Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

An old-fashioned cigar, seemingly made in the 1960s. Due to their obsolescence, they fell into oblivion, replaced by newer and more modern alternatives over time. Nevertheless, that cigar looked quite new and well-cared for, even though no company had been producing such items for over fifty years.

The man turned the cigar over in his hands, then put it to his mouth. He reached into the pocket of his old-fashioned coat, pulled out a lighter, lit the cigar, and exhaled some smoke. Afterwards, he put the lighter back in his pocket and took a slow drag. Aside from the long black coat, he was also wearing an old hat. It was the kind once worn by gangsters belonging to long-forgotten mafias. A smile spread across his clean-shaven face. Each puff of smoke brought him relief and satisfaction.

His peace was suddenly interrupted by the door to the dark room he was in opening. A young man in a black leather vest with one arm fully covered in bandages stepped through the doorway. His loose black hair covered his entire face. His mere presence could send shivers down one’s spine. His calm gait, combined with nonchalant demeanor, gave the impression that he had arrived with a clear purpose.

"A bodyguard? How much longer do I have to wait here?" the smoking man wondered. He decided not to put down his cigar, even as the dark-haired man walked past him. The dark silhouette stopped right in front of him.

"Do not smoke that shit in front of me." he ordered without turning to face his interlocutor. His voice was shrill and hateful, resembling the hiss of a snake. "I hate it. "

"Huh! Seriously? It is not my problem. Some kid is not going to tell me what to do. Better wait in your corner of the room. I am waiting for someone important here."

Hearing the blatant insult, the man turned to face the hatted one. Through a gap in his hair, his eye could be seen. It was focused, staring deeply into the man's eyes. The man froze. To him, the eye contact lasted an eternity… an eternity during which the person in front of him was not looking at him, but inside him. It was as if, through that gaze, the man could see through him completely, read him, and learn all his weaknesses.

Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity, the cigar instantly and spontaneously extinguished itself. Immediately afterward, the man smoking it felt a cold breeze on the back of his neck.

"Who the hell is that?! That gaze... It is not human. No... He is looking at me like a hunter looks at its prey. Why... why is my hand shaking? Is it... fear? No, it’s not possible. But... that feeling on the back of my neck... Is it... the wind? Cannot be. We are in a building, there are even no open windows here. And yet... that feeling, like a fan constantly blowing directly at me. There is a wall behind me. There's nothing on it. Who the hell is he?! No... What the hell is he?!"

"Okay, okay!" the man in the suit removed the cigar from his mouth and stomped it on the ground. A drop of sweat run down his forehead. "I’m sorry, okay?"

"Don't you ever do that in front of me again. Got it? If you step out of line again, you will find out for yourself what it is like to have your lungs deprived of oxygen." The man's eye lifted to the other’s hat, then dropped back down to his face. "You look like a dork. I will call you that from now on. Got it, dork?"

Not waiting for an answer, the black-haired man turned and headed deeper into the room. The man standing against the wall breathed a sigh of relief when his hat suddenly moved up, flied across the room, hit the wall, and landed on the floor, getting dirty in the process. The man's gaze, full of surprise and amazement, followed the flying hat. His exposed face revealed his carefully slicked-back black hair. His eyes were sharp and dark, his hairline straight, and his face was clean-shaven, which was typical of businessmen. With a disgruntled grimace, he approached the hat. Just before picking it up, he stopped when some thought appeared in his mind. Finally, brushing his hat, he straightened up and turned to the man sitting across the room.

"Wait a second... The haughty, leader-like demeanor. Short stature. Black hair covering entire face. Hatred of fire. Psychopathic gaze… and those sudden gusts of wind, even in a closed room... You are not an ordinary lowly Raven, nor even a Snake. You are Cain, the "Vanisher". The air Controller. Number two in the Heiwa Senshi."

The man did not answer, but his silence was enough of an answer.

"Please, forgive my behavior. It is an honor to work with someone like you. I just... thought you'd be... older."

"Where is your brother?"

★

"...Fuck it! I’m not going to be babysitting some kid!"

"Dan…"

"Don't Dan me! Do you really think I don’t have enough on my mind!? Huh!? Of everyone here, I am the one working the most in the field, while you are sitting here fattening your asses, sitting in front of your desks, and even then… you are giving me more work!? Amazing, fucking, police force."

"Dan, shut your fucking mouth, or I will have to write another note in your disciplinary file, which is already fucking hard to close! It is an order! And I, as your superior, order you to deal with it!"

Upon arrival, the three recruits were greeted by the sight of an argument between commander Gara Hebi and an unfamiliar man. The man appeared to be in his late fifties, with wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes. He had short, slicked-back brown hair with many gray strands. His face was adorned with a short beard being of the same color as his hair. His physique was stout, muscular, and athletic, unlike many others his age. On top of that, he was taller than many other man.

All the attention shifted to Yakedo, Mirai, and Same, who had just arrived. Korinai, sitting next to them, looked at them with hope and relief. Gara, upon seeing them, tried to calm down, adjusting his sunglasses and hoping to hide his nervousness. Meanwhile, the so-called Dan looked at them with contempt and dislike, sighing and reluctantly accepting his fate.

"Which one is it?" Dan asked, looking the cadets up and down.

"The gray haired one." Gara replied casually, turning to Yakedo. Yakedo looked confusedly at the seniors.

Dan, on the other hand, focused not on his face, but on the dark blue coat the boy was wearing. "You gave him this…" His voice was laced with anger as he turned his gaze back to the commander.

"He will deserve it, you will make sure of it." Gara said, just for Dan to hear. "Okay! Let's get down to business! Newbies, this is Dan. Since it is your first day here, I have had a brilliant idea for you to spend today's shift with more experienced officers. Try to learn as much as you can from them. You will split up and each of you will go with a different person. Yakedo, you will go with Dan. Try to get along."

"Fuck it, I’m going to change. And you, kid… better get ready." Dan, clearly dissatisfied with the order, walked past the rest, glaring at them with disdain as he headed for the locker room.

Gara, feeling that he managed to avert the crisis, sighed with relief and wiped sweat from his brow. However, to his dismay, his work was not over. There were still two cadets left to be assigned to other partners.

"Okay, now it’s your turn. But who should I assign you to..." Gara wondered, looking at Mirai and Same. His mind was blank, even though there were still plenty of available, more experienced officers left in the unit. His gaze fell on Annie, already changed into her civilian clothes and with her golden hair still wet. She was heading for the exit. The girl, completely unaware of the plans involving her, was clearly exhausted after work and was dreaming only of a warm bath in her own bathtub.

"Annie! Little Annie!" Gara called eagerly, as if he had regained all his will to live in one moment, waving his hand in his direction.

"No way." Annie dismissed him as quickly as possible in her naturally cool voice, not even looking away from the office exit.

"You will get a bonus!"

As if struck by lightning, Annie stopped dead in her tracks, stiff, mechanical, like a robot. Just as stiff, she slowly turned toward her superior, resembling a wooden doll. Underneath her golden fringe, her large, tired eyes revealed a willingness to earn some money. After a moment, she realized how easily she had been swayed and persuaded, but as long as she got paid, she didn’t mind too much. Still, she sighed and rested one hand on her hip.

"Okay, so what is this about?"

"It is nothing serious, don't you worry! A few extra hours. You will just show the new girl what is what." Satisfied with his wicked approach, Gara announced his proposal proudly and loudly, covering himself with a surprised Mirai.

"Mirai?" Annie asked, looking back at the girl.

"You know each other already? It is even better then! So, what would you say? Do you agree?"

"... So be it. But remember about the bonus, baldy."

Gara-Gara, completely unfazed, not even willing to hear anything more after the approval, pushed Mirai towards the blonde girl. "Yes, yes. I entrust her to! Ta-ra, girls!"

The pushed girl fell straight into Annie's open arms. Despite the distance between them, a quiet, faint smile appeared on her face in response to Mirai's uncertain and awkward grimace. At the mere sight of that, Gara-Gara sighed in disbelief and adoration. Same, confused by the bald man's reaction, tried to find an explanation, but he could not. "Errm… Commander?"

"Amazing… This is the first time I have seen her smile…" Gara exclaimed with unbridled delight. He even had to lift his sunglasses and to see it with his own eyes.

"Really? Is it that rare?" the blonde boy wondered, still surprised by the commander's reaction.

"Maybe not uncommon, but luckily, Gara-Gara has not had the opportunity of seeing it." Korinai eagerly joined the conversation from behind her desk, clearly happy to have a relaxed office conversation back, which was a nice change of pace compared to the earlier one with Dan. "She smiles a lot, but only in the shower… so it is a good thing the old pervert does not see it."

"Oh! You’re so cruel, my dear chocolate!" Gara-Gara overdramatized, allowing his glasses to once again hide his eyes.

"I just tell it like it is! Does the truth hurt you?" Meanwhile, Korinai was already eating another bar of chocolate, completely unfazed by her boss’s drama.

"Come on, kiddo. I still need to change and wash up before work." Annie, was already pulling Mirai by the hand towards the locker room she had just came out of.

"Another shower?! What is wrong with her?! How much can you wash yourself, woman?!" Mirai, despite not being entirely happy with her partner's unusual habit, let herself be dragged along. Nevertheless, before getting absorbed by sitting in the locker room for a long time and listening to Annie's monologues, she turned and gave Same and Yakedo a farewell. "Good luck, guys!"

A blush and an uncontrollable smile appeared on the blonde man's face at Mirai's friendly gesture. He waved back, but she did not see it. Meanwhile, Gara-Gara scratched his beard, pondering the final obstacle.

"Hmm … What will we do with you now, Sake?"

"Same…" the blond boy corrected him, stopping waving and turning to his boss.

"I know! I’ll introduce you to someone else!" The excited glint in his eye was visible even through his sunglasses.

★

"How old are you?!" A few moments later, Annie was already standing in the shower and shouting to Mirai, trying to be heard over the noise of the water.

"Nineteen."

"Come again?!"

"Nineteen!" Mirai repeated, sitting in the locker room.

"You’re still a kiddo! What’s such a young and pretty girl doing in a job like this?" Her voice conveyed genuine interest rather than a polite question.

"Well... I don’t really know. I figured that since I had become a Controller and had all these powers, they should be used for good. I guess that is it."

"Such a noble girl."

"There is still…" Mirai did not finish her thought. The fact that she spoke quietly caused Annie not to hear her. On the other hand, she could have preferred not to ask.

"You are a Controller, aren't you? What are you controlling?"

"Power. Electricity, if you will. What about you? Are you a Controller too?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Annie laughed, continuing her cleaning ritual. "Almost everyone here is one. It is not the regular police, it is the Controller Department."

"Almost everyone?"

"Well, except for Korinai and that other secretary. They are just regular people, although Korinai's obsession with chocolate might suggest otherwise. Honestly, I have never seen the baldy controlling anything, especially the management of this branch, but that's just how he is. I am almost certain he is a Controller."

"The other one…? And you?" Mirai repeated the information and then repeated her earlier question.

"What about me?"

"What do your control?"

The only answer she received was the fading sound of water. Soon, Annie's wet head emerged from behind the doorframe, with her blonde hair hanging, heavy and wet. "Maybe I will tell you someday." Immediately afterwards, she entered through the doorway. Her hands were raised high, with the purpose of tying her hair. The lack of clothing revealed many wounds spread across the woman's body. The most striking one was the freshest one on Annie's right side that was still stitched.

"Not that I am complaining, but you are surprisingly brave in checking out my body, kiddo." Annie tried to joke away the obvious look, but failed miserably.

"This wound…" Mirai, lost in her thoughts, pointed her finger at the woman’s side, straight at the fresh wound.

"Oh, that. This one’s from knife..." Unsurprised, Annie followed the girl's gaze and slowly traced the stitches across her skin. "You know, kiddo... In this job, you have to be ready for anything. Often, it’s either you or them. I know we are the police and supposedly we are supposed to put the lives of citizens above our own and arrest criminals, but as Controllers, we have even greater responsibilities. However, in every situation, prioritize your own life above all else, especially above the life of some street scum. When you finally get to that point, you have to be sure that your life is the most important thing."

The longer she stood there talking, the more Mirai noticed the wounds, cuts, and bruises all over her body. "Every wound is a mistake I have made by not doing what I am telling you now. Sometimes, the child you have defended from the drunken Controller dad who has almost killed his mommy, does not want you to hurt daddy after all." As she said that, she tightened her grip around the stitches, to the point that blood began to flow from the wound again. "Sometimes, it turns out the child is holding the knife. Sometimes, it is them or you, and the only one making the decision is you."

"Annie…"

Remembering where she was and who she was talking to, Annie regained her composure and returned to her usual self. She turned her ever-weary gaze to Mirai and continued, as usual, without any emotion in her voice.

"Never mind. You know, kiddo, it is a bit indecent when you stare at my naked body like that. I won’t pretend it bothers me, but unfortunately, currently I’m at work."

"What!? No! It’s not like that! I..." Mirai, embarrassed by the accusations and the entire situation, averted her gaze as far away from the naked woman as possible. Blushing, she wished she could disappear or sink into the ground.

"I’m fucking with you. But if you change your mind, you know who to ask." Annie joked, slowly putting on her uniform.

★

A single police car emerged from the depths of the NCPD headquarters' underground police garage. Inside, there were two male officers. One of them was older and the other one - notably younger. The older officer, Dan, was the driver and one of the longest-serving officers in the CD division, having worked there almost since its inception. The second officer, Yakedo, sit in the passenger seat. Even though it was his first day on the job, he did not pretend to be someone he was not, nor did he hide his dissatisfaction, similarly to Dan.

"Ugh… Why me?" Dan was not afraid to express his feelings openly. He did not take his eyes off the road. While he gripped the steering wheel with his right hand, his left one was leaning against the window, used to rest his head on. "Say something interesting. Maybe you’re not as boring as you look."

"And what do you want to know?" Yakedo replied with a comparable disgust, while at the same time just looking out the window at the dirty streets of the futuristic city.

"Age? Control?"

"Fire. Although... I am not very good at controlling it. I am nineteen."

"Fuck me…" Dan muttered quietly to himself, completely unconcerned that Yakedo would surely hear the comment.

"I thought if I answered you normally, you would start behaving with some respect or even civility… but no!" Yakedo burst out. The previous fake respect in his voice was gone. It was replaced by contempt and irritation, but he still refused to look directly at the man. "You still have to act like a sulky old man in a midlife crisis! If my company bothers you so much, maybe we should both shut up and drive in silence for the rest of the day?"

The next dozen or so seconds passed in silence. Dan didn’t respond and Yakedo did not feel like turning around to see his reaction. After that time, a soft, raspy laugh could be heard from the driver, slowly growing louder until it finally resonated throughout the entire police car.

"What the fuck has it come to… some brat yelling at me in my patrol car. You want civility? Show it first. You want respect? Show it first. Whatever, let it be. I asked you a question and you answered it. Now you can ask me question in return."

"...So, what is our day job?" This time, Yakedo’s voice lacked the previous contempt and was replaced by an uncertain calm.

"Do you even know where you work?"

"Well, in the police force."

"That is not what I am asking about. What department is this?"

"Controller Department."

"Okay, and what are we doing here?"

"Catching Controllers committing crimes."

"Theoretically, yes." Dan nodded. Stopping at the red light, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He took one out and, without offering any to Yakedo, immediately put it back in his pocket.

"However, in practice... it’s not always the case. Despite what the media says, Controller-specific crimes are a small percentage of all offenses. They are simply much more spectacular than ordinary crimes, which is why the media is eager to publicize them, which puts us, Controllers, in a bad light. Despite all this, Controllers are still a minority among people. Most of us stay in the shadows and try to lead normal lives. Nevertheless, like everywhere else, there are exceptions... they are our job. As they are rare, we are used as errand boys by other departments on a daily basis."

"But we are policemen, damn it!" Yakedo clenched his fist almost to the point of drawing blood, his whole hand turning red, outraged by the injustice.

"People hate those that are different from them. It always has been and always will be the case. Paradoxically, due to their treatment of Controllers, Controller-specific crimes are increasing. As long as humanity exists, racism and discrimination also occur. As long as there are at least two people on Earth, discrimination will live alongside them. The stronger wants to dominate the weaker. The prettier wants to be above the uglier. The better wants to be above the worse. People hate losing, they hate being inferior. When they are, they look for some aspect in which the other person is weaker than them. If it does not work, they try to bring others down to their level. People constantly compare themselves to others. In this case, we, the Controllers, even though we are stronger, are in a worse position." Despite the topic discussed, Dan maintained a surprisingly calm demeanor. Every few sentences, he blew smoke out the window or flicked a cigarette onto the road.

"At least we are not slaves anymore. That is why we have to be errand boys. It is just that instead of just catching Controllers, we are catching regular criminals too. It takes some getting used to."

"So even here... It is the same everywhere..." Yakedo said to himself with obvious resignation. Dan silently let him continue his thought, this time being the one listening. "Most of my life, I tried to hide the fact that I was a Controller. As soon as someone found out, I was left alone... if I was lucky. Eventually, everyone found out anyway, so I stopped hiding it. However, it didn’t change anything either. It was like that until high school. Then... I took matters into my own hands."

After hearing this confession, Dan threw his cigarette out the window and deliberately turned off the radio in the police car. "It looks like our radio is broken and we have a moment to spare. I’ll take you somewhere. Just don’t tell anyone about it."

★

"I know! I’ll introduce you to someone else!" Gara-Gara exclaimed excitedly, with the glint in his eye being visible even through his sunglasses.

The CD commander, with a bouncy gait not suitable for anyone in his position, trotted like a child across the office toward the massive steel gates in the corner. Behind him, unwillingly and in silence, walked Yakedo and Same. The commander's appearance alone, his bald head, beard like a horn, sunglasses worn even in the building, and the most ridiculously colorful sweater with the "Number One Boss" imprint on it, were enough to embarrass them.

They finally reached the door that Yakedo had noticed earlier because of the constant noise or music coming from the room. This time, it was even louder, even though the gates looked sealed enough to keep any and all sounds out. Standing in front of them, Gara-Gara, with a broad smile, knocked on the door three times, saying "He won’t hear it anyway." before pushing them inside.

Opening the door was like being doused with a bucket of cold water. The music, previously loud, was painfully deafening inside. Powerful bass and the incomprehensible lyrics of a deathcore song vibrated in the air, emanating from speakers positioned in every corner of the room. Despite its size, the room itself was crammed with a variety of machines and tools whose names Yakedo could not quite figure out. He wasn’t sure if anyone had ever bothered to name them either. Aside from the tools, various parts were also scattered on the tables. The walls were decorated with hilts resembling baseball bats crafted from various metals and based on modern technological advancements.

A man sit at a table in the center of the room, tinkering with some parts. He appeared to be in his early thirties. His long, black, but well-groomed hair reached down to his elbows, covering almost his entire face, revealing only a mouth full of piercings that penetrated every gap of his lips. He was wearing a band T-shirt, but the name was obscured by an apron. Originally, it was white, but at the moment, it was rather black and stained with grease. At the sound of the door opening, he abandoned his work. Upon noticing who his guests were, a smile even wider than Gara-Gara's spread across his face. He pressed a button built into the table that significantly lowered the volume of the music, then exclaimed in delight:

"GARA-GARA!"

"METAL!" the commander replied with equal eagerness.

"GARA-GARA!"

"METAL!"

After shouting each other's names, the two men, characterized by notably similar personalities, approached each other and performed a very energetic and spectacular handshake. With his other hand, Metal patted Gara's shoulder, leaving a very visible trace of grease on his childish sweater. Gara, devastated by the discovery, quickly wiped it away with his hand… then wiped it on Same's uniform.

The surprised boy immediately looked around in panic, searching for something to clean himself with. When his eyes landed on Yakedo, he was already glaring at him with a look that clearly said "Don’t even think about it." Fortunately, Same spotted a rag hanging by the door in time and quickly wiped away the stain.

"What brings the great commander to my palace?"

"Listen, Metal. I have a few newbies to introduce you to. Metal, this is Yakedo and Sake. Kids, this is Metal. He is our constable gunsmith, engineer, and quartermaster."

"Hey! I'm Metal!" he greeted them, waving his hand energetically at his new colleagues he had just met.

Some time later.

"...And that is how I started working for the police!" Metal said with inhuman excitement in his voice and movements.

"Oh, the good old days. Do you remember when..." Gara added, just as excited as his friend.

With each passing minute of one-sided conversation Yakedo and Same were becoming bored and sleepy. They had to listen to their two higher-ranking friends endlessly reminisce about old times, leaving them no room to join in or even leave.

"How long have they been talking about the same thing?" Same said whispering and yawning.

"Who knows. I tuned out after the first three minutes." replied Yakedo, standing next to him, as bored as the blond boy.

"Heh ... I’m jealous. Unfortunately, I listened to every word, which was even worse. Honestly, it is not how I imagined my first day at work."

"Ugh... We have to stop this somehow, because they’ll probably talk till tomorrow." The boy sighed and picked up an oblong object resembling a handle from one of the walls. "Hey! What's that for?!"

His question successfully captured the attention of Metal and Gara, who had been engaged in a conversation for some time. The mechanic quickly approached Yakedo and took the item from his hands. Then, with a smile, he presented it to everyone in the room.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! Gara-Gara! Kids! It my latest invention! It is called... Attention, drums please!" Metal, proudly presenting his creation, quickly tapped his fingers on the table, imitating the sound of a snare drum for some added drama. "…THE NEON BATON!"

His pierced lips spread into an even wider smile. He looked at the faces surrounding him with his hair-covered eyes, seeking approval for his invention. He was rather met with confused expressions from the recruits and thunderous applause from Gara-Gara.

"Huh…?" Yakedo, disgusted by the name, tilted his head to the side in disdain. "The Neon Baton? What a sh…" but his sentence was interrupted by a nudge to the shoulder from Same, who nodded, begging him not to end his sentence on such a cruel note. The silver-haired man just sighed and continued: "…shockingly good name. What is it all about? "

"I am glad you asked, my emo friend." Metal began happily, ignoring the irritated Yakedo, who bluntly denied being an emo. "So… as you can probably see, the object I’m holding in my hands resembles the hilt of a sword. This association is entirely correct, because…"

"Hey, kid! Let’s go!" shouted Dan, standing in the doorway, already dressed in his police uniform, impatiently waiting for Yakedo.

"Finally." Yakedo did not wait for Metal to finish his explanation. He immediately walked towards the door, happy with the long-awaited change of company.

Gara nodded in satisfaction, watching the departing pair of policemen, then patted Same on the back. "Well… it’s my time to go as well. I will leave you here. Have fun. Metal, tell him a word or two about the CD job, okay? Ta-ra!"