Chapter 2
Death Awaits the Sinner
9:30 AM
Rick walked into the hallway of his apartment. The faded yellow carpet was worn down nearly to the boards along the high traffic center of the hallway and the once cream-colored wallpaper was faded and discolored from where people would run their hands. Lainey, the cleaning lady was busy dusting the faux gold light fixtures, she was one of five who made sure that while Garden Heights Apartments was run down it was never dirty. He moved down the two flights of grey concrete stairs to get to the ground floor. Pushing open the cracked glass door, with handles that appeared to be made from the same faux gold as the light fixtures, he was bombarded with the smells of fried fish from street vendors. Before him there was a busy street, many floating Electro-buses as well as a few personal vehicles that coasted on the electro-strips. There were even some vehicles which used omni-directional wheels, that allowed some more freedom of movement, weaving among the crowds. To his left there was a bridge that went over a portion of the Nextian River connecting the Crick District to the Outland District. The bridge was dotted with figures from religion, especially from some of the favored stories in the Bronze Book, though a notable exception was the extra-large statue on the highest point of the bridge of the Reverend Saint holding aloft a book containing his visions.
Beside the bridge there was a young street musician in a red suit and black tie playing a type of music called Fuzz and Drums. On a stand before the musician there were panels with many wires, whenever he moved where a wire was plugged in the sound would change either tonally or rhythmically. Underneath the board of electronics was a simple bass kick drum that he would set the beat with.
Rick stretched his back and looked up to the sky, it was roiling and entirely white except for where there was a hazy golden glow indicating where The Guardian was currently within his travels in the Great Hell Above. The Church said he was there to keep an eye on the demons there to keep them from invading like they did during creation. Rick touched the empty spot on his chest where his pendant used to lie. Even when Alice was alive Rick did not wear his pendant like he should have, yet Alice had been wearing hers when evil had befallen her.
Rick turned to the right, away from the squeals and thuds of the street musician. Down a side street by his apartment moving through the undulating crowds he then turned onto a narrow road that did not even have an electro-strip running down it. The street was lined with old shops that sold various nick-knacks but amid the novelty shops filled with curiosities there stood MAGGIE’S, a small coffee shop that he used to always go to when he had been on the force.
Maggie’s was a symbol of his old life in that it was one of the only places he still routinely visited since the tragedy.
He entered the familiar worn wooden double doors and entered a room with old, stained wood benches and tables. The walls were covered in pictures of famous actors and actresses the most recent of which was from twenty years ago. The floor was wooden and every time you took a step it creaked and bowed. On the whole MAGGIE’S was a total 180 from the masses of metal minimalism expressed outside in the city.
Rick waved at Janice, who was behind the bar, she was the only daughter of Maggie. She had taken over about ten years ago, when her mother had taken ill. Rick walked to a secluded booth that had a picture of Malcom Munsun, a famous comic actor, the picture on the wall showed him reclining in a chair with clown makeup and a large cigar. The photo was taken during the filming of From War to War. Once Rick was seated, he did not have to wait long for Janice to come gliding over her white dress dotted with small blue flowers swishing around her legs. “Hello dear! What would you like?”
“Well, Janice, I was thinking of having the Mivon coffee fixed MAGGIE’S way” Mivon coffee is the strongest known coffee, it is grown in the thick jungled valley of the Mivo state within the Peoples Federal Republic of Taevo or the PFRT for short. For a long time very, few shops served Mivon coffee because of the strength but Maggie had figured out if you put a piece of sweet chocolate in the bottom of the cup then brew the coffee so it slowly drips onto the chocolate melting it, it balances out the strength. A lot of coffee shops have started doing this, but Maggie popularized it.
“One Mivon coffee MAGGIE’S way coming up,” Janice paused “that’ll be 43 Stone.”
Rick pulled out his C. Stick and input 43 S into it before plugging the stick into the side of the pad Janice was holding. With the transaction complete Janice goes to fix the coffee. There are only two of them working behind the bar, Janice, and her son Jakson. Jakson stays behind the counter to work on the orders freeing up his mom to go out and take the orders.
Rick was watching the two working in tandem while stroking his goatee when he heard the familiar jingle of the door opening. Quickly Janice went around the counter to help the new customer. As she was going around the counter a hot kettle of water started screaming, Jakson was tied up with pulling muffins out of the oven so he couldn’t get to it. Rick saw her mouth move speaking in old Nextian then what appeared to be a translucent green pole lept from her hand to the pot. She was then able to move it off the burner and onto the counter with the translucent pole before it dissipated.
After a little while Janice brings Rick the coffee and then leaves to fix it. Rick leaned back and turned on his device and began to try and find out more about the missing boy. He accessed the door to go to the Nexus Public Data Hub and searched the Records to find info on Mike Ethel.
A few articles pop up that mention Mike. One mentions him in a list of names of kids who went on a field trip to the Nexus Public Museum. Mike was also mentioned in a school paper as the president of the linguistics club for old Nextian in school. His name also came up in an article discussing the death of his father.
Rick was looking at his device when he saw a hand with a coffee come into the bottom of his vision and set a mug down. “Thank you.” Rick says without looking.
“Welcome, dear.” Rick hears Janice say. He reads in the article discussing the death of Mike’s father, Matthew Latheil, passed away due to injuries sustained when his personal vehicle slammed into the guard rails on Oron St. near the memorial and crashed into the river. He leaves behind his wife Martha and one son Mike. Martha during this trying time will be moving in with her cousin the Governor of the Crick District Allan Ethel.
Rick continues browsing while taking sips from his coffee. After a while he gets the feeling that someone is standing beside him, dimming the display, he turns and sees a tall skinny man in the standard police blue and grey. “Brick!” Rick exclaimed, grinning. He did not look like a man who should be called Brick, but he had received that name because he had hit a suspect over the head with a brick one time to subdue him, after a prolonged foot chase. People used to refer to him as “the dude who hit a guy with a brick.” But due to that being a mouthful to say over and over it got shortened to brick.
“How are you doing?” Rick asked.
“Managing to survive without you.”
“Well, I’m sure the chief has been able to find someone to replace me, right?”
“Not at all, no one else can scare the snooty out-of-district recruits into line like you could. They would come sauntering into the station expecting to be able to act like one of the cops from the movies, blowing bad guys away left and right. Yet you always had a way of making them see reality.”
Rick sat back and sipped his coffee thinking. “I’m sure I didn’t make that big of a difference. Besides all I would do was take them individually with me on my rounds and introduce them to the druggies, force them to confront the gray areas in what we had to do as cops.”
“Dude,” Brick spoke as he sat down. “Some of us have tried that and yet… nothing. Besides, you were the only officer I know of who went to The Nextian Academy. Most people who go there do something other than law enforcement. You were the designated smart guy on the force. People listened to you when you spoke.” Brick barked a laugh before continuing, “I suppose the one good thing about you leaving the force is that some of them are starting to listen to me more than they ever did when you were there.
“Yeah,” Rick sighed, “When I got out my mom wanted me to work in the Lower Nexus District.”
“Got out of what? Oh, right, college! Uh, didn’t your mom… didn’t she die when you were young?” Brick asked. “And besides, I thought your parents wanted you to go into politics?”
“Uh.” Rick racked his brains, yet he felt fuzzy. It felt as though he had two puzzle sets that were jumbled inside his head. “I’m sorry, yes I think your right, my dad, he said I was bright enough I could make some real top-down change.”
“Dude, are you ok?” Brick furrowed his brow.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“Ok, well you know if you need me, or any of the other guys you can contact us?”
“I know.”
“Perhaps you should take a break from even doing any detective work, get some help from someone who specializes with people who have issues… like you.”
“NO!” Rick slammed his hand on the table. He then slumped back into his seat shaking his now hurt hand. “I’m sorry I know you are just trying to help but, no, I must do this.”
Brick nodded and was quiet for a while staring over Rick’s shoulder presumably at the Television. Rick had let his mind begin to wander until Brick started pointing emphatically. “They, they tried again.”
“What?” Rick looked over his shoulder at the television confused. The television had no sound, but it did have subtitles scrolled along the bottom of the screen telling you what was being said. The television was displaying a rocket launched by the Grand Commune. The video showed the rocket launch up, then punching through the sky. It was then proceeded by a few seconds later it reappeared in freefall before it hit the ground. “Huh, they’ve been trying that for a while.”
“Yeah, but this time they put a camera on it and sent it up, the rocket was rigged up with a camera taking one picture a second and automatically broadcasting it back to the ground control.” Brick grinned, “maybe it saw some demons, or the guardian.”
“Maybe, but I won’t be holding my breath.”
“I am fascinated by what the future may hold.”
“Hopefully not in incursion caused by us punching holes into the Great Hell.”
“Right, Well, that hasn’t happ-” Brick was interrupted as his radio crackled.
“One one on Mids by Statue Bridge.”
“Man, that’s close. I need to get going so I’ll talk to you later.”
“Alright, see ya, Brick.”
“See you around Rick.”
Brick nearly sprinted out the door and to his Police vehicle before speeding off. “One one, huh,” another accident with an omnidirectional vehicle. Those things were seeming more and more like death traps. Rick downed the rest of his coffee and decided he needed to make the journey to the Tielens Institute to talk to Danny. He got up and left the establishment to catch an Electrobus. Once outside he began to hear the thumping and buzzing of music near the shop which hadn’t been there when he had come to the shop, turning a corner he saw an old man with a simple foot drum and a small board covered in wires. Rick paused to watch him as he began to sing into a mic.
Death awaits the sinner.
They will be taken above.
Death awaits the sinner.
They will no longer feel love.
Death awaits the sinner,
Who hurt the weak?
Death awaits the sinner,
Do they not know Nextian will seek?
Death awaits the sinner,
Though the days seem dark,
Death awaits the sinner,
In the end justice will hit its mark.
Rick shook his head, there were always some street musicians on the side of the road. Normally they would play well known classics like Dance of the Reeds or The Shipman’s Sorrow, but apparently that old guy decided to play an original on the side of the road it was apparent on the screen of his tip pad that his song was not being well received.