I’m sure I’ve seen a similar scene somewhere.
Dragon’s Rare’s first day of work. At the time of the unintentional inspection on the Kabuki monorail platform.
One of the psycho gangs caught in check had a similar experience.
And then his affiliation… .
‘Dead Cell.’
A gang of mad terrorists who rival the Luddite gang.
They treat high-risk cyborg implants like a meal, and treat killing people and ripping off chrome and cyberware as light snacks.
The same was the case with the man who was suppressed by the patrol officer over there. Even if you pretend to be, you are a fellow.
At that time, the appearance of the LED prosthesis, the color of the optical fiber, the appearance of the metal tattoo, etc. are slightly different, but the fact that they are doing crazy things is very similar.
Because that was last Monday… In the past few days, I have only witnessed the death of a gang member being arrested by the DCPD twice.
Only here in Asian Town.
It was clearly unusual.
Asian Town is quite far from the dead cell home of Sproulfield. The Yakuza are holding it tight, so there is no way to gain an advantage.
Even so, there must be a reason why they keep appearing as if they were having an affair nearby.
DCPD’s scouring of dead cells was also suspicious. Oh my God, to turn the whole game center upside down like this in order to get a member of the gang.
Like the Luddite gang, it was a gang with a red wanted order, but nonetheless, it wasn’t to this extent.
I heard that companies do not want to root out the dead cell because it is a good exchange for technology or research that can cause ‘ethical problems’.
What is the reason for overreacting to the movements of the Dead Cells in City Police, which is called the corporate hound?
‘You guys have crossed the line significantly this time.’
‘He was someone who knew something. The information was not wrong at all.’
I remember the voice of a patrolman from the monorail platform.
At the time, it wasn’t a big deal, but now that I think about it, Dead Cell seems to have done something big.
Was it the Dead Cell gang member back then?
‘To say that you crossed the line just because you pulled out one of the great Megacorp’s protruding tails, it’s like you scoundrels licking corporate assholes… .’
It was still clear to me that he was being beaten to the point of being half-dead by a patrolman after shouting so madly.
It was a scene of brutal violence that is hard to forget.
If we can deduce from what we heard at the time… What happened to the Dead Cells with Megacorp, and that’s why the DCPD has been chasing them ever since then?
I don’t know what it is, but it seems like a very serious accident.
Looks like the psycho gangs really touched Megacorp’s heart.
Recently, City Police has been showing a lot of sensitivity and frequent unintentional checkups. There must be a reason.
Attacking Megacorp’s factories or subsidiaries, stealing technology… Since there are so many predictable candidates, it has not been narrowed down to one thing.
It’s not like the situation right now is when I’m leisurely guessing.
“… … Big, billion.”
With the sound of a suffocating sound, the patrolman swung the exoskeleton covered in blood and aqueous solution and looked at it, flipping over the bundle of bright red eyes and throwing the stunned Dead Cell gang member behind.
Behind him, two patrol officers under his command are escorting the assailant out of the center with electronic restraints on his hands and feet.
Except for those two, the rest of the patrols gradually approach me, breaking through the buzzing wave of VR people.
With all my eyes focused, I smiled awkwardly and raised my hands in a sign of surrender.
As I was contemplating whether I should kneel down, a tough-looking male patrol came up to me and grabbed me from behind.
“Ouch.”
That’s why I didn’t want to stand out.
For better or for worse, if you spot yourself at the scene where the DCPD was dispatched, you have no choice but to be investigated.
That is the principle.
Fortunately, this was a lot to watch.
If they had eyes, they wouldn’t have known that I saved them from a dead cell terrorist’s energy beam.
Right now, I’m getting noticed in a good way, and I’m being treated fairly sensibly.
If I had been noticed in a bad way, I would have started by kicking my legs right away, making them kneel, and putting them in electronic handcuffs.
“Please cooperate with the investigation.”
Because the suit’s combat mode was activated, I reflexively resisted the body’s counterattack, and accepted the patrol’s articulation.
I frown, nod my head, and let my identity be checked.
Okay. It’s a little unsettling, but it’s still not a bad situation.
I’ve already caught the culprit, and no matter how hard I looked, I had nothing to do with Dead Cell.
I even threw myself away to save patrols and civilians. Rather, I don’t think I should receive a DCPD commendation.
At best, I’ll just do some interrogation and investigation.
You won’t go to the overhaul and find out your fake identity, probably.
The thing that bothers me is that I might look a little suspicious.
Even if I’m a member of City Police, if a man in a stiff suit wearing a black Darth Vader mask suddenly shows off his unusual martial arts skills and helps arrest criminals, I’m like, ‘What is this bastard?’ It seems to me that
Putting it this way makes me feel like a crazy person. Especially considering that this place is a VR game center where the bottom life gathers. It’s a character that doesn’t fit the place at all.
I wish I could just see you as a vigilante with an exceptional sense of justice… .
I knew in my head that the chance of being dragged was not very high, but I couldn’t help but get nervous.
It was a time when I was getting an identity check while taking an uncomfortable posture with a feeling of nervousness.
[Release.]
eyes wide open As I lifted my head, several of the patrolman’s helmet lenses were busy spinning and illuminating me.
“yes? ha, but As a rule… .”
To the bewildered patrol, the patrol officer speaks once more.
[Let me go. No need to research someone i know The data is still there.]
“Oh, I see. Then go ahead.”
The patrol officer withdrew, embarrassed by his large size.
The patrol officer cleaned the gloves with air and then reached out and lifted me up.
[Aaron Nakamura-san, you are right.]
“… Yes. thank you.”
I wondered if it was a strangely familiar feeling, but then I definitely realized it.
If there is any DCPD patrol officer who still remembers my name, I know of only one person.
I guess I didn’t feel the déjà vu on my first commute to work.
Somehow, I’m used to seeing them beating dead cell gang members in a cool way.
It was the patrolman who interrogated me on the monorail platform and who I had met a few times since and became very close friends with.
I couldn’t recognize it at a glance because the patrol officer’s outfit was so uniform, but the patrol officer must have noticed my identity only by looking at my air purifying mask.
[Would you like to talk for a moment?]
He said as he looked deeply at me through the invisible eyes of the mechanical lens.
The hand that lifted me up is holding my forearm tightly, so I realize that I can’t refuse.
I said stuttering.
“Yes, yes. Sure.”
[There is a good place to have a conversation nearby. Let’s go there.]
The DCPD patrol officer said so and dragged me by the arm.
A good place to have a conversation is the Asian Town branch of City Police, or something like that.
I cried out inwardly as I was dragged helplessly.
Oh, no. my holiday. my game score. I need to recover… !
* * *
About 10 minutes later.
The patrol officer suddenly asked.
[Is the coffee taste okay?]
A coffee shop with yellow lights and jazz punk music. The signboard with “COFFEE” written on it and the menu board glow softly.
A cafe was meant to be a good place to have a conversation.
I wondered if it was DCPD’s secret cooperative business, but it wasn’t.
It’s more of a normal coffee shop than I imagined.
A cozy and warm atmosphere surrounds you. If it hadn’t been for the person sitting next to me, it would have been.
A cold sweat runs out.
Still, sitting in a narrow seat with a patrolman in an exoskeleton suit, the burden was no joke.
Especially if the patrol officer had made the customers in the cafe run away just by appearing a few minutes earlier in fear.
Even the robot barista trembled and gave me a cup of coffee. DCPD patrol officers seem to be intimidating.
sigh.
I was drinking the coffee I ordered in such an awkward and stiff atmosphere, but when I suddenly started talking, I heard Sare.
He said while wiping his mouth and nose with a tissue, because what he drank almost ran down his nose.
“Hmm, hmm. Yes. It’s okay.”
To be honest, I don’t know.
Can you taste the coffee? A living biological weapon right next to me is staring at me.
I didn’t even know if the coffee was going into my nose or my mouth.
Since instant coffee is all that is mixed with various compounds, caffeine, and synthetic milk in an extremely diluted concentrate in the first place, it doesn’t taste that great.
But I couldn’t say that to the patrol officer. Even though I didn’t buy this, the yangban bought it for me.
[I’m glad.]
The ranger answered in a low voice, then flinched for a moment, swallowing his share of espresso with a straw attached to his helmet.
[First of all, I think I should say thank you for your help. It’s a shame, but if Nakamura-san didn’t come up and don’t give it to me, there would have been a lot of casualties. There must have been a lot of dead or injured among the patrols.]
“I just did what I had to do. You can’t stand still and watch people die. And you can call me by your first name, not your last name.”
[Are you still okay? I heard that Japanese people only call each other by name.]
“What. Because this is Dusk City, not New Tokyo.”
And I’m not Japanese either.
Calling them Nakamura-san only makes them uncomfortable.
The patrol officer shook his head at my words.
They talk to each other about unfamiliar and warm stories as if they are doing an interview, and drink one more sip of coffee.
Then he brought out the story as if he was going to get to the point.
[Actually, I was a little surprised. I just saw you fighting a criminal. It looks like you’ve learned martial arts. I didn’t notice it at all last time.]
It’s all because of the suit, and there was no Kinetic Drive back then.
Of course, he must have looked like a normal person who didn’t know how to fight. In fact, the general public is right.
But it’s impossible to say it outright like that.
I didn’t know what to say, so I smiled.
I don’t think fighting well is considered suspicious. I believe that the City Police will not be such a dead end organization.
As I stood still, the patrol officer observed me without any reaction… He said, tapping his cup of coffee.
[The fact that you are from Shin Dong-kyung, and the fact that your background is too clean… I thought it was suspicious before.]
“… .”
[When I saw this case, I got some sense.]
What do you feel?
He says to me, who is perplexed.
[If you are upstairs… So, are you the one who was dispatched from the company?]
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