"Today's the big day..." Officer Bradley said, leading her down the hallway. "You nervous?"
Joan didn't answer as she stalked down the detention block hallway, her huge iron feet clanking loudly with each step. The headlamps that served as her eyes remained focused on the door at the far end of the hall.
"It's not that scary, really" he continued. "Judge Farris is a good man. He'll listen to your side and not just pass judgment because you're a... you know."
"Yeah, I know what I am" the steam-powered robot replied. "Let's just get this over with."
Hearings for incarcerated Robosapiens were not held in the city's courthouse, but rather in the basement of the Safe maximum security prison for meta-humans. The room itself was sparsely appointed, with simple oak tables and a bland government-approved paint job.
Judge Farris sat in front of a pair of United States flags, a simple manila folder open on the table in front of him. "Miss Henry, I presume?"
She nodded, eyes scanning the small room. "Isn't this hearing open to the public?"
The judge had turned his eyes back to the case sheet in front of him. "Interested parties are allowed to attend by request" he informed her, flipping pages. "Were you expecting someone?"
She sighed a bellow of steam. "No. Not really."
He eyed her huge frame and the significantly smaller oak chair that had been set out for her. "Should I have the guard find something appropriate for you?"
"I can stand" she assured him. "They keep me depowered here, but not so weak I gotta sit my metal ass down."
He frowned at her language. "Miss Henry, am I to understand that you've waived the right to have representative counsel at this proceeding?"
"Yes, your honor."
"And you have no character witnesses to speak on your behalf?"
"Apparently not, your honor."
The Judge drew a breath. "Well then, we'll move on with..."
"Wait!" a voice called out as the door on the opposite side of the room opened. "I'm here! I'm not too late, am I?" A fair skinned redhead in black PVC thigh-high boots and a green mini-dress hurried into the hearing room.
"And you are?" the judge asked.
Joan blinked in astonishment. "Tandi?!"
"Yes... Tandi, your honor! Artificial, but very real person... and I've come to vouch for my good friend Joan!"
"Very well... although I do not appreciate the interruption, young lady."
"I'm sorry sir, but things are getting hectic out there, and getting across town was murder!" she argued. "I mean, ever since the Lair Legion disappeared with their whole island..."
"Wait..." Joan said, her head snapping up. "What?"
"I was supposed to come with Hallie" the redheaded robot explained to the steam-powered behemoth, "but she's missing, along with her whole island, all the Lair Legion, and most of SPUD! Don't you watch TV in.... Oh, wait..."
"Ladies..." the judge interjected.
"Missing? Missing how?"
"Nobody knows! The city is all on edge, and tensions are running high. And remember that Zemo woman? She's got her own Lair Legion now. I tell you, the way things are going, it's only a matter of time before somebody does something..."
"Ladies" the judge called out, banging his gavel on the table. "If you don't mind, could we please get back to the issue at..."
There was a shudder that shook the whole building and multiple sirens started wailing at once.
"...Somebody does something crazy" Tandi finished in a small voice as the loudspeaker announce a full-scale breakout in progress.
Footnotes:
Despite being excessively late, this snippet takes place during "Saving the Future" Chapter 10 or so, when Chiaki engineered a mass escape at the Safe.
Coincidentally enough, this happened to coincide with Joan Henry's promised hearing, first mentioned in "The Visit". She is charged with a number of counts of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, public endangerment and really anything they can think of to charge a giant steam-powered robot who tore up a suburban neighborhood in a giant-robo brawl. I'd provide links to these stories, but I can't seem to find them with the search function.
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