Marucho sat up more. "What about Allie?"
Frederick smiled, "he might be innocent."
Marucho's lips curled up into a smile, "well I know that."
"Well then you should also know exactly how to prove it." The Animal said. Marucho looked down.
"If I was able to do that, he would already be out of here." Marucho replied.
"Well, not technically." Frederick replied. Marucho raised an eyebrow at her.
"Sora Perse could you explain it to him?" Frederick asked, looking at Sora Perse.
Sora Perse nodded, "well, you know exactly what happened." Marucho nodded.
"But no one believes you because you don't have evidence. And that's why we're going to get you that evidence." Sora Perse explained.
"But it happened long ago. How are you going to be able to find evidence now?" Marucho asked.
"We have all the evidence we need in that room over there." Sora Perse said, pointing to the room that him and Frederick came out of.
"That room is where Sora Perse sits to watch the prison. And Allie whenever he has guest." Frederick said.
"Yep. And the thing about those cameras, is that they can hear everything. You see, I had a feeling there was something up about this whole situation. So, I had Aura over there tell everyone who enters Allie's cell that we won't be able to hear anything if they don't yell." Sora Perse said and Aura nodded.
"So we get to hear everything that they don't want us to hear. Especially this." Sora Perse pulled out a recorder and rewinded it. Then he stopped it and pressed play.
"An' what do ye know 'bout it? Ye weren't there." Tate's voice played back. What were they going to prove with that?
"Now this doesn't mean anything on it's own. But the fact that she tried to hide this statement by lowering her voice, and by the suspicions I have about the boy's innocence. I feel like it means something. And that's where you come in!" Sora Perse said with a smile, enthusiastically pointing at Marucho. Marucho got excited. He could be useful to Allie, and they could see each other again.
"Do you want me to go in and talk to him about it?" Marucho asked with a smile.
"I'm afraid that any words that are spoken between the two of you would be invalid." Sora Perse said. Marucho's smile fell.
"Then what are we going to do?" Marucho asked. Sora Perse sighed.
"You might not like it, kid. I know that I don't like it a bit either." Sora Perse said.
Marucho groaned, "ugh, just tell me!"
"We will need both Tate and Ricky Steamboat to come visit him. And little by little, Allie will ask them questions or anger them into giving us clues. And soon we'll have the entire story, and he'll be free." Sora Perse explained.
Marucho held his breath. Tate and Ricky Steamboat, the two worst people, would go in there and talk to Allie. Angry no less. But it was for Allie's freedom. Marucho let out his breath and nodded. "Okay, tell me what I need to do."
"Okay. First we need to know what you know. Tell us what happened." Sora Perse said. Marucho started to explain once again what he remembered.
"That's what he told me as well." Frederick said.
"Great, so it's a solid story." Sora Perse replied.
"So, we just have to make the other two tell the Aurae story, right?" Frederick asked.
"Yeah, if we can." Sora Perse said.
"Allie's going to be okay after all of this, right?" Marucho asked.
"Yes, Allie will be fine. Any one lays a finger on him, the contract is off." Sora Perse said.
"Then why don't you just make them lay a finger on him? Then he can go free." Marucho asked.
"You think that the townsfolk are going to agree on that? To just let him go free while they still think that he was the one that brought you near to death?" Sora Perse asked. No. People aren't that understanding.
"Look kid, you have to think about both sides of the equation. It's not just you and Allie out here in this world. There's hundreds of other people. And these people aren't going to think the Aurae way that you do." Sora Perse explained.
"I know that." Marucho replied.
"Good. Now you can think and start helping us come up with ways to get them to say exactly what we want." Sora Perse said.
"Why don't we start with a motive?" Frederick asked.
"Well, according to that story, it seems like Tate wanted Marucho for something." Aura added.
"Well yeah, probably my diamonds." Marucho said, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Well, there's our motive." Sora Perse said.
"I don't know. Do you think Tate is that greedy?" Frederick asked.
"Wouldn't put it past her. She was fucking rude." Marucho said.
"Hey, watch your language." Frederick said. Marucho smiled, it reminded him of Allie.
"Frederick, this entire thing is about thinking. That's why we are going to work on assumptions like this. And if it's wrong, we'll try something else. This is a great start." Sora Perse said.
"So, how do we get Tate to tell Allie that she wanted his diamonds?" Marucho asked.
"What about what Frederick gave him last time she came to visit?" Aura asked.
Sora Perse pointed finger guns at him, "that's my boy!"
"Wait, what did Frederick bring?" Marucho asked.
"She brought in a diamond last time and gave it to Allie." Aura replied.
"You brought in a diamond? They let you do that?" Marucho asked.
"Well technically I wasn't allowed to bring it in. But I did." Frederick said. Marucho didn't understand how, but by the looks on the others' faces, he figured that he really didn't want to find out.
"Okay, so we show her the diamond. Then what?" Sora Perse asked.
"Then she'll probably ask where he got it from." Aura answered.
Sora Perse smiled bright, "right again! That's where Allie starts talking. He'll taunt her with it. Tell her that he knows how much she wants it."
"Then we hope we get the right reaction out of her." Frederick said.
"Yep! Then we have the first piece of evidence: a motive!" Sora Perse said. He then walked behind the counter and into the room where Aura was. He pushed out the whiteboard that was there and flipped it around.
"So, we have a list of evidence that could prove someone guilty, listed from least to most valuable. We already had number three, a witness. But that piece of evidence means nothing because they don't believe you two. So really, we only have number one, a motive. Which would be good if it wasn't a motive to the real motive." Sora Perse explained.
"We need a motive for her to want to lock Allie in a prison, or threaten to have him killed." Frederick concluded.
Marucho sighed, "well, I know that they wanted my diamonds, that's why they agreed to put Allie into prison. But even so, they didn't know that I would give myself up. If I had said no, they would have to kill him. I don't know if they wanted that."
Sora Perse stood straight up and marched to the recording room. The rest of them waited patiently as he marched back into the waiting room with another recorder. "I forgot about this." Sora Perse said as he pressed play.
"He should have let you die." Tate's voice stopped as Sora Perse stopped the recording.
"This is some more evidence that we have. She would have been okay to let him die." Sora Perse said.
"But didn't everyone else feel the Aurae way?" Marucho asked.
"Well, first, Tate is anyone to Allie. She's his mother. And even if Allie had done such a thing, she wouldn't just want him to die, right?" Sora Perse said. Everyone looked unsure.
"Okay, maybe this isn't as helpful as evidence right now. But if we could get more information on her wanting Allie to be dead, maybe we can get something that counts." Sora Perse tried to redeem himself.
"How about we do one thing at a time? We can't rush things like this. If we do, we'll get another ridiculous statement out of her." Frederick said.
"Yeah, then she'll say that he mind-controlled him." Sora Perse said. Marucho didn't involve himself any further.
It was easy for them to say, they had all the time in the world. He, on the other hand felt like this was a huge waste of time. He would have to waste his time waiting, getting plucked of his diamonds, only interacting with Allie through letters. He would be facing the consequences of time.
He hated that he even thought about it, but he wanted someone to go in there and just lay one hand on Allie. Then they could run away and be outcasts. It would be perfect, something that they were already used to. They would become everyone's expectations. Marucho, a runaway, ran away when the going got tough. Allie, the demon who manipulates, manipulated his way out of prison. It was perfect.
He was pulled out of his thoughts at a door closing. He shot his head up and saw that Sora Perse and Frederick were gone. Probably in that room again. Aura walked out of his space behind the counter and walked up to Marucho.
When he got close enough, he leaned down, "do you want to see Allie?" Marucho nodded. Aura smiled a straightened up. He put a finger to his lips and guided Marucho to a door opposite of the front. Marucho liked this one, he wasn't like the others who just wanted to pin him down and away from Allie. Then again, he was a teenager too. It was like all of the teenagers understood each other. He didn't know about Mega.
Sora Perse closed the door and led Frederick to his office, which was a room behind the cameras. He sat in his chair at his desk and Frederick sat at one across from him.
"Frederick, what's holding you back?" Sora Perse asked.
"I don't know what you mean, Sora Perse." Frederick replied.
Sora Perse sighed, "you know exactly what I mean. You saw the recording; Tate laid her hands on Allie. She even forcefully pushed him away. The deal has already been broken."
"Well, we can't let him out. It's just like you said, the people won't accept him." Frederick said.
"I said that to cover up your trail. You're the one that started up the 'Allie is innocent' thing. You were supposed to tell him that Allie was getting out!" Sora Perse said.
"You played along. You started talking about evidence." Frederick argued.
"You asked me to talk about evidence! We could let him out without evidence, it's just a suggestion! I don't think the people would actually care about them. And even if they did care, then Allie and Marucho would just run away together." Sora Perse said. Frederick said nothing as she bit her lip. Sora Perse calmed down.
"That's why you won't let him. You don't want him to leave." Sora Perse said.
Frederick looked away from him, "no. It's true that it would be sad to see them leave. But I don't know if they'll be okay out there."
"Then why don't we supply them with a house and an area to grow farmland. Allie has worked on a farm his entire life, I think they'll be fine with that." Sora Perse said.
"But what if they're not?" Frederick asked.
"I know how you are, Frederick. You would let them go if they were anyone else. But you are holding onto those two. Why?" Sora Perse asked.
"I would not let someone just go out free to die." Frederick said.
"But they wouldn't be dying out there. They're dying right now. One is rotting in a prison cell while the other is selling his body to others. This isn't living. This is just torture, punishment for something that they didn't do." Sora Perse said.
"They're alive. And that's all that matters." Frederick said.
"You're being selfish. Why won't you just understand their point of view?" Sora Perse asked.
"I'm not being selfish. This is for them." Frederick said. Sora Perse groaned.
"This is what I didn't miss about you. You're hard-headed. You will never admit that you're wrong. And why? Because you don't want to seem like a Allie person. You aren't a Allie person to want to have something. But wanting and acting based off of that want are two different things. You turn into a Allie person the second that you start acting on those selfish wants. And that's what you've just done." Sora Perse lectured.
"And what If I am a Allie person?" Frederick asked.
"Then that's what you'd be. A Allie person. Do you want to just accept that?" Sora Perse asked.
"Yes, because apparently that's what I am." Frederick said.
"I think you should give yourself a little bit more time before deciding. I don't want you to do something you regret. Remember, when Marucho finds out, he won't be happy." Sora Perse said.
"If he finds out." Frederick said as she stood up out of her chair.
"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?" Frederick asked.
"Nope, you're free to leave." Sora Perse said.
"Goodbye, Sora Perse. I'll see you later." Frederick said.
"Goodbye Frederick, I hope you think about that." Sora Perse said. Frederick nodded and opened the door.
"Marucho!" She called out but there was no answer. She looked left and right and saw that Aura wasn't there either. She stepped back into the room and looked at the cameras. She gasped as she saw the image that showed up.
"What is it?" Sora Perse asked, scrambling over to her. She pushed her away gently to get a better look.
"Damn it Aura." Sora Perse said rushing out the door. The computer monitor showed Aura standing outside Allie's cell. Marucho wasn't found on that screen. Instead, he was on another screen. The screen with Allie. Frederick rushed after Sora Perse to follow Aura and Marucho.
Marucho was already a sneaky child, he didn't need another person to encourage his actions.