Leta swallowed her nerves, trying to push that part of her that felt like a rabbit caught in a snare. Letting out a large sigh, she ran a hand through her hair in mock frustration. "Apparently you and every other crook of a cop in this building. I don't know how many times I have to repeat myself with you guys - I didn't steal anything."
"The documents on file state that you stole something of value, though."
"Yeah, but here's the funny thing," Leta retorted with a sneer, "Those documents don't list out what I apparently stole. When I ask what is missing, people get a confused look on their face then go back to asking where it is - but they don't know what 'it' is. Apparently there's an arrest warrant signed off for me that those who approved it have no recollection of signing, and even though we were thoroughly searched before getting on that boat and given approval by the authorities, someone decided to rescind that approval conveniently after they knew I was on the ferry. I'm no sleuth, but from where I'm standing it seems like someones trying to keep me here for a reason, and the theft is just an excuse."
Alaric sat with his hands folded properly in his lap as Leta listed off her grievances, unflinching and even smiling slightly as each issue was brought forward.
"It would indeed seem like someone is trying to keep you pinned down for a spell." He shrugged, as if they were discussing the weather. "Why do you think that is?"
An ugly laugh escaped Leta's lips, "Isn't that the million dollar question. Why would someone want to detain a history nerd high school girl without so much as a parking ticket on her record."
Alaric leaned forward in the seat, resting his strangely long fingers on the table. "Let's say for a hypothetical situation, you did steal something. What do you think that something would be?"
[WARNING! FOREIGN ENTITY IS ATTEMPTING TO USE CORRUPTED SOFTWARE TO GAIN ENTRY TO THE HOSTS MEMORIES AND SURFACE LEVEL THOUGHTS.]
[HOSTS MENTAL FORTITUDE STAT + EARS OF THE JUDGE + PERSUASION (28) IS HIGHER THAN MENTAL MANIPULATION TROJANWARE (25).]
[MENTAL MANIPULATION BY FOREIGN ENTITY HAS FAILED. PROTECTION OF HOSTS MIND STILL HOLDS.]
Leta felt like ice had been dumped down her back as she registered the mental attack that had just occurred, biting her tongue to keep a straight face.
'Holy sh*t…' she thought to herself as her heart began to pound with dread.
This man had just attempted to use a corrupted form of Persuasion on her.
He had activated nanites.
And apparently he knew or guessed that she did as well, because the first thing she would have thought of was the black icor that had activated her nanites.
Leta swallowed, then shrugged as if nothing had occurred in an attempt to play ignorant.
"If I had to wager, probably the metal work that we found. The site was dated to Early Bronze Age around 3000 BCE, but the metal objects that we found appear to be crude attempts at iron work. Iron sometimes shows up artifacts dating before the Iron Age, but these are mostly from meteors. The metal that we found shows that it was smelted, which means the people that lived there had figured out how to get a furnace hot enough to melt iron instead of bronze that had a much more manageable melting point."
Alaric tilted his head like a confused puppy.
Inside, Leta was laughing to herself.
As scary as this guy was, he was still out of his depth when dealing with a nerd passionate about history.
"The metal would be worth stealing?" He finally asked, stating each word slowly as if trying to reason with an idiot.
"Oh, for sure." Leta beamed with forced cheerfulness, "By all accounts, smelting iron really wouldn't get its rough start till around 1800 BCE in what we know as Turkey today, so the fact that we've got something that even remotely looks like smelted iron, crude as it may be, completely rewrites the history books!"
"And there was nothing at the site that seemed… lets say, otherworldly?"
[WARNING! FOREIGN ENTITY IS ATTEMPTING TO USE CORRUPTED SOFTWARE TO GAIN ENTRY TO THE HOSTS MEMORIES AND SURFACE LEVEL THOUGHTS.]
[HOSTS MENTAL FORTITUDE STAT + EARS OF THE JUDGE + PERSUASION (28) IS HIGHER THAN MENTAL MANIPULATION TROJANWARE (25).]
[MENTAL MANIPULATION BY FOREIGN ENTITY HAS FAILED. PROTECTION OF HOSTS MIND STILL HOLDS.]
'He is definitely on to me knowing something about nanites.' Leta thought.
[INDIVIDUAL HAS MADE TWO ATTEMPTS TO PENETRATE THE HOSTS MIND. HOST IS ADVISED TO FLEE AND AVOID CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE INDIVIDUAL.]
'Gonna be hard to do locked in an interrogation room, Gada.' Leta replied in her mind.
"Nope." She shrugged, giving Alaric an apologetic but frustrated grin, "Unless you count amazingly well preserved mosaics and metal that is super ahead of its time."
Alaric's nose flared as he took a deep breath and Leta gave herself a mental pat on the back for annoying the creep.
Like a gunshot in the night, the sound of the doorknob rattling as the door to the interrogation room opened seemed to break whatever weird tension shadowed the room.
An middle aged officer took two steps into the room but paused when his eyes landed on Alaric. Alaric gave the man only a cursory glance between returning his green gaze back to Leta. He muttered something in a language she didn't recognize, but not enough for her to absorb and understand it.
From his tone, it didn't sound like he was angry, but rather curious.
"Miss, you have been cleared and may leave." The officer said to her.
"Oh, thank god." Leta sighed in relief, all too happy to get out of the god forsaken room.
"Do try to find me again if you remember anything important, Miss Black." Alaric intoned, never standing up to see her off.
She could tell from his tone that he was about to try and use Mental Manipulation again, but this time she was ready. As long as she didn't look him in the eye, she was fine.
Leta closed her eyes and tilted her head from side to side, rubbing the base of her head to feign neck problems from sitting too long.
"Sure, sure." She moaned and followed the officer out of the room, never once looking Alaric in the eye.
Her performance wasn't Oscar worthy by any means, but she hoped it had pulled the wool over his eyes enough for him to see her as no one of interest.
Dr. Galloise was sitting in one of the cheap plastic chairs in the waiting room when Leta was escorted out. The Canadian doctor gave her a big, out of character hug before turning her sharp gaze at the unsuspected officer.
She was about to open her mouth and berate the poor man when Leta caught the glimpse of Alaric coming down the hallway.
"Dr. Galloise," Leta interrupted before her superior could get in a word, "I'm fine. It was a mistake. Everything is okay. But I am legit starving right now, so can we go so I can stuff myself into oblivion on pastitsio and tiropita?"
Leta didn't even need to use Persuasion, the puppy dog eyes she gave her superior finally got the headstrong woman to cave to her demands.
"Fine, but this issue isn't settled." She scowled at the officer before putting her arm around Leta and marching out the door.
Leta looked back as the door closed behind them and saw Alaric giving her receding silhouette a hard stare, the look of a man who knew that, as Dr. Galloise had said, the issue had not yet been settled.