Chapter 1.7 - Federation Police HQ
Galaxy Federation Police Special Investigation Corps Headquarters
Erich is surrounded by his relieved teammates.
Bugs: Erich! You’re safe!
Melisse: We looked everywhere for you when we heard you weren’t at the hospital! You didn’t even go home… Where have you been all this time?
Erich: I’m sorry. I wanted to be alone so I could collect my thoughts. I was… distressed.
Lactis: Isn’t it your responsibility as an investigator to report your situation to HQ? This kind of behavior isn’t like you.
Elich: I’m really sorry. I’ll be more thoughtful from now on.
Mikhail: Never mind that. Can’t you guys just be happy? Erich came back to us! What do you think? Tonight sometime, a drink in honor of the return of our heroic warrior? I know a great bar a few blocks from here...
Lactis: Not so fast, Mikhail. He may have survived, but there are plenty of people who didn’t. Moreover, not knowing the details of what happened isn’t making cooperation with the Archon police any easier. It would be best to avoid behavior that could potentially rub them the wrong way right now.
Mikhail: Oh… R-right. Sorry.
Melisse: …Have you seen the Captain yet?
Erich: Yes, he already came to see me.
Melisse: And? He probably didn’t even react, knowing the Captain.
Erich: I dunno. Maybe he was a little surprised… but he’s not one to show it on his face, you know?
Melisse: That’s for sure.
Mikhail: But Erich! How the hell did you get out of that, anyway?
Melisse: I want to know too! We thought there was nothing we could do…
Lactis: …Indeed. Will you at least explain what kind of trick you pulled?
Erich: A simple one, really. Just before I was deleted, I switched to a character double that I had prepared beforehand.
Mikhail: A character double…? You made something like that?
Erich: I am a special investigation corps operator after all. Wouldn’t you expect me to be prepared for an emergency situation? Unfortunately, I lagged a bit while switching to the double and I still suffered some feedback injuries…
Bugs: That’s my clever Erich!
Erich: Ha…
Erich’s voice cuts out and he holds his head in his arms.
Mikhail: H-Hey…!? Are you okay?
Melisse: Not completely recovered yet?
Erich: Y-Yes… maybe that’s it.
Melisse: Don’t push yourself. You were out all night, weren’t you? Why don’t you go home and get some rest?
Mikhail: Yeah...
Lactis: Wise advice.
Erich: But I haven’t made my full report to the Captain yet…
Bugs: We’ll take care of it. At any rate, you should go home.
Erich: Really? Well, in that case I’ll go get some sleep… since I don’t know when the next incident will occur.
Melisse: Erich…
Bugs: U-Um… Are you really okay?
Erich: Yeah, I’m okay. No problem.
Archon Police Station, Chief’s Office
McCallum: This affair with the Goodwill Ambassadors… I’m concerned that it was just a plot for Voyager to meet one important person. Make sure you go over the dive logs thoroughly. It’s possible Voyager left some evidence of his presence behind.
Jan: …Yes, sir.
Archon Police Station, Locker Room
On his way back from the Chief’s office, Jan pokes his head in the locker room and sees Erich gasping for breath and covered in sweat.
Erich: Haaah…. Haaaah….. Haaaah…. Haaaah…… “I heard… a loud voice from the temple… haaaahh….haaaahh… saying to the seven angels, ‘Go, pour out the… seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth’…” [Revelation 16:1]
Jan: …?
A small mark appears on Erich’s neck as he injects himself with something.
Erich: Ahh…
Jan: Erich…?
Erich: !!
Jan: Erich! What did you just do!?
Erich: Ah, Captain… this? It’s just a health supplement.
Jan: Nutrient Lamdagist A...?
Erich: You think this is a narcotic?
Jan: ...I’m sorry. The number of public servants abusing U.M.N. drugs is increasing and becoming quite a problem. I jumped to conclusions.
Erich: No, I think it’s natural to try to understand the behavior of your subordinates. Although getting surprised by your boss is bad for the heart.
Jan: I’m sorry if I startled you. I was just talking with the Chief. But are you feeling all right?
Erich: Yeah, I’m fine, thank you. I’ll be okay.
Jan: …
Erich: …What?
Jan: No, it’s nothing. …You overdid it a bit this time, you know.
Erich: I know. Thank you for your concern, Captain. …But for now I’d like to get a bit of rest.
Exiting the locker room, Jan sees Erich off. He runs into Sharon in the lobby.
Sharon: …Oh hello, Captain.
Jan: …Doctor Rozas. Thank you for the death certificates. Your expedience was helpful. Do you have some business at the station?
Sharon: Business? …Not really. I just came to return your subordinate’s death articles. They’ve been cleaned, but...
Jan: Death articles? Of someone under my command? Or one of the Archon policemen?
Sharon: Ah, forgive me. I forgot you're with a special unit. Isn’t… Erich Weber your subordinate? How does he look? Were you there when he went into cardiac arrest? I’m a bit concerned, as a doctor…
Jan: I suppose you don’t have many patients who recover from cardiac arrest, do you?
Sharon: Actually quite a few, but a corpse getting up from the freezer and picking off his own name tag? That was a first. I told him that further examination was necessary, but he never came back. I hope he’s not suffering the after-effects of overexposure to the U.M.N... has he shown any signs of unusual behavior or temporary catatonia?
Jan: Well, he seems a little mentally unstable, but not drastically changed.
Sharon: …I hope that’s true, but…
Jan: As a police officer he is exemplary, but when it comes to relationships with others he is quite wary. Going to the hospital might be hard for him…
Sharon: Oh, the examination would bother him?
Jan: No, I don’t mean that he’s difficult to treat… it's a little more complicated than that.
Sharon: You’re… a surprisingly interesting person, you know. I’m not shy, but I feel like I should watch out for myself…
Melisse: Captain! Ah…
Jan: This is Doctor Rozas. She’s in charge of the emergency room at the police hospital. She handled the casualties of the Goodwill Ambassador kidnapping incident the other day.
Melisse: Nice to meet you. ...Captain! We have new orders. They're at a nursing plant in Draper. The criminal has broken into the central mainframe inside the building. The trace logs of the facility’s observational realian were extremely damaged, but Lactis has been working to repair them.
Sharon: A nursing plant…?
Jan: Any details about the perpetrator?
Melisse: The logs were more corrupted than we expected. We couldn’t get any details on the access point. But in the sections we could repair, we found a ‘dummy program’ that he set up. Based on the decay pattern of the protection on that program, we've calculated that there is a 98.28% chance that the perpetrator is Voyager.
Jan: …I see. Then we should hurry! Let’s find Mikhail and have him ready the level 1 armament. If necessary, we may have to engage in real-life combat this time.
Melisse: Understood!
Jan: Doctor Rozas. This… matter of Erich. I’ll report anything unusual to you.
Sharon: …
Jan: …What is it?
Sharon: ...He’s after young lives again.
Jan: Voyager… He's sending us a message…