Police Matters (Open)

[Jeff Solaris]

"Very well Captain Bale. I'll cut to the chase. From my discussion with the mercenaries last night I learned a useful bit of intelligence. Namely that they are being paid by a man in a hooded cloak. Upon remembering some of the security footage I streamed from a remote location, I also realized that the mercenaries who attacked Mark and Elena were after a certain piece of technology. This piece in question, the NeuroVirtualisation Helmet." 

Jeff paused for a moment, to think of how to word it next. 

"Discussion with the mercenaries has revealed 2 potential ways to stop them. Either they get an order to stop from their boss, which is highly unlikely as we don't know who that is. Or they get a payroll cut meaning they don't get paid." 

Jeff then looked at Kathryn very seriously and said to her. 

"The third reason is that I have figured out the reason for the contract I signed to access the billions of dollars Mark and Elena had.  It was to hide the truth from me. I now have realized what they were concealing. The neurovirtualization helmet was only part of the issue. Shrike was the other half of the puzzle. After watching some security footage last week, I with the aid of the discussion last night formed a complete theory on what exactly is going on.  " 

"It seems to me the helmet was used to take my brother who had a terminal disease, and turn his brainwaves into data. Since that is logically the case, I must also assume something went wrong in the transfer, as he does not have his memories. Therefore, it is logical to assume that during the attempted transfer the Police interrupted it before it could be completed, thus rendering him amnesiac. Further,  due to the amount of time it takes Mark to make avatars even with the help of Elena my words are the only answer. It took him only a week to make Shrike and it usually takes 2 or more to create an avatar from scratch. Thus my statement is proven. Shrike is James. It also means that I will be even more of a target upon my release. "

"For not only will the Mega Corporations be likely after me, but they will be coming after my avatar as well. Of course once his memories are restored,  he'll likely be the legal heir to the Solaris Fortune, and not me due to him being the first born.  In short, since I have figured it out, I am likely broke. This means that I will be unable to fight off another group of the mercenaries at my mansion. " 

[Saber]

Kate listened to Jeff pitch his long winded, and surprisingly accurate theory. Jeff had a point, now that he knew the truth about his brother, Shrike was just as much a target as he was now. After listening to his discovery of him losing all that he had save for the money he withdrew from his hacking escapades, Kate knew it would only be a matter of time before the mercenary attacks became too much for him to keep up with. As a friend of his parents, she knew she had to do something to help keep him safe, especially now that he couldn't afford to support himself anymore.

"…Well, aren't you the clever little detective…Considering I gave you the opportunity to talk with the mercs, I suppose I'm partly at fault for you ending up broke. So I'm going to give you my terms for what I expect out of this deal." She crossed her arms and looked Jeff dead in the eye "First off, your record prevents me from legally hiring you until you've been crime free for at least five years. Because of this, I can't rightly make you a tech consultant for the police. That's not to say you can't contribute in other ways. Apply yourself as an informant for us and we can have you under contract to give you funding for your needs. However, there is a catch."

She raised her hand up, her index finger extended to count her first condition "One; all of your illegal habits must and will cease and desist from this point forward, or the deal is off. This includes the brutal beatings you give to the mercs that come after you. If you are to confront any mercs aiming to kill you, you have to use non-lethal combat only, and you must avoid combat whenever possible unless given permission otherwise or you have no other choice." Her middle finger extended this time "Two; the illegal and lethal security systems you have installed at your house must be dismantled. If you wish to keep your home secure, I can allow the use of non-lethal replacements used for containment and deterrent, and a police issued guard dog mech that we control." Her ring finger was extended this time. "Three; we will allow you access to materials to tinker with, provided you are using them for legally approved devices, but all devices must be inspected by police R&D personnel to ensure they aren't meant for illegal uses." Her pinky finger stretched out this time "Four; any and all information must be reported to police should you discover anything incriminating."

Finally, she extended her thumb extended "Lastly, should you need to be placed on the field, you will be escorted by an officer of the law, to make sure you don't try to cheat on our little agreement regarding rule one." Closing her hand, she rested it on top of her bicep again "Now that you've heard my terms, here's the last condition. Whether or not you agree to these terms, you're going back to your cell to finish your time, because you still have to answer for the crimes you've committed already. But if you agree to working for the NPD as an informant, I believe I can trust you with the supplies to bring back your brother, assuming your theory is actually correct." She kept her response vague, just so it wasn't entirely confirming Jeff's suspicions until he could confirm it firsthand.

[Jeff Solaris]

"Very well. I will accept your terms, and add one of my own."  

Jeff looked back at the cells where the mercenaries were held. Having them released soon would cause too many problems. He'd need time to modify all his traps at home to be up to code and completely legal. Abandoning the brutality could be done. It would be easy to find other items other than his swords or bow that he could handle. Maybe non lethal arrows.  Jeff then said. 

"The condition is this. If possible, you hold those mercenaries for about 3-4 weeks. It will take me that long to outfit my house with the defenses you specified, and dismantle all the security measures I put into place on the outside and inside of the house. " 

Jeff then waited for a few moments and said. "I will accept your terms and serve the rest of my sentence. By the way one of the mercenaries said they might have a vendetta against me when they get out, I believe him to be their boss." 

Jeff knew he needed time to outfit his house with police approved security measures.  Access to the supplies of his parents would make his life a lot easier. With some of their inventions he could perhaps even sell to the military, and earn some serious credits. Those would be needed to demolish his house, fill in all the traps and disable them and build an even better house. Staying at hotels could be done, until he could afford to pay for a new place to be constructed on his property. No. He wouldn't demolish it, but he would disable the traps.

Rather he'd save the house and pay taxes and stuff on it until it all was accomplished.  When his brother's memories were restored Jeff was going to re-open Suvian. Suvian needed to come back. The Mega Corporations needed some competitions. It might not take Jeff 3-4 weeks, but he wanted to be sure those mercenaries would have a nightmare getting to the front door, let alone getting into the house. There were plenty of legal and non lethal methods to contain them.

Jeff knew he needed to prepare a list of materials and supplies for Shrike to purchase to keep the Avatar busy. While Shrike was busy, work could be done on various projects at least designing the schematics. Already he had an idea. His sonic blaster. A few sonic grenades could be made. He'd like to see the Mercs continue to operate their tech when those were deployed. There were other traps he could also employ to hold them at bay. 

 

[Saber]

Kate listened to Jeff try to negotiate some additional terms, while agreeing to the conditions she had given him. He was a bold one, she had to give him that, but obnoxiously so at times. Still, his information about one of the mercs in holding might prove useful to them in the long run "Well…That bit of info might help weed out who's in charge, so we may be able to use that for a potential sting operation." She leaned forward and folded her hands together while leaning against the edge of the table "Unfortunately, we can't hold these mercs for the required time that you're looking for, not without the DA office jumping down my throat. So I'm going to give you my compromise, and this is non-negotiable, not without it costing us in the long run, which I'm not willing to agree to."

She held up her hand, extending two digits "I can push their containment as far as two weeks, before DA starts hounding me about why I'm not following protocol. That will give you just enough time to replace whatever traps you have with ones that I have specified, and hopefully put in a few additions if you have the time. I would recommend well ventilated trap holes, possibly some spring trap cages near easy break-in locations, and a pressure hose system to cover all sections of the property. I won't lie, your water bill will suffer heavily from the water hose security system, but it's a highly effective system." She leaned back and uncrossed her legs, folding her hands in her lap "The pseudo-pet guard dog we'll provide you for security will hopefully mitigate that cost. But so we're clear, you can only use it for the reasons we've issued it to you for. We will take the guard dog away if you abuse this privilege for unapproved purposes."

[Jeff Solaris]

Jeff considered it. They could confiscate the guard dog if he was using it for unapproved purposes. It was going to be possibly part of his security system, but he doubted he'd use it. Police security systems were somewhat hard to crack, but if the mercenaries had EVEN one of the Mega Corporations backing them they could turn the dog against him. The well ventilated holes and hose traps did seem like a good idea, and he had some of his own ideas as well. Suffice to say the mercenaries would not manage to get INTO the house. Of course he'd need to get his ideas for defensive protocols approved by the police, and he doubted they would approve the ideas he had.  Jeff then said.  "As for the issue of the Guard Dog, I believe it could come in handy if suitable upgrades were made. Namely some of the encryption software developed by my parents that they were about to send to you the night they perished.  There was one part of the security system I'd like to keep with your permission. I'd modify it to be nonlethal of course, but still I would like to keep it. I've got tons of their projects that they never sent anyone. I might be able to sell them to the police department Captain Bale, with your permission of course. " 

[Saber]

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose. This kid had a lot of balls trying to negotiate further, and it was starting to push her buttons in a bad way. The look that she gave Jeff now could have given him a one way trip to St. Peter, if looks could kill "You're lucky I'm trying to be reasonable out of respect for your parents, Solaris…Otherwise I'd be sending you back to your cell with no agreements with how far you've been pushing your luck…" She let her hands rest on the table again, staring Jeff in the eye with the most intense poker face she could manage "This is your final amendment to our deal, and I suggest you agree to this offer without any arguments this time…You're going to give someone from our R&D division the encryption information your parents made, and let us handle upgrading our technology after we've studied the software firsthand. In the meantime, we're going to provide you with a guard dog without the encryption software, and after I think you can be trusted enough, we'll replace the first guard dog with one integrated with the Solaris encryption system."

Her gaze soon changed from emotionless, and calm, to giving Jeff a cold, menacing glare that would make even the most badass criminal's blood run cold "But try and sneak your way around manipulating the dog for your own purposes, just remember, we will know everything that happens to that dog within seconds…And I will have your ass locked up faster than you can say turncoat if I get any reports that you tried tampering with government property. And son of an ex-cop or not, I will not hesitate to throw away the key of a sneaky, silver-tongued criminal's cell. Now, for the final time, do we have an agreement, yes. Or no?"

Her patience running thin, Kate was done dancing around Jeff's negotiating, and the tone in her voice was evident in that fact. She was giving Jeff a two-way ultimatum now, either agree to the terms that have been laid out for him, or don't agree, and fend for himself with what little resources he had left. She was also ready to cut Jeff off the minute he tried making anymore negotiations, also evident by the fact that she had put the handcuffs used on Jeff on the table in front of her. If he wasn't careful with his words from this point further, Kate's earlier threat of sending Jeff back to his holding cell with no agreed upon terms might just become a reality.

[Jeff Solaris]

"Yes, we have a deal Captain Bale." Jeff then looked at Kate.  Her look would have killed him if looks could kill. Clearly she was not in any sort of good mood. Likely if he didn't cooperate with her fully, he'd be without any resources to protect himself other than what he could scrounge together. Some of the ideas made sense. While he did not want to lose the roof defenses, he would if merely to please the Net Police.  Until they trusted him he had to play by all the rules. Shrike would not be his avatar however, not after today.  Selling the house would not work. The mercenaries would only track him down again and he really did not have time to deal with that. Fixing his brother's memories was going to be one of his priorities. 

Of course really it belonged to his brother James who was his avatar Shrike. Restoring the memories was going to take both time and access to the neurovirtualisation technology, or access to the schematics or at least the memory chip inside the device. Jeff had access to none of those and so would unfortunately have to do some improvisation.  Jeff knew he'd need help to access some of the encrypted files on his terminal. Sending them the security information was going to be easy to do, but he'd have to likely re-patent it first which meant a visit to the patent and copyright websites when he got home tomorrow. 








 

[Saber]

"Good…" Kate stood up and circled around the table with the handcuffs. Since legal matters were finished, it was time to uphold her end of the bargain "Now then, since we've finally gotten that out of the way, I think it's time you headed back to your cell. You're going to need these back on until we return to the cell block." She waited for Jeff to cooperate before applying the cuffs on his wrists again "Baretta, inform Lieutenant Jameson that Jeff Solaris will need to be escorted back to his cell." <Understood Captain, I'll inform him right away.>

As Kate finished cuffing Jeff, she held the back of the chair, ready to slide it back when Jeff stood up "Two more days before you're a free man again, Solaris. I'll have our legal team work up some paperwork to have you under contract as a registered informant. Don't worry though, only NPD personnel will know this about you, and as long as you keep your mouth shut about it, it can stay that way." She led him out of the interrogation room, where Frank was approaching them from down the hallway "Jeff, I want you to think up some of the things you might need to fix your 'avatar' while you're in your cell. Once it's time to release you, I want to hear everything that you think of. That is the other reason I gave you your terminal back, so you can mark down notes of all the supplies you'll need."

Frank finally reached them, and Kate passed the responsibility of escorting Frank back to the holding cells to him. Taking the elevators to make the trip quicker. "So, how'd it go, kid?"

[Jeff Solaris]

There was a lot in the way of supplies Jeff was going to need to fix his avatar back into his brother. First and foremoest would be a computer with a lot of processing power. Really he'd like a newer one and preferably one that could handle the strain of what he needed to do. Next he'd need some hacking software to hack the securities likely programmed by his parents into the system of the helmet. Yes his dad had made the helmet, but also likely installed security measures to prevent abuse of it.  When they approached Frank Jeff said.

"It went good, and I got access to my terminal. I've got a long two days ahead of me." Jeff had it in his possession even though currently it was Wi Fi locked so he could not make any online communications or do anything online. A list of the supplies he needed. That would be easy enough.  

Once in his cell and the cuffs were off Jeff immediately started making the list. Instead of his original idea what he first needed was the helmet, schematics of the helmet, all his dad's passwords and passcodes to access the security systems on the helmet. Yeah that had to come first. Immediately following that was a computer with an IMMENSE amount of processing power.  His dad had used one most likely when uploading James and so it would have to be one of equal or greater power to that likely. Hmm. What else? Ah yes. Tools to make a new avatar.  Once Shrike became James he'd need to make one after all, and so he'd have to create one. Thus supplies to do that would be needed. Jeff also added some other things to the list. Namely hacking software.  If they could not obtain the passwords he could attempt to hack his way into the helmet and force upload the memories to Shrike. It would not be an ideal way to do it, but it could be done.  Over night Jeff did not sleep but continued working on the list of supplies he'd need to reformat Shrike into James.  Come morning he yawned, and waited for breakfast. 

Jeff then woke himself up with a pinch, before resuming on the list.  What else did he need? Ah yes. Every password, and access to every system his dad had ever used in Suvian. There might be more info about the helmet. Seeing as how Jeff did not know much about it, he was not willing to risk the life of anyone by doing it wrong.  So he'd have to know more about the helmet. Any notes or research on the helmet was also included.  Finally done with the list, he waited.  Just one more day and he'd be out of here.  Once he got home he would not allow him to sleep for 2 weeks. No, he had a lot of work and all of it needed to be done immediately.  To the list he also added all the parts he'd need to build a complete terminal from scratch, as well as the tools to assemble one. 

Jeff was nothing if not thorough in his list.  A large amount of coffee was also added to his list as well as the equivalent to 5 hour energy and various energy drinks.

 

[Mani4c]

Alexi saw Kate walk out of the interrogation room with Jeff. He could tell even from across the room that she was barely containing her temper at that point. He pressed the side of his ear, turning on his cochlear implant. "Mani4c, Could you do something for me?" Alexi's voice was barely above a whisper, the mic that was connected to his cochlear implant was directly linked to his vocal cords, making it possible to carry on a conversation without being overheard. <What ya need boss man?> "If Baretta doesn't mind telling us, could you ask her what's got Kate so steamed?" <No problem, I'll be back.>

Mani4c logged into the police station's private network. He started looking around for Baretta, when he couldn't find her, he decided to get her attention in the best way he knew how. By practically screaming at the top of his nonexistent lungs. "YO BARETTA!!! YOU IN HERE!?" the response was almost immediate. He got slapped upside the head. He whirled around and saw Baretta standing in front of him, arms crossed and glaring at him. Mani4c put on his patented s***t-faced grin. "Hey there Baretta! Alexi wanted me to ask you something, Why's Kate so pissed? Seriously, even I'VE never made her that peeved before, not for lack of trying mind you."

[Saber]

Baretta was just about to return to Kate's terminal, before she heard an all to familiar voice screaming for her in the VPN *Oh good grief…* After slapping Mani4c across the back of his head, her eyebrow twitched when he treated it as nothing, and proceeded with bothering her about why Kate was mad. Sighing, as ignoring the question would only result in even more obnoxiousness, she decided to at least explain the situation in a way that won't expose everything

"Captain Bale was negotiating terms with our newest informant, and the pompous rich kid decided he kept wanting more. It came to the point that she had to give him a 'take it or leave it' ultimatum to get him to finally agree without a fuss." She kept walking past Mani4c, making her way towards the logout gateway "She hates making deals with criminals, especially ones who don't know when enough is enough. Is that an acceptable enough answer for your partner?"

[Mani4c]

Mani4c nodded, "Yeah it is, sorry about being nosy. Alexi's just concerned is all, he won't admit it, but I think he's a bit protective of Kate." Mani4c snickered a bit at the thought of Alexi's misguided worries."Even though he knows she could kick his ass from one end of the station to the other, what can I say, poor guy's too chivalrous for his own good." Mani4c smiled a bit, but it was an honest smile, not his obnoxious grin. "Still, it's one of the reasons I like him so much, he's got a heart of gold." He decided to log out and let Alexi know about the situation.

<Yo boss man, I'm back.> Alexi activated his implant. "Hey Mani4c, so what's the deal?" Maniac told Alexi what Baretta told him. "That kid's got some serious шарики I'll give him that." Mani4c noticed Alexi slipping into his native Russian, which he knew was a sign of him getting angry. <Hey easy there Tarzan. If you're so pissed about him making Kate angry, why don't you get her a coffee or something? Y'know, do her a favor.> Alexi rolled his eyes "Do you have any idea how that would look? She hates fraternization more than she hates you're godforsaken pranks!" Mani4c scoffed <C'mon man, you know as well as I do that she wouldn't take it that way.> Alexi rubbed the bridge of his nose, as much as he hated to admit it, Mani4c had a point. The Commander wasn't one to mistake a friendly gesture for something else. "Alright, Alright, I'll get her a coffee." Alexi got up and went to the cafeteria, he got two coffees one black with 4 sugars(His), and one with one cream and 2 sugars(Kate's). He put lids on the cups and went to the commanders office. He knocked on the door and heard her call him in.

[Saber]

Kate was looking over some paperwork from a recent distress call from a home near uptown, some ridiculous domestic dispute that could have been avoided, when she heard a knocking at her door. Looking up, she saw the large frame of the former staff Sergeant outside of her door "Yes, Sergeant, what is it?" Her voice was calm, but there was still a hint of impatience in the air that suggested she wasn't in the mood for any nonsense.

[Mani4c]

Alexi walked in holding two cups of coffee. He could tell that Kate was still in a foul mood, so he decided to keep it brief. "Sorry for the interruption captain, I noticed that you we're in a bad mood, and Mani4c suggested that I get you some coffee." The second he mentioned Mani4c, he saw Kate's Eyebrow start to arch. "I made the coffee myself, I learned the hard way after he decided to replace the powdered creamer with talcum powder." Alexi put the coffee on a table next to Kate's desk. "I again apologize for taking up you're time with something so trivial." Alexi turned to leave the office, intending to give Mani4c an earful for convincing him to interrupt Kate's work.    

[Saber]

Kate sighed when Alexi set the coffee on her desk, sniffing it a bit just to be sure before picking it up and taking a sip. The coffee definitely helped her relax a bit, and she exhaled deeply after taking her first sip "Well, I won't lie today has been a bit hectic…Thanks." She set the cup down and folded her hands together, propping her head up by her elbows "I still have to get in touch with out legal team to write up some paperwork to register our newest informant…Tell me, Petrovik, are you familiar with Mark and Elena Solaris?"

[Mani4c]

Alexi turned around. "I know that Mark was wrongly accused of having temperament issues, and that he and Elena lost their jobs because of it. Damn shame too, intellect like theirs only comes around once in a great while. Was the pompous little scab, as Mani4c put it, Their son?" He could see a small ghost of a smile cross Kate's lips when he badmouthed Jeff's attitude, if only for a second. Mani4c, with his trademark lack of subtlety chose this point to interject. <Whoa, whoa. Hold the phone! You mean to tell me that that little pus nugget is the heir to the Solaris family fortune!? What the Hell!?> Alexi rolled his eyes at Mani4c's outburst. "Mani4c, as always you're about as subtle as a train crashing into an ammunition dump." Mani4c ignored Alexi's not so subtle jibe, instead turning his attention to Kate. <You're seriously going to let that kid work with you? After he badmouthed you when HE was the one who was in the wrong?> Manic sounded angry but it wasn't directed at the Captain. He hated people who were arrogant, and the idea of Jeff having any contact with the police outside of a cavity search and a small cell was infuriating. <Cap, I have never doubted your judgment before. But this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.> 

[Saber]

Kate sighed and closed her eyes, actually a little amused when Alexi mentioned Mani4c calling Jeff a pompous scab, but then her mood turned sour when Mani4c chimed in, and a slight bulge on her forehead from a vein protruding from beneath the skin showed itself as she listened to him question her methods, and her decision to allow him to work with the NPD. "Mani4c, I'm only going to say this once. Never question me when you don't know the entire story. Now then, the next time you decide to open that mouth of yours to question choices I have made…REMEMBER YOUR PLACE!!!" Kate was on her feet by this point, hands pressed firmly against her desk and glaring at Alexi's arm where Mani4c was projected through the screen.

It was then that Baretta intervened, trying to keep Kate from taking her foul mood too far <Kathryn, please, try to calm down. You know how Mani4c can be, you shouldn't stress yourself so much over this.> Kate closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. Easing herself back into her seat, she crossed her arms and one leg, looking at Alexi "…Since you two don't know everything that's going down, I'm going to fill you in on what you need to know. The kid has been caught stealing from his parents' fortune, and has been cut from access to the fortune from this point on. He has decided to offer his services as an informant, in exchange for a regular pay rate to support himself. As part of the conditions of his employment, he is required to tear down and replace his current security systems…And guess who just volunteered to help the 'pompous scab' remodel his home…" She looked expectantly at Alexi, grinning villy as she didn't even bother telling him who volunteered, as he would likely figure it out eventually.

[Mani4c]

Alexi saw the evil smirk on Kate's face and immediately knew that once again Mani4c opening his mouth screwed him over. Alexi, ever the loyal officer of the law, wasn't going to try and weasel out of it. "Of course Captain, but would you like the KBG special along with the new booby traps?" Kate knew that the KBG special meant hidden recording devices, specifically linked into the traps he was going to be running diagnostics on. They would deliver information directly to Kate, and if they were tampered with be it in real space or cyberspace, the traps would be permanently disarmed. Alexi knew Jeff's parents, if he was even half as smart as them, he would try to find loopholes in Kate's agreement and exploit them.

<Wait Alexi you're not even going to challenge this?> Mani4c sounded irritated. "No Mani4c I'm not, and seeing as my weekend has to be spent playing gardener, YOU get to help me troubleshoot them, and if you screw with the programming and put the kid at risk because of your childish behavior, I'll personally have Baretta tie you to one of the digital targeting dummies in the Precincts VPN, and use you for target practice!" Alexi was starting to raise his voice. the fact that his own Avatar was challenging his commanding officer was making him annoyed. And still Mani4c continued to push the issue. <Why are you so willing to help this kid, he's nothing to you.> That remark drove Alexi over the edge. "BECAUSE HIS PARENTS HELPED ME WHEN I WAS NO BETTER THAN A CRIPPLE YOU PETULANT PROGRAM!!" If the room wasn't soundproofed the whole precinct would have heard Alexi yelling, and even then his voice was capable of shaking the small windows in Kate's office. "FOR 3 F***KING MONTHS AFTER MY SURGERY, HIS PARENTS HELPED ME GET USED TO THE CYBERNETICS, AND THEN THEY HELPED REMOVE THE MONITORING DEVICES FROM THIS GODFORSAKEN ARM OF MINE!"

Alexi wasn't one to let his feelings be known, but he was always disgusted with the fact that he had to accept help from the mega-corporations for help. He didn't even want to think of how much blood was spilled to make his prosthetic limbs. And having  Mani4c remind him of this made him go berserk. 

[Saber]

Kate thought over what Alexi suggested, giving a nod in approval "It might be beneficial to hear what goes on over there, but make sure that it's well concealed, so no one, not even that know-it-all Son of Mark and Elena won't find a trace of them."

Then, Mani4c started questioning Alexi, and they started arguing in her office. The argument began to escalate, to the point that Alexi was shouting nearly at the top of his lungs at Mani4c. Thankfully, she had the windows and walls insulated to muffle most of the sound, but when she had enough, her voice echoed enough so that the officers outside of her office could hear her. Her fist also slammed on the top of her desk, to cut off both of them from arguing further.

"THAT IS ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!"

Once she had their attention, she gave both of them a look that said, one more outburst, and they'll be on traffic duty for weeks "I am the commanding officer here, Mani4c, and like it or not, disobeying a direct order will result in suspension at its worst. So unless you'd rather be doing the more mundane tasks of the police force, you are to follow the assignments given to you. And if you don't like that, then you can turn in your NPD registration code right now and go back to being an ordinary avatar, have I made myself clear?"

[Mani4c]

Kate's yelling snapped Alexi out of his rage filled haze, he hadn't gotten that angry since one of his old SWAT team members got shot. He took a deep breath allowing his blood pressure to return to normal before addressing Kate. "Of course Captain, The transmitters are hidden inside of the actual circuitry of the traps. If he were to remove them, the traps would be rendered useless, as for the digital side of things, the reports are integrated with the daily maintenance broadcasts." Alexi was hoping to be dismissed soon, as much as he hated to admit it, Mani4c's outburst, and his subsequent meltdown in front of his captain had made him uneasy. He just wanted to get back to his desk and request the bugged traps as soon as possible, and possibly put Mani4c's memory chip inside of a microwave oven so he could fry the damn thing, whatever came first.

Mani4c was bristling at being told off, but he also felt guilty. Alexi was the one person who treated him like a friend instead of a co-worker, and he had made him upset. Sure Sabre was friendly towards him, but it was still strictly professional. As for Baretta, he wasn't sure if she disliked him because he was constantly trying to make her laugh at his stupid jokes. Or if because he was not only a former Rouge Avatar but also part virus, it wouldn't be the first time. He made a mental note to apologize to Alexi for his behavior.

<Yes Ma'am, you've made yourself perfectly clear.> Alexi was somewhat surprised by the tone of Mani4c's voice, it sounded genuinely apologetic. Alexi scoffed internally, 'Figures, it takes her taking a verbal chunk out of your rear-end to get it through your skull.' Alexi sometimes wondered why he tolerated Mani4c's behavior, if he was human he'd would have either been fired or had the ever loving crap beaten out of him about 50 different times by now.