The good thing about semi-abandoned cities was the general lack of crime in it. Sure, there had been a few attempts at opportunistic looting during the first few days, but that had settled down quickly now. Not enough idiots left to try anything real out. Every last one of them had fled when it became clear that their spoils would not be left in their hands for long.

Almost everybody had done the same a day or two earlier, if not for a couple of different reasons. Or just one big, general reason. One of the traits of humans was their general distaste of being close to a border that their country was currently at war with. Yes… there was no doubt about it. Fatum, the country that Cassandra had given her eternal pledge to, had suddenly taken a one-eighty when it came to their peaceful discussions. Instead of continuing to accept the surrender of Bello, they had suddenly decided to deploy a military of all kinds along the borders. There had been no official announcements about it, so it had been seen as an attempt at covert operations.

That had been against more than a few international agreements. News-sites had been full of it all, spouting all kinds of reasons why it was done. The government hadn't actually said why they did it. Cassandra hadn't put too much focus on that point either way. She only cared about the effects.

And the effects were huge. One of the larger alliances took offence to Fatum breaking the agreed treaties. Since the news was twisting it around as if Fatum was bullying the lessers, that status was decided to be changed. Basically… a large donation of drones, weapons, and military gear was given. More than enough to start a country by itself, and easily enough to fortify already-existing defences.

There hadn't been too many skirmishes since then. There had been a silent agreement of not using drone strikes yet, making it all in-person at some of the secluded border points. Nothing serious, with only minor casualties to show for it.

Not that it did not stop people from panicking. As the city was within driving distance of the border, there was not a single soul that had wanted to stay there. Shops had closed for the foreseeable future, the owners taking their bags and leaving as fast as they could. Everybody else had done the same. Or… everybody that could afford it. It was the cheapskates that lived in the town, after all. Expecting them all to be willing and be able to afford to move for an undesignated amount of time without warning was not the smartest of ideas.

Essentially, the city had been abandoned, left to fend for itself. It was perhaps not the smartest of evacuations, but Cassandra supposed that civilians were not expected to be that smart anyway. A couple of fires had sprung up over time, houses left with various appliances still on. More than a few fines had been sent their way.

Nobody was attending to the basic upkeep anymore. Water still worked fine, and the electricity was controlled automatically. However, there weren't anybody making sure the trees were kept straight, that foliage would begin falling down on the streets. And nothing was stopping the grass from growing. Given that they were in optimal conditions for plant growth, things were not as pretty as they had been a few months ago.

Though, if asked whether she would have been in the city three months ago or now, Cassandra would most likely choose now above all else. Few still had it in their heads to do any crimes, and anything reported was almost always petty things. The number of times she had been called about missing indoor cats was almost frightening.

Yet there had been no murders, no gang violence, nothing that would require the big guns to come out. By global standards, the crime rate was close to utopian. If the city had numbered a current population of a few hundred more people, they would have ranked in the top ten of safest places on the earth. It was incredible, really. The secret to solving crime was just to make the whole population fifty years older than the national average.

…

Time had passed quickly after the initial high-pulse situation. One could have called it the highlight of her day. Cassandra called it what would require an extra twenty minutes of paperwork when she got back to base.

Every other call of the day had been relatively plain. With the barebones crew, she had been delegated to some less… serious situations. Helping people out of their closest after they got locked inside accidentally, helping do on-site medical help after burning their hands, and there was one call that implied that a kid had been slapped. The last one had turned out to be false, however, the real situation turning out to be a kid not getting her will and having a screaming fit over it.

All in all, it had been a regular day for Cassandra. Nothing important. Nothing to write down in the history books, at the very least. It was all within her low expectations of a day job. And, that was what she was going for.

Her job was to keep the peace. The higher lack of crime there was, the more Cassandra could know that she was doing a good job. When the most gruesome thing to happen to her the entire week was that an old lady threw a potted plant, there could be no reason to be angry at her job. Sure, they might have lacked numbers, but it was not like there was a real need for them anyway.

“How long until my shift ends?” Cassandra asked as the automation turned the car into the police building’s parking space. She could have checked it herself, the action taking nothing more than a few mental pushes. But… making others do the hard work was much more satisfying. She would have to get accustomed to doing things like that as well since her eventual promotion was just around the corner. Or, so she liked to think.

“Your shift will end in approximately twenty minutes if nothing requires you to stay on time for longer,” the automation answered, looking at her briefly when answering. It just let Cassandra know yet again that those eyes were merely for show. She wouldn't be surprised if the bucket of scrap just connected itself to the car cameras and used those for a better view.

Her inner fear about robots taking over the world revealed enough for one day, Cassandra stepped out of the car the moment it stopped, not wanting to be in it for any longer. With a mental command, she set the automation on the task of offloading gear, making sure the car was locked, and then putting itself in its designated box. The correct term for those clunky squares was powering stations, but she just couldn't get herself to call it that. It sounded as stupid as they looked. Which was very.

Normally when walking inside a police station, Cassandra would enter a world of soft murmuring, people coming in-person to report events witnessed, and automations going around serving coffee. That was something she sorely lacked here, for there was close to no sounds at all. Even the broken ventilators had stopped clanking, scraping itself down with time to a point where nothing hit each other.

Did she miss it? A bit. The silence was jarring after a while, her mind looking for all those distractions. The brain did not like silence, and hers was no exception to that rule. That's why, with nobody around, she had to be the one making it all happen. Putting on the kettle, she started to pour herself yet another cup of tea. The last one had not been enjoyed, as she had needed to throw out most of the contents.

It took a few minutes to get done, but that was more due to Cassandra’s need for it to be a little slow. Flash-boiling the water was an option, but Jared of all people had discouraged it. According to the man, it would make the flavour taste a little off. Personally, the woman thought it was all superstition. But, then again, superstition had carried the man over to godly qualities of teas, so there was no way she would complain about it.

With her tea prepared, she sat down at the table, ready to answer any calls people felt they needed to make. Since it was currently three in the morning, she sincerely doubted it. Yet… stranger things had happened. Some just liked to call in when they were bored. While such acts did warrant fines, there was more than just one repeat offender in that apartment. Cassandra couldn't understand it, honestly. Old people were just weird sometimes.

A sip here and there got her through the mixture in the allocated twenty minutes quickly. Not that she left right on the clock. No, she actually waited ten minutes more than she needed to, not wanting to leave the position without anybody to answer.

That had become a constant fixture at her job, really. Waiting a few minutes more, to see if her superior would come running. This was their shift, really, and they were supposed to come a few minutes early if possible. Which it was. Because there was nothing else they could do.

Cassandra had never actually seen the third person at the station. He didn't come on time, always forcing her to leave the position unsupervised so she could get some free time into her day. When speaking with Jared about it, always framing it as something she was concerned about, the man had just laughed it off.

According to the worse-than-unattractive man, her boss never actually turned off the calls. He heard everything said, no matter what time it was. And when it was his time to take him, he would, no matter where he was or what he was doing. Jared probably took it as a statement of admiration. Cassandra saw it as a bloviated mess of an excuse.

Still… she did wait every night, hoping to catch a glance at just what the man looked like. She could have always taken a look at the man’s profile but felt that to be beneath her. She would not settle for lesser quality, intent on seeing him with her own eyes. If that meant she had to sacrifice a few minutes every day for the chance, then so be it.

And today was yet another failure in that aspect. While Jared might have been trustworthy, Cassandra just did not feel right about leaving the post unattended, no matter how much her boss would take from elsewhere. It was against so many regulations to do so, and that was before one took in the moral and ethical issues.

Grabbing a sandwich from the shared refrigerator, Cassandra went to her room to enjoy the second dose of energy for the day. Since she was finally free for the day, she would have to catch up on some paperwork. And she supposed she could also do some future work, knowing that she thought about it. Prepare some forms and such. It would help her get into the mood for relaxation. Maybe do some much-needed stretches first, of course. One had to get into the right body feeling before such a thing could be done.

But, first, that lunch of hers had her name on it, and that meant it was ready for any devouring on it. And, who was Cassandra, if she did not oblige. She had been getting-

“Cass? You there?” Jared came in through the video, making a certain somebody groan in frustration. That shit-stain was supposed to be sleeping right now, and not bothering her while doing so.

“Yeah,” Cass answered after a few seconds. She needed those extra moments, else some unkind words would have slipped out. “Anything you need?”

“Not me in particular, no,” Jared said, a bit of frustration coming out. That was new. He always seemed so chipper. Must have been over his bedtime. “The boss wants you out again. We have another sighting to check out. He thinks this one might be it.”