Chapter 494 Erik's First Time
Public simulation, press briefing room.
The imperial police agency press conference was scheduled for 3PM, and everyone that'd been invited to attend had arrived five minutes early. Considering they had only been given seventeen minutes of lead time-or eight and a half minutes, real time-it was impressive that not a single person was missing from the list.
Precisely as the clock ticked over to three, Erik materialized behind the podium, attracting the attention of the audience, all of whom were curious as to just who he was.
He didn't waste any time, much to the audience's satisfaction, but immediately began speaking. "Good day, ladies and gentlemen of the press and everyone watching from the comfort of their own homes. My name is Erik Schneider, and about two and a half hours ago, Earth time, I was appointed as the head of the imperial police agency." Though he was speaking in his native German, thanks to the magic of imperial technology and virtual reality, everyone listening heard, and saw, him speaking fluently in their own language.
His self-introduction, along with the brief time he had been in office, caused a commotion in the briefing room. Nobody had been informed of the vacant positions in the government agencies being filled yet, as Aron had wanted to wait until the first round of genetic enhancements and implants had been completed before informing the public.
"Along with myself, various other officials have been appointed to fill every vacancy in the government agencies, from the ministers down. Their identities will be made public once the safety of the individuals in question, and their families, has been assured. That is all I will say about that, and I will not be taking any questions on the matter. It isn't my place to speak about imperial staffing, so let's get to the main subject, shall we?
"After a careful and thorough investigation, we discovered that the perpetrator of the attempted robbery of the Pyongyang branch of the Bank of the Universe via usage of his blessing was Kim Ho Song, age twenty. He is a tertiary branch member descended from the former Kim regime in what was once North Korea. He recently underwent an evolution and gained the superpower of fire control, thanks to his blessing. And as a result of most of his family being arrested for crimes against humanity and various other lesser charges, his financial situation was dire after the asset forfeiture that the charges required.
After going from luxury to poverty, he grew angry, which fostered a sense of discontentment with the empire. But when he received his blessing, that discontent grew greater, eventually turning into a sense of superiority and rage. He felt that, as a member of a superior branch of humanity, he deserved all the luxury he could ever want. Thus, the chain of events culminated in attempted robbery, attempted intentional murder, felony assault with a blessing, and sedition. He was apprehended red-handed in the midst of committing his crimes, so though his guilt is apparent, he will be transferred to Awakened Prisoner Complex One, also known as 'The Hole', to await trial for his crimes.
"According to the imperial legal code, there is only one sentence for crimes committed using superpowers: twenty years of service in an ARES penal battalion, Earth time. No early parole will be granted, though prisoners in penal service to the Terran Empire can redeem themselves through appropriate acts of heroism in service to mankind." Erik stared into the eyes of everyone watching, his gaze solemn and cold.
"Thus is the fate of anyone that thinks they can use their blessings to commit crimes of any nature. Simply by using your blessings to commit crimes, you will be caught, and you will be sentenced to a minimum of twenty years in a penal battalion, sent to the front line of any conflict that arises during that time period. With great power comes great accountability, and you will be held accountable for your actions as a member of homo sapiens beatus. This much, I promise you."
After finishing the presentation of the evidence, Erik cleared his throat and continued, "With that, our investigation is considered complete and has been closed. We've already forwarded it to the imperial judiciary for prosecution. Any and all evidence collected in the course of our investigation has been made available in the Akashic Record for public viewing, should you wish to do so. I'll warn you now-the evidence collected is very graphic, so view it at your own risk. Any questions?"
A sea of hands went up in the briefing room and Erik pointed to one of them. "Yes, you in the blue shirt."
The chosen reporter rose from his seat and asked, "When will the empire reveal the list of the appointees to the public?"
"As I said at the beginning of my prepared remarks, I will not be taking questions on the subject of imperial appointments. The decision lays in the hands of the emperor. Next question... you in the yellow dress."
"What measures have been taken to ensure that supervillains can't escape their prison to inflict further harm on normal civilians?" the second reporter asked.
"Excellent question. Without going into specifics, I can tell you that The Hole has taken appropriate measures to ensure civilian safety. It is in a remote, classified location and out of reach of the majority of people without very specialized transport vessels. Vessels, I might add, that are held securely under imperial control. As far as jailbreaks are concerned, don't worry, this isn't a comic book or movie. Escaping The Hole isn't a simple task and its location alone virtually guarantees that escapes will fail, even if the blessed in the facility use their superpowers to aid in the attempt. Beyond that, there are multiple layers of security both inside and outside The Hole.
"Currently, the empire maintains a monopoly on violence, so anyone that attempts to escape from The Hole will very quickly learn what that means. Next question." He pointed at a man in a dark gray suit with a striped blue and silver tie.
"Will the imperial police agency increase the security level in their jurisdictions to prevent such crimes from happening again?" the man asked.
"Security levels will absolutely be increased. Sadly, we cannot guarantee that we can prevent all crime, but we will ensure an extremely rapid and overwhelming response when crimes are reported. Especially by the blessed...."
Questions continued coming one after the next, until Erik had answered all of them and the questions began repeating themselves with different wording. Once he was sure that all of the relevant questions had been answered, he called an official end to the press conference.
The media interns responsible for monitoring the Akashic Record had long since seen the result of the investigation and the recording of the events during the robbery, as gruesome as it was. The only question that was left unanswered for those who had seen that security camera footage was where the bullet came from. All the video showed was a bullet passing through the walls of the vault and dismembering and disemboweling Kim So Hong before disappearing through the wall on the opposite side. They were also curious about the NETS head bag, but the Akashic Record informed them that any information on that device was classified and not available for their level of security clearance.
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