New System, Who Dis?

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2069

“What did Morgan Hallsbrad say to you in the alleyway?” Flair asked again, his voice slightly aggressive.

I opened my mouth to immediately answer before realizing that I should check with my lawyer first. I turned to Ms. Stovall who sat right beside me, and she nodded—confirming that this question was fine to answer. Ms. Stovall looked like a typical female lawyer, in that she wore a white expensive looking blouse, and a black knee-length skirt. She had blonde hair, dark blue eyes and wore glasses. I thought of her as short, but that could have only been because I was so tall.

“What would happen if you claimed you weren’t even there?” Smegma said offhandedly, and I pointedly ignored him. He was perched on the top of an empty chair on ‘our’ side of the table.

This wasn’t the first question so far or Smegma’s first interruption. Still, after a quick ‘one on one’ with Ms. Stovall she’d deemed that I didn’t need any coaching in answering questions but that I should check with her to let her object to certain lines of questioning. I’d forgotten to check with her early on, and she had placed a hand on my elbow in a quiet but friendly reminder, twice already.

“He told me I pissed him off,” I began. “Then he told me that he just needed a ‘bit of Mana’ ’ to use his Skill before sending me on my way. His gun was pointed at me the whole time. Although, something was off with the way he said send me on my way. Like he was meaning something different than what those words typically meant.”

I shivered and paused for a second as the hair on my arms rose at the memory. I hadn’t realized it at that moment but in retrospect I thought I could see the insinuation. He just needed to use his Skill to send me on my way—to the afterlife. I shook off that tangent with relative ease, as my mind focussed me back on the question.

“He also claimed that he could still connect to my Mana Pool even if I died—which really creeped me out. Umm—I think that’s pretty much it…”

“How did you manage to distract him before you attacked him?” Volt asked the follow up with the same nonchalance, but a hand on my elbow told me that Ms. Stovall would be answering this question.

“So let me get this straight. Even though he was attacking you, you can get in trouble for attacking him back?” Smegma asked incredulously before Ms. Stovall could interject.

“I would like it noted that my client defended himself against a C-ranked Awakened with a gun and did not attack, but merely defended himself from an ongoing assault in the form of Mana-theft, which—I will remind you, is a felony. You both have likely seen husked individuals after similar thefts. The situation justifies any level of reprisal from an unarmed victim.”

I gave Smegma a quick warning glance, hoping he would get the hint and shut the husk up.

“Our apologies, how did you distract your attacker as you defended yourself?” Flair clarified, with a nod at Ms. Stovall and a curious glance to the chair I just looked at.

A quick glance toward my lawyer got me a nod and I told an abridged version of how Morgan got ‘distracted’ once he connected to my Mana.

“He must have been surprised when his Skill activated,” I finished.

“Bullshit,” Smegma said, and I tried not to react but might have failed.

Flair and Volt looked at each other skeptically before making notes. Still looking down at his papers, Flair asked, “What rank were you assessed at again?”

“My client was Assessed as an F-rank,” Ms. Stovall answered on my behalf. “As you can see, he was outranked, threatened, and held at gunpoint—” a sudden scramble behind the door made her stop mid-sentence as both the detectives turned in their seats. The door flew open and a third detective who was breathing hard and practically sweating made a motion for the two sitting in the room to join him outside.

“If this interruption pertains to the case, I’ll remind you of my client’s right to know,” Ms. Stovall said with a raised eyebrow.

The detective in the hallway gave her a distasteful look and simply waited for the two detectives to stand and join him in the hall. The door of the interrogation room closed behind them, and I sucked in a large lungful of air. It felt stiflingly-hot in here.

Ms. Stovall stood up and moved to the door before opening it and grabbing two water bottles from the cart I’d seen on my way in. She passed me the first, and I realized I’d already finished the one I’d been given when she first arrived. I scanned this room, and immediately knew that the detectives had told the truth that the room I was in last night was not an interrogation room. While they looked similar, this one was smaller and had no windows to the hallway or workspace. It had a camera in each of the four corners of the room and markedly bad lighting from two lamps that either needed new bulbs or better placement. It did also have a piece of one way glass that looked window-like.

“That was definitely strange,” Ms. Stovall commented offhandedly as she drank from her bottle. “Normally, they will avoid interrupting detectives that are mid-interrogation.” She looked at me and blinked, before changing tones. “Nothing for you to worry about, I’m sure. You’re doing great.”

“Do they really think I attacked The Shop?” I asked, a little lost. I felt off balance now that the questioning had let up for a moment. It was truly strange to be questioned in such a manner.

“This is just their jobs,” Ms. Stovall answered. “I can tell that they know that it was self-defense, but I think they’re both feeling like something in the case is off. Something doesn’t add up for them, or you wouldn’t be here.”

Smegma phased back through the mirrored glass, with his dark black eyes wide.

“They’re talking back here,” he said, as he half phased back into the window. “According to them, Morgan Hallsbrad may be a ‘cereal-killer’—something called a ‘Snatcher’. He had a book in a pocket with a list of names. Your name was in it, but all the names crossed out have now been proven to belong to victims all along the eastern ‘United States’—whatever that means.”

I wanted to ask Smegma what a Snatcher was, but I couldn’t really say anything to the Demon imp with Ms. Stovall in the room. Or with the cameras I supposed. Also, with the way he said the word, I didn't think that he knew what it was either. All indications seemed to point that Smegman didn’t even come from this world. What I did realize though, is that this may prove if the creature was real or not. I certainly had no way of hearing what was going on behind that glass—so if the Imp’s words proved true, like this morning, surely that would be confirmation, right?

“Flair is still claiming that something is off with you,” Smegma continued. “Volt agrees and says even more so if Morgan was a cereal ‘Snatcher’.” There was that word again. “They’re both looking at you through the glass. The third detective, too.” Smegma glanced in my direction and then chuckled. “Yeah, now I see why they’re bringing it up; you’re staring at the mirror—right at them. Even the well-dressed chick next to you is giving you an odd look.”

I blinked and shook my head to stop myself from continuing to stare at Smegma intently. Instead, I looked at Ms. Stovall.

“What do you think is going on?” I asked to cover up my momentary distraction.

“If it pertains to this case, we should know soon enough,” Ms. Stovall said, even as the door opened again to admit Flair and Volt.

They sat back down, and I realized that they were now carrying a folder they didn’t have on them the first time. Ms. Stovall gave it a cursory look before she retook her seat beside me.

“Some new information has come to light in the case,” Volt said as he sat down.

Ms. Stovall immediately held up her hand to stop any questions that might have followed that statement. “If that’s the case, I would like to have some time to go over the new facts in private before we go any further.”

“As you wish,” Volt said with a tight-lipped smile. He then slid the folder over to Ms. Stovall. “These are the facts that your client is privy to. Please read them over, and then we’ll continue.”

The two detectives stood up and left the room again. A moment later the window became see-through, and the small red lights on the cameras blinked off. I looked around in confusion even as Ms. Stovall flipped open the first page of the folder.

She appeared to begin reading, but at the speed she was flipping through pages, I wondered if she was skimming. Smegma hovered over her shoulder, his wings not even flapping before giving me a look.

“I can’t read your language yet,” he said flatly after a moment. “So, if you want to know what this says, get over here or start asking questions.”

I realized this wasn’t the time to laugh and so morphed my chuckle into a cough. The fact that I could laugh in a situation like this at all startled me a bit. I really wanted to ask the damn thing how it could speak English, but not read it, but still, I took Smegma’s advice, and asked, “What’s it say?”

“It says that Morgan Hallsbrad is suspected of being a Snatcher-for-hire. That he is suspected of targeting you in a manner similar to his other victims through a phishing app on your phone, and initiated contact through SwiftGram. This says that you’re without a doubt the only surviving victim of a terrifying individual, which just turned this entire line of questioning into a farce.” She snorted. “Excessive force? Against a serial killer?” Ms. Stovall stood up, eyes hard, and glanced at me. Then in a firm, calm voice she said, “I’ll be right back.”

Smegma rubbed his hands together and followed her through the door, leaving me totally alone. A moment later, he popped back into a space beside me looking chagrined. “Dammit, I really wanted to see that. She looked like she was going to tear the detectives a new asshole. Why couldn’t she be my Summoner…”

“Hey, I’m right here!” I said, while silently agreeing with Smegma’s assessment of the fiery woman. She definitely was a badass and he felt lucky to have her on his side.