Episode Transcript
Reyne: Ok, fuck, guess I’m doing this. Can’t believe she’s asking me to do this…whatever, maybe it’ll help, I dunno. Well, let’s start with some kind of introduction or what, in case anyone happens to listen to this. The date is September 9th, 2245. This is the Audio Log of Derek Reyne, Homicide Detective, 8th Precinct, Etharax. Of course, being a homicide detective here is the equivalent of hiring someone to count the sand on a beach, so take that title with a grain of salt. Anyway, I am recording these on the advice of Police psychologist Doctor Kenzal, who believes that this will help me keep my memories straight. I guess she expects me to listen to these again later at some point, though I can’t fuckin imagine why I would. I really doubt this is the normal treatment for Psier users…why I even need treatment is beyond me. Everyone in this city has some shit they’re on, why do I need to be different? Just cuz I like taking a nice little trip to somewhere nicer in my head every now and again, doesn’t mean I need to fucking record myself. Whatever. Ok. this feels weird, talking to someone except there’s no one. Let’s say I’m talking to someone…William. I’m talking to William. Think I had a friend named William a long time ago. Ok, William, lets get you up to speed. So, I’ll primarily be using this log to keep my cases straight, because my personal life is none of your business…which assumes that it even existed to begin with. Ok, so, currently we’re actively tracking 3 cases.
The first is mostly wrapped up on my part, deals with a known gang hitman who was found with his face ripped off about 3 weeks ago, Danny Goldricker. Worked for the Crimsons, thought to be involved with at least 46 homicides over the past 2 years, though that’s likely an underestimate. Killer has not been found, but judging by the methodology and the location of the death, it can be assumed that this was a retaliation kill from the BlueHelm corporation after he whacked a few of their associates.
Second is the murder of Sally Beuavoir, found with three bullet holes, one in her skull, one in her throat, and one in her chest. Pattern reflects the mysterious hitman known as Nihil, who pops up every now and again. I personally have no interest in pursuing this any further, as Nihil is incredibly dangerous and has no loyalties outside of the strange religion some people have said he practices. Pity for Beauvoir and her family if she had one, but that’s a whole lot of not my problem. I still have to finalize the report but otherwise this one is closed. I’m not risking my life for her.
Lastly, and least interestingly, is fellow officer Johnny Delar, known for being on the bankroll of Cydinar, the Crimsons, the Grey Hand, and the Peneria Corporation and equally known for not letting any of those interests know he was being paid by the others. Hardest part of this one is telling who killed him, because I’m pretty sure all four had a hand in it, even though they all hate each other. We may be corrupt here in the 8th precinct, but there are rules you're meant to follow. Why I stay out of it entirely, money just ain’t worth it, and no one tries to kill you if they don’t know who you are. Regardless, the Delar case isn’t worth my time or effort, and frankly, it’s not like I’m going to be able to persecute any of the people who killed him.
So yeah, that’s it. Not counting the probably 100 people who’ve been gunned down since I started recording this, the 50 overdoses on whatever new drug the corps have cooked up, and probably at least 18 different hardware crashes that knocked out someone's life support. We trade in death here, and there’s never been a shortage of supply. It’s why I use the Psier. You try reading these damn reports all the time. Enough to drive you mad if you don’t have an escape. But regardless, those are the cases as they stand right now, unless the department tries to open up some of the cold cases that are sitting in the archives. Sometimes a big enough bribe is enough to get us to look at them again and find the “solution” that the donor wants. I guess I shouldn’t be documenting all of this but, like I said, who’s gonna be listening to this aside from you and me William? Whatever, I’m done with this so I think I’m gonna go grab a drink down the way and- Communicator Rings- ah fuck, my communicators going off. Guess its my turn on the murder rotation. Let's figure out what poor sap ate it today. Maybe I’ll record again once I’m back. Guess it’ll help to serve as case notes, even if I doubt it's gonna help me figure anything out about me. I’ll check in with you in a bit William.
Reynes: Ok, well, that was certainly an interesting case. I suppose this is all classified information to some degree, so does that mean these logs get to be classified? Interesting. Maybe I’ll mark that at some point. Anyway, on to the case notes so I can remember them. Victim was a white male, late 30s, brown hair, currently identified as Steven Terik based on identification present in the victim's wallet. Gonna wait for forensics to confirm that before going too far into that, but a base examination of the man's possessions and a brief data-search says that he is a mid-grade employee at Raylir, the weapons manufacturer. Time of death is currently listed as within the past few days, we should get a specific time of death soon enough. Method was easy at least. Clean cut to the neck, little other sign of struggle. Oddly simple considering the usual methods we see. Unlikely to be a gang related killing in that case, they tend to be a fair bit messier, more statement type, face ripping, gut spilling, all that fun stuff. Really makes for a good trip out, some truly unique smells. Regardless, this one wasn’t one of those. They didn’t even carve a sigil into his body. Normally, that’d be the sign of a higher up corp style attack but that doesn’t really make sense given this guy's profile…but y’know, with a more thorough background check we can probably find out a little bit more. Maybe he was involved in some major project and his own higher ups felt the need to silence them. Wouldn’t be the first time. I’ll have to see what his exact role was in Raylir. I have a few contacts there, so maybe I’ll be able to turn up something interesting...huh. Feels like old times, when I still cared about cases. I’m sure this will fade in a bit, but it is kind of interesting. Not often you get a clean kill without an instantly obvious motive.
Of course, this will probably just turn out to be another case of corporate bullshit that means as little as the rest of the corporate bullshit. Damn logs…I guess I see the point a little bit. It does get me talking in a way I don’t usually. My head hurts like a bitch though. I could use a hit. Contrary to my doctor's belief I’m not on Psier ALL the time. I just…it helps me get through the day. But, you don’t need to know all that William. You just need to hear my case details and to remember them so I remember them. And since you're me, that should be either real easy or a pain in the ass. Probably a pain in the ass. Well, that’s it for the case for now. I’m gonna think on it for a bit, might come back in a few hours with more preliminary thoughts, especially if a few of the tests start coming back. Some of those things run real fast these days. In the meantime, Imma go get a hit. Maybe it’ll put me in a thinking mood.
Ok, it’s been about 3 hours since I was recording, but I’ve come back because I have some ideas about this whole case. Also, I may or may not be high as fuck right now. Have you ever gone on a Psier trip William? It’s…well I’ve never really had to explain it. It's psychedelic first and foremost, creates hallucinations, you might hear things, and really breaks you from reality, which is the whole point. I don’t see the point in using something that’s just going to make me hyper or sad or foggy or whatever, I want a full split from whatever the fuck is going on. A lot of the time, if you plan it right, you can imagine a fully separate world and end up there, but even when it’s just something different from all this it’s better. Usually I end up thinking in some idyllic meadow or place where I can actually see the fucking sky and the clouds and the stars and all that. Lasts for a couple hours, and I’ve needed more of it recently. Guess I’ve built a tolerance. I try to keep myself to once a week but uhhh…I don’t always win that battle. But whatever, you didn’t come here to listen to me talk about drugs. I suppose you didn’t come here at all, you’re just a figment I invented. Whatever. Maybe I’ll actually meet you if I’m high enough.
Regardless, for whatever reason, I’m not in full reality break mode with this high. I think it’s the case. Something about it is just…intriguing me. Which may sound callous but look, when you’re in this city, you kinda just stop feeling bad about death. It happens, you bury the body, you move on, sucks but that’s just what it is. But a case without a clear motive and with a super clean kill of a random fucker…now that’s different. That’s fascinating. It’s not supposed to happen like that. Motives are almost always clear and the only reason we declare a case cold is because we can hardly punish an entire corporation unless another corporation pays us to dig up dirt. We’re not here to enforce laws or serve the public, no one cares about that part. But this…this isn’t the usual job. It’s like I can see it rising above the city, rising above what we usually do.
A man is killed randomly on the street. Not unusual. As he worked in a corp, the first idea would be, as I said previously, that it was a rival corp. However, typically, corps want you to know that they killed someone, and will leave some kind of mark. Add that to his low status at Raylir, and we can rule that out. Second assumption would be a gang, but they’re almost never clean. If you cross one of the more violent street gangs, you’ll be lucky if there’s enough of you to fill a pill bottle. That’s if you don’t just vanish. People like to make statements when they murder here, it’s part of the whole language. There is no statement here other than, I wanted this man dead. Jealous lover? Maybe, but why in the street? Old enemy? But why so clean? Who is this man? Why was he worth all of this? Why do I care?
There’s really no reason for me to care. I get paid whether or not the case gets solved. I don’t give a shit about anyone in this man’s life or Raylir anyway. But…but I just need to know why. Why kill someone on the street and take nothing from his body? Why kill him so cleanly? It’s baffling and yet the question itself is intoxicating. I’ve worked in this city for nearly 8 years, and I’ve never really had to ask why. That’s really it isn’t it? Just, why? Oh god, fuck, my head is spinning..What the hell? Oh fuck, don’t tell me-THUD
Reyne: Well, here I am again. This is Detective Derek Reyne, Homicide Detective, 8th precinct, Etherax. The date is September 12th, 2245, 3 days since my last recording. As I recall the last recording was rather…rudely interrupted when I went unconscious due to a particularly strong Psier episode. Regardless, William, I thought I would give you a brief update on the Terik case, now that all of the tests have been completed and we have a better picture of this man's identity.
Steven Terik was 37, and lived in Etherax his entire life. Like most of us have. His parents were both Raylir employees, Father worked in manufacturing, Mother worked in R&D. From his youth, he went to the Raylir sponsored education facility in his neighborhood in the 8th precinct, before joining the company at the age of 22. Everything about this man was owned by Raylir. All of his clothes were made by a subsidiary, every club he went to was tied to Raylir, this man was Raylir through and through. Never crossed into gang territory except briefly on the occasional walk, had no ties to other corps, and up until his unfortunate end had no run-ins with the police. No significant other on record, no children, both parents still living, no pets. A truly unremarkable man.
In terms of the actual death, no real news. Only wound was a single laceration at his throat, cause of death was exsanguination. Least he went before he drowned in his own blood. Poor bastard. No other sign of struggle. Nothing significant on his person, just some business cards, Securitech and Raylir Sponsored Medical people mostly. Time of death was 8:32 PM, the subject was likely on his way back from work. No witnesses, and we have no record of any other individuals in the area, so whoever did do it is off the record in some capacity. But they’re definitely somewhere. Doesn’t mean we’ll find them though.
It’s crazy the amount of information they keep in these records, William. And the corps have even more on their employees. Anything and everything you want to find, it’s there, somewhere. Someone just has to find it. They’ll tell you how many times you jerked off and to which vid. Someone actually once extorted a few execs with that type of information. We never caught them. Called them the “Masturbation Manipulator.” MM for short. Interesting case. Not that any of that’s relevant here, but I just thought you would like to know that. Roll it around in the old imaginary noggin.
But yeah. That’s all they could get for the Terik case. Just some rando corporate goon who gets offed randomly by some off-the-grid murderer, and left with all of his money and documents. No motive, no leads, just an act of violence in a city built on them. But…damn, something about it is wrong. This isn’t a city built on random acts of violence, it’s a city built on very specific acts of violence all of which connect together to build an intricate web of threats, deals, and crime that keeps everything in balance. It’s like that balance of powers or whatever it was they talk about in some of the old history books. Everyone keeps an eye on eachother, and occasionally we’re called in as a spoiler. Yet this falls completely outside of any of that.
Now I know what you’re thinking William, surely there are other cases that are also random and fall outside of that. And you’d think that would be true, that with this many people in this city, some of these acts would just be random and brutal and separate. But they never are. The jilted lover who threw her man out the 17th story window? He was an employee at Cicero Security who the White Lions had beef with. They snitched on him to the lover, she took their pay and offed him. The psychopath who gunned down a whole regiment of Crimsons in the street out of nowhere? The brother of a higher up at Cydinar, who the Crimsons had recently raided. It always connects, everyones hand is in someone's pocket, and no one is clean.
Yet with this man, this Steven Terik, there’s nothing. Raylir gave us access to his inbox. No incriminating messages, nothing that would even make it seem like he was anything but a corporate drone. Wasn’t even evidence of tampering. While it could be Raylir killing off one of their own who they thought was dirty, there’s no reason to believe that. It just doesn’t make sense anywhere.
But…but there’s nothing I can do. I have no leads, no evidence, nothing. There must be some connection I’m missing, some thread that I haven’t pulled, but I don’t know where to find it. It’s been too long since I ever even had to really investigate a case properly like this. Usually it’s all wrapped up nicely, with an easy explanation from the start. Doesn’t always mean that explanation is true, but it's easier than pushing against it, y’know? Decks already stacked, no point in calling the dealer a cheat.
So I guess that's it for poor Terik then. Feel bad for his parents. Only son, dead in the streets, and not even someone to blame for it. I did have a chat with them. Seemed to be holding it together ok, clearly not having a great go of it though. They had no information to add though, no idea why their boy would have been killed. A shame. Think they’re planning some kind of funeral in the next week or two. I think Raylir offers the option for their ashes to be put in one of their missiles. Not sure how I feel about that, but it’s certainly an interesting choice.
I just…y’know I missed feeling that. That sense that there was a case to be solved, that I could do something. It’s almost like a drug, the world gave me a little bit of it back after so long, and I’m hooked again. Unfortunately, this drug comes with a much less steady supply than Psier. So I don’t think I’ll be getting back on the train anytime soon. Wish I could though. Been too long since I felt like I was actually worth anything, like there was a job to do. Well, in that case, Imma just go grab another -Huh? Communicator Rings
Well damn. Communicator’s going off again. New body it looks like. Maybe I’ll get that fix quicker than I thought. Probably not, but a little wishful thinking never hurt. See you later William.
