We locked eyes. I wanted to know her intentions. If I would get beaten up and left to die, at least I would prepare myself.
Since I didn't back up, she scoffed when she got closer. I sensed she had caught up with my intentions.
Centimeters away, I breathed in, holding my breath. She illuminated the inside of my bag, then looked up at me, intensively. Her perfume travelled to my nose.
"What kind of VR do you make?"
Slowly I let out the air in my lungs and relaxed my posture as she crossed her arms in front of her body with a curious expression.
"All sorts…" She didn't move. "Today I recorded the countryside." The officer raised her brows.
"Interesting. We don't see a lot of those."
Inspecting me one more time, sort of deciding whether to let me go or not, the officer uncrossed her arms.
"You can get that train now. I apologize for the disturbance."
I chuckled and shook my head, avoiding the empty station.
"My train is long gone, Officer." I said, closing my bag then hanging it on one shoulder, ready to find a bench to sleep in.
The woman didn't move. She stood there watching me, but I didn't meet her eyes. It was best if I walked away before I said anything stupid.
She was probably disappointed for not finding anything on someone acting so suspicious, but that was the joy of my days—making cops waste their time. It could've been some other day, but at least neither one of them got what they wanted.
"Get in."
"What?" I stepped back and she opened the passenger's door. "You didn't find anything!"
Gripping the strap of my bag, I felt the rush going up my neck.
"I know."
I met her eyes finally, but what I saw was conflicting. She had a soft look.
"Fuck you! You can't take me in!"
"Easy…" She raised her hands. "I'll just give you a ride home."
Getting in a car with a cop was never a good sign.
"Get in or would you rather sleep in the city?"
That eyebrow raise wasn't fair.
I had no way of knowing what she would do, but something was telling me that if she wanted to hurt me, she would've done it. I mean, it's the side of the road in the middle of the night—a perfect location.
"Look, I'm not gonna do anything to you. I made you lose your train. I don't wanna feel guilty if something happens to you."
She said while holding the passenger's door.
"Fuck it." If she wanted to kill me, I would be dead already.
Like a gentlewoman, she held the door for me and closed it before walking to the other side.
Getting a ride from a cop was a weird thing— even weirder when you're doing it by choice.
As honest as she sounded, I couldn't tell if she was being genuinely kind or she was just another psychopath ready to eliminate me and throw my body into the river. However, I didn't feel threatened by her, which was weird.
"To the lower tier, right, Mr. Saint?"
"Are you sure about this, Officer?"
"Yes, I am."
She definitely knew what I meant. The Force wasn't welcomed in the slums, not by the people and neither by the Trinity. What illegal organization would appreciate having the police wandering around their territory?
Not to mention they didn't even know how to walk around without getting lost. The place was a labyrinth of buildings where half of the streets weren't in the system. Eventually, the Force gave up, leaving the Trinity to run the place. Of course, that wasn't the official version. They still sent officers to patrol the entrance and stations to make it look good on camera, but nothing further than that.
In the end, it was an unsafe, very unusual situation for both of us.
We took off from one of the four main highways on the island. It was built to slide between the lit-up skyscrapers like a delivery boy, knitting the local traffic.
Inside, I was biting my nails in silence, certain I was heading to a death trap.
"I'm Officer Abrom."
That was so sudden I even jumped in my seat. We were silent for ten minutes straight without any signs of conversation. Everything was awkward, but she didn't seem uncomfortable with it.
"You already know my name." I wasn't sure how to respond.
"Single name."
"Yeah…" That was one hell of a chat.
The woman had no facial expressions. Eyes looking straight at the road and her voice was blunt, leaving nothing to interpretation.
"I'm not taking you to a trap, Saint. You can relax." She finally looked my way for a quick second.
"Yeah, I got that. I just don't have a good history with cops."
There wasn't much to be said. I kept staring at the window, watching the buildings go by. My eyes began to feel heavy. I didn't want to make small talk, just wanted to get home, skip the bath, and go straight to the sleeping part.
"I'm sorry for that." She said, and I turned to her.
Even though she was looking at the road again, I knew she had those soft eyes on. Only a subtle change—something about how she relaxed her eyebrows as if letting her guard down for a second. It was very… human.
Interesting woman was Officer Abrom. For as much as I wanted to not think about it, she had piqued my interest. A cop that apologizes is just too ironic.
The car went right back into silence after our little chat, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. I was too tired to talk, and Officer Abrom was not the easiest person to chat with—neither was she a chatter.
Gazing at the city from the outside, it was like watching a neon snow globe of propaganda.
Longingly staring at the colorful projections in a quiet place hit me hard, and to my surprise, I fell asleep involuntarily.
I felt the car going down and I woke up with a jump.
The highway had ended and we were entering the local streets.
Fixing myself in the seat, I looked around to see where I was. Everything looked in order—people on the sidewalks, some waiting in line to enter the nightclubs, old men arguing over a bottle of some cheap liquor, peddlers selling alcohol and food. Typical scenarios of the lower tier.
"You can drop me off here." I picked up my bag from the car floor.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's probably best if you don't be hanging around here for too long."
"Don't worry about me." She said with a grin. I didn't know if it was arrogance or just naivety.
"I'm not worried, Officer. I just don't wanna be seen with a Force agent."
"At your service."
She began to park, and the tramps that resembled a human figure made of brass cleared the place smoothly. Everyone knew how Force cars looked, even the simpler models. No one wanted to make contact with the police. They couldn't be trusted. Always making scenes at the entrance, searching people who got off the train, entering establishments to threaten the owners. They couldn't go inside, so they camped at the door, pissing all over our lives.
When we were finally parked a bit distant from the main street, it was time to say goodbye to the weirdest situation I had ever been in.
"Well…" Showing gratitude to a police officer wasn't my strong suit. "I'll be going now."
"Be careful out there."
As I heard the doors unlock, I opened mine, setting the white car light on. With one foot out of the car, I turned to look at her one last time when I saw it. Green natural eyes. A humble shade of green, very light, but they popped so bright against her skin, drawing me inside like a black hole. I was left staring at her with the words hanging in my mouth.
"Don't worry about me, Officer Abrom." I finally said.