Luke stifled another yawn, Emma tried not to giggle as she lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

'Stay awake, Grant, we've another hour of torture to get through yet!'

In the lecture hall, the instructor droned on. Mental Instability and the Potential Impact upon Criminality.

A real laugh-a-minute.

To make matters worse, the lecturer had one of those dull, monotone Area 3 accents. A truly coma-inducing voice, as he read, head down, disinterested in the attention spans of the Cadets.

'Statistically speaking, petty crime (brought about by emotional triggering) still occurs sporadically, very minor misdemeanours, if you will.

Society can afford to overlook these aberrations, mental imbalances tending not to be indicative of recidivism, however, should these low level events prove to be impactful upon the wellbeing of the whole, the Agency may be tasked to apprehend and process these temporarily demented miscreants.

I have personally dealt with three such cases in my twenty-eight years in the Agency, the first involved the misappropriation of several apples….'

On and on and on.

After the lecture, Luke and Emma sat, drinking synth-caffeine drinks to wake themselves up.

'But why?'

'Come on Em, there will always be those poor souls who lose their minds, can't operate within the norm. Society tolerates them, harmless mostly…unless they're pilfering apples!'

She ignored his grin, carried on.

'But why, if we can 'tolerate' the Mentally Imbalanced, ignore their Crimes, why not wait 'til DDV shows up, then process the guilty?

Surely there's some chance these babies may grow up to be decent Citizens, maybe they could control their impulses, fight against their own DNA? We all have impulses that we overrule…'

'I have an impulse right now, one that I don't particularly want to overrule!'

He squeezed her thigh under the table, whispering.

'And it definitely doesn't involve apples!'

Across the room, Heidi felt herself blushing as she lowered her eyes and stirred her drink, conscious of her friend's eyes upon her.

The slightly shocked (but ever so interested) smile, the disbelief that she'd done something so out of character, so unexpected, so life changing.

'So that's all, 37? Wow Heidi, when you go for it, you really go for it!'

'Yeah, don't I know it, Sue!'

'OK. Thirty-seven's…or more aptly, Flirty 7…. a start. There are probably only a few billion guys that age….then there's the other stunning details you can actually remember…tall, dark, tattooed, neutral accent, stubble, but kind of handsome in a bad boy way….We'll find him in a matter of hours!'

'Even if I could find him, I really don't think I'd want to. There's something to be said for having a little mystery in my life!'

'Only Heidi Waite could call this a 'little mystery'! Anyway, give me the full goss, I want to know all your dirty little secrets. Some of us good girls still have to live vicariously! So…the sexy, mysterious 37…spill the beans, Waite!'

Heidi laughed at her friend, despite the seriousness of their conversation.

No recriminations. No 'how could she'. No 'how stupid'. Just her best friend trying to cheer her up, make a joke out of the whole dumb scenario.

One night. One stupidly wild night.

The clichéd vacation fling. A guy in a bar. A little flirting. A lot of drinking, synthetic liquor bringing calmness and joy. Laughing together into the night before sharing his bed.

No morning regrets, just a happy holiday memory, a wild evening with a handsome stranger to remember in her otherwise rather boring existence.

She smiled to herself every time she tried to remember his name, each time giving up, and referring to him only as '37'.

But a few weeks later she'd been late, knew before the morning sickness hit her, knew even as she awkwardly squatted and peed on the stupidly designed test kit.

She'd told her best friend, sharing lunch and the wild tale of thirty-seven, thankful for the support when she'd explained to Sue she intended to keep the baby.

Sue had laughed, 'Jeez, Heidi, most girls just bring back a sombrero or a bottle of synth-booze!'

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