The 6 Greatest Errors of All Time | ✓

XII. exposed identities

"Hold on a second," I groaned, rubbing my forehead, "I don't deserve your accusation. Just quiet down for a moment." I racked my memory for what happened.

I... never leave the door open. Who opened it? If it was from outside, like Pierce, it was a break-in. If it was from inside, like me, it's someone trying to figure out where they were so the only way was to walk outside to check.

"It wasn't me." I stated at the end, still puzzled.

Pierce peered at me for a moment before furrowing his brows. "And I guess you're going to say you didn't take my papers too?"

"Now that," I smiled, "that was intentional." I remembered where I placed his sheets too and forced myself not to glance in its direction in case the sheets were in plain sight.

Why did he want the papers so bad?

Those sheets were, without a doubt, anything but 'homework.' I regret falling asleep after talking to Pooh last night, otherwise, I would've been able to snoop through its content before he showed up.

Pierce cleared his throat and my attention directed back to him. "Okay, okay," he held up his hand as if slowly surrendering, "Let's rewind, alright? Pause for a second."

// "Risa, stop."

"Just... show me you have the papers, and we can talk. I won't rip it away from you." He sighed, eyeing me carefully afterwards.

// "Get off me, and let's talk."

The dream. I'm remembering snippets of it. I stared back at Pierce's eyes and it clicked to me. This time for sure.

Pierce was Beta.

This whole time, while Pierce was directing a monologue right in my bedroom trying to find his papers, my heart was racing at the fact that I might have... met a T6 teammate. Not through my dream, but this time in real life.

But my hopes and excitement had to be subdued momentarily, because my instincts to distrust people took over. Just how would I know if he was 'real Beta,' or 'fake Beta?'

Why did our Commander go missing in the first place? It causes all kinds of issues that I, Risa Kennedy, a college student, do not want to deal with.

Alright, let's get down to business.

... To defeat, the Huns.

—What was something only the real Beta would know?

Right before I exposed our secret code, I had to take a step back and realize that even if Pierce turned out to be my team leader... I could not reveal my identity to him, at any cost. Why? Because that's risking too many dangers. Dangers from what? The future.

"You know," I started, keeping a vague understanding that his papers had to be hidden in order for me to confirm my theory, "I read the papers."

And the facade begins.

Pierce's eyes turned dead serious and he seemed to have forgotten how to speak.

"You didn't." He frowned suspiciously.

I nodded quietly and clicked my pointer finger against the side of my forehead. "This head of mine," I spoke carefully, "It's really something. A mini trouble-maker. My Jiminy Cricket seems to have gone into depression and gave up on coaching me. So my head goes, 'Oh! Suspicious papers! Let's inspect two and spare the rest!' It was harmless really," I shrugged for effect, "I kind of figured what it said."