Cognitive Deviance

13. Animals

March 31, 2045 - 11:22 AM

Margo and Jack were beyond the walls of the zoo. Jack repeatedly used his Fatemaker to disintegrate holes in the wall to traverse faster, much to his colleague's chagrin. Their organization's drones floated high above them in a frantic search for the masked man.

Jack burnt another hole in the side of a building, one of many empty gift shops scattered around the area. Bright green fire lined the new circle burnt into the wall, and he climbed in.

"You do know this is private property, right?" Margo said, following her colleague into the abandoned building.

"Not really important right now," Jack replied, strolling around the toppled chairs and tables. "This is one of very few moments where I actually get to stretch my legs outside of Psychwatch, so I'd like to take advantage of this."

Both of their ThoughtControl pieces beeped simultaneously, and footage from eight of the drones patrolling the zoo entered their feed. They could see the masked stranger, a short male wielding a knife and a handgun, bolting toward the door into the aquarium. He wasn't registered into the System, but he would be soon. If he even lived long enough.

"Let's go," Margo said, and she and Jack ran through the ruined gift shop back out into the rest of the zoo.

They were greeted by the gray, cloud-riddled sky that never seemed to leave Philadelphia. Trash and debris were scattered across the pavement like ash from a volcano. Lights flickered here and there, just another sign of a lost piece of civilization wishing for a longer life, and police drones continued to glide around the premises.

"You know how to swim, right?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, of course," Margo replied.

"Good, because I don't."

"Useful info, but why now of all places?"

Jack reactivated his ThoughtControl. "The drones are detecting the movement of seven bodies down in the aquarium, most of which has been flooded. Just letting you know in case you have to do CPR." And he punctuated that sentence with a wink.

"When we're down there, be a little careful," Margo added sarcastically, her Fatemaker shifting into its Incapacitate mode. "I might accidentally mistake you for one of the creeps down there and stun you."

Jack chuckled as the two of them made their way to the abandoned aquarium. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I left my criminal ways behind me."

"I didn't call you a criminal. I said you were a creep."

With their Fatemakers in hand, Jack shoved through the door into another concrete building. Not a single light was on, and the only thing preventing the darkness from engulfing them was the dim gray glow of their ThoughtControl pieces along with their guns and uniforms. Dirty water took up the floor, glass shards scattered around its surface like islands on a map. A curtain of moss was draped across the walls over signs promoting the lonely exhibits.

"It's been twenty years since the Red Riots," Margo said as she stared at one of the signs beneath the moss, displaying information surrounding eels. "Pretty ironic how in a place full of animals, the humans ended up needing to be put down."

"Not sure if this is the right place to reminisce," Jack replied as he scanned through the info provided to him by his ThoughtControl.

"Funny, I thought I'd be telling you that."

"Believe it or not, I can do the right thing every once in a while."

Following the sound of clanging metal, Jack aimed his Fatemaker at a closed door and opened fire. Small sparks of energy blasted out of his gun as its deafening, metallic crack echoed through the room with each shot. He stopped after firing eight shots at the door, multiple holes burnt through its metal surface.