Chapter 2

The formal proceedings began. My mother, Fronie, took center stage, her voice trembling. "Elodie, she... she just left us. After her father's accident, when he needed her most, she vanished."

She painted a picture of dire poverty, medical bills, and financial ruin. "She even caused her father's permanent physical impairment," Fronie added, a fresh wave of indignant tears flowing down her cheeks.

The comments section exploded. "SELFISH BRAT!" "LOCK HER UP!"

"I wish to enter a plea of 'not guilty'," I stated, my voice clear and steady. "And I would like to request that the court use the memory retrieval device."

The technicians moved quickly, attaching wires to my temples. The screen behind me flickered, and a vivid image materialized. It was Thanksgiving. The scene shifted to a car speeding down a winding mountain road. My aunt and uncle were in the front, their voices rising in a heated argument. Karsyn and I were in the back seat, small and terrified.

The car swerved violently. A truck loomed. Suddenly, everything was chaos-the shriek of tires, the crunch of metal, glass shattering. Then, only silence.

I looked forward. My aunt and uncle were slumped, lifeless. Karsyn, however, was different. Her eyes, though still tear-filled, held a strange, assessing quality. She looked at her parents, then at me, then back at her parents. A brief, almost imperceptible flicker of something I couldn't understand crossed her face.