Cognitive Deviance

19. Subjugate

April 10, 2045 - 8:50 pm

Two days after their session, Royce returned to Psychwatch. Just like what he told Margo before he left, he teamed up with Carl and Andrade to patrol the offline neighborhoods using SanityScans with limited range built into their vehicles. Due to their already polarizing reputation along with the fact traveling through the Psycho Slums in a Psychwatch vehicle would've already painted a target on every single one of them, they traversed the desolate streets in a heavily armored, self-driving van so generic in appearance, no one would ever believe how much technology they had stored in there. Multiple Fatemakers of all types, backup firearms, and a portable supercomputer that would've taken up an entire room anywhere else.

Three days had passed after that, and the only thing they ever found in the Psycho Slums were bodies. Bodies and drug stashes. Some of them died by OD. Others were clearly caught up with the wrong crowd, their bodies riddled with either gunshots or stab wounds. And too many of them were no older than eighteen.

Carl had to force Catalina back into the depths of his subconscious. The two of them had a soft spot for children, and seeing one get in harm's way would've drastically affected Carl's performance. As a result, Carl found himself trapped in the abyss alongside Catalina, with Vince taking the wheel once again, his LED ring glowing green.

Royce sat across from him in the van. With a small holographic screen hovering in front of him, he'd check the monitors for signs of life or dangerous substances with each scan. Every fifteen seconds, the Scan would activate, releasing invisible waves through the neighborhoods. Andrade kept her Fatemaker in hand and her eyes on the crates containing their spare firearms.

Radio waves burst out of the van once more. Seven red figures appeared on Royce's screen. All of them were undiagnosed and unregistered to the P3S, and the massive gaps between their ages implied they made up an entire family. No weapons or illegal substances on them.

"Do I register them to the P3S, sir?" Nikki asked over the ThoughtControl piece. While Carl, Andrade, and Royce were out on patrol, Nikki remained back at the headquarters with Margo and Commissioner Mason, the three of them tasked with keeping track of the identities of whomever their colleagues came across.

"Yes," Mason replied. "Normally we'd give them the right to register to the System on their own free will, but this entire neighborhood may become part of it if the mayor approves of the expansion. Might as well add them early."

Once the family was added to the P3S, the van trudged forward. Four scans later and no signs of life or criminal activity anywhere. The only thing they found was a single body in the middle of an alley wading in a pool of her own blood. It was instantly declared a suicide, just like many of the other bodies they found at the bottom of abandoned high-rises.

"You think we'll find any neo-speakeasies?" Royce asked over the ThoughtControl.

"A neo-what?" Margo asked.

"The illegal clubs hidden in the Psycho Slums," Andrade replied. "They're all the rage among teens and young adults. Drugs, orgies, rave music, black market cybernetics. Shit like that."

"Hedonists," Vince growled.

"Yeah, just kids trying to be edgy," Royce said. "I don't even want to think about what goes on in one of those."

"I think a few of my friends went to one," Nikki added in her typical shy voice. "They brought back entire bags of Euphors and kept bragging about how many people they screwed while there."

"You didn't take any, did you?" Margo asked.

Nikki had a shocked look on her face, slightly hurt by Margo's seeming lack of trust in her. "Of course not!"