Conniveo

Chapter XXX: Lexicon

There was little to do in the containment cell and I leaned against the wall adjacent to the bed. I felt a sense of hopelessness and doom because of the reports I had seen over the past three days. The News Relay-men who had been at the manor never reported their story, and everything Lady Diella had said was lost to the world. The rumors from before began anew, branding both she and the other professors as 'senile' and 'psychotic'. The General paraded himself on the Network reports, and he was praised for putting an end to the menaces that were the Otherworld intruders. Nobody knew our story. And judging from the way things were going, nobody was ever going to.

I thought about the events that had happened on the day of the arrest. Lady Diella and the Professors did not put up a fight. Eugene faded away with Greg and his father, while I was taken into a car with Koli and rendered unconscious. My next memories were of the trial I received, where I was found guilty of attempted murder and crimes against humanity. My verdict was denervation, which was scheduled in two weeks. I was surprised that the Trial never mentioned anything about treason, but then they had no reason to. If the events within that room had never been seen, our convictions were based solely on the General's reports and the connections that had been made with the escape from the High Threat Detention Facility. I looked around the cell, reminded of place that I was currently in. This Facility was based on a system of solitary confinement and the room provided all the basic amenities I required, but the restriction of movement was more than unbearable. There was a static flicker on my wall and I looked across the room. It was Koli, and she was seated on her bed and expressing the same hopeless look I felt sure I had on. So far, she had been my only source of human communication.

"Hey, Kana."

"Hey."

"How you holding up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Sorry. Sometimes I forget you don't speak the same English. How are you faring?"

"Truthfully, not so well. I am afraid, Koli. I fear for what would become of us."

"You have been watching the News, I see."

"Nobody is saying anything about us, beyond the usual slander. It feels like the events of that day never happened."

"I know. Those News Relay-men must have been prohibited from ever showing their video."

"So...what would become of us?"

"I guess...I guess we'll die."

I felt a slight stab at those words, but I knew that Koli was just being truthful. The matter was settled. The General had known how things were going to unfold. He was a part of the central hub of the government after all. He knew the degree of control they had, and if they had managed to conceal an issue as large as the systematic killing of the Faders for hundreds of years, they could conceal and eliminate us as well. Koli did not terminate her transmission, but rather sat in silence and looked at me. I was glad for the companionship, even though it was through a virtual presence.

"Have you spoken to Lady Diella?"

I had to know if there was some other side to this plan. Were we really supposed to sit here and die? I thought she had some sort of fail-safe, but then she had said that she was dying of a cancerous tumour in her brain. Perhaps she was also suicidal. Maybe the events at her manor were her last attempts at doing something grand, like a firework exploding brightly before it fizzled into nothing.

"I have not spoken to anyone other than you. Even my father has not spoken to me. Perhaps they are not allowed to be in communication with the rest of us," Koli replied.

"Is that not against their rights?"

"We are prisoners, Kana. We have no rights. And even if our rights were trampled upon, we have no right to protest and nobody to protest to."