Someone in the front row raised their hand to ask a question.
“Speak,” said Chief Chesty.
“Who did they designate as a target this time?”
There was a low mummer as the officers quietly spoke to the person next to them all guessing who or what this year’s target would be.
Chief Chesty held up a hand to quiet the chatter.
“There’s no need to worry about protecting some big shot this time. This time the target is simple… Separatists.”
“Separatists?” “Which ones?” “This is going to be a pain.”
“Mother and Father did not clarify who, all they said was the target will be separatists. Rage week officially starts at 9 A.M. You have…” Chief Chesty looked at the holo-clock on his wrist datapad. “…roughly 30 minutes until the festival starts. I suggest you get whatever you need done before it starts.”
With that, the chief and the head officers left the large auditorium.
“Is this normal? How come I’ve never heard of this festival before?” asked Arron.
“Of course it’s normal, it happens all the time,” said Captain Pointer.
“The reason you haven’t heard about it, is because it’s only a festival for the citizens of the Megacity… mainly the first level,” said Kix.
“Alright everyone, get your gear in order. In less than 30 minutes those in the logistics rooms will be sending us on wild goose chases for the rest of the week,” said Captain Pointer.
“It’s not like we want to do that. But with such a wide and touchy topic as Separatist, there are going to be a lot of… Tips,” said Lexa.
“Ha! I’m glad I don’t have to go out and check up on everything,” said Tooth.
Several of the ERF members just smiled and slapped Toothbrush on the shoulder.
“What?” asked Tooth as he looked at their odd smiles.
***
Arron and Kix were both hopping into the new AP vehicle which they were now using since the prototype APC had been totaled.
“Let’s hope this thing holds up better than the APC,” said Kix.
“Aren’t the chips the same as the ones in the APC?”
“The mechanics from garage #1 replaced them with a different brand,” said Kix as the AP’s engine roared to life.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Arron’s NerViz alarm that he had set a short time ago started ringing loudly in his ears.
It was 9 am. The rage week festival had officially started.
Along with the alarm, all forms of the KNN news started to broadcast and publish the breaking news of the start of the rage week festival.
Ping!
Toothbrush’s head appeared over their dashboard. In the background, Arron could hear the frantic talking of the members of the logistics along with the nonstop ringing of hundreds or even thousands of people on hold. It had only been a minute since the news had declared the start of the festival.
“We got a report that there is separatist activity in the apartment complex B of the Megapartment in zone 3 of Sector 4. You have been put in charge of handling that. I’ll keep you up to date on any other reports from that Sector and zone,” said Tooth in a rush, before he disconnected the call.
***
After taking the fast lane to get to their destination, both Arron and Kix exited the AP vehicle. The doors automatically locked as soon as they shut them.
“This is the place?” asked Arron, he was not sure if they had gotten the right directions.
He tilted his head and looked at the blinking marker that his visor was showing. The suspected Separatist activity was located on the 169th floor of the mega-apartment complex B.
“You’re right, this place is not what I would call a hotbed for separatists. If we were sent to Sectors 7, 8, 9, or 10, I wouldn’t have a second thought about it. But this…”
The two were looking at the fairly clean and fully intact large apartment complex that even had a small neat pathway garden near the entrance. It was a place where thousands of middle-class families lived.
“Even our apartments don’t have a garden like this…” said Arron, still inspecting their surroundings.
“It’s probably fake,” said Kix. He quit looking at the garden and walked to the front entrance forcing Arron to follow.
The building’s security system opened for them when they waved their metal badges over the scanner.
The large community waiting room they walked into had several couches, cushions, and Holo TVs playing news, Robo-sports highlights, and even the newest top hit songs all generated and sung by beautiful and handsome Ai’s.
Everything showed the usual wear and tear of everyday use, but right now the community waiting room was empty except for the service robot that stood at the back wall near the Mag-Shoot.
Kix walked to the Mag-shoot ignoring the service bot… only to get a metallic robot hand shoved in his face.
“Guests are to use the stairs. The Mag-shoot is for residents only,” said the assistant robot.
“Get lost we’re here on official work,” said Kix pushing the thin metal hand away and pressing on the button to call the Mag-shoot down to them.
“Error… Command not recognized. Use the stairs or the police will be called for causing a nuisance.”
“We are law enforcement,” said Arron tapping on his chest badge to show his holographic badge number.
“Error… Command not recognized. This is your last warning,” said the service robot. Electricity flickered from its metal hand.
“$%^&, stupid robot. Who programmed it to be such an asshole,” Grumbled Kix as he and Arron were climbing up the spiral staircase to the 169th floor.
They had no other choice, if they destroyed the stubborn service robot, even if it was in defense, the owner would complain to the chief, and then they would be in some major trouble and it was not even 1 hour into the week-long festival.
When they reached the 150th floor they started to hear a loud argument echoing through the stairwell from several floors above.
BANG!
Both Arron and Kix pulled out their service weapons and started running up the rest of the several hundreds of stairs toward the sound.
When they reached the 168th floor they saw two males both around their thirties at the top of the stairs to the 169th floor.
One of them was holding onto a metal bat.
The two had stopped their argument when they noticed Arron and Kix slowly walking up the stairs toward them. They stood aside to let both Arron and Kix past them.
Arron and Kix scanned the hallway for any threats before turning their attention back to the two men standing near the stairs.
Kix scanned the two men with his visor to try and solve the problem quickly.
“You’re Pronker? The one who called in with information about the separatist activity?” Asked Kix.
“Yes, I am,” said the man with the metal bat. His chest puffed up as he talked.
“What was that loud bang just a moment ago?” asked Arron.
“That bang was this idiot trying to intimidate me by slamming his bat on the ground,” said the scholarly-looking man standing opposite the bug-eyed Pronker. He pushed his thick glasses up his nose making him look even smarter.
“He’s a Separatist!” said the bug-eyed man, pointing his metal bat at Mr. Glasses.
“Stop calling me a Separatist! You’re just mad that I didn’t tell you about your wife cheating on you!”
“You…! You~! You’re definitely a separatist! Otherwise, why would you not have told me about it sooner?”
“Put down that bat,” said Arron, warning the angry bug-eyed man.
“Pronker, what’s your evidence?” asked Kix.
Kix was extremely annoyed at having to climb 169 floors just for a petty squabble. But because it had to do with supposed separatist activity, he could not just brush it off. If he did that, both he and Arron could get in trouble if it later came out that the man was a separatist.
“Just check his apartment. I’m sure you can find it all in there!” said Bug-eye.
“Go ahead and search it, you’ll just find that this guy is just a petty man.”
“Is there anyone else inside?” asked Kix. He held his weapon at the ready as he walked towards the apartment that had been pointed out by Bug-eye.
“No, my wife and two children are staying at my parent’s house because of the rage week ‘holiday’.”
The neighbors that had been peeking out into the hall quickly closed their doors when Kix walked near them.
Arron held up a hand to stop the two men as they tried to follow Kix.
“You two just wait quietly over there,” said Kix pointing back to the stairs that were far enough away from the door.
“Sure,” said Mr. Glasses as he remotely opened the door for Kix to enter and begin his search.
Arron walked to the door to give Kix support if he needed it, but he also made sure to keep an eye on the two troublemakers.
“Your temper and pettiness is why your wife cheated and left you,” said Mr. Glasses.
“You… DAMN SEPARATIST!” shouted Bug-eye with so much hate in his voice.
Before Arron or Mr. Glasses could do or say anything, Bug-eye swung his bat at Mr. Glasses’ head.
The heavy blow knocked Mr. Glasses stumbling back several steps… and over the stair railing where he fell through the air.
“AHHHHhhhhh…!”
Arron rushed over to the stairs to see if Mr. Glasses had managed to grab onto a ledge…
Mr. Glasses had landed 169 floors down in a grotesque pose. His body was now laying in a growing puddle of blood and flesh.
“So, that thing about reporting separatists. How many points do I get?” asked Bug-eye standing next to Arron.
“Turn around, you’re under arrest,” said Arron, pulling out his magnetic cuffs.
“What? Why!?”
“You just killed someone in front of me, you idiot!”
“But he was a Separatist!”
“That’s not for you to decide if he was or wasn’t. Leave that up to the Office of Reason to investigate!”
