This World

by Lee, TD

  “Perfect, many thanks Adele, I can take over now,” the Prospector says.

  “Please do, as much of a rush this has given me, it is still not my element,” Adele says with a smile.

  “Now that I am up to date, why do you claim that the suspect went into that room simply for a murder?” the Prospector says, immediately starting an argument with the prosecutor.

  The prosecutor shakes his head and speaks, “Is that not just the logical reasoning in the line of events? The suspect walks into the room, leaves, and is arrested not long after. Al of this is within minutes of each other. Does that not seem to be extremely suspect?”

  “That’s irrational reasoning if you ask me,” the Prospector says, he turns his head to Grania, “Suspect, who were you talking to in the room?

  Grania looks away and says, “I-I. I can’t say.”

  The Prospector’s eyebrow arches up. He questions, “Why can’t you tell me?”

  “I just can’t,” Grania answers, avoiding any sort of eye contact with the Prospector.

  “Grania why won’t you tell me?” the Prospector asks, confused.

  “Please address the suspect properly, defense,” the judge chimes in.

  “Suspect,” the Prospector corrects himself, “please tell us why.”

  Grania remains silent, she’s biting her lips. Why won’t she say anything? This is weird.

  “Don’t you see your Honor? The suspect’s silence on the matter further implicates her more than it does define her innocence. This should be reason enough that the suspect should be locked up for murder,” the prosecutor says.

  “Prosecutor Berenices makes a very bold and good claim. With the suspect refusing to testify about why she entered the room, it is evidence enough to declare her guilty,” the judge says, looking like he’s about to raise his gavel.

  “It’s not solid enough reasoning, however,” the Prospector says. He’s not wrong. I don’t know how the law system works on this world, but isn’t it innocent until proven guilty?

  “Her silence in itself is enough reasoning,” Berenices, the prosecutor, says coldly.

  “How about we change the subject really quick then because there’s an inconsistency in the debriefing I received,” the Prospector suggests, strolling off again with platforms magically appearing underneath him. “The victim had been shot once through the heart, correct?”

  “What are you leading up to defense?” the judge asks.

  “You honor, there is a strange inconsistency between the murder weapon and the autopsy report. If the victim had been shot through the heart once, then why is it that it is reported that the murder weapon had been fired five times?” the Prospector asks.

  “The other shots from the murder weapon could’ve been fired previously. The victim, former prosecutor Kapros, was very keen on firearms,”

  “Could have, but I doubt it. Has it not occurred to you, prosecutor Berenices, to take a look at the crime scene at all?” the Prospector asks, rhetorically. He pulls out his phone and the pictures he took are being broadcasted on all of the screens in the courtroom. “These were found at the crime scene. As you can tell there are plenty of scorch marks in specific places of the room and even the bathroom. Five in total actually. Can you explain how these happened prosecutor Berenices?”

  “How do we not know you tampered with the crime scene with these pictures? Considering you gathered these photos, it raises suspicion on you as well,” Berenices says, dodging the Prospector’s question.

  “I had an assistant with me as I gathered these photos as well as there was security at the crime scene. If I were to tamper with the crime scene, surely they would have known. All I did was really gather these photos and inspect the irregularities of the room,” the Prospector answers, “now answer my question prosecutor, how did these scorch marks happen? And what links them to the suspect in question?”

  “Surely, you joke,” Berenices starts, this guy is almost as pretentious as Kapros, “the suspect was found at the bathrooms with the murder weapon. She accidentally fired the murder weapon then causing the scorch marks at the bathrooms. Which logically means she had the murder weapon and shot the victim in the meeting room with the same weapon.”

  “Right, then can you tell me how large of energy bullets does a Locust-15 shoot?” the Prospector asks. He’s wandered so far that he’s actually near the prosecutor now.

  “I’m afraid I am not knowledgeable in firearms,” Berenices answers.

  The Prospector turns around and asks the judge, “How about you, your honor? Do you know the size of energy bullets the Locust-15 shoots?”

  “The standard ammunition for any of the Locust models are about ten centimeters in diameter as it is an energy based firearm. Therefore it must gather the respective components around it before it actually shoots,” the judge answers.

  “Great job Prospector,” I hear Adele mumble quietly. She looks excited, happy even.

  “Ten centimeters in diameter, you say?” the Prospector joyfully questions, “Well that’s strange, as the autopsy reports that the hole of penetration is four centimeters in diameter.”

  Everyone watching gasps. The Prospector just found a huge inconsistency. That’s awesome.

  “What are you suggesting?” Berenices asks nervously.

  “Well, isn’t it obvious? If the murder weapon shoots out rounds of energy bullets that are ten centimeters in diameter? Then how is it that the victim’s body be different? As it has the deadly hole of four centimeters? Doesn’t make sense does it?” the Prospector grins widely.

  Berenices doesn’t say anything, he looks frustrated.

  “Clearly this shows that the victim was not killed by the suspect, there must have been another weapon that has yet to be discovered,” the Prospector says.

  “Very well, we shall have the guards investigate for another weapon,” the judge says, slamming his gavel down, “however, the suspect is still in question. She will not disclose what she saw or who she talked to in the room. This is enough to still incriminate her.”

  “Yes, yes,” the Prospector sighs a bit defeated. He looks at Grania again and he asks, “Grania, we’re close to ending this, can you tell me what you saw or who you talked to so briefly in that room?”

  Grania remains silent.

  “Silence is suspect,” Berenices chimes in. “All we want to do is gather the truth.”

  Adele steps forward and speaks loudly, “Suspect, perhaps you’re afraid of what will happen if you do tell everyone what you saw or who you saw in there.”

  Grania’s eyes widen a bit. She looks at Adele and says, “Y-yeah. Exactly!”

  “Could whatever or whoever you saw be threatening your life perchance?” Adele continues questioning. Grania hesitantly nods. “Is it not clear to everyone else in the court? The suspect is being blackmailed or at least having a threat placed upon her. Therefore her very own life is in danger if speaks out. She does not feel safe.”

  “Ah! Because the person that is blackmailing her could be in this very courtroom now!” the Prospector adds, he’s so enthusiastic.

  “I-it’s not my life that I’m worried about,” Grania quietly mentions, which gathers everyone’s attention, “it’s the Prospector’s.”

  “Mine?” the Prospector question, even pointing to himself. Grania nods.

  “Who is this person that is threatening you suspect? You telling us can blow this whole case wide open and end it,” the judge says.

  “I-I can’t,” Grania says.

  “How about this then, what can you tell us?” Berenices asks. He’s tapping his feet, he looks really frustrated.

  It takes Grania a moment, but she speaks out, “Well, what I can tell you is that when I went back to the room the second time, prosecutor Kapros was already dead. I screamed because I saw the dead body and that’s when security came over. They didn’t question me or anything, they arrested me on the spot.”

  “Likely story,” Berenices quickly remarks. “Many w
itness accounts say they saw the suspect go over to the room with the murder weapon, it’s even seen on footage. What’s not seen is anyone else entering or exiting that room other than the suspect. There are no more witnesses that can vouch otherwise.”

  Is there another witness? When I was there I didn’t really see anything.

  “Why did you go back to the room?” the judge asks.

  “The gun thing, it has prosecutor Kapros’ identity on it,” Grania answers.

  “His identity?” Berenices questions.

  “Any weapon or firearm issues by the government on most planets has an identification on it. That way if the firearm or weapon were to be lost, it can find its way back to its actual owner,” Adele explains, “There is a secondary function of the weapon ID too.”

  “Secondary function?” the judge questions.

  “If anyone but the actual owner attempts to use the weapon, it will not. It will fail in activation, in essence, it is a safety,” Adele answers.

  “Well would you listen to that. The murder weapon has a safety on it which means that the suspect couldn’t have fired it!” the Prospector exclaims. This has to be the winning proof. With something as solid as that, there’s no way Berenices can do something in return.

  “Oh?” Berenices questions with a smirk. He has something up his sleeve doesn’t he? The screens throughout the courtroom are showing live footage of the murder weapon. “Upon investigating the murder weapon. It actually can fire still despite its owner not firing it.” A uniformed hand takes the gun and fires it. A ball of light fires.

  “How’s that possible,” the Prospector asks.

  “Investigation shows that the murder weapon was so damaged that the safety no longer works. While the ID of the owner is indeed the victim’s, the safety is broken which means it is more than capable of being fired by the suspect! She did, after all, fire it at the bathroom,” Berenices answers.

  “So he knew,” Adele whispers under her breath.

  The judge speaks loudly, “We have come full circle, it appears that the suspect in question is still the likely person to have murdered the victim. There is no proof or witnesses to vouch otherwise. With that, I am ready to pass down judgment.”

  “Hold it!” the Prospector interjects. “We do have a witness to call!”

  “Who?” Berenices asks.

  The Prospector turns around and looks at me. Wait, why is he looking at me?

  The Prospector smiles as he calls out, “The witness is right here.” He points at me which draws everyone’s attention to me. “This witness happened to be in the area around the time it had happened and no one had questioned as to what they saw.”

  The floor under me rises up and I’m placed in front of the judge, close to Grania. The judge asks me, his voice extra amplified with how close I am to him, “Well, witness, what did you see?”

  “I-I. I,” I can’t manage to get a word out. My body is trembling. Stop focusing on me, please everyone stop focusing on me.

  “How about we start this off properly,” the Prospector says, trying to calm my nerves, “witness, what is your name?”

  “M-my name? My name is Ridley Law,” I answer quietly.

  “Perfect! What did you see when you were near the bathroom? Surely you must have seen something as you were the one who warned me,” the Prospector asks.

  “I-I. I didn’t see anything,” I say. I’m not lying, I really didn’t see anything. I was so lost in thought that I wasn’t even paying attention to where I was.

  The judge’s head tilts sideways a bit. “It seems that your witness, defense, is not particularly keen on telling the court what they saw.”

  “Ridley! Think back, I know it must have been a shocking event, but you must remember something that can help with the case,” the Prospector says.

  I reply back, “I-I really don’t remember anything. I didn’t see anything!”

  “With the witness unwilling to testify what they saw, then I have no choice, but to cast judgment on the suspect,” the judge says.

  “Ridley, please! Tell everyone what you saw or what you were doing. Anything that would help!” the Prospector says, his voice rising in desperation.

  “I’m serious. I-I really don’t remember anything. I was so lost in thought at the time that I didn’t even pay attention to where I was walking. There’s nothing I can contribute! My testimony will be useless because there’s not even a testimony to give!” I exclaim back to the Prospector. “I-I’m sorry, but I really don’t have anything to contribute!”

  “Ridley,” the Prospector sighs.

  “Well, defense, seems like you’re out of luck,” Berenices says with a smile.

  “If no one has anything left to say, then I am ready to pass judgment on the case of the murder of prosecutor Kapros as well as the definitive answer for Earth,” the judge says.

  How unfair is this? Even though the prosecution doesn’t have any actual solid evidence against Grania, they’ll still accuse her. This system is broken. If anything this case should be put on hold because there’s a lack of evidence.

  “Your honor! While the witness may not have anything to say, there is still a lack of an answer form the prosecution as to why the scorch marks are in that meeting room,” the Prospector quickly says before the judge says anything else.

  “That is irrelevant to the case,” the judge says.

  “Besides, it could be that the suspect missed in hitting her target the first time and had to take several shots before actually hitting her target,” Berenices adds.

  The Prospector argues loudly, “But we have proved that the victim didn’t die from the murder weapon as the hole is much too small from a shot from a Locust-15, therefore the actual murder weapon has not been actually defined yet.”

  “With the lack of any evidence suggesting there is another murder weapon, we can assume that the actual murder weapon was used,” the judge says without any sort of remorse. “Anything else?”

  The Prospector is actually remaining silent, which is the first. He’s upset, but can’t say or do anything. He looks defeated because there’s no actual solid evidence to concretely prove that Grania isn’t the murderer. That’s unfair. How twisted is this law system?

  “Your honor!” Grania’s voice calls out from the silence.

  The judge sounds annoyed, “Yes, suspect?”

  “I believe the witness does have something to say about this incident, they just lack the confidence to do so,” Grania says with a strange amount of confidence. What’s she trying to say? I really didn’t say anything, it has nothing to do with my lack of confidence.

  “Lack of confidence?” the judge questions.

  “Yes! Lack of confidence, they’re too scared to testify as they’re nervous. I can help with that!” Grania says, quickly subjecting herself to the center of focus.

  “The suspect and the defense are simply just prolonging this case and wasting everyone’s time! Please cast your judgment your honor,” Berenices says, annoyed.

  The Prospector perks back up and argues, “If the suspect can help the witness testify anything that can help, then that’s beneficial for this case! We shouldn’t leave any stones unturned after all.”

  “While I agree that it does seem the suspect and defense are prolonging this case out of fear of defeat, the defense makes a good claim to explore all possible areas,” the judge says, “I will allow it, just this once.”

  “Thank you, your honor!” the Prospector says with a happy clap.

  “What is it that you will do, suspect?” the judge asks.

  Grania grins widely, answering with confidence, “Therapy! I am trained in psychology and I’m fully qualified to conduct therapy!”

  “This is a court of law, not a therapy session,” the judge speaks more annoyed than he sounded before.

  “Please your Honor!” Grania pleads, “The witness won’t be able to testify properly without this. We could be missing crucial information that is important to t
he trial.”

  “Suspect, you realize that you’re asking the witness to testify against you,” the judge says.

  “I understand the full risks of this, but I am willing to take the chance,” Grania replies, retaining a grin on her face.

  “Very well then. You may proceed,” the judge says.

  “Ridley,” Grania calls out to me, “I need you to close your eyes.”

  It seems like I have no choice, but to follow along with this. I don’t know if Grania is truly doing this because she thinks I can help with the case or if she truly is just trying to prolong the trial. My eyes close, it’s best to just follow with what Grania’s telling me to do at this point.

  “Okay,” Grania speaks in a gentle, soothing voice, “I need you to dive deep into your mind. I know it’ll be hard, but I need you to do it. Do you think you can?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Look deep into your mind, try to block out as many things as you can. You may have some invasive thoughts, but do your best to ignore those. What’s important is that you find your focus. Now, what is it that you’re thinking of?” Grania asks.

  “Hiro.”

  Chapter 21

  I can see Hiro. He’s wearing his suit that he wears when he’s piloting. He’s looking strong as he normally does. I walk towards him, my arms trembling. My hands reach out for his neck and proceed to squeeze tightly. I blink and Hiro’s entire body is bloody, blades stick out of his body like the last time I saw him. He’s dead. He’s dead!

  “Why are you doing that?” I hear Grania’s voice echoing.

  I don’t know. It’s an impulse, it just happens.

  “Are you mad at him?” Grania asks.

  No. Not anymore at least. I haven’t been. We connected again, we reconciled. Things are fine, I don’t know why I imagine myself choking him sometimes. It’s disturbing. It bothers me. I want it to stop!