02-13-2019, 11:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-14-2019, 05:18 PM by Lih.
Edit Reason: fixed grammar
)
He drove past Boda Oszkar’s place again.
Viktor Lih’s mouth turned into a firm, upside-down U. The gold tracery of Sage’s lenses was woven into the albino cop’s widened, watery eyes, and his pale eyes were lashed with nearly invisible white hairs. His mouth was nearly invisible behind the plume of sugary dust that rose from the half-eaten doughnuts like a breathing mask.
“Nothing to worry about, sport” Lih said, through a mouthful, echoing what dispatch said, “just routine.”
His voice was soft and small, each muffled word sounding like a rounded stone dropped into a deep pool. He stiffened, staring up at the massive window lights that ran along Boda’s house. Up in the deep blue sky, stars were shining. His lenses auto-tinted.
Lih was scared and jumpy. This far out, shit was likely to happen at any moment: bombardments; robberies; sneak attacks... He did get a feeling every now and then. An abrupt sense of foreboding. Taking notice of his funny feeling, he didn’t know what it meant, but anything could happen, and it might be bad. Goodbye, Lih, nice to have known you… He could call for backup… his partner Dorian might even drive out here. Who knows? Should he be looking after himself, or looking to the greater good?
But, he knew the answer to that. He knew what to do. It would be his duty. Even if he got himself pulped doing it. Still better than Dorian looking down on him.
He sat up, dusting doughnut crumbs from his lap. Lih breathed heavily and rubbed his dry hands together. Then he reached into the thigh pocket of his fatigue pants and fished out a pack of smokes. Cracking the window, he lit one.
Smoking helped with his nervousness. And nothing… just nerves. He wasn’t in any way special. But he knew how hard it could get if the CCD suspected you. Maybe that’s why the captain sent him to check on Boda. To speak to him. Get to the truth. Sound advice. If only Boda didn’t scare Lih. He’d never had the pleasure of meeting the old man, only seen that visual of Boda.
Boda’s face was long-browed and noble. His eyes were hooded; his spade of a nose had a slight hook to it; his cheekbones and the skin of his forehead from brim of his metallic snake-print, giving his leathery skin a jaundiced tinge. Even Lih, for all his youthful enthusiasm, was cowed by Boda’s wary, grizzled eyes. Yes Sir-ee, Boda seemed a hard bastard all right.
Lih exhaled a plume of fragrant smoke. He drove around Boda's in silence, now smoking, watching the house.
Then he smoothed out the crisp front of his uniform jacket, shook out the ashes from his spent cigarette, pulled on his gloves, adjusted the sit of his officer’s cap, and parked his car in front of Boda’s, next to Boda’s car.
He took Boda’s file from his dashboard, reviewed it quickly, and then began to stride purposefully across the driveway towards the vast and vaulted entrance of Boda’s place—looming in the darkness like a gigantic basilica—with its high domed roof painted with beautiful, ridiculous colors. He walked away from both cars down the promenade. To his awe, where the road dropped away to the iron fencing around Boda’s: the two tall spires, carvings, and various windows were arranged in descending curves, like the upper tiers of a great theater. It took a lot of care to maintain a house this size, this expensive. Boda’s house recognized Lih’s approach, and blinked its outside lights on.
Lih stopped in his tracks in that grand, lit entrance. He hoped the old man wasn’t sleeping. Boda didn’t look to be a morning person. He really, really, didn’t.
Wake-y, wake-y.
He raised a gloved hand and knocked on Boda’s door.
“Open up, police!”
He loved this shift, this hour in particular. This early, the city was still eerily empty... The speakers inside his patrol car were playing the same-y soft rock they’d been broadcasting throughout the night, and his car’s holographic screens were scrolling random, soothing texts from various, government-vetted social media channels.
The air inside his car was heavy with the hot smell of baking bread. Down the street from where the police station was an arcade of vendors—a clothing store, blacksmith's, a butcher’s shop, and a bakery. The bakery was the only business up at this hour. Its ovens were running in the back of the store, and the lamps were lit in the windows. In less than an hour, the city’s morning pattern would begin, and the area would be busy with workers walking from their apartments to get to work. The bakery, which did a busy trade every morning in morning buns and their popular dumplings syrnik with fresh farmer’s cheese, was preparing for the morning rush.
He’d knocked on the door of the bakery and got the bleary assistant to sell him some soft, sugar doughnuts, still warm from the ovens. Not jelly filled, but still… Now he sat in the front seat, munching the food throughout his long, long drive to the outer limits of golden ring. There was a slight vibration as his car drove itself.
As the shadow of the steel bridge passed over him, Lih felt a rush of excitement. This was the first time he had been invited to go-it-alone, to check on a larger than life person such as Boda… Oh yes! You see, Lih was a kid, surrounded by grown-up men that he so desperately wanted to impress. Dorian, Sage, Costa—he guessed. The captain himself, certainly. He loved the fact they paid attention to him, took him seriously. Milking it a bit, even. Lih jumped and they listened and things happened… Well, look at it this way, he was a rookie, following more experienced, reliable cops around. As far as they were concerned, he was a boy with some potential to be a man; learn to be one of them.
Lih was just a small part of the force, and a recent part too. He’d join the cops just sixteen months before, but already he was a junior detective, assigned (unofficially) to the domovoi. He knew he had a bright future. One day, it would be him sitting up there counseling his juniors, in that magnificent office, linked to the police systems, commanding the power of many, to fight monsters in the CCD’s name.
To get there, he had to shine. To excel. To do his job in exemplary fashion and be seen to be doing it too. Sure—he could have stayed in and written reports, letting the others take the field work at hand. It had nothing to do with Dorian's missing scientist case, but this routine was important, and suited personal delivery of results. Besides, anybody to do with the cabaret controversy—Jaxen or Boda—tonight brought him to his higher-up’s attention...
“Check on him. Bring him in, if you find anything. Don’t hurt him. If anything happens to Boda, I’ll have your neck. Clear, Lih?”
“Crystal, sir.”
“Get to it!” snapped the Captain.
Lih hurried away. He had no idea what the Captain meant by “anything”, but he’ll find out.
"..."
He blinked. His gaze returned to the flickering screen.
More images of tonight’s cabaret came in, sometimes four or more at a time, overlaying, comparing, transferring data from one to another with a blink of Lih’s eyes, compressing information into the holographic screens that floated around his windshield…
Fantastic. What the hell would it have done to the public morale if such performances were common? Anyway, the CCD had gotten wind of it. The police had been playing on Boda’s rep to stage a few ‘entertainments’ on stage and some of the officials got nervous. The performance got reported, and the next thing Lih knew, he was driving by Boda’s unique styled… house.
Boda’s car was parked in front.
“Oh,” said Lih, deflated. “So he’s home.”
Better drive around one more time.
Viktor Lih, doughnut muncher
Viktor Lih’s mouth turned into a firm, upside-down U. The gold tracery of Sage’s lenses was woven into the albino cop’s widened, watery eyes, and his pale eyes were lashed with nearly invisible white hairs. His mouth was nearly invisible behind the plume of sugary dust that rose from the half-eaten doughnuts like a breathing mask.
“Nothing to worry about, sport” Lih said, through a mouthful, echoing what dispatch said, “just routine.”
His voice was soft and small, each muffled word sounding like a rounded stone dropped into a deep pool. He stiffened, staring up at the massive window lights that ran along Boda’s house. Up in the deep blue sky, stars were shining. His lenses auto-tinted.
Lih was scared and jumpy. This far out, shit was likely to happen at any moment: bombardments; robberies; sneak attacks... He did get a feeling every now and then. An abrupt sense of foreboding. Taking notice of his funny feeling, he didn’t know what it meant, but anything could happen, and it might be bad. Goodbye, Lih, nice to have known you… He could call for backup… his partner Dorian might even drive out here. Who knows? Should he be looking after himself, or looking to the greater good?
But, he knew the answer to that. He knew what to do. It would be his duty. Even if he got himself pulped doing it. Still better than Dorian looking down on him.
He sat up, dusting doughnut crumbs from his lap. Lih breathed heavily and rubbed his dry hands together. Then he reached into the thigh pocket of his fatigue pants and fished out a pack of smokes. Cracking the window, he lit one.
Smoking helped with his nervousness. And nothing… just nerves. He wasn’t in any way special. But he knew how hard it could get if the CCD suspected you. Maybe that’s why the captain sent him to check on Boda. To speak to him. Get to the truth. Sound advice. If only Boda didn’t scare Lih. He’d never had the pleasure of meeting the old man, only seen that visual of Boda.
Boda’s face was long-browed and noble. His eyes were hooded; his spade of a nose had a slight hook to it; his cheekbones and the skin of his forehead from brim of his metallic snake-print, giving his leathery skin a jaundiced tinge. Even Lih, for all his youthful enthusiasm, was cowed by Boda’s wary, grizzled eyes. Yes Sir-ee, Boda seemed a hard bastard all right.
Lih exhaled a plume of fragrant smoke. He drove around Boda's in silence, now smoking, watching the house.
Then he smoothed out the crisp front of his uniform jacket, shook out the ashes from his spent cigarette, pulled on his gloves, adjusted the sit of his officer’s cap, and parked his car in front of Boda’s, next to Boda’s car.
He took Boda’s file from his dashboard, reviewed it quickly, and then began to stride purposefully across the driveway towards the vast and vaulted entrance of Boda’s place—looming in the darkness like a gigantic basilica—with its high domed roof painted with beautiful, ridiculous colors. He walked away from both cars down the promenade. To his awe, where the road dropped away to the iron fencing around Boda’s: the two tall spires, carvings, and various windows were arranged in descending curves, like the upper tiers of a great theater. It took a lot of care to maintain a house this size, this expensive. Boda’s house recognized Lih’s approach, and blinked its outside lights on.
Lih stopped in his tracks in that grand, lit entrance. He hoped the old man wasn’t sleeping. Boda didn’t look to be a morning person. He really, really, didn’t.
Wake-y, wake-y.
He raised a gloved hand and knocked on Boda’s door.
“Open up, police!”
He loved this shift, this hour in particular. This early, the city was still eerily empty... The speakers inside his patrol car were playing the same-y soft rock they’d been broadcasting throughout the night, and his car’s holographic screens were scrolling random, soothing texts from various, government-vetted social media channels.
The air inside his car was heavy with the hot smell of baking bread. Down the street from where the police station was an arcade of vendors—a clothing store, blacksmith's, a butcher’s shop, and a bakery. The bakery was the only business up at this hour. Its ovens were running in the back of the store, and the lamps were lit in the windows. In less than an hour, the city’s morning pattern would begin, and the area would be busy with workers walking from their apartments to get to work. The bakery, which did a busy trade every morning in morning buns and their popular dumplings syrnik with fresh farmer’s cheese, was preparing for the morning rush.
He’d knocked on the door of the bakery and got the bleary assistant to sell him some soft, sugar doughnuts, still warm from the ovens. Not jelly filled, but still… Now he sat in the front seat, munching the food throughout his long, long drive to the outer limits of golden ring. There was a slight vibration as his car drove itself.
As the shadow of the steel bridge passed over him, Lih felt a rush of excitement. This was the first time he had been invited to go-it-alone, to check on a larger than life person such as Boda… Oh yes! You see, Lih was a kid, surrounded by grown-up men that he so desperately wanted to impress. Dorian, Sage, Costa—he guessed. The captain himself, certainly. He loved the fact they paid attention to him, took him seriously. Milking it a bit, even. Lih jumped and they listened and things happened… Well, look at it this way, he was a rookie, following more experienced, reliable cops around. As far as they were concerned, he was a boy with some potential to be a man; learn to be one of them.
Lih was just a small part of the force, and a recent part too. He’d join the cops just sixteen months before, but already he was a junior detective, assigned (unofficially) to the domovoi. He knew he had a bright future. One day, it would be him sitting up there counseling his juniors, in that magnificent office, linked to the police systems, commanding the power of many, to fight monsters in the CCD’s name.
To get there, he had to shine. To excel. To do his job in exemplary fashion and be seen to be doing it too. Sure—he could have stayed in and written reports, letting the others take the field work at hand. It had nothing to do with Dorian's missing scientist case, but this routine was important, and suited personal delivery of results. Besides, anybody to do with the cabaret controversy—Jaxen or Boda—tonight brought him to his higher-up’s attention...
“Check on him. Bring him in, if you find anything. Don’t hurt him. If anything happens to Boda, I’ll have your neck. Clear, Lih?”
“Crystal, sir.”
“Get to it!” snapped the Captain.
Lih hurried away. He had no idea what the Captain meant by “anything”, but he’ll find out.
"..."
He blinked. His gaze returned to the flickering screen.
More images of tonight’s cabaret came in, sometimes four or more at a time, overlaying, comparing, transferring data from one to another with a blink of Lih’s eyes, compressing information into the holographic screens that floated around his windshield…
Fantastic. What the hell would it have done to the public morale if such performances were common? Anyway, the CCD had gotten wind of it. The police had been playing on Boda’s rep to stage a few ‘entertainments’ on stage and some of the officials got nervous. The performance got reported, and the next thing Lih knew, he was driving by Boda’s unique styled… house.
Boda’s car was parked in front.
“Oh,” said Lih, deflated. “So he’s home.”
Better drive around one more time.
Viktor Lih, doughnut muncher