Crowd: A Dystopian Social Network Thriller (Final Draft)

Piper under pressure

The next day, Sasha welcomed Rain to their dual office. No matter how early Rain arrived to work, Sasha had always arrived earlier. As usual, he welcomed her with a steaming mug in his hand and shared his to-do list for today when Rain's eyes glanced toward her terminal.

"Something on your mind?" Sasha asked.

"I know it sounds a bit paranoid, but I was thinking about Taylor again. Something about that last encounter felt off."

"What do you reckon?"

"I want to dive deeper. Do a little bit of research. Is that okay?"

She sat down and rolled toward her terminal while Sasha prepped a tea from the drink dispenser. "Oolong or ginger-lime?"

"Ginger."

"Thought so."

Rain looked up Taylor's case. His rank had recovered from the past weeks, but her instincts raged on. She read through his life stream and compared it with the life stream of his professor Ashley Piper.

Sasha joined her side and placed her cup near the terminal. "Found something already?"

"A lot of Piper's activities are similar with Pipers, even though the professor only has him for one hour per day."

"Interesting. Go on."

An idea seeded in Rain's mind. "You said the school is partly owned by Crowd?"

"Crowd is the parent company, yes."

"Does that include the camera system?"

Sasha grinned. "I see where you're getting at. You want to check the camera footage featuring Taylor."

Rain pushed her next words. "Can we?"

"Technically, we have access to every camera system belonging to Crowd. We are allowed to access them if they help us service our Crowdies."

In other words, yes.

The very word Rain longed to hear.

"Lemme show you how." Sasha took over the terminal and activated the camera live streams of the school. The algorithm filtered out Taylor and Graham. Rain's jaw dropped as the footage updated.

Taylor cleaning Piper's office.

Taylor helping Piper sort print books.

Taylor repairing Piper's tools.

Hours upon hours and hours.

"Look at that," Sasha said and took a big, winning sip from his mug.

"When we talked to them the last time, Piper talked over Taylor and wouldn't let him speak. He came across as a dominant caretaker instead of a concerned professor."

"Play the audio footage;" Sasha said.

She played it. The recordings featured mostly smalltalk about the school, the artistic classes and sometimes city events, although they never ventured into politics.

Rain listened for five minutes.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Half an hour.

She picked different footage samples until one snippet caught her interest.

>>>

"You're doing great, Taylor. I'm sure your ranking will go up soon."

<<<

"Oh, could you rearrange the shelf? I've got a new batch of books coming in.

>>>

"I know you want to have some fun, most young people in your age do. But remember, with your current ranking, you should focus on your work first." Pause. "I tell you what—one more hour, and I let you go, alright?"

A lump choked Rain's throat as she watched the footage. She wanted to jump through the terminal screen and choke Professor Piper. Drag his butt across the floor.

"Well done, Sherlock," Sasha said matter-of-factly. "Looks like our prof will get a visit soon."

"Are you sending someone else?"

"He's all yours, Rookie-san."

His answer made her heart sing. Just a little.

"Can we go now?"

Sasha chuckled. "You can't wait for it, eh?"

Rain checked Piper's profile page and schedule. He'd have a break in about one and a half hours. The perfect opportunity for a little one-on-one conversation.

Rain thought about begging Sasha to agree, but she didn't want to come across as needy. After all, one of the rules was to be emotionally attached from their cases. Only tactical empathy mattered.

Sasha gulped down the rest of his faux coffee. "Your call."

Rain charged from her chair and grabbed the jacket. "Then let's go."

She pondered. "And please don't ping him. I want to catch him by surprise."

Sasha put down his cup. "You really should have become an officer."

Rain drove the cruiser manually and parked it in the college's parking lot. She and Sasha hurried across the campus. Rain's eyes glued to the geo-tag of Piper, moving across the hallway.

The perfect moment to intercept.

Rain took the lead and pushed through the students flooding the corridor. When Piper's egg-head peaked the student crowd, she called his name. The professor turned around and adjusted his fake glasses. "Ahh, hello Rain Cruzada and Sasha Foxwell. How can I help you?"

"We'd like to talk to you."

"I see. Unfortunately, I'm a bit busy now."

"No, you're not."

The professor twitched.

"I've checked your schedule," Rain said. "You have at least thirty minutes available."

"Well, I—"

Sasha stepped in. "You really want to join us, prof."

Piper's fake smile waned. He was probably expected a shiny greeting, but not today. He glimpsed at passing teachers who shot him suspicious glances. Rain hoped he'd feel the social pressure, maybe for the first time in his life.

"Follow me, please," Piper said.

His words squeezed out like pebbles covered in acid.

Rain winked at Sasha and followed the professor back into his office. She refused to sit down, which gave her more energy and the space to express herself. Before the prof could offer them a drink, Rain went into the fray. "How do you describe your relationship with Taylor Gonzales?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand the question."

"But you do understand English?"

Piper moaned at mouse levels.

Rain ignored it. "How much more time do you spend with Taylor compared to your other students?"

Piper shot a disturbing glance to Sasha, who played the role of the silent bystander.

"Where are you getting at?"