Ch 6
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Chapter 7
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“Hello, citizen! Face forward, and keep the happy faces inside - we need you at your most neutral and content!”
“I am this close to jumping through the glass and strangling that obnoxious irritant.” Cordax growled under his breath, glaring murder through the one-way wall of glass separating him and the unseen individuals on the other side.
Diero sighed bitterly, his current existence being standing resentfully and holding Racie’s shoulder to keep her from collapsing, as she was trying desperately to enter the fetal position in a fit of sobs. Winger seemed to be taking this all rather well, but then again, he was also wearing that dumb helmet which hid his true expressions. The cheery voice continued to remind the party about not looking like they had just been arrested, which was apparently too much for Cordax, who began slamming his fists into the glass ineffectively, roaring out his contempt for the instructions while two officers pushed past me to try and restrain him.
Desperate cries from next to me requested more to be called, as Cordax had wrapped the chain of his cuffs around the neck of the first one and only through a combined effort of force were they able to pry Cordax away. He was given some strange sedative patch which seemed to dull his ferocity to a degree, although the flicker across his eyes told me his body’s internal systems were fighting it as best they could.
Even though Cordax’s knife, along with Diero’s ammo belts and some weird gadgetry Winger possessed had been confiscated, the chip in Diero’s pocket had been relocated to inside his skull cavity through his eye socket, and I desperately hoped it could be taken back out when the time came.
“Now I hope you all have an excellent day!” The voice continued as the party was ushered out of the cramped hall. “And remember the MCPD’s motto - Live to Serve!”
I was shoved forwards behind Winger, knowing Diero was having a world of a time trying to keep Racie from collapsing as they were marched along. Diero suddenly stopped moving, and as I turned around to look at him I saw he was completely still, an expression of shock across his eyes.
Next thing I knew the cuffs had been broken, and the four officers which were escorting us had been grappled by the throats and beaten together until they all dropped off. Some deft work with the cables that their communicators were attached to left them tied and gagged, shoved into some dark corner, and Diero dragging me and the rest of the entourage along at high speed to get out of the light.
While the party crouched in muffled silence, the sound of steps and angry speech broke the stillness of the room as two figures rounded the corner. There were no other personnel in the hall for them to interact with, but that same shrill, irritating voice Cordax had reacted to before was now yapping at the pair.
One of them was very similar to the officers, although he looked far more combat-oriented, with his body armor and build implying fighting capabilities. On top of that, he was entirely jet-black, and was doing the majority of the arguing with the obnoxious voice, his black Pakari reflecting off the lights on the ceiling. The other one was yet another massive character with an orange Pakari, although he had some slight differences from the last one I had witnessed, namely the eyepatch over one of his peepers. Cordax, who had been picking at the patch on his scalp, gasped so loud I was sure we would be spotted, but the approaching pair gave no indication of anything other than utter annoyance.
“Okay Zippy, I’m warning you for the last time.” The dark one snarled. “If you don’t quit your attitude and give the chief advanced word that I am coming, after this is over I’ll disconnect your mainframe and dump it into the sewer system where you truly belong!”
“Don’t be like that, Special Forces Trooper Designation 99872 Assigned Title Pakari!” The voice (apparently named ‘Zippy’) replied with a joyful demeanor. “I’m only here to ensure proper protocol is followed and all officers of the MCPD live their most fantastical lives on duty!”
“My most fantastical life would happen if you never referred to me by my combat designation ever again!” The black-armored one retorted, clearly losing his cool. “I’m not an officer of the law, I’m not part of this administration - I’m part of the security detail to Volume! How many more times to I have to tell you that before you can program how to take a hint?!”
“Allay, Pakari.” The larger one said, placing a massive hand on the flustered shoulder of the other. “Maybe Zippy would appreciate it if we told him why this needs to be relayed to the chief.”
“Sorry - not possible, officer Bird!” Zippy responded gleefully. “Our Chief of Police can only be informed through standard protocol. You’ll have to fill out a holo-form to present if you wish to clue him on any events that may occur, unless the lives of individuals are at risk. You have not provided any proof, so you will need to fill out the standard holo-form if you wish to contact him. I can assist if you require, but I am still tied up with filling out the form to alert him of escaped prisoners apprehended just today.”
“Kill me before this irritating mascot makes me do it myself.” Pakari sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Look, let me put it this…what did you say?”
“Eh heh heh, I know something you don’t!” Zippy taunted. “As you are well aware, I am not am the level of authorization to give officers direct alters and orders to ensure the furthering of justice.” He continued, while Diero quietly picked everyone up and began tiptoeing past the pair. “Just before you rounded the corner for this hall, five prisoners overpowered and subdued the officers escorting them and hid them in that corner over there.”
Darting to the corner, the pair carefully lifted the bundle of officers and carried them out of the shadow in confusion. “Zippy, where are the prisoners now? Have they been re-apprehended?”
“I believe they are currently behind you and making for the nearest exit.” Zippy replied as Diero broke into a mad dash. “Oh dear, I did not present you two with the proper holo-form! I am in very big trouble now. I do so hope those nice prisoners will not tell the Chief of Police about my acting out of line. Perhaps I should turn myself in? Would you consider that action in line with the contractual agreement signed by all acting officers of the MCPD?”
No, they did not - or maybe they did, but it wass impossible to tell. For Zippy’s words fell on the open air, as both Pakari and his acquaintance had dropped their fellow officers and were bolting after Diero and his luggage. Diero kicked through two doors and partially shunted a desk, smashing it into the receptionist sitting behind it. She hadn’t even seen him; to me it was fairly overkill, but who am I to doubt the instincts of this osteological escort?
Smashing through the last door, Diero stopped completely cold for a moment. It took me a moment to notice a piece of paper was wedged into his eye - he must have snatched it from the desk he punted. I took it from his socket just before Diero began ascending the wall, jumping from foothold to foothold and finally resting on some strange gargoyle creature. “Write us some kind of escape so we can split, boss.”
Having not bothering to read the front of the paper in any capacity, I flipped it around to the back and using some random collection of dirt and dust on the sculpture, I wrote: ‘Get us out of here as efficiently as possible.’ I now realize I should have read it in full - only at this moment did my complex and underappreciated scheme begin to unravel. One careless choice among many calculated ones.
At the same moment I was writing on the paper, Pakari and his friend were mulling in the street, looking in every direction except up. “I can’t believe this!” Pakari yelled, with no passerby as witnesses. “We can’t possibly have just LOST-”
Motions were made between the pair, primarily from Pakari, as he had shifted to non-verbally expressing his disgust. His larger friend silently laid a hand on his shoulder and motioned up to the security camera on the side of the building, causing Pakari to bolt back inside and the larger fellow to follow. I handed the paper off to Diero and he consumed the corner I had written on.
Energetically he spun around and leapt, running up the sheer vertical surface of the building, flipping about and landing on the top. He looked about for a moment, and then began running along the telephone wire connecting to the building, letting me survey the whole of the district from the uncomfortable position.
“♪ Let’s sing a song of sorrow,” Diero suddenly began.
“Stop that.” I politely requested of him.
"Dreams of Yesterday and Tomorrow, ♫" Diero continued, with a confused and somewhat worried expression on his face as if I was responsible for his off-key wailing. I can’t exactly blame him for that conclusion.
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Ch 8
