Journalistic Amnesia

Iris had followed the bracelet back the path it had once been worn, and had been led to a single suburban home. A day of stakeout had revealed no inhabitant, nor what Iris could scan without a search warrant, and Roy was still attempting to get one for them.

Iris sat in their hotel room, waiting for Olivia to come back from buying makeup. Some days she spent more time on her face than she did training. She had learned Olivia had all manners of rituals she went through in the morning, most of them unsupported by any known science and containing chemicals that would murder a civilian woman.

She was just about to head out there herself when she received a call from Roy. "Got the search warrant?"

"Unfortunately, not yet. It may be necessary for you to demonstrate your ability, but we shall see. I was calling to ask if you've seen the news recently."

"I saw they're putting up Thomas's picture calling him a butcher. But beyond that, no. I don't pay attention to the papers."

"Try it sometime. You might be amused by what they say."

Iris frowned and decided to check some local news articles. She found one quickly, and it read:

[Urasaria students delaying justice for murdered girls: police say]

It's one of the most abhorrent crimes one can think of. The mutilated bodies of girls, as young as five years old, have been found scattered across Penfort. The most recent body washed up on shore only two weeks ago, and there were signs she was tortured before death. That these murders are seemingly randoms has left many families worried that their own children may be next.

Stacy Keibler is one of the state's lead attorneys assigned to prosecute the "Butcher of Penfort". A mother of four, Stacy knows these fears all too well, and she says she has been working with the police night and day to ensure that justice can be swiftly delivered.

"It's something that affected me very deeply from the time I heard about the first murder," she says. "You're always worried for your children, especially in a world with hosts and Revenants. It can be very scary when you start thinking what if one of those murdered girls had been your own."

Thankfully, the killer may soon be apprehended. Police claim that during a routine stop, Penfort resident Thomas Conway became physically aggressive when asked if he knew anything about the recent murders. Police were forced to subdue Thomas and submit him for Revenant testing, and when they found that he was a host, they grew more suspicious.

An hour of interrogation later, and Thomas confessed to being the killer behind the recent murders. A written confession was signed by Thomas claiming full responsibility, and later video evidence placed Thomas at the scene of one of the murders. Police say that there is yet more evidence, including eyewitness and expert testimony, to be revealed that will further prove Thomas's guilt. Even with a signed confession, legal experts say that there is still a lengthy trial process to undergo, which can take up to several months before delivering a final verdict.

However, police claim that the arrival of two Urasaria students has put a damper on their investigation.

"We thought that when they arrived here, they would simply say, 'ok, you managed to solve this without us needing to help', and move on. But soon it turned into a nightmare." stated one source within the police, on the condition of anonymity to protect their safety. Detectives claim that the students were "almost immediately" belligerent with officers and demanded that they be allowed to talk to Thomas, in a violation of department policy. The police have also accused Urasaria students of stealing crucial evidence before it has been sent off to be tested, with one such theft occuring with the help of a student's Revenant.

This has raised concerns that the Urasaria students are not simply misguidedly attempting to help, but actually abetting the murderer themselves.

"Complicating matters is that they now appear to be working alongside the defense, Roy Kaplan." says Stacy Keibler, the lead prosecuting attorney for the case. "In my experience, it's very unusual for a student to even consider working alongside the defense. Usually, in those cases, there's some sort of personal or familial relationship with the client, which presents a rather clear breach of ethics."

Those who have experience working with Urasaria students have suggested that Urasaria students may be willing to protect rogue hosts, even those who are known to have committed heinous crimes, because they feel a common binding as hosts. Urasaria students enjoy tremendous leeway in deciding which criminals to track down, and it is estimated that over 2,000 rogue hosts go free every year due to student error or apathy.

Legal experts have also raised concerns that if this continues, the case could be dismissed because of "interference by Urasaria students — who are not trained legal professionals, and are essentially laymen."

"People have come to us in tears wanting justice for their murdered daughters." says Mark Bradshaw, who has served as Penfort's chief of police for over thirty years. "We just want to ensure a smooth trial where all available facts are considered. We aren't holding anything up on our end, so all that's left is to hope the students cooperate."

The two students in question use the monikers 'Lucifer' and 'Kronos'. Under the condition of anonymity, students within Urasaria expressed concern that Kronos has been in several altercations with civilians, and is generally known as a violent person around campus. "They're basically the campus powder keg," stated one of the sources. "It's fun to see who they'll blow up on next."

This cavalier attitude towards violence is not uncommon to Urasaria students, who in the last year alone have accrued over 350 complaints of brutality, falsifying evidence, and even coercing false confessions.

"Many of these complaints never reach the ears of the student they're about," stated one source familiar with the process. "The student-body president is the ultimate veto at Urasaria, the decision point for whether a given student will be punished or not. It's created a situation where they're only accountable to themselves."

In a high-profile story from earlier this year, the city of Cullman, Alabama, was threatened by Urasaria Academy's student-body president, Kate 'Anagen' White, after accusations of inhospitality towards students. Audio recordings revealed her as having told the mayor of Cullman that if she believes students are not being treated with the respect she claims they deserve, then she would stop sending them there.

This would be an unprecedented overreach of Urasaria's powers, but experts say that the current laws do not prevent students from using threats or coercion towards civilians. Many legal experts have called for a revocation of their legal immunities, calling the practice unconstitutional and outdated, yet political leaders are slow to act despite mounting pressure from both sides.

Some experts theorize that the hostility students display towards civilians is partially genetic, given that many prominent students have come from families with histories of crime. Studies have shown that even hosts who appear outwardly female follow male patterns of criminality and sexual predation, with markedly decreased empathy on almost every measurable metric.

Richard Adam, a professor at the University of Chicago who teaches classes on the neuropsychology of hosts, explains: "When we look at fMRI scans of hosts, there's a very strong comparison to be made to the brain patterns of sociopaths. It's difficult for many of them to understand death, or even murder, at the same level civilians do. We may feel grief for months or years after the death of a close friend, but a host will just feel nothing."

Unfortunately for the devastated families of Penfort, there's little left to do but hold out hope.

The students 'Kronos' and 'Lucifer' did not respond to request for comment.'

Iris was pissed. She knew everything in it was false, but give her a few weeks, and she would trust again what the media said in any other subject: an amnesia of journalistic ignorance.

Iris called up Roy. "I checked the paper like you said. Is this conversation recorded?"

"Please. Do you really think I could afford all the tape?"

Iris nodded, and said sagely: "I'd like to find that son of a bitch who wrote it and make that bitch eat her own guts. God damnit, that riles me up!"

"See to it that you do not, for Thomas's sake. Murder on your own time."

Iris was still heated. "You aren't angry about it? Every goddamn thing they said in there is false. And what they said about grief, I just-"

"I read the news every morning, Kronos. But what did you expect? There's a reason reporters were once all alcoholics; they can face only what they do through booze or ideology. The media is as much to blame for the degenerate conditions of this legal system as the police are, perhaps even more."

Iris sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I'd hate to be the one who got everyone's legal immunity revoked. Some people were calling for that."

"Please. If they did it Tuesday, the country would be a smoking crater Wednesday."

"I just haven't felt hatred because I'm a host in a while. Guess I'm a bit defensive with these things."

"You aren't the only one they hate, Kronos. They despise you because you help me. They write letters to my office, calling me a disgusting faggot. They call me a dirty Jew. I can take it, however, and so can you."

"True."

"Now, remember what I told you about journalists. Do not speak with them under any circumstance... many times I have been told by a reporter that the best thing for my client would be an interview which would have had him executed. What you do for the country is a positive good, which is why they especially despise you; they hope to find a corruptible element in you in their destructive crusade against the institutions that give life meaning... and where they do not find corruption, they will create it. Understand?"

"I do now." She sighed. "Still don't see how they got all this information about the investigation, though. This and that newscast..."

"Who do you think plants these stories?"

"You think it's the police?"

"Kronos, please do not force me into another condescending lecture about how the media operates."

Iris smirked. "Alright. I won't. … Still, can't imagine this'll make jury selection any easier. Any truth to what they said about interference?"

"No. You have done nothing wrong. But you are correct in that the trial will depend on proper jury selection, and whether they believe Timeline is legitimate or not. Fortunately, the veracity of the ability is difficult to deny upon viewing, though our testimony to such must be absolute... and in terms perhaps a bit more understandable to the average person."

"I'll come by later and work out a few more demonstrations." Iris glanced up and smiled to Olivia. "Olivia's back, so we'll head out."

"Good luck."