Mina jumped at the voice. The creepy lady's light voice hadn't changed. She turned back to find the scientist leering at her with a fascination twinkling in her bulging eyes, behind spectacles. Not a hair was out of place on her tightly-tied back ponytail.

"Vexi tells me you are willing to offer your service."

"To help other low-rankers, yes," she whispered.

"That is wonderful, my dear. You've no idea how happy you've made me."

"I'm doing it for others like m-me. Not for you." They were bold words and Mina's heart skipped a beat when the lady abruptly straightened up. Her smile was still in place.

"Then we fight for the same goals, my child. Come."

She followed. The lady took her to the next room, a small place with multiple screens taking up one side of the wall. The definition was sub-par, but enough to make out what they were depicting. They were CCTV feeds from across March City. They jumped every so often from interference, but Mina could see where they were. Most of them were situated in Area Nine; a few were in Areas Five and Eight.

The lady pointed to one at the top. In a dark alleyway, a group of students were kicking at something. She couldn't see what it was for they all blocked the way and there was no sound. Five minutes later, they straightened up and yelled something. One of them spat down onto the ground and led the group away, soon disappearing out of the corner of the scene.

On the ground was a boy, slowly bleeding out from his wounds and unable to move from the ground. Seeing his pitiful state made Mina's heart break. He was so vulnerable. There were so many of them, most of them bigger and older than the little thin thing on the ground.

Two Peacekeepers marched by on their rounds. Mina's heart lifted. Saviours! They would get the boy to Area One and see that he got proper treatment, and then he can prosecute those who beat him up.

To her astonishment, although they glanced into the alleyway and saw the boy, they then looked at each other and carried on moving as though nothing was out of place.

As though the boy wasn't dying right in front of their eyes.

"Look at that one." The lady pointed to another screen. Swallowing, Mina followed, albeit reluctantly and with a heavy heart.

Another dark, dirty street, probably on the outskirts of Area Nine where the great walls showed the end of the city. A girl ran down the road, shouting. A boy raced in front, a girl's bag clutched in his scruffy arms. He had just stolen her bag. She continued to scream and chase, but the spindly thing was quicker. He disappeared into the crowd.

Two Peacekeepers watched idly.

She stumbled up to them and pleaded them. Neither of them moved a muscle. She grasped the closest one by his elbow.

The other stepped forward and backhanded her, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Mina gasped.

They both took out their electric batons and pointed them at her. Fury was etched on the Peacekeepers' features. One of them said something to her – from the looks on her stricken face, it was something damning. She snivelled, crawling backwards on her hands and legs, before getting up and running away.

"But why?" Mina said in disbelief. "Why would they do that?"

"Because there's nothing for them to gain." The lady laid a hand on Mina's shoulder and turned her away, bringing her back to the lab. "Why would they defend a poor low-ranker when the bytes on which the report is written is worth even more than the boy's life? Why would they use their time to fill out the documents when they could stop crime for a rich person and be extra-compensated for their troubles? Why should they defend the poor and extend their lives for another day when they'll just starve tomorrow instead?"

"But they're people." Mina couldn't understand the logic of it. How could they measure the worth of a human life with bytes and credits? The life of a low-ranker was worth just the same as a high-ranker.

"They aren't worth it, as far as those Peacekeepers are concerned." The lady spat the word out like it was venom. "They're paid to keep peace for the whole of March City, but the ones sent to the poor districts are amongst the most brutal and aggressive bunch you'll ever meet. I've not seen the sky in two years, but nothing's changed. They're all like that: bloodthirsty savages, only keen on getting the pats on their backs by the high-rankers and credits to fill their bellies. Let the dogs die, they say."

"That's terrible!" Mina didn't know what else to say. She replayed the image over and over in her mind. The injured boy, pleading silently for help, only for the Peacekeepers to walk by. The robbed girl, desperate and hungry, begging the officers to help, only to be treated with unfair violence. Was this what held their society together?

"This is why we must do what we do, little one. This is why we must bring an uprising – to bring these bastards and their power misuse into justice. We need to look out for our own, for ourselves. They have to pay – every single one."

"Not all of the high-achievers are at fault, leader," said Mina, her voice trembling. The lady's face flushed at her words. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Of course they're all at fault!" She flung her hands back at the screens. "Look at them! They're all just going about their daily lives, not giving a damn. Those spectators when the boy got beaten up? Those passers-by who pretended not to notice when the girl was robbed? They're all at fault, because they stood by and did nothing, like it wasn't their business! What kind of world do we live in when we stand idly by to watch a member of our society die?"

Mina couldn't help but feel she had a point.

"That is why we have to do this. Our experiments can grant us unlimited power, give us infinite resources. We can make this city a better place, a safer place. We need to, or we'll all meet the same fate. You, me, Vexi, everyone. There is only one fate for us – and we have to change it."

Mina wanted to ask what fate that was, but she was too scared what the answer would be.

"I've hit a block in my serums so far. They're all so unstable. My team is getting me something they promise can help, but I can't wait too long. If it turns out to be a hoax, then we're just waiting to be discovered." The lady ran a hand through her hair, loosening several frizzy strands. She appeared more normal when her mind was preoccupied – less crazy.

"I can't help you with that... I'm no good at biotech."

"No, no. I'm not asking for your help."

She was muttering to herself again, flicking through her notes and walking from one end of the room to the other. Mina could feel her existence disappearing from the lady's memory.

"Can-can I ask for something?"

The lady blinked, suddenly remembering Mina's presence.

"What is it?"

"I want to speak to my sister."

"Oh?"

"I've been missing for d-days. She'll worry about me."

"Your sister – a high achiever?"

"Yes – but she's not like them," Mina hastened to add. "She's nice. Normal."

She waited for the backlash.

"None of those high-achievers are normal," hissed the scientist. "They're all rotten to the core, every single one. Your sister wouldn't know you were missing. Nobody cares. I bet not even the news reported it, because you're worth so little you'd be wasting air time. Reporting the weather takes priority over you."

Mina's mouth turned down. She bit back what she was hoping to say next, stung.

"Don't you see? She's your weakness. You have to let go of her. If you carry on like this, you'll be a liability."

"But she can help! You opened my eyes to all these horrible things happening in the city. You can do the same for her, too! She has a good heart. I know she has. She'll probably even join your cause!"

"Or she'll report all of us to administration and we'll all be executed live on television one by one, shown to the whole population."

"She wouldn't! Ari has always been honest—"

"Ari, did you say?"

Mina's mention of her sister's name appeared to have significantly piqued the lady scientist's interest. She dropped her hands. A mad gleam appeared in her eyes behind the glasses. Her mouth stretched into a grin from ear to ear.

"Your sister is named Ari?"

"Y-yes."

"Ari, the Transformer?"

"Um, yes."

"And your name is...?"

"M-Mina." She swallowed.

"Well, isn't this an interesting change of events."

Mina didn't like the tone of the scientist. It seemed Ari's name had sparked a new lot of insanity inside her and it was scaring her.

"Uh, never mind then. I'll just get back to work—" She turned to leave. The scientist shot out a hand and clamped it over her wrist. Mina squealed, but the grip was hard as steel.

"Oh, I'm not done with you, yet, little dove."

Mina turned to see a more sinister expression on the woman's face. She shivered, breaking out in cold sweat.

"I have a lot of questions for you."

Remember to vote!