Arrest (I) Vatican City (VII)

"Cease fighting."

The calm voice of the leading officer carried itself around the chaos-filled room. From those two words, the fighting ceased entirely, the rampaging children looking around for the source of the voice.

The police officers had long entered the destroyed room, upon seeing the carnage, they put away their batons and brandished tasers. 

Bell was the first to see the commanding officer and looked at the man with hate in her eyes.

'Bastards.' She thought, completely frozen in a defensive stance, her chairs slowly became heavier with each passing moment.

Her actions were nigh-involuntary due to some memories from a while ago. Bell bore bad blood with the government, and the police was a simple extension of their power. 

"Release your weapons." The leading officer commanded.

His voice carried some sort of power to it, and it was a power that Bell, nor her friends, could resist. They all released their active abilities as well as whatever they held within their hands.

"You are all under arrest..."

***

"-for the murder of three people."

There was no sky, only concrete.

There was no grass, only metal grates.

There was no water, only hydrocaps.

There was no food, only scrap rations.

Bell was on the ground near a pile of scrap materials, the corpses of two men and a woman laid near her. In her hand was a slightly dull broadsword that barely held its edge, the blade slick with fresh blood.

She was dirty, her clothes tattered and her hair unkempt. Bell's breathing was heavy and laborious, she had spent all of her energy fending for her siblings. 

A mass of metal and technology stood in front of her, the thing was at least four meters tall. It had no legs, only four wheels, in its arms place was a minigun and an all-purpose tool. 

It's voice rang amidst the falling scrap in nearby scrap dumps. 

[Do you wish to appeal.]

Bell looked up with a weary soul and simply said, "Yes."

The all-purpose tool in the tech guardians right arm whirred to life and a small orb was released. 

[Produce biofuel.]

Bell didn't know what the thing meant, and looked up in silence.

The robot's head then twisted down by a small amount.

[Specification: Draw and pour blood on the memory.]

Bell looked around for something clean to cut herself with, finding nothing.

She bit into her thumb with a wince, then smeared the trailing blood onto the small black orb.

[Analysis.]

The robot then spoke in it's monotone voice, but started to tell a story.

"Down, far into the shafts and darkness, past the concrete and onto the last safe patches of real grass lay a mount of scrapped blades. Around the small hill of grass were the calm waters..."

It seemed to correct itself after a short fizzle of electricity.

"No, the thousands upon thousands of steel graters across the ground as far as the eye could see. But the eye did not see much past the pillars acting as labyrinth that kept New York standing."

It's tone slightly shifted, as if changing as it told the story. The tech guardian's voice carried a tone of fantastical storytelling to it now.

"The pillars that had been built from the remains of the old city by the hands of thousands of tech guardians. Scaffolding that kept the layer above it standing, and what kept the layer above that standing."

As it told its story, the robot started to traverse around the scene of Bell's crime.

"The hands of steel to support hands of flesh to then support the hands of wealth. Crowds began to flock further down, into the land of waste."

A thin red line then scanned the horizon, Bell realized that the tech guardian was looking around for threads. It seemed to come up with nothing, however.

"Tubes above fed scrap into the mounds. Residents gathered scrap to barter, thus was the life of the final nomads."

Bell then realized that it was reading her memories!

'That's why it's called a memory...' She thought.

"The ruins of the elderly buildings crumbled, allowing the construction of more and more living spaces. More and more space wasted by commodification."

Bell saw the way that the robot interpreted her view of the world around her and found it to be slightly flawed.

"The sounds of the millions of machines were the heartbeat of New York. A sickly, destroyed machine heart that was on the verge of collapse. This 'underground' portion of the super metropolis known as New York was truly the remaining civilized land. The Ground Layer."

The robot then hovered nearby a small patch of thin, dead grass. Bell was able to see the malnourished dirt and the writing colonies of bugs fighting against their technological counter-parts.

Small worms and ants of metal bits and bobs desperately fought against the worms and ants of flesh.

"Patches of grass such as this are rare, where life in its truest form still lingers. Still living, still fighting to live."

Slowly, the bugs of steel overtook those of flesh. 

"Rapid footsteps echoed across the metal grates, the metal ground hovered just above the toxic waters around the ground. The rhythm of the footsteps... three sets of footsteps were too quick and short to come from an adult."

The robot wandered far off into the distance where Bell had come from.

"No, these steps came from children. A young girl with short, dirtied scarlet hair carried an even younger girl with sickly blonde hair."

It grew closer as its words entered Bell's ears.

"Behind the girls was a young boy with short red hair. He tried to match the pace of the girls, but failed to do so, coughing and hacking as he followed."

Bell didn't need reminders of her siblings situation. She knew that they needed treatment.

"'He sucked in a bubble of fumes, choking and stumbling. He fell onto the hot grates of the ground with a yelp before he stood up once more and followed."

'That's where he got that mark?!' Bell exclaimed in her mind, her eyes going wide with worry.

"Further behind the children were the voices of three adults arguing. Two were men and one was a woman, they all sounded ill with sludge-lung." The robot grew close enough for Bell to start to make out closer details.

Bell simply nodded at the information, even beyond the clanking of their boots and shoes, she had heard their bickering.

"The girl found the mountain of swords, she hadn't known the reason as to why it laid there, but thanked whatever god or goddess was up there. She carried her sister even faster, speeding the tempo of her footsteps, leaving her brother farther and farther behind."

'I'm sorry, Lucas.' Bell lamented.

"But they reached the mountain of blades without further harm, and the girl let her sister down. As quickly as she let her sister down, she started searching for any weapon that she could use."

Bell then looked at the holes and cuts in her sleeves and shirt. Surprisingly, there were no cuts or even nicks of blood on her dirtied skin.

"In her clamor, she cut herself several times over, ripping and tearing her clothing on the blades and points of swords. She hadn't noticed this in her rush to find something usable, she had to protect her siblings."

It paused for a moment, "Protecting her siblings. That was what mattered."

Bell further didn't appreciate the words that the tech guardian used as it analyzed her memories.

"The girl yelled to her siblings, 'Go, quick! Run to the hideout, I'll be right there!' But the girl didn't know if she would live."

Bell was well aware of her gamble, and was ready to sacrifice herself, but didn't need to.

"The boy looked at the scarlet-haired girl with a look of deep worry and concern, but the girl stared daggers at the boy. Reluctantly, he picked up his blonde sister on his back and began to run further away."

The guardian then paused for another moment, as if telling a story on an opera stage.

"Was it blood, waste, or rain that rusted this steel? The girl didn't care, she didn't care if she got cut, stabbed, maimed, or dirty because of the blades. She just needed something to protect her family, the remainders of it, that was."

The tech guardian then used the giant minigun on its left arm to shift the mountain of blades around, as if looking for something. Bell knew that it didn't, and was making a show for no reason.

But she needed to rest, so she rested on top of some safe looking scrap. As she sat down properly, the stress on her body and mind started to catch up to her.

"The girl remembered something that her mother told her often, 'You will find what you need most in the time that you must find it most.' The girl hadn't understood at the time, but the time in need had long come."

The tech guardian then pointed a laser at the sword that Bell had used. It had been resting against the ground near her.

"The girl started to search more and more frantically the closer and closer that the voices of her pursuers had come. She teared up slightly at the thought of her death, but knew that it wouldn't be in vain."

Bell had time to accustom herself to the stress and had long dispelled the memory of her plans for death.

"She continued to claw for anything that she could use, something light enough to wield but long enough to be deadly. It didn't matter if the material was corroded or if the blade was bent and warped, she needed something."

The tech guardian then planted itself near the bodies and the sword. Its all-purpose tool then shone a thin blue laser that contrasted the dull colors of the ground layer.

The laser pointed at several swords and the remains of Bell's previous rampage for a weapon.

"After the feeling of eternity passed through her several times, the young girl found her weapon. It was a blood-rusted steel sword that looked like it would crumble in her hands, but she knew that it was hers to take."

The blue laser pointer then hovered over and around her new sword, examining it further.

"The sword had called to her, 'Bellona,' it had screamed. The girl, Bellona, then took up her sword and carefully entered the darkness nearby."

Two more lasers then joined the first, but would soon raise above the sword and into the distance, where they would draw closer.

"Bellona didn't know if the sword had really called to her, but she took it anyway, finding its weight and balance perfect for her."

The blue lasers that had been off in the distance grew extremely close.

"As she readied the sword, her pursuers had found her hiding spot."

A holographic version of the man that laid dead on the ground appeared. He was standing perfectly upright and looked alive. 

Bell got up and took a few steps back in fear for her life. 

The voice of the robot appeared from the holographic dead man, "Come on, girlie, just tell us where the blonde one is and we'll spare you and your brother."

The hologram man leaned forward into the shadow where another hologram appeared, one of Bell herself.

"Bellona didn't care for his words, the blonde girl, Audrey, was her sister and Bellona wouldn't have it any other way. She would die for the sickly child."

The hologram of Bellona spun around and cleaved into the hologram man's forearm with her newly acquired sword. From the gash it had left as well as the scream that accompanied it, that right arm wouldn't be of use anymore.

A third hologram appeared, and so did the tech guardian's voice, "You little rat! I'll sell your corpse to the Hive!"

The voice of the robot appeared once more, "Bellona didn't care if she died, and she certainly didn't care what would happen to her corpse. She was here to buy time, not kill the pursuers. If that were to happen, it would simply be a bonus."

The third man in hologram form wielded a stop sign that had been shortened to become wieldable. The weapon was sharpened and looked to be used as a battle axe, of which swung towards the head of the hologram of Bellona.

"She ducked under the swing, sure of her training with her enigma of a teacher." The robots voice said aloud, now simply acting as a third dimensional television set. Re-enacting the scene of the crime in its entirety.

"One of the teachings of Bellona's teacher was 'Make good use of your stature. You are small and swift, like a mouse, act as one.' Often times, after training, he would have Bellona run miles on end."

A fourth and final hologram appeared, the woman wielding a longsword had come into the picture, and began battling the young Bellona. After a few moments, the voice of the robot rang out once more.

"Bellona didn't entirely understand her teachers sayings at the time, but with such a resource passing, she started to understand. Immediately after ducking under a widely arcing slash, Bellona found a opening in the armor and plunged her sword into flesh."

The hologram version of the battle followed as both how the tech guardian announced it, but also how Bell had remembered it herself. She ducked under the slash, then pierced the woman's armpit.

"The woman gasped in shock and slowly exhaled with a groan of pain, slowly falling to the ground. She would no longer be in the fight." 

And that was true, seeing as how her corpse was in the exact same position that she had fallen in.

"Bellona retracted her sword and turned around just in time to see a downward smash from a sharpened stop sign. She rolled to the side and avoided the attack, of which cleaved cleanly through the metal grates."

Bell saw a laser point towards the gash that had been made.

"She ran into the man with an uppercut slash of her sword, the man fell to the ground, coughing blood. All that was left was the first man, with a broken arm, but he was missing."

Behind Bellona's hologram was the first man with a raised blade.

"The man behind Bellona spoke one word, 'Rat,' and if he didn't announce himself, Bellona wouldn't have been able to avoid the attack. But alas, such is the way brains deteriorate when constantly eroded by chemicals."

Bellona's hologram then spun around in a low stance and slashed at the man's unarmored knees. He fell to the ground as well, but wasn't entirely incapacitated. So Bellona did what she soon learned was a strength of hers, and cut the man's head clean off.

"So, at young age of twelve, Bellona wielded a sword and took three lives with said blade." The tech guard finished.

To Bell, it sounded right, mostly.

The voice of the tech guard then reverted to its monotone version and spoke again.

[Do you plead guilty or innocent of murder.]

Bell simply looked up at the metal automaton and replied, "Innocent."

The machine then rolled away, the last words saying:

[Then you shall not be arrested-]

***

"-for Assault and Battery, Destruction of Property, Possession of Weapons, and Disorderly Conduct."

The police officers then started to gather around the stunned students.

"There will be more officers to complete the rest of your arrests. Stand still." The officer continued.

Bell didn't know why she recalled that scene, it was jarring to go from reality to a memory from so long ago. 

She stood still and remained stunned, but slowly regained control over her mind and body. The police officers were all around them and had their tasers ready.

"I'm gonna be frank-" Bell had began to say, but was quickly interrupted.

One of the police officers next to her simply stated, "Be silent!" To which Bell stayed silent.

As she stood around doing nothing, she began examining the leading officer. 

Bell noticed that his clothes were... different, than the rest of the officers. They had a type of feel to them that wasn't right, they were somehow, extra.

She then noticed that the commanding officer spoke into a small cube, which then flashed green and died down. The cube was barely three centimeters long in all directions.

After finishing his message, the officer turned to face each teenager one by one.

"Shameless brats." He muttered under his breath, but just loud enough for most of them to hear. 

It took a few moments for Bell to realize that she was really getting arrested on her first day in Vatican City, and before she had even reached the Terrarium.

'Oh... oh no...' She thought, imagining herself behind the bars of a city prison. 'I can't go to jail! I have to go to the Terrarium!'

However, there wasn't much to do, and Bell was simply stuck now. Her fate was no longer in her hands, or was it ever in them to begin with?

'I don't have time to ponder! Think!' Bell thought, running several thoughts a second to find a way out of this situation.

But no matter what came up, there were repercussions that were simply beyond Bell was willing to risk.

She could simply run, but would get tased immediately, and get charged for resisting arrest. Not to mention, she would become a wanted person for the world to see. 

'I'm not going to put Mom and Dad through that, they already have enough on their plates.' Bell thought, thinking of her sister, Audrey, and her brother, Lucas.

They reached their rebellion stage early by a few years, and Bell didn't know if her parents could survive an actual imprisonment.

'At least the judges are fair...' Bell woefully thought, shaking her head.

None of the other children dared to even move, other than Hilia, who was preoccupied with getting the fainted man out of a critical condition. Or something along those lines, Bell couldn't really see what was going on in the back of the room.

Her opponent, on the other hand, looked to have an expression of shame on his face.

She whispered to the boy, "First time getting arrested?"

The boy then looked to shake himself out of whatever daydream reverie that he was under.

"No, I'm just wondering why they're pulling out the big guns. It's not like all of us in this room are challengers, right?" The boy replied with a look of utter confusion written on his face. 

Bell smiled and stated the soon-to-be-obvious fact of the matter, "We are all challengers. My buddies and I just got off of the bullet train, we're heading to the Terrarium.

The boy looked shocked and appalled, his skin paling by three shades, and his cheeks becoming redder than an apple. 

"You're academy students?" He asked with true horror dripping from every word. 

Bell nodded with a smile, "I hope! I hope we don't get kicked out for this... Are you a student at the Terrarium?"

The boy with a cool button up shirt and baggy pants then said with an exasperated tone, "Yeah!"

'Oh no.' Bell thought.

Soon, more police officers entered the shawarma shop, and it looked like that it was finally time for the two groups to be arrested.