Silence filled the room. The members of the council turned to Zevran, momentarily lost on how to respond. Initially, they would have defended her without second thought, but now, Sunshine’s theft allegation had been proven true. There were many doubts in her cry of innocence.

"Zevran, what is going on?" Someone asked, finally.

All eyes were on Zevran, adding pressure to the one she was already under.

"Lies, they are all lies. Everyone knows Sunshine has something against me, so she is making random accusations. If I am guilty, she should talk with proof." Zevran screamed, her composure shattering as her eyes burned into Sunshine from the distance between them. "How dare you accuse me! Only a fool would believe you!"

The doors at the back of the hall swung open again. Vortan and Tzar returned, and they had new company. Vortan was leading a scared Mervielle in.

"You asked for a witness, well here she is." Sunshine declared, breathing like a dragon on the brink of a fire outburst.

Merveille stepped into the center. She held up a small data drive. "Without wasting time, I will admit that I am Cobra, the information broker. The council woman found that out about this last year and has been using it to blackmail me into doing her favors. She made me send regular updates of Sunshine’s location to the Noxians. I have the recording of council woman Zevran giving me the order in person."

The room went cold. Even Plies, her biggest ally, looked disgusted.

"Lies," Council woman Zevran shouted, "I am being framed. She just admitted to being Cobra. She is a criminal that has been hiding in this organization. She is working with Sunshine to bring me down."

Commander Melvin turned to the guards. "Bring the truth serum. Now. It will be used on each of you, but the liar will not get the antidote."

"Okay, I like that." Sunshine said as she moved her shoulders in circular motion.

"Wait!" Zevran’s voice trembled. Her eyes were wide, looking at the glowing blue vial Vortan was bringing forward.

Everyone looked her way.

"I... I..." Zevran’s lips trembled. "Fine! Fine! I took it!"

The gasps in the room were like a wave.

"It had been ten years!" Zevran yelled, her voice cracking. "Maximus Raine was dead! He left no next of kin! The fortune was sitting there, rotting! Why should it stay idle when I could use it to build real power? Power that could benefit all of us! Then out of the blue this... this girl shows up and inherits the Raine legacy! She wasn’t supposed to exist! She was not supposed to become a repairman! You did this Melvin. You allowed her into our organization."

The King stepped forward, his shadow looming over her. "So, you decided to eliminate her? Putting even this very organization in jeopardy...."

"She was a threat!" Zevran cried out desperately, interrupting the king. "If you didn’t tell her about the vault, none of this would have happened."

"And Grit?" Nine asked, his arms crossed.

"Grit was a coward!" Zevran spat. "He took my bribes for years. But when Vortan started poking around, he got cold feet. He threatened to go reveal everything to Vortan. I couldn’t let him ruin me. He had to die."

The silence that followed was heavy with shame. Members of the council looked at their shoes. One of the pillars of their organization was a common thief and a murderer. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Many began to condemn her actions, others remained silent as they were too shocked to speak.

The Glacian king looked at Commander Melvin, "How exactly are you running this place? And all the galaxies are supposed to trust you with access to core areas of our homes! Some of us have vaults with your bank. Who knows how long this kind of breach has been going on? This may not be the first vault that has been emptied out."

"The king is right," Tzar said. "For someone to become too brazen to steal such a big account means that the habit has grown."

Plies raised his hand and spoke, "I move that we investigate this matter deeply. Those in favor say ’Aye’"

All hands were raised, except for Zevran.

"The majority have voted in favor; this matter will be investigated." Commander Melvin said.

Zevran growled, "This is not fair, I have worked hard. Sacrificed my time more than anyone..."

"Take her away, use the secret passage," Melvin said, his voice hollow. "No one should know about this.... not yet."

The robots which guarded the inside of the room moved in. As they grabbed Zevran’s arms, she began to struggle like a wild animal. "I’ll kill you, Sunshine! I’ll find a way! You think you’ve won? You’ve destroyed the reputation of the Universal Repairmen! You’ve destroyed everything that I built!"

Her screams faded as she was dragged through the secret exit, her heels scraping against the stone floor.

Commander Melvin sat back in his chair, looking like he’d aged twenty years in forty minutes. He looked at Mervielle. "And this one? She’s an accomplice."

"She’s a victim," Sunshine intervened. "She helped me. Without her, Zevran would have gotten away with it. Let her go."

Melvin sighed and waved his hand. "She is fired and her memories of working in this organization will be erased."

Councilman Tzar stood up, his face pale. "We have a problem. If the public finds out a Council Member gave up confidential information and she was a thief... the Repairman organization will lose the trust of all the galaxies. There will be riots among our ranks. Our contracts with other planets will be voided."

The King stepped forward, a predatory glint in his eye. "You’re right, Tzar. It’s a mess. A massive, steaming mess."

Sunshine felt her heart begin to hammer against her ribs. She looked at the King, then at the Council. This was it. Her chance to corner the council into giving her grandmasters. They had her by the balls before and now, it was her turn to squeeze.

"The reputation of the Council is a very valuable thing," the King mused, pacing the floor. "And if you want us to keep our mouths shut about how incompetent and corrupt you’ve been... well, there are some conditions."

Melvin looked up. "The Council needs to deliberate, but we need to talk privately first."

Vortan led Sunshine, Mervielle, Nine, and the king out of the main hall and into a smaller, plushly decorated private chamber. He closed the door and leaned against it, a smirk finally breaking through his royal mask.

"Well, Sunshine," he said. "You’ve got them by the throat."

Sunshine took a deep breath, the weight of her grandfather’s legacy finally feeling like a tool rather than a burden. "Yes, I do and I want everything," she whispered. "I want them to repair those damn rifts and return all of the treasures that were in the vault."

The King laughed, a deep, booming sound. "That’s my earthling."