Sector B

8

"No doubt about it, she's suspicious." Amir picked up a rifle blaster off the shelf and held it firmly in his arms. "A Bracketer who compliments Astell? I've never heard of that before."

Decha and Amir were both stationed inside Sector B today. They were in the capital area of the Brackets. City Hall was only a few blocks away. Both of them were on edge since it's been a long while since they'd done night patrol on the other side.

"Every question, she dodged effortlessly. I couldn't tell if she was lying or being truthful. But I have to give her credit. She's smart. The technology that she's trying to develop could be used against us."

"What is she trying to develop again?"

"A holographic AI that scans our bodies to examine the state we are mentally, emotionally, and physically. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that the very code she's trying to implement is to understand Astellians on a deeper level. She could gain that information and trade it with other Bracketers."

"You lost me at holographic... AI." Amir snickered.

"She can use her device to scan us inside and out, and trade that information to the suspects who are planting bombs." Decha simplified.

"Oh." Amir huffed. "Oh! We need to stop her!"

"It's only a theory. I can't act on it until she has done something extremely suspicious."

"Decha, what kind of Bracketer have we ever encountered majored in Engineering at our most prestigious University? None! That itself is suspicious behavior!"

"I understand that, but I think there's something more to her story. If we can go deeper and find something much darker, we can use it against her. If we're going to bring them to Justice for taking innocent lives, why not go all out and make them suffer?" Decha rolled his sleeves and fastened his belt.

The city was quieter than usual tonight. The air was thick, so the city lights that radiated off the buildings looked like big blobs.

"Decha, I'm gonna be honest. You're pretty tough. A little too tough. It makes me see why the other agents fear you."

"I only take my work seriously." Decha looked to his left, observing a few teenagers playing soccer in an alleyway. "They'd have no reason to feel that way if they did the same."

"What a load of Bull." Amir let out a hearty laugh and propped a foot on the railing. They were stationed on top of a roof. The railing was there to prevent anyone from falling. It wasn't extremely high, but it was dangerous for the average person. "I can tell that the Outside has changed you. Whatever you witnessed out there scarred you."

Decha kept his eyes on a black truck that was accelerating from the East to the west. "Hold on," Decha leaned over the railing and squinted his eyes to take a closer look.

"What's wrong?" Amir's expression hardened and he straightened his shoulders.

"There's a night market 2 blocks away, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't recommend you buy anything from Sector B. I hear they don't wash their food. Who knows what kind of poison their produce carries."

"No, Amir. Look." Decha pointed to the black truck.

"The driver is going kind of fast."

Decha realized soon after that the direction of the truck changed. It merged to a left lane.

"They're headed for the Walls." Decha hissed.

"Traffic Control will Stop them."

"They're going over 70. The truck isn't planning on stopping. If Traffic control makes a sloppy move, someone can get hurt."