The day of the hearing, the courtroom felt enormous—high ceilings, dark wood, the faint echo of footsteps on polished floors. Dorian Vale sat at one table with his lawyers, cool and smug. Ariston sat at another with his lawyer, one hand resting on Elo’s shoulder. Sky sat directly behind her.
The judge entered, and everyone stood.
“This is a hearing to determine whether Project Seraphim violated ethical research standards,” the judge said. “Mr. Vale, you may present your case.”
Ariston’s lawyer rose.
“Your Honor, we have medical records showing that the defendant exceeded all authorized protocols and caused deliberate harm to a minor child,” she said. “We have photographs of the child’s injuries, the removed implants, and the defendant’s own logs admitting she increased pain levels to break the subject’s resistance.”
She laid out the evidence piece by piece—photos of Elo’s scalp, scans of the implants, printouts of Miss Calva’s logs. Dorian’s lawyers countered with arguments about consent forms and disclosed side effects.
“The child’s father signed full consent,” they said. “All procedures were disclosed. Monitoring was disclosed.”
“Not torture,” Ariston’s lawyer said. “Pain thresholds and behavioral conditioning were buried in legal language, but nowhere did the authorization allow this level of harm.”
The judge scanned the documents, face unreadable.
“I’d like to hear from the child,” the judge said.
Elo’s heart pounded. Ariston squeezed her shoulder.
“You don’t have to,” he whispered.
“I want to,” she said.
She walked to the witness stand. She looked very small in the big wooden chair. The judge offered a gentle smile.
“Hello, Eloin,” the judge said. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Miss Calva said she was helping me,” Elo said. Her voice started out small but grew steadier with each word. “But it hurt every time. Every single time.”
“Did you ever ask her to stop?”
“Yes,” Elo said. “She said pain makes you better.”
“How often did this happen?”
“Three times a week,” Elo said. “For two years.”
The courtroom went utterly silent.
“Did anyone else know?” the judge asked.
“She said if I told, it would get worse,” Elo said.
The judge’s expression hardened.
“Thank you, Eloin,” the judge said. “You’re very brave.”
Elo stepped down. Sky reached out and took her hand the moment she was within reach.
The judge looked at both tables.
“I’m making my ruling now,” the judge said.