Dream
She stood in the center of the courtroom, hands clenching and unclenching as she awaited the verdict of the faceless judge. Faces- old and new- sat jury on either side of her, their expressions entirely impassive. Behind her were the witnesses who had spoken for and against her- employers, old and new, and people whose names she couldn’t place but who she knew were vitally important as her friends. There was a white-haired boy and a Chinese girl, a young man with red hair, and an eye patch and a hulking giant of a man with headphones.
Suddenly the judge’s gavel came pounding down, shattering the silence of the courtroom. They waited for the sound waves to dissipate before speaking, voice quiet and utterly final. “Useless.”
Nein, no, I’m- not. I’m not useless! But the words wouldn’t come out; her mouth moved to form the words but she remained silent.
“Useless!”
N-no, I’m not! I- My friends, my comrades, they- She looked back to the people who were supposed to be her witnesses, her friends- but they were gone, decayed into piles of pentacle-stained ash.
“USELESS!”
She shivered and wrapped her arms tightly about herself, trying to force back tears without success. She found a large, black disk had materialized in her arms, and finally it seemed her voice could be heard.
“…I’m sorry.”