Cancijo took to babbling at his shoulder-bound victims while trudging through the crowd. He considered just about everything a conversation topic. He finally fell into silence upon entering Gonsalez tower. The receptionist was quite shocked to see him carrying people over his shoulders, but he acted as if it was a regular thing. The receptionist couldn't help but chuckle as Cancijo walked along.
After passing through several hallways, he dropped them off in front of a door labeled “INTERROGATE.”
“Well girls, this is where I'll be going my way. Be good, since I don't want to carry you around everywhere,” Cancijo said as he pressed the button.
The door slid open without a sound, presenting a dark room with rough little plastic bumps along the ground. Meeki recognized this from the autobiography of a criminal, it was a room to scan suspects.
“Come on, no avoiding it.” Meeki sighed and pulled Samara in.
Cancijo closed the door behind them and the room became dark. Samara immediately stepped closer to Meeki and grabbed her arm. She was tense and shivering.
“What is this? Jail?” Samara whispered.
“Jail? No, this is where they use scanners to see if we have concealed weapons and that sort of stuff,” Meeki said.
“Oh. I don't have any,” Samara said. Her fear vanished just as quickly as it came.
A little rectangular speaker in the corner popped into life. A man's voice followed. “I'm afraid we must scan you regardless of what you say. Please strip down enough so we get a clear scan.
This was the part that Meeki dreaded.
“Strip?” Samara repeated.
“Yeah. It sucks, but they want us down to our underwear,” Meeki said in a sullen tone. She began to undo her outfit, though not with any haste.
“I can't,” Samara mumbled. She folded her arms together and grabbed at the sides of her cloak as if to wrap tightly into herself.
“You've got to. If you don't, they'll get suspicious and hold it against you,” Meeki said.
“Your friend is right,” the voice agreed.
“I can't ever let anyone see me under this cloak.”
Meeki was just short of full nudity at this point. She folded her arms and turned to avoid Samara, feeling nervous with being so exposed. “J-just hurry up with the scan. She isn't going to take it off.”
“Fine,” the voice said, his patience already lost on the matter.
The process of scanning was silent to the point where they couldn't have known it ever occurred. Only ten seconds passed.
“The scan's done, but the cloak interfered. Whatever reason you have to deny us our security better not be harmful to our nation,” the man said.
Meeki slipped back into each of her garments as quickly as she could, almost tripping over herself in the process. Samara meanwhile stepped away and sulked.
“I'm sorry,” she said in a weak voice.
“It's your loss, just be sure to come up with a good excuse if anyone asks about it,” Meeki said.
The door ahead opened to reveal the a thin middle aged man in a white coat, almost resembling a scientist. “You're going to see the taskmaster now.”
They followed him through the halls and took a short ride on the elevator. He kept his sight on them the entire time, fondling a gun in his pocket like a toy. Meeki became nervous under such suspicion. It made her feel like a true criminal. She'd be free once the situation was adequately explained, but Samara's legal status wasn't so certain.
“Here we are. We've got cameras in there, and the militia's just itching to do something, so don't try anything funny,” the man said. He brushed against Meeki to reach over and press the intercom button near the door.
“Yes?” came the reply of a familiar voice.
“I've got them here.”
“Send them in.”
“Lucifer. Father,” Samara whispered. She sounded distant, as if she remembered something from long ago.
The door opened and they walked in to see an office littered with many things. Little trophies and other plaques were scattered everywhere while various awards and diplomas on the wall. Lucifer was clearly on top of his game as far as credentials and education went, but his cleanliness needed a lot of work.
“My apologies,” Lucifer said.
A jagged mountain of books in the center of the room obstructed him. Meeki and Samara made their way through the mess, taking care not to step on things. It proved to be a very difficult trek.
Lucifer was just about Meeki's height despite being older. He had a pale face and sleek black hair that almost resembled a bowl cut. Meeki became fixated on his eyes in the short time she looked to them. They were open wide, giving him the impression of a curious child. He had a reputation as a cruel man, but Meeki found him to be rather quiet and childlike.
“I just moved in here, the movers vanished before taking all this garbage away. Have a seat,” he said.
They sat down on a pair of chairs in front of his old wooden desk. Meeki tried her best to remain quiet and calm, though she very much wanted to talk about her situation. A rare man of his rank would surely have the capacity to help her.
He folded his hands over a large stack of hospital bills. “First, I have to ask why you didn't cooperate with the scanning.”
“I can't take these clothes off. I'm under orders to never show myself,” Samara said.
“Orders from that leader of yours?”
“He has nothing to do with it. It's from, um, someone bigger than all of us,” Samara explained. She clearly wanted to keep it vague, but Meeki became more curious. Lucifer frowned to the unsatisfactory answer.
“That kind of talk isn't going to help your case,” he said.
“What case?” Meeki asked.
“For these injured people.” He tapped the hospital papers on the desk. “You will have to undergo a police investigation as representatives of your group. Do you have anything to tell me that may ease your sentences?”
Meeki resisted the urge to tell him of the leader's threat to her family. He would probably think of it as changing the subject, implying shame.
Samara leaned forward and gripped the edge of the desk. “You can't arrest us! The leader will punish our friends and family if we don't serve him effectively.”
Lucifer's eyes widened.
Samara repeated the story of Rugero's sister. She was calm and resolute in her words this time, but Lucifer made no indication that he believed it. Meeki became nervous and feared that he would not help her.
“I remember the report on that incident. It was quite gruesome, but filed as suicide,” Lucifer asked.
“The police were influenced,” Samara said.
Lucifer seemed troubled by Samara's story. He closed his eyes and ran a few fingers through his hair. “You claim a lot, but I don't know if to believe any of this.”
“You've got to let Meeki go. She's the victim in all this and didn't do anything wrong. I'll take the blame for yesterday,” Samara said.
Both Meeki and Lucifer were surprised with her admission. Samara's eyes filled with determination to let Meeki go, no matter what the cost.
“I'll have to investigate your story before I let either of you go,” Lucifer said. “I'm sorry, but you will both be held by the police for at least a few hours. We'll see what happens if I find your claims to have enough merit.”
Samara sighed. “Thank you for considering it, sir.”
Lucifer smiled to the girl. “No need for thanks. There is something about you that makes me want to believe, but the authorities won't accept feelings alone. Go back to the officer out there, he'll know where to take you.”
Though it could have been much worse, they left the room in low spirits anyway.
“Sorry. He probably didn't believe me at all,” Samara mumbled.
“Your excuse about the cloak wasn't all that great. I just hope he'll let us go sooner than I'm expecting. What about you, though? You'll definitely go to jail for taking the blame. The legal system isn't very fair when the police are victimized,” Meeki said.
“Oh. That's nothing to worry about. Don't people get visiting hours in jail?”
Visiting hours? Meeki had never heard of that before.
“Um, no, you're completely cut off from the world in there, like it's always been,” Meeki explained. She peered at Samara now, wondering where she got the idea of criminals getting visitors.
“That's kind of depressing. I guess I'll find a way to bust out,” Samara admitted with a carefree shrug.
The officer came running around to detain them. “You're out so quickly, huh? I guess it's to the police station for you unless—”
“Oh ho!” called out Cancijo who suddenly rushed in. “I think I'll handle them! You should deliver the scan results to Lucifer.”
“Great.” The guard grumbled. He and grabbed the papers from Cancijo's hand. “Fine, take them.”
Meeki sighed. Cancijo's unique eccentricity wasn't much better than the guard's gun fondling.
“Now ladies, do I have to carry you again?” Cancijo questioned.
“We can walk,” Meeki muttered.
“Off to the station, then!”