Eventually, the train arrived. Hannah and Edward got in as soon as the doors slid open. Once the capsule was sealed, it followed the tracks and left Fluvaria. Hannah watched as they passed through rolling green hills and small towns. She envisioned herself as a journalist, reporting on the fine weather and lush landscape. But alas, that was not what she was coming here for.

After thirty minutes, the train arrived in Vyantel. Hannah and Edward were the only people who left the train. Everyone else remained seated as it drove off to other places. As soon as they left the train station, they noticed something odd. “Where are the houses?” asked Edward as he gazed upon the empty green fields. “I don’t know, but they should be around here somewhere,” replied Hannah. “Let’s follow that road,” she added. For the next twenty minutes, Hannah and Edward followed the well-paved road. There were no cars on it, so they felt safe to occasionally walk on it.

Just when they thought the moment would never come, they finally reached the suburbs. The houses of Vyantel looked nothing like the ones in Fluvaria; they were basically mansions. Decorative hedges barricaded the properties and expensive cars could be seen resting in every driveway. The sight was fascinating but also nerve-racking like they shouldn’t be there. “One, three, five, seven,” counted Edward, as he walked past the mansions. Eventually, they reached 17 Vyantel Street. It was a beautiful white brick mansion with an elaborate flight of entrance stairs, surrounded by freshly mowed lawns and a series of hedges shaped like people. Hannah and Edward walked towards it with a slight feeling of uneasiness. Once they got to the door, Hannah knocked and hoped for the best. Three seconds later, someone opened the door. It wasn’t Lucintae, but rather someone who appeared to be her butler. He was a well- groomed old man in an expensive black suit.

“Hi, is Lucintae here?” asked Hannah nervously. “Yes, she is. Why do you want to see her?” asked the butler. “There was a fire alarm at the Ball of Honour. It turned out to be a false alarm, but during it, someone hacked into a computer and stole files,” explained Hannah. “We don’t know who did it, so we’re looking into all of the ball attendees. We just want to ask her some questions and gather information,” she added. The butler was confused by some aspects of the story, but he was willing to let Hannah and Edward inside. “Very well, you can come in. Follow me,” replied the butler.

They stepped into the house and followed the butler down the lavish hallway. Lucintae’s house was truly a sight to behold. Narrow red carpets draped over the stairs, expensive paintings greeted visitors, and several chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Upon arriving at the third floor, the butler approached a door and knocked on it. “Lucintae, you have visitors,” called the butler. “Unless it’s the people with that bag I ordered, I don’t care,” scoffed Lucintae from the other room. “It’s two teenagers. They want to ask you questions about the Ball of Honour,” explained the butler. “Fine, but make it quick,” replied Lucintae. The butler opened the door and allowed Hannah and Edward to enter the room. When they got inside, Lucintae was sitting on an antique wooden chair. She was also sipping on a glass of red wine while drowning in her fur coat.

“Oh dear, where did you get that dress from?” asked Lucintae, after she acknowledged Hannah’s presence. “I can’t remember. It’s probably just from HighQ LowC,” answered Hannah. “Oh, you poor thing. If only you had a little bit of money, then maybe you could buy some nice clothes,” replied Lucintae. Hannah was taken aback by Lucintae’s comments, but she remained silent. “Don’t listen to her, your outfit looks nice,” Edward reassured her. “Thanks,” replied Hannah. “Like you’d know anything about fashion, you look just as wild as her,” scoffed Lucintae. “Can you stop insulting us and let us talk?” requested Edward. “Sure, let’s get it over with. What do you want to talk about?” replied Lucintae. Hannah and Edward occupied two empty chairs and began the conversation.

“You know how the fire alarm went off at the Ball of Honour and everyone thought there was a fire?” asked Hannah. “Well, there wasn’t a fire. The alarm was set off by a mysterious hacker to distract the security guards so the hacker could steal some files,” she explained. “Who is this hacker?” asked Lucintae. “We don’t know, that’s why we came here,” explained Hannah. “There’s nothing to worry about, we just want to ask you some questions,” she added. “Where were you when the fire alarm went off?” asked Hannah. “I was taking the stairs down to the first floor so I could get out of that building,” answered Lucintae. “Better to take those than risk being stuck in a mechanical box,” she added. “Wait, how do you know the elevator broke down?” asked Edward. “What?” replied Lucintae with genuine confusion. “Never mind. Before the alarm happened, were you on the fourth floor?” asked Edward. “The party was on the fifth floor. Why would I ever be on the floor below?” replied Lucintae. “We’re just asking because all of the drama happened on the fourth floor,” explained Hannah. “Are you done?” asked Lucintae. “Almost, we just have one more question to ask,” replied Hannah.

Lucintae sipped on her wine once more. When she looked into the glass, she noticed it was empty. At that moment, she grabbed a small bell out of her pocket and rang it. “RAYMOND, I NEED SOME MORE WINE!” called Lucintae. Two minutes later, the butler from before entered the room and refilled Lucintae’s glass. “Thank you, that’s plenty,” said Lucintae once her glass was full. “Is everything going well here?” asked Raymond. “Yeah, we’re doing fine,” replied Hannah. “No we’re not, these peasants think I’m a hacker,” claimed Lucintae. “What are you talking about?” asked Raymond. “We’re asking her questions, because there was an incident at the Ball of Honour, and we don’t know who was behind it. We believed she could be a potential suspect,” explained Edward. “Don’t tell them that,” protested Hannah. “She hasn’t respected us, why should we respect her?” replied Edward. Hannah shrugged her shoulders. The counter-argument was good enough for her.

“Wait, what do you mean you thought she was a suspect?” asked Raymond. “Hackers steal private information for money. Look at this house and all of the stuff in it. Where do you think she got the money to buy all this?” explained Edward. “She inherited all of that money,” replied Raymond. “Her parents were both CEOs of Fluvaria’s bank,” he explained. “So, she’s not the hacker?” asked Edward. “No,” replied Raymond in a semi-frustrated tone.

“Okay. What was that last question?” muttered Hannah. “Oh yeah; why were you invited to the Ball of Honour?” she asked. “I was invited to the ball because of my contribution to Vyantel,” answered Lucintae. “What do you mean by that?” asked Hannah. “Several renovations happened in these suburbs. It was my idea to cut fancy shapes out of the hedges and to perfectly-whiten the houses,” explained Lucintae. “Once the gardeners and cleaners had finished, they said my ideas really made the place something else,” she added.

“There you are, you’ve asked me every question you wanted, NOW LEAVE, and go back to whatever rat nest you came from,” exclaimed Lucintae. Hannah and Edward were more than happy to follow Lucintae’s order. “Alright, we will,” replied Edward. The two of them got out of their chairs and left the room. Lucintae didn’t pay any attention to them as they left. “Do you need anything else?” asked Raymond. “No, I don’t. You can leave now,” replied Lucintae. Raymond immediately left the room. Once again, Lucintae was at peace, staring at the beautiful scenery from her window, while sipping on a red wine.

After traversing a series of blinged-out hallways, Hannah and Edward finally made it out of Lucintae’s house. They walked down the long flight of entrance stairs and didn’t look back as they left. “I contributed to the renovations,” said Edward, trying to imitate Lucintae’s voice. “I don’t buy that at all, she’s probably never had to work her whole life,” he added in his normal voice. “The butler said she was innocent, let’s just tick her off the list,” replied Hannah. “Good idea,” stated Edward. “I don’t think we’d want to investigate her further, do you?” he asked. “No, definitely not,” answered Hannah. The two of them left Vyantel, following the same road that led them there. After a twenty-minute walk, Hannah and Edward arrived back at the train station. Fortunately, the train had only just arrived when they reached it. Both of them got into the vehicle and let it take them home. After a long day of being surrounded by pompous rich people, Hannah and Edward couldn’t wait to go back to Fluvaria.