Compared to the structure in front of him, Drew's old school was nothing. The Central Mecca High School had a pearl white building shaped like a pyramid but with its top cut out. Drew counted ten floors inside the building. Just like his apartment building, the school too had windows made out of Veranium glass, an alloy that neither loses its shine nor breaks. At the main gate, Drew could make out more than a thousand students crowding up to enter the building.

After a minute of pushing past the crowd, Drew finally entered the building. The interiors of the school didn't disappoint Drew as well. Despite the crowd, the air smelled fresh and anew. The corridors were surrounded by hologram figures conveying announcements.

"Remember to keep your school clean," the hologram of a cartoon penguin said to Drew as he passed by.

"Will you like to sign up for Robotics Club?" another hologram asked.

Drew opened his holophone and let the navigation guide him to his classes. However, he wasn't careful enough to look ahead on his way and bumped into someone.

"Ouch, watch where you are going."

Drew noticed a girl of roughly his age. She had brown skin and hair dyed purple. Her jacket was the same color as her hair.

"I am sorry. I should have been more careful," Drew helped the girl get up. "I am new here, actually."

"It's okay. I am alright," the girl said. "Are you looking for Management classes, by the way?"

"Yes, I am," Drew replied.

"The navigation will guide you wrong. We recently shifted those classes," the girl stated.

"Then where can I find them?"

"I'll guide you. Come with me."

Drew followed the girl through the crowds of students as she made multiple turns, each leading to another corridor full of students.

"What is your name, by the way?" the girl asked.

"Drew," he replied, "I came from Western Mecca."

"My name is Ava," the girl replied.

"Nice to meet you, Ava."

"Well, here we are," Ava stopped at a corridor containing classrooms for all subjects of Management.

"Are you a Management student as well?" Drew asked.

"Nah, I took Technology," Ava replied.

"Oh, cool."

"Alright, I am getting late for my classes and so are you. Will see you later," Ava bid him farewell and headed for her classes.

Once Ava was gone, Drew made his way for his classroom.

"Hey dude!" a short boy with curly hair stopped Drew.

"What is it?" Drew inquired.

"That girl; she bumped into you purposely. I saw it with my own eyes," the boy replied.

"What? Does it mean she is..." Drew's cheeks turned red.

"I don't know. Just telling what I saw," the boy said before heading his way.

The classrooms were no less impressive than the rest of the school. There was a large screen in the front and almost a hundred seats for students. The corners of classrooms were decorated with plants and the windows provided a view of the skyscrapers outside.

Drew took a seat in the last row of the classroom. In front of every seat was a small pillar containing a single button on its top. When Drew pressed the button, another hologram screen just like his phone appeared before him. It showed all his class schedules, announcements, and assignments.

After a wait for a few seconds, his professor arrived. He was an old man in his sixties who introduced himself as Mr. Kenny before starting to teach. However, thanks to being seated at the back of the row, the professor paid no attention to Drew passing his time browsing through social media. Drew also didn't face any threat from other students sitting next to him as they had chosen the back row for the same reason.

The classes continued to go for a while. Despite not really paying any attention to it, Drew was still relieved when the announcement for lunch break was announced.

He followed the rest of the class to the school canteen. The canteen was huge; covering the size of at least five basketball courts. The pyramidal shape of the school building allowed one side of the wall to be completely transparent. Other than that, there was also a small door at the end of the canteen with the word 'Kitchen' labeled on it and a scanner to prevent any unauthorized access. The rest of the space was filled with uncountable tables and chairs.

Despite it being huge, the canteen still wasn't enough to accommodate the population of the school. Drew had to race a kid for a seat but the kid won the race.

"Agh, great!" Drew silently cursed to himself. He looked around and saw that a lot of students couldn't get a seat and had to remain standing during their meal. Realizing that he will have to do the same, he moved to a corner of the wall away from the rest of the crowd. However, someone still managed to spot him.

"Hey Drew!" a voice called out. Drew followed the direction of the voice and found him staring at Ava who was sitting with another boy and girl. And they had an empty seat as well.

"Is she really into me?" Drew thought as he walked closer to Ava's seat.

"Come, sit here. Let me introduce you to my friends," Ava said.

At Ava's request, Drew settled down on the seat next to her.

"Drew, meet Zack," Ava pointed to a boy of around seventeen, older than Drew by a year. He had silver hair and fair skin. As for his clothing, he wore a black leather jacket and jeans. The boy seemed to be trouble. And yet, he replied politely.

"Hi, Drew. Nice to meet you. Ava told me she met you this morning," Zack grinned at Drew.

"Yes, she helped me find my way," Drew replied.

"Did somebody forget to introduce me?" the other girl with Ava interrupted.

"Oh yes, forgive me. Drew, this is Judy," Ava introduced. Judy was approximately of the same age as Zack. She too was fair-skinned like Zack but instead of silver, she had pink hairs tied into a ponytail. Judy wore a simple top and short jeans.

"Hello, Drew," Judy smiled at Drew.

"So, are you enjoying your new school?" Ava asked.

"Yes, I am. Although it is a bit too much crowded here than my previous school," Drew replied.

"Everyone wants to study here. It will of course be crowded," Zack said.

"The lectures were still as boring as my previous school," Drew laughed.

"No lecture can ever be interesting," Zack stated.

"You miss your old school, Drew?" Ava asked.

"Well, I hated that school and its teacher. So, not at all," Drew replied.

"You will grow to hate the teachers in this school as well," Ava said.

"Guys, half of the lunch break is already over. Shouldn't we eat now?" Judy suggested.

"Yes, we should. Let's see what is on their menu," Drew opened the menu for the canteen on his phone. Then he turned off the hidden display mode so everyone else could see his screen as well.

"You should go for Lebaze. It is the only decent dish they make here," Judy said.

"I'll take your advice then," Drew placed the order for the Lebaze from his screen. A while later, a lady came with a tray containing the dish.

Lebaze was a sweet dish prepared with different fruits that grew in Mecca and topped with cheese. While it didn't taste very good, the Lebaze served at Drew's old school was much worse.

"Is it fine?" Ava asked.

"Yeah, tastes okay," Drew replied.

The others ordered their food as well. Since they were already late for their classes, the food was eaten in a hurry with few words passed in between.

"I need to head for my classes now. It was great to meet you, Drew," Zack said.

"We will catch up some other time," Drew smiled.

"So, are we still meeting after school?" Judy asked Zack.

"Of course, we are," Zack replied.

"Why don't we let Drew join us as well?" Ava suggested.

"Join you in what?" Drew asked.

"Ah, nothing really. We will hang out at Diamond Square. You want to come?" Ava offered.

"Sure, if that is okay with everyone else," Drew replied.

"We will see you at 3 then," Zack said.

"I didn't expect to see you here today," the man in a white lab coat stated.

"I know, Dr. Brenwel. But I received orders to have a conversation with you," came the reply from a man who had his face hidden with a hood which was too large for his head.

"So, what can I call you? Do you have any codename?" Dr. Brenwel asked.

"At this point, even my codename has become too precious to be revealed," the hooded man chuckled. "But you can call me Jackal. It's a name I decided for this excursion."

"Alright then, Jackal. I am afraid I don't have any good news for you," the doctor replied.

"My job is to make sure that the need for you does not come. But we need to have a backup in case things go bad," Jackal said.

"I am afraid we don't have a backup," Dr. Brenwel said, "Please follow me."

The doctor led Jackal further through the corridors and entered a small room. More than ten screens floated across the room. Dr. Brenwel made multiple touches on the screens until they all showed diagrams and complex mathematical calculations.

"I know these numbers will not make any sense to you but these are the calculations conducted by my team. And all of them point to one thing – Mecca cannot be saved from it. Nowhere in Mecca is safe," Dr. Brenwel stated.

"So, you are saying there is no way to save us?" Jackal questioned.

"Only you can save us. Unless you win more battles for us, I am afraid that Mecca is doomed. And you need to defeat them fast. We are running out of time."