"How can that newscaster call me a liar, when I was clearly telling the truth. Are they still that blinded by Soal's and Heinz's influences?"

Eva leveled her tired gaze at Lumina. Her hand gingerly rested on her chest. "Heinz's and mom's -"

"Don't call her mom."

Eva cocked an eyebrow. She inhaled slowly. "-...Soal's...influences are not going to be easily wiped from people's minds, Hera. They had to live with both of them speaking lies into the government's ears for nineteen years, for crying out loud."

"I just wish it were as easy as flicking a switch and starting a new."

"We all wish it were like that, Hera."

Hera stopped pacing at the foot of Eva's bed. She knew when her sister was silently crying out for her to stop her rant.

Eva took in Hera's stooped figure. Hera's hands were clasped behind her slouched back, her face appearing quizzical. "Could you please stop making me so uncomfortable?"

Hera studied Eva. She let her hands fall to her sides and her spine straighten. "Of course." She walked over to the bedside and pulled up a chair. Hera wrapped her hand around Eva's. "Sorry. Once I get going, I can't stop."

Eva only nodded. Her eyes eased over to the small television at her bedside. Hera's followed, her eyes settling on the same newscaster, now sitting at a desk with his lovely, dark haired assistant. Eva's hand went to the volume button.

The male newscaster's voice blared from the surrounding speakers. "-Si made it clear, earlier today, that Heinz Trattle has been taken into custody about a week ago. Authorities are digging deeper into the case, but here is what Heinz had to say for himself."

"I was - and still am, if I must add - an innocent man. All I was trying to do was move our world closer to the orbit field we had left behind. Yes, it was foolish of me to cast if off as a weapon meant for a being's destruction. But, of course, lovable hero of Ground 2, Hera Lumina Si, didn't want to give up her spot in the limelight." TV Heinz's hands rose. "I guess you can't expect much from such a selfish personality such as hers."

The screen went black, and Hera's nostril flared, red eyed, brow furrowed expression peered back at her. Hera glanced at a startled Eva, her heart hammering and her fuming mind, racing.

Hera got to her feet. "That dumb-butt fool!" Hera hissed. "He had no right to persuade others into believing such a false claim. The door thudded against the wall. A doorknob sized hole was pocketed into the wall.

Eva spoke with a soft, shaky voice. "Hera. Don't do anything brash."

Hera sucked in a breath, the anger strengthening within. With a dark, hollow tone, Hera's voice rang through the little room. "Don't worry about me. Whatever happens, it will be to my own demise. Heinz -" Hera balled her hand into a fist. "- will pay."

Then, with brisk, thundering steps, Hera was out of the room, tramping down the halls.

» » » »

Sometime later, Hera hung outside of the policeman's quarters. Her left foot tapped vigorously as adrenaline coursed through her. Finally, an officer stepped up to the desk in the mandatory attire - black cargo pants and thin sleeved shirt, gunmetal armor plating, and a Synthcode eyeglass.

"Hera Si, you're free to step inside." A big, metal door hissed open at the side of the booth. Hera stepped in and followed the officer down a labyrinth of corridors. Finally, they ended up at a handle-less metal slab with a small grated opening at the top. The officer gave Hera a card. "I would suggest you put that some place where it is unnoticeable." Then, with a squeaking turn of a rubber heel on a boot, the officer disappeared back down the corridor.

Hera swiped the card over a scanner beside the door and tucked it in a pocket hidden at the breast of her undershirt. The slab whooshed open, allowing a span of twenty seconds before it sealed shut again . A hunched Heinz sat on a small, wall hung cot, turned away from those who entered. Hera scanned the room, looking for some sign of an attempt of escape: a neatly hung folder, speck of dirt, so on and so forth. But, nothing presented itself.

"Just leave the tray on the desk please."

Hera just stood there, as still as a statue, with her hands clasped behind her back, and her feet spread apart, ready to run if need be. Heinz shifted. His back twisted and his neck craned so that he could look behind himself. His eyes went wide upon Hera's appearance.

"Surprise," Hera greeted, her teeth appearing in a mock grin.

Heinz's jaw tensed. "Hera," he acknowledged through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to remove a pesky stain from my image, you two faced liar."

"Oh?" Heinz's eyes lit up. "And how, might I ask, will you carry that out?" His arms spread. "As you can see, I'm already contained."

Hera walked up to him. Heinz turned around and stood to face her. Hera wrapped a hand, gently around Heinz's neck. Her fingers dug into his scalp. Unbeknownst to Heinz, a tiny device was attached to his skin like a tick. But unlike a tick, it was quite unnoticeable, even to prying fingers. Hera pulled her face closer to Heinz's. Then, with a kick to the beneath and a sling shot type move, Hera had Heinz pinned to the floor. Her heel dug into his spine, and her arms roped around his neck.

A choked gasp uttered a reply. Hera tightened her grip. Heinz's arms flailed. Hera squeezed until she could see the veins in Heinz's eyes and the pale tinge of blue blemishing his skin, before releasing her hold and kicking him flat on the floor.

"That's for all those years of deception. The part of you that hurt the most. I'm not kidding, Heinz, when I say that you were like a father figure to me. Helping me, always treating me kindly if something went awry under my own hands. But, with what you've done, you've just shoved it all in the dirt."

Hera pulled the key card from where it hid, and slid it through a small sized gap that was the scanner. The slab opened, Hera stepped through, and then it was closed.

Hera grumbled as she walked. The anger that had once pulsed inside of her had been extinguished after she poured out how she truly viewed Heinz. But, yet, Hera knew that what she had said would not raise pity inside of Heinz's dark, crusty heart. She knew that people like him were never going to change their deceptive ways, and always be caught lying. So, to counter the issue when the court was in session, Hera had a foolproof backup plan. It pays to be a coding technician.