The trial's tomorrow.

After all of the mishaps and delays, Jacob Grahams' case will be reviewed by twelve annonymous people making up a jury. A professional judge will oversee the entire thing. Jacob Grahams, for the first time with a while, will be seen by others in society.

Even worse, we'll be testifying against him. And everyone will know and judge all of us, not just him at that point. People make too make judgements, and in a court scenario, everything will only be more exaggerated, traumatic, and horrifying.

I lay back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. What do people expect of me? Of all of us? We're merely children compared to everyone else in that room. Either they sympathise more or dispel everything that we try to tell them. Even though the latter seems better, it doesn't seem any better. Do I really want a bunch of adults treating me even younger than I already am? Despite feeling like I've aged at least a decade from the whole ideal, I hate the fact that at that age where you don't fit in a specific area. On the brink of everything but not necessarily falling in any specific category. Honestly, it makes life that much harder.

When I wake up, it's still dark outside, so I mentally curse myself for never getting a good night's rest. I flop down onto my bed again, praying that I drift off again to no avail. Groaning in annoyance, I sit myself up, not ready to turn any light on but also knowing that I can't do anything in the dark. I throw off my covers and turn the light on, immediately shutting my eyes in response. As I slowly adapt to the sudden change in brightness, I head into the bathroom to get ready for the day when, frankly, the day hasn't begun yet.

What has this world come to?

...

Downstairs, I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting both the male Sovereign and Altruistic already seated, chatting among themselves. When I walk over with a confused expression, the two are still engrossed in their conversation.

"It'll be awful if they let Jacob go," Benen says, shaking his head, "but your point still rings true."

The male Sovereign leans back in his chair, "Exactly! No one's going to believe us, so hate to admit it, but we don't have much of a-"

"Not so fast," I interject, seating myself down and startling them. "We technically have some things on him- we can pin the two murders and the warehouse incident on them." I don't miss how the two flinch at the latter, but I also don't blame them.

"But we don't know if the murders really happened," Benen starts after a moment of silence. "We don't have anything really against-"

"He used the rentia crystals to give Sophie the memories," I remind him, "I've also used them to share memories with her, so I know that they actually work."

"But what about-" The male Sovereign and I now go back and forth, asking each other our worries and defending different parts. Every question we ask one another gives us more anxiety than the last, and every answer we get gives us less satisfaction than the last. I can feel my thoughts beginning to race more and more, much to fast for me to grasp at them. This mindless trance keeps me quiet for a few minutes until Donovan speaks up:

"Guys, you forgot one thing. We can't tell them anything about the powers we have."

My eyes grow wider when I replay our conversation and realise that neither Benen nor I brought that one small yet extremely significant detail up. Those few words completely change what we can and cannot pin rightfully onto Jacob. "So... what can we even say?" I ask quietly, looking down at my hands.

"Very little," Donovan admits reluctantly. "I don't think that we have a case. Guys, I think that he may actually... you know?" All of us make eye contact with one another, falling into another solemn silence. Every so often, one would open their mouth to say something that could combat the conclusion we've come to, but it wouldn't work. A rebuttal or explanation against it would always arise, and we'd drop it.

After a few more minutes, the conference doors swing open, revealing Mr. Wallace. Walking over to us, he claps his hands to gather our attention. "So you all are aware of the upcoming trial, I presume?" Without waiting for us to nod, he continues, "I'm sure that we all realise that the only substantial charge that we can testify for is the murders of Michelle and David Grahams. A colleague of mine reopened that case for me so I could view any evidence."

"Oh, that's nice of him!" Benen chirps happily, immediately brightening.

"How do you know him?" Donovan asks. When I look over at him, I see no change in facial expressions, so I merely press my lips together and stay quiet. Later, I transmit to him before looking back at the middle-aged man. And out of the corner of my eye, I see Donovan nod very subtly before covering it with a fake cough.

Mr. Wallace chuckles lightheartedly, but his tense posture betrays his face. "No need for all the questions," he assures us, "he's a trustworthy person. Believe me, I've known him for years."

I feel a knot in my stomach tightening at the emphasis, but I ignore it, trying to focus on the matter at hand. "Did you find anything?" I ask, "It's been what- three years since it all happened?"

"Yes, we actually found something," Mr. Wallace says, smirking when we all lean forward with interest. "But we don't exactly know how it correlates." With that, he places a small, metal box down on the table. "But then again, that's why I've called you three here- together, I think that we can figure it out."

As Mr. Wallace opens the box, Donovan scoffs, "I think you're mistaken, Wallace. Fitz is the only- what is that?" Frowning in confusion, I look over and see a test tube, covered in what seems to be aluminium, lying sungly within the protection foam around it. His eyes now wide, Donovan sputters, "How are we supposed to put this guy in jail with something like that?!"

Glancing over at Benen, I can tell that he agrees with the male Sovereign but doesn't want to admit it. "Yeah..." the male Altrustic finally murmurs after a moment, "it seems a bit... small."

"You're joking, right?" Donovan voices. Picking the piece of evidence up without thinking, the male Sovereign twirls it between his fingers. "Wallace, are you trying to screw us o-"

"BE CAREFUL WITH THAT," Mr. Wallace yells unnaturally loudly, ripping the tube away from Donovan before he could drop it out of shock. "You have absolutely no idea what I had to go through to get this!" Glaring at the three of us, "A dear friend of mine is now under the hands of those malicious people because he got this test tube, do you understand? Treat it like it's more important than all of your lives."

Clearly surprised by his change of tone, both Donovan and Benen immediately opt out of bring their hands near the thing. As a result, the two scoot back unhelpfully as I reach forward and gingerly take the test tube from Mr. Wallace, profusely promising to be careful. After a few moments of silence as three people intensely stare at me, I ask, "Can I remove the foil?"

"Yeah... go ahead, but be-"

"-Careful, yeah, yeah," Donovan interrupts the middle aged man, watching me with big eyes as I anticlimatically remove the aluminium, revealing something... grey floating in a clear substance. We all frown, narrowing our eyes at it.

Mr. Wallace takes a moment before clearing his throat, "Before you ask, the liquid is saline, which seems to be doing a proficient job in keeping the object in question moist." Taking the test tube again, he begins to rewrap it in the foil, "I worry that the light would alter its composition in one way or another."

The three of us can't help but scowl at his answer. "Why saline?" Benen asks, cocking his head to the side.

"Saline can withstand light," I point out, raising an eyebrow at Mr. Wallace. "We have it in our eyes and shed it as tears, and our eyes are exposed to light constantly. We cannot live without it." I gesture to the piece of evidence, which the man reluctantly hands over yet again. "And to answer Benen's question... I don't know. Saline is very specific- it has a specific ratio of salt to water that makes it acceptable for things like our eyes, to continue with that example. In that case, water wouldn't have been a good idea to submerge whatever this thing in. It may have reacted and possibly damaged whatever it is." I nod to Mr. Wallace half-mindedly in acknowledgement.

Nodding in response, Mr. Wallace returns the rewrapped test tube to the box, closing it somewhat hastily. "Nonetheless," he begins with a shrug, "I don't want to expose it to anything until the trial." Glancing over at us, he raises an eyebrow, "Do you all have a guess for what it may be?"

We all shake our heads. "Did the saline help?" Mr. Wallace asks.

Uncertainty. "Fitz," he starts, looking at me specifically, "are you sure that you can't think of anything? Even with your explanation?"

Now more unsettled, I slowly shake my head, furrowing my eyebrows and trying to study his stoic expression. Suppressing my frustration, I instead nod to the male Sovereign and Altrustic and begni to take our leave. However, before I leave, I hear Mr. Wallace speaking to himself:

"A shame... the explanation was quite accurate."

...

"Fitz!"

I look up to see Sophie standing in the connecting doorway, her eyes glistening. Rushing over to me, she exclaims, "I think we have a way to put Jacob in jail!" She bounces slightly, and her glee rubs me the wrong way for some reason. I frown slightly but not enough for her to stop herself from continuing. "Mr. Wallace said that he may have evidence to put Jacob away for good! From what it sounds like, he may get a life sentence!" The female Percipient whirls around, "Isn't that great?" She looks at me, "Can I see it?"

Holding back a sigh, I open my desk drawer and pull out a carefully sealed test tube, ever so tempted to lock it away and never look at it again. People died for this... people murdered for this. Goosebumps prickle my skin at the mere thought, so I quickly shove it away, trying not to gag."I don't know, I don't feel like we should-"

"Fitz," Sophie interrupts me, now scowling. "We need this evidence- it's the only substantial thing that we can turn in." She looks at me, confusion and a bit of hurt mixing in her gaze. "Why can't we turn it in? It's actual evidence."

I shake my head, "That's not good enough for me, though. I mean, are we sure about that little thing? It came from Mr. Wallace, so I don't think that we should trust it." I glance over, internally groaning when her face wrinkles in disagreement.

"How can you just say that?" Sophie asks, her voice getting slightly louder. "Jacob has to go to jail! He's done nothing but torture and kill people- I even saw it-"

"Sophie, you and I both know that we can't show that-"

"So why can't we show this?!" Sophie asks me exasperatedly. "If we can't show anything else, let's at least have something! You know what he's done- he deserves to be in jail!" She suddenly gasps, staring at me in a form of disgust, "Do you want him to walk away? After what he's done?"

Anger slowly bubbles within me as I take a deep breath. "Don't put words in my mouth," I tell the female Percipient. "I know what he's done- I had to see you like that-"

"I HAD TO LIVE THROUGH IT," Sophie screams, stepping back. "I felt the pain! And it sounds like you're fine with him out there!"

"Sophie, we have bigger things to worry about!" I yell, now unable to suppress my frustration. "Fitton's also out there, in case you've forgotten! And that third person- Aeron! They're all still roaming around here as a part of Nixsift, and Jacob is also a part of it! We need to think about the whole picture, not just a piece of it!"

"Well, that piece tortured me!" the female Percipient exclaims, now furious. "He deserves to rot in jail and have absolutely everything that's coming his way!"

"Sophie," I say, lowering my voice, "Jacob's not safe either way. I'm pretty sure that Nixsift wants to kill him so he doesn't spill any secrets to us. Without him, we wouldn't have known that you can submerge memories-"

"He obviously lied!" she yells out, throwing her hands up. "We tried to bring back memories for you, and it did jack! You still don't remember anything of that infiltration, and we're still here with a test tube that should be evidence!"

I'm taken aback, forcing myself to not remember the whole submersion ordeal. Shaking my head to not get lost in that again, I shake my head. "You don't know that he lied," I say, surprised that I'm actually advocating for the murderer. Maybe I am going crazy, but maybe I'm not. "None of us know that he lied when we visited him. We can't trust him about other things, sure, but I don't think that he would lie to us about that."

"And why is that?" Sophie asks, scoffing. "Why would the murderer, torturer, and jailed criminal not lie to a bunch of teenagers, hm?"

"Who would you rather believe?" I ask her, now tired of arguing. "Mr. Wallace or Jacob? Because I'd rather believe Jacob, that's for sure."

Sophie looks at me like I'm brain dead. "I'd trust Mr. Wallace! At least he didn't torture me!"

"At least Jacob didn't shoot me with tzanion and Benen with nebmentia when we did trust him!" I retort, prepared to do this all day. "At least Jacob hasn't caused any more harm to any of us since the warehouse incident!"

The female Percipient opens her mouth to fire something back but swallows harshly instead, clearly reliving the warehouse. "I refuse to wait any longer," she whispers, stepping dangerously close to me, "any longer for you. We have our chance! And I'm going to take it."