ALEXiThymiA: Chapter 14: The Interrogation

Chapter 14

The Interrogation

Bullford still couldn’t understand how to read the girl before him. Honestly the video was recorded so poorly that there was nothing that could be made from the contents. The only thing that Bullford was certain of, was that there was at one point a werewolf, then the next this girl punched the werewolf so hard, she reverted to being human.

It was a miracle, something that had never been seen or done before. Had there not been a recording of the whole thing Bullford himself would have chalked it up to a prank. Even now he was trying to get the stone-faced girl to open up, but she was completely quiet. Well, that wasn’t true. She wasn’t quiet. It’s not like she invoked her amendment rights to remain silent. She answered every question.

There was just one problem. Bullford was apparently not asking the right questions.

“What happened?”

“We fought, she changed.”

“Werewolves don’t change back, it is impossible. Once someone fully gives themselves over to the wolf, they can’t come back.”

“This one did.”

Bullford couldn’t argue with her, the evidence was there. He had even gone out to view the video multiple times. There was no manipulation, no special effects, just a video of a girl wearing a flack vest and running weights running around pummeling a newly created werewolf.

It was also confirmed. Julie Swinton had been changed within the day, meaning they had a serial master wolf running around finding young women and infecting them with Lykanthropy, then setting them free.

This was bad.

“So, what can you tell me of this girl?”

“She was naked.”

“Right, but before that. Your brother had apparently gone on a date with her.”

“Apparently.”

Bullford wanted to pull out his hair in frustration.

“You never saw them on that date?”

“I do not stalk my brother, if that is what you are implying.”

“What? No, no, no. Okay, moving on.” Bullford said, “what can you tell me about Johnny Mitchel and Veronica Stone?”

“They are in my math class.”

“That’s it? You aren’t going to say how you punched a locker in frustration when Johnny turned down your advances earlier today?”

At that, she looked away.

“My hand slipped, when he said no, after I asked if he would go on another Dungeon run with me.”

Now he was getting somewhere. Bullford could use this, at least he felt this was something he could use. There was something here.

“That is odd, as according to our reports, you are the most accomplished un-awakened spelunker in the history of our records.”

Alexa just stared.

“Well?” Bullford asked.

“Well, what? That wasn’t a question.”

Bullford shook his head, as he continued going over the report of her spelunking life. Oddly enough she had over ten pages of runs. Each page had 50 events listed, meaning that there were over 500 runs. “You have a history of the most successful solo runs ever for an un-awakened. Yet now, you go on a double run with this boy. Something you have never done before. Then you ask if he will go on another run with you the next day at school?”

“Yes.”

At that Bullford clenched his fists. He could tell the girl wasn’t being obstinate. She gave off no signs of lying or deception. In fact, she gave off nothing. She was like a blank emotional canvas. He had heard that she had a condition from the principal, but there was clearly more than what had been said.

Finally, Bullford went with the question that had been piquing his interest all along.

“Do you have a class?”

“No.”

“Do you have one slotted?”

A pause.

“Yes.”

Bingo! Now he was getting somewhere. This was huge, and helped to explain so much about the girl, about her success rates in the dungeons. The only way someone would know that they have a class slotted was if it was a Legendary class rank. This meant she had done something truly exceptional to unlock a class. This meant that she never had to worry about the number one concern most teenagers had to deal with. That question of whether they would awaken or not.

“What class?”

At this Alexa Thyme shook her head. “As a minor, I do not have to divulge my class, slotted or otherwise.”

This was true. Only once the class was permanent would she need to divulge her class and its powers. This was done to help crime investigators solve crimes easier.

Bullford paused at that. This was odd, the first time she had invoked any form of right to remain silent. In this interrogation, she didn’t have to answer any questions. She was by all means, the hero of this event, but Bullford wanted to use this moment to truly understand what was happening here.

“How long have you had this class?”

Alexa looked at the clock on the wall, one designed to let children realize how much of their own time they are wasting.

“A little over forty hours ago.” Alexa said.

“Forty hours?” Bullford said, looking at the time 18:22, on a Monday. Doing the quick math, he put the time to be Saturday. Then he looked back at his notes of when Alexa and Johnny finished their second dungeon run.

Suddenly it all clicked in Bullford’s mind.

“That’s why you wanted to go on another run with him? You unlocked your class thanks to that dungeon run?”

Alexa paused for a moment, then answered. “Yes.”

There was a slight twitch, as if she had more to say.

“That wasn’t all?”

“No.”

“What else was there?”

“Crystals.”

“Crystals?”

Then, as if he had opened the flood gates, she finally opened up. “Yes, during my run with John, I managed to receive two separate Psychic Power Crystals."

"Let me get this straight, you received two Psychic Power Crystals on the same day?" Bullford asked incredulously.

“Yes, during the runs, while completing the death trap rooms, I received both a Telekinesis (R) crystal, and one for Magic Nullification (L).”

Clatter.

Bullford dropped his pen on the metal table causing it to clatter loudly.

After a second, he regained his composure, but there was more here.

“So that is the true reason why you wanted Johnny Mitchel to go on another dungeon run with you. You wanted to see if it was just a fluke or not?” Bullford asked.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you report this sooner? You know by law you are supposed to report all powers gained from a dungeon run, be they psychic in nature or not.”

At this Alexa looked conflicted.

“I didn’t want to lose my status as a student athlete.”

“What?” Of all the reasons she could have given, that was the reason?

“Right now, I can compete in sporting events and academic contests to earn augmentation crystals. If my status was changed to semi-awakened, then I would not be eligible for many of those rewards.”

“School house augmentation crystals? That is what you are after? Seriously?”

“Yes.”

This was ridiculous, preposterous.

“Ask her if she has any other powers.” A female voice buzzed in over the speakers in the room.

“While we are filling in your paperwork. Are there any other powers you currently possess. Given your work today, I think we can make an exemption. Though you are right, you will be pulled from all academic and sports related programs.”

Wham.

Faster than Bullford could even comprehend, the table under Alexa’s hands bent inward. One second a flat table, then next, an indentation. This was a table designed to hold werewolves in place, but she bent it easily.

“Fine. I have one other power. Mind Shield (R).”

“I take it you did not get this one on Saturday?”

“No.”

Shaking his head, Bullford realized of course it wouldn’t be that easy. “When did you get it?”

“Approximately two years, 17 days, and four hours ago.” Bullford looked through the notes, but really didn’t want to do the math that this girl was doing in her head right now.

Knock, knock.

A hand wrapped on the door leading to the room.

Sniff.

Bullford did his cursory sniff, to find that it was the captain. “Come in.”

With that, the captain came in. Then closing the door behind her, she made a quick beeline to sit right beside Bullford.

“Good evening. I am Rayna Johnston, Captain of the Tri-State Investigation unit.”

Alexa nodded, slightly.

“Alexa Thyme, you are top in all your classes, all sports teams you try out for, not only do they win championships, but you are always named team MVP. Is that correct?”

“No.”

“No? How so?”

“When I first started, I couldn’t win. Not at first.”

With that Rayne looked confused, going through her records. “It says here, you have earned augmentation crystals for every sporting event since middle school.”

“That is correct.”

Rayne looked confused, but Bullford after having dealt with this woman for the better part of the afternoon thought he understood.

“You are referring to your time in elementary school?”

“Correct.”

At that, Rayne just raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she continued.

“Am I to understand that your frustration right now,” she said, while indicating the dent in the metal table that was under Alexa’s hands. “Is due to your not being able to get augmentation crystals?”

“Yes.”

“You understand that the crystals given out at school are often the worst of the worst, right? That there are far better? Well, you already know this…” She said, as she looked at the ten plus page spelunking report on Alexa’s dives.

“Yes.”

Rayne gathered herself and was about to ask which part she agreed to, but decided that it was a moot point, and continued with her planned speech.

“Can I ask why you work so hard to get what are considered the weakest of crystals?”

“Yes.”

At that Rayne looked like she had been slapped in the face. Once again, Bullford saw the miscommunication. “She means, tell us why you work so hard to get what are the weakest of crystals.”

“Because they are free and come from doing what I should be doing anyways.” Alexa answered.

Rayne seeing the miscommunication just raised her eyebrows again and continued.

“Now you said, you have a slotted class?”

“Yes.”

“Did that slotted class have anything to do with the way Julie Swinton managed to turn back?”

Alexa paused. Her eyes scanning the two. “Do I need a lawyer?”

Bullford just laughed at that. The time for a lawyer was long ago when she admitted to not reporting her powers. But since it had been under forty-eight hours and the first true business day, there might be some wiggle room on her part. She had after all answered the question in good faith when asked directly.

“Depends, is your slotted class related to Necromancy, or Dark arts?” Rayne asked.

“No.”

“Well then you should be fine on the lawyer part. But before this goes and gets all cockeyed, let me tell you, my plan. You don’t have to tell me your class. I could care less about knowing its name. All I care about right now is that I have a potential werewolf epidemic on my hands, and if your slotted class can in fact turn a werewolf back to a human, I will give you augmentation crystals you wouldn’t believe.”

That did it, at that, Alexa’s eyes glowed bright. For the first time, Bullford could swear he saw some form of emotion in her face, then it was gone. That was it, just a tiny flicker of light, then nothing but it was there. Bullford had seen it.

Once again, he turned to his boss and was impressed with her analytical skills. She had determined all of this from reading her report. The girl was an augmentation crystal junkie. That was the only thing he could describe the process as. She went on multiple dungeon runs a week, never missing a run when possible. Since she was always at the lower end dungeons no one paid her any mind, but she was still logged and monitored every time she entered and left a dungeon.

“So, I will ask these questions only once. I want you to answer truthfully.” Rayne said, holding up one finger while locking eyes with Alexa Thyme.

“Okay.”

“First, do you think you could do what you did for Julie Swinton, to another werewolf?”

“Yes.”

Rayne nodded.

“Good. Now we are going to register your powers. Because you told us, we can make it, so you avoid any fines or legal problems. That said, you will lose your academic and standing as an un-awakened student athlete. To compensate you for your loss, we would like to hire you on as a consultant. For your base pay, we would only be able to offer you the pay of an Intern. But we would also have a bonus of, let’s say ten. Yes, ten augmentation crystals every time you successfully change a werewolf back to a human, how does that sound?”

This was highway robbery, Bullford was almost indignant at the claim. Here it was, a girl who could cure Lykanthropy, and Rayne wanted to shortchange her. Yet, before Bullford could cut in and demand more augmentation crystals on her behalf, she responded.

“Great.” Alexa replied that light back in her eyes, as she once again seemed to show some form of true emotions.

“So, we have a deal?”

“Yes.”

At that Rayne, nodded. “Thank you. Mr. Bullford here will work with you on the paperwork and the assignment. We don’t anticipate needing you for field work. Instead, we will take you to the holding cells where we manage to apprehend the werewolves.”

“Do you have any in custody already?” Alexa asked.

At that, a faint smile crested Rayne’s lip. This was the look she often had, when she realized she played her cards perfectly, and would win the pot.

“As a matter of fact, we do. Just sign our form, and we can begin your consultation experience immediately.”

Bullford could only watch and shake his head at Rayne. She was clearly taking advantage of the girl, but then Bullford realized their resources were stretched thin already. There were talks of budget cuts. If they could do this, cure Lykanthropy, that would be a huge win.

Biting his lip, Bullford stood up and gestured for Alexa to come with him.

“Come this way, lets fill out that paperwork, then put you to work. Unless you would like to start tomorrow?”

“Today is fine.” Alexa answered, standing up and following Bullford down the halls to start her new life as a high school consultant for the Tri-State investigation unit.

Looking at the clock, Bullford realized it was now only 19:42. There were still three hours left to this exceptionally long Monday. But on the bright side, things were looking brighter.

They still had no lead on the source of Lykanthropy, but they just might have a secret weapon in the war. Bullford thought, as he went by HR to get the forms for a consultant and made sure to input the field for her ten augmentation crystals per werewolf consultation.

She signed the forms immediately after reading the form completely. Then they were off, going down the stair to the basement where all recently captured werewolves were being held.

“Right this way.”