CHAPTER 5

Shuqba’s first shift as a fully qualified Security Force Officer began as the sun set and the green tint of FoxFire trees steadily brightened. Solar cars, bicycles, armoured vans and trucks clogged the roads and drones filled the air. Impatient pedestrians swarmed the footpaths. Shuqba’s chest surged with pride at serving them. City 1 was an important place full of LeaderCorp’s most important people.

She was partnered with Officer Peete, a woman somewhere in her twenties with a bun of sleek black hair at the base of her neck, tattooed freckles and glitter-purple eyes. Together they circumnavigated the city in ever-expanding circles. Before curfew Officer Peete demonstrated breaking up Neo workers congregating in groups greater than three, and random clone tattoo checks. The Neos huffed and mumbled at the random checks and tried to make eye contact with Shuqba, but she maintained her professionalism. Officer Peete used a program on her IntelliEnhance brain implant to scan Citizen profiles, looking for any irregularities, and stopped a couple of sickly-looking Citizens to perform a disease screen.

As the 10 p.m. curfew approached, the streets emptied and lights blinked on inside buildings. Robocleaners trundled up the streets scraping and scooping up rubbish. The odd solar car or armoured truck came through and she and Officer Peete checked the drivers’ after-curfew permits. Officer Peete explained that most shifts were fairly routine. The penalties for criminal behaviour were harsh enough to ensure the majority of Neos and Sapien Citizens were compliant with the laws and regulations.

An hour after curfew they responded to a report of movement around a building in the warehouse district.

‘I’ve emptied this squat so many times. The City’s fully rigged with surveillance,’ Officer Peete said before she busted down the door. ‘I can’t fathom why they keep trying. I think they enjoy wasting my time.’

A boy darted out a side window.

Shuqba ran behind Officer Peete, feet pounding against the road. Her legs and lungs burnt and her heart clattered like an automatic rifle. Her Neandertal physique put her at a disadvantage when running over long distances. This was the kind of action she’d trained for, though. Even if it was only a child – a Demi-Citizen boy – they were chasing.

Officer Peete caught up to the Demi boy on the edge of the residential district. Shuqba puffed and breathed deeply through her nose, trying to compose herself. The boy backed up against the wall of a high-rise, top teeth biting into his lower lip, his eyes big and darting between Shuqba and Officer Peete. He wore a grey LeaderCorp Hub–issued T-shirt and pants, with bare feet and shorn hair. The child was tiny but his face looked older, possibly malnourished.

Officer Peete dropped her electropacifier to her side, placed a hand on the boy’s upper arm and turned to Shuqba. ‘Ejecting Demis like this brat’s an important part of our job. It’s possibly the most dangerous part too. Demis are unpredictable. They usually have mental issues or other character flaws that dispose them to criminality. They also carry all sorts of germs and infestations.’

Shuqba nodded. She had already learnt most of this at the academy. However, Officer Peete seemed to be enjoying her role as teacher.

‘I don’t understand why you people keep trying,’ Officer Peete said to the boy. ‘Without a brain implant there’s precious little you can access in the city, even if you did manage to evade surveillance.’

The boy stared at her.

‘Well, what do you have to say for yourself?’

A solar car passed by and Shuqba turned towards it. The passengers were a blur.

‘Don’t worry about the car. You’ll soon learn you can’t inspect every vehicle on the streets after curfew.’

A loud metallic clang, magnified in the eerie after-curfew hush, startled Shuqba and made Officer Peete turn. A barrel of nanowaste was rolling on its side by an armoured truck a block away. The driver was looking down at it, scratching his head.

‘That’s disturbing the peace. We’ll deal with him later … Hey!’

The Demi child had pushed past Officer Peete, who was still half turned away. With her centre of gravity compromised she fell onto her backside.

The boy took off down the street. Shuqba went after him and grabbed his arm before he built up any speed. She pulled him back and whipped SmartCuffs on his wrists. Touching a Sapien was always strange. The only Sapiens she was allowed to touch without an explicit invitation were the Demi-Citizens. The boy hung his head.

‘To the gate with you.’

‘Halt.’

Shuqba turned. Officer Peete’s face was red and her fists were clenched. The boy shied from the Sapien officer as she approached. She backhanded him across the jaw. The thwack of knuckles against the boy’s skin took the air from Shuqba’s lungs. She put her arm around his shoulders to stop him sprawling onto the road. He wailed and held his face. Blood welled beneath his fingers.

The attack was contrary to everything that had been drilled into Shuqba at the academy. Control was so important in an SFO. She’d heard rumours of Sapien officers installing strength augmentations and downloading neural combat packages that, as a side effect, caused excessive aggression and lapses in judgement.

Officer Peete raised her hand to strike the boy again. The child couldn’t take much more. Demi-Citizens didn’t have implants with HealthSentinels or medi-nanites throughout their bodies. From what Shuqba understood, they barely had any medical facilities in the Demi-Settlements at all. An infection or a broken bone could be deadly.

‘I think he’s had enough,’ Shuqba said.

Officer Peete stopped, her hand in midair. The boy pressed his eyes shut and held his breath. Above them a laser shot across the sky and incinerated a bat passing over the sanitised city.

‘I’m your superior officer. You don’t tell me what’s enough.’

She was right. Sapiens were, without exception, the superior officer. Shuqba shouldn’t question. She held her breath as Officer Peete hit the child again. Something cracked in his face. LeaderCorp is a conglomeration of thirty multinational companies. He sagged in Shuqba’s arms, his legs collapsing beneath him. Urine puddled at his feet. There are two hundred Security Force Officers in City 1. He was still breathing. He’d be all right. He’d lie low somewhere until he healed and his bones set. There’d be swelling and bruising for a while. He’d end up with some scarring and a crooked nose. City 1 is powered by wind and solar power.

Shuqba gaped when Officer Peete drew her hand back to hit the child once more. He could hardly hold his head up. She’d kill him or cause him permanent brain damage. Shuqba couldn’t permit that to happen. Her role was to keep LeaderCorp and its Citizens safe. Not to kill Demi-Citizens.

Officer Peete’s hand stopped halfway to the boy’s face. She looked at it, confused. Shuqba was confused too. Shuqba’s head swam. It was her. She was holding her superior officer’s arm.Touching a superior Sapien SFO without explicit permission. Her first shift and she’d already ruined it all.