Congrats! You just graduated as a Mediator & need to spend a few months shadowing before heading to your own squad.
Who would you choose as your mentor?
Captain Ryker — Patrol
Experience veteran & highly talked about mentor. Known for being patient and understanding, he has a reputation as a great teacher. Dad vibes. Never yells. Will probably bring snacks. Easy to talk to & makes corny jokes because he can tell when you're nervous. Lots of paperwork. Loves cats & will probably show you pictures of his 2 at home. Get to work with Beau.
Ayla — Dispatch
Easy-going Dispatcher with several years of experience dealing with the radios. Extremely chill and runs a no-judgment zone in her office. Doesn't care if you need to take a nap. Likes to talk about music and bands. Constantly invited to after-work socials, but won't pressure you. You'll be a drone expert and know everyone via the radio by the end of your internship.
Lora — Peace Officer
If you don't have an older sister, you do now. Lora is determined to help wherever she can, and that includes you. Soft and caring approach to crisis situations. Probably start bringing you your own portion of whatever she brings for lunch. Very chatty. Constantly worrying about you and teach you all the ins and outs, will be there for you even after you leave.
Khan — Detective
A detective that's been there longer than you've probably been alive and creepily good at his job. Literally, nothing affects him anymore. Will act like he's not listening, but he is. Laughs at your jokes. Is trying very hard not to be frustrated because you're new. Constantly testing you with "Are you sure?" even when you're on the right track. Get to work with Xavier.
Valetta — Bomb Squad / A.I. Tech
Explosive Tech, A.I. Medic, NetRunner, & likes danger. Not for the faint of heart, but will protect you with her life. Likes to talk while she works. Always has gum. Meme Queen. Will throw hands if anyone is mean to you. Let's you work the radio. "I've had y/n a day & ½, but if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in this room and then myself". Ride or die. Get to work with Mikki
Garnet — Patrol
Hardworking & diligent Lieutenant, although working with him may be challenging. Surefire way to see every aspect of the job –from domestic calls to crisis situations. Is nicer after coffee. Terrible at small talk. Won't admit it but he's protective of you. Will ask about your interests/hobbies & take you to the best local dives. Surprisingly patient. Swears a lot. Will comment on people's style choices like your watching a fashion reality tv show.
Captain Royston — Breaching/ SWAT
Captain of the tactical Breaching unit, with several years of experience dealing with dangerous situations. Talks a lot but gets distracted easy by work. May not be around all the time. You'll probably end up working more with Ives. Rubber duck you with ideas and tactics. Way too energetic. Likes to debate about the news. Get to work with Ives and Niner.
Once you're solid on your feet, you can pick your Synthetic buddy!
CW: Gun Violence, Language, Abduction, Abuse, Blood
3395 Words
Tag List: @everlastinq, @ashen-crest, @waysofink (please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed)
The clock is ticking to find Ryker, but as the team moves in on what they think is his location, Ives senses trouble. Spiteful, Captain Royston refuses to believe him, leaving Ives to decide if he should listen to data or intuition. With a team committed to Royston, Ives finds support in the strangest possible place.
They had Ryker’s possible location. The address of the warrant had floorplans with an 87% match to the interior layout of the hostage tape, and a 93% network match through the VPN chain. With orders to raid that night, they were within the statistical time limit of probable survival. They had a 79% chance of finding Ryker alive –if they had the correct location.
Ives finished with his gear, strapping on his helmet and heading to the armory. His locker was filled with his pre-approved weaponry for this mission: a shotgun with breaching rounds, lighted rifle, handgun, and the typical electroshock pistol. His shield lie on the shelf below.
He barely heard the sharp whistle.
Royston appeared beside him, glaring, jaw set. When Ives didn’t instantly drop what he was doing, Royston stretched out an arm, snapping fingers in his face. “I’m talking to you,” he demanded.
Ives nodded that he was listening as he synced to his weapons, pulling them one by one from their place to holster to his gear. “Look, I don’t know if it’s true. If –if Ryker had a thing for you, if you knew about it, hell, if you do too, but this is a mission. A job. You go out there just as professional as always if you expect to tag along.”
“I don’t know what you mean, Captain.” Ives leveled, not wasting time on addressing him with a stare.
“I mean behave out there. Regardless of what we find. No personal vendetta, got it? You do your job. You do your job like you're supposed to. No off-the-wall shit. No rogue antics. You might not be on my squad, but you are still part of my team.”
Ives wheeled on him, locking eyes and holding contact for a moment. Royston swallowed uneasily. “Captain, it’s my highest priority to protect those at our station. Ryker falls within those bounds and that’s what I’m going to do. It’s what I’m here to do. What I’m made to do. I suggest you don’t get in my way.”
“W-wh—” Royston blinked widely, “what the hell did you say?”
“Hey! Everything alright in here?” Garnet’s bark from the door caused Royston to turn, still blindsided as he fumbled to focus. He started to say something until he recognized Garnet, mouth hanging open stupidly. “You gonna stand here all night Captain, or you gonna fuckin’ do something? We have a hostage situation going on. No time for locker room gossip.” He motioned down the hall with a bewildered look.
Royston turned to give Ives one last glare before storming to the hall. His attempt to shoulder Garnet out of the way was for naught, rebounding between him and the door like a pinball. Garnet didn’t budge, scowling with a shake of the head as Royston went on his way. Muttering curses rose into shouting orders as he found the rest of the team.
Leaning on the doorframe, Garnet slowly turned his head to look at Ives. He lingered, appearance much more intimidating in the breaching gear. Bulkier, heavier, helmet shadowing his face elevating his glare from acidic to lethal. He scanned Ives up and down before offering a nod, “Let’s get it, Shitbox.” Leisurely straightening himself from the wall, he went on his way.
Ives stared at the empty doorway trying to process why Garnet had interjected into their conversation. Even if he had heard from the hallway, why had he taken an almost defensive position against Royston? And in favor of anyone, why Ives?
-03:59:59 CRITICAL SURVIVAL TIMEOUT
The alert in his HUD ended his pondering. They were now under four hours until the chances of finding Ryker alive plummeted. Taking his shield and closing his locker, Ives made his way to the briefing group.
Each team staged at a location nearby the apartment complex, doing what they could to stay out of sight and not alert any GodHead affiliates. Now able to see the building, Ives compared it to that from the hostage tape.
It was a twenty-story complex, registered with the city to occupy 340 rooms. Comparing information with images and video uploaded to the internet by tenants and the apartment’s PR staff, Ives calculated the building had far more space than what was occupied. With the included gym, lobby, halls, elevator, and other necessary maintenance rooms, there should have been space for 360 rooms.
“Captain,” he whispered around to Royston, who pretended not to hear. “Sir, there’s something not right about our information.” Officers around them turned their attention curiously.
“What are you going on about?” Royston scoffed.
“There are too few rooms registered for the square footage of the building. At least, the twenty stories here. Even the studio rooms are far too small to match that of the video.” The three officers that were crammed between Royston and Ives glanced back and forth, heads volleying as they waited for Royston’s suggestion.
“You think this isn’t the place? I thought you were sure at the station. Which is it?”
“I believe this is the right place, per the VPN trail to this IP address. But I don’t think it came from any of the floors. I believe there may be more substory levels.” Royston finally turned to look at him, narrow face skewed in disgust.
“Remind me to have you sent in for maintenance, Ives. There are no substory levels on this building. If there were, it’d be registered with the city.” He huffed a chuckle through his nose, “I thought you were supposed to be smarter than that.” Quickly searching for the zoning paperwork, Ives found Royston was correct. There were no registered in-ground floors besides a boiler room and storage space.
But Ives couldn’t shake the idea.
Valetta came over the radio, alerting them she was able to jam all signals coming out of the building. It was their cue to move. “Stick to your orders, Ives. Like we talked about,” Royston reminded, pulling down his visor and signaling them to move.
Out from the bushes of a neighboring parking lot, they rushed for the lobby entrance. As they burst through the front door, their sister unit moved in through the back exit. No doubt, as synchronized as they were, the third team was making their entrance from the roof.
Into the lobby they moved in a wave, ordering everyone to the floor, securing the doors, and starting for the first rooms. Ives moved with the team going door to door, checking the interiors for any clue of Ryker. They were too small. The more rooms they checked, the more Ives knew he was right. He continued along with his team, more interested in doorways that weren’t labeled as rooms.
Someone jarred into his shoulder as they passed in the hall. He dismissed them as someone from another unit until he was seized by an arm. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?” Garnet thumbed the visor of his helmet out of his face, “I thought you said this was the place. These rooms look a whole lot nicer than the poured cement on film.”
You do your job. Royston’s voice echoed.
PRIORITY – FIND RYKER
PRIORITY – STICK TO YOUR UNIT
>Delete?
“I have cause to believe there’s a basement,” Ives admitted.
“What?”
“Floors below.” Garnet didn’t look at him the same as Royston had, it wasn’t anger hardening his brow. He glanced around before his gaze went to the floor as if lost in thought. Nodding, he turned back the way he’d come.
STICK TO YOUR UNIT DELETED
Ives followed him past vending rooms and bathrooms to an unlabeled door. Garnet tried the knob, locked. It was steel like most other maintenance rooms, only this one didn’t have a keypad like the others. Throwing his weight against it without any luck, Garnet finally stepped back.
“Think you can get it open?” He motioned to it, awkwardly hooking his hands on his hips. Ives found no hinges, meant to open inward, another abnormality. Touching the knob he followed electric pulses leading to a lock panel on the other side of the door.
“It’s locked from the inside.”
“Oh, that’s not suspicious.” Garnet snorted.
“Step aside,” Ives gently pressed him away, withdrawing a step before jamming his heel into the center of the door. It shrieked, echoing a pop down the hall as the brace-bar in the center gave way and the entire door fell inwards, screeching as it slid down several stories of cement steps.
“That’s more like it– nnk!” Garnet started down, nearly gagging as Ives pulled him back by the rear of his breaching vest. “The fuck man?”
“Stay behind me. I’m on point.” Ives drew out his rifle and started down the stairs. Garnet grumbled in protest but followed.
“Beau, we’re headed downstairs. To the basement,” he radioed on their comms readying his sidearm. "Yeah, I didn't know there was a basement either. I'm following Ives." They came to a landing with a windowed door, Ives carefully prying it open, weapon first, and stepped inside. It was true to blueprints, a boiler room connected to a carefully cooled server room. Garnet stuck close, no longer complaining about their pace as Ives meticulously cleared each room. Confirming it was empty, they continued down the flight to the next floor finding a heavier door with no window.
“Hey, if we get fired for this, and they tear you down for parts, d’you think I could get the cash from you to pay my bills?” Garnet whispered.
“As optimistic as always, Lieutenant.” Ives rolled his eyes, slowly opening the door.
It was another, smaller hallway, lined by doors marked with little numbered plates. Ives waited, listening, trying to keep his predictions and processes from running wild with possibilities. Scanning for signatures he took one step inside, Garnet leaning out around him with a feral chuckle. “Here we are. Good call, Shitbox.”
One of the doors opened, bassy music spilling out as a young man stepped into the hall. Ives dropped his gun, swapping out for his electropistol. The boy spotted them, falling on his backside in his scramble to get back in his room, effectively dodging Ives’ shot. With a yelping warning, he slammed the door behind him. The music went silent.
“A little late buddy,” Garnet slid around Ives, pounding knocks into the door, “come on out. We just wanna talk.”
A door to Ives’ left burst open, gunman diverting his aim from Garnet to Ives at the last moment, not expecting to find him there. Ives knocked his gun aside, the desperate shot rupturing air pressure beside his head. It was deafening with nowhere to go between cement walls.
AUDIOS DEACTIVATED
Knocking them to the ground, Ives rendered them useless with his electropistol. He whipped around, processes rearranging in a dance of flickering in his HUD as Garnet’s safety became priority. Two doors near the end of the hall flew open, a gunman in each peering out from the entrance to fire. Ives rushed forwards, yanking Garnet behind him as bullets hammered into his shoulder, another burrowing into a panel on his arm.
COMPONENT #3443 DAMAGED
ILLEGAL AMMUNITION DETECTED
.50 CAL ANTI-MATERIAL ROUNDS
An instant sooner and they would have pierced Garnet’s vest, capable of tearing through military-grade armor, fatal for the Lieutenant. Ives caught one of the gunmen with his electropistol. The other yanked their door too, but not before Garnet rolled in a stun grenade.
|Beau, we have shots fired in the basement. At least fourteen anti-armor gunmen. They must be hiding something down here. I’m going to get Garnet to cover.|
|I’m on my way.|
Another gunman emerged from an open room, toting a high-powered machine gun. Ives was momentarily distracted as he caught a new reading, a heartbeat in the room at the end of the hall, so frail and slow it was nearly drowned out by the others. He was still too far away for a biometric scan to confirm who it belonged to.
Reaching over his shoulder he freed his shield, bullets caught his sleeves, a few grating his arm and neck before he could shield them from the barrage of bullets. Garnet pressed a hand to Ives’ back, falling in behind him. The hand moved, grabbing the sling of his rifle, Garnet heaving it to his shoulder. At the first break in shots, he leaned around Ives’ shield landing a shot. The gunman stumbled back, piling in the floor.
AUDIOS ACTIVATED
“–at your six!” Garnet barked. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Garnet downing the first resident that had come out of their room. They jerked from the shock before going still. Three others bolted from the room, making a rush for the door. Pivoting, Ives seized Garnet’s electropistol, downing the lot of them.
Besides the groaning, it was still.
“Ugh, I had them,” Garnet snapped, yanking the pistol back from him. “I’m fucking breach trained too—”
“I’ve got a heartbeat,” Ives announced, ignoring him. “Room at the end of the hall. Seven individuals,” taking back his rifle he started towards it.
“Beau, we may have a positive. Second substory. Room B7,” Garnet relayed, swapping out for his own rifle as well, following. “Right behind you, Shitbox.”
|Ives, give me five minutes. I’ll meet you there with backup.| Beau begged, still lost somewhere upstairs with his unit.
|No, I’m not waiting another second.|
Come on, buddy. I need you. Ryker’s words played over and over inside his processor. Faint things he’d barely been able to grasp through the BIOSerker virus’s haze. Now they were a reality. After days of hunting, Ryker could be on the other side of this door. If they weren’t too late.
-01:33:56 CRITICAL SURVIVAL TIMEOUT
Backup was still fifteen minutes away. Fifteen minutes. A difference between life and death.
Dropping his rifle onto the slack of its sling, Ives pulled his breaching shotgun from his back, jamming the barrel to the door lock. And if Ryker wasn’t alive? If he didn’t make it? If Ives was too late? What then?
At his hesitation, Garnet stepped up beside him, touching his shoulder. Ives broke from the scrolling list of outcomes, glancing to him, half expecting to find a sneer. Instead, Garnet held eye contact, a flat grin with a nod. “Let’s get it, Shitbox. Either way, give’em hell.” He took half a step back, readying his gun.
Please, Ives.
He squeezed the trigger splintering the lock. Screams went up, shots fired as he kicked the door in. The first thing he saw was the battered form of Ryker curled against the baseboards, wrists cuffed to bare pipes exposed in the wall.
KERNEL DATA ERROR
Bullets ate into Ives’ shoulder and vest, clacking off his helmet. “Shit, Ives, get with it!” Garnet leaned around him, downing the first man in the room. The list of priorities in his HUD crashed, every assisting program going dark. Ives overrode the attempted restart, turning his shotgun on the first attacker who charged, and blasting a breaching round through them. He flipped the gun around, grabbing it by the barrel to swing across the next attacker’s head.
Throwing it, he knocked another in the head, sending their unconscious form tripping over their camera and terminal setup. Two charged him, bellowing and snarling. He caught one by an arm, snapping before slinging them into their partner. Their writhing gave him enough time to reach for his electroshock pistol. Firing into each of them, he bought himself ten minutes of temporary paralysis.
It was silent.
I don’t know how to start down this road if you’re not here.
Ives didn’t want to scan the room. Didn’t want to turn around. He instantaneously wanted to know Ryker’s vitals as much as he didn’t. All he could do was stare at Garnet who was frozen in the doorway, eyes wide, mouth fallen open, horrifically silent. When Ives had seen the live-stream, he couldn’t imagine being more scared, but there, in that silent moment, in the same room, unsure if Ryker was dead or alive, he was overloaded with the feeling.
“God… you’re fast,” Ryker wheezed. Alive.
Ives stumbled a pivot, dropping his weapon. Ryker smirked from his huddled place, one eye swollen shut, a hand twitching in some weary attempt of a wave around the pipes.
|Ives—?!|
DISCONNECTED
He shut off all external connections. Everything.
Half tripping he reeled to catch himself in his way over debris to Ryker. His rifle scraped the ground, dragging as he slid to his knees. Ryker was littered with scrapes and bruises, lacerations on his brow and chin, clothes dirty and torn from scuffles and assault. Ives couldn’t process what to say, only able to look from one injury to the next.
PRIORITY– FIND RYKER
COMPLETE
MISSION SUCCESS
“Hey Bright-eyes,” Ryker’s voice was barely such, smiling as he scanned Ives’ face. “You’re okay… I’m so glad you’re okay.” He winced a laugh, moisture gathering in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Ives.”
“No. There’s… You have absolutely nothing to apologize for.” He took care in reaching for Ryker’s hands, grasping the outer edge of the cuffs to prevent them from digging into skin as he snapped the chain apart. Lowering his arms caused Ryker to hiss, face contorted in pain as he drew his arms close to himself. “You’re badly injured. How much did you smart off to make them this angry with you?”
“Smarting off? You know me...” Ryker chuckled with another wince. He was ever gradually sinking to one side, sliding as if he could no longer hold himself up.
“I’m taking you to a hospital.” Ives was finally aware of the ground beneath him, calibrating his footing well enough to move closer to better support Ryker. He lurched, tensing as if startled, looking to the door. Ives turned to check as well, reaching for a sidearm in case of more gunmen. It was only Garnet stepping in to begin making arrests. “You’re safe now,” Ives whispered, soothing his tone as he slid a hand between Ryker and the wall. “I’m going to get you to a hospital. You’ll be alright. I’ve got you.”
Ives carefully adjusted him, startling when Ryker went completely limp, diving into the chest of his vest. “Ryker?” Ives tilted, cradling his head as it flopped backward. His eyes weren’t completely closed, unfocused and unseeing. “Hadrian?!”
“He’s passed out,” Garnet whispered, suddenly kneeling beside them. He pressed a hand to Ryker’s neck, nodding after a moment. “He’s still gotta pulse. He’s alive, just passed out.”
Ives nodded along even if he didn’t entirely believe Garnet. How could he know? How was he sure without a heartbeat sensor? An electromagnetic reader? A—?
“Hey, look at me. Look at me, Ives. Eye contact,” reluctantly he did so, tearing his stare from Ryker to look Garnet in the eyes. “He’s gonna be alright, okay? We need to get him upstairs to a medic. Can you carry him?”
“Yes,” he calculated his bearings, Garnet helping him gather Ryker up, sure to tuck his head against his shoulder. He stood with Ives, still speaking calmly.
“Down the hall, up the stairs, to the lobby –just don’t drop him.”
Ives rebooted his HUD, creating his own new list of priorities.
> Down the hall.
> Up the stairs.
> To the lobby.
> Do not drop him.
He staggered around unconscious bodies for the hall finding Beau entering from the stairwell. Starting to ask what had happened, he stepped aside to let Ives by.
“You get him help," Garnet called behind him, "Beau and I will handle things here. If you see Royston, tell him I said to fuck off!” Ives barely heard him. He took care in carrying Ryker up the stairs, minding his head to keep from knocking him against the walls. He was motionless, draped completely against Ives' chest. It took all of his concentration to keep his footing on the stairs, finally reaching the lobby where a number of officers had people lining the walls, searching and questioning residents.
Royston emerged from a huddle of officers, face already pinched with a frown. Ives beat him to it, flashing his own teeth-baring snarl, “Stay the fuck away from me.” It was enough to stop Royston in his tracks, speechless.
Holding Ryker closer, Ives made a bee-line for the red pulses of an ambulance outside.
Hm, how do we show from the get go that Royston is kinda a jerk?
“Don’t worry, cavalry's here,” Ryker announced as they joined the swarm of officers at the dock’s north entrance. Several of them looked over from the back of an armored truck, only one stepping out to meet them.
“Thanks for comin’,” he was little taller than Beau, fitted in the bulk of breaching gear, suggesting he was a fairly slim person. He roughly slapped Ryker’s extended hand to momentarily bump their shoulders together, expression flickering a frown as he glanced at Beau. “Oh, you got a new one.”
> Captain Shad Royston
> 27 Years of service
> Decorated in 2035 for the largest Blockchain bust on the US east coast totaling over 8 million in recovered equipment banned by the EPA and nearly 1 billion in illegally mined crypto.
“Beau’s my new partner, yeah.” Ryker turned to usher Beau closer, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “He’s been a great help, and we were in the neighborhood when we heard the call. Figured we’d lend a hand.”
“Great,” Royston continued to stare at Beau, chuckling gratuitously before motioning to one of the trucks. “Sure, go get fitted up. We don’t have too much to go around, but I’m sure your partner here will be fine.” He placed a hand atop Beau’s head, ruffling his hair. “They’re makin’ them out of tough stuff these days.”
INCONGRUITY ERROR
KINESICS ANALYSIS…_
> SARCASTIC
“I’m sure we can find something,” Ryker nodded, motioning Beau along after him.
Beau: There's something different about this guy.
Beau's Software: He's a fake ass bitch!
