Her little team of rookies had just achieved another victory. It was especially surprising given that they had been thrown out of bed so early in the morning and been given, if she had to be charitable, incomplete information.

Or deliberately faulty. And I’m going to get to the bottom of this, if it’s the last thing I do.

Leila was marching toward the Regional Director’s office, where she had called an emergency meeting. Though she was not technically part of the high brass, her status as a high ranker meant that people listened to her, and when she was as incensed as she currently was, no one dared stand in her way.

Well, almost no one.

In the middle of the corridor, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt on his tongue, stood Roman Lawson, one of the very few A rank Awakeners and her colleague/rival. They were both part of the few elite teams the AA employed to take care of those high level dungeons that spawned too close to cities, and she could recognize that he was good at his job.

That, however, didn’t make him any less insufferable. “Now, what’s this? Our little princess calling an emergency meeting, looking absolutely enraged. It must be something truly cataclysmic. I can’t even imagine the weight on your shoulders to deliver. Really, if it was something frivolous, you might just get your leave extended.”

Looking at his smug expression, his perfectly curated image of a benevolent warrior for humanity fell apart quickly. No matter his handsome features, strong jaw, blue eyes and wavy dark hair that made so many swoon, this man was a vindictive, petty bastard.

She would trust him with her life on the field, as he had repeatedly proven himself to be reliable, but he transformed when outside. He held grudges for ages, made her life difficult just out of sadism and quite simply seemed to take enormous pleasure in annoying her as much as possible.

Leila passed him by, not deigning to stop “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” If Roman wanted to believe she was doing all of this just because she had gotten spooked for her kids, he was wrong.

There was more at work. Something sinister had happened, and when James had confided in her his suspicions, she just had to go look for who it was that should have been handling that area. Unsurprisingly, the Eclipse Guild had bought the right of first refusal to Greenwich Village.

Things had started to fall into place pretty quickly after that. She just had to snoop in on a few conversations in the police department of the precinct and the AA itself, and she had all the proof she needed.

Opening the door to the Regional Director’s office, Leila was greeted by the sight of all the top bureaucrats of the building, alongside a few more friendly faces. She inclined her head towards the director, who smiled back, his middle-aged, mild-mannered look hiding a shrewd mind. He was as always well dressed, and sporting a short, military style haircut. His almond eyes took in the whole room without missing anything, and she knew she could count on him to see justice done. As much as the man might be embroiled in politics, he wouldn’t let go of this kind of thing, when presented with enough evidence.

Then, she greeted a few people, deliberately making the rounds so that everyone could see her mingle. Marcus, her old mentor, was present and warmly embraced her.

Joanna, another high ranker, also showed enough affection to signal that she was on her side, no matter what. Others came to greet her, knowing exactly what they were doing by being seen with her, which she was grateful for, even though it was all just part of political calculations.

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They were taking a risk, as this was her first official appearance in the halls of power since the meeting in which she was put on forced leave. If she messed this up, she could hurt them too, but they could rise with her if she managed to make a comeback.

Leila wasn’t particularly interested in a specific position, nor was she aiming for more resources to be given to her - though those never hurt. No, she had called the meeting because justice had to be meted out.

Everyone slowly started filing in the adjacent room, where a large table had been set. The massive windows overlooking Manhattan in all its glory were beautiful as always, and they gave any meeting held in the room a feeling of importance.

Leila looked for her name and was surprised to find she had been placed at the Regional Director’s right hand. When he noticed her gaze, all he did was raise his glass, swirl the expensive scotch within and nod.

Finally, when everyone had taken their place, even that annoying Roman, they all turned to her. After all, she had called the meeting and they wanted to witness a spectacle. Whether it was a tragedy or a triumph mattered little.

Well, Leila was about to begin something they certainly hadn’t seen coming.

She took a recording device out of her handbag, its metallic frame and shining blue mana stone telling everyone that it was the kind employed in high-level operations. The type that couldn’t be tampered with nor falsified, that ignored illusions or even skills and revealed everything concealed.

Sending a thin stream of mana through it, Leila turned it on, deciding to let the evidence speak.

Above it, a hazy image started forming, the light bending to show the interiors of the very same building they were in, though in a much lower office. It was made easily recognizable by the sign hanging on the wall, which read “Dungeon Monitoring Department”.

A man, who many knew personally for his long tenure at the agency, came into sight, speaking on the phone “This has got to stop. I can’t keep giving you this kind of leeway, or someone is going to come snooping around. Someone I can’t do away with simply.”

A few intakes of breath told her that a few of the more clever people were already figuring out where this was going, but for the slowest ones, she allowed the recording to continue.

“I don’t care how grateful your leader will be. You have no idea how many eyes are on the Initiative now! If the kids get disappeared like that, we are all going to get it! I have to make it look believable.” The same man continued. At this, the Regional Director shifted forward, the light glinting off his glasses enough to hide his expression.

“Two… No, Four thousand. And this has to be the last time you give me this short of a notice. I can’t help you if you don’t give me the time to work. Make sure not to send your goons snooping around, or they will be suspected immediately!” After that, the man thanked the person he was speaking with, a gleeful smile painted on his features, and hung up.

Before anyone could speak and try to contextualize what they had witnessed, the image changed, showing a police precinct. A man and a woman were speaking inside an office, the tag reading Captain Steve Romero, letting them know who the uniformed one was.

The woman, dressed as a secretary, was nodding to what her superior was saying. “And then the mayor called me! Told me not to make a fuss about it and that they would take care of everything themselves. Which, as it turned out, was getting a bunch of kids and throwing them down the sewers to hunt the crocodiles. Not even at their second Awakening!”

Leila could see that even more people were now starting to realize where she was going with this, and she spied a few pale.

“First, we have to only speak with the guilds so that they can keep it all hush-hush and do whatever they want without the AA intervening. Now, we have to let them do everything. It stinks, I tell you.” The Captain continued, gesticulating. It was obvious that he had been keeping it all to himself for a long time and was finally letting some steam blow.

“And they even sent those people to pick up all our reports! I can tell you for sure that they didn’t go to the AA, no siree. The truck went the other way!” The secretary added, looking just as incensed.

“The worst thing is.” The man said, putting the nail in the coffin “I know they just won’t let us go now. The kids cleared the dungeon, and they are not the kind of people to stop just because their first plan failed. They will try to hurt those kids again, and there is nothing we can do about it.”

The man’s downtrodden face faded, leaving a very stilted silence behind. Leila spied more than one person she considered her political ‘enemy’ that looked enraged beyond words. The few she had seen pale before also made sure to look appropriately angry.

At this point, the evidence of a plot to undermine the entirety of the Dawn Initiative, the AA's most important project, was laid bare before them, irrefutable. It now remained to be seen how many heads would fall.

“Well.” The Director began, his expression absolutely furious. “It seems to me like we have some cleaning to do.”