Chapter 30: " Chagrin "

Red was walking slowly through the halls of the Gallery, once more. He observed the paintings passing by, and he walked just before the cord that sectioned off a small breathing area for the pieces, his finger smoothing against the wall underneath each of them. There were names that were recurrent, recognizing the titles right before his finger stroked over the brazen, rectangular plaques that displayed their copyright and ownership. Surd Kalos. Rem Fevi. Blue Pulk. It was strange how the naming system worked back then, diachronic differences allowing a first and last. Effected by synchronic and personal bias, Red preferred having one name. It wasn't too extraordinary of an ordeal, and it was simple and terse. Straight to the point.

Red removed his finger from the wall and continued, slowly placing his arms folded behind his arched back, forming his endemic, dignified posture. Without armor on, which was something of a requisite for the Tallests, he felt exposed to the outside air, his skin able to breathe, his movement more executed and free with only his robe. Without armor he thought himself more lithe; svelte. He hadn't been reprimanded yet for disregarding 'safety' protocols or so it had been put before his inauguration, so he continued on, abiding by the logic of innocent unless caught.

He continued on to the hallways that branched to the left. He placed his hand against the purple cord, and felt the stringent fabrics brush against his hand's waifish contour. Almost as if it was always at the top of his mind, it was easy to recall the inexorable difficulty it was adjusting to the removal of his pollices. He could recite all of the lectures and excerpts as to why the event of becoming the Tallest required it, however it never fully converged together for him to understand. The reasoning, which was showcased in parables and hallowed lines quoted from stories, passed by his mind without effort, as if he was still impermeable to the ludicrous take on rationalization.

Red continued down the hallway. He looked down at his shoes and watched the design on the fabric of the carpet progress through diverse shapes and alternating lines. He passed by a familiar group of stains on the floor, which had removed the natural vivacity of the colors by burning and darkening their hue. A few more steps later another smaller group of the stains, presumably produced by the same medium, appeared. Red looked up after that and was startled to see a cleaning drone at the other side of the wall. Cold and spiked nerves sent like sensations throughout his torso, and he took a deep breath. The drone stayed in once place, unmoving. Watching.

Never before had the Tallest felt the obligation for conversation towards them. He supposed by never actively engaging them, he never felt the need. As his mind tried to reassure the situation, it weighed the social standard.

" Hello." Red said awkwardly. But then a moment later he noticed it still wasn't doing anything. Another moment later he also realized it had no engine running. Red furrowed his eyes. He approached it slowly and saw that it had been deactivated. He reached an arm out and gingerly tapped the camera lens it used for vision a few times. His mind assumed the idea it hadn't been recharged, if that was something needed of them. He replaced his arm behind his back and stood in front of it for a few moments, watching it. For some reason, it was a little unnerving. Seeing them move for the majority of the time that Red spent here, experiencing them off was kind of disconcerting.

" Ah Red." Sounded through the halls. This time he actually jumped, his muscles suffering a collective spasm. He looked behind, his nerves repeating the process. Purple strode down the hallway a few long paces away, his head high and with the distinctive half grin on his face. Red sighed and turned around to face him, as he awaited him to approach.

" You've been following me?" He asked, his voice sending across the distance.

Purple's grin widened and his eyes furrowed slightly. Red knew he was about to make a joke when that expression formed, alongside a myriad of other characteristic quirks Purple owned.

" I thought that was fairly obvious."

" It is. It's just your confirmation makes you admit to being abnormal." Red remarked. He looked down and thought of another joke to make. He stayed like this for a moment until he glanced back upwards. "...and predatory, almost."

Purple stifled a laugh.

" Well then." He began. " I guess it's good that my prey's mouth runs more than his legs."

Red smiled. When Purple was finally near, they continued walking down the halls together.

" Speaking of abnormal." Purple said, looking at Red, and the attire he wore. " I've noticed a decrease of garments in your current wardrobe. I think it's either that has a leak or your mind does. But I'm certain you're perfectly sane enough to acknowledge the issue I'm addressing, so I think it has to be the former."

Red considered his words and continued walking, however he enlarged his smile to show recognition.

" Damn those leaky wardrobes." Purple added.

Red shrugged.

" I think it feels liberating." The Tallest remarked. Purple glanced over at him for a moment, the crook of his eye raised. Afterwards he chuckled heartily.

" Liberating."

" Is it amusing?"

" Quite. It makes you sound reminiscent to those...advocates of political justice." Purple related, using his fingers as pretense quotation marks.

Red smirked.

" Well I didn't mean it in that sense. I just feel that wearing armor everywhere I go is just exhausting and uncomfortable. And without it, I feel like I'm able to move freely." Red expressed, shifting his arms around behind his back as if talking about the condition of his muscles caused them need to be tended. " Plus I also feel it performs the contrary of its intent."

The corner of Purple's lips curled in slightly, and his eyes furrowed once more, forming a variation of his typical amused expression.

" Really? You're going to have to explain that to me another time." He remarked, his eyes moving forward to the path they were walking on. Red took note of the fact that Purple minded himself to say another time. After a few moments, with Purple's smile starting to emit a quality of discouragement, the hearty conversation between them eviscerated into nothingness and they strode down furnished hallways in silence.

Red kept his eyes on the floor as they walked, their posture almost identically mirroring one another. It was a quality they had practiced and were disciplined on, the ideal was they were portraying a dignified, purposed stature that higher echelon officials were, essentially, appeared to be composed of. They took a left down another hallway. Purple looked up at the paintings passing by, his eyes fleeting from one to the other as if trying to absorb as much information as possible from the etched depictions. But the atmosphere around him felt rigid. Forced. Almost as if he wasn't doing so for information in of itself, but more or less, trying to distract himself.

" Sono Gove. He did a lot of these paintings, didn't he." Purple observed, taking action on what his aura implied to. Red nodded to himself, although knowing that his counterpart wouldn't see it. " But yet...he's labeled on these walls as a hobbyist."

Red also nodded to that. This time, Purple looked over at him and stopped. Red walked a few paces before his mind caught the event and stopped a few feet in front of him. He looked back.

" It's as if they're trying to take way accreditation." Purple pondered. His words were expressed with a sense of concern, pertaining to another individual that hadn't any relation to him. Red wasn't trying to demean him by thinking about this with surprise, as if it wasn't already natural of him to consider altruistically about others, but it was more or less the fashion it was presented. It felt feigned. The words and his tone were accompanied by the silent agent of caution.

Red raised his chin at him. Thought about his words for a moment. Purple looked back up at the painting.

" It feels as if they didn't want him to be recognized for his talent."

Red's eyes glanced over at him.

" Whose they?" He cleared his throat. Purple caught his gaze.

" Those who operated this exhibition. Those who were instated to showcase these individuals. Who else would it be?" The Tallest asked. Red watched him closely. Then he looked back at the painting they were attentive in particular and approached it slowly.

" I don't disagree, Purple...But your..." Red rotated his wrist, trying to prompt a word. "...rendition, more or less, of they seems to be rather sequestered."

Purple raised an eye.

" In what way?"

" You do remember who Sono Gove is, don't you?"

" Yes. He was born in around the First Era. Elected 5 terms before Tallests Miyuki and Spork were instate." Purple recalled. His shoulders repositioned and his posture was lifted alongside his chin, taking diminutive offense to the questioning of his memory. " We were smeets when he was Tallest. Of course I remember him."

Red glowered at him slightly.

" You remember what it was he did?"

Purple paused for a moment, his lips becoming flat and lightly pursed. He was somewhat irritant that Red was pressuring him of this, but his eyes cast against the floor anyways as he chewed a little more inside his mind for details.

"...I remember he was exiled for treason and insubordination." He reflected, his hand raising to stroke his chin. " But it was never clear what it was he did specifically."

Red sighed with gratefulness. It appeared Purple wasn't always as absent-minded as he thought him to be. The Tallest glanced back up at the painting, waited a little bit to allot the appropriate amount of time to pass and shrugged.

"...Accreditation? Maybe. But most and foremost, what's happening here is that they're trying to remove influence." Red began. " Artists hold an atmosphere about them. A sense of significance and profession. They're a very individualized sort." He scratched his head. Purple glanced over at him as he paused.

" What they portray in these paintings are influential, opinionated ideals. Most of the time, they are reactionary mediums in protest of societal and governmental policy. That's what they're known for, giving assertions of change. But upon removing that title, removes the air of relevance. Being called a hobbyist, gives off that he may have dabbled in the idea of political change here and there. Maybe even represent his aversions in his paintings. But he wasn't ever consolidated by them. It wasn't what he identified by. He was merely...experimenting." He surmised.

Purple's mind chewed over the ideals a little more, before his eyes furrowed lightly and he looked at the painting they were addressing.

" If they were willing to denounce his status in attempt to removing his influence, why didn't they take down his paintings altogether? It doesn't make any sense." Purple commented. Red shifted his weight on his hip.

" Because this foundation is here to retell historical events and eras. They were appointed to depict the chronicle of time, without the influence of personal judgment and theory. Doing otherwise or manipulating records while under oath can be considered perjury. So what's the next best thing? Remove implicated importance. After all, Sono was appointed Almighty Tallest. How many Tallests have you known to hold occupation of artist as well?"

" Only him." Purple noted.

" Exactly. And even then, how many people know that to this day?" Red asked, rhetorically. Purple's eyes remained in Red's for a while, until they cast down to the floor in contemplation, flitting between details on the carpet design absent-mindlessly. Red sighed, the aura from his counterpart starting to reach and infect his own.

"...How many people even visit the Gallery anymore?" He added. For the last time, Red looked back at the painting. He observed the details and the textures the brush strokes added to the canvas. If his mind was correct in recollection, Sono was known for using oil from gorgus roots. A process that took years for the oil to completely dry. But it allowed fluidity, that much was certain. Red looked at the brazen plaque.

This one was entitled Calm Time. It was a depiction of the years of flourish after the Second Wars that had given Irk it's beginning at a higher status and hierarchy over other planets. It was a capture of the Third District of Rank E citizens and their normal everyday life. Red supposed to himself that in comparison to what maybe Tallest Sono had experienced, this was a rather blissful time for the citizens and economy. Red wouldn't know, however. It looked like to him just a bustling part of a street intersection around buildings. Some people looked at the viewer, though, as if it was an actual camera that photographed this event. Nonetheless, it was a signature detail that Sono had been known to do. Red has seen it countless of other times in his other myriad of paintings.

" Red." Purple called. Naturally, Red looked over to his partner to address his concerns. Purple's gaze remained downcast against the floor for a while, before they met his colleague. " As you would've known already, I'm here for another reason."

Red only nodded, allowing this gesture to hint to the bout of irritation he'd received because of his intentional postponement. Purple smirked lightly, but it gave off the impression of his growing discouragement even more.

" Just...don't do anything stupid." He entreated. Red noted the gravity in his voice, and thought about if his previous action was as necessary as he thought it to be. Purple sighed through his nostrils and his smirk disappeared.

" Mord was found dead this morning."

Red froze, and his antennae dropped.

" He was in an alleyway near a few buildings in a pool of his own blood. Dried droplets lead to a nearby vehicle containing more, but the license registered belonging to him. Forensics found no traces of other DNA or the weapon used around the vicinity. They began researching elsewhere.

" His location was found 27 blocks away from the building he was last seen, which was the station you met him at. In accordance to his household, he was 10.1 miles away. Whatever he did in between the time you saw him and his death is conjecture.

" There aren't any signs of struggle or engagement. In his farm, all of his crops were dried and his animals were dead. On the front door a handgun was placed with a nearly full plasma cartridge, nearly covered entirely in his blood. The serial number had been scratched off. By the volume, It was estimated that it had been used nine times only. Eight for the animals, and one for Mord himself. Why he transported himself from his farm to the alleyway is under evaluation and is speculated as of now.

" There are no other weapons that fit his cause of death, There are no other suspects that have probable cause, and those who did had their alibis checked out. No one murdered Mord, Red. He committed suicide.

" Out of guilt, desperation and stress, he shot his animals and then shot himself in the stomach. In shock, he entered his vehicle and drove himself far away, probably in disbelief of his own actions. He stopped near an alleyway and lied down... Time of death was concluded to be midnight."

Red said nothing. He only stared. Purple was beginning to wither on the inside from the incessant exposure to his partner's ruthless scrutiny. Sweat layered his brow, and Purple endeavored not to look him in his eyes. He swallowed the knot in his throat. He felt obligated to say something, as if there was more to be disclosed. Without, Red would grow impatient. Purple didn't know why he felt this way.

It was then in this moment he remembered something else.

" You also...um...have a guest waiting—"

Why was the serial number scratched.

Purple received a horrible shudder throughout his system and held his breath, practically in disbelief. He looked over at Red, trying not to widen his eyes to reveal his shock over his darkened prosody. His eyes were unformed, and his physical expression retained back all of his emotion. But through his gaze, Purple could see his distraught. His rage. It pierced right through him.

What? Purple uttered, breathless. Never before would he have thought that he could become wary of his partner, to a degree where he could consider his presence almost as a threat to his own. Instead of receiving an answer, Red remained still but his eyes narrowed against him. Purple shrugged innocently.

"T-They inferred it was a weapon he used in his military training. Mord's background showed him of being trained as a soldier stationed in Devastis after his surfacing. Many commanding officers receive shipments and equipment from unwarranted suppliers for easier undertaking. And the law there isn't enforced as strictly as with populations with—"

Who were the suspects of probable cause.

Again, Purple received chills down his spine. He swallowed once more the tightened knot in his throat and looked down at the floor, darting between details as if to jot his memory. He looked back up to Red as he saw a flash in his eyes.

Is one of them who I'm meeting with?

Purple froze, watching his partner's expression consolidate because of his hesitation. His eyes already looked away in disturbed planning. Purple shook his head, and his lips thinned.

" No...No, Red. You said you wouldn't." Purple charged.

But Red was already leaving. Purple caught him by the arm with a dead-hold on his bicep, ground his heel in the floor and pulled back against him to hold his place.

"Red!"

" Don't. Touch. Me." He growled.

" Mord committed suicide! Nobody killed him!"

" Then why is that bastard here?!"

" I don't know! But she didn't do anything!"

Red tore his arm away from his grasp, throwing Purple off balance and marched ahead. Purple regained his footing and watched his colleague leave. In a fit of anger, his hands clenched.

" If Mord was so guiltless, then why did that coward commit suicide!" He yelled, the echoes resounding loudly in his antennae. But Red was unfazed. He continued on, obstinate as ever.

" Answer me that, Red!"

Purple only saw his back when Red left the art exhibit. He allowed a deep breath to clear his mind, and he looked back down to the carpet in his bothered contemplation. He saw a few stains on the ground a few paces ahead. To his side, stood a deactivated cleaning bot. Purple glanced over at it. Then left.

• • •

Red pushed open the doors to the main reception office in the palace, just behind the entrance, and found a woman sitting at a nearby bench. Her head was slouched until she'd realized Almighty Tallest Red entered her presence and immediately stood up with a straightened back, followed by a salute. She wasn't remarkably tall, but just enough to rationalize whatever position she had which showed in the attire she wore. The woman smiled and it was an endeavor already not to punch her out and curse her entire family and heritage, but he resisted the powerful temptations. Red approached her, which promptly had her hand held out.

" I apologize if I've interrupted any pertinent business, Almighty Tallest Red, but I wanted to reassure you on some rather..." She paused, and awkwardly shifted. "...sensitive information on behalf of a certain individual."

Red's pulse throbbed at those words, as if his own boiling blood was wanting to see her hurt. But all he did was nod at her and the woman's smile slightly enlarged when she curtly put her hand back at her side, trying not to physically show her confused reaction to her greeting being dismissed. The Tallest turned, gestured towards the direction he was facing and lead her back through where he came, and walked down the hallway. The woman followed Red into his office.

The office rooms appointed for the Almighty Tallests were not expected to have extended use. After all, the majority of the time the Tallests inhabited in was within one full sector of the entire building, cut off from the general public and those who found employment underneath palace jurisdiction. The offices they were given were by reason of their election, were more or less prerogatives of earning their rightful ranking position, used mostly with intent of meetings such as the one being conducted now with invitations of smaller business representatives to meet with the Tallests on larger, but still personal matters, and, occasionally, a place for planning and easier location when a public announcement was to be made; Often clerks and palace representatives needed to communicate to ensure certain factors of preparation whenever needed. Red, upon entering the room, sub-consciously remembered when he entered Purple's office for help when he traveled to the station for community governor. Remembering his annoyance towards Purple at the time helped fuel his anger towards the woman currently behind him.

Red sat down at his seat and the woman sat herself near to him. The woman looked around briefly, clearly curious but not wanting to disclose on the extent of how curious she was. She turned and began.

" First, I want to thank you for taking the time out of your precious hours for seeing me. I came here at first to schedule an appointment, but I'm honored you're willing to see me now."

The woman could hardly contain her excitement, her smile was so big. But after she glanced over at Red's grave, and hardened expression, it wasn't long until the smile gradually decreased to an awkward curl of the corners of her lips. She cleared her throat.

" I apologize. Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Erless, Chief Corporate Supervisor of Irken Agriculture Association, or IAA inc. We're an organization based for encouraging safe agricultural uses in the planet, and ensure legal and economical practices are exercised. Uh—our agency protects Irken and environmental health by enforcing regulations and policies passed by the laws of state govern." She affirmed. " I manage all of the marketing, operating and financing operations of the agency."

Erless repositioned in her seat, her excitement still evident in her untended behavior. Her eyes were a dark shade of lush green and they constantly looked at the Tallest, despite the contempt Red tried to suffuse within his glare, they would glance back up with moments sparked with a child-like energy. It reminded him of his first experience with the civilians. Erless coughed nervously, and her gaze shot back down to her hands resting on the table, twiddling her indexes.

" I'm aware that you've...heard of the recent events of one of our many shareholders, Mord, correct?" She asked, almost sounding like she was asking permission for him to speak.

Red repositioned, and raised his chin.

" Yes...I have." He responded. Erless nodded to this and blinked a few times. She remained twiddling her fingers a while longer before she turned her torso partly to engage more socially to the conversation, and looked at Red in the eyes for once without falter.

" On behalf of the IAA inc, I am here to formally apologize on the circumstances you've met, and the situation you experienced with Mord. He was a very dependable man, highly valued, as it were." She related. " You see, with the expenses being forwarded towards the taming of new planets and, as you've noticed, the nominal dry season arriving a little late this year, IAA inc. suffers, as do many other corporations, from a lack of capital circulation. Because of this, shareholder value has seen a downgrade now and in prospect. It is no wonder why Mord, as many others have, issued for a farmer's RDC."

Red furrowed his eyes at this and shifted, partially annoyed the woman didn't realize part of her business operations lingo was being used when in reference to one who had no knowledge of it.

" RDC?" He repeated, aggravated. Erless looked up at him for a moment, with a stupid, confused look on her face until her eyes brightened and she let out a small oh in reaction.

" Uh—redeemer's card, my Tallest." She explained. " However it would've never have been within logical foresight to think for Mord to have done what he did. It was a shock for us all. He was a good man, but his hideous actions...they're unforgivable. Irremediable. What he did to you. " Erless expressed, her eyes furrowing in whatever counterfeit anger she was trying to convince Red of. The Tallest, at this point, had enough.

" So was that why he was killed?" He asked, shifting in his seat. He leaned forward against his woven hands and studied Erless, as she watched back with a dumbfounded expression that always seemed to find it's way back to her face. This time take it took a few more moments than last time for her to finally get across the meaning of what he was saying, and she blinked a few times. Her eyes looked down at Red's joined hands for a moment in thought, before rising back up to meet. A defensive, uncomfortable grin rose on her face revealed a bit of her teeth.

" What?" She asked, at a low volume.

" Was it easier for you to tie up loose ends? Save face afterwards, seeing as the issue had been addressed?"

Erless stuttered.

"I-I'm not sure what you're—"

Red raised his fist and slammed it against the table, causing the recipient of his anger to jump exceedingly to the loud, offending sound.

" You know damn well what I'm talking about." Red snarled, ire vaporizing trace marks of his composure. " You had a man killed because he became an inconvenience for you."

The Irken watched back, her expression becoming more tightened as her body began to beleaguer itself with small, beginning strains of fear.

" No...No, Almighty Tallest, I didn't have any hand in his death, I swear. I—We all only found out about it today." She stammered.

" Save me the effort, Erless." Red chuckled, ominously. " I don't want two people dying in one day."

The Irken's expression dropped, ripe in her horror. Her hands began trembling and she looked away against Red's height when he stood slowly from the chair. Red towered over her and he remained this way for a while as an assertion of a statement. Beginning to shiver, her instability riddled through her entire body. Her eyes remained focused away from Red, and she pursed her lips impetuously.

" Mord never hurt me. Never even laid a finger. Yet somehow the information divulged so that it would come out in your favor, wouldn't it?" Erless looked back at Red, her eyes skimming his expression. Surges of her anxiety surpassed her once collected aplomb. The voice she used to speak shook against her frantic and uncontrollable stretches of fear.

" An ambulance came. They came to take you from the station. Y-you were only half conscious. And Mord was no where to be—"

" I don't care how the situation appears!" He yelled, causing Erless to flinch and look away once more, shutting her eyes tightly closed. Her breathing was heavy, and bothered. It came through her lungs and out wavering more than dried rukor. Against the rigor and poise of the militant personnel, her sentimental output in accordance with the rupture of her mental state waned much faster in dignity than what a commanding officer could keep up to consider contemptible. Red's hands balled into fists and a sneer marked his face.

" I know what happened. I was there. And nobody had the right to kill an innocent person."

All in response to his feverish enmity, Erless breathed out the words through her shaking exhales in cycle, I didn't do it, I swear. Her hands moved to the back of her cranium and held down her antennae. Red was fairly certain that her shivering was now ruled by her hiccups of suppressed sobbing. Like a smear or blot of ink, his mind wiped away the visage of her state and invoked back his flammable sparks, bringing back his subject rationalization alight with his burning temper.

" Or do you doubt me? Doubt your Almighty Tallest?" He countered venomously. These would be the words that would stop her breathing altogether. Their asperity cleaved upon the air heaving throughout her systems, suffering it of gravity until borne out entirely of her body. Erless looked up at him, eyes widened and mouth ajar at the promised severity.

" Never."

It came out barely above a whisper. Until her teeth gritted and she took a sharp, heavy inhale, her chest rising goading the tears that reared in her eyes. " Never."

Red watched her, emotion practically spewing from the pores of her skin, and a sick smile rose against her fear, manifesting the twisted enjoyment he received from her cowardice. He moved forward and she moved out of the chair and stepped back and immediately knelt on her knees.

" Liar."

" No! Never, My Tallest!"

It was here, as they were positioned coincidentally for the event to happen, the door suddenly opened and Purple blocked Red from getting any closer to Erless. He was half way startled by Red's proximity, but a moment later his expression surfaced to his adamancy.

" Where is Erless." He questioned. Red looked back, as though his eyes could see through the door and pinpoint her exact location. He didn't allow himself to speak, mildly chagrined from the event happening, but Purple was able to read through to his actions. He flattened himself against the door and by his gesture, invited Red to leave.

" This is my office." Red argued.

" Now."

Red kept his stern expression against Purple for a while longer before he exhaled, looked back at the place he could only assume Erless was cowering at, and left. His anger was starting to refuel against Purple and his inconveniences. He walked down the hallway where it lead to their secluded sector.

She didn't do it.

Red stopped immediately, and his mind backed up a few traces back to recount what just happened. Then he snarled in spite of himself.

" And you'd know this?"

Of course. It's quite obvious. You lust for glorifying yourself, but yet fail to realize how much it clouds your judgment. As we may share a body, I don't share your idiocy.

Red ground his teeth and continued walking.

" Then explain to me, O hallowed one, her innocence."

Just think about it, Red. Let's humor your shortcomings, shall we? If she were to murder anybody, there would've been a much easier, cleaner process to go about it, but I'll stick with the case at hand. Explain to me how she would've killed his animals first and then manage to kill him without him getting any further than his front door step.

Sure you could say she shot the animals, Mord was alerted, exited his house and then was shot in the abdomen, but then how would his blood appear on the gun? And what about the wound he sustained? It was clearly the effect from the plasma blast at point blank, judging by the fact the gun was nearly entirely covered in his blood. Do you think he'd allow his assailant to get that close?

" She subdued him." Red asserted.

But the blood was only found at his front door, and there were no signs of struggle. In addition, any means of being nervous or fearful would've had higher concentrations of adrenaline post and ante mortem.

Red passed by an intersection of hallways and continued down his path.

" Why was she listed as one of the individuals of probable cause?"

Because that's about as best as anyone can do in situations like these. What else can you elect others for, other than probable cause, if there's no direct evidence leading to a murder? And besides, she was most likely chosen because she'd seen him last, or anything relative to that. They were merely exploiting their uses for reassurance.

" So then why is she here?" He asked, angered dread lacing his voice as he turned back to see the door still partially open to his office.

By the gods, Red, listening is not your virtue. Do the words IAA's formal apology mean anything to you?

Red furrowed his brow.

" You don't actually buy that shit?" He objected.

There was a moment of silence. Red sighed through his nose when he realized it was one filled with a mocking, statement of disbelief.

Red. Recall her behavior. Recall the fact she cowered strictly because you stood. If you still think she still matches the mode of a killer, I will attest to your downfall as a fervent necessity.

Red shook his head, and his lips pursed in his irritation. He pushed through a pair of doors and entered into a more quieter environment.

" Maybe she hired someone."

A sigh could be heard. A drawn, impatient one.

The case still stands, Red. No struggle. No assailant. No other traces of DNA. No motive. What would IAA need to kill Mord for? His alleged attacking would be his responsibility, not theirs. You can't say to save face, because they wouldn't be blamed for his actions. Again. Your anger is clouding you. Please allow yourself to, at least, notice that much.

Red stopped at the nearby wall and massaged his brow, leaning against it for support. He remained this way for a while, his mind swimming through myriad of thoughts, reflections, and his own troubled emotions.

" Why did IAA feel the need to apologize?" Red pondered aloud.

...What good is that brain of yours, Red? One of their shareholders allegedly attacked you. Do you seriously not listen to anything else but your own insouciant ramblings?

Red, again, was chagrined by the ever apparent honesty of his inadvertence. He massaged his brow some more and allowed himself to fall back through to his deflated thoughts. The silence gave him way to do so, to temporarily forget himself in the placement of universe, no longer self-conscious of his actions. The anger he felt before was leveled, and only the burns he suffered through stayed behind against his conscience.

And, Yes. You really did just threaten a random woman because of your assumptions.

Red sighed, almost despondently.

" I didn't ask a question."

No. But you were asking yourself. So I obliged with an answer.

Red scoffed.

" Which seems to be all you're good for."

Which you don't seem to dispute nor depreciate.

Red kept his eyes at the carpet ahead of them. The silence hung around the hallways with a close sense of friction. But he kept his mind around the ordeal that was more important. And after a while, in the first time in the longest of times, years—centuries before hand, his heart clenched in his chest. It lived a moment longer to spread a tinge of sorrow before it was erased, in lieu of his PAK. Red closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

Lo and Behold; Almighty Tallest Red truly had cordial affections for a distinctly short and simple Irken civilian. Things are really looking down for the future of Irk.

Red, again, shook his head.

" Just shut up."