Phantasm Special Unit, known among the citizens as the PSU, is one of the few divisions reporting directly to the Ministry of Safety. However important they might sound, they are rarely seen, but whenever they happen to appear, they mean nothing but disaster and a pain to deal with.

“What are you doing here?”

“Goodnight to you too Margaret. I’m doing great, thanks for asking.”

The police officer resting by the vending machine, sitting idly in the wellness station with a phone in her palm, almost jumped in surprise as soon as Mika entered the building.

“Didn’t you come here earlier this week? Don’t tell me you are here to visit the haunted house?”

“You know the PSU, at your service 24/7. So, is he at least interesting?”

“Don’t know, would rather get fired than enter his cell. I’m in no mood to get possessed before the wedding.”

“Is he possessed?”

Joey lazily appeared from the other side of the service door, waving hello to Margaret and ready to sit by her side before Mike interrupted.

“Why are you even asking that? Hurry up and find the Captain.”

“Charming as always, isn’t she Joey?”

“It’s been a long day; we couldn’t even finish our dinner in peace. Congrats on the wedding by the way.”

Mika stared holes into the heads of both youngsters, who pretended she wasn’t there and gleefully chatted away under the neon light coming from the vending machine. Behind her, the Police Station looked more like a cheap hotel than an official building, with a long, empty hallway and a bunch of numbered doors on each side.

“Sorry Margaret, gotta go look for the Captain before Chief Mika starts strangling me.”

“He is in cell five interviewing the spook.”

“Why didn’t you say that from the beginning!”

“You never asked me.”

“I fucking did!”

Mika grabbed Joey by the collar and headed towards the last room on the right side of the hallway, her insults echoed through the building. Thankfully for the three of them, like it happens at every other place, not a single citizen gets near the Police Station once the sun goes down.

“And mind your language, this is an extension of the Ministry.”

“Mind your business, pig!”

Officer Margaret smirked playfully and continued looking at her phone, while the pair of Detectives walked towards what would be the most important interrogation of their careers.

“Thank you for coming in such a short notice Detective, I was running out of ideas to keep the guy busy. The Ministries of Health, Safety and Wellbeing keep ringing my phone every five minutes.”

A muscular man, with eyebrows as hairy as his mustache and a pair of naturally unfriendly small eyes, sat in front of Mika and Joey inside a spare room. Glued to the small screen of a tablet held by Joey, the trio reviewed file after file, their frustration increasing with each new document.

“It’s our duty Captain. What’s the deal so far?”

“I explained it to the kid when I called, but basically he saw something inside the Ministry, got scared and passed out. The other passengers reported him and that’s how he ended up here.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. What about him, has he told you anything good.”

“His name is Aaron White, male, 25 years old and single. Works as an assistant editor on the Citadel.”

“Did he say in which department?”

“Economy, but he is just a small fry that barely passed the qualification. He has been assigned to the same position for three years now.”

“Everything checks out… Any friends or family?”

“His parents are still alive on District 6, but the last time he visited them was last year. His only friends outside of his job are a pair of classmates from the Formation Center. We analyzed both their profiles and found no risk factors, their documents should all be there.”

“Tch…”

Mika patience was running thin and she leaned in her metallic chair, grabbing hair with a stiff movement that almost looked painful.

“What do you think Chief?”

“This guy could not be any more boring even if he tried. Talking with him or looking at the file, it makes no difference.”

“That’s why you are here Detective, no matter what I tried I cannot crack this spook open. The fella even asked for some Counseling himself, but the guys are not dumb enough to take him.”

Mika paused for a moment before standing up to take out her small notebook.

“So… you don’t believe he is telling the truth.”

Joey covered his eyes in embarrassment while Captain Steward blinked repeatedly, his mouth twisted in an uncanny fashion. The air became even denser inside the cramped room, until the Captain impatiently stumbled with a response.

“Was that… a question?”

“Well, you called the Phantasm Unit for something, Captain.”

“I fucking called Chief Mika to deal with this, now do it if you don’t want the PSU to actually have a case. Have I made myself clear?”

After slamming the table with both hands, the Captain walked towards the exit without taking his eyes off Mika for a single second.

“Give me thirty minutes to finish reading this and I’ll be with him.”

“Thanks for the help, Detective.”

“I’m in no position to refuse, Captain.”

Endlessly scribbling into her notepad, Mika buried her face once again into the led screen containing every minute of the life of an unlucky man waiting inside the room next door.

“Imma grab you another coffee.”

Giving his superior a pad in the back, Joey also left the room with defeat written all over his face.

“Thanks…”