"All we know is that someone else was at the airport when Caim was working on the airplane, and he asked them to help fix the wiring.  The person obviously did them wrong, which was a fatal error that killed Caim once he had to test out his work," Dana reminds us.

"So that means the chances of Caim having made a mistake and accidentally blowing himself up are much, much lower," Evangeline agrees.

"But he was the Ultimate Steampunk Engineer!  He wouldn't have made a mistake like that in the first place, so there's no way it was an accident," Will points out.

"It's without a doubt that whoever did the wiring killed Caim," Iris says.  There's a steely edge to his voice, but at this point it doesn't faze me.

"Then the real question is why?" I chime in. "Why kill Caim of all people?"

I think about my own question for a minute.  Why Caim?  There's no way it's like the first case, where the culprit didn't know who they would be killing and just so happened to kill Tristan.  This had to have been intentional- Caim was the one working on the plane, and Caim was the one who asked for help.  So there had to have been a reason.

...make that two reasons, actually.  Two possible reasons.

"I actually think I can answer my own question," I say after I collect my thoughts. "There's two good reasons for why the culprit would've killed Caim.  The first is if they somehow knew that Caim was the traitor, or at least was fairly certain he was the traitor.  But that seems kind of risky, so the only other reason I see the culprit killing Caim would be if the roles were flipped..."

"...and the culprit is the traitor," Dana finishes.

"So if we find the culprit, we find the traitor, too," Will says.

"But the only evidence is the edited audio coverage," Mononity interjects, reminding everyone that he's still here.  However, he's not dangling from the ceiling this time, just simply tied up next to Monokumace's throne.

"If you're tryin' to say it's not fair, I knew that already," Monokumace snickers. "But hey, it wouldn't be fair for the traitor either if I left their voice in.  Their life's already on the line."

"And so are ours!" Will snaps. "All of us that are innocent might die if we don't figure this out!  The traitor clearly wants to wipe us out now that they're at risk of exposure, so they picked off Caim when given the opportunity and know that we have no way to figure it out!"

"So that's it, then?" Evangeline asks quietly. "There really isn't anything we can do?"

"No, there's one thing we can do," I object. "We have to talk it out and hope that something doesn't add up.  On that note, can everyone share their alibis and where they were all day today?"

"Sure thing," Dana answers.  She takes a second to map it out in her mind before starting. "I woke up bright and early to get to the kitchen in order to get cooking.  I was there when the morning announcement went off, and everyone came in to eat at different times.  Caim arrived around... I'd say around seven-thirty-ish, so I'd say that he hadn't gone to the airport yet.  He left pretty soon after, though, and then I didn't see him after that.  I kind of just hung out in the kitchen and hotel lobby the entire day until I heard the explosion and immediately knew something had happened."

"I think Caim must've gone to the airport between then and right before noon," I say. "He woke me up around eleven, and then he asked me to check on Iris.  After that, Iris and I saw him over on the fifth island collecting supplies for the airplane.  I think Caim might've gone to do some work and then realized he needed more materials.  I did see him heading over to the airport before I went to find Iris, but I don't know if there was enough time between that and the explosion for someone to have visited the airport, sabotaged the wires, and then gone and gotten an alibi only to rush right back without drawing suspicion.  So logically, the actual sabotaging should've been between seven-thirty and eleven o'clock."

"The poet's got a point!" Monokumace states. "The audio coverage I played for ya was from eight forty-five in the mornin'!"

"Oh, I was still sleeping.  I woke up around eleven, too," Will admits.

"Kind of convenient, isn't it?" Dana challenges.

"Hey, don't go throwing accusations just yet!" the videographer insists.

Dana gives him a smirk. "Just reminding you of what you did last time."

I almost chuckle out loud.  I make eye contact with the barista, who flashes me a wink.  She's got my back this time.  But simultaneously, a part of me wonders if she's trying to pull something.  She's not the traitor, right?

"What I don't understand is why anyone would choose to go along with such a horrible game!" Evangeline says with a frown. "I'm sorry, but something like this just isn't justified.  I could understand the other motives, but just not this one.  Would some really let a group of students suffer like this, even after pretending to be their friend?"

"Well, like I said, the traitor is a spy for the foundation who trapped ya here," Monokumace muses. "Spies are typically pretty good at their jobs, believe it or not."

"Clearly this one is," Will grumbles. "We don't know anything.  Maybe traitor wanted this to happen all along, and has been playing us the whole time just so we ended up here."

"Maybe the traitor just really hates Ultimates and is acting as a spy to enact revenge?" Dana suggests. "I dunno."

"Maybe the traitor likes chaos and mayhem," I jump in. 

"Maybe we'll just never understand why," Evangeline points out.

"Or maybe the traitor can't come forward because that's not how he was made."

The room falls silent.  My heart stops.  

"What?" I whisper.

We all turn to look as the voice speaks up again.

"I said..."

My heart drops to my stomach.

"W-what are you saying?  You're not making sense," Will stammers.

Zeben sighs. "I know it doesn't.  But after I... after I realized what happened... after I learned what I'd done..."

"So you're the traitor?" I ask weakly.

Zeben nods and responds, "Yes, Azrael.  You've guessed correctly.  I'm the traitor."

"Tell us what happened," Iris says insistently.  He narrows his eyes as he leans forward on his podium.

"Sure.  Okay." Zeben takes a deep breath. "I was taking a walk around the island and figured I'd stop to say hi to Caim.  He asked me to help with the wires, and so I took a look at the panel.  Easy enough, they were all color-coded.  Except, I must've put one in the wrong spot.  I had no idea that I'd caused the explosion until Monokumace played the audio..."

"Speaking of," Monokumace jumps in.  They pull out a remote and press a button.  Immediately, the audio begins to play again, but something's different.

"Oh, hey!  Could you help me out for a second?  I can't really let go of this, otherwise I'll have to completely reposition it again!" Caim.  But instead of the audio cutting to the next clip...

"Sure thing!  What do you need me to do?" Zeben's voice.  

"I just need you to re-connect the wires in the open panel on the side of the plane.  Easy as that!  It'll save me some time."

"Yeah, no problem!"

Then, the audio cuts out.

"That's all ya need to hear," Monokumace says.

Zeben is looking down at the ground, his expression distraught now that he's had to re-hear the last conversation that he had with Caim before the explosion.

"That was me," he confirms. 

I think back to what he said earlier. "Wait, Zeben, what did you mean earlier by the traitor not being able to come forward because 'his programming doesn't allow him to do it'?"

"Well, it's because-" before the hydroponics specialist can say anything else, Mononity's shrill voice cuts through the air.

"Are you really going to believe this?  He's completely out of his mind!  He's just- just... coming up with an excuse because he's covering for... the real traitor!" he practically shrieks. "He's just a little... y'know... in the head."

"Mononity... are you... covering for Zeben?" I realize.

"No!  I'm... I'm protecting all of you from the real traitor!" Mononity denies.

It hits me all of a sudden. "...are you with the Future Foundation too?"

The teacher nods eagerly. "Yes!  Yes, I'm the traitor!  Yes!  The Future Foundation sent me and only me!"

I wish I could believe it.  I really wish I could.  But I don't.

"Moranity, there's no need to cover for me," Zeben tells him. "They can know.  It doesn't matter now."

"Know what?" Will demands, his tight grip on his podium visibly trembling.  

Zeben exhales sharply. "...I'm not... I'm not real.  I'm an AI, programmed to act as a spy for the Future Foundation.  But I need you guys to understand that while the Future Foundation trapped you here, they are not responsible for the killing game.  I was created to monitor and ensure everything was going smoothly."

"Actually, I was created to do the exact same thing!" Mononity yelps. "That's why I'm the teacher!"

"Moranity," Zeben pleads. "They know.  It's over."

"So then... if you're not Zeben... then he was just made up?" Will asks slowly.

Zeben gives a sad smile. "...Zeben Goldberg died a long time ago."

"I still don't get it," Dana says. "You look and sound completely human.  There's no way you're an AI."

"You'd be surprised by technology these days," Zeben shrugs.

"Maybe if you kiddos kept your heads outta your phones more, you'd be more aware of it," Monokumace cackles.

"So now that we're all on the same page, let's end this-" Zeben is yet again cut off by Mononity, who suddenly slips out of his ropes and jumps up onto the podium next to the hydroponics specialist.

"No!  Zeben isn't the guilty one!" Mononity shouts. "I am!"

"You're not guilty, Mononity," Dana reminds him.

He shakes his head. "But I am!  Who do you think tried to kill Iris?"

Everything goes quiet again.

Iris's eyes widen, taking on that unsettling glint again as he hisses through gritted teeth, "You... what?"

Mononity nods. "I did!  I did.  And I can tell you the entire story.  Nobody figured out what exactly happened, right?  Well, I found a hole in the wall of the barn while trying to reorganize the hay for the baby cow to sleep on.  That was my way out.  I knew that after the third trial, Iris was dangerous, and could be a threat to the rest of the class.  I had to keep as many people safe as possible.  Once I made it to the cottage, I crept in through the window because Iris's chair faced away from it, then took his flute and hit him over the head with it to knock him out.  I then untied him and stabbed him as hard as I could in the chest with the flute.  After that, I knew I had to hide the body somewhere until I could properly get rid of it, so I flew him up to the ceiling beam and then tried him up.  But I don't have fingers, so I couldn't make it really tight.  I left him like that and hurried back to the barn.  I would've hidden his body somewhere or dumped it in the ocean if he'd remained undiscovered, and everyone would've thought he just escaped and ran away."

"Trying to distract from the trial with your own confession, aren't you?" Monokumace snaps. "I applaud you for finding that convenient hole I'd left for ya- I mean, the teacher being the blackened?  Now that would've been interesting.  But I'm sure you didn't wanna get away with it, if protectin' the kids is what you were doing."

"It's true," Mononity agrees. "And so I'm the guilty one here.  Don't make the wrong decision, kids."

"I think you forgot about one teensy-weensy thing," the headmaster tells him. 

"...what would that be?" asks the teacher.

"...the students wouldn't be able to vote you.  There's no option for you during the vote.  So you would've gotten 'em all killed.  Isn't that funny?"

Mononity's face falls immediately, and he turns to look at Monokumace. "...what?"

Monokumace roars with laughter. "I bet you're so glad your plan failed now, aren'tcha?"

"Can we get back to the important part of this?" Zeben interrupts. "I think we should vote now."

"Zeeb..." Will starts, but he stops himself as he slowly reaches into his camera bag and pulls out his digital handbook.

Zeben looks at him with sorrowful eyes, then shakes it off and pulls out his own digital handbook to cast a vote.

Monokumace's unyielding grin widens after everyone puts away their handbooks. "You are all spot-on!  The blackened for this case was indeed Zeben Goldberg!  ...Or at least his doppelganger."

"Thank you guys," Zeben says, his shoulders slumping with relief as he looks at each of us.

I don't know what to say at this point.  This entire trial has been screwing with my brain and flipping it inside-out.

Will looks like he wants to say something, but the words catch in his throat, and he just stares unblinking at Zeben, who notices and bows his head.

"I'm sorry for lying," he apologizes. "But I promise you all, I never meant any harm.  The real Zeben... god, I'm so glad I got to be him, even if only temporarily.  I was programmed with his best traits, you know.  And the biggest of all... it was his selflessness.  Meaning even if I wanted to win this, I couldn't let you guys lose.  So, you won't.  Don't let any of this get you guys down, okay?  Keep going.  Keep holding on to your hope, because I promise you guys that things will be okay so long as you stick together.  Can you guys do that?"

I swallow the lump in my throat, then nod.

"Okay," I say.

"We'll do it," Dana agrees, giving a sharp, determined nod that can't hide her glimmering eyes.

"Oh, boo-hoo!  Enough with the sweet moment, let's get a move-on!" Monokumace stands up on their throne, then looks over at Mononity. "And you!  Don't you remember the first rule?  Extreme violence is strictly prohibited.  Meaning you won't be let off the hook, either!  I'm sure our Ultimate Hydroponics Specialist won't mind sharing!"

Mononity doesn't respond, just jumps off the podium to stand next to Zeben.  Zeben grabs his hand and squeezes it tightly.

Monokumace's eyes flash dangerously. "Looks like you're both ready!  And you better be, because.... IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"

***

(2430 words)

*cutely starts crying*