"Oh! What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."

Walter Scott

It came as a relief to hear the clang of the lock in the morning, knowing it meant they weren't going to leave me to rot. Gem stood in the doorway, holding open a new bag of clothing that appeared to be exact replicas of what he was wearing, except white rather than beige. Maybe this was his way of claiming me.

We were underway in a few minutes. The vehicle had four wheels on the ground and a driver behind the steering wheel. As we travelled in silence, I concluded I'd have to force an unscheduled stop before we got to the courthouse to get a secret word with Gem.

I asked the driver, "Will you pull over, please? I'm going to throw up." The driver pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. I got out as soon as it stopped, ran a few meters away, and dropped to my knees.

I could hear the gravel on the embankment crunch under Gem's feet. I could feel his mass squatting next to me. "You aren't going to be sick?" He finally asked. I shook my head.

"You wanted to talk?" He asked, already sure of the answer. "You're probably thinking that the approach Blue took in court was a pretty strange way of trying to prove humanity is a threat to Incepterrians. Considering the story Denovo told you about how your brother died, it doesn't make sense for them to use his murder as an example of the point they were trying to make."

"I know who killed my brother. That's what Blue's stunt helped me realize. Think hard about it. You must know as well," I said.

Moments dragged by before a look of realization dawned on Gem's face.

"Denovo's second self.... I only saw images of him once when we went to therapy together as a family. How could you figure that out?"

"Remember what you told me about how it isn't normal for an Incepterrian to have a second self from birth, or one that was older than them? Last night I could hear Denovo's voice in a cell nearby—"

"Seriously? When were you going to tell me about that?"

"I told you just now...." Gem sighed with exasperation and waved his hand in a gesture to get on with it. "I was asking myself what might be the biggest assumption you cling to as truth. The answer was easy."

"Let's pretend it isn't so easy for me," Gem said.

"You believe what we have is special," I said.

As if I'd punched him in the stomach, he sputtered, "So where'd they get that memory?"

"I would guess that around the moment of Daniel's death, they had possession of his Sentinel."

"All of this still seems to point to Denovo being the cause of your brother's death," Gem said.

"That would only make a difference if you believe the Ministry of Second Self will help prove the man we know murdered Daniel is Denovo's second self. You're the one who told me the Ministry of Second Self is pulling back from being cooperative with the Penitents, and you can't have missed the fact that Minister Dovie wants to become Prime Minister. Blue only needs to establish reasonable doubt, and we don't have enough to stop him from doing that."

"Between the contradicting stories Denovo has used to confuse your memories, and Blue's efforts to make you seem unstable,

your testimony is going to come across as a hot mess. Even we have reasonable doubt at this point," Gem said.

"Should I try to lie?"

"That's the last thing you should do. The brainwave technology is the best chance we have to avoid misunderstandings. As things stand, it might read your emotions accurately. If you were on the other side of the membrane, I'm afraid nobody would understand you. I didn't want to tell you about the brief period when I had the upgraded chip. The panel members who reviewed the files that I submitted took them the wrong way. They thought something was wrong with you. They refused to consider the possibility that the problem was with the technology. It relies too heavily on body language and expressions to fill in the gaps created by its apparent inability to read brainwaves across the membrane accurately," Gem said.

"Is that why you started teaching me how to make my facial expressions match my emotions? There was a time I was glad you

were around to teach me those things, but the idea that you did it to keep people from judging you is pretty gross," I said.

"I was more concerned about how they'd judge you. That's why I ended up having the upgrade removed. I could've edited the material I submitted, but that seemed like editing you. There wasn't a good way to make them understand that you had emotions, even when stressful situations made your face go blank.

I doubted they'd understand how things affect you so intensely that the strain makes you shut down to protect yourself."

It was moments like this that made me wonder if I would ever be on equal footing with Gem. People in relationships should discover each other together. I shouldn't need him to justify my existence to anyone. It made me feel like a secondary character in my own life instead of being the center of the universe. Rather than spewing all of the things I wanted to say to Gem, I pulled down his head until our foreheads touched. We stood this way for a moment, then we linked our fingers and walked together back to the vehicle.

We drove past half a dozen entrances crowded with protestors before we finally settled on one with only a handful of people waving signs. Gem kept his eyes pointed straight ahead as we walked between the barricades, even when one of the protesters tossed their sign at his feet.

Gem guided me back to the seats we'd occupied the day before, and we sat without speaking while we waited for the opening routines to begin. Once these were out of the way, Minister Dovie stood to address the court.

"Blue, please stand." She waited for him to approach his lectern before continuing, "This manipulation is unacceptable. The time for arguing your case is not during your opening statements, or hidden within the pretense of clarifying terminology."

"With all due respect, we only did what we claimed from the start was our objective. We demonstrated our understanding of the meaning of the word threat, and drew attention to the fact that our definition is not the same as most of the Citizen Spectators sitting for this case."

"What about you?" I stood and shouted, unable to bear the smug look on his face. "What about Incepterrians? Are you saying disease, war, and murder have never happened here? Are you saying your people didn't tromp into our world bringing these things with them? What about the murder—"

"Get yourself under control, or we will be forced to remove you," Minister Dovie warned. A rumble rose from the audience.

"I'm only here because you forced me to be. You can't drag me in here and expect me to play nice," I spit back.

Minister Dovie pointed at my seat, while Gem pleaded with his eyes for me to sit.

"With the indulgence of the court, we will happily answer Rory Lyon's questions," Blue chimed in. "We won't pretend a murder has never been committed among Incepterrians, or that we haven't had preventable diseases or wars. When these things happen, they don't result in human deaths. During a regrettable period of Incepterrian history, we caused many human deaths. Although that's long in the past, we've never let ourselves forget. Thousands of years have passed, yet we've never stopped paying for our crimes. Do humans remember their mistakes for so long? Do they keep asking forgiveness for sins so far removed? We can't threaten humanity, while they remain a clear and present threat to us."

I couldn't keep myself from saying, "We aren't trying to kill you. It just happens. On the other hand, Denovo went into my world and dragged me here. That was a plan. Ordering his sec—"

"Do you expect us to believe you're the only human who can communicate with their second self? You expect us to believe you're that special or unique?" Blue said.

Blue's words cut deep. I knew that he was right, but I also understood the implications. My brother's murderer being Denovo's second self wasn't a coincidence. The only likely scenario where that would be possible would be if I turned out to be the author of my own life, following in the tradition of Charles Dickens by creating plot loops that crisscrossed each other over a lifetime.

"You insist I am unique while simultaneously making innuendos that humanity's ignorance about being watched is an act. How can both be true? Why don't you tell them that the man in that memory is—"

"Denovo has said all along that you brought yourself here. The rift you opened also allowed your father to follow." He used his tone to make it sound as if he was cutting off a useless conversation, undoubtedly filled with false equivalencies and distractions. I was beginning to realize Blue was cutting me off so he could control the narrative. "When your father made his incursion into our world—fearing for the safety of Incepterrians—Denovo did his civic duty in capturing him. When he caught you attempting sabotage at his peaceful protest rally, Denovo made sure to secure you so he could turn you over the Ministry at the earliest possible opportunity."

In my mind, the face of the man who murdered my brother morphed into Denovo's. I suddenly found myself standing. I didn't get far before Gem grabbed me around the waist as a security agent stepped in front of me.

"Remove Rory Lyon," Minister Dovie's voice rang out over the noise of the court. Gem seized one of my elbows, while the security agent grabbed the other. Together they propelled me toward a set of doors. Their cooperation ended the moment we reached the vehicle, where the agent made it clear Gem wasn't welcome on the return trip. Fear twisted my stomach so hard I almost vomited as we pulled away, leaving Gem standing on the curb. For a moment, Gem's face was replaced with Casper's, and I couldn't help wondering if they were going to make me disappear the same way. Would this be the last time I laid eyes on Gemini?