Cassia

Two - The Next Afternoon

It seemed that half the day had passed when Cassia was taken from the room she had been sleeping, eating, and resting in. The woman, Adele, led her to another room with a table, two chairs, and an object on the table. Adele motioned to Cassia to sit down in one of the chairs.

At first Cassia thought the object might be a device to harm her in some way. There was small tube connected to it with a dark, thick string. On closer inspection she saw that the device had a sheet of paper in it, and other sheets next to it. Unless it fires paper at me, she noted, it cannot do me any harm.

Adele took something from her hand and put it on Cassia’s head. She wondered it that might the thing they would use on her. Two padded shells covered her ears, and were connected by a thin strip of metal that ran over her head. From the right side a thinner strip led to a circular part that rested in front of her mouth.

Adele left the room without another word. A moment or two later the Blue Pistol entered and sat down in the other chair, across from her.

“You are the one sent to question me,” she said.

“I am here to ask you questions, yes,” he replied.

She shook her head. When she had spoken, words came out from the object in front of her mouth that were not hers, and that she did not understand, but were in her voice. When he responded his lips moved, but the words she heard did not match how his lips moved.

“What is happening?” she asked, unnerved.

“What you are wearing is called a translator,” he said. “It takes my words, which I am speaking in English, and translating them so you hear Latin. It then does the reverse when you speak. It may seem strange. You will have to get used to it.”

There was much strange about what had happened since he had brought her from Lord Master Varus’ manor to this building in this unknown land. They had given her a room to rest in and a cot to sleep on. The cot was no bed, but she was allowed to sleep without interruption. She was brought food in the morning. She was also given clean undergarments, a shirt, a dress, and shoes.

All was not pleasant. So far only Adele had spoken to her, and that briefly. The door to the room was kept locked. Cassia could tell from the shadow under the crack between the door and the floor that a guard had been posted. What does it all mean? she had wondered before being brought to this room.

Now I shall find out.

“What should I call you?” she asked.

“Bart. My name is Bart Cochran. Call me Bart.” He let out a breath. “I am going ask you some questions. Keep in mind that we might already know the answers, and that others would be easy to verify.  I will know if you tell a lie, one way or the other. These questions may seem strange or trivial. Do not think about them, just answer. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

He pointed to the tube on the table. “Speak towards that. The machine will hear what you say and write it out.”

“You are joking.”

“No. Wait for it to stop making noise, though, or it won’t understand you. Speak a sentence, wait, then continue.” He paused. “Oh, and unless you want me looking down your dress, you need not bend down closer to that, the microphone.”

“I do not want that. Is that what the device is called?”

“The machine is a docugraph. The thing connected to it, that will hear you, is the microphone.”

“Very well.”

Bart touched a small lever on the machine with the forefinger of his right had. “What is your name?”