Official Transcript: Security Camera Footage: EPD Interrogation Room 3: 07/24/2175

[Begin Playback at 1130 Local Time]

[Aucaman and Mattingly sit at a table in an empty interrogation room. They face a mirror on one side of the room. They are handcuffed to the table. A door behind them opens and a man steps in]

CALVIN: Good morning you two. I'm Alistair Calvin, I think we've met before. I'm sorry...I'd shake your hands, but, well, I think we both know that won't work in this case.

[Neither answer him. Calvin sits opposite them. He taps icons on the table and brings up images on its screen]

CALVIN: You two put up quite a fight out there. You see that? That's all the damage you did to our only remote SWAT force. It's going to cost a lot of money to buy new ones, and all of that's taxpayer dollars. That should mean something to you at least Mr. Aucaman. How many petitions have your parents signed asking to defund Interlink subsidies?

AUCAMAN: The problem's not the money, it's the Interlinks.

CALVIN: Is that so? A bit of pro-Novan sentiment then? And what will we find in your internet records? More of the same, I suppose? And what about Gennady Semyonov? Plenty of his broadcasts, I'll bet?

AUCAMAN: Maybe. Maybe not. If you don't know, I don't have any reason to tell you yet.

CALVIN: Mr. Aucaman, just listening to you talk is enough to indicate an association with a dissident and a self-proclaimed revolutionary. And who else fits that description?

AUCAMAN: There are lots of dissidents who aren't revolutionary. Semyonov just happens to be the one doing something about the Hegemony's dishonesty.

CALVIN: By causing riots and public disturbances?

AUCAMAN: I suppose if that's what's necessary.

CALVIN: And what about terrorism?

[Slight pause]

AUCAMAN: Oh. That's where you're going with this.

CALVIN: A known dissident with sympathy to Semyonov-ist extremism in possession of advanced weapons technology. You yourself threatened to detonate it and take yourself with it. That's on record, video record, from police drones on the scene, so you can't deny it, especially without an Interlink to provide a possible counter story. You were intending to use the weapon to destroy something. What was it? The high school class that you could have joined and enjoyed by installing an Interlink of your own? The Ambience facility in Helena? Your own family who refused to let you join the human race by installing an Interlink? Or something bigger?

AUCAMAN: I suppose it'll be whatever is most useful to your boss, won't it?

CALVIN: Oh, it'll be the true story. That's why I'm asking. Which one is it?

AUCAMAN: (sighs) Everything you want to know is in my journal. I kept a careful record all night. It should answer your questions.

CALVIN: Yes, the one about a giant monster chasing you through the woods and hunting Ms. Mattingly here. I don't think you could have come up with a more obviously fabricated account.

MATTINGLY: But it's true! Pull my Interlink data, you'll see that all of it's true! I saw it all! It'll be recorded!

CALVIN: According to the Human Privacy Act of 2083, personal Interlink records aren't recorded by Ambience Corp. The Hegemony and Ambience Corp. issued a promise not to spy on you and your thoughts. Remember?

MATTINGLY: But this is a matter of life and death! I'm asking you to pull those records!

CALVIN: According to the Hegemony and Ambience Corp., they don't exist. But now that you speak up, it does raise an interesting question in my mind. What were you doing in that cabin? What was your role in this terrorism mess?

MATTINGLY: There's no terrorism and I did nothing and you know it.

CALVIN: What I do know is that somebody with your voiceprint called our assets "metal bastards." I also know that unless Mr. Aucaman here is incredibly dexterous, somebody had to be firing a 12-guage shotgun out the window while he was operating the advanced weapon. Now you'll forgive me for connecting the dots, but that makes it seem like you're in league with a known terrorist.

AUCAMAN: Alleged.

CALVIN: But I also know that you are a woman on a mission. I was on duty when we received the call about your house and your sister. It's a terrible story.

MATTINGLY: So what?

CALVIN: So. You were highly distraught last night. Your home was gone. Your sister was missing. Your life seemed to be falling to pieces. Then, Mr. Aucaman came to you with the promise that he could find your sister for you. You were distrustful, so you brought your boyfriend Brent Calhoun. Mr. Aucaman led you out to the woods to a cabin he knew about. There he tried to convince you to join his insane, paranoid conspiracy, in which he described Hegemony monetary ties to Ambience Corp., and Ambience involvement in local government, and asked you to join his plan to attack Ambience facilities in Helena. When you refused, he became angry, killed Brent, and held you hostage. Isn't that right Ms. Mattingly?

MATTINGLY: Why, you...

AUCAMAN: Cynthia...

MATTINGLY: That's not what happened. I'll never say that.

CALVIN: If you say it, that's what happened.

MATTINGLY: Who cares what I say? You know what happened. It's in Billy's stupid book, it's in my head, it's on the recording...

AUCAMAN: Cynthia...

MATTINGLY: What?

AUCAMAN: He's offering you a way out.

MATTINGLY: What do you mean?

AUCAMAN: That's going to be the story either way. It doesn't matter what actually happened. That's the story. I'm going down either way. You say that, you get to go free.

MATTINGLY: But it's bullshit...

AUCAMAN: Nobody's going to care that it's bullshit. It's clean and it's quick. You have one chance to go free. You should take it.

[Pause]

CALVIN: You should listen to the man. He may be homicidal and unstable, but he isn't stupid. He knows when to quit. [sniffs the air] But boy, does he smell like fish. What did you do, roll in the stuff?

[Pause]

MATTINGLY: You know what? No. No, I will not say it. I would have died out there if it wasn't for him. Or maybe worse. I don't know. But I know there's no way I'm going to sit here and listen to you lie and, and, and pretend that you didn't kill Brent, and that everything's normal, and that Olivia's not still out there wherever that thing took her, and...

CALVIN: I get the idea.

MATTINGLY: And you can't just pretend that all that bullshit is true. No one will believe it. The evidence is right in front of you.

CALVIN: How sure are you of that?

MATTINGLY: What?

CALVIN: How sure are you that no one will believe it?

MATTINGLY: Well, of course they won't. It's stupid from start to finish.

CALVIN: And you know that no one close to you would ever believe it?

MATTINGLY: Of course not.

CALVIN: I wonder...

[Calvin taps some icons on the table's screen. He types a command into the screen]

CALVIN: Let's find out, shall we?

[Calvin makes a final tap on the screen. An image appears on the screen. Mattingly gasps]

CALVIN: Allow me to introduce you to Lieutenant Paul Sirtis. You obviously don't see him; he's linked up to our device. But I think you recognize all your High School friends? And, oh, look, it seems that he's found your parents as well. And they have recently been told about your actions last night. And here, [Calvin pulls up another screen], is Special Agent Alice O'Hare in Atlanta, your hometown, with a number of your friends there. They've been told the same. So what do you think they'll say?

MATTINGLY: I... I...

CALVIN: Let's find out!

[Calvin presses a button]

SCREEN: Hi Cynthia, you bitch! We just heard that you tried to slut out as some terrorist's whore! Did you like that, huh?

MATTINGLY: Alison?

SCREEN: Hope you like jail you piece of shit! 'Cause you're going to spend a long time in there!

Hey, maybe you'll get a cell next to your terrorist boyfriend!

Oh, by the way, how was fucking Billy Aucaman?

[A series of exaggerated moans emanates from the screen. Mattingly begins to cry as more and more people she had thought were friends turn on her]

SCREEN: Oh, hey, I just saw your sesame score! I didn't know you could get below a hundred points! I'm ashamed to even be your friend at this point. Oh, wait, I'm not your friend!

You'd have to be a pimp to like her! That's all she's good for now!

Oh, by the way, did you know that Brent posted a shit ton of porn of you? Back before you shot him, that is? Yeah, well he did, and we've been watching it. It's amazing! You have to be athletic to do some of those things!

Did you do any of them with Billy? Which ones?

That's so gross!

[Mattingly sobs and turns her head from the screen. Aucaman seethes but can't do much, so he reaches over and takes her hand in his two cuffed hands]

SCREEN: Do you know something, Cynthia?

MATTINGLY: Dad?

SCREEN: I'm taking a fifty-point reduction just for fathering you. I wish I'd known back then that you'd be a complete waste. We never would have engineered you at all. Who knows. Maybe if you hadn't been around, Olivia wouldn't have flipped her lid and gone running off. Tell me, was that you too?

Yeah, I'll bet it was!

I'll bet she was with them! Think of the threesomes that they would've had!

I'd rather not. Ugh!

MATTINGLY: No! Please!

SCREEN: Cynthia, it's your mother. I hate you. Do you hear me? I hate you.

[Mattingly screams. She struggles in her restraints and pounds her feet on the floor. Aucaman slams his fists on the table. The screen cracks]

AUCAMAN: Enough!

[Mattingly sobs. Aucaman stares at Calvin and breathes heavily. Calvin sits back and stares]

CALVIN: It doesn't have to be this way, Cynthia. Just admit the true story. Tell us what really happened. Who knows? Maybe they'll understand. Maybe this can all go away with a few simple words. Worth a try, I'd say.

[Mattingly sobs. Aucaman takes her hand again. Mattingly draws in a breath between sobs]

MATTINGLY: Fuck you!

[Mattingly continues to sob. Aucaman and Calvin are expressionless. Calvin stands]

CALVIN: I'll give you some time to think about this. But not too long, I should think. Think hard before I come back.

[Calvin stands and exits the room while Mattingly sobs]

[End Playback]

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Yeah, this chapter is a bit dark. Normal content will be restored shortly. Thanks for reading, the real jonbrain.