For a moment, Melanie just stares at him while her mind ticks over the possibilities. She's been told the rift grants strange powers, but what are the odds that someone could - or would - use such a power to get this far into ROMAC without having any apparent clue as to what they were doing? And even if that was the case, the guards should have stopped him by now. But there are no guards. The halls are deserted aside from her and this man.

And the cameras. Melanie's gaze flicks to one of the security cameras mounted in its dark glass dome, and she remembers her lessons, back before the base fell. She remembers having one arm carefully unstrapped so she could do writing exercises or calculus equations. So she could be tested.

Melanie's frown deepens, and she takes a slow, deliberate step backwards. "You're in ROMAC's high security wing," she explains, her voice clipped and furious. "And I'm guessing you only got this far because they want to see what I might do to you."