Overture

Nala Loba walked towards them, her face a little startled. Her head raging with the possibilities. She could hear 2 heartbeats, but who knew how long until one of them slowed down and it ended? While she walked to them, with his mouth wide open, Fox slowly retracted his head up. He looked down at Nauer and the row of fangs leaving bloody marks in a circular fashion.

Fox stands up, with some blood dripping from his teeth as they went back to normal. He is calm and serene, but not quite impassive, looking different from normal. Meanwhile, Nala Loba walks over, her face relaxing upon seeing Nauer’s shocked but recuperating state.

She bent a little to check his state better. Other than the beating they gave to each other, things seemed fine. Fox, on the other hand, turned to her with his mouth and jaw less bloody than how he left Nauer. His shoulders were a bit low as he separated his elbow from his sides.

Nala Loba saw his state and the strange trembling of his impenetrable black pools before staring at Nauer. She lifted her gray, light blue eyes to Fox again, becoming a little paralyzed before extending a hand to Nauer.

“Hhggrrwwf!” Fox strangely scoffed/growled before moving away. Only when Fox started moving to the exit did the crowd wake up.

They looked at each other, trying to see if any of them had delirious eyes, but they were all fine. Furthermore, be it newbie or a Graded special agent, their breath was untouched and smooth-flowing. They stared at Fox’s back again. Indeed, he had taken care of it.

Fox ignored anyone and anything else until he came to the reception desk, where a pretty boy with Túacan aesthetics stood rooted to the spot. When he passed by the young man, the latter raised his voice, “Mena said she would take Teon back to your place. That she already checked her and that she was fine.”

“…” Fox growled and turned back to the fella. His WID told him quickly that the redheaded was a seconder, 2nd Grade. Fox nodded his head before leaving with his resting face. It was impassive, but it also carried a notion of never being at ease or feeling emotions.

“How did it feel?” A smooth, feminine yet robotic voice sounded from above Fox, just as he walked past the HQ’s entrance with his factory outfit. He stopped and looked to his right.

Colmillo landed there, walking to him with slow steps. Her mask looked neat, and Fox even discerned it had improved a little. He looked at Colmillo and asked her, his voice natural once again, “Is something the matter with you?”

“No,” her robotic, smoothing voice sounded. “I’m just checking you out. The trial is in 1 hour and 15, and I don’t know if your body can heal that much. There’s also a drug test, and that silver thing you used might be considered a drug by those ‘overlords’.”

“I will heal,” Fox shrugged. Colmillo shrugged too, “Then— your suit has been ruined.”

“Oh…” Fox was baffled. Indeed, he had some playtime and got it bloody. Colmillo put her left hand on her hip and shook her head. “I can help you, but can you give me a little discount if I buy more bions?”

“Sure,” Fox readily agreed, not minding it one bit with his biggest business partner. Colmillo opened her ‘fangs’ and went for more. “When you start making excellent bions, can you prioritize me? Also, don’t sell those to PSD, they buy it at 15% its real price, don’t let them fool you.”

“Okay… How can you help me?” Fox turned to her and sold his soul to a lesser devil. Colmillo’s mask hid her face, but Fox was sure she smiled. Colmillo hopped with little jumps off the ground to the exit of the factory’s perimeter, bringing a car with a control remote, of which she only pushed a button. Then, she opened the door to reveal not a driver.

“Ah, one of those?” Fox exclaimed before opening the co-driver’s seat. Colmillo said nothing and waited inside until he closed the door. Looking at her, Fox saw her just waiting. After some seconds of silence, her mask echoed, “I thought you didn’t like being close to people…”

“…” Fox rolled his eyes. A few minutes later, he let the surprisingly shy Colmillo drive without a co-driver and took his clothes off in the back of the car. A black curtain with reflective properties to light covered him from all windows and gaps.

She passed him an identical suit, only this one seemed heavier. Fox said nothing and just put it on, ensuring it was well-fitting. He saw Nala Loba put him on him a lot of times, after all. At last, 30 minutes later, Colmillo drove into the SCJ building, parking at the side.

There was one thing certain from all of this which Fox didn’t envision it would be so exaggerated… There were easily a thousand people from news anchors all around the block, pushing and flashing shots everywhere, even though they used the ‘government journalism’ cameras that are as good without flash than those that need it.

Fox finished putting his uniform on after Colmillo parked the car. Then, just as he exited and looked the same as always, still carrying some of the momentum he socially built on his tour for Luis’s campaign, he heard a car door open.

He looked at the driver’s seat just as he passed by the car’s front and countless reporters asked him even what kind of movie he’d like to make. Fox watched… Colmillo? She stepped out of the car, wearing a magnificent starry black, long toga dress with extra additions of the same covering her forearms and hand, leaving her fingers out.

The thing is, she wasn’t wearing a mask, other than her skin being shown. Colmillo had completely transformed. From a skin-tight suit with only wrists showing skin when wearing some outfits, to a gala beauty with unmatched charisma and dynamism.

Colmillo had the palest white skin, small drooping breasts, standing out but properly hugged by her toga dress, and was slightly tall. Her hair was bright, dark chestnut, short, and extra smooth. Her eyes were water-clear, light brown.

Her features were defined, sharp, and small; small especially on her facial features. As she showed herself, Colmillo looked at Fox with a resting, bitchy yet alluring, delicate expression. Without a doubt, Fox knew this was her natural expression.

He stood there for 2 seconds, and after praising her beauty, he nudged his head at her towards the entrance. Colmillo didn’t react but walked to him. Fox walked ahead of her, slowly, waiting for her to catch up. He didn’t place his arm around her body, or even touch her, and just walked together after she sped up, side by side.

“I’m Elega, not my assignation name, my real name. Just call me that when I’m not at work… with my mask.” Colmillo, Elega, slightly tilted her head to him. Her voice was so thin. Fox responded like he was being briefed on some procedures with his expression unchanged.

“I’m not your bodyguard, just a coworker. Oh, and help me look beautiful.” Elega held his left arm at the elbow. The crowd, which had grown overly saturated after seeing another beauty appear by his side, shoot and flashed or silently took photos of them as they walked to the entrance.

“Wait- wa- wait, please. Who are you?” A guard at the entrance extended his palm, stopping Fox and Elega from going in. Nobody, not even his pal on the other side, felt he made sense. Fox felt like being humorous, “Oh, you don’t know? Then, would you like me to tell you my story?”

“What- no- what’s your identification?” The guard asked, trembling still before this guard-killer. Fox widened his eyes a bit, “Identification? What is that? Sounds sophisticated…”

“I- how could you not- I…” The guard stuttered, unable to find something to say and keep following instructions. Fox touched his sternum, feeling so ‘touched’ and about to speak again when a person walked out of the building.

“May I trouble the guards to let the core member of this trial inside? Thank you,” Lesly Rivera peeked her head out, causing another avalanche of camerafolk turning to her and destroying anything that could be considered privacy. Her smile was charming, though, and her words remained soft and considerate.

With such attitude and words, the guard looked back at her before lowering his head, nodding in shame as he stepped aside. He also only had a handgun at his side.

Fox looked at Elega and blinked, shrugging before walking past the guard. Just as a flood of flashes was incoming, Fox brought Elega to his front and let them picture his bum instead. With his gentle gesture, and some awws from the crowd, they walked inside.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Lesly waited for them a little inside, welcoming them with a large main hall, bright and luxurious but still humble… just a bit. Fox looked at Lesly, who looked at him like an aunty catching off a naughty kid, and even teased him. “A new one? What happened to the other? Jeez, Fox. You’ve changed. I thought you were different from those your age.”

“It’s not that, miss vice president whose life I saved,” Fox blinked and replied. Lesly puckered her lower lip out, saw his sincerity, and added. “I’m aware, alright? I was trying to put you at ease. Coming to court isn’t that easy at first, let alone the high tribune of the nation. Now I see, it isn’t needed. Let me get you to your booth for the testing and paperwork.”

“Okay, ma’am, thanks.” Fox nodded and said before looking at Elega, who waited behind him like a servant. Lesly scrunched her nose, “I don’t like that. It would be fine if I was the boss, but nah.”

Seeing Lesly so casual, Fox nodded, “And what would you like to be called then?”

“Sigh,” Lesly looked up and released a light sigh, “I’d like to be called some few things, but just ‘lady’ will be fine, if you want to be formal.”

“Ma- Lady, you need a husband.” Fox said, no filters. Elega lifted her eyebrows behind him, but Lesly sighed again and responded, sounding rather agreeing. “Don’t I? Well, occupational hazards, I’d say. Eh, how come you’re in a good mood, chiquillo(brat)?”

“I am not in a good mood,” Fox shook his head and refused it, sounding convincing. Lesly mouthed an ‘oh?’ before Fox further stated, “I’m just a bit relaxed. I also don’t have anything to feel pressured with.”

“What makes you feel so sure?” Lesly asked. Fox shrugged a bit. “Even if neither the president nor PSD will go against legal procedures for me, I can always go mad. Dying now isn’t different from falling in Preut.”

“That’s not what someone in the government should be thinking like. You’re not a soldier,” Lesly crossed her arms and said with what Fox considered a… pouty tone? Fox fell silent for a bit before lightly commenting, “It does feel like I am, instead. But I am not just that. What I don’t feel is being part of the government. I only sold myself to the campaign, nothing more.”

“And you did well in it, that’s why nobody would let you go. Even the opposition would still try to follow you and spill your secrets.” Lesly looked side-eyed at him. Fox lifted one eyebrow, thinking dangerous things, “Should I worry?”

“Only if you will feel too embarrassed with the lies they’ll make up of you.” Lesly smiled and shook her head a little, moving her hair tied into a ponytail behind her shoulders. They walked until arriving at a door, to which Lesly left.

“Let’s go,” Fox gestured to Elega, who nodded and entered his after him. This ‘booth’ was a large room with many chairs, shelves with books he couldn’t care to read the titles of, and some beverages to drink water or satiate one’s need of feeling full. There were also some bubble gum.

“Looks more like a waiting room. Why does it look so old? Even the chandeliers seem 70-80 years old.” Elega commented after 2 minutes, with Fox grabbing some strong chocolate small candies and trying to find a fruit anywhere. But in this place where the budget seemed to have its funds vacuumed out of, it would be a surprise to even see a cockroach here, let alone fruit.

“Mhm, there aren’t oranges anywhere.” Fox commented before lowering his gaze to Elega, who looked around, curious yet unenthusiastic. “Why did you come with me? Besides the prize of my excellent quality bions reserved for you?”

“I want to selectively delve into the relationship between Lýmoca’s cooperative parties and PSD.” Elega laid it out clearly and swiftly, not erring in any of her pacing or wording. Fox’s eyes twinkled, “Alright, that makes sense. Now, something fun. Who do you like to want to appear here?”

“…” Elega turned around at once, albeit without a surprised or alarmed face, but a serene one. She was clearly not impacted by his words, his guess.

Tu- trump. Before they could continue, the doors opened to reveal Butler and some other infiltrated special agents. Fox nodded at them, before some workers who seemed to come from the ordinary world entered, unaware they were surrounded by SAs.

“Thank you, mister Egoaiz, we’ll take it from here.” One of the workers, a chubby, regular height, man said after bowing to Butler. Butler didn’t move, letting his amicable-looking eyes remain on Fox with his hands behind his lower back, “No need for such formalities. Go ahead and do your job. Don’t you trick us, eh? Hahahaha.”

After Butler’s hearty, warm laughter, the man who bowed smiled forcefully, although he hid it well. The man nodded and uttered before moving to Fox, “Very well.”

Smelling the building sweat on the worker and the others, Fox looked at them with his tall figure as they walked to him. Fox leaned against a counter on his shoulder level. The worker from before grabbed a box from another worker and presented it to Fox, but Fox only looked down at them. There was roughly half an hour before the trial commenced.

Now that Fox entered the SCJ building, if any motive delayed his testing and the trial couldn’t proceed in time, there would only be a single guilty, corrupt party that the people could point fingers at. Thus, the man sweated.

He placed the box on the counter before showing Fox some papers in folders, grabbing them from a brief another worker carried. The man gulped after opening the box on the counter and commenced, “Sir… Fox, please use the instruments and use them at your discretion. These are the formularies, please read them. These are the documents you must sign before the trial. Please hurry, there is little time remaining before the trial’s schedule begins.”

Elega walked forth and took the documents from Fox’s hand, reading them half a second each before throwing more than half away. Organizing those she didn’t throw away, Elega returned them to Fox’s hand, “Only these are official, the others are alternatives, I suppose.”

“Thanks,” Fox said before reading them, grabbing the syringe in the box on the counter and directly placing it on his left jugular, taking blood from there. The workers widened their eyes, wondering if this was a suicidal attempt before facing justice. Butler was unreactive, but Elega’s left eyebrow jumped, remaining high for a little while.

After reading and giving a proof of his blood, Fox signed the documents Elega gave him after tossing the others away, now littering the floor. Shortly after, Butler accompanied the workers outside. The special agents gave Fox a look, which made him grin in realization.

That blood of his wasn’t going anywhere but to be used and then lost in the SCJ building. Indeed, the Supreme Court Ministers and Supreme Justice Minister were something, but not comparable to the Piya Sanctum District.

… Half an hour later, Fox walked out of his booth, accompanied by Elega on his left. She hooked his left elbow again, walking with ease, and she even made Fox feel a bit relaxed.

“!” Stepping into the high tribune after walking a long corridor to it, only traversing half its length, Fox was a bit taken aback. He thought there would be some core members of opposition media’s news anchors and the judicial branch inside. However, it wasn’t that simple. There were indeed those news anchors he imagined would be there, but also a few independent ones, with one in particular; the BLF news anchor.

Furthermore, there were some politicians in the ‘stands’. The room was long, adopting a rectangular dimension, with the sides having glass for the people sitting on both sides to see and hear. Some hearing devices were implanted on each section of the glass where a group of people sat. These would transmit whatever the main actors in the trial had to say.

On one end, with a small podium a few meters before their open window, was a set of 12 seats behind a single seat. On the other were the entrance to the stands, the center, or the underground where the 13 people sitting before the podium had to walk through to get to their seats.

Everyone was seated except for the 13 seats, with the only person that hadn’t arrived being Fox. He walked with Elega to the center to enter the middle, where he separated after giving her left forearm a squeeze. Elega stood behind and watched him go for a while before walking to the side where ‘Fox’s side’ was. There was a clear difference in both sides.

On the left, Fox had the people who supposedly came to attend his trial with positive thoughts towards him. On the right, those whose thoughts towards him were negative. The left only had a couple of dozen people, but the right side had at least a hundred people, not including the news anchors’ core members.

As Fox finally appeared, everyone’s heads turned to him. Fox slowly walked to the podium. It was like he was trying to teach the people in the room, and those transmitting through several channels, how to properly walk. One step after the other, one after the other…

A guard in the middle, sweating and gulping, walked forth when Fox neared the podium, presenting handcuffs to restrain him. Fox looked at the Mintip material before nodding at the guard. The guard felt relief, but he was still nervous as he put them around Fox’s wrists.

Afterwards, Fox walked to the podium, when he saw people nobody told him would be there. Luis and… Armando Peña?! Even his wife was there. Fox stopped, looking at the cutie Yue whose body gave him a strange sensation. As Yue waved at him and jumped a little, not caring about the somberness of the situation, Fox tilted his head while looking at her abdomen.

Yue stopped and blushed in realization after staring at him dumbly. She smiled shyly. Fox nodded a bit before looking at Luis, with Lesly behind his right. The president sat there like any other person. He sat straight and looked at Fox with a stern expression, yet peaceful.

Fox darted his eyes away to the side and walked to the podium. For some reason, he felt a weight creep onto his shoulders, then to his back. He also felt like he was walking not uphill, but with the world tilted upwards. Each step further confirmed this sensation.

When he arrived at the podium, and he had just placed his feet on its flooring for 3 seconds, the people on both sides stood up. Fox was looking down, feeling rested when hanging his head from his neck, although he appeared desolate and surrendering to the cameras and people on his right.

Lifting his gaze, Fox’s polycoria eyes locked onto the 13 people with a couple of dozen people surrounding them walk to the center on the other end of the room. Fox caught a glimpse of red hair with narrowed eyes before relaxing them, opening them to a full and returning to hang his head. They went down the stairs, heading to the 13 seats before him.

He could feel their footsteps below him. After a minute, with the dozen attendants, more than the people standing on his left behind the glass, the 13 highest positions of the judicial branch appeared before everyone’s eyes again. This time, while they were on the sides, and Fox a few steps below, they could only stare at their backs.

The ministers turned to sit on their chairs. The 12 seats behind were much smaller than the one at the front, where the redheaded, notorious ‘ringleader’ stood beside it. At last, the Supreme Justice Minister turned and sat on her throne-like chair, followed by the other ministers, whose attendants kneeled on their four corners.

…