Chapter 192: Beijing already.
Time to clock out came. The boy was still in the precinct, and Weijun was watching him like a hawk. He had even invited his closest men to hold vigil outside, as if the number of officers in the precinct was not enough.
Liwu was having trouble pulling him away from watch duty. She was pulling his hand, but he was not budging. "We have to go home, my shift has ended."
Weijun remained where he was, ass firmly glued to the chair. "If you think I am going to be able to get any sleep while this kid is here, you think highly of me."
She sighed and dropped his hand. "Have your way then. I am going home, to our comfortable bed. To have a good night’s rest. The kid has been given a second doze of knock out drugs. He is not going anywhere. Headquarters has already dispatched to watch over him and the precinct. What do you think is lacking in our security?"
Next to Weijun was Cross, scrolling through his phone. The man said lazily, "You already know how obsessed with this city your husband is. A kid that will kill hundreds of women and stuff them in barrels which will be tossed into the sea is not welcome in the city we fought hard to rebuild during the system wars. If the bureau won’t remove him, we will."
Liwu raised her hands in surrender. "Have your way. Sleep in the chairs or on the ground if you wish. I will see you tomorrow."
Weijun almost looked betrayed when he looked at her. "You are actually leaving me here!"
She nodded firmly. "Mmm. What else? I worked hard today. Mentally, I am exhausted." She ruffled his hair. "Goodnight Sweet Rose. I am sure the residents of this city will sleep well knowing that their personal Bat man is on watch duty."
Cross chuckled.
Weijun snorted.
To Liwu’s surprise, as she walked away, Xuanji, Su Jin and Linlin walked in with sleeping bags. Apparently, they also planned to be on watch duty. She shook her head and sighed. How long would they keep it up?
When she returned home, the house was quiet. Yuening was spending the night in the main mansion. Majesty and Reaper were still on their mission. Liwu had dinner alone, took a bath and then went straight to bed.
The morning sun had barely risen when she stepped into the precinct, her hair still slightly damp from a hurried shower. Her mind was already bracing for another chaotic day at work. She had not even reached her office when her uncle Aang intercepted her. "No time to sit, you have been summoned by the higher ups."
She touched her bag. "The boy in the barrel?"
Aang nodded.
She blinked. "Beijing? Already? I haven’t even had breakfast."
He gave her a look that suggested breakfast was a luxury reserved for lesser mortals. Without warning, he teleported them both out of the precinct.
But even when she arrived, she didn’t see anyone for some hours. It was not until mid-morning that she finally sat in a polished conference room. Her audience included her mother, the secretary of state, bureau directors, ministers, law enforcement officers in high positions, system hosts who had been invited for different reasons. They all wore suits, each very expensive. Some more expensive than apartments in second tier cities.
Directly next to her and behind were the members of her team and Weijun. They had arrived much earlier than her apparently.
The secretary of state cleared her throat. "Detective Liwu, we have heard from the members of your team that you the boy found in the barrel is a future system killer. That is a grave assertion. As the leader of the team, we need to hear from you for clarity."
Liwu glanced at her mother, straightened and replied in a calm but firm voice, "Detective He Xiao Yi was the first to notice that something about the boy was not right. His profiling system made an analysis which I am sure you have been given. I asked Detective Lin to use her fate prediction system and see what the future held for the child. Her system corroborated Detective He’s findings. That is all I know right now."
Immediately, the room erupted. The secretary of state, Xia Baolin slammed her hand on the table. "He is a child. A child cannot be condemned as a serial killer before he has even committed a crime."
Liwu nodded. "And I agree with that." She could feel the members of her team staring daggers at her back. She knew what they wanted he to say, but she had no choice but to be realistic.
A police commander countered sharply. "And yet, if the systems are correct, ignoring him could lead to hundreds of deaths. Do we wait until blood is spilled?"
Someone shouted into a microphone, "These are problems that we must worry about many years to come. I suggest we ponder on it slowly."
Linlin was quick to counter, "Actually, that future is not so far away. The boy is twelve and according to what I saw, he will start killing humans at fifteen. That is three years away. We must act now by isolating him from society for the rest of his life. If we choose to look the other way, who will pay for the lives he will take? Who will take responsibility when it comes out that we knew and did nothing?"
President Tai Alix, spoke coolly, "By locking that child away you mean life imprisonment. It sounds to me like you are suggesting we punish people because of potential. The bureau exists to prevent tragedy, not punish potential. I agree that if what you have seen is the truth, intervention is warranted. What we must decide is the how?"
He Xiao Yi leaned forward. "We could begin by monitoring, therapy, putting him in a controlled environment. But I am not sure if these things will help. Sometimes, a monster will be a monster, no matter what kind of cage you put it in."
