in rows of long tables with plastic chairs spaced along them. Metal trays sat on the tables, steam rising off their food covered in sauce and spices, with milk and juice containers beside them.

Oli stood behind a long line full of jostling teens and anxious adults waiting with trays, tapping their feet on the floor or gazing at their watches, with the thick smell of body odor and perfume surrounding them. The serving staff stood behind a stainless steel counter, dressed in indigo clothing, white aprons, and hairnets. The steam from pots of soup, meat, and vegetables hit Oli in the face as she leaned over to get a better look at what was on offer. The aproned serving staff raised an eyebrow at her, causing it to disappear under her hairnet.

Nuns in black habits and white veils stood behind the servers, clutching plasma rifles close to their chests, eyeing the newcomers with narrowed eyes.

Oli searched for somewhere to sit while carrying two trays full of everything. Most were occupied, except for the table at the end of the room occupied by one person. She went there and placed the trays on the table before sitting down, the loner not giving her a look, focusing on her own plate.

"Hey," Oli said, and the loner glanced at her, making her eyes widen and mouth hang open. It's her! Oli had spent hours studying the young woman's face after J sent her the files. "Victoria Paulson," she whispered, getting a gasp from the young woman.

Out of all the places she could have found Victoria, the dining hall was the last area she would've looked. Dis is excellent. Dis is very, very, excellent. Butterflies gathered in her stomach and started dancing with joy.

Oli was already thinking ahead. The smile on her father's face the moment he saw Victoria alive made her want to jump up and down like a lunatic. It took her clenching her jaws and hands to contain her happiness.

She couldn't wait to see the proud look in J's eyes—the same one her former classmates got from their parents—and hear him praise her. Her cheeks reddened at the thought, and she coughed a couple of times to calm herself. This was only the first step; she wasn't out of the woodwork yet. They still had to escape.

But how would they leave without being seen?

If there wasn't an electromagnetic field protecting the city, she would've tricked Wolf into starting a conflict with one of the guards and escape when no one was watching. Coyotes were stupid like that.

"How do yew know muh name?" Victoria asked with a raised brow. "Did one uh thuh deacons send yew tuh befriend me?" Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Huh! Like me wud take orders from dem idiots." Oli leaned back and had a proper look at Victoria. She looks normal tuh me. Leaning closer to her, she whispered, "Have yuh been purified?"

Victoria checked side to side, as though someone was listening, and shook her head. Oli grabbed the edge of the table and squeezed it with all her strength. She couldn't believe it: not only was Victoria alive, but she was still human.

A smile crept on her face, but she quickly subdued it when realizing that shouldn't have been the case. Victoria had been there long enough to have been purified on several occasions. Why wasn't she a cyborg? And why was she wearing a black shirt and denim jeans? Wasn't she a believer?

"Why yuh not undergo purification?"

"Ah wuz caught recordin' a video assin' fer help. As a punishment, Ah'm tuh remain human fer a year."

Harsh. "Dat's a good ting, doah."

Victoria shook her head. "When yew're purified, all yer human sins are washed away an' yew become worthy uh worshippin' Jesus Christ."

"An since yuh aren't purified—"

"Ah'm not worthy in their eyes." She sniffled. "Yew never told me how yew knowed me."

"Yuh fada sent me tuh save yuh." Oli started eating her food, the salty noodles, boiled eggs, and juicy mammoth steaks made her ball her hands into fists and want to punch the air with joy. Damn, it tasted good. No wonder The Forgotten Nuns were organ traffickers. If this was how they spoiled the newcomers, they would have flesh and organs to last them an eternity.

"Whut 'bout muh momma? Surely, she wouldn't have agreed tuh it. She's thuh one who brought me here."

Oli swallowed her food and searched for a way to tell the young woman the fate her mother had met at her father's hands. But she couldn't do it seeing how happy Victoria was after hearing she would leave the city.

"Me not know." At least this way, when Victoria found out the truth, she wouldn't blame Oli for lying, even if the hyena did so. There were more pressing matters at hand. Having to keep an eye on a young woman who had learned her father killed her mother wasn't what Oli wanted to deal with while thinking of a way to escape.

"But how are we goin' tuh leave? Once yew git in thuh city, there's no gittin' out. An' if'n yew try, thuh guards will kill yew."

Oli finished the food on the first tray, jumping onto the second. "Let me worry bout that. Jus know we escapin' tonight. Meet me at the welcoming ceremony, alright?"

"Ok." Victoria smiled. "Ah kin't reckon Ah'm goin' home tuh see Momma an' Daddy agin."

Oli cleared her throat and ate the rest of her food in silence. Me glad me nah go be deh wen she learns di truth.