Subject One

X. Justices

 We dash toward the Embassy with quick feet and worried minds. Luca said that I had to come with him because they would most likely want to question me as well. That or he needed my silent support while he faced his superiors. Anyway, he told me it would be unlikely for me to be found out as the murderer. Mafiona sent in reports that I had been under her watch when really I had been incarcerated for days following the incident with Luca. Eon must have paid her heavily for her lies. Luca's disappearance, however, was not so easily covered up. Apparently, Luca had gotten in trouble before for leaving his digital notepad behind. It's illegal according to The Embassy to be a "Blank Space," to be untraceable. The fact that this isn't his first offense causes me worry. If they uncover the truth, will they find out that he has supresin in his system? Stress rolls off his back in waves so strong I feel them crashing against my chest and affecting my heart to the beat of his own.

We enter the Embassy wing and I try to ignore its beauty in order to focus on the more pressing matters at hand. We pass the glittering fountain and the glossy tiled floor and into the same courtroom that I entered very briefly for what seems like ages ago. The room is not empty this time however, but full of male and female figures clothed in sharp gray suits and crisp black button downs. The heavy wood walls glisten and is in sharp contrast to the stern, stoic faces of those seated in rows behind large, tall desks. They stare down at us like we're nothing. I spot Abris amongst the crowd, whose face is stoic but his eyes give him away, displaying a small twinge of fear.

So, this is the Embassy in all its glory.

I continue to scan the crowd and I spot Mafiona, Eon, and Cane sitting on black metal chairs adjacent to the large, towering desk in the center of the room. Mafiona and Eon's faces are pale as stardust, while Cane seems unperturbed, almost peaceful. I'm glad that he seems okay and I fight the urge to run out to him to make sure it's not just the effects of a compliance drug, but the Embassy's watchful eyes keep me in place.

"Luca Arthyr." A voice booms from behind the tallest desk in the center. It's a man with long black hair worn straight down and parted in the middle. His hair has a solid gray streak running through it. He seems older, more around Eon's age, but wears the years well. His suit is pressed, as is his black button-down shirt and blood-red tie tucked firmly into it. Clean, cut, and uniform. He oozes importance and regality just from the inflections in his voice. As we reach closer to the figure, I find myself staring at the man's nose. Defined, yet ever-so-slightly curved at the tip. I am superglued there, holding the gaze so long that my eyes unfocus and start to burn.

I break my visual grip to glance over at Mafiona, Eon, and Cane. Since the room's focus is on Luca, I decide that it's safe to try and contact Cane. In a gesture so subtle I'm surprised Cane could even see it, I mouth--

"You okay?"

Cane gives me the smallest of nods, but it floods my body with relief. One less thing to worry about, for now.

Luca bows his head down briefly and comes closer to the central stand for inspection. I stand a few feet behind him, wary and full of trepidation as I continue to stare at the regal man present before us.

"You are called upon to answer for your absences recorded in your digital notepad device." His voice booms. "As you are aware, Dr. Arthyr, on top of Blank Space discrepancies, there is a subject awake and in your care and you must abide by our rules of subjection. But, it has come to the Embassy's attention that you were absent from the Lab wing for fifteen days."

My mouth goes dry. That's how long I was locked up? Sure, it felt like years at the time, but once I was out I was expecting it to be a few days, maybe a week, not more than two. Luca gulps, hard.