"Is he alright?" I ask frantically, "Is he going to be ok?"

The doctor looks at me impatiently. "He was hurt pretty badly in the blast, but he's going to be alright. He woke up a few minutes ago."

I breath a huge sigh of relief. Athrun's alright! "Could I go see him? Please. Could I go in?"

The doctor frowns. "No, you cannot. You shouldn't even be here. Go away now, please."

I'm about to ague, but then the door of the infirmary opens and to my shock I see Commander Rau Le Creuset come out. What is he doing here?

"Ah, Nicol. Fancy seeing you here." Le Creuset seems glad to see me, for some reason. "Come with me, Nicol. I need to have a word with you."

Huh? Me?

Two armed soldiers appear out of nowhere and stand by the Commander's side. They are holding guns, and look as if they're not afraid to use them.

Le Creuset sees me looking at them. "Oh, don't worry. They won't shoot unless they have to."

Unless they have to? That doesn't sound very encouraging.

I am marched down the corridor and into a disused office. The room is windowless and feels grim and restricting. I take a shaky breath as I enter.

"Now," Le Creuset sits down behind the desk and regards me with a disconcerting gaze. It's never easy to feel comfortable when you can't see someone's face, but they can see yours. Why does he wear that mask anyway? And why are all those guns trained on me? What did I do? I shift uncomfortably. "I'm going to get straight to the point. Don't try to run, or you'll be shot down immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

I gulp. "Yes, commander." I still have no idea what's going on, but I think that, given the current circumstances, it's a good idea to keep my mouth shut.

Le Creuset leans forward towards me. "Nicol Amalfi," his voice is barely more than a whisper, but it's filled with venom. "Where were you, today at precisely 12.29pm? What were you doing, who were you with."

"I…" I struggle to remember. "I was in the presentation hall, playing the piano."

"Were you alone?"

"I…Yes, I was alone." I can't wait any longer. "Please, commander! Tell me what's going on here."

Le Creuset stands up. "You know, you're really good at pretending. If I didn't know better I would actually think you were innocent."

What is he on about?

Le Creuset starts pacing around the room. "The explosion at the shooting range was caused by a planted bomb. Someone was attempting to create a diversion. The purpose of the diversion was so that they could hack into the academy's system and leak ZAFT's latest military plans to the earth forces."

Why would anyone want to do such a thing? "Do you have any idea of who it was, commander?"

Le Creuset stops his pacing and looks directly at me. "Drop the act, already! I know it was you who did it."

What?!

I feel sick and dizzy, as if I'm going to faint. Le Creuset keeps on talking. "The computer logs show that you used your access card to enter the pyro-lab just before some explosives were discovered to be missing. And, that's not all. It also showed that you went into the operations room, soon after the bomb went off at the shooting range."

"What about the security footage?" I ask desperately, "Have you looked at those?"

"Of course we tried, but the cameras were conveniently destroyed. Anyway, we don't need to see them. All the evidence points to you. You were discovered to have used your ID card to enter the pyro-lab, and the operations room. Plus, you can't even come up with an alibi."

Was the air always so hot in here? It's so stuffy; I can't seem to be able to catch my breath. "I'm telling you, I was playing the piano at the time of the attack. When I heard the explosion, I went to investigate, and all I saw was the destroyed shooting range."

"Yet you can't seem to name a single person who might have seen you when you were allegedly playing the piano." There is a tinge of sarcasm in Le Creuset's voice.

"Most of the others were in the cafeteria. The attack occurred during lunch time."

"And why weren't you in the cafeteria?"

Black spots dance in my field of vision. "I…I wasn't hungry." It doesn't sound like a very believable excuse, but it's the truth. How can this be happening to me? What did I get myself into?

"You know," Le Creuset looks straight at me. His face is blurred. I blink, desperately trying to focus. "I was going to select you for my team. You had the ability and the potential. You're incredibly smart and you programming skills are quite exceptional. Although, that's probably how you were able to pull this off. I must say that I'm disappointed in you, Nicol. I never would have though that you would work for the earth forces and betray us all."

I grab onto the edge of desk, trying to steady myself, but the room keeps on spinning. I can't breathe. I need air. I…

"I didn't do any of this, I swear!" I choke out. My final plea sounds weak and hopeless, even to my own ears.

The last thing I hear is Le Creuset saying, "I thought you were better than this, Nicol," before the ground comes up to meet me and everything goes black.