“Corja!” someone shouted.

  Avery didn’t react instantly.

  Only after a few minutes did he slowly say, “I am already looking at it.”

  Then, silence. Avery nodded to himself.

  He looked at the screen again, and, on his face, he could feel it was contempt that showed up.

  He closed his eyes.

  Disgusting.

  His thoughts flew to the past events; he briefly recalled all the faces.

  One boy ended up in a special care department after what had happened, but they couldn’t cure his mind. He fell into deep depression and, half a year later, committed suicide. The other one ended up moving out of the Unio territories to the OFF. He was quite famous there. What happened changed him significantly.

  Avery didn’t want to think about him so as not to judge.

  Though, Unio. It was clear, after the trial, that there was no space for this boy to stay. He was a victim yet was still accused of being willing, even if he was not. But. Now he was a ‘performer.’

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  Avery also faced many problems after the first trial.

  Unio was not open to either these animals, like Xavier, or their victims. He was accosted; some shouted after him that he surely wanted it to happen. That he asked for it. Avery sighed.

  Xavier was not human. He was a gross, indecent animal.

  The second trial proved that Avery was not willing. That he was not ‘derailed’ like Xavier. Unio was then less homophobic. As if the first trial’s evidence—the injuries, bruises, and traces Xavier left—were not enough to prove that Avery was not interested.

  Avery killed him, the last son of the rich Hal family. There was no future after that.

  No serious future, as some future he had here, on Planet Four.

  Banished.

  Killing Xavier… Avery grimaced.

  He would do it again and again for what Xavier had done to him and others during the panic after the attacks.

  An animal, not a human.

  Disgusting.

  Avery’s thoughts came back to the current situation.

  The materials he was watching a second ago. They found a person. Or rather, not a person. Another such animal. Avery decided to take this case. He was known to be strict in these cases.

  These cases—gross.

  Gladly, Avery thought, he would gladly take care of another one. Then he recalled the news he read in the morning. Luna sent a message, quite awkward.

  They were both two weirdos—no wonder she sent a strange message. Avery decided he would need to reply before going back to his work.

  He listened for a moment; the outside rain was calmly rustling. Then Avery opened his eyes.

  …

  R: [170-12-9 08.15 a.m. PF, ‘Roger. All fine’]

  …