"Althea it is going to take a while for Hawthorne to process the evidence, could you please in the meantime give me details about the second case?"
[I'm sorry Sergeant Dave, but that is not possible. Under the Single Case Law, an acting-]
"To hell with your laws, I know quite well that I can declare an Emergency and can force multiple officers to take multiple cases at once. Do you want me to declare a state of Police Emergency in the HQ?"
[You're not being reasonable Sergeant Dave.]
"To hell with it, I'm declaring the emergenc-"
As soon as I said those words and made up my mind cutting me off was the same monotone, robotic voice of Althea but for some reason I could tell, tell that she was annoyed with me.
[I will accept your solution as a one-time exception because of the necessity of the situation. The files regarding the case have been transferred to your AR device.]
I was stunned to say the least.
It was supposed to be impossible to bargain with Althea, she was a machine a bunch of ones and zeros, not a human being.
*DING* *DING*
The files were transferred into my AR glasses with a notification sound without even asking for my explicit permission.
"Huh? How did it do that? Didn't it have to ask for my permission the last time?"
'Did Althea plant a backdoor into the network I'm connected to?'
'Allowing me to access the case files meant either of two things, either Althea was open to bargaining, which was not practical or the situation had only worsened and the two people who claimed to be my parents were in dire need of my help.'
I opened the files that had been transferred to me and found only a single file on it.
Opening the media, I allowed it to play, and a dark and dreary tone captured my heart.
The media was shot in a dark room, with barely any light reflecting of off my parents' heads and the contours of their faces as they *sobbed* and spoke in a saddening tone.
"We might not be able to make it."
"Wherever you are, we wish you a happy and a long life Dave."
"We're proud of who you've become."
"Good bye."
Signing off, the media closed as my heart sank into the depths of hatred and sadness, wallowing in self-pity.
My hands clenched as my knuckles tightened as I asked Althea a question with seething hatred.
"How long has it been since you received the media?"
[Are you asking me?]
"Yes, you." I spat out a response with some difficulty as my breathing tightened and quickened into shallow reprieves.
[One minute and twenty-seven seconds.]
*deep exhale*
I let out the breaths that had settled within me, all at once in a deep exhale as I realized,
'There's still time.'
'I can save them.'
Taking a deep breath to calm my tense nerves I reopened the media.
With my brain circuits firing rapidly, I asked Althea, "Could you map out which power lines are nearby by comparing the frequency of unheard sounds in the media?"
[Matching and comparing…]
[Match found.]
[Location: Snake Den City Park.]
"Vanessa, could you book me Raivesh if he is in a minute's radius?"
"You are currently not on any landing decks. Where would you like him to pick you up?"
"Mnemosyne Memory Solutions."
"As you wish Dave."
Jumping on his hoverboard, I began to ride it at the maximum speed I could as my coat fluttered in the strong headwind blowing past my face and landed on the landing deck of Mnemosyne Memory Solutions.
Seeing that Raivesh hadn't arrived yet, I changed my order a little.
"Vanessa, ask him to arrive at the Garbage disposal center in the same tower, it is on floor twenty."
"As you wish Dave."
Using my Hoverboard to drive further down, I reached the Garbage disposal center and hurriedly spoke to the guards who were still a little shocked to see me.
"Could you do something for me?"
"Yes, Sergeant Dave. What is it that you need?"
"Could you keep on the look out for the things I asked you earlier?"
"Bloody clothes from Mnemosyne Memory solutions?"
"Yes."
"Don't worry sergeant we will do our best to make sure it is found and segregated."
"Did something happen to Prometheus?" the second guard asked worriedly.
"Unfortunately he committed suicide but the investigation is open right now."
The guard's eyes widened for a second as he couldn't believe what I was saying but eventually, he managed to calm down with the help of his friend.
"I see." he nodded, "May he rest in peace."
"May he rest in peace.", I repeated.
"Boss!"
A shout with a thick accent graced my ears, which I recognized to be Raivesh's, allowing me to leave my hoverboard to park itself as I jumped into the back seat of Raivesh's PTV.
"To Snake Den City Park. Quick." I said, speaking in loud whispers as my s's sharpened like a snake's hiss.
"You are in a hurry sir?"
"Yes, an ongoing case."
"Oh! Something time-sensitive sir?"
"Yes." I nodded wondering why Raivesh was asking me such questions, but I soon received my answer when I watched him flick a switch and turn on a loud siren along with bright red and blue lights all around the PTV.
"I have certification to be an emergency vehicle sir! I just got it yesterday!"
"Oh?!" I watched in horror and shock as Raivesh jumped the traffic without regard for lanes or traffic lights while I was forced to hold onto the handlebars attached to the top of the window for my own dear life.
"We'll get there faster like this sir!!" Raivesh shouted over the rush of air that poured in through his window.
"I understand!!!" I shouted back attempting to make myself clear but it seemed Raivesh couldn't hear me since he was fully focused on driving.
At least he was focused on driving.
And at least I wouldn't have to miss out on potentially important moments.
I watched the drive through the window as it terrified me even further.
Dropping randomly when PTV showed up, driving vertically, and using sudden brakes to change levels, Raivesh did it all like a dirt rally driver.
I was surprised I hadn't vomited my breakfast but then I remembered I hadn't had anything in the morning.
*SLAM*
The open window which allowed Raivesh to talk to me slammed shut, giving me a little relief since I could no longer see the front view so I immediately opened my AR interface instead.
"Althea, could you amplify the audio for me? And also lay over a frequency spectrum of the audio on the media with a transparency factor of about thirty percent."
[Generating user request.]
[Generated.]
Playing the media once again I paid attention to how the frequencies changed and spotted the clear hum of the electricity lines in the background.
Muting them by isolating their frequencies I replayed the media.
This time I noticed the slightly distracting occasional drumming of a metallic surface that sounded like *thuds* to open a door.
'Huh. Is someone trying to get into their room?'
'Is that why they made that media of them telling me their last goodbyes?'
My legs shook with nervousness as I drummed the base of the PTV to the same rhythm.
The nauseating ups and downs of the PTV only made me nervous as my headache began to return in full force.
The inside of my head felt like someone wanted to use an explosive to blow it up, while my skin felt like it was on fire.
I pulled out an elixir syringe from the back pocket of Raivesh's seat and stabbed my thigh with it.
Injecting the liquid instantly made me feel better as Raivesh fell into a deep dive by pulling the brakes on the brushless motors of the thrusters.
"We're here sir!" Raivesh said a second after we landed and I pulled open the door.
"Stay inside and don't come in no matter what. It's going to be dangerous." I warned as Raivesh nodded.
"I will keep that in mind sir. But I will wait for your return."
"Thank you." I said breaking into a soft smile and turning to focus back on my mission.
I walked toward the entrance of the park and began to use Althea to shorten my search distance to the area I needed to reach to find my parents.
"Althea, could you give me a live map of the differential vector of the sound generated by the powerlines around me in the area?"
I asked it to map out sounds generated by the powerlines at my position to the one on the video and display the results to me so that I could follow the resultant vector directly to my destination.
[Calculating…]
An arrow was soon displayed on my AR interface as I began to follow it and wade through the short grass that filled the park with tall coniferous trees populating it at an even interval.
The light shadows kept me cool while the darkness kept me at an edge.
I did not know my enemy that could very well be armed, and I did not even have weapons to defend myself.
'I should've called someone as backup.'
'It's too late now.'
'Maybe I can leave a message.'
"Althea, please start a live stream and private it to be viewed only by Anneliese and ...Gracewell."
[Generating user request…]
*ding*
A soft notification indicating the completion of my request sounded which I accepted and continued to walk down the path that the arrow on my screen indicated.
Walking through the dreary park I stayed on course until I found a bunker hidden in the distance.
'A bunker? Are there thugs in this area?'
"Althea, which area of the city are we in?" I asked since the absurd drive had thrown away any sense of direction I had left after my short panic.
[Inception City Outskirts, Junction Ten, District Nineteen.]
'Shit, this is deep into BloodSha's territory. Why did they come hiding in this place in the first place?'
'Will Raivesh be alright?'
'Let's hope for the best.'
Because the thick metallic walls of the bunker protected the people inside from wavers, members of BloodSHA used bunkers to hide their stashes.
I walked over to the bunker and pushed open the heavy metallic door with some difficulty while making sure to remain as quiet as possible.
'How the hell did Gracewell open the door when I was stuck in one of these.' I thought as I wiped any sweat on my forehead.
The tunnel inside was long and dark, matching the lighting in the media I had just received.
'I'm close.'
Picking up a random pipe thrown about on the entrance of the bunker I armed myself.
'Better a metal stick than nothing.'
Walking silently through the cold halls filled with tension, I gulped nervously as if I was about to encounter a ghost.
'What's wrong with me?'
'Why am I scared to see the truth?'
'They're definitely going to be alright.'
'I'm sure they'll be fine.'
'You can do this, Dave! You got this.'
I psyched myself as I reached the darkroom in front of me and walked into it as I reached the end of the tunnel.
The slight smell of iron wafting into my nose scared me.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, I spotted bodies.
Two bodies to be precise.
The two bodies broke something in me as I rushed to kneel beside them.
But the feeling of touching something viscous immediately reduced me to tears as I even ignored the feeling of someone creeping up behind me.
"No way.", I whispered.
"Yes, way." The bold voice from behind me whispered back.
My head instantly snapped to the voice as I saw its face gleam in the darkness.
"Dad?" I whispered back.
*thunk*
And with a sharp pain in my head, I was knocked out.