Hard Questions

Coffee. The whole interrogation room smelled of it. And not a good, rich coffee, either. Some cheap, store-brand coffee with powdered creamer, served in a styrofoam cup. One cup sat in front of Sai, and the other was across the table from him, slowly being sipped by Sergeant Harold Greech. Greech was silent for a good long while; he knew Sai was something different from the normal delinquents that tagged turf or trespassed in South Emerald. No, this was some East Diamond beef that leaked into his jurisdiction, and he needed to find out what. He put the cup down and sighed. "I've been on the force eight years. First time I've seen a shootout at a funeral. Don't get me wrong, I've seen people come to blows at one many times. But this?" He shook his head and locked eyes with Sai; his forearm and leg were badly injured from a dog attack, but he had been patched up. Three days had passed since the incident, and Sai was showing more resilience than most. Definitely no stranger to combat. "So. How about you make this easy for me. Why exactly were you there?" He ruffled through some papers. "Ms. Eliac says you didn't know her or her late husband, so you weren't there for the funeral. And the two men you ziptied say you were trying to kidnap her brother." He shrugged. "Why? She didn't have the money for ransom, and no one recognized you, so it wasn't personal. Mr. Eliac was little more than a ride operator at Hyacinth Island, so I don't see someone hiring a hitman for him." Greesh folded his hands and leaned forward. "So what was the goal?"

Sai had actually never been arrested before, but he knew enough to know that things weren't looking entirely great for him. Right now there were likely a ton of questions that these cops had, and he didn't have a really good bluff or answer to give them. He also knew that when it came to extreme gangs, talking is what got you killed. Valerie didn't exactly seem the forgiving type, but Sai hadn't heard from anyone since the three days that everything happened. Right now, he had to assume that he was on his own. Stalling was his only hope, if there was no plan to get him out...Sai was likely going to be staying here a lot longer.

Sai just stared at the cup of coffee in front of him, not touching it or having any desire for it either. Sai just slowly raised his eyes as the officer addressed him. "It's funny, my father always told me that you only had to answer questions if you were in trouble. So officer, are you going to tell me what you're charging me with exactly?"

Greesh nodded and put a picture of the green haired man's corpse in front of him. "Attempted kidnapping for one. As I said, got two witnesses say you and your lady friend assaulted them to coerce him into coming with you." After saying this he put another picture in front of Sai, this time of the boy of Shoushan's Sai killed in the firefight. "First degree murder. I got over a dozen eyewitnesses that you shot this man as he lay on the ground." He then placed a third picture, of Sais handgun. "And even if you get out of all of that, theres the indisputable fact you're carrying an unregistered firearm." Seargent Greesh smiled warmly and leaned forward. "So. That's three charges. And I can probably dig up more on an East Diamond looking pup like you in a heartbeat. So. How about we make this easy for both of us. Let's start simple." He drummed his fingers on the table. "You've refused us a name. Mines Harold. Harold Greesh, Seargent. Mind giving me yours?"

"That is a lot of charges" Sai admitted as he looked over at all the photos. "Course, your main witnesses to all of this are a couple of criminals. You brought up the handgun, but are you really going to tell me that you're going to take their word on everything that happened? With all that chaos going on, I wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. A lot of bullets were flying and I was just so scared for my own life. I didn't want to kill that guy, but he gave me no choice" Sai said. This of course was all a load of crap, but Sai wasn't going to say anything to incriminate himself right now.

"Nice to meet you Sargaent Greesh, that's a good name. However, I don't feel comfortable discussing anything until my lawyer is present"

Greesh sighed; of course this guy wanted his lawyer. But he had another pressure point to try first. "You say that our 'main witnesses' are criminals. The only criminals we are aware of are the men who got away in the van, and you. The rest of our witnesses were simply attending the funeral, common folk, the citizens of our city." He was, of course, bluffing; the two men who were accusing this man of kidnapping were suspected of having ties to an East Diamond gang called "Oz", but they had nothing solid. "What makes you so certain any of them are criminals whose testimony should be discounted? Do you have any proof? At the very least, why don't you tell me your side of what happened that day?"
He drummed his fingers on the table with one hand and drank from his coffee in the other, never moving his eyes from Sai.

"I've heard of this city before ya know. How could you not after all?" Sai remarked as he glanced to the wall for just a moment before turning back toward Sargent Greesh. "My dad used to say that this city was an absolute beacon of hope and a sign of the future. And now...well, here we are I suppose" Sai said as he pushed forward the picture of the dead man. "You're brave to be an officer of the law in this city, knowing that any moment some powered bastard could show up and you'd stand no chance...very brave" Sai remarked quietly. He of course was just fucking with the guy, but at this point he didn't have any choice but to push a few buttons of his own back.

"And like I told you officer, as soon as my lawyer is here I'll tell you everything. Until then, I don't feel very safe"

Greesh pursed his lips and sighed. "Your father sounds like one of them dreamers. Fell for a lot of propaganda, like many people from his generation. And I wouldn't call it bravery, what I do. I call it necessity." He leaned forward and locked eyes with Sai, demanding his attention silently. "See, just if there weren't people like me, people like you would be free to keep ruining lives. Just because some of the people who are sick in the head have powers doesn't change anything. They're still human, not gods. We're trained how to deal with them. We have to be. Because it's our job to defend this city. If we didn't exist, who would protect the common man? You? I'm sure you would if the pay was good." With that he stood up, slamming his palm on the table as emphasis. "Well, if we're waiting for your lawyer to show up, we'll probably be here for a few minutes. You need something? I notice you didn't touch your coffee. Want a donut, some water?"

Sai just smiled, a dreamer was definitely what his father was in his own ways. He hadn't been the smartest man, but still a man that Sai at least could look up to in his own way. He was glad to see that Greesh could still be poked and prodded like any cornered animal. He felt in charge in here, but Sai knew that in the real world he had no powers. Gone were the days when people like Greesh could be powerful. "I can safely say there is nothing you have that I want Officer Greesh"

Greesh scoffed. "Fine. I'll be back in a few." He left the room, closing the door behind him to leave Sai alone with his thoughts. As he turned to look over the station, he was surprised to see someone he was well familiar with, even though he had never met them. A lawyer he had seen on the news dozens of times defending all sorts of East Diamond scum, and somehow managing to succeed in getting them off; her name was Diane Huntz. The hell was she doing in South Emerald? He walked up to her and was about to ask what she was doing there when she immediately cut him off.
"I'm here to represent the man you apprehended three days ago. He is my client, and you are not to speak with him without me in the room." She barked. "I am allowed to speak with my client in private, without you recording or supervising, and I intend to use this right presently. Is that understood?"
Greesh was fuming. He hated this woman; he, like anyone who followed law or gang activity in the city, was well familiar with her, and he was disgusted to share the same space as her. Unfortunately, his hands were tied. "Fine."
About two minutes later, Diane entered the interrogation room. "Hello." The word was more of a statement, clearly nothing more than a formality and less of an actual greeting. "I am Diane Huntz. Mr. Tang requested me to be your lawyer." She sat next to Sai and straightened her jacket; she was dressed sharply, her black pantsuit contrasted by her burgundy hair. "Your name is Blake Dennison. The girl was Hannah Malady. The two of you were there to visit her mother and were unaware a procession was going on. The attempted kidnapping was a lapse in the memory of the witnesses; it was the men who attacked you who attempted the kidnapping. You saw the situation, and attempted to intervene, which resulted in the firefight. The firearm you were apprehended with belonged to one of the men killed. That is the story. Is that understood?" She fixed her green eyes with Sai; she was clearly a woman who was familiar with this job, familiar with idiots, and had little patience for them.

Sai glanced us as he saw a woman come in. He didn't watch a lot of television or followed various political figures, so he didn't recognize her. However, he knew when someone had been sent for him. Glad to see that he hadn't been forgotten. After three days, he was starting to get worried that he had been forgotten or abandoned. If help wasn't coming, he had a feeling that Valerie might just have Sai killed in prison, something elaborate knowing her.

He listened to the story the woman made, saying nothing until she finally asked her question. "Yes maam, it was so horrible to see all of that. I'm just so worried about Hannah" Sai said, showing that clearly he was going to play along.

"Good." She stated, her face stony in spite of Sai playing along. With that, Diane stood, left the room, and reentered shortly afterwards, followed by Greesh.
"So. Are you willing to cooperate now?" Greesh asked. After waiting for confirmation from Sai, he sat down, a fresh cup of coffee in his hand. "Alright. Let's start from the top. State your name and occupation for the record, as well as what you were doing at the cemetery the day of the shooting."

"Of course officer, with my lawyer here I have no problem cooperating now" Sai said as he placed his hands on the table. "My name is Blake Dennison, I'm an aspiring writer that's trying to find work. Unfortunately not doing so well on finding jobs...but not that important right now" Sai said before getting back to the story. "I was there with my girlfriend Hannah Malady. We were there to visit her mother, didn't even realize there was going to be another funeral that day. As we pulled up, we saw a few men leaving followed by another van pulling up filled with armed men. They killed the men leaving the cemetery, including the guy with green hair. They saw us and grabbed Hannah, that's when I intervened and picked up the gun you found me with. I did what I could but it...it wasn't enough to save Hannah" Sai said quietly as if guilt was overcoming him.

Greesh raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying his story. "So you're saying that the other group attempted to kidnap Mr. Eliac, not you? Then why is it that the two men with him stated unequivocally that it was you who attacked them and tried to kidnap Mr. Eliac?"
"My client can't be expected to know the motives of those men." Diane interjected before Sai could speak. "Besides, their testimonies would never hold up in court. The two are known gang affiliates, their words carry very little weight."
Greesh narrowed his eyes at Diane. "I'm not sure how things are done in East Diamond, but here, when I direct a question at the suspect, I'd rather get an answer from them, not you."
"My job is to keep an innocent man out of jail, and you have a bit of a reputation for twisting words around to throw teenagers and young adults into juvy or jail and cause extensive damage to the remainder of their lives. I'm not sure how things are done in South Emerald, but that doesn't sound like proper behavior for a police sergeant. My client is already struggling to pay his bills, and you illiciting a false guilty verdict would cause him to lose his apartment. I am not willing to let that happen."
The two held eye contact for a long, heavy silence. "Alright. Fine." Greesh said. "Even if those two are lying, which I still find hard to believe. We've still got two charges against you. Where'd you get the gun? A writer who can barely afford an apartment shouldn't be able to get their hands on a firearm with the serial number filed off."

Sai just held his tongue as his lawyer was perfectly willing to interject on his behalf. She was good, like one of those stone cold lawyers you'd see on Law and Order or something like that. Whatever they were paying her to get Sai out of this, it was clearly worth every penny. Sai just needed to keep quiet and answer the questions like Diane instructed him.

Turning his attention back to Greesh, Sai was ready for the next part of the question. "The gun isn't mine officer. After the two groups started fighting each other, Hannah and I got caught in the middle and they ended up grabbing her and pulling her in to their van. I intervened...well I tried at least. I saw that one of the dead men had dropped his weapon, that's the gun I picked up to try and save Hannah. I can see why you'd think it was mine, but it's not. It was just convenient to grab at the time, I wasn't thinking of the implications it might put me in at the time. I was just trying to save Hannah"

Greesh drummed his fingers on the desk and looked at the witness testimonies in the file in front of him. "Just trying to save Hannah, right? Well, let's evaluate that, shall we?" He leaned back in his chair. "You might be able to get the accusation of the two men you assaulted thrown out on character assassination, but the firefight you got into with the other gang was witnessed by well over a dozen other individuals." He shrugged. "And they all say pretty much the same thing. That you're a very good shot, and stayed very calm considering the circumstances, reacting like you've had some level of training." A smirk fell on Greesh's face. "Now, a struggling writer who's the son of a dreamer... Where the hell would you get such a level of training. And don't get me started on the combat knife you were carrying. While it's not illegal to carry one, you handled yourself remarkably well with it against that dog, or so everyone at that funeral says." Greesh leaned forward again, commanding Sai's attention with his gaze. "No matter how we look at this, what you're saying and objective reality don't seem to add up. You're far too competent of a fighter for a struggling writer. So what is it you really do, Drake?"

"I'm not quite sure how far away those people were, but I assure that they didn't see any sort of a competent fighter. I've held a gun before as I've gone hunting with my family on numerous occasions, but I'm no ace shot officer" Sai explained steadily. "I was frequently just firing frantically, hoping to just hit or knick someone. Honestly, I was hoping that they would just let Hannah go if I showed some sort of willingness to fight back. As you know though, that didn't work out very well" Sai said as he glanced to his thrashed arm and leg. "Scenes of violence like this might be common for you officer, but they aren't for me. I reacted to the entire situation, because all I could think about was that Hannah and I were about to die. Maybe I got off a few lucky shots, but I'm not soldier and no warrior"

Greesh smirked. "No warrior? Is that so? Then why, pray tell, was there a bullet proof vest in the trunk of YOUR vehicle? The gun you might get away with in your current defense, but that's your car, and it-"
"It wasnt my clients car." Diane interjected, pulling out a form and placing it in front of the seargent. "It was a rental. Sketchy place in East Diamond, not known for keeping the car clean. Stroke of luck for him I'd say."
"Very lucky, Blake." Harold said as he looked over the paperwork. "But your name isnt Blake, is it? I called you Drake and you didnt correct me. Blake's just a quick cover na-"
"Bullshit." Diane interrupted again. "Just because you can't remember his name and he was kind enough not to correct you, that doesnt mean anything." Diane put a hand on Sais knee; hidden from Greesh, she began digging her nails into his knee; it was well above the wound, but likely still agitated it severely, clearly attempting to arouse physical signs of distress as she started the next leg if her argument. "My client is the victim in this, and he is clearly under significant emotional and mental stress, and you treating him like some sort of heinous criminal is cruel, unjust, and horribly unprofessional."

Drat, Sai totally missed that Greesh called him by the wrong name. Stupid, absolutely stupid. Thankfully though, Diane was here to pick up the slack and created a quick cover story for why Sai wouldn't have responded to such a thing. This woman was good, Sai would have to remember to be extra nice to her when all of this was done. Having an ally was always worth working for.

Sai picked up the hint pretty quickly, knowing that he needed to play his part. The moment that Diane finished her sentence, Sai slammed both of his hands on the table. "I've been here for three days and you still haven't charged me with anything! Meanwhile my girlfriend is out there being hurt or tortured or...or..." and Sai just turned away as if he didn't have the strength to say what might be happening to Mary/Hannah. "Do I have to take this? I want to go home..."

Greesh opened his mouth, about to keep pressing questions; nothing added up about this guy. Why would someone so innocent need such a powerful lawyer? Who hunts with a handgun? Why wouldn't he simply return the vest when he first discovered it? So many more questions, none of them were getting answered honestly, he knew it. But before he could press, a tapping could be heard on the other side of the two way mirror. With a frustrated face, Greesh relented. "Excuse me, you two." With that, he left the room and walked to the observation room. "What is it?" He demanded, frustrated his interrogation was interrupted.
One of the station's other seargents was there, a cop he never trusted named Samson Balk. "An informant from East Diamond confirmed the two men we apprehended as affiliates with the Oz gang. When confronted with this information, the two corroborated with Mr. Dennison's story there."
Greesh narrowed his eyes; something smelled fishy, but his hands seemed tied. He huffed, and returned to the room.
"My... Apologies. It seems we were acting on bad information. We got the truth out of the other two men. Well... We're just going to need a statement then. Everything you can remember about the men who attacked you and took Hannah, license plate if you can remember it, so on..."
After taking Sai's statement, Diane and Sai left the station and entered a fancy black sedan, with Diane behind the wheel. "We forged false statements from the two men accusing you. Measures will be taken to remove your face and fingerprints from the system, but it'll be a few days." She explained as they started to drive off.

"I appreciate the assist councilor, it shouldn't have come to this though" Sai remarked as he glanced out of the window as he spoke with Diane. Things had drastically taken a turn for the worse that mission, it was embarassing to be honest. And now, Sai was going to have to go on the warpath for his own sake. Even if the Witch didn't want to follow him, Sai had to go out and make a point to Shoushan. Lines had been crossed, egos had been damaged. Sai wanted to come to this city to make a name for himself. He was not going to take such an insult so easily. He would make sure that Shoushan got the message about how much this would cost him. The storm was coming.

"Now that we're out of there, do you have any instructions for me from our mutual friends?"

Diane didn't so much as glance at Sai. "I don't have orders for you, no. I just have my own orders. Mr. Tang told me to drop you off at some butcher's shop in East Diamond. Didn't say why, and frankly I don't care. So that's where we're heading." She turned onto a road leading back to the more urban parts of town. "And if you keep needing to enlist Jia's services, try not to let it happen in South Emerald. I hate the drive down here."
With that, she fell silent for the rest of the car ride to East Diamond, answering any further questions with short, blunt answers to demonstrate she wanted as little to do with Sai as possible; she was a woman of business, and she made that explicitly clear with everyone she interacted with.