When the video switched off, the school bell rang. Ari could barely contain herself. The students around her shuffled their notes and typed on their tablets, moving at the pace of molten steel to prepare for the next lesson. She jumped out of her seat and rushed over to Fris's table by the door.

"Ari – class isn't dismissed yet!" cried Hine, the high-strung class monitor. Ari didn't give him a second look.

Fris jumped as Ari slammed the flat of her hands on her steel table. The other students in the class stared, curious.

"We need to talk," Ari said through gritted teeth.

Fris had looked relieved to see her in class that morning, although a few others did mutter their surprise that Ari had attended a non-compulsory class. But now, Fris looked almost scared to face her friend. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her red hair hung limp around her face. She looked like she hadn't slept in several days.

"What is it?" Even her voice was tired, devoid of her usual agitated energy.

"Ari – get back to your seat at once!" said Hine, moving in and touching her elbow. Ari wretched her arm back, glaring at him. He flinched, backing away. The spikes in his hair almost wilted.

"Get away from me," she snarled.

"But – the class –"

"To hell with it!" At that moment, she realised the entire class was staring, nosy for more drama. She turned to Fris, who eyed her wearily. "We need to talk. I won't ask again."

Fris got up without a sound. Her pod chair slid back into place. The lamp casting a light over her work space turned off. She slid her tablet into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, nodding at Hine, who was wringing his hands in anxiety.

"But – you can't!"

Ari ignored him. Grabbing Fris's arm in a steely clinch, she marched her out of the class. When the door slid shut quietly behind them, she could hear the class exploding into whispers and Hine's desperate, unsuccessful attempts to quell the chaos.

Fris didn't protest as Ari dragged her along the corridor, past the picturesque views of their school garden. Layered ferns and short trees punctuated alternate levels of the school building, giving a natural contrast to the steel and glass structure of the school. The aroma of freshly blossomed lilies wafted from overhead; no doubt they were the flowers of the month, decorating the rooftops. The corridor outside the classrooms was in a 'U' shape, giving a good view of the third floor garden five storeys below. Only the trickling of water could be heard; the sounds from nearby classrooms were almost entirely muffled by the thick, soundproof doors.

Ari dragged Fris to the lift, taking her to the roof. Sure enough, yellow lilies marked the outside of the roof, planted neatly to allow space for the benches and decorative statues in the middle. She waited for the lift door to close before letting go of Fris, who then rubbed her arm without a word.

"What's going on, Fris?"

"You were never one for the niceties," Fris said, chuckling without mirth. She sighed to herself, rubbing her arms through the sleeves. Ari hadn't noticed until that point, but Fris's clothes were rumpled, with dirt at the hems. Her boots were cuffed. This Fris was a far cry from the meticulous and reliable Fris Ari had known.

Something wasn't right with her friend, but Ari had bigger problems on her plate at that moment in time.

"Why did you tell me not to go into Area Nine?"

"Shh!" Fris's face blanched. She looked around. There was nobody there; all the students were in lessons and they had privacy for another half an hour at least. "Don't say it so loud!"

"Why?" Ari folded her arms across her chest. "Who'll hear us?"

"People – and that'll get me into trouble."

"You better start talking properly, Fris, or I'll tell people what you've said."

She laughed weakly.

"That's barely a threat. You want information from me or you'll leak it? You don't pull off the tough look, Ari."

"I don't care. You're going to tell me why you warned me away. What's there that I wasn't supposed to see?"

Fris didn't say anything, averting her gaze.

"You can't hide it from me forever. I'll go see for myself."

"I already told you," she said in a quiet voice. "If you know what's good for you, you wouldn't go. As your friend, I'd beg you not to go. But you've been there already."

"I saw it. They're monstrous."

Her face drained of blood. The dark circles under her eyes became more prominent.

"You did?" Her voice was hoarse. "You don't blame me?"

Ari stared. "Why would I? You're my friend. I trust you."

"Oh, Ari." To Ari's astonishment, tears spurted from Fris's eyes. She covered her face, shaking her head. Sobs shook her shoulders. "How? When you know what they're planning?"

"Planning what?"

Fris gasped, raising a trembling hand to cover her mouth.

"Who's planning what?"

"You're not talking about Olix and Wyld and the others?" she whispered.

"No! I mean those horrible creatures down in the basement—" Ari grabbed her friend by the shoulders. "Who are these people? What are they planning?"

"I'm sorry, Ari." Tears splashed down Fris's face again. "I can't tell you."

"Have they got Mina?"

Fris didn't' say anything.

"Tell me, Fris! I'm warning you!"

"If you know what's good for you, you'd stop," she said in a tiny voice.

"What's good for me? What about Mina?"

"I'm sorry," she said again, covering her mouth.

Horrified, Ari took several steps back. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her best friend, Fris?

"Who are you?" said Ari, her blood running cold. She shook her head. It was too much to take. Her heart was heavy; her brain was about to explode. Mina was all that mattered at that time. To hell with everything and everyone else. Letting out a grunt, she turned and touched her necklace.

"Wait! Ari!" But it was too late. Ari discharged the necklace. Energy flowed through her body. Bending her legs, she sprang from the rooftop, soaring several metres high onto the rooftop of the next building, bouncing away without a direction in mind. All she wanted was to get away from Fris. Get away from Fris and her apologetic tone, her deep secrets, and the terrifying realisation that her friend was somehow involved in all of this.

Was Ari ever anything more than a pawn to Fris?

She felt sick. The nausea made her stomach turn over and over until her knees gave way on landing, somewhere in Area Eight. She slammed her palms onto the ground, dispersing excess energy. The balcony lights around her flickered for a few seconds. Light-headed, she stayed on all fours, retching and heaving. Nothing came up. The sour taste lingered in her mouth, reminding her of the horrible reality.

She couldn't believe Fris was involved in the terrorist attacks and Mina's kidnap. It couldn't be true. She was always such a stickler for rules – Ari remembered how furious she was when she first saw Ari jump to their meeting place from fifty storeys up. Fris had threatened turning Ari in, but she'd laughed as Shon had always gotten her out of trouble. How long had Fris known about this? What did she mean if Ari knew what was good for her?

What was Fris trying to say?

Ari sat back on her heels, a breeze of artificial air caressing her sweaty face. She swept stray blond strands off her cheeks, chewing her lip. She'd known Fris for a good two to three years now, although she'd never given it much thought. Ari had stayed behind after her end-of-year exam one day – another exam she'd aced – and out of idle interest she'd watched the next girl come in. She shot electricity from her fingers. What fascinated Ari back then wasn't the fact that Fris could manipulate electricity, as producing and manipulating the elements wasn't uncommon in March City, but it was the intense concentration on the redhead's face. Although in the end Fris only acquired a Rank D, her tenacity intrigued, even awed, the then-thirteen-year-old Ari, who had had her "Transformer" title for three years at that point.

She'd never given it much thought then, but it was obvious Fris worked extremely hard at her electrokinesis, but it only got her to Rank D. Fris opened Ari's eyes. Ari, who had never put in any effort and always consistently scored highly, learned that hard work yielded progress, even if it was a tiny amount. Her subsequent defeat a few months later by Cryo and then by Lira, two high-achieving hard-workers, further reinforced that idea – not that she'd ever been motivated to work hard. Third place was the perfect balance of relaxed school work and expendable credits.

But Fris... Fris always had such a strong sense of justice. Bullying in the streets, theft – things like that she would never stand for, even if it got her hurt. Whereas Ari turned the other way and found it too much trouble to intervene, Fris always spoke up for the younger and weaker and sought punishment for those who had wronged. If she wasn't so weak, she'd have made a good and fair Peacekeeper.

What must have happened to turn someone as good and strong as Fris into a traitor?

Something warm and wet splashed onto Ari's hands before her. The outline of the ground swam in and out of focus. She sniffed. The loneliness crept in, splintering her courage with isolation and fear. She was utterly alone.

Ari had no desire to jump any more. The notion of soaring through the air with the whole city stretched in front of her made her nauseous. Wiping her face with her long sleeve, she sniffed again and attempted to comb her crow's nest of hair into place. She took the lift down onto the ground floor. None of the students gave her a second look when she stumbled out, looking around blearily for a teleporter. No, there wasn't any. Not a surprise; medium-earning students probably could afford pod cars but little else.

She wished she could see Rale, but he'd said to return in the late afternoon as he had teaching. She needed to be kept busy right then. Too many thoughts swirled around her head like a thunderstorm at that moment. She didn't know what to do with herself.

On shaking feet, she slid into the nearest pod car. The shiny rotund vehicle clicked its doors shut. It scanned her face and she enunciated her address.

By the time the car arrived, she was very sleepy. A nap would do her good. Get her brain into order. Give her some perspective.

Groggily, she slid out of the pod. The world swam in front of her. Dark shadows moving in from the peripheries, casting shadows on the shining glass panels of her building. She blinked. No, she wasn't hallucinating. Beneath the shadows of the overhead sky bridges and sky windows, Peacekeepers stood in a row on either side of the double glass door leading to the lift, their hands clasped behind their backs. The caps on their head perched low, casting darkness over their faces.

Perhaps there were terrorist bombing warnings and they were stationed there in case anything happened.

Two of them marched towards her. Ari swallowed, feeling a sense of unease.

"What's going on?" she said.

"Ari, The Transformer, of Class 5A?" said one of them in a stiff tone.

"Yes, that's me."

"You will accompany us to the detention centre for questioning."

She stared.

"What's this about?"

"You'll find out. If you come with us peacefully, we won't arrest you. If you resist, there will be consequences."

"You're kidding me."

The boy's stony silence and unimpressed gaze told her the contrary.

She caught sight of one of the standing Peacekeepers.

"Shon? What's going on?" she called as the first boy grasped her elbow a tad too tight. She wriggled, only for the force to increase. "Shon?"

"I'm sorry, Ari," was the reply, "but you'll have to come with us."

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