As soon as I open the door to the police station, I was greeted to a warm welcome.
"Legionary Cynllun, We are honored to be graced with your presence."
A high-ranking officer stood forward. He – unlike all the other officers clad in the issued navy long sleeves and pants – was dressed in a green uniform. He had a round appearance. His uniform was clearly too small for him. His long sleeves button-up shirt was left open. Most likely because of his potbelly.
"At ease."
I commanded. My voice echoing in the precinct. The standing officers – and criminals – sat down. They all continued with their work, either filing away prisoners, walking to their cells, or being let out from it. Even the criminals were wary of my presence.
"And you are…?"
"Captain Schwein, Ma'am. Fett Schwein, at your service."
He saluted, his posture straight, and his eyes filled with the determination and vigilance a trained soldier is expected to have. Despite his misleading appearance, I could tell that he must have been an excellent soldier in his glory days.
Or he's just really good at lying
"Is he here?"
I cut straight to the point. Recently, there has been the emergence of a serial burglar around the surrounding colony. According to the reports I had skimmed over on the way here, the perpetrator seems to be targeting diners, high-class restaurants, and the occasional grocery store. Though the perpetrator targets places with large amounts of foodstuffs, he scarcely ever steals the food. Most of the stolen goods are things like trinkets or decorations, though that is only if they look impressive or valuable. The perpetrator also steals money from the establishments that he goes to, though not by much recently. Ever since the robberies started, the owners of the places most commonly stolen from have been implementing numerous countermeasures. This caused the other establishments to do the same, resulting in the bizarre state of the stores here.
The precinct captain turned around, his chest puffed out and his chin raised high.
Being experienced doesn't mean you're grown up, huh…
I remember my mentor's words as I make down the hall. The man was probably trying to impress me. To get on my good graces and achieve a higher position–maybe even more.
How pathetic
Ever since becoming a legionary a couple of months ago, the number of pish-posh men with makeup thicker than mine and an inflated sense of ego approaching me to either propose or even outright say that they 'own' me has been nigh-endless.
The heels of my boots clacked against tiles of the precinct floor. It didn't take long until we reached the investigation room where the criminal was currently waiting, anxious and confused of what would happen to him. There were two doors on close proximity with each other. One was for the interrogation room where the criminal is currently in. The other is for the viewing room where one could observe the suspect without their knowing. The captain spoke once more.
"We found him as we were making our usual rounds around the area. My men was informed of a tip from the 'Whisper', and after some investigation, we finally found him. He was in a back alley pawn shop – one we've had our eye on for awhile –haggling prices with a suspicious looking broker. My men surrounded the area. After getting the involvement of a SWAT team, we stormed the place. Some of my regular officers were injured in the middle of the situation. One of them was even stabbed in the eye with a pen that could be found in the shop."
He explained to me in detail. Captain Schwein picked up a file from the table and handed it over to me. What I saw made raise my brow.
"What a monster."
The file contained a detail report on the condition of the officers who participated in the arrest. While the SWAT team was completely fine with next-to-none injuries, some of the participating policemen were not quite as well. A picture slipped from within the files to the table. I pick it up.
"…!!"
What I saw was a picture of the officer that Captain Schwein had described. Contained in the photograph was an image of an officer with a pen lodged around half-way into the officer's eyeball. The image was grotesque, but not enough to flip my stomach. Working my way up into my current position required more than just honest work and dedication. There were some things that I would do anything to keep from getting out just to preserve my current standing. Still, that didn't mean that I had forgiven what happened to my fellowmen. Captain Schwein continued speaking, this time I could feel the seething rage emanating from deep within him.
"We lost track of the shop-owner in the middle of the situation. Though, that doesn't mean we don't have any leads. We found various files and possible connections that we could use to further our investigation. It wouldn't take long until we find the damn bastard. As for the one we caught…"
I follow the man's gaze. Behind the glass that allowed us to see the criminal without his knowing was a boy. He was young, much more than I had expected. According to the reports, the serial theft had going on for almost eight months now. That meant that the child sitting there had been fending for himself for under a year. As young as he was, he should at least know that that kind profession wouldn't last long.
"We've been interrogating him for over four hours now. The kid wouldn't tell us anything. We also tried putting his face up for facial recognition, but…"
"But what?"
I ask, a little impatient. If somebody had the ability to pull off this kind of thing, it was likely that he would have some sort of connection to other people of the same trade. He would be valuable asset–after a little bit of discipline.
"Nothing. It's like he didn't exist until eight months ago. Other than the occasional footage we would get from surveillance cameras and such, we don't know much else. We suspect that he's from the slums. That garbage dump where all the failures live."
Hmmm…
I run my chin, contemplating on this new information. If that was the case, then any records we have in the database would be rendered useless. The people of that… place, practically had their own ecosystem. Any legionary – let alone regular officers – had never come out alive. There are various myths and rumors about the slums. Most of them involved things like: man-eating mutations, failed experiments, even things like ghouls and monsters. As if we already don't have enough trouble on our hands. I decided to inquired further.
"Did he really not say anything? Even mundane and impractical questions is fine. As long as it's something we can use against him."
Captain Schwein hesitated.
"…Well, he did tell one of the officers something. I didn't really want to say this since even the officer that reported this to me wasn't quite sure about it. But…"
"Spit it out."
I glared at the man, my eyes piercing through the man's uncertainty.
"I got it! I got it! Sheesh. They really don't call you 'Steel-gaze Cynllun for nothing."
The captain took in a deep breath.
"One of our officers nonchalantly asked the kid about his family. The officer didn't expect an answer–the kid being as reclusive as he is. But, weirdly enough, he kid responded. The officer wasn't really paying attention so he didn't hear much."
I tighten my grip on my wrist, I could feel my skin crawl at the captain's next words.
"He said he killed his family."