Max had returned to school, and it was easier for him to sleep at night knowing his parents were safe. The lack of ghosts in his nightmares helped as well. He still was kept a strict eye on by the government and was required to wear a tracker, even though he had not committed any crime nor was charged with a crime, and was not on house arrest.

The morning after waking up to Eric falling out of bed, going for their morning jog, and eating breakfast together, they both went off to their classes. Max felt his throat tighten when he entered the classroom and told himself he did not need a guardian. He did not need to trade Tiffany for Eric.

He was strong and independent!

He did not feel very strong and independent when everyone in his Statistics class stared at him the moment he entered the room.

Max looked at the ground, thinking that he had to know his place, like at his old school, but then remembered things were different now. He put on a brave face and said hello, gave a quick nod, and took a seat at the front. The moment he sat down everyone crowded around him. His thin cover of bravery crumbled like paper in the rain.

"We saw you online," one girl said. "You tried saving that man. I am so sorry!"

"Yeah dude, that was rough," a boy said. "A bunch of shills are claiming you killed the princess too, but we know the truth!"

"Hey, be quiet," another whispered. "The teacher is here."

Their teacher had just walked through the door and everyone scrambled to their seats.

The statistics teacher, Mr. Ekvacio glanced at Max and set his teaching materials on the desk at the front. He pressed a button underneath, and a holo screen popped up. The lights dimmed and students picked up the light plates and digi-pens left inside each of their desks with randomized tests, each question different for each student.

"It does not matter what has happened. Outside of this class stays outside," Mr. Ekvacio said. "We're still having our weekly quiz. The timer starts now."

A countdown of seven minutes started at the holo screen at the front, and Mr. Ekvacio slowly walked around the classroom to discourage cheating. Max confidently finished the quiz in five minutes and pressed Prezenti. A little smile showed on the light plate that said okdek naŭ procentoj. He was allowed to review the quiz when it was over and he was confused.

He got all the questions correct but it still said 89%.

At the end of the class, he spoke with Mr. Ekvacio about the hardware malfunction.

"It works perfectly fine," Mr.Ekvacio said.

"But-"

"You are not getting any special treatment in this class."

"Special treatment? What special treatment?"

"You got away with your crimes," Mr.Ekvacio said. "My brother is a police officer, and I can't believe he has to submit himself to thugs like you."

"I thought you said whatever happens outside stays outside," Max shouted.

"Not when you bring it in," Mr.Ekvacio said smugly. "Since my family works in law enforcement I know what that is."

He pointed at the tracker on Max's left wrist.

"If you steal anything in this room I will have you expelled. Now get out."

"I'm going to do something about this. I'm going to-"

Mr. Ekvacio pushed Max out of the classroom and shut the door behind him. It was the wierdest interaction Max has had since he had arrived at school and didn't know what to do about it. He stood in shock in front of the classroom, and Tiffany saw him standing there, looking glum.

"What happened to you," she asked.

He told her everything, and she took his hand and hugged him.

"Everyone in power here works in the military, the police, or knows someone who does. I'm sorry Max, but you're in trouble," she explained.

"I did nothing wrong. I tried to help."

"I know. We all know. They can deny what others have seen but other people will know the truth."

"Do you want to help me do something," Max asked. "It's going to be harder than how they treated us at the festival, but I'm fighting back."

Tiffany shook her head, and Max was surprised.

"I want to. I don't even know what we could do. And we're entering the military. We can't take political stances," she said.

"Equal rights is not political."

"Max, I don't have a place to go without the school and the military. Unless you have a solution, I don't know about this. I'm sorry."

Tiffany ran off to her next class, trying not to be late, but Max didn't bother going to his next. He didn't go to any of his classes that day and was determined to make good on his promise to his parents and himself.

----------------------------------------

Throughout the week random QR codes had popped up around campus. Most people ignored them. They were usually links to social media pages, someone's cover band, and sometimes prank links to porn sites or a virus. Because of this, not many people had learned about Max's plan. He was trying to avoid the word social movement. He was also trying to avoid certain movements because the tracker was still on his wrist.

By the end of the week, on Sundas when Max had their first meeting he had accumulated roughly forty people. To keep the entire group secret he hung up a banner claiming that it was a club called The Find Friends Club. Who would ever investigate a club about lonely people trying to find friends? It was the perfect cover because if they needed to travel anywhere it would be under the guise of a "social meet-up".

Their first meeting was held in an empty classroom because Max did not have the time to officially register the event, so he was hoping that the teacher who used it did not randomly show up for something they forgot. When the meeting was about to begin, Tiffany showed up, and he was less anxious about what he was about to say.

"Hello everyone," Max said.

"I can't hear you," a girl from the back shouted.

"I said, HELLO EVERYONE," Max repeated. "WELCOME TO OUR FIRST MEETING!"

"What's this club about," a boy asked.

"I am not going to lie. I am not the Emporer," Max said.

Nervous laughter came from the audience but Max was not joking.

"We're going to do bad things. What we talk about no one should know."

"Oh gods above and below, you really are a terrorist," the boy replied. "The rumors are true!"

"Shut up," Tiffany shouted.

She stood up from her seat and pointed at the boy who put up his hands defensively as if her finger could kill.

"Why are you at this school," Tiffany asked.

"What does that have to do with-"

"WHY?"

"My family. My parents were soldiers, and their parents. It's what we do. We protect The Vale."

Many students nodded along, the same reason that they had joined, to continue the family tradition.

"You don't protect the Emporer. You don't protect their lies. We protect The Vale, and the people in it."

"So what are we gonna do to protect it," he replied.

"Listen to Max," Tiffany said.

Max was starting to think that Tiffany was the one who should be speaking at the front. Students in the crowd nodded and a few words of agreement were passed among them. Seeing the crowd become more favorable made Max more confident and now he was prepared to tell his master plan.

Max walked over to Eric and asked him to stand up. He looked awkward and put his hands and his pockets and also was not good with public speaking, much to Max's surprise.

"This is Eric," Max said. "He was the one that put online what The Duke and the imperial police did."

"That's AWESOME," someone shouted from the back. "FUCK THE POLICE!"

He started clapping, and everyone stood and clapped. Eric turned many shades of red as he was given a standing ovation for doing the right thing. Max grinned and gave him a side hug and it caused Eric's face to twist in weird ways. When the applause was over, Eric mumbled a quick 'thank you' and sat down.

"We are going to do what Eric did," Max said. "We are going to expose their lies. If we do it enough times, people can't deny it. They can't stick up for them anymore."

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A girl's hand shot up and Max confusedly pointed at her, because they were not in class, and did not understand why she did it.

"The news tells everyone when the government has problems. Why should we do this?"

Max did not know how to answer this question and was thrown for a loop. Surprisingly, Aster, the one who had always believed in the ideals of the Empire was the one who refuted her question. He stood up and spoke to the crowd, and unknown to them he was repeating what the woman at the Vintro festival had told him when she offered him to join her social movement.

"Have you ever noticed that whenever something bad happens, like a government scandal, it's quickly blamed on one guy? Or that it's downplayed? Isn't that weird?"

"That is weird," the girl agreed.

"Court cases shouldn't be solved in a week. All the journalists shouldn't agree with the same thing. Nothing is that simple," Aster said.

This answer seemed to satisfy the girl's question, and now most of the room was interested in joining.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but you can't tell anyone what you saw or heard here," Max said. "You might think you will be doing the right thing by turning us in, but they will easily turn around and blame you too. It's what they did to me."

He raised his arm and flashed his tracker. Everyone became afraid, and people shouted at him in anger.

"It's okay," Max assured them. "This is just a club if anyone asks. We're all friends just hanging out. We can-"

"Why should we listen to you," someone in the back shouted.

"I...because I..."

"Because he is willing to sacrifice anything to help others," Seraphina said. "He saved my life and I didn't even know his name back then."

"He saved my life too," Tiffany said.

"He saved Eric and me," Aster said.

"Max is shy and quiet, but when something dangerous happens, it's like a flip switches," Seraphna continued. "He's like really brave. Like, stupid brave. It's kind of concerning."

"Sorry," Max mumbled.

Everyone laughed, and Max's social battery was depleted. He was ready to go.

"Look. I can't promise you that this will work. I can't promise you that we won't get caught," Max said. "I can promise you that I will try my hardest to work with you guys to protect Aria. Aren't you guys tired?"

"Tired of what," a girl asked.

"I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Aren't you?"