Lucas came out of the bathroom, his mind made up. Let's see what I can pick up from Nathan.

He found Nathan lying on his bed and holding the football as he looked bored.

"How long till dinner?" Lucas asked as he walked over.

"Dinner's at seven. So about two hours."

Lucas nodded. "How about we kick the ball around a bit?"

Nathan's face lit up as he sat up. "Okay." Grabbing a pair of sneakers, he slipped them on and got to his feet. He snatched up the ball and placed it under one arm.

Lucas eyed his uniform, yet, other than throwing his tie on his bed, Nathan seemed to have no interest in changing out of it.

"We're headed out," Nathan told Brian as he walked towards the door.

Brian simply lifted a hand to show he had heard, however, he never once moved his eyes from his school books. Lucas followed Nathan, casting one last look at his other, more silent, roommate.

He turned and followed Nathan from the room. They walked back through the chaotic hallway.

"Heads up!" someone yelled. A bang followed.

"Epic!" some exclaimed. Laughter followed.

Nathan seemed completely unaffected. He high fived a guy on the way and said hi to another before they were out of the dorm.

"So," Nathan fell into step beside Lucas. "I heard some rumors about why you came late..."

Lucas wasn't surprised that the topic had come up.

"I heard there was an accident," Nathan continued. "What happened?"

"It was a car accident. We were going on a family vacation when we crashed. I was the only one to survive," Lucas said it in a bored tone. Realizing it, he shot a glance over at Nathan. The other boy didn't seem to have noticed. Instead, he looked embarrassed at having asked.

"Jeeze...I'm sorry," he said.

Lucas simply nodded. He felt like kicking himself though. When the topic of the accident comes up either avoid it like any teenager would or act devastated. It killed your entire family after all, Conner's instructions echoed in Lucas' mind. He felt a tug. When was the last time I actually felt such an emotion? Memories threatened to surface but Lucas squashed them. You're working a job, he reminded himself.

"You thinking of playing football after high school?" Nathan changed the topic.

"No," Lucas answered.

"Really?" Nathan shot him a look. "I hear you're pretty good."

"Will you continue?" Lucas asked to take the discussion off himself.

They walked towards the sports fields.

"Yeah." Nathan nodded. "I'm hoping to get scouted for university." He tossed the ball up and caught it again. "Truth be told, my parents could pay, but there's no way they'll support a career in football. My father's more interested with me taking over the family business, you know?"

Lucas didn't, but he said nothing.

They reached the field to find it was abandoned.

"Ha, looks like no one's out to practice on their own," Nathan commented. He put the football down and placed a foot on top of it before pulling out a cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked.

"Texting some of the others. It'll be more fun if there are more of us." Nathan looked up. "Besides, this way you'll get to meet some of our teammates before tomorrow."

Lucas didn't reply as he shot a look around. The field they were on was well kept. However, unlike the one next to it, it didn't have bleachers. Must be just a practice field, he noted. He took in the white markings. There was a line through the middle and a circle in the middle of that. The game starts from there...I think. He tried to recall the little he knew about football. Eyes darting from one end to the other, where there was a goal with a net, he kicked the grass. The aim is to try and get the ball in the net guarded by the other team...

"Here," Nathan called.

Lucas looked up just as Nathan kicked the ball towards him. Somehow, Lucas reacted just in time to stop it with his own foot. Use of hands isn't allowed by anyone other than the player in the goal, he remembered. A fellow ECHO member he had worked with for one job had been obsessed with football. Lucas regretted not listening more when he had babbled on about the sport.

Nathan was watching expectantly, as though waiting for Lucas to either do something incredible with the ball and then pass it back.

"Is that part of Bel?" Lucas pointed behind Nathan.

As soon as Nathan turned to look, Lucas tapped the ball with his toe, sending it rolling towards Nathan. It went so slowly that Lucas scowled. Got to hit it harder next time.

Nathan, however, didn't even notice as he turned back to look at Lucas only to find the ball had reached him again.

"Yeah, that's their gym," Nathan told him. He used his foot to roll the ball to himself, flicked it into the air, and began to bounce it up in the air with his feet and knees. "Sometimes they have practice out on their fields at the same time as we do." He continued to bounce the ball with little effort. "Get's everyone here super distracted. Coach hates it." He grinned.

Lucas didn't reply as he watched Nathan's every move. He displays perfect control of the ball. Analysis: this is definitely something that cannot be acquired without a lot of practice. Conclusion: I should probably never attempt that particular move while I'm here.

"Of course," Nathan flicked the ball higher and it landed on his forehead where he kept it balanced, "Coach gets distracted too." He moved back, causing the ball to fall. It landed perfectly on one foot before he dropped it to the ground and kicked it over to Lucas again.

He kicks with the inside off his foot. He did so last time too, Lucas noted as he stopped the ball again. Is that the way to do it?

"Hey!" Nathan called out.

Lucas turned to see two guys heading over to them.

"Yo," the first, with brown hair and grey eyes, greeted Nathan.

The other, who was slightly shorter and stockier and had black hair and brown eyes, nodded.

"Lucas, this is Jordan," Nathan pointed at the brown haired guy, "and Rick." He nodded at the stockier one. "Guys, this is Lucas."

"Was sup?" Jordan greeted Lucas.

Accent suggests he's from England, Lucas noted right away.

"Lucas? The new player?" Rick asked.

From within the country, Lucas thought.

"The one and only," Nathan replied.

"I hear you have quite some skill," Rick told Lucas.

Looks like ECHO made quite some name for me, Lucas thought dryly. "I'm okay," he told the two newcomers.

"Rick plays right wing defense, Jordan is our starter goalie," Nathan told Lucas.

Just how many positions are there? Lucas wondered as he rolled the ball under his foot. Somehow it slipped out and rolled right towards Jordan.

"You guys want to take some shots at goal?" Jordan asked as he picked it up.

"Sure," Nathan chirped.

Lucas shot a skeptical look towards the goal Jordan jogged towards. It's pretty big...so it can't be that hard to get on target, right?

Once he stood in the center of the goal, Jordan tossed the ball over to Rick. Rick stopped it before dribbling it back and forth a bit. He jogged towards the goal and then suddenly kicked. The ball flew in a high ark, right towards the middle of the goal. Jordan easily jumped and caught it.

"Seriously? You going to give me an easy one?" Jordan asked.

"I'm a defender," Rick shot back.

"I can see why," Jordan joked.

Rick made a face.

Jordan tossed the ball over to Lucas. As it rolled towards him, Lucas managed to stop it once more. He considered taking a shot but thought the better of it. Instead, he managed to hit it quite decently so that it rolled over to Nathan.

Nathan took it up at once and went for a shot. Jordan barely got a hold of it, blocking it at the last moment. Lucas had kept his attention focused on Nathan, taking in his stance as he had booted the ball.

"I can't believe we've already got a test next week," Rick grumbled.

"You do?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, with Mr. Howdan."

Nathan winced. "Ouch."

They boys continued to chat as they shot at the goal. When their conversation turned to football and the teams they supported, Lucas was able to pick out a few things. He found out that there were three main positions, four counting the goalie. These were defenders, midfielders, and strikers. How many players there were on the field and in each position he wasn't sure. However, he picked up that if there was unfair conduct the referee could award yellow or red cards. Apparently the red, or two yellow, made the player get off the field and his team had to play with one less. While this information wasn't too much, it was at least something to start off with.

Perhaps I should have researched... Lucas thought as he once again passed off the ball to someone else. He still hadn't taken a shot at goal and noticed that others were beginning to get curious about it. However, they didn't ask. Relief filled him when Jordan declared that they should probably head off to dinner. Rick split on the way, saying he was meeting up with some others from his dorm.

Nathan, Jordan, and Lucas went straight for the cafeteria. Like most of the other buildings, it was luxurious and spacious. There were six different main meals the students could choose from, and that was without starters, salad, or desert. Lucas had read in his report that all the meals were cooked by top chefs and as he looked down at his plate he didn't doubt it in the least.

Golden potatoes, a juicy steak topped by a creamy asparagus sauce, and fresh vegetables, lined his plate. It was placed in such a way that it looked as though he had ordered the meal at a fancy restaurant; and he had been to some pretty fancy ones.

"That's one thing I love about this place," Nathan announced with his mouth full. "The food is great." He shoved in another forkful. "We have international chefs visit all the time too."

"You keep talking with your mouth filled like that and you'll choke," Jordan told Nathan.

Nathan simply grinned.

Lucas observed the room as they ate. He counted four visible cameras. There were four doors he could use as an exit and multiple windows. The cafeteria itself was pretty empty, but Nathan had mentioned that it was still early and most people would come later.

Lucas ate and mostly listened to Nathan and Jordan chat. A few more guys came over and the conversation turned to the Bel girls.

"Dude, I heard Nadia broke up with her boyfriend," one guy said.

"Really?" another asked almost jumping out of his chair in excitement.

"Nadia is single," another sighed dreamily.

Such fuss over one girl? Lucas thought.

Nathan nudged him in the ribs and Lucas looked over.

"Nadia's a Bel girl," Nathan told him. "I guess if there was a hierarchy over there then she would be at the top. She's pretty popular around here..." he shoved more food into his mouth.

Lucas didn't make a comment. He didn't have the time to bother with such trifle conversations.

"So, Nathan, how's your sister doing?" a guy asked.

Nathan's eyes narrowed.

"She single?" the same guy asked.

Nathan swallowed the chunk of food in his mouth. "Forget it." He pointed his fork at the offending guy.

"Awe, come on man," another whined. "Couldn't you set up something...?"

"With an Ellison guy?" Nathan asked in disbelief. He stabbed a piece of his broccoli that was on his plate. "I'll kill the first one who goes near her."

Jordan chuckled. "You'll end up with single sister."

"Better than having her end up with someone crazy," Nathan muttered.

Lucas tuned out as he glanced over in the direction of the kitchen. I should get in there at some point and look around. He looked around the cafeteria again. Doesn't feel like the location where I would hide the object. However...cannot rule it out just yet.

When they were done eating, Nathan and Lucas headed back to their room. Brian was still studying, his headphones in place.

"You not going to eat?" Nathan asked as he walked past.

Brian looked up, shrugged, and went back to studying.

Lucas grabbed his laptop and sat down on his bed. He switched it on. Nathan had pulled out a game console from somewhere and started playing some shooting game while narrating in a loud voice.

Ignoring him, Lucas sat with his back against the wall. He logged into his laptop before switching to the specially designed stealth mode. As with most things in the school, he was sure the internet pages visited by the students were monitored too. However, with ECHO's stealth system, he could easily bypass this. It was a mode where if anyone was using spyware to check what he was up to on his laptop, it would show then whatever he set up for them to see.

Lucas chose to open a word document and set it up so that it looked like he was working on an essay. Once that was going, he opened what he was really wanting to; ECHO's info page. He got down to business at once, searching what info he could find on anyone he had met that day. If they were dangerous, ECHO would have information.

His search came up blank and Lucas sat back with a sigh. Not one hit. He shut the laptop. Feeling a wave of tiredness wash over him, he rubbed his eyes.

I guess I could turn in. I have to get through class and practice tomorrow after all. He paused as he shot a glance at the clock. Or...I could stay up and after the check by our dorm head, sneak out and look around. He scowled. I guess planting some bugs and cameras would help. Having eyes and ears around might help me find my target quicker...but...I'm still not sure of the extent of the security around here.

Options:

a) Play it safe. It's only the first day so turn in and sleep. It's been a long day and Lucas still has time. Besides, if he sneaks out now and gets caught...who knows what will happen.

b) Sneak out! Lucas can deal with whatever comes across his way. Besides, he can figure out the security better if he actually tries it out.