Chapter 195: A fight between partners...2
Linlin sneered. "No, it is not enough. I must keep going until you open your eyes. Nature cannot be changed unless you force it to. When a forest is poisonous, you set it on fire and plant new trees. Think with your head, not heart. Stop being foolish."
The breakroom air thickened, silence pressing from every side. Detectives whose ears were pressed to the door held their breath.
And then Liwu’s palm cracked across Linlin’s cheek.
The slap echoed like a gunshot, freezing the room, freezing the hallway beyond.
Liwu’s voice was low, dangerous. "Wake up, Linlin. You are not thinking because your head is still filled with those images and it is all you can see and think. But look at facts. We are system hosts. Every detective and officer in this precinct and the bureau. Every agent. Every system host out there trying to live. If one fate predictor points at us and claims that we will cause great harm, what then? Do we line up to be executed? Do we let visions of a future we are not certain of become verdicts?"
Linlin’s breath came ragged, her cheek flush, her eyes wide. "You don’t understand. I saw it. The boy will kill. My vision isn’t something to doubt. It is fate. I have never been wrong."
Liwu stepped closer, her voice rising, steady and sharp. "And if we decide to kill or imprison him for life right now, we set a precedent that will destroy us. Fate predictors like you will become assassins. Law enforcement will collapse. Anyone can accuse their enemy, claim it is fate and justify murder. Hosts with fate prediction systems will become guns for hire. Do you see it? Do you understand the danger?"
She thought her partner would immediately see reason, but Linlin shook her head. "That won’t happen. This is different. I work for bureau, I am an officer of the law. I have seen it for myself. You just refuse to believe because you are soft."
Liwu’s jaw tightened. "No, I am letting logic save humanity. My family has been in the system business longer than you have been a system host Linlin. I have learned from my mother to look further into the future. What I see, if we go down this path, is a future where we persecute people based on visions. System hosts and humans alike will come to hate us all.
Humans will begin to see all system hosts as triggers that could cause their death at any moment with one accusation. Wars will rise again. Humanity will tear itself apart. And it will start here, with us, with this boy."
Linlin’s voice cracked, trembling with fury. "You don’t know what you are asking. You want me to ignore fate. To ignore what I know will happen."
Liwu’s eyes blazed. "I am asking you to stop fate from becoming a weapon. If we choose wrong, we doom ourselves. This decision in your mind may seem simple, but it carries the weight of humanity and survival. There is a reason why visions seen by fate predictors are not used as evidence in trials."
Outside the door, whispers spread like wildfire.
"They are talking about using visions in trials."
"Wasn’t that banned?"
Meanwhile, tension snapped taut in the breakroom, the air thick with dread. The members of their team held their breath, waiting for the verdict.
"I take this gathering to mean that every case has been closed and no crimes are left to solve in the city." Chief Abby’s voice came from the upstairs corridor.
Detectives scattered quickly, returning to their desks. Officers busied themselves with radios, papers, staples--anything they could get their hands on.
The chief bellowed, "Xuanji, get those two in my office. Now."
Xuanji waved a hand over his mouth, as if that would eliminate the smell of smoke. With another hand, he banged hard on the door as if he wanted to break it down. "Hey ladies, put off the boxing gloves and put on your work faces. The Chief wants to see you both."
There was silence for a moment, and finally the door opened. Everyone in their vicinity lifted their necks to look at them. Liwu looked angry and her aura was cold. Linlin also looked angry, and one of her cheeks was red and swollen.
"She actually hit her!" Someone whispered.
"Shhh! You will be hit too." Another warned.
A man in cuffs shouted, "How come I was arrested for throwing one punch and she gets to get away with slapping someone. It’s not fair. The police is bullying innocent citizens."
Neither woman turned back. They just marched to the Chief’s office and Linlin slammed the door shut.
Chief Abby winced. "If there is a crack, the replacement is coming out of your paycheck."
While Linlin was throwing a tantrum, Liwu noticed that there was a fourth person in the room: Jinling! The woman from the sexual assault case in the square.
Liwu had kept in contact with her for a week, just checking in to make sure that she was alright. She never expected to see the woman ever again.
"We will talk about your inappropriate fight in the breakroom later." Chief Abby looked sharply from Liwu to Linlin. "In the meantime, Miss Jinling came to see me in the morning. It seems...."
Jinling sprung from her chair, reaching for Liwu. She grabbed her hands, and wailed, "The worst has happened. I can’t believe that something bad like this has happened to me again."
Liwu froze. Her immediate thought was that the woman had been assaulted again. "Oh good lord."
Jinling collapsed to the floor, letting go of Liwu’s hands. "I am pregnant." She whispered, tears slipping down her eyes. She covered her mouth, gagging suddenly.
Linlin rushed in with a steel waste bin, thrusting it at the woman. Jinling bent her head, emptying the contents of her stomach inside.
Liwu crouched low, patting the woman’s back. She looked at the chief, confusion dotting her eyes. "Is it?" she asked, hardly bringing herself to finish the question.
Was Jinling’s pregnancy a result of the assault on her?
