I'll just remind you all: Gen hasn't been introduced in SA yet, as of this chapter's publication (Jan 2022). She'll be in Year Five in SA.

I'm shocked we got through this arc. It feels like it just started.

Chapter 181: Gen & Pym's Vacation Hideaway Part Four

Florida State Courthouse - 15:00 PM

"Rise for the Honourable."

James stands from his spot sitting in the gallery and watches Gen do the same from sitting inside the witness box beside the judge's bench. He wasn't sure why he was expected a whole room of people when he and Gen arrived at the courthouse for her subpoena hearing, but it's only investigators from both SHIELD and the FBI with their stacks of papers, sitting at the defendant's and prosecution's tables, respectively.

The moment James and Gen walked in, they were staring at her with icy glares. Even he was getting strange looks, even from the SHIELD agents present. They started murmuring to themselves when he showed his SHIELD badge as clearance to be seated in here. He and Gen are only peeved they had to dress formally. Blazers and pants in Florida heat. They're both sweating and the rotating fans were blowing hot air back at them.

Once the judge is seated in his chamber, he orders everyone to follow and puts Gen under oath which she follows with a straight and neutral expression. Once she lowers her hand, she straightens her blazer.

"State your name and charge for the record," the judge starts.

"Agent Genevieve binti Mikhail, Ph.D.," Gen responds. "Destruction of evidence."

One of the investigators for the FBI, a tall man in a sharp suit, stands. "Dr. Mikhail, can we call you Gen?"

Gen's stony expression doesn't budge. "No."

"How about Genevieve?"

"It's Dr. Mikhail to everyone in this room except him."

All eyes turn to James who's seated behind the SHIELD investigators. He offers a small wave before they return to the matter at hand. Forget the Honourable, he's honoured.

"We'll take this slow, Dr. Mikhail," the FBI investigator says, "I'll start with a simple question. Are you here today as an expert witness or under a court order?"

"Both," she answers with such annoyance in her voice because that was a stupid question.

"So if you're an expert witness which you seem to be given your expertise in geophysics and encryption, why did SHIELD pass on the diamond that was originally assigned to you?"

Gen pauses, glancing at James for half a second before locking eyes with the FBI investigator questioning her. "I plead the fifth."

"Is it because you destroyed the evidence you were ordered to examine?"

"Objection," Gen furrows her brows, "speculation."

"Overruled," the judge states without even looking at her.

Gen sighs, keeping her composure together with a plastered smile that James knows what to explode. She takes a deep breath. "That's a lie. I didn't destroy the diamond. I pulled myself out of that assignment because I was receiving death threats that put my life at risk. I have a family too, you know?"

James glances at the SHIELD investigators. They're agents he doesn't recognize which isn't odd to him since there are so many of them around. But they don't seem too concerned about Gen's well-being. They're barely reacting to her words. It could be that this is information they already know and they're just letting Gen recount it for the FBI and the record.

"Who was sending the death threats?" The FBI investigator asks her.

"You tell me," Gen responds. "Isn't the point of death threats not to know who sent them?"

James grins to himself, hiding his smile with his hand during this exchange. He knows that Gen has an accurate guess on who sent them because she told him at the diner. There's the mafia-esque group and two assassins who infiltrated SHIELD. And for all James knows, the people at the final destination also have a target on Gen's back.

"Moving on," the FBI investigator says, "who did SHIELD get the diamond from?"

Gen glances at the SHIELD investigators who motion for her to answer. "Ivory Gates."

James pauses. Of course, Ivory fucking Gates is somehow involved in this mess. Maybe she has a target on Gen's back which means she'll definitely fire at James if she gets the opportunity.

"How do you know?" The FBI investigator asks.

"SHIELD told me and Ivory was arrested by SHIELD before you, the FBI, took her to your supermax," Gen responds. "If you ask me, I think you should've gone to her with this hearing instead of me. You know, shoot the messenger."

"So what happened to the diamond?"

"My fifth amendment right was ignored but I don't care at this point. SHIELD passed it on. You know that already."

"So you deliberately tampered with the diamond for what?"

"Speculation that will be overruled," Gen mutters, "but I did what I did for self-preservation and stopping whatever operation Ivory Gates was associated with. If I couldn't crack the diamond's message, then why should anyone else? From what I understand, the weapons were shipped to their middle place waiting for the final destination which was encrypted on the diamond. If nobody knows the final coordinates, then nothing can happen."

The investigator raises a brow. Even the judge and the SHIELD investigators sit straighter to listen. "So do you know the coordinates?"

Gen smiles. "No."

"Are you lying?"

"I'm being hunted and put under oath. What do you think?"

Genevieve code for "I'm lying but you're way too stupid to realize." James knows she's lying but making it look like she isn't. Rhetorical questions to show attitude and narcissism, Gen's top personality traits.

James' mind drifts as they continue to scrutinize her without cracking her code. He can't process how Gen was in hiding but was still ordered to appear here. From his understanding of being in an agent's equivalent of potential exile, SHIELD isn't supposed to contact until it was safe again, it was dangerous so she had to leave, or they desperately needed her. Why send her a subpoena to testify information if they already knew the story, hence why they sent her here and him to watch over her?

Then his dissertation pops into his mind. Quantum entanglement.

The point of the field is to track how fast quantum particles travel because nobody can always know where they presently are or where they'll go. He and his dad figured that out by observing the particles they have to change them. It's how James worked the teleport to determine a new location and how his father could modify their forms and cause items and organisms to change sizes.

The subpoenas and quantum entanglement. A quantum subpoena? A subpoena entanglement?

Particles can relocate but none can be created spontaneously. The courtroom has agents that already existed, including himself and Gen. His mind can't pinpoint why SHIELD sent Gen into hiding but also send her a court order to show up here. And why didn't SHIELD tell him about the subpoena if they sent him? It'd make more sense for the FBI to do that since they have Ivory in their possession and would want the diamond's information too, but how would they know where to send the subpoena if she was in hiding?

When did the letters arrive? They arrived when Gen was grocery shopping. When was the bomb planted? When Gen was grocery shopping. Patterns of observation are noted for future changes. If the bomb doesn't go off, then the letters will cause movement in a certain direction. If the bomb did go off, then the letters wouldn't have been needed.

Particles can relocate even if nobody knows where they presently are or where they'll go. However, people can change the course of the particles to try and get them to a targeted location.

Nothing here is made from scratch. Everything is bound to return to where they started. It's the foundation for life and death. He and Gen are particles with targets on their backs. Nobody knew where they were, at first, but then their travel paths were changed.

SHIELD and the FBI didn't send anything. The investigators in the room and the judge are frauds.

Gen was relocated before. That's the reason why she's in Florida. If she's heading back to the start, that means she'll be faced with the people sending her death threats.

The subpoenas were masked death threats.

They were ordered into a trap.

And just like Daniel and his Ph.D. in nuclear physics, I made quantum entanglement work with solving this problem. Also, I tried to make it work and it does to me. I'm not an expert.

So our darling Genevieve was the unintentional mastermind behind everything. Sing it with me: "It was Genevieve all along!"

Now that we know how all the events of Rando Week are connected, there is still one thing to find out: the final destination.