Location: MID Building, ARA Office

Time: 11:23 AM, January 2nd 2108

“Um, I, I finished my search on properties owned by Senator Zea.” I was happy Nora was awake, but I wish she’d be a little less timid. I could hardly hear her heavenly voice. Not that she was talking to me.

And apparently Nora had been working on something, but I’m not sure when. With nothing to do, I may have glanced in her general direction a few times throughout the morning. Each time I just so happened to accidentally catch a glimpse of her she was sleeping. I don’t think I saw her awake for a moment.

“Anything I should care about?” Deputy Chief Kaldsen’s curt response wasn’t helping things. Nora looked about ten seconds from fainting.

It almost certainly wasn’t intentional. Deputy Chief Kaldsen just seemed to be a person that moved at her own pace. She wasn’t one to ever look back either, so those that couldn’t keep up would just be dragged along.

Based on her timid personality and the poor compatibility she had with Deputy Chief Kaldsen, Nora was probably even less suited then I was for work in the ARA.

A nervous Nora was a good sight though. I burned that image of her with slightly red cheeks into my memory.

“There are, ah, seven, um,” Nora took a moment to look over the papers in her hands. Why was she using paper? Wouldn’t it be easier to just keep it digital? “Seven properties he owns, or, um, partially owns that aren’t listed publicly."

“Seven? Seven hideouts sounds like it could be a problem.” Deputy Chief Kaldsen sounded like she wasn’t sure if seven was good or bad. I wasn’t sure either, but it was my first day. She should really know those kinds of things.

“Well, um, seven possible hideouts would be a very not good thing, but, um,” Deputy Chief Kaldsen stood up and slammed her hands on her desk. Nora dropped all the papers she was shuffling out of shock.

I’m pretty sure Nora had more to say.

“You heard the woman. It looks like we’ve got some serious trouble on our hands, but I know we can get through this." It would be difficult to describe Deputy Chief Kaldsen's voice as anything other than an enthusiastic shout. "My family has been protecting this city since its founding, and I plan on continuing that tradition. I sure as hell won’t be the Kaldsen who fails in her duty. I would sacrifice everything to protect our society and enforce justice. I expect each of you to do the same. No, not expect, believe. I believe in your honor and integrity. I believe in your willingness to protect our city even if it means sacrificing your life. But most of all, I believe in you. I believe in every single member of ara to conquer any obstacle, no matter how impossible it may be. So let’s go out there and show our enemies what happens when they try to cause trouble in Velstand.”

Impressive. I can honestly say I was quite moved, but I don’t think anyone else was. Nora was still standing with papers scattered around her feet, holding back tears. Vier was reading his book. I don’t think he even noticed what happened. Oliver had some reaction at least. I think I saw him turn the volume up on his headphones.

“Boss, I think she had more to say.” Emelia came in as Nora’s unlikely assistant.

“Hmm? You had more to add?”

“Ah, um, yes, it’s that, seven locations would be bad, but of the seven, um, six of them are already being used for other purposes. So, um, there’s only one location we need to investigate.” Nora somehow managed to force the words out.

“I see. One suspicious location. Perfect!” Deputy Chief Kaldsen’s voice was full of confidence. It would seem she had already moved on.

I wasn’t that flexible. I was still feeling incredibly uncomfortable in her place. Giving a speech like that would be strange even under the right circumstances, but to do it when nothing was out of the ordinary?

I mean, I can’t believe people actually do things like that in real life. How embarrassing. It sounded like the kind of thing you’d find written in a middle schoolers notebook.

The only thing more pathetic is someone delusional enough to take it seriously.

“Um, I’m, I’m sorry I made you give a battle speech again. But, but when the time is right I will definitely be ready.” Again? Was it a common occurrence? “And, um, the unused property, about the unused property, it matches up with where the Cyprus Organization reported seeing Senator Zea.”

“What? The Cyprus Organization? Why are you getting reports from a criminal enterprise?” I had been silently enjoying their conversation, but that was too outrageous for me to ignore. I wanted to press Deputy Chief Kaldsen for answers.

The Cyprus Organization was the largest crime syndicate in a city that claimed to have eliminated organized crime. I couldn’t count the number of nights I went without sleep because of them.

“I guess that might seem strange to you. You were a police officer, right?” Deputy Chief Kaldsen spoke in a calm tone, making my outburst seem out of place.

“It doesn’t seem strange, it is strange. They’re criminals. Drugs, prostitution, violence, gambling, smuggling. Everyone knows they're the enemy of the law.”

“It’s not my job to prevent drugs, prostitution, violence, gambling, or smuggling. I already told you, ara hunts down any augmented who’s determined to be a risk to the city. And the Cyprus Organization is a valuable tool for finding people. If the police force or some other agency wants to arrest them, so be it, I won’t get in their way, but that’s their prerogative. I’ll continue to focus on my duty. That’s the most important thing anyone can do.” Deputy Chief Kaldsen wasn’t willing to back down.

Well, neither was I.

“How can you call people like them a valuable tool? They’re a plague. You can’t trust that nest of vipers.”

“Wrong. People like them are the most trustworthy. Why do they sell drugs? Why do they smuggle people in or out of the city? Money. Their only objective is economic prosperity. That’s why I can trust them. If they want my continued business they’ll continue supplying me with accurate information. And they want my continued business. This incident shows that. They gave us the location of Senator Zea yesterday. It took us until today to reach the same conclusion.”

“But you’re supporting criminals. You’re giving them money to use for more illegal activity. Earlier you said you wanted to enforce justice, but how is this justice? You’re making it easier for them to harm more people.”

“Augmentations are dangerous, Jaxon. We’re not hunting down parking violations. If supporting criminals is what it takes to find our targets then I will deliver the check myself, and the city will be better off because of it. Do you have any idea how much damage a rogue augmented could do? In a matter of minutes they could topple a skyscraper and turn downtown into a massacre. And you seem to be mistaken about something. Justice is not about protecting the innocent. Justice is about punishing evil.”

“I can’t agree with that. I can’t agree with any of this.”

Sure, some incidents might seem more damaging than others, but could you really say that to one of the victims? Am I supposed to tell a parent their child was killed because we needed to prevent a completely unrelated crime?

On paper that might seem right, but the real world is more than a numbers game.

“You don’t have to agree with it, you just have to accept it. Vier, take Jaxon and inspect the property. It’s better to know now if he can handle our work or not. There’s no use keeping someone around that can’t pull their weight.”

Strangely enough, I found myself agreeing with Deputy Chief Kaldsen. I was quick to criticize the members of the ARA for not working, yet I was the one actively holding things up. Not that I’m sorry about it. I stand by everything I said, but that’s all the more reason to think the ARA was never a good fit for me.