12 Trial 12: Questions

What Mr. Thomas said about my mama, being the only one who had an idea of this hideout caused me to ask her, "Mama, how come you know of this place?"

Mama answers, "If you remember what I said about us going to the office of an attorney that was referred by Bob, that's the reason. Your uncle Bob instructed his lawyer to hand over an enclosed envelope to me. Inside that envelope were the address and the key to this hideout. I was instructed to not tell anyone about this, not even to your papa. This hideout is located underneath an abandoned amusement park which is why no one has found us yet. Bob must have foreseen that this time will come."

All I could say is "I see."

"Aunt Mari, she doesn't seem to have any more questions, so I guess we're done here," commented Dashiell.

I refute his comment, "Not yet. I still have a lot to ask. First, how is framing Dr. Al and Mr. Thomas connected to Dr. Foley's scheme? I mean, what benefit did he gain from that?"

"Good question. Mariangelise had cited earlier that his unlawful experimentation on a human subject was discovered, leading to his termination. I am the protege of the person who discovered and exposed his act. As for Thomas, his shop had always been one of the valued suppliers of the hospital I worked at."

I continue, "So, it's exacting revenge, isn't it?"

Dr. Al affirms, "Yup, so now you know how dangerous yet petty that Foley is. So, what's your next question?"

"About those dummies that mama and her comrades had fought with, what exactly are they? Are they robots or puppets?"

This time Dashiell speaks up, "In a way they are. What distinguished them from robots is that they are bodies of brain dead humans whose families had abandoned them; hence, their bodies were forfeited and they were illegally bought by that skank, Foley. They were programmed with A.I. and injected with some sketchy drugs formulated by that skank which is why they could function just as humans could."

Dashiell's answer caused me to cringe but I decided to carry on with my inquiries. I threw an inquiry one at a time and I received answers in the same way. This hideout is equipped with everything, from safety measures up to healthcare kinds of stuff that continuously improved over time, which I find cool. It must be why Dr. Al managed to completely treat mama then. Uncle Bob left a fresh start and hope not only for us but for the whole world. Meanwhile, I also learned that papa Loic died inside the hideout of one of Dr. Foley's men. On the day of my last piano recital back in high school, some of Dr. Foley's henchmen tried abducting me. Papa intervened by shouting by the gate of our school that Dr. Foley's henchmen had attempted to extort money from him so a ruckus started; it now makes sense why my performance got delayed. Back to the ruckus, Dr. Foley's henchmen drove away from the scene. Papa called the cops to report the vehicle that Dr. Foley's henchmen were using. The cops chased after their vehicle with my papa on board with them. Both vehicles were running fast. Suddenly, Dr. Foley's henchmen's SUV halted without hitting a brake signal causing my the cops' car to collide with their SUV. Papa and the cops were taken in by Dr. Foley's henchmen. Unbeknown to them, papa brought with him some safely packed portable explosives that can be remotely controlled. Papa played along with all the torturing until he extracted enough information he could transmit to us. He puts up a fight so he can call me one last time before detonating the explosives. He persevered with all the pain to decrease the number of people that we have to deal with and to get useful information. He died alongside those loads of bullcrap. It turned out good for us but at the cost of losing my papa's life.

About the pocket watch that was given to me, Dashiell told me that it has tracking and information storage features which allowed mama to not only know of my whereabouts but also to send information to us. Whatever information that gets into that will be shared onto papa's phone. In the same way, papa can also transmit and store information in it.

When I asked how the burning of our house is related to the situation, mama said that Dr. Foley's camp must have discovered about the pocket watch so they tried to steal it, but as they failed to find it, they decided it was best to burn down our house.

Lastly, as for how was it that I got fired even before I started working as a part-time private piano tutor, Dashiell said while looking away, that it must be because of my incompetence, which I didn't buy so I pressed on, "Really? How come they rained praises on me during the interview and assessment? Do you have to look away while telling me the reason? Hmm... Someone's hiding something."

Mr. Thomas and Dr. Al joined in. The former asks, "Son, that's one thing you haven't told any of us here. Tell us what happened then." The latter follows up, "You usually tell us the details on how you did a job so why make this one another exception?"

When I heard the 'another' I raise a brow, "Another? What was that other exception, Dr. Al?"

The doctor replies, "Ah, that; I was referring to the marriage proposal he did back in the park when he disguised as a taxi driver."

I said 'okay.'

Mama somehow got curious as well so she asks, "Dashiell, we're basically like a family here, having lived many years together so, it's unfair that you are keeping that a secret to us. Don't you have trust in us? Or are you perhaps a double agent now, for Foley's sake?"

Hearing about being associated with Dr. Foley causes Dashiell to blurt out, "Me, a double agent for that turd? No way! Alaine got fired because I went to their studio to say that she can't meet the job's requirements because..."

I pressed him on further, "Because what?"

Dashiell resumes, "Because you're pregnant with our child, damn it!"

The confession left me dumbfounded so I fell silent.

As for mama and the rest, they all burst into heaps of laughter.

Dr. Al was the first to recover, "Haha That took guts. How did they believe you though?"

Despite being still embarrassed, Dashiell explains, "I told them she has a delicate gestation since it's her first. I also showed them a fake marriage certificate. Then, I gave them a list of people who can fit into the job's duties before leaving the place."

With that additional information, I angrily inquire, "Who permits you to supply such false information about me to other people? You just made me look lowly, didn't you? There are several other alibis to use for that, so why that pathetic one? And how come I still got a call from them informing me that the job was canceled?"

Dashiell retorts, "Look, I didn't have much time to think about what excuse to use. Besides, it's the most common excuse being used by women to take a leave from work, like in the case of aunt Mari. I requested from Ms. Beverly to give you a call and lie to you that the job post is canceled because I told her that you tend to overwork yourself."

I went his way to hit him and retort, "Even so, that's unacceptable! You should have just said that I am moving away or anything similar to that."

He quickly recovers and holds me up to stop me from attacking him further, then replies, "As unacceptable as it is for you, what's done is done; no one can turn it back. I'm sorry that it made you feel LOWLY about yourself, but geez! Suck it up for now. It's not like you're pregnant or what. And I had to do that because a suspicious person had been trailing behind you, three days after your interview, though you may not have noticed that at all."

Dashiell's last statement had me gasping. Then he adds, "Our top priority was to get you here safely so I didn't beat that man even if I could since it was risky. Who knows, if he had some backup lurking around that time?"

It took a moment after his explanations before I recovered and stopped resisting him.

When Dashiell noticed that I have calmed down, he asks, "Anyway, are you done asking?"

My reply is, "No, I still have one final question," causing Dashiell to facepalm.