Second Self

Chapter 12

"The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

It hadn't occurred to me that the room where I'd been staying had been the luxury option, or that it was possible to be more bored than I'd been while trapped there. I also didn't know anyone could be more upset about the announcement of the change than I was. Gem launched himself between the guards and me, in a futile attempt to keep them from taking me away. The outcome of a ten to one battle was predictable, which made me wonder if his goal was to set me free or to earn a spot in an adjacent cell. If that was the case, he failed.

Two days passed without a visitor. Voices in nearby cells covered the fainter sound of Denovo's voice somewhere beyond them. I found myself oddly comforted by Denovo's voice. It meant they hadn't turned him loose. At least, they hadn't yet.

The cell door opened on the third day. My heart ached, seeing Gem standing in the threshold, thinking he might have gotten his way after all.

"I'm being allowed to escort you to court," he said with a flat expression.

"They've charged me with something?" I asked Gem.

"Calm down," Gem said, reaching out to push down one of my fluttering hands. I slapped his knuckles before I could stop myself. He held his hands out in front of himself like an equal sign, with his body held static on the other side, acting as the solution to the problem.

I could feel eyes on us. Under this scrutiny, it didn't seem right to give my reaction more weight than it deserved. The only thing I could think to do was carry on speaking as if nothing had happened. "They should save themselves time and trouble, and just let Denovo go free right now. It seems like that's what they're going to end up doing in the end. Are they dragging me to court so that they can see my face when they let him walk out a free man? I'm starting to feel like this is an ambush—like I'm the one who's going to end up on the stand."

"I won't lie. The same thought crossed my mind. I wouldn't worry about what is going to happen today. I'm pretty sure it'll just be a lot of time wasted with the lawyers groping each other in the dark."

"That's probably not as fun as it sounds when it's lawyers doing it," I said.

Gem handed me a bag of clothes before turning to face the door, giving me privacy. I imagined him over the selection of straight-legged, skinny slacks and a satin blouse with frills down the front. It almost made me laugh. Then again, Gem might have enjoyed making a decision like that, happy to have a choice on his plate that was more complicated than whether or not to wear a vest with his dress shirt.

"You can turn around," I said.

He held out a bag with makeup and frowned when I tried to push it away. "Won't you put on even a little?" He said.

"Without the use of a mirror, I'll end up looking like a clown."

"I'll help," he said.

It appeared he was better at leaving low-lying fruit on the tree, considering I'd have said something to the effect that a mirror wouldn't make much of a difference. Gem went a step-further, braiding my hair after he finished applying the make-up.

"Good enough," he said and gave a knock on the door to signal that we were ready to go.

I wondered if the mob were still outside when I realized they were leading me to an exterior door. The sun blinded us for a moment as we stepped outside, making it difficult to see as far as the barricades. After a moment, the security agents led us to a flying transport craft. We boarded, soon were rising above Piradium.