《The Awakened World》Vol. 1, Ch. 8 : Public Encounter
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I sit down on the subway with a weight on my shoulder and a hole in my wallet.
I close my eyes and start to relax for the first time in a while. Thinking back on everything that has happened recently seems quite surreal. With my evolutionary ability which should only be available to non-intelligent races, it brings questions to my genealogy. Maybe I should go back to my hometown soon and talk to my mom about it.
"Hey, good lookin."
While deep in thought, someone called out to me. This someone was a scraggly man standing a few feet in front of me. With his baggy clothes, bandages on his arm, and the fact that he keeps twitching, I am going to assume he is not of a sound mind. He then suddenly grabs my shoulder.
"Why don't you come over to my place for a good time?"
I didn't realize how casually his voice sounded so why doesn't he just, "Fuck off."
"Y-You bitch! Is that how you talk to strangers?! I'll make you learn some respect for your betters!"
Oops, did I say that out loud? Oh well, I did mean it. I don't think that he realizes that he just looks desperate asking for a date on the subway. I mean that's just sad.
"Please leave me alone." I tell him curtly. I try to pull off his hand but it won't move. So with zero rational thought, I bite his hand.
"Why you!"
He brandishes a knife out of nowhere and widely swings with it.
"Hey, watch out there are other people here." I yell.
He doesn't reply and tries swinging again, however this time I pull out my own knife and stab him straight in the waist.
"Ugh…" He groans as he collapses on the ground.
"Can I go one day without something happening?"
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"Good morning."
"…Good morning." I reply back.
Sitting in front of me is a police officer as I am currently in a holding cell due to the incident with the man yesterday. However, they only told me to wait here and no one has come back until now.
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"Your name is Alice Windshaw, correct?"
Oh, I see this is an interrogation now, but why would they need this? There were several other people sitting on the train unless… did nobody give a testimony? So that means this is basically a he said/she said until either somebody confesses or they have enough evidence to corroborate the statements. If this is how things are going to go, then I might as well go along. I hope that police officers are required to have a high level Observe.
"Yes, it is."
"And this is your address?"
"…Yes, officer."
"We did a little digging into your past Miss Windshaw, and what we found is intriguing."
"Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" I said with my voice slowly becoming louder.
"No, we are capable of doing what we need to find information, except for certain cases, but that is a different story and this isn't one."
He continued, "As I was saying, we found that you lived in Northern California in your youth with your, currently, widowed mother. It can also be said that your relationship with your parents can be…tense."
"I'm sorry, but how does this relate to the subway incident?"
"I'll get to that. In college you shared a dorm with a Miss Madison Drake and a Miss Natalie Woodhull, and are great friends with both. Now, Miss Drake applied to the police academy but she didn't pass due to inadequate results and has since been jumping from job to job."
"Yes." I didn't like where this was going. Why bring up Maddy? I mean she is my friend but I don't see how an altercation with a random person on the street leads to her.
"Now, the officer that was in charge of training the recruits was let off some time ago due to exposed bribery and he had since fallen into drug abuse. This same man who you had stabbed in the waist. A man who you say swung first, but all we could find were bite marks and a stab wound on him and no injuries on you. Thoughts?"
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Oh. OH. So this is how it is going to be. If he knows about Maddy's results then he might just stop her from joining the police force.
"Let me tell you something, sir, Maddy is my best friend and I would do anything for her, but I didn't hurt this man because of her, I did it because he was being a creep while holding my shoulder. I will say I did bite him to make him let go, but he pulled out the knife first. So let me make this clear, I did bite him, but I acted in self defense."
"…"
"…"
Empty silence was all that was left. Had I perhaps gone too far? Maybe, but he at least deserved some of it.
"Hahahaha. Alright, you're free to go."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, I know you told the truth, and we have seven eyewitness accounts, as well as the car footage. You're in the clear."
"Well, what was all this for then?"
"To tell you something, the police force is becoming more and more corrupt. With all the high leveled adventurers becoming bored of dungeons and instead playing hero and villain, they sort of got rid of Internal Affairs. Now, we have nobody to make sure the police are in check. Anyway, you didn't hear this from me, and well, you don't even know my name."
With that, he left and I followed. He showed me to the door, and I was left standing on the sidewalk left in a daze. My mind was struggling to process all the information I just received, but I know one thing, I need to work harder.
I look at my phone to see that it is almost eleven, just in time for an early lunch. I go to a nearby fast food chain and get a large Maurice for myself. I'm enjoying the meal when I see something troubling.
[ Through repeated actions you have unlocked the skill: Poison Resistance(Minimum, Passive) ]
[ Poison Resistance - Allows the user resistance to poisons with varied effectiveness based on skill proficiency. Does not affect medicines. ]
Reading the System message, I stop chewing. This must be because of what that officer told me at the police station, and for some reason now they're targeting me.
I throw away my burger and practically run out the door and make my way to the nearest subway entrance. Thankfully, nothing happens and I make my way back to my apartment. Once inside, I calm down a bit and make my way to the shower.
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After a nice, hot shower I sit down and turn on my television. Turning to the news channel I see that there was an accident on a bridge.
"Robert McGrath here with an update on the accident here at the Brooklyn Bridge where a car had swerved out of control and almost off the bridge. However, the hero Space Weaver came to their rescue. As you can see behind me, she used her abilities to create a web and caught the car. Sadly, she has already left the scene." After that I turn the television off.
Hmm, Space Weaver. She's one of the few heroes that I can actually respect, but she probably has some skeletons in her closet. At least she doesn't say anything bad in public. But what can we expect of the rest of the heroes nowadays.
I microwave a burrito for my dinner and pull out my phone for a chat with Maddy.
Ally: Hey Maddy.
Maddy: Oh no, what's wrong now?
Ally: Nothing! Do you think I'm always getting into trouble?
Maddy: These last few days don't help your case.
Ally: That's fair.
Maddy: So nothing happened?
Ally: Yep, everything fine.
Maddy: I can feel your lies through the screen but I trust this is something you can handle?
Ally: Probably.
Maddy: …Just call me if you need help.
Ally: Thanks.
After turning off my phone I go to bed. I think I might try the beginner dungeon tomorrow.
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