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Ramirez ran the history of the chubby fraudster, Marion Winston, and opened a file on his criminal activities. Already Warren’s bug was paying dividends; Winston was a good catch. A felon with a short record but a lot of suspicious activity. The government had been after Winston for a long time. Maravich had even switched off his porn video to follow the Joe Warren Saga playing on the tabletop monitor.
Air stagnated inside the conference room at Cook County Correctional from the remains of their takeout burrito-and-bean dinner. The lights flickered, and thunder reverberated through the thick walls.
“Big score,” Maravich snickered. “What a putz. This guy has a snowball’s chance of hurting Renascentia.”
Ramirez rested his chin on his tented hands, face inches from the fuzzy display. The rain and Winston’s building infrastructure were playing hell with the pickup. A tiny reflection of Warren and the chubby crook danced in the agent’s dark pupils. “Shut up. I’m trying to listen.”
“You think he’s right?” Maravich punctuated his question with a rumbling belch. “You think the government’s going tits up?”
Whap!
Ramirez slammed his fist on the table, making his video display jitter and fizz out for a moment. His mouth slit into a scalpel-cut gash, the senior agent pinned Maravich with a freezing glare. He seemed to have to pump his lungs full of air a few times to get the words out, and when he did, they chipped out cold as a corpse buried under Arctic ice.
“No, Maravich, I don’t believe a goddamned word that little faggot Winston says.” Pump, pump went the HS agent’s lungs. “This nation’s government was founded to take care of its people. We have a covenant with the American people to protect them from harm, to provide for their well-being, to feed them when they’re hungry and paddle them when they’re naughty.” Pump-pump. “We are of the people, for the people, and by the people, and we shall never perish from this earth, Maravich. Never.”
“Whoa, little buddy.” Maravich held his palms out. “Calm down, man. I’m on your side.”
The shorter man visibly shook himself back to calm. The bitter cold seeped out in small degrees, and his lungs slowed their furious pumping. “Sorry, Maravich. I, uh, I can’t help myself sometimes. These ungrateful bastards make me crazy.”
“Dude, I get it, I swear.”
“All the things this government does for these people... it is insane anybody would want to overthrow it, or tear down its institutions.” Ramirez resumed his seat like a deflating balloon. “We take care of the American people. I mean, that’s our sworn duty, right? Level the playing field, even out the highs and lows, make it fair for everyone? Why can these bastards not see how much we do for them?”
“You got me, Ramirez.” The junior agent rolled his eyes when he was sure his partner wasn’t watching. “But you know, you need to unwind some, my friend. I’ll tell you what... we bust Winston and his crew; we’ll make a deal with my people at Renascentia to test out the Gen Five bots on the two chicks. I’ll get the tall one, Deandre, and you can have the little blonde for yourself. Deal?”