"Let's bring in our lovely lady and have her tell us if this agent is telling the truth," Duke sneered.
The soldiers stepped out to get the lady who had an ability to detect telling the truth. Meanwhile, Lana was doing breathing exercises quietly. General Mike stayed to watch the interrogation. Upsetting the Green Family was not on his to-do list and he never wanted it to be. In the absence of General Paul, General Mike was in charge though Duke was still in charge of second-years and Nathan was in charge of first years.
The woman came in and took a seat.
"Now, sit in front of her and take her hand."
Lana did as she was told.
"Are you Lana Plantwell?"
"Yes."
"Are you 18?"
"No.
"Are you an agent of Pure?"
"No."
"Does that bag contain secrets from Pure?"
"No."
"Does that bag contain secrets from the Green Family?"
"Yes."
"She's telling the truth, generals."
Duke slammed his fist on the table. "She's been coached by Pure to get around this ability!"
"Your evidence, Duke?" Mike asked.
"She hacked into the system and deleted videos." Duke stated.
Lana raised an eyebrow at him like he was crazy.
"Your evidence it was her and that the system was hacked to begin with?"
"I don't have it yet. I want her held in the dungeon while I search her room for evidence."
"You need probable cause."
"She sent two of my people to the hospital yesterday."
Still holding the lady's hand, "You mean the one who openly told me he was going to rape me and torture me? And his friend who likes to go invisible and watch?"
"She's telling the truth."
"Do I not have a right to protect myself? Is that not the reason you give the public for condoning bullying in this establishment? It makes people stronger. Do I have the right to defend myself, General Mike?"
"Yes, my dear. You do." To Duke, "I want this boy brought to me by the end of the day. I'm still waiting for probable cause."
"She has an unexplainable amount of money."
Lana laughed. "Clearly you have not seen my contract with the Green Family. They have been overly generous."
"She's telling the truth."
"She has inside information on where several rapes have taken place. She's working with a boy."
She laughed so hard she was unable to control herself. The man who made her full of fear was now reduced to a ridiculous lunatic. A strong one but lunatic none-the-less.
Once she regained her composure, she looked Duke dead in the eyes with nothing but hatred, "I would NEVER work with anyone who performed or supported violent sexual acts."
"Uh, yeah. True."
"General Mike, what would the Green Family do to someone who threw innocent people in the dungeon?" Lana asked an important question.
General Mike looked at her then stared at Duke, "they would cease funding on all our projects. No more equipment, weapons of war, funding of expeditions to get high-value beast crystals. In short" he looked back at her, "it would bring the military to its knees."
Lana nodded, "What is this "VIP" student thing you mentioned? This is the first I heard of it."
"Well, the family donates money to upgrade you to VIP quarters, and you have more leeway in what you can do."
Lana nodded. "I'm happy with my normal quarters but I do have an issue. I was supposed to test the equipment in this bag while on that last portal outing and …you know how that turned out. I need to be able to stay out overnight for at least a week, preferably longer with my whole team. We can do it after we get back from the tournament but I can't fully assess it unless I do it this way. We'll still attend classes, all of that. It would just make this thing our temporary dorm room."
"Are you asking me to allow boys and girls to sleep in the same …tent?"
"Oh, this thing is WAY cooler than a tent and yes. I have a job to complete and I won't get paid unless it's done.
"She's telling the truth."
"I'd like to see it before agreeing to such a thing."
"You'll need to sign a contract with the Green Family but you'd have until we got back from the tournament. Honestly, I don't know why they would deny you looking at it but I cannot allow you to without their permission. Since you have talked to them, I'm sure they will allow you to sign papers. Just understand if changes are made, the time we need to stay in it would get longer. I already had to have changes made after being in it for two hours. The Green Family takes safety seriously."
"She's telling the truth."
Duke was fuming. "She's tricking the test just like Peter Chuck did!"
"How did you get to be General? Does this military not value intelligence? General Mike, I would like to thank you for this valuable lesson. Clearly the military is not an organization for those who want to have morals, scruples, or standards. Unit cohesion is simply impossible in this environment and trusting in leadership," she looked at Duke with disgust, "is simply impossible. General Duke, I don't know what those terrorists did to you but I promise they are not hiding behind every blade of grass. I think you need counseling more than I do."
She looked at Mike, "General Mike, may I return to the dorms now? If so, I'd like an escort. I don't trust everyone in this room."
"Everything she said was true."
Lana stood up and went to General Mike's side. She looked at Duke and thought his head was going to explode. She couldn't believe she had the strength to talk to a general that way. She was now afraid he would get revenge despite the threat of what the Green Family would do. He'd find a scape goat.
And that he did.