New System, Who Dis?

Monday, April 15th, 2069

“So, did you try the meditation or answering the questions I sent you?” Evelyn asked after a very lengthy greeting and current mood check. My wince conveyed my answer and she sighed. “You won’t get as much out of these sessions if you don’t try to work with me at least.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been pretty busy.”

“Don’t you have Sundays off?” She asked, clearly going over her notes from our previous session.

“Yes, well,” I said while nodding. “Yesterday kind of became even more of a distraction than work because we had it off.”

“More of a distraction? Have you been finding yourself distracted often?”

“Husk this lady is amazing,” Smegma said from his perch on the highest shelf. “She can twist anything you say into something else… I think I’m in love,” That last bit was said while tossing up a small white kernel into the air and catching it in his open mouth. Where had the husker gotten actual popcorn this time?

“I didn’t say that I, personally, was distracted–and I’d appreciate it if you stopped twisting my words. I don’t like it. What I meant was that some things came up during my day off that took my time and attention. I went in for pre-trial prep work, which was just a bunch of ‘sit there and don’t react’—training. Then we had my Uncle Jarred over for dinner and he, and my family dropped a bombshell on me. So, yeah, I was pretty distracted all weekend.”

“What about the nights after Mining?” Evelyn asked and I winced again. Sure, I could have spent those nights meditating and answering the emailed questions. But, I had been looking through the Shop or talking with Smegma. That wasn’t a distraction, was it?

“It was,” Smegma stated, with a particularly loud crunch of popcorn. That had to be fake right?

“I see,” she said after my long silence. “I apologize for ‘twisting your words’. Clearly you haven’t been distracted in the slightest and I’m just mistaken.”

Smegma fairly squealed, shoving fistfuls more of the salty snack into his stupid pie-hole.

“Okay,” I cleared my throat. “Well let’s tackle some of the questions now then, shall we?” I nodded and Evelyn asked the first question, which also was the last question of her previous session.

“You said your dream to become a Mana Bank has morphed into something more. Why is that?”

I immediately cursed internally. I should have looked at these questions and answered them when I had time to think. Now with my brain consumed with the pre-trial this afternoon, and Jarred’s predicament, I felt extremely put on the spot.

Still, I should be able to tell my Psychiatrist the truth. Right? Wasn’t there client confidentiality just like with Lawyers? Smegma encouraged me to ask her. So, I did.

“Yes, anything you tell me will stay between us. I do have to give general updates if asked, basically stating whether or not you’ve been attending, or if you need more counseling. Stuff like that.”

“Okay,” I answered with a nod. “When the Shop—sorry Morgan Hallsbrad, assaulted me, I had a secondary Awakening.”

“You did!” Evelyn said, sounding shocked and excited, but forcing herself to maintain a level of professionalism. “Anything good?”

I considered for the briefest of moments about telling her the whole truth. Yet, there was one thing I’d ‘learned’ from Hollyhood on this matter. Shrinks and Lawyers could break confidentiality if they believed someone was a threat to others or themselves.

So, would telling Evelyn about Smegma, and Demonic Vault, fall into that category? From my point of view no, but from others? Maybe.

Eventually, I went with the concocted story I was telling everyone. I just couldn’t be sure that telling Evelyn about my ‘Demonic’ Skill wouldn’t lead to me in a shrink ward, or worse—Permanently Husked of all Skills. “I got a repair mark for equipment…”

“You can repair equipment?!” Evelyn said her excitement was higher than I expected. I waved my hands in front of myself to try to explain that it wasn’t that fancy.

“No, no. I can put a mark on equipment which allows it to pull ambient Mana in to repair itself.”

“It doesn’t pull ‘ambient Mana’—the gear pulls—”Smegma began even as Evelyn stood up and began to pace.

“So, you can place this mark on gear and it will just pull in Mana to repair itself. That’s quite the valuable—”

“Sorry, I think I used the wrong term,” I interrupted. “It pulls… ‘spilled’ Mana to repair itself?” I corrected using the term Smegma was practically shouting from his popcorn eating perch, while laughing. “I’m not sure of the best way to describe it.”

“What you’re calling ‘spilled Mana’ is Mana given off by plants, creatures, minerals, Crystals and other stuff as they are being harvested?” I flicked my eyes over to Smegma before nodding. Evelyn returned to excitedly pacing. “That is a very valuable Skill, Brodie—and I assume you’ve been using it with Portals, Portal’s, Portalz and your Mining?”

“Well, yes.”

“And that’s why you don’t want to be a Mana Bank anymore? You’ve found a more lucrative vocation? So, you want to own a company now?” Evelyn grabbed her book and began madly scribbling notes even as her questions hung in the air.

“What? No,” I said, which elicited a derisive laugh from Smegma.

“Wrong answer, kid.”

“So, what is the new dream, Brodie?” Evelyn asked, making me realize what Smegma meant. Answering, ‘yes’ to her previous question would have avoided this follow-up.

“I mean, yes, or… maybe. I don’t know. I just haven’t gotten that far, yet. What I do know is that I can now grow my Mana Pool on my own. So, maybe in time I will still want to be a Mana Bank, or own a company, or smite Demons with my magically empowered gear…”

“Good one,” Smegma commented.

“Demons are an interesting choice of Monsters to choose.” Evelyn quickly made some notes, and Smegma’s laughter cut off leaving the room eerily silent in its absence. After she was done with whatever note she took, she returned to the points before my ‘joke.’ “I see. So, you feel like you’re reassessing your previous dreams? Or are you in fact putting off thinking about them because of something else?”

“Something else? Like what?” I asked.

“Like a feeling that anything you want to do could be taken from you—without your permission.” Evelyn sat back down in her chair with that statement causing the leather to groan audibly. I ran my hand through my hair.

That was oddly specific. I assumed it was in reference to the assault. Morgan did try to take something away from me without my permission. Did I have any feelings like that? I shook my head and Evelyn nodded even as she made a new note.

“No, I’m not sure that's it, exactly. I just know I can do more now—and I don’t want to pigeonhole myself into something.”

“Into something as small as owning a company, when you can do so much more?” Evelyn asked.

After a brief hesitation I nodded. “Am I… broken? Is there some kind of ‘Main Character’ disorder out there that I’ve got? I just want to do more, to be… more.”

Evely smiled. It was a smile full of softly spoken approval and a hint of rebuke. “No. You’re not ‘broken’. Everyone is the main character of their own story, Brodie Flacarada. Even you.”

I blinked. “I… never thought about it that way. I mean, even with this Skill I could probably get into the Crafting Classes at Phoenix University. Maybe learn some ways to apply it to Hunter’s gear and still have it work when killing Monsters.”

“So, the bottom line is that you want to help Hunters in the fight against Portals and Fields?” Evelyn asked. I nodded again and she made a note. “So, why do you think that Miners, Cleaners, Herbalists and the like aren’t helping Hunters?”

I raised my hands defensively even as I strongly denied Evelyn’s ‘accusation’. “I never said that! I know that gatherers help Hunters too—I just…Well, I just want to be more hands-on?”

Evelyn smiled as she made a new note. “I think we’re getting somewhere. Why do you feel you need to be more ‘hands-on’?” I made a confused face, and she changed the question. “If you had the ability to Enchant weapons with something that empowered them against Monsters—and then you sold that to Hunters, would that be enough?”

Now understanding what Evelyn was getting at, I shrugged, before licking my teeth and shaking my head. “No, that wouldn’t be enough.”

“Can you explain that?”

“I want to be in charge of my own destiny, I guess,” I said, trying to feel my way to the bottom of the strange concept that Evelyn evoked in me. “I guess with the re-Awakening I want to be an actual Hunter now.”

“Oh? Are you thinking of trying to be like ManIron or Cyborg?” she asked and I felt my eyebrows raise in consideration. With the ‘repair mark’ that certainly would be a possibility. Still, the truth and my lie kind of lined up at that moment. So, I nodded.

Evelyn made some more notes and then asked a new question. “Why is being a Hunter or directly helping more important to you than providing value in some other way?”

Her question was punctuated by her tablet beeping, but other than reaching to click off the timer she kept intently staring at me.

Seeing as I wasn’t about to get off the hook this time I said, “I think being a Hunter will make me powerful. It will put me in control of my own destiny. I can make it so that my family stops living from paycheck to paycheck—maybe even solve other issues too.”

Evelyn didn’t ask a follow-up question and instead scribbled in her book. When she finished she looked back up and met my eyes with an intensity I hadn’t yet seen from her.

“This time Brodie, I’m going to insist you follow the meditation exercises I sent—and answer my newest batch of questions. As you know that timer marked the end of our session. So, I’ll see you next Monday?”

“As long as I’m not dead or in jail,” I said jokingly, but flushed when Evelyn tilted her head and made a new note.

Smegma laughed uproariously even as he called me a bunch of variations of stupid, along with a healthy smattering of profanity.

* * *

“To the charge of Second-degree Manslaughter. How does Brodie Flacarada plead?” The judge asked, the question appeared rote and clearly spoken often.

“Not guilty, your honor,” Ms. Stovall said on my behalf.

We were currently inside of the Judge’s office, and not in the far larger courtrooms I’d seen through various open doors. The building was clearly old, but the office—unlike the one I was in with Evelyn this morning, carried that age with a level of class and dignity that far outstripped the woman’s mismatched furniture.

“This is more like it,” Smegma said in response to my assessment of the furniture. “Everything matches—the books are boring, but look ostentatious and expensive. This person clearly knows how to impress those who are visiting her chambers.”

I of course ignored the demon-imp, tuning in to the two others in the room; the people I assumed were assigned to represent Morgan Hallsbrad.

There was something strange going on. Standing behind the chair was a well-dressed man in a suit comparable to Mrs. Stovall’s blouse and skirt. It was definitely not overly expensive but functional and well kept. Seated in the chair, however, was someone entirely different. I tried to remember the training Mrs. Stovall put me through yesterday, and kept my face neutral as I studied him.

The man wore a dark, shiny suit that screamed money. In fact, I was pretty sure that the material was made from Monster wool, cotton, and leather. It made the man look suave and dangerous. I didn’t understand the reason for my feelings of apprehension until the judge looked to the man standing nearby.

“Crown Attorney Markham, I assume that you disagree with that, considering that Mr. Varnish is here?” Judge Dench said, sounding almost sarcastic. I fought a smile that threatened to break onto my face. It seemed that the Judge was already on my side.

“Yes your honor,” Markham responded, making a hand and arm gesture at the seated man who fixed his expensive suit and stood up, revealing he was easily as tall as me if not taller. He carried that height with a lithe athleticism that almost made me shiver. “As you already know—Mr. Varnish is here on behalf of the Larvae Guild to represent their member Morgan Hallsbrad. The Attorney General, along with the Supreme Court has appointed him as a temporary Crown Counsel for this case.”

Mr. Varnish was suddenly holding a leather portfolio, making me blink. Had he just pulled that from a Bag of Holding? I searched what I could see of him, and didn’t find anything overt that looked like one of the bulky bags I’d seen the Porters carrying in the Portals.

If the man didn’t have a Bag, could he have a Ring, or something far pricier? He did have on an expensive looking watch, but no rings that I could see.

“Your honor,” Mr. Varnish said with a dip of his black styled hair, interrupting my scrutiny of the man’s jewelry. “On behalf of her majesty the Queen, we will prove that Mr. Flacarada used excessive force to defend himself, and in doing so, seized an opportunity that is highly beneficial to himself.”

As instructed, I kept my reaction to another blink even as Smegma said, “What the husk is he talking about?”

“Your honor. Morgan Hallsbrad had a gun, and not only intended to use it but had a history of doing so in past murders.” Ms Stovall said, clearly contradicting Mr. Varnish’s attempt to paint me as somehow guilty.

“I have to agree with Ms. Stovall, Mr. Varnish; Morgan Hallsbrad has been tied to multiple murders up and down the East Coast of the United States.”

“That has been grossly misinterpreted, your honor.” Mr. Varnish pulled out a piece of paper from the portfolio, not having to sort through it, and handed it to the Judge. She read it quickly while her eyebrows rose. As soon as she was finished, she handed it to Ms. Stovall. Mr. Varnish handed over the next page, again simply pulling it from the next in line. It felt like he was beyond prepared, which caused goosebumps to rise on my skin.

This time when the Judge handed the next sheet to Ms. Stovall, she wasn’t handed another. Instead Mr. Varnish said, “As you can see, Morgan Hallsbrad was a Private Investigator hired by a fellow Guild member to investigate the death of a daughter while she was stateside. The next piece of paper further explains his visits to every victim of the crime, which is how the DNA evidence was accidentally transferred to the book.”

Ms. Stovall snorted. “Judge Dench. The prosecuting counsel here would have you believe that Morgan Hallsbrad visited every single victim and accidentally had their DNA transferred onto the book–multiple times. If you don’t mind my saying, Mr. Varnish here should go to Vegas if he’s betting on those odds. Not only that, but none of this is proof that Brodie Flacarada used excessive force, your honor,” Ms. Stovall interjected.

The Judge met Ms. Stovall’s eyes, nodded, and then looked to Mr. Varnish, seeming to unspokenly direct the question to him.

Mr. Varnish appeared unphased. “It is my intention to not only prove Morgan Hallsbrad’s innocence of these crimes but show that he approached Brodie Flacarada as a person of interest, with no ill intent.”

“Your honor, we aren’t here to judge Morgan Hallsbrad. This pre-trial is to clear my client of any responsibility. May I remind the court that Morgan Hallsbrad was a C-ranked Awakened with a gun!”

“Mister Varnish,” the Judge scowled. “I am going to have to side with Ms. Stovall on this. Morgan Hallsbrad is not on trial here. I will remind you that in this case you are representing the Attorney General and by association the Crowned Queen of England. It is not under your purview to ‘prove’ Morgan Hallsbad’s guilt or innocence. Confine yourself to the actual case at hand:

“Brodie Flacarada claims that he was attacked by Morgan Hallsbrad with a gun, unlawfully Mana Pulled, and defended himself which resulted in the death of his attacker. Morgan Hallsbrad was a C-ranked Awakened and in possession of a weapon.

“You have one question you need to answer: What possible reason would I have to allow you to take this to a trial against Mr. Flacarada?

“I will further remind you that Mr. Flacarada is innocent until proven guilty, which–as you know, means that the burden of proof that his claims are false are the primary focus for you to prove and not the innocence or guilt of Morgan Hallsbrad. Those murders occurred in the States and another Judge will be presiding over that case. Are we clear?”

I’ll give it to Mr. Varnish. He smoothly bowed as if he were before the Queen herself. “Forgive me, Judge Dench. I misspoke. I only meant that I would use the proper evidence gathered in regard to Morgan Hallsbrad and use it only as it pertains to Mr. Flacarada’s testimony in order to prove his guilt of excessive force with clear intent. Going forward, I may refer to Morgan Hallsbrad as ‘my client’, as he is—by proxy the extension of my current client’s involvement in this case.” He calmly straightened his suit, continuing on.“Your honor, as I’ve already mentioned, Morgan Hallsbrad was a private investigator hired by a grandfather of one of the first victims. He was tracking the killer up the east coast, where he discovered a link to Brodie Flacarada. From what my employer knows he was approaching Brodie peacefully to offer to discuss this issue when things went south.”

Mr. Varnish handed over a small, leatherbound journal to the Judge. “In here you will find a detailed description of Morgan’s findings from his investigation. The final pages highlight the link between Brodie and the case.”

I tried and failed to stop my eyes from widening. I did manage to keep my mouth from falling open, but just barely. My eyes found Ms. Stovall who was looking confusedly between Mr. Varnish and the Judge. Once the book was handed to her, she skipped to the final page, as the Judge had.

“Let me get this straight. Your client was tracking comments made by the SwiftGram Account he is suspected of owning? Then entered the country illegally to approach Brodie Flacarada after seeing a ‘flame war’ on one of his posts?” Ms. Stovall pulled a paper from her own pack, and handed it to the judge. “This is a document from Border Control, your honor. I have simplified it to individuals with last names starting with ‘H,’ and entered the country through customs and border control, including all land-bound traffic and commercial flights up to a month before the assault.”

Judge Dench flipped through two to three pages of the huge stapled stack before dryly looking at Ms. Stovall and dryly asking, “I assume I won’t find Hallsbrad on here even outside of the appropriate alphabetical section?”

“That’s correct, your honor. I believe that Morgan Hallsbrad knew he would succeed in killing my client. Why would he not? As the primary suspect in the Heartless Killer killings, he’d successfully accomplished dozens of murders up to that point. Knowing he would succeed, one of his concerns would be not leaving a trail indicating that he’d crossed the border into Canada at all—just pop over the border, kill an unknown to the public college kid, and pop back over while leaving no tracks for law enforcement to follow. We know he’s in the country right now—we have his body, for crying out loud! If this hearing was about me being required to prove that Morgan Hallsbrad crossed the border from the United States into Canada between March 27th and April 1st—I wouldn’t be able to do it. How did he get here? I believe that this gives some insight on how the man has managed to remain at large for as long as he has. He is a ghost. As for the prosecution's outlandish claims of goodwill and ‘helpful’ intentions, I have a further question for Mr. Varnish. Why did your ‘client’ Morgan Hallsbrad need to ‘approach my client peacefully’, with a weapon behind the trashcans of a darkened alleyway?” The skepticism in Ms. Stovall’s voice was so thick I could nearly taste it.

Mr. Varnish didn’t react to her comment and instead, dutifully handed over another paper to the Judge and she began to read it instantly. The raise of her eyebrows conveyed confusion and shock to me, and her words furthered it. “The weapon at the scene had its serial number filed off, and didn’t contain a single fingerprint outside of Brodie Flacarada’s?”

My brain stuttered. That was impossible. Smegma was staring at me, clearly reading my thoughts as they raced through my head. I’d looked down the barrel of the gun which Morgan Hallsbrad had been holding!

Ms. Stovall was reading through the page, her eyes tracing left to right as they climbed over the report multiple times. She looked up to the Judge quickly after what could have been a fifth or sixth perusal. “Your honor, the fact that my client's fingerprints are on a gun that he didn’t own isn’t contradictory to events as told to the court. He was held at gunpoint and used reasonable force to disarm a C-ranked Awakened in possession of a deadly firearm.”

“Ahem.” The prosecutor cleared his throat, handing over yet another document. “Disarmed? The police report here demonstrates only that Mr. Flacarada was in possession of the firearm and was commanded by officers arriving on the scene to drop the weapon. There is no evidence that it was taken from Mr. Hallsbrad. Unless the court has any evidence of that claim?” Mr. Varnish asked the Judge.

Judge Dench turned and looked at Ms. Stovall who flipped through a few pages on her desk before punching a finger into the bottom fourth of one. “Yes, your honor. A video from the Transit Station captured Mr. Hallsbrad leading Brodie away at gunpoint.”

“Okay, let me see it,” Judge Dench stated as she held up her hand and simultaneously opened a laptop. Ms. Stovall flipped open her bag and pulled out a USB, consulted her page and then handed the USB stick to the judge.

“The file is TransitCamFootage2, your honor,” she explained and the Judge nodded before clicking around.

Once Mr. Varnish could tell she was watching the video he chimed in. “The important part is at ten, fifty-five, your honor. You will no doubt notice that no gun is present.”

His knowledge of the time in the video and quick direction to it, made my head feel light. What was going on?

“What’s he talking about?” Smegma said. “You told me the guy had a gun and you just remembered looking down the barrel.”

[He husking did. I have no idea what’s going on.]

There was a long silence, which was finally broken by the Judge looking up at Ms. Stovall. “Ms. Stovall. I’m afraid that while it does look like Morgan Hallsbrad has a hand either in a jacket pocket, or right beside his body, there is no obvious sign of a gun in this video. Do you have any other proof that Mr. Flacarada was held at gunpoint?”

“Your honor, I also watched the tape and agree that the camera angle and distance from the scene in question isn’t the best. However, with the footage of Morgan Hallbrads stance, and my client testimony, as well as the fact that it is undeniable that Mr. Hallsbrad led my client toward the same alleyway that my client had previously avoided–I believe there is enough probable evidence present to assume compulsion.. Let me ask the court two questions: Was there a gun present at the scene of the attack?” Ms. Stovall asked calmly.

“You know there was, Ms. Stovall.” Judge Dench stated, sighing.

“We know there was, because that weapon is part of evidence.” Ms. Stovall turned her gaze on Mr. Varnish. “If the weapon was at the scene and not shown in this video, where was it? Furthermore, whose could it have been if not Morgan Hallsbrad’s? Let’s not forget, Judge Dench, Morgan Hallsbrad is the number one suspect in the Heartless Killer serial killings. Even after more than sixty-five killings—which, evidence is adding to daily. Morgan Hallsbrad is the number one suspect in a case of which the killer was never caught. We have to take seriously the possibility that Morgan Hallsbrad was a capable, cunning killer who would likely be wearing gloves and heavily aware of the possibility of security cameras in public spaces. Logically, he wouldn’t openly reveal the weapon we found at the scene.

“Additionally, your honor, as I alluded to before—we have numerous videos that show Brodie specifically avoiding the alleyway on his way to the transit station, and that Morgan Hallsbrad led him into it after approaching him. Why would my client willingly go with him into an area he’d just recently avoided, despite that path being the shortest route to and from where he was going?”

“Ms. Stovall, your logic that Morgan Hallsbrad possessed the gun and wore gloves are accusations that would need to be proven in court, if it cannot be clearly demonstrated during this hearing. I will also note that none of your assertions prove that Hallsbrad threatened your client with that weapon. Such accusations require proof. As for the factual evidence you’ve mentioned, I assume I can watch those videos?” Judge Dench said. Ms. Stovall consulted her list and then conveyed the relevant file names to the Judge. Mr. Varnish remained silent through the exchange which made me apprehensive for some reason.

After another twenty minutes of silence where the Judge confirmed Ms. Stovall’s proof, she turned to Mr. Varnish. “These videos, along with the campus map do make a compelling argument that Brodie Flacarada was led against his will, into an area he had previously avoided. I’m leaning toward Ms. Stovall once again, Mr. Varnish.”

“This is why it is so important for me to show the court Morgan Hallsbrad’s innocence in regards to the Heartless Killer murders, your honor. If you’ll permit me, I have further evidence that lends itself toward Morgan Hallsbrad’s innocence of the accused assault and thus solidifies the story told in his case journal. This evidence may not show Morgan peacefully approached Brodie Flacarada but it certainly shows that he isn’t the ‘cold cunning’ killer he is being painted as by the defense.”

Mr. Varnish hadn’t glanced at me once through this entire meeting with the Judge, but when the Judge glanced my direction, so did the man. I felt like a rabbit might‘ve when a large wolf catches it in the open. I wanted to shiver but I held it back.

The Judge didn’t convey much with that look, but to me it felt like she was sad for me. I wondered why, right up until she held out a hand and said, “I’ll read this evidence first, before I make the final decision, if it's relevant to this case.”

The silence that stretched was broken only by Ms. Stovall fiddling with something in her pocket. It wasn’t truly loud, but as the Judge read the manilla folder that had the word ‘classified’ stamped in red on it–it sure sounded loud.

The Judge sighed when she reached the end. “Mr. Varnish. I do believe that this evidence may be enough to clear Morgan Hallsbrad in the cases that the UNMH is bringing against him, but I do not believe that continued activity of a SwiftGram account named ‘The Shop’ after Morgan’s death and new murders connected to the Heartless Killer in California mean that Brodie should be under any suspicion in the events of this case.”

“That may be true, your honor, but that isn’t for you to determine. One thing that this does neatly defeat, is Counselwoman Stovall’s assertion that Morgan Hallsbrad is the primary suspect of the Heartless Killer murders, as well as her statements that he would act or behave as a hardened killer, with gloves, foreknowledge of public cameras and their locations. The ‘cunning killer’ that entered the Country illegally? Come now. To that last point—I have here a flight manifesto that I prepared in advance against the potential of anyone questioning my client’s on entering the country unlawfully or with criminal designs.” As he handed over this final sheet of thick official looking paper I felt my throat constrict–tightening down and seeming to stop my breathing from coming easy.

Like a roofer with a nail gun, Mr. Varnish continued, puncturing my screaming lungs with his well-prepared, and extremely false case. “The Larvae Guild, of whom Morgan Hallsbrad was an upstanding member, expedited his transportation across the Canadian border via private jet. These documents were disclosed appropriately to both the United States and Canadian Federal Aviation Administration. His entry into the country was validated and verified at the highest levels.

“As I also believe I’ve given the court ample evidence to call into question the ownership of the weapon in evidence, it is my statement and assertion that Morgan Hallsbrad carried no such weapon on this flight, nor on his person at the time of meeting Mr. Flacarada, your honor. I, for one, am not convinced that it belonged to Morgan Hallsbrad at all. We only have Brodie’s testimony that Morgan held the weapon for any length of time, and—as we already proved, there was no sign of Hallsbrad holding the gun in the videos, coupled with the fact that Mr. Flacarada was found by the police with the weapon in his hands and his fingerprints were the only ones present on the weapon…”

This time when Mr. Varnish paused. I managed to suck in a breath only due to biological need for oxygen. It came in, stuttering and loud–clearly going against my one day of ‘don’t react’ training. What in the hell was going on? My eyes were already unfocused and I felt lost. Still, Mr. Varnish didn’t relent.

“I believe that this is more than enough grounds for jurisprudence to be compelled to put this case in front of a panel of impartial peers?” Mr. Varnish responded far too calmly.

I felt a small hand on my shoulder, and with it came a rush of warmth. That’s right, I still had Ms. Stovall. Surely this pre-trial wasn’t going as poorly as it seemed?

“Your honor, my client has gone through enough; surely we don’t need to parade a victim in a public trial on top of everything else.”

Judge Dench looked at the two lawyers and then met my confused, wide eyes. “Jury trials are only for criminal cases. You know that, Mr. Varnish. Your evidence is by majority circumstantial and has not met the prerequisite thresholds. I agree with Ms. Stovall that a victim should not be made to suffer further, Counselman. Unless you can present me with something more, I will move to weigh in on the evidence of Ms. Stovall that supports self-defense.”

“As you wish, your honor. I would like to enter into evidence video forty-seven. This video shows Mr. Flacarada getting into his car at the mall before going through a second, third or perhaps, even a fourth Awakening after the manslaughter.”

The Judge blinked and looked at me, then Ms. Stovall before holding out a hand toward Mr. Varnish. As Ms. Stovall had done with the transit cam footage, Mr. Varnish gave her a USB along with instructions about what video to open.

“I’ve clipped the video to save your time, your honor,” he said to finish.

I felt my stomach which felt like it couldn’t twist any more clench tight. I knew what video he must have. It was the one where I got in the car and purchased the first Miner’s Pick—where everyone in the parking garage saw my car light up like it was struck by a flash bang.

“Is this bad?” Smegma asked, as he hovered close to me and looked into my eyes.

[I don’t know? I don’t see how a new Skill could change anything.] Even my mental voice sounded lost.

“Ms. Stovall, this clearly shows Mr. Flacarada undergoing an Awakening. Have you had him reassessed?”

I felt the slithering snake of my stomach somehow constrict further. I definitely was no longer an F-rank Awakened. Just based on my Mana pool, now sitting at forty-five points, moved me from high F-rank to high E-rank. Sure the growth was slowing down pretty significantly but that paired with all of my existing and new Skills might put me anywhere from E to B rank if assessed. I fought my own face to stop from reacting as Ms. Stovall replied.

“I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of my client undergoing an Awakening. So far, I can see no relevance to this case whether it happened or not.”

“Confirm nor deny?” Mr. Varnish drawled. “The evidence is right in front of your face. If what happened to your client in that car wasn’t an Awakening, then what was it?

“You tell me.” Ms. Stovall retorted. “As Judge Dench stated earlier. The burden of proof is not on me in this pre-trial. It’s on you, and until you prove to the Judge how this is relevant to the case, I refuse to possibly acknowledge anything that might unknowingly impact him either in this case or going forward.”

Mr. Varnish looked appreciatively at Ms. Stovall. “Your honor. The reason this is relevant is that the case is being presented as a F-rank versus a C-rank, but not only is Mr. Flacarada possibly far higher than C-rank; I can prove that at the time of his death, Morgan Hallsbrad was no longer C-rank.”

“What do you mean, Mr. Varnish?” Judge Dench asked.

Once again, Mr. Varnish entered in new evidence and directed Judge Dench on where to find it. This time he also presented a paper to Ms. Stovall. She quickly read it over and a frown slowly grew into a scowl on her face.

“At autopsy, Mr. Hallsbrad was Skilless and below F-rank? How is this possible Mr. Varnish?” Judge Dench asked.

“We have our suspicions, your honor, but no proof. If Mr. Flacarada would like to go through a reassessment though and prove that he is still F-rank, the Crown might be willing to grant self-defense as a verdict in the manslaughter case.”

“Your honor, the date of the video where my client allegedly underwent a secondary Awakening is a full two days after the altercation. Even if he did undergo another Awakening at that time, I fail to see how it has any bearing on the case.”

“She is right, Mr. Varnish. Even if he is of a higher rank now, it doesn’t mean he was then. Just like your client at autopsy being of lower rank doesn’t exactly mean that he wasn’t of higher rank during the assault.”

“Then I must ask, your honor, if my client was Unskilled at the time of his autopsy, and—as Ms. Stovall here asserts, C-ranked at the time of the alleged attack, then what happened to Morgan Hallsbrad’s C-ranked Skills in the intervening thirteen hours between the events on campus and the autopsy? That is not enough time for the Mana in a Pool to even fade.”

“I see what you’re implying Mr. Varnish, but without further proof, I will not order Mr. Flacarada to be reassessed. I will, however, be stating clearly, Ms. Stovall—that in my assessment, the evidence of an apparent Awakening happening to Mr. Flacarada does appear to be potentially relevant to this case. So I’ll ask you; What does this new Skill do, or what exactly was it that happened on this security footage, assuming this was not an Awakening at all?”

“Very well. My client did, in fact, experience a second Awakening during the events in the security footage. From my understanding and his growing understanding, it repairs Mining Picks from ‘spilled’ Mana.”

“So, Mr. Flacarada is able to capture Mana leakage from minerals, ores, creatures and flora?” Mr. Varnish asked.

Ms. Stovall glanced at me then back up to Mr. Varnish before she answered, “That isn’t what I said Mr. Varnish. From my understanding, his Skill can use the Mana spillage from Mining Mana Crystals in particular to Repair a Pickaxe. That’s our full understanding of the Skill at present.”

“That’s some excellent tip-toeing you’re doing there Ms. Stovall, and I commend you for it. However, the fact is that we now know that Mr. Flacarada has a Skill that siphons Mana and we only have his word that this Skill works solely on Crystals. What we also know is that there is a body that Mr. Flacarada had recently interacted with and whose ranking after death mysteriously dropped. I submit that he is not telling the full truth and that he likely is able to capture spilled Mana from dead or dying humans as well. This is where we believe Morgan Hallsbrad’s Skills went. The Crown believes that Brodie Flacarada may be a Cannibal or Snatcher.”

“Holy shit, this guy is good,” Smegma said, sounding impressed.

[Don’t husking compliment him! Everything—] I hesitated before correcting myself. [—most of what he said is a lie, and you know it.]

“Yeah, I know it, but there is no way that anyone besides you and me can truly know that he’s lying. That’s why I said he’s good.”

“Ms. Stovall. Do you have any evidence that can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Flacarada didn’t use excessive force in self-defense so he could steal Morgan Hallsbrad’s spilled Mana.”

Two muscles bulged on the side of Ms. Stovall’s face, but after a moment she looked directly at the Judge and exclaimed, “Yes, your honor. There still remains a time discrepancy. The fact that this Skill didn’t Awaken until two days after the assault. Is Mr. Varnish accusing my client of traveling back in time to ‘steal’ Morgan Hallsbrad’s spilled Mana?”

“As I’ve already mentioned Judge Dench, this Awakening could be a third such, and does not need to be the only one that Mr. Flacarada has undergone. In this, I must ask the court, who else had access to Morgan Hallsbrad before or immediately after his death, that had the potential to remove these Skills?”

Ms. Stovall’s jaw clenched again as the Judge looked to her. “Your honor, when Morgan Hallsbrad was taken to the hospital—he was taken there alive. There are numerous people who could have and did interact with him during that time. I was not aware of the loss or disappearance of Mr. Hallsbrad’s Skills and therefore did not interview or investigate the circumstances around his death beyond the available medical reports. The autopsy was not available yesterday evening when my office had requested the report. I’m not sure how Mr. Varnish was able to secure a copy where I was not.” The man’s bright smile didn’t appear to be helping Ms. Stovall’s mood. “The fact is that the implication that my client was the last person to interact with Morgan Hallsbrad before his death, is far from the truth. However, without a proper investigation, I am unable to determine if—or under what circumstances Mr. Hallsbrad may have lost his Skills during his time at the hospital.”

Judge Dench sighed tiredly. “I’m afraid that lack of time or resources is not a valid argument Ms. Stovall.

“Counselman Varnish. Counselwoman Stoval. In this preliminary hearing of the case of Brodie Flacarada vs The Crown Council appointed by the Attorney General and Supreme Court of Canada, I am—at this time, unable to determine the guilt or innocence of the defendant Brodie Flacarada beyond a reasonable doubt.” Judge Dench said, her eyes locking onto mine. “I’m afraid I will have to send this to trial.”