"Hmm if more people were walking around the place that would mean Betsy and Aviary weren't our only suspects," Bob said. "And if there was someone else in the tent… I'll need to do a proper investigation. If anyone has new information please come to me."

The crowd looks at one another with suspicion and frightened eyes. Mira had deduced multiple people in the crowd. Some of their expressions said a lot and others were simply unbothered by the news. Mira had a feeling that she had to figure out who was the murderer before Bob did. She had to gather her evidence to prove them all.

The training drill was canceled leaving some of the soldiers to cook in their thoughts. No one went to Bob to turn in information about the murder. This made Mira question who was Bob in reality, her answer could only be found in one of the soldiers. The only person she talked to in the army was Jason, her partner in the competition. Jason wasn't the type to give up information that would give someone else the glory. Mira would promise Jason a huge portion of the credit to just give her a piece of information.

Her plan was interrupted when she saw Betsy talking to him about the murder. Jason was angry, screaming about how he was going to kill Bob tonight for taking credit for the murder. Betsy was there with him trying to comfort him, but his grudge against Bob seemed to be rooted for a long time. 

“Bob is such an idiot. I used to work with him in the police department as a detective. He would always take credit for all my work. Believe me, if anyone’s a narcissist it’s him, he’s greedier than a pig.” Jason complained. “Trust me when I tell you this kid, you’re fingerprints were most likely planted there on purpose. Bob can’t see if something is fake even if it’s written in his face. He doesn’t even know his right from his left hand!”

“I just wanted to give you some tips for the race,” Betsy said

“You think I’m stupid? I know Rats are crawling around here waiting for our downfall.” Jason said. “It’s just a matter of time.”

“Uh… I won’t let that happen.” Betsy responded half-heartedly. 

“Rats are worse than snakes just remember that kiddo,” Jason said while walking away. “I knew Rats were in here the moment they disguised themselves as Mira and Royse and tried to kill you!”

Betsy stood there amazed at what Jason just said. Betsy had many questions but hated confrontations so she kept her mouth shut. The information he gave Betsy was important for the investigation. She felt like he would turn on her for asking stupid questions until Mira appeared from behind her.

“Disguised?” Mira asked. “How can grown-ups disguise themselves as kids.”

“Hmm… How long have you been there you noisy virus.” Jason asked irritated, by seeing Mira.

“You seemed comfortable talking to Betsy, but not me?” Mira asked trying to make him nervous. “Are you not scared of her?”

“Of course not especially not a kid,” Jason responded.

“Kid not Virus?”

“Do we have a problem?” Jason asked. “Are trying to say something?”

Jason seemed irritated by Mira's remarks trying to accuse him of the murder. There was something that Jason said that no one else knew about. The Rats are a special force in New York that is supposed to be discreet and difficult to find. At least one Rat is placed in every army before going inside a Barrier. They use high tech that is ahead of the current technology. Mira doesn’t know much about the Rats, but she specifically remembered Aviary mentioning The Rats as a single term while Jason referred to them as multiple in the army. 

Betsy stood back to watch the show Mira was doing something she could never do. She looked up to Mira for this wanting to be as brave as her and talk whenever she wanted to. Standing up against her family was the bravest thing Betsy did and doesn’t like the result of it. She’s now stuck in an army that is afraid of her and could turn against her at any second. A small thing can trigger them and it would be the last straw.

“I heard Rats are pretty comfortable sitting in armies that go through Barriers. Which then makes them pretty brave in the face of a monster.” Mira said. “If Rats observe to see if an army does its job then how did Captain Aviary survive? She’s a virus herself and yet the army hasn’t exterminated her.

“How am I supposed to know?” Jason asked

“The Army didn’t kill Aviary the first time so they plan on doing it now, by manipulating them,” Mira said. “Like you said there’s more than one Rat in here seeing if they do the job. Not even the Rats know who are the Rats. They don’t know their allies.

“What are you talking about everyone knows who the Rat is and it’s Bob.” Jason rebottled. “You saw the technology he had it’s out of this world.”

Mira was blaming Jason for being one of the Rat while Jason was accusing Bob. Mira knew well that Bob’s technology wasn’t all that great compared to the things the farmer collects daily from them. The Repeating forest at times is littered with dead bodies from the armies that enter through the Barrier. Milles kills the army takes everything including the Rat's possessions then gives them to the farmer. Mira has seen the League's technology from the farm and Bob was nowhere close to it. 

You could easily tell the difference between the army's weapons from an advanced Rats’ weapon. 

“Jason just give it up already… you’re one of the Rats trying to kill the army.” Mira protested in anger.

“No, I’m not! What are you talking about?”

The commotion attracted some bystanders who started to hear the whole thing. If the soldiers weren’t in a panic now, hearing about the Rats in the army was surely going to take a toll on them. This is exactly what the Rats would want panic-stricken soldiers who make irrational decisions driven by fear. Not noticing the bystanders hearing their every word Mira continued to yell at Jason who stood there astonished by the accusations being thrown at him. Mira was sure that Jason was a Rat, he also confirmed that there were more in hiding. She had to find all of them as quickly as possible before they suffered from another attack on the plant.

Mira didn’t have any physical evidence to blame him and no motive. She has no idea how the person died or when. She had nothing to go off on except for Jason’s words. He stated he worked as a detective, which means he would know how to make fake fingerprints. Another reason why it would be Jason happened on the first night. When someone tried to murder Betsy. No one knew about that except for four people. Aviary, Betsy, Royse, and finally Mira would have no reason to leak that information to the soldiers. 

The only reason why a troop would know this information is if they were the perpetrator. Mira was sure this theory could easily be debunked by Jason, but she would at least give it a try.

“You mentioned earlier that someone attempted to murder Betsyon the first night here. How could you possibly know that if no one saw?” Mira asked trying to corner into a wall.

“I’m a detective remember I simply took a look at her tent and it was torn to shreds with holes that only a Rat’s artillery could make that mess without even a peep,” Jason explained. “I can tell all the Rats want is Betsy dead that is why they murdered some of her today.” 

Mira was stuck. She knew there had to be something, anything that could blame Jason. There it was again just like in the farm. Mira was working on two puzzles, both of which were equally important for her to complete to move on to the next phase of her plans. She was solving a puzzle that was more important than her own life and that came with a price.