As it turns out, the check-up of the governmental institutions was not a big endeavour at all. I think the main goal of these rounds by the Alpha's office is just to show the generals, professors and bosses that the Alpha is interested in what happens in each of these places, and is still keeping an eye on what they are doing with their government funding.

All I had to do was ask for a tour around the premises, meet with a few employees I could pick at random, obtain the personal information of the new recruits for the database back at the Alpha's office, and talk about whether they had any problems with their budget, security or other things. Of course most of these things are already known at Headquarters, as all government institutions are meticulously kept in order by the Alpha's personnel. Still, a personal visit from a person high up on the food chain – and being part of the Alpha's office, even as a junior personal assistant made me very important, apparently – usually helped with keeping everyone in check, and improved morale among employees.

Funny is that I turned out to be quite good at doing this job. I had received a tablet to make notes on during the tour, and after comparing them with what we already knew of each institution, I figured I had managed to pry some information that had previously been unknown at Headquarters.

After I had made the first visit, Betty called me, congratulating me with how well I had done, within a short time frame as well. She made sure to tell me how proud she was, which made me feel over the moon.

Unfortunately, the pride and congratulations were nothing but knives in my heart, knowing I was about to betray them. But I couldn't let Vir lose his job because of him being mated to me. I simply couldn't do that to him, so I had to make sure that Mr. Montgomery knew that I had done whatever I could.

I snuck into a small alley between two buildings. It was dark, and nearing the dead end there were a few empty carton boxes and a large waste container. A stray cat had made herself at home in one of the boxes, hidden away from the busy streets.

I kneeled a few metres away from the boxes in order not to startle the cat, who undoubtedly had very sharp claws, and I wasn't looking forward to encounter them on my skin. With my hands on my head, I pulled on my hair hard, trying to relieve some of the stress.

It worked, a bit, but not nearly enough to lift the weight from my conscience. Turning my back on the open side of the street, I put as much of my fist in my mouth as I could, and screamed loudly. Most of the noise was dampened by my own hand, but the cat still fled the alley as quick as it could. Tears welled up in the corner of my eye, but I refused to let them fall.

I couldn't do this. Sending a train full of untested high-tech weapons to a pack with ill intentions without expecting war was like sending your enemy a nuclear bomb and just hoping that they would not do anything with it.

I mean, there is a possibility that it has no consequences, but that chance is really, very, very small. There was just no way I could do this. I had to figure out a way that I could comply with Ambassador Montgomery, while not betraying Sapientiae, Betty and Vir.

I had less than an hour to figure it out.

***

I was going to improvise, because I had no idea how I was ever going to do this and get away with it, while not destroying everything I had ever loved.

I took drama class in school, so I should be fine right?

Well, maybe if I had actually bothered to show up some of the time, because I didn't, so now I was fucked. Who would have thought?

After pathetically sitting on my knees in an abandoned alley with some trash for twenty minutes, I gave up on devising a plan, and decided to just go for it. There was no way this wasn't all going to go to hell anyway, so I might as well roll with it.

I stood up, dusted the dirt off my clothes, wiped away the tears from my eyes, and walked back on the street with feigned confidence.

The building on Newton Road was small, very unimpressive. I would have walked past it easily had I not known that this was the place I needed to be. It was coloured a boring grey, seemingly made out of concrete completely, with a few windows here and there. Through the windows you could see offices with people bored out of their minds with their pointless, repeating jobs. It was as if they had done everything in the book to make sure that no one would think this building had the information to something interesting, whatsoever. There was no flashy sign or big letters on the forefront, indicating which company, institute or department was working here. There was nothing more than a small iron plate hung up on the wall next to a doorbell and an intercom.

Building VP28, it said.

Nothing more, nothing less.

I rang the bell, and then just waited until I could hear the voice of man through the intercom. He talked slowly, monotonously, and the intercom made him sound almost robotic, metallic. "Welcome to building VP28, who is this?"

Looking at the matte glass sliding doors in front of me with confidence, I replied with a strong voice. "My name is Livia Devoe, I am the junior personal assistant of the Alpha's Office. I am here to do a routine investigation and check-up on your security, budget and new personnel. My visit should have been announced beforehand." I was glad to sound sure of myself, because I was surely starting to feel the nerves now. I had neatly tucked my hair into a high ponytail to make myself look more professional, and I had even changed into a tight, dark blue pencil skirt with a white blouse.

I know, I did everything I said I would never do again when I came back to Sapientiae from Fortis two weeks ago.

It was for a good cause today.

Well, I couldn't call it good, but I hoped I wasn't going to make a very big mess today. I had sort of good intentions, right? I still hadn't figured out how the hell I was not going to betray my mate, but I was at least planning on not doing it, so that would need to count as a good cause.

I waited for at least a full minute in full silence. "You are not scheduled for today, Miss DeVoe," the metallic voice eventually said through the intercom.

This was to be expected, but I had gotten good at improvising on the spot due to all the times Allison and I got in trouble for skipping class in high school, so I didn't hesitate to respond quickly.

"The Alpha's office has decided to visit certain companies and institutes ahead of schedule to ensure that no one is given any time to prepare for my visit." I tapped my foot on the floor impatiently. "Now, I don't have all day. You can scan my wrist-chip to confirm my identity and then refer me to one of the employees from the cleaning crew to give me a full tour of the building. Or do you want me to pass on to the higher-ups in Headquarters that you do not cooperate? I'm sure that that will result in you losing your job, is that what you wish for?"

"Of course not, Miss, please hold for a minute."

I almost smiled triumphantly before I remembered that I was probably being recorded and I couldn't let them see through my façade.

Eventually, the matte glass sliding doors opened up without a single sound, showing a grim area with another pair of sliding doors. "Please come in, Miss DeVoe, and scan your wrist on the pole."

While walking to the grey pole with a familiar scanning device, the first pair of glass doors slid to a close behind me. Holding out my wrist in front of the scanner, I already put a mask of indifference and impatience on my face. Within a few seconds, a green light started blinking, accompanied with a three high beeps. The doors in front of me opened just as quietly as the previous ones. I walked forward, making sure to look confident and, well, pretty much like Willow always does. Like I can murder you with just a look.

Behind the door was a short, bald man – probably the one who just let me in – with a mousy face. He stood in an overall very boring foyer, right next to a simple looking desk overlooking the room. "My apologies, miss DeVoe, for the inconvenience just now. I welcome you with the utmost respect to the building. If there is anything you need – can I offer you a coffee? Tea? Do you wish to sit?" He rambled nervously, obviously eager to please me now that he had confirmed I was indeed employed by Headquarters.

I nodded, but did not comment on his grovelling. "I would like to talk to the cleaning crew, and have them handle the tour around the entire building," I said in a no-nonsense tone.

"I can lead around myself, Miss, that is no problem." The mousy man pointed to the elevator doors with a welcoming gesture, and almost started walking, before I interrupted him.

"No, Mr...?" I looked at him questioningly.

"Greengrass! My name is Greengrass, miss." He offered me his hand to shake, but I simply looked at him with distaste and ran my tongue over my teeth.

"No, Mr Greengrass," I repeated. "I need you to collect all the files of your current employees, including their background, education, current function and responsibilities. I also wish to see a full written report on previous problems regarding security, privacy and any other issues you might have had in the past six months, even those as small as a broken coffee machine. Order the problems by their seriousness, and have the signatures of all your personnel involved in the issue. I expect you to hand it over to me by the time I leave the building, is that clear?"

"But Miss, we didn't know you would visit us today! This document is nowhere near ready yet."

I gave him a deadly look. "Then get. To. It. Delegate if needed."

"Of course Miss, of course. No problem. Consider it done. Anything for Headquarters."

I hate to be doing this to a man who just looks like he wants to properly do his job, but considering he is the one sitting near the entrance of the building, it is likely that he is at least partially responsible for checking the security cameras. If I'm going to be snooping around the building, doing things I'm not supposed to do, I do not like to be watched while I do it. If he is busy finishing up this extensive document, there is no way he has time to check the security feed.

I nod in appreciation. "Good. Now, where can I find the cleaning crew that will give me the tour?"