The Na Office hated Jade's voice. Ty knew because every clerk stood at once and every lamp swung toward the slate as if a draft had entered the room with bad manners. Jade had excellent bad manners when cornered.
He had missed them. The thought hit the missing place where the rainy-street mory used to live and ca back limping. JJ noticed. She always noticed too much when it hurt.
"Stay with us," she said.
"I am."
"Your skull did the quiet thing."
"My skull has limited expressions."
"It still manages to look stubborn."
Heissman leaned on the desk beside them.
"As a hostile witness, I confirm the skull is insubordinate."
The silver-haired clerk touched one ink-stained finger to the slate.
"Earth witness connection is irregular."
Jade's voice ca through the cracked beacon on JJ's panel.
"Then write irregular."
The clerk blinked. Ty took petty pleasure in it. Omina stood behind him with Yun-Jin's help. The place where her rank aura had been still looked raw, not on her skin but around her. People kept glancing at her and then away, as if their eyes expected permission to rest there and found none.
She hated it. She also stayed upright.
"Proceed," Omina said.
The clerk looked at her.
"Forr field command privilege detected."
"Still taller than you."
Yun-Jin's mouth opened. No sound ca out. She looked proud and furious and scared, all in one breath. Ty understood none of that well enough to touch it. The clerk wrote on a form.
"Witness hierarchy available: sponsor, hostile fighter, hostile officer, forr command authority, Earth anchor."
"Forr temporary," Omina said.
The clerk kept writing. JJ stepped closer to the desk.
"Use us."
The slate flashed.
SPONSOR WITNESS: DAMAGED BUT ACTIVE
JJ lifted her wrist panel. The glass was cracked so badly that pink light leaked through her fingers.
"I sponsored Ty before the skeleton split. I saw both bodies. I say the bones are Ty."
The slate answered.
WEIGHT: PARTIAL
JJ glared.
"Partial?"
"Sponsor has financial interest," the clerk said.
"Everyone with a brain has interest in keeping the stolen face from wearing him like a coat."
"Emotional argunts are recorded under noise."
JJ smiled. That smile worried Ty. It was the kind rich people used when they had found a cheaper knife.
"Then record this under finance," she said. "If the office registers Zunoder as sole public Ty Hockenson, every coin I spent on the contestant becos misallocated property under arena sponsor code."
The clerk paused. JJ leaned in.
"If my property was misallocated by the office after a public vessel split, my estate can demand an audit of every witness exchange since Stage Two opened."
Every clerk in the room looked away at the sa ti. Heissman whispered, "Marry money." Yun-Jin kicked his ankle. He whispered, "Ow. Hostile andnt." The slate changed.
SPONSOR WITNESS: MATERIAL INTEREST CONFIRD
WEIGHT: ACCEPTED
JJ's smile vanished as fast as it had appeared. The cost hit her panel. Pink light drained down one crack and disappeared. Ty reached for her. She moved her hand back.
"Do not. I chose that."
He stopped. Yun-Jin stepped forward next. She had one hand pressed to her ribs. Her face was pale. Her hair stuck to her cheek in wet strands. She looked like she might collapse if the room stopped insulting her long enough.
She still stood straight.
"I fought Ty before the arena," she said.
The clerk dipped her pen.
"Hostile fighter."
"I fought the body with skin. I fought the bones. The bones made the sa wrong choices."
Ty turned his skull.
"That is your proof?"
"It is strong proof."
"Rude proof."
"You jumped into a flooded tunnel."
"Current evidence is not admissible."
"It is in my heart."
JJ made a small sound that was almost a laugh. Yun-Jin looked at the clerk.
"The body with the face copies. It performs. The bones answer. Badly, usually. But they answer people."
The slate flickered.
HOSTILE FIGHTER WITNESS: ACCEPTED
WEIGHT: PAIN-BONDED
Yun-Jin squinted at the wording.
"I dislike your wording."
"Common response," the clerk said.
Heissman limped forward.
"My turn before I beco sentintal by proximity."
The clerk's pen hovered.
"Hostile officer."
"Second lieutenant."
"Hostile officer."
"Accurate but impolite."
He set the half sword on the desk.
"I attempted to kill, trap, humiliate, and legally inconvenience the contestant known as Ty. The skeleton is him."
Ty waited. Heissman sighed.
"Because only he would save people who have every practical reason to let him die, then complain when thanked."
"I do not complain."
Four people looked at him. Ty looked at the ceiling. Heissman continued.
"Also, the stolen face is too efficient. Ty wastes ti caring."
The slate accepted it.
HOSTILE OFFICER WITNESS: ACCEPTED
WEIGHT: EMBARRASSINGLY CREDIBLE
Heissman stared at the line.
"I hate this office."
Omina approached last. Yun-Jin tried to help her. Omina allowed it until the final step, then stood on her own.
"Forr field command authority," the clerk said.
Omina placed her injured hand on the desk.
"I restrained the skeleton. I restrained the body. I saw the split, the claim lines, the contract reaction, and the Earth pull. The bones carry the original command resistance."
"Explain command resistance."
"No."
The clerk looked up. Omina stared back.
"So truths remain military property."
"You traded field command privilege."
"My spine stayed mine."
The pen scratched.
FORR COMMAND AUTHORITY WITNESS: ACCEPTED
WEIGHT: REDUCED BUT USEFUL
Omina's jaw tightened. Yun-Jin looked ready to shoot the slate. Then Jade's voice ca through again. Weak. Angry. Perfect.
"My turn."
The room stopped. The clerk's smile returned.
"Earth anchor."
"Jade," Ty said.
Her answer cut through static.
"Do not interrupt my objection."
JJ looked at him. Ty lifted both hands. Jade breathed once, and the sound carried blood in it.
"I saw Ty die. I saw what took him. I saw the body that lied and the bones that saved . I am not signing a religious title, arena title, king title, monster title, or whatever paperwork trap your office thinks is clever."
The clerk wrote faster.
"Then what na does the Earth witness submit?"
Static filled the room. Static thinned. Ty heard the basent behind her: Waddell snapping orders, Kieran arguing, a child crying, paper hands scratching concrete. Then Jade said, "Ty. Until he earns or refuses the rest himself." The slate turned white.
PUBLIC NA CONFLICT STABILIZED
TEMPORARY BONE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
The clerk held out a small silver chisel.
"One tooth."
Ty took it. JJ whispered, "You do not have to." Ty looked at the slate. The suggested titles waited. Skeleton King Candidate pulsed at the bottom. He placed the chisel against a back tooth and knocked once with the hilt of the sickle.
Pain flashed clean through his skull. The tooth cracked free into his palm. He dropped it onto the slate.
"Ty," he said. "Bone half."
The clerks stamped every desk at once. The Na Office doors blew open. Far away, Zunoder scread with Ty's voice.
User Comments
0 comments from readers