They reached the headquarters for Dominion Agra. It was incredible. The architecture of the place was remarkable. In all the poverty that had overtaken much of America, the corporations certainly didn't mind flouting their wealth. They were shown through room after room, wide-eyed and slack jawed. But Anna reminded herself constantly of the evil this corporation had wrought. Dominion Agra controlled all the world's food supply through cleverly patented micro-organisms they had bred. They were utterly ruthless, having participated in the decimation of the Middle East when the citizens had refused to pay tribute. However the world overlooked this atrocity, because they brought such wealth to the important people. Anna was frankly amazed that someone hadn't introduced a colourless, non-toxic gas into the atmosphere and charged them all for breathing it. It was essentially what had been done with the food and water of the Earth.

She noticed Tom tensed slightly, curling his hands into fists at the sight of the leader of the corporation, Dalton Prestwick. He was an imposing man and yet gave off an aura of distinct weediness, his slimy complexion making Anna want to recoil from the grease layered in his hair. He strode in, surveying the Plebes like he owned them, like he owned the world. "Welcome" his smarmy voice fluttered out over the wide-eyed Plebes, as they desperately tried to make good impressions. "Welcome to Dominion Agra. It is a pleasure to see such potential and opportunity gathered here today. As you know, you are the future. Your loyalty and hard-work will enable you to rise smoothly up the ranks of Dominion Agra, if you are chosen. If we sponsor you, you will represent this company and therefore we only sponsor the best. We expect your absolute loyalty and in return, we will shower you with responsibility and more opportunities than you could dream of." Blackburn rolled his eyes slightly. Anna smirked. To others it would have looked as if he was staring impassively ahead, but Anna saw the slight movement.

The Plebes waited to be let in to meet the executive. Technically Anna was a Middle and the others were Uppers. Her time at the Spire went a different route to the others' as she had spent so long away. Therefore she was joining the Uppers in their invite-only meet and greet. She had been nominated, apparently for her programming skills which were becoming exceedingly honed after all her work on her firewall, and, she suspected, out of curiosity.

"Miss… Faeilr", Dalton consulted his sheet. His eyes lit up as he realised who she was. "Quite an adventure you've had. What was it like?" She didn't need to ask what he meant.
"I learned a lot about responsibility there", she answered.
"And what do you think you can bring to Dominion Agra?" He surveyed her critically, steepled fingers and leaning back on his plush leather chair. Anna had prepared a bit for this but was mostly relying on her ability to ad lib. However, now she really wanted this. She needed a sponsor! "Sir, Mr Prestwick. I am utterly unique, different from any other candidate. I have experienced things that would make… others quail in their boots." She had been about to say 'you' but decided he would take it personally. "I know about survival and my experience has left me keenly aware of the importance of loyalty and trust. I have skills no one else has, my scores in calistenics are excellent, as are my programming skills. I am a hard worker. I am loyal" she lied. Suddenly she saw how to win him over. A man like Dalton Prestwick, who carefully sculpted every hair on his head, wanted his ego stoked. "And if you are wondering, Sir, why I am interested in working with Dominion Agra specifically? I am of course pitching to the other companies but only as second-options. I would love to work for this company. It is my goal. And the reason, Sir, is you. Someone who has risen through the ranks so quickly, who is so professional and capable of commanding so many people, you are someone I deeply admire and respect. I would be honoured to be sponsored by you." They were all lies of course. Oily filth to butter this man up but Anna figured she needed a sponsor, if she got more than one that was excellent. It wouldn't matter if she chose someone other than Dominion Agra if she had the option, by then it would be too late for Prestwick to say anything about her choosing a different corporation.

The day went on like that. Meeting and greeting the various heads of corporations. By the end of the day Anna was feeling rather confident. She had smooched and sucked up expertly to the heads, even managing to get a giggle out of Epicenter Manufacturing's Pandita Rumpfa. Anna had succeeded in getting informal offers from them, Dominion Agra and Wyndham Harks. She wasn't sure which one she'd choose but it would probably be the latter. She didn't like Prestwick and hated the idea of using prisoners as de facto slave labour as Rumpfa advocated. There were still others to visit though, they were heading there the day after next. Blackburn cornered her at the end of the day.
"Well?"
"I messed up. Like you said, so no worries" she lied. She averted her eyes, sure he saw past the deception. Once she was formally offered a place he could not touch her. He narrowed his eyes at her but let her leave.

The next day they had the day off to prepare for the next batch and many of the Plebes went into town. Anna did too, informing Blackburn via netsend as she had been ordered to do. Vik had invited her to join him and, feeling strangely flattered, Anna accepted. Of course that meant putting up with Lyla for a few hours, and Yuri and Wyatt swooning over each other, but it was a good day out. Besides, Tom Raines was there and it was one of the few times she could actually spend time with the guy.

They were so immature! Anna was nearly 23, Tom nearly seventeen and it really showed. He was like a little child, so infantile in his humour. It was fine, he was pretty funny and didn't take things too seriously, but he never seemed to take anything seriously. By the end of the afternoon Anna could not wait to leave and find some time for herself. She was desperate to spend some time away from people, surfing the web, as she hurriedly stalked down the corridor towards the computers. Suddenly the door to her left opened and Blackburn appeared. He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, fingers tearing at the front of her shirt as he pulled her into the small room. He banged the door shut as Anna stood, frozen, heart beating and terror flooding her. What was going on? "Are you insane? Did you not hear a word I said? Why?" He growled, releasing her, allowing her to stagger back against the wall in shock. "What are you talking about?"
"Dominion Agra. Epicenter Manufacturing, Whyndham Harks! Did you really think I wouldn't find out? You got offers!" Blood pounded in her head as she tried to think of a way out of the situation. She dared not move. He was like a predator. She was unsure what he would do.

"It's not my fault I'm so good they offered to sponsor me" she retorted. Then fear got the better of her and she darted towards the door. Blackburn reacted with surprising speed, grasping her shoulders, then her wrists and pressing her to the wall. "I told you to remain under the radar" he uttered, "you disobeyed me. Now I have to clean this up. As if I don't have enough to worry about." He paused. "You and Raines will be the death of me." Anna pushed him off her.
"Well I'm accepting. I won't spill your secrets but I won't be under your thumb forever James." She was very surprised when he let her go, expecting him to pull her back in. But he said nothing as she walked out of the door.

The next day Blackburn was not with them. They were at Milton Manor by Yosemite Valley. The view was stunning. Some of the corporations from the other day were represented there and it was rumoured that Vengerov himself would be present. It was pretty standard, schmoozing and pretending to be in awe of the sheer amount of supposed power in the room. Nothing too difficult. Anna felt radiant. She felt like she had some sort of superpower, knowing that she had been offered places with these people. After all, if she accepted, she would be untouchable by Blackburn. It gave her a perverse sense of pleasure knowing this as she strode round the room, shaking hands with exchanging pleasantries. Then it happened. "Look", Tom said, gesturing to the window. A Corday-93 was visible, hanging in the air. It was an unusual sight. It was a weaponised machine that could glide around and to have one near the party was pretty alarming. Two more appeared. A split-second later it fired, shooting laser bolts at the party-goers.

Anna and the other Plebes dived to the ground, hugging the floor. She scrambled for shelter behind a chair, eyes darting to the windows for escape. Men and women were running, their thousand dollar dresses and suits tearing as they scrambled for safety. And they were being cut down like dogs. Anna reached out and grabbed hold of one, Alana Lawrence from Epicenter Manufacturing. The lady's gown was sizzling diamonds, light blue sparkling stones glinting as she struggled, fully aware that her wealth could not save her. In fact, Anna thought wryly, it might be what condemned her. "Shut up and get down" she hissed at the panicking lady. The others were being picked off one by one as they ran to the doors but strangely, none of the Plebes seemed to have been harmed. The room was a mirage of confusion and chaos but Anna suspected the drones either were not after the Plebes, or it was something to do with the fact that many were hiding rather than running. She pressed the woman further to the ground, warning her to be still as Anna peeked her head round to see what was going on. There were dead bodies spilled like seeds, scattered on the floor. Screams were filling the room. She spotted Tom, Vik, Wyatt and Yuri hiding behind a piano. Then the lasers hit Hank Bloombury, the bald investment banker was dead before he hit the ground. Alana shrieked and dashed out from the relative safety of the chair, stumbling forward before Anna could stop her. She was killed just after Gordon Rivkin. Anna tried to make sense of the awful amount of death before her, but she couldn't. Her brain might have been superhuman, but it could not process all this, not right now.

She crawled to the window, wondering if there might be a way out that way. Then Sigurdur Vitol was killed. The drones smashed through the glass floor where he stood and sent the man tumbling to his death on the rocks. It was horrific. Anna scrabbled for the window but it was a sheer drop. There was no way to escape and nothing to cling to out there. She noticed Wyatt and the others trying to get one of the Praetorians to shoot. These were machines used to kill but were currently inactive and being used as coat racks. Wyatt triggered one manually, firing at the Corday and Anna's heart stopped in her mouth when a Corday pointed its laser at the girl. She was frozen and watched as it shot the Praetorian out of her hand and astonishingly, left her alone. It continued targeting executives. So they were immune it seemed. This was good. But Anna didn't trust whoever was controlling them not to hit them accidently if they started running around. Then a fair-haired, deathly pale man stepped out from the stairs. Joseph Vengerov. He appeared unflinching and uncaring as he cast his lazy eyes at the chaos surrounding him. The drones circled him but didn't shoot. "You can't kill me" he uttered. And they didn't kill him. He lashed out with incredible speed and disabled one of the shot down Cordays. Then they saw it. The writing burned into the wall.

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
IS TARGETTING
THE WATCHERS

Later they discovered that the Ghost had been hitting other important people too. Killing them, horribly. In India, microdrones dug into the skin of people, massacring them. The Spire was abuzz with speculation on who this could be, and why it was only Obsidian Corp's tech that was being hacked. Whoever the Ghost was, they were incredible at Programming. Anna didn't know. But she had her suspicions. Tom could clearly do something, he was very strange, but he didn't strike her as a killer. Besides, he was there when the attack had happened. Blackburn wasn't.