Seth waited for the verdict in the quiet solitude of the security administrators office. He had struck William, a fellow student. That in of itself was bad enough, but he did it in the defense of a potentially Enhanced student.

“She’s Enhanced!” ricocheted off dark two-way mirrors that made up the left wall.

William was wrong. She was a Hunter. If the sociopaths’ act of sabotage succeeds, Astral might be expelled, which meant the demon beneath the Academy would be free to regain his strength by feeding on the students.

He caught his critical stare reflected at him and felt exposed beneath it. In times of stress, he felt like someone else was looking back at him. Someone wiser. Someone stronger. Someone he could be.

Beneath his reflection’s commanding gaze, he adjusted his posture, spreading himself out but at attention. He pressed the soles of his boots against the carpet, spread no further than the legs of his chair. He stroke the metal arm rests like a king on his throne, a man whose presence commanded attention and obedience. Confident instead of submissive; his presentation of himself might make all of the difference. He lifted his chin and nodded to himself, catching a glimpse of the young man who would become a general to an army of Hunters. Who would one day hunt down the rogue Hunter who terrorized the nation by unleashing legion after legion of demons.

Two men in military uniforms entered, followed by a third man in a clean well-tailored suit. They sat across from him, tablets set against the table’s digital surface connecting to the system. The implication that he had everything to lose hung between himself and his arbiters as a digital projection. He held his breath, waiting for the hammer of judgement to come crashing down.

“First tier student. Top of your class,” the security officer said, while his secretary took notes. “Three time champion of the games, with a strong promise for a fourth consecutive victory…”

He was meant to think on the risk of losing that win, on what it would mean for him, his future career, his life… To his team…. He drew a blank; words on a screen that could be changed if the conversation didn’t go their way. The games were a sham, but he couldn’t say that. Astral would, just to see the truth in their eyes, to count the seconds before they countered with: “And why would you think that?” He didn’t have the luxury of speaking his mind.

“A leader with a bright future ahead of him. You’ve had offers from several top end sponsors willing to accommodate your educational needs post tour; some even include salary. Chances like these don’t get handed out to just anybody.” Again there was a pause, the silent threat that these opportunities would disappear with the slightest step out of line. Chances like these, the silence said, don’t hinge on skill, competence, and dedication; they require obedience.

Do they know about the demon? He wondered. Have they been feeding us to the monster? He listened, burying the distraction.

The secretary was a young male with prosthetic cyber arms, hidden by a long sleeved jacket and gloves. His fingers moved too fast, and the odd grinding of plastic against plastic was subtle but there. His face was cleanshaven and lacked the physical scars that would have made him less than ideal for a highly visual positions. There was no sense in terrifying the students.

His boss was an aging man, whose hard face spoke volumes on how he was tired of the teenage bullshit, but the job paid well. Both of these men should know better than to advocate for the virtues of the games.

He wanted to ask: “Did you attend the Academy? Were you in the games?” But he knew better. Their role was irrelevant to the lesson they needed to enforce: choose your allies carefully.

“You know why you’re here,” the security officer said, killing the projections of Seth’s promising future.

He took a moment to choose his words: “I defended a first year student from a brutal assault from a second year student.” He wasn’t sure he would be allowed to get away with implying that he wasn’t connected to either party involved.

A snippet of the events in the courtyard played out on a loop. William, Astral, Seth and anyone who had any physical contact with them were in full color, while the others held a ghostly shade of grey-blue. A rabid William was dragged away from the prone Astral by three adults. He flailed and kicked at the men. Astral rose to her feet, the footage failing to capture the beauty of her unnatural eyes. She could have passed for anyone.

Seth saw himself emerge from the crowd, the hot chocolate abandoned to free up his hands.

“Can’t you see? She’s been lying to all of us this whole time! She’s Enhanced!” William shouted, struggling against Astral’s E.M.I. bodyguards. One guard had been dispatched hours earlier to collect William to discuss the third and final access point to the demon’s lair.

Overcome with rage, Seth struck him. William was the school’s last chance to get to the demon before it awakened, consuming the school, the students, the staff. The Council’s Academy educated almost a third of the nation’s children, and employed adults in the tens of thousands. The population at the school was the equivalent of a small city and was deemed the second largest city of the nation. Astral was the first line of defense against the inevitable. With her heading the Hunt, they might not suffer substantial losses, and all William wanted to do was ruin Astral by any means necessary.

Without her, who could they rely on? The Red Order? The E.M.I.? William had no idea the sort of damage he had caused. Or maybe he did and didn’t care. Seth didn’t care what his excuse was. He wished he could say that too many lives were at stake, and that was why in his frustration he struck William. The truth was uncomfortable.

He watched William go limp.

“Are you a security officer?” the lawyer spoke. He was a young man nearing thirty, whose uneven dark hair was thinning in places he had yet to notice. His eyes were too close together. His cheeks were too sculpted to be natural.

“I am not,” Seth said, then decided to get ahead of the next question. “I have not been offered or accepted the role of any position that would excuse such actions. I also acknowledge that in the heat of the moment, I failed to recognize that the first year student didn’t require any further physical assistance.” That was the failing of these recordings, they could record the facts, but they couldn’t record perception; maybe that was for the best.

“Are you aware that the Council’s Academy employs a security task force?” the lawyer asked.

“Yes.” The students are reminded of their presence at the start of every term in their orientation. They’re reminded to help to make the school a better place by reporting instances of bullying and harassment with approximate time codes and locations to help the task force review the footage. The algorithm was efficient in recognizing violence, but not fool proof. Seth felt the pressure of Astral’s arms around his chest as she hugged him close to her, a warning that he was about to enter a world he was better off never knowing about.