Chapter 12, The snitch

Chapter 12: The Snitch.

Sergeant Reed is pleased to have recovered at least a part of the stolen police arsenal and the toxicology exams arrived with results, the N2-14 is an altered version of the original Nuke that the Nuke for Christ gang were storing as a treasure in River Rouge. He is at the autopsy room with the forensics; they have performed an extensive autopsy to the three Splatterpunks that RoboCop tried to put under arrest, but died of a violent overdose.

The Forensics explain to Reed the N2-14 is more potent than Nuke itself and if the doses is exceeded it can cause hallucinations, convulsions and death. Reed thinks they are slowing getting to the bottom of the case and he is planning to talk to the CEO about Johnson’s illegal actions once he has gathered more evidence that the rehabs have pacted with the Splatterpunks to steal the police arsenal from them.

He still wonders what Johnson’s real motivations are. Reed knows now thanks to Lewis’ unofficial investigation that the objective of the Rehab team is to evict people out of their homes to renew certain neighborhoods that are in the outskirts of Detroit, such as Clover Hills. Although he thinks there are still many loose ends in the case.

Reed locks himself in his private office, away from the endless noise that always reigns in Metro West. A coffee and a cigarette are some of the very few alone pleasures he enjoys when nobody is on his back stressing him with the problems that occur in and out the station and never seem to end.

After reflecting upon the situation for a while, Reed finally decides to allow Lewis and RoboCop to find the hidden facility of the Rehab team in Clover Hills. The sergeant thinks that having four of his best officers working on the same case will bring results quicker.

The following Monday after Lewis’ disastrous date with Riggs starts normally for both RoboCop and Lewis, except for one thing; the cruiser that RoboCop is patrolling now has a different barcode license plate. RoboCop hopes that Lewis doesn’t make a big deal out of the fact that the previous vehicle they had been driving for some time was badly damaged over the weekend and had to be replaced by new unit.

They were still parked in the basement of the police precinct, getting ready to go, when Lewis unclips her safety belt to move inside the car looking around to confirm that the cruiser is a different one. Robo is distressed looking through the car window; he can almost guess what she’ll start telling him now.

Lewis: This isn’t our car, where is the other one? Did you blow it up over the weekend? Reed has adviced you to take more care of the cruisers, you… did it again?

RoboCop: The vehicle has been taken away for repair. This is not relevant.

Lewis: Sure, because you lying to me is not relevant…when were you going to tell me you have been patrolling Splatterzone on the overnight shift?

RoboCop: That is not of your concern, who informed you of this?

Lewis: Do you really think I was that drunk on Friday to not realize that the cruiser was already damaged when you picked me up outside Zero Zone?

RoboCop: This is between Sergeant Reed and me. Who informed you of this?

Lewis: He is exposing you…as if you were some sort of object, so his beloved Kaplan and Mason don’t get killed out there…this is why Reed didn’t agree on my idea of assigning you and me on this mission, because you were already assigned on it!

RoboCop: Kaplan is a good police officer; I am there to assist them on their investigation.

Lewis: Murphy let me go with you…I can be there without Reed knowing…

RoboCop: No, the zone is gradually becoming more dangerous. Splatterpunks already own police arsenal.

Lewis: Listen, if you think there is a night when things can get rough, you track me down, Alana gives me the heads up and I go there in another cruiser, in full body armor and I won’t intervene if I see you in trouble, I will immediately call Michael and the team what do you think…? Reed won’t know…

RoboCop: Who is Alana? You are not being clear enough, Lewis.

Lewis: Oh dear…you really think I don’t know you were checking up on me on Friday? The reason why I walked out of the club is because Alana was trying to let me know, you were tracking down my device…apparently you had been doing that for over two hours…

RoboCop: No. I was around the zone and I saw you…who is Alana?

Lewis: Yeah, that’s right, you guys haven’t been formally introduced, let me wake her up…

Alana32: Hello Anne, this is Alana32 your personal safety assistant, what can I do to help you today?

Lewis: I need a full report on the events that happened last Friday starting at 21:00 hours

Alana32: This smartphone device started to be tracked down around 21:07 by a police cruiser series number 8909 property of the Metro West police station. The vehicle was 101 meters away from this device for approximately 10 minutes and 56 seconds; it moved away from it by more than 6.8 miles and came back at exactly 23:34 to be parked at the same place, 101 meters away from the device.

Lewis: Go on…

Alana32: The police cruiser started moving at 23:45 to follow this device again, and after exactly 6 minutes and 26 seconds the tracking stopped. Are you endangered? Do you need any further assistance?

Lewis: No, not at all, can you please tell me if you can identify who was in control of the police cruiser that was following us on Friday night?

Alana32: An OCP product known as RoboCop series number 001 interfaced with the police cruiser series number 8909’s main computer to be able to track this device, would you like to request any additional information?

RoboCop: Alana is that operating system…

Lewis: Alana, what can we find approximately 6.8 miles away from the Zero Zone nightclub?

Alana32: We can find the New Stoneleigh district. Also known as “Splatterzone” by the locals

Lewis: Thank you Alana…you can go back to sleep now…

RoboCop: That illegal device…will get you into trouble.

Lewis: Well, it certainly got you into trouble…you are pissed now, huh?

RoboCop: No.

Lewis: Yes you are! You have started giving me short responses and what comes after is the silent treatment for the rest of the day…

RoboCop: No. You are wrong.

Lewis: You did again!! “Yes, no, don’t, that is correct, you are wrong” and then you just stop talking like you shut yourself up or something screwed up like that…you drive me up the wall sometimes, Robo…

RoboCop: I don’t do that…I can talk more than you think.

Lewis sees RoboCop’s pride is hurt; calling him “Robo” and letting him know of his very machine-like reactions made him want to show her he is capable of talking as a man. Lewis reaches out the police radio and turns it off, so they can start talking seriously now.

Lewis: Very well, give me one, just one valid reason on why you were tracking me down on Friday

RoboCop: I was concerned about your personal safety.

Lewis: Neither you or me believe that…next and make it believable

RoboCop: Officer Riggs is an incompetent…

Lewis: “…cop not a very reliable police officer”; you've started to sound like a broken tape recorder, I know you can do so much better than this. Why can’t we have a normal conversation?

RoboCop: I thought ...you were there to work on the overnight shift.

Lewis: Oh…I see… so, you thought I was there to keep you company…for the night? That is so…sweet…but why does everything have to be about work between you and me?

RoboCop: Work…is what we do... together.

Lewis: You know… on Friday, for a short while, when you were driving me home it sorta felt like we were on a date…Wouldn’t you like that? You and me, spending some off duty time together? Being away from your technicians, the radio, Reed, OCP…?

RoboCop: You make it sound like it is actually possible.

Lewis: Don’t you want to make it possible…? Besides…all police partners end up doing…stuff together…it’s more common than you think…

RoboCop: You complain your friend Estevez dates her married partner.

Lewis: I don’t agree with that, Barbara has self-esteem issues …but I was thinking, didn’t Thompson say we had a free reservation at his store, hotel, whatever his company is? We could go there…

RoboCop: No. I am not willing to do any experiments on myself.

Lewis: You’re right I am sorry, forget what I said, and what about Wildcard Edge? We can go there and just talk? Listen to the music? We have been there before…

Wilcard Edge is a 20 stories parking lot where skateboard competitions used to take place several years ago. Graffiti artists decorated the place and the charities donated speakers that were set on the walls to have music playing. Unfortunately, gang fights almost destroyed the location and police surveillance had to be placed there. After the riots ceased, Wildcard Edge has remained as a semi abandoned desolated hideout for lovers that sneak there at night to park their cars and enjoy the music that is constantly playing in each floor.

RoboCop: We have been there as police officers on duty to seek and report any illegal activity that might be in progress at the place.

Lewis: Can’t we go there as police officers that are off duty this time?

Lewis fears Robo has temporarily shut down to not follow the conversation anymore, since he remains quiet, without moving for a short while. Sometimes when there is absolute silence around them Lewis can perceive the very slight subtle sound RoboCop’s mechanical part makes when he is at ease.

Being aware that not only she isn’t bothered by his sounds but has grown to like them, has made Lewis question her mental sanity more than once, for trying to pursue a romance or any kind of affectionate approach from a man that seems to be buried inside a complex machine she can’t fully understand. Surprisingly, he wants to continue the conversation.

RoboCop: No. What would come after? We can’t have…I can’t have that with you.

Lewis: Not in the common fashion…but there should be other ways, I can… adapt to you, don’t you want to find out how much you can still…feel? We can figure out things together, if you just let me…

RoboCop: Are you… listening to yourself?

Lewis: I am…the question is, are you listening to me…?

RoboCop moves his hand trying to reach out the police radio, aiming to turn it on as a desperate attempt to escape from a very tricky conversation that hit a raw nerve and is making him feel cornered, uncomfortable and pressured, however Lewis is way tired of his evasive replies and if for once, Robo is agreeing to confront things, she will not allow him to get away this time, Lewis is faster than him and rushes to put both hands on the computer dashboard, covering all the buttons, preventing him from pressing any of them.

Lewis: Don’t turn it on yet…what is Detroit going to fall apart if we don’t answer calls for some minutes? Don’t you and I work more for this city than most of the lazy cops of the station?

RoboCop: Yes, we do.

Lewis: Next Friday half the station is going to be wasted at Sal’s club for Mason’s birthday…that could be our chance to disappear from the grid for a couple of hours, at least think about it…

RoboCop: If… we do something like this, things will change…

Lewis: They have already changed… Why don’t you want to see it? For how long more… will you be in denial of things…? Can you…at least promise me you will contact me if you get into trouble at Splatterzone?

RoboCop: I can. We have to go back online on the Metro Network. We can’t afford to keep wasting time. We are missing calls.

Machine-cop is talking again and Lewis knows this is as much as she can stretch the conversation. At least an idea has been planted in his mind, Lewis thinks he has a complete week to think about things and perhaps on Friday, Murphy will agree to finally spend some personal alone time with her.

Lewis: I know…turn the radio on, get online on the Metro and take the first call that comes up…

Not very far away from RoboCop and Lewis’ unit, another police cruiser from Metro West is also listening to the police radio waiting to be called for duty. It is officers Riggs and Adams the ones that are patrolling together aiming to do just little police work for the day, Adams is at the wheel, they have been cruising around the suburbs for hours trying to evade as many calls from the dispatcher as possible.

Operator: All units from Metro West in zone 5, there is a store robbery in progress in St. Aimes street and 46th Avenue, please respond.

Riggs: What do we do partner? Do we take the call?

Adams: We are barely in zone 5…besides, isn’t this Batman and Robin’s territory? Those fuckers love to show off…let them take the call…

Riggs: Operator, this is unit 235, Riggs and Adams, we are unable to take the call, we are doing police surveillance in the suburbs

Operator: No problem officer Riggs, unit 240 has already responded to the call, over.

Adams: Fags…what did I say? They were going to rush and take the call…

Riggs: This is why I like to work with you man, you get me, working with Mason was a nightmare, he is some frustrated son of a bitch, he was mad at me all the time for no reason…

Adams: Well, he is back with his boyfriend Kaplan so he can fuck him from behind again…

Riggs: You really think they are fags? Do you think they do the nasty shit together?

Adams: Kaplan must be; would you believe he never wanted to come along to the Strawberry and Melon strip club, not even once…

Riggs: Oh… I love that place… and what was his excuse?

Adams: His wife and kids and dogs and shit…pitiful excuses

Riggs: That’s got nothing to do with marriage, these are things we men do…so, do you think Batman and Robin are really fags?

Adams: Considering the stuff I’ve seen online I will say yes…you have no idea what you can find on the internet these days…I was downloading some fine shit the other day at files rooms in the meantime I was doing our reports but that geeky idiot of Cecil somehow found out and told Reed to limit the access of my police TSAP account when I surf the Metro Network…

Riggs: Don’t you have your own mobile network? Or just buy Tera-coins; they are as cheap as five dollars…

Adams: I just have a free Sparkle account…I am a bit short on cash at the mo…the Mrs. kicked me out of the house again, the hysterical bitch, I am staying at this crappy hotel nearby Cadillac Heights…

Riggs: Sorry to hear that…you know if I had some extra space at my apartment I would offer you to stay, but you see, my roommate came back from Finland and brought this chick with him, she is staying with us, doesn’t speak English and can’t pay the rent but man, the blowjobs she gives…

Adams drives around on the main avenue and stops at the traffic lights, all of sudden, another cruiser from Metro West crosses in front of them at high speeds. Unit 477 is familiar to them. Adams looks to one side to see what Riggs will say about it. He is amused to see how troubled John looks now.

Marc is a malicious man that enjoys other people’s misery; he is selfish and only cares about his own interests. He doesn’t really think of Riggs as a friend or partner, but as someone that can be manipulated to obtain some financial gain from.

Adams: Hey, did you see who drove passed us? That was 477…your girlfriend…let’s follow the unit on the Metro grid, don’t you wanna know where they are going?

Riggs: No…just leave it…fuck it

Adams: Why? I thought…you guys were in a relationship now?

Riggs: I am not really sure where we stand now…she dumped me again, at the club…

Adams: Ha ha ha…I told ya…she is into home appliances, not real men…hey, how about we contact the unit through the radio…you can directly speak to her…

Riggs: No…she is not alone, that thing is with her…he is always with her…why didn’t he fucking die when they broke him into pieces…

Adams looks at his personal communicator to grasp he has received some voice messages on his TSAP account from a known OCP executive. Marc Adams is the snitch that Oscar Schysler has been paying for months to report Reed’s investigations in which OCP seem to be implicated.

Although Adams hasn’t stopped there, he has been silently following Schysler more than once when he has visited Faxx in prison. Some guards that work at the facility had given him recordings of their conversations in exchange of money, Adams is aware that Schysler and Faxx aim to RoboCop’s destruction and they are looking for good excuses to get him deactivated.

He is envious of all the glory and credit RoboCop gets for the outstanding work he does for the city. Marc despises artificial life forms and thinks robots should be deactivated so they don’t steal jobs from human beings. Creating problems between RoboCop and other police officers could be a gold mine for him; Schysler would pay great money for that information.

Adams: It’s a shame you know…that thing they say about poor Lewis

Riggs: What thing? What do they say about her?

Adams: Nah man…you don’t wanna know, it’s better like this, let’s go get some burgers

Riggs: I’ll pay for our lunch if you tell me what they say, come on Adams, I am really into her…

Adams: Well, people who gossip say Lewis is not well…like, mentally, she is cuckoo…that she has these sexual fixations with robots, sex droids and shit…that’s why she is with RoboCop, they say they do some twisted stuff together…it’s like an illness you know?

Riggs feels his world falling apart, sure he knows there is some weird affection between RoboCop and Lewis but he could never imagine there was anything real between them. Adams is bad intentioned and knows to how to push the right buttons in people to be able to manipulate them.

Riggs: That’s got to be a lie, RoboCop is nothing but a police robot, he is not a man anymore…

Adams: Why do you think they stole that case from us, huh? The Cyberotika one? Because they wanted to go there to have some disgusting robot sex for free, the guys say it’s not the first time they have seen them coming out of that place…

Riggs: Nobody has ever confirmed those rumors, besides, wasn’t that case originally theirs?

Adams: No, partner, sergeant Reed wanted to assign us the case, because he knows how competent we are, but they stole it from us…you know they don’t only sell stuff for crippled people, they have some other nice products in their catalogs?… they say Colonel Thompson is a very generous man…I was hoping to get some freebies from him…but oh well…

Riggs: You see, I don’t think Anne is that screwed-up…we have dated twice…and

Adams: And…? Have you ever fucked her?

Riggs: No…the first time we were making out at this hotel and when I went to the bathroom to get a condom from the machine, she took her shit and left me stranded there…I had to jerk off afterwards…

Adams: Do you know why she dumped you there the first time?

Riggs: No…but the second time, she left…with him

Adams: Who…?

Riggs: Look, this is how things happened; Anne calls me one night ok? We speak for like an hour, she says she misses me and shit and asks me out. I forgive her and we arrange a date at Zero Zone…

Adams: Okay…go on

Riggs: We meet at the place and were having fun, but would you believe the fucking robot started calling her? We had an argument of course, and then she walked away… I felt bad and followed her to make up things and offer her to perhaps go to the movies or to have dinner before we hit the hotel…

…But the robot was already parked outside and forced her to leave with him…I am pretty sure Anne would have stayed with me if that walking trash can hadn’t showed up…

Adams: Interesting. Perhaps she wants to do things right with you, but she is under the influence of that dominant robot…he does nasty shit to her to keep her mentally ill and distorted and that is why she can’t have a normal relationship with you or any other guy…

…Riggs, my friend, listen, if I were you, I would let OCP know about his inappropriate conduct…isn’t he supposed to just work as a cop? Not to relate to women and shit…I am pretty sure if you report this, they’d pull the plug and bye bye RoboCop…

Riggs: I…I don’t know man…calling OCP executives seems pretty serious…I wouldn’t go that far.

Adams: Suit yourself…but if I were you, I would teach him a lesson…besides, do we really want a fucking mechanical beast like him walking around our station? He is dangerous man…what if one day he goes berserk and starts shooting everyone? And then that poor chick…all screwed up

Riggs: I want to…I really want to punish that fucking bastard…for everything he does to my girl…

Adams smirks maliciously. Riggs is a bigger idiot than he thought he was. They park outside a burger place and in the meantime John gets lunch, Adams connects the cruiser’s inter-phone communicator to the OCP building. He calls Schysler to let him know about the recent events in Splatterzone asking for good money in return.

However, Adams won’t report anything on RoboCop’s misconduct yet. He will wait to see what Riggs will do now to mess things up even more. Adams will also keep the secret of Faxx until the right time comes, he plans to blackmail Schysler in a near future by letting him know he’s aware of him conspiring with a convicted criminal, that is a federal offense that can put Schysler in prison for a long time, unless Schysler is ready to pay Adams a great sum of money for his silence.