Hannah was absentmindedly pushing scrambled eggs around her plate. Her stomach was hungry and yet the thought of eating made her nauseous. Her late-night visitor had put paid to the any sleep she had hoped for. Tonight she would lock her door, but doubted it would make her feel relaxed. She wondered whether she should say something to Diana, but then thought against it.

"Not hungry," asked Diana.

"No, sorry," she replied.

"That's okay, after all, you do have an exciting meeting this morning. I've taken the liberty of asking Martine, my stylist to come around and dress you."

"I am old enough to dress myself," Hannah replied, indignant.

A loud laugh interrupted her annoyance.

"Oh Hannah, you silly thing, Mother didn't mean that."

Hannah turned to see Edward smirking at her in the doorway. Wearing pressed beige chinos, a pale-blue oxford shirt and with a cream cable- knit sweater draped over his shoulders, he looked every inch the preppy student. His hair though, seemed to rebel against this style convention. A dirty blonde colour, it was just above shoulder length with an unruly wave to it. Today he had tried to tame it somewhat in a low-tied ponytail held by a brown leather strap. It didn't look good.

"Martine will find you an outfit to wear and help you with your hair and make-up." said Edward. "All the girls at school think she is fabulous."

He walked forward and pinched a slice of her toast and gave her a sly wink. Hannah shuddered at the gesture and averted her eyes back to her plate.

"I have a gala meeting this morning and John had to leave early for work, so I've asked Edward to take you to the Council before he heads to school..."

Hannah went to interrupt and decline the offer, but Diana continued...

"It'll be nice for you and Edward to have a little one-to-one time together". She smiled at them both. Edward nodded enthusiastically.

"The Council are arranging your lift home". Diana dabbed the starched white napkin around her mouth and stood up. "I'd better get going. Have a great day you two, I'll see you for dinner tonight."

Diana pushed her chair in and left the room, her 5 inch heels clicking all the way down the hall.

The breakfast room suddenly became silent and oppressive. Edward was seated opposite again and his head was tilted slightly to one side as he stared at Hannah while chewing his food. It was clear to Hannah, that he was appraising her, like a farmer might appraise a heifer at market.

The doorbell chimed.

"I'll get it," Hannah cried and leapt off her seat desperate to be away from Edward, and almost knocking over the housekeeper as she ran to the door.

"Well hello, you must be Hannah that I have heard so much about".

A short girl with shocking pink hair leapt forward and planted a kiss on either side of Hannah's face. Hannah stood awkwardly, unused to such physical contact of strangers. Only your family and loved ones hugged you when you were Flawed.

"I'm Martine and I'm here to make you look wonderful. However looking at those cheekbones and those eyes I don't think my work is going to be too hard. Now come on, show me your room." She pushed passed Hannah and started up the wide staircase. By the time Hannah entered the room, Martine was already rifling through her wardrobe.

"Now, you are meeting some pretty important people today and you have press conference too. I think we should go for a smart, but elegant look. We need to prove to them all that you ain't Flawed anymore, honey. Okay, so I think you should try on this and ..."

Hannah slumped down onto the bed. She had no idea what Martine was talking about. Her constant chatter about colours, styles, accessories was giving Hannah a headache. She wanted none of this and yet here she was.

"Right I have it." Martine held up a covered item hung on a pink satin hanger. "This is the one," she smiled triumphantly, "but first let's gets everything else done. I only have thirty minutes to work my magic."

Hannah was instructed to sit on the small stool in front of the vanity unit. Her hair was still a little damp from the shower she had taken earlier. Helplessly, she sat and watched as her hair was brushed, back combed a little and then taken up and tucked under to give what Martine called a "Chignon". Down either side of her face Martine had pulled out a few tendrils of hair which gently curled and framed her face. Hannah had to admit it was a nice style, having only ever worn her hair down or scraped back in a ponytail. Next came the makeup. Martine turned Hannah away from the mirror explaining that she wanted to do a, great reveal at the end of their session. Martine opened a large black case to reveal a large collection of makeup and proceeded to decorate Hannah's face.

After fifteen minutes of inane chatter and questions Hannah didn't really answer, she was released to try the outfit on. Martine unzipped the carrier to reveal a black cap-sleeved dress. It had a full skirt, synched in waist and button up top. Martine handed her some red-heeled shoes and Hannah looked at them in horror.

"I can't wear those," she squawked. "I've never worn heels before, I will break my neck."

"You'll be fine. Just discretely remove them in the car or under the table if your feet start to ache. Every woman wears heels here."

"Is that another stupid Top-5 law too?" Hannah, couldn't help the bitterness that fell out of her mouth.

Martine, looked a little shocked and offended.

"Can I not just wear a pair of pumps?"

Martine squawked. "Oh my god! You can't wear pumps, what would people think. Now put these on and I will rotate the mirror for you to see."

Hannah did as she was told. Sitting down, the shoes felt fine, but as she stood up she could barely stand straight.

"Oh wow! Everyone is gonna freak out when they see you. Come on, have a look?" Martine said, turning the mirror around.

Hannah looked down at her feet and slowly crossed the floor, tottering like a new-born colt on his legs for the first time. She walked up to the mirror, took a deep breath and looked up at herself.

"So, what do you think?" Martine asked confidentially

Hannah looked at the person in the mirror and felt a torrent of emotions. On the one hand she was surprised by how well she had scrubbed up, a phrase her mother would have used if she could see her now. The clothes were lovely and the make-up subtly applied. Maybe she might be able to pass herself off as member of the Top5, but that was the problem, she didn't want to be anything other than Flawed. She still wanted to be the young girl who Shane knew and loved. A solitary tear rolled from her eye and down onto her cheek.

"See! I knew you'd love it," Martine said excitedly, clapping her hands, mistaking the tears of sadness for joy.

"Thank you, Martine."

"Okay, I had to be off now, my next lady has a party tonight and wants me to help her shine." Martine packed her things away, kissed Hannah again on both cheeks and left

Hannah began to unbutton the dress. She was going to wear jeans, a t-shirt and some pumps. She wasn't leaving the house dressed like this.

"Hannah, we are leaving now," shouted Edward.

"Give me a minute," she called down.

"No," he shouted back. "We have to leave right now."

Taking one last look at the stranger in the mirror she grabbed the black lamb's wool shawl and a black patent clutch to take with her and went off to find Edward. She left the right wing of the house and moved across to the left finding a replica corridor. She heard music coming from a room which she thought was Edwards and moved over and knocked gently. The music suddenly went silent and she heard footsteps across the floor.

"What?" he asked as the door opened slightly. Edward peered through the gap and his mouth fell open as he stared at her new appearance. "And they say you can't make a silk purse out of Sow's ear," he sneered. "Don't you look lovely."

"Are you ready to leave yet?" she asked, ignoring his backhanded compliment.

"Yeah, let's go."

Five minutes later they were travelling down the highway in his red two-seater coupe. The car was small and Hannah felt cramped and uncomfortably close to Edward.

"I suppose we should get better acquainted," he said.

"I suppose so," Hannah replied. It was the last thing she wanted to do.

"How are you settling in?"

"Ok, I guess."

"You must be missing home. I wonder how your parents are taking it?" he asked.

Hannah nodded and swallowed hard. Not a minute had gone by when she hadn't thought about them. She felt like she had abandoned them and the guilt ached in her chest.

"I must say, you are not what I expected."

Hannah turned to him. "Why?" she asked.

"I would have thought you'd have been jumping for joy at getting away from those slums and the dirty people that live there, yet you're not. Why?"

Hannah knew then he was trying to goad her, to drag a reaction from her. She wasn't going to play that game.

"Edward. I miss my parents very much however I am grateful for how your parents have welcomed me into their home. But to be honest, I don't really want to discuss this right now".

"Ok, suit yourself" he replied and they spent the rest of the journey in silence.

At the Council buildings, they pulled up in the dropping off zone and a police officer opened Hannah's door and helped her out of the car.

"Thank you for the ride," she said.

"You're welcome," he replied coolly and then sped off, tyres squealing

Hannah looked around. The entire area was packed with people with cameras. Two vans with satellite dishes upon their roofs were parked up and she heard someone call out.

"Hey, look it's her!" the voice shouted, proceeded by a rush of people all calling out to her and asking her a barrage of questions. Hannah hadn't expected anything like this and as more and more people joined the scrum her nervousness turned to fear.

"Move it!" shouted a familiar voice. She was relieved to see Zeke stalking his way towards her, parting the masses and in some cases roughly shoving them away. He finally got to her and placed a protective arm over her shoulder.

"Why are you at this entrance? Your parents were told to take you to the secure area at the rear."

"The must have misheard," she replied, knowing full well Edward had done that deliberately.

"Never mind, you're here now."

Another car pulled up and this time Hannah was driven to the correct entrance. Within five minutes, she found herself in the same room, with five of the people she had seen yesterday. However, today they were almost unrecognisable, having undergone a similar upgrade as she had.

"Go and make yourself comfortable, Hannah. I'll be taking you home later, so we can talk then." Zeke smiled and left the room.

Hannah was approached by a girl who had poker-straight black hair, with vivid purple highlights. She wore a vivid green dress. The colour combination was striking.

"Hi, I'm Naya. Isn't this incredible?" the girl asked.

"Hi, I'm Hannah," she replied.

"I've always dreamed of being rich and famous, and now I am," she giggled. "Can't wait to get on camera and tell my story."

Hannah smiled politely and excused herself. She went over to the refreshments table and poured herself a glass of iced water and took a long drink. Next to the drinks was a large platter of pastries and cakes. Shane would have loved these, she thought. Hannah's hand began to shake, the ice-cubes knocking into each other. She placed the glass heavily down on the table.Breathe, she told herself, breathe. Reluctant to sit next to Naomi again, she decided to hang about until some of the others arrived.

"If you don't mind me saying, you look like you're about to puke."

A tall guy with spiky brown hair had joined her next to the table. He looked down at the platter of pastries and picked up a croissant. He rammed it into his mouth and within three chews it had gone, quickly replaced by another. He went to put a third pastry in his mouth, but stopped when he saw Hannah's staring at him.

Brushing his greasy fingers down his expensive pin-striped navy suit, he offered her his hand. "Tucker" he said.

"Hannah" she replied. "Hungry?" she asked

"Always. Mum always told me that if you came across free food, you should eat until you felt sick."

"Wise words" Hannah agreed.

"Nice dress," he said.

"Nice suit," Hannah said.

"Wanna speak in sentences of more than two words?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Hannah smirked back.

"Think I'm gonna like you" Tucker turned back to the table and grabbed another pastry. "You better get one quick because very soon, there aren't gonna be any left.

Hannah looked down at the plate, grabbed the biggest almond swirl, opened her mouth wide and rammed it in.

"Is this how you do it?" she asked, although her words came out as a mumble.

"That-a-girl, come on let's go sit with the freaks and get this over with".

As Hannah walked back to the sofas she saw that everyone had arrived and was grateful that the seat next to the Naya was now occupied by another girl whose eyes looked like they had glazed over.

Tucker and Hannah sat down next to each other just as Agent Scott walked in.

"Good morning everyone," he began. "Unfortunately, General Briggs is unable to attend our meeting today, however I have been fully briefed. I am sure you each have a thousand questions you would like to ask but for now I am going to pair you up and give each pair a Liaison Officer to work with. This will serve two purposes. Firstly your Liaison Officer will be your go-to person. You are to field all of your questions to them. They will be particularly useful in helping you handle the media interest that is building on your story. Please do not talk to any members of the press unless you have cleared it with them first. Secondly, by pairing you up, we feel it will help you adjust to your new lives having somebody to share the experience with. These pairings have been based upon where you live and where you will go to school".

After the first six were paired up and each allocated a Liaison Officer, only Naya, Elyas, Tucker and Hannah remained. There was only one outcome Hannah wanted and it didn't involve either Naya or Elyas.

"Elyas, you are paired with Naya and you will be supported by, Officer Jan Byron. That leaves Hannah with Tucker". Your Liaison Officer is busy right now, so Officer Jennings is going to walk you through the press conference."

Tucker turned and smiled at Hannah, clearly as relieved as she was at their pairing.

"You have thirty minutes briefing time and then I will see you in there."

"Hannah, Tucker, let's retire to a smaller room where we can get better acquainted." Officer Jennings found them a quiet room with a small table for them to sit around.

"So this conference is going to get pretty excitable. The public here want to know all about you, how you managed to cope so long living as one of them and what you think of your new lives. Please remember to stay on message at all times. Your demotion to the Flawed was a unique error and steps have been taken so it can never happen again. You need to make sure they know that your adopted families are being well taken care of, and that you are enjoying your new lives with your families. Please try to play down any issues you may have had living as a Flawed. To be honest, it just makes for bad publicity and no one here really wants to hear about that! Remember the Council only has your best interests at heart."

Hannah couldn't believe what she was hearing. Basically, she was going to have to tell one lie after another. Although, this time it would be state sanctioned. She glanced over at Tucker to see his reaction. On the surface he looked fine; he was politely smiling and nodding at all the right points. However, she could see his hands making fists under the table. He squeezed so tightly, his knuckles were turning white. If she wasn't very much mistaken, Tucker was finding it very difficult not to smash this ignorant man in the face.

"Do either of you have any questions?"

Hannah and Tucker remained silent.

"Very well then, let's go."

Hannah looked up at the chandeliers above. They were so heavily jewelled, she wondered how on earth the ceiling could bear the weight. The noise in the room was deafening and cameras were shoved intrusively in their faces as they walked to the front and to a long state table, with ten chairs. Four of their number, were already seated, and the remaining four, were walking behind herself and Tucker. If Hannah could, she would have run away.

The panel of Flawed, now seated were very quickly asked a barrage of questions many of which Jennings had mentioned earlier. The other eight Flawed were clearly on message. As yet, neither Hannah or Tucker had been directly asked or answered question.

"Tucker, you are a handsome young man, has any pretty young lady caught your attention whilst you have been here."

Tucker sat still for a moment, contemplating his response. Hannah wondered if he'd left a girlfriend behind.

"No, I haven't met a special girl yet, but let me tell you there are some damn fine boys over here that are catching my eye." He winked at the male reporter.

The crowd went quiet for the briefest of moments and then the maelstrom began again. Hannah was gobsmacked that he had just outed himself in such a public forum.

Finally, their interest found Hannah.

"Hannah, we have been told your SPR was 72. Could we ask what your re-evaluated SPR is?" Hannah looked over to Jennings, seeking direction on whether to answer or not. Jennings nodded.

"I am told my SPR at birth was one hundred."

The audience at first went quiet, but then burst out laughing, as if she had cracked a joke. Her fellow Flawed on the panel laughed too.

"You're a funny girl, Hannah. Come on, what is it really?" the journalist asked again.

"Miss Page's SPR is one-hundred. The first and only one-hundred our society has ever produced," said a proud, booming voice from the other end of the room. Briggs had arrived and was marching towards their table.

This time the silence in the room was absolute. The people in the audience now gawped at her. The other nine, looked as shell-shocked.

"Thank you for coming today, Ladies and Gentlemen. If you require any further information or pictures please do contact our media representatives." Briggs then left the room, not interacting with the ten once. Once he had left, security then escorted the ten back out of the building to the cars waiting outside.

"So that was fun," Tucker said, sarcasm dripping off every word. They were guided to yet another long black car and got in together. The other eight headed off to their cars.

The door opened and Zeke appeared.

"Hi, I'm Commander Zeke Matheson and I will be your Liaison Officer. You must be Tucker. Good to see you again, Hannah."

The car set off and they were told Tucker was being dropped off first. Pulling up to his house, a virtual replica of hers, Hannah spoke to Tucker.

"That was an incredibly brave thing you did back there, Tucker, you know coming out to that group of vultures!"

"Thanks Hannah, I hid myself away as a Flawed, but I am not going to make the same mistake here. You really are a hundred then?"

"That's what they tell me."

"Jeez! Well, I am really glad I'm paired with you," he said, "even if your SPR is so diabolically low."

Hannah laughed. A real laugh this time.

"I'm really glad to be paired with you too. See you tomorrow."

"Definitely," he replied. Tucker closed the door and headed off inside.

"You may talk freely in this car, Hannah, I had it scanned before we left. Don't worry about the driver, he is one of us," volunteered Zeke.

"I am so tired of all this already," she sighed.

"We'll have you home in a short while," Zeke reassured her, "but first we have a slight detour to take care of."

They travelled further than she had expected to and was surprised when the car entered through a large stone arch of The Charmed Garden of Remembrance.

"Why are we here Zeke?" The last thing she wanted was to be near anymore death.

"Shane's funeral," was his short answer.