Four: Hmm, The Date Was Awesome, You Can Pay The Bill

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CELLO:
    "I WANNA GO." Snapped Camille as we stood in the Entrance Hall. "I fucking wanna go." "I know you do." Said Audrey calmly. "But you aren't, you're staying here—"You're not gonna keep me out of the big shit, I wanna go there and give them government pieces of shit my mind." "That's not what—"I wanna cuss them all out." Said Camille, cutting Alexandra off. Claws shot out of Camille's fingertips. Audrey merely stepped forward, her voice hardened to steel. "Look Camille, we aren't going to cuss out the government, cause any kind of hell, or anything of that nature. We're going, to make our stand, to get bills passed so it is illegal to hunt and auction off indigo, if that's what Shawn's disciples found. We, I, need you Violin and Jeffry here to keep the Symbol safe while we're gone, to be sure no one goes out there who doesn't absolutely need to, to be sure indigo are safe along with humans." Camille seemed to deflate significantly. "Fine, I just don't wanna miss the big stuff." "I know," Audrey's voice softened several degrees. "And you won't, I just need you here holding everything together." Camille sighed. "Fine fine fine, but if anyone cusses anyone out—"You'll hear about it." Sighing again, Camille turned and walked away.
    "Ready guys?" Asked Audrey. I stepped closer to them, my cane accidently tapping Audrey's leg. She reached out and grasped my hand as Alexandra grasped my shoulder. "Have fun." Said a passing indigo. "Oh, we will." Murmured Alexandra as colors swirled around me and the two girls. We stepped through the wall of the hall, and out into the main entrance hall of the building. People gasped as we seemed to step out of a blue haze and into existence. Audrey let my hand go as Alex did the same with my shoulder. "Audrey Magdelena Kylie? Alexandra Toph, and—" The receptionist paused, and there was the slightest snicker as she said, "Cello Stonehouse?" "Indeed." I said. "If you would please come with me, shall I call for some assistants?" "No." Was all Audrey said. "Very well." She rose and said into a mic, "They have arrived, let the parties know." Let alone we already knew who the parties were. "Learn any new songs Cello?" Asked Audrey. "I, uh, well I did wanna learn this one song called Reign from a tv show called Game Of Thrones, it sounded pretty cool, and then there's the one called Spoils Of War." "Interesting, I'll have to give them a listen when we get back home." It took twenty minutes, and as it did, Audrey made simple conversation with both Alexandra and I. "They are ready for you now."
    We followed her down a tiled corridor, my cane sweeping over rough tile squares as her heels clicked against them. Audrey and Alexandra walked on either side of me, their boots silent on the tiles as her heels were loud clicks. I had left my crown back at the Symbol, as they had done, but my pendant still hung around my neck, as their's did. We walked up and down flights of stairs, through doors, around corridors, over carpet that softened her heels, and back on tiles. It told me many many many many many many many many many things. She was instructed to drag us through the building, make it seem like we were going somewhere deep in the building, but in actuality, she was taking us in circles. To confuse us. But, it just gave me a clear luculent picture of where we were. As we passed the same hall for the fourth time, Audrey finally said, "Thank you for the tour of the entire building, the exits, the bathrooms, all the major work areas and receptions, but we have a major meeting to get to, and we're almost late so, I'm sure we can take it from here." "Oh but—" Audrey turned and traveled down a corridor, over carpet and into a smallish reception area. I followed passing comfortable chairs, and those who sat in them. We came out and on to tiled floor again.
    The receptionist tried to catch up but Audrey moved faster and we made it to the reception area with no problems. Audrey moved toward the heavy door, and the woman, who's voice was filled with fear, said, "Wait, wait child, you can't—"Never say can't." Said Audrey before she gave the door three good knocks, then pushed it open without waiting for an answer. Twelve people, who were in the middle of a conversation, looked around, spotting us in the doorway. Audrey stepped in and as we followed, a clock on the wall chimed eleven. "Ah, right on time too." Said Alexandra. The Receptionist gawked behind us, her voice making little choking sounds as Audrey moved around the table Alexandra and I on her heels. "We're in the middle of a conference, if you three could please—"Yet we have a scheduled appointment for eleven today to twelve-thirty, my my, and to think we'd have been late and they'd have not even been waiting for us." "Sadness." Said Alexandra. "It's ok," I said. "The Receptionist here was giving us a well deserved tour of the place. If they happened to keep going and we missed our appointment, we'd have been able to make our way out the front, back, side, all the doors." The Receptionist did actually choke this time. The people around the table said nothing. I shrugged. "Well, if you wanna continue, I guess we can wait out there, and just speculate why these powerful people can't keep appointments, I mean, we already spent five of our precious minutes speculating here and now." "That won't be necessary." Said a woman.
    "Very well." Said Audrey. Have a seat, Victoria, if you will—"No need." Said Audrey, and three chairs pulled themselves out. She sat, and I sat, Alexandra sitting to my left, as Audrey sat to my right. Again, they said nothing. "Close the door on your way out Victoria." Heels, then the door closing softly. Audrey reclined back in her seat, tapping her fingers lightly together as they all observed us. "You are Audrey Magdelena Kylie?" It wasn't a question. "That is I." Said Audrey. "You are Alexandra Toph." Alex didn't say anything, so she must have nodded. "And you are—" that obvious and annoying pause. "Cello Stonehouse." "Luculent." I answered. "And the three of you have come as representatives of you, Symbol as you've put it." "Yes." "Why." "Because as you know, indigo, are real. Because we need to get laws filed, bills passed, and rights need to be given to the indigo." "So you say." Said a man. "So we know." Said Audrey. "A useless war was waged a year and a half ago, a war that started because one of you thought capturing those with abilities would be fun. And no one stopped him. And, when he was revealed to be an indigo himself, no one could stop him." "Yet you, did." "I didn't no, but Huntor did. Many of us died fighting the Keepers, and there need to be bills passed so that that doesn't happen again." "This is all to say if your kind even truly exist." Said a woman. "I mean to be frank, if anything, the radicals might have had a fair and just point. Your kind are pernicious to man. Perhaps bills should be passed to make your kind illegal in the states."
    My heart tripped as silence reigned after those words. "Should we make, your, race illegal?" I asked. I felt all eyes turn to me. All the working ones anyway. "How about we travel back, back to the eightteen hundreds, nineteen hundreds, where African Americans were either illegal or abused and on many cases killed for simply being who they are. So, should we make your race illegal? Or your's, or your's." I pointed to them all. "This is a completely different—"Is it though?" Asked Alexandra. "How different is it truly?" "Indigo are a kind of people just like African Americans, just like Asian Americans, you wanna go throwing things like that, remember we are in a sense, human too." "Yet the, abilities, as you put it?" "Can be policed—"By our police force—"No, by ours."
    Silence after my words. Then, "You've gotta be kidding me." "I'll take that as a retorical question." I said. "Only indigo can police indigo. Only indigo can stop indigo. If any of you were armed, we'd be able to disarm you no problem." "How do you know if we aren't?" "Because we know." Alexandra said. "Moreover," I said. "Neither are we, we could have come armed and your sensors would never have picked up on anything. We enttered your building without entering the front doors, any indigo can travel through the fabric of our two worlds with no problem if they have the ability to." "And, you do?" "As Cello said luculently." "And, how would you police your own kind? By picking and choosing who gets justice and who doesn't? By deciding amongst yourselves who has trials, who—"By displaying a set of laws one must follow, and if one doesn't, then they get the justice that crime deserves, under our law and order, because only an indigo jail and or prison, can hold an indigo."
    "I don't believe that, I believe that you children just are trying to pass off yourselves as adults to get your way, to run this country and destroy everything we tried to build." "Well now, we're not here to tell you what to believe." Said Audrey. "We came here to tell you the truth. Especially since indigoism could come in your children. Any child is able to develop indigoism. With the growth of the Indigo World, with indigo coming here, all of us are able to have it, children more because it comes in puberty. Your children or their children could have it sleeping dormant in their blood." "Is that a threat?" Snapped one, finally loosing her temper. "No, just a fact." I said. Silence, then, "Bills don't get passed willy nilly, they take time, deliberation, energy." "Then I'd guess we'd better get started." Said Audrey. "Our people don't have time to wait, just as you don't. Even after the Keepers, even after the Dark Queen, indigo are still being hunted, hurt, abused, we need to put a stop to it, and the only way is by constricting this, by setting laws in place that both protect and discipline. Bills that'll stop this all together so that indigo and humans can start learning to live together in peace." A man laughed. "There is no peace, there's never been peace." "Because no one tries to keep the peace. If we try, we'll succeed."
    "That kind of philosophy is retarted." Said a man. "That kind of thinking," said Audrey, her voice so cold I felt the room get cold. "Is how we had the last fool become president. And now the country, is paying for it. Dargonue took advantage of that, just as Arachne did. You all were too busy fighting amongst yourselves, that you didn't think to band together with us to face them both together." "You dare speak ill of your president?" "Of course, I didn't vote for them because I was too busy trying not to get myself killed." Never mind she was already killed once and brought back. "I wasn't old enough to even vote at the time either way, so I had no say. But I do now. I have a say, and I can say anything I'd like. But we're not here to argue over that matter." I felt the slight wind as Audrey waved a hand. "We're here to discuss the bills to ensure indigo safety and justice, to ensure justice is served just as equally and swiftly amongst our kind, so that no human, and or indigo, suffer or are in danger."
    Silence for another few minutes, then, "We'll deliberate as is needed, and, you'll hear back from us." "You don't have time to deliberate fro long." I said. "Excuse me child but we—"That's Cello." I said, leaning forward. "That's Cello Stonehouse, that's Alexandra Toph, that's Symbol Audrey Kylie. You want respect, respect is a two-way street, you have to give respect in order to get it." This time, the cold silence that reigned was almost tangible. "Fair enough, Cello Stonehouse." "We need time to deliberate and make a ruling, and, if the current president vetoes the bill, there's nothing we can do." "Actually there is, because if the votes outway even the president's veto, the bill can still be passed." Said Audrey coolie. Audrey took out her phone and I clearly heard the voice-over say the time. "So it appears our time is beyond up. I'd guess it's lunch time. Either way, enjoy the rest of your day." She pushed back from the table. I rose, grabbing my cane from under my chair. Alexandra rose as well. "Don't take too long, either way, indigo are here and here to stay, more will come, and when they do, you'll want those bills passed." "Even if we passed them here, who's to say the rest of the world will agree?" "Because unlike you all, we've already spoken with the rest of the world, and they hold similar opinions to ours." Audrey turned from the table and rounded it toward the door. "We hope you do enjoy your day." Telekinesis opened the door and we stepped out. "Victoria—"Thank you for the tour." Said Audrey. "We'll see our way out." I said. I followed Audrey and Alexandra through the waiting area and into the rough tiled corridors, Audrey's telekinesis closing the door.

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