Phesx Caolia, Is It?
Flap, flutter. Tap, tap. The Supreme Justice Minister arranged the last small pile of papers and smacked them against her table before lifting her chin, placing her pen down. Her throne-like seat went farther to the sides from her arms by almost a meter, while its backrest was 2 meters tall. It was made of wood, and it had some stem-like patterns carved, forming wide and rich or thin fatness between the trails. The corners of her seat had coiling, thicker gold-brown color, different to the obscure brown elsewhere, although they seemed a little like horns.
Everyone turned to Vanessa Valyer after these 10 minutes of arranging stuff. Nobody raised their voice more than necessary to whisper in both sides, and the attendants around the ministers remained quiet with their heads low and eyes closed. Although their heads weren’t as low as hanging from their necks, unlike Fox, and his eyes were hard to catch a glimpse of, even from the sides.
She looked at Fox, who kept his head low, and tilted it. Her tongue moved a bit before clenching her jaw as a gesture. She turned to her right and told an attendant, “Results from the signed documents and blood tests of the criminal.”
“Your Justice, that would be the accused, not criminal.” Armando Peña stood from his seat and pressed a button below the glass, talking into a microphone. It wasn’t connected to the hearing devices implemented in the glass windows.
Vanessa Valyer looked at him from above, her eyes a little downturned, before nodding. She turned to her attendant again, who halted from following her instructions, and said, “Bring me the documents of the person I told you about.”
Fox looked at Armando, who slowly backtracked to his seat. Nobody was supposed to have any speaking power here except when indicated by the court. In this case, the 12 Supreme Court Ministers and the Supreme Justice Minister.
Armando looked at Fox and gave him signals to feel at ease. But Fox kept staring at him. Armando tried to make Fox to stare ahead and not bring attention to him, but Fox kept staring at him under her Justice’s eyes. Fox grinned at last and erased it before hanging his head again, not giving the cameras or those on his right the sight of his eyes, let alone those in front.
It was but a little play to humor himself. Fox smirked again from the left corner of his mouth after a little while. He couldn’t help himself.
The attendant returned with the papers, to which Vanessa Valyer read a bit before addressing the people in the room, “These are the documents of the… accused. I will now read them, although there seems to be a few missing. But it is enough to proceed with this trial after the lecture.”
“… The person before us is indeed the accused for this trial. He has attended the trial on time and has confirmed the veracity of this court, the trial, and the charges for what he is put in trial. Today, in the year 1,026, 1st month, 1st week, 6th day— 10:00 PM, the trial will take place.”
Vanessa Valyer lightly tapped her desk, with a clapping noise of wood emanating from her seat and desk. Everyone sat on their seats. None of the ministers recognized the president, and only some barely looked at them. One of them was a young woman, brown, and with an excited yet stern countenance. She seemed in a good and somber mood.
Vanessa Valyer wrote a few things in the documents presented to her, then looked up at Fox, who kept his head low. She didn’t frown and just stared at him for several seconds. The cameras caught this seemingly awkward moment, before she spoke out, “To begin this court, I will take the accused’s name and require the accused to sign it. It will be imprinted in paper, and this trial will begin. Is there any word from the accused’s defense?”
“No, your Justice.” Armando Peña stood up again and pressed the button before sitting back down. Luis Heartez stood up and pressed the button after Armando. He spoke plainly, “No.”
“This trial will now request the accused’s identification via vocal confirmation.” The Supreme Justice Minister declared, looking intently at Fox. She rapidly moved her head down to rapidly trace and write something on a document before looking back up as Armando and Luis seemed busy checking something from a tablet.
“!” At the same instance Vanessa Valyer looked back up at Fox, Fox naturally slowly lifted his face. His eyelids were still closed, but he opened them before lifting his chin completely. Azure met impenetrable black, causing the former to shrink as her head jolted backwards.
Her natural rosy lips inadvertently parted. At the same time, Fox looked at Vanessa Valyer with his natural expression for a while before asking, “Whose name?”
“Yours,” Vanessa Valyer spouted without thinking, informal. Fox frowned a bit, seeming to mull over it. He quickly shook his head and shrugged a bit, “Fox.”
“…” The Supreme Court Ministers frowned at him, let alone the Supreme Justice Minister. She kept her eyebrows knitted and looked down at some documents before staring at him with upturned eyes, not lifting her head, “This court requires your real name to begin this trial.”
Fox looked down, his head tilted with his chin to his left shoulder. His polycoria eyes slightly narrowed without emotion behind them, he quickly shook his head a bit again, “My real name? Or the one I was birthed with? I have a few, and some other mentions, too. Which is more proper?”
“That is not the accused’s real name, if the accused doesn’t…” The Supreme Justice Minister repeated, her cheeks becoming a bit forceful at the incredible situation. Luis and Armando unnoticeably nodded. With Fox buying time, any time, the attitude of the court, not just the ministers, towards Fox would be exposed, even if just lightly.
“I could use any name required, but I need to be aware of the name I am required to use. There is that one, but I don’t use it since a long time. There’s a need to evaluate the name the court seeks from me, and of which nationality. Because, there might be misconceptions if it isn’t clearly stated. Is it from a Preutian perspective, or a Lýmocan vantage? Can it be both? I also think it's necessary even more, because…” Fox spoke within the Supreme Justice Minister’s reminder. In other words, he didn’t show the highest judicial branch position her due respect.
Fox’s voice articulated between her words, but he might as well have interrupted her directly. As Fox continued babbling, arguing with himself over the confusion in his name, which he clarified from the documents before not putting emphasis on, Vanessa Valyer’s eyes turned solemn.
Flipping some documents she grabbed from under her desk, she read and traced with her eyes, adorning a serious expression. Fox was still babbling, “… I do not intend to intrude, simply-”
“Phesx Caolia, Is that not your name?”
Her voice through the glass microphone was particularly loud, more than anyone who has seen these sessions could imagine it to be. Fox stopped babbling, like a spell put on him. The left side of the glass was silent and somber like a rock, while the right barely had any idea of what was happening, but still recorded and watched.
“In the transition to become a Lýmocan officially, through documentation, digital and physical, you signed with your name… Phesx Caolia.” Vanessa Valyer read over the document her eyes were glued to after she stared at Fox firmly.
“That is truthful,” Fox responded, looking directly into her eyes, still with his natural face. His voice was soft and broken, contrasted by her earlier semi-yelling. Vanessa Valyer’s eyebrows twitched a bit, her eyes changing its shine. Her lips curled at his wording.
“I did it together, and for, my mother, Rubena Caolia.” Fox added, looking a little to the left from the Supreme Justice Minister. But then, he lowered his head and frowned sharply. He stared up at the redhead ringleader, “And yours?”
“… … …” Silence prevailed after Fox’s unnecessary question. Armando Peña stood up, “Your Justice, it’s courtesy from the accused. This is the defense’s clarification in the accused’s name.”
Vanessa Valyer looked at Armando and nodded. She looked at Fox, who looked at her, defiantly. She accommodated her body on her seat, feeling smaller than ever, more than she already was with her short height compared to her chair. She looked left and right and blinked each time before looking at Fox, eyes downturned. “Vanessa Valyer.”
“…” Fox nodded, lowering his head a bit to rest before stretching his neck, snapping some bones. The noise spread to the podium’s small glass microphone. Luis Heartez nearly rolled his eyes, with Armando pinching the thin bridge of his nose.
“This trial has begun!” Vanessa Valyer looked at Fox, maybe for a little too much. She sobered up and looked at the timing, 10:01 PM, before tapping the command on her desk again and declaring.
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A few minutes later, with the Supreme Justice Minister waiting for the Supreme Court Ministers to debate, following procedure, she seemed awkward, facing Fox head-on. She no longer felt as enthusiastic to carry on this trial with such conditions, but it was ridiculous to change it now.
At last, the Supreme Court Ministers seemed to have decided, with an attendant coming to speak to the Supreme Justice Minister’s ear. She tapped her desk, giving out a light clapping noise, “The court will proceed with the accorded ‘2 way confrontation exposition’, 2-w c-e, until the accused has answered all questions.”
“For this trial,” the Supreme Justice Minister suddenly added, making even the 12 behind her look at her, slightly taken aback. Armando frowned, curious and confused, while Fox stared at her like half an idiot.
“It is worth highlighting that this court, and the actors to question the accused, are not…” Her eyes shook a bit. She frowned and blinked before resuming, “Will not exert their power with abuse. This is not a political engagement, as the judicial branch is without sides, and it will attend to this trial impartially.”
“I will begin,” Vanessa further declared, staring at Fox as if to convey something with her strict countenance. Although the Azure…
“Before, you implied it was no longer necessary to follow a train of thought in terms of your name when it came to the distinction between your identification before and after becoming a Ly. Why is that?” Vanessa began. She seemed a little careful now. Quite intrigued in this answer.
“I recommend the accused to remain silent. This is not a question of importance to the trial,” Armando stood up and pressed the button. Fox nodded. Vanessa didn’t even spare Armando attention this time, let alone recognition, and waited.
‘What are you, judges or gossipmongers?’ Fox looked at the redhead with upturned polycoria eyes. ‘Fine. Since you want to know, and I am in the line, then why not let you know?’
“Preut was my natal home, where I lived my first…15 years I just consider that time, since my 13s, to be where I died… ‘Strictly’ speaking, I died a few times.” Fox worded. This made the stands a bit noisy, especially from the right side. The left was rather lost in his words, as most of them knew a thing or two of Fox, or had known about him differently to the public, like the BFL.
“You were part of 2 Preut military camps, is that correct?” Vanessa asked, to which Fox mouthed a simple ‘yes’. She nodded and moved a few documents she peered into on her desk with her arm stretched, “How did you become part of this fight?”
“After returning to my home, I went away with-” Fox commenced, but Vanessa interrupted him emotionlessly. “I will require the specifications from the accused. This trial has been assembled as a national matter, there are only short breaks between several hours. Please be detailed, and patient.”
“…” Fox’s shoulders tensed, but he relaxed his body and threw his vertebral column back along his neck. He parted his lips, becoming slightly dry. He looked around, not finding Nala Loba. He glanced at the left, at some PSD special agents, governmental important people, Elega aka Colmillo, and news anchors. “I returned to my home before the massacre across the 3 districts could catch up to me.”
Amidst the deafening silence, Fox ignored it, along with the Supreme Justice Minister’s frown, and continued. “I found a person in it, whom I had to kill to survive.”
“Was this person threatening you?” - “No, but he was taking everything from my home, everything necessary to live… in a war.” – “But was he threatening your life?” - “No.”
Vanessa frowned, she tentatively asked, studying Fox’s face. “Why d-… How did this person come to die at your hands?”
“After struggling to best each other physically, and getting stabbed, I… managed to break apart a bullet with another, blowing his br- head.” Fox’s words only helped the silence from before to continue. Vanessa felt her breathing become a bit heavy, but she had to continue, “What are the details of the successive events to this— until the moment you grouped with others?”
Fox hadn’t gotten to explain that part when he was interrupted before, but he spoke of something like this briefly in the presidential campaign. Clearly, it was studied by the SCJ well. He opened his lips, “I was in danger. The soldier’s team or squad were coming to my house to check on him. I hid, killed them, and then went out to kill some more with the weapons I could find.”
“One of the small groups I killed had killed my aunt and uncle, as well as my cousin, who was almost raped, but… died before it could happen.” Fox took a small breath, “After burying her as best I could, I fled from the neighborhood and into the wilderness, where I had seen signs of battling days before. I then fell unconscious from the infection.”
“To further clarify this,” Vanessa interrupted. “The person you found in your house was a male, adult soldier, and you killed him after engaging melee and getting stabbed? The subsequent soldiers you killed were also adults, at least 20-30 young men and women? And what sort of injury did you suffer?”
“Yes, my first kill was a male adult. The others were also preis, from the Prei district in Preut. My stabbing wounds were deep and… mutilated in the inside. It wasn’t until the next day, where I managed to wake up, that a doc- medic took care of that for me, using a skin partition.” Fox said.
“Skin partition? In Preut’s 1,020?!” A Supreme Court Minister asked, disbelieving and even feeling insulted himself. Vanessa lifted her hand to indicate for any non-speaker to stop. Yet, Fox looked at the minister who spoke and scrunched his nose up under her eyes.
“Yes, I know, it’s a shocker.” His voice as always, but openly mocking this time. “After all, with all the medicament lost in the sea, who would have thought Preut would have something such as an under-basic skin partition with a model of 280-300 years ago? It was everything she had. My, my. If only that medicine, high technology and efficient, wasn’t lost. I wonder how to feel about this when all of the responsible ones for it were let go of by you and your puny gang.”
“The person who aided and treated your infection? What is her name?” Vanessa loudly intervened, a forehead on her temple near the corner of her eye twitching a bit.
“I don’t know her last name or names, but she was Sofia.” Fox replied Vanessa’s inquiry. She frowned, “Was?”
“She was killed by a combat tank that should have never belonged to Preut when the first encampment I was in was obliterated by an incursion from a Prei military force.” Fox nearly snapped at Vanessa, but he kept his impassiveness still. “She was still in her new medical facility.”
“…” Vanessa fell silent for a bit, while the Minister who spoke just now, outrageous, looked down. Fox continued, “After meeting her back then… I met Paul… In the encampment, I became part of a team after… I killed him for Priscila’s sake… Paul died while I was still fighting for my life. Still… no medicine or supplies to even try to save him… I ran for… many hours. I couldn’t remember how or when I plummeted down, and then I kept going.”
“María’s team trained me to the level I could keep up with them, and even cooperate accordingly with other people, groups or parties, in combat. But what taught me… sigh, most of the things I am known for today— came from the battle for the Centralized Parliament.”
“After bidding María and her team farewell, I went to look for my mother. I formed a team with others who wanted to do the same as me, but not everyone even managed to return alive… I don’t know for sure who did, but I saw some who found whom they were looking for… My mother was the servant of other soldiers, and in my own house, again. On our way back…”
Fox continued to narrate whatever he was asked from his records, be it from Preut, the things that happened there, or the occasional private question on his person. Fox didn’t hide his sexuality, telling of his encounters at such a young age, and his psyche further deforming, also from a young age.
After Preut’s retelling was over, Fox was turned around by the Supreme Court Ministers, who asked him a series of questions that further followed up until today's date. They weren’t just prepared, they had formulated everything, even slowly building the exposition of Fox’s terrible humanity. Or at least that was the idea, and it wasn’t far from being successful at a great scale.
“Who were the Ruvas? Did they fund your machiavellian means and passions?” - “No. I never specified that, and I will never say anything different!”
“After my mother died, I left school and the Ruvas. I had already found a place to stay… it was very cheap, and just the pay from the refugee pensions was enough for the rent and… some food. I was used to not… having enough supplies. My time with the Ruvas didn’t change that.”
“But when I exited the Ojazul school, I was approached by… Riverlye.” Fox paused here for a moment. He looked at Armando, who has spoken out to avoid saying some things. Since there wasn’t such a reminder this time, then it was no issue that he spoke up to that point.
Sure enough, Vanessa intervened, asking with a frown. “Did you meet Riverlye this quickly? Why is there no word from when Lýmoca’s current government recruited you? When did this happen?”
“That’s a matter of… ‘national importance’.” A voice sounded. Everyone turned to Luis Heartez, including the Supreme Justice Minister. Armando pressed the button, but the president had spoken while seated, just getting to his feet as they turned their heads. This offense wasn’t signaled by Vanessa, who looked at Luis without much of a reaction.
“National importance, I see.” Vanessa articulated in a light tone. Luis nodded, “Certain information from now on will be clarified by my and Fox’s lawyer, Armando Peña. Anything that threatens the security of the nation will not be uttered in this court, with or without cameras.”
Vanessa was about to say something, opening her mouth, but Luis looked up at her and joined his fingers with separated palms. “I must remind the court it was the Supreme Court Justice that advocated for this to be transmitted live— to the world. You must ensure this constitutional law in the nation, and even if it isn’t, that leaving the nation vulnerable is what only a traitor would allow.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I have my job as the President of Lýmoca. Even though I could, I am not allowed to entrust my attention in one sole matter. I trust the Supreme Court Justice won’t be jealous of this.” Luis courteously nodded, “Farewell.”
He turned around and walked out of the high tribune, exiting the place with Lesly and Yue, leaving Armando Peña behind. The crowd looked at this a bit comically. Luis left, leaving Armando feeling both nervous and at ease. After meeting directly with the President and working with him, he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. It was nothing like the people or even Fox said it was.
Regardless, he looked at Fox and nodded before turning to the Supreme Justice Minister, who no longer had such an understanding and impartial air around her figure. “Fox’s matters to his involvement with the government will remain classified… gulp, in this court. Whatever specified, detailed, intricate information the court declares as required will be given following this notice.”
“Is it a decree?” Vanessa asked, looking down at the lonely lawyer, who only gulped more but kept his back straight. Yet, it was Fox’s voice who answered, making her snap her head towards him.
“It’s for Lýmoca’s safety.”
…