Chapter Fifty-Seven

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I blinked up at the guard.

Had he really said what I thought he'd said?

How could he possibly tell it was me?

The guard stood there patiently, arms crossed, but I knew things would get violent fast if I resisted.

I couldn't run.

Maybe I should have though this excursion through a bit better.

I looked around, and noticed that a few people were staring pointedly at me. One lady stood next to the guard. Were they all suspicious of me or something? Had I been reported?

I got up slowly, using my crutches to force myself upright.

I expected the guard to force handcuffs on my wrists or something. Instead, he simply rested a hand on my back and lead me out from the aisle quietly. I was taken through a back door and down a hallway.

My face was still totally covered. Only my eyes were visible. How could any of these people have recognized me? It wasn't like there were wanted posters hung everywhere. Frankly, it felt like nobody knew what I looked like.

The hall was made of old wood, and I was lead into an office room. There was a desk with chairs on opposite sides. I took the chair facing away from the door.

The guard sat down across from me. My mind was reeling. Asten and Ava hadn't actually been in that room. But that trial was still going on. I guess it didn't matter. I was stuck with this guard.

He hadn't locked the door. I eyed it, considering my options.

The guard pulled out a packet of paper and a pen. He stared at me for a second, sizing me up.

"Before we get started, I just want to reassure you that you are not being detained. A few issues were brought to me, and this is merely a questioning."

I frowned beneath the mask. Merely a questioning? Didn't he realize who I was? I definitely didn't believe his lie about not being detained. Imagine them letting me go after all of this...

"First, please give me your name," the guard requested.

He should have already known my name. I decided to give a fake name just to play it safe. "Olivia Wales."

The guard didn't even pause before writing it down. "Thank you, Olivia."

I was tempted to speak up. Ask him why I wasn't immediately being shoved in a cell. I was a threat. Why was I being treated like any regular civilian.

"I'm sure you're curious about the purpose behind this investigation. Something was brought to our attention by a few other citizens in the courtroom. They thought you were suspicious."

He was going to say it. He was going to tell me that I was a fugitive and needed to be locked up.

"Why have you not gotten a replacement to fix that leg?" the guard asked.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

They didn't know who I was. I wasn't in trouble for being a wanted criminal. I wasn't even necessarily in trouble at all. Other people had found it suspicious that I was using crutches.

Because in this society, you could fix any issue by just changing bodies.

The guard raised his eyebrows and kept talking. "Have you just come from the wall?"

I nodded my head quickly. It wasn't technically false.

He smiled to himself, as if that cleared everything up. "Of course. A lot of our new citizens don't fully understand the rules or how things work down here. It is definitely an adjustment."

I was glad he was making excuses for me, because frankly, I had none for myself. "Oh, I'm sorry, then. I didn't realize I was doing anything wrong. Do you mind explaining...?" I asked, tentatively. I didn't want to push it, but it would be better to understand how the Equator worked, so this wouldn't happen again.

He sat up straighter, and leaned forward, elbows leaning on the paper packet. "Of course. You are allowed to replace your body if you are injured for no cost. Everyone's given that assurance. Otherwise, you are free to buy from any of the body shops if you want a change. You can also temporarily change bodies and send yours down to the mechanic if you would prefer to keep your current body."

He talked so informally about this that it was nearly disturbing. The thought itself of repairing a body like a car was so foreign to my mind that I struggled to wrap my head around it. I nodded anyway. I needed to seem like I was actually an interested citizen.

Little did he know I definitely did not have the hardware for a body switch.

The guard shut the packet and stood up. I tensed up. He walked out from behind the chair and to the door, where he called out to another guard down the hall.

He shut the door behind himself as he stepped back in.

I hadn't heard what he'd said and I just wanted to leave.

"So...am I good to go?" I blurted out hopefully.

He smiled at me pitifully. Like I was missing the point. "Why would you leave?"

I sat up straighter. Was I really being detained after all of that? "Um...I...," I stuttered.

"It's nothing to be worried about. It's just protocol in these sorts of situations. We always want to make sure our citizens remain healthy and happy. Since you're already here, this should be easy. It won't take very long."

I had a really bad feeling about this. "What won't take too long?"

He patted me on the shoulder kindly. "We're giving you a replacement."

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