Natalia nodded, her tactical mind already working through scenarios. Then she glanced at my desk, where Bartholomew the Immortal Snail was slowly consuming a piece of lettuce in his absurdly expensive terrarium.
"We're really doing this, aren't we? Going to war with the VHC."
"Not war. Infiltration. Information gathering. We're going to smile, train, and play the part of model students while we dig up every buried secret they don't want found." I pulled her closer. "And when we have enough ammunition..."
"We burn the whole rotten system down and build something better from the ashes."
"Now you're thinking like a revolutionary."
She laughed. Actually laughed. The sound was bright and genuine and completely at odds with the sedition we were plotting. "My friends would die if they could see me now. Little Miss Perfect, the girl who color-codes her notes and never breaks a rule, planning to investigate the VHC."
"You broke plenty of rules with me."
