The students walked two by two into the blue green Auroran forest as the shimmering lights came faintly into view overhead. To Slash's left, walking sullen and afraid, was a meek-looking girl by the name Lynn. To his right was a faceless soldier dressed all in black and face covered. From the look of the body armor it was a female. For some reason her confident, proud gait reminded him of Eve. A girl that had seemed to step out of his deepest adolescent fantasy. Slash wasn't sure what made him think of her. She was worlds away and, if she was interested, it would be in the other Victor. The one that had put them first.

A faint chatter built up amongst the students. Slash was surprised that the soldiers allowed it, but felt no desire in particular, to participate. Unfortunately Lynn, the girl next to him, felt differently.

"Do you know what's going on? I thought it would be kind of like this by the time we were woken from the box, but something feels off."

Slash looked at her pityingly. For everyone who had been put in suspension this was pretty much what they'd expected. A few of the ones who had woken first might have realized something was strange, but for most of these students there was nothing strange about waking up on Aurora. Slash looked over his shoulder at Alex and the others who had been awake the entire time on the relay station. They were pensive, tense, thoughtful. Likely the were considering what story they were going to tell. Should they pretend to have woken with the others, or explain the much more complicated truth, one that might have them locked away for some time while the authorities attempted to verify or disprove it?

Alex's eyes locked with Slash's for a moment, sharing their fear and anxiety. Slash nodded. It was the only thing he could think to do.

But the more he thought about it as the escorted students strolled through the undergrowth beneath the trees, dark and twisting shadows in the winding light overhead, the more Slash began to wonder if it wasn't himself he should be worried about. At least the others had the option of telling the truth. What was he supposed to say, exactly? That he was a temporal clone that had traveled between time? Then again, he wasn't sure he could manage a lie to a trained interrogator, let alone lie-detecting algorithms.

When the group reached a series of white tents in a clearing, Slash held on to hope that all of that wouldn't be taking place here. Maybe he would get a night's rest before having to deal with what he was going to do.

They passed a perimeter of HQ armed personnel, indistinguishable from the ones escorting them, and were put in rows of ten in front of the largest tent, lit from the inside such that the sides glowed.

Vora Veer tapped Slash on the shoulder. Slash looked over his shoulder without turning around.

"We don't have time. Go with the truth. Better insane than traitors."

Slash nodded, understanding. Vora, Mac, and Alex must have come to the conclusion that it was better to be thought of as insane but consistent, then to be caught as liars and come under suspicion. There simply wasn't time to modify their story.

After a few moments, Commander Jacoby pushed a tent flap aside and shared the cool air with the group.

"Alright, folks. One at a time you'll be brought in for debriefing. After that -"

"When can we call our parents?" It was Lynn, but she was sure to stay hunched down so that no one could see her. After her outburst other students began to groan and complain, some standing up and demanding to speak to their parents.

"That's enough!" Jacoby shouted. Silence fell on the crowd. Scared, helpless looking eyes began to look around at the armed guards and Jacoby. They were realizing the reality of their situation. Before they made contact with their parents, they had no guarantees or assurances of safety. The stern glance in Jacoby's eye, unused to tempering itself in the presence of children when impatient, only served to highlight this. Slash wasn't sure, but he thought he might have seen the faintest of smirk's on Lynn's face.

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A motherly looking woman in large round spectacles exited the tent, presumably to see what the ruckus was about.

"Commander Jacoby?"

Jacoby shook his head. "You handle this, Carol. It's what you're here for."

"Yes, Commander."

Carol turned to the group and looked over them, flashing a beaming, friendly smile. Even Slash felt his heart warm at her sing-song voice and kind demeanor, but he caught the smallest of smiles on Lynn's face turned to outright annoyance and distrust.

"Alright, everyone," she said, looking down at a clipboard and scribbling something. "Starting from the front row and working to everyone's right until we finish each row, I want you to come into the tent. No talking until after everyone has had their debriefing. Let's start with you, shall we?" she said, indicating the boy in the front row to the far left.

The boy got up slowly, looking to the group for a response or approval, but everyone stared back blankly.

"Don't be shy," Carol said, with a slight and charming laugh as she lifted the tent flap just enough for him to enter. "Go on."

The boy nodded, entering the tent.

Soon the boy exited, looking relieved, and another boy entered. Then several more people. After what felt like eons it was Lynn's turn. Most of the other students thus far had entered looking relatively relaxed after seeing so many others leave unscathed. But Lynn seemed tense. Her fists clenched once before she stood and finally sauntered through the tent flap. Slash saw Carol's eyes flicker at Lynn as she walked through the tent.

When Lynn exited her expression was blank. Now it was Slash's turn. He willed himself not to look back at the others, though he doubted it mattered, and moved toward the tent. Carol held the tent flap open nonchalantly as she continued to peruse her clipboard without noticing him. Calculated or not, this woman seemed to be very good at putting people at ease.

When Slash entered the white tent, he found no group of interrogators or lie detecting mechanisms. There was just a tent itself with four lights - one in each corner - and a man with unearthly green eyes and wearing a white suit sitting at a simple desk. He gestured for Slash to sit.

"Victor, right? I'm Dominic. Please sit."

Victor obeyed, taking the simple chair in front of Dominic's desk. He noticed that the odd man was wearing an odd looking bracelet that glowed rainbow colors intermittently. Where had he seen something like that before?

"I've been looking forward to this conversation for a very long time, Victor. So have the... entities which I represent. Apologies for the delay. I, of course, had to meet with the students in whatever order you arrived so as not to arouse suspicion. I believe this is the first time we've had an actual meeting in person. That is, so to speak." he said, gesturing at himself for some reason Slash didn't understand.

"I don't often find myself prone to curiosity that serves no purpose, but I must ask: what in the world made you reneg on our deal? I mean, for all you knew, the ansible station had no jumping mechanism. I, ahem, we certainly hadn't expected that."

Slash bolted for the tent entrance, but two armed guards were already entering. Dominic chuckled, the rainbow lights of his bracelet shining brightly enough to color the tent walls, now.

"Now, now, Vance, first called Victor. Is that any way to treat the person who is going to make all of your dreams come true?" Dominic stood, and Slash could see that he towered over him, even though Slash himself was tall for his age and usually was able to look average adults in the eye. Dominic rested a hand on Slash's shoulder.

"Now then. How about we begin the meld?"