The Line of Duty

I stare a second longer than I need to at my locker, my hand outstretched as if to grab something that isn't there. Momentarily confused by the action, I glance down at my belt to make sure everything is in order.

“Hey Lance, your hair is getting kind of long, huh?” I snap out of whatever thoughts I was having, glancing over at the mirror inside my locker.

Reaching up to my neck, my hand brushes against the ends of my hair as I turn slightly. It is getting longer than usual. I shrug, pulling my jacket on. “Huh… I guess I didn’t realize that it had gotten so long. I’ll have to get a trim.” With my jacket on, I check my gear and make sure I have my badge on me.

I look over at the officer who pointed it out. He smiles at me while leaning back against the door to the locker room. He’s my closest friend on the force and his favorite pastime is hassling me. “You let it get too long and I’ll have to start calling you Miss Fenn,” He leers at that and I can only sigh. As much as he is my friend, he could stand to be more pleasant sometimes.

Shooting him an annoyed look, I close my locker. “God forbid you have to refer to someone feminine respectfully.”

He looks at me weirdly, pushing away from the wall. “But… you’re not a woman. I would just be insulting you.”

I sigh, pushing past him and out of the locker room. He follows after me, the door shutting behind us on its own. “We’re on patrol first, right?” I ask, trying to change the subject so he doesn’t keep putting his foot into his mouth.

I look over at him and he folds his arms.“Actually, the Chief wanted us to stop by his office before we head out.”

I quirk an eyebrow at that, but I allow Campbell to lead the way. Does the Chief have something special that he wants us to do?

We don't say anything more on our way to the Chief's office. The silence is nice, it gives me a chance to think about things on the way over. I find my mind and my eyes drifting towards the evidence locker. My thoughts lingering on a certain black crystal that we seized the other day.

I'm brought out of my thoughts abruptly by the police chief approaching us just outside his office. I stand a little straighter as I see him, saluting him by reflex. "Officer Campbell, Officer Fenn. Perfect, come right in," he says, gesturing towards the door of his office.

Entering his office, he pulls the door closer behind us. "I don't want to keep you two for long, so I'll keep this brief. Are either of you familiar with the mountains to the west at all?"

"Esgough Peak?" I ask.

"That's the one. There are a few cave entrances near the base of the mountain. Just off the road nearby. I asked Clark to print out a map." He puts a map on the table, pointing out the cave entrances. "They should all be gated up. I just need you two to go check on them and make sure people haven't been getting into them."

Frowning, I look down at the map. "Is there any particular reason, sir? We don't usually pay the area this much attention. Is there something there we should watch out for?"

He nods. "We're currently concerned that people may be going into the caves. If you do see any people, please vacate them and report back any areas that may need to be resecured."

I nod, glancing once more at the map before folding it back up and tucking it away. “Copy that, Chief. We’ll head right over.” I turn to Campbell, gesturing that we should get going.

"Oh, and Officer Fenn?"

I pause, turning to look back at the Chief.  "Yes, Chief?"

He smiles, sitting back down in his chair. "Good work yesterday. Be sure to keep an eye out for more of whatever you found yesterday. We're not sure what it is exactly, but we've had some reports from nearby precincts that it might be a new drug or illegal substance of some sort. Be careful out there."

I nod, saluting seriously. "Thank you, sir! I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled."

I roll down the window of the squad car and stick my head outside to look around. The forest around us is very quiet. Only the sound of some birdsong occasionally broken up by the chittering of some squirrels in nearby trees. "Don't usually have much reason to come out this way," I say, glancing around the trees and taking it all in.

Campbell sighs, keeping his eyes on the road. "Cause they don't usually have us doing the shitty jobs. What did we do to deserve being out here?" He blows an exasperated breath of air out, making his frustration clear.

"It's no different from any other task he could have given us," I say, trying my best not to sound as upset with Campbell's insinuation as I feel. Clearly the Chief is entrusting us with a valuable mission.

He scoffs. "There's some weird new substance floating around our town's gangs and the Chief has us checking up on some caves away from the action? The chief is giving us grunt work." He pauses for a moment before addressing me directly. "Aren't you mad? You're the guy who found that thing in the first place. You've got more of a right than anyone to be on the case tracking this shit down."

Pulling my head back into the car, I give Campbell the most unimpressed look I can. "I'm not that concerned about who gets what cases. As long as I'm doing my job and keeping people safe, I'm fine doing whatever. Besides, we've only got one more to check, and then we'll be back on our normal patrol." Turning back to the window, I glance down at the map in my lap. "Slow down, we're almost there." I gesture through the bushes where I can faintly see the small lake near the entrance of the cave.

Campbell just sighs, nodding and not saying anything further. I point out the small dirt road he has to turn down and he maneuvers the car down it carefully. It's just wide enough that the car can make it through, but there's only about half a foot of clearance on either side. It's a tight fit. "Fuckin' hell, this one's even more out of the way than the last too…" Campbell complains. I ignore his whining, my eyes starting straight at the path ahead of us.

I can see the cave entrance in question just through the trees that line this small dirt road. As we get to the end of the road the trees stop and Campbell is able to park the car off to the side. Hopping out of the car, I walk up the gate. Frowning, I bend down and tug at the gate gently. The gate pulls away easily, the cuts made to the gate only becoming apparent when moved.

"Looks like someone has been getting into the cave here…" I say, pulling my flashlight out of my belt. Flashing a light down the cave, I try to see as far down it as possible.

It doesn't seem like anyone's immediately inside it, but it looks like it goes much deeper inside. Continuing to shine my flashlight around the cave, I pause as the light reflects off of something on the ceiling. Swinging the light back towards the object it flashes reflectively once more. Peering closer, I stare at the black crystal embedded into the top of the cave. It looks just like the black crystal we seized the other day. Slipping under the gate, I try to get a closer look.

My gaze sweeps across the broken city in front of me. The shimmering black fragments of originium coat the city in a thin and deadly layer. Large chunks jut out of the rubble at odd angles. Every piece reflects the light differently as my eyes sweep the scene of carnage right before me. The scene is as viscerally beautiful as it is deadly.

"...so pretty. I've never seen anything like this." I say gently. I realize after a moment that the noise of the storm has let up for once, allowing us to speak at a normal volume.

"Those are small originium crystals made by the catastrophe," Elba explains from behind me, "they're beautiful." She pulls herself out from the hatch in the ground while I take in the view. "The active Originium dust in the air illuminates in the dark. It's a scene that can only be witnessed after a catastrophe. A deadly scene…" I can hear the derision in her voice as she continues, "as if the land is trying to make a mockery of those of us trying to survive."

I nod gently, watching the scene with a strange mix of unease and awe. I turn, expecting to see how Kroos and Beagle are reacting to this scene, but I only find Elba. I hold back a frown, remembering that they both have their own tasks right now and I have mine. I can't help wishing they were here to see this. Beagle would love this view.

Elba catches my eye, her expression hardening after a second as she turns away. "There's no time to sightsee! Your police station isn't far from here! Let's not waste any time!"

I hurry after her, only sparing a single glance back at the breathtaking view. As we run, I make sure that my mask is secured properly, the view reminding me that it's only possible thanks to all of the active Originium particles in the air.

I stop in my tracks, my head spinning as I glance around myself. What… was that? My eyes swing back to the large crystal in the cave and I feel a surge of fear from deep inside. A fear that I can't trace the origin of, but that I trust more than anything. I take a step back away, my eyes locked on the crystal. I try to cover my mouth with the arm of my sleeve, trying to reconcile the strange things I just saw with what's right in front of me.

"Yo, Lance, you okay?" Campbell calls from just behind. I turn back to him, nodding. I duck back under the fence, looking tentatively behind me at the crystal in the cave.

"I… think so." Shaking my head, I turn back to the cave. With some distance between me and the crystal, I can feel some of my anxiety finally disappearing, but some of it stays. "Inside the cave, I had the weirdest-" before I can finish the thought, I hear the revving of an engine.

Turning around towards where we parked the squad car not that far away, the lights are now on again and someone is in the driver's seat. "Hey, get out of there!" Campbell yells from beside me."

Whoever is attempting to steal our car flips the car into reverse quickly. Campbell starts running before I do, but I quickly overtake him. I run after the car as it starts to drive down the small dirt road. Thanks to the narrow road, I realize that I'm gaining distance.

Staring at the driver through the side mirror I can see who's driving the car. Once they notice how close I am, they hit the gas a little harder. Before they can pull away from me, though, they hit a small bump on the uneven road. They extra speed is just enough to throw them off course, causing them to hit a nearby tree and jerk to a stop. The car wasn't going especially fast, but it is fast enough to set off the airbags.

Approaching the car with my taser drawn, I pull the driver's side door open. A man wrestles his way out of the car, fighting against the airbag. "Freeze, this is the police." I say, keeping my taser steady. The man groans, picking himself up from the ground after a moment. "I don't know what your plan was here, but you know I have to take you in now, right?"

The man groans again, holding his hands up as he looks at me. "Ugh, please don't. I wasn't actually trying to take your car." He says, dropping one arm and clutching his side.

I raise an eyebrow at that, reaching for my cuffs. "It sure looked like you were to me."

He stands up, causing me to watch him closely. He doesn't seem to reach for a weapon though, he just continues clutching his side. "I wasn't going to go far, just drive a little away and get you away. You don't know how dangerous that cave is."

That causes me to pause, taking this man in again once more. He's middle aged and wearing hiking clothes. He doesn't have much on him, not even a backpack or anything you might see a normal hiker wearing. "Do you know something about that cave?" I ask cautiously. The man goes silent, still clutching at his side.

"You got him?" Campbell calls from behind me. Glancing briefly over my shoulder, I realize that he's still a ways away. "Fuckin' hell dude, nice running. You kept up with that car like it was nothing." I watch Campbell stop running as he gets closer and he doubles over, breathing heavily. I frown, turning back to the man who just tried stealing our squad car. His eyes meet mine briefly before sweeping over my entire body.

I can't help thinking to myself that I should be out of breath too. Yet I barely broke a sweat chasing after that car. Granted, it wasn't moving that fast, but it was moving plenty fast for it to be a difficult task. Shaking my head clear of thoughts, I focus on the man in front of me. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm gonna have to put you under arrest."

His eyes go wide and I can see him glancing around. I take a few steps toward him, still holding my taser. Unfortunately for him, he knows I could catch up to the car without breaking a sweat, so what hope does he have on foot? When I'm within a few steps of him, he turns to me pleadingly. "Please, don't do this…"

"Dude, really? You tried to steal our car." Campbell says, having finally caught his breath. "You're lucky Officer Fenn, didn't tase you for it."

I ignore Campbell, stepping closer. "Sir, please turn around and lean against the car. I would appreciate it if you don't make this any more difficult."

The man sighs, letting go of his side and raising his hands up. As he removes his hand, though, I see something that stops me in my tracks. A small patch of Originium crystals growing from his side.

I freeze in my steps, several confusing thoughts running through my head.

"What the hell is that?!" Campbell exclaims in shock. I know that they're Originium Crystals. I just don't know why I know their name, but not what they are. I also know that my instinctual reaction to seeing those crystals is one of concern.

My eyes drift upwards to look at the man's face and I can see that his stare is long as he looks at me. His hands are raised over his head, but I can see clearly how much pain he's putting himself in to keep them up and not double over. "You're injured? You can put your hands down for now. We'll take you to the hospital."

He shakes his head, still putting his hands down to clutch his side once more. "They won't know what to do with me… nobody has seen this before."

"I'm sure they've removed plenty of things people have stabbed into themselves before." Campbell says, walking forward to stand next to me. I have to resist giving him a look, not wanting to have to berate him in front of someone like this.

"It's not stabbed in," I say carefully, watching the man's expression. "It's growing from you, isn't it?"

The man pauses, giving me a tentative once over before finally nodding. "The rocks in that cave are infectious." Campbell takes a step back as he hears that, glancing between me and the man nervously. "That's why I tried to get you away from here. I've been trying to keep people out of it since I caught it."

I nod once after hearing that, sighing gently as I put my taser down. "Attempted robbery isn't the best way to get our attention."

He spits onto the ground, glaring at us. "Isn't it? You cops don't seem to take anything not involving property seriously." I wince at his criticism, feeling his barbed comment cut through to my core. The rest of the precinct sometimes has a bad habit of not taking calls seriously and it's something that's gotten to me too. To hear a valid criticism of our police makes me slightly ashamed of my precinct. For Campbell, however, it just makes him furious.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say." He says, stepping forward and pulling his cuffs out. Holding the cuffs out, I watch him glance nervously at the man's crystalline growth, but he doesn't back away. He gestures with one hand to me without taking his eyes off the guy. "Infectious rocks, I've heard everything now. Come on, let's get this guy back to the station and report back already."

I shake my head, grabbing Campbell's arm to stop him briefly. "No, we gotta take him to the hospital."

Campbell looks at me annoyed. "Didn't you hear him? He doesn't want it. We don't want to not take him seriously." He sneers, shoving my hands off of him. The man doesn't fight him, but he looks completely downtrodden.

I don't try to hide my displeasure as I watch him handle the infected man. It doesn't feel right, but I can't exactly just let the man off with a warning after what he did…

And there's another twang of familiarity… That word, Infected, why does that sound so familiar?

I look at the list of names on the clipboard in front of me, checking the room numbers for each in turn. As I make my way briskly down the hall, I approach the next door. With a brisk knock, I check the names of the occupants. "Hello? I'm here to check in with the Weatherfords?" I call out through the door, waiting patiently for a response.

After a moment, the door opens hesitantly. A slim young man with messy hair and clean clothes can be seen through the small slit he opens in the door. "It's just me, right now…" he turns to cough gently, holding an arm up to block it.

I smile gently, nodding as I glance at my sheet once more. There are three potential Weatherfords, I just need to talk to one of them. "I'm sorry to bother you, are you one of the Weatherfords?"

He nods slowly, "I'm Elias. My mother and father aren't here right now."

"That's perfectly alright. I'm Fang, operator for Rhodes Island Operations team A1." Holding out a hand for him to shake, he tentatively accepts it.

He looks at me carefully, "You were one of the ones who helped us when we first got here, right?"

"That's right. I was hoping I could talk with you real quick about your recent boarding of the landship? If you're feeling up to it of course."

He nods slowly, opening the door carefully. "Um, yeah, if you're okay talking to me."

"Of course, it's mostly just a quick check in." He walks carefully back to a bed in the corner of the room, sitting on the foot of it. I drag a chair from one of the tables a little closer, sitting down to put us at the same eye level as each other. "So, it's been a couple days since your village boarded the landship. Some of the others have expressed a desire to stay with the landship long term, but some others are discussing potential options for relocation."

He looks instantly anxious, grabbing his forearm nervously. "I… We don't have the money to stay here long term…" he grabs at his side gently and I can tell that he has an originium growth there. "The doctors said I need to take it easy, but I can go to work early if I need to…" he ends his sentence coughing.

"No, no, it's okay. Please, listen to the medics." I wave a hand dismissively, smiling gently to better get my point across. "You don't need to pay to stay. When you're better, If you do end up wanting to look for work we won't turn you away, but you don't need to worry about that any time soon. I'm just trying to figure out who plans on being long term residents so we can properly plan our resources for the future." I glance down at my survey sheet, turning it so he can see it. "As well as to determine if there's anything you all need right now."

He nods, coughing to clear his throat. "Um… maybe cough drops?" He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, my parents haven't really told me anything that would be helpful to you."

I smile, writing down cough drops onto one of  the survey forms. "I'll stop by later when they're around then." Getting up from the chair, I move it back into place. "Rest easy, Elias."

He nods, staying where he is on his bed. "Thank you, Miss Fang."

Smiling, I nod back at him as I open his front door back up. I stare in shock at the person standing just outside the door, her hand raised to knock on the door just before I opened it. She takes a step back in shock, her blonde bunny ears folding back slightly. She recovers quickly, holding a hand to her chest and beaming at me. "Talk about a surprise!" She exclaims happily, "What are you doing here, Fang?"

"Oh, good morning, Kroos," I hold up the clipboard for her to see and she turns to read them. "Landship residency surveys. I'm checking up on that last group we helped onboard." I gesture to Elias, who is still sitting on his bed. He smiles at Kroos and she waves at him gently.

"Hey there, Elias. Just who I was hoping to see!"

"I… am?" He coughs a bit, looking nervous all over again.

"Mhmm!" She says, pulling her bag around and reaching into it. She pulls out a plain looking pouch, walking into the room to hand it to him. "Delivery for ya!"

He looks at the pouch strangely, even poking it with a finger before glancing up at her inquisitively. "For me? You're sure?"

She nods, taking his hand and placing the pouch into it. "Yup! I'm sure."

He looks at the pouch questioningly. "What is it?" he asks as he starts to pull it open. As it opens I find myself curious, so I step closer to see what's inside too. He pulls out a small marble shaped objects. It kind of looks like candy.

"Candy?" Elias asks. It certainly looks like candy. I turn to look at Kroos and she smiles.

"Lozenges!" She says, gesturing for him to try one. He looks at it in surprise for a moment. He pops it into his mouth a moment later, letting out a short happy hum. "Hibiscus mentioned you'd been suffering from a bit of a cough, so I asked her if she could help me make you a little something special." At the mention of Hibiscus, I glance at the bag of lozenges with concern. Kroos sees my reaction, shaking her hand to reassure me. "Don't worry, I had Matterhorn help with the taste." At that response I loosen up.

"Thank you so much, Miss Kroos!"

She smiles, giving him a small salute. “Glad to be of help!” She turns around, waving goodbye to Elias. “Well, that’s all I came for! Be sure to thank Hibiscus when you go to medical for your next check-up.” He nods appreciatively, thanking her some more. I take my leave while they're busy, looking down at the rest of the names on my clipboard in turn.

The door behind me pops open once more and Kroos slips through quickly. "Hi hi~" she says as she steps towards me quickly. Wrapping her arms quickly around me, she traps me in a brief, but appreciated, hug. Leaning back against her briefly, my eyes turn back to inspecting my clipboard seriously. She lets me go, looking over my shoulder at the papers I have clipped to it. "So it looks like you're busy with the post-board check-ups?"

Nodding, I start walking towards the next room. Kroos follows me easily, humming to herself while we walk. Glancing over at her curiously, she smiles brightly. "Don't you have more deliveries to make?"

"Hmmm? No, no, I'm not working today. I just happened to have some time to spare to deliver it." She smiles, reaching into her bag. "Well… I do have one more delivery to make." She whips out a colorful envelope, handing it over to me.

Looking down at the front of the envelope I see that it reads "To: Fang" in Beagle's handwriting. I smile, glancing up at Kroos. Opening up the envelope, I see that it's an invitation. "You're invited to Operation Reserve Team A1's Anniversary Party?" I say it incredulously, reading the letter over again and looking at the cute drawings on the invitation.

"It's coming up next week, you know." Kroos' face is happy as she continues walking alongside me. "Beagle's been really wanting to do something for the occasion, so she had some of the other operators help her plan it."

I nod, thinking to myself idly. "hasn't it been more than a year since we got here, though?"

Kroos' nods, "it has. But it's only been a year since team A1 was officially put together. Since Lava and Hibiscus joined us."

I let memories of a number of our missions together play across the back of my mind, thinking about just how many missions we've taken together. A year really does fly by. "Oh, wow, I didn't think about that."

"Me neither. I'm not sure if Beagle would have either if Instructor Dobermann hadn't brought it up." Kroos shakes her head gently. "Can't believe we almost forgot! Thankfully Miss Dobermann keeps such meticulous records!" I nod in agreement, folding the invitation nicely and slipping it into my pocket.

"Well, I definitely won't miss it. It's been a while since we had a celebration. And it's definitely an occasion worth celebrating."

Kroos smiles widely. "I thought so too." Throwing her hand up into a silly salute, she turns around and starts walking away. "I'll let Beagle know that you got her invitation! Good luck with your check-ups!"

I jolt awake from the dream, my eyes shaking slightly as they take in the dark bedroom around me. Confusion washes over me like a crashing wave as I try to sort through two separate contradicting memories. I clutch my head, pressing my palms into my eyes to try and ease the pain of an encroaching headache. I stumble out of bed towards the mirror.

This room that I’ve lived in all my life feels foreign to me now, even though I instantly know where everything is. I feel the world spinning in my half awake state as my brain tries to feed me memories of other rooms, impossible rooms that a part of me knows I’ve never been to.

The other part of me recognizes them.

Stumbling into the bathroom and in front of the mirror, I see a face that’s just as familiar as everything else. Except the other way around. The part of me that recognizes this room I can tell doesn’t recognize this face and vice versa.

My hair is longer than it was, longer than it’s ever been, and is now considerably past my shoulders. It’s simultaneously not as long as it should be— As I remember it being. My hair is a bright and unnatural powder blue, the same as my eyes. Two slightly furry, or maybe hairy, ears are sat on the top of my head. Compared to everything else, though, it’s hard to be more shocked. Running my fingers through my hair, I’m stuck in place as two thoughts, two sets of memories, two names, battle for control in my head.

Who am I? Am I… Fang? Or am I Lance?

I shake my head, turning on the sink and splashing my face with water. The cold water wakes me up and eases some of the encroaching headache. When I look again, I look exactly the same. I look more like Fang than I do Lance now and I can only assume I’ll only look more and more like myself. Err, like her?

I splash my face once more, the damp hair around my face starting to stick to my skin. I shake my head, only making the hair situation worse. My ear flicks in annoyance, bringing attention back to the strange ear situation once more. Reaching up, I instinctively start to put my hair into a ponytail before I stop myself. Looking down at my bathroom counter I know that I don’t have any hair ties around here. Dropping my hair, I sigh.

I turn, rubbing my face against a towel to dry it off. In spite of all of the confusion, I do feel a little more awake now.

“Okay, think, Fang…” I mutter to myself, realizing what I just said after doing just that. I groan, “Lance… whoever!” Tapping my foot, I wander back into my room thinking about what I should do.

The longer I think, though, the more I keep coming back to one particular intrusive thought. I keep trying to push it out of my mind, but I can’t fully commit to not thinking about it. Even if it’s strange to think about, I can’t deny that this too is how I truly feel now too. Sighing, I flop back onto the bed. “I miss Beagle and Kroos…” I admit to the open air in my room.

It’s a sentiment that’s difficult to wrestle with, but I feel that I care for them just as much as I care for the rest of my family. Even if I’ve never met these people before… These feelings are real now, aren’t they? Sitting up, I clench my fists into the sheets. Why is everything confusing…?

My alarm goes off, catching my attention.

That’s right, I still have to go to work. I glance towards the bathroom where I know the mirror is. “Can I even…?” I ask myself quietly.

The room is silent, no answer coming.

Sighing, I get up and get ready for work. Fang or Lance, one thing I think we could agree on is that I have a duty to the people.

I adjust my belt once more, watching the police station from a distance. I didn’t think I’d changed all that much in terms of height, but none of my clothes fit the same. I had to roll up my pant legs a lot just to wear them. I feel like I’m wearing an older brother's hand-me-downs.

Every second that I wait, this feels like more and more of a bad idea, but I can’t just avoid my responsibilities. If I’m late they’ll just show up at my door anyways. 

There’s something else too… That cave from yesterday and those black crystals we’ve got stored in the evidence room are suspicious. Of all the new memories I’ve got, one thing that’s simultaneously stuck out to me and been the hardest to remember is anything regarding Originium. I’m fairly certain that it’s responsible for me being in this mess. I need to convince the police chief to get rid of the chunks that are in evidence, or at least secure them better.

Adjusting my belt once more, I brace myself and start walking towards the police station. A pair of officers I recognize step out of the building as I approach it. The two of them stop moving when they see me and one gestures towards me. Instead of meeting my eyes, though, I can see them both looking just over me. My ears flick, reminding me of their presence. Right… I can’t believe I forgot that those aren’t normal.

They approach me purposefully, as if to stop me. I nod to the two, keeping my face serious. “Johnston, Brookes,” I address them by their last names tersely as I pass them. My casual mention of their names stops them in their tracks as they continue to stare. It’s enough time for me to slip into the building and escape whatever questions they might have had for me.

Walking into the building, the receptionist glances up briefly to look at me. He perks up upon seeing me, standing up slightly. “Uh… ma’am, I—” I pull my badge up for him to see and it stops him in his tracks. He inspects it closely before his mouth shut. “Why do you have Lance’s badge?” he asks.

I sigh, putting my badge away. “I need to speak to the Chief. Is he in his office?”

“Yes, but why—” he starts to say something else, but I walk away before he can say anymore. I hear him pick up his phone and dial a number as I walk away. I try to push it out of my mind, if I can just talk to the Chief then I can clear everything up.

Approaching the Chief's office, I see that the blinds on his glass door are closed when I knock on the door. The sounds of muffled talking from behind the door cease after I knock. After a moment of waiting, the door clicks open.

“I told you that I’m in an important meeting, can’t it…” His words die in his throat as he looks down at me, “...wait. Who are you? How the fuck did you get in here?”

Pulling out my badge, I stand as tall as I can and meet his steely gaze. “Officer Lance Fenn, sir.” I hand him my badge and he takes it carefully. While he looks it over, I glance behind him. A man in a black suit stands just behind him, watching me carefully.

He scoffs, holding the badge up. “Bullshit, who the fuck are you? Why do you have Lance’s badge?”

Before I can speak, the man in the suit steps towards the door frame and lays a hand on the Chief’s shoulder. “I believe she’s telling you the truth, she was Officer Lance at one point. Look at the ears.” He gestures towards my head and I feel my ears flick anxiously. I really hadn’t wanted to draw attention to them.

The Chief does just that, looking up at my ears before taking a step back. “Fucking hell, are you telling me all that shit you were talking about is real?”

He nods, “Unfortunately, it seems one of your officers has already fallen to its effects.” The chief turns away from me to look at the man in the suit and he continues talking, gesturing widely at the rest of the building. “I can have a team here later today to clean the premises and secure all of your samples, but I’ll need to relocate your operations temporarily. There’s a small building nearby that’s already being prepped to house a small team of officers.”

The Chief sighs, nodding as he listens to the man. I don’t know who this man is, but it’s already becoming very clear that he was sent by someone much higher than the Chief to deal with this situation. Somehow, someone’s already very on top of this. “Alright… I don’t know what’s going on, but if you can stop me from losing anymore of my people.” The man just nods in response.

Frowning at his words, I clear my throat and call attention back to myself. “With all due respect, sir… I haven’t gone anywhere. This… change has not hindered my capabilities whatsoever.”

He folds his arms, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, Lance, you’re sick. Even if that weren’t the case, look at yourself, you’re in no condition to work.”

My frown deepens as I let my shoulders loosen slightly. “Sir, I—”

“No, Lance, you’re dismissed.” He holds my badge up. “You’re officially dismissed from duty. Even if you were capable of working, I can’t have someone who’s been infected at the station, it’s too big of a risk when we don’t know what we’re dealing with.” I stagger back a step at those words, my mind reeling as images from another life flash before my eyes. There it is again. That term, Infected. “I appreciate all you’ve done for us as an officer up until now and I’m sorry that you had to suffer something like this while in the line of duty, but there isn’t anything I can do.” He takes a couple steps back away from me, as if he realized that he might be standing too close.

My vision spins as he does so. I can feel the headache coming back in force as I feel despair start to wash over me. Dismissed again for being infected. On a different world entirely this time… “Sir, you can’t do this. Years of service, all to come to this? What am I supposed to do…?”

The man in the suit steps forward, smiling at me. “Rest assured, there will be a generous severance provided for your service. We’ll take good care of you as our thanks for your bravery regarding this situation.”

My ear twitches, my eyes focusing on this man once more. He’s smiling, but I don’t like his eyes. “What do you mean `you’ll take care of me`?”

His smile falls into a forlorn expression that still doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Well, you see, I’m terribly sorry to say that we don’t know a terrible lot about what’s happened to you. We’ll have you come back with us so that we can figure out the best way to treat you.” I take a step back at that, but he continues talking. “Rest assured, you’ll be taken care of very well. You’re one of our own, a brave officer of the force of course.” My stomach turns every second he continues talking.

Shaking my head aggressively, I take another step back. “No, I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to that. I’m not contagious. I still have things that I need to do.” The man frowns and I see his eyes shift slightly, but he doesn’t say anything more. “Chief,” I say, turning to look at him.

He doesn’t even meet my eyes, looking away. “I’m sorry, Lance. You were a good officer.” His words strike one last pang of despair into my heart and I turn.

As soon as I turn away, I hear the rustle of fabric and a single rushed step. I duck forward, rolling away from the attack. As I come back to my feet, I see the man in a suit pointing a gun in my direction. “I’m sorry about this, Lance, but I can’t accept a no here.”

Raising my hands slowly, I scowl at the man. Glancing around, I see that the commotion I’ve caused has alerted the rest of the officers who were lingering nearby and they’re all watching us carefully. The despair that’s formed inside me churns below the waters as I stare down this mans gun. “I already told you, I’m not contagious. Oripathy can’t be spread that easily between people. I don’t want to go with you.”

The Chief scoffs, “Come on, how could you know that, Lance? Can’t you have some sense? Don’t you care about the lives of these other officers around you?”

I grimace, glancing at the people around me. “I just know. I remember it.”

The man in the suit nods slowly, stepping closer. “Come with us, then. Show us. Tell us what else you remember. But don’t take that chance for the others around you. Don’t take away their agency here. Be a good girl and come with us.”

His words make me sick and I feel that feeling in my core morph from despair into something else. This man does not care about these people's agency, he just cares about restricting my own. He continues to step closer to me before finally stopping a few feet away from me.

I stare down the barrel of the gun, standing at the ready. Jessica steps forward, still keeping a good distance from me. I measure the distance visually, keeping an eye on her trigger finger. I move a hand slowly behind me to reach for my fumbled lance and Jessica’s eyes follow the movement.

Her aim shifts slightly in that moment and while she isn’t as focused on me, I spring towards her. I duck under her aim, striking up on the handle of her pistol as she tries to follow my movements. I move too quickly for her to react, though. I’m on her before she can adjust her aim.

Striking her pistol I’m able to knock it out of her hands and sweep her legs from under her. As she falls to the ground, she holds her hands up. “Ah! I give up, I give up!” Smirking, I hold a hand out to help her up.

Dobermann speaks up from behind us as I help Jessica up. “Good work, Fang. Jessica, make sure you’re aware of when you’re entering someone’s range, especially a combatant that can move quickly like Fang.”

Jessica nods, tears starting to well in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I forgot how fast she is…”

As the memory catches my attention, I realize how close the man in the suit is. I let out a breath, lowering one of my hands slowly behind my back. The man tenses, his gaze following my hand. “Don’t do anything stupid,” he says seriously. His attention has already shifted towards my hand.

I dash to the side and under his aim. The movement is faster and more fluid than I’ve ever been able to move and the wind rushes against me as I slide up under him. His aim drags slowly behind me and a shot goes off before it even makes it halfway to me. “Wha—” he shouts. I strike at the gun quickly, using the recoil from his missed shot to force the gun out of his hand and into the air. Sweeping my leg underneath him I manage to push him back to the floor easily as well.

“Fucking hell!” The Chief shouts, ducking. Seeing my opportunity, I use my newfound agility to dash down the hallway and towards the exit. “Get him!” The Chief's voice calls out from behind me.

I hear an alarm start to go off around me as I approach the exit. Dashing out the door, I run right into another Officer. He falls to the ground and I look at him. It’s Officer Campbell. I can tell that he doesn’t recognize me. Hearing the alarm from behind me he instantly pulls his gun on me even from his position on the ground. “Freeze!” he yells.

I swiftly kick the gun out of his hands before he can even remember to turn the safety off. He watches it fly out of his hands, scrambling back away from me as I do so. I sigh, ignoring him and running away. I don’t have time to waste on someone like him.

Thankfully, now no one can match my running pace. I hear the distant sound of sirens attempting to follow me, but I run down alleys and side streets until I reach the edge of town. I stop at a nearby gas station and with only a little hesitation, I pull all the money I can out of my checking account. With a single glance back into town, I take a couple breaths. I desperately want to pick some stuff up from my apartment, but they’ll be swarming the place now. I carefully tuck the couple thousand dollars into my pocket.

I stay just out of sight of the road and I continue running. There’s a town a couple miles away and I could use a nice run to clear my head. I watch the slightly overcast sky as I run, hoping that the trees along the road will keep me dry if it decided to rain.

SylkWeaver

Hey y'all. Writing is hard, y'know? Anyways, it's been split between projects lately because of how my brain works and new stuff is coming. Next part of this Operator record should be out sometime tomorrow (a little birthday present for myself c:) and I have an original Story all finished and ready to be posted closer to halloween. Maybe more, really depends fsdfjlsdkf. Thank you so much for being patient with me and I hope you're enjoying more from this little world I've created!