Author's Note: For the whole law system I kinda mixed up a little of modern day Law (common law / traditional law) with the olden day Chinese punishments… Just in case anyone doesn't know:
SOME IMPORTANT FACTS: Accessory After the Fact just means aiding a criminal to escape their punishment after they have committed a crime. Refering to Precedents means basically looking at past cases to help determine a punishment. Setting Precedent means this is a case that never happened before, and in the future, any cases similar to this, will refer to the verdict in this way as a guideline. "Death of 9 Generations" is one the worst forms of punishment in olden day China (like 3000 years ago or something -.-), basically means anyone related to you is killed. Since your mother would be one generation away, your mother's mother, brothers, etc etc are two generations away, your mother's brother's wife is three generations away… you do that for 9 generations and that's how many people are killed. "Destruction of Home" in Chinese is "Cao Jia". I don't really know how to explain it too well, but basically soldiers just come into your house and just literally raid it. Destroying/stealing anything they can, and if you try to stop them I guess they can severely hurt you or even kill you. And in this case most likely the person who did the crime is facing capital punishment, so basically it only affects his family (one generation) which is a lighter punishment than the first… n.n;
Yes, I took a law course in grade 11… wish I could remember more though… n.n; had to run through some notes / email some friends to find a few technical terms… XD
)Irui( - Haha yup, I do tend to overwrite… but I rather overwrite than underwrite. :P How many chapters… um… Doing a quick calculation… I think around a total of 28 or so… n.n; lol does it discourage you to hear there's still so many left…? XD
)Light in the Darkness( - Thanks! Though one contest is already down the drain, and sleep is far out of reach… XD read end A/N…? I kinda explained what happened there… T.T
)lighthouselullaby13( - I kinda like writing RxL a little more too… :P
)BiskElle( - Don't worry, I absolutely LOVE reading your reviews! :) And of course I love reading long reviews! n.n And thank you, it does mean a lot to me, and I do try my best to write when I'm inspired… but not all the time, because if I did I would probably never update… XD You were right about Jayx though, both with him suspecting as well as his position… he really is just a poor guy caught up in a little misunderstanding between Lilia and Reyn… but then again, for him, isn't it better that he met Lilia than if he hadn't? Had he not he would living completely alone with scheduled visits from Lynetta… surely he would be too lonely… Ah, I really don't want to get your hopes up to high… was reading this chapter over and I realized that it is VERY technical. I mean the ending gets a bit exciting but the beginning is so bleh… XP but I had to put it as a necessity to the story… The climax I think is actually around chapter 23-ish… This trial thing might lead up to more than anybody will expect… Lol I really can't wait to read the "WTF?"s on chap 23… XD
)witch cheri( - I'm glad you liked the chap so much! I agree… Lilia is definitely meant to be the Queen… but how could she leave Jayx…? Especially in a time when marriage is considered to an eternal vow?
)insanity-ward( - yeah, I started actually… I guess 'saving up' some chapters to prevent my past 6-months-per-update… because I'm a huge procrastinator… :P Try it, I think it makes you feel more organized and your readers happier! XD
Thank you for reading / reviewing this fic! :)
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Chapter Twenty
Trial 1, Part I
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The days passed by as Meiling and Sakura each studied vigorously, learning more about the dark side of the history of the Kingdom than they needed, and understanding more of the criminals that exists in their society.
As they were told, the criminal was charged with Disobeying a Direct Order, and the criminal's accomplice was charged with Disobeying a Direct Order, Deceit, and Accessory After the Fact.
As Sakura was granted a larger record library, there were a few of the darkest cases that Meiling did not have access to, and briefing through them, Sakura understood what King Syaoran meant when he said that his father wasn't exactly the kindest ruler.
Sakura glanced through some of the cases in absolute shock and horror.
Case F. M. vs. His Majesty:
F. M. disobeyed a direct order from his Majesty. Brought humiliation to His Majesty.
Final Decision: His Majesty
Verdict: Death of 9 Generations.
Case Y. P. vs. Lord Fechner:
Y. P. questioned Lord Fechner's new law in the land of Bélcarr, created riot.
Final Decision: His Majesty
Verdict: Destruction of Home
Case M. N., F. R., J. P. vs. His Majesty:
His Majesty ordered for M. N. to work within the castle as his maid. M. N. escaped on the day she was to arrive at the castle, with help from F. R. J.P., who was neighbour, knew of this yet deceived his Majesty and hid their whereabouts.
M.N., and F.R. were tracked down 8 months later.
Final Decision: His Majesty
Verdict: Death of 9 Generations for M.N. and F.R., Destruction of home for J.P.
Sakura shook her head in disgust and frowned at the cruel and unjust decisions. These records were hidden in a small corner, behind a huge pile of more recent cases. But according to the date, it must've been during King Syaoran's father's time.
"Whatever happens this time, I really do hope there won't be anymore deaths…"
—
The days passed in a blur, and very soon, the day of the trial arrived.
Half an hour before the trial officially began, King Syaoran, Advisor Eriol, Lady Jelensta and Captain Ramsa arrived, as the King sat on his throne, with Eriol standing slightly behind him, off to the right, and Jelensta behind him but off to the left.
Captain Ramsa bowed before stepping a few steps in front of the King's throne and to the left.
As if on a cue, neatly and orderly, Lieutenant General Gray, General Bradley, and the four soldiers who arrested Kaho and Touya walked in down the hall and towards the King. They bowed to him, before stepping off to stand to the left of Captain Ramsa, in descending order based on their rank.
Twelve advisors walked in, forming 2 single-filed lines of six. The first two bowed to the King, before stepping off to the side—one to the left, one to the right, and the following two bowed, then stepped off to stand next to the other Advisors, so that by the end, two neat lines of 6 was formed of the advisors.
Around 20 guards came in, as they evenly spaced themselves out to surround the room.
"Bring in the prisoners." King Syaoran ordered.
And immediately, the grand doors were open as four soldiers dragged the weak, tired, and dirty Kaho and Touya in, as they forced them on their knees in front of the King.
King Syaoran stared at the woman on the ground, her bright red hair puddling around her weak body. Both the prisoners had their arms tied up behind them.
"Well, well, well…" The King said, as he got off his throne and walked towards Kaho. "If it isn't the only woman who's ever escaped my castle… especially after a direct order not." He bent down and lifted her chin up so that she stared at him in the eyes. "Tell me, Kaho, how does it feel to be back?"
Despite the injuries all over her body, she glared at him with raw hatred, as the man kneeling next to her did the same. "I'm not back. I only have to serve my sentence here and I will be free."
The King raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You are so certain. Your accomplice there might, but you… once your sentence is over…" his voice grew dark. "You will stay here till I personally dismiss you."
Kaho shuddered, as rage filled Touya's face. Unable to contain himself, he spat, "Look haven't you got enough women here already? What kind of a King are you? Why would you torture a poor woman like that? She didn't do anything! She was only trying to save her purity from your obviously fake competition!"
The King narrowed his eyes at the man before him. "You… who the hell are you? And how do you know Kaho?"
"She happens to be a friend." Touya spat.
"A friend dear enough that you are willing to lose 50,000 gold and risk your life for?"
"I don't know about you, but I don't compare friendship to gold. What the hell do you take me for?"
"Then what about your life?"
"I'm not afraid. I have studied the law of this land briefly during my schooling years, and I know that if you were to behead me for such a simple crime you would go down history as the cruelest and most prideful and selfish King this land has ever known!"
King Syaoran smirked. "Yeah, I can't kill you. But I can certainly be creative with your punishments."
"Do your worst."
"You're not afraid?"
"I'm afraid of no one. As long as you don't treat Kaho unfairly."
"Tell me your name."
"Touya."
"And that's a real name?"
"Of course. As I said, I'm not afraid of you."
"I wouldn't say that yet, if I were you. Currently you are charged with Disobeying a Direct Order, Deceit, and Accessory After the Fact. However, I could add the crime Aggravated Assault, Attempted Escape, and of course, Deceit on three accounts."
"WHAT? HOW DOES THAT WORK?"
"As reported by General Bradley, right as they were dragging you away, you attacked two of the soldiers and attempted to escape. In the process, you assaulted the two soldiers. Then, you lied about your family 'visiting', then lied about having never seen Kaho, and finally, lying about Kaho's true identity when she was found. As those soldiers arrived at your house on my behalf, their presence is like my presence. What you do to them, is what you do to me. So what did you say about not being afraid of me again?"
Touya stayed silent, but continued to glare.
The King smirked at his reaction, as he turned and walked back to his throne, his robe trailing behind him majestically. "But of course, as a special occasion, the final decision today will not be decided by me." He looked at Kaho. "You, my lady, had once decided my competition to be 'false' and of 'lies'; well I'll prove you wrong. I believe I have chosen a woman to be my bride, as well as Queen of this Kingdom."
Kaho couldn't help but to gasp. Had her and Tomoyo been wrong? He must've chosen Meiling, then…?
"But before making such an important decision, there are a few things I would like to know about her first. One is how well she does when it comes to handling crime cases. Second is her fairness… whether or not she plays favourites, when it comes to friends." He finished with a smile.
Kaho's eyes widened. Oh no… friends… then it has to be either Meiling or Tomoyo! He's going to make one of them judge our fate…?
"As it is 10 minutes before noon, you three." He pointed at three soldiers. "I would like each of you to bring our special guests over."
"Yes, your Majesty." The replied as they left the room to find the ladies.
The King glanced at the two figures at the floor—especially Kaho—and he couldn't help to but to ponder. If Sakura were to see Kaho now, her judgment would no doubt be inevitably biased… so what best way to judge her fairness than… "You." He pointed at another guard. "I would like you to fetch two pieces of black cloth, and cover both these prisoners." A smile appeared on his face. "After all, I would like this to be a fair trial."
Two soldiers bowed as they gagged Touya and Kaho, then covered both their figures with a thick piece of black cloth.
—
A few minutes went by, and at the moment the clock stroke noon, in walked two soldiers, one with Tomoyo at their side, the other with Meiling.
Both ladies glanced at the two black lumps on the ground fearfully as they walked passed them uncertainly, before curtseying before the King. The guards resumed their original position as Tomoyo stood next to Eriol and Meiling next to Jelensta.
After they were settled, the last soldier walked in with Sakura.
The guard bowed as he resumed his post, leaving Sakura to walk down the long, red carpet in the middle of the hall. She walked passed the two covered figures on the floor in suspicions, as she made her way towards the King.
King Syaoran smiled watching her approach. When she was close enough, he stood up, and offered her his hand.
Sakura accepted it gladly as she grasped it, then turned around to face the crowd, her and the King standing side by side.
Behind her, Meiling swallowed painfully watching the scene.
At last, a soldier walked in through the door holding a huge gong, as he beat on it one single time, causing a loud ring to echo through the room. "TRIAL IS NOW IN SESSION." He declared, before bowing, then leaving, closing the door behind him.
"Eriol?" King Syaoran gestured at him.
Advisor Eriol nodded as he walked up, standing before the two cloaked figures on the ground. "To ensure fairness of this trial, identity of the prisoners will be kept anonymous till the end. We will refer to the one on the left as K, and the one on the right as T." He cleared his throat. "Quite a few months ago, under strict law, His Majesty forbade K from leaving the castle premises under any circumstances. Despite knowing that fact, on a day while His Majesty was distracted, K escaped the castle with help from many accomplices that has, to this day, not been identified. Because of the errors within K's escape, K was discovered by the soldiers, whom reported to the King. Unfortunately K still managed to outsmart the soldiers, as K found refuge in a new town. And thus, from the above, one can conclude she should be charged with Disobeying Direct Order.
"Of course there was a bounty for finding K and reporting to the soldiers. But it so happens that K met T during the escape, and T, despite knowing the situation, sheltered K from harm for a very, very long time. Luckily his Majesty has narrowed K's location down to one village, and he ordered for soldiers to raid every house within that village, until K is found.
"Now, when they reached T's house, there was a carriage and two horses in front of the house. When asked what they were for, T lied and said it was because relatives had come over to visit, not knowing that all entrances into the village has been sealed off for days now. Following his lies, four soldiers and one General raided his home, discovering someone whom T convinced was a servant of his. But when T's safety was threatened, the 'servant' admitted to be K. Of course when that was revealed, both T and K were arrested for various crimes.
"But, while taking K and T away to his Majesty's castle, T attacked the two guards, attempting to escape. Fortunately the guards rearrested T and brought him to this castle. From the above given information, we have concluded that T is being charged for Disobeying Direct Order, Accessory After the Fact, Aggravated Assault, Attempted Escape, and Deceit on three accounts." Eriol bowed as he took one step back to signal he has finished briefing everyone on the situation.
The King turned towards Sakura and smiled. "Well, I'd like to hear what you have to say first."
Sakura was thoughtful. "For K's case, if we were to refer to precedent, the punishment for Disobeying Direct Order varies from 1 week in prison to some form of Capital Punishment. But of course Capital punishment is only during severe cases. As of course, said, K disobeyed your Majesty's order of leaving the castle… am I correct to assume no one was harmed during K's escape?"
Underneath the dark cloak, Touya's eyes widened slightly. That voice… it's so familiar… it couldn't be…
"Yes." Eriol replied.
"And why did his Majesty forbid K from leaving the castle in the first place?"
Eriol hesitated at that question. "Because K is my property, and there's no why I forbid her—I just do." King Syaoran bit out.
Sakura couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow at his reply. "All right… and what is K's position inside the castle?"
"Not much, just a commoner, really…"
"Hm. Well, according to those pieces of information, K is a simple person who was forbidden from leaving the castle simply because the King felt like it." King Syaoran glared at the way she said that. But Sakura ignored his glare and continued. "And since no one was harmed in the process, and plus there was never intent for evil, I do not believe this is a serious crime. Sure, there is Actus Reas and Mens Rea for escape, and Disobeying Direct Order, but there were no evil intent. I believe the punishment should be light. Depending on if there is more to the story, a month in prison at absolute most."
King Syaoran nodded. "Anyone disagree with her, speak up now."
No one made a move.
Despite how nervous she was, Sakura was unbelievably happy and airy at how well her logic and reason was received. All that week full of studying has really paid off.
"Good. Now, what do you think about T's case?"
Sakura paused. "Well, T seems to have committed quite a series of crimes… Despite how insignificant K's crime was, it gave T absolutely zero rights to protect a criminal and shield the criminal from his or her rightful punishment, regardless how little it might be. But given the benefit of doubt that K might have told T the entire story, and T knew of its triviality, and was simply afraid that K might be punished more severely than deserved, we could consider T's decision an act of protection. In my opinion, T should be punished very little or nothing at all for Disobeying Direct Order, Accessory After the Fact, and the Deceit on three accounts.
"But, the Attempted Escape, and especially Aggravated Assault are inexcusable. Having been caught, T should've realized that he or she needed to face the consequences, and if they truly believe they have sufficient reason for their behaviour, they should explain so in court, instead of attacking the soldiers and attempting to escape. For the Aggravated Assault, I would say T deserves a physical punishment, whereas everything would be a certain sentencing. No torture involved, of course. If it were up to me… I would sentence T to 10 Lashes for Aggravated Assault and 2 months in jail for Attempted Escape."
The King nodded, as he smiled slightly. Not only was she beautiful, smart and understanding, it would seem she is quite intelligent as well. "Any objections?"
An advisor stepped to the center from the sidelines. "Objections your Majesty, I believe it is simply absurd to disregard Disobeying Direct Order, Accessory After the Fact and Deceit on three accounts. Those are severe crimes and shame the name of the Kingdom—it mustn't go unpunished."
Two more advisors stepped out. "I agree your Majesty, those crimes cannot be overlooked."
The King nodded. "Meiling, what are your thoughts on this?"
Meiling looked at each of the advisors, and glanced at Sakura, before speaking. "I agree with the advisors. Though perhaps morally speaking those crimes were semi-acceptable and harmed no one, but it shames your Majesty's name, and a crime is a still a crime, especially when intent is present. It is simply unspeakable to let it go."
Sakura frowned a little. "What about you, Tomoyo, what do you think?" King Syaoran asked.
Tomoyo appeared diffident. After all, between the three of them, she was the only one who did not have any materials to study from. "I… I'm not sure…"
The King raised an eyebrow. "You're not sure? Truly, you must have an opinion."
Tomoyo looked flustered. "I-uh-I, um well I guess as far as I'm concerned crime committed equals punishment, so I would say T should be punished for all crimes committed."
"I see. Lady Jelensta, what about you?"
Jelensta stared at him before laughing. "You're really going to ask me, Your Majesty?" She replied with amusement. She stared at the two cloaked figures on the ground as she waved her hand, as if attempting to brush them away from sight. "If you ask me, I say death to them both."
King Syaoran could only sigh at her response. "Well you are entitled to your opinion—that is what the juror is for. However—luckily—the choice for the final decision does not lie within you."
Jelensta shrugged. "I know. So what does it matter what I say?"
King Syaoran ignored her response. He should've seen that coming. "Anyone have anything else to say?"
"I uh, I would like to change my previous judgment." Sakura said softly. "I guess, it was too much of me to simply erase so many of T's crimes. So yes, I agree, T should still receive punishment for them."
"Very well. Anything else?"
Captain Ramsa stepped up as he bowed. He wanted to get on the King's good side, and it was clear that the King despised that Touya guy… "My King, she—" he glanced at Sakura. "—has deemed T to be punished for his Assault with only 10 lashes. I strongly object to that. Two of General Bradley's best soldiers were there to hold him down and he still managed to escape and bruise them. Imagine, just think how much force T must have used, and his raw intent on hurting those soldiers—I say 50 lashes at least. That's just for the Aggravated Assault. For the Attempted Escape, I say 1 day of Water Torture. All the other crimes should be accumulated into days in prison."
Sakura gasped. "Absolutely not! 50 Lashes? That could potential put someone's life in danger! And why the Water Torture? T has not done anything so severe that they would deserve any form of torture! I strongly believe simple punishments would be more than enough!"
"Well, my lady," he stressed with a snicker. "You have not been in court too long—in fact, I know today is your first day. I would suggest you listen to those who have appeared in more trials and understand the system better."
"Well if the system has been giving out these sorts of unfair torture for such insignificant crimes then I dare say the system has been wrong for far too long."
"You dare challenge rules and guidelines set by the ancestors of this Kingdom hundreds—if not thousands—of years ago?"
"If they are wrong, they are wrong. Realizing fault after hundreds of years is better than never realizing at all."
"Nonsense! How dare you sa—"
"Alright, ENOUGH!" The King finally growled in irritation. "I would not like to hear anything that's unrelated to this case! Save those bickering for elsewhere!"
Captain Ramsa bowed. "My deepest apologies, my King." He said, as he retreated to his original position.
"All right, does anyone else wish to speak?" The King asked, surveying all around.
And there was a unanimous silence all around.
"Good. Now normally, it would be up to me—taking in all opinions—to make the final decision. However, today, I have a change of plans." King Syaoran smiled as he looked at Sakura, grasping her hand a little tighter. "As many of you are aware, I have started a competition in search for a wife. And, as I am the King, it would inevitably make the woman I choose, the Queen of this land. Because women of all status and backgrounds are welcomed to join this competition, it is my responsibility that not only do I choose an appropriate wife, but an appropriate Queen as well. And so, I believe that my wife cannot only be beautiful and kind, but must possess other qualities in order to rule the Kingdom properly alongside me, wouldn't you agree, hmm?"
Sakura nearly had a heart attack when he glanced in her direction and winked ever so slightly. Winked. Since when did he become so playful? And so… irresistible? Sakura looked quickly away, trying to calm the blush that was creeping up her cheeks. "I-uh-y-ye, yes." Sakura stuttered.
"Good. And so, today's final decision for both these criminals rests within your final say."
Sakura gasped. "What?"
"You heard me."
"B-But how can I? I have never attended a real trial!"
King Syaoran squeezed her hand as he smiled reassuringly. "We all have to start somewhere. I believe in you."
Sakura frowned as she swallowed. Closing her eyes, she tried her best not to pay attention to the fact that the whole room was staring at her, and that two people's fate are resting with her words, and hers alone.
After a moment, she opened her eyes, and deep within, they held determination and confidence. I can do this… I can… I've studied well and I believe in my judgment. "I think—"
The King shook his head lightly. "Don't think. Just say it."
Sakura nodded as she took a deep breath. "I hereby declare that K's punishment be 3 weeks in prison, and afterwards be released to wherever they please to go, whether it be inside or outside these castle walls. I also declare that T's punishment be…" she glanced at Captain Ramsa. Right now, her position was different than before, when she represented only herself, and only had to speak her true feelings. Now, she speaks on behalf of everyone, and she must take all their statements into considerations. As a fair judge and Queen, she must be able to swallow that pride of hers and judge not only based on her own principle but others' as well. "…25 Lashes, and a year in prison."
King Syaoran smiled slowly. "Is that final?"
"Yes, your Majesty."
"Now, I have one more question to ask you. As the Queen of a Kingdom, do you think that the Queen should show leniency towards friends?"
Sakura's heart sped up just a little bit. Somehow she had a bad feeling about his question. "Could you please elaborate?"
"If two criminals, both having committed the exact same crime under the exact same circumstance, but one is your friend while the other is a stranger—do they deserve the same punishment?"
"Of course. Under principals of the Kingdom, personal feelings should not be mixed in. Fairness is fairness. Rules are rules. And personal attachments are not a part of it. Though it might be difficult, it must be discarded."
The King nodded. "I like what you said, and I agree with what you said. But, saying it is one thing, do you think if the time ever came, you would live to your principals?"
"Of course."
"Good, I'm glad you said it so confidently." The King smiled slightly. He wasn't worried about Sakura's reaction to that Touya or whatever guy, he was more interested if Sakura would change her mind once seeing that the culprit, 'K', was in fact her good friend, Kaho. After all, 3 week in prison is still a dangerous and torturous punishment for a woman. I wonder if she would keep her word… he wondered briefly. "Very well then, reveal the criminal's identities."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Two guards replied as they stepped up.
One stood in front of Kaho, the other in front of Touya, and they got a good grasp of the black cloth.
On a count, simultaneous, they ripped the material off, revealing the identity of the criminals.
As if in a slow-motion horror movie, Sakura's eyes widened as her free hand came over her mouth.
Slowly, the head of the young man rose ever so slightly, until his piercing, accusing dark eyes stared into hers.
Sakura has never seen such hatred, such betrayal within those eyes—especially not towards her.
Briefly, she could hear the King speaking behind her. In a barely audible sound, she could make out from him, "Well, Sakura? Knowing the criminals' true identities, do you still wish to stick to your original sentence for them?"
But Sakura couldn't speak. She could only stare with fear and humiliation into the eyes of the man, whom she had nearly forgotten to be her husband.
Still staring at her, Touya gestured at the guards to remove his gag. With permission from the King, a guard did so, and he spoke up. "Before your Majesty makes your final decision, I have only one thing to say for myself—I 'attempted escape' only to break away from the soldiers for long enough time to warn my daughter, Chiika to run to my neighbour, so that someone could take care of her while I was taken away. Is that forbidden? Huh? Does this castle forbid feelings completely?"
Chiika. Oh God, Chiika! Sakura sudden felt very dizzy as her breathing became rapid.
The King stared at her, slightly worried, but he thought it was simply overwhelming for her to see her long lost friend. "Well Sakura, will you keep your principle, or will you show leniency towards a friend?"
A million thoughts ran through her head. And it wasn't for Kaho. If the King only knew.
It was she who had said that personal feelings are not to be mixed with Trials… but how could they not?
After a long, long time, she finally swallowed the lump stuck in her throat. "I…" What to do? The right thing… or the good thing?
—
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—
Author's Note: Bleh, sorry for the extremely crappy and technical chapter. But it was necessary. IMO next chap will be better…
Anyhow, I said I'd update on May 3, but I'm updating a day beforehand because I'm literally not going to be near a computer in about… 2 hours till probably Sunday night. Why, you ask? I am absolutely f'ing SCREWED. There was a while before when I was freaking out about my roller coaster project being due by May 6, and my group didn't have enough done. Well, guess what? We f'ed up BIG time. About 3 days ago, I just found out, that SOMEHOW, all FOUR of us apparently CAN'T BLOODY READ! The dimension limit is 30cm by 90cm… for SOME REASON, for FIVE MONTHS, we all thought it was 50cm by 100cm! Needless to say, when we found out, we spoke to our teacher, and found out we are automatically disqualified from the Wonderland Competition because of going over dimension, but we will still receive marks for project itself, loosing just a few.
It was difficult decision… but in the end, we decided, between leaving it is it is, attempt to semi-fix it, and fix it, we chose to start over. Because our entire base is made paper-mached into "Nightmare Before Christmas"'s mountain. By cutting it, we would have to cut the metal wires inside it as well, which is potential destroying the whole mountain. So now, a project that normal people had SIX MONTHS to do, we must get done in SIX DAYS. Oh boy. We have a SCHEDULE… a schedule that says when were are allowed to SLEEP and EAT and go to the bathroom… -.- All other times, we WORK LIKE MAD. Schedule started 2 days ago… today's schedule basically says I'm working from after school 4:00pm till Saturday afternoon 5:00, with 4 of us alternating sleep. By 6 we have to make it to a friend's birthday party, which is going to last till midnight or so. And Sunday is my mom's birthday. Really, REALLY hoping we'll have everything done by Saturday after noon. If not, Monday night till Tuesday morning, we keep working. And yup, it's due on Tuesday, May 6. We also have a bloody SCIENCE OLYMPICS to go to on May 6. Fun, fun.
Not to mention, yesterday's ECOO Regional (computer competition), we screwed up BAD. By having an absolute bitch of a judge. There is a total of 4 questions to answer, for question number 4, which clearly says there will be 5 lines of DATA in a textfile, they gave us 5, and a BLANK line, read in as a 6th line of data, which is an EMPTY LIST. Which means, we received an error "list index out of range". So, zero on the first round, despite us explaining to her that they were the ones who messed up. So we said fine, let's try again, we get 2 runs anyways. Second run. GOD. That lady was seriously SMILING as she ran it the program. Because the file we read in was , but the file for the second run should be . So. That was an automatic zero, for a bloody, STUPID, mistake. I swear she was SO happy. So, question 4 is gone right off the bat. Then due to extremely bad time management, my friend who specializes in encryption… well, we gave her the wrong question. -.- in the end we got one blood question, one automatic zero because of stupid mistake, and the encryption question nearly done had we just had TWO more minutes—literally. Anyways, I think mostly I'm not as angry as I am disappointed. It's my last year in high school and my last time competing in these computer competitions with my friends, and I wanted to last one more round… but no. It's just over, completely.
Anyhow, sorry for the rambling… a little depressed/stressed out lately…
Oh yeah, our glue gun EXPLODED last night. -.- luckily no one was near and nothing was set on fire…
5803 words.