If I thought the cell was hot, it was nothing compared to the testing room.

The place itself seemed like a new addition to the station. I was marched down the full length of the corridor, far enough for metal grilles of empty holding cells to become steel doors, each one guarded by its own collection of keypads. We walked so far that Casey's screams of distress soon melted into the space left behind. Only once the darkest end of the hall drew closer, where a flickering light plunged us into darkness every few seconds, did we seem to reach our destination.

The room was dusty – enough to make me regret my sudden intake of breath when it had me spluttering. I was shoved forward, the sudden offset of balance sending me collapsing into the room's single chair. My attention caught on the machine whirring in the corner. As the only object not buried under a layer of thick dust, it was obvious it had been placed there recently.

And, when I noticed the green sticker slapped onto the side of it, I realised why.

"I'm going to give you one last chance to answer the question," Officer Reid began slowly. He'd moved over to the machine, now tapping away at the screen, which was angled perfectly to block my view. "Are you genetically modified?"

Ignoring the way my heart was racing, I held his gaze. "No."

"There will be no more opportunities to retract that statement," he said. "If – or perhaps I should say when – it emerges you have been lying to me, we will no longer be so forgiving."

Like you were ever going to be forgiving in the first place, I wanted to say. You'd go to any length to hand me over to Max Snowdon on a silver platter.

I watched as he pulled open one of the drawers below the machine, extracting a plastic packet. As he tore into the seal, the machine beeped insistently, like it was waiting for our next move.

"Hold out your arm."

He was holding a syringe; somehow, it had taken a couple of seconds for the sight to register, but the jolt of alarm soon resonated through every inch of my body. This was happening. In seconds, there'd be a vial of my blood in the possession of the police, which was pretty much the same as handing in every other bit of me. All the information they needed could be contained within a few mils.

Frozen in the seat, I couldn't move a muscle. There had to be an escape route. Every second between the results collection and this moment, right here, seemed to stretch before me like a taunting account of missed opportunity. Why hadn't we run while we had the chance? Now, metres below the main city, not a soul would hear even my loudest scream.

Suddenly, my arm was yanked from me, with such force it seemed at risk of being pulled out of its socket. I reluctantly met his gaze, feeling his seething anger jump right out at me. "You don't have a choice about whether you cooperate or not, Ms Oxford," he snarled. "Behaving like an insolent child is not exactly swaying things in your favour."

The needle hovered dangerously close to my skin, an inch away from its path of destruction. Every muscle in my arm was tensed, but his grip stopped me from moving away, grubby nails scraping the skin.

This was it. There was no way out. Here, I begun my downfall.

Until the door was thrown open, moving with such force it went ricocheting off the tile behind it. I looked up in surprise, and Reid's jolt of alarm pulled the needle back those precious few inches. There was no time to realise what was happening before the man stormed right into the room, yanking the syringe from his grip.

"Who are you?" Reid said, regaining enough composure to face the intruder head on.

Now, at least, I could get a better look at him. He had short, dark hair, but that was about all I could gather; most of his facial features were obscured by the dark glasses resting on his nose. His grey suit was pressed to rival Max Snowdon's, and he wasted no time in discarding a briefcase on the table between us.

"J. Todorovic," he said, with the sort of ease that suggested this was an everyday occurrence. A business card was slid across the desk, but Reid made no attempt to take it, instead staring down like it was some kind of venomous snake. "Part of the BioPlus legal team. I was sent here after receiving intelligence that several clients had been arrested."

"Clients?" Reid looked back at him. "What do you mean, clients? Is that a confession of modification?"

"If you think that's what my company does, Reid, then you're very much mistaken." Todorovic's icy confidence seemed to radiate right from him, making waves across the space. "You have no right to go around making such wild allegations."

"Then what the hell are you saying?"

The briefcase clicked open, and seconds later, a file appeared in our field of vision. There was a slight pause before Reid snatched it from his grip, visibly unsettled by the shift in control. "Those are Ms Oxford's medical records. There, you'll find documentation from the last eighteen years detailing the defective gene that was edited out of her genome before birth. For this reason, you have no legal right to carry out unauthorised genetic testing."

"What gene?"

"Both parents were in possession of the Rotenberg-Wills allele. Ms Oxford's genotype carried a debilitating genetic condition that would've affected her whole life. You are aware, of course, that BioPlus was granted permission to edit out such genes thirty-three years ago."

"Rotten what? Never heard of it."

"Well," said Todorovic smoothly, "I wouldn't expect someone of the law enforcement profession to be familiar with every genetic condition out there."

I dared to let my eyes flicker toward the officer. He was staring down at the file in his hand, as if hoping his loophole might jump right out of the page. But I didn't need to set eyes on the contract to know it would be tied into a complete circle; it was not in BioPlus' nature to leave any loose ends.

Maybe he realised this, too – seconds later, the file was slammed back down on the desk, his eyes turning instead to give both of us a scathing look. "I don't care what contract you've got to throw at me," he said. "This isn't an unauthorised test. We're acting on government instruction."

"That may be, but this is still a dispute that needs to be settled professionally. For now, the test can't go ahead."

Reid took a step closer; it seemed like there might only be moments before a physical breach of the space between them. "You really think a piece of paper is going to be enough to stop this? If I were you, I'd think carefully before I went around acting too big for my boots. I can have Max Snowdon down here within the hour if that's the way you want to play this."

"Feel free." Todorovic didn't move. "Him and I can have the same conversation."

"And you think that's how it's going to go?"

"There's no other way it can go." Reid's attempts at intimidation seemed to be having little effect on the lawyer; his presence still sent a blast of cool air around the room. "This is a matter for the legal system. And until it's resolved by those means, no further action can be taken here."

"You're hiding something," he said. "Both of you are. I know it."

Todorovic smiled, but there was no warmth within the expression – just a cool sense of business being closed. "There are documents in front of you older than Ms Oxford herself," he said. "By all means, take a good look."

For a moment, Reid just stood there, eyes level with the glasses he was trying to stare past. The tension swelling through the room seemed to keep me pinned to my seat; though no longer cuffed, I wasn't sure I could've moved a muscle if I tried. Only the constant whirring of the machine dared to break the silence, just one vial of blood away from ruining my life. The thought of where I might've been had Todorovic not burst open the door was too much to bear.

"Well." Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the lawyer who spoke first. "Since you have no further allegations to make against Ms Oxford, there is no reason for her to remain in your custody."

"Fine." Reid was going slightly red in the face, a visible representation of his rising anger. "Take her. Maybe she's managed to slip her way around the law, but I've got three others in a cell down the hall who I'm sure will produce a pretty similar result."

My heart lurched, but it had no reason to; I should've expected the way Todorovic reached calmly for his briefcase, going through the motions of the routine that was playing out exactly as planned. "By any chance, are those three Ms Shield, Ms Lai and Mr Whitmore?"

He looked baffled. "How do you—"

The words didn't make it out before three files landed on top of mine, glaringly white in the dim room. "Like I said, we received intelligence around the time of the arrest. There are measures in place to protect our clients."

"Some stupid bits of paper don't change the fact these kids have committed a crime. They're not natural. They should consider themselves lucky they're even being given basic human rights in the first place..."

"That's a serious allegation for which you have no evidence, Reid." He pushed the papers further toward him, though it was obvious to all of us that he had no intention of reading them. We had more chance of a compliant smile and an apology for any offence. "I suggest you keep quiet until the issue is resolved by the higher authorities."

The warning, at least, seemed to work: Reid looked as if there were a number of things he wanted to say, but none of them were getting anywhere. Todorovic looked at me, and the silent command had me rising shakily from the chair.

"There will be no need to escort us out," he said, closing his briefcase and leaving the four files untouched on the table. "I can find my way."

It didn't look like Reid would've escorted us if we'd both gotten on our knees and begged. When our eyes met, his seething look seemed to slice right through me. And yet there was nothing he could do as Todorovic moved for the open door, beckoning for me to follow.

Somehow, all there was left to do was walk out unscathed.

***

"Does someone want to explain to me what on earth is going on?"

Across the desk, two sets of eyes were trained on me, with the sort of intensity that made me feel like some kind of difficult puzzle. Coming from the depths of the underground to here – an eleventh floor office of BioPlus HQ, where anything not a glaring shade of white was totally banished – was a culture shock in itself. I'd been ushered through the corridors of the station by Todorovic, who seemed too intent on getting us out of there to focus on anything else. Even my concerns about Orla, Verity and Henry had been brushed off with the assurance someone else was handling it. Nearer the surface, a car with tinted windows had been waiting for us – and the next time I'd seen sunlight was the few seconds during which I was bundled through a back exit of BioPlus HQ.

Now, I'd been cornered into a glass office by Todorovic – who, oddly enough, had chosen the glaringly lit building as the place to finally take off his glasses. I didn't recognise the frosty-haired man that let us in. His office plaque read R. Smith-Glover, Executive Director, but that meant no more to me than the string of letters.

"We got you out of there," the man said, like it might've escaped my notice. Like the day's final rays of sunlight weren't shining through the huge glass window, right onto my face, forcing me to squint. "By the skin of our teeth."

"I gathered that." I looked between them. "How? Why?"

"BioNeutral is dangerous for all of us," he said. "Any new power they're able to gain is not good news. With the government on their side, we have to protect everybody."

"How much do they know?"

"What they know isn't the problem," Todorovic chipped in. "It's what they can prove."

"And we're taking all the steps necessary to make sure they don't get the opportunity to prove anything," Smith-Glover continued. "But that's not a new development. These precautions have been written into every document in this building since we started offering our... services. It's been sitting under your name, Astrid, for the last eighteen years."

"Those documents," I said, thinking back to the file had looked at with disgust. The same one BioNeutral officers were probably poring over as we spoke. "All that stuff about the faulty gene. Is that true?"

I watched them exchange a look, before turning back to me. "No," Smith-Glover said eventually. His hands, laced together on the desk between us, seemed to loosen their grip slightly. "There was no faulty gene. The edits that were made... were purely based on your parents' direction."

"So it's a cover up," I said slowly. "Every kid born in this place has one."

The ghost of a smile seemed to curl his lip, but it was something other than humour that held it there. "Precisely," he said. "Let's just say there is an unusual incidence of rare genetic disease within the borders of New London."

"And that doesn't arouse suspicion?"

"Oh, it already has." He leaned back in his chair, entirely unconcerned by the exchange. "But we have the genetic sequences to prove it. There's no room for dispute when we have the code for life backing us up."

"But that's not going to stand forever," Todorovic said. "The minute outside authorities get the authorisation to do their own tests... well, that's when things get a little more complicated."

"But the contract—"

"The issue will have already gone to the government," Smith-Glover said, any trace of his earlier smile gone. "It is only a matter of time before BioNeutral influence pulls you in for their own assessment. The loophole in the contract was merely a delay."

"So what now?" I asked. "It bought me some time, and is that it? Is it now just a waiting game to see how long it takes to get caught?"

"I have no intention of letting you get caught, Astrid. And the same goes for anybody whose records sit within this building. We will do everything in our power to protect those who see beyond BioNeutral's one-track agenda."

"Great." It was difficult to keep the scepticism out of my tone, especially with the two of them standing so calmly before me. I couldn't tell whether they had everything worked out, or if they just enjoyed acting like it. "So what have you got?"

"Well, my first instinct would be to tell you to keep out of trouble." There seemed to be a faint glimmer of amusement in his eye, which seemed kind of wrong, considering the circumstances. "But in light of all that's happened... I don't think that's going to be much use."

"I didn't mean—"

He raised one of his hands, the motion cutting me off mid-sentence. "It doesn't matter. What's done is done, and all we can do is move forward. So that's where the next stage comes in."

"We want to try something on you, Astrid," Todorovic said. "Something we've not done before."

I could feel the pace of my heart quicken beneath my shirt, like it could sense the danger in both of their faces. Wary didn't seem to quite cut it. "What?"

"For a long time, our research labs have been working on a drug to obscure the markers of modification," Smith-Glover said, in a tone that seemed too steady to hold all the danger of his sentence. "Something that, should you be subjected to outside testing, would not give you away. Only recently have they had their breakthrough."

The words seemed to sit on my skin, refusing to sink any deeper. "What?"

"We would like you to be the test subject, Astrid."

"For what?"

They exchanged another glance, but their faces were angled just the right way to stop me getting a good look. My heart thumped louder. When Smith-Glover's gaze met mine again over the desk, the jolt of alarm that went through me couldn't have been any sort of good sign.

"Dysintax."

---------------------------

Hi, everyone! Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up, but as I've probably mentioned before, the Easter holidays are pretty much the craziest time of the year for me. My exams start in exactly a month, and I have TWO HUNDRED LECTURES to revise. Doesn't sound daunting at all, right? If I pass these exams it'll be a miracle.

On a completely unrelated note, you guys should tell me if you're a fan of The Summer Set. Their new album just came out today and it's complete gold and I don't have a lot of people to fangirl with. And if you've never heard of them, GO LISTEN TO THEIR MUSIC RIGHT NOW. They're so underrated.

Sorry. Fangirling over. Have a great day!

- Leigh