"Look, I don't know how many times I have to tell you I don't have any artifacts."
Leta wanted to rip her hair out at the two officers sitting across the table from her in the interrogation room. They'd been going around in circles for the last hour on the same question, only phrased slightly differently each time.
Several police officers had been waiting for them at the docks in Athens. The moment she'd stepped off the boat, they had arrested her and shoved her in the back of a police car.
Her crime?
Stealing an artifact from the dig.
Oddly enough, when pressed for where and what item, the officers wouldn't say.
"We've been going on for hours, Miss Black. We can be done once you tell us who made you steal the artifact."
"And like I've been telling you for hours, I didn't steal an artifact."
"Then what are we doing here?"
"I'd like to know too." She spat, any niceness or respect for law enforcement going out the window when the threw her into this room.
"We just want to know why you'd steal something so important to our culture." The detective said sweetly, like he was trying to correct an unruly child.
"Oh my god, you guys are literally the definition of insanity." Leta retorted, rubbing her temples.
"This is our heritage. Why would you steal this from us?"
"Maybe I need to say this in Greek so you'll finally understand." She snarled, her eyes narrowing in anger. She'd never actually spoken Greek before, but found that the language now came easily to her after she'd integrated the other languages using Tongues Of The Many.
In Greek, she spat out, "I didn't steal anything. If something has been stolen, look elsewhere, because you are wasting my time with these accusations."
Fed up with the continuous questions, Leta decided to utilize another one of her skills.
'Gada', she thought to her nanite hive mind, something she learned to do on the ferry ride over, 'how do I use Persuasion?'
[THE HOST NEEDS ONLY TO MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT WITH THE VICTIM AND FOCUS ON THE INTENT TO PERSUADE THE VICTIM. PLEASE NOTE THAT AT YOUR CURRENT LEVEL, YOU MUST MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT WHILE USING PERSUASION AND CAN ONLY PERSUADE ONE INDIVIDUAL EACH TIME THIS PROGRAM IS USED.]
'One is all I need.' She thought bitterly to herself, and looked the detective in the eye. He was stocky, with salt and pepper hair complimenting his white button down and black tie. His brown eyes looked intelligent but withdrawn, the bags under his eyes attesting to many sleepless nights.
Leta took a deep breath and focused, feeling her eyes burn slightly as if she'd been staring at a bright object for too long.
"I didn't steal anything." She said calmly, almost hypnotically, "You don't believe I stole anything. You know this, right?"
The detective's eyes seemed to lose focus for half a breath before a strange expression crossed his face. It was both sad and apologetic all at once, completely at odds with his insistent visage a moment ago.
"I know you didn't steal anything." The detective said slowly in English. Then he scratched the back of his head and leaned back in his chair as if he too was exhausted by this questioning.
"All the evidence that I have says you've never been in contact with any of the artifacts, and yet the report that we received from the police in Thera stated that an artifact had been found in your possession."
Leta's brows furrowed. "We were cleared by the authorities before we even got on the ferry, and they checked all our bags before leaving. Why would they give us the all clear to leave then turn around and say I stole something after the boat had pushed off?"
The detective ran a hand through his hair as his confusion morphed into a frown of concern.
"That… is true. Why approve someone for travel then have them arrested?"
"Sir." Leta said softly, getting the detective's attention. When they locked eyes, Leta focused again and used Persuasion. "Could you tell me who authorized my arrest?"
Again, the detective's eyes went blank for a moment before his vision returned to normal. Nodding, the detective pulled his phone out and tapped at it for several moments.
Suddenly he paused, thumb hovering above the screen as his face scrunched in confusion at what he read on the screen.
"This… no, this isn't..." He muttered under his breath in Greek, but Leta's now acute hearing easily picked up what he was saying, "No, no I didn't approve this. I couldn't have."
"Is something wrong?" Leta asked in English.
The detective's head shot up and looked at her, almost surprised that she was there.
"No," He said slowly, "But I must get to the bottom of this. Please, wait here, I will have someone come and get you."
Without any further explanation, the detective sprang from the interrogation room, leaving her alone and with more questions than answers.
Leta sighed, sitting back in the chair and crossing her arms over her chest as she considered what she'd just learned.
The detective had a hand in her being detained, but he seemed shocked to learn about this.
He'd also mentioned the police in Thera. She remembered Good Cop and Bad Cop that had questioned her while she was in the hospital.
Good Cop had really focused his questions on her handling the artifacts. Now that she'd been detained regarding stolen goods, it didn't take a rocket scientist to realize these two instances were connected.
The trouble was figuring out how and why. She was a high school student, not some smuggler. Out of everyone on the team, why was she singled out?
The doorknob to the interrogation room rattled and Leta looked up from her musings to see a tall man smartly dressed in black suit and tie entering.
The hairs on the back of Leta's neck stood on end, a sense of danger screaming at her that a predator had set its sights on her.
The first thing she noticed was his pale hands and fingernails that were just slightly too long to be considered normal. His square face was gaunt as if he hadn't been eating properly, and his green eyes were startling in their intensity, but set back in a way that bespoke malnourishment. His black hair was long but not outlandish by European standards, with a five o'clock shadow adding something almost sinister to his pale face.
The newcomer closed the door behind him, then turned and gave her a disconcerting smile.
"Hello, Miss Black." He greeted, his voice deeper than a bottomless pit, "my name is John Alaric, and I have a few questions for you."