"YOU!"
As soon as Lev was back at the spaceport, he was met with Captain Zed and Assistant Captain Benedict. The two of them were standing side by side while talking to two people in uniforms. The uniforms were quite different, quite human, that Lev assumed that they weren't part of the Exploration Teams.
As soon as Captain Zed's gaze connected to Lev's glance, he flared up in anger, his cheeks reddening. With a shaky hand, he pointed at Lev as if he had committed an atrocious crime. And well, that's probably what he thought.
Seeing Captain Zed's reaction, Titania couldn't help but cower behind Lev. She was powerful, all right, but the Captain was just that charismatic.
"What did you do this time, you, you, you troublemaker!" Captain Zed barked as he walked quickly towards Lev, his fists clenched. It was quite plain that he didn't learn his lesson when Lev gave him a deadly blow on the head using the heavy strategy table.
Before everything got out of hand, Assistant Captain Benedict grabbed the Captain by the collar and pulled him away from Lev. He feared that Captain Benedict might experience another close call with death, and right now, he quite honestly doesn't know how Lev's disposition was at that moment. For all he knows, he might be running out of patience as it is.
"Please maintain your composure, Captain, I'm perfectly sure that this is just another misunderstanding. This is quite normal in spaceports. I'm sure everything's fine." Benedict said with a reassuring voice. He didn't want another confrontation to happen right in front of him. He's had enough of it this week.
"I'm hoping that such is the case. But knowing him, I don't think it is." Captain Zed said, stomping his foot before turning around to avoid Lev's terrifying gaze.
A few minutes ago, Captain Zed and Assistant Captain Benedict received a summons from the Council themselves, telling them that they were supposed to meet with the Terean Authorities right by the entrance of the spaceport and to make sure that their two unregistered passengers were with them. The two of them were clueless as to why they mentioned two unregistered passengers when there's only one— Titania.
A few minutes later, they received two photos, one of Titania's and one of Lev's. Benedict was confused, he is perfectly aware that Lev was registered on the Main Earth. After all, his grandparents were quite great figures on the Main Earth. There's no way he was unregistered. If he wasn't, then how was he able to apply to be a part of an Exploration Team? It would be close to impossible to achieve such a feat.
"Unless... " Benedict muttered to himself before stopping himself short. Whatever his suspicions were, those could wait. Right now, they have to meet with the Terean Authorities and have Titania and Lev clear up the misunderstanding.
The two figures in uniforms had their names embroidered on their uniform. One of them read Ivan H. and the second one had Carl E. on his. In unison, the two of them flashed their IDs at Lev and Titania as soon as they joined the group.
"Greetings, Lev and... Titania? I'm sorry if I mispronounced your name." Ivan slightly bowed after the greeting. "We are part of the Terean Authorities and we were instructed by the Council to take you in. I don't think it will take too much of your time, we're just here to confirm a few things."
"Oh, all right," Lev responded. Just like Titania, he had no idea what was happening and he deemed it best to just remain calm in order to appease the two officers.
But before he could react, Carl E. approached him and proceeded to cuff him. Lev stepped back and put his hands back in response.
"Officer, I'm sorry to say but you can't place handcuffs on me. I didn't commit any crime, nor did you see me misbehave on your watch. Moreover, you don't have a warrant. How could you arrest an innocent citizen like me?" Lev asked. Titania vehemently nodded as she peeked her head from behind Lev.
Carl was taken aback, to say the least. But after a few seconds, he chuckled and put the handcuffs back from his pockets. The handcuffs they issued to officers right now were of advanced technology, consisting of two thick metals activated by an electromagnet. If one were to get handcuffed by it, it would automatically adjust to the wrist size of the person. And if deactivated, it would shrink to a size of a coin. That's why Carl easily stuffed it in his pockets. Lev was nothing short of amazed upon seeing the handcuffs.
"Two things, I can arrest you right here and now because, well, the Council said so. These instructions aren't a warrant but I can treat it as one. Also, avoiding arrest can be considered a crime, you know? I'm surprised you know of such rules though. Usually, when we arrest someone they just go through with it."
"Stop it, Carl. We're just instructed to bring them in, not arrest them." Ivan sighed. "I'm sorry about that. He just likes using handcuffs, please understand him."
"There are a lot of things wrong and questionable on your statement just now, mister," Lev responded. "In any case, we're coming with you. But don't you dare handcuff us. We're not criminals."
"Well, we'll see about that," Ivan said, bowing toward Captain Zed and Benedict before gesturing for Lev and Titania to step inside their floating car.
The floating car had a striking resemblance to black sedans back in the day and Satoshi was awed at the sight. He even temporarily forgot that the authorities were bringing them in for questioning because he was busy admiring the car. "Rockets? You attached rockets to cars to make them float? Cool!" Lev commented.
"No, they use a tone-down version of rockets called boosters. Well, I don't know why they call it that when they're more powerful than rockets themselves." Ivan responded. He had an interest in technology back in the day, that's why he was more than willing to answer Lev's question.
"Ooh, boosters, do you use them on pretty much everything to make them float?" Lev's eyes were gleaming as he looked around the interior of the car.
"Just get in the car," Carl scratched his head.
"Right right," Lev responded, nodding his head. Of course he was more than willing to ride a floating car, more than everyone else.