Melquiades looked at Gemma with an inquisitive look. 

'Where have you been?' he asked suspiciously, glimpsing at her over the open book.

'Outside,' she answered innocently, not looking at him in the eye.

'You're often outside these days. Have you got any friends? Maybe a boy?'

'A boy? Why do you think so?'

'I don't think about anything. You simply remind me of my brother and he wasn't the type to spend his evenings at home.'

'Maybe YOU should spend your evenings outside. At least some of them. You're always working.'

'I had my time of rest, you see. It's not that bad to work at my age. It makes me active.'

Gemma believed that it was true. She saw Melquiades wake up in the morning and fall asleep at midnight bolder than ever. He would make kids sheltered and safe, he would organize schools and right now he was taking care of law and justice. And commerce, even though that was out of the question due to N.'s interference. After a couple of years, K. seemed to Gemma less wild just as Adam seemed to be more of a human than a cave man he used to be. And that was solely her own effort.

'You are good to K.' said Gemma honestly, sitting next to him and patting his shoulder. 

'I have a debt to pay. I'm no better than any citizen of K. If I hadn't gone abroad back then when I was young, the same would have happened to me. Don't you realize, Gemma, this house would lodge thirty girls such as yourself and I would take advantage of them all. That's the sad truth.'

Gemma looked at him with a sense of lost trust. She considered him a better man than those who paid them regular visits.

'But why are you acting as if you wanted to help us?'

'I do want to help you. But my couple of years won't change those fifty of which I wasn't even aware. And I want to change at least one more unpleasant fate of your people. You're almost eighteen, my dear. It's high time I sent you to N.'.

 Gemma gasped. She knew this moment would approach but she didn't know it would be so soon. Now everything was different. She understood more and knew more. She got used to this house, Melquiades and the area. She got really attached to Adam, who was hiding in the forest in the shed they had both built. And was she to leave all of it and move to a place she knew nothing of? 

Melquiades made her stay inside for weeks and she couldn't even talk to Adam and tell him that she would soon go. The old man taught her how to dress like a woman, how to paint her face and how to behave with grace and dignity. She was trying hard but she felt that such behavior didn't make her feel in her element. She learned how to use cutlery and manners at the table. Melquiades made her walk with her back straight and wash at least once a day. He combed her long hair and put oil on it so that it would be straight and shiny. 
A week before her final departure, when Melquiades fell asleep, Gemma left her room and, as quiet as a mouse, she sneaked to the woods to find Adam and discuss with him her future leave. With Melquiades they decided that despite the progress of her mission, she would come back to K. at least once a month to report to him, thus the visits were to be treated as opportunities to see Adam, apart from making Melquiades satisfied. For now, however, she was both anxious and stressed, and even though she was prepared to go, her body seemed to oppose her, as she would wake up at night after a bad dream or she couldn't sleep at all. 
'Gemma, you shouldn't be awake at this time,' Melquiades seemed to be really worried about her state 'Listen, your move to N. involves stages. I want you to have time to adjust. It won't happen too soon. And for sure you won't even face Jacob. You're far too young.'
Gemma was silent. She had her one small bag packed with memories of her childhood, words of farewell already given to Adam and she was waiting for tomorrow's train. Still, she was so nervous as never in her life and the only thing she wanted to do was to throw up, fall asleep and never even need to walk out of bed again. 

But this whole move to N. was easy. Melquiades gave her the ticket and she went on a train. She found her compartment and sat completely alone. After a few hours of a pleasant and peaceful journey, she approached the border and showed her documents.
The ticket inspector measured her from head to toes and smiled.
'Applying for N.'s citizenship?'
Gemma nodded. 
'I believe you will have no problems with accomplishing it.'
Gemma felt comforted. She was afraid that something might come out wrong. When the train got to the station she used another vehicle, something like a bigger car, possibly a truck, that until this moment she had never seen in her life. It had two rows of seats on both sides and an aisle between them. It looked like the buses she used to see in Melquiades' books but it was twice the size. The size meant to make it more comfortable. Through the windows, she could see the views of the countryside, which were to some extent similar to K., but there were no people working in the fields at all. She bought the ticket for the money she got from Melquiades and sat on one of the seats. As they were approaching N., the view changed. There were fewer and fewer fields but now and then one or two beautiful white houses appeared, villas with great gardens and funny-shaped trees. The closer they were to their destination, the bigger was the number of houses she passed, and very soon they changed into enormously high, white blocks of flats with balconies and high glass windows, in fact so high as if half of the buildings had been made of glass. In their windows there were no curtains, so Gemma could see everything that was happening inside. People of N. were laughing and sitting on the sofas in front of small boxes, called TV-sets (of which Gemma was aware due to her careful education). They were talking to each other or enjoying a meal over their round white tables. She could see children in some of the flats, but children were looking way different than children in K. They were well-groomed, neatly dressed and they behaved more like adults than children running around in the streets of K. They were sitting with parents and looking at TV-sets or they were scribbling something on the tables. Gemma looked at the people in the streets as they were strolling along the pavements and chatting to each other. Some were entering places on the lower floors of those blocks of flat and they were walking out of them with bags full of food. There were cars in the streets and every now and then she saw people cycling on bikes. What she had seen in the past in the pictures of Melquiades' books now she could see for herself.  
She had the address written on a piece of paper. Effortlessly she found the building. It was a big white building with seven floors, white doors and white walls on which numbers were inscribed. White clear corridors she crossed reminded her of tunnels at the station she arrived in a couple of hours ago. She approached the registration office and filled in the form. After a while, when she was sitting on a waiting chair in the corridor on the fifth floor, a woman asked her inside.
'Please, sit down,' she said, pointing at the chair, and took Gemma's form. She read it carefully and then reread it again. She smiled.
'I must ask you to undress. I must take some measurements.'
Gemma obediently took off her clothes and the woman measured her waist, legs, arms, stomach, the distance between her head and her shoulders, the size of feet. Then she carefully examined her skin for scars and pimples and she was fairly satisfied. She asked Gemma to put on her clothes again and return to her sitting position. 
'You're eighteen, is that right?'
'Yes, I am eighteen. I had my birthday recently.'
'And who educated you?'
'My grandfather,' Gemma lied 'He was abroad and then he taught me how to read and write.'
'He must be proud. In my family there is a cousin who came here from K. He's an electrical engineer. I personally know two engineers, who despite their looks, were also admitted due to their exceptional skills. Their life is better here.'
Gemma nodded.
'You're young. You're too young to work. I strongly advise you to take some courses and try to find some future career. You're too young to obtain a house, but we will supply you with a flat for your own needs. Fill in this form and I will fetch keys and address.'
Gemma filled in another form and handed it to the woman. She was an attractive brunette with a slim waist and long legs. Gemma felt that she was older but she couldn't tell whether she was in her thirties or forties, she might have been even in her fifties, but her face barely bore the signs of passing time. 
'Don't worry. My son has got a house but he doesn't use it at all. He still wants to live with me. I think that he still hasn't decided on a career to be honest. The flat will just suit you fine. And remember, it is only for a start. If you wish to choose a practical career, you will have many such ones for your own liking. I need one more document for you to sign.'
Gemma was getting used to filling documents.
'Have you got any questions?'
'How often can I visit K.?'
'You want to visit your grandfather, you mean. You can go back once a month for a weekend. Remember that you cannot take anything from N. to K. and the other way round. Also, try to disinfect your clothes after crossing the border for sanitary reasons. Any more questions?'
Gemma didn't have any. The woman smiled and handed her the keys.
'Welcome,' she said and shook her hand firmly 'I hope we will see each other again.'
Gemma took the keys to the flat and took the ride at the given address. She was taking a step back as from the center of N. she was moving to the outskirts. She found a block of flats of ten stores and after filling in another form she was allowed to use the elevator up to the eighth floor. After a five minute walk along a very white and very clean corridor, she found number 844 and opened the door. It was a two-room flat. A living room comprised a sofa, a TV-set, empty shelves, a dinner table, an armchair next to a coffee table and a carpet. There was a big window overlooking a small park and a small balcony. The walls were white and the floors were made of wood. The bedroom was small and able to fit only a bed, a bedside table and a wardrobe. The kitchen wasn't spacious but had all the necessary facilities, including the oven and the fridge, which Gemma had only heard about, as in K. they were baking over stoves and preserving food in cold basements or underground holes. The bathroom had a shower, a toilet, a basin and a big mirror in which Gemma could look at herself when she had such a need. There were no curtains in the flat, and the windows were big enough to enable others to see her from outside. There was even a window in the bathroom, a two-meter high window which allowed to expose her whenever she was taking a shower or using the toilet. Gemma, however, doubted that there would be a lot of curious spectators hanging from the eight floor in mid-air, taking into account that the windows were overlooking the park, not another block. She had a flat for herself. 
She went downstairs and found a small facility which stored food and from which you could take freely whatever you liked to eat. There were a lot of fruit and vegetables, and some substances which were put in cans and bottles of strange smells and strange flavors. There were bottles of water of various colors, even black, blue and orange. Gemma took a sip and was certain that it tasted like a juice but was completely different from the juices she knew. There were also pieces of pink items chopped, cut and placed in white foiled plates, but she didn't take those. She smelled it but the foil suppressed any form of scent. She took what she knew how to prepare and returned to her place.
Cooking in her own kitchen was pleasant as she didn't have to do it for Melquiades and his workmates. She was all by herself. She ate and the following day she decided to find some books to fill the bookshelves.  
After a week Gemma found herself sitting on the sofa in front of the TV-set, watching colorful images of N. There was no mention of K. and the citizens of K. There were stories of problematic loves, barely corresponding psychological profiles causing relationship to shatter and funny short films about eating various kinds of colorful drinks and their beneficial effects. N.'s creativity was admirable, because according to one of such short films after drinking the orange drink, you could instantly have a lot of friends and be less shy in front of the public, while Gemma drank it almost every day, having got used to the flavor, but nothing in her life changed for the better. Cooking in her own kitchen started to be less pleasant but more tiresome as she missed the company of Melquiades who, even if busy, was at least someone to talk to. 
After another week she was looking at the white walls and transparent windows with a desperate and lonesome look. And even though she could come back home once a month, she wanted to be there more often than that.
She got on the train and filled no form on that occasion. No one posed any problems.