’So there are no new spies?’
Dante was sure whoever sent the first ones would soon follow with a new pair. In fact, he was a little surprised that they let him live this long. Were they truly fooled by his act?
’Yeah, I don’t think so...’
Attacking the two spies was like announcing that he was the culprit in the incident from a few days ago. Now that he had the chance to think about it again, he was even more confused by his actions. Why did he put himself at risk like that?
[Dante, I would like to offer you a heads up.] Volcan said, interrupting his thoughts. [The police will be informed now that you are awake, and they will pay you a visit shortly after. It seems to be a routine interrogation to take the statements of those who had been involved in the incident at the city hall.]
’... guess that’s to be expected.’
He was one of the people who stormed the city hall; it was only natural that the authorities would want to question him.
’Did they question the other rioters?’
[Yes. Some have been moved to this establishment and were subjected to questioning here. The officers mainly asked them if they remembered what they had done, if the riot had been planned beforehand, and if any specific person had tasked them with infiltrating the city hall.]
’Huh... obvious question... I think?’
The latter two made sense, but why would the police ask if the rioters remembered what happened?
Dante didn’t have to wait long before he was visited by the men in blue. To be more precise, he ended up passing out at some point and woke up several hours later when the interrogators showed up at his bed. Both didn’t look too happy about being forced to wander around for a simple questioning, and that anger was clearly directed at Dante, who was still relaxing in his hospital bed.
The first one, a middle-aged man with a bulging belly, dragged a nearby chair and sat down. The second one stood to the side with his arms folded, trying to look intimidating. Tall, muscular, and dark skinned. If he wasn’t wearing a uniform, Dante would have assumed he was a part of some gang.
"Officer McCawsky." The first one said while pointing a thumb at himself. He then pointed to his partner. "This here is my colleague, Officer Dalmain. We’re here to ask you some questions."
Dante stared at them for a few moments then pushed himself up, taking a seating position before turning to them with a question of his own.
"Couldn’t this wait till I’m better?"
"Unfortunately not," McCawsky said. "I won’t lie to you, kid. You have gotten yourself in some deep shit."
"Oh yeah?" Making a show of being surprised, Dante looked down at himself then raised his right arm, which had a tub attached to it. "Didn’t notice at all."
The two officers exchanged a look, then the muscular one spoke.
"We did a quick background check. You aren’t the kind who’s regularly involved in protests."
His partner finished the rest for him.
"What spurred you into joining yesterday’s mess?"
"The tax reforms, obviously," Dante said. Before the potbellied cop spoke, he let the corners of his mouth curl up. "Just kidding. To be honest, I had nothing better to do. They brought out those Tortoise tanks the day before, so I thought I might get a closer look at one."
McCawsky gave him a bewildered look while Dalmain shook his head and sighed.
"And you thought a protest is a good place for that?"
"Hey, I was bored out of my mind," Dante replied. "I’ve been washing dishes all week. What did you expect?"
"Washing dishes?" McCawsky raised an eyebrow then pressed his mouth to a line. "So nobody asked you to show up?"
"So you stormed the hall just because?"
"Hey, shit hit the fan pretty quickly." Dante shrugged. "Did you see that mess? It was either run or get stumped."
The officers lingered for a few moments, moving on to the next question right after.
"You saw them, didn’t you?" McCawsky asked, his tone a bit more serious than before. "A bunch of Genomes showed up, and from the surveillance footage, you seemed pretty close to one of them. Did you see anything?"
"Not really..." Dante said then made his eyes spread wide. "Oh yeah! That guy!"
The two officers perked up.
"He popped some pill then went all crazy! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Though it might have been a bad idea to show that he knew, Dante did so anyway, hoping to divert their attention from him.
"They were shooting the heavy rounds, yeah? The bastards nearby were strapped so I knew I had to make a run for it. That’s when I saw him." Dante went on, pretending to be excited about telling the story. "Dude was like a sore thumb, you know? Mothef*ckers around him were losing their shit, but he just stood there looking mad sketchy. Didn’t think much of it at first, but then I saw him toss that blue pill in his mouth. I thought the bastard was trying to get high or something, but then he went and transformed! Things just kept getting crazy from there!"
As he went on with his story, Dante described what happened with more colorful exaggerations. He was about to go into details about what happened inside the city hall when McCawsky raised a hand to stop him, making Dante sigh in relief, seeing how he didn’t know much about that after leaving to take care of the two spies.
"None of that matters so you shouldn’t worry about it." Saying that, the potbellied cop took out a phone and tapped it a few times then turned the screen to Dante. As expected, it displayed a QR code. "Sign the papers and pay the fine. Once that’s done, you’re free to go."
Staring at him for a moment, Dante frowned.
"That’s it? I thought you said I was in some deep shit."
"Count yourself lucky, kid." Dalmain scuffed. "Since this has been listed as an Enhanced incident, mundane idiots like you are getting away with only a slap on the wrist."
Something smelled very fishy, but Dante couldn’t put his finger on it. After a moment of thought, he scanned the QR code and skimmed through the screen that appeared on his OAM, grimacing when he saw the fine of 10000 Radmir Credits.
"I... just paid the hospital bill." He said. "It might be a few days before I can pay this..."
Of course, he had more than enough to pay the whole thing right now, but it would appear rather strange if a kid who washes dishes for a living had that kind of money just lying around.
"Well, suit yourself, kid." Saying that, McCawsky got up. "And try to stay out of trouble. Next time you get bored, play some video games or something."