Nearly a half hour after the transfer of the old man to the police, Arron was still rounding up the targets on the list that had been given to him. He had managed to stumble upon the hidey-hole of the last man on the list and started to drag him towards the APC that was now crammed full of everyone who had been rounded up.
“You won’t make me talk!” said the large man that Arron was half carrying and half dragging.
“That’s not my job. The Office of Reason will be the one talking with you,” said Arron.
Ping!
Arron looked at the new notification from his NerViz to find he had an important incoming call.
“Hey Knox! The captain is calling!” shouted Arron as he sped up his pace to the opened back doors before shoving the grumbling man in the back with the rest. He had a little trouble trying to close the door with several shouts coming inside but he ignored them as he gave it one more push and managed to close the door allowing the auto-locks to engage, securing their large harvest.
“Accept the call! Don’t leave him waiting!” said Knox while he ran over to Arron.
Arron did just that and immediately Captain Pointer’s face appeared in front of Arron.
“What the hell is going on? Where are you? I have been trying to get through to you for over a half hour,” said Captain Pointer.
“All our communications were blocked and I was trying to contact you the whole time. But I am happy to announce that we managed to capture the Target. We then received new orders from the Office of Reason and handed him over to the police so they could escort him to the 4th level. We just finished gathering the last person on our list so I can say it’s Mission accomplished!” said Arron in one quick breath.
Captain Pointer stared at Arron for some time in silence making him feel awkward as if he had missed something.
“You say you had new orders? Can you show them to me?”
“Sure,” said Arron with a shrug as he brought up the orders from the Office of Reason and shared it with Captain Pointer over their secure connection.
The captain’s face scrunched up in confusion as he read the document.
“Looks to be official… by the way, you haven’t been watching the news have you?” asked Captain Pointer.
“No, too busy hunting down the troubled suspects for the Office of Reason. Why? Has something happened?”
“A short while ago the news started to broadcast footage from the wreckage… It was the hover-copter that was transporting the old man of the Ryu family. All hell has broken loose in Sector 1. Many of our informants have gone silent and will not talk to us anymore. Something big is brewing.”
“Even bigger than today?” asked Arron, skeptical of such talk.
“Even bigger,” said Captain Pointer with a nod.
“Then HQ is going to be on high alert. Do you want us to head back there immediately or can we drop off the suspected targets we gathered?”
“Everyone should head back to HQ as fast as possible. Except for you. Both you and Kix have been ordered to head to the Office of Reason’s level 1 HQ to receive a debriefing for your time working with them,” said Captain Pointer.
Arron signed. Of course something like this would happen. He could do nothing about it, so he just accepted the fact and tried to figure out how to get a ride to the main Office of Reason building.
***
When Arron arrived in front of the Sector 12 Office of Reason building, Kix was already there waiting for him along with half a dozen white suit agents.
Both Arron and Kix could only nod to each other in greeting before the white suit agents silently led them into the building through many winding white-tiled hallways until they were deep within the belly of the building.
The hallways they took were quiet and had little to no traffic in them making the large building feel empty.
A well-polished white door at the end of the hallway slid open to reveal an interrogation room with five hover chairs around a small white table.
The escorting agents waved the two into the room and watched them closely before the door slid shut.
Arron plopped down into one of two chairs on the right and quietly grumbled, “I hate these rooms, why can’t we ever use a normal conference room.”
“It’s so that they can show who has the power,” said Kix as he sat next to Arron.
“You know with everything that happened I now have a deeper understanding of what hardships you had to go through as a kid and what’s going on with the families now. I am surprised that they even allowed you to leave,” said Arron quietly.
“My father is not that kind. You know the family codes. I already paid my dues… both in blood and credits,” said Kix as he looked at his metal hand.
They sat in the room silently for what seemed ages before the door slid open once again.
Three gray suit agents walked into the room, one of them was A.S who sat down in one of the chairs opposite them while the other two agents continued to stand.
“Since we have all the files and recordings from the both of you during your undercover and support roles, this is just a formality so that we can close up a few loose ends…” said A.S. with a slick smile on his face as he said the last words.
There was a long pause making both Arron and Kix feel uncomfortable before A.S chuckled and continued talking, “As promised, we will be paying you for any credits spent during the mission minus the taxes.”
With a swipe of his hand, he sent both Arron and Kix small deposits to their bank accounts.
Ping! Arron checked the amount that had been deposited and saw that the number was correct. It still left him with fewer credits than he had started out with.
Although Arron had risked his life multiple times while undercover, in the Office of Reason opinion this small amount of credits was all that he was worth. It was not a nice feeling.
“We also have several finished reports from the researchers on your latest test prototypes that you were working on. The main Office of Reason researchers have decided to end the test since they were not satisfied with prototype Chewy’s AI as it is too docile along with its other quirks. I hear they have already started working on a new future domestic product using its AI as a base. Spike’s AI model on the other hand is much more to their liking. I’m guessing that they will soon be producing new updated models for use in the military, and police forces.”
Arron was not sure why A.S. was talking about such things that sounded to be highly classified, but if he was talking about it, he might as well ask the question on his mind. “…and what will happen to the two prototypes?”
“Now that the project has finished the researchers have already sent through a final patch to add a few limitations on their functions and harden their systems in order to follow the regulations set by Mother and Father. Since they are not worth the cost needed to scrap them, they will be handed back to M1 to use however your chief wants,” said A.S.
“As for your NerViz prototype… also a failure. It is too expensive for mass production and has several flaws and bugs that can not be fixed. Only worth producing in low quantity if the party of Mother and Father want them.”
Arron was sweating… flaws? This was the first time he had heard of this! Was he really safe the entire time he was undercover?
“Arron, just so that our records are complete, I will need you to take off your armor and shirt so that we can get a full scan of your new ‘Art piece’,” said A.S with a smile.
The two gray suit agents next to AS stepped forward threateningly.
Arron could only do as told and strip off his armor, the sweat-drenched uniform shirt, and the silk arm cover that he had been using to hide the Irizumi on both his hand and arm.
Now half naked, he waited as two drones dropped down from an opened hole in the ceiling.
They slowly hovered around him scanning his entire body once then slowly taking a close-up detailed scan of his left hand, arm, and shoulder.
When the drones finished their scans and flew back into the holes they came from, A.S. clapped his hands loudly.
“It would be quite a problem if another Office of Reason agent were to suspect you of being a member of the Ryu family. With that added to your files we should be good… but if anyone else not in the know were to catch wind of THAT,” said A.S. pointing to Arron’s Irizumi. “Let’s say the news or one of the families did. If something like that were to happen, we will deny any knowledge of it.”
With that said A.S. and the two other gray suits turned around and walked to the door that was now open.
“You are free to leave whenever you want. The white suit agents will escort you out,” said A.S. as he exited the room.
