Kayla: Pain of Innocence
#43 of Kayla
Kayla: Pain of Innocence In the 28th century, the technology of rejuvenation allows for immortality. This device is also used for sentencing as well. A penitatas; a criminal that is sent back to childhood to live a highly strict and disciplined life to start anew. (Story Fourty-Three)
Concept by Lurking Dragon Kayla and story by Professor Bob [email protected] More Kayla Stuff!: www.Professor-Bob.net Rustling woke the young Karrian doctor up that next, fateful morning. After going through something so severe and undeserved, the rustling didn't bother him as it slowly but surely made his reptilian eye-lids open. Window to his back as he laid on his side, blanket tucked up to his neck in his sleep, he dared not make a moment or sound. There was someone in his room, and hearing the sounds of shufling and objects at the foot of his bed, the only assumption he had was his mother was cleaning up her spanking implements from last night. After finishing the job, she left in a hurry to leave the innocent boy to his anger and lament. Staring out towards his closet and nightstand through the small slits his eyes were open to, he stayed stiff, defended by the confines of his mind. The sinking feeling in his chest from last night never seemed to have gone away, as a weight continued to press upon his heart. It was a kind of fear that did not relent and provide him periods of calm. Only a penitatas for one evening, and he was already deathly afraid of being struck or beaten out of the blue, and always for no reason. There was no justification to what he was sentenced to; called a murderer and traitor, punished by being made to re-learn right from wrong the hard way. The ninety year long, hard way. That particular thought placed a sneer across his muzzle, as his hatred for that faux tribunal made his stomach boil. Wasn't hard, as empty as it was. He was starving, but after spanking him so unjustly, he felt, Jacob had no interest in asking his parent for food. 'You don't believe me?', he thought, 'well, keep it then'. "Time to get up Jacob. Come on, get out of bed", he heard said at a higher volume then he would normally hear from his parent's demeanor, feeling something being tapped against his left hip under the covers. The taps made him flinch and squirm his legs to get away from them in a moment of panic, stopping only when his legs were hanging from the side of his bed and he was breathing heavier. Didn't expect such a sudden startle, but his woozy eyes shifted over to his night stand to check his clock when sat up, holding his head in his right claw. What it read, made his body jolt slightly again, taking his claw from his muzzle. "It's.. ten thirty! I'm late for school!", he said with a nervous voice while looking at the clock's bright red numbers. Getting no response within several seconds, Jacob turned his head to look behind himself, back towards his desk, where his mother was repositioning his chair back to where it needed to go. The rustling had been coming mostly from his desk, with a pencil and paper now sitting atop it. Lory turned her own head eventually, not smiling as she normally did when waking him. The woman's care had gone out the window, and she looked all business. The least she could do was answer his question, without needing to see the discomfort and fright on his face. Tail and rear still stinging from his spanking, sitting even on his soft bed made the expression across his face change. "Being that you're not cooperating well with me, I didn't see you giving the school the cooperation they would need either. Your acceptance issues prompt unacceptable behavior. Learning your lessons and obeying all rules and restrictions come after first understanding where you are, who is in charge, and why you are here", Lory spoke aloud at a quieter tone then what she called earlier, but still higher then the norm, and very firm. Not even awake yet and Jacob was tensing up from being scolded and lectured. This appeared to be something she had pre-planned, clutching that switch from last night in her right hand. Crossing her arms, the whippy wooden branch pointed behind herself, resting on her left side. Looking over towards his desk still made his eyes strain from the morning sunlight, and didn't help his jumbled mind find his words. At her son's silence, Lory went on, making a gesture towards his desk's chair with her head. "Come sit. I have something for you to do", she ordered more softly, as if hinting that this was a disciplinary order. In Jacob's state, that penitatas parent sort of tone seemed snide. Huffing through his nostrils which were still caked with dried blood on their inside walls, the boy slid from the edge of his bed, stepping around it with his posture low, as if ducking. Claws behind his back, he couldn't take his eyes off of Lory. Once sweet, blue eyes, now looked bloodshot and cautious. All Lory had to do was watch, ensure compliance, and provide her next order. Jacob took his seat in his wooden desk chair, which made him cringe and squint with the tips of his white teeth showing. The welts on his tail and backside felt swollen and thick still, and bruises were now present beneath his damaged scale. Sitting for only a couple seconds made those black and blue spots begin throbbing like a heartbeat to flow the pain and ache down his tail and up his spine. Head down, looking at the desk with a somber, quiet look, he delt with the pain and what was to come. Was little else for him to do. Jacob no longer had a say. "Do you still want to say you are innocent, Jacob? Even after trial, and sound conviction? Courts don't make mistakes, and a Starfleet arbitration would be even more infallable. Are you calling those officers whom conducted your trial liars? For years my husband has been in service, and myself loyal to the military. I know that things such as you accuse would not happen. What do you have to say for yourself?", Lory spoke somewhat deeper, as if frustrated with the situation, and disappointed in him. It sounded nearly angry, but with her parental voice in control, it was more similar to those heavy words just before you were grounded for an entire month. Those slow words of disbelief and disgust. Not making any motions with his body, Jacob controled his urge to fidget and squirm due to the base of his tail. Fighting for strength, Jacob thought about life as it was and had been. That his reward for getting through this would be to have it back. A comfortable childhood, with a good friend. One that he adored, and relied on. Staring down at the green scaled Karrian, Lory stood with her crossed arms, awaiting his response, as he closed his eyes and seemed to think for several seconds. "I say I am innocent. Yes, I do call those officers liars, and I hold firm that I did not recieve a fair trial", Jacob spoke softly, with an air to his voice that made it seem like it was difficult to say while his eyes could not even meet those of his parent. The boy knew well he was again sealing his fate with his own words, just as he did for Kayla when discipline was held over his head. To call himself guilty was all too easy, and what would it have done? Seeing from the corner of his eye his mother gripping the switch in her hand differently, he was sure those were the words she needed to lay down harsher law. "Pick up the pencil. You're going to write lines. Write, 'I am a Penitatas' five hundred times. Once you are done, you may have lunch", the human woman had said to punish her charge, sounding as firm and relentless as ever. Jacob was already in the process of reaching for the pencil halfway through what she was saying, while the parent herself held the switch tightly, in case he hadn't complied. But, once she was done speaking, Jacob had his pencil and paper ready, with the old fashioned graphite tip against the white, blue lined sheet, that he took from the pile to his left. "Yes miss Lory.. ", he answered once she was done speaking, beginning to write what he was ordered to. The young doctor's steady defiance was all he had in his arsenal of making someone listen and believe him, while being forced to take the discipline and punishments set unto him. Pencil scratching against the paper, he wrote his first line. I am a Penitatas. Even including a period for proper grammar, his claw shifted one line down, and began his next short sentence. Lory turned her eyes at that point, stepping quietly from the room without the utterance of even one more word. She hadn't expected Jacob to so willingly comply with writing the lines she perscribed, wanting to drill into his head that he was indeed a penitatas, and this would not stand. The last meal the poor Karrian ate was his school lunch before this all occured, and the postponement of getting food was strong enough punishment in itself while his empty belly growled. He was starving, and it hurt. Hunger was a strong motivator, which made Lory hope he would write those lines quickly, accurately, and accept what he was writing. Being innocent made that impossible though. Knowing what you were, a penitatas, and guilty, were two different things. Long taken for granted, being a convicted penitatas meant you were guilty. You were tried, and found to have done what you had been accused. With technology so rampant and strong, mistakes weren't often possible. It had been years since even one Innocentatas, those with the silver 'I' on the back of their hand, had been logged into the classification registry. This was different though, concidering the boy didn't get the trial he had a right to. Trying to think out his situation while his claw wrote, and wrist slowly grew achy and tired, all he could figure was to continue what he was doing and seek out Kayla's assistance. Jacob needed a second head in on this, to throw out analysis and ideas. Perhaps sneak a snack in, under the table, at that. Eyes occasionally looking at the window, seeing the outside world he was no longer entitled to, made writing his punishment lines tougher. Having his current age at seven made him incapable of dealing with such traumatic loss. It was like losing his own life. Called a criminal, he was guaranteed long years of pain and hardship, as well as parental imprisonment. The child who couldn't play, when he had done nothing wrong. Turning his head away a moment, Jacob found his eyes watering again. Emotions were making him feel weak and weary, curling his tail up against the back of the chair's right rear leg. The tip of it hugged the wooden leg, pressing to it, almost as if to find support. A reaction to his sorrow. Time passed, and passed, with his tired claw still writing. The switch welts on the back of it began to sting again the more his soft scales needed to shift, fingers stiffening and wrist aching. One hundred lines, two hundred, three hundred. Papers covered in 'I am a Penitatas' began to stack, with all the reminders painfully mocking him. His silver 'P's, the papers, right down to the words he was writing. As a child, it was so hard to keep his resolve. He wanted to scream out that he didn't do anything, and rip the sheets to shreads. Sentences short or not, his stomach was crying out for sustinence, and his claw hurting from the switch welts on the back of it. The strain climbed up his arm, up past four hundred lines. Not being able to rest if he wanted food, his claw and wrist wrote out his punishment as quickly as they could. Lory, he knew, was also looming from his doorway from time to time. The doctor was older then she was, and he was no fool, despite what she thought he might have been. Tiny whines escaped his closed muzzle as his fingers released his pencil, wiggling and writhing to get the pain of his strained muscles and joints to subside. The pencil rested against his thumb until his fingers took it back into grasp, and finished the job. It was no wonder why Lory said lunch, and not breakfast. It took him a while to make such a short stack of papers, front and back. Once done, he put the pencil down and rubbed at his right claw with his left, while trying to keep it limp and rest it's muscles. There was a drop of pride though in seeing those papers done, as he could finally eat thanks to his quick and diligent work. It was like earning what he desired, and winning. Though, seeing Jacob not working, Lory stepped in quietly behind him towards the desk and the back of the boy. As he figured, she was looming behind him often. Stepping to his side, Jacob turned his head and looked up, then quickly turned his eyes away and looked back down at the claw he was rubbing, and his work. Too hard to look at her right now. "It's all done", was the Karrian's simple, blank sounding advisement. Flipping through the papers quickly with her hands, while they remained in front of Jacob, Lory checked to make sure each line had been written as told. Looked like five hundred to her, and done correctly. With that done, she turned her head to Jacob, keeping her gaze on the boy's face as he kept his away from her's, looking down. She couldn't tell if he was feeling sorry, or what exactly. "Have you learned to behave yet Jacob, and accept the verdict you were given?", she asked, switch still in plain view once Jacob looked through the corner of his eye. His bare, painfully spanked scales pressing into the seat as he sat up and corrected his posture, he could feel the moisture in his eyes. This wasn't exactly getting him the food he was promised, but he couldn't back down now. The Karrian had no choice, placing his sore left paw into his lap. Fingers curled against his soft male parts, thumb at the opening of his sheath and fingers atop his tight and small sac, tucked between his legs slightly, he felt deep down that his sore claw was safe if out of sight; As if it needed protection. "No", Jacob made no further hesitation in answering, ensuring his voice sounded firm, and sure of his answer, despite his voice being more like a whisper. He cried and screamed himself hoarse during his welcome spanking. Never once did he look up from his desk. Lory was speechless for several moments, shifting her movements which made the switch in her right hand move and make the young boy scared. Taking a deep breath, he decided to close his eyes. If he was going to be spanked again, or recieve a lash of some kind, he didn't want to see it. Having a fit in her mind, teeth clenched, the penitatas parent had never delt with a criminal child this arrogant and unaccepting of their own crimes. Performing her duties like this would be very difficult, and Jacob couldn't believe he was innocent forever. The trial was over, he lost. Not even a drop of remorse for the people he could have killed in his selfish attempt to get out of service and live a comfortable life! "Jacob Vasse, you are placing yourself in a situation you don't want to be in!", Lory had actually shouted to some extent, sounding clearly angry as she laid down her parental accords. Jacob felt his breathing become shaky, with adrenaline and endorphins flooding his blood even before he was to be struck. Though, when Lory lashed the switch against the surface of the desk to get the boy's attention, since he still would not look up, the reptile visibly flinched. Opening his eyes again, he lifted his head only slightly, looking solumnly unhappy. Eyes still watered, and he looked defenseless, despite all the bravery he used in his words, and will. He would defy her and speak only of his innocence, even if he could not defend his scale. "Why do you keep doing this? You know very well that I'll punish you the more you try to call yourself innocent after all the crimes you were convicted of! This will never be acceptable, and I want you to answer me right now - why?", the woman spoke sharply, waving the tip end of the thin wooden branch near Jacob's muzzle as she made her demands. Not every penitatas would have it easy, and accept their sentence. Jacob was one of those, but he had a reason. Baring a few of his teeth while curling his muzzle into a more angry expression, his head dipped lower again, eyes looking away from the threatening motions of the switch. Wooden seat pressing into his beaten bottom, the pain flowing up his back.. he tried to use that negative feeling to reinforce his will. Did he want to feel pain like that for ninety years? Did he want to grow quiet any time he looked under his tail in a mirror, and be stripped of his dignity by being forced to be nude as he was? Intaking a quick breath into his lungs, Jacob lifted his head. Raising it all the way, eyes open and muzzle dipped Lory's way, he had her answer for her. "Because if I don't keep saying I'm innocent, you'll never believe me. Where would I be then?", were his words, spoken plainly and devoid of any tears, even if his eyes glistened in the morning light coming into his window. To a penitatas parent, this was uttery frustrating, if not infuriating. A penitatas that wasn't able to accept their sentence and punishment. One that would fight all authority and tell all other penitatas that he was innocent. Raise problems, defy rules, and never learn. Never repent. Never even say they're sorry. Seconds ticked by, with Jacob only looking up, and his scowling parent silent as could be, racing thoughts through her head. Jacob would just have to learn the hard way. "Put your right claw back on your desk", were her eventual words, harsh and intentionally noting to physical consequence. Slipping his paw from the warm confines of his lap, Jacob placed his claw upon his desk. Fingers loose and open, he wasn't even able to place his scales back upon the smooth wood before a lash suddenly blasted sting clear up his arm. The boy's open palm, not even flat on the desk, recieved a swat from the thin wooden tree branch, right across it. It dug into the meat above the base of his thumb, making him cry out and pull his arm back to his chest. In an instant, his left claw covered his right, holding it tightly to himself as tears enveloped his tightly closed eyelids. The switch was like a blade against the palm of his claw, leaving a burning, screaming red line in it's wake. Concidering he hadn't yet recieved an order as to how to orient his claw, much less just getting it back onto his desk, the lash became more painful in the shock and awkward angle of the swing. Looking down at the child clutching his claw, with the green scaled tools clutching eachother as any human would, her cold gaze remained down at him. "Put it back, Jacob", she said with indifference. Not until the punishment was through, could her son find relief. Again, now with a shaky arm, he reached out and placed the previously switched knuckles of his claw down upon the cool, smooth desk. Fingers open, this time he had to wait for the lash. Lory being so quick, Jacob didn't have enough time to close his eyes, much less flinch and close his claw. The branch bit into the fleshier portion of his palm, below the base of his fingers, with a second spank of the switch coming in towards the center of his claw while he withdrew it again. Concidering his fingers were closing at that time, the second lash was rougher, with the branch scraping across his scales somewhat after being deflected by his sharp little claws, and the sensitive tips of his fingers, which didn't escape the lash unschathed. Claws now clutched lower on his body, just above his belly, he made a teary, very pained sort of growl while his teeth showed and his eyes clenched as tight as they could go. Hunched forward slightly, one would be able to see the claw he was cradling and defending stung to the extent that he was squeeling in his own little way. Firey and intense, his palm was welted. Even felt bruised to be spanked there like that, with such quick force. While Jacob began to sob, seeing the boy's tears, Lory again spoke. He wasn't too capable of staying still. "Listen to me. Do you accept the punishment decided for you?", she spoke with her harsh, firm sort of tone, that said plainly that she wouldn't accept anything less then a yes. She wanted to hear the boy break down and come clean. To stop sullying the name of Starfleet, and repent for what he had done. Her sympathy for the boy had been fading. The once loving parent was filled with such conflicting emotions, not knowing to believe him, or continue her loyalty to the penitatas justice system, and her husband by supporting Starfleet. As of now, there really was no reason she could see to believe Jacob. Reptilian jaw quivering, words barely able to escape his muzzle, the boy opened his tearing eyes and tried to speak, despite his crying and sounds of pain. "You've spanked me once.. miss Lory. Said you were sorry to.. and never held it against me", Jacob said yet again with his scratchy, teary voice. It sounded much like an accusation, and Lory remembered the boy saying that just before she administered the penitatas welcome spanking. The words made little sense then, and as they sounded even more disrespectful now then the first time, she wanted to know what he meant. "You said that last night. Explain", Lory provided him the chance to, still keeping the switch in her grasp. Blubbering, young Jacob lowered his head to the claw he was nursing, which made a pair of tears trail a longer course down the length of his reptilian muzzle to his snout, which still held a discolored mark where he had been struck with the butt of that phase rifle. No bath, no care, no food. The question as to what the words meant, was answered to the peak of the Karrian's speaking ability. It's as if they were right there, waiting to be called out. "I had confessed to something, and you gave me so many chances to turn back and change my story. Knowing I would be punished, I accepted the consequences. You looked in my eyes so lovingly, seeking out your facts before making me stand accused. You gave me a trial and delivered your punishment only after. You were fair, and I appreciated you for it. In a way, it was comforting. You were sorry to spank me because you knew the kind of person I was, and meant no malice. Never held it against me.. was like it never happened", Jacob explained, clearly, despite the shifts in his adolescent voice. "You weren't a penitatas", Lory was prompt to speak up from above, as soon as Jacob finished speaking. If he had continued she likely would have interrupted, as quick as the words came. "You took something, made your own decision, and made sure it was fair. Now you're blindly following someone else's word", Jacob nearly could have spat, looking more away from his mother. The words were harsh, but he didn't have another way of phrasing it on such short notice. When she swatted him for meddling in penitatas affairs, when he stepped in and took the bullet for Kayla, he was happy with how fair his parent was. Not a lick too many, and if he was guilty of what he confessed to doing, he would have thought it to be perhaps a light punishment. He watched her take it a step at a time, and come to her own conclusion. Not once has he heard Lory call him guilty, or explain why he was. The boy, unable to deal with such stress, wanted to know where her own mind went. If she ever stopped to think he wasn't lying. Lory though, wasn't about to have an argument. Not when she was a penitatas parent, disciplining her penitatas. Accusations, backtalk, lack of respect. The human woman sighed, before speaking again, all to calm her nerves a little before laying down her words. "Pick up your pencil with that claw and write again. Another five hundred lines", her feminine voice ordered sharply. It was like a blow to Jacob's chest, and his empty stomach. His head snapped around back towards his mother, muzzle opened out of disbelief, and his eyes almost pleading. How could she?! "Miss Lory!", the Karrian was quick to cry out. How could she let him sit there and starve? A-a.. -another five hundred lines? Jacob's right claw was killing him. Muscles exhausted, wrist stiff, and now his palm was a stinging mess. Couldn't even keep it's fingers still and steady. He hadn't eaten in an entire day now. This was cruel! "If you won't learn your lesson, there is not much else for me to do except go further. In fact, why don't you get up a moment?", Lory spoke in her most strict parental voice, gesturing for the switch she held in her hand. Like a bolt of lightning, Jacob's body suddenly flung itself away from his parent, and out of the wooden desk chair. Tail following him ungracefully once it slipped free of the hole in the back of the chair, the chair rocked slightly towards him, while his footclaws staggered backwards. This was too much for him, body shaking and his expression that of anger and fright. Lory didn't move at all, even after the panic stricken penitatas clammered from his seat. Right claw still clutched in his left, his watery eyes were locked up at her, on the other side of the chair. "P-please! Stop this, I'm innocent damn it! I've followed all of your orders but call myself guilty, because I'm not! It's the truth, please! Stop hurting me.. I'm so hungry.. ", poor Jacob cried out, laying plea on top of plea as his resolve began to waver and his insincts began to again wish for a savior of some kind. A way out. She couldn't not feed him, and keep this up. Lory would of course bring him food, but in his state of panic, he would believe any sort of negative thought that slipped into his delicate adolescent mind. The adult stepped around the chair, approaching Jacob... his right footclaw took a step back, just beginning to turn his body to turn around and run, when he was caught and pinned. A simple motion concidering his small size. Turning him right around, groin to the side of his bed, all Lory had to do was bend him over and capture both of his claws with only her left hand. No problem for a seasoned penitatas parent, even if it left his tail unrestrained. Jacob cried out for her not to do it, deathly afraid of the switch she held in her other hand, and left his tail down - locked in place. It was no matter for Lory, when it came down to giving her charge a quick spanking. Tail up or tail down, the switch wouldn't injure it. In fact, she swung the switch through the air as soon as she could. The branch's swishing sound caught the boy's ears before the impact and pain did. With quick swings, resulting in rapid lashes, the tree branch spanked at the top-side of Jacob's tail. Took a couple seconds, but left behind was a slight criss-cross of red, angry welts against the reptile's meaty, childlike tail. Didn't hurt as much as it would have if he lifted his tail, but now, any time he'd move his tail would aggrivate those now growing welts and marks where his tail met his back. Stung and ached, causing him to shift from leg to leg while he was held where he was. The spanking itself had made him scream a few seconds, with the ending result being renewed tears from the defenseless innocent. Lory didn't know. All she knew was the law, even if the boy's words were eating at her. Jacob was right entirely, and planted the seed of doubt. While lashing him with the switch, even if the swatting lasted only a few seconds, she began to become reluctant to swing. Once done, she didn't want to raise the switch again. Confused and uncertain of herself, hearing her son's crying and sullen sounds, she released his arms to let him go limp against his bed and rest. She had been very hard on him indeed, and still yet he wouldn't relent. Lory didn't know what to do, stepping over to the desk to set her switch down. Going to the closet, she opened it to prepare a different kind of punishment. Not planning on placing the boy in the corner or make him go right back to writing, she'd do something more passive. She just wanted to show that she meant business, even if her intentions were to allow a reprieve. Fetching what she needed, the parent looked over her shoulder, seeing Jacob had not left his spot on the other side of the bed. Tail hanging limply, his claws laid flat on his bed, as did his muzzle while he sobbed and watched what she was doing in his teary, wordless silence. His eyes looked frustrated, and she hoped her's did too. "For all your harsh words, I'm not going to put you in the corner. Instead, we're doing something different. You'll be confined to your room today, and I'll bring you your lunch instead of you going downstairs for it", Lory spoke with her tone marginally different. It was still parental, but also tired sounding. Unsure. As she stepped to her son's side and knelt down, Jacob was able to stare at what she had in her hands more closely. What she pulled from the closet looked sort of like a brace for the leg, or other appendage, with straps and pockets. He wasn't sure what it was in his current state, but it didn't seem light, based on the way she held it. Not moving from his bent over posture, crotch invisible from view, Lory took his Karrian tail into her hands to lift it. Not being too long, he felt the strange device being slipped onto it, starting from it's slender tip, going up his tail to it's midsection. Securing the device to the boy's tail, Lory pulled two tightening straps till it hugged his tail snugly. Metal wires and clasps still hanging loosely from the thick feeling fabric of the brace, the actual nature of the punishment became apparent. The brace felt strange on his tail, and next to his muzzle upon the bed, she had left a stack of brick-like plates. The way they were indenting the bed slightly, these were what were heavy. Seeing each plate leave his sight, one by one, Lory slipped them into slots on the outside of the brace, giving it weight. She'd slip one in it's place, secure it, and reach for another. In total, she used four plates - one for each side of the brace, as she held the boy's tail and quietly worked on it. The hanging metal wires and clasps then joined with eachother around the brace, further tightening it till she secured the clasp to the top-side middle of the brace, upon the top of Jacob's tail. With a tiny click, the mother turned the small lock and removed the key that had been sitting in it. Easing the boy's tail down until it was on it's own, she removed her hands and Jacob winced with discomfort. Being a doctor, Jacob couldn't believe he didn't see it sooner. It was like an old fashioned rehabilitation device, using weights to strengthen movement. Now, it was a punishment for his spanked, tired tail. Tail weights. Pushing himself up from the bed once permitted, his footclaws had to steady himself more then usual. Having the weight on his tail felt very cumbersome in terms of comfort, and the new switch marks at the top-side base of his tail were being stretched. It was like having someone yank on his tail. He wouldn't have to stand in the corner to be uncomfortable all day if this device were to remain locked on his tail. It was hot and itchy to make matters worse. Quietly enduring and trying to make it look like not such a big deal, Jacob just stared up with his long face. The green scales of his muzzle looked wet from tears, and his right claw was a bit on the red side. "I'll keep that on you for now. Won't be able to move around much with it, and there are heavier weights if I need them. I also expect those lines to be done before bed tonight. Lunch will be up shortly", Lory said to her young charge, while he stared up so silently. Jacob looked depressed and in pain. She wasn't going to say anything that required an answer, if he was going to be quiet. It wasn't her place to instigate further punishment. He would just have to live with what he had for now, and with that, she turned and stepped out the door, closing it behind herself. Jacob didn't move an inch until she left, staring at the door. It was over? He could breathe? Kicking his bed hard with his right footclaw, the weights on his tail made him whimper and quickly need to regain his balance. Similar to holding your arms out with weights held in your hands, his tail was being yanked on and the muscles were stretching and growing exhausted as they strained against the weight. Thinking of some relief, Jacob climbed his bare, swatted body onto his bed. Took effort from his tail to lift itself and move it as he needed to, to get it onto the bed with him. Just moving it around made him have to sort of drag his tail behind, until his head hit his pillow with a sniffle. Lory must have known how much he needed to move his tail, and being forced to cumbersomely carry it around all day would be uncomfortable and frustrating. Pulling his tail over his hip with a strained growl from the switch lashing, he was able to run his paws over the weights. No way to get them off until the lock was disengauged and the clasps were removed. Jacob couldn't tell if he won or lost. His parent was true to her duties, but knowing he was innocent, he found her ignoring another one of her duties. Lory's duty to him. It was hard to see himself laying in a bed as a seven year old Karrian hatchling, stripped of any bit of self-esteem and his dignified appearance. Tail and rear covered in red welts and bruises, right down to his right claw, he looked nothing like the prideful and good person he was. Eyes empty, that hatred of Starfleet crept to include even the parent that had taken such good care of him until now. Was good to be alone while in this state, at least. ******* For Jacob's Aspatrian friend, her day had it's own bumps and snags. While Kayla's footpaws ran up towards her front door from the school bus, there was more then just frightened energy in her step, thanks to all the trouble she had gotten into in school. She had learned of what happened to Jacob that morning, since it was the talk of the class. So sudden, the fox didn't know how it happened. Jacob, guilty of any crime? She didn't think so. Distracted as she had been, quiet and worried for his well being, Kayla had been paddled by miss Chester twice for not paying attention. She was one strike away from seeing mister Yami for something more severe when school finally let out and she could go home to tend to matter. Kayla wanted to see Jacob right away, feeling as if she had been crying inside all day. She didn't even need to be told the story to know there was an innocent enduring the life she herself came to earn fair and square. Even now, as she opened the door to her home to face the parent that would likely spank her for her behavior in school, she knew it was all fair. No one else hacked all those people, but her. Kayla's guilt and wrongdoings made her acceptant of her punishment and the lessons she needed to learn. Jacob, her friend, didn't have anything of the sort. Strong, ridgid spirit, didn't seem like the candidate to be paraded around naked and whipped. The orange fox closed the door right behind herself, finding her mother stepping in from the dinning room ready to scold. Both started to speak at the same time, making their voices break and cross, as if stepping on eachother's feet but still trying to get the first word in. Kayla just waved her arms a bit as a gesture for Emily to slow down, speaking up to get what she needed to say out. "I'll take what ever I get momma, just please call Jacob's house!", she was able to say, excited from her worry. She honestly meant what she said, ready to cut her own switch and present it with fanfare if she needed to. Her mother looked confused, so the fox broke in a second time in her young worry. "Surely you've heard what happened to him. He'd never do it! Please, he wasn't in school either. I'm scared for him. Please momma, I'll even save you some time and fetch anything you want if you call. Just to see if he's okay even?", Kayla was prompt to plead, throwing all of her bargaining chips out onto the table, sort of speak. Her paws were clasped together, and her eyes looked as sincere as they could be. Emily didn't have much to contest that with. The mother didn't even have to ask what was distracting her daughter so much at school, concidering Kayla came clean and offered to speed up her spanking if her worries could be quelled. It was an honest, caring request that she couldn't say no to. Lifting her right hand, Emily held back a light laugh. "I think I might be able to let your distraction slide, mostly. Don't be scared, I'll call their home and get to the bottom of things. But, actually, I haven't heard anything about Jacob. What's wrong honey?", she asked, showing to Kayla that she really didn't know. Perhaps that was why Kayla came off as 'cutely frightened', even if it may have rescued her backside from another swatting. "Jacob was arrested after school yesterday. Starfleet gave him some quick trial, and made him a penitatas on the spot", Kayla had said with a dire air to her voice, with the words coming out very quickly. Head lower then normal, and very shaken, Emily was now able to see just what the problem was. Jacob was her best friend, and Emily herself knew him to be a kind gentlemen of a rejuve. So sudden, and the trial conducted by Starfleet? With a quick hum, the mother decided she just needed to get to the bottom of this first, before going any further. "Go stand in the corner while I give his mother a call. That way I can check on things, and you can calm down after giving your teacher such a hard time", Emily offered and ordered both at the same time, giving a nod towards Kayla's corner, to the left of the front door. Kayla nodded acceptantly, if not appreciatively, as her mother turned to go to the vid-phone in the dinning room. "Yes ma'am", Kayla added, turning around and taking the few steps she needed to place herself in the corner. Perfect posture, paws at her sides. As long as she could hear about Jacob and figure out what the hell was going on, she'd play by the book with eagarness. Sitting down in front of the vid-phone on it's stool that slid out of the wall once you rounded the corner to the dinning room, right before the opening to the kitchen, Emily pressed a button and said aloud Lory's name, to tell the unit whom to dial. The display turned blue and flashed 'calling' for several seconds. Emily began to think no one would answer, but after waiting some extra seconds, for Kayla, the vid-phone chirped and the blue display turned to an image of Lory taking her seat. As she sat down, Emily looked her over to see that she was somewhat docile. Not her normal docile, but a sadder, tired kind. "Lory, Kayla just told me a dreadful thing. Jacob was arrested, and sentenced? All in the same day?", Emily didn't waste time by saying, go straight into the topic at hand. On the other end Lory sighed, frowning and looking down away from the imager for the vid-phone. Shifting her long black hair back behind herself, her left hand flicked some of it over her shoulder as her expression remained gloomy. For their line of work, it was still a normal conversation "Yes, it was all very sudden. Starfleet officers rushed my house and took him away. He had been courtmartialed and found guilty of causing the accident that brought him here. Not been a good day. Jacob is not taking to being a penitatas well. Cries that he's innocent, but he was convicted by Starfleet tribunal and arbitration. Don't know what to think anymore. They say he's guilty", Lory spoke much more calmly then she was earlier. Being out of Jacob's room since she delivered his food, she had time to think about everything he had said. Calmed her, and made her uncertain of the truth. "Are you sure he is? Kayla said he'd never do anything like that. She's a good judge of character for being a penitatas herself", Emily added, as an inquiry and placing some credibility onto Kayla's words. Lory sighed much more loudly, with it sounding tense and frustrated. "I'm not sure at all. There was a trial, there was evidence, and Jacob lost. Starfleet has no reason to make mistakes or go after someone they hailed as a hero. Only person that would gain from lying is Jacob by refusing to admit his guilt", her voice dipped into, sounding more uncertain of herself. What she said did at least make sense to the fellow penitatas parent. All they could do was their job, and that was to parent and discipline. "Don't know if a Starfleet tribunal would offer a re-trial if requested. Might be best to feel this one out, or get more information from Starfleet for yourself. But as for Jacob, maybe it would be beneficial for you both if he were to speak with Kayla? She might be able to get through to him if he's lying, and turn him around", Emily offered as words of advice. The other parent's head shook slightly, but it did seem like Lory was pondering what she had been given. "Wouldn't be able to have visitors over with Jacob's behavior the way it is. Think you're right though. Should we let them take over the line for a few moments? I'll need to request court documents. I can do that on my computer while Jacob speaks with Kayla", she replied, relenting enough to show that she wanted some more documentation and records of the trial Jacob claims he didn't recieve. That perhaps she was beginning to doubt, or at least wanted confirmation she and the institutions she relied on were correct. Didn't feel right to doubt Starfleet, almost as if it was a slap to her husband's hard work and dedication. Emily shifted around on the vid-phone's stool, calling out to Kayla, which sounded muffled slightly in the vid-phone's more directional microphone. Once done, Emily provided Lory a nod to give it her okay, and both parents raised from their seats. Once Kayla had turned from her corner and scampered her feet at her parent's beckon, she arrived with her eyes first turning to the vid-phone. Was a let down to see Jacob's home on the other end, but no one there. "Take a seat. Lory is getting Jacob. You can talk to him, but find out how he's feeling. If he's guilty, get him to accept it, okay?", Emily provided her daughter as the instructions for her to follow, standing aside to leave the vid-phone's stool free. Kayla stepped forward, flicking her tail up and out of the way before sitting down. The paddling still hurt when she did that, but she had other things on her mind besides just the nagging ache. Knowing Jacob didn't do it, she was tempted to correct her mother, but she didn't want to do that when she had actually gotten her way. Staying quiet, the two just waited, with the older human eventually leaving the line to just Kayla, to give her some privacy. That made her smile, but the expression changed once Jacob slipped into the vid-phone's display. Being around penitatas, she knew when someone was having a rough day by seeing their eyes. How much they had cried could be measured by a keen eye. Ears flattening till their black tips touched the orange fur of her head, she found herself unable to speak. The Karrian's once strong, intelligent demeanor now looked broken and sullen, even at first glance. Seeing him sitting with his bare scales in the open air, from his chest up, she figured the rest of him was similar. Disgustingly horrible. Jacob, knowing the fox was staring and trying to see how he was feeling, looked away a bit. Meeting her blue eyes with his own was too difficult after experiencing what he had. "Are you okay?", Kayla spoke very quietly, intending to keep the conversation as private as she could. Shifting in his seat awkwardly, she saw his expression grow pained, then the tip of his tail appear towards the lower part of the screen as he set it in his lap. Looked like it took some effort to do it, especially since he was breathing heavier then normal. Still silent, Jacob appeared to look down, examining something questioningly, before raising up slowly what it was. Didn't know if he'd like to toss his comrade a glimpse of what had been done to him, but the reptile held up his right claw. Balled into a fist, the back of it pointed towards Kayla on the other line, showing off his dulling switch marks on the back of it that intersected his silver, hard timer 'P's. Seeing it made Kayla choke up, growling softly, and more so when she saw the marks across his palm when he lowered his claw from sight. Thinking of her friend's modesty, and the shame and pain he must felt, she didn't ask about his rear. Discussing his punishments wouldn't make him feel better, like they would her. Wanting to see Kayla was the one thing he wanted the most, other then simply being free of his injustice laiden torment, but now that he could see her face, he felt ashamed. "You know I'm used to this. You've wrongly lived a part of my life. I know you didn't do it", Kayla said again with the same quiet tone, slowly and caringly. "Haven't gotten anyone to believe me yet. Now I know exactly how a penitatas feels, except I can't follow orders to save my own hide. If I rolled over, I'd be like this for a very long time. Got to stand up, or else.. I'll lose everything else I have. Kayla, I haven't been given any clothes since I got home, and I've been spanked harder then what I would deem is medically neccessary, being that I don't believe in causing harm to others", Jacob wispered in little snaps, sounding so sad. Don't give up, his heart said. But his mind and body were tired, and lacked resiliancy because of the horrid knowledge of knowing he was innocent. Kayla's ears could hear the scratches in his voice, thinking of how loud he must have howled. Honestly, it tore her in two, and Kayla had to fight not to cry. To endure what she had without ever comitting a crime, was a crime in itself. "You've got me. I'm supposed to convince you that you're guilty, if I found you may have been lying. Let's skip that and get right to it. What are our options?", Kayla provided, ready to brainstorm and save her friend. Jacob shook his head, with his black hair shifting as he did. Those eyes of his looked so tired.. "Unknown. Needed miss Lory to trust me, but I don't know how that's going. She gets madder the more I fight her. Not sure where is or what she's doing, but I must say, you're lucky to be given privacy", he returned in reply, gesturing his muzzle towards the imager, as if to note that it was odd Emily wasn't watching. "I had to earn that kind of thing. When you first become a penitatas, life is rough. The punishments are frequent and harsh, but it's to get you to integrate into your new life. You can't do it because it's not your life. I'll just have to start looking into ways to solve this. But sabotage? That's crap if I ever heard it. Is there anyone else that may have done it Jacob? Any enemies?", Kayla spoke kindly, as if to be encouraging that being a penitatas wasn't his life and never would be. This would end. To get there though, she had to firm up her voice and ask the tough questions. All she got in response initially was a hum, seeing the Karrian idly massaging the palm of his right claw while he thought. It's not something he would do in front of her, which let the fox know he was thinking deeply and growing absent minded. "No, actually. I had a good crew Kayla, and a good ship. No one stepped on my toes and I didn't their's", was Jacob's answer, while he lowered his claws from view once he looked at them. Since he placed his tail on his lap, it didn't reach very well, so he reached down to support it since it was hurting too badly to use his tail's own muscles. The tail weight going down the stairs made it agonizing. Initially it was just like having a cumbersome tail, but the strain was building the more he tried to use his tail. Laying it down was the only way it wasn't being pulled downward. He couldn't stretch his tail, shift it. Just pull it around with him. Was like needing to move your leg after having it fall asleep, or pop your back when you couldn't move. "What about Starfleet Medical?", the Aspatrian moved on to ask curiously, raising her ears back up a little while they got to work. Oddly enough, it seemed to make Jacob smile faintly and chuckle. "Anyone I didn't like back then I just didn't talk to. Stood off to the side, you know?", he replied, now starting to seem more comfortable with Kayla being on the other line, and seeing him the way he was. "First issue, I think, was my trial. I had no defense in the tribunal, and the prosecution was able to play a lot of circumstancial evidence. Tried to claim I sabotaged a primary power relay behind a passcode sealed access plate when I just went in to check on it. The whole trial was garbage", the boy added to his statement, in order to get his views on where to start out into the open. Speaking clearly with his eyes so cold and damp looking was another point towards making the female fox cry. Seeing him like that, fighting past the pain he was in to try and speak to her normally. "Then I'll start my research there, or.. what ever I end up having access to. Being forbidden to use computers makes this a tough one. But I'll see what I can do, don't worry. You can count on me, I'll get all the help I can and develop a plan. You need a re-trial, or evidence someone else did it", she spoke only after clearing her throat, to ensure her voice didn't shake. Crossing her arms at the end, her mind began to mull over the possibilities. On a starship, anyone could possibly sneak around and do anything. "Just to let you know real quick, I'm not sure how it could have been done. Only a few had the passcode for that access pannel, so they could lift it open and work inside of it. Myself, the engineering chief, the captain, and other command rank officers. My code was the last one used, and the timestamp proved it was me. Unless those logs were munged or altered, of course", Jacob added for her knowledge, so she'd know how that worked. His head turned to the side, seeing if someone was coming. Thought he heard his mother coming, and after a couple moments of silence, his suspicions were noted as true, with his head snapping back around to speak quickly. "Miss Lory is coming back. I've got to go; she can't hear me talking about my 'innocence' or it'll be my hide", Jacob spoke quickly, using a deeper, more familiar tone. Kayla was happy to see he was the same person on the inside. The fox had never gotten to love before. To have someone to care for.. it made her life more meaningful and more comfortable. There was no way she would abandon him. Not like this. She'd do anything and everything to get him out of being a penitatas. "Remember Jacob. Together. I love you", Kayla said quickly too, but softly. 'Together', as Jacob had said that night long ago. That's how they would tackle eachother's issues until they were resolved, and life found it's normality again. She would be there as promised. The Karrian boy mouthed 'love you' back as promptly as he could, since Lory was only steps away, before pressing a button and terminating the connection. Raising from his seat, Jacob planted his footclaws back upon the floor and straightened up his back to support that yanking sensation upon his tail. Hated feeling it stiff and pointed straight down due to the weight attached to it. Either way it went, he flushed the thought of having all of his scales bare and private parts showing, to place his paws at his side and look up. Made it appear that he was accepting punishment or another order, which he presumed would be to return to his room. That being able to talk to his best friend and crush would have been too much fun, and he would have to keep the tail weight on all week. Or, that it was just time for another spanking. Jacob, raise your left claw this time, so it will match the right! Thoughts making his blood boil, his draconic nostrils flared and the look he stared up with was like a sneer. Was becoming more difficult to be friendly, even if he would accept her orders to an extent. Able to see his furry source of courage, the normally stand-off Karrian was able to look up at his mother with a 'what will it be?' sort of expression. Lory didn't react much to it. In fact, she didn't even comment on it, carrying a datapad in her hands with an alure of quiet distraction. Jacob continued to stand upright as he was, dipping his muzzle to one side as she stood in front of him tapping on the datapad. "Yes?", the boy asked more harshly, and with a note of smug attitude. It was feeling as if she was messing with his emotions. Now that he had eaten something, his belly was able to get upset from all his stress, and being in his room with that agitating tail weight for a few hours had trounced his ability to wait patiently. In fact, he's needed to use the bathroom for roughly one hour, but the mere thought of fighting against that tail weight to lift his tail was horribly painful even to the imagination. To lift his tail and hold it out would strain his muscles even further past what they already would. Eyes narrowing from his personal irritation, Lory still would not look up from her datapad, and her expression didn't change much. Felt so mocking, but the mother did speak down to her charge after a long wait. Her brown eyes, when they looked up from her datapad and down to her son, their eyes met and it make Jacob flinch on the inside, as curious and docile Lory was behaving. As she spoke, those eyes seemed to stare right past him, or into him. Jacob was not sure which. "Step over here with me", was what she eventually requested, turning with her direction towards her sink and kitchen counters. Right behind, Jacob followed the same pace, stopping again at the same distance from the parent he was now dreading. Standing next to the counter, the human woman placed the datapad down and reached under the cabinet to remove an object that she placed next to the datapad. Getting back up, she flicked her dress to correct it in a faster manner while the cabinet door smacked shut; Jacob's eyes moving and watching every motion. He was also familiar with the substance his parent pulled out into his view, which provided him the hint of further discipline and increased his heart rate. Lips curling enough to show off his teeth, the Karrian boy was not in the mood for something that would make him throw up the lunch he barely got to enjoy. "I'm ready to hear you out Jacob. Tell me what happened. The only catch is that if I believe you're lying, find any inconsistancies in your story, or you get nasty with me, I will soap out your muzzle faster then you'd be able to cry for me to stop. As long as we're clear on this, you may state your innocence", he was instead surprised to hear, with his expression lightening as his head shifted and his eyes were able to blink, while he was no longer waiting a sudden swat. Jacob also attempted to shift his tail, because it needed to be stretched badly, but he wasn't able to move it much at this point, with the weights sending it towards the ground. It was too tired to move with the bit of weight on his tail anymore. Quickly gathering his thoughts, he slipped his claws behind his back and corrected his stance on his footclaws. Looking up into Lory's eyes after everything he had gone through today was too difficult. Feeling like such an object as it was, the draconic boy stared forward, just to let her do what ever she wanted. If she'd listen, he was getting what he wanted. "I am innocent, and did not recieve a fair trial, miss Lory", he announced more calmly, using his inner anger and sadness to speak faster and more confidently. Jacob waited for her hands to move, body to shift. To see if he would be punished for his words. But, nothing happened, and with a deep breath, he was able to begin. "In court, everyone seemed so sure of my guilt, even at the start. Arbiter Admiral Paulson was very jaded, and I was denied any defense and made to defend myself. All of the evidence was circumstantial, with little or no hard evidence... ", he was able to continue into, for the first time. However, as Lory shifted and his ear-slits heard the bottle of soap move on the counter, he stopped speaking and moved his eyes to keep an eye on what his parent was doing. With a quick tip of the bottle over the sink, running a liberal amount over her right index finger, she turned towards Jacob's maw. Acceptantly of her wishes, since he wanted to be heard, his muzzle opened without so much as an order being required. The soapy finger slipped into his mouth and rubbed against his tongue and any other portion of his maw that wouldn't cut lory's finger, with the thick soap coating and clinging to everything. Soap's contact made his muzzle curl and cringe, with the taste being rubbed right onto his tongue. With her left hand, she gently closed his muzzle around her finger before pulling it free, to ensure the soap ended up in his muzzle. Not wanting to swallow what he had gotten, the draconic boy licked inside of his mouth, cringing as he watched his parent rince her finger clean in the sink. "Was it little hard evidence, or none? You need to be clear and concise. Factual truth only", Lory said as she shut the water off and quickly dried her digit, to explain why she turned to the soap at that point. Jacob nodded his head compliantly, speaking aloud again despite the burning sort of taste in his maw. "No hard evidence. In the end, even their physical proof required you to believe their circumstantial chain of events. On the first of December, I had ordered the lab in question to be shut down for a safety inspection. They called it strange I would do such a thing, as it was not routine or planned. That day, I opened an access pannel to the reactor's power relay. Said my DNA was in there, and my passcode to open that hatch was the last one used, and on that day. Claimed I sabotaged the system then, but could not say how it was sabotaged. Their claim was that it had to be, to have such a failure. Then, as their motive, they claimed that due to my nature, I would never leave Starfleet on my own accord, and wanted out to relax and escape responcibility. I loved my ship and crew, even if I loathed the paperwork. They meant so much to me, that it was second nature to battle the radiation to my death. It was my duty as their commanding officer to make sure they were safe. Hense my safety check. But there was no evidence that said I did it. Just the logs that said I was the last to look at and touch the relay, and misconstrued logs and reports that tried to claim I was searching for a way to get out of Starfleet a hero", the young Karrian spoke straight through, able to tell his story. "Miss Lory, you know I have no interest in being anyone's hero", Jacob spoke more quietly though, looking up with his eyes, to gauge her response. The woman seemed dull and listless as she stood there, listening. Not once more did she reach for her bottle of soap. Sliding over a nearby step stool with her feet, she placed it in front of the sink, offering with a hand gesture for Jacob to use it. "Go on, rince yourself out", Lory seemed to sigh as she spoke, appearing quiet and calm, with her eyes looking away to various things. Jacob wasn't sure what she was thinking, but his green footclaws stepped up onto the stool on the first step, then the second. Filling a small cup beside the sink with water, he began the task of removing the soap from his mouth, swishing and spitting bits of soapy, bubbling water. Each time he spit he wough either cough once or gag slightly, trying hard to remove all of it. While he worked on clearing his maw out, he felt something touch his tail. His mother's hands made his entire body tense up, and his maw to spit some water prematurely, as he didn't want anything in his mouth if he was about to get a jolt of pain. But, the motions of her paws didn't bring any sting, and hearing a click and a slight rustle behind himself, his tail weight slid from his tail into Lory's hands - weight plates clanking and clacking as she placed it on the counter beside the sink. Jacob turned his tail around to his side and rubbed the part of it that the weights were hugging at and pulling upon, stroking his scales briskly with both paws. The base of his tail cried out when he did that, from the strained groups of muscles being used and his switch marks stretching, but boy was it good to have his tail free to flick about. Looking over his shoulder, he could see his parent stepping away only a step at a time, looking out the kitchen windows on the other side of the room. He wasn't sure how to take her behavior and lack of reaction. Should he go back to his room? He only had two hundred extra lines written by his sore, stinging right paw. There was more to be done if he wanted to keep his tail out of harm's way, or so he figured. Stepping down and off the stool, there was still a mild awkward flavor inside of his maw, but there wasn't much more rincing that could be done. Footclaws meeting the cool kitchen tile, he took two quiet steps towards the doorway back to the livingroom, while his head remained turned towards his parent, whom still hadn't moved or said a word. Not sure of what to do, and needing guidance, the boy decided to speak up. As soon as his muzzle opened, and a sound came out, Lory began speaking at the same time, cutting him off unintentionally. "Head upstairs and take a shower. You can get dressed afterwards, I bet you're tired of walking around like that. Get anything of your's that you would like from my room, and use it as you see fit. Forget about the lines you were writing and just rest", Lory spoke up in a pained sounding voice, providing orders that were not so much orders. They gave Jacob free will and free reign, which made them certainly not penitatas parent orders. Shifting his stance, Jacob raised his right eye-ridge and took a hit to his chest that was different from all the rest. Shower? Clothes? No more Karrian sheath making it's tiny, embarassing motions as he walked? No more balls hanging out in the cold air? Hell, he could even grab his medical supplies and heal up everything that had been done to him? It sounded like... life as it was before. "Miss Lory?", Jacob questioned in a much more relenting voice. Had he been successful, he would have to give his courage and speaking more skill. That shy, quiet boy might just have learned a new trick in his old age. The mother just shook her head silently. "I'm sure you don't want to be around me right now, and I'm sorry. If you're telling the truth, then I've been making a horrible mistake. If you have been lying, the mistake is your's. But right now I believe you. Just remember, until I get this straightened out, you're still a penitatas. I can only give you so much leeway, and in school, I can't defend you at all. Behave to the maximum of your abilities", the mother was forced to say with a heavy heart of uncertainty. She was tired of causing Jacob harm. She wasn't mad at him anymore. He won, and there was a new task for her to perform instead, now that she felt she was punishing an innocent. Not hearing the familiar 'click' of his little toe claws when he walked in the kitchen, Lory had to lower her head a bit. "Just go, sweetie. It's okay", she said motherly and reassuringly, even if it was very quiet. Jacob's face was an expression he couldn't much explain. As a child, he should have been excited that he made such progress. But seeing Lory standing there like that, it felt more like passing off his pain to someone else. It wasn't like him to do such a thing, but without the help he needed, he would be a penitatas a very long time. As painful as life had been, and the sorrow surrounding him, it was too hard to smile and claim victory. With a quiet, melancholy appearance from his muzzle and eyes, Jacob turned his head and stepped from their kitchen. Traveling through the home with his bare, battered body, he left to do just as she offered and suggested. Though, fetching his medical supplies would come first. While the Karrian doctor stood upstairs in his mother's room, running a dermal regenerator across the switch welts on his right claw, his parent had a task of her own downstairs. Lory had taken the grey datapad back into her hand from her kitchen counter, walking it back to their vid-phone to take a seat. All she had to do was tap a single button on the console to re-dial the last person whom had connected to her, and in moments, Emily appeared on the other end, with Kayla in the background at the dinner table having an after school snack. Naturally though, once she saw Lory's face, the fox leaned on the table and kept her head propped up with her paws, paying close attention to the adult's conversation. Emily found the look on the other parent's face to be concearning. "Got a problem Emily. I'm transmitting you the court records from Jacob's trial", the other woman spoke briskly, while connecting her datapad to the vid-phone console. Emily pulled her own datapad from her pocket, wiring the datapad to her own console as the file transfer began. Right away, the file in question appeared on Emily's pad, with the fellow penitatas parent skimming over it's contents and tapping at the display to move from page to page. Took a couple moments, but Emily's expression turned to something similar to Lory's. "There's nothing here!", Emily said with a disgusted and surprised sort of tone, at seeing a court record that was so empty. The information she was looking at was roughly the same to what Lory already had, with nothing new at all. Bare bones data. Seeing the other penitatas parent lift their hands in a frustrated gesture, Lory waved her own datapad towards Emily. "No transcript, no docket, no evidence log. There wasn't even a single conclusive piece of evidence for them to put in this thing", she said while flicking the pad about between her fingers in angry frustration. "There wasn't a single witness to log the account and create a transcript of events either. Like an open-shut case, or so someone figured", Emily responded more quietly, tapping through the information again just to make sure she hadn't missed anything. Tossing her datapad aside, Lory smacked the bottom of her console and held her head in her hands, feeling weak and helpless. That an injustice occured on her watch. This is how she made Jacob feel. A Starfleet hero, reduced to a naked, bawling heap at her own hands. Seeing as frustrated and upset as Lory was getting, Emily looked over her shoulder towards her furry daughter. "Kayla, take your plate and go to your room. Don't make a mess", she directed concisely, keeping her orders to the shortest amount of words possible. The fox made a groan to herself, slipping herself from the table and stepping out of the imager's sight for the stairs. Emily kept her eyes on Kayla until she left, then turned back to the display screen with a shaky sigh. "Look into getting Jacob a re-trial", Emily spoke softly, using an encouraging tone. This was a difficult thing for penitatas parents to discuss. Innocents never get thrown into the justice system. It's unbelievably rare, but looking at the court documents, the accusations from Jacob that he didn't get a real trial suddenly had merit. For Lory, it was like the court documents were proving him right, and her faith in Starfleet wrong. The Admiral that arbitrated the case and laid down such swift judgement.. what was he thinking? And, most of all, what had she done? Punishing him all morning and afternoon for telling the truth was a horrible thought that sickened her. Out of the blue, she was dropped into feeling just like her son. Doing your thing one moment, and your life doing a one-eighty the next. The parent was still spinning. "I don't know if I can. It was a Starfleet criminal and courtmartial trial, not part of the court system. Only way to get him one is if Starfleet wanted to, and.. I'm sure they will, of course", Lory spoke with that uncertain, almost teary voice. Her blind support for Starfleet appeared yet again, but this time, even if she said she was sure, her voice didn't sound it. Emily was forced to just hum in a low key, arms crossed and unsure of what to do herself. Kayla was only her second penitatas, and both of them openly admitted their guilt. Once rejuvenated and treated to their welcome spankings, they were open about it and accepted reality. No sense hiding what your parent could go and find out. Emily never had to face this before, and the possibility of this being a mistake seemed high. "Can only try", was all Emily could think of to say, disconnecting her datapad from the vid-phone and placing it out of sight. "Will have to. Don't know what to do about Jacob. Poor thing", Lory spoke in a shaky voice, thinking of what she had done to him. Took strength and assuring herself she was only doing her job in order to keep from breaking down. All the while, as the two penitatas parents spoke and exchanged support and thoughts, Jacob and Kayla went on about their day. The fox hid around the corner to the dinning area of their house, peeking around and reaching out carefully for her mother's datapad on the floor. Sliding it around to herself and connecting it by memory chip slot converter wire, it was easy to dump the court documents onto her pink datapad with the alterations Jacob helped her create. With her parent's pad back where it was, the fox slinked off, as sly as she was, with her first piece of information. While Lory worked on the re-trial, she would work on finding the truth. In the end they were both different routes, and now Jacob had a battle being waged for him on two fronts. Carefully creeping back upstairs, bushy tail streaming behind herself, Kayla began to wrap her head around what the first course of action would be. Anything to set the world right. For a penitatas to stick her neck out and be able to make a difference, she was well aware she could end up getting herself into trouble at this rate. Her friend, that sweet Karrian and every drop of his care, didn't deserve even a second of wearing the same silver 'P's she was. Datapad clapping down against the Aspatrian's clean desk, her left paw reached for her top drawer. Fingers seeking the object tucked away behind her old, forbidden memory chips, she raised Jacob's Starfleet com-badge up between her two fingers once it was pulled from the dark desk. Leaning back in her seat, her eyes mulled over it's burnt and damaged exterior, simply staring. Across the neighborhood, Jacob stood under the warm water of his shower with a heavy heart still yet. All the injustice and pain, both mental and physical, had paid a toll on his young spirit. The scales of his right claw, and some of the damage under his tail, as well as the switch lashes on top of it, he was able to heal correctly with his old Starfleet medical kit. Took a bit of time due to how large the affected areas were, but now the warm water he was under soothed away from of the residual ache in his scale, even if his muscles and body and a whole had more recovery to do. His chest was tight from crying so much, and his throat sore for the same reason. Ever since the tail weight came off, his tail had still been slothful with the muscles in his meaty, dragon-like appendage torn and tired. Finally able to wash, the boy was able to get all of his scales clean and remove the feeling of grit his nosebleed and tears had left. Not only that, but he was able to use the toilet-unit as he wanted, and recieve some quiet, dignified peace. The act of walking around with his adolescent male parts and the base of his tail visible was enough to shake his will. Spanking his young form into submission, was the over-kill that sullied his spirit. It was hard to smile, even if the night would be calm. His parent that he loved and trusted had struck him very hard, quite a few times. She presented her penitatas parental side, and the cruel inginuity that came with it. It was a side and state that he was never supposed to see, much less incur the wrath of. Distrusted and loathed for acts he didn't commit, he had to sit and accept what was torture, since he had told nothing but the truth. A muzzle that lied only once, and that was to save Kayla her own world of hurt, now had the aftertaste of soap. Knowing you were a good person began to appear irrelevant when everyone thought otherwise, and as his mother said, he was still a penitatas, even if she wasn't treating him like one any longer. Those at school will look at him as a fraud, and a fallen liar of the worst sort. Maybe he would fit in, or maybe he would be seen as the one whom escaped miss Chester's firm hand and needed to be given all the swattings he had avoided. Water splashing over his body, Jacob didn't want to move. There was little else for him to do, earning his life back piece by piece. The night would be spent working on his medical lab if he was big enough to carry it back to his room, before climbing into bed and tucking himself in. Not a single word, all while his mind processed the horrors it faced in the name of bringing him to 'justice'. From here, while the battle was fought, his road to recovery would have to begin anew.