Jessica sighed, missing her paper pad. She had finished the three books she was allowed, and she had no way to request more. She was stuck playing chess with King, which was an exercise in futility. Apparently this was one of the first things brought back to the Dusk when Entities began interacting with humans.
“Queen to e8, Checkmate.” King informed her. Jessica sighed, “When do you think I’ll be allowed a new book?”
She felt King’s shrug, “I can’t say, don’t ask rhetorical questions. It’s childish.”
Jessica rolled her eyes, “I’m not 18 yet,” She reminded him.
“So? You have authority now. That comes with the responsibility of an adult. By every measure that matters, you a no more a child than I.”
Jessica sighed, “Yeah, ok.” Her tone was dismissive, but Jessica was getting antsy.
She figured this would happen, but that doesn’t make this any less unpleasant. She looked over her actions once more in her mind’s eye, in fact she had bitten the hangover and relived the whole day over in her mindscape with King that night. She had obviously broken the law, duh, but she hadn’t done anything serious. It was definitely flashy, not something that could be swept under the rug, but she’d probably only get community service or something.
Jessica rubbed her eyes. Whatever. She did have scary mind control powers. They were probably reviewing counters to her power in order to keep her in line. Any minute someone would walk through those doors in headphones and lead me to a soundproof interrogation chamber where her deal with the Bound Department would be hammered out. A few free years to knock out her community service followed by a cushy desk job.
“Don’t be so sure. The Dusk is no more a peaceful place than any other. I found great success on the battlefield.” King chuckled, presumably at some memory or another.
His presence and hundreds of years of experience made this whole thing a lot less boring at least. She sat up on her bed and stretched. It was noon, time to exercise. She had seen prison movies before. The main character always had a schedule during the solitary confinement scene. It helped. King kept count while Jessica focused on form, she wasn’t the biggest exercise fan, but it felt nice to move in this dumb box.
She was sweaty and a bit gross when her door opened. She was using a wet towel to wash up, since she was only allowed to shower right before lights out to avoid starting a riot. She turned around to find three guards, and a man in a suit. A folding chair in his hands, the agent walked in. The agent was not wearing headphones. He wasn’t Diez or Michaels, which wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was a physical typewriter being brought in, and paper being fed into it. Two guards stood by the open door while one guard stood directly behind the Agent as he sat down, eyes on the typewriter.
The agent tapped his earpiece once. This was interesting. “Oh, that’s clever.” King muttered, What was clever?
“They’re going to have the man transcribe this meeting. You give him an order; it gets written down and the guard behind him sees it. You tell him to stop or to write something else, the guard sees it. If you try to order the guard, the agent stops typing to prevent the orders from reaching him. It’s clunky but considering they had three days it is very thorough.”
Jessica nodded slowly, It was good to know she was being taken seriously at least. The agent spoke, typing very quickly.
“hello Jessica, My name is Agent Mathers of the Bound Department. I am not in the room. I am speaking to the man in the room. He is a professional stenographer. He will be transcribing the meeting. I cannot hear you, but I can read the transcript. Do you have any questions?” The man said in a monotone voice. He kept his eyes on the typewriter.
“No,”
“Then let us begin. This interview, which is being held on Tuesday the 20th, 12:35pm, is with citizen Bound Jessica Adams. Jessica has confessed to an incident involving over one hundred civilians, no casualties. Is that information correct.”
“Yes sir.”
“What can you tell us about your powers?”
Jessica took a moment. She had been thinking this over for a while now, whether to just confirm what they knew, or to really go in depth. She had already made that decision, but it was nice to have a moment to digest.
“I can give orders, they need to be orders that are achievable and the orders must reach the intended target. I do not know if written orders count though I assume it’s a possibility.” Jessica explained, “I know only partly how it works, but it’s not really explainable in a way humans can understand. I can say that it is not mind control, or direct control. The targets are still autonomous from myself and can complete complex tasks as long as my orders are specific.”
Jessica took a deep breath, “It is possible to relay orders through electronic audio devices but I do not know if recordings are included in that.”
The Stenographer held up a finger and typed for a few moments. He waved his hand and Jessica resumed.
“I know it has something to do with directing the body directly, something about a universal hierarchy but quite frankly it makes me sound like I’m a supremacist or something, so I’ll not have that discussion on record. That’s it for my knowledge.”
There was a pause as the man finished typing.
Agent Mathers asked, “You know this through testing?”
Jessica shrugged, “Some, but a lot is just me repeating what my Entity told me.”
“I see, and do you trust your Entity?”
Jessica frowned at the question, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “To a point, but I’m more of trust but verify type of girl. I can say it has been entirely truthful thus far in regards to my power.”
“Can he hear us speaking?”
Fuck, ok. Let’s do this. “Sort of. He is viewing the world through my senses. He cannot directly interact with anything though.”
“Can you hear him?”
Shit, Why does it feel like she’s walking into a trap. “Since we increased our bond, yes. Not before then. I only increased our bond when the incident at the solstice party occurred. Before then there was only contact through dreams.”
“We are aware of the party, please do not reference it any further.”
“Why not? It’s kind of a big deal, what with it being the reason I’m here.”
“The reason you’re here is… Strike the last few sentences.”
The stenographer complied and there was a minute of silence as the man painstakingly used a liquid to remove the ink from the paper.
“I’m going to move along. What happened the morning of the incident?”
Jessica sighed. “I got up, overheard my mother talking with a school board member, I don’t remember who. She then complained that he wanted the senior class to come in to school for a mandatory meeting about bullying.” She couldn’t help but laugh derisively, “Because those are so damn impactful right?”
Jessica took a deep breath. “My mother is not a good person, and she decided that somehow she was the victim in all of this mess. I set her straight, ordered her to approve the mandatory meeting and had her take a sleeping pill. She had been in bed when I left.”
She left out the whole making her stop breathing thing, but it was a fully truthful retelling. Agent Mather’s thought otherwise.
“Anything you decided to leave out?”
Jessica shook her head, “No, I then called-“
“Are you sure Jessica.”
The stenographer’s monotone chilled her.
“I’m sure.”
“That’s a problem Jessica, because you seemed to forget the fact that your mother washed her pill down with two fifths of whiskey.”
Jessica froze, slow dread filling her. She hadn’t ordered her mother to do that.
“I. I didn’t tell her to do that.”
Sleeping pills and ethanol were a dangerous combination. Jessica’s mind raced, was she ok. Is she in the hospital? Shit! This wasn’t right. She shouldn’t have had alcohol. Her mother didn’t drink at home.
“She left a note,” Agent Mathers said.
“I.”
“Your mother is dead, Jessica. As of right now it appears you killed her. We just need to know if this is murder or manslaughter.”
Jessica shut down. Her mind blank. Her mother can’t be dead. That woman was a cockroach. She passed every review, got everything she wanted. She, she. She couldn’t be. Jessica heard a loud buzzing in her ears as she stared blankly at her knees. Her mother was dead.
“Jessica!” King shouted, “Jessica snap out of it!”
“I’m here,” She whispered, her breath catching.
“Lawyer, Ask for one now!”
Jessica looked up at the men in the room. The guards looked straight ahead, the stenographer and the guard behind them stared at the typewriter. Nothing moved.
“I want my lawyer.”
“Jessica, you-“
“I’m a citizen of the council, I am entitled to a lawyer. Get out!” She screamed, grabbing her head. She leaned down, head between her legs as she began to sob.
She heard the men leave. She didn’t move. Her mother was dead. She had killed her. Her mother was dead. It was all her fault.
“Stop, stop with that. Your mother was not ordered to drink. You just had her take a single pill. She chose to wash it down with ethanol. She probably knew what would happen. It was a suicide, plain and simple.” King said. Jessica shook her head violently.
“Why? Why would she do that? What point was there? She can’t be dead.” Sobbing, she grabbed her pillow and screamed into it. Curling up on the thin mattress, she wept.
Jessica felt so fucking stupid. As if her reputation at school mattered even a little. As if any of that mattered. She should have waited. She could have handled it. Why? Why did she…
Jessica rose and touched the wall. If she was home she could have ordered something to help her sleep. She could have switched schools. She could have done any number of things but she decided to burn it all down in the most over the top stupid petty way possible. Her mom was dead because of it.
“You can’t think like that Jessica.” King whispered. “Things have gone wrong. This hurts, but you need to be wrong. If they charge you with murder you will not be working in a new life. This room will be your new life. So get a grip, we can grieve tonight.”
Jessica took deep breaths. King’s words hurt. They hurt so much. Didn’t change the fact that he was right. Fuck. This was bad. She lay silently in bed, holding in tears while she waited for her lawyer.
It was the next day, Jessica and King had spent a long time talking. Jessica got her emotions out enough to function at least. So when a young man in a poorly fitted suit was lead in wearing an earpiece. The lawyer, if his briefcase was any indication, looked pissed. The guards and stenographer from yesterday was with him.
“Greetings Jessica.” The man said, sitting backwards in the bolted chair. “I am Raymond Guereza. I’m sorry for your loss.” He reached out a hand, and Jessica rose out of the bed and shook it.
“Don’t worry, after we finish this shit show I will be personally having a good friend get you an excellent settlement for the OBVIOUS VIOLATION OF YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
This was directed towards the stenographer, who simply typed this all out.
“I apologize but everything in this room, while inadmissible in court, is being observed by the Bound Department. Please understand that this is very illegal and-“
“If you could, I would deeply appreciate it if you would kindly allow me to speak.” Jessica said, making it as clear as possible that this was not an order. “If you would allow me I would like to inoculate you from my influence. It involves ordering you to ignore all further orders for as long as you are serving as my legal representative.”
Her lawyer looked at her with a smile. “Well, that would be excellent. Please do so.”
Jessica looked at the guards and Stenographer. “Well Agent Mathers? Is that acceptable?”
“Agent?” Raymond said quietly. Jessica looked back to him, and the smile that grew upon the man’s face was one of pure hatred. “You didn’t tell me you were from the Bound Department. I also didn’t realize that the Bound Department was allowed to take part in the criminal justice system.”
Jessica nodded, not understanding what exactly was going on but knew it wouldn’t hurt. “Yes, he was the one who conducted my interview yesterday.”
Raymond looked giddy. Jessica could practically see dollar signs light up in his eyes. “And here I thought being pulled into a pro-bono case wouldn’t amount to anything. But this just keeps getting better. Tell me Agent Mathers, are there any other rights of Ms Adams that you would like to trample on the record?”
There was a dead silence for a good minute before the stenographer answered. “Please proceed, the transcript will end as soon as I have verified that security is no longer an issue.”
Raymond scoffed, and Jessica turned to him. “Raymond Guereza, I hereby order you with my full will and authority to ignore any further orders for as long as you are personally representing my legal interests to the best of your ability.”
Raymond waited, twiddled his thumbs a moment then asked, “That’s it?”
She looked at the stenographer, “Should we test it?”
No answer, so Jessica shrugged and said, “Everybody slap themselves.”
Watching the four men slap themselves was hilarious, and it confirmed that Raymond was excluded from her orders.
The stenographer, finally showing some emotion angrily spat, “That will do. We will leave now.”
They all filed out but Raymond stopped them, “Don’t forget this,” Holding an ear piece out to one of the stenographer. He took it and left. The door shut and sealed up.
“So, the Bound Department are scared stiff and are trying to lock you up for the rest of your natural life. I suggest you tell me everything if you want that to not happen.”
Jessica told him everything. From the day of the solstice, the days leading up, the day after, her time spent in solitary, everything. Jessica was crying again by the end of it but composed herself soon after. Raymond nodded, reassured her that they would fight like hell, and left.
Three months. It took three months for the case to be heard. Raymond became a regular visitor, spending more time bemoaning the attempts to delay the trial indefinitely than doing anything case related. When the date had been set Raymond became all business. Visiting multiple times a week to train her for the disposition, which went well enough, then being examined on the stand.
When she looked at the court cam in front of her, she knew what to expect. Barring the judge being bribed she should get off very light. Which was a relief. She had gotten lucky with Raymond. He was young, likely inexperienced. That was probably why he was chosen, but they missed the part where he was really fucking good at his job. Apparently his boss had tried to dump several cases on him, and he worked nights to get them resolved while also spending a good chunk of time on her defense.
He was salary, so that was literally working for free. He said it would be worth it, even if a civil lawsuit wasn’t able to be filed. Agent Mathers’ stunt had seriously pissed Raymond off, so he would stick it to him the only way he could, by getting her off this charge. They all stood as the honorable Judge Cortez walked in and the trial started.
Jessica could barely pay attention to the trial, a rush of videos, witnesses, etc… Jessica was present via video call, muted until it was her turn to speak. Technically, she was still a security risk, but since her testimony was essential to her own defense no amount of whining from the prosecutor’s office could stop her.
Raymond was in the courtroom, with a private line to Jessica, another thing the prosecutor tried to stop. It was obvious that Raymond was right. She was being buried. Shoved into a box where she couldn’t threaten the public. She understood the feeling. If she really wanted it would be child’s play to make the city yet another kingdom like the pre-war ones.
Of course, her understanding of their fear was no reason for her to stop fighting. Or ignore the shit they tried to pull. She had focused a lot on civil law before, but criminal and civil rights were just as interesting. She began to understand just how messed up it was for the Bound Department to interview her in the first place, and Raymond used that as the first piece of evidence in the trial.
Jessica’s defense was simple. She clearly did not kill her mother, and the prosecution were merely trying to lock up a child because the Bound Department interfered with the judicial process. It was compelling, and the Judge seemed reasonable enough. He was slowly losing patience, which was a good sign. He nodded along with her testimony and gave his condolences for her mother.
The judge was also clearly getting pissed off at the prosecution. “Defense, call your next witness,” The judge ordered.
Raymond stood, “Carl Adams, your honor.”
“Objection,” The prosecution’s lawyer said, she heard his name at the start of the trial but she couldn’t recall it. He was a portly man of middling height and a noticeably nicer suit than Raymond. “Mr Adams was struck as a witness by Magistrate Perez.”
The judge opened his mouth but Raymond spoke first, “The basis for the strike was the restraining order set against the man by his late wife. Due to your insistence after the fact that Miss Adams not be present physically, your request lost it’s basis. There is precedence to allow Mr. Adams to testify. The City v. Benson Christe”
Before the prosecution could retort the judge slammed his mallet. Another thing Jessica knew the name for but couldn’t bother to remember. “Enough.” He said sharply, “I will not have bickering in this court.”
He pointed to Raymond, “The City v. Benson is cited as an exception due to the nature of the witness, Character witnesses are very different and it was a civil case, not criminal. I will not go against the magistrate in this, Objection sustained. Please choose a new witness,”
He pointed to the other lawyer, “But don’t think I didn’t notice the behavior of the City Attorney’s office. The comments made will remain on record so don’t even think about requesting it stricken.”
Raymond sighed, “Then I would like to state for the record that Mr. Adams did show up for court in support of his daughter, Mr.Adams please stand.”
Jessica sucked in a breath, she hadn’t realized her dad would show up anyways. In the back of her mind her dad could have hated her for what she did.
“If it was probable that the claims of my opposition had any standing then her father would not show up in support, nor would the opposition go to such lengths to deny his voice to be heard. I call Jessica Adams Your Honor.”
“I would ask THAT comment be stricken from the record your honor!”
This sort of thing had been happening during the entire multi-hour trial and even during Jessica’s testimony. The final straw was when she was being cross-examined. A few questions in, reviewing facts, talking about the party, a review of her kicking a guard’s crotch, and pointed questions that were just this side of acceptable to try and make her seem prone to violence despite her recent aptitude test.
“Tell me Jessica, at any point while you were influencing your mother, did you ask her to stop breathing?”
“Objection, speculation.”
“Sustained,” The judge grumbled. He looked very done as this was the fifth sustained objection just this interview.
“I would ask that you allow the question your honor,” The man said simply.
“On what grounds,” The judge Cortez asked.
“On the grounds that the answer will be paramount in this case sir.”
Raymond frowned. “Your honor I would like to ask what opposing counsel means by that. There is no record anywhere that Jessica has or would order such a thing. The specificity and certainty of the question is highly concerning.”
The judge slammed his… gavel, that’s right it’s a gavel and shouted, “Counsel my chambers! Now!”
Jessica sat in her cell, terrified. King being the only comfort she could draw.
Judge Cortez was having a bad day. The cases he had to judge were usually easy matters. Then his entire day gets thrown into turmoil because some asshole at the CA’s office decided to fail to request a court date, as well as further and further delays to an unacceptable degree. If the case had not been about a first-degree murder it would have simply been tossed. Murders were very rare in the Grand City, and harshly punished.
He glared at the two attorneys who had been going at it since 9’oclock in the damn morning. It was 3pm and Judge Cortez was on his fifth cup of coffee. He slowly sipped his glass, enjoying the smooth taste of the replicated drink. He had tasted properly grown coffee beans once, but to be perfectly honest the cost was simply too much compared to good enough replicator coffee of the exact same thing.
“Alright gentlemen. This case has to be one of the most ridiculous shit shows of my career. The normally greased wheels of the justice system has been ground to a halt by interference and stupid questions. So I’m going to ask 3,” He held up three fingers, “I say again three questions. If it is directed to you then you answer in as few words as possible. If it is not, then shut the hell up or so help me I will have you arrested for contempt of court.”
Judge Cortez took another long sip of his coffee. “Counselor Guereza, Did Jessica order her mother to stop breathing, and if so give me the full details.”
Raymond, the 20 something hotshot public defender out to make a name for himself told him about the 40 seconds of irresponsibility and unacceptable abuse of power the young Jessica committed.
“Counselor Guereza, Counselor Markus, Is this incident written down anywhere?”
“No your honor. It was not in any record, interview, disposition, or document. It was told in confidence in a sealed solitary confinement cell in what was promised to be unobserved, unrecorded time with my client.” Raymond answered.
The judge slowly turned in his chair to the poor sap forced to do the CA’s dirty work, Markus was older, past his prime perhaps. Especially if he agreed to this. “No, your honor.” He admitted. “It is not written down but I-“
The judge held up a hand, taking a third draw from his cup. “So, if this information was told in confidence, and is privileged information that is not only inadmissible, but should also be impossible for a City Attorney’s office to acquire, please help me understand why you are bring this shit up in my goddamned courtroom. And I had better like this answer a whole lot.”
Judge Cortez waited, Mr. Markus stared at his shoes like a scolded child. The judge nodded, “That’s what I thought. See, I have a theory, and please tell me if I’m wrong, that the Bound Department is trying to manipulate our courts to get rid of a problem they are too cowardly to deal with. Afterall, the initial incident is simply not enough for them to shove her in a box. But murder, now that will take care of her.”
Mr. Markus stared at his shoes even harder. Judge Cortez finished his mug.
“I’m not one who likes being taken for a fool Counselor, so please understand that when I say that you should probably retire yesterday, it means fucking yesterday. Someone’s going to be left holding this bag when the shit storm settles and it’s probably going to be you.” He stood, “Now, if we’re done playing games I would like to have my evening, since you wasted my morning and afternoon over a suicide.”
Jessica watched Raymond, the prosecutor, and the judge walk back to their places on screen. Raymonds voice came through the earpiece, “Congratulations, we did it.”
Judge Cortez spoke loud and clear to the court, “Strike the last question from the record. I’m ready to give my judgement.”
Jessica began to tear up, relief washing her over.
“Never in all my years have I seen a case as corrupt as this. I am going to put on the record that the Bound Department should be ashamed of themselves for interfering with this case. The CA should be ashamed of themselves for taking this case to trial. Counselor Markus should be ashamed for playing the patsy to one of the laziest attempts to pass the buck I have had the displeasure of seeing.”
He smacked his mallet, “I hereby find Miss Adams not guilty, and furthermore am taking a Judicial action and setting her sentence for the incident at West Middle School to be time served. I think three months in solitary confinement was plenty to let this CHILD,” He stressed the word, “understand not to abuse her powers. This court is dismissed, and if someone has a problem with that they can call me for the next two minutes before I leave for the day.”
Jessica burst into tears, King’s presence gifting her an approximate hug. Raymond was talking about civil suits but she honestly couldn’t care less.
Judge Cortez had his coat on and his briefcase packed, looking forward to playing a virtual game of golf with his wife, when the big woman herself walked in.
“Director! So good to see you. What can I do you for that will take thirty seconds or less?”
“Sit your ass down,” The Director of the Bound Department ordered. Judge Cortez laughed. He laughed right in her face.
“With all respect Director, go fuck yourself.”
She glared, “Strike your comment from the record. It was unprofessional and I will lodge a formal complaint if you don’t.”
The Judge walked past the Director, patting her shoulder. “If you thought that would do anything you wouldn’t be here. So tell me what you want you again, fuck off.”
“The girl cannot be allowed to join the Bound Department.” She said. Judge Cortez, hand on his office door sighed. He let go of the knob and walked back to his desk. He leaned against it.
“Ok, go on.”
The director looked evenly at him, the glare all but disappearing. “She is too uncontainable. If she goes rouge she threatens the entirety of Grand City.”
“Not my problem.” Judge Cortez replied.
“Our hands will be tied. By the time she does something to allow for containment it will be too late.”
Cortez rubbed his eyes, he knew of this woman, but to see it in action. Woof.
“So let me get this straight, because you are afraid of a little girl, you want me to stomp on this child’s rights as a citizen of the Grand City, go against everything I stand for, break every rule and regulation there is, because it is possible that there could maybe be a big thing to worry about.”
The Director slammed his desk, fury on her face, “Do not insult me! This ‘little girl’ could turn this city into another kingdom! Do you want that? Do you want to destroy this city?”
The judge looked at the director’s hand on his desk. He kept looking at it until it was removed from his desk. This woman had a reputation for being ruthless. For skirting past the rules that kept this city working. To ignore orders to get results. It’s why she was director after all, because she got results.
“You’ve seen her aptitude tests, yes?”
The director glared.
“Good, then you know that this doomsday scenario of yours is so unlikely it is laughable. She has no drive for power, no desire to lead. The best suggestion for her job is City Judge if you can believe it. The girl has strong morals and an aversion to leadership that would make her an excellent one in any other context.”
Nothing. Of course there was nothing. She had no grounds, and she damn well knew it. Maybe, if her aptitude tests were less agreeable, she may have had a shot at this piss poor plan of hers.
“I’ll be expecting your formal apology in a few weeks director, this meeting will be added to my complaint. I’ll also be requesting that Jessica’s case and file with the department be under close review for the foreseeable future. I have a bad feeling this won’t be the last time you try something. Though I’m sure you’ll find it much harder now that it’s you on the chopping block. The CA doesn’t like it when they’re thrown under the bus.”
He walked past her, and just for the fun of it patted the woman’s shoulder once more. “Look on the bright side, as long as you never try this shit again, you’ll probably keep your job.”
With that he walked out and looked forward to a lovely bottle and game with his wife as he walked out of the courthouse, and to the bus stop. Waving at the director’s entourage as it drove past.