May 5, 2027
"Aether, Aether"
Aether opened his eyes and let out a heavy breath, he didn't know where he was exactly, but that voice was familiar enough to deduce that he wasn't very far from home despite not having his vision still blurry. As soon as he was able to create a clear image of the place, he felt terrified because in front of him he had the teary eyes of his sister who was once a very happy girl.
"Lumine!" he exclaimed, trying to get out of his reverie.
Once he woke up, his first impulse was to give his sister a comforting hug, but the sound of metal brought him completely out of his sleepy state, taking his breath away for a few seconds. The first thing he did was notice that he was tied to a bed and wearing a white robe. To be precise, that room was not much different from a hospital. Checking his surroundings he did not have any possessions.
"Lumine, what's going on?" he was confused.
"No, no," she replied breathlessly. "There's nothing wrong with me, the real question is: what's wrong with you?" her voice finally cracked.
Lumine was still wearing the clothes she was wearing last night for some reason: a pretty see-through blouse that revealed a black top, as well as a folded skirt of the same color and high boots, also black. So, this made Aether deduce two things: surely it was the morning of the day after her party since Lumine is very neat, she would never use again something she had already used the day before, even less if she was going out somewhere.
At the same time, she wasn't a person who burst into tears easily, in fact, on the day of her parents' accident, she wasn't able to shed a single tear. However, he was a little more emotional than his sister, or perhaps instead of saying emotional the correct term would be "having an easier time showing what he really feels". She was not one for many words either, something that served a lot to represent Lumine is to think of the phrase: "I am not of words, but of actions". Therefore, there was nothing else that kept him in shock than the thought of her finally snapping, this made his mind race faster and faster, imagining a wide variety of scenarios. Maybe a fight with someone? Did I drive drunk and crash? Her sister at that moment didn't seem to be able to string together a coherent sentence and he didn't have the impulse to ask her anything either, so he analyzed her skin and it was just as clean as ever, it wasn't injured.
Aether couldn't be more confused in that white room with a window without curtains, a small closet, a nightstand and a machine with a screen that went "beep, beep" with a panic button connected to it. He felt stunned to be honest. He couldn't remember anything recent, he could remember part of his birthday party perhaps, but he had too many gaps in his memory. Almost as if a reel of videotape had been corrupted by cutting it. Since his left hand was the one closest to Lumine, he reached out to her to take her hand. However, all he received was a terrified look and she backed away from him again, dragging her chair away.
"I don't know what you're talking about, just let me go and we can fix whatever happened" despite being nervous because of his sister's gesture, he tried to smile at her, but he didn't expect to see enter three men who interrupted their conversation, behind them, a tall woman was approaching, blonde collected with a neatly arranged bun and blue eyes who wore a suit with a khaki trench coat and black heels
"Miss, it's time to take your brother's testimony," one of the men clarified.
"He doesn't remember anything" Lumine formulated as she wiped her tears with her blouse, also staining it with her makeup. "Give him a few hours, maybe he'll remember soon"
"We can't do that, it's now or never. Please leave the place. I am his lawyer, I will do what I can to defend my client" The woman clarified.
"I don't want to, I want to stay with him," Lumine argued.
"Miss, the laws say that if you disobey the orders of State agents you would be obstructing the investigation and that is a serious crime, don't complicate things for us. I will be present when your brother gives his testimony."
Finally Lumine got up from the chair where she was with difficulty, to withdraw quietly and slowly while trying to dry the tears that did not stop coming out without dedicating a single last look to Aether.
"Lumine!" Aether exclaimed without receiving an answer beyond the slam of the door.
That blonde woman had a complicated expression as their gazes met, which made Aether catch his breath. For a lawyer to have that expression could only mean that he totally screwed up, but at the same time he didn't know more details about what he was accused of, he just hoped it wasn't something "so terrible".
"My name is Jean, I am your assigned state's attorney for this case and I will be present while you are giving your testimony with the agents. They have the power to record our conversation, and since their position is not favorable, they will also be present now."
One of the men took out a small black box and pressed a button while looking at the lawyer.
"Our conversation is being recorded. Your sister said that you don't remember anything, this could be caused by different reasons, one more illegal than the other. But what I'm interested in knowing is, do you know what you did?" asked one of the agents.
Aether shook his head, for a moment her heart was in his head and his lungs almost gave out from the stress of the moment.
"You are charged with the intentional homicide of Amber, an attendee at your birthday party on May 4." the woman clarified.
Just hearing that news made his stomach turn, because for him the fact of causing a death was something so far away, he never imagined himself in that situation. Also, Amber? She was not only his best friend, but also Lumine's. He was the first person they met as soon as they arrived in Mondstadt after the accident. That accusation didn't sound possible to him, to make matters worse, his only recent memory was when she arrived that day.
"No, it's impossible," Aether argued, beginning to tremble.
"There is a video of you attacking her, wanna see it?" one of the men mentioned.
"I already said it's impossible I'm not capable of hurting her, you have to believe me, where is she?" Aether was starting to freak out.
Aether tried to break free and stay calm, to find his phone and prove that his friend was alive and well, that perhaps she was comforting Lumine because this was nothing more than a birthday prank before he became an adult. But as much as he searched and searched with his eyes, he got nothing, all his possessions were taken from him.
"I can prove she's alive, please let me go" he begged.
"Miss Amber is dead," the man continued. "Did you receive any food from a stranger yesterday? Did you try any substance and do "your job" that same day?"
"No, I mean yes, I mean..." He hesitated because he ate a lot yesterday, but nothing "suspicious".
"So it's a lie that you don't remember how you smashed her head with a baseball bat? Like she yelled at you to stop and you kept hitting her until she stopped moving?"
"That's enough" Aether said, he tried to cover his ears to stop listening, unfortunately the chains limited him too much, they made him despair.
"Do you know what happens to criminals in this city? To murderers like you? The murderers of young girls like you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" he exclaimed.
"I might think that was a drug addict's delusion but your urine and blood tests are too clean. That means you knew what you were getting into, you knew who you were after and you knew who you were going to kill and now you're just playing the fool, you are a faggot"
"Shut up!" he yelled as she continued to struggle and choked on tears.
When he tried to remember, he didn't get anything, it was a simple emptiness that was in his head. He remembered the beginning of the party, he remembered that he went to the bathroom and then he appeared in this room. There was no Amber in that space of time because she was with Lumine. She was wearing shorts, a white top, and a puffy red jacket with headphones. She dressed casually because she came from an assignment from the job she used to pay for his dance academy.
"Your sister lost her parents in the accident, then she lost her best friend due to her brother and now you're going to rot in Oblivion for being a fucking faggot. Tell me, what's the common denominator here? How does it feel to know that you fucked up your sister's future, that she cannot inherit your parents' fortune and now for being the sister of a murderer, she is going to have to marry an old pig to be able to aspire to a…"
"Enough, Hugo" Jean interrupted.
The agent looked at her defiantly, walked slowly towards her and faced her.
"You don't have the power to shut me up, Miss Jean." Continuous.
"Of course I have it because you're intimidating my client, I'm going to ask you to please control and moderate the interrogation of my patient who still hasn't recovered from the impact."
"I understand that it's your job but it's not worth risking for a guy like that, admit it. This case is lost and you don't have anything else to do." the agent argued.
Jean's expression was as tense and complex as the opposite, but Aether could watch as she clenched her fist and clung to her brown bag while he completely depended on his lawyer's will. Actually, they both secretly knew they had to lose, but Jean didn't want to give the young man up for lost. She did not have a good feeling about all this, however, the light from a cell phone screen took her out of her thoughts, forcing her to look at the content of the device.
"We have a video that proves the murder, witnesses and we even have evidence. The entire body of the young woman has the fingerprints of your client. As you can see, it is sunk, if you want to see it, it will be available in the digital folder of the hearing on Tuesday. But as I told you, please don't wear yourself out with this young man and better drop the case"
Aether's look showed nothing but hopelessness, confusion, pain and above all, frustration at not knowing exactly what he was accused of. He simply didn't think he could kill someone, let alone survive his sentence, and worse: he didn't think he could kill Amber no matter how high or drunk he was. It was all too unreal to take in, that he couldn't even shed a tear and hope for her ex-friend's forgiveness wherever she is. Since he couldn't even testify because he couldn't remember, even if he had a health professional certify the state of amnesia this only made his situation worse.
The agents continued with their attacks trying to get at least a little more information from the defendant, however they did not get anything more than crying and an "I don't know" as multiple answers. So they decided that there was nothing more to investigate and they would close the case definitely, and then they left the room. Something that caught the attention of the lawyer, since the agents were never so fast, even if it was a case as "obvious" as this.
"It's okay if you leave me here, you know?" Aether mentioned to Jean.
"My job is to do what I can to get you out of this situation," Jean answered, walking towards the large hospital window that had anti-suicide protection. Revealing a peaceful hospital park with massive, robust green trees providing much-needed shade and simple yet fragrant flowers ideal for patients to spend their final days before discharge.
"It's not fair if even you can't deny…" he paused, "whatever I did."
Jean looked very thoughtful, she had her hand on her chin as she looked at whatever was outside.
"Something just isn't right," she commented quietly.
"What do you mean?" Aether was confused by what was said, so he questioned.
"No, I was just thinking" she shook her head, still looking at the window.
"May I ask what day is today?"
"Today is Thursday, May 5" replied Jean. "You have exactly 5 days before the hearing and 7 days before the resolution. Knew that?"
"What is the difference between the two?" he asked.
"The Hearing is where we are going to present the evidence in court. There, their charges will be displayed and exhibited in front of the judges, prosecutors, expert opinions, family and the public. In the resolution they will determine what your sentence is in front of the audience and then you will be transferred to the fourth-dimensional high tech prison: Oblivion." she explained with a very bad taste in his mouth.
Jean has dealt with many criminals and victims just for being a state attorney, however, and regardless of what that boy has done, she could not deny that she had no way to rescue him in that situation, even the worst criminals managed to glimpse enough innocence. to lessen the punishment. But having videos, negative alcohol and drug tests, witnesses and so on only made everything worse.
She had to think, he had to connect with some information in order to help his client. She turned over the files in her head a thousand times, ignoring the blond young man who was bedridden, but everything just seemed crystal clear. Until out of nowhere she managed to remember a case similar to that of this young man, her memory was currently very imprecise, since she was a minor at that time and was not that close to the victim either. But, hadn't a state of unconsciousness and amnesia also been determined with negative drug tests and a zero history of consumption before committing one of the most heinous crimes in that case? At that moment, she managed to feel satisfied, but not enough since she has no way to contact her old friend who disappeared from the map and she hasn't contacted for years. Even if she contacted him, what was the chance that he would first make room in his schedule to reopen such a painful episode in her life to save a stranger? and second but not least, what was the chance of finding it? Time was playing against her.
"There is something I can do for you," Jean mentioned.
"Can you really do something for me?" Aether gave a deadpan laugh.
"But I need time and your collaboration"
Aether let her speak, as it's not like he wants to say much in this case.
"I have the probability of reducing your sentence if I manage to establish contact with someone, the problem is that he would not have time to advise me to be able to carry out that investigation of a case similar to his. In addition, given the evidence they have against you, it is possible that the dates will be brought forward, so that you will have to fall into Oblivion and stay alive, in order to buy enough time to reopen the case" Jean explained.
Aether looked at his hands for a few seconds, at this moment he did not reflect anything beyond disbelief.
"Play DOPE?" he asked. "Impossible, I never watched that show and there was no way I was going to be able to kill someone"
"I'm not asking you to kill someone," she clarified, "I'm asking you to stay alive."
"And how do you think I'm going to stay alive in a place like Oblivion? Obviously I will have to kill someone and I don't care what a group of elders or the country itself think: I am not a murderer, I never will be. I don't know what happened last night through my memories, but I would never kill someone."
Aether was drained after that conversation, so he just shut down and decided to cover his eyes with his arm because he lost his patience.
"Know what? I am going to give up my right of defense."
Jean's jaw dropped and she quickly decided to walk over and take his arm.
"If you waive your right to defense, you won't be able to appeal again within Oblivion, you know that?"
"Yeah, I heard something." he replied grudgingly. "But there's nothing else to do, in a month from now I'll be dead and it's all the same to me. I just want to die and pay what I have to pay."
"Aether, please" Jean tried to dialogue. "We can get out of this if I have time, even if you fall into oblivion we can…"
"No." he replied with a cynical smile. "I already know what is happening, what you want is for your winning streak not to be ruined, therefore you believe that I would give my life to show that you are right and then you go to bed to sleep peacefully. But no, I'm fed up. I lost my best friend, my parents, my sister… Do you think that even if I was proven innocent, which is impossible, it would change something for me? Of course not!" he exclaimed.
"But this is really important and you have to listen to me."
"I don't want to hear anything!" he exclaimed. "Know what? We'll do whatever you want, don't you want to lose your win streak? fine, we'll do that. But in a month I'll be dead, clearly you don't care about that, but I'll be dead, I have no chance. I am alone and I am left alone, so please, I want to spend my last days in peace and not think about how I will get out." he said.
Jean held eye contact for a few seconds, then broke it and started heading for the door, her heels echoing through the room.
"Can I ask you one more favor?"
That question was enough to stop Jean, who didn't look at him, but waited for the request with her hand on the handle.
"Tell Lumine that she doesn't need to forgive me, and that I'm sorry. That's the only thing I'll ask of her, I don't think she'll be able to see me in these conditions again. But I also don't want to leave without giving it the end." Aether explained.
Jean looked at the handle and then answered
"I'm going to contact her" she said without further ado, leaving the place.
Aether stared at the white ceiling for a long time, thinking that this is one of his last peaceful days