Chapter 3, Metro West
Chapter 3: Metro West.
Sergeant John W. Reed had been in charge of the Metro West police station for several years, even before OCP owned the police department. Those were the good old days, when Metro West depended directly on the city hall and not on the pretentious OCP executives.
The day came when Reed’s responsibilities were increased; RoboCop was brought to Metro West and stationed there. It would be his new ‘home’. At the beginning he didn’t know how to relate to the cyborg officer but eventually, after having him there for years, the sergeant had learned to live with what he affectionately calls now “His biggest headache”
Reed doesn’t deny RoboCop is an outstanding police officer; however, his rebellious attitude and his destructive behavior have caused difficulties with OCP in the past, although not all his problems revolve around Robo, the corruption inside the police force is another difficult issue that Reed has had to deal with on more than one occasion.
The police strike that took place a couple of years ago was another travesty for the people of Detroit, the city was crumbling and not many officers were on duty, RoboCop had been on patrol all day and night almost with no rest and Reed felt relieved to see that as long as the robotic officer was functional, the city would not fall to its knees.
Approaching RoboCop in a more personal way was something Reed hasn’t dared to do yet, he has wanted to confront him every time he made personal choices and abandoned a crime scene to go get his partner if she requested backup.
RoboCop’s most recent display of disobedience was driving all the way to the Delta city’s ruins to get Officers Estevez and Lewis and despite the fact that Lt. Hedgecock and his S.W.A.T. team were on the way, RoboCop broke his cruiser’s police radio to ignore Reed’s orders to not go there.
Sergeant Reed made an instinctive decision not to report the incident to OCP, knowing full well the repercussions of disclosing his behavior. Furthermore, even if his direct order was disobeyed, somehow Robo always managed to get to the crime scene on time and the day of the ruins, his two officers were brought back alive and that is what mattered in the end.
However, the sergeant had also been dealing with personal issues. His wife recently left him, the blind devotion he has for his job prevented him from spending any time with his family, and to top it off, questionable characters would keep coming to the station to make his life even more difficult.
Crazy Al could be an example; this man is a hacker that was fired from the Police Special Forces years ago for selling secrets to the military. He has long hair and a scruffy beard. Al makes a living now by hanging out at police stations selling his not-so-legal gadgets made out of the military scrap that was given to him in exchange for hacked information.
Reed is upset to see the hobo once again loitering outside the building, showing his merchandise. The laughing and muffled voices of officers Riggs, Adams and Smith take his attention away from him.
The three men are standing together sharing stories and doing nothing concerning work, he wants to have a word with them first before telling Crazy Al to go away but is side-tracked by the buzzing of the inter-phone communicator in his office indicating an incoming call. So much to deal with but priorities had to be set.
Adams: So, you’re really going to do it, huh
Riggs: Yeah, I am going to ask her out tonight
Smith: You don’t ask that chick out…nobody does…why don’t you go back with Patel? If I wasn’t dating Barbara, I would get in there, she’s hot …
Adams: Prepare yourself to get your legs broken man; he’s gonna fucking kill you…
Smith: You kidding me, he won’t break his legs, he will fold them inwards, so once he finishes with him, he will be a human pretzel ha ha ha
Riggs: Why are you being such assholes? It’s not like that fucking robot owns her?
Adams: So why don’t you call her now? I’m curious to see what she says…
Officer John Riggs is a known player that has had sex with almost all the female officers at the station, for fun of course, although there is someone John hasn’t been able to get yet. He was close once, when they dated in the past but ever since, the girl seemed uninterested to go out with him again. He can hear Reed already yelling at the three guys to go back to work. He speaks to her for a few minutes, then the call is over.
Adams: And? So…? What did she say?
Riggs: She said no…
Smith: I told you…if you want to go fuck tonight, call Patel, she’s got that tight ass going for her…and those bigger tits… oh yeah!
Riggs: Why don’t you ask Barbara to help me out with her? Aren’t they good friends and shit?
Smith: Nah man, I don’t know…she’s pissed at me right now, took my wife and kids camping on the weekend and I didn’t tell her, so things are… complicated…
Adams: You fucking guys suck…you let women do whatever they want with you… learn from me, my wife doesn’t take a step forward unless I approve it first.
Their conversation ends, when they notice a couple of officers talking to Reed, they aren’t wearing the typical navy blue uniforms worn by cops in the four precincts that exist in Detroit. These men are dressed in grey and their uniforms have decals with the letter “R” on the shoulders. It’s not the first time those officers are seen around Metro West.
Smith, Adams and Riggs wonder if this new police team will replace them, Reed keeps looking at them with an angry look in his eyes, they split up and head back to work.
Simon Smith patrols with Barbara Estevez, Marc Adams patrols with Charles Kaplan and John Riggs with Elliot Mason. John used to be partners with Vanessa Patel in the past, they got romantically involved but when Vanessa grasped John was dating other women, she was heartbroken and requested to work with someone else. Reed doesn’t assign Riggs any female partners anymore. The guy is a sleaze.
