by Joe Jarvis
"I SAID-" Trix grabbed the door handle, but it was locked, so he slammed the window with the butt end of his handgun, shattering it in a spider web form, though the pieces stayed in place .".GET. OU-"
BAM! The glass flew out of the car, spraying all over the street. BAM! BAM! Two more shots rang out from inside the vehicle. Trix was still standing, but began to stumble back, feeling immediately lightheaded and more confused than the drugs could account for. He looked down at his body to see two large blood stains spreading on his shirt, and blood squirting out from what must have been his neck. As black closed in from the sides of his eyes, he tried to maintain balance. The older man from the car opened the door, and exited the vehicle with his gun still trained on Trix, but all Trix saw were swirling outlines as the world seemed to turn around him.
The brand new medical nanobots coursing through Trix’s bloodstream rushed to the areas of trauma, frantically attempting to stymie the blood flow, and repair the tissue, but the damage was too great.
Trix was somehow still standing but his face was blank as his useless gun slipped from his hand, and clinked onto the street. As the life left Trix's eyes he took one final step back before his knee buckled, and he fell backwards. Feebly, Trix twitched his right arm in a final attempt to grasp something, and his limp body slammed onto the pavement like a bag of meat, mouth agape, eyes still open, as emotionless as ever.
Molly was a customer of Corner Cop Security, and it was Officer Themis who came to her hospital bed to take her statement and begin gathering evidence for the CCS investigation into the break-in. Being the lead investigator for violent crimes for Corner Cop Security, Themis would not be patrolling until this case was fully investigated and resolved.
Molly's hand and foot had been bandaged, and it was now getting close to midnight.
"Hi Molly, my name is Officer Themis. I know it is tough, but I need to take a statement from you about the break-in."
Molly understood, took a deep breath, and did her best to describe what happened in detail.
"...And the whole time I just kept thinking, he's not here to rob me. He took all my computer devices, and he grabbed some stuff out of the safe, but he didn't even seem to care about the coins or cash. It was like he was there specifically for my devices. And..." Molly brought her hand to her mouth to suppress the desire to start crying again. "And I don't know why he kept coming after me, once he had everything. It doesn't make any sense." She sniffled and a tear rolled down her cheek. Themis was writing this all down on his tablet. "Did they catch him?" Molly asked.
"Oh I thought someone told you. He tried to steal a car a couple blocks from your house. The car owner shot him in the process. He's dead. His name was Trix, he's a drug addict from uptown. Honestly I can't believe it myself, I knew him and this is totally uncharacteristic. We're probing to see if this goes deeper."
"Deeper?" Molly questioned.
"Well, it’s standard; we just want to make sure it's an isolated event. We have seen people do things before when they are desperate for money. Good thing he didn’t make off with all your AtlantiTrade notes. We recovered them with the rest of the stuff he took, you’ll get it back within a few days once it has been processed for evidence. You must have worked a while to save those."
Molly shook her head, looking confused, and after a couple seconds stated, "But I didn’t have any AtlantiTrade notes."
Themis likewise wore a befuddled look momentarily, and made a note on his tablet.
Just then his portable chimed in his pocket to indicate he was getting a call. "Excuse me for a sec. Hello... yes... what, why?... Okay... Okay... try to find an arbiter who will reverse the decision. Thanks, let me know when you get the warrant."
"What happened?" Molly asked concerned.
"Well, we subpoenaed the video records of Trix's adap, but they were blocked."
"Why? Isn't that standard in an investigation, why wouldn't the building owners give up the footage?"
"It wasn't the owners who blocked it, it was the arbiter that their security company uses, Barry Arbitration."
"WHAT?!" Molly practically jumped out of bed, startling Officer Themis.
"You know them?" he asked, eyes wide, eyebrows raised. "Kind of gained a sleazier reputation the last couple years."
"I'm in the process of reviewing BA. They were going to get downgraded, but almost everything I had was-" Molly stopped abruptly and turned pale.
"Was what?" asked Themis, concerned.
"It was all on my devices that were taken," Molly said quietly and slowly without looking at Themis.
Themis didn't want to believe that an arbitration agency would attempt to kill a reporter in order to bury a bad rating, but it was strange that the subpoena was blocked, and it did seem coincidental that it was blocked by the same agency Molly was investigating.
"We're going to get to the bottom of this, Molly. I will personally see to it. Until then, CCS will have someone posted outside your room. Try to get some rest."
Molly managed to squeeze out a feeble "Thanks."
As Themis left the hospital, he ordered a tail on Barry, just to cover all the bases.
The next morning Themis decided to drive over to Trix's adap himself to check it out, and hoped that while he was there looking through Trix's apartment, a warrant would be approved by a different arbitration agency for the surveillance records. On the ride over, the speakers were playing a segment about last night's break-in, as crimes of that nature were pretty rare. It was a replay from a live report done the night before, with an attractive woman reporting at the scene.
"The intruder was a known drug addict who appeared to be motivated by his desire to get money to pay for drugs, but why he chose that house, no one knows. One theory is that it was a random act of violence, triggered by a specific mixture of drugs, manufactured in New York City, and distributed by a drug cartel, known to operate in the downtown haven. Here with me is the man who eventually ended the spree of the drug addict known as Trix, after an attempted carjacking. What can you tell us about this tragic event?"
"Well, I told those cops that showed up, I didn't know his gun wasn't working, all I knew was he was aiming it at me and trying to get my car. Well you young folks might not get it, but I still carry my old .38 on me. People think it’s stupid, but they don't remember the days when people had to use ‘em! All you younger folks take this peace for granted, but it hasn't been this way for too long! No sir, I was born just after Food Corp started taking clients outside of their walls, and even then a lot of crimes went unsolved. So how did people deal? Well I'll tell ya, they shot those sons of bitches down on the spot, and why not? You've probably never been hungry in your life, I mean HUNGRY, but I can remember having nothing more than a few berries, and some foraged cattails all day; someone tries to take that from you and it's life or death. Sure, I feel bad here, but I did what I had to do; like I said he was pointing a gun at me! And those officers did their job you know, they can't be everywhere, it’s not their fault. They came running up just after it happened – quick response – and..."
Themis arrived at the adap with some stares from people on the streets; there weren't too many cars that drove to this area of the city. Themis parked on the side of the road next to the building, and almost bumped into a couple of well-dressed men in suits with sunglasses as he exited his vehicle. He had to do a double take since they were a little too well dressed for this area of town, and it wasn't particularly sunny either.
Barry Arbitration had approved the warrant to search Trix's apartment, but their rationale for nixing the footage subpoena was that it was not targeted enough, and could incriminate innocent people that live in the adaps. This seemed more like an excuse to Themis, since there was practically no arbitration history of using evidence from one crime to open a case on an unrelated crime.
As Themis walked through the entrance to the building, screens in the wide hallway lit up one by one as he walked, with advertisements aimed specifically
at Themis; facial recognition was used by advertisers to save money by tailoring ads to certain types of people.
"The latest poly-melding-elastomer vest from Wilderness Gear will stop an animal bite as easy as it will stop a bullet. Lightweight and versatile…"
"This Sunday, live from the Boston Bay Arena, World Obstacle Champion Leon Green will face off against…"
"Are you getting enough potassium, and other essential metals in your diet? Research has shown that as we age…"
Themis brushed past the advertisements and climbed the stairs to Trix’s second floor apartment. Themis scanned his card – it opened Trix’s door since the warrant had been issued, and access granted to Corner Cop Security. Themis felt a pang of sadness as he gazed around the depressing and filthy room that Trix formerly inhabited. The mattress was bare though some once white sheets were bunched up in the corner between the bed and the wall. Ads had been disabled until a new tenant was found. The trash overflowed with the wrappers of the worst kinds of foods. The sink had dirty water stuck in it, blocked by the food scraps left at the bottom of the sink. Themis wondered what he even thought he would find here.
Walking aimlessly around the room, Themis tried to separate his feelings from the investigation. It depressed him to think that Trix was a wanna-be murderer, and it just did not seem to fit his personality. Almost unconsciously, Themis nudged the bed with his foot to straighten it out and make it parallel with the wall – to add some tiny bit of order to this dishevelled place. When the mattress moved, he saw a currency note sticking out from under the bed. Picking it up, he realized the note was AtlantiTrade, the same ones found in Trix’s possession when he was shot. This showed Themis that Trix hadn’t stolen the currency from another victim, at least not the same night. But no major theft of that magnitude had been reported in the area recently either.
What the hell was Trix doing with such a high-valued currency, he thought? And if he had this much money nonchalantly misplaced under his mattress, why would he try to rob someone’s house? The drugs could account for some odd behavior, but it still seemed out of place to plan a robbery before even looking through your own apartment for misplaced notes. Themis placed the note into a clear baggy as evidence.
Before leaving Themis scanned some surfaces with a device that detected DNA. While there was plenty of Trix’s DNA on the bed and counter, there was no DNA on the wall receiver and none on the doorknob, as if they had been wiped clean. Themis cocked his head and squinted, thinking of an explanation for this, but a dark feeling came over him as things were beginning to look more sinister.
Just then his portable rang, it was someone from the CCS office. They had their warrant, though it took some tricky maneuvering since arbiters were wary of going against another agency’s ruling. If Barry Arbitration’s reputation had not suffered over the past couple of years, Corner Cop Security probably would have never gotten the warrant for the video surveillance.
Themis walked downstairs and through the wide hallway, bombarded by more ads, and made his way to the building’s security office with no windows, set in the center of the building, filled with screens that gave the room a dull glow. Themis showed his credentials, and began to download the video surveillance from the past month, but a chime went off indicating that the footage had been tampered with.
"Why is there an hour missing from the 28th, and an hour missing from this morning?" Themis asked the security manager. He was a balding man with a large stomach and hardened demeanor. He had a scruffy voice, and scruff on his face. He smelt like cigarettes, and Themis wasn’t sure if the smell of beer was on his clothes from the night before, or on his breath.
"I couldn’t tell you," the manager said hoarsely but loudly, with a hint of attitude.
"Has anyone else been in this office today?" asked Themis sternly.
"I took over at 5:00 this morning. Since then, just me." Themis just stared judgingly, and the security manager looked away apathetically, trying to make it look like he had something else to do.
Yet another piece of the puzzle not fitting together, Themis thought. Themis went outside to his car and turned on the telescreen inside; he was going to make some calls and see if he could get a warrant to search the security manager. If he was the only one in that room since 5:00, and the second hour of footage was missing from 7-8:00, then he must have had something to do with it.
"But what do you expect to find, sir? Even if he did have something to do with it, what would be on his person that would serve as evidence?"
"There is no reason for him to want that footage deleted, it has got to be someone else, so I might find evidence of a third party influence."
The arbiter on the screen shrugged, "Alright let me put in the call, I’ll get right back to you."
The arbiter had to make her case to the manager’s security company before they would agree to allow the search against one of their clients. A few minutes later Themis got the call that the warrant was approved. He walked back into the security manager’s office and showed him the warrant. The manager reluctantly emptied his pockets, and handed over his portable, which Themis had gained permission to search only the last 12 hours of communications.
"I’m gonna have to make a call to my security company," the security manager was saying gruffly, obviously angry about the search. "Assholes," he added under his breath before breaking into a small fit of coughing. "They ain’t gettin' my money no more."
Themis found no communications at all on the manager’s portable from the last 12 hours, except for a message from presumably the guy’s wife lined with expletives complaining about some broken promise. Themis looked in the pack of cigarettes to find only cigarettes. Opening the manager’s wallet though, Themis found ten one-unit AtlantiTrade notes, the same currency that he had just found in Trix’s room, and that was on Trix’s person. Themis took a picture for evidence.
"Where’d you get the cash?" Themis asked grimly.
"What, a guy can’t carry around some money?" the manager retorted aggressively; he was not going to cooperate.
"You generally carry around 350 bucks worth of untraceable currency?"
"I generally carry around whatever the hell I want!" the manager indignantly spat back, his voice wheezing in the middle at the peak of his frustration.
Themis tucked his lips together, and shook his head in angry agreement. "Ok. Ok. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again soon," and he walked out.
"Yea screw you," the manager yelled after him raising his voice as he slammed his office door shut behind Themis.
Themis knew that he couldn’t trace the cash since the bank encoded it for that very reason, but he did have cash that matched the note found in Trix’s apartment, which pointed to a third party manipulating the situation. Themis headed back to the office to try to start figuring out how this all fit together, and to catch his next lead.
Seven
Barry was pacing his office. It was only mid afternoon, but he was on his fifth glass of scotch; it was only 3 days until the BER report came out, likely shattering his business. And even if it didn't kill his business, the fact that he blocked the search of Trix's apartment's surveillance footage was sure to come back to haunt him. The only thing at this point that could save Barry Arbitration was if Drake's plan was implemented, but the catalyst had failed, and with it Barry's problem lived: Molly.
Drake hadn't answered Barry's calls since the night Trix was shot, almost a week earlier. Barry kept trying to get through but Drake always had some excuse. Finally Barry decided to go down to Drake's office himself. After all, he had delivered on his end of the deal and Drake had fallen short. Barry figured that Drake was probably just embarrassed at his failure and busy revising the plan. He was sure that Drake was just waiting to get things in order before giving Barry an audience; at least he hoped that.
As Barry left his office, his secretary closed a window on her screen; she had been looking for a new job ever since BA issued the abnormal hold on th
e video footage from Trix's apartment building.
Barry took the level 1 pod to Drake's office building, finishing one more drink on the way. When he got there he had some artificial confidence flowing through his veins; after all, he thought again, he was in the right and Drake should be the one apologizing. Drake's secretary greeted Barry as if he had been given instructions on how to deal with this situation, just like the calls. The secretary was a dark-skinned young effeminate man with product in his black hair, and a stylish wrinkle-free suit. He wore a triangular badge with many different small stones, arranged by color in horizontal rows.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Barry, but you just missed Mr. Drake, can I leave a note for him?" The secretary said in a fake tone of disappointment.
"Oh I see," Barry sounded concerned, and was discouraged but not surprised. "I'll just make an appointment then," Barry said with a quick smile which his eyes betrayed as fake.
"How is Tuesday at 10?" the secretary asked politely, avoiding eye contact.
"No that's too late!" Barry blurted out, placing his hands on the secretary's desk making him visibly uncomfortable. "I mean, it's rather important. I, uh, would prefer to meet with him today," Barry finished, in a much calmer tone.
The secretary looked quickly but pointedly at Barry's hands on his desk, and could no longer hide the annoyance in his voice, "Well I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Drake is all booked through Monday." He stared at Barry with his eyebrows raised and lips tightly closed, hoping Barry would take the hint to leave.
Barry obviously got the hint but didn't care. "I see..." he said slowly with his hands still planted on the secretary's desk as his eyes darted to Drake's office door.
Drake's secretary likewise darted his gaze to Drake's door, frowning in anticipation of Barry's next move. His eyes were trained on Barry, burning into him, eyebrows still raised.
Barry shot towards the door, quickly shuffling in a jogging like motion which made him look like an awkward duck.
