Taemin’s eyes were as dark and muddied as a puddle in the cracked concrete of a red light district. His expression was like the weather: a collection of overcast clouds huddled together.

No one met his cold brown eyes for more than a second as he strode down the cement. The early morning crowd parted, like the coldness in his eyes and the intimidation of his navy blue uniform was a force that surged ahead and ed citizens to either side.

Taemin supposed that was one of the benefits of being a police officer. Then again, if his Investigator badge hadn’t been stripped away last week, he would’ve taken an express vehicle straight to the station. And if he’d still been an Investigator, he wouldn’t need to report to a station at all.

The thought made him glower and his pace grew brisk.

The side of the red-bricked station was just coming into view when Taemin stopped at an intersection, stuck in human traffic.

All eyes were on the damp, leaf-littered pavement and all ears were tuned to the screaming of sirens from two blue cars, that sliced through the air like a knife. Pedestrian murmurs of curiosity were drowned out until the cars were far off enough that the screaming became a dull wail.

Two cars, Taemin thought. Two. The twenty-one year old narrowed his eyes. Even one police car was rare nowadays; two meant someone had committed a crime on par with murder. And hardly anyone could do that anymore.

Except the few people who tampered with their Purifier and managed to bypass the system. Modifiers—or Mods—they were called.

Immediately after the thought hit him, a rectangular box appeared in the corner of Taemin’s vision.

It was a call.

With difficulty, he wove over to the side of the street so he wasn’t in the middle of the war of people’s daily lives and mentally accepted the call, connecting himself online—to the Mesh. The rectangular box darkened for a moment and refocused into a white, square call room.

The caller was a woman. A beautiful woman tapping her feet impatiently. She had black hair tied up and away from her face, a tall nose, a mole to the right of her ruby lips, and brown cat-like eyes that glittered with layered intelligence.

The name blinking softly above her head spelled, "Lee Chaerin."

Recognition flashed in Taemin's eyes and he almost smiled. She’s a captain, he noted when he spotted her uniform. It was more stylish than his. Hers sported an obsidian black cloth, gold buttons and a Captain’s intricate badge above her pocket.

Taemin saluted her and opened his mouth to greet her but the woman waved a dismissive hand.

"I know who you are." A smug smile played on her lips. "Lee Taemin, former Investigator, now on probation for disobeying a direct order from the Commission."

The "fomer Investigator" replied cooly, "Someone’s been researching me."

"I thought you’d be flattered.” The captain shrugged and Taemin crossed his arms.

“Well, for the record, I know of you too; Lee Chaerin, granted the title of “Best Captain” until the Dara incident last year.” He tsked in mock pity, unfazed by her glare. “The bruise is still fresh, hm?”

A second of silence slipped by as the two studied each other under piercing gazes.

Taemin felt his left eye twitch and he broke the moment by uncrossing his arms and relaxing his stance. “Why are you really calling, Captain? It doesn’t seem like you’re all too keen to meet me. Why call when I’m only five minutes from the station? What is so important that you can’t wait?”

"Perceptive, aren’t you?” She remarked with a begrudging smile. “I was pinpointing your position with your Mesh ID." Her smile turned into a grimace. "And I found you. Disconnect and get in the car. There's a Mod on the loose."

Taemin fought down a sigh. It was his first day and already, trouble was thickening.

. . .

The ride in the Captain's van was a quiet one. Well, as quiet as it could get with the sirens howling over the not-so-soundproof-glass.

Captain Lee gave Taemin a gun nicknamed the "Torpedo" for its cigar-shaped barrel and electric bursts. She briefly reviewed how it worked. There were two levels: the first simply stunned and rendered the convict in question unconscious and the other, eradicated said convict on the spot. How, she didn't say but Taemin didn't press the matter. He had no intention of killing anyone.

Then, she gave him a file of the case and in it were a small amount of facts and some theories interjected by the dispatcher as a cushion of warning.

Apparently, a near drunk man had passed a street in a red light district and found a knife sticking out the chest of a young woman. Out of the hundreds of other people passing by, he was the only one who dialed the police hotline. The others probably believed she was a Hologram. That sort of thing happened a lot.

Now, the officers’ job was to capture the culprit. The latter's modified Purifier made them virtually untraceable, but thankfully, there were CCTVs everywhere in the red light districts. It was the place where Mods flocked to because they blended in.

Unfortunately, the cameras didn't capture the culprit’s face. He/She was much too clever for that. Attached to the file was a high quality picture of the back of their orange jacket and baggy black pants.

"Very useful," Taemin muttered and Captain Lee shot him a questioning look he didn't bother to answer.

The vehicle slowed to a stop near an abandoned pharmacy.

"Key should be showing up anytime now," grunted Captain Lee.

"Key?" Taemin's voice was incredulous.

A box outlined in yellow popped up in the top right corner of Taemin's vision. A hand filled up the rectangle and waved at him before pulling back to reveal an impish face. "Yes, Key. That would be watashi. I'm both the dispatcher of your unit—Unit Three, in case you forgot—and also your analyst." He smiled his signature artificial smile and dropped it the next instant. His voice took on a hard edge. "Okay, my nice reintroduction’s over. Kindly get out the car and turn right at the next light. There's police tape everywhere on the block. This is the closest you'll get. Snap snap, slowpokes."

Taemin gave Captain Lee a strange look but she merely shrugged dismissively.

"He hasn't had a raise in a while. Plus, with all the dispatcher work loaded on him, he's grumpy. Whose fault do you think that is?"

The twenty-one year old stayed silent.

Both officers got out of the van. Some catcalling whistles came from outside the broken and charred structure of the pharmacy at the sight of the Captain. Taemin spied a group of six hard-looking boys his age sprawled out in a circle.

They didn't worry him. The Purifier made it physically unable to break any laws. It'll paralyze you before you could even get in touch with a Mod drug dealer, and would only leave you alone if you gave up the notion of doing so.

Most likely, those boys were just gathered together at seven in the morning to play some bloody virtual Mesh games while trying to look cool.

Typical young adults.

The pair turned right at the intersection. As per the instructions of the Captain, Taemin kept the gun in a waist holster. Compared to the practically weightless flying tasers he toted around as an Investigator, this one weighed a ton. He'd forgotten just how heavy a Torpedo was.

Civilians gave them a wide berth when they saw the guns. Taemin didn't blame them. Just having it in his hands made him feel empowered and invincible.

Captain Lee took one look at him and said, "Don't get too cocky. Confidence should have its limits." She spoke from experience, Taemin knew and he nodded. They arrived at the crime scene without another word. The Captain tapped her fancy badge and they were passed the tape.

"Captain!" A man jogged over from the covered body of the murdered woman.

"Minho," she greeted back while Taemin studied him. Minho had thick eyebrows, relatively big eyes, a prominent nose and plump lips. His features were bent into a stern expression and Taemin knew instantly to keep to the rules whenever he was around.

He nodded when Minho asked for confirmation of his identity (the station had been notified the instant he was demoted). "Fill me in," Taemin ordered out of habit and felt a twinge of regret when the corner of Minho’s lips curled up into a sneer.

"Watch your mouth, officer. You're not a superior anymore." Minho turned to the Captain out of spite. "The victim's name was Lee Soonkyu. Twenty-five years old. A couple days shy of her twenty-sixth birthday. No family members or any known close friends except a small dog that'll be sent to a shelter. She worked in the Behavioral Science Department to gather information for the makers of the Purifier. Her co-workers said she had a short temper and was prone to cursing. No one particularly liked her or hated her. The motive behind her murder isn’t clear."

"So what do the Deputies want us to do about her and the case?"

"Nothing,” Minho shrugged. Captain Kwon Jiyong said a Deputy told him personally to just cart the body away into a morgue."

"No investigation?" Taemin cut in.

"No investigation."

"That doesn't make any sense," The latter said. "What about the murderer? We're just going to let them get away? What about justice?"

"What about the system and order?" Captain Lee interjected. "You're at the bottom of the system therefore, you obey the system. Rebellion won't land you in a nice place. Besides, I'm sure a group of Investigators will look into it privately and capture the culprit. You should know better than I do, officer, of all the intel you could get your hands on with a simple badge."

Taemin clenched and unclenched his jaw.

"Don't do anything stupid," the Captain continued, her voice getting closer to a growl. "I'm keeping you at the station to write a report on this."

"There's nothing to write," Taemin snapped. "It'll be the same as everyone elses'." He waved his hands at the teams of other officers on the scene.

Minho smirked. "Too bad."

Is anyone confused about anything so far? If you are, don't hesistate to say so. I try my best to explain certain concepts, lifestyles and technology but I'm not perfect.