There was no time for them to question Melissa's plan now, they couldn't take her with them if they were going to progress. The barrier wouldn't hold that long. So Shi and Cecilia ran forward. They now could see the Recruitment Office in the distance, yet due to the obstructions in the alley, they couldn't quite see who was there.
However, as they made their way out, they saw another group of guards protecting the president. Yet these guards were not openly hostile yet as the president didn't give them the orders to shoot.
"So you're the ones who have been causing all this chaos. It ends now. The others have stopped firing on your friend per my orders as well, so she'll be fine but she cannot leave until we negotiate this. Now I've heard you want to talk with me and I'm ready to do so.. But just who are you? I need to know." Heather said strongly but with some sense of familiarity when she looked over at Shi.
"Heh, it's been a while Heather, or should I say President Halberd. I'm a bit shocked you didn't get it right away but..guess you thought I was dead for those years..It's me, Shi! And these other people well, they're innocent, they didn't do anything wrong. Simple as that."Shi looked confident as he spoke without fear.
This name instantly resonated with the president as she was caught off guard. "That's not possible...How? Where have you been all this time? How can I be sure it's really you?"
Shi spoke to the device on his wrist, "We've got catching up to do but if it'll erase any doubts about who I am. X38, take a sample of my hair to scan my DNA and tell me who it matches." X38 responded back,"Affirmative. Scanning complete. The database confirms your DNA is an exact match for Shi. He is indeed Shi."These results surprised Heather even further.
Some of the guards were skeptical. "What the hell is that thing? How do we know this isn't some kind of elaborate terrorist attack? How do we know it's not some sort of junky watch designed to spew your lies? Have it scan someone else!"
"It must have been linked up to a government computer at one point to be able to do that. I'm sure it's accurate. There's no way he could have made that machine himself, it's too advanced to be a watch. It even talks on it's own. So please let's not argue about his identity anymore, I know he's being honest. That is why I helped him get here, I would never help a dangerous criminal."Cecilia responded to the guard's concerns, easily disapproving their theories.
X38 spoke defended itself and said to the guards,"I am not a watch. I am X38 portable all purpose information storage and retrieval device, X38 for short. I was connected to the Nostrian main computer in Shintaion and that is how exactly I can accurately determine the DNA of a Shintaion born citizen. Any further questions?"
The guards were dumbfounded now. Between what Cecilia said and X38 explaining itself to them, they were at a loss of things to say. Heather then stepped forward, "Let it scan me then. I want to be absolutely sure, although this is truly convincing." The guards were shocked and readied to fire just in case. However, X38 scanned Heather without incident and recognized her as Heather Halberd.
"This is undeniable. It is you, Shi! My apologies for not believing you right away but I had to be sure....Guards, what are the charges aganist Shi and his friends?" Heather questioned.
"Minor counts.. Destruction of property,assaulting and knocking unconscious countless guards, escaping prison, resisting arrest, disturbing the peace, theft of food..That is all.." One of the guards read the charges off a PDA like device.
"Drop all the charges. I, with my authority as President declare I will pardon all three of them. They did not kill anyone or do anything serious, all of this damage can be undone. It's clear they're not terrorists or criminals of any sort. I should have been properly informed that he wished to speak with me, it would have prevented this entire misunderstanding and saved countless resources. The incident with the terrorists and the abandoned part of down should have been a higher priority. It's clear these three were never a threat to national security." Heather said simply as she shocked the guards.
The guards hesitantly began to leave the area, although a few stuck around just in case to observe and protect The President. She then told Shi and Cecilia,"Bring your other friend here. I have to thank her for part in this.."
"Ok. I'll go get her. She's injured so I'll heal her and head over here with her!"With that Cecilia backtracked to find Melissa. She was happy, she knew now she did the right thing in helping Shi and the situation was resolved rather pleasantly with no further violence but she knew Melissa could use the healing after all the fighting she did.
A few moments later, Cecilia returned with Melissa. Heather was rather surprised by this as well. "Melissa? The third person was you? This...Is not something I expected, I have some information you may want to know..Well let's get find somewhere more private to talk. I want to speak with all of you and then I will catch up with Shi."
"Sounds good to me, they helped me out so I don't mind. Maybe we can talk about this over some food. So were to?"Shi questioned. Heather smilied as she said, "I'll buy. You've all earned it."
With that, she lead them to her restaurant of choice, one of the most upscale in all of the capital.
*La Verde's Resturant*
The restaurant was upscale but rather empty, few could afford it. Just in case though Heather bought a separate room, one used for special occasions like on birthdays or for other celebrations. She could talk with Shi, Cecilia and Heather more privately this way. Of course some of her guards were still keeping tabs on her but it was much better than talking out in the middle of the street.
The table was fancy and the chairs were amazingly comfortable. The aromas of the food coming from the kitchen were truly alluring and served only to further Shi's hunger.
"Thank you President Halberd! This is very generous of you. I never expected this would happen when I bumped into Shi like that."Cecilia thanked Heather. A rather dull day had turned interesting, she had succeeded in helping Shi and was now experiencing a once in the life time opportunity. After all, who could say they had dinner with the President herself?
"Oh it's nothing. You helped him find me, you did real good. I can't just just you go unrewarded. Few people would have the guts to try to meet me like this. And you did it rather peacefully, well as peaceful as you could have given the circumstances." She responded with sincere gratitude.
Shi commented,"Yeah it's real nice. I just hope the food gets here soon... What they fed me when I was locked up in that dump wasn't very good to say the least.""I'm sorry about that once again, Shi."
She shifted gears. "Now we have to get down to business. You've all proven yourselves. You're clearly not enemies of the state or anything but you're quite talented. Not just anyone could have taken out all those guards. What I'm saying is this, I'm looking for people such as yourselves to join a special unit to fight the dark beasts. It's not an easy decision so give it time to think it over..But we really could use a few good people such as yourselves. So please, give it some thought. You don't have to answer me right this instant."
The others began to think it over.While they were doing so, Heather looked over at Melissa, "As for you Melissa. I'll tell you what we've discovered recently.The one whom stole your family's heirloom..We've confirmed he was working on behalf of the dark beasts, not for himself as you might have thought. Whoever that burglar was, he is no longer here. He's working with the dark beast's elite forces and that's all we know. There's no clear reason as to why they'd want your heirloom. It's troublesome indeed, dark beasts have no need for things like money or valuables like that. It could have been some sort of trial to prove his worth or something, no one can say for sure."
