CHAPTER 10

Detective Akima Nolan

Akima sometimes wondered if she was creepy. Anyone else sitting in a room watching their partner lie there and waiting for him to wake up would be.

She just happened to be one of around 20 detectives in Machitou to have an AI partner.

The Japanese-born detective sat next to her partner's lifeless form. The room they were in had been specially built for him. A large violet room with a single pod in the center made of translucent plastic. She eyed him for a moment.

Big. Around eight-feet tall, with wide shoulders, a broad chest, and massive pistons for muscles. He was all metal and polymer, armored panels covering him. He'd once explained the panels weren't to protect him beyond the sections on his stomach where his central processing was. Instead, they were to protect civilians and fellow officers.

His head was a block of steel barely mimicking a human head. It was apparently easier for people to interact with a very fake head than dealing with the uncanny valley of a more life-like one. Cheaper too.

"You're staring." A light in that head she'd been contemplating glowed and dimmed with each word.

Akima smiled. "Can't help it. You're so gosh-darned pretty."

"Should I change my personal ID to identify as 'pretty'?"

"Only if you identify me as beautiful," Akima said. "Welcome back, Des."

The bipedal machine rose up smoothly, the gears within him buzzing as he moved. "Hello, Akima. How are you?"

"Caffeinated," she teased.

"That is not good. You are often over your recommended daily intake for-"

"Joking. Joking, Des." Kinda. "Anyways. Department wants us to do a house visit. You get the files?"

Des' head light buzzed a bright yellow briefly. "The Kaneda Household. The parents of suspects Yun and Layla. We are to visit the parents and follow up on a prior visit by detectives John and Samurai."

"Yep." Akima got up, holding out a hand to Des and helping him up. He probably didn't need it, but she needed to stretch her own cyberlimbs. "Come on, I'll drive."

They walked out, striding through the hallways. The department was buzzing with activity, as it always was. Machitou, as cities went, had far more crime than it should have. Holoscreens were open all across the bullpens. In one section of the department, holograms displaying images of bodies, weapons, suspects, and even crime scenes floated for detectives to study, with more waiting to go next.

Uniformed officers with drones floating next to them walked in and out, often in groups of three to four. Safer that way.

Just before they left, someone called out to them. "Akima! Des!"

The pair turned around. A tall powerful man with an older model cybernetic arm took a deep puff at his vapor pen as he approached them. He was Indian, with deeply sunken eyes and hair pulled into a bun behind his head.

"Yeah Chief Cali?" Akima asked, crossing her arms casually.

"You got your assignment, right?" He asked as he came to a stop, puffing on his pen again.

"Yeah, visit the Kaneda's, ask them about the kids who stole from Renfield, see if they know where they are?"

"Hmf," Chief Cali scoffed. "Yeah. Kids. Des, tell her about the bounty."

"Bounty!?" Akima asked, startled. She looked at her partner, whose light was yellow. When it returned to it's normal blue, he spoke.

"There is a new bounty on Layla Kaneda and Yun-Seong Kaneda. Both are to be taken in dead or alive."

"Who the hell put out the bounty!?" Akima asked, shocked. "Why would they-"

"Wait, wait," Cali slashed a hand through the air, cutting her off. He eyed her. "You don't know."

"...Don't know what?"

Cali eyed her. "Those kids. They aren't just thieves anymore. They're terrorists."

----------------------------------------

Later, in her car Akima held in her breath as she stared at the images before her. Her assigned vehicle, like all the others, was a four-door hover SUV, with a window capable of displaying images in the passenger seat. Right then, it showed images of death.

The slums, on a good day, weren't exactly pretty. Death was common there. But not on the scale she was seeing. The screen froze briefly on a police officer pulling a body out from under a car that had exploded apart. A very small body.

"How did this happen?" Akima asked Des. He was standing outside of the car, leaning in through the window to watch with her. He probably had seen it a thousand times, but he still stood next to her, a comforting presence.

"Pure aether." Des said simply.

"Pure? What's the difference between that and the stuff that runs my car? Or, you know, you."

Des leaned in, holding a hand out. At his command, the image of dead children was replaced with a video displaying a set of chemical structures. "Pure aether is refined into a fuel source for modern technology. But before that, it's a form of extremely dense energy. While we know how to refine it, in its purest form, it has enough power to overload any technology it encounters that is more advanced than a steam engine."

The video showed a cartoony version of Des encountering orange and white fire, exploding apart on contact. "And its effect on living tissue is nearly as violent."

"What are we talking about here?" Akima asked him.

"Unknown."

"The hell do you mean, unknown?"

"That research is classified."

"Classified... of course." Akima punched her dashboard. "Des, what the hell was the point of all this? Were those kids tied to any terrorist organizations? Tarturus or something?"

"No. Yun and Layla have suspected ties to a variety of criminals, but only in the last few years."

Images of the pair showed up. Not mugshots, since they'd never been arrested. Instead the photos looked like they had been taken from social media.

Akima eyed them briefly. Yun's was taken during a boxing match of some sort, his fist laying into the chin of another man. He was very big, stacked with muscle, with a very serious look in his eyes and spiky hair. She was surprised to see he was in his teens.

"Six feet, five inches?" Akima mumbled. "The hell were they feeding him?"

Comparatively, Layla was more normal in size. Her hair was a turquoise color, pulled up into two buns on her head, her skin more olive toned than Yun's. She was fit, but built for speed and agility. She was photographed in a gymnast's outfit, backflipping through the air with a wide grin on her face.

"Augments?" Akima asked him.

"Yun has none."

"None? Not even the basics?"

"None. Layla needed replacements to her lungs, throat, portions of her spine-" As Des layed it out, he displayed images of the girl in question. He finished up. "-she was raised in a warzone. Even after being rescued, biological warfare had damaged large portions of her body, so it all needed replacing."

Common story. Akima looked between the two. They didn't look like terrorists. Then again, what did a terrorist look like?

"...something stinks about all this," Akima said softly. "Stealing that stuff, just to drop it on the city? That's not something petty thieves and thugs do. That requires… I don't know. An ideaology, hatred, some kind of larger goal maybe?"

She leaned back in her seat, thinking.

"I concur," Des said. "I would still need to compile a psychological profile on both. However, a cursory glance does not show any signs of anarchist tendencies at the least."

"Then we need more than a cursory glance," Akima said, straightening. "Come on. Let's go see the family."

Des nodded, moving to enter the car. The SUV started up, rising into the air before heading toward the exit. Exiting into the open air hundreds of feet above the city, they zipped off into the dense architecture, passing statues reminiscent of ancient gods and goddesses in flashes of light.

----------------------------------------

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Driving through Machitou was a struggle on the best of days. Even with the privilege of flight given only to law enforcement, corps, and the elite, it could be harrowing.

Machitou just after a terrorist attack was easier to drive through. Less cars in the air. It was almost sad.

Des drove them to the slums, heading directly to the Kaneda apartment building. Akima watched as they went from the tall skyscrapers that stood lonely and imposing in the clouds, to the lower levels of the city with their dark architecture and neon holographic ads flickering against the backdrop. It was almost like night and day.

Reaching the apartment in question and parking in front of the building, Akima and Des hopped out, following the GPS directions into it. When they got to the Kaneda Apartment, a new problem revealed itself.

The door had been broken down. Akima quickly rushed forward, Des following her with stomping steps. At the door, Akima pulled out the only weapon she had. Guns were illegal in Machitou. Only the most top level operatives could get them, and Akima was not one of them.

Instead, Akima held onto a dark black piece of molded plastic, a handle. An opening in it folded out a long stick, finally leaving her holding a single tonfa-esque weapon with some metal inserts along it. Stepping inside, Akima called out.

"MCPD!"

"Shit!" Someone called from inside.

"Come out now!" She called. "We don't want to fight anyone. We just want to talk!"

Des stepped in, forward. She followed him, a shadow to his much larger form. As she walked in, her eyes snapped around.

The Kaneda's had a smaller apartment than her. That was… really sad. She lived alone, in a crappy place near the station, and this family of four still had a smaller place. The kitchen was basically just a counter and sink for crying out loud. The stove was a portable one.

More importantly, the place had been torn apart. The couch was torn apart, shattered glass covered the floor, and the walls had holes in them. Des and Akima moved forward as one. Her shoes crunched the glass under her feet as she stalked forth. Des' head stopped moving, but she was sure he was using his sensors as he moved. Which was why, when he suddenly spun to face the wall beside him, Akima knew to back up.

The wall exploded apart.

"RAAAAGH!" A man, screaming loudly, came through the wall, his eyes wild. Akima quickly noted the cybernetics of the man. His arms, chest, back, all shining with blue and red metal, his fingers extending outwards to try and grab his opponent.

Des' hands extended out in tandem, gripping the hands of the man. He slid back a single foot before the pistons in his arms and legs let out a loud click-clack sound as the gears within spun to compensate, grinding him to a stop while the floor beneath him cracked and split.

With a violent pull and twist to the right, Des brought the man over his hip, lifting him into the air.

"FUCK!" The massive chromed up man screamed before Des pushed him into the kitchen counter. The man reached up, trying to grab Des' face. Metal fingers scratched across a featureless narrow face, unable to get a grip. A desperate punch barely shook him before Des raised his own fist.

The false muscles in Des' arm lit up like violet fire. They exploded and his fist shot forward. His metal knuckles smashed into the man's skull. It was likely that, like many chromed up thugs, the man had the sort of skull lining most had to absorb damage.

Which was why Des was equipped with Hydraulic Rams. Built to act like a jackhammer, the fist erupted forward again and again, jabbing into the face of the chromed up thug. The man tried to struggle out from under Des, but the policebot held him down and poured on the blows.

In the few seconds it took for Des and his opponent to start fighting, another man came running into the room holding a machete arcing with lightning along the edge of the carbon-black blade. On seeing Des, he raised it high and rushed forward.

Akima's tonfa parried the machete aside, electricity sparking along the machete and finding no way to sink into the tonfa. She spun the tonfa around and smashed it into his elbow, forehead, then solar plexus. While he was off balance, she spun it again so the handle was out, wrapping it around the machete wielder's right knee and pulling his leg up before kicking his left ankle out. Whatever chrome he had couldn't prevent him from losing his balance, falling onto his back and sending the machete flying.

With as much speed as she had, she spun the tonfa around and pressed the tip against his chest, her own weapons electricity arcing through his systems both biological and mechanical, knocking him out cold. Behind her, Des lowered his own opponent to the floor efficiently.

"There are three more people in this apartment," Des announced.

Akima didn't ask how he knew that. Based on how his light was buzzing, he was interfacing with technology. "Can you shut them down?"

"Negative. The assailant has advanced security software, and the others are hostages."

Akima nodded firmly. Moving to the edge of the hole in the wall made by the first thug, she yelled out. "Hey! This is the MCPD! Come out quietly and we can talk this through, okay?"

"No need," the voice that spoke was far calmer than necessary. The sound of breaking glass followed. "They don't know where they are."

"You want the Kaneda's?" Akima asked, twisting to glance into the room. Three individuals. Two people were tied to a chair with black bags over their heads, and one more person standing. One of the ones in the chair, the male, was bleeding onto the floor, the red fluid dripping down. The standing figure was at a now shattered window.

"Everyone does," the figure said. "We all had family in those slums. Best of luck."

The figure moved. Out of the window. Des and Akima ran in, but it was too late. He exited into the open air, dropping several stories before a pair of small red wings popped out of his shoulders. He glided out into the city, disappearing.

"Cameras!?" Akima half-yelled at Des.

"Tracking him now, but if he is an experienced criminal-"

"He'll have them mapped into his systems, I know," Akima swore.

The internet was the bane of her existence. Information free for all, including how to get away with crime.

"How long till EMS gets here?" Akima asked, spinning to go back to the couple in their chairs tied back to back. The man was still bleeding, while the woman was whimpering under the bag.

"Ten minutes."

Akima ripped the bags off their heads. The woman was pretty, if tired looking, more so with tears in her eyes and snot bubbling over the duct tape on her mouth. The man looked beaten. His face was turning black and blue. Unlike the woman, he had no duct tape, so he spoke immediately.

"No… no hospital," he spat out blood. When he met Akima's eyes, his own gaze was steadier than she expected. "Can't afford it."

"We still need to have EMS check you out. Sir, do you remember the date today?"

He nodded, stating it clearly. While he did, she noticed the small hole in his head. On a double-check she almost wanted to throw up. A space about as large as two thumbs drilled into his head, with a company logo imprinted.

"Sir, your chip-"

"That was gone before," he said, as though that made it less horrifying. "You get used to it."

"Akima," Des said, drawing her attention. "EMS is going to be late. They've been pulled into the Aether fires."

"...Shit," Akima said firmly. With that stated she got up and moved to the machete lost by one of the perps. "Okay. We do what we can."

She tossed the machete to Des. "You let them loose and start tying up the perps, I'll get the FAK out of the car."

"Will do." Des moved towards the couple. As Akima headed out, she ran through the events of the last few minutes in her head. Three assailants invading a home, beating up the father of the Kaneda's for information. They needed to take the parents into custody. Not just to get answers of their own, but to protect them.

Things were getting more and more complicated by the second.