"So Nicholas are you going to tell me where you planted the bombs? This will make everyone's lives so much easier if you just tell the truth."
"Listen I don't know how the hell you are talking with me right now… I've never heard voices in my head until now. Why should I tell you?" says Nicholas.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way and I'm damn sure you will want the easy route" Derrick says quickly.
"I refuse. I want a lawyer" Nicholas insists.
"Alright moving to stage 2. You won't like this. Do you know the sensation of spiders crawling on your skin?"
A picture of Nicholas' body shows up on the computer screen. Derrick clicks on the right arm of the picture. All of a sudden Nicholas screams and flicks away his right arm.
"What the hell was that" Nicholas shouts.
"Now do you want to cooperate?" Derrick says boldly.
James is just stunned and doesn't know what to say. He just stares at the live video feed of Nicholas rubbing his right arm.
"Okay I will tell you. There's one bomb in the garbage bin next to the CN tower. It's in the green bin at the entrance. There's another bomb at the General Hospital in a suitcase in the waiting room. That's everything I know. I swear."
"Good. I will have explosives units travelling to both those locations now," says Derrick.
*5 days later*
It's Christmas Eve and James is with his family. James was told he was supposed to work today but he was fortunate to get the day off. A turkey is cooking in the oven. His wife is preparing Uncle Ben's stuffing.
"Daddy I'm glad you're not working today. We never see you anymore" says Andrew, James' youngest son.
"Andrew I wish I could spend more time with you but I told you I got assigned to a new Police unit. I'm not allowed to talk about my work."
Dinner is ready and James and his family say grace before eating.
"Dear Lord I thank you for this day and thank you for my wife making it home safe from work. Lord I thank you for my wonderful family as we gather here for this lovely meal. It's truly a blessing having them in my life and although I'm consumed with my work these days I cherish the little time I have with them. Anyways bless this food we are about to receive. In jesus' name. Amen."
Hours later everyone falls asleep and James is just laying in bed unable to sleep. He is thinking about his work. In particular he's been having nightmares about the I.D. Tech.
James eventually drifts to sleep. The following is everything in James' dream.
"James do you know who I am?"
"Yes you're Nicholas… my colleague interrogated you a week ago."
James sees Nicholas sitting in a sleigh. But then he transforms into santa.
"What the hell. You're not Saint Nick you're a criminal!"
"James think long and hard about the I.D. Tech. You have it within your reach. Think what you could do with it" the Santa version of Nicholas says.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"What do you mean by that…."
"A technology that could control every aspect of a person can be quite useful. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
James wakes up with his wife snoring next to him. He doesn't know what to think of his dream. As a Christian man he doesn't have much bad intent in him. But he starts thinking about the I.D. Tech. He's worked many terrible cases in his career and sometimes the criminals walk free. He begins thinking of his father and how he still hasn't found his killer.
*New Years Day*
"James you seem to love laying on that sofa. You're going to wear it out" says Derrick.
"That's fine. With the new defense budget they can afford to replace any of these sofas" says James.
A couple of police officers walk through the front door and are holding onto a man named Michael who is in handcuffs. They tell Derrick and James they caught him robbing a local store. Essentially they want Derrick and James to question him to see if he is connected to any prior robberies.
The cops sit the man down in interrogation room 3. They close the blinds to the windows and ask the man if he wants anything to drink. He replies “I’ll have a coffee thanks.”
"James take this syringe. You know what to do,” Derrick says with a laugh.
James heads to the kitchen where he turns on the kettle. The water boils for 5 minutes. He takes out a mug from the cabinet.
“World’s best farter” the words on the mug say. James is chuckling. He decides that’s not the best mug to use in this situation so he gets a plain white mug instead.
James mixes the coffee grinds into the water and then puts the I.D. Tech in it. He then walks to the interrogation room and hands the suspect his coffee. James then heads to the basement to meet Derrick. Both of them sit down and Derrick tells James they have to wait 10 minutes. Derrick explains it takes 1 minute for the I.D. Tech to reach the brain if given lukewarm water, and that it takes 10 minutes to reach the brain if given hot liquid such as coffee.
10 minutes pass and Derrick puts on his headset, pushes a button and says “Hello Michael. This is Derrick. I’m with the police.”
“Who the hell is this. This can’t be real” Michael says.
“Oh it very much is real” Derrick says. “We just want to know if you’ve committed any other robberies. You can just save us time but thinking of any other times you’ve robbed other stores.”
Derrick tells James there’s another feature of the I.D. Tech. he hasn’t seen before. Any image the suspect pictures in his head will pop up on the computer screen.
One after another there are countless images of pictures of small corner stores and even huge grocery stores.
“Wait. Hold up” says James. “I think I see something I recognize. Is that Morley Variety? Why the hell does he have Morley Variety in his head?!”
“I’ll ask him. Just settle down James” says Derrick.
“What do you know about Morley Variety Michael? My colleague who is with me right now… that was his father’s business.”
On the computer screen James sees the suspect’s heartbeat going up.
“He obviously knows something,” says James.
That’s when the picture of a silver handgun is shown on the screen, and moments later the picture of James’ father who is covered in blood.
“You killed Eric in cold blood Michael” says Derrick.
“I didn’t mean to. He tried grabbing the gun and it went off by accident!” says Michael.
*a couple of days later*
James is sitting in a courtroom. He’s waiting anxiously to hear the verdict that will be handed down to Michael. The judge enters the room. She coughs a little and then breaths into the microphone.
“After reviewing everything I hereby declare you guilty of theft above $5000. You have displayed remorse for your actions. You will be given 3 years behind bars. As for the killing of Eric Morley you have displayed remorse. I hereby declare you guilty of second degree murder. You will be given 12 years behind bars.”
“Only 12 years for homicide. What the hell is this” James says in his head. “If he displays good behaviour he’ll be out in half the time.”
Enraged, James gets up and can’t stand listening to the judge. He leaves the room. He was hoping Michael would get at least 25 years for the killing of his father.
“You will spend 1 week in jail before being transported to London’s maximum security prison” says the judge. James overhears this part as he is standing outside the courtroom.
*a few hours later*
James is at home. He’s making coffee when all of a sudden he collapses. He’s rushed to the emergency. They did x-rays and MRI’s. What they find shocks his family.
“James there’s no easy way to say this but you have brain cancer. You have around 5 months to live given it’s progression in your brain. I’m truly sorry.”