Madness!

  While everyone was screaming about Lady being guilty just because of me, I slipped past them and climbed the rack and cut Lady free. I put her over my shoulder, then jumped down. That finally got everyone's attention as I walked past them still covered in blood and handed Lady to Volo. Next I turned to the big guy that knocked out Cooper. As I grabbed him by the throat, I said, "I may not like Cooper but was THAT really necessary? You talk of your father? Alright let us talk of your father! You are Lawrence Monroe! Son of the child rapist and killer from New York, Franklin Monroe! Your pappy raped and murdered children, including your little sister, and there was plenty of documented proof! Yet you still pretend his innocence?! You just knocked out the Law keeper and were helping to rip apart a teen when there is plenty of proof that she is ill and was manipulated. So how are you better than your pappy?! Perhaps we should make YOU have the cleaning ritual!"

  I shoved the big guy towards a deputy that had come to help Cooper and said, "Arrest him for assault of a Law Keeper and attempted murder!" Then I turned to another, "Yes I shot your brother dead. However I recognize you as one of the witnesses. Tork Mok even witnessed that personally. It happened at Headlands Transit, and that one was in self defense! He shot me while I was getting a vehicle repaired because he wanted my roller and I shot back! His bullet grazed my skull, mine hit the mark! So you know damn well that he got what he deserved!"

  Then I looked around again, "You ALL know I believe in justice of some kind! However, I ALWAYS make sure that I have plenty of proof first! You act like you disapprove of my methods, yet you are condoning slow and painful torture and death of a mentally disturbed young mother without anything but circumstantial evidence! So you are worse than me!! ALL of you ARE guilty of attempted murder of Lady Christianna and accessories to the assault of a Law Keeper! Either you disburse or I start taking you in! BY EXCESSIVE FORCE IF NEEDED!! FAUX COURT IS DISMISSED!!!"

  Next, I made sure I had EVERYONE's attention, as I pulled out a couple of pyro grenades and cluster grenades. Everyone quickly stepped away from me and the "rack" as I pulled out the grenades. As soon as everyone had quickly gotten clear, I tossed them on the "rack". Then I walked away from the explosion. As I emerged from the flames, not looking back, the Deputy holding the now cuffed miner, Lawrence Monroe, looked at me, I simply said, "They had no building permit, so I did no wrong, by destroying it."

  Then I walked over to Volodja and gestured behind me, "Perhaps they should be given something else to do. They have a nice bon fire. Perhaps they need some Pow dogs or....what do you humans call those white and squishy sugar balls that my EGO says are used for something called s'mores? Oh yes, marshmallows. Have some pow dogs and s'mores."

  Next I gently took the unconscious Lady from Volo's arms, and carried her back to Cooper's building, as all the deputies FINALLY drew their guns and stood at the ready, with the deputy following with the cuffed Lawrence Monroe. Volo was helping Cooper up as I entered the Iron Demon Ranch, with me walking past Sandy and Somedude while they were re-securing the barricades.

Lady woke up woozy, her limbs sore, but happy in the arms of her beloved husband. She hugged him tightly around his neck with thin alabaster arms, the blue pendant around her neck glowing brightly as she then kissed him passionately, saying afterwards, "Always your Lady! Am I punished enough yet? So tired...."

Lady coughed once, a thin trickle of pink blood running out the side of her small mouth as her pink eyes fluttered shut and it was if Atticus was suddenly carrying a limp rag doll.

"I had the same thought, Atticus," Volodja replied. "Actually I am doing it right now, so you caught me on the crime scene."

Sight of the body of the unfortunate deputy sheriff was not an aesthetic one. His throat was cut and blood already formed a small puddle around the body. Strong red tones were never Volodja's favourite, but despite of that he lowered himself by the corpse and started to study the crime scene. Before Cooper could open his mouth to say anything, Volodja shushed him by saying:

"You should also think twice before pointing your finger to Lady and say "J'accuse!" We just had a valuable lesson about premature accusations out there. Just let ME handle this, because I have too much experience with dead bodies and cut wounds. Examining one more doesn't affect my mental health. If you want to be any help, then send Dr. Orion here to examine the body. I need an opinion of an expert to confirm or refute my suspicions."

Dr. Orion waddled in on his short legs after he was done with treating Lady Christianna. His moustache rouse significantly when he saw why he was asked here, but after some grumpy muttering he got also carried away by the new challenge. He studied cut wound and rest of the body, wiped Volodja closer and informed him about his discoveries. Meanwhile Volodja managed to examine Lady's cell, including sleeping Bocar, the rest of the jail block and even the murder weapon. Sophie helped him with scanning tasks and witty remarks about her discoveries. 

Finally they were able to share their conclusions with the rest of people. Volodja begun:

"As usual, every sign shows that Lady is the murderer, but even obvious clues arouse suspicions because of their contradict nature. Let me as first - do you know what it takes to cut someone's throat in cold blood? I guess not. Killing someone at close distance is psychologically much harder than you imagine. And doing it cold bloodedly is even harder and doesn't fit with mental profile of Lady Christianna. But if you need some proof then, Dr. Orion has to say something, I believe. Was there any signs of a struggle?"

"Absolutely not. According from the nature of the wound and absence of any signs of the fight, I must conclude that victim was caught unaware of murderer's intentions."

"Do you expect Lady just cut somebody's throat just like that, Sheriff? I don't think so. Lady might do it in extreme situation, perhaps for a self defence, but not cold bloodedly. And self defence motive can be put aside, because there wasn't any struggle. The cut was clean and strong. You can say that these are only my assumptions, but I am ready to introduce you with the facts as well.

If you need more proof then as a next thing we discuss about the murder weapon. How do you think Lady got her knife back, after it was confiscated, so she could murder the deputy? Someone must been giving it to her. And that means she must had an accomplish here. Maybe the victim himself, because he was the only one who stayed inside to guard prisoners. And someone has been tampering with your security system and drugged Bocar, as Sophie told me. I can't imagine how Lady could do that from her cell. Where she got necessary drugs, access to the security console and the evidence locker? How she drugged Bocar without him noticing that?"

Volodja continued right away:

"Now the fingerprints on the murder weapon. They are Lady's indeed. But you know what's the funny part? She is right handed as you know and fingerprints belong to her right hand as well...BUT deputy's throat was cut by someone, using the LEFT hand. The majority of people are right handed, and the majority of assaults are frontal. Wounds received during an assault tend to be clustered on the left side of the body, particularly the chest. How do you cut the throat? You face the victim and slice with the blade, starting from the left side of the victim, when you are right handed. Why? Because it's a natural move and much more comfy than do the opposite. Why? Because knife handle is pressed against four fingers, instead of the thumb. It gives better hold on the knife. Describe the wound, Doctor."

"The starting point of the cutting wound is near victim's RIGHT ear. Knife slid from right to left and that shows us that whoever did it was using the left hand."

"Thank you Dr. Orion. How you explain that contradiction, Sheriff?" asked Volodja politely. "You may say, that Lady did it from behind, but the nature of the wound will be different and...

And even her fingerprints can tell us something. One thing is to hold the knife and use it to cut something. Another one is catching it. Both actions leave DIFFERENT pattern of fingerprints because position of the fingers and pressure to the handle will be different. Lady's prints show that she CAUGHT the knife! I believe that closer examination of her clothes and skin doesn't show any remains of victim's DNA on her. And Deputy has no sign of Lady's DNA either. If she cut his throat from behind, we should find her DNA on the victim, because of their unavoidable close contact, but there is NONE! And the entering point of the blade would be near the left ear.

One more thing - where is Micor, her faithful servant? He abandoned his Mistress and disappeared. Lady was left alone to face the trial. She chose not to escape after she supposedly accomplished the murder of your deputy. Isn't it strange? Micor's loyalty just vanished with him. And by the way - Micor Newlo had only one hand to use. The LEFT one. His right one was amputated. Put all those facts together and we can draw more precise picture of events. I would not been able to make those conclusions without our Dr. Orion and my EGO psyche, Sophie. As you can see. EGO-s aren't' just fancy accessories, to show off, but our friends and family members. And really helpful ones. I owe to Sophie a lot.

And that gives me an idea - why not speak with MOM, Lady's present EGO psyche. Former EGO of Belle. As a sentient being she can be an independent witness. Let me remind you that most of EGO-s aren't lying and scheming personalities. That makes her trustworthy witness as well."

Vo's heart sank when he saw Belle cowering in the corner, still in the grip of her worst memories. He knew exactly how it felt as she shared all her memories with him back there in Florida. All memories and feelings, including that episode. He tasted her blood and he felt her pain. But the worst thing he felt was a sense of abandonment. She entered the Arkfall to gain the recognition and wealth, but then she felt she lost everything, including herself. She felt that after all that was done to her, no one will need her anymore. No one will love her, no one will be happy to see her next to them and that the way she was treated in the arkfall was the only way she deserved to be treated for the rest of her life. Vo felt this should be remedied here and now before Belle went suicidal again. Moreover, Shirra reported she found Alfred in a rather bad state so he wasn't sure he could save her from another suicide attempt.

Vo let Dr. Orion go check Lady Christianna and then turned to Chris:

"Chris, please go out of the room and guard the door. No one should disturb us until we go out or I call someone to enter."

Once they were alone in the room, Vo sat on the floor in front of Belle like he did before in that arkfall in her nightmarish dream, but a little further away, out of arm's reach so that she could have her personal space but at the same time not feeling she's abandoned. He pulled his sunglasses off this time so that she could see his eyes.

"Belle", he started his talk, "It's over. No one is threatening you here. No one will hurt you that way anymore. I won't allow that to happen. None of your friends will allow that to happen to you. Yes, you have many friends out there who care about you no matter what happened to you in the past. I say in the past, because in fact what you saw and felt now is a matter of the past and it's only your memories surfacing up because of the poisoned bullet you were hit with. You are a strong warrior now and you rescued many people from death and suffering. Just let me tell you."

He continued talking, telling he stories from her past. He told her how she defeated Nim Shondu, who was threatening to terraform the Earth, killing all people Human and Votan alike who were not with his group of fanatics. He told her how she they rescued Chase when he was captured in Defiance. He told her how she rescued little Belle Murphy, a hybrid baby girl she took from the lab, giving her a chance to have a normal life. He told her how she rescued him and actually rescued the whole city from being enslaved by the mastermind AI without even killing any of its citizens or guards. And finally, he told her how she dealt with all three rapists who wronged her, including the last one she had chosen to spare, proving to herself that she finally got over what happened there in the Arkfall, accepting herself the way she were and letting herself to love and be loved, opening the door for happiness she deserved as any other living person on this planet did.


Meanwhile Shirra stood right in front of Alfred in his cottage, sweeping away all the bottles around him in one wide gesture.

"Yes Alfred you failed. You created a major insecurity in her mind which her enemies didn't hesitate to use against her. You failed when you tried to grow your daughter into something she never wanted to be, thus making her fight herself even harder than any enemy could threaten her. But that doesn't mean you can't help her now. In fact it is now she needs your help the most. She needs her father. Not the mentor, not the manipulative scientist, but her real father she knows from her childhood. The one she could trust with anything. The one who could show her she's loved no matter what happened to her. The one who's ready to help and support her not only when she does what he wants her to do, but when she becomes someone she wants to be. Once you understand that, you're not a failure anymore. Come now, we still can help your daughter return to the world of living."

She took his hand, sharing the information with him about nanites she researched while they were traveling through Vo's body.

"Now there's something we really could use your scientific mind and knowledge with. I managed to calculate the correct frequencies for the pulse to destroy them, but can you calculate the signal which can make them dormant before we flush them from Belle's body? If you can, then I think we really could make someone taste their own medicine."

"Bravo, Messieurs!" shouted Marcel and clapped hands. Survivors of the Inquisitor Massacre looked at him with questioning eyes. "Congratulations to you all for performing a little miracle of surviving that bloody battle. All of you proved that you are able to climb over the pile dead bodies to stay alive. Friend or foe - it did not made a difference any more. Your skills and lust for blood are excellent! Unfortunately that also means that you do not have a way back to Inquisition. By killing your own kind, you blocked that path. Blood of your own people lays on you like a sign of Cain. I suggest a career change, because Mistress will be haunting down each and every one of you for what you did."

He explained to Lena: "I will tell you how the Sûreté - that is former title of former French National Police and the first decent crime fighting organisation and inspiration for Scotland Yard, the FBI, and other departments of criminal investigation throughout the world - was created back in 1812. There was a man, called Eugène François Vidocq, a former criminal, who was convinced that crime could not be controlled by then-current police methods, so he organized a special branch of the criminal division. Later he became the head of the first known private detective agency and is also considered to be the father of modern criminology.



The force, Vidocq formed, was to work undercover and its early members consisted largely of reformed criminals just like him. You need a thief to catch a thief. Ex cons knew the habits and traditions of the underground and since every one of them bought their ticket to police force with lives of their former companions, because they all had to bring certain amount of criminals to the justice and give information about them, so they could not return to the criminal world. And that happened to our Inquisitors as well. They are out of their jobs. And soon they are out of their lives, if they do not find themselves a new patron soon."

Lena Marr frowned, then took her Wolfhound from her purse and shot each of the remaining Inquisitors between the eyes, whereupon she turned to Marcel, who had raised a grey eyebrow at her action, and said as a wicked grin graced her beautiful chalk white face, "Whaaat!?!? I just didn't want the poor saps to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders terrified at what the Inquisition was going to do when it caught up with them! That - AND the memories of some of the stuff they just did here - nightmare city! Yes, I'm just that kind-hearted!"

Lena batted her long lashed sky blue eyes, then kissed him hard and long before saying with her eyes danceing with mischief, "Okay, it's official! I'm bored! Lets' go home and make mad passionate love for the rest of the day - night too! Orrrrrrr - If you can't wait that long, there is always the back of the van!"

Lena laughed manically, but to Marcel, it sounded like music, as she blurred back to the van stripping off her clothes as she went. Soon they were both in the back of the van, as it rocked vigorously back and forth with the passion of their love making, only watched by a solitary hell bug in the wasteland that was San Francisco.

Erika Widowmaker was grateful when Taffer relieved her from her duty in the war room, not because she was tired, for she felt that she had been asleep for weeks ever since she had been under the control of the Olmec control rod and Lady Christianna as the Mistress of Sorrow had always given her generous sleep periods. No, she was anxious to reunite with her family. She visited with Kara and small-talked for some time, grateful to hear how coherent she was. She visited Kara's son, one-year old Frond rocking him to sleep. She allowed a slight smile to cross her scarred clay red face as she watched Marla play happily with the AI Lexy in the holo-room as only children can, then called her son Senator Cael of the Votan Collective, pleased to find that he had obtained a pardon for her, even though it miffed her somewhat because she had done not any crime to be pardoned for, let alone acts of treason. Erika went to Atticus' bunker to change her mood, relieving Kaj, impulsively whispering to him that Kara would really like to see him, before rocking her infant niece and nephew, Caprice and Cosmin, in their cradles.


As Erika looked with intense jade green eyes at the newest members of her family, both blood and adopted, she had to smile much more than she usually allowed herself, thinking, "Maybe the madness surrounding us is finally over. I hope to the Gods that these little ones live in less interesting times!"