2 days later, Anri was home at the soy farm, helping the old man who was performing some routine maintenance on an auto planter. His communicator pinged and showed him an encrypted mail from Nova that required a four-digit numerical password to access it.
The mail came with the warning that entering the wrong code would trigger the destruction of the message that it contained. The sorcerer thought about it for a few seconds and entered the numbers on the tags that had been in their hands. Exactly four tags with four numbers that he entered in the order they had acquired them.
The password was accepted and it revealed its contents to him.
Encryption code: Yellow Public
From: NOVA S. AINSWORTH
To: ANRI
Subject: Read this when you know you're not being watched.
Msg : //Anri, there's a matter that has come to my attention. we're being investigated for cheating. Only a select few individuals at Starfield know about this. From what I've gathered, the principal initiated the investigation in response to some complaints she received from a faculty member with connections to Loda's father.
After reviewing the footage of the battle, they think we somehow snuck in a minor fusion reactor to power the gun you built. If I'm being honest, I can't say the investigation is unwarranted. You pulled off something amazing but they're right to worry about the almost magical way you found a live power source at the boneyard. Regardless, they have no proof of any cheating because we went in after getting ourselves scanned.
If they find evidence of wrongdoing, we will be facing some trouble with the law. If they don't, they'll interview all four of us, including Jason. I've sent you this warning because I want you to be prepared for whatever accusations they may try to throw at us. Soren and I know nothing about the source of power that you found so we'll be professing ignorance of it. I trust you because though I don't know just how you pulled it off, I believe there's no way you could have smuggled in a battery.
Principal Tori will ensure a fair investigation but I've hired a lawyer to protect our interests and to keep the investigation under wraps. Having this leaked might have long-lasting impacts on our reputations so I request that you refrain from telling anyone else about it. I will keep you informed about the matter if and when I do receive further information regarding it.//
Anri closed the message and continued what he had been doing. The sorcerer wasn't very worried about the investigation because he knew they would never find proof of any wrongdoing. They could fabricate proof, of course, but Nova was involved in this. She was his safety net if they decided to attack with lies.
____
The teenager had been right in his confidence about the investigation failing to find any concrete proof of his cheating. Their full-body scans at the gate were scrutinised and it was determined that none of them were carrying any concealed and/or suspicious objects. This led to the investigators suspecting that a worker from the boneyard was secretly colluding with someone from team purple. They believed that the employee had planted a battery in advance and Anri had used it.
However, this lead was also questioned when they failed to establish a link between the teenagers and any one of the multiple employees at the boneyard.
Close to the date of admissions, Anri, Soren, Jason, and Nova were called in for separate and joint interviews with the team. As the first to be interrogated, Anri found himself travelling to a location called the Sky's Paw. The place was so named because of the paw-shaped impression on the high altitude peninsula where the building sat.
"This way," Anri was greeted by an intern when he entered the door of the sprawling glass and metal construct that had become the HQ of the Astro-Scientists Association. They were a large membership of scientists who lived in the solar system and across the galaxy.
"Anri, right? I saw your battle at the boneyard," the young man enthusiastically gushed. "That was some fantastic engineering work you did!"
"Thanks," Anri replied. It seemed the young man had no idea why Anri had been called here.
"How did you power it? I combed through the video but I didn't see-"
"Paul, let the kid go. They're waiting for him," another intern, a woman this time, reminded the enthusiastic young man.
_____
"Welcome, Mister Anri. Take a seat."
The man who had spoken to him was a short, portly looking fellow with a thick moustache. There were four more others with him, all seated at the table.
Anri lowered himself on a hard high stool. He felt the pressure of five pairs of eyes scrutinising his every move.
"Tell me, how did you smuggle in the fusion reactor?" The moustachioed man began without preamble.
"I didn't. You won't hear a different answer from me so if you intend to keep pressing me about it, I'll have you know in advance that I don't lie and won't change my stance on it."
The five adults in the room were too professional to show their reactions to his answer. Nevertheless, Anri knew it had annoyed the moustachioed one.
"You don't lie, eh? Why don't we strap you on to a lie detector and try this again?"
Anri inclined his head. Maybe this would be a sure way to skip through the bullshit and prove his 'innocence' in one round of inquiry.
"Under two conditions," Anri replied as he recalled Nova's message. "There will be a contract that outlines what you can and cannot ask me. I'll have my lawyer beside me the entire time, from beginning to the end. If that's acceptable to you then we'll go ahead and get this done so my time isn't wasted with multiple fruitless inquiries."
The group of adults were miffed by Anri's attitude. Young teenagers, orphans like him from the planets in the wild part of space shouldn't have had the confidence and sophistication to deal so calmly with people above his station. More so when he was being investigated. His answer to them was a small but significant shift in control of the situation.
"Hah, aren't you a smart one? What if I disagree then, and continue to, as you put it, waste your time with fruitless inquiries?"
Anri felt as if he was dealing with a belligerent youngster. "It's up to you," he told the man. "I'm quite keen on not wasting the time of important men such as yourselves but if you insist on taking the scenic route then be my guest. It's no skin off my back."
"How dare you?!"
"That's enough Fosen," the man to his left spoke. He wore a dark brown suit that was crumpled but clean.
"I- do you see the way he's speaking to me?"
Fosen was ignored by brown suit who turned to Anri and spoke with more politeness. "We accept your conditions. Return to this same location tomorrow at the same time with your lawyer and we'll be ready with the test."