Random objects and cars flew by Edward as he was speeding down the highway all the way from Morth City on his way to a local convenience store in Ussermis, Axfield, after picking up a call from dispatch about an attempted robbery made by members of Men of Midas, which ended up with 3 dead bodies. Even though his day hadn’t started very well, with Blackburn now possibly getting the charges dropped, he wasn’t going to take comfort in the sight of three dead gangsters.
Alataria needs justice, not blood.
Only the occasional traffic jam or red headlight would ruin Edward's attempt to avoid thinking about the trial. Damn Vernes… he's not going to lift a finger… he's just going to let this case die, he thought in those moments. And Dillard… even though he's the one who started this case, under the orders of President Conrad, I still fear to learn how he's going to react.
Once he arrived at the convenience store, he saw the paramedics stuffing the bodies of the robbers into black plastic bags and placing them inside the ambulance. He noticed his good friend, Derlick Sims, questioning an old man. Once Derlick noticed Edward, he parted with the old guy and walked towards him. Derlick was perhaps Edward's only friend on the force, with everyone else being condescending pricks who make fun of Edward's devotion to the force's cause. Only Derlick understood Edward. As the two met, Derlick swept back his slick red hair and let off a long sigh.
"Hey, man. Didn’t know you picked this call up," he said to Edward. "I mean, I knew you were in Morth City at Blackburn's trial."
"Yeah, I… had to get away, so I decided to come here and… distract myself."
"I get it. The guys at the station filled me in on what happened."
"So, anyway… what happened here?"
"Well, apparently two members of Men of Midas tried robbing and killing the shop owner and his employee, but the old man shot them both with a shotgun, and then, when a third guy showed up, two Justicars appeared and killed that one."
"The Justicars?" That part sounded a bit odd to Edward.
"It's not that weird. The Justicars have been tackling the Men of Midas a lot recently. They have a suspicious habit of showing up almost every time those fuckers are up to something," said Derlick. "I already heard everything from the old man, but I haven’t had a chance to get to his worker there." He pointed at the young man who stood beside the old man. He looked to be about in his twenties, with short blonde hair and a trimmed beard. "You can have him if you want."
"Sure," said Edward and started walking towards the young man. Anything that might take my mind off the horrible morning I just had. "Sir, my name is Officer Edward Elwin," he presented his badge. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind."
"Sure," the man replied with a light, almost carefree tone.
"What's your name?"
"Edrimer Frye."
"Can you tell me what happened, Mr. Frye?"
"Look, your friend there already heard the full story, why don't we just skip this formality so we can avoid repeating ourselves."
"Please, Mr. Frye. For the record."
"Fine," he sighed and recapped the story Edward had just heard in detail, with every part of it matching the old man's tale. "I'm going to have to ask that you hand over any camera footage you have of the incident."
"Sure thing, officer."
"So… you say the Justicars just showed up out of nowhere?"
"Yeah."
"Did any of them say something?"
"Well, one of them asked about the two in the back. I don’t know how he even knew about them." Perhaps they just spotted them going into the store.
"And they didn’t say anything else?"
"No."
"Did you notice anything about their appearances, perhaps?
Could you spot their eye color through the Elastic mask?"
"No," he replied again. "Why do I get the feeling you're more worried about the Justicars, rather than Mallistrom’s men who attacked me?"
"Well, that's actually not really me asking, that’s Jonah Dillard asking," said Edward in a display of honesty.
"APD’s Chief of Police has a special interest in the Justicars?"
"He has a fucking fetish for them apparently. He won’t shut up about them. Every now and again, he likes to remind us how important it is that we gather every piece of information we can on them whenever it’s possible, and that we keep a sharp eye on their activities."
"He actually considers them a greater threat than Men of Midas? Why?"
"Groups like Men of Midas have been around for more than a century. The Justicars have only been around for... 5 years or so."
"And he thinks that makes them easier to dispose of?
That's ridiculous!"
"It’s not just that. The Justicars basically do what APD
should be doing, but they’re also breaking the law with their lethal methods, so as far as making a joke out of the police, the Justicars gets first place."
"You forgot to mention that people like Dillard have their pockets full of money from people like Mallistrom," Edrimer rudely pointed out with a smirk. Edward remained silent to that comment. APD sure had a disgraceful reputation of having half of the force, if not more, paid off by ringleaders, with Reus Mallistrom being the first name to come to mind whenever mentioning that reputation. Not to mention that APD didn’t have much to show as far as arrests and trials go, thanks to the ever-growing use of Elastics, which diminished the chances of finding DNA residue that might tie the criminals to their own crimes.
"Oh, I'm sorry, officer. Was that out of place?" Edrimer addressed him with a sarcastic tone.
"Actually, no," Edward fought back with utmost sincerity.
"You're actually right. APD is corrupted, like many other things in this country. You're right about Dillard, and as much as I hate to admit it, without the Justicars' help, you might have been dead now." Edward spoke his heart out without hesitating. It felt good for once to talk freely about the force and its downsides, even if to a complete stranger.
"I like you, Officer Elwin," Edrimer presented his hand, and Edward shook it. Still… if it wasn’t for things like Elastics, we might have been doing better, he couldn’t help but think. Many believe that Elastics are one of the worst things that ever spawned out of the technological advancements of the 21st century. The fabric which Elastics are made of is some sort of a rubber-leather hybrid, which actually works as a breathing fabric, so its users won’t suffocate or sweat themselves to death, while also guaranteeing that no DNA residue like hair or fingerprints will be left while using them. Although no one is sure who was the one who took the unique fabric and turned it into the gloves, shoes and mask set that is known as Elastics, their use has been growing ever since they first appeared on the streets.
"So I'm guessing you're going to keep working here?" said Edward. "Unless you intend to join the White Knights of Alataria, now that you’ve seen them in action."
"I don’t know. For now all I want is my peace and quiet."
Don’t we all?
"Good luck finding that," Edward laughed. "Have a good day, Mr. Frye," he bid the young man farewell and rejoined Derlick.
The 32 year old cop was drinking a cup of coffee that was given to him as a courtesy by the old shop owner. A lit cigarette stood between his fingers. "You know, my father used to tell me that cities like this one, Ussermis, were quiet places with little crime before the Men of Midas came in," said Derlick.
"Yeah, my father told me the same thing. Now Ussermis is no stranger to violence, especially since those fuckers have an outpost in this very district, in Ravenwey Burrows."
"Yeah, we've all heard about the abandoned metal factory they're using."
"Then why aren’t we doing anything? Why aren’t we shutting them down?"
"You know why." Derlick sounded indifferent as he inhaled the smoke of his cigarette and blew it away.
"Money. Of course." Edward made a face full of contempt.
"They say the Mallistroms have their hand in everything. Every kind of business you can think of."
"Money makes the world spin, Edward. We both know that."
"Money makes the world rot. We both know that, too."
"You know how much I'd love to see Mallistrom or Trife or Hill walk down that courtroom."
"Yeah… that's a lovely dream. Sometimes I wish I could walk up to the Heart and punch our damn leader in the face."
"The Heart… how ironic it is that in our capital city we like to call the Heart lives the most heartless bastards in the country," Derlick chuckled.
"I'd call it sad, not ironic."
"Oh, come on, Edward, lighten up," he bumped Edward with his shoulder.
"Right, sorry," Edward tried to appear cheerful, yet his acting wasn’t the best. "Let's just head back to the station," he said for lack of any desire to continue the conversation.