Chapter 3:

Just Another Day on the Job Part 3

Extinct Megafauna Predator


Seven-Gamma approached Officer Nakagawa, now saturated in a fresh coating of blood and gore. She dropped something from her mouth at his feet. The officer stooped to examine what it was and recoiled when he saw that what looked to be a piece of flesh was in actuality the majority of the man’s face, having been torn away and frozen into a rictus of terror.

“Good… good job,” said Officer Nakagawa, internally fighting to maintain mastery over his stomach. Seven-Gamma smiled at him in a way that might have been endearing had she not been painted with blood and also not been a glorified bio-weapon. Officer Nakagawa struggled to return the gesture. Normally, he wouldn’t, but by his count, Seven-Gamma has slaughtered the entire contingent of gangsters that had pursued him. He had cheated death and was party to something the higher-ups would like, so his mood lightened.

“Now,” he said, trying to adopt a more commanding tone of voice. “We need to perform a sweep and make sure there are no survivors.” Seven-Gamma’s demeanor shifted from approval-seeking back search-and-destroy seriousness.

Together, the pair crept through the warehouse, each armed and ready to put down anything that gave even the slightest sign of hostility. For the most part, the was no mistake to be made about the state of the corpses Seven-Gamma had produced.

No one, thought Officer Nakagawa, regarding a man whose rib-cage had been shattered the flinders and whose entrails had been shredded to pulp, could possibly continue to live in such a state. A horrible thought occurred to him belatedly, and he sincerely hoped that no one could continue to live in such a state.

For the various gangsters that had been shot in the head, it only required a cursory look, as more often than not, their craniums had been shattered and smashed like overripe melons hurled to the ground.

On the occasion that the pair came across a body that could conceivably still be alive, Officer Nakagawa gave the order to Seven-Gamma, who promptly shot the body in the head with a burst of machine pistol fire. Anyone that had still been alive swiftly ceased to be so.

Just when Officer Nakagawa began to consider that maybe all of the gang members had been killed, a hand shot out from a gap between two stacks of crates. It reached and snaked its way around Nakagawa's neck and hauled him into a position where he would best serve the thug as a human shield. The thug's other hand pointed a gun to the side of Nakagawa's head.

“Oh damn it,” grumbled Officer Nakagawa to himself. He wasn’t dead yet, which was nice, but he was currently standing far closer to death than he would appreciate.

To Seven-Gamma's credit, she had heard the commotion despite how nominally silent it had been. She whirled around in the blink of an eye and had her gun trained on the gang member. Fortunately, her judgment allowed her to refrain from firing, as she no doubt would have blown several holes in Nakagawa as well as the thug.

“Back off or the pig gets it!” shouted the thug. “Drop your gun!” For a moment, Seven-Gamma did nothing, save for flick her tail in irritation. Nakagawa could see the wheels in her head turning as she parsed the ultimatum. Reluctantly, she lowered her gun, but still maintained her grip on it. Nakagawa knew from first hand experience that she could whip it up and snap off a startlingly accurate shot, so the acquiescence on her part was merely for show.

“I said drop the gun!” the thug shouted again. To drive his point home, he pressed the muzzle of his gun to Nakagawa's temple. He winced and Seven-Gamma began to bare her fangs and growl. It was a low, barely audible growl, but it was remarkable for how animalistic her demeanor had become.

“Seven-Gamma,” said Nakagawa while giving her as intense a look as he could manage. “Do as he says.” To sell his point, he winked with one eye. Seven-Gamma's ear twitched as she read between the lines. Slowly, reluctantly, she dropped the gun and it fell to the ground, skittering a few paces in front of her.

“Stupid cat,” the thug scoffed. He retrained his weapon on Seven-Gamma. Before he could pull the trigger, Nakagawa grabbed his arm, holding it under his own, and wrenched it upward. Seven-Gamma, meanwhile dove forward. She grabbed her gun, tucked into a roll, and landed on one knee with her weapon pointed squarely at the thug.

Before the man could even properly register how well and truly screwed he was, Seven-Gamma pulled the trigger shooting him through the head. As the round tore through his skull and burst out the other side, the thug's grip on both his weapon and Nakagawa slackened. A moment passed, and then the lifeless corpse tumbled to the ground.

Nakagawa, now free, stretched and massaged his shoulder.

“You did a very good job, Seven-Gamma,” he said. Seven-Gamma smiled and nuzzled up against him, staining his uniform with gangster viscera and nearly knocking him off balance.

“Hey, hey, settle down,” said Nakagawa as he fought to remain upright. “We need to head back to the precinct; we're gonna have recuperation duty after this.” For a moment, Seven-Gamma shrank back and cowered, as deployment normally necessitated retrieval by the suppression squad; something that neither the officer nor the EMP were keen to have happen. Nakagawa saw this change in demeanor and raised his hands in a reassuring manner.

“Don't worry, I know you'll behave,” he said, trying to sound as soothing as possible. “I'll take you back in the squad car.” Nakagawa led her over to the squad car and opened the passenger door. He was equal measures relieved and vindicated when she immediately hopped in and curled up on the passenger seat.

As he sat behind the wheel and started the engine, he couldn't help but sigh to himself.

Never a dull moment, he thought, but I guess it's just another ordinary day on the job.

~~~

“You called for me, sir?” Nakagawa asked as he entered the captain's office.

“Yes,” replied the captain tersely. He turned away from his desk and over towards the officer so he could look at him with his one remaining eye. “I'm given to understand you've had quite the day, what with the Royal Dragons and the EMP.”

“Yes sir, that's correct.” The captain gave Nakagawa his full and undivided attention.

“Well? Report.”

“Yes sir,” said Nakagawa. “I was patrolling through sector thirty-seven, sub-sector beta when I stumbled across a suspected hideout for the Royal Dragons.”

“Sub-sector beta? That checks out,” grumbled the captain, while marking something down on a document with an old-fashioned ink pen. Privately, Officer Nakagawa wondered when the last pen of that kind had been manufactured. Surely before he had been born, he assumed.

“Yes sir. There were a lot more gang members than there seemed to be at the outset, so I was forced to call in reinforcements.” The captain looked up again.

“That was the EMP, correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“What was the designation?”

“Seven-Gamma, sir.”

“And how did Seven-Gamma perform? Any issues with obedience?”

“No sir. Seven-Gamma behaved perfectly.” The captain raised his one functional eyebrow.

“Remarkable,” he said. “Every since your first interaction, Seven-Gamma has been far more compliant, especially in comparison to the others. There hasn't been any need to call in the suppression squad after deployment.”

“She hates the suppression squad, so she'll behave if it means avoiding it.”

“She?” the captain asked pointedly.

“Seven-Gamma, sir.”

“Officer Nakagawa, I would like to take the opportunity to remind you that Seven-Gamma is a weapon. To think of it as anything else is a mistake that will produce dire consequences.”

“Yes sir,” said Nakagawa, trying to maintain a neutral expression. The captain seemed to settle back into his chair marginally.

“So what of the Royal Dragons?”

“Dead,” replied Nakagawa. “At least all the ones that chased me to the warehouse. There were twenty-two of them in total.”

“Finally, some good news,” said the captain. “That would also explain the lack of resistance in retrieving the contraband.” Internally, Officer Nakagawa was quite pleased with himself, although he endeavored to maintain a neutral expression.

“What was recovered sir?” The captain looked up at him sharply.

“Taking an interest in contraband?” he asked, clearly implying an illicit motive.

“No, sir,” said Officer Nakagawa, beginning to protest, but the captain chuckled, cutting him off. It was a bizarre gesture; the captain didn’t seem to be genuinely laughing, but more mimicking the motions of it.

“It was all weapons and drugs,” said the captain. “About twenty times your salary, I’d wager.”

“That’s quite a lot sir,” said the rookie.

“Indeed,” said the captain. “You’ve done well, rookie.”

“Oh, thank you sir!” said Officer Nakagawa, not managing to entirely hide his enthusiasm. The captain simply nodded and then returned his attention back to his other paperwork.

“You are dismissed, Officer Nakagawa. I believe you have recuperation duty to attend to.”

“Yes sir.” Nakagawa promptly retreated from the captain's office.

~~~

As had increasingly become routine after Seven-Gamma was deployed, Officer Nakagawa was assigned to the recuperation detail. It hadn't taken a genius to notice the improvement in the EMP's overall performance after Nakagawa had started tending to her, and so, what had initially been an ad-hoc arrangement became something of an informal standard practice.

“Hello, Seven-Gamma,” said Nakagawa, knocking on the door as he entered. As was usual, Seven-Gamma reclined restrained on an examination table. Nakagawa sighed. He understood why the other medical orderlies might resort to the restraints, but Seven-Gamma had become so well behaved, even in spite of her dislike of medical procedures, that restraints were wholly unnecessary when he was on duty.

First things first, thought Nakagawa. He would have to give Seven-Gamma her injection. This was something neither one of them enjoyed, but it was a necessity, and the EMP had since become far more cooperative with the officer. She still grimaced and winced as the needle poked her upper arm, but her reaction was notably more subdued than the hissing and growling she had previously resorted to.

Nakagawa began with the examination. Fortunately, this most recent deployment had been fairly kind on the EMP. This made everything easier for all involved as Nakagawa wouldn't have to perform anything invasive, like removing bullets. As Nakagawa concluded the investigation, he felt heartened to note that Seven-Gamma had only suffered superficial contusions and lacerations, likely only caused by the rough-and-tumble nature of a deployment. With careful application of an antiseptic ointment and gauze, Nakagawa bandaged up Seven-Gamma's wounds.

“There! All set,” he said. Seven-Gamma, of course, said nothing, but the purring noise she made told Nakagawa all he needed to know.

Yep, he thought to himself, just another day on the job.