Nathan was not sure how to respond to the question. On one hand, he wanted to jump at the fact that someone else was seeing things the way he was. On the other hand, he didn't know if he could trust Becky enough to talk about such things. He could very well be a spy for the Ruling Council.

"How do you mean?" Nathan decided to go with the safe option which was to let Becky do most of the talking.

"Look around you, bro. This doesn't look like a random population."

"I thought so too." Nathan concurred. "I just don't think the Ruling Council will appreciate us discussing things like that."

"Are you even sure there's a Ruling Council?" Becky asked. "I didn't buy that crap about them wanting to stay behind the scenes. There's no trace of them anywhere. I've done my fair share of research. Doesn't this feel like a dictatorship to you? Colonel Ford reads the rules out to all of us and orders our deaths when we disobey."

Those were Nathan's exact thoughts but he was still playing it safe while studying the brilliant Geologist's body language. He appeared genuine to Nathan but he still wasn't ready to open up.

"In his defense, he hasn't killed anyone yet." Nathan replied.

"You think so?" Becky asked. "Where's the guy who asked the question about our virtual assistants at the central auditorium?"

Nathan had completely forgotten about that guy. He knew he was most likely killed but Colonel Ford said it was only to make others obey the rules.

"It was your question at the central auditorium that got me thinking. The more I thought about it, the more I spotted the holes." Becky continued.

Nathan was going to say something in reply but was distracted by the sound of voices not far away from where they stood. Apparently, some guy had fallen ill and that made the others start asking questions. The guy swore to have taken every one of his preventive shots but it was what happened next that got Nathan sick to his stomach.

The MoonEx soldiers patrolling the area walked towards the group, probably attracted by the noise. As soon as they saw the guy looking ill, one of them pulled out a pistol and shot him dead. There were no questions asked.

"I don't need to be a doctor to know that preventive medicine does not make people happy." Becky whispered in Nathan's ears, just before they were directed to their respective Rovers.