"Noan, Class 5A. Rank E User. A Morpher, huh." Rale scrolled through the details. "Re-take. Re-take. Failed. Appeal. Reassessed by the board of examiners. Re-take. Wow, this guy's failed more exams than I've hacked into databases – and that's saying something."

"What does this guy have to do with the scientists? He doesn't have the academic credentials to do that level of study."

"The fact that he's been dead since before these explosions started pretty much guarantees his innocence in all this." Rale pointed to the registered date of death. "Four years, more or less. No death certificate, though."

"Is there normally a death certificate if someone dies?"

"In March City, yeah. There's always a coroner-ruled death before the body gets incinerated. Mainly for statistics and for the government to keep account of the city's population. " Rale typed furiously for several seconds, bringing up repeated error messages. "But this Noan doesn't seem to have one."

"Maybe he's not dead."

"You said there's no-one called Noan in your class. There's no other Noan in March City. This has to be him."

They fell silent. It didn't make sense. Noan was dead long before the explosions happened and the scientists were exposed for what they were. It almost seemed as if he had no connection whatsoever, except his file was found with the research papers in the shaft above the scientists' rooms.

Maybe Noan was a red herring. Perhaps they were better off looking into the scientists instead.

But after going so far and gaining only that name and a few snippets of what the experiments entailed – Ari kicked herself again for losing those important documents during her flight – it was so disappointing if they just treated Noan as false information. There must be something. There must be.

Mina counted on her. Even as they stood there and puzzled over the name, every second could mean the last for her little sister.

Little sister.

Ari looked up.

"What about his family? Any brothers and sisters?"

Rale typed dutifully. Ari got up and paced back and forth, her blue eyes fixed on the flickering monitor. The seconds dragged by. It was late afternoon, and after the disastrous affairs of the night before, there was little progress. She bargained on this lead.

The computer bleeped again. Ari looked expectantly at Rale.

A face flagged up. A girl, older than Ari, stared broodily back at the camera. She had curly hair tied severely in a ponytail behind her. Behind scratched spectacles stared a pair of sharp eyes. Her lips pressed firmly together, as though she were holding back secrets.

"Kena, seventeen years old, Class 6C," read Rale. "Telekinetic, Rank D User. She was Noan's sister. Ah."

"What?"

"She was a research genius, it seems. She'd published several papers on ability mechanisms, particularly on how they manifest and evolve."

"She was?"

Rale sighed and shook his head, his mop of curls bobbing.

"She died last year."

"Do people die that often in March City?" Ari said, exasperated. "It's like every time we finally get a lead, it turns out they're wrong or dead!"

Rale gave her a strange look.

"Some things happen more often than you think, but because it doesn't happen to you, you don't notice it."

Ari flushed.

"I'm not saying it directed at you generally," added Rale, seeing her reaction. "As a journalist, I come across these incidents on a daily basis but depending on, uh, higher up preferences, not all those reports get published. And, of course, rich kids don't notice the hardships of the poor. But why should you? It doesn't concern you."

Ari couldn't help but feel Rale was still having a dig at her. Her face was still hot.

"But the strange thing is, Kena wasn't a low-achiever. If anything, academically she was the most gifted out of her family, although her telekinesis was still pretty poor."

"What does she have to do with the scientists and terrorist attacks?"

"According to the database: nothing. Her name wasn't listed as one of the scientists detained. She'd never run into trouble with Peacekeepers and there's nothing abnormal in her records until her death."

"How did she die?" A thought struck Ari then. "What if she's the last scientist who committed suicide? The one your source mentioned?"

"I was just thinking that. It could very well be, but the government's expunged all the data regarding those incidents. Everything I have, everything that was reported at the time – they're all deleted. The only things I have left are the videos I showed you yesterday and what's left in my head. This Kena definitely fits the puzzle, though. I'm not sure where her brother, Noan, comes in, but Kena had the abilities to contribute towards those experiments. The fact that her death circumstances are inaccessible makes it suspicious."

"That's great and all, but she's dead. Did she have a protégée at the time? Maybe he's the one carrying on her work."

"I can't tell. It could be." Rale tapped his fingers on his chin. Ari hadn't noticed until then, but he had quite mousy features. She could almost picture his whiskers twitching as he mulled over their discoveries. "Well, we can do that another day."

Ari was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Well, my dear Transformer," said Rale, inputting further instruction and then spun away from the computer, "not everyone can afford to skip lessons like you. I have to attend all my classes or I lose credits."

"But Mina—!"

"She isn't going anywhere. I've put in instructions to go through everything to do with this Kena. This time tomorrow, it'll have gathered enough data for us and hopefully there'll be something useful by then."

Ari shook her head, wringing her hands together.

"We can't. Every second that passes is another second gone. She could be dead – or worse – by the time that computer finishes."

"Well, what do you propose we do?" Rale swept his hand behind him, an irritated look on his face. "That computer's speed is limited by the make and there's no way to change that unless you want to use one of the Peacekeeper's devices – and good luck with that. I've got as much weighing on this as you. If the government even catches a whiff of my involvement in this, I'll kiss my residency and career goodbye. I know too much for my own good."

She bit her lip. Feelings of uselessness washed over her. It was so frustrating being unable to do anything, knowing nothing more. She rose, knowing she was being dismissed.

"What am I supposed to do, then?"

"Well, I have tuition tonight and I'm going to school tomorrow. I'd suggest you go home and rest."

"I can't do that." Ari shook her head. She couldn't face going to an empty apartment without Mina and spend a whole day milling about. Her stomach churned at the thought. "I can't just sit and wait."

"Poor you." Rale sounded entirely unsympathetic. "Maybe you can go to school then."

Ari stared. "You're kidding me."

"What, the Transformer too good for education?" He raised an eyebrow. "I suppose that's true, seeing as your poor attendance still gains you your place..."

She glowered. Slinging her bag behind her, she marched out. Paramount as Rale's presence was, his manner about her affluence seriously got on her nerves. Every word he said seemed to have a snide undertone, as if he blamed her for working well and scoring high credits. If he wasn't her only hope in getting Mina back, Ari would never have made acquaintances with the likes of him.

"Be here for three o'clock tomorrow afternoon," he called after her. Ari said nothing, punching the lift buttons and hurrying in when the doors opened. Her mind was swirling with information. She found the files of Noan, a former, low-achieving student who died four years ago, in the residences of the scientists. The scientists themselves were found guilty of their experiments two years ago and they were responsible for the multiple student disappearances and explosions across the city. They kidnapped students and experimented on them, artificially amplifying their abilities.

Ari shuddered, her blood running cold at the thought. It was such an outrageous and immoral thing to do. They might as well have transplanted their brains along with it. Abilities were never meant to be tampered.

She wondered how the government punished those scientists. She couldn't imagine a more serious offence. Maybe they were all put to death. The news would never publicise anything as terrible as that.

The door slid open and Ari stepped onto the roof, breathing in the gentle air. The sun was setting. The sky was a deep mauve, blending into orange and yellow at the far distance. It was cooling as night approached. Ari peered over the edge. Pod cars moved along the smooth streets and students ambled on the paths. Some were heading to their evening tuition, like Rale; others were returning home from afterschool work or activities. A week ago, this was her, devoid of worries and awful thoughts. It seemed an eternity ago she'd said goodbye to Mina on her way to the forgotten tutorial, when she'd dismissed Mina's efforts to do well for herself. She grimaced, feeling a pang of guilt.

It always struck her as she stood on the precipice how small people truly were. March City seemed endless, despite the boundaries at the peripheries of the outside areas. Unmanned trains zoomed in and out of the buildings lower down, carrying students to their destinations. Skyscrapers sprouted at regular intervals before her: some of them were glamorous and colourful, reflecting the more well-to-do residents of Area Eight; others were simpler, with basic colours and plain windows.

Ari let herself fall. The evening air whooshed past her, filling her ears. The ground of the alleyway between Block Forty-Eight and Forty-Nine rushed to meet her.

She landed with both feet on the floor. Her new trainers didn't yield as well as her soft shoes did, but making adjustments were easy. The energy changed, surging in her body, and in one boost she released it, propelling her body into the air again.

She skirted around Area Ten, administration. Security was tight there. Cameras stood everywhere and infrared rays would detect any trespassers. She skimmed the inside part of Area one, the hospitals, and then Area Five, March City's leisure area. Blue light from the ground lit up the smooth glass buildings in the administrative area. She could make out important-looking students marching along the corridors, big work bags or armfuls of notes in their hands. Peacekeepers patrolled the ground floor area. She'd never been in it, nor did she intend to.

Small round metal spheres on poles perched around the roofs of the various buildings in Area Ten. Most of those appeared to be independent offices. The dark-tinted glass made it difficult for Ari to see what was going on inside. A few of them had large screens showing flickering images; others stood empty.

The pristine white structures of the healing facilities of March City were to her right, soon blending into Area Five. Area One's many corridors and conveyors allowed easy transport of patients and products to its highly-specialised wards and operating theatres. Ari remembered being in there on a few occasions after losing to the two students ranked first and second in the city, Cryo and Lira. Mina had been worried sick and was convinced she was going to die, although her injuries weren't actually that severe.

Mina was so good to Ari. She'd never appreciated it until now, when she was gone. Her heart ached.

Ari barely noticed the tantalising flashing lights of Area Five, the leisure facilities. Happy chatter and boisterous conversations floated up to her. The entertainments she could see through the coloured windows didn't entice her. None of the video games or movies or gym facilities even made her bat an eyelid. It was almost as though March City had gone grey.

When she landed back on the ground of Area Seven, dispersing her energy, she was overcome with a tiredness she hadn't noticed until that point. It must be the accumulated exhaustion from last night's events and the revelation from today. Much as she'd hate to admit it, Rale was right. She was better off retiring for the night and going to school tomorrow to make the day pass quickly.

And Fris had some questions to answer.

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