Lira stared without blinking as the video sped up, showing all the taped sequences that occurred in Area Six. The same images flashed before her for the eighth time in the empty dark office. Every face recorded matched with those on the missing persons profile on the system, including Kena's. All except for Mina, Ari's sister – and Ari, herself. Lira leaned forward, resting her chin on interlocked fingers. It was no coincidence. Mina was definitely there; all her sources state that, although she had no physical evidence. No doubt if her men raided the sleeping quarters, her possessions would be there, but there was no way they could fight their way into the monsters' den.

And besides, the whole place was flooded now, at Central Administration's instructions.

Lira rewound the videos with a flick of her long fingers and studied the recording again, her eyes not leaving the large screen. Rows upon rows of students, each faces accounted for on her list, sat on wooden steps at the far end of the fall. Three students stood in front of them, speaking with grandiose tones. Their confident postures suggested they might be the leaders or older ones of the lot. She fast-forwarded a few more seconds. The three, and most of the students, turned at once to the left. There must have been a commotion just outside of the camera's reach. Just when the camera would have caught the disturbance, the images flickered once, twice, and then went black. Lira pursed her lips, pushing aside the wave of annoyance at how backward the technology down in Six was where there were no infra-red sensors, back-up cameras, or even microphones. She sped up the video again. The next images that came on were of a storm-struck room: the wooden steps where the students had sat lay in large shards on the ground; the walls were cracked; the balcony over the far right side collapsed into a mess of rubble and metal foundation. It didn't take a genius to hazard a guess as to the cause of such destruction.

A trembling girl crouched over the smoking body of a dead boy, her shoulders heaving. The long, straight dark hair was recognisable as Ilia's. She'd accidentally torched a boy with her newly-transplanted powers, unsurprisingly. Her head jerked up. Someone backed just into the camera's range: a boy, shouting, waving his arms in a rage. Hine, from Class 5A, from Ari's class. Whoever he was shouting at stood outside of that viewable range. Another wave of annoyance washed over Lira. In the current March City, cameras did not leave any corners unwatched; there were no blind spots, no hidden areas, and no stills that were unclear. But time had forgotten Area Six.

Ilia leapt to her feet and stumbled out of the hall. A few seconds later, blinding white light seared across the screen and the video stopped there. A surge.

Lira paused, organising her thoughts. A commotion that the rebels did not take kindly to. A battle took place – that would explain the mess in the few minutes the video lost feed. Or perhaps the monsters reached their little haven; but that wouldn't explain why Hine was so vocal just before that surge. It must have been a human, not a monster, which caused the wreckage.

She sorted through the remaining broken files that were available, playing them across a three by three grid simultaneously. Most were useless, depicting daily activities of the rebels underground: eating, drinking, training. It was an organised chaos; they tried desperately to replicate the schedules aboveground but had no capacity to run it to any semblance of efficiency. From time to time, the videos would flicker and cut off. Lira's irritation grew, although outwardly she showed nothing, at the ridiculously inferior technology that once ran Area Six. It was no wonder the place got shut down.

A flurry of movement caught her eye on one of the videos. She paused the rest and magnified the feed on the middle right. The same creatures that swarmed her men and spilled into Area Seven came into view. They were naked, hairless, humanoid, but feral. Saliva dripped out of their mouths and their eyes displayed an eerie and inhuman red. She thought she recognised some of the features; Lira never forgot a face. She dismissed it, putting it down to her frustration at not finding a link yet to all this. It was easy to assume the Transformer going into the midst to find her weak sister, but it didn't explain her role in the surges, the devastating fights, the monsters, and most of all, Kena's survival. There must be more to it. What was Ari planning?

Students running filled most of the screen. Lira allowed the video to continue to play, her grey-green eyes darting non-stop between the frames. Fear was prominent amongst those young faces, but they were merely pawns. She raised her finger, spotting a fuzzy, mostly black frame. She magnified it. Two people stood face to face in a barely-lit stadium. One was in a long white coat – Kena. The other was impossible to decipher. No, not impossible. The posture was too relaxed given the tense situation. The head tilted to the right, as if merely puzzling over choices of food. It was the usual pose Ari adopted when assessing a situation to make the opponent underestimate her and to buy time. Coupled with the infamy of her laziness and reluctance to engage, it worked... for those who weren't looking out for it. Ari was a keen observer, like Lira, and she was no fool.

Kena handed her something – and Ari swallowed it.

Lira snapped her fingers. The video froze. There. She had it.

A rap on her door made her jump. Straightening her facial expression into perfectly neutral and waving the screen into black, Lira stood up.

"Come in." Her voice was crisp.

Her door swung open. An Investigator stood there, head bowed. A stray strand of sandy brown hair fell in front of her.

"Mina. The Transformer's sister. She's here."

Lira nodded. Evia knew she was being dismissed. She bobbed her head and marched away.

Lira left the room, closing the door with a snap. It was somewhat surprising that Mina arrived so promptly after the televised summon; Lira had almost expected Ari to show up on her doorstep, demanding clemency or reason and doing all she could to prevent Mina being scrutinised. Perhaps Ari had come to the acceptance that this was out of her hands.  Or was it guilt, knowing she was part of a bigger plan to illegally increase her power potential?

Everyone lied, after all. Laws had been broken. It was either pitiful or laughable anyone could pretend otherwise and lie through their teeth in the face of concrete evidence and iron verdicts.

By the time the glass lift doors opened to the cells, Lira had re-secured her glacial, expressionless look. The doors slid open in silence, revealing a long corridor with glass making up one side of the wall. It wasn't actually glass, but a microfilament material that allowed external information to be transmitted along its structures, providing even more rapid transmission across the area. Through this, the intricate maze of Area Ten spread before her. It was amusing that any student could believe their each movement could avoid the scrutiny of the impeccable monitoring of March City. The system recorded very twitch of a muscle fibre, every utter of word, and duly doled punishment and reward.

So all Lira needed to do was extract confessions and allow Central Administration process the evidence. She allowed herself one second to appreciate the glitter and flawless efficiency of March City before turning forward and marching to the interrogation area. Two Investigators stood at alert on guard outside the double doors, their bright yellow capes hanging in careful folds just the way Lira liked them.

"Lira."

She glanced up at the Investigator on the left.

"Yes, Dion."

"I heard the traitor has been difficult to interrogate. Would you like us to, uh, assist?"

She pursed her lip. Kena was manipulative and intelligent; her men could have a hard time. She nodded. Ito, to her right, bowed his head in acknowledgement.

The door opened after she swiped her hand; her face appeared on the screen. Lira marched down the narrow, windowless corridor and turned at the third doorway. Behind the one-way window, the Transformer's sister sat squirming, her face pale green, at the table. An Investigator stood with her back to the door, guarding her only exit.

Lira gave herself two seconds to study the girl's face. Guilt, but not guilt that she'd betrayed someone. Guilt related to regret. Fear – natural. All badly hidden behind a thin veil of bravado. Heavy shadows sat beneath her hazel eyes. The combination of exhaustion and fear meant this would be a quick interrogation. Lira doubted Mina could tell her much about the terrorists just judging from her appearance, but if there was anything she could use as leverage against the Transformer, it would come from the sister.

The door slid open. Mina jumped, her eyes darting to the door. She went even greener when she recognised Lira. At least she knew authority when she saw it. Heti saw her entrance and retreated, leaving the two of them alone.

"My name is Lira." As usual, the utterance of her name sent shivers down the student's spine. That was a good start; the conversation would go where she wanted it. "I am head of the Investigators in March City."

Mina nodded, mute. Her fingers gripped together so tight the knuckles turned white, wrapped on her lap, with her head bent down.

"I want your account of the activities in Area Six. Should I detect any lies, there will be punishment."

Mina shivered again. She appeared very small in her chair. She wrapped her arms about herself, her eyes not moving from a spot on the table. Lira's laser eyes bore holes into her trembling body.

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