"Stop here, everyone."
Valerius raised his slender right hand.
Elphias Doge immediately stopped his automatic charcoal pencil from taking shorthand.
He stared wide-eyed at the row of instruments.
"This is the only entrance to the labor reform zone. The so-called first boundary."
Valerius casually brushed his fingers over the metal doorframe on one side.
"How do we get through?"
Dirk looked at the silver steel panel, which had no door handle at all.
"We don't. We aren't authorized to enter the true core."
Valerius turned around, his scarlet eyes betraying a sickly fanaticism in the cold light.
"These three electronic sensor doors are equipped with extremely stringent biometric identification. Only those who have undergone a special assessment and been marked as serious offenders in the Ministry of Magic's dossiers can trigger the doors' opening mechanism."
Elphias Doge swallowed dryly.
"Only prisoners can enter? Then how do the guards get in to deliver food?"
Elphias Doge pressed urgently.
"That is precisely the beauty of the rules. No unnecessary person may set foot inside. The meals have their own marvelous way in."
The corners of Valerius's mouth tugged upward. "Of course. While they're standing outside, they can choose not to cross through these three doors."
Dirk narrowed his eyes.
He had clearly sensed the trap behind those words.
"What will they face if they refuse to enter?"
Dirk's jaw muscles tightened slightly.
Valerius gave a very soft laugh.
"They won't face anything."
He spread his hands.
"This is an isolated island. There isn't a single piece of firewood anywhere around."
He walked up to Dirk and looked down at the senior Ministry of Magic official.
"Bodies stripped of magic, standing on black reefs without any shelter. The raging North Sea storms will strip all the heat from their bodies within two hours."