New Judgements [East and Digital Siren]

[east]

Judgment day, graduation day, It comes once a week, a new swath of cadet judges take the final practical exam. three out of five die in their first day, only one out of five become full Judges. for Judge Anderson It was his least favorite day of the week. He had failed a number of rookies, wrong judgment calls, a few had wound up dead. He was getting really tired of taking rookies onto the streets of megacity one. So when the Chief Judge asked for his presence in the hall he already had a good idea of what he was being called into. What he didn't understand was why this one felt different. Walking through the halls with the Chief Judge he was given Cadet Alpin's file. He sighed and looked it over.

"She was fast tracked." He could tell cause she was 22, fresh out of the academy but she had only been in the system for a little while. In fact her file didn't have her birthday listed. "Unregistered birth? what is she a judges bastard?" He could get away with some uncaded questions. He was one of the oldest judges in the halls and probably would be in the lead for names of the next Chief judge, but even his access could only get him so much information.

"No we wouldn't send a case of nepotism to you. She's a genuine cadet, we need someone to be tough on her." Anderson scoffed for a moment. "Your job is to assess if she's a threat?"

"A threat?" He raised an eye at that.

"She's a rookie, but her augmentations make her unique. She has tech that outpaces our own by years. The science division wanted to bisect her, rip apart all of the shiny chrome in her system."

"Why didn't they?"

"Her system would apparently scrap itself if broken down. She's useless to us dead, alive we might be able to use her chrome to our advantage, but if she has any rogue tendencies than she's better off useless than against us. If she fails her judgement the sentence is death." It sounded cruel, and it was a bit different than the usual cases, but the truth was most that failed their judgement died anyway. The only difference would be the one who is pulling the trigger.

"Understood sir. I'll meet her outside the hall."

 

[Bunny]

Tugging at her uniform, Nesrin felt out of place. It wasn't some figment of her imagination either. Despite her dress blues, crisp lines and shiny buttons, just like everyone else in her graduating class... She wasn't the same. No, even trying to fit in, she stood out. Nesrin was tiny, but that alone wasn't what caused her to stand out. It wasn't her wealth of blue black hair either, pinned into a bun at the nape of her neck. Hell it wasn't even her green eyes, so bright they were almost feline in the shade of green. That too, might have been explained away as just some odd genetics or even a mutation. No, it was all the shiny chrome in her body and visible between the bottom of her cuff to her pristine white gloves. There was no skin, but silver and blue.

If all that precious chrome wasn't odd enough, she had been fast tracked. Nesrin wasn't stupid... She understood what was on the line. If she wasn't an asset, she wasn't useful, she'd be decommissioned. It wouldn't matter that the chrome, the tech that was woven into her very being would be no more than scrap if they tried to take it and not even useful scrap. Her body, from what she understood would sort of self destruct, after a fashion at least if they tried to dissect her. Nesrin supposed it was the one thing she could be thankful for, though she doubted her parents had been thinking of her well being when they'd used their baby girl as a human guinea pig.

Nesrin couldn't remember her parents. It might have been a blessing in disguise. For it wasn't only her parents she couldn't remember, but her years before coming to the judges. Nesrin doubted that her early life was sunshine and rainbows. In the academy she had excelled, stellar marks across the board. Her augments, all that chrome came in use, thought the full extent of what was her and what was augmented was unknown.

She was to report to Judge Anderson outside of the hall. The instructions had been relayed and Nesrin breathed out, trying to quiet her nerves. Hurrying to change, she didn't think keeping her assessor waiting would be wise. Once in her gear, she felt less out of place, her armor hid her differences a lot better than her blues. The body armor masked her sex and with the helmet on, the only give away was the small shoulders. Checking everything one more time, she took the stairs two by two, excited and nervous. She'd been trained for this and she knew her price of failure. If a rookie didn't die and failed, they were released or they could work as auxiliaries.

Coming to stand before him, Nesrin's voice, honeyed and sweet, was soft. "Rookie Alpin, reporting" It was not the voice of a judge.

 

[east]

Meeting Rookie Alpin was a weird experience. Looking at her, she almost seemed cute in her uniform, like it didn't fit her small frame. He was at least a head taller than her in most regards. His body struck an imposing figure broad chest far more worked and toned, compared to her she was small. Her voice was also too sweet, it lacked the grit that experienced judges got. The cynicism that set in if you lived in this job long enough. In short she was a rookie alright, but being green wasn't a sin, if she lived long enough she too would get a stick shoved up her ass. That stick kept you alert, uncomfortable and alive.

"Okay Rookie, I'm Judge Anderson, you have the rest of the day to impress me." He folded his arms across his chest for a moment. "If you loose your gun, surrender it or have it taken from you then you fail, if you miscall a judgment you fail, if you die you fail. You will be making the calls today, my job is to observe and assist you might be a rookie but today you get to play at being a full judge. If you make it too tomorrow you won't be playing anymore."

Walking towards the Parking lot, he tapped his coms. "Synch channel 23-gamma." He gave her the frequency that their personal radios would be using for the rest of the day. Getting to his motorcycle he straddled his and got comfortable. Looking at his rookie he held out his hand. "Equipment inspection, your gun." With his hand out he looked at her a tense expecting look for a moment.

 

[Bunny]

Holy hell, he was huge. It was the first thought that crossed her mind. Nesrin knew she was tiny, but still! Taller, broader and built; she couldn't compare. His voice was like what she had come to expect of Judges. He thought if she survived and became a Judge that her voice would change, mirror his own in some way. She hoped her voice would never mirror his. Nesrin still wanted to find beauty in the world. A foolish, naïve desire and wholly unlikely if she managed to become a Judge. There was a reason they all sounded cynical. Their jobs were far from glamorous, they dealt with the dredges of humanity.

"Understood, sir." Judge Anderson went on to outline everything that would classify as a fail and she nodded once as he told her she would be making the calls. As they began to walk she adjusted her coms to the frequency he'd given. Stopping beside him as he came to his bike she watched as he straddled his bike, his demand made her brows rise beneath her helmet. "Wouldn't giving you my weapon violate the rules you just laid out, sir?"

He'd told her to not lose her gun, surrender it or have it taken from her. Just because he was a Judge didn't mean that it would be a violation and therefore a fail. More than just that, Nesrin couldn't help but be hyper aware. She knew what failure meant for her. Shifting uneasily, her eyes flickered to her own bike before focusing on him once more. This felt like a test, if it wasn't she'd just feel stupid and likely look it. It wasn't appealing.

 

[east]

Anderson smiled when she refused to relinquish her gun, and he pulled his hand back. He had gotten a trainee with that a few years ago one who wasn't as smart on the uptake as she apparently was. "Smart. That's the kind of quick thinking that will keep you alive." He revealed that it was indeed a test, though not as lethal as she would have thought, he technically hadn't said that her assessment. If he had handed her gun over he would have reprimanded her for being too trusting and not alert enough and gone about with the assessment anyway. He started the engine to his bike pulling his hand back and focusing instead on the road ahead of them.

"Your assessment starts now rookie." The communications device letting him talk to her over the hum of the bikes engines. "You're on assessment so you get to pick the calls. 170 major crimes every minute, Judges can usually only respond to a third of all active calls." There simply wasn't a way to deal with the massive number of calls they got in a single day. Mega cities were too many people packed into too tight a space. Some would argue the Judges were only able to keep the illusion of peace.

Anderson looked her over. She seemed ready, and she thought quickly, maybe there was hope for her yet. Of course this was only the start of the day, but he did have a good feeling if nothing else he wanted to pass her, and that wasn't a feeling he got often when it came to rookies. The ones that did give him good first impressions usually went on to do great things or die in a blaze of glory, he was hopeful she would be in the former group not the later.

 

[Bunny]

She smiled, unable to help herself. The trick had been almost cute and for a moment she wondered if Judges were allowed to be cute... Or what he might have thought if she had said it/he was cute. It was a reasonable first test though, that cuteness aside. Mounting her bike she started her own engine and looked towards him as he explained. A nod was offered and she looked ahead, pulling out of the parking space.

Nesrin wasn't quite like all the trainees in her class, she understood and even appreciated Judges and the hard work they did. Some of her classmates were fanatical though. It happened, they'd been raised from a very young age within the system. Some were from families of Judges. She had known a life before joining the academy. Not that her life before had been glamorous, most of it she couldn't remember. The few things she could were good memories. A movie, a park...

Chatter came over their coms, the dispatcher's voice dethatched and calm. Responders in the vicinity of Roseway, reports of possible homicide, shots fired. Sector 13. They were not that far from Roseway, it was an area she was a little familiar with. "Alpin to control, we will take Roseway." "Copy that. There have also been reports of illegal mods in the area, be advised." "Copy." The pair veered onto the boomway, weaving between the cars on the road, the lights at the front of their bikes flashing.

It would take them five, perhaps five minutes to pull in front of the mega block. On the drive, while staying alert, Nesrin took a moment to enjoy the cooler air from their pace, the cities were humid at the best of times and a swamp at the worst. She'd take any relief from the heat.

 

[east]

While someone could live their entire lives in a mega block and never step foot outside their building, judges had no such luxury and had to be ready to be dispatched to any part of the confusing city sprawl. For the moment Judge Anderson was impressed by his rookie. She called into command, she seemed to handle herself on a bike. She had the formal sense to pick an active shooter for her first judgement. He was a little worried about the illegal modifications in the area, but those things were becoming very common place this day and age, and he was starting to wonder if he should get a few to help in his old age, then he remembered he had come this far in his life without them and disregarded such a thought.

The bike ride was something he enjoyed, that feeling of freedom they had as they weaved between traffic. It was one of those things that even on a bad day always managed to lift his own spirits, not that he would admit that he actually had moments of fun on this job. Pulling up to Rosewood the large tower was built like half a dozen other Megablocks on the outside, but an experienced judge knew better. As they stopped outside he started to upload the map into his heads up display. His helmet giving him the basic layout of the building. "Always make sure to download the map. Megablocks were all built the same, but over time the interiors shift around, staircases get added or taken out, room layouts get changed, in theory they are all supposed to be the same, in practice they are all mismatched reflections of one another once you have been in enough of them they start to blend together in other words without a map it's damn easy to get lost in one."

Initiation wasn't just a test, it was the last chance for a Cadet judge to learn what it was like to be really on the job. Anderson liked to teach when and where he could to give his long lived experience as a judge. As they approached the building a few people ran out screaming, a few more loud gun shots could be heard inside. Anderson gestured for Nesrin to fall in line behind him. "Anderson to Control we have arrived at Rosewood, paramedics needed for wounded and recycling, suggest clearing roadway." The lights around the road flicked from green to a flashing yellow, which in this day and age was the sign for the road soon to close, traffic started the slow process of moving lanes and shutting down as the two judges started to take point, and walk forward.

Entering the area he pulled his gun up and took point on the situation.

 

[Bunny]

The ride had ended far too soon. Something Nesrin found was she loved being on the bikes, the freedom they offered along with that cool air as they sped to their destination. The purr of her engine faded as she slipped off her bike, looking up at the Megablock. She hadn't grown up in one, but she knew what they were. Her eyes shifted to Anderson as he explained and she nodded, following his instructions, This was the sort of thing they didn't teach in the academy. Things that would prove helpful in real life, on the job. "Yes, Sir." Walking around the bikes towards him. She could see the panic of those pouring out of the building, as she moved behind him as he called in their arrival.

Pulling her weapon out, she let the very thing that would kill her, if she failed and survived to be eliminated by the judges themselves. All the shiny chrome inside her going to work. She hacked into surveillance, taking a moment to find where the shooters were. "Perps are retreating to the elevators." Nesrin pointed to the left, "They have wired the doors to blow and they know we are on scene." She could read the lips of the two men fighting while dragging a struggling woman and a child. "They have a woman and child with them." This was not as simple as her first thought, though armed perps were always unpredictable. At this point, there was very little for them to lose.

Nesrin could see several wounded and at least two dead, she relayed this all to him, telling him exactly where the bodies lay. "Sentence for both men is life in iso-cube without parole or death, Sir." That part was easy, the dead made it so. Shifting her view back to herself she looked to him, "They just entered the elevators sir, there is no feed inside the elevator.. I will not know what floor they get off on until they exit." This is the only reason they had kept her. Things like instant hacking into video feed, among other things made her an invaluable asset, if she made it through today. If not, she was a liability.

 

[east]

Anders was surprised for a moment when she hacked into the security feeds. So much for his fear of ever getting lost in a megablock with her around that was seemingly impossible. When she pointed out the doors that were loaded with explosives he motioned for her to get back. Pulling out his own gun he pointed it at the door. "Hi-ex." The Lawgiver mark II gave the affirmative click it's electronic voice repeated the ammunitions type he ordered. One click of the trigger and it didn't matter what the doors had been laced with, the explosion echoed through the entire megablock. With hostages in hand there was simply no time to waist on bomb defusal and he wouldn't leave the explosive around for someone else to get hurt by. The explosion set off the fire suppression system and sprinklers through the megablock started to get to work suppressing the fire as well as having the unfortunate side effect of soaking the two judges.

"You are water proof right?" He tilted his head and almost gave a smile like it was a joke, she made her judgement and he agreed with a nod. "You have the loud speakers? give them your judgement, but inform them that life without parole will only stand if no harm comes to their hostages." It was a barter he was willing to support so long as the idiots kept the woman and child alive, if harm came to the hostages than there was no more barter. As they approached the elevators he paused and held up his hand signaling a halt motion, one of the elevators was going up, the other had an indication light going down.

"No feed in the elevators?" He said thinking about it, that had to be intentional. "Fall back!" As soon as the elevator door opened there was a whir of a clicking metal and the loud fire of a chain gun. Apparently their active shooters had friends with more serious hardware, the chain-gun quickly made a killing floor of anyone in it's path the narrow corridor it was confided in made for a pretty good vantage point. "Call it rookie."

 

[Bunny]

Stepping back she watched him take out the charges, the explosions rang in her ears and she could feel the building go through it's emergency protocols and she knew a microsecond before the water from the sprinklers began to fall. "Only one way to find out," the joking helped relax her and she nodded to his question. "Crime: Multiple homicide. Sentence: life in an Iso-Cube without parole, if hostages are not harmed. If the hostages come to harm, sentence is Death." Her voice, that silky sweetness echoed through the Megablock and she followed him into the block, water pouring down over them still.

"No, Sir." Her voice was quick, efficient. Nesrin fell to her side, rolling out of the way as the door opened, bullets spraying out in a hale where they had been. The demand she call it had her flicking through her memory, pulling the sentence to the forefront. "Crime attempted murder of a Judge. Sentence life in an Iso-Cube without parole" She looked outwards, the empty ground floor. No one had died and neither of them had been injured. It was the only thing that kept her from pronouncing death. Her eyes flickered to the door and her smile was almost feral. "The elevator isn't going anywhere, Sir."

She was holding it where it was, the doors held wide open. "I can close the doors and hold it where it is. Firing a chain gun in a small area may or may not kill them, should they try." She was unsure which course of action would be more advisable. Though, she wondered if this too would be her call. She was in favor of arresting whoever was inside at the moment. Should the gun not kill them, they'd be free. "If it is still my call, I say we grab them now, preventing escape."

 

[east]

"You're too forgiving." He spoke while keeping out of the path of fire for the chain gun. She had called life in an iso-cube, which was one of those 'technically correct' rulings. It was judge discretion how an attempt on their life was handled, he would have called it differently, but he was following the rookies lead today. It wasn't a bad call, her plan to stick the elevator closed would stop the killing field, he did however have one addition to make.

"Close it on five." He pulled out the small round ball, a preset gernade. Like the lawgiver it had a bunch of different settings it could be deployed with, from aerosol gasses, to a flashbang, to even fragmentary explosives. He went through the settings and picked the one he wanted. "Count it."

Taking a glance over his shoulder he only exposed himself for a half second as he whipped the small ball as hard he could down the corridor, the sound of it bouncing off the ground barely noticeable over the hail of gunfire that the killing floor consisted of. He double checked his throw and watched as the ball rolled into the elevator door. Once closed the high pitched scream of a sonic grenade usually meant to disperse crowds would be trapped in the elevator with the unknown gunman. The sound at the right pitch and frequency to render anyone close to it permanently deaf or hard of hearing. Then again maybe that was unnecessary considering that they had been in close proximity to a chain gun.

 

[Bunny]

Uncertain eyes flickered to him. Nesrin knew her call was correct and she also understood his meaning. She was still shiny, new and she still had hope that people were not all bad. The thought itself rankled and she closed her eyes, a small nod offered. It had been too nice and she accepted the criticism. The perp had tried to kill them and a life in an Iso-Cube was a kindness they didn't deserve. Still, Nesrin stood by her call. "I am sure if I live, I will get past that flaw, Sir." A smile in her voice she looked to the elevator again.

"Sir?" Her eyes moved to him again and she smiled, lips curled up. "Yes, Sir." She watched him arm the grenade before counting as ordered. "One. Two. Three. Four. Five" She watched him move and Nesrin had to admire the way in which he moved, the swiftness and the almost grace as he threw the grenade into the elevator.

As soon as it had bounced in she'd closed the door and Nesrin could hear the shrill sound of the sonic grenade. Wincing she used her cybernetics to keep the elevator closed. She didn't feel bad for the perp inside, he'd have killed them if he could. "They will not be going anywhere, Sir." She tilted her head. "We can cuff now, or leave them in there until we are done." She took a step towards the elevators. "My suggestion would be now. The sonic will have caused considerable pain and we should utilize it before they get wits back enough to try the gun again, Sir."

 

[east]

The two of them had good team work, she seemed to have good reflexes and knew how to use her hacking abilities to the fullest extent possible. He could appreciate that. He also agreed with her call to cuff now. If the two of them really were aiming to only use non-lethal methods then taking someone into custody was the best possible course of action. He nodded and pulled out a set of ties. This was another chance to teach a lesson.

As the door opened he retrieved the guy who had made a mess of himself, his equilibrium was shot and the man's ears were bleeding, but no perminant damage, he had however vomited over himself so Anderson kept his distance with this one throwing him to the ground. before tying his arms and legs behind his back leaving him on his stomach. "We don't have time to escort back to an Iso cube, perp is restrained to side of the main elevators, any attempt to assist the perp will result in them sharing their sentence." He leaned down to the man in question. writing a quick note because the man was most likely deaf. 'If you are not here when we return your sentence will be upgraded to death.'

"Okay, what floor did our kidnappers get off at?" He looked at the elevator. "and will this one still work enough to get up after them? or are we taking the stairs?"

 

[Bunny]

She watched as he pulled out a set of ties, following just behind him. For a moment, her mind drifted as she watched him cuff the man. Shaking herself mentally she smiled as he left the note while he explained why they wouldn't be taking him to the cubes. Nodding some, Nesrin began to watch the lobby. "I will keep an eye on the lobby," the amount of multi-tasking she was capable of was unreal. Her eyes flicked to the elevator and she nodded again.

"The elevator will work, the kidnappers got off on forty-seven, Sir." Slipping past the man, brushing past Anderson, as she pushed into the elevator. Once he joined her, she closed the doors and started the elevator upwards. All of this done without her hitting a single button. They rose slowly, the numbers above the door as they went up. While they rose, Nesrin asked, "How likely is it someone will try and help him?" She meant the man they'd left bound on the floor of the lobby.

Suddenly, she stilled. There was something almost inhuman in the way her body froze and she looked upwards, a soft, sweet snarl leaving her. "Hold on to something!" The warning came seconds before they started to plummet back down. They'd been near floor thirty when she'd warned him. Gripping onto a railing she worked quickly. The breaks engaged and he could hear as they were being stripped, though after almost ten seconds of freefall they came to a stop. "Quickly, it will not last!" The doors slid open, between two floors and she jumped, clinging to the concrete of the floor above, scrambling to pull herself up.

She'd left enough room for him to join her. She could feel the breaks starting to give way as she pulled herself free. He'd have seconds to follow her before the elevator screamed past, the sound of the crash reverberating through the block as it hit the ground floor. She waited a second, and then she heard what she'd been waiting for an explosion. The door before her closed, as the shaft started to glow, the fiery red of flames shutout seconds before it reached them. Panting softly she lay on her back, eyes closed.

 

[east]

Anderson shrugged when she asked if anyone would actually help the man who was tied up and locked down. "It happens from time to time, some people don't respect judges they think they can get away with subverting our orders." It was rare , but it was one of those situations that came up more often then you would like it too, and it could add to the chaos. The more he worked with her the more he realized just how useful her abilities were, plus how much she could multi task was useful as well. he had trained and examined dosens of rookies yet this one seemed to constantly surprise him.

When the elevator gave way he did as she told and held onto the wall for a moment as he felt his stomach drop with the free fall. He nodded when she said the door locks wouldn't last. He was quick to crawl through the doors with her. It was a tight fit and honestly if it wasn't for the immediate urgency and panic in his body he might not have managed to fit through it, but adrenaline did strange things to a body and helped him to pull himself through the tight fit beside her. He laid on his back for a moment taking a deep breath. "Rookie..."

He spoke still catching his breath in the moment. He reached out and patted her shoulder as he laid down next to her breathing heavily for a moment. He honestly could have hugged her in that moment but he didn't go that far. "Good work." It was a phrase he honestly didn't hand out frequently, her evaluation was not over and he shouldn't be handing out praise so early it could lower her guard or cause a wrong call down the line, but honestly after having narrowly survived not one but two elevator traps that he wouldn't have known about without her aid he was willing to give her the highest praise he was currently capable of.

"That said... we made a mistake, and we need to correct it." He said softly now that he had his breathing is under control. "Death penalty, for every mother fucker involved in dropping that elevator. I'm sure there are codes and regulations, that you can quote for me later... right now I want this job done and those kidnapping fucks on stake."

 

[Bunny]

It made sense. Judges were not popular with a large base of the population. Those who broke laws mainly, but others too who thought they were less than helpful or corrupt. Judges were not above such things, Nesrin knew. She didn't know how rampant Judge corruption was, but she hoped that it was less frequent than the general population seemed to think. "I can make a note of anyone attempting to free him." They both knew even with the face to pair with the crime, it would be hard to track them down. MegaCity was just too damned full and keeping order was more than the Judges could actually handle. The only saving grace was most of its inhabitants had no desire to break the law.

The conversation, the train of thought, had been viciously interrupted. Panting, she laid on the hard concrete. Eyes closed tightly. Much like Anderson, her adrenaline was pumping and she could feel as her heart raced beneath her armor. The sound of his voice had her eyes opening and her head turning towards him. She felt his hand brush against her shoulder and she offered a weak smile. "Sir." The singular word held warmth and she offered a nod. She understood the praise was unusual, but she wouldn't let it distract her.

Sitting up, she nodded again. "Yes Sir." After a moment she rose, liquid grace. A hand was held to him, her eyes shifting away from him and upwards. "Stairs the rest of the way." looking back at him, she offered a slight smirk. "I am starting to think they are trying to make me look good." She tried for a joke, trying to shake the remaining tension for their near death experience away. Exhaling softly she began to track their movements once more. "They know we are not dead. They seem puzzled as to why, but I doubt they will let that distract them for long."

 

[east]

He took her hand and pulled himself up onto his feet. He nodded hearing her assessment. Her abilities were definitely going to be useful and she wasn't wrong it was like the people were trying to make her abilities look good. He walked to the edge of the wall, counting floors to where they were now. "You said kidnappers were on floor forty-seven." He said thinking it over. There was no safe way to approach this aside from going up the stairs. "Okay, staircase it is." He said with a silent groan his body was going to hurt after this shift like it did after every shift, and this was only the first case of today.

Running up the stairs he was confident they would catch up to their criminals. "Are the hostages still safe?" Anderson asked her to check up on their target, but honestly he was thankful to have her on the team. Without her being a set of eyes on every floor it would be a lot more difficult to track their targets through the megacity. He had done it before the old fashioned way, and it had always caused problems.

"Lock down their floor, every access way, every lift, lock everything down except the staircase that we are taking, Either they flee downwards towards us, or they climb upwards and get tired before we catch up to them. If they stay where they are we have better equipment to deal with them once they are locked down." Despite having to run up the staircase neither of them should have broken a sweat. In basic they always had you take the stairs, most judges could run an entire block before they get out of breath, he expected no different from her despite the fact that her limbs were probably a bit heavier than his.