Chapter 14, Airsoft Guns

Chapter 14: Airsoft guns.

It is the start of the week and the old man has been locked in his private office for most of the morning having long distance video conferences with the people of the UCW organization. After talking Giselle into signing the documents where she had agreed to escalate to director of operations once Johnson is relocated to a different department, Highland feels everything is under control now.

His plans on creating a new RoboCop unit are also moving forward, although he has been seriously thinking about the best way to convince Robo to get the surgery Moore needs to replicate his hybrid brain and make a synthetic copy of it for his new android.

Johnson had been waiting for hours for a chance to speak to the CEO, but fears he won’t be leaving his office for the rest of the day. Johnson knows that the old man’s private office is more like a small penthouse where he has access to almost everything he needs to go through a complete day without walking away from it.

Around noon Johnson is distressed to see the CEO hasn’t even responded to his e-mails. He walks annoyed towards the old man’s office and dismisses his assistant’s attempts to stop him by opening the door with his electronic master key. Enough is enough. He has important news to communicate.

Old man: Well, good afternoon to you too, Johnson, may I ask why do you have an entry card that opens my office? Who gave you the access?

Johnson: That is irrelevant, sir, I was concerned about you not responding to my e-mails. I needed to check up on you…

Old man: All of you…are waiting for me to die, right? I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am still alive…

Johnson: Mr. Highland…we don’t have time for jokes…I really need to speak to you about…

Old man: I know, I have read your e-mails. What seems to be the problem with RoboCop this time?

Johnson: Well, last Friday night, I was very surprised to receive an unusual message on the Omninet from a police officer, from Metro West, a young man, Officer John Riggs; he took the time to find me on the network to report police misconduct on RoboCop…

Old man: What misconduct? What did he do? What did he break now?

The old man knows that Johnson is stubborn and won’t leave his office until he listens to what he has to say, Highland can’t really be bothered to hear Johnson ranting about another nonsense report on RoboCop, he probably broke police property again and the city hall is sending the bills to OCP to pay for them. The old man will just write a check as usual and tell Johnson to leave his office.

Johnson: Apparently, my worst fears have come true and RoboCop seems to be losing control of his actions, moved by his clouded judgment…

Old man: Johnson, just tell me how much money do I have to pay this time? I have another video conference to attend in less than 20 minutes, just get straight to the point…

Johnson: Well…to make long story short, our product…is now having interpersonal conflicts with the police officers of Metro West…we need to take immediate action, RoboCop needs to be re-programmed!

The words “Interpersonal conflicts” make the old man pay close attention to what Johnson will say now. Johnson tells Highland the whole story about RoboCop having a physical altercation with another police officer, him destroying an official police gun out of rage. The old man is analytical and way more experienced than Johnson. Highland has been observing his favorite product’s development over time and he’s sure RoboCop is not losing control of his actions.

The old man presumes Robo must have had good reasons for everything he’s done and this new situation could be the opportunity he had been waiting for, to gain RoboCop’s trust.

Johnson: We need to call Dr. Tyler now…we have to arrange a meeting with them, so RoboCop is brought here for complete reprogramming, we can call Dr. Lazarus too, from the Defense Development program, we perform a complete memory cleanse on him and we take the chance to test the new weapons too…

Old man: No. If Murphy is pretending to act like any other officer, he will be treated as such. We will teach him a lesson, he will have to endure an officer misconduct hearing, just like any other cop that breaks the protocol and needs to be judged by the attorneys of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Johnson: But sir…I don’t think that would be the best way to resolve things… we have no time to teach him any lessons as you say, we just put him back on track, reprogrammed and…we forbid him from interacting with any other human officers from now on…especially that cop…that seems to be involved in every problem concerning Robo’s behavior…

Old man: I get where you’re coming from and I understand your reasons. But I will handle this my own way, do not worry though, Dr. Tyler will be called too. I wonder whatever happened with directive 4; it is safety measure for situations like this one.

The story repeats itself and once again Johnson is resentful towards the old man for not giving him the freedom of action he’d like to have with the police department and RoboCop. “Why don’t you just die, you old , useless bastard” Those are the thoughts that cross his mind in the meantime he is sitting down, mortified whilst Highland calls Sergeant Reed to arrange an officer misconduct hearing for RoboCop on the next day.

The news of RoboCop’s hearing reach Schysler’s office in less than an hour and he knows it’s time to call his lover at the State Prison to let her know Robo will be reprogrammed soon. Schysler thinks Faxx aims at RoboCop’s destruction; she has convinced him over time that the best way to own OCP and murder the CEO is getting rid of RoboCop first. However, Schysler is unaware that Juliette has her own hidden agenda.

Although Faxx despises RoboCop and would love to see him torn apart, she also believes that what Robo stores in his brain and operating system is a gold mine that hasn’t been properly exploited yet. She has been planning her escape for a while and has made a secret alliance with Dr. Moore to make the ultimate business deal she needs to become a millionaire and destroy OCP once and for all. Faxx is not intending to own OCP. She wants to see the company fall on its knees.

RoboCop for Juliette means, her ticket to success.

Later that day Sergeant Reed is concerned at his office having a serious talk with Dr. Tyler. Both Tyler and Reed were called earlier by the CEO and they know they are in deep trouble now. Reed is regretting not taking action sooner and Tyler thinks that encouraging Robo to have a personal life outside work is causing him more problems than satisfactions.

Reed: How many times, have we had these kind of conversations, Dr. Tyler?

Tyler: Apparently, not enough times, Sergeant Reed…

Reed: I used to think the worst things Murphy could do, was to disobey my orders or to break stuff, but in the end, he is a cop that does things…my other officers can’t do.

...So I have been patient, I have dismissed calling OCP to report his conduct several times, because I know the implications but, this isn’t him driving insanely to Delta city ruins to go get two officers that were endangered against my orders, this is him, endangering one of my officers now…and breaking an official police weapon as if it was a plastic, airsoft gun!

Tyler feels her turtleneck is drowning her. The heating in Reed’s office is very high. She’s aware RoboCop has been taking personal choices lately and although she doesn’t exactly know the details, Tyler has started to guess what his personal motivations were to have an altercation with another police officer without caring about the consequences.

Tyler: With all due respect, Sergeant Reed, this conflict among your officers could have been resolved behind closed doors. Officer Riggs should not have directly called Mr. Johnson, besides; Murphy would not have harmed him. That goes against his basic programming…

Reed: Well, Officer Riggs is not exactly the brightest guy in town, so there’s no point in crying over spilled milk. Whatever happened with directive 4? Does he still have it?

Tyler: Not…exactly, you see a couple of years ago, when he was reprogrammed by Dr. Faxx and was malfunctioning on the streets, he thought the best way to get rid, of the amount of useless information was to…give himself an electrical shock that would override his programming…so he freed himself from all his directives…

Reed: Wait for a second, you mean, that all this time, he has been out there, loose and free with no directives just doing whatever he pleases?

Tyler: Not…exactly, his three prime directives were reinstalled, but it was decided, to not install number 4 anymore…as a thank you, you know, he saved the city and…

Reed: Were those actions based purely on your own decisions, or are the people from OCP aware of this?

Tyler: I sent them an electronic memo a long time ago. They probably didn’t even read it…

Reed: Well, this gets worse every time. I will have the CEO and the director of operations here, tomorrow, and they all will want answers. I need you to watch the surveillance video of the hallway before it gets destroyed. Hiding evidence in a police misconduct hearing is not exactly the most ethical thing to do…but your boy here is not leaving me many choices…

Tyler and Reed watch the surveillance video taken by the security cameras of the hallway the day of the fight between RoboCop and Riggs. Tyler is annoyed towards Lewis now; she blames her for causing complications in Robo’s life, and above it all, Tyler knows she’ll be questioned by OCP’s executives one more time.

Reed: And well? Doctor? We could go around in circles for the rest of the afternoon but you and I very well know what the real problem here is, my question is…can Murphy, get more…personal with someone? Is that remotely possible?

Tyler: No. Of course it isn’t. Your officer there has a dirty mouth, huh? Murphy was being protective, Sergeant Reed. He went a bit over the top, I know, but people from OCP don’t have to see this, correct?

Reed: We still have Riggs’s testimony and the other cops that were in the hallway can work as witnesses too…I can understand Murphy backing up his partner if he feels she’s in need of help, most of my officers would do that for their partners. But I feel this is getting out of proportion now. Was it really necessary to almost completely destroy a vehicle to get Lewis out after a minor car crash instead of waiting for the crane service to arrive? Because that has happened very recently too…

Tyler: I am pretty sure he thought Officer Lewis was physically harmed…he was probably being overprotective, is that much of a sin?

Reed: His “overprotection” has costed the city hall hundreds of dollars, sending the bills to OCP to get them paid it’s no fun for me, they ask so many questions, especially Johnson…so bottom line here is, what’s the point in me re-writing police reports to cover up for Murphy’s destructive behavior, if OCP’s executives will eventually come here and get all of us in deep trouble anyway?

Tyler: He doesn’t get a salary…or any kind of compensation for the work he does, and he does a terrific work out there, don’t you think?

Reed: Without a doubt. You would say then, this is his own vendetta against them? How aware is he that he is…or was a man…?

Tyler: Nobody has the answer to those questions…I know this looks bad, but try to see things from his perspective…what would you do, if you only had one friend left in the world? Huh? Wouldn’t you be overprotective too?

Reed: A friend or…a girlfriend?

Tyler: Maybe a bit of both…?

Tyler needs to come up with a quick turnaround soon. She has been recapitulating what she has just seen trying to find a rational solution that would help all of them to get out of the problem. Reed has started talking about how annoyed he is when Schysler loiters and sniffs around trying to find information about classified police cases, how Johnson always threatens his officers by taking pension benefits from them and Tyler is already mentally tired by thinking she doesn’t have the energy to go through the whole harassment she puts up when Schysler is around.

Rose has never had the courage to fill a report for sexual harassment knowing Schysler is powerful in the corporate ladder. Despite the fact she is still very annoyed with Lewis for causing problems to all of them, the more she reorders the video in her mind, the more she emphasizes with her.

Tyler guesses it must be difficult for Lewis to endure the harassment of a co-worker on a daily basis, merely because she’s going through the same thing. Then it occurs to her.

Tyler: What about any recordings of your dressing rooms? Do you have any cameras there?

Reed: Surveillance cameras in the locker rooms have been disabled to protect the privacy of the officers; the city hall had ordered to have a no-camera area for them so they could relax without feeling observed

Tyler: Privacy protection, huh? That would work for sure, if you didn’t have unisex rooms?

Reed: What is the difference?

Tyler: Think about it. Isn’t that where the problem was originated? If we had a surveillance recording from the dressing rooms, if we knew the complete story, we could explain Murphy’s actions. I am pretty sure Officer Lewis felt threatened by Officer Riggs’ inappropriate approach and she probably asked her partner for some help…

and he just acted upon her request? Sexual harassment happens, Sergeant Reed, because you have a no surveillance area where all your officers are mixed together regardless of their gender…

Reed knows that what Tyler is saying is unlikely. Lewis would have never run to RoboCop’s arms supplicating him to protect her from the verbal offenses from a fellow officer. Reed knows Lewis would hate to act as a victim and she would prefer to use her own fists to defend herself from the harassment of a man, instead of seeking for the protection of another one.

However, he has started to like the story Tyler is constructing, to justify Murphy’s actions. He has come up with a brilliant idea now. Reed will finish writing the ‘theatrical play’ Tyler just imagined; and if things go right the charges against RoboCop will be dismissed and OCP executives will leave all of them alone for good.

Reed: Actually…I believe there might be a way out of this, for how long more will Murphy be offline?

Tyler: A couple of hours more. Dr. Akita has been restoring his OCS plus he needs to sleep…he worked the whole weekend with almost no rest…

Reed: Believe me, doctor, if I had known things were going to escalate this fast I would have had a word with Murphy before ordering him to work on the streets. Do not worry though, we still have time, I will tell you now, what you and I will do to fix this absurd mess…

Lewis has been driving around Zone 4, almost in auto-pilot, consumed in her own thoughts; she had been working her morning shift alone, just taking care of small cases and directing traffic in crowded areas. Earlier that day she had confronted Kaplan by demanding to know what Robo did over the weekend.

Kaplan had no more remedy but to let her know RoboCop was sent to New Stoneleigh and was taken away for minor repairs and system restoration afterwards. Lewis is disappointed as Robo broke his promise by not requesting her assistance over the last couple of days.

Also, he informed her there was a confrontation between criminal gangs in the outskirts of Detroit and RoboCop was in charge of breaking the riots. The SWAT team backed him up and Lewis is slowly realizing that the Nuke for Christ gang had more members than she thought and they are now fighting the territory that the Splatterpunks have claimed as theirs.

“Just don’t tell Reed, you will get me into trouble” Those were the last words Kaplan said to her, before they both split and went back to work.

Lewis has been going through the settings of her intelligent phone, trying to find a way to locate Robo when he’s away from her. “He has tracked me down before, why can’t I do the same thing for him”

She is also annoyed to grasp Reed is still not willing to include her in the mission he has assigned to Murphy, Kaplan and Mason. The happy moments Lewis lived on last Friday seem to have faded away. She is in emotional distress now, feeling disappointed and annoyed at everything and everyone.

Although what Lewis is unaware of, is that RoboCop overworked on the weekend, mostly because he has a vested interest in finding out whom the leader of the terrorist group is. He had been silently patrolling the most impoverished areas of Detroit and was displeased to see eviction notices from OCP posted on battered buildings and private homes.

Robo has come to the conclusion that the terrorist group that threatened him and Lewis in Clover Hills is in reality a resistance movement started by scared civilians that are fighting to not be evicted from their homes by OCP and the rehabilitation team that Johnson put together.

One of RoboCop’s biggest motivations to work as a police officer is having the satisfaction to protect the innocent. He has taken advantage of his new empowered self to do justice to those that can’t defend themselves. Trying to save the weak and the wounded is a way to save himself too.

RoboCop’s rational lineal thoughts that are ruled by his machine side won’t let him see that working as a solo vigilante over the weekend without requesting his partner’s assistance has hurt Lewis emotionally, especially after the intimate time they spent together.

In the meantime RoboCop is resting at the laboratory; Lewis is walking towards Reed’s office. He had called her in advance. Despite the fact nobody say a word to her, she feels observed. Lewis had promised herself she was up to fix the Riggs’ mess on Monday and Reed requesting to see her at his office can only mean that John did press charges against RoboCop after all.

Reed: So what’s really going on between Murphy and you?

Lewis: He’s my partner, I save his ass and he saves mine. What else?

Reed: Look, I don’t really give a damn what you and him do when you are off everyone’s sight but are you aware that whatever problems you have with other cops here resulted in you exposing Murphy and jeopardizing the jobs of several people here?

Lewis: Oh you have exposed him too, sir, by sending him to a dangerous zone alone, to recover our stolen police arsenal…without backup or any special equipment!

Reed: That is just beautiful. He told you. When I specifically told him not to…

Lewis: No he didn’t. He has never betrayed your trust. I have…other sources

Reed: What other sources??

Lewis: That is, classified information

Reed: So you talk like him now, huh? Working for years with Murphy has made you lose perspective and as a result you believe now you are as invincible as he is, well I have news for you… he’s a robot, he’s made of metal, and you are not…this is what he was built for, for once, see things with the eyes of the reality!!

Lewis: He’s also a police officer! With rights! Just like the rest of us!!

Reed: You getting all emotional and shit over Murphy is the last thing I need today. You should know Riggs pressed charges against your partner and we…

Lewis: That’s because Riggs provoked him!! He causes nothing but problems! He’s the one that should be punished, suspended! Fired from the police force!

Reed: Let me finish goddammit! Murphy also broke an official police gun and…

Lewis: I take the blame. He broke a gun, I’ll pay for it... discount that from my salary…suspend me, take my badge for days if you want. But don’t let OCP people know about this. I beg you Sergeant…

Reed: It’s a bit too late for that. Riggs searched Johnson on the Omninet last Friday and pressed charges against Murphy. He will have to endure a police misconduct hearing tomorrow, the CEO himself called me a few hours ago…

Lewis feels her world falling apart. Riggs carried out his threat and has called the high commands at OCP to disclose RoboCop’s recent actions. Anne remembers the moment of shared fear when she and Robo were at Wildcard Edge and listened to Estevez’s voice messages. RoboCop’s memory being erased again would be the ultimate cruelty OCP executives could do to him, and she knows, they’d be capable of doing so. Lewis despises Riggs even more for taking his personal revenge to the last consequences.

Lewis: Oh…he did it in the end…what an imbecile

Reed: You knew he was intending to call people at OCP??

Lewis: No…I mean, knowing Riggs I assumed he would come up with something bizarre like this…can’t you just do something? He’s the one that is breaking the police protocol now! He should have reported this to you…not to those bastards from OCP!

Reed: Agree. Riggs is an imbecile, and this is why we are going to fuck him up, you, me, Dr. Tyler and Murphy, for overpassing my authority and making decisions behind my back.

Lewis: That is awesome, and how are we going to do that?

Reed: You…you are the main attraction…you will get us out of this one. The only way to resolve this is you pressing charges against Riggs for sexual harassment. ASAP. Those are the cases that get immediate attention from the Department attorneys and I’m sure they will schedule a misconduct hearing for Riggs and If Murphy is a witness, his own hearing will have to be postponed.

…And make sure you threaten OCP executives to come forward to the media and disclose your case, if Riggs doesn’t drop the charges against your partner. The CEO and Johnson are afraid of public exposure. They are predictable and will put pressure on Riggs to drop charges. Murphy’s hearing will be cancelled and we all will be able to go home…Now, I have some forms here for you to fill and sign…

Lewis: No…no, there has to be another way. If I report another officer for sexual harassment that will be written on my police profile and it will be ruined…I have had an impeccable trajectory as a law officer all these years…I don’t want a stain on it…I’m not a victim Sergeant!

Reed feels he is slowly losing his patience and time keeps ticking. Lewis needs to fill the forms immediately so there’s enough time to digitalize those to be sent through the Metro Network to the Division of legal affairs of the Metropolitan Police Department. If he doesn’t act fast his idea will go to waste and the jobs of all the people implicated in the problem will be jeopardized.

“Very well, I have something interesting for you to watch in that case”

Reed knew beforehand that Lewis was going to be reluctant to make the report; the surveillance footage however is his last resource to make her react.

Lewis endures the video in difficult silence, crossing her arms, pressing them against her chest; a subconscious reaction of self-protection after feeling threatened and somewhat emotionally violated by Riggs’ rude demeanor. Although Lewis is too proud to show any kind of weakness in front of others and still doesn’t agree on Reed’s idea to make the report.

Lewis: He is…an unbelievable piece of trash, those were nothing but sick twisted lies!! Murphy broke his gun…well I am gonna break his teeth for insulting my partner!! That will teach him to shut up!

Reed: Lewis, focus. This isn’t a love video your partner uploaded for you on the Sparkle network for your leisure, this is footage that can get us in deep shit and will be destroyed before it falls into the wrong hands. You’re the last person that will watch it, before it’s deleted. So stop pulling that feminist shit and fill the forms!

Lewis: I know what you’re saying, but my police profile…

Reed: Your police profile means jackshit today! Do you want your fucking boyfriend disconnected? Because that’s what will happen if he’s found guilty at the hearing, they will take him to OCP for a complete memory erase and god knows what else…then the jobs of all of us, including yours will be at stake…Is that what you want? Lewis…?

For Lewis, pressing charges against a fellow officer for sexual harassment would be a complete humiliation; in her career as a police officer, Lewis has always been obsessed to prove she’s as strong and capable as her male counterparts. Anne is not a victim. No man should ever make her feel threatened or weak. What would her father say if he saw she’s about to stain her outstanding police profile? Would he still be proud of her?

Over and above everything else Lewis knows deep down the priority is to save Murphy from OCP’s clutches, he risked a lot for standing by her side, making sure Riggs wouldn’t get close to her anymore. This is the least she owes him. Furthermore, Lewis thinks all the people involved in the problem should not suffer the consequences of her making the very bad decision of messaging Riggs one night, out of depression.

Lewis has swallowed her pride and is now sitting down, flicking through the many pages of the yellow folder Reed just handed her. Reed can sigh relieved. He thinks to give her some privacy by walking away from his office for some minutes.

“Lewis, one more thing: When all of us are at the hearing, make sure you don’t sit next to Murphy, don’t make eye contact or even talk to him directly…ok?

I can’t believe what I am going to say now…because I need officers working here 24/7, but, after this thing is over…give yourself a break kid. Take a couple of days off… try to get out more, meet more people outside the station”

Miles away from the police station Adams and Riggs have just responded a call about pawn shop robbery in Zone 5. Although the police duo intend to do as little police work as possible, they pick the cases that seem easy to justify the amount of hours they patrol the streets together, to be able to fill daily reports. The robbery was perpetrated by two youngsters that had escaped in a battered SUX 6000 with no license plates.

Adams and Riggs start to chase the car ordering them to stop the vehicle and surrender their weapons. The perps don’t even have a valid driver’s license and the teenager that is at the wheel is very inexperienced to drive, his nervousness and lack of skills makes him reach a no way street and they have no more remedy but to abandon the vehicle and start running away from the police carrying the backpacks where the stolen objects are.

Adams and Riggs park their cruiser and start to follow them by foot. The perps are younger and athletic and it is difficult for the cops to catch up on them, Riggs orders them to stop, with no success.

Adams is out of breath and has removed his gun from the holster and is now pointing at them, threatening with opening fire if they don’t stop and surrender their weapons. The perps stop, as they reach another dead end, a no way out alley that is surrounded by a large steel mesh and they know that they are cornered.

“Stop right there, put the guns on the ground, hands above your head, you are under arrest” That’s what Adams says to them and the teenagers finally comply, scared. One of them takes out a gun from his belt and Riggs cocks his own weapon by thinking the young man will try to shoot them now.

“Drop it, drop the gun! You are under arrest!” Riggs orders him, although he is surprised by the answer that the young guy say to him.

“Don’t shoot, officer, don’t shoot, we surrender…these are airsoft guns…they’re not real…”

Adams: They look real to me from where I am standing, drop it, now!

Riggs dares to slowly walk towards the suspects pointing his gun at them and manages to snatch the airsoft gun from the scared teenager that was still holding it up in the air.

Riggs: He’s right partner…these are toys…very cute ones I must say…

Adams gets closer too and starts to check up the perp’s weapons in the meantime Riggs gets the backpacks, and starts to lecture the teenagers for what they’ve done. Every once in a while Riggs tries to be a good cop, when he is in charge of minor cases that don’t require extra effort from his side.

“You could have hurt someone…these airsoft guns work with metallic blanks, what were you thinking?”

Teenager 2: They’re not even loaded officer…we were just playing gangster, my friend and I…

Adams: These are AK-47 version 7 revolvers…where the fuck did you get them? They’re expensive as hell…

Teenager 1: My stepfather had them in a cabinet…he’s drunk all the time he didn’t even know we took them…are we going to jail? I can’t go to jail…I go to school…

Riggs: Damn it son, how old are you?

Teenager 2: I turn 17 next month…

Riggs walks towards Adams and asks him privately what they should do now, as they can’t perform the arrest if the suspects are under age.

“Jesus fucking Christ, they’re just kids. They’re tall; I thought they were older, what do we do now? Shall we call family services…?”

Adams doesn’t say a word to Riggs and walks towards the suspects, holding the airsoft guns one in each hand.

“So you guys think you’re pretty brave, huh? Did you know your guns can fire real bullets? These artifacts are banned in several states of the country”

Riggs: What are you talking about man? They’re just gas pistols, they work with pellets…

Adams: Yes and no, these models are designed to work as fakes, but they have a hidden function. In case of an emergency, they would be able to fire real bullets once or twice, depending on the mechanism, before they break…

...many people get them as toys, but in reality it is a good way to have a disguised disposable gun that can fire for real without owning a license…this is a federal offense, guys…

Teenager 1: I didn’t know…I swear I took them from my stepfather’s cabinet…they aren’t even loaded, we don’t even have money for blanks…we just wanted to sell a few things in Clover Hill’s market that’s all…

Adams walks towards the young man and hands him the gun. “Alright, let’s play a game, if you shoot your friend and he survives, I will let both of you go…free of charges, but you leave the stolen objects here…let’s see if you really are man enough to fire one of these things” that’s what Adams tells the nervous teenager as he hands him his pistol back. The young man grabs the gun hesitating to aim at his friend that looks very scared. Adams is acting intolerant and comes even closer to the suspect whilst yelling aggressively:

“Are you man enough to fire one of these things? Are you, are you…??”

Riggs thinks Adams is clever by teaching these guys to not play with illegal artifacts, he will surely make them learn their lesson and then they will walk away free. The stolen objects will be confiscated and this will be an easy report to make. No family court of law or social workers have to be involved.

John removes the portable radio off his belt to request for another unit that brings closer the cruiser they left behind, although his thoughts are abruptly interrupted as he hears a loud sound that makes him shiver and drop the device on the ground, he turns back in shock to grasp the teenager had just shot his friend in the chest, the toy gun was loaded with real bullets.

The wounded teenager is surprised and shocked to see blood on him, the gunshot impact had knocked him down and he is lying on the sidewalk whilst crying out loud of the agonizing pain.

Riggs thinks this is an unfortunate accident and he immediately picks up his radio to ask for a Medivac unit, although he never gets to engage the call when he is shocked again to see, Adams is pointing the second airsoft gun to the other teenager without caring the young man is begging for his life.

Riggs doesn’t know what to do and just remains standing still, radio on his right hand, the operator keeps calling him but he’s unresponsive as he witnesses in horror how cold blooded Adams fires the second gun at the teenager, in no hesitation, a precise shot that goes through his head, making his brains spill on the ground.

The closer Riggs gets to the scene the sicker he feels, he can smell the blood and gets to see the torn head of the deceased teenager up close. The other one is agonizing on the ground still crying and trying to helplessly cover his chest wound with one of his hands, “Help me..” are the last words the young man tells Riggs, in a broken voice, before he chokes in his own blood, dying shortly afterwards.

Riggs feels he wants to cry too. They were just teenagers. Adams must be out of his mind.

Riggs: What the fuck is wrong with you man??? What have you done!!! Those were airsoft guns!! Airsoft fucking guns!!!

Adams: These are illegal toys. If they could fire real bullets, then they didn’t deserve to walk away free, don’t ya think? I gave them a chance…and they blew it!

Riggs: They said they weren’t even loaded!! They didn’t have money for blanks!! You didn’t happen to have loaded them yourself…why, why did even you do that?? They were kids Adams!!! They were just kids!!!

Adams: Listen to me you whiny moron!! These little crooks were going to get us into trouble!! I did a fucking favor to the city!! Consider this as community service!! Can you really be bothered to call family services??

Riggs: What if they find out what you’ve done!! You have involved me!! We’re gonna get fucking fired!!

Adams: Gimme a break…you really think they will really perform an autopsy? Ballistics? Ha. Do you know how many cases like this one are closed every day? This fucking city is falling apart…

…If we had taken them back to the station family services would have let them walk away free since no one would have responded for them, the bastards would have kept committing crimes, what if the next time they used real guns? They were already rotten…they would have grown into drug dealers or rapists…

Riggs is leaning one hand on a brick wall whilst throwing up out of the emotional shock of what he had just seen. Adams proceeds to set up the crime scene by cleaning his fingerprints from the gun.

The corrupt officer will report the suspects killed each other whilst having an argument over the stolen objects and by the time the police arrived, it was too late. Adams is disappointed in Riggs’ weakness and although he doesn’t feel any kind of sympathy for him, he fears Riggs talks. Adams tries to be friendly with his partner, preventing him from betraying his trust and reporting what really happened that day.

Adams: Hey…man, how about we crash on to the Strawberry and Melon club, after we clean up this mess and we report back to the station? I’m buying…Olga has been asking about you…big round tits, long legs, black hair, funny accent…ring a bell?

“I know who she is” Riggs replies in the meantime he recovers from the bad moment, taking a deep breath and cleaning his face with a paper tissue. He notices his personal communicator is flashing and he’s glad to see it is Sergeant Reed the one who’s calling him. Adam observes Riggs speaks to Reed for some minutes then the call is over.

Adams: So, what’s with the big chief eh? What did he say?

Riggs: He said…an officer misconduct hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow…

Adams: Well there you go! That fucking trashcan will be thrown into the junkyard soon huh?

Riggs: No man… the hearing is for me…not for the robot; Anne has… pressed charges against me apparently

Adams: Ha ha ha…what a screwed up bitch, geez

The backup units have arrived to the crime scene, yellow tape is being put around to secure the area whilst Riggs seems overwhelmed by gazing at the two deceased bodies of the young perps being put in black bags to be directed to the city’s morgue and he wonders if they will really perform an autopsy on the corpses.

Adams covered up the crime scene in such a professional way, the case will be surely closed and they won’t go through the hassle of appearing at the family court of law to declare.

Riggs wants to justify what Adams just did in his mind. “They were going to grow into drug dealers, rapists” and he wants to convince himself he is still a good cop.

“I’m still a good cop; I am a good cop…why doesn’t she see it? Why doesn’t she love me back?”