Lab whistled through his teeth. “Didn’t know you could do that, bud. Y’okay?”

I panted and stood, using the staff to haul myself up. “Yeah. Damn, but that took a lot out of me.”

“Heh. I bet. Is it just the door? Or does it lead somewhere?” Lab quirked an eyebrow at me.

“Just the door, man. A pair of these would have me on my ass for a whole week, I bet.”

Jennifer nodded and began pacing around the door, experimentally pushing and prodding it. “That’s impressive, Jackson. Looks like it took a fair bit out of you. You good?”

I nodded. “Will be after I eat something.”

“Go. Grab a bite, take a break and come back. Labrador? Let’s talk.” She walked off, leaving the pair of us standing there. Lab and I shrugged at each other, then went our separate ways.

As I headed down the hallway to the elevator that led to the main lobby, I wondered at the door I’d just made. Sure, it was several thousand pounds of steel and associated bits and bobs inside, but it also happened to be one of the biggest and heaviest doors I could think of. I was glad that maintaining a door or a Link was fairly trivial as long as it was just the one.

As I reached the main lobby, I heard Bethany speaking to someone. I knocked on the door and opened it. “Hi Bethany.”

She turned, a smile on her face. “Hi Jackson! Are you leaving already?”

“Just going for lunch. You want anything?”

“Where from?” She cocked her head to the side.

“Just going to Wendy’s. It’s quick and easy, usually. Unless you have a better idea?”

She got an odd gleam in her eye. “Maybe Al’s?”

“Al’s? Man, it’s been awhile since I went there. Alright. I’ll hit the one over on Wells. I think I know a couple of the folks there, still. How do you like yours?”

“Dry on the side, hot and provolone? With a large fry?”

“You got it. Back in a few.”

She made a happy noise and thanked me as I shut the door. I opened a door to the outside of the restaurant and stepped out onto Wells St. only to find that the place had apparently just been robbed.

“Hey!”

I spun around to face the voice. “Yeah?”

“What the fuck are you doing over there? Get back here behind the tape, asshole!”

I looked around me, seeing yellow plastic tape that said “Police Line. Do Not Cross.” I nodded and walked to the other side of the tape. “Sorry, man. Won’t happen again.”

The cop, a portly man with a pronounced limp on his right side, waddled up to me, baton in his hand. “Why were you on that side, huh? You trying to make my job harder, pal?

I held my hands up in a placating gesture. “No, dude. I just got lost in thought, didn’t pay any attention to where I was going. That’s all.”

He poked me in the chest with his baton. “You best get the hell outta here, kid. If you know what’s good for ya.”

I snorted and opened a door to the location on Clark. “Guess I’ll go to the one on Clark, then.”

The cop’s look of surprise was priceless as I shut the door in his face.

I looked out at a sea of people as the door dissolved behind me. The little triangular spit of land between rivers of traffic didn’t have much real estate to put a door on, but it was doable. I walked into the restaurant, and placed mine and Bethany’s order.

Fucking cops, man. Ever since I got out of the government school, it seemed as if I’d been almost targeted by cops. Not my fault I’d never learned any useful real-life skills in school. No, all I’d learned how to do was run from a bully and keep my head down. Once I got out, I was pretty much all on my own. Parents hadn’t even come to my graduation. With nowhere to go and nobody to go to, I lived on the streets. Cops had always been nearby to push me along somewhere else. Nobody wanted any homeless people near them. After being harassed by them for several years, I’d grown an appreciable dislike and mistrust of them. As I stood there waiting, my arms crossed, a pair of uniformed police officers walked in and approached me.

“Can I help you boys?”

“We got a call about a disturbance here by a guy fitting your description.”

“No, you didn’t.”

The taller of the two raised an eyebrow at me. “You wanna repeat that?”

I stood up straighter, and glared at the cop. “I said, no, you did not. You couldn’t have received a report about a disturbance here, much less about a guy matching my description and gotten here in less than five minutes. You’re lying. What happened was you got a call from some fatass beat pig down on Wells about a guy that accidentally walked behind some police tape, then disappeared saying he was going to the Al’s on Clark. That’s what happened. I know you’re cops and all, and it might be difficult for you, but tell the truth, or don’t bother talking to me.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Sir, I don’t think you should take that tone with us.” I saw the shorter one slowly lower his hand toward his weapon.

“Listen, pal. I don’t like cops. I’ll take whatever tone I feel is needed when I speak to you, and I don’t think reaching for your weapon is a good idea.”

The clerk placed a pair of white paper bags on the counter, then backed off. “Now. If you two will excuse me, I’m going to take my lunch and go home.” I reached for the food, and two tasers were immediately pointed at me.

“Sir, put that down and come with us.”

“No.” The front of their weapons fell off, a pair of tiny doors in place of the muzzle. “I don’t think I will.” The cops took an involuntary step back, staring at their ruined tasers.

“What the fuck did you do?” The tall one’s hand was shaking slightly as he looked beyond his weapon, into my face.

“Warned you. That’s what I did. I’ve done nothing wrong today, and you two have no right to accost me. Pick up the pieces of your toys and walk away.”

I heard the short cop start to breathe harder, and sighed internally as he reached again, this time for his pistol. “Put your hands up!” When he pulled, all he got was the grip, the rest of his sidearm still in the holster. “What the?”

“Sir, I’d suggest you two leave, because I’m about to.”

The smaller of the two put his hand on his partner’s bicep, pushing himself to the front. “What did you do? What are you? Who are you?”

I shrugged. “Nothing. Human. None of your goddamn business. Goodbye, gentlemen.” I opened a trapdoor beneath me and fell into the office behind Bethany, dissolving it as quickly as I could. Hearing the noise, Bethany opened the office door a moment later, seeing me on my knees.

“Jackson? What the hell happened? Are you okay?”

I groaned and stood up with her assistance. “Fucking cops. I can’t stand them. Here’s your lunch, Bethany.” I handed her the bag, which she took hesitantly.

“Cops? Jackson, you need to explain yourself.”

I nodded and motioned to the lobby. She headed out, placing her bag on the counter, then gestured to a second seat. “Have a seat, Jackson. Let’s eat and talk.”

I gratefully sat down beside her and we started eating. After a few bites, I recounted the experience. “Can’t stand those pricks. Always overreacting, always abusing their authority, always assuming they’re right. Then they kill you and get away with no repercussions. Fuck ‘em.” I savagely tore a bite off my sandwich, chewing angrily.

“Check on the scene, Jackson. Make sure there isn’t anything to tie you there.”

I sighed. Al’s certainly had cameras. Just like everywhere else. “Goddamn cameras. Alright. Gimme a few. I’ll take care of any evidence. Won’t be as clean as Tekky, but it’ll get the job done.”

Bethany nodded and watched as I opened several peepholes in rapid succession, searching for the office at Al’s. I saw the cops talking to the manager, and then I followed him back to the office. The cops didn’t follow, which was to my benefit.

“Hang on, Bethany. I’ll be right back.” She nodded, and I ducked into the office behind her.

I opened a small door to the office at Al’s, and stuck my torso through, startling the manager. Quickly, I covered his mouth to stifle any screams.

“Shh. Dude, look. I ain’t hurt nobody, I ain’t stole nothing and I ain’t about to. Okay? I won’t even hurt you, either. Will you listen to me?” He nodded and I removed my hand from his mouth.

“Who are you? How are you doing that?”

“Not important right now, dude. Look. Does your camera system back up to the cloud?”

“No, man. Just a tape and an internal backup.”

“Can you erase the footage from the past two hours? Make it look like your system is on the fritz?”

“Yeah, but why? The cops want it.”

“Because fuck them, that’s why. Look man, they’re just looking for something to get me on, and I haven’t done anything wrong. I got lost in my thoughts and wound up behind the caution tape at a robbery scene, then came to this location because I wanted a Polish sausage that badly.”

“Wait. The location over on Wells got hit?” He put a hand on my arm, concern etched on his face.

“Yeah man. I’d just arrived and the fatass beat pig started fussing at me, so I came here. Why? Is something going on?”

“I’ll say. There’s not many Al’s left that haven't been knocked over in the past year. We were hit last month.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Really? Tell you what. Get rid of the last two hours of footage however you can, and I’ll see if I can’t nab whoever’s doing this. Deal?”

The manager pursed his lips and nodded. “Alright. On one condition.”

“Spit it out, man.”

The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Let me take a crack at them before you turn them over to the law. They hurt my daughter last month.” There was a fire in his eyes that I could well appreciate.

“How bad?”

He clenched his hands, and I could hear his knuckles popping. “She’s still in the hospital. Doc says she’ll be fine, but I’ll be damned if some fucking punk is gonna get away with hurting my little girl.”

I stuck out my hand and he shook it warmly. “Deal.” I pointed up at the security system. “The tape?”

He jerked slightly, and nodded, clicking away at the system. A couple of minutes later, he turned to me and nodded. “Done. The time from after the cops took the footage from yesterday up to right now is gone. Unrecoverable.” He pointed a finger in my face. “You get those bastards, kid. You hear me?”

I nodded solemnly. “Loud and clear, sir. Loud and clear.” I ducked back into the office and let the door vanish.

I popped out of the office a moment later, resuming my seat beside Bethany. “Taken care of. That footage is now gone, and I have a job to do.” I took a bite of my cooling sausage.

Bethany shook her head. “You know you aren’t ready, Jackson. Why did you antagonize the cops?”

I sighed and pushed my food away, irritation replacing my appetite. “Because from the time I got out of that fucking school until the literal day I moved in with Lab, cops have been hounding and harassing me. All because I was homeless. Homeless people don’t have rights, apparently. Not to privacy, not to consideration, not to politeness, nothing. And the cops only show up to hassle us. Never to check on our welfare. Never to make sure we’re okay, or when we’ve been robbed or beaten. We’re invisible, Bethany.” I sighed and stared at my hands. My voice dropped to a soft whisper. “Nobody sees us. Not really. And when they do? It’s just as a curiosity. Nothing more.”

I sat there a few minutes longer than I intended to, both of us silent and in our own thoughts, but eventually got up. I boxed up the last of my lunch and turned to Bethany, who hadn’t moved since I started talking. “Mind if I leave this here? I’ll grab it before I leave.”

Her voice was soft and distant. “Sure, Jackson. I’ll see you when you get done down there.”

I nodded my thanks and turned my steps back toward my gym and the stone staff that awaited me.