The killer detective

4 - Benuard's duty

Each of us went a different way. He went left and I was going in between the few metal storages. The buildings were long, tall, and wide enough to hide a herd of elephants standing on top of each other. Some of the storages were accessible to anyone, who had high enough clearance. Some of them were just full of scraps and spare parts, which were stored just in case they would be needed fifty years later. The place often smelled like various oils and suspensions for lubricating various bearings and gearboxes of the cars, machines, and whatever else there was. Sometimes, when they were doing vehicle maintenance in some of the storages, the engine oil was making the whole place smelly.

I knew all of this because I really liked shortcuts. I knew all the nooks and crannies of these places. One of the reasons for that was that I hated the maintenance or cleaning days. I would pretend I was busy doing something and then disappear the moment the supervisor wasn't looking. These tiny alleys in between the storages were the best hiding places. Grass and various weeds were growing in between the cracked concrete tiles, which sometimes weren't even sitting well on the ground. I remembered all those tiles, which always had a sea of water under them after rain.

Another reason why I liked these passageways was that there weren't many people to meet and I got to the place I was heading to sooner. For getting to the storage, where our equipment was stored, I just had to squeeze through a couple of old tires. Or jump over about ten old unused rusty cabinets, that were scattered around. Sometimes, when I wanted to change the scenery, I had to sneak myself through tiny corners. It was no good for claustrophobic people.

All in all, it was faster than walking for over 30 minutes to get to the warehouse through the wide main roads. It was much quieter and more pleasant as well.

These narrow passages between the storages were mostly dirty and full of water when it was raining; the exact place, where you just didn't want to be during a downpour. Even though many groups were sent to weed these places regularly, wild grass or other weeds were happily growing in cracks all the time.

I shuffled through the tiny places and climbed over a couple of old tires. They should seriously tidy this place up again. Lazy asses. During my school training weeks, we were sent here nearly every second week to clean! What are the new recruits doing nowadays, slacking off! 

I finally reached the storage and opened the screeching door sideways. Even though there was an infinite amount of points, some things were just left to rust and get old. Just need to put the equipment there, will then go to the headquarters to get all the paperwork done and I can finally get back to doing my old work.

"Hey, Ben." I raised my hand at the guy, who was busy moving some things around at the front of all the racks in the storage, where one couldn't see the end. This rifle and gun storage was just too huge, it also had automated lights. The whole place was dark today, as there were no people around, apart from Ben. 

"Yeah, hi. Put the things there to the back but the automated cart is broken, so you have to use the ladder." 

I knew Ben for a couple of years already. He was put in my group during small-group combat exercises. As an officer, I had to make sure we would successfully finish it. Yet, he wasn't the best fighter, sometimes got caught as he was quite clumsy and easily distracted. I always got chewed out hard for that. Good thing he was given only minor duties, which didn't require much skill! If he did, his higher-ups' lives would be made into living hell. So far there was no need for people with his specialization in explosives. This guy... I bet he would detonate himself with it instead of deactivating the device.

I annoyingly sighed. As if I didn't have enough of climbing the rooftops, now I had to climb the ladder even though I was supposed to be done with my job!

"Aight." I took the rifles and equipment on a small cart and pushed it towards the back. If the automated cart wasn't broken, I would just put the junks on it, go to the back to check everything was done and I would be free.

I took up the ladder and started sorting the things to their respective spots labeled with letters and numbers. Quiet rattling could be heard from the spot I was at. I wasn't really a quiet person when it came to tidying up. Even more when I was tired. But somehow I managed to become a sniper, who has to be able to be good at stalking, be quiet, and agile. I rested my forehedhead on one of the ladder steps. This whole thing is going to take quite a while since the automated cart didn't work.

I had to use my fingerprint on every single piece of equipment I was returning. The storage light of the box would then turn green with a beep and then a loud Clack! could be heard as a confirmation the current rifle has been successfully stored. There were hundreds of boxes in this line alone without any doors. Everything was controlled by laser and movement sensors. If anyone tried to take a rifle or gun without having the permit for it in the system, they would be trapped here until someone came to pick them up and throw them in temporary jail. No one had ever even thought of taking them without getting permission. 

While doing this unrewarding, dull and boring duty of still returning the lots of our equipment, my eyes landed on a box three spots left from the current one, where I was depositing night vision goggles with a laser collimator. That column with number X 39 was designed for high-grade precision rifles. I jump-moved the ladder closer to see if I was seriously seeing what I thought there was.

Nothing.

And a green diode above the box.

"Hey, Ben." I took the walkie-talkie I grabbed at the entrance as a part of the protocol. Everyone had to get one when they went to deposit or take the equipment in case something went wrong with the task on hand. I waited for Ben to respond. Who knows what he was doing at the moment. Probably just sitting at the desk with a computer at the old door with his legs resting on the desk's surface. It was silent. As I was about to hit the transmit button again to speak, Ben spoke first: "Ya. Sup."

"Spot X 439 looks broken. Green light but no stuff." I ended my message and looked inside the empty box again.

"No way. You sure don't need glasses? Automatic with the newest gunsight. Full spot, nothing missing." He told me the rifle specification, which should be stored there.

"No, negative. Not blind." I responded and sighed. If this was seriously not a mistake of the mechanism or software and the rifle got really missing with the green light on, we were up for a huge s**t. If someone managed to take the rifle unauthorized, that would mean they managed to unblock the lock, which was holding the rifle. It would also mean they didn't set off the alarm. On top of all that, they would be definitely able to break through the licensing microchip and use the rifle anywhere, anytime without being noticed. If this wasn't a mistake in the system, then this was going to be a huge headache! 

All weapons that were used in the whole world were licensed with an electronic GPS license number, so if anyone took a shot, the central register would know the exact location and pick the rifle within minutes, if it was used unauthorized. Even bullets were licensed with an electronic chip. This helped the Register pinpoint the exact position of the shot in the person in great distances. Just one drone or satellite reception was enough. The chip would be picked up right away, even at the point where it had entered the body. It was so precise, they would even deduct points if the person was shot even 5 centimeters away from the designated spot!

"Sec," Ben said after a while, meanwhile I was still staring at the spot X 439. Not possible. This is impossible. Just who... How. It has to be a system mistake! It had to turn red! Please blink red and stay that way! I was nearly praying to the Prime Coordinator of the Central Point Register! 

I heard Ben's footsteps getting closer in a few minutes. He took a nearby ladder and got up to my level. Four meters above the ground we were both staring at the same empty spot X 439 but the rifle still wasn't there. It didn't even dare to appear from its possible invisibility.

"You're fucked." I said without any care in my voice, my eyes still at the spot. I was just hypnotized by the emptiness.

"Or I won't report it." He answered. I looked at him with a seriously surprised expression and took a breath.

"What do you mean won't report? Someone steals a rifle with the newest precision gunsight and you won't report it? What if they remake it into non-licensed and will illegally pick points! What a problem it could be?" I clicked my teeth with disgust thinking of what is about to come when the headquarters know of this. It was going to be a serious walk. If the rifle was really made into non-licensed, it would be already illegal. It could be either used for picking points, which could be corrected easily... The worse case was it could be used for disposing of people. Such a rifle could be used anywhere, anytime and we would only go around picking up corpses. Without the name of the killer. Without knowing where they were residing.

The worst thing out of all of this... The security of the camp has been breached! Now they would do a background and security check on every single person here! That would be... I don't want to go through those checks! I was whimpering in my head, not wanting to believe this. It had to be an illusion. I had to be dreaming and still be on the plane back home, falling hard during Basil's snoring!

Points were the only accepted means of p*****t in the whole world issued by the Central Point Register. People got points for doing their normal jobs, for pilots, it would be piloting the plane, for us detectives it meant injuring or killing wanted criminals. Even though killing or injuring was the fastest way up the social ladder. One could get pretty rich, going after the huge bounties the Register sometimes came up with for serious system offenders.

"Oh come on, the licensing is way higher upgraded, they can't get rid of it. The Register has upgraded the licensing technologies not too long ago. Most of the guns and rifles had been sent there for maintenance and re-licensing." He shook his head and started climbing down. He didn't care. Even if the whole world would be in flames, he would give the same reaction like everything was fine and somehow it would get solved by itself. Problem? No, there is nothing going on. Just leave it. It will be fine. Fire? It's going to finish burning eventually...

I looked at the spot one last time and was also about to climb down. I was done with storing all the things. He should start being more serious about his job if he wants to get promoted! This damn lazy fuckass Benuard!

"What won't you two report?"