Chapter 32 #2
But they didn't stop. The procession kept walking down an elegant hall, and then into a smaller one.
From there, they turned to head even deeper into the building until Benedict paused before a pair of solid wood doors.
With a gesture, two priests moved to open them - and everything in the room on the other side paused.
"The Praetor of the Legion, Priest Benedict!" a woman called out, sounding like a herald.
"And the defense's council," Benedict said as he continued to meander his way in.
Trent kept pace, making sure Rissa walked with him.
She caught him glancing at her a few times, but he said nothing.
From the clothing he was wearing, she could only assume this was one of the Legates' many formal duties, but she hadn't memorized the rituals of the church.
That was not considered an appropriate interest for an Ingénue.
Standing in the middle of the room was Jaime, the shop owner of the boutique who had helped Sin. Once Benedict moved to sit at a chair in the first aisle, a priest gestured and Jaime began speaking again.
"Like I was saying," Jaime tried, "I had about eight punks come into my store within an hour.
All dressed different, all with pollution masks, piercings, and typical street clothes.
They kept asking if I'd seen a priest and a Brain.
One said they'd be in blue, so I kinda figured they were talking about an Ingénue, but we don't get those types around there. And then, yeah, I heard shooting."
"But you didn't see anything?" the prosecution asked.
"No, Censor," Jaime said. "I was ducked down behind the counter. Some of those bullets can make it through the walls, you know. I just knew the priest was hurt bad, and he had help coming for them."
Which was when Benedict cleared his throat. "Which is why I brought another witness. I think you'll have more fun cross examining this one, Brother Joshua."
With that, Joshua nodded, dismissing Jaime. "Well, who else do you have to support the claim that Brother Sinclair acted in defense instead of murder?"
"Ingénue R1554-9370S-02K16," Benedict said, gesturing for her. "Please, would you give us your recollections of the event?"
Which was when Trent grabbed her elbow and guided her forward. "Just walk into the center there, and do whatever it is you do."
Then he let her go. Rissa made straight for the open area before the ten men who would judge Sin for keeping her safe. "I will need a data cable and a monitor," she said, making sure her tone was soft and polite.
Julie immediately moved from Sin's side to flick a switch on the wall and grab a cable.
Without a word, she dragged the length of it over to Rissa.
Behind the long row of ten priests, a large screen was being revealed as the panels slid back.
Then, before Julie could offer her the cable, Rissa knelt supplicant, bowing her head so she could release the buttons at the back of her neck.
"Please use the smaller port for data retrieval," she announced, trying to make this as close to a normal data transfer as possible.
So Julie gently inserted the probe and secured it. Immediately, Rissa knew she wasn't connected to a system. This was little more than a direct line to the monitor, and she wanted to smile. With little more than a thought, she sent the records of her memory to it.
Vivid colors and quickly-moving images filled the screen, starting with the moment Sin pushed Rissa down behind the dumpster.
Her view was limited, but the words thrown between Sin and the men threatening them were audible.
Then the first shot went off. The bangs of the so many guns were loud.
The screams were louder. She caught every bullet that hit Sin's body, every time he jerked in pain.
She had been scared, and it came across in the replay.
Her eyes closed for moments, blocking out the sight, but the sounds just kept going.
When her eyes had opened, the sights were even more gruesome, and then the gun was shot from Sin's hand.
It slid across the ground, sliding toward her, but she pulled away from it.
There were more shots, more screams, along with grunts from Sin, but when the last man had jumped onto the dumpster, Rissa had acted. Lunging forward, her fingers closed on the gun and she'd quickly calculated the fastest way to stop a threat. From her angle, a shot under his arm should work.
She hadn't aimed. She hadn't looked down the barrel. Ingénue R1554-9370S-02K16 had simply lifted the gun and pulled the trigger—and the last assailant had dropped immediately. Rissa ended the playback.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Julie said as she removed the probe from Rissa's back, "but wasn't that last man Brother Paul, the priest in question?"
"It was," Benedict said, answering instead of Joshua.
And the man in the center of the long desk picked up the gavel and beat it three times. "Are the assembled Tribunes ready to cast the first vote?" he asked.
One by one, each of the ten priests declared Legate Sinclair Cassis innocent, but Rissa wasn't even allowed to smile.