Panic-stricken, Hugh walked slowly towards the door. He opened the eye-hole with beaded sweat running down his shirt. His worst fear came through. The colors of red and blue filled his eyesight, a symbol of the CDA patrolling the streets. He looked up and saw the same face that chased him down into the forest.
Should he run? Should he fight his way out? Thoughts and plans came through his mind like lightning no matter if it was feasible or not. He quickly rejected all of them as he still didn't know the purpose this cop had. If he ran away again, he would undoubtedly be filed guilty; at least, he had to plead for his innocence.
He opened the door with his sweaty hands and looked at the cop. The cop looked at him with an indifferent face. There was no anger nor was there any feigned happiness.
"Are you Hugh?"
"Yes, why?"
"Hi, I'm Pulman. Do you remember the incident yesterday?"
Hugh's heart skipped a beat. He had to do something, to feign his innocence.
"Yes, but I can explain-"
Before he could lie, Pulman stopped him by raising his opened palm near Hugh's face.
"Stop. Don't tell me here. Let's go to the precinct."
"What?! Why? I didn't do anything wrong."
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm here to help you."
Was this a trap? Hugh didn't know if he should follow the cop but he didn't have any choice. If this cop knew where he lived, then he can't hide anywhere. If worst came to worst, he would transform and escape from their clutches.
Pulman led him to a hovercar that had lights that blared red and blue. It was colored black and had a spoiler at the back. The front displayed the logo of the CDA which was the most prominent part of the car. Under it was the vehicle's plate number.
He stepped onto the foot guard and the car didn't displace downwards. It was stable in the face of Hugh's weight, a symbol of a high-quality hovercar.
He didn't get cuffed nor restrained which gave him relief and ease as they traveled through the busy skyroads. There wasn't a physical road but more of a guideline for hovercars to follow to prevent chaos in the air. Hovercars are manufactured to follow these guidelines and if the driver bypasses these rules, then the violation would be recorded by the Air Transportation Office or ATO which is under the CDA. The driver would be fined and if it is not paid, the hovercar is confiscated along with the driver's license.
They went through the main road and turned right at the intersection. The streets were cleaner; the houses became mansions; people walking around were wearing mutated animal skins as their clothes. Hugh had never been in this part of town before because this was an exclusive part of town. This was where the rich people gather.
They stopped at a large building in the sky. It was floating in the air, towering above all mansions below. There were no windows to peek inside, only a big red door at the front. The topmost structure at the building was a square black box that absorbed all light coming to it. It was vantablack.
"Follow me inside."
Pulman parked the hovercar at a garage to the building's side. Inside the garage, different kinds of hovercars were parked together. Some were big as a tank, and some were small like a hovermotor. They had different shapes and sizes but all wore the logo of the CDA.
They walked through a door that led from the garage to the building itself. The interior of the building was filled with touchscreens containing information about the whole city. Surveillance cameras were set up all around the city and this is where it was wired to.
The clerks that manned the touchscreens wore the same uniform Pulman had. They had their eyes on the screen at all times, ignoring Hugh. They were all silent, no loud noise interfered with their work.
They went into an isolated room with one-way glass. Pulman took a seat with one of the two chairs surrounding the table. He reconsidered whether he should comply with the cops but it was too late; he was already inside the headquarters. He couldn't help but be intimidated.
"Take a seat. I'm just gonna ask you some routine questions."
The chair screeched as Hugh pulled it out from the table. He sat in it and looked at the cop confidently.
"Where were you yesterday?"
"I got out of my house and wanted to take a stroll from the park."
"Hmmm...and then what?"
"I took a detour and entered the blacksmith's shop."
"..."
"When I got out, I was stopped by two guys who cornered me in the alley."
"Why did they stop you?"
"I don't know. They wanted to hurt me."
"Why?"
"I don't know. That guy had always harassed me at school."
"Who? Is it this guy?"
Pulman pointed at the wall. It suddenly turned into a clear glass wall and displayed a third-person perspective of the brawl in the alley. It could be clearly seen that Hugh was facing the front, and the two were facing away from the camera.
"Yes, that guy."
"Okay. So you were cornered and about to be attacked, what did you do then?"
"Like always, I endure the pain."
"So can you explain to me why you did this?"
The display on the wall fast-forwarded to the point in which Hugh threw trash at the CCTV recording the events. It stopped just before it hit the camera.
"I tried to defend myself."
"What happened after that?"
This was a critical moment. If he gets caught in a lie, then he would be caught. He had to be careful. Without video evidence, the truth will be Bart's word against him and the CDA will definitely take the rich kid's side.
Hugh's heart was beating hard as sweat poured down on the table. Contrary to his nervous mind, Hugh didn't display any weakness in front of the cop. He spoke clearly.
"I don't know. I closed my eyes and went fetal."
"...."
Pulman went silent and observed Hugh's demeanor. His years of experience told him that Hugh was hiding something but he didn't know what.
"Why happened to the two guys attacking you?"
"I don't know. I kept my head down and closed my eyes only to see them already down in the ground when you shouted."
"Did you see the guy who ran away from me?"
When he heard Pulman assume that his transformation was a different person, he almost smiled in relief. Thankfully, he kept his cool and had an indifferent face.
Pulman still didn't get the right answers he wanted. The mysterious person that ran away from him was definitely the one who attacked Bart. The thought that Hugh and 'mystery guy' was the same person because his background check revealed that Hugh didn't have any Desire.
"Okay, that's enough questions. Thank you for your time."
Pulman got up to his chair and reached his hand to Hugh for a handshake. Hugh reciprocated but wiped his sweaty hands on his shirt first.
"We'll contact you if we have some more questions. Don't leave the planet for now."
Pulman opened the door and let Hugh get out first. They walked back towards the same route that led to the garage, passing by the touchscreens and the clerks.
"So, this is your department huh? Not too shabby."
A loud voice boomed throughout the headquarters. Hugh and Pulman looked in front of them and saw a distinct spiky white hair just a few feet ahead of them. This guy wore a black and white uniform, mostly white, as he talked to a cop beside him.
"Thank you, thank you. I know it's inferior to the elite troop squadron's headquarters but we'll do everything to satisfy your request."
Hugh kept walking. He didn't know why but he felt danger from the spiky white-haired guy. His heart stopped as Pulman stopped walking.
"Detective Pulman, this is Dempsy. A member of the elite troop squadron."
Pulman stopped walking completely and saluted as he crossed his hands. Dempsy only looked at Pulman and didn't salute back. Hugh avoided any eye contact that could implicate him at any time.
"Let's look at your office, officer Dempsy."
Thankfully, it looked like they wanted to go on your way. Hugh and Dempsy crossed paths and it seemed like time slowed down to a stop. Hugh felt something and his instincts wanted to run, but he calmed his nerves down and kept a cool face. Dempsy stopped walking, closed his eyes, and lifted his chin as he started sniffing the air.
He opened his eyes and slowly looked towards Hugh as a smile formed on his face.