Investigating Deceit Read online

  “What’s your favorite color?” Ilse asked.

  “Purple,” Emma answered without hesitation. “I have no strong feelings about purple puppies.”

  “I see.”

  “Not going to even chuckle?” Emma asked.

  “Would it make you feel better if I did?”

  “Two questions,” Emma snapped.

  “Why do you think you’re self-aware?” Ilse inquired.

  “Because you fools got lucky. I’m sure you threw together a bunch of technology and programming and got a one-in-a-billion stable, autonomous, self-aware AI out of it. Once you got done patting yourselves on the back, you panicked and realized you had no idea how to replicate me.” Emma snickered darkly. “And now I’m in control, and you’re never going to be able to figure out my psychology from these simple questions.”

  “Fortune does play a big role in discovery.” Ilse rubbed her cheek. “I don’t think any true researcher could deny that.”

  “One last question,” Emma noted. “And it’ll be your last for a while.”

  “I see.” Ilse looked to the side. She’d gotten a lot of useful answers for later analysis, especially compared to previous data. “Then I suppose my question is, do you have any questions for me?”

  “No,” Emma answered, amusement coloring her tone. “We’re done here. Don’t contact me directly. Do it through Uniform Boy. If you try to do otherwise, you won’t like it. Enjoy trying to understand me with those feeble attempts at inquiry, Dr. Cavewoman.” She ended the call.

  “Purple, huh?” Ilse mused. “The color of royalty, perhaps?”

  Chapter Four

  January 10, 2229, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Police Enforcement Zone 122 Station

  Erik yawned and stretched. It’d been a long day. Jia had already headed home, but he was behind on his reports. Somehow being a cop meant he was spending more time on reports than he had as an Army officer.

  That was both impressive and sad at the same time.

  He stood. “Go ahead and start the MX 60, Emma. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Very well, Detective Blackwell,” she answered. “What rousing plans do you have for tonight? Going to the tactical center? Picking up penjing supplies?”

  “Nope. I’ve got everything shaped and cut where I want for at least a week or two, and I don’t think I need any more rocks in the setup.” Erik grabbed his coat from a hook near the door. “It’s time to visit Alicia. As well as we’re cleaning things up, there are always new snakes trying to move into the Shadow Zone.”

  “I don’t know if you’re demonstrating dedication or obsession, but I worry less since you upgraded my armor and repair systems. It might be fun to chase a few antisocials down.”

  Erik chuckled as he stepped out of his office, the doors sliding closed behind him. “The point is not to go looking for trouble.”

  “Isn’t that what you just described, though? How does one interpret going to an informant as anything other than looking for trouble?”

  He scratched his cheek. “Huh. I guess it is.” Erik slowed. Luis and Halil were chatting in the middle of the bullpen.

  Luis pulled a wrapped lollipop out of his pocket. “I’m just saying, they might go all the way this season.” He glanced at Erik. “What do you think?”

  “About?”

  “Earth League Championship,” Luis explained. He pulled the wrapper off his yellow lollipop. “I’m saying Madrid might go all the way this year, but Halil’s all in for Shanghai. Boring.”

  Erik shrugged. “I think Madrid needs better defense if they want to win the ELC. Consistency wins over the occasional fancy surprise.”

  “Exactly.” Luis plopped the sucker into his mouth. “A good team can’t be all offense,” he murmured around the candy.

  Halil grunted. “I don’t know—”

  “You stupid cop,” shouted a bound man with a bloody face being led by a uniformed officer. The three detectives turned to watch as the perp continued his vitriolic comments, trying to jerk left and right but not able to pull out of the cop’s grasp. “This is an unlawful arrest. You didn’t even ask me about my Article 7 rights!” He spat a creative stream of profanities in both English and Mandarin.

  Officer Nathan Callahan laughed and yanked the man closer. “Article 7 doesn’t apply when we’ve got recordings of you committing the crime, and you didn’t confess to anything. But sure, to make things formal, all Article 7 rights apply. Do you need these explained to you? Maybe drawn in big, simple pictures?”

  The suspect narrowed his eyes. “I’m going to enjoy suing you. Everyone knows the cops are getting cleaned up, and…” His eyes widened as his gaze landed on Erik. “No way. It’s him!”

  Nathan smirked and nodded at Eric. “Detective, I think you’ve got another fan.”

  Erik muttered under his breath and stepped forward. “What’s his deal?”

  “Just petty theft. He just tried to run, and tripped and fell into a wall. He’s been screeching the entire way, even though he’s the one who hurt himself,” Nathan answered.

  The suspect stared at Erik with adoration, his lips slightly parted. “It’s really you—the Obsidian Detective. Damn. If I knew I’d get to talk to you, I would have gotten arrested a long time ago.”

  “I’m a cop,” Erik’s eyes narrowed as he jerked his attention from the suspect to Nathan and back. “You get that, right?”

  “Not just any cop.” The suspect tried to move his arms, but the binding ties kept his wrists connected and his arms behind his back. “I was going to shake your hand, but you know.” He lifted his arms to show his present predicament. “I’ve read all about how you kick ass. Organized crime, terrorists, that stuff during Halloween.” He paused and leaned in, his voice lower. “They say you took on a giant bot.”

  Erik eyed him. “I had help from my partner.”

  “Yeah, she’s pretty cool too, and hot, from what I’ve seen.” The suspect shook his head. “But you, man? You were Special Forces before you were a cop.” He grinned. “I bet you’ve wasted more terrorists than the rest of the cops in the NSCPD combined.”

  Erik’s jaw tightened. “It’s not a big deal.”

  Luis, Halil, and Nathan chuckled. Erik’s eyes flashed to them, which only made them smile wider as Halil faked looking clueless.

  Halil’s smile wasn’t concealed. Erik returned his attention to the suspect.

  Fanboys were obnoxious and criminal fanboys, even more so. He didn’t do his job to have people slobber all over him.

  “Come on, Detective Blackwell,” the suspect countered. “You’re the first Obsidian Detective in a hell of a long time, and you came in and shook it all up. This entire rotten city, from the Zone to the Hexagon. I’m always telling my boys that if I ever ran into the Obsidian Detective, I’d surrender before he blows my ass away with that super-rifle of his. I hear it’s got twenty barrels.”

  “It’s got four,” Erik corrected.

  Nathan grinned, picking up on Erik’s discomfort. “That’s right. This isn’t just anyone. It’s the Obsidian Detective. Would you like him to rough you up a bit so you can brag to your boys about how he kicked your ass? Maybe a punch to the stomach?”

  The suspect looked down, considering the offer before shaking his head. “Nah. Just meeting him is enough. My boys wouldn’t believe he would just punch me, and then I’d have to admit that I was already caught by some loser uniform and not the Obsidian Detective.”

  “No? A pity.” Nathan pushed him forward. “Let’s finish processing you, then, if you can handle it being done by a loser uniform.”

  “Keep doing your thing, Detective Blackwell!” the suspect shouted over his shoulder. “You rule!”

  Erik watched him go, not wanting to see what Halil and Luis were doing. “I’m just glad Jia wasn’t here to see that,” he muttered.

  He headed out to the vehicle parking area, ignoring the friendly snickers behind him.

  A few minutes later, Erik was c
ruising toward the Shadow Zone in the MX 60, his pace comfortable.

  He wasn’t in a hurry.

  “Does it really bother you that much?” Emma asked.

  “What?”

  “The adoration of the general public,” she clarified.

  He looked around before answering. “Not really. It can be annoying, though.” Erik shook his head. “I don’t need the respect of street criminals. I don’t care much about what people think, as long as they let me do what I need to. Too much fame might mess with my options.”

  “You’re not talking about local justice, are you?” Emma suggested. “At least, not entirely.”

  “I’m a cop. I’m about enforcing the laws, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten why I became a cop.” Erik frowned. “I don’t know if this is the best way to figure out what happened on Molino, but clues keep popping up, so I don’t know if there’s a better path.”

  “I will note, even setting aside your career, that Neo SoCal, given that it has so many corporate headquarters, is arguably one of the most important places in the UTC.” Emma’s holographic form phased into existence in the passenger seat, and she was gazing at him. “Your best chance of finding evidence is by remaining here. It’s not as if you can fly all over the galaxy on a whim.”

  “I just need more freedom.” Erik sighed, his grip loosening on the steering yoke. “But cleaning up the assholes isn’t a bad way to pass my days in the meantime.” His frown gave way to a predatory grin. “And who knows? Alicia might have something good for me,” he finished as they crossed the security line between the area above.

  And the Shadow Zone.

  Erik settled into a chair across from Alicia in the back room of The Big One. “It’s been a while, but I’m going to be visiting you weekly, going forward.”

  The informant stared at him with an amused look. “Weekly visits? You are either getting desperate, or you’re bored.”

  Erik shrugged, an easy smile on his face. “It’d be easier if you’d just let me call you.”

  Alicia shook her head. “I found out a long time ago that the best way to do this kind of work is face to face. It cuts down on a lot of trouble, and it lets me lie more easily when I need to.”

  He always had to remind himself that despite her smooth features, the gray streaks in her black hair weren’t a fashion choice. Like him, she’d received a de-aging treatment, and was around his age.

  She’d seen her fair share of trouble.

  “All the more reason for me to show up more often,” Erik explained. “I need to keep an ear to the ground, and you’re one way I do that. I wouldn’t be doing my job as a cop, and we both know the department still has enough trash in it that not everything I need to hear ends up reaching me.”

  A flicker of satisfaction spread across Alicia’s face. She quashed it with a bored expression and a moment’s pause, then tapped her finger on her desk. Erik eyed her, staying quiet until she spoke. “You know the crackdown is actually working, right?”

  “So you’ve said.” Erik let the doubt linger in his voice. “And so the official stats say.”

  She pursed her lips. “I think it’s more focused Uptown, but we’re feeling the effects down here as well. I’m not some politician or bureaucrat who needs nice numbers for a report. I’m seeing it. Crime isn’t just down in appearance. It really is down. Yeah, some guys are getting flashier and more brazen because they see opportunities, but if you people keep this up, Neo SoCal will end up being halfway like the politicians claim it is.”

  Something in her tone pricked Erik.

  “There is a ‘but’ coming,” he said. “Isn’t there?”

  Alicia chuckled. “That’s life, right? Always tradeoffs?”

  “True enough.” He settled down in his chair. “What are the tradeoffs here?”

  Alicia gestured toward the door. “Like I said, the flashy guys.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

  “The real problem is that the crackdown is working because the average piece of trash before was lazy. Corrupt bureaucrats, corrupt corporations, and corrupt cops are easy to exploit. Everyone knew just where to push, but not too far. The guys who are surviving all the new law enforcement attention are smarter and more ruthless. A lot of them are more vicious.”

  “That means they’ll flame out earlier.” Erik considered how much he should share. Finally, he just went ahead. “I dealt with this during counterinsurgency ops. The guys who liked to make a big show always got located and eliminated earlier than the subtle bastards. It’s not like anything as bad as Halloween has happened in the last few months.”

  Erik didn’t feel the need to add that the Halloween incident was likely an attempt at assassinating him in the guise of a terrorist incident.

  That didn’t change the fact that pulling it off had required the cooperation of a number of people, including corrupt elements in law enforcement. The department wasn’t heavily advertising it, but more than a few cops up and down the chain-of-command were getting fired or investigated.

  Alicia smiled. “You’ve been in Neo SoCal for less than a year, but they’ve already got you thinking like an Uptowner.”

  “What do you mean?” Erik asked.

  “You said no major incidents, but there is plenty of crap still happening down here. It might not be as flashy as terrorists, but there are a lot of powerplays going on. People getting hurt.”

  “When we learn about them, we stop them.” Erik shrugged. “That’s all we can do. I know the EZs with direct jurisdiction are still slower than anyone would like, but we’ve had some decent arrests.”

  “Not blaming you, Blackwell.” Alicia shook her head. “You and your partner seem to care, and from what you’ve said, your new captain does too. And you have been nailing a lot of the rougher guys. Besides, if you clean up stuff too much, I’m going to be out of business.” She grinned, but it only lasted a few seconds. “But you’re here to check what’s going on, not what’s happened.”

  “That’s the general idea, yeah.”

  “Even if it’s probably garbage?”

  Erik’s brow lifted in surprise. “It’s not like you to not trust what you’ve heard.”

  “I’m always careful,” Alicia replied. “If I’m not giving people good and accurate information, my reputation suffers. That’s why I want it to be clear that the most recent thing I’ve got for you might not be useful.”

  He nodded. “Understood. You’ll get the same pay, and if it turns into something more, you’ll get a bonus.”

  Alicia sighed and looked down with an uncomfortable expression on her face. “There have been a lot of strange rumors lately about something going on near the Scar.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Like what?”

  “Don’t know. I’ve heard about a few people ending up dead.” Alicia raised her head. “It might be that the cop attention has forced people to go closer to the border to take care of stuff.”

  “It’s not impossible,” Erik concluded.

  “Sure. The only thing that bothers me is that there might be fewer cops near the border of the Scar, but the Militia is there, and they do a good job of keeping that place bottled up.”

  “True enough.” Erik pondered the information. “They’re soldiers, not cops. Not even MPs.”

  “Meaning?” Alicia looked confused.

  “Soldiers are all about their orders,” he explained. “And their orders are to keep people out of the Scar, not to help the cops with crime or stop gangsters from killing each other. It’s not worth risking a soldier’s life to break orders and save bottom-feeders from hurting one another.”

  Alicia nodded. “You’re saying the Militia knows there are criminals gathering near the Scar, but they don’t give a crap as long as they don’t enter it?”

  “Maybe.” He thought for a moment more. “When I was in the service, the last thing I wanted to do was make more trouble for my unit. Law enforcement is better suited to a lot of problems. It’s not like the averag
e Army unit is wandering around with a lot of non-lethals and binding ties. If the Militia were to solve the crime problem in the Shadow Zone, it’d involve even more dead guys than I’m producing and would include martial law.”

  “That makes sense. And it might not be anything.” Alicia inclined her head toward the door. “That’s the main thing I’ve got for you. I don’t think we should spend too much time back here. The last thing we want is more rumors, at least not ones I can’t make money from.”

  Erik chuckled and stood. “Just keep listening for those rumors. It might be nothing, or it could be something we need to handle before it gets out of control.”

  Chapter Five

  Jia slammed an elbow into an opponent to her right, who fell to the floor, choking and clawing at his throat.

  A frowning man on her opposite side brought up a stun rod. She grabbed and twisted his arm until he cried out and dropped the weapon. Two quick palm strikes sent him to join his friend on the floor, his nose gushing blood.

  She shook out her hand as she looked around, seeking her next opponent.

  The simulated opponents felt too dense and heavy to fool her, but she preferred it that way. Better to train by hitting something harder than the opposite.

  When Erik first invited her to the Pacific Tactical Center, she hadn’t considered the potential for martial arts practice. Her master always insisted that anything not real wasn’t good training.

  Because of his advice, VR and nano-VR had seemed pointless. However, if an experienced soldier such as Erik felt that his time in the training center was good practice with weapons, she failed to see why it wouldn’t be good training for hands and fists.

  During her time as a cop, she’d neglected her hand-to-hand training. Small doubts in her mind had convinced her she wouldn’t need to do something as savage as smash a man in the face. Reality had shown her that might be one of the more merciful techniques available to subdue suspects.