8:10 AM
MCU Headquarters: Mountbatten’s Office
Mountbatten sat in his office reviewing some briefs before an urgent message came from the central dispatch.
“LSP Officer Badge number 14G672J7, Detective Emmett Tigron, has called for Tactical, Bomb Squad and Medical to location. Alert issued to Captain Niles Mountbatten, Major Crimes Unit. Purpose: potential casualties ranging into the hundreds. Please advise?”
“Authorized,” he responded.
Mountbatten paused for a moment as he scanned over the data. The call was made for units to converge on Ulan Cathedral, which meant there could be a legal nightmare concerning the Religious Bastion act. However, he thought the purpose seemed rather dire, and Mountbatten trusted the detective’s instincts.
He muttered to himself, “Bloody hell…” as he sprung from his seat.
Just as he left his office, Alexandra intercepted him, “I just received a notification from central dispatch.”
Mountbatten nodded, “I’ve authorized,” he looked at all of the in-house support and tech agents, “Alright ladies and gents, we need eyes and ears on the ground. Someone alert an MG unit to the scene A.S.A.P.”
Alexandra pointed out five agents, “You five will deploy with Oracle.”
“Lieutenant, you’re in charge here while I’m gone.”
“Gone?”
“To the front.”
Alexandra nodded and returned to her office. Mountbatten glanced at Tia, who sat in a space enclosed by plexiglass windows that loomed overhead all the support desks. He knew she was plugged into something already, but she would catch up to the speed of things as soon as she stepped out.
Then the Captain made his way to the LSP armory and stepped aboard an awaiting VTOL, which lifted into the air and sailed out of the hangar following behind several others.
- -
8:25 AM
MCU Headquarters
Once again, they met in the room of the upward flowing streams. It was a third-party server with double blind security protocols. Surveillance and records for the meeting would be deleted by the system.
“I have information that you might like,” Elise said
“Okay,” Tia said as she waited to hear what her friend had to say.
“It pertains the Nansoko murd-“ before Elise could finish, Tia’s communicator issued pings that pulled her from the matrix.
She saw the image of Emmett Tigron on the contact, “What the-“
“I might have to cut this chat short Elise, I think something just came up.”
The blue geisha responded with a curt nod, “I understand, but this is very important. I’ll be here whenever, just make sure you come and find me.”
Tia nodded, the room faded away. She answered the call, “Tia St. Cloud.”
“Tia, I’m going to need you to hack into something for me in a sec.”
Tia’s face contorted, “Uh sure Detective, but what am I hacking?” Tia asked, but she knew the answer once she heard the gunfire crackle over the line.
Seconds later Emmett responded, “Tia, shut down security.”
Tia’s brow raised, “Is this a ch-”
“TIA!” he screamed, she dialed down the volume in the audio channel.
She had no idea his voice could still crack, and set to work on his request. Her hands pulled apart into numerous metallic micro tendrils heightening her keystrokes because they could cycle through the haptic interface keypad several hundred times over in seconds. Her eyes glowed blue as her opticals activated.
Tia called back, “I’m in. What am I doing?”
“Opening all the doors, get me inside and let people out,” the detective responded.
Tia finished some keystrokes, “Done. Now can I know what this is about?”
“Stay on the line Tia, I might still need your help. You got a feed on me?”
She entered the system feeds of the Ulan Cathedral, which was no small feat, but she made it seem like her every day task. It felt second nature to her like having a glass of water every morning, even though she was breaking more rules than the number of mechanical tendrils she had tapping away on keys. She reminded herself to clean any trace of her appearance in the system once this little errand finished.
“Cameras, nearest one top right,” she responded as she saw him look up directly into her sight, she added, “You do realize I’m going to jail for hacking into a religiously protected network, right?”
The mention was not true because Tia knew that enough legal, not to mention digital, firewalls protected her from any sort of retaliation by church of religious organizations. She felt it was needed to curb any more recklessness from the detective.
“And I’m going to jail for assaulting a religious bastion. Just pay attention.”
She saw the incoming cathedral guards, and, before they could touch him, she activated an update sequence that set them into sleep mode.
“Appreciated,” she heard from the other end.
Tia shook her head and smirked. She watched the events unfold, and, at the immediate mention of bomb, she bypassed the locks of the main security system and activated the alarms. She received a ping from Mountbatten’s line.
“Captain?” as she asked this, one of her system’s passive subroutines caught a short-wave transmitter.
“I am headed to the scene. ETA in six.”
“There’s a bomb threat in Ulan,” she said as she tried to pin point the transmitter signal.
“Dear god.”
“I’ve already activated the alarms. I’ve got eyes on the feeds, Tigron is getting people ou-“ as she said this the cathedral exploded.
All her feeds into the interior of the complex went dark. She then tapped into nearby cameras as she observed a large cloud of black smoke exhale and consume the front face of the structure along with the transmitter signal. A large amount of debris and smoke scattered and blotted her screens despite overlapping fields of vision granted by separate cameras.
“Emmett,” she called out.
No response, maybe he was deaf from the explosions, brief tinnitus perhaps.
“Emmett, are you there?” she repeated, “Emmett!”
“I’m here,” he responded.
“I know that!” Tia stated, she exhaled before speaking, “The bomb, I got something.”
“Such as?”
“It was remotely triggered, I can’t tell the location but it was a short wave transmitter. The suspect has to be within a couple blocks of you right now.”
Despite his lack of response, Tia observed that his heartrate and vitals monitors seemed steady, which meant he was focusing on capturing the suspect, who was hopefully still within the vicinity. The rest was up to him now.
- -
12:30 PM
LSP Headquarters: Gretien’s Office
Titus Gretien stood at the center of his room as he spoke to the crowd of reporters on a livestream conference, “We have apprehended the suspect who is responsible for the bomb threat at the Ulan Cathedral. Unfortunately, other details in the investigation are still pending.”
One of the reporters asked, “Is it possible that the suspect is connected with the murder of Damien Legrand, considering that the bomb threat took place during his funeral procession?”
“That we can confirm. The suspect may be responsible for the murder of Damien Legrand, but as I have said, details are still pending.”
“We also had reports of sniper fire aimed at Mathieu Legrand himself. Was the bomb threat part of an attempted assassination on Legrand?”
“We can’t confirm nor deny that just yet.”
“The murder, the sniper fire, the bomb, it seems that these events are targeting Mr. Mathieu Legrand, do you care to comment.”
“No, I have no comment on that matter.”
“Do you think that this is in anyway related to Legrand’s recent proposals for pushing the cloning bill?”
“All the conversation regarding his political position is pure speculation at best.”
“What about the Nansoko’s murder?”
“What about it?”
“Well, we have reports that suggest that the Legrand and Nansoko murders are connected. Not to mention the fact that Nansoko Corp has been a proponent of assemblyman Legrand’s position as well as a large donor to his campaigns.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t work in the realm of conspiracy theories,” Gretien chided.
He earned a few chuckles from reporters, and on one screen he saw Kelly Pahlavi’s smirk followed by a shaking of her head.
Another reporter spoke, “Do you think the suspect may have had ties with larger, more vocal anti-augmentation groups like the Legion of Purity?”
“We are always on alert when it comes to extremist groups within Lumaire. The LSP does not tolerate any kind of non-authorized sectarian or militant violence. Lumaire has always been a city of diverse views, and I believe that resorting to violence is in no way a meaningful contribution to any kind of dialogue regarding the advancement of mankind. Now, I cannot take any further questions, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Thank you for joining me on this conference.”
One by one the screens disappeared, even Kelly’s screen. It seemed to Titus that she wanted to wait a little longer before pressing him for anything.
- -
6 PM
LSP Headquarters: Chief’s Office
“A clone?” Chief Kyung had her hands balled in front of her, her expression darkened when she heard of the word.
“That’s all we know right now regarding the suspect,” Captain Mountbatten replied.
Her eyes stared off as though they looked a vast distance beyond the immediate present of her room. It seemed for a time that even the captain’s own presence seemed to vanish from her mind.
“That information stays here. Do you understand?”
“And Detective Tigron?”
“You will inform him of that. The public must not know.”
“Will we be pursuing a follow-up investigation?”
“We’ll wait and see first.”
- - - -
August 10th, 2075
2:30 PM
MCU Headquarters
Tia was on the line with agent Patel.
“He’s out sick,” Patel said, “Something about needing to get a diagnostic check on some internals.”
“So he’s not coming in today?” Tia asked.
“No,” Patel shook her head.
Tia could tell the woman had just awoken.
Tia’s lips pursed, “Alright, fine. Give yourself a day off then. See if I care.”
Patel’s face flushed, “We’re not…”
“I’m messing with you. Look just let Zhang know he’s needed back ASAP.”
Patel nodded.
- - - -
5:30 PM
The pilot of an LSP VTOL spoke into his comm from the cockpit, “Falcon Actual maintaining altitude at 1000 feet.”
Mountbatten stood in the cabin of the VTOL that held a steady position just miles away from the area of operation. He held a tablet screen with a direct feed of the heads up display of one of the boots on the ground.
Mountbatten turned to one of the techs who sat with a tablet in hand, “Commence.”
The tech nodded in response, “This is Actual to all units, you are go.”
The evidence was undeniable by this point. Mathieu Legrand had ordered the murder of his own brother and authorized the illegal cloning of an innocent individual.
Mountbatten watched the feed as Detective Tigron hauled the implicated assembly member out of the pearly double doors. Blips of cyan lights appeared on the flanks of the aisles as people began recording on their personal devices an angel fallen from grace. Though, Legrand was no angel. His face remained stringent with chiseled lines. His lips remained sealed as he was taken down the steps. He still impressed a certain air of superiority even as an officer shoved his head into the cabin of a waiting VTOL.
The Captain knew the footage would be played over dozens of media outlets over and over until the point had been missed. Not that he killed his brother, though he did, but that there was a greater conflict between those who wanted to push further into realms of technology not yet fully-understood and those who fought back against this advance. Mountbatten nodded to the pilot, who keyed into the VTOL’s control systems. The nacelles rotated and the thrust activated. The VTOL embarked on its return to headquarters.
- - - -
7:28 PM
LSP Headquarters: Interrogation Room #1
Alexandra reclined in her seat behind the two-way mirror as she watched Tigron continue his interrogation of the prisoner. The details surrounding the woman known as Subject Thirty-Nine were a revelation. Lacy Turinou would never know what Mathieu Legrand had done to her, one of his own constituents. She would never know that her DNA had been used to create a clone of herself. An exact replica, a copy of herself, down to the finest details. Her hair, her eyes, her face, Thirty-Nine could easily pass as Turinou if there ever came such a day.
Mountbatten strolled into the unlit observation room behind Alexandra, who was the only one as the other officers had left to get some coffee.
They watched on as though it were a film and they were cinemagoers.
“I feel bad for her,” Alexandra spoke up after a long time.
Mountbatten glanced at Alexandra whose eyes and face still pointed to the woman, the girl. Thirty-Nine knew nothing of life to be called a woman. She was a child of unfavorable circumstances. Mountbatten had not known of the feeling of compassion in a long time. While the frame of chrome, steel, neo-carbon encased his wired brain, he no longer possessed an actual beating heart. He wondered if such a feeling was generated from one’s heart or one’s brain. Were the feelings a result of chemical reactions as scientists were apt to reach for as an explanation?
Or was there something more?
“I was going to ask you what you found from the Khedira girl,” Alexandra turned to Mountbatten.
The Captain swallowed, “Girl claims complete ignorance. She was only funding the organization because she slept with Meint.”
“So she was close to him?”
“I’d hardly call a one night stand close.”
“I’d call it closer than most.”
They both returned to the interrogation.
Alexandra spoke after a long time, “I wonder what it was like to be her. Growing up, having been experimented on, having been turned into a weapon.”
Mountbatten remained silent at this.
- - - -
11 PM
Myong-Hauser Corporation
42nd Floor
Sean Bishop walked into a board room with covered windows. Two black suits closed the doors behind him. A large empty screen took up the opposite wall until the face of a blonde-haired woman appeared. He took a seat in front of the screen. He pulled out a bright cigar in one hand and flicked open a lighter in another. The orange flame lit his face against the screen light.
The woman looked surprised, “Who are you? Where is Director Foiritan?”
Bishop spoke, “I am Director Bishop, Director Foiritan is no longer available. We parted with him over creative differences. I must extend apologies for not notifying you sooner.”
“Change in leadership means a change in direction,” the woman paused.
Bishop saw she was looking at his guards, “Quiet guns. Can I say the same about your wires hooked into this uplink? But I digress. Our original objectives still remain.”
“Indeed? What of Mr. Legrand? The LSP has Subject Thirty-Nine in their custody. How can you still maintain that? Has this not already been compromised?
The man glanced at his un-puffed cigar, watching the smoke billow, “The HOUND program will continue along smoothly. While Mr. Legrand’s recent circumstances are rather unfortunate, he knew the risks, and he played his hand. We must do the same. As for Subject Thirty-Nine, we’ve already destroyed all her records within our systems. Her DNA samples will be transferred to a black-site.”
The woman seemed satisfied, “Then what is the status of the program?”
“We’ve commenced the next phase. Trials have been initiated, and our people are observing the results as we speak.”
“And you guarantee no civilian casualties?”
“While Foiritan may have naively suggested that to be the case, I will make no such guarantees. By this point, you should be aware of what we’re dealing with here.”
The woman remained silent for a moment before speaking, “We agreed on the old city. I don’t want this to appear on the news.”
“Yes, bad publicity is the last thing we all need. We’ll be sure to remind the subjects that there are certain parameters to abide by. I have no control beyond that,” Bishop shrugged, “Besides, they’re human, they have choices.”
“Choices? Don’t give me that free will bullshit. This is a closed experiment. Foiritan would never have permitted such reckless-”
“Which is why he is not here anymore. The measure of a man or woman is in their ability to take calculated risks.” Bishop smiled and pressed his cigar into the empty ashtray in his armrest.
The woman grunted, “Report the results to us as soon as possible.”
“Noted.”
The screen went black briefly before the Myong-Hauser logo appeared. The blinds on the windows rolled away as he looked out into the Lumaire night time skyline.
Bishop glanced over at the guards, “You can say it. I hate that bitch too.”
- - - -
August 11th, 2075
9 AM
LSP Headquarters: Chief’s Office
Chief Kyung sat in her office reviewing some reports while watching riot footage when Captain Mountbatten strolled in. She closed all her available screens, which turned her face from cyan to a pale tone as all the projector and LED lights blinked off. The Captain stood at attention and saluted Kyung.
“You wanted to speak with me ma’am?” Mountbatten asked.
Chief Kyung nodded, she tapped a key on her console. The doors to her room shut automatically.
“I sent you a message regarding Agent Case’s assignment. What do you have to report Captain?”
Mountbatten cleared his throat, paused for a moment before he began, “Unfortunately, we’re at a loss. We don’t have any leads regarding Laitinen. We have yet to identify the abductor as well.”
The chief remained silent. Her shoulders hunched as she leaned on her desk.
“It’s as if they vanished and ceased existing,” Mountbatten continued.
“They’re still alive, but whoever has him, knows how to hide very well," Kyung inhaled, “Very well, that is all I wanted to see you about.”
Mountbatten nodded, saluted, and then turned to leave.
“Ms. Helene Laurent believes that there is a mole in MCU,” Kyung said.
Mountbatten stopped before he turned around where he met her blank stare. He turned around again and continued out the door.
- -
11 AM
MCU Headquarters: Mountbatten’s Office
Beethoven’s moonlight sonata played in the background from one of Mountbatten’s consoles as he hummed after the triplets. The sound of even-keeled boots walking into his office alerted him to the presence of a familiar face.
“C.K.?”
Coen grinned at the Captain.
“What in bloody hell are you doing out of the hospital this early?” Mountbatten demanded.
“Doctor says he’ll let me out tomorrow,” Coen smirked.
The sergeant moved with ease as though he had not been shot as many times as he had been by Subject Thirty-Nine. He took a seat in front of Mountbatten’s desk.
“Well, I order you to stay a few more days,” Mountbatten demanded.
“Easy Captain, I’ll take my rest.”
“You’re damned right you will. It’s a little too early to be back,” Mountbatten put a pause on his attempt at rapport, “We caught your shooter.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Mountbatten continued, “It’s been quiet since Legrand was arrested. Nansoko has stayed silent about things.”
“What’s Titus’s analysis?”
“Even he doesn’t know what that means.”
Coen nodded.
“Glad to see you’re still moving,” Mountbatten chuckled, “Did anyone visit you? I would have but…”
“It’s okay,” Coen shrugged, then he exhaled and stood up and began to leave, “Getting back to work will take my mind off some things.”
Mountbatten watched as the sergeant left.
- - - -
7 PM
5th Avenue Express Station
The maglev lines of the afternoon schedule churned in and out of the station. The LR line pulled into the station and would resume a return to Lumaire Central Station. It seemed the bowels of the maglev cabins had flushed out onto the concourse and platforms as sliding doors opened. Throngs of passengers disembarked and flooded the station as they came home from work.
Earlier that day, an individual had bypassed the security system and carried a hostage with him. The man muffled his hostage’s screams with a thick wad of cloth, and when that did not deter the hostage from muffled screams, he put him to sleep with a soporific solution similar to a previous encounter.
The individual then locked the hostage down within a storage compartment located in the center of one of the cabins. He also latched a timed high-intensity explosive device onto the floor of the compartment. The time readout displayed “18:00:00.”
Then he exited the maglev train dressed like one of the metro transit employees. The cameras had been fed a looping video.
The maglev train began its run back to Lumaire Central Station.
- - - -
7 PM
South East Side
Rain poured over Lumaire. The blare of sirens echoed in the distance shrouded by the black static sky over the cyan city lights. Captain Niles Mountbatten sat inside of a food tent where a one-eyed synth vendor cooked noodles in a giant pot. The synth had a flesh arm and a nakedly wired one. Other patrons sat on stools surrounding the stove.
Mountbatten tapped the counter.
“Yes?” the vendor asked.
“Can I get-“
“-two bowls.” Alexandra Paris finished his sentence as she slipped in through the tent’s opening.
“Lieutenant Paris,” the captain turned around.
She took a seat, “What a surprise captain, I didn’t peg you as the type for street food.”
“Actually, it was a recommendation from one of the officers in the break room.”
“Officers in the break room?”
“Yes, I set them straight rather quickly with beat duty.”
“Quite the disciplinarian, so, what’s the special occasion?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
The reporter continued, “…nanite clean up at the Bantamsklip Nuclear Center in South Africa continues slowly after its main reactor went critical days ago…”
The vendor served them their bowls. Alexandra cracked a pair of chopsticks and set about hers as Mountbatten stared at his own.
“It’s not often that my CO invites me for street soba.”
The android hesitated, “Yes, well…”
Alexandra tapped the counter and raised two fingers, “Two shot glasses.”
The chef nodded.
“I don’t drink, lieutenant.”
“They were for me. Soba tastes better with beer.”
The captain looked at his bowl and cracked a pair of chopsticks with some reservation.
“What did you want to talk about? Actually, let’s enjoy the food before we talk business. I want to be able to vomit in case something shocking happens.”
After Alexandra had gone through half of her bowl and Mountbatten through none of his, they spoke.
“I just wanted to enjoy the company of my XO is all,” Mountbatten said.
Alexandra rolled her eyes, “If I had a nickel…but seriously captain…we’re not at HQ anymore…”
“Lieutenant I’m not a people person and I’m sure my appearance has already made that point for me….” Mountbatten paused.
The vendor delivered two shot glasses.
“The officers on break didn’t lie to you,” Alexandra downed one glass, “Sorry to interrupt, you were saying?”
“Yes well, we both know how relatively new I am to this position,” Mountbatten paused, “May I ask how does it feel to be the XO to the first android Captain of the MCU?”
“The pay could be better…” Alexandra smiled.
Mountbatten imitated a chuckle and then fell quiet.
After a while, the bot began, “I’m not sure if Chief Kyung expects me to be the bastion against the rising tide of anti-bot extremism.”
“Better timing wasn’t possible without precision instruments.”
“That is, what we might call, irony. Or perhaps better fit, tragedy.”
Alexandra raised the other shot glass, “That’s what this is for.”
“Quite. Truth be told, I’m beginning to think that ‘Captain’ is merely a title.”
“But I’m a lieutenant, doesn’t that mean something?”
“Perhaps not.”
“Well, fuck me…”
“I would but I’m waiting on a certain upgrade.”
“Aren’t you cheeky.”
“It comes with the accent lieutenant, but, as I have said, I feel ill-equipped to handle this.”
“Look, I’ve been comfortable doing most of the talking, at least to our subordinates, but you’re still our leader. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re an android or a human, at the end of the day, you’re still LSP, and that’s all there is to it.”
Mountbatten looked at Alexandra for a long time, “Thank you lieutenant.”
“No, thank you captain for dinner. You’re paying, right?”
Mountbatten turned to see the vendor waiting for him.
- -
Alexandra and Mountbatten exited the food tent. In the night, a visual array of orange, yellow, and pink lights formed from the various holo-displays and LED screens blinking in the night as a soft drizzle poured in Lumaire. The sky was the color of a television screen, static gray. The night time throng pushed along on the sidewalks while spinners and VTOLs whirred by above them.
“I’ll see you tomorrow Captain,” the lieutenant waved.
Mountbatten watched as Alexandra slipped into her car parked on the curb. Her tail lights left streaks of orange in the rain. He pulled his overcoat in tighter, but a ping alerted him.
“Miss St. Cloud?”
“Captain you need to see this,” she said.
His DNI relayed the footage which displayed the LR Line of the Lumaire metropolitan transit system exploding.
“Get me anyone who is available this instant Miss St. Cloud. Let them know whoever is closest should make for the Lumaire Central Station.”
“Chief already sent in several blues to help secure an orderly evacuation. Fire squads, the trauma unit, and other emergency medical teams are on the way.”
“Keep me updated, I’m heading back to HQ.”
“Yes sir, Tia out.”
Mountbatten rang up Alexandra and informed her of the situation.
- - - -
Assignments
As of 9:35 PM August 11th, 2075:
LR Line Bomb
Information –
A bomb detonated on the LR Line, information is still coming in. We need as many officers on hand to facilitate evacuation and help survivors. It’s a fucking mess down there…
- Tia Marie St. Cloud
Contact
Target – Tycho Ren
Information –
For a long time, maybe the span of three months, we’ve had an undercover agent embedded with the Jade Tigers triad.
The Jade Tigers are just one among the many prominent triad organizations operating in Lumaire. Their main is in Xin Aomen, but they’ve got branches throughout the world. They deal in many illegal activities from arms trafficking to prostitution to drugs. Sometimes, they work with the other triads, which turns things very ugly, sometimes.
Our man on the inside is a Tycho Ren, who goes by the alias of Serpent. His familiarity with the Tigers and his middle of the road appearance allowed him to blend in. Problem is he’s gone dark. No status reports in over a month. Undercovers are very unique people because of their situation. The chief fears that he might have embraced the criminal lifestyle since it leads to sex, money, and cars as opposed to being, well, an upright officer.
Now, Tycho’s a bit of a hot-shot, but this isn’t his first rodeo. He also underwent a rigorous series of psych evals and investigations before he started. He’s shown that he’s a stable, self-aware guy, who’s not out of his depth, yet.
It’s possible that his situation has turned very delicate right now, which is why he can’t have a direct contact with us. So that means we need to come to him.
The Jade Tigers operate near the port district, where they have a few warehouses. That’s where you’ll most likely find Tycho.
Recommended Agents – 1.
- Tia Marie St. Cloud
Dynamic Duo
Target – Benny and Cha Cha Dominguez
Information –
Benny and Cha Cha Dominguez are wanted for murder. The cameras pretty much caught all the action in the south-east side when they gunned down a man named Danny Leitch. They didn’t even bother hiding it, but they quickly figured out the deep shit they were in. They head a small gang in the 8th’s southerly neighborhoods called the Rabbits. They’ve been at this since they were in their teens. Their gang runs a protection racketeer on the residents living in that area.
We put up a warrant for their arrest and a small private recovery firm, aka bounty hunters, called Pfeiffer’s Seven managed to arrest the two. Unfortunately, the Dominguez siblings didn’t remain in their custody for long. While the bounty hunters were waiting for an LSP extraction veet to take Benny and Cha Cha in for processing, the Rabbits struck and killed several of the recovery agents. Benny and Cha Cha escaped and went into hiding.
So now they’re wanted for more than just one count of murder.
You’ll know it’s them when you see the colorful attire and hair, that’s just how they roll. Bring in Benny and Cha Cha alive.
Recommended Agents – 1.
- Tia Marie St. Cloud