Earth Calendar Year 2236, August 15 on the City Planet of Kaldur
Zen was attempting to reduce the ever-growing pile of paperwork on his desk. He was one of the only investigative officers left using paper instead of digitizing. Even he didn't know why. Perhaps it was the sense of urgency to get work done when you couldn't even put a cup of coffee on your desk.
He sighed and started putting the paperwork into neatly organized cabinets spanning the entire length of his modest office in a listless manner, still shaken due to recent events. He had concluded a pretty disturbing case the other day, one involving a fellow high-ranking officer nonetheless.
The public's view of the military as a whole was already at rock bottom when they absorbed the police force into their various branches in 2194, creating the 'Protection Force'—meant to control and judge—yet it had many flaws.
Corruption, bribery, and intimidation are all very prevalent within the department. That's exactly why Zen had enlisted in the infamous force, hoping to change it from within.
But it had proven more rotten than even he had expected. His last case was already his seventh involving a corrupt investigative officer.
Zen stood up and looked at a job well done; his office had once again been cleaned to perfection.
The glass windows looking out over the endless skyline no longer had dust on them—at least from his side. The plants could finally see the light of day again, being freed from the catacombs of paperwork in which they were embedded. Not that it mattered—they were plastic. Zen couldn't even be trusted to keep a goldfish alive, let alone real plants.
Just as he was admiring his clean office, someone knocked on his door. The silhouette of a person could be seen from behind the frosted glass.
"Come in," Zen said, while making his way to his desk to sit down. His voice had once been filled with optimism in the early days of his career, but nowadays, it held no joy—only business. He took the responsibility of his work extremely seriously, with no time for joking around.
The door opened without a sound, as it was often lubricated by Zen himself—he absolutely hated imperfection. A man walked in with a lot of stars on his shoulder. Zen immediately recognized him as General Hankert of the Protection Force. Not wasting a moment, Zen stood at attention.
"At ease, Officer Jones," the general said. His voice was deep and raspy. He looked to be fairly old, but with modern technology, you never knew how old someone truly was. His hair was gray, but he wasn't senile in the slightest. His wrinkles showcased his experience and the amount of stress he had endured until now, like the battle scars of a hardened veteran. He was long past his prime but still very intimidating.
Zen himself was an average man among average men. His brown hair and eyes could be found among billions of men around the cosmos, and with the slightly well-built body of an investigative officer, he stood out a little in that regard. His gray uniform didn't help him stand out on this gray planet with its mountains of offices in the very same color.
"To w-what do I owe the pleasure, General?" Zen asked tensely, sitting down while the general sat in the chair across from him.
'Did he come to congratulate me on my last case? This department has been extremely corrupt, and this can't look good on his record. I bet he's here to thank me! Maybe even a promotion! Wait—no, no promotion, else I'll be bound to an office for my entire life!'
"It's about your last case, Officer Jones. I'm sure you've noticed the attitude among the department lately? They've been on edge. Jeremy was quite famous after all—beloved by many in the office." The general held firm eye contact throughout.
"Y-yes, but he was corrupt. I caught him allowing the syndicate to smuggle goods and people planetside. He couldn't be allowed to continue!" Zen's tone became more passionate as the conversation went on.
"Indeed, I've read the report. But have you also considered that he had the highest arrest record of the entire department? We made him our goddamn poster boy! And you arrest him in broad daylight! Do you know how this makes me look?" The general was now also getting mad, but Zen wasn't intimidated yet.
"Yeah, and if you actually read my report, you'd know that he had been getting intel from the syndicate on rival gangs to reduce competition! If I let him be, the syndicate would have a monopoly on all crime across the entire planet! It'd be chaos!"
"If the syndicate truly had a monopoly over crime on this shithole, there would be no more gang wars, robberies, or anything else! It would all vanish without a trace. Anyone who attempted something would find themselves in a crematorium!"
Zen decided to be the bigger man and stayed silent. Not that he agreed with the general—on the contrary, he despised men like him the most.
'But why has he come? Probably not to get into a shouting match. He's definitely disciplining me for the arrest of Jeremy.'
The general calmed down and continued in a normal tone.
"I can't have you pulling shit like this again in my department. Your previous departments agreed with me, and we've decided…"
"Wait, you talked with my previous departments?"
'Fuck. I was pretty well-respected everywhere I worked at first, but the mood always turned sour whenever I found a corrupt agent or officer among their ranks. They were quite tight-knit, so it was to be expected. But to conspire against me with even a general by their side? What are they going to do? Demote me? Send me on a mandatory vacation? Eliminate me?' Zen's thoughts ran worst-case scenarios at light speed.
"Yes, your previous departments reported much the same behavior you're exhibiting in this department," the general's words broke Zen's train of thought. "So we've decided on a couple of actions."
Zen could hardly take it. He was one of the best officers around, but if he were fired now, all the crime lords he had crossed would come for his head—and he doubted the force would intervene. While biting his inner cheek to remain calm, the general continued.
"First, you'll be stuck at your rank for the foreseeable future until I decide you've calmed down and are able to see the bigger picture."
'Oh thank God! I didn't want a promotion anyway. My heart lies in this line of work, not in administration!' Alas, his thoughts were already counting unhatched chickens.
"Second, you'll be relocated to the outer colony of Orealis as the senior investigative officer there. You'll depart tomorrow morning. I already have the tickets—you'll receive them on your smart device. It'll be quite a trip, so prepare yourself for cryo—"
Zen had long stopped listening to the general's words.
'Hold up! This is actually worse than death! What the fuck is there to do on an outer colony? There's barely ten thousand people on average! This… This can't be right, right?'
"Uhhh, General?" Zen interrupted, but the general didn't seem to mind much this time.
"Did you just say I'd be relocated to an outer colony? Me? A man of my reputation?" Zen wasn't even mad; he was more utterly confused.
"It's exactly because of your reputation that we've decided to send you there. The outer colonies have always begged for more officers. And until you learn to play along, you'll be stuck there. We'll check in on you in a couple of years. If you've learned your lesson, we'll take you back."
This news hit Zen hard. In his eyes, there weren't many fates worse than death, but this was definitely one of them.
"Is there any cha—" Zen tried to ask.
"No chance. You're going, with or without your consent." On cue, the door opened once more, and two officers came in, saying not a word but glaring heavily at Zen. He recognized them as good friends of Jeremy. They were lightly armed, standard sidearms holstered along their hips, their hands resting on the weapons—once again reiterating that there truly was no other option.
"F-fine… I'll go," Zen said, trying to sound neutral.
The general sighed. "Wise choice."
As he walked toward the door, he turned around one more time.
"If you decide to miss your flight, you'll find it hard to set foot in this precinct again. Just keep that in mind."
With that final threat, he walked toward the door. One of the officers who had entered earlier rushed to open the door and let the general out before following suit.
The other went with his colleague but turned around, his face showing clear hostility.
"Shame you didn't resist. I would've loved to pop your ass for Jeremy." He spit on the floor as he left and slammed the door shut.
Zen looked at the closed door and collapsed like a sack of wet potatoes onto his desk.
"Fuuuuuuck!"
'Shit! They're really going to send me to some rock in the middle of nowhere! My arrest record is 200% higher than the department average, and what? Am I not supposed to arrest people if they're fellow officers?' Zen let out a deep sigh. "But really… what choice do I even have?"
Zen stood up and collected his valuables: his custom pen, some notebooks, his stress toy, and his favorite plastic plant. He didn't have much here, at least nothing sentimental.
In fact, he didn't even have a lot of sentimental stuff to begin with, being an orphan. To him, being sentimental meant fishing through the garbage for food—and that was something he didn't want to repeat. Walking to the door, he grabbed the doorknob and sighed.