Transform Me (A "Shatter Me" Trilogy Fanfiction)

TWENTY-EIGHT: CROSS-EXAMINATION

28: Cross-Examination

It’s been five hours since I discovered General Watanabe’s lifeless body. 

The past five hours were a blur of chaos and panic.  Thorough investigations were done on the surveillance tapes, but for some reason, the video that contained the timeframe of the general’s death had suspiciously been tampered with, so all we see is seven minutes of nothing but static. 

If this isn’t proof that there is a traitor in our midst, then I don’t know what is.

Nikolai and Sarabi, the guards on duty, were interrogated but they both swore they saw no one come in or out, and noticed no suspicious activity from the general.  After Devin searched both their memories, she confirmed that they both spoke the truth.

But something doesn’t sit right with me.

If the general had committed suicide, why would there be a need to delete the footage?  This only verifies that there was some level of foul play involved.  But who?  Who could possibly slip in and out unnoticed of such a high-level security holding facility?  And why would this person go through such lengths to kill the general?

This scratches Juliette’s General-Watanabe-May-Be-The-Supreme-Commander theory out.  And now we’re back to square one, except for one small change: we now know that someone living in Souseiki Dousa works for The Reestablishment.  I didn’t want to believe it, but now, there’s no turning back.

Over the past five hours, Devin has worked hard to interrogate every last person, and every time she declared a person not guilty after going through his or her memories, we grew more and more hopeless. 

Could the killer have somehow escaped?  But we were all accounted for, so the killer was still with us.  For this reason, Souseiki Dousa was put under strict lockdown until the issue would be resolved.

Finally, after hours and hours of tireless cross-examination, Devin questions Gupta. 

The simulation chamber is currently being used as the interrogation room, mainly because of the one-way mirror on one side, allowing me and some others to watch as each questioning proceeded.  A table has been placed at the center of the gray room, together with two chairs on opposite ends.

Despite her weariness, Devin refuses to slouch.  As each person comes into the room for questioning, she always begins by apologizing for the inconvenience, but it was standard operating procedure since there’s no other way to find the accomplice.  She gives Gupta the same spiel when he walks in.

Juliette, Warner, Kenji, Kim, Caitlan, Jun and I are on the other side of the window, watching as Devin tells Gupta to make himself comfortable.  We were some of the first few people Devin had cross-examined, and it came as no surprise that we were all declared innocent.  However, one of the tensest interviews she had was with Warner.  Both of them seemed very frustrated and determined at the same time.  He’s been distracted since then.

Devin begins the routine inquiries.  “Where were you between nine-oh-six and nine-thirteen tonight?”

Beads of sweat begin to roll down his forehead.  “I was in the surveillance room, keeping watch over the enemy tanks’ activities aboveground.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Warner shift.  There’s a look of surprise on his face coupled with distress, as if there’s something that doesn’t quite add up.

“Was there anyone with you?”

“I was with Kim before that, but he went out to patrol the hallways.”

“Did anyone go in while he was out?”

“No.  I was alone.”

Right then, something in Devin’s expression changes as she focuses on reading his thoughts.  Sensing this, everyone around me grows tense.  Kim especially looks distraught.

Leaning forward with her hands clasped on the table, Devin voice grows slightly louder.  “Did you remain inside the surveillance room from nine-oh-six to nine-thirteen PM?”

“I was there the entire time, Devin.  I swear.”

“Did you tamper with the footage of Camera 45-L, which is positioned in the corner of General Watanabe’s holding cell?”

“I didn’t do anything like that.  I’ve never tampered with any of the surveillance videos before.”

Devin frowns.  “You’re lying, Gupta.”

There’s a collective gasp in the room.  Warner scowls.  Kim’s face grows ashen.  I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“What?  No!”  Gupta shoots back defensively.  “I’m telling the truth, I swear!  I didn’t kill the general!  You have to believe me!”

            “Why would you do this to us, Gupta?  Why?”

             “Devin, I didn’t do anything wrong!”

 With a dejected shake of her head, Devin rises to her feet and leaves the interrogation room to tearfully deliver the bad news to us.  Kim shakes his head in disbelief.

I can’t believe it.  Gupta?  The traitor had been him all along?  Warner was right.  Still, it comes as such a surprise to me.  Gupta had always been so polite and thoughtful; but now I know it was all an act.  He never did or said anything to make us suspect him.  I can only imagine how Kim is feeling right now.

“I can’t believe Gupta would turn on us like this.”  Devin says as she wipes the tears from her eyes with the heels of her palms.  “He always seemed like such a nice, young lad.”

“It can’t be right, Devin.”  Kim voices out in distress.  “I’ve known Gupta for a long time.  He would never do anything like this.  Are you sure you’ve read his thoughts right?”

“I’m afraid so.”  Devin shakes her head sadly.  “I’m so sorry, Kim.  I know he’s your best friend, but you’d best stay away from him from now on.  It’s for the best.”

 As two guards come in to take him away, Gupta wrestles against their grasps and screams.  Kim begins to step forward but I hold him back.  Immense sorrow fills his eyes, and the pain he feels is unmistakable.  After all, he and Gupta have been close friends for about three years.  Their kinship progressed after Kim’s first confession to me, just when I started avoiding him.

When I turn to console Kim, I’m surprised by what I see.  In all the years I have known him, not once have I ever seen him cry.  Until now.

“Kim, I’m so sorry about Gupta.”  I reach for his hands.  “I know he was like a brother to you.”

With a shake of his head, he slowly pulls his hands away and swipes hastily at his tears.  “I’m sorry, Hiro.  I just need some time to be alone.”

 “I understand.”

Without another word, Kim leaves the room, and we all sit there for a few moments in stunned silence.  Today is, by far, one of the heaviest, most stressful days I’ve ever had.  Ever since I left Sector 21’s military base with Kenji, I haven’t had a wink of sleep in over twenty-four hours.

After excusing myself, I begin to trudge wearily towards my room.  Once I’m inside, I slump onto my bed without bothering to change out of my clothes into a nightgown.  I’m too tired to think, too tired to move, too tired to feel.  Then finally, fatigue knocks me blessedly unconscious.

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A/N: I admit that I'm not entirely happy with how this chapter turned out. I was really tired when I wrote this and was generally sleep-deprived (the last paragraph of this chapter pretty much summed up how I felt), so I'm sorry the chapter feels rushed and haphazardly-written. (๏̯̃๏) In fact, I came so close several times to scrapping this entire chapter and rewriting the whole thing, but I was an exhausted bicycle (Two Tyred. Get it? HAHAHAHA Please laugh. I'm so lonely.) (ㆆ_ㆆ)

Don't worry, I'll try to make it up to you in the succeeding chapters (I hope). And since February is the love month, I'll be keeping up with more romantic themes. Do I hear wedding bells in the distance? Hmmm... (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)