Dark Corners: 02

Inside me the wormhole shut down like someone had hit an instant kill switch. My brain had a blackout after hearing her sentence. Mentally I started repeating the letters forming the word "target" tryring to find meaning in what the officer just said. During my malfunction my eyes came across a folder entitled "renting proposal". Was Louise a target? I clicked to open. Over my shoulder I felt the cop bend over to read the logo at the top of the file.

"Exp Corp

We take care of what's yours"

- That doesn't prove anything. - her voice totally unaffected.

At that point we both already knew Exp Corp would be the renter, still confirming it had me shaken a little. As long as my suspicions didn't leave my head they could stay that way, as suspicions, but the moment they were to be said out loud they would become real.

- No, it doesn't.

Every family that Louise told me about was officially linked to the Hashimotos. The passing of those farmers wasn't as coincidental as it seemed, a pattern was clear once you had something or someone to make the connection.

- But it means something. - I added with Louise in mind.

- The Force won't accept that as an argument.

- Who needs them to? - on my feet, I marched to the kitchen. I had the confirmation I wanted, from then on I had a trail to follow.

- I do.

Cold air kissed my cheeks before I grabbed a bottle. Of course she did. Vodka in hand, I watched the blue fridge light fade in front of me. Over the counter the food I brought with me awaited to be stored in the respective places.

- Do you drink, officer? - back at my desk, she looked at me with cloudy eyes. - I have lighter stuff too. - under my fingers the bottle began to sweat, transferring its coldness to my palm. I thought about the last time I had a drink to celebrate.

- What is your plan, Sato? - a few centimeters away from the counter, officer Abrom stopped. Her eyes still clouded ignoring my previous questions. I tried to see past the bright green shades but I was casted out and left to wonder what she thought of me.

- What do you mean "my plan"? I'm helping you! - the sound of glass hitting a solid surface travelled through the room.

- So you're gonna help me prove that the death of Mr. and Mrs. Hashimoto wasn't a suicide, - every word was spoken with the most clarity possible, all while she held my eyes on hers. With a tight rope she detained me from looking away no matter how much I wanted to. - And we will bring the people who did it to be judged by the City, and therefore, pay for their crime.

Separating us there was a small however significant distance. From my point of view, it didn't matter how wide the human sight was, the only thing I could see were those eyes. They seemed so close I could perfectly distinguish the shades of green from the flicks of dark orange. The last one resisted being dragged into the darkness of her pupil. What a biological spectacle they were, emanating honor, almost too painful to look at if they weren't so unique.

- Yes, of course. - finally I was liberated from her lace. Despite my freedom, her green lagoon was engraved in my memory staring back at me from the bottom of the glass. - Shall we drink to that?

- No, I- - a vibration on her wrist stole her attention. - Excuse me.

Over her shoulder I watched officer Abrom open a holo message from someone I couldn't see the face of. At my desk a red light kept popping signaling that there was an emergency in Tier-1 which was most likely the reason the officer got contacted by the Force.

- Sorry, I have to go.

- Time to catch some bad guys. - when she turned back, she had assumed the cop posture so familiar to me. I could see in her eyes that her mind was already outside, fighting alongside her Force comrades.

- Right. I'll get in touch once things calm down.

Remotely I unlocked the door and she left, not showing the slight concern from being in Trinity territory. By the time the door closed I was already at my work station. The red light was an alarm I had set for certain keywords. A large number of Force agents were dislocated to end a protest that was flooding the streets of downtown. Mask members were spotted, which was what triggered my alarm.

Highlighted among the various media posts and newsresports, a live video from the official City channel was narrating the events. Duty was calling, quickly I went to change into more riot appropriate clothes but left the video playing in the background.

"(...) the main streets are completely taken by wild animals marching towards the City tower. They are heavily armed with all sorts of weapons. To avoid recognition by the Force soldiers they wear masks covering their faces, the same kind used by the highly wanted enemy of the city, Mask leader. (...)"

Whatever happened uptown had to be big, protests never got the attention of official channels unless it was in the Leader's interest. The news kept going about how "dangerous" college kids with "deadly" signs were but not once they addressed the reason why the streets were taken. Footage from above showed highways packed with people on the upper tier. An act of that size meant the Leadership had screwed up bad.

With protection on knees, elbows and an armor vest I had made since I got tired of getting broken ribs from coward cops who, apparently, loved to play soccer using defenseless kids as balls. The whole set wasn't heavy but surely was effective and very discreet.

To add a shining touch to the mission, I grabbed a fairly new and expensive device I was eager to put to use. It was a small headset that went over the ear as an audio bug with an extension to project an holographic screen over the user's field of vision. To control it the only thing I had to do was look and blink. When you're running from the police having a bot film everything while showing escape routes was the difference between getting away or getting beaten into a coma.

Sitting by the kitchen counter was my backpack. I grabbed it and threw inside a few more things that could save my life before heading to the door. I still had no idea what I was going to do when I stepped into the windy night. I could only imagine what awaited me in Tier-1.