Why was the party so important? Alaura had a bad feeling about it the more she interacted with Ray and the RFA. She could tell that she was being used to gather intel on the organization. Occasionally Ray would appear in the app for only Alaura to see, so she had to assume that he was able to access the conversations she had with the members. Ray instructed her not to mention his appearances to any of them, and she complied, but… how could she not worry what she might be an accessory to? She roamed about the building as much as she dared, first exploring her floor and then tentatively venturing beyond, keeping an eye out for cameras or the sentries assigned to prevent exactly what she was attempting.

They called themselves "believers," lending credence to Alaura's theory that she was dealing with a cult of some kind. Surely they had been instructed to not use this language in proximity to her, but she was stealthy, and they were not particularly smooth. More than once she caught snippets of their private conversations. She heard mentions of a so-called "savior" as well, a title that inspired great disquiet in Alaura.

So it was one person calling the shots… From what she gathered, it seemed this person was rarely seen, except during certain important "ceremonies."

Alaura ran through her numerous theories, the most disturbing of which considered the possibility of a terrorist attack on the RFA's charity gala. It was not an outrageous theory. If Jumin's father were to attend the party, an attack could kill the President of possibly the largest corporation in South Korea. But perhaps he was not the target at all. Indeed, the intended target could be any one of their distinguished guests, the guests she was in charge of persuading.

She could not bear to be responsible for the death of any innocent person. She had to figure out what was really going on at this bizarre collective, but she needed to be careful about when to act, or she would miss any opportunity she might have to intervene.

But it was not just Ray and this savior who had secrets. V clearly had a few secrets of his own. It was he who had deemed her trustworthy, as though he knew how she had ended up among them. But what exactly did he know? Did he have some connection to this place?

A few days in, Alaura was in a chat room with Seven and Jaehee. Seven was telling her that he was on a dangerous assignment for work. He mentioned before that he worked as a hacker for an agency, but Alaura knew little more than that. He was very secretive about his work, by necessity. However nonchalant he sounded whenever he commented on the perilousness of his job, Alaura could tell that he was only partly joking, if at all.

In the same chat, Seven posted a photo of himself, the first one he had posted since Alaura joined their ranks. She saved it with the urgency of Jaehee saving a selfie of Zen. The photo perturbed Jaehee for some reason, but it was really a very cute picture of Seven dressed as a fairy. It made Alaura smile just looking at it.

It was after Seven had logged off and Alaura consulted the photo again in the midst of her note-taking that she was struck by the resemblance between Seven and Ray. In a big way, they looked quite different. Where Ray had a soft, lovely aura, Seven projected a vibrancy unlike any Alaura had ever encountered. And yes, he was handsome. Very, very handsome. Alaura blushed and distracted herself by pulling up a photo of Ray in the garden outside to compare.

Switching between the photos, the likeness was unmistakable. Were they related? Brothers, perhaps? If so, how had Ray come to despise his own kin so much?

From then on, Alaura saved every one of Seven's photos, examining them closely, searching his face as though hoping it might yield what Seven himself would not. Her intuition told her that Seven was only a small piece of this puzzle, but she couldn't help her fascination with him. She kept herself up at night with caffeine, checking the messenger so that she never missed talking to him when he was online, she called him with a greater frequency than the other members, though not as often as she really wanted, and she kept more notes on him than any other member of the RFA. If Seven was put off by her enthusiasm, he did not show it. In fact, Alaura was fairly certain she sensed a burning curiosity in him as well, and she did her best to reveal just enough about herself to keep herself anonymous while also allowing him to get to know who she really was.

It was exciting. Sometimes she begged him to stay on the phone with her as he worked, and he obliged, talking to her about whatever they decided was interesting that day. On this particular day, it was animals, which progressed toward another topic entirely…

"Mantis shrimp," said Alaura into the receiver.

"Mantis shrimp?" Seven replied incredulously.

"Hear me out!" she said before he could object. "I know it's not technically 'furry,' but it would make an incredible fursona. I'll draw it out for you if you don't believe me!"

"No, I believe you. I was just thinking you read my mind or something."

"There's no way you were also going to pick 'mantis shrimp' as the ideal anthropomorphized animal!"

"No, no! But I was going to pick a marine invertebrate as well!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"I was! Wanna hear it?"

"Sure."

"Flamboyant cuttlefish!"

"Flamboyant cuttlefish? Really?"

"Hey, it's no weirder than yours."

"You're not going to say it's because they cuddle, are you?"

"Give me some credit! Flamboyant cuttlefish change the color and texture of their skin to communicate. Can you imagine a sexy cuttlefish woman who is also a lightshow in and of herself?"

"That's the reason?" Alaura asked with mock disappointment. "I can do that."

"Really? That might narrow my search a bit. There aren't a lot of girls around here with cuttlefish skin. Unless, of course, you're lying."

"Wish I could tell you where I am. Then you could come see for yourself."

The words were out of her mouth before she really thought about what she was saying. She essentially just invited him to explore her bare skin, didn't she? But not really. It was just a silly joke; she wasn't trying to flirt with him.

"Where are you?" he asked, his tone odd.

"I…" she paused, then decided to tell him the truth. "I want to tell you, I really do. It's just… I don't know where I am. Not really. This place, it's… far away from anything familiar to me."

"Are you alone?"

She had said too much. If Ray could listen to this conversation, there was no telling what he might do to her. She pursed her lips to prevent herself from saying any more.

"You still won't tell me," said Seven in a disappointed voice.

"I'm sorry," said Alaura. "Believe me, it's not because I don't trust you."

Seven chuckled. "You shouldn't trust me. I have no right to criticize anyone for being secretive. But this desire I have to know more about you… it feels like it goes beyond the security of the RFA or just natural curiosity. There's something about you in particular that makes me want to know everything about you."

"Then I guess I should come clean…" Alaura sighed. "I'm not actually a furry."

"Suuure."

The next day, Alaura took a simple selfie in the daylight streaming through the gigantic window in her room. She held up a sheet of paper in front of her, with a binary message for Seven, as a means to prove to him that it was really her.

Even after she took the photo, she hesitated for hours before sending it. She knew that he would not be able to determine her identity with this photo. She had no social media presence, and she never uploaded photos anywhere. No, her hesitation came from a place of insecurity. What if he thought she was plain?

In the end, she steeled herself and sent the photo directly to Seven. He didn't reply. She knew he was probably sleeping or working intensely, but her anxious imagination pushed thoughts of him seeing her picture and deciding that she was no longer worth his attention.

She occupied herself with other tasks to keep her mind off the matter. At some point, she drifted off to sleep. When the buzz of her phone woke her again, night had fallen and she was sprawled across the top of her bed, fully clothed. She picked up her phone and answered the call without looking to see who it was.

"Hello?" she said groggily.

"Oh, did I wake you?" asked Seven's voice, sounding more timid than usual. Alaura's heart fluttered.

"Only a little."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I should probably—"

"Don't go!" Alaura interrupted him a little more urgently than she meant to.

"If you call out for me so desperately like that, I don't know what to do. Um… I forgot why I called…"

"Then just talk to me a little bit. Please?"

"All right…"

There was an awkward silence, and then Alaura remembered.

"Did you get the picture I sent you? Is that why you called?"

"I did," Seven said, sounding embarrassed.

"The way you said that makes it sound like I sent you a nude, or something," said Alaura self-consciously. "It was just a regular selfie."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Were my nipples showing through my shirt, or something?"

"Ah, no! I just meant… you're so beautiful. I had no idea you were so beautiful."

Alaura felt a heat all over her body at these words. Beautiful? He thought she was beautiful? She had hoped he might say he thought she was cute or pretty, but this felt more absolute.

When she didn't say anything, Seven went on, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… uh… Oh, actually, I was wondering, did you send your picture to any of the other members?"

Alaura rolled over on her side and stared out the darkened window beside her bed. "No. I only sent it to you."

"Why just me?" he asked.

"That's because…" The answer was obvious. The words lingered on the tip of her tongue, but did she dare say them aloud? "I only care what you think, Seven. Because of how I feel about you."

Another silence stretched between them, and Alaura's heart raced fast and hard inside her.

"I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," Seven replied at last.

"I have to tell you something I feel guilty about," said Alaura softly.

"What?"

"The day before yesterday, when you posted that picture of you that your maid took, I saved it… and I look at it while touching myself last night, after we talked. I came… while imagining you fucking me, Seven."

As she held her breath, she could hear his intensify. She waited for him to respond, but he didn't.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have told you that."

"No, don't be sorry," he said. "I just… There are things I shouldn't say in this situation… as well as things I really want to say."

"What do you want to say?" Alaura whispered.

"Something I shouldn't."

The sound of his breath gave him away. He wanted her. She knew he did. Why was he hesitating? Had she not made herself clear enough?

"I want you so badly," she said. "Even the sound of your voice makes me wet."

"Alaura…"

Fire seemed to course through her at the sound of her name on his lips. The desire in his voice was unmistakable.

"Are you touching yourself now?" he asked quietly.

"I want to," she admitted. "I've been thinking about you all day."

"I think about you all the time. I don't understand it. We really just met. I mean, we haven't even really met, even, but I can't stop thinking about you. It's dangerous."

Detecting sadness in Seven's voice, Alaura was somewhat sobered. What was she doing? She was so excited to discover the mutual attraction between them, she had forgotten where she was, why she was there. "It is, isn't it?" she said with the same tinge of sadness.

"Alaura, can you please at least tell me… are you safe where you are?"

"Yes," said Alaura. It wasn't completely true, but she didn't want to disrupt Seven's peace of mind any more than she already had.

"That's enough for me," he said, "for now."

A silence stretched between them. Alaura wanted to say something, anything, just so she could keep listening to his voice, but her better judgment held her tongue. They both had good reason to not tempt themselves further.

"I should get back to work," said Seven.

"Will you remember what I said?" Alaura asked, unable to completely mask her desperation.

"I don't know how I'll ever forget."