I thumbed the rest of a bacon flavored protein cube into my mouth. With all of the progress we had made with synthetic foods, you would think we could have figured out how to perfect flavors. The best way to describe the cubes would be to say they were acceptable, in a sort of complacent, and defeated tolerance of the taste. The thing melted into a thick and chewy substance similar to a moist piece of pre-chewed meat.
It was always hard to go back to eating synthetic food after having the real stuff, and protein cubes were far more difficult to consume. I reminded myself, “All the nutrients I needed were in these cubes, they are good for your health. That is what the packaging says anyway.”
I swallowed and mentally prepared myself for my next cube.
Baxter had been quiet and moody through the entirety of the hour-long trip, and we were fast approaching district twelve on the other side of the Chasm. I lightly slapped him on the chest with the back of my hand.
“Hey… We good?”
He gave me a side look and nodded, with a subtle shrug.
I gave him a squint eyed stare and forced myself to swallow another bacon cube before pressing the issue, “Are you good? Cause we were told to come armed.”
His ears dropped to his head, and he looked away from me, “Yeah, yeah I am good. You just gave me a lot to think about.”
The train entered into the platform tunnel, and the natural light from outside was replaced with dim artificial lighting that took a moment for my eyes to adjust. The pull, and shift of weight grew more intense as the train slowed down. I stood up and shouted over the screeching breaks, “Backburner those thoughts Baxter.”
I took hold of a support bar on the ceiling and got in his face, pointing at my eyes with two fingers, then smoothly twisting my wrist so the same fingers were pointing to his face. I did that three times before emphasizing, “We need to focus.”
He batted my hand aside, and spoke, through a snarl, loud enough to be heard over the brakes, “I got it!”
I smiled in an effort to alleviate the tension. The train stopped, my grip faltered, and I almost fell over. As I made my attempt to recover and look professional for the folks on the train with us; Baxter stood up and took a place in the safe zone as the stairs shifted from the ceiling to the floor. Everyone waited for us to leave. A few of them looked uncomfortable, likely due to our mercenary look and appearance.
I approached the stairs and Baxter motioned for me to go first.
After walking off the train top onto the Metro platform, we both stepped to the side so we would not be in the way of anyone boarding or exiting. I took a few moments to cross reference Tiara’s coordinates with my PDA’s GPS.
“So… When we are done, did you want to go look into getting a real steak or something? I think district twelve has a farm fresh location that uses beef and chicken.” I asked, as I thumbed another cube into the corner of my mouth.
Baxter gave me a sour glare, “She could have gotten your files off GOD. Did you have us gear up so you could bribe me with a steak?”
I held up a defensive finger, “Those files have disappeared. This is a legit call. I am talking about afterwards, because I owe you an apology whether you want it or not. It happens to be convenient that we are over here, and you really don’t have any say in the matter otherwise. If you don’t want a steak; I do, so I will treat myself.”
His sour glare became a flat one, accompanied by a brief pause to give me time to drink it in. He then rolled his eyes, “Fine. Steak, and I get anything I want on the menu.”
He apathetically tilted his head to the side as I synced the leash to his collar. I set the dial to the max range, and took a firm grip on the receptor ring in my hand till it registered active with a chirp.
We took twelve minutes to get through the crowds to the security point. Fortunately, security recognized us, so all we had to do was hold our palms out in view for a scan of the ID chips in our hands and answer a few questions. I mentioned Tiara’s name and showed the coordinates on my PDA. That was enough to get us through without further interest.
District twelve was unique in that it was far more exposed than district fourteen. The city consisted of skyscrapers that reached from the Underrails all the way up into the Mantle, making a very intricate setup of multiple tiers of the same street name. Each tier was connected with stairs and escalators, with security checkpoint platforms that set up transitions from above and below the Rails. It was not uncommon to hear and even see violence over the sides of the various railings. People tended to stick to the walkways opposite them.
Suicide was a frequent occurance, with people throwing themselves over the railings into the under-rails below. The district counsel never appeared to be concerned over the matter, as no further protections or precautions were made to help prevent incidents from happening. Clearly their priorities revolved around the upper class of the district, which was a much more pleasant place to live and travel.
District twelve was home to a higher percentage of Meta humans than regular humans like myself. It was very common to see weird, bizarre, and almost inhuman mutations and cybernetic alterations. I know for a fact that a lot of what I have seen is illegal to some degree. Given how the laws were set up though, you couldn’t be prosecuted, or even arrested unless you were in the act.
If you managed to get something done, and were not caught during the money transfer, or the procedure itself, you were free. It was easily one of the most infuriating aspects of my job, and I sympathized with the Order itself when it came to attempting to crack down on illegal modifications. Our hands were tied if the criminal was savvy about it. Hell, I had to follow a guy for almost a week before I nailed his street doc. Even then, both of them got off due to the technicality of me working a prosecutable case without the Order’s consent.
It’s always something, and the underworld has a long memory.
Suffice to say, district twelve can be a great place to “people watch”.
Baxter always seemed more comfortable here given the frequency of encounters with dogmen that could talk. As long as we were not in a hurry to get someplace, it was always the other owner who insisted that their dogman cease conversation. That would generally spark an uncomfortable conversation that would generally leave him moody by the time we got home. It is always tempting to hurry his conversations along, but I am “The bad guy” enough as it is, and figured he needs some sort of outlet.
Roughly thirty minutes passed and we managed to navigate down the six tiers of roads into a warehouse sector of the district. The warehouse was not hard to find given the flashing lights of the Order drones and cruisers hovering or parked all over the area. The site was quarantined with armed and armored guards everywhere.
As we approached, three fully armored, head to toe, officers intercepted us with their rifles at the ready. The officer with the nameplate of “Backston” on his chest pointed over our shoulders. His voice sounded like a synthetic through his helmet. It was familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on who it was, “Nothing to see, citizen. We need to see both of your ID’s before you turn around and vacate the premises.”
We both raised our left hands, and Officer Backston took a small pen sized scanner, that looked like a flashlight, from its sheath at his chest. He lowered his rifle to his side, letting it hang by the sling over his shoulder. His companions trained their guns on both of us. Backston scanned my palm. After a quick couple of beeps, he made a twitching gesture with two fingers, and his partners lowered their weapons to a neutral position in front of them. The guard on the left looked to the right, and said quietly, “Told you it looked like Kenter and his dog.” I spoke as he scanned Baxter, “We were called by Officer Mason regarding an investigation.”
The scanner beeped again, and he returned it to its sheath, then made a gesture with his fingers toward the leash in my hand, “Need to verify the leash.”
I sighed, and turned the dial from maximum to minimum. I could feel the tug, and pulled it a few times against Baxter, “Satisfied?” His fur stood on edge, and he winced against the shocks as he adjusted to minimize the jolts.
He nodded, and I turned the dial back to maximum. As he brought his forearm up, he flipped his bracer up and tapped a screen inside twice before sealing the bracer back again, giving me a dismissive hand gesture, “Your permits check out.”
I hated looking at the faceplates of Order officers. You could never tell if they were looking at you directly.
“Yeah, Mason, it’s Backston. I’ve got Kenter here. Said he… Right away.” He turned to his partners, “You two, back to your posts.” He turned back to me, “You and your dog, come with me.”, and pointed back toward an alleyway amidst a three story warehouse complex.
He “about faced” bringing his rifle to a neutral position in front of him, and made his way toward the alleyway. We followed.
“He has a name you know,” I chided.
Backston didn’t skip a beat, and answered almost instantly after I finished, “Don’t care Kenter. Follow me and shut up.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Given that his own team apparently recognized me, I had a good feeling that I knew Officer Backston. If it was the Backston I knew, then he was a guy I couldn’t resist playing with. I looked back at Baxter with a smile, and he rolled his eyes. I gave Baxter a dismissive wave, “Don’t worry buddy. He is just rude.”
“I said shut it, Kenter.” Backston sounded agitated.
We rounded into the alley, and I continued to prod a little more, “Is there a Timothy under that armor? You scanned us for personal reasons didn’t you?”
His silence was proof enough for me. I was not very fond of Timothy at all. He spent many hours complaining to Tiara about the displeasure of my company. Despite performing better than him in the academy, he viewed me as inferior for my decisions to abandon the Order. I don’t think he liked me in the academy either. We had a few tussles that got us locked up for a day or two each. The guy was an ass, and I had no problem being one too.
I gave him some time to stew a little. We walked for a few minutes down the alley, rounded into a walkway between a new set of warehouses, and turned down an exposed landing with compactors and trash lining both sides of the alley. I saw Tiara walking in our direction, and decided it would be the best time to get one last jab into the guy since it might be a while before I saw him again.
“You know I named him after you right?” I spoke in a low key so it wouldn’t carry.
“That’s it!” He shouted, before he turned and took hold of my shoulders. The way he moved caught me off guard and told me that he had a few more “upgrades” since I had seen him a year or so ago. There was a distinct moment of realization that I may have made a mistake.
It was hardly difficult for him, and he didn’t give me time to resist. He took hold of my vest and carried me to the side, slamming my back hard enough against the side of one of the compactors to take my breath away. I couldn’t keep a hold on Baxter’s leash. It clattered to the floor, beeping with an ominous sound.
Baxter scrambled in a panic to retrieve it, and input the proper cancel code to prevent the collar from activating. I would have been bothered by that were I not preoccupied.
I didn’t remember teaching him the code.
“I see your dog has figured out how to disable the collar. Looks like I get to bust you after all on a handler violation.” Timothy scolded.
I had avoided that charge so many times in the past that it was meaningless to me. I would even argue that they should simply scratch the law from the books given how ridiculous it was. It was almost as if it was still there, exclusively to tack on as an additional fine on top of whatever else you were charged with.
Hardly an arrestable offense I might add.
With his left arm against my chest and left hand securing my throat, Timothy lifted me up to where my feet were not on the ground sliding my back up the side as he did. Using his other hand he tapped the side of his helmet, and the visor slid segments up into the top of the helmet, revealing his actual face. It was definitely Timothy, only the last time I had seen him, he didn’t have two cybernetic eyes. He was pissed, his face fuming and red as a strawberry.
Timothy spoke through his teeth, “We’ll see how fast you can run your mouth from the hospital, you Railer!”
He pressed me hard, squeezing my throat.
“Just got out, no thanks.” I replied through the choke.
Tiara shouted as she ran toward us, “Let him go Backston!”
She had a hand cannon raised and ready to fire. Timothy glared at me and grit his teeth as he continued to crush me against the compactor. He maintained a laser focus on me, but spoke to her, “This Railer and his dog should not be here Mason.”
I choked a zinger, “Don’t be like that Tim.”
“Shut it Don!” Tiara scolded.
She lined up a shot with Timothy, and lectured, “Kenter is under the employ of the Order. You will release him now, or I’ll have you court martialed per lese majesty!”
Timothy continued to hold me in place, unwavering. I could see the hamsters running their wheels in his Rig. It would give him no end of pleasure to end me, yet I had full confidence Tiara and/or Baxter would stop him before he could do anything severe. At least I hoped that they would.
Tiara added after a pause, “Don’t make me count for you, Tim.”
Timothy begrudgingly released me, and I fell to my knees gasping for air. He glared at me as if he wanted to kick me, as he addressed Tiara, “Mason, permission to speak frankly.”
Tiara scolded, “You have permission to return to your unit. Get the hell out of here.”
He looked like he was going to say something, but she cut him off, “Now Backston!”
He left in a hurry, more like stormed off in a professionally controlled tantrum, leaving a dent in one of the compactors with his fist as he passed on his way. Baxter crouched next to me with a toothy grin, offering the leash ring to me, dangling it on his finger. I glared at him and coughed, “Where were you Baxter?”
His ears dropped to the back of his head as he squinted menacingly, “Doing my job like a good “watchdog”, I was watching to make sure he didn’t hurt you too much.”
As I snatched the leash from his finger, Tiara ripped me up to my feet by my vest, her cybernetic arm making the process effortless on her part. She pulled me close to her, and gave me a warning finger as she spoke through her teeth, attempting to muffle a shout, “What the hell is wrong with you!?”
I raised my hands submissively, “Hey, I’m on vacation alright? I was not expecting a full ID scan from that jackass when I arrived, I kind of figured you would have spread the word.”
She tossed me back, and I had to catch my footing before falling over. She scolded, “I knew there was going to be a problem when he was the one that reported. I don’t need you having a pissing contest with my officers Donovan.”
I collected myself, “Only one officer.”
She gave me an accusing finger, and hissed through her teeth, “Especially Backston!” She closed her eyes, and raised her hands meditatively as she drew a deep breath and released. Calm and composed, she said, “It has been a long night and day for all of us.”
I raised my hands and gave her a smirk, “Ok, ok, I will apologize to him on our way out. Buy him a fortified synfee or something. Maybe a few synthetic doughnuts, you know, to smooth things over for the rest of the day.”
She gave me a dismissive wave as she rolled her eyes, “Just shut up Donovan. Follow me, let’s get this over with so you can go home, and we can get this situation resolved.”
She started to walk back down the alley toward the drones and lights at the end of the way. I figured I would try to smooth things over a bit with some conversation, “Look, I’m…”
She interrupted, “Save it Don. I don’t want to hear it, and I am not in the mood.”
I forced it, and grabbed her shoulder to get her to face me, “Look, I owe you an apology ok?”
She looked at me, and she looked genuinely exhausted.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked.
“As I said… It’s been a long night Donovan.” She replied. “I need you to identify the three bodies so we can clean up the scene and be done for the day.”
I held up my hand for her to stop, “Wait, you have been up all night for three bodies?”
She sighed, “No, these just happen to be the most recent in a series of murders that have been occurring across all of the districts that happen to have The Sanctuary’s influences. I am pretty certain they are all linked together.”
She pulled away from me, and beckoned me and Baxter to follow, before pointing accusingly to me, “We need to have a talk about you and leash codes. You are going to get in trouble.”
I gave her an insulted look, “I didn’t give him the leash code.”
She gave Baxter a look, “I am sure he just looked over your shoulder while you programmed it then didn’t he?”
He shrugged in an unassuming manner. I reactivated the leash and set it to minimum distance, forcing him to move closer to me. His agitated growl made me smile. I did not appreciate breaking the rules, especially simple ones like that. Inner district travel was fine without the leash due to the dogman being registered to the district. Cross district travel required the leash. Worst case, I would have been branded an irresponsible handler, and be charged a fine. Repeat offenses could have Baxter “confiscated”.
Tiara shot back, “I did not insist on hiring a crew of children.”
I adjusted the leash back to maximum, “Tell me why you felt the need for my case 32 information? Are you sure you didn’t just miss it on GOD?”
We arrived at the location with drones hovering in the air, and I could already smell the dead. Tiara stopped us before rounding the corner. She looked at me and pointed in that direction, “I really hope you have not eaten anything yet. These happen to be particularly gruesome.”
I gave her a flat stare, “Just answer the questions Tiara.”
Tiara responded, “Your 32 is a ghost on GOD Donovan. I had been looking for it since last night, and had Basil run a check from the office. From what he could see, it was erased, and not by you.”
I blinked silently at her.
Someone deleted my files off GOD? While I do understand why someone would want to do something like that, I never thought anyone would actually do it considering I had it vetted by Temple himself to make sure the records exposed precisely what he wanted them to expose. Tueko managed to destroy my hard copies of the files. I wondered if it was actually by accident.
I inquired, “Did Basil figure out who did it? This sort of thing falls under his expertise, to run forensics over illegal account access over GOD doesn’t it?”
She shook her head, “Basil ran reports and had been pruning through entries since 08:37 this morning. The best he has been able to identify is that the file simply disappeared off your joint space. It didn’t take him that long to come to the conclusion either.”
I complained, “I know I uploaded that file Tiara. I looked through it at least three times since I did.”
She nodded tiredly, “I know. I looked at it too after you were put in the hospital by Tuekoe. Our access to the file is logged, but the file references are just data traces with all preserved entries of the file removed back to the date you opened it.”
I interrupted her, “Wait, you were accessing my files?”
She paused like she was caught in a lie.
She needed authorization to dig into my personal account, I did not provide it, and there was no real reason that a warrant would have been issued that I was aware of. She must have dug into it herself. I didn’t want to hold it against her. Instead, I motioned for her to lead the way.
“Look, whatever; we can talk about that later. Files just don’t disappear like that. Someone from the Order must have had elevated access. There is no way those were jointly shared with the Order for filing purposes.”
I gave Baxter a side glare, “Unless I really do need to pay more attention to my user codes…”
He acted like he didn’t notice me.
“I accessed the files, but I did so out of concern for why Tueko would have assaulted you.” She relented. “Bottom line, both Basil and myself are beyond concerned about this because someone did not want those files to exist, and we are well aware of the access levels required for this sort of thing.”
“Do you think I am in danger?”
“When are you not in danger Don?” she sighed.
“Alright, let’s get this over with so you can get some sleep, and we can sort this out tomorrow.”
She nodded and led us around the corner.
The smell was enough to suggest it was a bad idea to follow her. The bodies must have been there for a few days at least. She was not kidding when she said it was gruesome. Unfortunately, I knew all three of them. It took quite the effort to stop myself from vomiting.