CBD: And this was the last you saw of agent Lightfoote or of the two fugitives?
MR. SAVAS: That’s correct.
[REDACTED]: And so we are really intended to believe that these three simply vanished before a group of trained soldiers? That you were so caught up in the moment of your arrest that you even failed to notice their departure?
MR. SAVAS: That’s how it happened.
CBD: But why would they leave?
MR. SAVAS: Lopez and Houston had some good reasons. They were framed for crimes they did not commit. I think they must have thought of a way out.
CBD: How could these two know a way out of your building?
MR. SAVAS: I assume Angel told them. Probably it was her idea in the first place. There wasn’t much time for decisions. And she always had a sixth sense about outcomes.
[REDACTED]: And now the explanation is that your cybercrimes head, after releasing a rogue virus through the world’s computer systems, after taking secret documents with her, documents sent by the hacker Fawkes — your claim is that her escape with the fugitives was due to her magical ability to see the future! That the reason she helped the terrorists escape is due to some kind of a vision. A vision, agent Savas!
MR. SAVAS: I don’t know about a vision. What I do know is she makes spontaneous and intuitive choices. They are usually the right choices.
[REDACTED]: This is absurd!
MR. SAVAS: So what is the Tribunal’s theory?
CBD: This isn’t the time, Mr. Savas for—
[REDACTED]: Our theory is quite simple. And like Occam’s Razor, is what is likely true. It doesn’t involve fortune telling or wishing away the documented crimes of outlaws. It doesn’t require an imaginary hacker-boogieman who single-handedly brought the world to its knees. The Tribunal believes that you and your collaborators in the NSA and CIA, along with the nation’s most wanted terrorists, orchestrated an attempt to overthrow the United States government, a plan carried out under the guise of this Anonymous organization, but masterminded by you and your cybercrime head, Angel Lightfoote. This Fawkes was only a mask, not worn by some invented hacker, but masking your crimes, Mr. Savas. When your attempt at sedition was finally stopped by our soldiers, you allowed your fugitives and computer mastermind to escape, stalling our team while they made their getaway.
MR. SAVAS: You really can’t be serious.
[REDACTED]: And now the time has come for you to confess and work to bring these traitors in, or to meet yourself the swift hand of justice.
CBD: Mr. Savas, please. Is there nothing that you can provide for this tribunal about their whereabouts? Their intentions? Their plans?
MR. SAVAS: You know as much as I do.
CBD: Anything at all?
MR. SAVAS: No.
CBD: And what about this message from the hacker, this file. What is in it? What does it mean, the Nash Criterion?
MR. SAVAS: I have absolutely no idea. And that is the God’s honest truth.
[REDACTED]: Enough. This session is concluded. The depositions are over. We will move to the next phase of this process. And may God have mercy on your soul, Mr. Savas.
(THE DEPOSITION WAS CONCLUDED AT 2:19 P.M. SIGNATURE OF THE WITNESS WAS NOT REQUESTED BY COUNSEL FOR THE RESPECTIVE PARTIES HERETO.)
CERTIFICATE OF NOTARY
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
I, [REDACTED], CERTIFY THAT THIS DEPOSITION WAS TAKEN BEFORE ME ON THE DATE HEREINBEFORE SET FORTH; THAT THE FOREGOING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WERE RECORDED BY ME STENOGRAPHICALLY AND REDUCED TO COMPUTER TRANSCRIPTION; THAT THIS IS A TRUE, FULL AND CORRECT TRANSCRIPT OF MY STENOGRAPHIC NOTES SO TAKEN; AND THAT I AM NOT RELATED TO, NOR OF COUNSEL TO, EITHER PARTY NOR INTERESTED IN THE EVENT OF THIS CAUSE.
Ending quote
A penny loaf to feed ol' Pope
A farthing cheese to choke him
A pint of beer to rinse it down
A faggot of sticks to burn him
Burn him in a tub of tar
Burn him like a blazing star
Burn his body from his head
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
www.erecstebbinsbooks.com
Erec Stebbins is a biomedical researcher who writes political and international thrillers, science fiction, mysteries, narrated storybooks, and more.
He was born in the Midwest. His mother worked as a clinical psychologist, and his father was a professor of Romance languages at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. In fact, his father's specialty, old Romance languages and their literature, is the source of the strange spelling of his middle name: "Erec." It is an Old French spelling, taken from an Arthurian romance by Chrétien de Troyes written around 1170: Érec et Énide.
Erec pursues diverse interests, including science, music, drama, and writing. His academic path focused on science, and he received a degree in physics from Oberlin College in 1992, and a PhD in biochemistry from Cornell University in 1999.
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