The Truth Might Not Set You Free

[Lady Jenn]

As Ros stepped into the prison dining hall she sighed. Three years at the Emeran prison, floating above the near lifeless world of the same name, had numbed her to the noise and stench that tended to fill the eating area, not that it made her feel any more comfortable in a prison where most men showed her more interest than the few women other than her. She suspected however that her father's reputation scared most people off, after all if you're related to the trainer of the scariest military unit in the whole Alliance people tended to give you a wide berth. Not that she minded, particularly as she felt her left arm twitch slightly.

She picked up that day's food (what she assumed was soup and a meat she decided she was better off not identifying), and picked her way towards the only empty table left. On the way one of the men, a wannabe gangster legendary for the poorest attempt at a robbery she'd ever heard of, wolf-whistled as she passed. She cursed under her breath, it wasn't her fault the prison uniform hugged her ass tightly, her requests for better fitting uniform went unanswered. But with military-grade bionics on one side she knew teaching the man a lesson would cause more problems than it solved, so she bit her lip till she had found her seat.

"How the hell am I supposed to make it through twenty more years of this?" she muttered under her breath.

[JohannHellkite]

"Good question" Dion replied seemingly to himself. Dion was sitting a few seats away from where Ros sat herself. His unkempt black hair obscured most of his face. Sitting in a stained black undershirt and uniform pants hunched over his bowl. He had both arms on either side of his food, guarded. A snarl sat on his face as he mushed whatever this place decided to call food. He fiddled with his food a moment longer, then stopped the snarl on his face. He had decided something.

Amused with his response to the obviously rhetorical question Dion took another bite of whatever it was. He raised his head and flicked some scraggly bangs from his face revealing a deep scar and olive green eyes. He flashed a half grin as he took a look at Ros. Then gave a rising half nod. He wanted to see her mettle he heard the whistle and the subsequent chuckles of the other guys. Would she retaliate? He didn't know, but he was in a shit mood and figured no matter the outcome it would be a good laugh.

[Lady Jenn]

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the man who'd commented, sizing him up carefully. Although part of her was tempted to snap at him she realised it'd be more hassle than it was worth, so she let out a sigh and rubbed her perfectly manicured hand across her face, before looking at him again.

"Assuming my reputation hasn't proceeded me," she said, trying to put on the most uninterested expression she could "if you're trying to chat me up you're not even in the right forest. No offence," she added, letting out a self-conscious laugh. She winced, her bionic arm twitching badly enough she was uncertain her attempt to hide it had been successful. "Of all the times to be having an episode," she muttered under her breath, just in time to see a young woman in a red suit walk over to them, shoulder length blonde hair catching Ros' attention immediately. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The other woman blushed slightly, leaning over to place a piece of paper on the table. "Professor Mertens requests your presence as soon as you have finished eating."

Ros' eyes narrowed, sharing a confused look with Dion. "Mertens? The hell does Dr Egghead want with us two?"

The woman shrugged. "Apparently the answer to that question was above my paygrade, but he said you'll be interested in what he wants to talk about." She took a step back, nodding to them both before walking away.

The paper only said 'Room 3, Bottom Deck'. Ros turned to Dion. "Now what the hell do you think that was about?"

[JohannHellkite]

Dion was puzzled with this new order to report to the doctor. He let his eyes wander as the women in the red suit left him and Ros to their meal. He thought to himself, "One day I'll get outta here, and girls like that will be alright." Dion gave into a brief fantasy.

"Now what the hell do you think that was about?" Ros said to Dion.

"Huh?" Dion snapped his eyes back to Ros. "I don't know, she said after we are done eating, so that's what I'll worry about for now. Sorry I'm not one for reputations, we're all here together ya know? So whatever you've done better not have been dragging me into it."

Dion slightly upset with his fantasy cut short turns back to his food set on finishing it. "You probably wanna eat to, looks like your arm needs some more strength." Dion stuffs another wad of whatever into his mouth.

[Lady Jenn]

She let out a gruff laugh. "If you don't know my rep you're probably the only one who doesn't." She sighed. "I don't know if you've ever run into the Titan Guard, but my father trains them. So people tend to e cautious around me in case the galaxy's best killers come to punish them. As if they'd just turn up at this prison out of the blue."

She was silent while she finished what was left of her dinner, turning to offer him her left hand, before switching to her right hand instead.

"Since we're about to be stuck in the doctor's office for a while I should introduce myself properly: Ros Merein. The guys in here will probably suggest a few other names for me, but I'd advise ignoring them as much as possible."

[JohannHellkite]

Dion put on a small grin and turned his right hand over to Ros. “Dion Hansen, never listen to how the rest talk. It has served me well, and probably allowed me to avoid your father this long. I hope to keep my streak going.”

Dion released Ros’ hand and turned to his food. He grab what was left on his tray and slurped it down. With a quick shudder and slight groan. He turned over to Ros, “well no sense in delaying the inevitable.” He then grabbed his tray and stood up, and shuffled over to the aisle. “It’s time for me to move out, see you down there.” Dion took a causal pace over to the wash area to drop off his tray readjusted his uniform and headed out of the cafeteria. He flashed his note off to the guard as he left with a grin.

[Lady Jenn]

She followed not long after, making her way to a single door on a deck almost entirely deserted other than an armed guard stood outside the door. "Mertens is expecting us," Ros said, watching as the man put a finger to one ear, before pressing the button to one side which opened the door.

The room beyond was dominated by a large bank of computers which covered half the far wall, the only other furniture being a single chair nearby. The other half was covered by what appeared to be a window although it was entirely black. A second door was on the right-hand side of the wall, a sign reading Private, Do Not Disturb hanging from it.

"Apologies, I'll be with you in a moment," came a voice that Ros realised was emanating from a pair of legs sticking out from under the computer, a lab coat just visible. "Getting this thing to function is more difficult than I imagined it'd be." the speaker finally emerged, revealing a young man about Ros' age, with unkempt red hair and a pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose. "Ah, glad to see you've both made it, I am Professor Arne Mertens. I know, I look too young to be a Professor."

Ros raised an eyebrow. "Right now I'm more concerned with why you're so keen to talk to us."

"Quite simple really," Mertens said, standing up and pointing to the computers behind him. "I believe I've found a way to prove you two innocent...assuming you're not lying anyway. And who knows Ros, perhaps I can help your malfunctioning ar..." He froze as he saw the expression the woman gave him. "Ah, our friend here doesn't know about your bionics does he?"

"He didn't," Ros said, unable to hide the annoyance in her voice. "My dad's reputation hangs over me enough without people figuring out I've got military grade tech in one arm."

[JohannHellkite]

"Prove you innocent?" Dion was ecstatic to hear those words. "Military Grade?" That's some emotional whiplash. He thought about who he should really be worried about now, Ros' dad, or Ros herself. Dion needed to ponder that for a moment, then he remembered "malfunctioning." That settled it for Dion, Ros' dad is still the more dangerous one. With that conundrum satisfied Dion was able to return to thinking about innocence. He was prepared to just move forward with not being free for many more years to come. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, more precisely Dion to get his lifetime back.

He pondered it a bit more, his face has been contorted into a pretty deep snarl at this point. A strange habit he picked up back home, he thought it made him look tough while he was thinking. It mostly just confused his peers while they waited for him. Deep in thought snarl firmly planted on his face Dion paused and then looked to the doctor, "Nothing comes for free doc, what's in it for you?"

Dion was pretty satisfied with his response folded his arms and stared at the doctor waiting for a response.

[Lady Jenn]

"I might tell you the full story another time," Ros said with a sigh. "For now all you need to know is if it wasn't for who my dad is I'd probably have no left arm." She turned back to Mertens. "Listen, Professor-"

Mertens interrupted. "Please, call me Arne."

"-Arne, I appreciate your sentiment, but..." She shivered slightly, the memory of the last few years coming back to her. "The best lawyers I could get couldn't find a single damn bit of evidence to prove my innocence, and with all due respect you don't look like you know much about law, what can you offer?"

"A way to access your memories and discover the truth," Mertens replied.

Ros snorted. "I think you've been reading too many fiction novels if you think..." She trailed off as she saw the serious look on Mertens' face. "You're not kidding. But how is that possible? That kind of tech is well beyond the capabilities of the Alliance."

"You're right. That's why it's not Alliance tech."

He pressed a series of buttons on his computer, revealing what lay in the room beyond the window. Its walls were silver, only interrupted by the occasional computer screen, with wires leading into a pair of chairs sat back to back, a pair of headsets wired to the ceiling hanging above them.

"The people who found this tech, for some reason, decided to call it the Enigma. And...assuming you two are willing, we might not be able to find undeniable evidence but...at the very least a lead as to how to free you from here."

[JohannHellkite]

"Arne, this is all very suspicious. If its not Alliance tech where did you get it? Then why us? Feels like we're being signed up as guinea pigs." Dion rattled off his questions as quickly as he thought them. Dion was growing more and more nervous, his concerns about his safety were growing as Ros and Arne discussed. Dion started shifting where he stood, his snarl growing back on his face. This was all far too much information for him to process quickly.

Dion felt his concerns grow larger and larger. This was such a big offer he did not know what would possess Arne to make it. With his stress heightened, Dion's feet decided that this might just be a better time to run. His feet slowly started inching closer and closer to the door. His hand was almost on the door when the window flash and he could see what was on the other side. So much technology the sight of it was so shocking it froze Dion in his tracks, his jaw slacked and fear crept into his eyes. "What did I get myself into?" Dion was able to sputter out.

[Lady Jenn]

"Arne, I..." Ros stumbled to the wall, sliding down it. "Give me a second to think about this."

Arne turned to look at Dion. "No-one knows where this comes from originally. It was found by a team of archaeologists on a planet that was devoid of any intelligent life, in a temple that by their best guess had been deserted for at least two millennia. Which...is confusing considering as far as we know there was no space-faring civilizations in the area at the time, nevermind anyone close to being capable of building tech like this." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Look, I get this sounds insane, when this was brought to me I barely believed it was true. But I wouldn't suggest this if I thought for a second either of you were in danger. Besides, to be clear, the governor has no idea what we're doing here. If you walk away from this you won't get in trouble, things will carry on as if this conversation never happened."

"But why us?" Ros asked.

"You're right, I'm no lawyer," Arne replied. "And to be fair pretty much everyone in this prison would tell you they shouldn't be here. But...I've looked into both your cases, and while I don't have any solid evidence, something about your cases feel...off, like someone needed you two in prison to hide something."

[JohannHellkite]

Dion stood at the door and thought about what the doctor was saying. Insane ancient technology is supposed to help him get free. "Wait if the governor doesn't know about this how is it supposed to set us free?" Dion says looking at Arne. "I'm not looking to get zapped away by some alien tech doc, especially for no clear reason."

Dion paced a bit, face contorted, "Ros what do you think this sound on the level to you? If somebody wants us gone, how is this crazy bit gonna save us?"

[Lady Jenn]

"I'm not saying this can free you instantly," Arne replied, looking between the two. "But maybe it can at least find hints that might lead to something you've not been aware of prior to now. I can't compel you to do this, but can you honestly say you have any better options?"

"Fuck, he's right Dion," Ros said, sighing. "At least in my case, I've used up every other avenue I have. I'm not gonna insist you stay if you aren't comfortable with this. My memories are...not going to be fun for me, nevermind anyone experiencing them with me."

[JohannHellkite]

Dion took a moment, he tapped to his mouth as his snarl grew. "Ros, I don't know if this will save you or me. I don't anticipate any success truly." Dion walked toward the pair of them. "That said, what's the worst that can happen. You said only us know about this, then well I guess we'll be alright."

Dion took a few more steps toward Arne, "Well Doc, what do you need me to do? Let's go ahead and make something happen. Ros I know this won't be easy for either of us really. Let's make this happen and we'll see how it goes."

[Lady Jenn]

"I can at least promise this'll be memorable," Arne said with a half-hearted laugh as he opened the door that led into the large room. "I've never used this myself, but from what I've heard of the few who have it is...an experience you can't replicate. If you'll just take a seat..."

Ros sat in the chair facing the window, surprised to find it was far more comfortable than it looked. "Careful doc, we might fall asleep in this thing."

Arne snorted. "That wouldn't be a bad thing to be fair." He reached up, grabbing one of the helmets and lowering it towards her head. "One thing you need to remember: whatever you experience in there, they're only memories. They can't harm you or..." he trailed off, his gaze lingering on Ros for a moment, before lowering the device onto her head. "Good luck. Now, Dion, if you'll just..."

Ros didn't hear the rest of the sentence, her world going black for a moment. When she finally regained some form of consciousness she found herself in a darkened room, stood in a spotlight whose source she couldn't identify, with no sign of the machine, Arne or Dion around her. She stared down at her arms, her bionic arm suddenly feeling...different. "Bloody hell Arne, you weren't kidding that this thing was weird."

"You have no idea," came a female voice, causing Ros to spin on the spot and find herself looking into the eyes of a tall, red-haired woman in a long blue dress. "My apologies, I find it...helpful to take an appearance that will help those I am interfaced with feel more relaxed. My name is-"

"Enigma," Ros said, dumbstruck as the figure nodded. "Oh, Dion's going to have fun with this."

[JohannHellkite]

Arne looked over to Dion, "Now Dion if you'll just stand back over this way I can go ahead and get started."

Dion glanced to the spot Arne recommended and started to shuffle over, "Doc you sure I need to be here for this? If I'm not needed for the procedure maybe I could be the lookout?" Dion took another step to stand right where Arne told him to, he waited as the doctor started into his work to start the machine up. Dion thought to himself, "oh man this is way over my paygrade, I never wanted no trouble." Dion started to rock back and forth in his prescribed section of floor in the doctor's office. "Maybe if I'm real careful like, I can slip out the door and just let the doctor call me back later. That wouldn't be so bad, no harm no foul right?"

Dion did not want to get anyone in more trouble least of all himself, he thought, "what if I leave and it causes the machine to break or hurt Ros? That wouldn't be worth it at all. On the other hand its just the door and the doc didn't say nothing about not touching the door. It would probably be fine, not hurting nobody, and I would stay out of trouble in case this goes sideways."

Dion started eyeballing the door when he heard Ros say, "Oh, Dion's going to have fun with this." Dion stopped dead and looked over to Ros to see what was happening.

[Lady Jenn]

"Look, if she's not told you it's not my place to do so," Arne said with a sigh. "But what happened to her...she has some very dark moments in her past, I don't want her facing stuff like that without someone in there, and once you're linked  I can't interact with you in any way."

"There are answers for both of you in there," a voice, which seemed to come from the air all around them, said so suddenly that Arne visibly jumped.

"Damnit Enigma, can you at least try and warn me before you start talking to us next time?" There was no sound in response. Arne leant closer to whisper in Dion's ear. "I'm also told her human avatar is quite an attractive woman." The lights flickered on and off repeatedly. "Sorry, you're right, I shouldn't have said that."

"I'm certain Dion is more concerned with justice than he is my...aesthetics," Enigma's voice said. "I mean neither of you any harm, unless you intend to attack me first anyway."