Barnaby struggled to fully process Judge Petrov's words. Out of all the things he'd expected to hear about (a terrorist attack, a high-profile bank robbery, a natural disaster), the arrest and death of Albert Maverick hadn't even crossed his mind.
The thought was outrageous. Maverick tirelessly worked for the acceptance of NEXT everywhere and the safety of Stern Bild. He would never do something that would land him in prison, much less a high-security one. He wasn't even a NEXT! And for Lunatic to murder him? There had to be some kind of mistake. Even if the story was true, Maverick was surely framed for something he didn't do.
If that was the case, though, wouldn't Barnaby have tried to stop it? Retired or not, he owed everything to Maverick. There was no way he would have allowed something like that to happen to the man who had practically raised him.
But Barnaby knew for a fact that his own memories couldn't be trusted, and that his perception of reality wasn't always correct. The fact that he couldn't confidently refute Petrov's claim, not even to himself, felt like a knife to the chest.
What on earth was going on? What was wrong with him?
Barnaby felt the color drain from his face as his stomach grew increasingly nauseated. He didn't even try to pretend to be interested in his waffles as the fork almost slipped from his hand.
"I wasn't...informed of his death," he managed to say after a moment. To his credit, Barnaby stayed composed as he spoke, knowing that it would be shameful to reveal his memory loss to the judge. He just had to keep telling himself that there were several perfectly rational explanations for all of this. The effort, though, sapped more energy than he needed to expend today, and he knew the uncertainty would plague him until he had a chance to talk to Kotetsu about all of this.
no subject
The thought was outrageous. Maverick tirelessly worked for the acceptance of NEXT everywhere and the safety of Stern Bild. He would never do something that would land him in prison, much less a high-security one. He wasn't even a NEXT! And for Lunatic to murder him? There had to be some kind of mistake. Even if the story was true, Maverick was surely framed for something he didn't do.
If that was the case, though, wouldn't Barnaby have tried to stop it? Retired or not, he owed everything to Maverick. There was no way he would have allowed something like that to happen to the man who had practically raised him.
But Barnaby knew for a fact that his own memories couldn't be trusted, and that his perception of reality wasn't always correct. The fact that he couldn't confidently refute Petrov's claim, not even to himself, felt like a knife to the chest.
What on earth was going on? What was wrong with him?
Barnaby felt the color drain from his face as his stomach grew increasingly nauseated. He didn't even try to pretend to be interested in his waffles as the fork almost slipped from his hand.
"I wasn't...informed of his death," he managed to say after a moment. To his credit, Barnaby stayed composed as he spoke, knowing that it would be shameful to reveal his memory loss to the judge. He just had to keep telling himself that there were several perfectly rational explanations for all of this. The effort, though, sapped more energy than he needed to expend today, and he knew the uncertainty would plague him until he had a chance to talk to Kotetsu about all of this.