Mina slotted in the new board. When it slid into place, the lights on it lit up. Streaks of information flew past as flashes of light. With great care, she took the metal gun from her side pocket and squeezed some molten metal into the gap between the board and the body. It glowed bright red before becoming dull, cementing the two pieces together. She did the same for the other sides. Pocketing the gun, she eased herself out of the cramped hole and hopped down the steps.

The leader gave her a glance and then booted up the program again. Analytical charts and complex formulae jumped up on the large screen. Mina only watched, unable to decipher any of the intricate numbers and words. She wished she could have gone to the meeting Vexi mentioned. It sounded exciting.

"Thank you for that, although I don't recall requesting you to help me out, Mina," said the leader, her back turned to her. Beneath her white coat, it was evident that she was very thin. Her trouser legs were very baggy and her spine was visible as little bumps down the middle of her coat.

"I know. Xera said she wasn't feeling well and I took her to the infirmary."

"That was very nice of you." The leader didn't sound as crazy as when Mina first met her. In fact, her absolute absorption in her work when she concentrated and absent-mindedness in everyday life reminded her a lot of Ari. "Yes, you're a very considerate girl." Her voice trailed off when she scanned the new readings.

"I don't mind."

The leader appeared to not have heard her. Mina fiddled with the hem of her shirt, glancing around. The room was exactly as she'd remembered: draughty and dark. Holograms danced around the wall. A few of the dying monitors flickered, clinging desperately onto the last spark of life. The room smelled stale and stuffy, like some unopened treasure box hidden in the basement.

The two observation rooms, which could be seen through half-misted glass windows, had the lights off. Mina had only seen it once when she first met with the leader. There were two chairs there, with straps on them, not unlike the one she had woken up in on the first day. She shivered. She could still see the scowling boy with his angry eyes. Wyld, she thought his name was. She hadn't seen him again since then, and she wasn't keen to.

A third room was to the right, with two reinforced steel doors. She had seen the leader go into it once, but was never allowed to in it herself. The room looked the same as the others, but there was a body-length bag in there, like a sleeping bag, but with thick metal straps running across it. She wondered what it was for. Who would need that kind of restraint? Surely not a student.

"Yes, you've been very helpful indeed." The leader spoke with vagueness, her eyes glassy. "Your information was invaluable, and your presence here..."

Mina waited for her to finish her sentence, but it never came. The leader became absorbed in her work again, darting around the room and scrutinising each monitor. Every now and then she'd swipe her hands across the touch screen or the holograms. Shapes bounced across the wall, turning different colours and shapes. They made no sense to Mina. One of them looked like the double helix of DNA, but it had more than four coloured bases. Bars fluctuated to the right of the spinning genetic material.

The door slid open. Mina turned.

Fris came in, her head bowed. Her red hair was strewn all over her face. Pink-rimmed eyes stared with resignation onto the floor. Beside her was Vexi, one hand on Fris's far shoulder and the other around Fris's elbow. She had a hard expression on her usually-smiley face.

"Fris? Vexi?"

Fris jumped at the sound of Mina's voice. Her eyes focused on Mina's face and she visibly paled.

"No... why? Why are you still here?" She turned to the leader. "What have you got planned for those two?"

Her voice rose to a crescendo. She made to march forward but Vexi yanked her back, her brows knitted together.

"Let her go! She's innocent!"

Vexi yanked Fris again, harder than necessary. The redhead's eyes watered. Mina didn't know what to do.

"You need to cooperate, or things will go badly... for everyone," said Vexi in a surprisingly vehement voice. Mina stared at her. This wasn't the sweet gentle-mannered girl she knew. It was as if she'd changed personality completely. Her eyes were cold and hard and her lips disappeared altogether. Fris took a shuddering breath and the expression on her face could only be described as terror.

"What's going on, Vexi?" Mina would be lying if the freezing look Vexi had in her brown eyes didn't frighten her. But they were all on the same side.

"This one's staying here." Vexi glared at Fris, who cowered. "You know what will happen if you disobey our leader."

Fris nodded, still looking down.

"Good."

Vexi shoved her forward. Fris took a stumble and leaned against the wall, averting Mina's astonished gaze. Vexi turned to the leader, who watched the whole scene unfold with a half-interested look, her arms crossed over the front of her lab coat.  Their eyes met. Mina felt the atmosphere thicken. She held her breath.

"She's here."

The leader's face changed at once, from disinterest to excitement. Her eyes almost twinkled. She jumped up, rubbing her hands and marching back and forth.

"Where is she?"

"In the auditorium."

"Anyone with her?"

"Hine, Wyld, all the others."

"Good. So they'll bring her in soon, then."

The leader turned, running a hand through her stiff hair. A few stray strands stuck out at odd angles, clashing with the neat bun it was in seconds ago. Her hands flew across the keyboard. Mina looked at Fris, who huddled against the wall as though her life depended on it. She clutched her elbows, breathing shallow breaths. Mina looked at Vexi, who didn't acknowledge her confusion. She stood proud and tall, her eyes fixed on the leader. The shy smile Mina had grown accustomed to was gone.

The large screen that comprised of nine smaller monitors flickered before showing several video feeds. It jumped from corridor to corridor, to the canteen, to the sleeping quarters, and then finally to a larger room with flickering lights. It looked like a storm had torn through it. The wooden steps were cracked with holes. The glass that lined the upstairs balcony had cracked, with white tendrils expanding from the middle. Half the room was bathed in darkness. Mina could make out several shapes shifting in the corner.

In the middle, two people fought. The camera quality was poor, its model several years out of date, but Mina could make out the blonde hair in a ponytail and the shorter, darker hair of the opponent. They moved so quickly she struggled to keep up with her eyes. Every time one moved, the other would slip into place. They manoeuvred in tandem.

One of them slipped up. The girl kicked the boy across the room. He soared like a doll, hitting the far wall and slumping onto the ground.

"She is wonderful," said the leader, breathless. "Just like you said, Mina."

The girl's face looked up at the camera for a fleeting moment before she turned to run. Mina recognised her immediately.

"That's my sister!"

"Yes, it is," the leader said, with the air of discussing what was for supper.

"What is she doing here?"

"To get you back, probably," said Vexi, crossing her arms.

"To get me—!" Mina sucked in a breath. "You told me you would let her know where I was! You said you've spoken to her!"

"And I have."

It was like Vexi had turned into an entirely different person. She flexed her fingers, her eyes bright.  The leader giggled, thrilled.

"This is excellent. I get to see her in action and I get to savour her afterwards. Today is a wonderful day!"

Mina's blood ran cold. Her legs shook beneath her trousers. She wanted to ask what the leader meant by 'savouring' her sister, but her lips wouldn't form the words. There must be a misunderstanding. They had been so nice until this point. It was as though Ari's very presence had turned on their mania.

Her eyes were drawn back to the screen again.  One of the girls from the side – Mina didn't remember seeing her in the past – rushed across the room and knelt over a boy covered in spikes. Smoke came out of his body. He was dead. The discomfort in Mina's abdomen crept up her chest and squeezed her throat.

Ari backed away. The boy who had hit the wall – Hine? – attacked her. Ari kept up. She moved like the wind, effortless and graceful, every movement deliberate and anticipating the next. Mina would love to watch Ari use her ability all day. Her skills were mesmerising, but the situation was dire and Ari was tiring. She was there to get Mina and Mina was trapped by people who she had thought were her friends.

Her eyes darted to the door. Vexi stood between her and the exit.

Vexi caught her look.

"Oh no, you don't, Mina." Her icy voice made Mina flinch. "You're staying with me. Don't try anything funny."

"I won't," she murmured, cowering. Was the lovely Vexi a complete façade?

"If you do, I can hurt you. Badly."

"I said I won't." Mina couldn't keep the tremble out of her voice.

The ground shook. Clutching the nearest object – one of the metal tables strewn with work annotated with the leaders' miniscule handwriting – Mina stared up at the screen again. The CCTV had gone into a grey fuzz.

"What happened?"

"Hine surged."

"Goddamit!" said Vexi, yanking at her side ponytail. She chewed on her lip. "Stupid boy. If he killed the Transformer—"

"He hasn't. She's injured, but alive."

The impartialness with which they spoke about a boy who had just died chilled Mina to the core. Hine was one of them, wasn't he? Mina had only met him once. He looked rather creepy, obsessed with something, and seldom gave her or any of the younger ones a second glance. She never spoke to him. He always looked hungry, too. The solitary bun at breakfast wasn't the most filling thing in the world.

"I'm not surprised she won. Three against one – she's quite something."

Such an unfair fight, thought Mina. Assessments were always one-on-one, with medics at hand and everything would stop once someone gave up. Barely anyone ever died in training.

"Such a waste of an ability though." Vexi sounded wistful. "It was so hard to get hold of it, too. Olix almost killed her before she gave up, and those light bolts were one of a kind."

"So is the Transformer's. We'll need a recipient once I'm done breaking down her makeup."

To think Ari had to kill in her quest to get to Mina. It then struck Mina that perhaps this was bigger than she'd previously imagined. Ari had never been wrong. These people were more than students training to get better, taking supplements to become stronger.

They weren't planning to get stronger people to fight them properly and defeat them the proper way. They grabbed strong people and killed them so the weaker ones could ascend. This was wrong, so wrong.

She didn't dare say a word.

"She'll be here soon," said the leader, typing in more commands. Green letters appeared on a black box background. "I'm locking the area down. She isn't going anywhere."

"Will I stay with you?" said Vexi.

"Yes. But take these two down to storage. We can welcome the Transformer after."

"But – no!"

Vexi grabbed Mina's arms. Her hands were hard as steel and made Mina's joints hurt. Mina twisted, desperate. Vexi grabbed her by her brown hair and tugged. Mina cried out.

"Stop that, you little brat," hissed the girl who had been so nice to her before. "Do what I tell you or there'll be pain. Lots of it."

"Vexi, why are you doing this?"

"Shut up."

"I thought we were friends—"

Vexi touched her again. Mina whimpered, her legs shaking. A chill crept through her skin, slowly easing up to her elbows. It stopped just at the crook of her arm, making her skin tingly and glove-like.

"If you resist, that poison will go to your heart and stop it," said Vexi in her ear. Mina shivered, her breathing quickening. "But if you do as I say, it'll wear off. Understand?"

Mina swallowed, her throat drier than sand. She nodded.

"Good. Now shut your face."

Vexi whispered something to Fris, next. Fris's eyes widened, watering at the sides. Squeezing her eyes shut, she nodded, looking pained.

"Please," she murmured. Vexi didn't say another word and shoved them forward.

"Now, move."

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