Chapter 17: Justice

Arthur Miller

February 13, 2011

Police Department No. 15

Capital, Eternity

The Helpers for Peace program was an initiative created by Eternity's Minister of Police in light of the high crime rate, or at least that's how it was pitched. It was really a great excuse for the Ministry to get out of the big problem they had on their hands, and pass the hot ball to the civilians, in exchange for money.

I was always against it, as civilians were not police but no matter how much I shouted, my voice did not reach them. The project attracted the attention of many people but ended up being a poison instead of a cure. The civilians, being greedy always targeted the assignments with the highest number of stars, causing many deaths and material losses. Because of this, the civilians lost interest and crime in the city increased by 200%.

Currently the project is still in place but it is used by police officers to throw away 85% of their day job. It is horrible how such a noble act as justice ends up becoming a lottery draw. No matter how hard I tried to make things right, the rest of the police force didn't think like me.

I was forced to reserve my love of justice for simply doing my job in a mechanical way, and in this way I kept my frustration for being part of such a mediocre system.

I believed that the Capital of Eternity had no salvation, or at least, I thought so until a few hours ago. While I was interviewing the victims who lost their abilities, a young woman with glasses and green hair opened the door with a bang. It was my assistant.

-I told you not to....

-Sir, 50 of the cases registered on the "Helpers for Peace" page have been solved," my assistant exclaimed.

I quickly got up from my chair and took my assistant to my office.

-Is this a joke? Because if it is, it's not funny," I said as I put my hand on his shoulder.

-No... I even called every Police Department, and was able to confirm the arrest of everyone involved in the crimes. The funny thing about the case is that the criminals were handed over to 10 different Police Departments in a relatively short period of time.

I was surprised to hear the details.

-It's nice to know that there are large groups of people who care about security when the police don't," I said nonchalantly.

-There were two...

-Two groups?

-Two people...

-HOW?!

-I thought it was crazy until I read the notes left on the bodies of each criminal. They all said the same thing. Here's a picture of one- My assistant handed me a black and white copy of a note stuck on the forehead of a 3-star criminal.

{As of today, the city has new protectors. The police failed them but we will defend the weak from crime. Sincerely: Regulux and Steel Maiden}

I recognized Regulux's name from that newsreel. A disguised masked man who acted as a protector on the Borders, and saved an agent of the Superhuman Registration Bureau. That could mean he moved to the Capital, or a fan of his decided to assume the mantle in his honor. As for Steel Maiden, he knew nothing.

-Are any of the criminals captured by the strangers in this department?

-Yes. Look at the details. My assistant passed me some documents with the details of the criminal.

He was a drug dealer, I remember giving clear details for his capture to the police team, but some bum dismissed him from working. I ran down the hallway until I reached the dealer's cell.

In 5 minutes, it's already in front of the dealer's prison. The cells for superhumans are prepared with rather hard materials with little magical conductivity. The prisoners have no windows and are not provided with sheets. In order to open the door, an electronic key imbued with the mana of a policeman registered in the department was needed. My assistant took care of that since I was not a magician.

Upon entering, my assistant closed the door. Inside we found the dealer still passed out. I gave him a signal for my assistant to wake him up.

x CPR x

A low-power beam focused on the palm of my assistant's left hand. It then touched the dealer's chest. Instantly the dealer awoke from his sleep.

-Where am I?" said the drowsy dealer.

-I need you to talk to me about..." I said calmly.

-Ahg how you fuck. Don't bother me," said the dealer as he lay down.

-Well," I signaled my assistant with my hand.

My assistant chanted a spell.

x Vassal: Disobedience grade 1 x

The dealer screamed in pain. All prisoners were injected with nanorobots, which through a certain spell, could cause great pain similar to being mutilated by an arm or a leg. Only the police could use this spell.

-I must tell you that this is only level 1. Level 2 is 10 times stronger, not to mention level 5," I said as I listened to the screams of pain of the dealer.

I made another signal to my assistant to stop the spell.

-I need you to tell me about how you were arrested.

I was selling merchandise to a customer in a cul-de-sac, when out of nowhere, his black hooded sweatsuit transformed into a ridiculous costume with two wings of light. The disguised guy tried to hit me but I used my talent to swap places with an object in my field of vision. I tried to escape from the place but to no avail because a girl dressed in a mask and armor, threw hot water in my face with her magic, giving enough time for the guy to hit me against the pavement that I lost several teeth and fell unconscious- Narrated the dealer while trembling.

-Give me permission.

-How?

-GIVE ME PERMISSION, YOU ANIMAL! ONE MORE STUPID QUESTION AND YOU WILL FEEL YOUR ARMS BEING CUT OFF ONE BY ONE!

-That's enough. I give you permission. Sorry, sorry, sorry..." said the prisoner while crying.

The conditions were met. My assistant activated his CPR again to put the prisoner to sleep. While I prepared to activate my unique ability.

[Mental Plane]

Before me appeared the scenes narrated by the dealer. I could recognize Regulux, as he had the same powers and appearance shown in the newscast. I could also see Steel Maiden with her mask, armor and metal skirt. When I recognized the pair, I deactivated my talent. I walked out of the cell accompanied by my assistant.

-It's the real Regulux. He is in this city. As for the girl, although she showed part of her face, I could not remember any details of her facial features shown, so I can estimate that she uses a spell that I do not know, which caused that effect in the brain of those who looked at her face.

-What will we do with this data?

-Nothing. We will keep this information a secret.

I could not risk the only light at the end of the road in this city. Those strangers did 10 times the work we were supposed to do without even demanding payment. It was unbelievable the nobility of the subjects. Their actions made me wonder if I really did enough. I gave up very quickly on the situation in the city. My heart felt again the hunger for justice that I lost halfway through.

I went back to my office, sat down at my desk and turned on my Laptop. I typed as fast as I could, and uploaded the file to the "Helpers for Peace" page. Being an inspector, I had administrator permissions to manipulate and upload cases, a benefit I never used as I was against the existence of the website. I then shut down my computer, grabbed my hat and left Police Department 15 at high speed. My assistant accompanied me.

-Where are we going?" asked my assistant, a little stifled from speaking as she walked quickly.

-We're going to meet the new Protectors of Justice in Eternity.

-How do you know where they are?

-I don't know.

-WHAT?

-I don't know where they are but I know how to attract them. Reading the cases solved by the couple, I could realize their criteria of choice. The cases were solved in the predetermined order of the page. The subjects selected the first cases that came up, and kept that order from the first to the last case regardless of the difficulty in stars.

-So...

-I uploaded a fake case, with an address far enough away from the Police Departments, without cameras or much civilian activity. With my administrator permissions, I altered the default order of the platform so that my case was first in plain sight.

-You're insane.

-If I had been sane, I wouldn't have been a detective in this city, and I'd rather work in a circus.

For the first time in my life, I felt I was right. After being silent for so long, I'm going to shout out to the four winds what I feel.

-Fuck you, damn you Ministry of Police," I exclaimed at the top of my lungs as I ran to meet my destiny.