"N– No, madam. We… We will conclude the preliminary questioning for now. We will ask again if we don't understand something."
"Humph!"
In response to the officer, Liz simply snorts. Without another word, she turns to me and takes me by the hand.
"Max, let's go."
I make a face at the officer, nothing outrageous, really, and I show him the tip of my tongue just to annoy him further.
Liz catches that display of mine. She rolls her eyes, but with a smile that sweeps away her indignation and she pulls me out of the room. Outside, we meet others with peculiar faces. They must have witnessed what happened, or maybe heard it when Liz barred her claws inside.
We pass through the corridor, and in the lobby, meet some other people again. This time, they are relevant to us because they are the officials of the school, including the principal, among those who have not been left behind to take care of the situation my improvised broadcast has provoked.
Of course they must be present at the police station for the investigation. Though, it seems to me it is more to get a better understanding of the situation from them than to find someone to take responsibility.
Speaking of responsibility, I think I'm guilty of damaging some school properties. Though, if anyone dares to bring that up and tries to make trouble, I can only imagine what my sister will do to them. As they say, the gentlest are the fiercest.
The thought makes me smile.
"Student Lockdream–"
Liz stops short, and with just her gaze, makes the principal swallow back whatever he wanted to say. She also stopped the rest who had stepped up to follow him toward us.
Her gaze is dark and heavy, just like the snort that she follows with.
"Humph!"
It is a sound full of threats that are left hanging in the air. I suppose, translated, that means they'd better know their place if they do not want her vengeance coming to slam down on them like a heavenly hammer.
She levels her glare at all the school officials, before she resumes the steps that have stopped, and pulls me along.
It is satisfying, not seeing the school officials sweating, but rather, the protection. Liz doesn't need to say it. She just straight up makes me feel it. With her before me, nothing will ever get to me, at least nothing bad, only the good.
"Max, let's go!"
I tighten my hold on my backpack and hurry my steps behind her.
"Get in the car."
I glance at the backseat. For a fleeting moment, I recall the same backseat of a car now crumpled, and most probably recycled already. When I sit in front, I throw my bag behind after taking out my phone. I fasten my seatbelt, making it settle in the middle of the protrusions on my chest.
I was afraid the screen of my phone would have cracked with the fall from the rooftop, but my books have done a good job dampening the shock. I think many have forgotten about it, not even thinking about checking it for any other evidence.
"During my time, we couldn't access broadcast equipment remotely."
I raise my head to see Liz looking at me as she makes her seatbelt settle in the valley between her fleshy mountains. I recall what happened in the room I broke into at school, and smile a little.
"Lucky me then. Now we have a computer to control the equipment, and it can be easily accessed remotely."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I suppose it is for all the devices that need to have a remote access for one reason or another."
I look down at the phone, and my smile fades away. I recall yesterday, early in the morning. I recall what I heard, and indirectly stood witness to. That was different from just the images I have fleetingly seen. Maybe only the videos I have yet to watch might compare, videos many would be excited by.
I tighten my hold on my phone, just short of trying to crack the screen that has survived the day. Liz starts the car.
"You know, sis, I think it is because of what happened yesterday that Tyne managed to smell something fishy in the end."
"What happened yesterday?"
I silently go into my recordings and play an audio. It is something neither long nor short, just the part of the encounter I recorded outside the sports equipment room yesterday.
It is just that it feels too clear. I didn't know my phone had such a good microphone. I can't help but apprehend how good of a video it could have recorded.
The sound of someone just two to three years older than me being degraded, treated more like an object than a girl her age, a student, takes over the calm of the car. From the corner of my eyes, I see Liz clench her fists over the steering wheel.
As the audio progresses, and it reaches the part where it transforms into a show of the master dominating his pet, Liz's arm trembles a little. Maybe, apart from anger and indignation, there is fear behind the claws she has barred to stand before me ever since hearing about what happened.
Even now, Emmie is still at the hospital under observation to ensure that she will not suffer from any sequela.
Liz exhales and pulls me out of my thoughts.
"Do you have a copy of the evidence you have submitted?"
I'm surprised, but still I nod.
"Yes. They asked me not to access the two servers I let Tyne erase the content of to distract him, and his small library too, but there is a third server that no one knows about. I sent you its details before going to the rooftop as a contingency."
"Good. If anything happens and that bastard gets a chance, we will push him back into the water so that he can drown. Now let's go home. You need to take a shower."
The last sentence doesn't let me ruminate over the first part of what she said. I look down at myself and smile wryly, but with no discomfort. I don't have the energy for that. So I simply laugh.
"Then let's go, sis. You have not been home for a while."