Neo Tropolis Police Department

Case File #4: Night On The Town

 

by Justin Swartz

 

Neo Tropolis Police Department: Case Files are copyright Justin Swartz 2002.  Any reproduction of this document for purposes of publication, data storage, archiving, or adaptation, without the expressed consent of the author, is strictly prohibited and subject to proper legal action.  Yes, this means you.  And by the way, all rights reserved.

 

Camp Street, Neo Tropolis District 3

6:54pm, June 5^th

Year 2012

 

            A knight in black and green armor strolled down the sparkling lights of Camp Street, a star of gold emblazoned on his chest and a pair of green lights on his shoulders pulsating slowly to the rhythm of his steed’s riding.

            Atop the mechanical steed were two of the finest in law enforcement, and one of them appeared to be receiving her first dose of nightlife.

            “This is quite beautiful,” Melanie whispered softly as she leaned out of her passenger side window a bit, absorbing the business signs, decorative lights, and the people that moved from one shop or restaurant to the next along the two-mile stretch that was the business center of Neo Tropolis.

            “It can be at first,” Yuki said as he switched lanes, moving into the middle of five northbound stretches.  “Once you see some of the things that happen here, it starts to lose its luster.”

            Melanie was silent for a moment before she replied.

            “What makes you say that?” she inquired.

            “You’ll know why after a few months.”

            “Perhaps I will.”

            An uncomfortable silence spread between them like a curtain of shame, and hung there collecting dust until Yuki cleared his throat and began speaking again.

            “Are you hungry, Melanie?”

            “I do not require nutrition,” she said plainly.

            “Thirsty?”

            “I do not require refreshment.”

            Come on, give me something here to break the ice with you, Yuki thought to himself.

            “I do, however, have an affinity for what you call French fries,” Melanie added.

            “Great!  The Lightning Burger has the best fries in town,” Yuki said, and put the car in the turning lane, the other cars making sure not to get in his way.

            “What did you mean when you said that I lacked ‘people’ skills?” Melanie asked, pulling her head back in the car and delicately fluffing out her blonde locks.

            “You just can’t say those kinds of things to people,” Yuki said.  “At least, not in front of them.”

            “Why?  I was merely trying to improve Officer Mia’s understanding of her role in society.”

            “And you know what her role is, just like that?”

            “Yes.”

            Yuki’s eyes shifted over to Melanie.  “You’re a bit awkward for an android.”

            “Awkward?”

            “Yeah.  At first, I thought you were going to be shy and polite, but it’s like you’ve never been outside before.  I mean, these are just lights.  People see them every night.”  He pulled near the Lightning Burger and paused by the door, turning off the vehicle’s lights so as not to scare off the customers.  Blue and pink neon lights played inside the black interior of the car, alternating at varied intervals and revealing Melanie’s somewhat confused features.

            “As I said, they are beautiful lights.”

            “Like I said, they’re just lights.  I’m sorry, but I don’t get it.”

            “It is because you have spent too much time working.”

            Yuki took his hands off the steering wheel and folded them over his chest. 

            “Excuse me?”

            “I read your profile on the department’s network.  I also read your psychological profile.  In fact, I read the profiles of everyone in your unit.”

            “Those shrinks don’t know anything about me,” Yuki said darkly.

            “They know more than you would like to admit.”

            “I think you just lost out on the French fries I was going to treat you too.”

            Melanie was silent again. 

            The curtain fell.

            She sliced through it when she spoke, and the shreds fluttered in front of Yuki’s face for an infinite time.

            “If you took time to appreciate the natural beauty of things, you would not be so stressed over your position and your work.”

            Another uncomfortable silence ensued, and there was no curtain to subdue it anymore. 

            Melanie put her hands in her lap.  “I seem to have upset you.”

            “No, you just…gave me something to think about.”

            “I believe that there is beauty in the things that surround us.  I was never allowed to appreciate it as freely as I am now.”

            Yuki cast his eyes on Melanie’s pink ones, which looked ready to cry, if such a thing were possible for a creation of man.

            “You weren’t allowed?” he asked carefully.

            “This is indeed the first time I was ever allowed to view the world without some kind of limitation.  When I saw it before, I was filled with awe.”  She looked out the front window, her eyes still looking upset.  “I could not imagine that I was being put into a world as beautiful as this one.  Whether it is day or night, there are things to appreciate.  I have studied the history of this city and the world itself, and I understand that there are actions that are not beautiful at all…but if one can look past those things, they will see the beauty in this place that was given to us.”

            “My mom used to tell me that the world was God’s canvas, and His hands were the paintbrush,” Yuki said slowly. 

            “God is human error,” Melanie said in her quiet voice.

            “Now that I don’t agree with.  A lot of people won’t agree, either.  Half of Neo Tropolis is Christian, you know.”

            “I know that, but belief in something greater than you is merely a mechanism to safeguard one’s insecurities.”  She turned to him.  “That is what David believed.  Is that what is bothering you about his death, Yuki?  That you were not able to save his soul from a horrible eternity?”

            “From someone I just met a few hours ago,” Yuki said, opening his door, “you sure do have me figured out.”

            She opened her door.  “Psychological profiles are very thorough.”

            He closed his door.  “Shrinks are pesky people, though.”

            She closed her door.  “Is that why you avoid them?”

            He leaned against the car.  “See, this is what I said about people skills.  You should be glad that I’m a pretty open person, because if I were Mia, you would be in pieces right now.”

            “I am only trying to help you understand yourself better.”

            “Sometimes people don’t want the help, Melanie.”

            “That is an officer’s job, to help the people.”

            “Tell that to the people at the precinct,” Yuki muttered, opening the door to the restaurant for her.

            She bowed her head politely in thanks, but stopped in the anteroom, looking at him.

            “I have been rude to you, correct?” she asked.

            Yuki shrugged.  “A little, yeah.”

            “I think I am learning what you call tact.”

            “Melanie, you haven’t even started,” he said with a little smile.

 

Camp Street, Lightning Burger Restaurant #453

7:45pm, June 5^th

2012

 

            “See, that’s what I mean,” Yuki said, poking at the last bit of ketchup with his fry.  “Just because Mia had surgery doesn’t mean you have to say it.  Everyone knows that already.”  He took a bite and swallowed.  “That’s one of the rules you have to learn: whatever everyone already knows and doesn’t say is usually something that you don’t say.”

            “One year ago, the law was passed in the United Nations’ new Domestic Influence Group that women were no longer allowed to display their bodies in public or in advertisements,” Melanie said.

            “The no-nudes law, as I recall,” Yuki interjected.

            “Correct.  If a woman was caught doing this, they were tried and sentenced as if it were a true crime.  It was the first time that the government had stepped in to be society’s morality, but it has been a smooth transition.  The number of rapes and other crimes relating to that matter have dropped by five percent.”

            “That doesn’t mean that it still doesn’t happen,” Yuki pointed out.  “But you’re right, it did cause quite a stir.  It made people take a second look at themselves, men and women both.  Respect for women came back gradually, and while I think it has a way to go, it’s coming along fine.”  He ate another fry.  “That doesn’t say that Mia can’t do what she wants; she just can’t do it in public.  If she wants to take a shower right in the middle of shift changeover so the guys can ‘accidentally’ see her, she’s entitled to do so; it’s in a private place, not out in the street.”

            “That is the issue I have,” Melanie said.  “She is not setting a good standard for career women, especially those in the police force.”

            Yuki smiled.  “You made you the Morality Police?”

            Melanie blinked.  “Did I…”

            “Yep.”

            She closed her eyes.  “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

            “Hey, don’t sweat it too much.  I mean, who would have ever thought that an android would have so much pride?”

            “I simply value myself more than that.”

            “As well you should; you’re pretty unique when it comes to that.”         

            “Is there a way that I can apologize to Officer Mia?”

            “Only if you really mean it.  I mean, Marcus spilled coffee on her one time by accident and she didn’t talk to him for the whole week.  He tried to apologize every single day, but he just kept laughing every time he tried.”

            “What was so amusing about ruining Officer Mia’s clothes?”

            “No one has any idea,” Yuki said with a chuckle.  “Marcus has a weird sense of humor.  Eventually he did it without laughing, and Mia accepted that.”  Yuki sipped at his soda.  “One thing, though; don’t overdo it.  He went and bought her coffee the next morning as a favor and she threw it in the trash.”

            “I see,” Melanie said, looking out the window of their corner booth at the lights.

            Yuki stopped and watched for a few moments before he spoke, putting his hands on the cheap plastic table.

            “Beautiful,” he said.

            “What?” Melanie asked.

            Uh-oh, messed that one up, Hoss.

            “I mean, the lights are beautiful,” Yuki recovered.

            “You noticed,” she said with a smile.

            “I guess so,” he said back, still trying to shake himself from his slip of the tongue.  “Oh, another thing about Mia: don’t ever, ever mention the deal with her and me.”

            “Why, are you interested in her romantically?”

            “No,” Yuki said plainly.  “She’s interested in me, though.  She started razing me about stuff like that when I first joined the unit about three years ago, and I figured it was just because I was the new guy.  She didn’t stop though, and then everyone else got into the act, even David.  It was pretty embarrassing when the team meetings would stop for Mia to say that she was lonely when she had phone duty.”

            Melanie let out something of a suppressed giggle.

            “You okay?” Yuki asked.

            “Yes,” she affirmed.  “Please continue.”

            “She’s always been like that.  Flirty, I guess.  Nice and concerned, but flirty.  I don’t know why I never asked her to dinner or anything,” Yuki said, the answer suddenly sitting next to him in the booth and whispering in his ear.  “Actually, I do know why I never did.  I was too busy working and stressing to notice just how much she liked me.”

            He blinked.  Wait, why am I telling that to her?  This was supposed to be about her and her lack of understanding for other people, not about unrequited love and me!

            Melanie’s eyes shifted from him down to the red basket between them.

            There was one fry left.

            “An android’s reflexes are much faster than that of a human’s,” Melanie said.

            “Not if I distract you,” Yuki said back.

            “I will not fall for any such tactics.”

            “Oh, they teach you that in android school too?”

            “More than you will ever begin to comprehend.”

            “Is that so?”

            “Yes, it is.”

            As the two combatants faced off, a small chime began ringing in Yuki’s jacket pocket.  He stared intently at the fry, then huffed and removed his phone, letting Melanie pick it up from the basket and nibble it away.

            “Yuki here,” he answered.

            “It’s Mia, Yuki,” the voice on the other end answered.

            “My parents calling again?” he asked.

            “You’re going to wish it was your parents.”

            Yuki’s mind shifted from pleasure to business.  “What’s wrong?”

            “Possible Neoroid incident in District 3, south end of Camp Street.”

            “I’m already there.”  He motioned for Melanie to follow him after he slapped a handsome tip on the table.  “Keep talking to me.”

            He trotted to the door and opened it for Melanie as Mia continued speaking.

            “Looks like three of them this time, all headed for the Country Kitchen restaurant across from the Lightning Burger.”

            “Melanie and I are there right now,” he said, throwing open the car door.  There was a small mist of rain falling now, and Melanie paused for a moment to admire the lights washed in it before getting into the passenger side.

            “Oh, taking her out to dinner, are we?” Mia asked in a hurtful tone.  “What, you pick up girlfriends that fast?”

            “Quit it now!” he snapped.  “Any other news on the crime?”

            “No, just that they’ve taken the whole restaurant hostage.”

            Yuki blinked. “Why didn’t you say that before?”

            “You didn’t ask.  Besides, I thought it might ruin your date.”

            Yuki fumed.  “You and me are having a chat when we get back to the precinct.”

            “Ooh, a chat,” Mia said.  “Can’t hardly wait.”

            Yuki ignored her sarcasm and started the car.  “I want all of you over here as soon as possible, understood?”

            “Yeah, there’s just one problem with that,” Mia said.

            “I don’t like complications,” Yuki told her, shoving the car into drive and pressing the accelerator to the floor.

            “I don’t either, but the D.A. was just here and he left us a present.”

            “Present?”

            “It’s a neoroid, Yuki.  A combat one, to be exact, made to look like a human being.  He’s a handsome devil, but like I said, he’s still a neoroid.”

            “What does the D.A. think this is, Christmastime?”

            “Must be.  By the way, the neoroid is demanding that he come with us.”

            “Then by all means, bring him along.”  Yuki grunted as the car shoved against gravity and gravity shoved back, the tires screeching on the damp road as he barreled into a u-turn and up the street adjacent to Camp, which lead to the back entrance of the Country Kitchen restaurant.

            “Will do.  See you in a few.”

            Yuki shoved the car into park just outside the locked iron doors of the restaurant.  There was one orange fluorescent light glowing against the darkness, and as Melanie stepped out of the car with him, she stopped to admire it.

            “No time to stare Mel,” Yuki said.  He removed his pistol and zipped up his jacket.  “This is the real deal, okay?  You listen to me and you listen clearly, or else someone will get hurt.”

            “I understand, but you seem to have underestimated my capabilities,” she said.

            “Capabilities?”

            Melanie threw open her black coat, revealing a white turtleneck sweater and long black slacks.  She threw a large and sweeping right kick at the iron doors, and the lock shattered into several pieces that clattered to the ground with a sinister echo.

            Yuki cocked his pistol and took a deep breath.

            Underestimate?  Gee, how’d she ever guess?