Templates would have been favoured and more advantageous for the Enforcers, but no matter how Zax tried to sell it Kamin refused to entertain the idea. Disappointing but not surprising. Still, the endeavour would not be a total waste of time for the expert. The basic consultant fee was a tasteful sum of units per hour. The case-successfully-closed bonus was even more so, but he didn't have much hope of touching it.

"I think you're looking for a single person, not a team. A beginner, probably self-thought." Zax gave his first conclusions right away. "The escalation fits with a beginner pushing their luck further every time they get away with something. They are improving fast too. Talented, or they have a good teacher."

"Our profilers said something like that too. Still creepy."

"Then, seeing how lost you all are and that you're not getting closer to finding them, they got cocky and it became a game for them. 'What can I not do?' 'How far can I go?' That kind of thinking. Not a Kogito though, they're not improving that fast. The victims' affiliations are evenly spread, which is strange on its own. Natural tendencies would make them more familiar with a certain type of target. They purposefully attack everyone."

"Doesn't mean much, the Family's connections are pretty unstable around here. Many companies are made to be sold quickly. Could be on purpose to throw us off their tail."

"Right. Nobody's benefiting long-term, nobody's allowed to benefit from their stunts, but nobody's getting hurt either. Only the business's profit, and they change target before the victim has to make serious cuts. They have some moral compass, at least."

"Not less creepy, but how do they do it?" Kamin whisper-shouted. "We already combed every target's building, their computers, and even their neighbour's. There was nothing that wasn't supposed to be there. No malwares, no spywares, no hidden cameras, no secret connection, nothing."

"You would have found 'dotter technology', right? Thought so. It wouldn't last long among constant disruption fields like you have here, though. Nano-technology could be used instead, in theory, but only if protected by a living organism. It would have to be close to the target, but no one would ever find it without specialised gear." He patted to the B-Box at his side.

"Like you do with yours? Wait, you mean the employees are complicit?" Kamin didn't hide her horror at the idea.

"No necessarily. And unlikely. Someone would have let something slip by now." Zax assuaged her. "They could have been tampered with, though. Still unlikely, but possible. It would mean all the targets were contacted by the same group or person. Would you have noticed that king of common denominator?"

She curtly nodded.

"If not an employee, it could be anything alive. A plant, a pet, a bug, even a flower. Spike their meals or their water, and you have a living nanite container. Easier said than done, and costly no matter what option they chose. Actually…" He frowned. "Too costly for just playing around. They must be very rich, or very confident in getting their bots back, or…"

"How what?" She didn't like the ominous change in his tone.

"Or they earned their loss back somehow. Elsewhere. Somewhere we don't see."

"Let's not be hasty. Some victims have very high connections." She understood the implications, but didn't want to risk it. "We don't even know if they used your thing."

"True, I'll have to go in the field for that. And depending on how well-hidden they are, my B-box here might not be enough." He knocked on the top for emphasis. "I'll have to get more specialised equipment in my workshop."

Visits were another issue. The first victims' hypothetical nanites would have been destroyed or removed long ago. The current victims were more than a bit reluctant to help with the investigation. Their only contacts were through lawyers, and they wasted a lot of time on technicalities.

"One would think they don't want us to find the culprit." Kamin commented.

They claimed another reason; they had long-standing contracts with major companies in several fields and in other bubbles. Hence the recently enforced NDA and high risk of having the case taken; it was one major incident away from becoming a high-profile case.

She left him in the interrogation room to go and see about organising visits. It wasn't supposed to take long, and it wouldn't make sense to plan further until they knew he'd be allowed on site.

With nothing better to do, Zax was pouring over the most recent reports when someone loudly opened the door.

"You. Come with me." Came an authoritative male voice.

The speaker had left before Zax could lift his head and see who it was. He hardly had time to recognise the back of an Enforcer uniform disappear in the door frame. Tall, muscular, and according to the picture he pulled from his mental archives, dark brown leathery skin all over.

Should I follow?

It didn't take long to decide against it. Kamin had told him to "stay put", and whoever this man was hadn't given him a strong incentive. He merely closed the door and was just sitting back down when the door burst open again:

Stolen novel; please report.

"Oy, you deaf?! I said get out!"

This time the screamer stayed long enough to be seen, his hand tight on the handle and glaring eyes. His leather skin was matched with matching bull horns. His enforcer uniform was that of a higher rank than patrol officer, but Zax wasn't familiar with the exact hierarchy.

"Hello. My hearing is fine, and I heard 'Come with me'. I didn't see who it was, I don't know who you are, and you didn't give me a reason to go against a detective's order." Zax calmly replied.

Bull-types were notoriously short-tempered and impulsive, and this one was already rearing up. Attempts at defusing him would be in vain, so Zax didn't bother. Taking the opposite path might give better results.

Bull didn't charge, but he stomped to him and reached for his collar. The dotter reflexively leaned back and out of his chair. It was out of character for him to jump that far, but he wasn't used to confrontations turning physical so fast, and he might still be a bit jumpy from the last day's attack. With Vester and Ertor when they first met, the recent thugs, and now even an Enforcer; it was a worrying trend among physically enhanced Residents.

Were they never thaught self-restraint?

His resistance was not appreciated. The Enforcer's mutation was probably the only reason his face wasn't glowing red right now, too thick skin, but his puffing and shouting made his irritation more than obvious.

"Why you little-"

He kept screaming as he reached for the collar again, or maybe the throat this time, and the dotter dodged again. Probably not the wisest decision, but at that point he was too scared not to. Luckily, this man's mutations didn't seem to make him faster.

Nor wiser, as he kept trying to grab him in the same way, lunging and shouting all kind of threats and invectives. Credit where credit was due, he had a surprisingly colourful language and extended vocabulary. In one turn around the table, without a single cuss word, he had insulted Zax's mother, all his bloodline, his appearance, his taste, every friend he ever had and will ever have. One more circle around the table, he was starting on his school and education when Kamin, an older Enforcer of yet higher rank stormed the room:

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" The first two shouted at once. Another Resident in civilian clothes was on their heels.

Chaser and chased froze, but the bovine enforcer quickly stood to attention and answered:

"Captain! This perpetrator refuses to cooperate, so I was in the process of handling him."

Captain?

That old man was their leader? He didn't look the part, besides the uniform, but the dotter didn't know what to expect. His black and white hair and eyes did hint at a cerebral mutation though, so maybe it was more advanced than he thought. It would fit with the theory that more advanced mutations paired with unnatural patterns. Stripped hair was uncommon at best, but the hobbyist had only heard of bicoloured eyes, let alone horizontally striped irises. At least they were symmetrical. His mutation might be even more advanced than Cat's and Dog's.

Better not underestimate this guy.

Zax didn't say anything, waiting to see how the situation would unfold. Kamin didn't let him:

"What perp? You, what happened?" she seemed to have forgotten his name.

"You told me to wait here, so I waited. Then this unrelated person arrived and started spouting opposite orders." He pointed with his thumb. "He immediately got physical, without explaining anything. I think he expected me to obey without knowing who he was, why I should follow, where he wanted me to go, or what he wanted. Weird thing to assume, I know, but that's the best explanation I have."

Maybe not that weird around here.

"And why is it on every screen in the station?!"

"I felt threatened with immediate violence, so the priority of my livestream was raised accordingly. The normal process. Every screen though? I didn't think your official 'emergency' setting had that kind of effect. Guess you don't have that many broadcasts."

"Stop that. Now." The captain ordered in a voice that bore no discussion.

"You already calmed the situation, so it should already not count as emergency anymore." Quickly checking his neural interface: "I confirm, the stream is back to normal settings. People will only see it if they look for it."

"Don't play dumb with me boy. Your hacking and your streaming are bad offences already, you don't want to add resistance. You're in enough trouble already."

"What trouble? What offence?" Zax was as confused as he was worried. Not a lot yet, but getting there. "I'm using the open network called 'Enforcer communication channel (public)', that is free of use and that you're required to provide for that purpose. Nothing that remotely counts as an offence. Especially not a punishable one."

"Nobody here gave the right to their image, so stop your broadcast." The captain insisted.

"There is no expectation of privacy within an Enforcer station. It's common knowledge. It's one of the few points medias get right." Zax refuted. "Plus, I told your agent before they brought me here, and they didn't mind."

The captain didn't appreciate this resistance either. Kamin winced but didn't dare to speak up. Her eyes kept switching between the two, bracing for the imminent explosion.

"Alright, let's stop right here." came a new voice.

The civilian who had come with the captain stepped between the two. His amused smile had only grown since his arrival.

"Clearly, it was just a miscommunication. Nobody did anything wrong, so let's move on."

"Yes sir." The captain immediately complied. The other enforcers naturally followed, confused but not voicing anything.

What now?

He didn't seem particularly mutated for the Circle, but the captain had folded instantly. Suspicious, things shouldn't work that way in the dot or the Circle.

"I disagree with the last part, but I'd like to move on too." Zax stated.

He was missing important parts of the situation, so better cover himself in the recording, in case the current events were used against him later.

"Great!" Civilian clapped once, his smile and his voice overly sweet. "Now everyone please leave. Zax and I need to have a word."

"We do?" Zax blinked.

The enforcers complied again. Kamin hesitated a little, but a shout from Bull made her leave without even taking the papers of her sensitive case with her.

"You're kinda hard to get a hold of." Civilian noted as he took a seat.

"Thank you?" Zax couldn't tell if it was a complement, a blame, or a factual statement. "Who are you?"

[ Memory package ]

Prompted by the question, Zax's nanites pushed a recent memory to the surface of his mind, reminding him what the previous day's enforcer had said: an order had been given to have him brought to the station.

He had totally forgotten, or he would have been more wary of following Kamin.

"You really like your recordings, don't you?" The man ignored the question.

Am I actually in trouble?

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