Following the Incident at
The Red Palace

After being hit by the electrical surge from West, Ava-1 had suffered a complete short circuit. Nova and Whitlock were determined to come to the rescue. They took Ava-1 back to Apple Bytes for a complete diagnostic and reboot. For the next two days, she was their highest priority project.

With care beyond what Nova thought a sixteen-year-old boy was capable, Whitlock manually directed a synthetic cell stimulator over every millimeter of Ava's smooth artificial scalp. "She can totally rock the bald look," he said to Nova. "But I think she should be able to grow hair, if she wants to."

Saito took Mina to Neo-York Hospital for an emergency detox and transfusion to remove all traces of West's poison blood.

"You're not in much better shape than she is," the nurse told him, surveying his bruises, cuts, and bloody arm. "You should let me stitch and bandage you up while we wait. Mrs. Harker will likely be asleep until tomorrow."

Saito agreed, given that he could stay in the room in case Mina awoke.

At some point during the night, a huge bouquet of translucent neon lilies appeared on Mina's bedside table. The card read:

For the sacrifice you made so that I didn't have to. Get well soon. I am forever in your debt.
~ Major Thomas Jones (and Iman)

Once they had been released from medical care, Saito and Mina returned to Apple Bytes to check the status of Ava-1's reboot. She came back online just after they arrived.

"It's like she regained consciousness because she heard their voices," Whitlock whispered to Nova. He didn't want to interrupt the fateful reunion of the trio.

"I think she did," Nova replied softly. "And I believe it would have been the same no matter which of them was unconscious. They function as one unit. I've never seen a team so tightly knit."

¤ ¤ ¤

Three days later...

The Ministry of Justice
Neo-York
15:25

The interrogation rooms were located on sub-level five. Nova rode the elevator to the subterranean corridor and joined the Negotiators in Room 101.

West was secured with titanium restraints in a reinforced chair, and subdued with a drug that caused temporary paralysis.

"She looks so...small now," Nova said to her contract employees. "So insignificant. It's hard to believe I've been afraid of her for so long."

West glared at Nova through narrowed eyes. Her green lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl. Thanks to the stoppage of the manufacturing of products that contained Chartreuse, Nova was beginning to see West's true colors. In every respect.

"So, it was you," West spat. "Little nobody Nova Herdeem hired the Negotiators to destroy everything I've built. Ha! What rubbish and dribble!"

"Yes, it was me," Nova said. Her voice was quiet but firm. "I hired them. It was the best decision I ever made."

"Yet, for someone who wanted to be rid of me, here you are, visiting me in interrogation," West snipped. "Why? What do you want?"

"To interrogate you, obviously," Mina cut in.

"So, shut your yap until you're asked a question," Ava-1 added.

Saito gave Nova a nod of encouragement. "Go on, Nova-san. You've earned your answers."

Nova took a decisive breath and strode up to West's seated prison. From her pocket she pulled the tube of Chartreuse Hand Cream. A product she would never use again. She held the tube in front of West's face. "I want to know about this. How it came to be."

"Ahhhh," West drawled. "Yes, the magic trick. The greatest spell ever to be enacted in all the galaxies. And the people of Neo-York cast it on themselves."

"We know that," Nova said. "You hoodwinked us to the millionth degree. Congratulations. I want to know how it began."

"Accidents in the science lab can go seriously right," West said, as if this were an answer.

Nova crossed her arms. "Yeah. I'm gonna need more than that."

West rolled her eyes in impatience, but began again: "My mother was a great sorceress. Morgana le Fay. There were none more powerful than she. She told me once, long ago, that there was legend of a potion, a magical-chemical-hybrid concoction, that could suppress the green of a witch's skin. She said that it was a myth, and no matter how powerful the sorceress who brewed it, it would not work. Yet I was determined. And over the decades I made hundreds of variations of this potion, and tried hundreds of ways of administering it. Every single attempt was a failure."

"But something changed," Nova prompted. "What happened?"

"It was, by serendipitous accident, that I discovered the flaw in my attempts was not the potion itself, but the fact that I was administering it to my own body," West regaled. "One day, after yet another failed experiment, I threw a beaker containing a liquid concoction against the wall, and it shattered. The serum dripped all over the floor, creating a puddle. My lab assistant rushed to clean it up. In doing so, he inhaled the fumes and trace amounts of the substance soaked into the skin of his hands. When next he looked at me, to his eyes I was no longer green. To his eyes, I looked like a normal mortal woman. It was at that moment I realized that the potion had worked all along. My only mistake was in the application of the product: it wasn't to be used by me, but by those who would see me. It alters the user's perception. It makes a lie the truth."

"It suppresses their ability to see anything magical or supernatural," Mina interjected.

"Yes, precisely," West affirmed.

"And your lab assistant?" Saito asked. "What became of him?"

"Death, by overdose." West let out an irritated sigh. "An unfortunate latent effect found in the experimental stage of development. He was exposed to too many variations of the potion at too high a concentration. He didn't cleanse his skin and lungs thoroughly or often enough. Not his mistake — he couldn't have known better. If the base ingredient in Chartreuse is not used in moderation or as intended, or if it is combined with too many other variations of the ingredient, it is possible for the user to suffer adverse effects."

"Such as?" Nova asked.

"Hallucinations. Extreme paranoia." She paused. "Suffocation."

"Hence the warnings plastered all over the packaging," Ava-1 said. "'Use as directed'."

"It isn't my fault if mortals are too stupid to follow basic instructions," West snapped.

Mina expelled a huff. "And so, your lies have caused upheaval and pain for people right from the beginning. Yet you stayed your course."

West jerked her head forward in a show of aggression, but the restraint around her neck held her fast. She scowled at Mina. "Is it exhausting, Mrs. Harker?" she asked, her voice laced with disdain. "Always looking down from the moral high ground? Ease your superiority. The end justifies the means. By masquerading as a mortal woman, I was able to conquer Neo-York."

Her dark eyes migrated back to Nova, who still stood before her.

"Tell me, would I have been able to accomplish such a feat if the people of this city had known I was a witch? I think not. For witches are inherently the villains in the stories of mortals. You now know the truth. You know what I am, and that of which I am capable. And if you so choose, then fine, make me your villain. You will only be proving my point."

"You made yourself the villain of this story, West, when you chose to begin your dictatorship with trickery and lies," Nova told her. "You have done some good for this city, that is undeniable. However, you did so by deceiving us. You had us create, distribute, and use the substance that would make us unable to see you for what you really are."

"And do you really expect me to believe that, had you seen me as I truly am, you would have accepted me?" West challenged, her voice rising in volume and fervor. Angry tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and she forced herself to refrain from blinking so that they wouldn't spill.

"Maybe not," Nova said with a sad smile. "But maybe. The point is, you'll never know. Because you chose to lie. And due to that, you have forfeited any right to rule this city."

"Then kill me," West demanded. "Vaporize me. Just get it over with."

"No," Nova said softly. She shook her head and her blue hair swished around her lovely dark face. "Vaporization is the punishment you would choose for someone who has wronged you. But we're not like you, West. The dictator, the witch, Big Sister...any version of you. We won't resort to an eye for an eye. We're not villains. And I believe, deep down in the forgotten recesses of your subconscious, neither are you."

West glowered at Nova, dubious and suspicious. "You will be hard-pressed to prove that. To me or anyone else."

Nova met her eye, resolute. "I've got time."

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