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5.

CHAPTER FIVE.

Just as she says those words some armed men fill the room, their AK-47’s trained at us. I can feel my pulse running in their presence. After spending six years in prison, it's not my first time coming across a gun, but the reality of having one pointed at me leaves me breathless. Everyone in the room is on guard…everyone except ginger head who's still wearing a bored look on his face.

“Now,” Dr. Alericap smiles broadly and it rubs me off badly as I feel my skin bristle. I watch the armed men form a circle around us, their guns still trained at me and the other inmates…ex-inmates. Caitlyn says something to me, but I can hardly catch it because of how fast my heart is beating. “I see we're all on the same page now, right? Or is there anyone that still wants to back out?”

No one moves.

“Just as I thought,” She gives an award-winning smile like she has just been given a nobel prize for world peace. The armed men drop their weapon, but that doesn't even make me feel any better. “My assistant, Caitlyn, would brief you all on what's next.”

As if on cue, Caitlyn moves away from me and heads towards the podium, facing me and the others. She breaks the silence. “I want you all to know you'll be heavily compensated once you successfully complete this mission. NASA in association with the U.S government has decided to compensate with a sum of seven million dollars each—”

The room breaks in a murmur at the announcement. I'm also taken aback by the huge sum promised. A million dollars is enough to change my life for good…but seven million dollars? Maybe life isn't that bad after all. All that's left is for me to complete the mission. After all, what's seven million dollars without the planet in which the money can be spent.

“You’ll begin your training immediately. We leave for Xyriel in one week,” Caitlyn continues, shutting everyone up. “During that time, you’ll be taught everything you need to know to survive on the planet and carry out the mission.”

One week. That’s all we have.

As Dr. Alericap steps down from the platform and she exits the room alongside the other associates and the armed men, thankfully. Caitlyn also moves away from the podium and begins to talk with Dr. Steinberg Creed. The room erupts into hushed conversations. People start breaking into groups, talking amongst themselves. I envy their ability to socialize. I stand still, rooted to a spot, trying to wrap my head around everything and the fact that I'll be heading to another planet.

I take another glance around the room and my eyes fall on the ginger head. He's still resting against the wall with that bored look on his face. I decide to go join him. I need to socialize after all.

“Hey,” I say once I get to his front.

He doesn't look at me immediately. But when he does, I'm almost out of breath from how beautiful his eyes are. They're somewhat closer to being amazonite than sage green, with a mixture of golden syrup. It feels too ethereal to belong to a human. His eyes weirdly remind me of something, but I really can't place my hand on it. He doesn't say anything as he narrows his eyes at me.

“Trying to make friends around,” I tell him as I study him. I'm not short. 5’8” can't be considered short, but standing opposite him makes me look like a dwarf. I can tell he's almost 6’9 if not more. There's an intimidating aura enshrouding him, but thankfully I'm not one to be easily intimidated. “I'm Ophelia.”

“Xyriel,” he replies. His voice is calm and a bit deep. It reminds me of crispy waffles and caramel.

“Xy-ri-el?" I repeat, a little slower, and then something clicks. “Wait, you have the same name as the planet?"

“Do I?” He raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Uh, yeah. The one we’re going to... Xyriel? That rings a bell?” I say, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Oh, right.” He shrugs. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Seriously? They mentioned it, like, fifty times. You didn’t catch that?”

“I was too busy imagining what I could be doing instead of standing here.” He gives me a look that I can't really put into words.

“Well, in case you missed the entire briefing, we’re going to a planet called Xyriel. Does that freak you out, having the same name as an alien world?”

“Not particularly,” he says, unfolding his arms. “It was named after me.”

I snort. “Oh, really? I didn’t realize you had that much pull in NASA.”

“Yeah, it's a thing I do,” His face is dead serious. “When you're as important as I am, they start naming planets after you.”

I grin. “I’m sure that’s exactly how it works. Must be hard being such a big deal.”

He tilts his head. "You have no idea.”

I shake my head, deciding to humor him for a while. “Alright, so if Xyriel’s named after you, what does it mean?"

Xyv iët tüz kitüzik,” He replies in some foreign language.

It sounds like Russian, but I'm not too sure.

I can only speak one language, which is English. I can also speak a bit of French and Spanish. Bonjour, touche, au revoir, Hola amigos and Soy. I'm impressive, I know.

“Ah, of course. Yeah, I totally knew what that meant. Fluent in...whatever that is,” I joke, clearly clueless. “Is that...Russian?”

Xyriel chuckles at my genuine question. I don't mind it though. His chuckle is weirdly soothing to the ear and it shows off the two puddles by his cheeks. I'm not even exaggerating when I say he's the most beautiful human I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of humans. It makes me wonder who he killed or the sort of crime he committed to get a death sentence. “Not even close.”

“Okay, okay, so what does it really mean? Something deep and mysterious, I bet.”

There's a bit of hesitation before he shakes his head, combing his fingers through his short ginger hair, he replies with a little smile. “Depends on your definition of deep.”

“Surface level deep, I guess.”

“In your language, Xyriel is closest to Doom.”

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