This was originally created as an assignment for one of my Creative Writing classes in college. I liked where I went with it, so I refined it and am posting it here for others. ~Kaze
STUDIES IN BEING INHUMAN
by K. Kaze Fox
Jewels sipped the steamed milk in the coffee shop, purring softly as it danced along her taste buds and down her throat. Screw it, if it’s stereotypical, she thought to herself as she kept a careful watch on her target about half a block away, the small cameras in her glasses and tiny projectors showing a target on him only she could see. She focused on her neural-interface and sent some commands, zooming the image in her glasses to watch and record the human that looked like he might be old enough to buy an e-cigarette, take some cash and try to slip the teenaged fox a packet of white powder. She carefully did not shake her head as much as she wanted to. Throwing his life away for some meth. What a waste. She noted and tracked his movement into the coffee shop.
Sergeant Julia “Jewels” Cowell was small and wiry, somewhere between a runner and a martial artist, the small warrior. Soft fur the color of cream, striking, almond-shaped eyes the color of the ocean at dawn that constantly scanned around her, triangle ears that twitched with every little sound sat on her head, and flowing hair the color of a raven’s back that brushed along her long, swishing tail. Delicate hands curled around the mug, the left one with scars that start at her hand and rip up her arm and through her left side. Her face, hands, ears, tail, and her feet looked like they were dipped in chocolate sauce as she lifted the mug of steamed milk to her small, blunt muzzle. The cat saw the target enter the coffee shop and stood up, brushed her blue-white dress smooth as it was time to do her job.
She slowly started moving toward where he stood in line to get his coffee. He stood about a head taller than her, his dark eyes looked vacant as he waited in line to order his drink. He brushed his floor-length black duster like he was trying to get rid of some dirt, then shifted as the light flashed off the metal caps on the toes of his boot. She approached, noting his height, weight, black jeans, black t-shirt, hair that looked like dirty water, and light skin with a hint of sun on his face.
She pulled her gun out from under her dress and motioned some patrons aside quietly. With a command to her implant, she engaged her personal armor and pulled out her police badge, letting it dangle on the chain. On her back and arms, the word “POLICE” flashed red and blue in the armor field. “NYPD. Roger Torville, you’re under arrest. Show me your hands.” She spoke calmly, rhythmically, the words well-rehearsed from her years on the force. “Please, don’t do anything that you and I will both regret.”
“You’re no fucking cop. You’re nothing but a goddamned animal.” Roger glanced around, looking for his escape.
“Please, don’t do it.” Jewels started to smell sweaty onions coming from him, which made her certain what he was planning. She tightened her grip on her weapon, her eyes ice as she looked at him. “Come quietly, Mister Torville, and no one has to get hurt.”
And he ran. And she chased. His path changed. Her feet left the ground. A tan and brown missile exploded on his back and sent him crashing into the wall. He never had a chance. “Rabid animal! Someone help, rabid animal! Get it off me!”
“Fuck, seriously?” She sighed as she people started gathering around. “NYPD, folks, please stay clear.”
Someone shouted out, “They put a morph in the police? Must be desperate.”
“Goddamned budget cuts,” someone else muttered while Jewels put the cuffs on him.
She hauled him up back to his feet as the two uniformed human officers finally caught up. With a glare, she shoved Roger into their waiting arms. “What took you so damned long,” she growled.
“Sorry, Sergeant,” one officer said while the other was wheezing and looking like he was going to pass out.
“Get him out of here. I’ll see you two at the station where I expect a thorough explanation as to why you couldn’t keep up. Go.” She turned to start toward her hoverbike.
“Orders from a fucking morph, what’s next?” The other officer glared at her back through ice blue eyes, his build about like a brick outhouse and “C. Reznik” on his nameplate. His skin was the color of milk and his Marine-cut hair was blond, which contrasted the navy-blue officer cap on his head.
She flipped around, her lips curling up to show her fangs as her ears folded back as she approached the officer. “What. Did. You. Say?” She spat out each word with acid, four shots at his heart, a growl building in the back of her throat.
“I said you’re just a fucking morph with no business on the force.” He puffed out his chest and looked down on Jewels, curling his hand into a sledgehammer until a throat cleared behind him.
“I’m sure that will be quite enough, Officer Reznik, as you’re already getting a thirty-day rip.” Jewels looked behind him to see the narcotics lieutenant running the operation glaring at the back of Officer Reznik. “Stand down, officer.”
Officer Reznik looked behind him and stepped to the side and back. “Let’s get this done.” He and the other officer proceeded to take Torville to their unit.
Jewels took some steps back, letting the lieutenant handle it. She turned and started to her hoverbike when the lieutenant spoke again. “One moment, Sergeant. I want you to do a report on Officer Reznik’s conduct as well.”
She nodded silently, wincing inwardly as she continued toward her bike, having expected that especially after the lecture the precinct chief, commissioner, and even the mayor all gave when she was hired as New York’s first morph cop. Within minutes, she made it to the main station and settled into work on her report.
#
A month later, Officer Samuel Toby was driving the patrol car while Jewels supervised him and worked the radio. They were behind a hoverbike that was screaming past other traffic. “Five Adam to dispatch,” she said into her radio. She flipped the selector switch on her car to engage the overhead emergency lights and sirens while the rookie next to her gunned the accelerator.
“Five Adam, go ahead.”
She braced herself as her trainee took the turn a bit harder than she expected. “Five Adam, in pursuit of a red Kawasaki Spirit hoverbike.” She read off the license plate. “Suspect heading south on Eldridge Street at ninety-four kilometers per hour, approaching Rivington Street, light traffic. There’s two on the hoverbike, repeat driver plus one.”
“Five Adam, copy, switch to Tac-Two for pursuit. All available units, assist five Adam in pursuit of a red Kawasaki hoverbike.” The dispatcher read off the specifications.
It took a tap of the radio to put it on the second tactical channel and she proceeded to report the subject car’s actions and each traffic violation they did as her unit followed them.
“Five Charlie entering pursuit.” Officer Reznik’s voice came out of her radio and she resisted the moan. He was suspended for a month without pay and ended up going through his lieutenant’s office, the precinct’s chief’s office, and even appearing before the commissioner’s board to answer for his harassment. All during his suspension.
The rookie hit the vertical thrusters to go over a delivery van that pulled in front of them. As they landed, Jewels noticed the elongated helmet on the passenger with their tail curled around them. She landed and the rider looked back. She saw the white face with grey starting just above their wide golden canid eyes that begged for help, ears flattened against their skull as the driver took a turn and the passenger screamed as they were almost thrown from the bike. “Five Adam to dispatch. Be aware that passenger appears to be a Malamute anthro, and was nearly thrown from the bike.” She gave the refined location as another unit joined in the pursuit.
About seven blocks down, the bike wrecked, which launched the malamute into a wall with a sickening crunch. The malamute slumped down, blood coming from the shreds of their thin jacket and pants. The driver skidded to a halt on knee pads. He flipped around as he reached for something in his biker jacket.
The rookie slammed on the breaks, stopping their cruiser while Jewels called for medical to the scene. She and her rookie threw open the doors and drew their weapons with practiced skill. “Hands above your head,” she screamed. The driver froze, looking at her. “Do it! Do it now!”
Reznik stopped next to her, opening his door and drawing his own weapon while his partner did the same. It was a tense minute or two as Jewels repeated her order several times. Then the driver drew his hand out and shot twice, three of the four officers opening fire on the driver. She keyed up her radio. “Five Adam, shots fired!” She started glancing around. “Toby, secure the scene. Karlson, check the passenger. Reznik…” She glanced next to her, then looked down at the pool of red spreading on Reznik’s white undershirt. Her heart stopped for just a few moments as her blood pooled in her feet. She reached for her radio without thinking. “Officer down! Officer down! Corner of Orchard and Canal! Send a bus! Repeat, officer down, Orchard and Canal!”
“Medics dispatched to Orchard and Canal,” spat out the radio, the dispatcher almost lost in the commotion of the scene.
Jewels ran to the trunk and opened it, glancing at Reznik. I could try to save him, but that wound is so serious. And he’s such a speciest asshole. There’s nothing wrong with us Anthros. She glanced at the other two officers. “Move your asses! Now!” She grabbed the medical bag. There is nothing wrong with us Anthros, and I’ll show him that. As she slapped the Nitrile gloves on her hands, she ran back to Reznik. She ripped open the bag and grabbed gauze pads and pushed them against the hole in his chest, holding them tight to try to control the bleeding. “Reznik, open your eyes, officer. You don’t die yet, god damn it. I’m not done kicking your ass.”
“Sarg…” He coughed blood. “Didn’ know you cared.” He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. “Why…have to be you…” He coughed again and she glared at him.
“Don’t you even think about it, Caleb. Stay with me, damn it.” She briefly overheard Karlson’s call for a second ambulance for the passenger as she tried to stop the bleeding and keep him responding.
The EMT ran up to her as Reznik groaned. “N… no. Get passenger first, they’re,” he stammered out to the medic. He groaned in pain as Jewels pushed on his injury. “Civilian.”
The EMT smiled and shook his head. “Got another crew working on her. She’s stunned, might not walk again, but she’ll live.” He checked the officer’s vitals and looked at what Jewels did. “And you will too, thanks to your sergeant here.” They rolled him carefully onto a backboard while Jewels kept pressure on the wound. The EMTs then loaded him up and took him to the hospital.
#
Three months of rehab later, Reznik walked into the front doors of the fifth precinct in Manhattan. He headed straight to Jewels’s desk. “Sarg, got a bit?” She nodded and motioned to the chair, where he sat. He took a breath, chewing his cheek and fidgeting.
“Spit it out, Officer.” She looked up from her computer, her face set as she looked him in the face. She kept her face neutral, but her tail flicked slightly as she expected him to lay in more of his anti-morph rhetoric that she knew all too well.
“I… I’m sorry for being such an asshole, Sarg.” She froze, ice crystals forming along her spine as she realized what he said. “You’re a better cop, hell, you’re a better god damned human being than I am, Sarg.” He took another breath. “Thanks for savin’ my life.”
Her ear flicked as she sat stunned. “No problem, Caleb.” She smiled gently.
“See ya at roll call.” He got up and started toward the locker room.
Jewels looked at the document on her screen and sighed, muttering to herself. “No, you won’t.” She glanced at the last line, hearing the commissioner’s deep, rumbling voice in the back of her mind as she read it.
“Upon the Internal Affairs review of the series of events starting 13 October 2116 through the events 15 June 2118, the Commissioner has no option but to accept the oversight board’s recommendation to place officer Caleb Reznik, badge number 422168, on indefinite suspension, effective immediately, for numerous acts of gross misconduct, insubordination, and even conduct unbecoming an officer, relating to discriminative actions and remarks directed toward the genetic hybrids both within the New York Police Department and civilians alike.”