Cyber's Change

by Jamie Davis

  Shelby and Cass fell to their knees and ducked their heads down, trying to comply with the police officer’s orders.

  Hands grabbed Cass’s wrists, yanking them awkwardly backward until she cried out in pain. They secured her hands behind her back with flexible plastic ties, jerked tight around her hands and wrists.

  Once she was secured, they grabbed her by her elbows and hauled Cass to her feet. She and Shelby were half-walked, half-dragged towards a large open van at the corner.

  “Why are you doing this?” Cass asked the police officer pulling her forward. “We were being peaceful. We didn’t hurt anyone.”

  “Shut up,” the policeman to her left said. “You subs were told to stay away from City Hall. You were told you weren’t allowed to hold this little demonstration. You are the ones who broke the law and now you’re going to pay for it.”

  The officers dragged Cass and Shelby forward until they reached the van and shoved the two of them into the back. They slid forward on their knees until they reached more people huddling inside near the front of the compartment.

  They sat there staring out the back of the van as officers brought more people over. Soon the van was full. The door closed with a clang. Cass heard the door latch click from the outside. There was very little light inside the van but Cass was able to see better than most, thanks to her ocular implant. A few people bled from cuts on their heads and faces. She couldn’t see anyone who was seriously injured though. Eric wasn’t among the demonstrators in the van with them.

  The van jerked forward, driving away from the site of the demonstration. All Cass and Shelby could do was hold onto each other as the police took them away.

  Chapter 21

  The police van finally stopped and the doors popped open. Cass struggled to hold back her tears as the police officers at the rear of the van barked orders at them to hurry up and climb out. She tried to hold on to Shelby, but an officer yanked the two of them apart. The women and men were separated into two lines.

  “Let go of your girly,” one woman said. “You can’t go in together. Everyone gets processed separately.”

  “But …” Cass started to say.

  “Are you arguing with me?” the female officer said. She was even taller than Shelby and towered over Cass. She stabbed a finger at Cass, poking her in the chest, forcing her to back up.

  “I’m sorry,” Cass said, trying to twist away. “I’ll listen. Please stop poking me.”

  “Follow instructions and get back in line. Move forward one at a time for processing.”

  Cass nodded and stepped forward. At this point, Shelby was already about ten people ahead of her in line. She thought for a moment about trying to cut in front of the others to catch up to her, but the police officer still watched her. She feared what would happen if she got out of line again.

  She waited her turn as they moved forward. When she finally reached the door and stepped inside, there was a small counter with another female police officer seated behind it.

  “Empty your pockets. Put everything you have on the counter.”

  Cass followed instructions. She only had a data chip from school and her credit chip ID on her. She put both of those on the counter

  The policewoman slid the credit ID into a reader, glanced at the screen, and then back at Cass. The woman pulled her credit ID out of the reader, dropped it in a clear plastic envelope with the other data chip, and put it in a pile with separate envelopes. A label with a bar code printed out. The officer slapped it on top.

  Cass realized that was her now. She wasn’t even a name to these people, just a bar code and a number.

  “Move along to the next room for your mug shot.” There, another female police officer sounded just as bored with the litany.

  Based upon the number of people who’d been in line ahead of Cass she’d probably said it fifty times already.

  Cass moved forward into the next room. Hands grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall in front of a backdrop marked with different heights to measure her in the photo.

  A flash of light told her they’d taken the picture. She blinked against the bright light.

  An officer stepped up next to her with a black metal tube in his hand. Cass flinched as he raised it up next to her head.

  “Hold still.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Regulations say you can’t have your implant active while in custody.”

  “But, mine is medically necessary.”

  “Don’t worry, it will only shut down non-essential systems. We can’t have you using your Mantle connection on the inside.”

  Before Cass could protest again, a blinding pain seared through her head. Her vision went dark in her right, artificial eye and dizziness threatened to make her fall.

  Her thoughts became jumbled and she couldn’t remember where she was and why she was here.

  “Where am I? What are you doing to me?” Cass protested.

  “Shut up and keep moving towards the cells.”

  Cass stumbled forward. Her legs weren’t working. She realized it was all because her implant was no longer working. She tried to push through the fog over her mind to think about what to do next.

  She joined a group of five other women. They were all placed in a cell already near capacity. There was nowhere to sit but the floor.

  “Cass, over here,” Shelby called from across the room.

  Cass limped over, forcing her legs to work despite the fog clouding her mind.

  Shelby jumped up from where she sat and pulled Cass into a one-armed embrace.

  Tears flowed, from both of them although Cass tried to hold them back and said, “Shelby, what are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to sit here and follow instructions until it’s our turn to make a few calls and get bailed out,” Shelby said it all as if this was something she did every weekend.

  “Who am I going to call?” Cass asked. “I can’t call my father and I don’t think your parents are going to bail me out.”

  “Don’t worry, Cassie,” Shelby said. “We’ll work something out. Here, you sit down. I think they affected something when they deactivated your implant. Mine just shut down my v-tats and left arm. It’ll all be okay. They’ll start processing us through for bail soon enough.”

  Cass sat down and looked around the room at the other demonstrators in the lockup. She recognized a few faces from the morning’s work group in the Bizarre. Most of the other inmates were strangers to her, though. She realized how odd it was that she was here. She’d made a spur of the moment decision to help out with the demonstration earlier that week and now she found herself in jail.

  Shelby was right about the wait before bail arrangements could be made. A few male police officers came in and started processing each of them one at a time.

  The officers took turns. They’d come into the hallway outside of the cell, call out a name, then take the person out and down the hall into the central police station. Sometimes the person was brought back after a few minutes, other times, the officer would return without the prisoner and call someone else.

  Cass figured that bail was being paid for those who could arrange it. The guards called them by last name only and sorted it out at the gate if there was more than one with the same last name.

  When they came to call Cass, though, it was different. An older officer they hadn’t seen before came in and called out for Cass by her full given name.

  “Cassidy Anne Armstrong,” the police officer called out. He had the three stripes of a sergeant on his shoulder.

  Cass stood up. “I’m Cassidy Armstrong.”

  “Come to the door, Miss,” the sergeant said.

  When she hesitated, he smiled at her and nodded as if to offer her reassurance. He seemed nicer than the other officers.

  “Come along now, Miss. There’s been a mix-up. You weren’t supposed to get picked up with everyone else.”

  Cass didn’t understand what was going on, but she
followed instructions moving to the cell door. The sergeant gave a nod to another police officer standing there. He unlocked the barred gate to let her out.

  When Cass stepped through into the hallway, she turned to look back at Shelby. Shelby smiled back at her and nodded. She mouthed the word “go.”

  Cass turned and looked at the sergeant. “What’s this all about. Am I supposed to call someone to arrange bail?”

  “Come with me. That’s all you need to know right now. Everything’s been arranged.”

  The sergeant’s instructions confused Cass. She complied with the officer’s orders, however, and fell in behind him. They walked down the hallway and through the door into the main part of the police station.

  The sergeant led her to a desk where she saw a clear envelope with the bar code and number assigned to her. She knew this because her name was handwritten in pen on the barcode label.

  The sergeant picked up the envelope and handed it to her. “Here you go, Miss Armstrong. The Chief wanted me to let you know we were sorry to have picked you up in this whole mess. We had no idea you were caught up on the street with the demonstrators. He suggested that I urge you, however, to choose your causes more carefully in the future. Associating with people like this can put a permanent black mark on your record if you’re not careful.”

  Cass shook her head. None of this made sense. “The police chief called to bail me out? I don’t understand. Why would he do that?”

  The sergeant shook his head. “I don’t know, Miss. I also don’t ask questions when the Chief calls me personally and says to let somebody out of the pen. While I’m at it, hold still and allow me to re-activate your implant.

  The sergeant produced the same type of metal tube she’d seen before when they turned off her implant. She wondered once again if there was any risk for permanent damage from having her implant turned on and off like this.

  As he held it up next to the implant and pressed the cold metal tube against the side of her face. There was a brief instant of sharp pain inside her head. Then, as if someone turned up the dimmer on a light, she could see again out of her right eye and hear again out of her right ear.

  The perpetual fog she’d been operating under for the last few hours lifted, clearing her thoughts as if someone had pulled a heavy blanket off her mind. She smiled, despite the serious nature of the situation.

  “Thank you, Sergeant.”

  “Not a problem. Now let’s go ahead and take you out to the front. I’ll make sure a car is called for you. I’ll have an officer wait by the curb for you until it comes.”

  Cass started to follow him then stopped. A thought popped into her mind.

  The sergeant turned and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t go,” Cass said shaking her head.

  “What do you mean, you can’t go?”

  “I have a friend I was with that got locked up with me. If she can’t come with me, then I want you to put me back in the pen.”

  The sergeant’s eyebrows lowered and he scowled at her. “Look, Miss Armstrong, I don’t know what got you mixed up with those people in there, but the rest of them will have to make bail on their own. This was serious business. Their little unsanctioned rally turned into a riot.”

  Cass knew that wasn’t what happened but she didn’t want to argue with him. She had to think carefully about how she handled this. If she didn’t proceed cautiously, the sergeant might throw her from the station and not let her return.

  “Sergeant, my friend needs to come with me. I’d hate to have to call your chief and ask him why we weren’t both released at the same time. I suspect he’d have to make a second in-person call to you, which he probably wouldn’t be happy with.”

  Cass hoped he didn’t call her bluff. She met his eyes and held her gaze level with his.

  The sergeant stared at her expressionless for a long time before he said anything, “What’s your friend’s name?”

  “Shelby, Shelby Moore.”

  “Sit here and don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

  Cass sat down in the chair by the sergeant’s desk. She placed her hands in her lap and waited.

  He turned and walked back towards the rear of the police station toward the holding cells. She could hear him grumbling via her re-enhanced hearing. She couldn’t make out the words, but he didn’t sound happy.

  A few minutes later, the sergeant re-emerged from the back with Shelby in tow. Cass smiled as soon as she spotted her girlfriend. Shelby shot Cass a puzzled glance.

  “Shelby, we are getting out of here.”

  “So I gather,” Shelby said.

  “Have a seat Miss Moore. I need to reactivate your implants. Once that’s done, the two of you, and only the two of you, can be on your way.” The sergeant fixed Cass with a stern glance as if daring her to give him another name.

  Cass shook her head and the sergeant nodded.

  He pulled out the metal tube again and used the device, reactivating Shelby’s cerebral implants which also allowed her to move her hand and forearm again.

  “That’s it, then. You can both come with me towards the front desk. I’ve called ahead and Miss Moore’s personal effects will be waiting for us there.”

  The pair followed the sergeant through the squad room out to the front lobby of the police station. He walked up to the window and tapped on the glass. Another officer on the far side slid the glass panel back and the sergeant leaned in to say something to him.

  The man behind the glass handed another clear envelope to the sergeant. It was just like the one given to Cass earlier. This one had Shelby’s name on it along with the barcode and number.

  “Here you go, Miss Moore. All of your personal items are in there. Since you’re both together, I don’t think I need to accompany you to the street and wait for your ride. I have, however, ordered an auto cab for you both. It will be arriving shortly.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant,” Cass said. She smiled at the sergeant. Her mother always told her politeness and kindness went a long way when dealing with people.

  The sergeant smiled back then turned and went back through the door into the station.

  Shelby whispered to her as they headed outside. “Cass, what the heck is going on? How did you put up my bail?”

  “I didn’t,” Cass explained. “For some reason, the police chief called the sergeant. My name must have popped up when it came through the system. He told the sergeant to let me out. I decided to insist they let you out at the same time or I wasn’t going to leave.”

  “You what?” Shelby exclaimed.

  Cass shrugged. “I’m kind of surprised it worked, actually.”

  Shelby smiled. “Come on, let’s go catch that cab before somebody changes their mind.”

  The two headed down the front steps to the street. While they stood waiting on the curb for the cab to arrive, Shelby looked around. There were other people from the demonstration standing there, probably also waiting for rides.

  “I need to call Eric and see how he’s doing,” Shelby said. “I don’t know where he was in the demonstration. Maybe he wasn’t picked up by the police.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Cass said. “I’m sure a lot of people managed to get away once things got crazy with the police pushing in and arresting people.”

  Shelby got the blank stare on her face that Cass recognized as her using her implant to do something.

  Cass waited for her to finish.

  After a few seconds, Shelby shook her head. “He’s not answering. It could be he’s just off the grid trying to avoid the police. It could also mean he’s back in that station under arrest with all the men in another cell.”

  “I’m not sure I can go back in there and demand a third person get released,” Cass said. “You heard what he said.”

  “Let’s worry about where he is after we get back to the campus. He’s probably fine and just hiding out. I left a message via text on his system. When he checks back in, he’ll get it.”r />
  An auto cab pulled up. Cass spotted “Armstrong” scrolling across the windshield of the vehicle. She pointed. “There’s our car.”

  The two jumped in the back of the cab while Cass gave the university address to the AI driver. She sat back and looked over her shoulder as the police station faded into the distance.

  Cass knew Shelby worried about her brother, no matter how much she tried to put on a brave face. Cass needed to help her find out where he was. They could both dig into that once they were safely back at school.

  Chapter 22

  The next day, Cass found it challenging to pay attention to her studies. She had several assignments due, but she couldn’t concentrate because Shelby paced the room behind her.

  She had tried contacting her brother at least once every hour since they’d returned the day before. There was no word from him at all.

  “Shel, you need to relax. He’s fine. I’m sure of it. If there were something major wrong, you’d have heard from the hospital or something. Maybe he’s still in police custody and they aren’t letting him make bail yet. I think they have 48 hours to do that.”

  “This isn’t some police holovid, Cass. This is real life. My brother has disappeared. And nobody knows where he is and no vid show detective is going to show up and help us find him.”

  “You contacted all the hospitals. He hasn’t turned up in any of them. He’s either still hiding out for some reason and can’t contact you, or he’s in police custody. Either way, he’s safe.”

  Shelby started to say something then stopped. “I know I’m driving you nuts. I just feel so helpless being here and not being able to do anything.”

  “Why don’t you try to concentrate on some of your class work. You don’t want to get behind. Finals are in only a few weeks.”

  Shelby went over and sat down at her desk. “I’ll try. But I’m so distracted thinking about Eric.”

  Cass nodded. “That’s completely understandable. Try to dig into your work. Pick one thing to do and take your mind off of thinking about it for a while.”