“W- what do you mean?” Casey asked as she clutched her blouse and covered her bosom.

Greg ran his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth.

“I mean, come on. Look at yourself.” Greg said and it was almost as if he was trying his best not to look at Casey.

“Greg… I’m still me.” Casey said, even as her lips trembled.

“Raise your right arm,” Greg instructed, but that only made Casey shake even more.

“Raise your arm.”

Casey did as Greg instructed and he eventually walked closer to her.

He then inspected the hexagonal patterns in her palm, the faint grey lines that ran up her up and the countless surgery indication plates that dotted her body.

He did all this while maintaining the same expression.

He then shook his head.

“No.”

“What?” Casey asked.

“This is why I asked- no, I begged for you to stay,” Greg said as he stepped away.

“I had a duty to fulfil,” Casey said, but Greg continued to shake his head as he placed his hands on his hips.

Casey then saw something she had been ignoring for some time.

“You’re married, aren’t you,” Casey said prompting Greg to look at the faint mark on his ring finger.

“What does that have to do with this?” Greg asked, but Casey stood up in response.

“Please leave,” Casey said.

Greg’s eyes widened for a moment, but he lowered his head shortly after.

Casey accompanied him to the door and she watched him walk down the street until he was no longer visible.

She eventually closed the door before slowly falling to her knees.

She then grabbed her hair before releasing a low guttural scream.

Tears messily ran down her face as she rested her head against the door.

She cried for what seemed like an eternity before dragging herself into her room where she fell onto her bed before falling asleep.

.

..

Casey awoke the next day with a scowl.

She checked her phone and saw that the time was six thirty AM.

She sighed before heading into the bathroom where she took a quick shower.

After completing several other tasks, she got dressed and hopped into her truck where the faint smell of alcohol still lingered.

She gently squeezed the steering wheel before making her way to Unity’s Central Police Department.

She didn’t engage her truck's self-driving settings and made sure to focus all of her attention on the road in front of her until she arrived at the department.

She made her way to the head office where she found a certain man doing some paperwork.

The plaque on his desk read “Commissioner Alex Truman”.

“A hundred years,” Alex said.

“Excuse me?” Casey asked.

“Another hundred years could pass and I’m pretty sure we’d still be using paper for documentation,” Alex said as he dropped his pen.

“Well, it has its benefits. It can’t be hacked.” Casey said as she stood upright.

“It can also be stolen, but you didn’t come to work to talk about paper and its applications,” Alex said as he leaned back into his chair.

“Yes. I’d like to-“

“CASEY!” Someone yelled from behind, prompting Casey to turn and find a woman who matched her in height, except she had pitch-black hair, smooth skin that had almost no markings or blemishes and several piercings here and there.

“Hello, Veronica.”

“Come on, don’t be so cold. I came all the way up here just to see ya.” Veronica said with a grin.

“Hello, Veronica. I’m curious as to what possessed you to interrupt my meeting with Casey.” Alex said with narrowed eyes.

Veronica gave Alex a proper salute before assuming the same stance as Casey.

“Absolutely nothing, sir.” She said.

“Hehe, I swear. If you weren’t a cop I’m pretty sure you’d have been some sort of renegade.” Alex said with a chuckle.

“Ahem! So, why did you come to work today? I’m pretty sure I said you could take some time off.” Alex said.

“About that… isn’t there anything I could do? I’m sure someone out there could use my help.” Casey asked, unable to hide her pain expression.

“Still the workaholic, ey?” Veronica asked as she wrapped her arm around Casey, but Casey immediately snuck away.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Mmm… nope. There’s nowhere I could think of sending you.” Alex said as he keenly peered at his monitor.

“Ooh! If you asked nicely, I could allow you to go to Acan in my stead.” Veronica with a mischievous grin.

Casey turned to Alex, but he raised his right hand dismissively.

“I see no problem with that. Just don’t come back here telling me that you’re overworked or tired, ok?” Alex asked and Casey gave him a sharp salute in response.

“Yes sir!” Casey said before Alex dismissed both her and Veronica.

The two then made their way to Veronica’s office.

“What are you doing back here so soon? Is your assignment in Ix Chel finished already?” Casey asked as they entered Veronica’s office.

“Oh, that? I finished my work there yesterday. I’m gonna use my free time to sow the seeds of chaos and pandemonium!” Veronica yelled unreasonably loudly.

“Calm down!” Casey said with an exasperated expression.

"So… you’re going to rest after handing me your assignment?” Casey asked as Veronica grabbed a certain file from her desk.

“No rest for the wicked, darling. Now, as for the condition I mentioned earlier…”

“You didn’t mention any-“

“Let’s go on a date,” Veronica said rather straightforwardly.

“Umm… now?”

“Yep!” Veronica said.

A knot formed in Casey’s stomach as Veronica walked up to her.

“Ugh, fine,” Casey said only for Veronica to leap into the air, almost hitting the roof.

“Vamos!” Veronica yelled before nudging Casey out of the office.

The two then made their way to the parking lot where they eventually found Casey’s truck.

“Hehe.” Veronica chuckled, much to Casey’s anguish.

“Hey, I will never judge a woman by the size of her armoured vehicle. It’s not like she’s compensating for anything or lack thereof.” Veronica said while teasingly lifting her breasts.

“Ugh, just get in,” Casey said as she desperately tried not to smile.

The two eventually made their way to a certain restaurant and after ordering some light breakfasts, they began talking in earnest.

Veronica placed the file on the table and slowly narrowed her eyes.

“What?” Casey asked.

“I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk about anything, I’m here,” Veronica said with a rather sincere expression.

“W- what are young saying all of sudden?” Casey as her heart rate slowly increased.

“Come on. You should’ve seen yourself yesterday. You were practically glowing. So tell me, who was it?” Veronica asked with widened eyes.

“It was nothing, ok,” Casey said while avoiding eye contact with Veronica.

“Humph, fine. Keep your secrets.” Veronica said with a pout.

A moment of silence passed and Casey found certain thoughts surfacing in her mind.

“So… may I?” Casey asked.

“Mmm? Sure. But you owe me, got it?” Veronica asked.

Casey nodded before standing up.

“Wait!” Veronica cried, attracting the attention of nearby restaurateurs.

“What?” Casey asked.

“I love you,” Veronica said with a rather sincere expression.

Casey’s heart sank.

“W-“

“Is what I wanna say, but seeing as you didn’t tell me what you were up to yesterday, my love for you has somewhat dwindled,” Veronica said with a pout.

“What?” Casey asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

“Umm… is there a problem here?” One of the waiters asked as he walked towards a confused Casey.

“Veronica?”

“Nothings wrong sir-“

“Oh my goodness!” The waiter exclaimed as his eyes went back and forth between Casey and Veronica.

“You’re Casey Imamu and Veronica Moretti, right?” The waiter gasped, but Casey gave him a pat on the back, nudging him towards Veronica.

“Yep, that’s us. Why don’t you ask Veronica all the questions I’m sure you have.” Casey said as she snuck away.

Veronica opened her mouth to speak, but she simply smiled as Casey exited the restaurant.

She then returned to her truck and after sighing deeply, she flipped through the file Veronica had handed her.

“Acan?” Casey muttered as her eyes narrowed slightly.

After reading through the entire file, she then made her way towards the nearest vectrain station.

Vectrains were vehicles capable of incredible speeds and were often used for inter-district travel. Unity had six districts or provinces and although each served a rather specific purpose, they were relatively autonomous.

Casey eventually arrived at the vectrain station after parking in a rather secure lot, she bought a ticket to Acan before hopping into the train like vehicle.

She then sped towards Acan at breakneck speeds.

She eventually arrived in Acan and the air immediately felt different.

It wasn’t so polluted that it would be problematic, but it was considerably dirtier than the air in Cynosure.

Casey made her way to the Acan Police Department and after requesting a meeting with the district chief, she was led to his office.

The plaque on his table read “Trevenor O’Brian”.

Trevenor stood up before giving Casey a sharp salute.

Casey replied with an equally sharp salute.

“Good afternoon, ma’am. What brings you to Acan? An assignment, I assume.” Trevenor asked.

“Good afternoon chief and yes. Actually, Captain Moretti was supposed to come, but I came in her stead. I hope you don’t mind.” Casey said.

“No, your help would be absolutely appreciated. What’s the assignment?” Trevenor asked, prompting Casey to hand him her file.

Trevenor read through the file's contents.

“Oh… mmm… this is…”

“Is something wrong?” Casey asked.

“N- no. Not really. It’s just that this assignment requires that you work with a team that, in all honesty, is pretty pathetic. Two of them are rookies, one is a vet and the other has a record of insubordination. If I remember correctly, Captain Moretti was supposed to come set them straight.” Trevenor said.

“I see. I still intend to complete the assignment. All I need is your authorization.”

“Consider yourself authorized. I’ll send the word to Cynosure so leave everything to me. Oh and as for the team in question… they’re probably in sub-level 1. Ask for Lieutenant Dandelion Foster.”

“Got it!” Casey said before giving Trevenor a salute.

Trevenor gave her a salute as well before she left.

She then made her way downstairs and just like when she arrived, she received a few awe-stricken stairs, but no one freaked out.

She eventually arrived at what looked like the armoury. It was a dark underground bay with dark reinforced walls and dim lights. The smell of sweat and oil filled the air, but Casey paid it no mind.

She eventually arrived at a small hub where four men could be seen lazing about.

They were all rather unfit and had scruffy appearances that were almost disrespectful to the uniforms they wore.

“Ahem!”

The four men all noticed Casey’s presence, but they didn’t immediately react.

One of them sat up as his eyes slowly widened.

He then stood up before giving Casey a sharp, but clumsy salute.

“Good afternoon, ma’am!” The man said, prompting the others to mimic him.

“Greetings, officers-“

“Sergeant.” One of the men said.

“Excuse me?”

“My rank is sergeant, ma’am.” He said.

Casey’s eyes narrowed to a slit as she inspected the man. His uniform was fairly cleaner than that of his colleagues, but it had random bits of colour here and there that Casey made sure to take note of.

“Noted. I am captain Casey Umami and this unit's performance has warranted the assistance of the central department in the form of me. I’ll be overseeing your future operations until your performance returns to the standard set by your peers, understood?”

“Yes ma’am!” They all said.

“Good. Now, give me a full status report.” Casey said, prompting one of the men to grab a laptop and frantically open various documents.

“We’ve been occupied with a group calling themselves Kapnós. We have reason to believe that they are behind several robberies and attacks happening in the greater Acan area, but we don’t have enough evidence to prove that it’s all coordinated. Not only that, we don't know who's behind all of this and we've yet to convict a single member.” The man said as he snuck glances at various parts of Casey’s body, even as she towered over him.

“Mmm… continue your investigation, but I want you to create a copy of all your intel. Have it ready by the time I prepare to leave.”

“Yes ma’am!” The man said before placing the laptop back in its place. He then joined the others in line as Casey placed her hand on her chin.

“Get changed into something light, we’re going to the academy grounds,” Casey said before inspecting herself.

She was dressed in some fairly casual clothes, but that didn’t matter as she had some light clothes in her truck-

Casey’s eyes widened as she realized that her truck was all the way in Cynosure.

“Wait… why are we going to the academy?” The man with random bits of colour on his uniform asked.

“To train, of course.”