Chapter 2(pt-1)

The welcome of the city started with the sounds of sirens. Onlookers from the side turned their heads as they heard the sound of the police sirens filling the streets of their city. Busy morning as usual, yet there is such a thing as a busy police problem. The city of Quantum Bay just opened its office door in the morning only to see a police car rushing to the scene. Their heads just turned to the sound reaching their ears with the first sip of their coffee. The city is not new to this, as the police car in question is moving in a rush. Something a bit common these days. Only a curious thought that entered the minds of the people was, ‘Who is it now?’

A tilt on the side and a crank on the neck to check what is going on and also the slight movement to follow the two cars as much as they can be seen. After all, the news will be live in moments. With those reporters around. The cars were speeding breaking rules as the news reached early in the morning in the office. Detective Alex Carter held onto the steering wheel tightly as his eyes moved to the time shown on the clock on the dashboard.

“Alex, we still have time; you need to slow down.” Detective Orion Blake uttered a sigh. His expression is sarcastic.

“No, Alex, stop. Be careful, Alex; it can cause a crash. You need to be careful with the properties of the city.” His right-hand holds on to the hand on the side while the left holds on to the belt before him. His body relaxed even though the speed with which the car was moving was enough to make anyone run with fear. However, Orion seemed to be unbothered by the situation. He held the phone in his hand and scrolled using his thumb.

“There. I have done the duty of warning you. Is it working?” Orion shook his head.

“No, nothing changed here.” He made a bored face and moved back to scrolling the phone.

“And it will never be changing anything…” Alex muttered in anger as he turned the wheels again to make a right turn. The cigar in his mouth emitted a light white smoke as he spoke with gritted teeth. His hands were busy; thus, he did not want to take any chances to let it fall. The smoky smell makes Orion smile. It is forbidden by the law to smoke in the car, but no one can make Alex Carter listen. He is as stubborn as it goes. The man would challenge anything that is kept as a no for even the common people. He is stubborn like a child, but there is experience in his character, making him one of the valuable members of the office.

“You young ones can keep on scrolling the phone and complaining while I make all the effort to reach the scene on time.” He growled.

“I am not only scrolling for no reason at all. I am looking at the report sent to me from the crime scene. Alex, clearly you need to work on using your gadgets. This is a city-issued phone for all of us.” Orion shook the glass in his hand. It was the phone of the era. The transparent, glass-like, rectangular plate is called the phone; it was a standard issue given to the public security division.

It is not only a phone but can also fold in half and settle inside the shirt pocket, easy for anyone to carry.

“This is a pocket blessing for the people in this place, so you should use it as well to get the details of the crime scene before we reach…” Orion quickly moved to hold on to the handle tightly as Alex made another quick turn.

“At least this way you would not need to rush for the time.” Orion almost scolded him but ended up sitting straight again in the car. It is like his body is used to the rush Alex makes.

“You and your fancy, fragile gadgets, I would rather do it old school with the eyes.” Alex released one hand and pointed to his eyes before turning the wheels again for the last turn.

This time Orion was ready; he felt himself fly a bit but landed on the same spot as the car moved.

“It is a miracle they are not fining you for all the rules broken. Just now you must have broken at least five rules in the street.” Orion sighs as he squints his eyes, giving a ‘what else to expect from you look to the man beside him.’

“I am what I am; deal with it. Besides, back in the days of my father, they did not require such rules for the police when there was an emergency just like now. A dead body fell, and I would be following the rules of nonsense to delay…” He skidded to a halt, stopping just in front of the alley.

There were neon yellow and green tapes before them as two armed police officers guarded the area. A small crowd tried to get a view from a few steps away. They were trying to find out what happened. They had their transparent glass mobile phone out, trying to get pictures of the crime scene. Reporters also stood close by with their cameras and phones, trying to get any information they could find. Some of them even nudged the police officers guarding the area to get details.

“This is a classified area; please move away; you are not allowed here.” The officers were trying their best to handle the curious people.

The push and pull of the reporters with the policemen were there when Alex got out of the car. He grunted as the door opened. A young man was trying his best to push the people away from the tape.

“The world might leave the years behind, but the nature of humankind does not change,” Alex muttered as he put both hands inside his pocket and watched the crowd. The door slammed shut behind him. Orion came out of the other side. There is still no change in the expression.

He is used to this scene. “I believe there is a change in the number of reporters. Do you think anyone leaked the information?”

Orion walked over to stand beside Alex, who kept on frowning at the crowd. “You can blame your little foldable device in there.” His hands removed the cigar from his mouth and then used the same hand to point in Orion’s pocket.

“It is amazing how much you wish to blame the non-living device when in reality the problem is with the living, breathing one.” His eyes moved around, sighing as the cold touched the skin of his backhand, making him shiver. Orion quickly put his hands inside the large pocket of his coat.

“Well, I believe this should make the office more popular.” His eye went to the cameraman moving his lens towards them.

Alex put the cigar back in his mouth and took a quick puff. “I would rather remove all these speculating rumor boxes away from this place before entering the scene; these are bound to make the people feel unrest.”

Alex motioned him to follow as he finally had enough looking at the crowd. They only took a few steps to the yellow tape when a young woman with red hair came running toward them. Her curly hair flowed on her shoulder as she almost ran towards her boss. “Sir…”

She made a slight nod and lifted a rack of coffee towards them.

“Seems like you have got the hang of it, my dear.” Orion made a sarcastic comment but ended up taking the coffee as the hot drink felt good in his palms.