The screen flickered into motion. A clear wide-angle view of the rooftop appeared. No shaking camera, no shaky framing, no intentional angles or deceptive positioning. Just the cold mechanical truth of a security lens. And from the first second, it captured everything.
Nadira walking onto the roof. The Blaze Jackets closing in. Riker pulling her hair. Her head plunging into the water. The screams, the splashes, the laughter, the second plunge, the first reversal, Milo's failed attack, Zayn slamming into the vent, Riker charging, the tai otoshi throw.
Every second, every gesture, every assault, unfiltered, unedited, undeniable. Dean Marlo let the footage play in absolute silence. Riker shifted in his seat, fingers digging into the sides of his chair. Zayn held his breath. Trent stared at the floor.
Milo wiped sweat from his brow with a trembling hand. When the assault portion ended, Marlo pressed pause. No one spoke. Even the HVAC vent in the corner seemed to mute itself as if the room needed pure silence to absorb the truth. "Finally, Mr. Halden broke it."
"Dean Marlo," he said quietly, leaning forward. "I I recognize this pattern." His voice trembled, not with fear, but with long-held frustration resurfacing. Marlo turned to him. "Explain."
Halden took a breath. 5 years ago, long before Nadira came to Grantville, there was an incident involving three senior boys and a freshman. A violent incident. Riker's eyes darted upward in sudden panic. Halden continued, "They cornered him on the old gym roof, used a mop bucket, threatened him.
He ended up with a concussion." The student reported the attack, but the footage disappeared, and the boys got off with a warning. Nadira's pulse quickened. The Blaze Jackets stiffened. Dean Marlo's gaze sharpened.
And Halden added, "Two of those seniors were brothers of current Blaze Jackets members." Riker exhaled sharply through his nose. "That doesn't prove. It proves a pattern." Halden snapped.
More harshly than anyone had ever heard from him. "A pattern of violence. A pattern of targeting weaker students. A pattern of covering it up." Officer Ramirez stepped in.
It proves motive. It proves opportunity. And it proves this wasn't a spontaneous fight. It was a learned behavior. Zayn shook his head violently.
"We weren't copying anything. This just—this just happened." Hen's gaze cut through him like a blade. "Did it? Or did someone teach you that you could get away with hurting people?"
Riker slammed his hand on the table. "Shut up! You don't know anything." In fact, Marlo said, "We know far more than you think." He clicked a second tab, pulling up another file, another camera angle, another timestamp.