Author's Note: A big vote of thanks to Strife Aileron
for editing this as well as providing many suggestions
for improving this story. If I ever do decide to try
writing a novel again, I'll be calling on you first
Zero-One
"Well, that was a complete fuck-up," Kate
Williams snarled irritably.
She casually tossed the file on top of the big
desk; almost as if Kate didn't really care about them
at all, but her dark brown eyes were pained; haunted
by something. The sandy-haired young woman, dressed in
battered pants, a ragged T-shirt and an official
department jacket, looked so weary. It might have been
that she was dieting, or it might be that she was ill,
but she did not look good.
The office that they stood in was quite old
fashioned, in a way. Instead of a holographic wall set
to depict whatever scenes the owner might desire, the
wall was covered from top to bottom with photos,
plaques, medals and commendations. Many of the photos
included the Asian woman who was sitting behind the
desk, accepting those many awards and commendations
with that same cool and collected smile.
Gwen Musashi looked up at her subordinate,
taking in her generally ragged condition, trying to
hide her worry. She took the file, the elegant Asian
woman's dark eyes narrowed slightly as she ran through
all the various sheets and quickly soaking up the
facts that were printed on them.
"What went wrong?" Gwen asked her calmly as
she read.
"What exactly didn't go wrong?" Kate shot back
as she ran a hand through her brown hair tiredly.
"Beth tried to subdue the android just like the
manufacturer requested," she explained irritably, "she
got cold cocked by the damn thing, and then it broke
away from the two of us and into a crowd."
Gwen nodded, "After which you shot it down."
"Yes, I did," Kate agreed. She closed her eyes
for a moment, remembering sighting at the thing's
exposed back. She'd quickly pulled the trigger of her
handgun twice, nailing it on the bottom of the spine
and base of the neck, stopping it cold.
"There's not very many officers who could have
made that shot at such a great distance," Gwen noted
thoughtfully. "And it's not all that bad," she finally
said as she put the file down, "you did get the
android, after all."
Kate sat down with a soft thump in the chair
across from Gwen, her brown hair falling into her
eyes. "Don't coddle me Gwen," she shot back angrily,
"I let it get away from me, and innocent people nearly
paid the price for my screw up!"
"Maybe," Gwen said quietly. She looked up to
meet Kate's eyes, "I also know that you've been the
only officer going out most of the time, you're
working yourself down to the wire and I'm partially
the one responsible for that."
"You're too high ranked to go out normally,"
Kate shrugged wearily, "and we both know Beth isn't
very suited to go out on field operations."
"She's not so bad," Gwen pointed out weakly,
"as long as she's supervised."
Kate sighed to herself softly, not trusting
herself to say anything more about it. Elizabeth
Harris was a good kid, the sort of technical type who
helped keep any major organization running smoothly.
The little redhead was incredible with her computers,
if you needed any kind of information she could get
it, usually within moments. She also had a knack with
weapons, helping build the special weapons they needed
for their jobs.
But as a police officer, Beth was a just bit
more limited. She could handle her handgun as well as
any other officer, but she seemed to lack the sort of
instincts that a cop needed to have out in the field.
Paired up with another officer she did just fine, but
on her own she was an accident waiting to happen. An
accident that both women sitting in the office badly
wanted to avoid.
"She certainly tries," Gwen offered into the
silence.
"Maybe, but right now," Kate sighed tiredly,
"we're down to two and a half officers." She looked up
and gave Gwen a weary smile, "No offense meant."
"None taken," Gwen answered, but deep inside
she felt a flash of irritation. What she wanted to be
was out in the field, but since organizing the special
police unit nicknamed the Chasers, she had been firmly
stuck behind a desk. Intellectually, she understood
the reasoning behind it, her being one of the few real
experts on android crime meant that she had to be
available to the brass and other units, but
emotionally, it still hurt.
Gwen got up out of her comfortable chair, her
crisp, blue business suit hugging her slim form as she
walked towards the window. She looked out at the
towers that surrounded them on all sides, and for a
moment, wished that she could see blue sky. "We might
just have a solution to our problem, however," she
said without turning around.
"You finally got official permission to bring
in another officer?" Kate asked, sitting up in her
chair in honest surprise. She snorted and said, "I
thought those paper-pushers would have taken a few
more weeks to deal with it just on general
principles."
"It's been months," Gwen bitterly said as she
continued to look out at the city, "I put in the
request before Lynn..."
"Ah," Kate's voice was quiet.
"When does your court ordered psych exams
start?" Gwen asked into the silence.
"A week," Kate sounded positively disgusted at
the idea as she said, "but I was hoping you might be
able to get me out of them, Gwen."
"No such luck," Gwen said as she turned back
to Kate with a soft sigh. "They sent over the name of
the psychiatrist you'll be seeing," she walked over to
hand Kate a card she pulled out of her pocket.
"Dr. Alexis Jameson?" Kate read it curiously.
She put it away in her pocket with a sigh before
getting up out of her chair. "I'm going to go out and
check on how Beth is doing, and then take a break,"
she said, stretching out awkwardly.
"Go get some coffee," Gwen agreed, "and grab
some food." Kate gave her a casual wave as she left,
and Gwen watched her go worriedly.
* * * * *
The hallways were oddly quiet as Kate made her
way towards the break room, where she poured a cup of
strong, black coffee for herself. She added sugar and
whitener, then took a deep pull on it, trying to kick
herself back awake. Kate sipped at it when she went to
the control room, seeing her friend sitting at the
computer terminals, a cold pack pressed to the side of
her face.
"Sorry, Kate," Beth apologized, smiled weakly.
The little computer tech looked oddly fragile
sitting in the large office chair, Beth's normally
pale skin now almost chalky and her hands shook
slightly. All around her, the computer terminals
worked, information on registered android activity
scrolling on their screens. Multiple keyboards, a VR
interface rig, and a few items that Kate strongly
suspected were gray, or even black market hacker gear
were all ready to go.
'It was probably a lot closer to danger than
she usually gets,' Kate silently mused as she walked
over to stand by the redhead's side. She stood there
awkwardly for a few moments before finally saying, "It
wasn't your fault, Beth."
"You would never have gotten suckered that
way," Beth sighed, wincing slightly as she pressed the
cold pack to the side of her face.
"That's because I don't trust anybody," Kate
said entirely seriously.
Beth sighed softly, "Maybe I should start
trying that."
"It wouldn't suit you," Kate pointed out
gently. She frowned down at Beth, "You took your
pain-tabs and the anti-inflamitaries?"
"Yes, mother," Beth teased, smiled up at her
wryly with green eyes twinkling. She took a deep
breath, "I'll try not to screw up like that again,
Kate."
"There's some good news," Kate said,
deliberately changing the subject, "Gwen's got a new
officer coming in."
"About time," Beth burst out, "we've been
short ever since..." Beth trailed off, the look on
Kate's face stopping her. "Sorry, Kate," she said
sheepishly.
"Yeah," Kate pushed off from where she was
leaning against the side of Beth's desk. She gave the
girl a weak smile, "I'm going to go get something to
eat, you want anything?"
"I'm fine," Beth sighed, watching Kate walk
away. The miracles of modern medicine would make sure
there were no signs of this incident on her tomorrow,
no bruises even. Too bad there wasn't something to
help Kate deal with her problems so easily.
* * * * *
Over in her office, Gwen found her thoughts
going in similar directions. If Kate kept pushing
herself as hard as she was, she would snap. It was
only a matter of time. 'Which means I need to get
another officer in here to back her up soon,' Gwen
thought firmly.
Gwen leaned over her desk, clearing the old
fashioned papers away. "Computer," she said calmly,
watching as the top of the desk glowed to life. The
holographic screen floated in front of her, her
personalized icons hanging in space.
"How can I be of service, madam?" the computer
asked, it's clearly female voice pitched to be as
gentle and soothing as possible.
"List transfer requests to Police Special
Operations Unit, commonly referred to as Chasers,"
Gwen phrased her request carefully. Computers were
good, but an inaccurately phrased request could
produce some very interesting results.
"Transfer requests, listed in reverse
chronological order," the computer agreed, a list of
twenty names and thumbnail images appearing in the air
before her.
"Clear all demerit transfers," Gwen ordered.
The computer sounded a bit confused as it
answered her, "There are no demerit transfers
presently listed."
Gwen nodded thoughtfully and rephrased the
command, "Then clear all officers who received
demerits or punitive action within a month of the
transfer request."
"Four officers remaining," the computer
reported.
Gwen looked at the listing, taking in the two
female and two male officers. She tapped on each
image, quickly running through the listings there.
Three of them had more varied personal records, with
some demerits and commendations mixed together. The
final officer had a remarkably clear record, a list of
commendations and awards both from the police and the
public.
"Were there any volunteers?" Gwen asked
curiously.
"One," the computer reported.
Somehow, Gwen wasn't too surprised to see that
the volunteer was also the one with the exemplary
record. She tapped on the thumbnail image, bringing a
face and name up in a larger scale. The blonde haired
woman shown there was oddly beautiful, her clear blue
eyes gazing out with an odd look of sincerity.
"Jennifer Grayson," Gwen murmured to herself
softly, sitting back in her chair to look at the image
thoughtfully.
* * * * *
In another part of the city, a tall blonde
answered a telephone, listening to the person with an
odd look on her face. The older woman's image in her
video-screen grew increasingly peeved as the young
woman answered her politely, "No, I'm sorry we can't
do something about the sexaroid that your husband
bought. I'm sorry that he's been neglecting you, but
that's not illegal. No, I don't think the Chasers will
destroy a sexaroid for causing your husband to get a
sore back..."
There was a sudden loud noise as the caller
hung up on her forcefully. "Poor baby," the officer
who was sitting at the next desk over gave her a
sympathetic smile. She leaned towards the blonde to
ask, "Jennifer, you sure you want to transfer over to
the Chasers? You might have to deal with stuff like
that all the time."
"Gee, thanks, Terry," Jennifer Grayson said,
gave her friend a weak smile.
The dark haired Latino woman was attractive;
Terry's browned skin almost completely unblemished.
The uniform blues she wore looked really good on the
shapely young woman, but then again almost anything
looked good on her. At least, in Jennifer's opinion.
"You know what I mean," Terry Ramos said
casually. She looked over at her friend; the blonde's
uniform was perfectly crisp, like she'd just stepped
off a recruiting poster, but then again, she always
did. Dropping her voice she asked, "Why do you want to
join the Chasers?"
"It's not that hard to figure out," Jennifer
murmured as she ran through files on her computer,
finishing off some of her paperwork, "the Police
Special Operations Unit is where the real action is."
"Yeah," Terry shook her head, "you're nuts."
The door to the division head's office
suddenly slammed open, and a gray-haired, older man
stuck his head out. He looked around before yelling,
"Grayson!"
Jennifer exchanged a worried look with Terry
before jumping to her feet. She smoothed out her
jacket, made sure her dress pants were straight, then
went to the office and tapped on the door, entering
when she heard the call to come in.
"Detective Grayson reporting as ordered,
Captain Samuels," Jennifer stated, coming to attention
just inside the office.
Sitting in the comfortable chair in front of
Samuels' desk that was normally saved for visiting
officials, was a sophisticated looking Asian woman.
She was striking; dressed in one of the best quality
suits Jennifer had ever seen. Her long, black hair
flowed over her shoulders in glossy waves, her eyes
dark and piercing.
"Grayson," the older man said coolly, "this is
Gwen Musashi, the chief of the Police Special
Operations Unit."
"It's nice to meet you," Gwen got up out of
her chair, offering her hand. Jennifer took it
reflexedly, matching the woman squeeze for squeeze.
"It seems," her superior gave Jennifer a
clearly disapproving look as he continued, "that
Section-Chief Musashi is here to discuss an
application you put in to transfer to her unit." A
pause, "Something that was news to me."
"I apologize, Sir," Jennifer apologized.
"It shouldn't take long," Gwen said smoothly,
"if I can have her for half an hour, we should be able
to get the interview completed."
Realizing that there wasn't very much he could
actually do about it, Samuels sullenly agreed, "You
have half an hour, then."
"Come with me," Gwen rose smoothly.
Gwen was out the door almost before Jennifer
could stumble after her. With remarkable ease; Gwen
navigated through the maze of desks and work stations,
quickly reaching the hallway. She paused to let
Jennifer catch up, then she continued on to the end of
the long hall and out to the balcony on that level. A
few plants struggled to survive in the dim light, with
a couple of benches and a few ashtrays of various
types scattered around.
On all sides the massive city rose up around
the two of them. The only reason they recieved any
sunlight was that they were on a middle level. The
towers of the wealthy elite rising up above them like
silvery needles, and far below them the sun deprived
old city which the newer city was built over top of.
The poor lived down there, and those that didn't want
to be found.
Gwen walked over to the edge, leaning on the
railing to watch cars on the elevated highways moving
between buildings and levels. They stood silently for
a few moments before Jennifer finally ventured, "It's
an honor to meet you."
"Thanks," Gwen answered simply. Casually she
asked, "So why do you want to join the Chasers?"
"Huh? I. ?" Jennifer blinked, startled by the
sudden question.
"I checked out your record before I came here,
Jennifer Grayson," Gwen said, continuing to look out
at the city, "even called up some of your other
commanders to see what kind of officer you are. No one
had anything bad to say about you."
"Thank you," Jennifer murmured, a bit of a
blush on her cheeks.
"What I don't know is why an officer with that
kind of record want to join my command? We do all the
dirty work, the dangerous jobs that other police
aren't equipped or even trained to do." Gwen finally
looked over at Jennifer, the beautiful woman's gaze
piercing as she repeated, "Why do you want to join the
Police Special Operations Unit?"
Jennifer met those eyes and confidently
stated, "Because I want to help people, and I think
the Police Special Operations Unit are the best way to
do that. Normal police are just traffic wardens and
social workers, but your people are the ones who
actually help people."
"That wasn't a rehearsed answer," Gwen said,
nodding thoughtfully.
"No, it wasn't rehearsed," Jennifer quietly
agreed, nervously wondering if she had just put her
foot in it big time.
Gwen pulled a perso-comp from her coat pocket,
tapping it on and then accessing a set of files. She
keyed something in, "I just approved your transfer."
Jennifer's eyes widened, "What? Are you
sure.?"
"Looking at your file very nearly decided me,"
Gwen said, putting the slim computer away into a
pocket before continuing, "meeting you in person
finished it." She raised an eyebrow, "Unless you're
having second thoughts?"
"No, ma'am," Jennifer said, shaking her head.
"Good," Gwen said, taking a set of papers from
another pocket, "you'll report to our section of the
police complex tomorrow morning, 0800 hours. We'll
have an officer waiting there to help fit you out for
your weapon, and begin your training."
"I'll be there," Jennifer nodded, standing at
attention.
"Relax, you're not working for me just yet,"
Gwen said. She smiled slightly as she said, "Oh, we
don't do uniforms in the Chasers. Business formal
clothing, more or less."
"Right," Jennifer said, blushing.
Gwen ran a hand through her dark hair, "Now
for the fun part."
"Hm?" Jennifer looked at her in surprise.
"You're boss isn't going to be very happy
about losing an officer of your caliber, I can just
tell," Gwen said dryly.
Jennifer nodded glumly, "True."
Gwen gave her a sympathetic smile, "You want
me for back up?"
Jennifer hesitated, but there was only a
sincere willingness to help in Gwen's manner. "I'd
appreciate it," she admitted.
Samuels actually took it pretty well, overall.
He was clearly disappointed when the two walked into
his office to let him know that Jennifer was indeed
transfering, but he looked like he was almost
expecting it. He offered Jennifer his congratulations,
and added yet another piece of glowing praise to her
personnel file. Gwen left with a reminder of her
morning appointment, and Jennifer went to clean out
her desk.
And break it to Terry.
"You're transferring?! Now?" Terry Ramos
blurted, looking at Jennifer in shock.
"Section-Chief Musashi already approved it,"
Jennifer sais with a smile, shaking her head in
admiration. "The woman is incredible," she murmured.
"You were one of the few partners I've had
that I could actually tolerate, damn it," Terry
complained good-naturedly.
"I'm sure you'll break in a new partner soon
enough," Jennifer assured as she packed all her
personal items away into a large cube.
"Yeah, you're right about that," Terry sighed.
"And maybe you'll get a cute guy in my spot,"
Jennifer offered hopefully.
Terry's lips turned up in a smile, giving
Jennifer an impish look as she noted, "Speaking of
that, I see your new boss is a lot more pleasing to
the eyes than Samuels is."
"Oh?" Jennifer tried to sound casual, but a
faint blush colored her cheeks.
"Don't give me that," Terry pinned her with a
fierce gaze before adding smugly, "you know I know the
type you like."
"I don't even know if she'd be interested,"
Jennifer protested. She shook her head, "Besides,
she's my boss. It's impossible."
"Uh-huh," Terry gave her a look.
Jennifer finished packing up her stuff, then
with a few simple keys, she cleared her personal
settings off of the desk. It would be all ready for a
new officer, when one was bumped over to fill her
vacant detective's slot.
Jennifer looked over at Terry, quietly saying,
"I'm going to miss you, partner."
"Me, too," Terry said as she pulled Jennifer
close. She squeezed her friend, not caring about the
whispers in the squad-room as the others watched, then
reluctantly let Jennifer go. "Watch yourself, please,"
she said in a whisper.
"Will do," Jennifer agreed. She collected her
box full of goods and walked out without a backwards
glance, back straight and her steps sure.
Terry watched her go, then she settled behind
her desk with a sigh. "I hope those Chasers know the
kind of gem they're getting," she muttered.
* * * * *
Gwen walked towards the door to their section,
stopping there just before she triggered the opening
sensor. The metallic door was marked with 'Police
Special Operations Unit' in the typical black,
regulation text, and just bellow it, painted on with a
much more delicate hand was added the words 'the
Chasers.'
'I really should have that removed,' Gwen
thought to herself as she walked forward, letting the
sensors in the door open it, 'but... I don't want to
forget, ever.' She strode down the hall, entering what
would have been a staff room in a larger unit.
Converted into a combination of a break room and
waiting area; it held a few couches, a couple of
desks, microwave and freezer.
Curled up in a ball on one of the battered old
couches Kate was fast asleep; snoring softly, her
brown hair falling into her face, ruffled occasionally
by her breath.. On a nearby table a half drunk cup of
black coffee sat, slowly growing cold. Gwen picked up
a blanket draped over another chair and pulled it over
Kate.
"Rest up," Gwen murmured, "you're probably
going to need it."
The connecting door led into the computer
center, or as Beth liked to call it, 'the bridge.' It
was here much of the work of being a Chaser was done,
Beth gathering and using data to help track the rogue
androids. She could even track them using their
internal transponders, if enough information was found
on the scene to identify the android in question.
"Hey Boss," Beth absently waved, running a
series on checks on her systems. The redhead shifted
between three different screens, her eyes narrowed.
"Did you see Kate?"
"Out like a light," Gwen said dryly.
"That's what I meant," Beth shot her a impish
smile. "So how does the officer check out?" she leaned
forward curiously.
"Jennifer Grayson," Gwen handed a slim
microdisk over to Beth, "she'll be reporting in here
early tomorrow morning."
"She's suitable?" Beth said as she sat up in
surprise.
"It looks that way," Gwen agreed. Beth put the
disk into one of the computers, running through the
information avidly even as Gwen continued, "We'll need
you to fit her out with a new weapon, as well as brief
her on operations."
"She's certainly a big girl," Beth murmured as
she read the file, "maybe she'll be able to handle
that cannon I refitted."
"Just keep in mind the powerful recoil of
these antiques we use," Gwen reminded her, "they do
take some getting used to."
"Right, right," Beth said, nodding.
Gwen sighed as she considered the situation.
As time had passed police switched more and more to
non-lethal methods of stopping common criminals. The
stunners that were currently being used could stop any
normal criminal in his tracks, but a malfunctioning
android would just ignore the debilitating effects. To
stop such things, the weapons of another era were
reluctantly resurrected, the projectile weapons of the
twentieth century.
'And we're the lucky ones who get to use
them,' Gwen thought grimly. "Jennifer will be here at
0800; I suspect precisely," she added.
"Looking at this record I'm not surprised,"
Beth murmured as she read over more of Jennifer's
file. Her eyes widened when she was the image, "She
looks a little like...."
"Yeah, I know," Gwen agreed. She looked
towards the break-room thoughtfully, "Try not to let
Kate scare her away, please."
"I'll try," Beth sighed.
"I'm going out," Gwen said calmly, "but my
pager and 'com will both be on. If anything goes
wrong, contact me first, only then wake up Kate."
"Got it," Gwen heard Beth say as she left.
The lift brought her down to the garage in
only a few moments, and Gwen navigated easily through
the lines of cruisers that were waiting down there.
Her car gleamed silver in it's spot, a single gesture
from Gwen's hand deactivating the security and
reactivating the onboard artificial intelligence of
the sleek little vehicle.
"Good evening, Chief Musashi," the female
voice said sweetly.
"Reset to manual configuration, please," Gwen
said crisply as she settled behind the drivers seat,
"I want to drive tonight."
"Acknowledged," the car replied.
Gwen started it and smoothly directed the car
up the access ramp to street level. The armored exit
doors irised aside silently, and she slid out into the
rapid flow of traffic. Out of a sense of morbid
curiosity she intentionally drove by the public
entrance of the police annex and felt a flash of
irritation at what she saw out there.
Just like every day this week a group of
protesters milled about outside, waving signs or using
projected images. The android rights protesters
weren't very imaginative in their imagery, the police
portrayed as hulking storm troopers, but their message
was crystal clear: shut the Chasers down. Gwen
searched the crowd with her eyes, and felt relieved
that there wasn't a familiar face there.
A muscle in Gwen's jaw jumped as she clenched
it tightly. "Uptown map, please," she commanded
coldly.
"Map," the computer replied as an image formed
in midair beside her, showing both the fastest route
to uptown, and the layout of the upper levels of the
massive city.
"Thanks," Gwen said as she followed the route,
but she could have done it blindfolded if she had to.
She slid up a final ramp, and almost gasped. Up above
her, she saw the stars, ones that would be hidden from
view below this mountainous level of the city.
Up here, Gwen's sleek silver vehicle barely
fit in at all. The high priced vehicles that purred
their way down the streets, the pollution free
electrical engines carrying the people of this level
around, were far more expensive than anyone on a lower
level could afford. She drove between the silvery
towers, breathing the purer air, then finally shook
herself.
"Business recreation district," Gwen ordered
softly.
The map came up again, and Gwen drove on. The
buildings here were decorated a bit more tastelessly,
intended to remind people of an earlier era. Finding
the building she wanted, Gwen pulled into the
under-ground garage, sliding her vehicle into an
unoccupied place. She got out, only pausing to
activate the security systems, and walked to the
lifts.
"Ms. Musashi," the blue-haired young woman
greeted Gwen with a smile as she emerged from the lift
into the lobby, "it's good to see you again."
"Thank you," Gwen said to her calmly, almost
instantly recognizing the android who stood there by
name, "Calyx."
"You remembered," Calyx looked up at Gwen, her
eyes showing her pleasure at such a simple thing. She
accessed a document on a small personal organizer she
carried, "Several hostesses have put requests in to be
with you when you next came in."
Gwen raised an elegant eyebrow and asked,
"Oh?"
"They do talk among themselves," Calyx said to
her gently, "and you have developed quite a reputation
as a gentle, respectful guest." She looked down, to
avoid gazing at the clearly surprised Gwen, "Would you
prefer if I chose a hostess for you?"
"Please," Gwen said softly, a faint blush to
her cheeks.
"Please go to room number 112," Calyx said
softly as she consulted her control panel, "a hostess
will meet you there."
Gwen murmured her thanks again, walking down
the hall. She found the room and entered, kneeling
down by a low table. The room, like the rest of the
rooms, was set up like a traditional Japanese home,
with paper walls and wood. She breathed deep of the
scent and smiled, feeling relaxed by the oddly
familiar scent. She had never been to such a place,
born and raised in this city, but still...
"Good evening," a quiet voice said as a door
slid back. Gwen looked up and blinked in surprise,
taking in the beautiful young woman who was standing
there.
"Would you like me to pour your drink, madam?"
Calyx asked with a nervous smile as she took the sake
bottle in her hands, holding it in the traditional
manner.
Gwen hesitated, then held out the cup,
"Please."
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