Exodia : The Unseen

[Flax]

It was about midnight in the small capital city of Azati on Bilir II, a distant agricultural colony world of the Zaon Imperium. The sky was filled with stars and the first moon was almost over the horizon while the second one had assumed its rightful place over the city. It was a night like every other summer night, hot and damp, and most people had left for the relative comfort of their homes. Quite a few hovercars were still about, the nightlife was beginning. Yet, unnoticed by most, a fiery ball flew over the city in a matter of seconds, heading for a somewhat nearby mountain range.

- - - - - - - -

Hans Tigrel sat in his recliner chair with the outmost contempt for his position as commander in chief of this planet’s poor excuse for an army. The somewhat chubby man had black hair, a small goatee and hazel brown eyes. Since the boring reports and tedious inspections were unending and pretty much the same as each uneventful day passed he was gaining weight at an incredible fast pace. Almost nothing remained of the crisp and disciplined officer who had arrived only months ago.

The now lax commander though brightly about his fast fading piloting career, even if he had managed to bring his craft to this planet, he had no time to practice, and this world was not equipped for starfighter training. He vowed he would one day lead his own attack star; he would be an ace pilot. While he was not bad, he was nowhere near the elite at this moment.

A beeping sound from his communications system woke him from his daydreaming, he immediately answered:

- This is Tigrel, what is it again? I told you not to interrupt me in my work unless it was really important.

- It is really important, sir.

- Well then go ahead, but be quick about it.

- Sir, we have just sighted a UFO that crashed in Kalaitienne mountain range. What should we do?

The commander’s eyes gleamed at these words, if it was really an unknown object, maybe even of alien origin, he could finally get off this miserable world. The mountain range was about four hundred kilometers from the military base, and only a hundred kilometers from the capital city. If he wanted his troops to be there first he had to act quickly. If he wanted to win this race he would have to act now. Yet he still had to act professional. With great excitement he briskly answered:

- Send out lieutenant Dewey to assess what the object is, if its more than space debris, and I doubt it is, we will send out a small contingent to secure the location. Also notify the police of the capital city, tell them to set up checkpoints all around the city, make sure they are very thorough in the search.

- What are they searching for, who are you looking for? Asked the confused major.

- Well nothing, but make up something, I’m sure you’ll find something colorful enough. Tigrel out.

That should slow down anyone from the city. He would have liked to send everything he had to the object’s location, but what if it was nothing? He would then look very foolish, and if it was something important, he wanted the less people possible to know about it; maybe he could keep it for himself, trade it, or exchange it for a favor from his superiors, like another command. He smiled broadly as he reclined his chair to an almost horizontal position, this was indeed a good day.

[Rouroux]

The nightlife in Azati, capital of the planet Bilir II

Lights are lit up in the streets, lighting a most heterogene population that isn't that visible during the day. Junkies roam the streets, as well as dealers and the cops that go after them. The "depravation hotels" are as bright as christmas trees and as colorful. The inside of thoses hotels is as noisy as it is quiet outside. And even if the shadows hides a lot of it, those streets are full of life. Thought they know that there is supposed to be a lot of job during the night, lots of criminals roaming around, some men of the law managed to find it very calm...

**********

- Yeah, I know but... how can I forgive her? She cheated on me! said a men in police uniform, a bottle of an unknown alcohol in hand.

- How can you even ask the question? It's Barbara Heins we're talking about! THE BABE! Of course you can forgive her, and she'll be quite awesomely greatfull if you know what I mean... hehehe... said another after inhaling the exquisite aroma of a cigaret.


The two men were walking on the street, near a park that didn't look like a park during the night, but more than an outdoor dealing center. The two just bought their new shipment of dope when they recieved a strange call.

RADIO: - Attention all unit! A serial killer had been reported walking in the streets of our city. All exits are to be blocked...

I can't hear what it's saying...

-- Hearing Sensory Power augmented 20% --

RADIO: ... he is to be arrested at any cost.

That's not good... better try to blend in the backdround...

- Wow you heard that? If he's that dangerous, gotta be a really big money bag over his head!

- Yeah... No... you're not thinking...

- Why not? Once we catch this guy, life will get easier! People will see us and say " look! it's the guys who captured the killer!" We're gonna be famous! And I'm not talking about the money prize!

- C'mon you're not serious! And look at you! You're drunk! How can you expect to catch a murderer while drinking that stinkin alcohol!

- I might have drank a little tonight...ahem... but I'm in perfect control of my body! Let's just get down to business... We have to investigate on suspicious people...like this guy.

No...

- C'mon, it's just a junkie who's been benching on this bench while he's enjoying his drugs, there's nothing suspicious about him...

Yeah, listen to your friend...

- I'm telling you, this guy must know something...I feel it, as much as I smell alcohol...

- Just stop this will ya? It's not our job to clean the streets of those kind of junkies... wait a minute... it is our job! But anyway... leave him be...

- Hey you!

- He's done it again...

- Hey I'm talking to you!

Why me...

- Yes? said a relatively young man sitting on a bench. He wore a long and dirty trench coat that descended to his feet, one that a man with no home would wear.

- I have questions to ask you! said the drunk police officer

- Fine...It's not as if I have alot to do tonight... answerd the young man.

- First we want your name.

- It's Red.

- Red? What an strange name... Ya see! I told ya he was suspicious. said the drunk police.

- It's probably a nick name for junkies you dumb... what's your real name? asked the smoking police

- I don't remember... It's been too long since I've been called by that name I forgot it. said Red.

- Fine, replied the drunk police. So what are you doing here?

- Just chilin...

- Just chilin...eh? that sound suspicious to me. said the drunk police. Normaly, people like you come and wait for their dealer of their clients in this area... or just come to shoot themselves... and YOU are just chilin...

The man let his bottle fall on the floor and picked up his gun. Aiming at Red he yelled:

- Get your hands on your head slowly!

- What are you doing yelled the smoking police. You're just crazy!

The drunk police aimed at his partner.

-Shut up! and aiming back at Red, put you're hands on your head or I'll shoot!

-- Activating protocol 10010: Cooperate to decieve better --

Red put his hands on his head. He didn't say a word.

- Search him! said the police with the gun. Take his weapons.

The man hesitated but finally approached Red to search for him. He was about to open Red's trench coat but he wasn't able to, Red didn't let him. Letting them see his "wounds" from his last combat would give out too much about him.

-- Reinitialising protocols: Desactivating Protocol 10010: Activating Protocol 11101: never give yourself away --

Instead, he took the arm of the officer searching him, made him spin on himself, and locked him with an arm lock. This way, he could use him as a human shield.

- Shoot and he dies, said Red.

But the drunk man did not understand his words because he has already strarted shooting with his laser pistol. Luckily for his partner, he was as bad shooter as he was drunk, which means he was not even close to hitting them. Seeing that the whooting police would eventually kill his partner without even realise it, he let go his prisoner and kicked him to let him fall on the floor. The police hasn't even touched the ground that Red was already runing away and fast.

- Stop! yelled the drunk police, starting to run after Red without caring about his partner.

-- Activating Combat Protocol 100001: disarm opponents--

Red led him in a dark alley between two tall buildings. The police man arrived yelling at nothing and everything. Then, his hand holding the gun was grabed...very hard. The police screamed of pain as he let his gun fall on the ground. Then is hand was released. He turned clumsily trying to punch his foe but fell on the ground as he hit nothing but air. Then he saw some flash on some kind of metal: the blade of a vibrating long sword curved in an oriental way. These vibro swords were one of the few melee weapons that existed in the universe. The vibration of the sword, made by a small mechanism in the hilt made cutting any sort of matter easier, thought it is still impossible to cut through an heavy armor made of metal. The sword was aiming at his throat.

- What are you? asked the police men as a last request for he knew he was going to die.

-- Activating protocol 11101 --

- Nothing that concerns you, said Red.

The police closed his eyes waiting his death, and reopened them when he heard gun shots. He saw his partner standing over him shooting at something far away that he couldn't see.

- Where is he? he said.

His partner hearing him talk stopped shooting and threw himself at his side.

- He fled, said his partner. I managed to hit him in the left shoulder, but he kept on runing and I lost him.

Then he took his radio and called for backup and an ambulance.

**********

Red ran for at least 1 hour, to be sure to have lost them. He didn't want anymore police after him for the night. He finally stopped in a back alley where he thought he would not be disturbed for a while. He was not panting however. Normal humans would be panting a lot after runing for hours, but Red did not, because he was not a normal human. Or we could say that he was no human at all.

He sat down using a big garbage can as a seat. He lifted his coat and droped it behind him so he could look at his shoulders.

-- Shoulder integrity 72% -- overall body structure integrity 83% --

In the back of his left shoulder was a small hole in which one could see metal plating and inside this plating was small mechanisms that didn't look to work propely because they were damaged.

- Another thing to hide...

[Banzai Kamikaze]

The everlasting shadows of Bilir II.

During the day, tall constructions defy the light by casting shadows. During the night, men master this energy only to create new shadows from their own bodies.
Ignorance can also lead to shadows of the truth. Men have lost control over their ignorance, and Bilir II is now filled with shadows.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Such a nice night.

Stars lit the blackness threatening to envelop the whole planet. As Dewey stared at them through the window of his room, he could only wonder how many were finally under Zaon control. As his eyes lost focus on the beauty of the sky, he dreamt of fierce battles between the undefeatable Zaon Military and the poorly equiped Corporations, during the Expansion War.

The Corporations' foolishness could not be measured ! How could they even think of invading Zaon territory ? Not only were they pushed back, but they lost whole armies to our fleets ! Fortunately for us, not only did we possess the largest fleet in known history, but we also possessed the strongest ground forces ! Without them, space battles would serve no purpose.

"Lieutenant Dewey ! Please report to the briefing room immediately !" a cold voice said in a speaker.

Lieutenant...Dewey's recent promotion pleased him. He had worked so much to attain his position ! His family was very proud of him. Dewey commanded a Shamash reconnaissance vehicle: a wonder of Zaon technology.

Armed with deadly high frequency lasers, this agile and fast vehicle was more than a match to ground forces. Simulations had shown the Shamash was an ideal reconnaissance-in-force vehicle, as it dealt with most situations with efficacity.

Dewey was on duty every night. He was not suprised to be called for a mission: he wondered if it was another training exercise. He promptly entered the briefing room where a holographic projection of his superior coldly exposed his objectives:

1) You will inspect the following coordinates for any suspicious activity: Sector (4000,2400,3000), Kalaitienne mountains

2) You will remove any other human presence from the site. Use force if required.

3)You will report to Central Command for updated objectives when you have secured the site.

Control, out.

Dewey thought this was a classic Site reaching and securing mission. He ran to the vehicle bay, dodging dozens of trained legioneers in dark armor. Next to the light transport hovercars, his vehicle was imposing. Only a few light tanks seemed as dangerous.

"Identity confirmed. Welcome Lieutenant Dewey". The cockpit slowly opened, revealing a complex set of highly advanced systems. Dewey sat comfortably, and put on his helmet.

As soon as he started his vehicle, lights lit in all imaging systems of his craft. His helmet provided advanced optical identification and amplification.

The huge bay doors slowly opened to the darkness outside. Dewey engaged his thrusters, propeling his vehicle to immense speed. He quickly left the military base, and plunged into the labyrinth of moutains.

Even if his suit was isolated, he felt cold. After a few hours, he approached the site. He zoomed on smoke rising in the sky, behind a moutain.

This must be it !

As soon as he was in visual range of the unidentified object, Dewey's targeting systems went mad ! Yellow squares identified possible hostile targets.

Dewey could not suppress a cry of shock as he realized what lied trough the smoke.

[Rouroux]

- They are after me. I have to hide.

Streets after streets, corner after corner, Red thought he would never be alone in this city. There were police officers everywhere and they were all looking for a suspicious man that was reported to be a murderer. This city became a cage for him and this cage was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. It was then he understood the saying: cornered as a rat, as a little girl he knew would say. But the unlucky cops would soon foind out that a cornered rat is more likely to bite.

He had to get out! But all the city's exits were blocked. The end was near as the security perimeter was tightened. He was cornered by a security force that was not even searching for something real, but he didn't know it.

It was then, when he walked a corner, he met face to face with a cop. The tall black man imposing and had a quite big gun strapped on his belt.

He couldn't explain why... but he froze. His neuronal circuits took time to react. He was just standing there face to face with the cop. He was not scared, no it wasn't like that at all. He was surprised, to meet another person, like that, not expecting the encounter.

- Sir, said the cop, are you all right?

- Yes, answered Red, I was just... (and he searched his words) surprised to meet someone at the last minute like that. Normally I am quite good at anticipating things before they happen.

- It's ok. You don't need to ba scared.

- No, I'm not scared, it's not like that, quickly replied Red.

- Yeah, of course, answered the black cop. You know... you should not stay in this part of the city. We are tracking a dangerous man. He was reported to be near here. Maybe it would be safer if I gave you a ride home.

- Oh no, please, don't waste your time with me. You would be better off finding this man you're tracking. And I can defend myself well enough.

- C'mon, I insist, I would feel better if I knew I could help a little in this crap of a city, said the cop.

- Well, if you insist, answered Red, I guess I cannot refuse.

- Cool!, just follow me to my car, it's down the alley!

And the two walked to the cop's car. The big man was talking to Red about how he got into the police forces when they heard a scream somewhere near. They ran toward the place and found an old woman on the ground. she had been stabed in the belly by some kind of sharp and small blade as the cop said. Red looked all around him.

-- Activating NightVision --

Everything in his hud now turned from black to tints of green. He easily saw the man runing away in the dark and turning a corner, thinking that no one could see him.

- I saw him! Stay here.

And Red started to run in the direction of the killer.

- Wait! you're just a civilian! It's my job to... yelled the cop while trying to keep up with Red, but the synthetic was too fast for him and already too far away in the darkness.

The murderer ran like hell in the back streets of Azati. And when he thought he was safe, he stopped. He woudn't have if he knew that something inhuman was tracking him down. It didn't take time to Red to find the man. The man was in the mid fourties, a usual robber, but this time, the robbery got complicated. The woman was more tought than he thought so he had to stab her with a kitchen knife he wore in case of troubles like this, to make her loose her hand bag. From the roof of the small building where he was, Red could easily make up a combat plan with the field. The man got disarmed quickly. Red was about to kill him, but he stopped.

- Why do I have to kill him? Was I created only for that purpose? Was I created to kill? Could I have been programmed for something else?

-- Activating Initial Program 1101101000110: Programing Error ; Program Shut Down --

- Why can't I remember!?

Finaly, Red took the man who was now unconcious by the arm and dragged him away. He didn't know why, but he managed to make a decision for himself... He decided not to kill.

When Red came back to the crime scene, the cop was still there with the old dead woman. He ran to Red, who was draging the murderer with him.

- What the!? You caught him? I gotta say I'm impressed, said the cop while putting manacles to the criminal. Backup should arrive very soon as well as an amulance. He didn't hurt you?

- No, didn't give him a chance to, answered Red.

- You sure? le'me look at you...

- I said I'm ok.

- Fine, said the cop. Don't need to get so edgy.

At the same time the ambulance arrived escorted with 4 police cars. Officers got out of their cars and started the usual thing when arriving to the crime scene. People were asking who was Red and the black cop said that he helped him catch the criminal. Everything was looking good for Red when 2 familiar faces arrived and met Red.

- Do I know you? said a police officer with a bandage on his right hand and a very strong alcohol breath.

This time, Red was scared. If these two remembered him, there was no way of escape with all those cops all around.

- N...no... I... I don't think so, replied Red.

-C'mon, let's get you to the ambulance said the other police with a big bruise on the forehead to his partner.

And the two men went their way. Luckily for Red, they seemed to be too much drunk or stone to recognise him from earlier. Red sighed, then he heard.

RADIO: All units, the suspect has been caught, I repeat. The suspect has been caught. The search is over.

Red sighed again.

[Aficenos]

Police service in the city of Azati is pretty much like the service in any city of the great imperium with one major difference, u actualy have a job, in the city the crim is relentless, wich was of course unknown to me when I decided to join the police corp of this wretched city about 2 years ago. As they say you never know what youre getting into until youre really into it. So like every night I was trying to sleep and forget that in the morning I had another long day of running through crap paperwork of the last twenty druggie I had picked off the street. When suddenly the phone wakes me from my very intersting reverie:
-Lieutenant Rodney, is that you?

-Yes this is he, what can I do for you?

-Sorry to wake you sir, but I am calling from the PD and we have a problem.

-What now?

-Well sir, wev'e had attacks on two police officers togniht and we've just heard reports of a murder.

-Well, that doesn't explain why you had to wake me, there's nothing realy peculiar about the matter.

-Well sir the thing is the officers that where attacked said they shot there attacker, and it seemed to have no effect and he said his assailant was using a blade weapon...

-My god, I thougth we had gotten rid of these barbaric weapons, but you still haven't told me why the hell you woke me up in the middle of the nigth, not that the story is not very intersting.

-Well sir its that the officers found no blood traces anywer after they shot there assailant, no traces anywer, we even had a team go check out, and the team is starting to panick sir, theyr'e worried we migth have a ....

-I dont even want to hear it, ok give me ...

-Sir I just go news, we caugth the suspect.

[Flax]

As the smoke parted Dewey saw a flawless black oblong pod lying halfway in solid rock. The ebony surface of the craft didn't even show a sign of impact, weird erratic patterns could be seen moving about the surface, small flashes of energy taking seemingly random routes.

But that was not all that caught Lt. Dewey's attention, a young couple were facing the object, completely enthralled by it, they hadn't reacted to recon craft's arrival. Suddenly they both advanced towards the pod meaning to touch it...

- - - - - - - -

In the shadows of Azati's lower levels stood a man, dressed in ragged black garments, armed with a common laser pistol and carrying a full backpack. In it was his latest acquisition, a very old and priceless jade statuette, it was even said it dated from a time that humans lived on Earth, but those were surely only rumors. He smiled as it has been a perfect burglary, no one had seen him, no alarms had gone off; it was quite simply perfect. Or, it had been simply perfect if a police drone had not decided to investigate this particular alley. The humming sound of the drone gave it away and so Zell tried to be one with the wall, aiming his weapon at the nuisance, if he was detected he would have no choice but to destroy it.

As the drone entered the alley it turned its enhanced vision mode, and started compensating for the shadows. It had only a few minutes to scan this place and so it devised an equation that would maximise coverage of the alley. Still 58% coverage was barely acceptable, a person would have still have a considerable chance to evade the search. But not this time, as one of the shadows was peeled away in the optical sensor of the drone; a man was revealed, obviously hiding.

Zell knew he had been made when the drone looked directly in his direction; he fired twice turning the machine into scrap and then ran as fast as he could. Soon the humming sound of more drones could be heard, all of them moving in his direction. As he turned a corner he was met by three of the things, he tried to fire his weapon, but collapsed to the ground as he was hit with three small darts. Even as his senses were fast failing him he heard footsteps and a voice saying:

- All units, the suspect has been caught, I repeat. The suspect has been caught. The search is over.

It was then, that Zell, the man with the perfect plan, fell into blissful unconsciousness.

[Banzai Kamikaze]

An enraged voice burst out of Dewey's helmet:

"Lieutenant ? Lieutenant ??? Goddamnit Gary! What the hell is happening ?"

Two neutral infantry targets identified, coldly articulated a female computer voice.

"Sir, I have two individuals ignoring my warnings and marching towards a strange object, some kind of space pod."

A small screen deployed in a corner of the Shamash cockpit, revealing the image of Commander Tigrel.

"Lieutenant, your have your orders." Tigrel could barely hide his excitement. "We are sending a team to retrieve this object."

"Roger that ! Computer ! Mark infantry targets as hostile !"

Two red boxes flashed in Gary's optical targeting systems.

The lieutenant gave one last warning to the couple:

"Attention ! This is your last warning ! Turn back now or the Imperium will be forced to take you down !"

They did not seem to hear the warning. The young couple approached the strangely carved object, a smile on their face. They put their hands on it, and electric waves sparked out of the object.

Suddenly, the waves began to grow around the object, going harmlessly through the bystanders.

Warning ! Quark singularities approaching critical level !

"Computer ! Switch to micro-amplification vision mode !"

The Shamash was equipped with advanced sensors, seeing all forms of radiations. All around Lt. Dewey, colors faded only to leave the basic structure of the environement around the vehicle. A strong red sphere was slowly growing around the object, nearly touching Gary's hovercraft.

He quickly engaged his forward thrusters, pushing his vehicle back to an acceptable distance.

The lieutenant fired his high frequency lasers, sending waves of screaming lasers toward the couple.

The lasers' impact sent earth flying in the air. Smoke blocked Dewey's view of the two individuals, but the two red boxes disappeared.

When he could finally see through the smoke, there was not a single trace of the couple left.

"Command ! The targets are vaporized. The object is secured."

"Good !" replied Tigrel. "A team will arrive shortly. Assist them in any way you can."

Gary was very proud of himself. The Imperium would probably recognize his value as a good vehicle pilot. He believed the Zaons scientists would have no problem retrieving the object.#nosmileys#nosmileys

[Rouroux]

The night had been a tought one, the cops, the chase and his initial program that could still not run. When he finally managed to get rid of that sticky but quite friendly cop, he went in search of a repair shop. There he would find tools and materials where he could repair himself. His logic neuronal sensor program showed him that the best way to find a repair shop would be to get downtown and ask people about it. And so he went.

Dawn was about to rise and he could start to see glimps of light to the horizon, so Red deactivated his NightVision and recalibrated his vision with the actual spectrum of light. He finally found a building that seemed to be a bar: The Pistol Drink. Inside that building would be surely be people that could tell him where is what he's looking for. And so he entered.

Inside the building was a small room with a quite large man that seemed to be a doorman because he was standing near a metal door. Red didn't pay attention to him and went directly to the door but got stopped: A giant hand was gripping his shoulder quite heavily, would Red had not been a synthetic he would be quite in pain.

- What are you trying to do shrimp? asked the doorman.

- Getting inside, replied Red, I need information and...

- Well if you're trying to get inside you have to pay the entrance fee, said the man.

Red looked at him questioningly. The doorman saw that look and decided he would not let this freak in. The gripped Red even harder and started to move toward the exit door but Red understood quickly the man's intention and didn't let him proceed. He gripped the man's hand, the one that was gripping him and squeezed it just enough to make the man let go out of pain. Then he broke his arm and tossed him outside. Finally he would get his information. And so he proceeded inside. He entered a huge room filled with tables, chairs, and people drinking and gambling. He asked a lot of people but they were too drunk to answer him. Since it would take him hours to interrogate everyone in the room, he decided to scan the area to find the one with the less alcohol ration in his blood vessels. The one he was looking for was sitting at a table, playing backjack with drunk dummies and alway winning. He went to see him and asked him information on a repair shop. The guy asked money but Red didn't have any so the gambler proposed him a little blackjack game. If Red won, the man would give him the information he wants, if not, Red would be beaten just for the fun of it. Red agreed. The man grinned. And so the game started. Red started the game with an Ace and an Eight. He calculated the if he stood, he would have 87% chances of winning and if he hit, he would have 96% chances of bursting so he stood. The man hit and got his card, but something attracted Red's attention. A little movement from the gambler's fingers to replace on of his cards. A movement to swift for a human's eye but slow enough for a highly intelligent synthetic to see. and so Red showed his cards.

- I have 19.

- Hehe, and I have a blackjack, said the gambler showing an Ace and a jack of spade.

Some thugs were starting to walk toward Red but in interruped.

- You cheated.

- WHAT? said the gambler? YOU're accusing me of CHEATING? You've got guts!

- Yes, I'm accusing you of cheating. I saw you exchanging your cards with the one you were hiding in your sleeves.

At that moment, the thug snapped his fingers and all his thugs jumped at Red at the same time.

-- Activating Combat Protocol 101011: unarmed combat --

[Aficenos]

As I heard these words sudden relief fulfilled me, finaly I could actualy go back to sleep, and only think of this as a flase alarm. But my overachieving nature as always made me question everything I heard. So I quiclkly ordered the police officer to take the suspect to the central station and I would meat him there.
I quicly put on my clothe after going through the sonic shower and took a breakfeast bar. Ran out of my apartment trying not to make to much noise (I have very talky neighbours), and jumped into my ``car``. Of course the ride from my appartment to the station took its customary 5s.
I was met by the officer who had found the suspect, and by his side the partner of the officer who was assaulted, and made sure that his partner was safe(formalities) and quicly began my questioning:

-So tell me exactly what happened, I dont like have officers in the hospital?
-Well sir to be honest I am not really sure, we went out of the bar, wich we where checking for violence, and we found this guy in the street who looked like he meant trouble, so we tried to see what he was doingm, and he just attacked Jo, and then I shot him a couple of times before he got out of site. The funny thing is sir that I am pretty sure I hit him but there was no blood and the suspect we just captured he has no sign of being shot, I don't think its him sir.
-Well no to talk of you being in a bar while on the job, how can you even be sure you shot him, you look pretty drunk to me.
-You know me sir, I never miss...
-Well that's actually a fact, but then how do you explain the suspect?
-Well I told them they had the wrong guy, but they won't listen ...
-Oh shut up you drunkard, interjected the officer who had made the captuer, he was the only person in the pattern, he was at the exact distance of a human running at full speed from your'e position.
-But how the hell could a beggar have been able to take down a fully trained officer, retorcked the drunk officer.
-Thats enough both of you. I have enough of this crap, you obviously have the wrong guy, even a drunk officer could not be mangeled up by a beggar, not to the extent of Joe's. SO why don't you go and release him while I try to understand what happened.

As I sat down at my desk to try and build a timeline of the nigth, I suddenly overheard a report about a man having been found seriously beaten outside a bar downtown. II could be nothing, but it was worth checking out. I quiclly told the officers at the scene to wait for my arrival, and I went there myself followed by two units. Whatever thins thing beating people up all over town, no way it could take down seven armed officer, or I hope it couldn't. So we quicly got to the scene and I could see lots of ressemblence between wounds inflicted on the man and Joe ( of wich I had seen pictures at the station). I ordered two officers to try to find a back entrance. And followed by the four remaining officers I entered through the front door.

What we saw as we came in was quite frankly not that irregular....

[Rouroux]

Red was finished with the thugs and had acquired the information he needed. He went for the exit. As he went out, he saw seveal police officers going in. One of them seemed very pissed, he probably hadn't got any sex from his wife for several months if he had any. He pulled his coat up to cover his face a little but continued to walk very calmly and smoothly, and went passed them...and their eyes crossed. This time, Red didn't wait for the cops to arrest him. He disapeared into the streets that were slowly greeting the street folks as the morning rose shed it's light on the city.

He finally came the the workshop of an average technician who was currently working on a car. Red called him and the man got up.

- Yeah, what is it? asked the tech.

- Hi, my name is Red. I wondered if it was possible to borrow some tools from you. I have some repairs to make on a machine but I do not have cash to pay any tech to do the job. I would stay here so you wouldn't have to wait until I finish. Your tools would always be inside your workshop.

The guy looked at him curiously, and finally said:

- Ya're crazy? Ya want to borrow my stuck but not pay?No way! Now get out of my sigh!

As he turned away from Red, he felt a very strong hand grip his arm and hip. He got thrown on the door who broke because of the impact. The man barely got up and he could see Red walking toward him. He didn't wait for his doom to come for he scrambled away like a little girl.

Red didn't follow him outside because he found a little metal gadget on the floor that looked like a broken communicator. Without any communication system, and the fact the the thug would be on foot to get help, he calculated that it would take approximately 1 hour for the guy to come back with some friends, or even less if he decided to contact the security, and Red wanted to use this time efficently. And he started working on his repairs. It was not an easy task because the tools the guy used were pretty more or less broken, and the material he had was most of the time scrap. This place was supposed to be a workshop, but it looked like it has not been used in months. There was something in this workshop that wasn't right, but Red didn't have time to investigate. He was able to repair and cover most of the holes in his body structure and even found paint that matched exactly his synthetic skin.

-- Diagnostic : Body Structure Integrity 98% / Neuronal circuits efficiency 79% --

It was acceptable. The only problem is that at the exact time he finished his diagnostic, some one entered the workshop, and it wasn't one he expected to come.