Interrogation [Cadet Case File]

The businesswoman turned up her nose at him with his apology, arms crossed with an intense stare. The look in her eyes was different this time. It wasn't cold, at least not completely. It was a look of betrayal. The pain was evident in her eyes as he punched through the iron fortress she'd erected around herself. He had claimed to be considerate. That was just like him. Always moving forward without pause, redirecting himself to best accommodate others whereas she moved in a straight line no matter what. Though the difference between them is Susan acknowledged what damage she had caused running over other people's toes. Gabriel could not admit that to himself, he had everyone's best intentions at heart after all, right? How could he cause any harm? ...She knew very well that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions. Before her wasn't a dangerous criminal, not to her eyes. It was a man with the best intentions and overwhelming passion, and he was moving so quickly he was ignorant to the destruction he caused. With his heart and soul strapped to a jet engine he burned everything in his wake. She had seen glimpses of who she... loved... in this room and it frightened her. Not the terrorism. Not the extremism. That she could forgive, one could always redeem themselves. No, the paranoia, the betrayal, the complete rejection of reality and what it holds to pledge allegiance to what you believe in. Perhaps it was worse because she had forsaken believing in things. But she had let him inside and set off a grenade, and the walls around her only added to the damage as the ricochet tore her to shreds.


Spoken with tones of uncertainty and shakiness, an obvious charade of resolve. Just like someone who was being emotionally manipulated would say. It became easier as he continued and espoused more about how he believed the government to be wicked and debased, so morally wrong that she must have to be coerced to work alongside them. She again felt like snapping at him and her brow furrowed in preparation to do so for daring that she, with all her careful considerations and awareness, was wrong. Not in and of itself but from someone who knew so little about this and from only one direction. Say as he would he could see things from both sides he still believed the government to be malevolent. Susan did not consider the terrorists malevolent, she considered them misinformed. She considered murderers and killers malevolent, and understood the difference between a crime of passion and righteousness and a crime of evil intent.

...yet she held herself for a moment. And thought on it some. And the reality of the situation was that... he was trying his best to make sense of this situation in a way that would not endanger his own ego. The tightly held belief, one that he could let no one touch, perfect in his eyes that he fought so very hard in its perfection to be blind to its flaws. She closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath. It felt as if she had been on the verge of tears for quite some time now, desperately pushing back against the tide to avoid being swept up in a roiling ocean of feelings she did not wish to experience. When she opened them her expression was tired... and sad.

"...no sweetheart. I am not going to insult you. I am disappointed in your actions but I am not going to attack you over them..." She lowered her arms onto the table to rest them, taking another shaky breath. "This choice... is my own. I am not being coerced, or controlled, or tricked. ...I want to do something important. To help people, Gabriel, help them in a way that matters by protecting their lives. ...I trust in no one but myself. That is enough for me. I do not make decisions on a whim. It has already been decided, I will see it through if I must."

Susan shyly settled back into herself, shuffling her papers and only looking back to Gabriel as he became halfway through his next admittance on how their organization was the Devil come to earth. She drummed her fingers on the desk, weariness giving way to what appeared to be boredom. It was so very tiring. But she would be patient. She already understood the "why", it did not change her opinion. It did not change that there were murderers with supernatural abilities running roughshod through the streets. Ideology on what is right did not factor into her decision-making process. She cared for what is best for everyone, and had decided that it was preserving the safety of Endymion's citizens, corruption or no. That was always a problem that could be solved later, she could only fix so many things at once. On the inside she was relieved to have moved on from that much more tender topic.
"Yes Gabriel, I understand why you would be a terrorist given what you have told me, I have already said that I did. I do not judge or blame you for the way that you feel, but yes may we move away from that subject."

They had moved back on track so it seemed. What Gabriel had described sounded similar to Potential she had seen within the Cadet force: the ability to shift into a much more monstrous form in order to evoke power. And they were doing it when desperate, when "beaten" to give themselves a fighting chance. And leaving the body, much as how the Persona could not be called forth any longer after someone's physical form and mental faculties had gone through the trauma of the fusion in the first place. ...but it would be unwise to make assumptions about these things until she had a case study.
"Yes, I see..." she began, "...but no, I have never encountered anything like that before. I have seen certain terrorists begin to show more resolve from desperation with noticeable changes to potential but never anyone that undergoes a drastic physical change. I will look into the possibility."

Susan made a note in her paperwork to look into physical transformations. If for anything then something she could witness. What would cause it and how dangerous could it be? Was it something only they could perform through those with the red Personas or was it something unique? In any case it warranted interest, it was very abnormal.
"About... Invidia," she began again, leaving her emotional ties back in their box where they belonged as she set about her task again, "It is not the first time you've brought them up, admittedly I have been looking for a way to segway into that. That topic must be very important to you, this is the first time I have heard of this person. Could you tell me about that?" Her expression shifted back to neutral though she was staring again in her blank, expectant way.

"I'm not manipulating you to do anything, you feel how you feel. You are either upset with me or disappointed in me, or both. But we are the same in a way when it comes to this, tried to bring the violence and darker sides of what we do in our little past time away from each other as much as possible. People can acquire the potential but fighting is a choice, no one should be forced into it, either in a practical sense or entering the world of the supernatural and getting involved even further. Do you know? Do you understand that sentiment?"

Or better yet, that's how Gabe saw it.

"Invidia is the district leader of the house of cards or..susie Q in general. Have you heard the story of the cannibalistic acts of idols and what not correct? He was highly involved in operating a brainwashing operation through the music he produces with the people he takes under him. My persona protected me whenever the music started to play, I didn't understand at first. No one really went on his stage without his say so. There have been quite a few murders with all the girls that he picked, the last one was eaten alive. They found the latest corpse near the Karaoke Bar. or better yet, most of them were coming from the karaoke. All of the talents seems to be coming from the karaoke bar…. Apparently… and then after their trials of hell to be seen as a somebody, after their 5 minutes of fame, promptly sacrificed as if it were a cult. Your hunger for fame and fortune through being recognized, how bad do you want it? That was the profile of this man, which is why he became the first target. We wanted it to stop..."

Gabe then breathed in and out.

"That fight changed everything, we actually lost. One person died to save everyone, one another abandoned being a terrorist all together, but all it did was motivate me through my mourning and sorrows. I was not discouraged, if the district leaders would do whatever they can in their power to maintain the status quo, I should put in the same effort to stop them. And with the sacrifice he made, it molded me, I wanted to be that kind of man. The kind of man that could make a sacrifice for his comrades without a second thought. A victory for you is that you caught me, a victory for me is that you didn't catch or hurt anyone else. "

She felt how she felt, is that right? Yes of course she did. Susan felt upset and disappointed, she felt angry and despaired and in pain and everything else uncomfortable and unpleasant. And she lashed out when he threatened to make her feel longing, like thrusting a stick into a wound. The short woman did not wish to feel things, she would act on them. And she did not comprehend them all, she would be acting without knowing and only tragedy would come from that. If she acted unpredictably to herself, against her own desires, it would mean she no longer had control and that notion was frightening. Susan shivered with her steely façade, though be it from fear or hurt or anger was unknown even to her. Fortunately they would not need to broach that subject long. The mousy woman sighed and leaned back in her chair.
”*haaaaa* …apparently enough,” she gestured lazily to the room, ”…you are aware more than anyone, sweetheart, I would not wish this job on anyone. This, today, last night, none of them enjoyable experiences buuuut… it is a very important responsibility. I do this so no one else needs to, now or hopefully ever again.” It was not the reason she had joined for, but the one she had decided to stay for. So that no one else had to experience this level of trauma, so that one day the role of Cadet would be a redundant one. He felt the same, she knew. The valiant warrior for freedom, he who stands when others cower. It was admirable… but misplaced. And it did more harm than good.

The businesswoman shifted upward in her seat as she listened to Gabriel’s accounts on Invidia. She drew parallels to Infinite Jest immediately with brainwashing through an area and a Persona granting resistance though… the rest was suspect. As it sounded it was just like Superbia who was guilty of… being the news, Invidia seemed to be guilty of… scouting talent for his endeavors, save for the cannibalism of course but it evoked a certain level of doubt. It was a very wild rumor indeed and all explained away through circumstance. Guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt was ironclad, and there existed doubt here. Brainwashing happened to be very hard to prove, no one could read minds. Murders from the Karaoke Bar were more concrete but a connection needed to exist, they needed to prove it. If Charles Manson could be caught then this individual could as well, brainwashing or no… if it happened to be true. Though she could not investigate on rumors, that was not how justice worked. Susan remained silent with her steepled fingers to her lips, brow furrowed and with eyes like embers drilling into Gabriel and all the way past him as she connected mental dots.

They had not succeeded. Which was shocking, admittedly. They had not heard of an attack on a district leader before this one, she assumed they would target infrastructure first but there was no doctrine to this. Only what they could find. Yet it was still very strange that they would hear nothing. No complaints or reports, it became clear that this method of targeting would continue beyond evidence and reason and that would cause problems. These events may already explain why the reports of demons in Suzie Q had risen, as a response to death or harboring ill… IF her suspicions on their nature were correct. And Gabriel would not stop either, not with a death on his hands. She would need to assume no one else would. Time was of the essence.
”Mmmmmmno,” she stated seriously, breaking eye contact to fish out more paper, ”No, I would not consider this any sort of victory for anyone, nothing has been resolved Gabriel I need you to tell me something.” She spoke quickly and earnestly, returning her intense stare to him as she prepared to write with her touch.
”I need evidence. I need hard evidence in order to investigate or prosecute, I need names or missing persons reports, autopsy reports, photographic evidence if you have it o-or of course you don’t have it, I meant a way to get it but I need to be able to prove this Gabriel. Witnesses, times of death, locations, it does not matter but I need information for this to go anywhere.” The small woman paused for a moment, keeping her eyes on the rogue.
”……Gabriel you can still do good, you can still consider this a victory by proxy. You can accomplish everything you set out to do and stop corruption but I absolutely need your help to do that, do you understand? …If Invidia is still doing this I need your utmost cooperation if it is to stop but I can do nothing with just your account, I need more, do you understand?”

"It doesn't matter anymore. One of the reasons why I'd want to win, is because they won't be killed. No matter what evil atrocities that the district leader may have committed, it needs to be exposed to the populous and given a fair trial, the people need to realize that it's a real thing happening out there, and it's a disservice to them to stick to things such as assassinations and the like. But I hate to burst your bubble, after we lost, skelker picked up the pieces and increased his ranks from my membership. My way was no longer adequate and they wanted blood. So invidia, is dead.... he's dead, and what happens after a district leader dies and by whose hand... I don't know. So I have to be first, I have to beat him to it every single time, because justice can't be reached if we stain our hands with blood. "

Gabe couldn't answer that, but at the very least, because it was her, he felt like he could speak to her about this and at least lower the threat viewpoint of the playhouse.

"Any other questions for me? I can't prove this because it'll incriminate the confidants, you'll just have to let it go, Susan, I don't have the kind of proof that you want. "

Fair enough, all in all this was more likely with what data she had available to her. The Platinum Playhouse would have claimed this victory as well or at the very least would not have moved on were they to lose from their do or die nature. And the increase in demon sightings in the district were also congruent to a lack of protection and leadership. She had no reason to doubt that indeed he was dead, but still... she had nothing to prove these claims with. Susan deflated and settled down in her chair.
"I see..."

The businesswoman sighed and drummed her fingers on the tabletop. Much of this was going nowhere, and she was learning from it but she still did not have very much concrete evidence she could take advantage of.
"*Fffffnnn* Gabriel? I just need the names of the victims, the people who were killed so that I may run them against missing persons or... case reports or... something!" she laughed uncomfortably, "I can do my own legwork but I have nowhere to start, with Invidia I suppose it doesn't matter as you've said and yet at the moment I have no way to prove he has ever done any wrongdoing and that will go for everyone you would want investigated for corruption. For me to prove that someone has committed a crime I need to be able to prove that a crime has been committed in the first place, you must understand that."

Susan threw her hand up and allowed it to flop at her side. This was all quite vexing and, to her, the Playhouse was beginning to sound insane. She understood why people would want to overthrow the government from a generalist perspective, they were unhappy with it, and specifically if they detected corruption rife within this would cause people to fight to remove it and breaking laws to do so. That she could understand. But being unable to prove anything, working from hearsay? How could you be unable to prove someone was cannibalized? It left a corpse and someone went missing, you could have something to point to but insofar it was all blind faith in... street rumors? This could all be imaginary as far as she knew. A coalition of Persona Users banding together to fight the evils of the city that was completely fabricated by whackjobs on the street, incredibly frustrating. But... regardless of the origin the effects remained.

"Only a few, if that." she answered his inquiry. It was becoming an exercise in frustration for the both of them.

"Well, Susan if I knew I was going to get captured today I would have brought an extra pair of underwear or something, the last thing on my mind would be having all of this information prepared for you in a little red box in case I wanted to be a spineless informant. Anything that you are requesting, what are the odds of me having that on myself? Sure, there is proof, can I prove it? No, why? Because it's not here, I was naive enough to want to build a case and I packed it away, but what uses is it to you now? I won't surrender any information as to where it is because it'll compromise others, and I can hardly remember now. And then I'll forget once you are done with me, brain damage and the like. But even with what I gathered, All it really was ..... all of it.. was for me to look back at it and say to myself that I was justified with every action I took, I never saw it beyond that... but now it's use to you is.........*sigh*...nevermind."

About skelker?

"He was the original leader of the playhouse, then something happened and he wasn't. With his recent appearance, he seems to be a shadow of his former self and I don't know what could have happened for him to experience such a dramatic change. I don't know anything else about him besides his true desire..the reflection that gleams from his victory in our endless waltz. This place is going to be overrun with demons if he wins, all I wanted was freedom, but not like this. "

Her eyebrow twitched in frustration. How dare she of all people ask for a mere name of someone that had gone missing? Invidia... this cannibalistic monster was so terrible he never left any bodies, but not only that, he gorged himself on their names until the very concept of the people being eaten did not exist. Why if she hadn't known any better Susan might begin to believe that these entire accusations were completely fabricated in self-justified ploy to overthrow government officials for selfish and chaotic ends originating from a separate party. But that would be unheard of. Though... he was frightened. That much was clear. And sentimental. The entire situation made her stomach tie in knots, but she could not afford to let herself feel anything at all. It would not get her anywhere but hurt.


"...to prove that you weren't misled and they were wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt. To achieve justice not for you, but that lasts beyond you. A justification that stands on its own unchallenged and undeniable. ...that is what I would do with that." A lump formed in her throat as she solemnly turned back to her papers. "...but I am wasting my time in asking, aren't I?" It was starting to become rough, no matter how strongly she could pretend the mousy woman could not deny that... she was human. And in pain. And the longer this went on the deeper the wound festered. And yet after all this time they had found something in common. An enemy.
*hmm-mmm* The-en will you help me find him...?" Her voice was quiet and shy much as he would remember. Overtime this was wearing her down, prickling at her nerves and plucking at her heart strings in frustrating ways she did not wish to experience.
"...I-I think I speak for everyone when I say... nobody wants that. I believe you want to do good sweetheart and you still can, just-... I need to know more about him, to stop him. ...help me. Help me help you to do good. ...Please."

"I don't know how to help you do that without endangering my other comrades. Well, they left with him, but they are good people...misguided. They can still come back without being tarnished with such ideas of violence and malice. I personally wouldn't know of the skulker location, but maybe they will. But even if that's the case, every action has its consequences. These past few hours or so....I hurt you...very much. "

Gabe looked down at his hands.

"I really don't have any more information than that, I don't know what was useful to you or not, I don't have much of anything involving skelker, I only told you what I knew off the base. And the trickledown brings about too great of a stream, who suffers if I was to try to find or out this man with the attempt of saving my own skin? His wrath, I wasn't even strong enough to beat your squad, and then... my old friends, should they suffer on my behalf? I was never that kind of guy, you know that. Too much thought into the results of each move, or maybe, not enough."

Looking up to Susan once again, Gabe would smile.



"There is nothing more you can do here. Go home, get some rest, eat something. This would be around the time i'd offer to pick you up and play hookey for a few hours at a nice brunch in. Knowing you and me speaking on instinct alone. You've done all you could, and I appreciate you coming to speak to me. And for the record, for peace of mind if you still care, approaching you, getting close to you, that wasn't Shotaro. That was Gabriel, even after knowing who you were, it was a legitimate interest in wanting to get to know you, I'm very reluctant in using people in such an abhorrent way. On the flipside. Humor me before you leave. How would things be if we were sitting on opposite sides of the table?"

It was as if squeezing blood from a stone. As he had been compassionate toward the Cadets in attempts to understand along with attempts to damn so did he for murderers he hardly knew. Empathy and judgement both existed within him at both extremes but she could never do that. His existed in equilibrium whereas hers canceled each other out. There was no compassion toward her enemies but neither was there disgust. What was... was, and nothing more than that. Actions and consequences, inputs and results. Though Susan was becoming desperate, perhaps he was getting the better of her but she was close, so close to an entry point above the concrete, something she could weaponize.
"They have made their choice already Gabriel, you don't need-" And her jaw had hung as she attempted to interrupt him, the pain he had spoken about now beginning to reveal on her face as if stabbed in the gut. They both would be boring holes into the table. Acknowledging it like that had given it life and power, it was not some half-baked apology or flippant admission or ploy. It was acknowledging what was, and it was a reminder to Susan that yes, yes this hurt. Very much. And it brought the pain of it on.

She'd remain silent as he claimed to know nothing more and lament his comrades in their defense. Feeling his eyes upon her she would look up as well, her eyes wet, expression distraught. Yes she was weary. She had not eaten anything, had not slept, and he had recognized the effort as no one else did. To them it was if she were in any state that could function but he had related to what that meant and recognized how much she had sacrificed. And, worst of all, he claimed that his intentions were pure. She wanted to believe. She wanted to disbelieve. She wanted to hold him and be held, to strike him, to cry, to shout, to ache, to despise, and her head and her heart became locked in a violent tango of what she wanted or should want. Susan could no longer discern what was real, if she was being lied to or if he was forthright, if she wished to stay with him past this, if he... would be the same person. If who she loved even ever existed. Was she about to lose him? Or was he never there to begin with? Before her there were many doors, all unmarked, no way to discern which path to take and all of them led to agony but one. It led to both agony and reward. And she had to make a decision on how to proceed, to close her eyes and leap blindly into the future. Her track record... was not that great with these kinds of decisions, that much she knew. So she knew that this would hurt worst, that whatever future awaited her would be wrought with pain and despair. It terrified her. There was nothing she could do because she did not know how to make that choice.

"I-I-" She choked, swallowing hard to push the lump in her throat down, to stifle the tightening in her chest but control was already lost. She was roiling in the toxic sea now, breaking down underneath the weight of the emotional toll all at once.
"I-I would make you ha-ate me-e..." she sputtered, stopping her hand from wiping her face and turning to her dossier to stuff papers haphazardly into the manilla folder. Tears began to arc down her cheeks in a stream.


Sobbing she stood from the metal table, sheilding her tears behind her envelope of documents but being unable to hid them. With head bowed she scurried to the door, wrapping her knuckles on the thick frame to signal her exit as her sharp breaths and whimpers echoed through the room. Her stomach felt sick. Her body felt weak, overcome with grief so that she wanted to lay on the floor and curl into a ball where she stood and stop existing. To the Prince and him alone she sent a single message.

It was painful to watch Susan brave through the emotions she was having. Trying so hard to muster them down deep under the depths of one soul, just to do their job. There really was something to be said about such professionalism, for better or for worse. Unlike the earlier Cadets, she actually got a lot of information out of him. It did confirm a few things for him, thankfully. But this entire conversation would finally reach its inevitable end. Even if the Prince knew it, it didn't make it any easier to watch her begin to crumble. He soon gave an order to the surveillance operator to relay to the guards. "We're done here. Let the Cadet leave. Put the Psyche-Terrorist where he belongs."

The man nodded back at Julius before speaking through the radio and pressing on the necessary commands to unlock the exit. The door would open for Susan to leave. And as soon as she left, the door would close behind her and the guards still stood stoically by the door. They wouldn't even eye the Cadet as she left. It was only when she was gone from sight that the guards would deal with Gabriel Gatsby and lead him to his isolated cell.

The Prince firmly addressed to the Third Class Cadets. There was not much in the way of words, nor any way of congratulations. Though in a way, he had to blame himself for thinking newcomers could handle something so important as this with some degree of success. "What happened here, I want you to practice discretion and keep it to yourselves unless necessary for any future mission tasks. I want a report written to me about what you learned here. You're dismissed."



He would still stay here for Susan, at the least. His expression was less severe, more gentle even, as he began to pull out a handkerchief for her from his pocket. "Are you alright, Susan?"

Well... That was a thing that just happened. In retrospect, Susan's irritation kinda made sense. At first Gozai had just thought she was being a bitch for some stupid reason. But after what he'd seen, it was clear she'd gone into that room with a full truckload of emotional baggage.

In a way, he felt sorry for her, although that was largely overshadowed by the frustration that had clung with him throughout the remainder of the interrogation, as he'd stood there, silent. He would stand at attention as the Prince would finally grace the two of them with his attention. A report ehhh?... Yeah, that's gonna be hard to stay professional with. In that moment, not that Gozai would admit it, he felt his resolve waver some.

He would offer the prince a stiff nod. "Understood, your majesty." And that said, he owuld bow, before turning to leave.

On the way out, his attention would turn to Isaac, the albino either stopping or picking up the pace if need be. "You wanna go grab a bite?"

[EXIT]

The few moments it had taken to open the door of that cell might as well have been an eternity as Susan stood hunched with her heart punctured, dripping tears onto the floor. Her analytical mind turned against her as she wept pressed against the door frame, this was no mere betrayal, no mere wound. It was the loss of everything. The dinner she had planned for them where she would make yakisoba because she thought he would like that to show her appreciation and thought and he would flirt and make inneundo during the meal and she would be embarrassed in an acceptable way where the night would end in tenderness? That was gone. The outing to the Festival Strip he had hinted at where she could dress up in traditional garb and Gabriel would show her arround and quote knowledge on the culture he knew as she listened to him speak passionately about his interests? Also gone. Further into the future and further into the past, events were examined and scruitinized and the pain struck all at once. It was an entire lifetime of hurt conveniently packaged into crying at work in front of her boss and subordinates. The pain would persist, as she would soon be alongside him... he having no memory of these events. She did not know if she was strong enough to forgive. She did not know if the strong thing was to forgive, or to cauterize the wound. But she would always be reminded, never allowed to forget.

The mousy woman took one last tearful look toward Gabriel, pulling her folder down far enough to display the utter concentrated heartbreak in her features. To the man that represented her desired future, what she had wanted, something to fight for... the only thing in her life that hadn't been dragged through the dirt and tarnished and made ugly. The one person who had cherished her or at least acted like it, the only one that made everything worth it, all the toil and struggle, her light at the end of the tunnel. And she had lost that. Now there was nothing to look forward to. With gasping sobs she pulled the door shut behind her and began to hide her face behind her folder and hand again as she marched swiftly to the observation room. She would arrive soon after the other Cadets had left, though would not notice them if she were to pass them in the hallway. It wasn't as if she could recognize them from their pantlegs with her face glued to the floor and her face covered though they would definitely notice how terribly distraught she happened to be. She did not let herself in immediately. Susan instead stood outside the doo for a few moments trying to breathe and spin herself down. There wasn't much she could do about her makeup but she could at the very least pretend as if she was composed enough to conduct herself in a professional manner. She smoothed out her suit jacket and took a few shaky gasps before entering.

The businesswoman... did not appear as if she was alright. Her expression was stone-faced but still rocky, something that could be shattered at the slightest provocation. A brave face still wet from sobbing and her makeup ruined, chest quaking with phantom sobs that still racked her. And immediately they broached the obvious, but she did not want to talk about it. Susan wished to speak of this to no one, ever, and not to interact with anyone or relate or review. Her sole desire was to be left alone to retreat and lick her wounds and try to pick up the pieces of her shattered dreams in peace, quiet and solitude.
"I-I wi-ill train the-em. The-ey will do be-etter," she deflected, focusing on work, the only thing she knew she could retreat to in order to avoid the ache. Her gaze did not meet his and she raised her hand in a noncommital gesture between accepting and refusing the handkerchief, but set her hand down without taking it. She gulped. Apparently she knew herself better than she could imagine. Susan really couldn't do this anymore.
"I-I ne-ed... I-I need to u-use the restroom," she squeaked in a broken voice. The businesswoman no longer wanted to be seen by anyone, especially not this pathetic and especially in front of the Prince. She took a step back and instinctively turned her head toward Prince Julius for his approval with a pained look before departing anyway, permission or no, with her head down and strangling the sobbing down.
"I-I wi-ill submit my repo-ort la-ater..."

She needed the privacy, no longer could she hold it all in while it continued to bubble to the surface. So her flats clacked across the floor as she retreated to the one place closest she knew she wouldn't be bothered, and where she could fix her makeup before going back to wishing she didn't exist and acting as if everything was routine. She only needed 20 minutes or so to grieve, but would she return to her car with no hint to the awaiting news vultures that anything was amiss. Save for the dead look in her eyes and icy silence.

Isaac didn't have much to say. Susan had followed all the points that Isaac had thought he probably shouldn't, and others he'd missed entirely. She was forthright, she was thorough, even in the midst of what he'd come to understand was something very hard for her to do. Any lingering resentment for her had drained away, replaced with something else he hadn't felt in a very long time. Self-loathing. What had he thought to accomplish by coming here? He was only playing cops and robbers at best. He was wholly outmatched in this, and every situation he'd encountered so far. Every time and place he'd been called to act on behalf of the Cadets, he'd been the fool, swinging his sword at shadows.

He was a joke, and today he'd proven it to everyone whose opinion mattered. He watched Susan without any words to offer her, or Julius beside him. Or Gozai, who was likely feeling similarly shamed. When it was all over, he was feeling so drained that he had no idea what to do with himself. Where would he go from here as a Cadet? He couldn't just ride the ride until it ended. That wasn't the point. This game had more facets than he'd ever accounted for.

He was cold inside, soaked through with sympathy for Susan, and a kind of respect he wasn't sure he could put a name to. The hollow feeling in him made him desperate to do something. anything. But he had no idea what that could possibly be. So as he was dismissed, he merely nodded silently to Julius. "Yes sir. Sorry...sir."

And with a simple bow he walked out of the room. He tried not to look at Susan, with every part of him he wanted to say something kind, but with the shape of their current relationship, he felt that she wouldn't take it the right way. So as he passed her on his way out he stopped only for a moment, and looked back at her as she walked away, staring at the ground. With a solemn voice she probably hadn't heard before, said "Thank you, Officer Groves. I will learn from this." Thank you for teaching me this? Thank you for doing this when no doubt you wanted to do anything else? yeah, all of the above and then some. But he didn't voice any of that. He didn't need to. It was there in his tone, and the way he left without another word. She probably was too distraught to listen to anything he said anyway. Now wasn't the time for his words.

They'd talk again, and he'd make sure he had thought long and hard about what he would say.

As they were headed out, Gozai asked him something he wasn't expecting. Isaac turned to the boy, and the look on his face was somewhere between astonishment and relief. Maybe with a dash of that hollow feeling he was still feeling. "Sure." he said with a small, but real smile, "Anything but Pizza."

It was hard to find any words for her, like pulling out teeth slowly. What could anyone tell someone suffering from the sheer betrayal by someone they cherished? Everything he asked of her, to look inside of herself and give herself purpose, had no absolute meaning now and it was a source for aggravation for the Prince. But his face did not betray that emotion to the Cadet. Someone was hurting and there was no room for indulging in that emotion.


He gave her a pat on the shoulder, despising that this was all he could do. But, in the end, he would watch Susan leave. Once the Cadets have left, Julius heaved a sigh and stood there pondering over the entire conversation before leaving himself.

SQ Obtained: