The PulseTeam, Book One: Origins

Chapter Thirty-Six: Retribution

Part One: "I'm Furious."

Close to the end of Schlefta's trial, I am called to testify as a material witness against him. The nice thing about the prosecuting attorney is that when he listed the charges (which were: corporate fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, witness tampering, bribery, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated murder, murder in the first degree, capitol murder, premeditated murder, and attempted murder), he made a motion for the death penalty. When I am finally called to testify, and the defense attorney takes his turn to question me, I remain ice cold.

"So, Mr. Allen," he begins, "where did you say you were during the time of the murders?"

"I was at a special, secret place where I was able to relax, vent, gather my thoughts, and do anything else I needed to do to uninterrupted."

"And where is this place?"

I give him a fake smile and reply, "Now, if I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?"

There are chuckles all throughout the courtroom. He chuckles himself and continues, "You're a funny man, Mr. Allen. What were you doing in this Secret Place?"

"I was sharing the place with my wife, Alitia."

"How did you find out that your parents had died?"

"My best friend found them both, called the police, and retrieved both myself and Alitia from the Secret Place. From there I looked at the crime scene and figured it out."

"Describe what happened once again for the jury, Mr. Allen."

"I was with my wife in the Secret Place, and we were sitting there and talking about what it would be like to have superpowers. We were interrupted by my best friend, John Smith, who told us to come back to Allen Manor immediately because something horrible had happened there.

"I thought that it was something like my dad fell down the stairs, or my mom had cut a finger off trying to make some food and was about to be rushed to the hospital. Whatever else I was thinking, I just wanted to make sure my parents were okay.

"When we got to the gate in front of my home, it was already a crime scene, and Mr. Smith explained to me what happened. From there, I looked at the crime scene and figured out the rest. All three of us broke down in tears.

"It was by chance that I opened my eyes and saw the hit man coming out of my bedroom window and immediately assumed that he was lying in wait for me. So I told my wife to get my compound bow and arrows out of my car, I shot him in his leg, and he fell about two, two and a half stories down from where he was already.

"I originally just meant to help the cops restrain him as I neared him, but the images of my parents in those body bags, I think, made me snap, and the next thing I remember is being restrained myself by a lot of police officers. And when I got a good look at both the hit man and myself, we were both bloody, but he was the only one injured."

"So I suppose that I would be correct in my assumption that you got the necessary counseling for all issues you have acquired as a result of that traumatic experience?"

"I did. My artificially intelligent supercomputer has every therapeutic program imaginable, and my wife and friends helped me as well."

"But you never got professional help?"

"Why bother? I was getting all of the psychological help that I needed. My computer really took the initiative when I began to track down the hit man."

"Wait a minute, you tracked down the man who actually killed your parents?"

"I did. But before I could do any real damage, Mr. Smith and my wife stopped me. They were led by my computer who was tracking my position via satellite, and from then on, my computer started counseling me. She's a really good therapist, too."