It felt almost surreal when Ari's front door slid shut in silence behind her. She slumped. Fris had seen them to the front door and left, citing urgent business as Rale had done. Mina wobbled under her weight before they both crashed onto the spotless floor in a heap, Ari holding tightly onto her sister. The slim picture frames on the wall wobbled, their moving images playing a looping video of Ari's favourite memories.

"Are you okay?" Mina said, anxious. She managed to disentangle herself and prop her head up by one arm before Ari threw herself on top, wrapping her arms around Mina. Ari held on for dear life, her heart ramming against her ribs. Mina's long messy brown hair tickled her nose.

"I'm sorry," Ari said in a muffled voice.

"Sorry?" Mina said, surprised. "What for?"

"For... for everything. For being so mean. I know you try hard. I know you don't naturally score so highly. I shouldn't have made fun of you, or of Hine, or anyone else... I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."

Ari sat back, her eyes burning at the edges with unshed tears. The guilt wrenched her stomach, a new sensation for her.

"But that's it. I didn't. I just stayed at the back and enjoyed the privilege I was born with." She hesitated. No. She wasn't born with it. She didn't know how she was born, how anybody was born.

"Anyone would have done the same. You didn't know."

"I do now." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Make something of yourself. Work hard. Those Users underground – they wanted a better future for themselves, for everyone. They didn't go about it the right way, but maybe if they had stronger people on their side, more people will understand like you have now."

Ari stared. When had Mina gotten so mature? "I can't agree with Kena transplanting abilities."

"No. It's horrible," Mina agreed. She sat against the wall, her knees drawn before her. Ari held her hand, drawing circles in her palm.

"But, you know, she found a way around that."

Mina's brow furrowed. "She did?"

Ari showed her the little prick mark on her arm where Kena had taken her blood.

"She's created this serum that can mimic my ability – she called it some kind of stimulating factor. And then she took my blood. She said that was all that's needed to stabilise transplanted abilities from now on and there's no need for people to become monsters... but I guess her research will never get completed now."

"Unless she escapes capture again like she did last year."

Ari peered at her. "How did you know all this?"

"Kids gossip." Mina shrugged and brushed stray hairs off her face. "They said Kena did a lot of illicit research for several years before she disappeared to avoid disciplinary action."

Or a 'Purge', as she called it, thought Ari, her mouth going dry.

"It makes sense, though. March City would hardly sanction stuff like this, even if it was for good. It's always been against the law."

Or has it? Ari's mind was brought back to Kena and her conversation. Every maintenance day, consistent under-achievers would be purged and all their acquaintances' memories altered so that it seemed the purged never existed. Maybe the laws were changed in the last maintenance – nobody would know any difference. She had thought those ideas absolutely mad at the time, but now that things calmed down, Ari wasn't so sure any more.  There was no way March City, with its widespread cameras and encompassing information network system, would allow something like Kena's experiments go unnoticed or undetected. And there was the puzzle behind the under-ten-year-olds and over-eighteen-year-olds. All of March City's citizens were aged between eleven and eighteen. How did they get here – and where do they go?

Ari considered telling Mina the truth. She deserved as much, having gone through hell at Ari's expense. But she worried; what if word got out about what she knew? Mina couldn't look after herself, even though she had grown stronger whilst in Area Six.

"Mina, did you...?"

Mina shook her head. "I thought I did. Vexi went on and on about how I'm going to be so grateful when I'm transplanted and how it would change my world. I still have my ability. I... when I woke up, I honestly thought I was going to have yours transplanted already but I couldn't get it to work. But when I thought about how you said yours worked, something clicked in me and I managed to phase through my ties."

Ari stared. "You managed what?"

Mina blushed. "Yeah... I didn't expect that to happen, either. But I did."

"Are you sure Kena didn't give you anything?" Ari bit her lip, realising how condescending she sounded. "Sorry. I didn't mean—"

"No, it's okay. No. I'm sure she didn't. She sedated me but I'm pretty sure my powers are still my own." Mina held her small hand out in front of her, with her tiny, chewed nails. "I couldn't get through that last door, could I? Maybe I would have if I got powered up."

"Don't ever think that!" Ari said fiercely. Mina smiled, leaning against her. Ari cooled somewhat. "Don't take the cheater's way out! You worked hard to get to where you are now. You've come so far!"

Mina rubbed her cheek against Ari's sleeve, closing her eyes in content.

"I'm glad you came, Ari."

"I said I would."

"I knew you would."

Ari's heart warmed. Mina appeared to chew over something before finally speaking again.

"I wonder... did all those kids die? All the ones that got captured and their abilities taken out?"

"Some of them became those creatures." Ari's throat dried at the memory of those hungry, soulless eyes and deadly jaws.

"I know, but... did they all die?"

"They died long ago. The creatures we killed to get out weren't those Users. Kena killed them, not you."

"And the students? The ones who were underground with me?"

"You saw. I tried to get them out."

"I know. I'm so happy you did that." She sounded so optimistic Ari felt guilty. She wasn't so sure any of them survived the escape, though. The ones that managed to traverse Area Six Area Seven would have to escape the monsters on the streets and the Peacekeepers. No doubt Lira would have been first on the scene, too.

The thought of Lira turned Ari cold.

"Are you okay?"

Ari's unease must have transmitted over to Mina, who sat up and peered at her with anxious hazel eyes.

"Come on. Let's get you onto the sofa. You'll feel better. I'll get you a drink."

Ari allowed herself to be hauled to her feet and guided to the kitchen-cum-dining room. Its almost invisible windows allowed artificial sunlight to pour through, the metal curtains tucked neatly at the sides. A refreshing, minty after scent was in the air. The place was tidy even though Ari was sure she'd left it in a mess. No doubt Mina had cleaned before leaving for that fated exam that day.

Mina waved at the drinks machine sitting in the corner. A virtual screen popped up. From afar, Mina flicked her finger at the malted drink. It whirred, steam coming out of its top. Ari sank into the sofa. The polymers rearranged themselves to fit her shape, insulating her and supporting her weight. Mina picked up the personalised mug she'd made Ari last year and perched beside her, passing the drink.

"This isn't over, you know," Ari said. Her stomach was hollow, and it wasn't from lack of eating. She wasn't sure if taking a sip would make her hurl or settle the symptoms. Mina nodded, looking grim.

"I know."

Ari waved at the television. The large flat-screen, taking up most of the wall, beeped and flashed on. Several channels sat across nine boxes. One caught her eye. It was an aerial view of Area Seven looking into Area Six. Ari brought it to full-screen. Several clusters of people huddled on the ground of the video stream. People in bright yellow cloaks hovered over them, weapons drawn and held at their sides. Pools of crimson peppered the ground, glistening in the sunshine.

"Is that blood?" said Mina, sounding nauseous, a hand held to her mouth. Ari gripped her other one tightly, setting her drink aside.

"We are live from the border of Area Seven going into Area Six, where an influx of a biological experimentation gone wrong had escaped and harmed members of the public. The area is being cordoned off by Peacekeepers and Investigators."

Ari couldn't see the hole she'd blown in the wall; that was on a street parallel to the one being shown.

"At least ten Area Seven citizens are taken away with life-threatening injuries. Fifteen students have been taken into custody as suspects behind the cause of the latest attack and for questioning regarding the terrorist activities."

Ari's blood ran cold. She'd forgotten about the CCTV she'd never disabled during their escape. Sheer terror had driven the thought from her mind, but Administration must have seen all their faces during their flight. Even if they never were behind the terror attacks, their involvement with the rebels was heavy enough to warrant incarceration and questioning.

The news reporter then played a video of several minutes prior when the creatures were loose. Although they'd pixelated the gory stuff, the screams of the students rang loud and clear through the speakers. Mina shivered, clinging to Ari. The reporter's words were but a hum. Ari could imagine all those young Users caught up in the midst of it all, some of them innocent passers-by, some others misguided young people with false promises of power.

With trembling hands, Ari reached for her phone, and then exclaimed when her hand touched nothing. Of course: Fris had shot the phone from her grasp long ago, beneath the ground. Ari hoped the Investigators hadn't found it during their raid.

She sprang up and snatched the thin cordless phone from the wall. Tapping on it with shaking fingers, she brought up the phone database of the city and found what she was looking for after several drop-boxes.

Rale, Class 4C, Editor of The Conspicuous Conspiracy. Rank C.

The phone went to video-mail. Ari's stomach dropped. A hologram of a pre-recorded video popped up. Rale's face was blank behind his thick glasses, spiky hair carefully gelled to perfection.

"This is Rale, Editor of The Conspicuous Conspiracy. Unfortunately I am unable to take your video call. Please leave a message." The hologram disappeared.

"Rale!" Ari said, when the light beside the camera on the phone blinked red for recording. "It's Ari. I need to talk to you. Call me back as—"

"I figured you'd call." Rale's live voice came on. The hologram projector switched on again and the real Rale appeared, looking as dirtied but no less smug than he had when she last saw him. His hair was a mess compared to the sculpted look he'd opted for in his recorded response. "Did you enjoy—"

"The cameras! They caught everything!" Ari blurted out. Mina peeked at Rale's three-dimensional image from the sofa, her face pale at Ari's words.

"Yeah, why are you surprised?" Rale raised a thick eyebrow. "Did you think you can escape them in this place?"

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