"This doesn't look good, Vic." It was Miguel. They had all been so absorbed by the vid that they didn't notice him walk up from behind.

"That's obviously not Victor. I mean, just look at the way he's moving. In the vid it's like he's a prowling animal, or something," Lucas said. "Victor walks a little more like he's royalty or something."

"I suppose it could be a clone," Miguel said. They all exchanged glances. Then they burst into laughter. Then a silence fell on the group as they all became serious. This was Nexus, after all. It might very well be clones.

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"It's true Victor," Fumio said. "I don't believe this is you, either. We already know that the vid feeds can be faked. Our comm diving operations on the other side showed boys."

"If only Alex were here," Lucas said. "I would like to see his reaction to the other side of the station."

"If our assertions about the relay stations prove correct, he may very well be," Fumio said.

Victor smirked. This was the good news.

"I think we're getting a little off topic here, guys. Look Victor, I don't think you would do this, either. The question is, how many people will think to look in the comms and have the skills to do so."

"There are a few," Fumio said. "The question is what we'll tell them when they come. Is this an attack by the A.I.? Another subtle test of Nexus?"

The others were missing the connections, but things were lining up perfectly in Victor's mind.

"It's Dixon," he said simply as he stared at the frozen frame of him smiling and waving, his handiwork scrawled on the wall behind him.

"Victor, you're saying Dixon is on the ship?" Lucas said, folding his arms.

"There are so many ways that isn't possible, even if he was shipped to one of the relay stations. First off, he was in hyperbolic suspension. Second, how the hell did he dock with the station without anyone knowing. I'm sorry Vic, but you're going to need a little more evidence than that," Miguel said.

Victor shook his head. He didn't need any more evidence. "It was Dixon," he repeated.

There was silence while they all gave him skeptical looks, but the conviction in his expression began to persuade them.

"How in the hell are you so sure?" Miguel asked.

"Because he's the only one it could be. I don't know how he did it, but it was him."

"Victor Vance just can't stay out of trouble, can he?"

At the entrance to the Information Room was a boy by the name Tyler Wrath, who was nearly Victor's height with light blue eyes and brown hair. Despite his good looks and confident smirk, his Social Score was low because he was so intensely focused on exercise and studies. He sauntered up to the holo table, a group of Physical students in tow. Tyler was what other students often referred to as a 'hybrid'. He was in the highest tier in two categories: Physical and Mental. His Social and Eco scores left something to be desired, however.

"Well Vance, guess what we found after a little comm diving?" Tyler said.

"It's not me," Victor said simply.

"Maybe. But if not you, then who?"

"Dixon."

The name caused the smug expression to evaporate from Tyler's face. The students behind him began to look unsure.

"What are you talking about," Tyler said quietly.

"The relay stations, the ones that are supposedly only to boost ansible comms? They're not for boosting communications. At least, not just for boosting communications," Lucas said. "They're where people go when they're put in hyperbolic suspension."

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Tyler looked slowly from one face to the other within the group. He turned around and left without another word.

"I'm surprised he backed down so easily," Fumio said.

Victor shrugged. He had more important things to think about.

"The question is where he's hiding on Nexus," Victor said, returning to topic at hand.

"The vents, maybe?" Miguel offered.

"Maybe. It doesn't seem like his style, though."

They threw around ideas for a while, but they couldn't solve the mystery. If Dixon was onboard Nexus proper, how was he eating? How could he get around? How had he managed to frame Victor? By the end of an hour's questioning Victor felt like he was losing the group again. Even he had to admit that on a purely rational basis his argument was flimsy. Nevertheless, he knew that it had to be Dixon. Victor tried a different approach.

"When is the last time any of you initiated communication via ansible?"

Miguel shrugged. "Most of us never have. It destroys your Eco Score, for some reason. I guess to make us more independent instead of going crying to HQ with every problem. HQ is useless, anyway. We found that with the Dixon incidents."

"True. Besides that, there is no point in contacting the homeworlds. We can only speak with our families at special intervals within the year, we all knew that from the beginning. The next isn't for a few months."

Victor nodded. "And when was the last time you received a communication from the homeworlds?"

Victor distinctly remembered the military commander's discussion with the Reactor Club student before they were all put into hyperbolic suspension. He recalled what he'd overheard during Roger's conversation with who he now presumed had been Dixon. If they were communicating via anisble, that meant that Dixon hadn't been on the ship at that point, yet. So what had changed?

"You think the comms have been cut?" Miguel asked. "Why would anyone bother?"

The only reason that Victor could think of was that there was something the homeworlds could do to affect Nexus. He had speculated enough, however, and kept this to himself.

"I don't know," he said. It always felt like there was something he didn't know when he was on Nexus.

"Well Fumio, it looks like it's me and you again, tonight." Lucas said, smiling. Fumio nodded.

"We'll go comm diving and see if we can't find how it would be possible to alter the data. Vic, isn't it about time for your meeting with Raja?"

Victor nodded, realizing the time.

In Information Room 5 Victor sat, waiting. It seemed he was the first to arrive, this time. A text box finally popped up on the holo panel.

Hey Victor.

Hey, Najar. I guess I should call you Raja?

Either is fine. I've got some exciting news.

Me too.

You first.

Victor described their reasoning about the ansible relay stations. He left out the part about their possibly being a homicidal maniac on board.

Hate to burst your bubble, Victor, but we already knew that.

How?

Mark told us. We've got a boy on our side of the ship.