Space and Time

T=mg+ma

A/N: R. Tally was an idiot and posted the wrong chapter first. This part should come before The Meat of Things.

Subject: Incident Report 051.

I didn't expect to get this while sitting on the toilet, halfway through the Christmas dinner date Aika and I are on. Do I read it now? Save it for later?

No, it'll be on my mind if I ignore it now.

Please find attached the report for Incident 051. Why can't they ever just write the damn thing in the email itself? Please review Section 5 carefully; sign and return at your earliest possible convenience. Sign? What exactly am I signing off on? My career?

Is my fate sealed with this PDF, here in a restaurant bathroom?

Am I out of the NCC?

Aika's waiting for me.

I shove my phone back into my bag and get cleaned up. The tap water here's always just that tad bit too hot. But I'm not sure the burn is quite as bad as what I'll be feeling later.

"Hey, took you a while," Aika says as I saunter back over to our corner table. Her playful grin drops to a pout, eyebrows furrowed, as I sit down. There's no point hiding my concern. "What's wrong?" She has to speak over the murmur of the gazillion people also on dates here today.

"Check your email."

She does. It takes her a bit of time to swipe through her apps but when she sees it, Incident Report 051, she goes still.

"It's in."

"What does it say?" She doesn't look up at me when she asks. The blue light from her screen reflects off her dark eyes, but that's not all I can see in them.

"I'm not sure," I answer truthfully. "I figured you'd want to know, though."

"I mean... Right now wasn't the best time."

"I don't think there really is a 'best time' for this."

She finally looks up at me. Her shoulders are tense and I really hope the server doesn't come by in the next few minutes because she looks like she's about to take someone down. And it's certainly not going to be her girlfriend. Or, at least, I don't think it would be...

"...Do you want to read through it?" I break the silence.

"Amazing date we've got going on, Evren. Reading the incident report, deciding both our futures for the NCC this year, over... what? Steak?"

This is getting too tense. "Pretty sure you ordered chicken?"

Aika's silent and I hold my breath, until she chuckles. I watch her deflate, her fists uncurl. Her eyes reflect the light of the candle between us when she gazes at me and I know the warmth in my hands and chest are not just from the flame. Aika half-sighs half-groans and opens the PDF attachment.

We read it.

Section 1 talks about the people involved in the investigation and how the whole thing was conducted. Most of it's legal jargon. I see police, investigators both internal and external to the force; I see the NCC Committee for Fair Play; I see members of the PR team. I don't see external lawyers.

Sections 2-4 talk about the incident and the reports from all sides. It's pretty long and we skip most of it. They seem to have gotten our stories right. It also looks like the culprits fessed up to the whole thing in the end. That's police presence for ya.

Section 5 is where the meat is. Remediation. Consequences. This is what says whether I'm allowed to compete. Whether Aika's allowed to compete. What happens to the assailants. These are the rules I have to potentially sign my championship off on. What we all have to sign off on.

The kids who jumped Aika have gotten a permanent NCC ban. They're on the no-entry lists "until further notice." Aika's fights will be postponed to the new year. That means that the Battle Royale is going to take place in the new year, instead of on the 30th. They don't say anything about giving her a leg up. Nothing about her injuries. Nothing even about what they're telling the press. They don't say anything about banning me – well, they do, but what they say is that there's nothing they found bad about me so I'm not banned – and they also don't say anything about going to court, which I think is a major oversight. I feel my anger growing. "This is bullshit."

Aika looks across the table, her chicken probably gone cold by now, with a confused expression. "What is?"

"This is serious. You should be sitting in court right now and the idiots who jumped you should be getting charged with assault."

Aika hushes me. But I don't care that we're in public. "I'm OK, Evren. Really." I'm not convinced. "I am. Listen, they say here, on page... uh... whatever this page is, "Legal action pending." They're probably waiting."

"For what, exactly?"

"I don't know? The press to chill out?"

"They're just trying to cover their own asses," I say through gritted teeth. "I didn't expect this from the Committee. Police, maybe, but not the NCC."

"Evren..." Aika hesitates but, as she always does, she takes the leap forward with me. "Honestly, I think this is the best thing that could happen. I don't think I could deal with all of this until the NCC's over." It's time for me to uncurl my fist. "I don't have to face them until it's all over."

I reach across the table and give her shoulder a squeeze. "I'll be right there with you when you need me."

Aika smiles. "Honestly, I'm just glad you're still competing," she says. I'm halfway through a retort when she puts a finger to my lips. "That means I still have the chance to kick your ass. And, let's be honest, that's the whole point of me coming into this competition in the first place." She smiles her daring smile and I catch the glint of determination in her eyes. I return the crooked grin, because it's cute she thinks she can beat me and, honestly, because this is a fight I don't even know I will win. Anything can happen here.

"Come at me," I half-sigh half-sing.

Aika's crooked grin gets a little more crooked, if that's even something that's possible, and she takes my hand, with her good arm. Her grip is firm. I know I don't need to say anything.

I just return her intensity.