The tram came to a smooth halt right in front of them, lowly humming and vibrating. The girl opened the door for the Qureishis and beckoned for them to step in first. They promptly did. Greeted by a long, white tram compartment, the Qureishis sat down on seats lining the wall facing the opposite side of the tram. As the girl marched in behind them, four other children around Zain’s age entered the room from another compartment. Sana and Zain gasped as Inaya stared dumbly. All five children, in fancy black and white clothing, together now, sat down in front of the Qureishis. The windows let light in from every direction.

“Welcome to Totum,” the girl who had introduced them said. “My name is Victoria Robledo. I will be your head tour guide for this tour, and my colleagues here will all be helping out. But, before we set off, if you would like please treat yourself to the food in the compartment to the left. There’s a lot,” she said with a grin.

It wasn’t that Zain was very hungry, but he was curious as to what kind of food they had in this place. He looked at his mother and she nodded, allowing him to go—it was hard to not trust these people given that there were five actual children sitting right in front of them.

Sana was the first to run into the other room, followed by Zain.

The two of them stared in awe at the island of platters and plates laid out in front of them. Deep bowls filled with boiling red stews, thin platters buried under piles of cheese and other small bites, plates of ribs and spicy chickens and meats. The aroma was overwhelming. All for five people?

“It smells so good in here,” Sana said dreamily. At the other end of the room, a waiter in a white outfit smiled at them and told them to take what they like. “What’s this?” Zain’s little sister asked, picking up something that Zain didn’t recognize either.

“That is a taco. Take a plate and try it. They’re very tasty,” the man said proudly. He must have cooked some of the food.

“What about this?” Zain curiously asked as he placed another unknown item on his plate.

“Ravioli and pesto—it’s a kind of pasta.”

Whatever it was, Zain had never smelled anything like it before. By the time they reentered the room, their plates looked like mountains of sauces and colors. Zain had to be careful to not lean over even a bit, otherwise everything would come falling down. It felt nice to have too much food on his plate. Their platters were covered with tacos and pastas and burgers and rices and meats and everything they found in the room that they had never tried before. They skipped all the food their mom had made for them before like mac and cheese and biryani. When they sat back down, plates in their laps and forks in their hands,

Victoria went to the head compartment and when she arrived back, the tram had started easing forward. It was remarkable how smooth it was. Like gliding. It was like Zain was eating on a flat table at home; his plate wasn’t shaking even a little bit. Maybe they were all like this. Through the window, Zain looked down and saw a number dark blue streets filled with electric cars and sidewalks packed with couples and families and friends. No one walked alone. Everyone had someone to smile and talk to—which most of them were doing. Wide, true grins that could only happen when someone truly felt like they were in the right place. He turned back to the other children as he popped some spicy raw fish wrapped in seaweed and rice into his mouth. He had already forgotten what it was called, but he almost let out a sigh of satisfaction as the flavors melted in his mouth.

“As I was saying earlier, welcome to Totum. My name is Victoria Robledo. All five of us will be your tour guides today.”

The children who hadn’t spoken waved at the Qureishi family.

“Would you guys like to introduce yourself?” Victoria asked the other children.

“Hello, I’m Evan,” said a tall boy with brown hair that lie flat on his head. He had light skin like Kiara's, except he was more rosy than pale.

“And a fun fact about yourself?”

Victoria seemed a little bit irritated. Zain could tell they had planned this before and no one was saying what they were supposed to say.

“Um . . . I can run a mile in five minutes and thirty seconds,” he said proudly, puffing out his chest ever-so-slightly.

Mr. and Mrs. Qureishi gave a small applause. Victoria then turned to a boy next to Evan and waited for him to speak.

“I’m Blythe Lin,” he cheerily exclaimed, “and a fun fact about me is that licorice is my favorite kind of candy!”

Inaya shuddered in disgust. Luckily Blythe didn’t see.

“I’m Ellie,” said a black girl with thick braids on the other side of Victoria. She spoke rather quietly. “And . . . a fun fact about me is that I really like to read.”

After not saying anything for a few seconds, Victoria beckoned for the last boy to speak. He must have been Blythe’s twin, because he looked exactly the same. The only difference was that Blythe had gelled his hair up and this boy had long hair that almost fell to his very dark brown eyes. Identical to his brother’s.

“I’m Cameron,” he said dryly.

Victoria looks as if she was going to ask him for a fun fact, but then decided against it.

“And a fun fact about me,” she said, focusing on the Qureishis, “is that I live only one block away from all of your sector. Where I picked you up from.”

Collective oohs and aahs.

“Speaking of where you live, I’m sure you’re wondering what is going on right now, and how you wound up in this city.”

“We are, yes.”

“Blythe, would you like to explain what Totum is to the Qureishis?”

Blythe, the jumpier of the twins, stood up and beckoned for them to look out the window.

“What is it you see?” he asked very matter-of-factly.

“Families!” Sana mumbled through a mouthful of food. “Kids like me!”

“That’s right. And that’s what Totum is all about. None of the Pacifems know about Totum. Not. A. Single. One. Seeing as lots of the land in Gaudium is uninhabited, this city was set up in the most remote location so that no Pacifems would ever think to come here. We’re a safe haven for children and anyone who disagrees with the Child Ban.”

Zain did a double take. For all their lives there had been a place where they could have lived like normal people?

“And how long has Totum been around for?” Mrs. Qureishi asked.

“Ever since the Immortality War. So about thirty years.”

“All these years we spent trapped in that tiny home . . .” Zain vaguely heard his mother whisper to herself.

“You’re here now, aren’t you? What’s happened has happened,” Victoria said.

“If the city is Totum,” Zain beckoned to the window and everything behind it, “then what’s the Pacifem Resistance League? From the card.”

“We’re an organization,” the tall boy on the right named Evan said, his chest still puffed out. “We help to bring children to Totum and search throughout all of Gaudium trying to find illegal children so we can bring them here. In fact, we found you guys in the back of a Pacifem van.”

“It was you five who rescued us?” Mrs. Qureishi raised her eyebrows.

“Well, why do you think we’re touring you around? Whoever we save, we have to introduce to the city as well.”

Almost instantly, both Mr. and Mrs. Qureishis dropped to their knees and clasped each of their hands together, as if they were both beggars.

“Thank you so much for saving us and our children. We are in your debt for as long as we live,” Mr. Qureishi said.

Victoria blushed and then uttered, “There’s no need to—“

“Yes, there is a need to. You have saved all of our lives. Nothing can pay back what you’ve given us. If it weren’t for you, we might all be dead right now.”

“We’re just recruits. We haven’t even made it into the organization yet—“

“Thank you very much,” Evan blabbed. “Victoria may like to act humble but she’s just as hungry for attention as the rest of us,” he said jokingly, as if that was something everyone related to.

This line was not well-received by Victoria, who tried to secretly shoot Evan a dirty glance. None of the other team members seemed thrilled either. The gloomy twin Cameron didn’t even acknowledge that Evan spoke. Zain personally didn’t know what to make of it. Both Cameron and Evan seemed like rather unlikeable people.

After an awkward period in which no one spoke, the Qureishi siblings also expressed their gratitude to the children in front of them. Zain made sure to focusing on thanking Victoria, Blythe, and Ellie more than the other two.

Victoria continued, “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering how a city that boasts a population of 1.5 million could stay secret, even with such calculated location. To be honest, no one is completely sure except the people running the whole place. According to the general population—which would be us—there's a loophole in some kind of locational technology, and this is depicted as an area of unusable land. The Totum Consulate really knows the truth. But there’s only about thirty people in that.”

“What’s a Consulate?” Sana had now moved onto desserts and was slowly biting into a chocolatey cookie. Normally Mr. and Mrs. Qureishi would have stopped Zain and her from eating all this food ages ago.

“They’re the government for Totum. Like the Pacifems for Gaudium, but they’re nicer,” the boy Blythe said cheerily.

“Does anyone have any questions thus far?”

Zain looked over to his eldest sister. She hadn’t spoken since they entered the tram and didn’t look like she was going to by the time they would leave. He would have to talk to her later—she was never this quiet. Outside, he could spot various lit up restaurants and stores and theaters and attractions scattered across the streets and sidewalks. And everywhere there could be seen at least one family walking with beaming smiles and hops in their step. It was astonishing. Seeing this many children in one location. Or even seeing children at all.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

By the time he regained attention, he had missed the question his mother asked and the answer.

“There are two more important things we’d like to tell you all,” said Victoria. “Cameron, would you like to tell them about the career options we have here in Totum?”

“No.”

The fair-skinned girl next to him, Ellie, nudged him with her elbow.

“You promised you would do it.”

“Well, I’ve changed my mind.”

“Ellie,” Victoria was looking rather worried, “please take Cameron aside and speak to him privately.”

Ellie nodded. The window light reflected off of her bright eyes, surrounded by dark skin.

“My apologies. He’s having a very rough day today, that’s all.”

None of the Qureishis acknowledged the apology—the boy seemed like he was just flat out being rude.

“Please, go on,” Zain's father said kindly.

“There’s only one more thing we have to say. And this is the most important of everything we’ve said so far. Make sure you’re all listening. We’re already done a full background check on all of you, so you’re safe as long as you stay here. If anyone in Totum is considered to be untrustworthy or poses a threat to the secrecy of Totum, they will be dealt with. Immediately. Most likely by execution. That includes children or anyone who is found guilty. Is that understood?”

“Yes.”

All five members of the Qureishi family nodded.

“Thankfully, you five have no reason to harm us. You’d be harming yourselves in the process. We have about ten more minutes of this tour—do any of you have any questions?”

Mrs. and Mr. Qureishi exchanged glances and nodded.

“You say this Pacifem Resistance Organization goes out and helps rescue endangered children, correct?” Zain’s mother asked. Victoria nodded. “Are you able to rescue an adult who is in danger of the Pacifems? My brother was always seen visiting us, so they will most likely be after him quickly.”

Crease lines formed on Mrs. Qureishi’s forehead in concern. Her eyes were large and unmoving—she was trying not to blink. Zain felt worried as well, but seeing as how effectively these people rescued his family and him, he knew that they could do it.

“Tell us who you would like to retrieve and where they live and we’ll have them in Totum within the next day.”

“His name is Malek. Malek Khan. He lives in Corrin. It’s a small town near Shutter.”

Victoria motioned for a crew member in blue on her right to leave the room and call someone. They nodded promptly and saw themself out of the car.

“Thank you so much. We will repay you in any way we can. Whatever you want, however much it costs,” Mrs. Qureishi pulled Victoria into a tight hug.

“We’re here to help you, Mrs. Qureishi. Don’t worry about helping us.”

After that Victoria awkwardly sat back down while Mrs. Qureishi went to go explore the food compartment in the next car. Victoria had the best sitting posture Zain had ever seen. Her back was as straight as a slab and she held her head just high enough so that she seemed approachable rather than condescending. On the other hand, Evan was slumped over next to her with his arm up on the back of the chair, chewing loudly on a piece of gum.

“Victoria, what would you say is the best way to make friends in Totum?” was the last thing Zain heard his father ask before he zoned out and picked up on the conversation on the far end of his side of the train between Ellie and Cameron. They were trying to be as quiet as they could but it clearly wasn’t working very well.

“I’m just not in the mood today, that’s all.”

“Cameron, you’re never in the mood whenever we need you to be. You’re always in the wrong mood at the right times and the right mood at the wrong times.”

“That’s not true.”

“Look, you know I don’t like arguing with people. And you know that I tear up whenever I get angry with someone so please don’t embarrass me in front of this family,” she gave the Qureishis a quick glance and Zain immediately turned his head in the opposite direction. "This is the first family we saved as a group and you know how much this means. Especially to Victoria. And how seriously she takes it.”

“Well, I’m not Victoria, so why are you telling me that?”

“Damn it, Cameron, why did you join the PRO recruits if you don’t wanna be here?” she said now a bit too loud. Enough for Mr. Qureishi to pick up on it.

“Just leave me alone!” Cameron yelled. Everyone in the car went quiet. “I haven’t had to explain this to Victoria and I’m certainly not going to explain this to you,” he pushed his forefinger against her chest so hard that she stumbled back. Sure enough, Ellie had tears in her eyes.

Not a single sound could be made out.

“Please excuse me for a moment,” Victoria attempted to say as professionally as she could. “Team meeting. Now.”

“But—“

“I said now Evan.”

All five of the children exited and went to the train car adjacent to the one they sat in.

“They don’t seem to like each other much,” Sana remarked.

“I feel bad for the girl,” Mr. Qureishi looked over to the door leading to the next car. “It seems like she’s trying her best to make everything work and these two boys are making it very difficult. Are you alright, Inaya? You haven’t said a word since we’ve left our . . . estate.”

“It’s not fair.”

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”

“You can see it. The way they talk, the way they act, how open they are. They’ve been here for as long as they can remember. They’ve never had to fear the Pacifems catching them and killing them and their families. And here we are, stunned that we’re even in the presence of other children.”

“It’s like Victoria said,” Zain told her, “what’s in the past is in the past. The best we can do is move on.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know the first thing I ever remember, Zain? Did I tell you?” Zain shook his head. Mr. Qureishi listened silently and even Sana’s eyebrows raised as she stared out the window. “I think I was about two or three, but I’m not sure. We were eating dinner and it was just me and mom and dad. And then a knocking came on the door and Mom hid me inside a kitchen cabinet—we hadn’t even implemented the library room yet. It turns out that it was a Pacifem Inspection. And I remember crying as quietly as I could until the man left before I burst out in tears and mom pulled me out of that cramped cabinet to hug me and kiss me and whatnot. That’s the first thing I can remember happening to me. And so I’m always worried. Worried about Pacifems or Zain or Sana or Mom and Dad or—“

Mr. Qureishi pulled his daughter towards him and hugged her so tightly that Inaya couldn’t even raise her arms to hug him back.

“You were our first daughter, Inaya. And you had to pay for that. Your mother and I didn’t know what we were doing half the time and the other half we were worrying about not knowing what we were doing. It was like stepping into a dark room and moving forward hoping we didn’t run into anything. I wish you never had to grow up with these fears and these memories, but you have. And they’re not going to just go away like Victoria is saying they will. So here’s what I’ll tell you.” He let go of her (her face red from her breath being sucked out of her for a few seconds) and seated himself. “I don’t want you to be jealous of those five children in the other room. Jealousy will get you nowhere. I want you to envy them. I want you to envy them so much that you begin to understand why they’re happy and feel safe. And that envy will eventually throw itself onto you, and you’ll look at the world a bit differently. A bit more freely.”

“How do you know that will work?”

“It worked for me after I fought in the Immortality War thirty years ago.”

Zain’s eyes widened.

“You fought in the Immortality War?”

Mr. Qureishi smirked.

“There are many things your mother and I haven’t mentioned.”

“Mom was a soldier as well?” Sana was starstruck. “How come you never told us? Ooh—who was the better fighter? You or Mom?”

“She was probably the best in our entire troop. Three hundred soldiers and none of them could beat her in a fight.”

“What about you?”

“I liked to watch her fight.”

Sana giggled.

“But the only people alive today are the ones who fought on the pro-immortality side,” Zain said, “so that means—“

“We did, yes. Keep in mind that the Pacifems hadn’t told anyone about their plans for the Child Ban until after the war.”

Mr. Qureishi wrapped his arm around Inaya’s shoulders.

“My point is that you have to want to be happy yourself to be happy. Holding a grudge against these kids and how lucky they were can only make things worse.”

Zain grabbed onto his father’s hand and rested his head against the arm it was attached to.

“That goes for you two as well, Zain and Sana.”

The doors on both ends of the car slid open and in stepped Mrs. Qureishi (with two plates of food) on one side and the five children on the other. Zain’s mother handed one of the platters to his father and sat down on the empty chair bench beside him. Meanwhile, Victoria led her group back to the benches standing tall and unbending, her black thin hair slightly unraveling from its bun. A few strands of hair had fallen out and lay over the sides of her face. Evan, Ellie, Blythe, and Cameron uncomfortably stalked behind her and took a seat where they previously had.

For a moment, no one made a sound. Then Cameron cleared his throat and clearly said, “I apologize for interrupting your meeting. I was wrong for yelling in the train and I shouldn’t have made any of you feel uncomfortable.”

“Especially on your first day in Totum,” Evan added with a chuckle.

It was clearly taking all of Cameron’s power to not turn to his right and swing at Evan’s face. He certainly didn’t look like he was actually sorry, so Zain couldn’t put together why he was listening to the others at all.

“Well, we all have our bad days, don’t we, Evan?” Mr. Qureishi said kindly. “We forgive you, Cameron.”

Right next to him, Mrs. Qureishi looked utterly lost. She had left before Cameron yelled and the children had exited the room.

“We appreciate your kindness, really. Do any of you have any last minute questions before we arrive back at your Sector? Sector 202, I believe. It’s where you’ll live here in Totum. Once you find time to explore it, please do. Homes for at least five people have movie theaters, game rooms, swimming pools, and more.”

“Is there a restroom here?” Zain asked. It was remarkable how fast he digested the food when he had so much in him.

“Three cars over through that door.”

He got up and made his way to the bathroom—through the compartment full of food and then into another, larger compartment filled with people in every single seat. This must have been a passenger tram as well. Zain awkwardly slid past them, and he was surprised to find that many of them (including the children) smiled at him. He did his best to smile back.

By time he returned to the original compartment, the tram had stopped. His family was a good distance away, waiting for him at the end of the station. So were the other four children. Victoria was missing.

A small sniffle came from the corner of the car and he turned around to see Victoria, sitting down with her hands clasped over her face and her hair completely undone now.

“Are you alright?”

Her head shot up and her hands fell onto her lap as she looked in terror at Zain.

Weakly attempting to wipe the tears off her face and brighten up her expression, she replied, “Yes, I’m alright. Your family should be at the end of the station waiting for you by now. You should go to them before they get impatient.”

“You don’t look alright.”

“I’m fine. In fact—“

The door on the right slid open and a server peeked in.

“You two have to exit the tram. There are people waiting to keep moving in the other cars and you’re holding it up. Quickly, now.”

Both Zain and Victoria were ushered out of the tram and onto the station. Mr. and Mrs. Qureishi waved at him from the distance and they both began to walk in that direction.

“My team should be a bit past your family so I’ll go in that direction.”

“No offense, but I’m not sure they’re your team. More like a group of kids who were in the tram at the same time as you.”

“They’re my team.”

“They don’t act like one.”

“What’s it to you? Just go back to your family and back to the Sectors. Uh—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be rude to any of you.”

To his own surprise, Zain laughed. He didn’t usually laugh when his parents or siblings made a joke.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being rude. Why don’t you boss your team around more? They would probably listen to you.”

“I have. They never listen to me. Ellie always does and Blythe sometimes, but Evan and Cameron—I don’t even know why they’re signing up for the Pacifem Resistance Organization. They won’t tell me.”

Up ahead, Zain could see Evan and Cameron’s backs as they continued walking into the distance with Ellie and Blythe.

“I’m sorry you had to see me crying back there. Sometimes all of the issues with my team drops on me like a boulder and I can’t handle it. Today was my team’s first time actually introducing someone we saved to the city. It’s part of our jobs as recruits. And we messed it up.”

“Your first time? I thought you guys were all about saving kids, no?”

“The PRO is yes, but we’re recruits. Every year, only a select amount of teams make it into it. And as of right now we’re very near the bottom ranking. And this was really important in terms of letting our team stand out. You were the first people we saved from the Pacifems and we ruined it.”

“Why do you want to be a part of this organization so much anyways?” Zain asked, genuinely curious.

“I’ve always wanted to. Anyways, we’re nearing your parents, so it was nice talking to you. Thanks for calming me down.”

“You’re . . . you’re welcome.”

As they arrived at the Qureishis, Victoria gave a light wave and jogged to catch up with her "teammates”. Zain felt like a thousand birds were flying around in his stomach and there were a pair of fingers stretching out his lips into a smile. He had had a successful conversation with another child. A real, actual child with feelings and emotions just like him. And she was around his age. For the rest of the day all he could think about was that he might have actually made a friend.