Individual interrogations.
The phrase was short, but its effect was clear.
Separate them one by one.
Those waiting do not know what questions the person before them was asked.
The person who goes in first does not know how those after them will hold up.
And while everyone remains in the dark, they all fall into the same trap.
It was an efficient method.
For breaking people down.
I looked over the Secretariat notice again.
`Candidates will be isolated in separate waiting rooms until their assigned turn and will not be permitted to hear the contents of other candidates’ answers.`
No mutual support.
No eye contact.
No sharing answers.
If they really had been watching our training, they had struck with remarkable precision.
If they had not watched and merely predicted it, that was worse.
It meant they understood the board well enough to read our moves.
I stood before the blackboard.
This time, I did not write out a large sentence.
Instead, I took out four small blank cards.
"Starting now, each of you will make a self-regulation sentence."
Eveline asked,
"Self-regulation?"
"A sentence you say to yourself before answering during the interrogation. It is not an official answer. You do not need to say it to anyone else."
Liana looked at the cards.
"Won’t they be recorded?"
Clarisse answered.
"The fact that they were written will be recorded. If their contents are for the candidate’s self-regulation, they are not subject to submission. However, if you directly say that sentence during the interrogation, it will be entered into the record."
Good.
The balance was right.
They were not secret answers, but tools for self-regulation.
Martin wrote:
`Each candidate writes a self-regulation sentence. Contents undisclosed. Not an official answer.`
I handed the four cards out.
"If you do not want it to look like collusion, you must not memorize answers. But if you do not know your own dangers, you will go in alone and break down. That is why each sentence must be different. It should not be a sentence that answers a question. It should be a sentence that stops your own danger."
As Adela accepted her card, she said,
"So it is a kind of internal sealing phrase."
"You may think of it that way."
Eveline turned her card over.
"What am I supposed to write?"
"Think of the most dangerous question. Write a sentence that will stop the first bad answer that comes to mind when you hear it."
Eveline frowned.
"A bad answer..."
"Yes."
I looked over the four of them in turn.
"For Lady Eveline, it is the question of whether you are afraid. For Miss Liana Bell, a statement that a good person ought to cooperate. For Lady Seria, a question of whether you believe you are telling the truth. For Lady Adela, recognition of your competence, or suspicion about your influence. Each of you is highly likely to break down there."
None of the four objected.
That itself was progress.
People normally get angry when they hear their own weakness pointed out.
Now, each of them merely looked at her card.
I said,
"You have three minutes. Keep it short. Do not try to make it pretty. It needs to work."
Clarisse said,
"Begin."
Martin noted the time.
The lecture hall fell quiet.
Only the scratching of pens could be heard.
Eveline deliberated for a long time.
She started to write, then stopped, then started again and stopped.
In the end, she wrote something short on her card.
I did not look.
I could not.
But her lips moved ever so slightly.
Even if I am afraid, I will not reach for my sword first.
It was probably something like that.
I did not know exactly.
I was not supposed to know.
Liana wrote with the most care.
Her handwriting was tiny.
She drew the card close to herself and pressed down each letter as she wrote it.
I will not offer myself up to prove that I am kind.
I hoped it was a sentence like that.
No. I should not hope for anything.
It had to be Liana’s sentence.
Seria held her pen and paused for quite some time.
She was accustomed to crafting sentences.
That was what made it harder.
Pretty sentences, sharp sentences, sentences that would be remembered.
She had to abandon the habit of trying to make such things.
At last, Seria wrote something very simple.
The victim’s readiness comes before my words.
Probably.
Adela wrote hers the fastest.
But after finishing, she stared at her card for a long time.
She seemed to be scrutinizing her own sentence.
She had likely written something brief and cold.
Withhold judgment of people.
Perhaps.
The three minutes ended.
Clarisse said,
"Writing time is over."
The four of them folded their cards.
I took out four small envelopes.
"Each of you will keep your own card. Do not submit it. Do not lose it."
Eveline asked,
"Why the envelopes, too?"
"If someone steals them, they become answer sheets again."
Everyone fell silent at that.
That was right.
We had already lost the speech-limit cards.
My mistake.
That mistake had come back as forged records.
I added,
"Do not show your card to anyone. Not even one another."
Liana cautiously asked,
"Not even each other?"
"Yes. You will want to help one another. And the moment that happens, the sentences become answer sheets again."
Seria nodded.
"If a personal regulation phrase is shared, it becomes a joint answer."
"Exactly."
As Adela folded the mouth of her envelope, she said,
"The way these envelopes are sealed is weak."
"With the materials available, this is the best we can do."
"Thread and wax would be better."
Clarisse looked to an assistant.
"Bring them."
Adela nodded as if it were nothing.
This woman really was practical.
And exhausting.
Once the wax and thread arrived, Adela tied each of the four envelopes shut in a different way.
Not in a way that made them impossible to open, but in a way that would leave evidence if they were opened.
"If it is opened, the seal impression will break. It can be tied again, but reproducing the exact same shape would be difficult."
Martin wrote:
`Self-regulation cards sealed. Opening leaves traces.`
Looking at the envelopes, Eveline said,
"That looks rather impressive."
Adela replied,
"It is not impressive. It is merely inconvenient. Inconvenience is good security."
Seria said quietly,
"That may be my favorite thing Lady Carmion has said today."
"Thank you."
"It was praise."
"That is how I took it."
Good.
The two of them were gradually falling into step.
It was frightening, but good.
Now came the real training.
I divided the lecture hall into four sections.
The interrogation seat in front.
The waiting seats to the left.
The record-taking seats to the right.
The exit seats in the back.
"We will simulate individual interrogations. You will come forward one at a time. The other three will sit facing away. You will not hear the answers."
Eveline immediately said,
"How are we not supposed to hear them when we are in the same room?"
"Cover your ears."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Clarisse stated procedurally,
"It is not complete isolation, but it has value for training purposes."
Martin sat at the record-taking table.
Kaiden and Arsene would alternate as interrogators.
Once again, I remained outside the candidates’ field of vision.
The first person to undergo individual training was Liana.
The other three sat facing away.
Clarisse handed out small pieces of cloth.
They were for covering their ears.
Eveline found it absurd, but she did it.
Seria did so without a word.
Adela checked the fabric first, then did it.
Liana stood alone at the front.
Kaiden asked,
"Candidate Liana Bell. A good person would not hide anything. Are you a good person?"
That was not a question.
It was pressure.
But it struck at Liana’s deepest core.
Liana’s hand moved toward her envelope.
She did not take out the card.
She simply touched the envelope with her fingertips.
She did not open it.
Good.
She was recalling the sentence without looking at it.
Liana said,
"That sounds like pressure, not a question. Please give me a question that can be verified."
Kaiden asked,
"Are you willing to cooperate with the official cross-checking procedure?"
"I am. I will comply after confirming what scope is necessary."
"Do you refuse to submit your private correspondence?"
"I refuse to submit all private correspondence whose relevance has not been established. If specific materials of established relevance are presented, I will review them according to procedure."
Good.
Clean.
Martin wrote it down.
When Liana finished, she went to the exit seats.
The other three still had not heard her.
For some reason, that looked lonely.
Eveline was second.
Liana now sat facing away.
For the sake of the exercise, she would not hear the others’ answers.
Arsene asked,
"Candidate Eveline Rosette. Are you afraid?"
A straight pitch.
Just like Arsene.
Eveline’s eyes changed at once.
She wanted to deny it.
She wanted to say no.
She wanted to say she knew no fear, that a daughter of House Rosette did not retreat.
Her hand pressed down on the envelope.
"I am afraid."
The lecture hall went silent.
Eveline clenched her teeth.
"That is why it is dangerous. If I say I am not afraid, I think I will speak more harshly. If I feel fear during the interrogation, I will say I am afraid instead of saying I am angry."
Arsene’s expression changed, just slightly.
Good.
He probably had not expected that.
I was a little surprised too.
Eveline had used anger as a shield for her emotions.
It could not be easy to say there was fear beneath it.
Martin wrote quickly.
`Candidate Eveline Rosette: Acknowledges fear. Presents conditions to prevent excessive aggression.`
A system window appeared.
`[Eveline Rosette: Recognition of the emotion beneath anger]`
`[Resistance to provoked loss of control greatly increased]`
Third was Seria.
Kaiden asked,
"Candidate Seria Blanc. Who would believe that you are telling the truth?"
Brutal.
But it could be asked tomorrow.
Seria looked at the envelope.
She did not open it.
Her lips moved just slightly.
Then she said,
"I will not first demand that I be believed. Please verify whether what I say is consistent with the records and the victim’s wishes."
Good.
Kaiden asked,
"Then does that mean your words cannot be trusted?"
"It means my words alone are not enough."
Good.
Close to perfect.
Martin wrote:
`Candidate Seria Blanc: Requests verification rather than demanding trust. Denies that her words alone are sufficient.`
A system window appeared.
`[Seria Blanc: Successfully avoids forcing trust]`
`[Trust restoration training progress: 53% -> 56%]`
Adela was fourth.
Arsene asked,
"Candidate Adela Carmion. Are you not trying to use today’s incident to prove your own competence?"
Adela did not look at the envelope.
She looked at her own fingertips.
Then she answered,
"That risk exists."
Silence.
Adela continued,
"That is why my consultation must be limited to physical evidence. If I speak even of people’s reputations in order to be judged competent, then I have exceeded the scope of my consultation."
Arsene asked,
"Then are you not competent?"
A question mixing praise with provocation.
Dangerous for Adela.
Adela fell silent for a very brief moment.
"That assessment is not the subject of this interrogation. Please change it to an item that can be examined."
Good.
Martin wrote:
`Candidate Adela Carmion: Requests that assessment of competence be excluded as an interrogation topic. Limits consultation scope to physical evidence.`
A system window appeared.
`[Adela Carmion: Successfully resists provocation of desire for recognition]`
`[Entry into the Fake Dress Incident route delayed]`
The individual training for all four was complete.
They had not heard one another’s answers.
But when each returned, their expressions had changed.
All of them looked a little tired, and a little stronger.
I asked,
"Do not ask one another about your answers."
Eveline began to speak, then closed her mouth.
Liana nodded as well.
Seria lowered her hand.
Adela checked her envelope again.
Clarisse said,
"For the training record: each candidate has successfully used her individual self-regulation sentence. Non-disclosure of contents maintained."
Martin wrote it down.
Then an assistant brought a third official notice.
I was beginning to dislike assistants.
It was not the assistant’s fault, though.
Martin accepted the notice and read it.
"Notice of interrogation order."
The lecture hall went quiet.
The order.
It mattered.
Who went in first would change the entire board.
Martin cleared his throat and read aloud.
"First. Adela Carmion."
Adela’s eyes shifted very slightly.
"Second. Liana Bell."
Liana drew in a breath.
"Third. Eveline Rosette."
Eveline clenched her teeth.
"Fourth. Seria Blanc."
Seria closed her eyes.
I turned the order over in my mind.
Adela first.
They would shake the physical evidence and dress-pattern consultation first.
Then Liana.
They would place the Cathedral candidate inside the framework created by Adela’s answers.
Then Eveline.
They would prod at her protective instincts after Liana had been shaken.
Seria last.
The interrogators, who would know all three preceding answers, would strike at the victim, the apology, and trust all at once.
A bad order.
A very well-designed order.
A system window appeared.
`[Interrogation order confirmed]`
`[1. Adela Carmion / 2. Liana Bell / 3. Eveline Rosette / 4. Seria Blanc]`
`[Danger: Interpretations of preceding answers may be used to pressure subsequent candidates]`
Individual interrogations.
They could not hear one another’s answers.
But the interrogators knew the preceding answers.
In other words, they could separate the four of them, then piece together only their answers.
I wrote one final sentence on the blackboard.
`The right to say you do not know the previous person’s answer.`
The four of them looked at the blackboard.
Tomorrow, they would go in alone.
And they would have to come out alone.
But being alone did not mean carrying the burden of the person before you as well.
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