"Okay" I said, not knowing this one word was going to change my life forever. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep, calming breath. As I felt my erratic heartbeat slowly calm down, I opened my eyes, meeting Adrian's black orbs. He gave me an encouraging look, though I knew he was just as scared as me. We were about to break another law and the thought terrified me.

I had always been an ideal person – an ideal student, an ideal daughter, an ideal citizen. Yet, what I was doing was against my principles. But then Mom always said that I was a girl filled with enough curiosity to burst the dams in the ancient times and that I just couldn't help myself. So, I tapped on the screen gently, clicking the 'open' option. I trembled all over, shivers racking my body. A message popped open and my eyes scrolled through them, not understanding anything. I was too nervous to read the words written in clear black print.

I blinked my eyes once and concentrated as the words slowly came into focus. 'ACCESS DENIED'. "What?" Adrian and I exclaimed at the same time. I looked at him in confusion, an astonished expression on my face. He turned to me, just as flabbergasted as me. "What the hell?" he demanded.

I shook my head and closed the tab. I tried opening it again, but still the same message in bold capital letters. 'ACCESS DENIED'. I blinked in confusion. This was impossible. I had to have the access; I was in the PR, for the Oracles' sake! How could I not have access?

I quickly closed my HoloStick and grabbed Adrian by the arm. He raised one eyebrow questioningly as I dragged him out of the office and took him to Daniel's. "I'll log into my mentor's Admin Computer. See if I can access from there."

"You are going to use his account?" he asked. "Don't you think it is risky? Especially considering what we are about to do?"

I shook my head. "He can vouch for me."

He stared at me, his dark eyes not moving from my grey ones. "I am not talking about you."

I stared back, understanding only after a moment. Of course, if I opened the file using his account, it might leave a signature. That would seem as if he was the one who opened it, thus making the blame fall on him. My eyes widened in fear as I realized what I was almost about to do. But logging into my account would leave my signature and now that I thought about it, it must have already.

I took a calming breath once more, closing my eyes for a moment. "We don't know if it leaves a signature." I told Adrian, looking into his panicked eyes. "It might not."

"Might is not reassuring enough." He said.

He wasn't the person who would get caught and yet he was more scared than me. Or maybe it was just that I was in denial. But wasn't it that the people in denial never accepted the fact that they were in denial?

I shook my head and stopped the panicked babbling inside my mind, raising my chin in a show of confidence where there wasn't any. "What's done is done. We might as well check it now."

He nodded once and I went to the window, opening my HoloStick. I pressed an icon and the glass went dark, preventing anyone from outside to see in. I reached underneath the glass, where there was a tiny space. I used my HoloStick to push the Digital Key out. I grabbed it and went to the table where I knew the extra Computer was kept. I scanned the key on one side of the table and a drawer popped out, inside which a small rectangle, the size of my palm was kept. It took it out and moved my palm over it. Immediately, it opened into a digital keyboard and I typed in the password.

I silently thanked the Oracles that Daniel was my sister's partner and the kindest person in Asticus. He had no problem sharing his computer with me whenever I wanted, even when I was just a student in Asticus High. Admittedly, I would have easily guessed the password considering it was my sister's name along with the day they had first met.

Adrian looked at me in surprise and asked, "How in the Oracles' name do you know your Mentor's password?"

I smirked at him and answered, "He is my sister's partner. Of course I know his password."

He gave me a weird look and just shook his head, a small smile on his lips. I turned back towards the computer and logged into my account. I opened the file section and scrolled down to the file. Of course, I didn't have to scroll much as it was a fairly recent record. I looked at Adrian and he gave me a small look of encouragement. I nodded, glad to have someone by my side to keep me from drowning in fear.

I pressed 'open.' Adrian let out a growl of frustration as he looked over my shoulder. I clenched my teeth in annoyance as the file once again said access denied. I knew now, that whatever I did, I wasn't going to be able to get in. I switched off the keyboard and kept it in, keeping everything where it was.

"I don't know why that is happening." I mumbled.

"This must mean something. If they aren't giving you access, it means it is supposed to be kept away from the public, for whatever reasons." He replied, his voice clearly showing the gears in his mind turning. "We must find out why."

I looked at him, exasperation clear on my face. "There is no way we can ever know. You just saw, I don't have access. I will never have–" I cut off as I realize something.

"What?"

"I just realized why I don't have access." I said. "It's because I haven't passed Evaluation yet! I am still in training and maybe, that's why I don't have access to classified files."

"So..." he started, coming to a conclusion at the same moment I did. "You are saying we have to meet again? Risk being seen by the public?"

I swallowed. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, no idea where this would lead. Maybe if had, I wouldn't have gone ahead with the plan. Maybe if I had, I would've never known the truth, the truth about Asticus. Taking a deep breath, I said, "Yes."