The Shock of the New

Chapter 3: W.E.R. Street Blues

On the other side of the Atlantic, in a small flat in the greater London area, Ian Clarkson was busy putting on his uniform for work. Looking at himself in the mirror, Ian knew he wasn't much to look at, being a 37 year old brown haired nobody. But he had a job to do as a member of the UK branch of the W.E.R. police forces and he intended to do it to the best of his abilities in order to bring home the (artificial) bacon.

After he'd put his uniform on, Ian stepped into the living room of his flat which also acted as the dining room. There, his long time parter and flatmate, Grace was sitting at the table eating her breakfast and staring at her tablet. Ian usually made his own breakfast and today was no different.

After putting together an oatmeal mix that largely served as Ian's breakfast, he sat down at the table opposite Grace. In an attempt to make conversation, Ian said "So, how's the war going on?"
Grace looked up from her tablet "Very well. Our troops burned an entire P.R.E. camp to the ground last night. The best part of it all is that there were no survivors and all their troops died horribly!"
Ian smiled "Serves them right! They should have known from the start that this sort of thing would happen if they decided to mess with us!"
Ian then took a spoonful of oatmeal and swallowed it before changing the subject
"So what's happening with work today?"
Grace sighed "You know the usual. Keeping people alive and tending to the injured. It's you I'm really worried about. Going out there facing off against the worst criminal scum that London has to offer. Every day I worry that I'm gonna come home and be greeted by your colleagues telling me that you died heroically in the line of duty"
"Well that wouldn't be the worst way to go out" Ian tried to reassure her "At least people would remember me as a brave heroic fighter who died upholding the ideals of the great W.E.R. state instead of a cuck liberal who was killed inciting anti government views"

A little while later, Ian and Grace had both finished their respective breakfasts and after saying their goodbyes, Ian set off for the police station he was based at. The journey he took everyday was a simple one riding the underground subways of London. Ian somewhat enjoyed it as he always had the impression that his uniform gave him an air of authority and that this resulted in the people he saw looking at him with a degree of respect.

Once he arrived at the station, Ian checked himself in and reported to commander Whistler for his jobs for today.
"Morning Clarkson" Whistler said as soon as Ian stepped into the office

"Morning sir!" Ian replied with the respect Whistler deserved.

"Your first assignment for today is a simple one" Whistler wasted no time in assigning Ian a task "You and Ferguson are to head over to the Paul Golding estate in Camberwell. We've reports that a resident in room 503 is listening to forbidden radio broadcasts from papist sources and you two are to put a stop to this at once!"
Ian saluted 'Right away sir!"

Most of the residents of the European region of the W.E.R. however in contrast to their North American countrymen, had never understood the appeal of religion and their culture was much more secular or indeed at times, anti-religious and Ian was no different. He'd long been taught at school about how religion poisoned everything and had spent a significant time learning about their anti-theist philosophies. To him, religion was nothing more than superstitious nonsense made up by ignorant people who couldn't accept the realities of life.

As he got into the assigned car, Doug Ferguson, Ian's long time colleague in the force was already sitting there.

"Morning Ian!" Doug grinned as Ian put on his seatbelt "We're really hitting the ground running today aren't we?"
"Yeah" Ian nodded before putting in the address in the car's automatic guidance system. Despite their apparent closeness, Ian had always found something about Doug really irritating, though he couldn't exactly put his finger on it. Maybe it was the fact that he was always so peppy and bubbly or maybe it was the fact that he always had the right thing to say for any situation. However Ian had been assigned to work with him and that was what he intended to do and do it well.