Scene #9741: The Trial - Suitcase v. The Chicago Branch, 1929

Owner	Pose
Timekeeper	The courtroom is like anywhere else in the Foundation is, grey concrete and white marble. It's the biggest courtroom they have, short of being an auditorium, and the publicity forced by the rebellion and Vertin's long stint in unconsciousness is on plain display here. The seating is packed; in the far back is a panel of several of the institutional leaders of the Foundation, the Field Agent Administration, even a representative from Laplace and Zeno, and there's a reporter with a tripod mounted newscaster camera televising the proceedings. Snow-white doves perch on the concrete trimming around the room, and one rests right on top of the gold insignia of the whole organization. The prosecutor's table, a plain concrete rectangle inlaid with glossy white and black diamonds, is manned by two recognizable people, Madam Z and Councilor Pedra. The defendants' has several grey-and-white suited people you likely haven't met, except maybe glancing in passing during your several trips to the Chicago branch office. Madam Z smiles at the witnesses filing in, especially the ones that she actually knows personally. Sitting at the head of it all, between where the jury is arranged and where the witness's stand is, is the Special Prosecutor, who's only ever addressed as such. She's an Awakened, probably-- her face is smooth white porcelain, with a wig in a tight bun, and a voice that's loud and clear with little fluctuation in tone through the entire trial. Tamamo, Lilian, Flamel, and Bond have as little trouble as Sonetto does in making it to the courtroom when they're called. There's several bailiffs in white masks stationed around the corners of the room, but they're unconcerned with them besides to politely point them to where to sit or instruct them on what to do. Sonetto's brought with her an entire Foundation-embossed briefcase that's got some weight to it, carried around protectively as she goes. The rebellion was quelled quite decisively two days ago. With Leilani's interruption, the 'arrest' ended up being nothing more than a temporary stay for protected witnesses, but on account of being criminals, they're placed in holding cells nonetheless. The rebels are escorted as a group, in handcuffs that only get undone one by one during the time they're up on the stand. The rebels that weren't there for the crackdown are notified of the trial too, by Sonetto's subpoena-- they have to submit willingly to being handcuffed and escorted too, but they're welcome through the LSCC's warpgate if they do. There's a full hour of procedural waiting from the time that the trial officially begins. The Special Prosecutor introduces the trial and its stakes, Madam Z gives her opening statement as to the negligence of the Chicago office and the necessity for the Timekeeper to fill an administrative gap that the Foundation has currently failed to address. The defendants, represented by a Chicago lawyer, have a statement that consists of insistently repeating that they did everything they could have expected to be done to the extent of the requirement by law, and that Chicago's racial tensions were a product of the time. Eventually, the focus of the trial turns to the witnesses, and the Special Prosecutor reintroduces the judicial aim in calling you all to the stand: this is a hearing putting the question of the Timekeeper's loyalty and legitimacy to utilize current and future authority on trial, as well as the countertrial of the 'Suitcase' versus the Chicago branch office, claiming operational failures originated from institutional missteps rather than individual decisions and inclinations. To that end, she begins questioning each of you in turn on the stand, to air out your perspectives, grievances, and demands, and resolve this tense period in the Foundation's history once and for all.
Timekeeper	» May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions. » What is your relationship to the Timekeeper? » If different, explain why you were in the Chicago of the 1929 era on this world. » Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there? » What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era? » Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective. » Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not? » As a Paladin, would you consider the Timekeeper's behavior in the field to uphold the values of the Commonwealth? » Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so? » What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden? » What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase? » What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs? » If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role? » In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites? » What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards? » Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part?
Timekeeper	In addition to these questions, feel free to invent your own questions or prompts for elaboration formatted in the same way. The goal here is to give your testimony on the events of the plot until now, sharing your individual views and experiences, so you'll probably have comments on things that aren't included in this cross-examination, and a bunch of these questions can be skipped if they don't apply to you at all. Also, if you're particularly struck by anyone else's testimony, or want to have a sidepot conversation or something: I strongly recommend doing those in a +phone or in a separate short scene. You can have conversations in the seating area for witnesses, but for the sake of keeping this scene log to the testimonies, please try and do those somewhere else. Unless you're writing for multiple characters, you'll probably only do one pose in this scene. It'll be open for three days, and then I'll post a final testimony, and then close it. If you need to put a pose in while the scene is paused, DM me and I'll open it. Thank you all for going through this whole plot with me!
Timekeeper	Bellwhistle is the first up to the stand. In addition to the metal handcuffs around her wrists, her switchboard has also got a plastic lockout case around the cable that feeds into her headset, which she unplugs to more precisely direct her arcane skill. The former are unlatched when she's called up to give her testimony, but the switchboard remains locked out. The four human girls from the Ainsworth office are also here, but they don't need to all give a testimony that will be identical to Bellwhistle's. They're all handcuffed, sitting in extra folding chairs dragged in from anywhere the interns could find to fit the unusual seating demand this trial creates, and they wave Bellwhistle off encouragingly. None of them seem to be in too bad spirits besides some bruises here and there, mostly on Margaret and a black eye on Evie. "May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions." "Ahoy, ma'am. I'm Bellwhistle. I'm an Awakened, and in Chicago, I worked with the gals at the telephone operators' office in Ainsworth." "What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?" "Vertin came to us... oh, sometime around this time last year. I hope you don't mind me saying so, and there's no getting around it now, but it was for the Watch." "What did she have you doing?" "She promised us pay and groceries, in exchange for letting her know what kinds of calls were going to and from the Walden. I didn't know anything about a 'Storm' or 'Timekeeper' until that day, just that the Manus Vindictae were a rough group." "If different, explain why you were in the Chicago of the 1929 era on this world." "Oh, I lived my whole life there. It's a little messy, but it's home." "Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?" "Ah... well, like I said, I was born there. Back in '03, a man-- Mr. Drucker, a human man-- he found me before I had a body, and--" "Please try and keep your testimony to events after the start of the era. Memories from before then are inadmissable in court." "Oh, er... when would that be, again?" "July 24th, 1999+12. That's last year." "So short a time... alright. Well, the gals have always been sweet to me. Lots of folks around the city were less-than, but... I only ever heard the term 'Awakened' from you folks, so it's no surprise that normal people wouldn't know anything. It did get much worse lately, and it didn't start off friendly exactly, but...." "What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?" "Met with me twice, I think...? -- Oh, only in the past year, no, no. Never saw a face from them. A pamphlet after the riot, I suppose, in a store window once. It said something about reporting suspicious activity to the office, but nothing much about suspicious how or what they'd do." "Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective." "It was just Margaret and I in the office when Vertin showed up with all the rest. She gave us that magic disk, told us about the Storm and how we had to find the others and teleport over here for safety. It was all a lot at once, but... well, I had no reason to mistrust her, she was always good to us." "So Margaret and Karson and I ran helter-skelter around to gather the others, and then the disk took us over, just like she said. We got questioned by you folks for a bit, then split up into our rooms that same day."
Timekeeper	"What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs?" "I was separated from my girls, ma'am. Er, your honor. You folks wouldn't tell us anything, and Vertin-- even if she hid some stuff from us, she always came clean eventually, and always had us in mind for our safety. I'm not a fan of how she's been treated, and for an organization that's supposed to be be supporting me and mine, I didn't feel that supported, here or back home. I know Vertin cares, but I couldn't tell you what the Foundation cares about or wants to get done." Closing in on her final statements, Bellwhistle's tone gets a little more pleading and personal. She leans against the stand and looks back towards all the others, making eye contact with her friends and all the Elites that have been with her for the past two months, and the Watchmen even before that. "I know there's good folks here, your honor. With Vertin, I feel like those folks can do good. That's all I want, a place to feel safe and at home, and a chance to do some good in this messed-up world we've got. Thanks for hearing us out."
Flamel Parsons	"May the peace be with us." "May the peace be with us." "Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions." "Flamel Parsons, agent of... the Psychonauts. Partner of the Concord." "What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?" "Inconsistently antagonistic. We worked together at the conclusion of the Walden incident." "Explain why you were in the Chicago of the 1929 era on this world." --- The Director of the Parsons Institute begins to walk through the hallways of the mind. "I was supporting the operations of fellow Concord partner Schneider Greco, acting as her subordinate. I was also working to develop my Stormchaser Procedure, in the interest of a permanent worldwide cure for Storm Syndrome effects." He says, opening a nearby vault. "Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?" "Miss Greco had determined that the best path forward for her survival was to work with the Manus Vindictae." He walks in, into... a museum. Clothes, illustration, recreated environments, of the first operations supporting the Greco organized crime family. "I saw the area through a lens of arcanized tensions. A lot of that was mirroring pre-Psychonauts and early-Psychonauts tensions between psychics and nonpsychics. I supported her as well as I could while adhering to the Psychonauts code of operation. I acted to secure her psychological safety by all reasonable means." "What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?" "Retroactive. I performed a wide-band Karinthy Psychometric Chain search for all memories related to the organization, in accordance with Foundation warrants of investigation and procedures of privacy." The Director walks among carefully-crafted dioramas of the organization, made from snapshots of optic nerves. "During my time supporting Miss Greco, I obscured some crimes from their view, so that's an indirect interaction. These obfuscations have since been rescinded. Made all the agreements about that."
Flamel Parsons	"Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective." The Director's hand squeezes his cane as he settles into a small display room for videos in the museum. Images flicker in the darkness. "I was invited by Forget-Me-Not to meet Arcana, the leader of Manus Vindictae. I attended to try to extract information I could use for the Stormchaser Procedure. During that meeting, I learned the Manus had betrayed Miss Greco, kidnapping her sister." A dollhouse. A distaff. A spotlight. "The Timekeeper's team arrived, and I improvised a confrontation between Miss Greco and the Timekeeper to draw attention away from a rescue operation and to avoid suspicion. Wasn't able to gather information for the Stormchaser Procedure, or really much at all. After all that chaos, I moved to join the group that operated outside the Walden, organized a medical care camp to allow our return, recovered Miss Greco after her true betrayal by the Manus, and re-entered Weyerhaeuser Forest. Tried to to subdue and apprehend Forget-Me-Not. He killed a large number of people suffering from Storm Syndrome, then was driven off. I performed the Stormchaser Procedure to help ease the Storm Syndrome in the area. Everyone involved moved to the Suitcase to ride out the Storm." The Director stands, walking past another large museum section banner, which reads: "Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not?" "No. But that's a bias of mine, and technically only my failure. The Foundation's interests were secured, because Manus interests were driven out and stable social structures were restored. But the cause of free thought and safe mentality was not advanced." The Director paces to a statue. Two girls hugging. One of the statues is disjointed, carved oddly so that segments of its subject are floating up away from her partner's arms, its face unreadable.
Flamel Parsons	"Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae?" "Scared and running in a tunnel." "Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so?" "Without a doubt." "What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden?" "You're asking exactly the right guy. Structured and deliberate. Slight tart flavor, somewhat overripe. A willingness to suffer gunshots from the Manus on behalf of the Foundation." "What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?" "Weeping grossly, your honor." "As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites?" "The disagreements I have with Timekeeper Vertin are the same as the disagreements I would have with you. However, she's easier to get on the phone, and good at making a convincing argument." "What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper?" "Many of them have a mixture of personality elements like stubbornness, obliviousness, insecurity, insincerity, incompetence, or ultraviolence. I'm scared of some of them. She's more un-preferenced than I am by a longshot." "If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role?" The Director stops, staring at a large triptych depicting Schneider Greco in three phases. One smirking, brandishing a gun like one would hold a bouquet, in the middle. On the left, a faceless memory of her, in an office foyer. On the right, her limp body, in a coffin. The cane creaks softly under the intensity of the grip. "With all due respect to branch offices, I believe Foundation HQ could stand to have a stronger hand in branch operations. I believe he, and many colleagues, would be better suited." "Councilor Pedra and his colleagues have the insight of the sort of kind you can be by living in the year 1999. This kindness has to be acted on. Above all else. And, I believe that's what will make Vertin special, if you'll permit me to speak on the Discipline bill. Set aside dense disciplinary stats and hierarchy concerns and go to basics: For the sake of the Foundation and the ideals of the new millenium's kindness, Vertin will take and provide gunfire, she will lie, she will cheat, she will kneel at the mouth of a lion's den and pray at pain of death." The Director turns away from the triptych and strides out of the museum. "You have so few fragments of what wisdom could come from the new millennium. You need every ounce of power in every single one of them that you can get. Pedra, Vertin, it doesn't matter. I would trust Vice President Constantine's own most bitter hatred more than I would trust the mealy-mouthed kindness of the Foundation branch office of Chicago, 1929." --- Flamel never left the stand. That was all in his head, and maybe in the eyes of the especially telepathically astute. But that's the last of the notable answers he has to give.
Riku Asakura	Riku is in line with the people who marched in on behalf of the Foundation for the trial that they're ostensibly witnesses for. The protest they were a part of is over, and maybe now they'll get to witness justice actually work. At least, that is what Riku hopes for. The top of the Foundation wanted them to simply disband and give up before this point. They also attempted to disband them by force when it became clear that they'd get a voice. They even used a radiation weapon on them, which to Riku was simply unacceptable. Right now wasn't about that, but it still sat in his heart. Even as he was marched in, in handcuffs. Eventually, he was only let out to give his testimony. He'd never seen inside of a real courtroom before, wondering if they were all this grandiose. There wasn't any pride or rebelliousness in his attitude; instead, just an even tone he worked up the inner bravery to give. These things were intimidating to him, unlike dealing with giant monsters. 'May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions.' "Riku Asakura. Also known as Ultraman Geed." Riku says evenly. 'What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?' "We're allies. We both believe in a lot of the same things, and I have worked with her in the last storm and in the period of time up to and including the Storm." 'Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?' "I don't think they were good. There were... slurs used, I believe, against people who were thought to be Arcanists in our group. There was the entire group of people whipped into a frenzy at Sotheby Manor too, before the Storm was starting. We had to intercede on behalf of Sotheby, and helped cool tensions the best that we were able to." 'What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?' "Honestly, not many. It was mostly in defense of Sotheby Manor. I think they were mostly focused on defending it both pre- and during the Storm. There was one agent who came with us to protect the Lady Sotheby."
Riku Asakura	'Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective.' "Well, we were initially called in to settle an issue at Sotheby Manor again. During that time, we noticed the civilians seemed more focused on looting the gold and silver they could find. We managed to find and rescue Sotheby and Carson, but as we reached safety, Vertin realized the storm was coming. We went to the Ainsworth office to get away from the overrun Manor and to warn the Ainsworth office workers." Riku pauses, and then continues, "It was Vertin's idea that the only reason the Storm could be here early was because of the Manus, and she set up an idea to infiltrate the Walden. We went in through the forest, and I dug a way into the catacombs underneath. From there we entered the Walden proper." "We split into groups, but in the infiltration attempt Vertin was revealed and forced into a duel with Schneider. There were also members of the Concord there during this time. There was also a very powerful member of the Manus there, who... had a spike through her head? Well, anyway, we fought and were eventually forced to retreat." "When we got into the catacombs again, the Concord and Schneider followed us, but revealed that they weren't really on the side of the Manus. Schneider's sister was being held by the Manus, I think, to keep her in their employ. We split off again, this time Vertin, Lilian, Schneider, and White went off to get Schneider's sister, while the rest of us tried to find a way out." "During this, we were headed off by Druvis, who was working with the Manus at the time. I managed to make a hole back out of the underground area, but... when we last saw the other group, Schneider and Vertin were carrying Lilian out of there. Unfortunately, the hole closed up, and we were separated. We retreated to the Ainsworth office to regroup, eat something, and stave off the effects of the Storm sickness." "We had a strategy session, an attempt to get the Walden to spread its forces out. However, before we could do that, the Manus came to us under a flag of truce. We had no idea what they wanted, but it was apparently to drop off the body of Schneider and to collect Tamamo. They wanted to bring her to Lilian, and at the time Lilian and Vertin were playing along, being on the Manus' side. Though at the time, I was held back from charging in there on my own to rescue them. I probably wouldn't have done anything given the wards over their lands." "Schneider wasn't dead and managed to kill the Manus people, but Tamamo went with them. We followed through on a plan to get to the area controlled by the Manus before the Storm became too much. Eventually, Schneider led us to a way to get inside their camp, and one of their people, Forget-Me-Not, had set up a makeshift hospital to 'treat' those who were sick because of the effects of the Storm Syndrome. In fact, he was actually poisoning them with some alchemical concoction to make them explode." "We drove him off, but there were people still sick. We did what we could for those who drank his poison, and got everyone we could into the suitcase. We..." he gets a bit choked up, "...there wasn't much we could do other than give these people a peaceful time before the Storm came. Vertin did her best to give people that time, but... they went peacefully..." he holds up a hand and takes some time to recompose himself.
Riku Asakura	'Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not?' Riku has to think for a bit about this. He's silent for a moment, looking down at his hands. "We all did the best we could do with the time we had. Though I don't think it was successful." 'As a Paladin, would you consider the Timekeeper's behavior in the field to uphold the values of the Commonwealth?' "Yes. She did everything she could to rescue people that she could that were within her reach, and if she couldn't save them, gave them a peaceful goodbye with what she had on hand." 'Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so?' "I was 'safely' at the Ainsworth Office. For the second question, I'm not good at lying. I don't think I could have done it, but I think she did what she thought was best with the cards she had at the time. Probably better to play along than to just be killed or tortured for saying what they didn't want to hear." 'What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden?' "She believed in the Foundation. She sent people there believing they'd be protected. She also believed that the Foundation was the best place for Schneider and her sister. As for the Manus, she doesn't like them and considered them the reason for the Storm's early approach. From what I saw, she was eager to find out what she could about what they had done, and wanted to leave when things turned badly against us." 'What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?' "Recovering from that twenty-four hours of non-stop fighting. We talked some, but... we all were in pretty bad shape physically and mentally after everything we went through." 'What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs?'
Riku Asakura	"The treatment of the people of the Suitcase, for one. Isolating them in their own rooms, depriving them of their freedom, and attempting to force them into the Foundation. Not only that, but the treatment of Vertin after all of this, putting her into a coma and attempting to rewrite her personality." "There were also the times the person who was her caretaker came onto the broadband to talk about what had happened in their shared past that reinforced my attitude that what we were doing was right. The punishments and violence taken against children during their upbringing." 'If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role?' "I don't know Councilor Pedra, nor do I know his record. I don't feel I am capable of answering this question fairly." 'In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites?' "Yes, it does. She's proven herself beyond a reasonable doubt of being capable of such a role, especially when things are at their worst. She also can lead people very well, and can coordinate elites, which, I am often told, is often like herding cats." 'What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards?' "Miss Sotheby is young, but a very mature young lady and a capable alchemist. Her caretaker, Mr. Carson, is a great man and is a very loyal follower. The Ainsworth girls and Bellwhistle are all really kind and loyal, and tough." "Druvis... well, she was scary when she was working for the Manus, but I really do think that Vertin reached out to her in a good way to try and mend the wounds that drove her into their arms in the first place. Ever since, she's been dependable and very strong in the face of opposition." "Regulus is a smart lady who believes in whatever she does wholeheartedly, and she is very loyal to Vertin. She managed to keep the protest going, and despite the cost to herself, still managed to lead people with her heart." "No, I don't think there is a bias or preference. Vertin reaches out to people, and the people she reaches out to respond to her kind and earnest heart." 'Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part?' "Honestly, I think the proposal is the only way that the Foundation is going to get the support it needs to handle future Storms and eras, and deal with the Manus. The Storm of 1929 wasn't great for many reasons, but one of them was a lack of support in the field, and a lack of knowledge on the activities of the Manus. I think Vertin is suitably unique to the role and would manage to do real good."
Odette Raskins	"May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions." "My name is Odette Raskins. I'm an EMT working for the Company as part of their Multiversal outreach program, a member of the Watch, and I'll be... Well, I'm expecting to get certified as a paramedic in a few months." "What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?" "I know her from working. Um. Before everything that happened in Chicago, even. I answered a call for help during the Storm in London a while back, and that's when we met for the first time." "Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?" "It seemed pretty bad all around, even in 1928. Humans didn't trust arcanists, arcanists didn't trust humans, and things just looked like they were getting worse every time I showed up there. Between Manus Vindictae killing people and sending people to Sotheby's place to keep that conflict simmering, it never really looked like anything was improving." The second part has her pausing to think, wondering how much she should answer before just deciding against holding back. "The first time I was in Chicago, I was helping Miss Vertin make contact with the Ainsworth office. They helped us get some big leads on the Manus, and we were careful not to bring up anything about the Foundation up until the day of the Storm." "What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?" "We first met at the Sotheby manor, actually. The first time was when they drove us there from the warpgate at that car factory during the protests, and then that was it until the day of the Storm." A beat, then she corrects herself. "The day before, actually, since Miss Vertin's watch didn't show the 24 hour countdown until we were there for a bit already. Other than that, I didn't really work with the Chicago branch until things were already kind of going downhill that day just before the Storm. That's when me and everyone else helped Sabre Squadron hold things together." "Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective." "F-from the start of that whole mess, then... Okay. Me and a bunch of other people were called in to help keep the manor from getting overrun by rioters and everyone that Manus Vindictae was sending in to stir up trouble. We got Sotheby-er. Gwendolyn out of there, hurried over to the Ainsworth office since it was a lot safer in there than at the manor, and then we went over to the Walden to get information on how Manus Vindictae was speeding up the Storm so we could stop it." She lets out an uneasy noise at that, then takes a deep breath before recollecting herself and continuing. "... And things at the Walden were a mess, too. The Storm Syndrome was already making people a little jumpy, but it got really bad there once the stock tickers started showing the numbers dropping fast. There was this really... Scary lady there, too, that sounded like she might've been a leader or someone really important to the Manus. Lady Arcana, I think they said. She didn't pay much attention to us, though, like... I mean, we were invisible at the time, but it still felt like she knew we were there and just didn't care."
Odette Raskins	"... Also, we had to escape through underground tunnels after Vertin and Miss Greco got into a fight on stage in the Walden. It was this whole thing to... I think it was some kind of weird loyalty test? Except neither of them were really loyal to the Manus after all, so we escaped with Miss Greco's sister and everyone after a hole got opened up into the underground... Um. Underground area. After we escaped, we went back to Miss Druvis' home, and then we got everyone into the suitcase to have a little feast." Another pause, as she tries not to get choked up remembering it. "By then, we knew they wouldn't all survive the Storm since a lot of the people we brought in were humans. We did what we could to... Um. Um. To make them more comfortable with the end." "Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not?" "... No. We saved a bunch of people, but not enough. There were a lot of people we brought back with us to the suitcase, but there were even more that didn't... Couldn't be saved in it. M-maybe if we were faster, or had more time to figure out how Manus Vindictae was getting their own people through it, maybe we could have done... I-I don't know." "Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so?" "I don't know. I didn't see it, and it was kind of a fast day, so... Um. Yes, I think it was needed. If not for that, we wouldn't have known to even get as many people out of the Walden as we did, or to get in there and to get out with most of us intact." "What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden?" "It didn't sound like she really liked the Manus. She wouldn't have gone into And... She wanted to work with the Foundation since she believed that the Foundation was actually trying to help people through all this." "What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?" "The usual for.. Er. EMTs, I guess? Triage, treating people. I think I was just kind of... Um. On autopilot for most of that, though. I don't really remember much of what was going on after it hit, either." "What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs?" "At first, it was because I was asked to. I didn't really have a strong opinion of the Foundation's ability to get things done or not since I had only worked with them twice, and the first time didn't really count since it was just someone driving us. Sabre Squadron did goods work, and Miss Moissan was a real pro the whole time, too." "The longer the rebellion went on, though, the more the rebellion felt justified. The way the people living here got locked up for so long was pretty bad, but having that radiation beam pointed at us doesn't leave a question in my mind anymore that it needed to happen."
Odette Raskins	"If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role?" "Um... I don't know who that is." "In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites?" "Her representation would look a hell of a lot better than the Foundation does now after trying to kill us with radiation." No stuttering for once, and a whole lot of venom. Odette's still terribly upset about that. "What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards?" "They're all good people. Regulus is great at motivating people even when they're not coming into something at full steam. The Ainsworth folks really know their way around parsing communications and stuff, and they're really brave to do what they did during and after the Storm. Druvis is... Someone I'd want to be more like someday, and Sotheby's a really good kid that's in a really bad situation with everything that's happened. Mr. Karson..." Odette pauses, then coughs into her hand lightly and avoids eye contact. "... He's really cool, too." "Even the people in the Suitcase I didn't meet in London and Chicago must've been through a lot, too, and Vertin.. She's got a big heart, bringing them all in here instead of letting them die out there in the Storm. If she does have biases about any of them, I don't see a pattern. Everyone in there's so different, and I can't make a connection between..." She counts off on her fingers, one by one. "Musicians, ghosts, lake people, rich people, and talking TVs." "Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part?" "The Foundation wouldn't have saved anywhere near as many people as there were this time around if Vertin didn't act on her own the way she did. If Vertin didn't do any of that, I don't know if even Sotheby would be here today, and we'd be nowhere closer to knowing anything about the Storm or Manus Vindictae's operations. Unless the Foundation has someone that can pull all this off and just didn't for some reason, I think the proposal's the only real way forward."
James Bond	» May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions. "My name is James Bond. I'm a Paladins Chevalier. Before that, I worked in a security consultant role with a number of non-governmental organizations in the United Kingdom." » What is your relationship to the Timekeeper? "We work together in a professional capacity. I provide physical and informational security, assist in gathering relevant intelligence, work to counteract the intelligence advantages the Manus Vindictae have and advise on exfiltration from operational theaters."
James Bond	» Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there? "My role was to gather information about the current political climate as a means to forecast where and how the Manus would strike, under the guise of a wealthy industrialist looking for investment opportunities. I gathered information on a shutdown of an automotive assembly line and canvassed a crowd of beligerrent civilians outside the Sotheby manor, who were beginning to show signs of Storm Syndrome." Bond's face is a dispassionate mask. His opinion is given as placidly and without incident as a weather forecast on a boring mid-afternoon. "I can therefore say with confidence that human-arcanist relations in Chicago were largely as poor as they are in other areas and time periods, with a special intensity given the ills of the era, and without agitation from the Manus Vindictae." "There was a pervasive attitude among humans that arcanists are unreasonable, irrational, burdensome creatures that should be controlled rather than indulged. That attitude then creates a self-fulfilling prophecy--arcanists who are born into it push back against an attitude that doesn't have to defend itself because it's the majority opinion, and because it's the majority opinion, it's easy for those arcanists to be construed as unreasonable and antagonistic. Without any prompting from the Manus Vindictae, and without any intervention or outreach actions from the Chicago branch, the humans of Chicago found it easy to blame arcanists for the income inequality and unemployment caused by rapid industrialization and speculation. Even when I was in the midst of a crowd and much better dressed than any civilian, their attention was almost wholly on the Sotheby manor." » What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era? Bond nods. "I spoke with field personnel and coordinated with support staff. Both tended to be overworked and understaffed for the task at hand, when either was available at all. The most I ever saw in one place was at the Sotheby manor--and the people of Chicago obviously had the same perception, given their reaction to Foundation personnel." » Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective. "I was called in to help defuse an agitated crowd otuside of Sotheby Manor before it turned violent," Bond says. "Speaking from experience, these sorts of things aren't all-or-nothing. There are pockets of escalation and pockets of quiet, and the two turn over as it goes on. While Foundation and my fellow Paladins personnel worked on safety and de-escalation, I went searching for an agitative propagandist using a suite of listening devices and my own training. I found no evidence of any outside agitators." "By the time the crowd had been dispersed, the Storm was coming--early. Vertin wanted to investigate why, believing that the Manus had somehow instigated it. A plan was formed to infiltrate the Walden, where the Manus were holding a party for wealthy and influential humans. While Chevalier Asakura's group entered from underground, I used my cover identity to secure an invitation." "Once on-site, I fell in with the crowd and began surveillance on the upper floors of the building, where a number of the Manus leadership were mixed in with their human guests. I knew that if Vertin was right about the Manus being able to call the Storm, then the Foundation would need to be able to counteract that advantage with early intelligence on their next choice of hideout. I came with a tracking device ready to plant on a leadership figure, but there were countermeasures in place--Arcana seemed to know which of us was meant to be there. So I improvised. When the duel happened, I saw my chance and interfered to plant a tracking device on Schneider Greco, under the guise of attempting to kill her to save Vertin."
James Bond	He adds, allowing himself a note of flat annoyance, "We exfiltrated through the tunnels. Lilian and the Timekeeper chose to go with Greco, against my advice. Lilian and Vertin ended up in the Manus' forward base while the rest of us fell back to work on rescuing them. Schneider Greco found us a way through, we took it, and infiltrated just as Forget-Me-Not's humanitarian aid was revealed for what it was." "After neutralizing Forget-Me-Not, we left through the Suitcase with Greco, Druvis Weyerhauser, and a number of civilians."
James Bond	» Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not? "It was a mild success in the face of overwhelmingly negative odds. It would have been nice to know how the Manus agitate the Storm, but we still managed to escape with actionable information." » As a Paladin, would you consider the Timekeeper's behavior in the field to uphold the values of the Commonwealth? "To a fault." » Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so? "I was developing a plan for rescue and recovery. I believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so." » What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden? Bond pauses. Then sighs, visibly put upon, as if the question were a waste of time to even bother asking. "The Timekeeper is too professional and focused to waste time 'presenting attitudes.' Her objectives in the Walden were to discover whether and how the Manus had accelerated the storm, to pursue recruitment opportunities for the Foundation, and to save lives, which she pursued. Stubbornly." » What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase? "Expressing my disagreement with Vertin's decision to split off and preparing my after-action report to the Foundation." » If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role? "Yes." » In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites? "Extraordinarily so, despite our disagreements. Perhaps even because of them."
James Bond	» What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards? "My opinion on the people the Timekeeper recruited is that they can be the Foundation's greatest assets or its most loathsome administrative burdens, depending on how it utilizes them. The Timekeeper does have a bias, and it's exactly the kind of bias that the Foundation wants in a recruiter. She expressed a belief in the suitcase, following the operation at the Walden, that it's time for arcanists to stop talking to the world and start talking to each other. And she's right." "My previous employers went for exactly the sort of people that Vertin does, now. People who are underserved, abused, hated or ignored by the world at large. And because they did, because they made even a token effort to give those people what they were missing, those people then gave the best years of their life in exchange. In this business, you need to ask who will talk to those people, if you don't--and we know the answer is the Manus Vindictae." » Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part? Bond considers leaving the stand--everyone can see it, plainly. He even shifts, as if to get up. "I'll repeat to this court a few insights that I've shared elsewhere. I know that the Foundation is considering replacements for Vertin. And I also know that none of them have her combination of field experience, recruiting talent, personability, emotional fortitude and development skills." "I'm also aware of a growing number of rebellion sympathizers within the Foundation's ranks. Moments like this don't happen because of individuals, even if those individuals are present at the right time and place. Behind every uprising is a backdrop of material conditions. Regardless of who participated and when, the Foundation created this rebellion, by being unwilling to engage with material reality. The obstacles that you face are structural, societal, environmental--not human or arcanist. They can't be reasoned away, compromised with, shamed or shushed. The graft and corruption in the Chicago branch isn't an aberration that sprung up from nowhere. The people responsible have seen the writing on the wall, and believe that they might as well have a golden parachute on the way down." "These aren't isolated incidents. They're interrelated. Weimar Germany, the Great Depression, the Second French Empire--make whatever historical comparison you'd like, but understand where the threshold lies in this moment and how serious it is. Older organizations and governing bodies than yours have stood in that threshold and waved it off. 'Stay the course' doesn't work when you're headed into a storm. The bill in motion right now won't change your course overnight, but it would be a step in the right direction."
Regulus	Once, what feels like an eternity ago, Sonetto told Regulus that if she were to be strung up by the Foundation when she was innocent she would speak up for her defense. Of course, this time Regulus isn't expecting that sort of defense and this time Regulus actually has to speak up on someone else's behalf entirely. And the stakes are simple enough. If she and everyone else fails to make a satisfying case, she'll be at best arrested, and at worst cast out from the Foundation knowing that eventually a Storm would come that would whisk her away for good. Regulus is handcuffed, but Regulus expected nothing less. She's been perfectly cooperative since her arrest which is pretty suspicious considering how uncooperative she had been since before then. She looks visibly exhausted--Regulus has learned how to sleep in prison cells, but that doesn't mean she's got the sort of rest she needed after being deprived of the rest she needed for so long. There's rings around her eyes as she's not allowed to wear her sunglasses at the hearing, and she has been worn down by trying to take on whatever she could to make the Suitcase Rebellion as easy and painless for everyone else that she could. She owed them so it was the least that she could do. She knows it's not easy to put one's trust in a pirate or, frankly, a disc jockey let alone both. ''May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions.'' "I'm Regulus Star Antimony. I am a radio pirate from 1966 and member of Team Timekeeper." Team Timekeeper is so real in her heart she forgot it isn't real to the court. "I'm also an alchemist, arcanist, rockstar--." Regulus cuts herself off before she can add like five more occupations but she's smiling despite the clear exhaustion in her eyes. ''What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?'' "...We met during the 1966 Storm. I only knew of the Foundation through rumors--not good ones--so I ran away at first but she saved my life from The Storm and she asked nothing for the privilege. She just wanted to confirm that she could save arcanists from The Storm with her Suitcase. She didn't ask me to do anything I wasn't willing to do. She's my best mate and a wonderful boss. Made me want to work harder." She wiggles her body a little from side to side as she can't remain totally still for a moment longer. ''If different, explain why you were in Chicago of the 1929 era on this world.'' "Vertin--The Timekeeper wanted to know more about Manus's movements in The City so I helped by reaching out to Concord agents and gathering intel from them about the local Manus Vindictae members, like Forget Me Not and Miss Druvis. I helped the Foundation, unofficially, in combatting Manus Vindictae's plans, as well as making contact with the Bellwhistle and the others." She dips her head in their general direction, still grinning. '' Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?'' Regulus grimaces visibly, that grin finally scattering away like a sunbeam. "Oh awful, they were shooting each other in the streets, treating Bellwhistle just awful." She couldn't lie about this even if admitting this doesn't feel like something that supports her case so much as the others. "Made my era look like paradise and my era wasn't great either."
Regulus	''What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?'' "They seemed slow to act and slow to help and when I asked if we could send people who helped us to them so they could survive, I was told they would be turned away despite what they sacrificed for us. Honestly, we did most of the work ourselves. We found the Walden, we discovered the details about who was working with Manus there. Miss Moissan was great though. It seemed like they were out to protect the rich family and more or less left the rest of Chicago to its own devices--I'm not exactly privy to their communications though." Regulus frowns. She heard other people speak of their own experiences and that did the opposite of improving her impression of them. ''Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective.'' "Oh god," Regulus says. "I'll ''try'' to keep it brief. It felt like years not one day let me tell you. We had to help rescue Sotheby from some brutes that were stealing everything that wasn't nailed down then we infiltrated the Walden to try and learn something--anything--about why they were able to seemingly predict and speed up the coming of The Storm in the era." Regulus turns her head and coughs. She's doing a lot of talking here and her throat was already sore from a lot of singing so she wiggles her head around to try and work up some moisture with her saliva and swallow it down. "Our infiltration went pretty bad--for starters, Arcana could see right through my Arcane Skill--invisibility if you didn't know-- like I hadn't even cast it! The Manus sicced all the humans in the Walden on us but we were able to break free and escape into the labrynths below thanks to everyone working together. We wanted to rescue Schneider's sister who was taken captive, but we ended up seperated and were forced to leave Vertin and LIlian behind. It wasn't by choice! We wanted to rush back in but we had to fall back and come up with a new plan."
Regulus	Regulus sighs, still wishing she had pushed back more against Flamel at the time but even since then she hasn't thought of any better ideas with what she had. "Well we didn't have any good ones, I'll tell you that much, we couldn't count on much help from the Foundation so it was just us, the Elites, and Miss Moissan and locals for the most part--But eventually we were able to reunite with Vertin and Lilian." She scowls, still visibly angry at what she had seen back then. "Forget Me Not was feeding a bunch of people poison as a fake cure for the Storm Syndrome's effects. Then, he started blowing up a bunch of innocent people. Some were jerks, sure, but some were kids, none of 'em deserved that. Sotheby and I were able to help a bunch of 'em with antidotes." ''Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not?'' Regulus hesitates. She knows by some measures, it was a great success but by her own measures... "It's hard to say that any day like that could be successful. Sure, we learned a lot, but there were a lot of people we couldn't save. All we could do was ease their symptoms and give 'em one last good meal. I wish I could do more." It doesn't seem like her grin is coming back anytime soon as her mood keeps souring and sorrowing. "By Foundation standards, I think so. We didn't run or board up to protect ourselves.." ''Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so?'' Regulus grimaces. "I wasn't. We were seperated then. I'm guessing they would have killed her if she didn't, though, and maybe other people besides. We certainly would've been screwed if she hadn't. She used the opportunity to sabotage some of Forget Me Not's activities. I saw it myself, she put a trap on his cauldron and I set it off myself. We've gotten pretty good at teamwork over the past while." She manages a ghost of a smile but it fades away quickly. ''What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden?'' "She's always seemed pretty firmly against Manus Vindictae to me. She might have some sympathies for someone being misled by them or for those that felt they had no other options, but she wants time to move forward, your honor, not move back. Her goal is to defeat the Storm, organizationally speaking she can only work with the Foundation--not the Manus." She scratches her right ear with a shoulder as best she can before getting back to wiggling. "She could just leave one day and never come back and turn her back on everything if she wanted. The fact that she's still here proves her loyalty even if she's got her own methods." She fingerguns while cuffed and makes a tkk tkk noise with her mouth. ''What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?'' "Crying a lot, mostly. Being kind of bitchy. I lost people I'd grown close to. People who helped us and doomed themselves in doing so. I didn't have much time to talk to anyone though Vertin told me about what to expect. She had to do that while still recovering from everything herself. It was awful."
Regulus	''What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs?'' "I believe in the Storm Reformation Act. I know from experience that sometimes you have to get rowdy and shout so people can hear their own heart. By Commonwealth standards as I understand it, it was a legitimate protest." Regulus takes a breath before shaking her head. "And I was mad. Mad at how Vertin was being treated. She was giving her all for your cause and you were still holding actions she took as a kid against her. And that was before you kept her in a coma for months." She clenches her fists tightly as she's seized by sudden passion. "Fuck, she got punished for staying past The Storm when she saved me even. And now she's getting punished despite working so hard in Chicago to help people, to learn more about The Storm and the Manus's involvement with it. Vertin hasn't stopped trying to stop the Storm. And I'm not gonna stop trying either, the Storm took my whole life away from me and for a time she was the only friend I had in this world. I'll do anything to help her. She's not just one person." She shakes her head emphatically, shoulders shaking. She needs a moment to compose herself but she's only more desperate when she speaks again, like she just wants someone to understand the words that's coming out of her mouth for once and to not try and twist them, to listen to her soulful truth. "Everybody she saves, everybody she inspires. That's one more person fighting to end The Storm, and helping the Foundation in turn. Independence will only help you--unless you care more about authority than success, at least." '' If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role?'' "Hard to imagine it being any worse than it already is." Regulus doesn't know the guy but it really is. "In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites?'' Regulus obviously isn't a multiversal but she has been close to the Timekeeper's work with the Elites in particular. "Most everyone trusts her from what I've seen. Even if they don't get along, or disagree, there's respect there. A bunch seem pretty upset with how she's been treated and I'm understating there. I had to calm down a whole bunch of people because it was such a gross act of injustice."
Regulus	''What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards? '' Regulus extends fingers as she counts people. "Sotheby's a genius and maybe the most wonderful kid in the whole wide world, a total sweetie. Poltergeist's a bit shy, but she's very kind. Druvis could use some kindness herself, it's easy to miss because she's such a badass, but she's had it rough. And I think a bit of kindness from the Foundation would go a long way. She deserves it. When given the opportunity to take revenge, she chose life instead. I wish I could've known her earlier. Karson's loyal and a good sensible guy. Bellwhistle and her crew are endearing, fierce, and braver than I'd expect from a bunch of operators, but that's the Timekeeper for you. She makes even a DJ think she can fight for the future." She has an opinion and love for everybody who has entered that Suitcase and now's her opportunity to brag about her friends and the people she's gotten to know throughout her years working for Vertin. But then there's the others. The ones who can't brag about themselves "The others who didn't make it. I met Schneider when she shot me so I didn't exactly start off with a great impression, but I can't get mad at a girl for trying to save her family. She didn't think the Foundation would do that for her and I can't blame her. Her crew may have been criminals, but they found within themselves--even knowing that they were doomed--a kind of gentleness that I wish I had." Her eyes are tearing up now. She keeps thinking of Cosimo's hat falling onto Sonetto. "I hope the day I find out I'm dying I can think of others as well as they do. God, they didn't even complain." She lifts her shoulder to wipe at her eyes since she can't use her hands. ''Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part?'' Regulus exhales. God, she could go on for hours if they let her. "I know nobody has any reason to trust my word, I'm a pirate who has mostly caused trouble since I've gotten here, but that's kind of my point. I've worked hard for the Foundation's sake too, but I've had my past from even before I knew about The Storm thrown into my face again and again. Nobody was concerned as to why I didn't trust the Foundation, nobody cared that I helped you anyway. Out there, they don't know about The Storm, all they see is some uncaring bureaucracy that they can't rely on to help them with their problems--problems much smaller than The Storm." "I heard that once arcanists were excited to join the Foundation, but it's changed. And thanks to arcanists not trusting the Foundation, the Manus seizes on that to take advantage of people who are scared who see is a world where their values are seen less and less valuable, called lunatics by the average schmuck and seen as martyrs and weapons by the organization that's supposed to be advocating for them." But Regulus offers some reconciliation at the end of her tirade. "Maybe that's not the truth, but that's how it's seen. Vertin and Sonetto changed my perception by meeting me where I was, not by demanding I fall in line and be grateful about it. I now have a similar attitude as to Miss Bellwhistle. There's a lot of good people here doing their best. But the structure as it currently stands is getting in their way more than it's helping. We want a home and a place where we can do good. The Suitcase has become my home." She ends things off there. Her throat is sore, her body is tired, and for the first time in her life she could use a break from singing.
Lilian Rook	Court date or not, Lilian's business in the Foundation isn't concluded, so neither is her self-assigned uniform. If she were to be a little more formal, she would wear her sword at her side, not put on a suit. Whether this works in anyone's favour at all is beside the point. Whether it aligns anyone's preconceptions is as well. After long hours of reviewing her own reports and scattered footage, chasing paperwork and bureaucratic names around desks she doesn't work at, conferring and conspiring with Vertin's seeming sole benefactor, and hurrying to polish new rhetorical blades on a very different battlefield, the unshakable feeling she has towards the trial, building all the way until the day of, is that it cannot be allowed to escape being a trial of the Foundation's mettle in her eyes as well. Lilian arrives gratuitously early, despite her typical difficulty sitting still. She flips through papers, scrolls files on her touchscreen, and replays clips of video on a privacy screen by memory. Even though she can consult anything she needs at any time, Lilian goes through everything she has backwards and forwards, rehearsing it all in her head a dozen more times between taking her seat and seeing the first witness at the stand. Which reminds her what a testimony actually is. At seeing them just . . . talk, uninterrupted, without having to reference or qualify anything on the spot; without being presumed liars from the getgo and grilled on every little detail, takes some effort to believe. 'May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions.' The floating cloud of uncertainty around her is dispelled from the moment that she's given the very first cue. Up on the stand, she can go back to believing that it's war. "Lilian Isabelle Rook. Paladins Chevalier, Immune Corps O-5, Doctor of arcanodynamics and biology visiting Laplace. For relevancy's sake, I teach a small number of volunteer SPDM graduates in my capacity as Director at the Trídéag Association." Paladins ally, military background, doctorate barely renamed, mentoring Sonetto in particular. Exactly how she wanted it. 'What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?' "She's a professional contact of mine. The Foundation's partnership with the Paladins is established fact." Lilian pauses for half a second. "At least on my own part, I would also say that I view her as a friend." She can't make herself insist any more firmly than that. 'Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?' The question she had built up in her mind arrives earlier than expected. Lilian folds her arms at the stand, takes a slow breath, subtly readjusts her weight, and attempts to void her eyes of all unnecessary feeling. "Prior to the Storm of 1929, I assisted the Foundation in prior operations, including the Ford automotive plant and security detail as the Sotheby Estate, as well as a minor outreach mission conceived by the Timekeeper, all of which I've reported in detail." Lilian says. She purges the wave of uneasiness that comes over her before it can settle in. As long as she thinks of it only as divulging it to the court, and not admitting to it before a score of friends and coworkers in the stands, she can dread what comes next below the threshold of tolerance.
Lilian Rook	"Outside of these Foundation-allied deployments, I visited Chicago at my own discretion, from the morning two days before the storm, staying until the night before. My intent was to familiarize myself with the city ahead of future operations, and, more broadly, to gain a better perspective of the times, culture, and state of the arcanist population, without the predictable distortions caused by accompanying a large Foundation dispatch. During this time, I presented myself with a plain civilian identity from outside of the city, making vague motions towards government work on the few occasions I was prompted. I engaged in no strategic or intelligence-related work. My activities were limited to shopping, sightseeing, dining, news media, renting a motel room, and conversation with passers by." Just barely within tolerance." "As I was unable to divulge the existence of other worlds, and thus roundly taken as a visiting British arcanist by every single civilian I met, my perspective, your honour, is that there wasn't any such thing as arcanist-human relations in Chicago." Lilian's fingertips dig into her elbow. She proceeds with a level of affected blandness that would be better suited for black humour. "Over my brief discretional time in Chicago, I experienced more threats, insults, catcalls, and harassment, than I have anywhere else in my life. The civilian population was exceptionally comfortable with hurling slurs, provocations, and sexual harassment, at a perceived arcanist stranger, and more than one obliquely or explicitly threatened to notify the authorities as a result to my presence at 'respectable' establishments." "A repetitive theme, in fact, was that my frequenting businesses even for upper middle class residents of Chicago was a sure sign of being a thief, con artist, or a politician's secret mistress. The overarching attitude was that it should be impossible for an arcanist to afford so much as upscale shoes, and that only one fresh off the boat would be so bold as to walk around in broad daylight, on a crowded street. When I set my sights lower, it was surmised by most that I was on the run from the law, that I had been taken advantage of, again, by a politician, or that I worked with powerful organized arcanist criminals, which appeared to be common knowledge. On multiple occasions, I was referred to a district ostensibly 'for' tacitly unregistered arcanists. After dark, I was assaulted by four men on the sidewalk. Having been forced to defend myself, I concluded that they had no ties to organized crime themselves, but simply espoused an attitude that I was 'fair game'." "In that entire time, I failed to encounter a single arcanist in Chicago on my own." Lilian wraps back to the rest like an afterthought. Everyone was there for those missions. Re-stating what she thinks is obvious is a pallet cleanser by now. "I witnessed many of these behaviours while dispatched on duty with the Foundation, including towards Field Investigators, and even after identifying themselves. The variable level of hostility expressed by Chicago's population is wholly accounted for by the size and apparent armament of a group with which an arcanist travels, and no more. My perspective is that Chicago represents a staggering dereliction of the Foundation's purported duty to maintain any sort of peace at all."
Lilian Rook	'What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?' "I did not even once, at any point, interact with the Chicago branch during that visit. I was unable even to locate information that would allow me to seek protection, guidance, or remediation. It appeared to be an open secret that the arcanists of Chicago seldom had contact with them, even for minor legal work that should have been considered mandatory. Otherwise, on missions from the Foundation or with the Timekeeper, we were frequently unable to contact the Chicago branch, unable to secure personnel, intelligence, or even basic transport, leading to high-ranking Foundation Field Investigators riding a bus to high-urgency situations, heckled by humans all the while." "While engaged in riot suppression at the Sotheby estate, I couldn't help but notice that the number of personnel deployed, as well as their equipment, was extraordinarily unsuitable for maintaining public peace. In my estimation as a military officer who is not-infrequently charged with public peacekeeping, the deployment was sized and equipped exclusively to prevent entry into the estate itself, while its owners, who I understand are major donors to the Chicago branch, weren't even present. The personnel on-site were given vague or entirely absent instruction, save that they were to prevent looting. If you'll forgive me a moment, as the court will note by the records I'd made of their deployment during the Storm, seemingly none of those personnel had any knowledge of the purposes of the devices they were installing, nor even the irregular perimeter they were ordered to hold." Cutting 'the day of the storm' tangent short before she can be ordered to stop, Lilian swivels with a sharp breath to, "In fact, the only time I heard the Chicago branch mentioned was when strangers were insinuating that one official or another must be paying me for illicit services. When I was deployed for advance reconnaissance of the Manus Vindictae owned establishment, 'the Walden', the Chicago branch not only failed to comply with our regular requisitions, but appeared to be inexplicably uninvolved in both law enforcement and government knowledge of our movements, as evidenced by the recordings I have submitted." 'Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective.' And yet, this is what Lilian doesn't want to go over. It serves no real purpose in condemning the Chicago branch to win the Caucus' vote, nor selling Vertin's necessity to win the Committee's. All she's been able to do so far, as everyone else recounts it, is to grit her teeth and blow off the sting of how she's spoken of. All that really motivates her now is relitigating it. "I have nothing to add beyond my official after action report and the additional intelligence files submitted last Wednesday. For the stenographer: We arrived in the midst of a violent riot instigated by human civilians displaying early symptoms of Storm Syndrome. A lone Manus Vindictae operative arrived incidentally, after the fact, and was disposed of. The Foundation security detail was, and remained, overwhelmed, and ostensibly had no assigned duty save to protect the Sotheby vaults. We were informed that all available resources and personnel were already being used to protect and evacuate certain people around the city, and none would be spared for what should have been a textbook raid on an egregious well known stronghold of Manus Vindictae during an obviously unnatural onset of the Storm."
Lilian Rook	"The Timekeeper proceeded to locate and prepare for exfiltration the civilian intelligence assets she had successfully utilized to monitor Manus Vindictae's activity already, while Multiversal contractors analyzed the nature of the Storm Syndrome. All of our available assets were gathered to attempt a last second reconnaissance of the Walden while the opportunity for vital intelligence and opportunistic assassination was still tenable, suggested by the Timekeeper as a response to the Chicago branch's appalling dereliction of duty. The operation was disrupted by several members of the Concord, working at the time with Manus Vindictae, and the Foundation unit was forced to retreat." "In the process of retrieving a Manus Vindictae defector with critical intelligence, the exfiltration of Miss Marian Greco by Concord Partner 'White' succeeded, and the Timekeeper and myself were separated from the remainder of the unit. A divination ritual that I performed to locate the leader of Manus Vindictae, alleged to be in attendance, triggered a reaction that rendered me briefly incapacitated, and lead to the capture of the Timekeeper and Miss Schneider Greco. While I recovered, after hours of consecutive combat, the Timekeeper resisted multiple rounds of interrogation and torture by the enemy, and Schneider Greco was executed as a defector. The leader of Manus Vindictae, Arcana, intervened to offer the Timekeeper and myself membership in Manus Vindictae, which we both accepted in order to gather intelligence that is both classified and has already been submitted. I wasn't there for any other events besides the botched assault on the Warden by Foundation assets, contractors, and Concord defectors, which suffered for lack of the Timekeeper's coordination, and the subsequent disappearance of Miss Schneider Grewco in the Storm." How convenient, to finally be able to say 'I wasn't there'. Everywhere Lilian looks, she sees the gap in the stands where Schneider should be; the conspicuous silence where there should be the one voice that could put a silver bullet in so many of the battles she will be fighting from hereon after. 'Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not?' "I'm certain the Chicago branch managed to protect a great deal of money." says Lilian. 'As a Paladin, would you consider the Timekeeper's behavior in the field to uphold the values of the Commonwealth?' "Almost to the point of absurdity." Lilian sighs. "Our exfiltration was compromised precisely because the Timekeeper prioritized saving lives, providing valuable intelligence to the Foundation, maintaining public peace, minimizing human suffering, and utilizing minimum possible force, far beyond the meager means the Foundation had furnished her with at the time." "If it were me, I'd have tried less than half as hard, and Grandmaster Fairfax would put a medal on my chest." 'Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae?' "Two and a half feet to her right, your honour." 'Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so?' "After making a serious attempt to put a bullet through Arcana's brain, your honour, I believe it was the right call for Vertin to learn from my example instead." Lilian says, gallows dry. "Speaking frankly, it was an improbable stroke of luck they even made the offer. The others present had no intent to recruit her at all. Seizing on Arcana's offer was all that protected her from summary execution. If she refused, I would be forced into a position where I joined Manus Vindictae for their protection, or be washed away by the Storm; and the other contractors, Paladins and otherwise, wouldn't even get that choice."
Lilian Rook	She scans the room, once. "I'd like to remind the court that the Timekeeper has a special responsibility, as the only one immune to the Storm, and the only one who capable of using the suitcase, to weigh the arithmatic of martyrdom differently than others." 'What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden?' Lilian almost wants to laugh. "Infuriating, your honour." she says, dropping her arms back to her sides, finally. Just talking about Vertin, as a prolonged subject, makes her visibly relax. "She was so obstinately pro-Foundation at the table of the enemy I'd have slapped the taste out of her mouth if I could." Lilian quietly clears her throat. "Her behaviour was sullenly mistrustful. She took every opportunity to criticize and contradict high-ranking enemy operatives to the point of being physically beaten. The most respect she showed them was the minimum it took to see the Suitcase returned, along with my weapon. Her attitude towards the Foundation hardly needs elaborating. She reminded me of your virtues so many times I'd begun to wonder if she was worried I wasn't acting. She even approached me and organized the timing of our escape herself." 'What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?' "I was in bed with my wife, your honour." Lilian, having always wanted to say that line, decides not to lie through omission by accident. "When I wasn't taking care of her, I had a brief conversation with Miss Weyerhauser after encountering her by accident on a nighttime walk, an even briefer one about the fate of Miss Greco with various others, and one with Miss Regulus about my experiences inside the Walden." The decision to throw her under just one wheel of the bus comes easily. "She and several others ostensibly had 'reservations' about the Timekeeper offering me a permanent room a few hours prior. The subject of these conversations largely revolved around an implied sense of unfairness that I, a Paladins Chevalier in good standing, with a career, marriage, and family, should be allowed to view a perceived cohort of the Timekeeper's in their 'natural habitat', so to speak, where they might potentially be held to professional standards. I personally believe this was the Timekeeper's intention in the first place, and is part of why I've signed my name as an official liaison under Z on the Storm Reformation Bill." 'If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role?' "I disagree with some of Councilor Pedra's views, and dislike some of the company he keeps in the Caucus, but I appreciate his professional ethics, his dedication to efficiency and accountability, his respect for the work of field operatives such as myself, and his ability to make practical compromises." That's as glowing as she can make it. "I see no need to compare an ostensibly reasonable and pragmatic man to a leadership that could be improved by replacing them with a microwaved corpse." Honestly, the comparison makes her feel slightly more fond of him. "If it's as claimed, of course."
Lilian Rook	'In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites?' "If the Watch was just like her, the Multiverse would be a better place. I can name more than a few coworkers in the Paladins, even, who I think could learn a thing or two from her attitudes towards humanitarianism, objectivity, self-sacrifice, and universal dignity." One of the names is her own, bitterly noted in the corner of her lips. "I've had the misfortune of performing a similar role before. As a Multiversal, an Elite, and a Paladins Chevalier, my professional opinion is that Vertin is humble, practical, patient, determined, organized, and possessed of the uncanny ability to express these qualities through steady-handed leadership without being decried as a cold and uncaring psychopath by the Sector's most 'unfortunately useful'." Lilian says. "I think it reflects a rational and resourceful approach to employ her balance of qualities and personal charisma to organize those who answer to them. What few complaints the Paladins have; her occasional hastiness, secrecy, and unrealistic compassion, for instance; are things that the Paladins themselves should be a moderating influence on, or even a mentoring one." 'What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards?' "None that I would note, your honour. She extends all the efforts it takes to recruit whoever it is; no more or less. If she has a bias that I've seen, it's that she doesn't go for arcanist supremacists." Lilian hesitates. The ghost of a frown crosses her face. "My opinion of them is that all of them respond to an underlying need for a sense of community and shared identity, whether a home, family, or political movement. This much doesn't represent a bias of the Timekeeper's, so much as a common condition of arcanists and those who associate with them. If they have the energy to start a rebellion, they'll do just fine under organized oversight together. Scattering them to whatever job opens up is only kicking the can down the road." 'Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part?' "Only that the Foundation is testing Vertin's limits and not the other way around, your honour." Lilian says. "Though it seems few realize, the Timekeeper tirelessly dedicates herself to mastering the art and science of gaining people's trust and leading them away from disaster every single day. As someone who is only able to see the present way of things, and not whatever past seems to hang over her in these halls, I see someone with very little power, who has been handled with an egregiously heavy hand, offered the best chance anyone has ever been given to run away, and risked her life to come back here anyways, for only the reason that the Foundation wants to see the year two-thousand like she does." "During the Storm of 1929, Vertin was resourceful and brave, committed to the ideals of the Foundation, and able to lead two dozen people with nothing at all in common, due to qualities that are rarely possessed in any one person, much less together. The exigencies and complications of that night were things that could have been solved, or would never have happened, were she operating with the Foundation's backing rather than their tolerance. Despite my earlier comment, I think her mission was a success. And if nothing else . . ."
Lilian Rook	"On Jun 8th 1929, Vertin was there for me, and whether by corruption or otherwise, the Foundation wasn't. As a seven year veteran of the Paladins, and the only other person who survived the Walden that night, I'd trust her before anyone you could replace her with. Take that as you will." Lilian pushes her fingers away from the quietly rebellious ribbon knot worn at her belt as she steps away from the stand. There's no need to remind anyone, much less herself, who she really came back for.
Tamiel Luxis	Hearing about the fate of the rebellion had left a terrible lump in her throat, and left her in her bed, hyperventilating, for hours--and then, distracted her so much that after her fifth mistake on slotting away some old scrolls they'd picked up from a mountain they'd floated above--had just been given the day off. It was Zazel herself that was standing at Tamiel's door, on the day that the trial was announced. With an uncommonly grave expression. She had forced Tamiel to run down a list of Commonwealth treaties and policies and laws that the Foundation was obligated to follow. And then again. And when, she was clearly not processing it...Again, with flash cards. But it was hard. It felt fuzzy. Like thinking through sludge. She'd put a hand on her shoulder, falling on one knee to look her charge in the eye. "I was not involved. I can't be there with you. No one else can. You worked with the Foundation. You made things better for them. The Timekeeper is YOUR friend, not mine. My presence could be interpretted as an overreach--or a threat." "You can do this." She said, and somehow, it made her feel WORSE. Just call me a waste of Light and get it over with. Tamiel thought, but did not say. "Remember. No matter what happens. YOU will be fine." The directness, at least stole some of the stiffness. "You can focus on protecting your friends." She wasn't sure if it really improved anything--but at least, Zazel looked satisfied--or pretended to look satisfied after the last round that day, and let her go. She tried to dress in what she thought the Foundation would find least...Offending. She picked out a white, simple tunic, and a pair of slacks, with frew other frills--except for a colorful ribbon that she used to put her hair up behind her. Tamiel bristles, a little bit, at being offered handcuffs. But Tamiel bit her lip and let it happen. The slapped them over hands, and led her down the halls, surrounded, feeling...paraded, under armed guard. She wondered if they'd taken steps against her slipping out of them...? She wondered if there'd be a point, even if they hadn't. Maybe it would just hurt their cause more. "May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions." "My name." She breathed, her wings briefly shaking off fatigue, as she rubs at her wrists, reminding herself, briefly, that she was out of them. "Is Tamiel Luxis. I work with the collections department of the Gloaming Atheneum, in Vineta." Practice HAD helped, god. Her wings shook slightly. Heaven, they were all LOOKING at her. Look at the worthless little angel they'd dragged in--No, shut up. "And--I'm an authorized multiversal emissary for my city." No more details than necessary. No rambling. Keep it crisp. Keep it sharp. Remember they can't touch you. "What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?" "It was one of my first jobs as an emissary. Public affairs, through helping with multiversal crisises. Like Miss Raskins, I met Vertin trying to help recruit miss Regulus and retrieve the Philospher's Stone, before the Storm. That was my first interaction with the Foundation, too." She took a moment to preen, at her wings, considering. "I helped set up a interlibrary loan system, with Vertin in the suitcase." Tamiel smiled. "For her, and anyone else who lives there--or goes there regularly."
Tamiel Luxis	"Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?" "Oh, it was awful." She sighed. "Even before the Manus did anything. They called--Um, some people awful things in the street. Dame Commander Rook mentioned a bus...It happened there, I think. While we were traveling to try to prevent the Massacre." "I visited the Ainsworth office sometimes, yeah. And we helped investigate the warp gate that opened up in the chicago factory." A pause, and, "The cover story that got picked was that a crazed arcanist ruined things. You know, Novak--the human that fell through the gate--He would have been told that an arcanist was the reason they lost their jobs." A pause, and then. "...They all would have been." "What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?" "...I didn't know that they really had a branch?" Tamiel scratched at her head. "Honestly? I thought that Vertin, Miss Moissan and the guards that were sent to safeguard Sotheby's property and run that um...Project? And they did great at that. But I didn't notice anyone doing anything else. Were all that was there. I had more contact with the main branch than the Chicago one, I think." "Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective." "The Storm came early--when the Timekeeper warned us, no one was prepared." Her wings stiffened, and she leaned forward. "We were supposed to have more discs to bring people to safety--they weren't ready. The branch, it sounded like they just didn't have anything to spare. We had to make do with...Two I think? Three?" She considered, briefly. "The guards at Soethey's manner needed one. Her butler. Miss Ainsworth and the girls needed another. I just know that, when the time came, we could only wait in the suitcase." The moment of Schneider dissolving away rested in Tamiel's mind, like a stone. Her wings fluttered, and she stood a little taller, holding the thought in her mind like a sharp handhold against high winds. "Storm-mad, people looted the Sotheby manor, and we had to help fight them off, and get Miss Sotheby to safety." She made sure to look about the room--if not looking in people's eyes, then at least at their foreheads. "It was just us. We tried to sneak into the Walden, understand what they were doing--how they were accelerating the Storm." "It got really bad. Some of us managed to escape. Some of us got caught. Schneider, while we were escaping, that they weren't going to bring her with them..." It felt unspeakable to say exactly why, to spell it so firmly in the sand, so she struggled. "...Her bloodline wasn't pure enough for them." Tamiel settled for, unwilling to out the girl before this counsel of old fossils. "She had White bring her sister here. We had to regather, and tried to follow them to where they were doing their next meeting. We'd...Hoped that they would have warded it against the Storm, somehow." "They...hadn't."
Tamiel Luxis	"Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not?" "I don't know how you could call that a success." She confesses, "We couldn't save everyone we wanted to. A lot of the people who we could have saved, we didn't have the tools to get them home, or they didn't trust us until it was too late. If we'd had just one more disc, maybe..." Shut her eyes. Pushed on... "...There'd be a lot more who'd be able to testify today. But. I think we did the best we could, in an...awful situation." "What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?" "...There was a dinner." Tamiel said, shoulders slumping. "Vertin invited everyone in the camp who wanted, into the suitcase, for a final meal. Odette was bandaging and healing them up. People were trying to make sure that everyone's last moments, would be safe, and happy, at the end." "...I'm not just talking about arcanists, you know. It was humans, mostly." She leans forward, eyebrows pinching. "This is why, I can't understand why you've been shutting Vertin down. Locking her way, like she's some broken tool, that needs to be readjusted. I know you think, because of some oath, that she just can't be trusted. But...That, that was the last thing she did, before...All this started." "Those humans, they were all going to disappear. All of them." She looked down at her hands, briefly, felt herself sitting once more at that table. "Vertin knew they'd all vanish. In the Storm, everything gets washed away. If she really dedicated herself to the Manus, why did she take so much effort to make room for the comfort of so many humans who were about to vanish?"
Tamiel Luxis	"What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs?" "That's why. You understand, right? It makes no sense at all. You swore for Peace, for Mankind. To find a solution to the Storm. Vertin has chased it, tirelessly, for as long as I've known her. Nothing matters more to her. But, if she'd played by the rules, exactly as you wrote them--Miss Bellwhistle and her girls, they wouldn't be here today--either because she used them, without giving them back help in return, or because she'd have never reached out to them to help learn about the Walden and the Manus in the first place." "And, apparently she swore an oath." Tamiel ran a hand over her face. "A promise is sacred thing. But--surrounded by people who could kill her, what else was she supposed to do? Say no? Die in a ditch? Sealed in a wall? Snuffed out in the dark? An oath like that...It doesn't mean anywhere NEAR as much." "If she hadn't, you know how many of us would be here...? Almost none. And you wouldn't have heard about Arcana. Or what went down in the Walden. Or the camp." A deep breath. It wasn't a fun thought to revisit, those catacombs beneath the Walden, the sea of churning roots--the intrinsic promise they'd made to keep the exit covered. And...Their failure to do so. It didn't escape Tamiel, that the reason that Lilian and Schneider and Vertin had been caught at ALL, was because they'd had to double back to save a human they'd risk their lives for. "The Foundation has always distrusted the Timekeeper. As long as I've known her. Piling more and more on her, as if daring her to break. Putting someone on your multiverse outreach team, who takes every chance to call her reckless, and foolish, and careless." "I'm--" She catches herself, before stopping to give a little more context. "It's Mesmer Junior I'm talking about. I'm not in the Paladins, or associated with the Commonwealth. I don't have access to internal messages, or workplace notes. In the open. In front of people the Timekeeper works with. Who keeping a good relationship with is important to her job." "But that's okay." Pinch at the bridge of her nose. "It's not actually a problem for her to do that--because, that's normal. It's okay to undercut her, by saying, she's hysterical, and unreasonable, and can't be trusted. She's an arcanist. That's what they're like." "And now. The Foundation has demonstrated, in no uncertain terms..." She hissed through her teeth. She thought of the last time she'd seen Novak, and the 'mercy' that Mesmer had offered him, then. "...By leaving Vertin in the care of that same person. For months. And put her in charge of 'fixing' her." "In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites?" "I think. I think she's one of the best." She smiles, briefly, at the ceiling. "Everywhere she goes, she makes connections. Whether it's the heart of Chicago, in the past era, or a chain store in some obscure warpgate, she's always there to listen, and to try to get their story. People love feeling heard."
Tamiel Luxis	"What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards?" "Vertin has saved--and where she hasn't saved, tried to give comfort to--arcanists, and humans. I don't...Think she's all that picky." She thought to Marian, she thought to Schneider's boys... "If you're worried about it turning into some Manus safehouse...I don't think there's any risk of that. When Vertin asked people for help...She wants to return the favor. Which is." Okay, play into their nonsense. "Logical, isn't it? If you create a habit of not helping that people you rely on, it's going to make you less reliable--and then, why would anyone work with you?"
Veronica	Veronica hates being handcuffed. She wants to scream. She wants to bring out her EGO, she thinks, and crash this whole basket of pigs down around her like Samson in the temple of the Philistines. But the same power that would let her try that also reminds her that she's needed somewhere else, that personal outrage is not what that EGO is made for. At the end of this, she has to go home. There's plenty more work to be done there, even with the Yurodivye's support. So all she does is fill out a form to request a change of clothes, and shows up at the trial in handcuffs and a decently-fitted suit with black tie. When her eyes meet the other rebels', she gives a little downward nod to each, a silent gesture of solidarity. This is not a chance to be aggressive - it is a chance to be unified. Or that's what she's repeating in her head as the Foundation guards march her to the stand. May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions. "For sure. I'm Veronica. I'm a doctor." What is your relationship to the Timekeeper? "We're allies. The call for all-hands went out in '66, and I was there. When it went out in '29, same. We help each other out." Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there? "I showed up a few days before to meet Sotheby and the Ainsworth Office, at the Timekeeper's request. It was clear that folks relied on arcanists like the Sotheby family, but wouldn't be seen in the same room as 'em. I'd call that 'parasitic'." What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era? "Just a few words exchanged with the crowd wranglers outside Sotheby Manor. I wasn't really the bureaucratic arm of the Timekeeper's operation." Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective. "I show up at the Ainsworth Office, catch a car to Sotheby Manor with the rest. The vibes are immediately off, there's a big crowd with no leaders, no organization, nothing that a protest needs to keep momentum. I don't have the 'feel' for the Storm like the Timekeeper does, or I might've recognized the Storm Syndrome for what it was. We collect Ms Sotheby and Mr Karson, and figuring there was some arcane skill pushing folks to riot we reason it to be the Walden's doing." "So we go there, and things go to shit fast. The Manus were expecting at least the Timekeeper, their scary big cheese is there, Sotheby blasts a hole into the Walden's tunnels and we get outta there with Schneider's help. She's got a sister the Manus were holding, so her, Timekeeper, Lilian, and White - one of the Concord folks - go that way while the rest of us make for an exit with Flamel. Druvis III nearly catches the lot of us, does catch the Timekeeper and company in the tunnels. I don't know what else happened down there but we move to Ainsworth Office to regroup." "The Manus send a car with Schneider in a coffin and an open seat for Tamamo. She goes, Odette and I help Schneider back onto her feet - I couldn't say how she survived the car ride - and Schneider explains the situation. Flamel cooks a scheme to send people to the Manus for help with the Storm Syndrome, Bellwhistle helps make it happen. We follow the crowds into the forest, where Forget-Me-Not starts, fuckin', exploding people with his potions. Sotheby, Odette, and Regulus work on stopping that while the rest of us fight the creep and his evil snakes. In the face of the Storm we invited the survivors into the suitcase for a last supper."
Veronica	Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not? "The Manus got their Storm, when and where they wanted it. The Timekeeper was under-armed, under-informed, under-staffed. Their gambit of pledging to the Manus, and Schneider's help, saved the lot of us. Getting out by the skin of our teeth is a success after a sort, but I doubt it's the kind you wanted to see." Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so? "We - that's Sonetto, pretty much everybody else besides the Timekeeper and Lilian - were regrouping at the Ainsworth Office, the Manus sent a car to collect Tamamo and drop off Schneider's presumed corpse." Deep breath. "'Operationally necessary'? Sure. They had dozens of those fucked-up masks lying around. Vertin would be a triangle right now if they hadn't danced to the Manus tune." What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase? "Cooking, dishes, staring at the ceiling. Mourning the lost." A pause. "It doesn't get easier, watching that many lives snuffed out." What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs? This is the one Veronica's been thinking about. She steeples her fingers, wrists balanced on the edge of the witness stand. "It's because I trust Vertin. When they say 'listen to Regulus', I listen. I'd expect the same from them on my home turf. Listen to the locals. Right? The two of 'em said, look after the new faces, Druvis, Sotheby, 'n' the Ainsworth ladies. So I did." In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites? "Yeah, it really does. What else can I say? I'm impressed with 'em." What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards? "If she's got a preference, it's folks the Manus really want under their thumb. Regulus they almost got a mask onto. Druvis, Schneider, both people who just didn't have alternatives to the Manus until Vertin offered one. Right now the Manus controls the middle-ground of 'folks who aren't sure about where they'd end up with the Foundation'. You need something to be your counter-argument against that."
Tamamo	Tamamo put some thought into her choice not to change her outfit for this event. It's the same sort of almost-office wear in mostly-Foundation colors that she wore to speak its council members, only slightly refined. She could have used her own, usual mode of dress to better emphasize her position as a member of the Paladins, but finally concluded that no one who matters to the proceedings will have any difficulty clocking her as 'an outsider' on sight. Better to be thought of as 'a familiar outsider' as much as reasonably possible than to change her approach now. She's gone to see Vertin, making good on a promise. She's spent time with Sonetto as she's been able. She's spoken to the other now walking into the court, so there's no need to continue doing so before an audience. She does exchange smiles with a few. 'May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions.' "I am known as Mizukume Rook, though I had only my maiden names on meeting the Timekeeper." 'And those would be...?' "I am Tamamo-no-mae, bunrei of Amaterasu-omikami, She of the White-Gold Face, Goddess of the Sun. You will find the proper spelling in my public file." The 'name' section is detailed. "I am a Chevalier of the Paladins. My duties include disaster response, rescue, and special investigation, with a multi-world operating area. We respond to calls of distress both within and outside of the Commonwealth. My personal specialities include healing, protection, and curse-breaking." 'What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?' "The Storm is considered an 'ongoing crisis,' as a cyclical disaster. I first met the Timekeeper in the course of responding to one such distress call. Together with other Paladins, I attempted to rescue those being taken by the Storm -- this was about a year ago, now, mind, and not the most recent. It was an unfortunately illuminating experience." Her tone makes it unnecessary to explain that she means 'it was bad; all our attempts failed.' "I have responded to several invitations for collaboration since then, most involving the Timekeeper's work." She doesn't get into anything personal, like the Halloween party, or Sonetto, or the official liaisons, or those she met in the briefcase. 'Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?' "I did not personally spend a great deal of 'non-working' time in Chicago. However, my impressions are such that I would not have enjoyed spending more time than I did... which is not to say that the time I did spend was enjoyable, mind you. Though I am not an arcanist, neither am I human, and it is easiest for people of this world to consider me the same." She appears to take a moment to formulate how to say the next part. "There is a rather wide swath of 'othering' I have experienced, in my time on more than one Earth. I suppose that it would not be very helpful to the court to say that humans of the Chicago of 1929 treat arcanists somewhat worse than 'assuming me to be an exotic fixation,' and somewhat better than 'assuming me to be deserving of death for having the temerity and poor sense to exist amongst them'... though not, perhaps, by a great deal, in the hearts of some. I shall hope that it suffices to say that I would not feel it a safe place to vacation." Her breath is fluttery.
Tamamo	'What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?' "Prior to the Storm, these were limited. It seemed that there were difficulties in procuring basic supplies and services, and we were expected to simply make do. Afterward... with Mr. Parson's assistance, I was able to guide our investigation to the Chicago office, and thereafter confirm our findings. Though there was reason for suspicion, we had not pointed a finger toward the office before that point." 'Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective.' "Briefly? Ah, in that case... our involvement began with the Sotheby manor. We met with Saber squad, who were unable to tell us the details of their orders, but were clearly in an untenable position given the growing unrest ahead of the Storm. I have worked in calming riots before, including those of a magically enhanced nature, but this was a worse case. You have already heard from three Chevaliers, for whom I have no corrections. I was in attendance during the infilrtation of the Walden, the," she almost calls it 'escape,' "retreat following the rescue of Marian Greco, and operated independently only in using the carriage sent by the Manus Vindictae, minus its guards, to quickly reach their camp. It was my judgment that only I could do so safely. I stated, earlier, that my duties include healing, protection, and the breaking of curses. I made use of all three of these talents in securing the safety of those previously taken, and rejoined with the then-combined rescue forces. I witnessed the falling out of Forget-Me-Not and Ms. Druvis, sought to minimize the horrific loss of life, and... you have heard the rest, now." 'Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not?' "Some lives were saved, and many more were not. From a limited perspective, we were successful. We came perilously close to a decisive defeat, and have many factors to thank for its avoidance." 'As a Paladin, would you consider the Timekeeper's behavior in the field to uphold the values of the Commonwealth?' "Something that has stayed with me since its first utterance was the Timekeeper's insistence that we not cease to give consideration to those who will surely be lost. To Vertin, even those who cannot be saved, and cannot be helped in any way, without great effort and danger, should be given as peaceful a time of passing as we are able to provide. One might ask, 'what should it matter, if they will never remember what happened, and may again come to life the next day?' The disagreement with that notion, this insistence upon principle, is a shining example. 'Yes,' is my answer." She pauses, mid-motion, lips slightly parted, as if about to continue. She does, but over something else. "It has since been my theory that some aspect of widespread suffering must be of operational value to the Manus. Their actions, in creating chaos among those who were already doomed, is otherwise difficult to explain." After meeting Forget-Me-Not, she's less sure that there is any 'explanation,' but she doesn't say that.
Tamamo	'Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so?' "The timing of this is unclear to me. It may have happened while we were en route to our fallback position, or it may have occurred while we were preparing our rescue plans. I was not present for this event, but I imagine the Manus Vindictae would kill any who refuse them, if not worse. Under these circumstances, I cannot fault them." 'What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden?' "It was her theory that the Manus Vindictae possessed some means of hastening the Storm. I saw no indication of a changed attitude from our earlier meetings. Theirs is a policy of destruction and suffering, with some elements of revenge and showmanship." Vertin didn't say that, and Tamamo didn't specifically say that Vertin said that. "She directed survivors to the Foundation, obviously." Obviously. Why is this even being asked? 'What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?' "At that point, there was little that could be done. I tended the wounded and, eventually, slept." 'If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role?' "Councilor Pedra suspected misconduct even before our investigation. His concern is a mark in favor of his good sense and character." Other than that, she doesn't know, but won't damn him with the faint praise of 'he could hardly be worse.' 'In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites?' "As I mentioned, my duties involve frequent cases of first response to crisis situations. The Timekeeper's commitment to the preservation of life and well-being easily meets the standard those in my line of work desire, and this will reflect positively on those who support her." 'What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards?' "Precious few," Tamamo answers to the second question, first. "She seems to gather anyone who has the capability to help and can be convinced to do so for reasons apart from 'money.' You have already heard Chevalier Bond on this matter. One could see a wondrous pragmatism in this broad-mindedness, though I would name that view misled. If one has not the capability, she will still attempt their rescue, though I do not consider this, properly speaking, 'recruitment.'" To the former part, "I have a variety of impressions of this broad variety gathered into 'Team Timekeeper.' Some are wonderful company, and with some, I would rather keep our business purely professional. Some are field agent material, and others can hardly be expected to leave a post. All are convinced that following Vertin will be worth it, to them; all have placed a trust in her that is hard- and rarely-won."
Tamamo	'Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part?' "So long as the Storms continue, there are precious few choices any person of upstanding moral character can make. To leave the world to its repeated pseudo-destruction would be cowardly and monstrous, even without the hanging threat of Arcana's mad cult. To engage in battle while neglecting one's preparations is foolhardy and reckless. To make no use of the resources offered by the Timekeeper is a play at fatal negligence." Hands clasped in front of her, "Chicago was not a failure. Even so, I will not accept it being allowed to happen again. This cannot repeat."
Holly Asturias	It was an emergency at the Sanatorium that had forced Holly to not be present; both a blessing and a curse, evidently, because she owes the other rebels countless apologies for not having been there when it mattered. Unfortunately she runs a hospital, and doesn't get to pick when someone needs immediate life-saving treatment. Yay. Yippie. Not one to shy away from the summons, she submits to the cuffs, even though it's performative. If she meant to she might have a few different means to break them, or to just slip out, but if it makes them more comfortable... May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions. "My name is Holly Asturias, and I'm both the director and chief physician of my family-run Sanatorium. We treat both Revenants - vampires, like me - and humans with no discrimination whatsoever. I am also a Partner with the Concord." What is your relationship to the Timekeeper? "The Timekeeper has helped purify unrestful spirits in the forest that surrounds my abode. They did so for free, out of the goodness of their heart. You could say I am indebted." If different, explain why you were in the Chicago of the 1929 era on this world. "Manus Vindictae, through their main contact Schneider Greco, had obtained Partnership in the Concord. Schneider, whose sister was being held captive by the Manus, requested my aid - along with Flamel Parsons and White - to free her and extract herself, the very night the Storm struck. Though I did share drinks with the Manus at their Walden, I have no love for them, and would happily tear Forget-Me-Not apart limb from limb should our paths cross again." She delivers this with the most casual smile she can manage. Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there? "I had heard from Schneider that there were discriminatory concerns, but was largely uninvolved otherwise. There was a brief road trip with her, where she kidnapped... my, who was it... some man, a treasurer of some kind? She'd been tasked to kill him by the Manus, but we apprehended him without bloodshed instead. To what purpose, I don't know." What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era? "I'm afraid none, to my knowledge."
Holly Asturias	Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective. "Myself, Flamel, and White, arrived at the Walden as planned to meet the Manus and socialize until it was time to act. We found Schneider's sister, Marian, held in a labyrinth under the Walden, and prepared to have her extracted swiftly once Schneider gave the signal. That is when the Timekeeper's team burst into the Walden, violently, and Lilian shot me in the face." She smiles and waves towards Lilian from the stand. "At which point we moved to extract Marian. White took her to your Foundation, and we were then split up. After a brief encounter with Druvis, the whole gathering, sans the Timekeeper, Schneider, or Lilian, managed to escape the Walden. We rested, tended to our wounds, only to have the Manus deliver to us Schneider's 'corpse' small hours later. She was still alive, and dispatched the Manus escort with her. I then strained myself healing her, a scar that remains even now." She pulls her right sleeve up, to reveal the entirety of her right arm, covered in red marks like vines and flowers. "We then made for the encampment we knew the Manus to be going to, which promised safety from the Storm. This was a lie, in the end, an execution set up by Forget-Me-Not to make a show of killing every wealthy, elite human and their families that the Manus had promised safety to. Schneider shot Forget-Me-Not. He withdrew. We entered the Suitcase, battered and exhausted... and then the Storm happened. It claimed everyone present. Even an Arcanist. She went last. If I am here today, it is to honor her memory by giving the Timekeeper my full support. She had placed her faith in them. I could do nothing less." Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not? "We did not save Schneider, nor prevent the Storm. So no, not at all. At least, her sister is safe." Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so? "I did not believe it. The Timekeeper did not seem the sort, and their intentionally missing Schneider's heart proved it." What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden? "I couldn't say, since I didn't interact with them directly at the time, and was being fought or shot at for most of it besides." What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase? "Mourning." What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs? "Your Foundation of Miracles failed Schneider Greco. It failed her by not providing her shelter or assistance when she needed it, it failed her by being a less attractive prospect than joining the Manus, and it failed her by imprisoning the Timekeeper afterwards. She was a key figure in this story, and your Foundation failed her thrice over."
Holly Asturias	If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role? "I do not know him at all." In supporting the Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline bill, the Timekeeper's responsibilities will expand to include acting as the intermediary for multiversal assistance in emergency field operations. As one of the multiversals in question, does the Timekeeper's representation reflect well on the Foundation's image and relationship with Elites? "The Timekeeper is surely the best image the Foundation could dream of having. They are calm and collected at all times, smooth with words, easily able to read and respond to people, friendly, trustworthy, and perhaps just a dash attractive too. It's no surprise their Suitcase is full of collaborators who trust them and not the Foundation. Letting her act as the Foundation's outreach can only better the Foundation's image." What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards? "Those I've met have all been those in need. Of friends, of an environment to belong to, of a guiding hand, or maybe just of hope. Perhaps their preference is to help those who need it most, then? I believe the answer you want me to give is "arcanists" is it not? But then they have helped me, and I am no arcanist, to my knowledge." Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part? "Only that I'd like to apologize for some of the damage I've caused, but I hope you can appreciate the trouble we went through to avoid leaving any of your field agents with anything more than bruises. It was an important instruction from the Timekeeper themselves that we avoid grievous injuries and killing at all costs, and I believe we did."
Ein	Having entered custody with Leilani's interruption, having understood that they needed a way out that didn't involve somehow gassing an entire force of soldiers with Ultraman and Baker being 'very careful' and Sotheby being 'very irresponsible', respectively, to an absurd degree to ensure no casualties. She had believed it was possible if barely, if she was very strong. Sotheby had made request, single wish to her, to be giving rather than strong, and so she - as something other than a tree - took the opportunity to walk. A small knot of people linger in the witness area, quiet in their own ways. Druvis Weyerhaeuser III sits, her suddenly-grown mane of red-orange hair left falling unbound down back and settled as bundle into lap as she sits patiently with hands in lap. Her attitude hadn't changed, cuffed or not, a droopy-eyed indifference to everything after her moments of resistance, even to the invasive searches made of her to ensure she had no final plant-based tricks to play. Now, she was not called to listen, but to be witness. Despite being agitated at having her wand taken from her, she didn't make comment to it. She knew. Deeply aware, she kept her own council and dissociated completely from the day's events. She had been called to be so, so, so present for so long that now she could retreat as was her want. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn Vera Sotheby engages with the council of Mr. Karson and the last-minute approach of Ms. Moissan, the Foundation Agent having ducked into the witness room with a twine-sealed folder and a smile upon seeing the little lady's hat and Mr. Karson's hand-cleaned black jacket and slightly tousled white collar. Sotheby had been exceptionally excited to meet so many people and say nice things about Vertin, and needed to be more coached on what not to say. Gone over enough times that Sotheby starts doubting the need to repeat each other, Ms. Moissan's arrival gets the young alchemist to sunny-bright again even if the Field Agent was thin on details. The coaching was well-timed, as Sotheby was first to the stand of the knot - Mr. Karson, as a human, was allowed to give his testimony in private deposition but not to be on the stand with Sotheby. » May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions. "Good day, and may the peace be with us!" Sotheby had been primed to return the greeting. "My name is Gwendolyn Vera Sotheby, and I'm the act-ing head of the Sotheby family and dutiful keeper of its secrets." She raises her hand and closes her eyes, invoking an oath. "Before the philosophers that once were, to carry the secret of gold to the philosophers that will be." She lowers her hand and opens her bright eyes, eagerness tempered by headily severe duty. Her vibrational constant enhanced, she adds: "By apparent default I am also the chair of the Finance Committee of the City of Chicago, spe-cial member of the United States Treasury Department, and formal advisor to the crowns of England and Spain as well as to the Prime Minister of France. Formally, I would also be special envoy to the Kaiser of Germany but the position is still being renegotiated with the new Prime Minister." Sotheby rattles off with a clincal cheer. » What is your relationship to the Timekeeper? "The Foundation has been working directly with my family for some time, I understand? So, I suppose, normal? She was very helpful in saving me from my house, which had some unfortunate things happen to it! There were all those soldiers, too - did you find what you were looking for?"
Ein	» Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there? Sotheby turns thoughtful, tapping chin and getting very thoughtful. "Why, I didn't have any problem with the people working at the manor, but Mr. Karson was always very good at recruiting good people. Oh, but there were always people calling and harassing Father and Mother quite often, whom I wasn't allowed to see?" She bounces. "As for activities, well, I lived there! I learned with Ms. Moissan, and sometimes was visited by family friends, and otherwise en-gaged in the practice of alchemy!" » What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era? "Not very much directly. Mostly, Father complained about them failing to keep angry people from getting all the way to our grounds?" Thoughtful, head tilting to droop her feathered cap to side, Sotheby snaps her fingers. "Oh! And those soldiers that came, right at the end? They didn't particularly come to my rescue..." They weren't there to save her. » Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective. "Briefly? Okay!" Sotheby considers this large role. "A riot broke out at my house that got real-ly bad, and the soldiers that were there tried to stop it but things got a little stay-inside about it? People got sick and hungry, and I hid in my room while..." Sotheby looks down. "They ate my house." She brightens. "Then Vertin saved me! Well, Regulus did, actually. Have you met Regulus yet?" They very certainly had. "And then we ran around in the forest for a bit, and then we went to the Walden to check their cellar!" She had been bravely inventing motive for a while now. "And then - wow! There was a huge party going on there, and it was so huge and strange and then we had to go!" Briefly, briefly. "So then Miss Druvis walked us out of the basement, and we walked around in the woods some more, and then I got tired. So I bravely took a nap!" She seems extra proud of herself. "A wise lady always finds a little time for rest in a busy day!" She had been told this to get her to sleep at bedtime. "Then, I went to the tent camp and helped defuse the bomb potion people had been given, as I was called to do, and. . ." Sotheby wavers for a moment. Her good mood, the uprightness in her seat sags severely. "Then I helped mix potions, though by the end I mixed more than there was people to drink them left." Thusly summarized, her hands rest in her lap, with her eyes. » Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so? "When was that? Was I still at home?" She's not sure. "I'm sure if she did it, it was necessary? She seemed very driven all night!" » What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden? "Well, she led me into the building with Ms. Moissan to help stop something bad, and then, had me destroy the floor with a potion? Usually you're not supposed to drip doorway-potions onto horizontal surfaces or they will downbore until the reaction runs out, which can be quite a distance given proper reagents!" So, probably good? She only had a few details.
Ein	» What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase? This, after the difficult 'where were you on the night of the murder' questions, brightens Sotheby right back up. "Why, I had a room so I unpacked and got back to my studies! Without my stocks I had to mix up quite a lot of shelf reagents that would serve as the common basis for more projects, and resupply my shelves from losing my last set!" She is shockingly calm about replacing a whole living space, but also is the Arcanist in the category of 'devastating chemical weapon generator' and has certainly bombed and burned her living space before. » What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs? Finally, something with meat that isn't recitation or simple cheer, and Sotheby settles in. "Upon being received by the Foundation's members, I was pushed to sign a contract that I've been allowed to review at length and is atrociously des-igned!" The baby had been trained in accounting and contract law, but not common sense. Why? Because one made sense, the numbers of objects and the weights of things and their application and barter, and the other was strange! "I am quite certain that the Foundation was not kidnapping me, but poor Mr. Karson was kept apart from me! While I was demanded to sign! The rank contractual coercion is exactly the sort of thing that Father always told me to re-set and re-negotiate from better position!" She says, to a court. "If you believe in tradition, you'd either respect my family's standing agreements with your organization, or, allow me consult on your terms! Your highest-level representative, Madam Vice President, made the case very clear that the Foundation was utterly unwilling to even speak clearly about the matter. Holding things but empty-handed? Her un-serious dee-meanor was directly insulting to me, and I'm sure there's paper to prove it, as I asked for a yet-higher power. How can one be a vice-president and there be no higher power? I am a lady of my household!" For a moment, a little fire, even. "To be rebuked by a vice president is to be insulted by the king or in~their~alternative's own right hand. It is a twice-snubbing. That should make it clear why I represent my family in thinking quite a bit less of the Foundation." A beat. She sits down, smiles, and clasps hand in lap. "I do owe Vertin and Regulus my life, though, as Ms. Moissan, so I think overall positively of the people. The complete failure to even entertain terms with the Sotheby family seems to be attributable to one person." Constantine, the child skewers repeatedly, who had insulted Sotheby to her face and so the little lady had no built in or learned reason to hold back. The king's minister had told her to her face what to consider and how she was considered, and so now the king must pay twice - once for the privilege, and once for the insult. This was ancient dealings, the way noble alchemist clans could gain the ear of the crowns of nations. Surely, it left no scheming viziers stewing on the sidelines! Then again - everyone needed gold, and only a scant few could spin it from the base metals. Now was even more the case than before. "If you mean the Chicago Branch," She realizes, asked the next question and doubling back. "Negligence? I don't know them? I suppose that's terrible."
Ein	» If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role? "If he's willing to speak to me personally, I'm sure we can become friends!" She's sure she can determine someone's price and then pay it. It's the family way. "In closing," Sotheby begins, because she was said to say that before she was done and then after be done. "If my parents are not found, I am the one who carries my family with me. And I will negotiate with the Foundation for its needs as an organization." Gold. Unlimited wealth of several varieties. The perfect goose. "But not because of the Foundation - its Headquarters, or its Chicago branch. I would do it because I like Vertin! Oh, and Ms. Moissan. I like her too!" And then, happy, she gets off the stand to an absolutely, damningly mortified Mr. Karson. "Perhaps, my lady, perhaps the knife-twisting can come in a private setting?" And not a permanently recorded one? Perhaps? "Knife twisting?" Sotheby innocently asks, as she's led off deeper.
Ein	Next to the stand, uncuffed, is Druvis. She remains the same quarter-lidded dissociatively tired state but with each step towards the stand, becomes more present. Halfway there, she blinks. Sitting down, she sighs. Another blink. Her eyes remain open, dragged across the room to see it all at least once. » May the peace be with us. Druvis repeats nothing. » Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions. "My name is Druvis Weyerhaeuser III. Druid, and wandmaker. Until recently, I was a member of the Manus Vindictae." No rustle can harm her. No human noise reaches her. She had found the breath of the neat-kept trees near the courtbuilding and the whispers of the few tastefully located plants for warmth and visual breakup. Any place of stone could seem homey if green was imported. They could gasp and she wouldn't care. She didn't care. She said it because she wanted them to hear. She didn't care. It didn't mean anything to her, she convinced herself. Her time hadn't meant anything. » What is your relationship to the Timekeeper? "She provided me a method to escape, and showed me something to live for." Other than revenge. "I have not known her especially long. Shorter still than Regulus. However, in that short time..." "I spoke more than I had in years. A quiet stasis broken by her particular way." Her eyes fall. "I doubt it would have been anyone else to do it. At the time, I was hard of hearing the world of words for the sound of numb and throbbing silence." » Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there? » What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era? Druvis raises her eyes. She was to be soldier, and then witness, and then... free? 'And then' was not now. "There wasn't a relationship. There was an antipathy. I barely remember the before, the old country, but I remember the boat trip, and I remember the promises of new and different, of stake and fortune purchased, good and wild forests there in America." There's a breath, and a falling pause. It doesn't invite another question. She's not done, and the way silence hangs about her as an old and familiar cloak, still-warm from use, is a comfort that reminds her of the cold world it shielded her from. Still there. Still refusing to speak to her, only at her. "America." She repeats. "I never had a chance to ask a native what the land was called, that I had been imported to. But it was a land of beautiful forests. Cultivated, incredible places. I almost thought the promise was fulfilled," A slant of head. "Were it not for Americans. Those of Chicago were especially of two ways. Those that might be brother or sister to me," Other arcanists, very broadly, but in specific some humans who were not establishment sort of humans. "-Were fighting for their life against the Chicago the Foundation worked within. I had no effective relation with the Foundation in the year 1929."
Ein	"Ten years ago, after my home and forest burned, after the man who wrote about me in the papers but before the court ordered lawyer saw me, a man from the Foundation came to see me. He did not recognize me, and had to be pointed to me by the man from the papers. He offered his air to me, his condolences, and then he asked if there was anything left of my parents or the estate. When I could not answer, he said 'a shame', and left." "When the lawyer arrived, I was too old to be fostered and I was too young to have a career and was too much of an arcanist to be helped, so he asked me if I had anywhere to go." Druvis pauses, and smiles ever-so-faintly. "I stated that he could let me out by the flowershop at the end of the road. He didn't ask why. I think he was glad to be rid of me so easily. I stopped remembering him when he let me out. I spent the day at a pleasant florist, and endured the kindness of others for a short time until a young alchemist named Forget Me Not found me moving between gardens and flower-shops as a tenant and invited me to a venture." "At first, it was called the Walden." She doesn't pause any longer than usual. She might have wanted to. "Eventually, he called it Manus Vindictae. Perhaps he always did. At the time - until the end - I couldn't see a reason to disagree." "My opinion on humans was the same as what I was taught to expect: antipathy. Derision, when not confronted with lack. Absolute, complete confidence in the superiority of man over arcanist. At no point was I given a reason to show faith, or extend it. My tragedy was an inconvenience for the Foundation because I ceased to be useful to them, at least, within Chicago." Exhaling, her shoulders dip. "That is my perspective on the relationship in Chicago. Ten years of antipathy, such that apathy would be preferrable, and I know that is the result of years of being told to expect less while being given nothing." To live, she solely could rely on other Arcanists. » Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective. A pattern of dry facts now. "I was requested with urgency to appear at the Walden by Forget Me Not due to the Storm. I attended the 'party' held to commemorate the end of the world, though I largely abstained as is my preference. The cacophony did not please me." Looking to another spot, having drilled her eyes into one cone for the whole first segment, Druvis addresses another part of the room. "There was a matter that required me to handle the escape through the catacombs after a fight broke out inside the Walden. I moved as I usually do, but because the Timekeeper had secured the help of..." "... my companion at the Walden, Schneider Greco," Let that stand. Let that be marked in a record more permanent than air. Let it be said. "-I only could capture Vertin, Schneider, and Lilian. The Timekeeper was carrying Lilian Rook out, and Schneider fired at me until I. . ." Dry-mouthed, Druvis swallows and rights her shoulders. "Came to my senses." She's not explaining herself entirely to this record. She isn't on trial. She is a witness.
Ein	"I returned them all to the table at the Walden where Lilian and Vertin were forced to swear to join the Manus and undergo loyalty tests that satisfied nothing." And she didn't have to admit what those were. For Lilian, for Vertin. "Eventually, after finally agreeing while Schneider was tortured, Vertin was forced to harm Schneider. It seemed like she had given up, but," Before pausing, she slips the but in, to ensure the context was clear. This was a delicate and thoughtful work. Finally she reaches for a sip of the little cup of water for her on the stand. "Even that was planned, by the end. She had worked out some... arrangement, I heard some scraps of, and did nothing about while they were being taken." 'Oh, my-la-dy... che peccata, but what we've done can't be un-done.' Druvis closes her eyes, and is quiet for a moment. "After the party 'dispersed' with those that cared satisfied for the moment and drawn to other activities, I drifted back to a window to wait until I took it upon myself to take a final walk of my woods. When I returned, Forget Me Not had prepared a showing of all the humans that wronged me, and killed them performatively for me." She leans back. "I took offense. I did not ask for those men dead. He accused me of various things, and I him. Thus sundered, felled as an oak might be by steady axestrokes, I was left adrift on the river and was brought for passage to the Suitcase." » Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so? "I sat one to the side of Lilian, such that she was beside and Vertin past her. She argued around the matter as long as one might be able to, and then agreed as cheaply as she could until forced. The options were to kill Schneider and then herself die, or, comply. As I am aware you use spies, I understand you are also familiar with their purpose. Entertaining 'had she not', all of them and most of the Foundation team would be dead, and we would not be talking. Therefore: yes. It was necessary, for this outcome." » What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden? Druvis is thoughtful for a moment. "That she had somewhere else to be and was only spending a short time with any one moment. I met her before the Storm began, and she was much more... evocative. She did not martyr herself, nor did she desecrate her tongue for spycraft." » What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase? "I spent my time in the rain, listening to a forest that had not known the hand of anyone, much less a humble one such as mine. I found a forest to belong to, again, and wish to return to it. When called, I was the last to leave. I was resting in a chair, I believe, at the time." » What was your reason for participating in the so-called 'Suitcase Rebellion' that occupied a building on the Foundation campus? What actions or attitudes expressed by the Foundation influenced those beliefs? Druvis blinks slowly and eases into her seat with shoulder. This much talking, in this way, tires her. Dresses and gowns and maneuvers with words.
Ein	Druvis draws a breath, draws strength to continue. "I was left by the humans of Chicago, a broken aristocrat and arcanist too. I was left by the Foundation of Chicago, a woman useless as an asset to them. I was left by the way-side, in a burned down shell kept silent by my grief, and the men of Chicago - by any name - presumed as they do and left me to my devices. When they came before me, came upon me, I was treated with the antipathy I had come to expect despite all reason. Oh, how championed reason is, until it is convenient to terminate reason's turning and settle upon convenient stopped-moment truth." Raggedly, Druvis exhales. Vertin made request of her. To be a soldier. She could not say this thing. Even Vertin could not offer 'feeding the masses of people', lifting community into a cornucopia of all. "As an unbroken line of presumption, and derision, when I was at last extracted from the Suitcase it was then taken from 'us', from Vertin, as Vertin had been taken from 'us', from the world, without answer. Constant presumption." Druvis tilts head, hangs falling across eyes in a different way. "I was presented with papers to accept on the spot. There were so many layers of wrongness, of lack of care, of failure to... connect, that it took me time even after the meeting to process it. And yet, clearly, there was thought of me. Yet it only ever could count against me, do you understand?" She is witness, and there is no call and response, but she continues her dryvoiced sermoning from seat anyway. "Near eleven years after the Foundation cut me loose, and weeks after I was met with an official," Constantine. "That same official finally deigned to tell me what was actually expected of me - as a part of a power play. Something to 'get' me. To ascribe to morals the expected receipt of everything that I am." Emerald eyes close, and Druvis draws in shaky breath. "She, and I, and trees, all bleed. That there is some color or character to each that is different does not separate us. They are as connected to us as our lungs are, to every whispering blade of grass. . ." Though, she knows, she had spoken to afflatus too obviously when she said 'and trees'. "She, and I, bleed. Why can we not hear each other? It seems as if I am only now hearing the Foundation as it wished and wisihes to be known." It seems as if only now they care, when she is wand-maker and druid and silent-walker. But there is not even thin argument to a subsidized life, a supporting state here - she lived in the woods! Because that was her home! Ash-burnt at human hands! Left there, only left there so it would be invincible in its grief, by her. "So, if you wish of kind and giving hand, some motion at some time might communicate that. Vertin... Was someone who reached out without regard for who I was." A beat. "Despite being 'Arcanist'. Despite being suited at the time for masks. Despite my ragged hospitality. To be responsible for welfare and peace and for there to be sickness and war is a failure." She doubles back. "If this Pedra is to lead Chicago, may he be so self-interested that he sees the value in others. So self-minded that his sight expands. To court allies, to reach and invest in what is actually wanted, rather than the fat and careless bumbling of a fat and bumbling America. May he be lean, and hungry, and driven - driven to want better. Driven to listen. Chicago was a town that had almost begun to listen. Then it burned, listening to the ticker's clarion call and death-rattle. It all burned, but it did not have to be left in ashes."
Ein	"I do what suits me. I listen to what supports me. I belong to the forest, and I came to this place holding nothing. When offered nothing but plays of power, I responded in kind. If that was the language - the only language - that the Foundation offers, it will be what is spoken in. It was not the language Vertin conversed in, and her words reached me. I would continue to speak with her. I would continue to trust her. I do not trust 'The Foundation', but I am here because of the radical yet timely actions of your Timekeeper, and I have no current designs to return to Manus Vindictae. I tire of revenge. I tire of being a soldier. I tire of endless games of power. I am tired. Either give me a reason to stop fighting, or present to me the Timekeeper and allow me to speak to someone who understands." What she could do for the Foundation was so much, but she absolutely and bitterly refused to give it away for free. After a lifetime of taking she became suited to having nothing so she could not be taken from. She was tired of it. She wanted to grow, she wanted to live. » In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards? "Vertin," Druvis had not wanted more. She had been painfully, rakingly done with the questioning some time back and had been moved to speak greatly. She just had the dregs of a draught, a scattering of seeds she wished were hopeful. "Recovered. . . myself, and Ms. Sotheby. Despite rescuing Schneider, her men, a whole community of people from Chicago, anyone who would stay..." "She saved anyone she could. No matter what. It's just," Eyes fallen, Druvis emits a soft 'khhk', balling hands on lap. She wouldn't cry, or she'd lose all her power utterly. "They couldn't make it." She commemorates, and exhales in exhaustion. "I cannot answer your questions for you, about what to think about your people or your reputation. I wish - I would hope - that reason can be found in the turning, and there is something good that comes of this. Something growing, budding, positive. This is what cannot be offered by 'revenge', by pain eternal, by screaming because the sound will reach no-one's ears. There must be something different." It would be breaking for anything else to be true. "I hope this effort finds it, in seed or bud. I am not a skilled negotiator. I am not invincible. I will not live to see it all. But I hope to see the beginning. None of this begins without your Timekeeper, Vertin."
Timekeeper	This whole trial is, ostensibly, Sonetto's fault. Madam Z is the political force that linked Pedra's case to this one and provided the authority necessary for it to come to any real attention, and Vertin's premonitory guidance illuminated every step along the way, but it is Sonetto that led the investigation. Her work for the past two months was to bring this trial to fruition, so that Vertin could come back and the justice that the Foundation inexorably bends to could be served. Despite her title of 'Investigator' though, she's not a frequent interrogator of internal affairs. This is her first time in the Special Court for a hearing where she is the challenger against actions taken by the Foundation itself. So despite this being her home territory as an investigator, she's bracing herself nearly as much as Odette is when her name is called. "May the peace be with us. Please introduce yourself to the court, including your relevant occupational positions." "May the peace be with us." After the mirrored motto, Sonetto takes a deep breath and places her briefcase on the witness stand, but she doesn't open it yet. "I am Sonetto, employee ID S-F-3-8-0-0-0-0-0-0-8-0-1-1-0-2-Y. I am a top graduate of the School for the Primary Defense of Mankind as well as the Arcanist Youth Field Training Academy. I have been a Chief Investigator since 1999+11, and the Timekeeper's Assistant for the past fifteen months." "What is your relationship to the Timekeeper?" "I was assigned to assist them beginning in April of last year. They have been my immediate supervisor in an administrative and operative capacity ever since." "And how were you chosen for that position?" "... I knew Timekeeper from our days in school together." "Before the day of the Storm, what was your perspective on the human-arcanist relations in Chicago, and what activities were you engaged in there?" "Your Honor, I would like to reference Dr. Patricia Miles' 1993 study, 'A Critical Historical Examination of Comparative Civil Progress by Nation, from 1791 to 1991'." "Why is that?" "The United States of America fell considerably below western European standards for amicability in race relations between the years 1920 and 1966, according to Dr. Miles. I'd like to make it clear that my response is formulated towards the actions that the Chicago branch took to improve relations during the era, rather than the tensions that existed beforehand." "Alright. Go ahead." "Having visited the de-facto arcanist ward of the city on multiple occasions, including those relating to the Manus Vindictae-induced race riots, I saw no Foundation presence besides what was sent by Headquarters. A full review of all programming and publications released by the Chicago branch during the ninth era reveals little effort towards any broadcasting attempts to reduce tensions that rose to violence, despite the Public Service Motion of 1999+7 authorizing the use of chronologically asynchronous propaganda techniques in fostering positive public opinion." Sonetto's testimony irritates the men sitting at the defendants' table more and more, until their lawyer springs to his feet to address the judge. "Your Honor, this is irrelevant! These are impermissible generalizations based on a very small amount of evidence."
Timekeeper	"Sustained. Please keep to the question asked." "Understood. Relations were poor, and became worse." "What interactions did you have with the Chicago Foundation branch of that era?" "Timekeeper requested their support several times for transport or basic materiel on both high and low urgency field missions. Each time, we were met with reluctance or underbudgeted assistance, such as a limited number and availability of cars for transporting the squadron we had with us." "Briefly describe the events of June 8, 1999+13 (1929) from your perspective." "Please see my report, your honor." Given the unexpected onset of the Storm, in your opinion, was the mission that day successful or not? This is the first question that gives Sonetto pause for a while. The bitter taste of watching the reversals happen right in front of her comes back strongly again, and recollecting on Schneider too long at this point in her testimony can only make her stumble. "... I will defer to my supervisor, your honor." "Where were you when the Timekeeper swore allegiance to the Manus Vindictae? Do you believe it was operationally necessary for them to do so?" "Um... I do. Arcana's arcane skill was, and remains, unknown, and Timekeeper was surrounded by the Manus Vindictae. Book three of the SPDM-curriculum's Introductionto Strategy elaborates on the circumstances necessary for deception and false double-crossing, which Timekeeper's assessment of the situation confirms." "What was the Timekeeper's presented attitude towards the Manus Vindictae and the Foundation while in the Walden?" "Timekeeper has not faltered in her loyalty to the Foundation and our mission to oppose the Manus Vindictae." "What were you doing during the duration of the Storm while sheltered in the Suitcase?" "Timekeeper explained to me her intentions with this investigation and for what was to come, and I assisted with rest and recovery after the mission. ... Also, we collected the articles left behind by those that were killed by the Storm." "If the claimed record of misconduct and mismanagement by the Chicago branch is proven true, Councilor Pedra will assume control of the operations of the office. Do you believe that he would be better suited for this role?" "I do not believe he could be worse." The insult that Tamamo had kept unspoken comes out of Sonetto of all people, but it's more bitter towards the Chicago branch than to Pedra. "I have not worked with him on any occasion before this, but he seems to be a competent and reasonable politician whose beliefs align with the Foundation's mission."
Timekeeper	"What is your opinion on the people, from 1966 and 1929, recruited by the Timekeeper? In your view, does she have preferences or biases in the people she extends those efforts towards?" All of the people referred to strictly by that statement are right here in this room. Sonetto looks away from the judge and lawyers, towards the witnesses' seating where Karson, Bellwhistle, Sotheby, Druvis, and Regulus are all sitting, having given their own testimonies already. Her gaze lands on Regulus in particular, and the encouragement in her eyes gives Sonetto the jumpstart to speak. "I disapproved strongly of Regulus when Timekeeper first welcomed her into the Suitcase. I thought highly of Miss Bellwhistle and the Ainsworth office, but I was unaware of their involvement with the Watch until the day of the Storm. Miss Druvis was with the Manus Vindictae. And Schneider...." Sonetto looks down at the stand, and the briefcase on it, with the Foundation embossed symbol like a brand on its side. "... But they all deserve to live. They all think highly of Timekeeper. I cannot say if they are biased, or if it is just that I cannot see what Timekeeper sees, but... over this past year, I have come to know Regulus better, and she is a kind and loyal person, a good friend, and a valuable companion in the field under Timekeeper's instruction. I believe that all of them can be. I believe that the community Timekeeper creates is important." "Any other testimonies or comments relevant to the Timekeeper's authority and efficacy, or to the handling of the Storm of 1929 on the Foundation's part?" "Yes." The unusually firm answer is followed by a short silence, both from Sonetto and from the Special Prosecutor, as the latter waits for the former to continue. Sonetto braces herself, then lurches with the momentum of her declaration to spin the lock on the briefcase open, take out a huge pile of papers from within, and argue her case. "I would like to make my personal opinion clear, as an Investigator and an employee of this Foundation and the mission we all share, that the Foundation's office in Chicago can and must become better. In my hands is my documentation of the many failings of the Chicago branch, submitted as evidence for their administrative restructuring." "I have evidence of budgetary failings, embezzlement, fraud, dereliction of duty in providing aid to arcanists in need, and evidence of conspiracy to obstruct justice, in paper records of conversations between myself and the staff of the office, where they claimed to not have relevant records that would prove their guilt." "Records are often lost during the changing of Eras, especially from an unprecedented Storm like 1929's. Why do you not believe the records were lost honestly?" "Because I received authorization for search and seizure from the Investigator Bureau and retrieved them myself."
Timekeeper	"Understood. Then, if there's nothing else, we'll review the evidence is private." "There is." Sonetto has to raise her voice to be heard over the clamoring of indignation coming from the Chicago defendants' table, and her voice strains with emotion. "The financial misconduct is proof of the individuals in charge of the branch being unfit, but I have another issue that needs to be stated. To the perspective of civilians all across the world, our bureaucracy is the face of the St. Pavlov Foundation, and the face of the Chicago office is-- repulsive to me!" Sonetto works herself up into a state just sort of tears and rage as she continues, roughly digging through her papers and emphasizing them with a sharp tap on the stand with each relevant one. "Miss Bellwhistle, Miss Druvis, Sotheby-- none of the people of this era felt safe, supported, or even noticed by the St. Pavlov Foundation! Does this not violate the declaration of our motto, to "Fight for the Peace and Order of Mankind"?! Schneider Greco, an arcanist of a human family, came to your doors to ask for help, caught between the threat of the Storm and the Manus Vindictae, and the response you gave her, we found in the pocket of her suit after the Storm took her!" Sonetto thrusts out an old crumpled letter, with the Foundation gold clearly on it, and a response in pen scrawled crudely over all the rest of the lettering. Near-shouting what it says, "'Paupers fuck off'!" "You failed Schneider, and through her, you failed all of Chicago, and arcanists and humans everywhere. With the Manus Vindictae escalating their activities, and the Storm taking more and more people every era, this is not the image and reputation the Foundation should have with the people we are meant to help!" "Thank you, Investigator. We'll review the evidence now. May the peace be with us." Sonetto ducks her head, ears red and breathing heavily. "... Thank you, your honor. May the peace be with us." Stepping away from the stand and rejoining the others in the witnesses booth, she murmurs, "I seemed to get... too emotional just now...."