It was just after six in the morning. Caroline had stayed up working until after three last night and only managed to get about three hours of sleep. Denton yawned. "I went to check on Tyler, but he wasn't in his room. Alger said breakfast at the base is at seven, so I wanted to wake him up, but his room was empty." Caroline also found that strange. She pushed open Tyler's door and found it empty. The bed looked perfect, like no one had even slept in it. Her eyebrows furrowed. Had Tyler been out all night? Just then, a soldier ran toward them, looking very worried. "Caroline, something bad happened!" Caroline felt her eyelid twitch. But when she heard what he said next, a small smile appeared on her face. "Colonel Hansen is dead," the soldier said, panting. Dead? That actually worked in her favor. Bernard had been causing trouble for them, and they had been thinking about how to handle him. She hadn't expected him to die on his own. The soldier stopped running in front of them and caught his breath. Then he said, "Caroline, this is serious! Colonel Hansen is dead, and some of his men think Tyler did it. Even a few civilians say they saw Tyler go into the Colonel Hansen's room last night." Denton shouted, "No way! Tyler would never leave such a huge mistake if he was going to kill someone. And he sure wouldn't let people see him! Tyler's smart. Colonel Hansen may have deserved it, but Tyler didn't do it." The soldier stomped his feet nervously. He said there wasn't any solid proof yet, but the news had caught Nathaniel's attention. After all, the person who died was part of the army's management—the first time anyone had died since the base was built. Everyone was taking it very seriously. Right now, everyone was waiting for the investigation, and the soldier had come to take Caroline and Tyler over. "Where's Tyler?" the soldier asked anxiously, looking around. Caroline and Denton stayed quiet.Neither of them knew where Tyler had gone. Denton curled his lip, still half-asleep and annoyed at being dragged into this so early. "I'll go with you first. Tyler should show up soon," Caroline said. She didn't believe Tyler had killed Bernard. Honestly, it seemed like someone was trying to frame them. Figures. They'd only come to the base for a few days, and trouble had already started. She had thought upgrading the mobile base wouldn't take long. Nathaniel had invited them several times, so she had agreed to stay for a bit. After the big earthquake, most houses outside were ruined, and they might run into small groups of ability users—more problems waiting. Who knew that just a few hours at the base would lead to something like this? Someone had clearly set them up. Caroline even wondered if coming to stay at the base had been a mistake. "Caroline, our colonel said you should go first. If we find out who's behind this, we'll make it right. The base needs a cleanup anyway—it's time to deal with the ones with bad intentions," the soldier said, noticing the worried look on Caroline's face. Caroline nodded, keeping calm, and followed him. Soon, she spotted the people who were saying Tyler had gone into Bernard's room. It wasn't anyone else—it was Zach and the group of former residents who had once lived in the apartments. But Tyler still hadn't appeared. Nathaniel said they had searched the entire base but couldn't find Tyler anywhere. When Zach saw Caroline, a flash of fear crossed his face. He couldn't look her in the eye. Even when she stepped closer, his whole body trembled. The others weren't much braver. The moment they saw Caroline, they all instinctively took a step back. Clearly, she had left a very strong, scary impression on them back at the apartment. Caroline thought to herself with a small laugh. These people were shaking in fear, yet they still had the nerve to frame us? They must have been promised something big to take such a risk. Or ... maybe someone was threatening them.Caroline walked closer and saw that Nathaniel and Francis were both there. Francis stood off to the side, acting as if nothing had happened. Nathaniel sat in his chair, his expression hard to read. When Caroline and the others got there, both men finally looked at them. Nathaniel gave Caroline a polite smile and nodded, while Francis waved warmly, speaking as if nothing serious had happened. There wasn't a hint of worry or sadness over Bernard's death. "Hey, Caroline! You're here!" he said. Caroline and the others stepped forward. Francis gave a quick rundown of what had happened again.