The time is thirty minutes past four in the afternoon. Not an ounce of quiet can be found in these bustling streets. Heading north on Main street, vehicles begin to align bumper to bumper. On one side of Main street, heading south, the public bus stops to drop off and pick up a handful of passengers. On that same exact side of the street, a mob of teenagers on their bicycles are gunning down the sidewalk while trying to outmaneuver through a dense crowd of bystanders. In the process, the teenagers arouse within a few bystanders a feeling of frustration. Parallel to that street, its sidewalk portrays the same traits. Crowded and busy. Some are walking in and out of stores, while others are making haste to get to their next destination. Suddenly, the sound of a siren echoes down Main street alerting everyone in the process. It’s faint at first but with every passing second, the siren elevates in volume. As the drivers begin to maneuver to the side of the road, another vehicle unexpectedly zooms down North of main street. Unable to slow down due to traffic, the driver crashes into another vehicle causing a catastrophic chain of reaction. Everyone panics! The perpetrator immediately exits his car and runs off like a madman. He takes off pushing every pedestrian in his path without a care in the world. Meanwhile, the siren finally rings in its full glory revealing a decked out police car. Realizing the mess the perpetrator had left behind, the officer rapidly exits his vehicle in pursuit of his target. A few feet ahead, the perpetrator resumes his rampage to escape, shoving an innocent woman in the company of her child. Completely and utterly unprepared for such a violent interaction, the woman’s body ragdolls in the concrete wall while unintentionally smashing her head in. The crowd screams! The child begins to cry and the perpetrator once again escapes. A few seconds later, the officer runs by the victim. He gently injects her and presses a button on his utility belt.
“Medic. Code 098. Temporary aid needed at my pinged location. Victim – Woman, brown hair, light green eyes. Age – early forties, bleeding on the right side of her head.” shouts the officer through the comm attached to his hand.
Then, he urges the witnesses to keep the victim company while the medics arrive. The officer then resumes his chase. Standing at the entrance of his Dojo, Jason drops both of his grocery bags on the ground and urgently takes off after the maniac responsible for committing such a monstrous act. On the way, he stops to check on the injured woman and her child. He puts his best foot forward and tries to console the child to the best of his ability. In the spur of a moment, a drone arrives at the scene.
“Scanning pinged victim.” announces the drone in a very pleasant programmed voice.“Pinged victim identify. Administering temporary med-aid.” says the drone.
Witnessing the drone administer medical aid to the injured woman, Jason feels a bit indecisive. He’s unsure whether he should remain at the side of the victim and her child or chase after the person responsible. After all, is it ethical to place the life of an injured woman at the hand of a mechanical drone or to allow such a maniac to run amok without restraint? In a crouched position, Jason looks to his right, then to his left. He grabs the nearest person and instructs them to look after the child. He stands up and instantly accelerates North. He runs block after block. Those rigorous training exercises and experiments he was put through at A.R.C were paying off. Being in the best shape any man would dream of, he sprints. Following a brief minute, he finally catches up to the officer. Jason slowly looks over his shoulder and notices the sweat and fatigue painted all over the officer’s face. “Poor old man.” thinks Jason. Not wasting another second, he overtakes the officer in pursuit of the perpetrator. After multiple turns and weaves, Jason begins to feel just sick and tired of this maniac’s destructive behavior. He notices the perpetrator forcefully yank a man away from his car illegally parked on the side of the road. He gets in and sinks his foot on the gas pedal. Unaware of incoming traffic behind him, he lags to close the driver’s door and gets it wrenched off by an incoming truck. Not a bit unnerved by the incident, he drives further North and then takes a left turn. Aware of all the streets and intersections in the area, Jason decides to cut this chase short. “He’ll hit traffic in less than a minute. The road he turned into is a one way street. He’ll have no choice but to head up. I have to catch him before he crashes into any more people.” says Jason. Resuming his chase, he zooms North to intercept the maniac. Just as he planned, a few miles north of the one way street, traffic was indeed in session. Horns are blowing non stop. Jason analyzes the area and notices one horn blowing particularly irregularly. He pinpoints the vehicle and in a stealthy manner chases after it. Finally at the end of his mission, he slowly and quietly creeps up on the perpetrator. Completely caught off guard, the perpetrator is ambushed. Jason knocks him out cold and removes him from the vehicle. He carries him away from the street to the sidewalk. With the perpetrator tied to a lamp pole, Jason quietly remains seated next to him as he patiently waits. A minute goes by and no one shows up. Two minutes, not a soul in sight. Three minutes, all you can see is a collection of vehicles stuck in traffic with drivers trying their best to stay sane through this ruckus. Suddenly, sirens break loose. “About time they showed up.” Jason expresses out loud.
“Wake up!” says Jason while showering the perpetrator with a few slaps to the face.
The perpetrator wakes up to find both his hands burdened by a rubber cable.
“Who the hell are you?” asks the perpetrator.
“The face you never want to see again.” answers Jason in a cold tone.
“What the fuck!” yells the perpetrator. “I have rights. You ain’t no cop!” further adds the perpetrator.
“You had rights.” replies Jason.
“Man, if you don’t…..” exclaims the perpetrator, but Jason wouldn’t let him finish.
“Shut your damm mouth!” expresses Jason. “You hurt a lot of good people today. Shut your mouth!”
Ensuing a few moments, a few police vehicles arrive at the scene. The officer Jason overtook earlier steps up to the curb. Completely out of breath and drenched in sweat, he states in an animated tone : “Boy, you didn’t break a sweat. You must be a track star kid. Oh I’m sure of it, you definitely are a track star.”
“What’s a track star?” confusingly asks Jason.
Baffled by Jason’s comment, the officer looks at Jason, laughs and rhetorically asks: “What’s a track star? Are you not from planet earth kid?”
“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you where I was from.” answers Jason.
“Try me!” says the officer.
Amazed at the officer’s curiosity, Jason springs forth a light smile.
“C’mon, try me!” insists the officer.
“Not today sir. Not today. How’s the woman doing?” asks Jason.
“She’ll be fine. She’s on her way to the hospital. Thank God for those drones uuh. As you can tell, I’m an old fashion guy. Technology isn’t my thing. But I gotta admit, those drones are God sent. Now we can be in multiple places at one. It’s a goddamn miracle some genius invented those things. ” explains the officer.
Not wanting to prolong the interaction any further, Jason decides to walk away leaving the rest of the work to the police officers on site.
“We could use a man like you on the force!” proposes the officer to Jason as he carries away the perpetrator.
“I’VE SEEN YOUR FACE!” yells the perpetrator as he’s forcefully being put inside the police car.
“Shut the hell up and get in!” says the officer to the perpetrator.
Jason ignores it all and doesn’t reply. He continues walking down the busy and crowded street. With his back turned away from the scene, he waves his right hand at the officer.
“See ya around kid.” states the officer.
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